Quality Manipulation

Background

Quality Manipulation is the ability to alter, redefine, or control the inherent traits, standards, or levels of excellence within a person, object, or concept. This power focuses not on the physical structure or form of something, but on the qualitative aspects that determine its effectiveness, performance, or overall worth.

For example, a user may turn a dull blade into a master-crafted weapon, downgrade a masterpiece into a crude copy, or amplify the moral, artistic, or functional "quality" of something. Unlike Matter Manipulation or Reality Warping, this power does not change the substance or existence of a target, but instead adjusts its degree of refinement, superiority, or value.

Also Called

• Standard Manipulation
• Trait Refinement
• Excellence Alteration
• Property Quality Control

Possible Applications

• Enhancement: Increase the quality of weapons, tools, or creations, making them far superior.
• Degradation: Diminish quality, turning powerful items or skills into flawed, ineffective versions.
• Skill Quality Manipulation: Refine techniques, combat styles, or talents to masterful levels, or downgrade them into clumsy attempts.
• Conceptual Quality: Manipulate intangible qualities like beauty, elegance, purity, craftsmanship, or excellence.
• Moral Quality Control: Adjust the ethical quality of individuals, increasing their virtue or intensifying their corruption.
• Abstract Influence: Affect the "quality" of experiences, making them more profound, dull, enjoyable, or unbearable.

Practical Uses

• Improve or downgrade weapons and tools on the battlefield.
• Boost the performance quality of allies’ techniques or sabotage opponents by lowering their effectiveness.
• Manipulate societal, artistic, or cultural values by controlling standards of quality.
• Influence perceptions of beauty, craftsmanship, or morality in order to gain advantage.
• Symbolically control excellence, mastery, or perfection itself.

Potential Types

• Object Quality Manipulation: Alter the quality of items, structures, or equipment.
• Skill/Talent Quality Manipulation: Modify how refined or effective a person’s skills are.
• Abstract Quality Manipulation: Affect intangible or symbolic qualities such as beauty, virtue, refinement, or perfection.
• Dual Manipulation (Enhancement/Degradation): Ability to raise or lower quality at will, functioning as both an amplifier and a saboteur.

Possible Limitations

• May require understanding of what constitutes "quality" within the context of the object or concept.
• Quality changes may not alter fundamental power or nature, only refinement and effectiveness.
• Extreme quality alterations may not last without concentration.
• Could be resisted by entities or items that inherently defy standards (e.g., chaotic or abstract beings).
• Defining "quality" may be subjective and vary based on perception.