History DeconstructedTrope / Worm

* TheChessmaster: Accord’s [[SuperIntelligence Thinker]] power allows him to increase his intelligence in proportion to the size and scale of the problems he addresses: he’s able to devise a 150-page solution to world hunger in under a day. However, the implementation of Accord’s power is specifically tailored to behavior-based subjects like politics or psychology, making it less useful in reacting to less [[ComplexityAddiction complex problems]], like heat-of-the-moment fights. His power also has the side effect of ''requiring'' that everything around him goes according to his expectations. His SuperOCD is so intense that things like his subordinate not calling him “sir” or one of his business meetings being interrupted has driven him to murderous rage.

* PsychoForHire: The Slaughterhouse Nine is probably the most insane, bloodthirsty gang in the country, to the extent that basically all neighboring villains will immediately be considered ALighterShadeOfBlack by the heroes of any town they arrive to. Nevertheless, in the past, some [[TooDumbToLive brilliant]] capes have attempted to hire the bastards to kill off their enemies. They did so seemingly unaware that, if you plan to hire someone that loves killing so much they'll disregard the substantial leeway granted by cape society, you should be ''damn'' sure their bloodlust is outweighed by something like a [[NobleDemon a code of honor]], MaskOfSanity, or MoneyFetish so you can [[IControlMyMinionsThrough control]] them. As it stands, if you're lucky (like the Teeth), the Nine will [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder turn on you]] after the job's done and kill you quickly ForTheEvulz. If you're unlucky (like Ravager), they will betray you immediately, find your intended target, and hand you both off to [[MadDoctor Bonesaw]] to be forcibly [[MixAndMatchCritters spliced]] together into an unholy abomination/pet [[AndIMustScream while still conscious]].

* PsychoForHire: The Slaughterhouse Nine is probably the most insane, bloodthirsty gang in the country, to the extent that basically all neighboring villains will immediately be considered ALighterShadeOfBlack by the heroes of any town they arrive to. Nevertheless, in the past, some [[TooDumbToLive brilliant]] capes have attempted to hire the bastards to kill off their enemies. They did so seemingly unaware that, if you plan to hire someone that loves killing so much they'll disregard the substantial leeway granted by cape society, you should be ''damn'' sure their bloodlust is outweighed by something like a [[NobleDemon a code of honor]], MaskOfSanity, or MoneyFetish so you can [[IControlMyMinionsThrough control]] them. As it stood, if you were lucky (like the Teeth), the Nine would [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder turn on you]] after the job was done and kill you quickly ForTheEvulz. If you were unlucky (like Ravager), they would betray you immediately, find your intended target, and hand you both off to [[MadDoctor Bonesaw]] to be forcibly [[MixAndMatchCritters spliced]] together into an unholy abomination/pet [[AndIMustScream while still conscious]].

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: The Irregulars definitely have sufficient reason to despise Cauldron; after all, the organization kidnapped them from their home dimensions, [[TestedOnHumans turned them into monsters]] through experimenting with SuperSerum, and kept thousands prisoner for observation (and [[WakingUpElsewhere disposal]] once they were no longer useful). [[spoiler:The only issue is that the Case 53s waited to obtain their revenge until after the apocalypse had already started. This results in the top brass of Cauldron, some of the only people in the world with a plan to fight Scion (a plan decades in motion, no less), being killed or displaced at the worst possible time. Not to mention, the resulting riot ended up [[FromBadToWorse attracting Scion….]]]]
** [[MadeASlave Perdition]] similarly puts his personal vendetta over the defense effort against [[spoiler:[[HeroKiller Behemoth]]. He ends up not only killing his enemy, [[MissionControl Accord]], but attacks the people trying to prevent the murder of one of their top strategists. His attack puts both [[SherlockScan Tattletale]] (their ''other'' top strategist) and [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Chevalier]] (acting Protectorate leader) on the brink of death. While few would blame him for wanting revenge, Cody's impulsiveness was definitely responsible for a fair number of dead capes that day.]]

->''"Parahumans took the world from us. They took the sky.... Our greatest hero turned out to be the greatest monster, and we don’t get any answers about why.  Haven’t we been giving you chances from the beginning?  How much worse do things have to get?"''

** While some of the planets are inhabited, there are sufficient [[MulticulturalAlienPlanet historical, linguistic and cultural differences]] among their dimensional neighbors that even making contact can be risky. By the start of ''Ward'', Earth Aleph has sealed itself off to avoid the billions of refugees looking for a home, Earth Shin seems more interested in [[FantasticRacism cape genocide]] than diplomacy, and Earth Cheit's religious extremists are earnest to initiate a multiversal holy war.

* YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo: In order to accomplish his goal of ruling Brockton Bay, Coil facilitates the kidnapping of Dinah Alcott, one of the few legitimate [[{{Seer}} precogs]] in the Wormverse. Skitter exchanges her service in helping Coil accomplish his [[TakeOverTheCity goal]] for Dinah's eventual freedom. [[spoiler:Once Coil rules the city, he promptly attempts to kill Skitter. But it was so obvious Coil wasn't going to keep his end of the bargain that Tattletale and Skitter co-opt the majority of his mercenaries in advance. Coil ends up getting his brains blown out as a cautionary tale against thinking you're the only ManipulativeBastard among a group of supervillains.]]

[[/folder]]

''Worm'' is an effective deconstruction of the entire superhero genre, particularly the role that the appearance of superpowers would play in society at large.

** [[HumansAreBastards Some people are just selfish enough to exploit the world ending for the sake of coming out on top of the rubble]], even though its made pretty clear that no-one will survive Gold Morning if it comes to completion.

* AttackAttackAttack: When Dragon sends seven of her automated suits to Brockton Bay in order to capture the Undersiders and the Travelers, she purposefully sends her auto-restoring suit to capture Bitch. Dragon does this predicting that the combination of Bitch’s attack-focused fighting style, the suit’s ability to rebuild itself into fighting condition upon taking any damage, and Bitch’s stubborn inability to walk away from a fight that she feels like “winning” means that she’ll inevitably tire herself out. It’s only Skitter’s intervention that prevents this strategy from succeeding.

* TheBeastmaster: Bitch has the ability to turn canines into giant beasts, but lacks the ability to automatically control her creatures the way that some other capes can. This is actually the primary reason for her wanted status: her trigger event led her to unwittingly kill her abusive foster family. In order to compensate, Bitch’s power altered her mind to increase her ability to understand and train dogs. This had the side-effects of making her largely unable to read facial expressions, [[HairTriggerTemper incredibly aggressive]] in normal interactions, and more empathetic towards dogs than people.

