How do you control an overpowered character so they don't break the story?

[Civilian]

You have them control themselves one way or the other. Maybe lazy personality, overconfident, no goals to achieve so they straight up just gave up on trying. Something like that I'd say

 

[Representing_Tromba]

Cripple, kill, or give them a major cost for their power so it can't be spammed. That is the usual method. You can also make them switch sides, creating some form of reason for why they aren't at 100% anymore... like when you unlock a very dangerous boss as a playable character and they suck for some reason.

 

[SternenklarenRitter]

Just give them catatonic depression, PTSD nightmares, or nonverbal anxiety attacks. If you are feeling cruel you can even throw an eating disorder at them.

You can't friendship through poverty in a money world

Yes you can, they just call it a different name is such places. "Organized Crime" is magic.

 

[DireBadger]

Make them the villain :) OP villains are absolute FUEL for story development.

 

[CinnaSloth]

Easy.

Best friend ultimate anime betrayal.

 

[Akkizakura]

Have them only can use 1% of power or always fight in a situation where they need to avoid collateral damage.

 

[Zagaroth]

The reason needs to match the story.

For me, it is an integral part of the story — the initial scenario in my head involved an ancient, knowledgeable, and once powerful entity bound having been sealed and effectively rescued by a woman, but in spiritual form, so lacking much of his former power. This idea got changed to involve a dungeon core, but the result is similar. He knows how to be powerful and how to regain his strength, and his breadth of ability is pretty much unparalleled by anyone in a similar power range at any given point.

While I don't use numbers in story, it would be the equivalent of having a level 3 character that has the best-of-each stats and abilities of a level 3 tank, DPS, healer, mage, support, and any number of hybrids, variants, and specialists, all usable at the same time. Also, the combined racial traits of a human, elf, dwarf, kitsune, and so on. So he punches way above his weight in some ways, just because of the potency of combining some of these, but at the same time, there's a fairly hard cut off where combining abilities doesn't give enough oomph to overcome a challenge.

Oh, and his avatar is limited to the nexus's territory for a very, very long time (most of 6 books), so all that power is only useful defensively.

 

[Hairelessmat]

Put them into a bigger universe where their strong, but not that strong, like marvel for example, theres always something out there stronger than you

 

[HarryGarland]

Hmm... This is how I control my OP MC in my first attempt at storytelling.

I put my overpowered main character, who is a hunted fugitive, something like a ronin, in an elite magic academy setting.

His background of survival makes him op and ruthless compared to other characters, but an environment change from kill or be killed to rules and regulations, "petty" high school rivalry boxes him in.

During a competitive mission with a rival team, MC's team lost because he had to control his strength, or risk explaining to the principle why a fellow student ended up in two pieces. And his team leader was furious with him for letting the team down. She thought with him on the team, they'd finally close their losing streak.

So, looks like "environmental changes" and "social pressure/decorum" can control an OP MC.

 

[DireBadger]

"Make 'em stupid" is also a useful strategy.

 

[MFontana]

It's simple.
Change the challenges they face into something their OP abilities can't necessarily solve.
Alternatively, put them up against their foil. An antagonist who's abilities are the protagonist's inverse, or one who has counters to what the protagonist can do (if you're looking for more of a battle-scenario).

As an expansion on what I said here, I'll use Aethara: The King's Path as a point of reference.
Marius, the protagonist, is explicitly defined as being "As powerful as he needs to be" for the story; because the tension, and conflict, for his character arc is primarily moral, ethical, and internal.
The arc isn't about whether he's powerful enough to do something. It's about whether he should do it, and why he does it; as well as the consequences of his actions, or inactions, as the case may be.

So, Marius is by definition, an OP Protagonist, who is kept well under control through his story arc, and (in the early chapters) by discovering/remembering the abilities he has at his disposal. (All of which are part of the world's LitRPG system, and not exclusive to him as a character). This element, though, is there to assist in maintaining tension during the conflicts he faces over the course of the story.

In my (humble) opinion, there is a right way to write OP protagonists, and a wrong one, and that method ultimately comes down to the heart of their conflicts, tension, and character arc.

The ideal approach would be determined by the narrative stakes and style you're going for in your story. If you want more of a Shounen style; pitting the protagonist against their foil/inverse is usually the best approach.

For a darker story; Corruption, Morality, and Ethics should be prioritized over the character's powers or abilities; and this can be strengthened through the consequences of the OP character's actions, or lack there-of.

I do, genuinely, hope this helps any fellow authors and aspiring authors deal with the issue of OP protagonists in your stories.

Beyond this, however, it really depends on your definition of an "OP" protagonist or character.

 

[thesoothsayer]

The main thing I see with overpowered protagonist is that it does not make him a natural magnet. Even in an ancient world where people flock to real power, than in modern setting where such power realistically does not exist in terms of pure personal strength, the mc should not be able to simply get everyone be happy with him.

Make him want something that he cannot get such as he is in love with a married women but cannot get her as forcing her would not get her love for him. He wants real love and is not a harem collector.

Make him try to be autocratic to find nepotism. fight nepotism to find that he cannot be without them. be a good person to find world doe snot work that way. As long as the character is not perfect and wants something human, he can be limited as long as it is not always about fighting ad killing.

Reinhard from Re:Zero was limited in this manner.

 

[Okram]

For a main character or protagonist who is too capable, too difficult to defeat, practically impossible to beat, too overpowered, or too intelligent—how do people usually control these characters so that their power scale doesn't ruin the story?
(Excluding having them meet a stronger character.)View attachment 42873

As someone stated, don't make it about power at all.

 

[Stariamer]

I have always believed that the strength of an individual's superpowers is ultimately limited by the real world, even if you possess the ability to wipe out the entire world with a wave of your hand. Public opinion always follows where personal will and capability cannot be transferred.