History Main / SuperPowerfulGenetics

** However, genetic powers aren't always passed down. The best example of this is the First Hokage's [[GreenThumb wood release]], which was entirely unique to his DNA, with none of his descendents inheriting it. Another example would be the Fourth Kazekage, who seems to be the only member of his family capable of using magnetism.

** More recent examples of his offspring include a child of Superman and WonderWoman who ended up being an alternate version of the Phantom Stranger. In DCOneMillion, his offspring apparently retain their powers through successive generations and gain new ones by intermarrying with various species including a 5th dimensional being, forming a Superman Dynasty. Superman himself returns in this timeline after hundreds of thousands of years transformed by exotic energies and gaining the ability to bestow additional powers on his offspring. The Superman of the 853rd century, a direct descendant of Superman, is like our Superman [[UpToEleven on steroids]].

** The whole reason Micah (the aforementioned technopath) even exists is that [[spoiler:Linderman arranged for Niki and DL to meet, marry, and have children, so that he could then use Micah to (in a roundabout way) seat Nathan in the Oval Office.

* Betty Ross (Red She-Hulk) has the genetic marker, as Modok had previously turned her into the gamma-mutate the Harpy to use her against the classic Green Hulk (her Red She-Hulk status being a result of combined gamma and cosmic ray exposure).

* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' Ichigo and Karin can see ghosts, Yuzu can see faint outlines of them, and Ichigo eventually became a Shinigami with an extremely high amount of spirit energy. Why? [[spoiler:Their father Isshin is a retired Shinigami, and has all the same powers Ichigo does, at a Captain's class.]]
** [[spoiler:He also inherits the aptitude for Quincy powers from his mother. His hollow powers may have also come from her.]]

The Paralouge children from VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening inherit their parents skills via LamarckWasRight. Players often have certain characters paired up or have them change classes before the paralouge stage so their kids have inherit [[BadAss devastating]] abilities and very high stats they normally wouldn't get in their starting class or gender ((such as giving male characters Galeforce))

* When a character in the ''{{Lensman}}'' series has the last name "Kinnison", you can be sure they're going to kick ass. They may die in the process, but ass ''will'' be kicked in the meantime. Kimball Kinnison (the hero of ''Grey Lensman'' and ''Second-Stage Lensmen'') eventually marries Clarissa [=MacDougall=], a descendant of Virgil Samms, the eponymous ''First Lensman''. Their kids are the ''Children of the Lens'', and they're explicitly stated to be the most powerful minds in the Galaxy, exceeding even the Arisians who ''created'' the lenses.

* When a character in the ''{{Lensman}}'' series has the last name "Kinnison", you can be sure they're going to kick ass. They may die in the process, but ass ''will'' be kicked in the meantime. Kimball Kinnison (the hero of ''Grey Lensman'' and ''Second-Stage Lensmen'') eventually marries Clarissa MacDougall, a descendant of Virgil Samms, the eponymous ''First Lensman''. Their kids are the ''Children of the Lens'', and they're explicitly stated to be the most powerful minds in the Galaxy, exceeding even the Arisians who ''created'' the lenses.

* When a character in the ''{{Lensman}}'' series has the last name "Kinnison", you can be sure they're going to kick ass. They may die in the process, but ass ''will'' be kicked in the meantime. Kimball Kinnison (the hero of ''GreyLensman'' and ''SecondStageLensman'') eventually marries Clarissa MacDougall, a descendant of Virgil Samms, the eponymous ''FirstLensman''. Their kids are the ''ChildrenOfTheLens'', and they're explicitly stated to be the most powerful minds in the Galaxy, exceeding even the Arisians who ''created'' the lenses.

* In the StarTrekNovelVerse, as of ''StarTrekTheFall'', Benjamin Sisko is watching his daughter Rebecca very closely, ever alert for any possible sign that she's inherited powers or abilities from the wormhole aliens, due to Sisko himself being "part Prophet". The idea that she might have [[GiveHimANormalLife is disturbing to Sisko]], to say the least.

* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' goes with the second of the four options; the children of heroes are almost certain to have powers of their own, but the child's powers are rarely related in any way to the parents'.
** This one seems to go both ways. While Matt seems to have the same powers as his father; Nikki, with super strength, and DL, with phasing powers, somehow manage to have a kid who can talk to machines. The latter example is ridiculous, as the entire premise of Heroes revolves around [[HollywoodEvolution human evolution]]. Someone should tell them that this isn't how natural selection works. (As if [[TheyJustDidntCare they'd care]].)
*** The whole reason Micah (the aforementioned technopath) even exists is that [[spoiler:Linderman [[BatmanGambit arranged for Niki and DL to meet, marry, and have children]], so that he could then use Micah to (in a roundabout way) seat Nathan in the Oval Office. [[XanatosRoulette How he figured out that breeding super strength with phasing would lead to technopathy is anyone's guess]]]].
**** Linderman had access to a precog, Angela. This was all part of a plot she originally foresaw.
*** Nathan [[spoiler: is perhaps the exception to this rule. He's the only one in the family who wasn't born with powers and instead got them from a SuperSerum. He manages to keep both this and the fact he has a power at all a secret from many characters, eventually leading to him having some sort of Hitler-esque FantasticRacism against people with abilities. He gets over it.]]
** Let's just face it: This series is either TheyJustDidntCare or YouFailBiologyForever turned UpToEleven - superpowers manifest at solar eclipses, children have powers completely different from their parents, identical twins having different powers, a brother and a sister (no twins) having powers that work together, injecting yourself with a serum from one super gives you completely different powers etc.

