Basic Trope: A character who gains incredible power gains a set of wings to show their power.
- Straight: Alice finds the Light Prism and unlocks her Super Mode, complete with a pair of angel wings sprouting from her back.
- Exaggerated:
- Xander taps into all of his power for the Final Battle and sprouts eight wings.
- And his wings aren't made of feathers, but chainsaws.
- Downplayed:
- The wings Alice grows when she unlocks her Super Mode are far too small to allow flight. In fact, they're hardly noticeable.
- The "wings" are merely symbolic styling to the outfit via small metal triangular extrusions on the upper back.
- Xander already has wings, but when he activates his Super Mode the only parts of his body that are physically and visually different are his wings.
- Justified: Her Super Mode is an avian form.
- Their wings not only allow them to fly. They can also be used as weapons or shields.
- Inverted:
- Xander is a Winged Humanoid who loses his wings when he becomes stronger.
- Wielders of the Tears of The Fallen crystals usually have black feathery wings as the baseline. Their Super Mode does away with them in favor of a far more muscular demon form.
- Implied:
- Every time we see Alice go into her Super Mode, you see two bulges come out of her shoulderblades in silhouette, but the scene always cuts away before the transformation finishes to focus on a far more mundane subplot.
- Xander disappeared many years ago and is presumed dead - however, there is a new superpowered villain with giant wings called Xenophanes who refuses to discuss his past, has pictures of Xander and his family in his evil lair, and has a similar catchphrase.
- Subverted:
- When Alice goes into her Super Mode, it looks like she's growing wings in the silhouette view of her transformation, but when we see her in full, it turns out she has Combat Tentacles that were arched in a vaguely wing-like position during the transformation sequence.
- Xander, who disappeared years ago, and Xenophanes, the winged supervillain, have similar catchphrases. Xander's family portraits are in Xenophanes's lair. Xenophanes refuses to talk about Xander. At the end of the chapter, it's revealed that Xenophanes is actually Xander's father who became bitter and vengeful over his son's death.
- Double Subverted:
- Partway into the episode, Alice consumes a piece of a Power Crystal and all her tentacles fuse into wings.
- Xenophanes the Winged, who had mysterious connections to the wingless Xander, is actually Xander's father. However, the real Xander is eventually encountered, and he gained a pair of wings after his own Super Transformation.
- Parodied:
- Alice gains so many wings that she falls over, unable to stay aloft.
- Xander hasn't actually found the Light Prism, but is able to achieve the exact same effect by duct-taping cardboard wings to himself.
- Instead of wings, Alice gets helicopter propellers.
- Alice's sprouting wings in the response to threats are treated like awkward boners and everybody assumes a sexual interest in the worst possible way - not helped by appearing to be prompted at unusual potentially niche fetish things.
- Zig Zagged: Getting a power up gives you wings, except those are just stylized energy swirls in the Transformation Sequence, but a second upgrade makes them permanent, except the Bag of Spilling makes you lose them.
- Averted: Alice and Xander's powerups don't come with wings.
- Enforced: ???
- Lampshaded: "The Light Prism contains a fraction of God's power - it's turned Alice and Xander into angels!"
- Invoked: Xander adds wings to his armor, hoping that it gives him a boost of power.
- Exploited: Alice uses the Light Prism and grows a pair of feathery wings, only to find out General Drake was expecting just that and packs a bow with flaming arrows.
- Xander uses his new wings like an extra pair of limbs for combat.
- Defied: Once Alice becomes strong enough to pick a Super Mode, she chooses one without wings.
- Discussed: "Uh oh, Xander's new One-Winged Angel form has more wings! He must be getting stronger!"
- Conversed: "Isn't it funny how in every fantasy book the power of a character is proportional to the number of wings he or she has?"
- Deconstructed: Due to powerups giving free wings, people actively avoid getting stronger as the wings become increasingly harder to manage, giving their enemies additional points to hurt them through for starters. In addition, those with too much power have to be careful in cities and towns, making sure their wings don't get them stuck or that they don't accidentally cause trouble such as breaking things.
- Reconstructed: While the wings may be a nuisance to themselves or others, it does tell other people they're powerful, thus intentional trouble ceases to exist around individuals with wings lest they incur the winged person's wrath.
- The wings have many uses that overcome the disadvantages of having them. In addition to being able to fly, winged individuals can train to use their wings as weapons or shields.
- Played For Laughs: Alice has trouble getting used to her new wings, and they get in the way frequently, keeping her from being able to go through doors or narrow corridors.
- Played For Horror: Xander has a long and terrifying Transformation Sequence, as his wings erupt from his back, complete with constant screaming and writhing while his allies recoil in horror.
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