Robot Character-- Science or Tech Origin?

A lot of great answers in this thread. I've asked myself these kinds of questions myself, and I think it really depends on how something is portrayed, and what it can do.

My 'main' villain is Science. He is a Robot/Dark/Elec MasterMind. Like Doctor Doom, he weilds technology, science, and magic like tools. I chose Science because no other one origin would be able to encompass what he's about. He started out just a natural (but ambitious) man with a high intelect (possibly mutant levels of intellect) who can design fantastic Robots to do his bidding (Tech- human minions are too unpredictable) and weild the forces of eldrich electricity and dark magics (magic... obviously). Not to mention he can fly, teleport, has strong leadership skills, and miraculous molecular stability rearangement devices (healing)! Only through Science could he be able to do all these things. Experimentation, education, and practiced mastery of all the tools at his disposal.

Now, for a robot not to be tech based, I would have to say it would have to lay in the concepts behind it:

The first and most simple question. Is it sentient? That opens the door right there for it to be almost anything. A simple robot is only able to do what it's programmed to do, like any good computer. A well programmed robot can emulate human behaviour and emotions, and may appear intellegent, but ultimately someone else is responsible for it's development. Now a true A.I. blurs those lines, or can erase them entirely, but then you start getting into the context of a soul and other things that can make it more than the sum of its parts. Like someone mentioned, Transformers could be Natural origin for that reason.

Is what makes it truly sentient be some strange power source? Take Tin Mage for example. He is decidedly a robot but is powered by arcane energies, making him Magic. What about 'Cosmic Energy' (al-la the Fantastic Four). That would defintely be Science!

Does it have strange components? Is it's brain and nervous system some new bio-mesch developed to mimic human capacities for senses, emotions, etc? What if it's a Psychic Mutant's brain in a robot body. The body is tech, but it's powers are obviously Mutant... where does that sit on the scale?

How does it work? Take Warlock of the X-titles for example. He's a part of a species of Cybernetic 'techno-organic' viruses that take over living hosts. Is that Natural (techno-organic virus) Cybernetic (being that techno parasite that takes over hosts) or Science (just because both can be applied)? Warlock is also considered a Mutant because unlike any other member of his species, he has compassion, which is why he's part of the X-titles.

For me, I have some characters that are obviously "X" but more often than not, I have to give it a lot of thought. It seems you are too. I hope all our feedback helps!

People are forgetting...this isn't yourncharacter 's origin, it's the origin of your powers...if you are a brain in a robot body, but all your powers are because you were born with psychic powers, you are mutant, not tech. If it instead comes from your brain making a pact with Stan the genie, you're magic.

On Science:

City of Heroes origins are a bit side-shifted in terms of what they're called vs. what they represent. What most people would call mutants are, most often, classed as Science by the game's origin conventions because they were mutated by science. Conversely, most of what people would call scientists are actually Technology by the game's origin conventions, because Science characters are MADE BY science, rather than personally USING science.

If your character uses science to create scientific tools to use as super powers, that's not Science, it's Technology. Your character is only Science if he has super powers granted to him by a scientific experiment, possibly self-afflicted, that then linger on their own. A "scientist," i.e. a smart person who uses science as a tool, but is not super-human physiologically is, contrary to what one might think, not of the Science origin, because that's how the game has defined its own origins. Mutants aren't Mutation, scientists aren't Science, and aliens are Natural more often than not.

That's if you want to stick to the game's conventions, which you don't have to. That's the beauty of Origins being mostly cosmetic. However, if you do want to defy origin conventions, be sure to include an explanation in your description or have one on hand

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.