History Main / FlightStrengthHeart

A SubTrope of ComboPlatterPowers, TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers. May overlap with RequiredSecondaryPowers and NewPowersAsThePlotDemands. Compare ArsonMurderAndJaywalking.

* ''Manga/{{Shy}}'': Pretty much Shy's base powerset. She starts with strength and a jetpack, and the rest of her powers are fueled by her [[HeartIsAnAwesomPower kindness and compassion.]]

* ''ComicBook/TheEternals'': In addition to being a FlyingBrick, one-time Avenger Starfox ([[VideoGame/StarFox no relation]]) has the power to overwhelm people with "waves of pleasure." He mostly uses this to get laid, giving the character a very "[[MemeticMolester date-rapey]]" sort of vibe. His "pleasure power" would fall more under the realm of UselessUsefulSpell. Though the ability to take an enemy out via orgasm is a potentially useful one, it's failed nearly every time he's tried to use it in a fight. Eventually the "pleasure power" became a lot more potent in the pages of She-Hulk, so naturally he lost it in a lawsuit.

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'': As in [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog the games]], Silver the Hedgehog has telekinetic powers that can do just about anything the writer can think of, with him being able to fly and throw meteorites with his mind. Here his amazing psychic abilities can also ''give you a headache.'' Normally he can only read the minds of other psychics, and even then only if they'll let him anyway. But it came in handy in issue 217 when he used a psychic booster to release a herd of walruses from mind control.

* ''ComicStrip/StarFox'': ''VideoGame/StarFox'''s own Fox [=McCloud=] "could fly circles around a flea, endure days of gravity training, recite the Cornerian Constitution backwards and belch on command." [[note]]Presumably the command was, "Belch, [=McCloud=], belch!"[[/note]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{The Fairly OddParents}}'': Noticing that his parents have to work all day and are too tired for him when they get home, Timmy wishes to his fairy godparents that his parents were superheroes and "toss in whatever superpowers they can think off". Standard powers: superstrength, flight, morphing powers, heat vision and superspeed. Stranger but no less practical powers: spider snot. And then there's meat vision, which they inexplicably retain in at least one later episode.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperheroSquadShow'' this applies to just about everyone. Comicbook/DoctorStrange, for example, is good at energy projection, transformation of matter, Bulgarian CowTipping, and sudoku.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'', [[CuteBruiser Starfire]] is a FlyingBrick with SuperStrength, the ability to project energy blasts from her hands and eyes, resistance to the vacuum of space and other harsh environmental conditions, and the ability to...learn languages by kissing a native speaker. (According to the show, it has to be a kiss. See the comic above.)

* ComicBook/{{Nightcrawler}} can teleport (taking other people along - [[PortalCut 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.

