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Adaptational Superpower Change

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Sometimes a superhero has a cool superpower that looks fantastic in the panels of a comic book, but when adapted to a different medium like a live action film or television show, there are budgetary restrictions that don't allow that superhero's powers to be showcased. So the writers severely water down the superpower to fit the medium, or in some cases, they just completely change the character's skill set.

There are a variety of reasons to change a superpowered character's abilities, but money is usually the main reason. Special effects are expensive, and having to show every week a flying superhero punching airplanes from the sky and firing balls of energy at bad guys can put a serious strain on the production budget. Also, the excessive use of CGI or bad special effects can fail.

Sometimes it is a matter of story: A character is given new powers to help smooth out the plot. Perhaps the powers they were given come from a different character altogether in the original work. That way the story can move along without introducing loads of characters that only serve one purpose in the original work. Maybe the character in the original work is a functional god and the adaptation has to dial down their skillset to something a little more believable, and not interfere with the viewer's Suspension of Disbelief.

Occasionally the change in superpowers can occur simply because a superpower that seems really cool in a comic could seem extremely silly when translated into Live-Action.

Note that this can occur in the opposite direction too. With a TV show being adapted into a comic book or movie, or if the character from the adaptation gets included in the source material, now the budgetary strain is not so prevalent, so characters are given new powers, or their old ones are expanded to be more showy.

If the change in power improves the character's fighting prowess, expect them to be an Adaptational Badass. If the superpower change results in them having less power and less effective in fighting, then consider them an Adaptational Wimp. Power Creep, Power Seep may occur when several characters from different works get together and are hit with this. If someone's mundane talents are changed, that's Adaptational Skill and Adaptational Weapon Swap.

Examples

    open/close all folders 

    Anime & Manga 

    Comic Books 
  • Batman's Harley Quinn had no super powers in the original animated series, but with her immigration to the comics, she got some powers from her new friend Poison Ivy. The biggest one, which is set up in the animated series, is Acquired Poison Immunity.
  • In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic books, Buffy temporarily gains a host of new powers, including the ability to fly, which would've been a costly effect to shoot for a television show, but not so much for a comic book artist to draw.
  • When Charmed moved from television to comics the sisters' different witch powers evolved and became much more showy in the comics. Notably, Paige gained the power to make orb forcefields and Piper gained the power to melt and set fire to objects. Lacking the visual effects of the TV series, Piper's hands sometime glow whenever she uses her powers to clue in the reader that she is using her powers. And sometimes her power to blow stuff up looks more akin to energy beams. Same thing applies to Paige as well. Her power to 'orb' objects from place to place in the comics show her hands wreathed with magic, while in the show you just saw the effect happen on the item being moved.
  • DC Comics Bombshells:
    • In addition to her Making a Splash powers, Mera can telepathically communicate with sea life like Aquaman can.
    • In the normal comics, the Joker's Daughter (a crazy woman who has claimed to be the daughter of several supervillains, including the Joker) is just a Badass Normal. Here, she is a powerful sorceress.
  • Kid Eternity originally had the power to summon historic figures to fight for him. His adult New 52 incarnation is a coroner who can bring someone's ghost back from the realm of the dead, but only by going there himself, and only he can see them. (His Vertigo Comics counterpart was actually summoning malevolent chaos beings that took the forms of historic figures, but we don't talk about that.)
  • Just Imagine... Stan Lee Creating the DC Universe:
    • This continuity's Aquaman is able to turn into living water and manipulate the water around him rather than being able to breathe underwater, telepathically communicate to fish and being durable enough to survive underwater pressure.
    • Played straight with two of the three members of this continuity's Doom Patrol (who are a villain team as opposed to a hero team, albeit their individual members' namesakes already being villains). Deathstroke is able to instantly kill whoever he touches instead of being a mercenary with incredible strength and durability, Parasite is able to fly and possess people rather than absorbing energy from people and copying whatever abilities the victim may possess and Blockbuster is still a super-strong behemoth.
  • In Marvel Comics' The Mighty Thor, the hammer Mjölnir has several abilities it doesn't have in Norse Mythology, even when disregarding Odin's enchantment of worthiness. Most notably, in the comics, Thor can use it to fly by hurling it in the air and holding onto its lanyard, whereas in Norse myths, Thor only uses mounts such as his goat-drawn chariot to travel long distances, and on occasion needed embarcations to pass through bodies of water when on foot. The opposite is true as well, since some properties that Mjölnir is stated to have in the Prose Edda aren't adapted into the comics, such as the hammer being unbreakable or never missing its target.
  • Ultimate Marvel:
    • Ultimate X-Men:
    • Ultimate Spider-Man:
      • While the Green Goblin always derived superpowers from a formula, the Ultimate version physically transforms into a green-skinned, horned creature instead of wearing a goblin costume. He can also manifest and throw fireballs where the original had to build his own bombs to throw. When Harry became the Hobgoblin, this carried over to him, being able to transform into a hulking pyrokinetic monster.
      • The Rhino is a scrawny nerd piloting a Mini-Mecha, instead of a huge bruiser with artificial skin that gives him Super-Strength.
      • Jessica Drew is also changed. In 616, she has her own powers, like flight and the ability to fire venom blasts. Here, she is an Opposite-Sex Clone of Peter Parker, and has his powers, as well as ones he doesn't possess, such as the ability to generate organic webbing.
      • Kraven the Hunter had no powers initially, allowing Spidey to cream him in their first fight. Later he alters his DNA and becomes a horrific werewolf-like creature, and is arrested by the Ultimates who remove said alterations.
      • Doctor Octopus was originally presented the same as the original version was, having mechanical arms fused to his spine. Then comes the twist that his power is actually metal manipulation. He still tends to make octo-arms with this power, but now he can control his arms when he's separated from them or even make replacements on the spot from nearby scrap.
    • Ultimate Fantastic Four:
      • Ben Grimm eventually gains the ability to change between forms, unlike his 616 counterpart, who is stuck in the rock form. He can also morph into an ionic being similar to Wonder Man.
      • Doctor Doom gains ghastly scars on his face in the original continuity from an experiment backfiring on him, to hide these scars he wears a heavy armor. Here, Doom's entire body turns to metal and he gains cloven feet like a demon, corrosive acid breath and the ability to fire off metallic skin-shards in the same accident that gave the Four their powers.
    • The Ultimates:
      • Captain Britain's powers in the main universe are magical in nature. While the Ultimate Captain Britain has similar powers, here they are the product of genetic engineering and advanced technology.
  • In his original appearances in Justice League of America, Vibe's power was simply to project shockwaves. In the New 52's Vibe series, that's just a side effect of his real power; to breach dimensions. In the same series, Gypsy has similar powers, in addition to her pre-Flashpoint illusions.
  • When he was created for X2: X-Men United, Jason Stryker was intended to be a Composite Character of the Master of Illusion Jason Wyngarde and Reverend William Stryker's unnamed mutant child, and as such has the former's powerset. While Jason was eventually incorporated into the X-Men comics, his power was changed to his being able to produce powerful lights that could incapacitate others.
  • Wonder Woman:
    • Wonder Woman's lasso was originally a mind control device, though she often used it to get the truth she could use it to command those wrapped in it to do her bidding, which made it even more dangerous when stolen by villains. The Post-Crisis revamp Wonder Woman (1987) solidified the lasso as the Lasso of Truth, it remains indestructible but now forces those entrapped in it to face the truth and undoes mind control and other illusions for those touching it, but cannot force anyone to do the wielder's bidding.
    • The Legend of Wonder Woman (2016) is an adaptation and modification of Wonder Woman's Golden Age WWII era tales, in which most of her powers were from Supernatural Martial Arts, while here her powers are from the enchanted items she wears. At the end she is granted Super-Strength and Flight by Gaia without the items, while her original iteration could not fly but had other powers such as mild telepathy and the ability to manipulate her own weight.
    • Wonder Woman (Rebirth): The revamped version of Dr. Cyber has abilities which border on her being a Technopath. She's also much stronger, as she's fighting a fully powered Wonder Woman and the original was developed to be her opponent during her depowered super spy phase.

