History Main / WillfullyWeak

* ''Anime/PhantomQuestCorp'': As a vampire, [[FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire Bosco]] ''should be'' inherently stronger than any human. Because he's chosen to limit himself to feeding only 4 times a year, at only 200cc's per quarter, he's become [[DelicateAndSickly anemic and severely weakened]]. In his brief tussle with Ayaka, he only held out for a few seconds, before exerting himself and fainting. Even so, he's content since it allows him to be [[NatureAdoresAVirgin with Makiko]], who's a 19-year-old college freshman [[LoveRedeems that he fell in love with.]]

* In the ''Series/{{Castle}}''/''Series/Daredevil2015''/''Series/TheSentinel'' crossover "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11334760/1/Who-Watches-the-Watchman Who Watches the Watchmen]]", Lanie Parish has healing abilities which she uses to heal most of the injuries Matt Murdock has sustained in his vigilante career. She admits that she could also heal his eyes to restore his vision, but she is reluctant to do that as his brain has basically wired itself to compensate for the loss of his sight and she isn't sure how he would cope if she restored it, to say nothing of how his blindness has given him the ability to 'see' auras, which could be useful against the current threat.

* ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel]]: Charlie Morningstar is this, as per WordOfGod. She's one of the strongest beings in all of Hell, only outclassed by her parents, Lucifer and Lilith. However, she's ''way'' too nice to casually throw her full weight around.

* From Guilty Gear's SpiritualSuccessor, ''VideoGame/{{BlazBlue}}'':

* ''Manga/MagiTheLabyrinthOfMagic'': Aladdin, being a Magi has the ability to use the Rukh from his surroundings powering his magic, for comparison, normal people can only use their own, meaning that Aladin's attacks are way more powerful, if even only by the merit that he can use way more energy for them than every normal mage. In the Academy arc he needs to pass as a normal student, he accomplishes this by using a PowerLimiter in form of a crystal that keeps him from using the energy of his surroundings, effectively meaning he's just as strong as everyone else, at first this clearly shows as before that his magic was nearly solely dependent on the abnormal levels of power he could put into it, meaning the first few times he doesn't have this... tends to produce ''very'' weak spells. In the end though he's, in spite of the crystals, one of the most powerful students in the academy.

** Malenia does this constantly. The [[MysticalPlague Scarlet Rot]] that's made her DelicateAndSickly ([[{{Superboss}} by demigod standards]]) is actually a ''[[BlessedWithSuck blessing]]'' from the Outer God that created the Rot, making her a potential goddess of Scarlet Rot. However, as actually ''using'' said divine power would result in [[WalkingWasteland spreading Scarlet Rot everywhere she goes]], she instead struggles to keep it contained within herself, leaving her a MagicallyIneptFighter with a terrible disease instead of a terrifying plague deity. This is reflected in her boss fight: In her first phase, as Blade of Miquella, she fights as she normally would - [[ImplaucibleFencingSkills pure swordsmanship]] and [[{{Determinator}} stubbornness]] - and attacks relatively slowly because her focus is constantly split. When she decides that the fight has passed the GodzillaThreshold and embraces her title as the Goddess of Rot, she shows off ''vastly'' increased aggression, flight, clone attacks, and a massive Rot AOE.

* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' uses this on a series-wide level with the spellcard rules. A formal system of dueling and battling that everyone in Gensoukyou must abide by, it deliberately levels the playing field, giving the weaker fighters a better chance of success and preventing the more powerful ones from simply pressing the "I win" button, as well as ensuring all fights end in a NonLethalKO.

** [[RealityWarper Yukari Yakumo]] is a heavy candidate for the most powerful denizen of Gensoukyou, being stated to have enough power to ''easily'' destroy the setting, yet manages to put up challenging yet doable fights in the games. The fact that she usually prefers to [[ChessMaster manipulate people into doing what she wants]] and that she's also [[TheSlacker really lazy]] probably influences how much power she uses during fights, too.

