History Main / UselessWithoutPowers

* It's shown in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' that the BornLucky Gladstone Gander doesn't seem to have any of the skills people need to get them through life because his luck makes it so that everything turns out all right for him in the end. This is why he calls his family when [[spoiler: he becomes the prisoner of a luck vampire, who sees him as [[SupernaturallyDeliciousAndNutritious an all-you-can-eat buffet]].]]

->'''Clark:''' ''(after getting beaten up)'' Blood. It's my blood. Maybe we ought to hire a bodyguard from now on.\\

* This is generally true for [[HalfHumanHybrid hanyou]] in ''Manga/InuYasha''. Once a month, they lose their demonic powers and become [[BroughtDownToNormal pure human beings]] (conversely, they also turn into pure [[{{Youkai}} youkai]] when they are in [[SuperPoweredEvilSide severe pain or their lives are in danger]]). Whether they are completely useless is probably different from hanyou to hanyou, but they are just as strong as humans, and thus much weaker [[SuperStrength than they are otherwise]]. Both Koga and Inuyasha say that most hanyou hide in fear on the day they lose their powers so their enemies will not find them.

** Subverted in ''ComicBook/AngelAfterTheFall'' when [[spoiler:Angel becomes human again. He manages to kill demon hordes rather effectively, but has to rely on magical spells to keep himself from succumbing to his injuries.]]
* ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'':

-->"God, you're useless as a human! ''Come on!''"

These kind of characters may be very competent and powerful with their superpowers, the drawback of being so powerful is that they become completely dependent on them.So much in fact that they are unable to face any situation without them, becoming useless against any kind of opponent, even the random low-level mooks; or worse they become a DistressedDude / DamselInDistress.

These kind of characters may be very competent and powerful with their superpowers, the drawback of being so powerful is that they become completely dependent on them.So much in fact that they are unable to face any situation without them, becoming useless against any kind of opponent, even the random low-level mooks; or worse they become a DistressedDude / DistressedDamsel.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'': [[BigBad Amon]]'s ability to take away a bender's powers leaves everyone he de-bends completely and totally helpless from the very moment they're [[BroughtDownToNormal depowered]]. The process seems to be physically (or at least emotionally) debilitating on top of removing bending, as even athletic pro benders seem very low in energy afterward.

** Subverted in [[ComicBook/{{AngelAfterTheFall}} Angel: After the Fall]] when [[spoiler: Angel becomes human again. He manages to kill demon hordes rather effectively, but has to rely on magical spells to keep himself from succumbing to his injuries.]]

->'''Clark:''' Blood. It's my blood. Maybe we ought to hire a bodyguard from now on.\\

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': The battle between Vaarsuvius and a black dragon ends rather decisively when they're both caught in an AntiMagic field, which turns the battle from spellcasting elf vs spellcasting dragon to just elf vs dragon. Desperate for powers, V [[DealWithTheDevil makes some extremely unwise decisions.]]

* An ivnersion with ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'', who thinks he'd be useless ''with'' powers. During a conversation with Deadpool, he says a HealingFactor would make him sloppy ([[GoodThingYouCanHeal exhibit A: Deadpool]]). That, and depending on the continuity he considers his crusade against crime to be the only useful thing he can do until he's inevitably killed, so he wouldn't want anything that would keep him living longer.

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* {{Deconstructed|Trope}} [[PlayedForLaughs for Laughs]] in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'', when Robin begins getting very frustrated at the others for relying too much on their powers and dares them to not use them for 24 hours, with the winner becoming the new leader of the Teen Titans. After seeing how effortlessly they do so, he straps himself to a multitude of bombs at the end of a grueling obstacle course that they breezed through earlier to try to get them to break the dare, to avoid losing the leadership, demanding that they use their powers (and lose the dare) to save him in time. They insist on going powerless, and because of that, they don't make it in time. [[spoiler:[[DisneyDeath Luckily, it turned out to just be an android strapped to those bombs]].]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'': [[BigBad Amon]]'s ability to take away a bender's powers leaves everyone he de-bends completely and totally helpless from the very moment they're [[BroughtDownToNormal depowered]]. The process seems to be physically (or at least emotionally) debilitating on top of removing bending, as even very athletic pro benders seem very low in energy afterward.