    Film — Animated 

    Film — Live Action 
  • In The Dark Knight Rises, Bane doesn't use Venom, the ultra steroid that boosts his muscle mass and makes him an incredibly formidable physical threat. Instead, he is a badly injured man in near-constant pain and his mask gives him painkillers. That being said, he is still an incredibly formidable physical threat and pummels Batman senseless in their first encounter.
  • The Darkest Minds:
    • Unlike in the books where there was no way to tell what color psi a person was unless they were seen using their powers, the film depicts the psi’s as having their eyes glow in the color of their government classification whenever their powers are used. Also the children who died from the IAAN virus also have their eyes glow shortly before they die.
    • In the books Red psi can create and control fire, here this is changed to having them exclusively breathing fire from their mouths.
    • In the books Yellow psi can generate and control electricity, with some who have difficulty controlling this ability causing minor electrical malfunctions or creating large bursts of electricity whenever they touch an electronic object. Here all Gold psi seem to require electronic objects to channel their power through.
    • Chubs is changed from being a Blue psi (being telekinetic) in the books to a Green (having Super-Intelligence) psi in the film.
  • DC Extended Universe:
    • In Wonder Woman 1984, Maxwell Lord has the power to grant wishes, which comes from an ancient mystical artifact. This is in contrast to the comics, where he instead has the power to telepathically influence people.
    • The Suicide Squad:
      • In the comics, Bloodsport has access to teleporter technology that allows him to instantly materialize a seemingly endless supply of weapons from a storehouse. In the film, he instead wears a high-tech battlesuit that utilizes Ikea Weaponry for essentially the same purpose.
      • Polka-Dot Man was subjected to an extradimensional virus that allows him to fire off powerful bolts of colorful energy. This is in contrast to the comics, where Polka-Dot Man built a special costume that fired weaponized mechanical polka-dots.
    • In Black Adam (2022), the retired superhero Al Pratt is said to possess the ability to grow to gigantic heights, similar to his Earth 2 counterpart. In the original comics, Pratt started off as a Badass Normal before eventually gaining an "atomic punch," but never had the power to change size.
  • In Dragonball Evolution the Kamehameha is given the power to heal, which it didn't have in the original series.
  • Fantastic Four adaptations make it so Doctor Doom gets powers in the same accident that empowered the Four. In the comics, he has no innate powers but wears Powered Armor and has vast knowledge in sorcery.note  In the 2005 movie, his body is transformed into metal, giving him lightning powers. The 2015 movie gives him very vague, near god-like powers that resemble telekinesis. Also in the 2015 movie, an odd, purely superficial change occurs to Mister Fantastic's elastic ability. According to the creators Reed isn't stretching himself when he seemingly extends his limbs, but he is manipulating local spacetime due to micro-blackholes integrated with his body. The effect has it so he still looks like he is super-elastic anyway.
  • Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance: In the comics, Blackout suppresses light sources in his presence and has fangs and is sensitive to light like a vampire. In the film, Blackout simply makes people hallucinate they are in darkness and his main power is to Make Them Rot.
  • In The Film of the Book for I Am Number Four, Number Four's fire-resistance has been removed and instead given to Number Six. Number Six' invisibility has also become Flash Step.
  • In Kim Possible, early supplementary for season 1 notes that Shego's plasma powers come from her gloves, however this was never shown in-series. "Go Team Go" retconned Shego into a metahuman whose powers and green skin come from a comet hitting her family as a child. In the 2019 film, Shego's powers aren't natural anymore. They come from energy gauntlets on her wrists.
  • In The Last Airbender the firebenders require a source of fire to bend. In the series, they don't. The reasoning behind this was because the director felt that the firebenders were too overpowered when compared to the other elemental benders in the show. However, the effect of this change lead to all other benders in the film version as seemingly much more pathetic and weak because they were conquered by a nation whose abilities are rather easily suppressed.
  • In the Spider-Man Trilogy, Spider-Man has the ability to shoot organic webs, whereas most versions of Spider-Man opt to use mechanical web-shooters. This carries over to his appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Spider-Man: No Way Home, where his MCU and Webb-Verse counterparts (who use mechanical web-shooters) are envious of his organic web-shooters. He also wall-crawls via barbs in his skin, whereas in the comics he wall-crawls via electrostatic force.
  • James Cameron's unproduced Spider-Man script similarly gives him organic webbing; in addition, the Big Bad, Electro, besides his usual Psycho Electro powers, could use his control of electricity to control tap phones and steal millions of dollars in ha'pennies electronically.
  • Marvel Cinematic Universe:
    • Traditional magic users Loki from the Thor movies and the reality warping Scarlet Witch from Avengers: Age of Ultron, have had their powers altered in such a way that they're not using their godlike powers to the point of negating narrative suspense - for instance, Wanda's have been scaled back to telekinesis and mind manipulation. And at least in the case for Loki, he sometimes uses his powers in ridiculous ways in the comics, such as transforming an entire street into ice cream. Effects such as this might not translate well to the big screen. The powers are also described in pseudo-scientific terms instead of mystical ones in order to not break disbelief, though Thor makes clear in his first film that "magic" is just another name for the same things.
      • By the time of Doctor Strange (2016), though, the franchise has become more comfortable with magic and mysticism, and averts the trope by letting Strange and other sorcerers go all-out with their magic without any major alteration (though the film still takes time to invoke Clarke's Third Law and connect it to science as the Thor movies do).
      • WandaVision also reverses this trope for the Scarlet Witch, Doing in the Scientist and revealing that her powers are genuine magic (though not mutant) and capable of far more than she had realized — she's just completely untrained and doesn't know how to harness the energies effectively. But then it ends up potentially changing things in a different way: in the comics, Wanda is merely a powerful sorceress; but Agatha speaks of the mythical "Scarlet Witch" as if it were a Humanoid Abomination - and indeed, the next time Wanda appears she definitely qualifies.
    • Iron Man's foe the Mandarin is usually known for wearing ten Rings of Power, with a different power associated with each ring.
      • In Iron Man 3, the apparent Mandarin is only an actor and completely powerless; while the film's mastermind and "real" Mandarin, Aldrich Killian, has heat powers and a healing factor thanks to Extremis.
      • In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, a different Mandarin appears. In this case, the rings have been changed to armbands that can be telekinetically controlled (usually in a manner similar to Chain Pain) and grant abilities like Super-Strength, energy Hand Blasts, and Immortality. The change away from hand-based jewelry was likely done to avoid comparisons to Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet. The comics also explain that the ring powers look like magic but are actually alien in origin, while the movie makes it a point to say that their origin is unidentified and aren't recognizable as any kind of alien, supertech, or mystical artifact.
