History Main / FullSetBonus

%% Image and caption selected per Image Pickin' thread: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1322539350086059300
%% Please do not change or remove either without starting a new thread.
%%
[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/GreenLantern http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/full_lantern_ring_199.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The full set of [[GreenLanternRing Lantern Rings]]: greater than the sum of its parts.]]

So you have a setting with MagicAndPowers, and most of the cast (including villains) have some form of [[AncientArtifact ancient magical artifact]] or high tech gadget that grant them abilities beyond the norm. The cast probably even has some form of [[CastSpeciation speciation]], WeaponOfChoice and even PersonalityPowers based on their chosen trinket.

Eventually though, someones is going to ask the question of "Why can't we just [[WithOurSwordsScene give all our artifacts]] to TheHero/Villain and let them [[FoeTossingCharge plow through]] the opposition?" and the result is ''glorious.''

Turns out that having one character wield all these weapons, or just a whole lot of the same one, gives an exponential rather than an additive bonus to their fighting prowess, much like a SuperEffective [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] magical ConservationOfNinjutsu. SesquipedalianLoquaciousness aside, this means a single character with all the artifacts can do a whole lot more than a team sharing them. They may even outperform a team using all of these in unison with AllYourColorsCombined! Of course, most of the time there's a prophecy that explicitly says combining them all will empower the character far beyond the scope of individual artifacts, as can be the case of the DismantledMacGuffin.

However, the flip side to the above is sometimes the weapons/artifacts are explicitly ''not'' meant to be united, since doing so may upset the cosmic balance and/or lead to the wielder getting DrunkOnTheDarkSide and suffering a SuperPowerMeltdown. This is especially true when characters are already willing to kill in their [[GottaCatchEmAll quest to Catch Em All]], and doubly so if all the artifacts were once a single ruinous weapon or ArtifactOfDoom.

See PlotCoupon for when the end result is a MacGuffin. See also AllYourPowersCombined and WithOurSwordsScene.