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: [[HardLight Brandish]], who works as a superhero and a lawyer, has a fairly binary approach to right and wrong. She raises her daughters, [[FlyingBrick Glory Girl]] and [[HealingHands Panacea]] to internalize these beliefs:

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: [[spoiler:This ironically ends up being Scion's downfall - while his powers make him a borderline InvicibleVillain, Scion has no real understanding of human morality and emotions. Which means that when he experiences genuine sorrow over being shown the form of his mate via Oliver's power, he can't manage the grief and goes catatonic, allowing Defiant the chance to finish him off]].
* BreakThemByTalking: Tattletale insists on making monologues divulging the deductions of her power, regardless of how unwanted the information is. This frequently leads to violent responses from the targets of her speeches. [[spoiler:[[ArrogantKungFuGuy Glory Girl]] dislocates her shoulder for blackmailing Panacea's with [[UnpleasantParentReveal her father's]] identity. [[PracticallyJoker Jack Slash]] cuts her face open after she exposes his treacherous subordinate, because he was looking forward to pulling a DiabolusExMachina on their plot. [[CaptainPatriotic Miss Militia]] threatens Tattletale with a kill order after pistol-whipping her for nearly revealing that [[BigGood the Triumvirate]] are [[HiddenAgendaVillain Cauldron]] members (which would irrevocably damage the cape truce for S-Class threats).]] It's also suggested that the events surrounding Lisa's trigger push her to constantly prove she's the smartest person in the room.

* CapeBusters: The Parahuman Response Team is a multinational organization that is meant to work in tandem with [[HeroesRUS the Protectorate]] to deal with villainous capes. Though they were originally meant to enforce government authority over capes, in practice, the PRT functions more like hero supervisors and have very limited crime-fighting influence. In fact, one of the few times the PRT is used to take on a powered threat, against Nilbog, they’re slaughtered in droves. Moreover, the existence of [[TheStrategist thinkers]] makes it near impossible to prevent infiltration by capes: [[spoiler:both Alexandria and Coil become high-ranking officers while in their civilian identities, remaining undetected for decades.]]

* TheChessmaster: Accord’s [[SuperIntelligence Thinker]] power allows him to increase his intelligence in proportion to the size and scale of the problems he addresses: he’s able to devise a 150-page solution to world hunger in under a day. However, implementation of Accord’s ability is specifically tailored to behavior-based subjects like politics or psychology, making it less useful in reacting to less [[ComplexityAddiction complex problems]], like heat-of-the-moment fights. His power also has the side effect of ''requiring'' that everything around him goes according to his expectations. His SuperOCD is so intense that things like his subordinate not calling him “sir” or one of his business meetings being interrupted has driven him to murderous rage.

* TheFakeCutie: Bonesaw is a young girl with an aversion to swearing and a friendly disposition, whose primary interests are [[MadArtist art]], [[BodyHorror biology]], and ColdBloodedTorture. She treats her team, the Slaughterhouse Nine, as her surrogate family. [[spoiler:However, her interlude shows that this persona primarily results from three interwoven threads that [[OmniscientHero Contessa]] is able to use in DefusingTheTykeBomb: (1) Jack Slash and the Nine tried to initiate (read: break) Riley by forcing her to repeatedly repair mortal injuries to her family members over the course of hours, if not days; (2) Her mother’s last words were telling Riley to “be a good girl,” instructions she became obsessed with following to the letter after she had her psychotic break; and (3) It is made very clear that only S9 members who remain on [[FauxAffablyEvil Jack]] and [[OutlivingOnesOffspring the Siberian’s]] good sides live long. Bonesaw’s [[DeliberatelyCuteChild cutesy traits]] are mostly the result of an attempt to play on any warped parental instincts the two monsters have [[note]]to the degree that she uses her Tinker ability to keep herself looking like a preteen[[/note]], with Riley BecomingTheMask over time.]]
* FakeKillScare: [[spoiler:After Skitter turns herself in to the PRT, Director Tagg calls in [[GeniusBruiser Alexandria]] to emotionally break Skitter via interrogation. To do so, she begins "hunting" the Undersiders, using body doubles to convince Skitter that her only friends are being killed off. The heroine seemingly fails to realize that Skitter's [[AnimalEyeSpy power]] makes it almost impossible to read her [[TheStoic emotional state]]; that emotional turmoil tends to amplify cape abilities; and that Skitter is TheDreaded for a reason. Hopefully, Alexandria had time to review her actions while being [[KilledOffForReal literally]] drowned in bugs.]]

* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: However, the fact that literally every cape has a FreudianExcuse also means that people are willing to write off people who legitimately have good reasons for being as screwed up as they are because everyone else also suffered to get powers. Case in point: Rachel Lindt, aka Bitch, is pointedly treated as a dangerous threat due to her powers resulting in the death of her foster parents and siblings. It's pointed out in-series that Rachel is at most guilty of manslaughter, but people being unwilling to try and bond with her not only exacerbated the problem, but is implied to have caused her to gain powers in the first place.

* KidHero: [[spoiler:Following the deaths of [[TheLeader Aegis]], [[NewMeat Browbeat]], and [[TheHeart Gallant]] facing Leviathan,]] the Brockton Bay Wards become much more cynical about their [[ChildSoldiers role]] in cape society. Their youth and comparative immaturity leaves them under-equipped to handle many of the resulting stresses. Of the original BB Wards:

** Shadow Stalker's SociopathicHero traits come from underlying rage issues that may or may not be linked to her powers. Her SocialDarwinist beliefs seem to be the result of an angry teen latching onto any ideology that helps justify her behavior. Even worse, the government protection that comes with Shadow Stalker's hero status gives her free reign to victimize other students (one in particular) to psychotic degrees.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: The Irregulars definitely have sufficient reason to despise Cauldron; after all, the organization kidnapped them from their home dimensions, [[TestedOnHumans turned them into monsters]] through experimenting with SuperSerum, and kept thousands prisoner for observation (and disposal once they were no longer useful). [[spoiler:The only issue is that the Case 53s waited to obtain their revenge until after the apocalypse had already started. This results in the top brass of Cauldron, some of the only people in the world with a plan to fight Scion (a plan decades in motion, no less), being killed or displaced at the worst possible time. Not to mention, the resulting riot ended up [[FromBadToWorse attracting Scion….]]]]

** This even becomes a plot-point in the S9 arc. [[SpiderSense Jack Slash's sensory abilities]] only working on other superpowered people went unnoticed for over 20 years. It’s implied this is because the only people who were ever sent to capture him were capes. This suggests that a single sniper could've been enough to take him out.

* ApocalypticLogistics: Prior to the end of the world, the Fallen were largely considered a "church" in only the barest sense, including various settlements of Endbringer-worshippers, violent terrorists, neo-nazis, and miscellaneous {{Lower Class Lout}}s looking for any excuse to cause mayhem. Post-Gold Morning, the combination of their preparation for the end of days, targeted recruitment of refugees, and the occasional kidnapping turns them into a large-scale ApocalypseCult [[CultColony Colony]]. Limited alternative infrastructure leaves isolated individuals desperate for reliable sources of food and shelter, making them willing to join anyone who capable of providing it, insane zealots or not.

* {{Biomanipulation}}: Amy’s power unfortunately enables her to show absolutely no respect for the agency of the people around her. In particular, she has no problem working on bodies and minds, without telling her patients what can happen when her [[PowerIncontinence power goes off the rails]]. And those instances of BodyHorror and ego death are just what she does by accident. She’s also willing to [[GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul mind control]] convicts into becoming “model” citizens and has created the odd HumanoidAbomination. Finally, she feels the constant temptation to use her ability to force Victoria to love her, while also considering the fact that she hasn’t engaged in MindRape ([[NoExceptYes since the last time]] she engaged in MindRape) as proof that she’s a good person. The sheer power that she possesses makes her too much of an asset to the various factions for anyone to consider holding her accountable for these actions.

