History Main / FreakLabAccident

* ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga 2'': Late in the gga,e, it's revealed that the first carriers of the Demon Virus were infected after an experiment where [[spoiler:a psychic child (Sera) communicated with God]] [[GoneHorriblyWrong went horribly wrong]]. However, one subject was killed ([[spoiler:Serph Sheffield as Varuna]]), and the other was imprisoned ([[spoiler:an unknown individual as Meganada]]). While the virus was reproducible, the incident itself was not.

* ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga2'': Late in the gga,e, it's revealed that the first carriers of the Demon Virus were infected after an experiment where [[spoiler:a psychic child (Sera) communicated with God]] [[GoneHorriblyWrong went horribly wrong]]. However, one subject was killed ([[spoiler:Serph Sheffield as Varuna]]), and the other was imprisoned ([[spoiler:an unknown individual as Meganada]]). While the virus was reproducible, the incident itself was not.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this. When Phantom Limb is creating the Secret Society, one of the people taking up the offer explains he got his powers from a freak lab accident, to which they immediately say they understand, as they themselves have had a freak lab accident that changed them into what they were.

* Every other [[WeirdScience Science origin]] NPC or PlayerCharacter in ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' gains their powers this way (the rest are [[PlayingWithSyringes unwilling test subjects]]). This game [[{{Troperiffic}} loves its tropes and knows it]]. For Professor Backfire, gaining superpowers was an inevitability.
* Late in ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga 2'', it's revealed that the first carriers of the Demon Virus were infected after an experiment where [[spoiler:a psychic child (Sera) communicated with God]] [[GoneHorriblyWrong went horribly wrong]]. However, one subject was killed ([[spoiler:Serph Sheffield as Varuna]]), and the other was imprisoned ([[spoiler:an unknown individual as Meganada]]). While the virus was reproducible, the incident itself was not.
* In ''VideoGame/MegaMan2ThePowerFighters'', during Bass' ending, Dr. Wily yells to Bass that he regrets making him, and Bass retorts that if Wily created Bass, it must have been a mistake. Dr. Wily reveals that it is actually true, revealing that before the events of ''VideoGame/MegaMan7'', Wily was making a robot to be similar to Mega Man, accidentally developing Bassnium, which then led to the creation of Bass. Dr. Wily then reveals that he plans to make a robot stronger than Bass and Mega Man combined.
* Two of the playable characters in ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' owe their superhuman abilities to accidents.

* [[http://www.terrorisland.net/strips/319.html Parodied]] in ''Webcomic/TerrorIsland'', where Ned Sorcerer, DDS got his superpower (which is causing everyone around him to know he's a dentist) from a freak ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology epistemological]]'' lab accident.

* In Tales Of Schlock,Roux uses her powers to become the super heroine "Queen 'B'" while Fukumi gets brain damage and becomes the diabolical "Double D".
* Parodied in a FourthWallMailSlot from ''Webcomic/VGCats''. Dr. Hobo is asked how he became a hobo, and recounts his origin:

* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' when Shake tries to gain superpowers using barrels of toxic waste. First he tries to get some worms to eat the waste before [[ComicBook/SpiderMan biting him]]. This doesn't work, so he dumps a spoonful of the waste over his head, shouting, "Oh, no! A horrible accident!". This doesn't work, either.

-->'''Ellimist:''' The odds of it happening once were astronomical. The odds of it happening twice were inevitable.

* In ''Webcomic/TalesOfSchlock'', Roux's butt and Fukumi's boobs accidentally get hit with zafti-gamma rays and they start to grow dramatically when they get excited. Roux uses her powers to become the super heroine "Queen 'B'" while Fukumi gets brain damage and becomes the diabolical "Double D".

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' ''might'' count, what with the contact experiments infusing the test pilot's soul into the Eva's core. This happened twice with different circumstances: first, Yui was completely swallowed by Unit 01 and gained [[EmpathicWeapon limited control]] in the form of [[UnstoppableRage going berserk]]; second, Kyoko's transition was incomplete and a clinically insane body was left behind that eventually killed herself, making Unit 02 the most stable one. {{Subverted|Trope}} in that Yui '''[[ThePlan knew]]''' what was going to happen but did it anyway; unfortunately, it just made things even worse as she hadn't bothered to tell anyone and when her peers tried to extract her, she resisted and made it look like the operation failed (when the same happened to her son, everyone believed the same because Yui was holding them back until Shinji left on his own). Considering the fans' habit of deifying Yui-sama, it's a definite subversion.

