ysabetwordsmith | Nonhuman Superpowers?

We watched the new Godzilla movie today. (Good kaiju movie, excellent special effects and references to other movies, overblown emotional yanking in some places.) It got me thinking about the breadth of superpowers in Terramagne, the setting of my series Polychrome Heroics.

Are superpowers restricted to humans alone -- and if so, why -- or can other species have them also?

My thoughts include:

* Humans share a lot of DNA with other species, especially mammals. This leans toward innate powers appearing elsewhere.

* Radiation and some other factors are increasing the rate of mutation, and thus in this setting, the prevalence of superpowers. Look at the mutated sealife, for example. Environmental factors are likely to affect multiple species, not just one. Imagine visiting Chernobyl only to discover that one of the elk has Laser Eyes.

* Superpower manifestation based on the effect of extraordinary circumstances on human will is unlikely to occur in nonsentient species.

* Superpower manifestation based on higher powers is unlikely to occur in nonsentient species.

* A sperm whale's brain averages 7.8 kilograms. Imagine one with superpowers objecting to how humans treat the ocean.

* Some comics have really gotten into mutated, uplifted, or otherwise modified animals. This includes everything from natural mutation through accidental enhancement to mad science experiments. The results range from cringeworthy to awesome.

* Having something like telepathic trees mindwiping loggers, or superpowered mice in a house, would expand the number of stories that could be told without relying on a human supervillain. (We've HAD superpowered mice here; they are nerve-wracking to deal with.) While mad science could already provide such things, that implies very different plot structure than naturally occurring cases.

Discuss.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You want to write a story together? The prompt is that "superpower" is a relative term. In the story, the people of Krypton are amazed at the Earth people who have the "superpower" of handling Kryptonite without harm.

They discount their own strength and ability to fly, because what has it gotten them? If you bend steel in your bare hands, it is nothing special if everyone you know, your baby brother or sister included, can do the same thing. So if you get in a fight with another citizen of Krypton, you're evenly matched.

But watch out for Earthlings with Kryptonite!

-----

Meanwhile, how many animals can:

o fly?
o see in the dark?
o detect earthquakes long before humans?

There are chilling stories of tsunami victims that pulled out their cell phones and started recording videos, while animals like dogs had immediately raced for the hills. A real question of what intelligence really is.

>> You want to write a story together? The prompt is that "superpower" is a relative term. In the story, the people of Krypton are amazed at the Earth people who have the "superpower" of handling Kryptonite without harm. <<

Indeed, I am using "superpower" as a relative term. It means being able to do something far outside the standard for your species. Some of them come with a whole new ability (Laser Eyes) but others are just pushing the envelope a lot farther (Super-Intellect). So a human with Super-Intellect would be like Einstein. It's one of the more common powers. A cat with Super-Intellect would be like a smart human. A whale with Super-Intellect in a much bigger brain could well leave Einstein in the dust.

Another very common ability is Gizmology or Super-Gizmology. Tool use in a non-tool-using species would be Gizmology; an animal using human tools is Super-Gizmology. Notice that we have animals doing these things. This is what happens when a Gizmologist has a dog who is a Super-Gizmologist. That dog is a tool-user applying a three-step process: fetch ball, load gizmo, fire gizmo. Quite sophisticated thinking for a canine. This is especially apt because Super-Intelligence and Super-Gizmology, rather than being granted by freak accidents, are among the abilities most likely to develop slowly in response to external stimulation.

>> Meanwhile, how many animals can:

o fly?
o see in the dark?
o detect earthquakes long before humans? <<

It is not a handicap for humans to be unable to fly; that's normal for us. But a hawk that can't fly is handicapped, and a human who used to have Flight but lost it is also handicapped. It is not a superpower for hawks to fly; that's ordinary for them. It is a superpower for humans to fly without assistance. I suspect that many superpowers are simply coming out of the kitchen junk drawer that is DNA.

>> There are chilling stories of tsunami victims that pulled out their cell phones and started recording videos, while animals like dogs had immediately raced for the hills. A real question of what intelligence really is. <<

Ah, but humans are a high-communication species. Other species -- mostly prey animals -- give warning calls even at the expense of their own safety. Wow, now the totem theorist in me is wondering if people who film tsunamis are more likely to have high-signalling totems such as prairie dogs.

> > started recording videos, while animals like dogs

> Ah, but humans are a high-communication species.
> Other species -- mostly prey animals -- give
> warning calls even at the expense of their own
> safety. Wow, now the totem theorist in me is
> wondering if people who film tsunamis are more
> likely to have high-signalling totems such as
> prairie dogs.

Ah, very good! The "communication" idea would apply to the first few ones, some of which might have thought "I have to record this, there are no color videos of real tidal waves in action", as in, it will benefit the human race to finally have that knowledge.

And I've always thought that most of the rest were thinking "If I can get this action into my phone, then I can sell it and better provide for my children and partner", a possibly noble reason to risk life for the betterment of the family.

So I think you have an excellent thought there.

Edited 2014-06-01 11:55 (UTC)

>> So I think you have an excellent thought there, and if you would forgive
me if I presume to offer a suggestion, it is good to ponder superheroes
that use their gifts to help the species . . . <<

I have a whole series on that topic.

>> . . . but why do they do it? <<

Different reasons, including but not limited to:
* Protect and serve.
* Money.
* It feels good to do what you do well.
* Vocation.
* A sense of duty.
* Feeling that nobody else can do what they do.
* Making up for past wrongs.
* Honoring someone's memory.
* Wanting to fix their little corner of the world. Or all of it.

>> There was a good episode of This American
Life on superheroes, and one segment included a fellow who had been
asking people to speculate on the subject in a personal way -- what
power would you want? and what would you do with it? -- and reported
that not one of them ever said they'd use it to fight crime. <<

Then it's incomplete: there are some people doing just that.

Most people with extraordinary gifts don't use them for fighting crime, though, or at least not directly. There are lost of other problems that need solving.

Babbage! You grabbed that paragraph before I deleted it.

But since you got it ... he asked folks at parties whether they'd want the ability to fly, or the ability to become invisible, and one of the followup questions was what they'd want to do with it. I am the one that passed a prompt for RLSH to your fishbowl a good while ago, and you wrote a righteous poem about them. Good stuff.

Your list is very very good. There are good stories there, "making up for past wrongs" looks interesting.

>> he asked folks at parties whether they'd want the ability to fly, or the ability to become invisible, and one of the followup questions was what they'd want to do with it. <<

Depends on the power, really, and the person.

>> I am the one that passed a prompt for RLSH to your fishbowl a good while ago, and you wrote a righteous poem about them. Good stuff. <<

Thank you! Next fishbowl is Tuesday, June 3 with a theme of "first contact."

>> Your list is very very good. There are good stories there, "making up for past wrongs" looks interesting. <<

Feel free to prompt for any of them that you like. "Making up for past wrongs" is a popular one in comics history, but every character plays it differently. Iron Man, Hulk, and Black Widow all share that one.

Nonhuman Superpowers?

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