* ComicBook/{{Gambit}}:
** Used to have a power which had no practical applications but meant he could touch Rogue. Though this was useful as the two were lovers. ([[RuleOfDrama He lost it, of course]].)
** He also had a "charm" power, which everyone except Creator/ChrisClaremont completely ignored.
* ComicBook/{{Rogue}} herself, when still possessing ComicBook/MsMarvel's powers, had a latent [[SpiderSense seventh sense]] that allowed her to detect danger. She used it perhaps twice in the comic books. Ms. Marvel herself rarely used the power, either.
* Franchise/{{Superman}} used to have the power of Super-Ventriloquism, which he used surprisingly frequently (because being able to ''literally'' throw your voice gives you a way to communicate in the vacuum of space). Also whenever Superman -or other Kryptonian- used to use his powers to do something more efficiently writers would call it Super-<Insert Thing Here>, so "weaving at Superspeed" became [[http://images.paxholley.net/blog/superman/supes_weaving1.jpg "Super-Weaving"]]. The worst case of which is a simple multiplication, which Supes calls [[http://images.paxholley.net/blog/superman/supes_math1.jpg "Super-Mathematics"]] ''while he gets the answer wrong''. His "Super-Breath" is used only sporadically (volcano eruption, "Fire Wall of Doom"). In ''ComicBook/WarWorld'', Superman and Supergirl use their Super Ventriloquism to communicate in the vacuum of space.
* ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} was created in the late Silver Age and she was so overpowered like her cousin, but she was not liable to come up with new weird powers every issue. Still she used "Super Ventiloquism", in ''ComicBook/ActionComics #258'' she used "Super Aiming" and in ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl1972 Supergirl Vol 1]]'' issue #1 she uses [[VacuumMouth Super-Suction Breath]] to capture a serial killer (she draws out the air out of a cab so the man in there faints). Supergirl once complained (to herself) how "lame" "Super Breath" was.
* Franchise/SpiderMan got one of these in "The Other" powerup mini-arc before Civil War. He gained such powers as seeing in the dark, tracing vibrations through his weblines, poison stingers in his arms... and the ability to identify the species of any spider on sight. At least he didn't end up shooting webs out of his behind.
** Even before that arc, he had adhesive abilities allowing him to climb up walls. That can sometimes come in handy but super-sticky powers still sound puny when compared to super strength and agility. In fact, he once held a small child to his back with no hands, like a spider's egg sac. That's right. Spidey had the power to give spider-piggyback rides! ''The proportionate piggy-back rides of a spider!''
** Kaine, the second Scarlet Spider, picked up a similar set of abilities after his return... as well as, much to his displeasure, the ability to communicate with spiders. There are several where this power has come in handy, but Kaine, a determinedly serious angsty anti-hero, refuses to use it unless absolutely necessary.
* Namor the ComicBook/SubMariner has super strength, can fly, can breathe both air and water, can charge his body with electricity, has telepathic control over undersea life... and can puff himself up like a puffer fish. The latter powers (thankfully) haven't been seen since his reintroduction into Marvel in the 1960s.
* On a related note, this is arguably why ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} is often seen more as a punchline than a legitimate superhero, since people tend to overlook his more useful abilities like super strength, durability and breathing underwater, and just remember him as "the guy who [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway talks to fish]]" (and of course, even that ability can be [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower surprisingly useful]] in large bodies of water... Ever seen ''Film/{{Jaws}}''? Yeah, he can make that happen to you whenever he damn well pleases). It does not help that ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'' mostly forgot about the strength and durability and didn't even bother much to at least make him BadassNormal outside of water. Yet, in some incarnations he is one of the most powerful Justice League members, especially when he also has magic on top of his other powers.

