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Anime and Manga
Maiza: I've never heard of a demon using its powers so frivolously.
Ronnie: I enjoy breaking the mold.
Ronnie: I enjoy breaking the mold.
— Baccano! 1933 - The Slash
"If I'd known you wanted to use the most powerful combat unit in the Universe to cook eggs, I might not have let you!"
— El-Line, Galaxy Fraulein Yuna anime
Comic Books
"Ordinarily, I'd light my cigar with a match! But do I need a match now? Certainly not! Not if I have super-powers!"
— Jonathan Kent, Adventure Comics #289
Persephone: ...did you just use lightning to make toast?
Baal: Power corrupts.
Baal: Power corrupts.
"Oh, dear! The refrigerator wasn't turned low enough last night and the ice cream melted! Everyone will be disappointed! Hmm... Nobody is watching me, so... I'll blow my Super-Breath to super-cool it again!"
— Supergirl, Action Comics #253
Colossus: I didn't know Jean and the professor were surgeons.
Cyclops: They aren't, but they are as qualified as anyone within their mind-reading radius. Fifty times as far if the professor's mental abilities are enhanced by Cerebro.
Cyclops: They aren't, but they are as qualified as anyone within their mind-reading radius. Fifty times as far if the professor's mental abilities are enhanced by Cerebro.
"Super-Breath is handy, too, to dust out my room in one big blow!"
— Linda Lee, The Supergirl From Krypton (1959)
Person 1: We called "no powers"!
Person 2: Did not!
Person 3: Did too!
Person 4: It was implied!
Person 5: He scored—he's on our team!
Person 6: Do over! Do over!
Person 2: Did not!
Person 3: Did too!
Person 4: It was implied!
Person 5: He scored—he's on our team!
Person 6: Do over! Do over!
— X-Men
It's maddening to have to wipe these dishes so slowly! Actually, I could dry them in an instant, with my heat vision! How dull to feather-dust at a snail's pace... <Sigh>... If I hadn't promised Superman to keep my Supergirl identity a secret, I'd puff away the dust with my Super-Breath!
— Linda Danvers, The Unknown Supergirl
My X-Ray vision has located the wedding ring you lost, mother! It must have slipped from your finger into the drain of the kitchen sink!
— Linda Danvers, The Untold Story of Argo City
Relax, folks! I'll have this bridge fixed in a super-jiffy! I'll use my heat-vision to re-weld and strengthen the old steel beams!
— Supergirl, The Girl with the X-Ray Mind
My first order of business is filling in that hole with Super Breath! Now to melt the pieces of shattered rails with heat vision... and fuse them back together with super pressure! Presto— Track 14... repaired!
— Linda Danvers, The Strange Revenge of Lena Luthor
How can I tell them now that they must be self-sufficient when I have to rebuild their homes for them?
— Superman, Must There Be a Superman?
Oh-Oh! The soup pot's boiling over and will scald mother! I'll use my frigid super-breath...! There! My super-cold breath frove the overflowing soup before it could make a mess!
— Linda Danvers, The Death of Luthor
"By radiating lightning into the high-tension wires, [Lightning Lass]'s providing powerful electric current until we repair the generator that broke down."
— Technician, The Condemned Legionnaires
Fan Works
"Hey!" Josuke suddenly called out, grinning widely, "We should take a group picture!"
"That's a wonderful idea, Josuke!" Jonathan gushed. "But who will take the photograph?"
"Crazy Diamond!" At once, Josuke's Stand manifested before the group, and Josuke handed it the camera.
"Stands are able to take photographs?" Jonathan asked confusedly.
"They can pretty much do anything you can do." Jolyne replied, tucking her braid behind her neck.
"That's a wonderful idea, Josuke!" Jonathan gushed. "But who will take the photograph?"
"Crazy Diamond!" At once, Josuke's Stand manifested before the group, and Josuke handed it the camera.
"Stands are able to take photographs?" Jonathan asked confusedly.
"They can pretty much do anything you can do." Jolyne replied, tucking her braid behind her neck.