** Malenia does this constantly. The Scarlet Rot that's made her DelicateAndSickly by demigod standards is actually a ''blessing'' from the Outer God that created the Rot, making her a potential goddess of Scarlet Rot. However, as actually ''using'' said divine status would result in spreading Scarlet Rot everywhere she goes, she instead struggles to keep it contained within herself, leaving her a MagicallyIneptFighter with a terrible disease instead of a terrifying plague deity. This is reflected in her boss fight: In her first phase, as Blade of Miquella, she fights as she normally would- pure swordsmanship and stubbornness- and attacks relatively slowly because her focus is constantly split. When she decides that the fight has passed the GodzillaThreshold and embraces her title as the Goddess of Rot, she shows off ''vastly'' increased aggression, flight, clone attacks, and a massive Rot AOE.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' episode "Ill Met By Moonlight," Oberon applies this trope to himself while hunting the Avalon Clan. As Goliath points out, he is still as powerful as any of the Third Race, and that's still extremely powerful. In fact, they are totally helpless against his magic and get a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown when he uses hand-to-hand against them. [[spoiler:He is then defeated by the ringing of an [[ColdIron iron bell]]]].
* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'':
** There's ComicBook/TheFlash's secondary ability, which you almost never see: he can vibrate at an incredibly fast rate, creating an unstable resonance. When he ends up [[FreakyFridayFlip swapping bodies with Luthor]], Luthor uses this ability without restraint in order to [[StuffBlowingUp blow up huge areas of the Tower]].
** The Flash can also accelerate up to [[LudicrousSpeed light speed]] if the situation is [[GodzillaThreshold dire enough]] and he literally transforms into the thunderbolt that is his superhero symbol. It's clear why he normally doesn't: Just running down streets basically causes them to explode from the shockwave, causing untold amounts of damage. It also turns out to be very dangerous to him, so he vows that he can never do it again after the first time.
** In his NoMoreHoldingBackSpeech, Superman explains that he has to be this nearly all the time, because he is ''so immensely powerful'' that he has to take extra care not to break the world around him. But since Darkseid can ''take'' his strength, he doesn't need to screw around anymore.

-->'''Perfuma:''' Some might say that's a positive quality...
-->'''Netossa:''' [[BrutalHonesty It's not]].

This can overlap with FightsLikeANormal for a character that usually suppresses all fantastic powers and fights as a BadassNormal. A character that ditches their restraining bolt becomes NotSoWeak. Compare ObfuscatingStupidity, for when a character specifically pretends to be dumb. Not to be confused with WeakWilled, which is a character that gets brainwashed easily.

* ComicBook/TheMightyThor'': Thor, the Norse god of thunder, has to intentionally hold himself back when fighting due to his not wanting to kill his enemies, make his friends feel weak in comparison, or harm a lot of innocent bystanders and cause huge collateral damage. When he cuts loose, the collateral damage can include ''planets.''

** When you meet her, [[VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet Nemona]] is already a Champion-ranked trainer, meaning she's already raised a team of powerful Pokémon, defeated all of the Gym Leaders, the Elite Four, and the [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership official Champion]], Ms. Geeta (with Geeta even stating that Nemona is probably the ''actual'' strongest trainer in the region). However, the game begins with her deciding to train up an entirely new team from scratch for the sole purpose being able to follow you on your journey and serve as a rival. In fact, it's heavily implied that Nemona has always held back in fights, even against Geeta, and her investment in the player's growth is in good part because she sees you as someone who can ''finally'' give her a worthwhile challenge.

This can overlap with FightsLikeANormal for a character that usually suppresses all fantastic powers and fights as a BadassNormal. A character that ditches their restraining bolt becomes NotSoWeak. Compare ObfuscatingStupidity, for when a character specifically pretends to be dumb.

** Following a rather humiliating defeat at the hands of [[FearInducer Äs Nödt]] (thanks in no small part to the Sternritter [[PowerParasite stealing]] his [[SuperMode Bankai]]), Byakuya showcases how he's [[TookALevelInBadass become stronger in the intervening days]] by casually shrugging off one of his attacks during the Wandenreich's second invasion. Äs Nödt assumes that Byakuya accomplished this by setting up his Bankai in advance, only for Byakuya to clarify that he's still only using his Shikai (and he proves it by showing he's still carrying Senbonzakura's hilt in his hand). Äs Nödt sees this as Byakuya mocking him and promptly [[VillainousBreakdown loses it]].

** [[RealityWarper Mr. Mxyzptlk]] has way more power than he can safely use -- modifying the universe too much would [[ApocalypseHow damage its structural underpinnings]]. Very, very bad things happened in a storyline where he accidentally gave 99% of his power to [[OmnicidalManiac the Joker]].

** ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'': Supergirl holds back the whole time for the same reasons her cousin does: she's too powerful and she'll kill someone if her control slips.

