Power Fantasy Is Not Bad, Fight Me

Now look, the title is defiantly controversial but let me explain:
(Honorable Mention: Romance Fiction is the true power fantasy, especially when it's a loser MC bagging the baddest girl/woman in the whole school/college/office/sect/clan/country/you know, stuff)
1. A lot of media is power fantasy hidden under good writing, great characters and plot, and overall, and great story, the ones we call power fantasy are just badly written power fantasies
2. Trash Power Fantasies are needed because if you don't know what's bad, you will never know what's good power fantasy
3. Junk Food is needed, if we don't have our McDonalds, we can't make fun of bad stories an overall, have a good time, even reading because of how bad it is that it becomes good

I Rest My Case

MakBow said:

Now look, the title is defiantly controversial but let me explain:
(Honorable Mention: Romance Fiction is the true power fantasy, especially when it's a loser MC bagging the baddest girl/woman in the whole school/college/office/sect/clan/country/you know, stuff)
1. A lot of media is power fantasy hidden under good writing, great characters and plot, and overall, and great story, the ones we call power fantasy are just badly written power fantasies
2. Trash Power Fantasies are needed because if you don't know what's bad, you will never know what's good power fantasy
3. Junk Food is needed, if we don't have our McDonalds, we can't make fun of bad stories an overall, have a good time, even reading because of how bad it is that it becomes good

I Rest My Case

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Well said, king. Your crown is on transit.

Well, I will fight you with Ultra Instinct Goku for absolute defense mode activated super saiyan level 999

Eldoria said:

Well, I will fight you with Ultra Instinct Goku for absolute defense mode activated super saiyan level 999

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I'm using Rimuru, I instantly solo

MakBow said:

Eldoria said:

Well, I will fight you with Ultra Instinct Goku for absolute defense mode activated super saiyan level 999

Click to expand...

I'm using Rimuru, I instantly solo

Click to expand...

This post give me VS Battles Forum flashback. How nostalgic.

Personally, I think if the main focus of the story is some form of conflict, then a power fantasy is kinda bad. There are no stakes if they can just bulldoze everything. No need for conformity. Nothing they have to answer for, as they're essentially god.
Also, I can't help but roll my eyes whenever I see another generic protagonist ace some form of combat test at an academy after having been belittled beforehand.

However, if the focus is something else, like slice of life, then it can be fun. If you add to this some form of flaw, then it may turn out nice.
My Eldritch Goddess, for example, is a teenage girl, who's highly overwhelmed with the situation. The main conflict is basically that she's her own worst enemy. Probably the last person who should wield those powers, not because she's evil, but rather tries to dodge her own powers so hard it severely explodes into her face. Not to speak about trying to preserve her normal daily life.

If the OP character is invested in something, where their powers are no solve-it-all solution, then it's something to consider. Does it help them finding their love? Are they trying to lay low? Do they have any goal where stomping enemies or excessive power can't provide a solution?

Currently, I'm reading "Critical Roleplay" on RR, where the game-transmigrated MC has come to terms with adapting to her game persona's life. Including the fact she got a daughter. She's OP, but there's tension if the daughter is threatened. And by far the most entertaining yet was to see her trying to handle a conversation with the girl's second mother (yep, you heard right). Definitely nothing where god-slaying powers can provide an easy solution.
Although, it seems like in the long run, adversary powers will be strong enough to even trouble her.

MakBow said:

Now look, the title is defiantly controversial but let me explain:
(Honorable Mention: Romance Fiction is the true power fantasy, especially when it's a loser MC bagging the baddest girl/woman in the whole school/college/office/sect/clan/country/you know, stuff)
1. A lot of media is power fantasy hidden under good writing, great characters and plot, and overall, and great story, the ones we call power fantasy are just badly written power fantasies
2. Trash Power Fantasies are needed because if you don't know what's bad, you will never know what's good power fantasy
3. Junk Food is needed, if we don't have our McDonalds, we can't make fun of bad stories an overall, have a good time, even reading because of how bad it is that it becomes good

I Rest My Case

Click to expand...

Nothing controversial there as far as I'm concerned.
In truth it all comes down to the execution, and the concept (power-fantasy) isn't in-and-of itself a bad thing.
Especially when it is presented as aspirational (IE: He-Man/Shera) or just crazy fun (IE: Conan the Barbarian) so long as it is completely unapologetic about what it is, and what it intends to be. Cough 'DxD' Cough.

We are in agreement, especially on the second point there, Mak.
Trash is needed in order for that which is good, or great, to shine that much brighter.

Eldoria said:

Well, I will fight you with Ultra Instinct Goku for absolute defense mode activated super saiyan level 999

Click to expand...

MakBow said:

I'm using Rimuru, I instantly solo

Click to expand...

But if we're doing this, then I'm declaring this guy as my champion. GG.

MFontana said:

But if we're doing this, then I'm declaring this guy as my champion. GG.

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The winner of the fight is the one who don't lose.

MFontana said:

Nothing controversial there as far as I'm concerned.
In truth it all comes down to the execution, and the concept (power-fantasy) isn't in-and-of itself a bad thing.
Especially when it is presented as aspirational (IE: He-Man/Shera) or just crazy fun (IE: Conan the Barbarian) so long as it is completely unapologetic about what it is, and what it intends to be. Cough 'DxD' Cough.

We are in agreement, especially on the second point there, Mak.
Trash is needed in order for that which is good, or great, to shine that much brighter.



But if we're doing this, then I'm declaring this guy as my champion. GG.

Click to expand...

First off, I'm glad you are in agreement

Second of all, I Love Highschool DxD (I'm a degenerate)

Second off, screw you, I choose Noah Osmont from Infinite Mana in the Apocolypse

no.

AliceMoonvale said:

no.

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Sailus, what are you doing in that account?

MakBow said:

First off, I'm glad you are in agreement

Second off, screw you, I choose Noah Osmont from Infinite Mana in the Apocolypse

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As much as I'd love to keep going back and forth (for the sake of the nostalgia), I have a real fight to finish writing so I can get the next chapter segment posted on time.
I'll check in again later. Until then, take care

Eldoria said:

Well, I will fight you with Ultra Instinct Goku for absolute defense mode activated super saiyan level 999

Click to expand...

MakBow said:

I'm using Rimuru, I instantly solo

Click to expand...

MFontana said:

Nothing controversial there as far as I'm concerned.
In truth it all comes down to the execution, and the concept (power-fantasy) isn't in-and-of itself a bad thing.
Especially when it is presented as aspirational (IE: He-Man/Shera) or just crazy fun (IE: Conan the Barbarian) so long as it is completely unapologetic about what it is, and what it intends to be. Cough 'DxD' Cough.

We are in agreement, especially on the second point there, Mak.
Trash is needed in order for that which is good, or great, to shine that much brighter.



But if we're doing this, then I'm declaring this guy as my champion. GG.

Click to expand...

MakBow said:

First off, I'm glad you are in agreement

Second of all, I Love Highschool DxD (I'm a degenerate)

Second off, screw you, I choose Noah Osmont from Infinite Mana in the Apocolypse

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I choose

Emperor_Quack said:

I choose
View attachment 45614

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Sweet manmade horror beyond our comprehension.

Emperor_Quack said:

I choose
View attachment 45614

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Huh? Did the unemployment form change since I've started mooching off the state? There is an "Un" missing at the very top. Looks like the country is seriously going down the drain, can't even spell correctly on official forms.

FRWriter said:

Huh? Did the unemployment form change since I've started mooching off the state? There is an "Un" missing at the very top. Looks like the country is seriously going down the drain, can't even spell correctly on official forms.

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Even worse. Take a look at this official letter.

