Overpowered main characters

What's the point in the MC being amazing at everything? Too many light novel adaptations have these boring protagonists

Stop reading LN adaptions then.

> light novel

Unfortunately, most new series are adapted from light novels, especially anime. It's only going to get worse. 2018-2019 will have a great wave of more isekai adaptations than you've seen in your life, and it won't stop.

When was the last time there was a legitimately weak MC that didn't have some super special unique gimmick?

> does mc get hit by a truck, and wake up in a medieval world? Or is he summoned in front of a king to fight a great demon lord?

> does mc suddenly have access to an IRL vidya user interface, with stats?

> does mc have the ability to steal the skills of his opponents?

> is the mc attending a magical high school, and does he have a secret ability that nobody else has?

> is mc a wielder of a katana while everyone else uses guns or european weapons? Can the katana cut through bullets or slice broadswords in half?

If you notice this in anything you read, it's probably going to be shit.

What's more infuriating, an mc who's too good at everything, or an mc who's completely fucking worthless?

...

good point

At this point I would have to say overpowered, if only because it nullifies any conflict in said series

To make it more fun when he gets bullied.

The problem isn't the overpowering, but how it's played. These characters are either too arrogant or oblivious, which isn't fun to watch other than to teenagers idea of "cool" or manchildren self-inserting.

Then you have pic related and Saitama, for example, which have better personalities and are presented in a much more entertaining way. Not that hard to be better than irritating Gary Stus, anyway.

>Saitama
>Better personality
I think he has a boring personality and the show is carried by the other heroes/villians. But i do agree with you on execution of it being key.

>What's the point in the MC being amazing at everything?
Character flaw doesn't have to be physical, it can be mental too. For example, a character can be undefeatable, but also be a massive cunt. When you look at it like that, perfect WN MCs do not exist.

>Some one will read this and enjoy it

what was her fucking problem?

Sometimes it's just realism. Who will say that Napoleon was cheater?
Hail keiser Renhard!

Love.

That's probably why I like lelouch and onii sama, since they use their overpoweredness to full effect regularly.

this one is the worst sample of self insert though, like legit disgusting, even arifureta is better than this crap.

>villain dominates an overpowered character
anyone gets turned on by this?

>beaten by a tag team of the two weakest characters

nothing will ever beat iihiko.

I wish we had 30 more chapters of his dominance

that arc was kubo tier
>MY MONSTER IS STRONK
>WELL MINE IS STRONKER
>WELL MINE CAN CANCEL ALL YOUR STRONKNESS
>WELL MINE CAN CANCEL ALL OF YOURS
>HAHA GOOD THING MINE CAN OUTSTRONK THE STRONKINESS
and on and on.

And then it ended with the good guys getting the destroyer to punch himself in the face.

Well that was the point, it was full-on parody. I mean, the fact that a character with millions of reality bending skills even exists, whatsmore gets defeated by a rubber band...

Medaka Box is just a big parody of different shonen genres that decided not to go humor route like every other parody.

Not the first guy, but I do happen to hold the belief that a fair bit of Saitama's original charm was lost in translation from ONE's version to Murata's. The writing is more or less the exact same (at least until they started adding a bunch of shit for the anime) but if you haven't read both, or even worse an animeonlyfaggot, you'll never understand how the tone and spirit are fundamentally different at times. Largely in the fact that the fights weren't nearly as grandiose (if I remember the original Boros fight was only a couple chapters long) and the redraw has a totally different equilibrium to it despite being an otherwise exact adaptation. The anime takes it even further in this effect but also completely butchers the delivery and timing of many jokes and it just comes across as another action series trying to be funny.

But along with all of that also goes a bit of Saitama's character I think. I can't say just yet because he hasn't gotten to it, but I can't imagine Murata being able to convey Saitama quite the way ONE did during Garou's ultimate rampage, the whole ride was absolutely insane and I feel both Saitama and Garou were top-tier that arc character-wise, mostly because of how their interaction with eachother progressed and the tempestuous dialogue they had throughout.

After thinking it over for a while I've come to decide I think Saitama is a well-executed "invincible hero", because it's played straight but at the same time takes an interesting angle and puts a great deal of focus on the actual underlayment of the premise.

For comparison, a character like Kenshiro is basically ultimate kung-fu Jesus played completely and unabashedly straight but is still fucking awesome regardless of that fact because he just is. No overt complexities or depth but still cut from a completely and immediately noticeably different cloth that the standard faggy immaculate isekai self-insert MC is.

Like you said, I think it's mostly in the execution.

