History Main / DramaPreservingHandicap

* ''Webcomic/{{Housepets}}'': The comic clearly establishes that not only are the denizens of Heaven more or less omnipotent when it comes to fighting power, but effectively omniscient (and boy, do they [[JerkassGods flaunt it]]) - not because they're the smartest creatures ever, but because linear time doesn't exist in Heaven and they can simply reference what already happened should a crisis arise, so they only really have to worry about each other's actions. For the finale arc, Great Kitsune accidentally lets a demon enter Earth due to carelessness...so of course Heaven enters a crisis mode where time ''is'' linear and Kit is forced to improvise. One of the mortal characters is unimpressed that the supposed knowledge turned out to be to pause time and "magic Google" the answer.

*** Not to mention how she's [[spoiler:weakened in season four]] from being [[spoiler:exposed to mercury]] during the season three finale.

* In ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'', all of the most powerful figures in the setting's lore have been reduced to shadows of their former glory, yet another sign that the Age of Fire is ending. This is why a lone Undead (albeit a badass one) can potentially defeat them. Even then, they aren't exactly pushovers.

** In SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', Korra has a similar problem. She can't go into the Avatar State or communicate with her past lives due to her undeveloped spiritual side until the end of book one. By the beginning of book two, she can use it almost at will, but she has to face spiritual enemies normal bending has little effect on and near the end of book two, Unalaq [[spoiler:manages to ''tear the Avatar Spirit out of her'' and destroy the connection it had to the previous Avatars. While Korra is able to get the spirit back, losing the connection to the other Avatars means she's back to being on her own advice-wise when it comes to literally Earth-changing decisions.]]

* One of the most famous examples, and one used against the Good Guys, occurs in ''Manga/DragonBall''. In the Cell Saga, [[BigBad Cell]] has proven to be [[CurbstompBattle completely outmatched]] by [[SuperPoweredEvilSide Super Saiyan 2 Gohan]]. Then Gohan gets his arm broken by ''[[CameBackStrong Super]]'' Perfect Cell.

** Hinokami Kagura, the breathing style Tanjiro uses once he realizes his family's tradition is in fact a fighting art, it is shown to be extremely versatile and a battle changer but Tanjiro quickly gets to know said breathing style is very taxing on his body, continuous usage of it will completely wear him off; if Tanjiro had unlimited access to Hinokami Kagura demons would soon be not much of a threat to him; [[spoiler:no wonder, as soon it is revealed Hinokami Kagura is no other than Sun Breathing, the original style which all others stem from]].
** Zenitsu's reluctance and self-deprecation are narrative handicaps in itself, since his proficiency with Thunder Breathing is quite good despite his own assertion of otherwise, thus Zenitsu early on the series must rely on his trance sleep mode to fully unlock his mental blocks, to then truly unleash his current potential, with that out of the way demons usually don't last more than a single attack of his. Also it is noted the extreme muscle exertion Thunder Breathing inflict on Zenitsu's legs quickly place a limit to how much he can perform his most powerful techniques. If Zenitsu was a brave warrior with total confidence in his Thunder Breathing skills from the start, and had unlimited usage of his arts, he would be unmatched for at least half of the series. [[spoiler:To no surprise, near the end of the series Zenitsu becomes quite impressive by completely forsaking his sleep trance during fights]].
** The Demon Slayer Mark is the visual cue for a slayer who has tapped into a state where their already superhuman might is amplified further, more strength, more speed, more power to fight better against the Upper Rank demons; that power takes a heavy toll on the slayers however, in the end they are still human and that comes with a time limit, as soon as it passes the Mark fade away. With more experience the slayers actually start to leave their Marks permanently etched on their bodies, but [[spoiler:that is also an omen, as revealed later on that growing stronger with the Mark is the sign that a slayer is approaching death, possibly even before the observed 25-years-old deadline]].
** At the end of the seires [[spoiler:Muzan gave all of his remaining blood to Tanjiro in hopes of creating a superior successor, more powerful than he ever was, however, Tanjiro still went through the process of adaptation a newly born demon goes through before becoming fully acquainted with their powers, although he was going through it in an extremely accelerated pace. Tanjiro was growing stronger by the second, but he never grew powerful and sapient enough to completely decimate the already fatigued remaining slayer corps before he was turned back into a human; if Tanjiro had become more powerful than Muzan and grew awareness from the get go he would have certainly instantly killed everyone on sight, becoming the superior successor Muzan desired, ending the series on an absolute tragedy]].

* In ''Fanfic/AvengersInfiniteWars'', WordOfGod confirms that Spider-Man will be unable to sense the true threat posed by Palpatine as Peter Parker is still too new with his powers to realise just how his spider-sense works.

* In ''Franchise/TheFastAndTheFurious''/''Series/{{Smallville}}'' crossover "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9472416/1/On-the-Run On the Run]]", many of the group's enemies have access to kryptonite, thus justifying why Dom and his team need to rely on their skills to achieve their goals rather than just getting Clark to run in, grab what they need and run out.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13272570/1/Ring-Of-Fire Ring of Fire]]'' explicitly states that the One Ring can exert an influence over Toothless the closer he gets to it, thus ruling out the option of having Toothless fly it to Mount Doom directly as it would create the risk that he would be corrupted by it and become Sauron's servant by the time he got there.

