When one thinks of a shonen protagonist, what comes to mind immediately are near automatic personality traits: Loud, haughty, fearless and dead set on reaching their ultimate goal, becoming "the best" at something or another, and on top of that— they're crazy and don't tend to think before they act, simply going with what they feel at that moment. For starters, Tsunayoshi Sawada is none of these things. In fact, he can be considered the opposite of what a shonen hero should be in many different aspects, and oddly enough, fitting into that category in the end. When something happens to turn a good day upside down, Tsuna is the first to deny that he could do anything about it; he'll put up an alarm and deny his place when everyone turns and waits for his amazing, heroic deed to happen. No, no thank you— but somehow, it happens. With struggle, but it does. With everything calm and in order once more, Tsuna is quick, very quick, to deny and will repeat so dozens of times that this definitely won't happen again, until— you guessed it. It does, and somehow, he just gets better at it ( and still persists in the denial of being a hero each and every time ).
So, who is Tsuna? Just your average teenager— he's a slacker with zero ambition. He likes video games, he's disorganized and his room is that messy other world with the week old pizza sitting under the bed, and he doesn't even remember ( so maybe we're going a bit too far here, but we all know what a teenager's room looks like ). He crushes on the most popular girl in school, being the only real reason why he even shows up for school ( seriously. he just goes so he can see her )— and to top our cake, he's a complete failure at just about everything, and somehow, he's kind of okay with it. He's bad at sports ( if it has anything to do with projectile objects, lets just say they're always finding their way onto his face, and hard ), he has no friends, his grades have been downright poor ever since starting school, and he once accidentally sowed his shirt onto a pillow in economics class. He's clumsy and simply gushing with so much bad luck, he can share it with the entire world-population. Putting it simply, he's a loser, even named "No-Good Tsuna" by his peers— and like a true loser, he sees himself as just that: A loser. He's rather quick to say "no" to anything that seems remotely difficult, and his inability to do anything right is laughable. Tsuna knows this, and admits it: he's a failure, and maybe it's how things are meant to be. Maybe he's destined to be that guy who can't get a job and lives with his mom, or has twenty cats— he doesn't has much prospect for the future, neither does he have enough faith in himself to change that. He's just No-Good Tsuna, and maybe he'll always be.
That is, until he met Reborn and was told he was going to be a mafia boss. A lot of the above things have changed for the better since that fateful day— but some things also never really change. He attends school because he has friends now, and school with friends is about ten times funner that being the number one bully target without a single group to find shelter with. He's befriended his crush, Kyoko Sasagawa ( what could be better than that??? ), yet he still sucks hard time when it comes to actually studying; In fact, he still doesn't really have interest in that "studying" business at all. He just wants to have fun, live his life out with his friends, and dream about marrying Kyoko one day, just like any other boy his age.
Despite the huge ( and unwanted ) responsibility being constantly shoved at him, Tsuna is still your average loser teen that would really prefer staying average more than anything. He has weird friends, and mafia related things almost always bring unwanted attention when they flock to him at an always unwanted time— making him a target for very weird things. Tsuna's always commenting how embarrassing it is, or how he'd really just prefer to be somewhere else or be someone else. He heeeeiiis in horror when those crazy shenanigans happen around him, and that just only makes outsiders think he's a complete spazz. He gets credit, though— it's hard living being a weirdo magnet when all you want to be is normal. It's like preferring to be at Weenie Hut Jr's than Super Weenie Hut Jr's. If he's already a weenie, might as well be a normal weenie than a super weenie.
When Reborn enters his life, and one by one he starts making and holding on to really good friends, Tsuna changes without noticing it, and changes for the better. His friends have shaped him into becoming a very strong person that cherishes what he has around him. Tsuna not only loves his friends as family, but he looks up to them just as they look up to him, each pulling each other up and each day climbing taller staircases. His pride is the famiglia he's found shaping around him, despite him denying that they're just friends and nothing related to the mafia! But, this resolution has made him into a fighter that protects what he loves at all costs. If some guy were to walk up to him on a pleasant day and put a knife to his throat, he's most likely to plead for his life and do anything the guy wants— but his first priority would be to leave his friends alone. When he's in danger, he can barely muster up the dying will to save himself— but always are his friends first on his list of things to worry about. Get them involved, and he'll do anything and everything in his power to protect them, even if it means he'll get injured in the process. He fights with everything he's got, down to his dying will.
