History Main / WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility

* Several episodes in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' show that Bruce Wayne embraces this trope both as Batman and as Bruce Wayne. Batman, as we all know, helps everyone he can, with his accomplishments ranging from [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE60TheDemonsQuestPart2 stopping Ras al Ghul from killing off the human race]] to [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE17SeeNoEvil stopping a poor woman's ex husband from kidnapping their daughter]]. Bruce Wayne helps people by using his vast wealth to sponsor many charities and efforts to better Gotham and the lives of the people in it, with Bruce sometimes even befriending Batman's rogues. This is in sharp contrast with other members of Gotham's elite, who often [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatPerks use their wealth to simply entertain themselves at the expense of others]].Â

* Played straight in the TMNT and Spider-Verse fic [[note]] because it wouldn't be a Spider-Man fic without this trope popping up somewhere [[/note]] ''Fanfic/SpiderNinja''. The phrase is said three times in the fic, but this dimension's spider-person learned it from [[ForWantOfANail Master Splinter instead of Ben Parker]].Â

* Played straight in the TMNT and Spiderverse fic [[note]] because it wouldn't be a Spider-Man fic without this trope popping up somewhere [[/note]] ''Fanfic/SpiderNinja''. The phrase is said three times in the fic, but this dimension's spider-person learned it from [[ForWantOfANail Master Splinter instead of Ben Parker]].Â

* Spoofed in ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}''. After Ford Crueller teaches Raz how to use pyrokinesis, he tells him not to use it unless it's REALLY important, or unless it's REALLY funny. The dev team ensured it would [[RuleOfFunny always be funny]], [[strike:encouraging]] guaranteeing a [[IncrediblyLamePun flagrant]] [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential abuse of the power]].Â

-->With power comes great responsibility. When you willingly choose to use your power to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars and commit bribery, know that IRS-CI will be there to hold you accountable. [[IncrediblyLamePun IRS-CI Special Agents will comb through any rubbish to find evidence of a crime]] -- in this case, shell companies and phony legal settlement agreements, especially one as egregious and offensive as this.Â

* The final episodes of ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' carry this theme in the revelation that reckless use of [[AwesomenessIsVolatile Spiral Energy can potentially destroy the universe]].Â

* In Lament Mirror in the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 UpdatedRerelease of ''VideoGame/EternalSonata'', Salsa is alone with Frederic and hankering for some food. She asks Frederic why he doesn't use his magic powers to magic up a steak for them. He replies that "Magic is not a tool of convenience," and continues that even if such a thing were possible, their first thought should be of the children starving in the cities. Salsa is not persuaded by this logical argument and breaks down in a tantrum, causing Frederic to FacePalm.Â

* In all current variants of UsefulNotes/{{UNIX}}, there is a command called ''sudo'', which (if your user account is allowed to use it in the first place) tells the OS to ignore any of the piddling restrictions placed on you as an ordinary user and execute the command that follows with root, or super-user, privileges - i.e. with total access to every file, process, daemon, etc, and thus the ability to seriously mess up or even completely destroy the OS. The first time you use it, the following warning will pop up before you are prompted to enter your password again to confirm you really are going to go ahead and switch to god-mode:Â

* Played straight in the TMNT and Spiderverse fic [[note]] because it wouldn't be a Spider-Man fic without this trope popping up somewhere [[/note]] ''Fanfic/{{Spider-Ninja}}''. The phrase is said three times in the fic, but this dimension's spider-person learned it from [[ForWantOfANail Master Splinter instead of Ben Parker]].Â

* Played straight in the TMNT and Spiderverse fic [[note]] because it wouldn't be a Spider-Man fic without this trope popping up somewhere [[/note]] ''Fanfic/{{Spider-Ninja}}''. The phrase is said twice in the fic (both times by Petra Parker), but this dimension's spider-person learned it from Master Splinter instead of Ben Parker.Â

* Mirabel nearly says the [[Franchise/SpiderMan iconic quote]] towards her daughter Karla in ''Fanfic/TheDragonAndTheButterflyWhiteout'', who (being young and powerful) is a believer in WithGreatPowerComesGreatPerks.Â

* ''Webcomic/DICETheCubeThatChangesEverything'': Dongtae is the only person who doesn't think Dice allow you to do whatever you want, and early in the series imagines being Franchise/SpiderMan.Â

* Played straight in the TMNT and Spiderverse fic [[note]] because it wouldn't be a Spider-Man fic without this trope popping up somewhere [[/note]] ''Fanfic/{{Spider-Ninja}}'', when Petra uses this trope to convince Master Splinter to let her and the turtles become vigilantes.Â

* ''Fanfic/SOE2LoneHeirOfKrypton'': After being shown [[spoiler:[[Film/{{Superman}} Jor-El's message]]]] Asuka strives to live up to the ideal of hope that [[spoiler:Kal-El could have been]]. The responsibility of being a superhero is also one of the major overarching themes of the story.Â

