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As cool as winter, as hot as summer and all Wizard [Harry Dresden]-Next book is not out!
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I think Harry's typically described as being pretty powerful offensively as well, for a wizard.
He's got a lot of brute magical power but without much subtlety. It's why he excels at destructive magic like fireballs but sucks at illusion.
I thought his best work was thaumaturgy... you know tracking people, and things, hence the whole private detective bit.
All shredded, sweaty, and beat to shit. Fine. Brad Pitt.
You'd think this would be a great fit on HBO. With GoT coming to an end in the coming year or two they need some new established IPs that they can produce multiple seasons out of. This seems up that alley.
I think he's better than most at it, but as a result of constant practice since yes, it's extremely useful for the whole PI bit. But if there's anything he's truly gifted at, it's that he just has an exceptional amount of raw power to throw behind his spells. Hence the bruiser bit - more power just straight up means stronger shields and bigger booms. He does also seem to have a knack for (or just gravitate to) converting and storing power too.
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He starts out pretty weak, working on potions in his basement lab, relying more often on his old revolver than actual magic and the like. He knows all about the supernatural world and largely tries (though normally fails) to avoid getting involved because he's pretty sure he'd get eaten if he sticks his nose down the wrong alley.
If you were to start listing the power upgrades he's got since book one...
... you'd need a spoiler tag.
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And, of course, now he's the Winter Knight which is really just the magical equivalent of being on PCP all the time.
Upgrades
Not to mention
And his
Not every Wizard has the power to ask Santa Clause and Odin to do him a solid.
Then Soulfire.
I seem to remember a period of personal "tutelage" by Mab. If you assume "That which doesn't kill you, makes you stronger..." than Harry had some remarkably effective training there.
He's a Warden of the White Council now, while that may not be a straight up power upgrade, it carries a certain amount of prestige and the ability to call in allies should things get bad enough, though it also carries a number of unpleasant responsibilities too.
He also learned that whole necromancy bit when he was riding a zombie dinosaur through town.
He's also got Demon Reach as his Genius Loci, while that power may be limited while he's off the island, anything that tries to come for him on his home ground is in for some hurt.
That's not even counting his gradually improving gear. Like the kinetic rings, he started with a single one that stored a tiny bit of energy from every move, now he's essentially got enchanted brass knuckles that let him punch like a truck. Or his magically reinforced armored trench coat, or the improvements to the shield bracelet, improvements to his staff and rod...
I don't remember if he learned anything from his time being a ghost, but I can't imagine he didn't pick up a trick or two there.
Of course, this isn't even taking into accounts the increased abilities of his friends and allies. I mean, Butters went from being a mortician who occasionally stitched Dresden up to a Knight. Mouse went from being an adorable little puppy to an adorable Temple dog the size of a smart car with magic of his own. Murphy's been taking a master's class in ass kicking with the Valkyries, and Molly... well, I don't think I need to say anything more there.
I'm sure I'm missing some things, random magical trinkets and the like that may not have stuck around. Butcher loves power creep in his books, and compared with the Codex Alera, he's managed to be remarkably restrained on that front.
But as had been listed Harry is accumulating a rather large number of power upgrades of various strengths and it's possible the mantle was downgraded.
I hope his new Spirit has angelic-related knowledge she'll slowly dole out.
Current book
Huh, he could be announced rather impressively these days. Sir Harry Dresden, Knight of the Unseelie Fae, Warden of Demonreach, Wizard of the White Council, Za Lord... uh... and then you could go on and on with accomplishments. Banishing He Who Walks Behind, killing the entire Red Court, robbing the vault of Hades, former keeper of the Swords, etc. etc.
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Mostly in the form of experience and exercise. Because Harry gets involved in so many fights and so much magical trouble, he has had to exercise his talents far more than most other Wizards his age. He can throw more punches in a shorter amount of time because he is used to the punching match. I haven't gone back and checked it out book by book, but I get the feeling Harry can throw more fire etc during the later books then the earlier books. Because he has practiced his fire magic it comes easier to him (outside of when he couldn't use it), but also because he is used to the fatigue. Stuff that would knock a less experienced Wizard out is Harry's first punch. Usually to be followed by 2nd and 3rd punch.
Also Mega-Manning. If Harry sees someone do something and he can figure out how they do it, he will damn well steal their technique. Elaine has a chain that acts as a taser? Next book so does Harry. Luccio cuts monsters in half with a thin beam of fire, Harry tries the same thing in Changes (in the Nevernever where magic is easier, but still). Remember Thorned Namshiel's strangler spell? Remember what Harry hit the Naagloshii with?
Which I think leads into what really gives Harry his power ups. Skin Game says it best. Harry loves his Magic. Not just the blowing shit up aspect, but experimenting with it. Figuring out ways to help people with it, learning how to change a spell on the fly, etc. Harry loves Magic like a dedicated Martial Artist loves Martial Arts. Like a Fencer loves swordplay. Like a great mechanic likes working on cars. It makes him better and more versatile at magic. And that makes him stronger.
And people already know his titles. That's partially why he terrifies so many factions in the world, because they don't see a guy who keeps getting into impossible situations and escaping by the skin of his teeth, they see his accomplishments and interpret them to mean he is far more powerful than he really is.
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I dunno if I like him for the role, though.
He has the chops, but he's not an option. Padalecki will be doing Supernatural until he's an old man, and so will Jensen Ackles. Personally, the height thing never was a deal breaker for me, characters generally can survive fine without it RE: Wolverine and Hugh Jackman. Wolverine in the comics is supposed to be a short guy.
How old do you want to start him out? Josh Hartnett could play the current Harry, but not Storm Front Harry.
I figure he doesn't actually look much different between Storm Front and Skin Game.
I'm not sure how old he's technically supposed to be, but I always picture him at about 35.
And sure, he held the swords for a while but I don't think he could ever use them. He was just custodian. Now he doesn't even have them, if I recall.
The blood curse was just opportunism. Right place, right time. I doubt he could do it again if he tried and I doubt it would apply to anything other than vampires anyway.
I guess he could perform the Darkhallow but... I mean, would he? He'd basically have to be evil at that point.
Demon Reach is good, but really only when he's actually on Demon Reach.
His basic spells have gotten better, but that's to be expected with time and experience. He's definitely gotten stronger, but I don't really see the power creep you people are talking about. He's still just as apt to get his shit kicked in as not.
And even that was luck paired with the huge drawback of
He has absolutely gotten stronger over the books even without a tangible 'upgrade' Even in book one he was considered one of the most powerful in raw power and potential talent among the white council, he just was inexperienced.
Through Skin Game:
The canonicity's a little twitchy of course, but it was interesting seeing the "growing from moderately competent to genuinely really scary" through practice and experience as much as from gathering McGuffins and allies. Think things like "having to deal with Molly as an apprentice is forcing him to get better at X, Y and Z in order to teach her properly."
And Dresden's wizardpower levels in general: