The Best and Worst Superpower

I think that reality warping might be the best power to have, but it would also be the scariest from the point of view of other people and is the most annoying when used in comic books and movies. Reality warping is the ability to change the world, people and even time. Basically, whatever the reality warper wants to be true, they can make true. If they want to change their own appearance or the appearance of others, they can do that. If they want to create new worlds, they can do that. If they want to kill someone, not only can they kill that person, but they can make it so that person was never born.

The reason why this power would be the best to have is that you could make the universe your own personal paradise. Everything in the universe would be as you wished it to be. You would essentially be a god. For example, if I was a reality warper, I could make it so that everybody has a greater sense of empathy and is kinder to each other. I could eliminate disease and poverty. I could also make myself really good looking, very smart and rich. The universe would be a paradise for me.

If this power would be great for me, why would it be so scary for others? Essentially it would mean there is no free will. People would act and think the way I want them to act and think. People would be kinder, not because they want to be kind but because I decided that they should be kind. It is even scarier if you realize that the reality warper might not want to do good. For example, if you have a reality warper who likes to watch people fight to the death, their paradise might be a hell for other people. A reality warper who is not nice would create a reality out of a horror movie.

Also, I often don’t like TV shows and movies with reality warpers. I think they can easily be used for lazy writing. Because they can change the universe however they like, they are often used by writers to get themselves out of difficult stories. They are often linked to what I consider one of the worst common plots in time travel movies. In some movies, either from reality warping or through time travel, the heroes make it so that the bad events of the movie never happened. I think in terms of books and movies, it is important to show that actions have consequences, that the fights and conflicts of the movie have results. If a reality warper just saves everybody easily, it is not very good entertainment.

For these reasons, I think that reality warping is probably the best ability to have, but it would be really scary to live in a universe with real reality warpers. It is the type of power which might be great for you if you had it, but it would be horrible for you if someone else had it. Further, I think the way this power is often used in books and movies is quite lazy and I think it should be used less often.

Nathaniel

Vocabulary
warp (verb) – to become, or make something become twisted, or bent out of its natural shape; for example, because it has become too hot, too wet, etc.
paradise (noun) – a perfect place
essentially (adverb) – referring to the true, important or basic nature of somebody or something
empathy (noun) – the ability to understand another person’s feelings, experience, etc.
eliminate (verb) – to remove or get rid of something
free will (n) – the power to make your own decisions about what to do, without being controlled by God, fate or circumstances