History Main / CursedWithAwesome

-->-- ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|2010}}'' (2010)

* In ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'' fanfic ''Fanfic/BuildYourWingsOnTheWayDown'', Ed is burdened by knowing the dark side of alchemy. But he now knows the ins and outs of alchemy and can do feats thought to be impossible by regular alchemists. [[spoiler: He knows how to directly bargain with the Gate and what are the set prices and transactions for EquivalentExchange.]]

* Karen of ''WebVideo/{{Awkward}}'' is "different". (It's never specified quite what this means, but it seems to cover some degree of geekiness.) On the one hand, it causes {{Jerkass}} Ernie to dump her. On the other hand, it happens to be what DoggedNiceGuy Kevin likes about her. He even has a slightly NarmCharm-y speech about it!

* [[spoiler:Ara's curse]] in ''Webcomic/PennyBlackfeather'' makes you incredibly magically powerful, [[PowerDyesYourHair blue-haired]] and generally cool-looking, although there's a small matter of [[BalefulPolymorph turning into a parrot]] outside [[MagicalLand Goblin Valley]] and the SuperpoweredEvilSide lurking over your shoulder.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'':

* ''Franchise/XMen'':
** Subverted with The Characters/{{Juggernaut}}. Those who are bestowed with the power of Cyttorak through his crimson gem are also compelled to do evil, regardless of their previous nature. However, Cain Marko is a natural sociopath, and doesn't need much prodding. When Cain tried to [[HeelFaceTurn turn over a new leaf]] and joined the X-Men, Cyttorak was very unhappy with this development. Thus, [[RedemptionDemotion Cain's power was greatly reduced]] and he was pushed into returning to a life of evil to regain the lost power.

** For most folks who gain powers via Gamma radiation like the Hulk, the Abomination, and [[Characters/MarvelComicsGammaMutates General Ross]], [[BlessedWithSuck it's the opposite Trope]], but there are exceptions:

* Having low alcohol tolerance. While it can suck to experience the symptoms of drinking too much faster than others, people with it are less likely to spend too much money on drinking, develop health issues, and become alcoholics thanks to the caution required to live with it.

* Having low alcohol tolerance. While it can suck to experience the symptoms of too much drinking faster than others, and you'll will be exhausted while the others are feeling intoxicated, they are less likely to become alcoholics, broke from spending so much money, and experience the health issues thanks to the caution that comes with it.

* Some people get very neurotic about being late to anything, even by a few minutes, and thus often insist on coming very early. They aren't fun to go to movies with, and suffer from anxiety often, but anyone who is late for everything knows that it's not without its benefits.

** ''Film/XMen1'' in many ways reflected this; the heroes were all extremely gorgeous people with cool powers played by people like Creator/HughJackman, Creator/HalleBerry and Creator/JamesMarsden, whilst the bad guys -- with the notable exception of Creator/IanMcKellen -- were all freaks. The later movies began to balance this out a bit more with the inclusion of characters such as [[Characters/XMen70sMembers Nightcrawler]]. Other X-Men films, such as ''[[Film/XMenFirstClass First Class]]'' imply a number of evil mutants become evil ''because'' they're ugly; visible mutations make them bigger targets for prejudice, which in turn [[ThenLetMeBeEvil makes them more cynical and bitter toward humans]].

* In ''Fanfic/TheInstituteSaga'', [[Characters/XMen80sMembers Rogue]]'s powers mean that she cannot touch anyone who isn't a Kryptonian, until she finally gets a special bracelet.

* In the ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' story "Lucky Girl," Hummingbird II discovers that her gods-granted powers are tainted with a curse that will eventually turn her into a real bird. She rejects an offer to be cured by having her powers removed, choosing instead to deal with her fate with the help of her {{Honorary Aunt}}s.

* ComicBook/TheThing in ''ComicBook/FantasticFour''. Super-strong & nigh invulnerable. Sure he's not the best looking guy around, but despite this he's had several women attracted to him, Alicia Masters, Thundra, the second Miss Marvel, heck even Tigra seemed interested in him. Boo-hoo, poor Ben.

