History Main / EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity

* In the early 2000s, ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} underwent [[ContinuitySnarl yet another]] {{retool}}ing, which involved him being named "The Waterbearer" by the Lady of the Lake herself. Rather than a magic sword, he was given a magic hand made of water.

* Common to all versions of "Literature/{{Cinderella}}". Where the Perrault and Disney version have a Fairy Godmother, other versions include a magical tree, the bones of a fish, a talking bird -- which always connect somehow to the spirit of the girl's departed mother. Some versions, such as in Mexico, have the actual [[Literature/TheBible Blessed Virgin Mary]] herself act as the Fairy Godmother. This entity is often very cruel to Cinderella's tormenters -- in Creator/TheBrothersGrimm, her friendly birds [[EyeScream peck out the eyes]] of her sisters in retaliation. Ouch.

* ''Film/Byzantium'': The process to become a vampire is gradually revealed to require visiting the shrine of a nameless and mysterious entity on an island off the coast of Ireland.

** Jesse gains access to the Service Weapon from the Board, a [[EldritchAbomination strange entity]] that looks like an [[SinisterGeometry upside-down pyramid]] and speaks in radio noise that somehow becomes understandable in the listener's mind. Whenever a potential Director picks up the Service Weapon, they put it to their head -- either willingly or under compulsion -- and the Board transports them into the Astral Plane for tests. You succeed? Welcome, Director, here's your MorphWeapon. You fail? The Board fires you... [[DeadlyEuphemism literally]].

* The Witch of Envy from ''LightNovel/ReZero'' gives Subaru his Return by Death, the single most enigmatic ability in the series as well as the most powerful, as it allows the main character to keep trying after his deaths in a world of demigods.

[[folder:Films — Animation]]

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]

* Pandora serves as this for all the god-slayers in ''LightNovel/{{Campione}}''. She, her husband Epimetheus, and his brother Prometheus were the ones that enacted the ritual that allows a mortal to steal a measure of god's power by killing them, but she's the one that appears to the Campione when they first gain those powers. Or at least to Godou.

* In ''Literature/TheSagaOfDarrenShan'', Mr. Des Tiny gave the vampires the impenetrable Hall of Princes, and the Stone of Blood, capable of mind-linking with any vampire. He also gave the enemy clan, the vampaneze, a Coffin of Fire -- if a human lays down in it, that human will be burnt to death, unless that human is their destined leader, the Lord of the Vampaneze. A Lord is found, and the second half of the series has the main characters leading the vampires in a war against him. However, the ending reveals that [[spoiler: both Darren and the Vampaneze Lord were created for this purpose, fathered by Mr. Tiny to fight this war for their father's twisted entertainment, and to take the whole world down with them.]] The Coffin of Fire could have been set to look for whatever Tiny told it to. It's understood by the end that he [[ThePresentsWereNeverFromSanta doesn't really have the authority]] to dictate those things, and if any of those ProudWarriorRaceGuy vampires weren't so scared of disobeying the prophecy, all of this could have been avoided.

* ''LightNovel/InvadersOfTheRokujyouma'':
** {{Inverted}} with the legend of ''The Silver Princess and The Blue Knight''. While [[LadyAndKnight the central duo]] strongly echo the Lady of the Lake and King Arthur respectively, it's the Blue Knight who is the enigmatic one, a KnightInShiningArmor of unknown background who assists the Forthorthian royal family, receives special authority to wield the princess's {{Excalibur}}-like [[AncestralWeapon sword of kingship]], and then disappears when no longer needed. After the first arc (where the legend features in the form of a play), a WhamEpisode reveals what actually happened all those millennia ago, and the truth of the Blue Knight's origins becomes central to the story.

* The alien godlike being "Old One" in Creator/VernorVinge 's ''Literature/AFireUponTheDeep'' is even weirder: [[spoiler:the final "messages" aren't conscious thoughts, just subconscious instructions describing how to stop Old One's murderer]].

In TheHerosJourney, an Entity often shows up as the one providing SupernaturalAid. In completely different kinds of stories, however, it might turn out that ThePresentsWereNeverFromSanta. If the Entity is {{God}} Himself, it's a type of DivineIntervention. See also TheChooserOfTheOne. May also be a MysteriousBacker.

