History Main / MuggleBornOfMages

* Joel Kent in the ''ComicBook/SupermanAndBatmanGenerations'' series was exposed to Gold Kryptonite in the womb making him the muggle son of ComicBook/{{Superman}}. It doesn't help that his younger sister Kara got to keep her powers. Eventually, Lex Luthor (in reality the Ultra-Humanite, Superman's original arch-nemesis, in Luthors body) uses his jealousy and an unstable repowering formula as part of a revenge plot against the Man of Steel; not only did Luthor tell Joel that Superman depowered him on purpose because he was afraid a son would become greater than him, while a daughter was no threat, and manipulated him into resenting his own family, he also revealed all of this to Joel [[KickTheDog as he laid dying from the formula]].

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', [[EveryoneIsASuper 80% of all humans have some kind of superpwower known as a "Quirk"]]. Protagonist, Izuku Midoriya, is one of the 20% who does not have any powers. His mother has minor telekinesis and his father can breathe fire, so the fact that he's powerless is presented as unusual, and he's the only Quirkless member of his middle school class, showing that Quirklessness is becoming less common over time. The plot kicks off when Midoriya meets the Hero, [[SupermanSubstitute All Might]], who chooses to [[SuperEmpowering pass on his Quirk to Midoriya and train him as his successor]].

* Joel Kent in the ''ComicBook/SupermanAndBatmanGenerations'' series was exposed to Gold Kryptonite in the womb making him the muggle son of ComicBook/{{Superman}}. It doesn't help that his younger sister Kara got to keep her powers. Eventually, Lex Luthor uses his jealousy and an unstable repowering formula as part of a revenge plot against the Man of Steel.

* Steve on ''Series/TheHauntingOfHillHouse'' is the only one out of his siblings to have no supernatural abilities. Theo can sense the past of anything/anyone she [[TouchTelepathy touches]], Shirley has psychic connections to things in her sleep, and twins Luke and Nell are extra-sensitive to the supernatural along with [[TwinTelepathy their mental connection with each other]]. This combined with the fact that he was, as Theo puts it, asleep for like 90% of the events of their final night at Hill House, means he has had zero experience with anything supernatural, and thus believes that there is no such thing as the supernatural, and that the quirks his family have are mental illness.

* In the Literature/{{Discworld}}, wizard Ponder Stibbons lucks out, marries, and becomes father to three daughters. his oldest has all the magic and becomes a Witch. However, the next one down also goes off the scale for magical potential - at the other, Rincewind, end. She is very much her mother's daughter. As her mother is very competent Assassin, this also requires careful management. Readmore in the tales of Creator/AAPessimal.

** Despite [[spoiler:being Morgan's daughter]], Iris (Ayame) has no spiritual powers to speak of, [[spoiler:and apparently, neither does her twin sister Dahlia(Chinami)]].

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', the Crests are passed down genetically and grant great power, including the ability to wield Heroes' Relics. Unfortunately, inheriting one is by no means guaranteed, and as generations pass, it's becoming incrasingly common for Crest-bearing parents to have no children with Crests.

* Cassel Sharpe in ''Literature/TheCurseWorkers'' is the only person in his family without a magical ability (called a "Work"). This is difficult, because his family is part of a massive magical crime syndicate, and every relative he has has some ability and connection to the [[theMafia Zacharov Family]]. Cassel responds by trying to live a normal life in a private school, but his connections to both the criminal underworld and [[BanOnMagic magic in general]] make it impossible. later he finds out that [[spoiler: he DOES have magic, and it's a powerful kind, but his brothers have been altering his memory to prevent him from using it on his own for their own selfish reasons]].

* Rock Lee from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' was born without the ability to use ninjutsu or genjutsu, the magic of the ninja world. He makes up for it with TrainingFromHell that makes his taijutsu, physical combat, so powerful he can compete with the most powerful of ninjas.

** Of note is how rare "squibs" are in the Potter Verse; Ron actually says that Squibs are "rare" when explaining the concept to Harry and Hermione in book 2. There are only two named examples of this trope in the books (Hogwarts caretaker Argus Filch and Mrs. Figg, Harry's CrazyCatLady neighbor on Privet Drive),[[note]]Molly Weasley is said to have a second cousin who was a Squit, but Ron says they never talk about him.[[/note]] while there are ''several'' [[MageBornOfMuggles "Muggle-born" witches and wizards]] among the main cast. This is because once magic emerges in a bloodline, it tends to stick. As an extension of that, Creator/JKRowling has [[WordOfGod stated]] that most Muggle-borns have Squib ancestors; their genes seem to be latent, coming back when both sides of someone's family have them.

