A hero’s origin determines their destiny in Paragon City. It is the source of their powers and abilities, and will determine which missions they are given, which foes they will fight in those missions and which Enhancements they can use.

Remember, through teaming up with other heroes and fighting crime on the streets of the city, your hero will be able to experience everything Paragon City has to offer - so don’t feel that your choice of Origin will limit your gameplay experience. Instead, let it unleash your creativity!

The five Origins available for you to choose are also excellent starting points for creating a Character Description; reading their descriptions will hopefully give you an idea about where your hero and their powers came from, which you can use to write your hero description later and to enhance your experience of the game.

Science

The hero received their powers either through purposeful scientific inquiry or through some accident gone awry. The hero might not understand the forces that bestowed their super powers; all they do understand is that nothing is the same anymore.

Enhancements: Training, Invention, Genetic Alteration, and Experiment

Character Description hints:

A Science Origin hero can be everything from an unwilling participant in a mad scientist’s experiment, to the mad scientist themselves. Radiation going out of control, genetic alteration, strange chemical concoctions, top secret military programs, alien experimentation - as long as Science is involved in some way, it’s a Science Origin.

Mutation

The Mutant was born with their powers. Their innate abilities appeared either at birth or puberty. A rare few did not develop until adulthood. These powers set the mutant apart from the rest of mankind; they are capable of far more than any normal human being. Mutants are sometimes feared for their strange talents, but are more often admired by the public at large.

Enhancements: Training, Genetic Alteration, Focus, and Secondary Mutation

Character Description hints:

Just because you have a Mutation Origin, doesn’t mean the whole world is against you. Your hero may have been born with their powers, but they may still be loved by the populace of Paragon City. On the other hand, their mutation - which could be the result of radiation exposure, genetic tampering, or just good ol’ evolution - could well leave them looking… well, a little different from Joe Average.

Magic

This hero receives their super powers from a magical source. These abilities might derive from a mystical artefact that the hero has gained over the years - or perhaps the hero has mastered numerous spells that provide them with superhuman gifts.

Enhancements: Training, Focus, Relic and Dimensional Entity

Character Description hints:

Whether you’re a supreme sorcerer or a weapon wielding incarnation of an ancient god, if the forces of the supernatural got involved in your hero’s creation, then we’re talking about a Magic Origin. Remember, Paragon City plays host to hundreds of thousands of different heroes, and that means anything goes: medieval heroes dropped through timeholes, young kids gifted with powers from ancient wizards, ancient wizards themselves shaking off old age and fighting crime… the list goes on. As you’ll see, there’s plenty of scope for appropriately ancient-looking costumes, too.

Technology

A technological hero uses gadgets to battle the forces of evil. No one else has been able to duplicate the amazing technology that lies behind these gadgets. This hero need not be a brilliant inventor; they can also be a normal person who’s received these gizmos from some benefactor.

Enhancements: Training, Gadget, Invention and Cybernetic

Character Description hints:

Your Technology Origin hero runs the whole range, from the tinkering inventor who came up with his crime-fighting kit in a basement, to the billionaire taking their latest prototype out for a spin. Powered armour, incredible weapons, boot rockets, anti-grav belts; they’re a dime-a-dozen in Paragon City.

Natural

The hero isn’t ‘super’ at all; their amazing talents derive from intense training and innate abilities. The hero might have been guided since birth to become the physical specimen they are, or perhaps some tragedy has driven them to seek perfection.

Enhancements: Training, Relic, Gadget and Technique

Character Description hints:

Don’t just go thinking a Natural Origin hero has to be the kind of driven, obsessed crime-fighter that has taken the law into their own hands. Arguably, an alien would be of Natural Origin - after all, they might not have been super on their own planet. Natural Origin heroes are often quite similar to Technology heroes, too, as they can certainly use gadgets; intense training can often get the job done, too.