Tulpa as a Superhero Sidekick

[Scott Z]

Let's try a lighter discussion. What abilities might the tulpa himself have to offer in a crime-fighter scenario? At this time, both abilities from the psychological and metaphysical models are on the table.

 

#1: Doubled Memory -- If the host forgets something important, the tulpa has a chance of remembering and reminding him. The tulpa does not have access to memories that the host does not nor does it remember better, but it does offer the crime fighting pair a second chance at remembering a certain detail. For example, the Buzzard sees a familiar face on the subway but can't quite place it. The tulpa sees the same face and recalls that it belongs to the robber who they chanced weeks ago.

 

#2 Doubled Perception -- If the host perceives some detail of his environment but does not focus on it enough to really notice it, his tulpa might. Like the doubled memory, this is a second chance scenario rather than actually enhancing the senses. For example, the Buzzard is sneaking around a hallway corner while searching for robbers. He pauses to listen to a conversation and hears two voices around the corner. The Buzzard is focusing on the voices to the point of ignoring his other senses. He concludes that there are two robbers, and he takes out two throwing knives in anticipation of the fight. The tulpa is not as focuses on the voices and notices three shadows on the opposite wall where there should be two. The tulpa warns the Buzzard that a third robber is being quiet around the corner. (Being a neophyte tulpamancer myself, I don't really know if this is how it works for not, but I will add it to the list.)

 

#3 Covert Communication: The host and the tulpa can communicate with each other in a manner that is completely silent and impervious to spying or hacking.

 

#4 Mental Defense: In a rare scenario in which the host himself is subject to mind control by means of drugging or hypnosis, the tulpa may actively resist the influence by opposing whatever suggestion is being implanted.

 

What else?

[Lacquer]

Also, there's the whole thing about getting a different perspective form your tulpa. This could be applied with the tulpa interpreting clues differently or having an intuition about whodunnit or something.

[Nobillis]

What role does the tulpa play in the narrative?

Costume support.

[ookpaia]

Wow, this actually sounds awesome. Have you decided on how/why the Buzzard created a tulpa?

 

The easiest route as I see it:

1. Buzzard has traumatic childhood event. (Death of any family member or something equally awful would do)

2. Due to this traumatic event, The Buzzard spends his time creating an "imaginary friend" to cope.

3. Time passes, The Buzzard and his tulpa agree to prevent future tragedies like the one from his childhood by becoming superhero vigilantes.

 

Damn, this stuff even sounds like comic book material; it practically writes itself!

 

This seems like a pretty cool general idea, but another thing could also do with this is never have it blatantly shown that the tulpa is in fact in his mind. So if the reader does realize that he is a tulpa, they may be taken by surprise, and on that level the tulpa feels real to them as it does to the main character. There are a lot of cathartic plays you can do with this kind of setup.

[Scott Z]

New question -- would Doubled Perception (detailed as Ability #2 at the top of this page) count as Dual Processing?

[imahaxor]

Yeah, it would. I'm not sure on the exact definition of co-processing, but I'm sure Doubled Perception would count.

[Nobillis]

{Kevin (meh, the human) says: o.k. some thought on tulpa abilities that are in the realm of possibility, First the one's I've experienced:

 

Slow time speed up the subjective time perception so that the world seems slowed. This means you can act much faster then you would normally, such as catch a falling object that you would otherwise miss, or move faster then you would believe possible. It's actually an old martial arts technique, but I see no reason a tulpa could not also induce it.

 

Draw back is that you make lousy decisions in that state, so decide what you are going to do before you slow time.

 

Speed Thought the opposite of the above. Slow down subjective time perception so that the world seems very sped up. This allows you to put much greater thinking into make more connections between facts and make much improved decisions.

 

Drawback is that you look like you have frozen in place (even blinking is slowed to the point it is barely moving). Also hours pass in minutes for you (might be an advantage if you were stuck somewhere and needed to pass a lot of time on minimal support). Again, just a martial arts technique but tulpa could do it.

 

Unlock the past sometimes my tulpas can recover something I had long forgotten. This is of course something your subconscious can do anyway, but with a tulpa it can be much easier to do.

 

Metaphysical possibilities:

 

Affect perception possibly of affecting perception. If I can't see you you can't see me? It might be possible, but probably unlikely in real life.

 

I do know that when I was working for a bank in the secure areas the sensors would forget I was there if I didn't hold something in my hands all the time. Same for self-opening doors, I have to hold something and wave it. Yes, that's weird and makes no sense. I don't know why it is either.

 

}

[Scott Z]

Hello everyone! The project has not been forgotten, but it has been retooled. After much consideration, I have decided to use the metaphysical model with these characters after all. The metaphysical route solves a huge plot hole problem for me. You see, the original Buzzard, a crimebusting hero from a golden age comic book, used a chemical gas to make his opponents perceive him as an old bald man. Since I am updating the character, I need to contend with a 21st century Buzzard who is frequently seen by security cameras and camera phones. The halucinagenic gas explanation is far less feasible now than it was then. The metaphysical model solves this problem. Now the Buzzard can project an illusion over himself as a type of servator and the tulpa can boost that illusion into the outside world. This also makes the tulpa sidekick, whom I have named Cinereous, more vital to the Buzzard's activities. They will still use techniques like slow time and doubled perception, but Cinereous' main responsibility will...

[Chupi]

That makes sense, though I'm not sure I'd use the word "servitor" for it.

 

You might come up with some reason the tulpa would want/need to go away to do something elsewhere. Now there's a tradeoff: The Buzzard loses some ability to project his illusion while the tulpa's off doing his thing.