* The White Queen, the BigBad of ''LightNovel/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'', is the most powerful being in the series by an enormous margin. She's a {{Yandere}} for main character Kyousuke, but she hasn't caught him yet because (a) she won't do anything to kill him (though this doesn't stop her from injuring him) and will even fight to keep him alive; (b) she finds losing to him fun, so [[ILetYouWin deliberately restrains herself to make it possible for him to win]]. Her being evil also prevents Kyousuke from ever wanting to summon her, acting as a handicap for him. More generally, the White Queen [[AwesomeButImpractical is incredibly difficult to summon]] and she's still subject to the normal rules of summoning, limiting other summoners from making use of her power.

*** She doesn't have all her Noble Phantasms because [[spoiler:as King Arthur, she made a deal with the world right before she ''died'' to claim the Grail, which limits her to have ''only'' the Noble Phantasm she had with her on her death bed ''and'' causes her not to be a full and true Heroic spirit... even in LightNovel/FateZero or as Rin's Servant]].

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', the Demon Slayer Mark is the visual cue for a slayer who has tapped into a state where their already superhuman might is amplified further, more strength, more speed, more power to fight better against the Upper Rank demons; that power takes a heavy toll on the slayers however, in the end they are still human and that comes with a time limit, as soon as it passes the Mark fade away. With more experience the slayers actually start to leave their Marks permanently etched on their bodies, but [[spoiler:that is also an omen, as revealed later on that growing stronger with the Mark is the sign that a slayer is approaching death, possibly even before the observed 25-years-old deadline]].

* During ''Literature/{{Dinoverse}}'', in which four tweens end up in the bodies of prehistoric beasts and sent on a quest to go home, one among them is in the body of a [[PteroSoarer Quetzalcoatlus]]. The others quickly get a handle on the abilities inherent to the bodies they've been stuck with; being a Tyrannosaurus, being armored and club-tailed, being nimble and fast. Janine, the Quetzalcoatlus, struggles for half the book to learn to fly. Problem is, ''every single obstacle the four faces'' could be easily solved by having a character fly overhead, scouting and bringing items back, so she spends the rest of the book away or injured.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'':

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' has you fight Jin, one of the main villains and head of the [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters Torna]] organization, about midway through the game. The issue is, Jin's currently one of the strongest [[LivingWeapon Blades]] in the world, [[spoiler:owing to his forbidden merging of human cells with his own Core to become a Flesh Eater]] and has powers raging from [[FastAsLightning light-speed movement]] to [[AnIcePerson freezing an area to absolute zero]] to full elementary particle manipulation. Suffice to say, the party, despite having all members by this point, is nowhere near capable of facing him in combat. Fortunately, the party is currently being escorted by Fan La Norne, a Blade acting as envoy to the [[FantasticCatholicism Indoline Praetorium]] with the unique power of restricting Blades by nullifying their powers. The party notes that her power appears to not be working on him, until it is stated that he's just so powerful that the [[BroughtDownToNormal nullification is just barely able to bring him down to the power level of a regular Blade]], which they are able to face in combat.

* ''Manga/OnePiece''

* In ''[[Manga/PokemonAdventures Pokemon Special]]'', [[TheMedic Yellow]], among her arsenal of powers, can [[SuperEmpowering boost her Pokemon's strength by roughly fifty levels]]. There are two reasons why she's unable to curb stomp anyone in her way: 1) [[AchillesHeel using her powers makes her drowsy rather quickly]] and 2) she has to be properly motivated. As she is a MartialPacifist who prefers healing instead of fighting, this does not come to her easily.
* Another ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' example, this time from the anime. Ash could easily beat the Cerulean Gym if he used Pikachu, but he's facing Misty and Pikachu doesn't want to battle her, so he's forced to use his non-Electric Pokemon.
** Ash is only rarely allowed to have and use powerful, evolved Pokemon on his team. He's been allowed to keep evolved Pokemon on his team in the most recent seasons, but the early show (the Takeshi Shudo era) deliberately went out of its way to ''submarine'' Ash's journey ToBeAMaster. Butterfree was released to go participate in his mating season, Primeape was given to a boxer to go be trained[[note]]After winning the tournament it had just participated in... no, that makes no sense to us, either[[/note]] (in the very episode that ''it began to listen to Ash'', no less), Pidgeotto evolved into Pidgeot and was left with a flock of other Pidgey and Pidgeotto in the very first episode of the Orange Islands arc, the list goes on. (Misty had some of this, too -- when she returns to Cerulean City to briefly star in her sisters' underwater ballet, the episode ends with Misty's sisters relieving her of Starmie).
** When he was allowed to ''keep'' powerful Pokemon, they would often have personality quirks, flaws, or foibles designed to prevent them from operating at maximum (or even remotely decent) efficiency. Most famously, Ash's Charizard was temperamental and often simply refused to lift a finger to help Ash in his battles. Late in the Orange Islands ([=EP105=]), Charizard is moved by Ash's devotion and finally decides to get its butt in gear. However, in the Johto arc, Ash is told that Charizard is too powerful and that he's been abusing its superiority, and the writers have him leave Charizard in the [[HiddenElfVillage Charicific Valley]] for training ([=EP134=])[[note]]The writers had apparently been planning this for a while, writing scenes to downplay Charizard's actual strength, such as when the Chikorita Ash would eventually catch managed to ''slam it into a mountainside''[[/note]]. Look at those episode numbers again -- Ash gets to enjoy a hard-earned, obedient Charizard for ''less than thirty straight episodes''. This made room for Cyndaquil, a little badger cub with powerful fire attacks hampered by its serious ignition problems.

** Later in the Dark Tournament arc, Hiei busts out the Dragon Of The Darkness Flame attack on the first enemy he fights. While it looks awesome, not only is it [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill total overkill]], but the attack burns up his right arm, leaving him unable to use his arm (and that move) again until the finale of the arc.

* Franchise/{{Batman}}. Think of how often he comes into contact with all sorts of alien technology, high-tech outfit technology, and super-scientists with all sorts of awesome nonlethal crime-fighting gadgets...and consider that he still uses mostly what he can make himself. He's either incredibly arrogant or incredibly thick in order to perpetuate the RuleOfDrama. One reason given for this is that Batman doesn't want to rely on something that he doesn't know for a fact won't go out of control. Alien technology can be manipulated by aliens, foreign tech could be a trap, and if anything happened to that tech he would be at a serious disadvantage. And given that he's a billionaire, he could make anything that he needs.
* Franchise/{{Superman}} -and [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} his]] [[ComicBook/PowerGirl whole]] [[ComicBook/KryptoTheSuperdog family]], for that matter- can type a hundred ''pages'' a minute, and do any number of other tasks at super-speed. But he can't fight at super-speed. The in-universe explanation for this is that he [[NoMoreHoldingBackSpeech holds back to keep from injuring anyone else]]. [[InvincibleHero The]] ''[[InvincibleHero real]]'' [[InvincibleHero explanation for it is simply that someone with the strength of the Hulk and the speed of the Flash could never even be challenged, let alone defeated.]] The real reason becomes especially evident when the villains with Superman's powers, who have no reason to hold back, also face the same problem. Later stories such as those in the ''ComicBook/New52'' implied that he is simply not agile enough to fight at superspeed, comparing him to Usain Bolt while Wonder Woman is Bruce Lee, which still doesn't make much sense because of all the non-combat tasks he does at super speed.

** Strange's power level also make him notoriously difficult to write in team-ups or crossovers, which is why he was PutOnABus during ''ComicBook/CivilWar''. When Doctor Strange later joined the ComicBook/NewAvengers, he was quickly stripped of his Sorcerer Supreme status, which greatly weakened him and limited what he could do with his powers. He would not be restored to full power until the final issue of Creator/BrianBendis' run.
* Similar to the Dr. Strange example, ComicBook/{{Zatanna}} is a powerful magician whose spells work only if she speaks backwards, stating whatever she wants her spells to do. Because of this, her enemies naturally try to find ways to stop her from speaking. Even though Zatanna's been defeated many times by someone shutting her mouth, and though the backwards speaking isn't her actual superpower rather than just a tool she uses to focus her magic, for whatever reason she hasn't really learned other ways of casting her spells, so the handicap remains. Averted at one point when ComicBook/TheJoker thought this about her so he gagged her and shot her in the throat for good measure, thinking that would neutralize the threat she posed. She managed to avoid death by scrawling "Heal Me" backwards ''[[CouldntFindAPen in her own blood]].'' She also recently learned sign language.

** In Creator/DwayneMcDuffie's ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'' run, it was shown that her spells take a physical toll on her body, and that particularly powerful ones eat away at her stamina and can render her physically exhausted.
* ''Franchise/GreenLantern'':

* The mini-series ''Ultimate War'' revolves around a conflict between ComicBook/TheUltimates and the ComicBook/UltimateXMen. Before the battle begins, ComicBook/NickFury has his men activate neuron dampeners that shut out psychic abilities, which temporarily depowers both ComicBook/ProfessorX and ComicBook/JeanGrey and stops them from immediately ending the fight.
* ''ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}}'': ComicBook/JeanGrey had resurrected [[ComicBook/WarrenWorthingtonIII Angel]] a short time ago, after the battle with Comicbook/{{Apocalypse}}. She can't do this again and bring back anyone, because she has lost the Phoenix powers.

** ''Imposters'' arc: Since Sonic pretty much ''demolishes'' Surge in their first bout despite the fact that, on paper, the opposite should have been true[[note]]Surge was specifially created to kill Sonic, her body is full of cybernetic enhancements that grant her increased strength, a SuperSpeed greater than Sonic's, the ability to generate electric blasts, and a HealingFactor[[/note]]. So during their next bout, on top of Surge carrying a gadget that enhances her already formidable powers, Sonic has to fight her with a hurt leg.

* ComicBook/{{Cable}}, being the son of Madelyne Pryor - a clone of Jean Grey - and Scott Summers, would probably be one of the most powerful mutants around, and you'd be right. However, because he's infected with a Techno-Organic Virus, a vast amount of his power is used to hold back the virus' spread, thus his NinetiesAntiHero usage of guns. The times he's had the virus removed, he's had god-like power.

* ''Film/SupermanReturns'' had ComicBook/LexLuthor threaten Superman and the lives of everyone in the North Atlantic with a [[ApocalypseHow Type 0-1]] disaster by creating a giant Kryptonite island, stabbing supes with Kryptonite (and lodging a piece of it inside of him), letting his goons beat him up, and finally [[LeftForDead dumping him into the ocean.]] Yet still, Supes manages to lob the island into space and fly back to a Metropolis ICU. It's [[LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt arguable whether this worked for the viewers]].

*** In the opening scene, the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] is dealt a severe beating by ComicBook/{{Thanos}}. [[spoiler:This somehow prevents Bruce Banner from being able to transform into the Hulk for the rest of the film, meaning he's unable to help out during the initial fight between the heroes and the Black Order in New York.]]

