Epics-Weaknesses-powers - Etc. (Spoilers) Lets flush out ideas

[kuchapel]

So i have been reading multiple theory's about the world of Steelheart and i wove a few of the ideas together to make a single concept. Please let me know what you think:  Most of this is pure speculation and after a few days of forum digging...collecting the best theory's.  

 

Much like David my analogies leave something ot be desired...take with a grain of salt.

 

Epics:

   Candidates: People with great hubris or pride. Saw themselves better than others...apart..unique...but suddenly lose everything...triggering a fight or flight demand of Calamity.

   Trigger: Humans were gifted powers when they had a "Great need" for something. The need had to be so great that they were willing to give away everything (their soul/spirit/sense of self?) to gain the powers. 

   Primary Powers: A solution to their "Great Need"

   Secondary Powers: A direct correlation to your skepticism. Secondary powers usually balanced or enhanced your primary powers. 

               Imagine you and a friend making up a superhero. Non skeptics would just want 1 or 2 powers. Skeptics would be like "Sure...im invincible...but what if someone is far away (laser blasts)...well what if i need to get around fast (Flight)...well what if Bla bla bla. (This concept plays into weaknesses and steel heart and pride later on).

   Strengths: Situations where their most powerful. These are always situations/feelings from their past as a mortal when they felt their strongest.

   Weaknesses: Your darkest insecurity...internal weakness or fear. Often observed as an object or situation...in reality it's a state of mind that weakens the epic. Situations/feeling from their mortal past when they felt weakest.

  Overview- Basically all powers and weaknesses seem to be a direct feed into the psyche or mentality of the one gifted. 

   Why Do we get powers?: Calamity itself is an epic/original epic/ source point to unlimited power. Calamity itself has discovered that using the powers brings out the worst in you and corrupts you, so calamity is trying to "Gift away" its powers to try and restore its own sense of self. basically : Calamity gives you your deepest desire for selfish reasons, but it can only give them to you if you want it bad enough and are willing to soil to do it.

   Note about powers: Powers are fluid...they gain in Strength as your confident and wane when you feel weak. (ex: Steel heart is the most confident and most indestructible when its Epic vs. Epic. Other epics lose to him or seem to have weaker powers when they fear him...or feel weaker. Additional  example...there is no reason death point shouldn't have been able to kill steel heart except steel heart came in with so much bravado...it made death point question his power. )(3rd Ex: Tensors were "fake/smokescreen" and really just gifted powers to the team. Davids powers stopped working during the conflux heist because the professor was insecure about being able to protect his team...so his gift weakened. That's why he told david to "try again" and david said "he felt the power but it was harder to reach".

[kuchapel]

Major Epics: 

Calamity - 

    Facts: Calamity is always present (So if it IS a "satellite(read object in orbit/space...not machine" above earth it is only irradiating half the planet.  Calamity is red. Calamity "burst" into the sky.

    Speculation: Calamity is a celestial being that has tapped into a source of great power. This power is manipulated by extreme emotions - Pride, desire, Desperation. This celestial wanted power and thus tapped into this source becoming the first "Epic". Realizing this power comes at a cost (sense of self...your soul) This being traveled across space/time to find us and gift away the powers to try and wash away the insanity and regain its sense of self. Bad analogy -Bringing power into this reality is like covering your soul in oil. You can't just wash it away, you have to spread out or gift the powers to others to dilute the "oil" or insanity that comes with it over many creatures.  (Thus why the 3rd book is called calamity...the being has finally given away enough power to become self aware again and i think they will "Defeat" calamity by collectively denying his gift and having him move on)

 

 

 

Prof:

   Why Candidate: Professor was an science teacher for 5th graders (by accident: Remember: He really only loved to teach...develop people) I see him as a "Walter white" type (breaking bad) He wanted to be something greater...to make a difference in peoples lives (teaching) but ultimately he loved people looking up to him and shaping people minds (His pride was his need to be needed) Thats why you do 5th grade...because they are still young enough to see you as "A hero" but before they grow up and become rebellious. 

   Trigger: An early epic destroyed his school...and he was willing to sacrifice anything to save the people who saw him as a Hero (students). The powers to dig people out of the rubble. The powers to heal them (and himself). And the powers to protect them from further harm.

   Strengths: Strongest when protecting others. Ex: Able to stand toe to toe with steel heart when protecting the team and god like when defending David and  Megan vs. the security force.

