Aura Manipulation is an extremely powerful, complex, and versatile ability that allows its users to read, copy and enhance aura.
Description
Aura Manipulation grants the user the ability to manipulate their own aura by using channels to copy one's ability as well as combine multiple abilities to unlock new variations and attacks.
Usage
- Ability Replication: By sampling the aura of another active ability user, users of Aura Manipulation are capable of mirroring another ability and use all techniques associated with said ability. The more complex the ability, the more difficult it will be to imitate.[1]
- Multi-Power Usage: Whenever users of Aura Manipulation copy multiple abilities, they are capable of using them simultaneously. However, there appears to be a limit to this, as shown when John was unable to use Barrier during his final battle against the Wellston Royals.
- Ability Combining: Users of Aura Manipulation can combine attributes of multiple abilities to create powerful attacks.
- Aura Reading: Thanks to his ability's passive effect, John can naturally sense auras from activated abilities. Not only can John use this passive without activating his ability, but he can also detect the intensity of auras and properties of auras. This was first shown when he sensed and detected the invisible assailant following him and Seraphina.[2] The second time was when he sensed Elaine's aura getting weaker than usual.[3]
- Ability Amping: By altering the aura flow within his body, John can increase the intensity of a copied ability, amping the main stat. This allows John to have access a boosted version of the copied ability and grants him more destructive power overall.
Strengths and Limitations
Unlike most abilities with set strengths and weaknesses, the strengths and weaknesses of Aura Manipulation vary extensively. Whenever an Aura Manipulation user copies an ability, they gain all the advantages and disadvantages of the copied ability. With intensive practice, Aura Manipulation users can also manipulate their natural aura flow and increase the intensity of a copied ability that surpasses the power of its original users, as shown with John’s Demon Claw and Whirlwind,[4] his Healing,[5] and his Energy Beam, an ability which Blyke has yet to completely master during that time.[6] High-tier users possesses a passive in the form of Aura Reading which is similar to how Lightning users can detect electrical currents.
Aura Reading allows the Aura Manipulation user to sense whenever abilities are being used near them, even through walls.[7] This makes it impossible for anyone who relies on their ability for stealth to sneak up on them, at least in the range limit. Aura reading can also sense abilites' stats and properties which is useful to strategize attacks.[8] Besides copying and boosting abilities, Aura Manipulation can copy and combine multiple abilities at once. Copying multiple abilities allows Aura Manipulation users to use multiple abilities simultaneously and perform numerous combination attacks that are impossible with one ability. Thanks to its versatility, Aura Manipulation can easily compensate for the weakness of one ability with the strengths of another ability. In addition, Aura Manipulation has recently exhibited a basic strength enhancement without the need to sample the aura of other ability users, although this doesn't completely disregard the need to copy other abilities if users of Aura Manipulation want to further exercise greater strength and their full capabilities, it allows Aura Manipulation users to have a little more room for self-reliance and eliminates the biggest weakness of Aura Manipulation.
Weaknesses
Despite the versatility and nearly unlimited potential that Aura Manipulation possesses, Aura Manipulation users at least require another ability to be active in order to sample another's aura and requires the Aura Manipulation user to possess knowledge over ability fundamentals to maximize their power.[9] Aura Manipulation users cannot copy abilities via passives alone.[10] Any abilities used outside of Aura Manipulation's sensory range cannot be sensed nor copied.[11]
At their weakest, the users of Aura Manipulation are essentially powerless cripples until an ability is available to be copied. It is also shown that users attain the downsides of copied abilities, as shown when Seraphina's kidnappers rammed a van into John's Barrier, causing him to reel in pain.[12] In addition to copying abilities, Aura Manipulation copies the stats of the ability's original user as well, making John's stats almost entirely dependent on who he copies his abilities from.
All copied abilities are also temporary and when deactivating his ability, so John will lose all copied abilities. This is best shown when comparing John's stats during his battle against Arlo and his stats during his battle against Zeke. A user may struggle to mirror a complicated ability for the first time, and addition to that, it takes twice the amount of aura to maintain an amped ability compared to the original ability. To mirror a complicated ability, one must has precise control over their channels in order to juggle multiple abilities.[13]
It was speculated by Isen that abilities without a physical plane might be impossible to copy, at least for John at his most powerful. Those abilities are purely mental in nature, lacking in visual feedback, such as Flash Forward[1][14], however it is far more likely that abilities that are just much more complex in nature are more difficult to copy, as stated by Claire when describing John's limitations. There also appears to be a limit on how many abilities that a user can copy. In Chapter 155, despite Arlo activating his ability, John never used Barrier throughout the duration against against the Wellston Royals on the battle, implying that he can only copy four abilities at a time or cannot copy as many high-leveled abilities. Furthermore, it is also implied that John cannot simply discard an ability in order to copy a new one to replace it. To remove any copied abilities, John must deactivate his own ability, discarding all copied abilities.[15]
It has also been shown that if a copied ability is at a far higher level than the user, than they may not be able to fully replicate it or utilize all of its applications. This is shown during John's battle with Liam when the former was at half strength, where John stated he couldn't use his water-form or make his ice as dense as the original.[16]
Notes & Trivia
Ability Mimicry, as it appears on Line Webtoon's Fast Pass ad.
- Aura Manipulation is the first instance of an ability with multiple auras of different colours. The aura of the ability itself matches the colour of the John's glowing eyes, while the replicated abilities and constructs associated with the ability matches the colour of the John's hair.
- Aura Manipulation is unofficially classed as a "Meta-Ability" by the Wikia editors.
- During UnORDINARYs conception, John was going to remain powerless throughout the story, but after Chapter 2, Uru-chan began to plan for John's powers.
- Before John's ability was revealed to be Aura Manipulation, Ability Mimicry was used as a placeholder name for John's unnamed ability. Before revealing the ability's true name in Chapter 148, the name Ability Mimicry was used in a Fast Pass ad.
- This ability's canon name would not be revealed until Chapter 148, 93 chapters after it's initial debut.
- Despite what John's perspective appears to indicate, aura isn't actually visible to high-tier users of this ability. Rather, the Aura Reading passive utilized one of the other senses.[17]
- It was later retconned that none of the five basic senses play a role in the passive.[17]
- Many fans speculate that Valerie and/or Jane have Aura Manipulation.
- The theory turns out to be true due to the fact Jane's ability is channel master, and this implies that Valerie and other EMBER members are using conversion Technology.
- The capabilities of the conversion technology is remarkably identical to Aura manipulation.