History Main / NoSelfBuffs

* [[HealingHands Panacea]] from ''Literature/Worm'' cannot use her power on herself.

** ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'':

*** In the same part, Yoshikage Kira gains a power called Bites the Dust, which will [[spoiler:automatically kill anyone who uncovers his real name]]. Since he's trying to hide from the heroes, it's extremely useful. However, the power must be "set" on someone, and since it requires removing Killer Queen from himself to set it, Kira can't make himself the focal point.
** In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean'', Gwess has the power to [[ShrinkRay shrink others]], but not herself, unlike [[IncredibleShrinkingMan Formaggio]] from [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind the previous part]].

* The deformed mutant Masque, from the MarvelUniverse, has the power to alter anyone's facial features, save for his own. This served to the irony that he couldn't fix his own deformed appearance, leading to [[FreudianExcuse bitterly and sadistically]] deforming other Morlocks to enforce loyalty. Later appearances avert this into full on VoluntaryShapeshifting territory.
* In ComicBook/GoldDigger, Djinn cannot use their powers for their own benefit. For example, a Djinn could make themselves physically stronger, but only to defend someone else. Most were content with granting each other's wishes, but the ambitions of Madrid to try and bypass this limitation was a major focus of an earlier story arc.

* It's mentioned in the setting guide for FanFic/RainbowDoubleDashsLunaverse that voodoo practictioners can never be affected by their own powers, for good or ill. They can, however, work magic on each other. This is hinted to be because voodoo runs heavily on ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve (it's more effective on those who believe in it, for one thing), and obviously you can't truly fool yourself.

* In the book ''Literature/TheCandyShopWar,'' magicians can't usually use their magic on themselves for a number of reasons. The most prominent is that magic works better on the young, and by the time you're old enough to understand magic, you're not a kid anymore. [[spoiler: The villain of the first book's plan is to gain access to water from the FountainOfYouth, allowing her to combine that youthful power with her knowledge of magic to become perhaps the most powerful magician ever]].

* Zig-zagged in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'': although [[MagicByAnyOtherName channelers]] can use some weaves of the One Power on themselves, it's impossible for them to target themselves with HealingHands, and some other weaves are difficult for them to use on themselves because they can't get a clear view of how they're applying their power.
* Inverted with Feruchemists from ''Franchise/{{Mistborn}}''. Their EquivalentExchange-based powers only work on ''themselves'' - Feruchemy can't be used directly to alter someone else's abilities. Feruchemy's sister magic system Allomancy is similar, though it has some "external" powers that work on others, while the third system in the triad, [[BloodMagic Hemalurgy]] can power up ''anyone'' so long as the person actually performing it is willing to [[PoweredByAForsakenChild pay the price]].
* ''{{Literature/Ruinsong}}'': Corporeal mages are told not to perform self-magic, as magic requires [[MagicMusic getting the notes right]] to properly control the effects, and the sensations of a spell's effects on the body can be distracting. When Elene shrugs off Cadence's attack, Cadence assumes either her own magic was too weak or Elene received new magics from worshipping another goddess, but Remi argues that mages must have had blocking spells to fight in wars. Cadence's old mentor admits that they were ordered not to teach her self-defense magic, and gives her a book on defensive spells, though with the reminder that it's still dangerous and not recommended.

* ''VideoGame/WarCraftIII'':

* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': The Butterfly Miraculous has the power to [[SuperEmpowering grant people superpowers]], but it can't be used on the Miraculous's own holder. However, there are [[LoopholeAbuse certain loopholes]] that [[BigBad Hawk Moth]] has been able to exploit to circumvent this restriction. [[spoiler:The first time, he akumatizes himself by temporarily renouncing the Miraculous before having a previously created akuma merge with him, fooling even Master Fu, who is aware of the Butterfly's limitations. The second, he empowers a willing accomplice with the ability to amplify the powers of others, who in turn uses that power on him, allowing him to make as many akumas as he wants at a time.]]

* Providing the page quote, the [[EvilSorcerer witch doctor]] Facilier in ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' mentions this as a reason he has to work his schemes through others despite being capable of turning a man into a frog, summoning shadowy demons to do his bidding, etc. While his living shadow can manipulate objects for him, and he can cast illusions that affect other people to further his own goals, this only works so long as it's what they think they want.

* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' series the Aes Sedai cannot use their powers (mostly Healing) on themselves. This is explained by the magic needing to be "weaved" and "applied" to someone. In this way its impossible to lay a weave upon yourself as you would be unable to properly see it. It's a pity they couldn't use mirrors or bend light or something to get around that ... other than that, it's a pretty consistent rule: there's an anecdote about an Aes Sedai whose mental block (Wilders often acquire these when learning to keep a lid on their powers on their own) was that she couldn't touch the Source with her eyes open. Naturally, this made her rather ineffective.

* In ''Fanfic/TheBridge'', the {{Kaiju}} in Equestria need benign magic in order to charge up and temporarily return to their original forms. But this magic has to be ''external'', like from one of the Mane Six, even the Kaiju whose new bodies can use magic can't charge themselves for some reason.

* The [[EvilSorcerer witch doctor]] Facilier in ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' mentions this as a reason he has to work his schemes through others. However, his living shadow can manipulate objects for him, and he can cast illusions that affect other people to further his own goals, so long as it's what they think they want.

* In ''VideoGame/ShadowHeartsCovenant'', Lucia's oils will affect the three other party members but not her. In Shadow Hearts: From The New World, Ricardo's songs work the same way.

