History Main / ThePowerOfLOve

* In ''ComicBook/Aquaman1986'', Arthur realizing that despite everything he does love his brother is what stops Orm's powers, as the crystals have no aggression to feed on.
* The finale of Abnett & Lanning's run on ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' depends on this. To go with the [[ApocalypseHow Class 2 Apocalypse]], there's a [[BodyHorror horrific and intelligent virus]] floating around that ends up infecting Apollo, prompting Midnighter to look desperately for a cure. He's called north, eventually finding an island, which turns out to be a [[GeniusLoci giant]], Comicbook/SwampThing-like Century Baby named Gaia. In return for his help, she gives him an apple, and tells him to remember Avalon, the isle of apples: [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic "The fruit of immortality... of love..."]] Two pages later, Apollo's fine.
* In the OGN ''Avengers: Rage of Ultron'' [[spoiler:Starfox uses his psionic ability to make people experience love to defeat Ultron (who had been merged with his creator Hank Pym), resulting in Ultron realizing what he had become and fleeing.]]

* In one ''ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' comic, a spell that keeps Buffy asleep can only be broken by the kiss of someone who is in love with her. [[spoiler:One of her Slayers, Satsu, does it]].

* ''ComicBook/{{Elfquest}}'' has this as a recurring theme. It shows itself through all dealings with BigBad Winnowill, who tries to avoid this at all costs, and stated almost verbatim by all-loving High One Timmain, who almost states that this central trope keeps the Palace in balance. In a ''Rogue's Curse'' story arc, Winnowill can't even enter a shard of the Palace -her hate and the [[http://elfquest.com/read/index.php?s=RC&p=226 love of the spirits within]] keep her out.
* Referenced in a classic Creator/StanLee / Creator/JackKirby ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' story line, when Reed Richards, alerted by the Watcher, takes on the ComicBook/SilverSurfer. When Sue Richards asks the Watcher how Reed can take on the "all-powerful Silver Surfer", the Watcher answers, "All-powerful? There is only one who deserves that name. And his only weapon -- is love!"
* The Power Of Love allows Franchise/TheFlash to come back from an other-dimensional speedster heaven that no one had ever returned from. Several times.

* In ''ComicBook/GiraffesOnHorsebackSalad'', When the Woman Surreal begins falling in love with Jimmy, her RealityWarper powers are quickly amplified to the point where she begins altering ''the entire world'' into a [[WorldOfWeirdness surrealistic fantasyland]].
* Veteran ComicBook/GreenLantern enemy Star Sapphire and the [[TheChosenMany Star Sapphire Corps]] that succeed her are fueled by love. If uncontrolled (as can happen when all the power is consolidated into a single person), it is of the [[{{Yandere}} insane, possessive, destructive sort]], which is why the entity that provides their power is called The Predator, but they run on all kinds of love (be it between a man and woman or a mother and her child or so on and so forth) and the Predator is actually the one that is corrupted by its hosts, not the other way around.

* Subverted in ''ComicBook/{{Harbinger}}''. [[spoiler: After Torque develops feelings for Faith he becomes weaker because his power comes from his own insecurity.]]
* For a split second, it looks as if this trope is going to be averted in the ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' arc "Princes of Darkness" -- Jade's the Power of Love speech to Obsidian fails to halt his evil rampage -- but it's really only a set up for their father, the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] ComicBook/GreenLantern, to come in and deliver it successfully.
* Ultra Boy is saved from [[MindControl The Blight]] by The Power Of Love in the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' issues right before ''Legion Lost''.
* From ''ComicBook/NinjaHighSchool'' Jeremy uses this to bring back his friend, CuteWitch turned dark, Mimi. (The story's also a bit of a homage to [[ComicBook/XMen Dark Phoenix]] so take that as you will).
* Speaking of [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn Osborn]], The Power Of Love (for his son Harry) once turned Norman sane after he relapsed as the Green Goblin. Both the sanity and the love failed to stick.
* Creator/AlanMoore's ''ComicBook/{{Providence}}'' has Dr. Alvarez, of all people, citing Love as the force that defines life.

