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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/no_ordinary_family_3945.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:Some might call them ''[[Franchise/TheIncredibles incredible]]'' or simply ''[[Series/{{Heroes}} heroic]]''.]]
3An ABC TV series which aired for [[ShortRunners one season]] from September 2010 to April 2011.
4
5The Powells are just an average suburban family, until father Jim decides they're long overdue for a family vacation and takes his wife Stephanie and their children Daphne and JJ to Brazil. On the way, a storm comes out of nowhere and their plane crashes into a river, where all four are bathed in strange luminescent water before making their way back to civilization.
6
7Upon returning home, the family discovers that they have all been given (or developed) superpowers: NighInvulnerability, SuperStrength, and [[InASingleBound super jumping]] for Jim, SuperSpeed for Stephanie, {{Telepathy}} for Daphne, and SuperIntelligence for JJ. Now the question becomes, what do they do with them?
8
9So far, Jim has used his powers to secretly fight crime (he normally works as a police sketch artist), Stephanie to get from work to home faster so she can spend more time with her family, Daphne tried to ignore hers but can't help hearing people's thoughts around her, and JJ tries to impress people with his. Stephanie has also been using her job as a scientist to investigate the origins of their powers.
10
11Has a [[Recap/NoOrdinaryFamily Recap page]] and a [[Characters/NoOrdinaryFamily Characters page]].
12
13----
14!!This series contains examples of:
15
16* NinetyPercentOfYourBrain: Played with in ''No Ordinary Powell'', where JJ comments on his brain being 38% more efficient.
17** Which allows JJ to recover from [[spoiler: Daphne's mind control]] faster than everyone else eventually does.
18* AchillesHeel: Jim isn't completely invulnerable. So far the only thing strong enough to actually hurt him is a high caliber bullet fired from close range. Jim tries to block bullets with his hands rather than his head as a result. [[spoiler: On the other hand, his bullet catching habits means he also tends to block everything with his hands even force waves and electrical bolts from other supers. Fortunately, these he can stop just as well as he can bullets.]]
19* AllYourPowersCombined: [[spoiler: Dr. King in the finale. Plus a healing factor.]]
20* AffablyEvil: '''DOCTOR KING'''. The show is good in general, but casting Stephen Collins as the BigBad is simply ''genius''.
21* AntiVillain: PlayedWith with [[spoiler: Doctor King. He only wanted to figure out permanency so he could cure his own cancer.]] But then, it turns out [[spoiler: he only wanted to cure his cancer so he could gain enough power to kill Jim and take Steph for his own.]]
22* ArbitrarySkepticism: Played straight and lampshaded, in ''No Ordinary Powell''
23--> "Well she has to exist, no one can just vanish into thin air."
24--> *Double Take and "You did not just say that" face from Jim.
25* ArtisticLicenseGeography: In "No Ordinary Mobster", Stephanie takes a run to the border to visit a character who, in an earlier scene, was said to live "in a little hacienda outside of Veracruz, Mexico". As she closes in, Katie confirms she is nearing the Mexicali border, and when she arrives, the house appears to be in an arid, desert area, which is certainly true of the northern border parts of Mexico, at least ones with little housing development. There's just one problem— Veracruz is in ''south Mexico, over 1500 miles away from Mexicali'' going in a straight line. Not only that; it's a major port city, bordering the southwestern edge of the Gulf, so the desert background doesn't make sense either.
26* ArtMajorPhysics: It is true that, according to [[UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein Einstein's]] theories, you can travel in time to the future by moving very fast. That time travel however does not include a way to go back to "the present" and it is actual time travel rather than merely seeing the future without interacting with the people in there.
27* AssholeVictim: JJ's math teacher. He more than qualifies [[HoistByHisOwnPetard and he gets what he deserves.]]
28* AwesomeByAnalysis: One of the many uses of JJ's SuperIntelligence.
29* AxCrazy: The arsonist.
30* BadassBystander: In "No Ordinary Visitors", a victim of the home invasion throws a pot of hot water in one man's face and then tries to whack a second intruder with the empty pot. He gets hospitalized for his troubles.
31* BattleCouple: For one episode. Jim and Stephanie team up to catch a [[PlayingWithFire Pyrokinetic]] arsonist. It's at this point that Stephanie feels the thrill of crime-fighting and fully understands why Jim does what he does.
32* BeardOfEvil: Watcher has a ragged face of stubble compared to everyone else in the cast along with a deathly pallor. After [[spoiler: his HeelFaceTurn, his stubble seems to be getting shorter and his color improving.]]
33* BerserkButton: ''Never'' accuse Jim of cheating on his wife. ''EVER.''
34* BigDamnKiss: Stephanie gives one to Jim to break Sophie's hold over him in "No Ordinary Love".
35* BigEater: Stephanie. Justified, in that her increased speed causes an increased metabolism, though it would only work if she was converting the entire mass of the food into energy. This would mean that she never has to use the washroom.
36* BlackmailBackfire:
37** In "No Ordinary Vigilante", Daphne uses her mind-reading powers to find out a store clerk is stealing from the cash register. She tries to blackmail him into providing beer for a WildTeenParty. The clerk quickly points out that she has no hard evidence against him and calls the police on her for underage drinking.
38** In "No Ordinary Sidekick", Chiles finds proof that Dr. King has been making a super serum and threatens to tell the government. He's probably planning to blackmail King for money or his job back, but before he can get around to that, King smugly says that Chiles inadvertently contributed to the super serum project and will also be incriminated if he goes to the authorities. Chiles leaves in defeat, [[spoiler:and is later killed by King's enforcer to ensure his silence.]]
39* BlessedWithSuck: Stephanie, after a close shave with death, had [[spoiler: been injected with the serum, which augmented her super speed to the point of allowing her to travel through time. A nasty side-effect of this, however, is that her chromosomes are beginning to decay.]]
40** As of the same episode she seems to have no control over this, meaning she is effectively cut off from using her powers AT ALL. Of course it resolves itself by the end of the episode.
41* BookAndSwitch: Inverted, with JJ, who is pretending to read a copy of Creator/MarvelComics' ''Wolverine'', but is really reading a complex mathematics textbook inside it.
