What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Difference between revisions

Good writers can make this [[Inverse Law of Utility and Lethality|work for a character]]. They may have a power (such as it is), but it's not the ''real'' reason they're in the group. Some characters end up being [[The Heart]] (the social and moral compass), [[The Face]] (diplomat and spokesperson), [[The Smart Guy]] or the [[Badass Normal]]. Often said character is [[The Captain]] -- superpowers would be just a tiny bonus to his real ability: [[Magnetic Hero|leadership]]. [[The Captain]] tends to be specifically written to have ''no'' superpowers, in fact.

 

 

There are a number of ways to fix this. If the character [[Joke Character|still seems ridiculously underpowered]], they can still be [[Rescued From the Scrappy Heap]] by [[Re-Power|giving them additional powers]] or responsibilities. A common method is to have the [[Magikarp Power|the character suddenly "evolve" to a higher power level]]. [[Weak but Skilled]] characters might take advantage of the [[Required Secondary Powers]]. [[Heart Is an Awesome Power|Maybe there ARE more potential uses for this power]], it's just that the writers have somehow ignored them this far. Sometimes the character will uncover a devastating new use and become the dreaded [[Lethal Joke Character]]. Maybe there's a trade off; for instance, powerful beings tend to look freaky, while those with more subtle powers look normal and are better able to deal with mundane society. The easiest device is to just crank out a good old [[Plot Tailored to The Party]], so that the character can make his seemingly useless superpower seem useful. In fact, characters who do nothing but gripe about their uselessness in battle might be a sign of bad writing. Couldn't they just carry a gun?

 

 

Often the result of overdoing [[Cast Speciation]]. Easier to take in a [[Heroes Unlimited]] series, where not every character has to be in every episode. For Video Games, compare [[Spoony Bard]] and [[Power-Up Letdown]]; see also [[Crippling Overspecialization]].

 

 

For the (sometimes classified as [[Elemental Powers|elemental]]) power of Heart (or Love) itself, see [[The Power of Love]]. Compare [[The Team Normal]] and [[Story-Breaker Team-Up]]. Contrast [[Heart Is an Awesome Power]] and [[Lethal Harmless Powers]] when these abilities are used more... ''creatively''. See also the [[Inverse Law of Complexity to Power]], which states that the broader a power is the more potent it is (and which often isn't used at the same time as this trope).

{{quote| '''Adam:''' I'm a frog.<br />

'''Dulcea:''' Yes, a frog! Like the one you kiss ''*kisses Adam*'' and get a handsome prince. }}

** In the series, Adam certainly doesn't fall behind the others, though. In fact, the Frog Zord's ability to breathe fire and release dozens of mini-Frog Zords that surround and shock your opponent make it a ''lot'' more powerful than the ones that are reduced to biting, despite being based on cooler animals. All that ''and'' getting to kiss [[Ms. Fanservice|Dulcea]]? Adam got a hell of a deal.

* Deconstructed in [[Sky High]], where the [[Start Of Evil]] for the [[Big Bad]] was that she was a Technopath before that became a well respected superpower, so she was relegated to sidekick, unable to show how powerful she really was. The deciding factor for whether one is a Hero or sidekick? The coach, based on his first and only impression. More generally, the sidekicks' powers tend to fall under this, with plenty of "heroes" who contribute little.

* Stringfellow Hawke from ''[[Airwolf]]'' has super-hearing (possibly equal to or greater than his dog), which only comes in useful in that no-one can sneak up on him.

* Subverted in an episode of ''[[House (TV)|House]]''; a patient who at first appears to have the amazingly useful power of perfect memory recall is later discovered to suffer from OCD and is actually incapable of forgetting bad memories and grudges.

* ''[[Misfits]]'' likes this, although several of them prove to be much more useful once they get used to them. But Alisha's power is to [[Power Incontinence|uncontrollably]] make any guy who touches her try to have sex with her. {{spoiler|Nikki's}} ability to teleport would be good if she could control when it happened or where she went, but as is, is nothing but a liability. The girl who can make people go bald. Still, all of them pale beside the guy whose "power" is to mentally become a dog. This brings no enhanced abilities at all, and is basically just an especially embarassing form of sleepwalking (ie naked and impersonating a dog whilst running around the streets of London).

* Played with in ''[[Merlin (TV)|Merlin]]'' with Morgana's [[Dreaming of Things to Come|precognitive dreams]]. For a long time she doesn't understand them, and it's up to Merlin and Gaius to heed their warnings, whilst everyone else treats her as [[The Cassandra]]. In later episodes she understands them, but can't do anything to prevent them from unfolding (as in her [[Flash Forward]] dream to Guinevere being crowned Queen). If she ''does'' take action, they usually turn into a [[Self-Fulfilling Prophecy]].