That was the best scene in the entire manga

American young adult novels used to have the same type of characters. The only reason they don't anymore is because nobody writes young adult novels in the US anymore because American children don't read and many can't. On the other hand, in Japan, you have people reading young adult power fantasies long after reaching adulthood in a sad attempt to escape their crushing depression.

I selected it carefully. This scene is amazingly timed because it hits like a truck pretty far along once you've had time to concede to the notion Saitama is just a completely flat and hollow character, which as I know is usually what people come to think once the expansive cast of other characters start getting fleshed out and most find them to be far more compelling.

Despite that I still think Saitama is a great mc, not by himself as his own character but because of his role in the story and how well he plays off of said expansive cast of secondary and tertiary characters and all their individual struggles and philosophies.

>American young adult novels used to have the same type of characters

as someone who wasted a ton of his youth on YA novels, my ass

Its fun for comedies mostly.

But it is usually done very poorly.

At least overpowered MCs are wish fulfillment power fantasies for people who like that kind of shit sometimes, and nobody really defends those shows as good (or watch it to laugh, like mahouka).

What possible redeeming quality would a show with pathetic MCs have? Enjoyment for masochists who vicariously enjoy being stepped on and insulted?

...

People have and will always love underdogs, when the pathetic MC has been dragged through the mud bleeding and broken, and he gets up anyways its a cathartic moment for the reader, in the sense of "if this guy going through all this shit can still make it, then maybe I can too."

Self-insertion is the lowest form of media enjoyment, for the brainless nothings at the bottom of society.

Assclass had Korosensei who was super OP and that was great.

What an awful fucking MC. Subaru's autistic chuuni shit makes him extremely irritating.

Why almost all isekai series are also harem?

95% of isekai are self insertion garbage

I'd read a novel of isekai'd sakamoto.

this

>Twenty fucking years of getting shat on in every league he entered
>Climactic rematch against the Rival character
>The perfect setup
>The perfect narrative point for a triumphant victory
>Type advantage
>The fucking episode title teasing a win by ash
>lol he loses

Gary had a Cadillac full of horny buxom cheerleaders when he was ten years old.

Ash has spent twenty years traveling the world and still lost like a chump.

reminds me of real life

He failed though. She asked him not to destroy the training area and he destroyed some equipment.

The side characters make One Punch man interesting.

> man gets hit by a truck, and wakes up as a baby in a wagon after a bandit attack

> the legendary wizard merlin finds him 5 seconds later, and decides to adopt him

> he's also trained by the most legendary knight in the land

> even so, he's able to chop trees in half with one swing, and create magic that even merlin can't

> he goes to a magical school, because his only flaw is he doesn't have any friends (lol), but instantly the most beautiful girl in the school falls in love with him, and the king's son becomes his best friend

> demons that can destroy entire countries fight him, and he defeats them twice, earning the national medal from the king twice, and worshiped by everyone

I've read some terrible wish-fulfillment trash, but this is self-insert mary-sue bullshit on steroids

The adaptation had amazing character moments that the original lacked, too.

If I was an antagonist for some LN, pretty sure I would make the MC's life a living hell if I wasn't able to kill him immediately (kill him during his blooming her phase). I would probably got out of my way to antagonize him instead of myself and everyone who would have been his ally will be mine instead. No bullshit, almost everyone in this thread would do this is they were against LN protagonist.

I haven't read ONE, but I picked up Murata's and watched the anime and what you say definitely seems right in that they seem very different in theme.

The Murata/Anime I definitely felt like the emphasis was on the almost parody that the MC was boring. He has flaws, but they don't really affect his abilities, he's strong enough that you don't even have the opportunity to pretend to buy into the "but maybe he'll lose" investment. He wins because he's the MC, and in case that wasn't obvious he's also blatantly overpowered.

So it places more emphasis on the side characters, who do struggle, and who's struggle is more likely to matter because there's maybe some risk involved. I do feel like while I really enjoy some of the fight scenes, they kind of played against that parody, when Saitama's fights are as "hype" as Genos, then I felt it kind of confused the theme it was going for when Saitama is supposed to be the "Win" button.

My other problem was that despite Saitama being sold as "overpowered" almost every villain seemed to be strong enough that only Saitama can actually win.

There's a difference between "pathetic" and "not overpowered". The MCs are frequently overpowered thanks to the power of plot, but I always appreciate when it's the underdog fighting because he HAS to or Wants, rather than because "he's the MC". It's the thing that pisses me off most about battle harems honestly, despite establishing the harem to the be the fighters, they (almost) always give the MC some superpower that puts them all to shame at the end.

