History Main / HowDoIShotWeb

* Princess from ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' acquires powers like the heroines' several times over the course of the series, by various means. She fails to beat them every time, but never learns a lesson about it.

* ''Series/{{Wonder Woman|1975}}'': Both Wonder Woman and [[KidSidekick Wonder Girl]] were shown learning how to [[EverythingsBetterWithSpinning transform into a super heroine]] while away from Paradise Island. The first time Drusilla changed into Wonder Girl, it took her multiple tries and a mental review to get it right.

* ComicBook/{{Superboy}} had this problem after he first appeared during ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman'' saga - he had flight, limited invulnerability (fire actually harmed him) and super strength and a strange ability to blow metallic things up. The last one he had no idea how it worked and it seemingly came when he was in a panic. After learning he had Tactile Telekinesis (which allowed him to mimic Superman's abilities to a point), he started focusing more and using it a lot better. Then came the ''rest'' of his Kryptonian powers, like his heat vision, which first manifested in accidentally singing Superman's cape (he wasn't happy about that.)
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

** In the Modern Age ''ComicBook/NewKrypton'' storyline, Superman was shown to be an elite soldier because of his extensive experience using his powers, leading to him training fellow soldiers in the New Krypton military.

* The ''ComicBook/SupermanBatman'' "Super/Bat" arc has a case where Silver Banshee "grant the wishes" of Batman and Superman (Superman to have a normal life, Batman to bring complete fear and order to Gotham's criminal underworld) by giving Superman's powers to Batman. It took Batman a lot of practice to use them right, and he realizes he needs sunlight to use them the best. Superman realizes that the side effect of Banshee's wish was ''both men did not have the means to properly use [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor what they wished for]]'', requiring Superman to get Batman to undo the wish before the Dark Knight becomes corrupted by his new power.
* The trope is very logically subverted in ''ComicBook/XFactor'' when the team tracks down Alchemy, a mutant whose PubertySuperpower is the ability to transmute any matter into a simple element like gold. He was kidnapped by trolls and had to defend himself by transforming their leaders. He then couldn't change them back because he has to imagine the totality of the matter he is changing something into, and organic matter is so complex on a molecular level that he can't do it. So, he goes off for the advanced education in biochemistry needed to cure the beings he has affected.[[note]]One rather odd part of that story was that Alchemy refused to join X-Factor's school for mutants because it wasn't training in his powers but training in advanced organic chemistry that he needed. This was entirely true, but apparently the writers forgot that one of X-Factor's members was the most accomplished biochemist on Earth.[[/note]] By the time Alchemy reappeared in the pages of ''Excalibur'', he had gotten enough education and control over his power that he was able to restore the humans he had inadvertently transformed after the trolls had kidnapped him again to try and force him to change their leaders back to normal.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

** Inu-Yasha didn't even knew about [[EmpathicWeapon Tetsusaiga's]] [[SwordBeam Kaze no Kizu / Wind Scar]] when he first got it. It took some time until he learned about it, more time to use it accidentally, even more time to use it at will and even more time to truly master it. When he gains a new power in his sword, he has to learn how to use it. Like the Wind Scar, the Dragon-Scale Tessaiga was something he struggled desperately to master and, in both situations, something his brother said was what started him on the road to mastering the power (in the case of the Wind Scar, his brother's help was accidental, in the case of the Dragon-Scale, his brother's help was deliberate, if not cryptic). In both cases, the main lesson for Inuyasha wasn't what the powers could do (which only had limited functionality) but what he could achieve when he believed in himself as a [[HalfHumanHybrid half-demon]].

** This applies even more to the [[GreenRocks Devil Fruits]]. The average person who has absolutely no idea what their fruit even ''does'' unless they've either read a restricted access catalogue or been outright told. Even then, you'd have no idea how to activate it until you experiment. Brook's power only activated ''after he died'', meaning he could've started off simply knowing he couldn't swim. Hell, Brook takes this even further after the TimeSkip, when he develops his powers into the abilities to use AstralProjection and channel GhostlyChill into [[AnIcePerson Ice Powers.]] This means that it took Brook ''well over fifty-two years'' to realize these powers were available to him and work out how to use them.
*** A Devil Fruit's powers aren't entirely unknown to the eater — once a person eats a Devil Fruit, they gain an awareness of the Fruit's basic ability. However, the specifics of how the ability works and any further aspects and uses of the ability often require some experimentation to figure out. In Brook's case above, he actually knew in advance that he would come back to life once he died, but spent the next fifty years following his resurrection operating under the assumption that that's all the Yomi Yomi Fruit did, before he eventually discovered other aspects of its power.

