Tropes about powers and mystical abilities accessible to characters. Take a look at the article on Magic and consider what it is; some claim it's usually a kind of Applied Phlebotinum.
Tropes
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Sub-categories and trope indexes
- Antagonist Abilities: Magic and powers that are often used by villains for evil.
- Body Snatcher
- Disability Superpower: A handicapped person has some special powers that make them more capable in certain areas than other people.
- Elemental Powers: The ability to control and manipulate a specific natural element.
- Elemental Speed
- Flying Tropes: The ability to float and soar through the air.
- Glowing Eyes: A character's eyes glow as a shorthand for power.
- Immortality: Various ways that immortal characters are able to cheat death.
- Invisibility Index: The power to become completely unseen to the naked eye.
- Liminal Time
- Meta Power: Powers that influence or impact other powers.
- Mind Control: The power to mess with other people's free will, forcing them to obey you or behave in certain ways.
- The Needless: The ability to survive without needing certain things that normal beings are required to have to continue living (i.e., sleeping, eating, drinking, or breathing).
- Power Makeover: Someone's appearance changes to show that they have become more powerful.
- Price of Power Index: Some forms of magic or powers come with a great personal cost for the user.
- Psychic Index: Magic and powers that are directly controlled by one's mind or thoughts.
- Ranged Energy Attack Tropes: The power to fire out bursts of energy like a ranged weapon in combat.
- Rebirth and Reincarnation Tropes
- Resurrection Tropes: The power to bring the dead back to life.
- Sealed Index in a Can: Imprisoning another being through supernatural methods.
- Seers: These people have mystical powers to see into the future or contact the spiritual world.
- Shapeshifting: The (in)voluntary ability to change and transform one's body into something different.
- Spell Construction
- Stock Superpowers Index: A list of specific types of common magical and/or superhuman abilities.
- Summoned Index: The power to call upon someone or something to appear and aid you.
- Teleportation Tropes: The power to instantly appear in another location without actually physically moving towards it.
- This Index Has Magic Properties: Enchanted objects and other things that are supernatural in nature.
- This Index Is Cursed: Malicious spells and magical things that will cause supernatural misfortune for anyone affected by it.
- This Index Will Live Forever: The power of immortality, or the inability to experience (natural) death.
- Time Travel Tropes: The power to instantly go backwards into the past or forwards into the future.
- Wishing Tropes: When someone's personal desires become reality through magical methods.
- Witches and Wizards: All kinds of characters who are able to use magic.
Types of magic and powers
- Adaptive Ability: The power to adapt to harmful things once experienced.
- Alchemy Is Magic: Alchemy is treated as a form of magic.
- All-Accessible Magic: Magic that is not innate and can be learned by anybody.
- Animate Dead: Raising the dead.
- Animorphism: Turning into animals.
- Anti-Magic: A power that negates other powers.
- Anti-True Sight: A being who is immune to True Sight.
- Armor-Piercing Attack: An attack that armor can't protect you from.
- Art Attacker: Fighting with art.
- Art Initiates Life: Art that comes to life.
- The Assimilator: Assimilating others into oneself.
- Astral Projection: Your spirit being able to move while your body is unconscious.
- Atomic Superpower: Powers over nuclear radiation.
- Aura Vision: Seeing auras.
- Banishing Ritual: A ritual to banish a dangerous being.
- Barrier Warrior: Fighting with barriers, not just for self-defense.
- Biomanipulation: The power to manipulate living things.
- Black and White Magic: One who uses offensive magic and one who uses healing.
- Black Magic: Magic that is treated as evil.
- Blessing: A supernatural gift bestowed by a supernatural being that is usually divine.
- Blood Magic: Magic powered by blood.
- Bond Creatures: An animal is spiritually bonded with a human, which may give them extra power.
- Born of Magic: Magic used to create a living being.
- Call on Me: The power to appear when summoned by name.
- Chain Lightning: A form of lightning attack that jumps between multiple targets.
- Combat Clairvoyance: Predicting your enemy's attacks by reading the future.
- Combined Energy Attack: An attack powered by the combined energy of multiple people.
- Combo Platter Powers: A counter-intuitive or random combination of superpowers.
- Compact Infiltrator: A character with a power or trait that allows them to sneak through small holes and narrow passageways.
- Containment Field: A barrier that prevents something from leaving.
- Curse: Supernatural misfortune placed upon a target, typically for breaking a boundary or taboo.
- Detect Evil: The ability to detect the presence of evil.
- Disability-Negating Superpower: Superpowers that cancel out a character's physical disability.
- Disciplines of Magic: Different forms of magic that do different things.
- Dispel Magic: Magic that removes other magic.
- Domain Holder: Dictating the rules and logic of a location or universe.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Seeing the future through dreams.
- Electronic Telepathy: Communicating telepathically through a Brain/Computer Interface.
- Elemental Absorption: A person with Elemental Powers absorbs or redirects their element, instead of producing or attacking with it.
- Elemental Punch: A punch attack charged with Elemental Powers.
- Emotion Bomb: Mind Control that allows you to inflict emotions.
- Emotional Powers: Powers that are controlled or heavily influenced by the emotions of the user.
- Emotion Eater: A character feeds on emotions.
- The Empath: Feeling the emotions of others.
- Empathic Healer: The ability to heal other people's wounds by taking it onto themselves.
- Energy Absorption: Absorbing energy from others to use for yourself.
- Energy Ball: A bolt of pure energy fired as an attack.
- Energy Donation: Giving energy to others for them to use.
- Entropy and Chaos Magic: Magic based on probability and destruction, often being very dangerous.
- Familial Body Snatcher: A Body Snatcher who can only possess their own relatives.
- Feel No Pain: A person doesn't feel pain.
- Fireballs: Launching projectiles made of fire.
- Food-Based Superpowers: Powers based around food.
- Forced Sleep: Magically inducing sleep.
- Full-Contact Magic: Magic cast using physical attacks.
- Functional Magic: Magic that actually works.
- Fusion Dance: Two or more people merge together into a single being.
- Geas: A magical compulsion that must be fulfilled or the person will be doomed.
- Geometric Magic: Channeling magic through drawing special symbols and shapes.
- Glamour: Using magic to create a more attractive illusion.
- Harem-Powered: Receiving powers from your harem.
- Hellfire: Fire powers with demonic connections.
- Henshin Hero: Gaining powers through a transformation.
- Hermetic Magic
- Hollywood Dreamtime: The Australian Aboriginal concept of the "Dreamtime", typically presented inaccurately.
- Hollywood Voodoo: Voodoo is portrayed as a form of Black Magic.
- Holy Hand Grenade: Weaponizing holy/light powers.
- Identity Absorption: Absorbing someone's identity through fusion.
- I Know What You Fear: The ability that helps someone discover what people fear.
- I Know Your True Name: True names have significance and can be utilized within magic.
- I See Dead People: Seeing the dead.
- Imagination-Based Superpower: Powers focused around utilizing the imagination.
- Immune to Mind Control: A character is unable to fall under any sort of Mind Manipulation.
- Intangibility: The ability to phase through solid material.
- Invisibility: A person has the power to become invisible.
- Invisible Means Undodgeable: When a being is invisible, people will always bump into them by accident.
- Involuntary Dance: A victim being forced to dance.
- Ki Manipulation: Manipulating Life Energy, typically in combat.
- Kill One, Others Get Stronger: If you kill one member of a group, the rest of the team will become more powerful to make up for their lost member.
- Language of Magic: Spells are cast through speaking in another language.
- Life Drinker: An immortal character that maintains said immortality by absorbing the life force of others.
- Living Battery: A sentient being is used as fuel for magical or technological purposes.
- Living Lie Detector: Character can tell if someone is lying.
- Made of Phlebotinum
- Magical Counterfeiting: Making fake money with magic.
- Magical Eye: Magic powers that come from one's eye(s).
- A Magic Contract Comes with a Kiss: Magic contracts are sealed with a kiss.
- Magic Eater: Consuming magic or magical beings.
- Magic Fire: Fire has magical properties.
- Magic Kiss: Kissing has magical effects.
- Magic Enhancement: Enhancing an object or person through magical means.
- Magic Hair: Magic powers or properties associated with a character's hair.
- Magic Is Mental: Magic requires mental skill and fortitude to master.
- The Magic Touch
- Magitek: Combining magic with technology.
- Magically Regenerating Clothing: People with healing powers can fix clothing as well.
- Magical Species Transformation: Someone of a mundane species is turned into a magical one.
- Magic Dance: Dancing to activate a magic spell.
- Magic Music: Music has magical powers.
- Magnetism Manipulation: The power to control magnetic fields.
- Make Them Rot: The ability to make material decay.
- Mana Burn: Ability destroys target's spell resources.
- Marionette Master: Using dolls or puppets to do one's bidding.
- Master of Illusion: One who specializes in creating illusions, visual tricks and sub-realities.
- Master of Your Domain: Having complete control over one's own body.
- Mental World: A world inside one's head.
- Merlin Sickness: Aging in reverse.
- Meta Power: Powers that influence or impact other superpowers.
- Meteor-Summoning Attack: An attack utilizing a meteor shower.
- Mindlink Mates: Romantic partners share a consciousness.
- Mind over Matter: Telekinetic abilities.
- Morality-Guided Attack: An attack gains properties based on the morality of who it's targeting.
- Mundane Utility: A power is used for a mundane purpose rather than kicking ass or solving an extraordinary problem.
- Musical Assassin: Music is a weapon.
- Old Magic: A magic system that has been almost entirely replaced by a new one.
- Onmyōdō
- Open Sesame: A door that only opens in response to particular sounds or words.
- Order Magic: Magic and powers that manipulate order that typically used against chaos.