42* BoxingLessonsForSuperman: George teaches Jim some boxing when Jim encounters a stronger opponent.
43* BrattyTeenageDaughter: Daphne is a milder version.
44* BroughtDownToNormal: [[spoiler: TheDragon, as punishment for not getting the pyrokinetic out of custody in time]].
45** Also, [[spoiler: after he gives up his position for Katie, he's due to lose his powers]].
46* BunnyEarsLawyer: Katie seems this way sometimes.
47--> '''Katie:''' That reminds me of a funny story. I was on a trip to Russia and thought I was allergic to the water. Turns out, it was vodka.
48* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: A large amount of the teen sub plot is based on them playing a zero sum game where they can never profit from using their powers.
49** Well, if they use their powers to try to benefit themselves it usually comes back to bite them, but if they're helping someone else, it usually works out.
50** Slightly averted in the poker game. While they don't make a profit, they do avoid getting in trouble for hosting the poker game in the first place.
51** Averted with Daphne in N.O. Double Standard. She looks like she is going to get in trouble for disobeying Jim but then uses her new JediMindTrick to escape punishment.
52* CareerVersusMan: Natalie seems to believe this in regards to escaping the foster system, or at least, that having a boyfriend is too much of a distraction to risk having one.
53* ChekhovsSkill: JJ's ImprobableAimingSkills
54* CloudcuckooLander: Katie, oh so much.
55* ComesGreatResponsibility: Daphne's reasoning for going to her dad about the home invaders, and Jim's (among others) for asking the police to keep the sketch discrete.
56--> '''Daphne:''' How could I live with myself if I knew I had the chance to help somebody, but ''chose not to''?
57** Also the reasoning JJ used to convince his mom to help save his teacher's life, using an almost-identical line to Daphne's.
58* CompellingVoice: Both Daphne and [[spoiler:Watcher]] develop this power, with different applications: [[spoiler:Watcher]] uses it to erase/change memories, while Daphne uses it to influence decisions. In both cases, the person under their instruction repeats what they are told to do (or forget), but without changing their tone of voice. This leads to an armed mugger saying "I'm gonna put the gun down, and I'm gonna walk away." in the most threatening manner possible.
59* CombatPragmatist: Jim seems to be turning into this. When facing a purse-snatcher in "No Ordinary Proposal", he allows the guy to use up his ammo. Then Jim shoves him into a fence hard enough to allow the rebound to knock the guy into Jim's hand and knock him out. As opposed to any sort of attempt to fight. Likewise, [[spoiler: when fighting Victoria, he doesn't bother with the typical 'find something and smack 'em with it' favored by other brick-type superheroes until he actually has a reasonable chance of using a weapon to good effect.]]
60* ContinuityNod: Used occasionally during some conversations such as [[spoiler: JJ's crush on Katie.]]
61* ConvenientlyCoherentThoughts: Usually the person will think a clear sentence related to what Daphne is trying to find out, but sometimes it'll just be random nonsense.
62* CurbStompBattle: Rebecca, a woman who shoots shockwaves from her hands, has just nearly killed Jim after a drawn out fight. She is then taken down afterwards by the Watcher inside of ten seconds immediately afterwards.
63* CurseCutShort: Jim has one cut with the sound of a train door opening...[[spoiler:because he just stopped it with his bare hands.]]
64** Jim gets one again in #12 when talking to Daphne about [[spoiler:Jim's brother's bull--]]
65* [[DatingCatwoman Dating The Watcher]]: Katie and 'Joshua'
66* DeadlyDeferredConversation:
67** In "No Ordinary Sidekick'', [[spoiler:Dr. Chiles]] convinces Stephanie that there's something to his YouHaveToBelieveMe ranting about Dr. King and tells her to come over, as he wants to explain everything in person. She arrives to find him dead.
68** In "No Ordinary Animal", a medical examiner finds a mysterious chemical substance in a victim's bloodstream and tells George that he's made a discovery that George needs to see, but there isn't time to describe it on the phone. George and Jim arrive to find out that the VillainOfTheWeek has killed the medical examiner and stolen the body.
69* DeadlyDodging: [[spoiler: Stephanie finally gets into the heroics too]].
70* DescriptionCut: In "No Ordinary Friends", when George is concerned about Jim letting his wife confront a criminal/[[spoiler:her new friend]] alone, Jim assures him "There's one thing I know about my wife--she would never put herself in danger."
71--> ''[Cut to Stephanie following said criminal to a meeting with an accomplice.]''
72* DieHardOnAnX: ''Film/DieHard'' in police precinct in ''No Ordinary Detention''.
73* DidIJustSayThatOutLoud: PlayedWith. Daphne asks Katie for some advice.
74--> '''Katie's thoughts:''' Besides telling her not to wear stripes. Oops, she probably just read my mind. Um, if you're in here, those jeans look super cute on you.
75* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler: How the pyrokinetic goes out, sorta.]]
76* DisposablePilot: The Powells get their powers after a plane crash in the jungle of Brazil. The pilot of their plane is never seen, implying this is what happened.
77** Jim outright says that while they were lucky to survive, the pilot wasn't.
78* DisposableWoman: [[spoiler: Detective Yvonne Cho.]]
79* DitzyGenius: JJ may have SuperIntelligence and all, but he's still makes reckless and foolish decisions. Daphne lampshades it.
80** He also goes through with a plan to pose as an internet love-interest for Kat, even though it was a really bad idea and he didn't even "know how internet dating works", so his SuperIntelligence is very limited by his personality.
81** Refreshingly though, despite being a ditz, JJ is shown to have genuine interest in learning rather than his SuperIntelligence just 'happening'. And similarly, rather than his super-intelligence giving him information and letting him slack off, it's shown to require him to actually study and learn. This especially applies to advanced information; while he can figure out the motion and physics behind football, he doesn't necessarily know what's going on and the strategy.
82* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: "Oh my god, it's an earthquake! It's my very first earthquake! ...And it's already over."
83** Jim to JJ: "So, I guess you're having trouble...performing...brain wise. I've found that sometimes it makes it easier if you concentrate on other things..." [[spoiler: Referring to JJ's WeaksauceWeakness that causes him to lose his abilities talking with his crush.]]