* In the {{Meta}} sense, {{Self Imposed Challenge}}s like not using certain (or any) weapons, spells, characters, or performing {{Low Level Run}}s are done by gamers either to prove a point or because they've become so good at the game it's intended challenge isn't enough anymore. Not using guns in ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'', not getting the sword in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'', not recruiting Mia in ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'', the list goes on and on and on.

* On the lower end of the scale, Cassandra Cain / [[ComicBook/Batgirl2000 Batgirl]] has CharlesAtlasSuperpower even by Batman's standards, but (almost) never uses more force than strictly necessary. In one issue, Batman leaves her guarding an unconscious superhuman and tells her to hit him hard enough to crush a normal skull if he moves. When he starts to get up, she drives his head through the floorboards.
* Jaime Reyes, aka ComicBook/BlueBeetle, regularly has to [[KidWithTheLeash talk his suit down from using its more lethal abilities]]- and, being built as a planet-killing superweapon, it has a ''lot'' of lethal abilities. It's implied that the suit's powers go as far as ''deicide'', but nonfatal takedowns? Those options are jury-rigged from the scarab's damage and Jaime's willpower.
* ComicBook/CaptainBritain learned all about this while teaming up with Spider-Man. Half-canine criminals don't deserve a max-power punch in the snout (Doggy-girl survived, her bills paid by the Cap).
* ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk had been specifically shown to be held back subconsciously by Bruce Banner, presumably to reduce collateral damage and prevent Hulk from killing his opponents. When Jean Grey suppressed Banner at his request in the fight against Onslaught, Hulk became the only hero who does ''any'' damage to the PhysicalGod and outright destroys his physical forms. To put it in perspective Onslaught was first introduced as having issued a complete CurbStompBattle to ''The Juggernaut'' off-screen.
* Similarly, Black Bolt of ''ComicBook/TheInhumans'' has a voice that can shatter cities. As a result, he's trained himself to be completely silent at all times and never speaks... except in the regular cases in which the writers take his powers away.
* [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]], the Norse god of thunder, has to intentionally hold himself back when fighting due to him not wanting to kill his enemies, make his friends feel weak in comparison, or harm a lot of innocent bystanders and cause huge collateral damage. When he cuts loose, the collateral damage can include ''planets.''
* [[RealityWarper Mr. Mxyzptlk]] has way more power than he can safely use -- modifying the universe too much would [[ApocalypseHow damage its structural underpinnings]]. Very, very bad things happened in a storyline where he accidentally gave 99% of his power to [[OmnicidalManiac the Joker]].
* In ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyMicroSeries'' Issue #2 Rainbow Dash spends much of the comic holding herself back after her initial encounter with the Gremlins for fear of hurting her wings again.
* ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'': Johnny Warlock makes it clear to the mobsters he leaves alive in his attack that it is more difficult for him to restrain himself to leave them alive than it would be for him to drain their life energy for himself and leave them withered husks. This helps ensure no one tries to usurp him once he's taken over.
* ''ComicBook/TheSentry'' is an example of this as well. The more power he uses, the more insane he gets. When he is finally allowed to cut loose on the Hulk in World War Hulk, he loses control and becomes a bigger threat to the world than 'the worldbreaker'.
* The ComicBook/SilverSurfer could end a fight with even some of the strongest supers Marvel has to offer in seconds. But he is usually not in the mood for fighting, considering it to be the habit of madmen. [[BewareTheNiceOnes But heaven help you]] [[BullyingADragon when you do piss him off!]]

* Franchise/SpiderMan constantly pulls his punches to avoid accidentally killing someone. During the ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'' series, when Dr. Octopus, having [[GrandTheftMe stolen Peter's body]], [[{{Jawbreaker}} snaps Scorpion's jaw off]] with a single punch, he's shocked at the realization of just how strong Spidey really is, as well as the realization that he was holding back all these years.
* ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'': Supergirl holds back the whole time for the same reasons her cousin does: she's too powerful and she'll kill someone if her control slips.
** When the modern Kara Zor-El (Supergirl) arrived on Earth, she caused a lot of property damage in the early issues until she learned how to control her enormous strength.
** Even when she briefly went out of her mind in ''Comicbook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'' due to the influence of the Red Ring, Supergirl instinctively held back because she didn't want to hurt anybody.
* Franchise/{{Superman}} is always doing this because he's so powerful, the rest of the world may as well be made of cardboard, and the slightest lapse in control on his part could kill someone. When ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'' arrived on Earth -in the post-Crisis universe-, it was thought she was actually more powerful than Superman because he had been holding back so long it seemed that even he forgets what he can do when he lets go (it seems she does still have the edge in flight speed, whereas he has an edge in strength and toughness)
** His son and successor Jon Kent has this way worse, he's ''terrified'' of accidentally hurting a {{Muggle}} with his super-strength, to the point that he gets ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} to train him in martial arts so he can learn how to disarm people with minimum force rather than just yanking the gun out of their hand like his dad would; and dodges blows that couldn't possibly hurt him so people don't accidentally break their knuckles on him. This actually works to his detriment because he subconsciously holds back even against powerful supervillains who could take his full strength.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'':

