History Main / ImaginationBasedSuperPower

** ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'''s Lambda Driver is another example of specialized mecha equipment that explicitly runs on the pilot's willpower and imagination. Unfortunately the only person on the good guys' side able to pilot their only Lambda Driver-equipped mech is Sousuke, a [[TheStoic Stoic]] ConsummateProfessional with approximately the imaginative capacity of a cinder block. This situation causes considerable difficulty and frustration for everyone involved until he finally gets some of his issues sorted out at the end of ''The Second Raid.'' (The bad guys, meanwhile, hand out Lambda Drivers like candy to AxCrazy [[PsychoForHire Psychos For Hire]] who have absolutely no difficulty making them run.)

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'':

* The titular character from ''[[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' has godlike powers, meaning she can twist reality and create any thing/situation she wants. The only catch is she doesn't realize she has this ability.

* In ''LightNovel/UnlimitedFafnir'', Ds have the power to create dark matter and transmute it into almost anything, within limits. They can only generate a limited quantity of dark matter at a time, and organic tissue is considered to be impossible to transmute due to its complexity. [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Vritra]] has the same power but is far more skilled with it. She can create living organisms, and (in the past) had enough dark matter to [[spoiler:recreate the entire planet when it was destroyed.]]

** ''Franchise/FateSeries'': Shirou Emiya and his future counterpart Archer EMIYA have the Reality Marble Unlimited Blade Works. A Reality Marble is a MentalWorld that can create anything the user imagines and either draw people into it or pull their creations into the real world. While they cannot create divine constructs, it is easier and less energy consuming for them to create weapons, especially swords, hence the name Unlimited Blade Works. If their hearts and minds falter, their creations become brittle. Chloe von Einzbern, who has a copy of Archer EMIYA's powers, can use it to create weapons, clothes, and a chair once.

** In the 2018 ''[[ComicBook/TheAvengersJasonAaron Avengers]]'' run, the Star Brand reappears... having attached itself to a woman transported as space migrant labour with her boyfriend, who'd got pregnant, and then was 9 months along and panicking as she was separated from her boyfriend and put into a space immigration lock-up just as she got the Brand... and went into labour. Her terrified rampage ripped through a Shi'ar prison galaxy, and attracted the Avengers, the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, and all the extant Heralds of Galactus. Naturally, Captain America managed to calm her down long enough to deliver the baby. Then it turned out that [[spoiler: the real bearer of the Star Brand was the baby, the mother having died in delivery. The Avengers then adopted the baby, who proved to be... somewhat wilful. As in, confronting a super-charged Moon Knight who'd stolen, among other things, Mjolnir and the Spirit of Vengeance with Iron Man unable to stop her]].\\

Compare NewPowersAsThePlotDemands and StrongAsTheyNeedToBe. See also SwissArmySuperpower, SemanticSuperpower, ArtInitiatesLife.

* Magic in ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' works like this most of the time.

* The Orb of Quite Remarkable Power in ''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim'' basically functions as a spherical Green Lantern Ring. Parodied when Psycrowe used it to fight Jim, and at one point accidentally tried to drop a giant hamburger on him because he was thinking about lunch.

* In the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' series Ditto's Transform move not only lets it turn into Pokemon, but face masks, arms, keys, umbrellas, ''full sized working cannons'' etc. Pretty much whatever it needs.

