History Main / DisabilitySuperpower

Blindness seems to be a popular one for this. Indeed, the entire trope seems to be based around the idea that blind people's other senses [[HyperAwareness become more acute]] to compensate. [[TruthInTelevision This does happen]] in real life, to a far weaker degree than the trope, simply because blind people get more exercise with paying close attention to their other senses, and the brain is capable of re-purposing unused spaces in the sensory and motor cortices. Some studies have indicated that people born deaf have better peripheral vision, as well. In Greek mythology Tiresias is an old blind man, but also an oracle, he can see different things.

A realistic twist is to have the power to have {{Logical Weakness}}es. For example, Toph from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' was born blind, but uses [[DishingOutDirt Earthbender]] [[ElementalPowers skills]] to [[MagicAIsMagicA feel vibrations through stone]]. This means she can't "see" things that aren't touching the ground and her "sight" is severely impaired if she's not touching solid earthen surfaces - she hates hates '''[[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes hates]]''' flying or boating, sand makes everything "blurry", etc. And in a world without Braille, she's illiterate. But if she's on an earthen surface, she can see all around her, even behind things.

* Inverted in ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt''. [[BigBadassWolf Ysengrin]] was given magical, wooden PoweredArmor by Coyote, which gave him [[ShapeshifterWeapon powerful shapeshifting arms,]] [[GreenThumb control over plants,]] and let him walk bipedal. But due to a mistake by Coyote, the armor is not only arthritic, but Ysengrin's over-reliance on it has ravaged his body to the point where he can barely walk and eat without it. It's strongly implied that this is driving him insane.

** She's so skilled with it that she can even act as a LivingLieDetector ([[HandWave by feeling their pulse change or something]]).

** Hilariously, it is revealed in "The Ember Island Players" that the Fire Nation attributes her sight to echolocation[[note]]which is in fact how many real life blind people get a sense of their surroundings[[/note]]. The fact that Toph is also loud and [[DeadpanSnarker rather mouthy]] probably helped to contribute such a notion. And while everyone else is complaining or angsting about their representation, [[TheBigGuy Toph loves hers]].

* [[InspirationallyDisadvantaged Felix]] from ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', who thanks to his CoolChair added with a collection of AllUpToYou, CompressedVice, AnAesop (and {{Chickification}}) became the most competent hero of two episodes.

* Near the end of ''Film/TheMatrix Revolutions'' [[spoiler: Neo is blinded by Bane, a human who has been taken over by Neo's rival Agent Smith. However he still manages to overpower and kill him due to his powers as [[TheChosenOne the One]]: he can see data and machinery as glowing yellow light. This appears to also include humans who have been possessed by programs. It also happens only in the real world; while in the Matrix, Neo's body still posses normal eyes and vision]].

* Barbara Gordon had some skill with criminology and computers when she was Batgirl, but [[TheKillingJoke when the Joker put her in a wheelchair]] [[ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey she focused on her detective and computer skills and became the world's foremost hacker/information gatherer.]] Somewhat justified in that, not being Batgirl anymore, she had more time to focus and plenty of motivation.

* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': After Terezi Pyrope was blinded, her guardian dragon taught her [[TheNoseKnows to smell and taste colors]]. Her increased field of view and detection of minute details makes her a sharper investigator, and she's not bad with her canes, either. Terezi actually prefers her current condition over being able to see--because she's embraced her blindness, her dream self can't see either, in contrast with other disabled trolls (namely Tavros and Vriska), whose dream selves lack their physical disabilities.

* Montolio in R.A. Salvatore's ''[[TheDarkElfTrilogy Sojourn]]'' is a blind ranger who is sufficiently badass at hand-to-hand combat to scare off a whole dungeon's worth of [[OurOrcsAreDifferent orcs]]. His familiarity with his surroundings helps, though.

** Skitter in {{Literature/Worm}} briefly goes through this after a bomb leaves her blind. She can still sense her surroundings with her bugs but runs into the problem of not being able to see facial expressions or computer screens. A more permanent example is Genesis, who uses a wheelchair.

*** Roy doesn't actually become more powerful, per se, but loses the ability to limit his alchemy [[spoiler: because he needs to be able to see what he's doing in order to limit the power of the blasts. Riza, who is helping him aim, tells him not to worry about it since the target is the Big Bad.]]

