History Main / FrighteningPowerUsage

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[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1646353345050864600 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.]]]]]]
Superpowers are cool, right? Not always.

At their best, superpowers can be flashy like energy blasts and super-strength impress audiences with sound effects and spectacle of the hero activating powers to fight. However, most stories involving superpowers [[CouldHaveBeenMessy ignore the nasty and frightening effects of superpowers on people.]]

Some highlights include:
* [[PlayingWithFire Fire powers]] actually causing third degree burns on people. Better if shown in loving detail.
* SuperStrength users tearing people from limb to limb, or dismembering (or even decapitating) them just by punches.
* HandBlast and other kind of energy shots that actually tear holes in people's bodies.
* Users of MindOverMatter telekinetically choking, ripping, or even bursting people apart.
* [[AnIcePerson Ice powers]] that do ''not'' cause HarmlessFreezing.

{{Deconstruction}}s and BewareTheSuperman stories often invokes this trope to point out the dark implications and frightening consequences of superpowers.

Subtrope to ViolenceIsDisturbing. Compare SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome, LovecraftianSuperpower, PowerPerversionPotential and LethalHarmlessPowers. See also, BystanderActionHorrorDissonance. Contrast
InverseLawOfUtilityAndLethality, where writers use to avoid encountering the implications of this trope. May cause MookHorrorShow.

BadPowersBadPeople are about powers that are ''inherently'' frightening (and thus often wind up in the hands of the bad guys), while this trope are about powers that are otherwise normal (or even stereotypically good) being used to frightening effect. PersonOfMassDestruction is frightening by way of how much/widely their power can destroy/affect things, not necessarily by its effects.

Related to RequiredSecondaryPowers, which deals with the realistic consequences and FridgeLogic regarding the physics behind superpowers.