Emperor_Quack said:

I choose
View attachment 45614

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This doesn't scare me. I've had multiple jobs already

I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that power fantasies are a bad thing. It's only bad when a power fantasy is all something is.

If the story has the main character get into a fight and win, then it's a power fantasy. Everybody likes to imagine themselves winning a fight, and watching a character vicariously live out our desires is the definition of a fantasy. So saying that being a power fantasy is a bad thing is just silly.

The meat of any story is the conflict, and there's nothing stopping a power fantasy from having conflict. In fact, I'd say conflict is a key ingredient in making a power fantasy, with only "power" possibly being more important. After all, what's the point of having power if there's nothing for you to use that power against? The key is keeping the power balanced with the conflict. For a conflict to be satisfying, losing needs to be a real threat for the hero. Without that, there's no tension, and without tension the story is just a kid using a big toy to knock down a bunch of little toys.

Dragon Ball Z is probably the most famous example of a power fantasy, but consider this: why does Goku keep getting more powerful? Is he just doing it for fun? (Well...) He's doing it because more and more powerful bad guys keep appearing, and the only way to beat them is to power up. Say what you want about the story cycle (The most powerful thing in the universe appears > Goku powers up and kills it > Just kidding, THIS is the most powerful thing in the universe > Goku powers up and kills it > The ACTUAL FOR REAL most powerful thing in the universe shows up > Goku powers up and kills it) but there's still conflict due to the ever increasing power levels of the bad guys they face, and there's a real threat of the good guys losing, even if you know they're going to win in the end.

On the other side of the spectrum, there's Superman. Since Superman is Superman, there are only a handful of bad guys in the universe that can pose a threat to him. For there to be any tension in his stories, the writers have to contrive a reason for him to be in danger. Sometimes it's a glowy rock. Sometimes it's by kidnapping Superman's girlfriend. Sometimes it's by hoping the audience forgets that Superman is Superman. Whatever the case, there's a reason people say that Superman comics are only good when his power has been scaled back, like, 90%. The power has escaped the confines of the fantasy, and the story as a whole suffers for it.

to me, OP is a juvenile form of strorytelling. Its a comic book with words and no drawings, lacking only the cape on the MC and him flying around. SOmeone just told me that webnovel in general, is all a form of OP or power gaining to get there.

I like the noir idea. the advanced form of the byronic hero. MC has flaws and shortcomings, and is in general a much more complex character. the noir hero *can* be anti-hero, but need not be. Many confuse noir with anti-hero.

its just my taste. I like progressive and classical, more than gangsta rap and pop, too. you could successfully argue I'm a pretentions little shit, I suppose. I'm not offended to be summed up like that.

in gradeschool befoire middle school, I discovered Clive Cussler and his Dirk Pitt. As I grew older, by my early twenties I was getting bored with Dirk Pitt. he couldn't fail. at anything.

I turned to Parker and spenser for hire.

MakBow said:

Now look, the title is defiantly controversial but let me explain:
(Honorable Mention: Romance Fiction is the true power fantasy, especially when it's a loser MC bagging the baddest girl/woman in the whole school/college/office/sect/clan/country/you know, stuff)
1. A lot of media is power fantasy hidden under good writing, great characters and plot, and overall, and great story, the ones we call power fantasy are just badly written power fantasies
2. Trash Power Fantasies are needed because if you don't know what's bad, you will never know what's good power fantasy
3. Junk Food is needed, if we don't have our McDonalds, we can't make fun of bad stories an overall, have a good time, even reading because of how bad it is that it becomes good

I Rest My Case

Click to expand...

Bit boring, isin't it?

Like why should I really care about a dude who wins all the time? Not that much of a hook. If you REALLY wanna talk about it, let's talk about how a lot of those Power Fantasies/Isekai stories are extremely misogynistic! Using women as a goal to achieve or just a "reward" for the protagonist just being so cool. It's wish fulfillment. Which is fine, but I wish they saw women as... people in those stories.