History Main / MetaOrigin

* ''Film/MortalKombat2021'' explains that most of the superhuman special moves displayed by the characters in the games (Liu-Kang's fireballs, Kung Lao's teleportation, Sub-Zero's ice powers, Kabal's SuperSpeed, ect.) are arcanas, special abilities granted to those who bear the dragon mark on their skin.

* ''Film/MortalKombat2021'' explains that most of the superhuman special moves displayed by the characters in the games (Liu-Kang's fireballs, Kung-Lao's teleportation, Sub-Zero's ice powers, Kabal's SuperSpeed, ect.) are arcanas, special abilities granted to those who bear the dragon mark on their skin.

* Some of the proposals for the [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/proposals-for-scp-001 SCP-001]] article of the Wiki/SCPFoundation are about what's caused the Foundation universe to have so many paranormal entities and phenomenon. Two of them also provide origins for several of the groups involved in the paranormal, including the Foundation itself.

[[folder:Fan Works]]

* The ''Fanfic/TranscendenceAU'' has the Transcendence as a world-altering cataclysm that cause all the events of the AU, and blame a previous attempt by Bill for ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' previous state as an EldritchLocation

* In ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'', the reason for the mutant animals and people is because thousands of years prior, some aliens called the Xorda sent an ambassador to Earth to discuss things with other life forms, but the humans instead killed the ambassador and dissected it for research. The Xorda were angry about this and gene bombed the Earth, destroying any and all humans (except for a few who escaped underground). The humans effectively melted into pools of DNA that mixed with the animals and eventually evolved into the anthropomorphic animals we have today, such as Sonic.

* The [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls Powerpuff Girls]] anime adaptation ''Anime/DemashitaPowerpuffGirlsZ'', among other liberal changes to the source material, made it so that the Powerpuff Girls, their RoguesGallery, and several [[MonsterOfTheWeek one-shot antagonists]] were created when Professor Utonium's son Ken fired a ray of Chemical Z at an iceberg in an attempt to fix the city's weather problem, which resulted in rays of white light striking the girls and several people, animals, and inanimate objects being exposed to black light, changing them all and giving them their powers.

* In ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'', both Comicbook/{{Venom}} and Carnage are genetically-engineered from samples of Spider-Man's blood, while the Rhino, the Lizard and the Vulture are all products of Comicbook/DoctorOctopus. Additionally, the Awesome Android is a ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} project created by Curt Connors, and SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}} is a former S.H.I.E.L.D. trainee and protege of ComicBook/NickFury. [[UnreliableNarrator Or at least, claims to be.]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' verse, each sapient species has evolved a series of traits that they consider mundane, and others consider superpowers. The [[MacGuffin Omnitrix]] was designed to allow a single individual to use all those myriad powers.
** Oh, and Humanity's "superpower" is the [[WhatKindOfLamePowerisHeartAnyway ability]] to produce [[HalfHumanHybrid viable offspring with ANY other sentient life-form]]. [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower Which retain the strengths of both species.]] Theoretically, Humanity's mongrelized descendants could have [[AllYourPowersCombined every power in the universe]]. [[spoiler:In one alternate timeline, a future version of Ben used the Ultimatrix on his human body. "Ultimate Ben" is basically Ben if he was the result of generations of breeding with every other race in the universe, and is able to unlock any of the other races' powers at will.]]
*** Such beings include bipedal humanoids made of diamond-like rock, or '''fire'''. [[{{Squick}} It kinda makes you wish]] [[NoBiochemicalBarriers it WAS impossible.]]

** In ''Series/Daredevil2015'', Matt Murdock's costume and [[IconicItem billy clubs]] are designed and built by Melvin Potter ("Gladiator"), who has also built Wilson Fisk's armor-weave suits that give him the appearance of being invulnerable. [[note]] Many of Fisk's earliest appearances strongly hinted at him having super-strength and invulnerability powers, due to him being [[{{Acrofatic}} improbably muscular for someone of his girth]].[[/note]] [[Film/TheAvengers2012 The "Incident"]] also provides a handy justification for Matt and Foggy [[FriendsRentControl being able to start their own law practice in New York right out of college]]: it turns out that an alien invasion can really bring down real estate prices, even in one of the world's most expensive cities.

* Similar to the Morphing Grid concept, the CrisisCrossover GrandFinale of ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'' introduces the Cross of Fire, which is stated to be the literal embodiment of the powers granted to each of the Franchise/{{Kamen Rider}}s throughout the franchise's history.
** This is in fact a MythologyGag, as in early production the original Series/KamenRider was going to be called Cross Fire, and was a superpowered wrestler.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Supreme}}'', the [[GreenRocks White Rock]] Supremium has the convenient property of ''changing the laws of physics'', and is therefore used to give characters superpowers, power Darius Dax' technology and be responsible for HellFaceTurns, TimeTravel and so on.

* In the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, both Banner[=/=][[Film/TheIncredibleHulk the Hulk]] and Emil Blonsky[=/=]the Abomination gained their powers through attempts to replicate Film/{{Captain America|The First Avenger}}'s SuperSerum. Banner thought he was researching ways to resist radiation and had no idea what his superiors were really after. Emil Blonsky's version of the serum seemed to work just fine, but when the Hulk still curb-stomped him, he got greedy and demanded that he be injected with [[spoiler:a large sample of Banner's irradiated blood, which GoesHorriblyRight]].

