History Main / HeartIsAnAwesomePower

* ''Literature/{{Momo}}'': Momo listens to people. That doesn't sound special, and the narrator notes it outright. But Momo's willingness to listen to anyone, about anything, really does help people work through their worries, fears, and quarrels. Her listening skill also helps her against the Grey Men; by listening to one, and asking the right question at the right moment, she induces him to confess the truth of what the Grey Men are up to, including one or two truths he previously may not even have admitted to himself.

** This is taken to its darkest extreme in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/WhatIf'', where it turns out in an alternate timeline Ant-Man [[spoiler:killed almost every founding member of the Avengers. Most he simply pierced like a bullet or beat them to death, but a heavy hitter like the Hulk he shrank inside him and threw an enlarging disc at his heart, ''exploding'' him.]]

* ''Fanfic/RemnantsBizarreAdventure'': Eleven Men's canon Stand power of "being able to concentrate eleven buys in one body" in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureSteelBallRun'' doesn't seem particularly impressive as a power. Here, Eleven Men is an extremely deadly opponent [[spoiler:who manages to beat [[GeniusBruiser Yang]] even after her CharacterDevelopment]].

* Pictured above: ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, who is absolutely ''not'' as weak as MemeticMutation would [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman have one believe]]. A combination of RequiredSecondaryPowers (he can swim like a fish and punch people while under [[WaterIsAir 500+ atmospheres of pressure]], which is ComicBook/{{Superman}}[=-level=] asskickery) and FridgeHorror (he commands ''everything'' that lives in the ocean; guess where Franchise/{{Godzilla}}, Franchise/{{Cthulhu|Mythos}}, and the [[Literature/TheBible Leviathan]] live?) have had many writers portray him as horrifically powerful and outright feared by heroes and villains alike, and for very good reasons.

** Peter once ripped part of Norman Osborn's face off when he stuck to it with his [[WallCrawl stickum' powers]] during ''American Son''. Not how Creator/StanLee imagined it being used, but awesome regardless.

** Frequent Spidey villain Mysterio often catches flack for his [[FishbowlHelmet goofy]] [[FashionVictimVillain appearance]], his [[LargeHam over-the-top persona]] and his villain abilities coming from [[SpecialEffects special effects wizardry]] rather than any physical attributes. Yet his use of said special effects [[WeakButSkilled is consistently dangerous]], with him being able to make [[KillerRobot working robots]], [[MasterOfIllusion create realistic illusions]] and even nearly drove Spider-Man (and later, ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}) [[DrivenToMadness insane through his machinations]].

** Folsom Smedry is a really, really, ''really'' bad dancer, and starts doing his horrible moves whenever music comes on. However, the Talent also makes him an incredible warrior, as his awful dancing allows him to fight others with unpredictable and dangerous movements.

** Mr. Brownstone was a minor villain who could teleport matter... a few grams at a time. He used those powers to become a drug dealer catering to wealthy clients wishing to indulge in heroin without any nasty needle marks. Naturally, he could also teleport drugs to people's systems against their will...