** {{Inverted}} with the legend of ''The Silver Princess and The Blue Knight''. While the central duo strongly echo the Lady of the Lake and King Arthur respectively, it's the Blue Knight who is the enigmatic one, a KnightInShiningArmor of unknown background who assists the Forthorthian royal family, receives the right to wield the royal family's [[AncestralWeapon heirloom sword]] and then disappears when no longer needed. After the first arc (where the legend features in the form of a play), a WhamEpisode reveals what actually happened all those millennia ago, and the truth of the Blue Knight's origins becomes central to the story.

** Jesse gains access to the Service Weapon from the Board, a strange entity that looks like an upside-down pyramid and speaks in radio noise that somehow becomes understandable in the listener's mind. Whenever a potential Director picks up the Service Weapon, they put it to their head -- either willingly or under compulsion -- and the Board transports them into the Astral Plane for tests. You succeed? Welcome, Director, here's your MorphWeapon. You fail? The Board fires you... literally.

* [[Literature/BabaYaga Flemeth]], the [[AmbiguouslyEvil (in)famous]] [[RetiredMonster "Witch of]] [[VoluntaryShapeshifter the Wilds"]] from the ''Franchise/DragonAge'' series.

* {{Invoked|Trope}} in ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''. King Arthur plays the Arthurian legend straight; claiming his kingship was bestowed upon him by the Lady of the Lake, whose arm rose through the waters bestow upon him the sword Excalibur. Unfortunately it didn't work as planned and it gets {{deconstructed|Trope}} by the anarcho-syndicalist peasant he's trying to convince owes fealty to him. All together now:

* {{Parodied|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': In Northrend, there's a lady in ''every'' lake. And yes, her job is to distribute swords.

* Azura of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', so much. She's a MysteriousWaif whom [[PlayerCharacter The Avatar]] meets by a lake, empowers them with a dragonstone that lets them shapeshift, [[UndyingLoyalty always provides emotional support and advice for them]], and is the one to inform everyone about [[spoiler:the mystical kingdom of Valla]]. Her epithet is even "Lady of the Lake".

* In ''WesternAnimation/MikeTysonMysteries'', a fisherman uses the magic of Excalibur to cheat in a bass catching contest, and after being mortally wounded by Mike Tyson he asks his rival to return Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake before being taken to Avalon like King Arthur himself.

* Yoruichi from ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', due to her training of Orihime and Chad.

* The Witch of Envy from ''LightNovel/ReZero'' gives Subaru his Return by Death, the single most enigmatic ability in the series as well as the most powerful, as it allows the main character to keep trying after his deaths in a world of demigods.
* In ''Anime/FutureCardBuddyfight'', the Gargantua Punisher card is unique in-universe and taking it puts one in contact with a mysterious entity that only appears as a pair of draconic eyes in a starfield. This entity is TheChooserOfTheOne for Tasuku and with one exception, only appears when one picks up that particular card. Its identity is never revealed, but it's clearly not Gargantua Dragon, the fifth season's mascot, despite it being his sword.

* ''ComicBook/TheWickedAndTheDivine'': Ananke serves this role to the pantheon, seeking them out and awakening them as reincarnated gods. [[ManipulativeBastard Now, as to whether she's actually helping them is an entirely different story]]...

* In Star-Lord's first appearances in ''Marvel Preview'', the title of Star-Lord is a job, given by the Master of the Sun. Years later, after he'd renounced the title, Quill notes he has no idea what a Star-Lord was actually supposed to ''do''. Then it was {{retcon}}ned that the Master of the Sun never existed... then ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2020'' comes along, suggesting the Master is real, and might be an AnthropomorphicPersonification of galaxies. And that something is very determined to convince everyone (including the readers) he doesn't exist.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotter'', Albus Dumbledore and other living characters sometimes fill a bit of this role for Harry. However, they are all overshadowed by the one who truly gave Harry special powers (beyond being a wizard) and made him TheChosenOne... his mother, Lily Potter. [[spoiler:Much of his powers also come from a part of Voldemort's soul trapped inside him, but that's a direct result of Lily's sacrifice.]]
* Sephrenia, in ''Literature/TheElenium'' trilogy by Creator/DavidEddings, turns out to be one of these. A side story (presented as a prologue to one of the three novels) gives the entwined history of the royal house of Elenia and the house of Sparhawk. Both the Elenian monarch and the current generation of Sparhawk wear a special diamond ring, which this story reveals was given to their ancestors by Sephrenia, who most likely was acting on the orders of the delightfully meddlesome Child-Goddess Aphrael. Notably, this revelation is provided for the reader only, not to the characters.
* Common to all versions of "Literature/{{Cinderella}}". Where the Perrault and Disney version have a Fairy Godmother, other versions include a magical tree, the bones of a fish, a talking bird -- which always connect somehow to the spirit of the girl's departed mother. Some versions, such as in Mexico, have the actual [[Literature/TheBible Blessed Virgin Mary]] herself act as the Fairy Godmother. This entity is often very cruel to Cinderella's tormenters -- in Creator/TheBrothersGrimm, her friendly birds [[EyeScream peck out the eyes]] of her sisters in retaliation. Ouch.

* ''Literature/{{Valis}}'': A rather weird example. In Creator/PhilipKDick's novel, an alien godlike being takes over the hero's mind and transmits to him messianic messages. Sadly, one of them wasn't, [[BeamMeUpScotty "Stop doing all that speed, Dick!"]]
* The alien godlike being "Old One" in Creator/VernorVinge 's ''Literature/AFireUponTheDeep'' is even weirder: [[spoiler:the final "messages" aren't conscious thoughts, just subconscious instructions describing how to stop Old One's murderer]].
* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's ''Literature/ProsperosDaughter'' trilogy, Miranda's Lady.
* The aptly-named Mentor from the ''Literature/{{Lensman}}'' series provides all of the Lensmen with their lenses, and later provides additional empowerment to a select few.

* The Water Dragon from ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' is a good example of this. She frequently gives the player character new powers, but is doing so so that the PC can help her in return.
* In several ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' games, beginning with ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'', fairy queens in aquatic temples upgrade Link's equipment and magic abilities.
** Arguably, the original ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'' game contains a trio of ''male'' embodiments of this trope -- the three old men who provide Link with his swords.

* ''Franchise/DotHack'': Do you know why Kite, a level 1 {{noob}}, gets to become TheHero? Because [[MysteriousWaif Aura]] gave him a Bracelet that gives him hax powers. To be fair, the real Chosen One MissedTheCall, and he had to pick up the slack.
* Kuryuu Tokio in ''LINK''. If it wasn't for Amagi Saika giving him the black device, he won't be TheHero in it.

* [[spoiler:Izanami]] acts as this in ''VideoGame/Persona4''. The twist is, you're not the only one to get this special treatment, and you might not even realize it unless you take a certain path. [[spoiler:It was part of her labyrinthine social experiment in which she gave powers to both you and Tohru Adachi, to test human wishes.]]
* [[spoiler:Lucifer]] joins in the act as this in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne''. He implants the Demi-Fiend to be with the demonic parasite to induce the transformation and pops up at his leisure to either give cryptic hints, invite the boy over for a chat at the Labyrinth, and make some offers...
* The ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'' series has an entity that may be some manner of EldritchAbomination known as "The Outsider". This entity often empowers certain individuals just to see what they do with the power. That he is seen as an agent of chaos because of the mayhem that often erupts from such empowered individuals is probably more telling of humans than of the Outsider.
* ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'' has two: the Traveler, which uplifts and empowers entire species with its reality-bending Light, and the Darkness, which mostly prefers to ''destroy'' entire species, but indirectly empowered the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Hive]] a few million years ago in order to assist it in that purpose.