Vanasha: I've mapped out the paths the guards are taking and put trackers on them. I’ve also highlighted some traps—I should probably go disable them before you come in. Why did you need these features in the time of the Old Ones, anyway?
Elisabet Sobeck: I mostly used them to avoid annoying coworkers.
Elisabet Sobeck: I mostly used them to avoid annoying coworkers.
Once everyone cleared their plate, Chara instantly washed and dried them with a flex of her ability. Sure it was a little demeaning to use her vast, fundamental powers that could erase universes to do the dishes, but she figured if she had them, she may as well use them.
She took off her gloves, stuck them in her belt, walked over, and took the sandwich from him—beef and melted swiss cheese on a roll; it was good—and chomped some of it, getting the grease on her hands. She'd burn it off later with her heat-vision.
When all three of them got up, one by one, the next morning, Kara insisted on doing breakfast for the lot of them. Thankfully, pancakes, bacon, and eggs cooked at super-speed with heat vision tasted pretty much like the results of the normal process, and Kara was a competent cook.
You're giving me a time machine to treat my sleep disorder.
You're giving me a TIME MACHINE to treat my SLEEP DISORDER.
YOU'RE GIVING ME A TIME MACHINE IN ORDER TO TREAT MY SLEEP DISORDER.
You're giving me a TIME MACHINE to treat my SLEEP DISORDER.
YOU'RE GIVING ME A TIME MACHINE IN ORDER TO TREAT MY SLEEP DISORDER.
"Kara?", he mumbled, using heat-vision to get the sleep out of his eyes and hoping he didn't burn the furniture.
Jean: (snickering) That makes me think of the time we had to, oh, you know...
Scott: What?
Jean: When we had to go to Europe to save the Professor and Banshee from Factor Three. And we didn't have the money?
Scott: Oh, nuts!
Jean: And, and both of us tried to get a job in construction, I levitated those girders, and you riveted...
Scott: Yeah. With my power beam.
Scott: What?
Jean: When we had to go to Europe to save the Professor and Banshee from Factor Three. And we didn't have the money?
Scott: Oh, nuts!
Jean: And, and both of us tried to get a job in construction, I levitated those girders, and you riveted...
Scott: Yeah. With my power beam.
Nobody said anything. He took his lighter out, snapped it once, twice, three times. No soap. Fuel had run low.
One of the group let a stream of fire pass from her finger to the end of Faraday's cigarette. That did the trick.
The American grinned. Guess super-powers were good for something, after all.
One of the group let a stream of fire pass from her finger to the end of Faraday's cigarette. That did the trick.
The American grinned. Guess super-powers were good for something, after all.
Wally opened his eyes. It was barely morning. He was still in his room. Still in his bed, in only his boxer shorts. [...] Within a second, he was shaved, deodorized, combed, and clad in casual dress.
"How much longer, Kent?" asked Perry. From the tone of it, he could tell his editor was still a few rows behind him. The sound of the Planet pressroom near deadline time was that of a million metal crickets banging their legs against a cylinder in a mating dance. Nobody was using a typewriter near Clark at the moment.
Hunching over the Olivetti, Clark's fingers sped across the keys faster than Van Cliburn on a piano. A smell of heated metal came from the machine, and he blew on the keys to keep them from warping out of shape. As the last page reeled out, he blew on it to keep it from burning up.
Hunching over the Olivetti, Clark's fingers sped across the keys faster than Van Cliburn on a piano. A smell of heated metal came from the machine, and he blew on the keys to keep them from warping out of shape. As the last page reeled out, he blew on it to keep it from burning up.
Early on in the War in Heaven Mag'ladroth, despite being one of the most physically powerful of the C'tan, was sidelined into building devices for the Necrontyr and the other C'tan. He had more of a taste for it, though the other C'tan all made fun of him behind his back. Among the things he invented were the designs for the Cadian pillars and other such devices. Sure, he made a whole boat load of what might have appeared to be doomsday weapons, but never as actual weapons. Case in point, he made a long range mega gravitation inverter. Charge it up, point it at a thing and press the ominous red button. It makes a portion of the object's gravity turn into anti-gravity, usually resulting in an explosion and if you point it at a star can cause a supernova and irradiate whole swathes of space.
