Touched by Vorlons: Difference between revisions

* This is essentially how Sho Fukamachi became the [[Guyver]], though he never asked for the alien technology.

* In ''[[Tenjho Tenge]]'', certain characters possess powers known as "Red Feather Powers." In addition to giving certain characters supernatural abilities that put them on a level far above that of normal humans, these powers have an additional effect known as Resonance, which means that people with powers, latent or otherwise, are stimulated by proximity to other people with powers. This results in either causing people with latent abilities to suddenly awaken their powers or enhancing the powers of people who are already awakened. Furthermore, the more people involved in the resonance effect, the greater its range and potency. This aspect leads the [[Big Bad]] of the series to try and use the resonance effect to awaken the supernatural abilities of every person in the entire world.

* [[Mahou Sensei Negima]] has numerous girls getting supernatural powers by way of a magical contract with Negi. At least those that didn't have powers to begin with.

* Near the end of ''[[Hellsing]]'', it turns out that the Doctor created Millenium's "vampires" by {{spoiler|infusing people with tiny bits of the corpse of Mina Harker, one of Alucard's aka Dracula's past victims, who survived and died as a human but still carried some of his power inside herself. So all of Millenium's vampires were Touched By Alucard.}} Small wonder that none of them really stood a chance against him.

* In [[Digimon Adventure]] and its sequel, nearly all the original Digidestined were children who had been present personally for a massive battle between two Digimon, and the majority of the others seem to have witnessed the battle that took place on the internet. This seems to suggest that the only way to get a VIP pass into the [[Cyberspace|Digital World]] is by being [[Touched by Vorlons|touched by Digimon.]]

* ''[[Hitman (Comic Book)|Hitman]]'' was given very useful powers (telepathy and x-ray vision) from an alien, when it sucked out his spinal fluid, and he survived.

* Jack Hawksmoor of ''[[The Authority]]''. Since he was a child, he was kidnapped by aliens ({{spoiler|actually, future humans}}) who turned him into a creature that could only survive in cities.

* Parodied by The Captain in ''[[Nextwave]]'' - he receives his [[Flying Brick|"generic superpowers"]] from a pair of aliens who find him as he drunkenly staggers home. Their message to him, "do great things." His first act with his new powers is to punch the aliens out. And then vomit on them.

** Hey, leprechauns are supposed to give you gold if you hit them!

** The third book also shows that members of the Inquisition are able to appeal directly to either the Light or the Dark (depending on what kind of Other they are) for a temporary boost in power, if necessary to carry out their duties.

* Being in the proximity of ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]] ([[Warhammer 40000|40k]])'' Daemons is almost never a good idea. Unless, of course, you're on their side, and even that isn't all fun.

* In the ''[[Xanth]]'' book ''The Source Of Magic'', the demon Xanth (the titular source) thanks Bink for freeing him - even though Bink [[Honor Before Reason|knew Xanth probably would fly the coop and take all Xanth's magic with him]] - by ensuring that every one of his direct descendants would have a Magician-class talent. (So, in a sense, Bink's ''kids'' were touched).

* In [[Anne McCaffrey]]'s ''[[Petaybee]]'' series: Most of Petaybee's population over a certain age had been modified by the planet, itself, to live comfortably on the planet's sub-Arctic climate -- with the nasty drawback that, once so adapted, any prolonged absence from the planet's surface (as little as a couple of days) ends with complete organ shutdown and death. Sean Shongili was further altered to be able to transform into a seal-like creature (The reason why isn't really explored to any depth)

** During ''[[Star Trek: Voyager|Star Trek Voyager]]'' {{spoiler|Kes}}, comes into contact with a powerful telepathic race, which causes her telepathic abilities to grow beyond her ability to control them. This forces her to leave the U.S.S. Voyager, just in time for her to make room for Seven of Nine.

** This is how Wesley Crusher is given his final send off from TNG.

** This happens in the second pilot of ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek the Original Series]]'' where Kirk's pal and helsman Gary Mitchell gains incredible telekinetic amongst other powers from the "Galactic Barrier", consequently [[Drunk on the Dark Side|goes insane]], tries to kill Kirk, and Kirk has to kill him.

*** This is just a repeat of what happened before, when a pre-Federation ship ended up in the Barrier, causing one of the crewmembers to gain godlike abilities and forcing the captain to self-destruct the ship.

** [[Star Trek]] loves this trope. [[Butt Monkey|Lieutenant Barclay]] (temporarily) gets an IQ in the thousands after an encounter with a Cytherian probe in ''The Nth Degree.''

* The [[Trope Namer]] would be commercial telepath Lyta Alexander of ''[[Babylon 5]]'', who disappeared after the events of the [[Pilot Movie]], only to reappear in season three, vastly empowered by the Vorlons. Before, she was a P5 rating (on a scale of 0, non-telepath, to 12, the Psi Cops), but afterward she's just plain off the scale. She says later that she thinks she was made to be the Vorlons' ace in the hole.

** Technically, ''all'' telepaths might qualify, as it is eventually revealed that telepathy was induced in the younger races by the Vorlons so they could be used as weapons against the Shadows.

** Captain Sheridan was literally touched by a Vorlon; it left a piece of itself inside his head. That piece gave him telepathic resistance and guided him to encounter Lorien, {{spoiler|who's even more powerful, and kept John from dying.}}

== Religion ==

* [[Older Than Feudalism]]: Happens pretty often in ''[[The Bible]]'':

** Anyone from the book of Judges could be seen as touched.

** Samson is a wonderful example.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

** The fourth edition has the Warlock class which, are usually described as having made a [[Deal with the Devil|deal with a fiend]] or a [[Eldritch Abomination|lovecraftian entity from the stars]], but sometimes are described as this trope, especially if their powers were granted by [[The Fair Folk]]

** [[Eberron]] provides an entire race [[Touched by Vorlons]]. The Kalashtar started out as human mystics untill they merged with extraplanar beings known as Quori.

** Played more straight with Astropaths, a class of Psyker and the main means of interstellar communication in the setting. In order to survive sending messages through [[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place|the Warp]] they undergo the Soul Binding, exposing them for a brief second to the mind of the God-Emperor. As a result, their eyes burn out, leaving them blind.

** Aside from the [[Eldritch Abomination|Chaos Gods,]] there's also the [[Physical God|C'tan]], [[Blessed with Suck|Psykers]], and [[Abusive Precursors|the Eldar Gods]]. In general, getting [[Touched by Vorlons]] in [[Crapsack World|this]] [[Darker and Edgier|setting]] is never a good thing.

* ''[[The World of Darkness]]''

** In both ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]'' and ''[[Vampire: The Requiem]]'' ghouls are people who, willingly or not, became imbued with [[Our Vampires Are Different|Kindred blood]], creating [[The Ageless]] [[Elite Mook]] with the ability to walk around during the day and use certain Disciplines. Of course, they have a tendency to [[Punch Clock Villain|not]] [[The Starscream|like]] [[The Dog Bites Back|you]] if they didn't have a say in the matter, since vampire blood is addictive.

== [[Web Original]] ==

* ''[[Chakona Space]]'' gives us several examples: