Empathy

The power to perceive and interact with the emotions of others. Sub-power of Psionics. Variation of Telepathy. Opposite to Apathy. Not to be confused with just Emotion Manipulation or Telepathy. The User is called an Empath.

Also Called[]

• Emotion/Empathic Perception/Senses/Inception
• Emotion/Emotional Induction/Contact/Insight
• Emotion Sharing
• Empath/Empathic

Capabilities[]

The user can fully interpret the emotions, moods, and temperaments of others without reading apparent symptoms, allowing them to understand introverts or discover one emotion is actually hiding another. They can attack someone in a personal and emotional way since they know exactly what emotion is flowing through themselves and can use this knowledge to play against them. Some users may learn to read emotional imprints left into environment or objects.

This particular ability is a nuanced extension of Empathy which allow a user to perceive the lingering emotional energy that has been embedded in a place or item due to significant events or the release of strong emotions. For instance, in a room where a tragic event occurred, an empath might feel waves of sadness, fear, or anger that still linger, even if years have passed. Similarly, a location associated with love and celebration might radiate joy and warmth, making the empath feel uplifted.

Through it, an empath could perceive echoes of past events, almost as if the emotions themselves tell a story. This could manifest in visions or sensations that provide clues about what happened. If the users were to touch an object that belonged to someone, they might be able to sense that person’s emotional state during pivotal moments connected to the item, almost experiencing their feelings firsthand. These experiences can help the empath understand people and situations deeply or solve mysteries by uncovering hidden emotional truths.

Sometimes, emotional imprints can even influence the environment itself. A space might feel heavy, cold, or bright and comforting based on the emotions that have saturated it. An empath could walk into a place and immediately sense its emotional past, feeling the shadows of pain or the warmth of love left behind. With practice, an advanced empath may be able to trace the emotional history of a place or object, piecing together a sequence of events based on the lingering emotions.

Usually over time, an Empath's power grows to the point that they can manipulate emotions in others, and possibly use them to empower themselves. The user may learn to extend their power over/on vast numbers of sentient beings or reach extreme distances, even other levels of existence but this may be possible only if the user has an emotional link to those the search is already in effect on.

Etymology[]

A twentieth century borrowing from Ancient Greek ἐμπάθεια (empátheia, literally “passion”) (formed from ἐν (en, “in, at”) + πάθος (páthos, “feeling”)), coined by Edward Bradford Titchener in 1909 to translate German Einfühlung.

Applications[]

• Ballistic Empathy
  • Killing Intent: Projecting one's murderous intent through their negative emotions.
• Citified Sense
• Ecological Empathy
  • Animal Empathy
  • Plant Empathy
• Emotion Detection
• Emotion Manipulation (Varies to stronger users)
  • Empathic Inundation
• Empathic Projection
• Empathic Communication
  • Omnilingualism: Some empaths can speak, write, understand and communicate fluently in any language, and as such is potentially able to understand and communicate with anyone, even non-humans on an emotional level.
• Empathic Echoes
• Empathic Hearing
• Empathic Link
  • Empathic Charging
• Emotional Intelligence
• Indomitable Emotions
  • Indomitable Compassion
• Psychic Navigation
• Psychological Mastery
  • Lie/Truth Detection: Empaths can sense when a person is lying or telling the truth to them, as lying can cause an irregularity in one's emotions. More skilled users can pick out the lie and find the truth.
  • Social Mastery
• Sensorial Link

Techniques[]

