History Main / NoManShouldHaveThisPower

* "Too many ''Sombreros''." The chivato said. "[[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome No one man should have]] [[NiceHat that power]]...''

* The DoctorWho season-long story arc TheKeyToTime ended with the Doctor deciding that no-one, [[spoiler: not even the Guardians of the universe,]] should hold that much power. (Of course, first he has fun pretending that it's gone to his head. Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rl6AmGHjmk )

See also: TheWorldIsNotReady, StatusQuoIsGod, and ReluctantMadScientist.

With Great Power ComesGreatResponsibility, but Power Corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Some powers--and responsibilities--are too great for ''anyone'' to be trusted with.

A character may realize this on his own--perhaps the BigBad has just been defeated, and his AncientArtifact is now in TheHero's control. After contemplating all the good he could do, TheHero may realize that he can't take away people's free will. He may experience a "We're NotSoDifferent" moment, and gain some sympathy for his enemy.

In any case, the choice will usually be clear. The source of power must be discarded, destroyed, or sealed back in its tin. This may be a final resolution, a return to [[StatusQuoIsGod the status quo]], or even the beginning of quest to get rid of the power. If the proper choice isn't made, this may mark the StartOfDarkness.

An object of tremendous power and [[JustThinkOfThePotential potential]] is created or found. Unfortunately, almost immediately the entire cast starts fighting over it, demonstrating their inability to be in charge of such power. Ultimately one character - usually the wisest - then decides that the only way to stop the conflict is to destroy (or cast away) the object. With nothing left to fight over, peace and order is, indeed, restored.

This is the typical fate of all {{MacGuffin}}s. See also: TheWorldIsNotReady, StatusQuoIsGod, ReluctantMadScientist.

Compare NoMacGuffinNoWinner where the object is lost as a karmic punishment, rather than a willing decision in fear of the consequences. Also compare ItBelongsInAMuseum. Does not refer to powers that only ''women'' have, or should have.

* At the end of ''Film/TheMask'', the protagonist casts the magical mask into the river.

An object of tremendous power and [[JustThinkOfThePotential potential]] is created or found. Unfortunately, almost immediately the entire cast starts fighting over it, demonstrating their inability to be in charge of such power. Ultimately one character - usually the wisest - then decides that the only way to stop the conflict is to destroy (or cast away) the object. With nothing left to fight over, peace and order is, indeed, restored.

This is the typical fate of all {{MacGuffin}}s. See also: TheWorldIsNotReady, StatusQuoIsGod, ReluctantMadScientist.

!!Examples:

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* In the manga ''TriPeace'', two rulers solve the conflict between their nations by destroying the magical fountain that they are warring over.

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* In ''BackToTheFuture'', Doc Brown repeatedly promises to himself to destroy his own time-travelling technology, which finally happens at the end of movie 3. ([[spoiler: Almost immediately it turns out that he had built a new one.]])

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* On one episode of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', the heroes embark on a quest to find the Sword Of Kahless, a very important religious artifact to the Klingons. So important, in fact, that whoever finds it and brings it back to the homeworld would gain the cultural/religious/political power to take over the Klingon Empire. As it turns out, it seems to corrupt it's wielder faster than [[LordOfTheRings The One Ring]], and after seeing her cohorts plotting to take over the empire and fighting amongst themselves over who gets to do it, Jadzia beams the sword into space.
* In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', when Q appeared in "Hide and Q" he endowed Riker with the power of the Continuum in an attempt to uncover how humanity might someday surpass his species. Picard immediately pressured Riker into resisting the urge to use this power, ostensibly to prevent Will from abusing it, and also to win a wager against Q in the hopes of making the God-like being sod off forever. Even though he is corrupted by the power, Riker ultimately decides to remain human and has the power taken away, with the moral being that humanity will take it's own path without needing to be uplifted by Q. This doesn't stop Q from continuing to harass Picard once a season for the rest of Next Gen's run, of course.

