Line #11 Main/TheLawOfPowerProportionateToEffort


1	The amount of work needed to activate certain MagicAndPowers, or lack thereof, can provide a major advantage/disadvantage.
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3	In fiction, the audience is conditioned to become invested in effort; after all, a fight where the characters go through the motions is boring. Thus, this law exists to ensure that the more effort an ability requires, the stronger it is. If you're the good guys, at least. [[DavidVersusGoliath Heroes need a handicap, after all.]]
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5	The Law of Power Proportionate To Effort manifests itself in the following scale. The order, usually reflecting Most to Least Difficult, goes:
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7	* [[PowerIncontinence Incontinence]]
8	** The character is unable to control their powers at all. This is worse if the powers are switched "off" by default, and there is no known way of turning them on. Sometimes, they need someone else to activate their powers ''for'' them.
9	* [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique Physical/Mental Stress]]
10	** Using their abilities requires difficult, exhaustive, or [[CastFromHitPoints harmful]] effort. Typically, this means the ability can only be cast a limited number of times before the toll is too much for the user to take (sometimes incurring ''permanent'' damage from overuse).
11	* {{Concentration\|BoundMagic}}/{{Charg\|edAttack}}ing/[[VancianMagic Preparation]]/[[PowerCrutch External Help]]
12	** The character needs to focus all of their attention on something, such as maintaining concentration, meditating, gathering energy/resources, or setting up elaborate preparations, which prevents them from fighting at their best.
13	* [[FullContactMagic Normal Physical Action]]
14	** The character can use their power like, or along with, a non-strenuous physical action. E.g. the character might form an EnergyBall which must be physically thrown at enemies, or cut an object in two by making a slashing motion in its direction.
15	* [[MagicalGesture Gesture]]
16	** The character can use their ability with an effortless gesture.
17	* {{Thought\|ControlledPower}}
18	** The character can use their ability with just a thought.
19	* [[PowersDoTheFighting Automatic]]
20	** The character doesn't need to do anything at all. It will always activate when needed, and never activates when not needed.
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22	Note that there are two distinct, somewhat contradictory but not mutually exclusive, ways to use this trope. In the first, a set of powers or single ability which requires more effort to use is often going to be more powerful than one that requires less, for reasons of narrative CompetitiveBalance. In addition, characters may be able to boost their own power levels by putting more effort into it, in a sort of willpower-based version of TimTaylorTechnology. On the flip side, a character who displays less effort using their abilities can safely be assumed to be scarily badass, for reasons similar to the logic behind TheLawOfDiminishingDefensiveEffort. The former generally applies to heroes and the latter to villains, but exceptions do exist.
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24	SubTrope of PowerAtAPrice and DifficultButAwesome. The middle-of-the-road tiers may cause a PsychicNosebleed. KiManipulation almost ''have'' to follow this trope implicitly, because Ki is based on focus, physical health, and willpower. See also TheLawOfDiminishingDefensiveEffort when it comes to using defensive efforts(or lack thereof).
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26	Compare {{Cooldown}} for when the price comes ''after'' usage, but can still use this scale. Compare SpellConstruction for the kind of efforts you have to make to perform magic feats.
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28	!!Examples:
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30	[[foldercontrol]]
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32	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
33	* ''Manga/DragonBall'' goes by this trope implicitly.
34	** [[SuperMode Super Saiyan]]:
35	*** When first introduced, ''nobody'' knew how to ascend to this form; it required extreme amounts of emotional stress and a dire need for it. With enough practice, however, it gradually becomes easier. It also burns through ki over time ([[InformedFlaw allegedly]]). To face Cell, Goku and Gohan perfected the form so that it took no effort to activate or sustain, which paid off because it closed the gap to Super Saiyan 2, allowing Gohan to attain it during the Cell Games.
36	*** Super Saiyan 3 takes the flaw of Super Saiyan and exaggerates it: it burns through ki like nothing else and takes an extreme amount of effort to activate. At the time, there were only two solutions: being dead (where ki isn't a problem) or the Fusion Dance, since the combined ki makes Super Saiyan 3 a plaything. The downside, however, was burning through time: if a dead person on Earth then the form will reduce the time they have left, while a Fusion that lasts 30 minutes may be reduced to mere minutes.
