Welcome back!
This is part #4 in The Appeal of an Overpowered Protagonist series.
The first three are about shifting the tension in conflict away from outcomes. The tension can instead be the content of the conflict, the meaning of fights, and what is to be gained through the use of overpowered status. The third one segues into this fourth topic. This is something that literally cannot be done alone, and thus no single character, no matter how overpowered, can accomplish it alone.
Building a nation.
The illustrative example today is That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. For those who don't know, the title refers to the human, Satoru Mikami, who is reincarnated as the slime monster, Rimuru Tempest. He starts the story as a small slime alone in a cave, feeling disoriented and directionless. Things happen, and he finds himself the leader of a small tribe of goblins. Then, by convincing the wolf monsters threatening them to surrender, he unwittingly lays the foundation for a great nation of monsters, the Jura-Tempest Federation.
Now, Rimuru is overpowered from the very start. His reincarnation bonus alone grants him various damage immunities, highly useful skills, and the means to grow stronger and acquire abilities by imitating and/or eating other creatures. Then he acquires the name "Rimuru", which is a big deal for monsters in this verse. Monsters typically don't have names, instead going by nicknames or descriptions. To be given a name is to be given power, and the more powerful the one bestowing the name, the more power given to the named. Rimuru is named by a legendary storm dragon, so the bonus he gets is great indeed.
This is not limited to combat power either. He gains ability for various utility magic and crafting skills. He is not a one-trick pony, capable of only fighting.
Is Rimuru overpowered? Totally. The fights he enters usually end quickly in his favor, and his skillset enables him to solve problems that vex other characters. This doesn't ruin the story.
On the contrary, it enhances the story, because this is a story about nation-building. Now, if this was a story about Rimuru wandering around and challenging people to fights or conquering nations instead of building one, that might be a different situation. In this one, all of his abilities are inadequate for his true goal.
Rimuru sees the cluster of huts and hovels that is the goblin' village and decides to improve their standard of living. Having little else to do with his new life, this becomes his purpose. He seeks to create a modern city-state for his subjects and build positive relations with other nations. This is the narrative thrust of the series. Yes, there are a lot of fights, and quests, and other activities, but the development of this nation is the focus. In fact, a lot of the fighting is triggered by the growth of the nation, as others take notice and seek to investigate it or exploit it as suits their own purpose.
Rimuru works with his citizens to literally build the city from huts into houses. He goes to other towns and other nations, seeking supplies and people with trade skills. He invites other monsters to migrate to the new town, which is called "Tempest". The nation is built by everyone working together, using their respective talents. Rimuru doesn't do everything himself, far from it.
Fighting is something he does when necessary, and he has a wide range of acceptable outcomes (he once bribed an opponent too powerful to fight into declaring a draw by giving them honey). He also has powerful subordinates (who do not lose fights simply to hype up his opponents), and a "bestie for restie" who is leagues more powerful than he is.
Diplomacy is also something he does, and he prefers this to fighting. Notably, he doesn't have any special abilities that help him there, but he does have subordinates more eloquent than he himself (Shuna) that can assist him and also allied rulers who can give him pointers (Gazel Dwargo).
Crafting is something he can do very well, but primarily by making duplicates of things someone with actual skill already made. To make new things, he relies on Kaijin and the other dwarves working under Kaijin.
Research is another thing he could do, but others can do better. Vesta is the one innovating for the Jura-Tempest Federation.
Of course, the nation-building takes place over the course of several adventures. It is not a singular process of building roads and houses in every episode / chapter. These adventures include the oni attack, the rampage of the Orc Lord's army, catching the notice of genuine Demon Lords, and outright invasion. Building the nation is the outcome of many events, but it is the single thread uniting all of them. The focus of the protagonist of this story is the well-being of this nation and the people under his care.
The people under his care are not invincible; not helpless but not invincible either. His nation can get wrecked. This is what Rimiru worries about. He himself may be essentially unkillable, but his survival is not in question. The survival and development of his nation is what is in question. The story is about how he answers that question.
(Hint: The answer is never as simple as "beat up everyone")
Click here to read Part 3: What is Gained
His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.
No comments:
Post a Comment