Line #244 Main/KryptoniteFactor


1	[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/{{Superman}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superman_kryptonite11_138.jpg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:"Hey Superman, check out this awesome glowing rock I found! ...Supes? You okay?"]]
3
4	->''"Likewise, in fiction, whatever power a character has must have a downside somewhere, or he becomes a boring Superman type of character who can handle anything and get out of any difficulty, and he won't interest readers for long."''
5	-->-- '''Creator/TimothyZahn'''
6
7	The Kryptonite Factor is an AchillesHeel where the weakness is something that affects the {{Superhero}} and typically ''just'' them, as it will have little to no effect on others. It typically comes as a [[GreenRocks rare material]], [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes specific mental hang-up]] or [[HourOfPower abstract limitation in their abilities]], any of which can be a PowerNullifier. Fundamentally this is to show that no one is [[InvincibleHero invulnerable]], not even our [[SuperpowerLottery godlike main character]]. This is especially ironic if the vulnerability is [[WeaksauceWeakness completely arbitrary]] and [[KryptoniteIsEverywhere oddly commonplace]].
8
9	The more powerful a character is, the more likely the Kryptonite Factor will be abused. Writers in particular tend to dislike immensely powerful characters with a single Kryptonite Factor, because not using it creates a [[DramaPreservingHandicap drama-destroying]] sense that the character is never under a serious threat. Conversely, if Kryptonite was supposed to be rare it strains credibility when [[UniquenessDecay it starts showing up everywhere]].
10
11	This comes as a contrast to LogicalWeakness, wherein the AchillesHeel comes about more naturally through understanding the real-world nature of their abilities (ie [[MakingASplash water-based powers]] are vulnerable to [[ShockAndAwe electricity-based powers]]) or being consistent with [[MagicAIsMagicA the fictional depiction of how their powers work]].
12
13	The name comes from kryptonite, the bane of Characters/{{Superman\|TheCharacter}} regardless of [[StrongAsTheyNeedToBe how powerful he is being portrayed at the time]]. A literal {{green rock\|s}}, it seemed unusually abundant in supervillainous hands for being radioactive bits of a planet that exploded lightyears away. Many {{Elseworld}}s and spin offs to the ''Superman'' mythos include characters who are more resistant to kryptonite, but conveniently, not as strong. Thanks to ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' being a {{Long Runner\|s}}, and PopCulturalOsmosis, a common bit of MemeticMutation is to refer to something you are particularly vulnerable to as "My Kryptonite".
14
15	Compare SupernaturalRepellent, which is not specific to superheroes. See also KryptoniteRing, KryptoniteProofSuit and FightOffTheKryptonite. Contrast DePower, CrossMeltingAura and DramaPreservingHandicap. Related to WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes. If the character is vulnerable to something comparatively mundane (and even non-threatening), that makes it a WeaksauceWeakness. When this trope turns up far more often than seems probable, see KryptoniteIsEverywhere. When this extends to having characters whose powers are nothing more than a Kryptonite Factor, you have a ManOfKryptonite.
16
17	SuperTrope to the VerbalWeakness, which is this trope in auditory form.
18
19	Not to be confused with ''Series/TheKryptonFactor''. ByThePowerOfGrayskull is more or less the opposite, giving powers as opposed to taking them away.
20
21	----
22	!!Examples:
23
24	!!Examples on subpages
25	[[index]]
26	* KryptoniteFactor/ComicBooks
27	** ''KryptoniteFactor/TheDCU''
28	*** ''KryptoniteFactor/{{Superman}}''
29	** ''KryptoniteFactor/MarvelUniverse''
30	* KryptoniteFactor/FanWorks
31	[[/index]]
32	----
33
34	[[foldercontrol]]
35
36	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
37	* ''Literature/{{Anpanman}}'': The titular hero has a head made of bread, which is his weak point. If he breaks off too many pieces of it to feed others, or his head gets wet, dirty, bruised up, or moldy, he loses his power. Once a new head is put on, he gains all the energy he needs again.
38	* ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'': Revealed very early on is a rubbery material that, to humans, is about as damaging as actual rubber, while messily popping Koro-Sensei's flesh even on quick contact, and being able to kill him off if it strikes near his heart. However, this doesn't help much; you still need to make contact with it, which is easier said than done when fighting someone with a Mach 20 FlashStep.
39	* In ''Manga/BioMeatNectar'', B-M go dormant in direct sunlight. (Only direct sunlight, though, so if it's overcast you're in trouble.) They also tend not to react well to flames, enough that [[AerosolFlamethrower hairspray and a lighter]] makes an effective tool against singular B-M. There are high-tech experimental weapons that break them down at a genetic level, but they're rather rare, delicate and have a short battery life.
40	* ''Literature/BlackBullet'': The monsters known as Gastrea are practically invulnerable to normal weapons, but weapons and bullets made of the metal Varanium can harm them, and monoliths made of Varanium can drive them away. However, there are Gastrea that are powerful enough to ignore the monoliths. Due to FantasticRacism in the series, it's been also used against [[WoobieSpecies cursed children]] who are born with the virus. [[spoiler:A group of cursed children that Rentaro taught were killed by a bomb filled with Varanium shards.]]
41	* ''Manga/CallOfTheNight'': While it is unclear exactly how much sunlight weakens vampires, all of them have an inescapable weakness in the form of an object from their days as humans to which they have a strong emotional attachment (such as a present to/from a loved one, or something to remember them by). Physically touching said object, or even just being in very close proximity to it will stun the vampire and nullify their HealingFactor, leaving them vulnerable. In some cases, prolonged physical contact can even drive them into a frenzy. [[spoiler:Being a {{dhampyr}}, Nazuna is initially assumed to have no such weakness since she was never human... until Kiku finds one in the form of her umbilical cord.]]
42	* ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'': Saints are people {{born\|Winner}} with physically perfect bodies similar to the Son of God. This gives them great powers like incredible levels of SuperStrength, SuperSpeed, SuperToughness, etc. However, they are vulnerable to any of the tools that were used to torture Jesus. For example, if an ordinary person punched them or hit them with a baseball bat, they could easily shrug it off. But if a Saint was hit with a cross, crown of thorns, scourging whip, etc, the item would hurt them like it would a normal person. There are also spells designed to combat Saints, like the appropriately named "Saint Destroyer".
43	* ''Manga/DontMeddleWithMyDaughter'':
44	** Athena and her daughter, Clara, are a parody of ComicBook/PowerGirl and ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} respectively and have the same [[FlyingBrick basic set of powers.]] Their weakness...? It's [[DefeatByModesty sexual harassment.]] In their setting, virtually everyone is a pervert from the villains, to the bystanders they put themselves at risk to protect.
45	** For Athena in particular, the constant [[LustObject shame and degradation]] she had to endure forced her to retire 20 years prior to the start of the series. But after learning her daughter had taken up her mantle, Athena dons her cape again to protect Clara, from the shadows.
46	* In ''Manga/FairyTail'', Wendy has this in the form of sour foods, like dried plums. She was once defeated simply by ''watching'' someone eating dried plums. Meanwhile, Natsu suffers from debilitating motion sickness whenever he's on any kind of moving vehicle.