* ''[[VideoGame/SlyCooper Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves]]'' has Bentley in a wheelchair (due to the events of ''Sly 2: Band of Thieves''). Being a genius, he tricks out the wheelchair quite well. He still has moments of envy, but apparently has settled with the fact he's in the chair. A rocket-assisted, explosive-armed, tranquilizer-dart-firing wheelchair. Which proceeds to get ''even cooler'' in ''Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time'', with [[MultiArmedAndDangerous extra robot hands]] to help him do his business.

*** Roy doesn't actually become more powerful, per se, but loses the ability to limit his alchemy [[spoiler: because he needs to be able to see what he's doing in order to limit the power of the blasts. Riza, who is helping him aim, tells him not to bother since the target is the Big Bad.]]

* Mental disorders are a frequently believed (though opinions vary) to provide some benefit to sufferers, whether increased creativity or awareness.

** Commissar Yarrick, bionic eye with a laser built in, robot arm made from the Battle Klaw of an enemy

** A character in the ExpandedUniverse, a Wookiee named Ralrra, has a "speech impediment" -- which removes enough of his "accent" for Leia to understand him perfectly.

* The ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' article "[[http://www.cracked.com/article_18624_5-people-who-turned-awful-disabilities-into-superpowers.html 5 People Who Turned Awful Disabilities Into Superpowers]]" mentions Douglas Bader and Dustin Carter (see "Real Life" below) among others.

* DjangoReinhardt lost the use of two of his fingers in a caravan fire, and still went on to be one of the most fluid and dexterous guitarists of all time.

* There are two general categories of real-life disability "superpowers". The first category consists of people who lack some ability, and as a result, hone some other ability either to make up for it, or simply because they have nothing better to do - these sorts of abilities are accessible to everyone who spends enough time working at it. The second category is a physical defect which in some ways can be an advantage, such as giantism giving the advantage of extreme height in some sports (despite the health problems it causes), or not "wasting" blood on things you don't need (like legs in pilots; without legs, blood has less space to rush into during high-g maneuvers; a similar principle is used in flight suit design to prevent blood from rushing out of the head).

* In ''{{Sneakers}}'', the blind character Whistler overhears his own name spoken in conversational tones -- thirty feet away, on the other side of thick plate glass. Later he listens through a powerful microphone aimed at a distant building, and deduces what rooms are which behind sealed windows -- even identifying one as an emergency exit ("I can hear the emergency floodlight batteries recharging"). He also deduces what road RobertRedford's character was driven on, while tied up in the trunk, based solely on what he heard The character is based on a RealLife hacker who could actually communicate with modems at low speeds ''sans device'' due to his ability to recognize and replicate the signals.

* In ''OnceUponATimeInMexico'' Agent Sands becomes a badass blind gunfighter after getting his eyes gouged out by the sick Dr. Guevara. He'd only been blinded for about half an hour, and had to have a kid assist him in taking on several of the cartel by telling him where to shoot. But his final shootout had him taking down two guys all by himself, using sound in order to pinpoint their location and kill them.
* Near the end of ''Film/TheMatrix Revolutions'' [[spoiler: Neo is blinded by Bane, a human who has been taken over by Neo's rival Agent Smith. However he still manages to overpower and kill him due to his powers as [[TheChosenOne the One]]: he can see data and machinery as glowing yellow light. This appears to also include humans who have been possessed by programs. It also happens only in the ReadlWorld; while in the Matrix, Neo's body still posses normal eyes and vision]].
* ''{{Zatoichi}}'', the blind masseur from the eponymous Japanese film series, who possesses a skill with a sword equal to the greatest samurai.

* In ''BlindFury'', Rutger Hauer plays a blind Vietnam vet who is a ShoutOut to Zatoichi. After getting blinded by a grenade, he stumbles across a Vietnamese tribe that, for some reason, decides to teach him how to use his other senses to become a master with a {{katana|sAreJustBetter}}. Years later, he returns to America with a sword hidden in his walking stick and uses his moves to protect a bratty kid from drug dealers.

** In ''WaitUntilDark'', [[spoiler: the main character forgets to smash the light in the fridge. D'oh!]]

* ''TheLookout'' has the protagonist rendered psychologically scarred and has trouble remembering things. Not too much of a superpower, but he uses a technique that he learned from his blind friend of "Start from the end" which enables him to plan which eliminates the BigBad and TheDragon. Though, this is more to the point that the aforementioned villains fail to recognize the protagonist as a true threat.
* Parodied by the blind character Blinkin in ''RobinHoodMenInTights''. In one scene he snatches an arrow right out of the air, remarking "'Eard it comin' a mile away" to the shocked Merry Men. Immediately afterwards, Robin compliments him, to which he responds "Who said that?"

