Personality Powers / Anime & Manga

• Accel World: This is a plot point, given that all of the characters' duel avatars' powers are derived from past traumas. While Burst Linkers do have some manual input over their avatar's future growth, most of the strongest got there through a strategy of Be Yourself, and claim that being wishy-washy by adding powers with no relation to your personality will cause you to devolve into a Master of None.
  • Haruyuki "Haru" Arita, the main character, is a bullied child who uses games as a form of escape, and, as such, becomes Silver Crow with the power of Flight. It's more loosely implied that his avatar's skinny, rather generic appearance is a result of Haru being picked on for his weight.
  • Takumu Mayuzumi, as a result of being bullied by older kendo students practicing piercing techniques on his throat, became Cyan Pile with the ability to use a Pile Bunker.
  • Haruyuki and Takumu's mutual friend Chiyuri Kurashima wants to turn back time to when they were closer, and so her avatar Lime Bell gains the power of time reversal.
  • "Snow Black", the team leader, spends a lot of time blaming herself for hurting people she gets close to. Hence her avatar Black Lotus has Absurdly Sharp Blades for limbs and can inflict fatal damage on others just by touching them. (Her Finishing Move? "Death by Embracing") It's suggested that she has ways to inflict Wounds That Will Not Heal as well.
  • Seiji Noumi was bullied by his older brother Yuuichi, who forced him to give him many things, from New Year's money to Brain Burst points, and so his avatar Dusk Taker gained the ability to steal other avatars' powers. Fittingly enough, Seiji also became just as bad as Yuuichi was, making this also a case of Bad Powers, Bad People.
  • Fuuko Kurasaki lost her legs in an accident, and so her avatar Sky Raker gained rocket boosters that grant her extreme mobility. Addicted to climbing higher and higher, she would attempt to Exploit this mechanic by cutting off her avatar's legs, hoping that immersing herself deeper in her trauma would make her boosters powerful enough for true Flight.
• Alice & Zoroku: Zigzagged. Minnie C Tachibana's powers manifest as the arms of her late husband, who she desperately desires to see once again and which she talks to as they were him. Ichijo Shizuku, however, developed her power while she was asleep and it took the form of an anime that just happened to be on television at the time. As a result, Ichijo thinks that Dreams of Alice aren't actually intended to make one's dreams come true.
• Attack on Titan: Many of the Titan Shifters are examples of this. Reiner is the Armored Titan, which is Exactly What It Says on the Tin and corresponds to his Team Dad mentality (comes back to bite him in the ass later on). Bertholdt, who's said to "lack initiative", is the Colossal Titan — capable of dealing incredible amounts of damage, but very, very slow and has great difficulty moving. And finally, Eren in his titan form is basically the Anthropomorphic Personification of Unstoppable Rage.
• Basilisk: A number of the characters have these:
  • Gennosuke and Oboro are the two characters who most want the Kouga and Iga to make peace/want everyone to get along, and they both have powers that nullify others' attacks (gruesomely and permanently in Gennosuke's case).
  • Kagerou is a sexy kunoichi who can inflict Out with a Bang, and a similar situation is in effect with Okoi and Akeginu in terms of appearance and powers.
  • Hotarubi normally comes across as a sweet and friendly woman, but is a total yandere and Cute and Psycho. Fittingly, her power is being a Friend to All Living Things... which she uses to kill people.
  • Explicitly noted of Jingoro and true of pretty much all other gonk characters is that the grotesque outside appearance perfectly reflects their malevolent personalities.
• Black Clover: Characters usually have personalities that perfectly fit their magics. For instance, Noelle is usually calm but can be temperamental like water, Grey is extremely shy about her true appearance and can transform into others, Gauche is self-centered and uses Mirror Magic that can duplicate himself, and the Crimson Lion Kings' Vermillion siblings are all hot-blooded and have Flame Magic. It's also weaponized. Mages can gain new spells that fit with their important personality developments, sometimes in the heat of the moment. Gauche gains a spell that duplicates others when he resolves to become more selfless and cooperate with Asta. Noelle learns to cast Sea Dragon's Roar after overcoming her subconscious desire to not harm others when her friends are threatened by Vetto. Vanessa manifests the Red Thread of Fate, which only affects those she cares for, when she shuns the Witch Queen and acknowledges the Black Bulls as her true family.
