History Main / PowerfulAndHelpless

* Comics writer Creator/AlanMoore hates the very idea of his work being made into movies because of how they botched ''Film/FromHell'' and ''Film/VForVendetta''. DC Comics and the movie industry have constantly tried to buy his favor in the past, promising him millions if he'd just let them put his name on movies like ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'' to give it even more legitimacy because it'd have his approval. Mr. Moore always says no. He doesn't want millions and he doesn't want his name on any movie adaptations of his work. He doesn't mind if someone adapts his work, so long as they don't associate his name with it. He cannot be bought. Entertainment industry giants worth billions of dollars are powerless to persuade him.

** The Valar too, during the Akalabeth, being forced to call upon Eru.

* ''VideoGame/HorizonZeroDawn'': For all of his godlike power, [[spoiler:Hades is ultimately just what any artificial intelligence really is; a big, immobile computer. His strength is entirely dependent on what systems, machines, and people he can control and without those things he’s helpless. He spent most of the time prior to the events of the game [[SealedEvilInACan trapped in an inactive machine]], unable to do anything until a human discovered him, and once Aloy manages to get past all his minions in the climax, he’s totally defenseless.]]

* Very, very present in the Videogame/LegacyOfKain series.

* In ''Literature/CodexAlera'', Gaius Sextus is the most powerful [[ElementalPowers furycrafter]] in all of Alera, but much of the drama comes from how politics and the maneuvering of his rivals renders him unable to easily resolve most of the problems he faces. In ''Academ's Fury'', a combination of his old age, weariness from constantly furycrafting away endless storms hitting the western coast, and [[spoiler:slow poisoning from his wife]] combine to make him delirious and ranting about this trope, declaring how helpless he is despite all of his power. In ''Captain's Fury'' Gaius also has to intentionally avoid using his furies during his infiltration of a traitor's lands, since doing so would alert his enemy before Gaius can get close enough to spring a surprise attack.

-->-- '''ComicBook/TheJoker''', ''Film/TheDarkKnight''

* The Hero in ''LightNovel/{{Maoyu}}'' is a PersonOfMassDestruction and the [[TheChosenOne only one]] powerful enough to defeat the Demon King... but when he actually meets the Demon King and talks things over, he realises that humans and demons should make peace instead. Unfortunately, "millenia-long racial tension" turns out to be the first enemy that he has no idea how to fight. While Hero does eventually grow into a capable diplomat and GuileHero (and his combat skills still see use on occasion), in early arcs he's pretty much limited to teleporting his more politically-savvy allies around.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'': Accelerator falls into despair and goes mad when despite all his world-shaking power, he can do nothing when his adoptive daughter Last Order falls seriously ill. Fortunately, Touma and others eventually lend a hand.

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* In [[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 2008]] storyline ''ComicBook/WayOfTheWorld'', ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} fails to save a boy that is dying from cancer, and she has to accept her incredible powers can't fix everything.

* Both the ''ComicBook/HeroesAgainstHunger'' special 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).
** 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/ActionComicsNumber1'' 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.
** The natural deaths of Ma and Pa Kent. Clark may be the most powerful being on Earth, but there's nothing he can do.

** Twice in the episode [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E11Ted Ted]]. When Buffy's mother falls in love with a man named [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E11Ted Ted]], Buffy quickly finds out that he's cruel and manipulative when no one is looking, but [[BitchInSheepsClothing acts polite and friendly when others are around]]. To Buffy's dismay, she's forced to just let Ted insert himself into her family, as any use of violence would just make her look like the villain. Buffy's actually thrilled when Ted punches her, as she finally has an excuse to fight back... only for Ted to get knocked down the stairs and have no heart beat after. Buffy then has to deal with a police investigation, and when she narrowly escapes any charges, she still has to deal with the guilt of having killed someone and the huge toll it takes on her relationship with her mother, at least until [[spoiler:it's revealed that Ted is actually a robot]].

