History Main / PowerDegeneration

* In ''Series/StargateSG1'', any human who uses an [[UpgradeArtifact Ancient Repository]] gains all the knowledge of the most advanced species ever to walk the galaxy, as well as some [[HealingHands nifty extras]] if they stick it out long enough. However since human minds [[EvolutionaryLevels aren't advanced enough to handle it]] this comes at the cost of overclocking their brain to the point of rapid mental degeneration and death. It's implied that anyone other than Jack wouldn't have survived even a few days. Daniel her Merlin's consciousness downloaded into him, but Merlin specifically gauged it so that a human mind could handle it. Besides, Daniel has [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascended]] before and came back, same as Merlin.

** ''Series/KamenRider555': Nearly all powers come with degeneration in this series. By default the Orphnochs have only a few years to live after getting their powers. The Faiz Driver cuts it down to a few months, the Kaixa Driver cuts it down to a few ''seconds'' for all but a lucky few. The Delta Driver doesn't cause accelerated degeneration, [[PsychoSerum but it has other drawbacks.]] The Orphnochs are desperately searching for the mythical Orphnoch King because he's the only thing that can cure degeneration.

* The Orphenochs in ''Series/KamenRider555'' have this; if they wear the Kaixa Belt, they go down even faster.

** The other hunters succumb to this under the hand of Dark Samus. All of them (Samus included) are affected by Phazon infestation but only Samus manages to stave it off its mind-decaying effects long enough to end the war. The others succumb to it and turn antagonistic towards Samus, forcing her to put down her former allies.

** In late Season 6 and early Season 7, WellIntentionedExtremist Castiel has taken on a multitude of souls from Purgatory and powered himself up enough to kill Raphael and stop him from re-starting the Apocalypse. However, Castiel gets DrunkOnTheDarkSide and declares himself the new God. As he goes on a smithing rampage, his vessel begins to decompose, and Death remakes that he is not God but a mutated angel. Eventually, Castiel reaches out to Sam and Dean for help to return the souls inside him to Purgatory. They succeed, but they don't count on the Leviathans staying inside Castiel.

* In ''Film/GhostRiderSpiritOfVengeance'', Roark is the Devil's avatar, but as he is a mere human, his body is slowly breaking down. Use of his powers accelerates the breakdown, like when half of his face rots after turning Carrigan into [[WalkingWasteland Blackout]]. He compares himself to a flamethrower made of paper mache. The Devil's plan is to transfer his essence into Danny, a HalfHumanHybrid who would be able to better handle his power.

* The main character of the ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' fanfic ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5932238/1/Pariah Pariah]]'' suffers from this. [[spoiler:Whenever she uses her biotics it inflames the tissue of her lungs, causing her to cough blood. In the second to last chapter, she performs a last stand and uses her biotics until she's curled up and ''choking on her own necrotic lung tissue.'']] [[TakingYouWithMe She killed the bastards, though]].

** ''ComicBook/Superboy1994'': ComicBook/{{Superboy}}'s powers start failing him along with his body due to Agenda's experiments with his use of them rapidly increases up the rate at which his body is falling apart. He still uses them after realizing what's going on to rescue those stranded in a storm until he can't move any further. He spends the next several issues of his own book and ''ComicBook/SuperboyAndTheRavers'' non-active on a table, and then in a HealingVat while his body falls apart and scientists scramble for a way to save him.

** ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': At one point, Wally West a.k.a. Kid Flash starts slows down with each use of his powers. However, during the tail-end of ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', ComicBook/{{Firestorm|DCComics}} is able to save him in the nick of time from the Anti-Monitor's energy blast, but the blast ends up saving him from his degeneration, though sticking him at "speed of sound" running levels -- which suits him just fine as he takes up the mantle of the Flash.