84* DoubleStandard: In "No Ordinary Double Standard," Jim refuses to allow Daphne to date a senior boy, but ''congratulates'' JJ-- who is ''younger'' than Daphne-- for scoring a date with a senior girl. Note that this is an in-universe example as Stephanie calls Jim out on the double standard and the show, for the most part, agrees.
85* DroppedAfterThePilot: The pilot is presented in a HowWeGotHere fashion using POVCam as if the various family members are talking to a family therapist. However, though Jim and Stephanie are shown going to a family therapist at the end of the pilot, none of the kids do and it's not brought up again. There's no other indication they ever told anyone about their experiences (and the therapist of course looked like he thought they were crazy).
86* DruggedLipstick: In one episode, Jim loses his superpowers. It turns out that cynoxate, an ingredient in Stephanie's lip gloss, is the kryptonite to Jim's Applied Phlebotinum, the trilsettum coronis. She claims to have gotten rid of it, but apparently still has it lying around, because in a later episode, the evil shape-shifter Victoria turns into Stephanie and steals the lip gloss, neutralizing Jim's powers when she kisses him.
87* EnhanceButton: Used in "No Ordinary Sidekick". Now with fancy interface!
88* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Daphne's crush Bret, apparently.
89--> '''Daphne:''' He could date every girl in the school, and some of the guys, and instead he chooses [[HenpeckedHusband her]].
90* {{Exposition}}: Lampshaded.
91--> '''Katie:''' "Hi, it's me. Katie. Oh, I didn't need to say it's me since I said my name afterwards."
92* ExplainExplainOhCrap: In "No Ordinary Proposal", Dr. King tells Joshua that there is no way for him to non-lethally detox from the serum without a particularly skilled and rare kind of scientist. Then he stops mid-sentence upon realizing that Stephanie is working on an antidote for Joshua.
93* ExpressDelivery: Katie's pregnancy. That happened...fast.
94* EyeScream: How [[spoiler: JJ takes out King.]]
95* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: [[spoiler: Dr. King. Takes a needle to the eye, then has a decades worth of cancer rapidly attack his body. It ain't pretty.]]
96* FamilyVersusCareer: Stephanie takes a lot of flak for this from outsiders, and loves her superspeed because it gives her more time to spare for her family without hurting her career. Whether or not she was responsible for the majority of the housework despite having a much more demanding work schedule than Jim ''before'' she got superspeed is unclear.
97* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler:Detective Yvone Cho]] finds out about Jim's powers. She thinks he is dangerously interfering with police business and basically ignores Jim's warnings that they will need his help from the bad guys with powers. Later, she is interrogated [[spoiler:and killed by Watcher.]] On the bright side, she covers for Jim so the bad guys know nothing. Of course, even Jim is unaware of the whole "bad guys" thing, so...
98** Daphne tries to read Watcher's mind but only gets static.
99* FreeRangeChildren: JJ and Daphne tend to show up at Stephanie's lab with little fanfare (or else where) and people don't seem too shocked by that or ask why they might not be at school. Or even how they got there since that Daphne doesn't get a car until several episodes in.
100* ForgotAboutHisPowers: In No Ordinary Powell [[spoiler: it seems that the family will take any opportunity to loudly exclaim what their powers are, up to and including Jim's weakness.]] Daphne also tends to leave her mind reading in the "off" position more than is wise.
101* GeekyTurnOn: Katie has them and also she is the embodiment of such. For instance, in "No Ordinary Sidekick", she notes she hasn't fallen in love so hard since a Comic-Con where she fell for a metrosexual wookie.
102* GenkiGirl: Katie can be a mild version of this.
103* GenreSavvy: George and Katie, as the "sidekicks".
104
105* GoldDigger: The school's AlphaBitch realizes that being with a genius will pay off far more in the long run than a hot jock. However, this is actually subverted when Daphne finds out that Bailey actually does like JJ.
106--> '''Daphne:''' I'll bet whoever dated Bill Gates in high school is kicking herself right now.
107** Based on the quote and Daphne's mind reading it turns out that she finds his ability attractive not how much money he can earn with it.
108* GoshDangItToHeck:
109--> '''Katie:''' Holy [[Series/BattlestarGalactica1978 frak!]]
110** Justified in that as a total nerd, she would say something like that.
111* GroundShatteringLanding: Jim started out doing this with his InASingleBound shenanigans (those poor, innocent rooftops...), but he's gotten better, and can land without shattering concrete, except when he misses.
112** A good thing too when he starts roof leaping on suburban homes.
113* HappilyMarried: Sure, they have their spats, but Jim and Stephanie's dedication to each other is very obvious and rather endearing. In fact, when accused of cheating by his father-in-law, Jim [[BerserkButton nearly goes into a tirade]].
114* HaveYouToldAnyoneElse: In the second episode, the Watcher uses his powers to incapacitate [[spoiler:Detective Cho]] and asks if anyone else knows that [[spoiler:Reed Koblenz, whom she shot]], had teleportation powers. Jim knows, and in fact [[spoiler: Detective Cho]] didn't know until he told [[spoiler:her]], but [[spoiler:she]] lies that no one else knows, presumably suspecting that [[spoiler:she's]] dead either way and wanting to protect Jim. Sure enough, [[spoiler:Detective Cho]] is shot seconds later, but Jim and his family stay off the villains' radar for several more episodes.
115* HealingFactor: Stephanie has a minor one due to her enhanced metabolism. Notably, she just heals faster and not better. [[spoiler: She assumes she has the 'better' aspect; she is sorely mistaken after getting stabbed by super-claws.]]
116** Jim has one too, for the rare moments he gets injured.
117** [[spoiler:Doctor King.]]
118* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: Sure, Jim has SuperStrength, Daphne has mind-reading and CompellingVoice, and Stephanie can run fast. But JJ's power is definitely the most versatile. He's learned a language in half a day, identified a species of bacteria without a microscope and solved a ten-year old murder case. Not to mention being immune to mind-affecting abilities if he thinks about it hard enough. Furthermore, his ability to ''see physics itself'' has proven rather useful; he's no slouch in a fistfight because of it.
119* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Watcher, who now decides to have Katie over his powers.]]
