Underground Subculture: Magic Girls/Boys that Aren't Heroes

[windstorm]

Had this idea while re-reading a few mega-crossover fics recently (namely the Negima crossover Unequally Rational and Emotional and Shadow Crystal Mage's Nanoha 2814) and the Magic Girl Academy idea.

The world has had several magic hero teams for the past couple of years and you end up with new people awakening magical abilities like in the standard plot line, only thing is they find out that the enemy they were supposed to defeat has already been defeated by an existing group of heroes a couple of months ago. What exactly happens to the new magic girls/mages/magic knights etc? With no immediate enemy they are being forced to fight they don't develop a taste for heroics and some people could very well decide to sit it out. The temptation for being able to use power just because though remains. Some people decide to try and use it for other things like simply having fun with abilities beyond what you could normally do.

This gradually creates a type of 'magic underground' subculture where these non-heroes with magic abilities have become active in. The 'underground' has a large variety of groups which do things like social support, ability training, magic entertainment, fighting tournaments etc. The people in these underground groups like the excitement of having powers and using them for personal fun. Most don't want to deal with the attention or responsibility that goes along with the hero gig.

As a running side-story/humour bit all the various magical mascot characters and such have mixed reactions and often get into discussions/arguments about the proper course of action. Some want to push their partners into accepting destiny properly and becoming heroes (even if their 'destined' enemy is already defeated), some are lost and without purpose and others have mellowed out and are actually just happy their partners are able to enjoy themselves (and possibly relieved they don't have actually face a dangerous enemy) etc.

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This world also has existing groups of magic users (like the magic associations and such from the Negima world or something like the Harry Potter universe) in addition to the various heroes and the magic underground groups that have been hiding from the rest of the world for a long period of time and have kept magic from being publicly revealed. With the increasing number of magic heroes out in public there has been a large amount of debate over how to react to it within the magic associations. There are a few factions with different trains of though. Some want to just outright reveal themselves and end the secrecy arguing since people know about magic there isn't a point to keeping their own existence hidden anymore.

The more traditional and cautious factions argue against the idea because they are still unsure how people would react to the knowledge that these magic associations existed under their noses for so long. The heroes have a very positive reputation on their side and have a much greater deal of public trust. A group of non-heroes or magic civilians are a different kettle of fish. There are of course a couple of politicians, religious figures etc that already gripe and complain over things like 'evil' sorcery. The knowledge that almost anyone might be able to use magic and the long term consequences of it getting out the general public also pose a problem. It is easier to control and limit abuse while magic is restricted. There are also people in between arguing for a more gradual reveal, like inform the government first and reveal the associations and magic enclaves over several years.

The magic associations have been able avoid actually getting involved in major incidents. Early on most of the 'monster of the week attacks' were dealt with by various magic heroes before the attacks got large scale enough or wide-spread enough to be discovered or for the associations to fully mobilize. The magic associations also had a few trump cards which would have potentially been able to stop the various city to world destroying Eldritch Abominations before things got too far out of hand (like the world being taken over) but not before some damage would be done. In retrospect this makes the heroes a bit less important than many of them assumed. They saved lives by being faster responders than the magic associations, but they probably weren't the last and only hope for life on earth in most cases (later on after the reveal this leads to a few bruised egos on the hero side).

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The underground magic groups are caught between both sides because the heroes and magic associations are gradually catching onto them. Most of the people in the magic underground aren't keen on being associated with either side. They don't like the idea of being watched 24/7 and having major restrictions placed on them. Some are concerned about the idea of being basically drafted into service if they associate too much with the heroes or getting too much public attention. The associations are seen as way too traditional and restrictive. The underground groups and gradually being squeezed from both sides and have to deal with political ramifications of the mess. They also know ultimately that they can't remain hidden forever. The population of magic users is just getting too large and sooner or later someone will give too many details to one side or the other.

