Everyone Is a Super: Difference between revisions

[[File:EveryonesASuper.jpg|link=Monty Python's Flying Circus|frame|Seriously. You don't want to rob this place.]]

 

 

So, you [[How to Give A Character Super Powers|somehow managed to get]] [[Stock Super Powers|superpowers]]? Great news, that means you're on the short list to be [[The Hero]], on the hero's team, or at least on the [[Big Bad]]'s side. Check [[Bad Powers, Bad People|what power you have to figure out which side you get put on]]. After all, having superpowers makes you [[Law of Conservation of Detail|special and noteworthy]], right? Clearly sits you up above those silly [[Muggles]] who are stuck in [[The Masquerade]], right?

 

 

Thanks in part to the fact that [[Most Writers Are Human]], typically, [[Puny Earthlings|stock, unpowered human civilians are considered the "normal", most populous, average bystander of a setting]]. Where Everyone's A Super, however, the average bystander is a [[Badass Bystander]]. Whether it is because you are in a sci-fi setting where everyone is either a cyborg or [[Super Powered Robot Meter Maid]] or [[Mind Over Matter|psychic]], or a fantasy world with [[Hybrid Monster|dragon-taurs]] walking the sidewalk next to the [[Child Mage]], there is the assumption that not only are [[Weirdness Censor|superpowers not worth hiding]], but that they can be expected of anyone and everything in the setting. As such, anyone with superpowers are just plain not as "special" as they would be in a world with [[Muggles]]. Average bystanders will openly [[Mundane Utility|use their ice powers as air conditioning]].

If a character who is normally special or powerful suddenly stumbles into a place where Everyone's A Super, they may find out they are merely one of [[The Chosen Many]]. If the "superpower" is [[I Know Karate]], then [[Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting]].

 

 

Of course, [[Super Weight|some supers are more super than others]], especially [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil|the really nasty bad guys]].

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

 

* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' - Mundus Magicus turns into one of these once the heroes arrive there - especially for those who were previously just [[Muggles]], though the main cast remains leagues more powerful then the average thug in that world.

* ''[[Tokyo Underground]]'' features an entire underground world of psychics.

* After the second season, ''[[Lyrical Nanoha|Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' moves away from a certain [[Insignificant Little Blue Planet]] and [[Stay with the Aliens|goes to live in Mid-Childa]] where everyone is a mage like her. All the grunts in the military are equipped with staves to help in casting spells, the Air Force doesn't use planes since [[Flight|they can fly on their own]], detectives can [[Mind Probe]] criminals to retrieve information, librarians can perform search engine-like scans on thousands of shelves worth of books, [[Emergency Services]] are protected with [[Deflector Shields]] that keep away heat and smoke and can cast the same shield on victims trapped in a burning building, doctors are equipped with the latest in medical technology and [[Healing Hands]], and students don't need to whisper to each other since they can just use [[Telepathy]].

* ''[[Slayers]]'' has the "anyone can learn basic magic, but not everyone chooses to do so" variant. Notably, the swordsman of the group has a high enough "capacity" to become an incredible mage, but his attention span is too short to remember or focus on the incantations.

* The hidden ninja villages in [[Naruto]] are a mix of this and [[Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting]], because they all have [[Charles Atlas Superpower]]. Even the youngest children are in training to use [[Ki Attacks]].

** Actually sort of subverted: even among the ninja villages only a relatively small number of the population ever go all the way through the academy to even become low-ranking genin. Though it does seems anyone could potentially use [[Mana|chakra]] for they various things ninja do.

* ''[[Iris Zero]]'' takes place in a world where 99% of children are born with an [[Evil Eye|Iris]], which allows them to see visual clues. For example, one girl can see a [[Living Lie Detector|devil tail grow on people when they lie]].

* Sometimes the ''[[Digimon]]'''s World borders on this trope before humans arrive in it. ''Digimon Adventure'' and ''Digimon Tamers'' added other powerless creatures so they don't count. ''X-Evolution'' the best example with no humans or anything comparable to them in sight.

** The actual series gives us the [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad|Saiyans]], who are an entire race of warriors whose weakest members are still far stronger than 99% of the human race.

** Although honestly, [[Puny Earthlings|almost every alien race we see are stronger than the human race.]] Even the [[Martial Pacifist]] race.

== Comic Books ==

 

* ''[[Top Ten]]'': Absolutely everyone in Neopolis from bums to tycoons is superhuman: "science hero/villains" with powers, a costume and an alter ego. Aliens, robots, gods, cyborgs, psychics, all present in the crowds. Incidental details include pizza-delivery couriers with [[Super Speed|super-speed]], cab drivers "guided by the universe" and comics such as ''Businessman''.

* In ''[[Earth X]]'', everyone's a mutant. That's one way to get rid of that [[Fantastic Racism]].

* [[Franco Belgian Comics]] series ''[[Lanfeust]]'' has the homeland/world of the titular hero, Troy, where every human has one single magic power thanks to specially-trained Sages "broadcasting" magic energy ({{spoiler|which may in fact be more accurately called psychic energy; long story}}) to the nearby citizenry like mobile power relays. Everyone's powers tend to be public knowledge, and often steer those who have them towards a career path [[Mundane Utility|where it will be a useful skill]] (Lanfeust himself's power is to heat any metal, so he was training to be a smith before the [[Call to Adventure]]). However, [[Superpower Lottery|said powers vary wildly]], so it's rather common for people to have a power with [[Crippling Overspecialisation|exceedingly narrow applications]] or even [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|a virtually useless one]] (making farts smell like flowers, anyone?). Although a staple of the series is characters [[Heart Is an Awesome Power|using what they have in novel ways to give themselves an unexpected edge]], like the leader of [[La Résistance]] (an animal entrails-reading soothsayer) using his abilities to plan and coordinate a much more formidable effort than his [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]] could muster otherwise, or one of his followers, who relishes the chance to use her power to give horrible heartburns in socially and ethically acceptable ways- to incapacitate enemy [[Mooks]].

 

 

== Film ==

* In the [[Star Ocean]] series most magic users derive their powers from special runes, usually tattooed onto the user. Though more complex ones require training and practice anyone can learn basic spells. Some games represent this in gameplay, with basic attack or support spells as a learnable ability, and others restrict it to the canon magic users.

* ''[[Suikoden]]'' is a similar but even more extreme case of the magic variant. From the strongest warrior, down to the little girl running a card game on your ship, basically everyone can be expected to be armed with [[Green Rocks]] of some kind.

** Of course, the only reason enemy players would invade a city in the first place would be to kill its ruler, who happens to be a living (or unliving, in Sylvanas Windrunner's case) example of [[Asskicking Equals Authority]].

* ''Pokemon Mystery Dungeon'' uses this trope. The people with no super powers are from different planets or different time periods and they quickly receive powers when they arrive in the main setting. Even Magikarp can hold it's own here.

 

* An episode of ''[[Darkwing Duck (animation)|Darkwing Duck]]'' centered on an entire [[Planet of Hats|Planet of Superheroes]]. There was only one "Normal" in the entire population whose job it was to be rescued by the supers. He eventually rebelled and became their [[Super Villain]] instead.

* In ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', while not ''everyone'' is super, in the sense of being able to bend the elements, a large percentage is, maybe around 30 to 60 percent. This means that bending tends to be used not only for cool fight scenes, but to build houses, heat and cool drinks, power steam-punk machines and play games.

** Then there are the Air Nomads, who are the most true to the trope. Because of their spirituality, they were all born airbenders.

[[Category:Settings]]

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]