47	* In ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'', the homunculi become vulnerable when [[spoiler:they come into close proximity to the body of the human of whom they are a ShadowArchetype]].
48	* ''Anime/{{Ingress}}'': XM fields and Portals impair or outright cancel the abilities of opposite-aligned Sensitives (ej, Jack of the Resistance cannot use his future-sight power while inside an Enlightened field). In some cases it may even prove debilitating/mentally taxing to Sensitives, although this is never shown in the anime. Now consider that XM is everywhere and that anyone with the Ingress app can do something about the fields and Portals.
49	* ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'':
50	** Inuyasha temporarily loses all of his demon-powers on nights with a new moon.
51	** There's also Miroku, who has a miniature black hole that is initially a game breaker. So the show introduces poisonous wasps which can kill him if he sucks them up. These practically become the villain's trademark so that only Inuyasha can be a credible threat to him.
52	* ''Manga/KnightsOfSidonia'': The alien Gauna can only be killed by a peculiar metal substance called "kabi". Even such things as planet-buster warheads will do nothing to a Gauna's core, and it will regenerate all damage, but so much as touch the core with kabi and the whole thing falls apart permanently. The ''Sidonia'' ran across a giant, seemingly artificial but abandoned structure made of the stuff and harvested what they could before a Gauna attack forced them to move on. They have to be very careful with the couple dozen spears they made out of it because they don't have a clue how to manufacture it nor where more can be found.
53	* ''Anime/KotetsuJeeg'': The titular mecha is weakened when making contact with electricity as it affects the magnetic power that binds his body together. Episode 5 also reveals that strong magnetic storms like solar flares prevent him from combining (at least until they made a special coating spray).
54	* ''Manga/MakenKi'': For most of the world, [[BigBad Yamato Takeru]] is a seemingly unstoppable force of evil. Made moreso, since [[YouCantKillWhatsAlreadyDead he's already dead]], has near godlike combat prowess, and has numerous clone bodies to inhabit. The only thing that can hurt him is [[LightEmUp "White Element"]], which is so rare, that there are only four known ability users in the world that can use it. The protagonist, Takeru Oyama, happens to be one of them.
55	* ''Manga/MarryGrave'': The only way to actually hurt Sawyer is to attack Rosalie's body, any wound done to her corpse will appear on Sawyer too.
56	* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
57	** Anyone who has eaten a Devil Fruit has two, related Kryptonite Factors: the ocean, which causes power leeching and an inability to move due to weakness, and Seastone, also known as ''Kairouseki'' or as "Sea Prism Stone", which replicates the effects of the ocean and out of which most prisons in the ''One Piece'' world are built.
58	** The effect of Seastone and the sea itself varies from user to user: Luffy (a paramecia user) and Chopper (a zoan user) have severe and painful reactions to either but are still made of rubber (which is used to save his life when he's drowning in the ocean) and a human-zoan respectively, while logia fruit users and other paramecia users are simply unable to use their powers.
59	** Smoker also has some Kairouseki on the end of his jutte, despite his being a fruit user himself (the weapon is long enough to keep him from coming into direct contact with the stone).
60	** Often applies with individual Devil Fruits through ElementalRockPaperScissors, particularly Logia. As an example, the fact that Luffy is a RubberMan allowed him to break the normal SortingAlgorithmOfEvil by easily defeating [[PsychoElectro Enel]], whose electric power made him close to a PhysicalGod.
61	** The Yami Yami no Mi also appears to act as kryptonite to Devil Fruit users and seems to have been built just to combat them: of the two abilities shown so far, creating black holes (and expelling anything and anyone pulled in), and canceling Devil Fruit powers, only the first can be used on normal people.
62	** Busoushoku Haki (Armament Haki) allows the person who use it to surround themselves with a thin but powerful armor (it's mostly invisible until the TimeSkip), allowing the user to negate Devil Fruit powers by contact. It does not cancel the Devil Fruit power itself, but it's one of the few methods of attacking and hurting Logia-type users. Trained Haki users can use their Busoushoku Haki for their projectile weapons or Devil Fruit powers. And if the Logia-type user has their own Busoushoku Haki, the attacker's Busoushoku has to be stronger in order to bypass their intangibility. A sufficiently advanced Haki user can even resist a Devil Fruit user's powers, though they are still unable to cancel it entirely.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
66	* The title character of ''WesternAnimation/{{Bolt}}'' is a dog on a TV show who thinks his superpowers are real. When he is accidentally placed in a box and shipped to New York, he finds that he no longer has superpowers, and thinks the Styrofoam peanuts in the box are the cause of it.
67	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'', the eponymous villain accidentally defeats Metroman by trapping him in a room lined with copper, his previously unknown weakness. [[spoiler:It turns out to be a trick to allow Metroman to fake his own death.]]
68	[[/folder]]
69
70	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
71	* In ''Film/DraculaUntold'', vampires have the standard array of weaknesses: silver, sunlight, wooden stakes, and crosses. Also played with a bit. Crosses only work on permanent vampires, the ones that have fed on humans. Those like Vlad, who will turn back in three days, are unaffected. Stakes, on the other hand, are not only effective but ridiculously so; when Mehmet goes after Vlad with a stake, his armor actually evaporates around it so the stake will hit flesh.
72	* Franchise/{{Godzilla}}, in the film ''Film/GodzillaVsBiollante'' is revealed to be weakened by the [[FunWithAcronyms ANB (AKA The "Anti-Nuclear Bacteria").]] Though, for some odd reason, it's ''never used again'' in later films.
73	** That was because it simply didn't work because he was cold-blooded, and had to have his body temperature raised beyond normal; which the military did do, but it was a hassle, and Godzilla was able to recover by going into the ocean. (In all fairness, he passed out right on the shore.) Simply put, the ANB was too much work to pull off and needed an elaborate setup. Particularly given that while they knew ''how'' to make it, the guy with the expertise with genetics to do so is killed shot precisely for his capability with it, making utilizing it even more difficult.
74	** A more reliable weakness specific the Heisei Godzilla has is cadmium. However, it only works if fired into his mouth and it requires a significant amount to do more than weaken him.
75	* In a dream sequence in ''Film/HaroldAndKumarGoToWhiteCastle'' (aka ''H&K Get the Munchies''), the bullying sheriff gets to say this terrific line after he gets shot: "Bullets! My only weakness! How did you know?"
76	* In ''Film/{{Highlander}}'' all of the Immortal characters are just that; they are able to shrug off almost any wound, they're immune to all forms of disease, do not age a day in their life and are even capable of surviving without oxygen. The only proven method for defeating them is [[OffWithHisHead decapitation]].
77	* In ''Film/LemonadeJoe'', Joe is a strong, tough guy with ImprobableAimingSkills. There is one substance that is his Achilles Heel and makes him lose consciousness, leaving him at his enemies' mercy. It's alcohol.
78	* Lampshaded in ''Film/SkyHigh2005'' - instead of arbitrary medical checkups, students are exposed to GreenRocks of different colors to check for weaknesses.
79	* Lampshaded in ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}''. David is a horrible swimmer and nearly drowned once as a kid. Discovering this was evidence reinforcing that he ''was'' actually "unbreakable" because all heroes have some sort of weakness. Another character points it out to him, saying "that's your Kryptonite."