- Paper Talisman: Paper strips traditionally used by the Japanese to seal or exorcise demons.
- People Puppets: Controlling someone like a puppet.
- Perception Filter: A form of invisibility that merely allows you to go without being noticed.
- Person of Mass Destruction: A person with a weapon of mass destruction-level powers, skills, or abilities.
- Perspective Magic
- Power Copying: Copying other people's abilities for your own use.
- Power Nullifier: The ability to temporarily disable another's powers.
- The Power of Apathy: Power is unlocked by not caring.
- The Power of Creation: The magical ability to create something from other things or nothing at all.
- The Power of Hate: Power is unlocked through hatred.
- The Power of Love: Power is unlocked through love.
- Power of Trust: Power is unlocked through trust.
- Power of the Void: Abilities relating to nothingness.
- Power Parasite: Stealing other people's abilities.
- Psychic Link: Characters have a telepathic connection.
- Psychic Radar: Detecting people or things using your psychic powers.
- Psychic Surgery
- Pure Energy: Energy is a substance that can be manipulated.
- Reality Warper: Changing the structure and logic of the world around you.
- The Red Mage: The capability to use magical skills that are usually mutually exclusive.
- Retconjuration: The ability to rewrite history for plot's sake.
- Ritual Magic
- Runic Magic: The use of runes to create magical effects.
- Self-Made Superpowers: Someone gives themselves powers through scientific means.
- Sensor Character: Detection powers.
- Sentient Cosmic Force
- Sex Magic: Casting spells by copulating or, in downplayed examples, masturbating.
- Sexually Transmitted Superpowers: Having sex with someone with powers gives you them.
- Shadow Walker: Teleporting through shadows.
- Shatterpoint Tap: Tap in just the right spot to instantly destroy something in your way.
- Single Substance Manipulation: You can only manipulate one type of physical thing.
- Spectral Weapon Copy
- Sphere of Destruction
- Spontaneous Weapon Creation: Materializing weapons as need be.
- Stronger with Age: Powers that grow stronger as you grow older.
- Summon Binding: Magic that allows the caster(s) of a summoning spell to exert control over whatever it is they have summoned.
- Summon Magic: Magic used to summon an entity.
- Summon to Hand: Summoning your weapon back to you.
- Super-Empowering: The power to give others powers.
- Supernatural Fear Inducer
- Supernatural Martial Arts: Advanced martial arts are treated as a form of magic.
- Supernatural Sealing: The power to seal objects or entities.
- Supernatural Sensitivity: Sensing the presence of supernatural powers.
- Supernatural Suffocation: The ability to make someone else stop breathing.
- Super Sex Organs: Genitals with powers.
- Super Smoke: Turning into smoke.
- Super-Speed
- Take Away Their Name: Magically revoking someone's name.
- Technopath: Mental control over technology.
- Telepathy: Reading minds and communicating through thoughts.
- Tendrils of Darkness: Tentacles made of pure darkness.
- Time Master
- Tornado Move: Attacking with a tornado.
- Touch of Death
- Touch Telepathy: Touching someone allows you to speak to them in their mind.
- Touch the Intangible: Interacting with non-solid objects like they were solid.
- Tracking Spell: Using magic to track someone down.
- Transflormation: Transforming into a plant.
- The Transmogrifier: The ability to transform others.
- Transmutation: Turning one thing into something else.
- True Love's Kiss
- True Sight: Being able to perceive the truth.
- Turn Undead: A spell that destroys the undead.
- Twin Telepathy: Twins have a mental link.
- Unblockable Attack: An attack that can't be blocked.
- Unholy Nuke: Weaponizing evil itself.
- Utility Magic: Magic used as a Mundane Utility.
- Vampiric Draining: Draining someone's life force.
- Vancian Magic: Magic needs to be prepared in advance for specific purposes and can only be performed so many times.
- Variant Power Copying: Copying the function of someone's abilities but with different execution.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: The ability to change your shape and form at will.
- Walking Wasteland: Your very presence causes the land around you to become withered and corrupted.
- White Magic: Magic is good.
- Wild Magic: Magic is sentient.
- Words Can Break My Bones: Some words have magical powers.
- Yin-Yang Bomb: Combining opposing forces in a powerful way.
Ways of establishing and showing powers
- 11th-Hour Superpower: A power unlocked near the end of the story.
- 90% of Your Brain
- Ability Mixing: Combining different powers.
- Background Magic Field
- Barehanded Bar Bending
- Battle Aura
- Become Your Weapon: Merging with an Empathic Weapon.
- Bequeathed Power: Passing your power onto another at death.
- Bishōnen Line: A point at which power stops turning an evil creature monstrous and instead turns them into a humanoid.
- Blasting Time: Charging your energy blast attack before firing it.
- Blind Seer: A blind person who can see the future.
- Blood Bath: Bathing in blood may have supernatural effects.
- Boxing Lessons for Superman: Someone with powers learns mundane skills to improve their techniques.
