History Main / SuperpowerMeltdown

* ''ComicBook/{{Quasar}}'': The original Quasar got his [[ArtifactOfPower Power Bands]] because the previous two users incinerated themselves by trying too hard to control them, while Wendell Vaughn's more laid back go-with-the-flow attitude allowed him to "calm them down", so to speak.

* Marvel's ''ComicBook/DarkGuard'' features the villainous Collapsar, a mutant {{Energy Being|s}} whose PoweredArmor doubles as ContainmentClothing. [[spoiler:When the heroes finally breach his armor, the meltdown that follows levels an entire military base]].
* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''
** The giant squid [[spoiler: Ozymandias]] plans to drop on New York is [[BatmanGambit expected to die in transit,]] causing a psychic wave killing millions, driving millions more insane, and scaring the hell out of the rest of the planet. [[spoiler: It works.]]
** When confronted with reporters regarding being a living carcinogen and being responsible for the deaths of people he cared about, Dr Manhattan abandons his composure and uses his teleportation abilities to transport everyone in the studio en masse before teleporting himself to Mars.
* ComicBook/CaptainAtom in the [[Creator/DCComics DC comic]] ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'', inadvertently causes the U.S. Midwest to become a radioactive wasteland when the Parasite ruptures his [[ContainmentClothing containment suit]]. This has almost happened to him a few other times in mainstream DC continuity, since unlike other EnergyBeings he's made of nuclear radiation.
** Captain Atom, or a [[EvilTwin quantum duplicate]] anyway, went on to become the insane villain Monarch. In ''Comicbook/CountdownToFinalCrisis'', after some building up including absorbing all the other versions of Captain Atom, he has his suit ripped open by Superman-Prime. The explosion [[ApocalypseHow wipes out all life in an entire universe]].
* In the Italian Disney comic ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'', ''WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck'' has a superhero identity and one of his allies is the sole survivor of a destroyed planet who has literally absorbed the power of her star (yeah, it's a bit of a [[ShoutOut Superman shout-out]]) gaining control over matter and energy. The energy she has at disposal is immense, and if she were to release it fully it would cause her to '''''go nova.''''' ''Really.''
** After she finds out that a few hundreds of her people, including her lover, survived the destruction of their planet, but are doomed to die anyway sooner or later because the new planet they colonized has no sun, [[TearJerker she ends up sacrificing herself to become a sun.]]
** We later see a straight example of this from [[spoiler:Evron scientist Zoster, who just acquired Xadhoom's powers [[KneelBeforeZod and]] [[DrunkWithPower went]] [[EvilIsHammy bombastic]] with his newfound powers]]. He lasts five seconds before his FamilyUnfriendlyDeath.
* ComicBook/TheAtom (the original [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] one with an "atomic punch," not the shrinking [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] one) was once used by a time-traveling villain who plotted to turn him into a human atom bomb, destroying Washington, killing President Truman and ensuring that superheroes would be hated and feared forever. (He failed.)

* In ''ComicBook/TheAuthority: Revolution'', during a fight on the White House lawn, a superhuman with radioactive powers ends up losing control of his abilities, and the resulting explosion levels the city.
* The original appearance of Wildfire in the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' had him do a meltdown as a HeroicSacrifice (he was an {{Energy Being|s}} in a [[ContainmentClothing containment suit]], who [[WaveMotionGun released his whole self as an attack]] that was exponentially more powerful than his 'normal' energy blasts.) [[DeathIsCheap He got better]] a few issues later.

