History Main / NewPowersAsThePlotDemands

* During the Silver Age of comic books, ComicBook/WonderWoman would sometimes display the ability to pass through walls by vibrating her molecules, even though she had no molecular altering powers nor any connection to the speed force, meaning Wonder Woman should have simply destroyed her own body. This had been a sign a writer made a villain like Time Master [[OnlyTheAuthorCanSaveThemNow too powerful]] and had no way for Wonder Woman to win without breaking established rules. ''ComicBook/JudgmentsInInfinity'' instead had Wonder Woman vibrate her lasso until it became intangible when the villain once again proved too invincible to her regular powers, the justification being the lasso is indestructible and will SnapBack from anything done to it. Nonetheless Wonder Woman writers went right back to ignoring this molecular vibration phasing.

** Tyroc had the power to warp reality with his [[MakeMeWannaShout screams]]. (Of course, this made the "screaming" part just color... no pun intended.) He could do nearly anything, from teleportation to pyrokinesis to... making it rain glue. The character was soon written out; common wisdom is that the writers had no idea what to do with him. In his recent reintroduction he seems to have been {{Retcon}}ned into having more conventional Banshee/Black Canary [[MakeMeWannaShout scream powers]].

* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:

* The ''Superman Film Series'' were even worse than the comics with this. The movies introduced:
** ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' had him flying around the world backwards to reverse time, though some consider this a visual metaphor taken too literally. Superman ''could'' and did travel through time in the comics by flying faster than the speed of light; apparently in the movie we're seeing this from his point of view, rather than him physically causing the earth to spin backwards and this somehow causing time to reverse.[[note]]Although this theory still doesn't explain why, once he's reached his desired point in time, he then spins around the other way a few times, seemingly restoring the Earth's rotation to normal.[[/note]]
** ''Film/SupermanII'' would be the worst offender;

*** All the Kryptonians shooting HandBlasts.

** The most infamous new power, from ''Film/SupermanIVTheQuestForPeace'', "Rebuild-the-Great-Wall-of-China Vision". Superman was originally supposed to fly around fixing this at superspeed, but they ran out of money so he had to use EyeBeams instead. Some movie critics dubbed this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ7DvYZRbdw masonry vision]].
** ''Film/Supergirl1984'': Given the extreme liberties taken by the films with her cousin's powers, the movie surprisingly averts this, as Kara has all of her powers from the comics with no "extras" pulled out of thin air specifically for the movie (other than making a flower grow by shooting her EyeBeams).
** The ''Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse'' isn't too bad for this. A DeletedScene in ''Film/ManOfSteel'' has a child Clark [[MakeMeWannaShout scream so loud]] it breaks every window in a doctor's surgery, and ''Film/{{Justice|League 2017}} [[Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague League]]'' has him using his arctic breath, a power he nearly always had in the comics but wasn't previously mentioned in the setting.
* Grandpa Seth in ''Film/{{Troll 2}}'' can do pretty much whatever he feels like, by virtue of being dead. Although the ability to stop time he showed at the beginning of the movie would have been very useful later on, to say the least.

** ComicBook/{{Raven}} can do pretty much whatever she wants depending on the situation. She mainly relies on {{Flight}} and [[MindOverMatter telekinesis]], but has demonstrated the ability to use clairvoyance, [[TimeStandsStill stop time]], [[{{Intangibility}} pass through walls]], see brief [[{{Seers}} glimpses of the future]], create monsters and [[VoluntaryShapeshifting change her appearance to a monster]] to "persuade" a villain to help them, among [[DemonicPossession other]] nasty [[MindRape things]].

** This applies to some of his supporting cast as well. In an old issue of ''Superman Family'', Comicbook/LoisLane assumes the identity of a Russian ballerina after [[MuggedForDisguise knocking her out and leaving her bound and gagged in a closet]]. She's suddenly able to dance well enough to fool the audience ''and'' the other Russians, which she attributes to years of ballet lessons she supposedly had as a child.

** ComicBook/{{Storm}} can slip into this herself (her use of [[LightningCanDoAnything lightning in increasingly improbable ways]] qualifies), it even bleeds into other adaptations. For instance, an episode of the ''WesternAnimation/BlackPanther'' cartoon had her able to use Cerebro, despite it usually only working for telepaths. One old comic by Creator/ChrisClaremont also suddenly gave Storm SuperSenses, because she could feel the effect everyone around her had on the local air pressure.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Tigtone}}'' frequently does this. Parodied in one episode where Tigtone suddenly remembers that he has the absurdly specific power to ride cannonballs when he needs to escape from some sky pirates, and of course never uses that power again. In another episode he sticks a severed pair of wings into Helpy's body and orders him to [[AppendageAssimilation assimilate them]] so they can fly, and Helpy insists that his HealingFactor don't work that way, but then it actually does work, to his surprise.

* To keep the four [[Franchise/SpiderMan Spider-Men's]] abilities consistent in ''VideoGame/SpiderManShatteredDimensions'', ComicBook/SpiderMan2099 gets spider-sense, while Spidey Noir gets improved web-shooting abilities; the changes are [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by the characters.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':

* ''Franchise/XMen'':

* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'' #3 inexplicably gave the Hulk the power to fly, a development so surprising and out of nowhere that [[https://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_large/11/117763/2464606-hulk003.jpg it was even referenced on the cover]]. The new power didn't last long, though, as the Hulk's flight was hastily {{Retcon}}ned into [[InASingleBound super jumping]] the very next issue.

* Creator/UltamiteNineball's infamous fic ''Fanfic/{{soulless shell}}'' chronicles the adventures of [[GodModeSue Leif Melyamos]], who develops the ability to shoot [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]], teleport at will, and outfight any opponent [[WaifFu at the age of about three]]. By the time he's eighteen, he can take on a bizarre OneWingedAngel form with horns and wings, and by the time the story comes to a [[NoEnding very abrupt stop]], has got hold of a sapient blood-drinking sword. Keep in mind this fic was put in the ''{{Literature/Redwall}}'' section, and said canon is supposed to have ''[[{{Demythification}} no magic whatsoever]]'' (bar the occasional prophecies and InstantExpert routines). This fic is in fact a prequel to another fic entitled "Blood omen" (No, not [[VideoGame/LegacyOfKain that one]]), in which Leif's descendant Zain is an even better example, literally developing a new power with each fight scene.

* Lampshaded and played for laughs in ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'', Roger Rabbit meta-explains his ability to escape his handcuffs easily, when he left them to help stabilize the table as Eddie Valiant was trying to saw them off.

* A variation in ''Film/BackToTheFuture'': threatened by the bad guy with a gun, Marty jumps off the rooftop in apparent suicide... [[SuicidalGotcha only to reveal he jumped onto the roof of their flying car]], which floats back up just in time to whack the bad guy with one of the doors.

* The Heisei ''Film/{{Gamera}}'' series deconstructed this trope completely. Gamera reveals in [[Film/Gamera2AdventOfLegion the second film]] to have a "[[WaveMotionGun Mana Cannon]]" that obliterates the enemy of that film. It is learned in [[Film/Gamera3AwakeningOfIrys the final film]] that using that attack drained the Earth of its health, and [[GaiasVengeance releasing a hoard of Gyaos upon the planet]]. It is also learned that Gamera [[FriendToAllChildren bonded with humans]] in order to gain the [[ComboPlatterPowers ability to mutate and get new powers]] such as the Mana Cannon and Flame Absorbing powers -- but the Mana Cannon cost him that connection to humanity as well! This causes him to ignore Property Damage as he hunts the Gyaos.