Super Powereds / Characters

The characters of Super Powereds are diverse, funny, and all together too human, adding great depth to this big story. As the author him self notes:

"Why I have giant casts: I just need a quick character for a small role aaaand dammit now she has a motif and a backstory and is too much fun

Some spoilers are unmarked, read at your own risk!

Melbrook Students

open/close all folders

General

Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: A homeless but oddly idealistic orphan with energy absorbtion powers, a scheming junior member of a Vegas crime family with supernatural luck, a lonely rich girl with flight and gravity manipulation powers, a telepathic recluse who lived in the forest without human contact for years, and the shifting super-strong son (or sons) of a disgraced Hero. The only thing they all have in common at the beginning of the story, apart from all being roughly college-aged, is that they were all former Powereds who underwent experimental training to become Supers.
True Companions: They become this slowly, along with Fire-Forged Friends. It starts with their mountain trek, established with Mary and Hershel's kidnapping, and strengthened both with their second year team matches and being prepared to sacrifice themselves for Nick.

Vince Reynolds

A silver-haired young man with energy absorption powers. Vince is far and away the most idealistic of the Melbrook gang. After becoming a Hero he goes by the name Jack of All.

Bromantic Foil: To his best friend Nick; Nick's a ruthless Nominal Hero who trusts no one and is only Obfuscating Stupidity when he's really a Manipulative Bastard. Vince...isn't.
Beware the Nice Ones: Vince is incredibly kind-hearted to everyone he meets, right up until you threaten his friends.
The Cape: Vince is kind, idealistic, helpful and always believes the best of everyone. If there were a Most Likely To Pass ranking, Vince would be at the top of the list from day 1.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: One of his biggest traits, which we see first when he volunteers to look after Hershel/Roy. If you're in trouble, HE WILL HELP.
Condescending Compassion: His greatest flaw is that he will never make a serious effort against anyone he perceives to be in any way weaker than himself, even when doing so is actively detrimental to his goals. It costs his team the win in the match against Chad's team because his opponent was Selena, and he Would Not Hit a Girl. He gets over it in year 3.
Culture Blind: He is utterly guileless.
Determinator: Another one of his biggest traits. If he has truly set his sights on doing something, your only way to stop him is to knock him out and keep him that way.
Establishing Character Moment: A very subtle one, but after the former powereds are getting back from their first year special orientation, Vince is the only one who is asleep, because he has such a simple mindset.
"Vince was asleep. Unlike the others, he hadn’t had any large revelations about his roommates or sudden fears about the day to grapple with. Vince had merely come in, undressed, and gotten into bed."
Everybody Hates Mathematics: Vince is terrible at math, which is justified since he never had proper schooling, and his adoptive father wasn't big on the subject either. This nearly causes him to flunk out of the program, since he has to maintain a "C" average in all his normal classes. Nick resorts to cheating on Vince's behalf and then tricking Vince into thinking that he took the final himself.
Good Is Not Soft: Even if you're a straight up jerk to him, he can be pretty kind and soft-spoken. Woe betide ANYONE who tries to hurt others, then you get to meet Vince The Stoic badass. If you're unlucky enough to target someone he cares about, then you're looking at Tranquil Fury meets Unstoppable Rage.
Happily Adopted: He was adopted by a drifter, later revealed to be Globe, who teaches him how to fight, survive on the road, and gives him his strong sense of morality. He considers the man to be his true father and shows no interest in learning about his biological parents.
The Heart: Vince is very much the moral center of the Melbrook group and often plays Morality Pet, especially to Nick.
Heroic BSoD: Experiences this upon discovering that his father really is the supervillain Globe, and he's alive. He nearly burns down the school by accident, but Rich acts quickly and puts him into a trance, allowing Vince to work out his issues in his head.
Horrible Judge of Character: Vince is often accused of being this, mostly because he always believes in the best in everyone and for someone who used to live on the streets he can be quite gullible and overly trusting. However, often his unfaltering belief in the goodness of people turns out to be right — the biggest example is Nick, who develops into a better person over his two years at Lander mainly because of Vince's conviction that he's really a good guy.
Innocent Blue Eyes: He has bright blue eyes and is very innocent.
Leeroy Jenkins: He's very reckless, and it's such a flaw that even Camille, who damn near thinks he's perfect, claims this as his worst trait.
Lethal Chef: A variant. Vince is actually a decent cook, but a life on the road means he's unused to modern appliances. The results tend to be spectacular and lead to him getting banned from the kitchen without supervision.
Nice Guy: Extremely and sometimes illogically so. He is thoroughly caring, supportive, and empathetic with others. This makes him a bit of a Bromantic Foil with the cynical, untrusting Nick.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: It is very rare to see Vince outside of his normal unflappably calm, happy self, but whenever it is it usually isn't good.
Power of Friendship:Pulls this on Nick at the end of the first year after Hershel and Mary are Kidnapped. He has such faith that Nick will help that he doesn't even bat an eye when he does.
Sheep in Sheep's Clothing: Vince is nice, amiable, caring, and an all around selfless guy. Obviously most people think something is up with him.
Team Chef: He states in his second year that he can cook, though apparently using technology based cooking equipment eludes him. Justified since he spent five years on his own and probably needed basic cooking skills to survive.
The Teetotaler: He doesn't like to drink much. While initially this is because he fears he will lose control of his power when intoxicated, after resolving this issue, he doesn't drink because he simply doesn't like it.

Nicholas "Nick" Campbell

Hailing from Las Vegas, Nevada, Nick is the planner of the team, and a bit of a motally gray cynic who hides his sharp mind behind a mask of affable goofiness. In the Distant Epilogue he's a senator.

Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: Nick is the one to execute Crispin after Alex chooses to let him live. He also orchestrates the death of Charles Adair, the ultimate villain of the whole story, manipulating Adair into shooting him, while increasing the probability of a catastrophic misfire to 100%, which sends a piece of shrapnel through the shooter's eye and into his brain.
Becoming the Mask: When Nicholas enrolls at Lander, he adopts a laid-back, friendly and slightly goofy "Nick" persona as a means of Obfuscating Stupidity and hiding his true, cold and calculating nature. As time passes, though, he grows into the role so much that he essentially becomes the person he was pretending to be — even his passion for really bad slasher movies, which he just adopted as part of his persona, becomes genuine. This becomes an important plot point in Year Three, when he has been expelled and memory-wiped, going back to his original personality. Over the course of the year, he repeatedly comes into conflict with the person he'd become. A storyline running through the book depicts several dream sequences where the two personalities — cold and dispassionate "Nicholas" and amiable, compassionate "Nick" — interact and fight for control.
Bromantic Foil: To his best friend Vince; Vince is an All-Loving Ideal Hero who believes people genuinely want to help others. He's also an Idiot Hero who is much better with fighting than thinking ahead or controlling a room. Nick...isn't.
The Cynic: Sharp contrast to Vince, Nick always believes the worst of everyone and is always planning on how best to exploit their weaknesses when they inevitably turn on him. Vince is the first person to ever challenge his unwavering cynicism.
Deadpan Snarker: Most of the characters indulge in a little snark every now and again, but Nick lives and breathes the trope. If he's not cracking wise or making some snide remark, then something is probably seriously wrong.
Heroic Sacrifice: Of the academic kind. Nick deliberately orchestrates events that lead to his expulsion and memory wipe for multiple reasons - in order to keep Vince in the program (In his mind, someone like him can never be a true Hero, while Vince is the poster boy for heroism); to strip himself of the empathy and friendship he developed as "Nick" and return to the ruthless "Nicholas"; to purge his memory of his conclusions and evidence for Shelby's continuing existence, and Charles' actions and motivations.
Improbable Aiming Skills: Nick has been training to shoot with all manner of firearms since a very young age. He first demonstrates this to Coach Persephone by Dual Wielding pistols and obliterating most of the targets at the shooting range.
Irony: A guy from Las Vegas with luck powers.
Morality Chain: The other Melbrook students, but Vince in particular, turn him from The Cynic into... still a pretty big cynic, but a much better and more compassionat person than he was before meeting them. When his memories of them are erased he goes back to being the cynical asshole he was at the start.
The Movie Buff: Nick absolutely loves slasher flicks and frequently hijacks weekend nights for slasher marathons, something every other person hates. Interestingly, Nicholas hates them.
Obfuscating Stupidity: He affects the nature of an average slightly dimwitted goof in order to hide his true personality, though he eventually grows into the role.
Self-Made Orphan: Nick thinks that his luck powers may have resulted in his parents' fatal car accident, while he walked away (well, sort of, he was only four months old) unscathed.
The Smart Guy: Nick is by far the smartest and wiliest of all the students in the series, being a Manipulative Bastard and The Strategist for the Melbrook students. Mary even admits this. While there are people who can out-think and out-maneuver him, they tend to be veteran Supers with decades of experience — and even they sometimes find that he can surprise them.
Sunglasses at Night: Nick always wears sunglasses, partly to cover up the fact that his eyes glow when uses his powers and partly as part of his disguise.
Video Will: A living variant. Before being expelled and memory-wiped, Nick asks Mr. Numbers to give one of his slasher flick DVDs to his friends to watch, knowing that they would, if reluctantly, honor his wish. The DVD turns out to contain a video message from Nick, who explains to them why he did what he did. He also tells Vince that the "Father" in Vince's lucid dream was, in fact, Globe himself and that Alice's mother is likely still alive.
Winds of Destiny, Change!: Nick's powers are vaguely described as "luck", both good and bad. Nick doesn't have much faith in the strength of his powers, though Globe suggests they're a lot stronger than he knows. Some of that is demonstrated near the end of Year 1, where Nick turns his powers up to eleven and causes a truck speeding down a highway to experience every possible malfunction at once. The vehicle nearly falls apart into a thousand pieces. It is further confirmed in Year 3, when Globe uses an enhancer to ramp up Nick's power to beyond what his body could normally stand, revealing his ability to perceive the odds and probable consequences to every action, allowing him to choose the actions that yield precisely the result he wants

Alice Adair

The socialite daughter of mega-billionaire Charles Adair. She's from Los Angeles, California. After becoming a Hero she goes by the name Legacy.

Defrosting Ice Queen: At the beginning of Year One she's aloof and more than a little snobbish, and not at all happy to have to room with other ex-Powereds. She quickly warms up to the others, though, and long before the first year is over her Spoiled Sweet nature shows up.
Family of Choice: Decides that her family is with the rowdy students in Melbrook dorm than with her distant father.
Gravity Master: Turns out Alice's power wasn't flying after all; it was gravity control.
Hidden Depths: Despite all expectations to the contrary, Alice shows she has skills in Subtlety, such as when she manipulates Nick into leaving her along in the boys' section, so she can use her pre-programmed access to get into his room and copy his homework assignment, or when she calls mall security on Professor Pendleton in order to find him quickly and pass the extra credit assignment. Given that Pendleton is revealed to be her uncle, which Alice doesn't know, it's clear that sneakiness and resourcefulness are family traits.
I Believe I Can Fly: Alice's original power. Back when she was a Powered, the ability would activate when she was feeling strong emotions and would cut out just as abruptly, causing her to be afraid of outside (no ceiling to stop her from flying too high and then plummeting). Since the procedure, she has become quite adept at flying.
Lonely Rich Kid: Alice grew up in luxury, but with a Missing Mom and a faather who was often busy and was emotionally distant even when he was present. She had no friends before she was accepted into Lander.
Most Common Superpower: Alice is stated to have a stunning figure, including a moderately-sized bust.
The Social Expert: After having warmed up to her surroundings, Alice proves to have great people skills and can get along with pretty much anyone.
Spoiled Sweet: In a lot of ways Alice is a typical rich girl with lots of money to spend on clothes and suchlike, but she's actually a very kind and empathetic person who heartily strives towards being a hero, where she originally just signed on to gain control of her powers. In fact, in Year 2, when she casually mentions owning a beach house, everyone is a little surprised at first, and she has to remind them that she's rich. By that point, she has already mellowed to the point where she acts like everybody else. In Year 3, when Nathaniel attacks her and Nicholas and threatens her with his criminal family, she laughs at him and tells him that her father has a private army at his disposal and can ruin his family with a single phone call, but she would rather deal with him herself.
Strong Family Resemblance: As her father notes, Alice looks a lot like her late mother, especially after she puts glitter around her eyes. Sean Pendleton, Alice's uncle, notes the resemblance as well.

Hershel and Roy Daniels

The son(s) of former hero Titan, they share a body. Hershel's a classic nerd, while Roy is a more confident ladies man. Hershel is from Chicago. Roy affects to be from "the deep south", Texas and thereabouts. After becoming a Hero they go by the name Ettin.

The Big Guy: Roy, who is, by far the physically strongest of their whole class.
Cap: In Year 2, Roy realizes he may have hit a wall as far as his strength goes, unsure why he can lift a certain weight many times but be unable to lift a weight slightly heavier than that. It turns out that, being a manifestation of Hershel's power fantasy, his maximum strength is directly proportional to Hershel's. Thus, in order for him to raise his cap, Hershel has to start exercising too.
Beware the Nice Ones: Hershel is a sweet guy most of the time, but he can be surprisingly ruthless and carries around a lot of pent up anger. It's telling that when the brothers meet their father, Roy just tries to leave, but Hershel punches him in the face.
Carry a Big Stick: Roy picks a club as a weapon for his Weapons specialization classes. He explains his choice by the fact that he himself is a blunt instrument. It makes sense that his weapon would be one as well.
The Determinator: Say what you want about Roy, but if there's one positive thing about him, it's that he never quits. When paired up with Chad for sparring matches, he knows he's far lower than Chad, but that doesn't stop him from getting up and attacking Chad every time Chad effortlessly pounds him to the ground, improving a little each time. Even Chad is impressed. By mid-Year 3, he's stronger and tougher than Chad, meaning reaction time, technique, and skill are now Chad's primary advantages.
Double Consciousness: Hershel and Roy share a body and can switch between eachother, though they consider themselves brothers rather than the same person.
Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Roy was an enormous Jerkass in the first book. It wasn't until Mary blackmailed him by threatening to tell his mother that he actually started to cool down. Later, when his mom starts dating Mr. Transport, Roy only makes peace with it after a series of choice threats to the man should be wrong her.
The Friend Nobody Likes: Roy, in first year. The only reason why the other Melbrook students tolerate him is because he and Hershel are kind of a package deal, and they all do like Hershel. They do warm up considerably to Roy after he Took a Level in Kindness though.
Geek Physique: Geeky Herchel starts out as being chubby and out of shape, because Roy is always there to deal with the physical hardships. After they realize that Roy's strength is proportional to Hershel's, Hershel begind working out and slowly becomes fitter and more muscular.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: There's a good reason why Roy starts out as The Friend Nobody Likes. He's selfish, self-centered, arrogant, insensitive, disrespectful, rude and mildly sexist. But for all his negative traits, he does have a heart — turns out that even though he's always insulting and causing problems for Hershel, he's actually really protective of him, and as time goes on this protective streak encompasses all his fellow Melbrook students. He also has a big problem with bullies and those who push around people who are weaker than themselves.
LARP: Hershel is an avid LARPer and has shown to be a pretty good tactician, as skill he later learns to apply at the HCP.
Satellite Character: Defied by both of them. Hershel always considered himself a second-fiddle in his own body, as Roy is the one with Super-Strength and looks and charm, but their father revealed that Roy is a unique manifestation of Hershel's own powers, which increase Roy's strength in proportion to his own, after which he was glad that he was a significant contributor to both of their growth. For his part, Roy maintains that he is his own person rather than Hershel's power fantasy.
Superpowered Alter Ego: Roy is this to Hershel, he's taller, has better luck with the ladies and is super strong.
Took a Level in Badass: While the entire cast is constantly doing this as their skills and understanding of their powers improve, the biggest improvement is definitely Roy, who got effortlessly curbstomped by Chad in Year 1, but managed a double knockout against him in Year 3.
Took a Level in Kindness: Roy starts the series as pretty insufferable; arrogant and dirsespectful and only ever thinking about himself and what he can get out of a situation. He goes through several Break the Haughty moments in the first book, and while he never quite loses his in-your-face attiude, he slowly becomes a much better, more considerate and friendly, person.

