History Main / PossessionImpliesMastery

-->'''Kirsty''': Well... you get some oil, and... I think there's something about it in a book I've got--
-->[[spoiler:'''Wobbler''']]: Right. You don't know. I don't know, either.
* Averted in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. Gandalf says that Sauron will assume that the new wearer of the Ring (presumably Aragorn) will be so intoxicated by its power that he'll rush to attack Mordor before he has truly mastered it. [[/folder]]

* ''Series/TheMandalorian: Averted when Din comes into possession of the legendary Darksaber. Din hasn't had the extensive training needed to wield a laser-sword that can cut through almost anything but doesn't have any weight to it other than the hilt. He does know how to use regular melee weapons, but this is a whole other level of difficulty and danger (that it's an EmpathicWeapon doesn't help either). In ''Series/TheBookOfBobaFett'', Din is wielding the Darksaber in a fight and accidentally slashes his own thigh with it (thankfully, just a light grazing wound).

* [[AvertedTrope Conspicuous by its absence]] in ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'', where barely understood higher technology acts like it. Multiple plot points involve the protagonists being forced to use a foolhardy technique or maneuver and having it blow up in their faces. [[spoiler:The CoolShip first takes off using alien antigravity generators, which proceed to tear through the hull and float off into the sky. The second attempt is done with rocket engines made on Earth. On the other hand, the crew then pulled off an extreme low altitude space fold jump to outmaneuver the Zentraedi, leaving the aliens astonished that their enemy could do something they thought impossible. The inexperienced and desperate ''Macross'' crew simply did not know that themselves and succeeded by pure luck.]] This actually works somewhat in their favor since their enemies are kept continually off guard with each stunt, unable to decide if their completely unpredictable enemies are pathetic amateurs or half-crazed tactical geniuses.

*** On the Zentraedi side, they quickly realize the crew of the ship is ''not'' their enemies and, knowing their penchant for similar traps, would leave humanity alone as soon as they destroyed the ship... Until they actually took a good look at the humanity-modified ''Macross'' and realized they could actually understand and ''fix'' technology, at which point they changed their goal into capturing the ship and forcing the crew to teach them how to do the same.

* ''Series/TheMandolorian: Averted when Din comes into possession of the legendary Darksaber. Din hasn't had the extensive training needed to wield a laser-sword that can cut through almost anything but doesn't have any weight to it other than the hilt. He does know how to use regular melee weapons, but this is a whole other level of difficulty and danger (that it's an EmpathicWeapon doesn't help either). In ''Series/TheBookOfBobaFett'', Din is wielding the Darksaber in a fight and accidentally slashes his own thigh with it (thankfully, just a light grazing wound).

** KamenRiderRyuki has no idea what his deck of cards does or why monsters are suddenly attacking him. He has to be shown what they do, as they were intended for someone else.

* Invoked briefly in the ''Revenge of the Sith'' novelization: Anakin Skywalker manages to land an alien ship whose controls he's never seen before, which wasn't designed to be landed in an atmosphere, while half of the spacecraft is missing and the remaining half is on fire. Because he's just that good (or because the Plot is with him). Lampshaded in both the novel and the film when he comments "Under the circumstances, I'd say the ability to pilot this thing is irrelevant."

* ''Franchise/StarWars'' (TV). Averted when Din comes into possession of the legendary Darksaber. Din hasn't had the extensive training needed to wield a laser-sword that can cut through almost anything but doesn't have any weight to it other than the hilt. He does know how to use regular melee weapons, but this is a whole other level of difficulty and danger (that it's an EmpathicWeapon doesn't help either). In ''Series/TheBookOfBobaFett'', Din is wielding the Darksaber in a fight and accidentally slashes his own thigh with it (thankfully, just a light grazing wound).

** The original Kamen Rider did not know anything about his powers, due to them being forced on him and then the inventor of said powers passing away in the first episode. Numerous episodes show him trying to figure out what he is.

** Kamen Rider Kuuga did not know anything about his powers or transformation trinket but received a telepathic "last will" that gave him hints.
** Kamen Rider Agito has no idea what he's doing with his powers, actually going on some kind of autopilot due to amnesia and doesn't even remember what he's supposed to be doing with his powers.
** Kamen Rider Ryuki has no idea what his deck of cards does or why monsters are suddenly attacking him. He has to be shown what they do, as they were intended for someone else.
** Kamen Rider Faiz plays this straight, actually taking the transformation trinket from someone who can't use it; and then using it perfectly his first time. However, he still requires help to use the extra powers.
** Kamen Rider Fourze had no idea how to transform, and is viewed as a complete idiot for grabbing his transformation trinket from someone who DID know how to use it. (But could not) Every episode is a subversion as the sheer number of powers Fourze gets all require either explanation, testing, or just dumb luck.
** Kamen Rider W is a subversion and playing it straight all at once. Phillip, half of W, knows exactly how the powers work. Shotaro actually doesn't and lucked into being the other half of W.
** Kamen Rider OOO is given his trinket and told how to use it by a centuries-old monster.
** Kamen Rider Gaim has absolutely no idea what he's doing when he first transforms out of instinct and has to be shown how to operate his weapons by a mysterious woman in white.
** Kamen Rider Drive once again has no idea what his powers are as they are still being developed during the show. Fortunately his trinket itself knows what its own powers are, and it talks back.

