History NewPowersAsThePlotDemands / Literature

** Tash Arranda of ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'' is not Luke Skywalker, but she does have TheForce. From time to time during the series it [[SentientCosmicForce spontaneously helps her out]] by letting her grasp new powers, though her lack of training means [[HowDoIShotWeb she can't use most at will]]. Right from ''Eaten Alive'' she gains the power to create a kind of personal DisruptorShield, though she can't hold it up for long. By ''Clones'' she can perform [[MindOverMatter minor telekinesis]] at will.

* [[Literature/DoraWilkSeries Dora Wilk]] has been given new powers every book, going from [[MageSpecies half north witch - half fertility witch]] who sometimes [[DreamingOfThingsToCome sees things]] to wielding powerful magic, forming mind-bond with angel and demon and having two vampires [[spoiler:and an entire werewolf clan]] at her disposal - all appearing when necessary. Her best angel friend Joshua gains ability to Manifest just in time to save Dora [[spoiler:and then ability to heal - again, to save Dora]] and Miron gets [[spoiler: fire powers ]] right before he really needs its RequiredSecondaryPowers. This has caused some negative feedback among fans, as they start to have a feeling that instead of coming up with a clever solution to a given problem, the author just throws in yet another superpower.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Harry Dresden has a fair amount of this going on, but it is generally justified. Each book generally takes place about a year after the previous one, giving him time to practice skills or make new magical tools off-screen and he'll remark to various friends or to himself about why he learned or made something before using it. Demonreach would be an on-screen example, and so would [[spoiler:becoming the Winter Knight]], though [[spoiler:Mab]] has been predicting that he will do so because he will need to invoke this trope.
** The only seemingly-inexplicable examples were Hellfire and Soulfire, but those were explained in-story later.
* Creator/MaxFrei's books run on this. Throughout the first books, Sir Max discovers a new magic skill in almost every chapter, making him essentially a CreatorsPet.

* ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' has this on a series level, not within the series. Apparently certain children of Hephaestus can wield fire, and all children of Aphrodite have apparently always been able to speak French, and some can charm-speak people into doing what they want.

* Dr. Maracot from Arthur Conan Doyle's sci-fi classic, ''The Maracot Deep'', is introduced as one of the world's leading experts in marine biology. Then, about four fifths into the book, the narrator suddenly reveals that he's also an expert in ancient mythology, which happened to be what the plot needed at that point.
* This happens to the Karnee folks in Holly Lisle's ''[[Literature/TheSecretTexts Matrin]]'' books, who also have to fall off a mountain or a building or something in order to fly.

* In the ''Literature/MollyMoon'' series, Molly picks up a new power for each book. She starts out semi-plausible in the first book by learning how to hypnotize people, but from this basis power she begins learning other, increasingly exaggerated, powers: In the second, she learns how to stop time. In the third, she learns how to ''travel through'' time. In the fourth, the new power is mind-reading, and in the fifth, it's ''shapechanging''.

* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'': In the movie that Haruhi filmed for the arts festival, Mikuru's character had the ability to fire a [[EyeBeams "Mikuru Beam"]] from her left eye. At the end of the movie, Itsuki's character randomly and conveniently awakens his esper powers just in time to defeat the evil alien. [[spoiler: Thanks to Haruhi's subconscious RealityWarper abilities, Mikuru actually did get a "Mikuru Beam" that continuously endangered the lives of the film crew, especially Kyon. Yuki, thankfully, was able to suppress these abilities...at which point Haruhi would give Mikuru a new type of beam that Yuki had to deal with]].

* Parodied heavily in Creator/CraigShawGardner's Cineverse Cycle with Doc, who claims to have been everything from a frontier lawyer to a daredevil rider and escape artist.

* In every single book, ''Literature/AnitaBlake'' (who started out as just a necromancer/animator) develops a new power, spends a bit in the hospital from "overdoing it", and from then on can use the power whenever. These days, they all require her to [[DeusSexMachina have sex to activate]].

** The first book establishes that a fairy criminal loses their magic. Colfer seems to have found this inconvenient to write around, because it's changed to them retaining a small bit of magic, just enough to do the aforementioned "one thing that you can do when depleted." Then in the seventh book, the villain knows how to make runes, which only require a tiny spark of magic but are also much more powerful than normal spells and last forever and are better in every way. So basically, anyone "without magic" can still be totally OP.

** Dwarves in this series get a new ability every book. They can tunnel by eating through earth, [[{{Fartillery}} fire a devastating barrage of digested rocks/mud/whatever they just dug through]], propel themselves underwater and ignore the bends because of intestinal bacteria, have saliva that works as a healing balm, can cling to walls if dehydrated, have glow-in-the-dark spit, which can also solidify to trap enemies, have prehensile beards/antennae (very handy lockpicks/emergency automatic surgical needles), expel 1/3 of their body weight out of their rears as a sort of jet-assisted escape...
** Every so often, it's mentioned that one of the fairy powers uses so little magic that it can still be used when a fairy is otherwise depleted or they have otherwise permanently lost their magic due to breaking the rules. ''Which'' power this is changes every time — in book 1 it was the ''mesmer'', in book 2 it was the gift of tongues, in book 7 it was healing...

* [[Literature/DoraWilkSeries Dora Wilk]] has been given new powers every book, going from [[WitchSpecies half north witch - half fertility witch]] who sometimes [[DreamingOfThingsToCome sees things]] to wielding powerful magic, forming mind-bond with angel and demon and having two vampires [[spoiler:and an entire werewolf clan]] at her disposal - all appearing when necessary. Her best angel friend Joshua gains ability to Manifest just in time to save Dora [[spoiler:and then ability to heal - again, to save Dora]] and Miron gets [[spoiler: fire powers ]] right before he really needs its RequiredSecondaryPowers. This has caused some negative feedback among fans, as they start to have a feeling that instead of coming up with a clever solution to a given problem, the author just throws in yet another superpower.