37	** Kaio-ken:
38	*** When Goku is first taught the Kaio-ken (an ability that multiplies his base power), he's hardly able to use more than the fourth level before the stress on his body is too much to bear. Through training he's eventually able to use 20x with barely any effort, but by that point the technique had become SoLastSeason thanks to Super Saiyan, which has an automatic 50x boost to the user's ki and doesn't stress the body at all.
39	** Kamehameha:
40	*** {{Downplayed\| Trope}} for this technique; when someone uses a Kamehameha, the longer it takes them to [[CallingYourAttacks say its name]], the more power they're building up. Like all techniques, it can also scale relative to the user's battle power.
41	** Genkia-Dama / Spirit Bomb:
42	*** The Spirit Bomb is by ''far'' Goku's strongest technique, but it needs a trifecta of charging time, mental concentration ''and'' co-operation from those he's borrowing energy from. Meaning that unless he has someone to cover him for the several (or even ''dozens'') of minutes it takes to complete it, he won't survive long enough to throw it, and the longer it takes him to find and convince others to help, the longer it'll take to complete. The upshot is that it can be far higher ki than yours, an unquestionable advantage as long as the wielder has enough ki to keep it together.
43	** Divine Abilities
44	*** Divine ki is noted to be denser and harder to control than mortal ki, but exponentially more powerful. It also requires specific methods of training or ritual in order to access, although it becomes substantially easier to do so once the user has activated it once.
45	*** Destruction and Erase are the biggest exceptions to the rule. They are terrifyingly lethal abilities which utterly destroy a person's body and soul down to the smallest particle. But even more horrific than that is that their users can do so almost instantaneously and with little time to dodge or defend. Zen-O's Erase can even wipe out an entire universe or timeline with a mere thought or gesture, which is what makes him [[spoiler:and his future counterpart]] [[TheDreaded the most feared beings]] known.
46	* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' demonstrates this through its kidou magic: a Shinigami can cast a spell without the half-minute spirit chant, but it loses most of its power and probably won't be more than a distraction against its target. Most kidou victories involve struggling to delay the enemy long enough for someone to finish a full chant-- or one of the strongest Captains showing off how much damage they can do with a few words.
47	* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
48	** Naruto's Sage Mode is a perfect example of one that climbs this scale as it slowly succumbs to SoLastSeason.
49	*** At first, it requires Preparation, Charging, ''and'' Concentration to use. Sage Mode takes several minutes of charging nature energy to use, which makes it absolutely useless because you have to enter a battle with it already prepared, and then avoid using the energy you worked so hard to store in the first place.
50	*** Naruto learns to get around this by using SelfDuplication, having his clones charge the energy ''for'' him, and then dismissing them to absorb their power. However, as his clones need to concentrate, that means Naruto is limited in the number of clones he can use (which is problematic as a ZergRush is his signature strategy).
51	*** Later on, though, Naruto's NextTierPowerUp gives him more power to summon clones with, and Naruto masters nature energy to the point that he can enter Sage Mode in seconds.
52	** Obito & Kakashi's Kamui is also another ability that demonstrates most levels of this scale.
53	*** When Obito first unlocks his Kamui, he cannot control its 'intangibility' properly.
54	*** When Kakashi first demonstrates his Kamui, he requires a lot of time to prepare it, after which, he is left bed-ridden for a few days.
55	*** In order to teleport someone, Obito must lay a hand on them. Teleportation is fairly quick, with only instantaneous abilities like Flying Thunder God able to evade it.
56	*** Once he has mastered his Kamui, Obito's intangibility is more or less automatic.
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58	* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'':
59	** In general, the more powerful a spell is, the longer its activation incantation is. Powerful combat spells can take many lines of Ancient Greek or Latin to invoke, and the most powerful magics can actually require dozens of minutes of chanting. Negi takes advantage of this in one fight: he and his opponent both start incanting at the same time, but Negi's spell is slightly less powerful, with a shorter incantation, and therefore activates first, punching through his opponent's before it can fully manifest.
