Line #10 Main/PowerLossDepression


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5	[[caption-width-right:250:"Nothing but little Billy Batson..."]]
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10	->''"Once upon a time, there was a woman who could fly. Now, I walk...just like plain folks. Once I would have ridden the wind. Now it drives me. The elements I shaped to my will have me at their mercy... And always, the wind - my friend, my servant, taunts me with its fury. It howls, it laughs, it mocks my very being. Without me, Ororo, it cries, you are nothing."''
11	-->-- '''Storm''' laments the loss of her [[WeatherManipulation powers]] in ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen'' #198
12
13	Sometimes, PowerLossMakesYouStrong. Other times, it breaks you.
14
15	This trope is when a character who gets [[DePower De-Powered]] becomes utterly miserable following the loss of their incredible abilities. Whether the character is TheCutie or a {{Jerkass}}, the point is that losing cool powers sucks. If the character was [[{{Mutants}} born with their abilities]], the powers could be seen as comparable to their [[AnArmAndALeg limbs]] or [[SenseLossSadness senses]], hence why the loss hits them so hard.
16
17	IJustWantToBeSpecial is also a factor. May be a result of a SingleEpisodeHandicap, in which case the character will regain their superpowers at the end.
18
19	----
20	!!Examples:
21	[[foldercontrol]]
22
23	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
24	* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Despite maintaining that [[IJustWantToBeNormal he wants to go back to his normal life]], once Ichigo loses his powers following Aizen's defeat he realizes he doesn't know what he wants to do with his life, his friends [[LockedOutOfTheLoop have been excluding him]], and that he can't properly defend himself -- let alone the people he cares about -- and settles into a funk that's only broken when Kūgo Ginjō offers him a way to regain his powers. When this turns out to be a trap and Ginjō steals his newly-mastered Fullbring, Ichigo is left screaming in despair and anguish at the loss of his powers for a second time.
25	* ''Manga/HunterXHunter'': During the Yorknew City arc, Neon Nostrade had her fortune telling Nen ability stolen by Phantom Troupe leader Chrollo Lucilfer. Later, Neon is shown to have fallen into a major depression, with her father's criminal empire crumbling as its finances were heavily dependent on his daughter's powers (especially inconvenient since he recently spent 2.9 billion Jenny at an auction) and later [[spoiler: taken over by Kurapika]]. While what happened to Neon is tragic, [[AssholeVictim it's kind of hard to feel sorry for her]], considering she was a SpoiledBrat [[PsychopathicManchild womanchild]] with a [[NightmareFetishist morbid hobby of collecting body parts]] ([[KickTheDog including eyes from Kurapika's clan]]) who hardly cared about anyone but herself, not to mention [[TooDumbToLive ignoring every warning and instruction given to her by her father and bodyguards while the Phantom Troupe rampaged through Yorknew]] meant she practically brought it on herself.
26	* ''Anime/MonsterRancher'': In the third season, Tiger of the Wind loses most of his abilities after being [[spoiler:sealed into and reborn from a mystery disc]], forcing him to relearn them all. He goes into denial over this, repeatedly insisting that he's just as strong as ever and doesn't ''need'' any help, going through several BreakTheHaughty incidents in the process of slowly rebuilding his repertoire.
27	* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': [[spoiler:Mirio Togata]] loses his Quirk after being shot by Overhaul's Quirk-destroying bullet while trying to rescue Eri. He puts up a strong front and fights hard against Overhaul regardless, but he soon breaks down into tears as he's forced to flee with Eri, despondent over how he can't do more to help. After the incident, he once again puts on a smiling face and doesn't seem to be angsting over his lost Quirk, but he is clearly a StepfordSmiler who's trying to be strong for the sake of the people around him.
28	* Kotetsu from ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' becomes distraught from realizing his SuperStrength powers are rapidly decreasing in duration each time he activates them. By the ending, however, [[spoiler:he seems to have accepted the fact that he can no longer activate his NEXT powers as a traditional superhero, so he later chooses to fight crime as a BadassNormal instead.]]
