History NormalFishInATinyPond / FanWorks

* Crossover fics ''Fanfic/DimensionalGateScrewover'' and its sequel, ''Fanfic/RWBYDualEclipse'' both feature this in spades:
** In the former, several demons and angels from ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' found themselves transported to the world of the ''Monster Girl Encyclopedia'', and given they favor direct combat over the latter's seduction-based materials, the Disgaea people, for the most part, easily trounce any monster-girl. While both the Order and the Demon Lord think to recruit them, their offers are declined, as the Disgaea people simply want to return home. This trope turns ugly when Asagi Kurosugi, the EvilCounterpart to Asagi Asagiri, is revealed to have teamed up with a former Demon Lord, and the pair easily run roughshod over the monster-women, their combined efforts nearly killing the new Demon Lord.
** In the latter, central character Nelius Raoul is easily miles ahead of even the best Huntsman, but for the most part Nelius simply keeps to his own devices. That said, he took to heart multiple lessons about the prior story, and keeps up his training, expecting to run into another person from his side of the universe. This ends up coming true when he finds [[VideoGame/ZettaiHeroProject The Unlosing Ranger]] also on Remnant, whom also proves incredibly powerful.

* ''Fanfic/PlatinumPirate'': Prior to coming to the Grand Line, Lucas was under the impression that he was reasonably fit and in good shape for someone his age. But watching fighters like Sabo [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower crush boulders and cause Magnitude-like effects with their bare hands thanks to their physical training]] quickly revises Lucas's opinion of himself. After meeting up with the Revolutionaries, Lucas starts training himself to defend himself a little better.* Downplayed in ''Fanfic/SupernovaOnePiece'' where Luffy is a large fish in a tiny pond. In the Grand Line, his logia powers and skill with [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower Rokushiki]] make him a highly dangerous fighter, but in the East Blue no one can even attack him without hurting themselves ever since he became a [[PowerOfTheSun sun man]].

* ''Fanfic/DekiruTheFusionHero'':
** Subverted with Katsuki Bakugo, whose ego, while big, is much more manageable than it is in canon due to his friendship with Izuku having never fallen apart. While Katsuki still thinks very highly of his Quirk, he's perfectly aware that he still has far to go and strives to be the very best he can be.
** Played straight with Shoto Todoroki. While his Quirk is still the most powerful in Class 1-A in regards to raw power, it lacks the natural versatility that his classmates' Quirks have making it unsuited to certain aspects of hero work. Then there's Izuku's [[FusionDance Human Fusion]] technique, which takes said versatility, dials it [[ExaggeratedTrope Up to Eleven]], and then combines that with the raw power of [[SuperStrength One for All]]. Needless to say, those fusions blow anything Shoto can do completely out of the water, [[BerserkButton much to his frustration]].

* ''Fanfic/KimiNoNaIowa'' takes the basic ''VideoGame/KanColle'' conceit of warships incarnate as human(oid)s and subjects it to {{Surprisingly Realistic Outcome}}s, with this as the result - guerillas and other conventional forces resisting the abyssal invasion are straight up not having a good time. The lowliest abyssal unit, PT Imps, are based on PT boats, which aren't powerful enough to face even the weakest true warship in a direct engagement. Compared with an American in Vietnam or a Russian in Afghanistan, however, that makes them ImmuneToBullets and universally in possession of heavy weapons that will tear a tree in two, to say nothing of an ordinary man. Yet they are still so numerous as to have more in common with sailors than the ships on which they serve. The next step up the abyssals have, destroyers, are each an artillery battery unto themselves, and things only get worse for the PunyEarthlings from there. The same also applies to the shipgirls opposing them; Missouri casually remarks at one point that no amount of fancy grappling skill can let a wannabe sexual predator prevail when even a destroyer has orders of magnitude the strength of any human.

* Literature/HarryPotter appears to be this in ''Fanfic/TheWizardInTheShadows'', until it is quite spectacularly established that he is crazy powerful even by Potterverse standards.

* In ''Shielded Under the Raptor's Wings'', a fanfic with the same premise but a different interpretation of ''Star Trek'' canon, as the Romulans gets involved too... And their older fusion-powered warships prove almost as formidable as their newer antimatter-powered ships (derived from Klingon designs) and the Klingon and Federation ships, while not having the logistic constraint caused by needing antimatter.

* [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/20562662/chapters/48812552 A Light Against The Darkness]], a crossover between ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' and ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', sees the world of Remnant, where humanity is under constant siege from murderous monsters, visited by an Imperial fleet. And even among the Imperials, all of whom are familiar with dealing with threats to humanity, none feel quite as at home as the Cadians on board, who have spent all their lives perfecting the art of defending humanity from murderous monsters.
** Taken a bit further in the second non-canon omake bonus chapter, where the Imperial fleet decides to demonstrate their most effective way of dealing with these kinds of threat by effortlessly leveling the Land of Darkness, an entire continent filled with Grimm, with orbital strikes.

* ''Fanfic/VoyagesOfTheWildSeaHorse:'' Played with. [[Manga/RanmaOneHalf Ranma Saotome]] and his close circle are actually pretty impressive specimens in their own right, so when transported to the [[Manga/OnePiece East Blue]], their domination is quite natural. However, there are ''much'' nastier pirates, marines and other threats in the other parts of the world, especially the Grand Line.

* Gets even ''worse'' in ''Shielded Under the Raptor's Wings'', a fanfic with the same premise but a different interpretation of ''Star Trek'' canon, as the Romulans gets involved too... And their older fusion-powered warships prove almost as formidable as their newer antimatter-powered ships (derived from Klingon designs) and the Klingon and Federation ships, while not having the logistic constraint caused by needing antimatter.

[[AC:''Literature/HarryPotter'']]
* Literature/HarryPotter appears to be this in ''Fanfic/TheWizardInTheShadows'', until it is quite spectacularly established that he is crazy powerful even by Potterverse standards.

* Inverted in ''Fanfic/SleepingWithTheGirls'' as the protagonist finds himself suddenly far more fragile in other universes due to them involving over-the-top SlapStick violence with everyone trying to give him a MegatonPunch and him just being a normal human. This trope is also played straight, though, as the protagonist comes from our world, which has no magic. Thusly, when he goes to other worlds that ''do'' have magic, he isn't hurt by magical attacks at all. He can still be hurt or killed by magical side effects, such as the heat of a fireball causing his clothes to burn or to boil water he's drinking.
* ''Fanfic/TheThessalonicaLegacy'': Ramirez's ''Valkyrie'' is a Light 'Mech, bottom of the totem pole, and not even the best of that bottom-dweller pack. Without any other 'Mechs in Equestria to compete with, though, it is the absolute sovereign of the battlefield.

