History Main / CreativeSterility

* A tragic example occurs in ''VideoGame/HiddenCity''. In the Petrified Mystery case, the sculptor Olivia was talented but when the fog engulfed her workshop, it took away all of her artistic skills and talent. This caused her to fall into despair until [spoiler: Alford Stone’s ex-partner Shirley gave Olivia a camera she stole from his antique store that could turn objects into sculptures — and living beings too, as Olivia learned to her eternal regret when she unthinkingly turned her good friend Sophia into a sculpture during an argument. Wanting to atone for her mistake and not wanting to live without her talent and artistic abilities, Olivia reversed the camera’s effects to revive Sophia while turning herself into a statue.]]

* A tragic example occurs in ''VideoGame/HiddenCity''. In the Petrified Mystery case, the sculptor Olivia was talented but when the fog engulfed her workshop, it took away all of her artistic skills and talent. This caused her to fall into despair.

* ''LightNovel/MagiciansAcademy'' explains the Otaku behavior of gods and devils as a result of finding humanity's creations fascinating, since being eternal beings with vast power has left them with no need for innovations or cultural identity of their own.

*** On the other hand, in "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E2TheEnsignsOfCommand The Ensigns of Command]]", Data expresses doubts over his own ability to create. In his argument, he cites his violin playing, which while technically perfect, is ''musically'' imperfect since he lacks soul and creativity. By the end of the episode, however, Picard notes that Data was able to successfully blend two ''vastly'' differing and seemingly incompatible stylistic influences into one unique, cohesive, and original style.

* In the ''Series/BabylonFive'' movie ''"[[Recap/BabylonFiveFilm01InTheBeginning In the Beginning]]"'', Londo states that the Centauri gave humans FTL technology in exchange for artistic works. Here however other civilizations ''can'' create things, humans just do it better. It's not that the Centauri can't create, but that at that time they were a decadent spacefaring "empire", so the baubles they got were seen as amusing trinkets. Londo does go on to note humans were far, ''far'' more vibrant and motivated than Centauri, the (ruinous) extent of which they had trouble grasping.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Justice League}}'' Brainiac's goal is to absorb all information from every planet he encounters, then kill all life on that planet so that Brainiac's sub-total of information will be all that remains of that planet's knowledge. Brainiac's preferred method of killing life on these planets is to destroy the planet itself, just to make sure there are no survivors, because Brainiac does not want new information to compete with what he's collected. In one of Brainiac's many comebacks, [[note]] As an android he can restore his consciousness in other forms if some part of him still remains intact. This makes him a very difficult enemy for Superman to destroy.[[/note]] surviving through a fusion with Lex Luthor's body, Brainiac is mocked for his lack of imagination. Lex points out that once he's destroyed all life in the universe, [[AndThenWhat what will be left for him?]] Brainiac is actually stumped, and admits that his programming would dictate once he's absorbed all knowledge his goal will be to simply keep existing so that knowledge can be preserved. Lex observes what's the point of having all that knowledge if he doesn't do anything with it? Lex then proposes that the two of them fuse together, and with Lex's human imagination he can motivate Braniac to become a god who will create a new universe to replace the old one. Braniac realizing that imagination is the one form of knowledge he lacks, he agrees to this partnership with Lex.

* ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'': Destruction is capable of creating things, and tries his hand at countless forms of art. He's just terrible at all of them. It's implied that the reason is that being the manifestation of destruction, creation goes against his inner nature. However, it's also implied that the Endless embody not just their namesakes, but their opposites as well.

** Copen views the Adepts as being this; He deems Asroc a "talentless hack" for using his septima to create machinery, whereas Copen creates this technologies from the ground up which in his view is a testament to humanity's achievement. He also views Ghauri's septima for performances as "artless, irreverent, and irresponsible". It should be noted that this is actually subverted as the Adepts are actually capable of creativity and technological marvels, and is simply more on Copen's inability to acknowledge their ingenuity due to his FantasticRacism.

* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'': [[PsychopathicManchild Parado]] is capable of setting up [[MagnificentBastard his plans]] so that it works out and [[ItAmusedMe amuses him]] at the same time, but he can't think of anything else but his goals - killing [[TheHero Emu]] and then [[KillAllHumans everyone else]]. He doesn't understand why any [[MonsterOfTheWeek Bugster]] would ever want to do anything else. [[spoiler:After his HeelFaceTurn, he realizes that he'd have nothing left to do with no humans to fight, so he instead [[GrewBeyondTheirProgramming starts getting more creative]] and uses it to achieve a new form in the post-series TV movies.]]
* ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'' makes this the motivation of the BigBad: as a logical consequence of there being a GreatBigBookOfEverything, ''every story'' is uncreative because it was written down in the Great Book first. Reading the book thus destroyed the villain's love of writing poetry and led him to become obsessed with bringing about the end of the world written in the Great Book's final chapter, just like it said he would.

* ''Anime/VivyFluoriteEyesSong'': AIs are unable to of creating new things. As a result, [[spoiler:Vivy, the main AI, writing a song gives the AI responsible for a worldwide mass TurnedAgainstTheirMasters event an extra reason to consider humanity obsolete]].

* In the ''Series/BabylonFive'' movie ''"In the Beginning"'', Londo states that the Centauri gave humans FTL technology in exchange for artistic works. Here however other civilizations ''can'' create things, humans just do it better. It's not that the Centauri can't create, but that at that time they were a decadent spacefaring "empire", so the baubles they got were seen as amusing trinkets. Londo does go on to note humans were far, ''far'' more vibrant and motivated than Centauri, the (ruinous) extent of which they had trouble grasping.
* The Cylon [[EnemyCivilWar civil war]] in ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' can be considered a fight over whether to evolve into life-bearing organic lifeforms or stay as soulless immortal machines. Natalie, the leader of the "pro-life" rebels would later describe their distance from immortality as giving their lives meaning. It helps to consider that those Cylons who formed the rebels had the greatest number of unique individuals develop among their previously uniform [[CloningBlues clone-like]] culture. Those that wanted to stay immortal had no "unique" members and were all basically still a HiveMind. [[spoiler: They all got blown up, and if any survived they are no longer immortal anyway. Also bear in mind the 'pro-life' Natalie faction only came to that decision when they had in effect already lost immortality by, unless they got Galactica's help, already losing the civil war and so facing permanent boxing (in essence the war broke out before they even considered giving up immortality). The creators of all Cylons, the final five, believed in this trope but also had no problem making themselves and their 'children' immortal, so neither faction really had their mindset down exactly.]]

*** In ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' Ambassador Soval confesses to Admiral Forrest that one reason Vulcans were so condescending to Humans is that when Vulcan suffered through a similar world war it took them nearly 2,000 years to rebuild their civilization. Humans did it within a hundred years and had started the beginnings of [[TheFederation an alliance]] within 3 years of premiering their first warp five ship. Vulcans were scared of what the humans could accomplish.

