Lisa: Wait a minute, Xena can't fly!
Lucy Lawless: I told you, I'm not Xena! I'm Lucy Lawless.
Lucy Lawless: I told you, I'm not Xena! I'm Lucy Lawless.
The characters of a work are in some kind of a crisis, and simply need help. Thankfully, they bump into a friendly celebrity. No, the work is not Like Reality, Unless Noted — they could very well be diminutive talking sea creatures who meet David Hasselhoff on the beach. And it's more than that — the celebrity is very unlike reality. In fact, they have super-powers. Why? Because they're a celebrity. If their powers are being kept secret, they’re probably living a Celebrity Masquerade.
Similar to, but distinct from Celebrity Superhero, Memetic Badass and Popularity Power. In both of those cases, it's a fictional character who most often gets the treatment; in Celebrity Power, it's a real-life celebrity, and it doesn't need to be a meme to qualify. Any celebrity who has super-powers just because they're a celebrity counts. Giving this treatment to a famous person from history rather than the present usually falls under Historical Badass Upgrade and/or its subtrope, Historical Domain Superperson.
Examples:
open/close all folders
Comic Books
- In PS238, Wil Wheaton is a psychokinetic.
Fan Works
- Codex Equus: This is extremely common thanks to many Codexverse characters being based on real-life people.
- Many Trimortidae members are based on real-life celebrities, but unlike their inspirations, they had the option to Ascend to godhood and took it, becoming Death deities.
- Alan Rickman is a famous and respected British actor, known for playing villains and deeply complex characters. Here, as Sir Curtain Call, he would become the Alicorn god of Death, Villainy, Acting, and Understanding after dying of old age.
- Jimi Hendrix is one of the most legendary and influential guitarists whose experimental applications of feedback and distortion revolutionized both rock music and how people played electric guitars. Double Helix is essentially the Codexverse's Ponified version of Hendrix who, as a result of changes in both circumstances and choices in his life, ends up becoming the Zebralicorn god of Death, Addiction, Enlightenment, and Spirit.
- Beloved Light, also known as his HoofTube handle "Love504", is based on bassist, YouTuber, and memelord Davie504. Following his death from old age, he Ascended to godhood as the Alicorn god of Death, Memes, Encouragement, Bassists, and Rhythm.
- Prince Healing Song (now Prince Medela Cantor Cahaya) is based on Jeff Healey, a Canadian-born jazz/blues musician. In life, Jeff Healey was a prodigy, being a songwriter, actor, and DJ in addition to being a Blind Musician, but died of cancer in his forties. Here, Healing Song was saved by a last-minute Ascension while he was dying possibly thanks to a disguised Luminiferous, becoming an Alicorn god with Psychic Powers and Magic Music. Initially, he was a Martial Pacifist, but after realizing he was holding himself back, he changed his beliefs and unleashed his full power, healing himself in the process. Later, being exposed to the reality-warping presence of an Eldritch Abomination (who is the corrupted form of his friend, Moon Ray/Canticum) turned Healing Song into an eldritch god with the power to perceive alternate dimensions via light.
- All members of the Redeeming Six are based on Stevie Ray Vaughan and his inner social circle, consisting of his wife, his older brother, and his bandmates in Double Trouble. Unlike their real-life inspirations, however, they would all first start out as Angels (or Angels of Death) before Ascending to godhood. Presently, all of them are eldritch deities thanks to Moon Ray/Canticum re-Ascending as one and then later helping his loved ones Ascend, too.
- Stevie Ray Vaughan was a very talented guitarist who revived the stagnant Blues genre, and is now regarded as one of the most iconic and influential Blues musicians in history. The Codexverse takes it further by having his expy, Moon Ray Vaughoof, become first an Angel of Death after his death, then an Alicorn 'prodigy' after learning to forgive and let go of his past. He's also a skilled artist and therapist, a powerful psychic and Seer, and is experienced with spotting signs of abuse/addiction in general, all which Stevie Ray doesn't have (ironically, Stevie Ray did show potential in art as a high school student, but ultimately chose to pursue music). Later, a series of events would turn Moon Ray into an eldritch god, and the changes become permanent once he realizes the cyclic nature of things and reconciles with his Prophecy domain.
- Prince Proclivitas Cahaya, born Fret Pick, is based on Tommy Shannon, Stevie Ray Vaughan's bassist, but unlike his real-life inspiration, he became an Angel of Death postmortem, dragging wicked souls to the Hell-Realms as punishment for their crimes. It would be three Ages later that he Ascends to godhood with Moon Ray/Canticum's help, but as an eldritch Alicorn.
- Many Trimortidae members are based on real-life celebrities, but unlike their inspirations, they had the option to Ascend to godhood and took it, becoming Death deities.
Film - Animated
- As suggested within the description, David Hasselhoff is shown this way in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. He's apparently capable of swimming like a speedboat, and firing things out from between his pectoral muscles at incredible velocities.
- South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut:
- Brian Boitano, as represented by "What Would Brian Boitano Do?" Apparently in possession of fire breath, and a Time Machine, among other strange powers.
- "Barbra Streisand" is a swear word profane enough to trigger the V-Chip.
- The Beatles in Yellow Submarine, because "it's all in the mind." Some of John Lennon's are blatantly plot-critical, but everyone has something important — even if it's just Magic Music. George Harrison uses much of his for Mundane Utility...
