History Main / StrongAsTheyNeedToBe

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** In episode 746, [[spoiler:Iris' Axew, a mon in its first stage with a spotty at best record, managed to somehow put up something resembling a fight against [[MemeticBadass Cynthia's Garchomp]] a mon that beat four of Paul's team with one hit each]].

* Asuka, in the ''EndOfEvangelion'', manages to kill (sorta) NINE EVANGELIONS. Each with the ability to fly, and each armed with a massive greatsword [[spoiler:that can turn into a replica Lance of Longinus and ignore any AT Field]]. With only 20 seconds for each, due to her power cord being cut. Armed only with a short knife. After having just wiped out a small army of a battleship, several tank battalions, a couple of artillery brigades and a few more VTOL gunships. [[spoiler:Then subverted, as they were ''faking'' being defeated]].

** In ''God of War 2'', his insane strength might be justified that in the beginning Kratos still has all the powers a full-fledged god can brag about, he doesn't brag "Fear the new god of war" while beating the first mooks for nothing, still the trope applies for the rest of the second game and the sequel as well, in ''God of War 3'' Kratos stripped of all his powers he gained on the previous game, can take the pressure of Chronos -- a being who dwarfs the Colossus of Rhodes -- trying to squash him and push him away, after this display of strength it makes one wonder why Kratos needs to face through all the puzzles and locked doors at all.

If any explanation is given at all, this is usually [[HandWave handwaved]] as the character having simply [[HoldingBackThePhlebotinum held everything back]] up until this point, never mind all the dangerous, possibly near-death encounters they've most likely been through up until this point that [[YouNeverAsked could've really used something like this]].

* In ''Manga/DragonBall'' (particularly ''Anime/DragonBallZ''), this is very common. One character is beaten, and a few moments later (without any chance of training), he is so much stronger that he can beat the guy who has just defeated him without even sweating. This is {{Justified|Trope}} by saying that "Saiyans get stronger after losing a fight".

* In ''Manga/SailorMoon'', Mars and Jupiter seem to have natural abilities that may or may not carry over in their transformed states. Mars uses hers often; Jupiter's implied ridiculous amount of strength, alas, does not really jibe with how fights are choreographed and is much rarer than it should be compared to [[PrettyCure some other shows]]. She also tends to [[TheWorfEffect get her ass handed to her]] if she ''does'' get to use it.

* ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven [[TheMovie the Orge]]'' take this trope which has already been used regularly [[UpToEleven up to]] [[IncrediblyLamePun eleven.]] First season Raimon has to fight the third season's BonusBoss, who can easily defeat Zeus, the first season's BigBad that the heroes needed to struggle so much to win in the TV anime. What do they need to win within 30 minutes? A KidFromTheFuture, four new players, and some ''four-tier above'' abilities the heroes learn because they're getting really serious.

* ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'' frequently invokes this trope, with the idea that he was "holding back" for fear that unleashing his true power would kill his opponent. Almost always accompanied by a line such as "Now you must face the full might of Thor!"
** Thor states that even against superhuman foes on Earth, he doesn't dare use his full strength for fear of killing them. There's clearly some ego involved in this, of course, since Earth has some superhumans who are every bit as strong and durable as Thor, if not moreso (see: Hulk, Juggernaut, Hercules, Sentry, etc).
* For another DC example, what powers the MartianManhunter has, and to what degree, varies enormously with who's writing him and the needs of the current story. He seems to have all and only the abilities he needs to put the story where the writer wants it. Sometimes he's like a combination of Superman and Plastic Man (except weaker), and other times he is the most powerful being on Earth (as in a storyline where he turned evil and everyone was terrified of fighting him).
** For that matter, his KryptoniteFactor toward fire is alternately treated as a WeaksauceWeakness that keeps him from being too overpowered, or a [[YourMindMakesItReal psychosomatic]] weakness that can be overcome with willpower; the two inconsistencies go hand in hand.
** In ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'', a [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombie]] MM points out "I'm as powerful as Superman. Why does everyone FORGET that?" before kicking some ass.
* The ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'' {{OMAC}}s are an interesting case. They're villains, which is unusual for this trope, and Strong As They Need To Be is their explicitly stated ability. When they sight a superhero, they'll identify the hero and reconfigure to have the powers and abilities they need to win the fight. Nearly everyone has asked [[FridgeLogic the obvious question]], which is: Why are the bad guys going out of their way to give the heroes a fair chance? Why don't they just configure themselves with the Superman-killing abilities and lay waste to everyone? No answer has yet been given. Fan theories quite naturally abound; for example, as machine-based creatures, it's been suggested that it would take far more energy for them to hit someone as hard as Superman could ''all the time'' than to reconfigure into more limited forms.
** The fact that the Infinite Crisis Brother Eye was made by Batman would explain a lot.
* The ComicBook/IncredibleHulk's level of physical might and durability varies tremendously. This one, however, has a built-in explanation: Hulk's physical might--and in [[Film/{{Hulk}} the 2003 movie]], his physical mass and size--is directly related to how angry he gets. Hence the CatchPhrase "The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets." For example, {{Wolverine}} has fought him several times--most of the time to a standstill until he manages to get one good cut in and piss the Hulk off enough that his anger really flares up. At the same time, during the {{Onslaught}} [[CrisisCrossover event]], in the last battle with the titular villain, Jean Grey mentally removed any blocks Banner may have had to restrain himself, and he beat the hell out of the physical form of a being that could [[RealityWarper alter reality with a thought]]. In short: hope your first punch knocks him out.
** Similarly to Darwin below, in one story Hulk developed the ability to breathe in space by getting angry enough.
* [[http://www.marvel.com/universe/Darwin Darwin, the Evolving Boy]] from the Comicbook/{{X-Men}} comics literally has this trope as his superpower. Whenever placed in a situation he is unsuited for, he will gain a new power capable of dealing with it. Place him in total darkness and he gets the power to see in the dark. Stick him in a burning building and he becomes immune to fire. Trap him underwater and he grows gills.
** It will not, however, give him an instant 'I Win' button for every fight. An often mentioned example is when they tried to get him to fight [[ComicBook/WorldWarHulk Green Scar Hulk]]: instead of gaining something to match or negate his powers, Darwin's powers instead teleported him to the next state over to get away from the Hulk.
* The Amazons from ''ComicBook/AmazonsAttack'', when Franchise/WonderWoman's people invaded the United States seemed to fluctuate wildly in their power. In one scene they're giving Supergirl and Wonder Girl a hard time, then Superman shows up and trounces them effortlessly, then they're taking down fighter jets with [[RockBeatsLaser flying horses and spears]], Batman can beat them in a straight up fight, they can invade Washington DC and the army can't do a thing to stop them, then they get shot down by soldiers. They're not ImmuneToBullets, and they beat the US army with spears and giant bees!?
** Stygian Killer Hornets, thank you... Bees. My God.