When Tsuna is ready for combat, he hops down to Hyper Dying Will mode, where his base, spineless traits take a hike up a short cliff. It's a rather blatant change that happens; his wide eyes go narrow and calm, almost eerily too calm, and completely focused on the task at hand. He's at ready, and ready for anything with hardened, unbreakable determination and resistant will. Tsuna's a protector, and when his mind is set, an opponent could be up for a surprise challenge considering how this boy acts off the battlefield. While Tsuna has very easy potential to turn just about anything into literal ash, even with all of that power at his fingertips, he dislikes violence as a whole. He fights when he must, when what's special to him, the things that keep him living are in danger, and even then he tries to find the best solution; never is killing in that recipe— his heart doesn't mesh with the idea of taking a life, though if he has to fight, he will— and he'll incapacitate the opponent if he must, but killing just isn't an option. Tsuna has even yelled at his great great great great grandfather in anger when showed the various generations of the Vongola and what they've done ( and they've done some very brutal things ), stating that he'd destroy the Vongola.
Even in times of danger, face to face with opponents ready to kill, Tsuna is kind-hearted. He's easily forgiving toward his aggressors, and while he makes it a goal as to defeat and stop them, he worries for their well being, as well as the well being of their men and comrades. Obviously, this behavior isn't limited to combat or boss mode; it's simply because Tsuna is a very gentle boy that respects life, genuinely kind and gold-hearted. He was ranked number one boss to never refuse a request, making him either really reliable when it comes to favors or everyone's favorite butt monkey ( bonus fact: he's also ranked first to have fears of bats, roaches, and chihuahuas ).
"During that battle, I understood that the candidate to become Boss of the Vongola, Sawada Tsunayoshi, was truly not meant to be a Mafia Boss. He's a crybaby, indecisive, kind, and cares too much for his companions. However, that is also why the only one that can return the corrupted Vongola to it's original state is you and only you, Sawada Tsunayoshi."
-Timoteo
Ironically, it's what Primo's ghost's been looking for for hundreds of years, and what the Vongola has been short of: A boss. Not just any boss, but a boss with a kind heart, a pure heart— some may say that this is a terrible trait for someone in the mafia, but in Tsuna's case, it's what makes everyone flock to him and look to him as a leader figure. He dislikes the mafia and has once threatened to destroy the Vongola: exactly what Primo wants. He's the one making some really important changes to what it's all about, and taking the family back to its original routes: protectors. He's a growing leader that cherishes his friends, family, and those around him more than himself. He's unwilling and torn when he has to make a choice between two, or when a life of a friend must be sacrificed to save the rest— because whichever way, it will still be horrible. No life is better or worse than the last; they're equal. Tsuna can deny being or taking part in the mafia, or being a boss as much as he likes— but the facts are there ( and we're shown in the future that he has in fact become "boss", or whatever he'd like to call it ). Ironically, he is something of a leader; at one point ( especially the future arc ), he starts making choices and giving orders, as his family obeys and even comes to expect him to make decisions ( even though Tsuna states he doesn't see himself ordering his friends around, but there's a huge difference between bossing about and leading the show ). It's probably only Tsuna out of everyone in the series that doesn't realize that he's a lot deeper into the business and reshaping the Vongola from the inside out than anyone has ever seen or done— or maybe he just doesn't want to admit it because, you know, "mafia".
