Editing Trigger Event (section)

==Types==
===Natural Trigger===
A natural trigger event is accomplished through a traumatic experience. A large amount of people have the potential to trigger even if they haven’t met the conditions necessary for a trigger event.<ref name="7.6e1">“You get more cloudiness in some kinds of scans where it expands out into the webbing around the brain, but we’re not getting that.  It’s been way too long since I studied this,” I said.  “The corona starts as a single marker, like a quarter-sized knot in wood, or a ball the size of a golf ball, pushed between the two lobes.  Then when we trigger, it surges into life.  It’s part of the reason we black out.  It expands slightly, veins swell.  But most of the time an unactivated corona is hard to tell apart from an activated one, and a surprising number of people have unactivated ones.  Sometimes you look at them and the larger veins or structures suggest what the power is linked to.” - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/06/09 Excerpt] from [[Torch 7.6]]</ref> An individual needs to be pushed to the edge, their [[Wikipedia:Fight-or-flight response|fight or flight responses]] pushed to their limits, before the powers start to emerge.<ref name="4.3 e1">"It's called the trigger event," Lisa answered me, "Researchers theorize that for every person with powers out there, there's one to five people with the ''potential'' for powers, who haven't met the conditions necessary for a trigger event.  You need to be pushed to the edge.  Fight or flight responses pushed to their limits, further than the limits, even.  Then your powers start to emerge."<br><br> "Basically," Alec said, "For your powers to manifest, you're going to have to have something really shitty happen to you."<br><br>"Which may help to explain why the villains outnumber the heroes two to one," Lisa pointed out, "Or why third world countries have the highest densities of people with powers.  Not capes, but a lot of people with powers."<br><br>"But people who have parents with powers?"<br><br>"They don't need nearly as intense an event to make their powers show up.  Glory Girl got her powers by getting fouled while playing basketball in gym class.  She mentioned it in a few interviews she gave." - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2011/10/01 Excerpt] from [[Shell 4.3]]</ref> A parahumans [[Corona Pollentia]] can take widely varying forms within their brain based on their powers.<ref>[[Torch 7.6]]</ref>

