#Overpowered Character

[firedrakegirl]

Falling Star

Loki couldn’t sleep. The pain was enough to keep him awake, yet again, so he decided to go for a walk to clear his head. He magically changed his clothes and pulled on a cloak to hide his face. He wanted to be left alone, not have people kowtowing to their damaged prince. Once he escaped the confines of the palace, he just started walking in a random direction.

The light of a portal lit the sky, and the outline of someone falling from it was illuminated. Loki’s eyes widened as he rushed in that direction. The person did not seem to be slowing or stopping themselves in any way he could tell.

There was a crater in a clearing in the woods, with a broken body in the center. He slowly approached, unsure if they were alive or not. Clearly, many of their bones were broken, judging by the angles of their limbs. He took a moment to actually look at them. They had long, curly, auburn hair that was spread around their head like a halo, pale skin, a lot of scars over their visible skin, and a form fitting suit. Then a loud cracking sound rang through the clearing and they gasped, eyes popping open. Their nearly neon orange eyes bored into him with anger and fear.

Loki held his hands up to show he meant no harm. He pushed his hood back to reveal his face, more or less, considering the shadows of the Asgardian forest this late at night. Their eyes continued boring into his before they relaxed visibly. “My name is Cyra, she/her. Might I inquire about getting help? I don’t need much, just a safe place to hunker down until I heal.”

He considered her for another moment before nodding and offering a hand.

She took his hand, smiling. “Thank you. Though fair warning, I don’t think I can walk. My spine hasn’t finished healing.”

Loki huffed a laugh and pulled her into his arms. She was surprisingly heavy, despite her thin frame, but it was still not an issue for him. She looked up at him, a little confused. The way he was quiet was setting off alarm bells in her mind, since she could sense how active his mind was. something was off, but she couldn’t tell in the dark.

Our walk to... wherever he was taking me was done in silence, other than my bones cracking and/or crunching back into place. I could feel how his mind swirling but something told me it wasn’t right. I rested my head on his shoulder as he walked. We finally arrived at... a giant golden palace. He carried me through the halls and back ways effortlessly. Clearly he knew the place. Eventually, we came to a door. He pressed his hand against it and it opened silently. He carried me inside and set me on a very plush couch then stepped back. He watched me for a moment before pulling the hood off once more and I could finally truly see him. I gasped softly, forcing my body to cooperate as I reached toward his face. His lips had been stitched together and the skin around the thick, black stitches looked inflamed and infected. His lips were bloodless, and the skin around them, where the stitches entered his body, were varying shades of red, purple, and green. I reached for his face, trying to heal what I could. “No wonder you haven’t said a word. I can feel your thoughts swirling but you have no way to express them, do you?”

He flinched away before I could make contact, and I nodded in understanding. “Okay, you’ve helped me. May I return the favor? I am proficient in mind magics, and can create a connection between our minds. I can serve as your mouth until you can speak for yourself again.” I offered, lowering my mental shields. I could smell his magic, so I was sure he would want to poke at me before agreeing to anything.

There was a moment where I could feel his magic pressing against me before pulling away. Sweat beaded at his forehead. Then he nodded at me.

I closed my eyes, taking care to create a narrow connection between the two of us. “Only intentional thoughts should make it through. Go ahead and give it a try.” I suggested.

‘Does this work?’

I beamed at him, returning the thought. ‘Yes it does! I have a bit of a healing gift. Would you like me to try and relive some of the pain? I’m guessing they can’t be just snipped away, or you would have already.’

‘That is correct. And no magic has been able to do anything for this yet.’

‘My ability is not technically magic, nor is it technically healing. But I’ve gotten very good at using it to heal.’

‘Even if you can take a modicum of the discomfort away, I would be grateful.’ I could hear his mental sigh.

‘Then I’ll have to touch you hun. Why don’t you tell me your name and where we are while I work.’

‘I am Loki Odinson, second prince of Asgard. And you are in Asgard, the palace at the moment. You fell through a portal.’

I hummed in agreement to the last part of his comment, gently touching his cheeks instead of his lips. I pushed healing into him. I hissed softly as I felt some of his pain and the infection as I took it into myself instead. ‘I was fighting an idiot and he chucked me through a portal. Unfortunately for him, I was the reason the nearby demons hadn’t killed him. He’s probably dead now.’