Mary Smith

A diminutive woman from Louisiana by way of Colorado.

Beware the Nice Ones: Though very nice and kind, Mary is very practical and won't hesitate to use force to quickly and utterly eliminate any threat to her friends, even if that threat is also one of her friends.
Brainy Brunette: She's a brunette, and with the possible exception of Nick, she's definitely the smartest of the Melbrook students.
Dream Walker: Mary later realizes she has this ability. At first, it only works with those, whose mental resistance has been weakened by Rich putting them into a dream. She later learns to overcome a person's resistance.
The Leader: As the Team Mom of the Melbrook group, Mary quickly establishes herself as their sort of unofficial leader. When she's made team leader in the second year, it just kind of solidifies that role.
Mind over Matter: In terms of raw power, Mary is one of the strongest telekinetics in the world. Her only lacks are lack of training, focus, and precision. Unlike Alex, she had trouble with precision manipulation, although she's getting better at it thanks to Professor Stone's Control training.
Psychic Powers: Mary is telepathic and telekinetic.
Smart People Play Chess: Kind of played with. In the first book, as part of a pretty obvious Batman Gambit, Mary sets up a regular chess game with Mr Numbers, despite never having played chess before and not really knowing how to play. She's absolutely terrible at the game and always loses, but she gets slightly better with each session.
Team Mom: Called this numerous times. She gets very exasperated trying to keep up with everyone.
There Are No Therapists: Defied. She drops out of the HCP and becomes a psychiatrist like Dr Moran because there aren't enough therapists that specialize in helping Heroes.

Melbrook's Student Allies

open/close all folders

Alex Griffen

Alex is empathic and telekinetic. He believes his powers come from The Force. After becoming a Hero he goes by the name Knockoff.

Died in Your Arms Tonight: Sasha was killed in front of him.
A Hero to His Hometown: In his hometown, he was the only Super around, so he was popular and respected by all. At Lander, he's... not.
Insistent Terminology: Alex is not telekinetic or telepathic, he's a Jedi. To be fair, he does demonstrate certain aspects of his abilities that can't be replicated by other telepaths and telekinetics, such as manipulating energy and sound, as well as sensing robots.
Love Hurts: One girlfriend cheated on him, another died. His love life has been torture.

Camille Belden

Another student in the HCP, with a mysterious connection to Vince. After becoming a Hero she goes by the name Adrestia.

Cluster F-Bomb: While Camille is normally very reserved and polite, Vince's reckless heroics can drive her to outright yell at him, peppering her speech with plenty of swear words for impact (especially if she's the reason for those heroics).
I Am Not Left-Handed: As Chad finds out first hand, she's not merely a healer, but an absorber.
First Kiss: To Vince and vice versa.
Hidden Depths: Goes hand in hand with the above-mentioned I Am Not Left-Handed trope. Just like Camille at first seems like she's a healer, but in reality is an absorber who can inflict pain and injury as easily as she can absorb it... there is also a lot more to her than the Shrinking Violet Nice Girl that she appears like at first. She's a lot stronger, tougher and braver than anyone could have imagined... and she's also much more cunning and clever, at times even bordering on Manipulative Bitch — nowhere near on the level of Nick or even Alice, but she does occasionally show that she's not above playing people in order to achieve the desired results.
Nice Girl: While she does have a few hidden edges and can be surprisingly vicious if pressed, she is overall one of the kindest and most empathetic students at the HCP, completely without prejudice or malice.
Protectorate: She initially assumed he didn't remember her from when they met as children and rather than try and intrude on his then-current relationship with Sasha, instead resolved to simply do anything she can to protect him regardless.
Shrinking Violet: Though she works hard to overcome this description, Camille is very shy and reserved, especially around Vince. Luckily, she has friends, who are actively trying to get her and Vince together.
Touch of Death: Her ability isn't just healing: she actually absorbs damage and can give it back later with a touch. This even bypasses super toughness, making her extremely dangerous to fight hand to hand.

Chad Taylor

The son of a hero who is dead set on emulating his father's life and proving that he was a great hero. After becoming a Hero he goes by the name Intra.

The Ace: He's hands down the strongest student in of his HCP class, but Angela ends up beating him during their match.
Berserk Button: Any mention of Globe or his father's murder.
The Comically Serious: He has traces of this, especially when he tries his hand at trash-talking.
Condescending Compassion: Towards pretty much everyone, but particularly Roy, in his first year. He is the top of the class and by far the most skilled and dedicated fighter, and as such he has a tendency to sum up anyone substantially weaker than him as not worth his time when it comes to combat training, because fighting them "won't teach him anything," and genuinely believing that this counts as being merciful towards them. He eventually grows out of this attitude.
The Determinator: The real reason why he's consistently the top of his year — he gives everything to succeed. As the narrative puts it, "Chad Taylor was the absolute embodiment of determination."
Disappeared Dad: Chad's father was murdered by Globe when Chad was just a kid.
Defrosting Ice Queen: Male example. At first, Chad is an aloof and somewhat cold guy who doesn't have a lot of friends because he thinks of nothing but training, improving himself and becoming a hero. As his time in the HCP goes on thogh, he gradually begins opening up to the others and starts to see the value of having personal relationships with other people.
Generation Xerox: He attempted to invoke this by applying to Lander, the same HCP school his father went to. His power is also nearly identical to his father's. He even tries to copy some of his father's tricks (including the extremely gross blood-based water saw).
Healing Factor: Total control over his body down to the molecular level means he can heal most wounds in seconds, as long as he's conscious and hasn't suffered any brain damage.
Heart Is an Awesome Power: He can think of some pretty crazy stuff to use with his powers, including a blood water saw. It even lets him alter his brain to make him immune to telepathy, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Jack of All Stats: There are students who are stronger, faster, and smarter than Chad, but what makes him so formidable is his adaptability and versatility.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Present mainly at the start, he was incredibly blunt and devoid of tact, and talked down to everyone. He later softens up and shows that he's a nice guy.
Legacy Hero: He takes his father's Hero name after graduating the HCP.
Master of Your Domain: His power is complete control over his body on a molecular level. His father had the same power.
Photographic Memory: A side effect of his power.
Psychic Static: A neat side effect of Chad rewiring his brain to improve performance. It no longer broadcasts on the same "frequency" as all other brains, so psychics aren't even able to detect him on their Psychic Radar, much less read his thoughts.
Spock Speak: Chad tends to speak in a cold, precise manner, using long words for common concepts. When telling his friends that he had fun at an event, Angela asks him not to sound like a physics professor.
Super-Reflexes: When Chad overclocks his brain, he speeds up his perception of the world, effectively slowing down everything else from his viewpoint. This allows him to react nearly as quick as a speedster to a threat. He has to be careful not to do it too much and for too long, as it can result in permanent brain damage.
Super-Strength: A conscious side effect of his power, caused by him ingesting massive amounts of minerals and forcing his muscles to absorb them, becoming extremely strong. He does the same thing to make his bones nigh-unbreakable, and even his skin is hard to penetrate.

