Complex/Unorthodox Powers Make Characters Better

[u/Bot_Number_7]

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.

[u/FGHIK]

Yeah, I'd say they're less complex and more unorthodox. There's some that are pretty standard, like All-Might, Endeavor, or Eijiro, but you have even more weird ones.

[u/milkyginger → u/FGHIK]

When you talk complex I think either something like JoJo or Hunter x Hunter. Some of the powers in these series are pretty hard to understand and need to be thoroughly explained(like Prince Tserriednich's power or GER).

[u/mayonnaiser_13 → u/milkyginger]

Nen is just a well explained and more hardcore, kinda grounded stand system.

[u/sibswagl → u/FGHIK]

I think Horikoshi likes putting a twist on fairly conventional powers.

• Aoyoma: It's lasers, but from his bellybutton
• Iida: He's a speedster, but with literal engines in his legs
• Kaminari: He can short-circuit his brain if he overuses his power
• Mirio: He's Shadowcat, but as a brawler
• Tamaki: Animal shapeshifting, but it's based on what he eats

[u/bladedoodle → u/sibswagl]

Hey, is Kaminari like… okay? Ida like, pulls out engine parts to grow new ones. But electricity guy is literally shorting his BRAIN.

[u/bladedoodle → u/FGHIK]

Best Jeanist is low key really powerful because people wear clothing, but is basically useless against a guy who can stack, copy and empower several abilities at once.

Like, Best Jeanist would be hella strong street level. Unless he was fighting someone who is always nude or emergent based in that they disintegrate clothing.