The Specials Universe
Magic? Super-Science? Psionics? Superpowers? In the universe of The Specials, these phenomena—and countless others—aren’t theories or fairy tales. They’re Tuesday.
This is a world where Earth’s history has been bent, broken, and rewritten by extraordinary individuals who defy the limits of human potential. From caped crusaders to vindictive vigilantes, from malicious masterminds to truly rotten supervillains, the Specials Universe is a realm of endless possibilities.
Here, myth and legend aren’t just echoes of the past—they walk among us, stitched into the fabric of modern society. In this alternate Earth, today’s heroes and villains are the living myths of a new age, forging destinies and redefining what it means to be extraordinary.
To anyone familiar with our Earth—the little blue marble in the Sol System—the world of the Specials may seem almost familiar… until it isn’t. The fictional and the fantastic are fact. History took sharp, divergent turns long ago, shaped by the extraordinary since the two-fisted adventurers of the pulp era.
Heroes, villains, and monsters walk, fly, and stalk among us. Some offer control. Others offer corruption. Some become symbols of salvation—many more become agents of animosity.
So step into the world of the Specials—where the line between good and evil is drawn in sand, and enforced by the myths that walk among us.
Specials: The Extraordinary Deviants
Specials are individuals who deviate from the human average in a notable and world-shaping way. While the term is often associated with superpowers, psionics, or supernatural gifts, it isn’t limited to them. Anyone who stands out due to their abilities, skills, physiology, technology, or sheer force of will can be classified as a Special.
What Makes Someone a Special?
At its core, being a Special isn’t about how you got your abilities—it’s about standing out in a way that cannot be ignored. Specials come from all walks of life, spanning a wide range of origins and power types:
Badass Normals – People without supernatural or superhuman abilities who still operate far beyond ordinary limits. Master martial artists, genius inventors, peak-condition operatives, and legendary fighters fall into this category.
Superpowered Individuals – Those who possess extraordinary abilities, whether through mutation, science, divine intervention, occult forces, or unknown means.
Psionics & Magic Users – Individuals who wield psychic abilities, sorcery, or mystic arts—often blurring the line between science and the supernatural.
Aliens & Otherworldly Beings – Non-human entities who, through physiology, culture, or technology, surpass human norms.
Supernatural Entities – Vampires, demons, fae, ghosts, and anything that exists beyond the natural order of human understanding.
Origins & Power Sources
Unlike more rigid classifications of superhuman beings, the term “Specials” doesn’t discriminate by origin or ability type. Whether someone’s power comes from genetics, magic, technology, divine blessing, cursed blood, or relentless training and determination—they’re still a Special.
The Cultural and Societal Impact
The presence of Specials has reshaped history, law, entertainment, religion, and warfare. They are admired, feared, exploited, regulated, hunted, recruited, and sometimes worshiped—depending on the era and the society. Some become heroes, celebrities, icons, and revolutionaries. Others become criminal masterminds, mercenaries, monsters, or outcasts.
They come from every nation, every people, every creed, color, and tradition. There is no place on Earth untouched by Specials.
Anyone Can Be a Special
While many assume being a Special requires superpowers or supernatural gifts, that isn’t true. Anyone who breaks the mold, rises above the norm, or forces the world to take notice can be considered a Special.
It’s not about how you got there.
It’s about what makes you stand out.
Timeline
The Specials Universe unfolds on an alternate Earth, anchored in the late 1990s and early 2000s—an era of dial-up tones, early cellphones, mall culture, and cable news… except this world has had decades of interference from extraordinary people, super-science, and off-world technology.
On the surface, much of daily life still resembles the world we know. People work, commute, argue about music, watch the same kinds of shows, and worry about the same bills. But beneath that familiar skin is a technological shadow-world: breakthroughs that should be impossible, prototypes that never make the public record, and “civilian” products that would be considered science fiction on our Earth.
Super-science and alien-derived technology have accelerated progress in uneven, unsettling ways. Advanced sciences exist—bionics, extreme medicine, controlled genetic engineering, exotic materials, and early powered systems—but they are rarely common. They’re expensive, regulated, hoarded, stolen, black-marketed, or locked behind corporate and government walls.
So while it isn’t unheard of to see civilian-grade prosthetics that are too good, boutique genetic treatments for the rich, or private security carrying gear that feels a decade ahead of its time, the average citizen still lives in something recognizably “normal.” The future is real—it’s just not evenly distributed.
Militaries and wealthy nations push the edge even further. Super-soldier initiatives, military bionics, clandestine weapons programs, and rare powered armor units exist—small, elite, and frighteningly effective. They’re not mass-issued miracles; they’re strategic assets. The kind you hide, deny, and deploy only when the stakes are high enough to justify the world noticing.
If anything, the rarity and cost of these advances often widen the power gap between the wealthy and everyone else. In the Specials Universe, progress doesn’t arrive like a rising tide.
