Galvanate
<infobox>
<title source="name"><default>
</default></title> <image source="Image"></image> <image source="image"></image> <group> <header>Basic information</header> <label>Civilian name</label> <label>Alias(es)</label> <label>Gender</label> <label>Worm start</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Post-timeskip</label> <label>Ward start</label> </group> <group> <header>Personal Status</header> <label>Status</label> <label>General location</label> <label>Family</label> <label>Relationships</label> <label>Occupation</label> </group> <group> <header>Parahuman Status</header> <label>Legal status</label> <label>Team(s)</label> <label>Previous team(s)</label> <label>Power</label> <label>Known classifications</label> </group> <group> <header>Media</header> <label>First appearance</label> </group> </infobox>Galvanate is a former mafia boss<ref name="release"/> imprisoned in the Birdcage.<ref name="intro"/> He acts as a leader of one of the cell blocks.<ref name="intro"/>
Abilities and powers
Galvanate's power is to give powers to others with a touch:<ref name="touch"/> specifically, he can render entire squads effectively invincible, along with strength enhanced enough to qualify the recipient as a Brute.<ref name="List">Galvanate Capable of granting invincibility and enhanced strength with a touch - parahumanList, bolded edit by Wildbow.</ref><ref name="trump"/> Additionally he grants recipients an electric touch, strong enough to kill. While the invincibility is not strong enough to withstand Zion, people expressed hope his power would make some people capable of surviving a glancing blow.<ref name="release"/>
History
Background
While Galvanate's trigger event is unknown, Wildbow speculated it was in response to a single consistent but indirect threat to a group of individuals and involved electricity in some context, possibly in the form of machinery.<ref name="trump">The question is essentially, 'What part of the Trump's trigger event determines the nuances of the resulting power?'
In short, what was the relationship to powers at the time of the trigger event?
[...]
Galvanate grants invincibility, a brute effect, and an electric touch. Not so different from Usher; we can note that the power granted is consistent (one threat), but isn't a direct response/counter to the power (ie. isn't nullification/power resistance, so the triggeree isn't directly being affected by powers). It's possible that the enemy was a parahuman actively using their powers, but the trigger/threat was more indirect, and the threat was to multiple individuals (can grant power to many people). The involvement of electricity suggests a theme or context element. Machinery, perhaps? I picture a mob enforcer and his people fighting an enemy from another group, who is bombarding an area with incendiary shells and missiles. A tinker in a mech suit, firing off an endless barrage. Galvanate's group, his men, friends, maybe family, are all in danger as fire spreads and sections of building start to come down. Trigger. - reddit comment by Wildbow.</ref>
In the early-to-mid-nineties, Galvanate operated as a parahuman mafia enforcer before deciding to become a leader himself, which he did with great success using his powers.<ref name="release">Galvanate appeared. He’d been one of a number of players that had supplanted the local organized crime in the early-to-mid-nineties. A mafia enforcer with powers who had decided he had what it took to be a boss. He’d done well, rendering entire squads of his soldiers effectively invincible, simultaneously capable of electrocuting someone to death with a touch.
Nothing short of Alexandria or an Endbringer would stand up to Scion’s sustained laser beam for even a heartbeat, but there was hope that Galvanate would render some people capable of surviving a glancing blow. - Excerpt from Extinction 27.3</ref> He was eventually captured and imprisoned in the Birdcage, where he became a cell block leader.<ref name="intro"/>
Post-Slaughterhouse Nine
As a cell block leader, Galvanate attends the meeting where Marquis introduces Panacea, where he negotiates Panacea's services to cure toothache, as he finds the services of the dentist in cell block T too expensive.<ref name="dentist">“It seems that cell block C will be cooperating with us,” Marquis said. Then he smiled.
“Glaistig Uaine might see things, but she isn’t usually wrong,” Galvanate said. “She says the kid has power? Fine. Our issues are the usual. The dentist in cell block T charges a small fortune, and we’ve got some toothaches. Can you heal that?”
Amelia was still staring off towards the entrance to Marquis’ cell block. - Excerpt from Interlude 16 (Donation Bonus #3)</ref>
Gold Morning
At the start of the event Galvanate is released from the Birdcage.<ref name="release"/> He later uses his powers to empower Alexandria, Gavel, Gentle Giant and an unnamed fellow prisoner, improving their already impressive defenses.<ref name="touch">Here and there, portals opened, and capes stepped onto the platform. String Theory, carrying only a laptop. Galvanate.
Galvanate reached out and touched a select few capes. Layering invincibility over invincibility for Alexandria, for Gavel, Gentle Giant, and a Birdcage cape I didn’t recognize. - Excerpt from Extinction 27.4</ref>
Trivia
- Galvanate is similar to the word Gavinate, a neologism that means 'to dominate'. It is also similar to galvanize; meaning to startle or excite, expecialy with an electric current.
References
<references/>