** Momonosuke also has a hard time figuring out how to control his transformations into a dragon and back after he ate an artificial Zoan-type Devil Fruit. Though in his defense, it could be either due to his young age, his inexperience with the fruit (And limited knowledge of Devil Fruits in general), the fact that said fruit is artificial and a failure, or all of the above.
** [[spoiler:Sabo]] had some issues with controlling the abilities of the [[spoiler:Flame-Flame Fruit]] after first eating it. While he was able to utilize its previous user's signature technique, he had trouble [[spoiler:''turning off'' the flames]]. Also, despite the Devil Fruit being a Logia and giving him "Made of Air" style NighInvulnerability, he still dodged attacks simply out of habit.
*** Although that dodge instinct could be considered a good thing, considering most figures he'd fight against (being in the Revolutionary Army) would have some knowledge on how to combat Devil Fruits.

* In ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', occasionally one of the heroes' Pokemon will have trouble mastering a new attack until several episodes later. One of the Sinnoh arc's running gags was Gible's Draco Meteor misfires always homing in on Piplup.
** Then there was Duplica's Ditto, which couldn't master transformations for a long time...it would never get the face right.

* Season 3 ''Manga/Reborn2004'' spoiler'd example: [[spoiler:[[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture In the Future]], when Tsuna first uses his KillItWithFire X-Burner Attack, he can't find out how to set it off without propelling himself backward into a wall. When he figures out to use his other hand to make a balancing fireball, he THEN has the limitation that he can only fire on level ground, when he gets around THAT, he needs a way to balance out the flames. Luckily, we're spared that Training episode by Spanner.]]

* ''Comicbook/{{Empowered}}'' gains her powers from an alien supersuit that is the very definition of "enigmatic". She found out the obvious ones (SuperStrength, vison enhancement, HandBlast), but the other powers were discovered by accident. [[spoiler:For example, her {{Wall Crawl}}ing was activated when she was thrown against a wall and she still hasn't actually "discovered" its flying abilities.]] It's {{Fanon}} (and suggested by MindScrew in-universe) that the costume gives fantastic cosmic powers limited only by the user self-confidence. As Empowered has the self-confidence of a used kleenex in a dirty cesspool, you can see how it works. So yes, she unconsciously granted herself the power of being easily aroused and multi-orgasming. Kudos!

Another factor is that ''no one'' understands the FF's powers better than the FF themselves, so they know exactly how to counter them. On the other hand, the Super-Skrull is shown to be ''extremely'' effective when fighting other enemies, since he's ruthless enough to use his powers in ways the FF never would, like stretching parts of his body into razor wire to decapitate enemy soldiers. [[ComicBook/{{Runaways}} Xavin]], another Skrull with similar abilities, can barely use more than one power at a time. Although in the ''Secret Invasion'' tie-in, it was shown that while Xavin can only use one power at a time, [[AmbiguousGenderIdentity s/he]] became better at using them individually than his teacher could. In ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'', it is revealed that the Skrulls now have the idea to copy ''any'' superhuman's powers, appearance, and memory perfectly. As revealed in the sub-series ''ComicBook/NewAvengers''. (written by the same dude), they really, really worked very, very hard at it.

* In ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has this appear relatively frequently, given the number of teenagers and the story goes out of its way to show how terrifyingly dangerous such powers - even relatively weak ones - could be in the hands of someone with absolutely no idea how to control them.

** Harry's PsychicPowers and their sheer scale (weaker than, but in the same weight-class as, his second cousin ComicBook/JeanGrey), along with rapid manifestation, force a very steep learning curve - his poor control nearly kills several people before he consents to proper lessons. By the start of the second book, months of expert tutelage and an intuitive knack (plus a lot of creativity) mean that he's got pretty good control of his powers, but even then, he psychically traumatises half the planet when trying to replicate the psychic cry for help he unconsciously let out at the start of the first book, fracturing Blindfold's sanity in the process. Even later on, after he's got more tutelage, he makes it clear that at best he understands about a tenth of what he's capable of.

* ''FanFic/AGamerInSouthBlue'': When Jack maxes out his WIS stat to 100 and chooses the path of self-discovery (instead of world-discovery), his reward is gaining the [Seimei Kikan], or Life Return ability. This comes with some exceptional passive perquisites, but for the active applications...well, he himself explains it at the beginning of Chapter 14:
-->'''Narration''': Do you recall the first time you ever whistled? Think back now. For years of your younger life it was something that others could do, but not yourself. You would purse your lips out, try your hardest, and end up disappointed as you spat out useless unmusical air. Then one day, perhaps rather unceremoniously, you simply did it. Maybe it was by accident. Maybe it was on purpose. But one day you simply figured out the trick. Suddenly you just knew how. There was nothing wrong with you before. You were always physically capable of whistling. All the tools required to pull it off were under your direct control the entire time. But you just. Didn't. Know. How. This is the crux of [Seimei Kikan].

