History Main / NewPowersAsthePlotDemands

* ''ComicBook/PoisonIvy2022'': In issue #11, Ivy gains the ability to travel through the mycelial network just as she and the lamia spores infected are about to be run over by oil workers
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
** Superman started out faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound and invulnerable to anything less than a bomb. Since then he's learned to fly, blow like a hurricane, survive nuclear explosions, chill things with a [[SuperBreath puff of breath]], shoot [[EyeBeams lasers from his eyes]], and use XRayVision. And that's just the powers that have lasted.
** A lot of this stems from various media adaptations, particularly the ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheatricalCartoons''; originally the brothers Fleischer ''wanted'' to stick close to a relatively limited powerset, but animating him just "leaping" everywhere was time-consuming and expensive (even with their extravagant-for-the-time budget), so they asked DC "can we just make him fly?" DC said "Sure", he flew in the cartoons which introduced a ton of people to the character who then bought the comic and complained to DC, asking why Superman didn't fly like he did in the cartoon... and, well, we were off to the Super-races.
** Superman's MirrorUniverse counterpart Ultraman (no, not ''[[Franchise/UltraSeries that]]'' Ultraman) actually has this as his superpower: exposure to Kryptonite, rather than harming him, causes him to develop new abilities (at least in his first appearance. Later on this was changed to Kryptonite being necessary to sustain his full levels of power).
** And Red Kryptonite (occasionally, in some continuities) lets the "regular" Superman develop new abilities, albeit temporary ones.
** Van-Zee, Superman's lookalike from Kandor, demonstrates [[https://i.imgur.com/gtL6nzP.jpg Super Weaving]]. He's just using super speed to, er, weave really really fast.
** Lampshaded in ''ComicBook/WhoTookTheSuperOutOfSuperman''. After Superman has put several bank robbers down, the stolen cash starts swirling upwards mysteriously, and a crook believes Superman -who had nothing to do with it- is showing off some new strange power.
--->'''Bank Robber:''' Th-The money... swirling around--! Some kinda new Superman trick, I bet!
** In one strip, Lois Lane is going blind and she wants to see a play based on herself before this happens. But the play is only a script, so Superman uses super-puppetry to make it appear that actors are performing on stage (Lois' vision is blurred so she doesn't notice). He also uses "super-memory" to learn the script, even though he could just ''read'' it given that he's offstage.
** Other silver age classic powers: super-hypnotism, super-kissing, and super-mimicry.
** "Super-hypnotism" -- though not called that at the time -- was actually acquired at a very early point, certainly by 1940 at the latest (he hypnotizes Lois in at least two different stories that year alone.)
** The original TV show mostly restrained itself from this, but huffed this trope twice, once to give Superman the ability to phase through walls, and once to let him split himself into [[strike:multiple]] two Supermen. Both of these powers vanished after the episode. The splitting ability came from his dense molecular structure (at the time, the explanation for his invulnerability) meaning he had enough mass to make up two normal people. The two were significantly weaker than when they were together creating dramatic tension when they couldn't merge.
** In one episode of the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse, Superman teams up with Robin to search for Batman, and displays his super-mimicry, explained as him having extraordinary control of his vocal muscles, to first mimic Batman, then Robin himself. This completely freaks Robin out, and he demands that Supes [[NeverSayThatAgain "Never. Do that. Again."]] Superman never uses this power again.
** [[http://comiccoverage.typepad.com/comic_coverage/superpowers-that-time-forgot/ There's plenty more examples from the comics.]]
** The basic assumption was that, for any ability a normal man might have, Superman could do it or learn to do it much better. If a man can blow out a candle, then Superman can blow out a forest fire. The problem lay in that the writers didn't consider how ventriloquism or hypnotism really work, so Superman was shown ''literally'' throwing his voice, or hypnotizing people almost effortlessly.
** The time travel ability is a logical extension of the fact that they'd already established he could fly faster than light; the real question is how he ever broke the light barrier ''without'' time traveling.
** This didn't end with the Silver Age by the way. The modern Superman has been shown to use the psychic martial art of Torquasm-Vo which in one instance allowed him to ''alter reality''.
