History Main / YoureNothingWithoutYourPhlebotinum

* Both the Green Goblin and New Goblin are this in the ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'', where they only have the upperhand against the titular hero by using their advanced weaponry against him. Whenever they get pitted against Spider-Man in unarmed combat, [[IAmNotLefthanded who also stops pulling his punches]], it becomes a [[CurbStompBattle one-sided beatdown]].

** Part of a crisis of faith in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond''. Terry begins to wonder if he's worthy of wearing the suit or if it's the suit that makes him a hero. Due to an AI infiltrating and taking over the batsuit, Terry ends up having to fight it to prevent a major catastrophe. Partly averted in that Terry uses a bunch of Bruce's old gear to do it and has been shown to be training under Bruce's tutelage.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}}'', Nemesis Kid negates Princess Projectra's powers and smugly says there is no way she can win. She proceeds to beat the crap out of him and snap his neck with her bare hands.

* In ''Film/GreenLantern'', Hal Jordan has been deprived of his ring and Parallax grabs him with his telekinesis. Parallax admits that he's slightly impressed that Hal's willpower is strong enough to stop him from killing him instantly, but Hal's nonetheless nothing without the ring. The villain has a point, as there's nothing Hal can do to break free, and he would have been killed if Carol hadn't distracted Parallax and then thrown him his ring.

!Examples:

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

* ''Fanfic/OfState'': As Grimmel is detailing how Hiccup is nothing without his dragon, Hiccup interrupts him by splashing some Speed Stinger venom onto his face, instantly paralyzing his entire body.

Alternatively, it may take the form of I'm Nothing Without My Phlebotinum, when the hero himself is left feeling inadequate due to his depowering, triggering either a HeroicBSoD or a TenMinuteRetirement.

Please note that this is strictly a dialogue/characterisation trope--if a hero is merely deprived of his usual powers/gear/resources, but is not mocked for it by the villain, then it's not this trope--it's one of the above mentioned.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}}'', Nemesis Kid negates Princess Projectra's powers and smugly says there is no way she can win. She proceeds to beat the crap out of him and snap his neck with her bare hands.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

* Maui in ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'' self-identifies with his magic fishhook to a rather unhealthy degree, even using it as his signature when he autographs Moana's oar. When it gets damaged, he says this trope word-for-word and chooses to abandon Moana and her mission rather than risk breaking it. [[spoiler: [[ChangedMyMindKid He gets better.]]]]

--> '''Motaro:''' Without your weapons, you are NO match for Motaro!\\
''(beats Jax up)''\\
'''Jax:''' ''(raises his fists)'' I've got everything I need right here! ''(tide of battle turns)''

* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'':
** From ''Film/TheAvengers2012'': Iron Man and Captain America trade these:

*** Stark almost immediately returns the favor by telling Captain America, "Everything special about you came [[SuperSerum from a bottle]]”.

---> '''Peter:''' Mr. Stark, please! I'm nothing without this suit!\\

** Inverted and played straight in ''Film/ThorRagnarok''. After Mjolnir is destroyed, Thor believes he is no longer strong enough to fight Hela. In the film's climax, [[spoiler:he speaks with Odin, who chides him that the hammer only ever channeled his powers, but he was the source. In the ensuing battle, he fights off Hela's minions with his lightning after entering SuperMode.]]
** ''Film/CaptainMarvel2019'': [[spoiler:Yon-Rogg tries to goad Carol into proving that she can fight him hand-to-hand. She dismissively blasts him in mid-rant and tells him she has nothing to prove to him.]]
** In ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' the examples from the first Avengers film listed above both get proven wrong as Tony proves his innate heroism [[spoiler:when he [[DyingMomentOfAwesome knowingly gives his life to save the Universe from]] [[BigBad Thanos]] by using the Infinity Stones to [[BadassFingersnap snap away]] the Mad Titan and his forces]] while Cap proves that it is not the [[SuperSerum Serum]] that really makes him special when he [[spoiler: [[OnlyTheChosenMayWield picks up Mjolnir]] and subsequently uses it along with his iconic shield against [[PhysicalGod Thanos]], throwing him around like a rag doll for a short while]].