    • The Falcon in the comics can telepathically communicate with birds and has a particularly strong rapport with his pet falcon Redwing. But in the MCU he's just a normal human, and "Redwing" is a remote-controlled birdlike robotic drone.
    • In the comics, Star-Lord is essentially a normal human who uses various bits of alien gear that he's picked up. The movies mostly follow suit, but Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 shows that as the son of Ego the Living Planet (itself an Adaptation Species Change for Star-Lord), he can channel Ego's powers including matter-manipulation and immortality. However, Ego is dead by the end of the film, leaving Star-Lord a baseline human once more as there's no longer a power source to draw from.
    • The MCU incarnation of The Vision adds Super-Toughness to his powerset, with vibranium incorporated into the 3-D-printed cells of his body. The laser beam he projects from his forehead gem has also ramped up in power, since the jewel is an Infinity Stone here.
    • In the comics, Darren Cross was mutated into a Hulk-like behemoth with superhuman strength. Ant-Man made him a Sizeshifter instead so that he could serve as the title character's Evil Counterpart.
    • Spider-Man: Homecoming: The comic book version of the Vulture uses an anti-gravity device to get into the air, and travels by flapping his arms (which his suit's wings are attached to). In the film, Adrian Toomes wears a mechanical suit with jet propulsion engines. While it has the same effect in allowing him to fly, the method is very different (and helps make the film Toomes considerably more badass). He also wears armored talons on his feet that allow him to grab and attack enemies.
    • Ant-Man and the Wasp:
      • Janet Van Dyne, the first Wasp, started as an ordinary human who used a special suit that allowed her to shrink and fire energy blasts, before later being genetically augmented so that those powers were now internalized within her own body. In the movies, Janet never had the energy projectile abilities and her shrinking always came from the suit, as she didn't undergo the procedures to receive actual superpowers. Instead, she later gained vague, quantum-related powers that involve Healing Hands and Telepathy as a result of having been trapped in the Quantum Realm for decades.
      • Another change: Janet's wings are part of her body in the comics, and have been that way from the beginning, even back when she needed Hank's technology to change size and fire projectiles. In the movies, Janet's wings were instead built into her suit, and the same goes for her daughter, Hope.
      • Ghost in the comics is a baseline human who gains ghost-like abilities via a special suit. In Ant-Man and the Wasp, his Gender-Flipped counterpart got these powers via an accident, and thus can use them freely of the suit (which helps keep her stable but isn't completely needed) albeit at the cost of the powers slowly killing her.
    • In Captain Marvel, a major character is the Skrull warrior Talos. In the comics, Talos was born with a defect that deprived him of his species' ability to shapeshift. In Captain Marvel, however, this is not the case, as he not only has these abilities, but uses them to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D. This reimagining of the character was due to the notion that Talos' character arc from the comics would be hard to pitch to film audiences, since the Skrulls are a race whose entire gimmick is their Voluntary Shapeshifting. It also gives his actor, Ben Mendelsohn, more face time.
    • In addition to the changes made to the Mandarin's ten rings mentioned above, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has Shang-Chi claim the Mandarin's rings for himself after the latter dies. In the comics, he's a merely a Badass Normal with Charles Atlas Superpowers. He also temporarily gains the ability to manipulate air, which he uses to enhance his existing martial arts prowess; though this is magic tied to the village of Ta Lo and can't be used away from it.
    • Multiple examples in Eternals:
      • In the comics, the Eternals share a wide array of superpowers that include (but are not limited to) flight, super strength, Eye Beams, Nigh-Invulnerability, various mental abilities, teleportation, and matter manipulation. For the sake of differentiating the cast and avoiding making the team too overpowered, the film gives each Eternal one or two superpowers at most while removing most of the others (notably flight, telepathy, energy blasts, teleportation and invulnerability). Sersi is now the only Eternal capable of Transmutation, Druig is the only one capable of Mind Control, Makkari is the only speedster, Sprite is the only one who can conjure illusions, and Ikaris is the team’s only Flying Brick.
      • Speaking of, while Sersi can transmute objects like in the comics, it's a plot point in the movie that she's unable to do the same to the sentient beings. She's only able to achieve this when the Eternals unite to form the Uni-Mind in the finale, which allows her to freeze Tiamut and transform Sprite into a human girl. Sersi has no such limitation in the comics, as demonstrated in an early Jack Kirby story where she screwed with a young man by morphing his facial features into those of The Thing, and by the fact she's meant to be Circe from The Odyssey.
      • In the comics, Kingo possessed the standard Eternal powerset but mostly focused on martial arts and his trademark katana. In the movie, Kingo instead has the power to generate Hand Blasts, which he channels through Finger Guns.
      • Gilgamesh possesses the power to form powerful gauntlets of cosmic energy around his arms and hands.
      • Thena now has the ability to form handheld weapons out of cosmic energy.
      • While Phastos was already a Gadgeteer Genius in the comics, the movie makes him an outright Technopath.
      • Ajak possesses cosmically-powered Healing Hands.
      • Kro is reimagined as a Power Parasite whose Combat Tentacles allow him to absorb the energy and superpowers of his victims. He subsequently gains the powers of the aforementioned Ajak and Gilgamesh after killing them.
    • In the comics, Gorr the God Butcher wields a shapeshifting blade called All-Black, which enshrouds him as a black cloak and grants him a variety of powers, including Spontaneous Weapon Creation and the ability to create beasts called Black Berserkers. Partly because Thor: Ragnarok already gave the weapon generation ability to Hela, Thor: Love and Thunder downplays the shapeshifting aspect of All-Black and instead mostly depicts it as a sword, though it can still create the Berserkers. Additionally the sword allows Gorr to teleport through shadows and access a dark dimension called the Shadow Realm.
    • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever:
      • In the comics, Namor's remarkable longevity is due to his half-Atlantean heritage, with the average Atlantean lifespan simply being much greater than that of a human being. In the film, however, Namor's slowed aging is strongly implied to be tied to his mutant genetics, rather than being an attribute all of his people naturally possess.
      • In the comics, Namora possesses wings like her cousin, which enable her to fly. These aren't present on her film counterpart.
      • Some of the Talokanil seem to possess a siren's song that can compel victims to drown themselves, which is not something the comic version of Atlanteans can typically do.
    • In Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, M.O.D.O.K. does not possess the psionic abilities of his comic counterpart, and instead relies on an arsenal of high-tech weaponry built into his Doomsday Chair.
  • Matilda: In the original book, Matilda's powers came from her brain being so bored with the schoolwork at her level that it manifested as telekinesis, and faded away once she was given higher-level work to do. In the film, she keeps them even after the story's resolution.
