The power to manipulate characters with defined personalities and abilities. Sub-power of Story Manipulation and Art Manipulation. Variation of Entity Manipulation and Life Manipulation.
Also Called[]
- Original Character Manipulation
Capabilities[]
The user can manipulate characters—sentient beings who exist within all forms of fictional works, such as books, movies, television shows, video games, comics, and beyond. These characters are more than just names or roles; they are integral to their respective narratives, defined by their personalities, traits, goals, motivations, and the roles they fulfill within their stories. They possess free will within their fictional universes, often making decisions based on their unique personalities, histories, and desires.
The user gains high control over every aspect of these characters, allowing them to alter their minds, personalities, and emotions, reshaping their very essence. A hero might suddenly become a villain, a ruthless antagonist might be turned into a tragic figure, or a wise mentor could be transformed into a reckless fool. The user can adjust a character’s emotions, pushing them toward specific feelings like love, hate, fear, or joy, or even erase their emotional depth entirely to create a hollow shell.
But this ability doesn’t stop at mental or emotional changes. The user can alter the physical appearance of the character, changing their age, height, species, gender, or any other aspect of their biological makeup. A human can be turned into a mythical creature, a teenage protagonist into an elderly sage, or a character’s physical traits can be completely revamped, such as changing their eye color, hair, or even their facial features.
In addition, the user can control their abilities and powers. They might give a powerless character godlike strength, grant them new supernatural abilities, or strip them of their skills and reduce them to a mere mortal. They can also manipulate their innate attributes, such as intelligence, strength, speed, reflexes, resilience, or even learned skills—changing what the character is fundamentally capable of. Whether empowering them to surpass their limits or weakening them until they can no longer pose a threat, the user defines what a character can do—not just what they choose to do.
This extends to a character's fate and lifespan: the user can determine if one lives or dies, rewrite how they meet their end, or even reverse their death entirely. A once-dead character can be resurrected with a mere flick, erasing all consequences of their demise.
The user can also create new characters from scratch and craft every detail about them, creating backstories, personalities, motivations, and relationships that shape their place in the world. Conversely, the user can remove a character, erasing them from existence entirely. All memories of that character, interactions, and their impact on the story can be wiped away as though they never existed. This extends to merging multiple characters into a singular entity, splitting one into separate versions of themselves, or even transferring traits from one character to another.
However, the manipulation of these characters doesn’t extend to altering the stories themselves or changing the world in which the characters exist. The focus remains entirely on the characters as individuals. While the user can shape how a character acts, what they experience, or what they become, the world around them remains intact unless the changes affect the characters' direct interactions with it. The user’s power operates on a level of identity and essence, turning characters into clay that can be molded, shaped, or completely redefined.
In its most profound form, Character Manipulation allows the user to rewrite the very nature of characters, not just by controlling their actions or behaviors, but by altering the foundational aspects of who they are, what they represent, and their role within any given narrative. This makes the user’s influence over fictional beings extraordinarily powerful, reducing every character to a malleable creation, shaped entirely by the their will.
Applications[]
- Character Aspect Manifestation
- Character Creation
- Character Customization
- Character Imitation
- Character Erasure
- Free Will Manipulation
- Superpower Manipulation
Variations[]
Associations[]
- Art Manipulation
- Entity Manipulation
- Fiction Manipulation
- Life Manipulation
- Life Story Manipulation
- Meta Manipulation
- Story Manipulation
Limitations[]
- May not be able to create characters, limited to manipulating already existing sources.
- Cannot affect characters with Plot Anchoring.
- Users of Control Immunity and Fictional Transcendence are immune.
Known Users[]
- Empty Hand (DC Comics)
- One Above All (Marvel Comics)
- Yamoner Delangu (The Purples)
- New Earth Grant Morrison (DC Comics)
- Literature Club Leader (Doki Doki Literature Club!)
- Kevin Thorn (Fables)
Known Locations[]
- House of Ideas (Marvel Comics)
- The Dark Place (Alan Wake)
Gallery[]
