Shounen protagonists are usually written with simple, straightforward superpowers.
More often than not, it’s super strength.
Super strength had been done to death, leading to authors thinking of ways to make it more interesting.
Why not cut out the middleman and just give your MC a more interesting power?
Shounen as a genre is all about cool fights. A lot of times, these fights feature intricate power systems with limitless potential — except for the main character. Their ability is almost often very simple, and more often than not, it boils down to some variation of Super Strength.
The issue with Super Strength
Look, we get it, Super Strength is one of the first superpowers that comes to mind. Long before there was the first modern superhero in Superman, there were the mythological juggernauts like Heracles, Maui and Beowulf.
It’s a simple to comprehend, straightforward power that is easy enough to progress: if our hero was able to lift a car, they can lift a van now! Punching through concrete leads to punching through steel, and once we are strong enough, we could cause sonic booms with a clap, and leap great distances — just like Hulk!
On the surface, this power is a no-brainer for our theoretical shounen main character. Though because it’s such a no-brainer, it had already been done to death.
Pure strength is boring
In Jujutsu Kaisen, our main character Itadori is very strong — inhumanely so, even. In terms of cursed techniques, he has exactly two — Divergent Fist (a delayed secondary punch with cursed energy) and Black Flash (a punch, but HARDER). Except, most of his fights are won either through cooperation with other Jujutsu sorcerers, or by succumbing to Sukuna’s possession.
In Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (Jojo no Kimyou na Bouken) Part 1, Joseph Joestar is a pure tank of a gentleman, with even sunlight karate mostly being there to make his punches effective against the supernatural. Except, the protagonist of each consecutive part diverged further and further from this concept of pure strength in lieu of powers that allowed for creative and out-of-the-box applications.
In Hunter x Hunter, Gon Freeks is a super strong boy, whose Nen specialization is enhancing his body to move faster, punch harder, and take bigger hits. Except, he branched out with his Jajanken ability, which allows him to project three different kinds of Rock-Paper-Scissors inspired attacks, and play mind games as his opponent guesses which to defend against. Also, as manga readers would know, Gon was kinda shafted in favor of Kurapika, whose Nen ability could have a dedicated dissertation of its own.
In My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Academia), Izuku Midoriya is given the most boring kind of super strength — The Strongest In The World kind. Except, Izuku was then given six more superpowers, as if Horikoshi couldn’t think of a way to otherwise make him less boring.
Most shounen authors (not Toriyama) have long since stopped relying on the pure strength of their MCs to solve all conflicts. So why not cut out the middleman, and give your protagonist an actually interesting superpower instead?
And we totally get it.
Summary:
Shounen protagonists are usually written with simple, straightforward superpowers.
More often than not, it’s super strength.
Super strength had been done to death, leading to authors thinking of ways to make it more interesting.
Why not cut out the middleman and just give your MC a more interesting power?
Shounen as a genre is all about cool fights. A lot of times, these fights feature intricate power systems with limitless potential — except for the main character. Their ability is almost often very simple, and more often than not, it boils down to some variation of Super Strength.
The issue with Super Strength
Look, we get it, Super Strength is one of the first superpowers that comes to mind. Long before there was the first modern superhero in Superman, there were the mythological juggernauts like Heracles, Maui and Beowulf.
It’s a simple to comprehend, straightforward power that is easy enough to progress: if our hero was able to lift a car, they can lift a van now! Punching through concrete leads to punching through steel, and once we are strong enough, we could cause sonic booms with a clap, and leap great distances — just like Hulk!
On the surface, this power is a no-brainer for our theoretical shounen main character. Though because it’s such a no-brainer, it had already been done to death.
Pure strength is boring
In Jujutsu Kaisen, our main character Itadori is very strong — inhumanely so, even. In terms of cursed techniques, he has exactly two — Divergent Fist (a delayed secondary punch with cursed energy) and Black Flash (a punch, but HARDER). Except, most of his fights are won either through cooperation with other Jujutsu sorcerers, or by succumbing to Sukuna’s possession.
In Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (Jojo no Kimyou na Bouken) Part 1, Joseph Joestar is a pure tank of a gentleman, with even sunlight karate mostly being there to make his punches effective against the supernatural. Except, the protagonist of each consecutive part diverged further and further from this concept of pure strength in lieu of powers that allowed for creative and out-of-the-box applications.
In Hunter x Hunter, Gon Freeks is a super strong boy, whose Nen specialization is enhancing his body to move faster, punch harder, and take bigger hits. Except, he branched out with his Jajanken ability, which allows him to project three different kinds of Rock-Paper-Scissors inspired attacks, and play mind games as his opponent guesses which to defend against. Also, as manga readers would know, Gon was kinda shafted in favor of Kurapika, whose Nen ability could have a dedicated dissertation of its own.
In My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Academia), Izuku Midoriya is given the most boring kind of super strength — The Strongest In The World kind. Except, Izuku was then given six more superpowers, as if Horikoshi couldn’t think of a way to otherwise make him less boring.
Most shounen authors (not Toriyama) have long since stopped relying on the pure strength of their MCs to solve all conflicts. So why not cut out the middleman, and give your protagonist an actually interesting superpower instead?
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