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Comic Books]]
32	* ''ComicBook/AllFallDown'' is a meditation on grief in the superhero community after all of them lose their powers when they're siphoned away to a teenage girl, who becomes the only superpowered being left. Some handle it better than others.
33	* ''Franchise/TheDCU'':
34	** ''ComicBook/JLAActOfGod'': The story has every single superpowered hero becoming complete wrecks after losing their powers. Particularly sad cases are Superman who becomes drunk and homeless after his relationship with Lois ends; Wonder Woman who [[DrivenToSuicide nearly commits suicide]]; and Kyle Rayner who obsessed with Sonar, a villain Kyle failed to stop when his ring was deactivated.
35	** ''ComicBook/PoisonIvy2022'': Ivy loses most of her [[GreenThumb Green powers]] due to merging with Queen Ivy back in ''Fear State''. The flashbacks in issues #1 and #2 show that she is deeply saddened by this, though the news that she is dying may also be a factor.
36	** ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'': Enchantress joined the team with the promise of having her corruptive magic either brought under control or removed entirely. However, after a catastrophic mission in which the entity empowering her was destroyed, Enchantress tried force Nightshade at gunpoint to return her magic. One of Belle Reve's psychiatrists noted that there's a big difference between voluntarily relinquishing the power and having it unwillingly taken away.
37	** ''ComicBook/SupermanBatman'': Annual #2 has Superman losing his powers after an encounter with the villain Mr. Socrates. At first, Clark seems to be taking it rather well but when Bruce comes to visit him at the Kent farm, it becomes clear that he is ''not happy'' about losing his powers.
38	--->'''Clark''': What am I without those powers? Nothing! You said so yourself! Didn't you?
39	* ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'':
40	** ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': In ''ComicBook/FantasticFour2018'' #25, Franklin lose his powers after a fight with an enemy called the Cormorant. Desperate to restore his powers, he tries to enter Krakoa using a special gateway only to find it doesn't work for him. Xavier contacts him and reveals that Franklin was never really a mutant but someone who altered himself to have an X-gene in order to fulfill his subconscious desire to be special. This revelation utterly devastates Franklin who was already moping about being a "normal" person. [[spoiler:In ''ComicBook/FantasticFour2022'', it’s revealed that Franklin did this to himself so he can have a normal life, suppressing his powers for most of the year, then having them come back once a year]].
41	** ''ComicBook/XMen'':
42	*** [[Characters/MarvelComicsStorm Storm]] had her powers accidentally removed by Henry Gyrich with a gun invented by the mutant machinist Forge. It took some time for her to overcome her depression over this, especially since she was in a relationship with Forge before learning he created the weapon that de-powered her. Her journey of self-discovery across Africa in ''Uncanny X-Men #198'' explores how psychologically shattered she feels before coming to terms with her new (temporary) status quo.
43	*** [[Characters/MarvelComicsAngel Angel]] had his wings amputated after they were mutilated by Harpoon, one of Mr. Sinister's Marauders, costing him his power of flight. ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}} takes advantage of Warren's emotional turmoil over the loss of his wings by offering to give him new wings in exchange for becoming one of his [[TheFourHorsemenOfTheApocalypse Four Horsemen]].
44	*** In ''ComicBook/AstonishingXMen'', Wing, a student with the power of {{Flight}} and one of Armor's friends, commits suicide after Ord injects him with the Mutant Cure.
45	*** [[Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto Magneto]] is left a shell-shocked and broken man at the end of ''ComicBook/HouseOfM'' after the Characters/ScarletWitch strips him and the majority of Mutants of their powers.
46	*** Polaris is among the Mutants who lost their powers during M-Day. Issue #177 of X-Men Volume 2 opens with her lamenting how empty and lifeless she feels without her powers. For a time, she tries to keep her depowerment a secret before revealing what happened to her and leaving the team.
47	*** The first issue of ''ComicBook/XFactor2006'' opens with Rictor about to commit suicide due to losing his powers following [[ComicBook/HouseOfM M-Day]]. He is talked out of it but still has his moments of sadness and volatility over it. He regains them via [[ComicBook/TheInhumans Terrigen Crystals]] provided by ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}} only to lose them again and become even more depressed leading to him having SexForSolace with Rahne. He almost quits the team because he feels useless as the only one without powers.