When the MC has to come to terms that he's weaker than his friends, and should step into a supporting role in all but the worst circumstances I think makes for a more interesting character. It also means that when they fight it means more, because it sells itself as emotionally driven / motivated rather than just because the plot demands it.

As for "pathetic"... most of the time those MC's are kind of dicks and deserve what's coming to them, so it's fun to watch them go through shit (when the show tries to force the viewer to be sympathetic to an asshole ruins it though, let me enjoy the douchebag getting his comeuppance once in a while, even if he's the "hero".)

Ash beefing it will never not make me laugh.
The fact that he set up his own defeat and how many people believed that he would win is hilarious to me.

>almost every villain seemed to be strong enough that only Saitama can actually win
Watchdog Man dumpstered Garou. Also a we haven't seen all the S-class heroes true powers

Sakamoto is the type of person everyone will meet in their life, making them wonder how the hell can an imperfect planet can house such a wonderful person.

any example of good ones. I genuinely enjoy overlord even though shield hero was my gateway to the genre

That's one of the reasons I enjoyed what I have read of Garou's arc. It was showing a variety of different heroes and villains fighting in variations of success and failure. I just feel like that might have been better served earlier, to get that little bit of world-building out of the way so it didn't feel like "here's an ogranisation of heroes, now here's constant world-ending threats that can only be stopped by the MC, and very few other threats." for as long.

In the end it's really personal preference. I can see the argument for it taking a while to establish it because we need Saitama to meet these other heroes so we can understand them a bit better, and also to properly establish that "One Punch Man" is the name for a reason.

>almost every villain seemed to be strong enough that only Saitama can actually win.
It's less that only Saitama could win and more that he was the only person in the area who could.

Most of the earlier villains could be smacked down by large portions of S-class, if they happened to be there.

Mosquito would have been splatted by nearly anyone S-class level, or even by Genos two or three upgrades later. The House of Evolution could have been casually wiped out by a single S-class, or a well coordinated enough group of A-class. Sea King was flat out losing to Genos until the loli decided to make herself a target.

well shield hero is genuinely awful

overlord, despite some flaws, is way better

though anime is trying to curb the OPness of its MCs (though Eru and that cellphone series doesn't help)

Yeah, you've got a point. I guess I'm still looking at it in a bit of a "meta" sense, where it's giving the "weaker" characters one or two 100% clear cut victories is better to establish their strength/skill than 8-9 "so close" moments (especially when lots of fighting stories hinge on having lots of "so close" moments anyway, and you don't really get well-written one sided fights anymore it seems). It really depends on the villains I guess, I don't remember exactly Sea King's thought process and how desperate he was, but I definitely forgot about some of that.

That's actually something I would probably enjoy, a MC who loses mostly because the villains play dirty and he can only run on so many contingencies and preparations before they find a hostage or something so other people have to handle it because he puts himself out of commission doing the hero thing.
>MC's the hero of heroes
>Parties up with people who are good at taking out bad guys because he can easily either save people or deal with the villain, but not both.

>does mc get hit by a truck, and wake up in a medieval world?
but I liked Mushoku Tensei
>Or is he summoned in front of a king to fight a great demon lord?
this trope only happens in parodies and edgy "subversions" never actually seen this played straight
>does mc suddenly have access to an IRL vidya user interface, with stats?
the .hack series and log horizon has a good fanbase (I'm not a part of it though)
>does mc have the ability to steal the skills of his opponents?
yeah I've never seen this done right (unless done by an antagonist) but I really wish there was a premise that does (I mean I loved video game characters like Kirby and Megaman that does that)
>is the mc attending a magical high school
magic schools could work if they delved into the school aspect both "Academia" series are a testament to that
>and does he have a secret ability that nobody else has?
this is shit though
>is mc a wielder of a katana while everyone else uses guns or european weapons? Can the katana cut through bullets or slice broadswords in half?
really I think it's worse when the MC makes a gun and suddenly it's the most OP thing in the world

completely fucking worthless

OPMCs are boring
but worthless ones are downright unlikable

It hurts that you're right.

but then you got people like Ash who remains and underdog until the end of time to the point he fills more disappointing than enduring

and then there's the harem MC types where he gets everything you want without giving the feeling of earning it so you get feelings of envy than comradery

It still hurt user.

Is there even any light novel about hero doing hero stuff with cool party?

and that's probably another thing about the Isekai series, not just the MC's being OP but also the side characters usually being bland as hell and only regulated to cheerleaders after awhile.

still mad

I tried reading this and I couldn't after a while. I'm pretty sure the author self inserts and the entire thing is like watching a dude fold himself in half and suck his own dick.

so much salt I'm surprised there isn't a rocksalt pokemon yet

>fold himself in half and suck his own dick.
This is the perfect analogy for RE:Monster

But user the MC in that story is totally original and understands things on a much deeper level than anything else. He deserves to be the super duper best and get his dick sucked on a daily basis by reality. He's just that good!

