History Main / UnstablePoweredWoman

This trope has its roots in WomenAreDelicate, particularly the HystericalWoman -- the portrayal of women as emotional and unstable, and thus ill-equipped to handle the [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility responsibilities that come with their newfound power]]. Thus, many superpowered versions of this trope will [[EmotionalPowers explicitly tie the woman's destructive potential to her feelings, if not her very womanhood]]. While there are powerful male characters who fall from grace, the ways in which they do so are much more varied than a woman doomed to lose control due to her feelings or a lack of mental fortitude. Bonus points if it falls to existing male characters to clean up after the Unstable Powered Woman, often by arranging it so that she loses the power that she obtained. Needless to say, UnfortunateImplications tend to abound when this trope comes into play.

->''"She's grown too gigantic and unstable! Women, am I right?"''

->''"I don't know what's happening to me. When I lose control, things happen, bad things to people I love."''
-->-- '''Jean Grey''', ''Film/DarkPhoenix''

* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': Queen Aesudan became regent of Alethkar when her King went to war, but soon began living in hedonistic excess while abandoning the common folk to starve, abetted by [[YesMan sycophantic priests]]. By ''Literature/{{Oathbringer}}'', the capital is in chaos and Aesudan has become a WillingChanneler for [[spoiler:[[EldritchAbomination Yelig-Nar the Unmade]], who ultimately consumes her.]]

** In one 1970s ''Franchise/TheFlash'' story, Barry Allen's lab partner, Patty Spivot, was nearly struck by the same chemicals that gave him his powers. Barry immediately hypothesised a scenario where her inability to control her speed meant "Ms. Flash" caused more problems than she solved, and therefore moved her out of the way before they struck. Note that his reaction when the same thing happened to a teenaged boy had been to immediately recruit the kid as a partner. This was something of a RecycledScript from an earlier story involving an extradimensional female speedster whose lack of control was only in our dimension, and a ComicBook/JohnnyQuick story in which his secretary accidentally duplicated his formula to become Joanie Swift, until he eventually convinced her she didn't want to be a superhero by using her [[EekAMouse fear of mice]].

* GenderInverted when it comes to ''Franchise/StarWars'', where it's the ''male'' Force wielders whose powers are proportionate to their mental instability. Palpatine? Powerful and completely DrunkOnTheDarkSide. Anakin was powerful, but hotheaded and prone to abuse of his powers, eventually going full-blown Sith. His grandson in the sequel trilogy was profoundly unstable and prone to fits of uncontrollable rage. And Luke was prone to moodiness and poor judgement, even if he showed more restraint than his father and nephew. Female Force wielders like Ahsoka, Leia, and Rey tend to avoid the wild swings in emotion and keep their powers in check. Even Dark Side female Force users like the Nightsisters tend to be more restrained than their male counterparts.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' plays with the trope. Elsa had repressed her ice powers since childhood, so they are an additional stressor when she is crowned queen. Not knowing how to handle them in public, she keeps the castle closed off from the rest of the world until her coronation day. When she reveals her powers to the court while arguing with her sister, who has had the powers hidden from her, over Elsa's decision to close off the castle again, she is branded a monster and runs away to the wilderness. In doing so, she embraces her powers but inadvertently plunges Arendelle into an EndlessWinter for which she is demonized. However, thanks to ThePowerOfLove and ThePowerOfFamily, she is able to rein in her powers and comfortably settle into the role of a BenevolentMageRuler by the film's end. The movie also gives reasons for her difficulty handling the situation besides her natural character; her parents also didn't know how to handle it and started the isolationist strategy in an attempt to protect her.

Maybe she [[PowerIncontinence cannot control this new power]] and winds up causing [[PersonOfMassDestruction great damage]]. Maybe she was repressed and isolated from a young age, providing the foundation for her ensuing instability. Maybe the event that gave or awakened her superpowers [[TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening was very traumatic]]. Maybe PowerCorrupts or she becomes DrunkWithPower, making her mental health [[SanitySlippage take a dramatic nosedive]]. Maybe the power amplified "feminine" weaknesses that were already there. Either way, she eventually becomes a danger to herself and others. The story mines great drama from contrasting this pretty young thing with her ensuing corruption and the mess that she inevitably causes.

Maybe she [[PowerIncontinence cannot control this new power]] and winds up causing [[PersonOfMassDestruction great damage]]. Maybe she was repressed and isolated from a young age, providing the foundation for her ensuing instability. Maybe the event that gave or awakened her superpowers [[TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening was very traumatic]]. Maybe PowerCorrupts or she becomes DrunkWithPower, making her mental health [[SanitySlippage nosedive]]. Maybe the power amplified "feminine" weaknesses that were already there. Either way, she eventually becomes a danger to herself and others. The story mines great drama from contrasting this pretty young thing with her ensuing corruption and the mess that she inevitably causes.

* Exploited in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''. Kyubey's species makes contracts with teenage girls and turns them into powerful witchhunting {{Magical Girl}}s, knowing that [[spoiler:teenage girls will eventually dramatically fall into despair and become powerful witches themselves. All this to prevent the inevitable heat death of the universe!]]

This trope has its roots in WomenAreDelicate, particularly the HystericalWoman -- the portrayal of women as emotional and unstable, and thus ill-equipped to handle the [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility responsibilities that come with their newfound power]]. Thus, many superpowered versions of this trope will [[EmotionalPowers explicitly tie the woman's destruction to her feelings]], if not her very womanhood. While there are powerful male characters who fall from grace, the ways in which they do so are much more varied than a woman doomed to lose control due to her feelings or a lack of mental fortitude. Bonus points if it falls to existing male characters to clean up after the Unstable Powered Woman, often by arranging it so that she loses the power that she obtained. Needless to say, UnfortunateImplications tend to abound when this trope comes into play.