Will Murray

Will is a very smart guy who has technical genius to compliment his sister Jill's technopathy. He's friendly but somewhat aloof and logical. He's also a very bad person to get on the bad side of. After becoming a Hero he goes by the name Technomancer.

Crazy-Prepared: Anticipating that he might not be able to use his hands to activate one of his devices in battle, he programs in an additional vocal trigger. Naturally, this ends up being useful.
Gadgeteer Genius: His powers are advanced intelligence, which allows him to invent all kinds of gadgets to help him. He also builds equipment for his Technopath sister, including Powered Armor.
Guile Hero: On top of being the best Subtlety student, the guy can out think the game before it has even begun.
Knight Templar Big Brother: Despite being the younger brother (by a few seconds) he definitely has this trope in spades. In Year 3, Jill asks the question to her subconscious "Why would I ever want to be like Will?". Cue the memory sequence of Jill hiding from her mother so she doesn't get beaten. What happens when she finds her daughter? Her brother steps in for some off-screen revenge. Whatever he did was so bad that she relinquished custody to their father the next day.
Theme Twin Naming: Will and Jill. In fact, it's mentioned that Will insists on being called "Will" and not "William" or "Bill".
Weak, but Skilled: Physically, Will is the weakest person in the class. However, his inventions, intellect, and ruthless pragmatism make him one of the most dangerous.

Thomas Castillo

Honorable, tan-skinned, and strong. Able to project beams of orange energy that he can manipulate into any shape he wishes. One of the first to support the Melbrook students, after the truth comes out. After becoming a Hero he goes by the name Citrine.

The Cape: Next to Vince, he's probably the most moral, wholesome, and kind person in the class.
The Fettered: Thomas possesses a strong moral code and judges people by their actions, not their origins.
Old Flame: Previously dated Violet and still carries a torch for her, while trying not to show it.
Pure Energy: Can project and manipulate orange energy.
Worthy Opponent: Has a friendly rivalry with Vince that never gets out of hand.

Stella Hawkins

A loud, combative girl, who always speaks in class without raising her hand. Can turn her skin into steel, granting her enhanced strength and endurance. A staunch ally of the Melbrook students, but one who ultimately leaves the HCP in the third year.

Can't Catch Up: Stella is a strong, capable fighter, but in the end, all she's good at is combat, and other students like Roy, Chad, and Violet are just better at it.
Chrome Champion: Stella can turn her skin into steel with the appropriate visual appearance.
Made of Iron: When turning into steel, she gains Super-Strength and greater endurance.
Real Women Don't Wear Dresses: Being a Tomboy, Stella tends to wear practical clothing and doesn't usually go for the "girly stuff". That said, she has no problem with other girls doing that and doesn't respect them any less for it.
Slap-Slap-Kiss: During the river trip, she gets into a heated argument with Roy over his sexist comments. This results in a fight between the two, showing that they're evenly matched. After Roy explains that his comments weren't misogynistic (but still sexist), she calms down a bit. They still fight for about an hour after that and then spend the next several hours having wild sex in the woods. This appears to have been a one-time thing, though.

Selena Williams

A beautiful, tan-skinned girl with an enchanting (literally) voice. Dates Alex until the winter break of Year 2. After becoming a Hero she goes by the name Songstress, although it takes her a second try, as she doesn't make the cut the first time.

Compelling Voice: Selena's voice can affect people in various ways, depending on what she wishes. Even covering their ears doesn't help, as the vibration is still felt by the brain. More subtle influence tends to last for a longer period, while more immediate and large influence wears off quickly. If the target is drunk, the results can be a little unpredictable.

Jill Murray

Will Murray's twin sister. Jill is a Technopath, which is fortunate, since her brother is a Gadgeteer Genius. She had a troubled childhood, which appears to result in her often dating abusive jerks. She drops out of the HCP in Year 4 and goes to work with Mr Numbers and Mr Transport's company as Miss Tech.

Living Emotional Crutch: Will relies on her a great deal to be his moral compass, admitting that without her, he would be a half-crazed shut in.
Love Martyr: Jill seems to fall for Jerkass guys, who end up abusing her (physically and/or emotionally). Occasionally, Will has to step in and help her get out of a bad relationship, although he does this without her knowing.
Pinball Projectile: Apparently, Will has upgraded Jill's Power Armor to be able to fire energy blasts that bounce off walls.
Technopath: Jill is able to manipulate technology at a distance (how far away is never specified). Her brother Will, a Gadgeteer Genius, designs custom-made devices for her to use in combat, such as Powered Armor. Given her ability, Jill can activate the armor's systems without any normal interface.

Violet Sullivan

Stella's best friend. Able to change her body's density, gaining strength and endurance. Exceptional fighter. Very easy-going. Briefly dated Thomas and is seemingly unaware that he still has feelings for her. After becoming a Hero she goes by the name Plummet.

Death from Above: One of Violet's favorite tactics. She will lower her density enough to float over her target, then ramp up her density levels and crash down on them.
Hollywood Density: Violet can increase her density at will, becoming stronger and tougher as a result. Apparently, this happens without her becoming smaller or hollow. No word on where the extra mass comes from.
Intangibility: Violet can lower her density to the point where she can pass through objects. However, it's not instant. If there are heavy objects on top of her, and she's in her "heavy density" mode, trying to do this can result in her being with normal density for a few moments, which can prove fatal.
Not Quite Flight: In Year 2, Violet learns to hover by lowering her density. She can then propel herself by selectively increasing a body part's density for a split second and "throwing" it in the direction she wants to fly. While it's very jerky, she learns to simulate flight fairly well.
Oblivious to Love: Violet either doesn't notice or refuses to admit that Thomas is obviously still carrying a torch for her after their brief romantic period. As far as she's concerned, they're just friends now. The others aren't willing to point out the truth to her.

Other Lander students

open/close all folders

Michael Clark

A bald, blue-eyed tough guy with cold abilities, who develops a grudge against Vince and constantly seeks to prove himself against him.

