Subject: A character continues to not be a list!
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Posted on: 2017-07-03 01:51:00 UTC

You can't look at a list of powers and abilities a character has and use that, and that alone, to determine if they're poorly written or not. It's a bit of a cliche to say, perhaps, but the importance is less about what the powers are and more about the how and why of them. Why does your character have fire and lightning fist? Is it related to their character development or the plot at all? Would they be affected negatively if you took those powers away? I was talking to Mikel on the Discord thingy and he mentioned Kakashi as an example - his character is that of a prodigy and (as far as I am aware) a sort of mentor-teacher type. It would, for his character development and his role in the plot, make absolutely no sense if you took his techniques and all away.

You can't judge the powers on their own merits, essentially - there is nothing inherently wrong with a character having both a fire and a lightning fist, just as there is nothing inherently wrong with a character having omnipotence or a character being entirely made of jellybeans. When you're just looking at a character's powers, separated from an actual story or their character development, you're looking at a concept, which really can't be judged at all. It all depends on why your fellow has the fire and lightning fists and what role they have in the story and to the character.

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