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{{trope}}
[[File:
In fiction it's very common that a character's life drastically changes after they get superpowers. The first thing most people do (after dealing with the person bullying them throughout act 1), is strap on their shiniest [[The Cape (trope)|cape]] or nicest [[Kick the Dog|dog-kicking boots]] and become the local hero or villain. That's not the life for this character, though.
When this character gets superpowers, the first thing they do is... not much. They use their powers to marginally improve their lives, and simply do what they feel like. They don't care about the typical [[Good vs. Evil]] struggle [[The Call Knows Where You Live|(unless their mother gets kidnapped by the Evil League of Evil, or is staked by the local Knight Templar)]]. Their behavior is probably how most ordinary people would act if they got superpowers. They aren't particularly mean, nor especially kind. They are just ordinary people given extraordinary powers. Often this is how characters in shows on the center-right side of the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]] act before the plot shows up.
If there are other characters that have chosen to become heroes or villains, they (more often than not) will tell this character that they are either [[You Could Have Used Your Powers for Good|selfish or wasting their potential]].
While plot-wise most characters are given superpowers for the purpose of beating up other guys with superpowers, this kind of characters can be used in [[Slice of Life]] situations and make a plot interesting without an antagonist that must be beaten.
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Opposite trope of [[Comes Great Responsibility]]. Related to [[Cut Lex Luthor a Check]] and [[Chaotic Neutral]] (They tend to do whatever they want).
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[Dragonball Z]]''. While Future Android 18 is definitively a very evil villain, Present Android 18 uses her powers only for personal gain and fun. She more often than not only cares about monetary gain, and hardly ever gets involved in the [[Good vs. Evil]] struggle.
* In ''[[
* Nao from ''[[
* When Makoto in ''[[The Girl Who Leapt Through Time]]'' discovers that she has the ability to, well, leap backward in time, she uses it almost entirely for things like singing karaoke for ten straight hours and having a dinner she likes instead of one she doesn't. On the other hand, the more significant the change she makes to the timeline, the more it tends to backfire on her dramatically. Both of the two other characters in the film who have experience with time travel separately say that it's a good thing that she used the ability almost exclusively for small things.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* Peter Parker, at first. It was only after a thief he could have stopped killed his uncle that he [[Trope Namer|named]] [[Comes Great Responsibility|the opposite trope]] and became ''[[Spider
** Something akin to this was invoked, however, in a short story about Spider-man as if Stan Lee had never existed. The moral becomes "With great power comes hot chicks and money from wrestling".
* The entirety of [[
== Fan Works ==
* The four practically define this trope in ''[[
* The trope name is uttered almost word-for-word by [[Ranma ½
{{quote|"With great power comes great responsibility, not to mention fringe benefits."}}
:Lest you think Sharp was referencing the trope name, the passage in question was written in ''1999'', which just might make it the [[Trope Namer]].
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== Films ==
* In ''[[Bruce Almighty]]'': After Bruce got the powers of God, he immediately began to use them for fun, to improve his romantic life, and to become more successful as a reporter.
* In ''[[Jumper (
* In ''[[What Women Want]]'', the main character got the power to read minds thanks to lightning. He uses these powers to improve himself on dates, to bond with his daughter, and manipulate women.
** He also uses it to be better at his job, by stealing ideas from his boss and female coworkers.
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== Literature ==
* The [[Faust]] legend, and how it's depicted in ''[[
** And also there are [[Those Two Guys|his apprentices]], who use his magic books for even wackier shenanigans.
* In ''[[Wearing the Cape]]'' even the superheroes are working for big paychecks, and the more successful ones are idolized, with their own merchandise lines, fan-clubs, even TV shows fictionalizing their adventures. This doesn't mean they're ''all'' in it for the
* In ''The Scent Of Magic'' by Cliff McNish, when one girl gets magic all she does is read a book by the light of her spells shining from her eyes.
== Live Action TV ==
* At the start of ''[[No Ordinary Family]]'' only the father wants to be a superhero. The mother uses her [[Super Speed]] to get her chores done and is more interested in the scientific implications. The son uses his super learning to get good grades in school and the daughter uses her telepathy to find out if a guy is a jerk.
* Merlin in ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' uses his magic to do his chores in several episodes.
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* In ''[[Trinity Universe (
* Likewise, in the ''Paragons'' setting for ''[[Mutants and Masterminds]]'', you'll get just as many heroes who use their powers for personal fun times as do for altruistic aims. One sample NPC is Gourmand, who has the ability to teleport anywhere on Earth... and uses it to visit her favorite out-of-the-way restaurants across the globe (the fact that she has Immunities to gastric distress and weight gain help).
== [[Web Comics]] ==
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== [[Web Original]] ==
* Cecilia Rogers of the [[Whateley Universe]] can control fabric. She could become another [[Read or Die
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes
** [[Zig
** Subverted by Wasp. She starts out following this pattern, then got bored and decided to convince Hank Pym that they should become superheroes.
* In ''[[The Simpsons (
** Except that [[Subverted Trope|they both become superheroes instead]].
* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
** Also a minority fan theory about cutie marks. Common fanon holds that a pony's cutie mark is what they're good at, full stop, and everything else is mediocre at best. The alternative theory is that each mark has a key talent, plus a whole host of [[Required Secondary Powers]] which have applications far outside the specific domain of the mark-represented talent.
** There is also that the specific example doesn't really apply for this trope -- ''every unicorn in Equestria'' (i.e., approximately one-third of the entire population) has telekinesis. It's a generic racial trait for unicorns. Rarity's only distinction is that she's highly skilled at using it for precise manipulation... and that's simply because she's spent more time than average practicing that particular skill.
* [[Phineas and Ferb]] are pretty much boy geniuses, capable of making anything, even if it defies logic, time and indeed, physics. Mostly this is used for their own amusement. Some examples: [[Humungous Mecha]] used for their treehouses and cold-fusion reactors used to power a merry-go-round.
** Admittedly, they've shown a couple instances of averting this trope: they once became a superhero called "The Beak", used their inventions to fight off an evil army of robots, and they made their city's water reservoir (it was originally a giant bath-tub.)
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[[Category:Hedonism Tropes]]
[[Category:Magic and Powers]]
[[Category:Power]]
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