* Some of the Contractors of ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' fall under this. People whose 'remuneration' is irreversible can only use them a limited number of times. Most notably, this includes the shape-shifter who grows older every time she uses her power, eventually dying from old age because of it, and [[spoiler:Amber, who could reverse or stop time]], but [[MerlinSickness became younger]] every time she used it, eventually [[RetGone fading from existence altogether]].

The causes can vary. It may be that the process used to make the [[CloningBlues Clone]], HalfHumanHybrid or genetically enhanced character with SuperSoldier powers had an [[CloneDegeneration inadvertent]] (or intentional) [[FlawedPrototype design flaw]] (or "birth defect") that slowly [[CastFromLifespan reduces their lifespan]], limiting their lives to years or ''months.'' Other times it's related to having somehow gained superpowers. Maybe it was thanks to PsychoSerum, or the machine/amulet that gave them their powers was broken. Lastly, the powers may just inherently damage the body when used, either as a mystical [[EquivalentExchange price]] or because they are not designed for human use (or rather, the body wasn't given the RequiredSecondaryPowers to handle using the primary ones). Whatever the case, the result is the same: acute [[HeroicRROD "hardware failure"]] as the body tears itself up from the inside. If they're lucky, they won't cause a SuperpowerMeltdown that takes out the city.

* Chaos magic, an alternate form of spellcasting in ''DungeonsAndDragons 3.5'' -- that can coexist with the standard form of spellcasting -- is incredibly flexible and can become ridiculously powerful when used well, is limited by [[CastFromHitPoints self-inflicted nonlethal damage that only full rest can remove with every spell cast]] and carries a huge price in the form of an inherent risk to fail every cast (even when MinMaxing to death, it's hard to reduce this chance under 1/20), and every failed spell has a chance to permanently apply a random harmful condition to the caster, eventually resulting in [[DeaderThanDead a form of death no one can be brought back from]]. A chaos caster tends to be a CrutchCharacter for this reason : ridiculously powerful and versatile at first but gets weaker and weaker with each stage of corruption, and with a high chance to die for good before the rest of the party.

* In ''{{TabletopGame/Rifts}}'', one character class is "Juicers", which can be described as [[PsychoSerum somebody on steroids]] [[ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs on steroids]]. You wear a drug-injection rig and your lifespan is about five years. Also, Crazies, people who have had their brains rewired to gain psychic powers eventually lose their sanity.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''
** Psykers get a double-shot of awfulness: not only does the act of using their powers leave the potential of letting a [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Warp daemon]] take over their body and open a Warp Rift with their mind, but many of the granted abilities take a severe toll on the body, leaving them exhausted, injured through strain and sometimes dead from the brain [[YourHeadAsplode literally tearing itself apart]]. How to avoid this and still be a functioning psyhic? Heavy [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul cybernetic augmentation]], or "soul binding" which tends to do things like [[EyeScream pop your eyeballs]] and kill all your emotions. All things considered though, this is a small price to pay to potentially be an incredibly powerful being in [[CrapsackWorld an unbelievably brutal and unforgiving galaxy]].
** The Thunder Warriors' augmentations gave them incredible power. A single Thunder Warrior is to a squad of Space Marines what a Space Marine is to an Imperial Guard squad. Their augmentations also drastically reduced their lifespans. It's not clear whether this was a flaw or an intentional expiration date the Emperor added to ensure that the powerful but unstable Thunder Warriors wouldn't outlive their usefulness.

* It's revealed in ''VideoGame/BlazBlueContinuumShift'' that Ragna's fake Azure Grimoire (which is really a piece of the [[EldritchAbomination Black Beast]]) will consume him if he unleashes its full power too often. This is probably why he was so reluctant to use it in ''Calamity Trigger''. [[spoiler:Given how liberally he uses his, one has to wonder if Terumi was already consumed by his own Azure Grimoire (confirmed equally counterfeit in ''Chronophantasma'').]]
** Due to the abundance of seithr in the modern age, the use of ars magus and ars armagus has its own risks as well -- some of the worst including outright physical collapse (wherein the body disintegrates completely and the soul is absorbed into the Boundary through the nearest cauldron). Not only does Terumi use this to liquidate the Kagutsuchi NOL branch in ''Continuum Shift'', [[spoiler:but opening every cauldron in the world during the climax of ''Chronophantasma'' does this on a worldwide scale, with a very small fraction of the pre-Doomsday population surviving even after Kushinada's Lynchpin is activated]].