The Alcoholic: He starts drinking heavily not long after enrolling at Lander, unaware that he has a genetic predilection for alcoholism.
Arch-Nemesis: Thinks this about Vince, while Vince would rather Michael leave him alone and doesn't know what his deal is. Early in Year 2, though, Vince shows him that Michael is nowhere near Vince's current level and is thoroughly trounced.
Boxing Battler: His preferred fighting style.
The Bully: Exhibits some signs of this and revels in violence.
The Bus Came Back: When Vince goes to Lander's East Campus over winter break in Year 4, he meets Michael there.
Determinator: Deconstructed. Whenever Michael suffers a defeat, he becomes obsessed with surpassing the person who defeated him. It was actually a point in his favor when admitted to the HCP. However, this obsession led him to become more violent and unstable, leading to his eventual expulsion.
An Ice Person: Can fire cold blasts out of his hands that form ice on objects they touch and can also form ice armor around his body for protection.
Put on the Bus: His maniacal behavior results in Dean Blaine transferring him to Lander's Eastern Campus, which appears to be a special program for troubled students with potential.

Sasha Foster

A fun-loving girl with streaks of pink in her hair and the ability to move extremely fast. She dates Vince until his origins are revealed and then spends a long time hating him for lying to her.

Character Death: She's killed in the assault on Lander by the Sons of Progress in Year 3.
Pyrrhic Victory: During a team match in Year 2, she utterly Curb Stomp Battles Camille only to realize too late that this one act has cost her any chance of getting back together with Vince.
Super-Speed: Sasha can move very fast. During the class's river trip, she opts to get to the river by herself rather than spend hours in a car, easily passing any vehicle on the highway.
Torso with a View: Sasha takes an even faster speedster's fist through her chest, trying to protect Alex from the same fate. She doesn't survive.
Woman Scorned: Treats Vince like crap for the first part of Year 2 over the fact that he concealed the truth from her about being a former Powered.

Julia Shaw

An oversexed girl with the ability to create multiple copies of herself. Spends the entire first year as Roy's sex buddy but shuns him for much of Year 2, mostly for social reasons, despite still being sexually attracted to him.

Hive Mind: Julia experiences everything her copies do. She uses that to have frequent wild sex, while still remaining a Technical Virgin. During a team match in Year 2, she uses her copies as a Subspace Ansible of sorts, relaying information to each team member by sending a copy with each group.
Self-Duplication: Julia can create multiple copies of herself with a Hive Mind. It's originally stated that all of her clones are equal, but then this is revealed to be false. There is an original. In fact, she frequently sends a clone to a party, while being the designated driver herself. This allows her to experience everything a clone does without her own body being affected by the negative consequences.
Technical Virgin: Due to her unique power, she claims to still be a virgin, even though she spends most of Year 1 having crazy sex with Roy. She points out that her own body has never been penetrated, and won't be until marriage. Roy has only ever slept with her clones. This doesn't stop her from actively enjoying sex (if a little vicariously). This also means that there's absolutely no risk of her catching an STD or getting pregnant.
Twin Threesome Fantasy: Creating multiple copies allows her to engage in this with Roy, the difference being that she feels what every clone is experiencing.

Shane Desoto

Chad's best friend and frequent sparring partner. A skilled martial artist on par with Vince. Obsessed with training hard enough to be able to beat his older sister Angela. Can create and manipulate shadow constructs. After becoming a Hero he goes by the name Styx.

Badass Bookworm: While Shane spends a fair amount of his time at the gym, he also devotes a lot of effort to learning biology. This allows him to know exactly which muscles he can cut with his shadow constructs without causing the target to bleed out (a Hero's goal is to incapacitate and capture, not kill).
Bad Powers, Bad People: Shane is well aware of this trope, and he knows his power is well suited to killing. He actively works to defy it, studying anatomy and honing his precision so he can take down targets non lethally and avoid only being called in for "scorched earth" tactics.
Dark Is Not Evil: Angela even comments on the irony that the universe took one of the most murderous powers and gave it to someone as kind-hearted as Shane. If he weren't so firmly on the side of good, he would be a truly terrifying assassin.
Living Shadow: Shane can create and manipulate shadows in stark contrast to his sister, who can do the same with Hard Light. While he can use shadows for brute force strikes, he prefers to hone his precision skills, using surgical strikes to incapacitate his opponents. He has inherited this ability from his grandfather, the first Hero, who also has other powers.
Sibling Rivalry: One of Shane's goals is to train hard enough to, eventually, be able to defeat his sister and be permitted to use the Captain Starlight name by their grandfather, the first costumed Hero. However, since she's the top student in her class, this isn't likely to happen any time soon.
Worthy Opponent: Shane feels this way towards Vince, acknowledging Vince's skills, while, at the same time, pointing out that Vince is a mediocre fighter and isn't likely to make the cut.

Angela Desoto

Shane's older sister, one year ahead of the protagonists' class. Top-ranked in her class, she has excellent fighting skills and the ability to manipulate Hard Light. She is actively pursuing Chad. After becoming a Hero she goes by the name Charon.

The Ace: She graduated top of her class and swept the Intramurals that pits the top ranks of each of the five Hero courses against eachother.
Blood Knight: She is, by her own admission, "really fucked up". She says that no truly sane person should be as comfortable with violence as she is.
Hard Light: Angela's power, inherited from her grandfather, the first Hero. Her brother Shane inherited their grandfather's Living Shadow power.
The Lad-ette: Angela loves booze, sex, and partying, and is not in the least bit shy about it. She knows that few Heroes reach retirement unscathed, so she's determined to enjoy life while it lasts.
I Love You Because I Can't Control You: Implied to be the reason why Angela is pursuing Chad so hard. Eventually, after he gets the hint, he challenges her to a fight. She beats him but agrees to date him, liking the fact that he respects her as a fellow warrior.
My Sister Is Off-Limits: Partly inverted. Shane doesn't like the fact that Angela is after his best friend Chad. However, after Chad asks Shane if he is okay with Chad asking Angela out, Shane is fine with that.

Britney Ferguson

A student in the same year as the Melbrook students. Has the ability to make herself and her clothes invisible. After becoming a Hero she goes by the name Fade.

Invisibility: Britney's ability. Unlike many other examples of this trope, she can hide her clothes as well, avoiding the need to strip down.
The Leader: Britney is named one of the four team captains in Year 2 and proves to be a capable leader. The only reason her team loses to the Melbrook students is because Michael freezes her in place with one of his ice blasts, determined to take on Vince. She then makes the tough choice to tell Dean Blaine about the need to expel Michael, despite the fact that this leaves her team at a disadvantage.
Useless Useful Stealth: Britney's ability is less useful in crowded spaces, since she has to deal with people constantly bumping into her, since they can't see her. This also means that a skilled eye can pick out a spot in the crowd where a seemingly empty spot pushes through the mass of people. Britney has also grown to rely on her ability exclusively, uncaring about any need to hide every trace of her presence.

Amber Dixon

A student with sound manipulation powers. One of the heaviest hitters of the class, she has a very aggressive personality.

Blood Knight: Amber is a bit too quick to resort to lethal force in a number of the trials, and in Year Four, she kills some people unnecessarily in the final battle, which gets her in major hot water with the DVA and disqualifies her from becoming a Hero.
Make Some Noise: Amber's power is to manipulate sound, which she can use to move silently, listen in on conversations, and create focused sonic blasts.
Sensor Character: Amber later learns to use her power like an active sonar. She produces a high-pitched sound, then listens for the return.
Smug Super: Her power is quite destructive and she revels in using it. She doesn't quite grasp the concept that excessive force is a bad thing, especially for aspiring Heroes.