--->How did one use x-ray vision? Did you have to squint, or call out a secret word mentally?\\

* In ''WebVideo/SwordArtOnlineAbridged'', Asuna suffers from this in her debut episode. She's still a natural fighter, [[ActionGirl and a damn good one at that]], but she's a total novice to [=MMOs=] who thinks [[DamagerHealerTank DPS]] is "some kind of sex thing," worries that she's contracted a disease when a pop-up tells her she's got [[ExperiencePoints "expees,"]] and in a game that is now literally life or death, doesn't even know how to open the interface's menu.
-->'''Kirito:''' How have you survived all month?\\
''[flashback to Asuna staring at a piece of bread]''\\
'''Past!Asuna:''' ...HOW DO I EAT YOU?!\\
''[back to the present]''\\
'''Asuna:''' It's been a challenge.

* Vision in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/10799406/chapters/27048957#workskin The War is Far From Over Now]]'' struggles for most of the fight against Ultron due to several factors that all boil down to this trope. First, he isn't used to having a physical body and is technically only an hour old. Second, he has a universal singularity (the Mind Stone) embedded in his body. Third, Vision isn't even sure ''what'' his powers are, let alone how to use them. At one point, he puts up a temporary mental shield to protect Tony from his trauma at fighting the Chitauri again but isn't sure what he did or how he did it.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsLegendOfEverfree'': As the Humane Seven gain magical abilities, they're unsure of how to use them at first. This leads to several instances of them hurting themselves (and almost each other), like Dash's SuperSpeed causing her to [[TooFastToStop run face-first into a wall]], or Rarity's [[BarrierWarrior gem barriers]] pushing Applejack into the lake. Sunset helps them out with a song called "Embrace the Magic", where the girls get their powers under control.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017'': [[spoiler:[[BigBad The Storm King]] wants to steal and use the power of the alicorn princesses for himself with his MagicStaff to become a OneManArmy...but once he actually ''does'' manage it at the climax of the film, he has ''no idea'' how to use their powers, especially since he never bothered to do his research on what exactly the Princesses could do and thus having to figure them out. While he's a quick learner, this lack of skill is partially why the Mane Six are even able to defeat him by separating him from his staff and the power in question before he can get a handle on them]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'', Miles starts out unable to effectively use ''any'' of his powers (although he doesn't need to figure out how to shot web at first, until he gets his hands on an actual web-shooter): he sticks to things when he's stressed, goes invisible when he's scared, and his [[ShockAndAwe venom strike]] just kind of activates a couple of times...leading to a scene where he has to run along the wall of a school building without his shirt on and with a live pigeon stuck to each hand. He gets the hang of it later, at least.

* ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'': After Steve comes out of the tank with super-strength and speed, he spends the next minute or so running into store fronts and cars while trying to turn. Also apologizing. A lot.

* ''Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse'':

* ''Film/GreenLantern2011'' milks the humor from Hal Jordan's attempts to activate his power ring for the first time, which include calling out [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory "To infinity and beyond!"]] and [[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983 "By the power of Greyskull!"]]
* ''Film/IronMan1''
** Tony goes through a few iterations of flight testing with repulsor thrusters.
*** His first attempt was just boots (and at 10% thrust capacity)... causing him to shoot up like a cannonball, faceplant on the ceiling, then crash down to the ground. Then he gets doused with fire extinguisher.
*** With his second test he got smart and added flight stabilizers on his hands (and only used 1% and then 2.5% thrust capacity), but hadn't entirely figured out how to steer his flight yet, causing him to drift beyond the testing area and in places he really shouldn't be. And he nearly gets doused in fire extinguisher.
*** His full flight-ready Mark 2 suit also took some time getting used to before he had flight control. He nearly dies when he goes up so high that [[HighUpIceUp his suit freezes over and shuts down]], leaving him plummeting to the ground. When he regains control and flies back home he tries to land on the roof, only to fall ''through'' the roof, a piano, and a floor, before smashing one of his cars by landing on it. [[RunningGag He then gets doused with fire extinguisher]].

