History Main / CantStayNormal

* After Dave in ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}'' quit his job at Narbonics lab after [[spoiler: Helen broke up with him]], he got a job at a nice normal office [[http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/narbonic/series.php?view=archive&chapter=10339 it didn't work out too well for him.]]

* Something similar happens in the ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons'' cartoon: The party finally manages to escape the D&D world into the "normal" world - only to have the villain follow them. Problem is, their magical items are no longer working in the human world, while the villain's powers work as usual.

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', "What Is And What Should Never Be": Dean gets a chance at a normal life where his mother is alive and he and Sam aren't hunters. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, the whole thing is a LotusEaterMachine; Dean kills the creature that created it and returns to the real world, though not without regrets.]]

Compare: KeepingTheHandicap, SendMeBack, AlwaysNeedWhatYouGaveUp, [[ImNotAHeroIm I'm Not A Hero; I'm ____]], and WhatHaveIBecome. If you realize you need your powers ''now'' before actually becoming normal, and miss the chance to do so as a result, it's a FriendOrIdolDecision instead. Contrast UndeathAlwaysEnds.

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'':

* Comicbook/SpiderMan has a rep for deciding IJustWantToBeNormal and hanging up the tights. [[NeverLiveItDown He only did it twice]], once in a classic Bronze Age story (which was homaged in the below-mentioned ''Spider-Man 2'') and once at the end of the much-maligned ComicBook/TheCloneSaga (and that was with the double rationales of [[RetCon not being the "real" Peter Parker]] and having a pregnant wife).

* Prior to the comic's ContinuityReboot, this was the fate of Bunnie Rabbot in ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog''. After Ixis Naugus accidentally restored her limbs to flesh and blood, Bunnie seemed somewhat okay with it. However, when Antoine was badly wounded and comatose by an exploding Metal Sonic, she ran off to find her Uncle Beauregard and get herself Legionized.

* ''Film/SupermanII'': Superpowered criminals proceed to take over the world ''right'' after Clark gives up his own superpowers.
* ''Film/MenInBlackII'': After being [[LaserGuidedAmnesia "flashed"]] and dropped back into his old life at the end of the first film, Agent K is reactivated at the start of the sequel. His reaction showed a remarkable lack of [[WhatTheHellHero "WTF, guys!"]] His civilian life also didn't turn out so great; he'd been placed with his high school sweetheart, but she eventually left him.

* In the film of ''Film/PrinceCaspian'', Edmund Pevensie is suffering from this. He had just spent twenty years as a king in Narnia...only to be thrown back into elementary school in the middle of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.

* ''Literature/LandOfOz'': In the novel ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'', the land of Oz is decidedly real, as opposed to the 1939 movie ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', and despite being overjoyed to return to her family farm in Kansas at the end, Dorothy would frequently return to Oz in subsequent novels. In book 6, ''The Emerald City of Oz'', Dorothy convinced her family to move to Oz permanently when they couldn't pay the mortgage on their farm. Ozma ended up naming Dorothy Princess of Oz and a life-long companion.

* In ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow'', the protagonist, Soma Cruz, goes back to a normal life after his adventure in the titular castle and [[spoiler:discovering he was the reincarnation of Dracula]]. After two years of inactivity, all the power he picked up in the first game faded away, until a cult attacked him, trying to turn him into the new Dark Lord, requiring that he go through their base, regaining all his powers and a few new ones in the process.

* In ''[[WebVideo/TheCartoonMan Return of the Cartoon Man]]'', Roy is transformed back into his normal self, and attempts to go back to his old life. [[spoiler:But he is soon forced to become the Cartoon Man again when Simon returns with a sinister new plan.]]

* Something similar happens in the ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons'' cartoon: The party finally manages to escape the D&D world into the "normal" world - only to have the villain follow them. Problem is, their magical items are no longer working in the human world, while the villain's powers work as usual.
* Danny manages to turn himself back to normal in the GrandFinale of ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'', to protect his loved ones and because another team of ghost hunters are doing his job better then he ever did. He fully enjoys having his normal life back, while his friends are disappointed and angry that [[WhatTheHellHero he willingly gave up powers that allowed him to do so much good]]. When a giant asteroid is on a collision course with Earth, and all other attempts fail to stop it, Danny regains his powers with the aid of his enemies and saves the day.
* In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'', after losing control of his powers and becoming a mutant, Kevin manages to become human, but willingly takes them back to save his friends.

** Also happened in [[Series/TheIncredibleHulk the TV series]]. [[spoiler:And the new movie.]] And [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibleHulk1996 the 90's cartoon]]. Twice.

