The Darkness

Item from Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

The corruption that turns every Epic evil — not a side effect of superpowers, but a cosmic entity's hatred for humanity projected onto anyone who receives his gifts.

Also known as: The Corruption, Epic Corruption, The Darkness

What They Know

• The personality corruption that turns every Epic evil — manifests as megalomania, cruelty, and paranoia
• Not inherent to superpowers — actually Calamity's hatred for humanity projected onto Epic recipients
• Can be delayed by gifting powers to others (Prof's method) but this doesn't prevent eventual corruption
• Can be overcome by facing your Epic weakness instead of fleeing it (Megan's discovery) — this is the key to breaking free
• All Epic weaknesses are fragments of Calamity's own fears — the personal vulnerabilities are his, not theirs
• Vanishes when Calamity is defeated — all surviving Epics regain free will and moral choice

Connections

• caused_by — calamity_entity
• corrupts — prof
• resisted_by — megan

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