- In Rango the Spirit of the West (also called "The Man with No Name") is heavily implied to be a retired Clint Eastwood. Who gives the protagonist the advice needed to save the town.
Film - Live-Action
- In Little Nicky, Nicky pulls a Deus ex Machina by summoning the ultimate force of darkness to take down Adrian: Ozzy Osbourne, who proceeds to bite the head off the then-bat-transformed demi-devil. Awesome.
- At the end of Half Baked, the day is saved when one of the characters opens the "Jerry Garcia-in-a-bag" that he'd been wearing around his neck and talking to the whole movie.
Live-Action TV
- In a sketch on Saturday Night Live where Christopher Reeve guest-hosts, it's shown that Reeve got the part of Superman in Superman: The Movie in part because he can actually catch bullets in his teeth, squeeze a lump of coal into a diamond, and has heat vision. So could the other guy he is up against, even better than Reeve could (plus he has super-breath); but the other guy couldn't make the first day of filming because he already had a commercial callback scheduled for that day.
- Played with in The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, when Peter Davison's plan to get into the filming of The Day Of The Doctor hinged on stealing a working TARDIS from the BBC. Unfortunately, they only manage to sneak into a prop because he's forgotten that the TARDIS is fictional.
Colin Baker: You really are from another planet.
Puppet Shows
- On an episode of Muppets Tonight, Cindy Crawford was shown to have heat vision, because she's a supermodel.
- And then there was Christopher Reeve back on the original Muppet Show, as demonstrated after a backhanded comment about Ms Piggy.
Piggy: Hi-yah! <bounces off>
Kermit: Wow! He really is the Man of Steel.
- And then there was Christopher Reeve back on the original Muppet Show, as demonstrated after a backhanded comment about Ms Piggy.
Video Games
- Every pro in Backyard Sports, since they specialize in their respective sports while the neighborhood kids play many different sports.
Web Original
Webcomics
- One of Shelley's plans to rescue Des from his hosts
on a council estate in Scary Go Round is "Enlist Bjork!" (With a picture showing Shelley giving the Icelandic musician a pistol.) It makes as much sense as her other ideas, but, (un)fortunately, she doesn't know Björk.
- MegaTokyo's Ed is obsessed with Erika and Kimiko because high caliber idols have the power to shape nations. Which... isn't actually THAT much of a stretch. Maybe not NATIONS, but at least subcultures and such.
- Fake News Rumble runs on this.
Western Animation
- In a The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode, the following exchange occurs after (super-powered) Bart and Lisa rescue a certain actress from "The Collector":
- In "Husbands and Knives" comic book creators Alan Moore, Daniel Clowes and Art Spiegelman defend a comic book shop that Comic Book Guy was sabotaging by ripping off their shirts (showing their extremely muscular physiques) and then proceed to beat the crap out of him. They return at the end of the episode, now shown with the ability to fly; though when having to choose between stopping a meteor heading for the Earth or go to a benefit for comic book artists of the 40s and 50s, they choose the latter.
Alan Moore: League of Extraordinary Freelancers, activate!
- In "Husbands and Knives" comic book creators Alan Moore, Daniel Clowes and Art Spiegelman defend a comic book shop that Comic Book Guy was sabotaging by ripping off their shirts (showing their extremely muscular physiques) and then proceed to beat the crap out of him. They return at the end of the episode, now shown with the ability to fly; though when having to choose between stopping a meteor heading for the Earth or go to a benefit for comic book artists of the 40s and 50s, they choose the latter.
- An episode of Johnny Bravo features the unlikely team of Don Knotts, "Weird Al" Yankovic, and the Blue Falcon. Al gets to invoke the trope at the end.
- Adam West also applies whenever he appears on the show. One moment, he's single handily fighting swarms of goons and the next he's out of his mind and chasing down non existing kidnappers and mole people.
- The final episode of God, the Devil and Bob ends with the Devil nearly causing a riot at a performance of Arsenic and Old Lace as the citizens of Detroit clash over censorship versus free speech, but the two sides' animosity is destroyed by the inexplicable arrival of... Kevin Bacon, who convinces everyone to dance. To that song from Footloose. Everyone is friends again and have fun. The Devil laments to his henchman Smeck: "Kevin Bacon again! I create one little party game, and now he won't leave me alone!"
- Family Guy had an episode where newsman Hugh Downs (doing his own voice) shows up to rescue Meg and the local geek from a hostage situation. At the end of the scene, he flies away, a la Superman.
- ¡Mucha Lucha! had Penn & Teller appear as actually magical in the movie.
- The South Park boys are contacted by Barbra Streisand, who transforms into... Mecha Streisand. She is opposed by Leonard Maltin, Sidney Poitier, and Robert Smith, all of whom transform into one kind of Kaiju or another. The first three fell under the show's "all celebrity voices are impersonated... poorly" rule, but they got the real Robert Smith.
- In the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode about Juggalos, Insane Clown Posse (voicing themselves) make an appearance at the end of the episode in a court case in which they're being sued by Frylock and Meatwad over Shake committing suicide. After offering a reasonable defense wherein they explain their contributions to charity, Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope conclude by stating that they spit fire before turning into demonic creatures and spraying the courtroom with napalm. Rob Lowe (who is acting as the prosecuting attorney) states that he has no further questions.
- The final The Critic episode, "I Can't Believe It's a Clip Show" has Jay held hostage by terrorists only to be saved in the end by a ninjutsu skilled Milton Berle.