• Bleach: Shinigami manifest their sword powers from their soul in the form of an Empathic Weapon for weaker Shinigami and Talking Weapon for powerful Shinigami. The catch is that the sword also manifests the master's personality traits — warts and all. Acknowledging aspects of themselves that they aren't proud of creates personality clashes between sword and master, making it difficult for Shinigami to truly master their swords.
  • Ichigo's sword originally lacked a hilt and cross-guard to indicate Ichigo's power was incomplete. The sword spirit initially looked like a middle-aged man who functions as a mentor, but could also manifest a second spirit, a hollow that represented Ichigo's instinct and despair. Ichigo had to learn how to master both spirits before he could manifest his full power. This wasn't possible until he had developed Fullbring and also learned that the Old Man represented his Quincy power and the hollow represented his real Shinigami power.
  • Soi-Fon has a sting-themed weapon as her shikai manifesting as a needle-like dagger that she jabs into her enemy to kill in two hits. She loves her shikai because it's perfect for her stealth ninja career and image. Her bankai is a giant stinger-missile whose Awesome, but Impractical nature is awful for a ninja but perfectly reflects her barely acknowledged personality flaw of being an attention-seeker who engages in flashy moves to show off her abilities.
  • Hisagi is a Martial Pacifist who fears his zanpakutou's power because it's a killing weapon that is so focused on attack, it lacks defence. It's shaped to reap lives, is difficult to control and is utterly ruthless in battle. In the Zanpakutou Arc, Kazeshini is revealed to be an Ax-Crazy Blood Knight.
  • Yumichika claims his zanpakutou is bossy, full of itself and utterly convinced it's the most beautiful thing alive. Rangiku observes that sounds just like Yumichika. She then complains that her zanpakutou is lazy, self-absorbed and snooty and it becomes Yumichika's turn to observe just how like her it is.
  • Kyoraku and Katen Kyokotsu: He's laid-back and lazy and hates fighting seriously. His zanpakutou's power is to weaponise children's games, and it's his zanpakutou that chooses which game to "play" (to the death, of course) on the battlefield — Kyoraku has to go along with the decision just like his enemy does.
  • Shinji takes a childlike delight in reversing things. He even writes backwards sometimes just because he can. It turns out his shikai inverts everything — direction, senses, everything.
  • Orihime is a gentle-spirited girl who hates to see people being hurt and who always wants to help. She has excellent karate skills which she almost never uses because she's a Technical Pacifist. Her power manifests as six fairies, each with their own distinctive personalities ranging from a very shy fairy who barely talks to an arrogant, aggressive warrior. In keeping with her personality, her strongest powers are healing and shielding powers and her weakest least used attack is the one that kills. As she learns to be more assertive, her powers also start to become more aggressive.
  • Sosuke Aizen is a chronic liar of epic proportions, so of course, his Kyoka Suigetsu revolves around illusion. But both he and it have a flaw. When Aizen thinks he's touching an absolute power, or when he's blindsided by power he never planned for, he completely forgets about trickery. Likewise, when Kyoka Suigetsu directly touches someone, it stops its illusions. This could either mean directly stabbing someone (like Yamamoto) or being grabbed barehanded (like Gin or Ichigo).
• Choujin Sensen has the Espers granted superpowers based on their deepest desire:
  • Tomobiki Rinji gains telekinesis as a result of wanting more control over things beyond his reach (his gambling, his career, and his romance).
  • Kaminashi Akira gains intangibility from his wish to escape from his prison and become a free man.
• Code Geass: Each person's Geass is apparently a reflection of their inner desires, often with an ironic twist.
  • Lelouch: His power to give orders that can't be refused reflects his desire to go from powerless to commanding so he can change the world.
  • Mao: His power to read minds reflects that as an abandoned orphan, he was always on the outside, looking in.
  • Rolo: The power to (subjectively) stop time reflects his inability to escape the past and move beyond his life as an assassin.
  • C.C. (pre-upgrade): The power to make people love her reflects her past as an abandoned slave.