* In the original ''ComicBook/SquadronSupreme'' limited series, Nuke has a meltdown which ends up [[spoiler:killing him, as he burns up all the oxygen inside the force field that's keeping him from incinerating the countryside.]]
* In the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, some powers have had serious meltdowns. ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}} was given the Nega-bands, but it should be noted that they were turned into an apocalyptic Nuclear Option in ''Operation: Galactic Storm'' and used to ''blow up the Kree Galaxy'' and effectively mutate what little life made it through (it was just as rough on the life in the Negative Zone, as it turns out). Also, such matters as Nova Flares from [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Johnny Storm]] (one destroyed the Empire State University campus, I believe) have long been a staple in Marvel.
** The Nega-bomb is ironic in that it [[LampshadeHanging hangs a lampshade]] on the best-played example of Super-Power Meltdown ever, and the least over-the-top, one ironically also caused by Nitro. Captain Mar-Vell actually died of cancer caused by Nitro blasting a toxic storage and leaving Mar-Vell to suffer catastrophic radiation poisoning, but by the time his own powers let it be detected, they were all that was keeping him alive, AND prevented anyone trying to operate or magic-spell out the carcinoma. That death remains the best Permanent Exit in comics history.
* ''Franchise/XMen'':

* The original ComicBook/{{Quasar}} got his [[ArtifactOfPower Power Bands]] because the previous two users incinerated themselves by trying too hard to control them, while Wendell Vaughn's more laid back go-with-the-flow attitude allowed him to "calm them down", so to speak.
* Examined in the Image comic-miniseries titled ''Meltdown'' (fittingly enough). The protagonist, Caliente (aka. "The Flare"), is slowly being overcome by his fire-based powers. Many tears are jerked as he lives his last days.
* ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'': Liz Sherman already suffers from some PowerIncontinence, but when she was eleven, she lost control of her [[PlayingWithFire pyrokinetic]] powers, and destroyed an entire block, with thirty-two casualties (among them her parents and brother).
* Things work differently in the ''ComicBook/{{Negation}}'' universe (as opposed to our "bright" universe), so superpowered individuals from the "bright" universe tend to go meltdown. [[spoiler: Atlanteans turn out to be immune to this, and other empowered individuals can eventually acclimate themselves.]]
* In ''ComicBook/RomVsTransformersShiningArmor'', its discovered that [[TheAssimilator Dire Wraiths]] possessing [[AmbiguousRobots Transformers]] ends ''horribly'' for both parties; the biomechanics of a Transformer wrecks havoc with Wraith magic, resulting in a deranged mutant who's powers are wildly out of control. This eventually leads to the Wraith overloading its new body and exploding into flames. [[spoiler:Vekktral manages to figure out a safe method that avoids the meltdown, but that technique has its own problem; the victim retains their individuality and is able to fight back against the possession.]]
* In ''ComicBook/WhoTookTheSuperOutOfSuperman'', villain Xviar plots to destroy Earth by turning Superman into a living planet bomb. After secretly placing in Clark Kent's apartment a device that turns Superman into a walking bomb, Xviar puts the Man of Steel through an enemy gauntlet so that his solar reserves build up until reaching critical mass and blowing up both Superman and Earth. He fails.
-->'''Superman:''' Since Mr. Xavier had tampered with my wardrobe, I played it safe and X-Ray visioned the rest of my apartment-- to find those deadly devices behind my bookcase that turned me into a walking impact bomb!
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Circe warns that the White Magician will soon be overwhelmed by the ridiculous amount of magic he's forced into his twisted body several pages before he lights up and burns to ashes during his fight with Wondy. He doesn't cause too much damage to the surroundings compared to what the fight itself was doing but leaves a scorch mark where he was standing.
* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk:'' After the events of ''Onslaught'', where the Hulk and Bruce Banner got separated (again), the Hulk's radioactivity went into overdrive. Eventually, it and the government covering him in molten metal killed him... and he remained so radioactive nothing could get close. And then he sprang back to life, radioactivity fixed.

* A plot point in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime 3: Corruption''. After getting infected with Phazon, Samus has the ability to go into Hyper Mode and use Phazon powered attacks, which is powerful, but causes the Corruption to spread, and if the PED Suit malfunctions, the process can be irreversible, leading to devastating consequences to those around them, [[spoiler: as seen with other hunters like Ghor, whose own corruption devastated Elysia]].