  • In The Maze Runner books Thomas and Teresa could communicate with each other telepathically, with Aris and Posthumous Character Rachel sharing the same ability between themselves and the aforementioned twosome. This was revealed in The Death Cure to be the result of a chip implanted in their heads by WICKED, which could also be used to control them and the other Gladers, who were also implanted. In The Maze Runner Series, all four characters lack this ability and whilst Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials reveals that the Gladers do have chips implanted in their bodies, it’s in their necks and merely functions as a tracking beacon.
  • Morbius: the bat-originated powers of Morbius in the comics are simply vampiric, but the movie version also gets the animal's ability of echolocation, and at certain point can even communicate with a colony of bats. Also, in the movie he's able to switch back and forth between human and vampire if he controls his blood thirst, while in the comics he's almost permanently stuck in his vampiric appearance.
  • Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children:
    • In the books Emma’s peculiarity was the ability to create and control fire, whilst Olive’s was being lighter than air. Here their powers are switched with Olive being the pyrokinetic and Emma an aerokinetic with uncontrollable levitation as just one aspect of her powers.
    • In addition to the ability of Dreaming of Things to Come he has in the books, the film version of Horace can project the images from his dreams into the air through his right eye using a special lens.
    • At one point in the book whilst explaining to Jacob about Wights, Miss Peregrine states they don’t have any peculiarities. In contrast the Wights shown in the film still have their powers from when they were Peculiars; specifically Mr Barron is a Shapeshifter and two Canon Foreigner Wights include a Cryo-kinetic man and a half-rat woman.
    • The method by which the Hollows become Wights is different. In the books it’s achieved by absorbing a Peculiars’ soul, in the film it’s by consuming a Peculiars’ eyes.
  • In the Mortal Kombat games, Scorpion's trademark "Get over here!" move involves him reeling in his opponent with a kunai attached to a rope or chain. The 1995 movie reimagines the simple kunai as a sentient snake-like creature that can pursue fleeing opponents and even change direction in midair.
  • The American dub of Reptilicus removed the scenes where Reptilicus is seen flying (because apparently, they were too silly looking compared to the rest of the film), but also spliced in (horribly chroma keyed) shots of Reptilicus spitting globs of green acid.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog (2020):
    • In addition to his trademark spin dash and super speed powers from the games, this version of Sonic can generate electricity from his body.
    • In the games, the Rings can briefly grant invulnerability. Here, the Rings when thrown can expand into giant size and act as portals to the place the person who's thrown the ring was thinking ofnote .
  • Street Fighter: In the games, M. Bison has mastered a form of energy known as "Psycho Power," which grants him a variety of special abilities, including levitation and Ki Attacks. In the live-action movie, his flight and electrical blasts instead come from the high-tech battle suit he wears, which allows him to utilize magnetism in a variety of ways.
    Bison: This is merely Superconductor Electromagnetism. Surely you've heard of it. It levitates bullet trains from Tokyo to Osaka. It levitates my desk, from which I ride the saddle of the world. And it levitates... me!
  • Venom (2018): In the comics, Venom's suit produces organic webbing as a result of having previously been bonded with Spider-Man. Because Spider-Man was Adapted Out of this version of the character's origin, Venom does not create webs, and instead uses symbiote tendrils for a similar purpose.
  • X-Men Film Series changes a lot of the characters' powers:
    • X-Men: The Last Stand:
      • To streamline the story, the Phoenix is just an aspect of Jean Grey's mind and superpowers and not a cosmic entity. Technically, this can qualify as an odd case of Composite Character, too.
      • Callisto is given the powers of super-speed and a mutant tracking sense that she does not have in the comics.
    • X-Men Origins: Wolverine:
    • X-Men: First Class:
      • Sebastian Shaw's power in the comics is the ability to absorb energy to boost his personal strength and stamina. His film counterpart is able to absorb energy and then repurpose it in seemingly any way he wants, up to and including keeping himself eternally young and causing devastating explosions.
      • Azazel is an immortal mutant, in the comics, with an assortment of near god-like powers. In the movie, he just has Nightcrawler's teleportation powers.
      • Riptide in the comics created whirlwinds by spinning his whole body, and he could also fling calcified projectiles from his body like shuriken or spikes. The movie version is missing the latter ability.
    • The Wolverine: Both Yukio and Viper are normal humans in the comics, but in the film, Yukio is given the mutant power to see into the future, while Viper is given snake-like abilities. Interestingly, Harada, who is a mutant in the comics, is turned into a normal human in this movie. Note that this technically also qualifies as Adaptation Species Change because frequently in the X-Men world humans (homo sapiens) and mutants (homo superior) are different species.
    • X-Men: Days of Future Past:
      • Kitty Pryde, resident intangible girl of the X-Men inexplicably gains the power to project people's consciousness backwards through time in this movie. This is because her role is combined with that of Rachel Summers from the comics, who does not have a film counterpart, seeing as both her parents are dead in that continuity. Also, the creators were hesitant to just create a new character with time travel powers because 1) They wanted to honor the original ''Days Of Future Past'' storyline by including Kitty Pryde in the story with an important role, and 2) The movie already has a rather large cast, and introducing another character would've put narrative strain on the plot.
    • Deadpool (2016): In the comics, Negasonic Teenage Warhead has Psychic Powers and her name is a music Shout-Out. The movie version gets a "warhead" power to cause explosions instead. Essentially, she's a Composite Character with Cannonball, who held her role in previous drafts of the script. The reason for all of this? They really wanted her in the movie just so that Deadpool could react to the name "Negasonic Teenage Warhead". Interestingly, this portrayal gained enough approval in the fandom that the comic counterpart was revived (literally, as she had been killed off with little fanfare shortly after appearing) and retooled with her movie powers. Essentially a Rescued from the Scrappy Heap by way of recursive Adaptational Superpower Change.
    • X-Men: Apocalypse:
      • In the comics, the purple energy blade Psylocke projects from her hand is simply a manifestation of her telepathic powers, and it can't do any physical damage, only mental damage. In the movie, the blade cuts through steel and concrete, and Psylocke can also morph it into a whip. She also doesn't appear to have telepathy at all, given how much importance Apocalypse places on stealing Xavier's powers, although she may have just not told him about it.
      • One of the comic book Apocalypse's main powers is total control over every molecule in his body, which means he can't be hurt by mere physical force. In the film, he doesn't seem to have this power, as evidenced by the way he dies.
    • Deadpool 2 sees the aforementioned Yukio as a mutant again—but unlike the precognition she had in The Wolverine, she now has electrical abilities.
    • Due to being made into Composite Characters with the Skrulls, Vuk and the rest of the D'bari are depicted as shapeshifters in Dark Phoenix. In the comics, Vuk could not naturally change form, and had to rely on a lifelike mask to pose as a human in his first appearance.

