History Main / TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening

** Rip's Unrepair causes damage that cannot be repaired and wounds that cannot be healed. He gained and was forced to use this power in the middle of performing a surgery meant to save his childhood friend.

* ''Fanfic/MasakoXDragonBallWhatIf'' has a few storylines where a character's traumatic superpower awakening happens earlier than in canon, while in others, due to changes ''already'' present in the timeline, a character's awakening happens in a different manner or a character who in canon never went through it does so:

* ''Fanfic/WhatIfGineWentWithGokuToEarth'': Gine witnesses her son get shot by one of Freeza's Death Beams, triggering her transformation into a Super Saiyan. She proceeds to [[CurbstompBattle curb-stomp]] Freeza until he manages to power up to 50% and seemingly kills her... which causes ''Kakarot'' to ascend as well and take over the fight.

* In ''Fanfic/WhatIfGokuWonAgainstMasterRoshi'', Goku transforms into a Super Saiyan after Raditz saves him from one of Frieza's attacks, dying in the process.
* ''Fanfic/WhatIfRaditzTurnedGood'': In the BadFuture, Future Trunks and Future Ranch both become Super Saiyans after Future Gohan is killed, wrecking the surrounding area in their grief.

* ''Manga/UndeadUnluck'': Justified. Because in this setting GodIsAJerk, it has a tendency of gifting powers to Negators the one moment that it would be most traumatic for them to have received sair powers. The powers often also activate on their own, facilitating the misery.
** Fuuko's Unluck allows her to cause strokes of misfortune on people she loves provided she touches them. She ends up getting this power as a kid, right as she kissed her parents goodbye on a trip, causing the plane they were in to explode and kill all of them.
** Top's Unstoppable allows his speed to increase to inhuman levels if he tries to stop running. When he tries to throw the towel during an Olympic examination for runners in the hope to let his friends get a chance to change their lives around, his powers activate and he kills two of his friends and injures a third since he hit them with the power of a car.

** Shen's Untruth allows him to cause any action to be reversed. It's awakened when his sister was hanging off of a cliff and he accidentally reversed her attempt to reach for his hand, making her let go and fall instead.

** Rip's Unrepair causes damage that cannot be repaired and wounds that cannot be healed. He gains and uses this power in the middle of performing a surgery meant to save his childhood friend.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Aberrant}}'', triggering superpowers is called an "Eruption", and considering the fact that it's White Wolf we are talking about, there are quite a lot of people who obtained their powers in the midst of something dangerous. One piece of fluff text in the core rulebook is a variation of a suicide hotline's pamphlet that explicitly asks people to not do suicidal things in the hope they will Erupt, even.
* Zig-zagged in ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'', where people can Awaken as mages in a rare moment of clarity where they see past mundane reality and touch the Supernal Realms of magic. For the lucky ones, this can be a peaceful or even joyful moment; for the rest, well, {{Near Death Experience}}s are a fairly common source of Awakenings. "Banishers" get it even worse, suffering Awakenings so nightmarishly traumatic that they instinctively despise all things magic. Archmages can actually induce Awakenings with the right magic, but those aren't great for the target's sanity either, though interestingly in those cases it's the Awakening that causes trauma rather than trauma that causes an Awakening.
** Klagen, Neid and Grimm typically go through this in ''TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression'', with Klagen Catalyzing in grief, Neid from ostracism and Grimm in rage. Sometimes it's directly related to the event, and other times as a result of whatever bit of MadScience they put together while dealing with it. Klagen tend to be the OnlySaneMan in their groups; Grimms [[HairTriggerTemper do not]], and neither do [[TheyCalledMeMad Neids]].
* In the lore of ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', one in every million sentient beings in the Multiverse is born with a "Spark", or the potential to become a [[PrestigiousPlayerTitle Planeswalker]]. Igniting that Spark and actually becoming a Planeswalker is sometimes the result of an epiphany after years of meditation and preparation, but is more likely to occur as the result of physical, emotional, or psychic trauma.

** The Spark can also be ignited by extreme happiness, as proven by [[RebelLeader Samut]] in the ''Hour of Devastation'' storyline. In her immense happiness and relief that her god and people have managed to take down one of the corrupt gods and escape the fallen city, her Spark suddenly ignites.
*** And in the only other positive awakening, Basri finally winning at a trial he had aspired to his whole life.
* Common in the ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness'' as well:
** ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'': Whenever possible, the Garou make sure they identify likely candidates to hold the werewolf gene and keep watch over them. But for the Lost Cubs that slip through the cracks, the First Change generally means abrupt transformation into a frenzied monster and waking up surrounded by shredded corpses. It's even worse for the Ratkin, who have a heavier Wyld-infusion; it's so common for Ratkin to retreat permanently into insanity that they have two entire Aspects covering it: the Munchmausen, who regress into childlike fantasy, and the Twitchers, who are {{Grimdark}} ''even for the [[CrapsackWorld World of Darkness]]''.

* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' GaidenGame ''TabletopGame/DarkHeresy'', this is the result of choosing the "Nascent Psyker" background package. The player has psychic powers building up, locked away in the back of their brain, waiting to spill out in an [[SuperPowerMeltdown uncontrolled fashion]] in a moment of high stress. Given that this is [[CrapsackWorld 40k]], this tends to be a [[DemonicPossession Bad]] [[HellOnEarth Thing]]. The description uses the words "death sentence" to describe this package for a ''reason''.

[[AC:''Franchise/TeenTitans'']]

** In ''VideoGame/Persona3'', Persona awakenings come from accepting the prospect of mortality but also not wanting to die. Personas are summoned via an Evoker, an fake gun that's [[InvokedTrope designed to invoke a fear of death to temporarily manifest your Persona]].

* {{Downplayed}} in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice,'' when a now-adult Comicbook/BlackCanary mentions that her first [[SuperScream Canary Cry]] nearly deafened her entire first-grade class. She spent a period after that trying to never talk again.

** Garion comes into his power this way. Though he is sensitive to sorcery for a while, and his first (unconscious) use of it was to heal a brain-addled man, he first deliberately uses his power against a man who has just slapped his Aunt Pol, and kills him when he learns the same man killed his parents. [[KillItWithFire In the same way.]]

* In ''Franchise/StarCraft: Ghost: Nova'', the titular character is unaware of her enormous PsychicPower potential, and her wealthy father goes to great lengths to keep it a secret, lest his daughter be taken away to the Ghost Academy. She knows that she is somehow able to sense what other people are feeling but can't explain it. However, when a group of rebels infiltrates her parents' penthouse mansion and kills them in front of her, her MindOverMatter powers manifest in a rather spectacular manner. The transparent dome over the penthouse is completely shattered by her mental blast that also kills anyone in the vicinity but her. That dome is, apparently, rated to withstand a direct nuclear strike. However, she never uses her power to that extent again. It's heavily implied that Nova is much more powerful than even Kerrigan, at least until Kerrigan becomes the Queen of Blades.

* ''Literature/Touch2017'' is a deconstruction of this: in this world, people only seem to get powers this way, and our main characters are all grappling with issues as a result. The main character, James, was [[RapeAsBackstory raped]] by a stranger while his friend Caspar got powers due to his AbusiveParents [[spoiler:trying to {{Invoke}} this trope]]. It's noted that more benign examples exist, though, like breaking a bone in a less traumatic way.

* A major plot point in ''[[Literature/ThePrecipice The Precipice]]'' 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 extream stress is theorized to catalize the event. Being sick is a symptom proceeding Catabasis, but some kind of stressor or trauma is what gives you powers.

* Garion of the ''Literature/{{Belgariad}}'' comes into his power this way. Though he is sensitive to sorcery for a while, and his first (unconscious) use of it was to heal a brain-addled man, he first deliberately uses his power against a man who has just slapped his Aunt Pol, and kills him when he learns the same man killed his parents. [[KillItWithFire In the same way.]]

* Happens to Kaiku and other members of the Red Order in ''Literature/TheBraidedPath'' trilogy. Strong fear (or arousal) causes their powers to ignite, setting everything around them on fire. Given people are likely to get burned in the process, it's obvious why this awakening is particularly traumatic.
* This is the case in ''Literature/{{Brennus}}'', mixed with PubertySuperpower. Manifestation is in response to a traumatic event, and often manifestation itself is just as if not more traumatic than the triggering event.
** Interestingly enough, the [[AllThereInTheManual Brennus Files]] article on the subject noted that, while ''exceptionally'' rare, an overwhelmingly ''positive'' experience can cause a Manifestation just as easily as a ''negative'' one. One of the most powerful Metahumans, Elysium, manifested while dancing with the love of her life.

* In ''Creator/KatherineKurtz'''s ''Literature/{{Deryni}}'' there is a short story in which an 11-year-old boy's healing powers are triggered when his cat is severely injured.
* In ''Literature/DragonBones'' Ward has some weak magical ability, but lost most of it when his abusive father almost killed him. He regains it when [[spoiler: a supernatural entity attacks his sister, and won't let go. This makes him angry, which unlocks his magic.]]
* ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'': A ghola's memories can be restored by inflicting psychological trauma.

