History Main / CantStayNormal

** It happens in [[Film/FantasticFour20005 the movie]], too.

** It happens in the movie, too.

* At the start of the second season of ''Anime/CodeGeass'', Lelouch has lost his memories of his mother and sister, and of having been the terrorist leader Zero ([[spoiler:all thanks to the Emperor's memory-altering Geass]]) and is back at Ashford, acting much like he did at the start of the series. Even though the choice is pretty much taken out of his hands by C.C. restoring his memories, it's shown that he's still dissatisfied with the current state of affairs and apparently only lacked the motivation to return to his old life.

Thus, you Can't Stay Normal. Often a one-shot episode which makes use of a ResetButton to get things back to status quo. Sometimes {{Anvilicious}} in making a character accept their strengths and limitations.

Compare: AlwaysNeedWhatYouGaveUp, ImNotAHeroIm, KeepingTheHandicap, SendMeBack, RefreshinglyNormalLifeChoice and WhatHaveIBecome. May also be combined with WantingIsBetterThanHaving. If you realize you need your powers ''now'' before actually becoming normal, and miss the chance to do so as a result, it's a FriendOrIdolDecision instead. Contrast UndeathAlwaysEnds.

** [[spoiler: Asuna]] has an odd case of this. Long story short, she's a princess from a magical world who became a normal schoolgirl at great effort, and is in the process of losing that normality because she hadn't factored in her own behavior post LaserGuidedAmnesia, and is therefore running headlong into what she ran from ten years before.

** Later in the series, this also affect Hotaru, who had been reverted to a powerless infant at the end of ''Sailor Moon S'' so she and her father could have a second chance at life (or just herself in the manga, since [[UsefulNotes/SchrodingersCat her dad died at the end of the plot in the manga]]). Both the anime and the [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]] show circumstances requiring her to age up and regain her powers as Saturn. Unlike Usagi, she doesn't seem particularly bothered by it.

** This is the fate of Sonic's father, Jules Hedgehog. Many years ago, Jules's brother Charles -- Sonic's Uncle Chuck -- invented the Roboticizer as a medical tool for the critically injured or ill, and used Charles as his first test subject in the hopes of saving him from a wound he suffered during the Great War, which resulted in Jules becoming a mindless automaton. Even after regaining his free will, however, Jules cannot be de-roboticized: to restore his original body would also mean restoring his fatal wounds.

** ''ComicBook/ImmortalHulk'' deconstructs this as we learn [[spoiler: not even death is something that is for Banner. Though it turns out it's because the gamma radiation that lets him become the Hulk comes from none other than the the One-Below-All. Additionally, the Hulks are the result of Bruce's disassociatve identity disorder being given physical shape by his transformation and influenced by the One-Below-All (hence why many gamma tranmutation are monstrous and or destructive, it's because of the inherent corruptive nature.) Banner is unable to stay normal partially out of the mechinations of this entity, but also because the Hulks were born from Bruce and they are different sides of him. After all, it was ''his'' rage that led to him killing his father before the gamma incident.]]

** When Tobias is given the ability to morph again, he's also sent back in time to absorb the DNA of his past-self. This gives him a choice: he can remain a hawk, but be able to morph again, or he could, at any time, choose to morph into his human body permanently, and once again lose the ability to morph. It is ultimately a choice between being a fully-functioning Animorph again or a normal kid again, and he chooses the former.
** Rachel is a more psychological example: fighting in the Yeerk War has unleashed a [[BloodKnight bloodlust]] in her that she not only comes to accept, but somewhat enjoy, though she's self-aware enough to realize that she's losing control. She ends up commenting that even if the group does somehow win against their enemies, she'll be miserable, because she won't know what to do with herself in a peaceful society. [[spoiler: It's ultimately a moot point, though, as she's killed toward the end of the series.]]

--> '''Connie:''' I don't know if I'm cut out for a normal life. Can I be a regular person after everything I've seen and done?

* Happens to Kyon in ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'', when he is warped into an AlternateUniverse that is completely normal. Though extremely terrified by being transferred into an AlternateUniverse (who wouldn't be), he does asks himself if this could actually be good. At the end, he questions himself in a monologue directly if he enjoys the "crazy world". He does. However, one might interpret that it's more about the persons (who are a bit different, ''especially'' Nagato), that he wants back.

