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1->''"So far, I've established that she can hit like a Mack truck, selectively alter the flow of time, and possibly talk to plants."''
2-->-- '''Spike''' on '''Illyria''', ''Series/{{Angel}}''
3
4We've all heard of the [[FlyingBrick standard superhero power deal]], of people with phenomenal cosmic powers[[note]][[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} itty bitty living space not mandatory]][[/note]], and of people whose powers make people point and laugh, because WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway Sometimes, though, people like to mix things up and give someone with reasonable, or even cool, powers an additional lame, strange, [[EmbarrassingSuperpower embarrassing]], or useless one.
5
6[[RuleOfFunny Mostly just because it's funny]] to list someone's powers as "energy manipulation, one of the greatest healers in the world, super strength and... can talk to slugs", instead of just "energy manipulation, healing, and strength."
7
8Of course, HeartIsAnAwesomePower can also apply, which means this power can allow for nasty surprises or emergency exits if no one ever takes it into account or it's just too wildly out of line to suspect. Which means the character is "multi-classed" as a QuirkyBard or LethalJokeCharacter and standalone versions of these are avoided.
9
10A SubTrope of ComboPlatterPowers. May overlap with RequiredSecondaryPowers and NewPowersAsThePlotDemands. Compare ArsonMurderAndJaywalking.
11
12----
13!!Examples:
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15[[foldercontrol]]
16
17[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
18* Mew Ichigo of ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'' has typical MagicalGirl leader powers that make her a particularly useful fighter, as well as the ability to jump high, always land on her feet, and... transform into a cute helpless kitten. [[InvoluntaryShapeshifting Unexpectedly]]. This was played up in ''Tokyo Mew Mew - a la mode'' to the point where she literally had to turn into a cat after three minutes of fighting in order to let Berii take her spotlight and place as leader.
19* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' sometimes goes this route with its Stands, having Stands that have excellent physical stats, but abilities that seem comparatively useless. Bruno Bucciarati in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'' has Sticky Fingers/Zipper Man, which is a powerful close-ranged Stand with the ability to create a zipper on what it touches. This turns out to be incredibly useful for concealment, disabling an enemy either lethally or non-lethally, and even simply for moving around. Ermes Costello in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean'' has the Stand Kiss/Smack, another incredibly physically powerful Stand with the ability to duplicate an object she places a sticker on, then recombine them while doing damage to the original, and as is par for the course for ''[=JoJo=]'', she gets a lot of creative uses out of it. Main character Jolyne's Stone Free/Stone Ocean is another case; a physically powerful Stand with the ability to unravel Jolyne's body into threads, threads that happen to be incredibly strong and malleable.
20* Inverted a bit in ''Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries'': Misty's Psyduck has Scratch and Tail Whip as its ''primary'' attacks (in fact, this is the only time we ever see Tail Whip in the anime). But then the uber-powerful Disable, Confusion, and sometimes even Psychic when its headache is big enough. Bear in mind that Psyduck's time in the spotlight was almost entirely during the first generation of ''Pokémon'', when Psychic was the Gun in the game's ElementalRockPaperScissors.
21* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
22** The eponymous character doesn't always get the [[SummonMagic summon]] he ''wants'' and is stuck with Gamakichi and/or Gamatatsu instead. "Can spontaneously create a thousand clones of himself, generate and weaponize a ball of pure energy, and summon... a couple of small, hungry talking frogs..."
23*** This changes quite a bit in Shippuden, as Gamakichi and Gamatatsu have grown quite a bit bigger (as in, larger than any human, though they're still tiny compared to their father [[{{Kaiju}} Gamabunta]]), and even the snack-obsessed moron Gamatatsu can do a powerful combination jutsu with Naruto. And by the end of Shippuden, it goes away entirely with Gamakichi being [[{{Kaiju}} a mere 10 cm shorter than his enormous father]]. Toads grow up fast.
24** Played straight/for comedy with Killer Bee, the host of the Eight-Tailed Beast. Being a jinchuriki gives you incredible amounts of chakra (even when not using the beast's power), the ability to transform [[GameFace part]] or [[OneWingedAngel all of the way into the beast's form]], and a special power depending on which one. Of what we know of, the One-Tailed lets you [[SandBlaster control sand]], the Two-Tailed can make [[TechnicolorFire a weird spectral fire]], the Four-Tailed can [[MagmaMan control/create lava]], the Nine-Tailed gives you a HealingFactor, and the Eight-Tails... lets your body produce ink from your mouth. Despite this, the current 8-Tailed host more than makes up for it with his control over the basic forms. In addition, spitting ink is [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower more useful than it may seem]], as it can be used to blind enemies or even solidified for a DoppelgangerAttack.
25** Jugo is the originator of the Cursed Seal, giving him great durability and lets him make his entire body a ShapeshifterWeapon. For [[FriendToAllLivingThings an entirely different reason]] he can also communicate with animals, and have them do various tasks like scouting or scattered torn pieces of clothing to throw someone off their trail. [[spoiler: Jugo's kinship with nature is actually tied to his transformation powers since both are due to him being a natural Sage, a person with strong ties to the chakra of nature.]]