Relates to YoureNothingWithoutYourPhlebotinum and DisabilitySuperpower. Can be defied through BoxingLessonsForSuperman. Inversion of PowerLossMakesYouStrong. BiggerStick is the equivalent as applied to equipment instead of inherent abilities.

** Jax uses this as justification for leaving the Series/LegendsOfTomorrow after [[spoiler: maryin Stein's death]] despite being the only one who knew how to repair the Waverider.
* There's an episode in the first season of ''Series/{{Angel}}'' where Angel becomes human. He has to push the ResetButton in the end because he believes he's become TheLoad.
** Subverted in [[ComicBook/{{AngelAfterTheFall}} Angel: After the Fall]] when [[spoiler: Angel becomes human again. He manages to kill demon hordes rather effectively, but has to rely on magical spells to keep himself from succumbing to his injuries.]]

* Franchise/{{Arrowverse}}:

!!Examples

* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'': With her powers, Daphne can run at SuperSpeed. Without her powers, she is unable to walk unaided due to her cerebral palsy.

* Franchise/Arrowverse:
** Laurel Lance of Earth-1 was largely this upon first becoming Black Canary. Justified in that while she had some self-defense training she was not really a fighter. Training with Wildcat and an artifical sonic scream helped [[spoiler: but not enough to keep her alive]].
** ''Series/TheFlash2014'': Barry has lost his speed a few times, and when he has, he finds it much more difficult to stop criminals and has to find other ways instead of relying on his speed and the HealingFactor that comes with it. Justified since there's not really anything that can compensate for running extremely fast.
*** Played with when [[AnIcePerson Caitlin]] loses her powers. She compensates by using technology similar to that of Captain Cold's gun, but is still vulnerable due to no longer having the HealingFactor that she had as Killer Frost. Even when she still had her powers, [[WeakButSkilled she wasn't that good at fighting and used her medical knowledge to injure people]].
** Jax uses this as justification for leaving the Series/LegendsOfTomorrow after [[spoiler: maryin Stein's death]] despite being the only one who knew how to repair the Waverider.

[[folder: Tabletop Games]]
* This applies to wizards, sorcerers and other spellcasting-focused classes in ''DungeonsAndDragons'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': antimagic is a major KryptoniteFactor to them as it strips them of their spellcasting and other supernatural powers, making them as useful as mere commoners in combat situations due to their low base attack bonus and hit points. It's worse for those who built their entire skill set around spells and supernatural abilities without at least investing in mundane skills since losing their magic means losing everything they have.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' shows it was known as Cruciamentum, a test for slayers. They were supposed to fight a vampire without their special powers to make sure they were not useless without their powers. Of course it was cruel and many slayers were killed.

* ''Series/TheFlash2014'': Barry has lost his speed a few times, and when he has, he finds it much more difficult to stop criminals and has to find other ways instead of relying on his speed and the HealingFactor that comes with it. Justified since there's not really anything that can compensate for running extremely fast.
** Played with when [[AnIcePerson Caitlin]] loses her powers. She compensates by using technology similar to that of Captain Cold's gun, but is still vulnerable due to no longer having the HealingFactor that she had as Killer Frost. Even when she still had her powers, [[WeakButSkilled she wasn't that good at fighting and used her medical knowledge to injure people]].

** This describes Katara in a nutshell. As long as she's able to bend water, she's a force to be reckoned with. Take that away from her, and she's helpless. This is because, unlike Aang and the others, she lacks secondary skills such as martial arts or weapons training. So she's fully reliant on her waterbending. In the Omashu episode, Ty Lee blocks Katara's chi, which robs her of the ability to bend, leaving her defenseless against Mai. [[spoiler:Good thing Sokka is there to cover for her.]]
** Toph suffers from a mild case of this where metal is concerned [[spoiler: until she learns how to bend that too]]. Like all earthbenders, she must remain in contact with solid ground or have an ample supply of earth to work with. No doubt, this is the reason the Fire Nation housed them in metal prisons over open water.