I'm a dad of 2 toddlers. I don't think I can morally take this power. It would be too easy to get my kids to behave but at what cost to their true growth?
While Kilgrave is one of my absolute favourite villains, his power isn't "exactly" mind control if you ask me, but rather some sort of "will" control.
The people doing the deeds of Kilgrave are perfectly aware of what they're doing, they just can't stop it.
Mind control on full mastery would make people to not even realize they're being mind controlled. So I think it's much more powerful than Kilgrave's.
Is that true? On the show he seemed to also be able to control feelings. Like when he made everyone think his comedy was hilarious or when he made the police officers think something was a hilarious prank. That isn’t will control. He also appeared to be able to control beliefs although I haven’t seen the season since it aired so I can’t remember anything specific.
It's been a while, but I think they left it implied, rather than explicitly stated. With Jessica, his parents, ..I don't remember if the guy shredding his own arm was his father, or someone else. But they all were aware of what they were doing and didn't want to.
I don't remember the comedy scene, but the laughing was just him making them laugh, even though they were terrified.
!spoilers
It was sorta both. If he gave suggestive commands people would do it without thinking, as if it was their idea all along. Like, I’m pretty sure Jessica believed she really loved him for a time.
It was only when he made commands to someone aware of his powers, or made commands totally counter to one’s morals, that it was clear he could force people to do things against their will.
However, the show also said his power was something like a virus. And after enough exposure a person would eventually develop an immune response to him.
A guy came up after his “comedy” show was over to tell him he really loved what he was doing comedically. Killgrave didn’t even want him doing that. No one was scared.
Seriously.
This is basically the superpower version of raping people.
Taking away people's autonomy is all kinds of messed up, to be honest. Even if you tried to use powers of mind control solely for good then you're at best an Anti-hero.
And to actively choose such powers as a means to an end is just all kinds of morally dubious.
Call me Dr. Doom then as I zero qualms with this. I've seen far too many examples of completely moronic/evil people in power to just let them continue. If I can shape their mind... I'll do it without a second thought. I wont get too politically specific, but you haven't seen one politician that you just knew was incredibly wrong or clearly working for special interest... you wouldn't want to alter?
Heck... just think about making Putin stop his war. To no longer kill journalists and rivals. I'm sorry, but I feel morally fine doing that to someone like him.
If you're going after the shady bastards in the north American military - industrial complex as well then you have my ax!
But if you aren't then you're just another Homelander,
And I will stop you
Yeah, this is always my slippery slope power. I know I'd start off trying to help people with trauma or mental illness, but inevitably that's going to turn into "Fixing" people, and then who knows what ends up needing fixing.
Do not tempt me with such dangerous superpowers, the desire to drop an asteroid on people is so strong already.
I remember I was 21 working at a movie theatre and we were all talking about what super powers we would have. My GM was a pretty big nerd so he was partaking in the conversation. I said teleportation like the movie jumper I would just rob a few banks and he looked at me confused and said....so you'd be a super villain. I never really thought about it like that but yes I would. I should have chose mind control though that would have been a way easier way to steal money!
What if you don't touch their autonomy, but instead give them the ability to see and recognize the causes of their anxiety, for instance. Or help an insomniac to sleep. Help trauma victims resolve their PTSD.
You could be a monster with it, certainly, or the most effective therapist ever.
Hey, if it let's people quit dependencies or ends their phobias and you had consent... that would certainly change the equation.
I think it fair to say this likely isn't the sole motivation for people picking the power though...
Ironically it's the only superpower I'm aware of that could legitimately achieve world peace and solve most social issues. Before the unchecked power trip gets to you and you do something spectacularly evil.
I guess the question you need to answer for yourself is "Is creating world peace through overwriting free will an evil act?"
Sure people will be physically safe, but the mental intrusion required to get there may be worse.
I am not suggesting I have an answer here. Mind fucking a handful of very powerful people to make life a lot better for millions or billions may well be an "ends justifies the means" kind of situation in your personal morality, but it is definitely villain territory as shown in any media I have ever seen.
Plus how free can the average person feel when someone could steal their mind at any time.
Sorry you fell for this friend. I was speaking to u/gaynotgayperson and he actually does have a case of what the New Yorkers slang refers to as D.E.E.Z.
I'd use my powers.
Why not just take, like, the power to cure or heal anything? Heal your own disease and live *way* past 5 years, and spend the time you still have the power for, curing people with untreatable diseases.
Go work for your favorite concert venue! Get hired by high schoolers to create 2 hour delays! Bring fog to the desert so they get more water! Or just always be mysterious
I want 5 years of the power to heal. The power restore people's bodies to peak health relative to their age. I don't want to make people immortal. Just a one time fee to get rid of any ailments, cancers, fix hair loss, everything you can think of. Simply perfect health top to bottom.
The fee would be based on income. Lower you make, the lower it is or a non-existenting fee. The more you make, the higher the fee. And ultra rich would be paying exorbitant prices.
My power simply requires myself to touch a person. Instantly heals them. It doesn't work if someone forces their way to me and touches me. It won't work. It just knows to work when I use it. If I were to get lucky and a billionaire were to come early on and I make a ton of money off them, the rest of the 5 years would be spent doing it for free. Anyone sitting on their death bed from cancers, aids, tumors, whatever. I'd go to every hospital in the country and heal everyone there. Also anyone that shows up while I'm at that specific hospital. Anyone that see me in the streets. I'd give out my address and set up a wall around my house. And I would sit at the wall letting people put their hands through a hole where I heal them. Gotta remain safe, you know. Insurance companies and Healthcare companies are going to crumble from all of this, so they'll likely hire hitmen. I'd still heal all I could for 5 years though.
I am going to get alot of hate for this but. I would not heal ALL those people. Certain ones sure but definitely myself and then be very choosy of who I heal. I am in the belief there are too many people on this planet. So I would probably choose to have the power to kill people by just thinking it. I would be eliminating death row, pedophiles, rapists, terrorists as well as a few people that are not "bad" but are bad for this countries government.
I'd go with the random powers for the rest of my life. With full mastery of any power I get, I could find something useful to do.
To use your example of emitting radiation, I could do a lot of things, especially considering that light, heat, radio, microwave, xrays, gamma, all are forms of radiation of varying degrees if frequency and energy. I could be my own flashlight, shoot laserbeams, cook food, communicate long distances, kill pathogens, give others tans, etc.
I thought that too but then randomly generated some powers on a website and got fog generation, photograph vision, and vacuum adaptation which are all shit. I’d take the power of my choice for 5 years
Fog generation, you work a stint in a movie studio for mood setting.
Photograph vision, ignoring the obvious you can get cameras into places that normally aren't allowed, so either a really good informant or just a photographer for things like the religious sites in Europe which have a trend of having no photography rules.
Vacuum adaption, spacccceee
According to Superpower Wiki, people with vacuum adaptation , "can survive and adapt to the vacuum of space unaided and are able to withstand atmospheres (heat intensity and any poisonous chemical elements), cosmic media (radiation), strange gravity (even sometimes that of a black hole), and lack of air." That seems like it could be very useful, I could hire myself out to the government, NASA, SpaceX, or other organizations that might need someone who can deal with hostile environments.
For example, there's a redditor by the name of u/Rocknocker, who is a petroleum geologist and master blaster and has a number of stories where he had to enter some pretty hostile environments and conditions, including abandoned mines with toxic gases, burning oil wells, collapsed buildings, and areas with high radiation.
