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Misapplied Phlebotinum: Difference between revisions
Moved GURPS example out of Comic Books and into Tabletop Games, copyedits
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== Comic Books ==
* [[Green Lantern
** Finally subverted with Kyle Rayner, who was more likely to create [[Humongous Mecha
* Basically, every [[Superhero]]. [[Reed Richards Is Useless|Name one superhero who couldn't somehow make a fortune using his or her abilities for something other than beating up another superhuman.]]
** [[DC Comics]] has (had?) the Kapitalist Kouriers, a set of Russian superspeedsters who indeed used their powers for a courier business. All over the world. However: characters who do that instead of beating up on The Bad Guy of the Week don't get played in RPGs and don't get their own comic titles. So it's sorta self-defeating.
** An issue of ''[[Heroes For Hire]]'' (which is [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]], so at least these guys are getting paid for their work) has one of the "heroes" in a government warehouse where various captured supervillain equipment is stored. Upon seeing one piece of equipment, he notes the idiocy of inventing a gun that turns stuff into gold, then using it to rob banks. It takes him very little time to realize that he ought to steal the gun himself and use it in more intelligent ways. Unfortunately, it's broken shortly afterward in a super-brawl. He presumably was unaware of the fact that any object transmuted by the alchemy gun turns into dust after exposure to heat or after a certain amount of time. (However, mining and construction companies would pay a fortune for a device that could easily reduce solid material into dust regardless of what it became in the interim!)
** A recent issue of ''[[The Flash|Flash]]'' had him do just this. He was hired by an antique film and memorabilia collector. He hired the Flash to watch all of his movies and examine all of his antiques and catalog them. Obviously made for the plot, but ingenious none the less.
*** Another issue of Flash has Mirror Master being introspective about how
** [[Pre Crisis]] [[Mad Scientist]] [[Superman|Lex Luthor]] could become every bit as wealthy as [[Fantastic Four|Reed Richards]] if he marketed his tech legally, but he has too much of an [[Ubermensch]] complex to even ''want'' to make a living within society's infrastructure, viewing mundane Last Man civilization itself with contempt. John Byrne's [[Post-Crisis]] Luthor is rich, but he only sporadically does scientific job himself, prefering to supervise or steal the work of specialist; while he have a fairly superior intellect and his empire is based on earlier inventions, he is mostly rich by being a [[Badass Normal|mundane]] [[Complete Monster|ruthless SOB]]. Modern Luthor ''combines'' the two versions elevating his intellect [[Up to Eleven]] to finally [[Cut Lex Luthor a Check]] and establish his scientific genius as the ''source'' of his colossal wealth.
** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in the first issue of the Mark Shaw incarnation of ''Manhunter''. Over a series of panels of Dr. Alchemy using this powers to perform a robbery, Manhunter points out that he could probably make more money a dozen different ways using a stone that would allow him to transform an object into something else, even if it was temporary.
** The ''[[GURPS]]'' supplement ''SuperTemps'' was filled with supers who used their powers for things like sanitation and garbage disposal, medicine, being a courier, or being a security expert.▼
*** ''[[GURPS]] International Super Teams'' incorporated ''SuperTemps'' into its setting, and expanded upon it. And the ''I.S.T''. chapter of ''GURPS Y2K'' had detailed passages on supers using their powers for construction and other mundane occupations. And not-so-mundane UN-sponsored occupations, like weather control (to divert destructive hurricanes, alleviate drought, and so forth) and famine relief ("you can make plants grow? come with me!").▼
** Captain Hammer in ''[[Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog]]'' is mentioned by Dr. Horrible as being "corporate"; presumably he takes sponsorships. Given the character in question (an [[Jerkass|incredibly self-absorbed jackass]] who takes special pleasure in beating up geeks and seducing clueless women, getting away with it all because he's [[Designated Hero|labeled a "hero"]]), it wouldn't exactly be surprising. Given his chest insignia, it wouldn't be terribly surprising if he was funded by Sears.
