power creep
/ˈpaʊ.ər kriːp/
CommonWhen newer characters or things keep getting more powerful, making the old ones obsolete.
Usually a criticism. Implies the growth is unearned or unsustainable. Also used outside fiction to describe inflation of standards, salaries, or expectations.
Real-world examples4 examples
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | power creep in yugioh is so bad. cards from 2018 are unplayable now. | New card releases have made older cards completely obsolete. | reddit, 2024 |
| 02 | the power creep in this show hit different. the guy who was feared in season 1 is mid tier now. | A character who seemed powerful early in a series is now unremarkable. | x, 2023 |
| 03 | salaries have power crept so hard that 100k feels entry level now | What used to be a high salary is now considered barely adequate. | x, 2024 |
| 04 | linkedin résumés hit by power creep. people listing AI skills for jobs that didn't exist two years ago. | Job application expectations keep rising faster than the roles actually require. | reddit, 2024 |
Use it when
- New game cards, characters, or units are consistently stronger than older ones.
- A show's power levels have inflated so much that early characters seem irrelevant.
- Standards or expectations in a field keep rising to the point that previous achievements feel meaningless.
- Something that used to be impressive is now baseline.
Do not use it when
- You just mean a character got stronger through earned development.Use “power-scaling” instead.
Power creep vs power scaling
power creep
Power creep is the design problem where new things keep outclassing old ones.
VS
power-scaling
Power scaling is the fan practice of comparing and ranking how strong things are.
Origin and context
Originated in trading card game communities, particularly Magic: The Gathering, where the term described the tendency for new card sets to release cards stronger than those in older sets. Spread to other games and then to anime discourse.
- First seen
- 2000s
- Confidence
- high
Cite this page
Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/power-creepUpdated: 2026-08-28License: CC BY 4.0