History Main / PowerfulAndHelpless

* One of the big ideological conflicts surrounding ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' hinges around this idea. In its heyday, [[HeroesRUs Overwatch (the in-universe organization)]] was hailed as a beacon of hope full of legendary heroes who would save the world from evil and destruction (from the [[RobotWar Omnic Crisis]] to bigger criminal organizations like [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Talon]]), but this idealism only took them so far. [[SlaveToPR Maintaining their honor]] and [[RestrictedRescueOperation the red tape of international legality]] took its toll on their ability to directly and permanently correct [[InherentInTheSystem larger systemic problems]], with their peacekeeping operations giving way to clandestine DirtyBusiness that [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight ultimately had good intentions]], [[BrokenPedestal but thoroughly tanked their reputation]], [[BreakingTheFellowship led to their disbandment]], and [[ShaggyDogStory ultimately set the world into an even darker path]] where [[TheBadGuyWins the bad guys effectively won through attrition]]. Several prominent figures -- most notably [[TheLeader Jack Morrison]] and [[TheLancer Gabriel Reyes]] -- fell apart from the disillusionment leading up to Overwatch's collapse, with Morrison becoming the dreaded VigilanteMan "Soldier: 76" and Reyes becoming [[FallenHero the even-worse new "Reaper" of Talon]]. However, many other heroes maintain their various approaches to justice out of [[ChronicHeroSyndrome impulse]] or [[DoNotGoGentle simple orneriness]], with their collective desire to live up to the heroic "power" of yore [[PuttingTheBandBackTogether leading to them reinstating the organization]], [[ToBeLawfulOrGood knowing full well that doing so is illegal]]. Collectively, it seems that when faced with this form of legal/logistical form of helplessness, the response ''everyone'' has (even [[WellIntentionedExtremist the villains]]) is "ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight"

* One of the big ideological conflicts surrounding ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' hinges around this idea. In its heyday, [[HeroesRUs Overwatch (the in-universe organization)]] was hailed as a beacon of hope full of legendary heroes who would save the world from evil and destruction (from the [[RobotWar Omnic Crisis]] to bigger criminal organizations like [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Talon]]), but this idealism only took them so far. [[SlaveToPR Maintaining their honor]] and [[RestrictedRescueOperation the red tape of international legality]] took its toll on their ability to directly and permanently correct [[InherentInTheSystem larger systemic problems]], with their peacekeeping operations giving way to clandestine DirtyBusiness that [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight ultimately had good intentions]], [[BrokenPedestal but thoroughly tanked their reputation]], [[BreakingTheFellowship led to their disbandment]], and [[ShaggyDogStory ultimately set the world into an even darker path]] where [[TheBadGuyWins the bad guys effectively won]]. Several prominent figures -- most notably [[TheLeader Jack Morrison]] and [[TheLancer Gabriel Reyes]] -- fell apart from the disillusionment leading up to Overwatch's collapse, with Morrison becoming the dreaded VigilanteMan "Soldier: 76" and Reyes becoming [[FallenHero the even-worse new "Reaper" of Talon]]. However, many other heroes maintain their various approaches to justice out of [[ChronicHeroSyndrome impulse]] or [[DoNotGoGentle simple orneriness]], with their collective desire to live up to the heroic "power" of yore [[PuttingTheBandBackTogether leading to them reinstating the organization]], [[ToBeLawfulOrGood knowing full well that doing so is illegal]]. Collectively, it seems that when faced with this form of legal/logistical form of helplessness, the response ''everyone'' has (even [[WellIntentionedExtremist the villains]]) is "ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight"