* The classic SuperHeroOrigin of Franchise/TheFlash involved {{lightning|CanDoAnything}} and a shelf full of [[ChemistryCanDoAnything chemicals]] in a police lab.
** But, as mentioned above, this was eventually tied into [[StoryArc the "Speed Force"]].
** The origin of UsefulNotes/{{the Golden Age|OfComicBooks}} Flash involved Jay Garrick being exposed to ''hard water vapors''. Apparently, there was a rumor at the time the comic was written that the chemicals typically found in hard water could increase the metabolic speed of animals who ingested or inhaled them.
*** This too was retconned to being part of the Speed Force, though during the period of time when the Speed Force disappeared, he still retained a weakened version of his powers thanks to his metagene.
** In ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'', Barry recreates the accident in an attempt to regain his powers. [[spoiler:It didn't work and Barry instead suffered [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome the real-life consequences]] of being struck by a bolt of lightning while being doused with dangerous chemicals. He has to fry himself ''two more times'' before it works.]]
*** Before that, Wally West (the third Flash) tried recreating the accident after losing his powers. It ''almost'' worked right... [[spoiler:he got the SuperSpeed, [[RequiredSecondarypowers but not]] [[SuperReflexes the necessary reflexes to maneuver]], blasting a trail of destruction across the country in the split-second before he could stop running]].
** That origin was so good, DC recycled it exactly for Kid Flash.
** Slightly changed in the [[Series/TheFlash2014 2014 TV series]] to a lightning that is the result of a particle accelerator malfunction at S.T.A.R. Labs, which results in the release of dark energy into the city. The same release [[MassSuperEmpoweringEvent also creates a number of other]] [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual "meta-humans"]].

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':
** Spider-Man was given powers by a radioactive spider bite, the spider itself being a result of the lab accident. In the ''Film/SpiderMan1'' movie, this was {{retool}}ed into a [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke genetically-engineered]] spider's bite to reflect the {{discredit|edTrope}}ing of RadiationInducedSuperpowers. At one point, the comic attempted to retool this by saying that the spider which bit him transferred some form of mystical totemistic power on him, which in turn explained his many animal-themed enemies. Cue FanDiscontinuity.
** Marvel Comics in general (due to copious amounts of "Creator/StanLee Science") and Spider-Man in particular loves this trope. Many of Spidey's big foes (Doc Ock, Green Goblin, Lizard, Molten Man, etc.) were created by some sort of lab accident or experiment gone wrong.
** Retooled again and made (somewhat) more plausible in the modern re-imagining, ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan''. It was a genetically altered spider high on [[AppliedPhlebotinum OZ]] instead of radiation. The Green Goblin and Dr. Octopus got their own ones in a second lab accident, that attempted to repeat the circumstances of Parker's accident, but which has GoneHorriblyWrong.
* The initial origin-story for ComicBook/SwampThing followed this trope with sabotage rather than an accident. {{Subverted|Trope}} when Creator/AlanMoore got ahold of the character and [[{{Retcon}} revised him]] from a formula-altered scientist to a plant elemental who ''thought'' he was a formula-altered scientist.
* Comicbook/ManThing was also the result of a botched experiment, also {{retcon}}ned by the series' most notable author, Creator/SteveGerber.
* This works for villains as well. In UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks, it was shown that [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex Luthor]] turned villainous after ComicBook/{{Superboy}}'s "interference" in a Freak Lab Accident resulted in his life being saved, his experiments being destroyed, and his hair loss. Furthermore, when Luthor tried to retaliate with grandiose tech projects to show up Superboy, they went wrong disastrously enough to force the superhero to intervene, embarrassing Luthor enough to hate him even more.
* This somewhat applies to [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker the Joker]] of ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' fame, who gained not superpowers but his clownish appearance and SlasherSmile from falling into a vat of chemicals. Even the "no-superpowers-gained" thing is debatable, as some speculate [[HollywoodPsych that the Joker's insanity is actually a form of]] [[MediumAwareness fourth wall-breaking "super-sanity"]] gained at the same time.
** In a 1989 ''Batman'' storyline, a mad Joker-wannabe hurls himself into a chemical vat in an attempt to replicate the transformation. However, as Batman unsuccessfully warns him, the industrial acids therein are much stronger than the ones that disfigured the Joker years ago, and the wannabe simply disintegrates.
** Mr. Freeze is a more conventional playing of his trope. In the current past of the character, the attempts of his heartless bosses to get rid of him and his work to save his cryogenically frozen wife caused his equipment to go haywire, drastically altering him. Of course, this isn't so much a superpower as it is a handicap, and his resulting powers come in the form of technology he invents himself.
* The post-''ComicBook/ZeroHourCrisisInTime'' ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' hangs a lampshade on the trope when Spark, in an effort to regain her super-power, attempts to recreate the circumstances of her freak origin -- and gets herself killed as a result. (However, the rest of the Legion [[OnlyMostlyDead manages to revive her]], and afterwards she does indeed have her powers back.)
** Pre-''Zero-Hour'', there was Comet Queen (who is also known for speaking TotallyRadical [[RecycledINSPACE In Space]]). She had heard that Star Boy got his powers by flying through a comet, so she intentionally flew through one despite everyone telling her how stupid it was, especially since Star Boy did it ''in a spaceship''. It worked anyway.
* The monstrous villain Chemo was created this way. Originally it was a plastic vessel used by scientist Ramsey Norton to dispose of the chemical by-products from his failed experiments, built in the shape of a man to remind him of his failures. One day (ironically, the day he planned to empty it) he dumped the remnants of a failed growth formula in the vessel, accidentally causing it to double in size and coming to life. After killing Norton and destroying the lab, it lumbered forth with no purpose but to destroy, fighting numerous heroes, including the ComicBook/MetalMen and ComicBook/{{Superman}}.
* Although it actually took place on a testing range, the original origin of ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'' is for all practical purposes a Freak Lab Accident. Later versions -- most notably [[Series/TheIncredibleHulk1977 the TV series]] and [[Film/{{Hulk}} the first motion-picture adaptation]] -- make it a more literal lab accident.