- Brainwashed: Enslaving someone's mind.
- Burn Scars, Burning Powers: A character with burn scars and fire powers.
- By the Power of Grayskull!: Super powers are activated by saying a specific word or phrase.
- Came Back Strong: A resurrected person is now more powerful than they were before they died.
- Candlelit Ritual: Candles add spooky atmosphere to Ritual Magic.
- Casts No Shadow: Supernatural characters don't give off a shadow.
- Casual High Drop: Someone who's extremely confident of being nigh-indestructible blithely drops off or into something, and is unharmed from the fall.
- Celestial Body
- Chores Without Powers: Someone with magical abilities, superpowers, etc. does menial labor without using said powers, usually as a punishment.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: Gaining superpowers through normal training.
- Circle of Standing Stones: A bunch of stones in a circle that have supernatural properties.
- Clap Your Hands If You Believe: Reality is controlled by belief.
- Coconut Superpowers: A small budget means superpowers have to be told, not shown.
- Crystal Ball: Crystal balls are used for magical purposes, such as seeing the future.
- Devour the Dragon: A villainous character sacrifices their right-hand man for power.
- Discard and Draw: Giving up a power to gain a new one.
- Emerald Power: The color green is associated with magic powers.
- Enlightenment Superpowers: Anyone can receive powers if they reach spiritual enlightenment.
- Everyone Has a Special Move
- Everything's Better with Sparkles: Sparkles are commonly associated with magic.
- Evolution Power-Up
- Field Power Effect
- Fighting Spirit: A fighter's spiritual power manifests as an active physical entity.
- Finger-Snap Lighter: Using your fire powers as a lighter.
- Flight Is the Final Power: Gaining multiple superpowers, but flight is last.
- Formulaic Magic: Magic involves scientific formulas.
- Frilly Upgrade: Powering up makes your costume more fancy.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: Glowing eyes are a bad omen.
- God Test: Asking someone with powers to prove they have powers.
- Golden Super Mode: Powered-up forms tend to be golden.
- Growing Muscles Sequence: Growing muscles really fast.
- How Do I Shot Web?: A person who has recently gained superpowers struggles to learn how their new powers work.
- Hypnotize the Captive
- Instant Runes
- Invisibility Flicker
- Lamarck Was Right: Inheriting non-genetic characteristics.
- Latin Is Magic: The Latin language is associated with magic and the occult.
- Levitating Lotus Position: Levitating while sitting in the lotus position.
- Ley Line
- Life Energy
- Magi Babble: Cool-sounding magical jargon.
- Magic A Is Magic A: Magic with consistent rules.
- Magical Gesture: A physical gesture to show magic is being done.
- Magical Profanity Filter: In-universe magic prevents characters from swearing.
- Magic from Technology: Magic is created by technology.
- Magic Meteor: Getting magic powers from some supernatural space rock.
- Magic Missile Storm: Casting a large amount of long-range magic attacks.
- Magical Sensory Effect: Magic has a noticeable effect on one's senses.
- Magic Staff
- Magical Star Symbols: Stars are associated with magic.
- The Magic Versus Technology War
- Magic Wand
- Mana
- Mana Drain
- Marked Change: Markings on the body reflecting unlocked power.
- Mark of the Supernatural: A unique physical trait a character possesses marks them as being magical or supernatural.
- Mass Super-Empowering Event: A major event that causes many people to gain superpowers.
- Meditation Powerup: Meditating makes you stronger.
- Mineral MacGuffin
- Missing Reflection: A supernatural being doesn't have a reflection in a mirror.
- Muggle Sports, Super Athletes: Showing off your powers by playing normal sports.
- Mystical Plague
- Mystical Pregnancy: A character becomes pregnant through the supernatural or/and their pregnancy is complicated by the supernatural.
- Mystical White Hair: White hair is associated with the supernatural.
- Natural Elements
- Neck Lift: Lifting someone in the air after grabbing them by the neck.
- New Ability Addiction: Getting a new skill brings an urge to use it.
- New Life in Another World Bonus: Getting sent to another world grants you a special new ability.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: A character will suddenly demonstrate new abilities whenever the plot requires it.
- New Superpower
- Next Tier Power-Up
- Obliviously Superpowered: A character has powers but isn't aware of them - even while using them.
- One Hero, Hold the Weaksauce: The hero gets great powers with no drawbacks.
- One Person, One Power: Each person can only have one superpower.
- One Super, One Power Set
- One-Winged Angel
- Orbiting Particle Shield: Particles of various forms orbit around someone for defensive purposes.
- Our Ancestors Are Superheroes: A character descends from supernatural beings.
- Paranormal Gambling Advantage: Showing psychic abilities through an improbable skill in gambling.
- Personality Powers
- Place of Power: A location with supernatural importance.
- Post-Modern Magik: How does the supernatural interact with the modern world?
- Position of Literal Power: A new job gives you new power.
- Power Born of Madness: Insanity gives you powers.
