Basic Trope: All superheros got their powers at the same time, from the same event.
- Straight: All superheroes and supervillains got their powers when an alien ship crashlanded in New York on April 30th, 1987.
- Exaggerated: Half the galaxy got superpowers when the entire constellation Orion goes supernova at the same time.
- Downplayed: Two men are part of the same Super-Soldier program.
- Justified: Nanomachines quietly add metagenes to their subject's DNA but don't activate them until they receive a specific radio signal.
- Inverted: Everybody loses their superpowers during an eclipse.
- Subverted: The Large Hadron Collider goes online. Nothing happens.
- Double Subverted: ...Until the next generation is born.
- Parodied: In the year 2004, Janet Jackson experienced a Wardrobe Malfunction at the Super Bowl which was broadcast on live television. Most people watching at home are killed instantly by the sight of nipples, but some survived, gained powers, and became... THE BREASTFORCE!
- Zig Zagged:
- The Large Hadron Collider goes online. Nothing happens...until the next generation is born...at which point every woman who gives birth gets Flying Brick abilities and Most Common Superpowers.
- While the exact events that give people their superpowers are mostly independent, they all share a common element that can be traced back to a singular event, i.e. Phlebotinum from a meteor impact.
- Some gain super powers, others lose them. Others seem to have lost them, when in reality they have changed.
- Averted: The Large Hadron Collider goes online, thanks to local superheroes protecting it from local supervillains. The idea that it could have resulted in Super-Empowering is never suggested.
- Enforced: "We need an excuse for everyone to have powers."
- Lampshaded:
- Every time there's an industrial accident, meteor shower, or uncommon event of any sort, casinos and heroes start taking bets on how many new supers will come out of it.
- Established heroes/villains groan when the accidents happen because it means dozens of green new applicants will come knocking.
- Invoked: A scientist discovers a Super-Empowering formula and decides to share it with the world...by turning it into an aerosol and flooding the atmosphere with it.
- Exploited: A
Chaotic Evil villain triggers the event to throw the world into chaos. - Defied: The city is evacuated before the nuclear waste truck drives through, just on the off chance that some accident happens and everyone is affected.
- Discussed:
- "Y'know, considering how often these massive Freak Lab Accidents make a whole generation of supers, you'd think that there would be The Men in Black or Nebulous Evil Organization circling every disaster like vultures."
- (tv news) "Today, April 30, 2017, 30 years ago that a spaceship crashed and granted powers to 30% of the population of New York"
- Conversed: "Why is it no one in these shows thinks: "I just got powers after this weird event, maybe there's a connection", then they wouldn't act all surprised when they met other supers."
- Deconstructed:
- Fantastic Racism and Bullying a Dragon against the superheros ensues, followed by a Mutant Draft Board and exploitation by Muggles.
- The world struggles to slowly and soberly adjust to what is considered by most to be a radical and random change in society.
- Scientists make advances by studying superhumans (new materials studying the skin of an individual with steel skin, new, regeneration methods with someone with that ability, ETC)
- Reconstructed:
- The poorly trained superheroes and even more poorly equipped mobs don't last long; a chagrined public repeals the laws and the standard Super Team structure reemerges.
- After coming to grips with the changes to the world, society makes a few major changes before accepting the aftermath of the event as just another part of modern life.
- Played for Drama: The event has side effects, such as cancer or accelerated aging.
- Played for Horror: In addition to receiving powers, those affected mutate horribly and/or go crazy.
TV Tropes is a Mass Super-Empowering Event, burning away thousands of once-productive hours at an ever-increasing rate.
