Line #27 Main/SinglePowerSuperheroes


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4	[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/XMen https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/x_men_first_team.png]]]]
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6	->'''GameMaster:''' What will YOU do this turn, Cyclops?\
7	'''[[Characters/MarvelComicsCyclops Cyclops]]:''' ''[deadpan, despondent and bored]'' ...I shoot it with my Optic Blast.
8	-->-- '''Creator/NoahAntwiler''' (summing up [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer a common problem with this trope]]), ''WebVideo/CounterMonkey''
9
10	There are many superheroes out there. Some, like Franchise/{{Batman}}, do their super-heroing using years and years of training their bodies, [[BadassNormal showing human capability to a remarkable extent]], [[WhereDoesHeGetAllThoseWonderfulToys possibly with the help from a utility belt]] as well. Others are like {{Franchise/Superman}}, having a [[ComboPlatterPowers whole grab-bag of superpowers]] that [[FlightStrengthHeart needn't even be remotely related in some of the extreme cases]]. Then, there are superheroes like ComicBook/{{Cyclops}}. [[ComicBook/TeenTitans Beast Boy]]. [[WesternAnimation/StaticShock Static]]. The middle-roaders. The ones that only have one listed superpower, but which they sometimes [[ImaginationBasedSuperpower have]] [[SemanticSuperpower many]] [[SwissArmySuperpower uses]] for.
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12	As you can guess, this trope excuses unmentioned RequiredSecondaryPowers, since they often aren't a power in their own right, though the line can get a little fuzzy at times. ElementalPowers are a sub-trope of this. In a show with CastSpeciation, this can easily become WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway. (See Hawkman in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'' cartoon.)
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14	OnePersonOnePower is when this applies to every powered person in a setting.
15
16	----
17	!!Examples:
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19	[[foldercontrol]]
20
21	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
22	* The espers in ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'' and ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'' generally seem to operate like this. They have ''one'' very specific power that they can use in all sorts of ways (eg. Misaka has control over electricity, which she can use to stick to walls, shoot lightning, create railguns...). The one esper who breaks this rule is Gunha Sogiita, who [[ComboPlatterPowers has several powers that don't seem to have anything to do with each other]], frustrating researchers to no end, especially since [[ApathyKilledTheCat he has no interest in learning how his powers work]]. Mages tend to be a bit more complicated.
23	* Contractors in ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' have only a single power. They might be ''creative'' with it, but it always comes back to one general ability. This means that contractors who have an ability that needs RequiredSecondaryPowers are quite pooched, as evidenced by the Contractor with a FlashStep ability who essentially defeats himself.
24	* Most of the Wizards of ''Manga/FairyTail'' are only proficient in one type of magic, but can use that magic in many different ways. Erza has a full arsenal of magical weapons and armors she can summon, and [[TheLancer Gray]] can make ''anything'' out of ice.
25	* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' gives us Stands, most of which have one ability (healing, stopping time, turning things into paper). The majority of a Stand user's strength comes from how flexible they are with these powers (for example, the Stand with "healing" as its ability can heal human wounds... and rebuild broken objects, and reconstitute meals into their component ingredients, and...).
26	* Devil Fruit from ''Manga/OnePiece'' gives a person one super human ability. [[WorldOfBadass What regular humans can do in that universe would be super powers pretty much anywhere else though.]]
27	** Although Devil Fruit eaters do have it much better than other series with one superpower as many of the Devil's Fruit [[SemanticSuperpower have multiple powers that all fall under one name]]. For example, the Sand Sand Fruit lets the user control sand, turn into sand, and drain water out of other people's bodies (thus, turning them into "sand").
28	** The best example of this trope would have to be the protagonist himself, Monkey D. Luffy. He is a RubberMan, able to stretch and contort his body like it was rubber. That's about it. He keeps discovering new and increasingly creative applications for it, however, that it's the only power Luffy needs. [[spoiler:And later on, it's revealed that it's not a mundane ability after all, but actually one of the rarest and most powerful fruits out there, meaning that Luffy actually won the SuperPowerLottery with that one ability]].
29	* Similarly, most alter-users from ''Anime/SCryEd'' have one ability granted to them, at least at first. They may later get upgrades in power, and several characters have multiple largely unrelated abilities (Straight Cougar, for example, has the ability to make things fast, which manifests as super speed... and turning cars into pink supercharged vehicles). Main character Kazuma's only ability at the beginning of the series is an armored right arm.
