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* It may be quite limited, so as not to unbalance the show, like a [[Protective Charm]] or [[Upgrade Artifact]].
* If the powers [[How to Give A Character Super Powers|are more extensive]], the character may become a [[Superhero]], which may form the entire premise of a series.
* If the powers are near-omnipotent, then either it's a way of [[Ascend to
Being [[Touched
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]] -- again resulting in [[An Aesop]].
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* 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.
** This trope much better fits the way Flame Haze gain their powers, which is essentially through a contract with a god. In particular, Shana goes from a [[Badass Normal]] to a [[Playing
* Kurau from ''[[Kurau Phantom Memory]]'' gains immense powers, such as flying, phasing through walls and disintegrating matter, after merging with an [[Energy Beings|energy being]] called "Rynax". She also [[Blessed
* 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 [[Touched
** 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.
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* This is essentially how Sho Fukamachi became the [[Guyver]], though he never asked for the alien technology.
* In ''[[Tenjho Tenge]]'', certain characters possess powers known as "Red Feather Powers." In addition to giving certain characters supernatural abilities that put them on a level far above that of normal humans, these powers have an additional effect known as Resonance, which means that people with powers, latent or otherwise, are stimulated by proximity to other people with powers. This results in either causing people with latent abilities to suddenly awaken their powers or enhancing the powers of people who are already awakened. Furthermore, the more people involved in the resonance effect, the greater its range and potency. This aspect leads the [[Big Bad]] of the series to try and use the resonance effect to awaken the supernatural abilities of every person in the entire world.
* In ''[[
* [[Mahou Sensei Negima]] has numerous girls getting supernatural powers by way of a magical contract with Negi. At least those that didn't have powers to begin with.
* In ''[[
* 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 [[Touched
* 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.
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* Parodied by The Captain in ''[[Nextwave]]'' - he receives his [[Flying Brick|"generic superpowers"]] from a pair of aliens who find him as he drunkenly staggers home. Their message to him, "do great things." His first act with his new powers is to punch the aliens out. And then vomit on them.
** Hey, leprechauns are supposed to give you gold if you hit them!
* DC B-lister [[
* [[Green Lantern]] was given his powers (in the form of a ring) by a dying alien.
** They also gave GL Kyle the Ion power and transformed several other GLs into cyborgs called Alpha-Lanterns. Ganthet founded a Blue Lantern Corps for which he's recruiting. Sinestro got his yellow ring from another sort of aliens.
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* One of the major plot points of [[Cross Gen]]'s many [[Fan Nickname|Sigilverse]] comics is the rise of the Sigil-Bearers, who gain their power from a red and yellow mark bestowed by {{spoiler|Solusandra}} via this trope.
* Ultraman, an [[Mirror Universe|evil version of Superman]] was a normal human astronaut who, like Animal Man was put back together by aliens.
* [[X
* A number of the supers in [[Empowered (Comic Book)|Empowered]] gained their abilities through "contact" with aliens. Alien STDs interacting with humans = [[Hilarity Ensues]].
== Fanfic ==
* In [[
** Ranma early on commiserates that she's not quite a "non-magical" being any more given the changes that constant exposure to supernatural energies has wrought on her, not the least being her [[Rape
** It is shown that both Demons and Gods have used their method of achieving immortality to recruit mortals of random sentient species to their ranks. Currently, the target is human (and assorted subraces) since there aren't many other sentient species that aren't immortal. {{spoiler|and humans have recently stepped up to produce their own immortals}}
* The [[Music/Beatles|Beatles]] in ''[[
{{quote| '''Varx:''' I don't think we have a choice, Shag, unless you want half of our heroes feeling ''real'' inferior to the other half.}}
== Film ==
* In ''[[Indiana Jones and
** Or at least don't help them without specifying {{spoiler|how ''much'' knowledge}}. Be careful what you want, and all that good stuff.
* In ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]'', astronaut David Bowman gets captured by [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]], who cause him to [[Ascend to
* In the second installment of ''[[Fantastic Four (
* ''[[Attack of the 50 Foot Woman]]'' uses this to give the title character her size.
* [[The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension|Buckaroo Banzai]] is a relatively mild example. All the Black Lectroids do is give him the ability to see all Lectroids as they really are and the knowledge to create an antidote to their illusion disguise.
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== Literature ==
* ''[[
* ''[[Night Watch]]''
** Similar but not quite the same: Potential Others could discover their powers by interacting with Others who had already discovered their powers.
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* Being in the proximity of ''[[Warhammer]] ([[Warhammer 40000|40k]])'' Daemons is almost never a good idea. Unless, of course, you're on their side, and even that isn't all fun.
