History Main / PowerIncontinence

* Rare-earth magnets can be considered this. They have a very powerful magnetic force, so much they can crumble under their own power. They can also harm anything that's put between then. There's a reason they're kept away from small children.

* ''Film/TheNewMutants'':
** Roberto can't control his powers at first, which caused him to kill his girlfriend accidentally in the past when they were unleashed when he got aroused.
** Sam's triggered a mine collapse accidentally which killed his father and a number of other miners.

%%Needs more context about the pokemon not being able to control the power manifesting.** In ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', [[SuperMode Mega Evolved]] Pokémon have separate dex entries from their normal counterparts. Most of them imply that the power of Mega Evolution appears to have adverse effects on these Pokémon, which may explain why they cannot remain Mega Evolved indefinitely.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'':

** Starfire is allergic to metallic chromium, and sneezes starbolts. [[ArtisticLicensePhysics Which should mean she'd be doing it almost constantly, as chromium is something you'd run into all the time a modern setting.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} is not having a good day.]]

->'''Daisy''': Let me guess: Joey Gutierrez is unfit for action physically, psychologically, and emotionally.\\
'''Andrew''': Man can't open a doorknob without melting it. My Psych 101 students could tell you he's not ready.

* Tracer from ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' suffers this. Tracer is UnstuckInTime and needs her chronal accelerator to stay in the present timeline. Without it, she'll glitch out from the timeline and disappear (as seen in the Doomfist Origins Trailer when Doomfist destroyed it).

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* In ''Videogame/Persona3'': The members of Strega and Shinji. In Strega's case, their Personas are real, but artificially awakened, and for Shinji, Castor is a natural-awakened persona, but it went berserk on one mission, and he has to take the same medication Strega does to rein it in. Though none of them die on screen from it as implied because Strega [[spoiler: dies in battle, or in Chidori's case sacrifices herself]] and Shinji [[spoiler: either dies of a gunshot wound or in the Portable version, the game ends with him alive but hospitalized.]]
* In the original series of ''VideoGame/DotHackR1Games'', overusing [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique Data Drain]] caused an array of adverse effects to the player. Depending on how much viral infection the player has taken on from using Data Drain, they can suffer anything from status ailments and debuffs to loss of experience points or even suffer a [[NonStandardGameOver System Error]].

* In ''VideoGame/AncientDomainsOfMystery'', may the gods help you if you accidentally teleport out of a shop without paying. Shopkeepers have absolutely no sense of humor.

* Players suffer from this in the intro to ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'' immediately after they first bond with their [[TheSymbiote Bee]]. It all kicks off with the PC accidentally [[PlayingWithFire setting their clothes on fire]] just by reaching for them, and within a matter of days, you're blasting furniture across the room, firing EyeBeams into the ceiling and uncontrollably levitating. By day five, however, you've gotten things under control - enough to juggle fireballs at any rate.

** In the novel ''Liberty's Crusade'', the title reporter meets Sarah Kerrigan and thinks how great it would be for a reporter to have telepathy, only for Kerrigan to pick up on his thought and simply tell him that it wouldn't be as great as he thinks. In ''Ghost: Nova'', the title character is an extremely-powerful telepath and telekinetic who has yet to learn what she is thanks to her wealthy father carefuly hiding her abilities (any telepath is prompty taken by the Ghost Academy). However, the violent murder of her parents by a terrorist group results in her MindOverMatter abilities to manifest violently in the form of a wave that not only kills anyone still alive in the penthouse but also shatters the glass dome that is supposed to be rated against ''direct nuclear strikes''.

* In the Bad End of ''VisualNovel/SpiritHunterNG'', the gruesome murders of Akira's companions cause his [[{{Psychometry}} Bloodmetry]] to go out of control, causing him to frequently read his ''own'' blood and be fed the vivid memories of their deaths.

* Happens to every villainous protagonist during an episode of the season 2 of ''Series/FlandersCompany'', because of a malfunctioning invention from [[MadScientist Caleb]], which has the effect to temporarily unlock Docteur Parker's [[spoiler:evil JekyllAndHyde personality.]]

* PlayedForLaughs in ''WebAnimation/RWBYChibi''. Pyrrha Nikos' magnetic powers are shown going crazy in one skit - Nora calls out to her and scares her, slamming almost every metal object in the kitchen on top of her, causes the rest of Team JNPR to be unable to take a hike because she keeps affecting Jaune's compass, accidentally throwing her spear into their lamp after being startled and being very wary of looking at old VHS tapes.

** Derek Powers a.k.a. Blight, the BigBad for season 1. Powers became a WalkingWasteland in the show's beginning. He managed to pass for human by applying a fake skin; however, it degraded after time. Anyways, as Batman continuously foils his schemes, Powers undergoes a season-long VillainousBreakdown which causes the fake skin to degrade even faster; eventually, his temper means that the skin wastes away too quickly for him to continue running his corporation. He then undergoes a rather literal SuperpowerMeltdown, though it's implied he might've survived.