30	* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' usually works like this, [[EveryoneIsASuper with 80% of the human population being born with superpowers]] called Quirks. While most people simply inherit one of their parents' Quirks, some will instead inherit both of their parents Quirks combined into a brand new one. The prime example is Shoto Tororoki, whose Quirk: Half Cold Hald Hot, is a combination of his father's [[PlayingWithFire fire]] power and his mother's [[AnIcePerson ice]] power. The series also goes into the possibility of someone gaining multiple powers. The prime example being the villain [[BigBad All For One]], whose Quirk also named [[PowerParasite All For One]], grants him the power to steal other Quirks and either use it himself or transfer it to someone else. He used this to create the Nomu, genetically augmented individuals who have been bestowed multiple Quirks, but whose brains atrophied from the strain, turning them into mindless monsters. On the other side of the coin, All For One created his own arch-nemesis by forcibly bestowing a Quirk that [[GatheringSteam accumulates power]] to his supposedly [[{{Unsorcerer}} Quirkless]] brother, who actually had a useless Quirk that he could pass on to other people. The two Quirks fused together into a new Quirk called One for All, which grants the power of {{SuperStrength}}/{{SuperSpeed}} and can be [[SuperEmpowering transferred from person to person]], with the power of the Quirk increasing each time it's transferred. Originally used by the hero [[SupermanSubstitute All Might]], he eventually passed it on to the protagonist Izuku Midoriya.[[spoiler: It's later revealed that One For All absorbed the Quriks of the previous users, with Midoriya being the first user able to access these additional powers.]]
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Comic Books]]
34	* A significant number of characters from ''ComicBook/XMen''. Cyclops, Quicksilver, Magneto, Polaris, Rogue (even though she uses her one power to get many), Mystique, Shadowcat, and almost too many others to mention. In theory, all Mutants are supposed to have one and only one power, but this is not really the case.
35	** This is [[DependingOnTheWriter inconsistently]] applied to ComicBook/{{Nightcrawler}}. Sometimes teleportation is considered his only "true" power, with things like hiding in darkness being just a function of his dark fur and wall-crawling coming from his unusual fingers and toes (and he's therefore unable to cling to very smooth surfaces). Other times he has full-on invisibility in shadows and can climb pretty much anything.
36	* ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}. His only power is enhanced senses.
37	%%* From Creator/DCComics, we have ComicBook/{{Wildcat}}, Dr. Mid-Nite, both Wonder Twins, ComicBook/{{Metamorpho}}...
38	* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': Most of the team qualifies. Ben has super strength and durability, Reed is a RubberMan and Johnny is a pyrokinetic. Sue initially started out with only invisibility but gained the ability to create and manipulate force-fields.
39	* At the time he was created, Franchise/TheFlash's sole superpower was super-speed. However, he's since gotten a host of... very vaguely speed-related powers, turning the Speed Force into a SwissArmySuperpower. For example, he has a healing factor (i.e. healing very fast), can time travel (albeit only with special equipment), can phase through walls and projectiles (vibrating himself down to the atomic level), drag someone into the Speed Force to kill/imprison them, drain all the Speed Force from an opponent to freeze them in place, and also perform an Infinite Mass Punch (basically hitting someone so fast it'd be as if he had Superman levels of SuperStrength behind his blows).
40	* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': The Hulk was originally just a [[TheBigGuy very big, very strong]] behemoth. Soon, he gained an assortment of powers, some which were logical in relation to increased muscle ability, such as [[InASingleBound super-leaping]], NighInvulnerability, SuperSpeed and SuperReflexes. Then, over time, things just got crazy, and he gained other abilities such as [[ImmuneToMindControl immunity to mind control]], [[ISeeDeadPeople ability to see supernatural creatures]], [[EnergyAbsorption ability to absorb radiation]], a HealingFactor that rivals ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'s, [[SuperNotDrowningSkills a gland that lets him breathe underwater]], and sometimes the ability to create new personalities as needed (each with their own power set).
41	* Replace "Superheroes" with "Anti-Heroes" and Cassie Hack of ''ComicBook/HackSlash'' now qualifies thanks to the recent arcs of her comic book series, because she gained a healing factor (literally her only genuine super-power at this point) since then.