** Superman's set of powers, while extensive in number, were actually fairly set in stone by the early 1960s, when heat vision (the last major power addition) became a stand-alone power from his x-ray vision, and the yellow sun explanation for his powers came into use. (He'd use "the heat of his x-ray vision" to melt things in 50s stories.) The above mentions of "super-weaving"/"super-puppetry"/etc. are just using his usual powers (super-speed, etc.) to do some task in a creative manner, and not actual "powers." The ''extent'' of his powers, especially invulnerability and strength, were reduced post-1960s (and especially in the Byrne revamp), with a few powers outright tossed out by Byrne (in particular, time-travel and interstellar travel using his super-speed, super-hypnosis, and super-ventriloquism). The ability to use his super-breath to create freeze breath apparently fell prey to this for awhile, until it was brought back in 2000s stories.
** Not that there weren't outright inexplicable new powers sometimes. In one issue, he managed to ''rewire complex circuitry'' with his vision to stop some evil machinery of Brainiac's, and another time he somehow used his vision to attempt a ''phone trace.'' It's especially JustForFun/{{Egregious}} with Silver Age Superman ''because'' of the number and extent of his established powers.
** 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.
** Although ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} was created in the late Silver Age and she was so overpowered like her cousin, she was not liable to come up with new powers every issue. Still she had super-intuition -a power unique to her-, used super-ventiloquism, in ''ComicBook/ActionComics #258'' she used super-aiming and in ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl1972 Supergirl Vol 1]]'' issue #1 she uses [[VacuumMouth Super-Suction Breath]] to capture a serial killer (she draws out the air out of a cab so the man in there faints).
** Parodied in ''ComicBook/Supergirl2005'' storyline ''ComicBook/WayOfTheWorld''. Supergirl fights a villain that at one point brags about his new powers:
--->'''Luzano:''' Hyper-Strength! Hyper-Speed! Plasmagenesis! Yes, that's a word! Hyper-sensual perception!\\
'''Supergirl:''' ''[incredulous]'' "Hyper-sensual"?
** Parodied in the third issue of ''ComicBook/SupergirlCosmicAdventuresInThe8thGrade'' when Linda tries to gain new powers combining different types of Kryptonite. She gains a bunch of useless powers until she gets something useful after several attempts:
--->'''Supergirl:''' You gotta... be kidding. The power to overcook waffles...? How is that even a power?
* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'':
** Antagonist ComicBook/NormanOsborn is able to come BackFromTheDead (via WakingUpAtTheMorgue) thanks to a healing factor he wasn't even aware he retained. Then again, it's not surprising that he'd be unaware of a power he had to ''[[DieOrFly die]]'' to use.
** Spider-Man also has in his rogue's gallery a villain called "The Answer", whose powers are ''defined'' as "whatever is necessary in the current situation".
** In ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'' [[spoiler: Peter Parker later comes back from the dead after it turns out that the serum that empowered him (as well as Miles Morales and Norman Osborn) makes them functionally immortal. Thereby explaining Osborn's JokerImmunity.]].
* ComicBook/TheAvengers have ComicBook/ScarletWitch, who has possibly the most ill-defined set of powers in all of Marvel Comics. DependingOnTheWriter she can be a mutant RealityWarper, a mystical sorceress, both, or something else altogether.
* ''ComicBook/MartianManhunter'' was prone to this, at times having the power to control magnetism, strain gold from water, and ''[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking create ice cream with his mind]]''.
%%* Happens to ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} every so often. In that case, it's just as much New Powers as Lack of Respect Demands.
* ''ComicBook/XMen'':
** Marrow had her heart torn off her body by Storm, but later was revealed to be alive. How? Spare heart.
** ComicBook/{{Storm|MarvelComics}} 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/BlackPanther2010'' 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.
