Types of Anima

Anima is not your traditional magic, nor does it have all the abilities that traditional magic has.  This does not make it inferior, simply more restrictive in capabilities; less so with some imagination.  In essence, Anima is the power of your soul.  As you use Anima you are using the fuel of your core self to affect the world in ways not otherwise possible.  Anima can be thought of as similar to mana in that it is the source of power used to cast "spells" however, in this case, it is more like you are directly manipulating mana to do things rather than spending it. Anima is very different from regular magic, and when imagining it you should not compare it to regular magic. Anima is specifically the manipulation of your soul. Using it, it becomes a physical (or metaphysical) manifestation. Channeling your Anima releases the essence of your soul into an almost physical form. Depending on the colors of your Anima, it will have different effects. The only "magic" involving Anima is the ability to manipulate your own soul, and your soul happens to have these physical properties.

Anima comes in many "flavors" and each person has their own unique flavor.  This is shown physically in the combination of the different colors of anima they possess.  Each different color of anima has different physical properties associated with it which affect what ability it possesses. Each person's flavor may be a combination of up to three different colors of anima.  The more you have of a specific color of anima, the more power you may output.  However, each person also has a specific capacity for anima and one may think of it as a tank meant for a liquid of a specific size.  You can fill the tank with any amount or combination of the colors you want to a max of three different colors, but your maximum anima will always be the same.  

If you decide to focus on one color you may become a master of that color.  If you decide to use two colors, their power may be great but one will never truly master them.  Finally, if you decide to use all three, you may be good at using all three and even using them in conjunction for devastating combos, you will not be as powerful with it as someone who focused on it alone.  Anima usage exhausts the body similar to how using stamina would.  Using too much causes fatigue and one may even faint.  Use more than your body can handle and it could be fatal.  

There are two ways to go about choosing a character's anima flavor.  First is the typical letting the creator decide what they want to do with their character.  The second option is the realistic mode where your flavor and capacities are decided at random.  In the "real" world of Phedra, you are already born with a specific flavor, you do not choose, but you still may focus on one more than another.  



Physical Property: Volatile - very prone to explosion, vaporization, disintegration, decay, destruction
Capabilities: Large scale use of Anima outside of the body to directly affect the world.  Has the highest destructive capabilities of any Anima color.  Has a mild version of telekinesis through rough blasts of Anima.  Can cause explosions and concussive blasts. Can rot, decay or disintegrate matter that it touches depending on how the user wills it.


Physical Property: Exothermic - releases energy from generated Anima and transfers it into a given source to greatly improve its own properties
Capabilities: Improves the physical characteristics or a chosen object. It can be used to make a knife sharper, armor stronger, a hammer heavier. It can even be used to strengthen the durability of the skin and augments a person's natural regeneration to unnatural levels. It cannot be used to augment Anima.  


Physical Property: Stimulation - acts as a sort of focused adrenaline to stimulate specific bodily functions such as increased strength or speed or increased sensitivity to things around you.
Capabilities: This Anima can be "injected" into oneself or another person to induce a variety of effects. Most often tends to be used on one's own body as it is more controlled and effective. Effects can occasionally backfire or be too intense if used on someone other than oneself unless you specialize in using it on others instead of yourself. Can enhance your sensitivity greatly to allow improved perception, detection, tracking, and even Anima reading. Can also be used like adrenaline for the muscles to allow increased strength and speed as well as reaction time.


Physical Property: Hardness - When harnessed, green becomes the most "physical" and tangible of all Anima.
Capabilities: Due to its unique hardness, this Anima can condense itself to form actual tangible objects. As such, one can use it to create anything one can imagine, so long as they have enough Anima. You can create barriers, structures, weapons, projectiles, or even household utensils. 


Physical Property: Endothermic - absorbs the energy or force from things it contacts with.
Capabilities: Of all Anima colors, this is probably the one closest to what one may call "Anti-Magic". Upon contact, it can weaken the power or other physical properties of Anima it contacts with. Contacting Red will weaken its destructive power, contacting green will cause it to fall apart, or etc. It is not only limited to Anima, and also applies to other physical things it touches. If there is a projectile it will absorb its kinetic energy, slowing it, or weakening the impact. It will weaken the force of a blow. It can also be used to exhaust, weaken, bind, or restrict a person.


Physical Property: Impulse - acts very similar to a neuron in that it sends a signal through the Anima to the target being controlled.
Capabilities: This is probably the most versatile color of Anima in its wide range of capabilities. The essence of it is the complete domination and control whatever it touches. It sends signals to the object that will move as directed so long as it is in contact with the Anima. As such, a very common use of this is telekinesis. One can lift and move objects smoothly in this way, as opposed to the crude version available to Red. Theoretically, someone can use it to manipulate the elements as well and can be a traditional mage. Use in this way, however, is very crude. Control is not as precise as you are not manipulating the fire or earth itself, only sending signals telling it what to do. As this is the case, those who do use it to control the elements choose one element to specialize in. In this, they get a good handle on the inner workings on the element (fire, lightning, wind, etc) and know just the right signals to send to get it to do what they want. Additionally, it can also be used on people. When used in this way, it is often used as a sort of improved persuasion tool. Higher levels can allow control of a person's senses, effectively creating targeted illusions. At the pinnacle of this ability is the domination of will, allowing for mind control and control of persons every nerve. This is the highest level ability of purple Anima and very few in the entire history of Phedra have been known to possess it.