History Main / UnstablePoweredChild

* ''Videogame/ResidentEvil7Biohazard''. Eveline is a TykeBomb who was engineered as a ''fetus'' to be a TykeBomb with powers over a mutagenic mold-like substance as an infiltration bioweapon. Her dark upbringing [[spoiler:and as revealed in ''Videogame/ResidentEvilVillage'' abandonment by her "mother" Miranda]], combined with her natural instability already turned her into a bloodthirsty sociopathic murderous little girl with an obsession of having a family. Her powers over the mold gave her the power to infect and control anyone she wanted. [[spoiler: While she is a physically old woman by the time the game actually happens, she still presents herself and acts like the little girl seen throughout the game.]]

* This was basically how WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls started out in their movie after being created. Their reckless abandon at a game of tag rendered Townsville a holy mess and they became pariahs for it. After exiling themselves to an asteroid, they realized their capabilities and responsibilities when their creator/dad Professor Utonium is threatened.

* In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueGodsAndMonsters'', [[spoiler:Brainiac]] is a terrified TykeBomb with no control over his abilities after being made into a living weapon to use against Superman. [[EscapedFromTheLab After escaping the facility he was created in]], [[spoiler:Brainiac]] loses control of his powers, destroying an entire city in the process. By the end, Superman gives the boy a MercyKill at the boy's request to stop the destruction.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' has Terra, a girl unable to control her geokinesis powers. Slade teaches her how to control them and also gets her on his side, thus defying the trope. The trope is then outright averted when Terra is reborn as an ordinary high school student with no powers.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': [[spoiler: The Collector]] may be a millennia-old entity, but they act like a young, playful child that sees the entire world as a game. They also have the power to do things like moving the moon with a casual gesture, so when they lose their temper, they can get very destructive.

* ''VideoGame/WildArmsMillionMemories'': Rudy Roughnight has his ARM abilities awaken after he's [[spoiler: had a vision where he betrays everyone and destroys the world.]] A combination of their newness, and [[spoiler: [[LaserGuidedAmnesia not being able to remember anything about his past]] means he's not entirely sure how they work or what he's capable of. [[spoiler: This only gets worse towards the end where it's discovered he can teleport in and out of the Memory Maze, and he ends up cornered by one of the most manipulative villains in the series, leading to the vision coming true.]]

** Present Mic developed his Quirk, [[MakeMeWannaShout Voice]], as soon as he was born. His first cries quickly burst the eardrums of everyone present at his birth.

[[folder:Web Original]]

* In ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'', most magic users have their magic manifest at around five years of age[[note]]There are cases as late as 12, though[[/note]], and would sometimes manifest as PowerIncontinence. The localized nature of most magic, however, avoids serious damage. In Keith's case, however, his magic involves [[MarionetteMaster creating and controlling earth golems]], which means his case involved large pieces of earth falling from the sky and cratering the ground, as well as causing multiple impact wounds and even broken bones across his siblings. He was immediately given the MadwomanInTheAttic treatment until Duke Claes adopts him as heir...for exactly this reason, as this story occurs in a {{magocracy}}, and {{training|thegiftofmagic}} can improve a person's control over their magic.

[[folder:Light Novels]]
* In ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'', most magic users have their magic manifest at around five years of age[[note]]There are cases as late as 12, though[[/note]], and would sometimes manifest as PowerIncontinence. The localized nature of most magic, however, avoids enough damage. In Keith's case, however, his magic involves [[MarionetteMaster creating and controlling earth golems]], which means his case involved large pieces of earth falling from the sky and cratering the ground, as well as causing multiple impact wounds and even broken bones across his siblings. He was immediately given the MadwomanInTheAttic treatment until Duke Claes adopts him as heir...for exactly this reason, as this story occurs in a {{magocracy}}, and {{training|thegiftofmagic}} can improve a person's control over their magic.
[[/folder]]

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'':

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': As the page quote mentions, baby {{unicorn}}s and {{alicorn}}s have PowerIncontinence, which causes them to involuntarily cast random spells.

