History MundaneUtility / WebOriginal

* MadScientist Dr. Insano from ''WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment'' once used his genius, knowledge, and crazy gadgets to fix a broken UsefulNotes/AtariJaguar system (although, being the Jaguar, it didn't last).

* ''The Treaded Path of the Rohomajeshi'' from ''Wiki/TheWorldbuildProject'' find a lot of mundane uses for channelling spirits.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRltwX49Gzw This sketch]] from ''Carpe Clunes'' depicts a PublicServiceAnnouncement warning the viewer of [[MindOverMatter psychics']] tendency to ruin games of pictionary.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'':

** There are the [=SCPs=] who ''only'' have mundane utility ([[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-458 a pizza box that makes your favorite pizza & never runs out]]) and the ones that just ''look'' like have mundane utility but can have interesting applications.

** There is an SCP ruler that changes the length of anything it measures to exactly 12 inches. It's kept in storage with highly restricted access due to [[PowerPerversionPotential a male Foundation personnel using it in an inappropriate manner]].

* In ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'', members of the Blue Team have used the scopes of their sniper rifles as binoculars to spy upon the Reds from a distance. Also, in the later seasons, Tucker's sword also counts. It is debatable as to whether or not it was primarily created to be a sword or a key. Quoth Caboose: "Or maybe it's a key all the time, and it when you stick it in people, it unlocks their death." Season 13 reveals that [[spoiler:it was originally a key, as confirmed by the alien AI Caboose finds.]]

** A proto-Sarkist fisherman in Russia casually uses fleshcrafting to remove microplastics from his catch.

** There is an SCP ruler that changes the length of anything it measures to exactly 12 inches. It's kept in storage with highly restricted access due to [[PowerPerversionPotential a biologically male Foundation personnel using it in an inappropriate manner]].

* ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale'': The city council is developing a neutron star underneath Night Vale, which according to [[TheNarrator Cecil]] could produce enough electricity for the entire world. The council plans to use it to power the lights to the school's football field.

* One of the characters in ''WebOriginal/SibyllineSounds'' is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjvJDq7ewlY Sage]], who is a [[SnakePeople naga]] with empathetic abilties and HypnoticEyes. He works as a therapist. Being a giant snake also makes him good at giving hugs.