** Venom also goes through this, ranging from only being a little bit stronger than Spidey himself to being able to match the Juggernaut blow for blow.
*** Subverted when Comicbook/{{Spider-Girl}} happened to be in similar situation, with evil god Set trapping every superhero on Earth under unbreakable forcefield. May was doing everything she could to beat him and [[TheJuggernaut even dropping a building on him didn't slow him down]]. However, when May called all her HeroicResolve for one final attack and it was looking like this trope was going to be used....[[GroinAttack she kicked him in the nuts]]. After that, Set admitted that he was holding back on her. Unluckily for him, that kick was painful enough to make him stop upholding the force field and released the superheroes who unleashed a giant ass-kicking upon him.
* [[ComicBook/FantasticFour The Thing]] is another character whose strength has actual limits and there are some foes that he simply cannot overpower. Although we pretty much have to be ''told'' this for this to be true, at one point he was even asked point blank how strong he was and his answer was "STRONG ENOUGH!"

* [[TheSentry Sentry]] has this problem, one time being able to fight with Hulk as equal, having his ass handed to him by ComicBook/SheHulk or [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHercules Hercules]] another and then going into a level where he can [[spoiler: [[ComicBook/DarkReign kill Ares, wipe the floor with Thor and destroy Asgard single-handedly]]]] or kill [[spoiler: Molecule Man]]. May be justified as his powers may depend on his emotional level or [[spoiler: how much he's influenced by the Void]]
** Not to mention [[DependingOnTheWriter the writer]]. At any given time he may just be [[StockSuperpowers Super-Fabio]], but then again he may also be a high scale reality warper, have complete control over every molecule in the universe, or be [[Literature/TheBible the angel of death]]

* This is actually part of Comicbook/{{Venom}} (Mac Gargan)'s powers; when injured or threatened, the symbiote can increase in mass and strength to meet whatever threat it is fighting with equal force.
* SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}}, whose healing powers are literally taken from Wolverine, has his own healing ability fluctuate wildly depending on how powerful they need to be for the plot. This is explained away as a result of the constant battle between his cancer and his healing powers, as sometimes the cancer gains ground and sometimes the healthy cells gain ground. It even becomes a major plot point when his healing factor stays in a weakened state and he seeks medical attention to try and improve it. He is literally immortal though, since after meeting Death herself when he was having near death experiences he fell in love with her, Thanos became jealous of Deadpool and prevents his soul from passing on so they can never be together.
* Creator/JackKirby's Celestials, through it's more visible at alternate realities - in ''EarthX'' they as a whole cannot match Galactus, in other worlds they are capable of effortlessly killing three wielders of ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet and in ''ComicBook/WhatIf: SecretWars'' they can take SelfDemonstrating/DoctorDoom, possessing the Infinity Gauntlet AND the power of the Beyonder, despite that both are individually powerful enough to defeat Abstracts, who are supposed to be far above Celestials. And in another reality one of them is no stronger than a fleet of spaceships.

* In ''{{Push}}'', Nick starts out unable even to fix a roll of the dice, and ends up [[spoiler:kicking Victor's well-trained and highly experienced ass, even though Victor was shown earlier literally mopping the floor with Nick... and the ceiling, too. Similarly, during the fight he lost, Nick is shown deflecting a bullet, a trick he had not practiced or even seen until just moments before.]] All this with no training, and with very little practice, apparently only because It Was Time For Him To Win.

* Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'s power varies from film to film. Sometimes, he's able to defeat enemies with a single breath of his atomic breath, while others, he struggles in a tooth-N-claw battle against his enemies. Most of this is explained by many of the movies are set in one of several [[AlternateUniverse Alternate Universes]], so they would be different versions of Godzilla. Still, particularly in the later Showa era, Godzilla usually suffers a total CurbstompBattle in round one, and then inexplicably bounces back more powerful than before. During his "second wind" he will be able tot counter or outright ignore the attacks that caused him severe injury the first time. While Godzilla does have regeneration as one of his powers, the speed and convenience of these turnarounds is still somewhat odd. The best example of this is in ''Film/GodzillaVsGigan'', where Godzilla gains a true second wind after being beaten to the point of being little more than rag doll in Gigan and King Ghidorah's claws, to turning the entire battle around after being thrown into a building and smashing it. A variant of this occurs in ''Film/GodzillaVsMechagodzilla'' which had him gain a new power (temporarily) to get a good grip on his foe.

