History Main / SemanticSuperpower

* In "Literature/WingsOfFire", [[RealityWarper animus]] [[WordsCanBreakMyBones magic]] works entirely on semantics. Probably the most infamous example of this is a bowl enchanted to duplicate anything dropped in it when a command phrase is spoken. The animus who enchanted it intended it for food only, but due to the wording of the spell, ""anything"" placed in the bowl is duplicated as long as it's small enough, and the duplicates are perfect copies down to the enchantments. [[spoiler: Qibli abuses this to his advantage to save the entire IceWing tribe by duplicating an earring that protects the wearer from any spells ever cast on them by [[BigBad Darkstalker]]. Since the incurable plague currently afflicting the IceWing tribe was the result of a spell cast by Darkstalker, the earrings instantly cured the plague. In addition, because the Ice Kingdom is behind a magical cliff that only lets IceWings and IceWing hybrids pass, the earrings had to be distributed by an IceWing hybrid residing outside the Ice Kingdom(since Darkstalker is half IceWing, he explicitly left an exception for IceWing hybrids so he wouldn't kill himself).]]

* In "Literature/WingsOfFire", [[RealityWarper animus]] [[WordsCanBreakMyBones magic]] works entirely on semantics. Probably the most infamous example of this is a bowl enchanted to duplicate anything dropped in it when a command phrase is spoken. The animus who enchanted it intended it for food only, but due to the wording of the spell, "anything" placed in the bowl is duplicated as long as it's small enough, and the duplicates are perfect copies down to the enchantments. [[spoiler: Qibli abuses this to his advantage to save the entire IceWing tribe by duplicating an earring that protects the wearer from any spells ever cast on them by [[BigBad Darkstalker]]. Since the incurable plague currently afflicting the IceWing tribe was the result of a spell cast by Darkstalker, the earrings instantly cured the plague. In addition, because the Ice Kingdom is behind a magical cliff that only lets IceWings and IceWing hybrids pass, the earrings had to be distributed by an IceWing hybrid residing outside the Ice Kingdom(since Darkstalker is half IceWing, he explicitly left an exception for IceWing hybrids so he wouldn't kill himself).]]

* The short 2020 film ''The Box Assassin'' is about a hitman who can teleport into and conceal himself in anything that can be considered a "box", no matter how small -- mailboxes, birthday boxes, boomboxes, toolboxes, pizza boxes, 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''.

* ''Roleplay/TheBalladOfEdgardo'': The protagonists' last obstacle on the road to Haven is Khaine, a "[[{{Whatevermancy}} Shadowmancer]]" with the written power to [[CastingAShadow control darkness]]. While that would already be a very powerful ability within the RP's setting (the de facto antagonists are explicitly shadow monsters), Khaine's player very, ''very'' broadly interprets this as being able to manipulate "the darkness in people's hearts" as well, letting him claim MindControl and {{People Puppet|s}}ry as part of his abilities. [=AGuyCalledSquid=] tries to call BS on this interpretation at first, but Edgardo counters by taking advantage of his Infinite Spirit, an overlooked quirk of the game's mechanics that only his accidentally-broken character build can exploit, to [[BadassBoast declare]] that ''his'' heart is one of IncorruptiblePurePureness [[LogicalWeakness without an ounce of "darkness" within it]], letting him NoSell Khaine's attempts to "shadow paralyze" him before punching him into the sun.

* ''Roleplay/TheBalladOfEdgardo'': The protagonists' last obstacle on the road to Haven is Khaine, a "[[{{Whatevermancy}} Shadowmancer]]" with the written power to [[CastingAShadow control darkness]]. While that would already be a very powerful ability within the RP's setting (the de facto antagonists are explicitly shadow monsters), Khaine's player very, ''very'' broadly interprets this as being able to "control the darkness in people's hearts" as well, letting him claim {{People Puppet|s}}ry as one of his abilities. While [=AGuyCalledSquid=] tries to call BS on this interpretation at first, Edgardo counters by [[BadassBoast declaring]] that ''his'' heart is one of IncorruptiblePurePureness [[LogicalWeakness without an ounce of "darkness" within it]] (taking advantage of his character's established HotBlooded, WideEyedIdealist personality and an overlooked quirk of the game's mechanics that only his accidentally-broken character build can exploit) to completely NoSell Khaine's attempts to "shadow paralyze" him before punching him into the sun.