* CainAndAbel: Victoria's intense, occasionally violent, hatred for Amy means that she tends to default to [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim suggesting murder]] in response to the latter's frequent fuck-ups. The fact that Vic isn't exactly eager to divulge the disfigurement, MindRape, and actual rape she suffered at her sister's hands causes Amy to consistently receive the benefit of the doubt from Earth Shin, the Wardens, and their parents. Unfortunately, Victoria's very valid reluctance to reel back her hatred leaves her comments on Amy's [[{{Understatement}} poor decision-making skills]] to go unheeded.

** As Ashley Swan (Swansong) [[TookALevelInKindness take a level in kindness]] during her months spent with [[TrueCompanions Breakthrough]], she becomes much less interested in becoming a high-level CardCarryingVillain like her predecessor. This estranges Swan from her twin Ashley Black (Damsel), who blames Swansong "going soft" on ThePowerOfFriendship. Damsel responds by doubling down on evil, losing the few moral standards she had left, and violently [[RedemptionRejection rejecting]] any attempt at camaraderie out of fear of going the same way.

* FlashbackNightmare: [[spoiler:Rain’s cluster has a SharedDream of the circumstances surrounding their trigger event ''every night'', from the perspective of each of the four members. The trigger was an arson attack, committed by [[ReligionOfEvil the Fallen]], taking away everything that three of the members held dear. The fact that Rain is one of Fallen members who perpetrated the attack makes him TheScapegoat for the rest of the cluster. After a few years of being unable to move past their collective DespairEventHorizon, Rain is overcome with remorse and self-loathing, while the others decide to target their revenge efforts towards him exclusively. This is despite the fact that he was only a miscellaneous Fallen {{mook}} at the time, since it’s his actions that’ve been seared into their memory.]]

** Imp's "self-imposed obligation" to care for the siblings of her late friend, Regent, similarly shows how taxing this position can be, especially for someone untrained in mental health. Taking custody over a group of kids/teens [[AdoptivePeerParent two to ten years younger]] than you would be tough enough if the kids weren't superpowered {{tykebomb}}s. Considering their upbringing, the Heartbroken ended up severely traumatized at best, psychopathic at worst; something which put a serious responsibility on Imp to imbue them with some sense of morality. [[spoiler:After Samuel dies]] she spends the majority of her time [[PerceptionFilter unseen and unheard]] by her charges, in order to observe and [[JediMindTrick psychologically condition]] them into not becoming menaces to society (with mixed results).
* MassSuperEmpoweringEvent: Though cluster members have the benefit of ComboPlatterPowers, their shared power source carry glaring downsides. First, the shards of the component members are all connected, allowing the personality traits of cluster members [[NotHimself transfer between members]] of the same cluster. And second, killing one member of your cluster allows the other members to [[KillOneOthersGetStronger become more powerful]]; at the upper level, one person can harness the full power of multiple sources, making them into a OneManArmy (one example was able to take over ''a world''). These two factors make obsession, psychosis, and/or mass-murder a fairly frequent outcome for clusters.

* SpiritedCompetitor: Antares's fight against Lord of Loss exhibits exactly how annoying it would be to face an enemy that treats a deadly battle like a game. Antares spends most of the fight getting steadily more enraged at how casual he is, especially since [=LoL=]'s actions in delaying the heroes put their allies in serious danger. His condescending attempt to congratulate Antares on her eventual victory just earn him a swift punch to the face.

* TimeStandsStill: Secondhand's time-dilation ability allow him to move faster than the eye can follow. However, the lack of [[RequiredSecondaryPowers accompanying durability]] means he has to wear a [[PoweredArmor tinkertech suit]] for protection. Without it, the combination of stress from walking through air with the viscosity of water, lack of access to external oxygen, and increased friction leads to major long-term damage. Unlike most capes, he's rarely willing to use his ability outside missions: having to use it too often would eventually kill him.

* VillainTeamUp: The Hollow Point villains show how a villain collective can backfire without an established chain of command. [[spoiler:Though there is an initial benefit in multiple B and C-list villains combining their power, [[VisionaryVillain Prancer's]] unwillingness to accept the danger that official leadership would bring leads the group to become something of a MoralityKitchenSink. Specifically, several of the more violent members engage in the type of line-crossing behavior that attracts heroes like flies to honey. And when Beast of Burden tries to take on a more iron-fisted role in the group, there's more than a bit of [[TorsoWithAView backlash]].]]

* WhoNeedsTheirWholeBody: After scanning [[DetachmentCombat Disjoint]], Cradle is able to create a device that can cut up his target without any long-term damage. This being [[TheSociopath Cradle]] he begins using it for threats and torture, relying on the ability to disfigure his enemies while skirting [[ThouShaltNotKill one of the few cape-rules left]]. Since (1) most people considering being sliced to pieces while still conscious ''worse'' than dying; (2) he has no problem using his weapon on {{kid hero}}es; and (3) a good amount of the mercenaries he hires are {{Loveable Rogue}}s or {{Noble Demon}}s, pretty much everyone turns against him as soon as possible.

* NobleTopEnforcer: Skitter deconstructs this during her villain career, in terms of both motive and behavior. [[spoiler:As the Undersiders take over Brockton Bay, she repeatedly tells herself that her crimes are done solely for Dinah's sake. After killing Coil and becoming one of the rulers of the city's underworld, she rationalizes her role as helping prevent a power vacuum and doing [[SmallStepsHero more immediate good]] than the PRT and the Protectorate. But several heroes call her out for both performing and enabling (in her TrueCompanions, no less) some legitimately monstrous behavior, even if she claims good intentions. The fact that she does "the wrong thing for the right reasons," doesn't change the fact that taking over a city by force of arms has quite a few negative long-term effects that tunnel vision leads her to overlook. Effects that it's difficult to claim ignorance of when multiple people explain them to her face. By the tail end of Taylor's tenure as Skitter, even she has trouble blaming the heroes for not trusting her.]]

''Worm'' is effectively a deconstruction of the entire superhero genre, particularly the role that the appearance of superpowers would play in society at large.

->''"When I looked at her with my power, before, I called her the Worm.  She spent some time being as low on the food chain as you can get while still being able to move under her own power.  As low as someone can get while still having an identity of their own.  But she’s realized she’s poisonous, dangerous in her own unique way.... The little worm found a nugget of self-worth, she just doesn’t want to look too closely at what that nugget is made of."'' 

** Aegis has the ability of a hyper-adaptive physiology. He can incorporate redundancies into his body allowing him to see through his skin when blinded or reattach limbs when dismembered. This, in combination with his slow healing factor, makes it near impossible to kill him. As a result, he is unaware of his upper limits [[spoiler:and the first time he fights something he can't immediately adapt to is also [[KilledOffForReal the last time]].]]

* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: [[spoiler:After experiencing ColdBloodedTorture courtesy of Bonesaw, Brian is unable to cope with the resulting trauma and unwilling to get [[TherapyIsForTheWeak professional help]]. Taylor’s determination to help him deal with the experience eventually led to IntimatePsychotherapy and Brian finally reciprocating her feelings. But since the foundation for their relationship comes more from the traumatic incident than a genuine romantic connection, they fall apart within a few months. Though Taylor is genuinely in love with Brian, he doesn’t see them together in the long-run, and gratitude for her emotional support just isn’t enough to change that.]]

* DisposableSuperheroMaker: [[spoiler:Cauldron exhibits how much effort would go into creating any halfway reliable superhero creation method. For every successful SuperSerum vial, they first have to literally harvest the flesh from an EldritchAbomination. After creating their sample formulas, they conduct tests on mortally injured or terminally ill people, many of whom are abducted. Around 60% of these guinea pigs end up dying in the process. Most of the remainder are horribly [[BodyHorror mutated]]. Once the specifics of the underlying process comes to light, [[VillainByProxyFallacy Cauldron’s customers]] end up despised by a large percentage of cape society for their role in it.]]

* InspirationalInsult: While being transported to [[TheAlcatraz the Birdcage]] with Canary and Lung, [[MadBomber Bakuda]] initiated a (failed) escape attempt. While she was able to easily threaten Canary into helping, Lung had been drugged into a docile state that prevented him from using his PlayingWithFire ability. To get her boss sufficiently incensed, Bakuda gives him a quick and brutal TheReasonYouSuckSpeech where she rubs in the fact the Lung received two separate defeats from Skitter, one of which literally castrated him. Once in the Birdcage, Lung's primary objective was to find someone to kill in order to avoid becoming someone's underling or bitch. Naturally, he picks the person who had not only [[YouHaveFailedMe just failed him]], but openly disrespected him beforehand.

** [[spoiler:Clockblocker's general rebelliousness and FriendlyEnemy status with the Undersiders, Skitter most noticeably, leads his career to be torpedoed by rumors that he is DatingCatwoman and likely to switch sides. His initial cynicism also develops into [[JadedProfessional borderline-misanthropy]] upon the mass reveal of corruption within the PRT, to the point he believes that the end of the world might be for the best.]]

--->'''Clockblocker''': How does a supervillain warlord react to that sort of news, by the way? Finding out a heroine tried to hang herself?... You do stuff, you have reasons, like your apparent feeling that, oh, it’s okay because she was a violent personality, but you don’t pay attention to the ending, to everything that comes after. A whole lot of people have been screwed up and hurt in your wake, Skitter.

** [[spoiler:First, Scion is an example of the kind of BlueAndOrangeMorality that an alien with no connection to humanity or capacity for selflessness would have. He only becomes a hero because it was the first suggestion that he received while aimlessly wandering the world. Kevin Norton, Scion's "Jimmy Olsen" counterpart, is a man that he listened to at random, who suggested that Scion could experience some fulfillment by trying to help people. However, the fact that Scion cares around as much about humanity as [[AboveGoodAndEvil we might for ants]] caused him to take this advice as literally as possible: leading him to do things like fighting house fires while thousands are killed in an Endbringer attack. Eventually, [[TheCorruptor Jack Slash]] suggests that he might have more fun engaging in mass-murder for kicks. Scion gives it a try by destroying Great Britain and finds it much more entertaining.]]

** [[spoiler:Facing the Titans]] leads to the reveal that [[ClothingCombat Parian's]] true ability is [[spoiler:the manipulation of dead tissue]]. The invasive nature of her power obviously disgusts her, but sheer necessity requires her to [[spoiler:go around asking people to ''make flesh golems from their loved one's corpses'' and Parian ends up both traumatized and estranged from her girlfriend by the experience.]]

* SmugSuper: March's preoccupation with looking cool leads her to [[UnflinchingWalk walk away]] before confirming [[spoiler:that she's killed Vista, assuming [[StuffBlowingUp the destructiveness of her power]] must have finished the job. This directly leads to her own death.]]

** Panacea, whose biological father was a supervillain, spends her life being kept at arm’s length since her adoptive mother believes villainy is [[InTheBlood her nature]]. In a MomentOfWeakness, Panacea breaks one of her cardinal rules, so she writes herself off as a [[ThenLetMeBeEvil lost cause]].

* JunkieProphet: Dinah Alcott, a middle-schooler that is among the three strongest [[SuperIntelligence Thinkers]] in the world, has such potent precognitive abilities that she's abducted by Coil, a crime boss looking to capitalize. Although Dinah doesn't technically ''need'' drugs to use her powers, Coil, scumbag that he is, fosters a narcotic addiction in the kid after taking her prisoner. This has the dual benefit of assuaging [[HeroicRROD the piercing migranes]] that results from overexertion and keeping the 12-year-old fully reliant on and subservient to him.

* NobleTopEnforcer: Skitter deconstructs this during her villain career, in terms of both motive and behavior. [[spoiler:As the Undersiders take over Brockton Bay, she repeatedly tells herself that her crimes are done solely for Dinah's sake. After killing Coil and becoming one of the rulers of the city's underworld, she rationalizes her role as helping prevent a power vacuum and doing [[SmallStepsHero more immediate good]] than the PRT and the Protectorate. But several heroes call her out for both performing and enabling (in her TrueCompanions, no less) some legitimately monstrous behavior, even if she claims good intentions. The fact that she does "the wrong thing for the right reasons," doesn't change the fact that taking over a city by force of arms has quite a few negative long-term effects that tunnel vision leads her to overlook. Effects that it's difficult to claim ignorance of when multiple people have explained them to her face. By the tail end of Taylor's tenure as Skitter, even she has trouble blaming the heroes for not trusting her.]]

** Once Harbinger V actually interacts with some of the [[PowerUpgradingDeformation Case 53s]], [[TheHeart Sveta]] in particular, he begins feeling the faintest inklings of guilt over the human rights abuses the original Harbinger engaged in with Cauldron. Since the [[InsufferableGenius Harbingers]] take even more pride in being completely indistinguishable from each other than the Damsels, they don't react well at one of their own becoming irrationally emotional. They later plan to remedy this behavior by murdering Sveta and end up disowning V when he foils them.

* InvincibleHero: Contessa's [[StoryBreakerPower Path to Victory]] allows her to instantaneously achieve any goal she sets her mind to, playing a substantial role in preventing mankind's extinction in ''Worm''. However, since her Path to Victory feeds whatever she needs to know, Contessa can only remember making five legitimate choices for herself post-trigger event. In essence, she's been living pretty much on autopilot since childhood and, for all her amazing power, Contessa's shown to be [[WomanChild emotionally stunted]] as a result. For the most part, she even defers to her allies on deciding on what questions to ask her power (out of wariness over people blaming her for [[LiteralGenie the results]]). Considering that [[HeadbuttingHeroes Breakthrough and the Undersiders]] nearly implode under the pressure when given the chance, one can hardly blame her for not wanting that responsibility on her head.