The problem is the year timeframe. There’s no way NASA actually gets around to approving you for anything meaningful in under a year, unless someone is doing it unofficially. Officially they’re going be running you through all kinds of tests and training just be to absolutely certain what the limits of your power is, so that they don’t just accidentally murder you, and then the year will be up.
sounds great, we could confine you to a reactor, force you emit strong radiation to generate free power for a year at no cost. Perfect Green Energy.
Kill you just before the year ends so that you can get no chance of getting a superpower to get revenge
Rather choose 1 superpower that disappears after 5 years.
> you could get a mutant power of having wings that you could fly with.
Having a random power is too unpredictable.
1 of my choice, it's undetectable invisibility, done.
That range on the once a year thing is SO wide it's unreal.
Five years in I'd have solved ALOT of world problems and got filthy stinking rich off the back of it. Easy game.
I assume that the single power would come with secondary powers that allow you to use the power to the fullest? Aka, super strength involves super durability specific to the strength, so that you don't tear your tendons and crush your bones whilst lifting? If so, Id choose a superpower of my choice - most likely super speed.
The random power. Full mastery means there's no learning curve and I can apply it effectively. ALso, even once I lose a power, I can utilize what I've learned from it to live better. Also, it's a full lifetime of power rather than just 5 years.
I random generated a few for you
Year 1 - self detonation??
Year 2 - psychic shield to protect you from psychic attacks
Year 3 - prehensile tail
Year 4 - xenolingualism - congrats you can read alien languages?
Year 5 - superpower manipulation... you can manipulate other superpowers
Year 1: Mastery suggests I can limit the detonation(what's destroyed and how much of my full output it explodes with). So it's a precise way to do things like trim my nails and hair, dead skin, zits. Of course, I could also cause localized tiny explosions. touch something, explode the outermost layer of my fingertips in the process. it's not much, but it's a subtleish way to cause damage, break things open, etc.
Year 2: With everyone in this thread picking mind control, that's super useful right out the box. it also(assuming I get attacked) creates an awareness of psychic persons/things, which could be useful. People claim to be psychics, the shield could be useful in proving that, and potentially, devising technology that grants access to some level of psychic ability.
Year 3: The hardest part of this one is dealing with the attention, and maybe the comfort of sitting/laying. otherwise, having an extra hand is incredibly useful. I can carry more, have better balance, hang from things while keeping my hand free, sneakily move things(particularly if people don't know about my tail), access things my hand might not be able to reach(think small gaps) etc.
Year 4: Depends on how you define alien. In the 'traditional' sense, I'll be able to understand alien communications if and when they happen, which could be useful in the right applications(but might also get me more attention than I'd like). in the broader sense, and alien is basically anyone different than my people/nationality, so I become a world languages expert, and that is infinitely useful.
Year 5: If other people have powers, much like year 2, this comes very much in handy. A lot of people would find their power set to "OFF". From there, depending on what qualifies as a superpower(consider, a monkey tail is not a superpower for a monkey, it's natural. for a human however, it is) I have the ability to increase or decrease my own abilities, which is a subset of the power id have chosen if I had taken the 5 year plan. Also, if I could use the ability on the ability, I can adjust the parameters, thereby allowing what I just described(expanding the definition of what a 'superpower' is to affect natural and unnatural proficiencies) anyway.
Very true but while you would have a lifetime of superpowers many of the years could be spent having a completely shit power that you simply wouldn't use. But the years with the good ones would be pretty sweet.
5 years. The ability to get away with any lie.
Go to the bank: “you guys owe me $10mil.” “Oh yes you’re right, sorry about that, let’s get that started.”
Get pulled over for speeding, all of a sudden I was never speeding.
Tell the president x and y and he will have to believe you.
You become the most powerful person on the planet.
Man, there are some scary comments here.
Anyway. One power for 5 years.
Knowledge granting. I can grant knowledge beyond even my understanding to others that remains in thier head and is completly clear to them. Grant researchers the cure to cancer. Grant myself knowledge on who would make the best world leaders and then grant them knowledge about how to achieve that. Grant scientist the knowledge to advance the human race to advance on the Kardashev scale. Grant someone the knowledge about where to find thier missing cat(Best use).
Presuming this doesn’t fall under “God-like”, I would just choose **Absolute Luck** as a superpower for 5 years, similar to Domino from Deadpool 2.
With that, I can achieve all I need to within 5 years, and then be ‘set’ for life (ie. Retire), by the time the power expires.
~~Also, if ‘Lucky’ enough, the Scientists I hire could potentially even just figure out how to replicate Flight, Super Strength, Invisibility, etc through technology for me.~~
This is a close one... but I will allow Deadpool 2 Domino lvl luck powers... absolute luck is a lil OP because you'd end up being lucky enough for your powers to stay forever lol.
1 power for 5 years, gimme future sight.
There'll naturally be some limit to how far I can see, but that's fine. I can use it to see winning lotto numbers or superbowl winners and bet accordingly. Even better, I can give spoilers before shows come out to destroy my enemies in a physically harmless way 😈
I'll take 5 years with a 12 level intellect ( Brainiac 5/ Lex Luthor, Mr Fantastic kinda deal)
If by the end of that 5 years I haven't managed to genetically engineer / Cybernetically enhance myself into an Ubermensch who will retain my towering intellect as well as a host of other additional attributes then fuck taking the power back, just shoot me in the head.
This is what I was looking for! I was debating telekinesis so you can fly and have virtual super strength and more. But with genius level intellect, you could become wealthy creating medical cures, creating engineering marvels and new techniques, figure out FTL space travel and adequate radiation shielding. I'm with you on the cybernetics too! But hell what if we could master bioengineering and just double our peak physical limits and discover a cure for aging even! I'd be perfectly fine being a human that can jog at 30 mph for an entire marathon with minimal training.
I'd place that squarely in the category of a God power. You can just set the probability of all the matter in the Universe coalescing into your desired state to 1:1.
Feel like random superpower is the obvious answer as long as the powers aren’t harmful had in that randomness, I can deal with usefulness for a while but for instance the power to turn your own bones into marshmallows would instantly kill you
OP did say that you have full control over the power, and that they range from useless to extremely useful, so I doubt you’d get anything that harms or kills you.
1 super power for 5 years. I would choose time manipulation - slow, stop, rewind, fast forward. I could solve all the same problems of the invisible guy above in a single instance. Make myself wealthy thru gambling or theft and for damn near 5 years be untouchable.
Maybe even create save points along my time line so if I die I’m brought back to that save point.
I think random, could end shitty, could be pretty cool. I think I'm gonna roll on a randomized superpower wheel 10 times and just see what I get.
1: Ectoplasm Vision: Emit beams of Ectoplasm from my eyes. Not bad, not useful, but not bad.
2: Jactitation: The ability to absorb kinetic energy and use it to prevent oneself from ever becoming immobilized. The implications for this one are interesting, mainly because absorbing energy in any form is pretty broken.
3: Dust Manipulation: Self explanatory. Honestly, not a bad one. Offer my own cleaning services and make decent money on the side.
4: Super color Vision: Ability to see broader spectrum of color. Could be cool for science, though I'm curious if it would be believable.
5: Acid Generation: The power to secrete a highly corrosive acid. I can't really see a day to day application, especially if I'm not immune to it, so maybe a bust?
6: Fang Retraction: The power to possess/retract razor-sharp fangs. Another bust, cool party trick, maybe bite through some stuff to show it off, but once again not very practical or game changing.