• Aura Reading
• Empathic Combat
• Empathic Energy Conversion
  • Empathic Conversion
• Empathic Healing
• Empathic Illusions
• Empathic Mimicry
  • Intuitive Empathic Replication
• Empathic Power Absorption
• Empathic Power Randomization
• Emotion Empowerment
• Emotion Projection
• Intuitive Empathy
• Psychometry: There are some places that have constant emotional residue (due to major events happening in that location war, death, historical moments, etc.). Some empaths are able to tap into those emotional (lower-level users that enter these places are overpowered involuntarily) imprints and re-experience those emotions as if they were happening in that moment. If skilled enough, some empaths can also see the emotional echoes (images/residual ghosts) still there. This would be due to high levels of concentrated emotional energy.
• Remote Empathy
• Tactile Empathy
• Techno-Empathy
• Tranquil State
  • Tranquil Emotions
    • Spiritual Meditation: Clearing your negative emotions can help you know those of others.
• Visual Empathy

Levels[]

• Empathy: Sense, feel and understand the emotions of others.
• Cosmic Empathy: Skilled empaths can feel other's emotions on a cosmic scale.
• Omni-Empathy: At full power, empaths can feel the emotions of every single being in existence that has emotions.

Variations[]

Empathy has many branches of power, ranging from very weak to very advanced. As the user becomes more advanced, these branches may grow. Here are some levels that other empaths have displayed having/may gain:

• Clairaudience: Some empaths have displayed the ability to not only feel emotions, but also "hear" the heightened thoughts associated with those specific emotions. This is probably due to the fact that both cortices (emotional and mental) so closely relate to one another. An example would be if an empath senses two spouses aiming a lot of hatred towards one another. The empath might get the echo of thought along with that emotion (E.g., "I can't believe he's cheating on me after all these years"). However, this is not to be confused with Telepathy. An Empath can only get visionary "echoes" related to certain emotions. They cannot read full memories.
• Clairempathy: More advanced users of empathy have shown the ability to sense emotions over great distances such as cities, countries, continents, and other dimensions and planes (The Astral Plane AKA The Emotional Plane).
• Clairvoyance: An empath can forge an emotional connection with another being. If that connection stays opens, the empath is able to sense when that person is in danger and is also able to locate them by their "emotional scent". To give you a better understanding of this, one could consider this the empathic version of "Vampiric Siring" (see "True Blood", "Buffy", "Moonlight", and "The Vampire Diaries" for an understanding of supernatural "Siring"). See also Sensory Scrying. Also, could be used to sense/feel/detect spiritual/demonic beings, as well as feel the danger within a place.
• Empathic Force Manipulation: Empaths can manipulation an energetic and robust variation of Emotion Manipulation.
• Empathic Summoning
• Musical Empathy: Empaths gain various abilities based on the type of music one listens to and/or plays.
  • Musical Empathic Projection: Project emotions based on the music one plays.
• Spiritual Empathy
• Tattoo Empathy: Empaths with tattoos which affects how they think and feel.
• Telempathy

Associations[]

• Apathy
• Emotion Manipulation
• Enhanced Senses
  • Extrasensory Perception
    • Intuitive Aptitude
  • Psychic

Used By[]

• Clairvoyant
• Psychic
• Esper
• Fortune Teller
  • Prophet
    • Oracle
• Magician
• Medium
• Occultst
• Spiritualist
• Seer

Limitations[]

• In real life and in fiction, this doesn't have to be an actual power, but it can be a skill/ability that can be developed. However, in real life, it is highly unlikely that you could reach the level of empathy as addressed above.
• Defenceless against beings that have no emotions, such as robots or users of Apathy.
• Users of Empathic Power Resistance (Resistant)
• Could be negated to users of Indomitable Will/Psychic Shield/Empathic Shield (highly resistant), Psychic Immunity and Empathic Shadow (impervious)
• Emotion locked users are immune.
• The user may suffer from a Sensory Overload due to absorbing too many emotions.
• Cannot work on mindless beings such as users of Zombie Physiology.
• May only be able to receive emotions.
  • Might get taken over and act on those emotions.
• Inexperienced Empaths may find their powers completely useless in a fight.
• May experience headaches.
• May not be able handle large amounts of emotions at once.

Known Users[]

See also: The Empath.

