History Main / PowerDegeneration

The former scenario is usually incurable, it's so hard to FindTheCure that an entire series can be based around it. The reason is that the clone, hybrid or [[GattacaBabies GM baby]] would have to fundamentally alter themselves to not be what they are, either by fixing the flaw or [[BecomeARealBoy becoming plain]] [[{{Muggle}} humans.]] This can involve finding a geneticist who can make a gene therapy capable of repairing their DNA, a magic ritual that rids them of their human/non-human half, or somehow completely excising what separates them from baseline humanity and being BroughtDownToNormal. These people have a very good reason for [[IJustWantToBeNormal wanting to be normal.]]

* In one episode of ''BatmanBeyond'', Bane's supersteroid Venom causes this. A lifetime of Venom use has left Bane a comatose and broken man hooked up on life support 24-7. Unfortunately Bane had already sold the Venom formula to a drug dealer to pay off his medical bills.

** Batman's Bane (example above) suffered side effects from Venom that were essentially an exaggeration of the symptoms of steroid abuse, including massive damage to his internal organs and brain damage. Then again, Bane's venom was always seen as an expy for steroids.

See also CloneDegeneration and HarmfulHealing. Contrast FuelMeterOfPower.

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* In ''Rifts'', one character class is "Juicers", which can be described as [[PsychoSerum somebody on steroids]] [[ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs on steroids]]. You wear a drug-injection rig and your lifespan is under a decade.

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* As incomplete {{Dhampyr}}, the Schiff in ''BloodPlus'' need the blood of a vampire queen to stabilize, otherwise they [[BodyToJewel turn to crystal]]. Yes, ''crystal.'' The ailment is called Thorn.

* As a [[HalfHumanHybrid half-demon]] with an UnstoppableRage SuperMode, {{Inuyasha}} will eventually get {{Mode Lock}}ed in that form unless he keeps the sword Tetsusaiga by his side at all times. All things considered this works well in his favor since the sword also gives him many powerful attacks his Unstoppable Rage couldn't match.

* In MacrossFrontier, V-Type microbes allow the infected to [[spoiler: communicate with Vajra]], but they are also slowly killing the brain of that person. Now there are medicaments which, while not able to heal it, can strongly slow down the process giving the infected more time to live, but [[spoiler: Sheryl refuses to use them as she needs stronger Vajra link for Macross to win...]]

The former scenario is usually incurable, it's so hard to FindTheCure that an entire series can be based around it. The reason is that the clone, hybrid or [[GattacaBabies GM baby]] would have to fundamentally alter themselves to not be what they are, either by fixing the flaw or [[BecomeARealBoy becoming plain]] [[{{Muggle}} humans.]] This can involve finding a geneticist who can make a gene therapy capable of repairing their DNA, a magic ritual that rids them of their human/non-human half, or somehow completely excising what separates them from baseline humanity and being BroughtDownToNormal. These people have a very good reason for [[IJustWantToBeNormal wanting to be normal.]]

* This trope is the entire premise of the comic book ''Strikeforce: Morituri''. Human volunteers went through a SuperSerum-cum-DangerRoom process to earn superpowers so they could combat alien invaders with scrotums on their faces. (No, seriously.) Catch is, their powers would kill them sometime within the next year after gaining their powers. In some cases, mere days after.

* Tsukune, in RosarioToVampire, erodes a little bit of his ''soul'' every time he uses his superpowers.

* Yoite of NabariNoOu pretty much defines this trope.
* Grove in VampireHunterD is in the latest stages of this.

* In a CaptainAmerica storyline [[DisContinuity we'd otherwise rather forget]], Cap's SuperSerum was actually breaking down and taking his body with it. What might have been an interesting turn of story led directly to both the horrible "Iron Cap" storyline and the [[FaceHeelRevolvingDoor defection]] of Diamondback (who secretly agreed to go back to work for the bad guys in exchange for Cap's cure).
* Due to the poisonous nature of adamantium, Wolverine's skeleton and claws slowly kill him on those occasions when his mutant powers are disabled. And he can't use the claws, either, for obvious blood-loss-from-the-hands reasons.

* Gentle in ''New X-Men'' can temporarily increase his muscle mass to gain Hulk-level strength, but the strain on his body causes him seizures. His power is held in check somewhat by vibranium tattoos, but since his powers get stronger with every use, eventually the tattoos won't work and and his powers will kill him.

* Male channelers (read: magicians) in Robert Jordan's WheelOfTime. The male half of One Power, ''saidin'', was tainted by the [[BigBad Dark One]], so that now all the male channelers unavoidably will go mad. The few that survive the madness and avoid being caught then start [[BodyHorror rotting while alive]]... [[spoiler: That is, until Rand manages to cleanse the ''saidin''.]]

