History Main / KeepingTheHandicap

There's a number of possible reasons why. The disabled person might just be accustomed to living with the disability. They might feel that their disability is simply part of who they are or be proud of being disabled. Someone blind or deaf since birth would have a tough time adjusting to the addition of a fifth sense, and one [[ForcedTransformation turned into a werebeast]] many years prior would have long ago become accustomed to a bestial lifestyle (and may even end up RevellingInTheNewForm). Ultimately, the disabled character believes that it would be more of a hassle to be abled than to be disabled.

There's a number of possible reasons why. The disabled person might just be accustomed to living with the disability. They might feel that their disability is simply part of who they are or be proud of being disabled. Someone blind or deaf since birth would have a tough time adjusting to the addition of a fifth sense, and one [[ForcedTransformation turned into a werebeast]] many years prior would have long ago become accustomed to a bestial lifestyle. Ultimately, the disabled character believes that it would be more of a hassle to be abled than to be disabled.

** Kabuto Yakushi naturally has poor eyesight, yet he deliberately keeps wearing his iconic glasses despite having the ability to perform eye transplants without any difficulty. They were a present from Nonou, the orphanage caretaker who gave Kabuto his name, and whom he inadvertently killed years later.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': After their final duel, Naruto and Sasuke finally settle their differences [[AnArmAndALeg at the cost of their respective dominant arm]]. While Naruto gets a replacement made of Hashirama's cells, [[TheAtoner Sasuke]] forgoes getting one himself, resolving to live on with a single arm as a reminder of the crimes he committed. He continues to live that way by the time of ''Manga/{{Boruto}}''.
** Kabuto Yakushi naturally has poor eyesight, yet he deliberately keeps wearing his iconic glasses despite having the ability to perform eye transplants without any difficulty, because they were a present from Nonou, the orphanage caretaker who gave Kabuto his name, and whom he inadvertently killed years later.

* ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'':

** In the finale, [[spoiler:Edward regains his lost arm and leg, only to give them up again to pull Alphonse out of the Gate. This is in contrast with [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist the manga]] and ''Brotherhood'', in which he gets his right arm back, but his left leg is still metal, and he gives up his ability to perform alchemy in exchange for restoring Al's body]].

* ''ComicBook/XMenTheKrakoanAge'' introduces the Resurrection Protocols, which grant mutants ResurrectiveImmortality by creating new bodies for them. Mutants can even go through the [[DuelToTheDeath Crucible]] to die and get resurrected whenever they please. We've seen various disabled mutants react to this; [[ComicBook/NewMutants2019 Karma]] is resurrected but apparently not to restore her missing leg. (No canon reason is provided, but it's most likely due to avoid real-life accusations of ableism.) [[ComicBook/{{SWORD2020}} Wiz Kid]] has elected to stay wheelchair-bound, but provides an explanation: he'll shed his disability when he's being revived from death, but he's not willing to actively seek out his death to achieve the results. So he'll wait for an accidental or natural death, rather than trying to force it.

->''"Before I went into that... interrogation center... I asked the Prophets to give me the strength to get the rest of you out of there. And... that in exchange, I... I said I'd give up my life. Well, as it turned out, I was able to rescue you, Shakaar and Lupaza. It's only cost me an arm. I felt the... the Prophets were generous. Somehow, replacing the arm seems... ungrateful."''

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'': Per WordOfGod, Mirabel's glasses are part of who she is, which is why [[https://screenrant.com/encanto-movie-mirabel-glasses-eyesight-julieta-fix-why/ her mother doesn't just fix her daughter's eyesight with magic]]

* During the "Tales of Ash" arc in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' (2003, XI and XIII), Iori loses his power due to Ash Crimson stealing his power. The power Iori wields is from a family curse due to his clan making a deal with Orochi in the ancient days (Long story, basically it was made out of misguided jealously). While Iori can fight without it, when all's said and done at the end of ''[=KOF=] 13'', he's given the chance to let said power disappear into the ether and live a normal life. He decides he CantStayNormal and takes the power back within himself.

** Redcloak's brother, Right-Eye, earned his name from the fact that he lost an eye to a paladin's sword as a kid, but rejected the idea of having it regenerated. In his case, though, it was as part of a plan: their boss, Xykon, [[RacialFaceBlindness can't tell goblins apart to save his unlife]], and Right-Eye planned to kill him. He believed that if his plan failed, the best way to go into hiding would be to have the eye regenerated, at which point he'd lose his most distinguishing feature and melt into the crowd.

[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ootsimagething_2.png]]]]

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/TheSandman1989 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rco024_24.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Fess up: you're keeping it because scars look cool.]]

** In the finale, [[spoiler:Ed regains his lost arm and leg, only to give them up again to pull Al out of the Gate. This is in contrast with the manga and ''Brotherhood'', in which he gets his right arm back, but his left leg is still metal, and he gives up his ability to perform alchemy in exchange for restoring Al's body]].

*** Q tempts Riker by giving him the Q's godlike powers. He uses the power to grant some favors to the crew, such as giving the blind Geordi normal eyes; but they all ultimately refuse the gifts, saying that the price is too high.
*** Geordi, though blind, doesn't live without sight thanks to his VISOR, but it's shown to have some downsides (e.g. it doesn't provide the same visual experience as eyes would; it can cause headaches; it can be knocked off, blinding him). During the second season, Dr. Pulaski offers ocular implants to Geordi, as she has experience with that sort of surgery. He declines at the time, saying that he's not sure the technology could equal what his VISOR can do. He also gets in several [[AnAesop Aesops]] about disability acceptance, including at least two situations in which his VISOR's capabilities save the day for him and another character who had just finished telling him how he would never have existed in their society. He does eventually get them in ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'' after actor Levar Burton refused to wear the painful VISOR prop anymore (Expanded Universe material suggests that Geordi was basically forced to get the implants after his VISOR being hacked played such a key part in the destruction of the ''Enterprise''-D as various Fleet officials wanted to stop such a thing happening again).