Nonhuman Superpowers?

[ysabetwordsmith]

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.

Comments

I'd start with-

[dialecticdreamer]

the Rats of NIMH, rather than Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

I'd limit super-animals to areas where they do /not/ draw human attention, like NIMH, as a survival mechanism.

Anything with obvious differences, like the laser eyes you mentioned, is likely to be "destroy, then autopsy" as the /first/ response.

Sea life is more likely to survive without detection just because we use so LITTLE of the actual volume of the oceans. Pond life is waaay more noticeable, and the worst area to "spawn" would be the third-stage treatment plants for large urban water supplies. (The huge, huge water reservoir without the tanks, which is almost-human-potable, but has a few PPM too many of something which breaks down under UV exposure. Water sits and "cures" for anywhere from days to weeks before cycling into the water supply as tap-safe.)

Re: I'd start with-

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> the Rats of NIMH, rather than Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. <<

I loved the Rats of NIMH -- not just for being a cool furry movie, but for diving into a massive lake of ethical issues and scientific implications. That is exactly the kind of story I would enjoy exploring. And there were two explicit superpowers in the movie: Super-Intelligence, and the Amulet which was powered by will/emotion.

>> I'd limit super-animals to areas where they do /not/ draw human attention, like NIMH, as a survival mechanism. <<

In terms of a surviving population, I agree. They would need to be somewhere that humans rarely go and/or to be something humans routinely overlook. The rats could've stayed in the rosebush forever if they hadn't started stealing their human neighbors' electricity.

>> Anything with obvious differences, like the laser eyes you mentioned, is likely to be "destroy, then autopsy" as the /first/ response. <<

I agree. That's not an unreasonable response for humans, either. In terms of individual animals, they might pop up occasionally and be destroyed. This could be something that superheroes are called to deal with -- or something that is usually dismissed as a crank call. For every elk that really has Laser Eyes, there are probably 20+ incidents of:

* "Hey, y'all, watch this!"
* Guy soaks himself with Doe in Heat spray.
* Gets stomped by an ordinary elk that knocks him into his campfire.
* "Warden! That fucking super-elk nuked me with its glowing eyes!

>> Sea life is more likely to survive without detection just because we use so LITTLE of the actual volume of the oceans. <<

Yes, that makes sense. Deep water is a plausible place where a population of super-powered creatures could develop. Then again, shallow water has different potentials: coral is bleaching due to UV radiation and changing water chemistry. Imagine if some corals managed to evolve instead. Super-powered razor coral = O_O

>> Pond life is waaay more noticeable, and the worst area to "spawn" would be the third-stage treatment plants for large urban water supplies. (The huge, huge water reservoir without the tanks, which is almost-human-potable, but has a few PPM too many of something which breaks down under UV exposure. Water sits and "cures" for anywhere from days to weeks before cycling into the water supply as tap-safe.) <<

An obvious development of this is that inspectors or activists spotting super-powered anything near a wastewater plant, factory, etc. would call SPOON and the EPA suspecting that someone was dumping Really Bad Stuff. The official policy would probably be "contain and destroy." But mad scientists are very curious and do not follow rules ...