* [[VorkosiganSaga Sgt. Taura]], the genetically engineered super-soldier, has incredible strength and fast reflexes, but was not made to last. She was deliberately engineered to have a short lifespan and die quickly once she started showing serious signs of age. The Fleet doctor has slowed her metabolism and bought her a few more years.

* A male nurse on {{The 4400}} had the ability to cure genetic defects in utero, but random mutations appeared in his own DNA.
* At the end of season 4 of the new {{Doctor Who}}, [[spoiler: Donna is given the consciousness of a Time Lord, but the strain is too much for a human brain and it starts killing her, so the Doctor has to wipe her memory of all the time they spent together and leave her on Earth]].

* In {{Stargate SG-1}}, any human who uses an [[UpgradeArtifact Ancient Repository]] gains all the knowledge of the most advanced species ever to walk the galaxy, as well as some [[HealingHands nifty extras]] if they stick it out long enough. However since human minds [[EvolutionaryLevels aren't advanced enough to handle it]] this comes at the cost of overclocking their brain to the point of rapid mental degeneration and death.
* An ''OuterLimits'' episode has a scientist accidentally develop a serum that appears to give people (and monkeys) a HealingFactor (a monkey took a doze of cyanide without a problem). The CorruptCorporateExecutive refuses to reveal the miracle to the world but uses it on himself to cure a hereditary desease. However, the scientist then realizes that the serum doesn't give you healing powers after all but merely forces the cells to use up all their energy on healing, leaving behind a withered husk. The executive (his brother) is destined to spend the rest of his days on life support.

* Happens to Shiki in {{Tsukihime}} where using his magic eyes that can see death causes his brain to blow up from understanding what it's not supposed to. This is hinted to have permanent effects that will lower his lifespan.
* [[{{Nasuverse}} Nasu]] must like this trope because it also happens to Shirou in ''FateStayNight'' in all three routes from using magic above his level, particularly in Heaven's Feel when [[spoiler: he gets Archer's arm grafted onto him. Interestingly, rather than merely physical corruption there is also mental corruption, and he starts to lose memories and the ability to form coherent thoughts.]]

* ReBoot: After fusing with a broken Glitch, Bob's overuse of his new powers would eventually result in total fragmentation (aka death). This is shown as Bob becoming transparent and staticy. Bob is able to delay the process by consuming extra energy shakes to hold himself together. This problem gets fixed when Bob separates from Glitch.

* The [[BodyToJewel body crystallizes]], develops VolcanicVeins, slowly falls apart (limbs falling out, extremities disintegrating) or somehow visibly and inhumanly shows itself dying.

* As incomplete {{Dhampyr}}, the Schiff in ''BloodPlus'' need the blood of a vampire queen to stabilize, otherwise they turn to crystal. Yes, ''crystal.'' The ailment is called Thorn.

* As a [[HalfHumanHybrid half-demon]] with an UnstoppableRage SuperMode, {{Inuyasha}} will eventually get {{Mode Lock}}ed in that form unless he keeps the sword Tetsaiga by his side at all times. All things considered this works well in his favor since the sword also gives him many powerful attacks his Unstoppable Rage couldn't match.

The causes can vary. It may be that the process used to make the [[CloningBlues Clone]], HalfHumanHybrid or genetically enhanced character with SuperSoldier powers had an [[CloneDegeneration inadvertent]] (or intentional) [[FlawedPrototype design flaw]] (or "birth defect") that slowly reduces their lifespan, limiting their lives to years or ''months.'' Other times it's related to having somehow gained StockSuperPowers. Maybe it was thanks to PsychoSerum, or the machine/amulet that gave them their powers was broken. Lastly, the powers may just inherently damage the body when used, either as a mystical [[EquivalentExchange price]] or because they are not designed for human use (or rather, the body wasn't given the RequiredSecondaryPowers to handle using the primary ones). Whatever the case, the result is the same: acute [[HeroicRROD "hardware failure"]] as the body tears itself up from the inside. If they're lucky, they won't cause a SuperpowerMeltdown that takes out the city.

The former scenario is usually incurable, it's so hard to FindTheCure that an entire series can be based around it. The reason is that the clone, hybrid or [[GattacaBabies GM baby]] would have to fundamentally alter themselves to not be what they are, either by fixing the flaw or becoming plain humans. This can involve finding a geneticist who can make a gene therapy capable of repairing their DNA, a magic ritual that rids them of their human/non-human half, or somehow completely excising what separates them from baseline humanity and being BroughtDownToNormal. These people have a very good reason for [[IJustWantToBeNormal wanting to be normal.]]

* The body crystallizes, slowly falls apart (limbs falling out, extremities disintegrating) or somehow visibly and inhumanly shows itself dying.

*All the clones in ''DannyPhantom'' easily dissolve from too much excessive power use. That's because they were [[ReplacementGoldfish stepping stones]] to the Perfect Clone. Danielle, the one before the Perfect Clone gets lucky as Danny eventually stabilizes her.