History Main / TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening

[[AC:{{Crossover}}s]]

[[AC:''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'']]

[[AC:''Series/{{Arrow}}'']]

[[AC:''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'']]

[[AC:''Franchise/DragonBall'']]

[[AC:''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'']]
* Tony Stark in ''Fanfic/TheWarIsFarFromOverNow'' shows the occasional sign that he hasn't been completely cured of Extremis during the Civil War arc but it's not until he witnesses the tape of his parents' murders that he fully manifests it... by breathing fire on Steve and Bucky.

[[AC:''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'']]

[[AC:''Webcomic/MobPsycho100'']]

[[AC:Franchise/MonsterVerse]]

[[AC:''Franchise/MyHeroAcademia'']]

[[AC:''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'']]

[[AC:''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'']]

[[AC:''Franchise/OnePiece'']]
* This is why Gecko Moria Awakens his [[CastingAShadow Shadow-Shadow Devil Fruit]] in ''Fanfic/ThisBites'': awakening from his slumber to discover his army of zombie slaves has been decimated and his three living allies defeated by invaders who attacked the island as he was sleeping would have been traumatic enough... but it also [[TraumaButton triggers Moria's memories]] of being the SoleSurvivor when Kaido brutally slaughtered his original crew. The combined trauma causes him to Awaken, [[TookALevelInBadass resulting in a massive power boost to his abilities]].

[[AC:''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'']]

[[AC:''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'']]

[[AC:''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'']]

[[AC:''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'']]

[[AC:''ComicBook/TeenTitans'']]

[[AC:''Literature/{{Worm}}'']]

* Happens twice to [[spoiler:Will]] in ''Film/SkyHigh2005'', once when he's defending his friends from Warren and again when [[spoiler:Royal Pain throws him off the side of the school.]]

** [[BigBad Donquixote Doflamingo]] first got his [[AwesomenessIsAForce Conqueror's Haki]] by telling the angry mob in the process of lynching his whole family he'd kill them instead.

* ''Fanfic/LittleHandsBigAttitude'': [[spoiler:Obsidian]] awakens his illusion powers after Commander Walters [[spoiler:tranqs his brothers and orders to his men to wrestle him out of his mother's arms. For Obsidian, who has PastLifeMemories and he recalls being experimented on for his powers by the government, this is the absolute worst case scenario and he has a complete meltdown]]. Later on in the fic one of the soldiers present in the scene tells the higher-ups of this incident not to convice them to contain [[spoiler:Obsidian]], but to kick Commander Walters out of the mission because of his extremely poor judgment.

** Superboy discovers his telekinesis when [[spoiler:one of Brainiac's robots {{Mind Rape}}s him with his worst fear: returning to life as a lab rat and having his memories of his newfound family erased. Desperation to escape the imaginary pod activates the latent power and shatters the robot.]]

** Speaking of Future Gohan, Trunks from the same timeline in ''Anime/DragonBallZTheHistoryOfTrunks'' becomes a Super Saiyan when he saw [[MentorOccupationalHazard Gohan's dead body]] as a result from fighting the androids (pictured in the main page).

* Alison in ''Webcomic/StrongFemaleProtagonist'', who already had {{superstrength}}, [[NighInvulnerable super toughness]], and the ability to [[InASingleBound leap great heights and distances]], manifested the ability to outright levitate and fly after [[ManipulativeBastard Patrick]] started pushing her buttons to make her hate him and she realized what he was doing.

* Becka in ''Webcomic/{{Shadowgirls}}''.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': In the second season finale; "True Colors", [[spoiler: [[Characters/AmphibiaAnneBoonchuy Anne Boonchuy]]]] awakens a SuperMode from her connection to the blue gem when the grief and rage from [[spoiler:Sprig's supposed death by King Andrias]] pushes her over the edge.

* In the film version of ''Film/{{Matilda}}'', Matilda's telekinesis first displays itself when her father rips up her library books and tries to force her to watch TV with the rest of the family.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': In the second season finale; "True Colors", [[spoiler:Anne]] awakens a SuperMode from her connection to the blue gem when the grief and rage from [[spoiler:Sprig's supposed death by King Andrias]] pushes her over the edge.

** In [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender the first series]], Aang is forced into the Avatar State when he is either in mortal danger or experiencing emotional trauma. A major focus of the story is him learning to control that power and to only use it when he wants to.
** In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', Korra only manages to unlock her airbending after [[spoiler:being captured and de-bended by Amon]].