Adam Riley

A student in the same year as the main cast with the power to mimic the appearance and powers of anyone he touches.

Deliberate Under-Performance: Adam is far more skilled than he seems, but he purposefully stays in the middle of the pack, just well enough to avoid expulsion, but not enough to stand out.
The Generic Guy: Does not have much character and does not stand out much. This is intentional on his part, since he is The Mole for Globe.
The Mole: He is working for Globe as an inside man in the HCP.
Revenge: His primary motivation is to get revenge on Coach George for blowing up the bridge that his family was on.
What Happened to the Mouse?: It is never revealed if, at the end of Year 4, he goes through with killing George or lets him go.

Rich Weaver

A student in the same year as the main cast. He has the ability to put people into dream-like comas by looking them in the eyes.

Crippling Overspecialization: His main flaw. Rich's power is extremely potent...against enemies who don't know what he can do. Beyond their freshman year, Rich never once successfully uses his power on his classmates during any of the HCP exams, since they all know that he needs eye contact for it to work.
Early-Bird Cameo: He's mentioned as the student who defeats Roy in their ranking match, but isn't named until later.
Fantastic Racism: Zig-zagged a bit. He doesn't look down on the former Powereds, but only because they have now become what he considers the "superior species".
Hypnotic Eyes: Rich's power. Most of the time he simply dumps people into their own subconscious, but can also craft specific scenarios for their hallucinations if he wants.
Smug Super: Rich does have a very good power, but he overestimates how effective it is and refuses to acknowledge its weaknesses. That is probably why he does not make the final cut.

Lander staff

open/close all folders

General

Retired Badass: All coaches and professors at the Lander HCP (including the dean) are either former Heroes or have worked in areas, where their combat skills were tested. Most are still able to show a thing or two to the students.

Dean Blaine Jeffries

The head of the Hero Certification Program at Lander University. A former Hero code-named Zero thanks to his ability to negate the power of any other Super near him. Many of his contemporaries view him as the most powerful Hero because of his ability to neutralize almost any supervillain's power.

Dean Bitterman: Averted. Despite his position of authority, he seems pretty down-to-earth and genuinely cares about his students. He even insists on being called "Dean Blaine" (in fact, some assume Blaine his last name), unique among the HCP deans. Even when Nick shows up to his office unannounced and insults him to his face, using inappropriate language, Blaine gives him a pass on this. It helps that Blaine attended Lander during his time at the HCP, so he knows what it's like. He understands how stressful HCP is and does his best to make sure that his students have a number of distractions throughout the years.
First-Name Basis: Very rarely referred to other than "Blaine" (by his friends) or "Dean Blaine" (by his students). The last name "Jeffries" rarely comes up.
Old Flame: Blaine still has echoes of feelings for Chad's mother, whom he used to date during his time as a student at Lander, before the relationship ended and she started seeing Chad's father, Blaine's best friend. He's Chad's godfather, even though he does his best to remain unbiased in his work. Given his pragmatic nature, Chad understands and respects that.
Power Nullifier: His ability. It appears to work only when he wants it to and can be either spherical in effect or directional. The effect can also last for days.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Though he can be quite strict when the situation calls for it, and isn't above a few Trickster Mentor moments, he's generally polite and understanding, knowing just much pressure the students are under (but also knowing that it's nothing compared to the pressure they'll be under if they become heroes). As long as Lander's security isn't compromised he actually goes above and beyond when it comes to ignoring outbursts and slip-ups from stressed-out students.

Coach George Russell

A former Hero with the code name Relentless Steel. The original gym and combat training instructor. Can turn into a robot with energy weapons and flight.

Asskicking Leads to Leadership: A staunch believer in this, pointing out that a class of Supers, who are sure of themselves, aren't going to have a lot of respect for a combat instructor, who hasn't shown he can beat them. He proceeds to do just that, KOing everyone in a matter of minutes.
The Atoner: It's revealed that he was the one who accidentally brought down the bridge, killing hundreds of civilians, including Ralph Chapman's daughters and Adam's family. He is willing to allow Adam to kill him after they achieve their goals.
Death Seeker: Thanks to a mistake he made in the past killing a lot of people, including Adam's family, he agrees to allow Adam to kill him after they help Globe bring down Charles.
Drill Sergeant Nasty: Has some elements of this, but this is justified. Only the best of the best get to be Heroes due to the necessary physical and mental requirements.
Evil Mentor: George and Persephone end up kidnapping Hershel and Mary at the end of Year 1. Except the goal is later revealed to have been to distract the professors, while Globe makes off with certain data from Lander's servers, and to recruit Mary to their cause.
Great Escape: In Year 2, Globe busts George out of his Tailor-Made Prison, simultaneously revealing to the world that he's still alive.
Jerkass: He deliberately acts as one, as part of his Drill Sergeant Nasty routine... but he's not all that easy to get along with outside that routine either, even if he's not quite as much of a jerk as he pretends.
Pride: Quite ironically, given how much time he spends trying to beat the pride and arrogance out of his students, he himself suffers heavily from both. He tends to think himself unbeatable... or at least so far above everyone else's league that they're not worth taking seriously. When it comes to his students, he is genuinely above their league... but not quite as above their league as he thinks.
Tailor-Made Prison: Blaine sees George held in one after his betrayal and capture at the end of Year 1. His limbs are held by extremely-tough bands, and his the chamber prevents him from transforming into his robot form.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Adam's final decision on whether to kill George is left unrevealed. He may have struck the lethal blow or may have changed his mind at the last moment.

Coach Persephone Williams

A former Hero code-named Mood Swing with the ability to emit specific pheromones that can have various effects on her targets. She was one of the original gym instructors at the Lander HCP and taught the Subtlety course.

Evil Mentor: George and Persephone end up kidnapping Hershel and Mary at the end of Year 1.
Guile Hero: Not being as strong as many of the male Heroes, Persephone has learned to use subtlety to her advantage, learning to use her power in creative ways. She now teaches a class in this.
Heart Is an Awesome Power: The focus of her lessons to first years is this. She herself is an example, as it was originally believed that she only had a minor ability to influence the emotions of others before she experimented with her powers and found out she could control pheromones.
Most Common Superpower: By far the most obvious thing about her, at least as far as the male half of the students are concerned.
My Eyes Are Up Here: Persephone has to say this a few times.
Pheromones: Persephone's power. She has learned to create and give off pheromones keyed to producing specific effects, up to and including temporary paralysis.

Professor Carl Fletcher

A retired employee of the same company that Mr Numbers and Mr Transport work for, convinced to replace George as coach. During his active years, he used the code name Mr Volt due to being an extremely powerful electricity elemental with the ability to actually turn into a bolt of lightning. In book 2 he takes over for George.

Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Following in George's example, he easily Curb Stomp Battles the entire Year 2 HCP class to show them he knows a thing or two about combat.
Shock and Awe: Being an electricity elemental allows him to manipulate electricity and even turn into it.
Super-Speed: A side effect of his ability to manipulate and turn into electricity. He can be super-fast both as a lightning bolt and as a human.

Professor Sean Pendleton

A Hero-turned-criminal code-named Wisp due to his ability to turn into fog. An expert in subtlety due to the non-combat nature of his power, he is hired by his old friend Dean Blaine to replace Persephone at Lander in exchange for an early parole. He takes a liking to Nick due to a similar mindset.

Boxed Crook: A mild example. With only a year left in his sentence, he could have easily turned Blaine's job offer down, but Blaine has a trump card that he knows Sean won't be able to resist. When Sean asks what's going to keep him from fleeing at the first opportunity, Blaine points out that, with only a year left, he'd be doing himself a disservice. After a year, he can quit and go on his merry way, if he wishes.
Cool Uncle: In Year 3, after Alice's encounter with Nathaniel, Sean uses his power to sneak into Nathaniel's room and grab his neck from behind, threatening him with grievous bodily harm if he even thinks of outing Alice or going after her again. The same year, he is also surprised, when Alice chooses not to drop his class, despite not being great at Subtlety.
Everyone Is Related: The ending of Year 2 reveals that Sean is the half-brother of Shelby, Alice's mother. It turns out that this was Blaine's trump card to get Sean to agree to his deal, the chance to see his niece again.
Fallen Hero: Once a Hero, Sean was eventually caught stealing classified information and imprisoned. He claimed to have had a reason for it, but few believed him.
Grey-and-Gray Morality: Sean explains to his students that his Subtlety course isn't for those who are staunch believers in a black-and-white world, like most Heroes. This is for those, who prefer to work in the shadows and do the job that other Heroes aren't willing to do. He even admits that quite a good number of supervillains have excelled in this course before their Heel–Face Turn.
Guile Hero: An expert in the art of subtlety and subterfuge. He teaches a class in these skills to those few Supers, whose strengths and personality are suitable for intelligence work. Nick and Will are his best pupils, although, surprisingly, Alice shows some skill as well.
In Touch with His Feminine Side: Mild example, but during his years in prison he developed a taste for steamy romance novels.
Super Smoke: Sean is able to turn into fog and move in this form, able to enter into most places unseen or sneak up on people.
Tailor-Made Prison: When first shown, Sean is held in a sealed chamber that has airlocks for air circulation, water, waste disposal, and food delivery, which is necessary for keeping someone, who can turn into fog and leave through even a tiny opening, contained.

Professor Esme Stone

An elderly woman, who teaches Focus at Lander. Worked as a Hero under the code name Emerald Hydra. Possesses powerful telepathic and telekinetic abilities, as well as memory manipulation.

Always Someone Better: Esme is the first to show up Mary in her own power set. While Esme admits that Mary has a lot of potential, she's still inexperienced and far too arrogant. During their telekinetic "sparring session", Esme toys with Mary, before easily besting her and displays a degree of control that Mary didn't even know was possible (such as manipulating dozens of objects simultaneously).
Cool Old Lady: Professor Stone might be on the old side, but her mind is as sharp as ever. One should never underestimate her.
Mind over Matter: Professor Stone is extremely adept at using telekinesis both directly and to augment her (weak) physical strength, shown when she casually picks up a heavy boulder with one hand. She is able to exert control over multiple objects at the same time.
Psychic Powers: Esme can read people's minds and even manipulate their memories.
Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: Downplayed a bit. Around students and when acting in her role as a professor, she's respectful and polite. However, in private, she'll say what she damn well pleases to Dean Blaine or anyone else who happens to annoy her. She has tenure, after all.

Professor Blake Hill

A former Hero under the code name Black Hole, whose attacks frequently leave no body to find. Known as a former team-mate of the Hero-turned-villain Globe, who managed to take Globe down. He teaches the Control course at Lander.

Everyone Is Related: The ending of Year 2 reveals that Blake is the twin brother of Shelby, Alice's mother. He intentionally kept this from Alice to prevent accusations of favoritism.
Gravity Master: His power is to control gravity.
Hypocrite: He criticizes Subtlety heroes for being criminals waiting to happen, but he helped his brother-in-law threaten the lives of a man's wife and new-born child in order to force that man to commit Suicide by Cop and frame Globe as a cold-blooded murderer.
Jerkass: He has nothing but bad things to say about Sean (his own brother) and the Subtlety specialization in general, due to his belief that Subtlety majors are all criminals waiting to happen (never mind that the man who is believed to be the greatest villain in the series, Globe, was ironically a Control major).
Love Makes You Evil: He was complicit in all of Charles Adair's crimes, including instigating the death of Intra, right from the start, but as repeatedly noted, only because he believed it was the only way to help his sister, Shelby.
Never Found the Body: His power is the reason Globe's body was never found.
Steven Ulysses Perhero: His code name and regular name are both one phoneme off, Black Hole and Blake Hill

Professor Sonya Cole

A former Hero with the code name Seamstress due to her ability to manipulate cotton. She constantly walks with cotton bandages wrapped around her body, resulting in a mummy-like appearance. She teaches the Weapons course.

Heart Is an Awesome Power: The ability to manipulate cotton that is in direct contact with your skin doesn't sound like a very useful ability at first, but she makes it work. She can use the bandages as extra arms and wield weapons with them, and can even harden her coat to withstand full strength blows from Roy.
One-Woman Army: Being a veteran hero who teaches in a close quarters specialization, you better believe she's a badass.

Professor Ariel Baker

A former Hero who went by the name Impact. She has the ability to direct projectiles towards any target in sight. She teaches the Ranged Combat specialization course.

Cold Sniper: When she's on the job she has no remorse, and will cripple her targets without a second thought.
Passing the Torch: When Dean Blaine decides to join the DVA, he starts grooming Baker to be his successor.

Corpies

See the Corpies character page.

Others

open/close all folders

Globe

A former hero who has spent the last fifteen years on the run after killing his best friend and fellow hero Intra. His real name is Phillip Adair, making him Charles's older brother and Alice's uncle. Charles manipulated Phil into killing Intra, then had Blake attack Globe when the latter figured it out.

The Ace: He graduated top of the "Class of Legends".
All-Loving Hero: From the way everyone describes him, he gave every impression of being an incredibly kind and generous man, which makes his cold-blooded murder of Intra even more perplexing.
Boxed Crook: In the Distant Finale he takes the same deal that Sean got and goes to work for the Sizemore HCP as a Control professor.
Clear My Name: He was framed for murdering Intra. While he did kill him, it was actually provoked and instigated by The Alchemist, and Globe has regretted it ever since.
A God Am I: His power is described by some of his classmates in The Class of Legends as a "God Field"
I Did What I Had to Do: He implies to Mary that this is his reasoning for his crimes, though he makes no effort to deny or justify them.
Never Found the Body: After he killed Intra, his other team-mates turned on him. His body was never found but it was assumed this is because of Black Hole's powers. and again, when Vince was a kid, he blew up a train he was riding in to fake his own death. To be fair, though, Charles never believed Globe was dead, despite Blake's assertions.
Reality Warper: Within a certain radius, Globe's power gives him total control over reality within it.

Mr. Numbers

Real name - Luke. The analytical and logical half of the duo. Possesses a genius-level intellect. Works for the company that has pioneered a procedure for turning Powereds into Supers. Assigned to watch over the Melbrook students. Very close to his sister and niece, the latter of which appears to possess his ability.

Awesomeness by Analysis: Being able to think 7 times faster than the most advanced supercomputer means he can predict people's actions and even avoid attacks that he knows are coming. He doesn't get to demonstrate it much, though.
Smart People Play Chess: Mr. Numbers loves chess and laments not having had a decent opponent in years. He enjoys playing with Mary despite her always losing.
Spock Speak: In contrast to the more sociable Mr. Transport, Mr. Numbers speaks in a cold, precise manner, used to expressing his thoughts logically.
TV Genius: Mr. Numbers is extremely smart, even by the standards of most geniuses. This appears to be considered a superpower. According to him, he can crunch numbers 7 times faster than even the most advanced computer in the world.

Mr. Transport

Real name - Henry Anders. The more emotional and compassionate part of the duo. Can teleport anywhere in the world in the blink of an eye, as long as he can picture it. Worked as a courier before partnering with Mr. Numbers.

The Alcoholic: While not quite an alcoholic, Mr. Numbers chastises him multiple times over his tendency to drink on duty.
Amazon Chaser: A mild example. His job leaves him little time for a social life, even with his ability to be anywhere he wants, so he only tends to go after strong, independent women, who can handle his lifestyle. He eventually starts dating Roy and Hershel's mom.
The Heart: More emotional than his intellectual partner. During the crisis in Year 1, he pulls a Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! and convinces Mr. Numbers to help him.
Teleportation: Mr. Transport can teleport to anywhere he has been or can picture instantaneously, bringing a number of people and objects in the vicinity (only if he wants to). This is occasionally used by him and Mr. Numbers to have private conversations without the risk of anyone overhearing them by teleporting to a location far from any civilization (they never go to the same place twice). To Roy and Hershel's mom, this is one of the perks of dating him (i.e. he can take her to any restaurant in the world).

Charles Adair

A former Hero, who operated under the code name Alchemist thanks to his ability to transmute matter. One of the Heroes, who helped take down the traitor Globe. Currently one of the wealthiest men in the world. Alice Adair's father.

Alchemy Is Magic: Charles is able to change any matter into any other matter with a touch. This is one of the ways he has amassed his fortune. He also uses it as a Mundane Utility (e.g. make cocktails from tap water, turn spilled ink into water before it stains).
Big Bad: Ultimately the architect behind the entire plot. He orchestrated Intra's death in order to use his brain for research into the Powered cure, framed Globe and numerous other heroes, and is behind much of the corruption of the Hero system.
Character Death: He dies at the end of Year 4. He tries to shoot Nick but the gun backfires and explodes in his hand, sending a piece of shrapnel into his brain, killing him instantly.
Fiction 500: His company (and he personally) has more money than many poor countries. Alice mentions that he owns half a dozen beach mansions, which go unused most of the time and are only really used when Charles wants to butter someone up. She personally hates going there.
The Lost Lenore: Prior to losing his wife, Shelby, Charles wasn't nearly as focused on making money and amassing power. After her death, everything else seems to have taken a backseat, including his own daughter. He notes to Alice that she looks a lot like her late mother.
Love Makes You Evil: He forced Intra to pull a fake Face–Heel Turn so that Globe would kill him, using threats against Intra's family as incentive, and that's just a fraction of the horrible things he's done, but he's done them all because he believed it was the only way to save his wife, Shelby.
Manipulative Bastard: Charles has no problem manipulating people to get what he wants, including his own daughter. He sees nothing wrong with making her think that he's taking time out of his busy schedule to visit her in college, when he actually wants to use her to help sweet-talk another businessman into selling his company to him. He also has no problem lying to that businessman about keeping his employees, when his actual intention is to "gut the shit" out of the company to make a decent profit. He created the procedure to turn a Powered into a Super and tested it on Alice solely to benefit Shelby.
Parental Neglect: Even when Charles isn't off somewhere attempting to negotiate a business deal, he spends much of his time secluded in his office, ignoring his daughter. After her mother's death, Alice was, pretty much, raised by their staff.
Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Used his money and influence to force Mr. Numbers and Mr. Transport to take Alice as one of the five Powereds to be turned into Supers. In Year 2, he does the same to get them out of trouble in return for a favor. In Year 4 it's revealed that his influence is so vast that if his crimes were exposed in full they would probably bring down the entire Hero program with him.
Would Hurt a Child: How did he convince Intra to let himself he killed? He threatened to murder Intra's family, including baby Chad.

Graham Desoto

Angela and Shane's grandfather. The world's first Hero, Captain Starlight. In Year 4, gets about a decade knocked off his age by a retroactive healer and becomes the new head of the DVA, intending to reshape the agency to fit the changing world.

Dare to Be Badass: Has been forcing his grandkids to compete against one another since they were little for the right to bear the name Captain Starlight. However, both eventually choose to walk their own path and select new names.
Feeling Their Age: Graham used to be the world's most powerful hero, but now he can't walk without a cane, and he hates it. However, when Hallow offers to return him to his prime, he refuses, asking just to take him down a decade or two so he can walk on his own again and have more time to see his grandkids' accomplishments.
Military Superhero: Before becoming a Hero, Graham fought in World War II. His mannerisms still reflect his military background, even well into retirement.
Retired Badass: Used to be a Hero in his glory days. The world's first Hero, in fact, Captain Starlight. Before that, he'd fought in World War II.
Yin-Yang Bomb: Graham's powerset allows him to both create Hard Light constructs and manipulate Living Shadow. Angela inherited the former power, while Shane got the latter.

Casper

A former Hero from the Class of Legends who went by the name Hallow. Possesses incredibly strong healing powers, which can even reverse the aging process. He now makes a living selling his services to the rich, which has made him incredibly wealthy in turn.

Healing Hands: Casper is such an incredibly strong healer that he can even heal the cellular damage caused by aging.
The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Goes into full-on fanboy mode when he meets Captain Starlight, the first, and still most famous, Hero.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: At first, it seems like he only cares about money and luxury, but it's later revealed that he quit being a hero because he couldn't take the guilt and despair over all the lives he couldn't save. When push comes to shove, he will still step up to help.
That Man Is Dead: Refuses to be called Hallow, as he no longer considers himself worthy to be a Hero.

Herbert Jackson

See the Corpies character page.

Kathleen Bishop

The dean of the HCP at Overton University. In her Hero days, she was known as Reaction.

Adaptive Ability/Voluntary Shapeshifting: Reaction has a very versatile shifting power, allowing her to adapt to changing circumstances.
Retired Badass: All HCP deans are chosen from the best of former Heroes.

Margaret Silva

The dean of West Private University's Hero Certification Program. Used to be called Overgrowth during her glory days.

Green Thumb: Overgrowth is the best plant manipulator in the world, able to grow a tree in a matter of seconds and make it obey her will.
Retired Badass: She was a well-known Hero during her younger days.

Wesley Fox

The dean of the HCP at Korman University. The only Subtlety Hero to ever be chosen for the position of dean. Was known as Blind Spot in his Hero days.

Boom, Headshot!: Prefers to use a gun in combat and specializes in headshots.
Mind over Matter: Like many Advanced Minds, possesses telekinesis in addition to telepathy.
Perception Filter: Able to use his telepathy to cloud the minds of others, making them ignore him, even if he's standing right in front of them. Hence his Hero name.
Retired Badass: Despite being a Subtlety Hero in his younger days, Blind Spot is still well-known and has a strong enough track record to be given the position of an HCP dean, the only Subtlety Hero to ever get that honor.
Telepathy: One of the most powerful telepaths in the country, a power that served him well as a Subtlety Hero.

Characters / Super Powereds

Melbrook Students

Melbrook's Student Allies

Other Lander students

Lander staff

Corpies

Others

Previous

Index

Next

Characters / Super Powereds

Edit Locked

Melbrook Students

Melbrook's Student Allies

Other Lander students

Lander staff

Corpies

Others

Previous

Index

Next