History Main / Superempowering

* ''Manga/OnePunchMan'': The mysterious entity known only as 'God' can do this, giving powers to various monsters like Homeless Emperor, Psykos, and Garou. It's even speculated that God is the reason that monsters exist in the series in the first place.

** Rimuru's Ultimate Skill [Lord of Gluttony Beelzebub] allows him to do this via its sub-Skill Food Chain, which allows him to acquire the prototype version of his subordinates' Unique Skills while also granting him the ability to impart new Skills of his (or more likely [Lord of Wisdom Raphael's]) creation to them. The only limit is that they need to be compatible with the Skill in question.

* ''ComicBook/{{Touch}}'' features Cooper Santiago, a talent agent for [[PunchClockHero super-heroes for hire]], who has the power to give (and take away) powers to one person at a time. He gives powers to four people over the course of the series [[spoiler:before losing his own to his assistant in the final issue after a NearDeathExperience]].

** ''ComicBook/XFactor'' once met a tragic case: [[http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/nowlanmi.htm Michael Nolan]], a mutant who could amplify the powers of other mutants, but the effect was addictive to them. So he suppressed his own power with heroin.

* Dancers and similar classes in ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' are pretty much defined by their ability to do this. They can allow an ally to take another turn or, depending on the game, empower them for a short time.
** Awakening allows a skilled enough Dancer to do both. Level your Dancer enough, and Dance not only revitalizes them but also gives them a surge of stats.

* ''ComicBook/TheOthers1995'' all wield devices created by the Many which functionally grant them superpowers. But granting internal powers is also within the the scope of their technology; in ''ComicBook/{{Shadowhawk}}, the Enclave of the Elders (a remnant of Many technology) is used to create at least one member of the super-crooks team known as the Regulators.

* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', a "Trump" is the rarest type of [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual cape]], possessing powers that manipulate other powers. SuperEmpowering is one of the main sub-categories:

* ''ComicBook/TheNewUniverse'' has the Star Brand; each user can pass the Brand on to anyone or anything else, while still retaining a portion of the power. (Passing it into an inanimate object is... not recommended.) The Brand is also responsible for giving all the powers to all the Paranormals on Earth.

* An absolutely brilliant storyline in ''ComicBook/TheFlash'' involved this. Wally West, the man who was wearing the tights at the time, not only had superhuman speed, he had the ability to imbue anything and anyone with such speed. One day, while his wife was arguing with him, she noticed that while she was talking there'd be strange breezes and sometimes things in the room would shift position. She (rightly) assumed that he wasn't paying complete attention to her, was using his speed to do other things while she felt she should have been paid attention to, and was rightfully angry about it. He (patiently) explained to her that the problem was that he moves so very fast that, to him, she and most other human beings were basically statues, and that he had to force himself to slow down in order to interact with any of them, and that doing so was agony for him because it just took so... damned... long... When she didn't quite buy his explanation, he showed her what he meant by giving her his superspeed powers for a day.
* ''Franchise/GreenLantern'':
** Hal Jordan's power ring has the ability to produce power rings. Kyle uses a copy of Hal's ring to distribute rings to John Stewart and Jade. Later, Hal tries to give [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Clark Kent]] a power ring near the end of a year Clark had spent being powerless.
** When he loses his ring very early on in the comics, after saving the boy who'd found (and couldn't control) it we see him exchanging it for a created replica which did nothing but glow at will. For a young boy with friends, that's a different type of [[SuperEmpowering Super Empowerment]].
* In ''ComicBook/{{Lucifer}}'', the title character bequeaths his [[spoiler: Lightbringer power to Mazikeen]] before setting off for the Void outside Creation.
* The wizard ComicBook/{{Shazam}} granted teenage Billy Batson the ability to transform into Captain Marvel, an adult superhero (with Billy's mind in control) wielding the power of two gods (Zeus and Mercury), two demigods (Hercules and Achilles), a titan (Atlas) and a mortal with the wisdom of God (Solomon), who had themselves given the Wizard their abilities to empower a champion to defend mankind.
** Any bearer of the Power of Shazam can share their power with others, which is why there is a whole Marvel "family". Billy shared his powers with his sister Mary and his friend Freddy to turn them into ComicBook/MaryMarvel and Captain Marvel Junior respectively. Billy's EvilCounterpart ComicBook/BlackAdam (who is empowered by a different set of deities) did the same thing with his brother-in-law Amon to turn him into Osiris. And then there's the Lieutenants Marvel, three guys who can do the Captain Marvel shtick because their civilian names happen to be "Billy Batson".
** In the post-''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'' take, this gets tweaked - Billy and Black Adam draw on the same source of power, the living lightning, and they can share it with anyone considered family (whether by blood, by choice, or being a fellow champion of the Wizard's). In Billy's case, this means he can share his power with fellow foster kids Mary, Freddy, Darla, Pedro, and Eugene.
* In several Pre-Crisis stories, ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} accidentally gives someone else's powers through a blood or tissue transfusion. Usually those subjects (such like the Super-Scavenger in [[ComicBook/Supergirl1972 Supergirl (Volume 1)]] #4) use their newly-gained FlyingBrick skills to commit crimes; fortunately, the transfer is always temporary.
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

** When the Post-ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}} Superman dies in ''ComicBook/TheFinalDaysOfSuperman'', [[spoiler:the resulting blast empowers ComicBook/LoisLane and ComicBook/LanaLang, who were with him as he died. Interestingly, while Lois gets the classic Kryptonian powers, Lana gets the powers of Superman's late '90s "energy being" period.]]
** When powered by the light of a blue sun, Franchise/{{Superman}} and ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} can grant temporary Kryptonian powers to others.

* ''ComicBook/{{Touch}}'': a series from the short-lived DC Focus imprint features Cooper Santiago a talent agent for [[PunchClockHero super-heroes for hire]] who has the power to give (and take away) powers to one person at a time. He gives powers to four people over the course of the series [[spoiler: before losing his own to his assistant in the final issue after a NearDeathExperience]].

** Wish, one of the Changers from Creator/WarrenEllis[='=] run on ''ComicBook/{{Stormwatch}}'', was also an Activator.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'': The gods can grant powers to others, though most of those who hang on to their powers for long periods like Wondy herself in those continuities where she owes her powers to Aphrodite and Artemis or ComicBook/WonderGirl Cassie Sandsmark had latent powers already due to being decended from gods
** ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfWonderWoman2016'': In this {{Elseworld}} the only Amazons who are immortal are those who have agreed to become the champion of an Olympian, which comes with imense power at a the price of much of their personal autonomy.

* There's also a drug called Mutant Growth Hormone or MGH (first appearing in the ComicBook/{{Beast|MarvelComics}} solo series in ''Amazing Aadventures''), extracted from superhumans (not just {{Mutants}}) that bestows various temporary powers.
* [[SelfDemonstrating/DoctorDoom Doctor Doom]], being an OmnidisciplinaryScientist, has remapped several people's genetic structure through the power of SCIENCE several times in Marvel history. During the original ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984'', Doom used alien devices to create the super villainesses Volcana, a SwissArmyHero able to turn into an ash form, a lava form and a stone form, and probably the more prominent Titania, arch enemy of ''ComicBook/SheHulk'', who has your typical superstrength, durability etc.
** In 2020's Fantastic Four run, Doctor Doom took control of Galactus, and imbued one of his people with the Power Cosmic, creating his own herald in Victorious, who has a myriad of powers including beams, flight, and all sorts of undefined tomfoolery.
* ComicBook/{{Galactus}} has the power to grant his Heralds the status equivalent of a PhysicalGod.
* ComicBook/{{Loki}} is famous for giving out powers as part of his DealWithTheDevil schemes, but he actually holds up his end of the bargain. The God of Mischief actually never twists his words when giving out superpowers and he tends to let you keep them permanently, regardless of how successful his plan with you is.
** Crusher Creel, "The Absorbing Man", was originally just a very muscular thug. Then Loki gave him the power to absorb physical properties from things he touched and let him keep the power even after he was no longer useful. Crusher owes his entire supervillain career to Loki's generosity.
* ComicBook/TheNewUniverse has the Star Brand; each user can pass the Brand on to anyone or anything else, while still retaining a portion of the power. (Passing it into an inanimate object is... not recommended.) And it is responsible for giving all the powers to all the Paranormals on Earth.
* And of course there's Sabra, the Israeli superheroine who can grant up to half of her own life-energy into someone else, enhancing their strength, speed, stamina, and occasionally giving them superpowers. She can also take that energy ''back''... at least once, killing the subject because they hadn't healed from the wounds that were the reason she gave them her life energy in the first place (it's okay; they turned out to be a bad guy).
* Mr. Negative from [[Franchise/SpiderMan Spider-Man]]. Sometimes he just uses this to bring out latent abilities in people or bring their dark sides to the surface. Other times he flat out gives them powers like giving his mooks immortality.
* A company called the Power Broker (which first appeared in ''ComicBook/TheThing'') sells superpowers. Generally those of a brick (superstrength, supertoughness).
* [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor's]] hammer, {{Mjolnir}}. It says right on the hammer itself that anyone worthy enough to lift Mjolnir gets to wield Thor's power. Just holding Mjolnir - without invoking its full power - gives the wielder a massive strength boost. And we find later that if you already have powers, the power of Thor is stacked on top of them.
** The Wrecking Crew get their powers from their leader, the Wrecker. He has an enchanted crowbar that only he can control, which gives people Brick superpowers. He and his crew/family of friends remain very loyal to one another. But he himself was just a street thug, until by chance he robbed the place where a depowered Loki was hiding and got mistaken for Loki by Karnilla the Norn Queen whom Loki had summoned to give him a power up he needed. As a result it gave him his Brick powers and enchanted his favored weapon, a Crowbar, which also allowed it to let him share his powers with those he chooses.
* ComicBook/XMen:
** Sage has the ability to "jump-start" other mutants. Initially this was depicted as the ability to activate the latent mutations of mutants who hadn't yet manifested, but at this point it's more or less an excuse to do whatever the current writer wants to do to another mutant's powers (for example: turning Beast from apelike to lion-like, and curing ComicBook/{{Gambit}}'s blindness).
** And one of the ever-diminishing supply of X-Men ex-Morlocks has the power to supercharge other people's powers by [[FusionDance jumping into their bodies]]. This character is in [[ComicBookLimbo limbo]].
** After losing his super-speed on M-Day, ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}} embedded mutation-inducing Terrigen crystals from the Inhumans into his own body, giving him the ability to restore lost mutant powers, albeit in an erratic and dangerously supercharged form.

** ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}} is fond of doing this for his four horsemen. He uses his Celestial tech to either supercharge their abilities (like when he made Gambit Death) or give them entirely new abilities (like when he made Angel into Death).
** Fabian Cortez, one of the X-Men's foes, combined this with RestrainingBolt - he could both temporarily supercharge a mutant's abilities (potentially burning them out in the process) and temporarily suppress a mutant's powers. He could only do this by touch, however.
** The "U-Men" group promises to provide its members with tissue and organ transplants that give them superpowers. The catch is, they have to go catch and kill mutants to get the samples. Yeah, the organization that catches and kills mutants for power is offering to turn you into a mutant! That can't possibly go wrong...

* The BigBad of Seth Green's ''ComicBook/{{Freshmen}}'' has the ability to temporarily give others he touches superstrength and nigh invulnerability, but it has the same side-effects as taking mundane steroids.
* Creator/JohnByrne's ''ComicBook/NextMen'' has an unusual twist; [[DeusSexMachina having sex with]] the Next Men "triggers" a genetic superpower mutation. It's all HandWaved with EvolutionaryLevels. As one character describes it, benevolent mutation is now an STD.

* ''Film/Shazam2019'' features the wizard named, well, Shazam, who falls into Type 2, bequeathing his power to Billy Batson just before he dies. [[spoiler: In the climax, Billy uses Type 1 to share his powers with his foster siblings, creating the Shazam Family.]]

* ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': En Sabah Nur can amplify a mutant's power, and it's one of the gifts that he bestows on his Four Horsemen - though Xavier implies that at least in the case of Magneto, all he did was push him into tapping into his rage rather than enhancing him (presumably because a further enhanced Magneto would be a threat even to him). He also does this to [[spoiler:his prisoner Xavier: by himself, Charles could already mind control an entire room of people. If possessed by Apocalypse, ''he can mind control the entire planet'' without needing the Cerebro anymore.]]

* In the WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck cartoon ''Trombone Trouble'', the gods Jupiter and Vulcan give Don some of their power so he can get revenge on a trombone player who is bothering all three.
* Timmy Turner has wished for superpowers several times throughout WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents; for himself, his parents, and once for ''[[EveryoneIsASuper the entire planet Earth]]'', all made possible by his [[RealityWarper Fairy Godparents]].
* ''WesternAnimation/FinalSpace'': [[Characters/FinalSpaceCelestialEntities Invictus]] grants the Lord Commander a HealingFactor when it [[CameBackStrong resurrects him]] and seemingly negates his CastFromLifespan. It's also heavily implied that the Lord Commander's original powers in his first life and also [[spoiler:Ash]]'s powers originally came from Invictus.
* In ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse'', after Prince Adam transforms into He-Man, he then gives Cringer the power of Grayskull and transforms him into Battle Cat.

It's uncommon but not unheard of for a character to have this as his ''only'' power. They tend to be {{Support Party Member}}s or a LivingMacGuffin that must be protected, captured, or destroyed. They may be limited in their uses of this power by a PowerSource, commonly CastFromHitPoints, which makes their empowering indiscriminately potentially suicidal. However if the giver is powerful enough, they may be capable of a MassSuperEmpoweringEvent. Another limitation is that they may only be able to "awaken" or unlock dormant powers, so anyone who doesn't belong to a WitchSpecies, [[InTheBlood power carrying family]], or doesn't have an [[ComicBook/XMen X-gene]] can't be empowered.

* In the ''Literature/DresdenFiles'', the Faerie Queens of Summer and Winter can transfer a portion of their powers to mortals to turn them into their Knights. The transfer is permanent and only death can free the power [[spoiler: (though it is hinted that Tam Lin, a former Winter Knight, managed to either control the Mantle or rid himself of it)]]. And the Order of Blackened Denarius (a gang of FallenAngels) can mark a mortal and give them vast infernal magical powers and [[TheAgeless stop their aging]] when they touch the silver coin (one in a set of thirty!) that corresponds to them. On the downside, this gives the angel the power to tempt the mortal to surrender to them, give them control of their body, which the angel then shapeshifts into their demonic form so that they can wreak havoc the world round.

* In the Literature/WhateleyUniverse, Bill Wilson becomes Super Empowered when a millennia-old spirit gives him its powers, turning him into Tennyo.
** The {{Mutant}} power called 'Avatar' is ability to make a deal with a spirit (often a totem animal, NatureSpirit, or AnthropomorphicPersonification), in which the Avatar lets the spirit use their body as a hallow in exchange for being able to use the spirit's powers.

** The Emperor of the Vandenreich and the progenitor of all Quincies can empower others by lending them fragments of his own soul. The elite of the Vandenreich boast a variety of superpowers as a result. [[PlayingWithFire Heat manipulation]], [[ShockAndAwe lightning]], SuperStrength, and [[RealityWarper reality warping]] are a few examples. [[spoiler:Emphasis on "lending". The Emperor eventually takes back what he gave, ''[[YourSoulIsMine with interest]]''.]]

* ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': En Sabah Nur can amplify a mutant's power, and it's one of the gifts that he bestows on his Four Horsemen. He also does this to [[spoiler:his prisoner Xavier: by himself, Charles could already mind control an entire room of people. If possessed by Apocalypse, ''he can mind control the entire planet'' without needing the Cerebro anymore.]]

* There's also a drug called Mutant Growth Hormone or MGH (first appearing in the ComicBook/{{Beast}} solo series in ''Amazing Aadventures''), extracted from superhumans (not just {{Mutants}}) that bestows various temporary powers.

** The Tailed Beasts grant special abilities to their hosts. The titular character carries the Kyuubi (9-tailed fox), which grants him an almost bottomless well of [[{{Chi}} chakra]] to draw from.

* Though it depends on the setting, divine spellcasters in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' usually receive their powers from the gods.