I really wanted to do a bit of an infodump on some Shadow Guard stuff so here we are.
A variant is the term used to describe a person with superpowers in this universe. Their abilities can be anything from shapeshifting to pyrokinesis to super speed. Variants normally have one ability, but can have more (not counting any secondary abilities caused by their first, like a shapeshifter having better senses). Abilities are genetic. Variants are born with their powers. Many variants are born to entirely human parents, however as time goes on, more and more are born to either a human and variant parents or two variant parents. A child with a human and variant parent will normally end up having powers, but it is possible for them to not end up with powers. A child where both parents are variants will always end up with powers.
Variant abilities are often passed down genetically, although they do crop up where two humans are the parents, and no one entirely knows why. Children born with a variant parent(s) who end up with powers will either have the same ability (or a similar ability) to one of their parents. Sometimes they may end up with versions of both of their parent’s powers if they were both variants but usually they will be weaker versions of those powers. They can also end up with entirely different abilities from their parents, but that is not common.
Variant powers normally manifest just before puberty, although some have their powers manifest earlier or later. Sometimes variants will be able to use a very weak version of their power until they reach a certain age where they then are able to use a stronger version.
Most of the stories in the world so far take place in the UK btw, so different areas of the world reacted to variants differently, but I’ll probably go more into that in another post.
Variants were rumoured to exist for a long time, however the first comfirmed variants appeared in World War 1, where some variants decided to become the first superheroes and supervillains (or at least the first ones known to the public). Now variants ended up with a very mixed reputation after WW1 and WW2. This led to the creation of the Variant Protection Act. This meant that any time a variant’s powers manifested, they were required by law to report that they were a variant and what their abilities are, although many variants are not recorded due to many fearing them so parents hiding the fact their children had abilities. While the VPA did eventually state that no variant should be discriminated against, it does hapoen fairly often especially if the variant’s ability causes them to have a non-human appearance. Variants are banned from all sporting competitions, and many are not allowed to join the military, police or emergency services in general as many beleive their abilities would be a risk.
Normal humans often feared variants due to media reporting far more on criminal variants and in general a lot of misinformation was spread. Some religions also deemed variants as evil due to their abilities. Superhero work (well, specifically vigilante work) is deemed illegal, similar to how it is in our world, however the penalties against variants are much worse than normal humans as they carry much longer sentences. This is until the late 90s, where the original Shadow Guard are the only reason the police were able to catch up to the dangerous team known as the Mercury Guild, but that puts superhero work into a grey area where it ends up being up to the police in the area if they want to arrest them or not.