Line #44 Main/ChoresWithoutPowers


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7	->''"From now on you are forbidden to use your [='=]''super powers''[='=]! You will do things like '''NORMAL LITTLE GIRLS!'''"''
8	-->-- '''Ima Goodlady''' (actually '''Sedusa''' in disguise), ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'', "Mommy Fearest"
9
10	A character has a superpower or magical ability that would make doing a mundane chore easier but ends up doing it the old-fashioned way. This is usually doled out as a punishment, with a parent/teacher/boss/general/other authority figure in charge sentencing them to perform a tedious or physically demanding task (mopping floors, washing dishes, digging holes, PeelingPotatoes, etc.) without using their powers. If the person in charge is especially strict, the hero may get a PowerLimiter, PowerNullifier, or RestrainingBolt slapped on to prevent them from cheating their way out of it. If they do try to cheat by using their powers, expect [[NoFairCheating things to go hilariously wrong]] and the episode to deliver AnAesop about not taking shortcuts to success.
11
12	It's not always a punishment; sometimes a character with powers chooses to do something by hand as a way of [[CatharticChores dealing with their emotions through hard work]], to put themselves on equal footing with a companion who doesn't have powers, out of curiosity about how the local {{Muggles}} do it, or just to make sure that they ''can'' do tasks without having to rely on their powers.
13
14	The "chores without powers as punishment" version may involve a little BreakTheHaughty and provide some CharacterDevelopment if the character has been getting arrogant or careless with their powers lately, especially if said powers can be used to destructive effect. (Remember that WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility.) A bit of hard work may give them time to reflect on the thing they did wrong and help them gain more appreciation for their powers when they're allowed to use them again. On the other hand, it can be unjustified when it's used by a SadistTeacher or other unpleasant authority figure to make the character's life harder.
15
16	Overlaps with PunishmentDetail, related to BroughtDownToNormal and MiseryBuildsCharacter, and a subversion of MundaneUtility and UtilityMagic. Compare WeWillUseManualLaborInTheFuture, where a science fiction setting features manual labor despite the presence of labor-saving devices like robots or {{Matter Replicator}}s. If the KidHero complains about having to do this, it may overlap with KidsHateChores. If these chores are part of physical training, it can overlap with WaxOnWaxOff. This is a prime opportunity for ChoreCharacterExploration.
17
18	----
19	!!Examples:
20	[[foldercontrol]]
21
22	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
23	* ''Anime/AhMyGoddess'': While her powers aren't stripped away, Belldandy is punished for using her powers without permission and restricted from using them for a week. Any use of her powers at that time would see a permanent ban, no matter the justification she used. This doesn't really affect her day-to-day routines, as Bell typically does the household chores without her powers anyway (Keiichi in the early days was fearful she'd be found out and asked her not to use them unless it was an emergency, so she is accustomed to doing things in a mundane way). However, when a device Skuld created to make a storeroom BiggerOnTheInside malfunctions and turns the room into an infinite space with Bell and Keiichi in the middle, Bell fears that Keiichi might starve in the slotted week. Fortunately, Keiichi remembers that Skuld's device affects width and breadth, but not height. He and Bell are able to exit by removing a floor panel.
24	[[/folder]]
25
26	[[folder:Comic Books]]
27	* ''ComicBook/DouweDabbert'': In "De kast met duizend deuren" ("The Closet with a Thousand Doors"), wizard children Pief, Kijfje, and Domoli get into an argument that quickly escalates into a huge FoodFight. As a punishment, their fathers have the kids clean up all the mess without using magic. It keeps them up all night.
28	* One ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' comic had the Professor feeling the girls had been putting off cleaning their room for too long, and telling them they couldn't go outside until they had finally cleaned it. The girls first try cleaning it with their powers, but when they try to show that they've cleaned their room to the Professor, it has mysterious wound up just as messy as it was before. Confused, they try cleaning it again without their powers the second time, but the same thing happens again, and they figure something is up. Turns out HIM was making their room messy again every time they cleaned it for his own amusement and to make it so the girls wouldn't be able to leave the house to fight crime.
