Empowered

In the last few decades, increasing portions of the population have begun manifesting special abilities. Some Empowered manifest obvious physical differences from birth. They may have more or fewer limbs, unique eyes or skin, or nearly any other trait found in the animal kingdom. Rarely, there are even Empowered that manifest traits similar to those found in plants or fungi. These abilities are often referred to as mutations rather than powers. Other abilities, typically ones not directly related to the form of the body, manifest around the time the individual reaches adolescence. These are the abilities more commonly referred to as such. Since some times around the year 2020, the manifestation of abilities has increased dramatically. Currently, there's no reliable method for determining if a person is Empowered or not, excluding those who manifest traits at birth. Furthermore, there's no known way of "curing" an individual of the condition, and most people who manifest some form of ability have no interest in having their condition "fixed." As such, society has had to cope with some members having what amounts to superpowers. For the first decade or so, the Empowered more most often seen in criminal activities. Those most likely to abuse such power did so; those who were content with simply controlling their abilities more often than not went unnoticed. Crime rates worldwide began to skyrocket. Existing law enforcement was entirely unprepared for the new standard of criminal. After the rise of the hero, however, the criminal Empowered have become less common than the average Empowered citizen, and society has mostly acknowledged the existence of the Empowered. Despite their general acceptance, there are still people who resent the Empowered. Globally, only around fifteen percent of people are Empowered, leaving them outnumbered by normal people. Some people are uncomfortable with the existence of the Empowered, as one might be when learning that your neighbor could set fire to your garden with his mind. Even with widely popular heroes working to help people, the Empowered are still trying to find true equality.

Scientific Name

Homo sapiens potens