* In ''ComicBook/SupermanReborn'' Lois and Clark's love (for the partner and for their son Jon) is so strong that it has repaired what was broken. More specifically, [[spoiler: the pre-Flashpoint and New-52 versions of Clark and Lois are merged back together.]]
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: The power of love allows ComicBook/SteveTrevor to cheat death, ''three times''. At least one of those times he was aided by Aphrodite herself.
* ComicBook/{{X 23}}: Despite everything the Facility did to break her and forge her into an emotionless killing machine, it was Sarah Kinney's love for her as a daughter, defying orders to not treat her as a child whenever she could by reading to her and offering an emotional connection that saved her humanity and helped her break free of the Facility's control.
* Defied in ''X-Campus''. Magnus claims he will show them the greatest power of the world. "Love?" asks Storm. "Magnetism".
* Played absolutely straight in ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'', where Billy is [[spoiler:unable to fully access his Demiurge powers]]. His fiancé, Teddy, who [[spoiler:had previously left to try to figure out whether he ''actually'' loves Billy after Loki insinuated that Teddy may have been accidentally wished into existence in the first place by Billy's powers, returns and decides that it doesn't matter to him whether or not he's alive because Billy subconsciously wanted someone like him to be]]. After TrueLovesKiss, Billy immediately and effortlessly [[spoiler:becomes the Demiurge and [[RealityWarper nonchalantly rearranges the universe]] [[PhysicalGod the same way most people organize things in the fridge]]]]. It's lampshaded in-story.

* In ''ComicBook/ZombiesChristmasCarol'' Fan and Fred both embody this, and Scrooge's love following his reformation is so strong he heals all of the zombies.

* Music/TheBeatles' "All You Need Is Love":'And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make'

[[Music/HueyLewisAndTheNews The Power of Love]] is [[LoveMakesYouCrazy a curious thing]]. It makes [[LoveHurts one man weep]], and [[HappilyMarried another man]] [[WaxingLyrical sing]]. It can [[LoveRedeems change a hawk to a little white dove]]. [[LoveImbuesLife Bring inanimate objects to life]]. It might just save your life. It makes people want to give up personal freedom to [[PropertyOfLove belong to each other]]. Don't you dare mock it, it's more than a feeling, [[Film/BackToTheFuture1 that's the Power of Love]].

* The trope [[TropeNamers takes its name and first sentence]] from the ''Huey Lewis and the News'' song of the same name, which was written for and featured in ''Film/BackToTheFuture1''. The film provides many examples of The Power of Love. This is also apparent in ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII'', when Clara Clayton transforms herself from a quiet schoolteacher to a full-on superwoman, who can scale trains in motion, in order to catch up with Doc before he goes back to 1985.

* ''WebVideo/PiratesSMP'': In the finale, it's revealed that [[spoiler:the Corruption]] is [[TheHeartless made from and feeds on pure negativity]] and can be countered by positive energy like [[spoiler:the petrification, i.e. HumanSacrifice via being TakenForGranite]], which was then regarded to be the "only" way to stop the spread of [[spoiler:the Corruption]]. However, [[spoiler:the pirates' recurring friendship and kindness towards Cruppy, Ivy's familiar]], in the series manages to give [[spoiler:Ivy, the host of the Corruption]], enough hope for the goodness of humanity that [[spoiler:she is petrified and the Corruption is defeated ''without'' the use of Iris' corrupted witchcraft, thus freeing the Faction Isles from the Corruption as well as Iris' machinations to stay in power]]. It also helps that [[spoiler:their concern for Cruppy and their deceased friends who were victims of being TakenForGranite]] were what drove the pirates to [[spoiler:turn against Iris and fight for Ivy]] in the first place; in other words, ThePowerOfLove has driven the victories against both major antagonists of the series.]]