* Not using TimeTravel for personal gain was one of Dr. Emmett Brown's self-imposed policies on his and Marty's trips in the ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' trilogy. In the [[Film/BackToTheFuturePartII second movie]], Marty considered making easy money with a time machine, but Biff Tannen beat him to using a future sports almanac to gamble on past events, which resulted in drastic changes in the timeline. However, like other rules -- not using information from the future and avoiding one's other selves -- Doc eventually disregarded this rule anyway after finding his love in 1885.Â
** Possibly [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by the fact she was supposed to have died. Removing her from the timeline would probably cause less damage to history than not.Â
** In ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII'', Doc constructed a giant machine with the sole purpose of creating ice cubes before the technology became common, which sounds like something one would do if they were ''trying'' to randomly change the timeline. That's all it does too; no ChekhovsGun here.Â
*** He probably had no intention of publicizing his inventions anyways, and nobody in town would probably figure out how it worked.Â
** ...And that information from the future saved Doc's life in the [[Film/BackToTheFuture1 first film]].Â

** ...And that information from the future saved Doc's life in the [[Film/BackToTheFuture first film]].Â

** Subverted with Kuririn, who has become a policeman in his middle age, but for him it's just a job and earns money with it. It is never explicitly stated that he chose the job to help people with his CharlesAtlasSuperpower and he only uses them when he thinks he needs them or if it makes his job easier.Â

* It's kind of subverted in the anime ''Anime/EdenOfTheEast'', in which twelve people called Seleçao are enrolled in a "game" where they get 10 billion yen and [[VoiceWithAnInternetConnection a concierge that allows them to do almost anything they want with it]]. It is later revealed the the goal of the "game" is for one of the Seleçao to use the money responsibly to "become a Messiah" who will "save Japan": Those who fail to do so are killed when they run out of money ([[ThereCanBeOnlyOne or killed when one of the others win]]). "Noblesse Oblige" and "The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power" are ArcWords in the story.Â

* ''Manga/IWish'' has Wye talk about how Dee is in desperate need to learn this lesson. She's too carefree and willing to flaunt her magic powers on everything and everyone and it often leads to causing more problems than help. He's afraid that she'll eventually go down the same path as he once did, [[spoiler:using his magic to resurrect people, becoming feared by previous admirers and ultimately doing something that ''could'' lead to the end of the world]] if she were not stopped. Dee does learn the lesson [[spoiler:when her love-obsessed, stalking servants try to kill her and Wye [[HeroicSacrifice takes the hit for her]] to keep her safe]] and she is much more responsible.Â

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' both subverts and averts this trope. While there are heroes who become heroes for the sake of protecting people and society, most heroes become heroes for fame, money and recognition, thinking it's no different than being a pop culture icon. It's the latter reasons that motivates the Hero Killer Stain as he believes being a hero has become too tainted by "fakers". The League of Villains uses Stain's motivation as a stepping stone for their own plans.Â

** This is also present in [[Manga/SaintSeiya the original series]]: at the start the protagonist Saints are using their Clothes to fight in the Galaxy Tournament, and the Sanctuary, upon hearing of this, sends another powerful Saint (Hyoga in the manga, Ikki in the anime) to execute the lot of them.Â

* Various versions of ComicBook/IronMan usually wrestle with this -- Tony Stark's fortune is built on his engineering genius, but in the film, Tony decides to get his company out of the munitions business after seeing that his weapons were being sold in dirty deals to terrorists and criminals. In the comics, Stark quit selling weapons years ago, but he still frets about villains stealing and abusing his armor designs, sometimes to the level of paranoia that he manipulates, deceives and attacks his own friends.Â

** Superman isn't above using his powers to get a good news story if doing so doesn't interfere with fighting evil. In one of the earliest comics he scooped Lois on a story about a dam bursting by outrunning her train, stopping the flood, and phoning the story in. Justified in that his heroics makes his job more difficult far more often than it makes it easier, and the guy deserves a break.Â
** In ''ComicBook/StarfiresRevenge'', a suitor tries to talk Supergirl into quitting her hero identity and leading the peaceful, normal life she deserves. Supergirl replies she wishes she was normal; but she is not, and she is obliged to use her powers to help humanity for as long as she is needed.Â

* Occasionally averted in ComicBook/XMen when a mutant is shown using their powers to aid in doing their day job. For example, Colossus used his superhuman strength and endurance to work as a farmer (in the comics) and a construction worker (on the TV series) before joining the team. While he is using his powers to do productive work for society, it is clear that he ''is'' getting paid for it.Â

* In the 2014 run of ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'', Wiccan obtains the ultimate power of the Demiurge and monologues a bit about how he could do anything with it, and how he has the responsibility to use that power. He then promptly concludes that he's way to irresponsible for that at the moment, and stops at killing the villain of the week.Â

* Very much averted in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8233288/34/Faery-Heroes Faery Heroes]]'' with the idea of Harry teaching students Defense Against the Dark Arts. He instructs only a handful of students and when the two Hufflepuff among them try to insist that he's obligated to teach everyone because he's so good at it, Harry retorts that it's the professors jobs to teach. He's doing this out of the goodness of his heart and doesn't have time to tutor more than a few students.Â