** ComicBook/{{Magneto}} started off with the ability to control metal magnetically, then developed the ability to fly with a reasonable enough explanation. Then, as stories became more ambitious, he was suddenly able to control the entire electromagnetic spectrum, which effectively made him invincible, so long as no one managed to get in a cheap shot. He could even go toe to toe with the freaking Phoenix (admittedly, this was before the retcon of the Phoenix being a vastly powerful cosmic entity, but even so, it's no mean feat)! Of course, then there's the ''Planet X'' story by Creator/GrantMorrison, in which he's powerful enough to (somehow) control gravity and ''time.'' (Grand Unified Theory?) Of course, in that case, he was retconned into being Xorn posing as Magneto, while the real Magneto was living in the ruins of Genosha. However, stories like ''ComicBook/AvengersDisassembled'' when he demonstrated the ability to basically stargate across continents to get his daughter, which are canonically him, don't under-sell his ludicrously vast powers. And ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}}, in which ComicBook/UltimateMarvel Magneto is able to use his powers to shift the magnetic poles of the Earth, [[ArtisticLicensePhysics which causes massive weather shifts, which causes massive tidal waves to destroy almost all of the East Coast]]. Admittedly, he needed Mjolnir to do it.
** For a brief period during the Silver Age, ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}} suddenly gained the ability to fly by vibrating his legs. The writers ditched this idea pretty quickly, though.
** Creator/GrantMorrison used this trope by [[strike:an AssPull]] a CerebusRetcon in his run on ''X-Men'' by introducing "secondary mutations", which would grant entirely new sets of powers to mutants, even years after they first gained their powers. This was his excuse for letting Emma Frost turn into living diamond for no obvious reason besides RuleOfCool. [[spoiler: It turns out later that Emma was given that ability by Cassandra Nova so she could survive the Mega Sentinel attack as part of her plan to return if defeated. However, ''other'' characters get interesting (or terrifying) secondary mutations too.]]
** Dave Cockrum used to drive Claremont nuts by constantly giving ComicBook/{{Nightcrawler}} new powers almost every issue back in the earlier X-Men days. Such as invisibility in shadows, or wallcrawling (the first of which got [[OrwellianRetcon Orwellian-retconned]] in reprints, with the latter just being quietly dropped)
** Professor Xavier's less-seen powers include telekinesis and the ability to give other people telepathy.
** As originally written pre-{{Retcon}}, [[ThePhoenix Phoenix]] was merely ComicBook/JeanGrey's "ultimate potential as a psi." She'd never shown that she was capable of that level of power before, and later stories brought in outside influences, but originally Jean spontaneously unlocked awesome powers when faced with death.
** Darwin, whose body will [[AdaptiveAbility evolve on the fly to meet the problems in the situation]], even though Darwin has no control over what evolves or how it works. Lampshaded during ''World War Hulk'' when his power decided the best defense against a rampaging Hulk was... to not be there, as illustrated by his teleporting away. Which was pretty brilliant, although the power originally created a Gamma Energy Draining power to drain power from the Hulk to weaken him, but the Hulk is one of those sorts who fit the 'generates more energy than the enemy can hope to drain' trope so Darwin was getting nowhere and after being knocked unconscious by the Hulk his power reasoned it had no hope of defending against the Hulk directly and got Darwin several states away where it was relatively safe.
** Similarly, the mutant Lifeguard will develop whatever power ''will be'' necessary next to save lives. So, unconscious precognitive adaptation. Like Darwin, it sometimes turns out that gaining the power necessary to save lives ''doesn't'' mean gaining the power necessary to ''defeat the enemy.'' On top of that, apparently, it only helps her save ''other'' people's lives. As often as Darwin she is more inconvenienced by a power she gains, or must [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer make creative use of something]] that isn't the SuperStrength or EyeBeams she'd rather have had.
** [[Characters/MarvelComicsApocalypse Apocalypse]] is one of the most egregious offenders, he generally seems to have whatever powers needs to threat at the time or whatever the current writer finds cool. And that's not even taking into account what powers are naturally his and what ones are given by his technology. The in-universe justification is that his true mutant ability is the power to [[MasterOfYourDomain shapeshift at a subatomic level]]. Since mutant abilities are genetic in nature, he can alter his own DNA to give himself whatever power he wants.
* ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'':
** Ra's Al Ghul set the Moon on a collision course with the Earth. This gave off "hypertaxis energy", which caused humans to evolve to survive a threat before it happened.
** Tyroc had the power to warp reality with his 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 scream powers.
** Duplicate Boy had the ability to copy ''any power he wanted'', including those he made up. Of course, his abilities were rarely used properly by the writers. He could copy the powers of anyone he's ever met including multiple powers at the same time much like the Super-Adaptoid. So he was effectively the most powerful being in the 31st Century, which is why they had a 'the rulers of your homeworld deem you must remain here to protect it' restriction on him along with the rest of his team for why he in particular never had an impact against the villains that showed up after his introduction.
** The villain Nemesis Kid had the ability to temporarily gain whatever power he needed to fight any single opponent. This one was used just as badly; he was killed in hand-to-hand combat by Queen Projectra -- without her using her illusion powers -- the only given reason why his ability didn't provide him with invulnerability as well as immunity to illusions was being too ''intimidated'' to concentrate on activating his power. One would suppose he would gain invulnerability against physical attacks against any foe capable of throwing a punch... Nemesis Kid's powers explicitly only worked on one power at a time. That's why Princess Projectra was able to simply beat him to death: His power was occupied nullifying her illusions.
* ComicBook/TheSentry is one of the more blatant examples of this; at first, he was a standard FlyingBrick with additional LightEmUp powers and PsychicPowers (sufficient to wipe everyone's memory of him), albeit strong enough to - with effort - contain a Cosmic Cube. Then his dark side, the Void, demonstrated all sorts of abilities like WeatherManipulation and combat tentacles strong enough to break every bone in the Hulk's body. After that, it steadily progressed up to grand scale Molecular Manipulation and being a flat out RealityWarper (which goes some way to explaining his constantly changing origin) - there's a reason that one theory about him holds that he's actually a sentient Cosmic Cube, like Kobik. Either way, he can't die unless he wants to, and is only generally restricted by his rampant neuroses. Then he came back from the dead as one of the Apocalypse Twins' Horsemen of Death, totally without the Void (apparently it got bored and left for the White Hot Room) and even crazier and more powerful than ever.
* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk1962'' #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.
* The ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'' villain "The Quiz" had "every power you haven't thought of". Literally; to fight her, you had to start shouting power names so she couldn't use them.
** Gives you a bit of fridge logic as to why declaring 'the power to have every power I haven't thought of' wouldn't eliminate the power and render her powerless since she can't have any power you've thought of and her root power is told to you.
*** Or just rattle off this short list: "The power to breathe underwater. The power to breathe in space. The power to breathe in an atmosphere. The power to survive without breathing."
* Inverted in an arc of ''ComicBook/{{Exiles}}'' in which the team arrives on an [[AlternateUniverse Earth where the Skrulls have ruled since the 19th century]], and several of them are thrown into a gladiator arena to fight other superpowered beings. Mimic, a mutant with the power to copy and hold onto the abilities of up to five other mutants, strikingly showcases "all four" of his various powers as he fights his way to higher tiers of the arena, until he finally comes up against "The Champion", that universe's version of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica. The Skrulls are expecting an epic fight, when Mimic ends it in ten seconds by letting loose optic blasts he copied from the ComicBook/XMen's Cyclops. The reader knows he has this power (if he's been paying attention, since Mimic had been using it since the start of the series), but the in-universe audience is shocked.
* While not powers, per se, Franchise/{{Batman}} seems to always have [[WhereDoesHeGetAllThoseWonderfulToys that one thing in his utility belt that saves the day]], despite there never being mention of it before. This was especially true in UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}}, on [[Series/Batman1966 the TV Show]] (shark-repellent bat-spray), and on the {{WesternAnimation/Superfriends}} ("You're a mouse? I'll put you in the bat belt mouse compartment!"). Fans have come to expect him to have all sorts of basic toys there (as well as a chunk of kryptonite in a lead-lined pouch because you can't be too careful), and the better writers either have him specifically preparing for a fight or have him {{MacGyver|ing}} a solution out of things you would expect him to have.

* 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/JudgmentInInfinity'' 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.
* Captain Everything from ''ComicBook/{{normalman}}'' was the most powerful being on the planet Levram simply because he could defy all laws of physics, exhibiting a new power at every plot twist. Of course, this is just one of the ways in which he's a parody of Superman. He was also a complete moron, who forgot that he could fly ''while in midflight''.
