Discussion Main / CastingAShadow

It seems that 'Types' are suggested throughout this article as well as others that link to it. Were they deleted?

Yes, in January. Here is what they were; I'll see about cleaning it or asking someone to later.

In short, this is a character that can control or otherwise manipulate the powers of Darkness.

This "Darkness" can come in several different forms. In no particular order:

1. Death, hate, anger, fear, disease, negativity, etc. and other general nastiness associated with these. Expect people who use these to be pretty unpleasant.
2. Directly manipulating darkness itself. It should be noted that this completely bastardizes the laws of physics. Darkness is simply absence of light, and is no more capable of causing harm than a dark room. Additionally, one can't "create" darkness since by cosmic time, light is barely more than a microscopic spark in the endless void of the Universe, making light merely the temporal absence of darkness. One could say that those using these powers draw their power directly from the Rule of Cool, and heaven help them if they aren't enough of a Badass to do so. Fortunately, they often are. Can be explained as the darkness being a form of Applied Phlebotinum, possibly taking the form of a solid, in which case it has a strange tendency to take the form of tentacles. Often explained through A Wizard Did It.
   • Other manifestations of "darkness" are depicted like other elemental types except "dark"; "dark fire", "dark light", "dark ooze". Take some kind of "energy" and Paint It Black.
   • Another form of this is control of gravity. This sub-form is more new than the others, and is usualy found more in Japanese media. The most seemingly connection is due to Black Holes.
3. Things or forces associated with the dark and/or night. Again, expect people using these to be evil, or at the very least, creepy. Or maybe even ninjas!
4. Evil, or possibly even demonic in nature. Unless coming from a diminutive Deadpan Snarker, get out your Infinity +1 Sword or run like hell. Use of these powers often requires/precipitates a fall to the Dark Side. May taste like Hellfire.
5. "Dark matter", entropy, "negative energy" or some other thing associated with non-existence. Might be related to Type 2 or 1.

This is a MUCH more satisfactory description than the one on the main page. I am one of those Speculative Fiction writers that's strict on physics and seeing your point helps relieve the tense feeling that this superpower might be impossible.

Also, the "negative feelings" bit really touched me. One of my planned story's themes is Hope vs. Fear.