* {{Deconstructed}} in ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines''. When Sabrina first discovered her PsychicPowers, her father told her it was her responsibility to use them to help people and make the world a better place. However, over time people in her hometown began taking advantage of her goodwill and came asking for her help in very mundane tasks out of laziness, she grew more and more disgusted. [[ALessonLearnedTooWell It all went downhill when she decided to push them to improve themselves through fear, and began using her powers to terrorize them]].Â

** The Merlin, head of the White Council, however accepts this trope; he just interprets responsibility differently than Harry.Â

* In ''Sparks of Light'', one of the issues suffered by the Light is the question of "grey magic," or the use of the Light for personal benefit (ranging from using the Light to refresh yourself after an all-night study session, to rigging the stock market in your favor). The Courts of Light say "don't do that, ever," but no magical girl obeys that rule perfectly (and the Courts don't have any means of strictly enforcing it). The Twilight Courts broke away from the Light because they saw the Light's position as LawfulStupid. However, there's a reason for the rules, beause there ''is'' a slippery slope to worry about, and a lot of Twilight girls eventually fall to the Dark.Â

** The Company of Heroes's creed is that it's the duty of the strong to protect the weak. It's because the members of the Company are elite soldiers and heroes who possess strength far above most men that they're obligated to protect those weaker than them. This is why the surviving members of Company have taken up positions as bodyguards and protectors rather than continuing to peddle their trade as sellswords.Â

*** In the Level 80 Summoner quest, Jajasamu asks the Warrior how they feel about constantly being at the front of the battle against primal summonings. The Warrior can respond by saying that [[GoodFeelsGood they're happy to be of service]] or say that it's just the way of things of things. As someone with the Echo and the ability to defeat primals, they feel obligated to help.Â

* ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'': Sith Inquisitor companion Ashara Zavros, formerly a Jedi Padawan, criticizes a revered Jedi Master for [[WhileRomeBurns living in meditative seclusion while the galaxy is torn apart by war]], but also takes note that in contrast to the Jedi Code, the Sith Code is more of a ''description'' of how Sith view the Force than an ''instruction'' on how to act. She argues that since she and the Inquisitor have these powers, they should be using them to help end the galaxy's suffering.Â

* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' sees [[DeusEstMachina Petey]] say this to the Rev (who identifies it as "the Gospel of Uncle Benjamin"). Given that Petey's put himself in charge of a defensive war, and understands that (directly) helping his friends can impact it even indirectly, he seems to believe it.Â

* Parodied in ''Webcomic/{{XKCD}}'': German physicist Georg Ohm [[https://xkcd.com/643/ never forgot]] the words of his dying uncle who told him, "With great Power comes Great Current squared times Resistance" and crafted that wisdom into the foundation of modern electrical engineering. Translated, that means that with high levels of Power one has the Responsibility to deal with the waste heat if one doesn't want their device to burn up.Â

* WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall mocks this whenever it is encounter. "That's right people, don't have anything unique or special about you, perhaps it's not 'normal.'"Â

* The film version of ''Film/{{Superman}}'' borrows the trope and plays it straight, when Pa Kent tries to lecture the teenage Clark about not showing off. "You are here for a reason," he says... Â
** [[spoiler:Right before he dies of a heart attack [[TearJerker that Clark can't prevent]]]].Â

* Those with [[ElementalPowers powers]] in ''Webcomic/{{Pacificators}}'' are forced to either train and become T-Pacificators, or be labeled as renegades. There's no TakeAThirdOption at all.Â

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/SpiderMan https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/with_great_power.png]]]]Â
[[caption-width-right:350:[[Franchise/SpiderMan Where it]] [[ComicBook/AmazingFantasyNumber15 all began.]]]]Â

* Played straight in the TMNT and Spiderverse fic [note] because it wouldn't be a Spider-Man fic without this trope popping up somewhere [/note] ''Fanfic/{{Spider-Ninja}}'', when Petra uses this trope to convince Master Splinter to let her and the turtles become vigilantes.Â

* In "True Q" on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', when trying to justify killing Amanda if she were a half human/Q hybrid, Q states "With unlimited power comes responsibility." Being that it's Q, you can't be sure if he isn't being disingenuous, but the episode still does make the point when Amanda is forced to face the fact that living as a human would mean not making use of her powers.Â

* In ''LightNovel/TheIrregularAtMagicHighSchool'', the Japanese government enforces this trope legally upon its genetically-engineered magicians. Its interpretation of "responsibility" includes things like "marry who you're told to", "never leave the country for any reason", and "don't defend yourself once we've decided YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness". Magicians also have to contend with entitled civilians who think the law means they can order any random magician nearby to serve as their personal bodyguard [[note]]it doesn't, any more than if you ordered a cop to do the same thing[[/note]], without recompense for as long as the civilian feels like.Â