* In the comicbook-styled Omega universe, all superpowers (be they [[RitualMagic magic]], [[PsychicPowers psychic]] or even [[KiAttacks chi]]), come from the same source i.e. all humans are at least latent psychics. [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Omegas]] generally activate with a single power while mages use rituals to temporarily access their dormant psychic talents. The gods in the setting didn't create humanity, it was the other way around.

* The ''Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'' copied the Marvel solution by having SufficientlyAdvancedAlien AncientAstronauts, the P!k Gardeners, experiment on early protohumans millions of years ago, adding the metagene to human DNA, thus allowing the possibility of superpowers. The [[TheTunguskaEvent 1908 Tunguska explosion]] caused extraterrestrial biomolecules to spread around the world and bond to human DNA, causing superhuman children to be born.

** There's also the MetaOrigin of the Origins themselves, and the apparent web that connects and entangles all super-powered beings -- meaning that there is, apparently, a reason that going through TrainingFromHell doesn't give everyone superpowers, or that scientific accidents don't always cause powers...

* Franchise/TheDCU copied the Marvel concept when they introduced the "metagene" in the 1988 CrisisCrossover ''ComicBook/{{Invasion}}!''. When someone with this gene underwent a moment of extraordinary physical stress, the gene would activate, giving them some ability that would allow them to handle it. Any character who doesn't have powers from some other, explicit source is assumed to be a "metahuman".

* In ''Series/TheFlash2014'', the hero and most of his villains got their powers from [[MagicalParticleAccelerator a particle accelerator explosion that occurred at S.T.A.R. Labs]].

* The 1990s ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'' has the science of "Neogenics", which is basically the science of applying LegoGenetics to an existing life-form (why take years to grow your super-mutant to adulthood when you can zap someone who is already an adult?) in a process that involves a kind of radiation. The spider that bit Peter hadn't been zapped by generic [[ILoveNuclearPower radiation]], but with a "neogenic recombinator". Neogenics goes on to be responsible for the transformation Lizard, Scorpion, Vulture, and Morbius, mostly preserving their comic-book origins but pulling them together in a way that makes it a bit more plausible than a bunch of MillionToOneChance accidents.
** Also, in the "Six Forgotten Warriors" arc, attempts at recreating ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's SuperSerum were responsible for five other [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] heroes (the Destroyer, the Whizzer, Miss America, the Thunderer and the Black Marvel) as well as Black Cat, and even Omega Red from the ''Westernanimation/XMen'' cartoon.

* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', everything remotely powerful can be traced back to the Sage of the Six Paths. Ninjutsu? Created by the Sage. The powerful Uchiha and Senju clans? [[spoiler: Descendants of the Sage]]. The Tailed Beasts? [[spoiler: Was originally the Ten Tails but split by the Sage]]. Rinnegan? [[spoiler: Eyes of the Sage]]. The Uzumaki clan? Related to Senju.

* In the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, both Banner[=/=][[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk the Hulk]] and Emil Blonsky[=/=]the Abomination gained their powers through attempts to replicate Film/{{Captain America|The First Avenger}}'s SuperSerum. Banner thought he was researching ways to resist radiation and had no idea what his superiors were really after. Emil Blonsky's version of the serum seemed to work just fine, but when the Hulk still curb-stomped him, he got greedy and demanded that he be injected with [[spoiler:a large sample of Banner's irradiated blood, which GoesHorriblyRight]].

* In the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, both Banner[=/=][[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk the Hulk]] and Emil Blonsky[=/=]the Abomination gained their powers through attempts to replicate Film/{{Captain America|The First Avenger}}'s SuperSerum. Banner thought he was researching ways to resist radiation and had no idea what his superiors were really after. Emil Blonsky's version of the serum seemed to work just fine, but when the Hulk still curb-stomped him, he got greedy and demanded they inject him with even more dangerous serum.

Contrast with FantasyKitchenSink, AllMythsAreTrue. See MassSuperEmpoweringEvent for non-{{Retcon}}ned starting events providing everyone's superpowers and thus linking everyone together. See RandomlyGifted for a similar setting-wide explanation for the random appearance of powers. Can lead to DoingInTheWizard. Frequently used as part of {{Adaptation Distillation}}s, as it can also simplify adaptations by tying the origins of several characters together.

* The TranscendenceAU has the Transcendence as a world-altering cataclysm that cause all the events of the AU, and blame a previous attempt by Bill for ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' previous state as an EldritchLocation

* In the [[ContinuityReboot rebooted]] ''Heisei'' continuity of the ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' series, Film/{{Rodan}} is explicitly established as a surviving Cretaceous-era dinosaur (well, ''pterosaur...'') mutated by [[ILoveNuclearPower nuclear radiation]], just like Godzilla and Anguirus. The ''Heisei'' version of King Ghidorah is also born in the same nuclear explosion that created Godzilla (via TimeTravel), and the ''Heisei'' version of Mechagodzilla is built by the UNGCC from the remains of Ghidorah's mechanized body ([[ItMakesSenseInContext long story...]]).

* In ''{{Naruto}}'' everything remotely powerful can be traced back to the Sage of the Six Paths. Ninjutsu? Created by the Sage. The powerful Uchiha and Senju clans? [[spoiler: Descendants of the Sage]]. The Tailed Beasts? [[spoiler: Was originally the Ten Tails but split by the Sage]]. Rinnegan? [[spoiler: Eyes of the Sage]]. The Uzumaki clan? Related to Senju.