    Live-Action TV 
  • Arrow: Damien Darhk doesn't even have powers in the comics, but in the show, he has extremely powerful dark magic.
  • In the Batwoman episode "Drink Me", pseudo-vampire Nocturna has implanted fangs that inject her victims with ketamine, in place of her comic counterpart's innate hallucinogenic abilities.
  • Black Lightning (2018):
    • In the comics Grace Choi is a half-Amazon with the usual Amazonian powerset and Charlie Wylde is a man who was magically merged with a bear. In the show, Grace Choi/Shay Li Wylde has elements of both characters, but is a Shapeshifting metahuman (although she later acquires super-strength).
    • In the comics Tyson Sykes/Gravedigger takes a Starro derived drug that gives him a mental link with his teammates. His live action counterpart has a Compelling Voice and later takes a drug that gives him all the powers. His origin is based on the original Gravedigger, Ulysses Hazzard, who was a Badass Normal.
    • The comicbook Geoffrey Barron/Technocrat has a suit of Powered Armor, the show's version is a Technopath.
  • In Charmed (1998), Phoebe's original power was Psychometry ("premonitions"), usually seeing visions of the future. In Charmed (2018) her rough equivalent, Maggie, has Mind Reading instead. It's possibly supposed to be a version of the empathy powers that Phoebe got in later seasons, but it still works differently.
  • Doom Patrol (2019):
    • In the comics, Elasti-Girl was primarily a Sizeshifter who could shrink or grow. In the TV show, she's unable to do that for the first two seasons, and instead mostly focuses on stretching her limbs a la Mister Fantastic or Plastic Man (which she can do in the comics, but as part of a larger and more expansive power set). She eventually manages to grow gigantic during the season 3 finale, but still has yet to shrink. The nature of her Power Incontinence is also changed so that rather than being unable to control her size changes, she now melts into a massive blob of gooey flesh whenever she gets too stressed out.
    • The Beard Hunter was simply a Badass Normal with an arsenal of weapons in the comics, but in the show, he possesses the bizarre ability to experience a person's memories by eating their facial hair.
  • Fate: The Winx Saga, the Live-Action Adaptation of Winx Club:
    • In the cartoon, Stella's ring can transform into a scepter with a variety of powers. In the series, it doesn't transform and is only used to travel between the First World and the Otherworld.
    • In the series, each fairy can manipulate one of six elements: fire, water, light, earth, air, and mind. In the cartoon, magic was not limited to those elements, as characters have power over things like technology, music, and gemstones. There were also general spells that anyone could use regardless of their main power, like transmutation and shapeshifting.
    • In the original cartoon, as "The Fairy of Music", Musa had various powers related to sound and music, here she is now a "Mind Fairy" with empathic abilities.
    • A minor case: in the original cartoon Aisha had the power to manipulate fluids in general, in particular a magical, pink substance called Morphix, and only rarely controlled water. Here she's explicitly a Water Fairy.
  • The Flash (2014):
    • In the comics, the Mist can become a white gas that can hypnotize opponents that breath it in. In the show, the Mist (aka Kyle Nimbus) can become a green gas that poisons those who inhale it.
    • Downplayed with Tony Woodward/Girder. In the comics, his skin is permanently made of metal, but his television version allows him to activate metallic skin at will.
    • In the comics, Roy Bivolo/Rainbow Raider had goggles that could project light blasts. In the show, he can make people become impossibly angry, causing them to kill the next person they see.
    • In the comics, Hartley Rathaway/Pied Piper has a flute that can hypnotize people. In the show, he has gauntlets that can shoot sonic blasts.
    • In the comics, Lisa Snart/Golden Glider wears ice skates that generate ice, allowing her to skate on any surface and even in midair. The show's version wields a ray gun that turns whatever it zaps into a gold-like substance.
    • In the comics, Hunter Zolomon/Zoom has the power to slow down time for everyone but himself, making others perceive him as having Super-Speed while he's really moving normally. The show's version of Zoom has the same powers from the Speed Force the Flash has.
    • The Turtle, in the comics, has slowness as his gimmick, but rather than anything motion-related, he would, with carefully planning, arrange for the Flash to take himself out while the Turtle moved slowly, the slowest man alive beating the fastest with trickery and doing the unexpected. In the show, he's more as comic Zoom is described - though it's by sapping people's kinetic energy rather than time manipulation, he slows everyone else around him down, seeming fast while moving at normal speed.
    • In the comics, Dr. Alchemy uses his Philosopher's Stone to transmute matter. The show's version uses his Philosopher's Stone to fire energy blasts and give people back the powers they had in the Flashpoint timeline.
    • In the comics, The Top can spin at super speed. The show's version causes people to become dizzy and lose their balance, which later develops into full-blown empathy.
    • In the comics, Gypsy could create illusions, turn invisible, and see the future. The show's version has identical dimensional travelling and vibration powers as Vibe.
    • In his origin, Music Meister can hypnotize people by singing high enough. In the show, he can put people into comas, teleport, force people into mental worlds (such as putting the Flash and Supergirl into a musical-themed world for most of the episode) and steal the abilities of other people - though as an extradimensional being comparable to Mr. Mxyzptlk, it's more likely that he was simulating others' powers because he can do practically anything. It's fair to say that he took a level in badass.
    • Clifford DeVoe has the same Super-Intelligence his comic counterpart had, but he can also use his Cool Chair to transfer his consciousness into the bodies of other metahumans. Through this, he can steal whatever powers they have. He currently has telepathy, technopathy, luck manipulation, effigy manipulation, size alteration and control over soundwaves.
    • In the comics, the Fiddler can hypnotize people with his violin. In the show, she can project harmful soundwaves that she can focus with her violin.
    • The comicbook Folded Man has the power to shift into a 2D form that is totally flat and a 4D form that lets him see everything and appear anywhere. The tv version simplifies this into a teleporter who can step into a Pocket Dimension.
    • Comicbook Dwarfstar was The Atom's Evil Counterpart, with the same Incredible Shrinking Man powers. In the series, he has a Shrink Ray ability and is never shown shrinking himself.
    • In the comics Spin was a media mogul who imprisoned a Reality Warper who could turn people's fears into reality. The series' version of Spin has a smartphone with the power to hypnotize people through her news posts.
    • Hazard does not have psionic abilities and special dice that allow her to alter probability, and instead emits an invisible "probability field" that constantly brings her good luck while causing those around her to experience bad luck.
  • Game of Thrones:
    • Daenerys is completely and consistently immune to fire in the show, whereas the books treat the pyre as a one-time thing (and even then her hair burns off) and when she mounts Drogon for the first time she's left hairless with burns on her hands.
    • The show depicts the Children of the Forest having Playing with Fire powers never seen in the books, though there are in-universe myths of them channelling the elements.
    • In addition to the prophetic visions, Living Shadow, and Glamour powers seen in the show, Melisandre can also manipulate fire and possibly influence the wind in the books.
    • In the books, Bran's visions of the past are limited to things seen by the carved eyes of weirwood trees. In the show, he can stroll around in a Pensieve Flashback unlimited by time or space, allowing him to witness events at the Tower of Joy and butt-dial the Night King.
    • In the show, Jojen Reed is a Fainting Seer whose visions come hand-in-hand with seizures. In the books, he's just naturally small and frail, even for a crannogman, and the harsh conditions beyond the Wall are what compromises his health negatively, not his dreams (except emotionally).
    • The warlock Pyat Pree has the power to create copies of himself in the show rather than practising unspecified dark magic and constantly ingesting prophetic drugs.
    • The Faceless Men's method of applying faces is quite vague in the books but involves complex Blood Magic, a touch of Ghost in the Machine, and is limited by size and gender. By contrast, the show makes it as mundane as wearing a mask since Arya simply steals one and uses it without any training and Jaqen and the Waif are shown swapping identities in "Mother's Mercy".
    • The Faceless Men can also apparently blind someone at will without touching them, something that's caused by a potion that must be re-administered daily in the books.
  • The made-for-TV Generation X movie has several examples, most of which are owed to the film's low budget:
    • The opening scene has Emma Frost, the team's telepath, seemingly create wind and lightning to intimidate some doctors. However, it's unclear if she's actually doing this, or merely using her mental powers to cause her victims to think it's happening. Regardless, she never does this at any other point in the movie, which only adds to the oddity.
    • In the comics, Skin's power was having six extra feet of skin that he could stretch and manipulate in various ways. The movie just made him a generic Rubber Man in the vein of Reed Richards or Plastic Man, and got rid of his physical deformity to boot.
    • Mondo's powers were changed from being able to take on the properties and size of whatever matter he's touching to simply replicating the matter's solidity and durability. Also, his physical appearance no longer changes to match the characteristics of the substance he's mimicking.