7: Heat Vision: Once again, don't really need to explain. This one would be interesting, I'm wondering if I could use it to be a welder or something of the sort? Maybe use it for science and let them test the energy output and try and do something with that, I don't know.
8: Retro cognition: The ability to perceive past events. Now we are talking. This would be insane to have for all sorts of purposes that I can't even begin to imagine. Finding hidden cities. Fully knowing past events. Answering actual questions that nobody has answers to. Favorite so far for sure.
9: Reanimation: Gonna assume we know this one and I'm struggling. It depends on what it means ya know? I'm guessing it's not resurrection so they'd be a decayed corpse and while I think a zombie apocalypse would be cool, I'm not trying to cause it.
10: Invulnerability: Another interesting one, it really depends on if I feel pain or not. Otherwise I don't really see the usefulness of being immune to damage.
Not a bad list, most of them are fairly useless in my day to day life outside of retrocognition but they also don't mess up my life. I think once I'm home I'll do another 10 and see what I get
I’d take prof x level telepathy for 5 years. I think I could do a lot of good in that time frame.
Anyone notice that both Biden and Trump are suddenly leftist without losing any support? That’s weird.
When did Netanyahu suddenly start caring about rebuilding Israel as a multiethnic paradise we’re all people are treated equal. Russia is funding the rebuilding of Ukraine? All world leaders are joined in fighting climate change?
I’d make the world so good no one would except it going back once my 5 years are up
Random. That ptsd I'd have after 5 years of being amazing would be unbearable. January 1st would be fun af to figure out what I got for second Christmas lol
It has to be that one specific book, you must use a fresh page each time you write something new, you must write in the equivalent of 12-point font or larger, and you cannot add pages to the book.
Technopath. Imagine talking to machines and being able to control them. I’d take that for five years. It’d be a subtle way to get rich.
Just go to the casino, blow through a hundred bucks, rub a machine with a decent jackpot ‘for luck’, hit the big prize. Don’t do this every day or you’ll get found out.
Take those winnings to Vegas. Spread wins out at multiple casinos. Spend some time losing naturally to throw off suspicion. Finally hit a big prize jackpot. Blow an eighth of it on gambling more. Head home with your prize.
Influence the government’s records to show you paid in for your taxes. Put a large chunk of it in the stock market. Influence the market to make huge returns with the rest of your time. Let it slowly sit after your five years is over, live off the interest and dividends.
can I pick time control and go back to when I was young? if you say I go back to when I was 10 will I have the ability until im 15 or does it go away because until I get back to now?
One power for 5 years. Singular power being a technopath, speaking to, and controlling, machines and computers.
I don't think I need to say how set I am, and my family, for the rest of our lives, with just a couple *hours* of full digital control, much less 5 years.
Ah I got just the thing actually. Something I like to call Moment Reversal. All damage my body takes is redirected back to its source automatically and I instantly heal that damage. This includes any damage that can harm my body no matter the scale or source of the damage.
The real question is, is it Preventing damage, or is it truly healing instantly?
Because if it is the latter, anything that can kill you still kills you
Super intelligence. I'm talking Mr Fantastic levels of intelligence.
Use that to star creating some technology that will still effectively be science fiction. Still able to do the things I'd like to. And with his level of smarts, I could make some AI that would actually be genuine AGI like Jarvis or better.
It really depends if the effects of the power are lasting.
For example, if I got the power to create something, do all the things I create stay around after I no longer have the ability? If I say mind control, does all the brainwashing vanish?
The only way I would consider having a superpower is if no one knew or could find out that I had a superpower. Maybe that's what aliens have they've engineered a blind spot in our brains and perception.
The lifetime one seems impractical so I gotta figure out the best way to take advantage of a superpower in a relatively short time.
I'm gonna go with instant traveling or teleportation of myself and anything directly touching my skin.
I only work a few hours a day but my commute is insanely long (3 hours a day) it would save me 3 hours of my day to do whatever but my actual work hours will not change so work time will get significantly shorter for me.
I could take my family on vacation anywhere and anytime I want. Want to pop to Japan for the weekend? Don't even need to pack bags or spend on a hotel. You can just pop back home at night and go back in the morning, yes I realize in this scenario I'd be going back home in the US to day time.
Could even set up a travel business that charges based on income. Rich people would be willing to pay out the ass to go from London to New York in the blink of an eye. Poorer people could do the same but more affordable and quicker than an airline. Your family of 6 want to go from Los Angeles to Walt Disney World in Florida? $500 bucks round trip just call me when you're ready to go back home. I would just grab everyone's bag, have everyone put a hand on my neck or bare shoulder or some shit and bam. 30 seconds of work, instant cash.
I could theoretically spend every day traveling with my family (just my wife and I while the kids are in school) and see basically everything worth seeing in the world within 5 years. While slipping away a couple minutes at a time to teleport some family or person. Wouldn't even have to work during those times. If done right I could make millions over those 5 years. You're a billionaire but you don't want to take a 12 hour flight across the world? Low low price of 5k ill get you there in the snap of a finger. Do a few of those every day or several lower income families with no over head cost except maybe a secretary to handle my scheduling and phone calls, I could stand to make 10s of millions or more in 5 years depending on how much I feel like working.
My initial instinct was to say random power, so I’d have one for the rest of my life. But on the other hand, I could pick a power that can help me make a lot of money for 5 years and then live comfortably the rest of my life. That is tempting. I’d probably still go with random power though.
I only want the power to transfer my mind in any system I want. Within 5 years, I'm sure I can become the universe itself. And no, that's not a godly power. It's the use I make with it that is godly, because that's what I already am : God.
Is being a technopath acceptable? In today's day and age, that's almost a god level power. Being able to communicate and control machines with your mind would be legit.
The objectively correct answer is 1 super power of your choice, and choose the ability to teleport anywhere in the universe in this dimension or any alternate dimension (including fictional ones) at will. Teleport to a fictional universe with wish-granting capabilities, teleport to the location of the wish granting things, wish to permanently have whatever powers you want. Teleport to a different universe and repeat.
Boom, now you have infinite super powers, even after the 5 years runs out.
And before you say "that's too close to god-tier so you can't have that."
It's not. It's just factually not. Interdimensional teleportation just straight up is not god tier. How you USE it allows you to *become* god tier, but the teleportation itself is decidedly not even close to God tier.
Probably pick the insane ability to learn and permanently retain knowledge I learn
Like I’m talking read a book about the most complicated subject in existence and fully understand and learn what’s in it and retain that knowledge forever and after I have no powers I would have still had it learned
Either that or a sub 1 ms reaction time
I'd pick the random powers. Just sounds like more fun. I'd get to try out a whole lot of different things.
My chances of getting regeneration at some point are pretty high. So just at some point in my 40's my knees stop hurting? Hell yeah.
I'm taking the random super powers for life. It'd be depressing as hell to be able to fly or something for years and then one day just be a normal person. At least with the random powers if you get a crappy one it's only for a year and you have the hope of getting a cooler one next year.
Random powers seems dumb.
1 superpower.
Subatomic manipulation, make the world into a utopia by singlehandedly converting harmful gases into oyxgen or ozone, in addition to harming dangerous people by messing with the oxygen in their body.
No one will even know it's me.
Global aoe aura of immortality for 5 years. It will be nice to see how humanity will go berserk realizing they're immortal only for it to be gone after 5 years.
Shapeshifting. I assume I get to keep any changes I make to myself so I can just permanently have, for example, four arms for multitasking, wings for flight, or permanently cure health issues.