* ''Roleplay/TheBalladOfEdgardo'': The protagonists' last obstacle on the road to Haven is Khaine, a "[[{{Whatevermancy}} Shadowmancer]]" with the written power to [[CastingAShadow control darkness]]. While that would already be a very powerful ability within the RP's setting (the de facto antagonists are explicitly shadow monsters), Khaine's player very, ''very'' broadly interprets this as allowing him to "control the darkness in people's hearts", and thus [[PeoplePuppets the people themselves]], as well. While [=AGuyCalledSquid=] tries to call BS on this interpretation at first, Edgardo just counters by taking advantage of his character's established HotBlooded, WideEyedIdealist personality, and an overlooked quirk of the game's mechanics that only his accidentally-broken character build can exploit, to declare that ''his'' heart is one of IncorruptiblePurePureness [[LogicalWeakness without an ounce of "darkness" within it]] and completely NoSell Khaine's attempts to "shadow paralyze" him before punching him into the sun.
-->'''Khaine:''' [[ThisCannotBe How?! You can't resist me!]] [[EvilCannotComprehendGood The darkness is in everyone's heart!]]\\
'''Edgardo:''' [[ShutUpHannibal You are wrong!]] [[HopeBringer My soul is a shining beacon, filled with a light and a burning hope that no shadow can touch!]] [[LightIsGood It is a pinpoint of justice, a shining star that will deliver freedom to the universe!]] [[BadassBoast I will root out the darkness, the evil of this land! No shadow will be spared my light!]]

* ''Roleplay/TheBalladOfEdgardo'': The protagonists' last obstacle on the road to Haven is Khaine, a "[[{{Whatevermancy}} Shadowmancer]]" with the written power to [[CastingAShadow control darkness]]. While that would already be a very powerful ability within the RP's setting (the de facto antagonists are explicitly shadow monsters), Khaine's player very, ''very'' broadly interprets this as allowing him to "control the darkness in people's hearts", and thus [[PeoplePuppets the people themselves]], as well. While this power works on Edgardo and [=AGuyCalledSquid=] at first (despite Squid's attempts to call BS), Edgardo takes advantage of his character's established HotBlooded, WideEyedIdealist personality, and an overlooked quirk of the game's mechanics that only his accidentally-broken character build can exploit, to boast that ''his'' heart is one of IncorruptiblePurePureness [[LogicalWeakness without an ounce of "darkness" within it]] and completely NoSell Khaine's attempts to "shadow paralyze" him before punching him into the sun.

* ''Roleplay/TheBalladOfEdgardo'': The protagonists' last obstacle on the road to Haven is Khaine, a "[[{{Whatevermancy}} Shadowmancer]]" with the written power to [[CastingAShadow control darkness]]. While that would already be a very powerful ability within the RP's setting (the de facto antagonists are explicitly shadow monsters), Khaine's player very, ''very'' broadly interprets this as allowing him to "control the darkness in people's hearts", and thus [[PeoplePuppets the people themselves]], as well. Edgardo takes advantage of his character's HotBlooded, WideEyedIdealist personality (and a quirk of Haven's mechanics that only his accidentally-broken character build can exploit) to boast that ''his'' heart is one of IncorruptiblePurePureness [[LogicalWeakness without an ounce of "darkness" within it]] and completely [[NoSell shrug off]] Khaine's powers before punching him into the sun.

* ''Roleplay/TheBalladOfEdgardo'': The protagonists' last obstacle on the road to Haven is Khaine, a "[[{{Whatevermancy}} Shadowmancer]]" with the written power to [[CastingAShadow control darkness]]. While that would already be a very powerful ability within the [=RPG's-] setting (the de facto antagonists are explicitly shadow monsters), Khaine's player very, ''very'' broadly interprets this as allowing him to "control the darkness in people's hearts", and thus [[PeoplePuppets the people themselves]], as well. Edgardo takes advantage of his character's HotBlooded, WideEyedIdealist personality (and a quirk of Haven's mechanics that only his accidentally-broken character build can exploit) to completely [[NoSell shrug it off]], boasting that ''his'' heart is one of IncorruptiblePurePureness [[LogicalWeakness without an ounce of "darkness" within it]] before punching Khaine into the sun.

* ''Roleplay/TheBalladOfEdgardo'': A great example is Khaine the Shadowmancer, with the written power to control darkness. The player broadly interprets this power as letting him control people's bodies by manipulating "the darkness in their hearts".

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS5E136TheSelfImprovementOfSalvadoreRoss The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross]]", the title character discovers that he can obtain another person's characteristics such as age, social status, education or compassion but only if the other person agrees to make the trade.