* 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 ''[[
* 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 climate -- with the nasty drawback that, once so adapted, any prolonged absence from the planet's surface (as little as a couple of days) ends with complete organ shutdown and death. Sean Shongili was further altered to be able to transform into a seal-like creature (The reason why isn't really explored to any depth)
* In [[Stephen King]]'s novella, ''[[Hearts in Atlantis
** 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.
** In another of [[Stephen King]]'s novels, ''[[The Tommyknockers]]'', an alien ship releases in the atmosphere a gas which gradually turns every inhabitant of a small town into [[Mad Scientist|amoral geniuses]], [[Only Sane Man|except for the hero]].
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** Tuor lived among Elves for the greater part of his life and married one; depending on which draft of Tolkien's work you read, it is implied that he too eventually became immortal. Other passages, however, state that the Valar can't take away mortality by making a being immortal because, in Tolkien's mythology, death is the ultimate gift. Therefore it's perfectly plausible that Tuor eventually died, even if his life was extended far past that of a normal human's.
** Most forms of awesomeness in Tolkien's mythology are contagious. The elves who hang out with the Valar are awesomer than the elves who don't, and the men who hang out with elves are awesomer than the men who don't. Some of this is simply a matter of learning skills and knowledge from them, but the elf-friends also tend to be taller, stronger, wiser, and ''much'' longer-lived. (Sadly, this doesn't stop some of the more High Elves from being total [[Jerkass|jerkasses.]])
* The main character in Sergey Lukyanenko's ''[[Labyrinth Of
** It should be noted that the novel came out in 1997, while ''[[The Matrix]]'' was premiered in 1999. Then again, both works can be seen as [[Spiritual Successor|spiritual successors]] to ''[[Tron]]''.
*** ''Actually'', Leonid becomes a progressively more delusional hikikomori due to his VR addiction, blurring the lines between reality, VR, and dreams, and making him an increasingly Unreliable Narrator. The sequel clearly reveals at least one major case of such mania and hints that there may have been more, much, much, more. Interestingly, the novel foreshadows RMT, MMO addiction, and Second Life.
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* In ''[[Blind Lake]]'', Tess becomes an [[Oracular Urchin]] due to being a subject of interest to the [[Starfish Alien]] she calls Mirror Girl. At the same time, the scientists at Blind Lake are studying an alien called Subject, who is fundamentally changed by the experience and effectively becomes "Touched By Humans".
* Happens to the pets of wizards in the ''[[Young Wizards]]'' series, by having wizardly energy leaked onto them. The powers gained can range from super strength to precognition to ''being able to create new universes''.
* Telzey Amberdon, of [[James H. Schmitz]]'s ''[[Federation of the Hub]]'', starts out with latent powers being awakened by aliens who need her to learn to communicate in a hurry. However, the learning process continues for longer than intended, eventually turning her into one of the most powerful telepaths we meet.
* In [[China Mieville]]'s ''[[
* Peter F. Hamilton's scary ''[[The Nights Dawn Trilogy
* In ''[[Journey to
* In ''Blue Light'' by Walter Mosley, a blue light comes from space and magically enhances anyone it comes into contact with. It makes them the best at what they are doing at the time.
* In ''The Featherbedders'' by Frank Herbert it's a reason why telepathic Slorin only rely on [[Metamorphosis|polymorphing]] to infiltrate societies they are parasiting upon.
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== Live Action TV ==
* This happens a few times in the [[
** During ''[[Star Trek:
** During ''[[Star Trek: Voyager
** This is how Wesley Crusher is given his final send off from TNG.
*** If you believe the [[Star Trek Nemesis|movie that didn't exist]] apparently [[Unexplained Recovery|he gets better]] and re-joins Starfleet.
** This happens in the second pilot of ''[[Star Trek:
*** This is just a repeat of what happened before, when a pre-Federation ship ended up in the Barrier, causing one of the crewmembers to gain godlike abilities and forcing the captain to self-destruct the ship.
** In the ''[[Star Trek:
** [[Star Trek]] loves this trope. [[Butt Monkey|Lieutenant Barclay]] (temporarily) gets an IQ in the thousands after an encounter with a Cytherian probe in ''The Nth Degree.''
* The [[Trope Namer]] would be commercial telepath Lyta Alexander of ''[[Babylon 5]]'', who disappeared after the events of the [[Pilot Movie]], only to reappear in season three, vastly empowered by the Vorlons. Before, she was a P5 rating (on a scale of 0, non-telepath, to 12, the Psi Cops), but afterward she's just plain off the scale. She says later that she thinks she was made to be the Vorlons' ace in the hole.
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** On the opposite side were Bester's "weapons components," rogue telepaths that Earth sold to the Shadows in exchange for powerful technology, whom the Shadows modified to be living computer cores.
*** and the Techno-mages, who {{spoiler|were originally created by the Shadows}}.
** An earlier example is Talia Winters, Lyta's [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute|replacement who eventually got replaced by her again]]: {{spoiler|her old mentor and lover Ironheart [[Ascend to
* Cordelia began ''[[
* ''[[
** Anubis; the guy tricks himself into ascension, the Ancients are ticked off at this and pretty much kick him out of ascendedness, but leave him as an unkillable energy being with all the knowledge he had gained. Granted, he had some limitations on what he could do, but he could pretty much run over anyone in his way.