*** Discussed at length in the Season 2 episode "Elementary, Dear Data". In an argument between [=LaForge=] and Pulaski, [=LaForge=] argues that Data is capable of original deduction, while Dr. Pulaski counters that while Data's deductive skills may ''seem'' original, they are in fact only derivative of what he already has in his databanks. To experiment, they [=LARP=] through a Literature/SherlockHolmes mystery, which Data solves in the prologue, having read the story in question before. Upping the ante, they asked the holodeck for an adventure with Holmes-like elements, which Data again solves in the opening minutes, as the computer had created a story featuring story elements from two different books. [=LaForge=] argues that Data had deduced a trap in the story using available evidence, while Pulaski counters that he'd simply recognized elements he'd read about before, making the experiment a push. Finally, [=LaForge=] asks the computer for an OriginalFlavor Literature/SherlockHolmes holodeck FanFic with the difficulty level increased to challenge Data. Their ExactWords (to challenge ''Data'', not "Holmes") result in the [[AIIsACrapshoot creation of]] [[TheChessmaster Professor Moriarty]], whose antics quickly push the experiment [[DebateAndSwitch to the wayside]]. However, when the Moriarty character returns in a later episode, Data successfully deduces his deception and saves the day.
*** [[FridgeLogic Interestingly]], this plot also implies that at the same time as discussing whether Data is capable of original thought, both of them implicitly ''assume'' that the ship's main computer is!
*** On the other hand, in the third season episode "The Ensigns of Command," Data expresses doubts over his own ability to create. In his argument, he cites his violin playing, which while technically perfect, is ''musically'' imperfect since he lacks soul and creativity. By the end of the episode, however, Picard notes that Data was able to successfully blend two ''vastly'' differing and seemingly incompatible stylistic influences into one unique, cohesive, and original style.
*** Seen again in "Devil's Due", when Data plays Scrooge in a holographic recreation of ''A Christmas Carol''. He begins from an established method (''the'' Method, in fact), but re-works it a bit to suit his own limitations. Picard tells him that the very fact that Data created his own variation rather than sticking rigidly to an established technique is creative progress in and of itself.

*** When introduced in "Q Who", the Borg seek to understand the ''Enterprise-D'' by carving it up and assimilating the technology.
*** In "The Best of Both Worlds", the Borg have decided to invade the Federation. To facilitate this, they abduct and assimilate Captain Picard in order to gain his knowledge of Starfleet's capabilities and tactics.
*** As shown in "Descent", Borg drones that are severed from the Collective end up at a loss as to what to do with themselves. To the extent that Data's EvilTwin Lore (who, unlike Data, has emotions) is able to become a sort of crazy cult leader to them because they're so desperate for guidance.
*** In the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "Scorpion", the Borg were facing a war against Species 8472, aliens from AnotherDimension whose biology and OrganicTechnology were immune to assimilation, which is the only method the Borg have of adapting and being the malevolent juggernaut they are. The ''Voyager'' crew, on the other hand, took time to study the alien biology and devised a weapon actually capable of harming 8472 (based on Borg technology). Janeway made an explicit observation of the irony.
*** In "The Omega Directive", the Borg are shown to revere the "Omega Molecule" as the embodiment of perfection. They acquired bits of knowledge about it from thirteen different species before attempting disastrous experimentation of their own which resulted in the destruction of 29 cubes and 600,000 drones. Seven-of-Nine manages to use knowledge acquired from a fourteenth species as well as Starfleet to devise a way to safely contain and break down Omega. It was implied she would not have been able to do this using just the knowledge she had from the Borg.
** The novelization of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "The Search" also implies that Changelings have a rigid and stagnant culture. This is one of the reasons for which [[spoiler:Odo decides to return to Great Link - Since he successfully integrated into Solid society, he believes he can free the other changeling from this state.]]
** The Dominion's Vorta have no sense of aesthetics - not only can they not create a culture of their own, they can't even tell if something looks or sounds pleasing. It's implied that the Founders engineered them in this way on purpose in order to keep them placid and obedient.
** Invoked, explored, and ultimately averted in an episode of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' where the holographic Doctor creates a holo-novel and sends the first draft to a publisher. Said publisher then publishes the first draft without the Doctor's permission, arguing that, as an artificial intelligence, he isn't capable of being an author. The resulting trial concludes by granting the Doctor rights as an author but stops short of declaring him a person.
** The Pakleds are like this. Their species are underdeveloped intellectually and are before the point that they could have actually developed warp capabilities on their own (in fact the ones seen on the show don't seem like they could handle fire or the wheel). They became a spacefaring race by stealing from other, more advanced species because they would rather have such things now than wait to develop it themselves. When the Enterprise finds a Pakled ship, it's really just a hodge-podge of parts from various different starships.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Justice League}}'' Brainiac's goal is to absorb all information from every planet he encounters, then kill all life on that planet so that Brainiac's sub-total of information will be all that remains of that planet's knowledge. Brainiac's preferred method of killing life on these planets is to destroy the planet itself, just to make sure there are no survivors, because Brainiac does not want new information to compete with what he's collected. In one of Brainiac's many comebacks, [[note]] As an android he can restore his consciousness in other forms if some part of him still remains intact. This makes him a very difficult enemy for Superman to destroy.[[/note]] surviving through a fusion with Lex Luthor's body, Brainiac is mocked for his lack of imagination. Lex points out that once he's destroyed all life in the universe, what will be left for him? Brainiac is actually stumped, and admits that his programming would dictate once he's absorbed all knowledge his goal will be to simply keep existing so that knowledge can be preserved. Lex observes what's the point of having all that knowledge if he doesn't do anything with it? Lex then proposes that the two of them fuse together, and with Lex's human imagination he can motivate Braniac to become a god who will create a new universe to replace the old one. Braniac realizing that imagination is the one form of knowledge he lacks, he agrees to this partnership with Lex.

