Touched by Vorlons: Difference between revisions
m
clean up
m (update links) |
m (clean up) |
||
Line 9:
* If the powers are near-omnipotent, then either it's a way of [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence|writing the character out of the show without killing them off]] (they generally cease to be concerned with mere human troubles), or they cannot remain with the group because they are too powerful, or else the power is given to the character only for a short time, often just a single episode. The character learns [[An Aesop]] about [[Comes Great Insanity|having]] [[Comes Great Responsibility|power]].
Being
Less frequently, this trope may be reversed and a supernatural being (possibly The [[Great Gazoo]], if it's being played for comedy more than drama) [[Brought Down to Normal|loses his powers]]
Closely related to [[Super Empowering]]. See also [[He Who Fights Monsters]].
Line 23:
** Aizen uses the Hougyoku to create artificially-boosted arrancar at levels mock-arrancar in the past haven't naturally been able to reach. {{spoiler|He also uses it to, in his personal belief, break the boundary between the shinigami and divine (although Urahara and Ichigo between them suggest he might have mistinterpreted what happened to him). The small print behind the Hougyoku does actually say that it's only capable of manifesting desires that already have the potential to be achieved without the Hougyoku's involvement.}}
* In [[Hunter X Hunter]], [[Functional Magic|Nen ability]] can be gained by a process called Nen Baptism, which is basically direct exposure to Nen by a Nen user. The other method is through [[Religion Is Magic|meditation and prayer]], and can take years.
* ''[[Naruto]]'''s father seals part of a legendary and evil monster's soul into Naruto. A seal that leaks some of the monster's energy for him to use. Lots of demon chakra proves to be really good ([[Spam Attack|spell spam]], [[Healing Factor]], stamina, [[Super Mode]]) and really bad (failing vital techniques due to chakra overload, wanting to tear everything apart with your energy claws in [[Super Mode]], all that [[Torches and Pitchforks|bad stigma]] for housing what killed loved ones, potentially being a ticking time bomb, and the stigma of being a ticking time bomb whether you are or not). Using said chakra to help in the butt-kicking of genocidal
* In [[Code Geass]], Immortals can give people Geass, which manifests differently with each person. [[Mysterious Waif|CC]] gives main character [[Magnificent Bastard|Lelouch]] the ability to make people [[Mind Control|obey him absolutely]].
* In ''[[Shakugan no Shana]]'', Shana becomes increasingly powerful when Yuji is near her, leading to her ability to fly using flame wings.
Line 30:
* In ''[[Doctor Slump]]'', {{spoiler|Senbei and Midori's toddler son, Turbo}} gets [[Psychic Powers]] when he's accidentally killed, then resurrected, by aliens who don't quite grok human biology.
* In ''[[Transformers Energon]]'', the human boy Kicker (Yes, Kicker. Is it any wonder he hates his father?) had a run-in with Primus earlier in his life that gave him the ability to sense Energon, which basically turns him into a walking [[MacGuffin]]. This makes him all angsty and stuff.
* Basically, every supernatural being in ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi]]'', meaning espers, aliens and time-travelers have been
** That's only one possibility and we haven't gotten a definite answer.
*** Aliens and time-travelers may be debatable, but espers certainly apply. Koizumi outrightly states that he knows his powers came from Haruhi. And if you don't trust him ([[Consummate Liar|which you probably shouldn't]]), in ''Dissociation'', {{spoiler|Kyoko Tachibana, the esper girl, is sure her powers came from Sasaki}}. Different vorlons, same situation.
Line 40:
* In ''[[Baccano!]]'', a number of eighteenth century alchemists [[Deal with the Devil|summon a demon]] to grant them [[Immortality]]. The demon complies, tossing in the extra of being able to kill other immortals and [[Ghost Memory|steal their memories]], mostly for the the [[Hilarity Ensues|inevitable lulzy results]] of [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|giving twenty quarreling people stuck on a boat a reason and the means to kill each other]]. He is not disappointed.
* Near the end of ''[[Hellsing]]'', it turns out that the Doctor created Millenium's "vampires" by {{spoiler|infusing people with tiny bits of the corpse of Mina Harker, one of Alucard's aka Dracula's past victims, who survived and died as a human but still carried some of his power inside herself. So all of Millenium's vampires were Touched By Alucard.}} Small wonder that none of them really stood a chance against him.
