History StoryBreakerPower / Literature

** [[FeralVillain The Siberian]] has a not fully understood power that renders her simultaneously [[TheJuggernaut a unstoppable force and a immovable object]]. This grants her an extreme degree of NighInvulnerability, since any and all external force and energy will fail to create an effect on her, ''and'' also allows Siberian to create '''devastating''' attacks in battle, to the point of injuring other NighInvulnerable capes like [[spoiler: [[FlyingBrick Alexandria]]]], and to move very fast while bulldozing her way through any barriers and obstacles. She is easily the most feared member of the Slaughterhouse 9 and many capes have no hope of going against her. Though there is a weakness: [[spoiler: The Siberian is actually a [[ProjectedMan projection]] of Willian Manton, a completely vulnerable and otherwise completely normal man. When Manton is easily tracked down and killed off-page, the Siberian ceases to exist.]]
** Eidolon's power is basically that he has every power. He can only use three at once, but those three can be ''anything'': invincibility, time reversal, absolute annihilation, etc. This makes him, by far, one of the most versatile and powerful capes in the setting, and everyone is really, really happy he's a hero rather than a villain. [[spoiler:In fact, at his full strength, he even manages to briefly put up a fight against SCION, and is one of the only capes who actually manages to harm the PhysicalGod. Scion resorts to using his precognition to mentally break Eidolon rather than overwhelm him with pure power, something he doesn't do for anyone else.]]

** Gandalf, being effectively TheArchmage and most powerful member of the Fellowship, regularly either leaves the group or is unable to help them, because having him would immediately turn the tides in the heroes favor. He goes [[PutOnABus offstage for hundreds of pages]] after the Balrog to allow other characters to struggle. He did this earlier in ''Literature/TheHobbit'' as well, as he would often leave Bilbo and the Dwarves to go on other business, leaving them to fall prey to spiders and elves.

* Fairy magic from ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' series could qualify as this, seeing as it allows users access to functional invisibility, healing, and limited mind control. And those are just the abilities open to all fairies. Serious magic users can do a whole lot more. The books manage to balance this out by explaining that each fairy has only a limited supply of magic, and that this magic must be regularly replenished via a ritual which can only be performed during the full moon. Thus, in any situation where magic would instantly solve the problem, the characters will inevitably be either completely drained of magic or not have enough left for the job. However, Book 5 introduces [[spoiler: the demon warlock No.1]], whose magic pretty much shatters all those rules. Aside from not needing to perform the Ritual and pretty much being a bottomless well of magic, No.1 is also capable of feats which were previously thought to be impossible (including time travel, flawless mind-wiping, and repealing a centuries-old hex that had stumped generations of fairies ''in a matter of minutes''). He's so powerful that the books constantly have to find explanations for why he doesn't just immediately solve the problem (from not knowing how to use his powers in Book 5, to having his powers suppressed by animal fat in the final act of Book 6, to not knowing about the crisis in Book 7, to [[PutOnABus going off to work at a hitherto-unmentioned moon base]] in Book 8).

* Fairy magic from ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' series could qualify as this, seeing as it allows users access to functional invisibility, healing, and limited mind control. And those are just the abilities open to all fairies. Serious magic users can do a whole lot more. The books manage to balance this out by explaining that each fairy has only a limited supply of magic, and that this magic must be regularly replenished via a ritual which can only be performed during the full moon. Thus, in any situation where magic would instantly solve the problem, the characters will inevitably be either completely drained of magic or not have enough left for the job. However, Book 5 introduces [[spoiler: the demon warlock No.1, whose magic pretty much shatters all those rules. Aside from not needing to perform the Ritual and pretty much being a bottomless well of magic, No.1 is also capable of feats which were previously thought to be impossible (including time travel, flawless mind-wiping, and repealing a centuries-old hex that had stumped generations of fairies ''in a matter of minutes''). He's so powerful that the books constantly have to find explanations for why he doesn't just immediately solve the problem (from not knowing how to use his powers in Book 5, to having his powers suppressed by animal fat in the final act of Book 6, to not knowing about the crisis in Book 7, to [[PutOnABus going off to work at a hitherto-unmentioned moon base]] in Book 8).

* Fairy magic from ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' series could qualify as this, seeing as it allows users access to functional invisibility, healing, and limited mind control. And those are just the abilities open to all fairies. Serious magic users can do a whole lot more. The books manage to balance this out by explaining that each fairy has only a limited supply of magic, and that this magic must be regularly replenished via a ritual which can only be performed during the full moon. Thus, in any situation where magic would instantly solve the problem, the characters will inevitably be either completely drained of magic or not have enough left for the job. However, Book 5 introduces [[spoiler: the demon warlock No.1, whose magic pretty much shatters all those rules. Aside from not needing to perform the Ritual and pretty much being a bottomless well of magic, No.1 is also capable of feats which were previously thought to be impossible (including time travel, flawless mind-wiping, and repealing a centuries-old hex that had stumped generations of fairies ''in a matter of minutes''). He's so powerful that the books constantly have to find explanations for why he doesn't just immediately solve the problem (from not knowing how to use his powers in Book 5, to having his powers suppressed by animal fat in the final act of Book 6, to not knowing about the crisis in Book 7, to [[PutOnABus]] going off to work at a hitherto-unmentioned moon base]] in Book 8).

** Teela Brown's [[BornLucky "luck gene"]] prevented anything bad from happening to her unless it led to an even better outcome. Niven wrote one last story set after all humans were supremely lucky, "Literature/SafeAtAnySpeed", then mostly gave up on setting any stories later.

* The White Queen of ''LightNovel/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'' isn't just the most powerful being in the setting, but among the most powerful characters in all works of fiction. She can completely erase things from existence, freely control [[SpaceMaster space]] and [[TimeMaster time]], dominate humans and monsters through sheer force of personality, [[CompleteImmortality and can't be permanently killed]]... and these are just ''some'' of her many capabilities. She puts on a show of being UnskilledButStrong, but is actually extremely skilled at using her powers. She's also [[spoiler:the main villain, and her main limitation (and main motivation) is that she has a twisted love for Kyousuke and finds it fun to let him win, which is the only reason she hasn't won already.]]

** Tolkien explicitly noted in a letter that he saw the Eagles as this: though they are weaker than their film depictions, an entirely good-aligned race of creatures capable of fast flight and carrying others in a story mostly about long, difficult travel and desperate and disorganized warfare would be a major issue to work with. They spend most of the story distantly separated from the good guys (it's implied they have their own war to deal with), and only really play a role in the plot twice. It's not for no reason that using them to fly to Mount Doom, or at least to expedite the journey to Mordor, is a classic JustEatGilligan argument among readers, and though other readers have managed to suss out potential reasons why that wouldn't work, Tolkien himself only really made the statement that using them like this would destroy the story's feel and the impact when they ''do'' show up.

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': Gandalf, being effectively TheArchmage and most powerful member of the Seven, regularly either leaves the group or is unable to help them, because having him would immediately turn the tides in the heroes favor. He goes [[PutOnABus offstage for hundreds of pages]] after the Balrog to allow other characters to struggle. He did this earlier in ''Literature/TheHobbit'' as well, as he would often leave Bilbo and the Dwarves to go on other business, leaving them to fall prey to spiders and elves.

* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'': Aslan AKA the great Lion, Son of the Emperor-Over-Sea, the King above all High Kings in Narnia, and literately the Jesus of the entire universe. Even though the author had decided he would be physically present, Aslan's godly powers means that he ''doesn't'' get much action in every book until the end because if he wants to, he can easily end the entire story, as the last installment of the series confirms when he barely even struggles to destroy the entire Narnia. He only appears when things are at the most direst to single-handedly end the conflict.