* It's more a {{Required Secondary Power|s}}, but Scott Summers, aka. ComicBook/{{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. ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} once noted that this means it's a very bad idea to play against Cyke in a game of pool. Captain America also has this as well for the same reason (except with his shield); one can only imagine what would happen if the two of them played pool together.
* ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'s hypermembrane, [[ClothingDamage when intact]], grants her an impressive, if unreliable, array of superpowers, such as SuperStrength, energy blasts, WallCrawling, and invulnerability. It can also turn invisible. Not turn ''her'' invisible, just turn ''itself'' invisible. You can guess how Emp and her body-image issues feel about ''that'' little trick. It also makes phone calls.
* "Seth", a psycho living weapon developed to take down ComicBook/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 WorldOfWeirdness 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 Heel}}s- "Larynx-Freezing Vision," for instance, stopped the team's ComicBook/DoctorStrange expy from getting a spell out. But then came "X-Ray Strength" and "Nuclear Poop Vision”...
* ComicBook/WonderWoman has flight, superstrength second only to Superman, [[SuperReflexes 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 [[SpeaksFluentAnimal talk to animals]]? Neither did most of the people who write her comic, judging by how often she does it. She can also talk with trees.
* ComicBook/{{Nightcrawler}} of the ''ComicBook/XMen'' can teleport (taking other people along - [[PortalCut 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.
* The ComicBook/MartianManhunter has superstrength, flight, invulnerability, laser vision, telepathy, invisibility, intangibility and shapeshifting. He also has nine senses, which are poorly defined and ignored by most writers.
* In addition to being a FlyingBrick, one-time Avenger Starfox ([[VideoGame/StarFox no relation]]) has the power to overwhelm people with "waves of pleasure." He mostly uses this to get laid, giving the character a very "[[MemeticMolester date-rapey]]" sort of vibe. His "pleasure power" would fall more under the realm of UselessUsefulSpell. Though the ability to take an enemy out via orgasm is a potentially useful one, it's failed nearly every time he's tried to use it in a fight. Eventually the "pleasure power" became a lot more potent in the pages of She-Hulk, so naturally he lost it in a lawsuit.
* Mr Hyde from ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' had monstrous strength and toughness, and could see heat. With an invisible sociopath on their team, this did become useful.
* ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'s sonar super-hearing is used relatively often. His super-touch is mentioned relatively frequently, as well. Every once in a while, his super-smell will be referenced and useful. But rarely does his super-taste, which apparently allows him to analyze even trace ingredients of food, work its way into a story.
* ComicBook/SavageDragon has superhuman strength, invulnerability, a healing factor, superhuman aim, superhuman agility, and... the ability to speak any Earth-based language. He didn't even realize he had this power until he met someone who spoke Mandarin.
* Even ComicBook/SquirrelGirl, whose primary abilities push HeartIsAnAwesomePower to new levels, gets in on this act. Her useful abilities include [[SuddenlyFluentInGibberish Talks To Squirrels]] and [[SuperReflexes Squirrel Agility]], but she also has lips that taste like hazelnuts.
* ''ComicBook/SheHulk'' villain Captain Rectitude, in addition to his {{Flight}}, SuperStrength, and energy beams, has a strong anti-smut instinct in place of his normal biological drives.
* ''VideoGame/StarFox'''s own Fox [=McCloud=] [[ComicStrip/StarFox "could fly circles around a flea, endure days of gravity training, recite the Cornerian Constitution backwards and belch on command."]] [[note]]Presumably the command was, "Belch, [=McCloud=], belch!"[[/note]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'', in the original comics. He has SuperStrength, [[HeroicSecondWind Drama Power]] and is NighInvulnerable... And the ability to pull 2 dollar bills out of {{Hammerspace}} inside his pockets at will. [[MundaneUtility The Tick uses this incredible power to pay for groceries]].
* ComicBook/{{Starfire}} is a FlyingBrick who can shoot energy beams. Also, in order to explain [[AliensSpeakingEnglish her grasp of English]], she can learn any language by kissing a native speaker. Later a RetCon says that it can be ''any'' form of touch, but she likes kissing [[PowerPerversionPotential because it's more fun]].
* As in [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog the games]], Silver the Hedgehog from ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' has telekinetic powers that can do just about anything the writer can think of, with him being able to fly and throw meteorites with his mind. Here his amazing psychic abilities can also ''give you a headache.'' Normally he can only read the minds of other psychics, and even then only if they'll let him anyway. But it came in handy in issue 217 when he used a psychic booster to release a herd of walruses from mind control.

** Another potential entrant in this trope is Yuugi Hoshiguma, with the "power to wield unexplainable phenomena." In a world [[FantasyKitchenSink where everything is unexplained phenomena]] [[WorldOfWeirdness and therefore, nothing is]], this could be the strongest power of all, or the most useless one. Nothing in canon explains her power in the slightest, and [[TheWikiRule the wiki]]'s stance on the matter is "damned if we know," which makes sense given that explaining the power would be anathema to the power itself... At any rate, she is still an {{oni}}, and one of [[EliteFour the Four Devas of the Mountain]] to boot, and among the Four recognized as the physically strongest member. You know you're a badass when a race whose members are known to occasionally shatter mountains gives you the moniker [[RedBaron "Yuugi the Strong."]]

* Inverted a bit in ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'': 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.

* "Seth", a psycho living weapon developed to take down ComicBook/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 WorldOfWeirdness 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 ComicBook/DoctorStrange expy from getting a spell out. But then came "X-Ray Strength" and "Nuclear Poop Vision..."

