Effects of the Cure

[Tempero]

Could someone tell me exactly the way the Cure works? Since the mutations are coming slowly back, I am guessing all it does is send the mutant gene into its dormant state?

And how would this react with, say, Daniel's power, since he "boosts" a mutation, either making it stronger, or adding help in controlling it?

I just thought this might be an interesting discussion...if not *shrug* lynch me or something.

[Bobby Drake]

Heh.

Mostly, my approach to these sorts of questions is first we should decide what's most fun to RP or most narratively compelling, and then we can either handwave or use movie-science to support it.

In that vein I would say that Danny's power's effect on someone Cured is unpredictable -- it might temporarily restore their power, it might have no effect, it might negate the effect of the Cure altogether, depending on the individual and the time of day and what they had for breakfast.

(With respect to Bobby, the answer is he'll stay ice-less until I get bored of playing him that way, and then his powers will come back... but I could go along with having his powers temporarily returned with Danny's help, if that would lead to somewhere fun.)

[Bobby Drake]

So, OK... now that you've asked, and just for the fun of it, here's what we've said so far on the site about the Cure and mutations in general (some of which comes straight from the movies):

• Superpowered mutations are linked to something called the "X-gene", which is probably not a single gene at all but a complex of related ones.
  
• Lots of people have "latent mutations" -- that is, they have the X-gene or something like it, but for whatever reason it hasn't actually manifested as a superpowered mutation.
  
• Though the X-gene has presumably been around for a long time, actual power manifestation has become far more common in the last fifty years or so. Why? Who knows?
  
  
• There are several known ways to force latent mutations to manifest. Magneto's device in X1 does this, as does the Mutant Growth Hormone developed by the Fantastic Four. Thus far there always turns out to be a catch.
  
  
• Some mutants have the ability to affect other mutant abilities (Rogue, Danny, Jimmy (Leech), and Template, to name four).
  
• Jimmy's power suppresses the expression of the X-gene, and involves synthesizing a biochemical compound which can be extracted from his body and processed into the Cure.
  Thus far nobody has managed to make synthetic Cure, although many attempts have been made. And since Jimmy is now in hiding somewhere, no more Cure is being produced. Since the Cure has a finite shelf-life, there isn't very much of it in circulation, although the occassional dose or two still turns up.
  
• The Cure usually has a temporary effect, which varies depending on the target. In some cases it only lasts a month or two. In some cases it is still functioning, a year or more after application, and it's possible that in those cases the effect is permanent (of course, there's no way to tell without waiting).
  
  
• Giving MGH to a Cured mutant does not necessarily reverse the effects of the Cure, although it may grant them different powers. Thus far, Bobby's the only one stupid enough to try this.
  

[Jackson Greco]

I don't know how you guys feel about it, but I sort of introduced something in Pinnacle's mutation section that could be useful, if only to add a little bit to the mutant jargon. Besides the Classes of mutants, there are also types. Basically, the further you get from the letter A, the less human they appear.

• Type A mutants are mutants that have no outward appearance of being a mutant, and look just like a typical human with no active X-gen.
  
• Type B mutants are mutants that have a minor physical abnormality. Cyclops might be considered type B because the visor is always over his eyes but he's really on the line. This really refers to mutants with things like pointed ears, a slight coloration of their skin, abnormally colored eyes, odd-shaped hands, etc.
  
• Type C mutants are mutants that are strikingly different in appearance to humans, such that their entire body has something different about it. Beast and Mystique are two examples. Nightcrawler could be on the line between C and D because of his tail, but he is leaning more towards C. Blob is also another example.
  
• Type D mutants are mutants that appear vastly different from humans. In fact they can be scary looking. A mutants that has a face that looks like an animal (Beast looks fairly human just blue and with fur, so he's not up here), has spider arms, etc.
  
• Type E mutants are theoretical and have yet to be seen in nature. They are the "next step" proposed by some anti-nutant science that states that aberrations will start occurring. You'll have mutants that look like giant amoebas or tentacled monsters.
  

I figured, humans would probably often divide up mutants this way, while mutants wouldn't. Some humans might say things like, "I don't have a problem with those type A's or B's, but there's somethign seriously wrong with those C's." It's just another classification system to add to the prejudice.

Might be useful, might not, feel free to use it if you think it fits.

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

Right. This may be going a little far afield, but the mutant 'X' gene is probably everyday parlance for what scientists call polygenic inheritance. A variety of genes must influence mutation, or there wouldn't be as many different types as there are.

One possible reason that many individuals have these mutations but they're 'latent' is due to what is called penetrance. A gene with high penetrance almost always expresses its phenotype... whereas one with low penetrance often does not.

Sorry for mumbo-jumbo... but I might as well put all that money I'm paying each year to good use. ;)

[Tempero]

Well, I was just wondering what we who own characters who manipulate powers would do when faced with the cure.

But now that you mentioned it, Temporarypowerreturn!Bobby would be interesting to play. And of course, Danny's power would work with the MGH as well, I think.

Now, as for the effects of the cure, it all together makes loads of sense, so I'm glad I got that cleared out, thanks!

The idea of types of mutants (A-E feat. Jack) is very interesting.

P.S.

As for removing the Cure completely, Danny would not possibly be able to do that at this point in time. Maybe when he's an adult, but right now the only influence he has on anyone's mutation would be temporary, and as long as he keeps on using his own mutation. Just felt like saying that....*shrugs, writing down a note to start developing Danny's powers a slight bit more in some future time*

And Joshy, any academic knowledge that can be incorporated into the game makes it fun as far as it doesn't stifle it either.