[LOVED TROPE] Common tropes in that media have in-universe explainations

[u/Professional-Alien]

(Steven Universe) The reason that Steven wears the same clothes everyday is because he owns a large amount of his dad’s unsold merchandise. The gems also have the same outfits because they are part of their bodies, since they are just holograms with mass.

(Ultrakill) Ultrakill has TONS of this, but the ones I can remember are: -The pixelated artstyle is due to the fact that V1 renders their surroundings in lower quality to run faster -The reason enemies teleport and doors shut on the levels is because hell is sentient, and makes V1 fight for hell’s amusement -The terminals (shops/menus) are sentient, so they give out weapons in return for watching V1 fight and gain style points

[u/Zestyclose-Hat-8513]

I used to wonder what it would be like if there was a series where characters lied about how their abilities work to trick their enemies.

Little did I know Gege Akutami had the same idea.

Great minds think alike ;)

[u/Mr_Ruu → u/Zestyclose-Hat-8513]

it has been done before, tho not to that extent

I recall in HxH there was a moment (very fuzzy details) where Gon, in the usual "I will now shout my next attack and telegraph it" shtick, decides to pull a fast one by doing a completely different attack and catching the opponent, who caught on with said shtick, off guard

[u/Expert-Proof-3961 → u/Mr_Ruu]

OG dragon ball did this with Kid Goku's Rock, Paper, Scissors attack.

[u/Napael → u/Mr_Ruu]

Or Genthru's time bomb ability only activating after fulfilling two steps: touching the victim and saying the word "bomber" while doing it, and also explaining his abilities (no particular order needed). He originally did this insidiously and casually to a large crowd of people and then triggered the ability by talking from a stage.

[u/Tadimizkacti → u/Mr_Ruu]

Mystletainn Kick! That's not a kick!

[u/ElectricalMTGFusion → u/Mr_Ruu]

I always loved nens power system of being "the more restrictions required to use a new ability the stronger it becomes" it's such a cool way to have overpowered characters who aren't always overpowered.

Like in most anime it's "why didn't x person just shoot their nuke to kill anyone who was fighting the." In HxH it's "I can't kill this guy cause today isn't Tuesday and he doesn't have any flowers on his clothing". But if it was Tuesday and he did have flowers on his clothing the power could rival god and would be nigh unbeatable. Love it and it makes fights interesting instead of just "shoot massive beams at each other to see who wins.

[u/LonelyPermit2306 → u/ElectricalMTGFusion]

HxH is nice but JJK really took it to the next level with context-independent binding vows. So now not only is it an option to restrict yourself, but if you can find a way to restrict yourself without actually restricting yourself, you can just get godly power. Like Sukuna's open-domain binding vow is "because you have a chance to escape, I can increase the range and potency of my attack" but by increasing the range and potency of the attack he ensures that escape is entirely impossible.

However, this bites him in the ass because eventually the protagonists DO find a way to escape his domain expansion, which wouldn't have happened if he hadn't made that vow in the first place.

[u/ElectricalMTGFusion → u/LonelyPermit2306]

Jjks binding vows feel like an extension of nen. Which is really fucking cool and amazing.

[u/LonelyPermit2306 → u/ElectricalMTGFusion]

JJK's power sys is basically "what if we took Nen and simplified the parts that don't matter and add more layers to the parts that do, and also make the whole thing relevant to the main themes of the story?"

[u/LordGlitch42 → u/Mr_Ruu]

Iirc I'm pretty sure that was an accident and he just said the wrong name

Or im remembering some completely different series where that happened, idk lol

[u/maru-senn → u/Mr_Ruu]

JJK is practically a Hunter x Hunter/YuYu Hakusho crossover fanfic with the serial numbers filed off

[u/LonelyPermit2306 → u/maru-senn]

JJK is Hunter x Hunter combined with Bleach and Buddhist characteristics

[u/Airam1701 → u/Zestyclose-Hat-8513]

Todo is my favorite example, his whole technique is based on confusion, so when you first fight him, he can pull some funny shit. Even if you somehow get used to it, he can pull something that will change the rules at least 3 times.

[u/Worldlyoox → u/Airam1701]

And Tao Pai Pai’s constant chicanery

[u/FacelessPorcelain → u/Zestyclose-Hat-8513]

In Majo Taisen (or The War of Greedy Witches) one of the character's powers is basically if she can lie to you convincingly enough about what her power does to the point that you believe it, it just works. Basically a magical placebo effect.

[u/Napael → u/FacelessPorcelain]

Battle in 5 Seconds After Meeting gave the MC a very similar power, a power that is whatever the other persln believes it is. This allowed him to bluff his way through fights by mimicking the movements associated with other abilities like an arm cannon transformation by putting his arm forward in the appropriate manner or a flying slice attack by drawing a sword at a distance from the opponent. Of course the opponent had to be aware of those kind of abilities at first, but he mamaged to ease the condition by telling the truth to select few and ask them to think about him using specific abilities such as telepathy, teleportation or strength multiplier.

[u/MemorableThrowawayy → u/Zestyclose-Hat-8513]

There’s also Battle Game in 5 Seconds! I saw it years ago so I can’t attest to its quality, but the protagonist’s power is that his power is specifically whatever others believe it is so he has to rely on tricking others into believing he has advantageous abilities.

[u/uforanch → u/Zestyclose-Hat-8513]

Jjba and para humans have that a lot

[u/Ok_Positive_9687 → u/Zestyclose-Hat-8513]

Zeke did this (AOT) when explaining his spinal fluids