120* HiddenAgendaVillain: [[spoiler: Watcher knows that Jim has superpowers, but has actively avoided telling Dr. King about it, likely due to his desire to find out how to make his own powers permanent.]]
121* HollywoodLaw: Teachers aren't allowed to arbitrarily change grades on formal exams from B to F without providing some pretty strong evidence. Doing that and officially entering it into the system (almost certainly without following procedure) is a crime just as serious as hacking. It's like lawyers don't exist or something...
122** It's also pretty safe to say that teachers do not have the ability to arbitrarily hand out and take away scholarships.
123** George claims he's responsible for the crimes of a gangster due to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicarious_liability vicarious liability]] as he screwed up a previous case when the guy got {{off on a technicality}}. This only applies to a superior being responsible for the acts of their subordinate (most often employer-employee). George is a prosecutor, and may be rusty on civil liability or just making a metaphorical point, but what he says isn't accurate either way.
124* HoYayShipping: An in-universe example: Katie has "suspicions" about Power Man and Iron Fist.
125* HypocriticalHumor:
126--> '''Katie:''' They say that internet dating is for socially awkward, geeky types, but I've actually been finding a lot of people on there like me.
127** The look on Stephanie's face says it all, but she's kind enough to let it go.
128* IRememberBecause: George remembers the murder of the gun-wielding vigilante's son from "No Ordinary Vigilante" because it happened during his first week on the job.
129* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: After the pilot, the theme seems to be "No Ordinary (X)". That way, if the pilot from the first episode turns out to be alive, they can title an episode "No Ordinary Pilot".
130* IdiotBall: A lot of episodes practically hinge on the Powells and their friends suddenly forgetting there's such things as super-powers and other people also have them. Sophia's case is the most egregious as it takes forever for anyone to consider there might be some mind-control powers at work when George acts almost suicidal ("Lets eat lobster!" "You're mortally allergic to lobster!") and then Jim goes from "I don't trust Sophie" to "I love Sophie and I'll abandon my family to be with her" after a peck in the cheek.
131** Victoria also takes advantage of this, since its the only thing keeping her cover is the Powells forgetting there's a shape-shifter even after discovering there's one interested in them a few episodes prior. Jim doesn't even get suspicious of his best friend shooting him for no reason at all-even though he knew of Jim's resistance, it should at least award a raise of eyebrow, as he already knew there was a shape-shifter. Finally, the very first thing he does when he goes to Stephanie to warn her about a shape-shifter spying on them to try to discover their weakness is tell her his weakness for no reason at all. It turned out that it was actually Victoria, and not Stephanie.
132* IJustWantToBeNormal: Daphne, because being a teenager is hard enough.
133** Although, she might be having fun with [[spoiler: her new mind control powers]].
134** According to [[spoiler: The new [[TheDragon Dragon]] Victoria Morrow, this is what all the people who have been given powers want, and what The Watcher wants]].
135* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Jim is loving his powers as he wants to help people, as is Stephanie who wants to spend more time with her family. JJ is also thrilled that his parents are proud of him for the first time.
136* ImprobableAimingSkills: JJ wins a ring-toss game offscreen, and it is implied that he used his SuperIntelligence in order to do it.
137** It also allowed him to join the football team, as it's "all math."
138** This skill is used in the finale when he [[spoiler: uses it to throw a needle of the trilsettum antidote at Dr. King's eye, causing him to die as his cancer rapidly came back]]
139* InASingleBound: Jim [[InsistentTerminology insists]] that his friend George refer to it this way, instead of "leap" or "jump."
140* InhumanableAlienRights: In the [[spoiler: alternate future that Stephanie goes to the Powells]] are denied basic liberties on the basis that quote:
141--> '''Government official:''' Last I checked, civil rights only applied to human beings.
142* InLoveWithTheMark: [[spoiler:Watcher falls for Katie and severs ties with Dr. King to be with her.]]
143* [[InstantRunes Instant Trigonometry]]: JJ's SuperIntelligence is shown to the audience as graphs and numbers forming in his field of vision, at least when this effect can be applied. In some cases, such as when reading at an accelerated rate, the sound-effects used for his SuperIntelligence plays anyway. Later, whenever he's using it in general (pure exposition aside), we get to see it, whether it's a car, medical texts, or what have you.
144* {{Jerkass}}: The family seems to be surrounded by them, apart from George and Katie.
145** Jim's coworkers at the police station, the next door neighbors.
146** Stephanie's coworker, who is jealous her project got the funding, but he goes out of his way to be obnoxious to them.
147** JJ's teacher. "Even this is a stretch for you." Sure, he has a right to be suspicious, but that's just being a dick.
148** And a [[AlphaBitch Bailey]] at school for Daphne.
149** Stephanie's parents definitely counts, though only her dad gets called out on it.
150* KryptoniteFactor: For Jim, a chemical called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinoxate cinoxate]]...somehow.
151** Potentially a very oblique reference to Superman as cinoxate is used in sunscreen. The current explanation for Superman's powers is that he absorbs energy from the sun.
152* LampshadeHanging: When Stephanie's underling, Katie, tests her speed and asks things like: "[[FridgeLogic How is it possible you're not burning your clothes off right now]]?". She doesn't have an answer yet but posits one solution (a plasma shield generated from kinetic energy) and the fact that Stephanie's a scientist means the scientific problems should at least be explored.
153* LaserGuidedAmnesia: [[spoiler: When she learns of The Watcher's murder of Dr. Chiles by seeing his memories, The Watcher wipes Daphne's mind of all her memories from the past three months]].
154** The Watcher's ([[spoiler:and Daphne]]'s) memory erasing is a mild subversion--its ''not'' laser guided, its extremely general and non-specific.
155** Subverted when [[spoiler: Daphne tries to protect Chris by making him forget about the family's powers. It seems to work but when she goes for a hug, Chris pushes her away, baffled by her behavior and Daphne realizes too late she's accidentally erased all memory of their relationship.]]
156* LineOfSightName: Watcher's second fake name.
157* LoanShark: [[spoiler: Jim]]'s brother borrows $150,000 from the biggest loan shark on the West Coast.
158* MagicFloppy: Possibly subverted: Katie finds the remaining work of a doctor working on super powers on a floppy. Considering he was in the company in its infancy, and Katie is using a external device it could be a [=SuperDisc=] (120MB) but still.
