| “ | And I got out of bed this century thinking it was going to be boring! | „ |
| ~ Prometheus |
Prometheus is the Greek Titan of Foresight, and in the MMO/comics for the City of Heroes franchise, an active overseer of reality. Prometheus is first encountered in the 2005 line of the tie-in-comics for the game, but as of 2011, an active part in the game - gaining an avatar in-game. Though Prometheus originally sought to grant humanity sapience, he has long since lost faith in the species, though he still holds sentimental attachment to them. His nostalgia is however second to his true hatred of the Zeus - whom the game/comic's main character of Statesman, is the current reincarnation of.
Times of Myth[]
The game/comic takes very little liberties with Prometheus from that of ancient Greek folklore - To which;
Prometheus was a Titan - a pre-god. When the generation of gods born to his uncle Cronus, were born, he predicted for his kin and king that he would be overthrown by his children, as a result Cronus ate his children to try to avoid the prophesy from coming true. But Prometheus seeing this was for naught opted to join the gods as soon as they escaped Cronus's stomach. Cronus's wife - Rhea, could not bare to keep seeing newborns eaten, switched her last son, Zeus for a pile of rocks in baby swaddling and fed that to Cronus instead before spiriting Zeus away to safety. Zeus grew-up, returned to free his siblings and turned on Cronus with them when they were freed. It was at this point, which he had foreseen long-before, that Prometheus turned on the Titans to side with Zeus, whom he knew would win. Prometheus talked his brother Epimethius, into joining the predestined winning side and the two Titans were spared the fate of the rest of their kin, being locked away in Tartarus - the realm of netherworldly chaos.
Zeus tasked Prometheus with creating mortal races anew after the prehistoric ones were wiped out in the war with the Titans, and Epimethius gave each one an ability to distinguish them from the others. But Epimethius, both short-sighed and over-eager at the concept of creation, gave out too many abilities and when he got to humans, there were no unique abilities left to give them. Zeus would have left them to their obscurity but Prometheus decided to mend the issue and lit a torch to pass out to humanity, and with it realization they could make it themselves and thus sparking sapience in humans over the other mortal races.
Zeus felt he must punish Prometheus for the theft of fire from the gods and bring humans closer to godly awareness, which threatened to challenge them on a continual basis. As Prometheus had helped Zeus, he offered the Titan one of two options to be locked in Tartarus with the rest of the Titans, or be bound to a rock where an eagle a would peck out and feast on his liver every day - being an immortal the liver would grow back every day and a new eagle would come down to rip it out anew from the recovering wound. - Prometheus was offered eternal pain, or eternal captivity. Prometheus foresaw one day Zeus's son, Heracles would free him to seek his advice and so the Titan picked "eternal" pain over eternal captivity.
How much of this story is true or tall-tale is left ambiguous as many facets of the story have different details when encountered, yet several elements are confirmed true. Prometheus did give mankind fire, Zeus did punish Prometheus for it, Prometheus did escape captivity eventually. However, the "torch" may not have been a literal burning piece of wood and "Zeus" may be metaphorical, and a title, not a singular entity. As in-universe the hero "Statesman" was granted the powers of Zeus and with them the title of "Zeus". Prometheus considers Statesman to be either the same as Zeus or close enough, meaning Zeus has either retired from the material plane and Statesman is something of an heir to his position with the powers granted to him that were once Zeus's; Or Zeus was never real in-universe, but just various humans who kept re-inheriting the same powers and thus each considered a new "Zeus". Regardless of how true the Greek folk-lore is in City of Heroes, in-universe they at the very least have the same myths.
Power Crash[]
In the first Issue of the 2005 relaunch of the comics (the previous 2004 issues focusing on the heroine War-Witch as the PoV protagonist). Statesman and his allies in The Freedom Phalanx are engaging in their day-to-day of fighting super-villains in Paragon City Rhode Island U.S.A.. Fellow Freedom Phalanx member, Justin Sinclair - AKA Manticore, is making notes for his personal log when he gets back and thus functioning as the story's narrator. Manticore notes how though the Clockwork are destructive to Paragon City and normal civilians, they are but annoyances for the Freedom Phalanx and other super-heroes, and even if anyone was hurt the city had a Medi-port system - a teleportation satellite system that was locked onto anyone whose life-signs were endanger and instantly teleported them to the nearest hospital where cutting edge technology and medical techniques would stabilize them instantly while the doctors mended their broken bones, hemorrhages and traumas. Manticore notes how though it seems exciting the safety features and vast powers of those involved made it trivial, with Manticore so bored he is annoyed how their leader, Statesman, keeps getting in the way of each of his gadget arrows. Suddenly an event takes place that shuts down all super-powers in the city. The robots the Freedom Phalanx are fighting fall apart, but many of the meta-humans fall out of the sky, the city's Mendi-port system fails. People actually die. The day is referred to in the media and popular lexicon as The Crash and though the story picks up some time later, the city's former supers are all in various states of depression, trauma, withdrawal and injury.