* Inverted in the [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST-bait]] ''Film/PumaMan'', in which the "superhero" is capable to tearing apart a car or ripping into a brick wall with his bare hands, but at the movie's climax is just ''barely'' able to overpower an elderly DonaldPleasence in a struggle.

** Castiel tends to fall in to this as well, likely because he's so powerful the writers feel they need to gimp him to keep the [[BadassNormal Badass Normals]] relevant. In his first appearance in season 4, he's described as "cosmic" and both the heroes and villains seem to think he's more powerful than anything they've encountered. Half a season later, he gets his ass kicked by [[TheDragon Alistair]]. In season 5, he's cut off from Heaven and gradually loses his powers, however the order he loses them in doesn't make much sense (his healing is gone by the second episode, yet he's still able to ''time travel'' halfway through the season). In season 6, he gets his powers back, but major villain Eve is somehow able to nullify them by virtue of being older than he is. The writers tried to reverse this in season 7 by making the leviathans even stronger than angels, but due to them displaying far less power and routinely getting their asses kicked by humans, demons and ghosts (all of which are much weaker than angels) this came off as a bit of an InformedAbility.

* Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog's speed is very inconsistent from game to game. At Sonic's best he's fast enough to outrun planes, rockets, missiles, etc. while at his worst Sonic can barely outrun [[SonicAdventure2 an eighteen wheeler]].
* VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'s ability to activate witch time seems to be on when the plot needs her to have it. She can activate it for minutes at a time at will with no cost, during normal gameplay she needs to precisely dodge attacks or use magical energy with a device.
* How high and how far Mario is capable of jumping varies from game to game and whether or not he is under player control at the time. For instance, Mario will be unable to jump over obstacles unaided if at all that he would have been more than capable of jumping over unaided in other games, and/or still not be able to do the same despite demonstrating the ability to jump significantly higher than said obstacles in cutscenes or in battle in the very same game.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'',

* In ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse'', certain of the more powerful villains were shown to be able to give He-Man a good trouncing on their very first try. However, if the same villains found themselves tangling with his weaker archfoe Skeletor, they were shown to be unable to inflict so much as a wrinkle on his clothes. This went on up until the introduction of King Hsss, who proved to be [[EvilerThanThou eviler than any of them]].
** In the 2002 version, He-Man's Strong As He Needs To Be nature was perhaps best exemplified by the time he effortlessly lifted a stone tower that had to weigh in excess of a hundred tons and threw it into the sun. Punching any of the bad guys with a similar level of force should've turned them into a pasty smear on the nearest wall, yet they were always treated as legitimate threats.

* Mesmero from WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution. In his first appearance, he's a strong enough telepath to fight Xavier to a draw, but in his next episode Xavier defeats him easily. For most of his appearances he's a SquishyWizard, but in the ''Dark Horizon'' SeasonFinale he can suddenly take on Wolverine ''and'' Sabretooth at the same time. Possibly justified because Mesmero's powers were granted by Apocalypse, and the old mutant may well have adjusted how much power he let his minion use based on how much he thought he'd need.
** Actually, even in his first appearance, Xavier was mindraping Mesmero quite well until a mysterious voice (Apocalyse) said something about not knowing who he's dealing with, and suddenly Xavier is being plastered on the ground.

* In ''Manga/DragonBall'' (particullary ''Manga/DragonBall Z''), this is very common. One character is beaten, and a few moments later (without any chance of training), he is so much stronger that he can beat the guy who has just defeated him without even sweating. This is {{Justified|Trope}} by saying that "Saiyans get stronger after losing a fight".

* ''DGrayMan'' revels in this trope. One time you'll see the whole cast ganging up on a single demon and taking several episodes to beat it, at great cost. The next day, despite being weary of the fight, they can kill them by the dozen.

* In ''Manga/SailorMoon'', Mars and Jupiter seem to have natural abilities that may or may not carry over in their transformed states. Mars uses hers often; Jupiter's implied ridiculous amount of strength, alas, does not really jibe with how fights are choreographed and is much rarer than it should be compared to [[PrettyCure some other shows]]. She also tends to [[WorfEffect get her ass handed to her]] if she ''does'' get to use it.

* At least in the manga, SamuraiDeeperKyo was this trope. Period. There are even one or two techniques used by the heroes that they ''had never tried, just imagined'', and after [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands getting a power up]] or going into a SuperMode, they just do it. And we're not talking about trying a "roundhouse back flying kick". We talk about "the technique that draws my blood make-up over your body to boil your blood from inside".