80	* All superheroes in ''Film/UpUpAndAway'' are weakened by ''tin foil''. Too much is fatal. When the main character's friend brings over a meal that's wrapped in foil, the parents (all supers) treat it as a bomb and then bury it in the yard. The BigBad finds out about this and then goes to the nearest grocery store.
81	* In ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'', Toons are invulnerable to conventional damage, but can be injured or killed by a specific blend of paint-and-ink-thinning chemicals, known as "the Dip". Immersion is fatal, and a Toon cab who'd skidded through a puddle of Dip suffered four flat tires and was left limping in pain. They also can't let the ol' "ShaveAndAHaircut - Two Bits" go unfinished. Roger ends up ruining their hiding spot because of it.
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Literature]]
85	* In ''Literature/AfterTheGoldenAge'', Captain Olympus is a [[NighInvulnerability Nigh-Invulnerable]] FlyingBrick, but he has one weakness: [[spoiler:the same radiation that originally gave him his powers]].
86	* The Alteriens of Adam R. Brown's ''{{Literature/Alterien}}'' are pretty powerful, but they too have their weaknesses. Iron objects can hurt Alteriens, going so far as cancelling out their ability to absorb kinetic energy. As such, an Alterien can be cut or even killed with iron. However, it takes far more than a cut to kill an Alterien. It would take the same amount of effort as it would for a human using an ordinary knife or sword. This means an Alterien can die if beheaded or cut in half by an iron blade or stabbed multiple times with iron to the point of overtaxing their healing factor. Alteriens such as Oberon are also vulnerable to areas of concentrated dark psychic energy. Whenever Oberon is in or near such an area, he becomes very weak and his ability to absorb energy is reduced.
87	* In ''Literature/AttackOfTheMutant'', main character Skipper Matthews defeats the titular Masked Mutant by claiming to be a superhero whose only weakness is sulfuric acid. The Mutant, a shapeshifter who can turn into anything solid by rearranging his molecules, promptly turns into a wave of acid... which is a ''liquid'', and so he can't turn back into his normal self anymore.
88	* Parodied by Literature/CaptainUnderpants, who ''thinks'' he loses his powers when he's sprayed with starch. It's actually a PlaceboEffect, because he only believes it because that's what George and Harold wrote in their comic book.
89	* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': A wide range of mythological monsters [[AllMythsAreTrue exist]] InUniverse, and they typically have some version their mythological weaknesses. Some prominent examples:
90	** [[TheFairFolk Faeries]] have a crippling weakness to iron. It burns even the most powerful Fae on contact, and mortals bestowed with their power (the summer and winter knights) lose it on contact with iron. It's noted that the term "Cold Iron" is purely poetic: anything with enough iron (or steel) in it will work.
91	** The Black Court of Vampires (there are 3 Courts featured in the novels and a few more mentioned) have the laundry list of standard vampire weaknesses including garlic, holy water and sunlight. In universe the weaknesses became public knowledge when the White Council helped with the publishing and spread of ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' to help humans defend themselves. It was so effective the Black Court was hunted to near extinction.
92	** The White Court of Vampires are burned on contact with the emotion opposite to what they [[EmotionEater feed on]]. House Raith, for example, feed on [[SuccubiAndIncubi lust]], and their weakness is [[ThePowerOfLove love]].
93	** Magic of any type is disrupted by large amounts of water, especially running water. A villain once tied Harry up and kept him under a cold shower, rendering him helpless. Harry once got around this by swimming to the bottom of the lake he and his friends were about to drown in, sticking his hand in the mud at the bottom, and casting magic that way.
94	*** [[WordOfGod Word of Jim]] is that [[MagicalNativeAmerican Listens-to-Winds]] can use magic despite the presence of large amounts of water, due to being a extremely powerful [[MakingASplash hydro]][[{{Main/Whatevermancy}} mancer]].
95	** MustBeInvited is also in play for ALL forms of magical creatures and human spell casters. Humans and "more human" creatures like White Court Vampires can cross the threshold into a home, however magical abilities cannot be used if entering uninvited. Purely magical creatures are unable to enter a home in this manner.
96	* In ''Literature/TheFalconer'', the traditional cold iron is useless against fairies. However, a special species of thistle is very effective. Which is why it is nearly extinct. The fae were very diligent about that.
97	* Crucial in ''Literature/TheReckonersTrilogy'', where every super-powered "Epic" has a weakness that will either cancel out their powers or at the very least make them vulnerable to physical attack. Sometimes it's as straightforward as being close to a particular kind of metal, but others get crazier - like one who the characters mention could only be killed by people who are 37 years old. It's revealed in [[Literature/{{Firefight}} the second book]] that [[spoiler:an Epic's weakness is related to their greatest fears and traumas. Sourcefield, for example, is vulnerable to Kool-Aid because when she was human her grandparents tried to poison her with it. Megan almost died in a burning house when she was younger, and therefore became vulnerable to fire upon her transformation]].
98	* [[OurWightsAreDifferent The Shade]] in ''Literature/ShadowOfTheConqueror'' are vulnerable to [[{{Phlebotinum}} sunstones]], which burn their flesh on contact.
99	* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', [[UsefulNotes/{{Obsidian}} dragonglass]] is the main weakness of [[AnIcePerson the Others]]. Sam Tarly was able to kill one by stabbing it with a dragonglass dagger. Legends say that they can also be killed by dragon steel (believed to be Valyrian steel), but as of the fifth book this has not been tested. Their Wight servants meanwhile can only be killed by fire or chopping them into little pieces (RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain is not good enough). [[spoiler: Dragonglass does ''not'' work on them.]]
100	* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' got in on the act by having creatures who "pushed back" the Force (in the case of the ysalamiri), hunted ''with'' the Force (thereby making them far more aggressive around Force-users, as with the vornskrs), or who had been "severed" from the Force, and so were unable to be sensed or affected by the Force (like the Yuuzhan Vong). The idea was creating handicaps so that a simple kidnapping plot, for example, would work against Jedi, who would normally be able to shrug off drugs, sense someone walking up behind them, open locked doors, etc.
101	** And there was the mighty lightsaber's weakness: the useless space-metal cortosis, which renders a lightsaber useless for a few seconds. Oh and for most you can't immerse them in liquids without the blade switching off. Rain's fine though, and Jedi from water worlds fix this problem with some modifications.
102	** Lightsabers have another weakness as well. Bullet based weapons (called "slug throwers" in universe) can't be reflected by a lightsaber as blaster bolts can. All it does is melt the projectile, which means instead of a Jedi having a speeding bullet coming at their face, they have a piece of ''liquid metal'' coming at their face.
103	* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', people born with the potential to [[FunctionalMagic channel the One Power]] have two weaknesses that {{Muggles}} don't:
104	** When consumed, the herb forkroot acts as a tranquilizer and temporarily prevents them from channeling. [[spoiler:Becomes absolutely devastating when the Seanchan empire, which enslaves channelers with {{Restraining Bolt}}s, finds out and starts using forkroot to cull its conquered cities.]]