159* MamaBear: To a lesser extent than Jim as PapaWolf, but Stephanie definitely has her moments.
160* MatrixRainingCode: When [[spoiler:JJ uses his "super brain" to look at the DNA algorithm, he solves it, very simply, by seeing it like this.]]
161* MeaningfulName: The family is named Powell, which might [[PunnyName invoke similarity to the word "powers"]].
162* MindOverMatter: [[spoiler: Watcher, Dr. King's [[TheDragon Dragon]].]]
163* MirrorMatch: [[spoiler: Jim vs. himself (Victoria Morrow)]]
164* MissingMom: The present physically but not emotionally variation. Stephanie cites working 80 hours a week to support her family, and she stares at Jim in shock as he tells her what's going on with her kids -- Daphne is worried about losing her boyfriend because she won't put out; JJ is failing because he has a learning disability and Stephanie refuses to admit it.
165* MistakenForCheating: Stephanie's father Allan thinks Jim is cheating, then rationalizes what Jim's really doing when he tries to tell the truth.
166* {{Mockumentary}}: Used in the pilot as a {{flashback}} because they were relating the events to their marriage counselor.
167* MoralityPet: [[spoiler: Katie seems to be this to Watcher so far, at least in regards to his outward willingness to be NightmareFuel. At the same time, as seen in "No Ordinary Detention", just because he's not working for King any more, doesn't mean he doesn't dream of horrible things to do to you if you threaten the woman he loves.]]
168* MuggleBestFriend: Kate to Stephanie.
169* MundaneUtility: All of them, constantly.
170* NatureAbhorsAVirgin: [[spoiler:Katie is a virgin. Watcher reacts badly when he finds out about it, though mostly because while he initially was only using her to get to Stephanie, having [[BecomingTheMask become the mask]], he was having second thoughts about using Katie in this way. But he comes back, and well...]]
171* NeverTrustATrailer: The preview of "No Ordinary Accident" implies from the mention of the storyline of Jim losing his powers that he is the one that JJ and Stephenie are operating on, but it's actually [[spoiler:JJ's jerkass teacher.]]
172* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: So, other than telekinesis, the Watcher can apparently [[spoiler: [[LaserGuidedAmnesia wipe memories]]]]
173** Daphne suddenly gaining [[spoiler: mind control]] powers.
174* NiceToTheWaiter: Played with. Katie is a cross between Stephanie's lab assistant and secretary, and clearly hero worships her. Stephanie is polite to her, but ultimately treats Katie as her assistant/secretary. After she gets her powers, they become best friends.
175* NighInvulnerability: Jim is able to be run over by a car several times without more then a bit of pain. Stephanie's plasma field protects her from the dangers of super speed.
176* NoImmortalInertia: [[spoiler:Dr. Dayton King's death after the Trilsettum serum's effect are nullified and his cancer spreads at an accelerated rate]]
177* NotWearingTights: Goes through several stages. First, despite all their talk about super heroes Jim, George, Stephanie, and Katie never even consider Jim or Stephanie wearing masks. Then George considers it, but Jim shoots him down. He wears a ski mask in 'No Ordinary Mobsters' but promptly loses it, and as of 'No Ordinary Friends', Jim has embraced masks and gloves. Which make him look no different from the thief he was trying to stop. So he drops them again.
178** And Stephanie moves too fast to be seen. Of course, she doesn't seem to consider the possibility of her losing her speed mid-run, but considering the speeds she moves at, not wearing a mask would be the least of her worries - wearing a ''motorcycle helmet'' wouldn't help her at that point.
179* OnlyAFleshWound: Played straight in "No Ordinary Detention". The IAB officer is shot in the shoulder and this is treated as a serious injury yet she's in good enough shape to... well, finish out the episode in otherwise perfect health. Yet at the same time, Jim also gets [[strike: shot]] tickled by a bullet in the shoulder in front of same officer who can only suggest that he should be dead due to InstantDeathBullet. [[spoiler: Which, Jim, in a show of GenreSavvy, fakes by the magic of a BulletProofVest to bring it back to OnlyAFleshWound levels.]]
180* OnlyTheKnowledgableMayPass
181* OpeningNarration: The show loves to remind you that this is a show about a family with superpowers and listing everyone's powers. And don't forget about the evil Dr. King.
182* PapaWolf: Jim, usually mild-mannered and not very prone to anger in general becomes a whole different person when you threaten his family. [[spoiler: Or his friends as seen when he bullrushs a SUV containing a sniper ready to shoot George (in an alternate future). He hits it hard enough to send it a good twenty feet in the air and across the street.]] He also seems to get a massive power boost (or maybe just HeroicResolve) in these situations, such as rapid recovery from his KryptoniteFactor or being able to deflect things (like [[spoiler:lightning]] that just ''should not be deflectable at all''.
183* PersonalityPowers: The powers given to each family member appear to reflect the character's personality, or at least address an insecurity that they have had about themselves. This may or may not turn out to be plot-relevent.
184** Jim previously had to carry the weight of his family on his shoulders, he gets super strength.
185** Stephanie is seriously lacking in time, she gets super speed.
186** Daphne is constantly worrying about what people think of her and about her boyfriend, she gets telepathy.
187** JJ knows he has trouble learning and feels inferior because of this, he gets super intelligence.
188** The villains for the first and second episodes have powers that a criminal would have a lot of use for ([[spoiler:teleportation and telekinesis]]).
189** A serial arsonist getting [[PlayingWithFire pyro]][[WreathedInFlames kinesis]] definitely qualifies.
190** Victoria Morrow, a [[spoiler:[[{{Shapeshifting}} shapeshifter]] who has replaced Watcher as Dr. King's [[TheDragon Dragon]] wanted to be someone Joshua could love.]]
191** The steam guy could fit in due to being fairly hot headed much like the pyro.
192** The violent murderer gets animalistic powers.
193** TheUnfettered Dr. King has the ability to ignore any fatal injury.
194** The only exceptions seem to be Rebecca (shockwaves) and Watcher ([[SuperpowerLottery lots)]].
