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Personality Powers

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Narrator: Meet the Fantastic Four — whose powers line up perfectly with their Fantastic Fore-shadowing.
Victor: [to Reed] Same old Reed, always stretching.
Victor: [to Ben] I see you're still doing all the heavy lifting.
Susan: [while becoming invisible] ... to be seen and heard.
Nurse: [to Johnny] Oh, you're hot!
Johnny: [with a beeping thermometer in his mouth] Why, thank you, so are you.
— Honest Trailers for Fantastic Four (2005)

Often, when there's a superhero team, their powers will reflect their personalities with the most blatant symbolism possible. Someone with sun or light-based powers will be optimistic and sunny, while someone with moon or night-based powers will border on moody and dark.

Mystical characters may have this as part of their Super Hero Origin; the moon spirits seek out those who are dark and moody, or having all that moon energy in your body makes you dark and moody. But this is rare; often, it just happens that the optimistic and sunny guy is the one who gets caught in the Freak Lab Accident involving concentrated solar power.

This trope is too convenient to be a notably Discredited Trope. As a result, it is almost as common for superheroes to have the exact opposite personality that one would expect, with sun guy being dark and night guy being happy — see Power Stereotype Flip for examples of this. It's much rarer to simply ignore the trope and make the powers truly random, so they don't coincide or contrast with anybody's personality.

If you count mythology, and godly portfolios as powers, this is Older Than Feudalism. Greek mythology, with its very human gods, is probably the most blatant, with the sun god Helios being inspiring and alive, while his sister, the moon goddess Selene, is aloof and solitary, and so on for most of the other gods. Of course, these are justified; the Greco-Roman gods were incarnations of that which they represented.

This trope is a bit of a Chicken-and-Egg Paradox. If a person has a set of abilities long enough, it can influence their personality. In other cases, their personality is what influences the powers they get. It's not always entirely clear which way the causal arrow goes, or if they're even causally linked at all.

    Common Forms of Personality Powers 
  • Animals: People with animal-based powers often look or act like that animal before they got the powers — or more frequently, like that animal is often used symbolically, e.g. a bull-guy may be easily provoked like a real bull.
  • Elemental Personalities: See the trope page for more on this.
  • Emitting Poisons: Anyone who controls or is made of poison/toxic waste/diseases will be a very lonely, petty, and cruel person with a cutting tongue. Alternatively, they may instead be sad person who just wants (and needs) a hug.
  • Flying Brick: Superman expys being what they are, their personality can come in a variety of flavors (mainly revolving around being waaay better than everyone else). You have the typical role model hero that is looked up to by everyone in the world and is near-perfect. Indeed, this is such a well-known combination that subversions and deconstructions that are depicted as arrogant , god-like, and evil have become just as wide-spread and well-known. Regardless of being good or evil, having arguably the most versatile and best powerset will make damn near anyone into a Smug Super.
  • Generating Shields: Those with shielding powers tend to be a kind, caring person, and at least a Technical Pacifist if not an Actual Pacifist.
  • Illusions: Among the more (if not the most) complex and difficult characters to understand. They are deep, metaphorical and prone to speaking in riddles. Expect them to be dangerously good liars and Manipulative Bastards, that it's very hard to trust them fully. Don't expect them to go down so easily either, for this power is infamous for faking death. Both Heroic and Villainous examples, tend to show these characters concealing hidden thoughts and ideas behind a facade.
  • Magnetism Manipulation: This power can be a reflection of a character's own social magnetism due to charisma and other eye-catching traits. If it's portrayed in a less positive way, magnetic powers can be associated with a Doom Magnet or a Weirdness Magnet.
  • Musclemen: A character whose only power is being big and tough will be dumber than a bag of rocks. If they're good, they're doggedly loyal and probably Inspirationally Disadvantaged. If they're evil, they're bullies and thugs. While this is turned around as often as any of the other Personality Powers, a smart muscleman is particularly likely to surprise people in the story.
  • Reality Warping: Reality warpers tend to be determined, strong-willed, and/or wanting to realize their dreams or wishes.
  • Shapeshifting: People with Voluntary Shapeshifting are almost always a Shapeshifting Trickster, using their many forms to good advantage (this, too, goes straight back to mythology). Of course, this is one of the more justified chicken/egg scenarios, as if you did have shape-shifting powers, this is the kind of thing you would do. Similarly, those with Involuntary Shapeshifting, or who only shift to a specific form, will exhibit the personality characteristics associated with that form. Side-effects may include suffering from an identity crisis.
  • Souls and Spirits: Those with power over spirits and/or spiritual energy are likely to be creepy, quiet, and/or stoic.
  • Stealthy Guy: No-nonsense, subdued action, hushed tone, love of surprises. Alternatively, a trickster who likes playing pranks on people, or someone who really doesn't like being the center of attention.
  • Stretchy Body: Those who can manipulate their body like rubber are often Fun Personified who like morphing their body into strange shapes. They tend to have quite the tactical prowess and creativity with how they use the ability, even if they may look dumb at first glance.
  • Super Speedsters: Impatient, twitchy, impulsive, and brash. Brag more than anyone, like a drag racer or old-time motorhead. Frequently explained (as with Marvel's Quicksilver and DC's Impulse) as a side effect of the fact that the character's super-speed makes the rest of the world seem very slow by comparison. In other words, a male speedster is usually a Keet, a female is a Genki Girl.
  • Telekinesis: Characters who have telekinetic powers tend to have a controlling nature and authority or need to have more control in their own life.
  • Telepathy: Somebody who reads or controls minds comes in two flavors. Heroes will be wise, and almost mystically philosophical (if they aren't actual monks). The Face of the group will have something like this. Villains will be manipulative, crafty, and probably a Control Freak (strangely, a villain who relies on mind control rarely gets lazy and unused to manipulating people the old-fashioned way).
  • Teleportation: People able to teleport are those who need to be at many places at the same time or have just an evasive nature for different reasons.
  • Time Travel: Anyone who can move through time is usually airy and disconnected, often saying that they can use their knowledge of the future to "do no wrong." Expect them to be Above Good and Evil if they're adept at controlling the past to suit their whims.
  • Time Master: Similarly, those who can warp time (such as reversing it, stopping it, hastening it, etc.) tend to be rather whimsical and carefree people who tend not to think about the consequences of their actions and likes to get away with anything. Especially dangerous if they're the villain.
  • Weather Manipulation: Characters with passive-aggressive tendencies, who are mood-swinging, representing good and bad weathers.
  • Wizards and Witches: In a superhero tale where magic and high technology co-exist, a magic user is deadly serious, pompous, creepy, or all three. Also, due to the usually epic amount of study involved, academic.

Compare Planet of Hats, Transformation Conventions and Bad Powers, Bad People. See also Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance. Contrast Emotional Powers, Good Powers, Bad People, Bad Powers, Good People and Power Stereotype Flip. Supertrope to Elemental Personalities and, through that, of Psycho Electro.