* Similar to the ''Mass Effect'' example, the Covenant in ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' have lots of tech superior to that of the UNSC. Luckily for humanity, they don't seem to understand it much better than we do. In the novel ''Literature/HaloFirstStrike'', Cortana manages to vastly improve the performance of a Covenant cruiser by fiddling with the settings and immediately gets yelled at by the Covenant AI for "blasphemy". Yes, the Covenant deliberately shot themselves in the foot by even making their [=AIs=] constrained by religious dogma.

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' Averts this for the most part, with those who have a good grasp of their [[FightingSpirit Stand]]’s being either A) Natural born users who’ve had their stand since birth (Polnareff, Kakyoin), B) People who’ve had rigorous experience with using theirs (DIO’s assassins, Johngalli A.), or C) their stands literally explain their powers to their users (Trish Una).

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': For every person that becomes a [[FightingSpirit Stand]] User, they develop an immanent understanding of how to use their abilities.

!!'''Examples:'''

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' averts this trope in the case of Gilgamesh, who has a Noble Phantasm which amounts to a HyperspaceArsenal containing the prototype versions of every legendary weapon in history. Despite this, he can't actually use any of them effectively because he was a king in life, not a warrior. He instead resorts to [[StormOfBlades firing hundreds of weapons]] against his enemies in combat, overwhelming them with power rather than skill. [[spoiler:Shirou points this out in their final fight in the Unlimited Blade Works route as why Gilgamesh is just about the only Servant he could hope to defeat: Gilgamesh is so dependent on winning fights with barrages of swords that as soon as he fights someone who can do the same thing but even slightly faster, he's unable to match his opponent in close combat.]]
* In the first episode of the ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoon'', Ash is gifted a Z-Ring with the Electrium-Z Crystal by Guardian Deity Tapu Koko. In the second episode, Ash and Pikachu use a Z-Move with little apparent difficulty -- though Tapu Koko does guide Ash in the motions necessary to activate the Z-Move, and the crystal shatters afterwards.
* ''Manga/YuGiOh'': {{Subverted}} during Mai's battle with Marik -- she uses a card that lets her control Marik's god card The Winged Dragon of Ra, but because the card is written in an incomprehensible language she can't use it (but Marik can).

* Averted for most of the ComicBook/BlueBeetle legacy. The first one, Dan Garett, got powers from it by saying a magic word (ultimately revealed to be misusing it, and the magic likely damaged its true function). Then Ted Kord came into possession of the scarab but never got it to work, instead borrowing its motif for his costume and gadgets. It was only the third owner, Jaime Reyes, who had it work as intended - but he still hasn't mastered it; the scarab activated because ''it'' chose to, and he still argues with it over what to do at times. (And now, in Rebirth, Dr. Fate reveals that the Scarab is actually magical after all, which implies that [[{{Retcon}} Dan had been using it correctly and Jaime had been using it wrong all this time]], so it seems like ''nobody'' knows exactly what this thing is or how to use it properly!)

* Averted in ''Comicbook/{{Thunderbolts}}'': When the bulk of the team separates from Zemo and Techno, M.A.C.H.-1 has trouble repairing the PoweredArmor Techno made for him. He's a skilled engineer in his own right and had previously designed his own armored suit as the Beetle, but he didn't design ''this'' one.

* The heroes of the film ''Film/SpacedInvaders'' are the most incompetent members of their race.
* In ''Film/IronMan1'', [[spoiler:Obadiah Stane]] pilots powered armor (that wasn't even made by him) for the first time and is immediately able to go toe to toe with Iron Man, who spent several ([[AmusingInjuries hilarious]]) weeks practicing with his suit. Justified as [[spoiler:[[{{Foil}} Stane]]]] planned to sell his MiniMecha EvilKnockoff on the black market, so he just crammed it with computer assistance -- and after Stark yanks out a few wires, he not only [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy can't hit a human-sized target at six meters]] with [[MoreDakka automatic weapons]] and [[StuffBlowingUp missiles]], but has to ''open the cockpit to see.''