* At various points in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', the most powerful mutants are incapacitated or kept from using their powers to full extent, thus allowing the plot to advance. This includes Xavier losing his mental powers due to the effects of the drug which allows him to walk, ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} dazed by flashbacks of being tortured by Stryker and allowing Magneto and Mystique to escape, ComicBook/{{Magneto}} kept in a prison of concrete and plastic, etc.
** Each entry in the ''[[Film/XMenFilmSeries X-Men]]'' film series [[DeusExitMachina sidelines]] ComicBook/{{Professor X}}avier, whose full faculties would solve every plot in moments.
*** In [[Film/XMen1 the first]], ComicBook/{{Mystique}} poisons Cerebro, putting him in a coma.

*** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', while he's not directly handicapped, ComicBook/EmmaFrost's presence and the anti-telepathy helmet serve the same purpose.
*** In ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', he's kidnapped by ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}} and his Four Horsemen.

** This isn't exclusive to Xavier either. In ''Apocalypse'', the writers got around ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}}'s SuperSpeed by having the title villain break his leg. Similarly, ComicBook/{{Nightcrawler}} was rendered inert for part of the final battle so that he couldn't simply TeleportSpam the bad guys into submission. This happens again in ''Film/DarkPhoenix'', where [[spoiler:Quicksilver spends the majority of the film in a coma after a fight with Phoenix during the first act. He doesn't wake up until after the climax]].

** Elena/Yo-yo has SuperSpeed powers, with the downside that she bounces back to her starting point whenever she uses it. Even so, she was incredibly powerful for a guest character, so when she [[PromotedToOpeningCredits became a main character]] from season 5 onward, Elena got a series of restrictions to stop her speed from breaking the plot. Initially, the team is trying to keep a low profile and can't rely on her powers too much. Later, Elena's arms [[AnArmsAndALeg get cut off]] and replaced by prosthetics that glitch out whenever her powers are used. That problem is eventually fixed, but later, trauma from a near-death experience leaves Elena unable to access her powers. She only gets over that, as well as the bounce-back problem, just a few episodes before the series finale.

* In the premier episode of ''Series/{{Inhumans}}'', ComicBook/{{Medusa|Marvel Comics}} is captured and forcibly shaved by Maximus, which prevents her from using her trademark PrehensileHair for most of the series. Similarly, ComicBook/{{Karnak}} suffers a head injury early on, which prevents him from using his power to predict the future.

** ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' occasionally did it for other characters too. A good example is where Franchise/WonderWoman was poisoned to give [[ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} Black Manta]] CaptainErsatz Devil Ray, an [[BlatantLies entirely original character not related to Aquaman]], a decent chance against her in hand-to-hand. "The Savage Time" three-parter also saw Franchise/GreenLantern's ring run out of power in the first installment, [[BroughtDownToBadass forcing him to rely on his military training]] for the remainder of the storyline.

* In the first and fourth seasons of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', the {{Big Bad}}s could have easily killed the Titans but were more interested in [[WeCanRuleTogether convincing one of them to defect to the villains' side]] instead.
* ''WesternAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls'': They decided to re-imagine Jessica Cruz (Franchise/GreenLantern) as a GranolaGirl and TechnicalPacifist since she and her Green Lantern Ring would have been able to defeat pretty much any opponent otherwise.

* By the fourth season of ''WesternAnimation/{{Castlevania}}'', the three main heroes have slain many powerful monsters, and nothing they face in this season is any more powerful than previous villains ([[spoiler:except for Death]]). To preserve the drama, Trevor and Sypha can't instantly annihilate their enemies because they're exhausted after six weeks of constantly fighting monsters, and Alucard is in poor shape after DrowningHisSorrows.

* One of the most famous examples, and one used against the Good Guys, occurs in ''Manga/DragonBall''. In the Cell Saga, [[BigBad Cell]] has proven to be [[CurbstompBattle completely outmatched]] by [[SuperPoweredEvilSide Super Saiyan 2 Gohan]]. Then he gets his arm broken by ''[[CameBackStrong Super]]'' Perfect Cell.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Orihime has the power to reject physical events in a manner characters in-universe have speculated to be akin to time-space manipulation or completely rejecting the reality of the event having ever happened. The only thing controlling this power is her personality. If she doesn't believe she can do something, she can't. If she doesn't think of trying something because she's been raised or led to believe it's impossible, she doesn't even think to try it. Her kill-attack is also kept under control by her personality which is unsuited to battle in the way other characters are [[spoiler: until she takes a third option and incorporates the kill attack into her much more powerful defensive shield, making it a pretty powerful AttackReflector and marking her evolution from TheMedic to CombatMedic]]. In short, her state of mind is her major limit.

** Trafalgar Law's power is a mobile StrappedToAnOperatingTable within areas called "Rooms", making him a light version of a RealityWarper. To balance this out, Law has the entirely unique-to-him limitation that maintaining rooms uses his stamina, so the longer he maintains them and the more he makes, the weaker he gets. [[spoiler: this doesn't stop him from nearly killing himself in the process of making a Room bigger than Doflamingo's mansion in a desperate attempt to deliver a fatal coup de grace to him.]]

* Roy Mustang is one of the most powerful protagonists of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', easily able to defeat Envy in single combat. However, due to his fire-related powers, he's useless when wet, and coincidentally the first fight against Scar is during a rainy day. Later, an injury from his fight with Lust starts acting up just in time to prevent him from helping against Gluttony. [[spoiler: Even worse, at some point, he goes ''blind'', and thus he cannot use his fire powers. Riza, his FriendlySniper bodyguard (and who had barely survived to having her throat slit in the same incident that left Roy blind) solves this via using her uncanny accuracy and sharp eyes to direct Roy's attacks for him, telling him where to aim.]]

* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Natsu's SuperMode, Dragon Force enables him to be powerful enough to face and defeat [[spoiler: Jellal, a Wizard Saint]] and [[spoiler: Zero, Brain's SuperPoweredEvilSide and Master of Oracion Seis]], along with being able to match, though not defeat [[spoiler: Mard Geer, DragonInChief of [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Tartaros]] in his own [[OneWingedAngel Etherious Form]]]] in terms of power. Since that easily makes him one of the strongest characters in the series, the plot makes him unable to activate it without outside forces [[spoiler:or at least until his father Igneel [[SealedInsideAPersonShapedCan unseals himself]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext from within him]], but even then only when sufficiently enraged]].

** Accelerator. Originally introduced as a villain, when he began a long, slow HeelFaceTurn and became a protagonist, he suffered severe brain damage, crippling him. He now has a transmitter device that allows him to connect to a giant telepathic network in order to function like a normal human being, and he can only use his [[StoryBreakerPower utterly broken powers]] for a few minutes at a time. And, they can be deactivated if the enemy has a simple radio jamming device. The brainpower of ''9,970'' (9,969 Sisters plus Last Order) ''people'' only gives him the computing power to perform at ''half'' his previous level. And he can still [[spoiler: stop the earth's rotation for a few minutes]].

* In ''Fanfic/DogBreathAndBirdBrain'' [[spoiler: a fake grimoire]] not only forcibly sends Octavia and Loona to Earth, but strips them of their magic, rendering them unable to use their [[{{Glamour}} human disguises]] to blend in and forcing them to live in the woods away from human eyes. They end up relying on a human named Grace to be their SecretKeeper and give them food and supplies to avoid starving out.

** In ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', [[spoiler: [[TheHeavy Kylo Ren]] gets gutshot by Chewbacca's {{BFG}} of a bowcaster just before his climactic duel with Finn & Rey. Furthermore, Finn further wounding Ren gives Rey the advantage she needs to be able to overwhelm him, despite being far less skilled in lightsaber dueling and the Force than he is]].

*** In the opening scene, the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] is dealt a severe beating by ComicBook/{{Thanos}}. [[spoiler: This somehow prevents Bruce Banner from being able to transform into the Hulk for the rest of the film, meaning he's unable to help out during the initial fight between the heroes and the Black Order in New York.]]
*** ComicBook/TheVision, one of the most powerful and versatile Avengers, is stabbed from behind shortly after he makes his first appearance in the film. The damage to his body prevents him from using his trademark {{Intangibility}} and greatly decreases his physical capabilities for the remainder of the film. [[spoiler: When Thanos finally confronts him in the finale, Vision is easily killed without putting up much of a fight.]]
*** In the other direction, Thanos is nigh-omnipotent after obtaining all six Infinity Stones, but the sheer magnitude of deaths caused by his BadassFingersnap wounds him and visually damages his Infinity Gauntlet. [[spoiler: When the remaining Avengers confront Thanos at the beginning of ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', his injuries are even worse due to him having used the Gauntlet to destroy the Infinity Stones. As such, the heroes overpower him with ease, and Thor ends up [[OffWithHisHead decapitating him]].]]

*** In ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', Wanda very nearly [[spoiler: kills 2014 Thanos all on her own in her rage without any help from another superhero. It's only her desire to see him suffer that allows him to call in an airstrike that finally gets her to back off a little. ''Series/WandaVision'' has Monica Rambeau even speculate that Wanda could've done it by herself if not for that.]]

*** In ''Film/{{Logan}}'', he's going senile and losing control of his abilities, requiring the use of medication. [[spoiler: He's also KilledOffForReal partway through the movie.]]

** This isn't exclusive to Xavier either. In ''Apocalypse'', the writers got around ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}}'s SuperSpeed by having the title villain break his leg. Similarly, ComicBook/{{Nightcrawler}} was rendered inert for part of the final battle so that he couldn't simply TeleportSpam the bad guys into submission. This happens again in ''Film/DarkPhoenix'', where [[spoiler: Quicksilver spends the majority of the film in a coma after a fight with Phoenix during the first act. He doesn't wake up until after the climax]].

*** In the aforementioned ''Logan'', Wolverine's healing factor is now much weaker than it was when he was in his prime [[spoiler: due to the adamantium in his body poisoning him]]. This allows the villains to pose an actual threat to Wolverine, [[spoiler: and ultimately leads to him being KilledOffForReal in the utterly [[TearJerker heartrending finale]]]].

* During the climax of the ''Film/TheTerminator'', [[spoiler: Reese sacrifices himself to destroy the T-800 with a pipebomb, which damages it enough so it's only a torso that can slowly crawl]]. At this point, Sarah could just walk away from the cyborg at a normal pace without too much worry. So in order to keep the intensity of the situation intact, her legs are injured due to [[spoiler:the shock from the explosion and a shrapnel wound to the thigh]], forcing her to crawl away from it.

* In [[Literature/TheGunslinger the first book]] of the ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series it is clear that King's titular Gunslinger is an unstoppable force of death and destruction after he guns down several dozen enraged assailants. By the end of the book, it is clear that Roland has no equal. King fixes this by [[spoiler: mutilating Roland's primary hand]] to make him more dependent on his friends.

* [[spoiler: Albus Dumbledore]] has [[spoiler: his]] primary wand hand cursed into functional uselessness in between ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' and ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'' to preserve the dramatic tension in [[spoiler: his]] and Harry's subsequent adventures.

* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', Contessa has the most capable precognition of all parahumanity, being capable of beating almost anyone and accomplishing almost anything... [[PowerfulAndHelpless except that it flat out doesn't work on Humanity's biggest enemies]], the Endbringers [[spoiler: and Scion]].

** In Season 6, Willow's power grows immensely, way before she [[spoiler:nearly destroys the world]]. But in Season 7, where she could use it to solve many if not most of the Scoobies' problems, she [[spoiler:won't because she was afraid of the dark power]]. Willow was pretty powerful in Season 7, but the reason she was so powerful at the end of Season 6 was that [[spoiler: she absorbed a metric fuckton of magic and transformed into her SuperpoweredEvilSide]]. Without that, she wasn't much stronger than at the end of Season 5, when she could barely manage to hurt [[PhysicalGod Glory]].
** A particularly satisfying example was the demon known as the Judge, whose DPH was disguised as an ancient threat: [[NoManOfWomanBorn "no weapon forged can kill him."]] [[spoiler: As Buffy points out, "That was then; this is now." And she blows him apart with a rocket launcher, which may not have killed him, but very effectively took him out of the fight.]] Arrogant in his assumed invincibility and ignorant of the modern world, he does nothing to stop this.

* In ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', the reason why Ted cannot get into a serious committed relationship with other women is that [[spoiler: a small part of him is pining after Robin. The episode ''No Pressure'' makes it clear to Ted that Robin loves him as a friend, which now opens the possibility of him finally getting together with the mother]].

** Solid Snake ends up on the receiving end of [[spoiler: having to open the REX's cockpit]] when it's his turn to use it to fight in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots''.

** One example in ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'' [[spoiler:which happens long before the events of the game proper due to TimeTravel]] is [[spoiler: Knight Artorias]]. He was [[spoiler: one of Gwyn's Four Knights (the same order that Ornstein was captain of)]], known for being almost unbeatable with his trademark [[{{BFS}} greatsword]] and [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe greatshield]]. When you fight him, he's been tainted by [[TheCorruption the Abyss]], his armor is in tatters, his sword has been [[ExcaliburInTheRust wrecked and coated in dark slime]], his greatshield is gone [[spoiler: protecting his wolf companion, Sif]], and his left arm (which is implied to be his sword-arm) is broken and useless, forcing him to fight [[OneHandedZweihander one handed]]. And he ''still'' [[ThatOneBoss puts up a formidable fight]]. One can only wonder how strong he was in his prime...

** A more spoiler-y example in ''2'' comes at the reveal of [[spoiler: King Vendrick's hollowed state]]. This character has been set up as the FinalBoss, but by the time you get to him, he is a barely functional zombie that won't even attack you. [[spoiler: Unless you provoke him, at which point he'll put up quite the fight that will be HarderThanHard unless you have at least four Giant Souls in your inventory. Still better than trying to fight him in his prime, but not by much since he still hits like a freight train.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}''; a handicap in favor of the player is in effect for [[spoiler: Asgore]], the BigBad. As you go through the game it's repeatedly hammered into your head that he is ''the'' strongest Monster, more than capable of putting your character (a small child) into the dirt with little effort, and Undyne says that she's only ever landed one solid blow on him in practice because he's so fast. When it comes time to fight him you find out that at 80 ATK and 80 DEF, he has more statistical power than anything else in the game... and then you actually meet him, it turns out he's a TragicVillain who despises himself for killing children for the sake of his kingdom's hope. He can't bring himself to attack you full-force (and will in fact never kill you until your HP is already at 1), he's swinging wildly with what should be a precision weapon because he can't look you in the eyes, he leaves his guard down so his sky-high defense is irrelevant, and he'll just stand still tanking your attacks until it kills him because [[DeathSeeker there's only one way he wants this fight to end]].

** Saber is the strongest member of her class, already considered the most outstanding of all classes, making her one of the strongest Servants ''period''. She possesses almost unmatched combat skills, excellent stats, is practically immune to all forms of magecraft, and possesses some of the most powerful Noble Phantasms in existence, including [[spoiler: Excalibur]] - a [[WaveMotionGun Wave Motion Sword]] capable of flattening mountains. She would normally be capable of single-handedly defeating all opposition, with only [[SuperpowerLottery Gilgamesh]] being a challenge, which would make the novel rather unexciting as she's [[BattleCouple partnered]] with the main character -- a guy who has next to no actual magical power. So she ends up getting improperly summoned, which leaves her with reduced stats and inability to regenerate prana through normal means - which limits her to single use of [[spoiler: Excalibur]] before she becomes almost cripplingly weakened. Furthermore, she only reclaims her third Noble Phantasm - which power makes her immortal and invulnerable - just before the last battle when she has to face Gilgamesh, the strongest of Heroic Spirits. Predictably, it turns out to be exactly what she needs to win.
*** She doesn't have all her Noble Phantasms because [[spoiler: as King Arthur, she made a deal with the world right before she ''died'' to claim the Grail, which limits her to have ''only'' the Noble Phantasm she had with her on her death bed ''and'' causes her not to be a full and true Heroic spirit... even in LightNovel/FateZero or as Rin's Servant]].

** In SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', Korra has a similar problem. She can't go into the Avatar State or communicate with her past lives due to her undeveloped spiritual side until the end of book one. By the beginning of book two, she can use it almost at will, but she has to face spiritual enemies normal bending has little effect on and near the end of book two, Unalaq [[spoiler: manages to ''tear the Avatar Spirit out of her'' and destroy the connection it had to the previous Avatars. While Korra is able to get the spirit back, losing the connection to the other Avatars means she's back to being on her own advice-wise when it comes to literally Earth-changing decisions.]]
*** Not to mention how she's [[spoiler: weakened in season four]] from being [[spoiler: exposed to mercury]] during the season three finale.

