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.

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".

So i have been reading a lot of the posts and I wanted to wind a few of the theory's together into one idea. Prof: The best concept