History Main / BottledHeroicResolve

*** This also indirectly contributed to the current Japanese's extreme aversion to any psychostimulants stronger than caffeine and nicotine. The IJA stockpiled a large amount of Philopon, in the case of the US Military having landed on the Japanese home islands and the general mobilization that would ensue. That stockpile turned out to be unnecessary since the atomic bombs are enough to make the Japanese surrender without US forces actually landing on Japan. Because by this point, Japan has more or less run out of medications through the civilian channels, the Occupation ordered IJA and IJN's medic stockpiles to be transferred for civilian use. This free flow of completely legal meth (including ''injectables'') caused enough social problems with {{Addled Addict}}s caused Japan to enact Stimulants Control Act in 1951, which is one of the earliest legislations targeting psychostimulants in the world.

* "Literature/TheMule": Part of the EmotionControl powers that the Mule has is to cause intuition and creativity to skyrocket, at the expense of the subject's life. He describes human brains as normally operating at 20% efficiency (essentially [[NinetyPercentOfYourBrain failing to use 80%]]), and he can use his power to force all of it to work non-stop without any chance to rest for weeks on end.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': In the ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}} storyline, Bane is outfitted with a special feed that pumps him full of the steroid-like drug Venom, liquid-fed into tubes in his head. It gives him SuperStrength, but is incredibly addictive.

* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': The doctors in ''Literature/MedStar'' do all kinds of things to keep themselves going when they get endless waves of patients. A device is mentioned that stimulates certain kinds of brainwaves, allowing the equivalent of eight hours of sleep in ten minutes, but it's not actually as good as real sleep, and they start making mistakes anyway. When there aren't any patients, they tend to get drunk.
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':

** ''Literature/SonsOfFenris'': When Jeremiah has [[IGaveMyWord given his word]] to Ragnar, he revives his fellow Dark Angels with such shots. One of them is seriously enough wounded for him to ask about the injuries; he answers ICanStillFight.
** ''Literature/SpaceWolf'': When Ragnar and Strybjorn are escaping the [[{{Mordor}} caves]], Ragnar gives Strybjorn a shot to keep him going despite his injuries, and then a second dose when he starts to hallucinate. [[spoiler: In another fight, Strybjorn is able to act, some, but after, Ragnar has to carry him to get him out.]]

* Who hasn't pulled an all-nighter (or got through the day after one) by loading themselves up with coffee and energy drinks?

** Unfortunately, if you have hyperactivity, such as with ADHD, or you've been on prescription stimulants for a long time, you can become effectively immune to caffeine. Depending on circumstances, it's possible for it to make you sleepy.
* Militaries have used amphetamines to promote aggressiveness and keep troops awake for long periods of time [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo since 1939 in Germany and 1942 in Britain and the USA]]. Objective studies showed that they were no better than caffeine for combating fatigue and actually had significant drawbacks including (nigh-suicidal) recklessness, addiction, and hallucinations. However, they considered the boost to aggressiveness and the potential to reduce psychological casualties from 'depression' caused by "combat exhaustion" worth the side effects. This was especially important for Assault Troops attempting to break through well prepared defensive positions, such as during ''Zitadelle'' in July '43.

* ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'': Valkyr was originally created as one of these for the US military, but rejected when it turned out to have [[PsychoSerum undesirable side effects]]. The corporation responsible for its creation decided to recoup their losses by selling it as a street drug in partnership with TheMafia and everything went downhill from there.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'': Snake injects himself with nanomachines several times to keep himself on his feet throughout the second half of the story.

* ''Videogame/{{Starcraft}}'': Terran marines and firebat/marauder class infantry use stimpacks to boost combat efficiency from "cannon fodder" to "tactically superior to everything that they can hit". Usually used at the start of engagement and actually deplete health reserves for the combat boost.

[[quoteright:174:[[Webcomic/GirlGenius https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ggmain20080502_2952.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:174:[[OurSloganIsTerrible "Slightly Better Than Death!"]]]]

* ''Manga/ACruelGodReigns'': Jeremy uses various painkillers, LSD, and heroin type drugs to [[spoiler: help him deal with the pain of being beaten and raped by his step-father,]] and later in the series, to forget the haunting memories.