** Ironically subverted by [[spoiler:Obadiah Stane,]] the film's villain, [[PossessionImpliesMastery who is able to match Iron Man blow for blow when he gets his own suit of armor]], despite having never been shown to have any training of his own. However, [[spoiler:he relies heavily on a targeting computer; when Iron Man disables that, he quickly proves unable to hit him with missiles from about ten feet away. Nor does Stane know about the dangers of his armor freezing up if he flies too high, a problem Iron Man had already dealt with earlier in the film and that he now exploits when Stane makes the same mistake he did. His proficiency is somewhat justified in that the Iron Monger suit was designed as a mass produced weapon that Stane could later sell to the military; it's implied that it's designed to be very easy to use as opposed to the specifically calibrated Iron Man suit Stark has.]]
** Stark didn't have much trouble operating his original "escape" suit either, despite not having much -- or any -- practice with it (but he designed and programmed it, so he knew how it was ''supposed'' to respond). Since Stane's suit is just a bigger and beefier copy of Stark's original plans, presumably there was something about the original design that made it fairly idiot-proof. That said, the entirety of the Mk. 1 suit's armaments were a flamethrower, a manually-fired missile, fists and a manual start rocket boost. The flamethrower requires next-to-no aiming capacity and the missile ''missed''... thank goodness for SplashDamage. Meanwhile Stark couldn't stop himself from constantly adding upgrades and modifications that certainly would have made his own suit more complex and fiddly. (Not to mention PerpetualBeta.)

* During his first flight as Film/TheRocketeer, Cliff Secord accidentally turns the rocketpack off as [[LookMaNoPlane he's saluting passengers aboard a plane]].
** In the comic, his first flight had him unable to control his speed, and ended with an intentional crash landing because he couldn't figure out how to stop.

* ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'' PlayedWith. While Peter knows the relative basics of his suit, he doesn't know some of the more advanced functions. But they ''were'' locked, and at one point in the film he is trapped in a warehouse, and so learns how to use them by methodically going over them in no particular order.

* ''Film/StarWarsTheForceAwakens'': Whatever Rey's origins are, she apparently heard of the Jedi and Force Powers (because when she meets Han Solo and he claims "all of it" to be true, she doesn't demand clarification); the rest of the movie has her try out a variety of moves, gradually mastering them as she goes. She notably learns them ''much'' faster than anyone else in the series; she's better after two days than Luke was after [[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack three years]].
* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''
** ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' shows more of this. Professor X hypothesises that Banshee's sonic scream should enable him to fly (with a wing-suit), so he encourages him to jump out of a second story window. Three guesses what happens. Then, they decide that the main problem is that he didn't have long enough to generate lift, so they go to the top of a satellite dish. Banshee doesn't want to. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Erik doesn't care]].

* In ''{{Literature/Animorphs}}'', the kids got the general hang of morphing easily, but had to watch every new morph because they risked losing control of it. And in some cases, like termites, they never morphed them again.

* Covenant in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'' spends a remarkable number of pages not having a real hang of his own WildMagic. Most of it is pure instinct, even without his knowledge early on (towards the end of the first trilogy, he even says that he still doesn't know how to ''use'' it, but he's figured out how to ''trigger'' it ... which basically amounts to putting himself in mortal danger and relying on the wild magic itself and/or his own subconscious to save him). It's not until the second trilogy that we see him directing it toward definite purposes, complete with a training regimen... he uses his wild magic to shave, precisely to teach himself control over it.
** Technically, he still doesn't know how to turn it on. Instead, he had to learn to keep it under control due to [[spoiler:Lord Foul's venom acting as a permanent trigger]].

* In ''Literature/TheReader2016'', Sefia experiences this while trying to figure out her Sight abilities, mainly because she's not formally trained. Quite often it fizzles out, and when it does work she's exhausted.

* In Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/{{Starship Troopers}}'', a major part of the first half of the novel is learning to use the powered armor "suits" of the Mobile Infantry.

* ''Literature/SwordOfTruth''

* PlayedForDrama and/or {{Wangst}} in ''{{Literature/Twilight}}''. Becoming a vampire in this 'verse grants you SuperStrength and NighInvulnerability, but you have to spend a long time relearning your fine-motor skills and [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength accidentally break stuff a lot]]. Edward's ''still'' got a fair way to go on this issue a hundred years after being turned.

* The pilot of ''[[Series/TheFlash1990 The Flash]]'' has Barry learn about his ability and limitations. The first time he accidentally activates it, he tries to catch a bus... and ends up miles away on a beach. He has a hard time stopping. The only thing that helps is running on water, which absorbs a lot of his momentum. He also faints frequently due to his metabolism going into overdrive, turning him into a BigEater.