** Also happened in [[Series/TheIncredibleHulk the TV series]]. [[spoiler:And the new movie.]] And [[WesternAnimation/IncredibleHulk the 90's cartoon]]. Twice.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Future episode “Little Graduation”, Lars has decided to leave his pastry shop to return to space with the Off Colors. Seems that after almost three years back on Earth and building a normal life for himself, he began to miss being Lars of the Stars.

Compare: SendMeBack, AlwaysNeedWhatYouGaveUp, [[ImNotAHeroIm I'm Not A Hero; I'm ____]], and WhatHaveIBecome. If you realize you need your powers ''now'' before actually becoming normal, and miss the chance to do so as a result, it's a FriendOrIdolDecision instead. Contrast UndeathAlwaysEnds.

** And then someone blew up his city and he [[strike: went batshit insane]] got infected by giant yellow space bug that fed on fear and turned him into a mass-murdering hyperpowered psychopath. He just couldn't catch a break.

* Woody from ''ComicBook/QuantumAndWoody'' suffers from this; even after losing his energy-blasting powers and a breakup with his partner and best friend, Woody is shocked when he answers police calls unbidden and realizes he's got ChronicHeroSyndrome.
* [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Bruce Banner]] has been "permanently cured of being the Hulk" on several occasions, only to have to [=reHulkify=] himself to solve some crisis. Why they don't use the same [=deHulkifier=] on him again after the crisis is resolved is rarely if ever explained.
** In the current series, the ComicBook/RedHulk depowered the Hulk by absorbing all his gamma radiation, saying that Bruce Banner would never become the Hulk again. Banner was smart enough to know that eventually he'd [=reHulkify=] and spent his time preparing for that day.
** ComicBook/BettyRoss as Red She-Hulk is almost as much of a victim of this as Bruce himself.
** And then there's Rick Jones. He started as merely Hulk's human companion, then after accidentally helping found the Avengers became Cap's replacement Bucky, palled around with Rom Spaceknight, and then started sharing a body with Captain Marvel. And he's had superpowers more than once. He could almost be Marvel's answer to Jimmy Olsen.

* Very frequently, if ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' is BroughtDownToNormal, he's left haunted by it. As a reporter, he'll regularly see stories of disasters and tragedies that he could have easily prevented, or at the very least, stopped from being worse. In ''ComicBook/SupermanTheWeddingAlbum'', even after having been stripped of his powers after the events in ''ComicBook/FinalNight'', Clark still finds himself putting on the tights and cape when spotting a robbery, if anything, to possibly scare the robbers into surrendering.
* Happened to the Hulk in the TV series. And in the comics a few (Dozen? Hundred?) times. [[spoiler:And the new movie.]] And the 90's cartoon. Twice.
** The comic eventually established that every time Bruce gets cured, the Hulk personality remains in his subconscious, prodding him to find some excuse to restore his powers/curse so it can re-emerge. So Bruce always ends up sabotaging himself.
** A fairly {{Anvilicious}} example in the 1980s cartoon: Bruce cures himself and then a computer tells him that the Hulk is the ''only thing'' that could ''possibly'' deal with the MonsterOfTheWeek. And of course, [[NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup he can't cure himself again afterwards]].

[[folder:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[folder:ComicBooks]]

[[folder:{{Film}} -- Live Action]]

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]

* In the novel ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'', the land of Oz is decidedly real, as opposed to the 1939 movie ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', and despite being overjoyed to return to her family farm in Kansas at the end, Dorothy would frequently return to Oz in subsequent novels. In book 6, ''The Emerald City of Oz'', Dorothy convinced her family to move to Oz permanently when they couldn't pay the mortgage on their farm. Ozma ended up naming Dorothy Princess of Oz and a life-long companion.
* In ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresHumanNature Human Nature]]'' by Paul Cornell, the Doctor transforms himself into a human and allows his mind to be wiped temporarily. He prepares a list of emergency protocols -- but it doesn't occur to him that he may fall in love, get engaged, and would never want to leave again.

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]

* There's also the episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' where Picard, through the meddling of Q, never got stabbed as a cadet, and thus never became aware of his own mortality, and so experienced a re-write of his life on the Enterprise, except as a lowly blue shirt. Attempts to re-assert his old life of command wind up getting him gently rebuffed due to his "lack of initiative" and not "attempting to stand out".
* On ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', when Clark gets his powers [[PowersAsPrograms transferred to]] a would-be hero, he thinks it's great. Until the "super boy" [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity lets it go to his head]] and acts irresponsibly, Clark has to reluctantly get his powers back [[BecauseDestinySaysSo just as we all knew he would]].
** Clark gives up his powers in another episode to be with Lana, but has to get them back to stop a nuclear missile from hitting the town.