Spoilers ahoy. Discussed examples go to FridgeHorror or CouldHaveBeenMessy. This trope is common in the SuperheroHorror subgenre.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Anime/ElfenLied'': Lucy is a pink-haired girl with horns and powerful telekinesis. Unlike [[ComicBook/XMen Jean Grey]], she uses her telekinesis to enact gory rampages and dismemberments, especially in the ''very beginning'' of the series and on [[EnfanteTerrible Tomoo]] who killed [[KickTheDog Lucy's puppy]].
* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', Uraraka wants to use her GravityMaster Quirk to become a rescue specialist who floats away debris and catches falling people. The most dangerous usage of her Quirk seen has her set a trap for Bakugo by having the bits of concrete he blew up while fighting her float into the air before bringing them all down like a small meteor shower. [[spoiler:When [[PowerCopying her Quirk gets used]] by Toga, she sends all of her opponents flying to lethal heights before having them all fall back to Earth with a sickening and bloody crunch.]]
* ''Manga/ThouShaltNotDie'': Overlaps with BadPowersGoodPeople. Mashiro's Super Strength is terrifying to behold in a combat situation, as one loose strike can turn any man into a fine paste along her fist; a bowling accident demonstrates that not consciously holding her strength back can destroy not only a lane, but the entire wall surrounding it in one shot. Her Superpowered Evil Side doesn't exactly help this given its homicidal intents towards anything in its path. Outside of combat, however, she's the sweetest person of the cast hands down and refuses to try to intentionally hurt anyone.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* One arc of ''ComicBook/{{Daken}}: Dark Wolverine'' sees the titular sociopath try and break into an old Pride safehouse, only to suddenly get blinded by a light show, tangled up in vines, and then punched across the room, with the panels never showing his assailants. And then the proverbial camera pulls back, and it turns out he barged in on the ComicBook/{{Runaways}} and got a beatdown from [[TheDitz Karolina]], [[CreepyChild Klara]], and [[CuteBruiser Molly]].
* This is pretty much the shtick of Eobard Thawne from ''Franchise/TheFlash'', who finds out about and uses every horrifying application of SuperSpeed. He can vibrate his hands through other people’s organs, punch at the speed of sound and higher, create devastating sonic booms, and run back in time to RetGone people.
* ''ComicBook/{{Miracleman}}'': Kid Miracleman, a violent, sadistic superhuman with a child alter-ego, rampages all over London and massacres tens of thousands with him desecrating their corpses by using his superhuman strength and energy blasts.
* ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'': Dr. Hank Pym (Giant-Man) in this continuity uses his power to telepathically control ants to swarm his wife, Janet Pym (The Wasp) as an act of DomesticAbuse.
* ''ComicBook/RisingStars'':
** One girl's power is manipulating small objects. Doesn't sound too impressive, until you remember the carotid is a small object. In adulthood she works as an assassin.
** Towards the end of the series, several of the supers are killed simultaneously. This results in their powers being redistributed to all the other supers, making each a FlyingBrick, in full view of the public, who gets to see what happens when superheroes are pissed at the government.
* ''ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}}'': The Plutonian, after he snaps, destroys Sky City, sinks Singapore because of an ambassador's lies, and murdered millions of people across the globe with his powers using [[SupermanSubstitute superhuman strength and eye lasers]] [[spoiler: which later turns out to be a manifestation of his real power: RealityWarping]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fanfic]]
* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' explores this in some detail:
** Jean-Paul (the younger generation's chief CombatPragmatist) demonstrating just how brutally even basic SuperSpeed can be applied -- such as throwing a rock into [[EyeScream something's eye]] at Mach 2. Later, after he TookALevelInBadass, he was able to reduce a powerful SuperSoldier to PinkMist.
** Harry's a powerful wizard and [[PsychicPowers psychic]], who develops into an uncompromisingly ruthless fighter when pushed, and a frighteningly creative -- [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman especially when facing monsters]]. [[AnArmAndALeg Telekinetic dismemberment]] is just the tip of the iceberg, with one more creative example in the sequel being using [[PlayingWithFire fire magic]] to rip all the heat out of thirteen ghouls, freezing them, then using the energy to [[LiterallyShatteredLives shatter them]]. This is fairly normal to him, but to [[NaiveNewcomer Clark]], it's immediate cause for a StressVomit.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanVsTheElite'': Superman shows really how dangerous he is towards the titular Elite by seemingly killing them in frightening ways by using his powers. Only to be revealed that Superman removed their powers and staged killing the members of the Elite; he just Invoked the trope to help drive in [[BewareTheSuperman the horror of a superpowered hero turning vigilante]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/BrightBurn'' is a horror film about a boy named Brandon Breyer with the powerset of ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}''. Unlike the Big Blue Boyscout, he showcases how frightening and dangerous his powers are when put to use without a noble cause or morality.
* In ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' we see the climactic fight between General Zod and Superman from Bruce Wayne's point-of-view, with their heat-vision casually cutting large swaths of entire buildings down without any trouble, leading to a large amount of wanton devastation in Metropolis and the deaths of thousands of innocents.
* ''Film/{{Chronicle}}'': Andrew Detmer, in his ProtagonistJourneyToVillain caused by abuse from his dad and constant bullying, uses his telekinetic powers in frightening ways like attempting to kill his father by dropping him (Dismembering him in the original script), extracting bullies' teeth and attempting to destroy Seattle in agony.
* ''Film/HollowMan'': Sebastian Caine, after using a serum that renders him invisible, slowly gives in to his darker inhibitions by pranks at first, then escalation to attempting to violate an attractive neighbor and murdering his colleagues slasher-style and destroying the laboratory when he finds out his mentor Kramer is told about his activities.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'':
