History Main / ConditionalPowers

* Part of the shtick in ''TheWildThornberrys'' was that Eliza was given the power to talk to animals--and if she revealed the fact to anyone, she would lose the ability.

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* ''SabrinaTheAnimatedSeries'': it's not a direct problem for a witch to reveal his/her witchiness to a mortal, but if that mortal tells another mortal, the witch gets depowered.

* This trope dates back to the notion of the ''{{geas}}'', a boon granted by a supernatural being that bound one to certain rules. [[CelticMythology Cu Chulainn]] was bound by two such laws: one, he could never partake of dog meat, and two, he would always accept hospitality when offered. His downfall came [[LogicBomb when a hag offered him a meal of dog meat,]] forcing him to break his ''geas''.

* [[GreekMythology Antaeus]] was the son of Poseidon and Gaea, who remained invincible as long as he was in contact with earth. [[Characters/ClassicalMythology Hercules]] had to hold him off the ground to defeat him.

* In ''DarkerThanBlack'', [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Contractors]] need to perform a 'remuneration' of varying degrees of seriousness/irony after each use of their power, be it drinking beer, breaking their own fingers, baking a cake, or de-aging. Under rare circumstances, it is actually possible to 'pay off' the contract in full--[[spoiler:like Mao, a Contractor whose human body died while he was [[BodySurf animal-surfing]]]], after which they don't need to do anything anymore.

** Timmy's access to ''TheFairlyOddparents'' has the same condition.

* Many classes in DungeonsAndDragons, especially ones that grant powers with a divine power source. Paladins are arguably the most well-known example; if a paladin knowingly performs any act that isn't LawfulGood, his paladin powers are stripped from him until he atones[[note]]With some variance over editions -- a 3rd Edition Paladin is allowed to do chaotic acts so long as he doesn't make enough of a habit of it to slip away from LawfulGood.[[/note]]. But the Forsaker probably takes the cake as it requires you to destroy magic items daily to maintain your powers.

* Many classes in DungeonsAndDragons, especially ones that grant powers with a divine power source. Paladins are arguably the most well-known example; if a paladin knowingly performs any act that isn't LawfulGood, his paladin powers are stripped from him until he atones. But the Forsaker probably takes the cake as it requires you to destroy magic items daily to maintain your powers.
** Although [[KarmaMeter alignment points]] were removed from 4e, meaning there was no MECHANICAL way for someone to lose their abilities, it's also explicitly stated that all rules are up to GM fiat. Meaning should the paladin of Bahamut not diverge the party from their trek to stop the BigBad because a small contingent of his men are attacking from a village he's not instantly stripped of his powers; should he decide to instead extort huge sums of money from said villagers to protect them, he may suddenly find his charisma-based spells useless and his lower-strength basic attacks pinging futilely off of enemy armor.

A SuperTrope of VirginPower, where the something is not having sex. Compare NoManOfWomanBorn And SituationalSword.

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* ''{{BIONICLE}}'': Kanohi [[MaskOfPower Masks of Power]] grant the wearer powers as long as they is worn.

* In the anime and manga of ''ElHazard'', the teacher Fujisawa has super-strength so long as he can refrain from drinking alcohol. In the anime, [[spoiler: he gets even ''stronger'' after running out of cigarettes.]]

* In ''Wizard of the Pigeons'' by Creator/MeganLindholm, the wizard and his colleagues each have a condition on which their powers depend. (One, for instance, may not use her powers to help others unless they ask her to.) Some of the wizard's troubles in the book result from him forgetting which of the rules he lives by is ''the'' condition, and which are just rules he's given himself.

* ''ThievesWorld'' stories. Each Adept of the Blue Star has a DarkSecret, and if an Adept's secret is spoken aloud, he[[hottip:*:The Order does not accept women. It is not impossible, however, that there's an Adept whose Dark Secret is that he is SweetPollyOliver.]] will lose his powers.

* In ''Anime/{{Ladybug}}'', Marinette's earrings let her transform into the superhero Ladybug, but she has to use them to do good. It's not clear what happens if she doesn't.

* In ''Wizard of the Pigeons'' by MeganLindholm, the wizard and his colleagues each have a condition on which their powers depend. (One, for instance, may not use her powers to help others unless they ask her to.) Some of the wizard's troubles in the book result from him forgetting which of the rules he lives by is ''the'' condition, and which are just rules he's given himself.

* In ''DarkerThanBlack'', [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Contractors]] need to perform a 'remuneration' of varying degrees of seriousness/irony, be it drinking beer, breaking their own fingers, baking a cake, or de-aging. Under rare circumstances, it is actually possible to 'pay off' the contract in full--[[spoiler:like Mao, a Contractor whose human body died while he was [[BodySurf animal-surfing]]]].

[[AliceAndBob Alice]] has a superpower, but she only gets to keep the power as long as she does (or doesn't do) a specific thing, such as having HealingHands unless you [[ActualPacifist fight in battle]] -- or possibly [[TechnicalPacifist kill]].

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[[AliceAndBob Alice]] has a superpower, but she only gets to keep the power as long as she does (or doesn't do) a specific thing.

* Samson in the book of [[Literature/TheBible Judges]] had SuperStrength in exchange for a number of promises to God, including not cutting his hair. When he tells his secret to his lover ([[TooDumbToLive who has already tried to exploit various fake weaknesses]]), Delilah, she betrays him and has him shaved, and he lost his strength.

* In ''HomestarRunner'', Bubs apparently had the ability to fly (or at least hover a few inches off the ground) until Strong Bad got him to say "sbu".