* The Star Brand from ComicBook/TheNewUniverse easily fits this trope. It can do just about anything the user wants, from flying to immortality. However, it has a tons of downsides to it, including being unable to be fully rid of the power (passing it leaves you with 10% of the power and you can drain it completely, but there's the possibility that you'll get it back or accidentally pass it on) and it can only be held by living beings (the two times it was placed on inanimate objects? Gave people superpowers and turned Pittsburgh into a crater, respectively). When the New U's Earth was brought to the Marvel U, it was placed in quarantine because the Star Brand ''upset the balance of the universe''. Its main depicted wielder, Ken Connell, was severely lacking in imagination and functioned mostly as a FlyingBrick.
** In the 2018 ''Avengers'' run, the Star Brand reappears... having attached itself to a woman transported as space migrant labour with her boyfriend, who'd got pregnant, and then was 9 months along and panicking as she was separated from her boyfriend and put into a space immigration lock-up just as she got the Brand... and went into labour. Her terrified rampage ripped through a Shi'ar prison galaxy, and attracted the Avengers, the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, and all the extant Heralds of Galactus. Naturally, Captain America managed to calm her down long enough to deliver the baby. Then it turned out that [[spoiler: the real bearer of the Star Brand was the baby, the mother having died in delivery. The Avengers then adopted the baby, who proved to be... somewhat wilful. As in, confronting a super-charged Moon Knight who'd stolen, among other things, Mjolnir and the Spirit of Vengeance with Iron Man unable to stop her]].\\

* It's oddly popular in the SuperRobotGenre for the mecha to run on a green, glowing, extremely powerful energy source that is limited only by the pilot's [[HotBlooded willpower]] and imagination, much like the Green Lantern. The first example being Manga/{{Getter R|obo}}ays, then the [[Anime/GaoGaiGar G-Stone]], the [[Anime/KotetsuJeeg Bronze Bell's Power]] and [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Spiral Energy]].

* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' has several of these. Evillustrator ([[VillainPossessedBystander evilized]] Nathaniel) can create anything drawn on the special pad on his arm. He does have a LogicalWeakness, though, in that he needs light to see what he's drawing. Mime can create invisible objects by miming them, even complex things like a car, but only one thing at a time. And there's Hawk Moth himself, whose power is [[SuperEmpowering bestowing powers on others]]. He can get quite creative with the powers that he grants, although it's usually related to the mental state of the recipient.

** In a way, many Devil Fruits can be considered this. Though the basic power is determined by the fruit itself, the usefulness of those powers are determined by the creativity of the user. Did you know being made of rubber can give you SuperSpeed? Or how about the [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway seemingly useless power]] to [[OneUp return to life once]], would you have guessed it would also let you summon the flames of Hell itself? And did you know the power of Pushing can also include shoving around abstract concepts like injury and pain? Devil Fruits never get more powerful than when you first eat them, but the users get more creative.

** Rusty Rose has this with his magic: Arc of Embodiment. Unlike most with an ImaginationBasedSuperpower, fear and doubt don't have much negative effect on him. In fact, when he feels [[WhatIsThisFeeling fear]] for the first time in a long time, he uses it as inspiration for a new spell. When he actually stops screwing around and gets serious, it takes some ''serious'' creative thinking for Fairy Tail to get around his defenses and hit him [[SquishyWizard and lucky for them he's not too good at actually taking a hit.]]

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': After a boy named Grant accidentally swallows a gem that grants wishes, the Superman-obsessed kid gains superpowers largely based on those of his comic book idol, including SuperStrength, flight, SuperSpeed, enhanced senses, invulnerability, and X-ray vision. He can also snap his fingers and achieve different results, such as breaking a window rated to withstand a nuclear blast or light a candle.

* On ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug,'' Evillustrator ([[VillainPossessedBystander evilized]] Nathaniel) can create anything drawn on the special pad on his arm. He does have a LogicalWeakness, though, in that he needs light to see what he's drawing.

Compare NewPowersAsThePlotDemands and StrongAsTheyNeedToBe. See also SwissArmySuperpower, SemanticSuperpower.