  Weaknesses: Felling helpless. His true weakness would be checkmating him with someone he cared about (tia?) by creating a no win situation in protecting that person.

 

 

Death Point:
    Why candidate: Death point was poor and in love and one of those couples that though their love made them better than anyone else. (Bonnie and Clyde Type...I like to picture him as a bank robber before calamity)
     Trigger: His love fell ill to cancer (a disease that slowly destroys a healthy body) and he didn't have enough money to save her so she died...at a point of great sorrow he "Demanded of the universe" to give him the power over Death...and thus got the power to point and kill people..."point and decided who lives and who dies".  Then he continued his typical life of robbing banks ...but as the story unfolds he realizes that no matter what he does he will never get what he really wants (his love back) so he goes into the bank with a different idea...Instead of being the one who the grim reaper takes...he will become the grim reaper...deciding for all who lives and dies based upon their tribute to him. He wants the world to recognize that he gives and takes life.
   Strength: Control. The more control of a situation he has the stronger he is. As he saunters into the bank and has everyone fearing him...that's when he feels most powerful.
   Weaknesses: Loss of control. When steelheart crashes in...it cracks his mental armor. His attacks weakened...as he lost control of death (unable to kill steelheart) he became weaker and weaker until a shot to the head killed him. 

[kuchapel]

SteelHeart:
  Why Candidate: Prideful Jock and perfect physical specimen of a man. He was an All state quarterback known for his "laser arm" accuracy and ability to scramble and fly down the field. (Team mascot was the knights) and the alpha of his social crew. Everyone in school feared him, and wanted to be him. He was a god amongst high schoolers and his gang ruled over all.  The halls were his Chapel (where all praised him), his crew were his priests, and all the students his subjects.  And those who didnt pay proper homage...beware.
  Trigger: After High school....while going to college for football he got into a drunken car accident and busted his arm, which ruined his career, forced him to drop out and began begging his "once friends" for work. A laughing stock, known as a drunk who blew away his chance at greatness, and no longer feared or respected...no one cared about him. One night, while drunk and depressed he took out his revolver pointed at himself and demanded of the universe "Why me? What happened? I use to be a god...I would give anything to be that again...to go back and make time stand still!" and opened his heart and mind to Calamities influence. He pulled the trigger...and the bullet bounced off (as he feared himself and what he was doing) He became invulnerable (no more knee injuries),  Could shoot energy out of his hands (Laser arm), Flight (like the way he flew down the field), and the ability at times of great stress to Turn everything into Metal  or  freeze it in time. His mental reflections of his old team mascot (knight) gave him a metal affinity to his powers...his time was now...
    Strength: Being Feared and Respected. He is a bully at heart and strongest when feared. That's why he wanted a functional society of people...because he needed them to want to stay and continue to fear him.  And he subjugated other epics so that people wouldn't fear anyone else above him.
   Weaknesses:  Of course...someone not fearing him. As with all bullies, their only strong until someone stands up to them and doesn't fear them.

Nightweilder:
      Why Candidate: A master thief and assassin who worked for the mob (used to having a boss) and who prided himself on being the best in Chicago. He had a remarkable ability to disappear into the shadows and evaded the authorities on many occasions. He also had a spectacular ability to make people "disappear". In his mind, as darkness fell the city became his kingdom, and he was capable of doing whatever he wants and getting away with it. He refused to be seen during the day, using anonymity as  his shield and armor.
    Trigger: The Mafia needed a whiteness eliminated  that was in FBI custody. The safe house was considered un assailable by most. NW's decided that it was best to wait until nightfall to attack. NW got a tip that the FBI was going to  move the asset early, using one car, incognito, to throw off any would-be assassins. NW's was hesitant to attack but the boss demanded that the asset be eliminated now or NW would be the next on the hit list. Against his better judgment he attacked the car as it parked in a dark parking garage awaiting transfer to a new vehicle.  As he approached the dark corner the lot flooded with lights and he was cornered by agents.  NW refused to be taken, not until he had his revenge on the mob boss.  He backed himself into a corner...surround by agents he though..."I would give anything for once chance...one simple escape so that i can have my revenge. " And as he backed into a tiny dark corner to get some needed leverage to push off of and make a desperate run through the agents...he slowly began phasing through the wall...into the shadow. The last thing the cops saw was the outline of his smile.
   Strength: Anonymity/Darkness. Primal memories of when we felt the strongest as a mortal. The more he feels he is out of sight or unknown the more powerful he is. (the more shadow tendrils he can control)
   Weakness:  UV light triggers memories of his only failure and weakens him to become more corporeal. His natural reaction is to run and hide, this time...he will ignore orders and escape. 

