->'''Rand:''' ''I really should be going.''\\
'''Lan:''' ''Yes, you should. Another lesson?''\\
'''Rand:''' ''Sure.''\\
'''Lan:''' ''This move is called "Ending the Book." Use it in a climactic battle at the end of the book against a bad guy.''
-->-- ''TheWheelOfTime mock [[http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=386600 summaries]],'' by '''ISAM'''

->''As we’ve learned from all films ever made, whenever you have a special skill, it will eventually save your life, regardless of how impossibly stupid it is.''
-->-- '''Seanbaby'''

Training in any kind of skill, ability, or knowledge that will likely later [[SomedayThisWillComeInHandy come in handy]]. Much like [=~Chekhov's Gun~=], [=~Chekhov's Skill~=] covers instances where a character takes time in-story to become proficient at something.

If the hero takes time to teach his [[LoveInterests sweetie]] a self-defense Judo throw in scene 2, expect this "DistressedDamsel" to throw the {{Mook}} [[StandardFemaleGrabArea holding her]] into a SharkPool by scene 5.

This is a counterpoint to IKnowKungFu, as proficiencies are gained and learned rather than mentioned or pulled out of [[AssPull thin air]]. Taken to extremes, [=~Chekhov's Skill~=] can be used to [[JustifiedTrope justify]] ImplausibleFencingPowers or turn the FarmBoy into a [[GunKata gun toting]] BadAss. In frustrating cases, it might go the way of ForgottenPhlebotinum and never see use again. Used well, it can lead to some satisfying [[HeroicBystander heroics from unexpected places.]]

[=~Chekhov's Skill~=] can also be used as a catalyst for other plot elements by having one character teach another, and getting some good CharacterDevelopment out of it as well. Or even drive a plot as [[SeekerArchetype the seeker]] looks for a [[MentorArchetype mentor]] to teach them Chekhov's Skill. If the skill is too complicated to be perfected so quickly, see InstantExpert.

If it is not a skill taught or otherwise demonstrated to the individual in question, then it is a ChekhovsHobby. In the hobby, the skills are an InformedAbility before it is shown. In the skill, even if the character hasn't perfected the DangerousForbiddenTechnique it still shows them training for it.

See also SomedayThisWillComeInHandy, CrazyPrepared.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* The very first [[AllThereInTheManual Sound Stage]] of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' had Nanoha trying and failing to do a bind spell. Needless to say, she had to do one properly to [[GottaCatchThemAll catch a Jewel Seed monster]] by the end of the day. She would later perform this spell in the anime itself during a decisive moment in her final battle against Fate.
** The second season introduces the concept of [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Transformation Magic]] through a distraught Shamal when, [[LivingWithTheVillain after finding out how close their master was to the heroes]], she makes an offhand comment of how she should have applied it to the Wolkenwritter. When TheReveal came, it turned out that certain other parties ''didn't'' forget to apply this useful spell.
** And then there's Area Search, a utility spell Nanoha created way back in the third episode of the first season to solve a specific problem and has never had the chance to use again... until the last episodes of the third season, which gave the hidden Quattro a very nasty surprise.
* ''{{Naruto}}'' has Naruto walking into a person practicing a technique ([[{{Fanservice}} naked]]); we can tell it's Hinata, but he can't, [[IdiotHero because]] [[DumbIsGood he's]] [[SelectiveObliviousness Naruto]]. She uses this at the end to kill a bunch insects the enemies were attacking with.
** She is shown earlier training with the technique; she activates her Byakugan, some kunai fly at her, and within moments all of them are on the ground, broken.
* In ''DragonballZ'', King Kai teaches Goku the SpiritBomb, and outlines exactly what kind of power this attack has. Not only that, but he says only to use it as a last resort. So ''of course'' Goku has to use it in his following battle as well as nearly every movie and future BigBad.
