What if superheroes only appeared in a limited region?

[Steve]

Inspired by the question posed in this thread.

 

Instead of the appearance of superhumans being a worldwide event, what if the source of superhumans only affected a limited region of Earth and only caused superpowers to appear in a portion of the people who were there at that time? The example source I was considering was a blast of strange cosmic radiation that only strikes a region about 1000 miles across.

 

If your region of the world was within the zone affected, how do you think people around you would react? How would the local and national governments in your region react? Would other nations be jealous?

 

If that 1000 mile zone covered parts of the United States and Canada, I can imagine the aftermath response from the rest of the world would be different than if it hit South America or Russia.

 

Or imagine if the region was really small, like 100 miles across or even 10. How would the world react if the only superhumans were in a limited area like Israel or Quebec?

[Stone]

Re: What if superheroes only appeared in a limited region?

 

It would depend on how many were effected. Is every person in the region going to develop abilities, or only a small percentage of the people in the region? Obviously the more people developing abilities, and the strength of the abilities will drastically impact the world's reaction. Also, I believe you are correct in your assessment about the world's reaction based on the geographical location of the region.

 

I can imagine the government of the region swooping in and quarantining the entire area. Massive testing would be done on all the inhabitants, as well as relatives who do not live in the region to look for genetic markers. I can also see the government folks who are sent into the region being tested on a regular basis to see if the region has had any affect on them. Naturally everything else in the region would be tested as well. The government would most likely try to conceal this as much as possible with stories of an "outbreak" of some kind, or radiation scare.

 

Unfortunately, I see the other world governments not taking this very well and demanding to be apart of the investigation. I also see these governments engaging in espionage to get access to the test files and trying to reproduce the results on their own people. A whole new weapons race.

[Egyptoid]

Re: What if superheroes only appeared in a limited region?

 

interesting variant: the origin beam passes completely through the earth

so if it was 100 miles in diameter, but of infinite length. it could hit London, and then also affect Tokyo as the beam went out the other side.

 

of course due to the rotation of the earth the area of effect could be a teardrop shape (well, 2 teardrop shapes)

 

 

either way: if supers are limited to one area, racism will probably play a huge role.

[casualplayer]

Re: What if superheroes only appeared in a limited region?

 

It really depends on how "super" the supers became, if everyone in the zone became equivalent to special forces or if each person in the zone became equivalent to a free-range nuclear weapon. Intelligence services would go into overdrive trying to kill or control everyone within the zone.

 

Now if the zone was an area with a cultural identity rather than a national or transnational one, that would be a problem. If Israel or, for that matter, Gaza got the power up there would be serious problems and likely blood in the street. Same with any region with resentment or entitlement boiling just under the surface like Pakistan and India or North and South Korea. What if Taiwan got hit with the blast? Yowza!

 

There would be resentment from blessings viewed as unearned but there would also be the celebrity from being exceptional. There would also be a lot of people with no interest in either aspect who would just want to be left alone.

[Cold Steel]

Re: What if superheroes only appeared in a limited region?

 

The comic from Top Cow called Rising Stars had something similar to this.

[kahuna's bro]

Re: What if superheroes only appeared in a limited region?

 

It really depends on how "super" the supers became' date=' if everyone in the zone became equivalent to special forces [/quote']

 

am i reading this right do you mean a specail forces soldier ala captain america?

[Markdoc]

Re: What if superheroes only appeared in a limited region?

 

I can imagine the government of the region swooping in and quarantining the entire area. Massive testing would be done on all the inhabitants, as well as relatives who do not live in the region to look for genetic markers. I can also see the government folks who are sent into the region being tested on a regular basis to see if the region has had any affect on them. Naturally everything else in the region would be tested as well. The government would most likely try to conceal this as much as possible with stories of an "outbreak" of some kind, or radiation scare.

 

Unfortunately, I see the other world governments not taking this very well and demanding to be apart of the investigation. I also see these governments engaging in espionage to get access to the test files and trying to reproduce the results on their own people. A whole new weapons race.

 

Actually the anime series Darker than Black deals with almost exactly this scenario, with the addition that the region where the weirdness emanated from ("The Gate") remained in existence and was walled off for safety and study.

