Aside from the unholy act of commanding the dead (AKA necromancy) and the super generic mind control which usually are only temporary... What other magic / supernatural ability is considered noteworthy enough to make you think: "Ah shit. This bastard has such a bullshit overpowered cheat." ...when it falls to the hands of an antagonist? The only other thing I can think of right now is... cursing someone to make them bedridden and bleed internally, I guess. Like voodoo magic and stuff.
Hm... I guess being supernaturally strong also counts, but I wonder whether you guys can think of other examples. Like, technically any cheat can count (e.g. water magic -> water laser, fire magic -> TNT explosions, wind magic -> tornado, earth magic -> earthquake, etc.), but I want powers that really make you think that this power has to come from an evil antagonist.
Hm... For now, I guess I will call people who I think might answer this question. @Blitz, @Ddraig, @AliceShiki, @SpearOfLies, @Naraku, @Way, @The Everdistant Utopia, @A5G_Reaper
Magic that can control time. Magic that can freeze/rewind time is always way too overpowered. The few time controlling antagonists that I've read usually only lose because of plot armor. There's a good reason why there so many novels where the MC returns to the past and become overpowered. Rewinding time even once is an easy way for authors to make a character OP.
blood magic, plague or poison/acid, anything associated with death and holy magic, sorry to say but making the most sacred religion into an secret evil boss has become so cliche that i can't see a priest/healer or any other sort of fanatic do gooder and not sneak into their basement to see what evil they are hiding
...so basically the same as 209704? I dropped that series at a certain point, so I don't know the details, but if it only makes women pregnant without mind controlling them or something, then that ability is pretty much useless.
Ah, yes... Esdeath from Akame ga Kill. Blood magic is too broad. Do you absorb your opponent's blood (i.e. vampirism), or do you make weapons from your blood? Plague magic is indeed a good answer. No complaints here. Not seeing much of these either, since most novels I read usually involves rotting corpses rather than someone actively using plague as their quirk. Poison magic is A-OK as well. Generic, but a good answer nonetheless. Holy magic... Pope from Tate no Yuusha, huh? Basically a rip-off of other heroes' weapons... No, perhaps there are other types of "evil holy magic"? Hm... nah, this won't work. Shadow magic might do, but holy magic is not a good answer.
I've seen blood magic be pretty op before Then you have sacrifice and ritual magic where they can absorb power through killing or other rituals Demon summoning depending on what the cost is, the number of demons summoned and the strength of them Alchemy can be considered so in some cases too I guess, just think of the homunculus from fma Magic based on Vengeance or retribution And illusionist that can make people's fears come true or the illusions effect people in reality Probably more I've seen before just not thinking about it
...I might as well respond: This won't do. It's too useless when confronted with long range attacks. Space manipulation... Unpredictable, good for ambush and/or escape, and could be used to amputate or even decapitate an enemy. It is a useful ability indeed. Good answer.
Mass blood sacrifice? Soul destruction and sacrifice(includes eating; basically ways that screw over people’s afterlife, reincarnation or whatever against their will). Cutting off your genitals (can be balls and/or shaft) to master some technique (basically things that require you to sacrifice things of yourself and especially others to master).
Since I answered blood magic too ill give a few examples I could think of. Controlling blood to the point any being with blood is severely limited in movement even to the point of making the blood explode inside people's bodies Using blood to animate things and take control of the environment, I've also seen soul magic do this Creating blood creatures that grow stronger the more people they kill or blood weapons withasimiliar effect
Undeads/demons/curses are pretty common associated with evil. Mindcontrol is actually have some interesting variant like in DRV3(I guess that count) and tensei shitara slime datta ken. Maybe that fit more into thoughts manipulation that mindcontrol. It just work so well with schemer type evil. Plague/homuncolus fit evil well but it's more science type evil than supernatural/magic the evil. There aren't a lot of supernatural/magic that are more associated to evil. I guess the most clever answer I can give will be immortality. "You either die as hero or live long enough to became the villain" and "there is not light without darkness and there is not darkness without light" troupes.
What about something making people have to pee and poop. While you (the caster) can simply control their (target) urges at will? The effect should also be stackable. Thats more fearsome than simply making them want to pee.
Sacrifice rituals... It's a good answer, but... no. It's a good answer after all. Oh hey. I totally forgot about this one. Generic, but powerful indeed. Well done! Basically creating an artificial-- ...! THIS IS IT! This is indeed on par with necromancy! Thank you Enigma! ...Holy Sword of Vengeance from Nidome no Yuusha? Uh... no, that wouldn't work. Uh... this magic are two separate things. One is illusion magic, which -despite everything- is still fake. It is something like Phantom Solitaire (Tena Sorimura) from Dead Mount Death Play, or Succulent from Overlord. The other... is turning fiction into reality. Something like Perfect Illusion from Overlord, Aureolus Izzard from Toaru Majutsu no Index, or Tomoe from Tsuki ga Michibiku. Hm... Great answer. I approve!