* Pictured above: Comicbook/{{Aquaman}}, who is absolutely ''not'' as weak as MemeticMutation would [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman have one believe]]. A combination of RequiredSecondaryPowers (he can swim like a fish and punch people while under [[WaterIsAir 500+ atmospheres of pressure]], which is {{Franchise/Superman}} level asskickery) and FridgeHorror (he commands ''everything'' that lives in the ocean; guess where {{Franchise/Godzilla}}, Franchise/{{Cthulhu|Mythos}}, and the [[Literature/TheBible Leviathan]] live?) have had many writers portray him as horrifically powerful and outright feared by heroes and villains alike, and for very good reasons.
-->"He could control every creature that lives in the sea. But I don't think either of you know what that really means. Do you know, do you understand, do you have any idea how much life there is in just one single square mile of sea? I don't think you do... and if you multiply that by lots of miles in every direction... I'd never seen anything like it in my whole life... [[GoMadFromTheRevelation and God as my witness, I hope to never see it again]]."
-->-- ''ComicBook/TheBraveAndTheBold'' Vol 3 #32
** Perhaps the most awesome (and funny) example is Aquaman's friendship with sea life used to defeat [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]] in ''Comicbook/MarvelVersusDC''. Poor Namor never knew what hit him when he had an ''orca'' dropped on him.
** [[DependingOnTheWriter A few writers]] give him the ability to command not only sea life but also any animal with any connection to the sea, even vestigial or ancestral. Considering life originated in the ocean and every animal has an aquatic common ancestor, that means he can control every animal that has ever existed, ''including humans''.
*** It even included Martians kind of impersonating humans (or possibly just humanoid aliens), most likely indicating that the author had forgotten about his own reveal.
** The ''Flashpoint'' animated adaptation has the Justice League disarm Thawne/Zoom's 25th-century explosives he plants on the Rogues to destroy Central City. How does Aquaman do it? He travels to a nearby lake and tosses him in. When the Rogue, the Top, asks Aquaman if he's gonna do something, Aquaman calmly responds that he is... he is commanding a million aquatic microbes to eat the bomb's wiring. Once done, he grabs and crushes it. Simple and effective, being one of the few to stop the bombs before detonating.
* One of the ''WesternAnimation/{{Captain Planet|AndThePlaneteers}}'' comic books actually has Ma-Ti lamenting over how lame "Heart" is as a power after Wheeler makes fun of him for it. Later in the issue, Ma-Ti uses his ring to reach and understand the hearts of all the creatures in the forest to help the other planeteers, including {{bears|AreBadNews}}.
* Among the massive roster of Batman's lesser-known enemies, there's The Carpenter, originally part of Mad Hatter's crew, who is [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment a carpenter]]. Sounds pretty lame, but who do you think built all those evil lairs and giant traps the big-time villains love to use? Given the bill she presented Selina in Gotham City Sirens, she makes a good living off her work. There was even one instance where she saved Batman from a stage covered with booby traps she had made for The Director, then took out The Director [[HoistByHisOwnPetard with one of the traps he had commissioned her to build.]]
* Amelia Mintz from ''ComicBook/{{Chew}}'' can write or talk about food so vividly that it can cause people to actually taste it. While it definitely makes her a good restaurant critic, it doesn't look very useful in other situations... until she sends several armed terrorists to the hospital by loudly reciting an unabridged review of a particularly bad restaurant. And then she was revealed to be able [[spoiler:to induce fatal food poisoning]].
* Characters/{{Dazzler}}, Marvel's very own FadSuper, has the ability to absorb sound and convert it into light. This may not sound like much at first glance, but she can do things like blinding people with bright flashes (duh), creating a strobe effect that upsets equilibrium, creating holograms, and even [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]]. She's also immune to sound-based attacks because they just make her stronger. Her ability is shown to be obscenely powerful, as [[Characters/MarvelComicsGalactus Galactus]] once recruited her to retrieve one of his Heralds and exposed her to unimaginable sounds, including the explosion of an entire galaxy,[[note]]Yeah yeah, no sound in space. He's Galactus, he has no care for your paltry human physics.[[/note]] to boost her to sufficient levels. In fact, [[Characters/TheInhumans Black Bolt]] of Comicbook/TheInhumans, who's considered one of the top-tier powerhouses of the Marvel Universe, can have his voice absorbed by her but not his full-on "Quasi-Sonic scream" because it's not an actual sound attack but rather him manipulating electrons to create the attack. It's also suggested that one day, she could expand this property to cover ''other'' fundamental forms of energy. Ever set off a nuclear explosion with a boombox?
** Notably, Dazzler's solo series involved her teaming up with Black Bolt in a battle with the Absorbing Man, a guy who gives [[Characters/TheMightyThorThorOdinson Thor]] fits on a regular basis. Black Bolt supercharged Dazzler with so much raw sound that she was able to completely overload the Absorbing Man's powers and knock him out. Keep in mind that the Absorbing Man is a guy who's tanked cosmic energy blasts and cyclones from '''Odin''', Thor's father and a PhysicalGod.
* [[ComicBook/HawkAndDove Dove]] of the Comicbook/TeenTitans is a low-level FlyingBrick, who also has the power of "perfect peace". In the ''Comicbook/BlackestNight'' crossover, this not only allowed the previous Dove to ''not'' come back as a {{zombie|Apocalypse}} but also [[spoiler:allowed the current Dove to destroy hordes of the otherwise-unstoppable emotion-powered zombies at once]].
* ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'': Emp's suit gives her a [[ComboPlatterPowers long list of powers]], most of which (besides the obviously awesome ones like NighInvulnerability or SuperStrength) are rather random. Top of the list is probably her invisibility, which ''sounds'' great, but [[{{Fanservice}} it actually only makes the suit itself invisible]]. And even that's unreliable, as when she tries to make her mask invisible she makes everything ''but'' her mask invisible. But since everyone knows that Emp loses all her powers when her suit is torn, she is able to trick a villain by letting him think her suit is completely gone, only to reveal that it's merely invisible. Cue NoHoldsBarredBeatdown.
* Some of [[Characters/CaptainAmericaHeroes the Falcon's]] powers include talking to birds and seeing what they see. It doesn't sound too promising until you realize that these birds can aid him in battle and act as his spies from ''everywhere''. It's been implied that between Comicbook/NickFury and all of the resources of ComicBook/{{SHIELD}}, and Falcon with all of the pigeons in New York, Falcon has the better intelligence network. His powers also affect other creatures that have some sort of avian ancestry. An issue of ''Comicbook/TheAvengers'' has him rescuing the team from a group of raptor-like aliens by using his abilities to force the creatures to flee. People also forget that his wings are pretty powerful melee weapons. This was {{lampshade|Hanging}}d during ''Ultimate Nightmare'' when Comicbook/BlackWidow jokingly said that Falcon wouldn't impress Unicorn by flapping his wings, only to retract her statement when he used them to eviscerate the villain.
* [[Characters/XMen90sMembers Jubilee]]'s original power set makes her a frequent source of ridicule since on the surface her fireworks seem incredibly useless. But then you remember that she's manipulating ''plasma''. Characters/{{Emma Frost|WhiteQueen}} once stated that had Jubilee exercised her powers to their ''full'' potential, she was capable of detonating matter at the ''sub-atomic'' level, making her a ''[[PersonOfMassDestruction walking fusion bomb]]''. And the only limitation on where she manifests her fireworks seems to be range. You know what happens when a firework goes off ''inside your skull''? Luckily, nobody except one Omega Sentinel has ever had to find out.
* Cixi's power from ''ComicBook/{{Lanfeust}}'' is to change water's state between liquid, solid, and gas. Said like this, it doesn't seem that powerful, but it becomes horribly creepy when you realize humans are mostly ''made'' of water. At one point, BigBad Thanos (not [[Characters/MarvelComicsThanos that one]]) has her causing a man's blood to boil until he is literally burnt from the inside.
** Heck, the comic is filled with examples of the trope. For example, after Thanos manages to take over Troy's capital, a man whose power is reading the future in animal entrails (e.g. a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruspex haruspex]]) uses said power (shown earlier to be somewhat useful but nothing special [[EveryoneIsASuper by the setting's standards]]) to run a ''very'' efficient [[LaResistance underground insurgency]], and one of his best elements is a big, middle-aged woman with the power induce horrible, crippling indigestion in people just by looking at them (something she does to {{mooks}} with great relish).

