History Main / PowerLossDepression

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* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', [[spoiler:Mirio Togata]] loses his Quirk after being shot by Overhaul's Quirk-destroying bullet while trying to rescue Eri. He puts up a strong front and fights hard against Overhaul regardless, but he soon breaks down into tears as he's forced to flee with Eri, despondent over how he can't do more to help. After the incident, he once again puts on a smiling face and doesn't seem to be angsting over his lost Quirk, but he is clearly a StepfordSmiler who's trying to be strong for the sake of the people around him.

-->'''Storm''': Once I would have ridden the wind. Now it drives me. The elements I shaped to my have me at their mercy... And always, the wind - my friend, my servant, taunts me with its fury. It howls, it laughs, it mocks my very being. Without me, Ororo, it cries, you are nothing.

* ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'': In the ''Burial At Sea 2'' expansion, Elizabeth dies and is revived by Luteces but loses her power to access alternate timelines. This results in her feeling very distraught.
* ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'': During the third game, ''Pirate's Curse'', the title character is shown to be very upset about [[spoiler: the loss of her magic at the end of the prior game]] and openly wonders if she's nothing without it.

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': Averted. Whenever Clark loses his powers, he is often happy that he [[IJustWantToBeNormal can live a normal life]] and [[CursedWithAwesome it's actually regaining them that makes him feel depressed]].

** The first issue of ''ComicBook/XFactor2006'' opens with Rictor about to commit suicide due to losing his powers following [[ComicBook/HouseOfM M-Day]]. He is talked out of it but still has his moments of sadness and volatility over it. He regains them via [[ComicBook/TheInhumans Terrigen Crystals]] provided by ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}} only to lose them again and become even more depressed leading to him having SexForSolace with Rahne. He almost quits the team because he feels useless as the only one without powers.

* Downplayed at the end of ''Series/HouseOfAnubis''. Having lost his Osirian powers in a HeroicSacrifice, Eddie is the only student not shown having fun at the graduation party. He initially refuses Patricia's offer to dance, pointing out she hates dancing and that he isn't a "superhero" anymore when she calls him one. However, he does end up dancing with her as the series ends.

* In ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'', Enchantress joined the team with the promise of having her problematic magic brought to heel or removed entirely. However, after a catastrophic mission in which the entity empowering her was destroyed, she took a large revolver and tried to force Nightshade to return her magic. One of Belle Reve's psychiatrists made it clear there's a big difference between voluntarily relinquishing the power and having it unwillingly taken away.

** Downplayed with ComicBook/ProfessorX. Scarlet Witch restores the world to normal with Xavier once again possessing the ability to walk but he loses his telepathic powers. Xavier likens it to being deaf or still being a cripple but he handles it considerably better than the other examples on this list.

* Subverted in ''{{Literature/Matilda}}'', where being put in a class appropriate to her mental abilities results in the loss of Matilda's [[MindOverMatter telekinesis]]. But as Ms. Honey explains, it was being bored out of her skull that gave her powers, so she doesn't regret the loss because she's finally found something to occupy her brain. In the film she keeps her powers in the end.
* In ''Literature/ThePower'', after her father and half-brother steal her skein, Roxy falls into quite the funk over the perceived loss of her ultimate ActionGirl persona.
* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'': people who lose the ability to channel the One Power, which comes with a PowerHigh and an incredible sense of feeling more ''alive'', almost universally succumb to DeathByDespair within a year or two. A rare few manage to survive by throwing themselves wholeheartedly into a new cause.

* Averted in ''Series/{{Smallville}}''. Whenever Clark loses his powers, he is often happy that he [[IJustWantToBeNormal can live a normal life]] and [[CursedWithAwesome it's actually regaining them that makes him feel depressed]].
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E10TheLoss The Loss]]". After being exposed to two-dimensional alien beings, Counselor Deanna Troi suffers brain damage that causes her to lose her ability to [[TheEmpath read the emotions of other beings]]. She takes this very badly, becoming frightened, depressed and angry. She even decides to resign as Ship's Counselor because she feels she can no longer perform her duties.

* ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'' has two examples:

This trope is when a character who has been suffering {{De Power}}ed becomes utterly miserable following the deprivation of their incredible abilities. Whether the character is TheCutie or a {{Jerkass}}, the point is that losing cool powers sucks. If the character was [[{{Mutants}} born with their abilities]], the powers could be seen as comparable to their limbs or [[SenseLossSadness senses]], hence why the loss hits them so hard.

IJustWantToBeSpecial is also a factor. May be a result of a SingleEpisodeHandicap, in which case the character will regain their superpowers at the end. See also BroughtDownToNormal.