105	** A circle of thirteen channelers and thirteen [[HumanoidAbomination Myrddraal]] can attack their minds directly, [[DeathOfPersonality overwrite their personalities]], and [[ReforgedIntoAMinion convert them into a minion of the Shadow]].
106	[[/folder]]
107
108	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
109	* ''Series/AllThat'':
110	** Parodied on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy show, where recurring character Superdude's weakness was "lactose intolerance", meaning in his case that merely being in the proximity of dairy products was harmful to him. Naturally [[ThematicRoguesGallery nearly all of his opponents were dairy themed]]. Or would fight in an area where dairy products would be common. Such as a cow barn.
111	** Another superhero, Bucketman, got his powers from radiative materials stored in a bucket that landed on his head. Problem was, he couldn't get the bucket off, and his blind attempts at heroism were often... [[DestructiveSaviour less than ideal]].
112	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
113	** The Doctor's [[MagicTool sonic screwdriver]] was notorious for having no specific guidelines or limits to how it could be used, so much that lazier writers would rely on it too much as a DeusExMachina to get the Doctor out of any predicament. The Fifth Doctor broke it in the Season 19 episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E4TheVisitation The Visitation]]" and went without it for the rest of the Classic series. When the show [[{{Revival}} returned]] in 2005, two very specific limitations were put on it: a), the screwdriver can't break through [[TechnoBabble a Deadlock Seal]], and b), "[[WeaksauceWeakness it doesn't do wood]]". The latter has been repeatedly {{lampshade\|Hanging}}d as "rubbish".
114	** In the Series 2 episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E2ToothAndClaw Tooth and Claw]]", the werewolf is allergic to mistletoe. The Doctor suggests that the monks who worship it may have conditioned this weakness into it, and at any rate the monks wear garlands of it to prevent it from getting any ideas. Likewise, Sir Robert's late father covered the library's walls and doors with mistletoe oil, keeping the wolf at bay for a while.
115	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': The wights and their severed limbs will only stop moving if (A) [[KillItWithFire they're set on fire]], (B) are so thoroughly torn apart that their individual joints cannot move, or (C) are stabbed by something associated with super-fire, like obsidian or Valyrian Steel. In the White Walkers' case, the obsidian causes them to scream for a few seconds as it sinks in before they disintegrate, while the Valeryan steel causes them to instantly disintegrate. The Night King is ''immune'' to fire and can only be defeated with Valeryan Steel, but this comes at the cost of being the [[KeystoneArmy keystone to his entire army]].
116	* On ''Series/HappyDays'', chopped liver is this to Fonzie. It nearly destroys his friendship with Richie, who wanted to use this as a newsworthy item in the school newspaper.
117	* ''Franchise/KamenRider'' often uses this as the reason that costumed superheroes are needed to fight the villainous army of the year:
118	** ''Series/KamenRiderBlade'' deals with humanity trying to survive the battle game of the Undead, who possess CompleteImmortality and can only be defeated by each other, which seals them into playing cards. The Riders of the show use technology together with the cards to simulate being Undead themselves, allowing them to seal other Undead.
119	** ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'' has powers that come from the same source as the FantasticDrug addict Dopants, allowing his finishers to break the Gaia Memories that they gain their superpowers from without killing them.
120	** ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'' has the purple Core Medals act as this to all of the others. The other Core Medals are created to draw limitless power from human desires, while the purple Cores are created from [[ExactWords the desire for nothing]], allowing them to break the otherwise invincible Cores of the other colors.
121	** ''Series/KamenRiderDrive'' has technology specifically designed to allow him to destroy the cores of the Roidmudes, shapeshifting androids who otherwise possess ResurrectiveImmortality. While there's nothing unique about Drive's technology in theory, the creator of it has good reasons for wanting to keep it in the hands of only trustworthy individuals.
122	** ''Series/KamenRiderGhost'' has essentially the entire plot driven by Edith trying to find the kryptonite for the Gammaizers, immortal androids that he created and now have his entire people hostage [[AIIsACrapshoot due to a programming oversight]]. Nearly every powerup in the show is one of his failed attempts to find something that will work, with what actually works being when the title character evolves from a ghost to a deity and gains new emotion-based powers.
123	** ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'' deals with the outbreak of the Bugster Virus, a hybrid computer and biological virus that can only be excised from the patient using specialized medical equipment styled after video games.
124	** ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'' deals with the Another Riders, monsters who copy the powers of the 19 previous Kamen Riders and can only be killed by the real Rider, except they've also ''replaced'' that Rider in history. Zi-O can use his own powers to gather the real Rider's powers that were lost to time and use them himself, making him the only thing that can defeat the Another Riders.
125	* For Sportacus from ''Series/LazyTown'', it's processed sugar like in candy; eating any sugary food renders him immediately comatose, and fresh fruit or vegetables are required to restore him.
126	* ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'': When Archie became NighInvulnerable in Season 6, he finds out he loses his powers when he's around palladium and asks Betty to keep it away from him. This, of course, is used against him by the season's BigBad. [[spoiler:He later overcomes this weakness when Cheryl forged his skin to be impervious to palladium, but in the process he gains a new weakness: the daggers of Migido.]]
127	* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' has linear time for the Prophets[=/=]wormhole aliens, who are completely incoporeal and [[TimeDissonance untethered to the flow of time like coporeal lifeforms are]]. At best, the concept of linear time simply confuses them, since they view the past, present, and future as being one and the same. At worst, they can be ''harmed'' by it: a Pah-Wraith possessing O'Brien's wife tries to coax him into firing a Chroniton Beam into the wormhole to kill the Prophets in "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS05E05TheAssignment The Assignment]]", and Chroniton Particles are used to drive away a Prophet and a Pah-Wraith in "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS06E21TheReckoning The Reckoning]]".
128	* ''Series/TheThundermans'': Thundertanium is a metal that's immune to superpowers, be it Hank's SuperStrength or Phoebe's telekinesis, rendering any attempt to use superpowers on it the same as a normal person attempting to punch or levitate a hunk of solid metal. It can't actively weaken any super, but every super prison makes liberal use of it to contain its superpowered prisoners.
129	* Non-super example: James May of ''Series/TopGearUK'' appears to have mild to moderate obsessive-compulsive disorder. His co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson once drove him offstage by rotating the bezel on his watch until it was out of alignment with the face.
130	* Cole on ''Series/Tracker2001'' was vulnerable to Lodestone - it interfered with his life force sensing ability and weakened him a bit.
131	[[/folder]]
132
133	[[folder:Mythology, Folklore, and Religion]]
134	* The Chinese tale of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Brothers Ten Brothers]] has ten brothers all born with supernatural powers that they lose when they come into contact with limestone.
135	* Traditionally ColdIron (which may or may not be the same thing as regular iron) is this to TheFairFolk, serving both to drive them away (hanging an iron horseshoe over your door turns it into an [[InsurmountableWaistHighFence impenetrable barrier]] to them) as well as being directly harming them (they cannot physically touch iron without being harmed, and iron weapons are the only things capable of killing them)
136	* Over the centuries vampires have managed to accumulate a truly impressive list of traditional kryptonite factors (rivaled only by that of [[PunyEarthlings squishy humans]]), to the point that most writers have to {{nerf}} or outright ignore several of them [[OurVampiresAreDifferent to make vampires]] [[YourVampiresSuck pose any sort of threat]].
