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]]''}}

 

Compare with [[Walking Techfix]], which is usually not deliberate. Contrast with [[Machine Empathy]], where a character is closely attuned to a machine's behavior simply due to prolonged experience, and [[Techno Wizard]] for people capable of only ''metaphorical'' wizardry. Not to be confused with [[Walking Techbane]], which is when a person is destructive to technology just by being near it.

 

* Lumiere and Tweedledee from ''[[Kiddy Grade]]''.

* [[Little Miss Snarker|Ruri]] from ''[[Martian Successor Nadesico]]'', by design and implants.

* [[Serial Experiments Lain|Lain]] manifests this power in her show's climax.

* In ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', Chisame's artifact allows a mental [[Everything Is Online|internet link]].

** The Unicorn Gundam's NT-D System utilizes a neuro-link connection between the pilot and the machine.

* The Dark Sisters in the second ''[[Galaxy Fraulein Yuna]]'' OVA had sophisticated control over machines, though since the three of them are [[Ridiculously Human Robot|gynoids]], they might not count.

* Matsu from [[Sekirei]] has the ability to look into any computer system with her mind {{spoiler|and even hacks into and spies through MBI's sattelites at various points. This has caused her to be labeled "The Sneaking Sekirei" a title she doesn't appreciate}}.

 

* Network, a mutant from the X-Men books, could speak to technology and control it. The simpler the technology, the easier a time she had controlling it.

* Hank Henshaw, the Cyborg Superman, a recurring villain in the Superman and Green Lantern titles.

* Mitchell Hundred from ''[[Ex Machina]]''. At first he could only listen to technology he touched, then he could command them, then he could interact with technology he could see. He can control technology ranging from complex electronics to those as simple as a handgun. {{spoiler|A bow and arrow is too simple though.}}

* The [[Marvel Universe]] has a man called the Reanimator, who can control anything electronic (such as [[Humongous Mecha|Sentinels]]. Uh-oh.)

** X-Men's Sage is called a cyberpath, and her brain operates like a computer, but she doesn't seem to be able to communicate with machines on her own. She's got a spiffy command center and lives in an [[Everything Is Online]] universe. She's recently gotten [[Cool Shades]] which contain a wireless link to computers.

** Now thanks to [[Nanomachines]], [[Iron Man]] can directly interface with most digital technology ''using only his mind.'' Still, it gets some getting used to, as {{spoiler|people start thinking he's schizophrenic because he's suffering from a form of 'information overflow' and can't turn it off. Though his hallucinations do come in handy with regards to the plot.}}

** Cable from [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]

** Tom Skylark in [[Grant Morrison]]'s "Here Comes Tomorrow" is a mutant technopath who is able to make friends with a mutant-hunting robot.

** Madison Jeffries, formerly of [[Alpha Flight]] and now a new recruit of the [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Club]] can reshape metal, plastic and glass at will, often by talking to it.

** New Mutant Cypher has the mutant power to communicate in any kind of language. And yes, that includes programming language. {{spoiler|This is how he manages to shut off the Master Molds, render the massive wave of Nimrods completely unoperational and throw the ultimate wrench into Bastion's plans towards the end of ''Second Coming''.}}

* [[Planetary|The Drummer]] has nebulous powers related to "information flow", which apparently include sensing magic (the "cheat codes of the universe"), but he's usually employed as a super-hacker and living Electronic Counter-Measures device (disrupting security systems, monitoring or jamming enemy communications and such.) Oh, and [[Cloudcuckoolander|he's nuts.]]

* Very minor example: from [[Transmetropolitan]], the "weird-looking fucker" communicates with his children via electrical signals. This might have been Spider just generalizing it, but...

* 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]]''.

 

 

== 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.

** The villains' plot in ''Scanners 3'' revolves around Helena's ability to mind control people straight through cameras and television sets.

* Chris Bradley from the film X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

* 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.

* Heather Farley, a rebellious young student in A. C. Crispin's StarBridge series, is both a traditional telepath and a cyberpath; she swears off using the latter ability after she nearly gets trapped in a computer system.

* Mostly the [[The Cracker|cybreakers]] and the mnemonics in ''[[The History of the Galaxy]]'' later (timeline-wise) novels, but also anyone with a simple brain implant that translates brainwaves into digital commands which allows them to mentally control household appliances and the like. One of the novels mentions a cybreaker who was threatened with a gun (a futuristic [[Magnetic Weapon]]), while he remotely disabled the firing circuit (wouldn't have happened with a conventional gun, but those are nigh-impossible to find). Also, when a bunch of thugs attempt to physically assault him in a restaurant, he takes control of one of the server robots and has it stab one of the thugs before asking the others if they would like a table. They can also use the same brain implants that everyone has to conduct [[Cyber Telepathy]].