195* PlayingCyrano: Daphne goes on a date with her crush to a museum, and has JJ sneak along so she can read his mind as he thinks about facts concerning the paintings. Subverted in that it works.
196** In "No Ordinary Accident", the next episode, Daphne attempts to get JJ to do the same thing when she lies to her LoveInterest about loving sushi and being fluent in Japanese. He refuses since he has [[IncrediblyLamePun "better fish]] ''[[IncrediblyLamePun not]]'' [[IncrediblyLamePun to fry"]].
197* PlayingWithFire: The aforementioned serial arsonist.
198* PoorCommunicationKills: Compare and contrast: "I think Katie's boyfriend is not who he says he is." and "I think Katie's boyfriend is not who he says he is because I CAN'T read his FRAKING mind!"
199* PrecociousCrush: JJ develops one on [[spoiler:Katie.]]
200-->'''JJ:''' She's cool.\
201'''Daphne:''' And old enough that she would go to jail [[JailbaitTaboo for doing]] what you're thinking.\
202'''JJ:''' Stop reading my mind!\
203'''Daphne:''' [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Like it takes a mind reader.]]
204** And also:
205-->'''JJ's thoughts:''' ''Super hot. Like a fourteen year old [[spoiler:Katie]]. I wanted to kiss her so bad-''
206-->'''Daphne:''' Ugh, JJ, gross!
207-->'''JJ:''' Would you stop!? My mind is a private area!
208** All of which also counts as HypocriticalHumor since Daphne's plots tend to rotate around her own romances.
209* PreviouslyOn: week in, week out, plus whatever was in the immediate episode preceding.
210* ProductPlacement: Marvel stuff -- understandable, if not completely justified, given Disney now owns Marvel Entertainment.
211* PsychicAssistedSuicide: How [[TheDragon Watcher]] kills [[spoiler: Dr. Chiles]].
212* PsychoactivePowers: JJ's super-mind fails him...in a chess game against a cute girl.
213* PutOnABus: Josh is ''literally'' PutOnABus after it's revealed he [[spoiler:erased Daphne's and Katie's memories.]]
214* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Jim gives a truly epic one to his deadbeat brother Mike.
215* RequiredSecondaryPowers: Katie asks questions related to these to Stephanie, such as how she can breathe, how her clothes stay on, etc.
216** Notably though these effects don't extend beyond themselves. When Stephanie first runs at superspeed, the touch of her jacket's belt buckle is enough to violently shatter a rear view mirror. Though she's not traveling faster than sound, RuleOfCool dictates that she hears no sound until it 'catches up' to her when she stops.
217*** A force field ala ComicBook/TheFlash's is mentioned as a possible explanation.
218*** She's also a bit more durable than usual...how do you explain her surviving the superspeed trip-over-the-bicycle in episode two?
219*** At the very least, she's also far less destructive to her environment than a human-sized mass traveling at around 600 MPH on the ground would be.
220** Jim seems to have slightly enhanced reflexes. He was able to catch bullets twice in the pilot out of instinct and [[spoiler:was able to fight off the teleporter fairly easily.]]
221** On the other hand, he notably does ''not'' have "super-anchoring" powers: Every time he tries to stop a car, he gets run over. Which is pretty much what should happen as he's not necessarily any denser. Fortunately, he thinks with his head and when he really needs to stop a car, he lifts it off the ground.
222*** In the next episode, he is sent flying the first time the shockwave girl attacked him after a few minutes of Jim struggling to stay in one spot. The second time, he was able to anchor himself a lot better. The show, notably, took efforts to show the difference. The first time, he was standing upright and casual while the second time, he's leaning forward as walking into a stiff wind.
223*** Even as of the most recent episode, despite the train feat and the ability to stop a car, it's still shown that Jim will brace himself for things to stop them.
224** JJ has to have remarkably precise control of his muscles in order to apply his super-intelligence to physical activities.
225* RescueRomance: Or Rescue Crush, anyway: The dry-cleaner owner asks if "Mr. St. Cloud is single?".
226* SadistTeacher: JJ's math teacher is convinced he's cheating (after he gets his super-intelligence) and at one point remarks "I'm not the stupid one here."
227* SecretKeeper: At least four so far exist outside the family.
228** Jim has revealed his secret to George and his brother.
229** Stephanie revealed her abilities to her lab assistant, Katie, who seems to be a bit of an [[AscendedFanboy ascended fangirl]].
230** Both have appeared to have told the entire story to their marriage counselor, although it's possible he doesn't yet believe them.
231** Detective Cho sees him fleeing a crime scene; he reveals his powers and she threatens to bring him in on vigilante charges. [[spoiler: She dies shortly after]].
232** Inside the family, Daphne is a Secret Keeper for JJ, who wants to keep his acquired SuperIntelligence from his family.
233*** JJ comes out to his parents in episode 5, after he lets Katie in on it, and she squeals to Stephanie.
234** Daphne wants to tell her best friend, [[spoiler: but backs out at the last minute, when she realizes it will change their relationship forever.]]
235** The Watcher is a secret keeper to at least Jim and Daphne, [[SecretSecretKeeper although the family doesn't know it]]. Chances are he knows that JJ and Stephanie have powers too, but not what they are.
236** [[spoiler: Katie does double-duty secret keeping now that she knows about Watcher's powers and how he has them.]]
237** Now [[spoiler:Doctor King knows about Stephanie and Jim having superpowers from seeing security footage, [[SecretSecretKeeper but like the situation with Watcher, they don't know that he knows]].]]
238* [[SequelHook Second Season Hook]]: [[spoiler:The Powells have just been recruited by the government, Mrs. X and eighty more permanently-superpowered criminals are still out there, Katie just gave birth to a potential TykeBomb, and George may have superpowers as well.]]
239* {{Shapeshifting}}: [[spoiler: the new [[TheDragon Dragon]], Rebecca Morrow]]
240* ShockParty: George has to fake being surprised for the surprise birthday party Stephanie has thrown him. The shock comes once the festivities are over [[spoiler: and the [=ADA=] he's almost-dating gets shot as she's walking from his car]].
241* ShootingSuperman: Applied to Jim, along with a realistic application of what happens when bullets ricochet uncontrolled.
242* {{Short Runner|s}}: Lasted all but one season.