Live Television/Movies[]

Comics/Cartoons[]

Video Games[]

Anime/Manga/Manhwa[]

Literature[]

Web Original[]

• Olympia (SCP Foundation)
• SCP-7841-ZA/SCP-7841 - V is for Violence (SCP Foundation)
• Slenderman (Creepypasta)

Known Objects[]

• Butterfly and Peacock Miraculouses (Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir)
• Kenbunshoku Haki (One Piece)
• SCP-1425 - Star Signals (SCP Foundation)

Known Powers/Techniques[]

• Force Empathy (Star Wars)

Gallery[]

Anime/Manga/Manhwa[]

Eves (Denma) share Yahwah's sad feelings.

On top of having an extremely compassionate heart and sense of selflessness, Tanjiro Kamado (Kimetsu no Yaiba) can perceive the emotions of humans and demons alike through smell alone.

Otohime (One Piece) specializes her Kenbunshoku/Observation Haki to sense the emotions of everyone around her.

Princess Shirahoshi (One Piece) inherited her mother Otohime's Kenbunshoku/Observation Haki.

Comics/Cartoon[]

Sunset Shimmer (My Little Pony; Equestria Girls)

Luna Maximoff (Marvel Comics)

Man-Thing (Marvel Comics)

Mantis (Marvel Comics)

Manuel de la Rocha/Empath (Marvel Comics)

Cybernary's (Image/Wildstorm Comics) body donor possessed mild empathic abilities which complement her neuralcerebral tactical gear implemented into her bionics.

Gabriel Agreste/Hawk Moth, the wielder of the Butterfly Miraculous, (Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir) is able to empathically sense the negative emotions of everyday people, allowing his akumas to choose them for his corrupting influence.

Steven Universe (Steven Universe) not only possesses a natural empathy towards those around him,...

…but he is also able to feel the fear and erratic emotions of the Cluster, being able to telepathically make contact with it…

Raven (DC Comic) is a powerful empath.

April O'Neil (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012 series)

Spawn (Image Comics) feeling the emotions of every person in New York City.

Psylocke (Marvel Comics)

Literature[]

Due to years of experience, Tinisha Dolaira (The Young Guardians) can instinctively feel and understand the emotions of others.

Jasper Hale (Twilight) can read emotions.

Video Games[]

Black Doom (Sonic the Hedgehog)

Even for a psychic Pokémon, Gardevoir (Pokémon) has very powerful empathic powers.

Like Gardevoir, Hatterene (Pokémon) has very powerful empathic powers; unlike Gardevoir, Hatterene despises strong emotions and will attack those who exhibit them.

Kain (Legacy of Kain),as Scion of Balance, has the powers of the Mind Guardian,one of this powers is be "Hypersensitive to peoples' emotions and thoughts".

Alex Chen (Life is Strange: True Colors) she can sense and read emotion.

Empathy (Disco Elysium) is one of Harrier Du Bois many inner voices/skills. It allows him to understand others, notice social cues and work his mirror neurons.

Live Television/Movies[]

Cordelia Chase (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel) can read emotion

Lorne (Angel) can read others' emotions by listening to them sing.

Phoebe Halliwell (Charmed) has powerful empathic powers;

to the point that; she can control other people's powers; via empathy.

Maggie Vera (Charmed 2018)

Young Michael (Fringe) is a powerful empath.

CJ Ward's (Tower Prep) Perception ability extends to reading others' thoughts and feelings.

Emma De Lauro (Mutant X) is a highly skilled Tele-Empath able to project, control, and negate emotions.

Betazoids like Deanna Troi (Star Trek) are Empathic and Telepathic.

Will Graham (Hannibal series) has "pure empathy" and an overactive imagination, allowing him to mentally recreate the murders he is investigating.

The Jedi (Star Wars) can use their connection with the Force to pick up impressions of an individual's emotional state.

Mantis (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Musa (Fate: The Winx Saga)

River Tam (Firefly)