* Also from Franchise/TheDCU, Infinity Man had the ill-explained power to bend all natural laws. He can modify the atomic structure of things. Good.
* ComicBook/ResurrectionMan's powers are ''literally'' dictated by the plot; anytime he dies, he'll come back immediately possessing some power that would have allowed him to survive what killed him. Drop him off a cliff, now he can fly, shoot him, now he's bulletproof, etc.
** New Spider-Man foe The Freak has the same ability.
** As does Doomsday, the only monster to ever kill Superman- except he develops new abilities that counter anything that harms him. At one point, he develops bony ear coverings to counter a powerful sonic gun. Until he is finally undone by the one thing that he evolved that made him weak: Sentience.
--->'''Superman:''' You're different now. You can think for yourself. So think about this. Before, you were a mindless thing. Nothing could hurt you. You couldn't feel pain, much less understand it. But once you have felt it -- it changes you -- forever. And you'll begin to understand something new. Fear. I've lived with it all my life. You don't want to die again, do you? The agony of what's happened to you affects your speed -- your strength... and that little bit of doubt -- that you cannot win today -- grows.
** Doomsday's power could be summarized as, each time he dies and comes back, his overall strength and power increase AND he's made immediately and instantaneously invulnerable to and has the capacity to kill or destroy whatever it was that killed him. He doesn't ''have'' to die, though: we once see him bashing his way out of a metal box he'd been contained in; his fists grow bony protection and eventually spikes with each punch. He's ''constantly'' spawning the fix for whatever challenge lies in his path.
* ''ComicBook/DialHForHero'' is based around a mysterious dial that enables an ordinary person to become a superhero for a short time, by selecting the letters H-E-R-O in order. Each time it is used, the dial causes its possessor to become a superhero with a different name, costume, and powers. The twist here was that the hero usually didn't get a power that would solve whatever problem he was facing in the most obvious and direct way. The trope was played straight, though, in that the power always turned out to be useful for the current situation, even if ''how'' it could be useful wasn't apparent at first. The basic plot of a Dial H For Hero story can be summed up as "figure out how being a human slinky helps you put out a forest fire."
* In the children's comic ''Korgi,'' the magic korgi spontaneously develops the ability to breathe fire.

* The ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} and ComicBook/JessicaJones villain the Purple Man was hastily {{Retcon}}ned to possess a HealingFactor to explain how he'd survived getting punched to death by [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]] during the ''Emperor Doom'' graphic novel.
* ''ComicBook/{{Darkhawk}}'' is an interesting variant on this trope, in the sense that Chris Powell [[HowDoIShotWeb didn't get an instruction manual along with the fancy amulet that transforms him into Darkhawk]], so he ended up discovering many of his powers by trial and error, most notably in reacting to new and stressful situations.
* The ComicBook/NewWarriors had an enemy/ally named Helix, who adapted to '''any''' threat against his body, be it disease, telekinesis, spider webs, or a beat down from [[FlyingBrick multiple super sonic flying, nigh invulnerable, super strong enemies]]. As soon as he was out of range from whatever threatened him, his body dropped whatever adaptations it developed.
* The DC villain Paragon has the power to mimic the superpowers of any superhero near to him. But he can also add a twist the originator cannot perform, so he thinks he is superior because he can use any power better.
* In a non-superheroic example, Thorn from ''ComicBook/{{Bone}}'' displays more and more ludicrous powers as the plot goes on, everything from simple PsychicDreamsForEveryone to seeing invisible ghost circles to super-strength to ''flight''. This is because her "true" power is power over ''dreams'', and the awakening of the BigBad is bringing the Waking World and the Dreaming closer together.
* ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' :
** The Engineer is a repeat offender here. Her "powers" are derived from the [[AppliedPhlebotinum "nine pints of liquid machinery"]] that was developed from a combination of her own research and that of another genius and with which she replaced her blood. It basically means she can create virtually any device she can conceive of on the fly. However, while originally this seemed to be limited to what she could shape out of the actual nanoblood, the scope kept increasing until she could eventually build even very large constructs on-demand, as well [[SelfDuplication create duplicates of herself]] that shared her abilities. The only limit being how many different things she could mentally multitask at one time.