The circumstances leading up to the trigger event influence the power granted. Psychological stress often leads to mentally driven powers - [[tinker]]s, [[thinker]]s, [[master]]s, [[shaker]]s. The more physical violence that is involved, the higher the bias towards physically driven powers.<ref name=":1">"Throughout the course, we're going to be looking at correlations and patterns, both in relation to trigger events and other things.  For example, how does the nature of the trigger event shape the power?  A study by Garth and Rogers suggests that psychological stress leads to a higher prevalence of mentally driven powers.  Tinkers, thinkers, masters, shakers.  The more physical violence that is involved, the higher the bias towards physically driven powers.  Garth and Rogers suggest a sliding scale, but it may not be that cut and dry.<br><br>"A followup study by Garth touches on what we know about cape ‘families'.  If one individual in a family has powers, it is far more likely that others will as well.  Almost always, this trend is either descending or lateral, it seems to transition from parent to child, or one sibling to another, but not from child to parent.  We'll talk about the theories on <em>why</em>.  For those of you wanting to read ahead, take a look at Garth's notes on the Dallon and Pelham families in chapter nine.  We can surmise that the different scenarios leading to trigger events may be directly related to the differences in powers, even among closely related members of a cape family.  Similar trigger events and related individuals, similar powers.  The more distant the relation and the more varied the trigger events, the more drastically different the powers they possess in the end." - [[Sentinel 9.3]]</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref name="30.5 c1">'''randomsoul2'''<br>So….I was reading the Weaver Dice rules, and something occurred.<br><br>Is there only one possible power/powerset linked to any one trigger event? If someone came up to you [Wildbow] and suggested a trigger event, would the power you responded with be the correct one and all other interpretations be off? Or is it more flexible?<br><br>'''wildbow'''<br>It’s more flexible. Just as cauldron capes can get variance from any dose, a regular trigger event is affected by the nature of the individual. The passenger watches, in the time between the individual becoming able to trigger and their actual trigger event. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/speck-30-5/#comment-48670 Comment] by Wildbow on [[Speck 30.5]]</ref> The nature to the [[shard]] itself also effects the power that is granted, but the circumstances of the trigger event are what shape the final power expression.<ref name="I26 e2">The shards have largely been assigned to hosts.  They will remain latent, they will wait for the first crucial moment of crisis and use that to shape their function, to better assist their host.<br><br>It is impossible to check the exact circumstances for each event.  Some shards harbor particular concepts, and will shape their application to the host’s needs.  Others are coded with particular applications, and will either scan viable realities or the host’s frame of reference for how that application will come to pass.<br><br>Physical harm will grant physical assets, be it direct or abstract.  Immediate danger will nudge the shard towards defensive abilities.  Ranged attacks against living threats, an ability to shape or affect the environment against environmental dangers.<br><br>Successes will help refine the abilities, provide inspiration for the development of new shards.  Failures will help all the same. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/08/10 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 26]]</ref> There can be cases where a potential parahuman is in a situation to trigger but it does not line up with the type of power their [[Shard]] is meant to grant,<ref name="R88">''If a shard can give any power classification, depending on the trigger,''<br>Wildbow:For the record, some shards can, but not all. Some shards are almost always going to just trigger Master, for example, and you just won't trigger unless you're in a state of mind that lends itself into a frequency match for the scan-manton snap (as Bonesaw [[Interlude 11h|describes in 11.h]]). - [https://redd.it/6h99v0 Alternative powers.] [[Wildbow]], Reddit.com, 2017-06-??</ref> with the parahuman triggering later when the correct situation presents itself.<ref>“If I could have triggered, I think I might have last night.”  Natalie’s voice was quiet.  She touched her shoulder.  “I think I’m safe, but thank you, Victoria.”<br><br>I opened my mouth to say something about how triggers didn’t necessarily work that way- that the popular thinking was that the reason they were so hard to provoke was that the trigger event needed to match the power that the person was primed to get.  That someone could have a trigger of abject loss and heartbreak and not get a power, only to get one a few days later because they were threatened with bodily harm, or because their agent was waiting for a trigger event involving fire. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/09/11 Excerpt] from [[Gleaming 9.7]]</ref> On a final note is that a trigger is a individualized experience the events that might cause one person to trigger could be dealt with more constructively by another.<ref>2. Triggers tend to be (both metatextually and for the individual) something that the individual can't let go of. Even for, say, Fume Hood's trigger, which you mention, the event was in part chosen because it's something that gets to her specifically, which puts her in a loop of sorts, where she's encouraged by the powers and stressful event to constantly put herself in circumstances that mirror the trigger (hostile people, collateral damage, decay) which makes it harder to put the powers away or let go of the stressful event, which encourages her to put herself into those circumstances, and so on. If she could put the powers away (or refocus to a Rogue lifestyle), then we might go back to point 1 - she might not have been chosen (obviously exceptions for Eden shards apply). Fume Hood's trigger might seem tame to you but it was just the right thing to devastate her specifically and stick to her. - [https://redd.it/ejo4ct Freshly triggered parahumans.] [[Wildbow]], Reddit.com, 20207-01-02</ref>

====Inherited Powers====
If one individual in a family has powers, it is far more likely that others will as well. Powers can be "inherited" from siblings or adopted parents, but it's very rare for them to pass "upward" from child to parent.<ref name=":1" /> People who have parents with powers don’t need nearly as intense an event to make their powers manifest.<ref name="4.3 e1" /> These are known as Nth-generation powers (second-generation, third-generation etc.)