Manticore tries to round-up his team-mates some time later after the city has started to re-adapt to a world without meta-humans - though less super-crimes are taking place, all the city's petty thugs are taking a cathartic vengeance upon those who once halted their assaults, robberies, and purse-snatching. It Manticore rounds up his former team-mates for a grave-matter, Statesman is missing, no one has seen him. The former super-speedster, Steven Berry - AKA Synapse, was used as a human-test-subject hand given powers against his will - he is morbidly depressed now with all he has to show for the mind-shattering tortuous experiments is the nightmares. The former psychic Shalice Tilman AKA Sister Psyche' spent several years in someone else's body, though she left as soon as her original body was bought out of critical condition and took the other psychic girl who played host to her under-her-wing, the years spent had permanently warped part of her mind, and she had developed a split-personality echoing her former host's mind; Psyche' is even more miserable than Synapse as she had used her powers to lock her-other-self away in her subconscious but without her powers she is of two minds about everything and arguing with herself. Tammy Arcanus - AKA Numina, was a mage whose astral-projection had outlived her body through necromancy and was previously existing through post-humus mental projection as a pseudo-ghost, but had been phase-shifted back into a physical state, but with her magics locked inside that state unable to get out/ Numina is uncomfortable and still confused but trying to decipher omens to understand the event. Raymod Keyes, AKA Positron - a brilliant scientist had created nuclear-powered armor to fly-around the city and help citizens but it had been damaged and leaked radiation -though he caught it in-time to prevent any harm to the city, it had made Positron a living breathing nuclear isotope - the armor repurposed after that, not to give him powers but to inhibit them from destroying all those around him - Positron is the worst off, his technology is failing, but he is still radioactive - thus he has locked himself away in the Freedom Phalanx's former HQ as a radiation bunker. When Manticore reaches out to Positron - the frightened scientist states he can not rejoin Manticore and his armor could blow at any moment before cutting communication to continue to try to re-enforce his suit. Even though Manticore never had any super-powers, his trick arrows no-longer worked, despite operating on simple chemical reactions, however Manticore's physical skills such as his perfect aim were still enacted at-least. Eventually Manticore gets all the attentions of his previous team-mates when he shares that Statesman is gone.
The Freedom Phalanx track down the head of the Warriors gang, a man named Odysseus - who is rumored to still have a tiny trace of power in his enchanted goblet, a goblet that can see far-off events. Making their way through the gang members eventually they discover Odysseus's penthouse and question him. The wealthy, though near powerless Odysseus wants magic turned back on along with the rest of the city's powers so his magical artifacts start to function again and informs the Freedom Phalanx of where to find Statesman. Odysseus's goblet was once divinely powerful - the extra reserves of that power are the only reason it even occasionally works post-Crash and thus he can in-fact find Statesman. Aside from wanting his other artifacts to be enchanted again, Odysseus states he would help them anyway as even he would not wish Statesman the amount of pain he sees him in. The Freedom Phalanx go to find Statesman being used as a focal point in a ritual. The Freedom Phalanx chase off the villains keeping the ritual going upon being freed Statesman states he was the one who organized the ritual, the villains there were learned practitioners, who even without powers, knew the motions to take to theoretically activate a rite, the actual power for which was coming from Statesman' very blood. Statesman explains he is a literal demi-god - that he found the fountain of Zeus AKA The Well of the Furies - resting place for the powers of the gods of old when not in use and he drank from it while exploring a part of Europe he will not speak of during World War I. The power taken into him was once that of Zeus. As the newest incarnation of Zeus and an actual demi-god, Statesman's very blood was inherently infused with power, he had kept himself in constant pain to invoke a ritual that would keep the one who had caused The Crash from coming into the city and wreaking havoc. With his friends there Statesman collects himself to find an alternate way, to go to mortal power's source - Prometheus - who had gifted man-kind with power once and might again.