* In ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'' Mistborn have the allomancy, power to "burn" metals to grant them the power associated with that metal. Some of them are obviously useful - pewter grants you enhanced strength and agility, for example, while others are useful in the world - copper hides your own use of allomancy and protects your mind from allomantic influence. Then there's gold, which allows you to see the person you would have been had you made different choices and is mostly good for traumatizing yourself, and aluminum, which just destroys all the metals you've swallowed. For extra fun, most allomancers are "mistings" who can only burn one metal. If that metal is aluminum or duralinum (which grants a massive power boost to the other metals you're burning except that you can't burn any other metals), congratulations, you have the power to do nothing.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': SCP-076-2 a.k.a. Able: [[SuperStrength super strong,]] MadeOfIron, can materialize blades from nowhere...and has a great affinity for tending to livestock.

* On ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', [[CuteBruiser Starfire]] is a FlyingBrick with SuperStrength, the ability to project energy blasts from her hands and eyes, resistance to the vacuum of space and other harsh environmental conditions, and the ability to...learn languages by kissing a native speaker. (According to the show, it has to be a kiss. See the comic above.)

* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' protagonist Reimu Hakurei can fly (granted, nearly everyone in [[FantasyKitchenSink Gensoukyou]] can do that), call upon the powers of the Hakurei Shrine gods, [[NighInvulnerable make herself completely indestructible at a whim]], and [[NeverGetsFat eat sweets without getting fat]].

* [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk The Hulk]] has super-strength and durability... and the ability to see astral forms. Which is more useful than you might think, but not ''that'' much more useful. To be even more obscure, he can also always sense his location relative to the place he was "born" in the gamma bomb.

* All three ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' are [[FlyingBrick superstrong and can fly,]] can shoot EyeBeams, and have several other cool powers. Blossom also has freezing powers, Bubbles can speak any language (including animal languages), and Buttercup can...roll her tongue like a taco.

* The comics had Franchise/WonderWoman as an TheChampion of [[CompleteImmortality the amazon warriors]] with SuperStrength and an [[CoolPlane invisible plane]]. The ''Series/{{Wonder Woman|1975}}'' TV series introduced the world [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL9L_uYASrU to the way]] Diana Prince could [[EverythingsBetterWithSpinning spin]] to change her clothes to Wonder Woman's, and back into Diana Prince (in the episode "The Feminum Mystique Part 1)", and also gave Wonder Woman [[SpeaksFluentAnimal the power to talk to pigeons]], [[FriendToAllLivingThings calm guard dogs]], and [[VoiceChangeling perfectly impersonate a German spy's voice]]

* ''WesternAnimation/PJMasks'': The three main members of this team are prone to this: Owlette's got flight, Gekko's got strength, and Catboy is the heart and soul of this team.

* In ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'', the [[ComboPlatterPowers Keyblade]] can [[SummonToHand appear at will]], [[MorphWeapon assume nearly any form]], act as a [[FullContactMagic conduit for magic]], [[HolyHandGrenade annihilate]] TheHeartless, and [[MundaneUtility lock or unlock doors]]. Which turn out to be the most powerful of its abilities by ''far'', because [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower hearts lie behind doors]].

* In ''Webcomic/TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella'' the title character has super strength and invulnerability and can jump really high, which are all she uses. Occasionally she demonstrates other, more bizarre abilities. For example, the ability to vomit up a live octopus, the ability to kill plants with her voice, and "oyster sense". She also gets heat vision as an allergic reaction to shellfish.

* In the manga version of ''Manga/SailorMoon'', Sailor Venus has SuperStrength, [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]] , [[ExtraOreDinary control over metals]] (apparently), and the ability of purifying people corrupted by magic. In ''Manga/CodenameSailorV'' she also has the Venus Sulphur Smoke attack, that ''summons Venus' horribly stinking atmosphere''.
** ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman / HeartIsAnAwesomePower: The one time she actually used it, she was facing a small army of cat youmas who had multiple hostages and increased sense of smell, and knocked them out instantly. Also, given the name of the attack, she was probably holding back, otherwise she would have ''molten everything with a cloud of sulphuric acid''.