** In the Joint Training Arc, [[spoiler:Midoriya]] suffers one that nearly kills both his team and his opponents, and does a number on the training ground they're in. [[spoiler:One for All has reached the point where the quirks of the previous wielders (which were stored in One for All all along) can be utilized by the current wielder. Midorixa accidentally activated a One for All-powered [[CombatTentacles Blackwhip]], and had no idea of its existence, even less how to properly use it.]]

* In Creator/MercedesLackey's ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' books we have the "final strike", in which a magic-user channels all the magical energy in the area through their body. This generally creates an explosion that destroys the one invoking it and everything around them. How large the zone of destruction is depends on the invoker's power. In the first book in the timeline, a would-be GodEmperor and his good opponent ended up doing this (unintentionally in the villain's case, as a failsafe in the good mage's), which ended up creating an enormous lake a quarter of the size of a country and a crater so large it takes ''weeks'' to cross to the other side and qualifies ''as'' a country.

* In the ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur III'' start-up trailer, Nightmare seems to have one of these because he consumed the souls of a whole army, ''all at once''. It didn't seem to hurt him though.

* A storyline in ''Webcomic/{{Spinnerette}}'' involves [[spoiler:the titular heroine going into one after an altercation with two supervillains stealing a [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke "Genetic Infusion Chamber" powered by a "Cherenkov]][[Creator/JackKirby -Kirby]] [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke Reactor"]].]]
** Note that in this case the trope is completely literal - with the way superpowers work in Spinnerette-verse, a super can go into an actual meltdown, causing a local nuclear disaster.

* Lightning Lad in ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' - the episode 'Lightning Storm' where his powers [[spoiler:leaked out of the hole previously occupied by one of his arms.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' has [[spoiler: Ace]] in "Epilogue," who might suffer a major aneurysm, causing a psychic backlash capable of killing thousands. [[spoiler: While the aneurysm does happen, killing her, there's thankfully no backlash.]]

* In ''Manga/MobPsycho100'', when pushed too far, Mob loses control of his PsychicPowers and his explosive SuperpoweredEvilSide ???% comes out.

[[folder:Film]]

* ''VideoGame/WarhammerTheEndTimesVermintide'': Sienna's pyromancy has been reworked from the tabletop to act like this. If she overheats her magic, she'll begin smoking red and recieve burn damage. Once it reaches the maximum tolerance, she writhes in agony for a few seconds before finally exploding, downing her instantly and burning any rats who happen to be within her death radius.

* 00VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'':After infecting himself with the G Virus, [[RecurringBoss William]] [[ImplacableMan Birkin]] progressively [[OneWingedAngel gained new mutant forms]] every time he was encountered. By the end of the game, the damage sustained from all the fights caused his HealingFactor to go awry in a futile effort to keep him alive: he [[ClippedWingAngel degenerated]] into a crawling mass of flesh, teeth and [[CombatTentacles tentacles]].

* In ''Series/TheUmbrellaAcademy'', [[spoiler: Vanya]] loses control completely twice. The first time happens in the first season finale. [[spoiler: She ends the world with destructive bursts of energy.]] The second time happens in season two. [[spoiler: She's strapped down and drugged with LSD by the FBI, which ends up forcing her to suddenly remember her whole life, which she had previously repressed. The result? The entire floor of the building is wrecked, everyone on it dies, and she lets out wave after wave of energy, nearly killing Diego, Allison, and Klaus (who came to save her). Fortunately, Ben snaps her out of it in time, saving the three living siblings (though not Ben himself).]]
* ''Series/TheWheelOfTime'': Channelers who draw too much of the One Power can die as a result. In the books it was called "burning", but rarely left visible damage to bodies. Here, [[LiteralMetaphor burning usually is literal]].

* In ''Series/H2OJustAddWater'', the girls who are mermaids lose complete control of their powers ''every time'' it's a full moon, and in one such instance, Cleo ''became a siren''.

