History Main / PowerProfitPotential

** ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters'': Among [[LivingGhost Sin-Eaters]], the Bonepicker archetype believes in using their connection to the Underworld to enrich themselves in the land of the living, whether by [[InterrogatingTheDead asking ghosts]] about the wealth they used to own, charging for exorcisms, [[MonsterProtectionRacket creating hauntings]] so they can charge for the exorcism, and so on.

** There are multiple spells that can be used to earn a steady income, and most editions have a listing for spellcasting under "services" that players can pay for. Though most aren't as lucrative as dungeon delving.

* In ''TabletopGame/ArsMagica'', MagicalSociety keeps to the edges of mundane society and prefers to trade in supernatural resources, but some magi still look for material wealth:

* ''Literature/TheScholomance'': {{Hand Wave}}d -- it's easy enough for any mage to produce mundane wealth, even just by magicking up a [[UniquelyObfuscatedOccupation no-effort job with a solid paycheck]], that material comforts aren't generally a concern for them. MagicalSociety trades in magical services and resources instead; any mage who pays another mage in mere money is dealing a deliberate insult.

** ''Transforming Mythic Europe'' explores scalable UtilityMagic: telecommunication, teleportation or rapid transportation of goods, [[GreenThumb speeding crop growth]], and even separating salt from seawater. It also {{deconstruct|edTrope}}s the opportunities and hazards of introducing this magic to a partly or wholly [[TheUnmasquedWorld Unmasqued World]], with a particular eye for economic and social disruption.

* ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'': Corpse retrievers are subsidized by the local lord to go into the dungeon and revive dead adventurers with healing magic, from whom they also charge a resurrection fee. However, there is a bit of a corruption problem, as seen when one group of corpse retrievers tries to provoke a conflict between the Kabru and Touden parties so they can charge them for resurrection, and when that fails attack the Kabru party directly while disguised as fishmen.

* ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters'': Among [[LivingGhost Sin-Eaters]], the Bonepicker archetype believes in using their connection to the Underworld to enrich themselves in the land of the living, whether by [[InterrogatingTheDead asking ghosts]] about the wealth they used to own, charging for exorcisms, [[MonsterProtectionRacket creating hauntings]] so they can charge for the exorcism, and so on.

* ''VideoGame/{{Runescape}}'': ''Runescape 3'', at the very least, fully expects players to use a spell called "High-Level Alchemy" in order to generate gold from certain items, particularly metal salvage that was added to replace armor and weapon drops after the Mining & Smithing skills were reworked.

This trope is mostly defied in many examples to prevent economic instability.

This trope is mostly defied in many examples to prevent instability to the economy.

* ''Series/{{Haven}}'': [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Troubled]] people are, generally speaking, so BlessedWithSuck by their powers that there is no profit potential. However, in between seasons 3 and 4, when Nathan is being hunted by Haven's vigilante paramilitary group, and thus needs to stay below the radar, he earns cash by letting bikers punch him in the face. Since Nathan's Trouble is that he [[FeelNoPain can't feel anything]], his nonplussed reaction amazes the bikers, and when Duke finds him, he has a line of people waiting.

* ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfKorra'': Mako finds a side gig getting paid to generate electricity with his ShockAndAwe powers. This is also the primary reason he competes in the superpowered "Pro-Bending" sports matches.

** Early Spidey stories had Peter attempt to use his powers for monetary gain by becoming a performer; however, between the death of Uncle Ben being caused by his own reckless behavior and the need to keep his identity a secret meaning he can't cash checks under the name "Spider-Man", this has largely become a pipe dream in the modern day.

* In ''ComicBook/SupermanTrueBrit'', Colin tries to solve England's economic problems by using his powers to turn the nation's coal reserves into diamonds. This backfires, as the diamonds lose their value by virtue of being so numerous, while the nation's coal miners all end up out of a job because there's no coal left.

Superhuman powers are a great way to fight for truth, justice, and the American Way. For the more inventive, they're also a great way to make some cash. It could give them an extra edge in paying off debts, affording to buy new stuff, even providing for themselves and their friends. If any sort of superpowered or supernatural ability gets used for earning money, it's this trope.

See also SubtleSuperpowering, and its subtrope ParanormalGamblingAdvantage.

* ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'': Corpse retrievers are subsidized by the local lord to go into the dungeon and revive dead adventurers with healing magic, from whom they also charge a resurrection fee. Though there is a bit of a corruption problem, as seen when one group of corpse retrievers tries to provoke a conflict between the Kabru and Touden parties so they can charge them for resurrection, and when that fails attack the Kabru party directly while disguised as fishmen.

* ''Manhwa/AutoHuntingWithMyClones'': The main character is the only person with the power to make sapient clones with a physical body and his immediate thought after he tries using them to work out is taking advantage of them to work multiple monster hunting related part time jobs at once which he makes extensive use of throughout the series.

** The Oculus Septentrionalis Covenant invests most of its supernatural resources into UtilityMagic for its expansive mercantile interests. Members live quietly -- and very comfortably -- in the city of Lubeck, with the mundane townspeople none the wiser..

