History Main / YoureNothingWithoutYourPhlebotinum

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'', Ben seems to feel this way about the Omnitrix. This comes to a head in the series finale...where Ben also proves he's an awesome fighter even without it. Gwen also mentions and inverts this when trying to comfort her cousin [[spoiler: after it is taken away]]: "You're still a hero, even if you can't ''go'' hero."
** Later series would [[AvertedTrope Avert]] this trope in a much straight forward example by having Ben take self-defense classes, allowing him to better handle himself whenever he's cut off from the Omnitrix or it runs out of power at an inconvenient moment.

Contrast SuperWeaponAverageJoe, where someone really ''is'' just coasting on their equipment's strength. Compare AmuletOfDependency; Contrast MagicFeather, where the "phlebotinum" is just a psychological aid: the power was in the character all along.

* ''Film/AustinPowers'': "I've lost my mojo!" The horrified words Austin's states when he realizes his mojo has been stolen, rendering him perpetually flaccid. Later in the movie, Austin's nemesis Dr. Evil mocks his rival's impotence by claiming, "You can't stop me now, Mr. Powers. I have your mojo!"

* ''Film/{{BASEketball}}'' had one of these in the end when Coop was trying to hit a home run.

* In ''Fanfic/KyonBigDamnHero'', Wataru tends to taunt Kyon for being unable to do anything without "his dolls" ([[RealityWarper Haruhi]], [[ArtificialHuman Yuki]], etc). To be fair, Wataru has already met some AlternateUniverse incarnations of Kyon so Wataru is probably talking from experience here (and, much like [[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya in his own canon]], Kyon at the beginning of the fic isn't a fighter; the fic hints the current combined skills of the SOS Brigade are an unique occurrence).

* Blackbeard of ''Franchise/OnePiece'' tends to do this with his opponents, since he specifically got ahold of a [[PowerupFood Devil Fruit]] gives him the power to negate the powers of anyone he has physical contact with. Of course, he then tried it on Whitebeard, quite forgetting that the guy was the WorldsStrongestMan, [[LargeAndInCharge frikken huge]], and carries a [[BladeOnAStick rather large bisento]]. Whitebeard turns the situation around quickly, [[CurbstompBattle very nearly kills Blackbeard when he has access to his powers again]], and only fails to do so because [[DirtyCoward Blackbeard]] [[CombatPragmatist called in his entire crew to back him up at the last second.]]

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', enemies sometimes say that Touma is nothing without his AntiMagic right hand, Imagine Breaker, with varying results:

* ''Series/PowerRangersDinoFury'': In "The Truth", Slyther destroys Amelia's morpher and gloats that without her Ranger powers, this should be easy. She takes him on with her martial art skills and holds her own until her friends arrive with a replacement morpher.

* In ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'', Vixen taunts Ray Palmer about this when she finds out all his abilities come from his PoweredArmor. He retorts that her abilities come from her amulet, but she explains that she's also a martial artist. Palmer steps up when his armor is stolen and later destroyed, proving he can be a hero without it.

* Used in ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm''. BigBad Lothor mocks the titular rangers for having lost their ranger powers. They then kindly remind him that they are still trained ninjas with ElementalPowers, which they use to knock him into the Abyss of Evil five feet behind him.

* In ''Fanfic/ShadowchasersTorment'', Ben suggests Yami Marik isn't that good a duelist without the Winged Dragon of Ra. Though Ben wins their duel, Marik proved he was a competent duelist without it.

* In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'', Pearl Fey angrily calls out ''[[TheBaroness Franziska]] [[WhipItGood von]] [[DaddysLittleVillain Karma]]'', bitter over Franziska prosecuting Maya in the second case of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyJusticeForAll'', saying that "[she's] nothing but a little girl without [her] whip!" The usually haughty Franziska is left at a loss for words.

* Ivor Drenkov says this after draining the Hulk's gamma energy in ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble'' episode "Dehulked", but what ''really'' stings Bruce is that his teammates ''agree''. He protests that he's a brilliant scientist who can still be useful, but Tony says they've already got one of those, what they need is a smasher. In the end, he's able to both prove that he can contribute as Bruce Banner, while also coming to terms with the fact his "other half" is an essential part of the team.

** ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'': M'Baku challenges T'Challa to a duel for the title of King of Wakanda. To make thing fair, T'Challa has to drink a potion that removes his powers and not use his super suit. M'Baku beats him up for a bit and yells, "No powers, no claws, no special suit! Just a boy, unfit to lead!" T'Challa gets a second wind and beats up M'Baku before forcing him to yield, proving he is a warrior even without his powers and suit.

* ''Film/{{Warlock}}'': [[TheWitchHunter Redfren]] taunts the Warlock by saying that without magic nobody would've feared him. The villain agrees to fight fair... and kicks Redfren's ass anyway.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': in "The Loss," Troi experiences the self-directed HeroicBSOD version. She loses her empathic powers and, despite being a trained psychologist and Starfleet officer powers or not, tries to resign her position, feeling that she's useless without them.

--> Dragon: I am curious, however... What would happen if we turned the magic off? [[AntiMagic Anti-Magic Field.]]\\

--> Dragon: I am curious, however... What would happen if we turned the magic off? [[AntiMagic Anti-Magic Field.\\

* In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'', Pearl Fey angrily calls out ''[[TheBaroness Franziska]] [[WhipItGood von]] [[DaddysLittleVillain Karma]]'', saying that "[she's] nothing but a little girl without [her] whip!"

-->-- '''King Cold''', ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', LastWords

-->-- '''King Cold''', ''Anime/DragonBallZ''