A genetic relationship isn't necessary to inherit powers.<ref>“How’s the family?” She asked.  “You adopted, if I remember right?”<br><br>“We did.  Arthur was worried that a surrogate parent would give birth to a parahuman, and if that happened, he’d be out of the loop.”<br><br>“The odds are still high, even with an adopted child.  It’s likely more to do with exposure to parahumans at formative ages than genetics.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/09/01/interlude-13/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 13]]</ref> Powers inherited from someone other than a relative were initially known as "serial powers" before it became clear that they were the same phenomenon.<ref><strong>[Definitions]</strong> • Cluster powers are defined as powers wherein multiple inciting incidents occur either simultaneously or within a minute of one another.  Such parahumans will have a collection of smaller powers related to the others.   •  Serial powers are defined as cases where an individual or multiple individuals in longstanding proximity to a parahuman will develop powers… - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2017/10/28/glow-worm-p-4/ Excerpt] from [[Glow-worm P.4]]</ref><ref>Keep in mind that serial and Nth-Generation (2nd gen, 3rd gen) powers are now the same thing. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2017/10/28 Excerpt] from [[Glow-worm P.4]]</ref> 

No third or later generation capes are shown triggering in the story, although they do exist; [[Theo]] is a third-generation parahuman, as is an unnamed child in Toronto,<ref name=":2" /><ref name="18.y">[[Interlude 18.y]]</ref> along with Fleece III.<ref>[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_o-aMY-dsVOyXJHHKaorrDptS3EjDdviDMvz9UNK94A/edit][[Weaverdice]] Character Sheet</ref>

Second-generation capes gain powers influenced by both the powers of those related to them and their trigger event.<ref name=":1" /> Similar to [[grab-bag cape]]s, the children of parahumans tend to manifest multiple lesser powers related to those around them.<ref name="WD1" /> As their shards are essentially the same triggering near a 'parent' does not count for the circumstances of a [[Trump]] trigger.<ref>'''Alon Gal:''' I'm surprised Darlene doesn't have more of a trump aspect to her power. Is that because she's a bud?<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' first generation powers don't count as active powers when their buds trigger - Wildbow on Discord, [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/post-62429974 Archived on Spacebattles]</ref>
====Multiple Trigger====
{{main|Grab-Bag Cape}}

If multiple hosts undergo a Trigger Event at the same time, then a multiple trigger will occur. In such an event, several people will get powers at once. Most often, this will result in multiple parahumans who have an array of minor powers that share a concurrent theme. The powers most often complement one another, or at least work in similar ways. These are known by the colloquialism of "[[Grab-Bag Cape|grab bag capes]]".<ref name="R1">*Powers from multitriggers are from a mix of shards. The shards, instead of going all-in, give up a small to moderate portion of themselves, and then leave the rest of themselves to develop normally while taking in info from multiple sources, just like a shard would naturally gather info and eventually reach the point where it could bud. Except in this case, the shard will usually just go find another host, maybe with relation to one of the multi's, maybe not, and empower them.<br><br>[...]<br><br>*Not age restriction. The shards prefer younger people because they're generally going to last a little longer if they wind up finding some degree of success (by virtue of being younger), because they have faster reflexes, there's more room for breadth and depth to develop (see Bonesaw, Jack, Number Man), and because they're more emotionally volatile or face more dramatic situations in the day to day than your typical adult does (Taylor vs. Danny). - [https://redd.it/4ea77x Comment on Reddit]</ref>

Multiple triggers are meant for the end-game of [[the Cycle]], serving to stress-test powers as well as compare and contrast the smaller powers.<ref name="WD1">Relatively rare - one in twenty or less are multiple-triggers.  To be used when the case calls for a multiple trigger, or it’s suitably large-scale and otherwise boring, you could justify a trigger event as a multi-trigger.<br>In such cases, multiple people trigger at the same time.  This tends to produce a spread of lesser powers - often three or four powers, possibly with one major one, and often deviations.  The powers are related between individuals, but the idea/power that gets emphasized or takes the lead in one individual will often be a minor power for others.  Minor powers might not be emphasized at all.  Powers tend to form a complementary theme.<br><br>[...]<br><br>Multiple-triggers are prone to animosity regarding the other triggerees in their ‘unit’, for lack of a better word.<br>Though distinct and not simultaneous, siblings born to the same cape parents show the same trends, with biases in what powers manifest and more small powers.<br><br>Worm Spoilers:<br>Multiple triggers are actually the endgame of the cycle, prior to the reabsorption and collapse.  When virtually all individuals in the setting are parahumans, connected to shards, the introduction of multiple-triggers serves to stress-test powers and compare and contrast the smaller powers. - [https://docs.google.com/document/d/17WIAhETdtVGSKzFuDYOT2_6U_MMXmTGyzCziYhCwozo/edit?pli=1# Weaver Dice Rulebook]</ref>