== Tabletop Games ==

* In the tongue-in-cheek roleplaying game ''[[In Nomine Satanis Magna Veritas (Tabletop Game)|In Nomine Satanis Magna Veritas]]'' (American Tropers might better know its [[Darker and Edgier]] remake, ''[[In Nomine (Tabletop Game)|In Nomine]]''), character powers are assigned at random from a rather long list. If you're lucky, you can wind up with lightning bolts, holy dancing swords, mind control or even limited time travel. If you're ''not'' lucky, you're going to be the guy on the team who can control molluscs, or whose "power" is to have materialized on Earth in the body of a famous rock star (considering most scenarios involve [[The Masquerade|discreet investigations among Muggles]], this is all kinds of [[Blessed With Suck]]). There's also the unbalance of domain powers, granted by the Archangel/Demon Prince you serve (and by extension, the virtue/sin they embody). Again, some of those are powerful - petrification, turning people into pillars of salt, nightmare curses... but lust demons get [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|Deadly Orgasm]], which while [[Rule of Cool|somewhat awesome]] ([[Squick|YMMV]]) is not exactly useful in a fight. Meanwhile, sloth demons get a power which makes any physical exertion impossible to anyone in a 100m radius...demon included. Not to be outdone in the lameness department, some angels get the power to ''speed up crop growth''.

** At least now we have an explaination for that [[Ghostbusters|sponge migration]].

* In ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'', the School of Divination gets this treatment sometimes. After all, knowing about stuff doesn't seem to be as cool as throwing fireballs. More experienced players are all too happy to demonstrate how the ability to [[Genre Savvy|legitimately metagame]] beats the ability to set stuff on fire 9 times out of 10.

* ''[[Terror Island]]'''s [http://www.terrorisland.net/strips/130.html Obvious Dentist]. His power is that [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|everybody knows he's a dentist.]]

** He's not, but everyone knows he is all the same.

* Parodied in ''[[Xkcd (Webcomic)|Xkcd]]'': [http://xkcd.com/1010/ Etymology-Man.] It actually notes that, ironically, even Aquaman would be more useful in those circumstances.

 

* The [[Animutation]] ''[[Colin Mochrie vs. Jesus H Christ (Web Animation)|French Erotic Film]]'' by [[Andrew Kepple]], where various animutation characters contribute elements and finally "spleen!" -- with "What kind of lame-ass power is 'Heart' anyway?" written in the background.

* The flash animation by Egoraptor ''[[Girlchan in Paradise]]'' has Maytag, a woman with a price gun. Nobody seems to see this power as physically dangerous, yet everyone keeps reiterating they have no idea how to beat such a power, and The Green Guy comes to the conclusion {{spoiler|he has to use a suicide attack and blow himself up with her}}.

** On the other hand, plenty of Whateley Academy kids stay lame. Lightweight has the ability to make an object weigh five pounds less. Glass has the ability to turn transparent. Not invisible, just transparent. Bluescreen has the ability to mess up some electronics. Hoarder has the powers of... the hamster!

** Basically the entire school club The Underdogs is made of kids in this category. Kamuro can shoot sparks out of her hands. Not lightning blasts or anything dangerous. Just sparks. And don't ask about Miasma.

 

== Western Animation ==

** Of course, this is only in the context of the show - being able to conjure fire of any size at any distance without need for fuel would not only allow him to create free limitless energy (which would have made him far more effective at stopping people cutting down trees, drilling for oil or mining for coal by simply making it completely pointless than anything Captain Planet could do), but if used appropriately, it would make him infinitely more powerful than any of the others, as he isn't limitted by material, making Wheeler more a case of [[Reed Richards Is Useless]]

*** Well, Mati could use his Mind Control to forcefully take over the Heroes including Wheeler and become an Egoconscious Tyrant of the World.

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edDGGenzxmw&feature=related This guy] has super strength. He worked as a smith in England during 70's but he uses now to... crack nuts with his fingers!

* A documentary aired on the Discovery channel that examined people with savant syndrome and super-human memory featured a man who, after being struck by a softball at a young age, gained the ability to remember the day of the week and the weather conditions of any date following the incident. His crime-fighting career has yet to take off.

* Jaqueline Priestman could change TV channels whitout touching a remote or the TV because her body had a larger than normal voltage.

* Some people have more taste buds on their tongue than most people, making them "supertasters." Their power is disliking foods that are very sour or bitter.

[[Category:Magic and Powers]]

[[Category:What Kind Of Lame Power Is Heart Anyway]]