* The Nations in ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' come across as rather powerful beings when compared to humans in some fics, although among themselves they think each other as somewhat normal.
* ''Fanfic/TheBoysRealJustice'';
** In their world, the Seven are the top heroes and are renowned for their ([[FakeUltimateHero non-existent]]) bravery and courage. But their mediocrity becomes apparent when faced with villains from a world with more experience with superhumans.
** The Boys are also this while in Gotham City, as the criminals of Gotham had been fighting against BadassNormal heroes leagues above them for years. As a result, the Boys' operations against them are easily foiled and they are seriously hurt in the process. This eventually leads to their arrest once their luck runs out.
** Stan Edgar is a powerful and influential businessman on his Earth, but the resources of Vought pale compared to the Justice League's power, wealth, and omnipresence. Unlike Homelander, he has enough foresight to see he doesn't hold a candle to the Justice League and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere decides to skip town]].
* In ''[[http://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-27556-2/NimbustheMariner+The+Watchman.htm The Watchman,]]'' Warren thinks that because he has magic orbs that allow him to fight a [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Slayer]] evenly, he's invincible. Unfortunately for him, Warren seriously pissed off Xander who's become Characters/{{The|Sentry}} [[PhysicalGod Sentry]]. Xander makes an example of Warren by ripping off his head, vaporizing the body, then dropping his severed head off at a local demon bar as a warning.

* ''Fanfic/MassEffectHumanRevolution'': Marcus is young and weak for a roegadyn, which means he is still stronger and tougher than most other races. In his introductory chapter, he grabs a knife by the blade with his bare hand and isn't even cut.
* In ''Fanfic/HarmonyTheory'', while Rainbow Dash and the other members of the Mane Six ''are'' pretty powerful, they are still within the normal abilities of their races. Then Dash finds herself 1000 years in the future [[spoiler:(eventually followed by the others)]], where ambient magic has been reduced and much knowledge has been lost, making the inhabitants a lot weaker. For instance, Pegasi have forgotten how to walk on clouds, control the weather, can't fly very fast, and are not strong enough to fly while carrying another pony. Earth Ponies have lost a lot of their strength and speed and their connection with the earth and plant life. Unicorns have relatively weak telekinesis and can't manipulate a lot of objects at once or with fine control. The inhabitants tend to see the ponies of the past as {{Super Soldier}}s. Also, the inhabitants are MadeOfPlasticine compared to the ponies of the past. [[spoiler:When Rarity gets shot in the head, the impact of the bullet only knocks her unconscious, while everyone is shocked that it didn't make her head explode.]]
* In ''Fanfic/ZeroNoTsukaimaSaitoTheOnmyoji'' Saito is only a newly-accredited Onmyoji. However, due to a number of different factors, he's able to go toe-to-toe with some of the most powerful and skilled Halkaginian mages.
* Zig-zagged in ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/9689/the-memoirs-of-a-reality-jumper Memoirs of a Reality Jumper.]]'' Alex isn't anywhere near as strong as a pony, but notably has far better senses. Whereas a playful punch is actually rather painful to him and he's only as strong as Apple Bloom (a very young foal), he can tell his roof has been fixed before Rainbow Dash or Applejack can even ''see'' his house and when Twilight thinks he smells "a little sweaty", Alex absolutely reeks to his own nose..
* The German booklet series ''Maddrax'' has the [[FishPeople hydrites]]. They are physically weaker than humans, and also not so resistant. However, they can have [[HalfHumanHybrid progeny along with humans]], which are called mendrites. Mendrites are stronger in their physical abilities than hydrites. And while, according to the standards of hydrites, they are really strong and tenacious, they are on average strong and resistant according to the standards of humans.
* In canon, Gow gave Zuko a difficult fight until the latter broke out his firebending. In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12610560/6/Avatar-Flare-of-Redemption Avatar: Flare of Redemption]]'', he's shown to be completely outclassed by an actual earthbender soldier with real combat experience.

* ''Fanfic/TheFifthAct'': Cloud saw himself as strong but relatively normal (though part of that is SelectiveObliviousness as he's one of the strongest people in the world). In the new timeline, Cloud is considered the WorldsBestWarrior and could take on Sephiroth and win easily.
* ''Fanfic/WilhuffTarkinHeroOfTheRebellion'':
** Owen Lars is actually rather well off for a moisture farmer and on his way to being considered rich, but only for Tatooine. Notably, his family is considered well off because they have enough water to spare for showers if they wished rather than rely on sonic showers.
** Jabba the Hutt basically rules Tatooine but when he tries to "collect taxes" from a relief effort, Grand Moff Tarkin has his men stripped naked and hung out to die in the desert suns to teach the Hutt a lesson.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13538715/1/Along-Came-a-Spider Along Came a Spider]]'': Trifa is a decent fighter and armed with a knife, but against a huntsman, she's completely outclassed. Jaune manages to easily defeat her without causing a ruckus while in his pajamas and armed only with a box of cereal.
* In ''Fanfic/TheWeaverOption'' [[spoiler:Lelith Hesperax]] chose to master the sword because in the ancient Aeldari Empire her psychic potential was considered unimpressive. After her race began its decline into excess, the general psychic strength of the Aeldari lessened with each generation until [[spoiler:Lelith]] could be considered "exceptional". In essence, she's a normal fish whose pond shrank around her.
* Inverted in ''Fanfic/ANewWorldOnHerShoulders'' with Ciel. She's revealed in Chapter 2-5 to have a lot of self-worth issues about how she CantCatchUp to her teammates and she states that this is part of the issue. Had she been put on any other team, she'd have fit in great and would be able to make strong contributions to the group effort, but she ended up on the team with a [[GradeSkipper grade skipping]] prodigy, someone who has [[SuperpowerLottery one of the most powerful Semblances in the world]], and the first ever mechanical life-form capable of generating Aura.
* ''Fanfic/KimiNoNaIowa'' takes the basic ''VideoGame/KanColle'' conceit of warships incarnate as human(oid)s and subjects it to {{Surprisingly Realistic Outcome}}s, with this as the result - guerillas and other conventional forces resisting the abyssal invasion are straight up not having a good time. The lowliest abyssal unit, PT Imps, are based on PT boats, which aren't powerful enough to face even the weakest true warship in a direct engagement. Compared with an American in Vietnam or a Russian in Afghanistan, however, that makes them ImmuneToBullets and universally in possession of heavy weapons that will tear a tree in two, to say nothing of an ordinary man. Yet they are still so numerous as to have more in common with sailors than the ships on which they serve. The next step up the abyssals have, destroyers, are each an artillery battery unto themselves, and things only get worse for the PunyEarthlings from there. The same also applies to the shipgirls opposing them; Missouri casually remarks at one point that no amount of fancy grappling skill can let a wannabe sexual predator prevail when even a destroyer has orders of magnitude the strength of any human.
* In ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' fanfic ''Fanfic/CaptainTinkerbell'', Maglor was a mere High Elf in the First Age, a middleweight with few martial deeds to his name. During UsefulNotes/WorldWarI (during which he meets the man who creates him, Creator/JRRTolkien), he's a borderline ImplacableMan. For example, the man next to him was blown up by a shell and Maglor kept walking, he's not affected by DeadlyGas, doesn't get trench foot, and was only laid up in the infirmary for a month after being bayoneted.
* Back at his home village, Bruno in ''Fanfic/WhereTheDandylionsPlay'' was feared and disliked because his gift made him out to be a HarbingerOfImpendingDoom. After moving away, the village he settled down in came to look to him with less vitriol, Bruno being able to make an honest living as a fortune-teller and patron of his own Botanica, his daughter living a relatively normal life. He was even invited to a wedding for a couple whose marriage was confirmed to be a success from one of his visions.
* ''Fanfic/{{Intercom}}:'' In the real world, Riley Andersen is a perfectly normal 12-year old girl. But when she goes inside her Mind World through lucid dreaming, she literally has the power of a god, and can bend the world around her to her will.