* ''ComicBook/IncredibleHulk'':

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
** In ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'', ComicBook/LexLuthor [[BatmanGambit endangers a space flight]], forcing Superman to fly too close to the sun in the process of rescuing them. The damage to his body [[YourDaysAreNumbered leaves him with one year to live]]. On the upside, it boosts his powers and intelligence, and renders him immune to kryptonite, which helps him deal with all his final year's problems.

** In ''ComicBook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'', ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} complains that her incredible powers have been an endless source of problems for her since she crash-landed on Earth. Yes, she has soared through the galaxy and tanked energy blasts. She has also been forced into battle after battle, manipulated, used, abused and treated as a tool or a ticking bomb by pretty much everyone.

** Subverted with The ComicBook/{{Juggernaut|MarvelComics}}. Those who are bestowed with the power of Cyttorak through his crimson gem are also compelled to do evil, regardless of their previous nature. However, Cain Marko is a natural sociopath, and doesn't need much prodding. When Cain tried to [[HeelFaceTurn turn over a new leaf]] and joined the X-Men, Cyttorak was very unhappy with this development. Thus, [[RedemptionDemotion Cain's power was greatly reduced]] and he was pushed into returning to a life of evil to regain the lost power.

* In ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'', it happens to ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}. More powers than she can keep track of, to the point that she is able to time-travel by just flying fast enough. Yet still she feels those powers mean she can't lead a normal life, and they work as a magnet for every would-be cosmic conquerer/eldritch abomination looking for a pick or heroes needing to be saved from said cosmic conqueror/eldritch abomination.

** They also turned out to be ''right'' to bemoan their loss of humanity. A second generation of Space Knights was create which were more extremely transformed (and more powerful), and they all went AxCrazy and destroyed the rest of their race and the parts removed from all the Space Knights, preventing anyone from ever transforming them back.

** The X-man Beak became an interesting, fairly literal example. At first, he was simply BlessedWithSuck since his only mutant power was looking like a giant plucked chicken. Then the ''ComicBook/{{Exiles}}''' boss [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien The Timebroker]] decides to draft Beak onto the team, and forcibly yank him away from his home reality. Why? Because Beak will supposedly save TheMultiverse some day. Essentially, the Timebroker just decided to hand Beak [[ComesGreatResponsibility a great responsibility]] while Beak [[HomeSweetHome just wanted his life back]], literally cursing him with awesomeness. Of course, the Timebroker turned out to be right when [[spoiler: Beak found a way to defeat Hyperion]].

[[caption-width-right:330:Oh no! She's ''cursed'' to turn into a [[MostCommonSuperpower busty]] [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation green]] [[SuperStrength superstrong]] [[AmazonianBeauty amazon]]! [[FreakyIsCool Wait]][[VisibleSilence ...]] ]]

* In the German film ''Boxhagener Platz'', the [[CoolOldLady cool granny]] protagonist has already survived five husbands. [[spoiler: And number six and seven follow the course.]]

* Becoming a zombie is usually treated as a FateWorseThanDeath, but in ''Series/IZombie'', zombies like the heroine [[PunnyName Olivia "Liv" Moore]] get a ''lot'' of benefits. Liv retains her personality and intelligence as long as she routinely gets to eat human brain matter[[note]]failing to do this results in the zombie in question ''permanently'' degrading into a feral [[ShoutOut "Romero"]][[/note]], and also gain the ability to absorb the memories, skills and knowledge from the brains they eat. Liv is exceptionally resilient to injury; she can be shot and stabbed multiple times, she doesn't feel pain, she loses very little blood and the wounds eventually heal like they would for a normal person. On top of that, Liv has a "full-on zombie mode" where she gains SuperStrength, able to chase down cars and overpower men much larger than her. She also doesn't need to sleep, and her alcohol tolerance is greatly increased. Against all that, the downsides of being a zombie are your taste gets dulled so you can't enjoy normal food again, you look like someone who hasn't seen in the sun and got a tan in years, and [[TheWoobie it can potentially alienate you from your friends and your career]].