243* ShoutOut: Jim discovers his jumping ability while experimenting to see if he can fly, likely a reference to the original version of ComicBook/{{Superman}} who could only "leap tall buildings in a single bound" rather than fly.
244** The connection is enhanced when George, later discussing Jim's abilities, mentions that he can go over buildings with one leap. Jim prods him until he [[InsistentTerminology changes the word 'leap' to 'bound']] (as in "able to leap tall buildings with a single bound!")
245*** George also tells Jim he's supposed to be more powerful than a train. Jim automatically corrects, "locomotive".
246** Stephanie's lab tech has a ComicBook/KittyPryde (with Lockheed) figure, and natters on about the X-Men before Stephanie reveals her powers. (This doubles as a meta-shout out because ABC Family is owned by Disney who now own Marvel, so expect more Marvel references)
247** Another X-men reference: A guy who can teleport, in a cloud of smoke.
248** This may be reaching, but did anyone else notice the [[ComicBook/FantasticFour number]] on Daphne's basketball jersey?
249** [[Manga/DeathNote Criminals dying of mysterious heart attacks you say? That rings somewhat familiar...]]
250** Brother Mike brings up George and Jim being ComicBook/HeroesForHire.
251*** Beyond simply the name drop, it also works well as ComicBook/LukeCage shares similar powers to Jim. One can only wonder George will end up with powers of his own that are similar to Iron Fist.
252*** He's got Hollywood Boxing skills now, which is kind of similar if you squint.
253** When JJ finds out Daphne [[MindControl implanted commands]] in her boyfriend, he exclaims, "you [[CompellingVoice pushed]] him?" The same term is used for the same ability in the appropriately named movie, ''Film/{{Push}}''.
254*** The term was also used in the Creator/StephenKing novel and movie ''Literature/{{Firestarter}}'', and for the same ability. (The little girl can start fires, her father can "push" people, though his ability burns out very quickly.)
255*** Don't forget ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "Pusher".
256** The entire detention storyline in "No Ordinary Detention" is a massive shout-out to ''Film/TheBreakfastClub''.
257* SmartPeoplePlayChess: JJ and the girl at the aptly named "Genius Club."
258* SoundOnlyDeath: The killing of [[spoiler: Detective Cho]] is only a heard cry for help followed by a gunshot.
259* SpiritualSuccessor: to ''Series/{{Heroes}}''.
260* SpotTheImposter: [[spoiler:Victoria]] knocked Katie out and impersonated her, but Katie woke up and returned to Stephanie earlier than expected. Stephanie tried asking them geeky questions to tell the difference, but only figures it out when Katie tells her she used to be a virgin until the previous week.
261* StartOfDarkness: Potentially [[spoiler:Daphne after the events of "No Ordinary Double Standard", in which she discovers the MindControl aspect of her telepathy. The first use is to save herself and Chris from a mugger, but later she uses it on ''her own father'' just to avoid being grounded for ''two weeks''. She did not seem at all guilty afterward, either.]]
262** Though to be fair, Daphne was partially pissed and partially really anxious about [[spoiler:her newly developed mind control which she was trying to confide to Jim about. Since Jim never let her say anything, she's reacted like anyone else would - get more pissed.]]
263** However since then she's casually used it on her mom and her brother. Her brother shakes it off quickly but is surprisingly calm about what she tried to do to him.
264* StoodUp: Katie, letting us know it happened once. It would've happened again due to [=JJ=] [[spoiler:except TheDragon had ShownTheirWork and found out about her cyber date and took on that identity.]]
265* SuperFamilyTeam
266* SuperIntelligence: JJ, which has thus far been noticeably applied to mathematics, history, and used to learn Hebrew off the internet in about a day. Later, he gets into medicine, jenga with a collapsed shelf, art history/appreciation, and all sorts of things. Considering that all of his plots involve social problems, he really should put some time into [[GenreSavvy reading a psychology textbook]] ([[BadLiar or acting]]).
267** It's worth noting that, unlike some people with SuperIntelligence (that spontaneously gain all kinds of knowledge), JJ's is defined as learning faster, better knowledge retention, and higher-order logic functions. So, he might become a GadgeteerGenius and build a hovercraft at some point, but he'll have to learn the physics and mechanics behind it first.
268*** And even his retention of material is still bound by some limitation as Katie noted after testing his intelligence that he only retains material for about six hours. Whether this means he forgets or whether it just means he has to make an effort to actually learn rather than repeat what he just read was unclear. However, it seems to be more the former; if he doesn't bother to study a subject, he only knows it in passing much like someone simply scanning the headlines of a newspaper and thus not really remembering anything a few hours later.
269** He flirted briefly with joining the football team, because, as he puts it, "it's all math". Then he found out that it's not ''all'' math, because he's still a little guy in a sport with ''much bigger guys''.
270-->'''JJ''' (to Daphne at an art museum helping her on a date): And by the way, don't paraphrase me. You misrepresented my entire view on the impressionists.
271** Haha! At last he superlearned criminology!
272* SuperSpeed: Stephanie. Note that she does ''not'' have SuperReflexes, which is used to keep a lid on her StoryBreakerPower. In fact, when she's not using her power she has normal reflexes, allowing people to take her out before she can react.
273* SuperStrength: Jim
274* SuperSerum: Creating a stable one that doesn't require multiple injections is Global Tech's primary goal.
275* SuperSmoke: The villain in "No Ordinary Double Standard."
276* SureLetsGoWithThat: In "No Ordinary Visitors", the Powells [[spoiler:start to tell Stephanie's parents that Jim is helping people (as a superhero) but the parents interpret that to mean he's volunteering for the homeless, and the Powells decide to let them keep thinking so.]]
277* SurpriseCheckMate: happened twice in the "smart people's club" that JJ went to. I guess they let anyone in these days...
278* {{Telepathy}}: Daphne and [[spoiler:The Watcher, though he also shows [[SuperpowerLottery many other powers]]]].
279* TakeThat: In the episode ''No Ordinary Romance'', Stephanie discovers that the weekly villain Sophie, has been using her powers to control Jim.
280-->'''Stephanie''': You don't think she's a super, do you?
281-->'''George''': Well, it would explain why Jim's acting like Creator/CharlieSheen.
