Characters with incomprehensible powers

[Baron of Faltine]

It should be noted that immortals like Rockslide and Mercury don't need to reproduce they are each a species of one.

Is entirely possible, as i already said, that their body reproduce in completely different way. Perhaps at some point a piece of them detach and grow into another member of the species. Or their body start budding, or turn someone else in a simila rbeing as themselves(vampire/zombie style....nobody expect a Mercurypocalypse!). Human, biologically speaking is not the endall of performance in any field(TIL that the reason we have back and neck aches of any sort is our erect posture and HEAVY brain....THANK YOU EVOLUTION....

[jwatson]

For some reason all this makes me think about is Wolverine's power. I think i say that because he went from healing major wounds in hours or days to healing major wounds in minutes or seconds and that was with adamantium poisoning so i wonder if everyone else who gets resurrected is upgraded to the point that Laura can be brought back with an adamantium skeleton like adamantium poisoning means nothing anymore, i wonder how much his powers may have evolved as he has been resurrected more than most. So they are kind of incomprehensible to me right now as i have no gauge on what they can do anymore or how thorough they are or what weaknesses if any exist.

[Baron of Faltine]

For some reason all this makes me think about is Wolverine's power. I think i say that because he went from healing major wounds in hours or days to healing major wounds in minutes or seconds and that was with adamantium poisoning so i wonder if everyone else who gets resurrected is upgraded to the point that Laura can be brought back with an adamantium skeleton like adamantium poisoning means nothing anymore, i wonder how much his powers may have evolved as he has been resurrected more than most. So they are kind of incomprehensible to me right now as i have no gauge on what they can do anymore or how thorough they are or what weaknesses if any exist.

With wolvie is kind exemplar of general power creep and increasing effectiveness of bad guys wepons(and powers). IN the 80s wolverine powers were enough to get him back on feet in enough fast time for him to still be part of the action. He could own his own for a while with the Hulk of the time. But for both of them things changed. Weapons get deadlier, and time bracket for action is, despite all decompression, SHORT. It was a necessity to keep him up to the challenge he was expected to face(with spidey people rarely noticed that his relfexes and speed increased a little, allowing him to dodge stuff he would not have been able to dodge in past, as well as low level healing factor. since getting all bruised every day could make the whole secret identity kind of hard to keep up)

[jwatson]

With wolvie is kind exemplar of general power creep and increasing effectiveness of bad guys wepons(and powers). IN the 80s wolverine powers were enough to get him back on feet in enough fast time for him to still be part of the action. He could own his own for a while with the Hulk of the time. But for both of them things changed. Weapons get deadlier, and time bracket for action is, despite all decompression, SHORT. It was a necessity to keep him up to the challenge he was expected to face(with spidey people rarely noticed that his relfexes and speed increased a little, allowing him to dodge stuff he would not have been able to dodge in past, as well as low level healing factor. since getting all bruised every day could make the whole secret identity kind of hard to keep up)

I agree and enjoy his powers i just don't have a grasp on them now post resurrection and how everyone else power is growing and things holding him back like adamantium poisoning don't seem like a thing anymore because why bring laura back just to have her living a life of being poisoned. So in my mind wolverine powers must be like omega level self healing now but that's not on the page so i just wonder what his level is now.

Or perhaps because he heals there were no modifications resurrection caused so his powers are the same. The thread just made me think of it more.

[Sutekh]

It should be noted that immortals like Rockslide and Mercury don't need to reproduce they are each a species of one.

Technically, the definition of mutant is to be different from one's parents, so any mutant who doesn't have the same powers as a parent is a species of one.

It's characters like Rachel and Cable, who have the same powers as their mom, or Lorna, who has the same powers as her dad, or Mastermind's daughters, who inherited his powers, who aren't really 'mutants' so much as members of new sub-races; 'Homo Magnetus' or 'Homo Illusori' or 'Homo Whatever Psychic Powers Jean has.'

But anywho, I always found Xorn's power to be gobbdigook. 'I have a star/black hole in my head, so I can heal and manipulate magnetism?'

It's like mad libs. I have [X] for a [Y], so I can [Z], where the words chosen don't really have to have *anything* at all to do with anything.

'I have a [moon] for a [pancreas] so I can [control molds, spores and fungi!]'
'I have a [temporal anomaly] for a [left testicle] so I can [create sentient swarms of bugs!]'

Just nonsense.

[Zelena]

Powers are not created to make sense but to tell stories… But if the authors keep changing the definition… like they keep changing the personnalities of the characters, it’s harder to believe in the story.

[Fokken]

Escapade. I read the scene that explained her powers multiple times and didn't get it.