* Genesis in ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' has a defect in his creation, and slowly gets white hair and has his red jacket go ashy throughout the game. (I'm guessing his jacket is like a mood ring for his health.) As the game goes on Genesis' copies show the same degeneration.

*** [[spoiler:Beating the shit out of Genesis's OneWingedAngel form results in him getting better.]]

* ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'' has this happen to Samus; the more bosses she defeats, the larger her Phazon generating tumor grows, to the point where once you [[spoiler:reach Phaaze and are forced into permanent hypermode]] ''the gunship no longer acknowledges her as Samus''.

* In Tira's ending in ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur IV'', Nightmare's body can no longer withstand its own power. Tira clings to him, tearfully begging him not to leave her alone. [[spoiler:He doesn't.]]

* Happens to a human prize fighter in an episode of ''Series/LostGirl'' -- it's said that the Fae-derived serum that allows him to HulkOut will cause his internal organs to explode if he hulks out one more time.

* [[spoiler:The main characters]] in ''Webcomic/{{Panthera}}''. Their SuperSerum was developed from a failed attempt at a cancer cure, and while it granted them awesome VoluntaryShapeshifting, it also basically turned their entire bodies cancerous. They only have a couple years to live, unless they can find or invent a cure.

* A Star Trek novel, "The Final Reflection" by John M. Ford, contains a Klingon assassin who was modified to be four times faster than normal. This caused him to age 64 times faster, so he had to be stored in cryo-suspension between missions. Making things worse, the excessive cryo tended to blank his memory, so he basically had no identity or past.
* In ''Literature/FlowersForAlgernon'', [[spoiler:the operation that turned mentally-challenged Charlie into a super-genius is only temporary. In the second half of the story, his intelligence rapidly deteriorates until he is at least as impaired as he was when he started out. To make matters worse, there's a good chance that his mind will keep on deteriorating until he dies -- after all, that's what happened to the mouse they tested it on.]]

* Creator/DavidBrin's ''Literature/KilnPeople'' revolves around the various effects of "dittoes", golem-like copies of individual humans that only last for 24 hours but can have their memories downloaded into the original. As their time starts to run out their bodies begin turning back into clay. Note that they can be preserved by stuffing them into a fridge. The hero's girlfriend does this with a fresh copy [[SexBot in case he gets lonely]].

* In the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' there's Sgt. Taura, the genetically engineered super-soldier. She has incredible strength and fast reflexes, but was not made to last. She was deliberately engineered to have a short lifespan and die quickly once she started showing serious signs of age. The Fleet doctor has slowed her metabolism and bought her a few more years.

* Male channelers (read: magicians) in Robert Jordan's ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime''. The male half of One Power, ''saidin'', was tainted by the [[BigBad Dark One]], so that now all the male channelers unavoidably will go mad. The few that survive the madness and avoid being caught then start [[BodyHorror rotting while alive]]... [[spoiler:That is, until Rand manages to cleanse the ''saidin''.]]

** In the alternate universe presented in ''ComicBook/BatmanHolyTerror'', the Commonwealth tried to replicate Barry Allen's SuperSpeed powers. Only two of the test subjects got useful speed powers, but one of them is prone to exploding and then reconstituting himself, while the other, just a kid, has ended up with accelerated aging and is likely to die within a few weeks.

** ''ComicBook/GreatTen'': Immortal Man-In-Darkness is a pilot bonded to the Dragonwing, an extremely advanced [[LivingShip living fighter plane]]. Each flight of the Dragonwing takes a year off of the pilot's life. The government doesn't have a problem finding willing pilots -- piloting the Dragonwing is considered a great honor and there are plenty of pilots waiting in reserve ''eager'' for their chance even though they know the price.

** ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': Strader Pharmaceuticals develops a drug that's meant to give the user super-strength but has the unfortunate side-effect of slowly breaking down their bodies killing them horrifically and painfully.

** ''ComicBook/GenerationX'': Chamber has an explosive power that blew off his jaw and upper chest prior to joining the team. Using his power slowly widened the explosive area, he near literally had part of his face and chest "on fire". Averted in that his body is technically a dead husk already and his mutation actually turned him into an EnergyBeing that's animating it [[HowDoIShotWeb but has no idea how to reconstruct it]].

* ''WesternAnimation/AllStarSuperman'': After getting a lethal level of solar exposure from flying too close to the sun, Superman gets a massive power up... and will eventually [[spoiler:turn into an EnergyBeing.]]

* In ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}'', John Druitt's [[TeleportationSickness teleportation causes his cells to break down]], and is also responsible for the brain damage that [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity turned him into a homicidal maniac.]] It was later revealed that he had actually been possessed by an EnergyBeing, and that's what drove him insane. Though, the more often he uses his power, the more control it has over him, so this might be a double subversion.

* The teen SuperSpeed[=sters=] in ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "Rush" have a decent number of RequiredSecondaryPowers, but their bodies are still gradually breaking down from the stress. An X-ray of one shows the sort of damage normally found in people who've played professional football for 15 years.

** ''ComicBook/AMindSwitchInTime'': If people transformed by villain Euphor use their powers until overexerting themselves, their bodies start degrading until dissolving into pure energy.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* The main character of the ''Mass Effect 2'' fanfic [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5932238/1/Pariah Pariah]] suffers from this. [[spoiler:Whenever she uses her biotics it inflames the tissue of her lungs, causing her to cough blood. In the second to last chapter, she performs a last stand and uses her biotics until she's curled up and ''choking on her own necrotic lung tissue.'']] [[TakingYouWithMe She killed the bastards though]].