** It's okay though. It may have all the power of life, the stars, and the universe, but it never works anyway.
*** Except on Kid Buu. At the end of the series.
* In the first chapter of ''OnePiece'', Shanks scares a sea monster away by staring it down. Over ''400 chapters'' later this is revealed to be an actual [[FightingSpirit superpower]] that any pirate captain worth their salt has.
* The fights in ''KenichiTheMightiestDisciple'' often feature Kenichi, at a critical moment, using a technique taught to him in the last training session shown.
* Negi's [[ShockAndAwe Axe of Lightning/Axe of Zeus]] spell in ''MahouSenseiNegima''. Taught by Evangeline at the start of Vol. 8, he was naturally forced to do it perfectly by the end of the volume to defeat the BigBad for that StoryArc.
* Occurs in ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]'' during the moxibustion storyline. Cologne teaches Ranma [[TimeToUnlockMoreTruePotential a new technique]] so he can fight back against Happosai without strength, a technique which requires Ranma to stay calm and not emotionally react to his opponent. Genma, his father, immediately tries to get a rise out of him with "Humiliating Photo Fu," whipping out embarrassing naked baby pictures. The whole sequence seems like an extended riff on Genma's usual JerkAss tendencies... but Ranma ''actually puts Humiliating Photo Fu to use'' during the climactic battle against Happosai, by flashing photos of himself [[GenderBender as a girl]] in lingerie.
** Also, moves that characters learned throughout the series are often used later.
* In ''CowboyBebop'' Spike had a guy requesting to teach him martial arts, where Spike demonstrates a knife disarm and the philosophy of being calm as water. The guy was having a hard time understanding it all, but in the climactic fight he manages to pull off the same move against a mook. [[spoiler: And immediately subverted when he is shot and killed in the midst of his celebration.]]
* In ''{{Monster}}'', Nina is shown innocently practicing Aikido. Later, when Tenma is attacked, it comes in handy.
* Early on in ''{{Bleach}}'', we see Ichigo's dad trying to put the hurt on our poor hero, and of course, he fights back. This actually provided really good training when it came to beating up Hollows.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film]]
*''{{Aliens}}''
** "Well, I can drive that loader."
** During a lull in the action, Cpl. Hicks takes the time to teach Ripley how to use the Marines' weapons. This allow her to go on her MamaBear rampage at the end.
* In TheFilmOfTheBook ''AngelsAndDemons'', the Camberlengo is given exactly one line describing his history. He mentions that he went into the army as a medic and learned to fly. Guess who ends up in a helicopter in the big climax? This is given a little more justification in the book, but used to exactly the same effect.
* ''BigTroubleInLittleChina'', Jack's knife trick is glossed over in the beginning but ends up as a CrowningMomentOfAwesome near the end of the movie.
* In ''DeathProof'', it's established early on that two of the four heroines are stunt drivers, just like Stuntman Mike, which comes in handy in one of the best car chases [[MrDeath this editor]] has ever seen.
* In ''{{Dragonheart}}: A New Beginning'', Drake attempts to learn the lost dragon art of breathing ice. He never quite gets it down, but manages to pull it off in the climax of the final battle.
*''[[FaceOff Face/Off]]'' combines this with [=~Chekhov's Gun~=] when the villain (who thanks to a surgical face swap is posing as the hero) gives a knife to the hero's daughter and teaches her a technique for stabbing someone. Later, after he's shown his true colors and is now threatening her, she pulls out the knife he gave her and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard stabs him the way he taught her]].
* ''{{FridayThe13th}}'': "Come on Ginny! Use some of that psychology you've been studying!"
* In ''Film/IronMan'', [[IronMan Tony Stark]] is testing his Mk. II armor's flight capabilities, [[spoiler: and decides to break the altitude record, just because. He fails because the suit builds up a layer of ice which shorts out its systems; Tony later {{Hand Wave}}s a fix for this. Later in the movie, he lures the BigBad Iron Monger to similar altitudes, causing Iron Monger's suit to freeze up while his own suit is protected.]]