There are also some younger people from the magic associations that have gone to check out the underground events for fun, though most of them have kept it relatively quiet. There are also a few underground people who were former heroes or have gone into the hero business for various reasons. The cat hasn't gotten fully out of the bag but with increasing interaction between these groups it is only a matter of time.

[Ellen Kuhfeld]

Write this. Washuu of the Choisin commands you.

[Crimson Vixen]

Write this. Washuu of the Choisin commands you.

I Second the Command! *loves this idea*

[PCHeintz72]

Really, a world with randomly activating magical girls/boys with no clear just cause makes me instantly think of the XMen universe. Sure, it is not Magic but instead some made up gene... but you have the whole spectrum of good vigilante to anti-heroes, to just random users...

Or for a more current alternate... the Index/Railgun universes with espers and rogue churches... with all disparate powers and uses.

[windstorm]

Write this. Washuu of the Choisin commands you.

I Second the Command! *loves this idea*

Thanks for the positive responses. Not sure I'd get around to writing it in the near future if I did get enough motivation. I just started my last year of undergrad in university earlier this month and there are already a couple of essays and stuff due in the first week of October. It has also been years since I last attempted actually writing fiction in any form. My past attempt was a story for a gameboy game called Golden Sun back when I was around 14 or 15, it never really went anywhere after the forum I went to died and the story didn't get enough attention. I've still been reading fanfics pretty constantly though. Since then I've had a number of different story ideas (fanfics and non-fanfics alike) in my head but never fully wrote out.

If I did end up writing this fic I'd probably want to do a bit more background research and go over a few related anime series first as well. Some of the series I'd end up referencing or using for ideas I'm only really familiar with because of fanfics and people talking about them on forums.

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Really, a world with randomly activating magical girls/boys with no clear just cause makes me instantly think of the XMen universe. Sure, it is not Magic but instead some made up gene... but you have the whole spectrum of good vigilante to anti-heroes, to just random users...

Or for a more current alternate... the Index/Railgun universes with espers and rogue churches... with all disparate powers and uses.

I admit the X-Men animated series was a probably part of the inspiration for this type of idea (been a few years since I watched it though). I've had a few earlier incarnations and similar ideas in the past I never fully wrote down.

I've looked at the hero and magic type series and wondered why it was only the heroes that ended up with powers (though I've never been too interested in things like traditional sci-fi or the Marvel and DC superhero junk). To some extent it seemed logical that if you had multiple groups of heroes and/or villains with magic or supernatural abilities of some kind that there would be people with the same abilities that wouldn't fit into the regular dynamic. They would prefer being able to use their abilities for personal pursuits and stay out of the spotlight. There are at least some heroes that wouldn't really understand or respect the desire, believing too much in the power equals responsibility trope or being too paranoid about anonymous groups like this that didn't fit into the regular black and white world view.

X-men was somewhat unique in that regard, actually exploring the what the individuals were going through and how different people thought without as much of a black and white world. The big difference I'm probably going with in this idea is the type of support groups. Rather than just having a school where someone set up to scope out mutants, the underground groups had to create everything from scratch and set themselves up. The setting would probably focus on only a few cities at most but it would be implied to a be a bit more widespread.

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The Index series is also pretty good looking at a world where you have a large variety of ability users and what their day to day lives are like. I actually had another somewhat similar idea for an Index fic where there are a number of magic users independent from the churches. The Church organizations have been basically trying to round up or pressure more powerful or unique mages to join to increase their influence and try and monopolize magic power. Even among the smaller religious groups which offer to protect non-affiliated magicians from the bigger and less desirable groups (mainly the Catholic Church) in exchange for cooperation, these mages aren't all that keen. Because of the cold war scenario with the various churches and the magic/science cold war some mages got the bright idea to hide out in Academy City.