** Angel's son ends up fitting this trope snugly. To make a very long story slightly shorter, Connor was prophesied to slay a demon, so the demon altered the prophecy to help him dispatch Connor as infant, which led to Connor being raised in a hell-dimension as a {{Tykebomb}}, which eventually drives him insane, and leads Angel to make a DealWithTheDevil to brainwash Connor so he could have a happy life. But the demon had gone undefeated, and his nemesis Cyvus Vail was also the sorcerer who gave Connor his new memories, so Connor was blackmailed into coming out of retirement to finally [[SelfFulfillingProphecy slay the demon]]. Vail got Angel to agree by threatening to give Connor his old memories back by shattering the Orlon Window. Wesley, who suspected Angel of involvement in Fred's death, shattered the window and restored Connor's memories. However, with the strong happy memories of his fake life, Connor is much less insane now.

* In ''Series/{{Lost}}'', the Season 3 finale flashforward reveals this to be the case for Jack. After spending the first three seasons determined to get off the island no matter what, his life completely falls apart once he's back home. When he was on the island, he was a leader and that gave his life meaning, but once he leaves that behind, he has nothing. He ends up so desperate to get back that he starts flying constantly, hoping that he'll crash. It's also foreshadowed earlier in the episode, when Ben asks Jack what he's so desperate to get back to.

** Clark gives up his powers in another episode to be with Lana, but has to get them back to stop a nuclear missile from hitting the town.

** This is the basis of Dean's arc in Season 6. After a year of attempting to live an 'apple-pie' life with Lisa, he ends up returning to hunting when Sam returns, and comes to the conclusion that while a normal life is what he thought he wanted, he's only really satisfied when he's hunting.

* Danny manages to turn himself back to normal in the GrandFinale of ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'', to protect his loved ones and because another team of ghost hunters are doing his job better then he ever did. He fully enjoys having his normal life back, while his friends are disappointed and angry that [[WhatTheHellHero he willingly gave up powers that allowed him to do so much good]]. When a giant asteroid is on a collision course with Earth, and all other attempts fail to stop it, Danny regains his powers with the aid of his enemies and saves the day.

* In the first season finale of ''WesternAnimation/TheMummyTheAnimatedSeries'', Alex finally gets the Manacle of Osiris off only to have to put it back on to save Ardeth Bay, and ends up destroying the scrolls that could remove it to prevent them from falling into Imhotep's hands.

* Professional fighters live their lives based on adrenaline. Some former fighters (professional or hobbyist) can feel dissatisfied and directionless for leaving that lifestyle behind because it gave them fame, pride, wealth, purpose or joy. Whether it be for having a CareerEndingInjury or becoming a ReluctantWarrior because they feared their abilities. While the fighter could have retired, it is still a difficult lifestyle to readjust from because they can feel bored or purposeless.
* {{Hikikomori}}s and internet addicts can have a lot of difficulties with moving forward from their way of life. They are used to having their fantasies and pleasures tailored for them and seeing characters that are idealized versions of people, whether they are people that they have already met or they are the embodiments of who they want to meet.

* In the first season finale of ''WesternAnimation/TheMummy'', Alex finally gets the Manacle of Osiris off only to have to put it back on to save Ardeth Bay, and ends up destroying the scrolls that could remove it to prevent them from falling into Imhotep's hands.

* ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'': In ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresHumanNature Human Nature]]'' by Paul Cornell, the Doctor transforms himself into a human and allows his mind to be wiped temporarily. He prepares a list of emergency protocols — but it doesn't occur to him that he may fall in love, get engaged, and would never want to leave again. [[spoiler: Unless it was the whole point of the exercise - he did it after his companion's TemporaryLoveInterest got killed and the Doctor couldn't figure out how t oempathise with her being heartborken over it - but he's explicitly ''not confirming'' speculations on this.]]

* ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'': In ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresHumanNature Human Nature]]'' by Paul Cornell, the Doctor transforms himself into a human and allows his mind to be wiped temporarily. He prepares a list of emergency protocols — but it doesn't occur to him that he may fall in love, get engaged, and would never want to leave again.

* Prior to the comic's ContinuityReboot, this was the fate of Bunnie Rabbot in ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics''. After Ixis Naugus accidentally restored her limbs to flesh and blood, Bunnie seemed somewhat okay with it. However, when Antoine was badly wounded and comatose by an exploding Metal Sonic, she ran off to find her Uncle Beauregard and get herself Legionized.

Compare: KeepingTheHandicap, SendMeBack, AlwaysNeedWhatYouGaveUp, ImNotAHeroIm, and WhatHaveIBecome. May also be combined with WantingIsBetterThanHaving. If you realize you need your powers ''now'' before actually becoming normal, and miss the chance to do so as a result, it's a FriendOrIdolDecision instead. Contrast UndeathAlwaysEnds.

* In ''Manga/{{Gantz}}'', leaving the "game" (and losing all you memories of it) is one of the choices in the 100 points menu. Two people who had chosen this had this happen to them. First Izumi Shion, who did it before the series' start, gets back in after recruiting ([[DeathIsCheap killing]]) a bunch of people and getting [[TheHero Kurono Kei]] to kill him. Kurono also went though this (and forgot about his girlfriend who was unrelated to the game but got while he was in it), he figured it out after a reporter who saw him on TV because the they lost the InvisibleToNormals property last mission. Then he was killed by [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]], he was revived (for 100 points and back in the game) after the next mission.

* In the last chapter of ''Manga/TheDisastrousLifeOfSaikiK'' [[spoiler: Saiki chooses to seal away his psychic abilities.]] However, after the two special chapters released a few months later, [[spoiler: Saiki starts regaining his powers, which initially worries him. But when a meteorite is about to hit the Earth and given that he’s the only one powerful enough to stop it, he decides to return to being a psychic.]]

* In ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow'', the protagonist, Soma Cruz, goes back to a normal life after his adventure in the titular castle and [[spoiler:discovering he was the reincarnation of Dracula]]. After two years of inactivity, all the power he picked up in the first game faded away, until a cult attacked him, trying to turn him into the new Dark Lord, requiring that he go through their base, regaining all his powers and a few new ones in the process.

* In ''Anime/{{K}}'', Saruhiko Fushimi is accused of this - hopping between Clans because he doesn't want to commit to a King, but at the same time, he doesn't want to give up the power that comes with being a King's vassal. [[spoiler: Of course, his King said this in the middle of a fake fight that they had planned, to show Saruhiko quitting the Blue Clan before he goes into the Green Clan undercover. So yes, he is loyal.]]

* Subverted with ''ComicBook/JimmyOlsen'', who's held more superpowers than you can count, but is guaranteed to return to normal eventually. He can't stay normal but never remains abnormal for long.

* In ''Series/{{Angel}}'', a first-season episode with Buffy guesting where a demon's blood has the side-effect of turning him human. Unfortunately, he still tries to fight demons, and loses, badly - just after hearing a rather straightforward prophecy that if he stops fighting demons, Buffy will end up dead because of it.

** At the end of ''Dino Thunder'', he stated his intent to live the quiet life for real this time. It ''seems'' to have worked - he had a cameo in ''Megaforce'', but as part of an entire army.

* ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'': [[spoiler:In the "Path of Glory" ending, [[PlayerCharacter V]] has their own apartment, works as a [[TheFixer fixer]] and is the owner of the Afterlife night club, which allows them to pretty much never have to worry about money ever again, they became the LivingLegend of Night City and are potentially in a loving relationship with tons of different friends to boot, and can pretty much just wait untill their terminal illness kills them in relative comfort. They still feel like they have something to prove, so they embark on their last mission: a space casino heist. It's unclear if they survived or not.]]
* Michael in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' is a former {{bank robber|y}} who successfully retired and got out of the game. Nine years later, he's finding that VictoryIsBoring -- he's stuck in the suburbs with a nagging wife who's [[{{Cuckold}} cheating on him]] and two kids who hate him, and he regularly goes to a therapist to discuss his urges to return to a life of crime. One day, he finally hits his RageBreakingPoint and trashes the home of what turns out to be a notorious gangster, who forces him to return to his old ways in order to pay off his debt. Even after he's done that job, Michael finds that he enjoys pulling heists too much to go back to his old life.

