Mushoku Tensei: Rudeus’ Powers & Abilities Explained

The main character doesn’t always have to be the most morally upright and mentally sane person. Mushoku Tensei’s main character, Rudeus, isn’t someone you’d consider a model citizen, nor does he seem like the best choice for an isekai hero. He has major character flaws and acts in morally questionable ways a lot of the time. However, that’s just a part of his charm.

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His flaws and issues make him that much more relatable to the average person. His life on Earth shaped him into what he is, and it affects who he is, even in a new world. What makes his character so compelling is that he constantly struggles to overcome his problems and acts in a very believable way considering his lifestyle on Earth. Though Mushoku Tensei is a very trope-filled anime, it manages to avoid making the main character an overpowered Chad that destroys everything in his way, something that distinguishes it from the many isekai clones it has inspired.

Appearance

Rudues is an overweight man on Earth. Despite being 34 years old, he’s a hikikomori who stays at home all day and doesn’t even have a job. He has a very average face, sporting a shortcut for his black hair and a light mustache. He also wears glasses.

On the Six-faced World, Rudeus is born into the Greyrat family, a noble family in the Asura Kingdom. He takes after his father’s appearance, sharing a similar facial structure, hair color, and eye color with the retired adventurer, having blond hair and green eyes.

Personality

• Humble and Self-aware: Rudeus is very down-to-earth and humble. Despite having a ridiculous amount of power for his age, he never flaunts it or uses it to assert his superiority over anyone else. His past of being bullied has left him sympathetic to those in less fortunate situations, making him aware of the damage he can do with his powers. Due to his great personality, Rudeus is able to make friends with most people without issue. Even though he was quite antisocial in his previous life, he was able to overcome his social anxiety with the help of his tutor and loving family.
• Kind and Brave: In part because of his parents’ influence and in part because of his own personality, Rudeus shows kindness and bravery wherever he goes. Even back on Earth, he died saving a bunch of high schoolers, perishing as a result of his actions. He is very kind and only uses violence as a last resort, though he is quick to anger if anyone threatens his family or loved ones.
• Perverted: Despite having a relatively stable home life in his new world, Rudeus turns out to be quite a character. He worships his teacher’s panties, asks Eris if he can fondle her, and does a variety of other perverted things that make him quite unlikeable. It is his one fatal flaw. Considering his background as a hikikomori on Earth, it doesn’t come as a surprise and is in line with his character.

Backstory

The most compelling thing about Rudeus’ character is his backstory and its relevance to the current plot. Most isekai stories barely give any attention to the previous life of the reincarnated hero, preferring to put all their efforts into fleshing out the world they’re living in now. This leads to a kind of disconnect between the audience and the characters on screen, making them a lot less relatable.

On the other hand, Mushoku Tensei acknowledges the weirdness of the premise and embraces it wholeheartedly. Instead of rushing ahead with the plot, it emphasizes the downstream effects of a jobless neet being reincarnated into a magic world. Everything from his social anxiety to his perverted tendencies is a part of the overarching plot and plays into how his character acts.

Earth

On Earth, Rudeus was a 34-year-old overweight man who didn’t have a job and spent his days rotting away in his room. During his high school years, his career as the bright topper of his school was stripped away when he became the target of bullying because of his arrogant attitude. Due to the intense bullying, he refused to go to school, dropping out and not even talking to his friends anymore.

Twenty years later, his parents passed away, and his siblings, tired of his ridiculous attitude, disowned him and kicked him out of the house. This was when he encountered the high schoolers whose lives he died saving.

Six-Faced World

After dying to Truck-kun, Rudeus was reborn into the Six-faced World to Paul and Zenith Greyrat. After overcoming the trauma of his death and subsequent rebirth, Rudeus figures out that he’s been reincarnated into a world full of magic. Once he has this revelation, he dedicates every moment he can to studying and mastering the arcane arts. Because of this, he develops a ridiculous affinity with magic and becomes one of the best mages that humanity has to offer, surpassing even his tutor in a very short period of time.

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After his growth stagnates under Roxie, Rudeus gets sent to his relative’s house in Roa of the Fittoa Region. Here, he teaches the mysteries of magic to his cousin, Eris, and his new swordsman teacher, Ghislaine. Sometime after he turns 10, he becomes a victim of the Metastasis event that ends up teleporting him and Eris to the Demon Continent.

Here, Rudeus forms an adventuring party with Eris and Ruijard, going on different quests and learning new skills along the way. The party eventually part ways, with Ruijard going to complete his own personal mission and Eris leaving Rudeus in order to become more powerful once she learns about her parent’s death.

Powers And Abilities

• Magic: Rudeus is one of the best magicians in the world. He has an extremely large mana capacity because his body was intended to be the vessel for an ancient Demon king’s descent. Since he started training very early on, he gained mastery over a wide range of magics. He most frequently uses Earth magic in combat but first learned water magic.
  • Water: The first magic that Rudeus learned was Water magic. At first, he used a grimoire to learn the basics, but when he got exposed due to a spell gone awry, his parents hired a tutor, Roxy, for him. He soon surpassed his teacher and traveled to the city to pursue his studies.
  • Earth: Rudeus is most well known for his usage of Earth magic in his fights. He incapacitates his enemies at the first chance and then proceeds to wear them down with a variety of tactics.
  • Wind: Wind magic is one of the least utilized branches of magic in Rudeus’ arsenal. He mainly focuses on other magics when fighting monsters, but wind magic is a very versatile branch that he mastered early on.
  • Fire: The most destructive of the bunch, Rudeus uses Fire magic quite often. He uses Earth magic to trap and his Fire magic to attack his opponents.
  • Healing: Rudeus also has a decent mastery over healing magic, being able to cast advanced-level healing spells with little difficulty.
  • Unique Magics: Rudeus melds different magics to make his own brand of unique magics, such as Steam Magic and Electric Magic. He doesn’t utilize these that often, but they are incredibly powerful and can save him in a pinch.
• Demonic Eyes: After Rudeus helps out a former demon Empress, Kirishka, she grants a special boon to his eyes. This boon lets him see a few seconds into the future according to how much mana he puts into it. Rudeus manages to perfect his technique so that he can look about ten seconds into the future with a great deal of certainty, making him a very tricky opponent to fight against. Fighters need to make split-second decisions in order to negate the effects of this eye and make Rudeus see multiple futures.
• Voiceless Incantation: Because of his high level of understanding of the magic system in the Six-faced world, Rudeus gained the ability to cast magic without the aid of incantations. This is a very rare ability; the only other person capable of such magic is the Dragon God, Orsted.
• Sword Techniques: Rudeus learned swordsmanship under the same tutor as Eris, Ghislaine. He has a decent grasp of the Sword God fighting style but isn’t on the same level as Ghislaine or even Eris.

Next: Mushoku Tensei: Hitogami’s True Motives Explained