    • Monet St. Croix describes herself as physically "perfect," with a myriad of abilities that include super intelligence, near-invincibility and Ideal Illness Immunity. She does not, however, possess the telepathic or Flying Brick powers she has in the comics.
    • Husk was replaced with a Suspiciously Similar Substitute called Buff. Thus, Husk's ability to tear away her skin to reveal a new layer made of any material she can think of was changed to generic Super-Strength and Super-Speed.
    • Likewise, Chamber was rewritten into a new character called Refrax, with Chamber's physical deformities and psionic energy powers ditched in favor of Eye Beams and X-Ray Vision.
  • Ghostwriter (2019): The original Ghostwriter from the 1990s Ghostwriter was restricted to manipulating the letters he could already access, be it from books, signs or even fridge magnets. He only had full access on computer screens. The new Ghostwriters can create any letters they want, so long as there is a writing surface available. The new Ghostwriters can also manipulate objects in order to get the group to do certain things, while the old Ghostwriter was powerless outside of the ability to write.
  • The Incredible Hulk Returns: The first Reunion Show bringing back the Hulk, also stars Dr. Don Blake and Thor — but instead of them both inhabiting the same body, in Returns they are two different people. Thor is a Norse warrior who Blake summons by holding Thor's hammer and shouting "Odin!" Blake is still around when Thor is in the world.
  • Interview with the Vampire (2022): Louis de Pointe du Lac can't read minds in the source material, but the TV character is telepathic.
  • Legends of Tomorrow:
    • In All-Star Squadron comics, Nathan Heywood has no way of deactivating his metal skin. Similar to the alteration made to Girder in Flash, the TV version can turn it on or off at will (mostly, and when there's a problem it's usually turning it on.) His grandfather, Henry Heywood/Commander Steel, appears to be a Badass Normal rather than a cyborg.
    • To the extent that Zari is a version of Isis, her powers have been considerably nerfed. The original TV Isis had control over all the elements, plus Friend to All Living Things, Psychic Powers and Green Thumb. The comic book version had most of those plus, as a member of the Dark Shazam! family, was a Flying Brick. Zari just has Blow You Away, with the other elements going to other amulets.
  • Lois & Clark:
    • Superman's powers are toned down for the series compared to his film and comic book incarnations. He's still very powerful but more vulnerable to high-tech countermeasures, Kryptonite is more effective and it takes time for him to recover from its effects and generally it's easier for his opponents to provide a reasonable challenge without getting flattened in five seconds flat.
    • The comic version of Deathstroke possesses enhanced strength, speed, reflexes and healing. The version that appears on this show has Magnetism Manipulation.
  • Marvel Cinematic Universe:
    • In Agent Carter, Whitney Frost has the ability to turn people into shadow energy called "Darkforce" and absorb it. Her comics counterpart Madame Masque has no actual powers.
    • Inhumans:
    • Jessica Jones (2015):
    • Iron Fist (2017):
      • In the comics, Dr. Alessa Geomi is known as the Bride of Nine Spiders and possesses various mystical powers that put her on par with the Iron Fist himself. But in the show, she's just an entomologist who fights with poisoned needles.
      • Mary Walker in the comics, aka Typhoid Mary, is a mutant with low-level psychic abilities that are stronger depending on which of her multiple personalities is dominant. In the show, she has no such powers.
    • In the Runaways comics, Xavin was a shapeshifting Super-Skrull who could access the combined powers of the Fantastic Four, albeit only one at a time. In Runaways (2017), Xavin is instead a shapeshifting Xartan telepath. The only FF-related power they retain is invisibility, which here is implied to be a natural Xartan ability rather than something copied from the Invisible Woman (who, alongside the rest of the FF, had to be Adapted Out of Xavin's backstory for legal reasons).
    • The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Karli Morgenthau and the other Flag-Smashers have taken the Super-Soldier Serum and have increased strength and toughness. The comic book Flag-Smasher was a Badass Normal.
    • Moon Knight (2022):
    • Ms. Marvel (2022): Multiple characters are adapted for the show with a brand new shared origin of being "djinn" (explicitly not the mythological kind, but extradimensional Human Aliens called by a mythological name), though the execution is slightly different for different characters:
      • In the Ms. Marvel comics, Kamala and Kamran are Inhumans who received unique superpowers when exposed to Terrigen Mists: Kamala has super-elasticity that she could use to change size and extend her limbs, while Kamran could make objects explode. In the show, they're part-djinn and can have their inherent powers unlocked,note  allowing them to create crystalline Hard Light constructs; Kamala can use them as extendable limbs like in the comics, but they can also be used to create crude objects like midair platforms and force-field body armor. The final episode also notes that Kamala's djinn heritage is being affected by some kind of genetic mutation (explicitly referencing the X-Men) in some way; though it's mostly a Handwave establishing that her blood relatives can't unlock their own djinn powers the same way she did.
      • Kamala's bangle appears to have additional abilities of its own. In addition to activating her innate powers, it seemingly grants visions, can break down the barrier between Earth and the djinn home realm, and enables Time Travel. None of these are part of Kamala's powerset in the comics, and her bangle there is just a mundane object.
      • The Stinger also has a sudden, unexplained case of Swap Teleportation between Kamala and Carol Danvers; and the trailer for The Marvels (2023) shows that Monica Rambeau is also swapping with them. It hasn't been explained yet, but the way Kamala's bangle glows the first time it occurs said Stinger suggests that it's yet another one of its abilities.
      • The Destine family of the comic book ClanDestine are half-genies that have immortality (or at least longevity) and their own personal powers. The show makes their counterparts the Clandestines full-blooded djinn (though as stated above, not "actual" djinn). On Earth, the djinn abilities are sealed; the Clandestines have the Destines' longevity but merely have increased durability and strength instead of unique powers.
    • In Secret Invasion, the new character Gravik turns out to be the leader of the MCU equivalent of the Super-Skrulls. However, unlike the comics' Kl'rt, who possesses the combined abilities of the Fantastic Four, Gravik's powers instead come from different sources (such as a Healing Factor taken from Iron Man 3's Extremis) due to this version of the Super-Skrulls predating the onscreen debut of the Fantastic Four in the MCU. Interestingly, while Gravik does still possess extendable limbs like his comic counterpart, the basis of this ability is changed from Mr. Fantastic to Groot.
  • Supergirl (2015):
    • In the comics, Irma Ardeen/Saturn Girl is a telepath. In the show, she has telekinesis. She may also have super strength, as in one scene, she punches Mon-El (a Daxamite, a being similar to a Kryptonian) in the gut and it hurts him.
    • Manchester Black, also a telepath in the comics, doesn't appear to have powers at all.
    • Dreamer, in addition to Dreaming of Things to Come, can also manifest "dream energy" and use it as a weapon. It's also an Adaptation Name Change, as her comic counterpart is called Dream Girl. Somewhat subverted with the reveal that there is still a Dream Girl in the 31st century, and Dreamer is her very distant ancestor.
    • Apart from Ramna Khan, who has Dishing Out Dirt in both continuities, the other Immortals have completely different powers: Gamemnae has gone from a sorceress to a Technopath, Sela, who was just a superstrong brawler, has Shock and Awe, and Tezumak has Playing with Fire instead of Powered Armor.
  • Stargirl (2020)
  • Titans (2018):
    • Hawk and Dove are changed into Badass Normals without any powers. This also means that the wings on Dove's costume do not actually let her fly, and instead act as additional armor.
    • Starfire and Wonder Girl retain many of their powers, but can’t fly.
    • Aqualad has the power of hydrokinesis, an ability he didn’t learn until becoming Tempest in the comics.
  • The Umbrella Academy (2019) alters most of the main characters' powers from what they originally were in the comics:
    • In the comics, Diego's power was to hold his breath forever underwater. In the series, his power is Improbable Aiming Skills, particularly with knives.
    • In the comics, Allison's Compelling Voice could warp the fabric of reality - whatever she said would automatically occur, whether or not she directed it towards someone. Here, it only works as Mind Control.
    • The series takes away Klaus' powers of levitation and telekinesis from the comics; here, he can only see spirits and make them corporeal. He also loses his weakness from the comics of only being able to use his powers while barefoot.
    • In the comics, Number Five only had the power to time travel; he later figured out how to simulate super-speed by performing microjumps forward in time. In the series, his main power is teleportation, though he can still travel through time, and is even shown to reverse time.
  • Watchmen (2019) sees Cal Abar, a seemingly normal black man, turn out to be Dr. Manhattan. However, while it's a Sequel in Another Medium to the comics, among the powers Dr. Manhattan, who looked like a white man with glowing blue skin, displayed in the source material, including changing his size and how bright he glowed, there was no sign he was capable of actual shapeshifting.

