Basic Trope: A character eats an everyday food item to gain powers.
- Straight: Bob eats radishes and gains the ability to fly for a short time.
- Exaggerated: Bob eats an M&M and becomes a Nigh Invulnerable Flying Brick who cannot be defeated.
- Downplayed: Bob's agility is slightly and briefly improved after choking down that M&M.
- Justified:
- Bob comes from a special race with natural born abilities that can only be triggered by certain nutrients in certain foods.
- The food Bob eats is seemingly normal food that has been genetically altered to give people superpowers.
- Inverted:
- Certain foods actually cause Bob to lose his abilities.
- Bob gains powers from skipping meals.
- Subverted: Bob is getting beat by the villains. Just as things are beginning to look bad, Bob pulls out a radish and eats it. But nothing happens.
- Double Subverted:
- Then, Bob lets out a gigantic Super Belch that defeats all the villains. Apparently the radish did give him powers. It just takes a while to warm up.
- Alternately, Bob gets sucker-punched by the Big Bad. The force of the blow causes him to regurgitate the radish, whereupon he becomes a Flying Brick.
- Parodied:
- Every character in the world has a certain food that gives them certain powers. So much so that a common conversation starter is "What's your favorite food and what power does it give you?"
- Alternatively: While the power they grant him is often quite useful for himself and others, Bob hates the taste and texture of radishes. and getting him to eat one often requires some variety of Zany Scheme.
- Zig Zagged: Each time Bob eats a radish, much ass-kicking ensues. However, we eventually find out that radishes don't anything to him, they are just his Trademark Favorite Food. Later on, he appears have to lost his powers, and he suddenly becomes fond of turnips and starts regaining them, but it turns out they were just working as delicious Magic Feather. Then Bob eats a sweet potato ands gains a massive power-up...
- Averted: Bob eats food, but he gains no powers whatsoever.
- Enforced:
- "We need a super powered character who isn't super powered all the time. We need something to trigger his powers when he needs them most, and we need that trigger to be something common that he could find almost anywhere. Go check the fridge and see what you come up with."
- Bob is a spokescharacter for a specific food, and getting superpowers from eating it is how they shill their product.
- Lampshaded: "Remember kids! Chocolate gives you laser eye beams!"
- Invoked: A particularly silly Mad Scientist creates a new species of mutant radishes capable of infusing humans with random super-powers whenever they eat them.
- Exploited: Bob and Alice have been captured by the Big Bad and she notices a Bob's favorite food not far away. Aware of how strong and unstoppable Bob can be after having his favorite food, she begs one of the local minions to let him have just a little bite.
- Defied: The villain, discovering the source of Bob's powers, orders his minions to destroy all radishes and radish fields.
- Discussed: "Oh look, Bob's eating a radish. Things are about to get crazy."
- Conversed: "According to this show, radishes can give a man super strength. What a ridiculous idea!"
- Implied: Bob naturally possesses powers, though he always seems to hit harder after he eats radishes.
- Deconstructed: Bob has discovered that eating radishes give him super powers, which he uses to fight crime and he is declared a hero. Over time, he becomes addicted to radishes and the power it gives him. It is eventually discovered that although the radishes do give him a temporary burst of powers, it is actually damaging his body in the long run. He is aging rapidly and slowly dying, but is unable to give up the radishes due to his unhealthy addiction. He eventually dies.
- Reconstructed: Bob discovers that eating radishes give him powers, but is told from the beginning that the radishes could kill him in the long run. He decides to eat the radishes sparingly and only when he really needs his powers. He joins a super hero team, fighting as their Badass Normal for the most part, but is willing to eat a radish when things get bad enough that they really need his powers. With his group of friends to support him, he never gives into his addiction and manages to live a long and healthy life.
- Played For Laughs: Bob has to eat deep fried candied radish ice cream, always making a mess in the process.
- Played For Drama: Bob is allergic to radishes, yet as the only means to activate his powers he has to eat them. Thus Bob is hardly able to do anything after his powers expire.
Back to Power-Up Food
