History Main / PowerCopying

* Hachiman's Quirk, 108 Skills, in ''Fanfic/MyHeroSchoolAdventureIsAllWrongAsExpected'' allows him to copy up to 108 other Quirks for future use with the caveat that he can only use one Quirk at a time and each copied ability is only 1/108th as powerful as the original. This ability was rightfully deemed to be nearly useless by the rest of his classmates until he copied another PowerCopying Quirk, allowing him to use several of his Quirks simultaneously to devastating effect.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonWack'': The move Sketch, much like in canon (only it's now reclassified as a Paint-type move), has the gimmick of copying the last move the opponent uses and is permantly replaced by the aformentioned move.

* In ''Manga/SoulHunter'', Youzen is a master of [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifting]], and can copy someone else's power by taking their appearance. This even include imitating the power of their paopei, the sennin's magical weapons, even if he don't posses it himself. He can replicate anyone he have observed enough or met before no mather how far they are, and switch from one form to another, and thus from one power to another, in a split-second. This make him extremely versatile. Howewer, even if he can take the apperance of someone stronger than him, he cannot immitate their strength and trying to use their power will quickly drain his energy.

* ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' [[spoiler: Kaede]] can imitate the power of the last NEXT she touched, a very ''very'' important plot twist.

* ''LightNovel/BeastTamerAndTheCatGirl'': When Rein forms a contract with one of the Strongest Species, he gains their abilities on top of his own. When he contracts with CatGirl Kanade he gains a massive boost in physical power, while dragon girl Tania gives him a similar boost in magical power. The fairy twins Luna and Sora, meanwhile, grant him increased control of his magic, such as the ability to cast multiple spells at once and properly manage their power, and immunity to status effects up to and including a OneHitKill.

* When Izuku learns how to take other people's forms in ''Fanfic/TurningANewLeaf'', he inadvertently discovers that he can copy their quirks too.
* Road Roller Extreme from [[http://fav.me/d4a27sp Super Milestone Wars]], a {{super robot|Genre}} that can assume the power or MechaExpansionPack of any other super robot in fiction.

* ''Fanfic/SOE2LoneHeirOfKrypton'': In this crossover, [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Asuka]] and [[ComicBook/WonderGirl Rei]] fought the [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Parasite]], a mutated human copied his victims' powers and stole their memories and energy by touching them.
* In the ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' Fanfic ''Fanfic/ImperfectMetamorphosis'', [[spoiler:Rin Satsuki can absorb other people]]. By doing so, she becomes able to replicate their powers and appearances.
* Another ''Touhou'' Fanfic, ''Fanfic/TouhouDoujinDawitsusFolly'' has OriginalCharacter Dawitsu as a youkai 'mimicker', who uses his {{Otaku}} knowledge to form a varied arsenal of video-game and anime-based attacks, as well as copying the Touhou cast's abilities...
* The gloriously bonkers ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' CrackFic ''Fanfic/ALittleAngelOnMyShoulder'' has the Instrumemory system, which is a bit different from most examples of this trope since it involves the Shoulder Angels (basically pint-sized ghosts of the canon Angels) temporarily merging with the Eva to allow it to borrow the Angel in question's abilities.
* In the ''FanFic/PonyPOVSeries'', it's revealed that Twilight's ability to learn any spell after witnessing it is because this is a special ability of the Element of Magic. [[spoiler: Since Trixie is another Element of Magic, she's able to do likewise. Celestia can do it too for the same reasons, as can Sunset. Notably each works differently: Twilight copies them exactly, Sunset's are stronger but more mana intensive, Trixie's are weaker but less mana intensive, and Celestia's are fire based versions. Dark World Rarity gains this ability after absorbing the Element of Magic.]]
** ''Fanfic/ThePowersOfHarmony'' likewise has this as one of the abilities granted to the Bearer of Magic.
* In ''WebAnimation/TurnaboutStorm'', coming into contact with [[Franchise/AceAttorney Phoenix Wright's]] [[LieDetector Magatama]] accidentally gives [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Twilight Sparkle]] the ability to see Psyche-Locks, effectively turning her into a LivingLieDetector.

* ''Fanfic/EscapeFromTheMoon'': In the sequel ''The Mare From the Moon'', averting this trope is one reason Luna and Celestia don’t want to send Spliced to Tartarus, regardless of her crimes; they’re afraid Tirek (who is imprisoned there) might do this to her and become immortal.
* ''Fanfic/ConstantsAndVariables'': In the process of accidentally freeing her from the containment unit she was kept in, Harry accidentally received some of her tear-based powers (later becoming amplified when [[spoiler:he loses a finger in Elizabeth’s effort to save him during the quidditch match]]). In-turn, Elizabeth ended up absorbing part of Harry’s potential magic, Elizabeth gaining the ability to cast spells despite coming from a universe with no magic.
* [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12914247/1/Prime-Directive-Hero Prime Directive: Hero]] is a ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' fanfic where Izuku has this power combined with a sort of SuperIntelligence. The fact that his version of the power has almost no limits, combined with the aforementioned SuperIntelligence, means that he is super OP in this universe.
* [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13451279/1/My-Hero-Academia-Mega-Izuku Mega Izuku]] is a {{crossover}} between ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' and ''Franchise/MegaMan'', where Izuku has a Quirk that allows him to transform his hands into guns - and also allows him to "copy" the Quirks of other people by either defeating them or having permission to do so, which gives him a new weapon that has a similar power.
* In ''Fanfic/UnlimitedPotential'', Taylor thinks that her Quirk is just being a robotics Tinker - until a fight while she's wearing her armor allows her to discover she can expand her fighting repertoire by defeating other capes.
* Hachiman's Quirk, 108 Skills, in ''Fanfic/MyHeroSchoolAdventureIsAllWrongAsExpected'' allows him to copy up to 108 other Quirks for future use with the caveat that he can only use one Quirk at a time and each copied ability is only 1/108th as powerful as the original. This ability was rightfully deemed to be nearly useless by the rest of his classmates until he copied another PowerCopying Quirk, allowing him to use several of his Quirks simultaneously to devastating effect.
* ''Fanfic/ADiplomaticVisit'': Minor example in chapter 7 of the sequel ''Diplomat at Large''. [[spoiler:During the big battle outside the Storm King's fortress, Pharynx sees one pony pulling a RapidFireFisticuffs to shatter a boulder. He later takes her form and copies her move to shatter the Storm King's armor.]]
* In ''Fanfic/TrumpCard'', [[Literature/{{Worm}} Taylor]] has the power to temporarily copy the powers of any Parahuman in range. She can only do one at a time, but in exchange she becomes an InstantExpert, allowing her to use it a ''lot'' better than the cape whose power she's copying.

* In ''Fanfic/ManehattansLoneGuardian'', the Mega Man line's Variable Weapons System eventually manifests itself in [[spoiler:Fairy Leviathan after her fight with Trifecta, with the techniques taking her weapon and elemental leanings into account]].

Despite this power's unpredictable nature, it can come with some steady RequiredSecondaryPowers that can a clever weilder can make use of. For instance, if the copying only requires proximity and not physical contact, they might be able to sense the presence of other superbeings even if that person is hiding, disguised, or otherwise keeping a low profile, which is also an easy way to deduce a SecretIdentity.

** ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' had any [[{{Mon}} Digimon]] that died exploding into shards of data that their opponent could absorb to grow stronger, essentially giving all of them CannibalismSuperpower, though Henry usually made a point of NOT absorbing defeated foes (Musyamon being the only exception [[WouldHurtAChild after he tried to kill a young girl]]. Of course this ended up being used to copy [[TheyKilledKennyAgain Leomon's]] [[ShapingYourAttacks Fist of the Beast King]].

** Generally speaking, pretty much Goku's entire arsenal of techniques are derivatives or personal takes on techniques used by his friends and enemies over the years. The only unique moves he has come up with/used are the Kaio-Ken, the Spirit Bomb (both technically invented by King Kai, but Goku is the only person to have ever successfully use them), the Meteor Crash, and the NonSerialMovie /GT exclusive Dragon Fist.
** The Kamehameha is a powerful energy attack that took decades for Master Roshi to create and perfect. Goku saw Roshi perform the attack once and was immediately able to do a smaller version. After a few more times, Goku completely master it and able to create a Kamehameha equal to his master. And this isn't the last time. He learns the After Image, Solar Flare, and the Hasshu-ken (Eight-Arm Technique) from seeing them once or twice. In fact, all of Goku's techniques are copied from his friends and masters except for his Instant Transmission, which he learns off-screen on another planet. He even improves upon the technique he copies and comes up with variations once he learns them.