Multi-triggers tend to have higher rates of PTSD, more difficulty recovering from their triggers, and lower long-term survival rates. This may be because it takes a more dramatic event to cause multiple people to trigger.<ref><strong>Pt. 4</strong>: Greater effects & things to keep in mind – things touched on in homework reading:<br>
Kill / Kiss – more on this in parahuman psychology class in a few weeks<br>
Personality Bleed – personality traits bleed over from 1 individual to other?  Messy<br>
Higher incidences of paranoia, confrontation, aggression, PTSD.  Less bounce back?<br>
Higher rate of death post-trigger.  Kill / kiss again.  <strong>Graph</strong><br>
Prof Spinky stresses emotional states may play into the above.  Triggers that are sufficient to draw in multiple individuals are worse than average.  Can’t jump 2 conclusions.  Correlation =/= causation. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2017/10/28/glow-worm-p-4/ Excerpt] from [[Glow-worm P.4]]</ref>

===Second Trigger===

:''With the second trigger, the agent reaches out, makes contact with others, networks and draws on collective information to refine the restrictions and save its host... Circumstances tend to mirror the original trigger event.  The resulting power ignores restrictions that were previously set.”'' - [[Doctor Mother]] explaining second triggers to Weaver.

It's possible for a parahuman to experience a second trigger event that removes limits to their abilities<ref name="I5">"Months ago, we were talking about this subject, the Manton effect.  You mentioned how it might be possible for someone like us to have a second trigger event.  A radical change or improvement in their powers as a result of a life or death moment.  Such might explain how one broke the Manton rule." - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2011/12/10/interlude-5/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 5]]</ref><ref name="SB 8">As a general rule, the second trigger effectively breaks down walls or limits that were in place prior. - [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/12852536 Wildbow on Spacebattles]</ref> or adds a secondary aspect to their power.<ref name="%78">'''Anchuinse:''' Second triggers modify the power, often lowering or getting rid of the Manton limit. However, they shouldn't just be a straight "power-up". Maybe a blaster's projectile moves slower, but is now explosive and slows time slightly, or maybe they get multiple projectiles at once that are smaller but 100% accurate, even dodging around cover.<br>Though we don't see many in text, I like to think of it as leaving the "core" of the power the same (if it's a shaker that involves force fields it's always gonna involve force fields) but the exterior components change (speed, size, number) including secondary power effects (if the power had a light Trump effect before it may be more pronounced or gone entirely). Maybe even gaining a small secondary power. Remember though, it's not a straight power up, so while some exterior components increase in power, others should go down in about equal measure (sans the Manton limit).<br><br>'''Wildbow:'''This is pretty accurate.<br>Generally speaking, look for secondary aspects of the power or minor bonuses and then inflate them, or identify the 'walls' the shard set in place and remove them. - [https://redd.it/87n7dj Wildbow commenting on Reddit (yet again)]</ref> Second triggers are exceedingly rare and generally do more harm than good due to the toll it takes on the host.<ref>I did some reading, and there's a pretty scary number of people who have their second trigger events and then have a bad ending shortly after.  I think it has to do with the toll it takes on you, the event. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/10/25/interlude-15-donation-bonus-2/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 15.y]]</ref> To experience a second trigger, a parahuman must experience a situation very similar to their original trigger event. Neither second-generation capes nor cluster capes are known to have second triggers.<ref>This wasn’t as simple as a hard shove in the direction of a second trigger.  I was pretty sure I didn’t qualify.  Second generation capes triggered ‘easier’, but there had never been a second generation cape who’d second triggered.  Whatever resources the power devoted to passing itself on seemed to rule it out, and I doubted the universe would be so kind as to let me be the first.  It would be too easy.<br><br>Multi-triggers were in the same boat.  Which might have been the universe being kind, given how many were lined up against us right now. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/01/15/blinding-11-8/ Excerpt] from [[Blinding 11.8]]</ref><ref name="I26e77">A confrontation had started between a young male and an older one.  A fragment of a shard against a very mature shard.  The most mature shard in this area, at a glance. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/08/10 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 26]]</ref> Cauldron can induce capes to experience a second trigger, but they generally need help to get circumstances to match with the original trigger.<ref>“You’re involved with a lot of powerful parahumans,” I said.  “Do you have a means of causing second triggers?”<br><br>“We’ve done it for several clients in the past, with varying degrees of success.  Because of the time it takes, and the arrangements involved, we put a high premium on it.  We’ve had more clients die trying to collect the funds for this premium than we’ve had clients go through with the procedure,” she said.<br><br>“A catch twenty-two, if you will,” the Number Man said.  “If you’re powerful enough to have the necessary funds, then you don’t need a second trigger to thrive.  If you need a second trigger, you lack the funds.”<br><br>“I get the feeling you didn’t devote much attention to this,” Golem said.  “Why not?”<br><br>“Because reducing the restrictions that are in place only gives us a power that has less restrictions, when we need powers with ''none''.  We needed to luck into a formula that had an applicable power as well as a whole, untainted foreign power within, and we needed it in a vehicle we could use, an individual without crippling mental, psychological, emotional or physical deviations.  Eidolon was that, and Eidolon had a fatal flaw in the end.”<br>[...]<br> “I can check your allies, but we can’t do much more.  We used to rely on Contessa’s power to determine the exact event needed for a second trigger.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/10/03 Excerpt] from [[Venom 29.7]]</ref>