* Fiamma of the Right from ''ToAruMajutsuNoIndex'' explicitly has this as his power. His ability, The Holy Right, usually manifests itself as a giant bird-like claw growing out of his shoulder. The Holy Right is nearly omnipotent, but it only uses the right amount of force to accomplish what Fiamma wants at the moment. The more powerful his opponent, the more powerful it becomes.
* ''InazumaEleven [[TheMovie the Orge]]'' take this trope which has already been used regularly [[UpToEleven up to]] [[IncrediblyLamePun eleven.]] First season Raimon has to fight the third season's BonusBoss, who can easily defeat Zeus, the first season's BigBad that the heroes needed to struggle so much to win in the TV anime. What do they need to win within 30 minutes? A KidFromTheFuture, four new players, and some ''four-tier above'' abilities the heroes learn because they're getting really serious.
* In ''{{Naruto}}'', the 4th Shinobi War has Kabuto using Impure World Resurrection to summon an army of invincible dead ninja. By invincible, I mean they regenerate at insane rates, often FromASingleCell. To beat them, the Allies have to wound them, and then quickly seal them with a Cloth Binding Jutsu (or a few other techniques used by some main characters) before they heal. So, how fast do they heal? When the Seven Swordsmen appeared, the entire Third Division launched a WorfBarrage at them, only for the Swordsmen to heal before anyone could respond. In the anime, when [[{{Jerkass}} Gari]] was "killed", Pakura jumped in and started fighting the protagonists of the week. Only after they gained the upper hand in a lengthy, drawn out fight did Gari recover and stop them from sealing Pakura.
* In ''YugiohZexal'', the mighty Number monster "Heart-eartH" operates on this principle. It always has a tiny 100 Atk points and 100 Def points. Until you attack it (while it's in attack position), and it gains attack points equal to the Atk of the monster attacking ''it''. So, attack it with a mediocre 1500-Atk monster, and it'll have 1600 Atk points, destroying the weaker monster. Attack it with a gargantuan 5000-atk point monster, and it'll have 5100 Atk points. Combined with its other defenses against destruction by effects, it took some highly advanced cooperative maneuvers by the heroes to get Heart-eartH out of their way.

* ''{{Superman}}'' loves to do this, to the point that he has occasionally become so powerful that, in order to allow him to believably fight small-time thugs, the writers actually needed to reset the universe. Twice.

** Early seasons of ''JusticeLeague'' left Supes vulnerable to strength fluctuations to give the rest of his teammates a chance and front row seat to TheWorfEffect. One instance during the first movie had him taken down by a foot soldier with just one laser blast; the writers admit that they purposely did this as to prevent his teammates from becoming obsolete. Lampshaded in one episode where Flash offers to answer Big Barda's request for help from the League, only to initially be told anyone who wasn't Superman was useless to her.

** And on ''{{Smallville}}'', his powers actually ''do'' fluctuate, based on solar coronal activity, the fact that they're still developing, and the fact that he lives in a freakin' [[KryptoniteIsEverywhere town full of Kryptonite]].

** One of Superman's mainstay abilities is his EyeBeam, traditionally his only true ranged-attack. Rarely limited by an official explanation (save it perhaps de-charges him more quickly if he's acting as a solar-powered battery), Supes generally only uses it against opponents when he's completely restrained or when it wouldn't result in the censors bearing down on him for using it.
*** His invulnerability fluctuates this way too. In some comics, you can put him in a room with a little red sun lamp and kick his ass. In others, he can fly through a red star, then smack into a planet and get up and fight (albeit depowered) as happened in the definitely canon InfiniteCrisis.
* ''{{Thor}}'' frequently invokes this trope, with the idea that he was "holding back" for fear that unleashing his true power would kill his opponent. Almost always accompanied by a line such as "Now you must face the full might of Thor!"

** In ''BlackestNight'', a [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombie]] MM points out "I'm as powerful as Superman. Why does everyone FORGET that?" before kicking some ass.
* The ''InfiniteCrisis'' {{OMAC}}s are an interesting case. They're villains, which is unusual for this trope, and Strong As They Need To Be is their explicitly stated ability. When they sight a superhero, they'll identify the hero and reconfigure to have the powers and abilities they need to win the fight. Nearly everyone has asked [[FridgeLogic the obvious question]], which is: Why are the bad guys going out of their way to give the heroes a fair chance? Why don't they just configure themselves with the Superman-killing abilities and lay waste to everyone? No answer has yet been given. Fan theories quite naturally abound; for example, as machine-based creatues, it's been suggested that it would take far more energy for them to hit someone as hard as Superman could ''all the time'' than to reconfigure into more limited forms.

* TheHulk's level of physical might and durability varies tremendously. This one, however, has a built-in explanation: Hulk's physical might--and in [[Film/{{Hulk}} the 2003 movie]], his physical mass and size--is directly related to how angry he gets. Hence the CatchPhrase "The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets." For example, {{Wolverine}} has fought him several times--most of the time to a standstill until he manages to get one good cut in and piss the Hulk off enough that his anger really flares up. At the same time, during the {{Onslaught}} [[CrisisCrossover event]], in the last battle with the titular villain, Jean Grey mentally removed any blocks Banner may have had to restrain himself, and he beat the hell out of the physical form of a being that could [[RealityWarper alter reality with a thought]]. In short: hope your first punch knocks him out.

** It will not, however, give him an instant 'I Win' button for every fight. An often mentioned example is when they tried to get him to fight [[WorldWarHulk Green Scar Hulk]]: instead of gaining something to match or negate his powers, Darwin's powers instead teleported him to the next state over to get away from the Hulk.
* The Amazons from ''ComicBook/AmazonsAttack'', when WonderWoman's people invaded the United States seemed to fluctuate wildly in their power. In one scene they're giving Supergirl and Wonder Girl a hard time, then Superman shows up and trounces them effortlessly, then they're taking down fighter jets with [[RockBeatsLaser flying horses and spears]], Batman can beat them in a straight up fight, they can invade Washington DC and the army can't do a thing to stop them, then they get shot down by soldiers. They're not ImmuneToBullets, and they beat the US army with spears and giant bees!?

* SpiderMan has this problem very often. His strength, while theoretically possible to mathematically calculate, is subject to plenty of fluctuation. Even his webbing is subject to this, sometimes being broken by a BadassNormal and sometimes strong enough to hold up a car or two.

** On at least two occasions SpiderMan has been trapped on tons of debris when someone's life was at stake. In two occasions he was able to tap into a reserve of strength that allowed him to lift the debris of him, all the while disbelieving it ("Come on, Thor couldn't lift this...the Hulk couldn't lift this!").

