1. Adam Bolander

    Adam Bolander Senior Member

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    (Hopefully) Unique Superpower?

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by Adam Bolander, Dec 13, 2021.

    I've been building a new character in my head for the past few days, and I think I've come up with an interesting and unique power to give him. Basically, his powers are based on keyboard commands. He would start off with just some basic abilities, but as he learns and grows stronger he'll discover new ways to use them.

    Powers he starts off with: Copy and Paste (CTRL C, CTRL V). Anything he touches, he can "copy" it, meaning that his powers are essentially holding onto a blueprint of whatever he touched. He can then "paste" an exact replica of the object anywhere within arms reach. He can create multiple duplicates, but each one will be weaker and more fragile than the last, until the "blueprint" disappears.

    Other power he discovers in the first book: Cut (CTRL X). He can make anything he touches vanish. The object is pulled into a small pocket dimension revolving around the hero. He can then Paste the object back into reality, but unlike with Copy he can't make duplicates of it.

    NOTE: his powers DO NOT work on living things. He can't clone people, and he can't Cut an enemy out of existence.

    Powers he'd discover sometime after ths first book: Undo/Redo (CTRL Z, CTRL Y). These let him skip back and forth in time, respectively. Undo only takes him back a few seconds, and Redo will take him back to the moment he used Undo. He can only use Redo if he doesn't do anything after Redo, just like you can't CTRL Z something, write something new, and then CTRL Y what you'd just undone. Undo is helpful for if he gets injured, he'll just blink back a few seconds to when he wasn't hurt. He can also use Undo to dodge a hit, then Redo himself back into fighting position. These powers only effect him, nobody else.

    Ultimate attack: Control, Alt, Delete. His pocket dimension creates a rip in spacetime the exact size and shape of the pocket dimension itself. Imagine a bubble about fifteen to twenty feet in diameter around the hero. Everything in the bubble's radius gets sucked into the pocket dimension — even people, this time. They are trapped there until the hero Pastes them back into reality. He can't use this attack recklessly, though, because EVERYTHING it touches gets sucked in. He can easily make buildings collapse by stealing away the wrong parts of their supports.

    NOTE: people who are sucked into the pocket dimension are completely separated from the real world, but not from the hero. Because of his connection to that dimension, he can "feel" them inside it, and hear anything they say inside his head. Naturally, having a bunch of villains mentally trash talk you 24/7 isn't great for your mental health, so he doesn't keep them there longer than he absolutely has to.

    So what do you guys think?
     
    Last edited: Dec 13, 2021
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  2. JLT

    JLT Contributor Contributor

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    Tab: he can automatically shift himself from one place to another, maybe a room or two away.

    Cap Lock: he finds himself SHOUTING AT EVERYBODY ALL THE TIME.

    OK. I'll stop here.
     
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  3. QueenOfPlants

    QueenOfPlants Definitely a hominid

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    Why not? Why could he not paste that object back into reality and then also paste copies of it that become weaker, like in the first instance?
    Doesn't quite make sense to me that that doesn't work.

    I do think, however, that the first object must be lost forever when he vanishes another thing into the pocket dimension.
    Question is only why that first object is being lost. What is the mechanism behind it?


    Aw. :(
    Why not copy and paste a living thing, but he gets only a dead corpse?
    And I think he should be able to cut an enemy out of existence, but then that enemy's "soul" or ghost haunts him forever until he pastes the body again and helps the soul reunite with it.
    Bonus points if the hero has once accidentally overwritten the body (see my suggestion above) and now cannot paste it again to reunite, so he has a spiteful soul getting on his nerves all the time.
    Bonus bonus points if that soul tries to posses every object that gets stored in the pocket dimension.

    Guess it'll let him become another person if he wants to. *shrug*

    Sooo, what about (CTRL A)? It marks a certain area around him for his other things?

    And what about (CTRL S)? Maybe make a certain area (or an object) immune to damage by conserving it in the status quo? Only for some time, of course.
     
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  4. Adam Bolander

    Adam Bolander Senior Member

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    Because I feel like letting him just produce infinite copies forever would bring him too close to being OP.

    Check the edit I made just before I saw your comment. I think you'll like it.

    Ooh, that does give me another idea. CTRL F! It helps him find people and things by using certain keywords. Or maybe he uses something physical, like giving a police dog a scent to track.
     