* Happened to the Hulk in the TV series. And in the comics a few (Dozen? Hundred?) times. [[spoiler:And the new movie.]] And the 90's cartoon. Twice.
** The comic eventually established that every time Bruce gets cured, the Hulk personality remains in his subconscious, prodding him to find some excuse to restore his powers/curse so it can re-emerge. So Bruce always ends up sabotaging himself.
** A fairly {{Anvilicious}} example in the 1980s cartoon: Bruce cures himself and then a computer tells him that the Hulk is the ''only thing'' that could ''possibly'' deal with the MonsterOfTheWeek. And of course, [[NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup he can't cure himself again afterwards]].

* [[spoiler:The ending]] in ''Series/{{Neverwhere}}''.
* The season four finale of ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' had the sisters do this, as well, and learn that they'd much rather be saving the innocent and having to deal with the BigBad than being normal. The fact that there seemed to be fewer innocents and [[LighterAndFluffier more magical fairies]] as the seasons wore on ruins this somewhat.

* The second season finale of ''{{Series/Chuck}}'' fits the second variation. [[spoiler: Chuck got the Intersect out of his head, he quit the Buy More so he could move on with his life, and he was planning to pursue a relationship with Sarah. Then, for various plot-twisty reasons, he ends up having to destroy the last remaining version of the Intersect. It's too valuable to lose, so he downloads it again.]]
* Also seen in some form in a 6th season ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode where our heroine is poisoned by a demon. This makes her have flashes about being in a mental institution with no powers. Completely "normal". She has to choose between the Buffyverse where more and more problems are coming along and the normalverse... [[spoiler: which she, of course, has to kill friends and family to live in.]]
** Back in season 3's "Helpless" she's smart enough to realize that, much as she'd like a normal life, there's be serious downsides to it:
-->'''Buffy''': I've seen too much. I know what goes bump in the night. Not being able to fight it... What if I just hide under my bed, all scared and helpless? Or what if I just become pathetic? Hanging out at the old Slayer's home, talking people's ears off about my glory days, showing them Mr. Pointy, the stake I had bronzed.
* In ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'', Hercules gives up his demi-godhood so he'll be allowed to marry Serena the Golden Hind. She also loses her Hind powers and becomes a mortal woman. When Strife kills Serena and frames Hercules for the murder, the deal starts to look more than a little sour. Zeus gives Hercules his powers back so he can kick Strife's ass.
* ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "DNA" featured a DNA modifier that made Kryten human. However, his difficulty in dealing with his new form, plus the feeling of wretchedness from being rude to his spare heads prompts him to change back.
* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'':
** Tommy Oliver doesn't so much [[GotTheCallOnSpeedDial have the call on speed dial]] as ''it'' has ''him'' on speed dial. He has tried to retire several times now and got dragged back to the spandex every time. Even in the seven years in-between suits he got dragged out of the normal zone at least once, as his first job after getting his doctorate in paleontology was ''mad scientist building dinosaur cyborgs''.
** Well, really, what did he expect? He should have seen enough Zords by then to realize building some of his own would bring the spandex back...
** At the end of ''Dino Thunder'', he stated his intent to live the quiet life for real this time. It ''seems'' to have worked - he had a cameo in ''Megaforce'', but as part of an entire army.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** In the double episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E8HumanNature Human Nature]]" / "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E9TheFamilyOfBlood The Family of Blood]]" by Paul Cornell, the Doctor transforms himself into a human (which involves a lot of hideous pain and screaming in absolute agony) and allows his mind to be wiped temporarily. He prepares a list of emergency protocols -- but it doesn't occur to him that he may fall in love and never want to leave again. Becoming his old self again is, for all intents and purposes, suicide.
** In the new series, the Doctor's companions can't adjust to mundane life when their adventures are over, and most of them become paranormal investigators, either in a freelance capacity or with an organization such as UNIT or Series/{{Torchwood}}.

[[folder:{{VideoGames}}]]
* The ''VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga'' provides an unusual variation. Kyle Katarn, the mercenary-turned-Rebel agent, becomes a Jedi in ''VideoGame/JediKnight'', only to renounce his powers after a brush with the Dark Side in ''Mysteries of the Sith'' and return to a life as an agent. The events of ''VideoGame/JediOutcast'', however, drive him to reclaim his Jedi powers. Consequently, Kyle Katarn is one of the few people on this list who can't stay ''BadassNormal''...

[[folder:{{Webcomics}}]]

* After Dave in ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}'' quit his job at Narbonics lab after [[spoiler: Helen broke up with him]], he got a job at a nice normal office [[http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/narbonic/series.php?view=archive&chapter=10339 it didn't work out too well for him.]]

[[folder:WebOriginal]]

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

* The season four finale of ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' had the sisters do this, as well, and learn that they'd much rather be saving the innocent and having to deal with the BigBad than being normal. The fact that there seemed to be fewer innocents and [[LighterAndFluffier more magical fairies]] as the seasons wore on ruins this somewhat.

