Editing Coil (section)

==Abilities and Powers==
=== Power ===
From his perspective, Coil's power grants him the ability to 'split' the world into two timelines. He is then able to do whatever he likes in either timeline, collapsing the timeline that is least ideal and keeping the timeline that he wants.<ref name="I8xe1">He canceled the reality where he stood at his pet’s bedside, found himself still at the computer. Best to leave the world where his pet wasn’t so tired, in case he wanted to ask more questions that morning. <br> <br>The worlds he created weren’t real. They were little more than an especially vivid, accurate dream. To enjoy a whole separate world, free of any consequences beyond the ones he wanted? It would be unreasonable if he didn’t indulge in it. Anyone would, given the chance. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/interlude-8/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 8.z]]</ref> In actuality, his power isn't one that creates multiple timelines, but is instead a powerful form of precognition.<ref name="SB1">Coil's power doesn't create universes. It's essentially precognition in the present, purely thought based. - [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/12848625 Wildbow on spacebattles]</ref> His power simulates the two possible timelines Coil would go through in vivid detail, then predicts which timeline Coil will choose to keep. Coil's power then "autopilots" him through the actions he takes in the timeline that he chooses, lasting until the end of the timeline, at which point he can use his power again.<ref name="R1.2">Think of it more like when he chooses a future to follow, his thoughts/actions automatically follow that script until it's done, and then he can think freely again. - [https://redd.it/2e3jdx Comment by Wildbow] on Reddit </ref>

In practice, Coil's power allows him to first attempt two different courses of action, then pick the timeline he wants to keep while retaining all knowledge from the other timeline. In this way, he was able to test his plans in different permutations before acting upon them, allowing him to make the most informed decision that he could. This was, however, limited by the fact that time still moved forward in his timelines, preventing him from simply simulating the entire day ahead of time and proceeding from there. No matter what, Coil is forced to pick one of his timelines.<ref name="16.7c1">Here’s the thing about Coil’s power – he doesn’t control time in the worlds. Regardless of what he does, time passes in each reality. <br> <br>So he couldn’t ‘play out the day’ to see if his plan would succeed and then go ahead & do it. He could simulate something close to it by rescheduling the debate and/or doing this at some other major event, then canceling the reality. <br> <br>He could also attend the debate in one reality and stay home with his personal army in the other. If it doesn’t work out in the reality where he attends, he cancels it out and effectively never went. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/interlude-8/#comment-1531 Comment by Wildbow] on [[Interlude 8.z]]</ref><ref>[[Monarch 16.7]]</ref>

[[Tattletale]] could not determine if his power worked via actual timeline creation or simulations.<ref>He often wondered if he really was creating the realities, or if it was solely in his perception, foretelling futures to the extent that they hinged on his actions.  He’d asked his Tattletale, and she hadn’t had an answer for him. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/interlude-8/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 8.z]]</ref> Despite her knowing about his power, Coil managed to trick her into thinking he was planning to assassinate [[Taylor]]<ref>“Fuck,” Tattletale swore under her breath.  “I was trying to signal you to say no to Coil’s request, but you weren’t looking at the right moments and I couldn’t exactly tip anyone off.  I’m ''positive'' he’s asking you to go on that errand with Genesis and Trickster because he’s planning on eliminating you.”<br><br>I felt Grue’s hand squeeze my shoulder.  He’d gone rigid, as if he was more spooked than I was.<br><br>“And of course, he knows ''I'' know.  So this is a loyalty test, I’m betting.  If you don’t go, I flunk.” - [[Colony 15.4]]</ref><ref>“The second thing?  About the possible murder attempt?”  She asked.<br><br>“Just a little worried about that.”<br><br>“He only decided it as recently as this morning, so anything he’s set up is going to happen later.”<br><br>“And you don’t know how he’s going to approach this, or what he’ll do?”<br><br>She shook her head.  “All I know is that Coil’s intending for it to happen tonight, probably related to your job with the mayor.”<br><br>“And you’re positive on this?”<br><br>“It’s one of those things where everything clicks into place perfectly if we acknowledge this one fact: he wants to kill you.  For example, he has more reasons to send Imp than to send Trickster.” - [[Colony 15.5]]</ref> during the [[Intimidating the Mayor|job with the mayor]].<ref>“Are you still there?  At the mayor’s place?”<br><br>“No.  Just left.”<br><br>There was a pause.<br><br>“That doesn’t make sense,” she told me.<br><br>“What doesn’t?”<br><br>“We’re clear to talk, no bugs, I’m ninety-nine percent sure.  So listen, if Coil wanted to assassinate you, that’d be his chance.  Once you leave the mayor’s property, that’s it.  He doesn’t know where you’re going.”<br><br>“Trickster got hurt,” I told her.  “Maybe he was supposed to do it?”<br><br>“Maybe,” she admitted, “But that still feels wrong.  Why wouldn’t Coil have a backup plan?”<br><br>“Or maybe Dinah’s power is working, and he’s got some bigger plan in mind?”<br><br>“I’m at his base right now.  It doesn’t fit with his movements.  He’s not really visiting her.” - [[Colony 15.10]]</ref><ref>“Listen,” she said, “I’m going to try to find out more.  I’ll call you back.”<br><br>“I don’t like that you’re there without backup.  You said he might want to get rid of you too.”<br><br>“I’ll know if he does.”<br><br>“Like you ''knew'' he’d try to kill me?”<br><br>Another pause.<br><br>“I’ll call you later,” she said.<br><br>The line went dead. - [[Colony 15.10]]</ref> He provided the wrong data and signals to her power by actively committing to the deed in one reality (i.e., the one he would not keep), and then emulating that reality near-perfectly in the reality that he would keep before changing his mind at the last minute.<ref>'''Elodes:''' 2. How does Coil manage to compehensively trump Tattletale's power when he makes her think he's planning on killing Taylor?<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Have one universe where he actively commits to the deed, and one where he changes his mind last minute, but emulates the first universe near-perfectly, providing the wrong data and signals. - Comment by Wildbow on Reddit, archived on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/93435861 -->