137	* [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Werewolves]]' best-known Kryptonite Factor nowadays is {{silver\|Bullet}}, though it's worth to mention that this actually is NewerThanTheyThink; the idea apparently originated from the Beast of Gevaudan, which according to the myth was killed by a silver bullet, but back then, the reason it succeeded in killing it was believed to be because the creature was of satanic origin and the bullet had been blessed. Before silver became iconic, werewolves' best-known Kryptonite Factor was Wolfsbane (also known as Aconitum), a plant people believed to have various effects on them, including killing them.
138	* The Norse god Balder was so greatly revered that every object, every element and every organism in the world [[IntrinsicVow vowed]] that it would never harm him, effectively making him invulnerable to everything... except for mistletoe, [[TemptingFate which was never required to make such a vow because it was thought to pose no threat]]. Three guesses as to how that turned out. An alternate version suggests that Frigg, Balder's mother, asked every creature on earth not to harm her son... but the Mistletoe is a parasite that grows on other trees, never touching the earth. (Or just because she forgot about it.)
139	* There's a fairly well known verse in ''Literature/TheBible'', ''Literature/BookOfJudges'' 1:19, which reads "The LORD was with Judah, so that they took possession of the hill country; but they were not able to dispossess the inhabitants of the plain, for they had iron chariots." Which would seem to imply the God ''can't'' defeat iron chariots. Some people have explained it as saying it was Judah who failed rather than God. While this interpretation is valid, it raises further questions, as it implies that having an omnipotent God on your side is somehow less of an advantage than having iron chariots. This is because the ancient Hebrews didn't all believe that god was omnipotent, only superhumanly powerful.
140	[[/folder]]
141
142	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
143	* The ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' game setting's ''Van Richten's Guides'' not only expanded on a lot of creepy D&D monsters' powers, but also gave plenty of them unique Kryptonite Factors of their own. We're not talking about the usual VampiresHateGarlic stuff; in Ravenloft, even ''golems'' have their own personalized Kryptonite, which players have to figure out if they're going to use it against the baddies.
144	* Vulnerability and Weakness are used to represent this in ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}''.
145	* A rather [[ScrappyMechanic spiteful]] example in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' with the Grey Knights Space Marines, MagiTek {{Super Soldier}}s that comprised the fighting arm of the Ordo Malleus, also called the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Daemonhunters]]. Back in 3rd edition and earlier, Daemons were generally pretty rare but powerful shock troops that were small auxiliary subsets of other armies, like the Eldar with their Avatar and the Chaos Marines with their Chaos Daemons. One usually wouldn't fight an all-daemon army, and if an all-daemon army ever was fielded (usually by the {{Munchkin}}, given that this was a major GameBreaker back in the day), it usually was by the player's choice. So if you spammed Daemons and came up against a Daemonhunter player, you were just getting your well-deserved comeuppance for fielding a cheap army. But then Games Workshop went and split the Chaos Marines from the Chaos Daemons into two separate books in [[WhatWereYouThinking one of the most maligned decisions in the history of the hobby]] (which is saying ''a lot!''), and suddenly you had a ''faction'' who fell prey to another army almost by virtue of [[WeaksauceWeakness the other army showing up]].
146	** As of April 2011, the Grey Knights themselves were given their own book to replace the Daemonhunters Codex. They're still insultingly effective against Daemons, [[{{Flanderization}} if not more so]]. They just got better against other armies.
147	*** Grey Knights have more or less became the {{Elite Mook\|s}} of the Imperial forces, rather than a dedicated Daemonhunting branch. However they still have a horrendous number of special rules against Daemons and it's even possible to ''statistically destroy 33% of a Daemon player's army'' before the game even starts, and that's without tailoring. Before these rules came with an additional rule that benefitted Daemons, to balance out the power. It's gone now.
148	* ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'' has the Vulnerability and Weakness drawbacks.
149	** The official adventure module, ''Time of Crisis'' adds a weakness to [[spoiler:the Big Bad Omega]] in the form of [[spoiler:the cosmic detonator rods you've been pulling from the various Cosmic bombs]] which will completely bypass all of his defenses, potentially turning the final battle into a [[CurbStompBattle curb stomp]].
150	* Essentially required of characters (including NPC monsters) with superhuman toughness and/or regeneration in ''TabletopGame/TheDresdenFiles''. ''Something'' -- referred to as "the catch" -- must exist that bypasses their defenses, and common and/or obvious catches can provide point cost breaks. (Obscure ones like [[spoiler:Nicodemus's vulnerability to his own Judas Noose]] are okay, too, it just means paying the full cost.)
151	* Given the origin of the trope, any superhero RPG has a version of it. ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'' for example provides both Vulnerability (where certain attacks are more effective) and Susceptibility (where just exposure to the offending factor is enough to cause ill effects), plus the option of applying Limitations to powers so they become cheaper but for example don't work under all circumstances or against certain things.
152	* Lead is extremely poisonous to Europans in ''TabletopGame/RocketAge''.
153	* Most supernatural creatures in ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'' have a vulnerability to some substance, which causes aggravated damage to them:
154	** From the core rulebook, all ephemeral entities have a unique Ban and Bane. The Bane is a substance or energy that is anathema to the entity, and grows more specific the higher the entity's Rank (so a minor Rank 1 ghost might be burned by salt, while the Rank 5 ghost of an ancient necromancer called back by a cult might only be vulnerable to an obsidian dagger inscribed with the name of a god of death). The Ban, on the other hand, is an act the entity must perform or not perform under certain circumstances, and grows both more esoteric and more significant as the entity's Rank rises (so a Rank 1 spirit of fire might be unable to cross running water, while the Rank 5 spirit of a certain volcano might be required to use its powers to assassinate anyone named by someone who drops a kilo of solid platinum into the volcano's caldera).
155	** TabletopGame/{{Vampire\|TheRequiem}}' are [[KillItWithFire fire]] and sunlight. To a lesser extent, stakes are effective too, though that one merely leaves them paralyzed rather than causing any kind of special damage.
156	** TabletopGame/{{Werewol\|fTheForsaken}}ves' is, as usual, {{silver\|Bullet}}. In-universe, this is explained by Luna, the Moon Spirit, cursing them with this weakness as a punition for killing their progenitor Father Wolf. Because of this, the Forsaken (those who acknowledged their crime and are trying to atone for it) have it slightly less rough and are merely harmed if the substance gets in their blood, while the Pure (those who refused responsibility for the crime) can't even ''touch'' it without getting hurt.
157	** TabletopGame/{{Promethean\|TheCreated}}s' is fire as well, though they can heal from electricity as a compensation.
158	** TabletopGame/{{Changeling\|TheLost}}s use ColdIron against their enemies, the True Fae. Powerful Changelings gain "frailties" as the storybook logic of faerie magic takes root within them; for example, the Summer King of Miami is harmed by the touch of copper and can't rest in a room without open windows.
159	** TabletopGame/{{Mumm\|yTheCurse}}es' are fire and relic weaponry.
