A negaquest omake? Wow, I'm honored. This is definitely getting a threadmark. And I'll give you a choice of reward. You may choose to give Marie one of the powers that you all have discussed giving her and that fit the rules, give her one of the weapons that you all have discussed and that fit the rules, or ask me for a hint on how to solve a problem you all have been discussing with the same rules as the last hint I offered. Not a complete answer, but honest and not intentionally misleading.
I would like to get the Power of Nothingness from Street Fighter's Ryu for Marie. But not for it's combat abilities, rather I would like it for it's non combat applications and required secondary powers/prerequisites for it's use. They are the ability to seal away evil influences, the innate requirements for it's use and the habits that Ryu formed as he struggled not to use it's opposite in the Satsui no Hado (aka. Surge of Killing Intent). But the most important part of the power is the way in which it is obtained.
The Power of Nothingness also known as the Kyoi no Hado or Surge of Mindless Intent is the "power to act without being attached to emotions and thought, free of fear, anger, pride, and ego" and "can only be used by a person of pure mind, compassion, mercy and peace" (1). As such one can only use the power when one has attained complete or near complete mental and spiritual self control. This would be especially useful to Marie as the bearer of the Skull Heart it is constantly attempting to influence her, as shown in this quote "Even those who can resist the Skull Heart however experience considerable changes in their personality, becoming more cold and ruthless over time." (5). This can be likened to the Satsui no Hado which also influences it's users in a similar fashion over time, "become extremely powerful, ...at the cost of losing their humanity and compassion; ...and develop an obsessive, dark, murderous, and even suicidal desire to fight." (2). This causes the users of both powers to evolve along very similar tracks as they trade control for power and with repeated uses of the power lose the ability to care for anything other than the goals of the power in the first place, destruction and killing respectively. The Power of Nothingness was developed specifically to counter the Satsui no Hado by Ryu's master Gouken as he "wanted to embrace the peaceful and spiritual aspect of the art, ...turning fatal techniques ...into tools for self-defense, removing their killing potential." (4). A user of the Power of Nothingness is therefore immune or at least highly resistant to such manipulations as "If one balances the Satsui no Hado and the Power of Nothingness, ...they will be in complete control of their power without any negative effects" (2). Ryu demonstrates this ability as shown by this quote"...enters a state he calls "Shin Ryu" by merging the Satsui no Hado with the Power of Nothingness, bringing balance...". This balance attained with Ryu's self control and mastery of the Power of Nothingness would be useful for Marie to balance the influence of the Skull Heart.
The Skull heart affects Marie and she strugles against it. Similarly Ryu's mastery of the Power of Nothingness through self control has not been easy, for a long time he has struggled against using the Satsui no Hado. Ryu first encountered the Satsui no Hado when he first encountered Akuma, a user of the Satsui no Hado, before he even encountered M. Bison. "...proceeds to tell Ryu about the Satsui no Hado - a power that consumes ...driving them to win even when it means killing the opponent." (3). He was then further tempted by M. Bison who defeats him and then attempts to brainwash Ryu into using the Satsui no Hado with revelations about his Psycho Power, "...the Satsui no Hado - the dark power Ryu struggles to avoid using - is akin to Bison's own Psycho Power." (3), though Ryu is able to overcome the brainwashing and defeat him without it. He continues to demonstrate this self control as he still resists using the Satsui no Hado despite being threatened during and argument with Akuma, "...give in to the Dark Hado or else he will kill him." (3). It would take Ryu's ally Cammy being tortured to cause Ryu to finally give in to the Satsui no Hado, nearly losing his mind in the process "...the Dark Hado then takes over Ryu and engages C. Viper..., ...slaughters multiple S.I.N scientists who witnessed the fight..., ...regain his consciousness and realize what he has done.". The corruptive power of the Satsui no Hado is demonstrated here as while under it's influence he killed without mercy. It would be this refusal to use it again that would allow him to unconsciously first use the Power of Nothingness, "...awakens a new power and nearly kills Seth with it." (3). The influence of the Satsui no Hado is still affects Ryu as he uses it on a W.M.D. "...unleashed the Satsui no Hado on the BLECE machine, a weapon of mass destruction..." (3), and despite it being mostly sealed away by Gouken with the Power of Nothingness"...managed to seal the Satsui no Hado..." (5), he still struggles not to let it consume him "the Satsui no Hado almost consumed him." (3). It would not be until his next fight with M. Bison. that he finally masters his self control and in doing so is able to consciously use the Power of Nothingness, "...infused with the Power of Nothingness, ...mastery of the power and a sublimation of the Satsui no Hado." (3). He is later shown to have full control and no longer has to worry about the effects of the Satsui no Hado, "Having liberated himself from the influence of the Satsui no Hado and enjoys a peace of mind,..." (3). It is this learned resistance to and eventual triumph over a corruptive force that I think that Marie could use as she shares similarities to Ryu. They both have a power that corrupts the user the more it is used and will constantly tempt them until it is mastered "...murderous, extremely powerful woman corrupted by the Skull Heart." (7). They also both have people trying to get them to use those powers, M. Bison and Akuma for Ryu and Double for Marie, "a manipulative figure who will do anything to further her agenda and create Skullgirls.". (6) While Marie has yet to deal with the influence of the Skull Heart the Power of Nothingness should be able to help her in her journey to seal it away just as it helped Ryu.