See also: FallacyOfDivision (when it is assumed that the parts of a set are proportionately equal to the full set) and FallacyOfComposition, which subverts this trope.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* In ''Anime/YuGiOh'', the (Nameless) Pharaoh, aka Yami Yugi, cannot move on to the afterlife without all seven Millennium Items AND knowledge of his true name.
** In [[TabletopGame/YuGiOh the card game]] you can summon Exodia. He's five level 1 cards, two arms, two legs and a head, on their own they're weak as Hell. Together? Instant win.
* In ''Anime/TransformersArmada'', there are three sets of Mini-cons that fuse together to form the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Star Saber]], the [[ArmorOfInvincibility Skyboom Shield]], and the [[{{BFG}} Requiem Blaster]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In the MarvelComics CrisisCrossover, ''InfinityGauntlet'', {{Thanos}} combines the Infinity Gems, each one of which already grants considerable power, to form the nigh-omnipotent Infinity Gauntlet.
* In ''GreenLantern'' this is the case when anyone wears more than one lantern ring, the wielder gets to essentially dual wield (or multi wield) guns. Combining different colored rings can be even more spectacular since they have interesting synergies. Hal Jordan has [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/RingyHal2_7629.jpg done this]] twice with Green and Yellow rings. In BrightestDay, [[spoiler:Krona]] did this with rings of ''every'' color!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'', simply wearing one of the two Silver Slippers (Ruby in the movie) is enough to give the wearer near complete invulnerability to magical attack and physical harm. Having both gives the wearer wish granting abilities close to a 3 or 4 on the SuperWeight scale.
* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', Harry built a magical model of Chicago that allows scrying, spying, and lots of other fancy tricks. It required collecting a chip of brick from EVERY building, a sliver of bark from EVERY tree, etc...
* Similarly, in ''Literature/CodexAlera'', crafting a magical map composed of samples of the entire nation not only allowed monitoring of the land, it also spawned a conscious embodiment of the land.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* The "objects" in ''TheLostRoom'' can be lethal on their own, but when one person has more than one they tend to become obscenely powerful. One particular combination of objects can potentially create a localized rip in space-time.
* Peter has this in the first 3 seasons of ''Heroes'' along with Gabriel, his super powered obvious counterpart who drives the plot of the first season alone, as they both have a form of PowerCopying and become juggernauts until the final season anyway.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Some artifacts in early editions of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' had this quality. For example, the Cup and Talisman of Al'Akbar had useful powers on their own, but when used together they could use a tremendous power. The same was true of the Crown, Orb and Scepter of Might, the Rod of Seven Parts and the Teeth of Dahlver Nar. The Hand and Eye of Vecna also give an extra bonus when used together. Also late in 3.5 (in the magic item compendium to be precise) introduced was the magic item sets, which are this trope but are typical magic item in their strength. Having multiple parts of a magic item set on one character would get him a bonus (in addition to the typical "sum of there parts" value), the more items he had, the more bonus he would have (again, in comparison to the typical "sum of there parts" value).
* A few cards in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' have this as an added bonus to playing an entire set, from summoning up legendary warriors to giving you loads of mana.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Item (particularly, armor) sets in ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}} II'' give you set bonuses if you wear some or all of them at once.
* Ditto armor sets from ''DragonAge: Origins'' and ''DragonAgeII''. There were also some non-armor item sets, such as paired rings.
* ''DissidiaFinalFantasy'' has a lot of these. Many equipment items have a property that, if you have three (or, in some cases, four) items with the same property equipped, you get a bonus effect.
* ''RuneScape'' uses this a lot. There are certain sets of clothing that boost the amount of experience you gain in skills. Wearing the entire set will raise the boost above just the sum of its parts. Additionally, certain armour sets will grant boosts to your combat stats, or grant access to special attacks, but only if every piece is worn.
* The Seven Chaos Emeralds in nearly all ''SonicTheHedgehog'' media.
* The Fused Shadows in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]].'' Individually, each fragment holds a dark power that can warp the mind of whoever comes in contact with them. However, it is only when the three are combined that their true power can be called forth.
** The ''Zelda'' series in general has the three parts of the Triforce. They are three magical artifacts which were created by the 3 Goddesses themselves. Each fragment supposedly contains the essence of the goddess that created it: Power, Wisdom and Courage. When all three parts are combined, it forms a completed Triforce which will grant the wish of the first person to touch it. However, if that person has an unequal balance of Power, Wisdom or Courage, they will only receive the essence they value most (Ganondorf treasured Power, so that's all he got). The other two parts will then seek out champions which most exemplify the other two traits (Zelda--Wisdom & Link--Courage) to defend itself. It's only when all of the champions have been defeated (or willingly surrender their Triforce piece) that the complete Triforce will reappear and the wish can finally be granted.
* Some items in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' come in sets that grant additional abilities (typically with some sort of downside, as with the equipment) if you have all of them equipped (typically 2-3 weapons, some also have cosmetic items).
* In ''{{Vindictus}}'', each armor suit has a couple of stats that increase incrementally as you put on more pieces, on top of the bonus the pieces themselves give you. This is why you will rarely see a Vindictus player wearing [[RainbowPimpGear mix-and-match armor]].
* Used to be played straight with ''WorldOfWarcraft'''s item sets which grant increasing bonuses the more items from a given set are equipped. Downplayed nowadays so that people would actually have a choice of equipment; a typical set has 5 parts with bonuses awarded for 2 and 4 matching items, while before the Burning Crusade expansion sets had 8 parts and all were required to get the best bonus.
* In ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'', many "Gatito" brand pins only function in battle if the player can collect all the pins in a set. The "Darklit Planets" set (comprising six pins) is an exception as each ''can'' be used individually, but they power up significantly if the player has all six. [[GuideDangIt Which is no easy task]], [[BraggingRightsReward and involves beating the]] BonusBoss [[HarderThanHard on the highest difficulty]].
* ''[[GaiaOnline zOMG]]'': ring sets.
* PlayedWith in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter:'' crafting full armor sets themed off specific monsters gets you a bonus, but some bonuses are completed when specific armor pieces from different sets are mixed together.
* From the ''HeroesOfMightAndMagic III'' expansion ''Shadow of Death'' onwards, there are sets like these.
** It had originally been introduced in ''The Price of Loyalty'', the expansion to Heroes ''II'', but in a more primitive form (there was no gameplay way to separate the set once united). On the other hand, from a story perspective it fits better with this trope, since Shadow of Death's combination artifacts storywise were artifacts combined into a single, more powerful artifact, while The Price of Loyalty's combination artifact was a sword/armor/helmet combo that granted additional powers when used together.
* ''KingdomsOfCamelot'' on Facebook has a full set bonus now that the last of the four Guardians has been released. Only one Guardian can be active at a time, but unlocking all four gives the player a bonus, likely either resources or items for use in-game.
* This is the idea of set bonuses for the Invention Origin Enhancements in ''CityOfHeroes''. A character can only have one of each part of the set in a single power and with each piece added another stat bonus is unlocked. These bonuses are special in that they affect all powers on that character and each bonus can be stacked up to five times as it is possible to use most sets in multiple powers. It is also possible to use more two or three partial sets in the same power in order to create all sorts of set bonus mixes (though usually the best bonuses require having most or all pieces of one set.)
* A minor example, but in the second NeverwinterNights Expansion, Hordes of the Underdark, if you can find and equip all of Lord Nasher's lost equipment, they each become far more powerful.
* ''{{Terraria}}'' features multiple sets of armor made out of various different materials. If you wear a complete set of armor made out of a single type of material (all iron armor, all [[MeteoricIron meteor]] armor, all {{mythril}} armor, etc.), then you get a set bonus. The mid-to-late game armors generally have some very nice set bonuses on them, such as extra melee power, more mana, or increased movement speed. Even in the early game, it's generally better to wear a complete set of armor made from one material (i.e. a full set of copper armor is better than if you had two pieces of copper armor and one piece of iron).
** With the introduction of hardmode and its new materials, each set of armor made from those materials has three different headpieces you can pick from, each of which will improve your skills with either melee combat, ranged weapons, or magic.
* In ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'': ''[[ExpansionPack Wrath of the Lamb]]'', acquiring 3 out of 4 specific cat-related items[[note]]these being Guppy's Tail, Guppy's Head, Guppy's Paw and Dead Cat.[[/note]] in a single playthrough will [[spoiler:transform Isaac into his deceased cat, Guppy]]. Not only it makes you look [[LethalJokeCharacter hilarious]] / [[BadassAdorable adorable]], but it grants you [[spoiler:the abilities to [[IBelieveICanFly fly]] and [[MookMaker spawn blue flies]] whenever you hit enemies]]. Needless to say, it is an incredibly nifty bonus.
* In ''VideoGame/TitanQuest'' you can find certain items that, just like in Diablo, can form a set and give you bonuses if you wear more and more of them. They can be both blue (rare) and on Epic and Legendary, Purple (mythic). Plus, certain item sets works better on certain classes. Last but not least, thanks to the Caravans from the Expansion is possible to pass parts of these sets to other player. In short, is easier to collect all the sets and give them to the most suitable character.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Drakensang}}'', as part of the plot you have to collect all the parts of the Fire Armor (which is, helm, gloves, boots, greaves, armor, shield and InfinityPlusOneSword. The last one depends on the main character's WeaponOfChoice).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* The point of the ''WebComic/RustyAndCo'' arc with Prestige Perkins: Prestige suspects that the Illithid Mobs are gathering lesser magical trinkets to create a dangerous weapon, [[spoiler: later revealed to be a literal Magic Missile.]]
* In ''{{Darken}}'', the [[ArtifactOfDoom Regalia of Evil]] is comprised of a thorn crown, sword and gauntlet. By themselves, they have relatively minor effects. Get all three, and [[spoiler: they fuse with the wielder, who gets exponentially more powerful]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''{{BIONICLE}}'': the Golden Armor.
* The Makluan Rings in ''IronManArmoredAdventures'' that the Mandarin is after.
* In ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}} ThunderCats (2011)]]'', the Thundercats and their ArchEnemy Mumm-Ra hunt for various {{Power Crystal}}s, one of which is the Cats' own AmuletOfConcentratedAwesome, the Eye of Thundera. If all are placed in a sword and gauntlet, the wielder will be rendered nigh omnipotent.
* The Shen Gong Wu in ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' tend to have this effect. There's a subset of them that when combined will create the dreaded Mala-mala Jong.
* The Meta-Nanites from ''WesternAnimation/GeneratorRex'', one lets you control [[PlayingWithFire tempe]][[AnIcePerson rature]], one lets you control [[ShockAndAwe energy]], one lets you control [[GravityMaster Gravity]], one lets you control [[TimeMaster Time]], and the last one [[EvilKnockoff Imitates]] [[ShapeshifterWeapon Rexs powerset]]. Each one is at least a class 4 on the super weight scale but linked through Rex they are at least a class 5 if not class 7.
* The Elements of Harmony from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' , individually they are just jewelery but together they can perform feats such as [[WorldHealingWave world healing waves]]
[[/folder]]

