Does Subaru Natsuki Actually Get Stronger in ‘Re:Zero,’ or Is His Growth Something Else Entirely

‘Re:Zero’ built its reputation on a protagonist who arrived in a new world with nothing resembling a hero’s toolkit. Natsuki Subaru started the series as an unemployed shut in with zero combat training, and that vulnerability is part of what made the show stand out from other isekai titles when it debuted.

That premise has fueled one of the most persistent debates in the fandom, one that resurfaces with nearly every new arc. Viewers keep asking whether Subaru ever becomes conventionally powerful, and the honest answer sits somewhere between yes and not in the way anime fans usually mean it.

Subaru’s Power Ups in ‘Re:Zero’ Are Real but Deliberately Limited

Subaru does pick up new tools as the story advances, and those additions are not imaginary. His abilities largely stem from something called Authorities, powers tied to the Witch Factors of the seven deadly sins, and he has accumulated more than one over the course of the story.

After Subaru killed the Sin Archbishop of Sloth, he absorbed the Witch Factor of Sloth that had resided within that character, and once he synchronized with it through Echidna’s help he developed the corresponding Authority of Sloth. That power manifests as Invisible Providence, letting him summon a single invisible hand from his chest that he can move and extend telekinetically.

Even so, the show is upfront about how limited this ability is compared to others who have wielded the same Witch Factor. Subaru’s version of the Authority of Sloth is far weaker than both Petelgeuse’s and Sekhmet’s, since Petelgeuse could summon roughly one hundred hands at his peak with little effort while Subaru can only manage a single hand with minimal range and damage output.

That gap is intentional. The series consistently reinforces that Subaru is not meant to out muscle his enemies through raw power scaling, and every new tool he gains tends to come with a built in ceiling that keeps him from becoming a conventional powerhouse.

Return by Death Explained as the Ability That Shapes Everything Else

Any conversation about Subaru’s strength has to start with Return by Death, the ability that defines his role in the story more than any weapon or spell ever could. When Subaru dies, he returns to an earlier point in time while keeping the memories of what happened before his death, and everyone around him continues from that restored point without remembering the failed sequence of events.

Crucially, Subaru does not control this power the way a player controls a save file. He cannot choose when a checkpoint forms, cannot reload whenever he dislikes an outcome, and cannot safely tell most people the ability exists without facing serious consequences.

Later on, Subaru managed to acquire additional abilities powered by other Witches of Sin, namely the Authorities of Sloth and Greed, and he remains the only character shown with more than one Authority at his disposal. Return by Death itself is not classified as an Authority, which sets it apart as something closer to a curse he has learned to survive rather than a skill he leveled up.

The trade off is brutal by design. Subaru’s trump card comes with real penalties, including respawning at an unspecified and uncontrollable save point, which keeps it from functioning as a simple power cheat, and that restraint is part of what critics and longtime viewers point to when discussing why the ability still feels earned rather than convenient this many arcs into the story.

Beatrice Contract and Spirit Arts Give Subaru a New Kind of Strength

The bond Subaru forms with the spirit Beatrice marks one of the more noticeable shifts in his capabilities. Subaru is a Spirit Knight contracted to the Great Spirit Beatrice, and because his own magical gate is broken, Beatrice drains his mana to keep him functional while granting access to spells neither of them could cast alone.

Beatrice herself spent centuries waiting in a hidden library for someone to free her from an earlier arrangement, and she now accompanies Subaru everywhere on his journey while augmenting his abilities as part of their spirit contract. She is a master of Yin Magic, capable of a wide array of spells including different tiers of the barrier spell Shamak, though her usable mana stays limited.

This partnership does not turn Subaru into a spellcaster in his own right. What it gives him instead is access, letting him fight alongside a genuinely powerful ally rather than gaining raw magical output of his own, which fits the show’s broader pattern of strengthening Subaru through relationships rather than personal combat prowess.

Cor Leonis and the Authority of Greed Expand His Role in Group Fights

Subaru’s most recently developed power came from an unlikely source. When Reinhard van Astrea killed the Sin Archbishop Regulus during the assault on Priestella, the Witch Factor of Greed latched onto Subaru, and by the end of that arc he had developed his own Authority of Greed, which he named Cor Leonis.

The ability centers on redistributing burdens onto himself and onto those he considers part of his inner circle, though it only works so long as both Subaru and his target genuinely regard each other as friends or allies. Its base function lets him take on the physical and mental burdens of people he considers allies, sensing their locations and shouldering fatigue or pain to keep them fighting.

There is also a more advanced version of the technique. Using Cor Leonis’s Second Shift, sometimes called Division of Labour, Subaru can redirect burdens to other willing people instead of only absorbing them himself, giving him a genuine support role in group fights that he lacked earlier in the series.

Even with these newer Authorities layered on top of Return by Death and his spirit contract, Subaru’s defining trait remains his willingness to keep getting back up, and that throughline continues to shape how the story frames his growth rather than any single power spike doing the work for him.

Readers who have followed Subaru from his first disastrous days in Lugunica to his current arsenal of Authorities are invited to weigh in on which of his abilities they think has changed ‘Re:Zero’ the most.