History Main / NoManShouldHaveThisPower

* In ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'', [[Characters/MonsterVerseMarkRussell Mark Russell]] is furious and protests when he finds out that his ex-wife helped Monarch to recreate the ORCA -- an experimental device from their younger days which they tried to use to communicate with whales -- so that it can used to communicate with the {{Kaiju}}, and he insists that the device is too dangerous to use because there's too much risk that it'll backfire and make the Kaiju rampage instead of preventing another attack. [[spoiler:The EasterEgg in the end credits indicates that even if Mark was RightForTheWrongReasons about the [=ORCA's=] role during the film, in the long term he was very right about the threat of the device driving the Kaiju to decimate humanity again]].

* In ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog22022'', it's revealed that the Echidna War started after the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Echidnas]] formed the Master Emerald out of the seven Chaos Emeralds, and the Owls enforced this trope by attacking them for it and hiding it away which the Echidnas refused to take lying down. [[spoiler:After Sonic uses the Emeralds to become [[SuperMode Super Sonic]], he and Knuckles reforge the Master Emerald as Sonic didn't believe he was capable to wield such power full-time.]]
* In the film version of ''Literature/TheSpiderwickChronicles'', Arthur Spiderick realized that the knowledge he had collected into his Field Guide on the world of faeries was too much for anyone to know about. Justified as Mulgarath the ogre wanted to use it to destroy all the faeries in the world.

** In Creator/ElliotSMaggin's [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]] story ''Superman (Vol. 1) Annual #10: ComicBook/TheDayTheCheeringStopped'', the Man of Steel gets a magical sword which was apparently created at the dawn of time. It gives him incredible power (even for Pre-[[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths Crisis]] Superman) and helps him defeat the villain. In the end he realizes the incredible power the sword will give him and feels that it will make him an all powerful protector. He decides he doesn't want this power and throws it into space. A voice (possibly the voice of God) tells him he did the right thing.

* Comes up in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', when the Avengers [[spoiler: arrive to rematch with Thanos to try and use the Infinity Stones to undo his universe-wide DepopulationBomb, they find that he doesn't have the Stones anymore. He explains that their temptation of omnipotent power was too great for anyone, even himself, and after using them to fulfill his genocidal scheme, he used their own power to destroy them (at a severe cost to his physical body). The Avengers eventually find a way around this: by traveling back in time to before they were destroyed.]]

* In the live-action ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' film, Optimus Prime says that if there's no other way to keep the Allspark out of Megatron's hands, he'll shove it into his own [[OurSoulsAreDifferent spark]] to destroy it. This option is a last resort because it would also kill Optimus. [[spoiler:In the end, Sam shoves it into ''Megatron's'' instead]]. But as the sequel shows, turns out that doesn't ''quite'' work.

* The Triforce of ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' always splits apart to keep anyone without a balance of Courage, Wisdom and Power in their heart from obtaining the whole thing from the get-go. The backstories of ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'' and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'' also deal with individuals who ''do'' have the whole thing deciding to deliberately split it up anyway to prevent any wars among greedy individuals like the one that led to it originally being sealed in the Sacred Realm in the first place. ''A Link Between Worlds'' features a similar example with [[spoiler:Lorule's version of the Triforce. The Loruleans faced their own war for the Triforce that tore apart the land, but the solution they came up with was to ''destroy'' it. They ended up realizing too late that the Triforce was the source of life for the land, and they nearly brought about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.]]

** In the GrandFinale of ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'', Azmuth confiscates and destroys the AwesomeButImpractical [[SuperMode Ultimatrix]] in favor of an upgraded Omnitrix as he disapproved of [[APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil Albedo]] weaponizing even further a tool he intended for diplomacy [[InsufferableGenius (and was probably bitter about getting his tech ripped off)]].