  5. Catriona Grace

    Catriona Grace Mind the thorns Contributor Contest Winner 2022

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    Esc: able to extricate himself from boring conversations with dull people with a flick of a finger (the middle one, of course)
     
  6. QueenOfPlants

    QueenOfPlants Definitely a hominid

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    Oh, my question was one for an in-universe explanation. I was second-guessing my own suggestion. I think it would be nice if he could only (CTRL X) one object at a time and when he takes another one, the first gets deleted forever, but I have no good in-universe justification for that.


    Yes, nice! :D


    Ah, right! I was thinking about a search function too, but then forgot. ^ ^
     
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  7. Friedrich Kugelschreiber

    Friedrich Kugelschreiber marshmallow Contributor

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    power button: he dies painlessly
     
  8. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    Undo. It 'rewinds' time up to 5 minutes or so. Only he retains memory of the lost moments, for everyone else they never happened.
     
  9. Lazaares

    Lazaares Contributor Contributor

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    PrtScrn. The character develops perfect visual memory of the scene witnessed.

    Alt+Shift. The character can seamlessly shift from speaking any language fluently, but only one at a time.
     
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  10. evild4ve

    evild4ve Critique is stranger than fiction Supporter Contributor

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    Ctrl+B he gains or loses ten stone

    Ctrl + I his left leg shrinks or grows by a couple of inches
     
  11. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    Up/Down/Left/Right Arrow—he instantly pops up in the air by a few feet, to the left or right, or back down to the ground, to avoid bullets, punches, or whatever else.
     
  12. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    Weakness: BSoD. He turns blue, dies, and is resurrected a few days later. Can happen at any time, for no apparent reason.
     
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  13. QueenOfPlants

    QueenOfPlants Definitely a hominid

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    Oh, the reason could be: a) getting too hot and b) having too much to do.
     
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  14. KiraAnn

    KiraAnn Senior Member

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    Is this based on Tron?
    ;)
     
  15. Stauche Stimpson

    Stauche Stimpson Member

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    why the copy command motif ?

    would what ever source of the powers model it after that or is this the character's framework for understanding it

    if you remove the copy command motif then it seems that he's got a completely unrelated power what initiated such a development, did he earn it ?

    is there any limitation on size, complexity and value of object like being able to clone diamonds or the mona lisa can he copy mount Everest or a super computer ?

    does the setting your story take place contain valuable magical, super powered objects that he can copy or that would be immune to copying ?

    does this power represent any facet or personality of the main character in any way ?
     
  16. Set2Stun

    Set2Stun Rejection Collector Contributor Contest Winner 2023 Contest Winner 2022

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    So you're gonna call him "Shortcut," right?

    I love this idea. It has so much humor potential I kind of want to write it myself.

    What's the origin story? I think there should be some horrible accident involving a cyborg prototype and a bootleg CD of Windows XP.
     
  17. Travalgar

    Travalgar Active Member

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    A novel idea, but kinda predictable. You know, readers with some knowledge on basic MS Office shortcuts will be able to sort of anticipate the superpowers, as demonstrated by this thread.
     
  18. Aled James Taylor

    Aled James Taylor Contributor Contributor

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    The character will also need a weakness. You could have him stop occasionally, for no apparent reason, and the most inconvenient times. He'd remain motionless- statue like, until he goes to sleep and wakes up again. Then he'd be back to normal as if nothing had happened.
     
  19. KiraAnn

    KiraAnn Senior Member

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    Easy peasy - a virus. Character goes to sleep until his/her anti-virus power - AVG? - corrects the situation.
     
  20. JLT

    JLT Contributor Contributor

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    Would he turn blue?
     
  21. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    [​IMG]
     
  22. Adam Bolander

    Adam Bolander Senior Member

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    The setting is that people are randomly having panic attacks that are so strong that they cause the victim to suddenly develop superpowers as a sort of extreme survival technique. What happens after that is entirely up to the person. Maybe they become a hero, maybe a villain, or maybe they just try to keep living their normal lives.

    The reason for these panic attacks (which would be revealed much later in the series) is because a giant monster buried deep within the earth is waking up (I'm going for a Kronos escaping from Tartarus analogy here) and the same instincts that warn animals about dangers we could never see coming are trying to warn us about this evil Galactus-sized monster that's getting ready to wreak havoc on the planet.
     

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