Technopath: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|''"The form of communication that the brain and this machine use are both electronic signals. If you can't communicate with it, you're not a true man."''|'''Kogarashi''', ''[[Kamen no Maid Guy]]''}}

* Kal Kent, the Superman of the 853rd Century, has this and a long list of other powers that even Superman doesn't have.

* Qubit from ''[[Irredeemable]]''.

 

== Fan Works ==

* Electro, from ''[[Calvin and Hobbes: The Series]]'', uses this to take over [[Gadgeteer Genius|Calvin's]] many inventions twice.

* Doug Sangnoir from ''[[Drunkard's Walk]]'' has demonstrated this ability when using any kind of lightning or electrical power.

 

== Film ==

* Neo from ''[[The Matrix]]'', of course.

* The T-X from ''[[Terminator]] 3''.

* In ''[[Scanners]]'', telepath Cameron Vale figures out that a computer's "nervous system" is just as scannable as any other.

* [[RoboCop]] has an [[Unusual User Interface|Universal Interface Spike]] in his arm that can talk to any computer in [[The Verse|the 'verse]]. It also has stabbity applications.

* During the final battle of ''[[Time Bandits]]'', Evil uses his magic to take control of a tank and a starfighter belonging to the hero's [[Redshirt Army]].

 

== Literature ==

** And later Dairine's.

* The limited use of this ability is one of many talents that makes the [[Psycho for Hire|psychopathic]] villain Dread from [[Tad Williams]]' ''[[Otherland]]'' so scary. In his case, it manifests as telekinesis that operates on the level of individual electrons, allowing him to alter the state of an electronic device independent of its programming. He uses it on an instinctual level, and refers to it as his "twist".

* The Mechanic from the ''[[Wild Cards]]'' series, the hitch being he has to physically interface by cutting himself and putting the wound to the machine. Fortunately he also heals real fast.

* Angie Mitchell from [[William Gibson]]'s ''Count Zero'' and ''Mona Lisa Overdrive'' had her nervous system modified with bioware designed by AIs which enabled her to connect to the series' equivalent of the internet by thought alone and granted her considerable hacking skills.

* The [[Sholan Alliance]] series features Kusac. He has endured {{spoiler|being [[Touched by Vorlons]] and}} some psychic [[Training from Hell]] in order to acheive this.

* Not shown, but referenced in ''[[Animorphs]]''. Ax complains about primitive human computers not even having a psychic link.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'' had one example: when Rodney accelerated his own evolution in ''Tao of Rodney'', he gained psychic powers, among other things. They were revealed to the team in a skirmish with the Genii where Rodney won the battle for them by thinking "wouldn't it be awesome if suddenly the Genii troopers' weapons jammed?" Guess what happened.

** Ancient tech is purposely made for this trope due to the fact that many operates via a wireless neural interface. Anyone with the necessary gene can activate it by just thinking at it.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* ''[[Shadowrun]]'' has had both varieties, the Otaku, who could access the Matrix with nothing but a datajack (Read: Plugging a cable into your brain.) They all disappeared when the wired internet got blown up, and were replaced by Technomancers, who can access the new wireless internet by thought alone.

* The "machine empathy" mutant ability in ''[[Paranoia (game)|Paranoia]]'' allows the mutant to make machines really, ''really'' like them. This is not as great as it sounds, because it also affects everyone's friend, The Computer. Who really, ''really'' doesn't enjoy being the thrall of a commie mutant traitor. So it employs special "machine empath detection" diagnostics to root out the traitor, and if caught, a machine empath can expect not only immediate termination, but also outright erasure of their clone template. Machine empaths lead a very brief existence.

* In ''[[Deadlands|Deadlands: Hell On Earth]]'', Junkers achieve this effect through shamanistic interactions with a special kind of tech spirit called a browser spirit. Since the game is set [[After the End]], there are a lot of disembodied tech spirits floating around, and Junkers create new bodies for them to live in out of spare parts. It's kind of like tech-necromancy. While most tech spirits just inhabit their new bodies, browser spirits can communicate telepathically with any Junker that touches their body, and the most powerful kind of browser spirit keeps up a permanent telepathic link with the Junker who made its body.

* This was split into the psychic powers "Cyberkinesis" and "Cyberpathy" in the Sorcerer supplement to the [[Old World of Darkness]] game ''[[Mage: The Ascension]]''.

* Technopathy is automatically included in the Lightning Control power from ''[[Villains and Vigilantes]]'', at least through the 2nd edition.

 

* In ''[[EVE Online]]'', it was originally intended for pod pilots to be able to control their ship directly with their thoughts, but most people ended up feeling sick and dizzy from using it, so they settled for a less direct (but presumably still mental) interface. There are, however, cybernetic mindlink implants that allow their user to directly interface with various parts of the ship, giving [[Status Buff|passive buffs]] to them and their party.

** The [https://web.archive.org/web/20090326052530/http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/The_Jovian_Wetgrave current technology] combines a sensory deprivation chamber with the mindlink, replacing the pilot's senses with the sensors of the ship. [[Space Is Noisy|Even sound is emulated]].

* [[Big Bad|Octalus Percy Defoe]] and [[Love Interest|Laurie Hemmings]] in [[The PK Girl]]. While [[Psychic Powers]] are uncommon in the setting, technopathy is ''extremely rare'' and the former... ''[[Stalker with a Test Tube|desires]]'' the latter for this reason.

 

* The titular [[Gene Catlow]].

** In the fanfic The Basalt City Chronicles, an ancient computer uses this to encourage him to dismantel it—it's suffered a fire, is no longer in great shape, and would really like to die, please.

** The problem is that most of them have the intellect of a retarded [[Incredible Hulk]], bonus points for making them use [[Hulk Speak]]

*** the only Lantern that doesn't do this is Arc, a [[Designated Hero]] of the series in addition to a few others, he shows just what they can do, seeing as he isn't lacking his intelligence just all his memories from before the procedure that turned him into a Lantern, in his introduction when he changes the channel on tv while another character is watching it by basically just looking at it

 

== Web Original ==

* In ''[[Batman Beyond]]'', Willy Watt gained this ability after an accident involving a giant robot which he was controlling via a neural interface.

* Hard Drive from ''[[Swat Kats]]'' combines this with [[Psycho Electro]]; appropriate, given his role as a tech thief.

 

== Real Life ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Stock Super Powers]]

[[Category:Magic and Powers]]