Examples

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    Anime & Manga 
  • Accel World: This is a plot point, given that all of the characters' duel avatars' powers are derived from past traumas. While Burst Linkers do have some manual input over their avatar's future growth, most of the strongest got there through a strategy of Be Yourself, and claim that being wishy-washy by adding powers with no relation to your personality will cause you to devolve into a Master of None.
    • Haruyuki "Haru" Arita, the main character, is a bullied child who uses games as a form of escape, and, as such, becomes Silver Crow with the power of Flight. It's more loosely implied that his avatar's skinny, rather generic appearance is a result of Haru being picked on for his weight.
    • Takumu Mayuzumi, as a result of being bullied by older kendo students practicing piercing techniques on his throat, became Cyan Pile with the ability to use a Pile Bunker.
    • Haruyuki and Takumu's mutual friend Chiyuri Kurashima wants to turn back time to when they were closer, and so her avatar Lime Bell gains the power of time reversal.
    • "Snow Black", the team leader, spends a lot of time blaming herself for hurting people she gets close to. Hence her avatar Black Lotus has Absurdly Sharp Blades for limbs and can inflict fatal damage on others just by touching them. (Her Finishing Move? "Death by Embracing") It's suggested that she has ways to inflict Wounds That Will Not Heal as well.
    • Seiji Noumi was bullied by his older brother Yuuichi, who forced him to give him many things, from New Year's money to Brain Burst points, and so his avatar Dusk Taker gained the ability to steal other avatars' powers. Fittingly enough, Seiji also became just as bad as Yuuichi was, making this also a case of Bad Powers, Bad People.
    • Fuuko Kurasaki lost her legs in an accident, and so her avatar Sky Raker gained rocket boosters that grant her extreme mobility. Addicted to climbing higher and higher, she would attempt to Exploit this mechanic by cutting off her avatar's legs, hoping that immersing herself deeper in her trauma would make her boosters powerful enough for true Flight.
  • Alice & Zoroku: Zigzagged. Minnie C Tachibana's powers manifest as the arms of her late husband, who she desperately desires to see once again and which she talks to as they were him. Ichijo Shizuku, however, developed her power while she was asleep and it took the form of an anime that just happened to be on television at the time. As a result, Ichijo thinks that Dreams of Alice aren't actually intended to make one's dreams come true.
  • Attack on Titan: Many of the Titan Shifters are examples of this. Reiner is the Armored Titan, which is Exactly What It Says on the Tin and corresponds to his Team Dad mentality (comes back to bite him in the ass later on). Bertholdt, who's said to "lack initiative", is the Colossal Titan — capable of dealing incredible amounts of damage, but very, very slow and has great difficulty moving. And finally, Eren in his titan form is basically the Anthropomorphic Personification of Unstoppable Rage.
  • Basilisk: A number of the characters have these:
    • Gennosuke and Oboro are the two characters who most want the Kouga and Iga to make peace/want everyone to get along, and they both have powers that nullify others' attacks (gruesomely and permanently in Gennosuke's case).
    • Kagerou is a sexy kunoichi who can inflict Out with a Bang, and a similar situation is in effect with Okoi and Akeginu in terms of appearance and powers.
    • Hotarubi normally comes across as a sweet and friendly woman, but is a total yandere and Cute and Psycho. Fittingly, her power is being a Friend to All Living Things... which she uses to kill people.
    • Explicitly noted of Jingoro and true of pretty much all other gonk characters is that the grotesque outside appearance perfectly reflects their malevolent personalities.
  • Black Clover: Characters usually have personalities that perfectly fit their magics. For instance, Noelle is usually calm but can be temperamental like water, Grey is extremely shy about her true appearance and can transform into others, Gauche is self-centered and uses Mirror Magic that can duplicate himself, and the Crimson Lion Kings' Vermillion siblings are all hot-blooded and have Flame Magic. It's also weaponized. Mages can gain new spells that fit with their important personality developments, sometimes in the heat of the moment. Gauche gains a spell that duplicates others when he resolves to become more selfless and cooperate with Asta. Noelle learns to cast Sea Dragon's Roar after overcoming her subconscious desire to not harm others when her friends are threatened by Vetto. Vanessa manifests the Red Thread of Fate, which only affects those she cares for, when she shuns the Witch Queen and acknowledges the Black Bulls as her true family.
  • Bleach: Shinigami manifest their sword powers from their soul in the form of an Empathic Weapon for weaker Shinigami and Talking Weapon for powerful Shinigami. The catch is that the sword also manifests the master's personality traits — warts and all. Acknowledging aspects of themselves that they aren't proud of creates personality clashes between sword and master, making it difficult for Shinigami to truly master their swords.
    • Ichigo's sword originally lacked a hilt and cross-guard to indicate Ichigo's power was incomplete. The sword spirit initially looked like a middle-aged man who functions as a mentor, but could also manifest a second spirit, a hollow that represented Ichigo's instinct and despair. Ichigo had to learn how to master both spirits before he could manifest his full power. This wasn't possible until he had developed Fullbring and also learned that the Old Man represented his Quincy power and the hollow represented his real Shinigami power.
    • Soi-Fon has a sting-themed weapon as her shikai manifesting as a needle-like dagger that she jabs into her enemy to kill in two hits. She loves her shikai because it's perfect for her stealth ninja career and image. Her bankai is a giant stinger-missile whose Awesome, but Impractical nature is awful for a ninja but perfectly reflects her barely acknowledged personality flaw of being an attention-seeker who engages in flashy moves to show off her abilities.
    • Hisagi is a Martial Pacifist who fears his zanpakutou's power because it's a killing weapon that is so focused on attack, it lacks defence. It's shaped to reap lives, is difficult to control and is utterly ruthless in battle. In the Zanpakutou Arc, Kazeshini is revealed to be an Ax-Crazy Blood Knight.
    • Yumichika claims his zanpakutou is bossy, full of itself and utterly convinced it's the most beautiful thing alive. Rangiku observes that sounds just like Yumichika. She then complains that her zanpakutou is lazy, self-absorbed and snooty and it becomes Yumichika's turn to observe just how like her it is.
    • Kyoraku and Katen Kyokotsu: He's laid-back and lazy and hates fighting seriously. His zanpakutou's power is to weaponise children's games, and it's his zanpakutou that chooses which game to "play" (to the death, of course) on the battlefield — Kyoraku has to go along with the decision just like his enemy does.
    • Shinji takes a childlike delight in reversing things. He even writes backwards sometimes just because he can. It turns out his shikai inverts everything — direction, senses, everything.
    • Orihime is a gentle-spirited girl who hates to see people being hurt and who always wants to help. She has excellent karate skills which she almost never uses because she's a Technical Pacifist. Her power manifests as six fairies, each with their own distinctive personalities ranging from a very shy fairy who barely talks to an arrogant, aggressive warrior. In keeping with her personality, her strongest powers are healing and shielding powers and her weakest least used attack is the one that kills. As she learns to be more assertive, her powers also start to become more aggressive.
    • Sosuke Aizen is a chronic liar of epic proportions, so of course, his Kyoka Suigetsu revolves around illusion. But both he and it have a flaw. When Aizen thinks he's touching an absolute power, or when he's blindsided by power he never planned for, he completely forgets about trickery. Likewise, when Kyoka Suigetsu directly touches someone, it stops its illusions. This could either mean directly stabbing someone (like Yamamoto) or being grabbed barehanded (like Gin or Ichigo).
  • Choujin Sensen has the Espers granted superpowers based on their deepest desire:
    • Tomobiki Rinji gains telekinesis as a result of wanting more control over things beyond his reach (his gambling, his career, and his romance).
    • Kaminashi Akira gains intangibility from his wish to escape from his prison and become a free man.
  • Code Geass: Each person's Geass is apparently a reflection of their inner desires, often with an ironic twist.
    • Lelouch: His power to give orders that can't be refused reflects his desire to go from powerless to commanding so he can change the world.
    • Mao: His power to read minds reflects that as an abandoned orphan, he was always on the outside, looking in.
    • Rolo: The power to (subjectively) stop time reflects his inability to escape the past and move beyond his life as an assassin.
    • C.C. (pre-upgrade): The power to make people love her reflects her past as an abandoned slave.
    • Emperor Charles: The power to rewrite peoples' memories ironically reflects his hatred of lies, by giving his the power to tell the ultimate lies; it can also mean that, by rewriting people's memory, people won't technically think he's lying. May also contain some Like Father, Like Son, since both he and Lelouch have the power to alter peoples' minds and behavior.
  • Darker than Black: Zig-Zagged. All Contractors — the series' name for Differently Powered Individuals — have their emotions stripped and are reduced to a state of cold rationality as part of gaining their powers. They still have personalities, but their emotions no longer factor strongly into their decision-making. Thus, while most Contractors tend to act like The Stoic when there's no point in faking a full emotional resonse, many have quirks and character tics that seem to fit their powers (and in some cases, seem to get powers appropriate to the person they were before becoming a contractor). Thus, for every Hei (Shock and Awe powers, plays the The Stoic role very straight) you get someone like Wei (Bloody Murder powers, is a Blood Knight who likes testing them on new opponents).
  • Digimon: With the exception of the third season, the lead character from each series represents the element of fire and has a quick temper to go with it.
  • Fairy Tail: Shown very often. The most obvious examples are Natsu Dragoneel (a Hot-Blooded fire mage), Laxus Drayer (a Psycho Electro), and Laxus' grandfather and the leader of the guild, Makarov.
  • Fullmetal Alchemist: Most of the Homunculi have powers related to the sin they embody and by extension which aspect of Father's personality they were created from. Gluttony has a pocket dimension inside him that he can suck things into, Greed has a shell made of black diamond, Lust has fingers that turn into spears which can penetrate anything (giving an otherwise extremely womanly character a twisted layer of androgyny) and Envy can shapeshift. Pride's powers don't really have anything to do with Pride objectively, but they do within the context of the story, as he was created in the image of Father's original form. Sloth has the ability to shrug off pain because he is "too lazy to feel it." Wrath has the ability to predict an opponent's moves & calculate the probability of the success of battle tactics in an instant, showing the calm, frightening aspect of war's wrath.
  • Fushigi Yuugi: This occurs in several characters.
  • Future Diary has a variant, while every character has precognitive diaries, the way those diaries work is dependant on their personalities. So of course the yandere obsessed with the main character would get a diary that tells her everything that will happen regarding him.
  • Hand Shakers: The Nimrods take various forms, including light-rods, gears, and cards. They are shaped and created from the most dominant trait of their users.
  • Hunter × Hunter: Justified; Nen users don't get their Hatsu (special ability) spontaneously. They have to go through extensive and difficult training to develop it, and very few can manage to develop more than one. Thus, Nen users are frequently encouraged to develop a Hatsu that "suits them" and "feels right". Hisoka even developed a means of determining one's dominant Hatsu type by their personality, though he states it's about as reliable as Personality Blood Types. (Enhancers are simple and straightforward people, Transmuters tend to be secretive or dishonest, et cetera.)
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
  • In Killing Bites, Therianthropes don't get to choose which power they get from the operation, what they get is what fits best with their personality (and thus their Animal Motif that reflects it) and the option to either "Take it or leave it". It would explain a lot as to why the reptile Therianthropes are the way they are.
  • Some of the many examples from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha:
  • Monster Musume: The Slime Girl Suu is an inversion. She can absorb water and manipulate her body with it the more she drinks and her personality is affected by the kind of water she drinks. Mineral water turns her into an intelligent secretary type, chilling herself in the refrigerator makes her an Ice Queen, absorbing the water of the ocean turns her into a mature matron, and so on.
  • Mugen Densetsu Takamagahara Dream Saga has a few. Brash Taizou is strong, intelligent Souta is a seer, and girly Nachi's power is dancing.
  • My Hero Academia: A lot of characters are like this thanks to their Quirks:
    • Izuku Midoriya is the biggest superhero fan and superhero wannabe ever and gets the standard-ish Super Strength Quirk One for All. When One For All evolves to grant Izuku seven additonal Quirks, it also reflects Izuku's own encyclopedic knowledge of Quirks and Pro Heroes.
    • Katsuki Bakugo is a hot-headed, incredibly hot-tempered Jerk with a Heart of Gold whose Quirk is creating explosions.
    • Shoto Todoroki initially comes off as a cold, stoic individual who mainly uses his freeze Quirk. However, his initial refusal to use his fire abilities, reflects his tendency to get caught up in rivalries or lose his temper when other characters inadvertently bring up issues he is trying to suppress.
    • Shoto's father Endeavor is the Hot-Blooded downright tyrannical top hero who has a fire-based Quirk called Hellflame.
    • All Might is a stereotypical symbol of hope superhero who originally had the aforementioned One for All. Naturally, he has Super Strength.
    • Mt. Lady is an Attention Whore and Glory Seeker whose Quirk is growing bigger.
    • Yuga Aoyama's Quirk allows him to fire lasers from his belly. His personality is just as flamboyant and flashy.
    • Eijiro Kirishima's Quirk lets him harden and sharpen any part of his body. He, of course, loves the idea of manliness and being tough. Class 1B's Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu is eerily similar to Kirishima in both personality and his Quirk as well.
    • Tokoyami's Quirk allows him to manifest a sentient shadow monster called Dark Shadow. Tokoyami is serious and reserved and even comes of creepy at times as his speech sounds archaic. He is also fond of the concept of 'darkness' to the point he considers himself a 'creature of the dark'.
    • Ochako Uraraka wants to be a Pro Hero to make a lot of money and provide for her poor family, wanting to ease the burden on her parents. Her power is to make objects weightless with her touch.
    • Shota Aizawa's Quirk is to nullify the Quirks of others, natural power for such a killjoy.
    • Present Mic can amplify the sound of his own voice, and is fittingly a Life of the Party who acts as the Large-Ham Announcer or DJ when one is needed.
    • All For One is a megalomaniacal kleptomaniac with a god complex. His power lets him steal other people's Quirks to empower himself or those who serve him.
    • It's outright lampshaded by the leader of the Meta Liberation Army how many people have Quirks which correspond to their personalities, noting how Tomura Shigaraki's Quirk of Decay (disintegrating everything his hands touch) matches up with his wish to annihilate everything and everyone. Going even further, another member of said Meta Liberation Army suggests that Quirks may even influence people's personalities to outright enforce this trope. The prime evidence she uses for this theory is Himiko Toga, whose Quirk allows her to transform into other people by ingesting their blood. From a young age, she has had an intense interest in blood and equates expressing affection by becoming the object of said affection.
  • My-HiME:
  • Negima! Magister Negi Magi usually follows this when the partners are granted their artifacts. The Playful Hacker Cosplay Otaku Girl gets a Magical Girl Staff that gives her super hacking powers, the bookworm gets a Magical Database / Great Big Book of Everything, the Shrinking Violet gets Telepathy, the School Newspaper Newshound gets recon equipment, etc.
    • Done on two levels with Negi's artifact. It's played first because he's a quintessential Magnetic Hero, and his artifact lets him borrow the powers of his own partners but also because he constantly trains to become stronger so that he won't endanger his True Companions by forcing them to support him, and can take care of everything on his own, so borrowing his partners' artifacts (not just copying; he seems to take the actual artifact) means he can fight so they don't have to.
    • Also Jack Rakan says that Negi's frequent bouts of self-loathing make him well suited to Dark Magic.
  • In One Piece, Some characters' personalities match aspects of their Devil Fruit abilities. This does not apply to all Devil Fruit users, but it happens enough to make some fans wonder how that many people found a Devil Fruit that matches their personality.
    • Luffy is bouncy and energetic like rubber. His older brother, Ace, is rash and short-tempered to match his fire powers.
    • Enel, the main villain of Skypiea Saga, can manipulate and even become lightning. The high versatility and destructive power of the ability go into his head and he gets a god complex. He even has a circle of drums protruding from his back like the Japanese thunder god Raijin.
    • Blackbeard, user of the Yami-Yami Fruit (the power of darkness) initially follows this perfectly, preferring to operate out of the light, hiding behind men like Whitebeard or the World Government to further his plans. Even after he drops this act and takes center stage after the events at Marineford, his powers still fit him, albeit in a different way. They let him become a black hole, matching up with his desire to become the center of attention as the Pirate King.
    • Bartolomeo is an unusual but entirely valid take on this trope applied to a Barrier Warrior. Namely, he's a complete Troll because no one can actually hit him and make him stop. The caring and protective aspects of a Barrier Warrior come into play when he fights alongside his idols the Straw Hat Pirates.
    • Akainu is another unusual case. His magma power reflects his tendency to use overwhelming power without regard for bystanders, he is unyielding and relentless in his stance and view on justice and his first appearance outside of a flashback depicted him as a mountain (or volcano) in the way of Luffy's success (in that case success meant saving Ace. Nowadays, he's being set up as one of the major obstacles towards Luffy's final goal).
  • Prétear does this with some of the Leafe Knights, and even lampshades it by mentioning that the Knights get jobs related to their powers.
    • Sasame's powers are related to sound, and he's portrayed as a good listener who works at a radio station. Himeno even mentions that his manner of speech is just what one would expect from a Knight of Sound.
    • The energetic hot-head of the group has fire powers. The series lampshades it by mentioning that the Knights get jobs related to their powers.
    • Kei, The Smart Guy of the team, is the Knight of Light — which he often points out when other characters start to doubt his plans.
    • Hayate works as a messenger boy — upon learning this, Himeno giggles and asks if it is because his power is Wind.
  • Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Justified and reversed. After contracting, Homura gains the ability to rewind time, which she uses often. Because of the constant rewinds, Homura becomes exceedingly complacent (because, technically, she's already lived through any surprises life throws at her) and determined (because she knows she has the power to avert nearly any event that isn't in her favor).
    • Madoka's ascension provides a different method of justifying the trope. All her life, Madoka was an empathetic, selfless girl who wanted to help others. So naturally, upon contracting, she asks for the power to bring hope.
    • Kyubey communicates entirely through telepathy, and definitely fits the pattern of telepaths being evil and manipulative.
    • Kyouko used to be able to create illusory copies of herself while she was living a sort of double life as a supporter of her dad's church and fighter of witches. After her dad found out, went mad, and killed her whole family and himself, she decided to live only for herself and lost this ability.
  • Ranma ˝: Genma Saotome turns into a panda — his primary interests are lounging around and eating. Similarly, Ryoga is "pigheaded," Shampoo is "sly as a cat," and Mousse is "birdbrained."
  • Read or Die and R.O.D the TV: Every paper user aside from Anita (who, admittedly, had a reason, and got into it later) are bibliophiles. "Extreme" bibliophiles.
  • Sailor Moon:
    • In the original Sailor Moon anime, Sailor Mars has fire-based powers and is hot-tempered, Sailor Jupiter has thunder powers and is big and tough, Sailor Mercury controls ice and fog and is cool and intellectual.
    • Averted in the manga, where Mars was a level-headed and standoffish Shinto priestess with fire-based powers. At least until she got mad, then she really burned with a fiery passion.
  • Sekirei averts this with almost all characters. However, the Electricity twins are Psycho Electros and the An Ice Person is still mostly stoic, subdued and focused on her work.
  • Speed Grapher goes one step further by having all Euphorics gain powers based on their fetishes and obsessions. A man with a rubber fetish literally becomes a Rubber Man. A woman with a diamond fascination gains the ability to transform her flesh into diamonds. And the lead, a former war photographer who occasionally got an erection from getting good shots, gains the ability to make anything he photographs explode.
  • Tiger & Bunny: Played with. Blue Rose is expected to maintain a 'cool and sexy' persona for her fans but off-screen has a temper at times. Of the two fire-using NEXTs Lunatic is creepily calm in and out of costume, while Nathan is flamboyant and cheerful and rarely shows anger. Pao Lin/Dragon Kid is a more clear aversion being in no way a Psycho Electro. The two leads have very different personalities but have identical superpowers.
  • Yes! Pretty Cure 5 references this in the characters' heroic titles and speeches. All-Loving Hero Nozomi? "Great power of hope". Easily angered tomboy Rin? "Red flame of passion". Happy Idol Singer Urara? "Scent of a bursting lemon"... okay, this is a language pun involving her bubble-based powers and cheerful personality that didn't quite translate.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh!: Several ace cards have effects and/or traits that are seemingly tied to that of their masters.
    • Stardust Dragon sacrifices itself to protect the controller's field from destroyed by a card effect, similar to how Yusei often willingly help others in need.
    • Blue-Eyes White Dragon having a brute power strategy mirrors Kaiba's brutal outside.
    • The Number cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL explicitly mold themselves after their holders. i.e the protagonist Yuma has a protective monster, Vetrix has Power Copying Numbers, and most one-off antagonists have theirs fit too. i.e compulsive gambler Charlie McCay has a luck-based Number.
    • Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon has two effects, depending on if it's summoned as a Monster or used as a Pendulum Scale. As a Monster, it doubles the battle damage it inflicts. As a Scale, however, it reduces battle damage with a Pendulum Monster to 0. This reflects Yuya's own pendulum-like personality, where he tries hard to put up a happy entertainer persona to hide how much he's hurting on the inside.
    • Whole archetypes and playing styles can cover a character's personality. Jack is headstrong, and aggressive, and refuses to budge on his ideas. So his deck features a beat-down strategy that relies on the same stratgies over and over. This is in contrast to the cool-headed and Yusei, who focuses on performing a variety of strategies and combos.
    • Yuma's monsters are childish and simple, reflecting his childish and simple nature. His ace monster, Utopia ("King of Wishes, Hope" in Japan.) represents the hope and idealism Yuma always carries.
    • Sora's deck features cute stuffed animals that turn into scary, mechanical abominations; foreshadowing Sora's role as The Fake Cutie and a villain.
  • In the anime YuYu Hakusho, there's a story arc in which humans acquire special abilities. It is explicitly explained that characters receive abilities specifically related to their personalities.