* ''Franchise/DragonBall'': [[Manga/DragonBall All]] [[Anime/DragonBallZ its]] [[Anime/DragonBallSuper incarnations]] have Senzu Beans, which can restore a person to full health and power in an instant with none of the downsides usually associated with this trope. In fact, it's unusually ''helpful'' considering the strongest fighters in the series all possess an innate ability for exponential power growth if they recover from near death injuries. More than once, the combination of this trait and mid-fight Senzu Bean led to a dramatic reversal against an opponent who had been mopping the floor with them at their peak level moments earlier.

[[quoteright:177:[[Webcomic/GirlGenius https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ggmain20080502_2952.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:177:[[OurSloganIsTerrible "Slightly Better Than Death!"]]]]

[[quoteright:177:[[Webcomic/GirlGenius https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ggmain20080502_2952.jpg]]]]

* Alcoholic drinks have been used to encourage soldiers to think less about saving their own skin and more about fighting. Of course, alcohol has been called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_courage "liquid courage"]] and such for ages, but nowadays we can [[http://www.jointogether.org/news/research/summaries/2008/courage-in-a-bottle-no-myth.html test this with brain scans]], too. The Red Army during WWII famously used shots of vodka (called "the Peoples' Commissar's 100 grams") to bolster morale.

Contrast SuperSerum, which takes you beyond normal human capability; MagicFeather, where the effect is entirely psychosomatic; SuperpoweredEvilSide, where the hero is out of juice, but something inside him is just ready to continue with its own power and will; and MagicPotion, for other drinks with unusual effects. Compare PowerUpFood, CaffeineBulletTime. For Dutch courage see LiquidCourage. Often goes hand-in-hand with InVinoVeritas.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'': Popeye is normally very unimpressive, until he eats spinach (he always keeps a can with him). The spinach has an effect not unlike CaffeineBulletTime, enabling him to win the fight, save the girl, etc. The relationship between Popeye and spinach tends to shift around depending on the author. When it was originally introduced in the strip, it was just a partial explanation for his strength, a lifetime of physical exercise and good nutrition. Later in the strips and earliest shorts spinach would give him a burst of energy when tired out, enabling him to finish a fight, but would not necessarily make him stronger. Later Popeye would still be super strong without it but transform into a being who could literally warp reality through sheer physical strength after eating it. Some later shows toning down the violence have him as a normal guy who only becomes strong after eating spinach and generally one-punching a glass-jawed Bluto/Brutus. In general, though, it is the third portrayal -- strong man without spinach, reality-warping strength on spinach -- that gets used the most often.

* In a [[FridgeHorror somewhat disturbing]] [[http://www.rifters.com/crawl/?p=1447 blog post]], [[Literature/{{Blindsight}} Peter Watts]] suggested a version: ''"Isolate the neurochemical factors that come into play when [[MamaBear a mother sees her children being threatened]]; synthesise them; dose every female soldier with an aerosol of the stuff before you send her into the field. If any of the boys complain about women in the military after ''that'', it’ll only be because they keep getting their asses kicked on performance reviews. Either that, or because they’re scared shitless."''

** This ''is basically the whole power behind the UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun''. The whole Japanese army ''ran'' on meth. Metamphetamine was synthesized in Japan in 1913 and medicalized under trade name of ''Philopon'' by Sumitomo Pharma. Called ''shabu'' in military parlance, [[https://www.tofugu.com/japan/meth-in-japan/ it was freely distributed along the Imperial forces]] during WWII -- to the extent that methamphetamine belonged in ''daily rations''. Sadly, meth tends to dull emotions and obliterate altogether the capability of empathy, leading to extreme cruelty and atrocities on a previously unseen scale. Most Imperial Japanese atrocities and war crimes in WWII, such as the Rape of Nanjing, ''were basically committed once a week''. Methamphetamine also made the soldiers to disregard their own lives and safety. Banzai charges and hopeless last stands would have been impossible without ''shabu''. Due to Korea being part of the Japanese empire at that time and Korean conscripts in the Imperial Japanese also used meth like candies, just like their Japanese counterparts, Philopon became a genericized trademark for meth in Korea to ''this day''.