* In ''Fanfic/ASpecialKindOfMagic'', Naofumi is indicated to be an average sorcerer in the MCU, but this still puts him above all the other heroes by a lot, due to all the weird things that happen in the MCU.* In ''Fanfic/AThinVeneer'', the [[Series/BabylonFive Minbari]] have to face [[Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry 2293-era Starfleet and Klingon warships]]. The Minbari soon find themselves outclassed ''hard''.

* ''Fanfic/AGamerInSouthBlue'': The [[Manga/OnePiece Grand Line]] may be on the same planet as the four Blues, but the power difference is easily enough to count for this trope.
** "[[GreenThumb Oaken Fist]]" Kowalik journeyed through the Grand Line twice in his life. Both trips were disasters, so he invoked this trope by using the powers and the strength that he gained to make a living in the South Blue instead.
** Protagonist Jack also counts, as his [[SuddenGameInterface Gamer]] powers have allowed him access to some techniques that only Grand Line ''elites'' can learn, like the Six Powers and Life Return.
* ''Fanfic/PlatinumPirate'': Prior to coming to the Grand Line, Lucas was under the impression that he was reasonably fit and in good shape for someone his age. But watching fighters like Sabo [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower crush boulders and cause Magnitude-like effects with their bare hands thanks to their physical training]] quickly revises Lucas's opinion of himself. After meeting up with the Revolutionaries, Lucas starts training himself to defend himself a little better.
* Inverted in ''Fanfic/SleepingWithTheGirls'' as the protagonist finds himself suddenly far more fragile in other universes due to them involving over-the-top SlapStick violence with everyone trying to give him a MegatonPunch and him just being a normal human. This trope is also played straight, though, as the protagonist comes from our world, which has no magic. Thusly, when he goes to other worlds that ''do'' have magic, he isn't hurt by magical attacks at all. He can still be hurt or killed by magical side effects, such as the heat of a fireball causing his clothes to burn or to boil water he's drinking.
* ''Fanfic/TheThessalonicaLegacy'': Ramirez's ''Valkyrie'' is a Light 'Mech, bottom of the totem pole, and not even the best of that bottom-dweller pack. Without any other 'Mechs in Equestria to compete with, though, it is the absolute sovereign of the battlefield.
* In the ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' fanfic, ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3619431/1/Akanes_Terrible_Day Akane's Terrible Day]]'', in response to suggestions that Akane is weak, the author points out that while nowhere near Ranma's league, Akane is far stronger than most "normal" people in the setting.

* The Nations in ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' come across as rather powerful beings when compared to humans in some fics, although among themselves they think each other as somewhat normal.
* Milo from ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheNatural20'' isn't a particularly powerful Wizard by D&D standards, but he can pull things that the Potterverse can't, which sorta makes up for what the Potterverse wizards can do but not him. [[spoiler:On the other and substantially more frightening side of the equation, there's the witch who got sent over, strongly implied to be Bellatrix Lestrange, who is not bound by The Rules of Milo's world and stomps his old party with ease.]]

* [[ActionGirl Tatsuki]] in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3860355/1/After-The-Fairy-Tale-Ends After The Fairy Tale Ends.]]'' She's one of the strongest students at the shinigami academy and is receiving hakuda training from Soifon and Yoruichi. However, despite what she thinks, she can't take Ichigo (sneaked into the academy by his friends) in a strictly hand-to-hand fight. As Ichigo put it, "[[BadassBoast Come back when you've got a captain's haori. Matter of fact, come back when you've got a captain's haori and two friends that also have captain's haoris. No, better make that ''three'' friends, because by the time you're at that level it will take at least ''four'' captains to hold me back."]]

* Naruto in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5965910/1/Just-A-Boy-In-A-Ninja-Mask Just A Boy in a Ninja Mask]]'' ends up in the ''Anime/SailorMoon'' world. Despite being the dead last in all aspects and rather short compared to his old classmates, in Japan he's smart enough to skip two grades on top of being taller along with far stronger and faster than any of his peers.
* ''Fanfic/TheBoysRealJustice'';
** In their world, the Seven are the top heroes and are renowned for their ([[FakeUltimateHero non-existent]]) bravery and courage. But their mediocrity becomes apparent when faced with villains from a world with more experience with superhumans.
** The Boys are also this while in Gotham City, as the criminals of Gotham had been fighting against BadassNormal heroes leagues above them for years. As a result, the Boys' operations against them are easily foiled and they are seriously hurt in the process. This eventually leads to their arrest once their luck runs out.
** Stan Edgar is a powerful and influential businessman on his Earth, but the resources of Vought pale compared to the Justice League's power, wealth, and omnipresence. Unlike Homelander, he has enough foresight to see he doesn't hold a candle to the Justice League and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere decides to skip town]].
* In ''[[http://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-27556-2/NimbustheMariner+The+Watchman.htm The Watchman,]]'' Warren thinks that because he has magic orbs that allow him to fight a [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Slayer]] evenly, he's invincible. Unfortunately for him, Warren seriously pissed off Xander who's become Characters/{{The|Sentry}} [[PhysicalGod Sentry]]. Xander makes an example of Warren by ripping off his head, vaporizing the body, then dropping his severed head off at a local demon bar as a warning.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Emergence|RWBY}}'', [[WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} Team RWBY]] are decent fighters in their native Remnant, able to handle the average mook with ease, but still outclassed by graduated Huntsmen and those who can fight them equally. On Earth, they're virtually Goddesses of War - one character is told that should they go berserk, he has to go for the anti-tank weapons, because our standard bullets sting at best.
* ''Fanfic/BeforeTheDawn'' opens with a human Bella being abducted by the vampire Joham, who keeps her prisoner for two months as part of an attempt to breed human/vampire hybrids. Once Bella is turned by her newborn son, she manages to escape and get help from the Cullens, who join her when she returns to confront Joham and claim her son. With more vampires present, it's clear that Joham might be a terrifying monster to his human victims but he's nothing special compared to other vampires, Bella literally tearing him apart with her newborn strength, Edward and Jasper easily forcing him into submission and other vampires dismissing him as nothing during a subsequent meeting.
* ''Fanfic/MassEffectHumanRevolution'': Marcus is young and weak for a roegadyn, which means he is still stronger and tougher than most other races. In his introductory chapter, he grabs a knife by the blade with his bare hand and isn't even cut.
* In ''Fanfic/HarmonyTheory'', while Rainbow Dash and the other members of the Mane Six ''are'' pretty powerful, they are still within the normal abilities of their races. Then Dash finds herself 1000 years in the future [[spoiler:(eventually followed by the others)]], where ambient magic has been reduced and much knowledge has been lost, making the inhabitants a lot weaker. For instance, Pegasi have forgotten how to walk on clouds, control the weather, can't fly very fast, and are not strong enough to fly while carrying another pony. Earth Ponies have lost a lot of their strength and speed and their connection with the earth and plant life. Unicorns have relatively weak telekinesis and can't manipulate a lot of objects at once or with fine control. The inhabitants tend to see the ponies of the past as {{Super Soldier}}s. Also, the inhabitants are MadeOfPlasticine compared to the ponies of the past. [[spoiler:When Rarity gets shot in the head, the impact of the bullet only knocks her unconscious, while everyone is shocked that it didn't make her head explode.]]