* ''VideoGame/{{Control}}''
** Jesse gains access to the Service Weapon from the Board, a strange entity that looks like an upside-down pyramid and speaks in radio noise that somehow becomes understandable in the listener's mind. Whenever a potential Director picks up the Service Weapon, they put it to their head -- either willingly or under compulsion -- and the Board transports them into the Astral Plane for tests. You succeed? Welcome, Director, here's your MorphWeapon. You fail? The Board fires you... literally.
** Jesse also has another Enigmatic Empowering Entity inside her head in the form of Polaris, who is the the main reason Jesse is so powerful compared to previous Directors. For example, the second most powerful Director was Northmoor, whose power level was comparable to a nuclear reactor ([[spoiler:which is why [[PoweredByAForsakenChild he is currently being used as a literal one]]]]). With that power, he was able to telekinetically throw a bowling ball six feet, which was considered an amazing achievement. Meanwhile, Jesse is able to throw objects of similar weight dozens of feet even ''without'' any upgrades to her telekinesis, and can hold three things at once and pick up large objects such as forklifts when upgraded all the way. She's also able to use the Control Points for fast travel, which is something nobody else has been able to do before. [[spoiler:When Hedron, Polaris's physical body, dies, Jesse loses all her powers until she awakens the remnants of Polaris still living inside her head.]]
* Sothis, the young girl living in Byleth's head in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', is this. On their own, Byleth is a talented mercenary with an above-average talent for leadership. Sothis bestows them with the [[TimeRewindMechanic Divine Pulse]], enabling them to rewind time to an unlimited degree on the battlefield, and later [[FusionDance fuses her soul with Byleth's]], granting further divine power, as she is [[spoiler:the goddess of the Church of Seiros]].
* The God of Time and Space in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' appears again and again throughout the series in the form of the Divinity Statues. Why it does what it does is unknown; very little about it is known at all. What ''is'' known is that by offering the blood of demons to it, one can gain incredible power. They act as a DungeonShop, where you give up crystallized demon blood (in the form of Red Orbs) and receive skills and items.

* In the early 2000s ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} underwent [[ContinuitySnarl yet another]] retooling, which involved him being named 'The Waterbearer' by The Lady of the Lake herself. Rather than a magic sword, he was given a magic hand made of water.

* In ''Captain Britain'', Lady Roma, the daughter of Merlyn, takes a role similar to the Lady of the Lake when she bestows the power of Captain Britain to Brian Braddock. Merlyn himself often plays the same role, empowering an evil version of Brian, called Albion, over Roma's concern for no other reason than "felt like it".
* Comicbook/{{Nexus}} originally received his super-powers from [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens Drizripool the Merk,]] though it was years before they met face to face, and they never got along well (Drizripool being insane, after all). He has a better relationship with Drizripool's successor, [=GQ=].
* ComicBook/StarLord: In the original story, Star-Lord is a job, given by the Master of the Sun. Years later, after he'd renounced the title, Quill notes he has no idea what a Star-Lord was actually supposed to ''do''. Then it was retconned that the Master of the Sun never existed... then ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2020'' comes along, suggesting the Master is real, and might be an anthrophic personification of galaxies. And that something is very determined to convince everyone (including the readers) he doesn't exist.

* Invoked in ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''. King Arthur plays the Arthurian legend straight; claiming his kingship was bestowed upon him by the Lady of the Lake, whose arm rose through the waters bestow upon him the sword Excalibur. Unfortunately it didn't work as planned and it gets deconstructed by the anarcho-syndicalist peasant he's trying to convince owes fealty to him. All together now:
-->'''Dennis:''' Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government! Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony! [...] Well you can't expect to wield supreme power just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you! [...] I mean, if I went around saying I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!

* In ''Literature/TheMistsOfAvalon'', The Lady of the Lake is the title used by the Matriarch of Avalon, a machiavellian politician who supports King Arthur because she believes that it will save her people... much to the sorrow of our poor protagonist, Morgana Le Fay.

* The Lady of the Lake appears in ''Series/{{Merlin 2008}}'' as Freya, a young Druid girl who dies in the same episode she first appears, only to return as a spirit the following season and deliever Excalibur into Merlin's hands.