Prior to a second trigger event, the shard is drawing from context, exploring and conceptualizing new uses for the host's powers. The shard begins splitting off to find a new but similar host, piggybacking off the original shard's context and experience. However, instead of [[Shard#Buds|splitting to a new host]], the second trigger event prompts the budding shard to catalyze and consolidate in the current host instead, altering their powers.<ref name="SB 65">Generally the trigger ''cause'' fits in the same general category. Brian had his second trigger for much the same reason he had his first. They can differ in nature. What's happening is that the entity is drawing from context and exploring/conceptualizing new uses for the powers (which are still in the metaphorical computer's memory, but not in the hardware that burned out in the trigger process). The entity begins splitting off, ready to find a generally young & similar host to target (piggybacking off the parent's context & experience for an easier triggering process/analysis) but then a major event prompts it to catalyze and consolidate in the current host instead.<br><br>If it's in an adult before finding its way to the child, it can begin this splitting-off process (generally requiring time or a degree of stress to allow for the maturation).<br><br>They are exceedingly rare (two noted in-story. Taylor ''didn't'' second-trigger in the last arc, to be clear), and generally speaking they do more harm than good. If it's a straight power-up, you're probably doing it wrong. - [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/12852536 Wildbow on Spacebattles]</ref>

Third and further trigger events are impossible, according to Doctor Mother, but an explanation as to why isn't provided. However, people who have already had a second trigger event can still achieve a [[Broken Trigger]] and [[Titans|fully merge with their Shard]], as seen by [[Glaistig Uaine|Valkyrie]].<ref>“Valkyrie,” Kenzie said.  “They got her.”<br><br>I swallowed, hard.  I found the notification marked out in gold.  The icon in the distance and the corresponding label too small to really see.<br><br>Titan Valkyrie. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/01/21/infrared-19-6/ Excerpt] from [[Infrared 19.6]]</ref>
====Double Trigger====
Not to be confused with a second trigger, a double trigger (also called a 1.5 trigger by Wildbow<ref>Second triggers aren't straight upgrades. Look at Grue's - he gained some power in one respect (fighting capes), but his cloud got a lot heavier and denser, tending to coalesce lower to the ground. Were post-S9 Grue to do the bank robbery job, he wouldn't be able to cover their retreat as effectively. Less effective vs. non-capes.<br><br>Two steps forward, yes, but one step back, or a half-step back. In other cases it could easily be unlocking a function but be one-step-forward, one-step-back.<br><br>I like terming Taylor's second trigger as a 1.5th trigger. - [https://www.reddit.com/r/Parahumans/comments/7ysdpr/spoilers_for_worm_what_if_taylor/duiuja3/ Wildbow on Reddit]</ref>) is two trigger events that occur in quick succession. This may be the reason why certain parahumans are unable to experience a second trigger, since they've already had one.<ref name=":2" /> According to [[Number Man]], Taylor experienced a double trigger that was caused by the horror of manifesting her power. This implies that double triggering may be a type of recalibration on the shard's part, occurring when the initial trigger is too much for the host to handle.<ref>"But I'm afraid that power you're digging for is out of your reach, Weaver."