* A fairly mild example occurs in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''. Young Twilight Sparkle has to take an entrance examination to get into the School for Gifted Unicorns. She repeatedly fails the magic test which has been set up for her, leading her to become increasingly nervous, tense, and embarrassed. Then a large explosion -- the sound of Rainbow Dash's first Sonic Rainboom -- occurs in the distance. Getting startled by the sudden noise when she is already strung tight as a wire triggers an enormous burst of random magic to burst from her horn.
* Parodied on ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', when Cartman wakes up from coma due to a head injury, he fakes psychic powers in "Cartman's Incredible Gift".
** Played with at the end of the episode. Kyle tries to convince the police that Cartman's psychic predictions are inaccurate, but the police refuse to listen to him, so Kyle gives himself a similar head injury, then after waking up in the hospital, pretends to have psychic powers now so the police will listen to what he's figured out with actual detective work. Afterward, Kyle can't convince the police he was faking it, then gets fed up with all the other fake psychics in the room and screams for them to stop... causing a light bulb to explode.

** Gohan's first transformation into a Super Saiyan occurs while he's training with his father, and Goku exploits Gohan's [[RunningGag inability to dodge]] by firing an attack directly at him. Realizing that he's all alone and no one will save him leads to Gohan transforming out of desperation to deflect the blast.

* Invoked in ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'' when [[spoiler: [[WellIntentionedExtremist the Liese Twins]]]] disguise themselves as Nanoha and Fate, tell [[DelicateAndSickly Hayate]] that her illness is incurable and fatal, and ''slaughter Vita in front of her on Christmas Eve''; all so she'd unlock the power of the [[ArtifactOfDoom Book of Darkness]].

** [[spoiler:Naruto and Hinata's]] youngest daughter, Himawari, awakened her Byakugan when her favorite stuffed toy was accidentally torn apart by her older brother, [[spoiler: Boruto]].

** Jen has to undergo massive emotional stress and be completely consumed by an emotion to get new powers, and [[spoiler: gains Way Big's cosmic ray after being exposed to Scarecrow's fear toxin]].
** Ken has to undergo massive physical stress and be critically injured or near death to gain new powers, and [[spoiler: gains NRG's radiation blasts after being almost fatally poisoned by Cobra]].
* Harry, in ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has a slightly puzzling variant -- his PsychicPowers are woken up by his falling/mass psychic assault by Dementors in the first Quidditch Match of 3rd Year (though [[spoiler: the Phoenix gave them a nudge]]). However, they stay more or less dormant, with a brief flare up in chapter 44, and for a while, they turn on (to an extent) whenever he gets angry or stressed. By chapter 60, he's using them comfortably and gets stronger very, very quickly. It's also implied that they were responsible for some of the things attributed to accidental magic as a child.

* In ''Fanfic/MyAbominableMonsterClassmatesCantBeThisCute'', this is standard for Grimm hybrids, as awakening their [[SoulPower Aura]] causes them to re-experience their suppressed humanity all at once. Ruby, being the TokenHeroicOrc, manages to awaken her aura peacefully, but [[WasOnceAMan Blake]] breaks down sobbing in horror (a state she later calls the 'real her', and equates to being seen naked), and [[spoiler: Weiss goes completely berserk]].

* ''Literature/InAWorldJustRight'': Johnathan Aubrey was just a normal kid until he survived a plane crash that killed his entire family, and gave him horrible scars on his face that alienated him from the rest of his classmates. Lucky for him, this somehow gave him the ability to create other worlds with entirely different parameters as he sees fit, which he can enter at will. [[spoiler: It's revealed by the end of the story that other people who've suffered trauma get this power.]]

* ''Literature/VoidDomain'': After [[spoiler: Eva loses her eyes]], she gains an alternate method of sight.

* In one of the short stories in ''Literature/TheWitcher'' book ''Literature/TheLastWish'', a queen hires Geralt to kill a monster (actually a cursed prince) to stop him from marrying her daughter. [[spoiler: When she nearly succeeds, it turns out that the princess is really in love and is an untrained source -- and so everyone must forget their differences and fight together to get her powers under control.]]

** In [[spoiler: the Avatar's child]] Kana's Paralogue, Kana (barely a pre-teen) is so terrified when their living place is invaded, and the Avatar gets attacked right in front of them, that they also transform into a dragon. They don't recover until the end of the chapter, either, and cannot remember what happened, so they're shocked when the Avatar explains what took place.