----

* In the MarvelComics CrisisCrossover, ''InfinityGauntlet'', {{Thanos}} combines the Infinity Gems (each one a self-contained Class 4 on the SuperWeight scale) to from the nigh-omnipotent Infinity Gauntlet, which boosts him instantly up to Class 5 status.
* In ''GreenLantern'' this is the case when anyone wears more than one lantern ring, the wielder gets to essentially dual wield (or multi wield) guns. Combining different colored rings can be even more spectacular since they have interesting synergies. Hal Jordan has [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/RingyHal2_7629.jpg done this]] twice with Green and Yellow rings.
** In BrightestDay, [[spoiler:Krona]] did this with rings of ''every'' color!

* In ''TheDresdenFiles'', Harry built a magical model of Chicago that allows scrying, spying, and lots of other fancy tricks. It required collecting a chip of brick from EVERY building, a sliver of bark from EVERY tree, etc...
* Similarly, in the ''CodexAlera'', crafting a magical map composed of samples of the entire nation not only allowed monitoring of the land, it also spawned a conscious embodiment of the land.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Drakensang}}'', as part of the plot you have to collect all the parts of the Fire Armor (which is, helm, gloves, boots, greaves, armor, shield and InfinitePlusOneSword. The last one depends on the main character's WeaponOfChoice).