* Although he was never more than a C-list character, {{ComicBook/Sleepwalker}} had a major advantage in that he could focus his [[RealityWarper warp]] [[EyeBeams beams]] directly on any human opponent, which would turn them into NoodlePeople and force them to experience YourWorstNightmare over and over again. The reason Sleepy didn't do this was that all the members of his race swear a very strict oath to never use their warp vision on living beings. The sole exception is when people are being used as PeoplePuppets, at which point hitting them with a Sleepwalker's warp beams actually frees them from the demonic possession.

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' often does this to justify players being able to kill a certain BigBad. Some raid bosses have been weakened by another force, sometimes [=NPC=]'s join the fight on the players' side, and some quests give you an item that will turn an elite mob into a normal one.
** Many of the hardmodes and achievements require you not to activate the handicap and still win the fight.

* ''Film/EnterTheDragon'' had Creator/BruceLee as a literal unstoppable fighter. No one, not even the [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking impressively skilled]] BigBad, could reasonably match him in a fight. So he not only used claws built into his [[ArtificialLimbs prosthetic hands]], he trapped Lee in the famous HallOfMirrors to balance out the odds.

* In ''Fanfic/KimberlyTsGargoyles'' series, due to a deal with the Illuminati, Xanatos is prohibited from doing more to help the gargoyles than just giving them a place to sleep during the day, when he was contemplating such plans as officially hiring Broadway as a chef to create legal precedent for gargoyles as people. That said, the Illuminati also impose prohibitions against the Quarrymen trying to attack Xanatos in other areas and affirm that Xanatos can still defend the gargoyles if they’re attacked while at the castle.

* In ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW'', a number of stories have injured or made Sonic incapacitated lest his SuperSpeed ends much of the conflict.

* In ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious''/''Series/{{Smallville}}'' crossover "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9472416/1/On-the-Run On the Run]]", many of the group's enemies have access to kryptonite, thus justifying why Dom and his team need to rely on their skills to achieve their goals rather than just getting Clark to run in, grab what they need and run out.

* In ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious''/''Series/{{Smallville}}'' crossover "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9472416/1/On-the-Run On the Run]]", many of the group's enemies have access to kryptonite, thus justifying why Dom and his team need to rely on their skills to achieve their goals rather than just getting Clark to run in, grab what they need and run out.

* In the ''Series/StargateSG1'' fanfic series ''Fanfic/WhatYouAlreadyKnow'', while Daniel Jackson gains powerful psychic abilities, he gets serious headaches that could actually damage his brain if he uses these powers too much, so he only ever uses his abilities when there is no other clear choice, although with training and experience he learns how to use his powers to achieve his goals without inflicting too much pain on himself
** In ''[=WYAK=]: Resolutions'', Daniel initially suggests the use of the Dakara superweapon to stop Anubis’s supersoldiers, but [[spoiler:despite using it against the Replicators as in canon]], Sam determines that they can’t use the weapon against the Kull Warriors as it would have to be programmed to exactly match the frequency of the anti-Kull disruptor, and they don’t have the means to control it that specifically.

* ''Fanfic/FateKill'': Shirou Emiya from ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' gets sent to the world of ''Manga/AkameGaKill''. He quickly learns that while he still has his magecraft abilities, this world has no mana in the air, preventing him from easily recharging. So far, the only sources of mana he could find are Danger Beast carcasses, which disintegrate after their mana is extracted. This means Shirou has to be careful about overusing his powers and has to periodically recharge using Danger Beast body parts he collects.
* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': Chloe Cerise hails from a world with supernatural creatures, but the Infinity Train picks her up just as Chloe decides she's going to take Yamper on her and run away from home. Without Yamper and his handy Spark ability, Chloe can't rely on the Puppy Pokémon to help her fight off against some of the nastier parts of the Train, thus having her rely only on her wits, her allies, and her donut holer if she wants to leave.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4813784/55/Once-More-With-Feeling Once More With Feeling]]'', two SOLDIER cadet squads play a game of CaptureTheFlag but one of them is undermanned, the other members having been expelled. As such, that squad gets a trio of SOLDIER Third Classes to help. Since those three could take on both squads at once with ease, they're given direct orders to follow the ExactWords of their squad leader, both to make things more fair and to teach the cadets to be careful with their orders.
* In ''[[https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-32412-15/Cuautla%2BPlaylist%2Bon%2BShuffle.htm Wilderness]]'', to keep magic and technology from making things too easy, whenever Harry jumps to a new world, all his more complicated mechanical items fail. Anything from a flashlight to a water filter to gunpowder will suddenly become just useless bricks. Similarly food from his own world provides no sustenance, forcing him to hunt and forage for food while in a new world.

* ''Fanfic/JauneArcLordOfHunger'': Given that nothing short of a PhysicalGod would be capable of stopping a fully-powered [[Characters/JauneArcLordOfHungerDarthNihilus Darth Nihilus]], various limitations are placed on him to keep him from steamrolling all of Remnant. While inside his mask, Nihilus's spirit is severely weakened and only has a fraction of his original power. Also, NewBodyOldAbilities does ''not'' apply to him and he can only possess the bodies of Force-sensitives; explaining why Nihilus can't simply take over the body of the first random schmuck he comes across. Even when he does find a host who fits those requirements, they also need to be a WillingChanneler for it to work. [[spoiler:The moment Darth Nihilus takes over Jaune's body, he immediately doles out an epic CurbStompBattle to anyone foolish enough to take him on and he shrugs off everything the heroes throw at him.]]