** ''Almost'' subverted in DC's critically-acclaimed ''[[Starman (comics)|Starman]]'' comic of the mid-to-late-1990s. Our Hero, Jack Knight, agrees to take on his father's mantle as Starman, ''if'' his father will in turn take the amazing Cosmic Rod technology that he's used for self-indulgent heroics for half a century, and adapt it to civilian use: clean power, antigravity, force fields, and more. In the final issue, Ted makes good on the promise, and hands Jack a thick sheaf of documents detailing exactly that, just before his [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]]. It's ''almost'' subverted because, years after the end of the series, [[Reed Richards Is Useless|no trace of the "spin-off" technology has been seen]].
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** The [[Riff Trax]] notes this, marveling at the droids "artificial lack of intelligence."
** Later, more advanced models are actually worse for this. In Episode One they had verbal orders and could be confused, by Three they had little chats while they worked.
** [[Lampshaded]] in the novelization: A clone trooper, pretending to be dead for the benefit of a few battle droids, is able to communicate with his squad and
** The droids' lack of intelligence ''may'' be explained by the various [[Corrupt Corporate Executive
** The "FTL as a weapon" idea is averted ''hard'' in ''[[Star Wars]]'' -- if a hyperdrive approaches a gravity well, it automatically shuts down and reverts the starship to realspace. Or, failing that, melts. Which pulls the starship back into realspace. The time someone gets stranded in hyperspace, we find out [[Fate Worse Than Death|why there are so many safeguards]]. Also, if a ship hits a gravity well while in hyperspace, it's rather strongly implied that it will somehow be annihilated, killing all on board.
*** Also, with the kind of forces ''Star Wars'' throws around, "FTL as a weapon" might not always work. At one point in a ''Star Wars'' comic, [[La Résistance|The Rebels]] set up the Executor on a collision course with three Star Destroyers exiting hyperspace, which promptly [[Ramming Always Works|ram into the Executor at near light speed]]. The ([[Deflector Shields|fully shielded]]) Executor ''shrugs off'' the attack and casually proceeds with its original mission.
* ''[[Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs]]'' has an inventor who typifies this trope. One could think up a thousand uses for a bulletproof, waterproof, fireproof, spray
** The coating's potential is partially realized at the end of the movie.
* ''[[Star Trek]]'' in general has many instances of this trope; the [[Star Trek (film)|2009 movie]] adds a new one: with the help of future knowledge from Old Spock, Scotty quickly modifies a transporter to beam himself and Kirk onto the Enterprise -- which has been travelling away from them for hours, at [[Faster-Than-Light Travel|the kind of speed]] that let it get from Earth to Vulcan in ''minutes''. Now, if you can build a transporter that sends you across vast interstellar distances in an instant... ''why do you need starships?'' (Of course, the answer is -- to prevent the [[Star Trek]] franchise from turning into a funky version of the [[Stargate Verse]]...)
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** [[Made of Phlebotinum|Magic-rich]] settings like [[Forgotten Realms|Netheril]] may have full set of plane-gating plumbing. Otherwise [[Awesome but Impractical]], given how frequently those spell can be cast. And requires a rather powerful priest to begin with. Magic items (''Decanter of Endless Water'', ''Urn of Water Purification'') are better, but very expensive.
* In ''[[Genius: The Transgression]]'' [[Mundane Utility|using Wonders for mundane tasks]] is a minor Transgression.
** In most ''[[New World of Darkness]]'' gamelines, using your magic powers for mundane tasks is a [[Karma Meter]] violation. But it's usually one so small that only a [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness|living saint]] would even need to roll for degeneration for doing it.
▲** The ''[[GURPS]]'' supplement ''SuperTemps'' was filled with supers who used their powers for things like sanitation and garbage disposal, medicine, being a courier, or being a security expert.
▲*** ''[[GURPS]] International Super Teams'' incorporated ''SuperTemps'' into its setting, and expanded upon it. And the ''I.S.T''. chapter of ''GURPS Y2K'' had detailed passages on supers using their powers for construction and other mundane occupations. And not-so-mundane UN-sponsored occupations, like weather control (to divert destructive hurricanes, alleviate drought, and so forth) and famine relief ("you can make plants grow? come with me!").
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