- 2,317
- 1,083
I came here from a hiatus to tell you four things:
1. I don't think it's possible to scale characters
2. I don't think it's possible to objectively determine who wins in a fight between two characters
3. Following from points 1 and 2, I think all of battleboarding is nonsense.
4. Most drama on this site related to battleboarding would be gone if the site specified something akin to the last paragraph of this rant.
In the spoiler is why I think it so.
This doesn't mean that I hate battleboarding or its fans, by the way.
1. I don't think it's possible to scale characters
2. I don't think it's possible to objectively determine who wins in a fight between two characters
3. Following from points 1 and 2, I think all of battleboarding is nonsense.
4. Most drama on this site related to battleboarding would be gone if the site specified something akin to the last paragraph of this rant.
In the spoiler is why I think it so.
Main Points
Each fictional world cannot be compared to each other in anything save the most rudimentary ways. Furthermore, each fictional world and its characters are abstract objects with no position in space and time and no numerical representation. You can't measure them in joules or mph. Each fictional character is a set of rules bound by greater narrative rules, unable to exist without either. These narrative rules have no relation to any other narrative's rules, and thus it is impossible to make a universal tiering system. The conclusion is that a fictional character's strength is illusionary- all fictional characters are the same strength.
ORTHOGONAL WORLDS
Every single fictional construct, a world or a setting or a 'verse', was created ex nihilo by the author's mind, being its own unique fabrication due to the unique workings of each individual's mind. No individual can experience another's consciousness directly. A world does not share any building blocks with any other worlds due to this fundamental nature of originality. It might mimic other worlds, but it makes its building blocks its own just by being itself. These fictional constructs are orthogonal to each other- totally disconnected from the other's internal structure, no matter how similar they might seem. Their narratives might be compared, their characters, their tone, their themes- but they are not the same.
ABSTRACT OBJECTS
Fictional characters are like numbers or concepts- they cannot be measured as real beings. The number 2 does not take place in space or time, it has no mass, it has no size. The same applies to Goku and Superman. All evaluations of a character's strength based on 'joules' or 'miles per hour' are those false. In their constructs, they might be real beings, but in actuality they are not.
CONSTRUCTION OF CHARACTERS
Following this, it is thus easy to discredit the idea of VSBW-style character profiles having any value. In this situation, what style of character profile has value? The starting point for a good profile is that fictional characters are a set of rules under the guidelines of their construct's narrative, according to how their authors conceive of them.
Of course, all battleboarding is disguised fanfiction, made by fanfiction writers who do not know they are fanfiction writers. The debaters make a narrative with set rules, and they clone characters from different worlds to make a plot within that narrative. This has no bearing on the actual works. If I make a freeform chat roleplay with Superman and Goku, and write a story of a fight between the two where Goku wins, that does not mean Goku actually won from an 'objective and logical framework'. It means that my clone of Goku defeated the other person's clone of Superman according to our combined wills.
Each fictional world cannot be compared to each other in anything save the most rudimentary ways. Furthermore, each fictional world and its characters are abstract objects with no position in space and time and no numerical representation. You can't measure them in joules or mph. Each fictional character is a set of rules bound by greater narrative rules, unable to exist without either. These narrative rules have no relation to any other narrative's rules, and thus it is impossible to make a universal tiering system. The conclusion is that a fictional character's strength is illusionary- all fictional characters are the same strength.
ORTHOGONAL WORLDS
Every single fictional construct, a world or a setting or a 'verse', was created ex nihilo by the author's mind, being its own unique fabrication due to the unique workings of each individual's mind. No individual can experience another's consciousness directly. A world does not share any building blocks with any other worlds due to this fundamental nature of originality. It might mimic other worlds, but it makes its building blocks its own just by being itself. These fictional constructs are orthogonal to each other- totally disconnected from the other's internal structure, no matter how similar they might seem. Their narratives might be compared, their characters, their tone, their themes- but they are not the same.
ABSTRACT OBJECTS
Fictional characters are like numbers or concepts- they cannot be measured as real beings. The number 2 does not take place in space or time, it has no mass, it has no size. The same applies to Goku and Superman. All evaluations of a character's strength based on 'joules' or 'miles per hour' are those false. In their constructs, they might be real beings, but in actuality they are not.
CONSTRUCTION OF CHARACTERS
Following this, it is thus easy to discredit the idea of VSBW-style character profiles having any value. In this situation, what style of character profile has value? The starting point for a good profile is that fictional characters are a set of rules under the guidelines of their construct's narrative, according to how their authors conceive of them.
Of course, all battleboarding is disguised fanfiction, made by fanfiction writers who do not know they are fanfiction writers. The debaters make a narrative with set rules, and they clone characters from different worlds to make a plot within that narrative. This has no bearing on the actual works. If I make a freeform chat roleplay with Superman and Goku, and write a story of a fight between the two where Goku wins, that does not mean Goku actually won from an 'objective and logical framework'. It means that my clone of Goku defeated the other person's clone of Superman according to our combined wills.
This doesn't mean that I hate battleboarding or its fans, by the way.
Last edited:
