http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ReedRichardsIsUseless

You're smart enough to invent it. Therefore, you're surely smart enough to duplicate it, changing human society forever. Right?

Stardust the Super Wizard , Fantastic Comics #14 "Stardust, whose vast knowledge of interplanetary science has made him the most remarkable man that ever lived, devotes his abilities to crime-busting..."

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The observation that in some genres, characters can have fantastic technology far beyond our own, yet this technology only gets used to solve equally fantastic problems.

A person who controls weather will never make it rain in drought-stricken areas, or stop the rain during terrible flooding, or stop a heatwave. A person who can control water will never douse bush fires or burning buildings, or get a job at a power station. And a supergenius (such as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four) can save the life of starving demi-god beings like Galactus, but will never take a weekend to duplicate and market Doctor Doom's burn-victim cure device or release his inventions that could solve a variety of real-world problems (and earn their creator millions of dollars). All potential solutions to real-life problems will only be done in novel (fictional) situations—useless. Status Quo Is God, and the status quo of the real world even more so. It's the same reason you can't stop Hitler from starting World War II.

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There are several typical motivations for this:

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This trope is often associated with the Fantastic Aesop that these problems don't have easy solutions in the real world, and any proposed sci-fi solutions will have negative side-effects or potential for abuse that justifies completely abandoning all hope of trying to solve the problem. However, during times when superhero comics especially begin to explore the ramifications of their characters on real-world settings more closely, this question is raised and addressed more frequently. It is sometimes lampshaded as making people "too dependent" on superheroes: good thing that Jonas Salk didn't feel that way.

Smaller-scale continuities such as newly-created Super Hero universes with a single author to explore the fictional world in 1 or 2 titles are more likely to avert and examine the concept of super-technology's effect on modern society, especially if the writer is trying to make a geopolitical statement. Larger superhero continuities, such as Marvel Comics and DC Comics, are established to have upheld this trope as their Earths have been explored in extensive detail. The trope can be inverted by having a hero "inventing" a technological revolution that already exists (for example, the Ultimate Universe Iron Man apparently invented the MP3 player).

An explanation that is often used is that the invention is a product of The Spark of Genius; either the inventor couldn't remember how it works after they come out of their inventing frenzy, or their notes were incomprehensible, or it simply doesn't work for anyone else because it is really Magic-Powered Pseudoscience or something similar. This is more commonly found in Deconstructions, such as Wild Cards, where explaining this sort of plot element is a part of the purpose of the story.

See Plausible Deniability and Mundane Utility for aversions, and You Are Not Ready for a Deconstruction. Antonym to Alternate Universe Reed Richards Is Awesome. Compare Super Prototype, Superman Stays Out of Gotham and Dudley Do-Right Stops to Help. When gods are the ones not doing anything, it's The Gods Must Be Lazy. When applied to supervillains, see Cut Lex Luthor a Check.

Examples:

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There's a commercial where a couple train their son to be able to dunk a basketball, in order to obtain scholarships later. The kid looks to be about five or six. The implication is that they trained the kid personally, not hired someone, in which case thousands of parents would give their eyeteeth to give their kid that kind of skill. If this ever occurs to the couple or gets out, they're likely set for life. If someone else did it, that person should be set for life. They might be able to revolutionize teen and adult training, fitness, and physical therapy.

There are many food commercials that sidestep the "you have to pay for this product" issue, leading one to wonder why it isn't just handed out to the hungry people of the world.

Anime & Manga

Bennett the Sage points out in his review of the 8th Man After that it makes no sense why the scientist who created 8 Man (a robot-human hybrid), has been withholding drugs from the world that allows people to receive cybernetic limb implants without going insane.

of the 8th Man After that it makes no sense why the scientist who created 8 Man (a robot-human hybrid), has been withholding drugs from the world that allows people to receive cybernetic limb implants without going insane. In episode 57 of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Sasuke explains that Naruto is able to make over 1000 shadow clones of himself (after Boruto makes an excuse about shuriken skills not being his specialty). And yes, we have seen him use these clones to do visits to people while he's stuck at his desk. But ummmm, why doesn't he use them to do paperwork? Even ten of him could help sign off on forms, or stamp things, while the main one makes the executive decisions. Instead, these mountains of paperwork grow over the serious, until by this point they consume his entire schedule and he has to miss Himawari's birthday by having his shadow clone fail. This is less a profit motive, though, and more a "avoiding overtime" motive. With his clones, he can have more family time and even have a more personal role as Hokage, but instead he uses about one clone, and just to attend meetings or media interviews. It should be noted that the Shadow Clone jutsu, when dispelled, will cause the memories of the clone to go to the user. Additionally, the clones may end up thinking differently than the original. Perhaps Naruto is cocnerned over information overload or that the clone may make a different decision than the original.

This is less a profit motive, though, and more a "avoiding overtime" motive. With his clones, he can have more family time and even have a more personal role as Hokage, but instead he uses about one clone, and just to attend meetings or media interviews. Deliberately invoked by Academy City in A Certain Magical Index. They are estimated to be several decades ahead of the rest of the world in terms of technology, and some of the stuff they take for granted could easily revolutionize various sciences and solve a ton of problems. However, they also want to remain on top of the tech tree, so they refuse to share their technology until after they've made it obsolete. But even then it's still cutting-edge to the rest of the world.

