This trope seems to have a problem deciding what it is. Both the examples and the description describe two different but related tropes:

1. Subsequent generations of people with superpowers will be more powerful than their parents (no requirement to be an infant)
2. An infant with superpowers is going to be disproportionately powerful compared to others with superpowers (no requirement to be the child of those with superpowers)

I think we need to split these.

Agreed.

Well, anyone got good names for those two tropes? (Of course, we could just recycle Goo-Goo-Godlike for one of the split tropes.) I'm coming up blank here. Unless and until we get some good names, I'd agree to a soft split (either as the sole action or a precursor to a hard split).

Can you post a couple of the examples which are mutually exclusive to those two tropes?

I think this is supposed to be definition 2, but has decayed to definition 1. But even the oldest description in the Internet Archive can be read as definition 1. On the other hand, the YKTTW working title (the YKTTW itself no longer exists) clearly meant definition 2.

edited 20th Jul '12 6:04:33 AM by MorganWick

Sure. Going by context, so forgive me if some are wrong:

Subsequent generation stronger:

• Cable's evil clone Stryfe was originally far more powerful as well (since he too lacks the techno-organic virus), but not to the extreme levels that Nate Grey reached. Cable's power has greatly increased since the last time he fought Stryfe, so they're probably on more even terms now.

• A further Marvel Universe example was Hyperstorm, the alternate future child of two of these, Franklin Richards and Rachel Summers. His powers include controlling the fundamental forces of the universe, moving to any point in the universe instantly through hyperspace, and ridiculous levels of psychic power. (He was still vulnerable to being eaten by Galactus, though.) This isn't terribly surprising with a dad who can re-arrange reality and a mum who is so powerful a telekinetic she can create a black hole and then destroy it just as easily, and that doesn't even start on all of her other abilities.
• Sometimes this applies to even Normals. X-Men has the powerless Dr. Moira MacTaggart, whose status as Professor Xavier's ex-girlfriend was enough to knock her son, Kevin aka Proteus, into Green Lantern Ring power levels.

Infant with super-superpowers:

• The Blake twins in Spawn are not godlike: one IS God, and the other, Satan. Cyan had also some power over Spawn during her baby years, but now, as a preteen, she has become more of a protegé.
  • Superman was originally one of these as a child; these days he's usually portrayed as having Puberty Superpowers. The often unintentionally unsettling "Superbaby" comics and cartoons are a good demonstration of why so many comics try to avoid all this. Kyle Baker did a story called "Letitia Lerner, Superman's Babysitter," which was initially pulled from the Elseworlds collection it was destined for as the then-president of DC didn't think Superbaby in a microwave was funny.
• In the film Day Watch, Yegor is a super-powerful Dark One able to lead the dark ones (or light ones) to victory over the never ending struggle between the two forces. Naturally he's a small boy who's just about to enter pubescence. He's a lot younger in the first film Night Watch
• In the climax of 2001: A Space Odyssey, David Bowman's final, god-like form is the "Star Child", which mostly resembles a human baby.
• It's a GOOD Life by Jerome Bixby. This kid's a Reality Warper, he can use People Puppets, he has Telepathy... and he's an instant generator of horror. His daughter makes it better.
• This is the entire premise of minus, a webcomic about an omnipotent little girl. The title character has created and destroyed entire worlds while playing. Frequently involves disturbing Fridge Logic / Fridge Brilliance which proves that even a sweet-tempered, happy little kid like Minus can do some mind-warpingly horrible things when given godlike power. One of the last things she does on earth is killing 'em all. That's not as bad as it sounds, though.
• My Son Zack is a short film that explores this trope from the point of view of the godlike child's (understandably deeply stressed) parent. And it is one heck of a Tear Jerker...
• Baby Smurf is enchanted and often demonstrates magic powers when a Deus ex Machina is required without the other Smurfs knowledge with the lone exception of Papa.

And one example I don't see on the page:

• "Baby Stop and Go" from Heroes, whose powers are far more powerful than most of the adults with superpowers.

edited 20th Jul '12 2:11:24 PM by ccoa

Wait, Ccoa, most of those DO fit both definitions.

I'm not saying we shouldn't move/split, just that those examples are not actual problems.

edited 20th Jul '12 11:53:28 AM by KingZeal

How so, may I ask?

If a character is never introduced to us as an infant, they don't fit the "infant has super-superpowers" aspect, and if they aren't the child of two people with superpowers, they don't fit the "subsequent generations get stronger" aspect.

The trope isn't about infants, specifically. It's about a child or childish person/being that is significantly more powerful than the core cast. The trope is about the contrast between young innocence and purity versus physical force. Ariella Kent, Baby Smurf and minus count.

Unfortunately, I have no idea how old Ariela Kent is, but Baby Smurf is listed as a child with godlike powers. But since in general Smurfs don't have superpowers, that doesn't make him a case of being a stronger generation of superpowers.

Point taken on Baby Smurf.

Ariella Kent is somewhere between 8 - 12. And she's the daughter of Supergirl (Linda, not Kara) and Superman.

Ariella is six, according to the link you posted.

Removed her. Like I said, I was going by context of the examples.

It may have started that way, but it ain't now.

Clocking as inactive.

Honestly seems to me like a case of Missing Supertrope Syndrome combined with the too-common problem of an overly broad name on a narrow trope, which invites and even encourages misuse.

The first thing I thought of when I saw the name was the Starchild from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Which doesn't involve parents of any sort.

edited 16th Sep '12 1:51:08 PM by Xtifr

The problem you mentioned is also known as IND, Inexcusably Narrow Description (With Respect To The Name)

So, our options are either split or broaden the description. Possibly with a rename, although there's no evidence to support one ATM.

Anything else?

edited 17th Sep '12 7:58:41 AM by ccoa

Locking.