Steelheart's Origins

[Comatose]

We only got teasers of it in both Steelheart and Firefight, but I'm hoping we get more of Steelheart's origin story in the next book. Steelheart was widely recognized as one of the most (if not the most) powerful epics. The sheer number of offensive abilities he has, combined with his blanket invulnerability to all harm is kind of ridiculous, even when comparing him to other Higher Epics such as Obliteration or Regalia (yes, I know there is some debate over whether or not she is a 'high' epic because of her lack of prime invincibility, but she is still considered to be incredibly powerful).

Anyways, in my view there is something more to Steelheart's history. We know from Firefight that he was a track star and a bully, and his fear/weakness is when people don't fear him. One other interesting thing about his powers I would like to highlight is his ability to turn things into steel with his emotions. Note that compared to his other powers, his ability to turn things into steel seems much more involuntary. He may be able to control it when he wants to, but it also seems like he uses it without trying to as well.

Anyways, here's my theory about Steelheart's past. He was involved in a school shooting or hostage scenario, in which one of the victims who he had bullied threatened his life and told him he was not afraid of him anymore. People who often exhibit bullying behavours usually overcompensate to remain in positions of control, which could explain Steelheart's overabundance of powers, and his weakness. Bullying behaviours also often come from places of insecurity, so maybe his turning things to steel/emotional response power is related to him wanting to distance himself from his insecurities or uncomfortable emotions (such as guilt, fear, embarrassment, shame, etc). His name IS Steelheart, indicating he perhaps wishes he had a 'heart of steel'.

I know that we still aren't entirely sure how an epic's powers are determined, but what do you folks think?

[RawToast225]

You've seen my analysis of the first scene based on his fears, correct? So, based on the fact that Calamity tried to give David "Thematically appropriate" power that was solely based on his fear, I'm guessing it isn't always this way. I'm betting Calamity works a lot like the Nightwatcher, where she grants wishes she wants to and changes the ones she doesn't. The only difference is the bane is always tied to fear.