*** Subverted when [[SpiderGirl Spider-Girl]] happened to be in similar situation, with evil god Set trapping every superhero on Earth under unbreakable forcefield. May was doing everything she could to beat him and [[TheJuggernaut even dropping a building on him didn't slow him down]]. However, when May called all her HeroicResolve for one final attack and it was looking like this trope was going to be used....[[GroinAttack she kicked him in the nuts]]. After that, Set admitted that he was holding back on her. Unluckily for him, that kick was painful enough to make him stop upholding the force field and released the superheroes who unleashed a giant ass-kicking upon him.

* Peter David pretty much stated this trope when responding to comments of his writing of [[SheHulk She-Hulk]]. Fanboys were quibbling about She-Hulk's power level under PAD's run and he said she'd be as strong as the story required - as the story was more important than the stats.

* [[TheSentry Sentry]] has this problem, one time being able to fight with Hulk as equal, having his ass handed to him by SheHulk or [[IncredibleHercules Hercules]] another and then going into a level where he can [[spoiler: [[ComicBook/DarkReign kill Ares, wipe the floor with Thor and destroy Asgard single-handedly]]]] or kill [[spoiler: Molecule Man]]. May be justified as his powers may depend on his emotional level or [[spoiler: how much he's infulenced by the Void]]
** Not to mention [[DependingOnTheWriter the writer]]. At any given time he may just be [[StockSuperpowers Super-Fabio]], but then again he may also be a high scale reality warper, have complete control over every molecule in the universe, or be [[TheBible the angel of death]]
* Gladiator from the Shi-Ar Imperial Guard and his [[EvilCounterpart evil]] [[DistaffCounterpart female version]] Stronian have powers depending on their confidence, so if they fell even smaller fear, doubt or regret, they're getting weaker.

* {{Deadpool}}, whose healing powers are literally taken from Wolverine, has his own healing ability fluctuate wildly depending on how powerful they need to be for the plot. This is explained away as a result of the constant battle between his cancer and his healing powers, as sometimes the cancer gains ground and sometimes the healthy cells gain ground. It even becomes a major plot point when his healing factor stays in a weakened state and he seeks medical attention to try and improve it. He is literally immortal though, since after meeting Death herself when he was having near death experiences he fell in love with her, Thanos became jealous of Deadpool and prevents his soul from passing on so they can never be together.
* JackKirby's Celestials, through it's more visible at alternate realities - in ''EarthX'' they as a whole cannot match Galactus, in other worlds they are capable of effortlessly killing three wielders of ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet and in ''ComicBook/WhatIf: SecretWars'' they can take DoctorDoom, possessing the Infinity Gauntlet AND the power of the Beyonder, despite that both are individually powerful enough to defeat Abstracts, who are supposed to be far above Celestials. And in another reality one of them is no stronger than a fleet of spaceships.
* Deconstructed with Plutonian in {{Irredeemable}} - [[spoiler: he doesn't really have super strength - he is a reality warper and breaks laws of physics without thinking about it, so he can subconciously set himself to be as strong as the situation requires him to]].
* {{Lobo}} may have this as an explicit superpower. Or he could have been lying. Regardless, he can go toe to toe with Superman and regenerate FromASingleCell... and then get himself killed (briefly) by a surprise knife to the guts.

* {{Wolverine}} pulls this off in ''Film/{{X-Men}}: The Last Stand'' when he faces down Phoenix in the climactic scene of the movie. His healing powers are inexplicably multiplied to the point where he can walk up to Phoenix (who by this point had already atomized several main characters and the entirety of Alcatraz island), taking multiple psychic blasts which flay the muscles from his bones only to fully regenerate in less than a second. Keep in mind that this version of Wolverine took some time to heal from a single gunshot or being hit by a log. This was so egregious that it got a WordOfGod {{Retcon}}, stating that Phoenix's out-of-control abilities also amplified the powers of nearby mutants.

* Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'s power varies from film to film. Sometimes, he's able to defeat enemies with a single breath of his atomic breath, while others, he struggles in a tooth-N-claw battle against his enemies. Most of this is explained by many of the movies are set in one of several [[AlternateUniverse Alternate Universes]], so they would be different versions of Godzilla. Still, particularly in the later Showa era, Godzilla usually suffers a total CurbstompBattle in round one, and then inexplicably bounces back more powerful than before. During his "second wind" he will be able tot counter or outright ignore the attacks that caused him severe injury the first time. While Godzilla does have regeneration as one of his powers, the speed and convinence of these turnarounds is still somewhat odd. The best example of this is in ''Film/GodzillaVsGigan'', where Godzilla gains a true second wind after being beaten to the point of being little more than rag doll in Gigan and King Ghidorah's claws, to turning the entire battle around after being thrown into a building and smashing it. A variant of this occurs in ''Film/GodzillaVsMechagodzilla'' which had him gain a new power (temporarily) to get a good grip on his foe.

*** Orcs are a special case. A feral Ork army is almost laughable in terms of strength, while a carefully constructed WAAAGH! is almost unstoppable. Often, you'll see something in between the two. The strength of the Orks depends on the strength of the local WAAAGH! It's a species that runs on ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve, thus StrongAsTheyNeedToBe is easily justified. The writer just has to limit how hard they can "clap."
*** This is not strictly correct. The strength of Orks actually depends on the strength of ''their opponent''. Orks are a survivor race, and much like the Darwin Boy example in the Comics section, Orks are actually a ''very'' straight example of this trope. Orks who face a more powerful and able opponent will be just as tough, whereas if the opponent is incompetent they wont be any worse, but they'll not be any better than they would normally be. So it isn't about the whole ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve, which is not just innaccurate, but overused concerning Orks, but it is that Orks get better through reacting to stimuli. Comparing Orks between stories, or in certain games such as Gorkamorka, where they don't have as much of a dedicated opponent, the contrast is rather striking.

