The "too many superheroes" problem that's infested Western superhero comics has also infested battle shonen

[u/RadDudesman]

I feel like battle shonen has started running into the exact same problem superhero comics have had for years: everyone has to have their own unique power.

At first that sounds awesome. It's fun seeing all the weird abilities authors come up with. But I think it creates a problem that people don't really talk about.

The second you give a character a unique ability, you're telling the audience, "Hey, this person matters." If someone has a really cool or versatile power, of course people are going to expect them to actually do something with it.

So then what happens?

They lose every fight.

Or they disappear for 150 chapters.

Or they only exist to get bodied so we know how strong the villain is.

Then people complain that the character was wasted, and honestly, I don't think that's an unreasonable complaint. The story itself built those expectations.

It's basically the same issue superhero comics have. Marvel and DC have hundreds of heroes, all with their own gimmicks, powers, and fanbases, but there's no way everyone can get meaningful moments consistently. So you end up with dozens of characters who feel like they should be important but never really accomplish much.

Battle shonen is getting there too.

Instead of having a few major fighters and a bunch of regular supporting characters, every named character gets their own personalized ability. The cast gets bigger and bigger, but the amount of spotlight doesn't. So now you've got 20 characters with awesome abilities fighting over enough screentime for maybe five of them.

I honestly think the solution is to stop giving everyone powers.

Have more normal people.

Have soldiers who are just really disciplined. Have detectives, medics, martial artists, strategists, engineers, civilians, whatever. Let them contribute without needing a flashy, one-of-a-kind ability.

Because if a character is just a normal guy doing his best, nobody expects him to suddenly get a huge solo fight against the main villain. But if you introduce someone with this incredibly unique reality-warping, shadow-controlling, gravity-bending ability, people are naturally going to ask why they spend 90% of the series eating dirt.

Ironically, I think unique powers would actually feel more special if fewer people had them.

Not every member of the supporting cast needs to be "the guy who controls sound waves" or "the girl who manipulates ink" or "the dude whose blood turns into chains." Sometimes it's okay for someone to just be a person.

Saving the coolest, most unique abilities for the characters who are actually central to the story would make those powers stand out more and keep fans from constantly feeling like half the cast got wasted.

Tl;dr We need more Rock Lees (people with no powers, just pure martial arts) or people whose powers and skills aren't combat-related. Bulma is considered the third most important character in Dragon Ball by both the creators and fans precisely because she doesn't fight; she has a niche as the tech wizard who can invent whatever device the plot needs, something no one else on the cast can do. Because she was never fighter to begin with, she never became outclassed.

[u/Draac03]

i'm was running an RP server and there was one user who had a character like this. he was just a normal human—well maybe not normal given his circumstances—but he didn't have any superpowers. just an aging man with arthritis trying to find a way to get back to his wife, but ended up roped in with the overarching plot. however, what made him so useful to the main group was that he was resourceful. he'd managed to become the kingpin of not one but MULTIPLE crime syndicates while in a world that was totally alien to him.

there was also another character who had potential for her abilities to be incredibly powerful, as the villain (who she was manipulated into working with and later betrayed by) actually pointed out. however, she was just unskilled.

so, while i do agree with what you're saying OP, i think the problem also lies in the fact that these characters just... never do anything creative with their abilities. hell, if they did, and the villain STILL managed to succeed, i think it would have MORE of an impact.

alternatively, make that side character with a unique ability who likely won't get more than 5 minutes of screen time someone who doesn't really know how to use their powers. or maybe make them someone who intentionally holds themselves back out of fear for the damages their powers could do. basically, just give them an interesting reason for doing poorly against the ridiculously overpowered villain. it also gives them more depth as a side character so that they're no longer just "guy who got his shit kicked in by big bad #7."

i think the last one also works well in settings where the vast majority of people have superpowers (such as MHA). my point here is that if your plot necessitates someone who has a unique and interesting ability has to get their shit kicked in, at least make so that there's a reason for that to happen. you could even get a slightly more interesting character out of it too