A player recently came up to me with a legit question she had after binge watching Heroes on DVD-in terms of power absorption, would there be a way to accidentally re-write your very existence via prolonged (accidental or otherwise) contact with a person from another species or race?

The example given was what if a person were to make physical contact with Thor, could they accidentally re-write themselves into a copy of Thor power wise?

To be honest, I respect this particular player because she's the only one in the entire group that asks the good questions. But now I ask the forum, what do you think-is her question plausible?

That's one of those 'sure if the GM is fine with it' kind of things. Otherwise without something explicit written into the power then no there's no reason that they'd somehow just permanently acquire the attributes or abilities of someone or something permanently just because they copied them repeatedly.

Agreed. That's a pretty specific power "limitation", but could lead to interesting situations if the absorbed powers lasted until contact with a new power, which might then overwrite the old ones. Also, even with the power of Thor, is her character worthy of Mjolnir?

In the example, it one thing to copy powers or abilities, another to copy "nobility"? Depending on your view of the game.

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MajorSteel
In the example, it one thing to copy powers or abilities, another to copy "nobility"? Depending on your view of the game.

The Ultimate Powers book does present a possibility for that with the power of Mental Duplication, which has 3 forms. The first, Detachment, is unlikely to allow for this. However, the second and third --Merge and Transformation, respectively-- seem more likely. With Merge, there is some doubt as it creates a composite mind of the power user and the target mind, and if the power user isn't worthy then that might attach something which taints the nobility quality of the duplicated mind. However, Transformation reads as:

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UPB -> Mental Duplication -> Transformation
The hero's mind is automatically overwhelmed by the new mind. The hero's personality, memories, and mental Powers are temporarily replaced by the new mind. The effects appear identical to Mind Transferral, at least where the hero is concerned. The hero's Reason and Intuition are replaced by those of the original mind; after expiration of the Power, these return to their original ranks.

Becoming an identical copy of Thor's mind might allow his nobility of thought and deed to carry over into being worthy to pick up Mjolnir.

On a related note, there was an issue of What If? that showed Rogue absorbing the power of Thor and staying in contact with him for too long and draining his life essence completely... and ultimately becoming host to his very essence, making her noble and worthy of Mjolnir as his personality imprinted on her the same way Carol Danvers' did.

Link to Marvel Database... << What If? v2 #66 >>

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Thrudjelmer

On a related note, there was an issue of What If? that showed Rogue absorbing the power of Thor and staying in contact with him for too long and draining his life essence completely... and ultimately becoming host to his very essence, making her noble and worthy of Mjolnir as his personality imprinted on her the same way Carol Danvers' did.

Link to Marvel Database... << What If? v2 #66 >>

Outstanding issue! At the end it seemed there was a fusion of Thor and Rogue. I wonder if that extended to her powers as well? If she kept her Power Absorption, it might have made for an interesting sequel had she grappled with Loki, then the two could finally duke it out either in Rogue's mind or the Astral Plane for all the marbles. A gestalt with the powers of Thor and Loki could finally bring peace and security to the Nine Realms, or trigger Ragnarok. Even money.

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Pel Morba
A gestalt with the powers of Thor and Loki could finally bring peace and security to the Nine Realms, or trigger Ragnarok. Even money.

I think the High Evolutionary's Thor clone, Nobilus, which was created from a blood/tissue sample when Thor was under Loki's influence, proves that the fusion of those two do not make for a better, more peaceful anything. Nobilus was plagued by a short temper and berserk rages.

Sound points all of them, the player expanded on the original question which I thought was slightly interesting and this is the best that I can make out of it:

Basically character A has a solid grip on Thor and uses power duplication/absorption on him (kind of like Rogue) but character A starts to have their body re-written in a manner that they stop being "human" and start being more of a Mutate and become kind of a "Sorta Asgardian" (IE-Hulk, The Fantastic Four) or if you want to pardon the term, an "Altered Mutant" (Users of Banshee and/or the Mothervine could be examples of this if you like?)

Could the power overwrite the DNA of the character to have it match a new template?

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the_hammer
Could the power overwrite the DNA of the character to have it match a new template?

Possibly, but it would have to function at a high level (AM+) to overwrite DNA without killing the character. Mutations are easy. Surviving them, not so much. You'd also have to decide if the transformation is ongoing or if it stops at a set point. Either way it should be a rare occurrence, unless your character has some major backstory reason why it isn't.

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the_hammer
A player recently came up to me with a legit question she had after binge watching Heroes on DVD-in terms of power absorption, would there be a way to accidentally re-write your very existence via prolonged (accidental or otherwise) contact with a person from another species or race?

The example given was what if a person were to make physical contact with Thor, could they accidentally re-write themselves into a copy of Thor power wise?

To be honest, I respect this particular player because she's the only one in the entire group that asks the good questions. But now I ask the forum, what do you think-is her question plausible?

Are you looking for existing examples or a potential power build?