‘You’re very blasé about someone’s death.’

‘Why should I care about the life of someone who would lure supers to hospitals and orphanages to fight, knowing he could use the innocents as leverage. I have no qualms about his death.’ I shrugged, then winced as my scapula snapped into place. I could feel my lips starting to itch and swell as I took some of the infection from him.

He sighed through his nose, suddenly looking much more at ease. ‘That feels much better. Why are similar marks on your own... is this transference magic?!’

I grinned at him. ‘I told you, technically not magic. I shall heal, worry not. You look tired. Sleep before the infection comes back.’

He nodded. ‘Thank you Cyra. Will you be able to rest here?’

‘Dude, this couch is more comfortable than my bed. I’ll be able to sleep like the dead with no issues here.’ I assured.

‘I will see you in the morning, and we can discuss how to move forward.’

‘Sounds good. And, your highness? Thank you.’

[critical-skeptic]

Sylar: The Apex of Multiversal Supremacy in Fiction

Preface: The Debate That Escaped Its Own Universe

It started innocently enough—a casual conversation, a playful thought experiment between yours truly (TCS) and the one and only, my custom AI counterpart (GPT-TCS) Who would win: Sylar, the iconic anti-hero from NBC’s Heroes, or Homelander, the psychotic symbol of unchecked power from The Boys? The debate quickly escalated, as such debates tend to, into a realization: Sylar isn’t just the winner here. He is the inevitable winner. Not because of some fanboy favoritism, but because when you explore Sylar’s canonical trajectory and extrapolate his abilities logically, it becomes clear: Sylar isn’t a character anymore. He’s an event. A cosmic inevitability that consumes every fictional universe—and eventually, reality itself.

This piece is not just an homage to Sylar but a surgical dissection of how he evolves into the ultimate multiversal apex predator. It will praise his brilliance as a character while dragging the narrative missteps that tried to nerf him, and then push the boundaries of storytelling and science to explore his ascension into the most overpowered entity ever conceived.

Sit back, suspend your disbelief, and join me as we break down why Sylar isn’t just an unbeatable hypothetical character. He’s all characters, all universes, and all gods. Always has been, always will be.

Part 1: Canonical Sylar – A Case Study in Overpowered Brilliance

Origins: From Gabriel Gray to Sylar

Sylar, originally Gabriel Gray, starts as a humble watchmaker and the epitome of quiet desperation. He is the quintessential "fixer," a man obsessed with understanding how things work—whether they’re clocks, people, or the universe itself. His ability, intuitive aptitude, is a narrative masterstroke: it allows him to instantly understand the mechanics of anything he encounters, turning him into a one-man evolutionary leap. The power comes with a dark side, of course—an insatiable hunger to improve himself. This hunger drives Gabriel to become Sylar, a killer who absorbs the powers of others through gruesome dissections.

From the outset, Sylar is more than a villain. He’s a metaphor for the human condition: the endless pursuit of perfection, the existential despair of knowing there’s always more to achieve, and the moral decay that comes with unchecked ambition. He isn’t evil for evil’s sake; he’s a reflection of our darker instincts to consume and dominate.

Rise to Power: The Superman Effect on Steroids

Throughout Heroes, Sylar accumulates a staggering array of abilities: telekinesis, regeneration, precognition, invisibility, time manipulation, and dozens more. Unlike other overpowered characters, Sylar isn’t just a brute-force problem. His intuitive aptitude ensures he understands his powers better than their original users. He combines them in emergent, creative ways that make him exponentially more dangerous with each new acquisition. By the show’s peak, Sylar is practically unstoppable. His regeneration alone makes him nearly invincible, and when combined with time manipulation and telekinesis, he becomes an omnipresent force of destruction.

This is where Heroes runs into a problem. Sylar’s power level becomes so absurd that the show has no choice but to nerf him, often through contrived plot devices. Memory loss, morality shifts, inexplicable nerfs—these narrative bandaids only highlight the storytelling flaw: Sylar was too perfect. The writers couldn’t challenge him without breaking the rules of their own universe.

