Originally Posted by
PyroFN
As an avid reader of mostly all telepaths I can get my hands on in the X-verse, I will say this:
Psychic Constructs- Also done with telekinesis, it’s a signature power of Captain Britain, Dani Moonstar, and Psylocke. Still, we have seen Jean Grey, Charles Xavier, Nate Grey, Sage, and Quentin Quire use them quite a bit throughout their histories. And for something more niche, Beatiful Dreamer made use of “telepathic smoke” to perform her telepathic actions. We have even had a number of psychic ghosts creating a psychic body from their psychic might.
Pathokinesis- People usually separate it as a different psionic ability from telepathy, but in my opinion, it is basically just a sub-category of telepathy. It may work with a different part of the mind, but emotions still originate in the mind to begin with. The Grey-Summers family psychics are most well-known for this, though pure empathic psi would be someone like Manuel de La Rocha.
The Glow- Birdy has been getting recognition as of late and she did make an impact in the 90’s era of the X-Men inadvertently when Creed was a prisoner briefly of the X-Men. Basically easing the psychological pain of others using a telepathic ability called” the Glow”, which is more than simply controlling the emotions, but rather helps them process their inner pain and doubts. Charles Xavier and Jean Grey were stand-ins for Birdy when died in the 90’s, though Jean seemed to have the capability of weaponizing “the Glow” by overwhelming Sabertooth with it. Perhaps Jean was peeling away too many layers to Sabertooths actions or she overloaded him with information about the consequences of his actions? However she did so, it is plain to see “the Glow” can be used for more than just healing.
Psychometric Telepathy- For those who don’t know, Psychometry is the power to read psychic information through objects associated with the person. This could range from personal things to places where the person was recently. Jean Grey, believe it or not, has used it before, though more well-known characters would be Adrienne Frost, who gained info on Generation X after touching something Emma had touched. So what would Psychometric Telepathy be? Through objects associated with an individual, the psychometric will have the ability to reach their subjects minds.
Possessors- Very common power among telepaths, though there are those who specialize in it, like Karma, Shadow King, and, most recently, Cerebella/ No-Girl.
Illusionists- In the same vain, telepaths are commonly able to create illusions, though specialists in these areas include the Mastermind family and Dani Moonstar.
Mental Storage- Something I kind of made up based on an ongoing thing psychics have been doing in more recent times. It’s the ability for a telepath to store a mind into compartment in a telepaths head to contain that mind until they can be transferred back. This doesn’t have to always be a full mind, but it can simply include containing memories. This is not the same as possession, but it is similar in some respects. Captain Britain was seen containing the memories of thousands in the Age of X-Man and more recently, Charles Xavier had stored the make-up of Xandra’s mind in his head after she reached out to him. And Jean fans would never let me live it down if I didn’t mention Jean containing Charles Xavier in her head while she was sick and dying.
Psychic Vampirism/Draining- Not technically a pure telepathic ability and not all psychic vampires are telepaths, but telepaths have been known to siphon psychic energy with their telepathic abilities to boost their powers. Selene and Emplate are the most well-known examples of psychic vampires, but Exodus, Jean Grey, Nate Grey, Onslaught, and Shadow King all have engaged in some form of psionic vampirism with their telepathic abilities.
Psychic Death Energy- Again, not technically a pure telepathic ability. In fact, it was a non-telepath, Threnody, that made me think of this concept. However, much in line with the idea of telepaths absorbing life-forces, telepaths are capable of also absorbing the potential energies expelled from when people die. Onslaught was seen doing this as a result of Resurrection being incapable of capturing the total essence of a person that died before being downloaded into its storage system.
That will be it for now.