History Main / SemanticSuperpower

* One in five people in the world of ''WebAnimation/EpithetErased'' have powers defined by a random word, which can be anything from "[[DeflectorShields Barrier]]" to "[[EdibleAmmunition Soup]]". This seemingly includes every meaning of the word, which means a little creativity can make "[[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway useless]]" Epithets [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower surprisingly powerful]]. Protagonist Molly is a prime example; while not thrilled about having a word like "Dumb" inscribed on her soul, its meaning is flexible enough that she can [[StealthExpert nullify sound]], reduce attacks to ScratchDamage and, in a pinch, turn people into [[StupidityInducingAttack drooling, suggestible morons]]. Because creativity is so important to using Epthets to their full potential, a low-enough creatitity score (''lack'' of semantics, in other words) can push what should be a fairly powerful Epithet into WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway territory[[note]]Sherrif Garou scores so low in creativity, his "Bluster" Epithet means he can blow air harder than the average person. '''''Slightly''''' harder.[[/note]]

** Tamaki Amajiki's Quirk, Manifest, lets him don the attributes of whatever he ate so long as it's still in his digestive system. If he eats shellfish, he'll manifest the shell. If he eats vegetables, he'll manifest leaves. If he eats takoyaki, he'll manifest octopus tentacles, and so forth. [[spoiler:And the thing he eats doesn't need to be food, as demonstrated during the Shie Hassaikai arc, where he eats one of an ExtraOreDinary gangster's crystals.]]

* One in five people in the world of ''WebAnimation/EpithetErased'' have powers defined by a random word, which can be anything from "[[DeflectorShields Barrier]]" to "[[EdibleAmmunition Soup]]". This seemingly includes every meaning of the word, which means a little creativity can make "[[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway useless]]" Epithets [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower surprisingly powerful]]. Protagonist Molly is a prime example; while not thrilled about having a word like "Dumb" inscribed on her soul, its meaning is flexible enough that she can [[StealthExpert nullify sound]], reduce attacks to ScratchDamage and, in a pinch, turn people into [[StupidityInducingAttack drooling, suggestible morons]].

* In ''Series/{{Bewitched}}'', a number of magical mishaps are the result of a pun or wordplay unexpected by the witch or warlock. Examples include Esmeralda trying to conjure up a Caesar Salad and conjuring up Julius Caesar instead, Uncle Arthur trying to conjure up a white bunny and conjuring up a cocktail bunny (a cocktail waitress wearing a bunny ears costume), and Esmeralda accidentally creating a dragon when she scolds Tabitha that she is making her little friend Dinah sore (a word play off "dinosaur").

* In ''WesternAnimation/Ducktales2017'', Gladstone's ability has been shifted slightly. Specifically, he is lucky enough that he does not have to do any work, so long as he does no work in return. This means he doesn't have to go to the bank, he doesn't have to open his wallet, but it's a magical ability, so it CANNOT protect him against other magic. Luck Vampires can still trap him, and a thief of magic can still steal it.

* ''LightNovel/KagerouDaze'': Kido's Concealing Eyes lets her make people or objects within several meters of her impossible to notice. The seventh novel reveals a much different way her power can be used: [[spoiler:causing LaserGuidedAmnesia by "concealing" memories.]] The final novel goes further with this, with the Concealing Eyes [[spoiler:disabling a powerful enemy by "concealing" everything around him from all of his senses]].

** Inverted with [[GreaterScopeVillain Yhwach's]] [[RealityWarper The Almighty]]: while the ability to see all possible futures and alter the world to fit into whichever future he chooses is [[StoryBreakerPower overpowered as hell]], it's still limited to altering the future, and only by what Yhwach can see. As a result, it is vulnerable to [[spoiler:Tsukishima's equally broken [[RetConjuration alterations of the past]] and the [[MasterOfIllusion illusions]] of [[PredecessorVillain Aizen's]] Kyoka Suigetsu]].

** In one instance, Huey, Dewey, and Louie fill a contest-entry box with pieces of paper with Gladstone's name on it, and leave only one of Donald's. Gladstone, confident of his victory, chooses a piece and gives it to the judges... only to realize (too late) that with the odds so stacked against Donald, the ''luckiest'' option would be choosing his name. Sure enough, Donald wins. Subverted on the final page, where Gladstone insists that no amount of semantics can change the fact that having ''good luck'' should not lead to ''losing'' unless there was something bad about winning -- and then finds out, much to his schadenfreude, that Donald's victory did indeed amount to him being BlessedWithSuck.
** Gladstone, Donald, and Huey, Dewey, and Louie once competed to find a rare ruby buried somewhere on a beach. While the boys dug, Gladstone spread his towel out on the sand and waited, knowing full well that his luck powers would eventually hand the ruby to him. When he finally got impatient and left, Huey, Dewey, and Louie decided to check the one spot no-one had thought to look: ''under Gladstone's blanket.'' And sure enough, that's precisely where the gem was. In other words, Gladstone's powers [[ExactWords did find the spot where the ruby was]] -- they didn't ''give'' it to him.

* The short 2020 film ''The Box Assassin'' is about a hitman who can conceal himself in anything that can be considered a "box" -- mailboxes, birthday boxes, boomboxes, toolboxes, etc. He uses this for the DeadlyDelivery and YouGotMurder tropes. At the climax of the movie, he appears in the glove compartment of the fleeing target's car -- also known as a glove''box''.

