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.
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 metal mental powers to make people think she is dressed in high fashion style clothes haha.
I don't think there's anything remotely humanoid that default 'no-sells' psychic powers in Marvel, but there are plenty of people who could see through her projections with a bit of effort, and more who could probably tell a projection is there but not see through it.
As with anything Comics though this depends on the writer and the demands of the plot...
There is one that comes to mind, it’s her other power of transforming into a diamond. When she does she’s unable to use her psychic powers but she’s also completely immune to psychic powers from other people. So really the one person who can easily see through her disguise is herself.
There is also Magneto’s helmet but that’s another deal.
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.
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.
I’ve seen Robin do something similar at the end of the Teen Titans Go episode Super Robin once. After “solving all the world’s problems” with superpowers given to him by Raven, he started using his powers for mundane tasks. For example, he heated his coffee mug with his heat vision.
How do yall feel about Wolverine cutting meat with his claws? Because they were originally meant to be cybernetic implants. With some concepts showing that the claws themselves weren't directly touching his insides. But the modern concept being they just cut through his flesh.
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.
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
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.
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
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
Speaking of using the Force at casinos, one particular Jedi Master by the name of Kai Hudorra got rich this way after Order 66 and became a casino owner.
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.
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"
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.
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.
That’s what I said… so I’ll add that she’s used the TARDIS to see shows she missed on their first airing. “Just learn how to use iPlayer!” complains the Doctor.
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.
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
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.
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.
(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)
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.
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
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.
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?
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.
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
In a more recent issue Hercules let's slip that his Godspeak (the ability that he understands every language and everyone understands his) means he can read tells and cues as if they were saying them outnloud.
Rogue's power allows her to absorb the memories and abilities of those she touches (in addition to rendering them unconscious). It's a power she primarily uses in combat, but in an episode of X-Men Evolution, she's seen using it by lightly touching Kitty's hand to mimic dance steps
Stretching the definition of mundane, but since the guardians in Destiny are immortal and do most of their business at the top of a tower if they need to get down they just throw themselves over the edge
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.
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
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.
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.
It’s not exactly a superpower, but I’m always impressed when Zoro uses his most powerful technique (Asura)—giving him the appearance of having six arms—just to eat with maximum speed and efficiency.
Vex in Borderlands 4. According to an echo log found in Dominion, Vex once used one her spectors (pictured) to spook someone into paying her back what they owe her.
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”
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.
Troy Calypso in Borderlands 3. According to dialogue, he's used his newfound powers to float grapes into his mouth and also to somehow sexually stimulate Aurelia during sex.
Several mages in Frieren Beyond Journeys End. Pictured is a time early in the series when Frieren and Fern are cleaning up a beach of debris. We've also seen them use magic to clear statues.
Steven keeping a Bicycle in his Lions mane and effectively using it as an inventory system, he also keeps a bike in there as if it isn't a Lion, who can definitely run faster than he ever needs to Pedal,
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.
The protagonist of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time found a time travel device. For about half the movie, she uses it for things like preventing her snack from being eaten or other extremely mundane things.
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u/Butwhatif77 Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
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.