He said it would be useful in future mining endeavors. For when you want to mine a black hole.
He said it would be useful in future mining endeavors. For when you want to mine a black hole.
Let's Play
This giant water cube engulfed spawn and took the work of many, many players. It was also used as a fishing spot because, why not?
Literature
You have a time machine and you use it for... watching television?
Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and they tell me to take you up to the bridge. Call that job satisfaction? 'Cos I don't.
— Marvin, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
"It's like inventing a perpetual motion machine so your little kid won't pester you any more about changing the batteries in his toy car!"
— Bobbi Anderson, The Tommyknockers
"Finbar lamented the fact that his psychic powers could not ascertain who would win the All-Ireland Championship. What good were psychic powers, he asked, if they couldn't tell you who was going to win the Gaelic football?"
New York City alternated between delighting her with its massive buildings, multi-colored, flashing billboards, the beauty of seeing so many different skin colors and languages blending together, and then disgusting her with how completely filthy the city could be.
A huge sheet of dirty water splashed toward her, but she directed it away with the flick of a wrist. Being a nymph had some perks. Her affinity with water had matured from the time she’d been bound to a single fresh water spring in an ancient Grecian forest.
A huge sheet of dirty water splashed toward her, but she directed it away with the flick of a wrist. Being a nymph had some perks. Her affinity with water had matured from the time she’d been bound to a single fresh water spring in an ancient Grecian forest.
— Rock Hard and Wet, a supernatural romance novel
"They say," Bellara broke the silence, "That before the war, we were used for entertainment."
"We?" I ask, though I know what she means.
"Wizards. We'd put on shows for hundreds of thousands of people. Fire-Spitters shooting flames toward the moon. Changers dancing in the flickering light. They say Smiling Toms were given leave to create anything they could imagine."
I snort. It seems like such a childish thought. These days, Smiling Toms are forbidden from using their strength for anything but the war: stratagems, camouflage, misdirection.
"We?" I ask, though I know what she means.
"Wizards. We'd put on shows for hundreds of thousands of people. Fire-Spitters shooting flames toward the moon. Changers dancing in the flickering light. They say Smiling Toms were given leave to create anything they could imagine."
I snort. It seems like such a childish thought. These days, Smiling Toms are forbidden from using their strength for anything but the war: stratagems, camouflage, misdirection.
— War Cry, by Brian McClellan
To hide from the eyes and minds of our enemies, that is the sole purpose of our art. It is not to keep our toes warm! Whatever next? Shall we grow rabbits' tails to serve as cushions? Instead of hats we could all develop snail shells on our heads or keep long weasel bodies if we consider our natural stature too diminutive. If we debase our gift, then we debase ourselves and only tragedy will follow.
Jake: Some reason why you're morphing to lobster?
Marco: <Ummmm. . . I dropped my keys down in the pool? I was going to go get them?>
Jake: Well, then it's a good thing you have the ability to turn into a lobster, because otherwise, what would you do? I mean, normal people, they drop their keys in the pool, they're just totally helpless. Those keys stay down there. Forever.
Marco: You seem perky today. You want something to drink?
Jake: What are you going to do, morph to cow and squeeze me out a glass of two percent?
Marco: <Ummmm. . . I dropped my keys down in the pool? I was going to go get them?>
Jake: Well, then it's a good thing you have the ability to turn into a lobster, because otherwise, what would you do? I mean, normal people, they drop their keys in the pool, they're just totally helpless. Those keys stay down there. Forever.
Marco: You seem perky today. You want something to drink?
Jake: What are you going to do, morph to cow and squeeze me out a glass of two percent?
— Animorphs #54: The Beginning
Quentin: [on the other side of a Magic Mirror] Maybe it's in Fillory.
Alice: You could climb through. That's how it always works in the books.
Quentin: How great would that be? We could go through and study for a month and come back and ace this thing.
Alice: Please don't tell me you're going to go to Fillory so you can get more homework done. Because that would be the saddest thing I've ever heard.
