History Main / TimeToUnlockMoreTruePotential

* ''Manga/DragonBall'' and ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' take this to dizzying levels; anyone more than a century old and not evil will either impart new techniques or glow eerily, increasing the main characters' strength either way. Gohan sorta embodies this trope in the Dragon Ball world since he is the one with the most "hidden powers." He gets his true power unlocked twice.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' is made of this trope -- Ichigo turning to the Vizard for training as well as Orihime training with Rukia and Chad training with Urahara and Renji are the most standard examples. You could also say that when a Shingami achieves Ban-Kai by training with the spirit of their swords it is a variation of this trope as the sword teaches them how to unlock their true power. Ichigo has especally abused this trope. As of this writing, he has been (deep breath): a shinnigami, a bankai level shinigami, a Vizard, a Vasto lord shinigami, a more powerful shinigami, a Fullbringer, a ''more'' more powerful shinigami, and a [[spoiler:Quincy]]. This is all one character by the way.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has this happen often for the main character, especially in Shippuuden. After he returns from a [[TookALevelInBadass three-year-long training trip]], does some [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique more training]], after which he gets to do some [[MeditationPowerup extra special training]] -- and that's when [[SuperMode the ''real'' training starts.]]

* This happens entirely offscreen in ''Film/BillAndTedsBogusJourney''.

* ''Literature/LoneWolf'' of the eponymous gamebook series. Whenever he reaches what is believed to the maximum Kai rank of any given series (Kai, Magnakai, and Kai Grand Master), he sets about mastering the ''new'' level's skills, as well as enhancing his repetoire with unrelated combat skills (Magi-Magic and Kai-alchemy, for instance). In normal play, this keeps the reader from merely skating through the books using all of the accrued skills from previous series.

* ''Series/JukenSentaiGekiranger'' has this in ''spades'', with the three core Rangers finding three additional masters (one each) to unlock their new weapons and mecha, then three ''more'' masters to access their SuperMode. Even the villains get in on the act, with the BigBad seeking out three of his own masters to train him in the ways of evil. Finally, when the ultimate mecha -- [=SaiDaiOh=] -- is found, it sprinkles everyone with AppliedPhlebotinum to -- and this is stated -- "unlock their true potential".

[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
* OlderThanPrint: The mythical [[Myth/CelticMythology Celtic]] hero Cúchulainn's training under the immortal warrior woman Scathach conforms pretty closely to this trope.
* Ubiquitous in [[Myth/ChineseMythology Chinese legends]] and folklores, to the point that some mythical figures have this as their entire story. The trainer were almost always humans who have transcended human limitations, or outright supernatural beings. Even the [[Literature/JourneyToTheWest Monkey King]] (of whom [[Manga/DragonBall Son Goku]] was loosely based on) had met his matches -- and he used to lead an army that could match the legions of Heavens.

* Claus from ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' never gets any ability aside from [[DefeatMeansFriendship making pacts with summons]]. By the halfway point of the game, you need to gather 4 elementals for him to progress in the game. Other summons in the future aside from Origin are totally optional.

* The ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' mobile phone game ''Dokkan Battle'' takes this to ridiculous heights. The game has three types of "awakenings", which increases your power - Awaken, which is just a normal power boost, Z-Awaken, which jumps the character to a new rarity level, and Dokkan Awaken, which transforms your character to a brand new form. The worst offender to this trope is the Rare-level Technique-type Overflowing Resolve Goku, who will Dokkan Awaken ''twice'' to Message from the Heavens Goku (Angel) then The Legendary Super Saiyan Goku, which pushes him from Rare, to Super Rare to S-Super Rare with one final Z-Awaken to turn him ''Ultra Rare''.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "Magic Duel", a minor antagonist called Trixie runs the protagonist Twilight Sparkle out of town by beating her with the help of an AmplifierArtifact [[ArtifactOfDoom of Doom]], which enables her to perform magic normally available only to the highest level unicorns; Twilight is known to have immense magical potential, but it's shown here that she hasn't yet gotten the skill to perform the most advanced spells. Twilight seeks training with Zecora, who teaches her more about magic. [[spoiler:Subverted: Whatever Twilight may have learnt, she doesn't use any new skills in the rematch, rather relying on trickery and help from her friends to give the appearance of doing impossible things with magic, ultimately part of a BatmanGambit to get Trixie to relinquish the artifact.]]

* The Kings Of Wrestling, Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli and Wrestling/ChrisHero, were the most dominant {{tag team}} in the United States Of America bar none but when they went to Wrestling/ProWrestlingNOAH in 2009, they mostly got their asses kicked, leading Hero to train in NOAH's dojo to improve. However much Hero improved wasn't enough though as he and Castagnoli continued to lose. Then when he came back with Wrestling/ColtCabana, they lost some more. However, he was given an award for having the most outstanding technique in 2013. And if nothing, else, Hero wasn't content and continued to try and win, or at least advance out of the first block of the Global Tag League in following years, winning best technique again in 2014.