* Something similar happens in the ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons1983'' cartoon: The party finally manages to escape the D&D world into the "normal" world - only to have the villain follow them. Problem is, their magical items are no longer working in the human world, while the villain's powers work as usual.

Well, thanks to a once-in-a-lifetime chance, you can be! HumanityEnsues! You're a [[PinocchioSyndrome normal human]] again! Frequently, LaserGuidedAmnesia is included, ''absolutely free!''

* Hikikomoris and internet addicts can have a lot of difficulties with moving forward from their way of life. They are used to having their fantasies and pleasures tailored for them and seeing characters that are idealized versions of people, whether they are people that they have already met or they are the embodiments of who they want to meet.

* Happens to Kyon in ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'', when he is warped into an AlternateUniverse that is completely normal. Though extremely terrified by being transferred into an AlternateUniverse (who wouldn't be), he does asks himself if this could actually be good. At the end, he questions himself in a monologue directly if he enjoys the "crazy world". He does. However, one might interpret that it's more about the persons (who are a bit different, ''especially'' Nagato), that he wants back.

* [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Bruce Banner]] has been "permanently cured of being the Hulk" on several occasions, only to have to [=reHulkify=] himself to solve some crisis. Why they don't use the same [=deHulkifier=] on him again after the crisis is resolved is rarely if ever explained.
** At one point, the ComicBook/RedHulk depowered the Hulk by absorbing all his gamma radiation, saying that Bruce Banner would never become the Hulk again. Banner was smart enough to know that eventually he'd [=reHulkify=] and spent his time preparing for that day.

** ComicBook/ImmortalHulk deconstructs this as we learn [[spoiler: not even death is something that is for Banner. Though it turns out it's because the gamma radiation that lets him become the Hulk comes from none other than the the One-Below-All. Additionally, the Hulks are the result of Bruce's disassociatve identity disorder being given physical shape by his transformation and influenced by the One-Below-All (hence why many gamma tranmutation are monstrous and or destructive, it's because of the inherent corruptive nature.) Banner is unable to stay normal partially out of the mechinations of this entity, but also because the Hulks were born from Bruce and they are different sides of him. After all, it was ''his'' rage that led to him killing his father before the gamma incident.]]
** ComicBook/BettyRoss as Red She-Hulk is almost as much of a victim of this as Bruce himself.
** And then there's Rick Jones. He started as merely Hulk's human companion, then after accidentally helping found the Avengers became Cap's replacement Bucky, palled around with Rom Spaceknight, and then started sharing a body with Captain Marvel. And he's had superpowers more than once. He could almost be Marvel's answer to Jimmy Olsen.

** ComicBook/ImmortalHulk deconstructs this as we learn [[spoiler: not even death is something that is for Banner. Though it turns out it's because the gamma radiation that lets him become the Hulk comes from none other than the UltimateEvil, the One-Below-All. Additionally, the Hulks are the result of Bruce's disassociatve identity disorder being given physical shape by his transformation and influenced by the One-Below-All (hence why many gamma tranmutation are monstrous and or destructive, it's because of the inherent corruptive nature.) Banner is unable to stay normal partially out of the mechinations of this entity, but also because the Hulks were born from Bruce and they are different sides of him. After all, it was ''his'' rage that led to him killing his father before the gamma incident.]]

* ''Manga/ShonanJunaiGumi'': Eikichi and Ryuji initially tried to distance themselves from their Onibaku past, if only to better pick up chicks. Their plans were nipped in the bud the more [[JapaneseDelinquents delinquents]] from their past and other hopefuls and wannabes heard about their new whereabouts, to the point where the pair embraced it and declared Tsuji-do High School the new home of the Onibaku.

* Subverted with ''ComicBook/{{Jimmy Olsen}}'', who's held more superpowers than you can count, but is guaranteed to return to normal eventually. He can't stay normal but never remains abnormal for long.

** Back in season 3's "Helpless" she's smart enough to realize that, much as she'd like a normal life, there's be serious downsides to it:

* In ''Series/ForeverKnight'', Nick's former love interest Janette gets ''his'' dream of becoming human again, and he has to [[EmergencyTransformation make her back into a vampire to save her]].