* In ''[[Film/ThePhantomMenace Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace]]'', Anakin Skywalker assumes that because Qui-Gon Jinn has a lightsaber, he must be a Jedi. When Qui-Gon jokingly retorts that he could have alternatively killed a Jedi and snatched the lightsaber, Anakin claims that no one would ever be able to kill a Jedi.

* In ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', Steve is able to use Mjölnir very effectively when one considers that he's never wielded it before, and it had been nearly a decade since the last time he'd even touched the hammer.

* ''Literature/FateZero'':
** This is the primary ability of Berserker. If he touches anything that could remotely be considered a weapon, he instantly is able to use it like a master. Worse, he corrupts it with his mana and powers it up so that it's more powerful than it would otherwise be. This works on everything from swords to clubs to gatling guns to ''F-15 fighter jets''.
** Specifically averted with Archer, whose primary ability is that he owns all the treasures in the world, including famous mythological weapons. He states himself that his wealth has long since exceeded his own knowledge and his primary fighting style is [[StormOfBlades shooting ancient, super-powerful weapons at his enemies.]] It's implied that he couldn't just pick up any old sword in his treasury and use it to the same level of skill as its original owner, if very well at all.

* Averted in ''Literature/LordOfTheRings''. Gandalf says that Sauron will assume that the new wearer of the Ring (presumably Aragorn) will be so intoxicated by its power that he'll rush to attack Mordor before he has truly mastered it. [[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* In ''VideoGame/FarCry3'', Jason only has some marksmanship experience on the gun range prior to the events of the game, yet despite this he's able to use every weapon in the game with little effort.

* It's a plot point in ''Franchise/MassEffect'': the peoples of the galaxy have access to Mass Relay technology, and are able to use it quite effectively, but have no real understanding of it (or rather, they understand how Mass Relay technology works, but can't replicate it).

* Played with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', Sabin, (a martial artist that spent the better half of 10 years living secluded in a wooded valley,) Cyan (a technophobe samurai,) and Shadow (a ninja who lives off the land and presumably doesn't hang around machines much) all manage to be able to use Magitek Armor within minutes of finding some. However, Cyan initially cannot pilot his armor, and Sabin comes from a kingdom with highly advanced technology, so at least in his case, this may be somewhat justified.

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty 2'' plays with this trope. On one hand, your character doesn't seem to have any trouble using captured German weapons, but that's no surprise given that small arms tend to be similar no matter where they're from. On the other hand, Private Macgregor's attempts at driving a captured German armored car were less than impressive.

* The ease with which [[PlayerCharacter the Exile]] in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'' picks up new lightsaber forms ends up being a plot point later.

* Shirou of ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' develops [[spoiler:the ability to construct imitations of legendary swords out of his prana]]. The full technique also recreates the history of the weapon and allows Shirou to sympathize with its experiences, allowing him to imitate the skills of the previous wielders and display some proficiency.

* ''[[VideoGame/DarkSouls In the Souls series]]'', the player character can use any weapon and all of its techniques as long as they have the prerequisite stats to wield it. No explanation is ever given, though most of the weapons are made from the souls of their former masters...

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* Wade can understand anything given 10 seconds to scan it with the ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' Kimmunicator.

* Inverted in ''Manga/DGrayMan''. Most exorcists only have a basic knowledge of innocence and their learn more about it through battles. Allen didn't even know what innocence is before joining the order and needed Komui to explain it to him. Conversely the scientists of the Black Order study it and have a deep knowledge of its mechanics even though there is still a lot to be discovered.

** Potentially utilized in the latest arc [[spoiler: a Vandenreich member has literally stolen a Bankai, and gloats on how he will kill his opponent with it. The ensuring attack is completely ineffective and he gets stomped in less than a second, and it's pointed out that the attack was much less powerful than it was under its original owner.]]

* Averted in ''{{Manga/Gantz}}''. The main protagonist (among others) are given special combat suits and weaponry, but they have literally no idea of how they work until they figure it out by trial-and-error.

* At the beginning of the second season of ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'', the heroines get new versions of their [[TransformationTrinket Dreamspinners]], which require way different maneuvers than the first one,[[note]]for newbies: the first one made the dress and hat appear in mid-air and the witch haves to wear them before the musical cue it's playing ends, while gloves and boots magically appear: the second one instead still gives them a musical cue, but this time they have to clap the hands on it twice to make the gloves appear, then clap it on both feet to make the boots appear, two claps over the head to make the dress appear, wear the dress, and clap on the head twice to make the hat appear, with all the claps following the musical cue's tempo[[/note]] and they can easily do it without getting explanations on how to do it like it happened with the first one.