    Comic Books 
  • The Authority: Apollo literally runs on sunshine, while Midnighter's powers relate exclusively to beating the crap out of his opponents in the most efficient way possible. However, how much of Midnighter's disposition comes from natural cynicism, and how much of it comes from being the ruthless killing machine among more, er, constructive powers, is up for debate.
  • The DCU:
    • The Flash:
      • Bart Allen (aka Impulse) plays this trope straight. Due to being raised in a virtual world, he was left with no attention span or concept of danger — leading him to rush at everything with little forethought (hence the codename). These aspects were taken away when the character was ReTooled into Kid Flash; however, his speedy personality returned when he came Back from the Dead in Legion of 3 Worlds.
      • Wally West, the Modern Age Flash, is also rather impulsive, and he mentions that it's why he wouldn't work well as Impulse's mentor (he'd lose his patience too quickly). He generally does his best to control it after Character Development, though. (Not so much for the cartoon version though.)
    • Justice Society of America: Obsidian's powers ended up changing his personality, becoming darker and more deranged until he reached true villainy. He got better, though.
    • Legion of Super-Heroes:
      • Cosmic Boy is (usually) a Magnetic Hero with Magnetism Manipulation powers. He is less charismatic in some later versions.
      • In the "Threeboot" version Mark Waid brought this trope in a much more subtle way than done before, basically saying that their powers changed them and so people are looking at them differently, how they interact with people is different. Chameleon, the team shapeshifter has a malleable personality so he mimics those who he is surrounded by. Dream Girl is now literally a dream. More info found here.
    • Plastic Man: Plastic Man is a case of someone becoming what their powers allow them to be. Eel O'Brian was a small-time gangster who got doused by a vat of chemicals, came out with superpowers, and made a Heel–Face Turn, becoming a superhero. Over time, he developed into a superpowered Jim Carrey-style comedian.
    • Rudy Jones was a pathetic janitor that had no qualms about bumming food and money off of people nice enough to share them with him such as Clark Kent. So, of course, he gained superpowers that reflected this as the Parasite.
  • Empowered: Willy Pete is a wild and destructive villain whose body is covered in fire hotter than the surface of the sun.
  • Marvel Universe:
    • Fantastic Four: In the early days of the comic book, the fire-throwing Human Torch was a hot-tempered grease monkey, the Invisible Girl was shy and meek, the brilliant scientist Mr. Fantastic had powers based on being flexible and adaptable, and the musclebound, monstrous Thing, while not stupid, maintained a "Brooklyn bruiser" persona and had trouble expressing his feelings. Although this is less evident in more recent comics, it's still sometimes referred to.
      • What If?: In #6, the FF get different powers that still reflect their personalities. Sue gets the Mr. Fantastic powers, with her meekness being described as a "pliable" personality. The other three powers are completely different (Reed is a living brain, Johnny's interest in mechanics makes him a robot, and Ben's love of flight causes him to grow wings).
      • A later What If issue (v2 #11) explored what might have happened had all four gained the same power, and suggested that, while the Invisible Girl/Woman would always be happiest with her power, Johnny might actually be happier as Mr. Fantastic (which he used to become a popular entertainer, more akin to the "sillier" Plastic Man and Elongated Man), while Ben would have been the most comfortable as the Human Torch (which helped in his job as a test pilot, allowed him to become a stuntman, and ultimately led him to become a popular solo superhero).
      • More recent interpretations have emphasized the Invisible Woman's forcefield power as related to her Team Mom or Mama Bear traits. Likewise Mr. Fantastic's malleable body is shown as an extension of his expansive and malleable mind.
      • Ultimate Fantastic Four: This is a case of powers causing personality for Reed as he's revealed to be stretching his brain to make himself smarter. This perhaps helps explain why building a teleporter took him so long while his Time Machine was built in a relatively trivial fashion off-screen.
      • A number of adaptations depict what powers the team obtained as being based on what was happening to them at the moment the Cosmic Rays hit their ship: Johnny was caught on fire, Susan was trying to lift debris that was trapping her (which explains her making forcefields; some adaptations have her being hit by a shockwave instead); Reed is stretching himself out (either to get ahold of the controls or trying to reach Susan) while being pinned down by debris as well; and Ben is usually slammed with meteors or has the highest amount of exposure to the rays (which explains his transformation being the most drastic among the four), whist exerting his strength to help save his crew.
    • Great Lakes Avengers: Subverted and supported simultaneously by Flatman of the GLA/GLX/Lightning Rods/whatever they're calling themselves now. On the one hand, his primary power is exactly that of Reed Richards (who he looks almost exactly like, strangely enough), flexing and bending all over the place while having the personality of wet cardboard. But then again, he's got stretching and bending powers — except that he is utterly and completely flat, matching his droning lectures and utter lack of interestingness.
    • The Incredible Hulk:
      • As far as the Hulk himself, his powers are actually based on his personality. As the Hulk himself notes, "the angrier Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets", as his strength, speed, and Healing Factor all increase with his emotions. Partially justified by the suggestion that the Hulk's powers are in fact tied to his body's adrenaline production — the more stress chemicals his body produces, the stronger his powers become.
      • Gamma mutants like the Hulk have transformations directly linked to their mental state. In the case of the Hulk, his transformation is linked to Banner's repressed anger issues combined with multiple personality disorder. His cousin, Jen Walters, was a meek, sexually repressed woman, but as She-Hulk she becomes the ideal woman; strong, independent, beautiful, and sexually liberated. Doc Samson's transformation was based on a repressed desire to be a hero. Sam Sterns was a bit of a moron who envied the smarter people he worked around, and he became the Leader, one of (if not the) smartest people in the Marvel Universe. Emil Blonsky was filled with self-loathing, and he became the Abomination. The general powers of these individuals are mostly the same (except for the Leader), but the manifestation varies widely based on the personality of the person being affected by gamma.
      • Thunderbolt Ross hunted the Hulk for years but secretly envied and coveted the Hulk's power all that time. So it's no surprise that his mutated Red Hulk form looks almost exactly like the big green guy except for the coloring.
      • There's a degree of variance in how the Hulk's powers manifest depending on which Hulk personality is ascendant — his baseline strength and intellect, potential strength, Healing Factor, what triggers his transformation (Banner getting angry or nightfall), and whether any secondary powers show up (like Living Lie Detector) are all open to change when a new Hulk manifests.
    • Ms. Marvel (2014): Kamala is a shapeshifter, but unlike most examples she's honest and genuinely heroic. Rather, it factors into her being a Pakistani-American Muslim teenager and feeling uncomfortable in her own skin. The lesson she has to learn in her first story is that she has to accept herself for everything she is, rather than try to be a watered-down version of someone else. As she turns into other people less frequently, she instead primarily uses her powers to change the proportions of her body, emphasizing her teenage playful streak and her intelligence as she uses the laws of physics to her advantage.
    • Runaways:
      • Goth girl Nico is a witch whose spells are powered by blood.
      • Subverted by Karolina. She is flighty, cheerful, and has powers that involve the sun, light, and flying. However, her cheerful flightiness is an act.
    • Spider-Man:
      • There's a mind-numbing amount of animal-themed Personality Powers, along with an occasional Meaningful Name or Steven Ulysses Perhero. Otto Octavius has tentacles like an octopus, and he's grasping and manipulative. The Vulture is a mean, bitter man who preys on the weak (and even looks like a vulture). The Rhino is big, tough, and stupid. Eventually, J. Michael Straczynski did a Lampshade Hanging on it, suggesting that these villains are totemic representations, and unconsciously target Spider-Man because his totemic representation is "true" while theirs are false.
      • At first glance, Spider-Man himself seems to be an aversion. He's a genuinely good guy, and even maintained his Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man image during the days of the '90s Anti-Hero. However, the public's perception of Spider-Man is very much like that of a spider. He is misunderstood, sometimes hated or hunted, dangerous when threatened, but ultimately a helpful force in that he acts as a form of pest control.
    • X-Men:
      • For the first two issues, the Beast played this trope straight. He was bombastic, brutish, and blunt-brained, just as you'd expect a musclebound lunk to be. The writers quickly discovered the comic potential in a "beastly brute" who recited eloquent Shakespeare, however, and by issue three the Beast's well-known Harvard-educated persona was in place.
      • Nightcrawler is a deliberate aversion on two fronts, both hinging on the fact that he has looked like a blue demon since the day he was born. Chris Claremont quickly decided that Kurt shouldn't be overly angst-ridden, but instead made him an upbeat, cheery charmer and Errol Flynn idolizer, as well as having him eventually decide that he should be "out and proud" as a mutant, rather than disguise himself. And in contrast to his demonic appearance, he is a devout and practicing Catholic who eventually became a priest. Adaptations have tended to play up his angst, though.
      • Wolverine, an anti-social berserker who considers civilization suffocating, has claws, super-strength, a strong sense of smell, and a strong resistance and regeneration power.
      • Rogue zigzags this. Her main comics depiction tends toward a being a cheerful, outgoing woman... with an uncontrollable death touch. Other media versions cast her as a gloomy, withdrawn goth with an uncontrollable death touch.
  • The Liberty Project: Among the members, the firestarter is aggressive and has rage issues, while Slick, whose body can generate an incredibly slippery liquid, has a personality that matches his name.
  • No Hero justifies this by having the drug FX7 granting powers by bringing out what was inside.
  • The Ultraverse: Prime from Ultraforce is a thirteen-year-old boy with the power to form a pseudo-organic shell around himself with powers and appearance that reflect his belief of what makes a hero. When he first manifested his abilities he was a huge fan of comic book superheroes and he could transform into a muscular caped Flying Brick. Later, after meeting individualistic cynical antiheroes and suffering from inner doubts, his new Prime form resembled a typical '90s Anti-Hero. After reconciling his newfound cynicism with his original ideals, his final Prime form is a mix of the two that leans more towards his original Cape form. Another hero named Elven with the same powers as Prime was a fan of ElfQuest and other High Fantasy works and turned into an elf warrior with magical powers.
  • W.I.T.C.H.: The original comic plays this trope much straighter than the cartoon adaptation does. Cloud Cuckoolander Hay Lin controls air, grounded, skeptical Deadpan Snarker Cornelia controls earth, while Taranee is an ironic reversal of the usual Playing with Fire type, being very shy and gentle and thus reliable enough to be entrusted with the most easily destructive element (you should still Beware the Nice Ones, though). Irma, who controls water is kindhearted and laid-back, but also impulsive. Will, who controls energy and electricity, is emotional and volatile, but also determined. All generations of Guardians have similar personalities linked to their power. This was a source of anguish for Will, as her predecessor became a villain.

    Fan Works 
  • A Better Class of Criminal: Bookworm, as shameless a geek and nerd as any, gains libriomancy, the power to make small items from books real.
  • Between My Brother and Me: Mors Omnibus:
    • Yvonne Maxa has the skills to summon strings like a puppeteer due to her love of puppetry while simultaneously being capable of murder. She uses the Shaddoll deck whose gimmick is that they're zombified monsters of previous archetypes resurrected the purple strands of El Shaddoll Construct. This also reflects how Yvonne Maxa became reborn from a timid girl nearly killed by a mob boss to the strong and confident Grand Lorde Guignol.
    • When Dawn is "repurposed", her augment is strength in her arms. It's mentioned in the prequel that all Dawn wanted to do was hug her brother — who Hates Being Touched — but she dies just when she finally gets to hug him. Once she's resurrected as a Dark Signer, the curious Ayu Ayukawa can look into the past of a location if relates to a question that's on her mind.
  • Bird: Played with. There is an element in Burnscar and Labyrinth's powers — the pyrokinetic that is compelled to burn and the girl that literally gets lost in imaginary worlds. Others are less clear — like Charnel and Auspice. Justified in the former case (she's a girl profoundly transformed by a villainous wetware tinker), and the latter case is an abstract Thinker power (though considering the owner's Book Worm tenancies...)
  • Child of the Storm:
    • Thor is the God of Thunder and Lightning (not Reason and Understanding) and the Lord of Storms, and like the weather he can flip moods pretty dramatically from calm and steady to Unstoppable Rage pretty quickly — especially when someone threatens his son.
    • Jean-Paul zig-zags the tropes, being a light-hearted speedster who apparently zips from one casual relationship to another and moves on pretty quickly from changes. However, this seems to be something of a façade, with his actual personality being more detached, pragmatic, and at times, cold, calculating, and terrifyingly ruthless.
    • Diana also zig-zags the trope. On the one hand, she's an Empath, among other things, and a gentle, kind and friendly person in the Mind over Manners sort of way. On the other hand, she's also The Berserker, something she actively tries to suppress.
    • Harry pretty much plays it straight. He's brilliant with fire, and, once he begins to open up and acknowledge his feelings more, he proves to be quite Hot-Blooded. And then there's the Phoenix... But, at the same time, he's also warm and kind. You just really, really don't want to piss him off. He even eventually settles as a textbook example of Fiery Stoic.
  • Cinders and Ashes: the Chronicles of Kamen Rider Dante has Hoshi don the Volcano Belt, which at first seems to fit with being Hot-Blooded, although it's later shown that the powers, which includes being set on fire and exploding when his anger is at critical mass, highlights the darker aspects of Hoshi. Namely, his self-destructive behaviour and his anger at letting close friends die. This follows through as he swaps Belts for the more efficent Volcannik Driver, which doesn't set him on fire or make him explode, mirroring how Hoshi cooled down over his emotions. It's revealed that the other Rider Belts function similarly, being powered by different emotions and as such, their users tend to gravitate towards those mindsets.
  • Cultivating Empathy gives some upgrade to the naturally diplomatic and understanding Lan Xichen by turning him into The Empath and later having him accessing the Gift of Tongues after he's Chosen to be a Herald, so he's able to communicate with anybody. Rather a fitting power for a future political figure.
  • Empathy: Riley Anderson, was already a friendly, social girl with a strong moral compass (if her Friendship, Goofball, and Honesty Islands were any indication) before she became an empath capable of sensing the emotions of others and hearing her emotions talk in her head.
  • The Games We Play (The Gamer/RWBY): This is not outright stated but implied with Adam. At first, all he could do with his Semblance was take in energy and release it as an attack, reflecting how he absorbed his frustration with and hatred of the world and threw it back. He eventually learns to control the absorbed energy, first to buff his sword strikes and then to buff himself directly, reflecting how he changed to absorb the hurt and draw strength from it.
  • I Woke Up As a Dungeon, Now What?: Downplayed with evocation magic. All evocations are aligned with one of seven personality traits (kindness, calmness, knowledge, justice, passion, determination, and bravery), and it's easiest to cast evocations aligned with your dominant personality traits. So, for example, because lightning is aligned with justice, it's easier to use lightning evocations if you have a strong sense of fairness and desire for justice.
  • JoJo's Alien Adventure: Ben's Stand, Emerald Ace, reflects his own personality, but in a somewhat different manner than most Stands. Instead of the power relating to his personality, it's how he calls it: the Stand reflexively acts upon someone being in trouble, such as helping Jotaro against Avdol or removing the flesh bud from Kakyoin. This fits with Ben's Chronic Hero Syndrome and his reckless personality, and his Kiai ("HERORORORORO!") shows that when Ben fights, it's always with the intent of helping others.
  • Manynette: Marinette is akumatized into Manynette after becoming overwhelmed with stress and exhaustion. She becomes a group of copies, with each copy having limitless energy to carry out one of Marinette's responsibilities. Furthermore, the real Marinette is revealed to be Napinette, the one who sleeps constantly. This means her power is to create clones to do her tasks while she rests.
  • Mega Man: Defender of the Human Race: Splash Woman is vain and self-centered, and her powers make robots enamored with her. If she wanted she could have everyone worship her.
  • My Miraculous Academia: It's established that, while it takes a certain personality type to be a proper wielder of their miraculous, the miraculous in turn affect their wielders. For example, while Izuku was meek to begin with, wielding the Butterfly Miraculous (butterflies often treated as fragile, its powers being support-based and providing empathetic abilities) makes him into a stuttering mess whenever he interacts with people.
  • Perfection Is Overrated: The SUEs often have powers that reflect the effect various Mary Sue archetypes have on canon.
    • Mariko Suou is a Classic Mary Sue and has the power to make people consider her the most important person in her lives, much like how Sues are immediately loved by everyone in their stories. Her Child, Baldur, can revive her if she's mourned while dying (patterened after a Disney Death cliche common to Suefics), but this never comes up because she dies while alone (Turns out, being the most important person in everyone's lives is a bit of a sucky blessing when the local superheroines fight with their most important person's lives on the line).
    • Hitomi the Jerk Sue has a Child that can torture people and is capable of mind-control, reflecting how Sues force other characters to act unnaturally in their story.
    • Shizune Otonashi is a fundementalist Christian who seeks to impose her beliefs on everyone else, and she has Power Nullifier abilities that reflect both her personal desire to subjugate others and how the presence of Sues commonly renders other characters incompetent to make Sues look better in comparison.
    • Bachiko can rewrite personalities, much like how Sue writers make others Out of Character to enable the story.
    • Meiko can rewrite memories, reflecting how Sues insert themselves into canon events (i.e. being a sibling or childhood friend of a canon character).
    • Makoto is a shapeshifter, thus making her the perfect copycat.
    • The Usurper, who seeks to impose his will on the world, has the ability to possess and control someone.
  • Pony POV Series: The Elements of Harmony and the Elements of Chaos both work this way, giving their users superpowers based on how they represent it (though this is only seen in the Dark World as the main timeline versions don't use their's often enough to develop the powers). For example, Fluttercruel is a Serial Killer and a Psychopathic Manchild, so her Element of Cruelty manifests by letting her make weapons from her body. When Rarity gets it (via her Element of Desire), she's a lot less restricted in what she can make and what its made of (ranging from weapons to shields to walls and composed of anything from diamond to platinum), likely due to not representing a single aspect of the Element of Cruelty like Cruel did. When Dark World Diamond gets it in Loose Canon as Cruelty's Redeeming Replacement, the power changes completely to Words Can Break My Bones. Other examples include the paradox loving Element of Laughter Apple Pie having the ability to alter or disrupt the flow of mana via invoking Logic Bombs and the Determinator Element of Loyalty Derpy Hooves getting Super Toughness and a Limit Break that lets her continue fighting in order to protect what she cares about.
  • A Posse Ad Esse: Zigzagged. Rather than mapping specifically to their personalities, the superpowers map to whatever therapeutic mindset or "stage" the disabled cuddly toys were at at the time. EG: Since Kroko is at the stage where he believes he is an eagle, the power surge enables him to fly and gives him enhanced vision; since Sly is in a high-speed tail-obsessed circuity mental state, he gets the Super Speed and electric powers; etc.
  • RainbowDoubleDash's Lunaverse: Unicorn ponies' spells are generally tied to their special talent, which is in turn tied to their personality. This also shows up to a lesser degree with the other two tribes, as more of their magic is internal.
  • There's Something About Marinette: Heart Baker, the akumatized Marinette Dupain-Cheng, is a multi-level example. She is a love-themed baker with the ability to take people's hearts in the form of baked treats. What she pulls out of their chests depends on their feelings for her civilian self. This symbolizes her desire to be loved. She also has a horror motif, due to her finding love terrifying: She was terrified to try and confess to her crush and her first kiss with Chloes terrified her. The thing that got her akumatized was her fear that she would die alone after said crush seems to reject her.
  • A Typical Pokemon Journey: The characters typically have Pokémon based on their personalities. For example, Lucy, who has a rather sweet personality, has a Clefairy as her starter Pokémon (though aside from being cute Clefairy is also rather smart and a kleptomaniac). Sometimes however the characters will have a Pokémon that one would not typically expect them to have, such as the nerdy Ned having a Gyarados.
  • A World Without Zeref: Magic, especially Maker magic, is said to be just as much reflecting a person's soul as it shapes the user's soul. Mika Fullbuster in the Zeref less timeline was said to orignally be a kind and gentle woman. However, her jealousy of how close her husband Silver and Ur were becoming caused great resentment, leading her to learn Fire Maker Magic to not only counter Ur's Ice Maker Magic but also teach it to her son Gray. The end result is her becoming a hot-headed and fiery woman powered by hatred, which ended up pushing her husband away.
  • Worlds Apart (MLP): Blizzard is a stoic Earth pony with ice powers.