42	* The pre-reboot ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' had a "No Duplicate Powers" rule. They accepted only one member with a particular power, and traditionally members had only one each- [[MagnetismManipulation Cosmic Boy]], [[PsychicPowers Saturn Girl]], [[ShockAndAwe Lightning Lad]], [[SuperIntelligence Brainiac 5]], [[MesACrowd Triplicate Girl]], etc. There are some exceptions, like ComicBook/{{Superboy}} and ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}.
43	[[/folder]]
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45	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
46	* In ''Franchise/TheIncredibles'', most members of the Parr family have one superpower each (SuperStrength for Bob, RubberMan powers for Helen, SuperSpeed for Dash), and the film series implies that is also the case with most supers. The exceptions are Violet, who has both invisibility and force field generation, and Jack-Jack, who appears normal [[spoiler:but develops a wide variety of powers in the climax of the first film]]. Of course, Violet's powers are identical to Marvel's [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Invisible Woman]], who originally only had the invisibility and developed the forcefields later. Helen is a gender-swapped Mr Fantastic, Bob's powers are equivalent to the Thing, minus the [[ReluctantMonster downside]], Dash has [[ComicBook/{{Xmen}} Quicksilver]]'s powers and Frozone has Iceman's.
47	[[/folder]]
48
49	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
50	* ''Film/{{Eternals}}'': As opposed to the comics where they were all {{Flying Brick}}s with an assortment of powers, each of the Eternals in the MCU have a single power (except Ikaris, who has both {{Flight}} and EyeBeams). Sersi has {{Transmutation}}, Sprite has [[MasterOfIllusion illusions]], Ajak has HealingHands, Gilgamesh has SuperStrength, Kingo has [[HandBlast literal]] {{Finger Gun}}s, Thena can [[SpontaneousWeaponCreation create weapons]], Druig has MindControl, Makkari has SuperSpeed, and Phastos is a {{Technopath}}.
51	* All superpowered characters in ''Film/{{Sky High\|2005}}'' are like this outside of Will, who inherited one power from each of his parents ({{Flight}} from his mother, SuperStrength from his father). Lampshaded by Royal Pain when Will's flight power manifests during the FinalBattle.
52	-->'''Royal Pain:''' You're flying?! That's impossible!
53	* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'': {{Telepathy}} is Professor X's sole mutant gift, but it's a very handy one.
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Literature]]
57	* In the ''Literature/WearingTheCape'' setting, a significant percentage of breakthroughs are single-power types, loosely or tightly defined. Blackstone practices "stage magic" (illusions, levitation, teleportation), The Harlequin is bouncy to the point of physical invulnerability, Rush is "fast", etc.
58	* In ''Literature/SuperPowereds'', most Supers and [[PowerIncontinence Powereds]] have a single power (some broader than others). The hallmark of a good Hero is the ability to find other applications of their power. Of the five main characters, Mary is the only one with two ([[spoiler:later three]]) distinct powers: telepathy and telekinesis. The others have one each: Vince has EnergyAbsorption, Nick has [[WindsOfDestinyChange luck manipulation]], Alice has flight ([[spoiler:actually {{Gravity Master}}y]]), and Hershel turns into Roy who has SuperStrength ([[spoiler:actually Hershel has an AdaptiveAbility]]). The master of applying a single power in multiple ways is Chad, who has used his MasterOfYourDomain ability to simulate SuperStrength, SuperToughness, SuperReflexes, SuperSenses, PsychicBlockDefense (actually an unintentional side effect of him rewiring his own brain for greater efficiency), bone armor, and "blood saw" among others.
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
62	* Witches from ''Series/{{Charmed\|1998}}'' are usually born with a single unique "active" power along with their basic witch abilities. The Charmed Ones start this way (telekinesis, time-stopping and premonition), but subsequently develop new powers as advancements of their original powers. It's subverted with Paige. The prophecy dictates that she would gain the power of telekinesis, but also discovers that she possesses a whole set of other powers due to her Whitelighter lineage. Piper's children also continue this trend (also being half-Whitelighters) and possess even more powers than her aunt.
63	* Most superpowered characters in ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' have only one power, and many others have "related" powers (e.g. Hiro Nakamura can bend time ''and'' space).