- Power Dyes Your Hair: Getting stronger causes a change in hair color.
- Power Echoes: Reverb as a sign of power.
- Power Floats: Floating as a sign of power.
- Power Gives You Wings: Powerful characters have wings.
- Power Glows: Glowing as a sign of power.
- Power Makes Your Hair Grow: Hair gets longer with more power.
- Power Makes Your Voice Deep: Voice gets deeper with more power.
- Power Palms
- Powers as Programs: Powers are equippable, replicable, and/or transferrable.
- Powers Do the Fighting: Powers mean you can fight while standing still.
- Powers in the First Episode: Characters unlock their powers in Episode 1.
- Power Stereotype Flip: A character with powers defies the stereotypical personality associated with said powers.
- Powers via Possession
- Powers via Weapon
- Power Tattoo
- Power-Up: Video game collectibles that grant new powers to the player.
- Power-Up Food: A person becomes stronger from eating a kind of food.
- Power Up Full Color Change: Powering up makes your color scheme change.
- Projectile Spell
- Protective Charm
- Pstandard Psychic Pstance: Touching your head to show that you're using your psychic powers.
- Psychic Nosebleed: Psychic powers cause nosebleeds.
- Psychic Strangle: Choking someone with telekinesis.
- Puberty Superpower
- Re-Power
- Real-Life Super Powers: Superpowers that are still plausible.
- Religion is Magic: Powers stemming from religion.
- Rewriting Reality: Writing changes reality.
- Rhyming Wizardry: Magic is done by lyrical spells that rhyme.
- Robe and Wizard Hat
- Shaping Your Attacks
- Shared Signature Move
- Shockwave Clap
- Showing Off Your Powers
- Signature Move
- Simplified Spellcasting
- Spell Blade
- Spell Book: Tomes filled with rituals, incantations and instructions for your garden-variety wizard.
- Split Mind, Split Powers: A character with split personalities has different powers depending on the personality in charge.
- Spoon Bending: Spoons (and the bending of) associated with psychics and the paranormal.
- Standard Power-Up Pose
- Subtle Superpowering
- Sufficiently Analyzed Magic: Magic is treated as a science.
- Summoning Ritual
- Super Mode
- Supernatural Gold Eyes
- Super-Powered Alter Ego: I don't have powers, but my alter ego does.
- Superpowers For A Day: Gaining temporary powers.
- Super Serum: A serum that gives people superpowers.
- Technicolor Fire
- Technicolor Magic: Magic is visualized using colors.
- Thought-Controlled Power: Any superpower or magic that is controlled by thought or will alone.
- Throat Light: A character so full of power that light shines out of their mouth.
- Time Stands Still
- Touched by Vorlons: Character gains special powers via contact with a Sufficiently Advanced Alien.
- Transformation Sequence
- Transformation Trinket
- Traumatic Superpower Awakening
- Twins Are Special: By virtue of being born as part of an identical sibling set, a character will have access to magical powers and enhanced abilities or have particularly strong innate power
- Unequal Rites: Rivalries between different types of spellcasters.
- Unexpectedly Real Magic: Holy shit, magic is actually real!?
- Upgrade Artifact: Instantly learning a skill just by holding an object.
- Victor Gains Loser's Powers: Defeating someone and obtaining their ability or unique weapon.
- Volcanic Veins: Supernatural powers make your veins glow.
- Voodoo Doll: An enchanted doll made in a person's likeness that will make the person they're modeled after suffer whatever is inflicted upon the doll.
- Weather Manipulation
- With Great Power Comes Great Perks
- With Great Power Comes Great Hotness
- Wizard Beard: Long beards are standard for those who specialize in magic.
- Wizard Duel: A fight between two spellcasters.
- Wizards Live Longer: Sorcerers are more long-lived than those who don't have magic powers.
- Wonder Twin Powers: Two people have powers that will only work when they've made physical contact with one another.
- Your Mind Makes It Real: If you do something in a dream/hallucination/VR sim, the results happen for real.
- Zombify the Living
Power limitations and catches
- Ability Depletion Penalty: Abilities, such as a Sprint Meter, incur a negative penalty when used up completely.
- Addiction-Powered: Gaining superpowers by consumption of a drug that doesn't have the same effects on anyone else.
- Addictive Magic: Magic is addicting.
- Amulet of Dependency: Powerful magical item turns out to be hard to live without.
- Anti-Regeneration: Ways to stop someone's regeneration powers.
- Armor and Magic Don't Mix: Spellcasting characters can't or don't wear armor.
- Ban on Magic: Magic is banned by a government or authority figure.
- Black Box: Powers with a mysterious and potentially dangerous origin or mode of action.
- Breakable Power-Up: A power-up is temporary and can be broken.
- Brought Down to Normal: A person or creature with magic or other powers temporarily loses those powers for an episode or more.
- Cast from Calories: A character has to eat constantly in order to use their powers.