* One of the big ideological conflicts surrounding ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' hinges around this idea. In its heyday, [[HeroesRUs Overwatch (the in-universe organization)]] was hailed as a beacon of hope full of legendary heroes who would save the world from evil and destruction (from the [[RobotWar Omnic Crisis]] to bigger criminal organizations like [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Talon]]), but this idealism only took them so far. [[SlaveToPR Maintaining their honor]] and [[RestrictedRescueOperation the red tape of international legality]] took its toll on their ability to directly and permanently correct [[InherentInTheSystem larger systemic problems]], with their peacekeeping operations giving way to clandestine DirtyBusiness that [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight ultimately had good intentions]], [[BrokenPedestal but thoroughly tanked their reputation]], [[BreakingTheFellowship led to their disbandment]], and [[TheBadGuyWins ultimately set the world into an even darker path]]. Several prominent figures -- most notably [[TheLeader Jack Morrison]] and [[TheLancer Gabriel Reyes]] -- fell apart from the disillusionment leading up to Overwatch's collapse, with Morrison becoming the dreaded VigilanteMan "Soldier: 76" and Reyes becoming [[FallenHero the even-worse new "Reaper" of Talon]]. However, many other heroes maintain their various approaches to justice out of [[ChronicHeroSyndrome impulse]] or [[DoNotGoGentle simple orneriness]], with their collective desire to live up to the heroic "power" of yore [[PuttingTheBandBackTogether leading to them reinstating the organization]], [[ToBeLawfulOrGood knowing full well that doing so is illegal]]. Collectively, it seems that when faced with this form of legal/logistical form of helplessness, the response ''everyone'' has (even [[WellIntentionedExtremist the villains]]) is "ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight"

* One of the big ideological conflicts surrounding ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' hinges around this idea. In its heyday, [[HeroesRUs Overwatch (the in-universe organization)]] was hailed as a beacon of hope full of legendary heroes who would save the world from evil and destruction (from the [[RobotWar Omnic Crisis]] to bigger criminal organizations like [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Talon]]), but this idealism only took them so far. [[SlaveToPR Maintaining their honor]] and [[RestrictedRescueOperation the red tape of international legality]] took its toll on their ability to directly and permanently correct larger systemic problems, with their peacekeeping operations giving way to clandestine DirtyBusiness that [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight ultimately had good intentions]], [[BrokenPedestal but thoroughly tanked their reputation]], [[BreakingTheFellowship led to their disbandment]], and [[TheBadGuyWins ultimately set the world into an even darker path]]. Several prominent figures -- most notably [[TheLeader Jack Morrison]] and [[TheLancer Gabriel Reyes]] -- fell apart from the disillusionment leading up to Overwatch's collapse, with Morrison becoming the dreaded VigilanteMan "Soldier: 76" and Reyes becoming [[FallenHero the even-worse new "Reaper" of Talon]]. However, many other heroes maintain their various approaches to justice out of [[ChronicHeroSyndrome impulse]] or [[DoNotGoGentle simple orneriness]], with their collective desire to live up to the heroic "power" of yore [[PuttingTheBandBackTogether leading to them reinstating the organization]], [[ToBeLawfulOrGood knowing full well that doing so is illegal]]. Collectively, it seems that when faced with this form of legal/logistical form of helplessness, the response ''everyone'' has (even [[WellIntentionedExtremist the villains]]) is "ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight"

* It's not surprising that a show like ''Series/NineOneOne'' would highlight this happening to it's heroes, but it's not just cops and firefighters who discover that can't always save the day. 911 operators suffer 'dead-end calls' where they can't do anything even with their databases or connections with the police, and just have to listen to their callers die.

* Satoru Gojo in ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'' [[DownplayedTrope Downplays]] this. He's an [[StoryBreakerPower impossibly]] [[WorldsStrongestMan powerful]] Jujutsu Sorcerer, capable of easily curb-stomping even the most powerful enemies in the series. However, his real goal is to reform the Jujutsu System, the hierarchy that governs the Jujutsu Sorerers. He takes a lot of issue with the Elders who control the system, often ideologically clashing with them. He muses that, given how powerful he is, he could just kill them all and wrest control away from them... but concludes that doing so would be counterproductive to the long-term reforms he wishes to implement. So instead, he became a [[BadassTeacher teacher]] and is working on a bottom-up [[InternalReformist reformation]] of the Jujutsu system by raising up a generation of powerful students who can stand with him as equals.