** There's also the other Lantern Corps, all of whom are capable of the same matter-creation as Green ones, though different Lantern Corps apply their Green Lantern Ring powers differently. The Raging [[Characters/GLRedLanternCorps Red Lanterns]] typically vomit their energies from their mouth as a sort of acid, which can also corrode other Corps' constructs. [[Characters/GLOrangeLanternCorps Orange Lanterns]] are the physical recreations of Larfleeze's victims (as he is the only true member of the corps of Greed) in addition to being standard constructs. [[Characters/GLSinestroCorps Yellow]] is like Green, but with Fear as its power source and it allows them to [[IKnowWhatYouFear manifest the worst fears of their targets]] against them. [[Characters/GLBlueLanternCorps Blue Lanterns]] usually just let their Ring make a copy of whatever the target will feel Hope about, but in the presence of a Green Lantern, can do plenty more, especially sabotage or nerf the Red, Orange and Yellow corps while also being able to {{heal|ingHands}}. [[Characters/GLStarSapphireCorps Violet]] has the basic powers in addition to manifesting [[CrystalPrison strange violet crystals]] to entrap lovers in a form of stasis. [[Characters/GLIndigoTribe The Indigo Tribe]] has the basic power set, weaponized Compassion [[HeelFaceBrainwashing (forcing their victims to have compassion)]], and the ability to tap into any of the other colors' powers.
*** Later stories establish several limitations on the rings:
The ''ComicBook/LightsOut'' storyline reveals that there these powers do have a serious limitation: [[spoiler:the source of their powers, the Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum, is ''finite''. Turns out the previous universe went dark since the "Lightsmiths" used them extensively and the sole survivor clearly doesn't want that to happen.]]

** The ''ComicBook/LightsOut'' storyline reveals that there these powers do have a serious limitation: [[spoiler:the source of their powers, the Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum, is ''finite''. Turns out the previous universe went dark since the "Lightsmiths" used them extensively and the sole survivor clearly doesn't want that to happen.]]
** While it usually doesn't come up, the ''Rebirth'' storyarc reveals another limitation to the Green Lanterns' rings: focusing your will to create an object through them takes a ''huge'' amount of concentration and willpower. Green Arrow feels like he just ran a marathon after making a simple arrow with a ring. Kyle confirms that this happens every time he uses the ring. It's likely one of the reasons the rings are programmed to seek out badass determinators: they're the only ones who have the mental fortitude to even use the rings in the first place.

* Very much unsubverted in at least one {{Elseworld}} story, where ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' gets a power ring. Because giving the [[MemeticMutation goddamned Batman]] a weapon based on intelligence, creativity, and willpower seemed like ''such'' a good idea at the time... Franchise/{{Batman}} actually tried on Hal Jordan's ring, at Jordan's urging, in canon a few years ago. With the way Green Lantern rings specifically work [[{{Retcon}} these days]], he has to [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind face his inner psyche]], with [[WhatDoTheyFearEpisode ring-made bats and a specter of his parents]] facing him down. He comes out of it with a lot more respect for Jordan than before.
-->'''Batman''': You go through that ''every time''?\\
'''Green Lantern''': Yes.

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern, as a PostHumousCharacter and former SHIELD Agent. His primary job? Act as a counter-measure to freaking ''ComicBook/{{Magneto}}.'' Who is consistently depicted in-story as a peer of planet-busting Thor. And by all accounts, including Magneto's own, he was very good at it. By the time of the story, the {{ring|OfPower}} has vanished. It later reappears in the possession of Doctor Strange, who loans it to a teenage Carol Danvers in chapter 75 and conveniently fails to mention that it's a lot more than just an enchanted ring, until it saves her life [[spoiler: (by bringing her BackFromTheDead)]]. Even in her inexperienced hands (she gets the basics [[spoiler: from the ghost of Alan Scott]], but that's it), it proves powerful enough to blast straight through Darkhold enhanced defences of a Loki-class EvilSorcerer, and is described as operating like a focus for magic at its most fundamental: magic, commanded and shaped to its wielder's will. And by 'magic', we mean that it's tied to the magic reserves of Earth itself, which is a cosmically powerful magical dynamo.

* ''Literature/{{Sphere}}'' offers a literal example, as the titular sphere is capable of bestowing RealityWarper abilities upon whoever enters it. This would allow one to manifest their imagination and effectively shape reality to their whim. Unfortunately, these powers can also manifest a person's subconscious thoughts and worst fears. In the end, the surviving protagonists realize their abilities are too dangerous for any man to possess, and decide to erase their powers and [[LaserGuidedAmnesia all memory of their encounter with the sphere]]. However, it's implied at the very end of the novel that Elizabeth Halperin kept her powers.
* Dhyarra crystals in the German horror/fantasy/SF series ''Professor Zamorra'' are this, essentially drawing upon "cosmic energies" to turn what their user imagines into reality. Downsides include the need for fairly intense concentration (temporary effects are repeatedly shown to be easily dispelled simply by distracting the user) and very ''precise'' visualization for complex tasks at least, as well as the fact that a crystal too powerful for a given user to control will burn out their mind and leave them dead or a drooling vegetable in short order. And you can't gauge an unknown crystal's power level just by looking at it...

* This is basically how sorcery works in ''Literature/TheBelgariad''. Belgarath describes it as 'The Will and the Word' - imagine what you want to happen, then say a word to release your Will and make it happen. Practically, you're limited by how much energy you can safely use but more importantly you have to be able to envisage what you want to achieve. This encourages sorcerors to spend lots of time in study, as knowledge vastly expands their available repertoire. As an absolute limit, it's impossible to 'unmake' anything. The universe doesn't like it, and unmakes you instead.

* In Creator/PiersAnthony's ''Literature/ApprenticeAdept'' series, Adept powers are essentially this. Each Adept has an area of specialty but each individual manifestation of that specialty can only be used once. For instance the Blue Adept sings rhyming spells but each rhyme only works once. This makes sense in the context of the spoken word but doesn't bear up to much scrutiny when some of the other Adepts manifest powers through building golems, mixing potions and drawing lines. One Adept paralyzes with the Evil Eye. How do you see the person you're paralyzing differently each time?

So you played the SuperpowerLottery? Well, kid, you just scored the silver medal! This power, based around the user's imagination, allows the user to create anything if they can think of it. It can be anything mundane from table flatware to weapons like rocket launchers and machine guns.

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' is an ambiguous example. Assuming every weird thing that happens to Calvin actually ''happens'', then Calvin can do anything or summon anyone he wants with his mind. He creates advanced technology out of cardboard, brings snowmen to life without intending to, and request leaf collections from alien invaders. Unfortunately, he generally has no control over this power, so he occasionally has to to deal with threats such as monsters under his bed, [[https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2008/12/21 enormous bedbugs]], unethicated duplicates of himself, or even his own bicycle!

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' is an ambiguous example. Assuming every weird thing that happens to Calvin actually ''happens'', then Calvin can do anything or summon anyone he wants with his mind. He creates advanced technology out of cardboard, brings snowmen to life without intending to, and request leaf collections from alien invaders. Unfortunately, he generally has no control over this power, so he occasionally has to to deal with threats such as monsters under his bed, [[https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2008/12/21 enormous bedbugs]], even his own bicycle!

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' is an ambiguous example. Assuming every weird thing that happens to Calvin actually ''happens'', then Calvin can do anything or summon anyone he wants with his mind. He creates advanced technology out of cardboard, brings snowmen to life without intending to, and request leaf collections from alien invaders. Unfortunately, this means he also has to to deal with threats, such as monsters under the bed or his own bicycle.

In the ''WebVideo/GrittyReboots'' version of ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'', Calvin's imagination has gotten so powerful over the years that it can manifest itself in real life, which is not a good thing as it is angry at Calvin for outgrowing it.

* The Star Brand from ComicBook/TheNewUniverse easily fits this trope. It can do just about anything the user wants, from flying to immortality. However, it has a tons of downsides to it, including being unable to be fully rid of the power (passing it leaves you with 10% of the power and you can drain it completely, but there's the possibility that you'll get it back or accidentally pass it on) and it can only be held by living beings (the two times it was placed on inanimate objects? Gave people superpowers and turned Pittsburgh into a crater, respectively). When the New U's Earth was brought to the Marvel U, it was placed in quarantine because the Star Brand ''upset the balance of the universe''. Its main depicted wielder, Ken Connell, was severely lacking in imagination and functioned mostly as a FlyingBrick.\\