Line #38 Main/HaremPowered


1	When ThePowerOfLove meets {{Polyamory}}. This trope is to the HaremGenre what CombiningMecha is to the {{Mecha}} Genre.
2
3	A character becomes Harem-Powered when some or all members of their harem of {{Love Interest}}s ([[HaremSeeker wanted]] or [[UnwantedHarem otherwise]]) [[AllYourPowersCombined grant them powers, equipment, abilities or immunities]]. This can be in general (granting LifeEnergy to the central character) or very specific ([[WithOurSwordsScene granting one unique item/ability]]). In narrative terms, this trope typically acts as an unspoken justification for why [[MarryThemAll the character can't choose only one partner]], as rebuking any member of the harem would affect their optimal combat ability. In some cases, the character may only be able to [[MultiformBalance access one power at a time]], but still needs to keep members of the harem around in case they need that specific power at a specific time.
4
5	Sister trope to BattleHarem and the two can overlap. It can also overlap with the aforementioned CombiningMecha such as in the series ''Anime/{{Vandread}}'', described below.
6
7	In video games, this is related to LevelUpAtIntimacyFive.
8
9	----
10
11	!!Examples
12
13	[[foldercontrol]]
14
15	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
16	* ''Manga/TwelveBeast'': Eita already has implausible ninja training, but gets superpowers when any of the girls he travels with fuses with his metal gauntlet (the harpy gives agility, the minotauress gives strength, etc.). Unfortunately, this involves him putting his hand on their breast.
17	* In ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', Negi spends much of the series slowly amassing "Pactios" with [[BattleHarem the students of his class]] - a magical contract in which a [[SquishyWizard "Magister"]] empowers a [[MagicallyIneptFighter "Minister"]] to act as their [[SwordAndSorcerer partner in battle]], and creates a [[CardsOfPower Pactio Card]] with which the Minister can summon a powerful artifact matching their personality. Just before his climactic battle with [[WorldsStrongestMan Jack Rakan]], Negi enters a temporary Pactio as [[RoyaltySuperpower Princess Theodora]]'s Minister, receiving the artifact ''One Thousand Bonds'' - a cardholder which can summon the artifacts of any of his own Ministers, and [[LampshadeHanging is referred to even in-universe]] as a StoryBreakerPower.
18	* ''Manga/{{Pretear}}'' has its heroine combine with one of her Leafe Knights in order to activate one of the Pretear's eight forms.
19	* ''Manga/TrinitySeven'': Amongst Arata's plethora of powers and abilities, he possesses PowerCopying, so long as he follows certain prerequisites to using an ability. His BattleHarem thus often takes it upon themselves to teach him to use their abilities (such as FullContactMagic) to stand a chance against the latest ArcVillain. He is also in possession of multiple [[SpellBook Grimoires]] and even created an avatar for Lilith's Grimoire that has a mix of both "parents'" magic, which he can tap into at any time if his is depleted.
20	* ''Anime/{{Vandread}}'': Hibiki gains access to a Mecha that can combine with the mecha of several of the female heroines. [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything The girls fight over who gets to combine with him]] and each fusion grants a different and specific power to the resulting "offspring". In the final battle, [[spoiler:the mecha of the hero and all of the women combine into the "Super Vandread", which has all of the powers of the various fusions.]]
21	* ''Manga/YokaiGirls'': The various {{Youkai}} girls can project their spirit into Yatsuki [[EquippableAlly to grant him weapons or armor]] themed after their abilities. Initially he's [[MultiformBalance limited to one at a time]], but [[NextTierPowerUp after figuring out how]] to [[FusionDance fuse his soul with theirs]] he's able to [[AllYourPowersCombined equip all of their powers at once]].
22	[[/folder]]
23
24	[[folder:Fan Works]]
25	* ''Fanfic/{{Archetypal}}'': Harem King works like an odd variation of this. It gives the user the ability to transform into a different form that takes the characteristics of the Archetype of the person the user bonded with. [[spoiler: Lincoln discovers this power with Leni while there's a Husk outbreak at the mall.]]
26	* ''Fanfic/OneForAllAndEightForTheNinth'': [[Manga/MyHeroAcademia Izuku Midoriya]], due to the combination between Bonding and One for All, gains powers as he gets closer to the girls in his harem, particularly as the bonds reach their third level, which empowers him in a way based on the girl's Quirk.
27	[[/folder]]
28
29	[[folder:Literature]]
30	* ''Literature/AsuraCryin'': A regular human is able to access two types of power.
31	** By sacrificing the physical body of a partner, they can draw power from their bonds/love and use them to power a HumongousMecha called an "Asura Machina". The partner in question literally [[PoweredByAForsakenchild has their emotions drained to supply energy to the mech and its attacks]]. Eventually, that partner will lose all emotions, run out of LifeEnergy completely, and disappear.
32	** By forming a "contract" (usually a romantic/sexual relationship) with a demon, humans can create a {{Familiar}} called a "Daughter". The demon and the Daughter will gain power from the contract, but it will not only drain LifeEnergy from the demon (who will crumble into crystal once depleted) but also slowly erode the human's ability to love.
33	** The only way to circumvent the energy issue is by taking BOTH of these options and [[spoiler:creating what's called an "Asura Cryin". This allows the Machina and the Daughter to circulate magic with each other, both increasing their power and slowing down (but not stopping) the energy depletion. However, this does NOT solve the emotion/mind drain problem. This is reason is why Asura Cryin are feared and typically killed on sight: they're a nigh-unstoppable PersonOfMassDestruction who's had their empathy and [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity mental state eroded to the point of insanity.]]]]
34	** In addition to this, Tomoharu ALSO gains powers from [[spoiler:Nia, a demon who has [[WindsOfDestinyChange luck-granting/draining abilities]], which she can bestow upon him with a kiss]].
35	* ''Literature/BeastTamer'': Rein Shroud is a Beast Tamer of uncommon skill. Not only can he form contracts with multiple animals, when most can only handle one at a time, he can form contracts with the "utlimate species", humanoids with power far beyond a human's. When he forms such bonds with an ultimate species, he receives an aspect of their power via PowerCopying. The ultimate species girls that Rein has contracted with include CatGirl Kanade, who gives him enhanced physical strength, {{Weredragon}} Tania providing increased magical power, and the Fairy twins Sora and Luna who, respectively, provide increased magical control and immunity from status effects. The potential of such power ups is such that Sora speculates Rein may have no upper limit on his growth at all, something only the entitled hero Arios can claim.
36	* ''Literature/{{Campione}}'': Godou's most powerful ability, which is essentially an InstantWinCondition, can only be activated once he sufficiently understands a god, as well as their powers and origins. The GirlOfTheWeek is usually the only person who has that knowledge, which would take ''years'' of explanation to cover verbally. It's possible to impart knowledge all at once via magic, but a Campione's skin is AntiMagic. Thus, the only way said girl can give the hero the power he needs to save the day is to insert the magic ''inside'' his body, which typically means through kiss or you-know-what.
37	* ''Literature/DateALive'': Shido can absorb the powers of any [[MagicalGirlWarrior Spirits]] he romances with a kiss so they can have normal lives. Over time, he gains a measure of control over his powers and can develop rudimentary versions of the Spirits' magical weapons for his personal use. [[spoiler:This is because the First Spirit resurrected Shido as a HalfHumanHybrid when he died before the events of the story. The collective powers of the Spirits were always meant to be Shido's and the First Spirit merely turned regular humans into Spirits as a way to perfect and refine those powers until Shido eventually obtained them.]]
38	* In ''Literature/TheHiddenDungeonOnlyICanEnter'', Noir gets LifeEnergy from erotic acts with the opposite sex; however, this loses effectiveness quickly if he only plays around with the same girl over and over again, so he needs a harem to "spice things up" and keep that LP flowing, or he'd die.
39	* ''Literature/{{Hundred}}'': The trope is PlayedWith, in that Hayato gains a PowerLimiter through his harem because he's a "Variant"--a HalfHumanHybrid caused by his DNA being infected with the Savage virus. Using too much of his Variant power can cause him to go berserk, unless the Savage virus is put under control. He can do this by "giving" some of the virus to someone else, via a kiss. If the person wasn't already a Variant themselves, they will become one by kissing him. In addition to this, two other women in his harem ([[IdolSinger Sakura]] and his [[LittleSisterHeroine little sister Karen]]) can also calm out-of-control Variants with their music.
40	* ''Manga/HybridXHeartMagiasAcademyAtaraxia'': Kizuna Hida can copy the Immoral weapons of the girls he does [[DeusSexMachina Heart Hybrid]] with.
41	* ''Literature/ISavedTooManyGirlsAndCausedTheApocalypse'' is a combination of this and StoryBreakerTeamup - due to being dragged into multiple stories from different genres, Rekka gets to [[WrongContextMagic use abilities and equipment in places where no one sees them coming]]. Can't pull out the SwordInTheStone? Just borrow the alien girl's teleportation device!
42	* ''Literature/InAnotherWorldWithMySmartphone'': Touya [[MasterOfAll can use any spell ever created]], meaning he can use spells specific to any mages in his BattleHarem, and even [[WrongContextMagic combine them]] to create RequiredSecondaryPowers for more complex abilities, such as SuperMode or {{Flight}}. [[spoiler:He also gains access to the island of Babylon, which is a base created by Professor Regina Babylon to aid him in his upcoming battle with the Fraze with access to an alchemy lab, a mass-production workshop, and facilities for producing HumongousMecha. Due to [[LovableSexManiac Regina's nature]], each piece also comes with a SexBot for Touya...including [[BrainUploading Regina herself.]]]]
43	* ''Literature/InvadersOfTheRokujyouma'': This is a very downplayed trope, played in a more practical, long-term method than usual. Koutarou finds himself in situations where one of the girls in his harem teaches him some type of skill or bestows upon him an item or skill that slowly starts to turn him from an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent into the spitting image of the legendary Blue Knight. [[spoiler:This allows Koutarou to eventually become the Blue Knight (via TimeTravel)]]. A full list: Sanae alters his body so he can see and manipulate spiritual energy, Theia gives him PoweredArmor and the high-tech sword Saguratin, Ruth trains him in sword-fighting, Yurika gives him a defensive enchantment, Kiriha gives him a gauntlet that produces fire and electric attacks, [[spoiler:Clan maintains his armor and incorporates the gauntlet into it, Alaia gives him the magic sword Signaltin, either Alaia or Harumi are needed to fully use the power of Signaltin, and Maki creates a mental link with him]]. However, Koutarou doesn't feel like he deserves the respect given to him due to his power coming from others.
44	* ''Literature/MagikaSwordsmanAndSummoner'': Kuzuki Hayashizaki is granted by his contracted summon Lemegeton the ability to use the magical powers of the girls in his harem. The more he and a girl love each other (Lemegeton clarifies it has to be love, ''not'' just friendship), the more powerful spells he can access.
45	* ''Literature/SekaiNoOwariNoEncore'': Due to his resemblance to an ancient hero, Ren ends up travelling with the hero's old BattleHarem - an angel, a demon and a dragon in human form, who each give him a minor boon so that he won't get himself killed by enemies who mistake Ren for the hero himself.
46	* ''Literature/StrikeTheBlood'': Kojou is a Pregenitor vampire with the ability to summon highly destructive familiars. However, the familiars will not respect a [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything "virgin"]] vampire and will only awaken if he drinks blood. In addition to that, some of his familiars require ''multiple'' different "blood donors", some require specific types of blood (or LifeEnergy) and some just become bored from receiving blood from the same partner over and over. Because of that, Kojou is required to keep a harem of women (and [[EvenTheGuysWantHim possibly men]]) to access his powers.
47	* ''Literature/UnlimitedFafnir'': Yuu is a "D", or a human born with the powers of a "Dragon", enormous {{Kaiju}} that select humans as "mates" and [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie turn them into a matching "Dragon".]] [[spoiler:Except later it's revealed that he's actually a "Counter-Dragon", and he also has the ability to "mate" with Ds. He thus "mates" with every girl in his school to protect them from being claimed by other Dragons.]]
48	* ''Literature/WorldBreakAriaOfCurseForAHolySwordsman'': In a world where people gain power from PastLifeMemories, Moroha is a rare example of someone able to gain power from ''two'' past lives. In one past life, he was a swordsman fighting for his [[LittleSisterHeroine little sister]] and in another, he was an Arch Mage leading a slave rebellion with [[DarkMistress his wife]]. All three of them have been reincarnated into this era, and only through deepening his relationships with them can he remember his past abilities. And on top of this, he also has a regular BattleHarem which provides backup.
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Video Games]]
52	* ''VideoGame/Conception2ChildrenOfTheSevenStars'': The main character Itsuki is a "Visitor"--a SummonEverymanHero tasked to fight the "impurities" which threaten it. To do this, he must romance twelve [[spoiler:(later thirteen)]] maidens of virtue who will bear his "Star Children". Actually, mating isn't a requirement of the experience, but it does involve a lot of GRatedSex. He must "conceive" as many Star Children from each of the women in order to have an army strong enough to clear the impurities.
53	* Social Links in ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' games make the hero stronger by forming bonds with other people. In ''VideoGame/Persona3'', almost every Social Link with a female student can only proceed past a certain point by initiating a romance, so to max out every Social Link, the hero has to date every one of them, sometimes at the same time, without getting caught. Later games (including the remake where you can play as a female student) downplay this by allowing platonic boy-girl Social Links, which makes it possible but not mandatory.

Context Main / HaremPowered