The author was probably typing each chapter with one hand, and stroking his dick with the other

>Why not both!

But that means he's big, fit and flexible enough to it, isekai truly is kino.

either
>overpowered MCs
>beta perma-virgin MCs
what did japan mean by this?

Extremes are always unlikable.
Only a Master Writer can pull off either, one with a good idea of what strength and weakness are and the other with a proper Hero´s journey.

Don't even fucking remind me of this. I thought the original concept was interesting it was like a darker version of kirby but then it turned into this rapey jerkoff festival of faggots.

Depends on why they're worthless.

You should read Arifureta then. It has just the right mix of edgelord faggotry, harem, and overpowered MC that knows everything.

>look at all of these characters and this big event and the main character's reaction.
>Okay enough of that, let's get straight to the ego stroking.

I... I don't understand how someone could write this without a shred of irony. How can somebody not realise how contrived and obviously self-insert this is? Most people self-insert on accident for the most part, but how do you justify writing this without asking yourself "I would feel great if X happened to me, so lets right it!"

Did they earn that gimmick? Or do they just have it?

I don't mind it so much if they earn abs are forced to grow around gaining power.

OP MC's are fine if they're sidelined/a plot device like in OPM/Golgo 13. Either that or powerlevels aren't supposed to be important/it's a comedy or something where the power levels were never suppose to matter.

Bonus points if someone even more OP puts the MC in their place though.

Wish granted, the MC is now a "Weakest but Strongest" MC. His Cheat/Superpower is Za Hando(The Hand's hands are just gauntlets to not get sued), but the villain can counter The Hand somehow until the MC gets a lucky shot and chops of the opponent's arms/legs. MC is a beta nonvirgin/loses his virginity early on with a Femdom fetish.

Is the same appeal as Twilight: Being super awesome because and everyone loving you always, except evil worthless people who either change (and love as is correct) or fuck off and die.

Isekai and OP MC is the Twilight of anime, up to the harem.
Prove me wrong.

To make the readers focus on other conflict other than powerlevels.

Samurai Flamenco

>Implying other conflict exist
Who will he fuck? WHO IS BEST GIRL?

Name 3 chinese drawings that do this

Medaka Box. That's all I can think of right now.

What if there is no girl?

Does such thing exist?

>Femdom fetish
As long as it's not overblown for comedy and just the occasional "Wow are you gonna let her treat you like that?" "C'mon it's not that big of a deal, just let it go." I'm 100% sold just in the hopes its not abhorently shitty. I would love to read something about a main character who just has some kind of weird fetish/kink/taste that isn't his entire character, but definitely adds something to his interactions with certain characters. (rather than just having no preference whatsoever).

Designated Heroine/Princess/McGuffin (unless she dies) > First girl > First Kiss > Tsundere > Childhood Friend >>>>> Reverse trap=Tomboy > Ojou >>>>>> Trap.

As is always the way. And so, Japan's taste has not gotten any less shit.

I just don't get why they always have to be godly OP as fuck and not just really good at something.
I reckon most of these stories would be tolerable if a guy was just 'really good at swordsmanship' and not 'greatest swordsman in 1000 years with hidden techniques nobody ever thought up and also he can invent soy sauce'

>start reading because of op
>mc doesn't chant like everyone else because it would be embarrassing
>AIR JET
A+ writing

It'd be pretty great to see one go the "Chosen hero" routine, only for the MC to try to create modern amenities before realising he doesn't know how and if he keeps wasting his money experimenting he's going to be homeless. So he should probably deal with the chosen hero shit so he doesn't go broke.

>"Haha, wait, I know exactly what would make this food better!"
>Proceeds to fuck up making some kind of sauce/spice/seasoning because he never actually learnt how.
>"Maybe I should have read up on this stuff, BEFORE I was transported to a fantasy world without modern amenities."

>"Hehe, I'll just shear this sheep and make a comfy pillow!"
>"Why is this so uncomfortable?!"

boring

We are in a post-modernist, post-deconstruction world. We have unlimited access to older media, we are now in a reconstruction face where we want some old, straight and not "look, I know the tropes, wink wink" plot and characters.
I hear your suggestions.
>Well, he sees the world as a video game, and he is aware of video game cliches and use them at his advantage
Stop there.

did the entire basis of the story get explained in 1 chapter, instead of character and world building?

you are boring