Editing Butcher (section)

==Abilities and Powers==
Butcher I had increased strength and durability, a ranged agony-infliction aura potent enough to induce cardiac arrest, and the ability to transfer a watered-down version of his powers and a share of his consciousness to his killer, making them the next Butcher.<ref name="20.y">“The first Butcher had super strength, durability, and the ability to inflict enough pain at a distance that his enemies went into cardiac arrest.  His other powers only became evident later.  He was killed by a subordinate, and the man who would later be known as Butcher Two inherited a fraction of his powers and a share of his consciousness.”<br/><br/>“Butcher Three inherited it too, along with a share of Two’s powers and consciousness,” Tattletale said.  “He was a hero, though.”<br/><br/>Accord rankled at the fact that she’d spoken out of turn.  Her voice rang in his ears, as though each syllable were the echoing toll of a bell, growing louder with each iteration.  Out of turn, out of sync, out of place.<br/><br/>He bit his tongue.  “Yes.  And the two voices in the hero’s head worked together to drive him mad.  He was gone from this world well before he died in battle.  The Teeth reclaimed the power, and the legacy has largely remained within the group since, each successor inherting{sic} powers of the ones before.  The voices and consciousnesses only work with rightful heirs, members of their group who challenge the leader and beat him in a fair match.”<br/><br/>“Which one is this?” Regent asked.<br/><br/>“Fourteen,” Tattletale said.<br/><br/>“This one’s number ''fourteen''?” Regent asked.  “Which means she’s got thirteen sets of powers?”<br/><br/>[...]<br/><br/>Tattletale answered, “Only a small share of each power.  Don’t forget she’s got thirteen voices in her head, giving her advice and helping her work stuff out, and all the powers she brought to the table, besides.  Her attacks don’t miss.  She imbues them with an effect which means they bend space so they strike her target,  Bullets turn in midair, swords curve, all means she’s pretty much guaranteed to hit you if her attack reaches far enough.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/04/06/interlude-20 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 20.y]]</ref>

While no two powers from independent shards are the same, if Butcher does get multiple copies of the same power, such as from a bud of a shard, they will stack. <ref name="20.y c1"> razorsmile:<br/>Butcher is scary. If she gets multiple copies of the same power (say, if more than one of her predecessors had superstrength), does it stack?<br/><br/>Wildbow<br/>There are no copies of the same power, barring a circumstance where it’s powers recurring within a second/third generation cape. Even then, debatable.<br/><br/>But they’d stack in a case where such came to pass. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/04/06/interlude-20/#comment-17006 Wildbow's comment] on [[Interlude 20.y]]</ref><!--Thus Hypothetically durability granted through biokinesis would stack with durability granted by a force-field and durability granted by a space warping effect that redirected attacks off center from the Butcher -->

A succession of fourteen different parahumans have added their own abilities and minds to Butcher. In addition to granting more powers, the Butchers' minds will drive a successor insane if they are not a member of the Teeth who challenged the previous Butcher and beat them in a fair match. Butcher III, for example, was a hero who was driven mad by the personalities from the two previous iterations.<ref name="20.y" /><ref name="20.y c2">If you’re not legitimate, they fuck with your head instead, drive you mad, taunt you, play mind games. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/04/06/interlude-20/#comment-17116 Wildbow's comment] on [[Interlude 20.y]]</ref> Presumably the effect has only increased with the addition of more voices and personalities.

The Butcher might be more susceptible to emotion affecting powers such as [[Cherish]] because of the number of accrued consciousnesses they have.<ref>“Yes.  Exceedingly,” Tattletale said.  She cocked her head a little to one side.  It was something I’d seen her do before, as if she was a bird, trying to see things from a different angle.  “What are you thinking?”<br><br>I shook my head.  “Nothing.  But… some of the best powers we’ve gone up against have had pretty fatal weaknesses.  When we went up against Butcher, her having fourteen consciousnesses to draw on might not have helped a ton when she was trying to deal with Cherish’s ability.  We used Echidna’s ability to absorb dead matter and grow to trap her in Coil’s base.  Bought ourselves time.” - [[Cockroaches 28.6]]</ref>

If [[the Simurgh]] (or presumably any other [[Endbringer]]) were to kill the Butcher, they would not become the next Butcher. Instead, the nearest available parahuman would become the next host, even if they had no part in the Butcher's death.<ref name="reddit eZiz">'''dvdjspr:''' I'm more interested in what exactly would happen if Ziz killed Butcher. Would she still inherit their minds? Would a Simurgh with 15 human minds be more dangerous, or less?<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' The Simurgh would not inherit their minds. Butcher's powers would likely go to the nearest available parahuman. Given the Simurgh, probably the most inconvenient parahuman. - [https://redd.it/3l69kr Conversation with Wildbow on Reddit]</ref> This implies that only parahumans can become the next Butcher, and not regular people. Note that the idea of [[Scion]] (i.e., the Warrior-hub of the [[shard network]]<ref>“I’m sorry,” their March says, meaning it.  She thinks of losing a cluster-mate.  She imagines It would make the remaining years before the end so empty.<br><br>But her experience with that world was when it was alive.  When most were connected to the Warrior-hub. - [[Heavens 12.all]]</ref>) permanently neutralizing the Butcher by killing the Butcher appears to be wishful thinking: specific details are scant but might be different from the scenario where the Simurgh kills the Butcher.<ref name="SV eScion">'''Doctor Mod:'''  Oh yes! Hell have Zion himself do the deed. He's immune to powers.<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Sure. Let's count on Scion's resistance to powers counteracting the Butcher Effect. Nothing can go wrong there. Nothing at all. - Conversation with Wildbow on Sufficient Velocity</ref><!-- https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/posts/4266991 -->