** One of their first recruits was Triplicate Girl, with the ability to transform from one ordinary teenage girl... to ''[[DoppelgangerAttack three]]'' [[DoppelgangerAttack ordinary teenage girls]]. [[MundaneUtility Useful for doing chores]] and [[PowerPerversionPotential pretty fun in bed]], but not much good in combat. At least, not until she became [[WeakButSkilled a master of Tri-Jitsu]], a martial art based around the fact that you have six arms, six legs, and three potential points of attack to coordinate from. She is also an expert infiltrator. Go somewhere and be seen to walk back out... after leaving ''two'' of your selves hidden somewhere, have them gather information, and then reunite to share and correlate. To top it off, splitting in two or three is a pretty handy way to dodge attacks.

** Matter-Eater Lad can... [[ExtremeOmnivore eat anything]]. Hardly a power to write home about. However, seeing as Tenzil Kem's personal definition of "stuff" includes ''laser beams'' and ''doomsday computers,'' you might want to keep him around in case you need to get rid of something. In one story he ate [[CosmicKeystone a supposedly-indestructible wish-granting device]] and so saved The Legion from the invincible monster it had created after everyone else failed. It drove him mad, but hey, he saved the universe! In at least one version, being able to bite through and chew up anything meant the {{Required Secondary Power|s}} of acidic saliva, providing a potentially nasty ranged attack.
** Chemical Kid can alter chemical reactions. In the Comicbook/{{New 52}}, he is terrified and asks why everyone is counting on him to subdue a rampaging Daxamite (Daxamites have all the same powers as Kryptonians). Element Lad talks him through slowing down the chemical reactions in the Daxamite's brain, causing him to pass out, then reversing the chemical reactions in his skin that let him absorb and process sunlight, taking away his powers. This means Chemical Kid can defeat Superman if he wanted to. "Altering chemical reactions" has every potential to be ''lethal'' if it can affect living organisms, which kind of depend on carefully balanced and regulated chemical processes to keep working. (Note, though, that things like transmuting elements or causing/affecting ''nuclear'' reactions don't technically fall under "chemistry".)

* ''ComicBook/MegaManArchieComics'':
** The Robot Masters built by Dr. Light in the classic ''VideoGame/{{Mega Man|Classic}}'' series are always initially used for some sort of [[SuperPoweredRobotMeterMaids industrial applications]], before being repurposed by the BigBad for combat. Most of these uses are either obvious or well explained in the games' backstories, with one glaring exception: Time Man, who was designed for time travel experiments, but who can only slow time down. This is justified in that he's a prototype from before the perfection of time travel theory, but it still leaves him without an obvious MundaneUtility. The comic, however, reveals one use that would be ''invaluable'' to anyone involved: [[spoiler:surgery]].
** We see Bright Man prior to the plot of ''VideoGame/MegaMan4'', where his only power (made to explore dark places) is being able to generate light on the level of a decently-powered lamp. Wily, though, quickly realizes [[OverclockingAttack that a bit of rerouting]] turns him into a walking flash grenade.
* On a similar note to Spider-Ham, in ''ComicBook/TheMultiversity'', [[ComicBook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew Captain Carrot]] comes from an AlternateTooniverse where everything runs on ToonPhysics, which he brings along when he visits the other worlds of the multiverse, allowing him to survive things that would kill anyone else, like taking a hit from a Hulk-analogue or getting decapitated.
* Seiji from the ''ComicBook/{{Muties}}'' miniseries has the ability to telekinetically animate his toys. It's mostly just good for making playtime more entertaining, right up until Seiji reaches his limit with his abusive step-dad and commands every toy he has to ZergRush him. And Seiji's got a whole ''army'' of toys.

* Similar to the above example, we have Deborah "Debrii" Fields of The ''ComicBook/NewWarriors'', who has low range telekinesis. She can levitate herself off the ground to allow for flight, and she can telekinetically move small objects within her immediate vicinity. Sounds rather weak, but she makes up for it by controlling every single small object near her with such precision that it's scary. Fighting in a junkyard, she effectively created a tornado of junk to batter her opponent and even formed a "mech suit" of junk around her body. Fighting her on a beach would mean her opponent would be up against a vicious sandstorm. And that's not even getting into the fact that even the human body has small parts, such as certain bones, muscles, and even eyeballs.
** Night Thrasher, the founder of the New Warriors, has no powers. He eventually evolves into a GadgeteerGenius, but he's best known as [[FadSuper the hero who rode into battle on a skateboard in the '90s]]. Though he drops it in later versions, his return in ''ComicBook/ContestOfChampions2015'' has him reclaim his old board and use only it to take down an alternate universe telepathic Madame Hydra and a more ruthless alternate version of Elektra. He neutralizes both of them with only his skateboard, noting how it's a transport, a weapon, and a shield. He doesn't care how silly it sounds in concept -- it's still really effective.
** Lampshaded by '''ComicBook/ThePunisher,''' of all people:
--->'''Frank Castle:''' I called it stupid? It serves as a weapon and a shield at the same time. Maybe ''I'' should get one.

