X-men-esque mutant universe, except all the mutants are rich like Batman. There’s something like Xavier’s mansion, but it’s a prep school and parents of mutants pay out the ass to attend. The prevailing theory is that most mutants die in utero unless they get extensive medical care, which the rich can afford.
Our story follows the only poor mutant in existence. This kid will make Peter Parker look rich. After all, Peter can usually afford a one-bedroom apartment in NYC and is rarely shown missing a meal. Gotta get our hero some badass powers too. Open to suggestions here.
This kid runs into some trouble trying to hide their powers and gets picked up by some local kids and dragged to an abandoned building. When they come to, they’re freaking out at first but realize they’ve got a blanket around they. They’re in a bed. And on the table in the room there’s a sandwich wrapped in newspaper, a juice pouch, and a snack bag of Cheezits. The kid who dragged them away apologies and begins to explain.
There are actually no disparities in mutant births, at least not any more than the general population. There are disparities in mutant deaths because the government has systemically tracked and murdered them. These are the kids who got away. This warehouse is where they live. And they are organized.
You can imagine a lot of the rest. Mutants were involved in the Battle of Blair Mountain, in civil rights struggles, getting murdered during COINTELPRO, etc. All covered up and omitted from history books.
Basically, I want the Brotherhood of Mutants, but based and not fashy
Some kind of Colossus-like invulnerablity or Wolverine-like super healing makes sense for the setup.
The main character might be a journalist who survives various forms of state and vigilante abuse, endures secret pogroms, and collaborates with resistance movements. Or perhaps they're migrant labor, moving through the American back country and living in the slums, then passing their story along to a future narrator in the style of Saga.
It would help to get an idea of upper and lower levels of power scale. Not necessarily knowing the main character, but just what makes an average power.
Do you know what that might be?
I think your protagonist's power can fit thematically depending on how blatant you want to be.
Gifting powers to others temporarily or coordinating people to work on a team could be useful. Maybe a natural intuition on using powers that would be overlooked?
Being frugal or clever could mean that the character is good at using whatever opportunities they can. Copying powers and making them useful through smart application can show that the flashy powers wielded by uncreative elites won't compare to legit effort.
Or it could be that empathy or connection is a catalyst or source for that power.
Or maybe their power isn't glamorous at all, so it's particularly embarrassing to be defeated by them.
Our story follows the only poor mutant in existence. This kid will make Peter Parker look rich. After all, Peter can usually afford a one-bedroom apartment in NYC and is rarely shown missing a meal. Gotta get our hero some badass powers too. Open to suggestions here.
If you're feeling particularly bold, you could go whole hog and make them one of those African child slaves who mine coltan or harvest chocolate
Knowing what living things, that the protagonist can see clearly enough to focus on, are going to do with 100% accuracy up to 10 seconds in the future.
They could use their power to survive, enrich themselves (potentially at the expense of others), or help others. A journalist? This power would be pretty cool. A private eye? This power would be pretty cool.
Powerful enough to be interesting for story and conflict but leaving the protagonist vulnerable to people/things that they cannot see, always balancing on using powers for self gain or for helping others.
Why not make it "the gov kills any poor mutant who doesn't want to enforce the system (be a mutant cop)", to show pigs, woke feds/CIA and other class traitors.
That could be an update to government policy that was put in place a few decades ago and is used by feds to give themselves credit for being so merciful
Eh, buying/using "group" traitors (be it class, ethnic, etc) as a tool is a really old technique of maintaining power. It doesn't matter if the group traitors are powerful by themselves (ie armed themselves, leaders of an armed/just-large following, colonial leaders, etc) or not (journos, or just powerless randos). Be it cops, be it whoever sells out their own for a comfy position, etc.
In the nazi deathcamps there were designated prisoners who ruled over the rest, the atlantic slave traders bought black people from other black people, etc.
I always thought having a cynical Captain America-esque story where the twist is that the superhero that everyone knows is just a white actor, a paid propagandist and the real superhero is an endless set of black and/or poor people who “volunteered” to be experimented on for the Super Soldier program.
I’m not up to date with comics plot lines for the last 25 years so if this already exists I may have unwittingly internalized it.