* In ''Literature/MyBrotherIsASuperhero,'' [[TheChosenOne Zack]] has [[SuperpowerLottery six different powers]], and basically wins instantly when he faces a problem at full strength. As a result, the author keeps having to come up with ways so this doesn't happen, at least until the end of each book. Examples include being drained from a previous task, [[WorfHadTheFlu contracting an alien cold]], [[FreakyFridayFlip not being in his own body]] or just [[CassandraTruth refusing to believe in]] whatever ridiculous enemy [[TheUnChosenOne Luke]] has discovered. The one time he did struggle when fully charged, it was in a TheGameComeToLife situation against a character even ''more'' ridiculously over-powered.

* Fairy magic from ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' series could qualify as this, seeing as it allows users access to functional invisibility, healing, and limited mind control. And those are just the abilities open to all fairies. Serious magic users can do a whole lot more. The books manage to balance this out by explaining that each fairy has only a limited supply of magic, and that this magic must be regularly replenished via a ritual which can only be performed during the full moon. Thus, in any situation where magic would instantly solve the problem, the characters will inevitably be either completely drained of magic or not have enough left for the job. However, Book 5 introduces [[spoiler: the demon warlock No.1, whose magic pretty much shatters all those rules. Aside from not needing to perform the Ritual and pretty much being a bottomless well of magic, No.1 is also capable of feats which were previously thought to be impossible (including time travel, flawless mind-wiping, and repealing a centuries-old hex that had stumped generations of fairies ''in a matter of minutes''). He's so powerful that the books constantly have to find explanations for why he doesn't just immediately solve the problem (from not knowing how to use his powers in Book 5, to having his powers suppressed by animal fat in the final act of Book 6, to not knowing about the crisis in Book 7, to [[PutOnABus going off to work at a hitherto-unmentioned moon base]] in Book 8).

* In ''Literature/MyBrotherIsASuperhero,'' [[TheChosenOne Zack]] has [[SuperpowerLottery six different powers]], and basically wins instantly when he faces a problem at full strength. As a result, the author keeps having to come up with ways so this doesn't happen, at least until the end of each book. Examples include being drained from a previous task, [[WorfHadTheFlu contracting an alien cold]], [[FreakyFridayFlip not being in his own body]] or just [[CassandraTruth refusing to believe in]] whatever ridiculous enemy [[TheUnChosenOne Luke]] has discovered.

* Fairy magic from ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' series could qualify as this, seeing as it allows users access to functional invisibility, healing, and limited mind control. And those are just the abilities open to all fairies. Serious magic users can do a whole lot more. The books manage to balance this out by explaining that each fairy has only a limited supply of magic, and that this magic must be regularly replenished via a ritual which can only be performed during the full moon. Thus, in any situation where magic would instantly solve the problem, the characters will inevitably be either completely drained of magic or not have enough left for the job. However, Book 5 introduces [[spoiler: the demon warlock No.1, whose magic pretty much shatters all those rules. Aside from not needing to perform the Ritual and pretty much being a bottomless well of magic, No.1 is also capable of feats which were previously thought to be impossible (including time travel, flawless mind-wiping, and repealing a centuries-old hex that had stumped generations of fairies ''[[Main/UpToEleven in a matter of minutes]]''). He's so powerful that the books constantly have to find explanations for why he doesn't just immediately solve the problem (from not knowing how to use his powers in Book 5, to having his powers suppressed by animal fat in the final act of Book 6, to not knowing about the crisis in Book 7, to [[Main/PutOnABus going off to work at a hitherto-unmentioned moon base]] in Book 8).

** Scion, [[spoiler:as the entity that gave parahumans their powers, he has access to every power he didn't give up, dialed UpToEleven. Naturally, the powers most capable of damaging him, he kept for himself, while most mental powers come with a built-in block against being able to use them against him. Among other things, he's the only thing invisible to Contessa's power, and he has his own version]]. His main power, unique to him, is "stilling"; the ability to cancel out wavelengths of any and every kind. This includes essentially all matter and energy, giving him obscenely powerful offense and defense. He is far and away the most powerful character in the setting. [[spoiler: The only way he's defeated is by [[DespairEventHorizon completely shattering his will to fight]].]]