** Technically, any Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother becomes this way by ingesting poison and hoping that her body will metabolize it into a substance that will transform her.
*** They DO train for many years, practicing an intricate form of body control, learning to speed up and slow down their own metabolism and adjust it as needed, before taking that particular test.

* Creator/MercedesLackey's ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'':

* In Creator/SergeyLukyanenko's ''Literature/LabyrinthOfReflections'', Divers most commonly acquire their rare gift under extremely stressful circumstances, such as when your friend is dying in RealLife and you have to exit CyberSpace ''right now'' without using any common devices.
** The short-story ''Transparent Stained Glass Windows'' reveals that the Russian government is working on a secret project aimed at creating Divers using a virtual prison as a cover. Their goal is to induce traumatic experiences in the inmates which mirror the reason for their imprisonment. The project is a failure, though.
* ''Literature/LegacyOfTheDragokin'': This is how Benji activates his dragokin powers [[spoiler: at the very end of the story when he leaps to his mom's defense.]]
* In the original novel of ''{{Literature/Matilda}}'', her telekinesis first appears when she grows uncontrollably angry over being (loudly and violently) accused of something she did not do.

* In Creator/StephenKing's short story "The Revelations of Becka Paulson", Becka, an ordinary housewife, accidentally shoots herself in the head with a small-caliber pistol while cleaning house. The trauma to her brain gives her PsychicPowers and makes her more intelligent as well.
* Books by Creator/BrandonSanderson:
** ''Franchise/{{Mistborn}}'':
*** [[FunctionalMagic Allomantic]] powers only manifest themselves following an intense trauma, which is usually a near-death experience (not always, though, as Kelsier, one of the main characters, came into his powers after watching his wife get beaten to death). [[AristocratsAreEvil Noble houses]] often severely beat their children to try and force "snapping".
*** In later books, Snapping is caused automatically by "mist-sickness", which by design only affects unSnapped Allomancers, and just badly enough to Snap them.
*** WordOfGod is that the primary reason that Vin learns Allomancy so quickly is because she Snapped at ''birth''. Even though she didn't know what she was doing, she was using Allomancy before she could walk.
** ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'':
*** It is explicitly stated that only those who are "broken" can form a Nahel bond and become a Surgebinder. However, this process is usually far slower and less obvious than in ''Mistborn''. What happens is that [[ElementalEmbodiment spren]] find people with broken souls and slip into the cracks, shoring up their soul and granting them Surgebinding in the process. While Surgebinders will use their powers instinctively, it usually starts as [[HealingFactor healing oddly quickly]] or [[GravityMaster having arrows always hit their shield instead of them]]. It takes something big for them to draw enough power to realize what is happening.
*** A cult known as the Envisagers ''thought'' that they could force themselves to become Radiants by invoking this. They would frequently put themselves in near-death situations to see if a spren would come to rescue them. Being unaware of how the Nahel bond worked, this tended to result in their deaths. Ironically, when one member of the group reported them to the local authorities, hoping that they could get some kind of mental help for their cult insanity, the local ruler had them all executed as heretics.
* ''Literature/TheNewManagement'': ''Literature/QuantumOfNightmares'': Mentioned in Chapter 8 as "traumatic origin events":

* In ''VideoGame/StarCraft: Ghost: Nova'', the titular character is unaware of her enormous PsychicPower potential, and her wealthy father goes to great lengths to keep it a secret, lest his daughter be taken away to the Ghost Academy. She knows that she is somehow able to sense what other people are feeling but can't explain it. However, when a group of rebels infiltrates her parents' penthouse mansion and kills them in front of her, her MindOverMatter powers manifest in a rather spectacular manner. The transparent dome over the penthouse is completely shattered by her mental blast that also kills anyone in the vicinity but her. That dome is, apparently, rated to withstand a direct nuclear strike. However, she never uses her power to that extent again. It's heavily implied that Nova is much more powerful than even Kerrigan, at least until Kerrigan becomes the Queen of Blades.

* ''Series/{{Angel}}'', "[[Recap/AngelS02E04Untouched Untouched]]". Bethany, the girl with telekinesis, had it awakened when she was abused physically and sexually by her father. It also flared up when someone threatened her in an alley early in the ep.
* On ''Series/TheFinder'', Walter's powers of deduction are purportedly because of a few bumps to the head that occurred during military service.

* ''Series/{{Impulse|2018}}'': It takes being date raped to awaken the teleporting powers in Henry.