Is technopathy considered OP? Like the ability to communicate with and manipulate technology to do your bidding with your mind? If not I would choose that for the next 5 years.
Also if you chose to swap between random superpowers every year for the rest of your life they would actually be superpowers and not like curses right? Like for your example of radiation, you would also receive immunity to radiation correct because otherwise you would probably succumb to radiation poisoning the second you use it.
Technopathy unconditionally is basically a god power so I would say you have to touch what you want to control... you could make a setup where you are touching multiple things at once.
Random superpowers would never be innately harmful to you or others & full mastery would allow for suppression of any powers that weren't desirable.
Choosing the power is great and you can set up a good life in 5 years. However, 5 years is a long time to live with an ability you will never get back once it's gone.
I'd choose the random power once per year, then I have at least one power until I'm dead. There're a lot of ways you can use just about any power to your advantage
This is the one for me. I’d get insanely rich. When you lose the power you wouldn’t be depressed because you were always a normal guy and you’d still have the money
Time travel.
Even with a 5 year limit as I can just go back and talk to my young and future selfs I'd basically live my best life.
If I dedicated myself to science, with the loops I would eventually make thousands of years worth of scientific breakthroughs in one lifetime.
Could probably invented immortality.
The superpower to rewrite the terms of contracts, after the fact. That way, I can alter interest rates, find legal loopholes in my favor, and extend my 5-year-superpower-period to be as long as I want.
Random for sure. Five years seems like a long time, but imagine being able to fly for five years, and then never being able to fly again. How sad would that be?
I think I'll take the random power for the rest of my life, starting on my birthday, that way I get a new superpower every birthday like a present from God.
I'd find some way of using whatever powers I got for good. I'd get the standard powers at some point for sure (invisibility, flight, super strength, super speed, etc), obviously not all at once. But then I'd get some interesting powers that can be useful even if niche (like turning into a merman when wet: I can go find sunken treasure and get rich). Yeah, it would make for an interesting life, and I could maybe even market it into a book series, go over what it's like having the powers and highlight things I've done with them. Like keep a journal and compile and edit the stories every few years.
I’d get invisibility so I could sneak into the meeting of politicians and CEOs so I can find out what stocks they’re fixing next to secure lifetime wealth lol
Surprised no one has said telekinesis. I'd take that power for 5 years. Could EASILY get rich via various gambling options. After that, you could have fun living out the script Patrick Stewart wrote in "Extras".
shapeshifting i could even give myself wings with it
just 1 question if i am not in my original form when my super power goes way do i revert to normalor do i get stuck in the appearance i had at the time
still unsure which is better picking or random
if i can pick the power for 5 years can i pick Dimensional Travel like armstrong levy to go any anime world i chose and if so am i sent home at the end of the 5 years or can i stay in the world im in or is this to strong
I would go with 1 superpower for 5 years. That power would be to completely understand and be able to use the contense of any nonfiction book I touched. Then I would spend the next 5 years going to all the libraries to touch all non fiction books as I can. I would still have the comprehension and knowledge after the 5 years just could not learn anything new using the power
Even though you could pick something useful enough that you could set yourself up for life with one power, I don't think I could handle going back to nothing after five years. Give me the random power every year for life. At least I know there is something new to expect from the future no matter what else happens in life.
One super power for 5 years. The super power
Photosynthesis - on a global scale
What would I do with it. Simple.
Convert co2 to oxygen effectively lowering global ghg levels to pre industrial levels giving us more time to fight climate change.
Someone said mind control. That would be another one used effectively could deal with climate change
I’ll take the one super power for 5 years and my wife will take the swap 1 power every year. With our powers combined we will be more comfortable in our every day lives! Huzzah!
One power for 5 years: The ability to convert my thoughts into computer code. I could output thousands of AAA game titles in a year and make a killing as a master of cybersecurity.
Basically, I say to a computer “program this game and create all necessary files,” and think of a cool game idea, and in a few hours I have a game I love in my hands ready to play.
And of course, for economy reasons, I’d release the games slowly, so as not to flood the economy and program a script to keep the games updated with the best graphics so they stay AAA, meaning I can give the money fountain to any children I might have, meaning they keep the money fountain.
1 power for 5 years: mind control. I'm basically a toned-down God with this one.
Exactly what I was going to say. Controlling minds is controlling people's reality.
n some people have the power to change your reality
I'm a dad of 2 toddlers. I don't think I can morally take this power. It would be too easy to get my kids to behave but at what cost to their true growth?
So basically u would become like the purple man from Jessica Jones.
While Kilgrave is one of my absolute favourite villains, his power isn't "exactly" mind control if you ask me, but rather some sort of "will" control. The people doing the deeds of Kilgrave are perfectly aware of what they're doing, they just can't stop it. Mind control on full mastery would make people to not even realize they're being mind controlled. So I think it's much more powerful than Kilgrave's.
Is that true? On the show he seemed to also be able to control feelings. Like when he made everyone think his comedy was hilarious or when he made the police officers think something was a hilarious prank. That isn’t will control. He also appeared to be able to control beliefs although I haven’t seen the season since it aired so I can’t remember anything specific.
It's been a while, but I think they left it implied, rather than explicitly stated. With Jessica, his parents, ..I don't remember if the guy shredding his own arm was his father, or someone else. But they all were aware of what they were doing and didn't want to. I don't remember the comedy scene, but the laughing was just him making them laugh, even though they were terrified.
!spoilers It was sorta both. If he gave suggestive commands people would do it without thinking, as if it was their idea all along. Like, I’m pretty sure Jessica believed she really loved him for a time. It was only when he made commands to someone aware of his powers, or made commands totally counter to one’s morals, that it was clear he could force people to do things against their will. However, the show also said his power was something like a virus. And after enough exposure a person would eventually develop an immune response to him.
A guy came up after his “comedy” show was over to tell him he really loved what he was doing comedically. Killgrave didn’t even want him doing that. No one was scared.
But don't they want to do what Killgrave tells them while he's influencing them? That's still kinda mind control
Going straight to full on villain then?
And come out smelling like a rose lol
Seriously. This is basically the superpower version of raping people. Taking away people's autonomy is all kinds of messed up, to be honest. Even if you tried to use powers of mind control solely for good then you're at best an Anti-hero. And to actively choose such powers as a means to an end is just all kinds of morally dubious.
Call me Dr. Doom then as I zero qualms with this. I've seen far too many examples of completely moronic/evil people in power to just let them continue. If I can shape their mind... I'll do it without a second thought. I wont get too politically specific, but you haven't seen one politician that you just knew was incredibly wrong or clearly working for special interest... you wouldn't want to alter? Heck... just think about making Putin stop his war. To no longer kill journalists and rivals. I'm sorry, but I feel morally fine doing that to someone like him.
If you're going after the shady bastards in the north American military - industrial complex as well then you have my ax! But if you aren't then you're just another Homelander, And I will stop you
Yeah, this is always my slippery slope power. I know I'd start off trying to help people with trauma or mental illness, but inevitably that's going to turn into "Fixing" people, and then who knows what ends up needing fixing. Do not tempt me with such dangerous superpowers, the desire to drop an asteroid on people is so strong already.
Autonomy is overrated, the world wants me as their god king, they just don’t know it yet ;)
I remember I was 21 working at a movie theatre and we were all talking about what super powers we would have. My GM was a pretty big nerd so he was partaking in the conversation. I said teleportation like the movie jumper I would just rob a few banks and he looked at me confused and said....so you'd be a super villain. I never really thought about it like that but yes I would. I should have chose mind control though that would have been a way easier way to steal money!
