Forgot About His Powers: Difference between revisions
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''"Guess not."''|[[Bugs Bunny]], ''The Million Hare''}}
When a character has the [[Idiot Ball]] slipped into their pocket while they weren't looking, causing them to forget to properly use their abilities, intelligence, or powers to stop a bad guy or get out of a situation, even though they may have used the ability in similar situations before (often many times). This happens often with [[
This is used quite a bit when characters have extremely useful or increasingly powerful abilities or equipment, and [[Quickly-Demoted Woman|some unfortunates]] tend to have this inflicted on them ''all the time'', turning a [[Genius Bruiser]] or [[Badass Bookworm]] into a garden-variety [[The Big Guy|Bruiser]] or [[Badass]]. Only some lines of technological jargon or displays of useless gadgetry will remind the reader that they have more brains than they normally use. Some might consider this a form of [[Informed Ability]], with the "ability" being genius-level intelligence.
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[[Plot-Sensitive Snooping Skills]] is a particular variant/sub-trope. If a device is discovered once, never becomes part of a character's standard bag of tricks, and is forgotten that is [[Forgotten Phlebotinum]]. [[Hollywood Tactics]] are a usual result. Compare [[Drama-Preserving Handicap]].
As mentioned, this is a sister trope to [[Idiot Ball]], the distinction being that [[Idiot Ball]] is when a character does something stupid to further the [[Plot]], while with
Compare [[Reed Richards Is Useless]], where a character with superhuman abilities or ridiculously advanced technology reserves it for equally advanced problems and never applies it to mundane difficulties.
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** In one [[Filler]] scene during the Goku vs. Freeza fight, Freeza opens the ground under Goku, who hangs for the edge as the lava rises from underground. Goku tries to climb, fails and gets his butt burnt by the lava in a comical manner. Except that Goku, like damn near everyone in the show, ''can fly''.
* This happens countless times with Tsuzuki from ''[[Yami no Matsuei]]''. Even though he's supposed to be one of the most powerful [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old|ancient Gods of Death]], he is rendered completely helpless when [[Stalker with a Crush|Muraki]] is around. He's not even able to throw a decent punch at the guy, and is made into a whining and crying wimp in his presence just for plot's sake. Example: Muraki is flying away on a helicopter, and Tsuzuki forgets that he can always summon or cast a spell that could blow the helicopter down. Stupid or... has a self destructive streak [[Death Seeker|TEN MILES HIGH.]]
* Along with [[Heroic Second Wind]], this is probably the ''#1'' reason anyone gets beaten in ''[[Bleach]]''. Bad guys fighting the main heroes, or the [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad|Shinigami]], will usually get killed because they suddenly ''forget'' that with the several seconds of warning they receive from their screaming opponents, they could have just [[Flash Step
** Probably the most blatant example of this is when Kenpachi fights Tousen. Tousen uses his bankai and then proceeds to lecture Kenpachi about his worldview/how his victory is assured because of his abilities/how his abilities work/etc. rather than finish the fight giving Kenpachi enough time to figure out a winning strategy. Now that sounds pretty standard and while dumb, isn't egregious, until you remember that Tousen's bankai [[What an Idiot!|removes all of Kenpachi's senses including sight and hearing, rendering him completely ignorant to the fact that he's getting a lecture in the first place, never mind hearing or comprehending it]].
** Orihime has a spectacular example in the Bount filler arc. One of the Bounts manages to control Rukia. [[Actual Pacifist|Orihime]] subsequently panics and spends a whole episode angsting, then eventually removes the control with her healing powers. The sad thing is that near the start of the show she had done almost exactly the same thing when Tatsuki was controlled by a hollow.
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* ''The Essential [[Silver Surfer]]'' is ''full'' of this. When he meets a scientist who invents a device that might let him leave Earth but needs money to make it, the Surfer decides to ''get a job''. He can't (because [[Undead Tax Exemption|he doesn't have a Social Security number, he's not in the union,]] and he's funny-looking) so almost robs a bank in desperation, forgetting ''he can manipulate matter'' and could just make the scientist's gear for him. He spends about eight comics looking for someone who won't hate him for being "a silver-skinned freak" before he remembers that the [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Fantastic Four]] were quite friendly... need I go on?
* In ''[[Marvel Zombies]]'', the zombies are attacking Doctor Doom's castle and the Scarlet Witch is infected by the Punisher. Gee, Scarlet Witch, did it never occur to you you could just teleport him and the other zombies away like you did with Ash earlier? Or teleport Enchantress away earlier so Dazzler wouldn't be infected? It is also never explained why Doom didn't just kill Enchantress in the beginning {{spoiler|like he did later}}.
* [[Green Lantern
* The chronic and widespread amnesia over the Iron Queen's [[Magitek]] is one of the main causes of the [[Idiot Plot]] that is ''[[Archies Sonic the Hedgehog|The Iron Dominion Saga]]''; the Freedom Fighters are constantly clueless to the fact that their enemy can control machines with her mind, and wind up being shocked each time one of their cyborg or mechanical allies gets turned against them by her. They also keep forgetting that they have a counteragent to her spell ''right in their own backyard''. And in case you're wondering, there's actually a time in the saga where the Iron Queen ''herself'' forgets that she has this power, and has to be ''reminded'' that the Freedom Fighters are holed up in a [[Gray Goo]] city that she can manipulate...''after she successfully infiltrated and messed up said city with her powers''.
* Speaking of the [[Doctor Strange|Sorcerer Supreme]], he is repeatedly in situations where his virtually unlimited mystic abilities could resolve the plot, or at least make it much simpler. Alas, the good Doctor's imagination is often limited to that of those who write him.
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== Films ==
* The Mobile Infantry in ''[[Starship Troopers (film)|Starship Troopers]]'' have rifles that come with underbarrel shotguns and nuclear rocket launchers, yet they seem to rely almost entirely on their rifles' regular firing
* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings (film)|The Return of the King]]'', Gandalf rescues Faramir and his retreating troops by using his staff to shine a bright light at the Nazgûl, which scares them away. One might wonder how come he doesn't do that every other time the Nazgûl are around...
** Commented by several cast members on the audio commentary. [[Ian McKellen]] mentions bringing the trope up to [[Peter Jackson]], who shrugged and told him he used up all the batteries when he saved Faramir, and the shops in Minas Tirith were all out.
** This is probably the reason why, in the extended edition, Peter Jackson had the Witch-king destroy Gandalf's staff shortly afterwards; something that could not have happened in the book.
** This happens in the book, as well. The narrator's explanation implies that this was essentially a battle of wills, and the Nazgûl backed down because it wasn't the time yet to challenge Gandalf in all out
*** And by "this happens in the book as well" it means the face-off happened but nothing as egregious as Gandalf's staff exploding.
* In ''[[The Neverending Story (film)|The Neverending Story]] 2'' Bastian has to save Fantasia with the help of the Auryn, which can grant him any wish he wants. He never thinks to wish for weapons, or an army, or even that [[Deus Ex Machina|Fantasia just be saved]]. Instead he wishes for things like a can of spray paint and individual steps to climb a huge cliff. And he only has a limited number of wishes before running out of memories (each wish removes a memory).
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** In any scene where there is a man-to-man on the ship/station, they could put the transporter to work, simply beaming the enemies into the brig or even just erasing their patterns without bothering to reconstitute them.
** Another ''Deep Space Nine'' example, in the second season finale (which introduced the Dominion formally, with the Jem'Hadar and the Vorta), a Vorta is able to use a powerful psychic telekinetic attack in combat and to escape from a holding cell. No mention of these abilities are ever made again, let alone actually used by a Vorta, even in situations where it could have been a huge advantage for them.
** The variable effectiveness of phasers is a common plot hole in ''[[Star Trek]]'', especially the later series. In the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek the Original Series]]'' a small handheld phaser the size of a smart phone could potentially disintegrate a person or blow the side off a building. In ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'' Data once vaporized all the water in an aqueduct system stretching miles up a mountain using one. But in ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Deep Space Nine]]'' Federation troops fighting the Dominion are lugging around these huge phaser rifles that fire little bullet-like pops of energy that can barely put a hole in a wall, leading to [[Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy|many combat scenes
** Cloaking technology is a major source of tension, particularly between the Federation and the Romulon and Klingon Empires, who both use it extensively. The fact that the Federation could potentially counter the utility of cloaking devices by simply recruiting more members of [[Psychic Powers|telepathic]] races such as [[A Day in the Limelight|Betazoids]] into Starfleet seems to have somehow escaped their thought processes entirely.
* In ''[[Fringe]]'' an episode pertaining to a [[Bad Future|flash forward]] tries to portray Olivia Dunham as [[Future Badass|having mastered her abilities]] by showing off her telekinesis. Dunham, a generally already battle hardened cop with lightning reflexes and an inexplicable penchant for headshots (before any brainwashing) is confronted by Walternate, brandishing a gun, and is promptly shot in the face after [[Idiot Ball|failing to react]].
* In ''[[Quantum Leap]]'', there are several episodes in which Sam has to keep someone from being kidnapped, and the obvious
* When the ''[[Charmed]]'' Ones become powerful, they keep on forgetting about their powers. Like when a criminal was holding a gun at Phoebe's head and ordered Paige to cast a spell to disguise him. Rather than just orb the gun, Paige killed him by demon. Piper didn't use her freezing powers several times because she just didn't try. And Phoebe stopped using her premonition powers to help innocents and just focused on herself.
** In the noted example, Phoebe was only tolerating this criminal in the first place because he had effectively kidnapped and hidden a friend. Phoebe's logic was put up with him until he gave her the necessary information. Of course, at this time, Phoebe had [[The Empath|empathic powers]], which she never bothers to use here. It's not quite mind reading, but she used it in other situations before to help figure something out.
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== Video Games ==
* The railroad ending options of ''[[Fallout 3]]'' have this trope in spades. {{spoiler|No matter what, someone has to die from radiation poisoning, either the player or an innocent secondary character. This is despite the fact that the player has three optional companions who are immune to radiation damage -- Fawkes (good players only), Charon (any player alignment), and Sergeant RL-3 (Neutral alignment). To add insult to injury, by this point in the game most players will have collected both a very high rad resistance through perks and a huge number of anti-radiation chems, and could probably stay in the chamber for weeks if necessary.}}
** ''Broken Steel'' changes the fate of the both the player character ''and'' Paladin Lyons to being [[Not Quite Dead]], no matter who went in and pressed the button. Also it allows you to send in one of your radiation-immune companions to activate the purifier instead.
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* At one point in ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'', the characters are disarmed and rendered helpless. Ayla can still fight with her fists, but Robo forgets about his inbuilt lasers, and the rest of the party forgets how to use MAGIC until they're rearmed.
** An almost identical occurrence happens in ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]''. The party gets disarmed, and only Zell, who is a fist-fighter, can go and retrieve the other members' equipment, never mind the godlike power their GFs can unleash...
* Lancer in ''[[Fate/stay night|Fate Stay Night]]''. Granted, it's not entirely his fault considering he's actually been ordered not to just kill everyone. But he never actually does net a kill with his Noble
** He tried it against Saber at the beginning of the game. It didn't work because her Luck stat was too high. (Considering that, the only ones his skill would work against are Archer, Rider, {{spoiler|True Assassin}} and {{spoiler|Dark Saber}}.) And he clearly beat Archer in UBW with the stronger version of it but didn't finish him.
** {{spoiler|Gilgamesh}} is of course the king of this trope, but it's justified due to his ''massive'' [[Pride]]: He just never considers anyone 'worthy' of going all out on.
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* Similarly, there are too many times to count in ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' where Danny seemingly forgets that he has the ability to become invisible or intangible at will. Early on it made sense due to it being clear he was [[How Do I Shot Web?|still getting used to his abilities]], and sometimes it was played for humor, but it seemed strange he would still sometimes forget this fact even in the later episodes.
* In the first season of ''[[Justice League (animation)|Justice League]]'', characters would regularly forget their powers. In the season finale, Brainiac is holding everyone in an iron grip with tentacles. They struggle for an unreasonable time before [[Martian Manhunter]] remembers that he can ''turn intangible at will''.
** The [[Martian Manhunter]] is the king of this trope. He has the ability to transform into whatever [[Super Strength|Super Strong]] forms he can
*** In [[The Silver Age of Comic Books]] comics, he had even more powers, with [[New Powers as the Plot Demands|new ones popping up all the time]]. Somehow, he just never used them with the slightest tactical sense. As my high school guidance counselor said many times, "You have so much wasted potential!"
*** On the other hand, with powers ranging from [[Super Strength]] to making ice cream with your mind, it's hard to create conflict.
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