* ''TheKarateKid'': Paint the fence, paint the house, WaxOnWaxOff... Danny Laruso tended to use a new ChekhovsSkill as the main means of defeating opponents at the end of a movie. He tended to get his ass kicked across the screen for the remainder of all three movies. Each film featured a Chekhovs Skill, the most famous one being the Crane Kick. When the crane kick [[SoLastSeason failed in the second movie]], Daniel had to turn to the drum technique. The third movie had Daniel psych out his opponent his kata moves he learned, and in the fourth movie Julie used the praying mantis kick.
* In ''KillBill Volume II'', we learn the Bride's amazing skills were taught to her by Pai Mei. This is revealed, then effectively demonstrated, in the ''Texas Funeral'' sequence, and then [[spoiler: she uses the eye-pluck to permanently disable Elle Driver (foreshadowed thrice: a Crazy 88 henchman in Vol. I, Bill mentions it when he delivers her to Pai Mei, then Elle herself, in flashback, suffers it)]]. Later, during the final duel with Bill, [[spoiler:we finally see the Bride use Pai Mei's final secret, that he taught no one else: the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique]].
** Don't forget the one-inch punch, the utility of which in her current circumstance was the very reason her reminiscing triggered the flashback sequence in the first place. (Also a shout-out to Bruce lee).
* Quatermain, in ''TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', spends a very Dramatic Scene teaching impudent Tom Sawyer how to shoot his elephant gun, counseling him on taking his time and feeling the shot. This is vitally important at the climax, when this skill is needed to take down the escaping BigBad.
* The original ''The Man Who Knew Too Much'' does it with guns.
* In ''MasterAndCommander'' Stephen Maturin's interest in science is a constant thorn in Jack Aubrey's side; right up until one of his zoo specimen's gives him the necessary strategy to take down the enemy ship.
* The wrap-the-ropes-around-the-pole-to-climb-it trick that ''{{Mulan}}'' figured out during the "[[GonnaFlyNowMontage I'll Make a Man Out of You]]" musical number, which she and her comrades used to infiltrate the Emperor's palace.
** [[CrowningMomentofFunny While reprising that same number.]]
*** To those that don't quite the pothole, three of the comrades are dressed as women. One of which has a beard. It even give us these exchanges:
---> Yao : Does this make me look fat?
---> *slap*
---> and later on
---> Mook 1: [It's only] Concubines.
---> Mook 2: ''Ugly'' concubines
* ''MysteryMen'': It's a RunningGag throughout the film that Invisible Boy can only turn invisible when there are no people watching. Consequently, we never get to see him use his power; he is merely told "your time will come". [[spoiler: In the climactic assault on BigBad Casanova Frankenstein's lair, Invisible Boy is able to turn invisible in front of a camera-operated laser and thus circumnavigate it.]]
*In ''{{Film/Outlander}}'', Wulfren challenges Kainen to a friendly contest of shield-jumping, and Kainen turns out to be the first person to match Wulfren's skill. Kainen later volunteers himself and Wulfren to serve as bait to trap a monster: they use shields atop posts as stepping-stones over the pit, and when the monster tries to follow, it falls in.
* In ''PlanetTerror'', Cherry literally catalogues her "useless skills" most of which involve her ability to bend and flex as a dancer. Damned if they don't come in handy at the end of the picture though.
-->'''Dakota Block:''' You know, my girlfriend had a theory. She said at some point in your life, you find a use for every useless talent you ever had. It's like connecting the dots.
* In ''QuestForCamelot'' Kayley defeats BigBad Ruber by dodging out of the way of his strike at the last moment, causing him to put Excalibur back in the stone, a technique she learned from Garrett earlier in the movie.
* ''SkyHigh'' gives us a bunch of sidekicks, each with [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway rather strange powers]] (glowing, turning into a hamster, melting, [[GreenThumb making plants grow at will]]). And they all get their own Crowning Moment of Useful during the prom invasion.
* In ''StarWars'' Episode 4: ''ANewHope'', [[FarmBoy farm boy]] [[StarWars Luke Skywalker]] is actually a [[AcePilot hot-shot bush pilot]] who used to bullseye womprats with his T-16 back home. Surely the wacky adventures Luke must have had while growing on Tatooine had much to do with flying a military space fighter at extremely high speeds in a tunnel while evading fire from the most skilled pilots of the huge intergalactic [[TheEmpire empire]].
* ''{{The Tenacious D}}'' movie had JB learn the power slide and the infamous ''cock pushup'' from KG early in the film. Both become crucial in retrieving and escaping with the titular pick of destiny.
* Used straight and then inverted in ''YesMan''. Carl learns to play guitar, speak Korean, and fly a plane. The ability to speak Korean and play guitar are used to his advantage... [[spoiler:but the plane lessons and Korean get him targeted by Homeland Security.]]
* In ''{{Zoolander}}'', Derek Zoolander is obsessed with perfecting his Magnum look. Later, in the climax, he uses Magnum to stop a shuriken aimed at the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
** No no no, he uses his new look, Blue Steel, to stop the shuriken. It still fits the Trope though, since Zoolander's been discussing since the opening scene that he's been working on Blue Steel and trying to perfect it, big hype for the reveal, blah blah blah. The hilarity is that it looks ''exactly the same as Magnum,'' as do all his looks.
*** If you'd watch the movie, you'd learn that his signature look is Blue Steel, he has other (identical) looks known as Ferrari and Le Tigre, and he's been working on perfecting Magnum, which requires him to turn left (he's not an ambiturner).
**** And he actually ''does'' turn left when he uses Blue Steel! Therefore he gets two [[ChekhovsSkill Chekhov Skills]] in one moment: Blue Steel ''and'' turning left!
*A [[BrickJoke minor example]] in {{Titanic}}. Jack teaches Rose how to "spit like a man" and she later uses it to get away from Cal when she distracts him by [[CrowningMomentOfFunny spitting in his eye]]
* Early in ''Train'', when the protagonist is having doubts about her future in wrestling, her boyfriend, who's on the men's team, teaches her a move he calls the "Todd Patterson invincible double leg double hook throw". In the end, she uses this move to take out the last antagonist.
* ''TheIncredibles'' has Violet Parr only able to do tiny force fields, even failing to save her family members from an exploding plane, before finally getting the hang of it midway through and saving everyone every time she uses it.
* In ''{{Cars}},'' Lightning [=McQueen=] learns about backwards driving and opposite-lock drifting in Radiator Springs. Both skills prove crucial at the final Piston Cup race.
* A three-second segment of a montage in ''{{Ratatouille}}'' shows that Linguini's a good rollerskater. This skill proves vital in the climax.
* One {{Flintstones}} movie subverts it has Fred bowl a perfect game at the beginning. Then later own the villain has kidnapped Wilma and is standing on a bridge over a volcano, Fred picks up a round rock and bowls it at him completely misses.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In DanAbnett's ''{{Warhammer40000}}'' novel ''Titanicus'', Golla Ulduna is introduced as a midwife, to emphasize the insanity of her being called up as part of the tertiary reserve. But when they find a princeps in the ruins of his engine, Golla is able to get him breathing air again, just as she would get a baby breathing.
* RobertHeinlein is rather fond of this trope. The skill in question is usually some sort of mechanical engineering, which the main character does as a hobby, but ends up saving his life later.
* At the beginning of the second ''WheelOfTime'' book, Lan is giving Rand training in swordfighting, and insists to never use the "Heron Wading in the Rushes" technique— a stance lifting your sword high, that leaves yourself open to attack so that you have a chance to strike.
** Turns into a real WallBanger when shortly there after, Lan tells him of the technique "Sheathing the Sword" taking an attack so you have a chance to strike. *bang bang*
*** A Chekhovs Skill in the making, Mat, Thom and Oliver are constantly seen playing Snakes and Foxes, a kids game, which Mat is openly dismissive of. By the end of book 11 it has become clear that [[spoiler: the game is an instruction manual for invading the world of the Finn and defeating them, which those three are well on their way to doing to save Moraine.]]