  • Emperor Charles: The power to rewrite peoples' memories ironically reflects his hatred of lies, by giving his the power to tell the ultimate lies; it can also mean that, by rewriting people's memory, people won't technically think he's lying. May also contain some Like Father, Like Son, since both he and Lelouch have the power to alter peoples' minds and behavior.
• Darker than Black: Zig-Zagged. All Contractors — the series' name for Differently Powered Individuals — have their emotions stripped and are reduced to a state of cold rationality as part of gaining their powers. They still have personalities, but their emotions no longer factor strongly into their decision-making. Thus, while most Contractors tend to act like The Stoic when there's no point in faking a full emotional resonse, many have quirks and character tics that seem to fit their powers (and in some cases, seem to get powers appropriate to the person they were before becoming a contractor). Thus, for every Hei (Shock and Awe powers, plays the The Stoic role very straight) you get someone like Wei (Bloody Murder powers, is a Blood Knight who likes testing them on new opponents).
• Digimon: With the exception of the third season, the lead character from each series represents the element of fire and has a quick temper to go with it.
• Fairy Tail: Shown very often. The most obvious examples are Natsu Dragoneel (a Hot-Blooded fire mage), Laxus Drayer (a Psycho Electro), and Laxus' grandfather and the leader of the guild, Makarov.
• Fullmetal Alchemist: Most of the Homunculi have powers related to the sin they embody and by extension which aspect of Father's personality they were created from. Gluttony has a pocket dimension inside him that he can suck things into, Greed has a shell made of black diamond, Lust has fingers that turn into spears which can penetrate anything (giving an otherwise extremely womanly character a twisted layer of androgyny) and Envy can shapeshift. Pride's powers don't really have anything to do with Pride objectively, but they do within the context of the story, as he was created in the image of Father's original form. Sloth has the ability to shrug off pain because he is "too lazy to feel it." Wrath has the ability to predict an opponent's moves & calculate the probability of the success of battle tactics in an instant, showing the calm, frightening aspect of war's wrath.
• Fushigi Yuugi: This occurs in several characters.
  • Chichiri, a masked smiling monk, has the appropriately tricksterish ability to teleport and shapeshift.
  • Tasuki, the brash Hot-Blooded guy of the group, gets both enhanced speed and a fan that shoots fire.
  • Mitsukake, the Gentle Giant, gets Healing Hands.
  • Tomo, an actor in a Chinese opera, has the ability to trap people in illusions.
• Future Diary has a variant, while every character has precognitive diaries, the way those diaries work is dependant on their personalities. So of course the yandere obsessed with the main character would get a diary that tells her everything that will happen regarding him.
• Hand Shakers: The Nimrods take various forms, including light-rods, gears, and cards. They are shaped and created from the most dominant trait of their users.
• Hunter × Hunter: Justified; Nen users don't get their Hatsu (special ability) spontaneously. They have to go through extensive and difficult training to develop it, and very few can manage to develop more than one. Thus, Nen users are frequently encouraged to develop a Hatsu that "suits them" and "feels right". Hisoka even developed a means of determining one's dominant Hatsu type by their personality, though he states it's about as reliable as Personality Blood Types. (Enhancers are simple and straightforward people, Transmuters tend to be secretive or dishonest, et cetera.)
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
  • Battle Tendency: Esidisi is the most Hot-Blooded of the Pillar Men, and his Flame Mode allows him to literally heat his blood to 500 degrees Celsius.
  • Most of the Stands throughout the series have abilities based on the User's personality. Of the ones from Stardust Crusaders:
    • Joseph Joestar's Hermit Purple being one of the weakest Stands in the series might seem unusual for the last Jojo to battle his enemies without a Stand, but make more sense considering his knack for predicting his enemies' next line and the fact he was an older and weaker man by the time he received his Stand, but as sharp as he was in his youth; he thus received Hermit Purple, a Stand that can aid him in predicting the future.
    • Iggy's The Fool allows him to control sand, fitting his rock-headed personality. It's also able to phase through enemy attacks, fitting Iggy's mindset of seeing fighting as a hassle.
