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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Shadow" data-source="post: 1373615" data-attributes="member: 16760">Here's the writeup I did on psi-genes.  SuentisPo and I had batted ideas around casually, but I went and got inspired, and he liked it. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  So.-----------------------------------------------------Genetics of PsionicsOK, let's start with the Telepathy gene.  Yes, in real life there would probably be around 50 of them, but that's too hard to analyze. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> In any case, assume that this is the most important gene, the key factor.The Telepathy gene (which affects brain development in the womb, though most of the "hit" from it comes in the major brain-restructuring that occurs in puberty) comes in three alleles:  T (Telepathic), N (Normal), and B (Mind-Blind).  N is, of course, by far the most common allele.  T, however, is dominant over N.  It hasn't spread very far through the population because frankly, there's selective pressure against it.  B has remained rare because it's mostly recessive and there is very little selective pressure FOR it, since T is so rare.The basic combinations are:NN:  Perfectly normal in every respect.  The vast majority of the population has this genotype.  "Normals" do have a certain baseline level of telepathy, but it's very minimal.  It surfaces in "hunches" and the like.TN:  Telepathic powers of some sort.  Alex's father had this genotype.  So, probably, does Grace.  The exact form the powers take depends on other details of neurotransmitter pathways, womb environment, and psychological development as a child.  It turns out that the Brighton line has an unusually favorable constellation of genes supporting the T allele, hence they tend to be "strong" telepaths.  By and large, this is an adaptive genotype, producing considerable reproductive fitness.  Alex's dad is the perfect example.  (By the way, better prenatal care in the modern world may be helping assure that "useful" telepaths are becoming more common.)TT:  Too much telepathic power for one's own good, usually - telepathy that rages out of control, bombarding the subject with the thoughts of others without mercy.  (Alex himself has this genotype, of course.)  Again, depending on other details, this can have varying effects.  In Alex's case, the "telepathic" phenotype has been activated all through his limbic system, as well as in his forebrain, making him a telempath.  This is a terribly maladaptive genotype, with the subjects often committing suicide at early ages, going hopelessly insane, or at least being so socially awkward that they aren't likely to reproduce.  Given the strength of Alex's telepathic heritage, it's very unusual that he's avoided all three fates.  Partly it's been luck (meeting Jennifer) and partly it's been sheer strength of character.Yes, this does imply that Alex's mom was a telepath (TN genotype).  She needn't have been very strong, though.  Perhaps initially, it was the commonality of their powers (instinctively recognized) that drew Alex's dad to her - though it's also what made him lose interest in her later.  (Too resistant to his Mind Control.)  In his subsequent women, he preferred "suckers".  Thus Alex is probably the only child in the family victimized with the TT genotype.NB:  Phenotypically normal, for the most part. Such people might receive fewer "hunches" about others, but I doubt it's a strong enough effect to show up statistically.  They can sometimes have erratic, unreliable shields.BB:  Mind-blind, with the brain closed off to telepathy.  (Jennifer's genotype.)  These people may tend to be slightly socially "clueless", but of course many other variables are involved.  Jennifer, for example, was clueless about precious little save for direct telepathy.TB:  This combination (David's genotype) tends to cancel out and produce phenotypic "normality".  The B allele, no longer suppressed by an N allele, can counter the changes of the T allele to some degree.  Minor telepathic powers are possible, given the way other genes fall, but uncommon.BB's are naturally shielded against telepathy at all times - in fact, they generally can't turn it off.  TT's and TN's have to learn how to shield through skill.  (And TT's have extreme motivation to do so, but also greater difficulty.)  NN's can also learn to do this, but it's not nearly as effective as they have no direct experience with the other end of things.  TB's are in pretty much the same boat, though some of them may be a little better than NN's.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Now for the Esper gene.  Two alleles:  E (Esper) and N (Normal).NN:  Normal.  Again, there's a certain baseline level of "hunches" normally active in the human nervous system.EN:  Esper.  Just as with telepathy, the details depend on other factors.  Alex has this genotype - the E and T alleles play off of each other to a degree, this is one factor in the "strength" of his powers, and also something of their "slant".  It accounts for his unusually powerful "Detect Minds" power and his Darkvision.  I suspect he got it from his mom rather than from his dad.  Carlos also has it, though his own heritage and psychological development have thrown it into a very different channel.I was tempted to make E a fourth Telepathic allele, a variant on T that activates in the sensory centers of the brain.  In that case, Alex would have been the TE genotype.  (And his mom would have been an esper rather than a telepath.)  But I'm not sure the complexity involved is worth it.  I suspect the two genes are closely related, evolutionarily speaking, though.  Espers are more common than telepaths.EE:  This one is somewhat maladaptive, though it's not as bad as TT.  Such people are often TOO "plugged in" to the universe for their own good, to the point they start to ignore the universe as perceived by normal people.  They tend to be dreamers, mystics, cult leaders.  I am starting to wonder if Hal Garrity is an ultra-esper - he has incredible insight into *how the universe works*.  He can make "guesses" about how to do things that are uncannily good.  It's not that he's necessarily of very high intelligence as we normally understand it - he may even have tested poorly in school.  What he's really got is a radically different KIND of intelligence.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Then there's the Biofeedback gene.  Call the alleles F (Feedback) and N (Normal).  