* ''Series/{{Heroes}}''

* ''Franchise/KamenRider''

* ''Franchise/PowerRangers''

* ''[[Series/WonderWoman1975 Wonder Woman]]'': Both Wonder Woman and [[KidSidekick Wonder Girl]] were shown learning how to [[EverythingsBetterWithSpinning transform into a super heroine]] while away from Paradise Island. The first time Drusilla changed into Wonder Girl, it took her multiple tries and a mental review to get it right.

[[folder:Theater]]
* The stage version of ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'' has the musical number "Positoovity" in which Scuttle and his fellow seagulls instruct Human Ariel how to walk.

* Brought up infrequently in Franchise/{{LEGO}}'s ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' franchise. The Toa Metru spend almost a year's worth of story not knowing how to activate their [[MaskOfPower mask powers]] -- they eventually discover them in the movie ''Legends of Metru Nui''. Forming [[FusionDance Toa Kaita fusions]] is another power of theirs they didn't know how to master. Universally, the much more powerful Toa Nui fusion is something that ''no'' Toa ever managed to achieve, and is as such seen as a mere fable. And in the [[WhatCouldHaveBeen canceled 5th movie]], Kiina and Ackar would have struggled to keep their newly acquired ElementalPowers in check.

* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy''

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagged]] in ''Webcomic/AvasDemon.'' When [[LateArrivalSpoiler Ava makes a]] MagicallyBindingContract [[DealWithTheDevil with the demon inside her,]] she gets [[SuperEmpowering Super Empowered]] with a whole grab bag of [[PlayingWithFire fire]]-and-[[MagmaMan magma]]-related powers, all without knowledge of how to use them or how many she has. This includes…

** BurningWithAnger… [[https://www.avasdemon.com/pages.php#1092 along with any other]] [[EmotionalPowers intense emotion.]]

'''[[TallDarkAndSnarky Odin:]]''' Your whole FACE is orange! C-can’t you see it!?\\
'''Ava:''' I CAN’T SEE MY OWN FACE!!

* The first several chapters of ''[[http://www.kip-comics.com/index.php Knowledge is Power]]'' deal with these kinds of difficulties -- such as [[http://www.kip-comics.com/?strip_id=65 when the gravity-manipulator tried to use his powers to move a water heater]]...
* ''WebComic/LeagueOfSuperRedundantHeroes'' features Lazer Pony, who discovered that he can shoot lazer beams from his eyes, but doing so permanently blinds him the first time he does it. Having a sight-based power while blind is extremely impractical, but LP has been seen trying to learn to better use his powers, particularly with the help of someone "aiming" him.
** he also has a panic reflex, which fires the beams uncontrollably if he thinks there are spiders nearby..
** played with by Buckaress, who lately, and for no apparent reason, has developed the "superpower" of setting anything she cooks, alight -- even a sandwich..
* In ''WebComic/LittleRobotBigScaryWorld'', BIP has to learn his functions through experience, as his creator died before he could tell him how to use them.

* How the first few chapters of ''[[{{Webcomic/Morphe}} morphE]]'' play out. The five seedlings have awakened as mages and have to learn to use their magical abilities. Their teacher, Amical, throws them into lessons which become increasingly difficult to rush their learning curve.

* In the ''Kings War'' arc of ''{{Webcomic/Roommates}}'' the injured MonsterRoommate Jareth gives all his power (and kingdom, and resposibilities, etc.) to his best friend (and TokenGoodTeammate) James with literally no explanation; cue this trope ensuing on a grand scale and at the worst time.
* In ''WebComic/TheSanityCircus'', [[spoiler:Attley has to figure out how to use her [[HumanoidAbomination Scarecrow]] abilities after she discovers she is one of them.]]

** Behind-the-scenes info for [[MadeOfExplodium Combustion Man]] from state that he got his mechanical arm and foot after blowing them off while learning his ability to shoot explosions out of his forehead when he was younger.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}''

--->''Sometimes I think this thing just plain hates me.''

** In the Season 9 finale, [[spoiler:while Cozy Glow is able to get a decent handle on her new alicorn powers courtesy of getting part of the stored magic in Grogar's bell, she finds herself completely out of her depth when she tries to use all of Discord's chaos magic, which completely refuses to obey her and causes her to beg Tirek and Chrysalis to take it back. Given that it was Tirek who mentioned no one of them could properly control Discord's chaos magic, it seems this trope was the reason why he never bothered to use any of Discord's tricks after he stole it from him in the Season 4 finale.]]