* The Combine in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''. Though they possess technology far in advance of humanity, it all appears to have been violently appropriated from their countless previous conquests and twisted for their own purposes.

** Patently false on the claim that advances were solely due to [[spoiler:Templars. Edison, noted to be a Templar, is increasingly notorious for his habit of stealing ideas and patents from more skilled scientists; his biggest skills seem to have been business and publicity rather than invention. [[UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla Tesla]] is just the victim mentioned in-game.]]

** ''Literature/TheBicentennialMan'': Robots are expected to be unable to make art, and when Andrew demonstrates his ability to carve wood into beautiful art, it is taken as something unique to him. The Martin household loves it, while US Robots is [[AIIsACrapshoot less pleased]] when they learn about it.

** "Literature/TheBicentennialMan": Robots are expected to be unable to make art, and when Andrew demonstrates his ability to carve wood into beautiful art, it is taken as something unique to him. The Martin household loves it, while US Robots is [[AIIsACrapshoot less pleased]] when they learn about it.

* ''Literature/{{Technomancer}} by MK Gibson: Since the demonic invasion, no new media has been created or art. [[spoiler: This is because no human souls have been created and inspiration is absent without God's light.]]

* In terms of Tank design, the U.S. Military's R&D Division can get this, as its one of the main contributions as to why as of 2022, they have yet to develop a more advanced 4th Generation Tank (whereas other few other countries have began development on them) with their most advanced tanks being based on the M1 Abrams design. The Decisive Lethality Platform is planned to rectify this problem.

* ''Film/TheWaterboy'': In the 1970s, Coach Klein was an assistant coach for the University of Louisiana's football team until fellow coach Red Beaulieu stole his playbook to pass off as his own in order to become the new head coach, firing Klein as soon as he got the position. Ever since then, Klein has struggled to think up new plays as inspired and innovative as those in the book until Bobby Boucher helps him face his fears.

WhatMeasureIsANonSuper We can't [[WingedHumanoid fly]], we can't [[BreathWeapon shoot fireballs out of our nostrils]], and [[WeAreAsMayflies we live pitifully short lives]]. Those {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s, vampires, or cyber-humans are so far above us in every respect we should just accept them as a BenevolentAlienInvasion. And yet every non-human and supernatural creepy-crawly without [[SmugSuper its head up its butt]] envies us and [[PinocchioSyndrome wants to be like us]]. Why?

This can have interesting ramifications in a plot. They [[CuriosityCausesConversion might seek]] to [[PinocchioSyndrome become human]] by [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove learning to feel]] or even [[HumanityEnsues transforming themselves physically]], hoping TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody which will allow them to understand us. It may be cultural: [[HumanityIsInfectious enough exposure to humanity may well "cure" them]], though any of them who resist this change and want to stay uncreative are likely to be ObviouslyEvil. It can also lead to more frightening efforts at ''stealing'' that which they lack from us--whether it is in the form of "[[AnatomyOfTheSoul Creative Energy]]", souls, [[MarsNeedsWomen wombs]], or slaves. In this case, EvilCannotComprehendGood and their sterility is self-perpetuating.