* ''Literature/AnitaBlake'' is the best example of this ever, having morphed from a simple animator/necromancer in the book series to... frankly, this editor lost track of them all a long time ago. But in pretty much every big confrontation, she gets a new Power of the Month.
** These days, they all require her to [[DeusSexMachina have sex to activate]].
** In every single book, Anita pulls a new power out of her ass, spends a bit in the hospital from "overdoing it", and from then on can use the power whenever.

** Menolly in the Harper Hall subseries has a bit of this in the second book. When she and a couple of friends are menaced by the AlphaBitch and her boyfriend Benis, a.k.a a DennisTheMenace reference, she decks said boyfriend — who is quite a bit larger than she is — with a right cross. We're not told where she learned this. Perhaps Anne was attempting GettingCrapPastTheRadar as a YA book at that time couldn't have the heroine kicking an assailant in the balls.

* ''Literature/TheLeagueOfSecretHeroes'': The Infinity Trinity are a trio of pre-teen girls who are still new to the whole "being heroes" thing, and as such, don't know all of the powers they have. They end up learning what they are slowly over the course of the series.

** Every so often, it's mentioned that one of the fairy powers uses so little magic that it can still be used when a fairy is otherwise depleted. ''Which'' power this is changes every time — in book 1 it was the ''mesmer'', in book 2 it was the gift of tongues, in book 7 it was healing...

** ComicBook/MarvelStarWars has some.

** Menolly in the Harper Hall subseries has a bit of this in the second book. When she and a couple of friends are menaced by the AlphaBitch and her boyfriend [[AppropriateName Benis]], she decks said boyfriend — who is quite a bit larger than she is — with a right cross. We're not told where she learned this. Perhaps Anne was attempting GettingCrapPastTheRadar as a YA book at that time couldn't have the heroine kicking an assailant in the balls.

* In the second book of the ''Literature/NightWatch'' series, we are introduced to a character called "the Mirror", who is capable of becoming more powerful and acquiring complex magical abilities in order to match whatever situation he is facing at the time. It is justified due to the fact that a Mirror is formed from the magical Twilight for the specific purpose of redressing imbalances in the power structure of the magical Others, and once that goal is accomplished, it ceases to exist.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'' Lupin repeatedly points out that the Patronus charm is incredibly advanced magic. He highlights that only very powerful wizards can pull it off, and that even fully qualified wizards struggle to master it. By ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'', pretty much everyone in the narrative can cast a full corporeal Patronus without any trouble whatsoever, including most of the adolescent members of the DA (though Harry notes that they're doing it without the suffocating presence of Dementors, which make casting the spell harder). In the next book, Dumbledore uses his Patronus to send a message to Hagrid (the Patronus speaks with the caster's voice), and later books show Tonks, Kingsley and Arthur Weasley using that ability as well.

* In ''Literature/SuperSalesOnSuperHeroes'', Felix learns his ability to alter a person or an object's stats as if they were an RPG character also allows him to give them new powers. He can't affect himself, but any super he owns (slavery is legal where he lives) can be upgraded by him. It's one way he secures their loyalty. For example, Kit is already a powerful area telepath, but she can't shut off the voices without a special helmet. Felix upgrades her power to directed telepathy, while also leaving her the option of doing an area scan. He then gives her telekinesis. Lily can suck out people's souls and cast magic by drawing glyphs. She asks to be able to cast glyphs instantly, and he grants her that upgrade. He then also gives her the ability to store spells in objects (also known as enchantment).

** The only seemingly-inexplicable examples were Hellfire and Soulfire, but those were explained story later

** Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy, and Creator/TimothyZahn's work in general, gives him the ability to read someone's presence like a second face, picking up on emotional states and knowing if someone's had an idea, the ability to enhance his senses, plus a kind of short-term PhotographicMemory--he can rewind his short-term memories, within an hour or so, and recall with perfect accuracy things he wasn't paying attention to before. There is mention of him learning this from Yoda, at least.

---> "The sand around him stirred. The rocks shuddered, shifted, then began to rise from the sea and the sand as though sifted from them by an invisible screen. Swirling through the air as they sought their place, the stones took shape as broken wall and shattered foundation, as arch and gate and dome--the ruins of Darth Vader's fortress retreat.\\

::: He then instantly builds a tower that is perfectly camouflaged with its surroundings, has the gravity act however he wants it to, and makes door and window holes open wherever and whenever he pleases. In lieu of furniture he tells a guest to sit and forms an "air cushion" under them.

* The resolution of the Literature/TelzeyAmberdon story "Resident Witch", by Creator/JamesHSchmitz, relies on Telzey's psychic powers including the ability to BodySurf, despite no previous indication that she could do this.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Harry Dresden has a fair amount of this going on, but it is generally justified. Each book mostly takes place about a year after the previous one, giving him time to practice skills or make new magical tools off-screen and he'll remark to various friends or to himself about why he learned or made something before using it. Demonreach would be an on-screen example, and so would [[spoiler:becoming the Winter Knight]], though [[spoiler:Mab]] has been predicting that he will do so because he will need to invoke this trope.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Harry Dresden has a fair amount of this going on, but all of it is rigorously justified. Some of it is off-screen, and he'll remark to various friends or to himself on why he made that Focus or practiced that skill. Demonreach would be an on-screen example, and so would [[spoiler:becoming the Winter Knight]], though [[spoiler:Mab]] has been predicting that he will do so because he will need to invoke this trope.
** The only seemingly-inexplicable examples were Hellfire and Soulfire, but those turned out to be justified.