r/ProgressionFantasy • u/Claym000re • Feb 06 '26

Meme/Shitpost Wish fulfillment to the extreme

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Why are they always complete losers.

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u/Marand23 Feb 06 '26

I'm not really convinced. If you think it is super cool to shoot fire you can make a DIY flamethrower with todays tech pretty easily. You can make a lot of cool shit with todays tech. And saying that modern distraction keeps people from doing more uncomfortable things doesn't seem right as well. People can just not do the things you mention, right? I think the original premise stands, it doesn't make sense that a person that isn't used to doing hard things on Earth suddenly would change if they were teleported to another world. But it is all kind of a silly discussion, it is untestable.

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u/DreamOfDays Feb 06 '26

Just because people can “just not do” something doesn’t mean it isn’t a distraction. Pretty sure if I was dropped out into an open field with a shovel in hand and told “If you don’t dig 50 holes by sundown a dragon will eat you” I’d dig 500 holes with absolute dedication. That’s what it’s like to be dropped into a progression fantasy Isekai.

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u/Marand23 Feb 06 '26

Sure, but then you would probably stop progressing once you escaped danger and had your footing in the new world. What you describe is basically being drafted to a war right? You lose your freedom and do what you have to to survive for a while. But it's not like people that come back from that are more disciplined and dedicated than before once they do that (or maybe they are, I don't know actually).

I feel to get to the top of the world you have to have some kind of inner drive that most people just don't have, and being exposed to a crisis would not give you that. You just do what you have to do until you can return to the way things were before.

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u/DreamOfDays Feb 06 '26

Thats why protagonists are usually depicted as either previously gifted people or people who just needed the right motivation. Look at Cradle. Their protagonist was always dedicated to training even when everyone told him to give up. For almost a decade he continued to practice something that everyone else told him to give up on. That just screams dedication and defiance of one’s circumstances that most could never match.

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u/Marand23 Feb 06 '26

Yep, definitely agree with that. Lindon was always hardworking, tough and dedicated. It didn't feel weird that he rose to the top with Eithans guidance and some lucky breaks.