Invoking the name of Prometheus causes a gateway to open to the realm Prometheus was confined to when previously bound. Upon arriving there, the Freedom Phalanx are attacked by giant divine eagles - no longer tormenting Prometheus but by this point now subject to his will. The Freedom Phalanx fight off the birds with what meager traces of power or skills they still have - Synapse still able to think on his feet and improvise, Positron still radioactive - if struggling not to expose his allies to his radioactivity, Manticore with perfect aim and at-least regular arrows, Sister Psyche's with the brain capacity of two and the stoic resolve of someone who needed to laser focus to overcome he dissociative identity disorder and Statesman who was still hardier than a normal man and with magic in his veins, if unusable. Prometheus spots the ragtag crew and admires them for coming despite their conditions, but states he has nothing but contempt for "Zeus" - Statesman. Prometheus picks up an battered Statesman and tells the others he might be willing to restore their powers -if only for sentimental reasons towards humanity, but not unless they turned against Zeus. Positron attempts to reason with Prometheus and Sister Psyche' attempts to intimidate him (her borderline madness working in her favor in this) however Manticore wins Prometheus's favor by shooting Statesman in the chest - killing him. Prometheus loses his previous sadism and just sees "Zeus" as a broken mortal in his hands. He capitulates to Manticore for his resolve and casually goes to bestow Manticore with his "Torch". In truth a divine flame that will catch-fire to whoever it touches without harming them. Positron leaps at Manticore in vengeance for killing Statesman and is made the Torch in Manticore's place. The fire instantly reforges Positron's armor, gives him full control of it's functions again. Prometheus opens a portal and bids the Freedom Phalanx leave, claiming he is bored with them and to enjoy the Apocalypse, or prevent it - Prometheus no longer caring for humans except as old collectables he once had a hand in making. Before he goes, Manticore asks for Statesman's body - that "Zeus" was defeated and they still wished to honor the mortal - Marcus Cole, who had been lost with "Zeus". Prometheus lets them have the body only asking they do not bother him again.
As they return powers are restored to the city, but the forces outside Paragon which had created The Crash and arrived at town-hall since Statesman ritual had been ceased. The cause of the ritual was Lord Recluse, Statesman's old friend/foster-brother who had discovered The Well of the Furies with him and was also a literal demi-god, the incarnation of the power of Tartarus. Lord Recluse was accompanied by his mutant assassin - Captain Mako, his magical swordsman - Scirocco, his cybernetic body-guard - Black Scorpion and his undead psychic - Ghost Widow. While the rest of the Freedom Phalanx were holding off Lord Recluse and his four Patrons, Manticore took Statesman's body to Numina and asked her to resurrect him. Numina quested why there was an arrow in him, but Manticore just insisted she resurrect him quickly. Numina begins but tells Manticore too much time had passed, Statesman had moved on. In response Manticore activates an explosive and kills himself. In the after-life Manticore sees Statesman and grabs onto him - Numina pulls Manticore back to his body and with him Statesman, who she quickly relays back to his own body. Statesman arrives to fight Lord Recluse demanding to know how he had ceased the powers of the entire city. Lord Recluse did not reveal his secrets, but in truth it is shown Lord Recluse had just accepted the magi-known as the Mu - agreeing to protect them from those who wished to wipe-out their blood-line. In return for his protection from their centuries old enemies - The Circle of Thorns, the Mu had preformed a massive ritual which could fundamentally change one law of reality in a localized area - Lord Recluse had chosen Paragon City as the site and the nullifying of super-powered effects as the law to be changed.
Prometheus's flame gives each of the Freedom Phalanx one extra ability they did not have before to be gained with their re-awakened powers. Positron can turn his radioactivity on and off now, and thus no longer needs the suit as an inhibitor - though he keeps it for it's many other functions, such as flight. Synapse now move without losing any endurance - giving him limitless stamina. Sister Psyche' can now hide her mind and one other from normally irresistible telepathic forces. Manticore can tap into the Medi-port teleportation network to have his arrows teleport passed any targets that get in his way - a tactic Manticore would later create a belt to allow him to teleport short distances as well.
Incarnates[]
Prometheus returns in end-game of the MMO it's Incarnate systems. Reaching level 50 was once a hard cap for the game, but upon encountering the Well of the Furies, players are able to access the same power as Statesman, though through a much slower method as the Well has already been claimed by the Marcus Cole of an alternate reality, Emperor Cole of Praetoria or "Tyrant" as the resistance of that world call him. The Well has a will all it's own and corrupts anyone who gives into it's power completely -this is why both Statesman and Lord Recluse are only demi-gods and not full gods, both refusing further powers for fear their wills would be compromised, but the players, not directly drinking from it but rather absorbing it slowly from exposure to one of it's fragments causes them to slowly break passed mortality without being subject to the Well's direct contact/corrupting influence. Cole has passed out drinks of the Well to his Praetors - each an alternate version of the Freedom Phalanx - some nobler than others at first but all mad with power after also being raised to the level of demi-gods. Prometheus is encountered in the temporal nexus of Ouroboros - crossroads of all time-travel. Prometheus explains the situation to players, the nature of the Well and how to beat the Incarnates that have been driven mad, who are guarding it and Cole. Prometheus states that while he care little between the natures of good an evil, he genuinely hates the Well and it's puppet Cole. Prometheus does not want The Well to corrupt his little creation - humanity, and would much rather see Cole defeated. Prometheus acts as one part tutorial for the nature of Incarnate energy and one part facilitator as he telepathically warns those who engage in the Incarnate Task Forces of what to expect.
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