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8* In ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'', Kara, one of the Oracle Twins, has the ability to see the future. But here's the catch; she can only see the good things that are going to happen. Sure, that doesn't sound too bad, but then she explicitly explains ''why'' it sucks. Meanwhile, her twin sister who only has ''bad'' visions is quite peppy, because ''anything'' looks good compared to the horrible things she sees.
9-->'''Kara:''' When you only see good things, nothing's special anymore. All the pleasant surprises are taken out of life.
10* Aang from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. Sure, he's the Avatar, a godlike human being who can manipulate all four elements to balance out the world. Sure, he's the bridge between the Spirit World and the regular world. Yeah, okay, he's the spirit of the planet all rolled into one dude. His past lives worked out just fine being the Avatar. Unfortunately for Aang, he doesn't get to wait until his 16th birthday to be told that he's the Avatar. Nope, some grumpy old dudes tell him when he's ''12'' because they fear a war is soon to break out. They make plans to take Aang away from his guardian, so Aang runs away...and gets frozen inside an iceberg for 100 years while a war sweeps across the world while he's gone. Then when he gets out of the iceberg, he has to fix everything! By himself! With a bunch of scary guys trying to capture him! And he's ''12!''
11** Plus, the first thing he learns about the new world he's entered is that he is [[LastOfHisKind the only Air Nomad left]] since all of the others, who were the priority targets due to having the Avatar, were wiped out by the Fire Nation in the opening moves of the war.
12** Finally, there's what comes with being the Avatar: [[AllYourPowersCombined the ability to draw on the power and experiences of all past Avatars]]. It seems good... But until Aang learns how to control it the Avatar State manifests when he's in grave danger or furious beyond control, has the power of an EldritchAbomination and absolutely no care for collateral damage. There is a ''good'' reason why Aang had nightmares about the Avatar State for a while...
13** Additionally, whereas every other Avatar (whom we know of) had years to learn how to bend all the elements (Roku mentioned taking roughly a decade), Aang has less than one year.
14*** Oh, and even after he can control the Avatar State there's a downside (for the world, at least): if he dies while in it, the Avatar Cycle is broken. No more Avatar. And given he's the spirit of the ''world'' and that killing the spirit of the moon made the moon disappear until it was resurrected...
15** The Firebending used during the war had its own suck. Being powered by rage, it can only destroy (as [[OldMaster Jeong Jeong]] complained) and is more difficult to control, and make the Bender much more violent. And if you lose your rage, you lose your powers. Thankfully, the original form powered by willpower and joy of life offsets most of these problems.
16** Azula is a genius tactician ''[[StrategyVersusTactics and]]'' strategist, a master manipulator, and a prodigy firebender, at the tender age of 14. All of this came at [[SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining the expense of her social skills]], and her perfectionism ([[AbusiveParents as encouraged by her dad]]) ended up [[SanitySlippage doing a real number on her sanity]] when she learns that MachiavelliWasWrong. [[spoiler: Which is why she's in the middle of the mother of all [[VillainousBreakdown Villainous Breakdowns]] for the finale.]]
17** Aang's successor/reincarnation, [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra Korra]] got it just as bad, for different reasons. She manifested as the Avatar far younger than normal, so she got even less of a normal childhood than Aang. Something that repeatedly bites her in the ass in Season 1, as she commits [[FeeFiFauxPas faux pas after faux pas]] in Republic City. Then, in Season 3, we find out that the White Lotus didn't just sequester her in a Southern Water Tribe compound because they misinterpreted Aang's final request to protect the next Avatar: [[spoiler: Korra's abnormally young Avatar status emboldened an anarchist offshoot of the White Lotus (The Red Lotus) to try and assassinate her, so they locked her away for her protection, not knowing how many more potential assassins there were.]] Add to that the implication that Korra's prodigy status left her so reliant on her physical abilities that her spiritual ones atrophied to the point where she couldn't even activate the Avatar state out of fear or anger, not Airbend, nor contact the spirit of Aang or the other Avatars. [[note]]Though the climax of Season 1 plus the emergence of wild Airbenders in Season 3 suggest that Korra may have literal brain abnormalities that prevented her from accessing her higher Avatar abilities.[[/note]]
18* The ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsAndCousins'' episode "Wishing Well" sheds new light on the powers of Wish Bear. First off, her power apparently forces her to constantly hear the inane wishes of everyone in Care-a-Lot, i.e. "I wish I had remembered to set that timer," "I have a stomachache; I wish I hadn't eaten that cake," etc. Furthermore, if someone actually makes a truly heartfelt wish right in front of her, then that's when the real fun starts. Her belly badge power will grant it, even if the wisher (and everyone else) may not really be ready for the consequences.
19* WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom and Vlad Masters have this. Unlike Danny, Vlad used it in rather unethical ways. Unfortunately for Danny, his parents ''want to kill his alter ego''.
20* Raven Queen from ''Toys/EverAfterHigh'' has impressive magical ability... unfortunately, it's only in dark magic and she really has no interest in becoming the next "Evil Queen."
21* Fairy magic from ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' is shown to be this on numerous occasions. Though fairies have incredible powers that can alter the laws of reality itself, there are plenty of caveats. For instance, they ''have'' to grant ''every'' wish that their godchild makes within the bounds of Da Rules, regardless of how dangerous or destructive it might be (in the episode that reveals this rule, Cosmo and Wanda are shown as being physically forced to grant the wishes). If they go too long without fulfilling children's requests, they [[TemporaryBulkChange bloat to massive size]] due to "magical backup" and eventually explode into confetti--sentient confetti, mind you, but still. They're also (at least, until recently) unable to have children on their own. But the worst part of being a fairy is more of a TearJerker: fairies are paired with unhappy children--but once those children either become happy or reach a certain age, their memories are wiped of ever having fairies, and their former godparents are reassigned. Most fairies genuinely love their godchildren, and since they're a race of [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld beings that don't age]], they're basically stuck with the knowledge that no matter what they do, the girl or boy they've come to care for is going to completely forget them, while the godparents themselves ''never'' forget.
22* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
23** In "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS3E21FamilyGuyViewerMailOne Family Guy Viewer Mail #1]]", the Griffins receive superpowers. Peter develops VoluntaryShapeshifting, Lois gains SuperStrength, Chris becomes a [[PlayingWithFire pyrokinetic]], Stewie wields [[MindOverMatter telekinesis]], Brian gets SuperSpeed, and [[ButtMonkey Meg]]... can grow and shrink her fingernails.
24** In "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS10E22FamilyGuyViewerMailTwo Family Guy Viewer Mail #2]]", Peter gains the ability to turn people into Robin Williams by touching them with his hands. While delighted at first, he quickly regrets having this power after waking up next to Robin Williams instead of Lois. The episode ends with [[spoiler:a world full of Robin Williamses and an insane Peter who has chopped his own hands off]].
25* ''WesternAnimation/FluffyGardens'': According to the {{Narrator}}, Mrs. Toasty has the thickest fleece coat of all the sheep. He says it's wonderful to have such a thick coat to protect you from the cold... but not for Mrs. Toasty, who lives in the ''hottest'' place in the Fluffy Gardens, which is especially hot during summer. During her focus episode, she tries different methods to cool herself, none of which seem to work, and wishes she didn't have this thick coat. Her aunt Snugg, on the other hand, is a lot luckier, since her house is on the snowy mountains. At the end of the episode, Mrs. Toasty decides to spend all the summers at her aunt's house.
26* Though it may not seems like it, ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'''s Phillip J. Fry is, in fact, the most important person in the universe. Thanks to a [[TemporalParadox time travel paradox]] involving [[spoiler:copulating with his grandmother and thus becoming his own grandfather in the process]], Fry inadvertently was born without a normal "delta brain wave", making him immune to the intellect-draining effects of the evil Brain Spawn race. Which he fights in a grand total of two episodes. The rest of the series involves him suffering from being a socially crippled, brain-damaged {{Cloudcuckoolander}}.
27* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', it's eventually revealed that [[spoiler: Owen Burnett]] is [[TheTrickster Puck]] in disguise. When Oberon decides to allow Puck to stay in the human world to be Alexander Xanatos's magic teacher, he slaps on the stipulation that Puck can ONLY resume his true form when he's protecting or teaching Alex -- otherwise, Puck's stuck being a human.
28** It's also notable that Demona's very painful, induced case of daily {{Boomerang Bigot}}ry was a "gift" from Puck ("All Puck's gifts come with a price"). For that matter, [[WhoWantsToLiveForever her and Macbeth's immortality]] might also count, though it's even more clear in this case that [[TheFairFolk the Weird Sisters]] weren't ''[[ManipulativeBitch really]]'' trying to be nice.