* In ''Fanfic/ZeroNoTsukaimaSaitoTheOnmyoji'' Saito is only a newly-accredited Onmyoji. However, due to a number of different factors, he's able to go toe-to-toe with some of the most powerful and skilled Halkaginian mages.
* Downplayed in ''Fanfic/SupernovaOnePiece'' where Luffy is a large fish in a tiny pond. In the Grand Line, his logia powers and skill with [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower Rokushiki]] make him a highly dangerous fighter, but in the East Blue no one can even attack him without hurting themselves ever since he became a [[PowerOfTheSun sun man]].
* Zig-zagged in ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/9689/the-memoirs-of-a-reality-jumper Memoirs of a Reality Jumper.]]'' Alex isn't anywhere near as strong as a pony, but notably has far better senses. Whereas a playful punch is actually rather painful to him and he's only as strong as Apple Bloom (a very young foal), he can tell his roof has been fixed before Rainbow Dash or Applejack can even ''see'' his house and when Twilight thinks he smells "a little sweaty", Alex absolutely reeks to his own nose..
* An odd variation comes up in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8684118/1/ Clockwork and a Teacup]]'' where the [[SelfInsertFic Self-Insert]] replacing Sakura is an incredibly potent chakra sensor due to being from a universe without it. Not only is her sensor ability passive (considerably rarer than active), but her range covers over a mile with near perfect details and she can recognize roughly 90% of the village by chakra alone.
* The German booklet series ''Maddrax'' has the [[FishPeople hydrites]]. They are physically weaker than humans, and also not so resistant. However, they can have [[HalfHumanHybrid progeny along with humans]], which are called mendrites. Mendrites are stronger in their physical abilities than hydrites. And while, according to the standards of hydrites, they are really strong and tenacious, they are on average strong and resistant according to the standards of humans.
* Luffy and Makino in ''Fanfic/StallionOfTheLine'' end up this way to varying degrees. Both have some level of skill in the main variations of Haki along with Rokushiki while still sailing in the East Blue. Even though Makino only has enough Haki to coat her hands and only for a few seconds, and is nowhere near as skilled with Rokushiki as Luffy (or any of [=CP9=]), she's still pretty much unstoppable in the East Blue while being a decent fighter in Paradise. Luffy, on the other hand, is far more skilled with Armament Haki and Conqueror's haki (though he has little skill with Observation) on top of using all of the Rokushiki techniques with ease. All of that, on top of being a sorta reincarnation of [[Manga/RanmaOneHalf Ranma Saotome]] (and thus knowing all his techniques), makes Luffy incredibly dangerous even in Paradise, though he has to actually work for his victories.

* ''Fanfic/ThereWasOnceAnAvengerFromKrypton'':
** The Milky Way's local powers like [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse the Kree and Nova Corps]] are pretty powerful by Earthly standards...but the Milky Way is actually a bit of a cosmic backwater. [[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse The Diamond Authority]] is reportedly bashing the Kree hard, for example, and even [[WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender the Galra]] are hard-pressed to deal with Gem forces, let alone Yellow Diamond. The epilogue of ''Close Encounters of the Gem Kind'' has Moonstone note that the Kree and Novans are both in denial over how powerful the Gem Empire is, since they both like to think of themselves as the top dog in the universe. They're apparently almost entirely unaware of the even more expansive Galra, and Moonstone notes that they're going to be rather shocked when they eventually find out about how they're not even the biggest force in the local cluster.
** [[WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower Horde Prime's]] claim of being "Emperor of the Known Universe" is put in perspective in ''Eternity in Promise'', when Allura hears of him and declares that he was just filling a gap in one of the spaces left by the Galra's universal overextension.
** [[Franchise/MassEffect Jane Shepard]] is a highly skilled warrior with advanced weaponry and a powerful biotic, skills that let her quickly rise the ranks of the bounty hunting guilds in Knowhere, and even let her catch a ''Cybertronian'' bounty, much to everyone's surprise, [[spoiler:but Verdona makes it clear to her that while she might be the "greatest warrior of all time" in her ''own'' reality, she's in a very different universe now, one where beings like Saiyans, Asgardians, etc. are running around]].

