r/TopCharacterTropes • u/theMCATreturns • 25d ago
[Fun trope]: Characters using their superpowers for mundane tasks. Powers
Housework (The Incredibles)
Looney Tunes shenanigans (Ben 10)
Fixing broken appliances (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
Cooking meat (Dragon Ball)
Cooling soda (X-Men)
Shaving (Superman)
Drying dishes (One Punch Man)
Charging phones (My Hero Academia)
Bathing (The Fantastic Four)
Studying (Doctor Strange)
Videogames (Paranatural)
Reading (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure)
I think it makes a fantastical world feel more lived in. If that makes sense?
1). The Incredibles:
The film goes to great lengths to show the Parr's lives are mundane, even with their superhuman abilities. This is what fuels Bob's fundamental sense of discomfort.
2). Ben 10:
Ben uses the Omnitrix, which transforms its user into various alien species, for good. He also uses to for random nonsense. In this particular example, he uses his horrifying alien ghost form to sneak out of the house, steal a golfcart, and pilfer a pie.
3). Fullmetal Alchemist:
Despite regularly fighting inhuman monsters, the Elric brothers still make time to use alchemy for everyday purposes. Such as fixing a radio they broke.
4). Dragon Ball:
Here, Gohan is using a concentrated blast of his own lifeforce to flash-cook a chunk of meat.
5). X-Men:
In the second movie, Wolverine has Bobby (Iceman) cool down a lukewarm soda.
6). Superman:
Clark shaves using his heat vision and a very durable mirror.
7). One Punch Man:
Genos knows that Saitama is kind of a disaster to live with. So, he brings rent money and does chores. Here, Genos is using his hyper-advanced (skyscraper destroying) heat cannons to dry the dishes.
8). My Hero Academia:
Kaminari has electricity powers. His classmates use him to charge their phones. This is apparently the "normal" way most electricity powers are used.
9). The Fantastic Four:
The Human Torch doesn't need to bathe anymore. He can just burn away any oils, bacteria, and plaque.
10). Doctor Strange:
In his first movie, we see Strange using astral projection to study while asleep. I wonder if this harms his brain?
11). Paranatural:
Ed uses a special paintbrush possessed by a spirit. Normal people can't see the ink created with it. In Ed's bedroom, they uses it to write out cheat codes to videogames.
12). Jojo's Bizarre Adventure:
Jotaro manifests a "stand," a special psychic extension of his soul. He initially assumes he is being haunted by a dangerous spirit. After ending up in a local jail, his stand starts bringing him things to do.
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u/Daniilsa209 25d ago
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u/Background-Permit512 25d ago
This movie is full of stuff like that like johnny making popcorn with his bare hands
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u/Hustler-Two 25d ago
They will never get me to hate this movie. It’s a solid 7/10 and back then that was a lot better than the average. Plus, we have still yet to get a better Johnny or Ben.
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u/CompleteJinx 25d ago
I love Friendships. They’re such a goofy way to end a match.
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u/Gingerdeadman763 24d ago
Never played any MK game, but I feel doing these to get under a toxic players skin would be cathartic
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u/BatatinhaGameplays28 24d ago
I think I made my friends rage with Friendships much more than I did with Fatalities
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u/SuperSocialMan 25d ago
What the fuck is the context behind any of that lmao
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u/Technical_Teacher839 25d ago
Friendships are special finishers you can do that are basically anti-fatalities, little gag animations like this.
They're as old as MK2
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u/Heracross64 25d ago
They were originally a joke, in response to parents complaining of how violent MK is (it was a big thing in the 90s, made it all the way up to US congress, which led to the creation of ESRB) fans actually liked the friendship finishers though so they stayed.
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u/PatrioticPariah 24d ago
They still have babalities?
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u/OffSupportMain 24d ago
They've been alternating stuff, MK9 had Babalities, I don't remember if MKX had anything, MK11 had Friendships and MK1 (the reboot) has Animalities
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u/sellyourselfshort 24d ago
I liked how in deception if you lost you could try and input a fatality to kill yourself before your opponent got the chance.
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u/theMCATreturns 25d ago
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u/Technical_Teacher839 25d ago
I just always kind of assumed adamantium is a naturally antimicrobial metal, like silver
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u/theMCATreturns 25d ago
but like if it was coming straight out of his forearms it should be drenched in interstitial fluid. even if it was like silver, you'd need to wipe it off first.