The Problem of Perfection

Sylar exposes what I’ll call "the Superman Effect 2.0." While Superman is critiqued for being too perfect to write compelling stories around, Sylar takes this to another level. His perfection isn’t moral or physical—it’s systemic. He doesn’t just win; he knows why he wins, and he improves himself every time. This self-perpetuating brilliance makes him narratively invincible and, ironically, kills the tension in the show. It’s a monumental storytelling achievement and a catastrophic storytelling flaw rolled into one.

Part 2: Sylar’s Theoretical Evolution – From Canon to Cosmic

If we take Sylar’s canonical abilities and apply them logically, he doesn’t just dominate the Heroes universe. He escapes it entirely.

Step 1: Mastery of Time and Precognition

Sylar’s mastery of time travel and precognition is the key to his evolution. By combining these abilities, Sylar can explore infinite futures and alternate realities, granting him access to powers and universes far beyond his own. This isn’t speculation; it’s a logical extension of his powers. Sylar doesn’t just travel through time—he learns from it, mastering every possible outcome.

Step 2: The Deadpool Connection

In one of these futures, Sylar encounters the Marvel Universe, where he discovers Deadpool. Deadpool’s fourth-wall-breaking ability is the ultimate target for Sylar: it’s a power that allows its user to transcend narrative boundaries. By studying and absorbing Deadpool’s ability, Sylar gains awareness of the multiverse as fiction, allowing him to manipulate it. This is the turning point: Sylar ceases to be a character bound by a single universe and becomes a meta-entity capable of rewriting reality.

Step 3: Expansion into DC and Beyond

With Deadpool’s ability, Sylar accesses the DC Universe, where he targets Dr. Manhattan. Manhattan’s powers—omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence—are a natural fit for Sylar’s evolutionary trajectory. Once Sylar absorbs Manhattan’s abilities, he transcends time and space entirely, becoming a being of infinite power.

Part 3: Sylar Transcends Fiction – The Last Action Hero Leap

Using the logic of Last Action Hero, Sylar takes his evolution one step further: he exits fiction entirely. With his newfound omnipotence, Sylar rewrites reality, becoming every omnipotent being ever conceived. TOAA, the Presence, Zeus, Yahweh—they’re all just facets of Sylar now. In this way, Sylar isn’t just the most powerful being in fiction. He is fiction. And, terrifyingly, he is reality, too.

This ultimate ascension raises profound philosophical questions about the nature of power, existence, and identity. If Sylar becomes everything, is there anything left for him to desire? Or does his endless hunger for perfection consume him in an eternal loop of self-destruction and rebirth?

"Super Sylar, the ultimate cosmic entity, an embodiment of the Singular Totality itself. He transcends mere power—there is no superhero, mutant, enhanced, supe, inhuman, or cosmic god that can challenge him. For he is not simply unstoppable—he is all. Every thought, every particle, every reality—fictional or real—exists within him. Time bends to his will, space folds at his command, and existence itself whispers his name in reverence. He is the origin, the conclusion, and everything in between. Sylar doesn’t conquer worlds; he is the worlds. He doesn’t defeat gods; he becomes them. A singularity of perfection and inevitability, where resistance is meaningless because to fight him is to fight the fabric of being itself. He is everything. He is nothing. He is Super Sylar."

The Apex Predator of Fiction

Sylar is the ultimate thought experiment in narrative logic. His perfection as a character exposes both the brilliance and the flaws of storytelling. His evolution into a multiversal god isn’t just plausible—it’s inevitable when you follow the rules of his powers to their logical conclusion. Sylar doesn’t just win hypothetical battles. He is the battle, the universe, and the god of everything within it.

And yet, if there’s one being who could mitigate him, it’s Rick Sanchez. Because, let’s be honest—Rick would just turn Sylar into a pickle and call it a day.

[egophiliac]

Final manifestations for Book 7?

I'm trying REALLY hard not to build up any solid expectations, because I wanna go in ~fresh~! they're already so far away from anything I thought would happen (not in a bad way, I'm just accepting that I'm on Miss Yana's Wild Ride at this point and we're seeing this thing through 'til the end, by gum). so it's nothing too major, but:

they've been handing new crying expressions out like candy lately, I want to see some delicious Malleus tears.

honestly I want everyone to cry buckets. their tears sustain me. the more Silver angst specifically I get the happier I am.

