An Overwhelming Presence

We’ve all dreamed about it at least once. Being able to just go around and take out enemies with just a snap of our fingers. It’s why games that have you level up and grow more powerful are so popular. Players are able to pretend for a second that they are this character and that there’s nothing that can stop them. This state of power is something that only villains are able to experience so to be able to experience it firsthand is exhilarating. And to see how you, someone who at one point was struggling to just fight a slime now able to one shot a group of them gives you a sense of accomplishment. It’s part of the reason seeing characters in anime become overpowered is so fun to watch.

When you see a character start off as incredibly weak, you can’t help but sympathize with them. You want to see them grow up to be strong, kind of like a parent with their child. As they continue to gain more powers and abilities and take down enemies, you’re right there like a proud parent watching them go. Throughout the journey to get this way you’ve gained an attachment to the character and now can’t help but jump for joy when you see them dominating everyone. In this way they’re able to change the hero’s journey's end goal from defeating the big bad to instead becoming overpowered. It’s a way to almost trick you into wanting an overpowered character without you even realizing it.

But what about those characters who are overpowered from the start? There was no journey with them so why do we care about them? Well it depends on how the character is portrayed. Many people find the usual “character gets sent to another world and becomes overpowered” story to be quite boring. This is because in these stories the character doesn’t have a lot going for them and is essentially a blank slate. For many people this is fine as it allows them to put themselves in the role of the protagonist and pretend that they’re them, however it ultimately makes it so that many of these shows feel the same. In certain cases however, shows have leaned into the premise of the character being overpowered and structured the show around it.

Overlord is a great example of this. The main character finds himself in a world similar to the game he was playing with the overpowered character he created. The thing that makes this show truly unique is the fact that while most shows would have him be a hero, instead he acts very much like a villain. We essentially watch his journey to conquer the world in order to create his own ideal world. For us it's fun seeing how this world responds to the menace that is our protagonist as well as what he does to accomplish his goals. But what truly makes it interesting is seeing a protagonist act like a villain when we’re so used to them being a hero.

Overpowered characters will always be a subject that has people divided. While it can be fun seeing how the world reacts to them, if not done properly it can lead to a boring story. But when they are done right, it can lead to fulfilling a long desired power fantasy.

 

 

 

Logan Floyd-Mcgee | Writer
POP-COOLEDTURED SPECIALIST
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