* In ''Comicbook/{{PS238}},'' the titular SuperheroSchool has the Rainmaker Program, to help students find uses for powers not suited to combat. Uther can make anything edible? He can be the world's greatest chef! A little girl who's the human incarnation of Hestia, the Greek goddess of family? She could be a marriage counselor, a family therapist, etc.
* Marvel's Razorback has the mutant ability to instinctively operate any vehicle. Including Alien HumongousMecha that didn't exactly come with [[UnusualUserInterface instructions.]]
* ''ComicBook/RisingStars'' has Laurel Darkhaven, who can telekinetically manipulate very, very small objects. Such as your carotid artery. She becomes a government assassin. She later uses the ability to control "very small things" to telekinetically sift EVERY inch of arable soil under the entire Middle East in order to make the entire region fertile again. The results can be seen from ORBIT! Turns out many powers are like this because of implications or aspects directly hidden. Poet's powers are supposed to be just minor energy abilities, but they're actually control over the Power itself...
* In ''ComicBook/SecretAvengers'', the Scientist Supreme informs D-list supervillain Mentallo that his limited psionic abilities are quite laughable, but could be invaluable if utilized correctly. Cut to the next issue, where Mentallo throws the U.S. government into a state of emergency after mentally hijacking their entire fleet of [[Comicbook/IronMan Iron Patriot]] [[AttackDrone drones]].
* ''ComicBook/SecretSix'':
** The New 52 run introduces Porcelain, who has the ability to make things brittle like glass or even outright shatter. This makes for an exceptionally useful skill for breaking in and out of places, and even better at hand-to-hand combat (since you know, breaking bones). At one point, Porcelain was within an inch of killing frikkin' '''SUPERMAN'''.
** The pre-52 run gave us Ragdoll, who underwent a surgical process that made him "triple-jointed", essentially making him the world's best contortionist. This allows him to (among other things) wrap around someone like a snake and crush them, fit inside spaces no actual human should be able to, and dodge attacks like nobody's business. BewareTheSillyOnes indeed.
* ''ComicBook/SecretWeapons'' focuses on rejects from the Harbringer superempowering project, whose powers were dismissed by the founder as useless. But in the course of the series they discover greater use for them:
** Nikki can talk to birds, which allows her to spy across the whole of Oklahoma City and track enemies. Combined with her acrobatic skills she's the most capable member of the Willows rejects.
** Avi can only turn into an immobile marble statue, but that still allows him to become bulletproof mid-fight. By jumping above enemies and then turning to stone he can also easily snap limbs.
** Owen unpredictably creates random objects out of thin air. But he is slowly figuring out how to control his power, allowing him to block projectiles with suits of armour and conjuring a grand piano above an enemy.
* One of Batman's C-list foes is a guy called Signalman, who commits crimes and uses gadgetry based on signs, signals, and symbols. He's pretty firmly a joke, but every so often a writer will demonstrate that it's a very dangerous motif to operate off of when handled correctly, and Signalman has performed acts like hijacking Gotham's air traffic control system or using glow spots to disrupt the human nervous system.
* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':
** [[Characters/SpiderManPeterParker Peter]] once ripped part of [[Characters/MarvelComicsNormanOsborn Norman Osborn]]'s face off when he stuck to it with his stickum' powers during ''American Son''. Not how Creator/StanLee imagined it being used, but awesome regardless.
** On a similar note, Spider-Man's clone Kaine once used his sticking powers to tear off a piece of wall and beat the Rhino over the head with it. He would also use his sticking powers routinely to leave the "Mark of Kaine" on his victims, in the same manner that Spidey would later use them in the above-mentioned ''American Son'' example.
** Mr. Brownstone was a minor villain who could teleport matter... a few grams at a time. He used those powers to become a drug dealer catering to wealthy clients wishing to indulge in heroin without any nasty needle marks. Naturally, he could also teleport drugs to people's systems against their will...
** Frequent Spidey villain [[Characters/SpidermanCentralRoguesGallery Mysterio]] often catches flack for his [[FishbowlHelmet goofy]] [[FashionVictimVillain appearance]], his [[LargeHam over-the-top persona]] and his villain abilities coming from [[SpecialEffects special effects wizardry]] rather than any physical attributes. Yet his use of said special effects [[WeakButSkilled is consistently dangerous]], with him being able to make [[KillerRobot working robots]], [[MasterOfIllusion create realistic illusions]] and even nearly drove Spider-Man (and later, Characters/{{Daredevil|MattMurdock}}) [[DrivenToMadness insane through his machinations]].
** ComicBook/SpiderHam is a cartoon pig with spider-powers (or more correctly, a cartoon spider bitten by a radioactive pig). This means that, as a cartoon character, he has [[ToonPhysics the same properties as them]]. Bringing them to the more grittier and rougher worlds, such as Earth-616, this turns him into a MadeOfIron hero. A good example is during ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'''s version of ''ComicBook/SpiderVerse'', when he coerces a Thor to punch him. He takes it, gets knocked through many walls, comes to a stop at a break room, and casually gets up and walks off, taking Electro's sandwich while he was at it. This also allows him to eat pork without it being considered cannibalism.
* [[Characters/TheUnbeatableSquirrelGirl Squirrel Girl]] has [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the power to control squirrels]], and has become a RunningGag and Marvel's LethalJokeCharacter by defeating the most powerful supervillains in existence. [[SecondHandStorytelling Offpanel]]. The off-panel thing is becoming mostly subverted, as she easily defeats Wolverine in a sparring match, shown mostly in silhouette but still visible, and she was also shown ripping killer Nazi mechas to shreds, chewing through steel doors, and burrowing through multiple layers of sewer. In her case, this is crossed with FlightStrengthHeart, as she actually has a pretty useful (if not overly impressive) set of abilities due to her squirrel nature -- superhuman strength and agility, superhuman senses, the ability to leap huge distances, and nasty claws. Yet, she manages to draw mileage even out of her actual "Heart" power -- the ability to talk to squirrels -- since apparently, [[DeathOfAThousandCuts being swarmed by dozens, if not hundreds of tiny clawing and biting critters]] [[https://www.thefandomentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/actual-doom-e1481862014714.jpg can be surprisingly effective]]. And ''then'' came [[Characters/TheUnbeatableSquirrelGirl Squirrel girl beats up the marvel universe]] where her evil...ish clone Alleene outlined and executed a terrifyingly simple plan to cripple all humanity with her squirrels.
* ''ComicBook/{{Stormwatch}}: Team Achilles'' had a character whose superpower was to make plants grow really fast... and he worked as an assassin. The thing is, most people at any given time have seeds in their digestive tract from the vegetation they've eaten, and growing those up to full plants in a few seconds leads to a nasty death from internal injuries and/or choking.
* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': Super Vacuum Breath -essentially using SuperBreath to inhale air instead of expelling it out- sounded so silly that even Pre-Crisis Superman and Characters/{{Supergirl|TheCharacter}} (who thought nothing of their super-ventriloquism ability) considered it a ridiculous power. Still, it saves ComicBook/{{Superboy}}'s life in ''ComicBook/HowLuthorMetSuperboy'' when Lex Luthor exposes him to Kryptonite, and while Clark is lying in agony, waves a flask of K-antidote over his face. Quickly, Superboy breathes in air, wrenching the flask from Luthor's hands and sucking in the antidote.