* In the ''Series/StargateSG1'' fanfic series ''Fanfic/WhatYouAlreadyKnow'', while Daniel Jackson gains powerful psychic abilities, he gets serious headaches that could actually damage his brain if he uses these powers too much, so he only ever uses his abilities when there is no other clear choice, although with training and experience he learns how to use his powers to achieve his goals without inflicting too much pain on himself
** In ''[=WYAK=]: Resolutions'', Daniel initially suggests the use of the Dakara superweapon to stop Anubis’s supersoldiers, but [[spoiler:despite using it against the Replicators as in canon]], Sam determines that they can’t use the weapon against the Kull Warriors as it would have to be programmed to exactly match the frequency of the anti-Kull disruptor, and they don’t have the means to control it that specifically.
* In ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious''/''Series/{{Smallville}}'' crossover "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9472416/1/On-the-Run On the Run]]", many of the group's enemies have access to kryptonite, thus justifying why Dom and his team need to rely on their skills to achieve their goals rather than just getting Clark to run in, grab what they need and run out.
* ''Fanfic/FateHaremAntics'': Saint Martha is summoned as Servant Ruler. Ruler normally has two Command Spells for every other Servant in the Holy Grail War, but since she was summoned improperly, she lacks them. The author admitted this was done to prevent her from being too powerful.

* ''Fanfic/HogyokuExMachina'': Orihime's powers are damaged early on to, in the author's words, "removed the get-out-of-death-free card".

* In ''Fanfic/DoctorWhoAndTheRambaldiEnigma'', after Sydney Bristow is sent back to 1496 by the Path, Milo Rambaldi’s latest discovered invention, the Third Doctor soon determines that the Path was only capable of a one-way trip. On top of that, the Doctor is currently serving his exile to Earth in the 1970s and was only able to travel to 1496 because the Time Lords allowed the TARDIS to make this specific trip, with the result that he cannot take Sydney back to her time himself, forcing the Doctor and Sydney to work together to investigate the mystery of Rambaldi's genius.
* In ''Fanfic/FrozenTurtles'', while Elsa is technically powerful enough to take out most of the heroes' enemies by herself, she’s often handicapped by the fact that she lacks fine enough control to unleash an attack that could defeat her enemies without hurting her allies. More explicitly, during ''Frozen Turtles in Space'', [[spoiler:Elsa is basically powerless on the planet Magdomar, as the temperature is so hot that anything she tried to create on that planet would melt (although she is able to channel enough power to freeze the heart of the Triceraton commander Zanmoran when he is right in front of her)]].
* In ''Fanfic/KimberlyTsGargoyles'' series, due to a deal with the Illuminati, Xanatos is prohibited from doing more to help the gargoyles than just giving them a place to sleep during the day, when he was contemplating such plans as officially hiring Broadway as a chef to create legal precedent for gargoyles as people. That said, the Illuminati also impose prohibitions against the Quarrymen trying to attack Xanatos in other areas and affirm that Xanatos can still defend the gargoyles if they’re attacked while at the castle.
* In ''Fanfic/AvengersInfiniteWars'', WordOfGod confirms that Spider-Man will be unable to sense the true threat posed by Palpatine as Peter Parker is still too new with his powers to realise just how his spider-sense works.

* ''Fanfic/DekiruTheFusionHero'':
** Izuku's Material Fusion allows him to increase his durability and even use the full power of One for All with minimal issue. However, it also diminishes the powers of his blows compared to if he were just flesh and blood.
** Human Fusion is a borderline StoryBreakerPower. Not only do the resulting fusions have more powerful mutations of his and his classmates' Quirks, they also have access to One for All, and since they're not only more durable than normal Izuku but also flesh and blood, they have more control over it. As a result, Human Fusion is given many drawbacks to make it a DangerousForbiddenTechnique: CastFromStamina, memory-sharing, pain-sharing, and unpredictability. Even ''with'' the drawbacks, the technique is powerful enough that Aizawa was genuinely worried Izuku would come to rely on it too much.
* ''Fanfic/HeroesNeverDie'':
** While Izuku can learn to handle One For All better using his GroundhogDayLoop quirk, he can't increase his capacity. That is based on the strength of his body, and it's impossible to increase his physical power through timeloops. Worse, [[spoiler:One For All's power ''does'' increase through the loops, so if Izuku loops too much it will outstrip his training]].
** {{Invoked}} during the Sports Festival. Izuku does such an excellent job organizing his class into a singular fighting force in the first round (every single one of them places in the top twenty), that the teachers realize he'd dominate the planned cavalry battle. They do a King of the Hill type match instead and change the way teams are chosen so that he can't control the outcome too much.
* In ''Fanfic/PowerRangersMythos'', the temporally-displaced Rangers initially assume that they’ve been brought to the future to use their morphers after Fae’s own was disabled, but Fae reveals (and Flynn confirms) that the damage to the Grid has disabled their morphers as well and the Mythos Morphers are their only option.

* ''Fanfic/{{Atonement}}'': In her initial appearance, Pandora's biggest StoryBreakerPower was her ability to clone herself an unlimited number of times, with the clones possessing her full powerset and forming a HiveMind. Ballistic headshotting the "prime" Pandora near the end of her first appearance crippled that power, leaving the Pandora getsalt limited to a max of eighteen bodies at once (later reduced to sixteen after two of the Pandora personalities were KilledOffForReal).