* In the original ''[[VideoGame/SuikodenI Suikoden]]'', the main character comes into possession of the Soul Eater rune, a powerful rune that, true to its name, devours the souls of those its used on. [[spoiler: Throughout the events of the game, the rune becomes stronger (thus unlocking more powerful spells) by devouring the souls of people who are especially close to the protagonist; first, his loyal caretaker/bodyguard, then his own father, and finally, his best friend, who, as the former owner of the rune, sacrificed himself by forcing the rune to take his soul in order to prevent the BigBad from using him as a hostage to take the rune for herself.]]

* ''Videogame/TrialsOfMana'':

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' this is known as an [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1114 Angst-Induced Awakening]], or, less seriously, an angst-splosion.
* In ''Webcomic/FreakAngels'' it turns out that "near-death" experiences amplify the Freak Angels' powers and unlock new ones. For example, Arkady is capable of teleporting because of that drug overdose in her teens. [[spoiler: Turns out that ''[[CameBackStrong actually dying]]'' will do the trick as well, and this may in fact have been what happened to Arkady. It definitely happens to three other main characters before it occurs to them to try and find a less traumatic method.]]
* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' this is typically how [[MadScientist Sparks]] awaken. Most Sparks end up [[HoistByHisOwnPetard killed by their own breakthrough devices]] or [[BurnTheWitch burned at the stake as witches]] by an angry mob. Many simply go mad and destroy everything in their vicinity. It's also suggested that a breakthrough can be triggered by strong emotions, like being upset over death of a loved one. Gil notes that Agatha’s breakthrough was very peaceful compared to other Sparks. [[spoiler: Because it wasn't one. Agatha is the child of two already rather powerful Sparks and had her breakthrough about a decade ago. Her paternal uncle, a powerful Spark in his own right, outfitted the girl with a Spark-suppressing device to hide her in plain sight. Agatha's official breakthrough was a slow gradual loss of the device's effect.]]
* In ''Webcomic/LastRes0rt'' the existence of souls is scientifically proven, quantified in "sterling", people with more or less than a sterling's worth of soul can tap into it for magic but most people are born with a stable sterling soul that can't be tapped. However, a severe trauma can "shatter" a sterling soul, after which one can attempt to pick up the pieces and transform into a [[OurGeniesAreDifferent djinni-si]], though if they die before piecing themselves back together they rise as a zombie. Vampires are a specific type of djinn-si whose soul-shattering and transformation are facilitated by an existing vampire.

** In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', Korra only manages to unlock her airbending after [[spoiler: being captured and de-bended by Amon]].

* ''Literature/TheNewManagement'': Mentioned in Chapter 8 of ''Quantum of Nightmares'' as "traumatic origin events":
--> runaway activation of hitherto untapped abilities, spontaneous amplification of existing talents
* A major plot point in ''Literature/ThePrecipice'' is Grace gaining her powers. Autumn mentions she got sick before she experienced Catabasis -- the awakening of her powers. Grace was also sick for a prolonged period (not that it slowed her down). However, Grace also mentions that a moment of extreme stress is theorized to catalyze the event. Being sick is a symptom proceeding Catabasis, but some kind of stressor or trauma is what gives you powers.
* ''Literature/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades'': As a child, Oliver Horn was a strictly ordinary JackOfAllTrades mage like his father and not expected to amount to much, which he and his birth family were perfectly okay with (his ambition was to be a comedian). As we learn in volume 10, [[spoiler:reliving the RasputinianDeath of his mother through her GhostMemory and then his mistreatment by the Sherwood elders, up to and including being [[ChildByRape drugged into raping and impregnating his cousin]], ''then'' hoping they could make the best of it with their daughter only for the baby to be stillborn, led him to subconsciously believe he was destined to suffer forever--letting him master a variation of the MultipleChoiceFuture-{{exploit|edTrope}}ing [[UnblockableAttack Fourth Spellblade]] that picks the possible future where ''he lives to suffer the most''.]]

* ''VideoGame/TrailsSeries'': This is known as a "Stigma", believed by the Septian church to be a divine power specifically caused by trauma, and said SaintlyChurch even has a council of "Dominions" with this for it's ChurchMilitant Gralsritter. One of their members going rogue with research on the subject is what enabled the Ouroboros secret society to reverse-engineer it for the purpose of MindControl. This is explained in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky Trails in the Sky the 3rd]]'', and recurs throughout the serialized franchise.