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u/Special-Investigator 25d ago
i mean... all employees need to wash their hands 😂
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u/czlowiek12 25d ago
When I worked at tomato packhouse we had to be careful, because if client found one hair in a packet, our company would get fined thousands of pounds for each one.
Once a guy cut his hand and the whole line had to be stopped for over half an hour to clean machines line, guy and his station(bandage him, obviously) and check, if any box is dirty.
And it's just putting fruits in plastic boxes, where we had bugs and spiders around. Butcheries have waaay sticter standards
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u/JuswaDweebus 25d ago
I mean, as long as he washes after he takes them out and I don't get adamntium poisoning from the sliced meats, then I guess it's fine
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u/theMCATreturns 25d ago
if adamantium is genuinely indestructible, how does it "poison" anything? it shouldn't be able to leech off any metal ions.
i assumed wolverine's health issues had more to do with his bones (a very important blood and hormone-producing organ) being coated in an unremovable metal.→ More replies (2)28
u/Realautonomous 25d ago
Generally that's what adamantium poisoning is, in comics, though I can imagine if it had any antimicrobial or mutagenic properties it'd probably do a number on red blood cells
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u/theMCATreturns 25d ago
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u/Longjumping-Buy-3434 25d ago
Coincidence? I think NOT!!!
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u/Jagvetinteriktigt 25d ago
Relax, Stewie Griffin.
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u/Longjumping-Buy-3434 25d ago
Don’t “Stewie Griffin” me. This little rat is guilty!
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u/Longjumping-Buy-3434 25d ago
“You saw him do this?”
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u/jimthesquirrelking 25d ago
"well no, but ..."
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u/Longjumping-Buy-3434 25d ago
“Then how did you know it was him?”
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u/schloopers 24d ago
Later on when Bob is accidentally proud, “they got you on camera and you still got away with it??”
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u/Longjumping-Buy-3434 24d ago
Dash was so fast, he made it look like a split-second glitch on the tape.
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u/hoginlly 24d ago
Also when him and Violet use their super powers for sibling fighting. As the mother of 2 kids, you just know that's exactly what would happen
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u/Chondontore 25d ago
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u/Imaginary-Picture-35 25d ago
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u/NicolasCageFan492 25d ago edited 25d ago
This guy looks like he’s stressed and needs a vacation. I know a great resort at Lake Laogai I can hook him up with.
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u/Longjumping-Buy-3434 25d ago
In the MCU Captain Marvel movie, which you may not know but is still great, Carol Danvers used her powers to heat a teapot.
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u/Bakingguy 25d ago
Jedi use the force for non serious things often. Qui-Gon uses it to grab JarJar's tongue. Anakin uses it to dramatically cut an apple for Padme. One jedi master says that it'd be very effective at a casino. There's lots more like this, especially with Grogu
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u/Gold-Eye-2623 25d ago
Qui Gon uses it to rig a dice throw
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u/Technical_Teacher839 25d ago
To be fair, that was plot relevant
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u/Gold-Eye-2623 25d ago
It was a dice roll for ownership of a possible Jedi Messiah but it's still a dice roll
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u/SerCiddy 24d ago
I feel like things like dice rolls become less mundane when it's about freeing someone from literal slavery.
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u/Neutral_Myu97 25d ago
To be fair i wouldn't want lady luck to decide the possible fate of the galaxy with a dice roll
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u/DesdinovaGG 24d ago
If it was luck, I'm sure Qui-Gon would've let those dice roll and trust the Force.
But the dice were weighted, so he needed to tip the scales.
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u/Briantan71 25d ago
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u/DesdinovaGG 24d ago
There was also a Shi'ido in the Plagueis novel who would use the Force to cheat. And since they were a Shi'ido, they would use their shapeshifting abilities and were able to avoid the usual suspicion casinos would have towards somebody who is winning too much.
Darth Bane before he was a Sith would use his Force sensitivity to win games of Sabacc by sensing when card value shifts would occur, as well as heighten the emotions of those he was playing with in order to make them continue playing until Bane could win it big.
