Inverse Law of Complexity to Power: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
When a story contains a vast variety of [[Elemental Powers]] to choose from, the most powerful are inevitably the least complex. For example, individuals with elemental control over technology, rubber, string, plastic, [[This Looks Like a Job For Aquaman|fish]], etc., has less to work with against those who have elemental power over such basics as [[Light
The reasoning behind this could be that as the concept/element becomes simpler/broader, it encompasses more, giving its controller a larger dominion. This is especially true considering that [[Artistic License Physics]] is often involved anyway; the more defined something becomes the less room you have to fudge the rules. This is the reason [[Lightning Can Do Anything]] after all. On top of this, the less complex the concept, the closer it is to a facet of reality rather than an idea of man's.
See also [[Rock Beats Laser]] and [[Heart Is an Awesome Power]]. Contrast [[Elemental Rock
{{examples
== Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[One Piece]]'''s Devil Fruits are usually more powerful if it's a logia type, which are things like fire, electricity, sand, ice, light, darkness, etc. It's notable that the protagonist has a rather narrow power (made of rubber), but still beats everybody. Of course, you could also argue that ''everyone'' has a "broad" power given some of the wacky things they do, but only important characters with simple powers use them in weird, complex ways.
* In the manga ''[[Psychic Academy]]'', the characters each have dominion over a certain thing, such as string, fire, steel, healing. The most powerful elements are light and darkness.
* [[
* Inverted in [[Naruto]], where the more complex elements (both in what is required to use them and what they are capable of doing) which are formed by a combination of the basic five are consistently shown to be vastly more effective, mostly due to the numerous special abilities those elements confer but also in absolute terms. The list of characters who have the ability to use these elements is short, but everyone on it is a certified badass.
== Comics ==
* [[Neil Gaiman]]'s [[Sandman]] features the seven Endless who are all [[Anthropomorphic Personification
** Arguable. His powers allow him to affect how others see reality, and yes, reality is defined by his absence. He is, however, constrained by his nature; he cannot alter reality, because to do so would alter himself, which he cannot do. And none of them are 'more' or 'less' powerful; they are all omnipotent within their sphere. Desire could toy with Dream's heart, but Dream could destroy Desire's reality (at the end of The Doll's House, he hits Desire with a BSOD by explaining something. That's all.).
*** Though Death is the one that will not be fazed by any of them, since she is certainly going to be the last one standing. They even admit she will almost certainly "exist" in some form longer then the rest of them.
* [[
== Literature ==
* ''[[
* In ''[[Babylon
** Just to illustrate how powerful of a spell the [[Sphere of Destruction]] really is, see the part of the trilogy where Galen uses it to destroy a large chunk of a city by casting the spell about a hundred times in a short time frame. A skyscraper is brought down by making its support columns disappear. He then destroys several warships by making chunks of their reactors disappear. Even Kosh is wary of approaching him, knowing they're about equal in power.
* Every person native to ''[[
* In ''[[Literature/Wrong Time For The Dragons|Wrong Time For The Dragons]]'' by [[Sergey Lukyanenko]] and Nick Perumov, magic is subdivided into Elemental and Totem (imitating various animals). Of the two, the elemental mage clans are considerably more powerful than the totem clans.
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== Tabletop RPG ==
* Averted in the tabletop RPG ''[[
* Averted in most points-buy based superhero RPG systems. A power that allows a player to control a vast variety of effects, such as Time Manipulation, Matter Manipulation, and such tend to be MUCH more expensive than those that are more focused, such as Metal Manipulation or (to borrow from the original DC Heroes game) Omni-Arm - the ability to control the shape and structure of one's arms. This means the character with the more 'complex' power, with limited focus, can buy that power at a much higher rank than those with the broad, far-reaching effects.
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* ''[[Touhou]]'' both averts and plays this straight.
** Simple powers: Yukari Yakumo's "Manipulation of Boundaries" is flexible enough to make her an insanely powerful [[Reality Warper]]. Likewise, Suika Ibuki's "Manipulation of Density" lets her change size, create black holes or copies of herself, turn into mist or even induce a spree of parties by controlling ''population density''. On the other hand we have Rumia's "Manipulation of Darkness". It lets her create a sphere around her where no one can see. Including her.
** Specific powers: Reimu Hakurei has the power to "float through the air". [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|In a setting where]] [[I Believe I Can Fly|everyone can fly]]. Turns out she can use this to ''float outside reality'', [[Heart Is an Awesome Power|becoming completely invincible without hindering her offensive abilities]]. On the other hand, [[All There in the Manual|Rinnosuke Morichika]]'s power to "recognise the name and purpose of any object" keeps giving him useless information ("Nintendo DS: World-controlling device"<ref>As in it lets you control a ''fictional'' world. [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|Definitely not something related to Nintendo's long-term plans.]]</ref>) and doesn't tell him how to use them.
* Averted in ''[[
** To be exact, {{spoiler|Sakura's}} original element is used to create effects that can harm spiritual beings (such as Servants), which is quite different (but still powerful), and {{spoiler|her}} being able to create [[Eldritch Abomination
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== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Static Shock]]'' uses this, as the average [[Villain of the Week]] has a narrower power, while Static himself has [[Shock and Awe|lightning powers]] with [[Lightning Can Do Anything]] in full force. Two of the major villains have [[Dark Is Edgy|Darkness]] and [[Playing
** In the comics, he's fought people with powers over ''Rope'' and ''Cars''.
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[[Category:Laws and Formulas]]
[[Category:Magic and Powers]]
[[Category:Inverse Law
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