Summary
- Innocent Zero poses a serious threat to Mash with god-like powers that include time manipulation and stealing magic from others.
- Mash relies on superhuman strength and creativity to combat Zero, showcasing muscle-based techniques that rival magic spells.
- Despite the odds, Mash's absurd plot armor ensures he will triumph in the final showdown, turning the tables in hilarious ways.
Mashle: Magic and Muscles is gearing up for its third season soon, and fans are eagerly waiting for the final showdown between Mash Burnedead and his newly revealed father, Innocent Zero. Is this a Darth Vader reference? Maybe. But the entire focus is now on Innocent Zero and his plan for world domination, or rather, if he actually poses a threat to Mash.
Quick recap, Innocent Zero believes the world exists for his benefit, and seeks to absorb Mash to become "The Perfect Human Being." He is the former student of Adam Jobs, who was the strongest wizard in history, and the architect of the current magical society, founding the Bureau of Magic and establishing the Divine Visionary system. As Jobs' student, Innocent Zero had direct access to unparalleled magical knowledge and techniques, suggesting a level of power that could rival or even surpass his legendary mentor. Meanwhile, poor Mash has nothing to rely on except his superhuman strength and deadpan humor to defeat his father.
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With the new season on the horizon, there are a lot of questions about Innocent Zero's abilities and strength. How strong is he, and does Mash stand a chance?
Innocent Zero's Powers, Explained
The manga goes into great detail to explain Innocent Zero's powers. His personal magic and summons are some of the strongest in the universe, with their application in battle being limitless.
Innocent Zero's Thirds: Wielding the Power of Gods
In Mashle, "Thirds" represents the absolute peak of magical power. Even among the elite triple-liners, only a select few can wield this god-like magic. It's so rare that even Divine Visionaries rarely manifest it. To activate Thirds, a mage must perform a "Summon", calling upon divine power. Innocent Zero is one of the few people who can summon not one, but three different divine entities with his Thirds:
Chronos: Master of Time
When Zero summons Chronos, the god of time, his wand transforms into a clock surrounded by blades. This amplifies his already ridiculous time manipulation powers to absurd levels. With Chronos, he can:
- Rewind time on a massive scale, undoing entire battles
- Freeze opponents in temporal stasis
- Create deadly watch hands that slice through time itself
Imagine trying to fight someone who can literally undo your every move. That's the nightmare Chronos presents.
Uranus: Warper of Space
Stealing Wahlberg's magic gave Zero access to Uranus, the sky god. His wand becomes an orb surrounded by four nails, each capable of warping space independently. This lets him.
- Distort reality from multiple angles simultaneously
- Create spatial cuts that dwarf Wahlberg's already impressive abilities
- Potentially trap opponents in pocket dimensions or tear them apart with spatial manipulation
Lucifer: Bringer of Darkness
Perhaps the most terrifying of Innocent Zero's summons is Lucifer, the god of darkness. His wand transforms into an eldritch staff covered in eyeballs, granting him the power to:
- Create colossal spheres of darkness that can erase entire cities
- Summon nightmarish entities to do his bidding
- Potentially destroy the entire magic realm with a single spell
The "Divine Punishment" Thirds spell associated with Lucifer is described as having enough power to obliterate everything in existence. It's the ultimate doomsday weapon, supposedly strong enough to erase the entire magic realm.
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Innocent Zero's Personal Magic
At the core of Innocent Zero's power is his personal magic, Timez. Personal magic is unique, and these spells are exclusive to certain families, passed down through generations and honed to perfection (think of them as unique Cursed Techniques like the Ten Shadows technique in Sorcerer clans in Jujutsu Kaisen). Dot Barrett's explosive Explomb or Lance Crown's gravity-defying Graviole are both examples of personal magic – unique, powerful, and distinctly tied to their wielders.
Innocent Zero's personal magic is Timez, or "time manipulation". This isn't just slowing down or speeding up a few seconds – Innocent Zero can bend the very fabric of time to his will.
- He can freeze time around him, turning opponents into living statues.
- With a touch, he can age living beings by centuries – talk about a deadly handshake.
- Need a do-over? Timez lets him reverse time and nullify actions, even undoing other spells.
- He can accelerate time selectively, rotting the body parts of his enemies.
Timez is the most powerful personal magic.
Now, when someone like Wahlberg Baigan calls Timez "the most powerful personal magic," it's the real deal. Out of all the villains Mash has faced so far, Innocent Zero is the strongest.
Stolen Powers: A Magical Thief
As if Timez wasn't enough, Innocent Zero has the ability to steal magic from others. Rather than just copying spells, he rips the very essence of another mage's power and makes it his own. He points his wand at his target, enveloping them in dark energy. This process allows him to absorb their magical abilities, leaving the target powerless and without magic.
However, there's a catch. Innocent Zero's body is "incomplete," and struggles to contain all the stolen magic power properly. It's like trying to pour an ocean into a lake – there's only so much room before things start to overflow.
Still, he's managed to nab two insanely powerful abilities:
- Darkness: Stolen from Adam Jobs, the legendary wizard who shaped the current magical society. This magic allows Innocent Zero to create and manipulate darkness that erases anything it touches from existence. He can summon eldritch entities, launch snake-like apparatus, or even create massive spheres of all-consuming darkness. It's not just offensive; these techniques can also be used to create protective barriers or infuse objects with darkness.
- Spaces: Swiped from Wahlberg Baigan, another powerhouse mage. This magic lets Innocent Zero warp and manipulate space itself. He can cut through reality, create spatial distortions, and even surpass Wahlberg's original use of the magic.
Innocent Zero's Evolved Forms
The form we saw during Wahlberg's fight was a "base form". Innocent Zero has two evolved forms left to showcase, both equally terrifying.
Demonic Form: Hearts of Darkness
Picture this: during an eclipse, Innocent Zero absorbs the hearts of his "children" - Doom, Famin, Epidem, and Domina Blowelive. The result? A demonic makeover.
In this form, Zero sprouts black feathery wings, horns, and even a floating halo. His limbs get covered in dark fur, and creepiest of all, five eyes appear on his chest, representing the absorbed hearts. It's not just for show, either:
- His speed and strength skyrocket, letting him outpace even Mash's superhuman abilities.
- His magical powers get a significant boost.
- He gains rapid regeneration, healing wounds almost instantly.
Perfected Form: The False God
Just when you think it can't get worse, Innocent Zero breaks through to what he calls his "perfected form." This time, he goes full angelic/godlike. His power reaches such absurd levels that people genuinely believe he's become a deity. In this form:
- His magical power increases exponentially.
- He can cast godlike magic without even needing to use a Summon.
- He can create magical wands from his own palm.
These evolved forms represent Innocent Zero at his most dangerous. They're not just power-ups; they're a visual representation of his descent into madness and his obsession with becoming "the perfect being."
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Mash Burnedead vs. Innocent Zero
On paper, this is an impossible fight. Innocent Zero can bend reality and control time, while Mash is just really good at punching things. Does Mash even stand a chance?
Mash: Muscles vs. Magic
Though Mash is technically "magic-less", his inhumane muscles grant him techniques that manage to outshine most magic users. He can mimic most of the basic spells mages use by creatively using his strength, and in many cases, he can overpower even two-liners. Here are some of his muscle-based techniques:
- "Big Bang Dash" for superhuman speed
- "Ballista Knuckle" for devastating punches
- "Hell Fall" and "Guillotine Kick" for brutal take-downs
- "Hurricane Rush" for rapid-fire attacks
- "Unlimited Physical Mode" for unleashing his full strength
- "Weakness Mode" for unparalleled evasion
We've also seen Mash deflect powerful spells with his bare hands. Mash does something similar against Zero's darkness magic, where he uses a powerful flick (that he named Gaia) to disperse the attack. His ability to "fly" by moving his legs rapidly and generating tornados by break-dancing showcases the absurd lengths to which his muscle control extends. What's even better, is that Mash doesn't rely on magic, which means that Innocent Zero can't weaken him by stealing his magic.
The Great Equalizer: Plot Armor
Here's where Mashle truly shines as a parody. Despite the overwhelming odds, Mash has the ultimate superpower: ridiculous plot armor. This isn't just a narrative device; it's a core part of the series' charm and humor.
As the fight progresses, expect to see Mash develop new muscle techniques on the fly and somehow overcome space disorientation by punching the place down. Mash's greatest strength is his adaptability and refusal to believe he is outmatched, so with each setback, he figures out creative ways to use his muscles against his enemy.
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The Inevitable Outcome
While logic dictates that Innocent Zero should wipe the floor with Mash, the very nature of Mashle as a parody ensures that our muscle-bound hero will triumph. It's not about whether Mash will win, but how absurdly he'll manage to do it.
In the end, Mashle reminds us that sometimes, the most powerful magic of all is the ability to make us laugh at the impossible, all while celebrating the sheer absurdity of a world where muscles can trump magic.
- Release Date
- April 8, 2023
Based on Hajime Kōmoto's manga, Mashle: Magic and Muscles takes place in a world dominated by magic. To protect his caregiver, Mash Burnedead joins the top magical academy to become a Divine Visionary, a role intended for the most capable mages in the universe. The catch? Mash cannot use any magic. Fortunately, he has muscles.
- Seasons
- 2
- Studio
- A-1 Pictures
- Based On
- Manga
- Creator
- Hajime Kōmoto
- Number of Episodes
- 24
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
- MyAnimeList Score
- 7.68 (Season 1)