* In ''Fanfic/TheOneWithTheAngelicFace'', after the vampire Angelus is physically separated from the now-human Angela, the gang determine that Angelus is now becoming a pure vampire demon, which grants him increasingly greater strength (albeit with minor ‘issues’ like having trouble reverting to his human features on occasion), but with the cost that he will eventually become a pure demon and be unable to exist on this plane.
* In DNA, Ash Ketchum is suffering this from his Chosen One powers. He had two months to live last time we saw him.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In a ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' storyline, Cap's SuperSerum was actually breaking down and taking his body with it.
* During the ComicBook/DarkReign period of Marvel comics, [[ComicBook/MsMarvel Carol Danvers]] was having this issue to the point where her energy powers caused her to just explode.
* The original Killer Frost from ''ComicBook/FirestormDCComics'' got ice powers that she eventually learned were causing her to age at a vastly increased pace. She... didn't take the reveal well, with the resulting rampage resulting in her death when she tried to drain Firestorm of his inner heat.
* Creator/WarrenEllis developed a pulp style detective character named Simon Specter who invented a drug that would enhance his intelligence and perception speed for approximately 12 hours, followed by a 24 hour crash and the loss of a week of his body's lifespan.
* In ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' the powers of the Fantastic Four turn out to be examples of this. The same exposure to cosmic radiation that gave them their powers is slowly killing them. Subverted later when it turned out the degeneration was caused by a kind of overload from having the powers of their parallel universe counterparts covertly transferred into them. They were healed by having the excess powers restored to their rightful owners.
* Chamber, one of the ''ComicBook/GenerationX'' mutants had an explosive power that blew off his jaw and upper chest prior to joining the team. Using his power slowly widened the explosive area, he near literally had part of his face and chest "on fire". Averted in that his body is technically a dead husk already and his mutation actually turned him into an EnergyBeing that's animating it [[HowDoIShotWeb but has no idea how to reconstruct it]].
** Synch has the ability to [[PowerCopying copy the abilities of any nearby mutant]], but only when nearby. When he's brought back after death in [[ComicBook/XmenTheKrakoanAge The Krakoan Age]], something about the resurrection process enhanced his abilities so now he can use any ability he's ever copied regardless of proximity, but doing so makes him age rapidly.
* Immortal Man-In-Darkness of ''The Great Ten'' is a pilot bonded to the Dragonwing, an extremely advanced [[LivingShip living fighter plane]]. Each flight of the Dragonwing takes a year off of the pilot's life. The government doesn't have a problem finding willing pilots -- piloting the Dragonwing is considered a great honor and there are plenty of pilots waiting in reserve ''eager'' for their chance even though they know the price.
* Every time Monster Girl from ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'' uses her power (to change into a superpowered monster), she gets younger. It's eventually determined that it's due to her body being reconstructed incorrectly.
* Wally West aka [[ComicBook/TheFlash Kid Flash]], was slowing down with each use of his powers. However, during the tail-end of ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', ComicBook/{{Firestorm|DCComics}} was able to save him in the nick of time from the Anti-Monitor's energy blast, but the blast ended up saving him from his degeneration, though sticking him at "speed of sound" running levels. Suited him just fine as he took up the mantle of the Flash.
** Speaking of the Flash, in the alternate universe presented in ''ComicBook/BatmanHolyTerror'', the Commonwealth tried to replicate Barry Allen's speed powers. Only two of the test subjects got useful speed powers, but one of them is prone to exploding and then reconstituting himself, while the other, just a kid, has ended up with accelerated aging and is likely to die within a few weeks.
* Gentle in ''ComicBook/NewXMen'' can temporarily increase his muscle mass to gain [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]]-level strength, but the strain on his body causes him seizures. His power is held in check somewhat by vibranium tattoos, but since his powers get stronger with every use, eventually the tattoos won't work and and his powers will kill him.
* ''[[ComicBook/{{Robin|1993}}'': Strader Pharmaceuticals develops a drug that's meant to give the user super-strength but has the unfortunate side-effect of slowly breaking down their bodies killing them horrifically and painfully.
* In [[ComicBook/HouseOfM Son of M]] and [[ComicBook/SilentWar Silent War]], it was established that [[GreenRocks terrigen crystals]] can give superpowers to non-inhumans, but they're unstable. Depowered mutants get uncontrolled versions of their powers they might survive, but humans have an inevitable mortality.
* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'': The process that transformed Mac Gargan into the Scorpion was a risky and experimental one. The radiation treatment and gene therapy made him more powerful, but it also messed up his own genetics. The reason he keeps wearing his suit is because the suit helps prevent his body from further degenerating. The Venom Symbiote was also able to arrest the damage during Gargan's stint as Venom.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Stormwatch}}: Team Achilles'', one antagonist has SuperEmpowering as one of his abilities, but the people he empowers eventually burn out and die.
* This trope is the entire premise of ''ComicBook/StrikeforceMorituri''. Human volunteers went through a dangerous process to earn superpowers so they could combat AlienInvaders. Catch is, the process was guaranteed to kill them sometime within the next year after gaining their powers -- in some cases, mere days after.
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