* An odd subversion of the self-inflicted version happens in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "The Eleventh Hour," where the newly regenerated Doctor muses that he has no TARDIS (it's busy rebuilding itself) and no sonic screwdriver (it's blown itself up). However, rather than feeling emasculated, he uses it as a sort of self DareToBeBadass.

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]

* ''Toys/{{BIONICLE}}'': When Tahu meets Zaktann for the first time, the latter goads him into a straight up sword fight between the two, without using his ElementalPowers, and unusually for this trope, the ''villain'' wins (albeit, partially because had no problem using his ''own'' super powers [[note]] the ability to turn into a swarm of microscopic organisms [[/note]] in the same fight). It gets a CallBack in the GrandFinale when Nektann, another member of Zaktann's species, tries the same trick; luckily, [[CharacterDevelopment Tahu learned from his mistake]].

** In Part 2 of the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Demon Quest", Batman is captured by Ra's al Ghul and his henchmen, and is stripped of his utility belt (and, oddly enough, [[ShirtlessScene his shirt]]), two henchmen are assigned to lead him off to a cell, one commenting "not so tough without your precious belt". Both henchmen are rendered unconscious by Batman roughly 30 seconds later, as the hero escapes and goes on to thwart Ra's scheme perfectly competently, even sans utility belt ([[spoiler:But with [[SleightOfTongue help]] from Talia]]).
** In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "The Savage Time", when traveling back to World War II to fix the timeline, Green Lantern's ring loses power in Nazi Germany. He soon finds himself among Easy Company, a group of American commandos. TheBigGuy Bulldozer questions what John can do without his ring. John promptly beats Bulldozer down with his bare hands. When asked where he learned that, he tells them [[SemperFi The US Marine Corp.]]

* Also used in the ''WesternAnimation/KongTheAnimatedSeries'' cartoon, wherein the teenage hero confronts the mad scientist villain on an airplane without the titular ape to back him up- the villain snarls "Without your ape you are nothing!". He is promptly judo-tossed out the side of the plane.

* Said by a hero, about himself, rather than a villain in ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck''. After showing Darkwing up all over St. Canard for a whole episode, Gizmoduck is trapped by a magnet, making his suit useless. He bemoans the fact that he's useless without his suit[[note]]Gizmoduck's secret identity is an accountant whose greatest public claim to fame is being able to count really fast[[/note]] - but Darkwing, on the other hand, is not, and he's not shy about proving it, either.
-->'''Darkwing:''' "Superpowers do ''not'' a superhero make!"

-->'''Dark Kat:''' "What did I tell you? Without the Turbo-Kat, they're nothing".

* ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019'': In "Harley Quinn Highway", Poison Ivy is imprisoned in a laboratory that is sterile with no plant life, making her power over plants useless. When she tries to escape, a few guards relax, saying without her powers, she's just a helpless girl. She responds by stealing one of their guns and killing them with it.

* In ''VideoGame/TrialsOfMana'', each of the final bosses tells the heroes that without the Sword of Man, there's no way that they can win. They are, of course, wrong.

* ''Film/{{Warlock}}'': [[WitchHunter 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.

** Harvey Whippleman and Giant Gonzales hospitalized Paul and stole his urn to show Undertaker vulnerable until Bearer returned to attack Whippleman, and raises the urn to bring Undertaker "back to life" to defeat Giant Gonzales.

** Wrestling/HarveyWhippleman and [[Wrestling/ElGigante Giant Gonzales]] hospitalized Paul and stole his urn to show Undertaker vulnerable until Bearer returned to attack Whippleman, and raises the urn to bring Undertaker "back to life" to defeat Giant Gonzales.

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'', Riku takes the Keyblade from Sora and mocks him by saying he was nothing but a delivery boy for him, then mockingly leaves him a wooden sword to ''try'' to defend himself with. Sora's courage, determination, and ThePowerOfFriendship eventually makes him worthier than Riku, causing the Keyblade to return to him.
* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'', Xigbar mocks Sora by pointing out that since he gets his strength from ThePowerOfFriendship, he has no power on his own. Xigbar is [[VillainousBreakdown shocked]] when Sora reveals he doesn't mind, and is proud of being part of something bigger.

* An example of the secondary type is from the ''WesternAnimation/MortalKombat'' cartoon, where Jax's bionics are disabled in a fight with Reptile. Initially, he angsts about his perceived uselessness, being "just a strong man". He's forced back into action and as per the trope description, defeats Reptile by outsmarting him.

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', enemies sometimes say that Touma is nothing without his AntiMagic right hand, Imagine Breaker.
** Aureolus Izzard says Imagine Breaker is the only reason why Touma can ward off his RealityWarper powers, and chops it off with a sword. Touma proceeds to terrify him into submission with an EvilLaugh. Being able to warp reality is useless if you don't believe you can beat your opponent.
** Fiamma of the Right chops off Imagine Breaker, then declares Touma is now nothing more than a purposeless mass of flesh. Touma then reveals he has a dragon inside him, which is magnitudes more powerful than Fiamma and scares him half to death. However, before it can kill Fiamma, Touma reseals it, regenerates his arm, and punches Fiamma out.
** Othinus tears off Imagine Breaker and says it was the only thing she feared, while Touma himself is an insignificant nobody. However, she proceeds to completely curb-stomp the dragon that emerges from him, and would have killed him if he hadn't been rescued at the last second.
** Eventually, [[spoiler:Imagine Breaker separates from Touma and turns into a clone of Touma. The clone mocks him and says since he has the power, Touma is worthless. Touma retained his dragon and his fighting skills, and manages to defeat the clone and take Imagine Breaker back.]]

** In Part 2 of the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Demon Quest", Batman is captured by Ras Al Ghul and his henchmen, and is stripped of his utility belt (and, oddly enough, [[ShirtlessScene his shirt]]), two henchmen are assigned to lead him off to a cell, one commenting "not so tough without your precious belt". Both henchmen are rendered unconscious by Batman roughly 30 seconds later, as the hero escapes and goes on to thwart Ra's scheme perfectly competently, even sans utility belt ([[spoiler:But with [[SleightOfTongue help]] from Talia]]).

* Subverted in the 2011 ''ComicBook/AmethystPrincessOfGemworld'' reboot when a witch steals Amaya's pendant, thinking it's her power's source. It turns out that, unlike the original series, her pendant is merely a costume-changing trinket, and her powers are innates. Amaya promptly conjures up some some weapons and starts smashing her way free.

In another version, villain tauntingly suggests this and dares the hero to prove otherwise by [[LetsFightLikeGentlemen fighting without using his powers]]. If the hero accepts the challenge, he will usually prove the villain wrong.

* Alessi in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' Part III gloats when he manages to turn Jotaro into a kid with his Stand. He's confident he can beat Jotaro since Jotaro didn't have his Stand Star Platinum when he was a child. Seven year old Jotaro pummels Alessi anyway. Hilariously, this means that Jotaro's mother Holly was likely wrong about [[UsedToBeASweetKid Jotaro being a sweet kid who only recently turned bad]]. He was ''always'' a badass, though maybe she meant that he was not like this in personality.

*** Stark almost immediately returns the favor by telling Captain America, "Everything special about you came [[SuperSerum from a bottle]]," implying that Captain America hasn't really earned his spot among the team like the rest have.

*** Steve Rogers sneers at Stark, "Big man in a [[PoweredArmor suit of armor]]. Take that away and what are you?" Stark immediately responds, "A genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Rogers then immediately shoots down Stark's smug reply by pointing out he knew plenty of better men who had none of that. However, the question of whether Stark has the heart of a hero is not concluded until the finale.
*** Stark eventually returns the favor by telling Captain America, "Everything special about you came [[SuperSerum from a bottle]]," implying that Captain America hasn't really earned his spot among the team like the rest have.

* This phrase is word-for-word in second VideoGame/XMenLegends installment by [[{{ComicBook/Apocalypse}} Apocalypse]], when he destroys Cerebro along with X-mansion, effectively rendering Xavier and company blind to his schemes.

->'''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica:''' Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?
->'''ComicBook/IronMan:''' [...] You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a ''bottle.''
-->-- ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}''

* ''Fanfic/LovedAndLost'': [[spoiler:Jewelius]] taunts the imprisoned heroes by saying that without Twilight, they have no hope of defeating him. In the 17th chapter, they're forced to admit he's right when they're unable to come up with a plan. Fortunately, she arrives shortly thereafter with [[spoiler: the Elements of Harmony]] to [[MustMakeAmends fully reconcile]] with her loved ones and bring the tyrant down.