* In ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'', the apparatus that created Dr. Manhattan by "removing his intrinsic field", i.e. disintegrating his body, is for some unspecified reason impossible to use to repeat the process. It's not so much the effect of the device that gave Dr. Manhattan his powers, but the force of his will and mind maintaining their integrity afterwards and subsequently learning how to reassemble himself. That's an individual, possibly unique, factor that renders the result possibly irreproducible. And who ''wants'' to try to create a new Manhattan? One alone messes up the geopolitical situation seriously. What if the new guy would be even less stable and more detached from the human condition? The risks are way too great, even for the USSR to try to replicate. They did try at first, but stopped when they realized that forcefully disintegrating people in the hopes of turning them into gods [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge might backfire]].
-->'''Ozymandias:''' You get to be a superhero by believing in the hero within you and summoning him or her forth by an act of will. Believing in yourself and your own potential is the first step to realizing that potential. Alternately, you could do as Jon did: [[SarcasmMode fall into a nuclear reactor and hope for the best]].
* One of the versions of [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Donald Duck]]'s superhero identity Paperinik (though not the one in ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'') faces a parody of Franchise/SpiderMan villain Sandman called Sand''ham'' (as he's a pig, natch). Sandham was a janitor in an oatmeal porridge factory who gained his powers when he was accidentally exposed to a procedure to "remove those nasty lumps from oatmeal porridge". Donald ends up having to dissolve him with it, and finally tosses his head, the only thing left of him, into a vat of porridge.
* {{Inverted|Trope}} with ComicBook/{{Superboy|1994}} (Kon-El). He was being grown and programmed in a lab to be a replacement for Superman, but a freak lab accident interrupted his maturity leaving him as Superboy.
* {{Parodied|Trope}} in the [[ComicBook/TheSimpsons Bongo Comics]] crossover, "When Bongos Collide!", when a nuclear plant meltdown (caused by Itchy and Scratchy) [[MassSuperEmpoweringEvent grants superpowers to nearly everyone in Springfield]] (and somehow automatically gives most of them costumes), whereupon everyone starts pummeling each other.
* ComicBook/SpiderGirl's foe Mr. Abnormal is both an {{expy}} of ComicBook/PlasticMan and a {{parod|iedTrope}}y of this. His origin is that "he had an improbable accident with a chemical at a toy factory that had a unique effect with his body chemistry", as quoted from [[ComicBook/NewWarriors Speedball]].

* The original ''Comicbook/{{Firestorm|DCComics}}'' was created by sabotage (a bomb) in an experimental nuclear reactor, fusing the teenage Ronnie Raymond and the designer of the reactor, Professor Martin Stein into a single super-powered hero. Also affected by the explosion was Stein's evil assistant, who became the villain Multiplex. A later attempt by Multiplex to recreate the "accident" produced the heroine Firehawk.
* ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' was the only spinoff that followed the original American canon of the [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog franchise]] closely, while adding its own twists. In this continuity, Doctor Ivo Robotnik was originally a kind veterinarian called Ovi Kintobor who attempted to eliminate all evil from Mobius with a machine called the Retro-Orbital Chaos Compressor (ROCC) by absorbing all the negative energy on the planet. The experiment failed and he was transformed into a megalomaniac MadScientist bent on conquering the world. Later it was revealed [[spoiler:this is an example of ''both'' SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong and MakeWrongWhatOnceWentRight. The Brotherhood of Metallix traveled to the past and prevented the accident from happening so Kintobor never became Robotnik. As the doctor played an integral role helping Sonic and the Freedom Fighters in stopping the faction, this created a BadFuture where the Metallix conquered Mobius and renamed it "Planet Metallix". Sonic went and set things up so the accident took place, leaving us with the disturbing knowledge that it was him who was responsible for unleashing a great evil on Mobius, even if it was to prevent a greater evil from happening.]]