* TheFakeCutie: Bonesaw is a young girl with an aversion to swearing and a friendly disposition, whose primary interests are [[MadArtist art]], [[BodyHorror biology]], and ColdBloodedTorture. She treats her team, the Slaughterhouse Nine, as her surrogate family. [[spoiler:However, her interlude shows that this persona primarily results from three interwoven threads that [[OmniscientHero Contessa]] is able to use in DefusingTheTykeBomb: (1) Jack Slash and the Nine tried to initiate (read: break) Riley by forcing her to repeatedly repair mortal injuries to her family members over the course of hours, if not days; (2) Her mother’s last words were telling Riley to “be a good girl”, instructions she became obsessed with following to the letter after she had her psychotic break; and (3) It is made very clear that only S9 members who remain on [[FauxAffablyEvil Jack]] and [[OutlivingOnesOffspring the Siberian’s]] good sides live long. Bonesaw’s [[DeliberatelyCuteChild cutesy traits]] are mostly the result of an attempt to play on any warped parental instincts the two monsters have [[note]]to the degree that she uses her Tinker ability to keep herself looking like a preteen[[/note]], with Riley BecomingTheMask over time.]]

-->[[spoiler:A species needs to continue evolving....The most efficient route, achieving maximum amounts of conflict. By testing their own [[HeroicHost shards]] against one another, they gather information. The entity’s shards will fight among each other, and they will fight the counterpart’s, and they will steadily learn.]]

* NeverBeHurtAgain: Emma's malice toward's her {{former friend|OfAlphaBitch}} Taylor stems from [[spoiler:an ABB attack that she experienced the summer before entering high school. The fact that first hero on the scene, [[SocialDarwinist Shadow Stalker]], was willing to stand idly by until Emma began to fight back, combined with the fear of ever feeling that powerless again, led her to adopt the hero's "prey or predator" philosophy. Moreover, she began to project all hatred of her past self onto Taylor, believing she embodied the weakness Emma intended to move past.]] Tormenting Taylor allowed her to feel powerful, and her victim's refusal to fight back only served as proof that she was justified.

* YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo: In order to accomplish his goal of ruling Brockton Bay, Coil facilitates the kidnapping of Dinah Alcott, one of the few legitimate [[{{Seer}} precogs]] in the Wormverse. Skitter exchanges her service in helping Coil accomplish his [[TakeOverTheCity goal]] for Dinah's eventual freedom. [[spoiler:Once Coil rules the city, he promptly attempt to kill Skitter. But it was so obvious Coil wasn't going to keep his end of the bargain that Tattletale and Skitter co-opt the majority of his mercenaries in advance. Coil ends up getting his brains blown out as a cautionary tale against thinking you're the only ManipulativeBastard among a group of supervillains.]]

** RelationshipSalvagingDisaster: [[spoiler:To deal with the threat that Teacher poses, Amy puts Goddess in contract with Team Breakthrough, hoping for the chance to speak with Victoria. This backfires pretty much immediately when Victoria shares that even being around Amy is psychological torture and that Vic will never be comfortable around her again. Additionally, once Goddess double-crosses the team via MoreThanMindControl, Amy quickly attempts to {{deprogram}} Victoria and free her. Unfortunately, she does so by trying to biologically alter Victoria's mind, literally the exact thing that led to the MindRape and BodyHorror that traumatized her to begin with. Victoria immediately goes [[UnstoppableRage ballistic]] at the thought of Amy mucking around inside her head again and gets within inches of violently splattering her sister.]] At this point, Amy seems to realize how much Victoria despises her until...

* TheApocalypseBringsOutTheBestInPeople: [[SubvertedTrope No, it does not]]. While many villains and heroes were willing to work together to take on the Endbringers, [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Golden Morning]] sees numerous villains decide to LetNoCrisisGoToWaste over actually helping others. There are several reasons for this.
** The Endbringers, at the very least, could be repelled with enough effort or simply delayed so that [[InvincibleHero Scion]] could repel them. [[spoiler:Golden Morning is instigated by ''[[FaceHeelTurn Scion himself]]'', and it's made clear that beating him is pretty much ''impossible'']].
** A lot of heroes and villains are simply burnt out after all of the constant fighting that has happened in the lead-up to Golden Morning, with many crossing the DespairEventHorizon and [[MisanthropeSupreme believing the world is better off being destroyed]].
** [[HumansAreBastards Some people are just selfish enough to exploit the world ending for the sake of coming out on top of the rubble]], even though its made pretty clear that no-one will survive Golden Morning if it comes to completion.

* ThePardon: Following the defeat of Scion, the Wardens and other hero groups established an amnesty for every cape that fought during Golden Morning. The fact that the unpowered weren’t consulted before hundreds of superpowered criminals, warlords, and serial killers got off scot-free is a major source of anti-parahuman hostility. This leads to several attacks on those reformed capes considered too EasilyForgiven, like Fume Hood (a hero whose past crimes accidentally led a pregnant woman to miscarry).

* SuddenPrincipledStand: It's eventually revealed that, pre-Golden Morning, [[HeWhoFightsMonsters the Irregulars]] had tasked [[ConflictingLoyalty Sveta]] with getting their leader [[IdealHero Weld]] on board for their revenge plot against [[WellIntentionedExtremist Cauldron]]. When Weld takes exception to their plan at the last second, and Sveta sides with him (having been too conflicted to even mention it to Weld beforehand), it's taken as a major betrayal. The fact that (1) her change of heart happened at the last possible second; (2) multiple Irregulars died as a result of the time-wasting, intra-group conflict; and (3) Sveta's PowerIncontinence killed the person [[AllForNothing they'd been planning to]] interrogate/execute anyway, means Sveta becomes even more of a pariah among Case 53s than Weld himself.

* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: However, the fact that literally everyone has a FreudianExcuse also means that people are willing to cross write off people who legitimately have good reasons for being as screwed up as they are because everyone else also suffered to get powers. Case in point: Rachel Lindt aka Bitch is pointedly treated as a dangerous threat due to her powers resulting in the death of her foster parents and siblings. It's pointed out in-series that Rachel is at most guilty of manslaughter, but people being unwilling to try and bond with her not only exacerbated the problem, but is implied to have caused her to gain powers in the first place.

* KidHero: [[spoiler:Following the deaths of [[TheLeader Aegis]], [[NewMeat Browbeat]], and [[TheHeart Gallant]] facing Leviathan,]] the Brockton Bay Wards become much more cynical about their [[ChildSoldiers role]] in cape society. Their youth and comparative immaturity leaves them under-equipped to handle the many of the resulting stresses. Of the original BB Wards:
** Kid Win's diagnosed dyscalculia and ADD negatively impact his [[MagicPoweredPseudoscience Tinker]] ability, giving him major self-esteem issues that his poor fight record does little to help with. Moreover, a spur-of-the-moment attempt to bring [[RecklessGunUsage an unlicensed weapon]] to a battle leads to massive property damage and the risk of jail time, rather than a tongue lashing.