* In the old ''WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer'' special, the baby reindeer always had the ability to fly, but they still had to learn how to do it.
* In ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower'', the villain Catra has a magic mask that lets her transform into a powerful panther. Since she stole it from its rightful owner, she is unaware of the mask's other abilities like teleportation and communicating with cats. In a few episodes, she discovers these abilities.

* The titular character from ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', who has magical Gem powers, but being a human child, doesn't understand how to use them yet. At the best of times, they just don't manifest; at other points, they manifest in the ''worst'' possible ways, such as when his shape-shifting nearly aged him to death or turned him into a cancerous ball of living cats. In almost all cases, including his [[spoiler:fusion]] abilities, discovery, access to, or full control over them is achieved completely by accident, and usually in an ultimately instinctive fashion whilst under duress or otherwise in a state of unthinking emotional excitement.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'':

* ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}''

-->'''Will:''' ''(after their first practice)'' ...I think we've destroyed enough of Heatherfield for today.

* Originally part of the attraction of firearms was that any idiot could be taught to use one in a couple of months or less, while mastering a longbow would take far longer (traditional longbows actually demands a lifetime of training, because you NEED to have started using one regularly in your youth to develop the muscles necessary to draw it). Firearms, in their infancy, were wildly inaccurate due to being little more than tubes containing blackpowder, an ignition source, and a metal ball for which the blackpowder would propel into an enemy, so back then "mastering a gun" did boil down to "point, shoot, and hope you kill someone else" (misfires and accidental explosion of the weapon being a big problem with early firearms). Longbows were still considered deadlier than the musket because they were accurate AND could definitively kill in the hands of a skilled archer (The reason for all that necessary muscle? A high draw strength means a lot of force sent into the arrow, meaning the arrow having much more penetrative power than a metal ball tumbling through the air). With the development of rifles (meaning the bullet now spins through the air and flies much straighter and retains much more force upon impact) guns managed to reach and surpass the killing power of bows, even with all the added infrastructure and costs that necessary to manufacture such weapons. While manufacturing, maintaining, and training to use firearms now is much more expensive and difficult than ever before, it is still far cheaper and more efficient than a bow. A well-made crossbow is a middle ground between the bow and modern firearms (from about the mid-19th century since). Its mechanisms are trickier to handle than a gun, but they also provide the mechanical advantages that allow a less-husky individual to still fire an arrow with lethal effectiveness. Modern bow designs like compound bows also employ mechanical advantage to reduce the necessary effort: less straining, more aiming.
* Many martial arts are good examples. Throwing a punch? Simple, right? Wrong. Each martial art has a technique, and it takes time to learn how to punch properly. Same applies to strikes, kicks, throws, stances, et cetera.
** To wit, one of the most common injuries in martial arts (but mostly boxing) is known as the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxer%27s_fracture boxer's fracture]] and is caused by poor punching technique.
** One of the first lessons taught in martial arts classes is how to make a fist, as untrained novices tend to tuck their thumbs inside their fists instead of placing it outside, which means they might break their thumb upon punching someone or something.

** The Season 4 premiere starts out with Twilight Sparkle learning how to fly with her new wings with mixed results. Later in the two-parter, she is able to fly from one city to another with Spike as a passenger but not without him kissing the ground afterwards.

* The better part of a chapter of ''[[Literature/TheHitchhikersGuidetotheGalaxy Life The Universe and Everything]]'' is devoted to Arthur Dent learning to fly. ''By accident.'' To put it simply, he was falling, and got so distracted that he ''missed the ground.'' He does eventually become adept enough to teach another person to fly, and they end up [[spoiler:having sex in midair]].

[[folder:Web Comics]]

** [[http://www.avasdemon.com/pages.php?page=0335 Running a fever-level body temperature]] [[MyBloodRunsHot twenty-four seven.]]
** [[http://www.avasdemon.com/pages.php?page=0335 Barfing up lava.]]
** [[http://www.avasdemon.com/pages.php?page=0352 A completely-functional compartment drawer]] [[WeirdAside in her chest cavity.]]
** BurningWithAnger… [[http://www.avasdemon.com/pages.php?page=0656 along with any other]] [[EmotionalPowers intense emotion.]]

* Happens frequently to the witches in ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}''.

** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', the Palace of the Dead leads to this. The former lets players skip through most of the leveling process, meaning that they never learn proper rotations or, generally, how to play the class at all. Another option is through the game's cash shop, which offers so-called "Jump Potions" to allow someone to level up a class instantly to ten levels below the level cap. On a more far-reaching scale, when the ''Shadowbringers'' expansion came out, the developers redesigned how almost every class works. While the basics were still there, everyone who was reasonably invested in the game had to re-learn their classes in order to use them effectively.