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* In ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'', Enchantress joined with the promise of having her problematic magic brought to heel or removed entirely. However, after a catastrophic mission in which the entity powering her was destroyed, she took a large revolver and tried to force Nightshade to return her magic. One of Belle Reve's psychiatrists made it clear there's a big difference between voluntarily relinquishing the power and having it unwillingly taken away.

** ComicBook/{{Storm}} had her powers accidentally removed by Henry Gyrich with a gun invented by the mutant machinist, named Forge. It took some time for her to overcome her depression over this, especially since she was in a relationship with Forge before learning he created the gun that de-powered her. Her journey of self-discovery across Africa in ''Uncanny X-Men #198'' explores how shattered she feels before coming to terms with what happened to her.

** Downplayed with ComicBook/ProfessorX. Scarlet Witch restores the world to normal with Xavier once again possessing the ability to walk but he loses his telepathic powers. Xavier likes it to being deaf or still being a cripple but he handles it considerably better than the other examples.

** Barry's powers are drained again in "Versus Zoom" by the eponymous villain. The next episode, "Back to Normal", opens with him feeling depressed about it. Not helped that his friend Caitlin has been abducted by Zoom.

** ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'': Rita places a curse on Tommy that will drain away his Green Ranger powers after a magic candle burns out. In order to save the Green Ranger powers, Tommy gives his [[TransformationTrinket power coin]] to Jason the Red Ranger. Feeling he has no contribution to the team, a saddened Tommy leaves the show but returns after the Rangers find a way to preserve his powers through constant recharges. However, Lord Zedd eventually finds a way to drain away all of Tommy's powers causing him to once again quit the team because he feels he has no place among them.

* ''ComicBook/JLAActOfGod'': The story has every single superpowered hero becoming complete wrecks after losing their powers. Particularly sad cases are Superman who becomes drunk and homeless after his relationship with Lois ends; Wonder Woman who [[DrivenToSuicide nearly commits suicide]]; and Kyle Rayner who becomes murderously obsessed with Sonar, a villain Kyle failed to stop when his ring was deactivated.

* ''ComicBook/JLAActOfGod'': The story has every single superpowered hero lose their power and become complete wrecks from it. Particularly sad cases are Superman who becomes drunk and homeless after his relationship with Lois ends; Wonder Woman who [[DrivenToSuicide nearly commits suicide]]; and Kyle Rayner who becomes murderously obsessed with Sonar, a villain Kyle failed to stop when his ring was deactivated.

* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': [[spoiler: Issue #25 of Dan Slott's run has Franklin lose his powers after a fight with an enemy called the Cormorant. Desperate to restore his powers, he tries to enter Krakoa using a special gateway only to find it doesn't work for him. Xavier contacts him and reveals that Franklin was never really a mutant but someone who altered himself to have an X-gene in order to fulfill his subconscious desire to be special. This revelation utterly devastates Franklin who was already moping about being a "normal" person.]]

* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': [[spoiler: Issue #25, has Franklin lose his powers after a fight with an enemy called the Cormorant. Desperate to restore his powers, he tries to enter Krakoa using a special gateway only to find it doesn't work for him. Xavier contacts him and reveals that Franklin was never really a mutant but someone who altered himself to have an X-gene in order to fulfill his subconscious desire to be special. This revelation utterly devastates Franklin who was already moping about being a "normal" person.]]

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', [[spoiler:Mirio Togata]] loses his Quirk after being shot by Overhaul's Quirk-destroying bullet while trying to rescue Eri. He puts up a strong front and fights hard against Overhaul regardless, but he soon breaks down into tears as he's forced to flee with Eri, despondent over how he can't do more to help. After the incident, he once again puts on a smiling face and doesn't seem to be angsting over his lost Quirk, but asides depict him as a StepfordSmiler who's trying to be strong for the sake of the people around him.

** ComicBook/WarrenWorthingtonIII had his wings amputated after they were mutilated by Harpoon, one of Mr Sinister's Marauders. ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}} takes advantage of Warren's emotional turmoil over the loss of his wings by offering to give him new wings in exchange for becoming one of his [[TheFourHorsemenOfTheApocalypse Four Horsemen]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'': During the third game, ''Pirate's Curse'', the title character is shown to be very upset about [[spoiler: the loss of her magic at the end of the prior game]] and openly wonders if she's nothing without them.

** ComicBook/{{Magneto}} is left a shell-shocked and broken man at the end of ''ComicBook/HouseOfM after the ComicBook/ScarletWitch strips him and the majority of Mutants of their powers.

-->-- '''Rictor''', ''ComicBook/XFactor2006, Issue #01''