* Most Diclonii in ''ElfenLied'' deal with this to some extent or another partially because they usually wind up [[RaisedInALab locked away in a lab and experimented on]], if they aren't killed outright. Silpellits (which most Diclonii are) get a double-dose of it, since not only do you have young children with psychokinetic powers, but since Silpellits age at twice the rate of most humans, the child is usually effectively only half the age she looks.

* ''Franchise/DragonAge'': Mage children being unable to control their powers or understand the consequences are a very real danger, which is why they are required by law to be taken to the Circle of Magi immediately when discovered. Unfortunately, the fact that mage children are [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections supposed to]] be denied any further contact with their families leads to a ViciousCycle where families hide their mage children for fear of losing them, which prevents these children from getting the training they need to control their powers, leading to some of them causing disasters with hefty body counts that are then used to justify the current system [[SelfFulfillingProphecy that gives parents incentive not to hand over their children]]. Magic is also viewed negatively by the primary religion of the setting, so wealthy or aristocratic families often hide their children's magic for fear of their family's reputation being sullied; the Amell family lost much of its prestige when one of its members gave birth to five mage children in a row.

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia2'' features [[TagalongKid Elle]], who is a [[MacGuffinSuperPerson Key of Kresnik]], allowing her to transport herself and people around her [[DimensionalTraveler between universes]]. However, her powers are also triggered if she's frightened, and she spends several chapters of the early-game accidentally dropping the party into {{Alternate Universe}}s. It's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:her father]] invoked and exploited this at the very start of the game, [[spoiler:setting up an elaborate assassination attempt on his own life just to traumatize her into teleporting herself into the [[PrimeTimeline Prime Dimension]]]].

** Subverts this trope with Vanya Hargreeves. Raised as the TeamNormal, she actually is the most powerful one of them all. At four years old, she had a knack for killing the nannies hired to care for her, until a robot one, Grace, was made that could survive her powers. However, once she realized she couldn't kill Grace, she actually seemed like a relatively normal little girl. Once Reginald saw just how powerful she was becoming, he decided that she was this trope or too close to becoming it, and he chose to lock her away and then suppressed Vanya's powers with medication and using Allison's mental powers to strip her memory of her powers.
** Played straighter with Klaus Hargreeves. Klaus, who can talk to the dead, struggles to turn the ability on and off. Because Reginald attempted to teach him control by locking him in mausoleums overnight, Klaus was traumatized and became terrified of his ability. He eventually turned to drugs and alcohol to numb the ability rather than properly harness it. The adult Klaus also felt guilty that he kept his brother Ben from moving on, since Klaus used his ability to summon Ben's spirit soon after Ben's death when they were 17, and Ben hasn't left his side since. [[spoiler: Ben later confesses, however, that he was actually afraid to move on and chose to stay with Klaus -- he asked Vanya to assure Klaus it was never his fault.]]

SisterTrope to GooGooGodlike, where a god-empowered child is not unstable but just genuinely doesn't know any better. May overlap with TykeBomb and {{Child Soldier}}s.

* ''Franchise/DragonAge'': Mage children being unable to control their powers or understand the consequences are a very real danger, which is why they are required by law to be taken to the Circle of Magi immediately when discovered. Unfortunately, the fact that mage children are [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections supposed to]] be denied any further contact with their families leads to a ViciousCycle where families hide their mage children for fear of losing them, which prevents these children from getting the training they need to control their powers, leading to some of them causing disasters with hefty body counts that are then used to justify the current system. Magic is also viewed negatively by the primary religion of the setting, so wealthy or aristocratic families often hide their children's magic for fear of their family's reputation being sullied; the Amell family lost much of its prestige when one of its members gave birth to five mage children in a row.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': SCP-239, "The Witch Child" is actually a little girl who can't control her RealityWarper powers, so the Foundation keeps her in a medically induced coma for her and everyone else's protection.