** Seth, the ridiculously powerful metahuman sent to kill and otherwise maim the members of The Authority, might as well be a walking [[ComboPlatterPowers superpowered cafeteria.]] Having been designed to take down the most powerful superhero team in the world, he is given just about every superpower that his creators can imagine, at one point stating that he has powers "that [his enemies] don't even have names for".
* ComicBook/TheMightyThor was explicitly intended to be the most powerful superhero in the Marvel Universe, and in the early days this seemed to mean "modeled after UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} Franchise/{{Superman}}." He whipped out abilities like time travel and even super-ventriloquism on occasion before his powers became more clearly defined. (Though he actually became more powerful ''after'' they stopped throwing in weird abilities; in his early adventures he didn't really demonstrate the "Class 100" strength and city-engulfing weather manipulation he's known for now.)
* A very '90s miniseries called ''The Psycho'', by James Hudnall and Dan Brereton, is set in a world where people gain superpowers by taking [[PsychoSerum various drugs.]] At one point, the title character develops the ability to breathe underwater-- or maybe he had it from the start; after all, there's no way of knowing until someone's trapped you in a flooded room... The story also notes that powers come on over a few days, and while the protagonist gets ''some'' testing to see what he can do, none of it involves seeing what he can or can't breathe.
* The eponymous ComicBook/{{Empowered}} has on at least three occasions demonstrated powers she had no idea her suit possessed: Clinging, surviving in space, and very possibly flight. She's not aware of the third. Given an interesting twist, in that many times, they are Chekhov's guns. She discovers the new power at the BEGINNING of the issue, points out how useless it is, and then uses it LATER to great effect. Another one? Her suit can turn invisible. Not turn HER invisible. The suit ITSELF turns invisible.
* The female ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'' character Arisia, a one-time fling of Hal Jordan's, was thought to have perished. She was found years later (somewhat randomly) on the planet Biot in a pod. We were then told that Arisia's species can go into a deep state of mental and physical hibernation while only ''appearing'' dead. All this was done so Geoff Johns could put Arisia into the ''Green Lantern Corp'' ongoing. Not the most elegant way of bringing someone back to life.
%%* Hawk and Dove. Holy crap, Hawk and Dove. Geoff Johns likes them so much that one of them will just have whatever powers they need for the plot to work. Army of unstoppable zombies? Well hey, Dove just happens to have an anti zombie laser inside her. Boyfriend dies? Dove can totally hear ghosts all of a sudden. Dove's in trouble? Hawk just happens to have the ability to sense when Dove's using her powers even though he's never had that power before. Sigh.
%% Commented out due to complaining tone.
* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'':
** Sonic's "Super Peel-Out" maneuver became this in the early comics. In ''VideoGame/SonicCD'', the Super Peel-Out was nothing more than a way to get Sonic to reach high speeds without being a ball. In the comics, it was used for other methods, including limited flight and the ability to deflect attacks.
** NICOLE, a small handheld device with utilities ranging from a translator, laser device, a protective forcefield and a scanner that can devise info and history from almost any object or area. In later issues NICOLE was evolved into the powerstation for New Mobotropolis from which she can transport or materialize almost any entity to the heroes' convenience, though at least by this point her multiple powers are becoming less of a surprise.
* Spoofed in ''ComicBook/TomorrowStories'' with Splash Brannigan. "He followed them into the painting! I didn't know four dimensional ink could do that!" "Well duh! It can probably do whatever story purposes require."
* At the end of the [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy Season 8]] comics, Buffy gets new powers like flying and super speed due to [[spoiler:Twilight]].
* ''ComicBook/HerbieTheFatFury'' gets various superpowers from eating lollipops. These powers could be literally anything, from invulnerability and super-strength to hypnotism, talking to animals, time travel, and knocking out uncooperative fire-breathing dragons. And even without a lollipop, Herbie is capable of spontaneously exhibiting new powers to save the day.