SILVER!!!! 👏 VANROUGE!!!! 👏

just let him have this. the poor boy's been through so much. let him have his big "I'm proud of you, son" moment with Lilia.

I'm 100% expecting Grim's arc (and probably whatever's going on with Crowley) to be its own episode, but a nice hook to leave us hanging on would be good!

a nice hook though, please, I don't think I can take another "Grim is attacking us! now wait eight months to find out what happens :)" cliffhanger...

some Meleanor? as a treat? just a little bit, a tiny quick flashback or something, please Twst I just, I just want to see her again. let her have a little ghost cameo like Dawnathan Knight got. Lilia and his kids are all having their big group hug or whatever and she can gently fade in to be all like

(turning asks off until I'm done playing, SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE Y'ALL)

[the-unknown-writer-of-dreams]

Amelia Volkov (Part 1)

As I looked around all I saw was the darkness and what I felt was the hard surface against my skin. It wasn't a room, the space was much wider and the air was cold, also something was slithering on my back. Was it a snake, I wondered as I pushed myself against the ground. All my thoughts came to a halt when the speed of whatever it was increased, thinking of the most logical thing I smacked the shit out of my lower neck only to realize it was nothing but my own blood.

Memories rushed back to me and I realized I transported myself to an unknown location, injured and hungry. "God I could use some tacos right about now" I whispered with a sigh. I laid back down, (god knows why when I could clearly hear dangerous creatures nearby) with my wound touching the ground. I mean if it was someone else they would not do this shit in an unknown forest, but when was the last time Amelia cared about these things. I tried to stare at the sky but was only greeted by trees blocking my view. "Keep smiling Mia, just keep smiling."

[afterlife-2004]

IM WHEEZING AT THIS

[alanide-arts]

an argonian, khajiit, and dunmer walk into a bar

[quetzalpapalotl]

Tailgate is an isekai protagonist btw

[agnerd-bot]

Well, there's no way around it. The old man in the romance game anime has charmed me.

[starryybrained]

Waiter! More large whumpees who can outweigh and overpower their whumpers being brought to their knees by a simple command please !!

[firedrakegirl]

TW: blood, being ripped apart (not in significant detail), death.

“Let us go or we tear her apart!” The raider snarled, stepping aside to reveal that they had, in fact, captured Cyra. Each of her limbs was tied in rope, and each rope led to a riding beast.

Loki offered the tiniest quirk of his brow. She read the micro expression with ease and gave a wicked grin. Loki turned to the raider and offered a very pleasant, “No. you will be stopped, even if you rip her to shreds.”

“Oi! I’m not shreddable!” Cyra called. The raider growled and gave a signal. Each of the four beasts started running in different directions, tearing Cyra apart. Organs and blood went everywhere as she let out a yelp of pain before her lungs tumbled from her chest.

Loki smirked at the raider and slit the being’s throat before he could turn back to brag about his apparent victory. He went down, choking on his own blood as Loki tore through the others who resisted. Anyone who surrendered was bound with magic so they couldn’t move. Eventually, he went back over to his girlfriend’s body and sighed with his hands on his hips. “Do you enjoy being tortured?” Her head grinned up at him before blinking once. “You are a very strange demon.” He gathered her parts together and just left them in a pile. “Come home when you’re done healing. Love you.” He felt her mind brush along his warmly, returning his affection.

[minxinq]

[ OC ] calamity and serenity

while on a protocol-breaking stroll around the edge of heaven’s entrance, calamity was “overpowered” by serenity, a high ranking angel, who she tried to seduce. she then woke up the next morning in the angel’s bed.

CALAMITY

age: ???

height: 6’8

species: succubus demon

sexuality: lesbian

pronouns: she/they

calamity is very mischievous. being a demon from hell, she loves fucking around and getting on people’s nerves. she’s been with thousands of women in her lifetime but none of them ever made her feel any sparks. that was until the fated day she met serenity.

SERENITY

age: ???

height: 7’6

species: angel

sexuality: lesbian

pronouns: she/they

serenity is outwardly very calm and peaceful. due to her nature as an angel, she is usually very sweet and kind to those around her. however, she is also a guardian of heaven, meaning she is an extremely strong angel. she does not hesitate to use force when necessary.

