History Main / FreakLabAccident

[[caption-width-right:342:[[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop Remember kids: if you douse yourself in chemicals in a lightning storm enough times, you too may become a superhero!]]]]

** Siebren de Kuiper was an astrophysicist studying gravity. After decades of research, he conducted an experiment to harness the power of a black hole. A containment breach exposed Kuiper to a singularity, [[DrivenToMadness driving him insane]] and [[GravityMaster giving him power over gravity]], turning him into "Sigma".

* Siebren de Kuiper from ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' was an astrophysicist studying gravity. After decades of research, he conducted an experiment to harness the power of a black hole. A containment breach exposed Kuiper to a singularity, [[DrivenToMadness driving him insane]] and [[GravityMaster giving him power over gravity]], turning him into "Sigma".

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'', the chip is somehow able to suck a person into cyberspace, turning them into a Freakazoid, if the person hits a specific sequence of keys followed by Delete. Dexter gained his powers when his cat pawed across his keyboard chasing a butterfly and he tried to delete the resulting gibberish.

* Tom of T.H.U.M.B. (a segment of the 1966 ''King Kong'' cartoon on ABC) was a janitor in a secret agent office lab who took a spill while cleaning. His friend, Smilin' Jack, helped him up, only to trigger a ray that reduced both to thumb size. Together, Tom and Smilin' Jack tackle assignments the regular agents couldn't take conspicuously.

* On ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', Jack Brolin was a former news reporter that gained the power of extraordinary hindsight through a freak accident involving a retroactive spider.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' lampshades this. When Phantom Limb is creating the Secret Society One of the people taking up the offer explains he got his powers from a freak lab accident, to which they immediately point out they understand as they themselves have had a freak lab accident that changed them into what they were.

* The ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' episode "Heroes" presents a dark {{Deconstruction}} of the concept. Three scientists are accidentally irradiated and become "The Terrific Trio" (with obvious parallels to the ComicBook/FantasticFour). It turns out that their transformations are [[spoiler:slowly killing them and driving them insane, and were caused by a colleague's scheme to MurderTheHypotenuse]].

* The whole premise of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' revolves around a freak accident that occurred while the girls were being ''created'': Professor Utonium's pet chimp Jojo accidentally shoved the Professor, causing the spill that created the Powerpuff Girls (the blast from the spill also gave Jojo super-intelligence, and his jealousy of the girls eventually drove him to become their arch-enemy Mojo Jojo). Why the Professor had that Chemical X [[NoOSHACompliance located where he could break it]] and cause it to spill inside the pot is anyone's guess.

** Danny got his powers from an ectoplasmic form of [[ILoveNuclearPower the radiation blast]] which [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke altered his DNA]].

At least it was, until the comic story "Untold Tales From the Big Superhero Wish!" revealed that this origin story caused a lawsuit, and as a result, The Chin was given a new origin all to similar to Superman.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' with the origin of The Crimson Chin (voiced by Jay Leno). Before he was a crime fighter, the Chin was a talk show host, much like the guy who voiced him. He got bit on the chin by a radioactive celebrity, and that is how he became The Crimson Chin!

* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', Jack Ryder was a talk show host doing a set piece on the Joker's origin. ComicBook/TheJoker barges in and decides to have some fun by dosing Ryder with Joker Venom and throwing him into a vat of chemicals similar to the one that transformed the Joker. This backfires on the Joker when the combination of the Joker Venom and the chemicals gives Ryder a Superpowered CrazyAwesome Side that calls himself ComicBook/TheCreeper. The Creeper then proceeds to ''scare the crap out of the Joker''. By the end of the episode, the Joker is begging Batman to save him from the lunatic.

* Webcomic/HeroByNight has these as origin stories of Saul Simian and (sort of) Steel Phantom.

* Webcomic/RubysWorld's heroine Ruby gains her enhanced size, strength, and power from a freak lab accident [[spoiler: that was actually engineered post-mortem by her late mother, as a means to give her the capabilities to fight the BigBad]]

** Retooled again and made more plausible in the modern re-imagining, ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan''. It was a genetically altered spider high on [[AppliedPhlebotinum OZ]] instead of radiation.

* Origin of all villains in the ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'', save Venom.

* Comicbook/ManThing was also the result of a botched experiment, also {{retcon}}ned by the series' most notable author, SteveGerber.

* Kilowatt of the ''SeekersOfTruth'' got her start this way. Her end would have closely followed her start if not for the intervention of the Wizard.

* ''MarthaSpeaks'' is a milder example. It's pointed out several times throughout the show that the alphabet soup gave only Martha the ability to speak, and that she ate it by accident. This is most likely put into place to dissuade kids from giving their pets alphabet soup in the hopes of having a talking pet. (Of course, the show is also aware that it's a cartoon...)

** Spider-Man was given powers by a radioactive spider bite, the spider itself being a result of the lab accident. In the ''Film/SpiderMan1'' movie, this was {{retool}}ed into a [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke genetically-engineered]] spider's bite to reflect the {{discredit|edTrope}}ing of ILoveNuclearPower. The comic, on the other hand, retooled this by saying that the spider which bit him transferred some form of totemistic power on him, which in turn explained his many animal-themed enemies.

* There are lab coats reading "Screw Lab Safety, I Want Superpowers!". [[TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs Please do not ignore lab safety rules.]]

Can also be used to create a MonsterOfTheWeek, with the same caveats. This can be used to create a ScienceIsBad plot if wanted when things have GoneHorriblyWrong. See also DisposableSuperheroMaker, MiraculousMalfunction. Contrast MassSuperEmpoweringEvent.

* Also appears in the French GenderBender series ''SeriesViceVersa''.