- Cast from Experience Points
- Cast from Hit Points
- Cast from Lifespan
- Cast from Money
- Cast from Sanity
- Cast from Stamina
- Celestial Deadline: You only have so long until your magic spell runs out or becomes permanent.
- Concentration-Bound Magic: Magic that only lasts so long as the wielder is concentrating.
- Containment Clothing
- Counterspell: Stopping a spell from going off by flinging your own magic at it before it can take effect.
- Cover-Blowing Superpower
- Curse Escape Clause: There's a seemingly built-in way out of this magic spell. It just takes some time to find it.
- Death-Activated Superpower: A supernatural ability that only activates when its "wielder" dies.
- Death by Depower: Someone losing their powers means they die.
- Defence Mechanism Superpower: A superpower that activates and/or acts on its own, only when its bearer is threatened in some manner.
- De-power: Someone with superpowers loses their powers permanently, or at least for a while.
- De-Power Zone: An area where powers and abilities don't work.
- Die or Fly: Dormant superpowers come to light under extreme circumstances.
- Double-Edged Buff: A status effect or a power-up that temporarily enhances the target in one aspect in exchange for hindering them in another.
- Embarrassing Superpower: Your powers are humiliating.
- Equivalent Exchange
- Even More Omnipotent: A very powerful being is surpassed by someone even more powerful.
- Flight, Strength, Heart
- Gender-Restricted Ability
- Generational Magic Decline: Your magic is weaker than your father's, just as he is weaker than his father, who was weaker than his father, and so on and so on.
- Glamour Failure: Shape-shifters will always have tells that give away that they aren't who they appear to be.
- Gods Need Prayer Badly: A being only exists as long as they are believed in.
- Good Thing You Can Heal: Characters who heal quickly are more prone to injury for the sake of plot advancement.
- Healing Magic Is the Hardest
- Heart Is an Awesome Power: A power that seems useless at first proves to be very effective when used properly.
- Heroic RRoD: The hero dies from overexerting themselves.
- Hour of Power: Activated powers that work for a certain amount of time.
- Hulking Out: Changing into a stronger form after becoming enraged.
- Immunity Disability: Supposedly helpful immunities have unwelcome side effects.
- Inept Mage: An incompetent sorcerer.
- Inertia Is a Cruel Mistress
- Intoxicated Superpower Snag: Drugs have unintended side effects on powers.
- Involuntary Shapeshifting: A character is able to change shape, but cannot control their transformations.
- Lethal Harmless Powers: A power that seems harmless at first is actually capable of being used lethally.
- Limited-Use Magical Device: A magical item that allows a spell to be cast a limited amount of times before being consumed.
- Long-Range Fighter: Great at dealing with things from a distance, useless up close.
- Lovecraftian Superpower: Magic, superpower, or special ability that is unpleasant or abnormal in the story's setting.
- Magically Inept Fighter: A physically-inclined combatant who is weak in terms of magic powers.
- Magic Harms Technology
- Magic Is a Monster Magnet: Using magic or other powers draws the attention of Bad Things.
- Magic Is Evil
- Magic Misfire
- Magic Must Defeat Magic: Magic can only be stopped with other magic.
- Malfunction Malady: Superpowers go crazy, don't work, or do something different if the person is sick/injured/pregnant/whatever.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: It's left ambiguous whether there was anything supernatural about the event or being or if there is actually a logical explanation for the supposed supernatural trappings.
- Midas Touch: The ability to turn anything you touch into something valuable. It's great until it's not.
- A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read: Mind readers get repulsed from reading the thoughts of an unpleasant individual.
- Mind over Manners: It's wrong to screw with other people's minds. So the good guys don't do it.
- Muggles Do It Better: Normal people with no powers are more efficient than super-powered beings.
- Mutually Exclusive Magic: There are several kinds of magic, but you can only choose one kind to learn.
- No Eye in Magic: A power requires eye contact to work.
- No Self-Buffs: Magically adept person can't work magic on themself.
- Only Flesh Is Safe: Something does not affect living organic matter.
- Only the Pure of Heart
- Pent-Up Power Peril: An ability threatens its user with Power Incontinence if it goes unused enough.
- Physical Attribute Swap: Transforming in a particular way requires swapping that attribute with someone who already has it.
- Power at a Price: Gaining powers comes at a heavy, detrimental cost.
- Power Crutch: An item that is needed to use one's powers.
- Power Degeneration: Power kills you a little more each time you use it.
- Power Incontinence: A being with superpowers is unable to control their powers.
- Powering Villain Realization: A protagonist realizes that they supply the villain with power, and cut it off.
- Power Limiter: An object that limits someone's powers.
- Power Loss Depression: Character loses their powers and feels weak and worthless because of it.
- The Power of Blood
- Power-Strain Blackout: A character using their special power causes them to faint, especially if it's the first time.
- Power-Upgrading Deformation: The stronger you get, the uglier you get.
- Psychic Block Defense: Immunity to telepathy.