===Vulnerabilities===
Sources of causality interference, such as other [[precognitive]]s, can discombobulate and interfere with his power.<ref name="R1.1">Coil's powers get discombobulated by other causality interference, which is why he can't just have Dinah give every answer in Coil-generated universes that he discards. - [https://redd.it/2e3jdx/ Comment by Wildbow on Reddit]</ref> For example, Coil's power stops working as tidily if [[Dinah]] answers question(s) in a different timeline: he can potentially be forced to "accidentally" commit to timelines for a while after, especially those that he does not want.<ref name="reddit eDinahConflict">'''Elodes:''' Why didn't Coil ask endless questions of Dinah in alternate realities? Wildbow writes that "Coil's powers get discombobulated by other causality interference", but what does that mean? Why would this happen?<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' There are safeguards to keep some powers from being overused to the point that they exhaust the power reserves of the shard that provides the power. Thinker powers are some of the most power hungry (often needing to do a lot of simulations and calculations behind the scenes), and thus thinker headaches are a thing. Two precogs bouncing off one another in an ever-escalating attempt to out-predict one another threatens to exhaust power, so the shards tend to throw up a big pre-emptive "nope!" and you get blind spots.<br><br>We're seeing the same principle at play here. Seeing a situation where a calculation-heavy thinker power would be abused, the shards throw things out of whack. So Coil's power stops working as tidily (potentially making him 'accidentally' commit to realities for a while after - especially the ones he doesn't want), and Dinah gets thinker headaches even if the thinking happened in another world - the same processing is happening behind the scenes, and the same safeguards are in place. - Comment by Wildbow on Reddit, archived on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/93435861 --> Thus, he is unable to ask Dinah endless questions in different timelines;<ref name="R1.1" /> note that her daily allocation of questions would still be shared across timelines.<ref name="reddit eDinahConflict" />

If his power encounters a blind spot to the typical [[Thinker]] [[precognitive|precognition]] (e.g., [[Entities]],<ref>Scion shut down precog abilities. - [[Interlude 26a]]</ref> [[trigger event]]s,<ref>“We’ve heard of incidents where one person became a very large-scale effect.  The kind that would cover this whole colony, and then some,” I said.  “I think the catch is that most precogs and danger sensers can’t see triggers coming, even broken ones.” - [[Gleaming 9.12]]</ref> [[Endbringers]], [[Eidolon]], [[Sleeper]], [[Glaistig Uaine]], [[Pastor]]<ref name="II11.4 e1">It wasn’t Jeanne who answered.  Cinereal gave me my reply.  “Thinkers say no.  They’re either drawing blanks or they don’t like what they see.”<br><br>“Nothing specific?  No details?”<br><br>“No,” Cinereal said.  “But if you look at some of the other major thinker blind spots, you’re going to find yourself running into topics like Eidolon, Sleeper, the Endbringers, Valkyrie, the Island-state, the Pastor incident…”<br><br>“Concentrations of power,” I said.<br><br>Jeanne shook her head.  “''Complexity'' of power, most often.  Whatever thinker powers come into play, with these cases, there’s often too many variables to fully consider, thinkers report that their powers are fuzzy, inconsistent, or blacked out.” - [[Blinding 11.4]]</ref>), it would shut down for a while after and give Coil a headache (i.e., Coil is stuck in one timeline and unable to use his power while they are present).<ref>'''kaisheng21:''' yeah it gets weird, i don't understand how coil interacts with things that shouldn't be precoggable<br>[...]
:coil decides that he's going to go out and try and get to a helicopter and leave in timeline A, and sit in his bedroom in timeline B to be safe.