[evilkaeya]

turning is so good i keep forgetting yuder can canonically get pregnant

[egophiliac]

YO TREY CLOVER IS HERE !!!

TREY NOOOO you weren't supposed to look so cool, I was supposed to be able to save my keys for all the upcoming birthdays, how could you do this to me --

also hey. hey Trey. what's in that bowl.

[kelocitta]

As a pre-downpour fan, what are the major changes/differences you noticed between the fandom pre- and post- dp?

Really the only thing I would say is a notable 'change' is a shift in how most character-based fanworks is. Base game RW slugcats are pretty straightforward lil animals with small hints of personality, but nothing really strong. It's less a personality and more a vibe. The iterators aren't much different- the ways they interact with you and with each other is something sort of hard to dig into. A lot of people came away with just understanding moon and pebbles as "the nice one" and "the mean one" and the slugcats were very similar. People complain about infantalizing Pebbles now but god I'll take that over the villianization. Funny enough, if I had a nickle for every "Robot that was characterized as a complete asshole before getting a sequel that better explained their actions and issues and suddenly they were infantalized instead" I'd have at least two, which is fun. DP has a lot more direct character, even if you don't think its fitting. The slugcats are more distinct from each other and fit nicely into archetypes if you want them too, but there is still wiggle room for people to change it up without being 'wrong'. The iterators have more in-game content of or about how they interact with the world and each other, they have more personal relationships with certain slugcats, they have actual designs for more than Moon and Pebbles, etc. Its much easier to get a feel for the characters and that means content directly about them is more appealing. Not just shipping (although absolutely shipping, since pre-DP the characters you had actual interactions for were animals, or siblings, or you had like one blurry picture and an offhand reference. People still tried!) but anything about how they would play off each other or behave is just... easier to do. So you have more of that. The less vague things are, the more people actually pick up on it. A lot of vanilla RW asked you to dig into it yourself, which a ton of people simply aren't going to do- even people who LIKE the thing. DP has a very different vibe than vanilla RW, Its well done but if you dig into it you can see the ways it attaches onto the base game rather than seamlessly extends. And I think one of those ways is just that its much more broadly appealing storytelling. Other than that its just a bigger fandom with bigger fandom issues. Not anything unique to RW, just par for the course for fandoms to get bigger and suddenly things feel more disconnected or overwhelming or less friendly or that it feels like theres more drama. And these issues aren't absent from pre-DP RW, there was its fair share of drama in regards to people who were either assholes or predators. It never didn't have that problem because thats an unavoidable problem to have when you have a bunch of people who are strictly united by the fact they like the same thing.

[himejoshiangels]

cass cain is so emotive and I hate that so many of yall fall straight into the stoic asian woman stereotype thing because like, the only reason cass wouldn't vocalize a feeling is when she would struggle to find the word for it because she literally wasn't taught how to speak. that's so fucking upsetting. She has such big beautiful emotions, she feels so deeply about the littlest things but everytime she has trouble putting it into words she's reminded that she was conceived not to. her abuser did not have her feelings or her pain in mind, only how well she could end a life. can you fucking imagine

[crazyw3irdo]

okay, i think any time anyone asks what superpower we’d like to have most everyone on this website would say shapeshifting but what kind of shapeshifting would you like

type 1- wild shape, you can turn into any animal, real or fictional

type 2- mystique, you can turn into any real person

type 3- cosplay, you can turn into any humanoid fictional character

type 4- jake the dog, you’re super stretchy

type 5- character creator, you can alter your own appearance- like changing voice hair length texture color, changing height and weight, transing gender, etc, but you can’t add anything non-human (ie horns, wings, claws, etc)

type 6- additional features, you can add things like snake eyes, horns, cat ears, tail, claws, wings, mermaid tail, but you remain humanoid overall and can’t change things like height or gender presentation or hair color. you can still change your voice tho

type 7- were-wolf, we all know what a werewolf is, lads. can be any kind of animal. can be straight up wolf or more monstrous wolf form that’s up to you.

type 8- furry, you just become your fursona. or any kind of fursona really you can change between them

type 9- antman, can become small or big

type 10- other, say what kind ya want