* Not a lab accident as such, but an unpredicted side effect of a new and highly experimental procedure. In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' fiction ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8774066/2/There-s-nothing-like-a-fresh-pair-of-eyes-is-there There's nothing like a fresh pair of eyes, is there?]]'', the Igors of Ankh-Morpork replace the shattered eyes of a wounded student Assassin. (One of ''those'' regrettable little accidents that happen at the Assassins' School). The donor, of corneal cells that Igor carefully nurtures into bio-artificed new eyeballs, is Quirmian Assassin Emmanuelle les Deux-Epées. Over the following few months, the pupil becomes ''very'' like Emmanuelle. In all ways.
* In ''Fanfic/MovieMagic'', [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Twilight Sparkle]] makes the mistake of looking at a rogue rainbow-powered rocket through a {{magitek}} camera when the rocket explodes, searing her right eye with magical energy and giving it [[MagicalEye super-powers]].
* In ''Fanfic/{{Empathy}}'' there's a full on accident, in the sense that nobody involved really saw what would be coming due to a genetic issue. In this case, Riley puts on the Neurotransmitter, but since [[spoiler: Oh]] finished it according to [[spoiler: Boov]] brainwaves rather than human brainwaves, the transmitter bounced Riley's brainwaves back on themselves. This scientifically sent her into a kind of REM, but it also transported her consciousness into Headquarters. And when she came out, [[spoiler: she became TheEmpath]] as a side effect.

* This is the origin of all the villains in the ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'', save Venom, who was the result of an alien symbiote.
** ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries'' uses this for every villain except Rhino, who's just a crook in a mech suit: Lizard was created by a botched formula designed for limb regrowth, Electro fell into a vat of genetically-modified eels, and Green Goblin was created by another botched formula intended to cure his terminal disease.
* Less heroically, ''The Fly'', involving a TeleporterAccident when a fly is merged with the scientist who used himself as a guinea pig. In [[Film/TheFly1958 the 1958 version]], the scientist changes heads and one hand with the fly. In [[Film/TheFly1986 the 1986 version]], he slowly mutates into a sickened man-fly hybrid.
* This is the origin of BigBad Ava Starr/Ghost in ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp''. Her father, Elhias Starr, created an unstable Quantum energy machine that exploded, killing Ava's parents and turning her into a ghost. Ava seeks to cure her condition and believes that killing Janet is the key.
%%* Quite a few BMovie monsters, most notably ''Film/{{Tarantula}}''. And that's not counting all the ones created by [[NuclearMutant The Bomb]].
%% General examples are not allowed.
* ''Film/HowardTheDuck'' pulled this one twice: the first Freak Lab Accident dragged Howard to Earth; the second pulled down the alien demon that possessed Dr. Jenning.

* Happens in ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'', for details see under Comic Books.

* Done rather subtly in ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde''. [[spoiler:Dr. Jekyll's elixir only worked because of an unidentified impurity, something he only discovered after running out of the contaminated batch. At which point Hyde had become his "default form" and he needed the elixir to be Jekyll.]]

* {{Parodied|Trope}} in Creator/DouglasAdams's ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' series. At the beginning of ''Literature/LifeTheUniverseAndEverything'', we are introduced briefly to Wowbagger the Infinitely-Prolonged, an alien who was granted immortality in a freak ''office'' accident with "[[NoodleImplements an irrational particle accelerator, a liquid lunch, and a pair of rubber bands]]". All attempts to recreate it "have left people looking very silly, dead, or both". Wowbagger deals with [[WhoWantsToLiveForever the growing tedium of immortality]] by seeking to insult everyone in the universe -- individually, personally, and in alphabetical order.
* A variation appears in the Creator/IsaacAsimov short story "Literature/{{Lenny}}". A small child (lost on a guided tour) plays around on an unlocked keyboard in a robot factory. This results in a robot which has no superpowers -- indeed, it has roughly the intelligence of a human infant -- but is a scientific gold-mine, [[ThreeLawsCompliant programmed with the Three Laws]] but lacking the knowledge to act upon them properly, and having the ability to learn rather than simply be programmed.
* Austin Grossman's ''Literature/SoonIWillBeInvincible'': [=CoreFire=] and Dr. Impossible got their respective superpowers in separate lab accidents, though both accidents involved Dr. Impossible's research.
--> "I saw the misadjusted dials and the whirling gauges and the bubbling green fluid and the electricity arcing around, and a story laid out for me... I was going to declare war on the world, and I was going to lose."
** So did [[spoiler: Erica Lowenstein, the [[Characters/SupermanLoisLane Lois Lane]] to [=CoreFire's=] Franchise/{{Superman}} and Dr. Impossible's [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex Luthor]], who followed a lead]] on some villains and ended up falling into a vat of chemicals and becoming virtually indestructible and transparent.
* In ''Literature/DreamPark'' (by Creator/LarryNiven and Steven Barnes), a small girl who'd accidentally wandered into the theme park's R&D division managed to combine an anatomical model with pieces of model roller coaster, and the result so intrigued the staff that it spawned a "Mr. Digestion" themed attraction. The kid got a spanking and a college scholarship.
* Kilowatt of the ''Literature/SeekersOfTruth'' got her start this way. Her end would have closely followed her start if not for the intervention of the Wizard.
* Carl Castanaveras, in ''Emerald Eyes'' by Creator/DanielKeysMoran, was the first in a series of telepaths created by Project Superman by gene manipulation. Played straight because at the time he was created, the scientists admitted that the technology to create him didn't work yet, and only the inexplicable (at least to the scientists working on him) radiation at the moment of his conception, made the fetus viable. Averted because the source of the radiation was the time traveler Named Storyteller deliberately showing up at that moment to perform the gene manipulation that the scientists were incapable of performing, in order to make sure that Carl (his distant ancestor) existed at all.
* Not a superhero, but Cheery Littlebottom's career change from alchemist to forensics officer with the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' Ankh-Morpork City Watch took place after she left her previous workplace through the roof. Explosions at the Alchemists' Guild are hardly freakish; blowing up the entire Guild council, however, causes comment.
* In Kathy Reichs' ''Literature/{{Virals}}'' series, a spinoff to the Temperance Brennan novels, Temperance's niece Tory is a teenage girl who, along with her friends, accidentally contracts a genetically engineered parvovirus (a virus that normally only affects dogs) and is turned into a sort of hairless [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolf]].
* In ''Literature/TheAccidentalSuperheroine'', Orlov claims to have engineered their empowering event at the LHC, but he also seems completely ignorant of how it works.