From what he was to what he is now, Tsuna has taken a huge step forward in many ways. He has friends he wants to protect, he's a lot happier. He still doesn't have any goals or aspirations in life ( other than marrying Kyoko at least ), he still sucks big time at sports and school, and the mafia is still, at least by his words, out of the question. From a certain standpoint, it's a wonderful thing; the power Tsuna's gotten his hands on hasn't risen to his head and made him arrogant, it hasn't made him cocky or power hungry. In fact, he's still the same, humble teenage boy, and that's probably his biggest plus and why most people just really seem to like him. He's genuine.
He wears the crest on his gloves, he carries their name around his neck, he fights in the name of Vongola; Tsuna states he wants to use the power to protect his friends, to keep his friendly box animal Natsu around, but it's kind of hard denying you work at Walmart when you're wearing the uniform ( but try explaining that to him, and he'll just . . . keep denying ). He's everything they need, and on top of that he's already tangled in the web, destined to deny and deny until he either stops denying or gives the mafia a new name. Maybe it'll take a while, but he'll get there. Someday.
Whether he likes it or not.
✖ Character Powers & Skills:
-dying will flame ( sky attribute ): the key to everything and tsuna's portal power, the dying will flame is a form of highly condensed energy that is purified by the user's life source, then used, mostly for combat purposes. since it's pretty much part of the user, the flame resonates with their emotions and becomes their aura, visible in battle. the dying will flames come in many shapes and sizes, and tsuna's attribute is not only the rarest, but the purest of flames: the sky flame. the sky flame is the one flame that truly acts like a real flame, creating heat and capable of burning, melting, and just about anything fire can do at the user's will. this flame's attribute is harmony, "representing a state without contradiction nor flaws in which balance of the whole is maintained". basically, it allows the user to synchronize with their surroundings, cleanseauras, petrify and negate other flames and forms of energy, and if wanted, they can be neutralized, absorbed, and reused as his own.
-hyper dying will mode: a state of mind accessed when shot with a rebuke bullet, taking two dying will pills, or in times of strong, emotional resolve ( experienced users can enter this state when they please-- tsuna's shown to enter this state without the use of dying will pills when extremely angered or strongly placed in his resolve ). just to clarify about pills and rebuke bullets: they both work the same way, the bullet being used when tsuna's hitman tutor reborn is around to shoot him with it, or the pills when he's alone. when shot or when taking two pills, it causes the user experience real time rebukes from everyone they know, becoming aware of their hidden willpower, removing the body's internal limitations ( fear, mental blocks, ect ) from within, and causing an increased in battle sense and hyper intuition, mentioned later below. releasing his hidden awareness, tsuna becomes eerily calm in both expression and aura, as well as swift and ready for combat. this is because, as it's named, the user is fighting with their spirit; they fight without fear and are completely prepared to die for what they're fighting for. hyper dying will mode puts immense strain on the body, though; a person's limitations are called limitations for a reason, and tsuna was shown to experience so much pain the first time he used it, he passed out at the time ( and continued to feel muscle pains through a duration of two weeks ). he's been trained enough at this point to be able to bounce back a lot quicker than he used to, but the rebound still exists. dying will mode also consists of three states: the positive state ( dying will mode, positive ), zero point ( it disappears, no dying will ), and minus state ( dying will mode, negative ).
-hyper intuition: a trait passed down the true vongola family bloodline, hyper intuition is probably what you're thinking-- my mafia senses are tingling. it serves as a sixth sense, getting feelings when being lied to, when others are tense or any other emotion ( he feels it ), when caught in illusions, knowing more or less where to hit people / knock them out ( such as nerves, for paralysis ), or when something is generally up or very close to happening ( events, attacks, ect ).
-minus state: minus is achieved by carefully balancing between the positive and negative state of hyper dying will mode, surpassing the zero point, then stationing to minus with the right timing, where tsuna can neutralize damage sent his way, as long as it's in the form of energy.
-zero point breakthrough: first edition: created by the first vongola boss with the intention of ending future battles, the original zero point breakthrough is a technique that depends on hyper dying will mode surpassing the state's zero point to achieve minus state ( the split moment when tsuna's gloves revert back to mittens, as well as seeming "normal" again ) ; instead of positive energy, the user falls into a state of negative energy. the dying will flame also has an opposite: frost. whatever type of energy, whether it be other dying will flames, light, even water or solid surfaces, or so on, will have their positive charges of energy switched to negative when coming in contact with tsuna, enveloping and trapping them in ice. ordinary means won't be able to melt this frost, due to the instant negation when coming in contact with tsuna at the time, "sealing" one's energy away, and making him the only one able to melt it ( or dying will flames that are strong enough to do so ). ( 1. 2. 3. + 4. )
-zero point breakthrough: revised: a makeshift technique to use in times of need while in minus state; created by tsuna, the revised zero point breakthrough is used to capture, absorb, purify and use the opponent's energy as his own, adding to his energy storage. ( 1. 2. 3. )
-x burner: consists of two different blasts of sky flame in opposite directions of each other, one to support tsuna in place, focused backwards, while the other is used as raw attack power, blasting pure flames forward. together with the x-contacts ( contacts that visualize a targeting system as well as flame output of both hands ) and x-headphones ( to verbalize the target system, flame output, and when ready to launch ) that serve as guides so this doesn't happen, the technique is easier to manipulate and perfected ( this can only be used with the vongola ring upgrade ). ( 1. 2. 3. )
-x stream: with the use of flight and emitting large steams of dying will flames from his hands, tsuna circles the enemy from bottom to top at high speeds, trapping them in an immense swirl of sky flames. basically fire tornadoes.
-burning axel: a technique only accessible when tsuna has natsu in attack form; a punching attack that focuses his flames all in his armed fist to deliver a flame-powered punch, greatly surpassing the x-burner in terms of power. ( this can only be used with the box animal ring upgrade ) ( 1 + 2 )
-motorcycling: despite still being a bit clumsy with it, tsuna's learned how to drive a motorcycle during the future arc. he owned a honda 250cc NSR rothmans.
Reborn! takes place in a small, fictional little town in Japan called Namimori, Earth, somewhere around the year 2012. It's your quiet, average little town, with average people, average supermarkets, hospitals and schools-- the animals are normal ( at least most are ), technology is normal ( we have your tvs, psps and nintendo ds systems, you name it ), everything here is just so . . . normal! Here's the catch: Namimori is also home to descendents of the mafia world's strongest family in power, and they all happen to be teens who either don't know it, love it, or deny it to no end, and that's where Sawada Tsunayoshi falls under; an awkward, hopeless boy who just so happens to be the last rightful heir to the mafia throne, to become the tenth generation boss of the Vongola and tutored to do so by a talking baby hitman, Reborn.
The world of Reborn is a wacky place, even more so when it actually started out as a comedy and only went down the shonen road a little while after. The base of the series is certainly the mafia, but definitely not your average mafia. It all starts hundreds of years ago, where a man in Italy named Giotto ( together with another named Cozart ) chose to form a vigilante group with six others ( to act as his guardians ) with intention of keeping their town and people safe from harm and toxic individuals that happened to float around there, threatening others for money and destroying what they have to get to it. This was the start of the first mafia family, the Vongola, and for a while they climbed rapidly up the levels of influence, becoming the world's strongest family. That is, until the second generation boss of the Vongola came to power. The family started going down a road of corruption, losing all the values it once had and forgetting the true meaning as to why they came to be: to protect the ones they love. These brave and noticeable values turned to that of selfishness, power, and money, and doing anything to maintain that power, even if it meant taking down anything else in its way. Giotto, then retired, moved to Japan, lived out the rest of what he had in his life, and left his legacy behind.
Years, and years, and eight generations later, a young boy named Sawada Tsunayoshi is sniffed out by a hitman, sent by Vongola's ninth boss, more than ready to retire, and told that he's the next and only blood related heir they have left, even if it's way, way down the family tree. You see, Tsuna could have lived his loser life averagely and normally if Giotto wasn't his great, great, great, great grandfather; he could have sat around uneventfully with no purpose, yet ever since Tsuna met Reborn, things got weird. Really weird. Odd people started to flock to Tsuna as if he were a magnet, weird and near-inhuman things started happening around him, and unknowing of him, most of these weirdos would grow to be Tsuna's friends and forming his "famiglia" ( although he's very quick to deny that ).
The mafia in Reborn! is an underground world that keeps their secrets hidden from daily life and the outside world very, very well-- or else it wouldn't really be the mafia, right? Wrong, in a way-- because everything and anything mafia related in this series has a touch of oddity and magic, shonen power to it that's terribly difficult to turn the other way from. For starters, the world's greatest hitman is a talking baby. The mafia has enough knowledge and technology on their own to create time travel bazookas, as well as bullets that have various effects other than the natural and normal thing that bullets should do ( aka going through people, killing, wounding ect-- no, instead, these bullets can make people fight with their dying will, make them miserable, making shot body parts grow ten times their size-- hell, you name it. this manga is crazy ).
Making a bit of sense as to what was mentioned above, yes-- talking babies are a thing in this series. Not only that, but they're dangerous, powerful, and horribly cute mafia babies. One might think "wow, how does that even happen". Well, here's how ( most ) of this came to be, starting out with three very important group of items: the Vongola Rings, the Mare Rings, and the Arcobaleno Pacifiers. The Vongola Rings are seven rings with seven different attributes to match the user: sky, storm, rain, thunder, mist, sun and cloud. These rings, as you may guess, have belonged to the Vongola Family since the group's start, being the beginning of their reign underground, an important source of power, and passed down through the generations that came to be. The Don is the one to hold the sky ring while his guardians each hold one of the other attributes. The Mare Rings are similar, belonging to the Giglio Nero Family and sharing the same attributes. Then we have the Arcobaleno Pacifiers, seven pacifiers that also mirror these said attributes, coming with a trusty power and each representing a color of the rainbow. Together, these three groups create the Tri-ni-Sette, responsible for the world's foundation. Where did these come from and where are we getting at? Here's where things start to get a bit, ah-- extraterrestrial.
An unnamed species was said to have lived on Earth much longer than the first human came to be; they're duty over all was, is, to protect Planet Earth; to do so, when all but five of this species remained, together, they created the Arcobaleno Pacifiers by using seven types of stone, to begin creating the powerful Tri-ni-Sette. When all but two remained, with little power left to create two more separate sets on stones, the individuals, known as Kawahira and Sepira, decided to split the original pacifiers into two other sets, the Vongola and Mare Rings coming into existence and completing the Tri-ni-Sette. With the species dying out, they had to turn to the humans to keep these powerful stones guarded and safe, where the Vongola Rings were given to Giotto, the Mare Rings originally kept by Sepira, founder of the Giglio Nero Family, and lastly, the Arcobaleno Pacifiers being handed to seven lucky, handpicked individuals to protect the Earth's forces with their lives. Those chosen were called "The Strongest Seven", all in the mafia world or related to such, to be eternally cursed into the form of an infant to protect the pacifiers and keep watch over the Tri-ni-Sette as a whole, and Reborn was one of those seven.
So, there's the reason why the mafia has all the power and technology it has: that tech was given to one of the first families by beings that are light years in front of humans, and as the generations passed, studies and use of this were passed on and kept solely in the mafia. The dying flames, which are tapped into thanks to most of these special items, are the following, with their own respective power:
Sky: harmony; able to resonate, absorb, and purify other flames to use as the user's own. is also a lot more like actual fire than any of the other flames, and can be used offensively as such.
Sun: activation; induces and improves any type of activity done by the user, such as stimulating muscles and joints for those more prone to physical combat. as support, they can also heal and strengthen others.
Storm: disintegration; highly offensive flames, able to break and / or decay anything they come in contact with.
Cloud: propagation; has the ability to increase / expand, or multiply what the user desires. more efficient in open areas. they can also seemingly suck in other flames.
Mist: construction; generally, mist users are illusionists ( chrome, mukuro, mammon / viper ), able to work with and create illusions, and with the help of the mist flames, make them even better. while they aren't all that offensive, they're pretty good at making people go a little crazy.
Rain: tranquility; known for it's ability of stillness and calm, these flames are able to pacify and weaken a target by robbing their strength and movement capacity.
Lightning: hardening; these flames act a lot more like electricity than fire, sporadic when lit and even able to electrocute when used offensively. defensively, they can harden objects and create barriers for protection.
Of course, with power comes people who are power hungry; there have been many battles and near wars started to get close to the power of the rings, more respectively during the Future Arc, where present characters are sent to the future to fight a growing family that wants the entire Tri-ni-Sette for themselves. Hooray, world domination! Luckily, Tsuna and the rest of his gang of power wielders thanks to the rings use their power for the greater good ( at least . . . most of them . . . ), for protecting what's precious and keeping those who can't, safe.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
CANON HISTORY / SETTING
no subject
Reborn! takes place in a small, fictional little town in Japan called Namimori, Earth, somewhere around the year 2012. It's your quiet, average little town, with average people, average supermarkets, hospitals and schools-- the animals are normal ( at least most are ), technology is normal ( we have your tvs, psps and nintendo ds systems, you name it ), everything here is just so . . . normal! Here's the catch: Namimori is also home to descendents of the mafia world's strongest family in power, and they all happen to be teens who either don't know it, love it, or deny it to no end, and that's where Sawada Tsunayoshi falls under; an awkward, hopeless boy who just so happens to be the last rightful heir to the mafia throne, to become the tenth generation boss of the Vongola and tutored to do so by a talking baby hitman, Reborn.
The world of Reborn is a wacky place, even more so when it actually started out as a comedy and only went down the shonen road a little while after. The base of the series is certainly the mafia, but definitely not your average mafia. It all starts hundreds of years ago, where a man in Italy named Giotto ( together with another named Cozart ) chose to form a vigilante group with six others ( to act as his guardians ) with intention of keeping their town and people safe from harm and toxic individuals that happened to float around there, threatening others for money and destroying what they have to get to it. This was the start of the first mafia family, the Vongola, and for a while they climbed rapidly up the levels of influence, becoming the world's strongest family. That is, until the second generation boss of the Vongola came to power. The family started going down a road of corruption, losing all the values it once had and forgetting the true meaning as to why they came to be: to protect the ones they love. These brave and noticeable values turned to that of selfishness, power, and money, and doing anything to maintain that power, even if it meant taking down anything else in its way. Giotto, then retired, moved to Japan, lived out the rest of what he had in his life, and left his legacy behind.
Years, and years, and eight generations later, a young boy named Sawada Tsunayoshi is sniffed out by a hitman, sent by Vongola's ninth boss, more than ready to retire, and told that he's the next and only blood related heir they have left, even if it's way, way down the family tree. You see, Tsuna could have lived his loser life averagely and normally if Giotto wasn't his great, great, great, great grandfather; he could have sat around uneventfully with no purpose, yet ever since Tsuna met Reborn, things got weird. Really weird. Odd people started to flock to Tsuna as if he were a magnet, weird and near-inhuman things started happening around him, and unknowing of him, most of these weirdos would grow to be Tsuna's friends and forming his "famiglia" ( although he's very quick to deny that ).
The mafia in Reborn! is an underground world that keeps their secrets hidden from daily life and the outside world very, very well-- or else it wouldn't really be the mafia, right? Wrong, in a way-- because everything and anything mafia related in this series has a touch of oddity and magic, shonen power to it that's terribly difficult to turn the other way from. For starters, the world's greatest hitman is a talking baby. The mafia has enough knowledge and technology on their own to create time travel bazookas, as well as bullets that have various effects other than the natural and normal thing that bullets should do ( aka going through people, killing, wounding ect-- no, instead, these bullets can make people fight with their dying will, make them miserable, making shot body parts grow ten times their size-- hell, you name it. this manga is crazy ).
Making a bit of sense as to what was mentioned above, yes-- talking babies are a thing in this series. Not only that, but they're dangerous, powerful, and horribly cute mafia babies. One might think "wow, how does that even happen". Well, here's how ( most ) of this came to be, starting out with three very important group of items: the Vongola Rings, the Mare Rings, and the Arcobaleno Pacifiers. The Vongola Rings are seven rings with seven different attributes to match the user: sky, storm, rain, thunder, mist, sun and cloud. These rings, as you may guess, have belonged to the Vongola Family since the group's start, being the beginning of their reign underground, an important source of power, and passed down through the generations that came to be. The Don is the one to hold the sky ring while his guardians each hold one of the other attributes. The Mare Rings are similar, belonging to the Giglio Nero Family and sharing the same attributes. Then we have the Arcobaleno Pacifiers, seven pacifiers that also mirror these said attributes, coming with a trusty power and each representing a color of the rainbow. Together, these three groups create the Tri-ni-Sette, responsible for the world's foundation. Where did these come from and where are we getting at? Here's where things start to get a bit, ah-- extraterrestrial.
An unnamed species was said to have lived on Earth much longer than the first human came to be; they're duty over all was, is, to protect Planet Earth; to do so, when all but five of this species remained, together, they created the Arcobaleno Pacifiers by using seven types of stone, to begin creating the powerful Tri-ni-Sette. When all but two remained, with little power left to create two more separate sets on stones, the individuals, known as Kawahira and Sepira, decided to split the original pacifiers into two other sets, the Vongola and Mare Rings coming into existence and completing the Tri-ni-Sette. With the species dying out, they had to turn to the humans to keep these powerful stones guarded and safe, where the Vongola Rings were given to Giotto, the Mare Rings originally kept by Sepira, founder of the Giglio Nero Family, and lastly, the Arcobaleno Pacifiers being handed to seven lucky, handpicked individuals to protect the Earth's forces with their lives. Those chosen were called "The Strongest Seven", all in the mafia world or related to such, to be eternally cursed into the form of an infant to protect the pacifiers and keep watch over the Tri-ni-Sette as a whole, and Reborn was one of those seven.
So, there's the reason why the mafia has all the power and technology it has: that tech was given to one of the first families by beings that are light years in front of humans, and as the generations passed, studies and use of this were passed on and kept solely in the mafia. The dying flames, which are tapped into thanks to most of these special items, are the following, with their own respective power:
Sky: harmony; able to resonate, absorb, and purify other flames to use as the user's own. is also a lot more like actual fire than any of the other flames, and can be used offensively as such.
Sun: activation; induces and improves any type of activity done by the user, such as stimulating muscles and joints for those more prone to physical combat. as support, they can also heal and strengthen others.
Storm: disintegration; highly offensive flames, able to break and / or decay anything they come in contact with.
Cloud: propagation; has the ability to increase / expand, or multiply what the user desires. more efficient in open areas. they can also seemingly suck in other flames.
Mist: construction; generally, mist users are illusionists ( chrome, mukuro, mammon / viper ), able to work with and create illusions, and with the help of the mist flames, make them even better. while they aren't all that offensive, they're pretty good at making people go a little crazy.
Rain: tranquility; known for it's ability of stillness and calm, these flames are able to pacify and weaken a target by robbing their strength and movement capacity.
Lightning: hardening; these flames act a lot more like electricity than fire, sporadic when lit and even able to electrocute when used offensively. defensively, they can harden objects and create barriers for protection.
Of course, with power comes people who are power hungry; there have been many battles and near wars started to get close to the power of the rings, more respectively during the Future Arc, where present characters are sent to the future to fight a growing family that wants the entire Tri-ni-Sette for themselves. Hooray, world domination! Luckily, Tsuna and the rest of his gang of power wielders thanks to the rings use their power for the greater good ( at least . . . most of them . . . ), for protecting what's precious and keeping those who can't, safe.