* Happens a few times in ''HarryPotter,'' usually in regards to an important spell they need to learn. Harry's patronus in particular.
** Not to mention that ANY specifically named spell, even from the Unforgivable Curses from the Bad Guys, eventually gets used at least once during a key event.
** Most notable in the fifth book, with "Dumbledore's Army." The skills that Harry teaches are repeatedly relevant to the other characters through the rest of the series.
*** Of course, he's deliberately teaching them pragmatic spells because their official education [[ObstructiveBureaucrat doesn't and won't]].
** A good non-spell example is Ron's skill in chess. Sadly it isn't mentioned much after the first book.
*** Because it's so obscure and useless that the only time it would be useful is if they were playing with giant, transfigured chess pieces that you have to defeat in order to confront the evil wizard. Seriously.
** Also Harry's superb flying and Snitch-catching skills make appearances throughout the series, usually with the line ''"Harry wasn't the youngest Seeker in 100 years for nothing."''
* Every other ''{{Hardy Boys}}'' novel had Chet Morton take up some hilarious new hobby, such as ventriloquism or shot-putting. These skills would always come in handy by the end of the book, and would never be referenced again in any later books.
* It's learned quite a while before the book, but in The ''XWingSeries'' Face, a former child actor, was stated to have lived on Lorrd for a while, a planet whose [[PlanetOfHats hat]] was body language and the reading of such. He uses what he picked up to SherlockScan how people walk. This does come up again.
* Subverted in the first Xanth book: Bink learns some throws from Crombie before the two part ways, and in a confrontation with Evil Magician Trent, uses one. Trent, an experienced warrior, counters expertly, while politely pointing out that amateur moves like that just don't work on a skilled opponent.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''{{Jericho}}'' has Robert teach his daughter to shoot to better defend herself from the uncertainties in their AfterTheEnd world. Not only does it bring this estranged father and daughter together, but six episodes later she saves his life.
* ''TheSarahJaneAdventures'' Alan is established as a former Skateboard champ in the first part of one story, guess how he [=KOs=] an alien in the second part? It was even joked about as being "Chekhov's Skateboard" on OutpostGallifrey.
* In the ''{{MST3K}}'' episode "Bloodlust", there is an early scene where the heroine goofily tackles the hero (for no apparent reason) causing him to jokingly remark that he shouldn't have gotten involved with "the daughter of a judo expert." Sure enough, the movie later contains a scene where the heroine uses her judo skills to dump a mook into a vat of acid.
** Not to mention Tom saying "{{Foreshadowing}}!" when the plot point comes up.
** Of course, [[ForgottenPhlebotinum she never uses this skill at any other times it would be helpful]], such as subduing the Big Bad.
* In one episode of ''{{Monk}}'', Randy spends most of his time playing jenga. In the showdown at the end of the episode, he uses these skills to knock out the bad guy using a stack of lumber.
** In another episode, we find out Adrian met his wife when she wrote her phone number on a piece of paper on his back, for another guy. Natalie refers to this as a [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway really useless superpower.]] Later in the episode he's able to find out where someone is staying as she wrote it on his back at the beginning of the episode.
* ''TheWire'': Snoop and Chris teach Michael how to pull off murders, which allows him to figure out when *he* is being set up for one and turn the tables.
* In an episode of ''SisterSister'', Lisa claims that she has a sixth sense, citing that she once saw a ghost of a relative. This is played off as a joke, LaughTrack and all. Later in the episode, she meets the ghost of Ray's old wife.
* In one of the first episodes of ''PowerRangersRPM'', Ziggy mentions that he is good with shadow puppets, something treated as a joke. This skill manages to save the Rangers' lives at ''least'' once or twice over the course of the series.
* In Season 2 of ''{{Lost}}'', Locke teaches Michael how to use a gun. Big mistake.
* In ''{{Torchwood}}'', Gwen's husband is a truck driver. In the miniseries ''Children of Earth'', he uses his knowledge of trucks (his company in particular) to save himself and Gwen at a critical moment.