* Peter Brady (no, not [[Series/TheBradyBunch THAT]] one), ''The Invisible Man'' from the 1958 TV series, fits this trope ''and'' subverts it: While ''he'' became {{invisib|ility}}le in a lab accident, he is perfectly able to reproduce it and make anyone invisible (of course, reversing the process is another story). At one point, he was even able to detect when a rabbit had been invisible for a short period of time.
* ''Series/BestFriendsWhenever'' started with the titular best friends_Shelby Marcus and Cyd Ripley_accidentally getting blasted by a laser in Barry's lab which gave them the power to time travel through physical contact. This gets a CallBack in season 1 finale.
* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory''
** Referenced jokingly to warn one character away from [[CycleOfRevenge escalating vengeance]] against a [[{{Jerkass}} misanthropic]] [[TVGenius genius]]:

* {{Subverted|Trope}} in ''Series/TheFlash2014'': Barry's SuperHeroOrigin resembles the one from the comics, [[spoiler:except that the "accident" was nothing of the sort. He would have gotten his powers this way eventually, but a time-travelling Eobard Thawne deliberately engineered it to turn Barry into the Flash "ahead of schedule" due to losing his speed after doing what he came there to do]].
* Pretty much played straight in ''Series/TheSecretWorldOfAlexMack'', where the title character gets her powers after being doused by chemicals that fell off a truck in the first episode.

-->'''Flynn:''' (excitedly) Was there an explosion in your lab? Did you get superpowers? Jump on the wall, let's see if you stick!

* Also appears in the French GenderBender series ''Series/ViceVersa''.

* Played with in ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh'' -- emails in the game indicate Lora Baines-Bradley suffered one with her Shiva laser misfiring. [[spoiler:It apparently killed her, but there was enough of her [[BrainUploading mind left behind in]] {{Cyberspace}} to compile her into the BenevolentAI [=Ma3a=].]]

* Late in ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'' ''2'', it's revealed that the first carriers of the Demon Virus were infected after an experiment where [[spoiler:a psychic child (Sera) communicated with God]] [[GoneHorriblyWrong went horribly wrong]]. However, one subject was killed ([[spoiler:Serph Sheffield as Varuna]]), and the other was imprisoned ([[spoiler:an unknown individual as Meganada]]). While the virus was reproducible, the incident itself was not.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': In the original American canon, BigBad Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik was a kind veterinarian called Ovi Kintobor whose attempt to purge Mobius from evil using the Chaos Emeralds to power up a machine ended in a accident that transformed him into a cruel, megalomaniac EvilGenius. Of all the spinoffs in the franchise, ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' was the only one that followed this backstory closely (see the Comic Book folder above).

* {{Subverted|Trope}} in ''Webcomic/M9Girls'': The Freak Lab Accident makes the eponymous M9 Girls terminally ill by radiation exposure. Their mentor then proceeds to cure them with LegoGenetics.
* {{Parodied|Trope}} by [[http://www.man-man.org/?comic=&date=20030710 Man-Man]], who was bitten by a radioactive man, and so gains the powers of... a man. Apart from a mutant head on top of his own, these "powers" merely make him invisible to women.
* In ''Webcomic/SecondLeague'', a rat gains superpowers from being bitten by a mutant superhero.
* [[http://www.terrorisland.net/strips/319.html Parodied]] in ''Webcomic/TerrorIsland'', where Ned Sorcerer, DDS got his superpower (which is causing everyone around him to know he's a dentist) from a freak ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology epistemological]]'' lab accident.
* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' Molly the Peanut Butter Monster is described as a fuzzy pink lab accident.