48	*** Downplayed with [[Characters/MarvelComicsProfessorX Professor X]] in ''ComicBook/XMenDeadlyGenesis''. Scarlet Witch restores the world to normal with Xavier once again possessing the ability to walk but he loses his telepathic powers. Xavier likens it to being deaf or still being a cripple but he handles it considerably better than most of the other examples on this page, especially his fellow X-Men.
49	*** It's usually zig-zagged with Cyclops. He [[PowerIncontinence can't turn off]] his EyeBeams so it's almost always a relief when he loses his powers, but his sense of duty to The Dream is what causes him to angst about lacking powers.
50	*** Wolfsbane, formerly of the New Mutants, due to her religious upbringing, believed her powers were a punishment from God. As a result she angsts when she has them, but also angsts without them because she secretly reveled in the powers, and feels guilty about not being able to help her friends.
51	*** With Beast, it depends on the power loss. If he loses the blue fur and goes back to looking human, no problem. But if losing his mutant abilities also takes his brilliant intellect away -- immediate angst.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Fan Works]]
55	* ''Fanfic/TheKarmaOfLies'':. PlayedWith. Out of everyone, Alix takes the revelation that she's no longer going to be a Miraculous hero the hardest, despite the fact that she technically hadn't ''become'' Bunnyx yet, but had [[MyFutureSelfAndMe met her time-traveling adult self]]. Part of the reason she's so shaken by this is the implication that, in order to [[TrickedOutTime maintain the timeline]], [[spoiler:the Bunnyx she met may have been an imposter all along]].
56	* ''Fanfic/TurningRedSecretsOfThePanda'': Meilin Lee completely breaks down after she mysteriously loses her red panda spirit, and becomes angry at [[spoiler:Xia when she learns that it was her who took it away]].
57	[[/folder]]
58
59	[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]
60	* ''Film/SupermanII''. After Superman gives up his powers so he can marry Lois Lane, he is easily beaten up by a bully. The sense of helplessness badly shakes his self-worth.
61	-->'''Clark:''' Maybe you ought to hire a bodyguard.\
62	'''Lois:''' I don't want one. I want the man I fell in love with.\
63	'''Clark:''' I know that, Lois. I wish he were here.
64	* ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'':
65	** Magneto is injected with the Mutant Cure and loses his powers in the film's climax. His reaction is one of complete horror and despair.
66	** {{Inverted\|Trope}} with Rogue whose powers were one of the worst examples of BlessedWithSuck in the X-Men universe. She willingly took the Cure and is happy that she can touch Bobby without killing him.
67	[[/folder]]
68
69	[[folder:Literature]]
70	* In the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' series ''The Year of Rogue Dragons'', the half-golem Dorn is left crushed when his invincible iron half is destroyed by a rust dragon. Understandable, given the instant combo of WreckedWeapon and HalfTheManHeUsedToBe.
71	* Towards the end of the ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' trilogy, Lyra loses her ability to read the alethieometer. [[{{HeroicBSOD}} She gets pretty upset]] and is only partially mollified to be told that she can re-learn the ability with hard work.
72	* ''{{Literature/Matilda}}'': Subverted. As it turns out, being put in a class appropriate to her mental abilities results in the loss of Matilda's [[MindOverMatter telekinesis]]. But as Ms. Honey explains, it was being bored out of her skull that gave her powers, so she doesn't regret the loss because she's finally found something to occupy her brain. In the film she keeps her powers in the end.
73	* ''Literature/ThePower'': After her father and half-brother steal her skein, Roxy falls into quite the funk over the perceived loss of her ultimate ActionGirl persona.
74	* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'': People who lose the ability to channel the One Power, which comes with an [[PowerHigh incredible sense]] of feeling more ''alive'', almost all succumb to DeathByDespair within a year or two. A rare few survive by devoting themselves wholeheartedly to a new cause. [[spoiler:Inverted at the end -- Rand is ''thrilled'' to lose his powers after TheFinalBattle because ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne and he's finally free.]]
