Mythical Zoan System Thoughts / Suggestions

[Grandest]

Mythological Zoans - So, I've got some unresolved issues with the Mythical Zoan system currently in effect. I'm not saying this system is terrible, or no one will ever play a Myth Zoan but I would like to highlight a few flaws I see and possibly make some suggestions. The primary flaws I see are that the rules are vague and unclear, mechanically Mythical Zoans add very little over their Paramecia/Logia or Regular Zoan Counter Part unless you get a really cool and powerful Mythical Beast (and even then I question whether Marco's Phoenix Fruit was better than Doffy's String Fruit). Now, below is a list of what I see as Issues and below that, I'll try to think up some suggestions.



1.) Very Limited Selection Pool - Mythological Zoans can only Non-Singular Entities (i.e you can be a Phoenix or a Dragon but you can't be Cerberus or Fenris.) This is on top of the fact that Mythical Zoan powers already exclude all "Aquatic" Mythological Creatures. When push comes to shove, excluding like duplicates of similar creatures i.e. Having people just keep making a variety of Dragon Mythical Zoans from various cultures around the world) the selection pool for actual "creatures" with interesting powers/power sets that make Mythic Zoans worth having is kind of small. Now, some might say, you're just not being creative enough! However, if you look at the actual Mythological information for many creatures many of the "Powers" we attribute to mythological creatures are not part of their myths and are instead part of things like popular fiction. The reasoning for this is pretty simple, things with "Names" are generally better explored. So for instance, a Nemean Lion is a better-explored Myth than a Snow Lion from Tibet. Now, this is not to say I'm arguing for people to be able to make "God" Mythical Fruits cause that would be bull, what I am saying though is creatures, like Slephnir for Example, or the Nemean Lion, be allowable as Mythical Zoans under their "Animal Header" Similar to how The Phoenix Fruit is under the Bird Header, Slephnir could be under horse and the Nemean Lion could be under cat.



2.) Some Mythological Creatures are just "Powerful" - Some Mythological creatures, as stated above don't really have like "superpowers" like for instance a Gryphon is just a Huge Cat/Bird Hybrid, known for flight and guarding treasure. Mythological Zoans get no "Physical Ability Boost" even though every Mythical Zoan we've seen to date has "Internalized Power Sets" meaning that the powers come from the unique body powers rather than manipulation powers. (For example, they are more akin to Luffy's Rubber fruit than Law's Op Op no Mi Fruit).



A lot of the powers of Mythological Creatures are easily obtainable in far easier methods, for instance, a Pegasus or a Gryphon has no other power attributed to them besides "flight" which in the one piece world can be achieved by giving a horse or a cat a flying type Zoan. So, it feels a bit unfair to the "Rarest" and "Most Expensive" type of Devil Fruit to actually be less mechanically viable than say, a Paramecia or just a Regular Zoan, especially when a lot of the known "mythological creatures" are more mythological for their body make up than their actual supernatural abilities. Does that mean we're semi-encouraged to just attribute random abilities to mythological creatures that seem like they would be in theme with the Myth in question? Like for instance a Gryphon having some "Defensive/Protection" abilities or some ability that went with the Myth that they were legendary for guarding treasures?



3.) Unclear Rule - So, the rules state that it has to be a Non-Singular Entity, yet an "Asgardian" type DF would be vague as heck and rejected out of hand. Does this mean we would also not allowed to do like Frost Giants, Elves, Dryads, Fey, Fairies, Fauns, Centaurs, Etc? Where exactly do we draw the line? Why would you be allowed to be a Frost Giant or a Cyclops, which are their own demi-god/god races but not an Asgardian or an Olympian? (and honestly, if you look up Frost Giants and their power sets... they are nearly as all over the place as Asgardians). Is it the power tier of the Mythological Creature? Are things like Witches or Wizards, or other creatures with "Magic" still categorized as Mythological Creatures? As you can see, I'm very confused by this and seems very vague and unspecific. Where I would really dislike the idea a Frost Giant or a Witch Mythical Zoan, I find myself okay with the idea of Valkyrie or Angel Mythical Zoans. And while Frost Giants by the rules are non-singular entities and you could probably take their overall "Racial Powers" into a Mythical Zoan, I feel that would be weirder than a Garuda, Mythical Zoan but a Garuda Zoan would be not allowed by the rules because it's singular.

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Suggestions - So, now that I've voiced my doubts, confusions and general dislike for some of the current Myth Zoan System, I would like to emphasize my suggestions on this.



1.) The big one is please clarify the rules for Mythical Zoans, especially in terms of what you can and cannot use as a Mythical Zoan. Possibly saying something like "No Gods" which is a common MZoan Limiter I've seen in other One Piece Roleplay, which still allows for things like Garuda. As the "Non-Singular" entity rule is something that makes no sense in terms of Mythology, especially when most of the things you want to stop people from trying to make are in fact part of entire races (i.e gods.There's never just one bloody god there's always a crapload of them outside of modern religions). Specify what you classify as a God. Like the Tuatha De Danann? Gods or Strange Race like a Siren or Angels? Depends who you ask.



2.) Please specify if we're allowed to attribute abilities to Mythological species even if there are no mythological bases other than "Theme".For instance, like I mentioned either creatures that are not well explored or creatures, like the Gryphon that don't really have anything more mythical about them outside of their body make up. As otherwise, Mythological Creatures without special abilities like phoenix flame/dragons breath are really just worse than doing like a Mink Zoan/Ancient Zoan because they don't get a "Body Trait", which seems silly.

And that's pretty much the whole of it. Please note I'm not trying to pick a fight, be argumentative, or besmirch the system in any way. However, I tend to question things and one of the things I question is "Why are things the way they are." These are just my opinions that I hope will be taken with a grain of salt and not a pitchfork. Thank you for taking the time to read through this. 

[Jade]

I understand a lot of where you're coming from, even if I don't particularly agree with it. The Mythical Zoan rules can seem arbitrary, but we have based them on the few "rules" we've been able to pick up from the series proper thus far.

• Limited Selection Pool: While you are not wrong on this point - specific named creatures having better-explored power sets than the broader families of some mythical creatures - the problem remains that the series has yet to showcase a Mythical Zoan of any singular entity, and Zoans by their nature don't do "singulars". Where the Tori Tori no Mi, Model: Phoenix works because various mythologies feature multiple birds "reborn from the ashes", an Uma Uma no Mi, Model: Sleipnir would not work because Sleipnir is a singular entity, not an entire classification of mythical horses.
  
  And, on the note of "no Aquatic Mythical Zoans", I would respond that you can't do a purely aquatic regular or Ancient Zoan either, so that point is moot.
• Just "Powerful": Rather than addressing the presented argument here, I would like to address the core of the series and how One Piece addresses it. Mythical Zoans tend to take liberties with their inspirations, drawing upon the original myths and expanding upon them to make them "larger than life" and even more powerful. Marco's regeneration and flame generation, for example, are not truly things the phoenix is known for, but are based on the core concepts of a phoenix (rising from the ashes). Sengoku's Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Daibutsu is an even better example - it draws its inspiration from a specific statue which survived a series of earthquakes that leveled everything around it, which is the explanation for Sengoku's own shockwave abilities (or at least the best one we've been able to find).
• Unclear Rule: An "Asgardian" Zoan would be rejected, yes, but only because that is a very vague label applied to an incredibly diverse cast of singular entities in myth. The other things you've mentioned - barring perhaps any sort of elemental variation on giants, as they are not myth in One Piece - such as Dryads and Fairies, are perfectly valid Mythical Zoan candidates, as they are non-singular entities. There are singular entities from those categories in stories, sure, but the group is defined before a singular character.
  
  On the other hand, a "Wizard" or "Witch" Mythical Zoan would not work, as that is not a species, but rather a classification/sub-set of humans who practiced magic.

As for the suggestions you've made, I can see why you've made them based on your arguments above. The "no singular entities" rule was put in place simply because it is both a good limiter on things like people attempting "Deity" Mythical Zoans and because it enforces what Zoans, as we know them, are.

And yes, of course one can attribute abilities to Mythical Zoans based purely on "theme" - it's how the Phoenix and Daibutsu Fruit function, after all. That said, the reasoning for any particular ability must be present and explained, how it links back to the original mythology of any particular creature, but... It certainly is possible.

Now, I want to be clear here - I, and certainly none of the other staff, are dismissing this suggestion out of hand, just because we think it sounds "bad". I think there was a bit of a disconnect in the chat last night, people on different pages trying to communicate with one another and getting frustrated, and so points were not being made well. The current rules have evolved from a long series of prior rules, and will likely evolve again in the future as additional information is made available to us, as the readers and fans of One Piece - but as we understand Mythical Zoans for the time being, the current rules regarding them fit the feel of the site best, while still leaving a lot of room available for one to get creative with their creation.

[Grandest]

Okay, thank you! Your response helped clear up my confusion best and now I can move on. I really was just trying to express a possible problem I saw. Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts and respond with the reasoning behind the rules.