* In ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'' ''[[Comicbook/{{Supergirl 2005}} Volume 5]]'' storyline "Way of the World", the titular heroine fails to save a boy that is dying from cancer, and she has to accept her incredible powers can't fix everything.

* In the ''Franchise/XMen'' franchise, Comicbook/{{Magneto}}'s immense magnetic powers can defeat almost any threat to himself, but can't do anything to make people stop hating mutants (which is one of his reasons for often taking a KillEmAll approach).
* ''Comicbook/MegaManArchieComics'' has this in "Prisoners of War", Issue 49: after defeating every robot master thrown at him & salvaging their I.C. Chips (the robot equivalent of a soul / personality), Mega Man helped rebuild them, intending to give them a 2nd chance & purpose by reprogramming the battle robots for [[MundaneUtility more mundane uses]]. However, some masters saw [[BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood modifying their core programing]] to be the same as [[DeathOfPersonality erasing their true selves]], choosing to [[DyingAsYourself be shut down as themselves]] instead. Needless to say, [[BreakTheCutie this devastated Rock]], whom Dr. Light told: "We can't save everyone, and not everyone wants to be saved."

** There is also the two-part storyline "Crisis at Hand", where Superman grapples with the problems of domestic abuse as a neighbor is beating his wife and she initially refuses to press charges. It also reveals that his actions in ''ComicBook/ActionComicsNumberOne'' lead to the death of the woman he saved. Ultimately, it's ''Lois'' who gives the woman to strength to leave and the man to realize that he needs help.

* ''Comicbook/{{MegaMan}}'' has this in "Prisoners of War", Issue 49: after defeating every robot master thrown at him & salvaging their I.C. Chips (the robot equivalent of a soul / personality), Mega Man helped rebuild them, intending to give them a 2nd chance & purpose by reprogramming the battle robots for [[MundaneUtility more mundane uses]]. However, some masters saw [[BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood modifying their core programing]] to be the same as [[DeathOfPersonality erasing their true selves]], choosing to [[DyingAsYourself be shut down as themselves]] instead. Needless to say, [[BreakTheCutie this devastated Rock]], whom Dr. Light told: "We can't save everyone, and not everyone wants to be saved."

** Elfangor didn't crash-land at any random location, he was trying to get to the place where he'd hidden the Time Matrix. The Yeerks caught him before he could fix everything, but he did the next-best thing, giving morphing power to the humans that [[ContrivedCoincidence just happened]] to be passing through (his human son, Visser One's host's son, a girl with the power to sense temporal disturbances, and the brother and cousin of a high-ranking Yeerk's host).

** In ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'', Dormammu is the all-powerful GreaterScopeVillain from the Dark Dimension who could consume our universe with ease, and is in the process of doing so when the titular hero confronts him. Doctor Strange realizes that for all his infinite power, Dormammu has no control over time which doesn't exist in his domain. Strange defeats him by bringing time to the Dark Dimension via the Eye of Agamotto and locking them both in a GroundhogDayLoop where all he can do is kill Strange repeatedly for all eternity. This effectively makes Dormammu a helpless prisoner in his own dimension until he accepts Strange's request to leave Earth alone.

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': Matt Murdock may be the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, and instrumental at stopping violent crime and putting Wilson Fisk in jail...but seasons 2 and 3 establish that Matt can't really do anything about Fisk just rebuilding his criminal empire from behind bars so that it's waiting for him when he manipulates his way out of prison.
* ''Series/JessicaJones2015'': Jessica may have superstrength, but even she can still be the victim of sexual assault, being forced to spend a year as Kilgrave's slave.
* ''Series/LukeCage2016'': Luke may be bulletproof and have friends in the NYPD, but that doesn't mean he can't still get into legal trouble. Season 1 ends with him being sent back to jail in Georgia to answer for criminal charges related to his original escape from Seagate. In season 2, he faces a civil suit from Cockroach after beating the man to within an inch of his life.