75	[[/folder]]
76
77	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
78	* ''Series/{{Angel}}''
79	** The title character encounters this when he's accidentally transformed into a human, and eventually goes to the PowersThatBe to turn him back into a vampire because as a human he can't defend people from demons.
80	** Illyria suffers this after losing her kingdom, army, and much of her power. She looks to Wesley for guidance on what to do next, while lecturing Angel on how he should be behaving as the local "ruler".
81	* ''Series/TheFlash2014'':
82	** In "Power Outage", Barry's powers are drained by a metahuman named Blackout who can [[ShockAndAwe control and absorb electricity]]. This greatly upsets Barry who had come to see his speed as being a part of him.
83	** Barry's powers are drained again in "Versus Zoom" by the eponymous villain. The next episode, "Back to Normal", opens with him feeling depressed about it. Not helping matters is that his friend Caitlin has been abducted by Zoom while Barry was unable to stop him.
84	* ''Series/GhostWhisperer'': In "The Vanishing", Melinda seemingly loses her ability to [[ISeeDeadPeople talk to ghosts]] after falling and suffering a blow to the head. At first she pretends to be relieved because she thinks Jim prefers her this way but he is able to see through the facade and gets her to tearfully admit that losing her gift has really hurt her. Ironically, Melinda often sees her powers as a [[BlessedWithSuck curse, rather than a gift]].
85	* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'': Downplayed in the series finale. Having lost his Osirian powers in a HeroicSacrifice, Eddie is the only student not shown having fun at the graduation party. He initially refuses Patricia's offer to dance, pointing out she hates dancing and that he isn't a "superhero" anymore when she calls him one. However, he does end up dancing with her as the series ends.
86	* ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk'': One of the first times Banner was cured of the Hulk, he sees Betty starting to fall for Doc Samson, who had used the Gamma radiation drawn out of Banner's body to turn himself into a superhero (with his brain still intact). Banner gets jealous and re-Hulkizes himself.
87	* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'':
88	** ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'': Rita places a curse on Tommy that will drain away his Green Ranger powers after a magic candle burns out. In order to save the Green Ranger powers, Tommy gives his [[TransformationTrinket power coin]] to Jason the Red Ranger. Feeling he is of no use to the team, a saddened Tommy leaves Angel Grove but returns after the Rangers find a way to preserve his powers through constant recharges. However, Lord Zedd eventually finds a way to drain away all of Tommy's powers causing him to once again quit the team because he feels he has no place among them. Fortunately, he returns as the more powerful White Ranger.
89	** ''Series/PowerRangersWildForce'': Downplayed in the finale. The Rangers are forced to give up their morphers after defeating the BigBad as their mission is now completed. While they do go on to lead happy, satisfactory lives afterwards, the team isn't happy about giving up their powers and having to disband.
90	** ''Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive'': The MilestoneCelebration episode, "Once A Ranger", has the Overdrive team reveling in the fun of being Power Rangers [[TemptingFate before being de-powered]]. Feeling they have nothing to contribute as Rangers, they decide to leave saving the world to the returning veteran Rangers. However, they find their lives without being Rangers unsatisfactory and they return to action.
91	* ''Series/{{Powers}}'': Christian spends the series trying (with varying success) to deal with the fact that he no longer has superpowers. It doesn't help that superpowers in this series are implied to come to people who have a desperate, even neurotic, psychological need for them.
92	* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': Usually inverted. Whenever Clark loses his powers, he is often happy that he [[IJustWantToBeNormal can live a normal life]]. If anything, [[CursedWithAwesome regaining his powers makes him feel depressed]].
93	* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': After being exposed to two-dimensional alien beings in "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E10TheLoss The Loss]]", Counselor Deanna Troi suffers brain damage that causes her to lose her ability to [[TheEmpath read the emotions of other beings]]. She takes this very badly, becoming frightened, depressed and angry. She even decides to resign as Ship's Counselor because she feels she can no longer perform her duties. [[spoiler: In fact, she wasn't actually brain damaged, it was just the sheer volume of emotions of the two-dimensional beings that temporarily overloaded her empathic powers.]]