** Of note is how rare "squibs" are in the Potter Verse: there are only two named examples of this trope in the books (Hogwarts caretaker Argus Filch and Mrs. Figg, Harry's CrazyCatLady neighbor on Privet Drive), while there are ''several'' [[MageBornOfMuggles "Muggle-born" witches and wizards]] among the main cast. This is because once magic emerges in a bloodline, it tends to stick. As an extension of that, Creator/JKRowling has [[WordOfGod stated]] that most Muggle-borns have Squib ancestors; their genes seem to be latent, coming back when both sides of someone's family have them.

** Known as "Squibs", these people still have ''some'' inherent magical affinity that allows them interact with and see elements of the [[MagicalSociety Wizarding World]] that other Muggles simply can't, but since they're unable to do magic, Squibs are generally regarded poorly in the community. Squib children of magical parents are generally cast into the Muggle world and given a Muggle education, and most live their lives as Muggles with little contact with the magical community. This is considered a better fate for Squibs, as those who do remain among the wizards are generally treated as second-class citizens, and looked down upon and pitied for their inability to do magic.[[note]]The film version of ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' says that Sirius Black had an ancestor, Marius, who turned out to be a Squib. The pureblood, mostly dark-magic Black family disowned him. In the last book, an elderly relative of Ron’s suggests that Mrs Dumbledore locked her daughter in the house for the better part of a decade for being one (which she wasn’t)[[/note]]

* In ''Once a Witch'', Tamsin was born to witches but has no powers. [[spoiler:Subverted because it turns out her power is that she can take others' powers and stop them from using it against them. Double subverted in the sequel ''Always a Witch'', because she loses her powers.]]
* ''The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy'': The eponymous character is the only person in Superopolis to lack a superpower. He's just as confused about it as everyone else is, but he thinks it's because his parents' ([[AnIcePerson Snowflake]] and [[PlayingWithFire Thermo]]) powers cancel each other out.

* "Norlocks" are sometimes born to the Kymeran MageSpecies in Creator/NancyACollins' ''Golgotham'' trilogy; they generally [[ExtraDigits have five fingers per hand instead of the usual six]], and are considered disabled by other Kymerans due to the species' focus on magic. Kymeran [[HalfHumanHybrids Half-Human Hybrids]] are likely to be norlocks[[spoiler:; explicit mention is made of Tymm -- son of the protagonist and deuteragonist in the series -- having five-fingered hands like his (human) mother, although one ''does'' wonder how her being a [[ExtraOreDinary ferromancer]] would affect him]].

* [[spoiler:Sanji]] from ''Manga/OnePiece'' is this [[DownplayedTrope to a degree]]. He and his siblings were all genetically enhanced, but he was the only one not to develop any sort CharlesAtlasSuperpower as the result of his father's training and genetic enhancements, because [[spoiler:his mother, Sora, in a desperate gambit to save her then-unborn quadruplet sons from becoming emotionless weapons, took a drug that made Sanji a normal kid, but not his brothers as she intended]]. He was [[TheUnfavorite treated horribly]] as a result and eventually ran away.

* Cassel Sharpe in ''Literature/TheCurseWorkers'' is the only person in his family without a magical ability (called a "Work"). This is difficult, because his family is part of a massive magical crime syndicate, and every relative he has has some ability and connection to the [[theMafia Zacharov Family]]. Cassel responds by trying to live a normal life in a private school, but his connections to both the criminal underworld and [[MagicBan magic in general]] make it impossible. later he finds out that [[spoiler: he DOES have magic, and it's a powerful kind, but his brothers have been altering his memory to prevent him from using it on his own for their own selfish reasons]].

* [[Franchise/TheFlash Wally West's]] son, Jai. He had Speed Force powers that let him have super strength in short bursts. He shared an unstable connection to the Speed Force with his sister (who could become intangible by vibrating). In ''The Flash: Rebirth'', the link stabilized and it all ended up in her, so she gets full Speed Force powers and Jai ends up depowered.
* In ''ComicBook/{{PS238}},'' Tyler Marlocke is the son of two of the world's strongest superheroes, but doesn't have any sort of powers himself. Of course, he's obviously going to develop them ''any day now,'' so his parents still enroll him in the titular SuperheroSchool, advising the instructors to put him in lots of difficult and/or dangerous situations to help bring his abilities to the surface. Fortunately, the staff are a bit more savvy, and arrange for him to have private lessons with [[TheCowl the Revenant]], a Franchise/{{Batman}} {{expy}}, in the hopes of him becoming a BadassNormal. To his own surprise, it seems to be working.
** {{Implied}} with [[FlyingBrick Julie]]'s father, a {{Muggle}} who's related to the Nuclear Family. Might explain why they don't seem to get along too well.
* Joel Kent in the ''[[Comicbook/SupermanAndBatmanGenerations Generations]]'' series was exposed to Gold Kryptonite in the womb making him the muggle son of Comicbook/{{Superman}}. It doesn't help that his younger sister Kara got to keep her powers. Eventually, Lex Luthor uses his jealousy and an unstable repowering formula as part of a revenge plot against the Man of Steel.