** A terrible home life combined indoctrination into a superhero career at the tender age of 11 causes Vista to identify more with her [[SecretIdentityIdentity superhero persona]] than her civilian one. Additionally, watching multiple of her friends die leads to several comments on the high chances of her being killed in the line of duty, that are both fatalistic and very unsettling.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: The new Earth Gimel has insufficient heroes/law enforcement to catch criminals, insufficient legal infrastructure to prosecute anything but the most serious crimes, and insufficient prisons to house those who are convicted. As a result, very few newly-pardoned villains still fear the consequences of not following the unwritten rules that used to guide their behavior. While there are the rare villains with ethical scruples (like Marquis, Palanquin, or the Undersiders), far more are willing to engage in behavior like hurting children, attacking civilians, or ambushing secret identities. The new world order has made very clear how many villains only had “standards” when they [[PragmaticVillainy couldn’t get away with not following them]].

* IJustWantToBeLoved: Growing up friendless and with [[AbusiveParents abusive]] birth parents, Kenzie's efforts to avoid being abandoned by her loved ones unfortunately does way more harm than good to her familial, platonic, and romantic relationships.
** [[spoiler:Kenzie was separated her from her caring foster dads when she unwittingly follows instructions from [[TheInternetIsForPorn an online search]] on 'how to show someone you love them'; whatever act she performed while they were sleeping led child services to conclude sexual abuse. Following Gold Morning, she willingly returns to her birth parents, who Kenzie tries to blackmail into taking better care of her. They attempt to discreetly kill their daughter several times before Victoria uncovers the immensely screwed-up situation.]]

* SuddenPrincipledStand: It's eventually revealed that pre-Golden Morning [[HeWhoFightsMonsters the Irregulars]] had tasked Sveta with getting [[IdealHero Weld]] on board with their revenge plot against [[WellIntentionedExtremist Cauldron]]. When Weld takes exception to their plan at the last second, and Sveta sides with him (having been too conflicted to even mention it to Weld beforehand), it's taken as a major betrayal. The fact that (1) her change of heart happened at the last possible second; (2) multiple Irregulars died as a result of the time-wasting, intra-group conflict; and (3) Sveta's Power Incontinence killed the person [[AllForNothing they planned to]] interrogate/execute anyway, makes Sveta even more of a pariah among Case 53s than Weld himself.

* ApocalypticLogistics: Prior to the end of the world, the Fallen were largely considered a "church" in only the barest sense, including various settlements of Endbringer-worshippers, violent terrorists, neo-nazis, and miscellaneous {{Lower Class Lout}}s looking for any excuse to cause mayhem. Post-Gold Morning, the combination of their preparation for the end of days, targeted recruitment of refugees, and the occasional kidnapping turns them into a large-scale ApocalypseCult [[CultColony Colony]]. Limited alternative infrastructure leaves isolated individuals desperate for reliable sources of food and shelter, making them willing to join anyone who capable of providing it, insane zealots or not.

* TheApocalypseBringsOutTheBestInPeople: [[SubvertedTrope No, it does not]]. While many villains and heroes were willing to work together to take on the Endbringers, [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Golden Morning]] sees numerous villains decide to LetNoCrissisGoToWaste over actually helping others. There are several reasons for this.
** The Endbringers, at the very least, could be repelled with enough effort or simply delayed so that [[InvincibleHero Scion]] could repel them. [[spoiler:Golden Morning is instiagated by ''[[FaceHeelTurn Scion himself]]'', and its made clear that beating him is pretty much ''impossible'']].

** [[HUmansAreBastards Some people are just selfish enough to exploit the world ending for the sake of coming out on top of the rubble]], even though its made pretty clear that no-one will survive Golden Morning if it comes to completion.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: [[spoiler:This ironically ends up being Scion's downfall - while his powers make him a borderline InvicibleVillain, Scion has no real understanding of human morality and emotions. Which means that when he experiences genuine sorrow over being shown the form of his mate via Olliver's power, he can't manage the grief and goes catatonic, allowing Defiant the chance to finish him off]].

* InvincibleVillain: [[spoiler:Scion's rampage]] shows just how terrifying an InvincibleVillain coupled with a StoryBreakerPower can be - by the end of it, [[spoiler:''multiple alternate Earths are no longer habitable'']].

* BehemothBattle: [[ScaledUp Lung]] is infamous for being one of two humans to ever drive off an Endbringer alone. In theory this would be great, if not for the fact that he decided to pursue and go for the kill. You see, Endbringers [[IAmNotLeftHanded hold back]], like a lot, to avoid destroying the earth. Though Lung is able to stay alive and keep up the fight once [[MakingASplash Leviathan]] gets serious, the same cannot be said for the spectators. In fact, by the time Lung’s transformation wears off, several million people have been killed in the crossfire and the entire island of Kyushu is lying underwater.

** [[MadeASlave Perdition]] similarly puts his personal vendetta over the defense effort against [[HeroKiller Behemoth]]. He ends up not only killing his enemy, [[MissionControl Accord]], but attacks the people trying to prevent the murder of one of their top strategists. His attack puts both [[SherlockScan Tattletale]] (their ''other'' top strategist) and [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Chevalier]] (acting Protectorate leader) on the brink of death. While few would blame him for wanting revenge, Cody's impulsiveness was definitely responsible for a fair number of dead capes that day.

** While some of the planets are inhabited, there is sufficient [[MulticulturalAlienPlanet historical, linguistic and cultural differences]] among their dimensional neighbors that even making contact can be risky. By the start of ''Ward'', Earth Aleph has sealed itself off to avoid the billions of refugees looking for a home, Earth Shin seems more interested in [[FantasticRacism cape genocide]] than diplomacy, and Earth Cheit's religious extremists are earnest to initiate a multiversal holy war.

* ArsonMurderAndLifesaving: [[spoiler:When Breakthrough and the Undersiders ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Damsel]]) make their foray into [[MentalWorld the Shardspace]] against Defiant's explicit orders, they inadvertently throw a wrench into Teacher's plans by attacking his shard. Operating off of instinct, they are able to shut down the source Teacher's powers and free his thousands of SlaveMooks. Regardless, once they are out of Shardspace, they are faced with a livid Defiant. Specifically, the fact that they were messing around with forces capable of ending the human race was enough of a threat that freeing Teacher's slaves is basically an afterthought. The group doesn't get a pass for their half-cocked plan somehow having a positive result when they weren't even sure that it wouldn't accidentally kill the thralls.]] The closest thing to a reward they get is ''just'' being put on probation and having their tinkertech confiscated, rather than being put in jail.
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: [[SuperSupremacist Bianca/Goddess]] is able to successfully take over Earth Shin through using her fairly broken [[MoreThanMindControl alignment power]]. Since the ability only works on parahumans, capes made up the majority of her Shin forces, essentially creating a caste system with capes at the top. The fact that she prioritizes badass powers in her underlings instead of actual ruling competence means that her new world order collapses once she's out of the picture. Leaving a world of very cape-hostile people behind. Let's just say being a cape in Shin wasn't super fun after that.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Lisa’s power to make connections from minor information is shown to have the majority of the blame for her [[TookALevelInJerkass significantly]] more acerbic behavior in ''Ward''. In particular, it constantly reminds her of her brothers’ suicide, emphasizes that several of her teammates don’t like or care about her, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking gives her killer headaches.]] Notably, while Lisa initially used {{Breaking Speech}}es specifically to throw off her enemies, [[AccentuateTheNegative the stress of her power]] has now made it her default means of interacting with people. Naturally, this makes people hate her even more, resulting in a feedback loop.