* Averted in ''PK'' (the reboot of ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures''): when Zondag and his faction of Evronians get their hands on Kronin's [[TimeMachine chronosail]] they find how to make it work easy enough... But don't know that what they're planning to do with it, that is [[MakeWrongWhatOnceWentRight alter the timeline to prevent the creation of their enemies Guardians of the Galaxy]], is incredibly stupid. Kronin is too knocked out to warn them... And when he sees that a side effect of their job was to ''drive the warlike Evronians to pacifism'' he can't help but gloat that this is ''why'' he, a time-traveling pirate, never even tried to change time.

* Averted in ''Comicbook/{{Thunderbolts}}'': When the bulk of the team seperates from Zemo and Techno, M.A.C.H.-1 has trouble repairing the PoweredArmor Techno made for him. He's a skilled engineer in his own right, and had previously designed his own armored suit as the Beetle, but he didn't design ''this'' one.

* Averted in ''Fanfic/XCOMSecondContact'': The reason why humanity hasn't advanced too much from what they had at the end of the Ethereal War was because they spent the past century-plus having to learn the base principles of their tech rather than just randomly slapping things onto blackboxes like they did back then.

* Averted with the Temptation's Touch Jutsu in ''Fanfic/{{Eroninja}}''. Kanji, the first person introduced as a user, never went beyond the first "complete" version of the jutsu as he was only interested in it's ability to turn women into sex slaves. Kanji's former village only have his incomplete notes and created a weaker version that makes people want to help the user (usually by giving them classified information). As a result, whenever something new happens with either the jutsu, Naruto, or one of his lovers, they have to spend time researching to figure out what changed. Even after three years of usage, one new change was so great that the group put a freeze on Naruto gaining any more lovers while they study it.

* A little known [=UK=] movie called ''Morons from Outer Space'' plays with this trope, as the aliens who crash-land on Earth are assumed to be a higher order of intelligence. In point of fact, they are the interstellar equivalent of ignorant tourists who rented a camper and ended up running off the road in the wrong town.

* In ''Film/IronMan1'', [[spoiler: Obadiah Stane]] pilots powered armor (that wasn't even made by him) for the first time and is immediately able to go toe to toe with Iron Man, who spent several ([[AmusingInjuries hilarious]]) weeks practicing with his suit. Justified as [[spoiler:[[{{Foil}} Stane]]]] planned to sell his MiniMecha EvilKnockoff on the black market, so he just crammed it with computer assistance -- and after Stark yanks out a few wires, he not only [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy can't hit a human-sized target at six meters]] with [[MoreDakka automatic weapons]] and [[StuffBlowingUp missiles]], but has to ''open the cockpit to see.''

** The Jawas are known to be experts in scavenging and re-purposing even derelict junk, turning it into workable technology without having any real understanding of the mechanical processes involved. They don't comprehend how the {{EMP}} discharge from an ion blaster creates a power-surge through a droid's circuits. They just figure out that if you attach a restraining bolt to a stripped-down blaster and fire it at a droid, that droid gets paralyzed.

* ''Film/TheBoyWhoCriedWerewolf'': {{Subverted}} for Jordan, but [[spoiler: played straight with Hunter. This ''could'' be explained with his being a natural werewolf, while she became one due to a blood infusion. He's able to use his werewolf abilities immediately, while she learns slowly]].

* Invoked briefly in the ''Revenge of the Sith'' novelization: Anakin Skywalker manages to land an alien ship whose controls he's never seen before, which wasn't designed to be landed in an atmosphere, while half of the spacecraft is missing and the remaining half is on fire. Because he's just that good (or because the Plot is with him). Lampshaded in both the novel and the film when he comments that "Under the circumstances, I'd say the ability to pilot this thing is irrelevant."

** In the final book demons possessing people run into this problem, having very little idea how to actually work their new bodies. At one point the immensely powerful demon Nouda is seen being helped to his feet by a lesser demon who's had a body longer, after he fell over and started twitching.

* The ''Literature/HeecheeSaga'' books involve a lot of this. The eponymous station contains many ships, each with an FTL drive and a navigation system that works by pushing a few buttons. Unfortunately, nobody quite knows how the ships work or how to navigate them. Humans explore the galaxy with them by pushing the buttons in different combination and seeing where the ships goes. Hope you brought enough supplies to survive the trip there and back (not that you know how long the trip is going to be). Some ships just don't come back.