** This ''is basically the whole power behind the UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun''. The whole Japanese army ''ran'' on meth. Metamphetamine was synthesized in Japan in 1913 and medicalized under trade name of ''Philopon'' by Sumitomo Pharma. Called ''shabu'' in military parlance, [[https://www.tofugu.com/japan/meth-in-japan/ it was freely distributed along the Imperial forces]] during WWII -- to the extent that methamphetamine belonged in ''daily rations''. Sadly, meth tends to dull emotions and obliterate altogether the capability of empathy, leading to extreme cruelty and atrocities on a previously unseen scale. Most Imperial Japanese atrocities and war crimes in WWII, such as the Rape of Nanjing, ''were basically committed once a week''. Methamphetamine also made the soldiers to disregard their own lives and safety. Banzai charges and hopeless last stands would have been impossible without ''shabu''.

* ''Videogame/{{Earthbound}}'' had a "sudden guts pill" item, which double the user's "guts" stat for the duration of the battle. This is particularly fitting since a high "Guts" stat raises the probability that a character will [[LastChanceHitPoint survive a fatal hit with one hit point]]. (besides, it raises the CriticalHit ratio of the user).

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Emporio Ivanakov, whose Devil Fruit power allows them to generate hormones and inject them into people, can pull this off with "Vigor Hormones" which cause instant HeroicResolve, though it should be noted that it's still very dangerous to go beyond one's physical limits while under the influence. They have used this twice on Luffy so far; they saved his life, but the process of fighting through what was killing him was so horrific it literally shaved years off his life.

* Militaries have used amphetamines to promote aggressiveness and keep troops awake for long periods of time [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo since 1939 in Germany and 1942 in Britain and the USA]]. Objective studies showed that they were no better than caffeine for combating fatigue and actually had significant drawbacks including (nigh-suicidal) recklessness, addiction, and hallucinations. However, they considered the boost to aggressiveness and the potential to reduce psychological casualties from 'depression' caused by "combat exhaustion" WorthIt. This was especially important for Assault Troops attempting to break through well prepared defensive positions, such as during ''Zitadelle'' in July '43.

** Drug-addled personnel have been implicated in numerous War Crimes and [[FriendOrFoe friendly fire]] incidents caused by hyperaggression and reduced ability to concentrate, respectively. One notable recent incident was when a US pilot dropped a 500-lb bomb on a Canadian infantry platoon in Afghanistan in 2002.

** This ''is basically the whole power behind the UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun''. The whole Japanese army ''ran'' on meth. Metamphetamine was synthesized in Japan in 1913 and medicalized under trade name of ''Philopon'' by Sumitomo Pharma. Called ''shabu'' in military parlance, [[https://www.tofugu.com/japan/meth-in-japan/ it was freely distributed along the Imperial forces]] during the WWII -- to the extent methamphetamine belonged on ''daily rations''. Sadly, meth tends to dull the emotional life and obliterate altogether the capability of empathy, leading into extreme cruelty and atrocities in previously unseen scale. Most Imperial Japanese atrocities and war crimes in WWII, such as the Rape of Nanjing, ''were basically committed on tweek''. Methamphetamine also made the soldiers to disregard their own lives and safety. Banzai charges and hopeless last stands would have been impossible without ''shabu''.
* Alcoholic drink has been used to encourage soldiers to think less about saving their own skin and more about fighting. Of course, alcohol has been called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_courage "liquid courage"]] and such for ages, but nowadays we can [[http://www.jointogether.org/news/research/summaries/2008/courage-in-a-bottle-no-myth.html test this with brain scans]], too.
** The Red Army during WWII famously used shots of vodka (called "the Peoples' Commissar's 100 grams") to bolster morale.

Contrast SuperSerum, which takes you beyond normal human capability; MagicFeather, where the effect is entirely psychosomatic; SuperpoweredEvilSide, where the hero is out of juice, but something inside him is just ready to continue with its own power and will. Compare PowerUpFood, CaffeineBulletTime. For Dutch courage see LiquidCourage. Often goes hand-in-hand with InVinoVeritas.