* Every time Jane Foster transforms into ComicBook/{{Thor|2014}}, all poisons are purged from her body, which unfortunately includes the chemotherapy drugs she needs to treat her cancer. Effectively, she dies a little more each time she picks up the hammer, but refuses to stop protecting the world as Thor even as it kills her.
* The Ultimate iteration of Venom had a symbiote that was more of a parasite than truly symbiotic. Eddie Brock had two choices: consume other people's life force, or have his own consumed by the symbiote. He went with option A.
* Due to the poisonous nature of Adamantium, ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'s skeleton and claws slowly kill him on those occasions when his mutant powers are disabled. And he can't use the claws, either, for obvious blood-loss-from-the-hands reasons.
* [[ComicBook/XMan Nate Grey]] suffered from an intentional version throughout the vast majority of his series, since he was created by the ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse'' version of Mister Sinister as a weapon to kill Apocalypse, and he didn't want said weapon hanging around once it had done its job. Hence the genetic flaw which led to frequent cases of the PsychicNoseBleed, one or other of his powers switching off, and potentially a burn-out that would take out half the planet. In the end, he got a genetic brand that stabilised his powers.
* In Creator/ChrisClaremont's ''ComicBook/XMenForever'', it was revealed that mutantkind wasn't the much ballyhooed next step of human evolution, but something of a dead end -- their mutant powers were slowly killing them in a process called "Mutant Burnout" that would kill them by age 50.

* In ''[[ComicBook/RobinSeries Robin]]'' Strader Pharmaceuticals develops a drug that's meant to give the user super-strength but has the unfortunate side-effect of slowly breaking down their bodies killing them horrifically and painfully.

* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' has Mohinder's transformation in Season 3.
** And now [[spoiler:Hiro]], whose powers give him a brain tumor.
* The Orphenochs in ''Series/KamenRiderFaiz'' have this as well; if they wear the Kaixa Belt, they go down even faster.
* ''Series/KyleXY'', in general.
* Happens to a human prize fighter in an episode of ''Series/LostGirl''-- it's said that the Fae-derived serum that allows him to HulkOut will cause his internal organs to explode if he hulks out one more time.

* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'' episode "Blood Brothers" has a scientist accidentally develop a serum that appears to give people (and monkeys) a HealingFactor (a monkey took a dose of cyanide without a problem). His brother, the CorruptCorporateExecutive, refuses to reveal the miracle to the world but [[ProfessorGuineaPig uses it on himself]] to cure a hereditary disease. However, the scientist then realizes that [[spoiler:the serum doesn't give you healing powers after all but merely forces the cells to use up all their energy on healing, leaving behind a withered husk. His brother is destined to spend the rest of his days on life support.]]

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'', the main characters get super powers. However, it would eventually kill them if they overused them. Unfortunately they were using them obtusely, and the TeenGenius who discovered the side effects and could reverse it became a [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]]-like figure.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLegendOfKorra'', Aang's Avatar State kept him sealed in an ice cocoon for 100 years. This drained his long-term vitality and he died when he was only 66.
** Korra experiences a form of paralysis and difficulty using Bending after Zaheer captures her and tries to poison her by implanting a liquid metal into her bloodstream. She remains physically impaired following the battle and even after she is detoxified. It continues to worsen her strength until she encounters Toph Beifong, the inventor of Metalbending, and she's able to draw out the hidden traces of metal that even skilled Metalbenders could not, rendering Korra perfectly healthy.

** One episode shows that Bane's supersteroid Venom causes this. A lifetime of Venom use has left Bane a comatose and broken man dependent on Venom and hooked up on life support 24-7.

** One episode shows three scientists who gained superpowers in a FreakLabAccident. It turns out that their transformations are slowly killing them and driving them insane.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' had Darkwing gain SuperSpeed as a result of being hit with a time-accelerating weapon by Negaduck. When he used his newfound power, he did everything at a faster rate, including aging faster.

* The original Killer Frost from the ''ComicBook/{{Firestorm}}'' comics got ice powers that she eventually learned were causing her to age at a vastly increased pace. She... didn't take the reveal well, with the resulting rampage resulting in her death when she tried to drain Firestorm of his inner heat.

** The Mangekyo Sharingan causes progressive vision loss and eventual blindness. The only way to avoid this is by replacing them with the eyes of a blood relative.