* It's {{implied|Trope}} that ''some'' sort of lab accident caused Othar, of ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', to come to his "Great Truth" that all Sparks have to die (or to become suicidally insane, as anyone else who knows about this "Truth" would consider it). The exact details are left as a NoodleIncident for the readers, but it may have involved the Great Wall of Oslo. (It's also all but stated by WordOfGod in the first adventure on Othar's Twitter that [[spoiler: Othar was always just one freak accident away from becoming a suicidal maniac ''anyways'' -- every single version of himself had realized this "truth" through various accidents. One involved waffles]]. It's unknown right now, however, how canon the Twitter is.) The man is also surprisingly resilient, even for a Spark; this may be a side-effect of the accident.

* Heather Brown in ''Webcomic/{{Spinnerette}}'' gains spider-powers in a freak genetic engineering accident in a more or less AffectionateParody of [[WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan Spider-Man]].
** The reader is even led to believe that she'd obtained her powers from a spider-bite, just like Spider-Man. However, she only developed her [[MultiArmedAndDangerous extra limbs]] after falling into a vat of chemicals.

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', this is what the Goo originally was before a CerebusRetcon turned it into an attempt by Lord Tedd to kill this universe's Tedd.
* Parodied in a FourthWallMailSlot on ''Webcomic/VGCats''. Dr. Hobo is asked how he became a hobo, and recounts his origin:

* A lab technician in ''Webcomic/BiterComics'' tries to recreate the accident that gave his coworker superpowers, with less that satisfactory [[http://www.bitercomics.com/comic/superpowers/ results]].
* In ''Webcomic/TalesOfSchlock'', Roux's butt and Fukumi's boobs accidentally get hit with zafti-gamma rays and they start to grow dramatically when they get excited. Roux uses her powers to become the super heroine "Queen 'B'" while Fukumi gets brain damage and becomes the diabolical "Double D."
* ''Webcomic/PeterParkerForeignExchangeStudent:''
** Peter got his Quirk from the radioactive spider bite, a secret he keeps under wraps out of fear of being treated like a freak of nature.
** The Fantastic Four's powers, which they received after being bombarded with cosmic radiation, are also classified as Quirks.

* ''Literature/LightningDust'''s Klaus Melfton becomes the eponymous character via a strange invention of his father. [[spoiler:After getting his powers stolen, he successfully repeats the accident to regain them.]]
* Frances "Pythos" Graye of ''Roleplay/{{AJCO}}'' participated in a experiment involving the magical, regenerating blood of a Hydra and ended up with rather more than she bargained for. She didn't end up with the regenerating abilities of the original creature, but she ''did'' get freakish teeth and a forked tongue that she likes to freak people out with.
* This was how LetsPlay/{{Yogscast}} [[LetsPlay/DuncanJones Duncan]] caused [[LetsPlay/KimRichards Kim]] to become "fluxed" in their ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' series, although she didn't get superpowers, she just turned kinda purple.

* {{Parodied|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' with the origin of The Crimson Chin (voiced by Jay Leno). Before he was a crime fighter, the Chin was a talk show host, much like the guy who voiced him. He got bit on the chin by a radioactive handsome actor, and that is how he became The Crimson Chin!
** At least it was, until the comic story "Untold Tales From the Big Superhero Wish!" revealed that this origin story caused a lawsuit, and as a result, The Chin was given a new origin all to similar to Franchise/{{Superman}}.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' is stuffed with these. There's Peter Parker's radioactive spider-bite, but {{supervillain}}s have them too:
** While doing repair work at a genetics lab, electrician Max Dillon is first [[LightningCanDoAnything electrocuted]] by machinery, then by bioelectric shock from [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke genetically-modified]] eels swimming in extra-conductive AppliedPhlebotinum. He becomes Electro, a {{Power Incontinen|ce}}t human generator of [[PsychoElectro bioelectricity]], and subsequently [[FreakOut freaks out]] and goes [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity on a rampage]].
** Thief and low-level [[TheBrute thug]] Flint Marko is recruited as an [[SuperSoldier experimental subject]] for a procedure designed to give him subdermal silicon [[MadeOfIron armor]], but the machinery overloads and bombards him with silicon particles until he [[BodyHorror explodes]]. He then rematerializes as the Sandman, a being of [[SentientSands living sand]], and is unusually happy with the results.
** When reluctant PunchClockVillain Doctor Otto Octavius is [[HeKnowsTooMuch deliberately trapped]] in the chamber where his experiment is running, he suffers from radiation that fuses his [[ArtificialLimbs harness]] to his spine, triggers a FreakOut and an accompanying extreme [[MadScientist personality change]], creating Doctor Octopus.

* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' tries to give himself super powers in one episode by deliberately standing in front of a TransformationRay, claiming that [[LampshadeHanging it works in the movies]] all the time. His {{sidekick}} Launchpad doubts the plan, specifically pointing out that you can only gain superpowers from a lab ''accident'', and not on purpose. Darkwing brushes off the advice, fires the ray, and is reduced to cartoon ashes.