* In several versions of The HolyGrail, the Lady of the Lake acted on God's behalf when she gave King Arthur Excalibur and the right to rule over all Britons. (This may or may not include Monty Python's Film version, making the anarcho-syndicalist protester either a FlatEarthAtheist or someone correctly pointing out ThePresentsWereNeverFromSanta. In either case: The Dennis quote belongs in that ''trope'', not here.) However, in most, it was the mysterious Sword in the Stone -- which is not Excalibur -- that announced he was the rightful king of Britain. Excalibur was just a sword.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'': The Bretonnians borrow heavily from Arthurian legend, alongside pretty much every other source of medieval chivalric archetypes going. As such their chief deity is The Lady of the Lake, whose favour they often pray for before battle (and it actually works, protecting them from ignoble enemy missile fire!) and whose magic Grail is the object of frequent Grail Quests for knights seeking the highest ranks of knighthood. The Lady's chief priestess is the mysterious sorceress Morgiana the Fey, who may or may not be a Wood Elf masquerading for her own people's benefit.

* In ''Theatre/{{Spamalot}}'', The Lady Of The Lake is one of the main characters of the musical. She is also a Cher impersonator.

* Parodied in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': In Northrend, there's a lady in ''every'' lake. And yes, her job is to distribute swords.
* A very dark twist on this is in ''VideoGame/AlanWake'': The Dark Presence ''is'' [[spoiler: Cauldron Lake]], and takes on the form of [[spoiler: an old hag in a burial shroud.]]
* Subverted and parodied in ''VideoGame/ArmedAndDangerous''. The Lady of the Pond exists in the universe, but when the heroes seek her out for her MacGuffin she takes so long to appear that [[TheLancer Jonesy]] starts skipping rocks in her pond out of boredom. His rock ends up beaning her by accident and gives her amnesia.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In a subversion, the Guardians from ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod''. Usually, they form contracts with the residents of the Tower that allow them to use [[AppliedPhlebotinum Shinsu]], which is theoretically limitless. However, it also binds them to certain rules that are more like laws of nature, for instance not being able to kill the King of the Tower. The subversion comes with [[TheHero Bam]], who also makes contracts with the Guardians, but is a person who does not need need contracts to manipulate Shinsu nor is he bound to the laws of the Tower.
[[/folder]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' the Lady of the Lake appears in Central Park and helps King Arthur regain Excalibur.

-->'''Charlene''': Hey, kids, you're getting a little quest of your own! Oh, that's so nice.

* Kyubey from ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''. Extra emphasis on "enigmatic," since there's a lot about being a magical girl that he ''doesn't'' tell those who make contracts with him.

* The wizard Shazam has a similar role in the Golden-Age ''[[Comicbook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]]''.

* Ananke serves this role to [[Comicbook/TheWickedAndTheDivine the pantheon]], seeking them out and awakening them as reincarnated gods. [[ManipulativeBastard Now, as to whether she's actually helping them is an entirely different story...]]
* This was a common trope in the MythArc of ''Creator/CrossGen'', however their role had some variance.
* A relaunch of ''ComicBook/Gen13'' written by Creator/ChrisClaremont involved a being called "Herod" empowering teenagers around the world and letting them run free before later on hunting them down "at the appointed time" in order to "judge" them. The series [[CutShort was canceled]] and given a RetCon before it could give the reason why it did this.

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has [[spoiler: the Phoenix, specifically Lily Potter after merging with the Phoenix to become the White Phoenix of the Crown]] serve as this to Harry until chapter 70 provides an InternalReveal of what she is, then chapter 78 provides another one of ''who'' she is and just why she's doing it. Partly. There are implied to be two motives in play: first, [[spoiler: Lily's desire to protect her son]] and second, [[spoiler: the Phoenix's]] motive for empowering him, which is implied to be part of a scheme cooked up by her and Doctor Strange to [[spoiler: prepare him to face down Thanos - and take down Surtur, in the process, against whom the Phoenix has a very big grudge.]]
** Doctor Strange plays this role frequently, though usually with information. In a more direct sense, he [[spoiler: gives Carol the Green Lantern Ring]] in chapter 75 and neglects to mention what it really is.