* Identifying and cultivating Mundane Utilities is one of the primary missions of [[Literature/WhateleyUniverse Whateley Academy]], because few people are actually cut out to become superheroes (or villains.)
** Some of the characters have used their powers to dry off after a shower (Phase and Chaka both), dry her hair (Fey), shave her legs (Verdant), unpack suitcases (Bugs), keep her clothes clean (Pristine), have {{Snowball Fight}}s (a lot of Poe cottage), mop floors and fold laundry (Chaka), paint a room (Plastic Girl), move furniture, shop, and on and on.
** Jade's main trick is to split off independent telekinetic extra 'copies' of herself by 'charging' them into objects; when the charge runs out, the copy re-merges with her and both sets of memories integrate. So what does she quite naturally do? Attend two sets of classes at once and use the same trick to study/do homework/clean her room that much faster. Also, be able to go to the smelly parts of the sewers without danger (Copies can't smell!), work a neat costume, be able to keep an eye out for bullies, not need to use anesthetic...Jade is the MISTRESS of Mundane Utility! (Which often leads to ACTUAL utility!)
** Phase has cultivated a lot of relationships through his ability to spot patentable mundane utilities for the various wacky devices his fellow students are constantly inventing and then playing honest broker on their behalf. This in part to CutLexLuthorACheck, and in part to [[ReedRichardsIsUseless ensure that important advances get to market]], but he also expects to make them rich in the process (and make himself even richer).
** Shine, a devisor who can build stills and fermentation systems capable of producing seemingly finely aged whiskey in a few weeks, was recruited by a distillery right out of Appalachia and was already selling his equipment (which only he could build, being Devises) for millions, at the age of fourteen. Then he went to Whateley Academy to improve on his skills...
** One of the Winter session Special Session courses is entitled 'Finding the Job Only You Can Do', for students with unique or hard to utilize powers. Among those suggested (for Tennyo) are in-place satellite repair and replacing nuclear fuel rods without special equipment; most of the other ideas are a good deal more prosaic, but still useful.
** One of the previous students, an Underdog codenamed Molefinger, turned his seemingly useless ability to instantly dig holes into lucrative deals with several construction firms and city utilities, to the point that the unions made him only take jobs that would have taken more work than would be affordable otherwise - for six-figure contracts.
* ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'':
** What does the AntiVillain MadScientist title character want to use a freeze ray that stops time for? To help him get over his nervousness about talking to a cute girl.
** In the prequel comics, Johnny Snow uses his ice beam to chill a six-pack of beer/soda.
* [[http://qntm.org/?ed Ed]], the man who subconsciously received his brain from the future, built a fleet of {{Humongous Mecha}}s to save the world from invading aliens, and accidentally erased the Andromeda Galaxy by ''hacking the universe''...[[http://qntm.org/?bread puts a time machine to very unorthodox purposes]].
* Happens occasionally with some of the [=SCPs=] of the Wiki/SCPFoundation. Some examples include SCP-500, pills that can cure anything, being stolen to "cure a hangover"; a young woman who can see and manipulate locations depicted in pictures asked to "punch or stab people over the internet"; and a young man who receives visions about various objects (usually other [=SCPs=]) asked to locate lost wallets and keys. When such abuses are found out, the personnel involved are at least reprimanded, if not terminated.
** Plus there are the [=SCPs=] who ''only'' have mundane utility ([[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-458 a pizza box that makes your favorite pizza & never runs out]]) and the ones that just ''look'' like have mundane utility but can have interesting applications, including a coffee machine that can give you cups of any liquid, including someone's blood.
** The Foundation does discourage its personnel from using [=SCPs=] in this fashion. Mundane uses of the objects is highly regulated -- even the pizza box.
** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-294 SCP-294]] actually isn't as regulated as you'd think. All the Foundation really needs for it are two armed guards stationed at it to make sure no one orders anything dangerous. Otherwise, they keep it in the break room, and allow people to use it to get beverages in order to save money on drinks. Hey, they've gotta cut some costs too.
*** Just remember that it doesn't understand euphemisms or slang, and order "a cup of coffee", not "[[BodyHorror a cup of Joe]]".
** During the testing of [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-662 SCP-662]], there's a sudden streak of test logs that consist of the [[BenevolentGenie anomalous butler]] doing mundane household chores for the overseeing researcher. This ends with a member of O5 issuing a reprimand for misuse of the SCP.
** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-739 SCP-739]] flips the [[MirrorChemistry molecular chirality]] of anything locked in it. One researcher pointed out that using this on sugar results in a pretty good low-calorie sweetener.
** Using [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-073 the Biblical Cain]] as a ''backup database'' probably qualifies.
** Some were originally used like that. One man managed to become the only person in human history to successfully invoke and summon [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2270 Nergal]], the Mesopotamian god of the Sun, to reach down and smite his enemies with an endless fury, costing him his soul in endless torment in the depths of the suns furnace for all eternity to do it. He got Nergal to smite his neighbor so he wouldn't annoy him anymore.
* [[http://www.theonion.com/content/node/41904 This article]] from ''Website/TheOnion'' about the head of NASA borrowing the space shuttle to get home faster.
* WebVideo/FiveSecondFilms gives us the "[[http://5secondfilms.com/watch/death_ray_from_space Death Ray From Space]]"; a KillSat used to puzzle a kitten.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRltwX49Gzw This sketch]] from Carpe Clunes depicts a PublicServiceAnnouncement warning the viewer of [[MindOverMatter psychics']] tendency to ruin games of pictionary.

* In ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'', members of the Blue Team have used the scopes of their sniper rifles as binoculars to spy upon the Reds from a distance. Also, in the later seasons, Tucker's sword also counts. It is debatable as to whether or not it was primarily created to be a sword or a key. Quoth Caboose: "Or maybe it's a key all the time, and it when you stick it in people, it unlocks their death."
** Season 13 reveals that [[spoiler:it was originally a key, as confirmed by the alien AI Caboose finds.]]
* Abounds in ''Literature/TalesOfMU''.
-->'''Mackenzie''':''Who even came up with the idea of using a living death potion for birth control?''
-->'''Roger''':''Alchemists, I guess. They had to find a bigger market for it than adventurers, vampire slayers, and zombie hunters...''
* MadScientist [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Dr. Insano]] once used his genius, knowledge, and crazy gadgets to fix a broken UsefulNotes/AtariJaguar system (although, being the Jaguar, it didn't last).
* WebVideo/ShinyObjectsVideos: In "Psychic Powers", [[CloudCuckoolander Curly]] gains immense psychic powers unmatched by anyone on earth. He uses them to correct [[OnlySaneMan Nathan's]] grammar.
* On Roleplay/{{Orkinet}}, a [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Sister of Battle]] mentioned using an inferno pistol - a very rare weapon capable of melting TANKS - to flash-cook a fish.
* WebVideo/CorridorDigital's ''Sync'' series involves a secret agent who can jump into a realistic android body. He uses it for covert ops, and to help him propose to his girlfriend ina a humorous manner.

