A possible meta version of this, just not quite sure if it should be added.
The most powerful beings to any story are us. We create the stories, we interpret the stories, we forget the stories. Yet the very nature of a story means we can't get involved. We can only watch.
Just discovered this. Should we mine the start of Linkara's Marvel Team-Up review for a page quote (despite its negative tone towards this trope)?
How's this for a possible reason: he's interfered before, and despite his intentions, it ultimately made things worse than they would have been every time.
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By the time the character reaches this trope, that would fall under "breaking the Prime Directive." That he wrote his own Prime Directive may make a difference morally, but not in the end result...
Though maybe this could be hinted at: "The character knows that, while he is omnipotent, he isn't really omniscient, and that he can mess things up for those under him worse than they can."
I like the seer's excuse that you can't both see the future and change it. That one can only be broken once per seer, but it has happened in fiction. <grin>
There is a fine line between recklessness and courage — Paul McCartney
Not sure this is an example due to the natter that is present:
- Lots of these in Planescape, as it is set across the various homes of gods, demons, angels, and so on. The Lady of Pain stands out, as she is the absolute power in Sigil, and if she doesn't like how someone's affecting it—whether it's an upset of power among the factions, a god horning in on her territory, or even someone trying to worship her—they'll get flayed alive or sent to an inescapable Maze. However, there's the twist that she can never leave the city either, which is one of the reasons it's called the Cage.
- Less can't and more chooses not to. The Lady has killed gods, and not in the "epic battle of the ages" sense but in the "boom headshot" sense. Insisting that the Lady can't do something is tantamount to invitation to Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies. The fact that she fillets even the people who worship her as a goddess seems to imply that she just wants to be left alone.
- Less "can't" or "doesn't want to" and more "might or might not be able to" and "might or might not want to". The Lady is mysterious. No one knows what she is. She might even be six giant squirrels with a headdress, robe, and ring of levitation and illusions.
- She's the DM's in-game avatar.
- Less "can't" or "doesn't want to" and more "might or might not be able to" and "might or might not want to". The Lady is mysterious. No one knows what she is. She might even be six giant squirrels with a headdress, robe, and ring of levitation and illusions.
- Less can't and more chooses not to. The Lady has killed gods, and not in the "epic battle of the ages" sense but in the "boom headshot" sense. Insisting that the Lady can't do something is tantamount to invitation to Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies. The fact that she fillets even the people who worship her as a goddess seems to imply that she just wants to be left alone.
Archiving from remarks.php?trope=Main.OmniImpotence
(can't move due to content on both pages):
YKTTW: Omni Impotence
launched as Omni Impotence
sonicsuns
topic
11:28:50 AM Sep 25th 2011
What if there's a God-like thing with near-infinite power, but there's an equal-and-opposite thing as well, and the two of them basically keep each other in check all the time? Does that count as Omni Impotence?
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