[kuchapel]

Firefight: (my Favorite) 
   Why candidate: A beautiful  and talented young woman who at a young age learned that she a master at manipulating people with  intelligence and charm. Preferring to be the silent partner in any social situation, she worked to make her closest friends popular and desired, thus enhancing her popularity. She was always one step ahead of her rivals in school by often destroying them by making them chase rumor and lies while she was busy building her reputation.  Carefree...reckless...and believed she could do anything. She was like a flame, bight...seductive...and burned anyone who crossed her.
    Trigger: Megan and her father did a pretty good job of hiding from the epics and relocating from build to building as things got bad. Megan just wanted to avoid all of it...to hide away...to distract people away from her and her dad so that they could escape. Once, the epic battles got close to where Megan and her dad were living. It was too late for them to run safely as the 2 epics were fully engaged in the street. Her dad  hid her in a small closet in the house telling her to Count to 60 and then run through the alley way, he would cause a distraction. Having done this before...Megan prayed "Please make them go away, please distract them, please keep us safe!"

Her father raced outside with his pistol to try and either kill the epics or pull the their attention away from the building Megan was in.  He ran across the street and took his first few shots, hitting the arm of the fire epic, causing him to enrage and immolate the surrounding area. Megan's building caught on fire and began to collapse trapping her. Her father dove towards the rubble  and began desperately trying to his dig baby girl out.  The fire was consuming the rubble, and her breaths became more and more labored as she slowly suffocated. Covered in burns...unable to control the fire her father scream in desperation  "Megan Where are you? stay awake! I'll get you out" Megan was right in front of him trapped between a few beams, but was concealed by the fire and smoke. She wanted to call out but she didn't have the breath...her lungs felt like they were full of dirt and she couldn't speak. " Take me" he screamed "...I give my life willingly if it will save my daughter." He opened his heart to calamity. Before she passed out she noticed a subtle change in his eyes, it looked like he was on fire! but surely that was from the lack of oxygen. As he stood up, appearing to blaze in glory, he walking towards the epics shouting...."you worms...you are beneath me...you will pay" and Megan desperately prayed "please save my father...help us hide from the Epic"...and she passed out.

Several hours later she awoke in a pile of ash. She searched high and low for her father but couldn't find him, the only trace left was his pistol she found in the rubble.  She crouched there...sobbing at the loss of her father...never asking how she survived...and demanded the universe give her dad back so that they can go on living their life together...in hiding...but together. She opened her heart to Calamity. In shock and in fear she cloaked herself and ran away, desperately clinging to her dads pistol, and hid in on of their "safe locations" Hoping he would come and find her. As the night grew long and she became cold and lonely she saw the image of a man made of fire walking towards her. Though he was clearly an epic...for some reason she did not fear the man. The man walked up slowly to her and placed his arm over her shoulder, surprising to her it didn't burn, and whispered in her ear...."Im home baby, ill never leave your side again".

This was not her father however this was just an illusion she made for herself....she no longer had a father...he was consumed by the newly born epic: Phoenix. With the miraculous power to control fire and resurrect in flames.  If only he knew about the gift he gave his daughter when we born...he might have not ended up the way he did.

SO: Megan gains illusion powers, and her ability to resurrect (through fire...like a phoenix) is actually a gifted power from her father that she got before she became an Epic and stuck with her through transformation into an Epic so that the flames from
   Strengths: Strongest when her opponents are distracted or being mislead. While not desiring the same anonymity as Night wielder she preferred to have  a strong shield to stand behind or a good story to distract them (perfect for the spy mission). Thus why she rarely went invisible, preferring instead to use other images (firefight) as a distraction. (or why she was seen at the final battle)
   Weakness: Suffocation: After the house fire...she fears nothing more than suffocating and being unable to take action (couldn't scream out for her dad). This is why shes extra paranoid about the tensor dust getting into her lungs. The way to defeat her would be drowning. No fire to resurrect and suffocation to weaken her.