* Zigzagged with [[{{WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall}} Linkara]]. He uses his magic to turn his toys (which include [[Franchise/StarTrek phasers,]] [[Franchise/PowerRangers morphers,]] and [[Series/DoctorWho sonic screwdrivers]]) into the real things purely for fun, uses his spaceship to threaten other online reviewers, and even uses his battlizer to burn a bad comic. However, their secondary use is as weapons against whatever villain invaded his universe.
* Matthew Bounds from Phaeton is using his power all... of... the... time... and most of the other characters don't even notice it, which is probably why things turn bad when he is {{Brought Down to Normal}}. And he is not the only one to use his powers for mundane situations.
* ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'' made clones of himself in a dream only so they could play ''[[Videogame/ANightmareOnElmStreetNES A Nightmare on Elm Street]]'' on NES. He later lampshades this.
* ''[[Wiki/TheWorldbuildProject The Treaded Path of the Rohomajeshi]]'' find a lot of mundane uses for channeling spirits.
* In ''RolePlay/WeAreAllPokemonTrainers'':
** The Adamant Orb in this continuity grants time control powers on top of its canon abilities of powering up and summoning Dialga. What does Tagg tend to most often use it for? Getting a full night's sleep in only a few minutes by exploiting its YearInsideHourOutside time dilation effect.
** The usage of the {{Hammerspace}} backpacks as tents and sleeping bags due to their infinite volume.
* ''Website/{{Cracked}}'''s John Cheese suggests in [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-ways-new-season-heroes-can-avoid-sucking_p2/ 4 Ways the New Season of 'Heroes' Can Avoid Sucking]] that the writers of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' make the 2014 volume less boring by showing characters "using their powers to do normal, everyday things like making coffee with telekinesis or removing snakes from their yard with that snake tornado spell."

* WebOriginal/{{Inglip}}, being incorporeal, signs for packages by [[http://i.imgur.com/Nv7DS.jpg possessing the delivery boy]].
* In one ''WebVideo/LoadingReadyRun'' short, two men are running an exceptionally efficient moving service. How do they do it? Well, as Graham's character insists repeatedly, [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial they certainly DON'T have a functioning teleporter.]] And this definitely isn't the only practical application they could think of. They do, however, have the stable wormhole conduit to the Argon mines of Thelios V that would be necessary to power a functioning teleporter. They use it to dump garbage (they have a permit).
* ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale'': The city council is developing a neutron star underneath Night Vale, which according to [[TheNarrator Cecil]] could produce enough electricity for the entire world. The council plans to use it to power the lights to the school's football field.
* ''WebVideo/CounterMonkey'': In one video, [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony]] mentions an ''[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]]'' game where he played a Wizard and created a Level 1 spell that permanently modified a woman's breasts and made his living as a traveling "plastic surgeon". After thinking about it for a while, the GameMaster remarked "You are gonna be '''so''' rich..."

* In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFBVkXir2qs Meet the Cores 2]]'', the Fact Core visits the [[TheOmniscient all-knowing Omnisphere]]. When the Omnisphere offers to use his infinite knowledge to answer a question for him, the Fact Core merely asks where the nearest exit is located. The Omnisphere is not impressed.

* In ''The Fall of Doc Future'', Flicker explains that one application of superspeed is market arbitrage. She balances global financial markets by buying low in one market and selling high in another, faster than computers could transmit transactions. (She also makes billions of dollars in the process and spites financiers who were rude to her.)
* In ''WebAnimation/RWBYChibi'', it's not uncommon at all to see the heroes and heroines use their Semblance and/or their weaponry for mundane things: jump rope, makeshift toy UFO, ice sculpting, cheating in a race, aborted attempt at playing arcade games, roasting marshmallows...
-->'''Ruby''' (loading [[PreciousPuppy Zwei]]'s medicine into her sniper rifle): One shot, one pill.

* In ''WebVideo/TFSAtTheTable'', Eloy is established early on as being unable to hold his liquor. When Lott Fineday offers him a drink that he doesn't want to refuse, he casts [[MindManipulation Suggestion]] ''on himself'' to resist its effects. It works... until he takes damage later in the video, which breaks his spellcasting focus and makes it all catch up to him at once.
* One of the characters in WebOriginal/SibyllineSounds is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjvJDq7ewlY Sage]], who is a [[SnakePeople naga]] with empathetic abilties and HypnoticEyes. He works as a therapist. Being a giant snake also makes him good at giving hugs.

-->2469. The AV-9 is for air support, not beer runs.

* ''WebVideo/OutsideXbox'': In one stream, when asked to choose a superpower by a Buzzfeed quiz, Ellen chooses [[VoluntaryShapeshifter shapeshifting]]. The first benefit she thinks of? It would let her save money on props for their ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' campaign, where she represents her druid character's ''wild shape'' ability by putting on furry gloves and hats and so on.

* One of the characters in WebOriginal/SibyllineSounds is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjvJDq7ewlY Sage]], who is a [[SnakePeople naga]] with empathetic abilties and HypnoticEyes. He works as a therapist. Being a giant snake also makes him good at giving hugs.