Basic Trope: Superpowers that are disturbing and/or abnormal in the story's setting. Body Horror optional.
- Straight: Bob can transform his arms into masses of razor-edged tentacles.
- Exaggerated: Bob can turn into a gigantic monster made of tentacles, teeth, eyes, and claws. This transformation is shown to be horrifically painful, exhausting, and taxing on his sanity, though his enemies end up much worse off. His very presence causes his surroundings to distort beyond recognition.
- Downplayed: Bob can grow long claws from his fingertips, which are implied to actually be his finger bones bursting out of his flesh.
- Justified:
- Bob got his powers from a deal with an Eldritch Abomination. Or he just is one.
- Bob was Touched by Vorlons. "Vorlons" in this context being "Nyartlahotep" or "Yithean answer to 'Dr. Frankenstein'".
- Inverted:
- An alien who's natural form features tentacles, claws, and other disturbing features uses only "regular" superpowers.
- A highly alien being is horrified after being given a bizarre almost humanoid form by its powers.
- Being sculpted by The Fair Folk results in inhuman beauty but being absurdly weak - as in having less of a push on an object than light and burning to death from contact with hot water.
- Subverted:
- Bob's body start to distort a bit after he's granted superpowers, but that's just a temporary side-effect and he gains standard superpowers.
- Bob boasts of powers of the Outer Gods. His body streams forth in a disturbing burst of viscera and tendrils larger than he should be able to contain, thoroughly dead. Bob's powers were supposed to be space-time manipulation. They backfired so horribly that no less than four copies of his mutilated body were spat out from various timelines.
- Double Subverted: ... One of those superpowers turned out to be Voluntary Shapeshifting, which allows Bob to change his body in useful but disturbing ways.
- Parodied:
- Bob attempts to be a proper, morally upright superhero, which proves difficult when his powers horrify everybody around him and every attempt to fight crime non-lethally leaves dozens of people dismembered.
- Bob gets wings... That eat bad guys.
- Bob can transform his arms into forks and other forms of pointy silverware. Everyone is paralyzed with fear when he does so.
- Zig Zagged: Bob has an array of Lovecraftian and "regular" powers, including Combat Tentacles, Flight, Bloody Murder, Super-Strength, and projectile acid spray. The discrepancy between the mundane and horrifying powers is never pointed out.
- Averted: Bob has only standard superpowers, or none at all.
- Enforced: "We need to make Bob an edgy Horrifying Hero." "Let's have him sprout tentacles, or giant claws, or throw exploding tumors or something."
- Lampshaded:
- "Bob, your powers are, like, needlessly disturbing."
- "Guys, before I use my powers, I need to warn you that they may be a bit unsettling to those not accustomed by it!"
- Invoked: Bob's shapeshifting could just as easily be used to add muscle or biological armour, but he utilizes tentacles for the psychological effect it has on his opponents.
- Exploited: Alice convinces the public that Bob is evil based on the sheer horrifying nature of his abilities.
- Defied: Bob refuses to use his Lovecraftian shapeshifting as a superpower, believing it would make him a monster.
- Discussed: People around the world comments on how disgusting Bob powers can be.
- Conversed: "The idea is that our main character, Bob, can get away with being angsty without it seeming like he's Cursed with Awesome, because his only power is horrifically deforming himself."
- Deconstructed:
- Bob's ability to turn his arm into razor tentacles leads him to garner a reputation for horrific pain and death at his fingertips, leading him to be feared by everyone around him. This leads to him shunning society at large.
- Razor sharp tentacles with his exposed viscera everywhere means he is not only a major Glass Cannon but one who requires intensive care to not die of infection after using his power.
- Reconstructed:
- However, thanks to his ability, Bob gains employment in the police force, who see his potential as a intimidator to get criminals to surrender without causing fatalities.
- Terror Hero
- Played For Laughs: Bob's arm turns into octopus tentacles upon contact with a female, causing him to be known as the Tentacle Molester.
- Implied: Bob is never shown but supers react to hearing they'll have to fight Bob with a blend of disgust, This Is Gonna Suck, and predictions they'll have nightmares from it again.
- Played For Drama: Bob just wants to be normal because...
- He can't get a date because his looks are in the Uncanny Valley or worse.
- He's afraid of his own strength.
- The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body and he doesn't like how he thinks while using his powers.
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