    • DIO is an egomaniac whose Stand, The World, has the ability to stop time, leaving him untouchable and his opponents sitting ducks. It's also noted how this ability fits DIO's uncanny luck.
  • Of the Stands from Diamond is Unbreakable:
    • Josuke Higashikata's Crazy Diamond has Healing Hands, and Josuke himself is one of the nicest characters in the series. Its drawback is that Josuke can't use Crazy Diamond to heal himself, fitting with his selfless personality. This is outright lampshaded by Jotaro.
      Jotaro: Humans thrive on the destruction of others. But among them, there's you, and your power is the kindest, most generous ability one could ever have.
    • Okuyasu Nijimura's The Hand has the powerful and easy to use ability to erase whatever it swipes at with its right hand, reflecting Okuyasu's desire to solve problems without having to think much about them.
    • Koichi Hirose's Echoes is an ACT Stand, meaning that as Koichi undergoes Character Development, Echoes evolves in appearance and abilities to reflect that, following his journey from a Shrinking Violet to a Cowardly Lion.
    • Yukako Yamagishi's Love Deluxe grants her Prehensile Hair, allowing her to grab and strangle people with it, a representation of her ruthless obsession for Koichi.
    • Similar to Josuke, Tonio Trussardi is a Nice Guy who wants to help people through his cooking, so his Stand, Pearl Jam, allows him to heal the ailments of anyone who eats his food.
    • Akira Otoishi's Red Hot Chili Pepper can travel through and absorb electricity, fitting Akira's own electrifying personality.
    • Rohan Kishibe's Heaven's Door causes anyone who looks at one of Rohan's drawings to become a literal "open book", which he can then read through. A rather fitting ability for a mangaka in need of inspiration.
    • Aya Tsuji wants to be a Fairy Godmother, so her Stand, Cinderella, allows her to alter the features of people, while also temporally raising their luck.
    • Yoshikage Kira is a Serial Killer whose Stand, Killer Queen, turns anything it touches into a bomb, an ability seemingly born out of Kira's desire to not leave a single trace of his murders behind. In the Part's climax, Killer Queen gains a new ability in the form of Bites the Dust, an ability born out of Kira's sheer desperation to not get caught by the heroes.
    • Ken Oyanagi's Boy II Man has the ability to steal other Stand User's Stands if Ken beats them in Rock–Paper–Scissors, not only reflecting Ken's love for the game, but also reflecting his philosophy that by beating someone, one can prove themself to be even greater.
    • Yuya Fungami is a biker currently stuck in the hospital, and his Stand, Highway Star, has Super-Speed and can drain nutrients from its victims, which will be transferred to Yuya.
  • Of the Stands from Golden Wind:
    • While this ability was scrapped early on, the lifeforms created by Giorno Giovanna's Gold Experience could reflect any attack done to them back onto the attacker, symbolizing Giorno's goal to protect the innocent.
    • Leone Abbacchio's Moody Blues can replay past events, fitting both his former profession as a investigative police officer and his inability to move on from the death of his partner.
    • Narancia Ghirga's Aerosmith is a RC fighter plane with very real and very destructive weapons, a representation of Narancia's childish and Hot-Blooded personality.
    • Pannacotta Fugo's Purple Haze is the physical embodiment of Fugo's pure rage.
    • Pesci's Beach Boy takes the form of a fishing rod that can phase through walls. Like Pesci himself, this seems like a relatively harmless Stand, but also like Pesci, it proves to be much, much deadlier than it seems.
    • The Grateful Dead, the Stand of Pesci's Big Brother Mentor, Prosciutto, secretes a gas that can accelerate an organism's aging. It's fitting in hindsight for a man who wants his eager-to-please protégé to grow up and stop being a coward.
    • Diavolo's King Crimson is able to see up to 10 seconds into the future and then "erase" it, with no one remembering what happened in that time, fitting him being The Paranoiac who wishes to keep his identity a secret. In a twist of irony, this ability to erase part of the future belongs to a man who wants to erase the past.
    • Cioccolata is quite possibly the most evil character in the entire series, so it only fitting that his Stand, Green Day, has an ability designed to cause as much death and destruction as possible.
    • Similar to Rohan, Scolippi's Rolling Stones taking the form of a rock that slowly takes the form of its target is fitting for someone who's a sculptor.
  • Of the Stands from Stone Ocean:
    • Gwess' Goo Goo Dolls can shrink things, explained to be the manifestation of Gwess' desire to make friends while having control over them.
    • Jolyne Cujoh's Stone Free grants her the ability to transform her body into string, a representation of her desire to escape the Green Dolphin Street Jail. She even names the Stand after the fact.
      Jolyne: Hey, hey... Gwess. Didn't you once say that everything should have a name? I want to give her a name too... Stone Free... because I want to free myself from this stone ocean! Heard me? STONE FREE! This is her name!
    • Narciso Anasui's Diver Down can phase into things to disassemble and reassemble them, explained as a representation of his obsessive desire to take things apart.
    • Enrico Pucci's Whitesnake can extract people's memories in the form of discs, representing his desire to preserve the memory of his sister, Perla.
    • Pucci invokes this trope with three different characters, granting them Stands specifically because their personalities match up with the Stands' abilities. Specifically, he gives Death Seeker Thunder McQueen Highway to Hell (which inflicts damage done to the User onto a target), thief Miraschon Marilyn Mason (which steals objects of equal value to the amount of money the object's owner lost in a bet), and Guccio, a person who fights tend to break out around, Survivor (which raises the aggression level of victims to the point that fights break out).
    • Weather Report's Stand ability, Heavy Weather, which can transform people into snails, is a manifestation of his misanthropy.
  • Of the Stands from Steel Ball Run:
    • Johnny Joestar has the Stand, Tusk. Similar to Echoes, Tusk is an ACT Stand, meaning it develops in appearance and abilities as Johnny goes through Character Development. On a more specific note, Tusk's initial ability allows Johnny to shoot his fingernails like bullets, a representation of Johnny's distant and selfish personality, but when he gains Tusk ACT4, his Stand gains Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs, a representation of Johnny's development into a more heroic person.
    • Axl RO's Civil War is able to manifest the representations of a person's past guilt to haunt them, reflecting Axl's own status as a PTSD ridden former solider.
  • Of the Stands from JoJolion:
    • Joshu Higashikata's Nut King Call can screw and unscrew things by placing bolts on them, a reflection of Joshu's meticulous personality.
    • Yoshikage Kira, just like his Original Universe counterpart, has the Stand, Killer Queen. However, due to lacking the original Kira's murderous intent, this Kira is able to use Killer Queen's abilities in ways other than silent assassinations.
    • Tooru has this on a couple of levels. His innovative ideas are constantly ignored due to his youthful appearance, so his Stand, Wonder of U, has the ability to take the form of an older man, allowing Tooru to voice his ideas though him. Wonder of U’s main ability to is to give bad luck to anyone who tries to pursue him or his user; despite his long life as a Rock Human, Tooru is absolutely terrified of dying and will never engage in direct action if he can help it.
• In Killing Bites, Therianthropes don't get to choose which power they get from the operation, what they get is what fits best with their personality (and thus their Animal Motif that reflects it) and the option to either "Take it or leave it". It would explain a lot as to why the reptile Therianthropes are the way they are.
• Some of the many examples from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha:
  • Her first Lancer, Yuuno Scrya, Nice Guy that he is, has the Barrier Warrior with a touch of Healing Hands. Most offensive one? Razor-sharp bindings...
    • Shamal, being similar to Yuuno in personality, has similar powers, but tends to specialize in being The Medic rather than a Barrier Warrior, although her barriers are fairly impressive.
  • Chrono Harlown, being The Stoic, was appropriately given the power of the strongest Ice-based spell known, in other words, An Ice Person. Also a master of Flechette Storm.
  • Vita, being a Tsundere (or Jerk with a Heart of Gold for some), naturally wields a hammer, although she sometimes spices things up with This Is a Drill.
• Magic Knight Rayearth has it in a symbolic way with the three protagonists:
  • Hikaru: Fire, which symbolizes passion, energy and will, all of which she possesses in spades.
  • Umi: Water, which symbolizes emotion, and she's the most temperamental of the trio.
  • Fuu: Air, which symbolizes intellect and communication, and she's the most intellectual of the Magic Knights, always speaking with precision.
• Monster Musume: The Slime Girl Suu is an inversion. She can absorb water and manipulate her body with it the more she drinks and her personality is affected by the kind of water she drinks. Mineral water turns her into an intelligent secretary type, chilling herself in the refrigerator makes her an Ice Queen, absorbing the water of the ocean turns her into a mature matron, and so on.
• Mugen Densetsu Takamagahara Dream Saga has a few. Brash Taizou is strong, intelligent Souta is a seer, and girly Nachi's power is dancing.
• My Hero Academia: Runs on this trope, as each character has a unique power that almost always matches their personality. Its later suggested that the opposite is true, that the personalities of these people are affected by growing up with their specific power:
  • Izuku Midoriya is the biggest superhero fan and superhero wannabe ever and gets the standard-ish Super-Strength Quirk One for All. When One For All evolves to grant Izuku seven additonal Quirks, it also reflects Izuku's own encyclopedic knowledge of Quirks and Pro Heroes.
    • One for All's extreme backlash harming Izuku also reflects his fatal flaw: He has zero regard for his own well being, instead focusing entirely on saving others.
  • Katsuki Bakugo is a hot-headed, incredibly hot-tempered Jerk with a Heart of Gold whose Quirk is creating explosions.
  • Ochako Uraraka wants to be a Pro Hero to make a lot of money and provide for her poor family, wanting to ease the burden on her parents. Her power is to make objects weightless with her touch.
  • Shoto Todoroki initially comes off as a cold, stoic individual who mainly uses his freeze Quirk. However, his initial refusal to use his fire abilities, reflects his tendency to get caught up in rivalries or lose his temper when other characters inadvertently bring up issues he is trying to suppress.
  • Yuga Aoyama's Quirk allows him to fire lasers from his belly. His personality is just as flamboyant and flashy.
  • Eijiro Kirishima's Quirk lets him harden and sharpen any part of his body. He, of course, loves the idea of manliness and being tough. Class 1B's Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu is eerily similar to Kirishima in both personality and his Quirk as well.
  • Momo Yaoyorozu's quirk allow her to create anything as long as she knows its molecular makeup, fitting her role as the smartest student in her class.
  • Fumikage Tokoyami's Quirk allows him to manifest a sentient shadow monster called Dark Shadow. Tokoyami is serious and reserved and even comes of creepy at times as his speech sounds archaic. He is also fond of the concept of 'darkness' to the point he considers himself a 'creature of the dark'.
  • Shoto's father Endeavor is the Hot-Blooded downright tyrannical top hero who has a fire-based Quirk called Hellflame.
  • All Might is a stereotypical symbol of hope superhero who originally had the aforementioned One for All. Naturally, he has Super-Strength.
  • Mt. Lady is an Attention Whore and Glory Seeker whose Quirk is growing bigger.
  • Shota Aizawa's Quirk is to nullify the Quirks of others, natural power for such a killjoy.
  • Present Mic can amplify the sound of his own voice, and is fittingly a Life of the Party who acts as the Large-Ham Announcer or DJ when one is needed.
  • Dabi's power of Incredibly strong flames powered by his hatred, which literally consume his body each time he uses them, fits him perfectly as a revenge-obsessed lunatic, who doesn't care if he dies in the process.
  • Twice's cloning powers caused his current personality issues by creating a Scenario where a group of his clones all turned on each other, each claiming to be the real Twice. The resulting Ambiguous Clone Ending sent him over the edge ( He's the real one if you were wondering).
  • Omnicidal Maniac Tomura Shigaraki is constantly under an urge to destroy everything around him, thanks to his ability to destroy anything by touching it with all five fingers. It only got worse after he awakened his abilities as a Person of Mass Destruction.
  • All For One is a megalomaniacal kleptomaniac with a god complex. His power lets him steal other people's Quirks to empower himself or those who serve him.
  • Yochi Shigaraki's power to pass on other powers (A power that is useless by itself), fits him as a selfless and good-hearted person held back by his frail and sickly physique.
• My-HiME:
  • Hot-blooded Determinator Mai fights with fire; while her cold, no-nonsense sidekick and rival Natsuki utilizes ice attacks.
  • Femme Fatale Nao uses a pair of sharp claws, and a giant spider-like summon beast to paralyze and toy with her opponents.
  • Yukino is shy, sweet, non-confrontational, meaning that her abilities in both the anime and manga relegate her to support roles most of the time.
• Negima! Magister Negi Magi usually follows this when the partners are granted their artifacts. The Playful Hacker Cosplay Otaku Girl gets a Magical Girl Staff that gives her super hacking powers, the bookworm gets a Magical Database / Great Big Book of Everything, the Shrinking Violet gets Telepathy, the School Newspaper Newshound gets recon equipment, etc.
  • Done on two levels with Negi's artifact. It's played first because he's a quintessential Magnetic Hero, and his artifact lets him borrow the powers of his own partners but also because he constantly trains to become stronger so that he won't endanger his True Companions by forcing them to support him, and can take care of everything on his own, so borrowing his partners' artifacts (not just copying; he seems to take the actual artifact) means he can fight so they don't have to.
  • Also Jack Rakan says that Negi's frequent bouts of self-loathing make him well suited to Dark Magic.
• In One Piece, Some characters' personalities match aspects of their Devil Fruit abilities. This does not apply to all Devil Fruit users, but it happens enough to make some fans wonder how that many people found a Devil Fruit that matches their personality.
  • Luffy is bouncy and energetic like rubber. ^spoiler  His true ability as the "Warrior of freedom" fits his worldview while also being the most ridiculous power in existence . His older brother, Ace, is rash and short-tempered to match his fire powers.
  • Enel, the main villain of Skypiea Saga, can manipulate and even become lightning. The high versatility and destructive power of the ability go into his head and he gets a god complex. He even has a circle of drums protruding from his back like the Japanese thunder god Raijin.
  • Blackbeard, user of the Yami-Yami Fruit (the power of darkness) initially follows this perfectly, preferring to operate out of the light, hiding behind men like Whitebeard or the World Government to further his plans. Even after he drops this act and takes center stage after the events at Marineford, his powers still fit him, albeit in a different way. They let him become a black hole, matching up with his desire to become the center of attention as the Pirate King.
  • Bartolomeo is an unusual but entirely valid take on this trope applied to a Barrier Warrior. Namely, he's a complete Troll because no one can actually hit him and make him stop. The caring and protective aspects of a Barrier Warrior come into play when he fights alongside his idols the Straw Hat Pirates.
  • Akainu is another unusual case. His magma power reflects his tendency to use overwhelming power without regard for bystanders, he is unyielding and relentless in his stance and view on justice and his first appearance outside of a flashback depicted him as a mountain (or volcano) in the way of Luffy's success (in that case success meant saving Ace. Nowadays, he's being set up as one of the major obstacles towards Luffy's final goal).
  • Jewelry Bonney is a notably depressing case. Bonney has the power to change the age of objects and people at will. This directly relates to how she was forced to prematurely "grow up" and act as an adult at the age of ten. Tragically, this is a known effect of real-life childhood trauma where children who had gone through traumatic experiences undergo accelerated mental development.
• Prétear does this with some of the Leafe Knights, and even lampshades it by mentioning that the Knights get jobs related to their powers.
  • Sasame's powers are related to sound, and he's portrayed as a good listener who works at a radio station. Himeno even mentions that his manner of speech is just what one would expect from a Knight of Sound.
  • The energetic hot-head of the group has fire powers. The series lampshades it by mentioning that the Knights get jobs related to their powers.
  • Kei, The Smart Guy of the team, is the Knight of Light — which he often points out when other characters start to doubt his plans.
  • Hayate works as a messenger boy — upon learning this, Himeno giggles and asks if it is because his power is Wind.
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Justified and reversed. After contracting, Homura gains the ability to rewind time, which she uses often. Because of the constant rewinds, Homura becomes exceedingly complacent (because, technically, she's already lived through any surprises life throws at her) and determined (because she knows she has the power to avert nearly any event that isn't in her favor).
  • Madoka's ascension provides a different method of justifying the trope. All her life, Madoka was an empathetic, selfless girl who wanted to help others. So naturally, upon contracting, she asks for the power to bring hope.
  • Kyubey communicates entirely through telepathy, and definitely fits the pattern of telepaths being evil and manipulative.
  • Kyouko used to be able to create illusory copies of herself while she was living a sort of double life as a supporter of her dad's church and fighter of witches. After her dad found out, went mad, and killed her whole family and himself, she decided to live only for herself and lost this ability.
• Ranma ½: Genma Saotome turns into a panda — his primary interests are lounging around and eating. Similarly, Ryoga is "pigheaded," Shampoo is "sly as a cat," and Mousse is "birdbrained."
• Read or Die and R.O.D the TV: Every paper user aside from Anita (who, admittedly, had a reason, and got into it later) are bibliophiles. "Extreme" bibliophiles.
• Sailor Moon:
  • In the original Sailor Moon anime, Sailor Mars has fire-based powers and is hot-tempered, Sailor Jupiter has thunder powers and is big and tough, Sailor Mercury controls ice and fog and is cool and intellectual.
  • Averted in the manga, where Mars was a level-headed and standoffish Shinto priestess with fire-based powers. At least until she got mad, then she really burned with a fiery passion.
• Sekirei averts this with almost all characters. However, the Electricity twins are Psycho Electros and the An Ice Person is still mostly stoic, subdued and focused on her work.
• Speed Grapher goes one step further by having all Euphorics gain powers based on their fetishes and obsessions. A man with a rubber fetish literally becomes a Rubber Man. A woman with a diamond fascination gains the ability to transform her flesh into diamonds. And the lead, a former war photographer who occasionally got an erection from getting good shots, gains the ability to make anything he photographs explode.
• Tiger & Bunny: Played with. Blue Rose is expected to maintain a 'cool and sexy' persona for her fans but off-screen has a temper at times. Of the two fire-using NEXTs Lunatic is creepily calm in and out of costume, while Nathan is flamboyant and cheerful and rarely shows anger. Pao Lin/Dragon Kid is a more clear aversion being in no way a Psycho Electro. The two leads have very different personalities but have identical superpowers.
• Yes! Pretty Cure 5 references this in the characters' heroic titles and speeches. All-Loving Hero Nozomi? "Great power of hope". Easily angered tomboy Rin? "Red flame of passion". Happy Idol Singer Urara? "Scent of a bursting lemon"... okay, this is a language pun involving her bubble-based powers and cheerful personality that didn't quite translate.
• Yu-Gi-Oh!: Several ace cards have effects and/or traits that are seemingly tied to that of their masters.
  • Stardust Dragon sacrifices itself to protect the controller's field from destroyed by a card effect, similar to how Yusei often willingly help others in need.
  • Blue-Eyes White Dragon having a brute power strategy mirrors Kaiba's brutal outside.
  • The Number cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL explicitly mold themselves after their holders. i.e the protagonist Yuma has a protective monster, Vetrix has Power Copying Numbers, and most one-off antagonists have theirs fit too. i.e compulsive gambler Charlie McCay has a luck-based Number.
  • Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon has two effects, depending on if it's summoned as a Monster or used as a Pendulum Scale. As a Monster, it doubles the battle damage it inflicts. As a Scale, however, it reduces battle damage with a Pendulum Monster to 0. This reflects Yuya's own pendulum-like personality, where he tries hard to put up a happy entertainer persona to hide how much he's hurting on the inside.
  • Whole archetypes and playing styles can cover a character's personality. Jack is headstrong, and aggressive, and refuses to budge on his ideas. So his deck features a beat-down strategy that relies on the same stratgies over and over. This is in contrast to the cool-headed and Yusei, who focuses on performing a variety of strategies and combos.
  • Yuma's monsters are childish and simple, reflecting his childish and simple nature. His ace monster, Utopia ("King of Wishes, Hope" in Japan.) represents the hope and idealism Yuma always carries.
  • Sora's deck features cute stuffed animals that turn into scary, mechanical abominations; foreshadowing Sora's role as The Fake Cutie and a villain.
• In the anime YuYu Hakusho, there's a story arc in which humans acquire special abilities. It is explicitly explained that characters receive abilities specifically related to their personalities.