* This is an explicit rule in Diane Duane's YoungWizards series. The PowersThatBe ensure that every wizard has enough power to deal with whatever the current crisis is. Luckily, drama is preserved by making failure a real option; just because you're ''strong'' enough to solve the problem doesn't mean you'll figure out the solution, or want to pay the price.

* In the ''DragonridersOfPern'' book ''All the Weyrs of Pern'', a character asks one of the dragonriders how much a dragon can lift. F'lar, the Dragonrider, considers the question before answering "they can lift as much as they think they can." This turns out to be Justified a few books down the line, when it's revealed the dragons have telekinetic powers that somehow no one had noticed in over 2,500 years.
* In {{the Elric Saga}}, Stormbringer is noticeably fickle this way. It can empower Elric to slaughter his way through hundreds of human opponents or even kill ''gods'' one day and have trouble dealing with a single lesser (if generally still supernatural) foe the next, as the plot and RuleOfDrama demand. Of course, it's worth remembering that the runeblade is itself of demonic origin, alive and sentient in its own fashion, and obviously evil to the point of outright treachery at times...

* Inverted in the [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST-bait]] ''PumaMan'', in which the "superhero" is capable to tearing apart a car or ripping into a brick wall with his bare hands, but at the movie's climax is just ''barely'' able to overpower an elderly DonaldPleasence in a struggle.

* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'''s GrandFinale, Clark flies up to Apokolips, a planet with engines on it, and shoves it all the way back into space saving the day and exhibiting about a billion times the super strength he's ever demonstrated in the TV series. This is SilverAge level power for Superman and even that character was normally moving inert planets when he moved something that massive.
** Possibly justified, as Apokolips was said to have been drawn to Earth by humanity's despair, amplified by Darkseid's corruption. However because Clark became a [[TheParagon beacon of hope]], he was able to eradicate Darkseid's influence, severely weakening Apokolips in the process.

* In ''MetalGearSolid4'', Snake's barely able to fight after being stabbed in the shoulder, but spends a good five minutes in a microwave corridor intended to vapourise anyone who entered immediately after suffering a heart attack, and is still just about able to kick away Scarabs.

* SonicTheHedgehog's speed is very inconsistent from game to game. At Sonic's best he's fast enough to outrun planes, rockets, missiles, etc. while at his worst Sonic can barely outrun [[SonicAdventure2 an eighteen wheeler]].

* The superheroine Tennyo in the ''WhateleyUniverse''. In the novel "Boston Brawl", she suddenly gained increased regeneration and strength. In her novel "Christmas Crisis" she went all out to save her parents, and pretty much ripped reality apart. And maybe survived a tactical nuke, or else she somehow teleported away. The author hasn't told us yet.

* {{Nodwick}}'s muscle strength is just enough to carry [[http://nodwick.humor.gamespy.com/gamespyarchive/index.php?date=2002-06-13 whatever load he is asked to move]] but is not suggested to have super strength.

* Butch of ''ChoppingBlock'' is overweight and out-of-shape, and was once outrun by an old lady with a walker, but whenever his life is in danger, he becomes absurdly lethal. Chalk it up to the strip's NegativeContinuity.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', due to the emphasis on the RuleOfCool, the team's powers and abilities were considerably up and down. One infamous example was the case where [[BadassNormal superpowerless]] Boy Wonder was able to singlehandedly beat down Cinderblock, with his bare hands. Every other time however, Robin and his teammates struggled to defeat him. The Titans often reached literal godlike levels during the season finales.
** Let's not forget Cyborg's little trick of reassembling himself after Brother Blood literally took him apart in a fight. This was so ridiculous that the writers [[LampshadeHanging included a line of dialogue]] stating that this was a one time thing.
** Raven's strength fluctuations are legendary. In some cases she's been beaten by just having her mouth forced shut, but when the plot calls for it she's capable of soloing her PhysicalGod father. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] because Raven's powers are fueled by her emotions; the more passionate she becomes about defeating an enemy, the stronger her powers become in order to accomplish it.
** Starfire is pretty bad about this trope. She can survive extreme environments when the plot calls for it, and be totally helpless when it doesn't. In one episode, Starfire winds up wandering around frozen tundra, apparently in danger of freezing to death. Given her super speed and flight abilities, there was nothing in that episode stopping her from flying out of the area, or back to Titans Tower to get proper equipment if things get too hairy. The weirdest part is that Starfire has been shown to be able to comfortably survive in the vacuum of space several times. Then too there might be an explanation for both her (and Raven's) powers in that they're emotion based, which means that theoretically, a villain could defeat Starfire by getting her depressed enough.
*** But the strangest would have to be on 'Haunted' where Robin(HUMAN!) manages to "hurt" her just by grabbing her arms?! Granted at that moment she is really shocked and confused at the way Robin was acting. But this is an alien that took a blast to her face in 'Troq' where she was also visibly upset at being discriminated by Val-Yor.