<br><br>I looked at him.<br><br>"Or it's already in your reach. You can't have a second trigger because you already had one," he said.<br><br>I blinked.<br><br>"Given the signature, it's very possible you had two trigger events in quick succession. Not uncommon. The horror of manifesting your power, it prompted another trigger."<br><br>"No," I said. "There's got to be ''something''."<br><br>"If there is, a second trigger event isn't it," the Number Man said. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/10/03 Excerpt] from [[Venom 29.7]]</ref>

===Cauldron Trigger===
Cauldron capes gain their powers after drinking a [[Cauldron vial]]. The process of drinking one is intensely painful, the vial forcibly forming a Corona Pollentia in the brain. They are much more likely to gain physical mutations than natural triggers.<ref>“You bought Cauldron powers?” I asked.<br><br>“Yes.”<br><br>“Pretty rare for a natural cape to get powers with physical changes,” Tattletale said.  “Cauldron capes?  Yeah.  You definitely see stuff like feathers.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/08/31/cockroaches-28-1/ Excerpt] from [[Cockroaches 28.1]]</ref> Their powers are primarily based on what vial they took, although their personality also influences it.<ref name=":3">[[Interlude 15.z]]</ref> Cauldron capes are much less likely to be villains, and are generally more mentally stable.<ref name="I14.y">With the rise of the Endbringers and threats like the Slaughterhouse Nine, the world was in need of heroes.  Cauldron produced more heroes than villains, because there was none of the trauma of a trigger event to throw them off.  Even for those individuals who turned to crime, Cauldron was able to leverage the favors that were part of the contract in order to guide their path.  More superheroes meant better chances for everyone when it came to fighting the Endbringers and dealing with the big threats. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/10/13/interlude-14-5-bonus-interlude/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 14.y]]</ref><ref name=":3" /> Given how a subject triggered,<ref>Powers and agents, as the literature called them, had a way of connecting better to the hosts when the host was in alignment with the moment they triggered.  It was at this time that the agent performed its deepest study of the host, the context around the host, and all necessary things relating to the power. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/12/11 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 10.y II]]</ref> their powers can become less reliable when in a stressful situation.<ref name="21.x e1">The deviations, the ones who didn’t take to the formula, tended to fall into certain categories.  There were those who had some minor physical or mental changes; they were little different from the most extreme deviations that appeared in typical trigger cases.  Such deviations occurred a mere eighth of a percent of the time.  They weren’t what he was thinking of.<br><br>The formula wasn’t exact.  Though they learned more every day, there were still unknowns regarding powers.  Whatever connection the agents formed with individuals before or during a trigger event, it didn’t manifest as strongly through the formula.  When the subject was stressed, their body engaged by that distress, the connection grew weaker. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/04/27/interlude-21-donation-bonus-1/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 21.x]]</ref><!-- hmmm Bow talking about cauldron perhaps? There were other times. 

 -->
===Aberrant Trigger===
{{main|Broken Trigger}}