** In early editions of , some monsters (archdevils, efreeti and noble djinn) could grant another character's wishes, but not wish for things themselves.

* ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'': Fairy godmothers have incredible power, but are cursed to only be able to act on the direct orders of who they are bonded to (or to defend them from immediate danger). Tabitha, the primary fairy godmother in the show, convinces [[spoiler:Nora Darhk]] to take her curse by leading her to believe it will help her heal a friend. Without the curse, Tabitha is significantly weaker, but still a powerful witch, and now free to do as she pleases.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'' and its sequels/spin-off TV series, the Genie's power is much greater when granting wishes for others than when doing things for himself. The former lets him wield "super-phenomenal cosmic power", while the latter only lets him use "semi-phenomenal nearly-cosmic power." One really powerful individual with chaos powers was described as a "genie who could grant his own wishes.", [[OutsideContextMagic which scares the hell out of Genie]]. Since Genie is a free genie after the first movie, technically everything he does is for himself rather than granting the wishes of others, which explains why he is weaker.

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Literature/{{Sourcery}}'', it was mentioned that the only thing the wizards couldn't magically improve- even after they started recieving power from [[RealityWarper the Sourcerer]]- was themselves (or at least, not for more than a few seconds).

* In ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'', witches cannot use magic for personal gain. If they try, the world will twist it against them, or outright delete the results. This only applies to [[BeingGoodSucks good-aligned witches]], enforced by ThePowersThatBe. In the PostScriptSeason comic series an incident renders humans magical and witches powerless and the empowered humans can freely use magic for any whim. Evil witches can do pretty much whatever they want, something the protagonists regularly lament, but they usually [[EvilIsSterile have to steal the power to do so from forces of good]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'' and its sequels/spin-off TV series, the Genie's power is much greater when granting wishes for others than when doing things for himself. The former lets him wield "super-phenomenal cosmic power", while the latter only lets him use "semi-phenomenal nearly-cosmic power." One really powerful individual with chaos powers was described as a "genie who could grant his own wishes." This character provokes an OhCrap from Genie. Since Genie is a free genie, technically everything he does is for himself rather than granting the wishes of others, which explains why he is weaker.

** In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean'', Gwess has the power to [[IncredibleShrinkingMan shrink others]], but not herself, unlike Formaggio from [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind the previous part]].

* In ''Theatre/JasperInDeadland'', because Jasper entered Deadland while still being alive, his presence inadvertently causes the dead citizens to begin remembering their time in the Living World. This doesn't affect him though, as he slowly loses his memories the same way that everyone else does.

[[folder:Theatre]]
* In ''Theatre/JasperInDeadland'', because Jasper entered Deadland while still being alive, he is presence inadvertently causes the dead citizens to begin remembering their time in the Living World. This doesn't affect him though, as he slowly loses his memories the same way that everyone else does.
[[/folder]]

** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' averts staffs not healing the user with a skill from the [[BattleButler Butler]][=/=][[NinjaMaid Maid]] called "Live To Serve" which restores the healer's HP based on the amount of HP restored to the recipient. And with reclassing, healers that can get the class can regain lost HP. This is also the extent of [[{{Kitsune}} Kaden]]'s personal skill which recover half HP to the healer.

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'':
** Josuke has the power to [[HealingHands restore anything and everything to a previous state]]... except himself, [[PersonalityPowers fitting his selfless nature]]. It ''will'' work on matter separated from his body ([[spoiler:like [[BloodyMurder blood]]]]), so long as he doesn't make it part of his body again.
** In the same part, Yoshikage Kira gains a power called Bites the Dust, which will [[spoiler:automatically kill anyone who uncovers his real name]]. Since he's trying to hide from the heroes, it's extremely useful. However, the power must be "set" on someone, and since it requires removing Killer Queen from himself to set it, Kira can't make himself the focal point.
* At one point in ''Manga/SleepyPrincessInTheDemonCastle'', the princess tries casting a high level sleep spell on herself. It knocks out everyone in the castle ''except'' her.

** Staves can't heal the user, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'', for example, contain staves that heal ''everyone else'' on the battlefield ''except'' the user. There are a few exceptions though.

** the Shadow Hunter's ultimate spell is BigBadVoodoo, which turns every friendly unit in range invulnerable except the caster. Meaning that for the duration of the spell, the enemy can ''only'' attack him.

* As per the page quote, the [[EvilSorcerer witch doctor]] Facilier in ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' mentions this as a reason he has to work his schemes through others. However, his living shadow can manipulate objects for him, and he can cast illusions that affect other people to further his own goals, so long as it's what they think they want.

->''"Fun fact about Voodoo, Larry... can't conjure a thing for myself."''

!!Examples:

* ''Manga/FairyTail'':
** Slayer-type wizards can eat their own elements to get either a power-up or restore their magic energy, but they don't get this benefit from the element they create themselves. Natsu for example, can eat other sources of fire, but won't get any benefit from eating his own magic fire and treats Lucy like an idiot for asking that question.
** Wendy's Sky Dragon Slayer Magic includes HealingHands as part of the package, but she can't heal herself directly. Particularly noticeable since she ''can'' use her own [[MagicEnhancement Enchantments]] on herself. Her God Slayer counterpart, Sherria, ''can'' heal herself, but she can't restore lost stamina or heal fatigue for herself or others like Wendy can nor does she have access to Enchantments.