- Psychic Static: Someone prevents a psychic from reading their mind by thinking irrelevant thoughts.
- Psychoactive Powers: Powers controlled by one's emotional state.
- Randomly Gifted
- Reality Warping Is Not a Toy
- Regenerating Mana
- Required Secondary Powers: A secondary power that the hero has to have in order for it to be possible to use their primary power without harming themselves or others.
- Restraining Bolt: A device that is used to keep a being in check so that they can't use their powers to hurt people.
- Sacrificial Revival Spell: This spell kills you, but it brings someone back to life.
- Self-Harm–Induced Superpower
- Semantic Superpower
- Situational Sword: A weapon whose power is only fully realized under certain conditions.
- Spell Levels: Spells have separate tiers for stronger versions of itself.
- Squishy Wizard: Magic users are physically weak.
- Stark Naked Sorcery: When a magical rite requires nudity.
- Super Gender-Bender
- Supering in Your Sleep: Using magic or superpowers in one's sleep.
- Supernormal Bindings: Supernatural beings are locked in supernatural restraints.
- Superpower Disability: Character with a superpower is given a disability as a result.
- Superpower Lottery
- Super-Power Meltdown: Character wrecks the entire area because of their failing/overused powers.
- Superpower Silly Putty: A person who gains extremely volatile superpowers that come and go frequently.
- Swiss-Army Tears
- Sympathetic Magic: You need a part of a person to affect them.
- Teleportation Sickness
- Timed Power-Up: Powers run on a time limit.
- Totally Not a Werewolf: A Voluntary Shapeshifter is mistaken for some other creature.
- Transferred Transformation: You can only transform by taking a transformation power from someone else — and it can subsequently be taken from you.
- Un-Sorcerer: Everyone's got magic except you.
- Useless Superpowers
- Useless Without Powers
- Villainous RRoD: A villain has a physical breakdown from overexerting themselves.
- Virgin Power
- Weaker in the Real World
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: A super power that comes off as useless.
- Willfully Weak: A being with great power deliberately shows restraint in how much of their power they use because they know leaving their abilities unchecked can cause problems.
- Wishplosion
- With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Power makes you crazy.
- Words Do Not Make The Magic: Just saying the magic words doesn't work for non-spellcasters.
- Your Magic's No Good Here: Magic from X dimension does not function correctly (or at all) in Y dimension.
Other related tropes
- Anti-Magical Faction: A group that hate magic.
- Apothecary Alligator: All proper wizards need at least one taxidermy alligator in their Mage Tower.
- The Archmage
- As Lethal as It Needs to Be: Weapons or attacks that kill in one scene, knock out in another, with identical attacks.
- Bad Powers, Bad People: Villains with powers which have a bad reputation.
- Bad Powers, Good People: I have evil powers, but I will be good instead.
- Bald Mystic: Baldness used to indicate mysticism, an association with the supernatural, or enlightenment.
- Brought Down to Badass: Even after losing their powers, they can still kick your ass.
- Cats Are Magic
- Celebrity Power: Celebrities have superpowers.
- Children Are Special: A child's uniqueness gives them exclusive feats.
- Clarke's Third Law: Highly advanced technology and magic are the same thing.
- Cosmic Entity: Any being so great its mere existence can affect space itself. Alternatively, could be made of space itself.
- Cute Witch
- The Dark Arts: Morally questionable practices, whether scientific or magical.
- Dark Magical Girl
- Deus Sex Machina: Plot device that requires sex to work.
- Differently Powered Individual: Any alternative term for "superhuman," or for anyone who possesses supernatural powers.
- Does Not Like Magic
- Extranormal Prison: Jail specialized to contain people/entities with special powers.
- Fake Wizardry
- Fantastic Recruitment Drive
- Fantastic Science: Fantastic elements studied scientifically.
- Fantasy Character Classes
- Fighter, Mage, Thief
- Fights Like a Normal: Character with fantastic powers mostly fights without them, or at least uses very little of it.
- The Force Is Strong with This One: Character can sense the presence and strength of other powerful characters.
- Freeing the Genie: Freeing a genie from their vessel for good.
- Genie in a Bottle
- Ghostapo: Nazis mixed up in the supernatural.
- Good Powers, Bad People: I have good powers, but I will be evil instead.
- Goo-Goo-Godlike: An all-powerful child who doesn't know any better.
- Goth Girls Know Magic: Goth women are associated with magic.
- Great Gazoo: Eccentric, possibly immature character with incredible powers.
- Historical Domain Superperson: A Historical Domain Character is given superpowers in a fictional work.
- Identically Powered Team: All your teammates have the same powers as you.
- Imperfect Ritual: The material lacks or substitutes some key component, but manages to start anyway.
- Inverse Law of Utility and Lethality: More power = less practicality.
- Inverse Law of Complexity to Power: Simple powers are stronger.
- I Thought Everyone Could Do That: When someone thinks their special talent is something everyone can do.