    Roleplay 
  • Multiple characters receive a drastic change in superpowers between Dawn of a New Age and its Continuity Reboot, Dawn of a New Age: Oldport Blues:
    • Amy originally had a superpower inspired by Toad from the X-Men Film Series, which gave her the physical appearance and abilities of an amphibian. In Oldport Blues, she's instead transformed into a form of data consciousness that uploads itself onto her phone and can then transfer between electronic devices.
    • Benedict used to have Deadpool's Healing Factor and medium aware inner voices. Oldport Blues instead gives him Super-Intelligence to match his haughty personality.
    • Benjy originally had Reality Warping powers he inherited from the Scarlet Witch. Because so few students in Oldport Blues had superpowers that drastically changed their physical appearance, Benjy's power was changed so that he became a giant bug monster.
    • Michal was a player character in DONA who had the Blue Beetle attached to him. In Oldport Blues he's downgraded to an NPC, and instead gets the ability to control fire in accordance with his impulsive character.

    Video Games 
  • In Marvel Super Heroes: War of the Gems as well as in the Marvel vs. Capcom games, Wolverine is able to unleash "claw energy". That is, shoot energy out of his claws. Somehow. At the very least, the former seemingly justified it with power gems. The latter, not so much.
  • In Marvel's Avengers, Kate Bishop is still a master marksman, but her skillset is changed to better differentiate her from Clint Barton. In addition to firing arrows, Kate uses special technology that allows her to teleport and create duplicates made of quantum energy.
  • In Super Robot Wars: Original Generation, Ingram and his clones are not Psychodivers like in the Alpha continuity. In addition, due to Euzeth remembering the actions of his Alpha self, changing the "anchor" for his control over Ingram and taking away his access to the Cross Gate Paradigm System, Ingram is unable to complete his signature mecha Astranagant - its place in the storyline is instead taken by a mutated version of his R-Gun called the R-Gun Rivale.
  • Super Smash Bros.:
    • In Super Mario Bros., Mario is able to shoot fireballs but only upon obtaining a fire flower. In Smash Bros., Mario not only is he able to shoot fireballs without a power-up, he's seemingly expanded to have greater control over fire in general, being able to create an explosion with the palm of his hand and having a victory animation where he creates a chain explosion. He'd later gain such fire powers in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, but only within that spin-off series.
    • Similarly, in EarthBound (1994) Ness's PSI abilities are almost exclusively support or status-inducing techniques save for PSI Rockin'. Super Smash Bros. gave him offensive techniques instead like PSI Fire and PSI Thunder instead. His trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee acknowledges this and mentions that Paula, who actually learns those moves in his home game, taught him.
  • In X-Men, five of the six playable X-Men characters have different or additional powers to their comic counterparts, appearing as special attacks: Dazzler throws energy grenades (which she also did in Pryde of the X-Men, on which the game was based), Nightcrawler "teleports" via a random Dash Attack, Wolverine's claws throw off a curving arc of energy, Colossus generates a short-range Sphere of Destruction and Cyclops fires what is clearly a laser, rather than his concussive optic blasts. Storm remains the closest to her original incarnation, as she creates a whirlwind (something perfectly in line with what she can do in the comics).
  • In the X-Men comics, Silver Samurai has the power to create a tachyon field around his katana, which enables it to cut through almost anything. In X-Men: Children of the Atom and Marvel vs. Capcom 2, he instead has Elemental Powers related to fire, ice, and lightning, which he channels through his blade. Children of the Atom also gave him a technique that allowed him to attack his opponents with shadow clones, though this was removed in the subsequent games.
  • In LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, Cyclops's optic blasts are turned into thermal lasers that can melt ice and gold objects, rather than the usual concussive "punches from the punch dimension."
  • Rudy Roughnight in Wild ARMs: Million Memories gets this treatment by necessity. In the original game, his ARM abilities are essentially gunslinging in a world where gun use is rare and considered taboo, making him an outcast. As characters from later games use guns, Rudy's abilities are no longer unusual so ARMs became Awakening Resonant Memories or turn important memories into special attacks. Rudy later develops the ability to teleport in and out of the Memory Maze, which proves vital to ensuring Filgaia isn't destroyed completely. Once he understands his powers completely, he accidently brings his entire party back from the dead.