** Toward the end of the Hobgoblin Saga, he had decided to hang up his webs as soon as he could locate Flash Thompson, who was a fugitive from the law after Hobgoblin framed him for his crimes. The murder of Ned Leeds in Germany (in the ''SpiderMan / {{Wolverine}}'' one-shot) further convinced him to hang up the tights. By the end of the arc, however, after saving Thompson's life and clearing his name, Peter decided that he couldn't give up the good fight and chose not to retire. The very next issue, he proposed to MJ.

* Hikikomori and internet addicts can have a lot of difficulties with moving forward from their way of life. They are used to having their fantasies and pleasures tailored for them and seeing characters that are idealized versions of people, whether they are people that they have already met or they are the embodiment of who they want to meet. They can have difficulty building romantic relationships because they fear rejection or they fear the responsibilities. Responsibilities meaning that they fear that they are not being committed enough to the relationship or they have built a bad image of a relationship in their head. Such as believing that they will be [[HenpeckedHusband bossed around by their spouse]], They could have been involved in [[DomesticAbuse an abusive relationship]] with their ex-lover causing them to fear that it will repeat itself. In some cases, they could be [[BrokenBird believing that they are unworthy of love]] due to a [[TheUnfairSex bad history with men and/or women]]. It's not impossible to readjust from this lifestyle but it isn't as simple as you'd think, they need to be reminded that reality isn't as pessimistic or as complicated than they think it is or they need to see the benefits of a real relationship.

** Rachel is a more psychological example: fighting in the Yeerk War has unleashed a [[BloodKnight bloodlust]] in her that she not only comes to accept, but somewhat enjoy, though she's self-aware enough to realize that she's losing control. She ends up commenting that even if the group does somehow win against their enemies, she'll be miserable, because she won't be able to return to a peaceful, non-violent life. [[[spoiler: It's ultimately a moot point, though, as she's killed toward the end of the series.]]

** Angel's son ends up fitting this trope snugly. To make a very long story slightly shorter, Connor was prophesied to slay a demon, so the demon altered the prophesy to help him dispatch Connor as infant, which led to Connor being raised in a hell-dimension as a {{Tykebomb}}, which eventually drives him insane, and leads Angel to make a DealWithTheDevil to brainwash Connor so he could have a happy life. But the demon had gone undefeated, and his nemesis Cyvus Vail was also the sorcerer who gave Connor his new memories, so Connor was blackmailed into coming out of retirement to finally [[SelfFulfillingProphecy slay the demon]]. Vail got Angel to agree by threatening to give Connor his old memories back by shattering the Orlon Window. Wesley, who suspected Angel of involvement in Fred's death, shattered the window and restored Connor's memories. However, with the strong happy memories of his fake life, Connor is much less insane now.

* In the last chapter of ''Manga/TheDisastrousLifeOfSAikiK'' [[spoiler: Saiki chooses to seal away his psychic abilities.]] However, after the two special chapters released a few months later, [[spoiler: Saiki starts regaining his powers, which initially worries him. But when a meteorite is about to hit the Earth and given that he’s the only one powerful enough to stop it, he decides to return to being a psychic.]]

* In the last chapter of ''Manga/{{TheDisastrousLifeOfSAikiK}}'' [[spoiler: Saiki chooses to seal away his psychic abilities.]] However, after the two special chapters released a few months later, [[spoiler: Saiki starts regaining his powers, which initially worries him. But when a meteorite is about to hit the Earth and given that he’s the only one powerful enough to stop it, he decides to return to being a psychic.]]

* Tommy from ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' doesn't so much [[GotTheCallOnSpeedDial have the call on speed dial]] as ''it'' has ''him'' on speed dial. He has tried to retire several times now and got dragged back to the spandex every time. Even in the seven years in-between suits he got dragged out of the normal zone at least once, as his first job after getting his doctorate in paleontology was ''mad scientist building dinosaur cyborgs''.

* Hikikomoris and internet addicts can have a lot of difficulties with moving forward from their way of life. They are used to having their fantasies and pleasures tailored for them and seeing characters that are idealized versions of people, whether they are people that they have already met or they are the embodiment of who they want to meet. They can have difficulty building romantic relationships because they fear rejection or they fear the responsibilities. Responsibilities meaning that they fear that they are not being committed enough to the relationship or they have built a bad image of a relationship in their head. Such as believing that they will be [[HenpeckedHusband bossed around by their spouse]], They could have been involved in [[DomesticAbuse an abusive relationship]] with their ex-lover causing them to fear that it will repeat itself. In some cases, they could be [[BrokenBird believing that they are unworthy of love]] due to a [[TheUnfairSex bad history with men and/or women]]. It's not impossible to readjust from this lifestyle but it isn't as simple as you'd think, they need to be reminded that reality isn't as pessimistic or as complicated than they think it is or they need to see the benefits of a real relationship.