* The title character of ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' has this problem, especially at first. On top of generally [[HowDoIShotWeb not knowing how to use/control his abilities]], hormones and extreme emotion can cause his powers to bleed over to his human form, although limited to glowing eyes, invisibility, and [[IntangibleMan phasing]] - the former occurring when angry, and the latter two happening when flustered. These issues cause [[HilarityEnsues many problems]] for him... especially the phasing, which causes issues such as "dropping" objects because they're literally falling through his hands, and spontaneously [[ComedicUnderwearExposure phasing his own pants off]]. He also had a hard time learning to [[MesACrowd duplicate]], with his early attempts having strange and [[BodyHorror grotesque]] results; he instead sprouts extra body parts, and continuing the attempt causes ''those'' to sprout further parts in turn. He manages to gain complete control over his powers by the end of the series.

*** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E1TheCrystallingPart1 The Crystalling, Part 1]]", we're introduced to baby Flurry Heart, Shining Armor and Princess Cadence's child... who is a ''born alicorn''. Remember the warning Rarity gave? This one takes it UpToEleven - sneezes that blow holes in the wall and [[spoiler:a wail that ''shatters the Crystal Heart.'']]. They have to put a PowerLimiter spell onto her once everything is settled.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Villain Of The Week]] Max Dillon (Electro) gets electrocuted in a Freak Lab Accident; this being a version of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, he starts constantly emitting electricity, and has to wear a protective suit at all times so other people won't be hurt. Even so, his power leaks out -- he can't watch TV, lightning arcs out of his hands when he's upset - and he can't even eat without zapping something. By the time he gets into a supervillain teamup, of course, he's managed more control.

* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'': On its own, the tiger talisman has the power of [[LiteralSplitPersonality balance]], but within Shendu, as he explains, it unifies the powers of the other 11 talismans and prevents this trope from happening.

* ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'' has this as a side effect of using [[SuperMode Hyper Mode]]. Sometimes the power meter starts charging on its own, causing a NonStandardGameOver if it fills. While the usual "treatment" is an UnstoppableRage, Samus can opt for ATeamFiring if there are no targets nearby.

Not everyone is so lucky. Many cases are incurable, becoming an integral part of the character. Not to worry, though; many cases can be treated by TrainingTheGiftOfMagic. Even if that doesn't work, chronic power incontinence is frequently treatable with some AppliedPhlebotinum. You'll have to hold on to that phlebotinum, though, from now on; ([[ClothesMakeTheSuperman try making a snazzy suit out of it]]). You'll have to depend on it if you want to avoid any [[SuperpowerMeltdown accidents]] or a [[PowerDegeneration shorter lifespan]].

* Faen in ''Webcomic/DrowTales'' has the ability to feel the emotions of those around her, and at times can control those emotions. Which would be pretty awesome if a) she could turn it off, b) she didn't live in a CrapsackWorld, or c) she weren't essentially PurityPersonified. Eventually, [[spoiler: the constant MindRape drives her slightly nuts, she accidentally [[PersonOfMassDestruction kills off a significant number of people]], and she ends up fleeing to the surface world, at which point the main character follows her.]]

* David, the autistic mathematical genius introduced in the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' [=DLC=] ''Overlord'' can understand the Geth and talk in their language. Once plugged in the Geth neural network however, he can't block out any of their constant chattering.

Can be one of the ways a character is BlessedWithSuck. Compare RestrainingBolt or PowerLimiter (common methods of averting this) and DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength (a common result of this). If combined with {{Shapeshifting}}, this may result in becoming an InvoluntaryShapeshifter, depending on what triggers it and how. A character with this may also have a case of IJustWantToBeNormal or AfraidOfTheirOwnStrength. Sometimes terrifyingly applied with RealityWarpingIsNotAToy. Severe cases may develop into a WalkingWasteland.

** Rogue goes even wilder when all the personalities and powers she hadsabsorbed resurge and cause her to flip out. It's even worse than in her first episode, when she could barely handle the sudden awakening of her powers and then absorbed those of ''Storm'' of all people....
** In the third season, Cyclops is kidnapped and then dumped in a small Mexican town [[spoiler: by a vengeful Mystique]] without his glasses or visors. Guess what happened.

* ImageBoards quests:

* An interesting example in ''VisualNovel/AreaX'' as Livan doesn't lose control of his own powers, as he is a Muggle, but when he used the Silver Orb, which contained a huge amount of Mana, as well as Elcia's powers, to try and resurrect everybody who died in the avalanche, he loses control of the Silver Orb's power, and split the timeline into several different timelines, scattering everybody he resurrected among them.

* The protagonist of the ImageBoards quest ''Shiné Quest'' is affected by "God's Curse", which causes one to constantly spam the first spell they ever cast. For a god, it's supposed to be the spell that gives them shape (it's not intended as a curse and not supposed to apply to mortals); in Shiné's case, it's "Soft Touch", a WhiteMagic spell that makes the user unable to harm anyone [[HealingShiv no matter what they do]]. The constant casting [[StatGrinding drove her magic power through the roof]], making her one of the best white mages in the setting.

** After the Mask of Time fails, the Toa Nuva defeat the Bohrok-Kal by transferring their energies to the Bohrok-Kal until they have more power than they can control. The one with magnetism power is crushed by magnetized debris, the one with gravity powers collapses into a black hole, the one with the ability to absorb and release air is launched into space, the one with plasma power melts the ground it os standing on and ssinks into it, the one with electrical power is paralyzed, and the one with sonic powers is vibrated into pieces.