* [[MessianicArchetype Luke]] [[LukeNounverber Skywalker]] spends much of the original ''Franchise/StarWars'' trilogy learning how to use his [[TheForce Jedi powers]], especially during his TrainingFromHell with [[OldMaster Yoda]].

* In ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'', young Tash Arranda is an untrained Force-Sensitive. TheForce is a fantastic power... but she really doesn't know anything about using it beyond what a sympathetic Luke Skywalker told her in the first book: that she should trust her feelings. When she fails at Jedi anything in ''The Nightmare Machine'', her memory of this failure sabotages her repeatedly in ''Ghost of the Jedi''.

* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': [[spoiler:Sir Galahad]] possesses Mash Kyrielight to save her life and turn her into Servant Shielder. But since he's a prick and thinks the heroes' struggles are not his problem, that's as far as his generosity goes. With a few exceptions, he refuses to communicate with Mash, teach her how to use his powers, or even tell her the name of their Noble Phantasm. She is forced to figure it out on her own. Fortunately, she manages to activate her Noble Phantasm on instinct to protect the player.

* In ''Anime/SenkiZesshouSymphogear'', [[TheHero Hibiki Tachibana]] had a lot of trouble in the first few episodes because she literally couldn't summon her [[WeaponOfChoice Armed Gear]] to use in battle. [[TookALevelInBadass She got better]] when they decided to have her [[BareFistedMonk focus on using martial arts]] and [[MegatonPunch channel the energy for an Armed gear into her fists.]]

* The short "untold" story of young Peter Parker called "The Punch!" from the Amazing Spider-Man Family Volume 1 Issue 3 partially uses this trope for his super strength (his other powers subvert this trope). It takes place after Uncle Ben died and Peter decides to make Spider-Man a hero. He stops a robber by punching them with what he calls a "tap". However, Peter couldn't actually control his strength and the robber nearly ''died'' and had to be rushed to the hospital. Peter than goes to an abandoned building and lets loose to see just how strong he is. He wrecks the place and is shaking with fear over the amount of strength he has. He almost quits being Spider-Man because of it but realizes it is a good thing when it allows him to hold up a falling crane long enough for all the bystanders to get to safety. The story actually doesn't show how Peter learned to control his strength (just that he'll learn over time). Also, one has to wonder how Spider-Man not even trying nearly killed someone and yet Uncle Ben's killer didn't die.

** The Justice League suffered a multiple bodyswap in the TPB ''Foreign Bodies''; a female villain called Psykosis was incited to do it by Kobra. It ended up with Kyle Rayner (Green Lantern) operating the body of J'onn J'onzz, J'onn taking over Aquaman's body, Aquaman in temporary possession of Wonder Woman's body, Wonder Woman in Psykosis' body, Psykosis' psyche in Flash's body, Flash in Steel's body, and Steel in Green Lantern's body. Separate to this, Superman and Batman had simply swapped bodies [[spoiler:or so it seemed; in actuality, Batman was indeed in Superman's body, but Kobra had taken command of Batman's body, leaving Superman resident in Kobra's body]]. And boy howdy, [[HilarityEnsues hilarity did indeed ensue]] at nearly everyone's expense before it was over. Worth noting that Batman gets an ''immediate'' grasp on Superman's powers, and starts saving the day worldwide. Only, he laments that so much power is ''distracting''.

** Though this is later shown to also be a problem for some ''whole'' gems, as [[spoiler:Peridot]] initially appears, and ''believes'' herself to have no special powers, [[spoiler:and therefore be entirely dependent on cybernetic "Gemtek" prosthetics to be anything other than a {{Gadgeteer Genius}},]] somewhat more resilient but otherwise no more inherently powerful than a human child, thanks to [[spoiler:being created on Homeworld during a huge resource crisis that led to substandard Gem production]]. Until, that is, Amethyst's frustrated attempt to break her self-imposed withdrawal [[spoiler:into social media and the internet]] by [[spoiler:throwing her {{Security Blanket}} tablet computer into the sea]] causes a minor {{Traumatic Superpower Awakening}} and the reveal of her rather unique [[spoiler:purely mental, non-summon based ferrokinesis]] abilities, as she [[spoiler:catches the device in mid-air by ''sheer force of will'']]. Which can be seen as a parallel to Steven's own discovery of his bubble and [[spoiler:hard-light shield]] powers, both of which were awakened only by a clear and immediate danger both to himself and one or more people he cares about, after a similar protracted and completely futile series of attempts to elicit said awakening deliberately [[spoiler:...although Peridot's focus was more on a threat to a ''possession'' instead of ''people''.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'':