Alice: You could climb through. That's how it always works in the books.
Quentin: How great would that be? We could go through and study for a month and come back and ace this thing.
Alice: Please don't tell me you're going to go to Fillory so you can get more homework done. Because that would be the saddest thing I've ever heard.
"Our society, our economy, our world depends on magic. Half the goods traded in the city are conjured. People rely on enchantments to wake them up, to take them to work, to cook their food. I doubt one in twenty of us could even light a fire without magic."
Collingswood: Ever flog your skills? Shrinkage for hire?
George Carr: No, I'm not good enough and not interested enough. I get what I need out of it.
Collingswood: Which is what?
George Carr: Come on holiday with me one day. Three weeks of clothes in one carry-on bag.
"Hey, what's the point of having magical powers if you can't use them to avoid parking tickets?"
— October Daye, Ashes of Honor
Live-Action TV
Leonard: Why are you smashing a flash-frozen banana?
Leslie: Because I have a bowl of Cheerios and I couldn't find a knife.
Leslie: Because I have a bowl of Cheerios and I couldn't find a knife.
John: If he masters wormhole technology, what will he use it for?
Harvey: Faster delivery of pizzas.
Harvey: Faster delivery of pizzas.
— Farscape, "Could'a, Would'a, Should'a"
Tabletop Games
Prowess, might, vigor, intensity, puissance - no matter what name you describe it with, Potence is an impressive Discipline. Too many neonates think of it as a simple, brutal combat ability, but it is actually much more: it's actually a sophisticated, complex and unpredictable combat ability - coupled with its uses in Nosferatu art and architecture.
Expanding a city's sewer system takes more than political influence and faithful ghouls. When making improvements to the labyrinthine underworld beneath cities, Nosferatu often use Potence to assist the ghouls with the most difficult tasks. Tunneling through solid rock, moving chunks of rock and concrete, or just collapsing a tunnel with a powerful blow are also useful skills in Nosferatu construction.
Expanding a city's sewer system takes more than political influence and faithful ghouls. When making improvements to the labyrinthine underworld beneath cities, Nosferatu often use Potence to assist the ghouls with the most difficult tasks. Tunneling through solid rock, moving chunks of rock and concrete, or just collapsing a tunnel with a powerful blow are also useful skills in Nosferatu construction.
— Vampire: The Masquerade - Clanbook: Nosferatu (Revised)
...he has grown accustomed to compensating for the lack of his arm by using his magics to perform common tasks - an act that distresses many visitors to his laboratories, most of whom are unused to flasks leaping from tables to pour themselves.
— Image notes for al-Ashrad, Vampire: The Masquerade - Children Of The Night
Video Games
Gunvolt: ...Aaand it's dark again.
Zeno: Your Flashfield should shed a bit of light, ya? You're so useful. Gunvolt: Keep one in every household.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that nothing is more successful at inspiring a person to mischief as being told not to do something. Unfortunately, the Chantry of the Divine Age had some trouble with obvious truths. Although it did not outlaw magic—quite the contrary, as the Chantry relied upon magic to kindle the eternal flame which burns in every brazier in every chantry—it relegated mages to lighting candles and lamps. Perhaps occasional dusting of rafters and eaves.
I will give my readers a moment to contemplate how well such a role satisfied the mages of the time.
I will give my readers a moment to contemplate how well such a role satisfied the mages of the time.
— "History of the Circle," Dragon Age: Origins
Prompto Argentum: Bring out the shiny sword!
Noctis Lucis Caelum: What 'shiny sword'?
Gladiolus Amicitia: Don't you have something that glows in the dark?
Noctis: You know...
Ignis Scientia: The power of kings... reduced to a torch.
Noctis Lucis Caelum: What 'shiny sword'?
Gladiolus Amicitia: Don't you have something that glows in the dark?
Noctis: You know...
Ignis Scientia: The power of kings... reduced to a torch.
Kanon: Anju was blessed with the ability to create Never-Melt Ice. Many of the trainers using Never-Melt Ice aren't even aware that they're custom made from Anju's power. Not only that, but her product was also huge in the culinary world. Imagine, creating a freezer that didn't require electricity. Just trusty ol' Never-Melt Ice!
Erin: I can definitely see the appeal in something like that. Cost effective options like that must have been attractive to restaurant owners. Anyone who could use cooling to their benefit, really.
Erin: I can definitely see the appeal in something like that. Cost effective options like that must have been attractive to restaurant owners. Anyone who could use cooling to their benefit, really.
Aperture Science Engineer: man-sized ad hoc quantum tunnel through physical space with possible applications as a shower curtain
— Portal
Pearl: I always make sure to equip my Run Speed Up gear when I go shopping here.
Marina: I know, right?! It makes shopping a breeze!
"Soaring through the sky while everyone else is stuck is traffic? That's freedom. If I ran out of mayo while frosting a cake... FWOOSH! Grocery store."
— Pearl, Splatoon 2
Pearl: Time travel. Without a doubt. When I had an awesome day, I could rewind to morning and do it all again. And I've never really liked Tuesdays, so I could just straight up skip Tuesdays. I'd win every turf war by knowing what was gonna happen before it did. [...] And I guess I could go back and stop bad stuff from happening or whatever.
Marina: Now we're talking! Like what sort of bad stuff?
Pearl: Like if I lost a Splatfest, I could just go back in time and pick the other team.
Marina: ...Classy.
Webcomics
"I find it a little insulting that the two of you decided to create an entire army of look-alike robots to replace G.U.N. while we were being used as babysitters!"
— Metal Sonic, Two Evil Scientists
Argent: You'd think that if you spent that much effort to get it you'd do something more destructive with it.
Khrima: When you get an orbital laser you can do whatever you want with it.
Khrima: When you get an orbital laser you can do whatever you want with it.
Lynne: (accidentally bumps into a glass of soda and spills it over) Aw crud! (takes out pistol and points it at head) SIGH!
(Jump Cut to scene of suicide and Sissel just discovered the dead body)
Sissel: Lynne! Don't worry, I'll use my powers of the dead to rewind time and stop whoever killed you!
Spirit!Lynne: I killed me. When you go back in time, can you move my soda so I don't spill it?
Sissel: Are you serious?!
(Jump Cut to scene of suicide and Sissel just discovered the dead body)
Sissel: Lynne! Don't worry, I'll use my powers of the dead to rewind time and stop whoever killed you!
Spirit!Lynne: I killed me. When you go back in time, can you move my soda so I don't spill it?
Sissel: Are you serious?!
I really hope the phoenix living inside this spear doesn't mind me using it this way...and done!
- — Stephen Colbert, Fake News Rumble, scratching a plan in the ground
"I want to say I'm not going to use this to cheat on tests, but I'm going to use this to cheat on tests."
Wanda: You're using the Arkenhammer to crack walnuts?
Stanley: Yeah.
Wanda: But it's divine. A tool of the Titans.
Stanley: Divine or not, it was handy.
Stanley: Yeah.
Wanda: But it's divine. A tool of the Titans.
Stanley: Divine or not, it was handy.
— Erfworld
Yeah. Pops gave me this old kanabo for combat reasons. But honestly, it makes a much better back scratcher.
Now that you've got some space in your SYLLADEX, to work with, you figure out you might as well start squandering it immediately.
Ordinarily this ridiculous book would be way too heavy to carry around in any practical way. You guess maybe this is one respect in which the cards present some convenience.
Ordinarily this ridiculous book would be way too heavy to carry around in any practical way. You guess maybe this is one respect in which the cards present some convenience.
R.A.M.: [Super arm!]
Jake: Cool! What are u gonna do with that ability?
R.A.M.: [Idk. Maybe clean the roof]
Jake: Cool! What are u gonna do with that ability?
R.A.M.: [Idk. Maybe clean the roof]
Haley: Imagine not knowing for all those years if your son is alive or dead.
Sigdi: What're ye talkin' aboot? I talked ta Durkon last week.
Roy: You... did?