** Further muddying the waters regarding AI Art software and other variants for writing, etc., is the question of whether they're actually creating anything, or if they're just patchworking pieces of other people's creations together into something artistic-''looking'', but is driven purely by algorithm. It doesn't help that such software has gained immense scrutiny as of late for how often they've taken artists work without permission, and that many of the adopters of AI Art have a dismissive reaction towards more said artists' criticisms of art theft, have [[{{Greed}} profited from AI Art]], or in particularly egregious cases have gone so far as to openly proclaim having AI Art ''replace the artists'' that the AI Generator depends on.

** Further muddying the waters regarding AI Art software and other variants for writing, etc., is the question of whether they're actually creating anything, or if they're just patchworking pieces of other people's creations together into something artistic-''looking'', but is driven purely by algorithm. It doesn't help that such software has gained immense scrutiny as of late for how often they've taken artists work without permission, and that many of the adopters of AI Art have a dismissive reaction towards more said artists' criticisms of art theft, have [[{{Greed}} profited from AI Art]], or in particularly egregious cases, have gone so far as to openly proclaim having AI Art ''replace the artists'' that the AI Generator depends on.

** Further muddying the waters regarding AI Art software and other variants for writing, etc., is the question of whether they're actually creating anything, or if they're just patchworking pieces of other people's creations together into something artistic-''looking'', but is driven purely by algorithm. It doesn't help that such software has gained immense scrutiny as of late for how often they've taken artists work without permission, and that many of the adopters of AI Art [[SmugSnake have a dismissive reaction towards more said artists' criticisms]] of art theft, have [[{{Greed}} profited from AI Art]], or have gone so far as to openly proclaim having AI Art ''replace the artists'' that the AI Generator depends on to feed their algorithm.

** Further muddying the waters regarding AI Art software and other variants for writing, etc., is the question of whether they're actually creating anything, or if they're just patchworking pieces of other people's creations together into something artistic-''looking'', but is driven purely by algorithm. It doesn't help that such software has gained immense scrutiny as of late for how often they've taken artists work without permission, and that many of the adopters of AI Art have a dismissive reaction towards more said artists' criticisms of art theft, have [[{{Greed}} profited from AI Art]], or have gone so far as to openly proclaim having AI Art ''replace the artists'' that the AI Generator depends on to feed their algorithm.

** Further muddying the waters regarding AI Art software and other variants for writing, etc., is the question of whether they're actually creating anything, or if they're just patchworking pieces of other people's creations together into something artistic-''looking'', but is driven purely by algorithm. It doesn't help that such software has gained immense scrutiny as of late for how often they've taken artist's work without permission, and that many of the adopters of AI Art have a dismissive reaction towards more said artists' criticisms of art theft, have [[{{Greed}} profited from AI Art]], or have gone so far as to openly proclaim having AI Art ''replace the artists'' that the AI Generator depends on to feed their algorithm.

** Further muddying the waters regarding AI Art software and other variants for writing, etc., is the question of whether they're actually creating anything, or if they're just patchworking pieces of other people's creations together into something artistic-''looking'', but is driven purely by algorithm. It doesn't help that such software has gained immense scrutiny as of late for how often they've taken artist's work without permission, and that many of the adopters of AI Art have a dismissive reaction towards more said artists' criticisms of art theft, or have [[{{Greed}} profited from AI Art]]/have openly proclaimed having AI Art ''replace the artists'' that the AI Generator depends on to feed their algorithm.

** Further muddying the waters regarding AI Art software and other variants for writing, etc., is the question of whether they're actually creating anything, or if they're just patchworking pieces of other people's creations together into something artistic-''looking'', but is driven purely by algorithm. It doesn't help that such software has gained immense scrutiny as of late for how often they've taken artist's work without permission, and that many of the adopters of AI Art have a dismissive reaction towards more said artists' criticisms of art theft, or have [[{{Greed}} profited from AI Art]] or have openly proclaimed having AI Art ''replace artists''.