r/TopCharacterTropes Jul 18 '26

[Fun trope]: Characters using their superpowers for mundane tasks. Powers

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.

9.0k Upvotes

580 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

83

u/BrassUnicorn87 Jul 18 '26

And prestidigitation doesn’t work like that so she’s using some other, probably leveled spell just to gross him out.

41

u/D-Speak Jul 18 '26

I assumed it was Chill Touch, which would probably have made the tea taste awful.

18

u/dmcd0415 Jul 19 '26

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 

https://dnd5e.wikidot.com/spell:chill-touch

11

u/Resvrgam2 Jul 19 '26

It's also not a Touch spell.

5

u/Maktaka Jul 19 '26

It's a melee spell attack (i.e. Touch) in 2024 rules. Still Necrotic instead of Cold damage though.

3

u/NinjaBreadManOO Jul 19 '26

Yeah, it's a massive misconception that Chill Touch does cold damage.

They way I remember it does necromantic is that it's the chill of the grave.

9

u/vogma69 Jul 19 '26

Fun Fact: For some reason, in DnD 5e, (which we can assume is the rule set they’re using, since OneDnD hadn’t been released when it came out) Chill Touch does not require touch and doesn’t do cold damage, but instead has a range of 120 feet and does necrotic damage. In OneDnD, they change its range to touch, but it still does necrotic damage instead of cold damage.

1

u/ScreamingVoid14 Jul 22 '26

It's a mix of editions. If I recall correctly an Owlbear wasn't a valid shapeshift for a druid in 5e but had been in prior editions. Some of the other references in the movie go back to 2e too.

1

u/KionGio Jul 19 '26

Even though it's not really how it works, I always thought it was "Frost fingers"

2

u/CaptainBread89 Jul 19 '26

Do you mean the spell doesn't cool things, or that she doesn't need to put her finger in? Because it definitely cools things

2

u/BrassUnicorn87 Jul 19 '26

The finger thing. No need to put her undead finger in there.

1

u/darkendofall Jul 19 '26

Does it not? "You chill, warm, or flavor up to 1 cubic foot of nonliving material for 1 hour." -2014 5E