* Used in ''Manga/FairyTail'' to quickly explain away how the core cast managed to catch up to everyone who's had seven more years than them to hone their magic abilities. Whether or not this will happen frequently remains yet to be seen. It doesn't help that no one is ever shown actually training.

* At the end of 2004, Wrestling/SarahStock signed a six week exclusive contract to LLF and spent her increased time away from the ring training in the Wrestling/{{CMLL}} gym in preparation for the move from Monterrey to Mexico City she would taking when those weeks were up.

* The Kings Of Wrestling, Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli and Wrestling/ChrisHero, were the most dominant {{tag team}} in the United States Of America bar none but when they went to Wrestling/ProWrestlingNOAH in 2009, they mostly go their asses kicked, leading Hero to train in their dojo to improve. However much Hero improved wasn't enough though as he and Castagnoli continued to lose. Then when he came back with Wrestling/ColtCabana, they lost some more. However, he was given an award for having the most outstanding technique in 2013. And if nothing, else, Hero wasn't content and continued to try and win, or at least advance out of the first block of the Global Tag League in following years, winning best technique again in 2014.

* ''Manga/DragonBall'' and ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' take this to dizzying levels; anyone more than a century old and not evil will either impart new techniques or glow eerily, increasing the main characters' strength either way. Gohan sorta embodies this trope in the Dragon Ball world since he is the one with the most "hidden powers." He gets his true power unlocked twice, three times if you count him becoming a Super Saiyan 2.

** There are hints that he self-taught during the gap between Episode 5 and 6, coming back with much more powerful force techniques, and declaring himself a Jedi Knight. (And Yoda admits that he's effectively a Master already, and only needs to undergo one more TrueTestOfCharacter to finalize it)

* Davey Richards, having become the {{butt monkey}} of Wrestling/RingOfHonor in 2010 after becoming part of the "No Remorse Corps", who forced him to watch their bags, turned his fortunes around by training with the former Wrestling/{{N|ationalWrestlingAlliance}}WA Wold Heavyweight Champion Dan "The Beast" Severn, eventually defeating {{tag team}} partner Eddie Edwards, who had earlier seemingly left him behind, for the ROH World title at ''Best In The World'' 2011.

* Inverted in Kojirō Hyūga's case during the World Youth arc of ''CaptainTsubasa'': until then, he unlocked more potential thanks to his mentor Kozo Kira's help, but in this arc Kira told him he had nothing more Hyūga could learn from him, and that he needed to hone his skills by himself. Cue Hyūga going hermit in the mountains for a TrainingFromHell session, in which he gained his new destructive Raiju Shoot.

* ''SamuraiDeeperKyo''. The protagonist is trapped into the body of his worst enemy that they both share, but he's still strong as hell. Then he is surpassed and taken down... and suddenly he gets up, shouts something like "I remembered how this body fights!" and proceeds to kick his foe's ass. After some point, EVERY fight has this. Every character, sometimes more than once during the same battle if it's a long one, gets another upgrade by ThePowerOfLove, ThePowerOfFriendship, [[SuperMode the awakening of their hidden power]], [[RightMakesMight the pursue of their true convictions]] ([[AvertedTrope even when they know]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist that their acts are evil]])... even the bad guys get their upgrades this way, during the very same battle that the good guys!

* Wrestling/JimmyJacobs [[TheCorrupter tricked]] Ta'Darius Thomas into thinking he was doing this for him when he turned him against "TD's" Adrenaline Rush partner ACH.[[/folder]]

* At the end of 2004, Wrestling/SarahStock signed a six week exclusive contract and spent her time away from the ring training in the Wrestling/{{CMLL}} gym in preparation for the move from Monterrey to Mexico City she would taking when those weeks were up.

* In 2003, no one in [=K1=] wanted to fight the pro wrestler Wrestling/BobSapp except for Mirko Cro Cop, an opponent who himself rattled Sapp enough to train in Mu Thai after spending his entire career up to that point simply [[GoodOldFisticuffs bum rushing his opponents while swinging his arms.]]

* In 2008, Wrestling/{{CMLL}} World Welterweight Champion Wrestling/{{Mistico}} traveled to the second Beijing International Martial Arts Training Camp, to get instruction in Qinna joint locking from Belgium-based martial artist Mike Martello and Chinese traditional wrestling known as shuaijiao from two time Beijing Champion Yu Shaoyi. Clips of his progress were shown during the Olympic games.

* In 2008, Wrestling/{{CMLL}} World Welterweight Champion Wrestling/{{Mistico}} traveled to the second Beijing International Martial Arts Training Camp, to get instruction in Qinna joint locking from Belgium-based martial arts and Chinese traditional wrestling known as shuaijiao two time Beijing Champion Yu Shaoyi. Clips of his progress were shown during the Olympic games.
* The Kings Of Wrestling, Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli and Wrestling/ChrisHero, were the most dominant {{tag team}} in the United States Of America bar none but when they went to Wrestling/ProWrestlingNOAH in 2009, they mostly go their asses kicked, leading Hero to train in their dojo to improve. However much Hero improved wasn't enough though as he and Castagnoli continued to lose. Then when he came back with Wrestling/ColtCabana, they lost some more. However, he was given an award for having the most outstanding technique in 2013. And if nothing, else, Hero wasn't content and continued to try and win, or at least advance out of the first block of the Global Tag League in following years.