** Raven [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2009-06-09 asks Abraham why he has not simply destroyed the Dewitchery Diamond yet.]] Abraham claims the Diamond is impossible to destroy and [[ClingyMacguffin seems to thwart attempts to hide it away permanently]].
** This is the reason why TheMasquerade exists. The government is afraid that magic could fall into the hands of the wrong people and so keep the fact that it can be learned a secret. [[spoiler: The villain of the ''Family Tree'' arc is one such example of magic falling into the wrong hands.]]

* In one episode of ''Series/{{Castle}}'' involving an invisible man, Castle and Beckett learn that the VictimOfTheWeek stole research data from a government facility trying to develop an [[InvisibilityCloak invisibility suit]], so that he may perfect it as part of a revenge scheme cooked up with his friend. After nearly crossing the line, he realizes that invisibility is too much power for humanity to have and wiped out the facility's research and planned to destroy the suit, only for it to stolen by the killer (his ex-girlfriend, who he had used to get her research needed to perfect the suit). In the end, Beckett and Castle arrest the killer and the head researcher takes custody of the suit. Realizing that the victim was right about the suit being a DealWithTheDevil, Castle warned the researcher not to lose her soul.

WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility, but [[DrunkWithPower Power Corrupts]], and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Some powers -- and responsibilities -- are too great for ''anyone'' to be trusted with.

WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility, but PowerCorrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Some powers -- and responsibilities -- are too great for ''anyone'' to be trusted with.

* In the climax of ''WesternAnimation/PussInBootsTheLastWish'', everyone present (save [[NiceGuy Perrito]], who's perfectly happy with what he has) wants the Wishing Star for their own purposes: Puss wants it to wish for [[CatsHaveNineLives nine more lives]], Kitty wants it to wish for someone she can trust, Goldi wants it to wish for a real family, and Jack Horner wants it to [[AGodAmI have all the magic in the world to himself]]. However, almost everyone then finds that they don't need the wish for one reason or another. [[spoiler:Kitty and Goldi both [[ItWasWithYouAllAlong realise that they've already got what they've always wanted]], while Puss [[WeAllDieSomeday learns to cherish his final life and the time he has left]], no longer letting his actions be ruled by fear. This just leaves Jack; an incredibly [[JerkAss cruel]], [[EvilIsPetty petty]] and [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish]] man with a wish that could endanger the whole world]]. To this end, Perrito, Puss, Kitty, and Goldi all work together to get the Wishing Star's map out of Jack's hands before the latter three wordlessly agree to tear it apart on the spot. This results in the destruction of the Wishing Star [[spoiler:and Jack along with it]].

* Played somewhat for laughs in ''Film/TheGodsMustBeCrazy'', when a tribe of Kalahari bushmen find a bottle and it proves to be so useful in their barren habitat that they are soon fighting over it. The conclusion is that it must be destroyed, which as far as they know is only possible by throwing it over the edge of the earth. The real problem is that there is only ''one'' bottle, so it is more "No '''single''' man should have this power".
* At the end of ''Film/TheMask'', the protagonist casts the magical mask into the river. (But subverted when his dog fetches it.)

* Non-supernatural version in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. Lucius Fox says "this is too much power for one person" when he sees Batman's machine that lets him [[spoiler: monitor the whole of Gotham simultaneously]]. Further played with in that "this one time" he's willing to use it to catch ComicBook/TheJoker, and also in the fact that the man who built it fully acknowledges that it's too much power for him and gives Lucius the means to shut it down once the immediate crisis has been dealt with.
* One of the complaints of ''Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy'' was that they destroyed the crown pieces at the end, when they could have saved themselves a lot of trouble by doing it as soon as they found them.
* In the live-action ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' film, Optimus Prime says that if there's no other way to keep the Allspark out of Megatron's hands, he'll shove it into his own [[OurSoulsAreDifferent spark]] to destroy it. This option is a last resort because it would also kill Optimus. [[spoiler:In the end, Sam shoves it into ''Megatron's'' instead]]. But as the sequel shows, turns out that doesn't ''quite'' work.
* In ''Film/TheTwinsEffect'' one of the girls does just this to kill the BigBad.
* One of the many lessons Bruce is forced to learn in ''Film/BruceAlmighty'', after learning it's difficult to be God.
* In the film version of ''Literature/TheSpiderwickChronicles'', Arthur Spiderick realized that the knowledge he had collected into his Field Guide on the world of faeries was too much for anyone to know about. Justified as Mulgarath the ogre wanted to use it to destroy all the faeries in the world.

* In the 1954 movie, ''Film/{{Gojira}}'', the scientist who created the Oxygen Destroyer, the only thing that could kill the titular monster, knew that the weapon he had created was too terrible for mankind to have, and so burned all his notes on it and committed a HeroicSacrifice when he fired the prototype.

* In ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Bruce]] invokes this trope in an attempt to justify to Alfred his belief that he needs to kill Comicbook/{{Superman}} to protect the human race.
-->'''Bruce:''' Jesus, Alfred, count the dead... thousands of people. What's next? Millions? He has the power to wipe out the entire human race, and if we believe there's even a one percent chance that he is our enemy we have to take it as an absolute certainty... and we have to destroy him.\\
'''Alfred:''' But he is not our enemy!\\
'''Bruce Wayne:''' Not today. [[TheCynic Twenty years in Gotham, Alfred; we've seen what promises are worth]]. [[KilledOffForReal How many good guys are left?]] [[FaceHeelTurn How many stayed that way?]]
* Spike Lee's biopic ''Film/MalcolmX'' has a key and iconic scene where the Nation of Islam leader successfully obtains access to and subsequently medical help for a black man incarcerated (probably unjustly) by local police. This is accomplished by X heading up a veritable army composed of not only Nation of Islam members, but also black onlookers, creating a nevertheless peaceful (but determined) mob of perhaps a couple of hundred, spontaneously, and virtually in seconds. Once his goals are satisfied, X silences the crowd with a gesture, and disperses them with another, spurring the awed police chief to state "No one man should have such power!".
* {{Subverted}} in the fourth ''Film/{{Halloweentown}}'' movie: Marnie finds an ancient source of magical power called "The Gift" which could, in the wrong hands, allow one to control the entire population of Halloweentown. In the film's climax, she seemingly destroys The Gift for this reason, wanting to keep it away from an evil organization called The Dominion. However, the final scene reveals that [[spoiler: she actually gave it to the one person she felt ''could'' be trusted with that kind of power: Her brother Dylan.]]
* Comes up in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', when the Avengers [[spoiler: arrive to rematch with Thanos to try and use the Infinity Stones to undo his universe-wide DepopulationBomb, they find that he doesn't have the Stones anymore. He explains that their temptation of omnipotent power was too great for anyone, even himself, and after using them to fulfill his genocidal scheme, he used their own power to destroy them (at a severe cost to his physical body). The Avengers eventually find a way around this: by traveling back in time to before they were destroyed.]]
* Near the end of ''Film/{{Overlord|2018}}'', Cpl. Ford orders Pvt. Bryce to blow the explosive charges they set up so that [[spoiler: the secret Nazi lab that's creating a serum, which Ford used on himself, to make [[{{Ghostapo}} super strong undead soldiers]], will be buried beneath the rubble, and ensure that not even the Allied forces can use and refine what was created down there.]]
* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOnStrangerTides'': The reason why [[spoiler: the Spaniards destroy the Fountain of Youth at the climax, stating that only God can grant eternal life.]]

** In the GrandFinale of ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'', Azmuth confiscates and destroys the AwesomeButImpractical [[SuperMode Ultimatrix]] in favor of an upgraded Omnitrix as he disapproved of [[APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil Albedo]] weaponizing even further a tool he intended for diplomacy [[InsufferableGenius {and was probably bitter about getting his tech ripped off)]].