:in the simulation of timeline A, suppose he makes it, since coil's shard can't precog leviathan, right? we haven't seen anyone able to precog EBs?

:ok now it's time for the real world. so the shard would see that he would choose timeline A, so it'd start him out like timeline A and feed him data from the fake timeline B. so in the real world, he is going out to try and get to the helicopter.

:however, in the real world, suppose leviathan actually decides on a whim to go and slap his helicopter out of the sky. plummeting to the ground, he might try and switch to timeline B, only to be unable to

:so how are you suggesting the shard work around this?
[...]<br>i think previously when this came up the idea of just having coil coincidentally fall and break his neck in timeline B every time before he even would die in timeline A was raised<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' "Ow, headache.  Can't split reality." - Comment by Wildbow on Discord, archived on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/101947914 -->
<!-- Being stuck in one timeline and unable to use his power while they are present is presumably why Wildbow also speculates that Coil would not be in a situation where a blind spot fails to accurately show up in one of his timelines.<ref>'''nallid:''' Did we ever find out if Coil's power was simulated or actual splitting?<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Old old olllld WoG confirmed it was simulated.<br>[...]<br>'''nallid:''' Wouldn't leviathan not show up in the sim because anti precog element?<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Not how it works. - Conversation with Wildbow on Parahumans Discord</ref> -->

If he falls under the control of a [[Master]] such as [[Khepri]] in a timeline, he might be forced into keeping that timeline if ordered to.<ref>'''dreamfarer:''' I'm picturing one of the realities that Coil had to let go. Imagine one where Skitter did have a second trigger and it changed just one aspect of her power. The part where she can only control things with very simple nervous systems.<br><br>I don't think that can ever happen in the story because that's pretty much game over. Brockton Bay become "Skitter's Hive", without people necessarily even being aware of that. So, we'll never see it but it's cute imagining Coil going "Oh hell no, let's just leave, leave now."<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' If that happened, though, what's to say she couldn't use her newfound control over Coil to make him collapse into that reality? - Conversation with Wildbow on RPG.net, [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/18009050 archived on Spacebattles]</ref>