* In 2008, Wrestling/{{CMLL}} World Welterweight Champion Wrestling/{{Mistico}} traveled to the second Beijing International Martial Arts Training Camp, to get instruction in Qinna joint locking from Belgium-based martial arts and Chinese traditional wrestling known as shuaijiao two time Beijing Champion Yu Shaoyi.

* Davey Richards, having become the {{butt monkey}} of Wrestling/RingOfHonor in 2010 after becoming part of the "No Remorse Corps", who forced him to watch their bags, turned his fortunes around by training with the former Wrestling/{{N|ationalWrestlingAlliance}}WA Wold Heavyweight Champion Dan "The Beast" Severn, eventually defeating {{tag team}} partner Eddie Edwards, who had earlier seemingly left him behind, for ROH World title at ''Best In The World'' 2011.

* In ''Anime/{{S-CRY-ed}}'', Kazuma, Ryuho, [[spoiler:Cougar, and Mujo]] all get more powerful versions of their Alter powers [[spoiler:after passing into the "Alter world" and back]].

* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'''s Kyoto Arc features Kenshin returning to the Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū master he ran away from years ago, in order to learn the [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique succession technique]] that will help him defeat the main villain of the arc. This training also features psychological TrainingFromHell: [[spoiler:Kenshin, a [[TechnicalPacifist pacifist]], must kill his master in order to learn the Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki. He doesn't (kill him, that is; though that's only due to [[ThouShaltNotKill his reverse-bladed sword]], which did much less lethal injury than if he had used a sharp-edged one, as all his predecessors' did. Even then, the only reason his master didn't die is because one of the stay-pins in the sword's hilt was so loose that the blade was on the verge of falling out).]]

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' is made of this trope -- Ichigo turning to the Vizard for training as well as Orihime training with Rukia and Chad training with Urahara and Renji are the most standard examples. You could also say that when a Shingami achieves Ban-Kai by training with the spirit of their swords it is a variation of this trope as the sword teaches them how to unlock their true power. Then to defeat [[spoiler:[[BigBad Aizen]]]], Ichigo unlocks even more true power by training to learn [[spoiler:the Final Getsuga Tensho]]. Ichigo has abused this trope. As of writing he has been a oridinary shinnigami, bankai level shinigami, Vizard, Vasto lord shinigami, more powerful shinigami, Fullbringer, more more powerful shinigami, and a [[spoiler:Quincy]] this is all one character by the way.

* Both Ranma and Ryoga in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' turn to the Chinese Amazon matriarch Cologne for advanced training.
** It was only two times for Ranma in the entire manga that he actually get some useful martial arts training from Cologne. Ryoga only got one training from her and the rest was often self-taught and from fighting with other and against Ranma. Ryoga stated that he was surprise with his vastly increased speed and declared that it was due to him sparring with Ranma. He then replicated Ranma's speed, though it fell short because Ranma progressed even further.

* The Kings Of Wrestling, Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli and Wrestling/ChrisHero, were the most dominant {{tag team}} in the United States Of America bar none but when they went to Wrestling/ProWrestlingNOAH in 2009, they mostly go their asses kicked, leading Hero to train in their dojo to improve. However much Hero improved wasn't enough though as he and Castagnoli continued to lose. Then when he came back with Wrestling/ColtCabana, they lost some more. However, he was given an award for having the most outstanding technique in 2013. And if nothing, else, Hero wasn't been content and continued to try and win, or at least advance out of the first block of the Global Tag League in following years.
* Davey Richards, having become the {{butt monkey}} of Wrestling/RingOfHonor in 2010 after becoming part of the "No Remorse Corps", who forced him to watch their bags, turned his fortunes around by training with the former Wrestling/{{N|ational Wrestling Alliance}}WA Wold Heavyweight Champion Dan "The Beast" Severn, eventually defeating {{tag team}} partner Eddie Edwards, who had earlier seemingly left him behind, for ROH World title at ''Best In The World'' 2011.

* This happens entirely offscreen in ''[[Film/BillAndTed Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey]]''.

* Ubiquitous in [[Myth/ChineseMythology Chinese legends]] and folklores, to the point that some mythical figures have this as their entire story. The trainer were almost always humans who have transcended human limitations, or outright supernatural beings. Even the [[JourneyToTheWest Monkey King]] (of whom [[Manga/DragonBall Son Goku]] was loosely based on) had met his matches -- and he used to lead an army that could match the legions of Heavens.

* MagicalGirl example: In ''HeartcatchPrettyCure'', Tsubomi and friends had to do this ''twice''. The first was after the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Desert Generals]] gained their DeadlyUpgrade, and the second was after the BigBad Dune curbstomped them in a battle.