History Main / FlightStrengthHeart

[[RuleOfFunny Mostly just because it's funny]] to list someone's powers as [[{{Naruto}} "energy manipulation, telekinesis, shapeshifting and...]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking can talk to slugs"]], instead of just "energy manipulation, telekinesis, and shapeshifting".

* WonderWoman has flight, superstrength second only to Superman, reflexes fast enough to block bullets with her bracelets (and indestructible bracelets), an indestructible magic lasso that can break enchantments and force anyone bound with it to answer any question truthfully and a razor-sharp tiara she can throw like a boomerang. Did you know she can also [[TheDoctorDolittle talk to animals]]? Neither did most of the people who write her comic, judging by how often she does it.

*** The worst case of which is a simple multiplication, which Supes calls "Super-Mathematics" ''while he gets the answer wrong''.

We've all heard of the [[FlyingBrick standard superhero power deal]], of people with phenomenal cosmic powers, and of people whose powers [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway make people point and laugh]]. Sometimes, though, people like to mix things up and give someone with reasonable, or even cool, powers an additional lame or useless one.

Mostly just because it's funny to list someone's powers as [[{{Naruto}} "energy manipulation, telekinesis, shapeshifting and...]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking can talk to slugs"]], instead of just "energy manipulation, telekinesis, and shapeshifting".

[[folder:Comics]]

[[folder:Manga & Anime]]
* Mew Ichigo of ''TokyoMewMew'' has typical MagicalGirl leader powers that make her a particularly useful fighter, as well as the ability to jump high, always land on her feet, and... transform into a cute helpless kitten. [[InvoluntaryShapeshifting Unexpectedly]]. This was played up in ''Tokyo Mew Mew - a la mode'' to the point where she literally had to turn into a cat after three minutes of fighting in order to let Berii take her spotlight and place as leader.
* Inverted a bit in ''[[{{Anime/ptitlei015gc004kw4}} Pokémon]]'': Misty's Psyduck has Scratch and Tail Whip as its ''primary'' attacks (in fact, this is the only time we ever see Tail Whip in the anime). But then the uber-powerful Disable, Confusion, and sometimes even Psychic when its headache is big enough. Bear in mind that Psyduck's time in the spotlight was almost entirely during the first generation of ''Pokemon'', when Psychic was the Gun in the game's ElementalRockPaperScissors.
* Mokona from ''TsubasaReservoirChronicle'' can take people through different dimensions and works as a UniversalTranslator. Another of its "secret techniques" is imitating voices.
** That is not a useless technique, You never know when you are going to need doing a BavarianFireDrill.
** Mokona's sort of a subversion of this. Every aspect shown of his however many secret techniques has come in incredibly useful for the heroes or Yuuko.
* The eponymous character in ''{{Naruto}}'' doesn't always get the summon he ''wants'' and is stuck with Gamakichi and/or Gamatatsu instead. "Can spontaneously create a thousand clones of himself, generate and weaponize a ball of pure energy, and summon... a couple of small, hungry talking frogs..."
** This changes quite a bit in Shippuden, as Gamakichi and Gamatatsu have grown quite a bit bigger (as in, larger than any human, though they're still tiny compared to their father [[{{Kaiju}} Gamabunta]]), and even the snack-obsessed moron Gamatatsu can do a powerful combination jutsu with Naruto.
** Played straight/for comedy with [[spoiler:Killer Bee]], the host of the Eight-Tailed Beast. Being a jinchuriki gives you incredible amounts of chakra (even when not using the beast's power), the ability to transform part or all of the way into the beast's form, and a special power depending on which one. Of what we know of, the One-Tailed lets you control sand, the Two-Tailed can make a weird spectral fire, the Four-Tailed can control/create lava, the Nine-Tailed gives you a HealingFactor, and the Eight-Tails... lets his body produce ink which he spits. Despite this, he more than makes up for it with his control over the basic forms.
*** It's made worse by the fact that another character's entire fighting style uses ink...
** Jugo is the originator of the Cursed Seal, giving him great durability and can make his entire body a ShapeshifterWeapon. For [[FriendToAllLivingThings an entirely different reason]] he can also communicate with animals, and have them act as scouts.
* Parodied in ''AzumangaDaioh'', when Tomo plans to take Chiyo's intelligence and Sakaki's athletic ability, and Osaka offers her forgetfulness. The theoretical super-Tomo shows up late and without her textbook, but does a triple flip into her seat and gives a perfect translation.
* Tsugumi Ohba of DeathNote [[WordOfGod said that]] Shinigami, among [[NighInvulnerability intangibility]], {{Flight}}, [[EvilEye the ability to see names above people's heads]] can also... taste. It should be noted that they don't need to eat.
** [[FridgeBrilliance ...Thus explaining why Ryuk loves to eat apples]].
* The skill set of Negi in ''MahouSenseiNegima!'' includes various [[BlowYouAway wind]] and [[ShockAndAwe lightning]] spells, {{Status Buff}}s, {{Flash Step}}ping, [[spoiler:EnergyAbsorption]], etc., etc. Oh, and he also knows a spell for [[BreastExpansion breast inflation]].
** Negi has a secondary one involving [[spoiler: his artifact, which borrows the powers of his partners. This includes {{Telepathy}}, AntiMagic, a GreatBigBookOfEverything, etc. It also includes a MagicalGirl staff that allows him to [[ExtremeGraphicalRepresentation surf the internet]].]]
** Then there's Jack Rakan, whose portfolio includes SuperStrength, invincibility, ability to [[CrazyAwesome disregard the laws of physics]], and... can [[TheNoseKnows locate enemies with alarming precision by the scent of their panties]]. Which [[PantyThief he stole right off of them]].
* Luca of ''SaintBeast'' gets flight, strength, and the ability to read minds via his fingertips. In a different story one might be able to find meaningful uses for this, but in the actual series the only thing he can use it for is to read his boyfriend's mind -- the reason he actually ''wished'' for it in the first place. In comparison Judas' [[FingerSuckHealing healing kiss/breath]] is a lot less [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway lame]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

