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Codex / Powers / Illusion Casting

mental power

Illusion Casting

Also called Illusions, Genjutsu, Glamour

Illusion casting creates false perception. Its power level depends on one thing: whether the illusion is projected into the world, where a camera would catch it, or written directly into a mind, where nothing external can contradict it.

12 known users 3 universes 38 sourced feats
How it worksScalingUsersFeatsLimitsCountersRelatedFAQ

How it works

Projected illusions are external — holograms, mirages, staging. Mysterio's work is largely this, which is why it is defeated by sensors and by anyone who thinks to check.

Perceptual illusions edit the target's senses directly. There is no external evidence to catch, so the counter has to come from inside: disrupting one's own chakra, recognising an inconsistency, or a mind that does not work the expected way.

Total illusion replaces reality wholesale and is close to indistinguishable from reality warping from the victim's side. Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu is the definitive case — it takes the sense of sight itself, so 'do not look' is not a defence once you have seen it once.

The recurring rule: an illusion that harms only through belief stops working the moment the target stops believing.

How it scales

  1. Projected

    External and detectable by instruments.

  2. Perceptual

    Edited senses — no external evidence.

  3. Sensory total

    Takes a whole sense; consent is irrelevant.

  4. Reality-indistinguishable

    The victim cannot tell at all.

Who has illusion casting

Across 3 universes. This list crosses publishers — something no single wiki can do, because every franchise keeps its own separate database.

CharacterUniverseFranchiseFeats
LokiMarvelMarvel Comics4
MysterioMarvelMarvel Comics6
John ConstantineDCDC Comics3
Mister MxyzptlkDCDC Comics2
ScarecrowDCDC Comics4
ZatannaDCDC Comics2
HieiAnime & MangaYu Yu Hakusho2
Itachi UchihaAnime & MangaNaruto4
Kakashi HatakeAnime & MangaNaruto2
Madara UchihaAnime & MangaNaruto3
Sasuke UchihaAnime & MangaNaruto2
Sosuke AizenAnime & MangaBleach4

The feat ledger

Every entry cites the work it comes from. Feat means it was shown in the work; Statement means a character or narrator said it. Nothing here is a fan estimate unless it is tagged Calc.

Mysterio — Illusions are projected and technological, which is why sensors and simple scepticism defeat them

Statement The Amazing Spider-Man · Earth-616

Itachi Uchiha — Tsukuyomi compresses days of subjective experience into an instant of real time

Feat Naruto · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Sosuke Aizen — Kyoka Suigetsu takes complete control of the sense of sight from the moment its release is witnessed — knowing about it is no defence

Statement Bleach · Manga canon

Scarecrow — Produces hallucination chemically rather than psychically, so psychic shielding does not help

Statement Detective Comics · Post-Crisis DC

Madara Uchiha — Infinite Tsukuyomi places the entire world into a single shared dream

Feat Naruto · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Loki — Illusion and shapeshifting are his defining abilities across every continuity, more consistently than any weapon or spell

Statement Journey into Mystery · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Loki — Projects illusions solid enough to be fought

Feat Thor Volume 1 · Earth-616shown, no figure stated

Loki — Projects a duplicate of himself to a different location entirely

Feat Thor Volume 1 · Earth-616shown, no figure stated

Loki — Conceals his presence from Asgardian detection

Feat Thor Volume 1 · Earth-616shown, no figure stated

Kakashi Hatake — Sharingan genjutsu traps a target in a constructed perception

Feat Naruto · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Kakashi Hatake — The Sharingan is a borrowed eye, so the power is not natively his

Statement Naruto · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Sosuke Aizen — Kyoka Suigetsu places anyone who sees its release under complete hypnosis

Statement Bleach · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Sosuke Aizen — The hypnosis affects all five senses, so it cannot be reasoned around

Statement Bleach · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Sosuke Aizen — Anyone who has seen the release once remains affected afterwards

Statement Bleach · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Itachi Uchiha — Tsukuyomi compresses days of experience into an instant

Statement Naruto · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Itachi Uchiha — Casts genjutsu through eye contact alone, including via reflections

Feat Naruto · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Itachi Uchiha — Susanoo is a defence rather than his technique of choice, which is deliberate characterisation

Statement Naruto · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Madara Uchiha — Fights the five Kage simultaneously and wins

Feat Naruto · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Madara Uchiha — Infinite Tsukuyomi requires the moon as a projection surface, its stated precondition

Statement Naruto · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Mister Mxyzptlk — Constructs elaborate false scenarios Superman cannot distinguish from real

Feat Action Comics · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

Mister Mxyzptlk — Rewrites Superman's memory of events as part of a joke

Feat Action Comics · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

Mysterio — Illusions built from projectors, holograms and practical effects

Statement The Amazing Spider-Man (1964) · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Mysterio — Fools Spider-Man's spider-sense by attacking the perception rather than the person

Feat The Amazing Spider-Man · Earth-616shown, no figure stated

Mysterio — A special-effects technician by trade, which is the whole basis of the character

Statement The Amazing Spider-Man · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Mysterio — Convinces a target they are somewhere else entirely

Feat The Amazing Spider-Man · Earth-616shown, no figure stated

Mysterio — He has no powers, so exposing the equipment defeats him outright

Statement The Amazing Spider-Man · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Scarecrow — Fear toxin induces hallucinations of the victim's worst fear

Statement Detective Comics · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Scarecrow — The effect is chemical, so a gas mask or antidote defeats him entirely

Statement Detective Comics · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Scarecrow — A psychologist by training, which is how he selects what to induce

Statement Detective Comics · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Sasuke Uchiha — Casts genjutsu through eye contact alone

Feat Naruto · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Sasuke Uchiha — Susanoo forms a construct around him for defence and attack

Feat Naruto · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Hiei — The implanted Jagan eye grants hypnosis and remote sight

Statement Yu Yu Hakusho · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Hiei — The third eye was surgically implanted, not born with

Statement Yu Yu Hakusho · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Zatanna — Creates illusions convincing enough to fool trained observers

Feat JLA · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

Zatanna — Edits memory directly, which the League treats as a serious breach

Feat Identity Crisis · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

John Constantine — Uses illusion and misdirection far more than direct spellcasting

Statement The Saga of the Swamp Thing Volume 2 · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

John Constantine — Binds and banishes entities through negotiated terms rather than force

Feat The Saga of the Swamp Thing Volume 2 · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

John Constantine — The people around him reliably pay for his victories, the character's actual theme

Statement The Saga of the Swamp Thing Volume 2 · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Limits

  • Projected illusions fail against sensors and non-visual detection.
  • Most perceptual illusions break on a recognised inconsistency.
  • Illusions that harm through belief end when belief does.
  • Non-standard minds — hive, mechanical, fractured — are often immune.

Counters

  • Sensors, recordings and any non-visual sense.
  • Self-inflicted pain or chakra disruption in systems that allow it.
  • Minds that do not perceive normally.

Questions

What makes Aizen's illusion different from ordinary genjutsu?

Kyoka Suigetsu takes complete control of the sense of sight from the moment a person has seen its release. Ordinary illusions ask the target to believe something; this one removes the ability to see the difference, which is why knowing about it does not help.

Last updated 2026-09-06 · machine-readable version