* Notably averted in the ''Literature/StarTrekMirrorUniverse'' book series. After some fans complained that the 22nd century Terran Empire acquired a 23rd century Federation starship in "[[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Through A Glass Darkly]]", so shouldn't they have reached [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration 24th century]] standards by the time of "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E4MirrorMirror Mirror Mirror]]", the story "Age of the Empress" establishes that ''having'' a 23rd century starship, and being able to build ''more'' of them (let along advance further) are very different things.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'' frequently uses this trope; it's [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in an episode of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' where minion of the Dominion notes that, while they otherwise hold the Federation in contempt, Starfleet Engineers are famous as being the undisputed masters of technology adaptation and modification. "Turning rocks into replicators." Considering the variety of cultures which makes up the Federation, this may be a Justified Trope, as Starfleet engineers would be trained in the use of technology which is itself a pastiche of many different technologies. Plus, there's the fact that all aliens have base-10 numeral systems, have the same emotional and intellectual range as humans, progress along the same basic technological path as humans, look like humans in rubber masks, and can even write documents word-for-word identical to the U.S. Constitution without ever having seen it.... With all those similarities, is it any wonder they all build similar technologies?

* ''Series/StargateSG1'' tends to play with this trope fairly successfully on occasion. In one episode it's revealed that the SGC computers can't even interpret many of the Stargate's feedback signals, and others are disregarded on a routine basis in order to establish a connection. This is suggested to be a major contributing factor to the various mishaps of one type or another that have occurred when using the gate. Another episode introduces the Air Force's prototype hybrid fighter craft, combining standard Earth technology with that of Go'auld Gliders - which promptly goes wrong due to incomplete understanding of the alien technology incorporated in the design.

** Justified at the beginning of ''Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger'' in that all of the characters have been training to carry on their family legacies. It's subverted in the second episode, as Ryuuonosuke knows ''about'' the [[CombiningMecha Samurai Gattai]] but doesn't actually know what it does or how its done and [[EpicFail winds up getting everyone to stack themselves up in a totem pole like formation]].

** ''Series/PowerRangersTurbo'' has the team having problems combining the first few times as they get a handle of it, though there isn't any difference in the stock footage.
*** Hilariously defied in ''Series/GekisouSentaiCarranger'', the source of Turbo's stock footage. The Rangers have to refer to the instruction manuals of their Formula Nova and Ranger Vehicles ''in mid-battle'' to figure them out. This has proven flawed at least once, when a copy of the manual once fell into a fire in the middle of a battle.

** Kamen Rider 2 seems to play this straight, until it's revealed that he has had some kind of training in his powers by the bad guys before defecting to the good side.
** Kamen Rider Kuuga did not know anything about his powers or transformation trinket, but received a telepathic "last will" that gave him hints.

** Kamen Rider Faiz plays this straight, actually taking the transformation trinket from someone who can't use it; and then using it perfectly his first time. However he still requires help to use the extra powers.

** Kamen Rider OOO is given his trinket and told how to use it by a centuries old monster.
** Kamen Rider Gaim has absolutely no idea what he's doing when he first transforms out of instinct, and has to be shown how to operate his weapons by a mysterious woman in white.
** Kamen Rider Drive once again has no idea what his powers are as they are still being developed during the show. Fortunately his trinket itself knows what it's own powers are, and it talks back.
* Explicitely {{Averted}} in ''Series/BabylonFive'', where when you get a new alien technology you either have the original builders helping you or the initial efforts at using it are less than satisfactory (as shown when a Human fiddled with some devices from Ikarra and became a SuperSoldier hellbent on killing anyone who wasn't a pure Ikarran, with parameters decided by fanatics, and the ''[[CoolShip Excalibur]]'', who has some troubles any time she fires her WaveMotionGun).
** The three groups known for being technology scavengers (Earth Alliance, Centauri Republic and Narn Regime) have taken a rather pragmatic approach to this: on one side, they disassemble what they find, analyze and experiment on it in a safe location until they have a good understanding of what it does and how it works, and then build their own version; on the other, they're known to take advantage of this by selling what for them are cast-offs to less technologically advanced groups but withold the plans, so they'll later be able to sell them spare parts and, at least in the Centauri's case, slowly come to economically dominate them, with the use of less advanced technology being used as a safety in case the buyer actually reverse-engineers their new technology (this actually being how Earth Alliance obtained their first pieces of advanced technology, by buying it from the Centauri).

* {{Averted}} in ''TabletopGame/{{Numenera}}''. Just because you ''have'' a piece of the titular numenera, that does't mean you know how it works or how to use it. And even when you can figure out how to make the numenera do ''something'' useful, that may or may not be anything even close to its original purpose (it's implied that a lot of numenera are the equivalent of ripping the laser out of a CD player and using it as a flashlight).

* Parodied in ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'', where players are often ordered to test out new experimental equipment in the field, and report back on the results. Unfortunately, because the equipment is always well above their security clearance level, they cannot be told how it works, or even how to operate it. HilarityEnsues.