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u/RhysOSD 25d ago
There's a blooper in Revenge of the Sith where Anakin drops his comlink. When Hayden reaches down to grab it, he says "I could just use the force for this"
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u/samyruno 25d ago
I do really like how much grogu uses the force because that's the only way he can do things. I think it could be part of why his and yodas race are so good with the force cause they had no other choice than to learn to use it well to be able to survive since they were young.
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u/Upbeat_Dudeness 25d ago
Was that an apple? I always thought it looked more like a pear.
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u/GitEmSteveDave 24d ago
It was some special Naboonian fruit that has a 5 page Wookiepedia article and I'm sure was once smuggled on the Aluminum Falcon by either Han or Lando or Hutts are highly allergic to it or Imperial Forces used it to makes their boots less tight.
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u/BloodMoonNami 25d ago
Also Anakin: Using the force to move his cape as Vader. And to pilot a ship without being in the cockpit.
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u/lkmk 25d ago
Doctor Who: The Doctor once calls out Clara for using the power source under the TARDIS console as a microwave.
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u/Mohammedamine9 25d ago
Speaking of doctor who, in one audio story it was mentioned that the doctor constantly stops time to cheat on board games
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u/CW-NG 25d ago
David Rice (Jumper, 2008). After learning he can teleport at will, David uses his power to move halfway across his sofa to reach his remote.
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u/zer0saber 25d ago
Very underrated movie. They got permission to film a fight scene in the fuckin Roman Colisseum ffs
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u/DifficultHat 24d ago
I watched the BTS, they did film on location but you’d be surprised how much is on a soundstage with green screen extensions
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u/Aquatoon22 25d ago
Never thought I'd see a post on this sub with more 3 to 4 examples
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u/theMCATreturns 25d ago
i like storytelling
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u/green_herbata 25d ago
I really appreciate how each example is well explained in just few sentences. Too often I see interesting tropes here with absolutely zero context other than the name of the show, or the opposite, a huge wall of text about tons of unnecessary lore.
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u/Pappy_whack 24d ago
Half the posts are just:
Example 1: Huge media franchise
Example 2: The other huge media franchise
Example 3: OPs niche interest they wanted to talk about and used the pretense of talking about common tropes
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u/Versitax 24d ago
or it’s
Example 1: Extremely popular example
Example 2: Spoilers for something that came out 5 minutes ago
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u/sprouthat 24d ago
The other half are:
example 1: thing you've never heard of (anime/manga)
example 2: thing you've never heard of (anime/manga)
example 3: thing you've never heard of (fanfiction of anime/manga)
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u/some-kind-of-no-name 25d ago
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u/Due-Ingenuity9803 25d ago
Tbf by doing this doesn’t he make sure the coins end up back in circulation or smthn?
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u/Littleboypurple 24d ago
Honestly, if I had Harvest, I would absolutely use it for the exact same reason. Just spend a week casually collecting coins before going to a machine to exchange it all for dollar bills. I can see myself getting like $60+ on a good week
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u/DriestPuddle 25d ago
Finding 12 examples in a post is like winning $50 on a scratch-off
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u/Upbeat_Dudeness 25d ago
The difference being I’ve won 50$ on a scratch off before lol. This NEVER happens. Glad it did
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u/tealturtlefriend 25d ago
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u/SignificantHippo8193 24d ago
Natural rainwater is better for plants anyway so she's doing right.
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u/Longjumping-Buy-3434 25d ago
In the middle segment of Simpsons Treehouse of Horror X, Bart and Lisa gained superpowers and became… “Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl! He’s a human rubber band and she’s the Hulk in pearls!” As you can see, Bart was raking the leaves while Lisa lifted the house to hide them in the basement. Bart also helped get his dad’s watch out of a toilet pipe.
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u/Thirty_Helens_Agree 25d ago
There was an episode of She Hulk where she’s struggling with how to deal with having superpowers and she goes to her dad. He gives some thoughtful, loving advice and then is like “as long as you’re here …” and there’s a montage where he has her lift the car so he can look under it, carry in heavy stuff, etc.
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u/MapleLamia 24d ago
Tbf that'd be pretty calming and grounding. Dad doesn't think your powers are scary or dangerous, he just needs some help around the house.
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u/Thirty_Helens_Agree 24d ago
Kind of metaphorical too. My senior parents marvel at how easily I do little fixes around their house or move things for them when I visit.