Someone managed to create a device capable of fooling the power assessment machines and stopping the development of esper powers. The mages (if they choose) stick to one type of magic can then fool people into thinking they have an esper ability. Winds up with a somewhat similar underground group of mages in academy city. You might also get level 0s finding out and becoming interested in learning magic since they couldn't get anywhere with esper abilities. The academy higher ups may or may not find out. If they do Crowly has some reason for allowing the mage groups to remain relatively unharmed.

[Ellen Kuhfeld]

X-men was somewhat unique in that regard, actually exploring the what the individuals were going through and how different people thought without as much of a black and white world. The big difference I'm probably going with in this idea is the type of support groups. Rather than just having a school where someone set up to scope out mutants, the underground groups had to create everything from scratch and set themselves up. The setting would probably focus on only a few cities at most but it would be implied to a be a bit more widespread.

I was writing a series called Supers some while back, which included several non-hero, non-villain characters. One was Dr. Anatomic, whose power was being able to treat and heal supers. Nobody bothered him -- if things went wrong, they'd need him, preferably in a good mood. There was Innocenzia deMure, who had a fairly standard set of powers, none of which involved being resistant to damage. She fooled around somewhere between hero and villain for a while, then hung up the cape and went into business designing and tailoring outfits for supers. Salamander could control chemical reactions, and went into business as an industrial super.

Industrial supers? Well, yes. Some powers are good for more than robbing banks, conquering the world, and saving us from villainy and the occasional flaming meteor. The Flash would make a superlative express courier. Superman could do well moving pianos, especially to third-floor walk-ups where you have to carry the piano up a winding staircase (unless you can simply fly it in the window). The Incredible Hulk would be a primo demolition company. And while Salamander refers to himself as the master of flame, he really is the master of combustion. Which lets him control just about any energetic, exothermic chemical reaction. The industrial uses are obvious: why rob banks when you can get a hefty paycheck in the chemical industry? Tame over-enthusiastic reactions, goose sluggish ones, and steer them all down the desired reaction paths. Why, it's almost as good as transmuting lead into gold, and a lot better than transmuting palladium into silver!

(A minor note here: my doctoral thesis involved, in a minor way, transmuting palladium into silver.)

[Maximara]

I was writing a series called Supers some while back, which included several non-hero, non-villain characters. One was Dr. Anatomic, whose power was being able to treat and heal supers. Nobody bothered him -- if things went wrong, they'd need him, preferably in a good mood. There was Innocenzia deMure, who had a fairly standard set of powers, none of which involved being resistant to damage. She fooled around somewhere between hero and villain for a while, then hung up the cape and went into business designing and tailoring outfits for supers. Salamander could control chemical reactions, and went into business as an industrial super.

Industrial supers? Well, yes. Some powers are good for more than robbing banks, conquering the world, and saving us from villainy and the occasional flaming meteor. The Flash would make a superlative express courier. Superman could do well moving pianos, especially to third-floor walk-ups where you have to carry the piano up a winding staircase (unless you can simply fly it in the window). The Incredible Hulk would be a primo demolition company. And while Salamander refers to himself as the master of flame, he really is the master of combustion. Which lets him control just about any energetic, exothermic chemical reaction. The industrial uses are obvious: why rob banks when you can get a hefty paycheck in the chemical industry? Tame over-enthusiastic reactions, goose sluggish ones, and steer them all down the desired reaction paths. Why, it's almost as good as transmuting lead into gold, and a lot better than transmuting palladium into silver!

(A minor note here: my doctoral thesis involved, in a minor way, transmuting palladium into silver.)

GURPS Supers (1989) all too briefly touched on the idea of Industrial supers preferring to focus on the comic cliche of "robbing banks, conquering the world, and saving us from villainy and the occasional flaming meteor" IIRC one panel in this section showed a doctor using his X-ray vision to fix a broken arm.

GURPS Technomancer (1998) gave us the idea of industrial magic (along with what has to be the dumbest idea in fiction...seemingly from Justice League (America) Antarctica Annual #4: Intelligent killer penguins. You can facepalm now)

[Té Rowan]

Nah. I have already read the Evangelion Omake Files.