[Scott Z]

Starting over from the beginning, here is an overview of what I am planning. The medium of the narrative will be short stories and super-short stories (ironically called flash fiction). The two primary characters are Flash Audabon (a.k.a. the Buzzard) and Cinereous (the tulpa). The tone is Four Color adventure similar to an early issue of The Phantom Lady or The Amazing Spider-Man. Here are some notes. None of the names (including the term "servitor" for the illusion) are written in stone. This will be a little long.

 

Summary of the golden age story

The Buzzard was a crime fighting vigilante from the golden age of comic books who only made one appearance in his own nine page short story. He looked like a small old white man who hunted violent criminals and evaded police with athletic skill, cunning, and a small arsenal of gadgets. He predated similar-looking and avian-themed characters like the Penguin and the Vulture. The Buzzard's gimmick was that his secret identity was reversed. Instead of weak character who becomes formidable when he puts on a costume like most superheroes, the Buzzard is a strong and young athlete in his civilian identity who takes on the appearance of a feable senior to bust heads. This simple reversal of the standard formula grants him a huge strategic advantage against opponents who cannot help but understimate his abilities. His secret identity was Flash (no last name given), the son of the police chief who hates and pursues the Buzzard.

 

Two other members of the supporting cast made appearances. The mayor provided Flash with access to the police department and a chemical gas which causes victims to halucinagenically perceive Flash as an old bald man in a suit. The mayor's daughter is Flash's girlfriend and the third conspirator who knows and protects the identity of the Buzzard. Curiously, none of the characters except Flash were given any names.

 

New Hotness

For reasons that will become clear later, I chose to bring the Buzzard into contemporary times. This creates some problems. A character who uses chemically illusions in place of a mask makes more sense in the 1940s than it does in the 21st Century when security cameras blanket most cities. How do we makes this work? Since the issue is high tech, the solution I found is low tech: thoughtforms.

 

My revision of the character is a brain hacker. He reprograms his own mind to construct vivid mental constructs like memory palaces, heads-up-displays, and tulpas (which are like imaginary friends but more powerful). Having his own tulpa is a different take on the sidekick archetype and provides the story with an interesting narator. In the metaphysical models, tulpas can push their illusionary bodies onto the perceptions of other people. In the psychological models, tulpas can regulate some biological functions for the host (like adrenaline surges) and generate or reduce sensory input (like pain). In either interpretation, tulpas tend to push their hosts to become better people, a very appropriate theme for superhero stories.

 

So now we have Flash and his thoughtform who I named Cinereous. Cinereous is responsible for managing the disguise (a non-sentient type of thoughtform) and pushing it onto the outside world. The hypnotic gas that Flash uses on his targets renders them highly suggestionable. This gas makes the disguise more believable as well as enhancing Flash's combat effectiveness -- because they are prone believe that they are being hit hard.

 

Here are some thoughts on the limitations of Cinereous. He appears imposed in Flash's sense of vision as a man-sized vulture (species: American Black Vulture). Cinereous also helps by doubling Flash's perceptions and decision making capabilities. Cinereous cannot actually look around a corner to see what Flash cannot see, but Cinerous can listen and smell what is happening around the corner when Flash is focusing his attention on something else, and often that division of perception is good enough. Cinereous has a limited ability to appear in the vision of other people, but he wasn't built for that purpose unlike the servitor (or whatever we decide to call the illussionary disguise), so Cinereous experiences a debilitating energy drain to even slightly push himself outwards like that. In desperate situations, Cinereous could perhaps provide a minor distraction.

 

Characters, their roles, and motivations

Next, I will break down the main characters by detailing their roles in the story and their motivations.

 

Flash Audubon a.k.a. the Buzzard -- role: protagonist

motivation: protection. Flash's motivation is a little complicated. Originally, he begins crime-fighting in order to help protect his father, the chief of police and a target of organized crime assassins. As Cinereous pushes him, Flash is motivated more and more to protect the beings who have no other protectors, the thoughtforms. Flash feels strongly that the thoughtforms like imaginary friends and tulpas are worth saving and the most in need of a champion. He does this usually by protecting the hosts from death and injury. His efforts are mistakenly believed believed to be protecting innocent civilians, but he actually hardly cares about these people.

 

Cinereous a.k.a. the thoughtform -- primary role: narrator

secondary roles: companion and mentor

motivation: punishment. Cinereous wants to bring justice or revenge (he doesn't care which) to the criminals of the world for those beings important to him. That begins with Flash but it also includes all of the other thoughtforms he discovers, and he pushes Flash to excel in his training and crimefighting for this purpose. He is manipulative in this way, but he also does genuinely like Flash and care for his welfare.

 

Police Chief Justin Audubon -- primary role: antagonist

secondary role: love interest but in a father-son sort of a way rather than a romantic love interest

motivation: justice. Flash's father is an old school, law & order, bring down the hammer of justice on criminals sort of guy. Any price, including his own life, is acceptable. He includes the Buzzard on the bad-side of his us versus them world view.

 

Governor Jack Pelican -- role: guardian, in the context of traditional stories, the guardian of the underworld was a character whom the protagonist must challenge before entering a new stage of life. The govenor offers Flash the opportunity to become a vigilante and a measure of protection while doing it, but the govenor is continually testing him.

Motivation: protection, the governor wants to free his citizens from the fear of crime waves, and he uses the Buzzard as a tool.

 

Jezabel Pelican -- role: mentor

motivation: excitement. Jezebel is the Governor's daughter and his liason in Flash's life and aids him in protecting his identity. He is her boyfriend on the surface, but in reality, she doesn't even like the guy. Jezebel has been training for the crimefighting basically her entire life, and she desparately wants her father's aproval to put on a mask and bust some heads. Instead, she is stuck training Flash in the more practical matters of tracking enemies and shattering bones. She is in it for the thrill. Jezebel lacks Flash's talent for visualization and hois physical stature, but she compensates with increased violence and ferocity.[/b]