29* Mystique Sonia from ''WesternAnimation/{{Hero 108}}'' is cursed so that anyone who tells her they love her three times gets turned into a small hat-like creature called a Yaksha. While it comes in handy at times, it also means she can't really have a love life as no one can tell her they love her back. It's not all bad, as Sonia usually enjoys the affection and loyalty of Yaksha.
30** Those who turn into Yaksha suffer this. Blessed with a durable elastic body that can be used as a slingshot, a parachute, and much more. Able to spend a lifetime with the woman they love. It only costs the person their original form, and possibly their free will. Fortunately, it's possible to reverse the transformation if the person's affection for Sonia wears off. So really, the only people who are stuck as a Yaksha are people who would always love her no matter what.
31* In ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', Helga has a one-sided SiblingRivalry with her older sister Olga, with Helga being TheUnfavourite to Olga who routinely excels in her studies, has a promising career, and gets showered in endless praise by their parents, while Helga is seen as a mere tumor by them. After talking things over in one episode, Olga explains that as the family prodigy, she's weighed down with so many expectations of life success by her parents, making her internally miserable despite all the accomplishments she openly makes, while the barely-cared-for Helga [[CursedWithAwesome is free to live her life however she pleases]].
32* In ''WesternAnimation/Invincible2021'', Monster Girl's powers are the result of an unspecified curse that allows her to turn into turn into a large goblin-like creature at will. However, every time she does the curse makes her younger; [[OlderThanTheyLook she looks to be 12 but is apparently 24-years-old]].
33* The eponymous Lucky Lou from ''WesternAnimation/JinxyJenkinsAndLuckyLou'' is BornLucky, but she seems to feel her natural luck has made her life boring; she looks forward to a walk in a gentle spring rain only for it to immediately clear up, and her attempt to jump in a puddle is thwarted by it being covered by a sheet of wind-blown newspaper. Then she meets [[TheJinx Jinxy Jenkins]]...
34* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'':
35** Quack-Quack the duck is gifted with NighInvulnerability, meaning he can survive any injury. Unfortunately, his AxCrazy [[WithFriendsLikeThese friend]] Mr. Cat inflicts extreme violence on him as a means of stress relief because he knows he won't die no matter what he does to him.
36** Vitamine has SuperSpeed. Unfortunately for her, she has no way to come down to a normal speed, which means she can't communicate with the people around her because they don't understand. It also hinders her ability to enjoy day-to-day activities. For example, being the goalie in a game of soccer with her brother is not fun because to her, it looks like the ball is moving in slow-motion, so it's too easy and boring.
37* Borderline in ''WesternAnimation/TheLifeAndTimesOfJuniperLee''. As the Te Xuan Ze, June has extraordinary abilities... and is physically incapable of leaving her hometown, meaning that all of her life's dreams are out of reach. Fortunately, the show doesn't harp on this fact too much, preventing {{Wangst}}.
38* ''WesternAnimation/TheMask'' had Putty Thing and Fish Guy, teenagers who intentionally exposed themselves to radiation to get super powers. Putty Thing became a powerful shapeshifter akin to Clayface, while Fish Guy became...a fish. A fish that could talk, but a fish nonetheless. To top it all off, a later episode revealed that Fish Guy can neither ''swim nor breathe underwater.''
39* ''WesternAnimation/MaxSteel'':
40** Josh [=McGrath=]/Max Steel. While an accidental infusion of nanoprobes gives him abilities including super strength, super speed, invisibility, and the ability to change his appearance, he comes close to dying before resident genius Berto suggests experimentally dosing him with transphasic energy ("The Max Probes need transphasic energy to survive, and so does your son. I think."), and there was the chance that it would just kill him faster. Naturally, it's a success, but Josh/Max needs continued exposure to transphasic energy to survive (there are at least three instances where a lack of energy comes close to killing him) -- and in a worst case scenario, if enough of the probes are badly damaged or destroyed, then Josh/Max will die.
41** The [[WesternAnimation/MaxSteel2013 2013]] series follows tradition. Max [=McGrath=] can generate Turbo Energy, but he can't control it. An alien named Steel can control it, but he needs Turbo Energy to survive. Any lengthy separation will result in Max exploding and Steel starving.
42* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' introduced "Cutie Pox", a magical disease that causes whoever catches it to break out in cutie marks. Whoever has it gains the talent that goes with that cutie mark, but is also compelled to practice that talent 24/7, never being able to stop. (And the episode heavily implied that the disease was '''fatal'''.)
43** Applebloom catches it, and finds herself compulsively hula-hooping, spinning plates, tap-dancing, chiseling sculptures, taming monsters, sweeping chimneys, and more, all while she kept yelling for help and getting more and more tired.
