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Anime and Manga
"I was so tired of not having any power. And finally it didn't matter anymore what lengths I had to go to to get it."
— Saten, A Certain Scientific Railgun
Comic Books
Supergirl: Okay, mister— Calm down! Whatever has happened to you can't be permanent! We want to help you— find some way to reverse the process!
Annihilator: Reverse the process? Are you fool enough to believe that I desire to revert to my pitiful human status? Does a man wish to return to his amoeba stage?
Annihilator: Reverse the process? Are you fool enough to believe that I desire to revert to my pitiful human status? Does a man wish to return to his amoeba stage?
"The way I rationalized it was that turning myself into The Monster and giving everyone something to fight was the only way I could stop my life dream from going up in smoke. But the honest-to-God truth of the matter is that I just missed being big."
Film — Live-Action
"This one a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing. Hmph! Adventure. Heh! Excitement. Heh! A Jedi craves not these things. You are reckless!"
— Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back
Literature
"If there's really that many people in the world, then there had to be someone who wasn't ordinary. There had to be someone who was living an interesting life. There just had to be. But why wasn't I that person?"
— Haruhi, Haruhi Suzumiya
Live-Action TV
Dawn: What's up?
Xander: Aw, I'm just thinking about the girls. It's a harsh gig, being a potential. Just being picked out of a crowd, danger, destiny, plus if you act now, death.
Dawn: They can handle it.
Xander: Yeah. They're special, no doubt. The amazing thing is, not one of them will ever know, not even Buffy.
Dawn: Know what?
Xander: How much harder it is for the rest of us.
Dawn: No way. They've got—
Xander: Seven years, Dawn. Working with the slayer. Seeing my friends get more and more powerful. A witch. A demon. Hell, I could fit Oz in my shaving kit, but come a full moon, he had a wolfy mojo not to be messed with. Powerful. All of them. And I'm the guy who fixes the windows.
Dawn: Well, you had that sexy army training for a while, and—and the windows really did need fixing.
Xander: I saw what you did last night.
Dawn: Yeah, I—I guess I kinda lost my head when I thought I was the slayer.
Xander: You thought you were all special. Miss Sunnydale 2003. And the minute you found out you weren't, you handed the crown to Amanda without a moment's pause. You gave her your power.
Dawn: The power wasn't mine.
Xander: They'll never know how tough it is, Dawnie, to be the one who isn't chosen. To live so near to the spotlight and never step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realizes because nobody's watching me. I saw you last night. I see you working here today. You're not special. You're extraordinary.
Dawn: Maybe that's your power.
Xander: What?
Dawn: Seeing. Knowing.
Xander: Maybe it is. Maybe I should get a cape.
Dawn: Cape is good.
Xander: Yeah.
Xander: Aw, I'm just thinking about the girls. It's a harsh gig, being a potential. Just being picked out of a crowd, danger, destiny, plus if you act now, death.
Dawn: They can handle it.
Xander: Yeah. They're special, no doubt. The amazing thing is, not one of them will ever know, not even Buffy.
Dawn: Know what?
Xander: How much harder it is for the rest of us.
Dawn: No way. They've got—
Xander: Seven years, Dawn. Working with the slayer. Seeing my friends get more and more powerful. A witch. A demon. Hell, I could fit Oz in my shaving kit, but come a full moon, he had a wolfy mojo not to be messed with. Powerful. All of them. And I'm the guy who fixes the windows.
Dawn: Well, you had that sexy army training for a while, and—and the windows really did need fixing.
Xander: I saw what you did last night.
Dawn: Yeah, I—I guess I kinda lost my head when I thought I was the slayer.
Xander: You thought you were all special. Miss Sunnydale 2003. And the minute you found out you weren't, you handed the crown to Amanda without a moment's pause. You gave her your power.
Dawn: The power wasn't mine.
Xander: They'll never know how tough it is, Dawnie, to be the one who isn't chosen. To live so near to the spotlight and never step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realizes because nobody's watching me. I saw you last night. I see you working here today. You're not special. You're extraordinary.
Dawn: Maybe that's your power.
Xander: What?
Dawn: Seeing. Knowing.
