Most fiction is about people doing things that other people can’t do. Sometimes they have powers beyond the realm of possibility, sometimes they’re so good at real-world skills that they become gods, sometimes they’re just talented. However, almost every gift has a downside and every story needs a conflict. As a result, tons of stories bless their characters with a curse and watch what happens.
What is thenarrative purpose of superpowers? The answer is multifaceted, wildly varied, and different in almost every case. They could be in the story to spice up action scenes, but they could just as easily be a metaphor for some form of weakness. Marrying a character’s power to their weakness or granting them a power that is a weakness can add a lot to the narrative.
RELATED:The Lovecraftian Superpower Trope In Horror, Explained
Ask a hardcore comic book fan, there’s no perfect superpower. Immortals never face death, but they slowly lose everyone they love in an endless nightmare with no escape. Mind readers hold knowledge that’s inaccessible to everyone else, but some of that information is harmful. Super strength is consistently useful, but the slightest slip of the hand could have cataclysmic results. A character is Blessed with Suck whentheir power is too embarrassing, limited, or dangerous to use. In the worst cases, their gift could ruin their lives without ever being useful. The limits of negative superpowers are endless. Maybe they only got the power to solve a specific problem, only to discover that their power makes it worse. Maybe they were promised a stellar power, only to wind up with something useless. Maybe they were granted their power by a genie or monkey’s paw that’s trying to teach them a lesson. Whatever the case, the character loses more than they gain.
The obvious origin point for this trope is Greek Mythology. The story of King Midas is the go-to shorthand to refer to someone shortsightedlyruining everything in the pursuit of greed. Midas isn’t actually an example of the genie fallacy, in which a seemingly logical wish is twisted to its worst possible extreme. Midas earned the favor of Dionysus after showing the deity’s tutor hospitality and returning him in one piece. When Midas requests the golden touch, Dionysus is quick to inform him that it’s an extremely stupid request, but he’s bound by his word to deliver. Midas swiftly regrets his knee-jerk decision and promptly starves to death. Ancient myths like this one went on to inform Aesop’s fables, cementing the Blessed in Suck trope as a solid storytelling device.
It’s hard to find a comic book superhero who doesn’t get a bit of suck out of the deal. The X-Men are often a great example. Before even dealing with their powers, being a mutant is an inherent drawback in the bigoted world of the comics. Rogue, Wolverine,Cyclops, and dozens of othercharacters with biological gifts are at constant risk of accidentally killing everyone within their reach. Then some characters are simply too powerful. Black Bolt, for example, will cause the end of the world if he ever utters a single sound. Deadpool and The Thing had to give up their lives to get their powers, utterly unloved as a result of their new appearances. People are often sympathetic to the powerless members of the Avengers, but they seem to be the only ones with unmixed successes.
The Blessed with Suck superpower has a second life in satirical works. Steve Blackman’s TV adaptation ofGerard Way’sThe Umbrella Academyhas several interesting spins on the concept. The premise mixes classic superhero action with earnest dysfunctional family drama. The main characters are the Hargreeves siblings, seven adults with fantastical powers who suffered overwhelming abuse at the hands of their father. Each sibling has a gift and a drawback.
Luther’s super strength causes regular slapstick disasters and comes with disgusting physical deformations.Diego’s trajectory control trappedhim in a box that led him to a career in armed vigilante violence. Allison’s verbal reality manipulation resulted in justified imposter syndrome, robbing her life of challenge and her mind of the joy of accomplishment. Klaus’s mediumship power is a literal curse, keeping him haunted every minute of every day and forcing him into several substance abuse issues just to turn it off. Five’s time travel ruined his life, trapping him in a lonely wasteland and consistently forcing him into new nightmares. The monster trapped in Ben has caused him nothing but harm. OnceViktor finally learned about his power, he used it to end the world twice. The show is a perfect stage for every form of Blessed with Suck.
The Blessed with Suck trope is practically mandatory across all superhero media. People don’t like stories aboutcharacters capable of anything. There must be some level of conflict to create a narrative. Granting a character infinite power never works out, but locking them into a mutually destructive contract can be very entertaining. Never look at a being with a gift and assume they never paid a price. The drawbacks are often the most interesting part.
MORE:The ‘Awesome But Temporary’ Gaming Trope Explained
