For the funnier type...
Having a few to many Bean Burritos before doing heroics/villany. (on second thought, dont do that. i got ridiculed for the rest of the time i was on for that)
spontaneous combustion.
it affects us all.
most recent 50 - psy/mm blaster
That Explosive Runes dealie sounds pretty convincing.
Maybe they teleport to safety, switching places with a bomb at the last split-second? Or a heavily powersuited hero self-destructing could be the suit blowing up just after they've safely teleported out of it. Teleportation solves everything.
Magic Origin
It's funny that people always think of magic as "easy". They use phrases such as "It's magically delicious" and "It worked like magic", not aware of the inherent danger of the forces that they make a near-mocking reference to.
I remember this one time - I was surrounded by Skulls. Each one had a weapon, and I was practically spent from the last group that I arrested. They closed in on me. I used to think they look funny, but now I know they meant business.
One by one, they sent surges of pain through me. I couldn't take the pain. I needed an escape, a release.
And, unfortunately for them, my wish was realized. The magical powers at my call began to MOVE. Faster and faster, they saturated every part of my body. I'd never felt anything like it.
There was a brilliant flash. I thought for a moment that maybe I had stumbled on to some new attack spell. I was partly right.
Those skulls are being treated for severe fractures and broken bones, ironically enough. My treatment wasn't so simple. I had to spend a great deal of time back at the base. Somehow, the arcane facilities were able to recall me. It felt like an eternity to reconstruct my body, but it happened.
I still know that spell, but I think twice about using it nowadays.
Mutation/Science Origin
The patient is fortunate that his metahuman regenerative powers are so potent. If it weren't for his unusual healing abilities, we'd be burying his ashes.
At approximately 1700 hours, the subject made unexpected contact with a Longbow Flamethrower. As with most organic tissues, his quickly caught on fire as soon as the heat evaporated enough moisture. Unlike most organic tissues, however, he reacted to the heat like a compressed methane packet, and exploded.
Analysis of the spent tissue indicates that his regenerative ability includes some capacity for redesigning his simpler proteins. The result of being lit on fire was an instinctive transition of the burning proteins into a faster-burning strand. Unfortunately, part of the transition proved highly explosive.
As of 1742 hours, the main tissue mass is 84% restored. Our bio-vat continues to supply the needed ingredients for the subject to assemble his body. Please report these findings immediately to Lord Recluse.
Natural Origin
You've probably heard that it's a dumb idea to bring a knife to a gun fight. That's good advice, too. A shame nobody told those Knives of Artemis.
It was a typical mission. Some high-faluttin' politician was captured by the sorority of so many nightmares. I got to save him.
It was a set up, though. It was me they were after. Fortunately, I always have a plan.
Two of the sisters had me locked in place. Caltrops all around, goo locking my feet in place. Sparks danced across the metallic tetrahedrons, arcing across my body. It wasn't a situation I was proud to get into. But it was a situation I knew how to get out of.
I gestured to the politician guy to duck for cover, and then I hit the dead switch. A sequence of short beeps began to whistle through the cold night air. The sisters thought I was calling for help.
What? No, I'm no telepath. They mocked me, saying that my death would be so quick, the "help" would only find a freshly sliced up corpse.
Well, they were close. There were three corpses, none of them mine. My little dead-switch alerted the emergency medical teleporters that I was in imminent danger, which was true enough. A split second before my body was yanked through a dimensional energy field, and just before my little toy hit the ground, the sisters realized what the beeps were all about.
I could see it in their eyes, just before mine were yanked away and reassembled.
I'm told the blast was very pretty. I may have to keep a few more of these babies on hand.
So...tell me about the upcoming election in Urosynthia?
Korith gets +10 points.
Love Korith's Natural Origin rationale!
That's pretty much how I explained it for my Natural scrapper. I loved the idea of him beaten and bleeding at his enemies' feet only to start cackling madly as he pulled out a detonator and hit the button.
I just got the cyborg pack pretty much for one character (Raw Material), and am trying to fit in why my characters are able to dramatically [b]KABOOM[/i] once per hour...
for my Willworlders, it's pretty easy:
"Travel between the Material world and the Willworld is extremely dangerous and can unleash some amazingly destructive power, but it's also not easy, and it's not uncommon for the traveler to become stuck there, separated from their compatriots for quite some time..."
Any other non-tech Self-Destruct ideas?
All that is planned fails. All that is born dies.
All that is built crumbles. This will always be true.
But memories remain, And that is beautiful.