* Pretty much the basis of the show "Psych", in which almost every episode begins with Shawn being taught a skill by his dad when he was a kid, only to flash-forward to the future and see it come in handy.
* In season three of ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer,'' Willow and Buffy joke a few times about how Willow's witchcraft has only progressed to the point of levitating pencils. This later turns out to be a very useful skill in a world where [[EliteMooks vampires]] are [[KryptoniteFactor intensely weak to pointed wooden objects]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* This trope is essentially the basis for the {{Metroidvania}} genre of video games, where the player explores an environment and obtains new equipment or abilities that allow them to solve puzzles found later on the game. For example, the ''{{Metroid}}'' series which provides the former half of the genre's name has the player collect the [[GrapplingHookPistol grapple beam]] to cover large gaps, the Varia suit to protect them from superheat/cooled areas, and so on.
** Though it doesn't necessarily fit, because you're usually trying to get skills for the explicit purpose of overcoming certain types of obstacles, and in the more nonlinear games (like the early Metroid games, especially Super Metroid) you'll often be looking for a specific item once you've figured out where you'll need to use it.
*** You come across the obstacle early on, but find the tool/skill to overcome it later. So perhaps this is an inversion of the trope?
*** Chekhov's Obstacle!
*** That could work...on his first time through ''MetroidPrime 3'', this troper saw green doors and thought "Nova Beam must be coming up soon". Which, of course, it was.
* The ''[[TheLegendOfZelda Legend of Zelda]]'' series typically has the boss of each dungeon's weakness based around whatever piece equipment Link finds in (and sometimes before) it. For example, if you find the Bow expect to be shooting arrows at a weak spot, if you find a hammer then expect to smash some armour and so on.
** Early on in ''The Ocarina Of Time'', Link can learn how to use Din's Fire, a reasonably useful area-effect fire spell, but like the other magic spells, not perfectly necessary. It isn't until he gets to the Shadow Temple that Din's Fire becomes ''essential'', as its the only way to light the torches at once and open the doorway.
*** Essential? Hardly. Shooting an arrow through a flame effectively turns it into a fire arrow. Your bow-fu is lacking.
*** Don't forget that one room with the approaching walls of wooden spikes.
* In ''TalesOfEternia'', Rid gets the Kyokku skills (Aurora Artes) in three parts. The first two form his two-stage "Hi-Ougi", the high-powered low-HP sort of move most Tales leads get at some point. The last one is completely useless (and unusable) except as a requirement for the final PuzzleBoss.
* "Try to remember some of the basics of CQC..." This line and Ocelot's hand gesture became running gags among this troper's friends after playing through ''[[MetalGearSolid Metal Gear Solid 3]]''. The former comes up in a number of cutscenes, in addition to its use throughout the game as a few standard maneuvers.
* Inverted in ''JadeEmpire'', where many characters comment on a mysterious seemingly unexploitable "flaw" in the protagonist's martial arts. Once the nature of the flaw is revealed it turns the plot completely upside-down.
* In ''TraumaCenter: New Blood'', Valerie drags the operating team to a demonstration held by her friend. Unfortunately, she doesn't realize that her friend became a veterinarian. Any attempts to salvage the situation as having learned something useful are shot down by Markus as being highly unlikely, since human doctors would never have to operate on a dog. Much later in the game, a dog that had been given to them is shot, and they decide to use the skills they learned earlier to operate on it.
* Parodied in ''FinalFantasyIX'' - early in the game, Vivi, being too naive to understand how to escape a captor, is easily kidnapped from the party. With Garnet standing right next to him, Zidane explains how to successfully resist capture. Later in the game, when Garnet is about to be captured, she only remembers to yell "Let go of me, you scumbag!", to the perplexity of the villains who then proceed to grab her anyway.
