Kobold King Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 1) Megan says that Epics' names relate to their weaknesses 2) Prof didn't enter the NASA Drawing 3) They chose the name "Limelight" to describe the "fake" Epic threatening Steelheart. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limelight First off, welcome to the forum! To address your points, I'd have to challenge your first assumption. Megan never said that names are related to Epic weaknesses, if I recall correctly--she said that their nightmares point to their weaknesses. In addition, one could make the argument that the legendary Jonathan Phaedrus, with his trademark goggles and black labcoat, is already famous in some circles. Regalia even remarks on how he's just as conceited as the average Epic when it comes to his image. So with those points in mind, I'm inclined to doubt that fame is directly related to his weakness. It could be, but I'd say that there's nothing definitive pointing towards fame as the answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hastyr Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Thanks for the welcome. Shoot, you're right I can't find the quote, I must have miss-read nightmares as names (or it was wishful thinking). It is interesting we have Firefight (weakness fire), Dawnslight (weakness daylight?), and Limelight (Fame?). Of course the in-book Lorists sould have made this kind of connection should it have been that obvious. Well without the quote, and your good points about his trademark costume, I agree fame isn't nearly as compelling, Back to the old discussion on "Lack of Control" I suppose. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Star Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 Only Megan's name was related to her weakness. Since she gave the illusion of a fire epic that was on fire, nobody would think of fire as her weakness. No other epic could pull that trickery off without getting murdered immediately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retsam Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 Based on that I would argue Prof's weakness/fear is "Fame" Or being Famous. Which correlates with Calamity choosing to make Prof one of the Strongest Epics based off his fear. It also becomes a negative feedback loop - Prof becomes a famous Epic, Loses his powers, becomes normal again, which may explain why he has been able to hold out for so long. Ditto on "Welcome to the forums". Regarding Prof's weakness being fame, besides the quibbles over the name (not to mention that his Epic name seems to be "Phaedrus", not "Limelight"), my main objection is the question of why a 5th grade science teacher would have nightmares about being famous, since Epic weakness are tied to things that they feared before they became Epics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 Ditto on "Welcome to the forums". Regarding Prof's weakness being fame, besides the quibbles over the name (not to mention that his Epic name seems to be "Phaedrus", not "Limelight"), my main objection is the question of why a 5th grade science teacher would have nightmares about being famous, since Epic weakness are tied to things that they feared before they became Epics. Wait. I know what his weakness is. He was a fifth grade teacher before Calamity, meaning he ate in the school cafeteria at times. Not often, but sometimes. When he'd forgotten to pack a lunch and was unable to make it to a fast-food chain across the street. Therefore, his weakness must be cafeteria food, because I've been out of school for years and I still have nightmares about the mac and cheese. That, or tiny paychecks. A teacher's salary would give anyone nightmares. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Star Posted March 13, 2015 Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 Actually, it's Rush music. Especially this song. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dankworth Posted March 13, 2015 Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 Sorry Hastyr, I have to agree with the others; Megan's name was based on her weakness as a way to hide it, the others' aren't: "Sourcefield" has no relationship with Kool-Aid, "Newton" is unrelated to compliments, "Fortuity" is unconnected to beautiful women, and "Conflux" has nothing to do with dogs. Also, even if the names were linked to the weaknesses, "Limelight" was never really Prof's Epic name. David just made it up on the spur of the moment to make Enforcement waste their time looking for an imaginary Epic. Later, when they had worked this fake Epic into the plan, it was Cody--or maybe Abraham--who was supposed to play him in public; Prof only took the role because Enforcement had seen him using Epic powers to save David and Megan. If Prof ever picked a real Epic name for himself, it would have been back in his "super hero team" days and the only living people who would know it by the time of Firefight would be Tia, Regalia, Murkwood, and Prof himself. That said, it was an interesting thought. Welcome to the Shard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarcasm Posted March 13, 2015 Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 Does that make Tia Ground Control? Although Tia was a rocket scientist... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarcasm Posted March 13, 2015 Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 The theory I'm going by now is that Prof's weakness is failing to do something that he has deliberately chosen to do. So walking down the street, etc, things that he does by instinct wouldn't set of his "contest" trigger, but making an actual decision to do something would. This also is lent some credence by the fact that he always takes so long to make his plans concrete, and had lots of open ends in them. However, I recall that Exel once saying that he once saw Prof lose to a bluff in poker, so he did compete, even if just for recreation. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackhoof Posted March 13, 2015 Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 Poker is more skill than luck. Or at least, it isn't completely luck, like a draw or a slot machine. maybe games of chance are not his fear, but they are a symbol of it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kestrel Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Let's get real guys its probably bad metaphors hey am I right -wink wink nudge nudge- I'm just joking uh please don't hurt me Anyway, on an actual note, where were the passages that said that Prof didn't like contest? I'm getting my copy of Firefight back soon and I'd like to know where to look for those, as one of my friends didn't believe me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glop monster Posted September 8, 2015 Report Share Posted September 8, 2015 This is pretty out there but I think profs weakness is killing children. I think that prof went through his rending and destroyed his school, but then destroying his school triggered his weakness which allowed him to stop going crazy. And even when prof became evil again he was very deliberate in who he killed and did no needless damage. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles Posted September 8, 2015 Report Share Posted September 8, 2015 This is pretty out there but I think profs weakness is killing children. I think that prof went through his rending and destroyed his school, but then destroying his school triggered his weakness which allowed him to stop going crazy. And even when prof became evil again he was very deliberate in who he killed and did no needless damage. It's not unlikely, though if his weakness is killing children, he wouldn't have destroyed the school or harmed the children there at all. An Epic's weakness is what they fear most, so it makes more sense for Prof to have simply avoided killing the children there in the first place. Again, it's not unlikely—it just means that the common theory that Prof was the Epic who destroyed the school and killed his class is wrong and that a different Epic was responsible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glop monster Posted September 8, 2015 Report Share Posted September 8, 2015 Do epics automatically know what there weakness is as soon as they become epics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles Posted September 8, 2015 Report Share Posted September 8, 2015 Do epics automatically know what there weakness is as soon as they become epics? I got the sense that they don't know it automatically, but they know it once they're confronted with it. And they probably instinctively know what they fear and avoid it accordingly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Joe in the Bush Posted September 8, 2015 Report Share Posted September 8, 2015 Steelheart had to investigate to learn his I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles Posted September 8, 2015 Report Share Posted September 8, 2015 Steelheart had to investigate to learn his I believe. His was kind of an odd weakness, though, because it was a strange fear to have. "I'm afraid of people who don't fear me" isn't something most people—let alone your average underachieving bully—could articulate without years of therapy. Even then, they still might not be able to make the connection between "I want people to fear me = it makes me angry when they don't = that anger stems from fear = I fear people who don't fear me." Plus, how many people in Newcago really weren't afraid of a seven-foot giant who could kill them with a single energy blast from his hand and fly away before their body cooled? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewStirlingMacDonald Posted September 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2015 (edited) 2. 2 people. Edited September 8, 2015 by AndrewStirlingMacDonald 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles Posted September 8, 2015 Report Share Posted September 8, 2015 2 Of those two, he only assumed one posed an actual threat. Unless he secretly spent all that time he was locked in his palace hiding in a closet, terrified that he was going to hurt himself because he wasn't afraid of himself….unless, of course, that actually made him immune to his own weakness….. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackhoof Posted September 8, 2015 Report Share Posted September 8, 2015 What I find most interesting about SH's weakness is that it basically eliminates the chance that any Epic could kill him at all. being naturally fearful (despite their rhetoric and arrogance), no Epic would ever not be afraid of SH. So no Epic could ever kill him, unless they did what David did and tricked him into attacking himself.And unless someone had literally no idea who he was or what he could do, no-one could ever kill him, bar himself. It is about the best weakness to have, really. SH lucked out. On a similar note I want to know more about Ides Hatred. Sounds like an interesting fellow. His name basically makes no sense but he gave SH enough of a fight to destroy a city block before being killed (or driven off?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesomness Posted September 15, 2015 Report Share Posted September 15, 2015 It definitely is related to failure, in some way (fear of failing someone, fear of contest or luck games, of things going wrong, whatever). I´ve been thinking of another possibility: fear of someone being better than him (at least to his standards: Epic weaknesses are very subjective). I was very intrigued, during Firefight, with his aversion for Megan. She infiltrated in his Reckoner Cell, fooling him and his team. So he has reasons to hate her. After that she killed Sam, but it was in a way that wasn´t exactly a cold blooded murder, as the video proves. And she repeatedly helped his team (she saved Abraham and David) and Prof knew it. On the other hand, David spent a whole book claiming that Megan could resist her Epic evil urges and was a good Epic. Every time they had that discussion, Prof ended up on edge. My question is: why when Megan fell into his tramp, proving that David was right all along (she was good, she had told the truth), did he “killed” her anyway? But then I think about Prof´s profile. This is a guy who believes every Epic is evil except himself. And so he kills them. He believes he´s the only one who can hold back his evilness. I think that´s what bothers him so much about Megan. Besides, he has an exaggerated love for planning and control, he doesn´t like losing, he don´t get involved in random games or anything he can´t control. He´s hard with people and has some patronizing attitude toward his team, tending to underestimate them. I realize this theory falls apart the moment Prof´s powers doesn´t disappear when fighting with Megan, but I think there´s some kind of connection. He felt fear when they fought, and that fear wasn´t exploded because Megan just took David and disappeared. Maybe this wasn´t exactly his weakness, but it was close. Another train of thoughts: how exactly are affected the Epics by their weaknesses? David´s father wasn´t afraid of Stealheart, but his bullet only scratched him. So, how much No-Fear do you need to have to kill SH? The presence, even the contact with Kool-Aid affected Sourcefield´s powers but only drinking it negated them… Let me know what you think! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles Posted September 15, 2015 Report Share Posted September 15, 2015 It definitely is related to failure, in some way (fear of failing someone, fear of contest or luck games, of things going wrong, whatever). I´ve been thinking of another possibility: fear of someone being better than him (at least to his standards: Epic weaknesses are very subjective). I was very intrigued, during Firefight, with his aversion for Megan. She infiltrated in his Reckoner Cell, fooling him and his team. So he has reasons to hate her. After that she killed Sam, but it was in a way that wasn´t exactly a cold blooded murder, as the video proves. And she repeatedly helped his team (she saved Abraham and David) and Prof knew it. On the other hand, David spent a whole book claiming that Megan could resist her Epic evil urges and was a good Epic. Every time they had that discussion, Prof ended up on edge. My question is: why when Megan fell into his tramp, proving that David was right all along (she was good, she had told the truth), did he “killed” her anyway? But then I think about Prof´s profile. This is a guy who believes every Epic is evil except himself. And so he kills them. He believes he´s the only one who can hold back his evilness. I think that´s what bothers him so much about Megan. Besides, he has an exaggerated love for planning and control, he doesn´t like losing, he don´t get involved in random games or anything he can´t control. He´s hard with people and has some patronizing attitude toward his team, tending to underestimate them. I realize this theory falls apart the moment Prof´s powers doesn´t disappear when fighting with Megan, but I think there´s some kind of connection. He felt fear when they fought, and that fear wasn´t exploded because Megan just took David and disappeared. Maybe this wasn´t exactly his weakness, but it was close. Another train of thoughts: how exactly are affected the Epics by their weaknesses? David´s father wasn´t afraid of Stealheart, but his bullet only scratched him. So, how much No-Fear do you need to have to kill SH? The presence, even the contact with Kool-Aid affected Sourcefield´s powers but only drinking it negated them… Let me know what you think! Like you said, I don't think it's as cut and dry as Prof's weakness being people who are better than he is in some way, but I think you might be onto something there. Add to it the fact that they always went after the worst of the worst in their hits, and the way Prof was so quick to criticize Regalia, pointing out that her powers weren't as amazing as David seemed to think, and it looks like there might be a connection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesomness Posted September 17, 2015 Report Share Posted September 17, 2015 Like you said, I don't think it's as cut and dry as Prof's weakness being people who are better than he is in some way, but I think you might be onto something there. Add to it the fact that they always went after the worst of the worst in their hits, and the way Prof was so quick to criticize Regalia, pointing out that her powers weren't as amazing as David seemed to think, and it looks like there might be a connection. Exactly! And what strikes me as odd is that He Is the living proof that an Epic can be good. So why is it so difficult to him to believe Regalia or Megan can be good to? He`s attitude toward Regalia is similar. He wants to kill her because he thinks she can`t hold back any longer and she wants to be killed.But she is completely in control. Even Tia believes that. “Oh please,” Tia said. “You expect me to believe that you, of all Epics, are out of control? What is your real motive? Why have you drawn us here?” Fragmento de: Brandon Sanderson. “Firefight”. iBooks. On the other hand, He seems to think he and Edmund aren`t destructive monsters because they are givers (Can`t find the quote), but that does`t make much sense. And then we are led to think Edmund is good because he confronted his fear for dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glop monster Posted September 20, 2015 Report Share Posted September 20, 2015 His powers are clearly protection based, and we're fairly sure powers negate or deal with their weakness in some way. So I'm putting my money in the weakness being somewhere in the field of seeing people come to harm. And seeing as how his weakness has never been activated during the book (to our knowledge), it is probably seeing a very specific group of people come to harm. Next question we must ask ourselves is how did Prof overcome the Rending and regain his senses. Conflux was the only other epic able to do that, and since his powers were limited to solely gifting, I wouldn't be surprised if he never had a rending. My guess is prof experienced his weakness for a long enough time that he couldn't use his powers for a while and was able to become good again. And I think he met his weakness when he destroyed his school on his rendinf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natc Posted September 21, 2015 Report Share Posted September 21, 2015 (edited) Conflux can power things himself, can't he? And I'm not sure I would call shockwaves that can carve anything into dust a protective ability. Also seems to have superhuman strength. Edited September 21, 2015 by natc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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