** Luffy is able to replicate [=CP9's=] [[FlashStep Soru]] technique after [[AwesomenessByAnalysis watching]] the technique a couple of times and adapting his RubberMan powers to allow his body to perform the task. Much later Sanji successfully discovers how to perform their [[DoubleJump Moon Walk]]. Also way back in the beginning Zoro debuted the [[RazorWind Tatsumaki]] after watching Hachi do something similar in their duel.
** Blackbeard was revealed as being able to do this when he [[spoiler:took the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit from the recently deceased Whitebeard]]. How he does it is unknown so far. He has a Devil Fruit power that allows him to absorb things, but the dialogue implies that it may have something to do with having a unique body structure. This became a more literal example of Mega Manning later on, as it was revealed that he can [[spoiler:take the Devil Fruit powers of anyone that he's killed. He has been shown to be able to give these abilities to other people, such as taking Absalom's Clear-Clear Fruit after killing him and giving it to Shiryu.]]

* Since VideoGame/KirbysAdventure, ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' can copy the power of any enemy he can eat.

** And of course we have Soma himself who has the ability to steal the soul and abilities of ANY ENEMY IN THE GAME (That's saying something in a ''Castlevania'' game). This allows you to gain an attack or special property for as many as there are different enemies in the game (with some extras).

* Masaru in ''VideoGame/LiveALive'' is a professional fighter who is determined to become the best in the world and aims to do this by learning new techniques from his enemies by having them done to him. Thankfully too the game also averts PermanentlyMissableContent, as he will learn missed attacks naturally during the final chapter if you get him to a high enough level.

** Copen is currently the only character in the series to consistently use his opponents' powers to fight. Even when he first appears as a boss in ASG 1, he already uses the attacks of the Sumeragi Swordsmen against Gunvolt, and this copying carries over to all his playable appearances.

Despite this power's unpredictable nature, it can come with some steady RequiredSecondaryPowers that a clever user can exploit. For instance, if the copying only requires proximity and not physical contact, they might be able to sense the presence of other superbeings even if that person is hiding, disguised, or otherwise keeping a low profile, which is also an easy way to deduce a SecretIdentity.

** Copen is currently the only character in the series to consistently use his opponents powers to fight. Even when he first appears as a boss in ASG 1, he already uses the attacks of the Sumeragi Swordsmen against Gunvolt, and this copying carries over to all his playable appearances.
** Ypsilon, a RecurringBoss from ''VideoGame/LuminousAvengerIX2'', also uses the attacks of the Gravekeepers against Copen. [[spoiler:As does the blue "Ypsilon" who fights Copen only in Hard Mode. Their PowerCopying capability makes sense once you find out that the blue "Ypsilon" is Copen's AlternateSelf, and Ypsilon is a robotic copy of said AlternateSelf, thus this copying feature is in a way still Copen-exclusive]].

** Jack from ''VideoGame/StrangerOfParadiseFinalFantasyOrigin'' can copy certain enemy attacks by blocking them with his Soul Shield. Each copied attack can be used a finite number of times, at which point it is lost until Jack copies it again.

** [[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetWork Bass.EXE]] has his Get ability, which he uses to absorb data to gain more power and abilities, not unlike his Classic counterpart, which is inherited in ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce'' by the Geo Stelar/Omega Xis fusion Mega Man. If you curbstomp mooks with sufficient skill, you gain a battle card representing their attack. Usually you can use it ''better'' than they can - in ''2'', the Mettenna's [=GrndWave1=], for example, does a lot more damage in Geo's hands ''and'' can hit multiple targets.

[[caption-width-right:332:Additional effects of [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} inhaling enemies]] include [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros lobbing fireballs]] and [[NiceHat looking incredibly sharp in that hat]].]]