* Mary Ann Patten the wife of the Captain of the Clipper ''Neptune's Car,'' got the ship around the Horn propelled by this.

* In ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'', apparently even the RandomNumberGod bends to the power of love. In this universe, by the Dungeon Master's homebrew rules, the resurrection of dead characters can fail based on dice rolls, and anyone attempting a resurrection ritual can make up to three offerings (with associated skill checks) to increase the chance of success. When [[spoiler: Percy]] is killed, Vex admits she's in love with him and [[TrueLovesKiss kisses him]]. She rolls a Natural 20 on her skill check, and the ritual ultimately succeeds.

* Brother Love: Parodied, inverted, subverted and averted with Bruce Pritchard's gimmick of a smarmy, rosy-cheeked faux preacher. Many times, he claimed to preach "The Book of Love," but it was more a "love" of the WWF's top villains of the late 1980s and early 1990s, including [[Wrestling/TedDiBiase Ted [=DiBiase=]]] and Wrestling/AndreTheGiant, and showing the "power of love" by setting up good guys such as Wrestling/HulkHogan for beatings by the heels.

* Brother Love: Parodied, inverted, subverted and averted with Bruce Pritchard's gimmick of a smarmy, rosy-cheeked faux preacher. Many times, he claimed to preach "The Book of Love," but it was more a "love" of the WWF's top villians of the late 1980s and early 1990s, including [[Wrestling/TedDiBiase Ted [=DiBiase=]]] and Wrestling/AndreTheGiant, and showing the "power of love" by setting up good guys such as Wrestling/HulkHogan for beatings by the heels.

[[Music/HueyLewisAndTheNews The Power of Love]] is [[LoveMakesYouCrazy a curious thing]]. It makes [[LoveHurts one man weep]], and [[HappilyMarried another man]] [[WaxingLyrical sing]]. It can [[LoveRedeems change a hawk to a little white dove]]. [[LoveImbuesLife Bring inanimate objects to life]]. It might just save your life. It makes people want to give up personal freedom to [[PropertyOfLove belong to each other]]. Don't you dare mock it, it's more than a feeling, [[Film/BackToTheFuture that's the Power of Love]].

* The trope [[TropeNamers takes its name and first sentence]] from the ''Huey Lewis and the News'' song of the same name, which was written for and featured in ''Film/BackToTheFuture''. The film provides many examples of The Power of Love. This is also apparent in ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII'', when Clara Clayton transforms herself from a quiet schoolteacher to a full-on superwoman, who can scale trains in motion, in order to catch up with Doc before he goes back to 1985.

* Music/HueyLewisAndTheNews on the ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' soundtrack had a song called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XDat5SPY3Y "The Power of Love."]]
** The band I Fight Dragons did a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl6Ery4Q_uE cover]] of this song. They even paid homage to the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTGyeGgMpk8 original theme song]] of ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' in the cover's intro.

** Also subverted with Sidereal Charm ''Shun the Smiling Lady'', a charm whose sole utility is to make the target unlovable and make anyone who once loved them fall out of it. This is an [[DiscOneNuke entry level power]], so many Sidereals just pick it up as a prerequisite to other charms. Then it's just sitting in your panoply, [[PlayerCrueltyPotential ready to be used at any time...]]

!!Examples:

** In Volume 4, the "Power of Love" manifests [[spoiler:In the form of a flaming sword... but the trope is {{Subverted|Trope}} because loving Romona isn't enough to surmount the last Evil Ex-Boyfriend. That requires the far more important Power of Understanding, which allows Scott to see [[NotSoDifferentRemark how similar he is to Gideon]], and how that is a very bad thing]].
** In Volume 1, this protects [[spoiler:Wallace, Jimmy, and those in the immediate vicinity from the effects of "Last Song Kills Audience", although they weren't in as much danger as the name implies]].