29	* ''Comicbook/{{Shazam}}'': Billy Batson once tried to use the Wisdom of Solomon to do his homework. When the Wisdom kicked in, however, he was just filled with an overwhelming understanding of why this was wrong. He still resented it.
30	* ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}'': After Jolt has a stroke, part of her physical therapy is to perform mundane tasks without switching over to her lightning form in order to strengthen her physical body.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Fan Works]]
34	* ''Fanfic/AddressUnknownRemedy'': Pegasus mailponies are sometimes punished by being forced to deliver mail on hoof, which they see as humiliating. However, this allows Derpy to prove she really is good at her job.
35	* ''Fanfic/AftermathOfTheGames'': In ''Integration'', Sunset Shimmer remembers when she was still Princess Celestia's apprentice, and still arrogant and power-hungry. When she was caught trying to learn forbidden knowledge and then argued that she deserved to rule as her mentor's equal, Celestia suspended her magic lessons and made her wash dishes in the royal kitchen by hoof, and told the guards to put a [[PowerNullifier horn ring]] on her if she resisted.
36	* In the ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' villains-centric fanfic ''[[https://m.fanfiction.net/s/340327/1/ Back to Basics,]]'' after their latest (off-screen) screw-up, Negaduck kicks Quackerjack and Megavolt out of the Fearsome Five. To get back in and stay alive, they have to steal something big worth his notice and deliver it to an old abandoned ammunition factory by midnight the next day without their gimmicks. So they choose to recruit a few non-superpowered criminals to help them pull off the heist, and use the internet to intercept F.O.W.L.'s latest scheme and get there first. And end up hounded by not only Darkwing but eventually others as well.
37	* In ''Fanfic/BastardHarryPotter'', when Gil blows up a cauldron at home, his stepfather orders him to clean up the mess without using magic or the house elves' help.
38	* ''Fanfic/OneDayAtATimeNyame'': During their visit to the Kent farm, after Jon and Damien end up fighting, Jason punishes them by having them clear all the manure out of the barn without Jon using his powers. However, [[LoopholeAbuse he didn't say no to using the manure vacuum]]...which Jon figures out. Since Jason had been listening in on them and knew they'd learned their lesson and become friends ''before'' Jon came up with this idea, he congratulates them on their clever thinking.
39	* ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'': Sparkler is a unicorn, while her mother Derpy is a pegasus. One time, when Sparkler was a filly, Derpy took her along on her mail-carrying job to show her how hard it was and had her carry filly-sized mailbags. When Sparkler complained that it was easier for Derpy since she could fly, Derpy came down and walked the rest of the route with her on hoof.
40	-->'''Sparkler:''' ... Momma... why did you walk all the way?\
41	'''Derpy:''' Because, muffin, you were bright, it wasn't right for me blue fly while you bad to walk. I'd never take my muffin do something I wouldn't do myself.
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
45	* ''WesternAnimation/BartokTheMagnificent'': Baba Yaga casts a grounding spell on Bartok the bat just before sending him to fetch a magical feather hovering above the ground. He succeeds after building a tower made out of iron scraps.
46	* ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'': When the three good fairies go into hiding to raise Princess Aurora, they put away their wands, disguise themselves as humans and do everything the old-fashioned way for the next sixteen years, so Maleficent won't find them. When the time is almost up, however, two of them try to make a cake and a fancy dress and fail so miserably that they resort to magic after all, catching Maleficent's attention.
47	[[/folder]]
48
49	[[folder:Literature]]
50	* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'':
51	** Belgarath is forced to help his daughter and son-in-law build their house without using magic since they want it done "honestly." It doesn't stop him from resorting to using magic whenever their backs are turned, though.
52	** Polgara often does domestic work like cooking and mending without sorcery because she enjoys it or it gives her some [[CatharticChores quiet time to relax]] from [[BeenThereShapedHistory shaping the fate of nations]]. When Garion questions her about it, she repairs a torn garment with a word, tears it again, and goes back to sewing it. As a bonus, [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld millennia of practice]] have made her [[SupremeChef the world's best chef]].