44** When Troubleshoes Clyde gets his cutie mark, which is ''supposed'' to be a good ComingOfAge event for a pony that means they've discovered their special talent, it turns out his is being [[BornUnlucky incredibly unlucky and clumsy]]. As a result he spends much of his life alone and miserable, his "talent" bars him from his dreams of participating in rodeos, and he's ultimately branded as a criminal because his clumsiness is so destructive others assume it's intentional. The Cutie Mark Crusaders eventually teach him to [[CursedWithAwesome use his clumsiness]] to be a rodeo clown where he can not only finally be accepted and liked, but also be a part of the rodeos he loves.
45** [[GodEmperor Princess Celestia]] and [[DarkIsNotEvil Princess Luna]] have this trope in spades; it's even the focus of "A Royal Problem", a seventh season episode. Princess Celestia controls the sun and is beloved by all of her subjects, but pretty much has to [[StepfordSmiler constantly appear happy]] to keep up appearances and fears that if she loses control of her abilities even for a moment, she'll unleash her SuperpoweredEvilSide, Daybreaker. Princess Luna, for her part, can [[DreamWalker enter dreams]] and has other incredible PsychicPowers which allow her to enter the minds of Equestria's ponies -- at the cost of being up all night and completely alone for roughly twelve hours at a time (to the point where she has to talk to herself just to hear another living thing's voice) and everyone thinking she's anti-social and moody when she's really just exhausted. And on top of it all, the sisters serve as living CosmicKeystones -- if either of them are in trouble or can't perform their duties, all hell breaks loose almost instantly.
46* Several of Dinko's attempts to help Tommy in ''WesternAnimation/PetAlien'' do more harm than good:
47** "The Earth Boy who Needed Protection" has Dinko putting a halo on Tommy that summons an energy shield to protect him from danger. Unfortunately for Tommy, it has several flaws that make it horribly impractical: the halo can't be turned off or removed, the shield can't tell violent contact from non-violent contact (preventing Dinko from hugging Tommy), and it considers sugary snacks (like [[TrademarkFavoriteFood taffy]]) a threat and so destroys them on sight. Tommy is distraught over only being able to drink vegetable smoothies.
48** "Curse of the Invisible Boy": Tommy initially loves being invisible, as it lets him get one over on [[JerkJock Clinton]] and scam taffy logs from Cap'n Spangley. However, he quickly grows to dislike this new ability when he fails all his classes due to the teacher being unable to see him. Also, Gumpers accidentally sits on him.
49* In ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'', Bob's fusion with Glitch turns into this during "My Two Bobs". His powers become a liability when they aren't needed anymore, are hazardous to his health, and lower his chances at winning Dot's heart over the "normal" Bob. This is because Glitch had been severely damaged when they fused together. There probably wouldn't have been any risk to his health if Glitch had also been healthy. Then again, if Glitch had been fully functional, the fusion wouldn't have been necessary in the first place.
50* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': One of the biggest running themes is Rick Sanchez despising his own vast intellect, since it ends up being the cause of many of the problems in his life. He knows there's an infinite number of parallel universes with an infinite number of other Smith-Sanchez families out there exactly like his own, which is a major reason why he struggles to form emotional attachments to them and doesn't really see them as unique individuals. This same awareness can be attributed for his cynicism and nihilism; nothing means anything and no one is special, this is just one universe in an infinite multiverse of infinitely chaotic possibilities, and it just so happens he's currently in this one.
51* According to ''Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July'', Rudolph's glowing nose was caused by the magic of the northern lights and serves as a means to defeat the evil [[SealedEvilInACan Winterbolt]], though the glowing nose did cause him to have a crappy childhood... [[spoiler: This turns out to be a feature rather than a bug.]]
52* ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'':
53** In episode ''Smurfette's Sweet Tooth'', Smurfette is given a Midas touch power that enables her to turn whatever she touches into candy, but as in the case of King Midas [[TakenForGranite turning his daughter into gold]], Smurfette ends up turning Brainy into a Smurf sculpture of candy.
54** In episode ''The Chief Record Smurf'', Clumsy gains photographic memory and can now help all the Smurfs, finally becoming popular. But he gets a headache after keeping so much information in his head, and, to make matters worse, Gargamel kidnaps and hypnotizes him, making him confess to Papa Smurf's invisibility formula that he had also memorized.