* In ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' (film version ''only''), the wizard ends up in this role. He gives everyone symbolic gifts that are exactly what they need. And symbolic gifts are perfectly valid, since it's AllJustADream. (That's why it doesn't work in the book version, where Oz is a real place.)

* Sephrenia, in ''Literature/TheElenium'' trilogy by Creator/DavidEddings, turns out to be one of these. A side story (presented as a prologue to one of the three novels) gives the entwined history of the royal house of Elenia and the house of Sparhawk. Both the Elenian monarch and the current generation of Sparhawk wear a special diamond ring, which this story reveals was given to their ancestors by Sephrenia, who most likely was acting on the orders of the delightfully meddlesome Child-Goddess Aphrael. Notably, this revelation is provided for the reader only -- not to the characters.
* Common to all versions of "Literature/{{Cinderella}}". Where the Perrault and Disney version have a Fairy Godmother, other versions include a magical tree, the bones of a fish, a talking bird -- which always connect somehow to the spirit of the girl's departed mother. Some versions, such as in Mexico, have the actual Blessed Virgin Mary herself act as the Fairy Godmother. This entity is often very cruel to Cinderella's tormenters -- in Creator/TheBrothersGrimm, her friendly birds peck out the eyes of her sisters in retaliation. Ouch.

* The alien godlike being "Old One" in Creator/VernorVinge 's ''Literature/AFireUponTheDeep'' is even weirder: [[spoiler:the final "messages" aren't conscious thoughts, just subconscious instructions describing how to stop Old One's murderer.]]

* Pandora serves as this for all the god-slayers in ''{{LightNovel/Campione}}''. She, her husband Epimetheus and his brother Prometheus were the ones that enacted the ritual that allows a mortal to steal a measure of god's power by killing them, but she's the one that appears to the Campione when they first gain those powers. Or at least to Godou.

** Arguably, the original ''VideoGame/{{The Legend of Zelda|I}}'' game contains a trio of ''male'' embodiments of this trope -- the three old men who provide Link with his swords.

* ''Franchise/DotHack'': Do you know why Kite, a level 1 {{noob}} gets to become TheHero? Because [[MysteriousWaif Aura]] gave him a Bracelet that gives him hax powers. To be fair, the real Chosen One MissedTheCall, and he had to pick up the slack.

* This is what ultimately composes [[spoiler:Cosmos']] ThanatosGambit in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy''; [[spoiler:by siphoning out what remained of her power into the [[MineralMacGuffin crystals]] that her warriors had been collecting for their Destiny Odyssey storylines, she weakened herself enough for Chaos to take her down, but empowered her warriors enough to defeat him, too, and finally break the cycle... Unfortunately, it didn't quite work.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Granblue Fantasy}}'' the [[PhysicalGod primal beast]] [[GhostShip Celeste]] has the power to prevent ''death'' from occuring. On some occasions, it grants individuals CompleteImmortality with all the benefits of eternal youth, perfect health and a variety of abilities relating to the realm of the dead. The "enigmatic" part comes from the fact that almost nothing is known about ''why'' Celeste does this and how it chooses who gets to be immortal.

** Dr. Halsey could technically count, as she was the one who started the SPARTAN-II project, making the test subjects super-soldiers, though most did not survive the process. It is also unique in that the way she gives you "powers" is done mostly through drugs and machines rather then magic.
** A more straightforward SufficientlyAdvancedAlien example is the Librarian, a Forerunner whose long-term plans for humanity's ascension are still ongoing despite her having died 100,000 years ago; among other things, she put inheritable genetic instructions into prehistoric humanity, with her machinations being partly responsible for the very existence of the Master Chief and Cortana. In ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'', [[spoiler:one of her "essences" gives Chief immunity to the Composer, while another gives Dr. Halsey the Janus Key (which contains the real-time location of all Forerunner tech in the galaxy)]].
* The Bees of ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'', who [[SuperEmpowering imbue the players with magical powers]] at the start of the game by symbiotically bonding with them. For good measure, players at first have no idea why they've been chosen or what they're expected to do with their new powers, though it's eventually revealed that the Bees are actually biomechanical MagiTek creations of [[BigGood Gaia]], the [[DeusEstMachina Immaculate Machine]], and Bee-imbued operatives are meant to serve as the magical equivalent of white blood cells. Plus, once you've gotten into the habit of collecting the lore entries they transmit, the Bees end up revealing a lot more than the player's employers among the Big Three.