* [[ChekhovsGun Chekhov's Guns]] are the order of the day in any [[PointAndClickGame Point and Click]] [[AdventureGame Adventure]], since most objects you can pick up will undoubtedly become useful later. The ''MonkeyIsland'' series also includes the occasional skill. The most famous example is Insult Swordfighting, but a neater example comes at the end of ''Monkey Island 2'': [[spoiler: at the beginning of the game, you were taught how to make a voodoo doll to defeat Largo LaGrande. At the end of the game, you must recall this skill to defeat LeChuck.]] Guybrush states early on in the first game that he can hold his breath for 10 minutes, which is fortunate because people keep trying to drown him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* From ''AModestDestiny'' [[spoiler:the main character learns how to control his shadow as a joke. It isn't mentioned again until he's facing down the BigBad, when he uses this power to defeat him]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* This sometimes happens in ''SurvivalOfTheFittest'' with the profiles of the characters. Newbies often try to cram in as many potentially useful skills as possible (such as survival training, firearm proficiency and martial arts. Made ridiculous when [[FridgeLogic you consider]] that the characters are ''supposed'' to be [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Ordinary High School Students]]
* Obligatory WhateleyUniverse example: In the novel ''Ayla and the Tests'', five-foot-nothing Phase is pushed by a teacher to use his particular Warper power to take over a size-Warper's power. In a different novel, "Boston Brawl 2", Phase figures out how to use this trick to ''beat the holy crap'' out of a forty-foot giant.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''AvatarTheLastAirbender.'' After his initial Earth Bending training, the third season revealed that Toph had trained Aang to [[YourEyesCanDeceiveYou sense movement through Earth Bending]] like she does, which he used later on.
** In "The Puppetmaster", Katara learns a particular nasty technique called Bloodbending that allows her to control someone when empowered by the full moon. The episode made it very clear she does not like the technique. She does use it later, but her willingness to use this technique to ''[[ColdBloodedTorture torture]]'' someone does a good job of showing her vicious side.
** Iroh's original technique of redirecting lightning was first demonstrated in the first season with little fanfare. In the early second season Azula demonstrates the ability to actually generate lighting, where Iroh reused that technique against her. This prompts Zuko to request to be trained in the art of lighting bending. After failing to use the regular lightning strike, Iroh teaches him the redirect technique, but refuses to help him [[DontTryThisAtHome practice with actual lightning.]] Needless to say, Zuko does have to put that training to use over a season later, though not against Azula.
*** Zuko would also pass the technique on to Aang, who uses it to avoid a fatal blow from Fire Lord Ozai in the finale.
* In ''TheSimpsons'' [[TheMovie Movie]], Homer has to do a stunt with a motorcycle inside of a spherical cage in order to win a new car. He then uses this same stunt at the end of the movie with the glass sphere surrounding Springfield in order to save the city from a bomb.
* In the series premiere of ''The Real Adventures Of JonnyQuest'', "Darkest Fathoms", Jonny is seen to be practicing how to escape from being tied up. Later in the episode, he is captured by pirates and uses this skill to get free (and save Jessie and his dad while he's at it).
* Part Two of ''TheFairlyOddParents'' TV movie trilogy "Wishology", Baby Poof is seen watching a ninja film based ''very'' loosely on what happened in Part One. Wanda proceeds to turn it off, as it is "too violent for him." During the next few minutes, Poof kicks, punches, and generally bounces around the room. Later, Timmy's friends, family and godparents have all been captured by [[spoiler:the Eliminators, who came back from the Darkness, which apparently was only slowed down after Part One]]. Poof is the only one who can go through the bars of their cell, and when threatened by [[spoiler:the Eliminators]], he dons a blanket around his head and body, smears eyeliner on his face for a shadow, and [[BadAss proceeds to kick ass big time.]]
* Subverted (hilariously, by the way) in SouthPark, where Stan goes through the TrainingMontage, only to win his climactic ski race with the same two skills he learned near the beginning: pizza, french fries. The actual difference is made when the {{Meganekko}} flashes the JerkJock and stuns him for more than enough time for Stan to cross the finish line first.
[[/folder]]

----
<<|CharacterizationTropes|>>
<<|LawsAndFormulas|>>
<<|SkillsAndTrainingTropes|>>
<<|ThisIndexWillBeImportantLater|>>