Butcher XV is likely to have access to the following powers:
*The ability to cause excruciating pain at range and increased durability (I).<ref name="20.y"/><ref name="21.6">Butcher didn’t react as bugs bit and stung, and capsaicin-laden bugs found her eyes and nose. Her skin was too tough, and she didn’t feel pain, thanks to Butcher twelve’s powers. She was composed as she lifted a gun that would normally have been mounted on the back of a truck. Without putting it down, she held it with one hand and donned her mask.<br/><br/>She turned our way, as though it wasn’t even a question. A sensory power.<br/><br/>''Butcher two, the ability to see people’s veins, arteries and hearts through walls.''<br/><br/>[...]<br/><br/>She teleported past the worst of Vex’s forcefield barrier. Flame billowed around her in a muted explosion as she appeared.<br/><br/>''Butcher six’s explosive teleporting. It’s weaker than it was when six had it, shorter range, and the intensity of the explosion isn’t nearly what it once was.''<br/><br/>[...]<br/><br/>Wounded but intact, the dog turned and snapped at her.<br/><br/>She was gone a heartbeat before the teeth snapped together.<br/><br/>''Butcher three’s danger sense. Didn’t do him much good. Driven mad, died in a suicidal attack against the Teeth. Window of opportunity is lower, application limited to more physical danger.''<br/><br/>[...]<br/><br/>She reappeared in a cloud of rolling flame, reversed her grip on her gatling gun and swung it like a club, knocking Bentley clean off his feet.<br/><br/>''Super strength, courtesy of one, three, six, nine, eleven and thirteen. Cumulative effects. A little bit of super strength from multiple sources added up.''<br/><br/>[...]<br/><br/>Bentley had recovered and charged her. She responded by hitting him with a wave of pain, putting him off his guard so she could strike him aside.<br/><br/>''Butcher one. Inflicted agony at range.''<br/><br/>[...]<br/><br/>Butcher had a grip on Regent, threw him into Biter with enough strength to take the two of them out of the fight.<br/><br/>Possibly enough strength to kill one, if Lizardtail’s power wasn’t able to outpace the internal damage done.<br/><br/>''Induces mindless rage. Power from Butcher Nine. Very low range.''<br/><br/>''Inflicts wounds that fester. Power from Butcher Four. Less effect than Four had. Far shorter duration.''<br/><br/>[...]<br/><br/>Butcher had time to string her bow before she had to teleport out of the way, appearing on top of a building with a vantage point of the battlefield. She knelt, touching the rooftop, and reformed the stone into arrows.<br/><br/>''That power was Butcher Eight’s, except he’d had more reach, was faster.''<br/><br/>[...]<br/><br/>Butcher drew her bow again.<br/><br/>''She didn’t miss. She did something to warp space or adjust the very fabric of reality, so her shots always struck the intended target.'' - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/imago-21-6/ Exerpt] from [[Imago 21.6]]</ref>
*Superhuman strength (I, III, VI, IX, XI, XIII).<ref name="21.6"/>
*The ability to see hearts, veins and arteries even through walls (II).<ref name="21.6"/>
*Short-range danger sense against physical attacks (III).<ref name="21.6"/>
*The ability to cause festering wounds (IV).<ref name="21.6"/>
*Short-ranged explosive teleport,<ref name="21.6"/> that can't move user into open water<ref name="21.y eDrag">“Not so risky when you’ve done a read on the situation.  I had all the notes on Butcher Fourteen.  She couldn’t teleport free, not into open water.  She still ''can’t'', and I had a crew use a remote control device to lash a cable to Butcher Fifteen’s pod.  They’ve dropped her into a deeper area of the ocean, and the only thing she’ll be likely to kill are fish.  If we’re lucky, maybe Leviathan will float that way and off himself.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/interlude-21/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 21.y]]</ref>(VI).
*The ability to reshape unrefined matter (earth and sand) into objects (VIII).<ref name="21.6"/>
*The ability to cause mindless rage at short range.<ref name="21.6"/>
*Immunity to pain (XII).<ref name="21.6"/>
*The ability to always hit with a ranged attack as long as the target is within range (XIV).<ref name="20.y"/><ref name="21.6"/>
*The ability to manipulate/sense emotions at range (XV).<ref name="cast">Cherish – An amoral emotion detector and emotion manipulator who uses her powers to find targets for her group, the Slaughterhouse Nine.  Twenty, she sports a stripe of violet in her dark hair. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/cast-spoiler-free/ Cast (spoiler free)]</ref>
*The ability to heal, likely restricted to self, possibly including brain tissue (??).<ref>The dogs that trailed after us were quick to follow the order, snatching up Butcher.<br><br>She’d heal, was probably healing the brain damage Codex had inflicted.  Butcher was tough enough that the dogs probably wouldn’t do enough damage before she regained her senses. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/imago-21-6/ Excerpt] from [[Imago 21.6]]</ref>