2

In Hunter x Hunter (1998) people use Nen, which is the ability to control one's own life energy or aura for strengthening one's own physical abilities and creating energy attacks among other things.

In Naruto (1997) Chakra is made of physical energy and spiritual energy, increasing one's spiritual energy will allow more chakra to be created which will allow the user to make the same technique with more power.

In Saint Seiya (1986) Cosmo is a mystical energy and the fundamental force which power every supernatural feat performed by the characters. Burning one's Cosmo produces the energy needed to enable a being to perform extraordinary feats including pulverizing rocks with their bare hands. As the user Cosmo grows, it becomes necessary for a being to practice controlling their abilities and powers.

In Dragon Ball (1984) ki ("spirit") is the life force energy used by the characters to increase strenght and power level and perform energy attacks.

And in Star Wars (1977) The Force was an energy field created by all life that connected everything in the universe. The Force was created by life, and therefore, resided in all lifeforms. Harnessing the Force gave the Jedi, the Sith, and others sensitive to the spiritual energy psychic abilities, their physical vitality, strength, mobility, and resilience augmented.

Which was the first story to feature the use of "spiritual energy" to enhance the user physical abilities?

Pablo
  • 5,521
  • 3
  • 32
  • 72
  • 2
    Most of these are based on ancient chi/chakra theories from eastern Asia. This is borderline ancient history, really. Probably stories of spiritual energy enhancing physical abilities precede the invention of writing and are part of all cultural traditions. I think that this question is lacking research/too broad, really. – Philip Klöcking Feb 04 '21 at 11:49
  • @PhilipKlöcking I'm asking here when they were introduced in fiction as fiction, not when mythological or religious stories made it pass as something real. By that logic any history-of question asking about the history of superpowers is wrong https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/190722/who-was-the-first-comic-book-superhero-to-fly-without-technological-means – Pablo Feb 04 '21 at 18:42
  • It's hard to define the "first" event in a Novikovian timeloop. Like, obviously FASA's Shadowrun 2E was taken back in time to entertain the people of ancient China, leading to legends of the "youxia", popular tales which later developed into the wuxia genre. – cryptarch Feb 05 '21 at 05:52
  • 1
    @Pablo The thing is that other than other questions, this one really is more tricky since there are legends and stuff which use exactly what you describe in a fictional context since ancient times. Fairy tales, basically. This is not the same as asking for the first comic or the first particular use of mana as a depleting source of magic, both of which are recent developments. The demarkation is paramount here. And that is why I suggested that the question as asked is too broad: It lacks clear demarkation lines which limit the scope to a reasonable degree of research/context/history. – Philip Klöcking Feb 05 '21 at 08:19

0 Answers0