** The Bohrok-Kal were defeated simply by the Toa Nuva overloading them with power, causing each one to be destroyed by their own powers.

* The original ComicBook/{{Quasar}} got his [[GreenLanternRing Power Bands]] because the previous two users incinerated themselves by trying too hard to control them, while Wendell Vaughn's more laid back go-with-the-flow attitude allowed him to "calm them down", so to speak.

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' and ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'', RSPK Syndrome is a term used for when an esper becomes severely traumatized or stressed, causing their powers to go completely out of control and rampage through the city. It can also happen if espers with similar AIM (psychic energy) fields resonate together. Normally, this is very mild, as most espers aren't that powerful, but enough of them suffering all at once can cause poltergeist activity and earthquakes.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}},'' the giant squid [[spoiler: Ozymandias]] plans to drop on New York is [[BatmanGambit expected to die in transit,]] causing a psychic wave killing millions, driving millions more insane, and scaring the hell out of the rest of the planet. [[spoiler: It works.]]

* ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow Castlevania Dawn Of Sorrow]]'': [[spoiler:Dmitrii Blinov thought that by just possessing Dracula's [[PowerCopying Power of Dominance]] rather than being born with it like Soma did, he could become the next Dark Lord. Sadly for Dmitrii, his human soul could not contain nor control the sheer demonic power causing it to torn his body asunder as his gathered souls erupted, amalgamating into a gargantuan horror simply called [[EldritchAbomination Menace]].]]

* Franchise/{{Godzilla}} is going through one of these in ''Film/GodzillaVsDestoroyah'', causing him to glow red and be perpetually angry. Also, there's a fear that his literal [[ILoveNuclearPower meltdown]] will probably [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt blow up the atmosphere]]. Luckily, all this radiation is absorbed by Godzilla Junior, mutating him into [[LegacyCharacter the next Godzilla]], so that's okay. The Super-X3 thankfully also kept the now dead Godzilla's energy from rising high enough to burn the atmosphere, which if it had then Godzilla Junior's body would have burned up before it could save the city from the fallout. So man saves the world, and unwittingly a dead body, and the dead body saves Tokyo from the radiation and is brought back to life.

** Red Star's AtomicSuperpower is highly unstable, requiring him to regularly vent his excess energy with a machine. Then he discovers a leak in the storage [[CreateYourOwnVillain created]] [[NuclearNasty the monster terrorizing his village]] and pulls a with HeroicSacrifice destroying it. ([[UnexplainedRecovery He gets better]].)

This depends on the [[StocksuperPowersIndex power in question]] and its source. [[AtomicSuperpower Nuclear and radiation-based powers]] have a distressing tendency to [[AngstNuke go nuclear]] under duress, but any super with enough [[PureEnergy raw power]] can have a meltdown, no matter the source: {{psychic|Powers}}, [[FunctionalMagic mystic]], or [[{{Cyborg}} technological]]. Sometimes the power builds up inside the body by themselves; [[PentUpPowerPeril not releasing it regularly may mean disaster]]. Normal people using a ArtifactOfDoom can inadvertently cause it (or their body) to self-destruct. This can also happen to heroes abusing ExplosiveOverclocking, who may enter HeroicRROD and start showing VolcanicVeins. Villains who are DrunkOnTheDarkSide might take OneWingedAngel a level too far and [[ClippedWingAngel peter out humiliatingly]]. A [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke genetically empowered]] hero may discover the hard way that [[CastFromLifespan pure humans have a longer lifespan]]. Shapeshifters will usually go lose control of their ShapeshifterMashup and go into a ShapeshifterSwanSong. A common side effect of GoingToGiveItMoreEnergy.

* ComicBook/CaptainAtom in the [[Creator/DCComics DC comic]] ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'', inadvertently causes the U.S. Midwest to become a radioactive wasteland when the Parasite ruptures his containment suit. This has almost happened to him a few other times in mainstream DC continuity, since unlike other EnergyBeings he's made of nuclear radiation.

