Wolf of Arrakis
Active member
What are some of the best and worst magic systems in fiction in your personal opinion and why?
Best:
Avatar the Last Airbender has a well-developed set of disciplines that are visually distinct, also distinct as to what they can do, have clear limitations and powers, and don't give the impression of being imbalanced which is kind of a key point to the original series. Altogether that means it's fairly well-plotted.
Dishonorable Mention:
Dragonball Z. There's magic in there somewhere but it's usually obscured by power level and all it seems to be good for is mostly party tricks compared to raising one's power level.
The problem isn't so much the SoT magic system as it is the fact that the main character is feted as being a supreme wizard dude and yet never once in the entire series actually becomes capable of any consistent, repeatable, magic. I mean the other wizards and the Sorcerers were fairly cool and interesting but basically everything involving Rand and him using or commenting on magic was just pure ass pull that ignored every previously established rule of magic in the series.Worst:
Sword of Truth. The rules of magic have nothing to do with magic so much as being a way to sneer (The Wizard's First Rule is literally "People are stupid." The rules do not get better from there.). The villains tend to be automatically immune to everything except a single specific deus ex machina the hero will pull out in the last few pages. The actual way magic works is largely unspecified and is mainly used to pull out deus ex machinas, make the current villain utterly immune to everything except said deus ex machinas, and provide an excuse for kinky BDSM sex.
A few months ago, MHA jumped the shark and now only a handful of characters will be relevant in the important battles going forward.
If you look at it thought that's always been true. OFA and AFO are the most powerful known quirks and their decades long fight has shaped Japan's history in the new era. Unless new things are introduced we pretty much was told that almost from the first episode when Deku said he was going to become the number 1 hero.