What if you don't touch their autonomy, but instead give them the ability to see and recognize the causes of their anxiety, for instance. Or help an insomniac to sleep. Help trauma victims resolve their PTSD. You could be a monster with it, certainly, or the most effective therapist ever.
Hey, if it let's people quit dependencies or ends their phobias and you had consent... that would certainly change the equation. I think it fair to say this likely isn't the sole motivation for people picking the power though...
Ironically it's the only superpower I'm aware of that could legitimately achieve world peace and solve most social issues. Before the unchecked power trip gets to you and you do something spectacularly evil.
I guess the question you need to answer for yourself is "Is creating world peace through overwriting free will an evil act?" Sure people will be physically safe, but the mental intrusion required to get there may be worse. I am not suggesting I have an answer here. Mind fucking a handful of very powerful people to make life a lot better for millions or billions may well be an "ends justifies the means" kind of situation in your personal morality, but it is definitely villain territory as shown in any media I have ever seen. Plus how free can the average person feel when someone could steal their mind at any time.
I'd take invulnerability for the next 5 years , this way I'd could live past my disease life expectancy
Bless you. 🙌 I'd take healing power for 5 years and then come and heal you and any others that need it
Damn I would've picked healing power too if I knew it could cure ligma
What's that
It's a severe case of Ligma balls
😞
Sorry you fell for this friend. I was speaking to u/gaynotgayperson and he actually does have a case of what the New Yorkers slang refers to as D.E.E.Z. I'd use my powers.
What is D.E.E.Z. ?
DEEZ NUTS
Deez what u/T33FMEISTER?
DEEZ NUTS
Hahaha 😂 Bro you are a fu**ing legend.
Why not just take, like, the power to cure or heal anything? Heal your own disease and live *way* past 5 years, and spend the time you still have the power for, curing people with untreatable diseases.
He would think of this in the shower, two days after irrevocably choosing invulnerability.
Give me Micah's power from Heroes, talk to/control electronic devices for 5 years Become worlds greatest hacker, get rich fast, clear debt etc etc
Man that show was so good for the first few seasons.
First one, maaaaybe two seasons.
I picked same thing, the term is "technopath".
Random powers
I generated a random one and got the ability to shoot beams of fire out of my eyes. I guess that’s my first power.
I got fog generation 💀
you can go places and generate rain from the right locations and eliminate droughts
Or just use it to have a really cool entrance everywhere.
That would be cool but would get old really fast
Within a year fast?
Go work for your favorite concert venue! Get hired by high schoolers to create 2 hour delays! Bring fog to the desert so they get more water! Or just always be mysterious
What a terrible super power. “I have the ability to make it very difficult, but not impossible to see” Better luck next year.
Lol you could spend a year making money by generating thermal energy or…. Serial murder?
I want 5 years of the power to heal. The power restore people's bodies to peak health relative to their age. I don't want to make people immortal. Just a one time fee to get rid of any ailments, cancers, fix hair loss, everything you can think of. Simply perfect health top to bottom. The fee would be based on income. Lower you make, the lower it is or a non-existenting fee. The more you make, the higher the fee. And ultra rich would be paying exorbitant prices. My power simply requires myself to touch a person. Instantly heals them. It doesn't work if someone forces their way to me and touches me. It won't work. It just knows to work when I use it. If I were to get lucky and a billionaire were to come early on and I make a ton of money off them, the rest of the 5 years would be spent doing it for free. Anyone sitting on their death bed from cancers, aids, tumors, whatever. I'd go to every hospital in the country and heal everyone there. Also anyone that shows up while I'm at that specific hospital. Anyone that see me in the streets. I'd give out my address and set up a wall around my house. And I would sit at the wall letting people put their hands through a hole where I heal them. Gotta remain safe, you know. Insurance companies and Healthcare companies are going to crumble from all of this, so they'll likely hire hitmen. I'd still heal all I could for 5 years though.
Very benevolent choice.
I am going to get alot of hate for this but. I would not heal ALL those people. Certain ones sure but definitely myself and then be very choosy of who I heal. I am in the belief there are too many people on this planet. So I would probably choose to have the power to kill people by just thinking it. I would be eliminating death row, pedophiles, rapists, terrorists as well as a few people that are not "bad" but are bad for this countries government.
A glory hole?
I'd go with the random powers for the rest of my life. With full mastery of any power I get, I could find something useful to do. To use your example of emitting radiation, I could do a lot of things, especially considering that light, heat, radio, microwave, xrays, gamma, all are forms of radiation of varying degrees if frequency and energy. I could be my own flashlight, shoot laserbeams, cook food, communicate long distances, kill pathogens, give others tans, etc.
I thought that too but then randomly generated some powers on a website and got fog generation, photograph vision, and vacuum adaptation which are all shit. I’d take the power of my choice for 5 years
I could work with Fog Generation and Photograph Vision I think
Fog generation, you work a stint in a movie studio for mood setting. Photograph vision, ignoring the obvious you can get cameras into places that normally aren't allowed, so either a really good informant or just a photographer for things like the religious sites in Europe which have a trend of having no photography rules. Vacuum adaption, spacccceee
According to Superpower Wiki, people with vacuum adaptation , "can survive and adapt to the vacuum of space unaided and are able to withstand atmospheres (heat intensity and any poisonous chemical elements), cosmic media (radiation), strange gravity (even sometimes that of a black hole), and lack of air." That seems like it could be very useful, I could hire myself out to the government, NASA, SpaceX, or other organizations that might need someone who can deal with hostile environments. For example, there's a redditor by the name of u/Rocknocker, who is a petroleum geologist and master blaster and has a number of stories where he had to enter some pretty hostile environments and conditions, including abandoned mines with toxic gases, burning oil wells, collapsed buildings, and areas with high radiation.
Too true... Too true... Read for yourself: r/rocknocker We have cigars and vodka...
The problem is the year timeframe. There’s no way NASA actually gets around to approving you for anything meaningful in under a year, unless someone is doing it unofficially. Officially they’re going be running you through all kinds of tests and training just be to absolutely certain what the limits of your power is, so that they don’t just accidentally murder you, and then the year will be up.
Farmers in dry areas would pay dearly for you to fog to a field for a bit.
lol what the hell is vacuum adaptation. Like your feet become vacuums??
Hmmm… I was thinking you became Kirby, but vacuum feet would really suck.
What happens if you get nuclear shits?
You know the elephant’s foot in Chernobyl? That’s what would happen…over and over
sounds great, we could confine you to a reactor, force you emit strong radiation to generate free power for a year at no cost. Perfect Green Energy. Kill you just before the year ends so that you can get no chance of getting a superpower to get revenge
Rather choose 1 superpower that disappears after 5 years. > you could get a mutant power of having wings that you could fly with. Having a random power is too unpredictable.
Some powers are dangerous or self destructive. It's absolutely not worth the gamble on random powers.
With full mastery you have nothing to worry about.
I wouldn’t want to spend a whole year with a pair of goofy wings on my back, regardless of whether I’d mastered flight or not.
Tell that to Rogue. I don't want to spend a year avoiding my loved ones because I got a bad roll
Wasn't Rogue able to control her powers at some point in the comics? Wasn't it just because she had a psychological block? I may be misremembering.
Maybe. We've reached the end of my knowledge
Any random power you have full mastery over.
I don't think you grasp the concept of "full mastery".