* In the one-shot fanfic [[https://www.deviantart.com/mega-poneo/art/Luea-vs-Equestria-Girls-872947051 Luea vs Equestria Girls]], [[Toys/{{Jewelpet}} Luea]] walks into the human world of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'' and gets transformed into her human form upon arrival. Unlike when this happened with [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Twilight Sparkle]], however, Luea does not lose her magic in human form and instead gains increased physical stats and stronger magic. Luea then one-hit-KO's the defenseless Twilight with a roundhouse kick. When said kick proves so hard that Sunset Shimmer feels it, she skips the high school drama, transforms into her demonic form, and zombifies Canterlot High's entire student body which Luea then disintegrates completely by snapping her fingers. Luea then reverts to her normal form (from using up all her human form's energy), dodges the fireball Sunset throws at her, one-shots Sunset, destroys the Element of Magic, burns down Canterlot High, and forces Sunset to unwatch the entire Equestria Girls franchise by rewinding its footage out of her eyes.
* [[Franchise/HarryPotter The Wizarding World]] is seen as powerful by earthly standards, having mastered the magical arts to such finesse while hiding themselves away from the Muggles due to [[{{Masquerade}} The Statute of Secrecy]], with only a small number of Wizards being able to master the art of Wandless Magic. However once [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Equestria]] comes into the equation in ''Fanfic/IfWishesWerePonies'', the Ponies showcase that not only do they have [[SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic a more comprehensive understanding of Magic]], and that the Unicorns can also cast spells without using Wands, but that they can also cast and create some advanced forms of magic such as {{Teleportation}}, WeatherManipulation, and by sheer accident: [[spoiler:[[BackFromTheDead re-souling ghosts]]]].
** [[spoiler:Speaking of ghosts, Myrtle Warrens undergoes a cultural case of this, having spent the better part of fifty years as an incorporeal unfeeling ghost [[CovertPervert spying on burgeoning couples]] and developing an inclination to various fetishes and kinks that she was privvy to. [[BackFromTheDead After she was revived]] by the [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Cutie Mark Crusaders]] [[SheCleansUpNicely and given acne treatment]], Myrtle attracted so much attention [[MaleGaze that many of the male students couldn't help but be enamored by her]], enough that Fred and George Weasley both started up [[SideBet betting pools]] to determine not only [[YouNeedToGetLaid when she would finally get laid]] but which couples would end up breaking up because of her equal-opportunity flirting. When Myrtle went to spend the Winter Hols in Equestria with her new friends, she quickly learned that while her antics had been considered very lecherous in Hogwarts, her tastes were considered ''tame'' in Equestria; with the various antics displayed by the residents of Ponyville causing Myrtle to be the one to blush in profound embarrassment.]]
* [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Tenten]] is considered the most lackluster member of the Konoha 11, but when she gets transported to [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire Westeros]] in the crossover ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13470020/1/Of-Steel-and-Chakra Of Steel and Chakra]]'', she's pretty much able to demolish canon all by her lonesome. It should be noted that that Tenten was deliberately chosen ''because'' of this trope, the author stating that a competently trained shinobi could take down anyone from Westeros in a fair and not-so-fair fights. It also serves to highlight the sheer power difference between a {{Shonen|Demographic}} manga and a setting like ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' that relies on relatively more realistic physical capabilities.
* ''Fanfic/KnightOfSalem'': The fic starts with Salem losing her immortality and Grimm powers, leaving her as a normal human. A normal human from a time where every single person alive had enough magic to make them godlike to modern humans. Despite Salem being centuries out of practice and rather average even at her peak, in the modern world she is able to outmatch literally everyone she meets. Most people assume she's insane because she walks around like she owns the world and doesn't care who she offends. Jaune spends most of his time trying to keep her from getting annoyed so that she doesn't nuke whatever city they're in.
* ''Fanfic/VoyagesOfTheWildSeaHorse:'' Played with. [[Manga/RanmaOneHalf Ranma Saotome]] and his close circle are actually pretty impressive specimens in their own right, so when transported to the [[Manga/OnePiece East Blue]], their domination is quite natural. However, there are ''much'' nastier pirates, marines and other threats in the other parts of the world, especially the Grand Line.
* ''Fanfic/FearTheSuperhero'': Karasuba has spent her life, bored with being the strongest Sekirei, with no knowledge of anything else. Once she learns of the [[BrokenMasquerade moonlit world,]] she discards her plans for [[OmnicidalManiac omnicide]] and desires to travel the world with Shirou, killing the strongest things they can.
* ''Fanfic/{{Justice}}'': While Nami and Usopp are the physically weakest of the [[Manga/OnePiece Straw Hat pirates]], that still leaves them as members of one of the strongest crews in a WorldOfBadass. As such, they are leagues above the average person in the [[Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse DCAU]], and can actually go toe-to-toe with more basic metahumans.
* [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/20562662/chapters/48812552 A Light Against The Darkness]], a crossover between ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' and ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', sees the world of Remnant, where humanity is under constant siege from murderous monsters, visited by an Imperial fleet. And even among the Imperials, all of whom are familiar with dealing with threats to humanity, none feel quite as at home as the Cadians on board, who have spent all their lives perfecting the art of defending humanity from murderous monsters.
** Taken a bit further in the second non-canon omake bonus chapter, where the Imperial fleet decides to demonstrate their most effective way of dealing with these kinds of threat by effortlessly leveling the Land of Darkness, an entire continent filled with Grimm, with orbital strikes.

* Crossover fics ''Fanfic/DimensionalGateScrewover'' and its sequel, ''Fanfic/RWBYDualEclipse'' both feature this in spades:
** In the former, several demons and angels from ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' found themselves transported to the world of the ''Monster Girl Encyclopedia'', and given they favor direct combat over the latter's seduction-based materials, the Disgaea people, for the most part, easily trounce any monster-girl. While both the Order and the Demon Lord think to recruit them, their offers are declined, as the Disgaea people simply want to return home. This trope turns ugly when Asagi Kurosugi, the EvilCounterpart to Asagi Asagiri, is revealed to have teamed up with a former Demon Lord, and the pair easily run roughshod over the monster-women, their combined efforts nearly killing the new Demon Lord.
** In the latter, central character Nelius Raoul is easily miles ahead of even the best Huntsman, but for the most part Nelius simply keeps to his own devices. That said, he took to heart multiple lessons about the prior story, and keeps up his training, expecting to run into another person from his side of the universe. This ends up coming true when he finds [[VideoGame/ZettaiHeroProject The Unlosing Ranger]] also on Remnant, whom also proves incredibly powerful.
* ''Fanfic/TheGhostBoyAndTheCombatants'': On his Earth, WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom is a powerful superhero. When paired against beings from other worlds, namely [[Franchise/{{Dragonball}} Lord Beerus]] and [[VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}} Demitri Maximoff]], it's clear there's a huge gap in power that is impossible reach on his own and he's forced to rely on quick thinking in order to try and survive.
* In ''Fanfic/ThisBites'', while being tortured by Eneru, Jeremiah Cross stays DefiantToTheEnd and gives the self-proclaimed god TheReasonYouSuckSpeech about how Eneru is only powerful in Skypiea and how so many other powerful people in the Grand Line would tear him apart like the arrogant Logia-user he is.
* One minor subplot in ''Fanfic/PleaseStopEatingTheHellButterflies'' has Shiba Ganju infiltrate the Gotei 13 and destroy it from inside with his brand of chaos. Despite being a hellraising lunatic outside of the Shinigami's walls, inside them he has to compete with the level of chaos created by the ''loyal'' Shinigami trying to screw with Yamamoto and each other, as well as the actual villians. Yamamoto is neither fooled by Ganju's attempts, or impressed by what chaos he can drum up.
-->'''Yamamoto:''' This is Seireitei. If you want to be considered an "insane badass", go back to Rukongai.