** All main ''Metal Gear'' games, starting from ''Metal Gear Solid 3'', feature this trope to some extent. Stamina killing a boss in [=MGS3=] gives you a camo pattern that provides a certain bonus (for example, The Fear's pattern increases Snake's camo index at the cost of a stamina drain, while the Fury's halves all fire and explosive damage.) In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', beating a member of the Beauty and the Beast unit gives Snake a new weapon (in Laughing Octopus' case, FaceCamo) while in Peace Walker, beating an AI weapon several times unlocks a weapon to be placed on Metal Gear ZEKE (the Chrysalis' railgun is required, though.) Lastly, in ''Rising'', beating a member of the Winds of Destruction unlocks a copy of their weapon for purchase. Completing the game will also give access to Samuel Rodrigues' HF Blade.

* Carpaccio from ''Manga/TheLawOfUeki'' has the power to copy another person's power, with the catch being he has to be within a 10 meter distance for 24 hours from the person with the ability he wants to copy. Being the one who put together the Robert's Ten, he has thus copied all of the members' powers, along with two other powers, all of which he uses when fighting against Ueki.

* ''Manga/FairyTail''

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia''

* ''Anime/SonicX'' Sonic and the gang have difficulty defeating Emerl because he's able to copy their skills and BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame. But Cream and Cheese manage to defeat him together since Emerl is only capable of copying one ability at a time.

** Gourmet, an enemy from the third season, had a CannibalismSuperpower. This unfortunately proved to be his downfall when he ate the Elder Toguro, who regenerated and took over Gourmet's body from within in the most horrible way possible.

* ComicBook/{{Rogue}} from ''ComicBook/XMen'' is possibly the best-known example in the world of comics. However, her power works on bare skin contact and works [[BlessedWithSuck whether she wants it to or not]] and, in most cases, puts the "donor" into a coma that lasts as long as the powers are transferred to Rogue. In the ComicBook/{{Ultimate|XMen}} and [[Film/XMenFilmSeries movieverse]] version she even [[{{Pun}} sucks]] the life out of the victim. This has been a constant source of angst, but since then she has gained better control so that touching people isn't always a near death sentence. There have been other X-Men examples over the years:

** Pandemic injected himself with a virus that would copy mutant powers. [[https://uncannyxmen.net/sites/default/files/images/characters/sabretooth/sabretooth43.jpg He is defeated]] when ComicBook/{{Sabretooth}} has him gain his HealingFactor.
** ComicBook/HopeSummers, mutant messiah, has this power along with the ability to influence the mutants around her.
* ComicBook/{{Taskmaster}}, of Creator/MarvelComics, possesses photographic reflexes. He can do anything after seeing it performed once, with exactly as much skill as the person he watched had in the task. Up to and including [[http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3841/751/1600/AgentX05-Taskmaster.jpg Chow Yun-Fat]]. However, he gains the ability to use it, not their powers. Meaning he can do the same flips as Spider-Man, but he'll never be able to leap off a sheer wall. However, he can watch a scene in fast-forward and perform it at double-speed for a (very) limited time. Even more so, he uses his ability of reflecting an enemy's moves to predict what they would do next. Which got him absolutely nothing when ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} kicked his ass with [[ConfusionFu the power of dance and randomness.]] Another weakness is that he has reached his brain's limits on what he can remember--as he memorizes actions and techniques, other memories become corrupted, diffused, or lost, so he suffers from a scattered variant of amnesia.

** Also in the DCU, we have Libra. Who first appeared as a minor Franchise/{{Justice League|of America}} villain in the 70's, before Creator/GrantMorrison used him as one of the main villains of ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'', being pretty much responsible for all the evil not committed by [[BigBad Darkseid]] personally, including the near-death of Lois Lane.

** ComicBook/PowerGirl, ComicBook/{{Zatanna}} and Franchise/{{Superman}} once fought a villain named Manuel Carlito (Siphon) who had the ability to copy the powers of any magic user in his vicinity. If he stayed within their vicinity past three hours the powers he copied would permanently become his.