160	** TabletopGame/{{Beast\|ThePrimordial}}s have an interesting variant; while they don't have any Kryptonite Factor in their natural state, [[ManOfKryptonite Heroes]] possess an ability known as Anathema, which allows them to ''force'' one on them. It's commonly believed among Beasts that vampires are vulnerable to fire because their Progenitor was a Beast who suffered an Anathema giving that weakness.
161	** This extends to fan supplements as well:
162	*** [[TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression Geniuses]] themselves aren't particularly vulnerable, but all their inventions go completely haywire when exposed to actual scientific scrutiny, including being handled by a mere mortal.
163	*** TabletopGame/{{Leviathan\|TheTempest}}s' are electricity, [[HolyBurnsEvil Virtue]], and the Symbol of Marduk.
164	*** TabletopGame/{{Dragon\|TheEmbers}}s' is Jadeite. The retooled ''TabletopGame/DragonRekindled'' makes them vulnerable to dark magic and regular jade as well, albeit not to the same level.
165	*** TabletopGame/{{Princess\|TheHopeful}}es aren't vulnerable to any ''material'' substance, but they do have a form of enhanced empathy called Sensitivity, which causes them to [[AllergicToEvil feel hurt when they see people commit cruel or vicious actions]]. This can variably cause physical injuries, headaches, depression, anger or denial, and has the side effect of creating "shadows" which disturb their ability to [[HenshinHero transform]].
166	*** Their main opponents, the All-Consuming Darkness, has a distinct vulnerability to jade, which burns its minions by mere contact.
167	*** [[TabletopGame/SirenTheDrowning Sirens]] are vulnerable to pollutants and chemical weapons.
168	* TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness: TabletopGame/{{Vampire\|TheMasquerade}}s and TabletopGame/{{werewol\|fTheApocalypse}}ves have the same weaknesses as in [=NWoD=], while TabletopGame/{{changeling\|TheDreaming}} are weak to ColdIron.
169	[[/folder]]
170
171	[[folder:Theater]]
172	* ''Film/TheToxicAvenger'' musical makes bleach the only thing that can kill Toxie. Luckily filthy Hudson water can resurrect him.
173	* Tough Man from ''Theatre/{{Eugenius}}'' is allergic to love so his sidekick Super Hot Lady can never have him. Though he is implied to be gay at the end.
174	[[/folder]]
175
176	[[folder:Video Games]]
177	* MMORPG Example: In ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes,'' one can unlock the "Kheldian" Epic Archetype, a form of EnergyBeings from outer space that have merged with humans. Though they possess a greater arsenal of powers than "ordinary" heroes, as well as the unique ability of shapeshifting, they also possess a fatal weakness to a particular form of [[PureEnergy Quantum Energy]]. Thus, while playing or teaming with one, enemies wielding Quantum Array Guns are mixed in randomly with the ordinary enemies -- as are the lethal "Void Hunters", mercenaries specifically trained to hunt and kill Kheldians, adding implants that protect them from Kheldian attacks to their Quantum Array Guns.
178	** This weakness was toned down due to years of player complaints as the Quantum Weapons were considered to be too commonplace for such a powerful attack. Now the quantum weapons deal less damage and only stun the player for a fraction of a second rather than taking over a third of their life and leaving them stunned for too long to defend themselves.
179	** Having a Kheldian on the team will occasionally spawn [[DemonicSpiders Shadow Cysts]] that spawn spirits that ruin accuracy and attack speed of everyone on the team. Oh, and they explode when destroyed. And they're surrounded by Mooks who will probably kill you because you can't aim or fight back. For the most part, Shadow Cyst = TotalPartyKill. Thanks Kheldians!
180	** To add insult to injury, Kheldians aren't really particularly overpowered. They're actually pretty lackluster in comparison to the other archetypes, at least without a whole lot of work and expense tricking out your build.
181	* The Dragon spell from the [=PLATO=] computers ''VideoGame/{{dnd}}'' game has no effect on normal enemies, but it instantly kills the dragon FinalBoss.* Haar in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' is an otherwise OneManArmy mechanically, but (also mechanically) is always 2 hit killed by thunder mages.
182	** This applies to almost every unit with a weakness in the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' games: Attacks with a weapon the target is weak to (this is distinct from the sword>axe>lance>sword thing) triples the weapon's "might" stat. And pray you don't get unlucky enough to get hit by a critical hit by your weakness.
183	* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', [[DragonsAreDemonic draconic]] BigBad Alduin is completely invulnerable unless under the effects of the "[[BrownNote Dragonrend]]" [[LanguageOfMagic Thu'um]] shout. Dragonrend is the only Thu'um shout created by mortals, and it forces the immortal [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]] to experience mortality, an utterly disorienting concept to them.
184	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesEchoesOfTime'': The hero's crystal fragment triggers Veriaulde's transformation and harms Larkeicus, in both cases causing their bodies to smoke or steam.
185	* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
186	** In games like ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', only the Silver Arrows and the Master Sword can harm Ganon.
187	** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', you cannot finish off Ganon with the Biggoron Sword; he ''must'' be defeated with the Master Sword.
188	* In ''Franchise/MegaMan'', all enemies have this. An extreme example is Metal Man from ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'', who dies in 1 hit from his own weapon (on Easy. On Hard mode he takes 2 shots).
189	* ''VideoGame/{{Runescape}}'' lets you create Kryptonite in the form of Bane Ore. This stuff can be tuned to various creatures, and doing so will make it harmful to them. Bane Metal can then be made into arrows and bolts. Balmung, the axe you use to slay [[SeaMonster Dagganoths]] during a difficult quest, is revealed to be made of Bane Metal as well.
190	** The Vampyre Quest series brings us Silverthril, an alloy of mithril and silver, which is somewhat effective at slaying immortal Vyrewatch. Later on, weapons crafted from the Blisterwood Tree take this up a notch.
191	* In ''VideoGame/{{Scribblenauts}}'', a few creatures are impossible to kill except using some special objects:
192	** Vampires can only be harmed by crosses, stakes, garlic, sunlight and anything with the adjective Holy. Using any of those will instantly slay the vampire (yes, even throwing a clove of garlic to him), but there are useless or very weak weapons against any other foe.
193	** Ooze [[KillItWithFire can only be killed with fire]].
194	* In ''Videogame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole'', the player character is forced to choose a Kryptonite in the form of an enemy faction that they'll have penalties against due to the rules of the superhero game that the kids are playing. Each of the other playable characters have Krytonites listed on their character sheets, though it typically just serves the purpose of a gag. Coincidentally, Cartman (who made the rules in the first place) [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem is the only character who doesn't have a listed Kryptonite]].
195	* In ''VisualNovel/TearsToTiara'' and the sequel ''VideoGame/TearsToTiara2'', non-humans on your team are affected whenever the bad guys use Obelisk to unleash the "holy" aura Gravitas.
196	* ''VideoGame/TwentyXX'', which is [[SpiritualSuccessor heavily inspired by]] ''VideoGame/MegaManX'', has the same kind of boss weakness cycle. Some of them make sense: the shield-focused Vile Visage is vulnerable to shield-breaching mortars, and the engineered plant Death Lotus can be trimmed with spinning blades. Others are a bit stranger; [[MoreDakka minigun-encrusted]] Perforator Alpha is susceptible to a slow-moving phasing projectile for reasons that are never quite explained.