26* Parodied in ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'', when Tomo plans to take Chiyo's intelligence and Sakaki's athletic ability, Osaka offers her forgetfulness. The theoretical super-Tomo shows up late and without her textbook, but does a triple flip into her seat and gives a perfect translation.
27* Tsugumi Ohba of ''Manga/DeathNote'' [[WordOfGod said that]] Shinigami, among [[NighInvulnerability intangibility]], {{Flight}}, [[MagicalEye the ability to see names above people's heads]] can also... taste even though [[EatingOptional they don't need to eat]].
28* The skill set of Negi in ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' includes various [[BlowYouAway wind]] and [[ShockAndAwe lightning]] spells, {{Status Buff}}s, {{Flash Step}}ping, [[spoiler:EnergyAbsorption]], etc., etc. Oh, and he also knows a spell for [[BreastExpansion breast inflation]].
29** Negi has a secondary one involving [[spoiler: his artifact, which borrows the powers of his partners. This includes {{Telepathy}}, AntiMagic, a GreatBigBookOfEverything, etc. It also includes a MagicalGirl staff that allows him to [[ExtremeGraphicalRepresentation surf the internet]].]]
30** Then there's Jack Rakan, whose portfolio includes SuperStrength, invincibility, ability to disregard the laws of physics, and... can [[TheNoseKnows locate enemies with alarming precision by the scent of their panties]]. Which [[PantyThief he stole right off of them]].
31** It's hinted that a lot of powerful warlocks will just naturally know one or two useless, crummy spells that they picked up along the way. Negi's most basic spells, learned in the magical equivalent of preschool, are moving tiny objects and fortune-telling. [[spoiler: Negi applies this in his battle with Chao; where Chao needs a super-computer hooked up to her battle-suit to SaveScum, Negi merely creates two sprites with each ability that handle it for him, finally robbing Chao of the GameBreaker advantage she's been abusing through the whole story arc and letting Negi fight her on equal footing.]]
32* Luca of ''AudioPlay/SaintBeast'' gets flight, strength, and the ability to read minds via his fingertips. In a different story one might be able to find meaningful uses for this, but in the actual series the only thing he can use it for is to read his boyfriend's mind -- the reason he actually ''wished'' for it in the first place. In comparison Judas' [[FingerSuckHealing healing kiss/breath]] is a lot less [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway lame]].
33* In the manga version of ''Manga/SailorMoon'', Sailor Venus has SuperStrength, [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]] , [[ExtraOreDinary control over metals]] (apparently), and the ability of purifying people corrupted by magic. In ''Manga/CodenameSailorV'' she also has the Venus Sulphur Smoke attack, that ''summons Venus' horribly stinking atmosphere''. ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman and HeartIsAnAwesomePower are at play: The one time she actually used it, she was facing a small army of cat youmas who had multiple hostages and increased sense of smell, and knocked them out instantly. Also, given the name of the attack, she was probably holding back, otherwise she would have ''melted everything with a cloud of sulphuric acid''.
34* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia,'' [[AnimalThemedSuperbeing Tsuyu]]'s frog abilities are themselves an example of HeartIsAnAwesomePower, but they include some things that she admits aren't very useful, like being able to spit out her own stomach to clean it. Also, she can produce a poisonous mucus, but it only causes a mild stinging sensation. [[spoiler: But then in the Joint Training Arc, she uses it to confuse [[BeastMan Jurota's]] hypersensitive sense of smell.]]
35* ''Manga/{{Shy}}'': Pretty much Shy's base powerset. She starts with strength and a jetpack, and the rest of her powers are fueled by her [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower kindness and compassion.]]
36[[/folder]]
37
38[[folder:Comic Books]]
39* ''ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}'': This is arguably why Aquaman is often seen more as a punchline than a legitimate superhero, since people tend to overlook his more useful abilities like super strength, durability and breathing underwater, and just remember him as "the guy who [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway talks to fish]]" (and of course, even that ability can be [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower surprisingly useful]] in large bodies of water... Ever seen ''Film/{{Jaws}}''? Yeah, he can make that happen to you whenever he damn well pleases). It does not help that ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'' mostly forgot about the strength and durability and didn't even bother much to at least make him BadassNormal outside of water. Yet, in some incarnations he is one of the most powerful Justice League members, especially when he also has magic on top of his other powers.
40* ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'': "Seth", a psycho living weapon developed to take down the Authority, had one thousand, two hundred and four unique powers - literally every single ability the world's seven richest governments together could churn out of their supersoldier programs (with all the resources of a WorldOfWeirdness at their disposal). Some of them were typical SuperpowerLottery things like telekinesis and super-super-speed. Some of them were quirkier, but made sense in terms of exploiting the Authority's {{Achilles Heel}}s- "Larynx-Freezing Vision," for instance, stopped the team's ComicBook/DoctorStrange expy from getting a spell out. But then came "X-Ray Strength" and "Nuclear Poop Vision”...
41* ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'': Daredevil's sonar super-hearing is used relatively often. His super-touch is mentioned relatively frequently, as well. Every once in a while, his super-smell will be referenced and useful. But rarely does his super-taste, which apparently allows him to analyze even trace ingredients of food, work its way into a story.
42* ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'': The titular character's hypermembrane, [[ClothingDamage when intact]], grants her an impressive, if unreliable, array of superpowers, such as SuperStrength, energy blasts, WallCrawling, and invulnerability. It can also turn invisible. Not turn ''her'' invisible, just turn ''itself'' invisible. You can guess how Emp and her body-image issues feel about ''that'' little trick. It also makes phone calls.
43* ''ComicBook/TheEternals'': In addition to being a FlyingBrick, one-time Avenger Starfox ([[Franchise/StarFox no relation]]) has the power to overwhelm people with "waves of pleasure." He mostly uses this to get laid, giving the character a very "[[MemeticMolester date-rapey]]" sort of vibe. His "pleasure power" would fall more under the realm of UselessUsefulSpell. Though the ability to take an enemy out via orgasm is a potentially useful one, it's failed nearly every time he's tried to use it in a fight. Eventually the "pleasure power" became a lot more potent in the pages of She-Hulk, so naturally he lost it in a lawsuit.
44* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': The Hulk has super-strength and durability... and the ability to see astral forms. Which is more useful than you might think, but not ''that'' much more useful. To be even more obscure, he can also always sense his location relative to the place he was "born" in the gamma bomb.
45* ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'': Mr. Hyde has monstrous strength and toughness, and could see heat. With an invisible sociopath on their team, this did become useful.
46* ''ComicBook/MartianManhunter'': Martian Manhunter has superstrength, flight, invulnerability, laser vision, telepathy, invisibility, intangibility and shapeshifting. He also has nine senses, which are poorly defined and ignored by most writers.
47* ''ComicBook/SavageDragon'': The titular character has superhuman strength, invulnerability, a healing factor, superhuman aim, superhuman agility, and... the ability to speak any Earth-based language. He didn't even realize he had this power until he met someone who spoke Mandarin.
48* ''ComicBook/SheHulk'': Captain Rectitude, in addition to his {{Flight}}, SuperStrength, and energy beams, has a strong anti-smut instinct in place of his normal biological drives.
49* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'': As in [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog the games]], Silver the Hedgehog has telekinetic powers that can do just about anything the writer can think of, with him being able to fly and throw meteorites with his mind. Here his amazing psychic abilities can also ''give you a headache.'' Normally he can only read the minds of other psychics, and even then only if they'll let him anyway. But it came in handy in issue 217 when he used a psychic booster to release a herd of walruses from mind control.
50* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Spider-Man got one of these in ''[[ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManJMichaelStraczynski The Other]]'' powerup mini-arc before ''ComicBook/{{Civil War|2006}}''. He gained such powers as being able to see in the dark, tracing vibrations through his weblines, poison stingers in his arms... and the ability to identify the species of any spider on sight. At least he didn't end up shooting webs out of his behind.
51** Even before that arc, he had adhesive abilities allowing him to climb up walls. That can sometimes come in handy but super-sticky powers still sound puny when compared to super strength and agility. In fact, he once held a small child to his back with no hands, like a spider's egg sac. That's right. Spidey had the power to give spider-piggyback rides! ''The proportionate piggy-back rides of a spider!''
52** Kaine, the second Scarlet Spider, picked up a similar set of abilities after his return... as well as, much to his displeasure, the ability to communicate with spiders. There are several where this power has come in handy, but Kaine, a determinedly serious angsty anti-hero, refuses to use it unless absolutely necessary.
53* ''ComicStrip/StarFox'': ''Franchise/StarFox'''s own Fox [=McCloud=] "could fly circles around a flea, endure days of gravity training, recite the Cornerian Constitution backwards and belch on command." [[note]]Presumably the command was, "Belch, [=McCloud=], belch!"[[/note]]
54* ''ComicBook/SubMariner'': Namor has super strength, can fly, can breathe both air and water, can charge his body with electricity, has telepathic control over undersea life... and can puff himself up like a puffer fish. The latter powers (thankfully) haven't been seen since his reintroduction into Marvel in the 1960s.
55* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
56** Superman used to have the power of Super-Ventriloquism, which he used surprisingly frequently (because being able to ''literally'' throw your voice gives you a way to communicate in the vacuum of space). Also whenever Superman -or other Kryptonian- used to use his powers to do something more efficiently writers would call it Super-<Insert Thing Here>, so "weaving at Superspeed" became [[http://images.paxholley.net/blog/superman/supes_weaving1.jpg "Super-Weaving"]]. The worst case of which is a simple multiplication, which Supes calls [[http://images.paxholley.net/blog/superman/supes_math1.jpg "Super-Mathematics"]] ''while he gets the answer wrong''[[note]]he comes to an answer of 32,000; the actual answer is 3,200[[/note]]. His "Super-Breath" is used only sporadically (volcano eruption, "Fire Wall of Doom"). In ''ComicBook/WarWorld'', Superman and Supergirl use their Super Ventriloquism to communicate in the vacuum of space.
57** ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} was created in the late Silver Age and she was so overpowered like her cousin, but she was not liable to come up with new weird powers every issue. Still she used "Super Ventiloquism", in ''ComicBook/ActionComics #258'' she used "Super Aiming" and in ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl1972 Supergirl Vol 1]]'' issue #1 she uses [[VacuumMouth Super-Suction Breath]] to capture a serial killer (she draws out the air out of a cab so the man in there faints). Supergirl once complained (to herself) how "lame" "Super Breath" was.
58* ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'': ComicBook/{{Starfire}} is a FlyingBrick who can shoot energy beams. Also, in order to explain [[AliensSpeakingEnglish her grasp of English]], she can learn any language by kissing a native speaker. Later a RetCon says that it can be ''any'' form of touch, but she likes kissing [[PowerPerversionPotential because it's more fun]].
59* ''ComicBook/TheTick'': The Tick in the original comics. He has SuperStrength, [[HeroicSecondWind Drama Power]] and is NighInvulnerable... And the ability to pull 2 dollar bills out of {{Hammerspace}} inside his pockets at will. [[MundaneUtility The Tick uses this incredible power to pay for groceries]].
60* ''ComicBook/TheUnbeatableSquirrelGirl'': Squirrel Girl, whose primary abilities push HeartIsAnAwesomePower to new levels, gets in on this act. Her useful abilities include [[SuddenlyFluentInGibberish Talks To Squirrels]] and [[SuperReflexes Squirrel Agility]], but she also has lips that taste like hazelnuts.
61* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'': Wonder Woman has flight, superstrength second only to Superman, [[SuperReflexes reflexes fast enough to block bullets]] with her bracelets (and indestructible bracelets), an indestructible magic lasso that can break enchantments and force anyone bound with it to answer any question truthfully and a razor-sharp tiara she can throw like a boomerang. Did you know she can also [[SpeaksFluentAnimal talk to animals]]? Neither did most of the people who write her comic, judging by how often she does it. She can also talk with trees.
62* ''ComicBook/XMen'':
63** It's more a {{Required Secondary Power|s}}, but ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} has a natural grasp of spatial geometry: usually he uses it to bounce his eyebeams off stuff, but he has used it for other things (like throwing rocks and baseball) at least occasionally. ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} once noted that this means it's a very bad idea to play against Cyke in a game of pool. Captain America also has this as well for the same reason (except with his shield); one can only imagine what would happen if the two of them played pool together.
64** ComicBook/{{Gambit}} used to have a power which had no practical applications but meant he could touch Rogue. Though this was useful as the two were lovers. ([[RuleOfDrama He lost it, of course]].)
65*** He also had a "charm" power, which everyone except Creator/ChrisClaremont completely ignored.
66** ComicBook/{{Rogue}} herself, when still possessing ComicBook/MsMarvel's powers, had a latent [[SpiderSense seventh sense]] that allowed her to detect danger. She used it perhaps twice in the comic books. Ms. Marvel herself rarely used the power, either.
67** ComicBook/{{Nightcrawler}} can teleport (taking other people along - [[PortalCut or just pieces of them]] - if he wants), climb walls and ceilings, turn invisible in shadows, and has superhuman agility and a prehensile tail he can use to fence with three swords at once. He also has the ability to know whether or not he's in his home dimension. He can count the number of times he's used this power for anything other than instinctively ending up in the right dimension when he teleports on the fingers of one hand. And Nightcrawler only has three fingers per hand.
68[[/folder]]
69
70[[folder:Fan Works]]
71* ''WebAnimation/ZanyToTheMax'':
72** When the Warners become superheroes, they all have super strength, flight abilities, etc. They also have their own special power. [[MotorMouth Yakko]]'s is cutting things up with invisible, giant, or [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs invisible giant]] scissors, [[CloudCuckooLander Wakko]]'s is hitting things with rocks, and {{D|eliberatelyCuteChild}}ot's is...wrapping things up with [[RockPaperScissors paper]].
73** [[spoiler: It turned out to be useful in the ''Powerpuff Girls'' parody, where she wraps Pinky and The Brain up in enough paper to keep them from moving.]]
74** The Warner Cousins (except [[{{Animesque}} Sikko]], who has super powers in normal form and doesn't have a Warnerpuff Toon form) have special powers when ''they'' are superheroes as well. [[ConjoinedTwins Zak and Ko]] can separate, exploding in the process. They become conjoined again if they touch each other. [[BigEater Pakko]] can use his hands as keys. [[AuthorAvatar Makko]] can shapeshift and make music without an instrument. [[SuperSpeed Jot]] can make a computer screen appear above her.
75** The Zarner Siblings have special abities in superhero form as well.
76[[/folder]]
77
78[[folder:Film]]
79* Film/ThePumaman has super strength, flight (kinda), teleportation, [[IntangibleMan intangibility]], [[MySignificanceSenseIsTingling a danger sense]], and the ability to see in the dark. He can also [[PlayingPossum fake being dead]]. Since Puma Man is basically useless despite his [[ComboPlatterPowers smorgasbord of powers]], he at one point uses his possum power to get the villain to leave him alone.
80[[/folder]]
81
82[[folder:Literature]]
83* ''Literature/MaximumRide'':
84** Angel has [[FlyingBrick Super Strength, Flight,]] Telepathy, borderline MindControl, and...can talk to fish.
85** Nudge, can sense stuff about people through what they've touched (important -- she can guess any computer password), and she's magnetic (not so important -- they play with it on a plane for awhile, then it's promptly forgotten).
86* The Sleeper from ''Literature/WildCards'' gained a new form and powers every time he woke up. However, one power stayed with him: He could generate sad piano background music by saying [[BeamMeUpScotty 'Play it again, Sam']].
87* In ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'' Mistborn have Allomancy, the power to "burn" metals to grant them the power associated with that metal. Some of them are obviously useful - pewter grants you enhanced strength and agility, for example, while others are useful in this particular world - copper hides your own use of Allomancy and protects your mind from Allomantic influence. Then there's gold, which allows you to see the person you would have been had you made different choices and is mostly good for traumatizing yourself (because you don't just see them, you temporarily perceive yourself ''as'' them -- while still perceiving yourself as yourself), and aluminum, which just destroys all the metals you've swallowed. For extra fun, most Allomancers are "Mistings" who can only burn one metal. If that metal is aluminum or duralumin (which grants a massive power boost to the other metals you're burning except that you can't burn any other metals), congratulations, you have the power to do nothing, and get called an "aluminium/duralumin gnat".
88* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': The EnlightenmentSuperpower that Eric acquires in Ceiha grants him increased spiritual power, vast stores of magical knowledge, and effortless fluency in a dead language. He uses the last one for "outrageous unfair translation fees".
89* ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'': The Monkey King Sun Wukong has a massive plethora of powers, including SuperStrength, NighInvulnerability, TrueSight, [[InASingleBound Cloud Somersaulting]], SelfDuplication, VoluntaryShapeshifting, CompleteImmortality, etc... as well as having authority over horses. The last one was thanks to a brief stint as Heaven's stable boy.
90* ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'': As the son of Poseidon, Percy has all sorts of abilities at his disposal. The power to [[MakingASplash control water]], communicate with sea life, create hurricanes, control boats, outright summon water even when he's far inland, [[HealingFactor heal whenever he's in contact with water]] and [[SuperNotDrowningSkills survive in the depths of the ocean without drowning, getting crushed by the pressure, or even getting wet]]. He can also talk to horses[[note]]Poseidon first created horses in his contest with Athena[[/note]] and flawlessly navigate while at sea. He gets some use out of the former what with the pegasi and hippocampi he befriends, but the latter hardly gets used at all.
91[[/folder]]
92
93[[folder:Live Action TV]]
94* Marty Hopkirk in ''Series/RandallAndHopkirkDeceased'' has a bunch of useful Ghostly powers and... voice mimicry. Usually this would be a possibly useful power, but Marty is the [[OurGhostsAreDifferent type of ghost]] that very [[SpiritAdvisor few people can see or hear]] so it's only useful in PlotTailoredToTheParty situations.
95** An even better example would be at the start of the second season (in the remake, anyway), where he gains the ability to... ''shrink shoes''.
96* Illyria from ''Series/{{Angel}}'' initially has the powers of an [[PhysicalGod Old God]] - including outstanding physical strength, invulnerability, shapeshifting, time-manipulation... and the ability to talk to plants.
97* ''Series/TheSecretWorldOfAlexMack'' is a show about a girl who, after being dosed by chemicals, gains telekinesis, the power to send out electric shocks, turn into a puddle (which is a lot more useful than it sounds, as she could actually move around while in water mode), change color when upset (which isn't) and, after a [[PowerCreepPowerSeep power creep]], burp bubbles and wield super strength [[PowerUpFood after eating curry]].
98* In ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', Sylar acquires superpowers whether they're useful or not. One of his first powers is "melting things," which he's never seen to use again. His {{telekinesis}}, [[PsychoElectro lightning blasts]], an incredible HealingFactor are all used often.
99* In ''Series/{{Misfits}}'', 'Jesus' had the powers of telekinesis and teleportation, but also walking on water and the ability to drive people mad with lust by touching them. Justified by the fact that he brought these separate powers from Seth.
100* Creator/JennyMcCarthy had a show structured like [=SNL=] for a while, and one of her recurring characters was a superheroine who had the usual powers, plus the ability to blast people with quarts of snot that made them chill out.
101* ''Series/AllThat'': Whenever Superdude appears, he states some of his superpowers before mentioning his sensitive side.
102* The comics had Franchise/WonderWoman as an TheChampion of [[CompleteImmortality the amazon warriors]] with SuperStrength and an [[CoolPlane invisible plane]]. The ''Series/{{Wonder Woman|1975}}'' TV series introduced the world [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL9L_uYASrU to the way]] Diana Prince could [[SpectacularSpinning spin]] to change her clothes to Wonder Woman's, and back into Diana Prince (in the episode "The Feminum Mystique Part 1)", and also gave Wonder Woman [[SpeaksFluentAnimal the power to talk to pigeons]], [[FriendToAllLivingThings calm guard dogs]], and [[VoiceChangeling perfectly impersonate a German spy's voice]]
103* [[Series/DoctorWho The Doctor:]] Master of time and space (with their TARDIS), frighteningly intelligent, knows everything about everything, can completely recover from being killed just about any way you care to kill them, and speaks fluent baby. (The Doctor is fluent in basically ''every'' language, which includes baby. And horse.)
104[[/folder]]
105
106[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
107* In the ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'' episode where Earl becomes a super-hero, he has the abilities of [[FlyingBrick Flight, Heat Vision, Super-Strength]]... and can guess anyone's weight to the nearest pound. A news anchor even refers to him as the "Weight-Guessing Wonder".
108[[/folder]]
109
110[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
111* ''TabletopGame/DarkSun'' {{sourcebook}} "The Will and the Way" has a kit "Tribal Psionicist" whose main feature was the combination of usual class development and random wild talents (acquired without learning all the prerequisites and synergetic with normal learning). That may happen to be [[GameBreaker overpowering]] or almost useless, at whims of the RandomNumberGod.
112** Best one? Trying to figure out a way to use "You can tell what direction is what." (Well, it could come in handy if you're lost...)
113*** Considering most of Athas (the world of ''Dark Sun'') is essentially an arid desert wasteland full of dangerous monsters that getting lost in is usually a death sentence that power would be very useful.
114* Solars in ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' are blessed by the Unconquered Sun. What sort of powers does this give them? They can become awesome at just about anything, fight well enough to kill gods, dodge attacks that are undodgeable, make a person do almost anything with their powers of persuasion, learn the most powerful sorcery in existence, and even shape primordial chaos into concrete reality. But there are two abilities they all have in common: the power to make their foreheads glow, and to know the time of day at will. Hey torches and watches are fiddly and expensive!
115** In ''Webcomic/KeychainOfCreation'', Marena used the light-from-the-forehead thing, and Misho was implied to be using it as well. So far, though, nobody has had occasion to use the time-of-day thing.
116*** Radiating sunlight is also very helpful when dealing with vampires, if you learn the right charm. Sadly, trying to ''find'' vampires is quite difficult, since they don't appear in the setting, but hungry ghosts and darkbrood have reason to fear.
117** Infernals tend to end up in this, due to their Charm trees being somewhat indirect and organised by theme rather than mechanical focus. You can end up accepting better oceanic survival despite the majority of the chronicle taking place in a city located deep in the desert because it lets you anoint your stuff with poison, bleed acid, and turn other people's morning coffee into lashing tentacles. Malfeas's FeelNoPain Charms are separated by one that lets you go without sleep indefinitely, but when you do sleep (usually to recover willpower), you experience a horrible nightmare. Adorjani Infernals, meanwhile, can easily end up supplementing their run-really-fast powers, of which they have a lot, with "hate loud noises", "survive indefinitely on murder" and ''"undergo mitosis"''. And, of course, you can access the oddities of multiple Yozis, and indeed have to in order to function at full power, leading to an odd situation where an Infernal is running around simultaneously able to see reality-that-is and a horrible nightmarish dreamscape because he counts running as sleep and has nightmares when he sleeps.
118* Not uncommon in ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'', if the player is quirky enough. Some of these simple powers and feats can actually break the plot if the DM doesn't plan ahead. (Like the ability to make nigh-instant gather information checks, or a BagOfHolding that can swallow enemies whole.)
119* The ''TabletopGame/VillainsAndVigilantes'' superhero RPG determined powers randomly, so it was pretty common to get one useful power, one that might be at least somewhat related thematically to the first if you squinted just right, and one that was both nearly worthless and completely out of left field.
120* Some [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons D&D]] Spells and powers can create this effect, especially the optional rules and level 0 spells. Wizards can blow up dragons and turn coins into rings. Clerics can raise the dead and [[BoringButPractical produce water from nowhere]]. An optional Hexblade ability allows you to create spooky omens for no reason other than to freak people out.
121** Even the mightiest wizard, with powers to challenge the gods themselves, wouldn't think to go out without preparing the "Prestidigitation" spell that morning. It has essentially no gameplay value, but can improve the taste of food and clean your clothes.
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125* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' protagonist Reimu Hakurei can fly (granted, nearly everyone in [[FantasyKitchenSink Gensoukyou]] can do that), call upon the powers of the UsefulNotes/{{Shinto}} and Hakurei Shrine gods, create advanced [[BarrierWarrior barriers]] and [[SupernaturalSealing seals]], [[{{Intangibility}} make herself completely untouchable at a whim]], and [[NeverGetsFat eat sweets without getting fat]].
126** Yuuka Kazami is a youkai with incredibly high levels of strength, endurance and magical energy, and is (possibly) the original creator of Marisa's [[WaveMotionGun Master Spark]]. Her actual power is [[GreenThumb manipulation of flowers]], which is referred to as "more of an extra."
127** Eirin Yagokoro's power is being a [[SuperIntelligence super genius]] [[TheMedic who can make any medicine conceivable]], which is by no means a lame power but it doesn't sound like it could stand up to [[SuperpowerLottery many of the overpowered denizens of Gensokyo]] as far as combat goes. However, she has lived for possibly millions(!) of years, is probably one of the gods who were present during the creation myth of UsefulNotes/{{Shinto}} and has a proportional knowledge of magic. She can form a sealed barrier around ''the whole Earth'' and implies that's not even her most powerful spell. Yeah, needless to say she is a FinalBoss.