** The ability to transform into most animals is occasionally abused by the Animorphs (like Cassie getting an embarrassing doodle back from her teacher or Marco scaring girls at a party he wasn't invited to), but SixthRangerTraitor uses it for petty thievery and breaking into hotels before [[spoiler:acquiring Jake and Rachel's brain-dead cousin after a car crash so he can live his life]].
** Rachel is abducted by Crayak and he offers to make her his agent in the galaxy, giving her immense ComboPlatterPowers like changing size or instantly morphing to creatures she's never seen that let her toss Visser One around like a powerless toy. She has an epiphany on realizing what these powers would lead to (even without the price for getting them, murdering Jake in retaliation for beating Crayak).
--->An epiphany. A revelation. The lightbulb switching on in my head.\\
''Face it, Rachel. The power is like a drug. And you are like an addict.''\\
Would I ever get enough? How long before I turned into a morally decrepit monster like Visser One? And making a deal with Crayak would only accelerate the journey to that inevitable end.\\
Suddenly, I had a vision of myself as I would really appear to the world. To my family. Friends. To the other Animorphs. To the Chee. The free Hork-Bajir. To every decent person on this planet.\\
Super-Rachel was not beautiful and kind and benevolent. She would not be honored and respected. She was hideous and violent and brutal. She would be feared by everyone. Despised and hated. A tyrant to be plotted against, just like Visser One.
* The opening scene of ''Literature/{{Steelheart}}'' demonstrates how terrifying it can be to be a normal civilian caught in the middle of a superhuman brawl, as Steelheart and Deathpoint fight over who gets to control a bank, with Deathpoint gleefully vaporizing people while Steelheart burns them.
* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'': The Battle of Dumai's Wells is the first modern-day deployment of hundreds of battle-trained mages, and even seasoned veterans are appalled to watch as they [[KillItWithFire incinerate]] and [[ChunkySalsaRule pulverize]] entire companies of soldiers at a time. In the end, it's less a battle than a slaughter that leaves them soberly aware of the new face of warfare.
* Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'' and ''Literature/{{Firestarter}}'' (and their film adaptations) are among the all-time classic examples. ''Carrie''[='=]s titular protagonist is a CreepyLonerGirl who uses her [[MindOverMatter telekinetic powers]] to destroy her senior prom and half her town after a prank by her classmates backfires in spectacular fashion, to the point where her name is still a byword for telekinesis in Western fiction. In ''Firestarter'', meanwhile, Charlie [=McGee=] uses her [[PlayingWithFire pyrokinetic powers]] to violently murder the federal agents who come to capture her, and later burns down the government facility they drag her off to in similar fashion.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/TheBoys2019'': As befitting its status as a DarkerAndEdgier {{Deconstruction}} of the Superhero genre, this trope crops up regularly.
** A-Train helpfully demonstrates what happens when someone with SuperSpeed [[LudicrousGibs runs into someone who doesn't]].
** Homelander's EyeBeams are a prime source of this. If he's not [[GlowingEyesOfDoom making his eyes glow]] to invoke RedEyesTakeWarning, he's vaporizing people into fountains of flash-heated gore. Because he's a sociopath who hates literally getting his hands dirty.
** Ezekiel proves how scary the normally-unimpressive RubberMan power is when he starts strangling Hughie from across the room.
** More subtle than most, but the fact that Translucent is well-known to use his {{Invisibility}} to lurk in women's restrooms, gynecologists offices, and the like is quite frightening when you think about it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'': Regime Superman, after passing through a DespairEventHorizon caused by the Joker tricking him to kill his pregnant wife Lois Lane and subsequently detonates a nuke that destroys Metropolis and kills millions - decides to kill the Joker by using his enhanced strength to [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice graphically impale the Joker with his own bare hands]].
* In ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}},'' the Tenno's superpowers are treated with abject horror by most of the Origin System, as virtually any of them can start a MookHorrorShow. This is particularly played up with Nekros, Banshee, and Saryn, who are shown terrorizing their foes as they wipe them out in their Prime trailers.
* ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' shows how horrifying an evil WhiteMage can be in one of its [[StarterVillain Starter Villains]], Holly Whyte. She brags about torturing captives, then using her magic to heal them so she can do it all over again.
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'': In a later cutscene, we see a dangerous use of [[TheMedic Nia]]'s healing powers: supercharging the replication rate of an enemy's cells, effectively giving them hyper-accelerated cancer.
* ''VideoGame/WildArmsMillionMemories'' is, in part, a deconstruction of Rudy as the most powerful member of your party. In this version, [[spoiler: his abilities can have world ending consequences, as shown in the penultimate chapter when he is able to reactivate the Yggdrasil System and cause Filgaia to erupt into a ball of fire.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'': ''Fuelled'' by this trope. The characters have been shown to use their powers as either a MundaneUtility, or to engage in gruesome battles.
** As the main character, Taylor Hebert progresses through the story, she gets more and more creative with her powers, ranging from being able to create her own clothes to [[AnimalEyeSpy spying on people]] and melting limbs.
** Jack Slash thrives on this trope. Simply put, he can extend the kinetic range of his blades.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Hama, one of the remaining Southern Waterbenders appears to be a kindly old lady. However, she developed a dark waterbending style called bloodbending. It essentially uses the water inside the bodies of humans, turning the humans into puppets beyond their control.
* SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' shows the dark side of Airbending that fans have speculated about since the original show: using it to asphyxiate someone by bending the air out of their lungs.
* In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague,'' one alternate timeline has the Justice League TakeOverTheWorld as the Justice Lords following Flash's murder. They terrorize the populace into obedience, lobotomizing those who would oppose them and threatening to murder the Justice League and take over their world in hopes of imposing their vision of order on it.
[[/folder]]
----