53	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': Witches and Wizards are constantly warned to not use magic for personal tasks. A common admonition is that the hardest thing about magic is not doing it. This isn't as a punishment as it is a warning, as magic is inherently unpredictable and dangerous. Tiffany Aching once stated that if you tried to sweep the floor magically, the hard part would be to not rip up the flagstones as well.
54	* ''Literature/EpithetErasedPrisonOfPlastic'': As part of a test for becoming one of Giovanni's minions, Lorelai is made to make cookies without using her Epithet. However, Lorelai repeatedly cheats out of paranoia, becoming so stressed she wastes most of her time and does very little work without magic. [[LethalChef The cookies end up being absolutely terrible]] and everyone is well aware she didn't bake them normally, [[spoiler:resulting in her failing the SecretTestOfCharacter, as she cared too much about winning]].
55	* In the children's story ''Everella's Wand'', Everella is a fairy in charge of filling the meadows with flowers and the trees with singing birds. She gets bored with her job and starts using her wand solely to make herself dresses, jewelry, and candy, becoming indulgent and lazy. When her wand stops working, she is told by the fairy queen that she has to live as a human and work for Dame Malkins the baker as penance. She doesn't get her wand and wings back until she's worked for a long time ''and'' passed a SecretTestOfCharacter by letting Dame Malkins use her wand as a walking stick when the baker is feeling too ill to get out of bed.
56	* ''Franchise/HarryPotter'': Misbehaving students at Hogwarts are frequently punished by having to do chores without using magic.
57	** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'': When Harry and Ron get detention for crashing the Weasley family's car into the Whomping Willow, Harry has to help Lockhart answer his fan mail, while Ron has to polish the silver in the Hogwarts trophy room using elbow grease. Harry comments that he'd gladly switch, as he's had lots of practice cleaning while living with the Dursleys. [[spoiler:This later gives the Trio a vital clue: Tom Riddle's name is on one of those trophies.]]
58	** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'': When Snape calls Hermione a know-it-all in class and makes her cry, Ron stands up for her. Snape punishes him by sentencing him to scrub out the bedpans in the hospital wing by hand.
59	** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'':
60	*** During Christmas break, Harry and Ron aren't old enough yet to use magic outside of school, so they have to peel a mountain of sprouts for Christmas dinner with a sprout knife. Fred and George are old enough that they could do it with magic, but being the [[{{Troll}} trolls]] they are, they prefer to stand there and tease the younger boys.
61	---->'''Ron''': Can't you help us with these sprouts? You could just use your wand and then we'll be free too!\
62	'''Fred''': ''(seriously)'' No, I don't think we can do that. It's very character-building stuff, learning to peel sprouts without magic, makes you appreciate how difficult it is for Muggles and Squibs —\
63	'''George''': — and if you want people to help you, Ron, I wouldn't chuck knives at them. Just a little hint.[[note]]Earlier in the conversation, Ron threw a sprout knife at Fred for asking if his new girlfriend Lavender had gotten brain damage before agreeing to date him.[[/note]]
64	*** After Harry uses the Sectumsempra curse on Malfoy and ends up hospitalizing him, he is punished by being sent to the school's archive where he has to copy out the records of crimes and punishments from years ago without using magic.
65	** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'': [[spoiler:When Dobby is killed by Bellatrix in the process of saving the lives of Harry and his friends, Harry refuses to use magic to dig his grave, and digs a hole in the ground with a spade for him, as a way of dealing with his grief. The narration comments that "he dug with a kind of fury, relishing the manual work, glorying in the non-magic of it, for every drop of his sweat and every blister felt like a gift to the elf who had saved their lives." When Ron and Dean come out and see him digging the grave, they don't ask why he's not doing it with magic, and help him dig until the hole's deep enough.]]
66	* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': Early on in the ''Literature/HandOfThrawn'' duology Luke makes a conscious decision to limit the amount he uses his force powers when a group of aliens tell him that he and other Jedi are too reliant on them, and do more things the old fashioned way.
