Originally Posted by
Selinia
1) There have always been mashou. Well, for the duration of recorded history at least, and then some.
2) There's no reason it couldn't be. A magica's meat puppet tends to be in optimized condition. Any sicknesses are cured easily, and even the absolute weakest magical individual possesses superhuman physical attributes. These have less to do with muscles than with the fact that their body is made of stuff that spits in the face of physics, admittedly. They are fueled by magic, and the throttle on that fuel opens wide upon transforming. Someone like Rio is bottom of the barrel when it comes to physical prowess for magica, and even she could walk away from a point-blank mundane shotgun blast with nothing worse than maybe a bruise than will heal in a day and a ruined pair of pajamas.
3) If you're looking for Paladin powers, what about tanking? Sure it'd be questionably useful on people (some might fall for it), but beings like Wraiths are near-mindless and could be provoked by proper power. It would be amusingly fitting if he was such a paragon of positivity that his magically-emboldened presence sent the manifestations of despair into a blind rage.
4) Incubators are actually really good at delivering on the intent behind a wish. Wishes themselves are generally quite compact, but people nearly always get what they wish for. Some people by nature make more elaborate wishes, but the results aren't really any better or worse. It's just a matter of the personality of the wisher.