* ComicBook/{{Cyclops}}, DependingOnTheWriter, does this with his energy beams. Normally, they are strong enough to punch through metal, but through disciplined training and special glasses, he can set them to a sort of stun effect. Given that he hasn't yet learned how to stop constantly projecting them through his eyes, this helps people to feel safer around him.
** His brother Havok works in a similar fashion, using his powers to simulate concussive force by controlling the power of his beams and the distance they travel ''very carefully.'' When he gets serious, he can break the Hulk's bones with direct blasts, absorb enough power from stars to survive in space, and beat the tar out of Vulcan, who normally has complete control over all forms of energy. Overlaps partly with PowerLimiter, as Havok absorbs far more energy out in space than he does on Earth, but he still holds back the vast majority of his power, even on Earth.
* ComicBook/JubileeMarvelComics of the ComicBook/XMen has the power to cause explosions and an acute dislike of hurting people. The result is a super-sidekick who mostly uses her powers to create flash-bang effects, and who once blasted her way out of the cell in which she was being tortured only to immediately put her escape on hold in order to give first aid to one of her guards who had been injured in the blast. It's been shown that, if she wanted to, Jubilee could blow people's heads up from the inside; luckily, she really doesn't want to.
* In the 90s, it was established that ''ComicBook/{{Gambit}}'' of the ''ComicBook/XMen'' was so afraid of the potential for his PersonOfMassDestruction powerset that he had Mr. Sinister ''cut out a piece of his brain'' to diminish his ability to use said powers. Without that surgery, Gambit would have total control over kinetic energy, which would not only allow him to both use his StuffBlowingUp power from a distance and target living creatures with it, but also give him a full-fledged set of ComboPlatterPowers, including [[PlayingWithFire setting things on fire]] and [[AnIcePerson freezing them]], absolute motion control, becoming an EnergyBeing, interplanetary teleportation, time travel, and dimension travel. To put things in context, an alternate version of Gambit who never had the surgery was introduced having beaten ''Dark Phoenix'', a creature with the power to destroy and recreate the universe, ''singlehandedly''. Of course, that Gambit had also inadvertently annihilated all life on Earth by accident, so Gambit feels more than a little justified in having the surgery. This plot has been largely ignored since the 90s.
* ''Franchise/TheFlash'': People connected to the Speed Force are capable of ''ridiculous'' levels of SuperSpeed, but since the vast majority of the world ''isn't'', [[StrongAsTheyNeedToBe they only tap into a fraction of their potential power most of the time]]. In fact, this is largely the only reason most of their enemies stand a chance; they use so little of their speed that it's still possible for non-speedsters to catch them off-guard, especially when attacking from behind. This is extra justified by the fact the Speed Force doesn't give this power out for free; using too much of its power causes them to start being pulled into the Speed Force itself, which requires a tremendous amount of willpower to resist the pull of (Wally West is the only one regularly shown capable of such, at least initially). As most would rather not abandon their loved ones, they stave off pushing themselves unless they need to, such as when trying to out-race a nuclear explosion to evacuate a city, escape the concept of death itself, or fighting an evil speedster who has no qualms about how much speed they use.
* In some of the many continuities that feature him Alan Scott, [[Characters/GreenLantern1941 the Golden Age Green Lantern,]] is subconsciously inflicting his WeaksauceWeakness to wood on himself. He feels that someone as powerful as him ''should'' have some form of weakness to avoid falling into AGodAmI territory so, without knowing it, he's making his powers vulnerable to wooden objects.

* ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'': Aladdin, being a Magi has the ability to use the Rukh from his surroundings powering his magic, for comparison, normal people can only use their own, meaning that Aladin's attacks are way more powerful, if even only by the merit that he can use way more energy for them than every normal mage. In the Academy arc he needs to pass as a normal student, he accomplishes this by using a PowerLimiter in form of a crystal that keeps him from using the energy of his surroundings, effectively meaning he's just as strong as everyone else, at first this clearly shows as before that his magic was nearly solely dependent on the abnormal levels of power he could put into it, meaning the first few times he doesn't have this... tends to produce ''very'' weak spells. In the end though he's, in spite of the crystals, one of the most powerful students in the academy.

