#illusion powers

Something that will always annoy me in fiction where magic/powers are present is how demonized illusion/manipulation magic/power is as the norm. They're often in the top of abilities a writer will select from to create a diversified group of villains or simply to clearly identify to the audience that a character is a bad guy.

I mean, might be me who is only remembering the villains harnessing that kind of powers. Maybe I'm completely wrong.

But I do find it to be some weird trend.

In HxH's (2011) anime, I have a hard time remembering a (notable) Manipulator that wasn't a bad guy.

In Fairy Tail, Macbeth and Meredy who respectively have illusion and emotional manipulation magic started as ennemies. And really dangerous ones at that as they were member of two of the most powerful dark guilds of the kingdom.

In My Hero Academia, Shinso was bullied for having a "villain's" quirk.

And that one particularly infuriates me because, if we had powers or magic in the real word like in MHA, the people harnessing them would be extremely helpful in society. Just, imagine the number of hostage situations they could quickly, and safely, resolve; the way they could easily force civilians to calm down and follow the directions to safety during a natural disaster; how useful and in demand they would be by emergency hotlines.

How is that a "villain-only" power ?!

Sure, it could be used to do evil thing, but virtually all powers can. Even healing ones (cough Redo of the Healer cough).

How does one get a ring? Are they inherited? Are they gifted after going through a trial? Are they chosen by the possibly semi sentient rings?

And what element are you using for the rings?

Rings are passed down from the previous user, after they either retire, die, or are otherwise unsuitable to continue using them.

In that case, the ring is able to sense those who embody one of the traits associated with the element, and tries to seek them out. The party in charge (either the leader or someone of equal power) sets up a trial to see if they are actually worthy of wielding it, and to join the group.

The elements are as follows:

Earth- often the leader, possesses gravity manipulation and can call on the powers of other nearby rings.

Stone- earth and rock manipulation, as well as enhanced strength and senses (like Toph, sort of)

Forest- plant manipulation and enhancement, can also combine different plants and elements.

Sky- Weather manipulation, flight.

Ice- ice creation and temperature manipulation. Can also create unmeltable ice.

Water- Water manipulation and generation. Can also attack with the force or rushing Rapids.

Underrated magic powers, points to The Owl House for really playing with them. They are just so great.

Zoroark: Well, yeah. I’ve seen what he looks like. Problem is I wouldn’t be able to hover around, so…

[Zoroark transforms into an identical clone of Sticky, only to fall over on his back and revert back to normal.]