    Film — Animated 
  • Encanto: The Madrigal family's respective magical gifts compliment their personality in some manner or another.
    • Julieta is a caretaker by nature, and her power lets her heal people's injuries by feeding them food that she made.
    • Overly dramatic and emotionally volatile, Pepa's gift is influencing (and often drastically and instantaneously changing) the weather around her.
    • The way Isabela makes her surroundings blossom with her Green Thumb, specifically how precise and graceful her control over her gift is, represents her status as a golden child striving for perfection. Notably, when she finally lets out her true feelings and lashes out in anger, she seemingly makes a spiky plant like a cactus for the first time in her life. During her subsequent "I Am Becoming" Song, it's implied that Isabela has a genuine interest in botany and horticulture considering her vast knowledge of tropical and desert plants.
    • Luisa is the dependable child who strives to be a strong figure others can lean on. She has Super Strength.
    • Dolores is a quiet and introverted person, so her Super Hearing allows her to get information without actually talking to anyone. Perhaps because of this, she is a bit of a gossip.
    • According to his official description, Camilo "doesn't quite know who he is yet", which is portrayed with both him possessing an ability to shapeshift into other people. He also frequently uses it to engage in mischief, such as shapeshifting into Dolores in order to sneak extra helpings at meal times and taking on the form of Mariano, Isabela's potential fiancee, when teasing her about their relationship.
    • Antonio is quiet and not comfortable talking with most people, preferring to spend time with animals. He gains the ability to Speak Fluent Animal.
    • Bruno is the worrywart of the family, as described by the movie's creators, and thus can literally only see bad things in the future. However, he gave Isabela an undeniably good prophecy and Mirabel later helps him experience a positive vision, impling that he would be able to see more good futures if he got a more positive outlook on the world.
  • Frozen (2013): Justified. Elsa's psychoactive ice powers strongly influence her personality. She hides from the world by acting emotionally detached because she's afraid of what might happen to her or what she herself might end up doing if she doesn't control her powers, and suffers greatly from that.
  • The Incredibles plays this straight with the Parrs. Bob the father gets super strength because he's the foundation for the family. Helen the mom gets super-stretching because mothers tend to many tasks simultaneously. Violet, an insecure teenager, gets invisibility and forcefields. Dash, the hyperactive kid, gets Super Speed. Jack-Jack, the baby, gets a grab-bag of powers, a metaphor for the vast potential of infants. There's also the cool and collected Frozone.
  • Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse connects Miles Morales, aka Spider-Man II, as a fearful and insecure kid with his camouflage ability. It's initially the only power he can use semi-reliably as he tries to figure out his abilities.

    Film — Live-Action 

    Literature 
  • All The Skills - A Deckbuilding LitRPG:
    • A common belief is that cards in the Heart Deck (and especially the very first one) will affect a person's personality. Arthur worries about accepting the Thief class he obtains from his skills because he worries this will make him more likely to steal.
    • Likewise, personally building a card out of shards will manifest a card related to the person who made it—though not necessarily what they actually want. Because of this, it's traditional for people to build their first card for their Heart Deck themselves.
  • Blood Memories: Vampires each develop a different kind of hypnotic aura based on their strongest personality trait in life. This aura is used to help the vampire get prey. Eleisha, who was a small, delicate, sweet-natured girl in life, makes people see her as innocent and helpless. Edward, who was outgoing and likable in life, becomes incredibly charming and charismatic. Maggie and Philip, who were both considered extremely attractive and sexy in life, gain the ability to inspire sexual attraction in others. Julian, who others found creepy and off-putting even in life, gains the ability to paralyze his victims with fear.
  • Ciaphas Cain: Jurgen, faithful sidekick of everyone's favorite HERO OF THE IMPERIUM, the single most unclean, untidy and unattractive soldier in the Imperial Guard, and certainly one of the most simple-minded ones who, as Cain likes to point out, has a refreshing lack of thought of his own, is a "blank", a person who is immune to and cancels out psykers and any Warp-related powers. Justified, in that him being unattractive and devoid of much character is a direct consequence of his power. His rather obvious lack of hygiene is actually a way to give others an explanation for the uncomfortable sense of "weirdness" that his power gives off.
  • Digitesque: The gifts seem to influence the people who have them. Pathfinders are repeatedly stated to be non-violent, and several people are caught off-guard by one attacking from stealth, while warriors and hunters are seen as too eager for violence.
  • Domina: This is how powers operate. Derek wanted to protect people; he became a Barrier Warrior. Laura wanted to know when people were lying; she became a Living Lie Detector. Akane wanted her sword to be useful; she gained Super Speed. Lilith loves everyone in the city and sees herself as empty without them; she got the power to use the power of anyone who loves her back. Word of God is that there is some subconscious decision-making going on, however. For example, Laura accidentally locked herself into a bad upgrade path by insisting on always having the ability to know when people are lying; since her power is so easy to use, using it doesn't improve it at all. On the other hand, Ling is usually quite a bit stupider than Laura, but she has enough gaming experience that she was able to unconsciously MinMax her Dishing Out Dirt power a bit.
  • The Dresden Files have two examples: the divinely-empowered Knights of the Cross and the more complicated wizards.
    • The Knights wield powerful, glowing swords that are each named after a particular virtue, and will only function as the magical, priceless artifacts they are when wielded by someone who embodies that virtue. Given that the Swords of the Cross are literally distributed by angels, you can more or less expect someone who uses one to be an incorruptible, fearsome force for good.
    • Wizards share at least some common spells and magical abilities such as the Sight, but all wizards eventually specialize during their training, becoming expert at one or two aspects of magic that are relevant to their personality.
      • Harry Dresden is a passionate, bluntly honest wizard who prefers combat to the intellectual politicking of his peers, has a temper problem, and often finds himself needing to take the fight to his enemies (or track down and rescue his allies); because of this, he specializes in conjuring fire and making spells that track people. (The latter is also useful in his day job as a private investigator.)
      • Molly Carpenter is an insightful teenager whose personality juxtaposes an innocent, very strong desire to do good with the trauma-induced cynicism of her later years. This translates into her becoming a "sensitive" — a magician who specializes in mind magic (illusions, invisibility, brainwashing...) but who has an empathic connection to all beings (good or evil, happy or sad) around her that she cannot turn off. Also, mind magic can be adapted to help in nearly any situation, but it counts as black magic — which is literally addictive and hurts your soul.
  • The Egg Man: Each person is born with one of their senses hyper-evolved, and one character claims that each person is shaped by that sense. Thus, Smells are fussy and anal-retentive, Feels are perpetually horny, Tastes end up getting fat, Sounds are paranoid and Sights are always spying and snooping.
  • The Extraordinary Secrets Of April May And June:
    • Brainy, focused eldest sister April has the ability to see the future.
    • Lone wolf middle child May has the ability to turn invisible.
    • Youngest June, who desperately seeks to be popular and cares a lot about how she is seen by others, has the ability to read people's minds.
  • GONE series by Michael Grant;
    • Sam Temple can emit light and warmth from his hands. He's the warm-hearted, heroic force of good. He is also afraid of the dark.
    • His long lost twin brother Caine Soren has telekinesis, the power to control every inanimate object and even people, moving and levitating them to his every whim...He's a controlling, power-hungry dictator who loves to manipulate situations. He also developed a power that impressed Diana.
    • Caine's girlfriend Diana has the power to tell if someone has powers, and how powerful they are if they do have powers, or basically "to read" someone... she's also super judgemental and sarcastic and can read everyone's flaws as well as their powers.
    • Brianna is a zippy, hyperactive, borderline ADHD thirteen-year-old girl who talks way too fast... and has Super Speed.
    • Brittney is resilient and never gives up, even when all seems hopeless... she's immortal and cannot die.
    • Computer Jack develops super-strength, a power that would impress Diana.
    • Lana and Orc gain their powers to survive a coyote attack.
    • Bug gains his powers in order to hide from his Abusive Parents.
  • The Guardians (Meljean Brook): Each Guardian has a Gift related to their life. Someone who yearned to see the world and was trapped in their hometown will gain the Gift of teleportation, while someone who strove to be honest will gain the Gift of detecting truth and lies.
  • Harry Potter:
    • The animal shape that an Animagus can take is the animal they are most like.
    • Patroni also seem to be influenced by the caster's personality. Sometimes indirectly, though: many Patroni, fitting with their Protector intent, take the animal representation of people they are particularly close to. Harry's patronus is a stag, like his father. There are examples of Patroni changing after a significant alteration in the caster's life, although it's not clear whether this is conscious or something that just happens. Tonks' Patronus changes into a wolf after she falls for Lupin, a werewolf, and there's no way that Snape's started out as a doe. The doe represented Lily, whom he loved enough to commit his life to constant danger as a spy.
  • His Dark Materials has daemons, which are a physical representation of the soul. Each person has only one, and a momentous event in a person's life is when their daemon "settles" into one animal form, meaning that it can no longer change shape freely and that the person in question has realised who they are. Daemons are very useful in combat (especially a child's daemon, because it can become any animal imaginable) and therefore act as a variant of this trope.
  • The Lord of the Rings: Gandalf is especially adept with fire magic and also has a hot temper.
  • Magic Ex Libris: The libriomancers can magically recreate small items, magic or high tech, from books and at higher levels duplicate literary spells and powers. No person seems to gain this power without already being a dedicated and enthusiastic reader.
  • Manifestation: Multiple characters have this, but the most notable is one of the main characters, Tock Zipporah. She is studying mechanical engineering, and she ends up with a power that can repair mechanical and electric devices.
  • Midnighters plays it straight, with the implication that your personality affects your powers and your powers affect your personality. Team leader Rex wears absurdly thick glasses and is a Seer. Anti-social Goth Melissa has Telepathy that she can't turn off and hates people because she has to listen to their petty thoughts ALL THE TIME. Polymath (read as Math Whiz) Dess doesn't want to get involved in the politics of the group; numbers are so much simpler. Jessica Day turns out to be a Flame Bringer and flighty, happy-go-lucky Jonathan, who just wants to have some fun, is an Acrobat.
  • The Powerless of This World: Most characters don't seem to fit this, at least not in any obvious way. However, there's also Grigori Petelin, by the nickname of Yadozub (literally translated as "Poisontooth"), whose "superpower" is his extraordinary ability to hate people. In the culmination of the novel, it apparently allows him to hate his unlucky target, some fifty innocent bystanders and himself to death. Anyway, that's just what he does, and it's his defining personality trait. It doesn't exactly win him friends.
  • The Quest of the Unaligned: Mages in the kingdom of Cadaeren are impacted by the type of elemental magic that they use. This means that, as they use their powers, shamais (waater) tend to become staunch, hidebound traditionalists; aeshes (fire) grow to be intelligent, innovative, and inconoclastic; aretzes (earth) tend to be stable, kind, and reliable; and ruahks (air) grow flighty and hyperactive.
  • The Rape of the Lock: Ariel the sylph explains for the audience's benefit that, when young women die, their personalities determine their roles in the afterlife: stuffy prudes become gnomes and live in the earth; romantic, emotional girls become watery nymphs; hot-tempered Tsunderes become fiery salamanders, and the coquettes who stay above real emotional connection become sylphs and live in the air. They spend their afterlives perpetuating their favorite activities: Ariel, a sylph, exists to help Belinda be even more of a flirt and heartbreaker than she already is. However, when Belinda's hair is stolen and she declares war on the race of men, Ariel can no longer influence her, and she falls under the power of the gnomes.
  • Renegades: Several prodigies, particularly among the Anarchists, have astonishingly appropriate powers, although one may argue their personalities were shaped by them.
    • The Detonator can create explosives with her mind and has the explosive personality to match.
    • The Puppeteer can Mind Control children, and has a mind of a psychotic Manchild.
    • Phobia dresses in all black and keeps apart from others.
  • Sassy Mates: Played with. For plot reasons, every female protagonist ends up becoming a werewolf — even Nicole, a materialistic girly-girl who hates being out in the wilderness. Some enjoy their wolf forms more than others, but the writer makes it clear that a "wolfish" personality is not a prerequisite.
  • Shade's Children: Ella, the technician and strategist, can create tools out of thin air. Ninde, the people-loving child is a telepath. Gold-eye, the survivalist, has precognition. Then there's Drum, who could be called an aversion; he is telekinetic, a power usually reserved for physiological weaklings to allow them to measure up to stronger allies, but Drum was given steroids throughout his childhood and is enormously strong.
  • Shadow of the Conqueror: Lyrah hates being weak and helpless more than anything, so of course her specialization is strength.
  • Soon I Will Be Invincible: Feral, either an uplifted big cat or another form as a result of gene splicing, is brutal and violent and hides pain from others, while Word of God says he's gay. Fatale is a cyborg heavy-hitter and is analytic but slow at getting abstract connections and skeptical about magic. Mr. Mystic is a poor performing magician with access to the real stuff, tends to be creepy and withdrawn from normal society. Another character with Chronic Backstabbing Disorder is so transparent as to be invisible.
  • The Stormlight Archive: Surgebinders have to form a bond with a spren (spirit) to gain their powers. The spren choose who they bond with, and only bond with people who match their personalities.
    • As a Lightweaver, Shallan can cast illusions and to Soulcast, transforming one thing into another. A large part of her arc is lying about things (such as her wish to become Jasnah's ward or describing the deserter band as heroes) and then making them true.
    • Dalinar's driving goal is to unite the nations of Roshar against the threat of the Desolation. As a Bondsmith his powers let him stick things together, repair broken objects, and instantly learn someone's language by Connecting to them on a spiritual level.
  • Swynmoor has enchanted pickles, which grant powers based on inner turmoil and personality traits.
  • Temeraire: The Aerial Corps' first fire-breathing dragon, Iskierka, is Hot-Blooded and spoiling for a fight even when fresh out of the egg. As a hatchling, she needs to be bodily restrained from flying into combat against dragons hundreds of times her size.
  • Twilight vampires are kind of like their human selves — only enhanced. So, for example, a human who was "good at reading people" becomes a telepathic vampire. Some vampires seek out particularly skilled/talented humans to turn, knowing that they will make strong allies. The fourth book reveals that supernaturally-powered humans keep and expand their abilities when turned.
  • The Ultra Violets: The four main characters zig-zag between playing this straight and subverting it.
    • Iris is an imaginative and artistic person who has the power to create art anywhere.
    • Cheri's love for animals makes her perfect for her animal-communicating powers, but her math-based powers are at complete odds with her role as the fashionista.
    • Scarlet's Dance Battler powers don't fit her tomboyish personality but her Super Strength gained in the second book sure does.
    • Opal's Shock and Awe powers only truly manifest themselves after she's become a much more aggressive and volatile person.
  • The Unexplored Summon://Blood-Sign: The various Summoning Ceremonies have different prerequisites and results. The First Ceremony 'frees' a summoner from their original self, grants them some supernatural/godlike traits. The Second wholly overwrites a summoner — the god ("Material") summoned actually takes their place. The Third transforms someone other than the summoner, who remains in total control of the Material and can command them however s/he sees fit. The Fourth was pioneered by a fiercely independent summoner who hated seeing Materials treated as slaves. Therefore, it requires the summoner and Material to fight alongside each other, switching out the Material's powers to suit the needs of the battle.
  • Villains' Code gives us a Spicy Latina who can turn into a Woman on Fire and throw fireballs. On the other hand, her other power (Super Intelligence) has nothing to do with her personality. Another character is an avid gamer, who gets the ability to pull any object out of a video game and use it (basically living every gamer's dream).
  • Wearing the Cape: Justified. The psychological component of "breakthroughs" means that the powers of new-minted superhumans are seldom at odds with their personality types. Aggressive breakthroughs gain offensive powers, non-violent breakthroughs gain defensive powers, and so on. In Astra's case, she was a big fan of superhumans like Atlas for much of her life, and that combined with her being used to using physical force from being the youngest of multiple kids, all brothers, resulted in her getting powerful Flying Brick powers.
  • Wild Cards: Justified, as mutations are caused by a burst of psychokinetic power brought on by the titular virus. While most folks tear themselves to pieces or set themselves on fire or otherwise destroy themselves, for those who survive and are left with powers ("Aces") or, more often, misshapen forms ("Jokers") it's considered quite likely that these are influenced by their subconscious desires or self-image. This allows truly Silver Age corniness (or simple dream logic) to exist in an otherwise realistic setting; Captain Trips, for instance, was a biochemist who was having trouble trying to "break in" with the hippie scene to get to the girl he loved. His powers triggered when he took a hit of acid, and now he needs drugs to turn into one of his "special friends," an alternate personality with superpowers.
  • The Witchlands: Many witches have powers that match their witcheries. Merik is usually calm, but can lose his cool much like the wind can suddenly pick up, Iseult has weaving magic and is slow and methodical in her approach, Vaness the Metalwitch is strong-willed and unyielding, and so on.
  • Worm: A variation: powers are gained through a Traumatic Superpower Awakening, and the new power is something that would be a solution to whatever problem caused the trauma. This means that the power gained depends a great deal on what kind of thing that the new super would find horrifying enough to push them over the edge. For example, Master powers tend to be the result of long periods of social isolation, and Blaster triggers involving large numbers of threats result in powers that create large numbers of attacks. Later on, it's further explained that powers are sentient, and can choose to not to manifest if they feel the potential bearer won't be a good fit personality-wise, or can nudge the bearer's personalities in a desired direction. Rachel was a foster child who was being constantly moved to different households and never learned to interact with other people outside of fights and conflict. The first creature she considered a friend was a stray dog that she started feeding and caring for. She gained powers when her foster mother found the dog and tried to drown it with Rachel watching. Rachel's power is to turn dogs into giant car-sized monsters that were extremely strong and tough — a reflection both of Rachel's love for dogs and her use of violence to fix her problems.
  • The Zombie Knight: Most of the major characters have these. Generally, they have at least two pieces of symbolism, one each for the nature of their power and the way that they use them. For example, Ax-Crazy Desmond has transfiguration to sodium. An element as unstable as his personality, and he uses it for Having a Blast, by ripping off his limbs and throwing them.

