History Main / MalfunctionMalady

* ComicBook/BenoitBrisefer loses all his SuperStrength whenever he catches a cold.
* In ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'', Hal Jordan once got food poisoning that caused weird things to happen whenever he tried to use his power ring.
* Having a cold or the flu can cause ComicBook/SpiderMan's "spider-sense" to go on the fritz.

See also: PlotAllergy and HiccupHijinks.

* The fan-video WeirdCrossover between ''Franchise/TheIncredibles'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'', ''WesternAnimation/DocMcStuffins'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'', ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82j_8I9Yi7k The Incredibles Get Sick]]'', has the Incredibles all coughing, sneezing, and (with the exception of Violet) sleeping a lot but with no fevers, and it affects all of their powers: Mr Incredible and Dash have lost theirs, Elastigirl's are out-of-control, Violet can't make force-fields and she can go invisible but can't turn visible again, and Jack-Jack is stuck as a demon. Some unknown electricity-like substance cures them.

* Not played for laughs in the slightest in ''{{Film/Logan}}'', where Xavier's degenerative brain disease results in him having seizures where his telepathy paralyzes everyone in a very wide area (and even killed most of the X-Men the first time it happened), forcing him to live in an abandoned silo with Logan and Caliban.

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': In "[[Recap/SmallvilleS06E02Sneeze Sneeze]]", Clark Kent discovers his SuperBreath when he [[SickEpisode catches a cold]], sneezes, and blows the barn door off its hinges and across the entire county, almost decapitating Lois. Much of the episode is spent trying to come up with believable reasons why the Kent barn door appeared in the middle of nowhere and it ends up inspiring Lois to become a reporter.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', [[TheStarscream Tarantulas]] infects [[GeniusBruiser Rhinox]] with a virus that makes him hiccup destructive bolts of electricity in the first season episode, "The Low Road." The episode plays pretty straight to the trope, with the other Maximals alternately nursing their new AnnoyingPatient and running on a FetchQuest for the antivirus.
** The plan ultimately turns on the Predacons when Rhinox gets sick of being an AnnoyingPatient and decides to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=_8gH6UG6qbw#t=230s inflict himself on them]]... much to Megatron's misfortune.

* In ''WesternAnimation/WhateverHappenedToRobotJones'', the title character is struck down by a computer virus in one episode, which presents itself similarly to a human cold (with Robot Jones sneezing oil everywhere).
* It is used as a gag in ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'' that when Kurt has a cold, he will teleport everytime he sneezes.
* Yin in ''WesternAnimation/YinYangYo'' comes down with the [=WooFoo=] Flu, which causes inanimate objects to come to life. She is the AnnoyingPatient for her brother Yang. Until he comes down with it, and put Yo in the position of caretaker to the sick sibs.

For [[MagicAndPowers magical or powered]] characters in fiction, particularly in animation, the above can come along with a Malfunction Malady. Regular symptoms of the common cold or other condition may be compounded by PowerIncontinence, or a form of it. Powered characters who come down sick may find their powers firing off uncontrollably, sometimes with every sneeze and/or cough.

Being sick is no fun for anyone. There's the fever, the aches and pains, the need to sleep, the runny nose, and a plethora of other unpleasant symptoms to contend with.

For [[MagicAndPowers magical or powered]] characters in fiction, particularly in animation, the above can come along with a Malfunction Malady. Regular symptoms of the common cold or other condition may be compounded by PowerIncontinence, or a form of it. Powered characters who come down sick may find their powers firing off uncontrollably with every sneeze.

If this wasn't all bad enough, there is almost never an easy cure. Usually the hapless victim of the malady wonking their powers has to wait it out, or their friends and teammates have to go on a FetchQuest for some strange, arcane, rare, or mysterious item (perhaps a FlowerFromTheMountaintop) to get them over this disease and its dangerous side effects.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' fanfic [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10164715/11/Childish "Childish"]] has a chapter where Elsa gets a cold and every time she sneezes she coats everything within several feet in snow. Later in the fanfic she and Anna have a pillow fight and this happens again when a feather tickles her nose.

* ''Series/{{Star Trek|The Original Series}},'' "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E10PlatosStepchildren Plato's Stepchildren]]": One of the Platonians (or whatever they were called) was sick, and since they had telekinetic powers, that made furniture fly around as if there was a hurricane. Dr. [=McCoy=] cured him, and they showed their gratitude by forcing the Starfleet officers to star in a [[KissingUnderTheInfluence sadistic puppet show]].

* ''Webcomic/SuperheroGirl'' has a GenreSavvy roommate who expects the Malfunction Malady in [[http://superherogirladventures.blogspot.com/2011/11/superhero-girl-88.html this comic]].

* Apparently electric-type Franchise/{{Pokémon}} are prone to a flu-like illness caused by overcharging. They will also discharge electricity randomly, behave aggressively towards familiar people, and may even ''explode'' if the excess is not vented in time.