Question manifesting one power after another?

Simple question that I think might make my entire story make no sense whatsoever: is it possible to have an exemplar who first maninfests as a manifestor and whose expemplar abilities are hidden due to the belief that her manifesting power is the direct cause of her increasing physical abilities?

So many stories have the exemplar abilities being there from the start, but is it possible that the recovery from the burnout induced coma could make the main powers come out later, only getting noticed months after initial powers testing?

Exemplars usually manifest their increased physical abilities during or shortly after an initial manifestation. Burnouts can speed up the process, as in the case of Fey or Pejuta. The whole waking up suddenly hot ( in appearance, not temperature) thing.

An EX-1 can be weaker than the baseline folks around them, and some of the more radical changes do take more time (with more risk of either a burnout, or a new configuration incompatible with life!)

Unless the mutant is manifesting a shell or some other supportive structure around them, the exemplar effect would be the default assumption for improved strength, stamina, speed, agility, intelligence, ingenuity, and so forth. The exemplar isn't improved in one area over a baseline athlete, but more commonly across the board.

Burnouts have tended to increase or decrease the scope or power of an existing trait, but maybe some aspect of manifesting has a "required secondary power" for it to be safe to use? (For example, if your muscles were strong enough to pick up a 5-ton weight, but your bones weren't also brought up to strength, that mega-deadlift becomes a very, very bad idea.) In that case, maybe a burnout might result in a stronger exemplar trait as a matter of survival. Or death.


N.B., Shifters and magicians tend to be among the worst offenders against "Just because you can doesn't mean you should!"

Remember one thing here - burnouts are not a 'feature' of manifesting. They are not a 'power-up'. Most mutations happen without a burnout - they are rare, and most often, a burnout is fatal. Most manifestations and appearances of exemplar traits will happen gradually.

The main thing to understand about the Exemplar power is that it's always on. It's not something you do, it's something you are. You can't "turn off" the EX power. A manifestor, OTOH, usually has time limits on their creations. So, a manifestor (or a PK for that matter) might create a superstrong, super-good-looking shell around themselves... but it will not stay continuously up, especially for an inexperienced teen whose powers.

The time limit isn't entirely true as Crystal Hall can attest. The dome was manifested by a student back in 1985 according "Even Murphy's Law Has Loopholes" so manifesting can be done without a time limit...

Back to my question, what about psychologically holding back due to an issue like PTSD or other issues? Like say s/he is able to perform at a high level but they are handicapped by their own mental health causing their true powers to be able to be used fully until the issue is dealt with?

Well, EX is affected by mental state, usually, so that could be done with enough psychological explanation?

*shrugs*

Also could be a Shifter with very slow shifts or something.

Sir Lee wrote: The main thing to understand about the Exemplar power is that it's always on. It's not something you do, it's something you are. You can't "turn off" the EX power. A manifestor, OTOH, usually has time limits on their creations. So, a manifestor (or a PK for that matter) might create a superstrong, super-good-looking shell around themselves... but it will not stay continuously up, especially for an inexperienced teen whose powers.

IIRC, the difference between Gross Structural Dystrophy and the Exemplar Trait is that even the trait can be turned off (not that that should do much, because the structural changes would need help or a lot of time to revert) This is one more reason to fear devisors and mages.

The time limit isn't entirely true as Crystal Hall can attest. The dome was manifested by a student back in 1985 according "Even Murphy's Law Has Loopholes" so manifesting can be done without a time limit...

Kali shook her head.  “I could probably manage destroying the crystal, but rebuilding it is a whole other matter,” she announced, pulling out another structural blue print and pointing at a box labeled Diamond Cutter.  “The crystal was a manifestation of the mutant Diamond Cutter, and she’s notorious about not releasing the lattice formula.  It’s how she can charge the rates she does for it.  It’s not listed anywhere in the blue prints, or the building permits.  I don’t know, maybe we could convince her to come out and re-grow it for old time’s sake?  What do you think Kodiak?”

The relevant quote doesn't state that the material is inherently stable at STP. Diamond Cutter could be using a devise or magic to stabilize the crystalline material after manifesting it. Otherwise, Diamond Cutter doesn't have to release "the lattice formula" unless x-ray diffraction, chemistry, and topology somehow don't work in the Whateley Universe. ( Uniformly warped space that makes unusual symmetries and topologies possible... now I know what my crystallography professor would have pursued in his WU retirement. )


Anyway, mental limitations are a staple of comic books, but so are insta-cures. Your biggest hurdle will usually be keeping your reasons for why you have certain things happening consistent with the setting and with each other.

Malady wrote: Also could be a Shifter with very slow shifts or something.

Like Generator, maybe?

elrodw wrote: Remember one thing here - burnouts are not a 'feature' of manifesting. They are not a 'power-up'. Most mutations happen without a burnout - they are rare, and most often, a burnout is fatal. Most manifestations and appearances of exemplar traits will happen gradually.

The Canon example here would be Roulette.

Well, it could be that they manifest, and then a burnout pushes them into a further mutation. In the case of Tsiphone, she was already manifested, but when Ayla accidentally mangled her BIT, she underwent a further mutation, a rather extreme one.

Tisiphone as first case of Second Activation??

Not quite. Tisiphone's powers don't seem to have changed, only her physical appearance.

As for the Crystal Hall... good point, manifestations can be permanent, but that was not the best supporting example, since it referred to someone already experienced with her powers. A better example of an inexperienced manifestor who generates persistent manifestations could be, say, Britomart -- who would like to be able to dismiss her manifestations on command, but so far is unable to.

Thank you for the responses. Based on what I have gathered from the various responses, my idea is unable to be done due to conflicts with the way powers manifest in individuals. It wasn't a major part of my story and I might have removed it without it harming the story, but as a whole my story is simply too badly written overall. I won't be posting the story that sparked this question but I do hope that this might give someone something to think about for the future in their own story.

Again, thank you for taking the time to answer my question.

Efindumb wrote: Thank you for the responses. Based on what I have gathered from the various responses, my idea is unable to be done due to conflicts with the way powers manifest in individuals. It wasn't a major part of my story and I might have removed it without it harming the story, but as a whole my story is simply too badly written overall.

I'll take your word for that, although I've seen the same said about some entertaining stories. However, one piece of advice I've run across is to set aside a project you're unhappy with, and move on to the next.

Maybe the best starting point for the character isn't the story of their manifestation, but something that happens later on in their education and career?

Efindumb wrote: I won't be posting the story that sparked this question but I do hope that this might give someone something to think about for the future in their own story.

Finding something new and interesting to do with comic book powers can be difficult.

Efindumb wrote: Again, thank you for taking the time to answer my question.

You're welcome!