128** Remilia Scarlet ''might'' be a case of this. Her power is the "manipulation of fate," which if taken to its full potential should make her a RealityWarper. However, this does not seem to be the case, and her little sister seems to think that Remilia [[FakeSpecialAttack literally made her power up]] in order to [[IMeantToDoThat seem cooler than she really is]], which would not be out-of-character given that Remilia is as close to being an Evil Eye-type {{Chuunibyou}} as a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent legitimate vampire]] can be. Common consensus seems to be that Remilia's ability, if it's even real, is more of a [[WindsOfDestinyChange luck-influencing]] power than anything, she can increase the probability that things play out in her favor, but not cause unrealistic events to transpire. Regardless of any of this, however, she is still a vampire, which means she is endowed with SuperStrength comparable to that of oni, SuperSpeed comparable to that of tengu, a HealingFactor that allows her to survive basically anything, and enough magical power to wreathe all of Gensokyo in blood-colored mist.
129** Another potential entrant in this trope is Yuugi Hoshiguma, with the "power to wield unexplainable phenomena." In a world [[FantasyKitchenSink where everything is unexplained phenomena]] [[WorldOfWeirdness and therefore, nothing is]], this could be the strongest power of all, or the most useless one. Nothing in canon explains her power in the slightest, and the wiki's stance on the matter is "damned if we know," which makes sense given that explaining the power would be anathema to the power itself... At any rate, she is still an {{oni}}, and one of [[EliteFour the Four Devas of the Mountain]] to boot, and among the Four recognized as the physically strongest member. You know you're a badass when a race whose members are known to occasionally shatter mountains gives you the moniker [[RedBaron "Yuugi the Strong."]]
130* In ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice: The Devil's Playhouse'', Max has the power to see the future, teleport, [[AstralProjection astrally project]] himself and others into films or slides, [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshift]], force words into other people's mouths, compress into a tiny space, read minds, [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu destroy elder gods]], [[DreamStealer eat nightmares]], [[RealityWarper warp reality]], and produce an Nutritional Information list of any food item he looks at. This last power isn't even necessary to beat the game.
131* In ''VideoGame/SpyroEnterTheDragonfly'', Spyro can [[BreathWeapon breathe]] fire, ice, and ''bubbles''. The Bubble Breath is entirely useless except for trapping the MacGuffin dragonflies. Later game "A Hero's Tail" featured Water Breath, which couldn't kill any enemies and was only useful for solving a few puzzles.
132* In ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'', the [[ComboPlatterPowers Keyblade]] can [[SummonToHand appear at will]], [[MorphWeapon assume nearly any form]], act as a [[FullContactMagic conduit for magic]], [[HolyHandGrenade annihilate]] TheHeartless, and [[MundaneUtility lock or unlock]] [[SkeletonKey just about anything that]] ''[[SkeletonKey has]]'' [[SkeletonKey a lock]]. Which turns out to be the most powerful of its abilities by ''far'', because [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower hearts lie behind doors]].
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136* In ''Webcomic/SlightlyDamned'', Kieri the water angel can fly, shoot icebolts, and has [[CursedWithAwesome a curse]] that lets her turn into a cute bunny. Being said cute bunny restricts Kieri's ability to fight and it weakens her magic. However, it crosses into CursedWithAwesome when Kieri becomes unhittable due to small size and increased rabbity agility. After all, Toski did refer to it as a gift!
137* In ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive'', Super Stupor: While not a weak power by any means, the very...[[DeusSexMachina intimate]] contact necessary for one superhero's truth power to work makes him very reluctant to even admit that it exists [[http://www.superstupor.com/sust11262007.shtml]].
138* Dave's kernelsprite, from ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', was prototyped with an impaled crow. This gives him wings & flight, an always available sword, energy beams, insight into the secrets of the game, and apparently [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=006244 the ability to deface posters from a distance while someone is writing on them.]]
139* In ''Webcomic/{{Roommates}}'' (and its {{Spin Off}}s ''Webcomic/GirlsNextDoor'' and ''Webcomic/DownTheStreet'') Jareth's main power is over time and space (even people's personal time and space perception), he also has some very limited general magic (enough to heal small injuries)...and the power to [[ChangingClothesIsAFreeAction instant change]] [[InstantCosplaySurprise people's clothing.]] (Could be [[MundaneUtility highly specialized teleportation,]] but then where on Earth does he get the clothes from?)
140** ''Roommates''' explanation is that magic is the extension of the caster ''and'' the [[TheoryOfNarrativeCausality narrative,]] which means it's {{Wild|Magic}}. The clothing change is one of such side-effects, but Jareth tends to shamelessly exploit it for his own amusement. The thing is: ''anybody'' wielding his powers will get an attire fitting the narrative, no matter if he wants it or not. (Yes. This happened.)
141* In ''Webcomic/TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella'' the title character has super strength and invulnerability and can jump really high, which are all she uses. Occasionally she demonstrates other, more bizarre abilities. For example, the ability to vomit up a live octopus when tied up, the ability to order plants to die, and "oyster sense". She also gets heat vision as an allergic reaction to shellfish.
142* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Grace has shapeshifting, telekinesis, immunity to fire and ability to talk to squirrels (later extended to all animals).
143** And Nanase has assorted physical boosts, illusion powers, flight, conjuring and controlling copies of herself, and instantly changing her hairstyle. Both Justin and Sarah regard the last as the most awesome.
144** And Ellen has the ability to fire a variety of transformation beams from her hands, copy the forms of others and apply them to herself or other people, and shine a flashlight-like beam of light from her hand.
145** It's explained that true magic-users like Nanase gain spells that reflect who they are. Most people have some attributes that are big and significant and some that are not. So presumably everyone falls under this trope.
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149* Aquerna, at [[SuperheroSchool Whateley Academy]] in the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse''. Strength, quickness, leaping ability, and...she can talk to squirrels (although some of the time, this one is her ''best'' power).
150** Makes sense once one considers that she gets her powers from a (possibly ''the'') squirrel spirit. She gets overshadowed by many of the flashier super-teens at the school, but it's actually a pretty neat and consistent package.
151* ''Website/SCPFoundation'': SCP-076-2 a.k.a. Able: [[SuperStrength super strong,]] MadeOfIron, can materialize blades from nowhere...and has a great affinity for tending to livestock.
152** He's ''the'' Abel (as in, the one from Literature/TheBible). The tending to livestock bit is the one that makes sense out of a grab bag of powers that have no apparent explanation either scientifically or from his origins.
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155[[folder:Western Animation]]
156* All three of ''Franchise/ThePowerpuffGirls'' are [[FlyingBrick superstrong and can fly,]] can shoot EyeBeams, and have several other cool powers. Blossom also has freezing powers, Bubbles can speak any language (including animal languages), and Buttercup can...roll her tongue like a taco.
157* During the second season of ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'', the girls gained some interesting secondary powers. Among the quirkier of their new powers, Irma gained the power of persuasion and the ability to turn people's clothes pink. This is used to great effect to annoy the muscular Knight of Vengeance Frost who apparently doesn't believe that RealMenWearPink. Considering Irma is the comic relief of the team this could almost count as PersonalityPowers. In the comics, some of the first signs of Irma's potential as a Guardian were her "wishing" (implied to be her persuasion powers being used unconsciously)for Mr. Collins to ask her about the only subject she had studied the night before and her wishing for a blue dress and proceeding to turn her entire wardrobe blue. Compared to the second person's example of power-potential-demonstration (Taranee redirecting a firework about to hit Irma in the face and then warding flames away from Will), it does make it seem like Irma got hit with WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway.
158* DiscussedTrope in ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'', where the villains split the 12 talismans between the four of them, letting them rob banks with super strength, laser eyes, and the ability to turn cops into chickens, among other things. Finn, however, gets the powers of astral projection, motion-to-the-motionless and balance (spiritual, sadly). Luckily, he complains enough so that comparatively-{{Badass Normal}} Hak Fu trades with him...and then he makes a ''second'' trade with Ratso when this gives him flight and ''two'' healing powers (which later turn out to not actually be redundant).
159* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': Noticing that his parents have to work all day and are too tired for him when they get home, Timmy wishes to his fairy godparents that his parents were superheroes and "toss in whatever superpowers they can think off". Standard powers: superstrength, flight, morphing powers, heat vision and superspeed. Stranger but no less practical powers: spider snot. And then there's meat vision, which they inexplicably retain in at least one later episode.
160** They also turn out to have immunity to magic, which becomes a problem when he wants to hit the ResetButton.
161* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' features Captain Hindsight. Not only can he fly, but he also has...extraordinary hindsight. This is treated as CursedWithAwesome. Interestingly, as denoted by his superhero moniker, the extraordinary hindsight is considered his ''main'' power, while his flight is mostly just a way for him to get around so that he can dispense his belated wisdoms. It doesn't even occur to anyone that he could use his flight to save people from a burning building, instead of explaining in detail what '''should''' have been done to avoid that fire in the first place.
162* ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'': Stitch has super strength, a super-retentive brain (can learn any language, alien, human, or otherwise, in a very brief time period), agility, quick thinking -- he's created to be a [[PersonOfMassDestruction being of mass destruction.]] He can also act as a gramophone (stick a claw on a vinyl disc, open Stitch's mouth, and swing to the Elvis). And regurgitate and perfectly reassemble a cake he just ate.
163* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'': Along with his better-known powers, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5N-jh8ars8 Superman can]] [[VoiceChangeling exactly imitate other people's voices.]] He says it comes from "precise muscle control" and [[SuperSenses incredibly good hearing.]]
164* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperHeroSquadShow'' this applies to just about everyone. ComicBook/DoctorStrange, for example, is good at energy projection, transformation of matter, Bulgarian CowTipping, and sudoku.
165* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Teen Titans|2003}}'', [[CuteBruiser Starfire]] is a FlyingBrick with SuperStrength, the ability to project energy blasts from her hands and eyes, resistance to the vacuum of space and other harsh environmental conditions, and the ability to...learn languages by kissing a native speaker. (According to the show, it has to be a kiss. See the comic above.)
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