- Kung-Fu Wizard: A magic user that's also a skilled physical fighter.
- Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards
- MacGuffin Super-Person: A Living MacGuffin sought after for some supernatural ability or quality they have.
- Made of Magic
- Mage Born of Muggles: Someone with ordinary parentage has supernatural abilities.
- Mage-Hunting Monster: A creature that either targets or specializes in hunting down people who either use magic or have supernatural powers.
- Mage Killer: Someone who specializes in killing people with magical abilities.
- Mage Species
- Mage Tower
- Magical Barefooter: A character with magical powers who Prefers Going Barefoot for some reason related to their magic.
- Magical Girl: Young girls learning to find their place in the world while secretly fighting to protect it with magical powers.
- Magical Girl Warrior
- Magical Guardian
- Magical Homeless Person
- Magical Native American
- Magical Seventh Son: The seventh son of a seventh son has magical powers.
- Magical Underpinnings of Reality
- Magic Antidote: Cures and antidotes work instantly and reverse all damage caused by the illness/poison.
- Magic by Any Other Name: It's basically magic, but we won't call it that.
- Magic Carpet
- Magic Cauldron: Spellcasters contractually keep a cauldron to brew spells and potions.
- The Magic Comes Back: Magic is restored after it all went away.
- Magic Compass
- Magic Contract Romance
- Magic Genetics
- The Magic Goes Away: Everything magical ceases to exist.
- Magicians Are Wizards: Stage magicicans can do actual magic.
- Magic Idol Singer: A Magical Girl who's also an Idol Singer.
- Magic Is Feminine: Magic is primarily associated with women. Or men who are more feminine than the rest of the male cast.
- Magick: An alternate spelling of the word "magic".
- Magic Knight: A magic user who fights with a sword.
- Magic Map: A special map with magical properties.
- Mage Marksman: A magic user that fights with ranged weaponry.
- Magic Mirror: Mirrors have magical properties.
- Magic Mushroom: Mushrooms in fiction tend to be magic in nature, be it for the better or worse.
- Magic or Psychic?: Both magic and psychic powers exist in the same world. How do they differ, if they differ at all?
- Magic Potion
- Magic Versus Science: A rivalry exists between scientists and wizards.
- The Magocracy
- Mana Potion: An item that restores mana.
- The Marvelous Deer: Deer are elusive, mystical and wondrous animals.
- Master of One Magic
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane
- Military Mage: A Super-Soldier with magic abilities.
- More Powered Protégé: A non-powered person becomes a mentor for someone with superpowers.
- Muggle Born of Mages: Ordinary character with supernatural ancestors.
- Muggle with a Degree in Magic: An expert in magic they can't use themselves.
- Our Mages Are Different
- Parody Magic Spell: Magic spells for laughs that invoke in-jokes or references.
- Physical God
- Physical, Mystical, Technological
- Power Levels: Systems used to precisely quantify a character's strength.
- Power Loss Makes You Strong
- Power Perversion Potential: Superpowers are used for sexual purposes.
- Power Profit Potential: Superpowers are used to make money.
- Psychic Children
- Psycho Electro: Crazy, psychotic, and/or sadistic character with electricity-based powers.
- Rabbit Magician
- Reality-Changing Miniature: A mininature version of an object that affects the larger counterpart when touched.
- Recessive Super Genes: Superpowerful Genetics may skip generations.
- Resistant to Magic: Characters who resist magic.
- Ring of Power: A ring that has special abilities, thanks to magic and/or technology.
- Royalty Superpower: Descendants of royalty get exclusive supernatural abilities.
- Salt Solution
- Science Destroys Magic
- Scientifically Understandable Sorcery
- Screw the Rules, I Have Supernatural Powers!: Character uses superpowers to get away with breaking laws.
- Secret Art: The secret technique of a martial, mystical or mundane art-form.
- Solar and Lunar: The sun and the moon as contrasting elements.
- Sorcerer's Apprentice Plot: A young ward's attempts to be like his boss becomes too much for him to handle.
- Space Is Magic
- Speak of the Devil: The villain comes when called.
- Special Occasions Are Magic: When special occasions like birthdays and Christmas cause magic to happen.
- Superhuman Trafficking: Enslaving and/or exploiting Differently Powered Individuals.
- Superpowerful Genetics: Super-powered beings will have children who inherit their parents' powers.
- Super Registration Act
- These Look Like Jobs for the Superman
- This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman: The plot is tailored so that there's always a situation where the hero's powers are useful.
- Training the Gift of Magic: Magic is a skill, but not everyone can master it.
- Warrior vs. Sorcerer
- Weak to Magic: A vulnerability to magic.
- Whatevermancy: Magic using a certain thing is called "[X]mancy".
- White Magician Girl
- The Witch Hunter
- A Wizard Did It: Hastily explaining an inconsistency has happening because of magic.
- Wizarding School
- Wrong Context Magic: Magic always obeys strict rules... except when cast by this character.