282* TechnicallyNakedShapeshifter: An evil shapeshifter mimics Katie, and later Jim, including the clothes that each happens to be wearing at the time.
283* TheyWouldCutYouUp: Stephanie and Katie's concern about Global Tech drawing the Powell's blood. [[spoiler: The BadFuture that Stephanie saw when she traveled forward in time makes this fear ''entirely'' justified.]]
284** Except... [[spoiler: ...when it isn't as the season finale the government seems quite happy to recruit the Powells unharmed in order to fight crime. More likely, the reason the BadFuture was so bad was because Jim played demolition derby in public with no (as far as the public was concerned) provocation against a police officer, making him seem like a super-villain.]]
285* TimeStandsStill: Whenever there is a POV shot of Stephanie superspeeding.
286* TitleDrop: During the first season's final episode.
287* TokenBlackFriend: George, Jim's district attorney buddy. He even sets up a "secret headquarters" for Jim in his garage.
288** Lampshaded by George himself: "[[Film/DieHard Bruce Willis]] would have never gotten out of there alive if he didn't have that black dude helping him. Jim, let me be your black dude!"
289* TokenGoodCop: While only two cops at the precinct where Jim works as a sketch artists are corrupt, most of the others are stiff-necked or overconfident, with only Detective Cho making Jim welcome from the start while also being a decent fighter and investigator. [[spoiler:Sadly, she's killed in the second episode.]] Detective Cordero, the most prominent cop in the series, starts out hostile toward Jim but is smart enough and thaws out a lot after Jim saves his life, [[spoiler:only to die in his first appearance after befriending Jim]].
290* TripleShifter: {{Deconstructed}}. With Jim spending more time hunting down criminals, his family life was suffering.
291** He's found some way to balance it all, like letting the police handle most of the minor stuff.
292* TrueCompanions: The Powells don't count, since they're an ''actual'' family, but the villains have a darker version.
293-->'''King:''' You won't leave. We're family.
294-->'''Watcher:''' Families don't hurt each other.
295-->'''King:''' Families hurt each other all the time. It's what they're best at.
296** Stephanie calls Katie part of her family.
297* UglyGuyHotWife: Jim and Stephanie.
298* UnwittingPawn: JJ is forced by his math teacher to take part in his academic decathlon team and solve a complex equation. [[spoiler:This was actually given by Dr. King so that JJ would use his super-brain and solve that equation for him. King hopes the equation will allow the ''Trilsettum'' formula to permanently grant abilities]].
299* ViewerFriendlyInterface / HolographicTerminal: Stephanie has one at work, though it's more realistic than most versions as it's shown to be a specific pane of glass on her office and doesn't really do much more than act like a multi-point touch screen.
300* WellDoneSonGuy: Grandpa Allan for both Jim and [=JJ=]. He finally comes around at the end, complimenting Jim and letting [=JJ=] have his [[ThePreciousPreciousCar precious precious car]]. Meanwhile, Stephanie's mother was like this as well.
301* WhamEpisode: It begins like any other episode. [[spoiler:Then the Watcher corners Daphne and wipes her memory...]]
302** ''No Ordinary Double Standard'' [[spoiler:Jim and Stephanie now have reason to believe Doctor King is a [[BigBad bad guy]], Katie ''almost'' finds out about all the bad things Watcher has done with his powers until he wiped her memory, Daphne discovers how to use her telepathy for MindControl and [[WhatTheHellHero at the end of the episode uses it on her father]], [[SecretSecretKeeper and Doctor King finds out that Jim and Stephane have superpowers]]]], and judging by the preview for the next episode...
303** ''No Ordinary Proposal'' whams you several times: [[spoiler: We see Chris's father walk only for him to become a bank robber and child abuser and Chris still sticks up for him. The Watcher loses his powers but his dirty little secrets are revealed and he is dumped by Katie and leaves town. JJ is blackmailed to join the academic team but his brain is used to perfect some formula Dr. King provided, which can't be good. At least we get a slight reprive when the stray bullet Jim deflected [[ForWantOfANail uncovers a tumor that saves the kids life.]]]]
304** The season one finale is a fantastic WhamEpisode. Let's see, we have [[spoiler: Mr. Litchfield being murdered, Dr. King being fired by Mrs. X, Joshua coming back, Victoria revived, Katie has a miscarriage but then the baby revives itself, JJ is kidnapped, The family gets kidnapped trying to save him, turns out Dr. King isn't so bad. Then he shoots Jim. Jim tries to kill Dr. King, who turns out to be immortal, and has Jim and Stephanie's powers thanks to a fresh dose of trillsettum. Until JJ nails him with an antidote, and he loses his powers, withers, and then dies. Then we find out that eighty criminals plus George, now have powers. And the NSA stops by the Powell residence to ask for their assistance catching them. ''Damn''.]]
305* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Pacific Bay, though not specifically mentioned to be in California, has really strong evidence that it is. It's shown to be near/next to an ocean/very large body of water, the license plates look similar to California plates, and it's about 500 miles west of Arizona. The family has a mostly calm reaction to an earthquake as well.
306* WouldHitAGirl:
307-->'''Jim''' (to Victoria): Even without my powers, I'm pretty sure I could still kick your ass.
308* WouldntHurtAChild: In "No Ordinary Visitors", when the home of one of Daphne's classmates is hit by home invaders, he sees one of their faces, but one of the guy's partners stops him from shooting the teen, for no other reason than "we're not killing a kid".
309** [[spoiler: Watcher on the other hand has no such scruples. While he doesn't hurt Daphne in any physical sense, he messes with her pretty badly even before the mind wipe.]]
310*** [[spoiler: When Jim finds out, he almost mentions this trope verbatim when [[UnstoppableRage confronting]] [[PapaWolf Watcher]].]]
311** In No Ordinary Powell, Melissa Rainey, [[spoiler: who killed Natalie's mother,]] also seems to have no problem with the idea of shooting JJ and Daphne. [[spoiler: Fortunately, Jim stopped her before she could do anything]].
312* YourTomcatIsPregnant: This is why you don't use a urine specimen of unknown provenance to fake a urine test.
313--> '''Katie:''' JJ, you're pregnant.

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