The name comes from Website/SomethingAwful's randomly renamed and [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs incredibly nonsensical]] "FYAD" subforum, where it originated as a quotable quote from somebody playing the ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' mod ''VideoGame/{{Natural Selection|2}}'' and trying to figure out the alien faction's special abilities (shooting webs). In his frustration, he posted [[TropeNamer "how do i]] [[YouMakeMeSic shot web"]] repeatedly. [[BeamMeUpScotty It got quickly transposed to]] Franchise/SpiderMan because [[RuleOfFunny it's funnier when he says it]]. It has since spread wide across the Internet, as such things are [[MemeticMutation wont to do]].

** Clark Kent has [[IJustWantToBeNormal a rather difficult relationship with his powers]] to begin with, and doesn't know what many of them are meant to be, meaning that he usually gets caught by surprise when a new one pops up. Like his ''{{Series/Smallville}}'', he's distinctly reluctant to fly, and even once he does in the sequel, he's ''hilariously'' bad at it. However, thanks to a mixture of Harry's tutelage and his own intelligence, he learns the basics very quickly. Additionally, as Harry also notes, his TapOnTheHead tactics at SuperSpeed demonstrate an extraordinary degree of control (otherwise there'd be a lot of messy corpses and/or permanent brain damage).

* Used in ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' a number of times as Clark's [[PubertySuperpower emerging powers]] make themselves known, most notably with his heat vision and X-ray vision. Clark spends all the way up to ''Season 10'' unable to figure out how to fly, while Kara and other Kryptonians can do it in a few minutes -- though it turns out that that's pretty much entirely psychological. Clark ends up accidentally firing off his EyeBeams (the first time he realizes he has them) by watching a sex ed video with a new hot teacher (KristaAllen). It's not difficult to see what the writers were trying to get across, especially since he triggers his second time by thinking of his crush Lana. By the end of the episode, he can trigger the beams on demand (such as by incinerating a bullet in flight).

** Part of the reason for Renji's loss against Byakuya is that he didn't know how to control his Bankai, enabling Byakuya to disrupt its rhythm and leave him vulnerable. Byakuya claims that mastering bankai takes at least ten years of training. Something that he has, and Renji (who had just achieved bankai ''that day'') lacks. The reason [[SubvertedTrope this didn't apply to Ichigo]] was because (1) his SuperpoweredEvilSide intervened for a while, (2) although he lacked much control over it, his bankai had more than enough ''raw power'' to compensate, and (3) it's unusual in that his power is turned ''inward'', meaning there's no new techniques or whatever to master: just everything he already knows cranked UpToEleven.

** There's also a bit of this when the team receives an upgrade. Brennan learns he can create a continuous blast akin to an ion engine with his hands, enabling brief flight. Shalimar becomes even stronger and can hear someone sneaking up on her while working out with loud music in her earbuds. Emma's PsychicPowers are boosted UpToEleven. Jesse learns to make other things intangible.

** This went UpToEleven in ''Memory Blank'', where Sam [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor inadvertently created an alternate timeline]] and had to recreate the accident which gave Danny his powers. Danny, not having any clue how his newly-obtained powers worked, was having trouble with a simple ecto-blast and it came out of his rear instead of his hands. We got a cheesy line out of Tucker in response:

* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': [[spoiler:Sir Galahad]] possesses Mash Kyrielight to save her life and turn her into Servant Shielder. But since he's a prick and thinks the heroes' struggles are not his problem, that's as far as his generosity goes. With a few exceptions, he refuses to communicate with Mash, teach her how to use his powers, or even tell her the name of their Noble Phantasm. She is forced to figure it out on her own. Fortunately, she manages to activate her Noble Phantasm on instinct to protect Ritsuka.

** [[MarySue Richard]] from never learns how to use the vast majority of his abilities... except, of course, the ones that are absolutely necessary to allow him to [[DeusExMachina save the day]]. Richard's magic appears to be keyed to strong emotion; a big deal was made of whether or not he could actually ''use'' his anger in the first book, as opposed to simply keeping it locked inside himself.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ultimate Spider-Man}}'', one episode has him switch minds with Wolverine. Wolverine has no problem with Spider-Man's agility, but doesn't try to use his other powers. When he tries using the Webshooter gadgets, he fails, however. Spider-Man needs to use Wolverine's powers, but claws are essentially extra limbs so they just go wild as he's trying to process how to use them, and ends up stabbing himself just offscreen. ([[GoryDiscretionShot The cartoon cuts ahead citing technical difficulties.]])