67	* ''Literature/TheTestamentOfSolomon'': the Archangel Michael grants King Solomon a magic ring with the power to enslave demonkind and coerce them in building The Temple of Jerusalem. Each demon in the story is stripped of their powers and relies on their physical body (or a fraction of their original power) to complete menial tasks, but Asmodeus' punishment is noteworthy for being both physically humiliating and psychologically distressing. After refusing to serve Solomon and defying his orders, the king commands the demon to make clay for the entire construction of the temple and carry beams with ten jars of water tied on them. The catch? Water is Asmodeus' WeaksauceWeakness.
68	* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'':
69	** Students of the [[MagicalSociety Aes Sedai]] contribute to all the White Tower's menial work to [[MiseryBuildsCharacter enforce general discipline]], with extra chores assigned as punishment. It has the side benefit of keeping them too busy to try any unsupervised Channeling.
70	** [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] with their [[MarsAndVenusGenderContrast male counterparts]], the Asha'man, who are forced to do ''all'' their chores [[MundaneUtility with the One Power]] in the belief that [[TrainingFromHell quick battle-readiness]] is worth the [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity attrition rate]]. If an Asha'man trainee can't channel heat to cook his food, he eats it cold.
71	* In the ''Literature/FrontierMagic'' books, where magic has many [[MundaneUtility mundane uses]], the protagonist's sister has married a man who belongs to a movement that disapproves of magic. Out of loyalty to him, she does chores manually; as they're living in a prairie settlement, this is very hard work [[spoiler:and she is driven to betray her no-magic principles when it comes to protecting her children from mosquitoes]].
72	* ''Literature/CircleOfMagic'': In ''Daja's Book'', Niko orders the children to only use magic under supervision after realizing they had taken to using magic as a shortcut for mundane tasks (for example, stoking the flames in a forge) and for eavesdropping on conversations not meant for them.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
76	* A self-inflicted example in ''Series/{{Bewitched}}''. Samantha Stephens, a witch married to a human, chooses (for the most part) to do housework without using her magical powers out of respect for her husband Darren's wishes for a "normal" home life.
77	* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': In "Leech," Clark inadvertently loses his abilities to a fellow teen named Eric and has to face being BroughtDownToNormal. One of his biggest struggles is doing chores around the farm: he remarks that while his SuperStrength usually allows him to finish his tasks in five minutes, it's now taking him two hours. Having to do things the human way also gives Clark a newfound respect for his father Jonathan, who's been doing manual labor without superpowers for decades.
78	* ''Series/TheFlash2014'': When Barry is coping with being BroughtDownToNormal after his run in with Zoom in the episode "Recap/TheFlash2014S2E19BackToNormal", he is faced with doing all his lab work at the speed he had before the explosion. When he knocks his coffee cup off the table, all he can do is look at it fall and break, when, had he his power, catching it unbroken would have been a reflex reaction.
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
82	* ''TabletopGame/AdvancedDungeonsAndDragons2ndEdition'': The spell "Protection from Cantrips" [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin stops any and all cantrips]]. The spell description [[LampshadeHanging even acknowledges]] a primary purpose of the spell is to make wizard apprentices do chores without magic.
83	* ''Franchise/{{Warhammer}}'':
84	** ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'' and ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': The WarGod Khorne's domain has vast forges where enslaved sorcerers and cowards are forced to create magic weapons for his worthier champions to use.
85	** ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'': Apprentices in the [[WizardingSchool Colleges of Magic]] are often assigned mundane chores when they're not studying, not least to keep them too busy to attempt unsupervised magic. Trainee astromancers have been known to clean their masters' labs with UtilityMagic, then add flaws to hide the act.
86	[[/folder]]
87
88	[[folder:Video Games]]
89	* Inverted in ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact''. Some daily commissions require the player to perform chores for various residents, such as cleaning dirt away from buildings or watering some plants. There is ''no'' way to complete them without using either Anemo or Hydro powers. Thankfully, every account will have both since the Traveler starts with Anemo abilities and Barbara is obtained for free after completing the game's prologue.