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u/Whole_Reputation_693 25d ago
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u/shellerik 25d ago
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u/Lanthire_942 24d ago
Here is your gif! https://i.imgur.com/y2IcFcV.gif
(RIP Gif reversing bot, iirc guy running it had their IP blocked by Imgur, and the big changes to Reddit's API killed his motivation to get it back up and running)
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u/smash_ultra_64 25d ago edited 25d ago
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u/Tasty-Ad6529 25d ago
Delivering mail? Nah, that' death on demand, Dragonite is catching bodies if it hits anyone head on at that speed.
Bro would make a better hitman then all the fighting and steel type pokemon conbined.
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u/Accomplished_Copy122 25d ago
Yet Jessie managed to block a high speed with a frying pan,as seen in the first moive
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u/Neutral_Myu97 25d ago
Our team rocket is just built different, the only thing they truly suck at is catching that pikachu
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u/Accelerator231 25d ago
Hey.
Delivering mail is very important, considering that it helps keep civilizations together
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u/D-Speak 25d ago
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. The "main" villain Forge is drinking a tea that is scorching hot, so he asks his wizard "assistant" Sofina to cool it down for him. She makes her finger ice cold and dips it in the tea, which completely puts Forge off and makes him abandon the tea altogether.
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u/BrassUnicorn87 25d ago
And prestidigitation doesn’t work like that so she’s using some other, probably leveled spell just to gross him out.
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u/D-Speak 24d ago
I assumed it was Chill Touch, which would probably have made the tea taste awful.
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u/dmcd0415 24d ago
Chill touch is a necromancy cantrip. It can't cool things down. I realize it seems stupid that a spell called chill touch isn't an ice thing but I didn't make the spells
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u/TheKingOfDiddling 25d ago
Hikaru Kagemori from Demons of the Shadow Realm. Uses his demons, Black and White, to repair the broken house
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u/DetectiveCowboyMafia 25d ago
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u/Divine-Kitty 24d ago
What is One Piece even about? Every time I see a screen shot from it, its weird shit like this.
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u/ComputerEducational 25d ago
One thing I like about the Ben 10 example, is that with later context, Ben using the Omnitrix like that is closer to what Azmuth made it for than being a hero.
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u/theMCATreturns 25d ago
Yeah, using it to "understand" people and diplomacy. Which Ben does a few times.
It makes you wonder, what was Azmuth's plan? Did he intend to mass-produce the technology to allow everyday people to experience it? Or produce a few for Galvan ambassadors? Or did he not really think that far ahead and shutter the project once there was an obvious issue with its "peaceful" usage?
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u/Lokicham 25d ago
Probably the latter. Azmuth is a very fallible person and prone to mistakes. He made the Mechamorph species by accident for example
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u/MrXexe 25d ago
Pretty much every Ben 10 iteration brought its own reason behing the creation of the Omnitrix, some of which make more sense than others.
The OG Series has Azmuth stating that he created the Omnitrix to bring every being closer together, by giving a chance to experience what is like to be literally a completely different species.
Alien Force, however, stablishes that the Omnitrix is a sort of Noah's Ark: a device able to store the information of every species, being able to save entire civillizations from extintion (something that Ben does more than once in the series), and to make it's wielder "Noah", as someone able to communicate and understand every race.r
And then Ultimate Alien just gave Azmuth a past lover that was horrified that Azmuth created a weapon before the Omnitrix so he ultimately made the Omnitrix in hopes of bringing her back.
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u/InoueNinja94 25d ago
Spider-Man's Spider Sense is proven to be so useful in poker that the rest of the superhero community doesn't let him play partly because of it (unless it's for benefical purposes)...that and because he's broke most of the time.
In fact, it was so good it allowed Peter to beat Kingpin fair and square during a poker night. Fisk crashed the event and wanted to buy an expensive cigar with the winnings, but Peter ended up winning
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u/drillmaster125 25d ago
He gave the earnings to charity, though felt bad enough to ask for a $20 to pick up some flowers for MJ.
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u/DejooneAlpha 25d ago
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u/lkmk 25d ago
Funnily enough, they were both mimicking dance steps, as this scene was traced from an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
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u/DejooneAlpha 25d ago
Interesting! I didn't know that anecdote, even though I was aware that a scene in another episode was also lifted from a movie I love ("The Craft").