* During the Shadowplay arc of ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', we are introduced to [[MeaningfulName Glitch]], an [[{{Mutants}} Outlier]] with the powerful ability to... [[WalkingTechbane short out machinery]], and just temporarily so most of the time. An ability that he has trouble controlling and actually hurts him nearly every time he tries to use it purposely. It proves useful sometimes, like when he deactivated the security mechanisms of a building he and his team were doing a heist in, but more often than not it's a nuisance, as Glitch can accidentally damage important equipment [[PowerIncontinence just by touching it]]. Cut to some years later, and [[spoiler:as [[FromNobodyToNightmare Tarn]], he has full control of his powers, to the point that he has not only learned how to weaponize it to lethal levels, but also he's now able to kill fellow Cybertronians with just the sound of his voice, quite literally ''talking them to death''. Turns out that when [[MechanicalLifeforms your entire species is mechanical in nature]], being a WalkingTechbane is actually pretty damn scary]].

* ComicBook/UltimateMarvel:
** [[Characters/AntManHeroes The Wasp]] sometimes gets crap for being "useless" and "lame," especially from younger fans. ''[[ComicBook/TheUltimates Ultimate Avengers]]'' #3 has [[LegacyCharacter Red Wasp]] single-handedly killing an entire room full of terrorists, demonstrating how incredibly deadly her abilities actually are. Turns out [[FridgeHorror having the power to shrink and fry someone's brain from the inside out]] isn't something to laugh at, huh?
*** Earlier than that, an issue of Ultimates 2 shows what happens when she uses those energy blasts of hers at full size.
*** Ultimates 1 has her single-handedly defeat the Hulk in a single blow. Turns out no matter how strong your muscles get, your brain is still as weak as always.
** ''ComicBook/UltimateGalactusTrilogy'': Xavier used the improved Cerebro system to attack Gah Lak Tus with the sum of all of humanity's thoughts.
** The Vision's power is to talk. But she talks in all the alien languages available, and in some cases, [[StarfishLanguage for aliens who developed language in exceedingly inhospitable environments]], [[WordsCanBreakMyBones mere words are weapons in themselves]].
* Heck, some of Aquaman's fellow Detroit League members qualify for this trope. How many comic book-loving Tropers don't think much of [[Characters/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Vibe]] because of his vibrational powers and EthnicScrappy tendencies? [[http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p278/lammal412/Vibe1.jpg Check out this example of sheer power.]] [[http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p278/lammal412/New/Vibe3.jpg And how about this sequence]] [[http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p278/lammal412/New/Vibe4.jpg in which he stabilizes time eras]] during ''Comicbook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''? "You was sayin', Tropes?" [[MemeticMutation OUTRAGEOUS!]] The Comicbook/{{New 52}} reboot of Vibe drops the CaptainEthnic elements and makes him a more fully-realized character. His abilities allow him to sense breaches from other dimensions, making him the Justice League's guardian of TheMultiverse.
* Doug "Cypher" Ramsey of the ''ComicBook/XMen'' junior team ''ComicBook/NewMutants'' originally had the power of [[CunningLinguist comprehending languages]], and that was it. Then he died and [[DeathIsCheap came back]], with his powers [[CameBackStrong expanding]] to all forms of "language". This includes computer language (making him a master hacker and programmer; he once managed to disable ''an entire Sentinel facility'' just by communicating with Master Mold in this way), arcane languages (letting him cast spells), body language (giving him the ability to fight all the New Mutants at the same time and win), and even the structure of buildings, allowing him to pinpoint their weak spots instantly. TookALevelInBadass, indeed. Many fanfic writers anticipated the potential broader interpretation/application of his powers even before his demise. Canon finally caught up with them.
* E-list member of the ComicBook/XMen Fabio Medina has the ability to generate golden balls of organic matter. He can shoot them pretty fast and hard, but it's hardly anything special, so he mostly stuck around in the background with the AtrociousAlias Goldballs... until people started looking into his powers a little more deeply, and discovered that his ''actual'' power was to generate what were essentially giant inert eggs. With a little tinkering and help from others, these eggs could then hatch, and be infused with the DNA and minds of others. He ended up on a team including characters like Elixir, Hope Summers, and Proteus because all of them working together could ''bring the dead back to life''.