55* On ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark,'' [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway Captain Hindsight]] claims that his power of retrospect works this way -- anytime something bad happens, he's cursed to realize how it could have turned out better. (His revelations are never particularly brilliant, like "they should have called the police earlier.") This also causes him to become incredibly paranoid, constantly question if the choice he makes is the right one or he will instantly know what he should have done. Mysterion (who is really [[spoiler:Kenny]] in disguise) then retorts that ''his'' superpower is far worse. That power being that [[spoiler: every time he dies, he is reborn. He remembers the pain of death, while everyone else forgets that he ever died to begin with.]]
56* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'':
57** Steven Universe is a human-gem hybrid who not only the powers that come with just being a gem (shape-shifting, weapon summoning and fusion) but also the powers his mother, Rose Quartz had (healing tears (healing spit for him) and floating) which seems cool considering until you realize that [[HowDoIShotWeb he had to learn how to control them first]], he even lost his healing spit for awhile just because he wasn't self-confident in himself. Steven is also shown to suffer a lot of self-doubt from trying to live up to his mother's legacy.
58** Garnet has future vision, an ability to see different possibilities for how a situation can turn out. While this comes in handy for battle, it's stated that she sees all of the different ways her loved ones can be hurt or killed, and has to almost constantly steer the world around her to keep horrific futures from coming to pass. She's also limited by what she knows, Steven in particular being too much of an x-factor to properly predict at times, due to him being human, a species in a constant state of change compared to the very stagnant Gemkind.
59** Padparadscha has a malfunctioning version of future vision which only shows her the recent ''[[DelayedReaction past]]'', and she seems either [[PowerIncontinence incapable of turning it off]] or [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny too distracted by the past too look at the present]]. In the exact reverse of Garnet's situation, this is such a hindrance that Padparadscha [[TheLoad cannot survive without the help of others]], but [[ThePollyanna she couldn't be happier with her life]].
60* ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats1985'':
61** Cheetara actually states that she considers her clairvoyant ability to be more of a curse than a blessing, due to the physical drain it puts on her body.
62** During Lion-O's Anointment Trials, Tigra is shown as having the ability to make others see what is not there. The strain is apparently so bad we never see him do this again.
63* Having been chosen by the Amulet, Jim Lake Jr. from ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}}'' is forced to be the Trolls' champion at everything (even at the most menial of tasks), especially since dark forces of every shape and size want the Amulet for themselves. Being the first human Trollhunter doesn't exactly warrant much confidence in the people he is sworn to protect either. Even worse, he just can't get rid of it, since the Amulet refuses to be thrown away until he is dead (unless it is stolen, in which case he has to get it back the old-fashioned way).
64* Luxor the cat from ''WesternAnimation/{{Tutenstein}}'' was granted a voice and human-level intelligence by the magical Scepter of Was. The same magic also forced him to become an ExtremeDoormat and BeleagueredAssistant to the [[RoyalBrat title character]].
65* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'' has Team Impossible, a very dark parody of the ComicBook/FantasticFour. Sally Impossible has invisible skin: not only is it ''just'' her skin (making the musculature underneath visible) but it's invisible by ''default'' meaning she needs to use all her concentration to look like a normal human. Her brother Cody instantly combusts in contact with oxygen but doesn't have Johnny Storm's immunity to the pain of being enveloped in fire nor can he turn it off. Her cousin Ned is has super strength but completely covered in callused skin, which leaves him in constant pain in addition to his already existing mental disability. Meanwhile Sally's husband Richard Impossible has the same powers and control as Reed Richards but lacks Reed's empathy and devotion to his family and just concentrates [[ForScience on science]] to the exclusion of everything else.
66* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'', Sadlygrove is a guardian of a [[SealedEvilInACan sword possessed by a demon]], but the demon can in turn [[DemonicPossession possess him]].
67** The BigBad of Season 2, whose motivation can only be summed up as "immortality and PhotographicMemory is a ''terrible'' superpower combo". He has destroyed a world and ruined countless lives in search of anything new to do to stave off the sheer boredom of a man who remembers experiencing everything there is to experience.
68* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wishfart}}'': This is the consequence of a number of wishes Dez has granted, with a notable case being a yeti named Samuel who wished for infinite ice cream.
69-->'''Samuel:''' Well, I've been cursed with never-ending ice cream forever!\
70'''Puffin:''' You say that like it's a bad thing.\
71'''Samuel:''' Oh yeah! Well, imagine always having brain freeze, or fingers stuck together! I used to love ice cream! Now, I'd rather eat broccoli!

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