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* Mew Ichigo of ''TokyoMewMew'' has typical MagicalGirl leader powers that make her a particularly useful fighter, as well as the ability to jump high, always land on her feet, and... turn into a helpless kitten. [[InvoluntaryShapeshifting Unwillingly]]. This was played up in ''Tokyo Mew Mew - a la mode'' to the point where she literally had to turn into a cat after three minutes of fighting in order to let Berii take her spotlight and place as leader.

A subtrope to ComboPlatterPowers; compare with WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway where this is ''all'' a person can do. See also: ArsonMurderAndJaywalking for the comedic rule which makes this trope somewhat charming.

* A very bizarre version of this in LegionOfSuperHeroes- Bouncing Boy has the power to bounce and is incredibly good at angles and geometry- which means his primary power is stupider than his secondary one?

We've all heard of the [[FlyingBrick standard superhero power deal]], of people with phenomenal cosmic powers, and of people whose powers [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway make people point and laugh]]. Sometimes, though, people like to mix things up and give someone with reasonable, or even cool, powers an additional lame or useless one.

Mostly just because it's funny to list someone's powers as [[{{Naruto}} "energy manipulation, telekinesis, shapeshifting and...]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking can talk to slugs,"]] instead of just "energy manipulation, telekinesis, and shapeshifting."

* Nightcrawler of the ''XMen'' can teleport (taking other people along - or just pieces of them - if he wants), climb walls and ceilings, turn invisible in shadows, and has superhuman agility and a prehensile tail he can use to fence with three swords at once. He also has the ability to know whether or not he's in his home dimension. He can count the number of times he's used this power for anything other than instinctively ending up in the right dimension when he teleports on the fingers of one hand. And Nightcrawler only has three fingers per hand.

* Inverted a bit in ''[[{{Anime/ptitlei015gc004kw4}} Pokémon]]'': Misty's Psyduck has Scratch and Tail Whip as its ''primary'' attacks (in fact, this is the only time we ever see Tail Whip in the anime). But then the uber-powerful Disable, Confusion, and sometimes even Psychic when its headache is big enough. Bear in mind that Psyduck's time in the spotlight was almost entirely during the "Psychic beats everything" first generation of Pokemon.

** That's not even a superpower. Most of humanity, or at least a large minority, can do that. It's like being able to wiggle your ears, only more common.
*** Apparently, no one else in Townsville can do it, though.
*** Note that this ignored Buttercup's actual power. She kicks ass.

** The show partially subverts this, as the form-shifting talisman (the above-mentioned turn-people-to-animals one) is made MUCH more useful than it would be in other shows.
*** Such as when Jade turns Jackie into a chinchilla -- partially, because she wasn't sure what a chinchilla ''was''.

)

* Some D&D Spells and powers can create this effect, especially the optional rules and level 0 spells. Wizards can blow up dragons and turn coins into rings. Clerics can raise the dead and produce water from nowhere. An optional Hexblade ability allows you to create spooky omens for no reason other than to freak people out.

* It's more a [[RequiredSecondaryPowers Required Secondary Power]], but Scott Summers, aka. Cyclops, has a natural grasp of spatial geometry: Usually he uses it to bounce his eyebeams off stuff, but he has used it for other things (like throwing rocks and baseball) at least occasionally. {{Wolverine}} once noted that this means it's a very bad idea to play against Cyke in a game of pool.

* "Seth", a psycho living weapon developed to take down TheAuthority, had one thousand, two hundred and four unique powers- literally every single ability the world's seven richest governments together could churn out of their supersoldier programs (with all the resources of a PlanetEris at their disposal). Some of them were typical SuperpowerLottery things like telekinesis and super-super-speed. Some of them were quirkier, but made sense in terms of exploiting the Authority's Achilles Heels- "Larynx-Freezing Vision," for instance, stopped the team's DoctorStrange expy from getting a spell out. But then came "X-Ray Strength" and "Nuclear Poop Vision..."

* Nightcrawler of the XMen can teleport (taking other people along - or just pieces of them - if he wants), climb walls and ceilings, turn invisible in shadows, and has superhuman agility and a prehensile tail he can use to fence with three swords at once. He also has the ability to know whether or not he's in his home dimension. He can count the number of times he's used this power for anything other than instinctively ending up in the right dimension when he teleports on the fingers of one hand. And Nightcrawler only has three fingers per hand.

* In addition to being a FlyingBrick, one-time Avenger Starfox ([[StarFox no relation]]) has the power to overwhelm people with "waves of pleasure." He mostly uses this get laid, giving the character a very "[[MemeticMolester date-rapey]]" sort of vibe.

* In ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', Sylar's current set of abilities includes, among others, {{telekinesis}}, [[PsychoElectro lightning blasts]], an incredible {{Healing Factor}}, and...[[http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/novels/downloads/Heroes_novel_123.pdf being a printer]].

** Mokona's sort of a subversion of this. Every aspect shown of his however many secret technique skill has come in incredibly useful for the heroes or Yuuko.

** Played straight/for comedy with [[spoiler:Killer Bee]], the host of the Eight-Tailed Beast. Being a jinchuriki gives you incredibly amounts of chakra (even when not using the beast's power), the ability to transform part or all of the way into the beast's form, and a special power depending on which one. Of what we know of, the One-Tailed lets you control sand, the Two-Tailed can make a weird spectral fire, the Four-Tailed can control/create lava, the Nine-Tailed gives you a HealingFactor, and the Eight-Tails... lets his body produce ink which he spits. Despite this, he more than makes up for it with his control over the basic forms.