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* On one episode of StarTrekDeepSpaceNine, the heroes embark on a quest to find the Sword Of Kahless, a very important religious artifact to the Klingons. So important, in fact, that whoever finds it and brings it back to the homeworld would gain the cultural/religious/political power to take over the Klingon Empire. As it turns out, it seems to corrupt it's wielder faster than [[LordOfTheRings The One Ring]], and after seeing her cohorts plotting to take over the empire and fighting amongst themselves over who gets to do it, Jadzia beams the sword into space.
* In StarTrekTheNextGeneration, when Q appeared in "Hide and Q" he endowed Riker with the power of the Continuum in an attempt to uncover how humanity might someday surpass his species. Picard immediately pressured Riker into resisting the urge to use this power, ostensibly to prevent Will from abusing it, and also to win a wager against Q in the hopes of making the God-like being sod off forever. Even though he is corrupted by the power, Riker ultimately decides to remain human and has the power taken away, with the moral being that humanity will take it's own path without needing to be uplifted by Q. This doesn't stop Q from continuing to harass Picard once a season for the rest of Next Gen's run, of course.

* At the end of ''HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' Harry chooses to get rid of the title objects, for precisely this reason.

* ''FateZero'' and ''FateStayNight'': The conclusion their respective main characters ultimately come to, regarding the corrupted Holy Grail.

* At the end of ''Film/TheMask'', the protagonist casts the titular magical mask into the river.

* At the end of ''HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' Harry chooses to get rid of the titular objects, for precisely this reason.

* ''ElGoonishShive'' has Sensei Greg. Who eventually closed his dojo of "[[SupernaturalMartialArts Anime Style]] Martial Arts" in part due to worries that it turned out to be a magical training and there's no way to ensure that good powers would be granted to the right people. Just before the dojo was wrecked by [[spoiler:a sleepwalking magic-user and a dragon]] anyway.

* In StarTrekTheNextGeneration, when Q appeared in "Hide and Q" he endowed Riker with the power of the Continuum in an attempt to uncover how human's might someday surpass his species. Picard immediately pressured Riker into resisting the urge to use this power, ostensibly to prevent Will from abusing it, and also to win a wager against Q in the hopes of making the God-like being sod off forever. Riker still ends up becoming a bigger jerk than usual and has the power taken away, with the moral ultimately being that humanity will take it's own path without needing to be uplifted by Q. This doesn't stop Q from continuing to harass Picard once a season for the rest of Next Gen's run, of course.

* In StarTrekNextGeneration, when Q appeared in "Hide and Q" he endowed Riker with the power of the Continuum in an attempt to uncover how human's might someday surpass his species. Picard immediately pressured Riker into resisting the urge to use this power, ostensibly to prevent Will from abusing it, and also to win a wager against Q in the hopes of making the God-like being sod off forever. Riker still ends up becoming a bigger jerk than usual and has the power taken away, with the moral ultimately being that humanity will take it's own path without needing to be uplifted by Q. This doesn't stop Q from continuing to harass Picard once a season for the rest of Next Gen's run, of course.

Compare NoMacGuffinNoWinner where the object is lost as a karmic punishment, rather than a willing decision in fear of the consequences. Also compare ItBelongsInAMuseum. Does not refer to [[WomensMysteries powers that are, or should be, only had by women.]]

Compare NoMacGuffinNoWinner where the object is lost as a karmic punishment, rather than a willing decision in fear of the consequences. Also compare ItBelongsInAMuseum.

* At the end of ''TheMask'', the protagonist casts the titular magical mask into the river.

* The Marvel CrossOver ''InfinityGauntlet'' ended with Adam Warlock acquiring the eponymous guantlet which granted the user god-like powers. Not soon after that, the Living Tribunal, a cosmic being meant to bring order to the cosmos, declared that the gauntlet's gems must never be used by a single person ever again. The gems were then scattered amongst Warlock's allies.

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* Nuclear non-proliferation treaties are as close as real life gets to this tropes.

An object of tremendous power and [[JustThinkOfThePotential potential]] is created or found. Unfortunately, almost immediately the entire cast starts fighting over it, demonstrating their inability to be in charge of such power. Ultimately one character - usually the wisest - then decides that the only way to stop the confilct is to destroy (or cast away) the object. With nothing left to fight over, peace and order is, indeed, restored.

* At the end of ''HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' Harry chooses to get rid the titular objects, for precisely this reason.