** Hirako Shinji's Zanpakuto, Sakanade, [[InterfaceScrew can invert its targets' perception of space such that all directions are reversed]]: front and back, left and right, and up and down. He is later able to reverse their perception of sound as well, inverting the words they hear into nonsensical gibberish that only adds to the confusion.

** Hirako Shinji's Zanpakuto, Sakanade, can invert its targets' perception of space such that all directions are reversed: front and back, left and right, and up and down. He is later able to reverse their perception of sound as well, inverting the words they hear into nonsensical gibberish that only adds to the confusion.

** Trafalgar Law, who has the Op-Op Fruit, can operate on things inside a spherical space. Being a surgeon, the ability to perform operations is fitting, but living things are not the only thing he can operate on and the word "operate" itself is not limited to a medical context. This translates to him being able to literally "work" (i.e. "operate") on anything inside his space, [[SpaceMaster manipulating and modifying everything inside]]. After the TimeSkip, it’s shown that his abilities are far more than just manipulation. He can scan objects, [[BeatStillMyHeart remove your still-beating heart]] and [[FreakyFridayFlip make people switch bodies]] (by transplanting people's souls), and even [[AtomicSuperpower generate and wield radiation-like energy weapons]]. [[spoiler:[[NextTierPowerUp Awakening his Devil Fruit]] brings new possibilities to the table by allowing him to coat his sword with a compressed ROOM, allowing him to alter its length and channel electricity through it while otherwise harmlessly phasing through his target, or latch a remote version of ROOM at his target to apply specific effects on them from a distance.]]

** Trafalgar Law, who has the Op-Op Fruit, can operate on things inside a spherical space. Being a surgeon, the ability to perform operations is fitting, but living things are not the only thing he can operate on and the word "operate" itself is not limited to a medical context. This translates to him being able to literally "work" (i.e. "operate") on anything inside his space, [[SpaceMaster manipulating and modifying everything inside]]. [[spoiler: After the timeskip, it’s shown that his abilities are far more than just manipulation. He can scan objects, remove your still beating heart and make people switch bodies, and even generate and wield radiation like X-rays.]]

* The short 2020 film ''The Box Assassin'' is about a hitman who can conceal himself in anything that can be considered a "box" -- mailboxes, birthday boxes, boomboxes, toolboxes, etc. He uses this for the DeadlyDelivery and YouGotMurder tropes. At the climax of the movie, he appears in the glove''box'' of the fleeing target's car.

* In ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' and ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' there exist the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception which allow you to see the "lines of death" of objects, which cause the object to be destroyed when cut. This has been applied not only to destroy inanimate objects and mortal beings but also numerous immortals, poisons, telekinetic attacks and barriers and even space. The concept of death is stretched to the point where it is said that by the end of ''The Garden of Sinners'' [[spoiler: Shiki at full power is basically a god.]]

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'':

* ''LightNovel/HighschoolDxD'':

** Shinji's Zanpakuto, Sakanade, can invert its targets' perception of space such that all directions are reversed: front and back, left and right, and up and down. He is later able to reverse their perception of sound as well, inverting the words they hear into nonsensical gibberish that only adds to the confusion.

** Tsukishima's Fullbring, Book of the End, allows him to "[[ExactWords insert his presence in the past of whatever his sword cuts]]". Its effect ranges from inserting himself in the memories of people, [[MoreThanMindControl to the point that they see him as a lifelong friend or comrade]] ([[spoiler:[[WoundedGazelleGambit or as an enemy, if that's more convenient]]]]), to spontaneously creating traps in places he's never even visited before, to [[spoiler: retroactively cancelling abilities even Orihime cannot reject with [[RetConjuration her power]]]].
** While at first it seems that Rukia's Zanpakuto, Sode no Shirayuki, can only create ice or freeze things, its true power is to drastically decrease her body temperature to the point that anything she touches is frozen on the spot, the sword itself merely increasing her reach. As such, she can bring herself to such a low temperature that [[TechnicallyLivingZombie she's not technically alive anymore]], allowing her to circumvent attacks that only affect the living (such as, say, [[EmotionBomb magically-induced bouts of]] [[PrimalFear irrational fear]]).

** Tsukishima's Fullbring, Book of the End, allows him to "[[ExactWords insert his presence in the past of whatever his sword cuts]]". Its effect ranges from inserting himself in the memories of people, [[MoreThanMindControl to the point that they see him as a lifelong friend or comrade]] ([[spoiler:[[WoundedGazelleGambit or as an enemy, if that's more convenient]]]]), to spontaneously creating traps in places he's never even visited before.

-->'''Aquaman:''' ''[cheerfully]'' [[AchievementsInIgnorance A fish is a fish]]! Even if it's a bug.//

* PlayedForLaughs on ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' -- ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} uses his command over fish to control a silverfish, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverfish which is a (non-aquatic) insect.]] [[ComicBook/TheAtom Ryan Choi]] [[LampshadeHanging points out]] that that doesn't make sense.
-->'''Aquaman:''' ''[cheerfully]'' [[AchievementsInIgnorance A fish is a fish!]]