* The whole premise of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' revolves around a freak accident that occurred while the girls were being ''created'': Professor Utonium's pet chimp Jojo accidentally shoved the Professor while he was trying to create the perfect little girl, effectively causing the Chemical X spill that created the Powerpuff Girls (the blast from the spill also gave Jojo super-intelligence, and his jealousy of the girls eventually drove him to become their arch-enemy Mojo Jojo). Why the Professor had that Chemical X [[NoOSHACompliance located where someone could break it]] and cause it to spill inside the pot is anyone's guess.

* Meltdown in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' gets his powers by angrily knocking over the beakers of chemicals he was working on, after his funding gets cut.
* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' when Shake tries to gain superpowers using barrels of toxic waste. First he tries to get some worms to eat the waste before [[Franchise/SpiderMan biting him]]. This doesn't work, so he dumps a spoonful of the waste over his head, shouting, "Oh, no! A horrible accident!". This doesn't work, either.
* In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'', Tombstone had the very [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker Jokeresque]] origin of falling into a vat of chemicals during a bungled factory robbery. Spider-Man even lampshades it later.
-->'''Spider-Man:''' You better stay still, another swim in that chemical soup and your hair might turn green!
** Spidey, of course, has his classic backstory. In this case, the spider that bit him was mutated by passing through the energy beam of a prototype "neogenic recombinator", part of an experimental new science that uses specific radiation wavelengths to selectively manipulate DNA. The process is more or less replicated to recreate his iconic foes the Lizard and the Scorpion.
** Morbius gets his powers when he is bitten by a vampire bat that was exposed to a neogenic recombinator's beam whilst he was trying to use it to break down the genetic code of a sample of Spider-Man's blood -- it got zapped feeding on the blood sample, and when Morbius tried to shoo it away, it bit him on the hand, which mutated him into a "living vampire". He then gets zapped with the same recombinator beam in a TakingTheBullet fashion, transforming him into a humanoid bat-creature.
** The Green Goblin gained SuperStrength and a villainous split personality after being exposed to toxic chemicals in an explosive leak at his factory. The costume was a spare Hobgoblin suit he had on hand whose colors changed as a result of exposure to the chemicals.
** The Spot is a scientist who became a living portal network after being accidentally sucked into the interstitial dimension by a malfunctioning portal generator.
* {{Parodied|Trope}} on ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''. After the entire Griffin family gain superpowers and start causing trouble, Mayor Creator/AdamWest tries to give himself superpowers by rolling around in toxic waste. The result? [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome He gives himself lymphoma]]. His doctor [[LampshadeHanging berates him for the stupidity of such an action]]. He does at least stop the Griffins' rampage, since they feel guilty about his cancer.
* The origin of Dr. Two Brains in ''WesternAnimation/WordGirl''. Obviously, you don't get a rat brain stuck to your head playing golf.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Three Men and a Comic Book" [[AffectionateParody affectionately parodies]] ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'' with Radioactive Man's origin: he gains his powers when trapped at the site of a nuclear detonation.
--> '''Martin:''' I would've thought that being hit by an atomic bomb would've killed him.\\

* Stinkor, one of Skeletor's henchmen in ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2002'', gains the power of stench after ruining one of Triclops' experiments.
* Brain of ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'' once had a plan than hinged on this concept. He posed as a human and got a job at a big corporation, which [[FrivolousLawSuit he planned to sue for the money to fund his latest]] [[TakeOverTheWorld world-domination scheme]] by staging a freak accident involving a microwave and non-dairy creamer, reasoning that no one understands either well enough to argue against the claim.
* On ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', Jack Brolin A.K.A. Captain Hindsight was a former news reporter that gained the power of extraordinary hindsight through a freak accident involving a retroactive spider.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheMask'' animated series, a couple comic book fans try to replicate the accident that created their favorite superhero Insector the Bugman by breaking into a nuclear power plant and getting bitten by a bug after they become radioactive. Unfortunately they forget to bring a bug with them to the power plant and succumb to radiation poisoning. Then their ambulance crashes en route to the hospital. One guy crashes into a putty shop and is mutated into the [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Clayface]] {{expy}} Putty Thing. The other guy crashes into an aquarium and becomes Fish Guy, who has the awesome power of being a fish. Who still can't swim.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE23BewareTheCreeper Beware the Creeper]]", Jack Ryder is a talk show host doing a set piece on the Joker's origin. Joker barges in and decides to have some fun by dosing Ryder with Joker Venom and throwing him into a vat of chemicals similar to the one that transformed the Joker. This backfires on the Joker when the combination of the Joker Venom and the chemicals gives Ryder a SuperpoweredEvilSide that calls himself Creeper. The Creeper then proceeds to ''scare the crap out of the Joker''. By the end of the episode, the Joker is begging Batman to save him from the lunatic.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this. When Phantom Limb is creating the Secret Society, One of the people taking up the offer explains he got his powers from a freak lab accident, to which they immediately point out they understand as they themselves have had a freak lab accident that changed them into what they were.
* ''WesternAnimation/MarthaSpeaks'' is a milder example. It's pointed out several times throughout the show that the alphabet soup gave only Martha the ability to speak, and that she ate it by accident. This is most likely put into place to dissuade kids from giving their pets alphabet soup in the hopes of having a talking pet. (Of course, the show is also aware that it's a cartoon...)
* The ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' episode "[[Recap/BatmanBeyondS1E8Heroes Heroes]]" presents a dark {{Deconstruction}} of the concept. Three scientists are accidentally irradiated and become "The Terrific Trio" (with [[TheFantasticFaux obvious parallels]] to the ComicBook/FantasticFour). Then it turns out that their transformations are [[spoiler:slowly killing them and driving them insane, and were caused by a colleague's scheme to MurderTheHypotenuse]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'', a computer chip with a computer bug is somehow able to suck a person into {{cyberspace}}, instantly granting them all of the information on the Internet, but also turning them into a Freakazoid, if the person hits a specific sequence of keys ("@[=g3,8d]\&fbb=-q]/hk%fg") followed by Delete. Dexter gained his powers when his cat pawed across his keyboard chasing a butterfly (inadvertently typing said sequence) and he tried to delete the resulting gibberish.

* Tom of T.H.U.M.B. (a segment of the 1966 ''King Kong'' cartoon on ABC) was a janitor in a secret agent office lab who took a spill while cleaning. His friend, Smilin' Jack, helped him up, only to trigger [[ShrinkRay a ray that reduced both to thumb size]]. Together, Tom and Smilin' Jack tackle assignments that the regular agents couldn't take conspicuously.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', Jack Ryder was a talk show host doing a set piece on the Joker's origin. Joker barges in and decides to have some fun by dosing Ryder with Joker Venom and throwing him into a vat of chemicals similar to the one that transformed the Joker. This backfires on the Joker when the combination of the Joker Venom and the chemicals gives Ryder a SuperpoweredEvilSide that calls himself Creeper. The Creeper then proceeds to ''scare the crap out of the Joker''. By the end of the episode, the Joker is begging Batman to save him from the lunatic.

* The ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' episode "Heroes" presents a dark {{Deconstruction}} of the concept. Three scientists are accidentally irradiated and become "The Terrific Trio" (with [[TheFantasticFaux obvious parallels]] to the ComicBook/FantasticFour). Then it turns out that their transformations are [[spoiler:slowly killing them and driving them insane, and were caused by a colleague's scheme to MurderTheHypotenuse]].

* {{Subverted|Trope}} in ''Series/TheFlash2014'': Barry's SuperHeroOrigin resembles the one from the comics, [[spoiler:except that the "accident" was nothing of the sort. He would have got his powers this way eventually, but a time travelling Eobard Thawne deliberately engineered it to turn Barry into the Flash "ahead of schedule" due to losing his speed after doing what he came there to do]].

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' was the only spinoff that followed the original American canon of the [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog franchise]] closely, while adding its own twists. In this continuity, Doctor Ivo Robotnik was originally a kind veterinarian called Ovi Kintobor who attempted to eliminate all evil from Mobius with a machine called the Retro-Orbital Chaos Compressor (ROCC) by absorbing all the negative energy on the planet. The experiment failed and he was transformed into a megalomaniac MadScientist bent on conquering the world. Later it was revealed [[spoiler:this is an example of ''both'' SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong and SetWrongWhatOnceWentRight. The Brotherhood of Metallix traveled to the past and prevented the accident from happening so Kintobor never became Robotnik. As the doctor played an integral role helping Sonic and the Freedom Fighters in stopping the faction, this created a BadFuture where the Metallix conquered Mobius and renamed it "Planet Metallix". Sonic went and set things up so the accident took place, leaving us with the disturbing knowledge that it was him who was responsible for unleashing a great evil on Mobius, even if it was to prevent a greater evil from happening.]]

* ''Music/DaftPunk'' claims that their [[KayfabeMusic onstage robot personae]] were created in "an accident in our studio. We were working on our sampler, [[Anime/QueenMillennia and at exactly 9:09 a.m. on September 9, 1999, it exploded]]."

[[folder:Film]]

* [[ILoveNuclearPower Being blasted by radiation, especially from weapon fallout]] (this is usually a UsefulNotes/ColdWar thing)

** Spider-Man was given powers by a radioactive spider bite, the spider itself being a result of the lab accident. In the ''Film/SpiderMan1'' movie, this was {{retool}}ed into a [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke genetically-engineered]] spider's bite to reflect the {{discredit|edTrope}}ing of ILoveNuclearPower. At one point, the comic attempted to retool this by saying that the spider which bit him transferred some form of mystical totemistic power on him, which in turn explained his many animal-themed enemies. Cue FanDiscontinuity.

* Quite a few BMovie monsters, most notably ''Film/{{Tarantula}}''. And that's not counting all the ones created by [[ILoveNuclearPower The Bomb]].

** Danny got his powers from an ectoplasmic form of [[ILoveNuclearPower nuclear blast]] when he accidentally activated his parents' experimental Ghost Portal while standing inside it. [[LegoGenetics The resulting blast altered his DNA, thus making him half-ghost]].