* In [[Digimon Adventure]] and its sequel, nearly all the original Digidestined were children who had been present personally for a massive battle between two Digimon, and the majority of the others seem to have witnessed the battle that took place on the internet. This seems to suggest that the only way to get a VIP pass into the [[Cyberspace|Digital World]] is by being
* This was [[Fan Disservice|played for horror]] in ''[[Berserk]]'', when {{spoiler|Femto viciously raped Casca, who was pregnant with she and her lover Guts's child at the time. The baby was at first developing as a normal human in the womb, but when the fetus came in contact with Femto's demonic essence, it became [[The Grotesque|deformed]] and took on [[Fetus Terrible|a nature of evil]], and was eventually miscarried due to the trauma Casca endured. However, due to it being a supernatural being born between worlds, the Child survived and continued to linger around its parents, [[Love Redeems|actually helping]] and [[Parents in Distress|protecting them]].}}
** In retrospect, all Apostle Spawns are created this way, since an Apostle can taint a normal human's life with their demonic powers.
Line 94:
* In Karen Miller's book ''[[Godspeaker Trilogy|Empress]]'', main character Hekat dedicates herself to the (uncapitalized)god and uses her perceived holiness as unquestioned justification for such niceties as murder, rape, more murder, child abuse, mass murder, power-and-land-grabbing, baby murder, the exile of her child and any people who disagree with her, the [[Lolita]]-licious public banging of a fifty year old man when she's twelve or thirteen, and murderous racism.
* In the ''[[Xanth]]'' book ''The Source Of Magic'', the demon Xanth (the titular source) thanks Bink for freeing him - even though Bink [[Honor Before Reason|knew Xanth probably would fly the coop and take all Xanth's magic with him]] - by ensuring that every one of his direct descendants would have a Magician-class talent. (So, in a sense, Bink's ''kids'' were touched).
* In [[Anne McCaffrey]]'s ''[[Petaybee]]'' series: Most of Petaybee's population over a certain age had been modified by the planet, itself, to live comfortably on the planet's sub-Arctic
* In [[Stephen King]]'s novella, ''[[Hearts in Atlantis|Low Men In Yellow Coats]]'' (Adapted into a film named for the anthology in which the story appeared, ''Hearts in Atlantis''), anyone Ted touches gains his psychic abilities, at least temporarily.
** When the character turns up later in the final [[Dark Tower]] book, we find out not only can he temporarily give a normal person psychic powers, but is also able to exponentially boost the power of someone who was already psychic.
Line 169:
* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''
** The fourth edition has the Warlock class which, are usually described as having made a [[Deal with the Devil|deal with a fiend]] or a [[Eldritch Abomination|lovecraftian entity from the stars]], but sometimes are described as this trope, especially if their powers were granted by [[The Fair Folk]]
** [[Eberron]] provides an entire race
** ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' after Time of Troubles has "Touched mages"
** ''Book of vile Darkness'' (D&D 3.5) introduced a disease known as Warp Touch, a result of overexposure to raw magic/eldritch energy, which may result in the development of all sorts of [[Red Right Hand]] attributes...unless the 1d100 roll is a critical failure, in which case the victim simply [[Body Horror|melts into a puddle of goo.]]
* Never, ever a good thing in ''[[Warhammer 40000]]''. Partly because you're liable to get [[Burn the Witch|nailed to a stick and purged with flame]] if you get touched by any alien... or listen to them... or look at them (unless through a gun sight)... or live in the same general area as someone who looked at them... and Emperor help you if someone on your planet was engaged in a Chaos Cult.
** Played more straight with Astropaths, a class of Psyker and the main means of interstellar communication in the setting. In order to survive sending messages through [[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place|the Warp]] they undergo the Soul Binding, exposing them for a brief second to the mind of the God-Emperor. As a result, their eyes burn out, leaving them blind.
** Aside from the [[Eldritch Abomination|Chaos Gods,]] there's also the [[Physical God|C'tan]], [[Blessed with Suck|Psykers]], and [[Abusive Precursors|the Eldar Gods]]. In general, getting
** Psykers in general are described as being "those touched by the warp." Since the Warp is home to a variety of [[Eldritch Abomination|Chaos Gods and daemons]] who tend to think humans taste delicious, this [[Blessed with Suck|isn't a good thing.]]
*** Which is when the Commissar ability "It's For Your Own Good!" comes into play...
| |||