* ''Anime/ElfenLied'': Lucy is a pink-haired girl with horns and powerful telekinesis. Unlike [[ComicBook/XMen Jean Grey]], she uses her telekinesis to enact gory rampages and dismemberments from blowing up someone's body into gory pieces like a bomb.

* ''Anime/ElfenLied'': Lucy is a pink-haired girl with horns and powerful telekinesis. Unlike [[ComicBook/XMen Jean Grey]], she uses her telekinesis to enact gory rampages and dismemberments, especially in the ''very beginning'' of the series and on [[EnfanteTerrible Tomoo]] who killed [[KickTheDog Lucy's puppy]].

''Manga/ThouShaltNotDie'': Overlaps with BadPowersGoodPeople. Mashiro's Super Strength is terrifying to behold in a combat situation, as one loose strike can turn any man into a fine paste along her fist; a bowling accident demonstrates that not consciously holding her strength back can destroy not only a lane, but the entire wall surrounding it in one shot. Her Superpowered Evil Side doesn't exactly help this given its homicidal intents towards anything in its path. Outside of combat, however, she's the sweetest person of the cast hands down and refuses to try to intentionally hurt anyone.

Subtrope to ViolenceIsDisturbing. Compare RealityEnsues, LovecraftianSuperpower, PowerPerversionPotential and LethalHarmlessPowers. See also, BystanderActionHorrorDissonance. Contrast

* ''Anime/ElfenLied'': Lucy is a pink-haired girl with horns and powerful telekinesis. Unlike [[ComicBook/XMen Jean Grey]], she uses her telekinesis to enact gory rampages and dismemberments, especially in the ''very beginning'' of the series and [[EnfanteTerrible Tomoo]] who killed [[KickTheDog Lucy's puppy]].

[[folder:Fanfic]]

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' explores this in some detail:
** Jean-Paul (the younger generation's chief CombatPragmatist) demonstrating just how brutally even basic SuperSpeed can be applied - such as throwing a rock into [[EyeScream something's eye]] at Mach 2. Later, after he TookALevelInBadass, he was able to reduce a powerful SuperSoldier to PinkMist.
** Harry's a powerful wizard and [[PsychicPowers psychic]], who develops into an uncompromisingly ruthless fighter when pushed, and a frighteningly creative - [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman especially when facing monsters]]. [[AnArmAndALeg Telekinetic dismemberment]] is just the tip of the iceberg, with one more creative example in the sequel being using [[PlayingWithFire fire magic]] to rip all the heat out of thirteen ghouls, freezing them, then using the energy to [[LiterallyShatteredLives shatter them]]. This is fairly normal to him, but to [[NaiveNewcomer Clark]], it's immediate cause for a StressVomit.

[[/folder]]

Spoilers ahoy. Discussed examples go to FridgeHorror or CouldHaveBeenMessy.

** More subtle than most, but the fact that Translucent is well-known to use his {{Invisibility}} to lurk in women's restrooms, gynecologists offices, and the lack is quite frightening when you think about it.

* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanVsTheElite'': Superman shows really how dangerous he is towards the titular Elite by seemingly killing them in frightening ways by using his powers. Only to be revealed that Superman removed their powers and staged killing the members of the Elite.

BadPowersBadPeople are about powers that are ''inherently'' frightening (and thus often wind up in the hands of the bad guys), while this trope are about powers that are otherwise normal (or even stereotypically good) being used to frightening effect.

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', Uraraka wants to use her GravityMaster Quirk to become a rescue specialist who floats away debris and catches falling people. The most dangerous usage of her Quirk seen has her set a trap for Bakugou by having the bits of concrete he blew up while fighting her float into the air before bringing them all down like a small meteor shower. [[spoiler:When [[PowerCopying her Quirk gets used]] by Toga, she sends all of her opponents flying to lethal heights before having them all fall back to earth with a sickening and bloody crunch.]]

'''NOTE:''' This does not cover BadPowersBadPeople. Spoilers ahoy. Discussed examples go to FridgeHorror or CouldHaveBeenMessy.

* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'': Perhaps the master of utilizing this trope, and is ''fuelled'' by this trope. The characters have been shown to use their powers as either a MundaneUtility, or to engage in gruesome battles.

* ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'': Dr. Hank Pym (Gint-Man) in this continuity uses his power to telepathically control ants to swarm his wife, Janet Pym (The Wasp) as an act of DomesticAbuse.

-----
!!Examples

[[AC: Anime & Manga]]

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia,'' Uraraka wants to use her GravityMaster Quirk to become a rescue specialist who floats away debris and catches falling people. The most dangerous usage of her Quirk seen has her set a trap for Bakugou by having the bits of concrete he blew up while fighting her float into the air before bringing them all down like a small meteor shower. [[spoiler:When [[PowerCopying her Quirk gets used]] by Toga, she sends all of her opponents flying to lethal heights before having them all fall back to earth with a sickening and bloody crunch.]]

[[AC: Comic Books]]

* ''{{ComicBook/Miracleman}}'': Kid Miracleman, a violent, sadistic superhuman with a child alter-ego, rampages all over London and massacres tens of thousands with him desecrating their corpses by using his superhuman strength and energy blasts.

* ''{{ComicBook/Irredeemable}}'': The Plutonian, after he snaps, destroys Sky City, sinks Singapore because of an ambassador's lies, and murdered millions of people across the globe with his powers using [[SupermanSubstitute superhuman strength and eye lasers]] [[spoiler: which later turns out to be a manifestation of his real power: RealityWarping]].

[[AC: Literature]]
* ''{{Literature/Animorphs}}'':

-->An epiphany. A revelation. The lightbulb switching on in my head.
-->''Face it, Rachel. The power is like a drug. And you are like an addict.''
-->Would I ever get enough? How long before I turned into a morally decrepit monster like Visser One? And making a deal with Crayak would only accelerate the journey to that inevitable end.
-->Suddenly, I had a vision of myself as I would really appear to the world. To my family. Friends. To the other Animorphs. To the Chee. The free Hork-Bajir. To every decent person on this planet.
-->Super-Rachel was not beautiful and kind and benevolent. She would not be honored and respected. She was hideous and violent and brutal. She would be feared by everyone. Despised and hated. A tyrant to be plotted against, just like Visser One.

* ''{{Literature/Worm}}'': Perhaps the master of utilizing this trope, and is ''fuelled'' by this trope. The characters have been shown to use their powers as either a MundaneUtility, or to engage in gruesome battles.
** As the main character, Taylor Hebert progresses through the story, she gets more and more creative with her powers, ranging from being able to create her own clothes to [[AnimalEyeSpy spying on people]] and melting limbs.
** Jack Slash thrives on this trope. Simply put, he can extend the kinetic range of his blades.

[[AC: Live-Action Film]]
* ''Film/BrightBurn'' is a horror film about a boy named Brandon Breyer with the powerset of ''{{ComicBook/Superman}}''. Unlike the Big Blue Boyscout, he showcases how frightening and dangerous his powers are when put to use without a noble cause or morality.
* In ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' we see the climactic fight between General Zod and Superman from Bruce Wayne's point-of-view, with their heat-vision casually cutting large swaths of entire buildings down without any trouble, leading to a large amount of wanton devastation in Metropolis and the deaths of thousands of innocents.
* ''{{Film/Chronicle}}'': Andrew Detmer, in his ProtagonistJourneyToVillain caused by abuse from his dad and constant bullying, uses his telekinetic powers in frightening ways like attempting to kill his father by dropping him (Dismembering him in the original script), extracting bullies' teeth and attempting to destroy Seattle in agony.
* ''Film/HollowMan'': Sebastian Caine, after using a serum that renders him invisible, slowly gives in to his darker inhibitions by pranks at first, then escalation to attempting to violate an attractive neighbor and murdering his colleagues slasher-style and destroying the laboratory when he finds out his mentor Kramer is told about his activities.

[[AC: Live-Action Series]]

[[AC: Video Games]]

[[AC: Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Hama, one of the remaining Southern Waterbenders appears to be a kindly old lady. However, she developed a dark waterbending style called bloodbending. It essentially uses the water inside the bodies of humans, turning the humans into titular puppets beyond their control.

* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanVsTheElite'': Superman shows really how dangerous he is towards the titular Elite by seemingly killing them in frightening ways by using his powers. Only to be revealed that Superman removed their powers and staged killing the members of the Elite.