* In the text RPG TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}, a PC can use any weapon they have without a Weapon Proficiency (WP) in that type of weapon with no disadvantages. But when a player does take a WP in a weapon type, they get bonuses. However, a player can't pilot some of the more 'fun' vehicles without a Piloting Skill in say... Giant Robot.
* TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds does away with the d20 proficiency rules, and assumes that characters are proficient with their weapons, equipment, and powers to the extent of their bonuses when using them. Of course, there are optional rules in "Mastermind's Manual" (akin to [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons D&D's]] [[http://www.d20srd.org/index.htm "Unearthed Arcana"]] to cram proficiencies back into the system for those who like to make the needlessly complex again.

** Shepard, having the collective experience of the Prothean race in their mind, becomes a minor plot point in the first and third game. Due to this Cypher, all Prothean technology reacts to their presence as though they were a Prothean; allowing them to see Prothean data where others would see only static, as well as [[spoiler: fully activate the Prothean beacon on Thessia]], which has defied comprehension by [[spoiler: the Asari]] for millennia.
** After the first manifestation of human [[MindOverMatter biotics]] in the 2150's, the Biotic Acclimation and Training program was forced to rely on aliens (often mercenaries) to serve as instructors to the students, due to the sheer lack of available information of the phenomenon. Similarly, early model biotic amplifiers were infamously bad, with the L1 configuration barely allowing someone to lift a cup, while the L2s contained a host of side-effects ranging from migraines to full-blown psychosis. The L3 model avoided side effects, but very rarely matches the power occasionally seen in L2s. By the time of the second game, humans are experimenting with L4s and L5s.

* Played with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', Sabin, (a martial artist that spent the better half of 10 years living secluded in a wooded valley,) Cyan (a technophobe samurai,) and Shadow (a ninja who lives off the land and presumably doesn't hang around machines much) all manage to be able to use Magitek Armor within minutes of finding some. However, Cyan initially cannot pilot his armor, and Sabin comes from a kingdom with highly advanced technology, so at least in his case this may be somewhat justified.

** Averted. WordOfGod states that Link has many incarnations with a collective memory that spans millennia. And every "Link" is a reincarnation of a legendary hero born in ancient times. This collective memory makes every version of him proficient with swords, bows, horse-riding, just to name a few.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}} 2'', a Marine Frigate is able to dock with an enemy ship and deploy commandos to take it over from the inside. After a successful hijacking however, the commandos are apparently able to fight with their new ship just as effectively as the previous crew without first having to familiarize themselves with how to operate it.
* While previously this trope was averted in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' with everyone's weapon skill starting out at one, in patch 4.0.1 weapons skills and training were done away with - now your character automatically fits this trope, so long as they can equip the weapon. This was because weapon skill added nothing whatsoever to the game, and simply resulted in higher level people who acquired a new type of weapon having to spend a lot of time hacking away pathetically at equally pathetic creatures while grinding their weapon skill up through 400-odd skill points before they could fight real enemies again (death knights, starting at level 55 and initially untrained in several of their common weapons, were particularly troubled by this).

* ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'': The protagonist was trained by one of the greatest combat geniuses in history, who taught them an ultra-adaptive ConfusionFu-powered learning style on how to pick up a wide array of techniques and train themselves in mere days - the Spirit Thief technique is demonstrated ''once'', the transformation powers are gained by defeating the same monster, and several weapon styles become available after you've gained the weapon. You can effortlessly swing ''two'' massive axes without a second of prior training, and can service, load, wield and fire a blunderbuss imported from an analogue of Britain. And then there's the flying crafts that you've had no experience with either. [[spoiler:This bites the protagonist in the ass when their master betrays them; knowing that the protagonist has not extensively trained or reviewed what they quickly mastered, he uses a style specifically designed to counter their unevolved core ConfusionFu and wins in seconds. Except immediately afterwards, the protagonist studies the flaws in their life-long style and patches them in mere days.]]

* Similar to the ''Mass Effect'' example, the Covenant in ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' have lots of tech superior to that of the UNSC. Luckily for humanity, they don't seem to understand it much better than we do. In the novel ''Literature/HaloFirstStrike'', Cortana manages to vastly improve the performance of a Covenant cruiser by fiddling with the settings and immediately gets yelled at by the Covenant AI for "blasphemy". Yes, the Covenant deliberately shoot themselves in the foot by even making their [=AIs=] constrained by religious dogma.

** Inverted in "Unlimited Blade Works". [[spoiler:Gilgamesh and Shirou]] both possess an immense number of weapons, but are simply "owners" who lack true mastery of them. Against a "wielder" who had spent years fighting with such a weapon they would be completely outclassed in direct combat. [[spoiler:Shirou acknowledges this is the reason he can rival Gilgamesh, but would be defeated by any other Servant]].