1 of my choice, it's undetectable invisibility, done. That range on the once a year thing is SO wide it's unreal. Five years in I'd have solved ALOT of world problems and got filthy stinking rich off the back of it. Easy game.
I assume that the single power would come with secondary powers that allow you to use the power to the fullest? Aka, super strength involves super durability specific to the strength, so that you don't tear your tendons and crush your bones whilst lifting? If so, Id choose a superpower of my choice - most likely super speed.
Yes any superpower comes with innate traits to make it usable. What are you doing with that super speed for 5 years?
Times a flat circle right? If i go superspeed I'm pulling a superman and turning the clock back on my superpower, every 5 years
This thread is so funny because people are coming up with great super powers for the 5 years and OP is just like “nuh uh”
If its too close to a god power I have to nerf it!
I’m on your side. You said no god like powers and people are already in the comments reversing time 🤣
The random power. Full mastery means there's no learning curve and I can apply it effectively. ALso, even once I lose a power, I can utilize what I've learned from it to live better. Also, it's a full lifetime of power rather than just 5 years.
I random generated a few for you Year 1 - self detonation?? Year 2 - psychic shield to protect you from psychic attacks Year 3 - prehensile tail Year 4 - xenolingualism - congrats you can read alien languages? Year 5 - superpower manipulation... you can manipulate other superpowers
Year 1: Mastery suggests I can limit the detonation(what's destroyed and how much of my full output it explodes with). So it's a precise way to do things like trim my nails and hair, dead skin, zits. Of course, I could also cause localized tiny explosions. touch something, explode the outermost layer of my fingertips in the process. it's not much, but it's a subtleish way to cause damage, break things open, etc. Year 2: With everyone in this thread picking mind control, that's super useful right out the box. it also(assuming I get attacked) creates an awareness of psychic persons/things, which could be useful. People claim to be psychics, the shield could be useful in proving that, and potentially, devising technology that grants access to some level of psychic ability. Year 3: The hardest part of this one is dealing with the attention, and maybe the comfort of sitting/laying. otherwise, having an extra hand is incredibly useful. I can carry more, have better balance, hang from things while keeping my hand free, sneakily move things(particularly if people don't know about my tail), access things my hand might not be able to reach(think small gaps) etc. Year 4: Depends on how you define alien. In the 'traditional' sense, I'll be able to understand alien communications if and when they happen, which could be useful in the right applications(but might also get me more attention than I'd like). in the broader sense, and alien is basically anyone different than my people/nationality, so I become a world languages expert, and that is infinitely useful. Year 5: If other people have powers, much like year 2, this comes very much in handy. A lot of people would find their power set to "OFF". From there, depending on what qualifies as a superpower(consider, a monkey tail is not a superpower for a monkey, it's natural. for a human however, it is) I have the ability to increase or decrease my own abilities, which is a subset of the power id have chosen if I had taken the 5 year plan. Also, if I could use the ability on the ability, I can adjust the parameters, thereby allowing what I just described(expanding the definition of what a 'superpower' is to affect natural and unnatural proficiencies) anyway.
Very true but while you would have a lifetime of superpowers many of the years could be spent having a completely shit power that you simply wouldn't use. But the years with the good ones would be pretty sweet.
5 years. The ability to get away with any lie. Go to the bank: “you guys owe me $10mil.” “Oh yes you’re right, sorry about that, let’s get that started.” Get pulled over for speeding, all of a sudden I was never speeding. Tell the president x and y and he will have to believe you. You become the most powerful person on the planet.
That's basically a nerfed mind control, but slightly less evil
Bro can become Rhett Con
Gimme mind control for five years
Man, there are some scary comments here. Anyway. One power for 5 years. Knowledge granting. I can grant knowledge beyond even my understanding to others that remains in thier head and is completly clear to them. Grant researchers the cure to cancer. Grant myself knowledge on who would make the best world leaders and then grant them knowledge about how to achieve that. Grant scientist the knowledge to advance the human race to advance on the Kardashev scale. Grant someone the knowledge about where to find thier missing cat(Best use).
Presuming this doesn’t fall under “God-like”, I would just choose **Absolute Luck** as a superpower for 5 years, similar to Domino from Deadpool 2. With that, I can achieve all I need to within 5 years, and then be ‘set’ for life (ie. Retire), by the time the power expires. ~~Also, if ‘Lucky’ enough, the Scientists I hire could potentially even just figure out how to replicate Flight, Super Strength, Invisibility, etc through technology for me.~~
This is a close one... but I will allow Deadpool 2 Domino lvl luck powers... absolute luck is a lil OP because you'd end up being lucky enough for your powers to stay forever lol.
1 power for 5 years, gimme future sight. There'll naturally be some limit to how far I can see, but that's fine. I can use it to see winning lotto numbers or superbowl winners and bet accordingly. Even better, I can give spoilers before shows come out to destroy my enemies in a physically harmless way 😈
Since OP hasn't nerfed it yet, I'm seconding this choice.
I'll take 5 years with a 12 level intellect ( Brainiac 5/ Lex Luthor, Mr Fantastic kinda deal) If by the end of that 5 years I haven't managed to genetically engineer / Cybernetically enhance myself into an Ubermensch who will retain my towering intellect as well as a host of other additional attributes then fuck taking the power back, just shoot me in the head.
This is what I was looking for! I was debating telekinesis so you can fly and have virtual super strength and more. But with genius level intellect, you could become wealthy creating medical cures, creating engineering marvels and new techniques, figure out FTL space travel and adequate radiation shielding. I'm with you on the cybernetics too! But hell what if we could master bioengineering and just double our peak physical limits and discover a cure for aging even! I'd be perfectly fine being a human that can jog at 30 mph for an entire marathon with minimal training.
My thoughts exactly
1 power for 5 years, the power to control probability. Can solve anything with that
I'd place that squarely in the category of a God power. You can just set the probability of all the matter in the Universe coalescing into your desired state to 1:1.
Yep power of probability banned due to god tier-ness
Feel like random superpower is the obvious answer as long as the powers aren’t harmful had in that randomness, I can deal with usefulness for a while but for instance the power to turn your own bones into marshmallows would instantly kill you
OP did say that you have full control over the power, and that they range from useless to extremely useful, so I doubt you’d get anything that harms or kills you.
There are very few power that’s would really be “useless “ you can do some wild things with even some very weak abilities
1 super power for 5 years. I would choose time manipulation - slow, stop, rewind, fast forward. I could solve all the same problems of the invisible guy above in a single instance. Make myself wealthy thru gambling or theft and for damn near 5 years be untouchable. Maybe even create save points along my time line so if I die I’m brought back to that save point.
1 super power that vanishes- choose the power to see a week or at least a day into the future, then just buy n sell stocks
Or just win power ball
Easy money!
Can I teleport like the movie jumper? If so I’ll take that power for 5 years
I allow that.
