Rehabilitating 'evil' Super powers

[CoreBrute]

Hey true believers. I came across an interesting idea while reading Irredemable yesterday. The leader of the Justice League equivalent, offered full pardons to supervillains who helped with the rebuilding effort. The resident team genius argued that certain villain's powers made them impossible to have a constructive use for the team or society as a whole.Taking that challenge, I wonder if, taking the role of career advisors we (myself and you genii who use this forum) could offer alternative employment opportunities to supervillains with destructive or 'evil' powers.

 

Some rules: you can't recommend 'being a superhero' or 'joining the military' as jobs. We are attempting to take them out of a life of violence and stress. By that same logic, you can't recommend government jobs that involve the term, "Wetworks" or "interrogation". Those are too similar to their existing professions, and just bring back old habits.

 

Also, you can't assume the power grants them something that relies on them having other skills or training. For example while some Telepaths have training as Psychologists like Emma Frost, being able to repair a psyche doesn't come automatically with the powers. We presume that the individual has no other skills or training besides their powers-otherwise scientist villains like The U-Foes could easily find employment in their respective fields. However, do not be afraid of recommending a profession that usually requires training-Microbe the bacteria manipulating New Warrior for example, would have done a lot of good as a doctor or research scientist. Despite the time required to train in medical school and expense.

 

Here are our first three villains-I'm sorry 'Empowered Individuals'.First is the Melter. He has been a supervillain for several years-his ability is the power to melt everything he touches without wearing a suit. Quite the Midas touch-he can't turn off his powers, but luckily he is immune to his own touch, or things could get awkward. Note, this is melting not disintegration like Dr Manhatten.

 

Second is an individual who refused to give me his name, and after what I saw him do with a knife, I felt it would be rude to pry. His power is, in his own words, "Super Murder". From what I can tell it is similar to what the Killer (I&II) can do in Wanted (the comic book). So what can we do for this young man?

 

Finally we have a young woman (she has a variety of aliases but the least profane one is 'Legs')whose ability is to inspire arrousal and attraction in men. Similar women with this power include Pretty Persuasions (Heidi P. Franklin), Stacy X and Alisha Bailey one of several unfortunate British 'Misfits' who were struck by lightning over 3 years ago. Now I think it is fair to say, that prostitution is not legal in either Britain or the US, but even if it was we would not recommend that.

 

So what can we do for these poor souls? Do you know of any other powers that could make an empowered being unemployable? Who else can we save from a life of crime?

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Rehabilitating 'evil' Super powers

 

Question re the Melter: does his power involve heat, or is it a direct change in the state of matter from solid to liquid? If the latter, he would be invaluable in rescue work for trapped persons. He'd have plenty of opportunities in demolition/construction as well.

 

Guy with a knife: is knife-work his specialty, or is he deadly with any weapon? Assuming the former, a career as an entertainment knife-thrower act is a possibility. With sufficient motivation and years of study, he could become a brilliant surgeon. If he's Jewish he'd easily find work as a kosher butcher.

 

Legs: In most jurisdictions in the United States, Sexual Surrogate is a recognized profession -- providing therapy for men with sexual disfunction. If actual physical contact is not acceptable, she could provide assistance with sperm-bank donations.

[CoreBrute]

Re: Rehabilitating 'evil' Super powers

 

Question re the Melter: does his power involve heat' date=' or is it a direct change in the state of matter from solid to liquid? If the latter, he would be invaluable in rescue work for trapped persons. He'd have plenty of opportunities in demolition/construction as well.[/quote']

The comic character is simply changing states of matter. But do you think that if he was a Human Torch who couldn't 'Flame off', it would be impossible for him to find employment?

 

Guy with a knife: is knife-work his specialty' date=' or is he deadly with any weapon? Assuming the former, a career as an entertainment knife-thrower act is a possibility. With sufficient motivation and years of study, he could become a brilliant surgeon. If he's Jewish he'd easily find work as a kosher butcher.[/quote']

 

He is actually proficient in killing with all manner of paraphanelia-Guns, knives, pencils, fleas. So he might make a good surgeon, because he knows exactly what movement of the scalpel will kill the patient-and avoid it.

 

If he's willing to learn arabic he could also make Halal meat. I don't think it specifically says anywhere the person killing the animal needs to be Muslim, so that could work without changing his religion.

 

Legs: In most jurisdictions in the United States' date=' Sexual Surrogate is a recognized profession -- providing therapy for men with sexual disfunction. If actual physical contact is not acceptable, she could provide assistance with sperm-bank donations.[/quote']

 

Brilliant! For the most part, touching wouldn't be necessary since most do it telepathically, but yeah either works.

 

Now we just need to figure out what to do about our eternally burning Human Torch.

[DShomshak]

Re: Rehabilitating 'evil' Super powers

 

If the heatless change of state the Melter produces is temporary -- i.e., if the material re-solidifies later -- he has several ways to become ridiculously wealthy. For a start, gemstone consolidation: I'm pretty sure a 100-carat diamond is worth a lot more than 1000 tenth-carat diamonds. DeBeers might pay him a great deal of money to do this. Or, possibly, pay him a great deal of money *not* to do it, so as to preserve the extraordinary value of the large natural stones.