    Live-Action TV 
  • Charmed (1998): Loosely applied in the first season with the sisters.
    • Prue, who is motherly but also very controlling, gets telekinesis.
    • Nervous, meek, and insecure Piper gets the power to stop time, giving her an opportunity to calm down.
    • Phoebe, the youngest and most impulsive who lacks forethought, gains the power to literally see the future.
    • Later, Prue essentially gains the power to clone herself, when she feels the need to be in two places at once; Piper gains more confidence and learns to blow stuff up; and a more caring Phoebe becomes The Empath (though that could be debatable).
    • Caring Leo was a former medic and in death, he became a whitelighter with the power to heal others. Later, after being promoted to Elder, he goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge and gains the ability to throw lightning.
    • Paige's powers have a genetic justification — she's half witch, half Whitelighter. In accordance, her personality and control of her Whitelighter are different than what is demonstrated by Leo or other Whitelighters in the series. Other whitelighters are very collected and calm, with a rather zen approach to life. Paige, a Fiery Redhead, has a more emotional and temperamental approach to magic (not unlike her sisters), and often bumbles around awkwardly using varying levels of Buffy Speak to induce magic. Paige also grew up as an only child, not knowing about her family and not knowing her place in the world until she was already an adult. Much of her arc concerns her trying to find herself, spending a lot of episodes moving from job to job. Appropriately she has the power to teleport from place to place.
  • Fate: The Winx Saga: Queen Luna, a woman obsessed with her spotless reputation, can cast illusion spells.
  • The Flash (2014): A number of metahumans get powers that mirror their personalities. For example, Kilg%re is a programmer/hacker, so he becomes a Technopath. Becky has always been unlucky, so her ability is to manipulate probabilities. Izzy is a country singer and gets the power to emit powerful sonic waves, especially when focused by her fiddle. Tony has always been a bully, so his power gives him metal skin, which translates to Super Strength and Nigh-Invulnerability. Wally likes speed and participates in illegal drag races, so him getting Super Speed is a no-brainer. Henry Hewitt has a lot of suppressed anger, so when his powers manifest, they turn him into a raging "burning man" (no wonder they nickname him after a device for containing plasma).
  • Heroes has a handful of examples:
    • Nathan, a ambitious politician can fly. Subverted in Season 1, where Nathan is the biggest stick-in-the-mud of the cast, making his ability to fly somewhat odd, especially since he keeps it hidden. Unlike most of the cast, Nathan's powers were given to him via Super Serum.
    • Peter, an empathetic person who dreams of being someone else absorbs other people's powers.
    • Niki, a woman with DID obsessed with protecting her son and that will stop at nothing to protect him has Super Strength, initially only through one of her alters, Jessica.
    • And in something of an inversion, Matt the psychic is dyslexic almost to the point of being functionally illiterate; he can't read words, but he can read minds.
    • No longer simply a theory; flat-out stated in the volume 3 finale, although this was simply a character hypothesizing. However, once Ando the resident sidekick was given powers by the formula, his ended up being the ability to enhance other supers' abilities. Simply put, Ando's superpower is that he's a really supportive friend.
    • It also happens in reverse, in a way. Sylar, no pillar of mental health himself, ends up acquiring the ability to shapeshift after going through a crisis of self. This actually starts to make him more crazy as he literally cannot control who he is anymore.
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Befitting his deceiving and manipulative nature, Sauron is a shape-shifter and a Master of Illusion.
  • Misfits: Whilst never stated outright, it's made clear that the storm has taken people's strongest trait or desire and turned it into a superpower. In the main cast: the introverted and frequently ignored Simon can turn invisible; Curtis' regret over his past actions allows him to turn back time; Kelly's concern with what other people think of her gives allows her to read people's minds; the flirty and oversexed Alisha can drive people to uncontrollable lust by touching them; and Nathan, whose smart-ass attitude lets him shake off whatever happens to him, is apparently indestructible.
  • No Ordinary Family has the Powell family. Jim the father, is used to bearing the weight of his family's issues, so he has Super Strength and Nigh-Invulnerability. Stephenie, the mom, is a workaholic without enough time in the day, so she got Super Speed. Daphne, who is generally empathetic and doesn't like being lied to, gained various Telepathy-style powers. JJ, who had a learning disability, gains Super Intelligence, the beauty of which is that his power is literally to learn fast and retain information for extended periods of time. Also, Daphne is a teenage girl, in a social setting that fosters an obsession with what other people think of you, and now she knows exactly what other people are thinking about her.
  • Power Rangers: In certain seasons, the Rangers have abilities outside of their typical enchanted fighting prowess in their spandex suits, and some examples of this are at play:
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine does the ironic reversal by making its shapeshifting alien Odo a Control Freak — along with his entire species.

    Roleplay 
  • Dawn of a New Age: Oldport Blues: While not all of the cast received powers that reflect their personality, some characters did receive abilities that complement them:
    • Ciro gains the ability to create force-fields, which are primarily useful for defense and reflect his nurturing, protective attitude towards others.
    • Finn has spent most of his high school life glued to the grapevine, gathering up gossip on other students. His power allows him to glean information on future events, and also get information from any object he touches.
    • Ivan got the power to manipulate events from behind-the-scenes, which fits with how he's observational and quiet.
    • As lampshaded in his character bio, Jacob's ability to create miniaturized time loops is fitting for a Schedule Fanatic that's bound to his routine.
    • While Simon's power to manipulate fire and electricity doesn't say much about him, it does fit his evil side, the Dark Dragon, who's unpredictable, dangerous, and psycho.
    • Played for Drama with Daigo. His abusive father blames Daigo for 'sucking the life' out of his birth mother, so he's none too pleased when he gets a vampiric powerset.
    • Emmanuel got the power of Super Speed, while Michal can control fire. Both of them are reckless, impulsive, and rambly.
    • Luna is volatile and energetic, and so is her ability to control and turn into electricity.
  • Fire Emblem on Forums: Chains of Horai: The power of a Gnosis, a blessing from the gods of the setting, is generally based on the personality of the person wielding it. For instance, Todoroki, a Hot-Blooded swordsman seeking to be one of the best swordsmen in the Five Kingdoms, wields a Flamma Gnosis, while the icy, calm but devoted ninja Setsurou uses a Glacies Gnosis.
  • Survival of the Fittest: Evolution: Despite the fact that the powers are completely randomized, some of the mutations ended up coincidentally fitting the characters' personalities. The most notable example would be Cristo Ruiz, a drug addict, having hallucinogenic venom secreting from under his fingernails. Lampshade hung in his profile's conclusion:
    Conclusion: So the drug addict now secretes a hallucinogen. Hm.

    Tabletop Games 
  • Aberrant: Superpowers occasionally match personality, but more often come themed with the way the person Erupted — particularly if the Eruption was triggered by a dangerous situation. You may walk away from a car crash with super-toughness, and jumping out of a plane just might give you flying ability to save you... but you might get something completely different. (Such as, for instance, turning into steel so you'll survive the landing, or just becoming very light.) People who try to trigger an Eruption this way often plan out the strategy carefully to avoid "lame" powers. They also have a high mortality rate, since very few actually can become Novas in the first place.
  • Changeling: The Lost: Seemings are based on what the changeling suffered through while in Arcadia, which could also affect their personality. So, for example, an Ogre may be prone to violence not because of their strength but because they were victims of violent abuse. The second edition opens it up so seemings can also be the product of how they escaped Arcadia, or how they approach the world now.
  • Deadlands: In the various settings, any player whose character has supernatural powers is encouraged to choose those powers with some thought to the character's personality. Nowhere is this more obvious than with the Harrowed, souls that were either too lucky or tough to stay dead. A particularly stealthy character might crawl out of the ground with a power like Silent as a Corpse, while a skeptic might come back from the grave with some form of Arcane Protection (and considerable embarrassment about that "doubting Thomas" act).
  • Don't Rest Your Head: Justified — powers are closely linked with the Protagonists' insanity, and if it isn't already a manifestation of that madness, it will drive them mad in ways related to it.
  • Exalted:
    • The Dragon-Blooded Exalted are thematically linked to the Elements, which are a combination of the classical Greek and Chinese ones — Air, Water, Fire, Wood and Earth. While they are not locked to the powers iconic to each Elemental Caste (apart from anima powers unique to each Caste's type), those powers do come more naturally to them and are cheaper to use mechanically. The game also plays with the trope, encouraging you to explore other aspects of the elements; a Chosen of Fire isn't necessarily an impulsive hot-head but a passionate, yet self-restrained swordsman-socialite. Many Dragon-Blooded are aware of the flaws and traits their Aspects brings out in them, and specifically work to overcome or restrain them. It should be noted that Dragon-Blooded charms are centered around cooperation and working with other Terrestrial Exalts, as the elements themselves do. Celestial Exalts, who are chosen by the sun, moon, and stars, have charmsets focused on independence and personal deeds.
    • The other Exalt variants also fit this to a degree. The Solars (and the Abyssal and Infernal variants) are chosen and empowered as to how they deal with problems; the Dawn castes fight, the Zenith inspire, the Twilights think, the Night castes are sneaky, and the Eclipse negotiate. The Sidereals are chosen by fate itself, and their Caste chosen according to their personal view of life — whether it is a journey, peace, a war, a mystery, or an ending.
    • Lunars are chosen for adaptability and the will to survive and gifted with shapeshifting abilities. This is often compared to the way that their patron, the moon goddess, changes forms as she moves across the sky. The third edition modifies Luna's preferences so they look for greatness, or the potential for it, with a particular fondness for outcasts, iconoclasts, dissidents, and resilient survivors.
  • Hunter: The Reckoning: Your Creed and Edges are determined by your attitude towards other supernatural denizens. Want to research them and find out more about them? You're a Visionary, and your powers are tuned towards insight. Want to protect the innocent from them? You're a Defender, and your powers are centered around wards and safety. Want to show the bad ones that there's another way? You're a Redeemer, and your powers are centered around healing and rebukes. Want to kill them all and anyone who's standing next to them? You're a Wayward, and you're fucking nuts.
  • Magic: The Gathering has five kinds of magic, which represent a mixture of mechanical limitations, personal philosophy, beliefs, personality traits and goals. Creative's general approach is to have characters favour magic that aligns with their personality colours: characters with mostly Red traits (impulsivity, emotionality, a disdain for restriction and structure) generally end up as pyromancers or otherwise learn red-aligned spells, almost never blue or white ones.
  • In Nomine: Ofanim are speedsters and navigators, possessing a number of abilities themed around moving as quickly as possible. In personality, they're twitchy, hyperactive, impatient, and full of nervous energy in constant need of burning.
  • World Tree (RPG): The various gods all have personalities and temperaments matching the form of magic that they preside over:
    • The Verb gods selected the types of magic they'd sustain based on which ones fit their personalities better. Some matches are closer than others.
      • Accanax, god of Destruction magic, is sullen and violent. He mainly creates wild, sloppily-designed monsters on passing whims, which he scatters on the edges of civilizations.
      • Gnarn, goddess of Mutation magic, notably doesn't match her field very well — her cruel moods and preference for creating elegantly-made and supremely deadly horrors would match Destruction better, but it's believed that she chose to let her younger brother Accanax have it instead.
      • Hren Tzen, goddess of Sustaining magic, is an adequate fit for her portfolio. She's more of an artistic sort than anything, but her creations are also very well-crafted and made to endure through the ages. The most notable is her Prime species, the Zi Ri, which she made to be ageless and everlasting.
      • Mircannis, goddess of Healing magic, is endlessly benevolent and primarily creates useful, unobtrusive creatures such as honeybees and medicinal plants.
      • Pararenenzu, god of Detection magic, is notable as a very poor fit for his field — he's flighty, mercurial and easily distracted, and consequently doesn't take his field very seriously. In-universe, this is the reason for the flat 5% fail rate of Detection spells.
      • Reluu, god of Ruling magic, is noble and honorable, and loves clean, clear hierarchies where everything has its proper place.
      • Virid, the goddess of Creation magic, has an artistic streak and a mild, personable temperament, and especially enjoys making living beings.
    • Noun gods and their elementals likewise tend to have thematically matching mindsets, and their associated magic is also often described as having similar "personalities":
      • Birkozon, god of Mentador, is obsessively controlling and self-centered, and has absolutely no compunctions about using his powers to control, influence and subvert the minds of others. His greatest desire is to rule the entirety of the World Tree someday.
      • Flokin, god of Pyrador, is aggressive, quick-tempered, and cheerfully destructive, and is infamous for his casual cruelty. Much like him, fire magic is difficult to control and prone to wriggling out a mage's grasp with hungry red fingers.
      • Hressh-Huu, goddess of Airador, is a wild and joyful trickster endlessly flitting from one amusement to the next; she used to run the weather as an ever-changing whirl of extremes, and had to be forced by the other gods to stick to a regular progression of seasons. The winds of the World Tree take after her in temperament, mischievously snatching and tossing objects to vex mortals.
      • Merklundum Harnipsundum, god of Aquador, is a lazy, passive, and constantly-sleeping deity, much as water itself would rather pour along downhill or sit in a depression than go sloshing off on its own accord. Likewise, water magic can be difficult to "motivate" and push into doing what you want.