* Film/PumaMan, of the film of the same name, has super strength, flight (kinda), teleportation, [[IntangibleMan intangibility]], [[MySignificanceSenseIsTingling a danger sense]], and the ability to see in the dark. He can also [[PlayingPossum fake being dead]]. Since Puma Man is basically useless despite his [[ComboPlatterPowers smorgasbord of powers]], he at one point uses his possum power to get the villain to leave him alone.

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' sometimes goes this route with its Stands, having Stands that have excellent physical stats, but abilities that seem comparatively useless. Bruno Bucciarati in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'' has Sticky Fingers/Zipper Man, which is a powerful close-ranged Stand with the ability to create a zipper on what it touches. This turns out to be incredibly useful for concealment, disabling an enemy either lethally or non-lethally, and even simply for moving around. Ermes Costello in ''MangaJoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean'' has the Stand Kiss/Smack, another incredibly physically powerful Stand with the ability to duplicate an object she places a sticker on, then recombine them while doing damage to the original, and as is par for the course for ''JoJo'', she gets a lot of creative uses out of it. Main character Jolyne's Stone Free/Stone Ocean is another case; a physically powerful Stand with the ability to unravel Jolyne's body into threads, threads that happen to be incredibly strong and malleable.

[[RuleOfFunny Mostly just because it's funny]] to list someone's powers as "energy manipulation, one of the greatest healers in the world, super strength and...can talk to slugs", instead of just "energy manipulation, healing, and strength."

** Jugo is the originator of the Cursed Seal, giving him great durability and lets him make his entire body a ShapeshifterWeapon. For [[FriendToAllLivingThings an entirely different reason]] he can also communicate with animals, and have them do various tasks like scouting or scattered torn pieces of clothing to throw someone off their trail. [[spoiler:Jugo's kinship with nature is actually tied to his transformation powers, since both are due to him being a natural Sage, a person with strong ties to the chakra of nature.]]
* Parodied in ''Manga/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.

We've all heard of the [[FlyingBrick standard superhero power deal]], of people with phenomenal cosmic powers,[[note]][[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} itty bitty living space not mandatory]],[[/note]] and of people whose powers make people point and laugh, since WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway Sometimes, though, people like to mix things up and give someone with reasonable, or even cool, powers an additional lame, strange, [[EmbarrassingSuperpower embarrassing]], or useless one.

[[RuleOfFunny Mostly just because it's funny]] to list someone's powers as "energy manipulation, one of the greatest healers in the world, super strength and...can talk to slugs", instead of just "energy manipulation, healing and strength."

Of course HeartIsAnAwesomePower can also apply, which means this power can allow nasty surprise or emergency exit if no one ever takes it into account or it's just too wildly out of line to suspect. Which means the character is "multiclassed" as a QuirkyBard or LethalJokeCharacter and standalone versions of these are avoided.

Of course HeartIsAnAwesomePower can also apply, which means this power can allow nasty surprise or emergency exit if no one ever takes it into account or it's just too wildly out of line to suspect. Which means the character is "multiclassed" as a SpoonyBard or LethalJokeCharacter and standalone versions of these are avoided.

* ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'': As the son of Poseidon, Percy has all sorts of abilities at his disposal. The power to [[MakingASplash control water]], communicate with sea life, create hurricanes, control boats, outright summon water even when he's far inland, and [[SuperNotDrowningSkills survive in the depths of the ocean without drowning, getting crushed by the pressure, or even getting wet]]. He can also talk to horses[[note]]Poseidon first created horses in his contest with Athena[[/note]] and flawlessly navigate while at sea. He gets some use out of the former what with the pegasi and hippocampi he befriends, but the latter hardly gets used at all.

* ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'': As the son of Poseidon, Percy has all sorts of abilities at his disposal. The power to [[MakingASplash control water]], communicate with sea life, create hurricanes, control boats, outright summon water even when he's far inland, and [[SuperNotDrowningSkills survive in the depths of the ocean without drowning, getting crushed by the pressure, or even getting wet]]. He can also talk to horses[[note]]Poseidon first created horses in his contest with Athena[[\note]] and flawlessly navigate while at sea. He gets some use out of the former what with the pegasi and hippocampi he befriends, but the latter hardly gets used at all.