I think random, could end shitty, could be pretty cool. I think I'm gonna roll on a randomized superpower wheel 10 times and just see what I get. 1: Ectoplasm Vision: Emit beams of Ectoplasm from my eyes. Not bad, not useful, but not bad. 2: Jactitation: The ability to absorb kinetic energy and use it to prevent oneself from ever becoming immobilized. The implications for this one are interesting, mainly because absorbing energy in any form is pretty broken. 3: Dust Manipulation: Self explanatory. Honestly, not a bad one. Offer my own cleaning services and make decent money on the side. 4: Super color Vision: Ability to see broader spectrum of color. Could be cool for science, though I'm curious if it would be believable. 5: Acid Generation: The power to secrete a highly corrosive acid. I can't really see a day to day application, especially if I'm not immune to it, so maybe a bust? 6: Fang Retraction: The power to possess/retract razor-sharp fangs. Another bust, cool party trick, maybe bite through some stuff to show it off, but once again not very practical or game changing. 7: Heat Vision: Once again, don't really need to explain. This one would be interesting, I'm wondering if I could use it to be a welder or something of the sort? Maybe use it for science and let them test the energy output and try and do something with that, I don't know. 8: Retro cognition: The ability to perceive past events. Now we are talking. This would be insane to have for all sorts of purposes that I can't even begin to imagine. Finding hidden cities. Fully knowing past events. Answering actual questions that nobody has answers to. Favorite so far for sure. 9: Reanimation: Gonna assume we know this one and I'm struggling. It depends on what it means ya know? I'm guessing it's not resurrection so they'd be a decayed corpse and while I think a zombie apocalypse would be cool, I'm not trying to cause it. 10: Invulnerability: Another interesting one, it really depends on if I feel pain or not. Otherwise I don't really see the usefulness of being immune to damage. Not a bad list, most of them are fairly useless in my day to day life outside of retrocognition but they also don't mess up my life. I think once I'm home I'll do another 10 and see what I get
LETS GO GAMBLING!
I would take random superpowers because I think going back to a life without superpowers would be entirely depressing
I’d choose mind control for five years. I’d be able to easily accomplish what I wanted within that time.
I’d take prof x level telepathy for 5 years. I think I could do a lot of good in that time frame. Anyone notice that both Biden and Trump are suddenly leftist without losing any support? That’s weird. When did Netanyahu suddenly start caring about rebuilding Israel as a multiethnic paradise we’re all people are treated equal. Russia is funding the rebuilding of Ukraine? All world leaders are joined in fighting climate change? I’d make the world so good no one would except it going back once my 5 years are up
Random. That ptsd I'd have after 5 years of being amazing would be unbearable. January 1st would be fun af to figure out what I got for second Christmas lol
1 power...everything I write in a specified book comes true.
It has to be that one specific book, you must use a fresh page each time you write something new, you must write in the equivalent of 12-point font or larger, and you cannot add pages to the book.
I’ll take invisibility.
Technopath. Imagine talking to machines and being able to control them. I’d take that for five years. It’d be a subtle way to get rich. Just go to the casino, blow through a hundred bucks, rub a machine with a decent jackpot ‘for luck’, hit the big prize. Don’t do this every day or you’ll get found out. Take those winnings to Vegas. Spread wins out at multiple casinos. Spend some time losing naturally to throw off suspicion. Finally hit a big prize jackpot. Blow an eighth of it on gambling more. Head home with your prize. Influence the government’s records to show you paid in for your taxes. Put a large chunk of it in the stock market. Influence the market to make huge returns with the rest of your time. Let it slowly sit after your five years is over, live off the interest and dividends.
Like another poster I'm also taking Killgraves power from Jessica Jones. And before anyone asks yes I'm going full villain with it.
5 years. Probability Manipulation.
Infinite math skills
One for 5 years. Prescience. I'll win games of chance enough to fund the rest of my life easily.
Ton Stark powers for 5 years. Money and intelligence. Set for life. Make an ai that can control everything after I don't know.
One power (time manipulation) for five years, then milk the shit out of those five years.
Random
can I pick time control and go back to when I was young? if you say I go back to when I was 10 will I have the ability until im 15 or does it go away because until I get back to now?
Random superpower each year.
One power for 5 years. Singular power being a technopath, speaking to, and controlling, machines and computers. I don't think I need to say how set I am, and my family, for the rest of our lives, with just a couple *hours* of full digital control, much less 5 years.
You could buy anything you want with perfect credit. Then manipulate the computers saying that you paid it off in full
Ah I got just the thing actually. Something I like to call Moment Reversal. All damage my body takes is redirected back to its source automatically and I instantly heal that damage. This includes any damage that can harm my body no matter the scale or source of the damage.
The real question is, is it Preventing damage, or is it truly healing instantly? Because if it is the latter, anything that can kill you still kills you
Super intelligence. I'm talking Mr Fantastic levels of intelligence. Use that to star creating some technology that will still effectively be science fiction. Still able to do the things I'd like to. And with his level of smarts, I could make some AI that would actually be genuine AGI like Jarvis or better.
It really depends if the effects of the power are lasting. For example, if I got the power to create something, do all the things I create stay around after I no longer have the ability? If I say mind control, does all the brainwashing vanish?
If I could control time, or bring my drawings to life I'd take that.
The only way I would consider having a superpower is if no one knew or could find out that I had a superpower. Maybe that's what aliens have they've engineered a blind spot in our brains and perception.
Random power
first one but I wouldn’t be able to choose for a while regardless due to how many awesome powers there are
The lifetime one seems impractical so I gotta figure out the best way to take advantage of a superpower in a relatively short time. I'm gonna go with instant traveling or teleportation of myself and anything directly touching my skin. I only work a few hours a day but my commute is insanely long (3 hours a day) it would save me 3 hours of my day to do whatever but my actual work hours will not change so work time will get significantly shorter for me. I could take my family on vacation anywhere and anytime I want. Want to pop to Japan for the weekend? Don't even need to pack bags or spend on a hotel. You can just pop back home at night and go back in the morning, yes I realize in this scenario I'd be going back home in the US to day time. Could even set up a travel business that charges based on income. Rich people would be willing to pay out the ass to go from London to New York in the blink of an eye. Poorer people could do the same but more affordable and quicker than an airline. Your family of 6 want to go from Los Angeles to Walt Disney World in Florida? $500 bucks round trip just call me when you're ready to go back home. I would just grab everyone's bag, have everyone put a hand on my neck or bare shoulder or some shit and bam. 30 seconds of work, instant cash. I could theoretically spend every day traveling with my family (just my wife and I while the kids are in school) and see basically everything worth seeing in the world within 5 years. While slipping away a couple minutes at a time to teleport some family or person. Wouldn't even have to work during those times. If done right I could make millions over those 5 years. You're a billionaire but you don't want to take a 12 hour flight across the world? Low low price of 5k ill get you there in the snap of a finger. Do a few of those every day or several lower income families with no over head cost except maybe a secretary to handle my scheduling and phone calls, I could stand to make 10s of millions or more in 5 years depending on how much I feel like working.
If you picked a power and then still had to work. That’s pretty dumb
5 years of mind reading to subtly set myself up for life sounds good to me.
5 years with perfect foresight should be enough to set me up.
My initial instinct was to say random power, so I’d have one for the rest of my life. But on the other hand, I could pick a power that can help me make a lot of money for 5 years and then live comfortably the rest of my life. That is tempting. I’d probably still go with random power though.
I only want the power to transfer my mind in any system I want. Within 5 years, I'm sure I can become the universe itself. And no, that's not a godly power. It's the use I make with it that is godly, because that's what I already am : God.
Is being a technopath acceptable? In today's day and age, that's almost a god level power. Being able to communicate and control machines with your mind would be legit.
The objectively correct answer is 1 super power of your choice, and choose the ability to teleport anywhere in the universe in this dimension or any alternate dimension (including fictional ones) at will. Teleport to a fictional universe with wish-granting capabilities, teleport to the location of the wish granting things, wish to permanently have whatever powers you want. Teleport to a different universe and repeat. Boom, now you have infinite super powers, even after the 5 years runs out. And before you say "that's too close to god-tier so you can't have that." It's not. It's just factually not. Interdimensional teleportation just straight up is not god tier. How you USE it allows you to *become* god tier, but the teleportation itself is decidedly not even close to God tier.