197	[[/folder]]
198
199	[[folder:Web Animation]]
200	* ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'': Being an {{Expy}} of {{Franchise/Superman}}, Splendid has kryptonut in [[Recap/HTFGemsTheBreaks one episode]], which is kryptonite shaped as an acorn. Exposure to the radiation from it causes him to lose his powers and fall ill with what resembles the stomach flu. At the end of the episode, he crushes the kryptonut and accidentally inhales the powder, causing him to vomit uncontrollably as the skin on his face falls off. This (and [[Recap/HTFClassAct another instance]] confirmed by WordOfGod) is the only time he has ever died, as nothing else can hurt him.
201	* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Most humans aren't consciously aware of magnetism and Pyrrha can only affect people with her MagnetismManipulation power if they're wearing metal. Penny, however, is a robot that is made from a magnetic material. During the Vytal Festival tournament, the villains deliberately rig the fights so that Penny will be forced to fight Pyrrha to deliberately invoke this weakness. [[spoiler:When they trick Pyrrha into using her full power, Penny and her [[MarionetteMaster sword wires]] become so badly entangled by the force of the magnetic pulse that she ends up being torn to shreds by her own weapons.]]
202	* ''WebAnimation/SuctionCupMan'': It becomes a recognized fact that "No one can kill Suction Cup Man", look at him go. That is, up the outer wall of a tall building. However, when the hapless Business Guy specifically makes him fall off the building with a spray bottle of deliberately produced "Anti-Suction Cup Cleaner", he doesn't just fall off the building, ''he '''dies''''' before the minute is out and becomes roadkill. The rest of the video centers around him going to Hell -- where over the Devil's protests, Suction Cup Man just does that thing he does.
203	[[/folder]]
204
205	[[folder:Webcomics]]
206	* Aberrations in ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' are difficult to harm using physical attacks, but are weak against magical weapons, to the extent that a HyperspaceMallet not normally capable of causing any real harm becomes a useful weapon against them.
207	* The [[OurDarkMatterIsMysterious Pa'anuri]] from ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' are immune to attacks by baryonic matter (that is to say, 'normal' matter) because baryonic and dark matter does not interact outside of gravity. [[DestructiveTeleportation Teraporting]], meanwhile, disrupts their equivalent to biochemistry[[note]]teraporting in the Schlockiverse creates billions of tiny wormholes, which are gravitic events[[/note]] and is toxic to them, meaning that fighting Pa'anuri involves saturating areas with TeleportInterdiction fields or rapidly teraporting in their vicinity. In the final arc, [[BigGood The Fleetmind]] invents a Teraport Gun which weaponizes this factor: it's not made clear what its effect would be on a baryonic opponent, but it is ''extremely'' deadly to Pa'anuri.
208	[[/folder]]
209
210	[[folder:Web Original]]
211	* In the superhero spoof AdventureGame ''The Frenetic Five versus Strum und Drang'', the character Pastiche has various powers, the most notable of which is an ability to become {{intangib\|ility}}le. Her only weakness: she can't phase through ''[[BoundAndGagged rope]]''.
212	** In the sequel, ''The Frenetic Five vs. Mr. Redundancy Man'', Lexicon, the character with a superhuman grasp of the English language, is incapacitated by ''poor grammar''.
213	* In ''Literature/TalesOfMU'', the half-demon Mackenzie may be partially invulnerable, but crossing yourself is the only thing needed to repel her. In peoples of faith, this actually ''pushes'' her away and causes unbearable pain.
214	* Incredibly powerful mage Fey in the Literature/WhateleyUniverse is indeed one of TheFairFolk, and so she has a weakness to cold iron. And synthetics, which give her really nasty rashes. She has wardrobe problems because of that one.
215	** Anyone who is able to use Erebeal Magic (one of the forms of CastingAShadow in-universe) develops a negative reaction to the herb moly. Nacht, who was [[spoiler:[[AbusiveParents dipped into the Erebos as an infant and not expected to survive]], but did]], has this to a crippling degree, but fortunately for her, ''real'' sacred moly is exceedingly rare.
216	** Played with by Phase, who's managed to slip a ''fake'' Kryptonite Factor into her official file. For the record, it's [[spoiler:"dark chocolate administered orally"]].
217	* Upon entering melee range of any anti-dragon Noble Phantasm, Uther from ''Roleplay/FateNuovoGuerra'' suffers a rank-down for all of his stats, in addition to any damage bonuses they have against him.
218	* ''Blog/HowToHero'' discusses this in the entry on [[https://howtohero.tumblr.com/post/162382938390/weaknesses weaknesses]].
219	[[/folder]]
220
221	[[folder:Western Animation]]
222	* In ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'', dragons can't stand Sphinx hair. Small amounts force them back into human form, while large amounts inflict serious pain upon them.
223	* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', earthbenders can't bend metal (until Toph discovers how). In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', metalbending techniques have become widespread, so the new kryptonite is platinum. Metalbending works by bending impurities within the metal, and platinum doesn't have enough impurities to bend.
224	** Most of the Bending arts have some hard counter that can be used to imprison troublesome Benders, usually by denying them access to their element in some way or another. Earth has the aforementioned metal (which can still be effective since ''Legend of Korra'' noted that only a few Earthbenders have the skills needed to become Metalbenders), and Earthbenders have also been shown to be useless when put in wooden containers. Firebenders and Waterbenders are vulnerable to extreme cold and heat respectively, and since they draw their powers from the celestial bodies eclipses can also shut them down for a short time. Air is the only one without an expressed weakness, but a few heavy chains or a straitjacket are usually enough to keep an Airbender from going anywhere.
225	* WesternAnimation/{{Captain Planet\|and the Planeteers}} has a very odd weakness in that it's pollution, the very thing he's trying to fight. It'd be like Superman deciding to specialize solely on kryptonite cleanup duty.
226	** His EvilCounterpart Captain Pollution, is weak against pure wind, water, earth, and fire while being composed of concentrated pollution. This makes it interesting in that they're walking kryptonite to one another.
227	*** Captain Planet was also shown to be weak to intense hatred in at least one episode. UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler managed to completely disable him just by ''glaring'' at him. However, hate is regularly shown to be the pollution for ''Heart'' as even one of the rings used to summon Captain Pollution was Hate which was the negative copy of the Heart ring.
228	* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'':
229	** Danny is weakened by a flower called Blood Blossom. It removes his powers while causing him extreme pain. Plus the various weapons his parents and Vlad have devised that can remove his powers or hurt him while he is intangible.
230	** Ectoranium, introduced in the SeriesFinale, is a green glowing rock that ghosts can't touch without being painfully shocked (in fact, it's the key ingredient in most anti-ghost weapons and defensive technology); they can still phase through it, which is an important plot point. Kind of an obvious {{Expy}} of Kryptonite, but in this case the Ectoranium is as much of a danger to humans as ghosts since it's a large asteroid that got knocked off course towards Earth.
231	* Specifically parodied in one episode of the ''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim'' animated series. Jim is helpless against the substance known as Wormtonite (which Peter Puppy claims they found at the back of the fridge, and might once have been cheese). Bizarrely, its effects include turning Jim into a bowl of candied corn.