*** Robin has been shown to be able to curbstomp all of the other Titans 3 separate times, twice when they weren't holding back, and yet will also lose to villains that any one of the other members of the team can beat singlehandly.
* In ''HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse'', certain of the more powerful villains were shown to be able to give He-Man a good trouncing on their very first try. However, if the same villains found themselves tangling with his weaker archfoe Skeletor, they were shown to be unable to inflict so much as a wrinkle on his clothes. This went on up until the introduction of King Hsss, who proved to be [[EvilerThanThou eviler than any of them]].
** In the 2002 version, He-Man's [[StrongAsTheyNeedToBe Strong As He Needs To Be]] nature was perhaps best exemplified by the time he effortlessly lifted a stone tower that had to weigh in excess of a hundred tons and threw it into the sun. Punching any of the bad guys with a similar level of force should've turned them into a pasty smear on the nearest wall, yet they were always treated as legitimate threats.

** Not to mention one time where an overweight nerd was able to trap them in toy packaging. I mean, SERIOUSLY?!
*** That one can be [[FridgeBrilliance justified, due to a lack of leverage from being completely imobilized.]]

* Mesmero from XMenEvolution. In his first appearance, he's a strong enough telepath to fight Xavier to a draw, but in his next episode Xavier defeats him easily. For most of his appearances he's a SquishyWizard, but in the ''Dark Horizon'' SeasonFinale he can suddenly take on Wolverine ''and'' Sabertooth at the same time. Possibly justified because Mesmero's powers were granted by Apocalypse, and the old mutant may well have adjusted how much power he let his minion use based on how much he thought he'd need.
** Actually, even in his first appearance, Xavier was mindraping Mesmero quite well until a mysterious voice(Apocalyse) said something about not knowing who he's dealing with, and suddenly Xavier is being plastered on the ground.
* The Enforcers of ''JackieChanAdventures''. In some episodes, Jackie effortlessly curbstomps all three with no effort, and a handicap to boot; in others, just one is enough to give him trouble for no noticeable reason.

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* In {{Toku}} series such as ''KamenRider, SuperSentai, PowerRangers'' and the like, this trope is in effect, with power levels depending on how pissed you are, what time of episode it is and how fast the plot needs to move past one fight, and how loud you yelled before rushing in. ''HikoninSentaiAkibaranger,'' a parody SuperSentai series, had the Rangers realize that the general leaving is like an EventFlag for the good guys to start winning; the MonsterOfTheWeek was been invincible before, but they realize what always happens soon after the general says something to the effect of "I'll leave this to you" to the monster. As suddenly they're pummeling the previously-unbeatable foe, Red triumphantly cries out that consistent power levels ''do not exist!'' Yeah, it's that kinda series.

* This is actually the ability of David in ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'' where he is as physically strong as he needs to be. Demonstrated where no matter how much weight that was added he could still lift it.

* [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} Ash Ketchum]]. One minute he's beating a League champion in a tough battle. The next he's struggling against some also-ran. Though to be fair, a lot can depend on which Pokemon are being used at the time...

*** [[FridgeBrilliance Makes sense if the super-charging it got very early in the series is slowly wearing off.]]

** Ash has more. Ash did the Battle Frontier in Kanto and won (And offered a position as a Frontier Brain). Paul has not been shown to have participated and later actually challenged and lost to Brandon and express surprise when he discovered Ash had previously beaten him.
** Ash had several advantages in his battle against Brandon Paul did not have. Brandon used four Pokemon against Ash, and he wasn't allowed to substitute, while Ash could. Brandon could use six Pokemon against Paul, and both could substitute. Meanwhile, Brandon used Regice, the legendary he had the least time training with against Ash. With Paul, Brandon used all three. Not to mention Ash won by the skin of his teeth.
** Also, Paul's emotions got the better of him at the time, not like Ash was perfect in his battle against Brandon either. Seismic Toss on a Ghost type? [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Really]]? That's an amateur mistake unfitting someone of Ash's experience no matter how you look at it.

** Somewhat averted with level 4 akumas, who are still crazy tough and require you being general strength just to beat one. The first one actually had a lot more punishment than the rest of them as it had all the generals, the protagonist and a recently re-empowered ActionGirl against it.

*** Though, WordOfGod says that even after taking PowerLevels into account, you can never really be sure how two different powers will match up against each other. Being made of rubber made Luffy completely immune to Enel's electricity, but Foxxy was smart enough to [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower use his comparatively lame power - temporarily slowing down objects - to it's maximum potential]] during his arc.

*** In the defense of ComicBook/KingdomCome, there ARE hints earlier in the book that this Superman is much more powerful than others. Luthor himself mentions that Supes is so soaked up on sunlight, he's now immune to Kryptonite.
*** Also, what was stated was that the bomb would have killed Superman if it had hit him point blank. [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] was presented as exactly as powerful after all, and [[spoiler: it took his sacrifice to save Superman and the others powerful enough to take it]]. (Doctor Fate & Green Lantern, who protected about half of the fighters)

*** Some stories suggest that, like Hulk, Supes' power level is affected by his mood. In ComicBook/ForTheManWhoHasEverything, he was so mad at Mongul that he actually wanted to kill him, and he went absolutely apeshit on him. Mongul is normally stronger that Supes[[hottip:* : Well, not so much stronger as "a much better fighter" Supes can overpower him, but Mongul is too strong a fighter to get overwhelmed like that]].

** However, he only gains a power that will let him ''survive'', which doesn't necessarily mean winning. Stick him in a fight with TheHulk, for example, and he gains the ability to teleport into the next state or NighInvulnerability that would let him weather The Hulk's fury (but nothing that would let him actually fight back).

