Basic Trope: Even after losing their powers, they can still kick your ass.
- Straight: Electro-Man, secret identity Flash Young, can normally use electricity to fight against fellow supers. However, once he's been hit by the water tower and subsequently Brought Down to Normal, it turns out that Electro-Man isn't just a capable electricity user, but he's also an incredibly skilled Boxing Battler with Super-Strength, Super-Toughness, Super-Speed, Super-Reflexes, all coming from his Charles Atlas Superpower to boot.
- Exaggerated: Electro-Man could easily take in energy that could rival stars and send them back out in the form of extremely concentrated and high voltage lightning, but even once he's completely depowered, he's still capable of taking down even the most skilled martial artist in history with the most devastating Speed Blitz Armor Piercing Rapid Fire Megaton Punches.
- Downplayed: Electro-Man is Unskilled, but Strong both with and without his powers; While he tends to overuse electricity wildly, he's still a credible threat, and even without it, his vicious haymakers could put anyone out of commission.
- Justified:
- Flash, before becoming Electro-Man, went through Training from Hell in order to achieve the aforementioned Charles Atlas Superpower.
- Electro-Man had been taking up Boxing Lessons in the event that he does get depowered.
- Inverted:
- Flash was a wimp, and even after getting superpowers, they turn out to be completely useless.
- Flash is an Empowered Badass Normal after getting his electric superpowers. Now he can dish out Elemental Megaton Punches!
- Subverted:
- Electro-Man isn't actually all that tough once he's been Brought Down to Normal.
- Electro-Man actually Fights Like a Normal so him being a fisticuffs expert isn't actually all that surprising.
- Double Subverted:
- Well, once his opponents start getting cocky, he starts getting dangerous.
- What is surprising is that his electricity doesn't just cover the small area that Flash is in; In case anyone tries sniping him from afar, they're in for a nasty, shocking surprise.
- Parodied: Electro-Man's power is pretty much something so hilariously and pitifully embarrassing that he's always a Shrinking Violet that gets easily defeated if his powers are made fun of, and that the instant he's Brought Down to Normal, he gets the biggest confidence boost he's ever gotten and swiftly starts opening cans of whoopass everywhere.
- Zig-Zagged: Whether or not Flash is any more badass with or without his powers is Depending on the Writer.
- Averted:
- Flash doesn't have any superpowers, and is a Badass Normal.
- Electro-Man can only be Brought Down to Normal, in which his opponents can invoke You're Nothing Without Your Phlebotinum.
- Enforced:
- The writers have written Flash already, and have upgraded him to Electro-Man later in the story. In one specific part of the later half of the story, Flash gets splashed with purified water which dampens his electricity if not nullifying it outright. Now, since he's already been established to be a Badass Normal, it's time for the writers to make a Call-Back to Flash's fighting skills.
- The writers have written Electro-Man to have been Brought Down to Normal, but they still want him to win this fight, or at least go down with a vicious one. They then turn to this trope.
- Lampshaded:
- "HAH! Y'all are just a buncha' dumb fuckin' bugs! Thought that merely bringin' me down to normal's gonna make be cower an' beg fer mercy!? How foolish of y'all! Bring It, fucko's! THIS PARTY'S JUST GETTIN' STARTED!!!"
- "Damn, has he been training for the day he loses his powers?!"
- Invoked:
- Flash goes through Training from Hell willingly just in case he ever loses his powers.
- Electro-Man is given some training regimens for physical prowess in order to build up a Charles Atlas Superpower in the event he loses his own electric powers.
- Exploited: Flash takes his opponents by surprise, especially if they think Powers Do the Fighting and that he'd be useless without them.
- Defied: Flash is crippled after getting Brought Down to Normal, preventing him from being badass in the first place. And no, not even of the Handicapped Badass kind.
- Discussed:
- "Damn it! I thought bringing him down to normal would actually make him useless, but he's still kicking!"
- Flash is seen discussing this with other villains (also in their secret identities) at some bar, restaurant, or any other villainous hideout.
Flash: I think y'all should uhhh... Prolly start trainin', so that once they bring ya down t'normal, ya can still kick some mighty fine ass.Hellraiser: I have no powers to speak of. At least if you do not count being incredibly mighty and almost impossible to put down as powers. - Conversed: "Damn, this guy actually can put up a fight even without powers! Now that's a badass character if I've ever seen one!"
- Implied:
- Electro-Man is pretty much always seen with his powers, but every character doesn't think to just take his powers away.
- Electro-Man is pretty much always seen without his powers, which begs the question of why he even chose the name "Electro-Man" in the first place.
- Played for Laughs: Electro-Man had a nearby water tower brought down upon him, putting a severe damper upon his electricity, as it pitifully fizzles out. Everyone begins acting like they just defeated Electro-Man... Only for him to nonchalantly pick The Awe-Inspiring Dolt up and hurl the poor bastard right at Tarantu-Dude.
- Played for Drama:
- (also Inverted) Electro-Man seems to have a non-indicative name, being a Boxing Battling Brute (and a scarily capable one at that), but once he finally gets his powers back, he's pretty much a god of lightning.
- Electro-Man is undeniably one of the scariest villains in the work. His lightning powers is scary on their own, but once he's been Brought Down to Normal, everyone's too tired to even stand up, let alone fight, as Electro-Man promptly starts beating them down with his fists.
- Played for Horror: Electro-Man doesn't seem to have pretty good electric skills, but once he's been brought to normal, the first thing he does is casually obliterate the nearest person with an earthquake shattering punch that swiftly turns them into Ludicrous Gibs.
- Deconstructed:
- Electro-Man focuses so much on being a badass especially without his powers that he neglects them, making the powers even weaker.
- Electro-Man completely neglects the fact that he's a badass without his electric powers, and as a result, his hand-to-hand combat skill is rusty.
- Reconstructed: (For both) Which is exactly why he goes through Training from Hell to train both his powers and his hand-to-hand combat skill.
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