    Toys 
  • BIONICLE:
    • While Tahu and Kopaka, the first Toa of Fire and Ice in the series, followed the concept of fire = quick temper/ice = cold shoulder very closely, Vakama and Nuju broke the mold. Vakama was very quiet and unconfrontational (until he went all Leeroy Jenkins in the Visorak arc), while Nuju was less antagonistic towards the others ("Let's get this job over with" as opposed to Kopaka's "I work alone"). The third Toa of Ice, Matoro, was even less "cold", and his heart made him the arc's Chosen One. The trope also applies pretty well to the other heroes, who have Water, Earth, Stone, and Air as their powers.
    • It's worth noting that the writer deliberately went for an ironic power with one of Matoro's teammates: the cave-dwelling Toa of Earth is the one who got the Mask of Flight (the Toa of Air was not amused).
    • Likewise, Jaller's character upon upgrading into a Toa was specifically written around the notion of going against elemental "stereotypes", as he did not want to repeat the mistakes of the previous two fire-element leaders, Tahu and Vakama. This worked out fine — until Matoro stepped forward as the one making decisions because his destiny said so, which was when Jaller realized he'd failed to suppress one fiery personality trait: the belief that he has to be a central figure at all times.
    • Kongu from the same team was something of a Double Subversion — he was surprisingly serious and stern for an Air-type, but due to the persuasion of Toa Lewa, he adopted the wise-cracking attitude typical of previous Air-Toa.
    • Rhotuka Spinners are a type of Energy Weapon with this as a function: What the Spinner it launched did was different for each person. Roodaka's could mutate anyone into any shape she wanted, Sidorak's made people obey him for twenty-four hours, Norik's could slow people down, etc.

    Video Games 
  • Backyard Sports: In Backyard Skateboarding, the personalities of the already-established characters affect their special moves.
  • Chrono Trigger: Played with. The Hero Crono gets Light(ning) magic while Magus the dark sorcerer is a Shadow innate; on the other hand, Marle, the impulsive, Rebellious Princess of the party, casts Ice magic while the level-headed gadgeteer genius Lucca hurls fireballs. It's notable that, in the alpha of the game, Marle could use fire magic. You can even see it on the original cover art.
  • Copy Kitty: Entama in the setting are implied to gain powers based on their personality. The highly intelligent programmer Savant can program a spell to do nearly anything so long as he prepares it ahead of time. The energetic and excitable Lymia gained flashy electromagnetic powers. And the protagonist Boki idolized Entama superheroes and wanted powers like theirs, so she gained the ability to copy powers like theirs.
  • Destiny: The Taken provide a neat inversion of this trope; whenever a being is Taken by Oryx, they are confronted by the Darkness with every fear and insecurity they've ever had (Vandals long for something to call their own, Thralls fear their own frailty, Phalanxes fear not being seen as anything more than a shield for their betters, etc.) When the Darkness shows them these fears, however, it bestows a power on the prospective Taken that alleviates this fear and provides comfort and peace of mind (Taken Vandals gain an energy shield bubble so they can have a space to call theirs, Taken Thralls gain a Teleport Spam that lets them dodge attacks and close distance, Taken Phalanxes have their shield made into a powerful cannon-like weapon so that they can contribute to the fight, etc.) The Vex are the only ones that don't have personalities (being a machine race and such), but the Darkness gives Taken Vex an ability that makes up for a flaw in their programming or helps them achieve their programmed orders (Goblins are supposed to protect machinery, so Taken Goblins gain an energy shield projection beam that renders any of their allies invulnerable until the Goblin is killed).
  • Disco Elysium: Your Player Party of core stats has this:
    • Your INT skills all have calm, well-educated, Sophisticated as Hell personalities, are interested in culture, and give you the ability to work things out, talk cleverly, and lie in return for making you into a pretentious wanker. Politically, they are aligned with Communism — the ideology stereotypically associated with academia, reading difficult books, and understanding theory. Pharmacologically, they're linked to cigarettes, the drug of every teenager trying to look intellectual.
    • Your PSY skills are very interested in other people, are insightful, tend to get really emotionally invested in things, and often have a tinge of madness about them. (Authority, the Token Evil Teammate of the PSY stat, fits all of these points, he's just also a joyless jerk about it.) They make you more engaged with people and the world around you, in exchange for making you insane. Politically, they are aligned with Moralism (centrism/the status quo) — the ideology stereotypically associated with apolitically wanting nobody to get hurt (but with that nasty streak of Authority in there, for the ideology that sees itself as the only option). Pharmacologically, they're linked to pyrholidon, a hallucinogen.
    • Your FYZ skills all tend to be macho, abusive and operate on visceral emotions like paranoia, lust and pain. They'll make you better at taking and giving blows and relating to other people through their bodies in return for making you a self-destructive, horny asshole with Testosterone Poisoning and a massive addiction to drugs. Politically, they are aligned with Fascism — the ideology stereotypically associated with gut resentment, entitlement and intellectual incoherence. Pharmacologically, they're linked to alcohol, the drug best known for its ability to make people impulsive, violent, and able to resist pain.
    • Your MOT skills all tend to have cool and flashy personalities, and are usually far more interested in things than in people. They make you better at dodging blows, being stylish, coming up with witty remarks, and understanding guns and machines, but also unempathetic, fixated, and shallow. Politically, they are aligned with Ultraliberalism (free market capitalism), the ideology stereotypically associated with flashy materialism, a grinding work ethic, and delight in winning competition. Pharmacologically, they're linked to amphetamine, a drug that makes people feel quick-thinking, focused and impressed by themselves, but also twitchy, paranoid and obsessed with meaningless items.
  • Dragon Age:
    • Dragon Age: Origins: Morrigan is a shapeshifter, and acts more like a particularly cruel cat than a human. Likewise, Wynne is a healer/buffer mage and is a protective and motherly sort.
    • Dragon Age II: Aveline is a defensive warrior and nigh-impossible to kill, and is very protective of her friends. Merrill, however, subverts this in a very extreme fashion by being a sweet innocent Fish out of Water and being a blaster mage/demon-summoning blood mage. Anders is an interesting case; he combines compassion for mages and the war refugees he treats in his free clinic with a ruthless hatred of templars, and he's possessed by a demon of Vengeance. Symbolically of his dual nature (kind and ruthless and/or human and demon), he's a mode-shift Combat Medic; in Panacea mode, his healing abilities improve but he can't cast damage-dealing spells, whereas, in Vengeance mode, he deals more damage but takes extra damage himself and can't be healed.
  • The Evil Within 2
    • Stefano Valentini is photographer who documented the horrors of war, until his eye was mutilated by stray shrapnel, causing him to fixate on the more... let's call it "artistic" side of pain and death. In Union, Stefano's powers manifest in the form of creating Stable Time Loops to capture the gruesome deaths of his victims with his cameras. He is also able to manifest a massive eye resembling a camera lens that both watches Sebastian for him and attacks on his command.
    • Theodore Wallace is a Manipulative Bastard capable of digging into the repressed guilt of others to manipulate them, converting them to his cause. In Union, he takes the form of a Sinister Minister with a God complex, taking on a Religious Horror motif with command over fire and can mold people in both mind and body with his words.
  • Final Fantasy:
    • Final Fantasy VI:
      • Terra automatically learns fire spells — initially, it goes with the wild and potentially destructive nature of her esper side, but later in the game, it reflects her warm, caring, maternal side. Celes, meanwhile, learns ice to start with since she's a Defrosting Ice Queen.
      • The brothers Edgar and Sabin both have a similar concept to their combat — they have an increasing list of special largely physical combat moves they can do without using MP or taking other drawbacks — but subtly altered for the way each brother has developed over the years. Edgar, the king, gets his new abilities by paying money for items associated with them and can then select them from a menu. Sabin, who abdicated for a simple life, has to access his abilities with memorized button input commands, but they come from his inherent character rather than from his possessions.
      • Wild Child Gau, moogle Mog and yeti Umaro are all characters that go into an uncontrollable state where they will unleash powerful attacks, and all are either animals or associated with them. Gau, who is a human raised by animals, can travel with animals for a little while to learn a new ability, after which he can adopt their moves in combat; Mog, a magical animal, learns Dances associated with battling in various places that create a fixed sequence of spells he will use in a strict order; and Umaro, who is described as 'muscle' and is nowhere near as intelligent as Mog and Gau, just ploughs forward using either a physical or magical attack at random.
    • Final Fantasy VII:
      • Cloud starts the game with Ice and Lightning magic and a truly ridiculous BFS, making him much more powerful and flexible than Barret, who can hold his own but doesn't even have the options to do as much. In terms of personality, Cloud is much more calm and aloof, thinking carefully about what he does, while Barret is more likely to plough forward based on his gut feelings. However, Cloud is, at heart, a much more aggressive and independent person, and all his weapons are melee ones, while Barret is a Papa Bear and so his weapons are long-range and literally a part of his body.
      • Aerith is a gardener, doesn't have much physical strength or agility compared to other characters, and her special abilities revolve around healing and powering up, but her actual specialism in combat is, for the most part, flattening everything with black magic, indicating her gentle, but streetwise and teasing personality. This is especially prominent in Final Fantasy VII Remake where her combat abilities, and her eagerness to fight people and monsters, are both made into a focus.
    • Final Fantasy XIII:
      • Hope, The Heart of the group (at least after he gets past his angst and grief), happens to be the best medic.
      • Sazh is a very devoted father who spends the majority of the game protecting and shielding Vanille; he happens to be the best Synergist (spells that improve combat capabilities and protect against enemy attacks). Also, his primary element is Fire and he's a good representation for the warm and nurturing side of its nature.
      • Lightning's Ravager specialization happens to be in the Thunder and Wind type spells. Given her name and disposition for the majority of the story, this is hardly a surprise.
      • Snow has a hero-complex and spends a lot of his time talking about protecting the world and his fiancée. He is the number one Sentinel. However, being something of a hothead, he lacks the personality traits normally associated with his Ice specialty.
      • Fang, the strong, warrior woman from a Land Downunder is the best Commando and competes with Snow for the role of best Sentinel as well.
      • Vanille is a Stepford Smiler who blames herself (not entirely without reason) for being the instigator of all the shit that goes down in the game. She's also the best saboteur and once she gets over her own death wish she can learn the Death spell.
  • Fire Emblem: Some characters come with special skills that befit their personality.
    • Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance:
    • Elemental affinities seem to work this way. Characters with Ice affinities are generally standoffish and aloof (such as Marisa and Innes) while Dark implies more of a Dark and Troubled Past than actually being affiliated with Dark magic. Micaiah, for example, is a Light magic-user with a Dark affinity.
    • Fire Emblem: Awakening gave characters personality classes. For instance, Kellam can reclass into a Thief and a Priest, which sounds really odd for a Knight. However, he lacks presence making him perfect for sneaking around enemies and aiding his allies. This doesn't necessarily extend out to the second-generation children because their classes are determined by their parents.
    • Fire Emblem Fates gives every character a Personal Skill, which cannot be removed like the other games. One example of this trope is Peri, whose "Bloodthirst" skill gives her a brief stat buff after defeating an enemy.
  • Freedom Force touches this. One character comments that it is quite interesting that all the heroes have powers that match their personalities. It is never expanded upon, however. Most noticeably El Diablo, who is a hotheaded Latino with fire powers.
  • Minuteman, a patriotic nuclear physicist who is imbued with powers that closely reflect his patriotism; Iron Ox, a British boxer who becomes a typical strongman; Bullet, a fighter jet pilot obsessed with speed becomes a version of The Flash; Law and Order, a duo of a young, idealistic policeman and a judge's assistant, both of whom believe strongly in the law, are merged into a single body to met out justice; Man O' War, a Scottish fisherman who gains water-related powers.
  • On the villain side, Deja Vu is an escaped mental patient who gains the ability to clone himself and others at will. Talk about a split personality disorder.
  • The sequel adds The Bard, a man obsessed with Shakespeare, who is turned into a superhero able to sing hypnotic odes and throwing exploding Yorick skulls. The villain Fortissimmo was an Italian opera singer before gaining the ability to destroy things with his voice (usually involves him holding a high note).
  • Mentor notes on this in the original and gives the obvious example of El Diablo. Man-Bot asks what aspect of his personality lent himself to being such a conduit of Energy X and gets no answer. A possible answer is that he has tremendous potential that he never used, now he's literally bursting with energy.
  • Genshin Impact: Those with Pyro visions tend to be high energy individuals (the most notable exception, Diluc, actually was when he received his vision). Those with Cryo visions have something about them that needs to be thawed out. Those with Electro visions tend to take charge and be in charge (althro with Fischl it's mostly in her mind). Those with Dendro seek learning. Those with Geo are determinators.
  • Golden Sun:
    • This trope is strongest around Fire Adepts, who are inevitably either Hot-Blooded or Fiery Redheads, if not both. Being the one exception is probably part of the reason Saturos is so popular with the fandom.
    • Earth Adepts seem prone to Chronic Silent Hero Syndrome, leadership roles, and puzzle-solving.
    • Water Adepts are calm, generally keep to themselves or are outright secretive, and are intellectual, usually trained as medics. They're also frequently the resident Deadpan Snarker, especially when it seems counterintuitive for them to be.
    • Wind Adepts tend to be mysterious and often have traditional Psychic Powers (mind-reading, clairvoyance, and precognition) in addition to wind and lightning powers. Karis averts both the ESP and the mystery, and this might not be a coincidence.
  • Hades: Zagreus, the hypothesized god of blood, is characterized most by his warmth, extraversion, and impulsivity — i.e. his sanguinity.
  • Infamous:
    • Cole MacGrath from receives electric powers at the start of the game. As the game progresses, Cole's Karma Meter effects not only his appearance but also the color of his electricity (blue and white for Hero, red and black for Infamous) and how his powers operate. When his karma is good, his powers can defeat enemies very quickly with precision. When his karma is bad, his powers cover a wider area but are also more likely to hit civilians in the process.
    • Sasha is a deranged, mentally unbalanced woman with a history of being manipulated by Kessler. Her conduit powers allow her to control those infected with her black tar, manipulating them and causing vivid hallucinations.
  • Infamous 2:
    • Lucy Kuo is an altruistic government agent that looks to cold hard logic until she finds out that the plan involves her dying. When her powers are activated, Kuo develops ice powers in the process. Her plans usually involve committing acts of altruism and general heroic acts, and when Cole follows her plans in good missions or uses ice powers he received from her from the Power Transfer Device, Cole gains good karma.
    • Nix is a wild and passionate Pyromaniac with a particular hatred of authority (ranging from the corrupt Militia to cops generally trying to serve the people). Fittingly enough, she is a conduit that possesses power over napalm (and fire by extension), having power over an explosive substance while being able to teleport in and out of a situation at will. Her plans usually involve manipulation and an utter disregard for the well-being of others, and when Cole follows her plans in evil missions or uses the napalm powers he received from her, he gains evil karma.
    • Joseph Betrand III is a corrupt, conduit-hating Christian crusader, who smites those who question his morality and values in the name of his Confederate forefathers and likes to convert people through fear and charm. His conduit powers allow him to turn himself and others into mindless monsters.
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The 7th Stand User begins with a personality test, and your answers to that test determines what Stand you receive.
  • Kingdom Hearts features many. Earth-wielding Lexaeus is the strong, silent type. Fire wielder Axel/Lea is impulsive, Saix, who gets his powers from the moon, is both The Stoic and The Berserker. Donald Duck with his famous Hair-Trigger Temper had literal Firework magic. Ventus is innocent and lighthearted and has Wind and Light as his specialty. Sora is an All-Loving Hero and The Power of Friendship is literally his superpower.
  • The Legend of Zelda: The Triforce is divided into three parts that are intrinsically linked to the three people chosen by the Golden Goddesses in the center of the Forever War for control of it; The Hero Link who holds the Triforce of Courage, the Magic Knight Princess Zelda with the Triforce of Wisdom, and the King of Evil Ganondorf who holds the Triforce of Power.
  • Mass Effect: Commander Shepard's crew.
  • Morinth fits the villain side of this trope, even after Shepard recruits her. Being an Ardat-Yakshi, she has the power to kill her mates while melding and is obsessed with finding new partners to mate with, displaying her dominant attitude quite well. She also can't read her potential victims very well (as long as they don't fall under her spell first, or if her target has a strong mind), since she doesn't pick up on the fact that Shepard is working with Samara until right before she walks in and pins her against a window.
  • The master thief Kasumi Goto fits the stealth trope (she is a thief), with impressive acrobatic skill and the ability to turn invisible for short periods of time. However, her movement is anything but subtle (watch her take out a gunship), but she is quite soft-spoken on the Normandy. She also fits the shape-shifter trope to an extent. She doesn't have the ability to shift her shape (she'll always be the kleptomaniac with the hood), but she can turn invisible, which allows her to sneak up behind enemies and give them a small fright(by snapping their spines). And she uses her tactical cloak for certain other... observational... tasks involving Jacob's workout routine.
  • Metal Gear:
    • Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater: The Cobras take the trope a step further, actually naming themselves after the emotion on which they base their particular ability. This includes the Sorrow, a spirit medium who converses with dead soldiers, the Fury, who torches everything in sight with his flamethrower, and the Pain, who's... covered in bees.
    • Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots: The Beauty & the Beast Corps are not associated with this trope, since their personalities and first part of their codenames (borrowed from the above Cobras of MGS3) have nothing to do with their abilities and second part of their codenames (borrowed from the members of FOXHOUND from MGS).
  • Metroid: Samus Aran is always in motion — if she has a life outside of chasing down outlaws, we haven't seen it. Fittingly, the Chozo gave her extra-flexible DNA, which helps her to curl tightly into an armor-covered ball that can quickly explore the many wild planets she travels to.
  • Miitopia has a small list of personalities that affect gameplay both positively and negatively. Kind Miis have a chance to give allies healing items or try to talk with the monsters; Laid-Back ones tend to hide behind friends and conserve MP by using a weaker attack, but can also decide to get serious and hit harder; Airheaded Miis have a tendency to forget what they were doing and attack the wrong enemy or even fall asleep mid-battle; Cool Miis can ignore status effects, dodge attacks, and decide to use a stronger basic attack instead of a skill; Energetic Miis can cheer their allies on and cling to life against an otherwise fatal attack, Stubborn Miis can decide they're not satisfied with their turn and take another, but may refuse heals from allies; and Cautious Miis may delay an attack to double its effectiveness, strike a finishing blow on enemies, and procure extra healing items if the party runs out.
  • Persona revolves entirely around this — the characters summon Personas, which are manifestations of their personalities. This starts getting really obvious in Persona 3 when the gameplay changed to make various party members only use one Persona — one greatly befitting their personality and skills, typically. (The Lancer is the class clown and hothead, with the physical/fire affinity Persona Hermes, two childhood friends have the Gemini and the protagonist... All things considered we saw that coming.)
    • Persona 4: Played with. The one with Agi skills isn't Chie, but rather Yukiko. Instead, Chie, and later Teddie have Bufu skills. On the other hand, they, and their Shadows, outright state they are quite close. Thus it makes sense that they would have the element that fits each other. Plus, Yukiko's Shadow mentions that she hates her name since snow is weak. This also plays to the central theme of the game, which is largely about accepting what's Beneath the Mask. Both Chie and Yukiko feel the opposite of how they act, and their real personalities fit the elemental stereotypes much better. To elaborate, Chie is insecure for being a Tomboy and relies on acting as Yukiko's protector for any sense of self-worth. Yukiko is the next-in-line owner of the Amagi Inn, and since childhood has been raised to be a fitting inn manager. She feels chained down by this and wants a sense of freedom and control over her life.
    • Persona 5 goes in the opposite direction as the previous game, with its theme largely being using one's power to reject systemic corruption, the protagonists' Personas awakening in response to injustices they suffer. Like Persona 4, though, it also shakes up how powers are distributed: class clown Ryuji gets Zio skills while Genki Girl Ann gets Agi skills. Calm and collected Yusuke gets Bufu skills, Hot-Blooded Makoto gets Frei skills, showy yet prim Haru gets Psy skills, and Otaku Futaba is a noncombatant whose Persona grants her analytical abilities while letting her grant buffs.
  • Pokémon:
    • The Grass-type Gym Leader Erika in the 1st generation fits the trope, being a kind-hearted friend of nature with green thumbs... it's her Pokémon that subvert it, Vileplume both in name and its paralyzing powder and smell being its strengths. In the remake Yellow, it's downgraded to Gloom to match the anime, which still totally subverts the trope. Not to mention Victreebell/Weepinbell, which is an acid-spitting bug-eating plant. Erika is one of the few that benefited from the Yellow downscaling, as then in Gold/Silver Gloom was evolved to the sunny-dispositioned Bellossom itself, turning the subversion into a straight-up match.
    • Blaine was eccentric, but far from fiery or aggressive despite being the first Fire-type Gym Leader. He's actually a bit of a Pokemon nerd and loves trivia and riddles. That said, he is often described as Hot-Blooded. His hometown/island also fits the trope, being on a giant volcano and having a ruined lab full of Fire- and Poison-types.
    • Pokémon Diamond and Pearl: The Sinnoh Elite Four. Flint is a fire trainer, and energetic and hotheaded. Lucian's the psychic trainer, and is portrayed as fairly intellectual.
    • Most Legendary Pokémon are literal personifications of the elemental powers they represent. The lumbering juggernaut Regigigas even has an Ability to makes it start a battle slow but its strength builds as the fight goes on.
    • It's more evident in the Mystery Dungeon series, where the boss or plot important characters are often partially defined by their types. Your rival team in the first series is the bullish Ghost-type Gengar (who does a partial Face–Heel Turn later in the plot), and in the second series, it's a scheming Dark/Poison type Skuntank. They even treat Ninetales as a proper kitsune long before the other games or series did. Just the Guild members in the second series. Lovable buffoon Bidoof, cheerful Valley Girl Sunflora, literal loudmouth Loudred (the species is based around sound based voice attacks in general)...
    • Interesting enough, some aspects to Natures will play this straight. For example, some like Hasty and Jolly are speed-promoting natures that happen to be extroverted traits while more introverted Calm and Modest ones promote Special Attack. Of course, the natures might zig-zag this since some natures sometimes don't seem to fittingly line up in description at times.
    • Pokémon Sword and Shield continues the trend with its Gym Leaders. Milo, who grew up on a farm, uses Grass-type Pokemon while pink-loving senior Opal uses Fairy-types, martial artist Bea uses Fighting types, and gloomy Alistair uses Ghost-types, to name some examples. Team Yell, in addition, favors Dark-type Pokemon, as does their idol Marnie and their leader, Marnie's brother, and Dark-type Gym Leader Piers, whose impoverished gym lacks a Power Spot and thus leaves him unable to Dynamax, although he refuses to use it in any scenario as a point of pride.
  • Psychonauts is an interesting example: fully qualified Psychonauts have access to a host of different powers, but the active agents you meet (and at least a few of the campers) tend to specialize in powers that fit their personalities. For example, Germanic Depressive, emotionally closeted Sasha Nein specializes in controlling emotions and turning them into mental blasts, while bubbly, caring, fun-loving Milla Vodello is a levitation expert, a power mainly used to reach new heights and escape danger.
  • Resident Evil: Inverted. It's implied that the mutations inflicted upon those who transform into creatures other than zombies are actually linked in some way to the viral host's personality. This is theorized In-Universe in one of Wesker's personal logs in Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, and most strongly suggested as being true with Alexia Ashford's mutation in Resident Evil – Code: Veronica.
  • Sonic The Hedgehog:
    • Sonic himself is the most blatant example, being an impulsive and carefree guy that loves freedom, and has super speed. Shadow, on the other hand, is a downbeat speedster on rocket skates.
    • Sonic is usually given some degree of aerokinesis, reflecting how he personifies the wind itself (which again, matches his carefree nature and inability to be tied down to one spot for long).
    • Sonic Rush Series: Blaze the Cat plays with this. Unusually for a pyrokinetic, she's the serious and stoic contrast to the free-spirited Sonic; however, in dire situations, she shows a raging temper more befitting her name and powers.
  • Soranica Ele plays this one pretty straight. Water-powered Honoka is a calm, shy type. Fire user Naki is a hot-blooded determinator. Saya, who has earth powers, is the most grounded of the cast. Kaguya, with wind powers, is flighty, eccentric and fragile. Zenobia, with dark powers, is aloof but not a bad person, and Ophelia, with her power of light, is a guiding force that the rest of the cast looks up to.
  • Touhou Project:
    • Reimu Hakurei's main ability is to float away from the ground, though this can be scaled all the way up to floating away from reality. Fittingly, she's a very detached sort of person who treats everyone the same (with vague disrespect) whether they be friend or foe, and despite all the people she's befriended over the years, she's described as being "alone in her heart".
    • Cirno is rash, reckless, self-confident and boisterous — clearly a fire user, right? Nope! An Ice Person. Fittingly, there is a popular fan-version of Cirno nicknamed "Achi Cirno" who is affiliated with fire. Even ZUN has gotten on this eventually — in Touhou Tenkuushou ~ Hidden Star in Four Seasons, the playable characters are all affiliated to a season. Cirno's associated season is summer of all things, which is really appropriate for her personality but also really funny considering her power, especially given that Gensokyan fairies are effectively low-level elementals.
  • Undertale: Toriel plays with this. She wields fire magic, but isn't brash or impulsive — rather, her personality reflects the warming, nurturing side of fire.
    • The final boss, Asgore, contrasts her by playing to fire's brutal and destructive side. However, as hinted at if you spare the various monsters, he's actually very similar to Toriel, in that his fire magic reflects his warm personality, his nurturing streak, and his devotion to the salvation of his people. Which is no surprise, seeing as how he's Toriel's estranged husband; it makes sense their symbolism would be similar.
    • The final boss of the No Mercy route is highly notable: Sans is Brilliant, but Lazy and is referred to in Flavor Text as the weakest character in the entire game, with a measly one point in all of his stats, including HP. So how can he stand a chance against you? By breaking the rules of the game's battle system. He will attack your cursor as you make your choices, and even though he can only deal 1 HP of damage at a time, you will not be granted Mercy Invincibility, so he can shave your HP off in massive chunks. His final attack is simply disallowing you from taking your turn by making it his turn forever in the hopes that you'll give up and quit.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monster Coliseum: Many of the duelists' stages or monsters reflect something about them or their personality. Hot-tempered Joey has all Fire monsters, and the greedy Bandit Keith's stage is a treasure trove of stolen riches.

