Reality warping

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Reality warping is a superpower in superhero fiction. It is the ability to reshape matter and energy, create or alter life forms, turn a person's thoughts or desires into reality, simulate any and all other powers and abilities, bend time and space, and possibly even rewrite the laws of physics.

All things are possible for a reality-warper, making them seem omnipotent with the only limit on reality warping is the users imagination. The Joker, wielding the power of Mr. Mxyzptlk as "Emperor Joker", was even able to rewrite logic itself, for example, making the whole world believe that 2 + 2 equals "fish".

Some of the most extreme reality warpers, like Mxyzptlk and James Jaspers, are not even limited by their own physical bodies and can alter their own stature and appearance at will to become whatever they want to be, no matter how bizarre it might be^{[citation needed]}. In DC comics, the fifth-dimensional imps that sometimes visit the DC universe, of which Mxyzptlk is the most common and well-known, seem to be the most common and also the most powerful reality warpers^{[citation needed]}.

Rarely in fiction are reality warpers depicted as heroic or benign. Reality warpers in fiction are almost always antagonists, villains or otherwise depicted as dangerous. This generally is a necessity of the plot; a reality-warping protagonist would face few, if any, true challenges. Reality warpers exhibiting a childlike (such as Anthony Fremont) or insane personality (like Proteus or Mad Jim Jaspers) are also common. Often, in the few cases of protagonists having such power, they have difficulty using it: in Ben 10: Alien Force, the hero, Ben Tennyson, can transform into a powerful alien form dubbed "Alien X" (also stated as the most powerful force in the universe), who has reality-warping powers but also contains two other distinct and powerful personalities of which they must agree to an action before it can be done, which makes the form and its powers virtually impossible to control to such a level that Alien X can't even communicate to the outside world: to others, Alien X is little more than an immobile statue.

Another typical theme in fiction is for the protagonist to be granted this ability and then struggle to resist abusing the power for their own personal benefit. Reality warpers are also commonly affected by their subconscious minds, which cause reality to change against their will (like Magician of Ultimate X-Men or Doctor Doom with the Beyonder's power).

A common issue with characters with the ability to warp reality is that they may not be aware of their talent, and, having less conscious wishes, rarely manifest their powers (as in The Man with the Power). Often, excessive want and distress causes them to become threats to themselves and those around them so that the supporting characters must attempt to mollify the situation so that the reality warper doesn't cause any major damage or discover their power (like Haruhi Suzumiya).

In cartoons, the effects of reality warping are often shown to be temporary. For example, in Superman: The Animated Series, reality returns to normal after Mr. Mxyzptlk is tricked into going back to his dimension.

It is important not to confuse reality warping and matter manipulation. Characters like Vulcan, Mister M and the Silver Surfer can change and manipulate matter, but they cannot alter the fabric of reality itself.

Marvel's reality warpers

The Marvel Universe is known to have a large amount of individuals that can manipulate reality. Characters with potential for reality warping encountered in Marvel comics include:

• Anomaly
• Beyonder
• Dream Weaver^[1]
• Fan Boy
• Franklin Richards
• The Impossible Man
• Jamie Braddock
• Kelly^[2]
• Korvac
• Kubik
• Kulan Gath
• Mad Jim Jaspers
• Magician
• The Man with the Power
• Mephisto
• Galactus
• Onslaught
• Phoenix Force
• Proteus
• Scarlet Witch
• Shaper of Worlds
• Sphinx
• Twilight
• Tyler Trevor Chase^[3]
• Willie Evans, Jr.^[4]
• Wiccan
• Ray Thompson

Other comics reality warpers

Apart from the MU reality warpers, many other different beings in DC and other comics also possess reality warping powers, or powers which might potentially be used for reality alteration. These include, amongst others:

• Ambrose Chase (WS)
• Bat-Mite (DCU)
• The Doctor (WS)
• Doctor Manhattan (DCU)
• Enerjak (Archie Comics)
• Ion (DCU)
• Mammoth Mogul (Archie Comics)
• Matthew Cable (DCU)
• Mr. Mxyzptlk (DCU)
• Neron (DCU)
• Parallax (DCU)
• Qwsp (DCU)
• Spawn (Image Comics)
• The Spectre (DCU)
• The Thunderbolt (DCU)
• Trigon the Terrible (DCU)
• Amazo (DCAU)
• Elyon Brown (W.I.T.C.H)
• Solar (Valiant)
• Mothergod (Valiant)
• Ace (The Justice League)
• Minus (webcomic)

Non-comics reality warpers

Apart from comic characters, there has been a number of science fiction and fantasy characters who have exhibited reality-warping powers of various forms, at least within the boundaries of certain environments and/or restrictions. Such characters include:

• Most portrayals of God in popular media
• Aku (Samurai Jack)
• Metatron (Dogma)
• Guu (Haré+Guu) (Though her reality warping is usually ignored by all but Hare)
• Anyanka and Willow Rosenberg (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
• Wyatt Halliwell, Billie Jenkins, Barbas, the Demon of Fear, Avatars, including Cole Turner and Leo Wyatt, and possibly also Elders (Charmed)
• Prime Intellect (The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect)
• Cyvus Vail (Angel)
• Sutter Cane (In the Mouth of Madness)
• Celestial Toymaker and, briefly, Rose Tyler (Doctor Who)
• Cosmo, Wanda and numerous other magical beings (The Fairly OddParents)
• Crayak and Ellimist (Animorphs)
• Alien X (Ben 10: Alien Force)
• Larry (Teen Titans (TV series))
• Figment (Epcot's Journey Into Imagination attraction, most noticeably in the current version)
• Nutty Ned
• The Ghostly Trio
• Genie (Aladdin) (Aladdin (film))
• Jafar (Genie Form and to a certain extent also the sorcerer form) (The Return of Jafar)
• Djinn (Mythology)
• Grim Reaper (The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy)
• Alessa Gillespie (Silent Hill)
• Palmer Eldritch (The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick)
• Anthony Fremont from It's a Good Life by Jerome Bixby, which was made into a Twilight Zone episode with the same name.
• Orihime Inoue (Bleach)
• Lain Iwakura (Serial Experiments Lain)
• It/Pennywise (It)
• Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street)
• Divis Mal (Aberrant role-playing game)
• The Mask (comics & movie)
• John Murdock (Dark City)
• Neo (The Matrix)
• George Orr (The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin)
• Q and Amanda Rogers (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
• Gary Mitchell (Star Trek),
• Sarda the Sage of 8-Bit Theater
• Jobe Smith (The Lawnmower Man)
• The Strangers (Dark City)
• Haruhi Suzumiya, Yuki Nagato, Ryōko Asakura and Sasaki from the (Suzumiya Haruhi series)
• Robert Hayden (The Law of Ueki)
• Dark Schneider (Bastard!!)
• Schrödinger (Hellsing)
• Yubel (Yu-Gi-Oh! GX)
• Yukari Yakumo (Touhou Project)
• Yūko Ichihara (xxxHolic)
• Clow Reed (Sakura Card Captors)
• Tess Harding ("Roswell")
• Madcat (Swat Kats)
• Max (The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D)
• Aziraphale, Crowley and Adam (Good Omens)
• Yog-Sothoth (H.P. Lovecraft)
• Daniel X (The Dangerous Days of Daniel X)
• Max Renn (Videodrome)
• Equinox (Batman: The Brave and the Bold)
• Enrico Pucci (Stone Ocean)
• Gigalomaniacs (Chaos;Head)

Limited to probability or uncontrolled reality manipulation

Artifacts with reality warping abilities

In addition to individuals, objects in fiction have also been attributed with the ability to alter reality, typically in response to its owner's thoughts and/or desires.

• Cosmic Cube
• Infinity Gauntlet
• The Sphere from Michael Crichton's novel by the same tile.
• The Reality Gauntlet from Danny Phantom

See also

• List of comic book superhero powers
• omnipotence
• Cartoon physics

References