The superlative super-useful superpower? I'd go with being a walking reparo spell. Hey, you might even get some free training as astronaut and/or cosmonaut!

[Ellen Kuhfeld]

The superlative super-useful superpower? I'd go with being a walking reparo spell. Hey, you might even get some free training as astronaut and/or cosmonaut!

Ah - Fix-it Felix!

[ckosacranoid]

I have seen something like this. I have the link tp post, but can not seem to share links from tablet. Have post later from laptop.

[Noy Telinú]

Sounds like a good idea.

What I'm interested in is that perhaps some of the other magical people each see themselves as good and some other group as evil while both actually good thus fighting each other stupidly because their animal advisor screwed up. ^_^

"I could've sworn they were evil!"

[Ellen Kuhfeld]

What I'm interested in is that perhaps some of the other magical people each see themselves as good and some other group as evil while both actually good thus fighting each other stupidly because their animal advisor screwed up. ^_^

That's the plot for almost every superhero introduction. They don't even need an animal adviser.

[Noy Telinú]

True, but animal advisors are fun to kick around.

How far is this idea along?

[windstorm]

Sounds like a good idea.

What I'm interested in is that perhaps some of the other magical people each see themselves as good and some other group as evil while both actually good thus fighting each other stupidly because their animal advisor screwed up. ^_^

"I could've sworn they were evil!"

I've seen this happen in a few crossover stories on FFnet where one hero group jumps the gun assuming another one are evil. Some were decent but the majority (like 80% of fanfics out there) were somewhat low quality or got aborted like 4 or 5 chapters in.

In this story idea I could see it happening a few times where a few of the hero groups accidentally mistake some of the people in the magic underground for villains. Say someone puts on a play or 'magic' show and uses actual magic for high quality stage effects believing they can pass it off the majority of the populace.The heroes recognize the effects being actual magic and think it is a new enemy trying to use the show as a cover due to similar past experiences (like the youma draining life energy in Sailor Moon). With the confirmation of the magic adviser they jump the gun.

In several of these confrontations the people in question manage to get away from the heroes and because they aren't trying to draw a lot of attention to themselves in the first place they just hang low for a while until they are forgotten. Because the 'villains' don't seem to reappear or have a related larger power behind them most heroes assume they were just small time petty villains working on their own.

When this happens to the various magic association or underground groups it causes some people to have negative opinions of the heroes in general and for some hero groups in particular to be too trigger happy.

Alternatively later on the heroes might catch someone onto a few of the underground activities and find them using magic for something they deem irresponsible but not really 'bad' per say. Say they accidentally crash an underground magic tournament, after the initial realization of an organized magic group the heroes start going into lecture mode about proper use of powers and responsibility causing a lot of backlash from the underground group.

With the magical mascot side bits you get some of the mascots from the underground talking down the ones from the hero groups. The 'cool' mascots (ones ok with their partners just having fun) trashing the hero mascots for overreacting and the 'traditional mascots' (ones that still want their partners to be heroes) arguing about proper ways to train heroes and confirm an enemy is really bad. The hero mascots start talking back about their counterparts lack of proper responsibility and letting their partners use magic improperly. Leads to a massive back and forth argument and possible mascot fight.

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True, but animal advisors are fun to kick around.

How far is this idea along?

The idea isn't that well fleshed out honestly. I have a few ideas for scenes which I've ran through my head and a starting point for the plot. Also have a few ideas for a possible 'big reveal' scene midway through. Like I mentioned in a past post though I'm not entirely sure I'd get around to writing it out anytime soon. Aside from motivation I have other things taking up my time and that are a bigger concern at the moment.

I mostly just put the idea out there for discussion purposes and to see how people would react to it.

[ckosacranoid]

http://www.neko-machi.com/arpg/index.html
magical world should help out for iudeas.

http://www.improfanfic.com/mgh/
magical girl hunters fanfic.....