* The Midnight Sons [[BatFamilyCrossover crossover]] ''Midnight Massacre'' has ComicBook/{{Blade}} of the Nightstalkers, in his quest against all occult, reading a certain page from the [[TomeOfEldritchLore Darkhold]] and turning into Switchblade the Demogorge, who obtains the powers of anyone he kills. [[spoiler:[[HoistByHisOwnPetard This power proves to be his undoing]] when he kills Comicbook/GhostRider, and feels the power of his Penance Stare as he obtains it, buying enough time for Prof. Hastings of the Darkhold Redeemers to fix things up.]]

** In ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', a side effect of the {{Body Surf}}ing ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}} uses to maintain his immortality is that when he does so with a mutant, he gains that mutant's abilities, adding them to his SuperpowerLottery.

** ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' has this trope with nearly every boss. You get the Morph Ball from the first boss that can curl up into a ball and charge at you, the Gravity Suit comes from an enemy that can manipulate gravity, the Plasma Beam is acquired after you kill a plant that shoots lasers at you, and so on, [[spoiler:because these bosses have once possessed her power armor.]]
** ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'': After defeating Corpius, Samus retrieves her first Aeion ability, the Phantom Cloak, from the core in its pincer that acted as its weak point. [[spoiler:It's revealed that Samus is able to do all of these because of her Metroid DNA causing her to siphon energy from anything she touches with it, including machines, biological entities, and the X]].

* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei''

* In ''VideoGame/DragonballFighterz'', [[GodCreatedCanonForeigner Android 21]] functions similarly to [[ComicBook/XMen Rogue]] from the ''VideoGame/CapcomVs'' games, possessing a move where she grabs her opponent and drains some of their LifeEnergy, gaining access to some of their abilities, up to a maximum of four. In order to keep things simple, the cast is sorted into four broad categories:

* The BigBad of ''[[WesternAnimation/MenInBlack MIB: The Series]]'' was Alpha, the human founder of MIB, who merged with an alien artifact that allowed him to absorb the body-parts of aliens into his own, allowing him to cheat death and also resulting in him turning into a rather grotesque patchwork lifeform (with the abilities and attributes of all his alien body parts).

* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPandaLegendsOfAwesomeness'' expands on Po's Power Copying from the movies, establishing that - thanks to the encyclopedic knowledge of kung fu he got from years of fanboying - he can copy virtually any ability after seeing it performed a handful of times. Some techniques are also so easy to learn that anybody can do this, including Po's father Ping.

* The power has a [[HourOfPower set time duration]]. This can combine with the above if they can match someone's powers indefinitely as long as they're within radius, but the clock starts ticking once that person leaves.

* The power requires additional techniques or equipment to be usable, such as copying a sorcerer's access to magic, but not knowing any spells to actually make use of it.

* Copied powers might not include [[RequiredSecondaryPowers secondary abilities]] that protect the original wielder from harm.

Despite this power's unpredictable nature, it might come with some steady RequiredSecondaryPowers that a clever wielder can exploit. For instance, if the copying only requires proximity and not physical contact, they're often able to sense the presence of other superbeings even if that person is hiding, shapeshifted, or otherwise keeping a low profile (also an easy way to deduce a SecretIdentity). They might also be able to ''track'' other supers after picking up their "scent."

Despite this power's unpredictable nature, it might come with some steady RequiredSecondaryPowers that a clever wielder can exploit. For instance, if the copying only requires proximity and not physical contact, they're often able to sense the presence of other superbeings even if that person is hiding or keeping a low profile (also an easy way to deduce a SecretIdentity). They might also be able to ''track'' other supers after picking up their "scent."

Despite this power's unpredictable nature, it might come with some steady RequiredSecondaryPowers that a clever wielder can exploit. For instance, if the copying only requires proximity and not physical contact, they're often able to sense the presense of other superbeings even if that person is keeping a low profile (an easy way to deduce a SecretIdentity). They might also be able to ''track'' other supers after picking up their "scent."

* It has a [[HourOfPower set time duration]].

* The power requires additional techniques or equipment to be usable, leaving someone with just the base power alone stuck with an [[BlessedWithSuck ability]] that is weak, uncontrollable, and/or outright harmful to their health.

* Copied powers may not always include [[RequiredSecondaryPowers secondary abilities]] that made them useful or even non-harmful to begin with.