* ''Fanfic/TheAmazingSpiderLuzInAcrossTheOwlVerse'':
** Luz notes that on Earth, her powers are hardly unique, let alone super special or powerful. On the Boiling Isles however, her presence is considerably ground-breaking, not least of which for being the first known human to arrive in the Demon Realm in a long time. Her spider-powers allow her to take on multiple skilled witches and defeat them with ease, not to mention a number of monsters that she struggled to face in canon. The fact that she is this in the Demon Realm isn't lost on the inhabitants of the Boiling Isles either, as a number of prominent witches begin to question the wisdom of merging realities on the Day of Unity if Luz represents merely an average superhuman for her world.
** Amity becomes a variation of this thanks to learning Marvel-based magic from Doctor Strange. While she gets a beginner book of spells and some personal tutoring from him, it's clear that she still has a long way to go before she's anywhere near his level. Despite that, the amount of human magic she does learn allows her to [[spoiler: [[BeyondTheImpossible utterly destroy Grometheus]]]], completely shrug off her mother's own magical attempts to control her, and effectively makes her one of the most powerful witches in the Boiling Isles.
* ''Fanfic/TheSoulmateTimeline'' has this come up with a few characters.
** [[VideoGame/MagiaRecordPuellaMagiMadokaMagicaSideStory Iroha]] was a fairly respectable magical girl in her home city of Takarazaki, where she was considered a veteran and rather strong. Kamihama is a completely different ecosystem however, where ''familiars'' are as strong as some of the Takarazaki Witches and there are many, many more Magical Girls who make Iroha look like a rookie in comparison. Her own raw strength, noted by Mitama to be four times that of an average Magical Girl, is actually just above cannon fodder levels in Kamihama.
** [[SerialKiller Akasuki Suzumebachi]] is strong enough to be incredibly scary and unstoppable to any regular human and clever enough to manipulate young and naive Magical Girls to be her marks into places where she can [[PeoplePuppets take control of their bodies from them]]. However any Magical Girl with either a combat experience and ability or a raw power advantage over her will manhandle her. She was unable to get anywhere against Mifuyu without Kyubey's help, got severely injured fighting Kyoko and only survived because Kyoko prioritized rescuing her young victims over double tapping her, and a freshly contracted Sayaka [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown only doesn't maim her more because the building they were in started collapsing on them]]. Even without Sayaka sticking several swords through her, the moment Mami spotted her, Akasuki was quite aware she was dead, which very quickly became true.
* ''FanFic/HeroesOfTheNewWorld''; Izuku and Yamato are powerful in their own right (Izuku would have been his world's greatest hero had he not been TrappedInAnotherWorld), but their main base of operation is the New World, where people of their skill are a dime a dozen and the ''real'' power players are the likes of [[WorldsStrongestMan Whitebeard]] and [[BigBad Kaido]], who can smash entire fleets on their lonesome and whose very presence can cause weak-willed foes to faint in terror. Then the Germa arc sees the two hop over to the North Blue, where the most threatening pirates are small time crooks and [[SerialKiller Serial Killers]] with bounties in the low millions, and it's ''their'' turn to be at the top of the food chain for once.

* In ''Fanfic/ASpecialKindOfMagic'', Naofumi is indicated to be an average sorcerer in the MCU, but this still puts him above all the other heroes by a lot, due to all the weird things that happen in the MCU.
* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13559523/1/The-Rise-of-the-Enclave The Rise of the Enclave]]'' sees the Farsight Enclaves from ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' get transported into the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' universe. By the standards of ''40k'', the Farsight Enclaves are one of the weakest factions in the galaxy, being a small [[RenegadeSplinterFaction splinter group]] of the Tau Empire (arguably the least powerful of the major factions). However, in the ''ME'' universe, the Farsight Enclaves quickly become one of the galaxy's major players with their technology and warships being far beyond anything the Citadel Council has.

* ''Fanfic/TheMissionStaysTheSame'': [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Captain Gallardi]] starts off as an {{Elite Mook|s}} with a slightly better than average gun, and Maeteris is young for [[SpaceElves an Eldar Farseer]]. Once they arrive in the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' universe, though, Gallardi's lasgun can punch through most armor and shielding with little difficulty, and Maeteris' abilities allow her not only to see upcoming danger, but destroy multiple squads of enemies by herself.

* In ''Fanfic/ASongOfIceAndFiresThatWerentAllMyFault'', [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]] is this in the world of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. Dresden is, in his world, a supernatural middle-weight. While he's got a lot of raw power for a human wizard, he's half a century or more from his magical prime, there's a ''lot'' that he doesn't know, his magical stamina is likewise a work in progress, and in his world, human wizards are hindered by the Laws of Magic and are nowhere ''near'' the top of the tree for raw power (doing their best work when they have time to prepare). However, he's now in a LowFantasy world where his abilities make him a fully fledged PersonOfMassDestruction - and that's before [[spoiler: his powers as [[MagicKnight the Winter Knight]] re-emerge]]. Consequently, the only thing that has a prayer of taking him on anywhere close to evenly is a full grown dragon - which, understandably, are in rather short supply when the story begins [[TheMagicComesBack (though that changes as time goes on)]].

* [[VillainProtagonist Darth Vulcan]] in ''Fanfic/TheRiseOfDarthVulcan'' finds himself transported to the world of [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Equestria]] and sets himself up as a Villain in order to survive long enough to find a way to remove the Alicorn Amulet and return home. Due to him being a closet-geek-turned-bully that had plenty of experience playing Strategy Games, reading over the Villains' Handbook for the Do's and Don'ts of being an Evil Overlord, and [[GenreSavvy general savviness]]; [[WakeUpCallBoss he easily runs entire circles around the Princesses, Element Bearers, and the Royal Guard]] who before were used to dealing with [[CardCarryingVillain posturing villains]] like Discord and Queen Chrysalis that were easily defeated. And he does all this without incurring any fatalities on either side due to his adherence to ''ThouShallNotKill'' as a cardinal rule to his mayhem, with his only confirmed kills being [[EvilVersusEvil other Villains and their minions]]. When he makes his big escape from Canterlot after being captured as the city slowly threatens to fall off the mountain, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere he just leaves them to their fate so he could escape]], and is called out as a monster by Princess Cadence. The trope kicks into full-gear as Darth Vulcan stops to explain to Cadence that [[HumansAreBastards his own world is filled with lying, cruel, and despicable people that do far worse things than he has done]], things which by all accounts would make Ted the closest thing to a ''saint'' in his world.
-->'''Darth Vulcan:''' ''I'm a monster? There's a thousand monsters, from least to greatest, where I come from. '''I'M NOT EVEN ON THE LIST!'''''

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9757811/1/Gray-Morality Gray Morality,]]'' [[Franchise/TouhouProject Sakuya Izayoi]] is summoned to be [[Literature/TheFamiliarOfZero Louise's]] familiar. While Sakuya is rather powerful in Gensokyo, several characters like her mistress Remilia Scarlet are magnitudes greater than her, and most inhabitants can survive a knife to the gut. She's practically invincible in Halkeginia, especially since she's no longer restricted by the spell card battle rules.
* ''Fanfic/MassEffectClashOfCivilizations'': Many of the technologies that the [[Franchise/{{Halo}} UNSC]] take for granted, such as artificial gravity, slipspace, and crystal computational devices, are utterly amazing to the [[Franchise/MassEffect Citadel Races]], largely because they did this without any Element Zero, which was thought to be essential for the first two technologies, at least. That being said, the UNSC has no knowledge of Biotics, Mass Effect weapons, and many other advances the Citadel takes for granted.
* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10240057/1/The-Light-of-Remnant The Light of Remnant]]'' establishes that the heroes and villains of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' may be among the most powerful fighters in Remnant, but most of them are small-fry compared to the main heroes and villains of the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' universe. In one scene, Mercury kicks Sora in the head, and is shocked when it doesn't snap his neck or even knock him unconscious. Sora remarks that his kick is strong, but nothing compared to a kick from Larxene.