Durkon: Aye, wit tha Sending spell. Wha's the point of havin' long-range commun'cation magic if'n ye cannae use it ta tell yer loved ones yer safe?
Sigdi: 'E's such a good boy, callin' ev'ry week since 'e learned tha spell.
Sigdi: What're ye talkin' aboot? I talked ta Durkon last week.
Roy: You... did?
Durkon: Aye, wit tha Sending spell. Wha's the point of havin' long-range commun'cation magic if'n ye cannae use it ta tell yer loved ones yer safe?
Sigdi: 'E's such a good boy, callin' ev'ry week since 'e learned tha spell.
Web Original
I don't know what's funnier. That goofy look on Superboy's face, or the fact that the best use Martha Kent can think of to do with her super powers is house keeping...
Vivian: Huh. How'd you do that?
Ice Man: Do what?
Vivian: Make that ice floe.
Ice Man: Oh! I can generate intense cold for like ice beams and stuff.
Vivian: Oooooooh...
Ice Man: Yep!
(Ice Man freezes a corner of the pool)
Vivian: Must come in very handy around the house!
Ice Man: Our AC bill is really low during the summer.
Ice Man: Do what?
Vivian: Make that ice floe.
Ice Man: Oh! I can generate intense cold for like ice beams and stuff.
Vivian: Oooooooh...
Ice Man: Yep!
(Ice Man freezes a corner of the pool)
Vivian: Must come in very handy around the house!
Ice Man: Our AC bill is really low during the summer.
"The fact that I was a necromancer made it pretty funny, though; I pictured the farmer's wife standing at the kitchen window, watching me chase moles out of the vegetable garden by summoning shadow-demons from the stygian pit to curse their very souls and then turning to her husband and going: "He does know we've got a spade he can use, right?""
"The show opens with Doc Brown’s legs under the DeLorean as he babbles on about about oil and french fries and transmissions and how he wishes he’d never invented the time machine. But hey, it sure did come in handy that time it was hot outside!
Ummmm, what?"
Ummmm, what?"
"Now, if you ask me, a real human brain mapped into a computer would be more like Max Headroom, using his newfound power to play music videos, yammer on about golf, and probably watch every porn flick on the Internet at once. Oh wait, I'm thinking of myself."
— Topless Robot on Transcendence
TranscendenceEd: You put something inside the cylinder of wormholes, turn them on for a fraction of a second, turn them off again... what have you got?
Sam: ...The world's most ludicrously advanced bread-slicer?
Sam: ...The world's most ludicrously advanced bread-slicer?
I also dug the scenes where [Count Orlok] was manhandling the coffins filled with dirt. In Stoker’s book he talks about Dracula’s inhuman strength and it was nice for once to see this dramatized not by throwing somebody through a wall but just by very casually lifting something extremely heavy.
"You always use [your laser eyes] for something lame, like cutting through an iceberg or heating up an old woman's porridge. "Is that soup too cold madam? Zzzt!" I'd use that stuff to take off Bane's arm."
— Batman, CollegeHumor, "Batman and Superman Team Up"
Western Animation
Kiva: Oh, let me put all the processing power of this technological marvel to work adding up your change!
Jamie: That's the spirit!
Jamie: That's the spirit!
— Megas XLR, "All I Wanted Was A Slushie"
Check it out Hank. Miter Saw, perfect for cutting bread.
— Kahn, King of the Hill, "Just Another Manic Kahn-Day"
"Wow. Superpowers! I'll be able to pack my day with twice as many humdrum activities!"
— Leela, Futurama, "Less Than Hero"
"I handed out, like, four hundred fliers, set up the stage, and still had time to pick up pizza! I love my super-speed!"
— Rainbow Dash, My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Legend of Everfree
Real Life
Shinbo: If she kept going with that kind of diet, don't you think Kyoko would get fat?
Urobuchi: Probably won't. Thanks [to her] magical power.
Urobuchi: Probably won't. Thanks [to her] magical power.
— An interview with the creators of Puella Magi Madoka Magica
with the creators of Puella Magi Madoka Magica