94	[[/folder]]
95
96	[[folder:Video Games]]
97	* ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'': In the ''Burial at Sea 2'' expansion, Elizabeth dies and is revived by the Luteces but loses her power to access alternate timelines. This results in her feeling very distraught.
98	* In ''VideoGame/{{Dreamfall}}'', it is obvious that April is distressed by the loss of her Shifting abilities, even though she tries to brush it off nonchalantly.
99	* ''VideoGame/ShantaeAndThePiratesCurse'': Shantae is shown to be very upset about [[spoiler: the loss of her magic at the end of ''[[VideoGame/ShantaeRiskysRevenge Risky's Revenge]]'']] and openly wonders if she's nothing without it.
100	[[/folder]]
101
102	[[folder:Webcomics]]
103	* ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan'': [[spoiler:Gregory Deegan]] permanently loses his white magic to an Infernomancer and [[TookALevelInJerkass becomes markedly less kind-hearted]] in the aftermath, before discovering the healing power of HeavyMetal.
104	* ''Webcomic/{{Widdershins}}'': {{Downplayed\|Trope}} with Mal. His innate AuraVision is overwhelming and isolating, but he's very [[https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/october-6th-2014 uncomfortable]] when he temporarily loses his power -- it's one of his senses and people look ''wrong'' without their auras.
105	-->'''Mal:''' Like if y'were walkin' down th' road an' everythin's normal 'cept no-one's got a ''face''.
106	[[/folder]]
107
108	[[folder:Western Animation]]
109	* ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfKorra'':
110	** When we first meet [[SmugSuper Tahno]], the leader of the [[FictionalSport pro bending]] Wolfbats team, he is an arrogant and sexist creep who mocks Korra's chances against him. Tahno is shown to be even more despicable when he and his team use blatantly illegal moves against the Fire Ferrets such as freezing and filling up water blasts with rocks, [[EasilyDistractedReferee all of which is ignored by the referee.]] Normally, Amon taking away Tahno's bending would put someone like him in the AssholeVictim category, but Tahno looks so miserble and broken afterwards that one cannot help but feel sorry for him instead of reveling in his misfortune. It helps that Tahno [[TookALevelInKindness does show a nicer side]] after what happened to him.
111	** Despite unlocking her airbending to defeat Amon in the finale, Korra is devastated when he takes away her fire, water and earthbending. Korra needs the power of all four elements to be a fully realized Avatar and with only one element, she is simply an airbender. As Korra had built her entire identity around being the Avatar, this takes a massive blow to her sense of self-worth that not even her love interest Mako can heal. Fortunately, [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Aang]] is not only able to restore her full bending abilities but also gives her the power to reverse Amon's {{De Power}}ing of other benders.
112	* ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'':
113	** Dr. Greyman lost his powers when examining some unusual orbs he found in a mysterious laboratory. His lack of powers causes him distress, and his students tease him for it.
114	** [[spoiler:Laserblast]] lost his powers by accident [[spoiler:when trying to destroy that same lab, which was his lab, which he was using to try to enhance his powers. He continues experiments to attempt to get his powers back or give himself some sort of power, but ends up losing his muscles and eventually turning himself into his current form: Professor Venomous. As Venomous, this trope is zigzagged; in "Big Reveal" he states that he doesn't need powers, but in subsequent episodes he gives up everything trying to obtain power, [[AmbiguousSituation even merging with or getting taken over by]] his [[SplitPersonalityTakeover evil other personality]], Shadowy Figure, becoming Shadowy Venomous.]]
115	* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'': Bumblebee is devastated when MECH steals his T-Cog, leaving him [[ShapeshifterModeLock unable to transform]] or use his arm blasters. Fortunately, they're able to get it back for him and Ratchet is able to fix the damage. [[spoiler: MECH subsequently steals Starcream's T-Cog, leaving him unable to transform for most of the season]].
116	[[/folder]]

Context Main / PowerLossDepression