* Descendants of the {{Flash}}es universally inherit Super Speed; Franchise/TheDCU's [[MetaOrigin "meta-gene"]] was called in to explain this. Many other DC characters avoid this trope by having their successors or apprentices come with their own origins.
** This was played with when Flash Wally West fathered twins. Although both had powers based on speed, his son's ability was [[SuperStrength super-accelerated growth of muscle tissue]], and his daughter could [[IntangibleMan vibrate through objects]]. Now she has basic Super Speed and he's unpowered.

* The ComicBook/{{X-Men}} had mixed up examples of 1 and 2; while Jean Grey (psionics) and ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} (EyeBeams) gave birth to two (or three, depending on how you count) of the most powerful psychics in existence, {{Magneto}} (with powers of magnetism) fathered a speedster, [[WindsOfDestinyChange a probability manipulator]] and (via {{Retcon}}) a magnetism user like him.

* ''TheIncredibles'': Mr. Incredible, with his SuperStrength, and Elasti-Girl, with her elasticity, get married and have Dash, a [=SuperSpeed=]er and Violet, who has {{invisibility}} and force fields [[spoiler:and Jack-Jack, who seems to have a [[ComboPlatterPowers full combo platter]]]].

* Descendants of the {{Flash}}es universally inherit SuperSpeed; TheDCU's [[MetaOrigin "meta-gene"]] was called in to explain this. Many other DC characters avoid this trope by having their successors or apprentices come with their own origins.
** This was played with when Flash Wally West fathered twins. Although both had powers based on speed, his son's ability was [[SuperStrength super-accelerated growth of muscle tissue]], and his daughter could [[IntangibleMan vibrate through objects]]. Now she has basic SuperSpeed and he's unpowered.

* The ComicBook/{{X-Men}} had mixed up examples of 1 and 2; while Jean Grey (psionics) and ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} (EyeBeams) gave birth to two (or three, depending on how you count) of the most powerful psychics in existence, {{Magneto}} (with powers of magnetism) fathered a [[SuperSpeed speedster]], [[WindsOfDestinyChange a probability manipulator]] and (via {{Retcon}}) a magnetism user like him.

* ''TheIncredibles'': Mr. Incredible, with his SuperStrength, and Elasti-Girl, with her elasticity, get married and have Dash, a {{superspeed}}er and Violet, who has {{invisibility}} and force fields [[spoiler:and Jack-Jack, who seems to have a [[ComboPlatterPowers full combo platter]]]].

* In HarryPotter, some wizards have two wizard parents, some have only one wizard parent, and some are {{Muggle}}-born. In this case, magical ability might be explained as a dominant mutation that often occurs spontaneously...if anyone ever bothered making Harry Potter sound ''logical''.

* In ''ElGoonishShive'', aptitude for magic is inheritable and if one's lineage contained lots of powerful magic users one would be more likely to be able to gain access to powerful magic. Sometimes though this goes the opposite way and one becomes a MuggleBornOfMages; no ability to gain access to magic at all which is less than one born into a family with mediocre magic related genes who would at least have some ability to gain access to magic.

* The main characters of ''{{Runaways}}'' tend to have superpowers corresponding to those of their parents. Many of these "powers" are magical or technological gifts.
** In ''{{Runaways}}'', Molly Hayes initially appears to have not gotten the mutant gene despite her parents both having it. Early on in the story however, she is discovered to have super strength (while both parents had mind controlling powers). Karolina has exactly the same alien powers as her parents which her mother points out means that none of them can hurt each other. Chase is the son of two brilliant MadScientist GadgeteerGenius types, but his abilities run more to minor cleverness, street smarts and punching things.

See also LamarckWasRight, GeneticMemory, MagicGenetics, BioAugmentation. Compare MuggleBornOfMages. Settings that avert or minimize this trope may use RandomlyGifted instead.

** That wouldn't make sense unless his father was a recessive carrier as well. Possibly it has a low degree of expression... Or it's X-linked recessive and his sister is a GenderBender... Or quite possibly that whole 'mystical dragon transformation' thing isn't a genetic trait.

* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' Ichigo and Karin can see ghosts, Yuzu can see faint outlines of them, and Ichigo eventually became a Shinigami with an extremely high amount of spirit energy. Why? [[spoiler:Their father Isshin is a retired Shinigami, and has all the same powers Ichigo does, at what looks like a Captain's class.]]

* ''Manga/DragonBall Z'' repeatedly shows that hybrids of humans and super-powerful aliens produce insanely powerful offspring. Lampshaded by Vegeta, when he notes that he trained intensely to unlock his Super form, while his hybrid kid can do it for fun. If a child is conceived after the father has unlocked said Super form, that child will be able to do so with essentially no effort, in a case of LamarckWasRight. If the child was born beforehand, it's quite a bit more difficult. They're crazy powerful regardless, though. The only real exception to this out of ALL the half-saiyan children is Vegeta's daughter Bra, who he apparently chooses to dote on rather than train.

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* In the {{Mother}} series, many of the humans with PSI attained their powers from alien genetics in their ancestry.

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