60	** Highly skilled mages can cast basic spells without the incantation, but the more powerful ones still require some invocation. Evangeline, as a 700 year old master, is able to cast mid-tier spells without an incantation, but still has to incant the real heavy-hitters.
61	** ''Really'' high-tier magic requires complex and intricate magic circles to be drawn in addition to invocations. Naturally, it's extremely difficult to do this in the middle of a fight, making uses of these spells limited.
62	** Negi starts getting around the invocation problem by making use of delayed spells. A spell doesn't necessarily have to activate the second its incantation is finished; it can be held in reserve for up to ten or twenty seconds. Negi's combat style incorporates chanting the invocations during lulls in the fight, then attacking in other ways and releasing the spell later, when the opponent isn't expecting it, or as part of a combo with physical attacks or other spells.
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64	* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': Izuku Midoriya is a Quirkless boy who inherits One For All, the strongest Quirk a hero can possess. However, controlling the Quirk is an uphill task for him because his body cannot yet handle 100% of its output.
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67	[[folder:Comic Books]]
68	* [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] for ComicBook/{{Cyclops}}, whose main superpower is a destructive pair of EyeBeams, with the power to destroy mountains, that appear whenever he opens his eyes. Using this power is based on a gesture (opening his eyes), but to stop that from [[StoryBreakerPower becoming broken]], he not only has PowerIncontinence, but two different energy sources for these beams are introduced to provide limits.
69	** One energy source says that Cyclops absorbs sunlight and metabolizes it. Therefore, using his stored up energy fatigues him very quickly, which explains why he always looks as if he's straining to use his abilities.
70	** The other energy source says that his energy comes from "a non-Euclidean dimension of limitless energy", and that his eyes are portals to this dimension. The energy passing through his body causes him a great deal of stress, and that ''also'' explains why he seems to visibly struggle to use his powers.
71	* The clone version of ComicBook/{{Superboy}} has PsychicPowers that work both subconsciously and with effort.
72	** His original abilities were "programmed" to mimic Franchise/{{Superman}}'s as closely as possible, including deflecting bullets and mimicking SuperStrength through {{Telekinesis}}. They turn "off" completely when he's asleep or unconscious, making him as vulnerable as a normal human.
73	** He eventually takes effort to ''break'' the subconscious rules for his power so that he can use them in other ways, such as moving something as large a ship or as light as air vapor with his mind.
74	* ComicBook/IronFist used to summon his Iron Fist in a very conservative manner due to the stress it caused. That limit has since been removed, however, [[PowerCreepPowerSeep because it made him rather useless after he began teaming up with stronger superheroes.]]
75	* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': The Hulk's power typically comes from his lack of control. As the epitome of UnstoppableRage, the more berserk the Hulk is, the stronger he is. There have been times in which he's gained a greater "base strength" while in control[[note]]Notably, [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulkFutureImperfect The Maestro]] and [[ComicBook/WorldWarHulk the Green Scar.]][[/note]], but even then getting angrier makes him scarier. Other characters have attempted to control the HulkOut and keep their mental faculties, such as the Abomination, ComicBook/RedHulk, ComicBook/SheHulk, and [[ComicBook/TotallyAwesomeHulk Amadeus Cho,]] but they've all hit a limit to their strength--except when the latter two get mad.
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78	[[folder:Literature]]
79	* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': This trope is exploited by Melisandre. In the world of the story, [[TheMagicGoesAway magic has dwindled in influence]] to the degree that it is exceedingly rare to be able to use at all, let alone use correctly. Melisandre is one of the few people with substantial knowledge about various forms of magic, and she has gained the reputation of being a dangerous and formidable LadyOfBlackMagic. This is partially because she makes the magic look easier to use than it actually is, using various forms of tricks and items to make the act of casting easier, or produce an effect which looks far more impressive than it actually is.
80	* In ''Franchise/{{Discworld}}'' magic works this way; it takes the same amount of effort to move something with magic that it would take to move it with muscle. If you want to get a 145 pound wizard to the top of a tall tower really quickly, it helps a lot if there's a 145 pound stone at the top of the tower you can use as a "counterweight". Of course, Discworld runs on the TheoryOfNarrativeCausality, so this is sometimes ignored when something really needs to happen for plot reasons - something the characters can possibly even invoke if they really know what they're doing.