** For most folks who gain powers via Gamma radiation like the Hulk, the Abomination, and [[Characters/MarvelComicsGammaMutates General Ross]], [[BlessedWithSuck it's the opposite Trope]] but there are exceptions:

* Suspension with pay. You don't need to (in fact you can't) go to work, but you still get paid. Along the same vein, suspension from school: most kids hate school anyway, so you're going to "[[{{Unishment}} punish]]" them with a couple of days off? Great! The only way for it to truly feel like a punishment is if their parents are strict enough to make sure it's not a vacation for them. Some schools have gone to "in-school suspension" (basically all-day detention) to counteract this, but this also fails because students aren't really forced to work. For those that do take the time to work, they're able to do so at their own pace since they're not at the mercy of period bells.

* Some people get very neurotic about being late to anything, even by a few minutes, and thus often insist on coming very early. They aren't fun to go to movies with, and suffer from anxiety often, but anyone who's ever been fired for repeated tardies knows that it's not without its benefits.

[[caption-width-right:330:Oh no! She's ''cursed'' to turn into a [[MostCommonSuperpower busty]] [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe green]] [[SuperStrength superstrong]] [[AmazonianBeauty amazon]]! [[FreakyIsCool Wait]][[VisibleSilence ...]] ]]

* ''Fanfic/TheChildOfLove'': Shinji and Asuka's daughter Teri got her DNA altered when she was still a fetus, and she developed PsychicPowers and the ability to wield an energy barrier. She really does not like her powers, though, because she is afraid that people will think she is weird and will shun her out if they find out.
* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has Harry, its main protagonist. When his father is revealed to be Thor (having been incarnated as James Potter in a first run at the whole 'humility' thing, which worked great until his brutal murder), in one stroke he was no longer an orphan, gained an extended family by blood and by choice, even greater wealth and resources, and in the later parts of the first book, serious superpowers. Unfortunately, as he points out, [[TheCallPutMeOnHold not only are those powers on a delay]], they are initially very hard to control, and even once he gets a handle on them, he is often ludicrously out-gunned by whoever's targeted him. And he is targeted a ''lot''.
* The ''Series/{{CSI}}'' / ''Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' crossover fic ''Death by Chocolate'' shows how Violet Beaureguard benefited from the incident of the blueberry pie gum from the film section below -- she became a contortionist of such skill that she became a star of Cirque de Soleil. [[spoiler: Her mother wasn't too happy about it, though...]]

** Buffy, who is cursed to be a "hot chick with superpowers", as Faith once put it. The curse part is she has to use said superpowers to fight for her life every night, and the world's existence every late Spring. All Evil is waiting for is for its [[EvilOnlyHasToWinOnce "one good day"]] to fall on one where they can end the world. And statistically, she's ancient -- most slayers die the same year they're chosen. At fifteen.

** Angel is cursed with a soul. Good in that he's immortal with superpowers, [[OurVampiresAreDifferent irresistible to young girls]], a shoe-in to be a HunterOfHisOwnKind and the [[Series/{{Angel}} titular star]] of his own VampireDetectiveSeries. Bad in that he has a ''century'' of UsefulNotes/CharlesManson's memories in his head and said soul never lets him forget it.

* The Charmed Ones from ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' seem to fit this. For the first three series they don't half go on about being spectacularly powerful witches (especially Piper) and are all somewhat inclined towards giving up their powers if given the chance (especially Piper...) in fact, they only stop complaining about their abilities (to freeze time or move things with their mind/astrally project or see into the future/levitate) in order to use them to save the day from the demon of the week. This may have more to do with the fact the writers set up the entire universe to ensure the sisters would never get to use their powers for anything besides demon-killing. Several episodes are centered around them trying to do something for themselves and [[PersonalGainHurts getting punished for it]].

* Elsa from the Disney movie ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013]]'' is able to project ice and snow. The ''curse'' portion comes from the fact that she can't control it, but when she's not constantly worrying about hurting people (and when she's finally accepted by her kingdom at the end) it goes straight back into awesome.