* ''Roleplay/TheBalladOfEdgardo'': A great example is Khaine the Shadowmancer, with the power to control darkness. This somehow allows him to control people's bodies by manipulating "the darkness in their hearts".

* ''Literature/CradleSeries'': Sages touch upon "Icons," Platonic ideals of specific concepts like the Sword Icon, the Strength Icon, or the Void Icon. These Icons give them RealityWarper powers directly related to their core concepts (plus a few abilities common to all Sages, like [[{{Teleportation}} spatial transit]]). As it turns out, a lot of Sage work depends on how you think about something, rather than the actual effect. For example, using the Void Icon to fill a mug of water is horrifically difficult, but using the Void Icon to empty one mug into another is the easiest thing in the world, despite having the exact same effect. There are, however, limits; the Void Sage cannot, for example, "empty" someone of injuries.

* 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]], hence why each character's introduction card includes a "creativity" stat to drive this idea home. A good example of this is main protagonist Molly, who isn't necessarily thrilled about having a word like "Dumb" inscribed on her soul, but is able to play with its meaning enough that she can [[StealthExpert nullify sound]], reduce attacks to ScratchDamage and, in a pinch, turn people into [[StupidityInducingAttack drooling, suggestible morons]]. And the semantic nature of powers goes both ways, with a background character like Sherrif Garou having so little imagination that what ''should be'' a basic BlowYouAway ability in "Bluster" manifests in him only being able to blow air '''''slightly''''' harder than the average person.

*** [[spoiler:After merging his Stand, Whitesnake, with the Green Baby, Pucci's]] powers gain the motif of the ability to manipulate gravity: C-moon can reverse gravity, but also has the ability to turn things inside out by inverting their ''center'' of gravity. However, since gravity in the [[GravitySucks literal]] and [[YouCantFightFate metaphorical]] senses is a major theme of [=JoJo=] part 6, the ability is also implied to give [[spoiler:Pucci]] PlotArmor.

* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/34346623/chapters/85463296 Hawkmoth Gets a Reference]]'': The akuma Shipmaster's power works based on whoever she ships using their PortmanteauCoupleName to make them [[LovePotion fall in love with each other]]. For example, when she hits Chloé to ship Libee (Lila x Chloé), Lila is the first to fall in love and pull the blonde into a makeover fest. Likewise, when Ladybug gets hit to ship [=LadyNoir=] she falls madly in love with Chat, though he manages to break her out of the spell by tricking her into de-transforming behind a dumpster, as the ship is with their hero identities and not between Chat and Marinette. Though even after Shipmaster is defeated, [[BrainwashResidue Marinette still feels the effect of the brainwashing]].

* In [[VideoGame/ScribbleNauts Scribblenauts]], you have a notebook that summons anything and everything you write in it.

* As shown in the page quote, ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' has a perfect example in the SkeletonKey, an artifact of Nocturnal, the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Prince]] of [[TheSacredDarkness Darkness and the Night]], who is also associated with Thieves and Luck. It "unlocks" anything, in a very broadly-interpreted sense. This means that anything that is restricted, hidden, or otherwise not used to its potential [[FullPotentialUpgrade can be "unlocked" with the Key]]. In the case of [[spoiler:Mercer Frey]], he uses it to gain {{Charles Atlas Superpower}}s. However, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation the player is unable to use it as anything other than an unbreakable lockpick]].

* Lightfoot of ''WebOriginal/AcademyOfSuperheroes'' has the power to make anything he's touching go faster. Naturally, this lets him [[SuperSpeed make himself go faster]] but he was also able to make a giant statue that would normally have taken a century to sink into the earth do so in minutes. His power makes things ''happen'' faster, not ''move'' faster.

** 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 [[BackstoryInvader 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: [[RetConjuration retroactively cancelling abilities]] even Orihime cannot reject with [[RealityWarper her power]]]].

* In ''Manga/MakenKi'', this is how Celia's "reverse" power works. Normally, she just uses it to reverse someone's momentum when they attack her, and for a while [[IAmNotLeftHanded everyone assumes that's all she can do]]. However, she can also reverse a fighter's strength (making them weak), reverse the {{Determinator}}'s aggression (turning him into an apathetic mess) and [[spoiler:[[GenderBender reverse her own gender (turning her from her natural male gender into a girl)]]]].

