Plot Manipulation

Bowser changing the story with the Star Rod.

Background

Plot Manipulation is the ability to control the Narrative Story and it's narrative elements, this allows the User to do things that would be seen as unreasonable by "readers" such as causing Deus Ex Machina, Plot Induced Stupidity or invoke Archetypes (Jungian or otherwise) and apply them to the scenario such as the Underdog, the Over-confident Villain, The Hubris ridden Hero, and many more.

While the way Plot Manipulation is shown varies, it must be shown to change the literal narrative of the verse, due to it's similarity to Fate Manipulation, the major differences between the two is that Plot Manipulation works through manipulating the Narrative level, rather then manipulating the Inverse level.

Possible Applications

• Reality Warping, the user are capable of warping the reality of the story.
• Time Manipulation
• Fate Manipulation
• Conceptual Manipulation
• Causality Manipulation

Types

• Type 1: Narrative Manipulation: This state of plot manipulation is the character affecting the very narrative, the narrative is how the events of a story relate and in what order, put simply, narrative is how one chooses to tell a story, many apply different narratives to the same story all the time. Typically those with narrative manipulation are aware of the fourth wall. This comes in varying differing applications:
  • Traditional: The User is able to control the narrative or is able to influence the narrative in various ways, this can often be shown as the User rewriting things that have already happened, is happening, or will happen.
    • Users: Chowder (Chowder)
  • Reader: The User is not of the verse and instead is off the out-of-verse "Real World" whereby they can influence the plot as the reader, such as stopping, starting, rewriting things into the plot and being able to ignore elements of the Plot due to the way they see/interpret the plot. By being outside the plot, they have resistances to traditional Plot Manipulation, and are often superior to everyone else within the narrative, as they write themselves to be.
    • Users: Shijima Mei (Toilet-Bound Hanako Kun)
  • Authority: The User is also not of the verse, similar to Reader Avatar, however, unlike Reader Avatar, the User is in fact the author of the verse, controlling every facet of the verse is any capacity, with this the Author can impose anything they like, even over-ruling Reader Avatars and can change virtually anything to virtually anything, such as behavior, ideals, motives, life, reality, death, destiny, magic, etc. As the Author, the User can dictate anything about the verse, with Traditional Plot Manipulation and Reader Avatars paling in comparison to their authority over the Verse.
    • Users: Flumpty Bumpty (One Nights at Flumpty's)

• Type 2: Story Manipulation: This state of plot manipulation is the character affecting the story, this could be the story of the media in general being told, or the story of an event told in the series. Story is an account of imaginary or real people and events told for entertainment, thus one with story manipulating controls the very story told itself, then just the narrative events. Story Manipulation users can be aware of the fourth wall though in a lot of cases they are manipulating a story that isn't the media itself and are thus not aware they are within a fictional story. As an example, the user could only be able to manipulate the story of specific fictions in their series, such as a famous comic book, changing the way the comic book ends.
  • Users: YHVH (Megami Tensei), Travis Touchdown, Zim, and Darkwing Duck (Darkwing Duck)

• Type 3: Plot Armor: The User is protected by the plot themselves allowing them to pull things in their favor or completely re-write victories/loses. The user could also be amped by literal PIS/Plot Control to the point that they seem like they are completely unbeatable. Unlike the standard ability of PIS this ability is an actual, legitimate in-universe explanation for why a character can pull the stunts they've done and survive the seemingly impossible.
  • Examples: Ness (Earthbound), Carmen Sandiego (2019)

Limitations

The plot is a conceptual narrative and story of causality, thus those that naturally resist causality or are acausal may be unaffected. Having a resistance to Fate Manipulation would in most cases garner a resistance to Plot Manipulation as it is merely just another form of fate through a story or narrative rather then a metaphorical thread.

Discussions (Link For Mobile Users):

Discussion threads involving Plot Manipulation