** In ''ComicBook/TheVision2015'', Virginia Vision is based on the Vision (which means there's some Ultron tech within her) with a facsimile of the above-mentioned powerful-but-mentally-fragile Scarlet Witch. When her children are threatened, she becomes increasingly homicidal and ruthlessly murders anyone who might pose a threat to her family. This sets off a string of events that culminates in her murdering brother-in-law ComicBook/VictorMancha, then murdering the family dog, and finally committing suicide.

This trope has its roots in WomenAreDelicate, particularly the HystericalWoman -- the portrayal of women as emotional and unstable, and thus ill-equipped to handle the [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility responsibilities that come with their newfound power]]. Thus, many superpowered versions of this trope will [[EmotionalPowers explicitly tie the woman's destruction to her feelings]], if not her womanhood. While there are powerful male characters who fall from grace, the ways in which they do so are much more varied than a woman doomed to lose control due to her feelings or a lack of mental fortitude. Bonus points if it falls to existing male characters to clean up after the Unstable Powered Woman, often by arranging it so that she loses the power that she obtained. Needless to say, UnfortunateImplications tend to abound when this trope comes into play.

This trope has its roots in WomenAreDelicate, particularly the HystericalWoman -- the portrayal of women as emotional and unstable, and thus ill-equipped to handle the [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility responsibilities that come with their newfound power]]. Thus, many superpowered versions of this trope will [[EmotionalPowers explicitly tie the woman's destruction to her feelings]], if not her womanhood. While there are powerful male characters who fall from grace, the ways in which they do so are much more varied than a woman doomed to lose control due to her feelings or a lack of mental fortitude. Bonus points if it falls to existing male characters to clean up after the Unstable Powered Woman, often by arranging it so that she loses the power that she obtained.

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/x_men_vol_1_135.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:ComicBook/JeanGrey is so unstable, she's even destroying the logo!]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'': In addition to Raven's instabilities mentioned in the "Comic Books" folder being brought over to this series as well, this ends up being part of Terra's AdaptationalHeroism, wanting to do good, but her inability to control her powers resulting in causing multiple natural disasters and her becoming a runaway in order to avoid hurting others, eventually turning to Slade when he promises to be able to give the control she so desperately wants.

* Subverted in ''Film/{{Captain Marvel|2019}}''. Carol Danvers, unknowingly indoctrinated by the Kree, is told her energy powers have to be tempered by restraining her emotions, lest she lose control. Once she realizes this is just a lie to keep her their prisoner, Carol lets her energy run completely loose, becoming magnitudes more powerful and still in control.

* Carrie White in Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'' and all of its adaptations. The trope is more muted in the original novel, where Carrie already struggles with her emotions as a result of her mother's abuse. However, after her psychic powers fully awaken, she becomes homicidal, vengeful, and eventually goes completely insane and murders over four hundred people in a single night while [[WhereIWasBornAndRazed burning down half her hometown]].

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/x_men_vol_1_135.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Jean is so unstable, she's even destroying the logo!]]

** In one 1970s ''Franchise/TheFlash'' story, Barry Allen's lab partner, Patty Spivot, was nearly struck by the same chemicals that gave him his powers. Barry immediately hypothesised a scenario where her inability to control her speed meant "Ms. Flash" caused more problems than she solved, and therefore moved her out of the way before they struck. Note that his reaction when the same thing happened to a teenaged boy had been to immediately recruit the kid as a partner. This was something of a RecycledScript from an earlier story involving an extradimensional female speedster whose lack of control was only in our dimension, and a Comicbook/JohnnyQuick story in which his secretary accidentally duplicated his formula to become Joanie Swift, until he eventually convinced her she didn't want to be a superhero using her [[EekAMouse fear of mice]].

** In ''ComicBook/CountDownToFinalCrisis'', ComicBook/MaryMarvel loses the powers originally bestowed upon her by Shazam, but a dying ComicBook/BlackAdam grants her his own powers, which leads to Mary taking on much greater power with a new [[DarkIsEvil darker costume to go along with it]]. The villain Eclipso (herself once the wife of superhero The Atom) uses this to rapidly seduce Mary to evil, only for Mary to turn against her once she realizes she's gone too far. Almost immediately afterward, though, Mary receives a visit in her home from none other than ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} himself, who correctly guesses that despite her temporary reluctance, Mary is still [[EvilFeelsGood addicted to the evil power]] and tempts her into receiving it once again.

** In one 1970s ''Comicbook/{{Flash}}'' story, Barry Allen's lab partner, Patty Spivot, was nearly struck by the same chemicals that gave him his powers. Barry immediately hypothesised a scenario where her inability to control her speed meant "Ms Flash" caused more problems than she solved, and therefore moved her out of the way before they struck. Note that his reaction when the same thing happened to a teenaged boy had been to immediately recruit the kid as a partner. This was something of a RecycledScript from an earlier story involving an extradimensional female speedster whose lack of control was only in our dimension, and a Comicbook/JohnnyQuick story in which his secretary accidentally duplicated his formula to become Joanie Swift, until he eventually convinced her she didn't want to be a superhero using her [[EekAMouse fear of mice]].