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Webcomics]]
93	* ''Webcomic/{{Erma}}'' has a [[https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/erma/the-aftermath-part-56/viewer?title_no=170650&episode_no=586 positive version]] overlapping with CatharticChores. When Erma uses her MindOverMatter powers to bake, she has a traumatic flashback to [[spoiler:her SuperpoweredEvilSide's rampage]] and trashes the kitchen, so her parents calm down, help her clean the room, and bake the cookies together.
94	[[/folder]]
95
96	[[folder:Western Animation]]
97	* ''Franchise/Ben10'':
98	** ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'': In the short "Survival Skills", Grandpa Max makes Ben start a campfire without using the Omnitrix. After trying unsuccessfully several times, he turns into Heatblast to do it, but Grandpa Max and Gwen come back before he can de-transform. They use him as the campfire and roast marshmallows over his head until he figures it out.
99	** In the episode "Under Wraps," Max makes Ben and Gwen stay at a farm where they have to do some hard work as punishment for their inability to do their chores, Ben tries to go XLR-8 and finish quckly, but is stopped when Max tells him he has to do it without the Omnitrix.
100	** ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'': The episode "Grounded" features Ben's parents discovering his secret, and grounding him for it in order to keep him from getting seriously hurt.
101	** ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'': Ben destroy's Mr. Baumann's car and is forced to make deliveries for him, "alien-free" deliveries, as he's fed up with Ben destroying his things with the Omnitrix.
102	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E11WinterWrapUp Winter Wrap-Up]]", Twilight participates in Ponyville's annual Winter Wrap-Up, where the ponies clear away the snow, awaken the animals, and plant crops [[PaintingTheFrostOnWindows to make way for spring]]. Since Ponyville was founded by earth ponies, it is tradition to do the event without magic. Twilight is a unicorn who relies on magic to do most things, so she struggles to find something she can do without magic. When she sees everyone arguing over the disorganization of the event, it hits her what she can do — coordinate all the tasks and ponies so that everything gets done correctly and on time. At the end, she is awarded the special title of All-Team Organizer for her efforts.
103	* ''WesternAnimation/{{The Powerpuff Girls\|1998}}'': In "[[Recap/ThePowerpuffGirlsS1E1MonkeySeeDoggieDoMommyFearest Mommy Fearest]]", the villainess Sedusa becomes the girls' WickedStepmother and forces them to clean the house. The heroines accomplish the task in a split second thanks to their SuperSpeed, but Sedusa retaliates by thrashing the living room and ordering them to clean it again as "normal little girls". Forbidden from using their powers, the girls become unable to answer the city's calls for help, as they only manage to finish the job by nightfall.
104	* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'': Mister Mxyzptlk is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeXkViVwues punished]] in the Fifth Dimension for invading the Third Dimension (and bothering Superman with his antics) by making him stay in the Third Dimension without his powers for 90 days, during which he must perform a good deed for the beings he tortured there.
105	* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo:'' After Robin's physical attacks prove useless in a fight against the Hive while the other Titans effortlessly defeat them with their powers, he challenges them to go a full day without using their powers just to prove that it's not so easy as they think. He even orchestrates an obstacle course with them thinking that he's in serious danger, goading them to use their powers and lose the challenge. Cyborg, Beast Boy, Starfire, and Raven all end up passing the course and seeing through his ruse, ultimately proving that he really is as useless as they assumed.
106	* ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'':
107	** In the season 1 episode "Grounded", the main heroes are punished for sneaking into Cloud Tower in the previous episode by having to clean the whole school without their magic. They even have their powers [[BroughtDownToNormal temporarily taken away]] to make sure they stick to the punishment.
108	** In season 1, headmistress Faragonda orders a librarian in Alfea to fix a mess that took place in the library with no magic, which seems to her like a hard thing to do.
109	[[/folder]]

Context Main / ChoresWithoutPowers