* The magical girls' individual powers in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' and its spin-offs come from their wishes. Some are pretty obvious simply from the wish's wording, some are not. The more specific the wish is, the simpler the power is. Sayaka, who wished for her crush's hand to be healed has the power to heal almost instantly, while Mami, who wished to survive a car crash, has her power derived from a ''Buddhist philosophy'' of "connecting to life" which granted her power to create ribbons that she can manipulate and shape as she wishes. Those barriers, muskets and cannons she uses? Made from ribbons. And in ''[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion Rebellion]]'', she makes a ''[[ActuallyADoombot clone]]'', who may have fought an elaborate GunFu battle with Homura, out of those ribbons.

* In ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' and ''Literature/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.]]

* ComicBook/DoctorStrange is the Master of ''all'' Mystic Arts, thank you. In an early appearance he saves some bystanders using the Indian rope trick, an old standard from stage magic.

** 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 ruby's hiding place]] -- they didn't ''give'' it to him.
** Gladstone himself occasionally complains about the semantics of his luck in instances that overlap with BlessedWithSuck. His power specifically gives him ''abnormally'' good fortune like winning sweepstakes or finding treasure (in other words, things that have incredibly low odds)...which means that "minor" lucky things (like catching a bus or finding what he needs while shopping) are basically impossible. He even has to have Donald run simple errands for him, because any attempt he makes to get to a store is inevitably blocked by a constant string of once-in-a-lifetime happenings that don't let up until well after said store has closed.
* ComicBook/{{Vixen}} has the ability to mimic the abilities of any animal in existence. Given that she live in the FantasyKitchenSink that is the DCU, this means she can copy the abilities of mythical beings such as dragon. At one point, she could also copy the abilities of the human animal which allows her to copy the speed of Jay Garrick (one of the the Flashes), Black Lightning's electrokinesis and every power Superman's entire set of ComboPlatterPowers, although she protested that this ''wasn't'' how her powers worked, and it turned out the TricksterGod Anansi was altering her story.
* The Legion of Super-Heroes villain the Persuader has an axe said to be able to cut through anything. This includes intangible things like the force of gravity causing things to float, metaphorical things like someone's air supply and even the boundary between timelines to build the Fatal Five into the Fatal Five ''Hundred''.
* This trope is taken to its logical conclusion with ''ComicBook/TheInhumans'' character simply named Reader. His power is warping reality to manifest whatever he reads. In his past his people had gouged his eyes out to try and nullify this ability, but he worked around it by learning braille. Maximus correctly guesses that, since words and their meanings are entirely constructed, he can manifest any nuanced effect he wants as long as there's a word to mean so. To this end he coins the word "floob", as a concise way to induce a mass astral projection.
** Karnak, a BadassNormal member of the royal family was given a similar semantic upgrade to Cypher's. Originally, he was Black Bolt's bodyguard, who's training and mental focus allowed him to sense the weak points in solid objects, and strike them at just the right force and angle to make them shatter. That ability was expanded so that he can see the weak point in anything, from solid objects to fighting styles to ''arguments.''

** Jazz thinks the Box Ghost's powers could operate like this. With some flexibility about what he considers "boxes," it could provide him with a lot more versatility. Confirmed in Chapter 15, where he attacks [[BigBad Ammit]] with boxes he swiped from a Guys In White's warehouse, reminding everyone that he can not only control boxes, but their contents as well.

* ''Fanfic/ThisBites'': ''Manga/OnePiece'''s use of this trope is discussed in chapter 15, when Cross is giving some of the crew advice on their abilities. They take his advice, and it winds up vastly aiding them in getting stronger.

* In ''Fanfic/PathToMunchies'', Taylor has an unrestrained Path to Victory (a power that automatically gives her all the steps she has to take in order to fulfill an objective) but for various reasons she believes she has the restriction that her paths must have steps related to production or consumption of food. It still allows her to do things like finding people - by planning how to have lunch with them - or defeating an enemy - by using food as a weapon or a distraction.

* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/34346623/chapters/85463296 Hawkmoth Gets a Reference]]'': The akuma Shipmaster's power works based on whoever she ships using their PortmanteauCoupleName to make them [[LovePotion fall in love with each other]]. For example, when she hits Chloé to ship Libee (Lila x Chloé), Lila is the first to fall in love and pull the blonde into a makeover fest. Likewise, when Ladybug gets hit to ship [=LadyNoir=] she falls madly in love with Chat, though he manages to break her out of the spell by tricking her into de-transforming behind a dumpster, as the ship is with their hero identities and not between Chat and Marinette. Though even after Shipmaster is defeated, [[BrainwashResidue Marinette still feels the affect of the brainwashing]].