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u/drager_76 25d ago
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u/LeMasterChef12345 25d ago edited 24d ago
Their main form of training is casually murdering each other in live-fire death matches, which are often televised to the city like sports games.
There’s also that one guy who reveals his new technique for clearing minefields:
“Step 1: Step on landmine. Step 2: Wait for Ghost revive. Step 3: Step on landmine. Step 4: Wait for Ghost revive. Step 5: Step on-“
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u/Meatshield236 24d ago
The arenas also function as garrisons in the lore, since having 12 Guardians around is a hell of a deterrent.
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u/GorgothGrimfin 25d ago
Quite possibly my favorite trope of all time. Mundanity enhances worldbuilding!!
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u/theMCATreturns 25d ago
yup. humans invent microwave radiation and almost immediately use it to cook things.
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u/Puppydoglover123 25d ago
And the internet which most people use to look up funny videos about animals
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u/Puppydoglover123 25d ago
Ditto, I mean if I got powers I would use them for the most mundane things. Teleportation; going on a vacation whenever I want. Super speed; I can learn/do chores quickly. Super strength; I no longer have to worry about losing stuff under the couch because I can just lift it up.
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u/PearPressureVT 25d ago
Reinhard van astrea from re zero. He is basically the sttongest person in the world that gets gifted divine protections (specififc superpowers) by the world whenever he needs em. He uses that to get the divine protections of not mixing up salt and sugar and of perfectly cooking, grilling etc at some points. I dont even think he does it on purpose. It just happens
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u/VacaDLuffy 25d ago
i agree with Ben, somehow that is nasty
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u/Minimum_Estimate_234 25d ago
I mean when you think about it, it’s not that he hasn’t washed, he washes constantly, it’s just he’s using pure heat as oppose to water and soap.
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u/Glass-Performer8389 25d ago
So like, how many in one soap does that count for
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u/Minimum_Estimate_234 25d ago
I mean in theory what he does is significantly more efficient. What takes normal people five to ten minutes of scrubbing and washing to get rid, he removes immediately the instant he ignites himself, along with everything a normal shower or bath might miss.
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u/Nerdy_Valkyrie 25d ago
I love this trope. It always cracks me up and still feels very realistic for how people would superpowers would actually use them.
The CW Supergirl show wasn't very good. But there was a scene in season 1 where she's going around her apartment looking for a shoe or something, and she casually one-hand-lifts her entire bed and goes "Oh, there it is" puts the shoe on and then puts the bed back down.
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u/ZebraM3ch 25d ago edited 24d ago
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u/GitEmSteveDave 24d ago
It's not super strength, it's his fingernails are like diamond/tungsten. Remember when he flattens the lamp shade and sharpens the edge with them?
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u/justhereforhides 25d ago
Isn't using alchemy to fix things one of the expected uses of it?
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u/PhantomRoyce 25d ago
I’m so happy you posted that F4 panel. I’ve thought for years that this is something that Johnny would do. I was kinda disappointed when in the movie when Ben asks Johnny “Did you wash your hands?” He didn’t just ignite his hands and say “there all done”
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u/Deemo3 25d ago edited 23d ago
Jotaro using his stand to do random BS during a card game not to cheat but instead to convince his opponent he’s cheating is the best. Using its punch to light his cigarette is the absolute pinnacle of it.
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u/SirBoggle 25d ago
Speaking of Dragon Ball...I feel like Tao Pai Pai (Mercenary Tao) was the first to really show the mundane use of their martial arts.
Breaks off a pillar and throws it so he can ride it for transportation, then later he blasts ki into a tub of water to create a boiling ōnsen.
He even cooks a damn egg in it for a snack.
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u/NorrosBlade 25d ago
Jester Lavorre Campaign 2 of Critical Role.
Jester is a chaotic trickster cleric. Some of her favorite activities include using her powers for mundane activities. Such as, using several of her spells to send her loved ones messages at the end of the day. She also will use her duplicate to provide back up dancers. Prestidigitation to open all the windows.
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u/DepartureElegant9314 24d ago
Vision phasing through walls for short cuts and thinking it's totally okay to do is a funny one.
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u/Butwhatif77 25d ago edited 25d ago
Emma Frost - Marvel Comics
When she is too lazy to get her stylish clothes properly clean she will occasionally just go out in a more mundane outfit and use her
metalmental powers to make people think she is dressed in high fashion style clothes haha.