* In ''Manga/SoulHunter'', it seems clear to most people that while [[TheHero Taikobou]] is [[TheStrategist very]] [[TheChessmaster intelligent]], he isn't very strong. After all, he rarely [[NonActionGuy fights directly]] and when he does, he has to resort to deception and tricks to win. And at the beginning of the Choukoumei arc, he announces that he has [[BroughtDownToNormal temporarily lost his powers]] after using too much energy in the previous fight. Come the fight against Choukoumei, it turns out that he has been holding back the whole arc because sennins don't lose their powers due to exhaustion. Tenka doesn't think it would change much considering how weak Taikoubou is, but the more discerning [[TheLancer Youzen]] point out that [[spoiler:Taikoubou is much stronger than he seems, and has just been acting weak on purpose from the beginning so that the other characters could grow stronger and gain more experience fighting (and because [[BriliantButLazy he is lazy]]). In fact, Genshi Tenson came because he himself didn't know his disciple's actual level and wanted to see him fighting seriously.]]

* Zigzagged in ''Fanfic/BoldoresAndBoomsticks''. Yang enters a fighting-type tournament, so she hands off her weapons to Ruby for the duration in order to avoid breaking the rules (which she's already bending by being a human fighting in a Pokemon tournament). She isn't so much weakened as she is unable to use some of her usual moves, which causes minute hesitation in her fights. Her final opponent, a Lucario, notices and after some discussion uses a precedent to allow Yang to fight with her weapons, [[HonorBeforeReason on the grounds that it]] [[BloodKnight wouldn't be fair otherwise]]. Even with her handicap, she takes second place overall and only ends up losing first due to a ring-out.

* ''Fanfic/PokemonNovaAndAntica'': The Tenla Gym Leaders will ask challengers about their skill level and the number of Tenla badges they have obtained. Depending on the answer, they will hold back and use relatively weaker Pokémon to at least make an earned victory possible. The threshold seems to vary. For example, Marina and Heather will use their stronger Pokemon against any trainer like Paul or Winter who brought along their own powerhouses, while Metacia flat-out refuses anyone who doesn't have at least 5 badges of Tenla.

** Gym Leaders in general are this as well. As their purpose is to test the skills of trainers, they purposely tailor their teams to be just a little more powerful than the teams of starting trainers. In some games, you can challenge them to rematches during the post-game and [[IAmNotLeftHanded they will have Championship-level teams to match]].

** Ichigo gets a moment of this fighting Dordoni, a Privaron Espada. He's reluctant to release his now-controllable SuperpoweredEvilSide as he knows that it will leave him weaker for later fights, and also knows that he's going to hit problems if he's releasing it this early on. He's eventually forced to release it, turning a near-defeat into a CurbStompBattle. Normally though, Ichigo fights at full strength.

** Ichigo gets a moment of this fighting a Privaron. He's reluctant to release his now-controllable SuperpoweredEvilSide as he knows that it will leave him weaker for later fights, and also knows that he's going to hit problems if he's releasing it this early on. He's eventually forced to release it, turning a near-defeat into a CurbStompBattle. Normally though, Ichigo fights at full strength.

** Ikkaku is hiding [[SuperMode bankai]], so he tries not to use it when he fights even when his opponents require bankai to be defeated. He actually throws a fight and is defeated by [[TheBrute Poww]] precisely because he refused to activate bankai. Poww could tell Ikkaku was hiding power even though Ikkaku refused to admit it. In the end, Ikkaku had to be rescued by Captain Komamura and received a stern lecture from Iba about his behaviour.

** Gym Leaders in general are this as well. As their purpose is to test the skills of trainers, they purposely tailor their teams to be just a little more powerful than the teams of starting trainers. In some games, you can challenge them to rematches during the post-game and they will have Championship-level teams to match.

** Machoke wears a belt to weaken its power. Depending on which Pokedex entry you believe, either it needs the belt so that it can control its movements, or it would be unstoppable without it.
** Gym Leaders in general are this as well. As their purpose is to test the skills of trainers, they purposely tailor their teams to be just a little more powerful than the teams of starting trainers. In some games, you can challenge them to rematches upon reaching the endgame, and they will have Championship-level teams, implying that those are their true fighters.