* ''Literature/CradleSeries'': Sages touch upon "Icons," Platonic ideals of specific concepts like the Sword Icon, the Strength Icon, or the Void Icon. These Icons give them RealityWarper powers directly related to their core concepts (plus a few abilities common to all Sages, like [[{{Teleportation}} spatial transit]]). As it turns out, a lot of Sage work depends on how you think about something, rather than the actual effect. For example, using the Void Icon to fill a mug of water is horrifically difficult, but using the Void Icon to empty one mug into another is the easiest thing in the world, despite having the exact same effect. There are, however, limits. The Void Sage cannot, for example "empty" someone of injuries.

** Issei starts with the power of Boost ([[StatusBuff doubles his own strength with each use]]), and soon unlocks Transfer (transfers the effects of Boosts to another). In one of his first big fights he uses these to Boost ''holy water'', enhancing its properties to the point where it can extinguish the flames of a Phoenix-themed demon and [[AntiRegeneration negate their regeneration]].

** John Taylor has the power to find things. Things include lost people, secret paths, bullets that were just in your gun, air that was just in your lungs, crucial weaknesses, your death or the possibility that you were never born.

** Bink initially appears to have ''no'' magic, but the end of the first novel reveals that he is actually a powerful magician: he cannot be harmed by magic. And one way or another, basically [[StoryBreakerPower everything in Xanth is magic.]] And if finding out about this power caused someone to attack him via mundane means, even ''that'' would count as magic, so it won't work. [[note]]Because the only reason why someone would think to attack him mundanely is because they noticed that magic didn't harm him, which wouldn't have happened if there hadn't been some magic around to not harm him, so therefore the magic would have been the indirect cause of him being harmed... [[InsaneTrollLogic Yeah.]] That said, his talent does seem to work at slightly reduced strength when it has to stretch that far.[[/note]] And when the Demon X(A/N)th (the source of all magic) was freed, he immediately decided to come back, and characters theorize that his decision to do so was due to Bink's power (can't protect him from magic if there's no magic!). Yes, magic might only exist so that Bink can be safe from it. Try not to think too hard about it.

* 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 [[PlayboyBunny 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").

--> '''Hilda:''' I once casted a spell to make everything round. [[HistoricalInJoke Let's just say you can thank me for Columbus Day.]]

** Using your SuperStrength not only the usual way, but also to lift your friend's spirit, bend the truth and crush injustice.

** [[{{Chessmaster}} Yukari Yakumo]]'s signature ability is the manipulation of boundaries. According to Yukari herself, this is a SwissArmySuperpower which lets her do [[RealityWarper just about anything she wants]], but Yukari's nature as an UnreliableExpositor makes things less than clear. In {{Canon}} she is capable of creating "gaps" that act as portals, created the "Border of Fantasy and Reality" around Gensokyo,[[note]]A spell which made the valley feel "more fantastic" than the outside world, [[FantasticNatureReserve causing supernatural beings to be drawn to it as their power waned]][[/note]] and later assisted in constructing and [[BarrierMaiden maintaining]] the Great Hakurei Barrier.[[note]]A field of warped space which prevents sentient beings from entering or exiting the valley[[/note]] In Fanfic, "Yukari got bored again" might as well be the setting equivalent of AWizardDidIt.

** Reisen describes her abilities as manipulation of madness, but their true nature is reading and altering waves in her surroundings. She typically uses this to scramble enemy brainwaves to mess up their focus, or bend light and sound to generate illusions, but she has displayed other applications for it as well: shooting EyeBeams, communicating with other {{Moon Rabbit}}s from long distances, judging peoples' personalities, seeing the Three Fairies of Light while they're invisible, and creating ultrasonic pest repellents.
** [[TheHero Reimu]] describes herself as having the ability to [[{{Flight}} float in the sky]], something which just about everyone can do already. But in a tight spot she will start [[TeleportSpam teleporting around]] and turning [[IntangibleMan intangible]], while seemingly unaware that she is doing so. In truth, Reimu [[BornLucky floats through]] ''life'', [[DontThinkFeel instinctively following the path of least resistance to any problem]] (which is also the origin of her signature {{Homing Projectile}}s). The only limit on this ability is that [[CentipedesDilemma her own thoughts cloud her instincts]] - she can become intangible simply by closing her eyes and clearing her mind of distractions.