This gene and Telepathy are somewhat antagonistic to each other - they are trying to produce competing, incompatible effects in the brain.  T generally wins out in the forebrain, which removes one's biokinetic powers from conscious control.  It also tends to suppress F elsewhere - telepaths rarely have strong biokinesis.  This is the case with Alex, though in his case his hindbrain still does a somewhat better job of maintaining his body, which accounts for the "edge" he retains in combat as he ages.  Also, it may be that his T and F alleles settled down to an uneasy peace in his limbic system, which would account for his truly unnatural degree of control over his emotions.  Then again, that may well just be highly motivated self-training.NN: Normal, of course.  As usual, there's a baseline of what normal humans can accomplish.  It can be improved quite a bit with training.FN: An unusual degree of control over normally inaccessible processes.  In David's case, this produces conscious control of hysterical strength and rapid self-healing.  Apparently he's even used it to subconsciously control his growth.FF:  Really powerful biokinesis.  There's something of a bottleneck for these people in adolescence - if they survive the raging of their hormones, they develop control in adulthood and are quite fearsome.  Society's reaction to their extreme emotional swings as teenagers often produces rage, violence, and social deviance.  They often end up as criminals, unfortunately.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Finally, there's the Telekinesis gene.  (There are others, no doubt, but I'm not going to write them up.)  The alleles are C (Controlled), K (Kinetic) and N (Normal).  The K allele is recessive, but is actually fairly common in the populace, as it's been highly adaptive all through human history;  it's just not usually turned on in the forebrain (usually, in fact, only in the cerebellum), so there is no conscious control - the power manifests as an uncanny degree of "luck" or a boost to physical "skill".  The C allele probably got started as a defect in K (and even now, K may be spontaneously mangled into C as a genetic defect in transmission) - it activates the gene throughout the brain.  (Though there may be bizarre interactions with the other psi genes, just as with Biofeedback.)  C is NOT adaptive, at any rate in most human cultures.  Such people tend to "poltergeist" as kids and get persecuted as witches.  Also, since it's a rather recently damaged gene, there may be side effects in some individuals - I suspect psychological instabilities of various kinds and degrees.NN:  Normal, as usual.KN:  Also phenotypically normal.  They might have a slight "edge", but nothing too striking.KK:  Unconscious telekinetic.  Great athletes, dancers, and so on not uncommonly have this genotype.  (They get more out of less training than others.)CN:  The potent C allele is suppressed in most parts of the brain by N.  Surprisingly, the dust settles into more or less the same phenotype as KK - C remains turned on in the cerebellum.  As mentioned, though, some people may have side effects.CK:  Full-blown telekinetic.CC:  Same phenotype as CK, though they may be somewhat more powerful.  They're also more likely to be unstable.I feel pretty sure that Carlos is either KK or CN.  Teke interacts very nicely with his Esper abilities and may have helped channel their development.  (It manifests unconsciously in his uncannily good dodging - his precog gives him warning, but he still has to be able to act on it.  I was already thinking of giving him Hero's Luck, and this idea might just push me over the edge.)Since poltergeisting fits in very well with his grandmother's spooky reputation, let's say she was either CC or CK.  You could work it either that Carlos' dad got a C and so did he, or that his dad got a K and that Carlos picked up another from his mom.  I think it's much more fun to say that Carlos is CN than KK - it gives you a lot more "play" with his family in terms of powers.  (If so, he's got an excuse even in addition to his rotten childhood for the sheer potency of his nightmares.)------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Taking the genes in order of presentation, Alex's genotype is TT, EN, FN, NN.  Jennifer was BB, NN, NN, NN.  Their son David inherited TB, NN, FN, NN.  (David is thus likely to have a very unusual mix of kids - some telepaths and some biokinetics and some normals.  A lot will depend on the mother(s) too, of course.  If he ends up raising a TT kid, he will probably understand his father a LOT better.)Alex's father was TN, NN, FN, NN.  His mom was TN, EN, NN, NN.  (Actually, any of the people above might also be KN, as it's the same phenotype as telekinetic NN. You might even be able to make a case for David - or even Alex - as KK.  So it's possible that telekinesis will crop up somewhere among Alex's relatives.  Let's face it, though, the Brighton line is already pretty loaded, so I lean against the idea. On the other hand, who knows what Alex's stepmoms had...)Carlos is NN, EN, NN, CN.  His grandmother was, let's say, NN, EN, NN, CK.  (Maybe even EE.  Possibly even TN, though that hasn't come down to Carlos.)  Therefore his father has to be at least EN in Esper and CN in Telekinetic.    Conceivably, Carlos could have gotten one of his "special" genes from his mother's line, but both of them fit well with the Gypsy mystique.Hal Garrity may be NN, EE, NN, (K/N)N.Amazing Grace is probably TN, NN, NN, (K/N)N, and she's both quite powerful and quite skilled.  You might be able to make a case for EN too.Hexmaster is TT, NN, NN, (K/N)N.  I don't think he's an esper.  He also has some serious psychological issues. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  [Hexmaster was a mentalist opponent to an early version of the Shadow.  Mutater and Leech, below, were two of his henchmen.  One cool part of giving Hexmaster this genotype, btw, is that it gives him and the Shadow something tragically in common - a connection they never had back in the old game.]Mutater is probably NN, NN, FF, (K/N)N.Leech may possibly be NN, NN, FN, (K/N)N, and he probably has some other genes in play too.[Some other characters from the Phantom's world that I included as benchmarks have been snipped.  (The Phantom is my longest-running superhero character, hands down, though the Shadow is my very first superhero character.  He's gone through five different versions over the years, though this fifth M&M version is, IMHO, by far the best.)]</blockquote>

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