* In ''HouseOfFlyingDaggers '', the blind Mei is capable of insane and technically physically impossible combat feats despite her disability. [[spoiler:Except... not really. It's all a ruse -- she's impersonating the old revolutionary leader's blind daughter, who doesn't know martial arts -- and she actually ''can'' see.]]
* Not quite a super-power, but the title character of ''RookieOfTheYear'' breaks his arm, and it heals in such a way as to make him a super-fast baseball pitcher.

* Ray Charles in ''TheBluesBrothers'' is apparently a crack shot with a pistol and uses this ability to scare off shoplifters who try and take advantage of his blindness.

* ''RainMan'' features Dustin Hoffman's autistic character having amazing calculation skills, being able to count a scattering of spilled toothpicks at a glance.
** The autistic Simon Lynch in ''MercuryRising'' is able to crack a government code that was secretly published in one of his puzzle books by the creators to see if anyone can crack it.

* In ''Videogame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic III and IV'', troglodytes are eyeless--and therefore are immune to any form of blinding.

* The {{MMORPG}} ''RagnarokOnline'' plays rather brutally with this trope, by means of the Star Knight/Taekwon Master class. Their skill, 'Demon of the Sun, Moon, and Stars' (or 'Solar, Lunar, and Stellar Shadow'), grants its owner a + 30% bonus to Attack Speed - this bonus is insanely large. In exchange? ''The character's sight''. This isn't like the 'Blind' status effect, where a character takes a hit to their accuracy - accuracy is just fine. However the player's screen becomes black the moment this skill is learned, with a lighted area surrounding their character. As the skill is levelled up, and the attack speed bonus moves closer to + 30%, the lighted area shrinks, until at level 10 and + 30% ASPD, the tiles immediately surrounding a character can ''just be made out''. These effects are permanent and utterly irrevocable.
* In ''Videogame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon'', Alma's incredible mental powers came at a rather nasty cost: extreme sensitivity to negative emotions, particularly those relating to her father, which often resulted her being rendered catatonic with empathic terror when he was angry. On top of that, she suffered hallucinations, debilitating nightmares, and the occasional bout of pyrokinesis, as well as inadvertently [[MindRape mindraping]] anyone who spent too much time around her.

* ''SlyCooper 3'' has Bentley in a wheelchair (due to the results of SlyCooper 2). Being a genius, he tricks out the wheelchair quite well. He still has moments of envy, but apparently has settled with the fact he's in the chair. A rocket-assisted, explosive-armed, tranquiliser-dart-firing wheelchair. Which proceeds to get ''even cooler'' in Sly 4, with [[MultiArmedAndDangerous extra robot hands]] to help him do his business.
* ''{{Killer7}}''

* Koishi Komeiji from the ''Videogame/{{Touhou}}'' series ended up sealing away her ability to read minds due to the fear it inspired in other people. This left her with the ability to read and manipulate people's subconscious, a much more powerful ability that places her as the extra stage boss, compared to her stage 4 boss sister.

* The titular superhero of ''Film/{{Kick-Ass}}'', due to getting, well, his ass kicked and hit by a car on his first attempt at heroics, leaving him with severely damaged nerve endings, giving him an increased tolerance to pain.
* Indirectly invoked in ''Film/{{Darkman}}'': After Peyton Westlake is horribly burned all over his body, the doctors cut off his sense of touch to block the constant pain. The side-effect is that his body ends up overproducing adrenalin, and the adrenal overload makes him [[SuperStrength super-strong]], hyper-agile, [[MadeOfIron impervious to pain]] ... and prone to [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity unstable mood swings]].

* Inverted by RobertDowneyJr in ''Film/SherlockHolmes'', where Holmes has amazing powers of observations, but in the restaurant scene we see that he ''can't turn them off''. This has led to fan theories that he is a high-functioning autistic. This actually is a trait of Holmes in both the original and most of adaptations.

* Nävis, heroine of the French comic ''{{Sillage}}'' (aka ''Wake'') is one of the few sentient beings in the universe with no telepathic abilities. The upside is that her mind can't be read or controlled, which makes her a valuable agent.