** ''Film/AvengersEndgame'''s ActionPrologue ultimately results in this. [[spoiler: The Avengers follow Thanos to his Garden planet only to discover that Thanos ''destroyed'' the Infinity Stones after wiping out half of the Universe's population, rendering the snap irreversible. Even Thor decapitating Thanos isn't enough to make their victory anything less than hollow, and it takes TimeTravel after a five-year TimeSkip to bring everybody back, at the cost of two of the Avengers' lives. Of particular note here is Captain Marvel, who spent her previous screentime boasting of her ability to kill Thanos (and is later proven right when she faces 2014 Thanos later in the movie, only being temporarily stunned by the use of the Power Stone against her), only to discover that it wouldn't have mattered anyway.]]

* Both the ''ComicBook/HeroesAgainstHunger'' special (the current page image) and Alex Ross' ''"ComicBook/{{Superman}}: Peace on Earth"'' deal with Supes being unable to stop world hunger from hurting many people, even if he's a PhysicalGod. His absolute best attempt to rally food for the needy can only feed them, at best, for one day (and even then, he has to fight off warlords and other kinds of cruel people that would really prefer him to be unable to succeed... and partially manage to accomplish that).

[[quoteright:298:[[ComicBook/HeroesAgainstHunger https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/green_lantern_3.png]]]]

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1627163238055400100

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/HeroesAgainstHunger https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/heroes_against_hunger_vol_1_1.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:You can't always save the day by hitting things.]]

* ''Film/AvengersEndgame'''s ActionPrologue ultimately results in this. [[spoiler: The Avengers follow Thanos to his Garden planet only to discover that Thanos ''destroyed'' the Infinity Stones after wiping out half of the Universe's population, rendering the snap irreversible. Even Thor decapitating Thanos isn't enough to make their victory anything less than hollow, and it takes TimeTravel after a five-year TimeSkip to bring everybody back, at the cost of two of the Avengers' lives. Of particular note here is Captain Marvel, who spent her previous screentime boasting of her ability to kill Thanos (and is later proven right when she faces 2014 Thanos later in the movie, only being temporarily stunned by the use of the Power Stone against her), only to discover that it wouldn't have mattered anyway.]]

* In ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'', Dormammu is the all-powerful GreaterScopeVillain from the Dark Dimension who could consume our universe with ease, and is in the process of doing so when the titular hero confronts him. Doctor Strange realizes that for all his infinite power, Dormammu has no control over time which doesn't exist in his domain. Strange defeats him by bringing time to the Dark Dimension via the Eye of Agamotto and locking them both in a GroundhogDayLoop where all he can do is kill Strange repeatedly for all eternity. This effectively makes Dormammu a helpless prisoner in his own dimension until he accepts Strange's request to leave Earth alone.

* Very, very present in the Videogame/LegacyOfKain series.
** Kain himself in his debut game suffers from this, despite gaining various powers and weapons and taking various levels of badass as his potential as a vampire grows, he's still unable to keep himself from being manipulated by Moebius into inducing a genocidal crusade against the vampire race. This actually becomes a part of his CharacterDevelopment across the years, as he comes to realise that magical or physical prowess has no use in the web of manipulation that has been built across Nosgoth.

* [[BigGood The Creator]] from ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'' must stay outside of The Land and cannot act directly to counter [{BigBad Lord Foul]]. His direct action would break the Arch of Time and free Foul from his prison (and his very presence in The Land itself carries that risk). Thus he's forced to act through surrogates like Covenant.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', Hawk Moth has the power to turn other people into superhuman 'Akuma' with all sorts of powers... ''except'' bringing his wife out of her coma. To do that, he needs the protagonists' [[TransformationTrinket Miraculous]], but since his power is empowering others, he has no choice but to rely on his Akuma, who he cannot directly control (The Akumatization makes the target evil, but they retain their own minds and goals). The Akuma can put his loved ones in danger, make StupidEvil decisions that cost him yet another victory, or get easily tricked because SanityHasAdvantages, and the only thing Hawk Moth can do is threaten to remove their powers.