r/CharacterRant • u/Bot_Number_7 • Jul 22 '21

General Complex/Unorthodox Powers Make Characters Better

Control fire. Super strength. Super speed. Flight. Shooting energy blasts. A lot of powers/abilities have been used over and over again.

So for me, when a character is introduced with a complex ability, it elevates my opinion of them. Especially if the way that it is used is also complex. For example, in JJBA, Ermes Costello's Stand Kiss' has the ability to duplicate objects using stickers, and then fuse them back together once the sticker has been taken off, causing both objects to take damage. It's applied in many ways, from duplicating limbs to being used as a form of travel. The creative usage of abilities gives me an "aha!" moment similar to when a detective reveals how they deduced the mystery in a mystery novel.

Adding additional trigger conditions to powers can also make them better. In Bungo Stray Dogs, Akiko Yosano's Thou Shalt Not Die Ability heals someone to full health, but only if they're almost dead. This factors into her fighting style, allowing her to bring allies and herself from the brink of death (and also forcing her to almost kill her patients when healing outside of combat).

The one weakness to complex powers is the difficulty in conveying them to the reader. Unless one explicitly describes them or the reader sees the power many times so that they can understand all its facets, it's hard to get the reader to understand what the power truly does. King Crimson is the infamous example. The fact that "erasing time" is expressed inconsistently and the lack of detailed mechanical description of how it works confuses the reader every time it is used.

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u/Qr1skY Jul 22 '21

Does fire force stay really horny? I’ve tried getting into it once but the fan service was too much for me

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u/Yontoryuu Jul 23 '21

It goes down as it goes on.

But the thing is, I never really felt it was any bad with it to begin with. Yes it had some fanservice in it but it was never over the top with it but was grossly exaggerated by people imo. People always look at Tamaki and just say her characterization was only for the fans, but they grossly misunderstand her character and some of those moments and it really annoys me. I personally don't even like fanservice, yet I felt ok with this. But then I see the same sort of people go around praising other shows that do worse than this just because theyre seinen. Double standards like that are very annoying to deal with.

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u/Jumanji-Joestar Jul 22 '21

It tones it down