* Jonathan's sire in ''VideoGame/Vampyr2018'' turns out to be none other than [[spoiler:Myth/{{Merlin}} (or Myrddin Wilt, one of the many names he was known for and the one he goes by in the game) who instead of an wizard, is a mysterious vampire entity that over the centuries had raised immortal heroes to protect Britain from the [[BigBad Red Queen's]] [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen wrath]]. His gift makes him stronger and more powerful than the oldest and most feared vampires, and Jonathan is just the most recent in a long line of vampire champions which includes ''King Arthur'' (though his [[ThePoorlyChosenOne premature death]] led to the Red Queen's victory and Britain suffering for years to come)]].

** Jesse's gains access to the Service Weapon from the Board, a strange entity that looks like an upside-down pyramid and speaks in radio noise that somehow becomes understandable in the listener's mind. Whenever a potential Director picks up the Service Weapon, they put it to their head - either willingly or under compulsion - and the Board transports them into the Astral Plane for tests. You succeed? Welcome, Director, here's your MorphWeapon. You fail? The Board fires you... literally.
** Jesse also has another Enigmatic Empowering Entity inside her head in the form of Polaris, who is the the main reason Jesse is so powerful compared to previous Directors. For example, the second most powerful Director was Northmoor, whose power level was comparable to a nuclear reactor ([[spoiler:which is why [[PoweredByAForsakenChild he is currently being used as a literal one]]]]). With that power, he was able to telekinetically throw a bowling ball six feet, which was considered an amazing achievement. Meanwhile, Jesse is able to throw objects of similar weight dozens of feet even ''without'' any upgrades to her telekinesis, and can hold three things at once and pick up large objects such as forklifts when upgraded all the way. She's also able to use the Control Points for fast travel, which is something nobody else has been able to do before. [[spoiler:When Hedron, Polaris's physical body, dies, Jesse loses all her powers until she awakens the remnants of Polaris still living inside her head]].
* Sothis, the young girl living in Byleth's head in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses,'' is this. On their own, Byleth is a talented mercenary with an above-average talent for leadership. Sothis bestows them with the [[TimeRewindMechanic Divine Pulse,]] enabling them to rewind time to an unlimited degree on the battlefield, and later [[FusionDance fuses her soul with Byleth's,]] granting further divine power, as she is [[spoiler:the ProgenitorGod of the world.]]

* This trope goes through a DoubleSubversion in the first episode of ''Doraleus And Associates''. The being called "The Lady of the Lake" is obviously supposed to be a EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity, guarding the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Zephyr]] [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Blade]] in waiting for TheChosenOne to wield.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In the ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' [[FillerStrip filler story]] "Stick-Figure Tales of Cotton", both Captain Hippity and Science Guy were empowered and given the start with their superhero careers by a group of mysterious aliens. The villain in the story wanted to oppose the aliens, having figured out that they were [[spoiler: actually the disguised hand of the author of the comic himself, messing with continuity in order to create the filler strips to take a break from the main comic.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'', the power of Castle Greyskull is guarded by a enigmatic woman called The Sorceress. In most continuities, she is the one who give He-Man the magic sword that makes him He-Man. Her own nature is usually undefined (as in "remains a mystery"). At least one continuity treats her as a personification of Castle Greyskull itself, while another continuity have her as a human who is also the mother of Teela. In one timetravel episode taking place in the future, Teela ''is'' the Sorceress.
* In the second season of ''WesternAnimation/{{Stormhawks}}'', Piper develops a technique that can grant Aerow various powers, but only while she channels them. However, this is something of a DangerousForbiddenTechnique since it's slowly killing her. However [[spoiler:by the finale, she learns that being "in synch" with the recipient makes the technique lose all harmful side effects, and of course, they're both perfectly in synch. Cue VillainousBreakdown by Cyclonis and the Dark Ace.]]