** One meme has a wizard's player who convinced the DM to let him cast Fabricate, which can turn raw materials into saleable products, as a infinitely castable ritual to get rich. Only for the DM to state that he's now a target for every thief and burglar in the kingdom, leading the wizard to build a dungeon.

** Played straight in one episode where, Timmy adds Cosmo's sweat to his lemonade to make a profit so he can buy tickets for Crash Nebula on ice for his friends.

Superhuman powers are a great way to fight for truth, justice, and the American Way. For the more inventive, they're also a great way to make some cash. It could give them an extra edge in paying off debts, afford to buy new stuff, even to provide for yourself and friends. If any sort of superpowered or supernatural ability gets used for earning money, it's this trope.

{{Transmutation}},MatterReplicator,MidasTouch, and MagicalCounterfeiting are infamously used to make money.

Compare CorporateSponsoredSuperhero, PunchClockHero

See also SubtleSuperpowering, and it's subtrope ParanormalGamblingAdvantage.

!!Examples

[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]

* In Manga/TheFarawayPaladin it is shown that it is common for priests and other clergymen to charge for use of holy magic HealingHands and others healing in this way for free is discouraged as it can hurt the income of the churches.

** Discussed, defied, and implied, when Todoroki asked why Yaoyorozu didn't make clothes for the gang. She insisted that buy clothes to not damage the economy. Also considering that she comes from a rich family with creation quirks comes off as FridgeLogic since her family got their wealth from the quirks they had.
** Yu Hojo's previous boss wanted to take advantage of Hojo's [[GemstoneAssault quirk]], but the crystals were useless and Yu was discarded because of it.

[[AC:ComicBooks]]

[[AC:AnimatedFilms]]

[[AC:FilmsLiveAction]]
* ''Film/BedknobsAndBroomsticks'': When Professor Brown discovers that the magic spells he's been selling are real, and that protagonist Eglantine Price can actually perform them, his immediate reaction (once he gets over his initial shock) is to invoke this by suggesting that they go into business together as a magic act, combining his showmanship and silver tongue with Eglantine's abilities to rake in a fortune. Subverted by Eglantine herself, who has absolutely no interest in using her powers for personal gain, only agrees to consider the idea just to secure Brown's cooperation, and never brings it up again.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

* ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'': PlayedForDrama, PlayedForHorror and DeconstructedTrope at the same time. [[RaginCajun Hazel Levesque]] was given the power to control [[DishingOutDirt "all]] [[GemstoneAssault the riches]] [[ExtraOreDinary under the Earth"]] by her father Pluto at her mother, Marie Levesque's request. As a result, if she stays for too long in one place or experiences strong emotions, riches, like diamonds and gold, are summoned by her presence. However, because of the sheer power of the ability, it had to be counterbalanced by something - in her case, it was a curse that would bring misfortune to anyone other than hers if they tried to handle the riches. This curse made her mother greedy and bitter, prompting her to become a phony Voodoo Queen and sell what her daughter summoned as amulets, not caring about what would happen to anyone who bought these items.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:Manhwa]]

* Manhwa/AutoHuntingWithMyClones In this series the main character is the only person with the power to make sapient clones with a physical body and his immediate thought after he tries using them to work out is taking advantage of them to work multiple monster hunting related part time jobs at once which he makes extensive use of throughout the series.

[[AC:TabletopGame]]

* There are multiple spells in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' that can be used to earn a steady income, and most editions have a listing for spellcasting under "services" that players can pay for. Though most aren't as lucrative as dungeon delving.

* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'': Magisters of the [[WizardingSchool Imperial Colleges of Magic]] sometimes take jobs as {{Court Mage}}s, protectors, advisors, {{Fortune Teller}}s, and the like -- their services can be fantastically expensive, but so is magical equipment.

[[AC:Video Games]]

* ''VideoGame/Persona5'': It's not fully explained ''how'', but the money and items that the Phantom Thieves acquire in the metaverse-- including the treasures possessed by the Palace Rulers-- persist when they return to reality, albeit sometimes in an altered form. Some of these items are VendorTrash that can be sold at actual stores, but three in particular-- Kamoshida's gold medal, [[spoiler:Kaneshiro's golden briefcase]] and [[spoiler:Okumura's mint-condition toy spaceship kit]] are valuable enough that the Phantom Thieves are able to use them in order to buy themselves some expensive outings.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}:'' Pay Day is the SignatureMove of the Meowth line and all of its regional variants. Along with the move Happy Hour and the G-Max Move G-Max Gold Rush, these all modify the amount of money that is gained from winning a battle.

[[AC:WebComics]]

* ''Webcomic/TheGamer'': Han Jihan asks his best friend Shin Sun-Il whether he could make money using his newfound supernatural powers. His friend replies that Gaia does allow people to do it, for as long as they aren't so blatant about it as to threaten TheMasquerade. As long as that one restriction is complied with, any money-making endeavour using special abilities is perfectly fine. Satisfied, Han Jihan uses his gamer powers to grind money in ways not available to the rest of the Abyss community.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': Defied, as it's against Da Rules to wish for money.
** Played Straight in one episode where, Timmy adds Cosmo's sweat to his lemonade to make a profit so he can buy tickets for Crash Nebula on ice for his friends.

* In ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'', Colossus is introduced while making some money demolishing an old building.