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Brain Critical Mass

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So you want to write a superhero comic. You have your Five-Man Band, and are giving each member some of the usual powers. But what will you give The Smart Guy?

Well, he already has an amazing brain. Let's make it even more amazing, saying that all that mind has reached critical mass, and now: Psychic Powers. Whenever a superhero has Psychic Powers, he is likely to be the genius of the group. Bonus points if it is said to come from his genius, 90% of Your Brain or both.

May be brought about through actual evolution, although not necessarily. Also, likely to be a human in the next level of evolution, as psychic powers are the next stage. Can be the reason why Humans Are Psychic in the Future and for Telepathic Spacemen.

Not to be confused with My Brain Is Big, although they frequently overlap. Also don't confuse with My Skull Runneth Over, although it can be a consequence if the character's body can't handle the super smarts and psychic powers.


Examples

    open/close all folders 

    Anime & Manga 

    Comic Books 
  • Inverted in Dynamo5, as the telepathic character is a Dumb yet Lovable Jock.
  • The Incredible Hulk:
    • The Leader has an enlarged, gamma-mutated brain in both mainstream and Ultimate Marvel and developed telepathic abilities as a result of the experiments to increase his intelligence.
    • Amadeus Cho, intelligent enough to be capable of Prescience by Analysis under regular conditions, is boosted by a gamma mutation that enlarges his head to no longer predict cause and effect, but warp them mentally to his desires.

    Fan Works 

    Film 

    Literature 
  • Once AM from "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" gained sentience, he also gained psychokinesis.
  • In "The Infinites" (1953) by Philip K. Dick, three astronauts start rapidly evolving after being hit by a source of unknown radiation. The first thing they notice is the rapid growth of their brain and intelligence accompanied by the decay of their physical bodies, but later they realize they gained the ability to perceive things beyond their normal senses. In the end, the test animals on their ship — which received a larger dose of radiation and became Energy Beings with Reality Warper powers — undo their evolution.
  • In "The Intelligence Gigantic" (1933) by John Russell Fearn, a man created to use 100% of his brain is not only superintelligent, but telepathic to boot.
  • Averted in the prehistory of the Known Space universe. The Slavers had the telepathic ability to control other animals but a number of species they enslaved were smarter than themselves, intelligence providing no psychic powers or ability to defend against them.
  • "The Man Who Evolved" features a super-evolved man who not only has Super-Intelligence, but can also read minds and control other people's actions.
  • Matilda Wormwood from Matilda had read Moby-Dick before kindergarten. Her Mind over Matter powers are stated to be because she's so bored and has no other way to use her brainpower. Once she is being challenged in school, they disappear.
  • Inverted in "The Minority Report" and a few other stories of Philip K. Dick that recycle the same theme: humans who have an "ESP lobe" that gives them psychic powers, in particular the ability to predict the future, are severely mentally retarded, with most of the rest of the brain tissue shriveled and atrophied, and their predictions of the future are deciphered from incoherent babble.
  • Pebble in the Sky: The "Synapsifier", a machine designed to enhance intelligence by improving brain conductivity, has the side effect of giving the user Psychic Powers such as telepathy and limited Mind Control. Arguably, the psychic powers play a larger role in the plot than the increased intelligence.

    Newspaper Comics 

    Video Games 
  • Alakazam, a Psychic Pokémon with an IQ of 5000. Several other Psychic Pokémon, like Slowking, are also known to be very intelligent.
  • In Temtem, Valiar is a Mental-type that's described as one of the most intelligent species; it even has a language that humans haven't been able to decipher yet.

    Webcomics 
  • Exaggerated in Axe Cop with the backstory and powers of Uni-Man. He grew a unicorn horn because he got so smart. Then everyone and everything else on his planet did too, and the planet itself also. Having a unicorn horn gives unlimited Reality Warper powers — just make a wish and it will come true.

    Western Animation 
  • The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius: In "Sheen's Brain", Jimmy's normally ditzy friend Sheen gets his intelligence increased with Jimmy's Brain Gain helmet and gains telekinesis.
  • In Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, Dr. Neugog is mutated into a borderline Eldritch Abomination when a spider gets between him and an invention of his that would have allowed him to read minds. After being mutated, he has the power to suck people's brains out and add them to his own. The more brains he sucks, the greater his intelligence becomes, and he eventually develops psychic powers. Later, Dr. Donovan's nephew Pierre has the same thing happen, but without the Body Horror, and it is later reversed.
  • In the Darkwing Duck episode "Heavy Mental", the technogadget of the day zaps people and increases their brain power, complete with inflating head and psychic powers, which are mainly telekinesis and clairvoyance. Toward the end of the episode, the General Ripper zaps himself and takes things up to eleven, turning himself into pure thought.
  • When Mandark first appeared in Dexter's Laboratory he was shown to be telepathic, to underline the fact he was smarter than Dexter (that's before Villain Decay settled in, of course). This is used to an eerie effect when, in his first spoken line, he answers the question the teacher was going to ask next.

Alternative Title(s): Smart Equals Psychic

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