    Visual Novels 
  • BAD END THEATER: The "cast" all have prominent character traits that influence their decisions; the Damsel in Distress has "polite" and "obedient", the Evil Overlord has "tyrant" and "antisocial", and so on. However, the main draw of the story is the ability to invert these traits (as well as uncover hidden ones), leading to changes in the script, with the goal of averting the titular Bad Ends.

    Web Animation 
  • Epithet Erased: Several of the inscribed have epithets that fit some aspect of their personality, though since even very young children seem to be able to use epithets it's unclear whether it's the personality informing the epithet or the epithet informing the personality.
    • Molly's epithet is Dumb, which allows her to silence and simplify things, and is actually pretty useful despite often being underestimated due to its name. Molly is a young girl who is both overstimulated by loud noises and unconfident in her abilities. Her power also negates the illusions created by her older sister Lorelai, which shows her role as the more responsible and grounded of the two.
    • Lorelai has the epithet of Augment, which allows her to create augmented-reality "dream bubbles" which allow her to make custom-built fantasy worlds that she can hide away in and create any story she wants, but none of it is actually real. True to form, she's a very creative but childish individual who would rather hide in escapist fantasies than face reality.
    • Giovanni Potage has the epithet of Soup, which allows him to conjure and manipulate soup. Not only is Giovanni an excellent cook, but much like his epithet he is rather silly and a little bit dumb while still being surprisingly good in a fight.
    • Ramsey's epithet is Goldbricker, which allows him to temporarily transform his body and anything he touched to solid gold and back. Ramsey is also a Con Artist and art forger whose trademark is trading heaps of gold made from his epithet for company stocks and bonds, and then transforming the gold back into dirt.
  • RWBY: In Volume 5, Ren explains Semblances to Oscar, stating that they are a bit of a puzzle on Remnant: some people theorise that the power is based on personality, some believe the reverse, and others think there's no connection at all. Ozpin adds that training can evolve Semblances, something also mentioned by Winter in Volume 3. Blake believes her clones reflect her sense of cowardice by taking the hits meant for her; when Ren unleashes his repressed emotions, his Semblance evolves from just masking to also unmasking emotions; and the normally pessimistic Qrow surprises himself by successfully channelling his memories of the optimistic, lucky Clover to force his hated bad luck Semblance to produce some much needed good luck.

