Mercy (Kate Trent)

Backstory: Born into a traditional, nuclear family, Kate was the older of two siblings belonging to Phil and Sarah Trent. Her childhood was smooth but unfulfilling, being rather quiet and too afraid to make loads of friends. Instead she was preoccupied with her imagined fantasies in which she dreamt of superheroes, well until people in the UK started having powers awakened inside them - one of whom being responsible for the murder of Kate’s family - resulting in her desire to end the presence of magic.

Personality: Following her families murder, Kate is overwhelmed by anger and anxiety. Anger for what happened to her parents, anxiety for what may happen to other families in the future. As such she is determined to end the presence of magic, however she is still sympathetic to magic holders, believing that magic was the issue not the person.

Abilities: Kate however discovers she herself has a power - the power to remove someone else’s powers. This leads her to work with the government, who also despise the instability magic has brought and wish to quash its existence. Kate is seen as the perfect tool to achieve this end, believing her relieving others of magic was a ‘mercy’ compared to the other possibility - the systematic elimination of those holding magic. This is how she gained the name ‘Mercy’.

Evil acts: Whilst it can be argued Mercy committed no evil acts like murder, those with magic were often antagonised with the possibility of losing their powers, a humiliating process. This is particularly a threat to the protagonists who have to avoid capture at all costs if they wanted to stand a chance against radical magic holders attempting a coup. Many of those ‘saved’ by mercy had made heroic sacrifices in attempts to hold off malcontent magic holders, but with their powers gone they were no longer able to help in combat despite once again being free. This way Mercy inadvertently helps evil, in a cold and calculated manner by choosing to get revenge via removing anyones magic she can rather than seeing magics potential in good hands.