"Outsmarting": What do we do about it?

[Requiem_Yoriichi]

(I know, I ask a lot of questions. This is my last one for now though.)

So I have begun to see many discussions on social media relating to "Who would win?" questions. Mostly, I have seen three categories:

• The "common powerscaling" category with discussions relating to who wins in a fight, with Attack Potency, Speed, etc. (the most common one);
• The "writing" category, where people compare characters or fictional settings by their writing with introduction, conclusion, etc.;
• The "outsmarting" category, where people compare characters by wondering "Who would 'outsmart' the other? Who would be able to manipulate, deceive them?".

While the first one seems to be answered perfectly in this wiki, as it uses terms from it, and that the second is completely irrelevant due to its subjectivity, I've been wondering how does VSBW relate to the third one, that is: outsmarting.

I have looked at the Intelligence page and, while some may believe it answers the question, it didn't seem to be for me. Intelligence on this wiki rather seemed to focus on logical reasoning, knowledge, understanding of complex things, academics, etc.

Of course, there is also this: "A character may have more than one intelligence rank if the statistic varies depending on the area. This means that they can reach exceptional levels in some respects, but be unimpressive in others." However, can we rank a character's skills in deception, manipulation, etc. with ranks that are not really designed for this, designed for a character's overall understanding of things rather than on a person?

There are many categories that are involved with "outsmarting", but the most notable ones are rather logical thinking, deduction, forward-planning, manipulation, deception (the act of lying), alongside some more I may have missed. And while Intelligence sometimes include some of these categories, it usually ignores manipulation and deception (in my opinion, Ayanokoji's profile, for example). So my question is: can we rank "outsmarting" and, if yes, should we use another system than Intelligence, or should we adapt the existing one?

Predicting possible answers to my questions, some people may say "outsmaring ranking" is subjective, but I disagree: while I agree there may be some subjectivity, it is rather an objective form of ranking and should be considered as such, if a ranking can exist; others may say "outsmarting ranking" is irrelevant, but again, I disagree: there are many characters out there that would have an interesting scale in outsmarting? May I present to you Ayanokoji from Classroom of the Elite, Light Yagami from Death Note or Fang Yuan from Reversed Insanity?

 

[wwereymy235]

I'm assuming you're going to use scaling methods from the SCD community. If so, which one do you think VSBW should use? Or should VSBW make a new type of scaling for these characters?

 

[Requiem_Yoriichi]

I'm assuming you're going to use scaling methods from the SCD community. If so, which one do you think VSBW should use? Or should VSBW make a new type of scaling for these characters?

I don't know what you mean by "SCD"? Also, I do not say VSBW should use any scaling method, but I'd rather like to know if its terms can be used for Outsmarting ranking or, at least, adapt themselves to it. If they cannot then yes, I would suggest a type of ranking.

 

[wwereymy235]

I don't know what you mean by "SCD"? Also, I do not say VSBW should use any scaling method, but I'd rather like to know if its terms can be used for Outsmarting ranking or, at least, adapt themselves to it. If they cannot then yes, I would suggest a type of ranking.

Ah, my apologies. I thought you knew of the Smart Character Debate community.

 

[Requiem_Yoriichi]

Ah, my apologies. I thought you knew of the Smart Character Debate community.

Never heard of it, sorry.