** There was Comicbook/{{Quicksilver}} and Crystal's child, Luna, who was an Inhuman rather than a mutant. Apparently the mutant gene and the Inhuman genetics canceled each other out and Luna was effectively a normal human until her crazy father exposed her to a rather high amount of Terrigen Mist to empower her -- this was ''[[AbusiveParents extremely]]'' risky since Terrigen Mist exposure can have unpleasant effects on anyone who isn't a pure Inhuman (and many who ''are'' still end up BlessedWithSuck as a result).

** Dog Logan, half-brother of Wolverine. It's established that Wolverine's x-gene comes from his father's side, as his father had demonstrated bone claws (albeit off-screen and implied), although no healing. Dog possesses neither ability.

[[folder:Films — Animation]]

* ''Franchise/TheIncredibles'': The Parrs' baby, Jack-Jack, in contrast to their previous children [[SuperSpeed Dash]] and [[{{Invisibility}} Violet]], does not appear to have inherited any superpowers from his retired Super parents. [[spoiler:But subverted by the end, and in the associated short ''Jack-Jack Attack'', where he turns out to have won the SuperpowerLottery. The parents don't find out about the powers until ''WesternAnimation/Incredibles2''.]]

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'': The Parrs' baby, Jack-Jack, in contrast to their previous children [[SuperSpeed Dash]] and [[{{Invisibility}} Violet]], does not appear to have inherited any superpowers from his retired Super parents. [[spoiler:But subverted by the end, and in the associated short ''Jack-Jack Attack'', where he turns out to have won the SuperpowerLottery. The parents don't find out about the powers until ''WesternAnimation/Incredibles2''.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'': The Parrs' baby, Jack-Jack, in contrast to their previous children [[SuperSpeed Dash]] and [[{{Invisibility}} Violet]]. [[spoiler:But subverted by the end, and in the associated short ''Jack-Jack Attack'', where he turns out to have won the SuperpowerLottery. The parents don't find out about the powers until ''WesternAnimation/Incredibles2''.]]

* Sakura Inami from ''LightNovel/BeyondTheBoundary'' lacks the powers of her sister and other members of her clan.

* This forms the backstory of Manon Libelle of ''LightNovel/TheExecutionerAndHerWayOfLife''. Her mother possessed a phenomenally powerful ability [[NewLifeInAnotherWorldBonus as a result of being an otherworlder]], but [[BlessedWithSuck it would have driven her insane if she ever actually made use of it]]. Because of this, it was decided that it would be alright for her to never use her power if she had a child who could use it instead (meaning her husband didn't have to give up his beloved wife). However, as it turns out, the gift is tied to the soul of the person, not their genetics, and therefore Manon was born with no power at all. Much of Manon's fall into villainy comes from the fact that she can't do the sole thing she was born to do (though she still has the ability to learn magic the old-fashioned way).

* In ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'', Shiki and Mikiya's daughter Mana did not inherit any of Shiki's powers. Shiki doesn't mind and is glad her daughter can live a normal life.
* Sairaorg Baal in ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'' did not inherit any of his parents powers when he was born. So instead, he underwent TrainingFromHell, something high-class devils do not do, and became so strong he doesn't even need the power of destruction.

* It's not dwelt on all that much, except in flashbacks, but Akatsuki Kojou, protagonist of ''LightNovel/StrikeTheBlood'' used to fall under this category. His mother possesses the power of {{Psychometry}}, his younger sister and paternal grandmother are powerful spirit mediums and his father has access to a hyperspace arsenal thanks to being caught between two different planes of reality. This is downplayed twice over, first being because his father's abilities are acquired (making him an example himself) rather than innate and may have even happened after his children were born. Secondly because by the time we are actually introduced to him, Kojou has become one of the [[PersonOfMassDestruction most powerful vampires in existence]][[note]]Hence the issue only really arising in the flashbacks[[/note]].

* In the Literature/{{Discworld}}, wizard Ponder Stibbons lucks out, marries, and becomes father to three daughters. his oldest has all the magic and becomes a Witch. However, the next one down also goes off the scale for magical potential - at the other, Rincewind, end. She is very much her mother's daughter. As her mother is very competent Assassin, this also requires careful management. Readmore in the tales of Creat0r/AAPessimal.

* In the Literature/{{Discworld}}, wizard Ponder Stibbons lucks out, marries, and becomes father to three daughters. his oldest has all the magic and becomes a Witch. However, the next one down also goes off the scale for magical potential - at the other, Rincewind, end. She is very much her mother's daughter. As her mother is very competent Assassin, this also requires careful management. Readmore in the tales of Creatpr/AAPessimal.