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83	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
84	* This trope is the difference between Wizards and Sorcerers in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' and many of its spinoffs, as well as other variant spellcaster types.
85	** A Wizard is a [[MagicIsMental scholar of arcane arts]] and uses [[VancianMagic spellbooks and carefully-crafted rituals]] to cast spells and perform feats of magic. They can theoretically learn every spell ever created on their list, and with [[CrazyPrepared careful preparation]] can take on almost any foe. On the other hand, an unprepared (or worse, [[NeverBringAKnifeToAGunFight improperly prepared]]) wizard may as well be a UselessProtagonist; they put the 'Wizard' in SquishyWizard for a reason.
86	** A Sorcerer is [[TheGift born with an innate talent]] for magic, and they don't have to prepare or study spells; they cast what they know on demand. However, they have a far more limited selection of spells and so are far less flexible compared to the Wizards; on the other hand, Sorcerers are a little sturdier, less vulnerable to being screwed by poor preparation (all your enemies are fire-immune and you only prepped fire spells for the day? Sucks to be you!), and somewhat-suited to being a little closer to the front line.
87	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': Psychic abilities run up and down the scale.
88	** In general, several rituals are seen throughout the franchise that require a long channeling time.
89	** Untrained psykers are likely to have their heads explode into a daemon the first time they consciously try to use their powers, and psychic phenomena often manifest themselves around them (if there's an Inquisitorial agent nearby, the psyker might be able to avoid burning at the stake and become sanctioned, providing a measure of protection against the Warp via soulbonding with the GodEmperor). This can be reduced with intense meditation (though not to the point of zero risk).
90	** At the other end of the scale, there are characters who can snap a ''Titan'' in half with a thought, but one miscast and daemons can come pouring through.
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92	[[/folder]]
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94	[[folder:Video Games]]
95	* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'': The most powerful spells often require channeling, which puts the caster at risk. Some very powerful spells like summoning a demon lord or breaking the Earth's crust under the Northern continent took several in-game days to complete, with the summoners completely dependent on others for protection.
96	* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' has a psychic power that activates exactly once without any effort on the heroes' part and is never heard from again (in Kolima Forest, the pollen that turns people into trees starts falling towards the heroes, when Psynergy bubbles grow around them and prevent the transformation).
97	* ''VideoGame/{{Pokemon}}'': Many moves utilize this scale.
98	** Moves like Solar Beam or Roar of Time have lengthy charge times for greater attack power or effect. Bide, in particular, has a Pokémon wait two turns and deal back double damage to the last Pokemon to inflict damage to it.
99	** Some, like Avalanche or Roar, have a "decreased priority", which makes them move second that turn. These are typically stronger than special moves that activate on normal turns. On the other hand, ''"increased'' priority" moves are typically support abilities that do little to no damage.
100	* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', it's offhandedly mentioned by one of the party members that back in the days of the advanced (but ultimately lost) Elven empire, some spells required ''decades'' to cast. These spells were apparently awesome to behold and blended with other magic to create an "unending symphony" of magical energy. But as Elves were immortal in that age, they didn't understand the concept of time, so such long casting seemed trivial.
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102	[[/folder]]
103
104	[[folder:Western Animation]]
105	* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' and its sequel, ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', [[SuperMode The Avatar State]] goes through five of the tiers.
106	** It has incontinence, in that [[TheChosenOne Aang]], who is the first avatar we see in the series proper, is unable to trigger it normally by himself unless enraged, whereupon he's under constant mental and physical fatigue, and becomes a GlassCannon.
107	** He learns to control the Avatar State through concentration, meditation, and a calm mind, which took him time to master, being FunPersonified despite being raised as a monk.
108	** While in the Avatar State, normal bending movements now work on a BiggerIsBetter scale (e.g. the same movement once needed for moving a boulder is now capable of moving a literal island), while normal bending now only requires small gestures.

Context Main / TheLawOfPowerProportionateToEffort