* ''Series/{{WandaVision}}'': Though Wanda previously became empowered through the Mind Stone, she reached the true potential of reality-warping power when she became overwhelmed by her grief over losing Vision.

* Within the works of ''Music/PaulShapera'', traumatic events (such as flinging oneself off a cliff, being chased by a death cult, or stuck within the Hall of Mirrors in a demented carnival) are how Posthumans awaken their RealityWarper abilities, allowing them to exert a degree of control over the universes (called Narratives due to the {{Metafiction}} aspect of the whole thing) within the various ConceptAlbums. That being said, RealityWarpingIsNotAToy is in full effect, [[spoiler: if Posthumans try to push a narrative too hard, it can tear, resulting in a [[HellIsThatNoise horrific sound]] as an entire universe is destroyed.]]

** ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond is Unbreakable]]'': Each Act of Koichi's echoes was unlocked during a stressful situation. Act 1 was when he saw his mother and sister held hostage by Tamami Kobayashi's [[EmotionBomb Lock through their guilt]]. Act 2 was when he was held captive by [[{{Yandere}} Yukio Yamagishi]] and Act 1 wasn't enough to defeat her (and he gets an additional scare when Act 2 molted out of Act 1 and he thought his Stand was irrevertibly damaged). Act 3 [[spoiler:was when he left alone to fight against Kira's [[ActionBomb Sheer Heart Attack]] since Jotaro was injured protecting him]].

* A major plot point in ''[[Literature/thePrecipice The Precipice]]'' 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 extream stress is theorized to catalize the event. Being sick is a symptom proceeding Catabasis, but some kind of stressor or trauma is what gives you powers.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'': Minor villain Francis Grey, a watchmaker who built and repaired clocks for a living, stole a gold watch from his employer as a desperate attempt to pay off his many debts. During his getaway, he accidentally caused a series of DisasterDominoes that resulted in massive property damage, which bumped up his prison sentence to seventeen years. During his stay, he was forced to fix the broken clocks around the prison. Being constantly surrounded by clocks made Francis think of all the time he was losing in prison. He claimed he could literally see it passing him by. Eventually, he had mental breakdown and developed the ability to rewind time. Despite much practice, Francis was only able to rewind time up to twenty seconds, meaning that he couldn't go back far enough to undo his original crime. After his sentence concluded (during which his wife left him and wouldn't let his son visit him in prison), Francis built a gas bomb that went off at midnight on New Year's Day, killing Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and half of Gotham. [[spoiler:However, Batgirl had tracked down Matt Grey, Francis' son, who arrived just before the bomb exploded. Matt also perished in the gas. The grief of losing his son gave Francis enough strength to return to the moment before he stole the watch, allowing him to make the right choice this time]].

* {{Downplayed}} in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice,'' when a now-adult Comicbook/BlackCanary mentions that her first [[MakeMeWannaShout Canary Cry]] nearly deafened her entire first-grade class. She spent a period after that trying to never talk again.

* 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 TokenGoodTeammate, manages to awaken her aura peacefully, but 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]].

* In ''Fanfic/QuirkIncubus'', Izuku discovered his quirk when his English teacher Mr. Taya targeted him with for molestation, his quirk's first manifestation having been forced upon him, with Izuku allowing repeat offenses for the power boost.

* 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 {{trigger}}s 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]].

** In [[VideoGame/LifeIsStrange the first game]], Max's ability to rewind time is triggered when she sees her best friend Chloe (although she doesn't know who it is at the time) get shot. [[spoiler:In Episode 2, she manages to [[TimeStandsStill freeze time entirely for several minutes]] in response to seeing Kate jump off the dormitory roof]].
** ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange2'': Daniel's telekenetic abilites awaken when his father gets shot in front of him.
** Alex's empathy powers in ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrangeTrueColors'' are shown to have manifested due to traumatic events throughout her childhood, [[spoiler:including her mother's death, her father abandoning her and Gabe, and the cruelty she endured in the foster care system.]]

* ''[[Manga/{{Akira}} AKIRA]]'': Tetsuo's god-like psychic abilities start to manifest after a motorcycle accident that almost killed him and Takashi.

* ''Literature/{{Touch 2017}}'' is a deconstruction of this: in this world, people only seem to get powers this way, and our main characters are all grappling with issues as a result. The main character, James, was [[RapeAsBackstory raped]] by a stranger while his friend Caspar got powers due to his AbusiveParents [[spoiler:trying to {{Invoke}} this trope]]. It's noted that more benign examples exist, though, like breaking a bone in a less traumatic way.