#the guy’s power utility is just frankly quite Nuts!

[snazzyscarf]

the thing about me is that I will absolutely shamelessly give my favorite little minor character who has cubed me a disproportionate amount of narrative significance than he actually has, BUT THE PROBLEM WITH THAT is that he (Clockblocker) actually honestly and truly DOES have one of the biggest impacts of any character.

like i know they were not giving out medals for the sake of preventing infighting after the leviathan fight, but Clockblocker damn well deserves one because quite literally everyone would have died had he not frozen the Titanic Waterbending Godzilla in time for several whole minutes allowing the remaining capes critical time to re-strategize and hold out for Scion. Additionally. everyone Also would have died had Skitter not been able to utilize his power to slice That Thang (Echidna) in twain. Two (2) S-Class threats within months of each other and he turned the tides on both of them.

it’s like. it’s honestly a testament to what Tattletale was saying about how a lot of parahumans never really get the chance to understand the full extent of their powers because they’re never under the right circumstances to do so. because if you think about it purely in situations like the bank heist or party crash early on in the book, Clockblocker’s power really isn’t anything to write home about. and if they lived in a reality where things like that were the biggest threats around he would probably stay that way!

but they don’t live in that reality. they DO live in a world with towering kaiju endbringers that threaten the planet every three months and they DO live in a world where monstrous parahuman accidents like echidna are likely to pop up, and it’s because of this product of circumstance that you can make a legitimate case for Clockblocker having one of the strongest powers in terms of utility. he lives in a reality where his niche is allowed to shine!

and it’s this kinda thinking that makes the fact that he is—at the end of the day—Just A Minor Character, so incredibly compelling because it further illustrates the idea that This Could Be Anybody. under the right circumstances, any parahuman could find their otherwise mid-level power suddenly become the most pivotal role in a survival setting. or the most dangerous! it opens up the floor to a wealth of possibilities.

like say what you want, and i do concede that of course my darling boy Dennis doesn’t hold the same narrative significance that any of the major characters do, but when you look at his role in the story from this perspective, He Really Is Kind Of A Big Deal.