64	* ''{{Series/Legion\|2017}}'': Charles Xavier has {{Telepathy}} and nothing more, unlike the SuperpowerLottery winners Amahl Farouk and David Haller. However, in the astral plane, Charles is stronger than either them because he triumphs over the Shadow King in a psychic duel, and David is unable to stop Charles from "pulling" him into a BlankWhiteVoid, away from Past Farouk (whom David was on the verge of murdering) despite activating his power (as demonstrated by David's glowing fingers). Even though Charles is a novice to the astral plane, neither Farouk nor David can gain the upper-hand on him in a MentalWorld irrespective of their ComboPlatterPowers, which is a testament to how supremely talented Charles is as a telepath.
65	* Pretty much everyone on ''Series/{{Misfits}}'' are only given one power by a mysterious storm. In the original gang, Kelly has MindReading, Curtis has TimeTravel, Simon can turn {{invisible}}, Alisha makes people want to have sex with her, and Nathan [[spoiler:is immortal.]] In the new group, Finn has {{telekinesis}}, Jess has XRayVision, Rudy has a LiteralSplitPersonality, and [[spoiler:Curtis first switches powers to become a GenderBender and later switches to [[OurZombiesAreDifferent raising the dead.]]]] Most of the other powered characters also have one power, and sometimes it's [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway useless]] anyway (or seems that way).
66	* ''Series/MutantX'': Some New Mutants have a single power, while others have multiple. For example, Emma is TheEmpath, Brennan has ShockAndAwe, and Jesse has density manipulation (manifesting either as {{Intangibility}} or SuperToughness). On the other hand, Shalimar has SuperStrength and SuperReflexes (as do all Feral-type New Mutants, it's the only category without any power variety). However, later on, all four develop additional abilities: Emma becomes a full-blown telepath and can also launch some kind of psychic ball from her forehead, Brennan can use his electricity to simulate flight (sort of like an ion engine from his hands), Jesse learns to affect the density of objects he touches, and Shalimar gets SuperSenses. Averted hard with Gabriel Ashlocke. Being a SuperPrototype, he has multiple powers from all New Mutant categories.
67	[[/folder]]
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69	[[folder:Video Games]]
70	* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' has various characters with one specific power (flight, manipulating density, manipulating boundaries)... but said power is so massively ill-defined it can easily reach SemanticSuperpower.
71	** Reimu's power is to fly. This includes "flying away from reality", effectively becoming invulnerable.
72	** Suika can manipulate density. While this is usually represented by her being a {{Sizeshifter}}, LivingCloud or MesACrowd, she can also cause lots of people to gather at parties by manipulating ''population'' density.
73	** Yukari's "manipulation of boundaries" power usually manifests as her summoning portals (called gaps) to and from anywhere in midair, but extends to things like the boundary between Gensokyo and the outside, life and death, [[RealityWarper reality and fantasy...]] Thankfully, she spends most of her time sleeping and so rarely uses her powers (even in fanon she mostly uses them to play stupid pranks).
74	[[/folder]]
75
76	[[folder:Web Original]]
77	* A lot of the supers in the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse''. Chaka can control ki. That's it. Except she can control her ki, your ki, pull extra ki out of the ground, read ki in other people, learn tricks by watching people use their ki... Blot can absorb electromagnetic energy. Kamuro can shoot sparks out of her hands.
78	%%* Literature/PlayingForKeeps has this in spades.
79	* ''Literature/HowToSucceedInEvil'' has this in characters mentioned off-hand by the narrator or the protagonist.
80	* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', superpowers cover basically every type and level of the SuperpowerLottery you could imagine, so naturally many individuals have just one specific power and maybe some RequiredSecondaryPowers. Even the most one dimensional powers tend to have a variety of clever uses, like the [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower bug-controlling protagonist who is constantly coming up with new, highly effective ways to apply her ability]] for the entire duration of the series. Quite a few "single" powers are essentially multiple effects rolled together as well, like Eidolon, whose "single" power is the ability to switch between having a variety of other powers (although a limited number and for a limited time) or Lung, whose ability can basically be summarized as "turning into a dragon when he's fighting" which includes rapid regeneration, pyrokinesis, super strength, flight and so on. There are, of course, also those like Alexandria who simply have multiple distinct and unconnected powers.
81	[[/folder]]
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83	[[folder:Western Animation]]
84	* All benders in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' have control over only one of the four elements. The Avatar is special not just because they're significantly more powerful, but that they are able to [[TheRedMage master all four elements]].
85	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Chuggington}}'' has Action Chugger, a superhero who can fly, and that's all.
86	[[/folder]]

Context Main / SinglePowerSuperheroes