* The Molecule Man, a ComicBook/FantasticFour villain, can control molecules, so he can do just about anything, but he's not the brightest bulb in the shed and not completely evil, so he's often beaten before he can really use his imagination.
* Marvel's ComicBook/DoctorStrange makes even Silver Age Superman look downright consistent by comparison. One week he might say it's impossible to change the past, the next week he might casually rewind time by twirling his little finger and prevent the villain from ever being born. At his worst, it was less a case of him getting new powers as the plot demands, but more a case of him being able to do absolutely anything, ''unless the plot specifically required that he couldn't.'' This is probably one of the major reasons why he periodically gets stripped of his Sorcerer Supreme title and most of his power.
* In [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness early issues]] of Marvel's ComicBook/FantasticFour, the Human Torch would often demonstrate seemingly random new powers all the time. Although all of them were (at least thematically) linked to his ability to control heat and fire, many of them made little sense (some examples include ''sonar heat waves'', creating a lasso made only ''partially'' out of fire that could pick up paper objects without burning them, and the ability to surround an object with a coating of fire that could detect and react to someone's ''human aura'' in order to guide the object to them.)
* Eobard Thawne, the Reverse-Flash, after the events of ''ComicBook/TheFlash: Rebirth''. Suddenly powered by an inexplicable thing called the "Negative Speed Force", he now has the ability to travel back in time at will and change history. He also gained gained Reverse-Flash II's ability to create a sonic boom when he snaps his fingers, something his Speed Force should negate (otherwise every step he takes should do that). He can also... reverse-age himself? What?
** On the topic of Flash villains, Mirror Master's powers have never been clearly defined. So as long as whatever he's doing is vaguely related to mirrors, he can do pretty much anything.
* GoldenAge hero ComicBook/StardustTheSuperwizard's powers are never clearly defined, other than his "tubular spacial" which he uses to fly, but mostly consist of whatever the author thinks would be cool at that moment.

* Franchise/{{Marsupilami}}, the EnsembleDarkhorse do-anything pet of ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio. Although somewhat grounded in animal capacity, Marsupilami was intelligent, agile, strong and tough (even moreso when driven into a berserker state, where he was powerful enough to ''tear trees apart''), and gifted with an absurdly long and perfectly prehensile tail. He was also amphibious, capable of perfect mimicry, and extremely resilient against many things, including being able to effortlessly shrug off the Zorglwave (a device that could either paralyze a person or brainwash them into a perfectly obedient slave). Other abilities popped up as needed.
* Happens to [[MeaningfulName Hawke]] near the end of the original run of the comic ''ComicBook/{{Tellos}}''. [[spoiler:He suffers lethal injuries during the flight, and when he dies, he turns into... a giant hawk.]] It had been foreshadowed several times: Hawke keeping some big secret was causing real problems in his relationship with his love interest.

** As of season 4 [[spoiler: Ladybug becomes the Guardian, meaning she can unlock new abilities as she studies the miracle box and the grimoire.]]

** That happened to be the [[PlotSensitiveButton Plot-Sensitive Button]] he ALWAYS used at least once an episode.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Gems often reveal bizarre powers they'd never used before, which in a few cases are never seen again. Pearl, for instance, has been shown controlling [[SandBlaster sand]] and [[BlowYouAway wind]] in exactly one episode each. With [[KidHero Steven]], these powers are [[NewSuperpower things he's discovering along with the audience]], but the other gems are implied to have always had these powers and just not used them.

* ''WesternAnimation/PaperPort'': Thanks to the coconut breaking, Mathilda gets a different power everyday, and said power is the focus of each episode.

* ''ComicBook/HerbieTheFatFury'' gets various superpowers from eating lollipops. These powers could be literally anything, from invulnerability and super-strength to hypnotism, talking to animals, time travel, and knocking out uncooperative indian chiefs. And even without a lollipop, Herbie is capable of spontaneously exhibiting new powers to save the day.

* ''Herbie The Fat Fury'' got various superpowers from eating lollipops. These powers could be literally anything, from invulnerability and super-strength to hypnotism, talking to animals, time travel, and knocking out uncooperative indian chiefs.

* 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.