    Webcomics 
  • Daughter of the Lilies:
    • Margot the water mage, is exceptionally cool and collected for someone who found a giant demon tearing up the downtown.
    • Both Master Wu and Thistle's magic glow gold when casting major spells, and they're two of the most morally upright characters in the story, literally following the Golden Rule.
  • Drowtales has an interesting aversion in Nishi'kanta, a powerful fire sorceress whose personality, as far as the reader can tell, seems to border on emotionlessness. Her sister, Sil'lice, starts as an aversion and turns a straight example through character growth. Before getting ejected from her clan by her sisters, Sil'lice was an almost hotheaded warrior who apparently valued honor above reason. Yes, her power is ice. However, after her clan's coup, she calms down and starts scheming. She starts holding a grudge...
  • El Goonish Shive:
    • Magic users acquire spells "based on who you are and how you act", except undesirable disturbances. Thus hiding too much leads to developing stealthy magic and "If You Make a Cloud of Crows, You Just Might be Goth". There's also the extremely uncomfortable fact that this means that rapists get date rape spells. It's one of the primary reasons for The Masquerade.
      Mr. Verres: We're talking about a magic system that reflects the people who use it! What sort of people do you think are going to wind up with the most dangerous and violent magic?
      Tedd: Elliot has a freaking super heroine spell!
      Mr. Verres: Exceptions do not make the rule. And Elliot is a rare exception! Seriously, that kid's ridiculous. I think he was born wearing a scout's uniform or something.
    • Immortals can give people magical marks that allow them to cast a single spell related to something they wish for deeply (or something they have a natural affinity for, but those are rare). Normally immortals can only do this when the person truly deeply wishes for something, but Pandora is powerful enough that she can give marks to practically anyone. She's still limited to whatever they want the most, though, which annoys her when her options tend to be things like a spell to see through clothing, a spell to make yourself supernaturally attractive, and actual gaydar.
      Pandora: Cursed biological primary directive.
  • Gunnerkrigg Court
    • The very calm and laid-back Andrew Smith has the ability to subconsciously create order where there was none, or, in Parley's words, "It's like his superpower is to make everything boring!"
    • Annie's first creations with the blinker stone are all fire-related, but according to the word of Tom, she wouldn't be able to use it for shield spells (while Anja Donlan can use her magic that way). Later revelations imply that Annie's power doesn't reflect her outbursts of anger or hot-headedness, rather the other way around: she gets angry and hot-headed because of them, and her mother is said to have been even more intense. They're part fire-elemental.
  • Homestuck:
    • Sburb players are given a title based on an aspect of themselves, or, in some cases, an aspect they are destined to have. (Kanaya theorizes that the game gives players their titles to challenge them.) To start off with, the title is more about the player's duties and role within the game, but when they ascend to God Tiers they become a lot more literal.
    • Vriska's Psychic Powers allow her to Mind Control people and other creatures. Fitting this powerset, she's manipulative, controlling and very self-centered. However, it's noted that her reliance on brute-forcing compliance with her powers means that she's actually really bad at manipulating people the old-fashioned way, since she never does it — something that stands in sharp contrast to her rival and former friend Terezi, who is very good at reading and predicting people.
  • The Last Days of Foxhound averts the trope of a crafty and manipulative telepath. Without his powers, Psycho Mantis is terrible at persuasion, apparently having gotten so used to never needing to try that he no longer knows how to. This isn't helped by his tendency to go straight to telepathy the instant non-psychic persuasion doesn't work.
  • Molten Blade: Samantha, who, having fire powers, is somewhat impatient and irritable. Naturally, she also has red hair.
  • Panthera: Leo controls the earth element and is the group's sensible, emotionally stable leader; the critical, easily angered Tigris bears fire; the adaptable, emotional Onca wields water; and the lighthearted, spiritual Pardus is associated with air. Given that each member was specifically chosen to undergo the experiment that gave them said powers, this may be a justified example.
    • The first story arc's Big Bad has powers over aether, the legendary Fifth Element. We see that aether is an extremely powerful weapon, but it is something of an All or Nothing ability with little use outside combat or destruction. Aether's wielder is impatient, greedy and insane, with little capacity for fine control and unchecked ego. This instance too is justified — it's implied that, in this case, the experiment gave the person so much power that it wrecked his sanity.
    • Later chapters introduce an antagonist who was also empowered by the experiment — an extremist, emotionally volatile snow leopard who takes sadistic joy in taunting the protagonists as they search for him. It should come as no surprise that he bears lightning.
  • Sfeer Theory: A very literal example. Sfeer abilities are classified as Introverted or Extroverted, and what sort of powers one has is dependent upon the cyclist's overall disposition. How powerful they are is literally based on the force of their personality.
  • Sleepless Domain: No one is exactly sure how powers are determined, but they at least have something to do with personality. Team Alchemical's Elemental Powers all corresponded to their personalities — Sylvia is somewhat flighty, Sally is a Fiery Redhead, Gwen is quiet and blunt, and Undine is polite and emotional. Rue has an internal monologue about this trope where she notes that her Throw Down the Bomblet powers make it dangerous for her to work with close-range fighters and impractical to work with long-ranged ones, so it's like her powers are saying "I can handle it, give me some space".
  • Slightly Damned tends to play fast and loose with this trope, playing with or against type as on an individual character basis.
  • Talamak plays with this. Some characters have personalities that correspond with their elements, such as fun-loving and lighthearted Breena being a Flora elementalist. Others subvert this, such as the hot-headed and easily-flustered Earth elementalist Ray, or the grounded and cynical Wind elementalist Jake.

    Web Original 
  • SCP Foundation: Some human SCP items have these.
  • Whateley Universe:
    • The speedsters at the Super Hero School Whateley Academy fit this trope. Scrambler is scatterbrained and talks at an unstoppable pace. Quickie needed almost a year to figure out why everyone thought her codename was so funny. Hyper is even worse. Aries, who's a speedster and also a brick, doesn't have the problem; but he's a very dangerous supervillain.
    • Fireball was a fiery flame manifestor who even dyed her hair flame-red to fit her motif. When she was turned into what looked like a flame demon, she became the darker version of the trope.

    Western Animation 
  • American Dragon: Jake Long has the Oracle Twins, Kara and Sara. Kara only has visions of good things that will happen in the future and Sara only has visions of bad things that will happen in the future. Played with in that Kara is always grim and depressed, while Sara is sunny and cheerful. One character even lampshades that they would have expected it to be the other way around, only for the girls to explain their outlooks on life: Kara has every nice surprise in life spoiled for her in advance and has become unable to truly enjoy anything as a result, while Sara sees horrific things so often in her visions that even the most banal events in her life are absolutely fantastic in comparison.
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender: Bending is strongly linked to not only one's personality, but the culture they were raised in.
    Iroh: Fire is the element of power. The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will and the energy and drive to achieve what they want. Earth is the element of substance. The people of the Earth Kingdom are diverse and strong. They are persistent and enduring. Air is the element of freedom. The Air Nomads detached themselves from worldly concerns and found peace and freedom. Also, they apparently had pretty good senses of humor. Water is the element of change. The people of the Water Tribe are capable and adapting to many things. They have a deep sense of community and love that holds them together through anything.
    • Firebending is fueled by "emotion and rage" but lightning by a lack thereof (or, more accurately, control over it). More to the point, firebending of any kind requires an unbending will and a forceful, disciplined personality, which tends to lead to ambition. Later episodes reveal one reason the Fire Nation is so messed up is that their current bending style is corrupted and focuses too much on anger. Zuko experiences this firsthand in "The Firebending Masters". After he has a Heel–Face Turn, he's less angry and can't fuel his fire the way he used to. He learns that fire can also be fueled by passion, which he still has plenty of.
    • A major roadblock for Aang when it comes to Earthbending is that he has to "stop thinking like an Airbender" and learn how to "be steady and strong" like rock.
    • The Legend of Korra:
      • This issue is made explicit with the strong, brash Mighty Glacier Korra as explained by her airbending teacher:.
        Tenzin: Often the element that's most difficult for the Avatar to master is the one most opposite to the Avatar's personality. For Aang, it was earthbending.
        Korra: Yeah, well, I'm about as opposite an Airbender as you can get.
      • Oddly enough, while Korra is from the Southern Water Tribe, fire tends to be her go-to element in combat. This is likely due to her tendency to tackle most problems impulsively and with brute force, which is at odd with the evasive nature of airbending and even the adaptive qualities of her native waterbending (which would also require a water source of some kind, which she wouldn't have the patience to look for or the foresight to carry on her). Even when she learns airbending, she uses it in a manner most similar to the firebending style.
  • Batman: The Animated Series: Word of God describes the show's redevelopment of Mr. Freeze this way — his power is ice, so he should be cold and detached. However, they reasoned that people who act that way are actually the most emotional deep down, so they developed his backstory about Nora.
  • Captain Planet and the Planeteers: Gaia chose her multiracial team of teenagers for certain personality traits suited to wielding the rings, and the Captain himself is an entity that exists for no purpose beyond defending the planet.
    • Ma-ti's kindness is the only thing stopping heart's power to mind control people from being terribly abused.
    • Wheeler is an impulsive, hot-headed kid with fire powers.
  • Freakazoid!:
    • Freakazoid literally changes personality while the powers are active. Supposedly he's insane because he has all the information of the internet inside his head, and his powers are based on high energy, jumping around in bolts, moving through cyberspace and electrical lines, and being a cartoon.
    • Cobra Queen and Longhorn have their personalities match their respective animal.
    • Cave Guy is an aversion: he is actually very sophisticated and intellectual despite appearing like a prehistoric caveman.
  • He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2021): Adam chooses to unlock Castle Grayskull to grant its power to all of his allies, each of them being empowered in unique ways to become Masters of the Universe. This is also reflected in Prince Keldor, who chose the Scepter of Havoc when first presented between it and the Sword of Power as he saw the sword as the tool of a soldier, a servant, rather than a ruler. He was cursed with the power of Havoc to reflect his cruelty and selfishness.
    He-Man: You know how Grayskull brought out the best in my friends? I think it brought out the worst in you!
  • Invincible (2021): It really can't be a coincidence that Rex Splode has the power to make charge objects with explosive energy and seems to have some serious anger issues.
  • Justice League: Flash is a classic speedster personality. J'onn J'onnz is a shapeshifter and a mind reader, but doesn't quite fit either mold because, in a fit of originality, the writers made him into The Spock instead.
    • Being the Spock makes sense with telepathy, as it gives one the ability to understand and control one's own emotions. Also gives good reasons to control one's emotions, for fear you'll lose control of the power. (Vulcan's are telepathic, after all)
    • Well, if you consider the potential of having both telepathy and shapeshifting, a logically driven character is much more likely to do good with these powers than a more emotionally driven one. Especially since the same combination is associated with succubi...
  • Miraculous Ladybug:
    • Akumatized villains have a tendency to get powers based around their personalities — for example, the Consummate Liar Lila gets illusion-based powers as Volpina, the wannabe weather girl Aurore becomes the weather-controlling Stormy Weather, the pigeon-loving Mr. Ramier can control them as Mr. Pigeon, the kendou practicioner Kagami gets fencing-related powers, and the shy artist Nathaniel becomes the Art Attacker Evillustrator.
    • Ladybug's Lucky Charm becomes whatever it needs to be to fight evil, and so does she. The gap between who Ladybug is normally and who she needs to be to protect Paris is often a source of dramatic conflict. She's also a creative person wielding the power of Creation.
    • Chat Noir's Cataclysm power is (thankfully) unrelated to his personality, but it is an expression of his deepest repressed desire: to destroy the "cage", both metaphorical and literal, that isolates him from the outside world.
    • Interestingly shown in the Season 3 episode "Reflekdoll", when the duo ends up swapping Miraculouses — and main powers. In Mister Bug's hands, the Lucky Charm is perfectly straightforward and gives him exactly what he wants (a mirror), but because he hasn't figured out what they actually need to do to defeat the villain, it's useless. Conversely, Lady Noir's attempt to use Cataclysm on the sentimonster fails to destroy it because she lacks the needed destructive desire.
  • My Little Pony:
    • My Little Pony 'n Friends:
      • Whizzer, the fastest flier among the ponies, is impatient, prone to rushing into things, easily excited, and easily annoyed when things don't happen fast enough for her liking.
      • King Charlatan, a penguin king with icy Eye Beams, is arrogant, disdainful of others, and emotionally distant and cold towards his son.
    • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
      • Rainbow Dash, the faster flier alive, plays the impulsive, brash speedster personality right to the letter.
      • Earth ponies are patient and strong, better at farming than any other race, something particularly exemplified by the stubborn, down-to-earth and practical-minded Applejack. However, Pinkie Pie, another earth pony, subverts it, being energetic, emotional and hyperactive — with good reason, as she was originally intended to be a pegasus.
      • The main characters are each tied to an Element of Harmony representative of their personalities. Pinkie Pie is the Element of Laughter, and is simply energetic all the time, always wanting to make everyone around her as happy as can be. Gentle Fluttershy is the Element of Kindness and is always taking care of wild animals. Twilight Sparkle is the main character and is actually a double subversion, as she is the Element of Magic, but is a very skeptical pony who says everything must have a logical explanation. However, she claims that even magic is logical, because it works how you expect it to work.
      • To an extent, every pony alive fits this trope, as their cutie marks (marks that appear on a pony's flank after a certain age that represent his/her special talent) can also represent what job they have. Unicorns especially, since the magic they can use is specifically linked to their special talent. Rarity is a good example; she's a fashion designer who loves working with jewels, has three diamonds for a cutie mark, and uses a spell which lets her locate buried gems with her horn.
      • Averted with the moon-controlling Princess Luna. She's intimidating at first due to being a Fish out of Temporal Water, but after learning An Aesop or two becomes very kind, fun-loving, and friendly. She's even nice enough to swing by Scootaloo's dream to help her out of a scary nightmare. In contrast, the sun-controlling Princess Celestia is warm, sensible and motherly, matching the sun's warmth and life-sustaining rays.
  • Phineas and Ferb: Discussed. When asked to pick a superhero identity, Buford goes into a surprisingly intellectual analysis of this trope and what a person's choice of superpower implies about them psychologically... and then picks Belch Man.
  • Steven Universe:
  • Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters: The characters develop powers that provide escapism from the biggest sources of drama in their ordinary, adolescent lives:
    • The over-scheduled Jake Armstrong becomes the more flexible Rubber Man Stretch.
    • Nathan Park gets weighed down by his insecurities and neurotic tendencies, but rises free from them as the airborne glider Wingspan.
    • Ricardo Perez gets pulled out of place whenever he has to move, but can stand firm as the size/mass-shifter Omni-Mass.
  • Superfriends: Apache Chief got his Sizeshifter powers from a magic powder given to him by his tribe's shaman to overcome a giant bear. The shaman warned Apache Chief before using the powder that it would make whatever emotion was in his heart grow along with the rest of him, urging him to compose himself and banish his fear, or the powder would increase that fear and turn him into a coward. Giganta in this show stole the powder to gain the same power, which amplified the evil in her heart and made her a power-mad villainess.
  • Teen Titans (2003):
    • Beast Boy is the usual shapeshifting trickster. Starfire flies, has solar bolts, and is perpetually cheerful, while Raven is a part-demon sorceress who is dark and moody. (In the "Freaky Friday" Flip episode, it is revealed that Raven and Starfire's powers are literally tied to their emotions; Star's to her joy and fury, Raven's to calmness and control.)
    • There are some cases of the power influencing the personality here:
  • Transformers: Animated:
    • Blitzwing actually has Split Personality powers, or rather weapons and modes. His calm side has a freeze ray and can take the form of a jet, his angry side has a flamethrower and tank, while his crazy side can apparently use either. He changes them when his temperament changes whether he wants to or not.
    • The Five-Man Band is a pretty charming display of Personality Powers themselves. Bumblebee is a caffeinated speedster, Prowl is a psuedoninja Ineffectual Loner, Bulkhead is a big dumb guy (subverted in the space bridge plot, but aside from his one intellectual specialty Bulkhead is still a tanky dolt). Optimus isn't in the above list, but his "modernised" archaic weapon is almost certainly an expression of his Knight in Shining Armor personality. Ratchet is a fun exception, as a medic who is a grouchy old cretin rather than a Mysterious Waif (but hey, this isn't a JRPG).
  • Visionaries: The characters gain the power to shapeshift into an animal based on their personalities. The heroes become lions and hawks and dolphins and such. The villains become sharks and insects and dragons and other nasties. Big Bad Darkstorm is particularly offended at gaining the power to turn into a giant disgusting mollusk.
  • W.I.T.C.H.: Hay Lin's grandmother explictly spells this out for the main characters. Irma got water because it can't be contained (like Irma when she decides to do something), Taranee got fire because she's the only one reliable enough to be trusted with it (as Cedric points out once, when Taranee gets pissed you must RUN. And he did so), Cornelia got Earth because she tends to function with hard logic, and Hay Lin got Air because she's a dreamer. The connection Will's powers have to her personality go unexplained in the show, but the original comics would simply define her as the balancing, mediative force that unites them all, something Will manages to fit once her character develops.

 
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Lila Rossi/Volpina

Lila Rossi is a consummate liar. As Volpina, she has illusion powers.

Alternative Title(s): Personality Power

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Lila Rossi/Volpina

Lila Rossi is a consummate liar. As Volpina, she has illusion powers.

How well does it match the trope?

4.7 (10 votes)

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