Luffy Eating the Gum-Gum Fruit
I’m going to say ‘some’ because I’m sure I’ll have missed something. There are so many methods of triggering powers or magic. Probably a bunch that haven’t been invented yet. So, let’s dive into the list.
Magical Ingredients/Gestures/Words
I’m going to start with the big fantasy one, which is rather broad. This is rather self-explanatory. Those who use magic tend to need some type of catalyst. It could be components for a spell or ritual. They might need to make certain gestures and know the right words to get the magic to work. Since they’re dealing with a raw energy that is usually a piece of nature, a caster needs a way to call it forth and craft it into the required form. Doing it solely with the mind can be seen as too powerful and make one wonder why training is needed, so this can be used.
Born That Way
Not the greatest catalyst, but it’s fairly common. A character was simply born with these abilities and they get woken up somehow. For mutants in Marvel, this would be puberty activating their genes. For aliens, they’re simply different or exposure to Earth makes them change. For example, Superman gets his powers from absorbing radiation from our sun, but not Krypton’s red sun. Some may say that this isn’t even a catalyst because it’s just how they are. Powers are always there, but they get activated by something else. It’s not always the case though.
Accident
Classic superhero origins. Could be getting caught in a chemical explosion, struck by lightning, or bitten by a special creature. The result is that a normal human being is given powers that they didn’t have before. That or they become a terrifying monster that retains or loses its humanity. The accident catalyst opens the door for the whole ‘coming to terms with the new me’ story arc. It’s a fun ‘man vs self’ conflict that can be pushed alongside other ones.
Eating Something
You might laugh at how I made this category, but it’s amazing how often a character gains power by eating. You have Monkey D. Luffy with the Gum-Gum Fruit, Itadori with the Sukuna fingers, Popeye with Spinach, and the list goes on. Sometimes these powers are permanent and other times they go away once digestion is finished. This type of catalyst makes sense from a biological standpoint too. At least in a simplified way. We get energy from what we eat, so eating something with special abilities means we would get those abilities. Kind of like what holistic medicine claims to do. (Honestly, I do use some stuff from this way of thinking for my health, so I can’t mock it.) Potions would fall into this category as well.
EMOTION!
I was going to say ‘rage’ entirely since that’s a common power catalyst. Then, I remember how many times I’ve seen other emotions trigger a surge in strength. We make fun of the whole ‘power of friendship’ boost trope, but it’s around. Happiness and love don’t get used as much as rage, but they show up at times. The concept works off how our emotions can cause physical symptoms to appear. You can understand why rage is the big one when it comes to triggering a surge in strength. When angry, we want to attack and fight whatever has hurt us. It would be a challenge to use other emotions to trigger abilities, but not an impossible task.
Technology
Not really sure how to go into depth with this one or if it counts. I’m talking about characters who simply create or find advanced tech to make themselves stronger. I guess these would be physical catalysts, but it’s really a stretch for me. Tony Stark builds his suits with intent and doesn’t just stumble onto them. I think. Probably happened once or twice somehow.
Training
Figure I should add this one to the list. Sometimes all one needs for a power to appear is to work hard. This happens a lot with mental powers and stories that involve ki-based fighting. Really not much else to go into on this since it’s easy to figure out. It’s how people get stronger in the real world too.
Legends of Windemere 