 

cheers, Mark

[yamamura]

Re: What if superheroes only appeared in a limited region?

 

interesting variant: the origin beam passes through the earth

so if it was 100 miles in diamter, it could hit London, and then also affect Tokyo as the beam went out the other side.

 

 

either way: if supers are limited to one area, racism will probably play a huge role.

 

Especially if the beam was designed to wake up something deep within the Earth, something that would threaten all of mankind.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: What if superheroes only appeared in a limited region?

 

Isn't this pretty much the premise of the Big Two comics publishers? The vast majority of superhumans are based in the United States, with only a smattering of them at most in other countries. Worldwide acceptance of this phenomenon is inherently unrealistic, but since in those worlds most superheroes are preoccupied with fighting supervillains and vice versa, rather than interfering in world politics, suspension of disbelief is at least possible.

 

Assuming at least some superhumans were very powerful and law-abiding, we might see something similar to the world reaction to countries possessing nuclear weapons. Nations that don't have them would condemn and express fear of those that do, while simultaneously trying to develop or acquire their own. "Rogue states" trying to build a superhuman "arsenal" would risk censure from the international community, or even preemptive military action.

[Steve]

Re: What if superheroes only appeared in a limited region?

 

It would depend on how many were effected. Is every person in the region going to develop abilities, or only a small percentage of the people in the region? Obviously the more people developing abilities, and the strength of the abilities will drastically impact the world's reaction. Also, I believe you are correct in your assessment about the world's reaction based on the geographical location of the region.

 

I can imagine the government of the region swooping in and quarantining the entire area. Massive testing would be done on all the inhabitants, as well as relatives who do not live in the region to look for genetic markers. I can also see the government folks who are sent into the region being tested on a regular basis to see if the region has had any affect on them. Naturally everything else in the region would be tested as well. The government would most likely try to conceal this as much as possible with stories of an "outbreak" of some kind, or radiation scare.

 

Unfortunately, I see the other world governments not taking this very well and demanding to be apart of the investigation. I also see these governments engaging in espionage to get access to the test files and trying to reproduce the results on their own people. A whole new weapons race.

 

In my original question, I was thinking of there being only a portion of people getting affected. If one out of a million people are affected in a 100 mile area, and if that area is in the middle of Wyoming, you won't get many superhumans. But if that area was centered on the city of Los Angeles, you'd get quite a bit more.

 

On the other hand, if the area is 10 miles wide, and everyone is affected in it, you might end up with only a few people again. But if that beam hit the center of Manilla?

 

I could see a new weapons race developing, but it would depend on the nature of superhumans. If it was a one-time event and couldn't be repeated, you'd have people getting pressured to come to work for one country or another. If it could be re-created somehow, then it's the nuclear arms race all over again.

 

 

It really depends on how "super" the supers became, if everyone in the zone became equivalent to special forces or if each person in the zone became equivalent to a free-range nuclear weapon. Intelligence services would go into overdrive trying to kill or control everyone within the zone.

 

Now if the zone was an area with a cultural identity rather than a national or transnational one, that would be a problem. If Israel or, for that matter, Gaza got the power up there would be serious problems and likely blood in the street. Same with any region with resentment or entitlement boiling just under the surface like Pakistan and India or North and South Korea. What if Taiwan got hit with the blast? Yowza!

 

There would be resentment from blessings viewed as unearned but there would also be the celebrity from being exceptional. There would also be a lot of people with no interest in either aspect who would just want to be left alone.

 

Yes, the power level would be a determinant. If a few dozen people wake up one day with the power of Kryptonians, it's a much different impact than if they wake up to be the physical equal of Captain America. In the Taiwan example, if everyone in that country became 300-point superhumans, I think it would be about as scary to the rest of the world than if only a dozen in that country became 1000-point superhumans.

 

There's also the "Hancock" factor. Just because someone has the powers of Superman doesn't mean they are going to use them, and they may prefer to just be left alone.

 

Isn't this pretty much the premise of the Big Two comics publishers? The vast majority of superhumans are based in the United States, with only a smattering of them at most in other countries. Worldwide acceptance of this phenomenon is inherently unrealistic, but since in those worlds most superheroes are preoccupied with fighting supervillains and vice versa, rather than interfering in world politics, suspension of disbelief is at least possible.

 

Assuming at least some superhumans were very powerful and law-abiding, we might see something similar to the world reaction to countries possessing nuclear weapons. Nations that don't have them would condemn and express fear of those that do, while simultaneously trying to develop or acquire their own. "Rogue states" trying to build a superhuman "arsenal" would risk censure from the international community, or even preemptive military action.

 

I don't quite agree that the Big Two are limited region superhumans. When American heroes travel around the world, they seem to meet up with a large number of foreigners. It may be that while people in other countries have superpowers in DC or Marvel, they are less likely to join in the costumed combats. It seems more likely that they are government conscripts instead.

 

I agree that superhumans would prompt reactions similar to those for nuclear weapons. One difference is that there are other ways to acquire a superhuman than there are to acquire a nuke.

 

There's the carrot approach: "Captain Powerful, my nation is prepared to offer you ten million dollars to come live there. And if that isn't enough, we will make available your choice of our most beautiful women."

 

Or the stick approach: "Captain Powerful, we have kidnapped your wife and children and placed them in a location you won't be able to find. Come work with us, or they will be harmed."

[Clonus]

Re: What if superheroes only appeared in a limited region?

 

Well assuming the thousand mile effect was centered on my house some of the consequences would be:

 

1. The effect would be almost entirely within the borders of Canada. Almost everyone who had powers would be Canadian. Assuming the country survived the resulting internal conflict, Canada would quickly have a force projection capability comparable and in some ways superior to that of the United States. The implications for Canada's position in NATO and the UN would be considerable. Canadian Peacekeepers would be not to be trifled with.

 

2. At the same time however, it would increase the differences between western and eastern Canada. An actual western separatist movement might very rise up as a significant threat.

[Steve]

Re: What if superheroes only appeared in a limited region?

 

If it was centered on my house, the effect would have some interesting ramifications.

 

Since I live on the West Coast, half of the effect would be out over the ocean. The rest of the effect would run north past Sacramento and south into a good portion of Mexico, and east into Utah, Nevada and Arizona.

 

Mexico suddenly having half the superhumans in the world would be a tremendous change in global power, and it would be especially frightening if a number of them worked for the narcotics gangs. There could be quite a few masked heroes though.

 

I wonder if individual states might try to set up laws to control superhumans or if it would go to the federal level? States have their own gun control laws, so maybe it would be a state matter.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: What if superheroes only appeared in a limited region?

 

With the luchadore tradition so popular in Mexico, masked superheroes and villains would be pretty much inevitable there.

[assault]

Re: What if superheroes only appeared in a limited region?

 

With the luchadore tradition so popular in Mexico' date=' masked superheroes and villains would be pretty much inevitable there. [/quote']

 

Consider yourself spanked.

 

Personally, my superhero worlds tend towards "superbeings are really, really, really rare", so this question doesn't really apply.

[kahuna's bro]

Re: What if superheroes only appeared in a limited region?

 

With the luchadore tradition so popular in Mexico' date=' masked superheroes and villains would be pretty much inevitable there. [/quote']if no superluchadores then the 3 M of evil as lucha libre HERO calls i would be shall we sy CAPITALIZED and the luchadore work would become much tougher

[Egyptoid]

Re: What if superheroes only appeared in a limited region?

 

I'm reminded of the movie Hancock. The personal battles and foibles would be brought right into the mix.

[Egyptoid]

Re: What if superheroes only appeared in a limited region?

 

I'm also reminded of the movie Contact.

 

what if the super-power induction beam required a device built to fine tune & localize the effects?

the sending civilization would first transmit the blueprint data, then 7 years later, the induction beam.

[Utech]

Re: What if superheroes only appeared in a limited region?

 

I live in Hello Kitty Town. I can only presume that the beam would strike San Rio Purolando and make all the costumed actors in there into super-powered versions of the characters they play. And the cute would rule.