** Maybe Kratos has extra powers when attacking statues?

** Well, he's a god of ''war''. [[FridgeBrilliance Maybe he's strongest when he's got something to fight?]]
*** No, look, Kratos is CHAMPION of this trope. Strength: he has to struggle to overpower and mouthstab a minotaur, but he is also able to pry apart Chronos's fingers, and just before Chronos he was overpowered (depending on your quicktime reactions) by an old man, Daedalus, who is a great inventor but NOT a warrior by any means. Durability: he can take blows and blasts from Gods and hill sized Titans and stand up singed but fighting fit, but miss a jump over a 20 foot cliff face or land on spikes or in the ocean or something and he dies...

* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', during the Trolls' battle against the [[BigBad Black King]] of their session, [[MonsterClown Gamzee]] suddenly unleashes never before seen power against him, doing almost as much damage as Vriska, a God Tier character with manipulation of luck.
** Not almost as much - it was stated he did the single strongest attack in the battle. No one has any idea what he did, but he was stronger that everyone.

* The supervillain Lung, from ''Literature/{{Worm}}''. has this as an explicit power. The longer he fights the stronger he becomes, slowly morphing from a man into an enormous unstoppable dragon. Ironically he is taken out by the Hero in the first arc and serves as a StarterVillain, despite the fact that he literally went toe to toe with the literal bringers of the apocalypse. Beings that can sink continents and burn cities from the face of the earth.

Another possible explanation is that the extra power is used only in dire emergencies because it's extremely dangerous (or, worse, is positively guaranteed to cause Really Bad consequences). If so, it's an example of GodzillaThreshold, not this trope.

** Ichigo's own fluctuating power levels throughout the manga are a result of [[spoiler:Zangetsu keeping his true potential as a soul reaper (shinigami) at bay. Meaning that Ichigo was literally as strong as he needed to be for each battle, until Zangetsu finally gave up and decided to protect Ichigo as best he could. He did so because "Zangetsu" isn't really Zangetsu - he's the manifestation of Ichigo's quincy powers and technically a part of the ''real'' Zangetsu.]]

'''Vegeta:''' Back on your planet, the Namek couldn't even stand up to [[StarterVillain Nappa]]. Yet here he is, now, taking on [[BigBad Freeza]]. [[OneWingedAngel In his second form!]]\\

* In the {{Buffyverse}} as a whole the strength of vampires varies greatly, from clearly superhuman on a level that can't hope to be matched (Buffy and Angel Season 1) to being able to be beat by the BadassNormal of Angel, Charles Gunn, easily.
** When asked about the strength of Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer, JossWhedon [[WordOfGod replied]], literally "[[ShrugOfGod as strong as the plot needs her to be]]".

** ''Series/{{Angel}}'' tended to do this a lot as well. Particularly notable with Connor, whose abilities seemed to correspond directly to how inconvenient it would be. When he's on their side, gets beaten up by practically everything not an ordinary vampire. When fighting against them, took out almost the entire team single handed, twice.
*** But then again, he [[spoiler: ended a threat that had lasted for an entire season by punching a hole in the face of an "evil" goddess']]. Because he was the only one awake who could.

** Starfire is pretty bad about this trope. She can survive extreme environments when the plot calls for it, and be totally helpless when it doesn't. In one episode, Starfire winds up wandering around frozen tundra, apparently in danger of freezing to death. Given her super speed and flight abilities, there was nothing in that episode stopping her from flying out of the area, or back to Titans Tower to get proper equipment if things get too hairy. Then too there might be an explanation for both her (and Raven's) powers in that they're emotion based, which means that theoretically, a villain could defeat Starfire by getting her depressed enough.

*** In the ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' series finale, this is explained by saying that Superman always holds back when using his powers, because he "live[s] in a [[WorldOfCardboardSpeech world made of cardboard]]" and is always afraid that, if he loses control, someone might get killed. "But you can take it, can't you, big man?" He then proceeds to [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome slam Darkseid through a half-dozen]] ([[NoEndorHolocaust deserted]]) [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome skyscrapers with a single punch.]]

** Cyborg and Starfire's SuperStrength also varies greatly just compared to each other, as one can be shown at any given moment to be several magnitudes stronger than the other.

* {{Bayonetta}}'s ability to activate witch time seems to be on when the plot needs her to have it. She can activate it for minutes at a time at will with no cost, during normal gameplay she needs to precisely dodge attacks or use magical energy with a device.

* The supervillain Lung, from LiteratureWorm has this as an explicit power. The longer he fights the stronger he becomes, slowly morphing from a man into an enormous unstoppable dragon. Ironically he is taken out by the Hero in the first arc and serves as a StarterVillain, despite the fact that he literally went toe to toe with the literal bringers of the apocalypse. Beings that can sink continents and burn cities from the face of the earth.

* The supervillain Lung, from "Worm" has this as an explicit power. The longer he fights the stronger he becomes, slowly morphing from a man into an enormous unstoppable dragon. Ironically he is taken out by the Hero in the first arc and serves as a StarterVillian, despite the fact that he literally went toe to toe with the literal bringers of the apocalypse. Beings that can sink continents and burn cities from the face of the earth.

* The supervillain Lung, from 'Worm' has this as an explicit power. The longer he fights the stronger he becomes, slowly morphing from a man into an enormous unstoppable dragon. Ironically he is taken out by the Hero in the first arc and serves as a starter villian, despite the fact that he literally went toe to toe with the literal bringers of the apocalypse. Beings that can sink continents and burn cities from the face of the earth.

* WebVideo/AngryVideoGameNerd example. The nerd is able to beat Jason in a fight, but has trouble beating WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', during the Trolls' battle against the [[BigBad Black King]] of their session, [[EvilClown Gamzee]] suddenly unleashes never before seen power against him, doing almost as much damage as Vriska, a God Tier character with manipulation of luck.