Nonhuman Superpowers?
May. 29th, 2014 08:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithWe 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.
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.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Re: Sorry, rambling.
Date: 2014-05-31 05:49 pm (UTC)As much as I support responsible hunting, I believe that nature maintains a balance between predator and prey. Humans have been shooting at wildlife for tens of thousands of years. In a setting with a high mutagenic factor, it is logical to project that wildlife will eventually learn to shoot back. After all, there are already skunks and bombadier beetles, and the spitting cobras turned out to be real after all.
>> Hey, octopi are brilliant, how about a mutation that gave them a long lifespan and the ability/ desire to work together? They'd probably wind up with a civilization eventually. <<
Feel free to prompt for it. Just remember that evolution usually works slowly. In order to create a stable population quickly, you need a widespread game-changing force.
Frex, two species of Hawaiian cricket rapidly evolved from noisy to silent in response to parasites. THIS is why you do not wipe out your handicapped members. A few male crickets went from unfuckable cripples to "the last man on Earth" and saved the cricket population from extinction. Silence went from a devastating handicap to a survival need. You just never know what you might need.
Another possibility raised elsewhere is factories, power plants, or other sources of pollution dumping it into the waterways. The Gulf of Mexico now has deformed sealife.
Feel free to prompt for super-powered cephalopods if you wish; I quite admire these creatures. *chuckle* Especially the supervillain octopus that one aquarium store caught on camera eventually. I could totally work with that.
>> I've been reading comics lately and I imagine that having a high-school level biology education is a disqualifying factor for writing them. <<
Often it seems that way. On the other hoof, superhero science is like cartoon physics -- it has its own rules. I'm okay with working in dimensions whose fundamental laws are different from our own. Farthest I've gone with that is nether-Earth but Terramagne is pretty different in certain specific ways. Frex, Super-Strength comes with a force-manipulation ability that makes it possible to life large things without tearing them apart. It stands to reason that Super-Size: Giant would come with the ability to bend rules making it possible to survive, although I do tend to use living or fossilized creatures as reference points.
Re: Sorry, rambling.
Date: 2014-05-31 10:02 pm (UTC)I understand about cartoon biology (like people being super-strong and never having to worry about joint problems or people shooting lasers from their eyes) but I guess I have a low threshold for belief suspension. I do like the occasional nod to reality.
Re: Sorry, rambling.
Date: 2014-05-31 10:07 pm (UTC)Watching the spill play out hit me on a very personal level.
People are pushing the "everything is fine!" thing pretty hard about the Gulf and I agree that at least everything isn't dead there, but something's still fishy.
Re: Sorry, rambling.
Date: 2014-05-31 10:15 pm (UTC)