 

For an extension, casting statuettes in materials that normally do not occur in sufficiently large masses, or that cannot normally be liquefied. Imagine a statuette cast from opal. If Melter lacks artistic talent, he can team up with a sculptor.

 

Dean Shomshak

[CoreBrute]

Re: Rehabilitating 'evil' Super powers

 

If the heatless change of state the Melter produces is temporary -- i.e.' date=' if the material re-solidifies later -- he has several ways to become ridiculously wealthy. For a start, gemstone consolidation: I'm pretty sure a 100-carat diamond is worth a lot more than 1000 tenth-carat diamonds. DeBeers might pay him a great deal of money to do this. Or, possibly, pay him a great deal of money *not* to do it, so as to preserve the extraordinary value of the large natural stones.[/quote'] it's non-reversible as far as I can tell. But maybe he never tried?Otherwise brilliant idea.

[Tasha]

Re: Rehabilitating 'evil' Super powers

 

For the Melter. If he can control his power somewhat (ie heating to high temp and not insta melt) he could really help anywhere metal shaping is used. Heck perhaps with a welding rod in a gloved hand (assuming that a glove could be found that is immune to his power). He could become a welder and build stuff. If he can only turn cold things into melted things he could get a job in the Recycling business. First dismantling then melting the metal into a form that could be formed into anything. If he is basically immune to the heat from the item he heats up. He could become a metal or Glass sculpter. Heck he could get into glass blowing and shaping. He wouldn't ever need a torch or furnace to keep his work hot enough to work on it.

 

The knowledge that doing damage to living beings could be turned into medical training. Perhaps eventually becoming a gifted Surgeon. Able to do difficult surgeries due to his skill with a scalpel. That would take a LOT of schooling though. Also a pardon and an identity change (noone would want their surgeon to have been Super Murder)

 

The women who can inspire attraction and arousal in people would make great sales people. They would be very good at it. They would be best as face to face sales people though. They would also have a certain number of people returning stuff (ie "I don't know what came over me when I bought that $500,000 car.)

 

They could also work as therapists to turn Pedophiles into regular guys. By helping them to refocus their arousal toward women and not children. Using their powers as positive reinforcement. This wouldn't require sex, just repeated application of their power while looking at women. (Don't know if this would work IRL, but positive reinforcement should work). The only downside to this would be to not turn the subjects into addicts of the person's power.

[Tasha]

Re: Rehabilitating 'evil' Super powers

 

If the heatless change of state the Melter produces is temporary -- i.e., if the material re-solidifies later -- he has several ways to become ridiculously wealthy. For a start, gemstone consolidation: I'm pretty sure a 100-carat diamond is worth a lot more than 1000 tenth-carat diamonds. DeBeers might pay him a great deal of money to do this. Or, possibly, pay him a great deal of money *not* to do it, so as to preserve the extraordinary value of the large natural stones.

 

For an extension, casting statuettes in materials that normally do not occur in sufficiently large masses, or that cannot normally be liquefied. Imagine a statuette cast from opal. If Melter lacks artistic talent, he can team up with a sculptor.

 

Dean Shomshak

 

Diamonds need great pressure as well as heat to form. Heating a diamond in oxygen would probably just make it burn (they are just crystalized carbon).

[esampson]

Re: Rehabilitating 'evil' Super powers

 

Diamonds need great pressure as well as heat to form. Heating a diamond in oxygen would probably just make it burn (they are just crystalized carbon).

 

You have to heat a diamond quite a lot to get it to burn. If his melting ability is 'heatless' then its possible he could melt the diamonds together (although it is also possible he would reduce the diamonds to lower energy alleotropes like graphene). However, even excluding diamonds there are other gemstones like sapphires that could be joined together.

 

Of course this assumes that whatever he's touching re-solidifies after he's done touching it. If that isn't the case he could quite possibly find a career producing unique materials such as lead which is liquid at room temperature and which might have some interesting uses.

[psyber624]

Re: Rehabilitating 'evil' Super powers

 

If you have "Human Torch" that cant turn off, the local utility company would gladly build him a special room, with a nearly meltproof tv, and pay him to sit in it providing heat to turn steam turbines. Free, efficient, pollution free electricity.

[Cassandra]

Re: Rehabilitating 'evil' Super powers

 

Rebuilding after what? The Government is the only organization that can issue pardons. It would have to be a big deal.

[CoreBrute]

Re: Rehabilitating 'evil' Super powers

 

Rebuilding after what? The Government is the only organization that can issue pardons. It would have to be a big deal.

In the comic I am talking about 'irredeemable' the rebuilding takes place after the Superman expy of that universe went insane. He destroyed his home city,flooded Singapore (think it was Singapore) and killed millions worldwide as he kept the world in fear. So yes, it is quite a big deal.