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Power Scaling Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
I often hear conversation around the power level of fiction that is many times over superhuman. What isn't as prevalent is conversation around characters who border on superhuman.
Prerequisites
- For simplicity's sake, I will be assuming all non-superhuman appearing characters are average human level unless I have reason to believe otherwise
- I'll be assuming that the universe is nearly equal to our own. I feel like this doesn't need to be said, but I'm the detailed type.
- Jesse's forms go in the following order: Human Jesse (before Jesse recieves his bite mark) -> Possessed Jesse (after Jesse recieves his bite) -> Post Ritual Jesse (after Jesse is attacked in the basement (this also accounts for fully possessed Jesse)).
- I'm assuming Possessed Oscar should be relative to Post Ritual Jesse.
- I'll be going in order from weakest to strongest.
Humans
Human ranges quite a bit as we see children, high school kids, adults, and gang members.
Speed
- Basic human level. Imagine that. No one appears to be an athlete.
- The main characters all seem to be a bit faster than everyone else, with Hector being exceptionally quick. Marisol and Human Jesse are being given high basic human level.
- Hector is able to outrun Post Ritual Jesse, who should be a good amount into super human. Hector is super human level I guess. Peak human feels better, but this isn't Hector hate hour.
Durability
- Basic human level. No one is exceptionally durable.
- Maybe a bit of a gag placement, but Possessed Jesse legitimately goes to square up with a dude hitting on Marisol. Marisol's Boy Toy gets a hard shove to the ground from this Jesse and walks it off. Shoves from a weaker Possessed Jesse no diff some chollos. That's at least peak human durability.
Power
- Basic human level. No surprise here.
- The chollos are built like industrial garbage cans, so I imagine they're high human in strength.
- One chollo is seen with what appears to be a H&K MP5 machine gun. If my CoD career is anything to go off of, we can assume this ese has 15 rounds of 9mm ammo.
- Another gag placement. Penelope (Jesse's hook-up) fights off Possessed Oscar's arm with gravity on Oscar's side. That is at least peak human strength. Chollos watch out.
Intelligence
- Basic human level. No one's a scholar or notably smart in the story.
Character
- Humans in this movie appear to have nerves of steel. Hardly anyone is as freaked out as they should be. Extra gas towards Penelope for losing zero lust in a haunted, ripped up apartment.
- Humans appear to be pretty docile, avoiding confrontation.
- Chollos are notably unbothered and always ready for smoke.
The Midwives
The Midwives are the witch coven that appear throughout the story. This group isn't very notable, but they are technically superhuman. Something I find odd is their fairly grounded power level despite being depicted as possessed in some shots in other titles. Just as a reminder, these witches are old ladies and most likely far out of their peaks.
Speed
- The witches are just fast enough to catch humans by surprise, either through travel speed or possible phasing.
- The witches move quite fast, but nothing out of the realm of what humans are capable of. Because of this, I generously place their speed at athlete level.
Durability
- This is very straight forward. Ana dies from a gunshot, and the other witches aren't much different. It's best to specify that the coven at the house get taken out by an impossibly powerful shotgun, so there may be wiggle room for human+ durability. Human durability is fine though, seeing as though Possessed Jesse gets knocked out by a bat and he is their weapon.
Power
- The coven witches carry large kitchen knives and know how to use them. They seem to no diff Arturo's chollo backup (Santo) without so much as a squeak from that foo. I place striking power generously, again at athlete level.
- I should mention that black magic and demonic rituals could allow the witches to do more damage. After all, a summoned demon is a legitimate tactic if prep is allowed. It may not be super in character for them, but it's a fun idea.
- The coven has somehow created/own a door that allows for time and space traversal. Make of that what you will.
Intelligence
- Witches should have the wisdom that comes with living a human's life. Cult knowledge would lead me to believe that they are well-read on topics that would help them with rituals and not much else. Intelligence is most likely basic human level.
Character
- The coven is more into plotting, using demons and prepared bodies to do their deeds. Despite this, they seem to not be afraid of direct confrontation... at all.
- They will kill anyone that stands in their way, but are generally peaceful. They even allowed intruders to look around for a few minutes before engaging in combat.
- The witches goal are to indoctrinate women into giving up their firstborn son. They aren't portrayed as interested in standing their ground outside of this goal.
Arturo Lopez
Arturo is the head honcho chollo. He is narrativly implied to be built a bit different, and his feats show for it.
Speed
- Arturo isn't notably quick, leading me to believe he isn't anything above an athlete. His scaling in terms of power may push this up a bit.
- Arturo is notably quick to the draw. Hector and Marisol are caught off guard by witches while Arturo is calm and collected, having plenty of time to raise his gun and fire accurately. His reaction time/time perception and combat speed is probably athlete level if not peak human. As stated before, Arturo's power may convince me to up this level a bit.
- Arturo isn't particularly durable. He seems to get taken out by Jesse as it is widely believed that it's Arturo's face being sent through the window in the final fight scene. He also acts as though he fears getting stabbed. To be fair, I do as well.
- Get this: Arturo's shotgun is capable of blowing back witches running towards him at full speed. Their bodies fly back 10+ feet. This isn't normal for a shotgun. Arturo would need to withstand the blowback of these shots, and he does so effortlessly. This puts his physical strength at superhuman.
- As a bit of a continuation from the shotgun feat, I want to specify that assuming Arturo's strength is superhuman opens the door to assuming that all of his physical prowess is this level. I don't do that personally though.
- Arturo is well-read on the topic of witches. He knows enough to piece the coven's plot together, despite it being a very secretive plan. Keep in mind that he doesn't have access to the previous movie's found footage, so his understanding is purely from research. Because of this, I place Arturo at high human level.
- Arturo is cool, calm, and collected. He's fairly well-thought-out and fights those who have done him wrong.
- Unlike other chollos in the neighborhood, Arturo doesn't make violence a first priority. Don't overstep though. Dude is very quick to shoot threats.
Jesse Arista
Jesse is the main character and is probably the best example as to what a possessed human can do in the series up until this point. For simplicity, I'll be laying down all his impressive feats since his Post Ritual form should be capable of all those things and more.
Speed
- Human Jesse is fairly quick, being able to outrun multiple chollos. This isn't anything over athelete level. He isn't able to keep up with Possessed Oscar, not only losing the foot chase between them, but getting to the church after Oscar found his way to the top of it.
- Possessed Jesse should be nearing peak human seeing as though he should be noticably faster than his previous self. He also has the time perception to catch a baseball bat mid swing. This is impressive but not superhuman.
- Post Ritual Jesse is portrayed as being quick on his feet seeing as though his physical prowess is meant to be feared in a monsteresque way. Hector does outrun him, leading me to believe that this Jesse can't be too far into superhuman. Still, this Jesse should be relative to Possessed Oscar who is substantially faster than the main characters. Maybe Hector got some cardio in half way through the movie.
- Adding to the previous point, if Jesse killed Arturo, it's very possible that Jesse was too fast for him, leading me to place Jesse's speed well into low superhuman.
- Post Ritual Jesse can both teleport via time space pinching and phasing in and out. This latter is very similiar to previous PA title's system. This should be instintanious travel and because of that, I gotta hand the movement dub to Jesse. Despite the ability, Jesse isn't the most formidable of teleporters and doesn't use it in combat scenerios.
- I don't know where to add this but it is movement: Jesse can fly... or float. Is it important? Who knows.
Durability
- The strongest form of Jesse we see isn't able to keep consciousness from a baseball strike to the head. We also watch an equally possessed Oscar die from a 30-40 foot drop. It should come as no surprise that I figure Jesse, no matter the form, is human level in durablity.
Power
- Human Jesse is deathly afraid of Chollos, the stand in for athlete level in terms of power. Human Jesse is probably basic human level or even low human level because of this.
- Possessed Jesse is able to over power and throw Chollos, launching them back 20 or more feet. This should put him at super human.
- Post Ritual Jesse overpowers Arturo, a low superhuman chollo equipped with a witch remover. Not only this, but Jesse does him in physically, throwing Arturo off his feet and into a wall/window. This same Jesse walks through a wooden door with ease. Feats like this, and the logical conclusion that this Jesse should be thr strongest version yet, lead me to believe that this Jesse is well into super human.
- Post Ritual Jesse has access to telekinesis, easily using it on small targets like his dog. Although not heavily explored, this power should scale up to a formidable level. Pushing humans around (10+ feet) seems to be a common theme among possessed people in Paranormal Activity.
Intelligence
- Jesse, no matter the form, isn't particularly witty or wise. In fact, his whole mentality is that of a teenager fresh out of high school.
- Jesse gives in to possession fairly early, cracking from the influence rather quickly. It also seems to affect him more than usual when compared to previous title's main characters.
Character
- Human Jesse is fun spirited and light-hearted. He is non-violent.
- Possessed Jesse is much more inclined to become violent, needing very little inspiration. Still, he doesn't seem to have any deadly intent.
- Post Ritual Jesse is feral and behaves as such. He is blood lusted and seems to only have deadly intent towards Humans.
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