* Played with in ''VideoGame/OmegaQuintet''. As proved several times, potential [[MagicMusic Verse Maidens]] can destroy MAD and clear Blare in clutch situations - but only when desperate. Meaningfully applying the ability requires conscious effort and a decent singing voice; lack of training, laryngitis, or performance anxiety all render the user helpless. Additionally, the exact mechanism of the InUniverse PopularityPower is poorly understood, and [[spoiler:suspected to be a placebo effect ''at best''. It's speculated that the girls would be much better off with military-grade armor and combat training instead of cute costumes and cameras, but this is a CrapsackWorld and [[TagLine singing may be their only hope]].]]

* Averting this trope is an important game mechanic in ''[[VideoGame/{{Syndicate}} Syndicate Wars]]''. You can use any weapon looted from enemies, even if you've never seen it before. But until you've taken the time to research it, every shot comes with the chance of instantly draining all your energy. You're forced to choose between using a more powerful but unreliable weapon, or backlogging it for research without knowing when you'll find another one.

** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', the [[PlayerCharacter Inquisitor]] is able to use the mark on their hand that they've had for less than a day to open and close Fade rifts easily, even if they had no magical talent previously or are part of a race that can't use magic. However, while their skill with using the mark grows as the game progresses, by the end of the last DLC (set two years after the end of the game) they don't understand how exactly it works, only that it works.

* Averted in ''Webcomic/CaptainSNES'', when Alex gets the Mouse. He's supposed to be able to say a phrase to activate its power, but has no idea what the phrase is, and the people who gave it to him thought he'd already know, so they didn't bother to find out themselves.

** When one obtains a Miraculous the Kwami in it can explain how it works and they have immediate understanding of the basics but nothing more, and they actually need to train to become truly proficient. Most noticeable with the two main heroes: Ladybug at first couldn't use the yo-yo she got as weapon and had to train with it, and Chat Noir has a MartialArtsStaff that he rarely uses as one, preferring to use it as a foil as he's actually an accomplished fencer.

* In the first episode of the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}} Sun and Moon'' anime, Ash is gifted a Z-Ring with the Electrium-Z Crystal by Guardian Deity Tapu Koko. In the second episode, Ash and Pikachu use a Z-Move with little apparent difficulty -- though Tapu Koko does guide Ash in the motions necessary to activate the Z-Move, and the crystal shatters afterwards.

* ''Literature/FateZero''

* The ''Literature/{{Gateway}}'' books involve a lot of this. The eponymous station contains many ships, each with an FTL drive and a navigation system that works by pushing a few buttons. Unfortunately, nobody quite knows how the ships work or how to navigate them. Humans explore the galaxy with them by pushing the buttons in different combination and seeing where the ships goes. Hope you brought enough supplies to survive the trip there and back(not that you know how long the trip is going to be). Some ships just don't come back.
* [[ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}} Scott Adams]] discusses this in relation to [=UFOs=] in his book, ''The Dilbert Future''. He points out that "just because you see a person driving a car, that doesn't mean that they invented the automobile," so we can't assume that an alien piloting an advanced spaceship is a genius. He goes on to speculate that the aliens that [[AlienAbduction abduct people]] are actually TheGreys' equivalent of rednecks, and that AnalProbing is their equivalent of CowTipping.

* This is the power of the Gandalfr Familiar, the position held by Saito, in ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero''. If it's made for battle, he can use it. This is demonstrated when a shiny display sword given to him by Kirche completely fails in battle.

* At the beginning of the second season of ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'', the heroines get new versions of their [[TransformationTrinket Dreamspinners]], which require way different manouvers than the first one,[[note]]for newbies: the first one made the dress and hat appear in mid-air and the witch haves to wear them before the musical cue it's playing ends, while gloves and boots magically appear: the second one instead still gives them a musical cue, but this time they have to clap the hands on it twice to make the gloves appear, then clap it on both feet to make the boots appear, two claps over the head to make the dress appear, wear the dress, and clap on the head twice to make the hat appear, with all the claps following the musical cue's tempo[[/note]] and they can easily do it without getting explanations on how to do it like it happened with the first one.

* ''LightNovel/FateZero''

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' averts this trope in the case of Gilgamesh, who has a Noble Phantasm which amounts to a HyperspaceArsenal containing the prototype versions of every legendary weapon in history. Despite this, he can't actually use any of them effectively because he was a king in life, not a warrior. Because of this, he can only [[StormOfBlades throw hundreds of weapons]] against his enemies in combat. [[spoiler:Shirou points this out in their final fight in the Unlimited Blade Works route as why Gilgamesh is just about the only Servant he could hope to defeat: Gilgamesh is so dependent on winning fights with barrages of swords that as soon as he fights someone who can do the same thing but even slightly faster, he's unable to match his opponent in close combat.]]