It arrives like a lightning strike.
This is a world where Earth’s history has been bent, broken, and rewritten by extraordinary individuals who defy the limits of human potential. From caped crusaders to vindictive vigilantes, from malicious masterminds to truly rotten supervillains, the Specials Universe is a realm of endless possibilities.
Here, myth and legend aren’t just echoes of the past—they walk among us, stitched into the fabric of modern society. In this alternate Earth, today’s heroes and villains are the living myths of a new age, forging destinies and redefining what it means to be extraordinary.
To anyone familiar with our Earth—the little blue marble in the Sol System—the world of the Specials may seem almost familiar… until it isn’t. The fictional and the fantastic are fact. History took sharp, divergent turns long ago, shaped by the extraordinary since the two-fisted adventurers of the pulp era.
Heroes, villains, and monsters walk, fly, and stalk among us. Some offer control. Others offer corruption. Some become symbols of salvation—many more become agents of animosity.
So step into the world of the Specials—where the line between good and evil is drawn in sand, and enforced by the myths that walk among us.
Specials: The Extraordinary Deviants
Specials are individuals who deviate from the human average in a notable and world-shaping way. While the term is often associated with superpowers, psionics, or supernatural gifts, it isn’t limited to them. Anyone who stands out due to their abilities, skills, physiology, technology, or sheer force of will can be classified as a Special.
What Makes Someone a Special?
At its core, being a Special isn’t about how you got your abilities—it’s about standing out in a way that cannot be ignored. Specials come from all walks of life, spanning a wide range of origins and power types:
Badass Normals – People without supernatural or superhuman abilities who still operate far beyond ordinary limits. Master martial artists, genius inventors, peak-condition operatives, and legendary fighters fall into this category.
Superpowered Individuals – Those who possess extraordinary abilities, whether through mutation, science, divine intervention, occult forces, or unknown means.
Psionics & Magic Users – Individuals who wield psychic abilities, sorcery, or mystic arts—often blurring the line between science and the supernatural.
Aliens & Otherworldly Beings – Non-human entities who, through physiology, culture, or technology, surpass human norms.
Supernatural Entities – Vampires, demons, fae, ghosts, and anything that exists beyond the natural order of human understanding.
Origins & Power Sources
Unlike more rigid classifications of superhuman beings, the term “Specials” doesn’t discriminate by origin or ability type. Whether someone’s power comes from genetics, magic, technology, divine blessing, cursed blood, or relentless training and determination—they’re still a Special.
The Cultural and Societal Impact
The presence of Specials has reshaped history, law, entertainment, religion, and warfare. They are admired, feared, exploited, regulated, hunted, recruited, and sometimes worshiped—depending on the era and the society. Some become heroes, celebrities, icons, and revolutionaries. Others become criminal masterminds, mercenaries, monsters, or outcasts.
They come from every nation, every people, every creed, color, and tradition. There is no place on Earth untouched by Specials.
Anyone Can Be a Special
While many assume being a Special requires superpowers or supernatural gifts, that isn’t true. Anyone who breaks the mold, rises above the norm, or forces the world to take notice can be considered a Special.
It’s not about how you got there.
It’s about what makes you stand out.
Timeline
The Specials Universe unfolds on an alternate Earth, anchored in the late 1990s and early 2000s—an era of dial-up tones, early cellphones, mall culture, and cable news… except this world has had decades of interference from extraordinary people, super-science, and off-world technology.
On the surface, much of daily life still resembles the world we know. People work, commute, argue about music, watch the same kinds of shows, and worry about the same bills. But beneath that familiar skin is a technological shadow-world: breakthroughs that should be impossible, prototypes that never make the public record, and “civilian” products that would be considered science fiction on our Earth.
Super-science and alien-derived technology have accelerated progress in uneven, unsettling ways. Advanced sciences exist—bionics, extreme medicine, controlled genetic engineering, exotic materials, and early powered systems—but they are rarely common. They’re expensive, regulated, hoarded, stolen, black-marketed, or locked behind corporate and government walls.
So while it isn’t unheard of to see civilian-grade prosthetics that are too good, boutique genetic treatments for the rich, or private security carrying gear that feels a decade ahead of its time, the average citizen still lives in something recognizably “normal.” The future is real—it’s just not evenly distributed.
Militaries and wealthy nations push the edge even further. Super-soldier initiatives, military bionics, clandestine weapons programs, and rare powered armor units exist—small, elite, and frighteningly effective. They’re not mass-issued miracles; they’re strategic assets. The kind you hide, deny, and deploy only when the stakes are high enough to justify the world noticing.
If anything, the rarity and cost of these advances often widen the power gap between the wealthy and everyone else. In the Specials Universe, progress doesn’t arrive like a rising tide.
It arrives like a lightning strike.