TRULY.

Esoteric.

[davetvs]

TRULY.

Esoteric.

Marvel wiki says

Physical Switching: Shela can switch locations or trade possessions and abilities with anyone within seven feet. She can retrain this switch for a few hours at most.

So she's...teleporting but also body-swapping (but also power mimicry) within a 7 foot radius? I still don't get it. I guess she's just, um, having little escapades with other peoples' things as long as they're only a few feet away.

[BobbysWorld]

Marvel wiki says

Physical Switching: Shela can switch locations or trade possessions and abilities with anyone within seven feet. She can retrain this switch for a few hours at most.

So she's...teleporting but also body-swapping (but also power mimicry) within a 7 foot radius? I still don't get it. I guess she's just, um, having little escapades with other peoples' things as long as they're only a few feet away.

The way I've been picturing it is she's a reality warper with an extremely specific focus: her power lets her 'retcon' reality so that its temporarily rewritten to be like 'what if she was the one who had this location/trait/ability/situation instead of this other person,' thus making her the ultimate identity thief able to essentially live life or exist in someone else's shoes for a few hours before her little reality retcon unravels and everyone's stats go back to normal.

[Grunty]

Marvel wiki says

Physical Switching: Shela can switch locations or trade possessions and abilities with anyone within seven feet. She can retrain this switch for a few hours at most.

So she's...teleporting but also body-swapping (but also power mimicry) within a 7 foot radius? I still don't get it. I guess she's just, um, having little escapades with other peoples' things as long as they're only a few feet away.

One would think switching physical positions would allready be a usefull power with plenty of expansion potential, but then the writer also had to add all these weird extra bits which actively make it more difficult to understand and properly apply the characters powers, before she even had the chance to survive a single writer change yet.

It feels like the creator had very specific "awesome" moments in their head they wanted to give the character right away, perhaps in the hope that it will be a shortcut to popularity for her, rather than having to wait and see for 10 years if anyone even uses her to that effect.

Alas. Likely dooming her to be yet another underused or forgotten backround filler.

Though perhaps she will have luck, getting a downgrade to just switch teleporting and having all the extra stuff from the first appearances ignored.

The way I've been picturing it is she's a reality warper with an extremely specific focus: (...)

When a brand new character's powers (who isn't a villain) need to be explained via "reality warping" there is a problem.

[BobbysWorld]

When a brand new character's powers (who isn't a villain) need to be explained via "reality warping" there is a problem.

*Shrugs* If you say so. I like plenty of characters who have specific, limited powersets that are best described as reality warping.

[Fokken]

Marvel wiki says

Physical Switching: Shela can switch locations or trade possessions and abilities with anyone within seven feet. She can retrain this switch for a few hours at most.

So she's...teleporting but also body-swapping (but also power mimicry) within a 7 foot radius? I still don't get it. I guess she's just, um, having little escapades with other peoples' things as long as they're only a few feet away.

[insert blank stare here]

Yeah, I woulda been totally okay with the simplification of "instantly swap physical location with a specific target" and that could make for some pretty funny and hopefully creative avenues to explore as a very NICHE teleportation variant.

Alas, for MY personal tastes, Shela's mutant gift is just too broad. Its giving me "DnD Multiclassing to the Nth degree"

I'm pleased if she's being well received by the readership, but alas, I'm not so into her at this particular moment in her publication history.

[davetvs]

TBH, I think she just sucks. The incomprehensible powers just fuel the fire the jumpsuit started. Toss her aside with Vita Ayala's Children of the Atom rejects and try again with a trans/genderqueer character that actually works. Where's Jessie Drake? Where's Shade/Darkveil?

[Chris0013]

Marvel wiki says

Physical Switching: Shela can switch locations or trade possessions and abilities with anyone within seven feet. She can retrain this switch for a few hours at most.

So she's...teleporting but also body-swapping (but also power mimicry) within a 7 foot radius? I still don't get it. I guess she's just, um, having little escapades with other peoples' things as long as they're only a few feet away.

So she steals people's property and kidnaps people?

[Arachne]

[insert blank stare here]

Yeah, I woulda been totally okay with the simplification of "instantly swap physical location with a specific target" and that could make for some pretty funny and hopefully creative avenues to explore as a very NICHE teleportation variant.

Alas, for MY personal tastes, Shela's mutant gift is just too broad. Its giving me "DnD Multiclassing to the Nth degree"

I'm pleased if she's being well received by the readership, but alas, I'm not so into her at this particular moment in her publication history.

I agree completely. I will say I like her name, though. Escapade is perfect for a teen hero.