* As shown in the page quote, ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' has a perfect example in the SkeletonKey, an artifact of Nocturnal, the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Prince]] of [[TheSacredDarkness Darkness and the Night]], who is also associated with Thieves and Luck. It "unlocks" anything, in a very broadly-interpreted sense. This means that anything which is restricted, hidden, or otherwise not used to its potential [[FullPotentialUpgrade can be "unlocked" with the Key]]. In the case of [[spoiler:Mercer Frey]], he uses it to gain {{Charles Atlas Superpower}}s. However, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation the player is unable to use it as anything other than an unbreakable lockpick]].

** Thieves can steal equipment from enemies, but they can also steal metaphysical concepts like health (rendering the target poisoned), memory (causing the target to forget how to use skills), consciousness (causes target to fall asleep) and even stats (increasing the thief's own, permanently).

* In ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan'', the powers of Demon Lords are incredibly semantic. Toxel, Demon Lord of Poison, [[TheCorruption can also poison thoughts and relationships.]] The Lord of Treachery is so [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin treacherous]] that she won't even stay dead, and exploits this for a ThanatosGambit. But probably the best example is how Chaos demons are immune to WhiteMagic, because demons being hurt by that ''is a rule.''

* Parodied by ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater''. Red Mage is constantly showing his companions that he can make anything a MinmaxersDelight. Lockpicking can be accomplished, for instance, using the pickpocket skill because it's just removing a lock from a pocket in a door. The interrogation skill is simply emptying pockets of information in people's minds. This being ''8-Bit Theater'', InsaneTrollLogic is completely applicable [[AchievementsInIgnorance if you're stupid enough to not wonder how it's at all possible.]] ("[[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2008/05/01/episode-986-164/ There is no problem that cannot be overcome by an imaginative and vigorous use of the animal husbandry skill.]]") Likewise, Thief can steal things that are intangible or that ''don't exist'', basically [[ImpossibleThief doing anything as long as can it be called "theft"]]. Fighter can block anything, including the ground from a fall. Fighter's "logic" for this is that it's NotTheFallThatKillsYou, it's the ground.

** "[[{{Whatevermancy}} Turnamancers]]" have power over [[TurnBasedStrategy turns]], enabling them to reduce the [[RPGMechanicsVerse number of turns required to pop units.]] However, they are also responsible for [[HeelFaceTurn turning]] [[EnemyExchangeProgram enemy units]] to their own side. [[spoiler:The actual underlying gimmick for Turnamancy is that it's the magic of motivation and progression. As such they can play around with time a little, control some aspects of movement and affect what motivates people.]]

** Another character has the gift "divine laughter", a sparkling laughter which is appreciated by everyone except demonbloods, who react unfavorably to the "divine" part.

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': Discussed in the prologue of the episode "Analyze Piss", where the pair are confronted by a supervillain parody of [[Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto Magneto]], except he can control cookies. Morty points out that cookies don't have a strict definition, so it leads into further questions; does it cover ''everything'' people consider cookies? Does it count ingredients ''of'' cookies? Cookie Magneto doesn't clarify beyond stating [[ShapedLikeItself cookies are the things he controls]], and we never find out what the limitations of his powers are, because Rick just kills him immediately.

** While at first it seems that Rukia's Zanpakuto, Sode no Shirayuki, can only [[AnIcePerson 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 [[SupernaturalFearInducer irrational fear]]).

* In ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', some of Doofenshmirtz inventions can work like that. Like once he created a Rotten-inator to cheat at a meatloaf competition and rotten the other's meatloafs. But during a battle it hit a book, and the reader complained about a rotten ending.

* 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 creativity 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]]

See also WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer, ImaginationBasedSuperpower, and SwissArmySuperpower. Compare/contrast the InverseLawOfComplexityToPower. See also LiteralGenie. Not to be confused with superpowers that actually consist of [[MakeMeWannaShout using speech]] or [[WordsCanBreakMyBones specific words]].

** Ichibē Hyōsube, the Commander of Squad Zero has a Zanpakuto called Ichimonji, which takes the form of a huge calligraphy brush and whose powers are entirely based around semantics and nomenclature. His power is to know the name, and thus abilities, of anything and everything he encounters, and his brush can create or change that name and the powers that go with it. The true implication of this power is that he can erase and alter the very essence of a being by removing and rewriting their names. He's able to do things like "cut" someone's arm with his brush, changing its name from "arm" to "ar" and halving its strength in the process, rename someone as an ant, reducing their abilities to nothing more than what an ordinary ant can do, and even [[spoiler: revive himself from a messy death just by having someone say his name close enough to what's left of his corpse.]]