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Buffy Summers is [[TheChosenOne the Slayer]], a superpowered [[HunterOfMonsters monster hunter]] who can easily handle vampires and demons... but in the episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E16TheBody The Body]]", she is unable to do anything when she comes home and finds her mother on the couch, dead from a brain aneurysm. Buffy is left nigh-catatonic, wondering how long Joyce had been in the house and if she could have been saved, even as the doctors state that the aneurysm was very sudden and there's nothing Buffy could have done even if she had been at her mother's side at the time.

* In the finale of the Genesis arc of [[WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers SMG4]], Melony, who possesses the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Fierce Deity Mask]] and is the most poerful of the regular cast by a wide margin ([[BrilliantButLazy when she's awake at least]]) finds that for all her power, she cannot purge [[BigBad Zero]] from Axol's body, no matter how hard she tries to use her blade to hack away the infection. [[StakingTheLovedOne She's forced to slay Axol to stop his processed body breaking free of Mario's grip and dooming the universe.]]

* In the finale of the Genesis arc of [[WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers SMG4]], Melony, who possesses the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Fierce Deity Mask]] and is the most poerful of the regular cast by a wide margin ([[BrilliantButLazy when she's awake at least]]) finds that for all her power, she cannot purge [[BigBad Zero]] from Axol's body, no matter how hard she tries to use her blade to hack away the infection. [[StakeTheLovedOne She's forced to slay Axol to stop his processed body breaking free of Mario's grip and dooming the universe.]]
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Once Cinder becomes the fall maiden, she is arguably one of the most powerful beings on the planet, but the grimm parasite in her makes her extremely vulnerable to Ruby's silver eyes, meaning she can't kill her personally. Inevitably, her main objective from this point on is revenge against Ruby for precisely this reason.

* Both the ''ComicBook/HeroesAgainstHunger'' special 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).

* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode [[Recap/JusticeLeagueUnlimitedS1E5ThisLittlePiggy "This Little Piggy"]], Batman and Zatanna are trying to rescue Wonder Woman who has been [[BalefulPolymorph turned into a pig]] by the witch Circe as an act of revenge. Circe cannot be defeated by Zatanna's magic or Batman's fighting skills, so he decides to negotiate by giving something up instead, and it works. [[spoiler: The "something" he has to give up? The secret that he is a talented ''singer''.]]

* ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'': Despite his godlike powers, Clark Kent is helpless when his father Jonathan dies of a heart attack.

** A vecol is an Andalite form of pariah, who has some kind of infirmity (such as a genetic disease or a missing tail) that can't be healed by morphing, which restores the body to its normal state.

** Sauron, in LOTR. The mightiest being at that point of time, and he can only watch woth mortal terror when he discovers the ring is in Sammath Naur, so close and yet so far, depending on the Nâzgul to be saved.

** ''Film/AvengersEndgame'''s ActionPrologue ultimately results in this. [[spoiler: The Avengers who survived the initial dusting of half the universe follow Thanos to his Garden planet only to discover that Thanos ''destroyed'' the Infinity Stones to render his work 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 him using the Power Stone against her), only to discover that it wouldn't have mattered anyway.]]

* 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).

If a powerful character loses to a still more powerful character to demonstrate the second character's greater power then it's the TheWorfEffect. If a character's power takes the form of wealth but they can't pay for a solution like buying their way off a sinking ship, then it's a case of MoneyIsNotPower. If a character literally loses their powers and/or abilities and has to find a way to succeed without them, then they're BroughtDownToNormal or YourMagicsNoGoodHere. Compare with ReedRichardsIsUseless where the hero has powers/resources/tech that could solve numerous real world problems but only ever seems to use his gifts to fight the next villain. Also compare with KungfuProofMook where it's a specific opponent who's immune to the hero's regular abilities. Contrast its polar opposite, ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: the character's power is [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway usually lame and has little use]], but upon meeting a certain specific situation its use becomes highlighted. Contrast also SwissArmySuperpower where they can use their powers for a lot of things, even improbable ones.

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[[folder:Myths and Legend]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'', King Triton can do nothing to break the [[DealWithTheDevil contract]] Ariel signed with Ursula. All the power he wields through his trident cannot destroy the contract. All he can do to save Ariel from becoming a polyp is pull a TakeMeInstead by replacing Ariel's name with his own.