Dragon Ball Z: Dr. Gero's Android 17 and 18 have infinite power cells, that never run dry no matter how long they live or how much power they put out in a fight. They do seem to be limited in how much power they can put out at once, though, which keeps them from being complete Game Breakers. Output limitations or not though, Dr. Gero apparently managed to invent a Perpetual Motion Machine. Had he marketed that, he could have instantly become the richest man in history. However, he did work for the Red Ribbon Army, an organization wanting to take over the world and when Dr. Gero lost his son (a soldier of the RR that he would base Android 16 on), he utterly snapped. He spent the rest of his days devoting to killing the one who destroyed the Red Ribbon Army, Goku. Heck, Piccolo himself lampshades this by calling it a "waste of technology", somewhat acknowledging how much good Gero could've done.

In Gundam Build Fighters, scientists 20 Minutes into the Future have developed special particles that allow certain inanimate plastics to move... and the only use this technology sees is in high stakes duels using plastic Gundam model kits. Lampshaded by the character Nils Nielsen, who enters the Gunpla Battle tournament to investigate the Plavsky Particles and see if they can be used for other, more practical pursuits.

In Neko-de Gomen!, the inventions made by both Kuroda and Yayori's father could change the world in many ways and make them very rich if they were to patent them and sell the designs to the proper company or the government.

Justified in Neon Genesis Evangelion, where futuristic giant robots exist but most civilian technology isn't terribly more advanced than what we have in the real world. It's noted that the Evangelions are horrendously expensive to produce, and after Second Impact some countries can barely feed their citizens, much less create innovative new technologies. There's a bit of Fridge Brilliance with this in the manga: in the reset world where Second Impact never occurred, the technology and fashion seem more in line with the real world version of the 21st century, rather than what the show predicted in the 90s .

. At the end of Space Battleship Yamato (the first series), Yamato is saved from Desler's final attack by a reflective force field Sanada erects just in time to deflect the beam back at the Gamilon flagship. This reflective forcefield never appears again, nor is it incorporated into Andromeda or the rest of the new EDF fleet (who do however get their own Wave Motion Guns). It would have made the battles between the Comet Empire, Dark Nebula, Bolar, and Dinguil a lot less bloody hence a lot less dramatic. But most likely, they didn't realize that Yamato would see a popularity surge three years after its unsuccessful run (the original series was truncated due to low ratings).

Death Note is a Deconstruction of this. It features Light finding the title book and initially thinking it should be used to kill criminals. As the series goes on, he goes through Sanity Slippage becoming a Knight Templar.

Comic Books — DC

Comic Books — Marvel

Comic Books — Other

Fan Works

Films — Animation

In Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase the gang goes to visit a friend who has made a video game based off their adventures only for them to discover that he has invented a laser that can digitize and rebuild matter (ala TRON), but instead of testing it as a possibility to solve world problems like hunger or extended/more efficient space travel he stores real items in his game for lazy coding. Eventually Mystery Inc. is transported in and out as well showing that even living things could be moved over great distances.

In Raoul Puke's review of We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story, Puke has this to say: Raoul Puke : So the Neweyes fart tells them that he can use the time machine to travel back in time to grant the wishes of all the children of the world. I would have used it to stop 9/11... unethical jackass. I mean, the Kennedy assassination? The bombing of Pearl Harbor? Really? None of these are more important than entertaining whiny little bastard children? Well, while you're taking requests, : So the Neweyes fart tells them that he can use the time machine to travel back in time to grant the wishes of all the children of the world. I would have used it to stop 9/11... unethical jackass. I mean, the Kennedy assassination? The bombing of Pearl Harbor? Really? None of these are more important than entertaining whiny little bastard children? Well, while you're taking requests, here's a kid named Hitler . He just wants to start his own Third Reich and bring joy and happiness to the world. Why don't you grant him that wish? Huh? HUH? Also mocked in the review of Doug's 1st Movie where The Nostalgia Critic talks about dumb it is that a Shrink Ray is just used for a gag and would be more important than finding a swamp monster.



Films — Live-Action

Literature

Live-Action TV

Myths & Religion

Jesus made one blind man see but didn't bother to cure blindness the world over. Presumably that's within his power. Indeed, much of the drama of that story is the local leaders wondering "Why would he only cure this bum, if he's so all-powerful? There must be an ulterior motive, ergo Jesus is a scam."

Radio

In Adventures in Odyssey, Mr. Whittaker has invented the Imagination Station, a Virtual Reality device in all but name. In one episode, a throwaway line reveals that the machine has grown so sophisticated that the adventures no longer need to be programmed in: one merely needs to scan a book or even a painting to then experience its story in the Station. The Station's "death program" took Mr. Whittaker into a vision of Heaven so powerful that it nearly killed him, while causing the agnostic Eugene to experience an eternity of nothingness. What does he do with the Station? It sits at the back of his soda shop, where kids use it to experience Biblical and historical events. Even when people manage to steal the Imagination Station's technology—which people don't try to do nearly as often as you'd think—they repurpose it for such petty villainy as Subliminal Advertising rather than taking advantage of its unbelievable potential.

Much like Reed Richards' translator, Douglas Adams stated that the reason every alien language can speak English is because everyone has a Babel Fish (from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) in their ear to translate it for us. Not only did the Babel Fish's creation cause God to disappear in a Puff of Logic but it has caused bigger and bloodier wars than anything else in existence from its removal of all language barriers.

Roleplay

Ivy from Dawn of a New Age: Oldport Blues was granted a superpower that allows her to create revolutionary inventions that could change the world. Her reasons for not sharing them are twofold; firstly, her power is such that her genius only lasts as long as she's making her invention. Once it's over, she's back to average intelligence with no way to replicate her success. Secondly, pawning her inventions off would reveal the existence of superpowers, and thus get Ivy and friends on the government's radar, which they're trying to avoid for fear of their safety.

Tabletop Games

Video Games

Webcomics

Web Original

Western Animation