Thinker

This page is under construction: please refer to Power Classifications for the proper, cited version.

Thinker is one of the twelve power classifications created by the PRT still in modern day use.<ref>PRT Master Reference - Classifications</ref> Thinkers have powers related to knowledge, skills and enhanced perception.<ref name=":2">Possesses enhanced knowledge, skills and/or perceptions beyond any reasonable norm.  Includes clairvoyance, precognition, skill acquisition, enhanced hearing and enhanced sight. - PRT Master Reference - Classifications - Thinker</ref>

Methodology

Thinkers might use their abilities to gather information<ref name=":1">Thinker - Advanced perception, knowledge, data-collection, or skills.  
Thinkers manifest from emotional or mental strain, reaching a crisis point in a short time. - WD Rulebook: Character Creation</ref>, coordinate their allies<ref name=":3">Detail Generator - Thinker, spreadsheet by wildbow.</ref> or find weaknesses in their opponents<ref name=":3" />. Their powers might manifest in variety of different ways, including but not limited to:

• Improved senses<ref name=":3" />, including enhanced sight<ref name=":2" /> and hearing<ref name=":2" />.
• Entirely new senses, including x-ray vision and echolocation.<ref>No doubt they were organized by ability.  Teacher could grant thinker

and tinker powers.  If I assumed at least one tinker per group, with the

tinkers carrying some ranged weapon or defense, and if the athletic 

members of the roaming squads were the soldiers, gifted with some knowledge that would give them a small edge in a fight, there were still

two or three members in a given group I couldn’t identify. - Speck 30.3</ref><ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Parahumans/comments/3sn02a/need_some_ideas_for_list_of_powers_teacher_can/cwzaytv</ref>

• Precognition and other variants of clairvoyance.<ref name=":2" />
• Skill acquisition<ref name=":2" />, either in general or focused on a specific area: Examples include combat<ref name=":3" />, social interactions<ref name=":3" />, and leadership<ref name=":3" />.
• Superpowered analysis, used to uncover hidden information.<ref name=":3" />
• Enhanced understanding beyond the ability of normal humans.<ref name=":3" />

Trigger events

Trigger events produce Thinkers when the parahuman experiences large amounts of emotional and mental strain while a crisis point is reached in a short period of time.<ref name=":1" /> This contrasts with Tinkers, where issues remain unresolved over a large amount of time before they culminate in a crisis moment.<ref>Tinker - Building alien or advanced technology.
Thinkers arise from solutionless problems over long periods, culminating in crisis moment.. - WD Rulebook: Character Creation</ref>

Combinations with other ratings

[Coming soon]

Use by the PRT

The PRT employs a large amount of Thinkers in their operations. They are used to vet applicants<ref>Applicants are subject to spot drug and background checks, as well as scanning by PRT-approved thinkers. - PRT Master Reference - Employment in the PRT</ref>, but were also used to screen individuals during the outtake process for the Madison quarantine zone<ref>Three years after the incident, the PRT restarted the process of outtake, each individual undergoing a background check and screening by a

PRT-approved thinker. To minimize the effects of cumulative influence, 

the PRT rotates out directors and teams. - wildbow reddit comment</ref>. Watchdog, a PRT-subgroup focused primarily on preventing economic and political disruption by parahumans, employs think-tanks of Thinkers, using them to sift through large amount of information.<ref>Watchdog - A group based primarily in San Francisco with offices elsewhere, Watchdog is focused primarily on preventing economic and political disruption by parahumans.  Think tanks of thinkers are employed to sift through large quantities of data using their individual talents, while non-parahuman staff works on ways to gather the data in question.  Watchdog regularly launches investigations or sends individuals as a sort of internal affairs within the PRT, sometimes overt, sometimes covert. - PRT Master Reference - Subgroups in the PRT</ref>

PRT countermeasures

In direct engagements, the PRT-teams often targets Thinkers first, considering them the highest priority when all numbers are assumed to be equal.<ref name=":0">Thinker capes, all numbers assumed to be equal, take the highest priority in engagements.  

Threat level 2+:  Team is notified as to thinker classification.  Communication should be limited and the thinker should be cut off from teammates where possible.  Encrypted or coded communications may be necessary.  Failing that, the operation may need to be silent (noncommunicative team).

Threat level 5+:  Maximum disruption to the senses, with flashbangs and nonlethal truck emplacements put into regular effect.  All possible measures should be undertaken to keep the thinker threat from communicating.  Pre-prepared thinker countermeasures (false information) should be entered into play.  PRT thinkers should be contacted remotely to maximize counter-thinking.

Threat level 9+:  Contact the head office to discuss needs and resources available. - PRT Master Reference - Classifications - Thinker </ref>

Threat level	Additional measures
2+	The team is notified of a Thinker classification.<ref name=":0" /> Communication should be limited and the thinker should be cut off from teammates where possible.<ref name=":0" /> Encrypted or coded communications may be necessary.<ref name=":0" /> Failing that, the operation may need to be silent (noncommunicative team).<ref name=":0" />
5+	Maximum disruption to the senses, with flashbangs and nonlethal truck emplacements put into regular effect.<ref name=":0" /> All possible measures should be undertaken to keep the thinker threat from communicating.<ref name=":0" /> Pre-prepared thinker countermeasures (false information) should be put into play.<ref name=":0" /> PRT thinkers should be contacted remotely to maximize counter-thinking.<ref name=":0" />
9+	The head office should be contacted to discuss needs and available resources.<ref name=":0" />

Known Thinkers

Note: This list describes the Thinker ratings of different capes. For a full overview of their abilities, please check their individual pages.