* The original appearance of Wildfire in the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' had him do a meltdown as a HeroicSacrifice (he was an {{Energy Being|s}} in a containment suit, who [[WaveMotionGun released his whole self as an attack]] that was exponentially more powerful than his 'normal' energy blasts.) [[DeathIsCheap He got better]] a few issues later.

* Manbot in ''VideoGame/FreedomForce'' had this as his FatalFlaw: his power made him prone to causing violent explosions, one of which killed his brother after making him a containment suit.

->''"My body's not doing what I tell it to-- My power is acting on its own! KAORI!! AAAHHH!! Kaori's dying...Kaneda, help me!"''

Super powered individuals are, believe it or not, closely related to nuclear reactors. Oh sure, they don't (usually) [[PhlebotinumMuncher eat uranium]], or even have a [[ILoveNuclearPower nuclear accident]] [[JustForFun/HowToGiveACharacterSuperPowers to credit with their powers]], but when facing critical injuries or mental attacks they run the risk of losing control of their powers and going into a Superpower [[GoingCritical Meltdown]] the likes of which could make Chernobyl look like a radioactive cough by comparison.

This depends on the [[StockSuperPowersIndex power in question]] and its source. [[ILoveNuclearPower Nuclear and radiation]] based heroes have a distressing tendency to [[AngstNuke go nuclear]] under duress, but any super with enough [[PureEnergy raw power]] can have a meltdown, no matter the source: [[PsychicPowers psychic]], mystic, or [[ArtificialLimbs technological]]. Sometimes the power builds up inside the body by themselves; [[PentUpPowerPeril not releasing it regularly may mean disaster.]] Normal people using a ArtifactOfDoom can inadvertently cause it (or their body) to self-destruct. This can also happen to heroes abusing ExplosiveOverclocking, who may enter HeroicRROD and start showing VolcanicVeins. Villains who are DrunkOnTheDarkSide might take OneWingedAngel a level too far and [[ClippedWingAngel peter out humiliatingly]]. A [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke genetically empowered]] hero may discover the hard way [[CastFromLifespan pure humans have a longer lifespan]]. Shapeshifters will usually go lose control of their ShapeShifterMashup and go into a ShapeShifterSwanSong. Common side effect of GoingToGiveItMoreEnergy.

Less lethally, if the hero/villain is only modestly powered or hit with GreenRocks to cause a short circuit, then the meltdown might only take the form of their normal power causing random effects. Like telekinesis mimicking a poltergeist rather than de-atomizing everything, or a pyrokinetic setting nearby objects on fire rather than exploding. Should their power require constant concentration to keep stable, then any effect that destroys their concentration could be potentially fatal for all involved.

A common occurrence is for a hero going into meltdown to be [[IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight coaxed back]] from the brink using HeroicWillpower, or forced to do a HeroicSacrifice and fly away to save those nearby. If a LoveInterest is nearby, a CooldownHug can reliably stop the meltdown. Occasionally, a hero or villain might ''purposefully'' trigger it to try and kill their rival, since the SphereOfDestruction such a meltdown generates tends to be pretty devastating. Whether this works on not depends on if [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou they're the lead.]]

Compare SpontaneousHumanCombustion, LoadBearingBoss, PhlebotinumOverload, UnstoppableRage, SuperPoweredEvilSide, ActionBomb, PowerIncontinence, and TakingYouWithMe. The less evil twin of EldritchTransformation. Contrast HeroicRROD, where the meltdown is mostly contained within the hero.

See also PowerDegeneration, CloneDegeneration, HoistByHisOwnPetard if lethal and FlawedPrototype.

** Captain Atom, or a [[EvilTwin quantum duplicate]] anyway, went on to become the insane villain Monarch. After some building up including absorbing all the other versions of Captain Atom, he has his suit ripped open by {{Superman}}-Prime. The explosion [[ApocalypseHow wipes out all life in an entire universe]].

** He does reappear in the comics, having apparently lost his mind due to the degrading effects of his powers.