* In ''Fanfic/AThinVeneer'', the [[Series/BabylonFive Minbari]] have to face [[Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry 2293-era Starfleet and Klingon warships]]. The Minbari soon find themselves outclassed ''hard''.
* Gets even ''worse'' in ''Shielded Under the Raptor's Wings'', a fanfic with the same premise but a different interpretation of ST canon, as the Romulans gets involved too... And their older fusion-powered warships prove almost as formidable as their newer antimatter-powered ships (derived from Klingon designs) and the Klingon and Federation ships, while not having the logistic constraint caused by needing antimatter.
* ''Venus Flash'', a crossover between the ''manga'' versions of ''Manga/SailorMoon'' and ''Anime/CuteyHoney'', portrays accurately the difference in power between the members of the revived Panther Claw and Sailor Venus (who is still having troubles with her full power of the first story arc and thus is far weaker than how she would be when she finally showed up in the manga) and the Dark Kingdom, as best shown when Honey threw a nytroglicerine bottle on a strong youma's face and barely harmed it (in the manga a nytroglicerine ''spit'' had killed a Panther Claw kaijin), but surprisingly averts it with Honey herself: while her physical abilities are still far behind what the Dark Kingdom's youma have, her having modified the Airborne Element Fixing Device (the device that grants her transformation powers by rearranging atoms from air and her own body) to work with everything is a StoryBreakerPower, as she can ''disintegrate the enemy and turn them into food'' (or whatever she wants. She prefers food because her powers are recharged by eating). Sailor Venus herself was pretty scared when she saw her doing it the first time...
* In ''Fanfic/OpeningDangerousGates'', an "average" shinigami or arrancar from the ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' universe is many times more powerful than all but the most top tier characters of ''Manga/FairyTail''.

* Happens in the remake of ''Fanfic/BattleFantasiaProject'': as soon as [[BrokenMasquerade the Veil is deactivated]], the various different magical groups get exposed to each other, with some finding themselves ''badly'' outmatched:
** Upon remembering of his encounter with [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Altrouge Brunestud]], [[ComicBook/{{WITCH}} Phobos]], a powerful mage in his own right and a capable [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]], [[OhCrap cries out in terror]], reveals to Kandrakar the plan that would have allowed him to sneakily take over, and ''returns to his cell'' (to be fair, once he doesn't have a whole planet supplying him with magic Phobos isn't particularly dangerous in combat even for ''ComicBook/{{WITCH}}''[='=]s standards, and it's implied the only reason he was still around was that he [[BornAgainImmortality reincarnates with all his memories every time he's killed]] and did not let himself get caught alive until the current generation of Guardians managed to get the drop on him);
** [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Enhance]] is explicitly the ''weakest'' of the Dead Apostle Ancestors, and to fight the others he has to rely on them being {{Squishy Wizard}}s. Trhvmn Ortenrosse is a stronger Dead Apostle Ancestor, but isn't comparable in power to the top 10 (his strongest point being he's not a Squishy Wizard like most other Dead Apostle Ancestors). When they find themselves together fighting against a Nightmare Factory branch, they casually tear through their forces without even trying. Then the Nightmare Factory tries his HeroicBSOD-inducing nightmares... At which point Ortenrosse ''takes offence they tried to scare [[EvilerThanThou those who cause nightmares to the scariest things on the planet]]'', and wipes them out. Remember, neither of them is even close to be the strongest or scariest of the Dead Apostle Ancestors.
*** It's worth pointing out that when the bullet above says that most Dead Apostle Ancestors are Squishy Wizards it says it for Dead Apostle Ancestors standards: every single Dead Apostle Ancestor is [[NighInvulnerability hellishly difficult to damage for anyone who is not in their league]] thanks to their ''enormous'' magical power, and even then they have an absolutely ''ludicrous'' HealingFactor (whenever they're wounded, their Curse of Restauration turns the body back in time to just before they were wounded. The strongest the Dead Apostle or similar vampiric creature is, the greater the damage they can heal this way). The reason Enhance and Ortenrosse make the others look Squishy is that they were very physically strong to begin with before being turned, what with the former being former military and the latter being from the Greece of the Heroic Age (when ''everyone'' had an HeroicBuild and knew how to use it).
** The opening fight of the story has a powerful Nightmare Factory group facing off against [[Franchise/LyricalNanoha Nanoha Takamachi, Fate Testarossa]], [[Anime/FutariWaPrettyCure Cure Black, Cure White and Shiny Luminous]], and [[CurbStompBattle get annihilated]]. At the same time, [[Manga/SailorMoon Minako Aino]] muses that Sailor Moon at her first outing could have fought a dozen of the {{Mooks}} and won, and that she alone would have probably wiped them out.

* Subverted in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9527774/1/The-Illusive-Emperor The Illusive Emperor.]]'' Miranda Lawson ''thinks'' that John Shepard must be the only competent member of his class to receive every single award at graduation. When she sees John duel another student, she realizes that all of the graduates are highly skilled; John's just ''that'' good.
** [[Anime/CodeGeass Britannian]] biotics in general are considerably more powerful and far more dangerous than Terran Systems Alliance ones due to the Turians culling 90% of TSA biotics. Because they can afford the losses, Britannian biotics are encouraged to experiment with their powers rather than sticking to the standard attacks other biotics use, resulting the creation of FlashStep, {{Teleportation}}, and the strongest can perform [[MythologyGag biotic artillery strikes]].

* Inverted in ''Fanfic/NanosuitsAndSoulMagic''. On ''Crysis'' Earth, Alcatraz was the most powerful soldier Mankind had. On Remnant, even basic Grimm mooks and {{Squishy Wizard}}s like Velvet give him a run for his money.
** Although in some ways played straight and zig-zagged, as he is stated to still be leagues above the average soldier on Remnant, and he is highly skilled and versatile, so while in some ways he is weak compared to the average Hunter, in other ways he exceeds them (can turn invisible and walk silently, has far better senses and reflexes, has a supercomputer for a brain, is still able to run faster than many Hunters, can tell when someone is lying), and it is balanced out by Aura only protecting people if they consciously raise it and keep it active (meaning he can defeat even the strongest Hunter if he manages to sneak up on them). [[spoiler:This is shown when he is able to spot an assassin, calculate the trajectory of the assassin's bullet, and knock the bullet off course within the span of four seconds, then is the only one besides [[SuperSpeed Ruby]] able to keep up with him, and is able to tell the assassin is playing dead by reading his biometrics.]]

* This is a FandomSpecificPlot for ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' crossovers, where Naofumi is replaced by someone who in his home universe was far stronger and more competent as a hero but had competition while he's far more formidable in Melromarc. [[ExaggeratedTrope Brought to the (il)logical extreme]] with ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12451409/1/The-Hero-Melromarc-Needs-and-Deserves The Hero Melromarc Needs and Deserves]]'', as [[Manga/SaintSeiya Cancer Deathmask]], in addition to be a SociopathicHero at best, [[LightningBruiser can move at the speed of light and cause enormous destruction with a punch]] among [[SuperPowerLottery his many powers]].

* ''Fanfic/FatesCollide'': Before [[ButtMonkey Jaune Arc]] came along, Okita Souji was considered the weakest Saber in Chaldea Academy. She's still a master swordswoman who overwhelms Blake Belladonna in combat.

* ''Fanfic/ManOffTheMoon'': Emiya is mediocre for a Heroic Spirit, but that still leaves him physically unrivalled amongst the mortals of the galaxy, and even as very narrow and specialised his grasp of magic is, it still is an OutsideContextProblem.
* ''Fanfic/NeitherABirdNorAPlaneItsDeku'': Izuku Midoriya, being a CompositeCharacter with Characters/{{Superman|TheCharacter}}, one of the most overpowered characters ever created in fiction, tends to induce this among his classmates in UA.
** Subverted with Katsuki Bakugou; thanks to being ChildhoodFriends with Izuku and thus living in his shadow all their lives, he is perfectly aware of how far he still needs to go as a hero. So, while his ego is still sizable, it's mostly under control when he finally starts at UA.
** Played straight with Shouto Todoroki. As the son of the NumberTwo hero and having been bred specifically to have a Quirk that would allow him to surpass All Might, Shouto's ego has swelled significantly, much to his detriment. When he enters UA, that ego receives repeated beatings due to his classmates having high-level superpowers as well, with at least two explicitly more powerful than him[[note]]One being Izuku, other being Fumikage Tokiyama, who is bound to a Fifth Dimension RealityWarper[[/note]]. This is especially prevalent with Izuku, who outstrips Shouto without even trying. As a result, this causes him to act recklessly in numerous instances to prove himself better than Izuku and reassert his superiority.
* ''Fanfic/RWBYEpicOfRemnant'': Angra Mainyu is considered one of the weakest Servants, but on Remnant, he is very powerful by their standards. What helps Angra is that the Grimm actively supercharge his powers, making him a ManOfKryptonite to them.
* ''Fanfic/MyHeroesReborn'': Downplayed with Izuku after he awakens PastLifeMemories and abilities as "Black Leg" Sanji. Since this is a theoretical Sanji from post-''One Piece'' canon, in the Grand Line he was a "one step below uber-tier" combatant. Powerful, but not ''the'' most powerful. In ''My Hero Academia'', the only thing stopping him from curb-stomping everyone short of All Might and All For One is [[DramaPreservingHandicap Sanji's personality flaws]] (specifically, his WouldntHitAGirl tendencies) and PlotArmor.
* In crossover fanfiction ''Fanfic/PointMeAtTheSkyrim'':
** Victoria, while a powerful cape, isn't even close to being the strongest one from [[Literature/{{Worm}} her universe]]. To the inhabitants of Skyrim, her powers come across as incredible mastery of multi-casting without the use of hands, nor any apparent exhaustion.
** The reverse is also true, with Victoria finding [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'s magic an ability to be freely learned and even taught in to be beyond comprehension, since she comes from a world where superpowers are given randomly by Eldritch Abominations.

* In ''Fanfic/JusticeLeagueThunderer'', [[Characters/MarvelComicsThorOdinson Thor]] states that this is the reason he and [[Characters/MarvelComicsLoki Loki]] took Baldur on a hunting trip to Earth. Since creatures and animals on Earth are far weaker than the rest of the Nine Realms, it would be easier for Baldur to hunt them, as he was rather frail by Asgardian standards in their youth.
* In ''Fanfic/AbyssalPlain'', The Undersiders and Breakthrough are powerful cape teams, but ''far'' from the most powerful in their superhero setting. In the Abyss, their super-powers and experienced teamwork allow them to fight small armies of Others (Boogeymen) as they retreat to perceived safety, while the Others are left battered and fighting amongst each other.

* ''Fanfic/ForEarthAndHerColonies'': By ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' standards, a UNSC light frigate is utterly expendable, needing a numerical advantage to even have a chance against an equivalent Covenant subcapital starship. Compared to the World War II-level capabilities of ''VideoGame/KanColle'' shipgirls and their abyssal foes, her MAC is powerful enough - albeit with substantial charging time - to OneHitKill [[spoiler:a Re-class]], she's physically strong enough to shove Nagato aside, can fly on her own power, and enough food for a normal destroyer shipgirl only replenishes one Archer. Not one Archer pod, one ''missile''.

* The Endbringers in ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' are unstoppable monsters that cannot be defeated and can only be pushed back by the strongest heroes on their world. In ''[[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/a-different-kind-of-justice-justice-league-worm.269713/ A Different Kind of Justice]]'', while they are a threat and kill many heroes and civilians, they are defeated and killed by the Justice League, who have contended with their kind so often that such monsters are practically a dime-a-dozen. Taylor is outright shocked and disbelieving until she's shown proof of this.
* ''Fanfic/GloriousShotgunPrincess'':
** While Exalted are not quite the ordinary people, they are still the starting level player characters in the native game. When Shepard manages to catch a Solar Exaltation, she immediately stands on a power level defying understanding in the ''Mass Effect'' setting. The only thing that stymies her is the inability to get off the planet she's stuck on after her Exaltation, as she keeps ''accidentally destroying the ships'' that Cerberus agents show up in while attempting to capture her. Surviving in the frozen wasteland with ammonia for atmosphere was a non-issue, and once she gets off the planet, her powers quickly start turning the plot of ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' upside down.
** However, she eventually starts encountering other Exalted beings. Most of whom either were mentored in their new powers and nature or survived long enough to surpass Shepard's limited experience, requiring her to get actual training in Solar fighting arts to keep up. Among those that can counter her are the Reapers themselves, who can threaten her one on one [[spoiler:due to being Exalted themselves - they are rogue Alchemicals]].
* ''Fanfic/BoldoresandBoomsticks'': Happens on both sides of the crossover:
** Yang is the most skilled human Aura-user Riley has seen, despite only being a second-year student.
** Absol is considered to be as skilled with Aura use as veteran Huntsmen, even though she hasn't used any particularly powerful moves.
* ''Fanfic/FateKill'': As a teenage girl, Selka is considered one of the weakest members of the Heiwa tribe, whose hat is SuperStrength. Outside her tribe, she is one of the strongest people in the world, able to break stone and send people flying. Only people like Shirou, Leone, and Bulat can rival her.
* Ruby in ''Fanfic/LightDarknessAndParadox'' is just a huntress-in-training in her original world, but when she arrives in the ''Paradox'' world, most of the people around her are notably weaker than her. An exception is [[spoiler:the Queen Harpy Lucretia]], who effortlessly defeats Ruby and her friends.
* ''Fanfic/FateDxDAU'': Ritsuka Fujimaru constantly looks down on himself as a weakling and an amateur magus. This is because the only people he had to compare were Servants, who are vastly superior to humans. When he lands in the [=DxD=] world, he becomes almost unstoppable due to his fighting experience and the magecraft he does know. It helps that he has Class Cards that let him emulate Servant abilities, but even without them, he can hold his own.