Super powers in LiS...
Comic books about super powered humans come close to the mythology of our past. Often called the new gods...stories about Superman...Spiderman...Batman can be as mundane as stopping a bank robbery to as epic as the Graphic Novel Kingdom Come. Marvel dominates summer movies...DC dominates in animated movies...it is no secret the world is crazy for super powered beings.
So today I am looking at LiS as a series and the seemingly recent birth of super powers in the world.
LiS1 dealt with Max's ability to manipulate time...certainly a very powerful ability that even at then end of LiS she did not fully understand.
How did she get this power? It first manifests itself after she has a dream about a massive storm that threatens all life in around Arcadia Bay...She is able to stop a girl from being gunned down by reversing time and hitting a fire alarm. This leads to a reunion with her childhood bff Chloe and the uncovering of a dark secret that harms girls at Max's school. In the end we are presented with a moral choice....Do we save Chloe and sacrifice Arcadia Bay...or do we sacrifice Chloe and save the good folks of the Bay. As much as it sucks for Max on a personal level...the right choice is letting Chloe die. Sacrificing the love of her life to save a town full of good people...and then making sure Jefferson is locked up and Kate lives.
LiS proves the old Spider-man phrase...with great power comes great responsibility. In other words life still kicks you in the nuts even when you try to do good.
The question then is..what good are super powers if you cannot save everyone? The answer is of course...Max saved many...but no matter how powerful her ability...she is not a god...yet
BtS we are introduced to Rachel Amber who befriends Chloe Price. Chloe our favorite edgelord is a troubled youth who is dealing with the loss of her father rather poorly and the fact her mother has fallen for an asshole who drive Chloe nuts. The two girls take off from school and ride the rails to a park where they spy Rachel's father kissing a woman who is not his wife.
That is fucked up...but wait it gets better...Rachel starts a fire in a garbage can to burn her favorite photo of her and her dad...then in anger she kicks it over and sets a tree on fire...and then screams..letting her emotions fuel the blaze it spreads to more trees and a major forest fire starts...a fire that does not stop until she is stabbed and is taken in for surgery. This power of hers is interesting. Her anger fuels the destructive nature of the forest fire and it can be inferred that her spirit maintained that power that led to the Storm that Max had to stop by letting Chloe die.
On a scale of power...Rachel's is seemingly weak...but it gains power as it builds and in the case of the fire...what if rachel had not been stabbed...how long would it have lasted and just how destructive would it have become? And how would you combat a power like that while Rachel was still alive?
Now we have LiS2 and the power seems to be more direct use and potentially destructive...as well as helpful...saving Chris when the ladder broke in Captain Spirit. Will we get an answer as to where these powers are coming from?
On a power scale Max's power is perhaps the most potent yet has the potential for bad outcomes. Rachel is the most destructive...and hardest to combat....LiS2 power is the most personal...with immediate use as a attack or defense...potentially the most comic book of the powers...will we see another power in this season?
I do hope DONTNOD can pull this off. I did love the Captain Spirit...they can still get us in the feels...and the use of music is good...so I am hopeful.
What do you guys think of this potential rise of super powered beings?
Comments
I couldn't say, but I think it's clear the use of her supernatural metahuman abilities have an effect on the natural elements, such as wind and fire. If you notice, all the metahumans in the game are from Oregon. Perhaps the source of their power is a physical one, like a meteor or something, located at the highest point in Oregon(mount hood), that radiates some kind of unknown energy.
Being able to save anyone at all. She stopped Chloe from rewrote Chloe's death multiple times, Went back in time to save William, Used her power to stop Kate from killing herself, and was able to warn Victoria about Mark. She can also save an entire town from being wiped out.
My guess is it would've lasted as long as she was still angry, and that fire probably killed 100s of wildlife animals, so if it kept burning, it would've killed 100s of more.
She really had no control over her powers, nor was she aware she had any, so a simple punch would probably be enough to stop her.
Probably not. The mystery is was makes it interesting.
As long as they don't use cliche superpowers like laser vision, flight, invisibility and super strength, i'm all for it. Personally, I'd like to see someone with quantum abilities.
Also, if there is a source, I think the closer you are to it, the more powerful your abilities will be.
How did she get her powers ... I just thought she was was a mutant unlocking her mutant abilities
If she had no control...it could be guessed she had no real knowledge of the power...if she has no clue about her power...how do you even find out who has the power if you were seeking to stop it.
Her powers didn't cause the fire, but they helped spread it. Naturally, I would assume a normal person accidentally caused it, so I wouldn't be so quick to assume someone with powers caused it. If I had a good enough reason to believe a metahuman caused it, I'd leave posters with my number on it saying something like "If you have any information regarding the cause of the forest fire, please call 123-456-7890" or something like that. That's the best anyone could do since there was no one else but Rachel and Chloe during the start of the fire, and there are no cameras where they were.