 

== Live-Action TV ==

** To an extent, also the character Hana Gitelman, who appears primarily in the [[All There in the Manual|web-only side comics]] for Heroes. She's the "cyberpath" version, and can connect to anything that can receive a remote signal, not just a normal internet connection, meaning that as long as she has any signal strength at all, she can contact anyone without a phone, and receive and send e-mail without a computer. At one point she even IMs a computer that isn't online, but does have its wireless card in and active. Essentially, she trades Micah's versatility (he can influence any electronics that he can touch) for range. {{spoiler|In the comics, Gitelman is killed, but lives on as a ghost in the Internet.}}

** Matt Parkman Jr. aka "Baby Stop And Go" seems to have this power to a certain extent as well in that he can either turn something on or off. He's just a baby though so it's rather haphazard and mood dependent.

* Electroclash in ''[[No Heroics]]'' controls machines by giving them commands in an electronic voice.

* ''[[Fringe]]'' had a character from the episode "Power Hungry" with this. He had experiments performed on him by a [[Mad Scientist]] to give him this. Unfortunately, he hadn't the slightest control over it, and mutilated his boss, killed the woman he secretly adored, and shorted out his mother's pacemaker. He was later kidnapped by the same people responsible for his power and had it altered so he actually had control over technology, which he then used to escape.

* Emma's friend in the ''[[Mutant X]]'' episode "Interface" is a technopath. She further gets enhanced by GSA to become a [[Wetware CPU]] but is restored at the end of the episode. According to Emma, she is the only New Mutant who managed to counteract the effects of the [[Power Nullifier|subdermal governor]].

* ''[[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 ==

* 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.

** Pretty much every nWoD splat, save Hunter, deals with this in some way. It's an animistic world, after all.

* Palladium's RPGs, especially ''[[Heroes Unlimited]]'' and ''[[Rifts]]'' has the ability/power Telemechanics, which makes the user into a Technopath.

 

* Rotom is a [[Pokémon]] that can change form by taking control of household appliances, gaining a unique move with each form.

* [[Mass Effect 2]] certain classes like the engineer, infiltrator and squadmates have access to tech talents like overload, AI hacking and summoning combat drones.

 

* The titular [[Gene Catlow]].

* Alphonse from ''[[Far Out There]]''.

* "Lanterns" from [[The Greening Wars]] have this distinct property in addition to [[Shock and Awe]], they also act as The Greening's communication network

*** 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

 

* From the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'', the Operator is a superhero from Florida who can control machinery and computer systems remotely. Online is a cyberpath who works as a "Hero For Hire", primarily as an electronic security expert (there is also a villainous Online, with the same power set, and the two are harsh rivals simply over who gets to keep the name). Likewise, Cyba is a Canadian superheroine who can "talk" to machines. Perepis, on the other hand, is a "cyberkinetic", and can mentally animate and control machinery (including remotely redesigning them). Perepis's [[Arch Enemy]] is Technyik, who not only shares her power, but wears a suit of [[Powered Armor]] on top of it all.

* The [[Metro City Chronicles]] has a minor villain called Black Hat whose powers focus on cyber-telepathy and control.

 

== Western Animation ==

* Nicolai Technus from ''[[Danny Phantom]]'', whose name is a play on famous engineer Nikola Tesla.

** Cooper as well.

* In ''[[Transformers Animated]]'', Megatron discovers that he can control Earth machines because so much technology has been reverse engineered from him over the last 50 years. Which is rather useful, as he was reduced to a head when he found this out.

** In the third season, Sari gains the ability to learn how to operate or repair any machine just by touching it: she describes it as the machines themselves simply telling her what they need.

* Static and Gear (no connection to the one from the Legion) from ''[[Static Shock]]''.

** To wit: Static generally does this because [[Lightning Does Everything]]. [[Gadgeteer Genius|Gear]] is an inversion (in the animated series anyway); his [[Robot Buddy|computer Backpack]] can communicate with him.

** Omnara, the villain from the penultimate episode "Kidnapped", is this trope played straight, with a healthy dash of [[A God Am I]]. An [[Ink Suit Actor]] performance by Wendie Malick of ''[[Just Shoot Me]]'' fame.

 

== Real Life ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Stock Super Powers]]

[[Category:Magic and Powers]]