Name	Known ratings	Power description
Accord	Thinker<ref name=":4">Accord was a thinker, and the running theory on his power was that he got naturally smarter as the problems he was addressing got more complex.  It gave him an intuitive understanding of groupthink, politics, and convoluted designs. - Migration 17.8</ref>	Gets naturally smarter as the problems he is addressing get more complex.<ref name=":4" />
Alexandria	Brute, Mover, Thinker<ref name=":7">Alexandria had originally named herself after the Library of Alexandria, though she’d ceased mentioning that, choosing to leave enemies in the dark instead.  As strong as she was on a physical level, her mind was equally formidable.  She never forgot a detail, absorbed information quickly, reading two pages of a book with a glance, and she learned quickly, retaining everything she picked up.  She knew most commonly spoken languages, no less than ten styles of martial arts and she could match some of the best non-tinkers in the world when it came to computers.  Not only was she rated well in the brute classification, but she held high scores in the mover and thinker categories. - 14.y (Bonus Interlude)</ref>	Perfect memory, faster learning, perfect information retention, and heightened cognitive speed.<ref name=":7" />
Appraiser	Thinker<ref name=":5">“And you won’t have another,” Miss Militia cut in. She’d stepped out of the Director’s office next door and into the doorway. “We’re not here to socialize. We got in touch with some thinkers. Eleventh Hour says he gets an ‘eight’. Appraiser’s read says we’re ‘purple’. Rule for any pre-situ call is we get three points of reference, going by thinkers alone, that means a third thinker. The first they were able to get in touch with was Hunch. Your old teammate, Weld.” “Didn’t think he rated, yet,” Weld said. “Chief Director Costa-Brown gave the a-ok, and Hunch says it’s bad. All together, we’re calling this a threat level A.” - Queen 18.4</ref>	Rates situations using colors.<ref name=":5" />
Arbiter	Thinker, Blaster (minor), Shaker (minor)<ref name=":8">Rime explained.  “She’s a social thinker, in addition to her minor blaster and shaker powers.  Her danger sense is mild at best, not something she can react to immediately, but it makes her aware of associated individuals and the threat they pose.  She wouldn’t be able to see much from Pretender alone, but she knows that there’s a moderate to high danger posed by those closest to him-” - Drone 23.2</ref>	Mild danger sense, but it makes her aware of associated individuals and the threat they pose.<ref name=":8" />
Chevalier	Thinker<ref>It was a piece of the puzzle, but that puzzle was still far from complete.  Until they had more to work with, it was merely data.  Glimmers of memories and dreams, the conclusion had been, after long discussions with Eidolon and the parahuman researchers.  An effect of the thinker power required to manage his own ability, tied to trigger events in some fashion. - Interlude 24</ref>	Senses properties and sees phantom images of objects he targets, sees illusions surrounding parahumans.<ref>He started to turn his head, but the image changed. The effect ran over the girl’s skin, as though she were standing right in front of a glacier, the light refracting off of it. No, the black hands on the older woman… a result of fire? Magma. ... And the images, the glimmers, they showed the mouse-ears girl laughing. For her companions, there was a strange writing system patterned on one boy’s skin, and the other boy swirled with a smoke that wasn’t there. The images weren’t an unfamiliar thing, but this was the first time he’d been confronted with so many in one place. It was distracting, unnerving. What were they supposed to be, the glimmers? - Interlude 24</ref>
Codex	Blaster/Thinker<ref name=":9">Codex was a blaster-thinker hybrid.  Tattletale had speculated that the woman caused permanent brain damage and memory loss , briefly augmenting her own processing power in exchange. - Imago 21.6</ref>	Causes permanent brain damage and memory loss, briefly augmenting her own processing power in exchange.<ref name=":9" />
Coil	Thinker	Views visions of worlds where he made different decisions, can choose between them
Contessa	Thinker<ref>“What’s her classification?” “Thinker.  Don’t worry about the number.  Just run.” - Drone 23.2 </ref>	Can instantly determine the exact steps needed to accomplish any task and perform them accurately.<ref>She could see each individual step, looking forward to see what it entailed. She could see it evolve as time passed, accounting for her starting it later. - Interlude 29</ref>
Dinah Alcott	Thinker	Can calculate the probability of any event to an exacting degree and express it as a percentage
Dragon	Thinker<ref>Dragon is a thinker who co-opts and draws inspiration from other tinkers' work. - wildbow reddit comment</ref>, Tinker<ref>TL;DR is that tinkers can't pass on tips to humanity. Even Masamune, even Dragon. - wildbow reddit comment.</ref>, Trump<ref>I can say that it matches up with the trend that people who trigger in circumstances where powered individuals are present or involved get powers that often relate to powers; trump powers - reddit wildbow comment</ref>	Co-opts and draws inspiration from other tinkers' work.
Eleventh Hour	Thinker<ref name=":5" />	Provides numerical threat ratings.<ref name=":5" />
Echidna	Master/Striker 10, Brute 8, Changer 2, Thinker	Smells parahumans
Hunch	Thinker<ref name=":5" />	Provides vague information.<ref name=":5" />
Kismet	Thinker<ref name=":6">“Kismet, balance thinker,” the Caucasian said.  He wore a white robe with a hard, faceless mask that had only slits for the eyes. - Crushed 24.3</ref>	Calls himself a 'Balance Thinker'.<ref name=":6" />
Leonid	Thinker, Stranger, Mover	Secondary powers of sound detection and sound manipulation.
Shamrock	Thinker, Shaker	Very weak telekinetic and clairvoyant, so effects resemble luck
Skitter	Master 5, Thinker 1, (later: Master 8, Thinker 1)	Arthropodokinesis, arthropodovoyance
Tattletale	Thinker 7	Can obtain information by making connections, essentially making superlatively good guesses that build on each other. (Intuition)
Tecton	Tinker, Thinker	Architecture and geology sense[19].
Über	Thinker	Mastery of any one skill as long as he concentrates on it.
Victor	Thinker	Able to steal skills from others.
Watch	Thinker, Mover, Striker	Short-duration 360-degree X-ray vision uninhibited by shadows, walls or skin

Speculated Thinkers

Note: This list describes the Thinker ratings of different capes. For a full overview of their abilities, please check their individual pages.

Note: This list deals with speculation. If you have a relevant and reliable citation, please add that cape to the 'Known Thinkers' list. Please add capes to this list conservatively: It's meant to list capes that are generally agreed upon to be Thinkers, but we lack proper citations for.

Name	Speculated classification	Power description
[Coming soon]

References

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