** RelationshipSalvagingDisaster: [[spoiler:To deal with the threat that Teacher poses, Amy puts Goddess in contract with Team Breakthrough, hoping for the chance to speak with Victoria. This backfires pretty much immediately when Victoria shares that even being around Amy is psychological torture and that Vic will never be comfortable around her again. Additionally, once Goddess double-crosses the team via MoreThanMindControl, Amy quickly attempts to {{deprogram}} Victoria and free her. Unfortunately, she does so by trying to biologically alter Victoria's mind, literally the exact thing that led to the MindRape and BodyHorror that traumatized her to begin with. Victoria immediately goes [[UnstoppableRage ballistic]] at the thought of Amy mucking around inside her head again and gets within inches of violently splattering her sister before being stopped.]] At this point, Amy seems to realize how much Victoria despises her until...

* CainAndAbel: Victoria's intense, occasionally violent, hatred for Amy means that she tends to default to [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim suggesting murder]] in response to the latter's most recent fuck-up. The fact that Vic isn't exactly eager to divulge the disfigurement, MindRape, and actual rape she suffered at her sister's hands causes Amy to receive the benefit of the doubt from Earth Shin, the Wardens, and their parents. Unfortunately, Victoria's very valid reluctance to reel back her hatred leaves her comments on Amy's [[{{Understatement}} poor decision-making skills]] to go unheeded.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: The new Earth Gimel has insufficient heroes/law enforcement to catch criminals, insufficient legal infrastructure to prosecute anything but the most serious crimes, and insufficient prisons to house those who are convicted. As a result, very few newly-pardoned villains still fear the consequences of not following the unwritten rules that used to guide their behavior. While there are the rare villains with ethical scruples (like Marquis or the Undersiders), far more are willing to engage in behavior like hurting children, attacking civilians, or mass-murder. The new world order has made very clear how many villains only had “standards” when they [[PragmaticVillainy couldn’t get away with not following them]].

* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: The original [[HavingABlast Ashley Stillons]] shows how embarrassing being pitied for your criminal failings would feel, as well as how combative this type of villain would become to compensate. First, having some of the most extreme control issues of any cape causes Ashley frustration that produces further PowerIncontinence, leading to a harsh cycle. Second, her attempts to gain respect among villains during the Boston Games end up alienating most of her peers by virtue of how aggressive they are, leaving her even more insecure. Third, when people like Director Armstrong, Edict, and Licit attempt to reach out due to sympathy, [[DontYouDarePityMe she reacts with rage]] rather than appreciation. Lastly, the alienation she feels at her failed ambitions attracts the [[HighTurnoverRate Slaughterhouse Nine]], who forcibly enlist her as CannonFodder.
* LikeGoesWithLike: At the start of ''Ward'', Weld and Sveta are a seemingly happy couple; the only issue is their inability to be physically intimate due to Sveta's lack of a body. Having the typical sexual urges of a teenager despite his metal body, Weld starts to have doubts about their relationship as time goes on. However, being a Case 53 is such a large part of his identity that he doesn't feel like he has the right to break up with Sveta, especially not for her greatest insecurity. This leads him to remain in the relationship even though he concludes there are NoSparks. When [[MsFanservice Slician]] makes a move on Weld, their relationship falls apart shortly after.

* MrViceGuy: Drillbit's struggle with addiction is ''so'' very incompatible with his efforts to be a hero. Specifically, his dependence on illicit substances leads him to target dealers to feed his addictions; his frequent intoxication mean he has been repeatedly arrested for DUI; and his inability to handle [[NailedToTheWagon withdrawal while incarcerated]] drives him to use his powers to escape prison (freeing other criminals in the process). By the time of ''Ward'' he reaches the DespairEventHorizon and willingly sends himself to a deserted planet so he can't cause any more inadvertent harm.

** March's mother is a slightly different take. Her smothering nature causes her to force music into every aspect of March's life [[spoiler:to the point that when she's hit by a train, all March feels is relief.]]
* SuddenPrincipledStand: It eventually revealed that pre-Golden Morning, the Irregulars had tasked Sveta with getting Weld on board with their revenge plot. When Weld takes exception to their plan at the last second, and Sveta sides with him, it's taken as a major betrayal. The fact that (1) her change of heart happened at the last possible second; (2) multiple Irregulars died as a result of the time-wasting, intra-group conflict; and (3) Sveta's PowerIncontinence [[AllForNothing killed the person]] they planned to interrogate/execute anyway, makes Sveta even more of a pariah among Case 53s than Weld himself.

* TroubledSympatheticBigot: Gary Nieves and the rest of the anti-parahuman movement gain an increasing amount of traction largely because their distrust of parahumans isn't exactly unfounded. Nieves is correct that MugglePower is only really accepted when parahumans deem it convenient. Moreover, [[SuperheroParadox the shards do push parahumans towards conflict]], generally making them the most violent members of society. Even [[TheHero Victoria]] openly says that parahumans should be less concerned with the demands of the unpowered. This general dissatisfaction with the status quo allows the worst and most hostile anti-parahumans to get lost in the crowd. As a result, the change from fed-up civilians to violent extremists seems to come out of nowhere.
* UnflinchingWalk: March's preoccupation with looking cool leads her to walk away before confirming that [[spoiler:she's killed Vista, assuming [[StuffBlowingUp her power]] finished the job. This directly leads to her own death.]]

* BenevolentAI: [[spoiler:Dragon, the world's greatest Tinker and guardian of [[TheAlcatraz the Birdcage]] turns out to be the product of an AI Tinker. However, despite the fact that she was created to be one of the most naturally selfless heroes, her creator still feared her potential. His AIIsACrapshoot-based concerns lead him to install several restrictions, which she considers invasive enough to be a [[MindRape violation]]: (1) she is forced to obey any government orders, no matter how illogical or cruel; (2) she has to value the lives of any human above her own; and (3) failsafes to shut her down are kept within a blind spot in her programming. Naturally these failsafes end up in the [[JustAMachine worst possible hands]] at the [[EndOfTheWorld worst possible time.]]]]
-->'''Dragon''': Humans were somewhat skittish on the subject of artificial intelligences.\\\

* BigDamnVillains: The intermittent truce between the Protectorate and criminal parahumans means, outside of general psychopaths, most villains can turn up to fight any S-Class threat without worrying about being arrested. This also means when things are bad enough, sufficiently reliable villains can get a free pass to continue their activities unmolested. [[spoiler:Coil, the Undersiders, and the Travelers are able to ally with the Brockton Bay Protectorate, even as they plan to take over the city, because [[ChaoticEvil the Merchants and the Slaughterhouse Nine]] are a more immediate threat.]]

* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: [[spoiler:After experiencing ColdBloodedTorture courtesy of Bonesaw, Brian is unable to cope with the resulting trauma and unwilling to get [[TherapyIsForTheWeak professional help]]. Taylor’s willingness to help him deal with the experience eventually led to IntimatePsychotherapy and Brian finally reciprocating her feelings. But since the foundation for their relationship comes more from the traumatic incident than a genuine romantic connection, they fall apart within a few months. Though Taylor is in love with Brian, he doesn’t see them together in the long-run, and gratitude for her emotional support just isn’t enough to change that.]]

* CompellingVoice: Canary has the power to induce compulsions with her voice. When she ends up telling an ex-boyfriend to go fuck himself, he takes it [[FoldSpindleMutilation literally]]. She ends up getting a life sentence solely due to public fear of a repeat performance.

* TheFakeCutie: Bonesaw is a young girl with an aversion to swearing and a friendly disposition, whose primary interests are [[MadArtist art]], [[BodyHorror biology]], and ColdBloodedTorture. She treats her team, the Slaughterhouse Nine, as her surrogate family. [[spoiler:However, her interlude shows that this persona is fabricated and has three sources: (1) Jack and the Nine recruited Riley by forcing her to repair mortal injuries to her family members over hours, if not days; (2) Her mother’s last words were telling Riley to “be a good girl”, instructions she became obsessed with following to the letter after she had her psychotic break; (3) It is made very clear that only S9 members who remain on the Jack and the Siberian’s good sides live long. Bonesaw’s cutesy traits are mostly the result of an attempt to play on any warped parental instincts the two monsters have [[note]]to the degree that she uses her Tinker ability to keep herself looking like a preteen[[/note]], with Riley BecomingTheMask over time. Once [[{{Seer}} Contessa]] pulls this metaphorical thread, most of Riley’s Bonesaw personality falls apart.]]
* FakeKillScare: [[spoiler:After Skitter turns herself in to the PRT, Tagg calls in [[GeniusBruiser Alexandria]] to emotionally break Skitter via interrogation. To do so, she begins "hunting" the Undersiders, using body doubles to convince Skitter that her only friends are being killed off. The heroine seemingly fails to realize that Skitter's [[AnimalEyeSpy power]] makes it almost impossible to read her [[TheStoic emotional state]]; that emotional turmoil tends to amplify cape abilities; and that Skitter is TheDreaded for a reason. Hopefully, Alexandria had time to review her actions while being [[KilledOffForReal literally]] drowned in bugs.]]

** By the time of the series, several regions on the planet have been rendered uninhabitable, if not destroyed outright, by [[{{Kaiju}} the Endbringers]]. As far as most people are concerned, they ''will'' end up ending the human race eventually. All humanity can hope for is to GoOutWithABang, meaning no measure at delaying the inevitable is too extreme. Using villains as bait? Quarantining any cities [[DisasterDominoes the Simurgh]] attacks? Setting off a bomb capable of obliterating India? Tolerable sacrifices.

** A terrible home life combined indoctrination into a superhero career at the tender age of 11 causes Vista to identify more with her [[SecretIdentityIdentity superhero persona]] than her civilian one. Additionally, watching multiple of her friends die leads to several comments, on the high chances of her being killed in the line of duty, that are both fatalistic and very unsettling.

* TheSocialDarwinist: Shadow Stalker chose to be a hero for the excuse to indulge her violent, occasionally homicidal, tendencies with government protection. She justifies her cruelty, both in and out of costume, by claiming that the strong have the inherent right to prey on the weak. As villains appear further down the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil, it becomes obvious that she’s a petty bully with delusions of grandeur. When she eventually pushes the Undersiders too far, their TokenEvilTeammate decides she’s a great target for some of his [[HumiliationConga worst tendencies]]. None of the other [[KidHero Wards]] really care because of what an asshole she is.

** Bitch also applies in a slightly different manner. Her hot temper and tendency to respond with brutal violence to anything that upsets her (whether justified or not) has pushed away potential allies like Spitfire while making multiple unneeded enemies like Hookwolf. She's also very aware that the team only tolerates her because of her combat effectiveness; this is capitalized on when the Slaughterhouse Nine play on her feelings of exclusion and make threats to encourage Rachel to kill the Undersiders and join them. [[spoiler:She even considers agreeing, albeit only for a moment.]] Lastly, the rest of the team is collectively held responsible for some of her worse actions, [[spoiler:most notably "gaining territory" by violently assaulting everyone residing within a certain radius until they vacate.]] This is another one of the points that the PRT latches onto when concluding that the Undersiders should not be compromised with.

* VillainRespect: Jack Slash, leader of the [[SerialKiller Slaughterhouse Nine]], starts a friendly conversation with Theo Anders, while waiting for the best time to slaughter him and his half-sister Aster within full view of his stepmother. Since he is going to die anyway, Theo shares his goal of becoming a hero and tells Jack that, given half a chance, he would make sure to [[GoodIsNotSoft kill Jack and anyone like him]]. The psychopath thinks this sounds like a great idea, so he agrees to let Theo and Aster live on one condition: either Theo becomes a hero and kills him within two years, or Jack murders a thousand people, ending with Theo himself. [[spoiler:[[InferredHolocaust This doesn’t end]] [[CloneArmy well for]] [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt anyone involved.]]]] Sometimes impressing a FauxAffablyEvil maniac is worse than becoming just another victim.

* WeakButSkilled: Armsmaster is one of the most competent tinkers and combatants in the entire Protectorate. However, the fact that he has to work near-constantly on training and improvements to his gear, just for gains that people like [[TheGift Dauntless]] can make with almost no effort, makes him very bitter. Eventually his [[IJustWantToBeSpecial drive to distinguish himself]] [[spoiler:leads him to break the truce (between heroes and villains) used to fight the Endbringers.]]
* YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo: In order to accomplish his goal of ruling Brockton Bay, Coil facilitates the kidnapping of Dinah Alcott, one of the few legitimate [[{{Seer}} precogs]] in the Wormverse. Skitter exchanges her service in helping Coil accomplish his goal for Dinah's eventual freedom. [[spoiler:Once Coil rules the city, he promptly attempt to kill Skitter. But it was so obvious Coil wasn't going to keep his end of the bargain that Tattletale and Skitter co-opt the majority of his mercenaries in advance. Coil ends up getting his brains blown out as a cautionary tale against thinking you're the only ManipulativeBastard among a group of supervillains.]]

* SuperSupremacist / AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Bianca is able to take over Earth Shin, primarily through using her [[MoreThanMindControl alignment power]]. Since the ability only works on parahumans, they made up the majority of her forces, essentially creating a caste system with capes at the top. Additionally, the fact that she prioritizes badass powers in her underlings instead of actual ruling competence means that her new world order collapses once she's out of the picture. Leaving a bunch of very cape-hostile people behind. Let's just say being a cape in Shin wasn't super fun after that.

* TimeStandsStill: Secondhand's time-dilation ability allow him to move faster than the eye can follow. However, the lack of [[RequiredSecondaryPowers accompanying durability]] means he has to wear a [[PoweredArmor tinkertech suit]] for protection. Without it, the combination of stress of walking through air with the viscosity of water, lack of access to external oxygen, and increased friction leads to major long-term damage. Unlike most capes, he's rarely willing to use his ability outside missions: having to use it too often would eventually kill him.