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' averts this trope in the case of Gilgamesh, who has a Noble Phantasm which amounts to a HyperspaceArsenal containing the prototype versions of every legendary weapon in history. Despite this, he can't actually use any of them effectively, he never trained in swordsmanship as he was a king, not a warrior, so he resorts to firing them as a StormOfBlades. [[spoiler:Shirou points this out in their final fight in the Unlimited Blade Works route as why Gilgamesh is just about the only Servant he could hope to defeat: Gilgamesh is so dependent on winning fights with barrages of swords that as soon as he fights someone who can do the same thing but even slightly faster, he's unable to match his opponent in close combat.]]

* ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'' member Colossus lampshades this when Weapon X forces him to stop a train, pointing out that just because he's super strong doesn't mean he's strong enough to do this. Though, he does manage to do it anyway.
* A story looking back on the early days of Franchise/{{Superman}}'s career shows that the Man of Steel knows he's strong and invulnerable but doesn't know how strong and invulnerable he is. He briefly panics when his lungs fill with lava while submerged.

* In the ''Film/IronMan1'' film, [[spoiler: Obadiah Stane]] pilots powered armor (that wasn't even made by him) for the first time and is immediately able to go toe to toe with Iron Man, who spent several ([[AmusingInjuries hilarious]]) weeks practicing with his suit. Justified as [[spoiler:[[{{Foil}} Stane]]]] planned to sell his MiniMecha EvilKnockoff on the black market, so he just crammed it with computer assistance -- and after Stark yanks out a few wires, he not only [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy can't hit a human-sized target at six meters]] with [[MoreDakka automatic weapons]] and [[StuffBlowingUp missiles]], but has to ''open the cockpit to see.''

* ''Franchise/StarWars''. Averted when Din comes into possession of the legendary Darksaber. Din hasn't had the extensive training needed to wield a laser-sword that can cut through almost anything but doesn't have any weight to it other than the hilt. He does know how to use regular melee weapons, but this is a whole other level of difficulty and danger (that it's an EmpathicWeapon doesn't help either). In ''Series/TheBookOfBobaFett'' Din using the Darksaber and accidentally slashes his own thigh with it (thankfully, just a light grazing wound).

** When one obtains a Miraculous the Kwami in it can explain how it works and they have immediate understanding of the basics but nothing more, and they actually need to train to become truly proficient. Most noticeable with the two main heroes: Ladybug at first couldn't use the yo-yo she got as weapon and had to train with it, and Chat Noir has a SimpleStaff that he rarely uses as one, preferring to use it as a foil as he's actually an accomplished fencer.

* At the beginning of the second season of Anime/OjamajoDoremi, the heroines get new versions of their [[TransformationTrinket Dreamspinners]], which require way different manouvers than the first one,[[note]]for newbies: the first one made the dress and hat appear in mid-air and the witch haves to wear them before the musical cue it's playing ends, while gloves and boots magically appear: the second one instead still gives them a musical cue, but this time they have to clap the hands on it twice to make the gloves appear, then clap it on both feet to make the boots appear, two claps over the head to make the dress appear, wear the dress, and clap on the head twice to make the hat appear, with all the claps following the musical cue's tempo[[/note]] and they can easily do it without getting explanations on how to do it like it happened with the first one.
* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' averts this trope in the case of Gilgamesh, who has a Noble Phantasm which amounts to a HyperspaceArsenal containing the prototype versions of every legendary weapon in history. Despite this, he can't actually use any of them effectively, he never trained in swordsmanship as he was a king, not a warrior, so he resorts to firing them as a StormOfBlades. [[spoiler: Shirou points this out in their final fight in the Unlimited Blade Works route as why Gilgamesh is just about the only Servant he could hope to defeat: Gilgamesh is so dependent on winning fights with barrages of swords that as soon as he fights someone who can do the same thing but even slightly faster, he's unable to match his opponent in close combat.]]

* Whenever Dante of ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' acquires a new weapon, he instantly has intimate knowledge of how it works, no matter its complexity or peculiarity, to the point where he can use the weapon ''far'' more competently than it was even intended to be within ''seconds'' of acquiring it. In the first game, it was implied that this was because [[EmpathicWeapon the weapons were sentient]] and were guiding his actions, or communicating to him. In ''Videogame/MarvelVsCapcom3'', Dante's character profile states that this is actually one of his specified superpowers--he can use ANY weapon, ''period'', the moment he touches it.