The sealing powers of the Power of Nothingness allow one to seal away evil power, "...sealing off evil power..." (1), whether it be inside of oneself or outside of it. This will be useful for Marie in dealing with the effects of the Skull Heart, no matter if it counts as an external influence or an internal influence. If it counts as in internal influence like the Satsui no Hado it can be sealed by Marie using it on herself like Ryu does with his Satsui no Hado. If it counts as an external influence it can still be sealed away, possibly within the Skull Heart itself, like Gouken does to Ryu, "Gouken seals the Satsui no Hado within Ryu." (1). It will even be effective if the Skull Heart counts as both an internal and an external influence simultaneously, as Ryu was able to use the Power of Nothingness to perform both at the same time, "...Ryu managed to control and overcome the Satsui no Hado inside him by tapping into the Power of Nothingness to seal M. Bison." (2). This quote also proves that it is possible to use the Power of Nothingness to seal away entities that don't want to be sealed, and that it also works on evil powers that are not the Satsui no Hado. Like the Satsui no Hado, Psycho Power shares similarities with the Skull Heart. Both are strengthened by negative emotions towards others "Psycho Power feeds off of the fear, anger, and the hatred of others" (8). They both also have an end state in which the user does not care for others as seen in these quotes, "amplified by negative emotions such as hatred, ...to master it one must purge all good and light within oneself." (8) and "Though a sense of morality can remain, this ability will dwindle as the Skull Heart slowly takes over the holder's body." (5), for Psycho Power and the Skull Heart respectively. Given that the Power of Nothingness can seal away two different evil powers with large similarities to the Skull Heart, it is likely that it can also seal away the powers of the Skull Heart too. As such the Power of Nothingness would be very useful for Marie to have.
In conclusion, I would like to gift Marie the Power of Nothingness from Street Fighter as used by Ryu. It would be incredibly useful to her, and not just for the combat applications. The stringent usage requirements would allow for a contrast to balance the influence of the Skull Heart. Ryu's struggle with the influence of the Satsui no Hado and his usage of the Power of Nothingness to conquer it would give Marie a path to follow and a base to start from for her fight against the Skull Hearts effect on her thinking. And finally the ability for the Power of Nothingness to seal away evil powers is a method by which the power of the Skull Heart over Marie can be reduced or negated, with a decent chance of working. Thus the Power of Nothingness is nearly a perfect skill/power to grant Marie.
References
(1)
Power of Nothingness. Street Fighter Wiki. Retrieved October 17, 2024, from
Power of Nothingness
(2)
Satsui no Hado. Street Fighter Wiki. Retrieved October 17, 2024, from
Satsui no Hado
(3)
Ryu. Street Fighter Wiki. Retrieved October 17, 2024, from
Ryu
(4)
Gouken. Street Fighter Wiki. Retrieved October 17, 2024, from
Gouken
(5)
Skullgirl. Skullgirls Wiki. Retrieved October 17, 2024, from
Skullgirl
(6)
Double. Skullgirls Wiki. Retrieved October 17, 2024, from
Double
(7)
Skull Heart. Skullgirls Wiki. Retrieved October 17, 2024, from
Skull Heart
(8)
Psycho Power. Street Fighter Wiki. Retrieved October 17, 2024, from
Psycho Power
A/N: Since there's been a good bit of discussion about the matter, I'll say this about finding Marie a character to borrow self-control/resistance to corruption from. The more impressed I am by the character you pick and the argument you make for them, the more likely it is that I'll give you something extra in addition to that character's ability to not succumb to evil influences. For example, if you somehow manage to convince me that B. B. Hood actually would be a good pick, Marie won't just get an ability to resist corrupting influences/self-control but also a second ability from B. B. Hood of your choosing or a weapon from her of your choosing. But that's the optional superboss of your challenge to find Marie inner peace, so don't feel like you need to convince me of B. B. Hood specifically. I'll accept just about any fighting game character if I find your argument convincing.
A.N: I hope this 1700 word essay fits the requirements for this assignment.
