History Main / PowerAtAPrice

* In the ''Literature/MercyThompson'' books by Patricia Briggs, witches don't have much power unless they sacrifice something substantial, like a loved one, and real power is thought to be the domain of black witches for this reason. However, in the spinoff, Anna meets a white witch who gained power by sacrificing her own eyes.

* ''{{Literature/Discworld}}'': According to Archchancellor Ridcully, magic is actually very easy. The tricky part is getting wizards to ''not'' perform magic for every mundane purpose or using it to solve their problems, because the overuse of magic attracts the things from the Dungeon Dimensions, and if they break through, the effect is described as the ocean trying to warm itself around a candle.

* ''TabletopGame/ArsMagica'': It's nearly impossible to teach a new supernatural ability to someone who practices [[MagicAIsMagicA a different magical paradigm]]. Mystery Cults accomplish it with initiation rites that claim a price from the aspirant -- physical goods, a quest, [[OathboundPower binding vows]], or even ordeals inflicting long-term character [[SkillScoresAndPerks Flaws]].

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See also NecessaryDrawback and WeaknessTropes. For related tropes, see PriceOfPowerIndex.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom'': The weapons dropped by [[spoiler:Phantom Ganon]] are far and away the strongest in the game in terms of raw attack power. However, due to being infused with [[MadeOfEvil gloom]], wielding them [[MaximumHPReduction eats into Link's maximum hearts]] in the same manner as standing in the cursed substance.

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', the DLC "The Champions' Ballad" offers Link a new weapon--the One-Hit Obliterator. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin As the name implies]], it has the power to destroy any enemy, no matter how large or powerful, in a single blow. However, the magic works both ways--it also reduces ''Link's'' health to a single quarter-heart, so one attack from even the weakest enemy will kill him. And just to make things even harder, the Obliterator has a mandatory cooldown period after each use.
*** In the same game, Hylia has sealed a horned demon [[TakenForGranite inside a statue]] near Hateno Village. Said demon will offer to extend Link's Heart Containers or Stamina Meter, but only at the cost of the other (i.e., if you want to extend the Stamina Meter, you have to sacrifice a Heart Container). Thankfully, the trade can always be reversed if the player changes their mind.

* ''Fanfic/APlaceInMyDreams'': One of the [[LightNovel/{{Campione}} Authorities]] that [[LightNovel/SwordArtOnline Kirito]] got from Morpheus, [Dream a Dream of the Future], allows him to receive visions from up to a week into the future in his dreams, or even talk to a dream-facsimile of someone that's perfectly accurate, but when used, he's effectively in a coma that he can't be woken from until exactly eight hours have passed.

* ''Film/WonderWoman1984'': In addition to BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor, every wish made upon the Dreamstone has a price to it; Barbara wishes to be "strong, confident, and sexy" like Diana but loses her empathy in the process, while Diana wishes for Steve Trevor back but [[spoiler:begins losing her powers in exchange]]. This is why Maxwell Lord wished to [[BecomingTheGenie become the Dreamstone]]; he can control the prices, stealing whatever he wants in exchange for a wish. Even better (for him), he can do this even if he tricks someone into making a wish ''he'' wants, basically getting two wishes at once.

* ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' has an entity known as "[[EldritchAbomination The End of the Cycle]]" which promises to grant your empire emmense power [[DealWithTheDevil if you agree to bring about "The End"]] (and ignore the tooltip warning you in big red letters, "'''[[SchmuckBait DO NOT DO THIS!]]'''"). It makes good on its promise, and grants you [[GameBreaker Game Breaking]] advantages for the next fifty years. Then, when it comes to collect on its part of the bargain, [[spoiler:it ''utterly destroys your empire'': every planet ''rendered uninhabitable'', every settlement ''destroyed'', every citizen ''killed'', save for one person who saw this was a bad idea and started a colony on the edge of the galaxy with what little resources they could scrounge together. Worse still, this is a price the ''entire galaxy'' will be expected to pay, as the souls of your slaughtered citizens form a fleet of nigh-indestructible terror that will set out to purge the cosmos of all life, with the afforementioned colony being ''[[ForcedToWatch saved]] [[ControllableHelplessness for]] [[CosmicHorrorStory last]]''. And even on the off chance that the fleet of the damned is routed and the galaxy saved, that lone colony will be slapped with a permanent diplomacy penalty so steep, that you can bet any other galactic power still around will want to wipe it out [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment as recompense for nearly destroying the galaxy for your own avarice.]]]]

* ''VideoGame/PokemonXY'' introduces the Mega Evolution mechanic, which allows specific Pokémon to gain a temporary power boost. However, several entries for these Mega Evolutions point out that the Pokémon are suffering from PhlebotinumOverload and are just barely getting by while fighting in frenzied states (to make a point, Mega Lucario basically turns into a BloodKnight with a [[GoodIsNotNice heartless]] way of fighting, unlike its usual calm and collected disposition). In ''VideoGame/PokemonMasters'', Sycamore's special day episodes further add to this, with him saying that Mega Evolution in general takes a toll on the Mega Evolved Pokémon, but they kept pushing through for the sake of personal victory.

* ''Literature/TheTravelersGate'': All artifacts of Ragnarus require some cost to use them. It is possible to force others to pay the price for you, but the only one who did that was the [[PhysicalGod Ragnarus Incarnation]]; every normal Traveler of Ragnarus simply pays the price themselves. These include a wand that [[SanitySlippage eats away at your sanity every time you use it]], a knife that [[LaserGuidedAmnesia makes you forget a single person when you return it]] (the longer you keep it out, the more important a person you forget), a crown that strikes you mute, and a spear that causes horrific pain to the user. The spear, notably, is typically the WeaponOfChoice for the head of the family, as the pain is ultimately an illusion and thus nowhere near as dangerous as the other prices.

* ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'': In the second half of the book, when Bastian enters Fantastica, he gets the power to have any wish of his fulfilled, quickly leading to his becoming a "perfect" MarySue version of himself. However, every granted wish causes him to lose some part of his memories from his life in the human world, threatening him with a loss of self if he can't find the wish he ''really'' wants and escape Fantastica before it's too late. Gaining superficial strengths and admiration while forgetting his weaknesses also causes him a very bad case of AcquiredSituationalNarcissism, to the point that [[spoiler: he's waging war against his best friends to become the ruler of the whole world]] before he sees how close he is to being doomed forever. Seeing this involves stumbling on a town full of crazy people who all went down the same path and lost themselves.

* ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'': In the second half of the book, when Bastian enters Fantastica, he gets the power to have any wish of his fulfilled, quickly leading to his becoming a "perfect" MarySue version of himself. However, every granted wish causes him to lose some part of his memories from his life in the human world, threatening him with a loss of self if he can't find the wish he ''really'' wants and escape Fantastica before it's too late. Gaining superficial strengths and admiration while forgetting his weaknesses also causes him a very bad case of AcquiredSituationalNarcissism, to the point that [[spoiler: he's waging war against his best friends to become the ruler of the whole world]] before he sees how close he is to being doomed forever. Seeing this involves stumbling on a city full of crazy people who all went down the same path and lost themselves.

* The industrial revolution, and the use of oil, coal and natural gas for energy, has brought tremendous scientific and economic progress for humanity, and unprecedented quantities of energy, but releasing carbon into the atmosphere is slowly but steadily [[GlobalWarming warming up]] the Earth, and modifying the chemistry of the atmosphere and ocean, which isn't very good news.