232	* On ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', fairy magic has no effect on butterfly nets, which, therefore, are one of if not the only object capable of trapping them.
233	** Genies are affected by a substance called smoof. What smoof is goes unexplained, but it's consistently purple.
234	* Spoofed in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'', in which bad guy Guttierez tries presenting a variety of weaknesses (the color yellow, water, and kryptonite itself), failing each time, as Freakazoid points out that that's some other iconic character's weakness.
235	** Freakazoid himself has two rather obscure and ridiculous weaknesses, though: he can be imprisoned in a cage with graphite bars charged with negative ions, and he has an aversion to "poo gas".
236	---> '''Freakazoid:''' Dumb, dumb, dumb! Never tell the villain how to trap you in a cage!\
237	'''Guttierez:''' You probably shouldn't have helped us build it, either.\
238	'''Freakazoid:''' I know! Dumb!
239	*** Though as Guttierez pointed out, no one likes "poo gas".
240	* In a BadFuture segment on ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'', rebels led by Irwin use frogs as weapons, as they've learned that they are giant worm/planetary tyrant Future Mandy's Kryptonite Factor. [[spoiler:They're wrong, as Mandy had leaked that information herself.]]
241	* The ''WesternAnimation/HeroElementary'' episode "Sara Loses Her Snap" reveals that Sara Snap loses her powers for a day when she eats coconuts as shown when accidentally eating a coconut flavored power bar. This becomes a problem when the team has to move a giant hamburger out of the way.
242	* On ''WesternAnimation/TheMightyB'', Bessie (who fancied herself a would-be superhero) once tried to find her Kryptonite Factor by going through every food item she could think of alphabetically. By the time she got to zucchini she was so full that she became violently ill, and thus thought that zucchini was her weakness.
243	* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'', Grogar is incredibly powerful and seemingly nothing can hurt him, but once a certain bell is rung, he is automatically banished back to the Shadow World.
244	* In the [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E26ToWhereAndBackAgainPart2 season 6 finale]] of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Thorax reveals that Queen Chrysalis has a throne carved from an ancient dark stone that absorbs all forms of magic that get too close to it except for changeling magic. Not even [[RealityWarper draconequus]] magic can resist it.
245	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'': The Ninja's ElementalPowers can be neutralised by a mineral known as Vengestone.
246	** In Seceets of Forbidden Spinjitzu: Ice (Season 11 part 2), this is also one of the many properties of the Ice Emperor's corrupted ice.
247	* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998''; the titular girls lose their powers if they come in contact with Antidote X.
248	* In Composite Santa's first appearance on ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'', half of his body melted after a fireball destroyed another enemy. He exclaimed, "Temperatures over 32 degrees Fahrenheit! My only weakness!" This later became a MadLibsCatchphrase as "My only weakness" included bullets, water, and baseball bats.
249	* [[BigBad Aku]] from ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' is immune to all forms of damage except divine magic, so the gods created a magic sword forged from the righteous spirit of a Japanese Emperor to kill him. When that didn't stick, the Emperor had his son trained up to finish the job [[spoiler: and eventually, he succeeded.]]
250	** As a bonus, the sword cannot harm an innocent when it is in the hands of evil, so Jack himself can't be hurt by the weapon if it is used by a villain, as demonstrated when Aku once tried to stab him with the sword and it just bounced off.
251	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Bart once discovered Principal Skinner's allergy to peanuts, and used it to practically enslave him. Skinner soon learns that Bart has an allergy too; shrimp. [[MundaneMadeAwesome They end up in a "sword" fight with sticks with their opponent's kryptonite on the end]] set to "[[AwesomeMusic/StarWars Duel of the Fates]]".
252	%% which Spider-Man? * ComicBook/SpiderMan would occasionally make sly references to a "guy who's allergic to green rocks".
253	* The WesternAnimation/SushiPack are weakened by heat, and since they have a tendency to announce it, their most recurrent villains usually keep a couple of heat lamps around.
254	* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' parodied this in the episode "Michelangelo Meets Bug Man". In it, Michelangelo finds Bug Man, who turned into the superhero when he got angry, wrapped in chains that were laced with his main weakness before being thrown down into the sewer. His weakness? "Leestanite"! [[note]]The name is not an accident: it was a play on famous comic book creator Creator/StanLee.[[/note]]
255	* ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats1985'': The [=ThunderCats=] are vulnerable to "thundrainium", a rare mineral that is a poorly-disguised knock-off of kryptonite. It even hurts Jaga, who is a ghost. For unexplained reasons, the villainous [=ThunderCat=] Grune the Destroyer is not affected by thundrainium, which makes him very dangerous as his mace is made of it.
256	* ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'': In an episode spoofing the ''Film/SupermanFilmSeries'', "Super-Babs" was weak to carrot cake -- she couldn't stop eating it, and the villain continued feeding it to her until she was too overweight to fly after him.
257	* Haggarium drains the power of Voltron in ''WesternAnimation/VoltronForce'', as well as its component lions.
258	* ''WesternAnimation/WordGirl'' loses her powers and gift of perfect vocabulary when exposed to lexonite, a radioactive mineral from her home planet.
259	[[/folder]]
260
261	[[folder:Real Life]]
262	* [[https://web.archive.org/web/20201111145432/http://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/why-is-aspirin-toxic-to-cats Aspirin is kryptonite to cats]]. This article even acknowledges the trope.
263	* Chocolate to canines. While it is much less known, chocolate is dangerous for cats too, though cats are much less likely to eat it than dogs are.
264	* Any human with a severe food allergy. Peanuts are a frequent culprit here, with some unlucky folks unable to be in the same room as peanut products without going into respiratory shock. Diabetics have a similar reaction to sugar.
265	* Salt to snails/slugs.
266	* Freshwater fish in saltwater and vice versa due to osmosis.
267	* The New England Patriots and Bernard Pollard. Pollard has destroyed the Patriots so many times that his fan nickname is the "Anti Patriot" and the "Patriot Killer". Pollard is a good player and is generally well-regarded, but it's bizarre coincidence that Pollard has done the biggest damage to the Patriots.
268	* Tin foil for microwave ovens.
269	* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norbormide Norbormide]] is a rodenticide that is highly toxic ''only'' to rats and mildly toxic to all other animals.
270	* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth#Usages Diatomaceous earth]] to insects.
271	* Reporter Richard Morgan [[https://niemanstoryboard.org/stories/richard-morgan-the-awl-on-payback-freelancing-and-the-myth-of-the-made-man/ recounts]] that a guy he was interviewing [[ParodiedTrope parodied]] this in real life.
272	--> "But that bio – I keep meaning to fix that bio, because one time I interviewed a guy, an archaeologist, and he slam-dunked a giant pineapple onto the table when I first started the interview, and he waved it in front of me. My bio says, “Pineapples are his weakness.”"
273	--> Interviewer: "I assumed that meant you loved them."
274	--> "Yeah, I would probably eat anything with pineapple on it. But he sort of waved it around as if it were kryptonite and made a joke about it. It was weird and awkward and made me think I shouldn’t put that much information about myself out there."
275	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / KryptoniteFactor