There's no superscript "q" in Unicode — and other things I learned building a superscript generator

Imagine wanting to write an equation like "E = mcᵠ" in plain text without the use of HTML or LaTeX. Seems straightforward, doesn't it? The characters `²` and `³` simply appear. However, attempting to write "E = mcᵠ" leads to a roadblock as there is no superscript "q" in Unicode. So, the task proves to be more complex than initially thought.

This realization came to light when building a [free superscript converter](https://literalkit.com/superscript-generator). The project revealed a peculiar situation: superscripts are not just a formatting option, but rather separate characters. Unlike bold or italics which are applied styles to characters, superscripts are pre-composed codepoints, individually donated to the Unicode standard by various communities over time.

Different groups donated different superscripts to Unicode. For example, the "¹²³" lived in the Latin-1 Supplement block since the 1980s. Then there's the "⁰ ⁴-⁹ ⁺ ⁻ ⁽ ⁾" in the Superscripts and Subscripts block (U+2070–U+209F). Linguists even needed superscript letters for phonetic transcription, scattered across the Phonetic Extensions block (U+1D2C–U+1D7F). A few stragglers like superscript "x" can be found in Spacing Modifier Letters (U+02E3).

The process of converting text to superscript is not algorithmic, but rather a scavenger hunt, involving looking up each character in a manually assembled mapping table from various parts of the Unicode standard. This process is fraught with challenges. There's no superscript "q", uppercase letters are incomplete, and subscripts are even sparser.

The tool I created consciously opts to inform users when a character cannot be superscripted, rather than faking it with lookalike characters. This approach may seem less visually appealing, but it ensures the copied text accurately reflects the intended meaning.