** A literal example with Princess Cadence, the third Alicorn in the series. She's a LoveGoddess who has the power to repair the bonds between ponies and spread love wherever she goes. Compared to the {{Physical God}}dess level abilities her aunts show, this doesn't seem as impressive. Then you remember that ThePowerOfFriendship is the most powerful magic in the world, and ThePowerOfLove is its close cousin. Cue her and her husband-to-be using ThePowerOfLove [[spoiler:to deliver a HeartBeatDown to [[BigBad Queen Chrysalis]] that sends her and her minions ''[[TwinkleInTheSky hurtling over the horizon]]'']]. We see in the Season 3 opener that her love magic is capable of repelling King Sombra, an ancient and extremely powerful unicorn king who took ''both'' her super-powered aunts to defeat a thousand years ago.

* In ''Literature/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'', it is a fundamental rule of the setting that vessels who lose a summoning battle fall into a deep catatonia, at which point they are completely vulnerable and will obey any orders given to them. Vessels can only break this rule temporarily, and only if they have no iota of doubt about whatever they're breaking it to do. [[spoiler:For example, the escaped slave Lu kills her master during such a catatonia, because her will to remain free was just that strong.]] To clarify how rare such willpower is -- a ''sworn nemesis'' of the White Queen, who has dedicated his whole life to becoming strong enough to fight her, cannot break his catatonia to do so. Lu hates Elvast ''[[ThePowerOfHate that much]]''.

** In ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', Paula's Pray ability produces unpredictable results throughout the game. However, it's absolutely essential to defeating the final boss, [[EldritchAbomination Giygas]]. When Paula prays during the final battle, it deals ''five-digit damage'' to Giygas and eventually kills him.

* In ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'', the Box Ghost becomes the definition of HarmlessVillain after the first few episodes and Danny gains some control of his powers, but his ADayInTheLimelight episode reveals 'control of all boxes' includes ''Pandora's Box'' (although that one [[HoistByHisOwnPetard kinda backfired]]). In the BadFuture episode, we meet Boxlunch, daughter of the Box Ghost and another recurring enemy, The Lunch Lady. She's got the powers of both her parents, which she quickly uses to create some PoweredArmor for herself. Not to mention Box Ghost himself TookALevelInBadass in the BadFuture, to where even his CatchPhrase "Beware" sounds threatening.

* Invoked on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': To avoid a Klingon civil war, [[KickedUpstairs Worf suggests making Kahless the new spiritual leader of the Klingon people and giving him a figurehead title]].
--> '''Koroth:''' The title is meaningless without the power to back it up.\\

* Invoked on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': To avoid a Klingon civil war, Worf suggests making Kahless the new spiritual leader of the Klingon people and giving him a figurehead title.

* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/29779803/chapters/73268043 Orajje's As N Approaches Infinity Fan AUs and Oneshots]]'' (registered users only) features [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Homura]] gaining a Bankai, as the result of the oneshot being a crossover with {{Manga/Bleach}}, which takes on the form of a golf club. Homura initially thinks the Bankai is completely useless if not outright mocking her, until she hit something with it, at which point she discovered the Bankai's power as a AlwaysAccurateAttack. She then used it to hit a knife at every Incubator in existence causing said knife, which promptly ignored physics, to kill every one of them in a few days.

* In ''TabletopGame/CosmicEncounter'', each alien has a unique power. Most of these powers are obviously strong and/or useful, like [[https://cosmicencounter.fandom.com/wiki/Merchant turning your cards into additional ships]], [[https://cosmicencounter.fandom.com/wiki/Zombie never losing your ships to the warp]], or even [[https://cosmicencounter.fandom.com/wiki/Void permanently removing your opponents' defeated ships from the game]]. And then there's the [[https://cosmicencounter.fandom.com/wiki/Loser Loser]], who has the power to win an encounter by losing. Despite this power sounding almost like a joke, it's incredibly strong against aliens whose powers permanently increase their ship and/or attack card numbers like the [[https://cosmicencounter.fandom.com/wiki/Macron Macron]] or [[https://cosmicencounter.fandom.com/wiki/Warrior Warrior]] who otherwise become increasingly difficult to defeat the longer the game lasts. It's so strong in many situations, in fact, that virtually all ranking lists of ''Cosmic Encounter'' alien powers rank the Loser at the very top or near it.

** Frequent Spidey villain [[Characters/SpidermanCentralRoguesGallery Mysterio]] often catches flack for his [[FishbowlHelmet goofy]] [[FashionVictimVillain appearance]], his [[LargeHam over-the-top persona]] and his villain abilities coming from [[SpecialEffects special effects wizardry]] than any physical attributes. Yet his use of said special effects [[WeakButSkilled is consistently dangerous]], with him being able to make [[KillerRobot working robots]], [[MasterOfIllusion create realistic illusions]] and even nearly drove Spider-Man (and later, Characters/{{Daredevil|MattMurdock}}) [[DrivenToMadness insane through his machinations]].

* During the Shadowplay arc of ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', we are introduced to [[MeaningfulName Glitch]], an [[{{Mutants}} Outlier]] with the powerful ability to... [[WalkingTechbane short out machinery]], and just temporarily so most of the time. An ability that he has trouble controlling and actually hurts him nearly every time he tries to use it purposely. It proves useful sometimes, like when he deactivated the security mechanisms of a building he and his team were doing a heist in, but more often than not it's a nuisance, as Glitch can accidentally damage important equipment [[PowerIncontinence just by touching it]]. Cut to some years later, and [[spoiler: as [[FromNobodyToNightmare Tarn]], he has full control of his powers, to the point that he has not only learned how to weaponize it to lethal levels, but also he's now able to kill fellow Cybertronians with just the sound of his voice, quite literally ''talking them to death''. Turns out that when [[MechanicalLifeforms your entire species is mechanical in nature]], being a WalkingTechbane is actually pretty damn scary]].
** Minimus Ambus is a particular variety of [[SuperSoldier Point One Percenter]] called a Loadbearer, a Cybertronian whose body can withstand dozens of augmentations without collapsing under the strain. What good is this? ''Plenty''. Not only does it let him [[spoiler: operate as the legendary Ultra Magnus by way of PoweredArmor]], but he survives getting ''his head crushed'' by constructing a larger version of his own body and hiding inside that. Then, he takes it one step further by [[spoiler: going full-on HumongousMecha courtesy of the Maximus Ambus armor, armed with enough firepower to put any tank to shame.]]

--> '''Elspeth''': [[spoiler: Select eligible dead individuals, subject to terms and conditions, side effects include human sacrifice, void where prohibited-]]

* ''Fanfic/ThisBites'': The basic ability of the Noise-Noise Fruit is to copy and manipulate the users sounds. While limited for a human, in the possession of a Transponder Snail like Soundbite, he can hear and project his voice within a mile range (allowing for either eavesdropping and bluffs) and has extended his abilities to translate animal languages for his human crewmates, induce vertigo on opponents, shatter objects by projecting sound that matches their frequency, [[spoiler: and unlock the voice of all things]]. [[spoiler: He becomes more powerful once he Awakens his devil fruit.]]

** The sequel, ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'', continues this trend. First off, the Pyms not only have a ''collection'' of cars that can shrink and grow back to full size at will, the entire building that houses their lab can ''shrink down into a luggage bag''. The Wasp suit also has all the advantages of the Ant-Man suit, but is also equipped with wings and blasters, making her an even more effective fighter. Finally, shrinking allows one to enter the quantum realm, which doesn't sound like much, but energies of the quantum realm [[spoiler: allow Janet to cure Ghost's condition]], and the quantum realm's physics [[spoiler: become very important in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' since it enables ''time travel'', giving the heroes a chance to save the universe after they thought they lost their chance]].

* An ascended meme in ''Film/Aquaman2018'', where Arthur's commonly ridiculed (in-universe and out) ability to communicate with sea creatures causes him to get bullied as a kid: however, it proves useful when [[spoiler: he uses this ability to command the Karathen, a {{Kaiju}} sized sea monster that effortlessly demolishes the massive Atlantean ships, an ''entire fleet'' of them no less, and is completely immune to all of Orm's artillery.]] It is also shown to be an extremely rare ability and Arthur is the first Atlantean to have it in many centuries. Thus there is no one who can teach him how to use it to its full extent. Once Arthur uses it to its fullest, it becomes clear why the last person to have these powers [[spoiler: became a legendary Atlantean king who took Atlantean civilizations to its pinnacle and then accidentally caused its fall]].

** What can Ratcatcher II do with the ability to summon and control rats? Pretty much anything she wants. Rats are small, stealthy, intelligent, and incredibly numerous in any area with any degree of human habitation, and their jaws can bite through just about anything with sufficient time and energy. Her powers make her an excellent scout, infiltrator, and assassin, and are extremely useful in direct combat as well, as the Corto Maltese military and [[spoiler: Starro]] find out to their cost.
** Polka-Dot Man can release a stream of polka-dots from his body. Despite being labeled as useless by damn near everybody in Belle Reve, up to and including freakin' ''Calendar Man'', they're revealed to be [[spoiler: extra-dimensional plasma bursts and ''obscenely'' deadly, able to reduce a person to LudicrousGibs with almost no effort. He's one of the few members of the Squad that can directly damage Starro in the climax.]]

** Quentin Smedry [[TheUnintelligible speaks nonsense]]. This makes any information or secrets safe with him, as he quite literally can't reveal them, even when being tortured. It also comes with a minor ability to [[spoiler: predict the future through his gibberish, although it's quite hard to interpret]].

* ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'': Compared to her companions, Piper's [[CompellingVoice Charmspeak]] seems very underwhelming. But throughout the series, she's demonstrated the full utility of being able to get your enemy to do anything from turning against their allies to falling unconscious on the spot with nothing but a few choice words. The last two books in the series take her effectiveness up a notch when she [[spoiler: fights the Boreads and Khione on her own by ''ordering Festus to wake up'' in ''The House of Hades'' and '''putting Gaea to sleep''' in ''The Blood of Olympus''.]]

*** Marasi is a Cadmium Misting, a person who can burn Cadmium to create a bubble of slowed time; time moves slower within the bubble than outside it. Initially this power is considered rather useless, as there aren't many times that someone needs to move slower than the rest of the world (though one character points out that, since she's interested in law enforcement, she could use it to speed up stakeouts). However [[spoiler:during the final battle with Miles, she uses this ability once all of Miles's mooks are gone and he's distracted. Since Miles doesn't notice the bubble has gone up, this allows plenty of time for Wayne to get the police and come back to Miles's hideout, where they capture him]]. In the second book, she [[spoiler:causes an assassin's bullet to miss its target by enveloping him in a time bubble, which messes with the direction of objects entering or leaving it. Plus while she and the assassin are slowed down, the target has plenty of time to escape]]. Then in the third book, Marasi's power becomes vastly more powerful when she discovers [[spoiler: a MagiTek grenade-like device that lets her "charge" it with a time bubble and throw it, effectively letting her create time-stopping bubbles separate from her own body]]. In the fourth book, Marasi has started using the "wait for backup" plan as a standard part of her arsenal. Turns out that capturing a few dozen criminals isn't that hard if you only have to hold them for five minutes before backup arrives.

* ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'': From the get-go, everybody writes off Naofumi's Legendary Weapon as useless for its defense and support-oriented abilities. But as any MMO player will attest to, defense and support classes are ''vital'' to getting anywhere. Due to its inherent ability to change forms, Naofumi still has access to abilities you wouldn't immediately expect from a support tank, such as using shield-shaped barriers as platforms and surprise traps, containing targets in domes made of chained shields, deploying poison vipers, and vicious biting dog heads on attackers, draining MP and SP, and [[spoiler: unleashing hate-powered cursed flames and torture devices on unfortunate enemies. Though, in the capital's case, they might have known that the Legendary Shield wasn't nearly as useless as the other Heroes stupidly believed it was, but still acted that way to the point of actively refusing, and even trying to handicap Naofumi anyway due to the inherent bigotry towards those who worshipped the "weapon".]] On top of that, the Shield's own drawbacks end up helping Naofumi, as it forces him to pick up other non-combat skills in order to survive, preventing him from further falling into CripplingOverspecialization.

** In most other settings, GoodWithNumbers would qualify as a very, very minor power. Number Man takes this to the extreme, though -- he can [[CombatClairvoyance use math to predict]] [[DeadlyDodging and dodge attacks]], he can NoSell falls and even explosions, [[ColdSniper take shots that ricochet around shields]], and perform a ShatterpointTap to the skull of a super tough parahuman. He's the only living ex-member of [[spoiler: [[SerialKiller The]] [[TheDreaded Slaughterhouse]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Nine]], and his clones [[CurbStompBattle show some of their skill]] against a group of the best-trained heroes in the world, taking them out without even getting short of breath]]. This isn't even that unusual, as other "Thinker" powers (anything about gathering or processing information) are almost universally the most dangerous powers in the setting.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Arknights}}'', while Amiya is shown to have offensive Arts abilities, it's her empathy (admittedly a bit more than [[MemoryPalace just being sensitive]]) that contributes to the main plot and allows her to be Rhodes Island's [[GradeSchoolCEO young leader]] rather than [[ChildSoldiers just another child soldier]]. However, this ability extends way, way further - [[spoiler: as Amiya is able to relieve a traumatized Jessica from the stress and eventually able to telepathically communicate with Patriot and influence the Sarkaz common consciousness]].
** A very similar case is going on with [[spoiler: Theresa, whose Arts has a calming influence. She has been shown using it to calm down entire hordes of Sarkaz troops. She is very highly implied to have transferred at least part of her into the aforementioned Amiya as well]].

* ''Franchise/DanganRonpa'': In a school filled with people who have nigh-supernatural talent in their field, Makoto and Nagito have Luck as their talent. Neither of them think all that much of it, Makoto because all he did to get in is win a lottery, and Nagito because his extreme luck is [[BlessedWithSuck way more trouble than it's worth]], but their talents come in ''exceptionally'' handy during their killing games; Makoto avoids getting framed and finds some evidence [[spoiler: and survives his execution]] due to luck, and Nagito is so lucky he can win Russian Roulette with only ''one'' chamber empty (which gets Monokuma to give him crucial information), and [[spoiler: his plan to expose TheMole by getting them to accidentally kill him and thus graduate relies [[GambitRoulette entirely on luck]] to succeed; anyone else would have one of the plan's many moving parts and wild assumptions come back to bite them, but he pulls it off perfectly and nearly succeeds, with the plan only failing because he didn't realize that TheMole was actually on the students' side all along and blew the plan herself]].

** Lie Ren's semblance is the ability to mask negative emotions. While the semblance is pretty much useless in a fight against another Huntsman, it makes him practically untouchable against Grimm. It was lucky he had this power, because if he didn't, [[spoiler:Nora and he probably wouldn't have survived the Nuckelavee Grimm when they were children]]. Volume 8 continues to increase its effectiveness when it evolves to let Ren [[spoiler: [[AuraVision see spikes in emotion as differently colored petals]], allowing him to ascertain how someone really feels and serve as emotional support (something [[TheStoic Ren]] really couldn't be prior to then).]]
** There's also Velvet Scarlatina, the [[BunnyGirl rabbit Faunus]] of Team CFVY (Coffee). Her semblance, Photographic Memory, allows her to mimic the movements of other people. Not only does this mean she can copy the fighting style of [[OneWomanArmy every ally and enemy she's ever encountered]], she also built her signature weapon around this ability. ''Anesidora'' looks like a normal camera, and Velvet seems to be a terrible photographer. But then it's revealed that she was actually taking pictures of [[spoiler: ''weapons'', and Anesidora is able to then create hard-light copies of those weapons.]] This allows Velvet to perform combo attacks that usually require an entire team of Huntresses. There are only 2 reasons she isn't the most overpowered character in the entire show: the dust to power her weapon is finite, and the [[spoiler: constructs]] only last a few seconds, then she has to take another photo to use that one again.

%%* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'': The demons of urine and bad haircuts [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2008/06/26/episode-1009-demon-stration/ give Black Mage nightmares]].

** The Dog Miraculous' ability, "Fetch", allows the user to summon any object their ball has touched. It doesn't sound that useful… [[spoiler: but in "Strike Back" Félix uses this ability to steal Ladybug's yo-yo and [[DealWithTheDevil give sixteen Miraculouses to]] [[BigBad Gabriel]] [[DealWithTheDevil in exchange for the Peacock Miraculous.]]]]

** Rose personally considered the ability to grow and change humanity's greatest ability that made them superior to Gems in that way, and thus viewed it as one of the most amazing things Steven would get from his [[HalfHumanHybrid hybrid nature]]. Not only can Steven change and grow, he can make ''others'' change and grow, including Gems who are normally very unchanging. It shows in that he has managed to make the Crystal Gems grow more in his (comparably) ''very'' short life than they had in ''millennia''. [[spoiler: According to Rebecca Sugar, this is the exact reason his pure unleashed power was able to overpower White Diamond: he had to actually train and grow to gain ability over his power while White and the other Diamonds ''naturally'' have theirs. As such, his power became far, far greater.]]