===Tactics===
Coil is extremely careful, keeping track of everything that goes on, even going so far as to regularly have one timeline where he works through the night while sleeping in another just so he is kept aware of all possible developments.<ref>Coil held firmly to the philosophy that one couldn’t be too paranoid.  Every moment of every day was a delicate balancing act, anticipating any number of unseen threats from every possible angle, whether he was speaking with his subordinates or simply rising to meet the day.<br><br>In one reality, he was safely ensconced in his underground base, costumed, with no less than twenty armed soldiers between himself and the multiple sets of heavy metal doors.   He had spent his night reading, following the news and checking his stocks.  His location was known only to those who worked for him, individuals paid well enough that even if they did have reason to attack him, their ‘coworkers’ would have incentive to stop them.<br><br>Second reality:  He was waking up in an ordinary, slightly rundown home in the southwest end of the city.  He prepared and ate his breakfast, then stepped outside in his bathrobe to pick up the paper and the mail, pausing to wave to the neighbors as they led their two girls out of the house.  The flooding hadn’t affected their neighborhood as much as others, but the schools weren’t yet up and running, so the mother and father would be taking their girls to work with them for a short while.<br>[...]<br>“It’s morning, pet.  You know what questions I ask you.”<br><br>“It’s morning?” she asked, head rising.  “I feel like I just had dinner.  Candy?”<br><br>“No, pet.  It’s too early.  Now please answer my question.”<br><br>Petulant, she replied, “Zero point two five two percent chance there’s any problems here in the next hour.  Three point seven four four one percent chance there’s any problems before lunchtime.”<br><br>“Good girl,” he spoke.<br><br>With that, he collapsed that world where he had stayed up all night, studying the news, following international business trends, tracking the details on his troops’ most minor operations – he helped ensure the success of the major ones with his power.  The reality swiftly faded, leaving only the world where he had a full night’s sleep, ate a hearty breakfast, drove to the base with Creep.  Only the memories and knowledge remained. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/interlude-8/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 8.z]]</ref> This allows him to maintain and increase his knowledge base while remaining physically healthy. Using this, he is able to come up with and execute an extensive list of contingencies, reinforcing his base of operations against possible external and internal threats, keeping his identity secret, and executing plans that go off without a hitch. On top of all this, he keeps information about his power under wraps, preventing his adversaries from planning around it.<ref>Universe one: I, Coil, notice Taylor and nod.  Taylor flips the coin, reveals it.<br><br>Universe two: I Coil, pretend not to notice Taylor.  I speak to Grue.  "It's a question of power.  I can manipulate events, I ''have'' manipulated events for your benefit, and I have a wealth of resources at my disposal..."<br><br>Stop as soon as the coin is revealed.  If Taylor's coin landed heads, go with that universe.  If it didn't, then...<br><br>Universe 1: Notice Taylor, "Oh, yes, go ahead."  She flips and reveals coin.<br><br>Universe 2: Keep talking. - [https://redd.it/2e3jdx/ Wildbow on Coil and the coins]</ref><ref>Step 1: Flip a coin for person A.<br><br>> Results don’t matter.  If Heads, that’s preferable, but if both are Tails, then go with that reality.  Replace every instance of ‘heads’ below with ‘tails’ and vice versa.<br><br>Step 2: Flip coin for Person B.<br><br>> Reality 1, flip.  If heads, move to Step 3.<br><br>> Reality 2, prevaricate, talk about chance, fate, and destiny, delay in handing out the coin, or just double check that the person in question is ready to take the coin.  Repeat step 2 (flip in one reality, prevaricate in another).<br><br>Steps 3-5, same as step 2.<br><br>You really only need 4 results for the 5 Undersiders because step 1 doesn’t matter.  You’re not flipping in both realities, you’re flipping in one and delaying a moment in another.<br><br>Step 6 is trickier, because Taylor flips a coin of her own, but it’s highly unlikely that she would have gone ahead and flipped while he was talking.  I imagine Coil making a decision where he tells her to stop, to wait, and move slowly – he might have hired them but he doesn’t trust her not to draw a weapon. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/interlude-8/#comment-74254 Interlude 8 Comment] by Wildbow in [[Interlude 8.z]]</ref>

With careful usage of his power and extensive manipulation, Coil became one of the most powerful supervillains in Brockton Bay, eventually taking over the entire city with the help of his subordinates. Throughout his career, he employed a variety of supervillain teams and independent supervillains, including the [[Undersiders]], the [[Travelers]], [[Über and Leet]], [[Circus]], [[Chariot]], and [[Trainwreck]]. In addition, he could hire [[Faultline's Crew]] or even mercenary capes from [[Boston]] and [[New York]] as needed.<ref name="R3" /> He was also the head of a large unpowered mercenary force that he outfitted with top-of-the-line gear, including tinkertech rifles.

He was in the habit of torturing people for information in alternate realities.<ref>“I didn’t ''do'' anything.  He was the one who turned on us first,” I protested.<br><br>I sensed Trickster turn Calvert’s way.<br><br>Calvert sighed audibly.  “As Skitter knows about my power and ever so kindly revealed the broad strokes of it to everyone in earshot, I suppose there’s no loss in explaining.  I tortured one member of the Undersiders for information, in another world, days ago.  They revealed that you were plotting to turn on me if I refused to release Dinah.  I cannot afford to release her, so my hand was forced.”<br><br>“So it’s ''our'' fault?” Imp asked.<br><br>“Ultimately, yes.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/01/05 Excerpt] from [[Monarch 16.13]]</ref><ref>
:'''Peanuckle:''' Even though Coil admits to torturing members of the Undersiders. I wonder if he tortured Lisa, but she toughed through it? More likely he grabbed Taylor or Brian since they're closer to the issue.<br><br>
'''Wildbow:''' Why not all of them?<br>This would be why you compartmentalize the plan to take down the reality-splitting overlord. Talk it out, give everyone the key points, but don't tell Brian what Tattletale is doing, exactly.<br>Aside: I imagine if Tattletale got tortured in a Coil reality, she'd know it was a Coil reality and adjust accordingly. - [https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/posts/3136604 Wildbow on Space battles]</ref> 
====The Plan====
Coil's plan to take over Brockton Bay was a long time coming and involved numerous plans and steps. He would have been able to adapt it had different circumstances arisen.<ref name="RWI2">[https://www.reddit.com/r/Parahumans/comments/6nurxq/what_would_have_happened_if_panacea/ Speculation by Wildbow on Reddit]</ref>