Powers & Manifestations
What Are Powers and Manifestations?
"Powers" refers to the supernatural abilities that some humans- called Empowered- have. In the total world population, no more than 0.5% of people have active powers, but it's estimated that up to 1.5% of the population has some degree of dormant power. This means they hold the genes for powers, but for some reason or other cannot activate them. Activation of powers happens no later than the age of 18, and normally happens between the ages of 10 - 14 in all sexes.
The genes for powers are recessive. This means two people need to be carriers of the gene to pass it on to their offspring, whether or not those powers are dormant. The powers that manifest in their offspring will always be similar to the powers of at least one of the parents- meaning a parent who can manipulate fire and a parent who can manipulate force energy will never have a child who can manipulate shadows. Their child will either have powers from the Psionic or Fire tree- never both.
Powers are divided into two Classes, the Corporeal Class and the Elemental Class.
- The Corporeal class refers to the physical class, involving any powers that manifest as bodily changes. Many of these are passive manifestations that cannot be directly manipulated.
- The Elemental class refers to the control class, where powers manifest as having dominance over the elements themselves. Many of these are active manifestations that can be directly manipulated.
These Classes are further divided into Subclasses. The Corporeal class has 3 known Subclasses, while the Elemental class has 6- although a 4th and 7th subclass was proposed in the studies of Arthur Craddock, called Theoretic. These subclasses are controversial as there are no recordings of anyone with Theoretic powers ever existing, and many believe the world and wider universe can only exist as long as no Theoretic Empowered do.
Within Subclasses, powers are further distinguised as Manifestations. Manifestations simply refers to how a given power manifests- for example, a person may be an Elemental Class, falling under the Psionic Subclass and having a Dynamancy Manifestation.
An interesting phenomenon described by Arthur Craddock is that an Empowered may have powers from different Classes, but never different powers from separate Subclasses under the same Class. The only exceptions to this rule are Angites, who seem to have extra sets of the power gene, and any Empowered who is Soul Merged- though the latter only lasts as long as the soul merging.
An example of this is an Empowered may be a Pyromancer, and with years of training or by going through Ascension can control any or even all manifestations under the Fire Subclass, but no matter what will never be able to use powers belonging to the Water or Necromancy Subclasses. They could, however, also have Extreme Intelligence from the Corporeal class, but never Shapeshifting or Illusory powers.
It's not really known why powers exist, and it's highly debated- in some cultures it's seen as a spiritual gift from nature or a deity, while in others it's seen as a scientific phenomenon. Some animals do carry the power genes, but only humans have been recorded being able to activate them. ORGANIZATION CHART NOT AVAILABLE
History
The Elemental Class was the first recorded Class, with texts dating back to roughly 3,500 BC. Sumerian cuneiform scripts were unearthed that spoke of the "Gifted" who could wield the elements, and the appearance of these Gifted individuals was often met by reverence. The Elemental and Corporeal class were not distinguished from one another until the 1400s, when researcher Robert Stanton divided them into Control (Elemental) and Passive (Corporeal), calling it the Dual-Class system. At this time, the Elemental class consisted of only two Subclasses- Elemental and Psychic. Stanton later separated them into the Elemental, Psychic, and Negative subclasses, and this was further exapanded upon by Arthur Craddock and Doctor Moore in the 1800s.
Craddock and Moore created the manifestation system which further divided and specified which Empowered could do what. After all, a Hydromancer could not necessarily do Hemomancy or Cryomancy, even if they fall under the same branch, but some could do all three. The list of Subclasses increased to six, and then tentatively to seven, and the Control class was renamed as the Elemental class- even if some of the powers listed are not traditionally thought of as Elemental.
Powers under the Elemental class all end in the suffix "-mancy", from the Greek word manteia which means "divination". It's used in reference to manipulating magic, elements and substances, and was first used by The Church of Bliss referring to themselves as Necromancers in their religious texts. Arthur Craddock and Doctor Moore took inspiration from this, and used the suffix to denote a power as being from the Elemental Class. Unofficially, the suffix "-kinesis" is frequently used.
List of Elementals in Demigods Reloaded
- Eclipse Solar (Aeromancy)
- Psychic (Telemancy, Umbramancy)
- Phoenix Flare (Pyromancy, Thermomancy)
- Masao Nishimura (Dynamancy)
- Miss Major (Electromancy)
- Slipstream (Dynamancy)
- Orion Songbird (Umbramancy)
- Lucius Grey (Umbramancy)
- Tenebrae Grimm (Standard Necromancy, Umbrakinesis, Vitamancy, Myomancy, Osteomancy.)
- Illusia (Illusiomancy)
- Doctor Moore (Vitamancy)
- Ace (Ferromancy)
- Vixen Stray (Dynamancy)
- Riu Forest (Umbramancy)
- Thorn Demise (Pyromancy)
History
As explained in the Elemental section, the Corporeal Class was not distinguished from the Elemental Class until Robert Stanton divided them in the 1400s. Being known at this point as the Passive class, it was considered much rarer than the Control class due to it's more hidden nature. At the time it only included Weremen and the Enhancement Subclasses, but when Arthur Craddock and Doctor Moore expanded the Classes and Subclasses in the 1800s, they were renamed. Weremen became Shapeshifters, and the Enhancement Class became Enhanced Abilities, and a third Subclass- Illusory- was officially added. Theoretic was added as an unofficial Subclass soon after.
Because Corporeal as a Class was only created in the 1400s, it may seem like a newer type of power compared to Elemental. This isn't necessarily true, as records of Empowered with powers that match those of the Corporeal class were recorded as far back as 2,700 BC, the oldest texts being Egyptian heiroglyphs found in tombs. Some researchers propose that the Egyptian Gods depicted were actually Shapeshifters, though it is difficult to confirm.
The Corporeal Class has been fairly controversial since its inception. Some propose that while the Elemental Class is solidly defined as powers that require active manipulation, the Corporeal Class is a mix of passive and active powers, and so it's barely distinct enough to be its own Class. Others defend its existance as Empowered can have powers from both Classes, but not powers from two Subclasses under the same Class- and so having them all under one Class would make little sense. Despite this debate, roughly 148 countries around the world recognise the Dual-Class system (the rest may have their own systems, or recognise no systems at all).
Controversy
The Corporeal subclass has met further controversy due to some Manifestations not fitting under a single Subclass. Flight has long been debated as it can be a result of Shapeshifting or an Enhanced Ability, and had originally been in the Shapeshifting category before being moved to Enhanced Ability in the 1980s. Additionally, many Necromancer temples consider Self-Healing to not be separate from Vitamancy, and claim many of them as Necromancers despite not officially being Elementals. This is also complicated by the fact that two Necromancers could produce a child who has the Self-Healing power.
No Subclass has met more controversy than the Illusory Subclass. Some feel that the name is misleading, and many others point out that Teleportation, Invisibility and Intangibility are active manipulations. Despite this, the system remains, even receiving a new addition as recently as the year 2000 (Multiplication).
List of Corporeal in Demigods Reloaded
Type
Metaphysical, Supernatural
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