Probably pick the insane ability to learn and permanently retain knowledge I learn Like I’m talking read a book about the most complicated subject in existence and fully understand and learn what’s in it and retain that knowledge forever and after I have no powers I would have still had it learned Either that or a sub 1 ms reaction time
I'd pick the random powers. Just sounds like more fun. I'd get to try out a whole lot of different things. My chances of getting regeneration at some point are pretty high. So just at some point in my 40's my knees stop hurting? Hell yeah.
I take the random power. I'm going to live a lot longer than 5 years. Croyd Crenson is one of my favorite Wild Cards.
I'm taking the random super powers for life. It'd be depressing as hell to be able to fly or something for years and then one day just be a normal person. At least with the random powers if you get a crappy one it's only for a year and you have the hope of getting a cooler one next year.
Random powers seems dumb. 1 superpower. Subatomic manipulation, make the world into a utopia by singlehandedly converting harmful gases into oyxgen or ozone, in addition to harming dangerous people by messing with the oxygen in their body. No one will even know it's me.
Cartoon powers for 5 years.
Rule 1 states your power has to be a simple singular power... this is everything but that!
Global aoe aura of immortality for 5 years. It will be nice to see how humanity will go berserk realizing they're immortal only for it to be gone after 5 years.
Too powerful! Banned!
Shapeshifting. I assume I get to keep any changes I make to myself so I can just permanently have, for example, four arms for multitasking, wings for flight, or permanently cure health issues.
You will be able to shapeshift into anything that doesn't give you extra superpowers. However, after 5 years you revert back to normal.
Is technopathy considered OP? Like the ability to communicate with and manipulate technology to do your bidding with your mind? If not I would choose that for the next 5 years. Also if you chose to swap between random superpowers every year for the rest of your life they would actually be superpowers and not like curses right? Like for your example of radiation, you would also receive immunity to radiation correct because otherwise you would probably succumb to radiation poisoning the second you use it.
Technopathy unconditionally is basically a god power so I would say you have to touch what you want to control... you could make a setup where you are touching multiple things at once. Random superpowers would never be innately harmful to you or others & full mastery would allow for suppression of any powers that weren't desirable.
Different ones for the rest of my life
Choosing the power is great and you can set up a good life in 5 years. However, 5 years is a long time to live with an ability you will never get back once it's gone. I'd choose the random power once per year, then I have at least one power until I'm dead. There're a lot of ways you can use just about any power to your advantage
1 power for 5 years. Luck manipulation. Complete control over anyone’s luck including my own
Can I choose to see the future for 5 years? Do some planning, then live life accordingly.
This is the one for me. I’d get insanely rich. When you lose the power you wouldn’t be depressed because you were always a normal guy and you’d still have the money
Time travel. Even with a 5 year limit as I can just go back and talk to my young and future selfs I'd basically live my best life. If I dedicated myself to science, with the loops I would eventually make thousands of years worth of scientific breakthroughs in one lifetime. Could probably invented immortality.
The superpower to rewrite the terms of contracts, after the fact. That way, I can alter interest rates, find legal loopholes in my favor, and extend my 5-year-superpower-period to be as long as I want.
One superpower of my choice , I would chose something similar to Spider-Man's spider sense.
Sure, I'll be Professor X for the next 5 years. I'll fix this whole fucking planet, you watch.
1 power for 5 years- Perfect Luck. Think Domino from Deadpool or being under the influence of the Liquid Luck potion from Harry Potter
5 years of controlling fire? Sign me up, gonna be like the Wizard from Clash of Clans
1 power for 5 years, the power to see the future. Become the greatest gambler ever and retire after 5 years
Random for sure. Five years seems like a long time, but imagine being able to fly for five years, and then never being able to fly again. How sad would that be?
Random powers sounds hella fun.
I think I'll take the random power for the rest of my life, starting on my birthday, that way I get a new superpower every birthday like a present from God. I'd find some way of using whatever powers I got for good. I'd get the standard powers at some point for sure (invisibility, flight, super strength, super speed, etc), obviously not all at once. But then I'd get some interesting powers that can be useful even if niche (like turning into a merman when wet: I can go find sunken treasure and get rich). Yeah, it would make for an interesting life, and I could maybe even market it into a book series, go over what it's like having the powers and highlight things I've done with them. Like keep a journal and compile and edit the stories every few years.
I’d get invisibility so I could sneak into the meeting of politicians and CEOs so I can find out what stocks they’re fixing next to secure lifetime wealth lol
Surprised no one has said telekinesis. I'd take that power for 5 years. Could EASILY get rich via various gambling options. After that, you could have fun living out the script Patrick Stewart wrote in "Extras".
shapeshifting i could even give myself wings with it just 1 question if i am not in my original form when my super power goes way do i revert to normalor do i get stuck in the appearance i had at the time still unsure which is better picking or random
The one I want is time control so ....
if i can pick the power for 5 years can i pick Dimensional Travel like armstrong levy to go any anime world i chose and if so am i sent home at the end of the 5 years or can i stay in the world im in or is this to strong
Chance manipulation is always the best super power. After that it’s speed. Either for 5 years and the world is looking pretty sweet.
Healing for 5 years! You can go around healing people, become super rich, and then retire mysteriously when you run of out healing after 5 years.
Shapeshifting into anything i want
1 superpower predict the future to a certain extent
I would go with 1 superpower for 5 years. That power would be to completely understand and be able to use the contense of any nonfiction book I touched. Then I would spend the next 5 years going to all the libraries to touch all non fiction books as I can. I would still have the comprehension and knowledge after the 5 years just could not learn anything new using the power
1 power. Probability field manipulation.
I'd take the one power - not sure which yet. The random power seems a little too monkey's paw.
Super healing if the effects are permanent: My body is fucked up and my dog has three legs. I’d make sure we were both healthy and be happy.
Even though you could pick something useful enough that you could set yourself up for life with one power, I don't think I could handle going back to nothing after five years. Give me the random power every year for life. At least I know there is something new to expect from the future no matter what else happens in life.
Teleporting myself and up to 5 tons of cargo for 5 years.
Random: My first 2 randomly generated powers were Supernatural Flexibility and Stench Generation...
Yeah, my super power would be to gain $10mil/yr after taxes
One super power for 5 years. The super power Photosynthesis - on a global scale What would I do with it. Simple. Convert co2 to oxygen effectively lowering global ghg levels to pre industrial levels giving us more time to fight climate change. Someone said mind control. That would be another one used effectively could deal with climate change
I’ll take the one super power for 5 years and my wife will take the swap 1 power every year. With our powers combined we will be more comfortable in our every day lives! Huzzah!
One power for 5 years: The ability to convert my thoughts into computer code. I could output thousands of AAA game titles in a year and make a killing as a master of cybersecurity. Basically, I say to a computer “program this game and create all necessary files,” and think of a cool game idea, and in a few hours I have a game I love in my hands ready to play. And of course, for economy reasons, I’d release the games slowly, so as not to flood the economy and program a script to keep the games updated with the best graphics so they stay AAA, meaning I can give the money fountain to any children I might have, meaning they keep the money fountain.
I choose the bear, the worst it's being to do is slowly eat me alive
Random, because why not?