Xander: Maybe it is. Maybe I should get a cape.
Dawn: Cape is good.
Xander: Yeah.
"We all share one common wish — that one day it will be revealed that there's been a mistake. That one day you will learn that you are meant for more. That one day someone will arrive from the mundane nothingness and say the words: 'No, my friend, not you. You don't belong here. Come with me. You belong with the special ones.'"
— Octavio Coleman, Esq., Dispatches From Elsewhere
Theatre
"I wish that everything was different. I wish that I was a part of... something. I wish that anything I said... mattered, to anyone. I mean, face it: would anybody even notice if I disappeared tomorrow?"
— Evan Hansen, Dear Evan Hansen
I've got to be someone who lives
All of his life in superlatives
When you're extraordinary
You gotta do extraordinary things
The fact I'm special is easy to see
So why doesn't anybody know it but me?
I'm extraordinary
I need to do extraordinary things
All of his life in superlatives
When you're extraordinary
You gotta do extraordinary things
The fact I'm special is easy to see
So why doesn't anybody know it but me?
I'm extraordinary
I need to do extraordinary things
— Pippin, Pippin, "Extraordinary"
Video Games
"Basic Zombie hates the term 'Basic.' He doesn't consider himself some generic foe or common corpse. He's an individual, darn it, and he's going to make a difference even if it kills you."
— Basic Zombie's Almanac entry in Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time
Web Comics
Dante: I just want my life to be something... SPECIAL. Something AMAZING.
Emily: WHAT? Your life IS amazing! Your body is the result of billions of years of struggling, fighting, ADAPTIVE evolution. YOU EXIST because of trillions of tiny, daily choices... all of which led only to YOU. Uniquely to you! YOUR LIFE IS AMAZING!
(Beat)
Dante: And I wanna be super rich.
Emily: WHAT? Your life IS amazing! Your body is the result of billions of years of struggling, fighting, ADAPTIVE evolution. YOU EXIST because of trillions of tiny, daily choices... all of which led only to YOU. Uniquely to you! YOUR LIFE IS AMAZING!
(Beat)
Dante: And I wanna be super rich.
— Sheldon
Web Original
"I think the costs in terms of time, energy, suffering, and opportunity cost do not come close to justifying the extremely slim chance of getting through the idol farming system gauntlet and actually becoming a successful K-pop idol. I don’t know why anyone with even a remote understanding of what trying to become an idol entails would try to do so.
Ok, that’s not true. I know exactly why people try to become idols.
They try to become idols because it’s a shot at fame, and because standing on stage as a hot and hyper-competent demi-god while thousands of fans cheer you on is a glorious achievement that only an infinitesimal fraction of humanity will ever experience. People want to try to become idols because it’s a path to greatness."
Ok, that’s not true. I know exactly why people try to become idols.
They try to become idols because it’s a shot at fame, and because standing on stage as a hot and hyper-competent demi-god while thousands of fans cheer you on is a glorious achievement that only an infinitesimal fraction of humanity will ever experience. People want to try to become idols because it’s a path to greatness."
— Matt Lakeman
, "A Deep Dive into K-pop"
, "A Deep Dive into K-pop" Western Animation
"You guys can do all this awesome Bending stuff, like putting out forest fires, and flying around, and making other stuff fly around... I can't fly around, okay? I can't do anything..."
— Sokka, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Bob: Wow, I didn't know being a superhero could be so painful. Maybe you should just go back to being plain-old Larry.
Larry: But I don't want to be plain-old Larry anymore.
Bob: Why not?
Larry: Well, there's nothing special about plain-old Larry. He can't do anything neat like fly or save people or anything. He's just plain-old boring.
Bob: Oh. Not feeling very special, huh?
Larry: Nope.
Larry: But I don't want to be plain-old Larry anymore.
Bob: Why not?
Larry: Well, there's nothing special about plain-old Larry. He can't do anything neat like fly or save people or anything. He's just plain-old boring.
Bob: Oh. Not feeling very special, huh?
Larry: Nope.
Miscellaneous
"I'm a square little peg who fits too well
In a square little hole."
In a square little hole."
— Phyllis McGinley, Lament of the Normal Child