    Western Animation 
  • The Filmation Aquaman cartoon famously gave Aquaman the power to create hard water projectiles, an ability instead possessed by Mera in the comics. This power has become so popular that it's shown up in various other adaptations (Justice League Task Force, Smallville and Batman: The Brave and the Bold, to name a few), and many people just assume it's something Aquaman can do in the comics as well. This extends to Garth, the original Aqualad, who was given the same hydrokinetic abilities in shows like Teen Titans (2003) and DC Super Hero Girls.
  • The Batman's interpretation of Mr. Freeze has actual ice-based superpowers instead of relying on a freezing gun.
  • The Godzilla Power Hour: Godzilla is given Eye Beams and a standard fire breath (which would also sometimes come out of his nostrils) rather than the "atomic breath" he has in other media. Godzilla's inexplicable laser eyes both helped save on animation time (Hanna-Barbera cartoons were infamous for having No Budget), and reportedly, were partly a case of Executive Meddling, because they were afraid showing Godzilla breathing fire too much would encourage kids to commit arson.
  • In the Fantastic Four comics, Frankie Raye was initially introduced as the Human Torch's Distaff Counterpart, with a childhood accident involving chemicals used in the creation of the android Human Torch giving her nearly identical flame-based superpowers. In Silver Surfer: The Animated Series, Frankie instead has latent mental abilities that allow her to instinctively find whatever it is she's looking for, which is why Galactus decides to make her his new herald in the first place (since she can use this power to find suitable planets for him to devour).
  • In Fred and Barney Meet the Thing Benjy Grimm is a teen who wears two rings, one on each hand. He uses these to transform between himself and the Thing. "Thing Ring, do your thing!"
  • In the pilot of Green Lantern: The Animated Series, Hal forcibly removes Red Lantern Razer's red ring, de-powering him. In comic continuity, the Red Light replaces the user's blood and ruins their heart, which means that losing their ring for even a few moments is fatal. (The only exceptions have been when extensive life-preserving measures have been used, and even then it's risky.)
  • Hit-Monkey:
    • Yuki is a Badass Normal assassin in the comics, but her animated counterpart is a ghost with a host of powers that include flight, Hand Blasts and Extendable Arms.
    • Silver Samurai is still described as a mutant, but does not display his comic counterpart's ability to form a tachyon field around his katana. Instead, he relies on a combination of martial arts and high-tech gadgetry, while the closest thing to an outright superpower he displays is the ability to Wall Run.
  • In the comics Iron Man villian Madame Masque is just a woman in a mask. Adaptations decide it would be more interesting if the mask has powers; in Iron Man: Armored Adventures it gives the wearer Humanshifting, and in Avengers Assemble: Black Panther's Quest, it gives her complete mental control of a Wakandan ship. Black Panther's Quest also made Princess Zanda, another non-powered villainess in the comics, into a Mystique-style shapeshifter.
  • In Justice League, Hawkgirl and the other Thanagarians possess natural wings as part of their alien physiology, in contrast to the comics, where their wings were actually artificial flight harnesses made of the gravity-defying Nth metal. Hawkman's wings are still Nth metal, however, due to him being human rather than Thanagarian.
  • In Justice League Action, all Red Lanterns are shown to be able to create energy constructs. In the comics, only Atrocitus can do it properly; the others are too overwhelmed with rage to do more than vomit burning blood-energy at their opponents. (Dex-Starr learns how to do it eventually.) The animated Red Lanterns are also far more lucid and sane, and can usually talk coherently (assuming they could do it to begin with). Additionally, Dex-Starr removes and hides his ring in order to hide his identity, an act which would immediately kill him in regular continuity. (The red light replaces the wearer's blood and ruins the heart.)
  • In the Mega Man (Ruby-Spears) cartoon, instead of Mega Man duplicating the weapons of defeated Robot Master, he temporarily took them away on touch, much like Rogue from X-Men. This fit the episodic format, where he'd be fighting the same enemies multiple times without the continuity of carrying new powers forward.
  • My Adventures with Superman:
    • Livewire, in both the comics and the previous Superman cartoon that she originates from, is a metahuman whose Shock and Awe powers are a natural ability of hers. Here, she's a normal human whose electric powers instead come from Powered Armor. However, her skin starts glowing blue after her armor gets overloaded, and after she's subdued, she ends up with permanent Volcanic Veins on her body, implying this might have changed. Sure enough, the episode "Zero Day, Part 2" has this trope subverted completely by revealing that she's gained natural electrokinesis, granting her the ability to shoot lightning as well as transform into pure energy to Flash Step.
    • In the comics, Deathstroke is an Empowered Badass Normal granted enhanced physical abilities through an experimental Super-Soldier drug. In this show, he retains those enhanced abilities, but he gains them through Powered Armor rather than having them naturally.
    • In the comics, Silver Banshee has mystical powers that grant her a sonic scream, super strength, and flight. Here, she only has the sonic scream, and said scream comes from an advanced tech mask, rather than being a natural ability of hers. She does eventually gain her flight powers, but like with her sonic scream, she gets the ability from an advanced tech armor rather than naturally having it.
    • The Golden Age version of Mist has the ability to transform into vapor, granting him Invisibility and Intangibility, which he gained through exposure to a chemical. Meanwhile, his counterpart for this show only has the invisibility powers, and said invisibility comes from advanced technology.
    • In the comics, Parasite, no matter which incarnation, is a metahuman who has powers based around draining the life energy of their victims, temporarily gaining their powers and knowledge in the process. In this show, Dr. Ivo, a Composite Character of several characters that includes Parasite, is a normal human who wears the Parasite armor, which is instead powered by absorbing kinetic energy. His later appearances would begin to downplay this, however. His misuse of his tech results in one of his eyes permanently glowing purple, and during a moment of being Drunk On Power, the other eye glows purple as well and he begins to drool a glowing purple liquid, implying that the tech has changed him somehow. Meanwhile, his 2.0 version of the Parasite armor, while retaining the kinetic energy absorption, is now also equipped with the life energy draining ability of his comic counterpart.
  • She-Ra and the Princesses of Power: In the original show, Imp is able to shapeshift into any form he wanted. The newer Imp lacks this power, instead able to "playback" any noise he's heard, including secret conversations.
  • Spider-Man: The Animated Series:
  • Static Shock:
    • In the comics, Hotstreak had Super-Speed and could generate flames as a side effect of friction, meaning if he was immobilized, he couldn't make flames. Here, he simply has Playing with Fire powers.
    • Run and Jump in the comics had the respective powers of telepathy and telekinesis. Here, their respective powers are instead super speed and teleportation.
  • Super Friends changed Giganta from a gorilla that was transformed into a muscular human woman to a woman with the power to grow to gigantic proportions, making her the Evil Counterpart of the aforementioned Apache Chief. Justice League combines them, so Giganta is a sentient gorilla from Gorilla City, transformed into a muscular human woman who can grow to gigantic proportions.
  • Superman couldn't fly until the Superman Theatrical Cartoons, where they decided it was easier to animate him flying than leaping tall buildings In a Single Bound, his original power. This change carried over to the comics and every other adaptation.
  • Teen Titans (2003):
    • In the original comics, Raven had empathy, teleportation, Astral Projection, and healing abilities. The TV show, meanwhile, made her a sorceress who has the comic version's powers, in addition to telekinesis (her primary combat ability), flight, and various magical spells. The comics have since followed suit and expanded Raven's magic abilities.
    • In the original comics, Bumblebee wore a suit of bee-themed Powered Armor, but had no actual superhuman abilities. The show ditched the armor and gave her the power to shrink, as well as wings that grew out of her back instead of being part of a suit. The shrinking power became well-known enough that it was reused for Young Justice (2010) and DC Super Hero Girls, and was eventually made canon in the comics.
    • The villain Blackfire has all the abilities possessed by her sister Starfire. This is in contrast to the comics, where the source of her villainy is that she can't naturally fly, which is considered a disability on Tamaran and made her The Un-Favourite in her family.
    • In the show, Warp can time travel. In the comics, he wasn't a time traveler; his name referred to his ability to teleport from place to place.
  • Ultimate Spider-Man (2012):
    • In the comics, Mister Negative can use his powers to corrupt victims and force them to obey him. Here, he instead has the power to petrify his victims.
    • In the comics, Spider-Gwen has the same powers as Spider-Man. Here, due to being the Gwen Stacy of Miles Morales' universe, she is an ordinary human who uses a high tech suit created in part by Aunt May to simulate Spider-Man's powers.
    • Both versions of the Green Goblin draw from the Ultimate Marvel version in that they're hulking monsters instead of superpowered guys in costume. However, the original version still used the glider tech and pumpkin bombs of the classic Goblin and the alternate universe Goblin, while Truer to the Text to the Ultimate comics, had super senses and flight.
  • The Guardians' powers in W.I.T.C.H. are different from the comic in numerous ways, though the second season made them closer:
  • X-Men:
    • Pryde of the X-Men altered the powers of Dazzler (throws energy grenades rather than converting sound energy to light) and Emma Frost (throws energy harpoons in addition to her telepathy). As seen above, the famous six-person fighter (which was based on Pryde) altered the characters even further.
    • Mystique in the comic books is a mutant humanshifter, but still unable to alter her body mass and taking on the form of someone who doesn't have a similar build as her causes her great strain. In X-Men: Evolution however Mystique is a full shapeshifter with Shapeshifter Baggage in play: she can shrink down to the form of a common house cat or a bird, such as a raven.
    • In the comics, Donald Pierce is a Hollywood Cyborg with extremely strong cybernetic limbs. In Wolverine and the X-Men, he's instead a mutant with the power to fire Hand Blasts.
  • Young Justice (2010)
    • Superboy lacks the "tactile telekinesis" that for many years was his only power in the comics, and which comic book Kon-El used to fly. He also lacks the heat vision and x-ray vision that his comic counterpart developed later. Special patches can "unlock" the vision powers (and flight), but it's a Psycho Serum.
    • The Superfriends character Apache Chief had the power to grow huge; his rough counterpart here, Tye Longshadow, can create some sort of astral body around himself just as big. He loses Apache Chief's other powers, like talking to animals. Likewise, Samurai had a random grab-bag of powers like wind, fire, Invisibility and illusions; his counterpart, Asami Koizumi, has some sort of odd power (Word of God says Ki Manipulation) where she can launch herself at opponents and, later, send shock waves at them.
    • Lagoon Boy is still able to puff himself up to increase his size, but that ability is now the result of Atlantean sorcery, unlike in the comics, where it was just a natural biological attribute he possessed.
    • A minor point: Word of God says that Superman does not have ice breath, because he never understood how Superman's lungs could work like a freezer. Also, neither Batman nor any other organic heroes can breathe in space.
    • In the comics, Traci 13 had "urban magic", meaning she drew energy from her surroundings (usually the city) to power her spells. Here, she manipulates bad luck.
    • Zviad Baazovi didn't have any powers in the comics, he was just a manipulator and part-time Badass Normal. Here he has minor Psychic Powers that can nudge people into releasing darker impulses.

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