* Mokona from ''TsubasaReservoirChronicle'' can take people through different dimensions and works as a universal translator. Another of its "secret techniques" is imitating voices.

** It has its uses. Namely, because it's so well ''known'' that she loses her powers when her suit is torn, and because she can make part of it invisible at any given time, she uses it to make [[spoiler:her teammate-turned-evil [=dWarf!=]]] lower his guard by faking a torn suit.

** Which is used to great effect when annoying the muscular Knight of Vengeance Frost who apparently doesn't believe that RealMenWearPink. Considering Irma is the comic relief of the team this could almost count as PersonalityPowers.

**** Well, if he had gotten the answer right, it would've just been normal mathematics.

* During the second season of ''{{WITCH}}'', the girls gained some interesting secondary powers. Among the quirkier of their new powers, Irma gained the power of persuasion and the ability to turn people's clothes pink, while Will gained the ability to talk to electrical devices.
** The ability to talk to electronics comes from the comics, and is actually surprisingly handy as she can use it to get an alarm to deactivate itself for example. But yeah.
*** Even more useful, she can make electronics (and non-electronic appliances, too) work ''without power.''
*** Technopathy is far from a "Heart" superpower. It's actually incredibly useful.
*** Same with persuasion, note the extreme caution with which ''{{Heroes}}'' characters treated Eden in season one. Of course Irma's not nearly that ruthless with it, but still...
*** On the Heroes note Michah would be a tad annoyed you telling him making ATM machines give him free money, rining from broken phones, disabling tracking devices, etc are useless

*** Could be quite useful when she [[FetishFuel gets older]]... I'm an awful person.
*** Classic PowerPerversionPotential.
*** Later on, Buttercup's secondary power would be a green tornado. Presumably to make her on par with her sisters.
** In the song played during the end credits, it is Bubble's turn to have the useless power. Blossom is the "commander and the leader", Buttercup is "the toughest fighter", but Bubbles is "the joy and the laughter".
*** [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway Lame]]? [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower That's what you think]]. Bubbles [[TheHeart binds the trio together]], balances out the extremes of her sisters, has the same basic power set as the other two, and once got a monster that Blossom's strategizing couldn't get rid of and Buttercup's brute-force technique did nothing against [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome to stop attacking the city]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny by politely asking it to stop]].
**** And she's... "[[BewareTheNiceOnes HARD-COOOOOOORE]]"[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ekLCcqmvvk]]

* {{Superman}} used to have the power of Super-Ventriloquism, which he used surprisingly frequently. Also whenever Superman used to use his powers to do something more efficiently writers would call it Super-<Insert Thing Here>, so "weaving at Superspeed" became "[[http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=36&Itemid=53&limitstart=4 Super-Weaving]]".

**** Well if he had gotten the answer right, it would've just been normal mathematics.
* A very bizarre version of this in Legion Of Superheroes- Bouncing Boy has the power to bounce and is incredibly good at angles and geometry- which means his primary power is stupider than his secondary one?

* Namor the Sub-Mariner had super strength, could fly, could breathe both air and water, could charge his body with electricity, had telepathic control over undersea life... and could puff himself up like a puffer fish. The latter powers (thankfully) haven't been seen since his reintroduction into Marvel in the 1960s.

*Nightcralwer of the XMen can teleport (taking other people along - or just pieces of them - if he wants), climb walls and ceilings, and turn invisible in shadows, and has superhuman agility and a prehensile tail he can use to fence with three swords at once. He also has the ability to know whether or not he's in his home dimension. He can count the number of times he's used this power for anything other than instinctively ending up in the right dimension when he teleports on the fingers of one hand. And Nightcrawler only has three fingers per hand.

** It has its uses. Namely, because it's so well ''known'' that she loses her powers when her suit is torn, and because she can make part of it invisible at any given time, she uses it to make [[spoiler:her teammate-turned-evil [=dWarf!=] ]] lower his guard by faking a torn suit.