** The Priors are all humans or Jaffa that are empowered by the Ori.
** What about Weir? She was infused with replicator nanites and gained some of their abilities; namely, rapid regeneration (we're talking about ''brain damage'' here!), limited telepathy versus other replicators as well as the ability to mentally hack into their wireless network.
* The premise of ''[[The 4400]]'' is that 4400 people have been abducted by people of the future, altered to have special abilities, and returned all at the same time and place. Each returnee demonstrates one [[Stock Super Powers|unique ability]] (some have not yet been manifested or revealed).
* In series 1 of ''[[Doctor Who]]'', Captain Jack Harkness is exterminated by Daleks but resurrected by the Time Vortex-empowered Rose. In the spinoff series ''[[
** Likewise, Donna in the season four finale "Touched a Time Lord" (well, his hand at least) and got super vast intellect {{spoiler|which got taken away thanks to [[Victory-Guided Amnesia]] lest her [[Your Head Asplode|brain go all asplody]] afterwards}}.
** In new Series 6, we get {{spoiler|River Song. Her parents (Amy and Rory) are human, but she ends up being part Time Lord because she was conceived on the TARDIS}}.
* The [[Big Good]] {{spoiler|Jacob}} and the [[Big Bad]] {{spoiler|The Smoke Monster}} of ''[[
* ''[[The Twilight Zone]]'' had Luther Dingle. Martians want to test a gadget that gives humans super strength, so they use it on Dingle, who quickly lets his new power go to his head. The Martians take away his power after he starts to abuse it and begin to leave, only to meet some Venusians looking for a human test subject for their intelligence enhancer. The Martians helpfully point them to Mr. Dingle…
* In ''[[Threshold]]'', people exposed to the Alien signal gain superhuman strength, resilience, and the desire to infect others. [[Your Head Asplode|Or they die]].
* In a way, the demons of ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]''. They were [[Was Once a Man|once human]] souls that were twisted in hell (The first one turned by Lucifer himself) and became what could be described as Uber-Ghosts.
== Religion ==
* [[Older Than Feudalism]]: Happens pretty often in ''[[
** The most notable Old Testament example would be Moses, who after talking to God through a [[Incendiary Exponent|burning bush]], gained the power to turn his staff into a cobra, turn the Nile to blood, summon swarms of locusts, and blot out the sun.
** Anyone from the book of Judges could be seen as touched.
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== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[
** The fourth edition has the Warlock class which, are usually described as having made a [[Deal
** [[
** ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' after Time of Troubles has "Touched mages" -- wizards who agreed to perform for the goddes of magic (but ''don't'' need to be Mystra's faithful) a "little" service -- help to erase a dead-magic zone, drop a "funny" surprise on local Cult of the Dragon cell and so on. They receive a temporary granted power (which may change mid-quest). When the mission is complete and this power vanishes, the wizard is left with a little, but useful spell-like ability (like Feather Fall or Light at will) and is a bit less vulnerable to one school of spells. Naturally, this also stimulates the faith more often than not.
** Overexposure to raw magic/eldritch energy can also result in a disease known as Warp Touch, 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
** 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 think humans are wonderfully delicious, this [[Blessed
*** Which is when the Commissar ability "It's For Your Own Good!" comes into play...
* ''[[
** In both ''[[
** The Imbued of ''[[
** The changelings of ''[[
* [[Rifts]] has the [[Munchkin|Cosmo Knight]], people with [[Aladdin (Disney film)|phenomenal cosmic power]] granted by a mysterious artifact/being called the Cosmic Forge.
== Video Games ==
* [[Player Character|Commander Shepard]] of ''[[
** Also Saren, who was exposed to the same Prothean artifacts. {{spoiler|Not to mention the Reaper tech he was implanted with}}
** In the third game, {{spoiler|it's revealed that the asari as a whole were uplifted by the protheans so that they would be the current cycle's best chance against the Reapers. [[Deconstructed Trope|Unfortunately,]] the asari instead chose to hide their prothean tech and laud their supposed advancement over the other races, [[Hypocrite|even as the Citadel Council required other races (like humanity) to turn over prothean tech that]] ''[[Hypocrite|they]]'' [[Hypocrite|found.]] }}
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* Jak from ''[[Jak and Daxter]]'' is blessed with Light Eco abilities by the Precursors, god-like figures of his world. While his [[Super-Powered Evil Side|Dark Eco powers]] were a result of being experimented on by [[Evil Overlord|Baron Praxis]], the Precursors help him to gain control of them.
* [[Blaz Blue|Ragna the Bloodedge]] gained his powers {{spoiler|by fusing with the remains of the [[Eldritch Abomination|Black Beast]].}}
* ''[[
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
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== Western Animation ==
* Hilariously Parodied in an episode of ''[[
** From a cannon.
* ''[[
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