Choke

Hi there,

On the card art of "For the Greater Good" in K.N.Y.F.E.'s deck, our heroine seems to be killing (or at least seriously injuring) someone who looks like Choke. Thing is, part of the effect of the card is this: "K.N.Y.F.E. deals herself 3 psychic damage". It hurts her to injure her nemesis? Maybe it is a clue to the nature of their relation...? Or maybe I'm mistaken...

Thoughts?

I would say maybe it hurts her mentally to have to kill her nemesis

Exactly, but the question is "Why this?".

Edit: I personnally think that the death of a nemesis would be more on the side of a relief… no?

I think it represents K.N.Y.F.E. pushing herself past her usual limits, that she is willing to go the extra mile it takes to bring down her foes, not that she it hurts her to hit Choke because they're mentally link, siblings, are friends etc.

EDIT: She's a trained soldier, I don't think the death of a foe would be anything more than a job well done.

Soldier or not killing someone as intimately as that picture is going to have a toll on your psyche.  A lot of Soldiers do have PTSD

Maybe… but the card's title suggest's she doesn't want it done. "I don't want to kill you, but I'm doing it for the greater good". Also, after dealing herself 3 psychic, she gets to draw a card and play a card (and/or use a power? don't remember exactly…), wich suggest she finds herself more ressourceful AFTER this blow… Maybe it's just keyword timing too, but it's still interesting.

I'm damaging myself... for the greater good.

It can be read multiple ways.

As for PTSD, lots of soldiers do, lots of soldiers don't. I just don't see this Royal Marine trained soldier, who was then picked for F.I.L.T.E.R. duty, who then gained superpowers, who then broke from F.I.L.T.E.R. to help save the timelines, breaking down over doing something she has done before.

I feel the urge to go check out the flavor text of this card…! (Unfortunately, I can't right now…)

In "Flawless Execution", she gets to disable something like a dozen men, and she seems to get away just fine with it. And I think she mostly fight in close range as she doesn't carry a gun or something (she is able to energy blast from a distance, but she isn't doing it all the time…).

With the miracle of SCIENCE! you can

[url= Sentinels of the Multiverse--Full Card Breakdowns (Brian Mola/Jeff Dougan) - Google Sheets]Full  card text[/url]

or if you can't look at that page it's right here.

"Ye seem like a nice lass.  Next time, make good choices." KNYFE, Vengeance #6

Maybe there's no killing at all (unless Paige believes in reincarnation or is doing the witty one liner).

Overdo It is far more 'mentally exhausting' to my mind.

"And that!" huff "is the last" huff "we'll see o' ye!" KNYFE, Freedom Five Annual #29 

It's even coloured grey with an intense red background, possibly to indicate how much it is taking out of her.

I think the difference there is that we don't know she killed those men but that she disabled them at that point.  She is taking mental damage from the card FTGG so something about it causes her grief

Or it's card balance.

Psychic damage does not (necessarily) indicate mental trauma for performing an action that is emotionally stressful. Every card where the hero damages themselves (as a cost) is Psychic damage, is Ra increasing his fire damage through Solar Flare causing him to tear up?

The whole 'nose bleed when you push to hard' of power use thing. Thats what I alwasy figure that represents.

SCIENCE! Thanks! didn't know it was a thing…! Where is this file coming from exactly?

Well… the flavor text sure does shed more light on the subject matter. As I understand the scene, K.N.Y.F.E. and Choke were relatives and they had to make a choice at some point. Maybe it is the root of the fact that they are nemesis? We kinda know that K.N.Y.F.E. left F.I.L.T.E.R. for… some reason. Could it be that Choke is working for F.I.L.T.E.R. then…?? Not convinced by that, but it keeps the conversation going…!

Not all cards where a hero damages themselves is psychic but a majority do.  AbZ and Fanatic deals themselves a damage type other then psychic.   My main thinking on why it would be mental anguish is because of the title of the card more then anything.   Doing things for the greater good to me means you had to make a tough decision that ultimately saves more lives then what were lost due to your choice.  

Fanatic and AZ dealing themselves damage is not a 'cost' though, it's them using their powers.

Choke being related to K.N.Y.F.E.? I have no idea where you get that from. It's possible, I just see no indication one way or the other.

And 'had to make a choice'? It could be as simple as the choice to attack K.N.Y.F.E., "Next time, choose to surrender."

Whoops!

I was thinking that it was Psychic damage to keep Divine Focus around, I was refering to Sancrosanct Martyr's damage as not being a cost.

And I think you're arguing backwards there, I am saying Psychic damage is the cost to keep something around/do something extra, the other damage types are not. Hoarfire does not have a cost for playing the card, it just damages AZ when he plays it, he does not have to take the damage for the effect to kick in. Though with Divine Focus that blows the idea that all costs are psychic.

My theory is that Choke is/was an agent of FILTER, who was heavily augmented and experimented on, possibly as a counter to the growing number of superheroes. She may be rogue, haywire, or be under orders to cooperate with the Baron. 

Since KNYFE left Filter to try and do more good elewhere, I could see it causing a fair amount of distress to have to kill/incapacitate someone who made the same choice, but threw in with the wrong crowd. 

Or it could be even uglier. What if the Baron found some young lady who had been crippled during the collateral damage of the F5 fighting Omnitron, and promised he could help her walk again in exchange for her service?

KNYFE is an assassin- she was sent after the baddest, toughest, nastiest things. But I could see having to kill some young kid with a grudge causing her to hesitate before pushing past and doing what she felt had to be done. 

This:

is interesting…!

So it should be settled that the reason for the psychic damage is because she is taking out members of FILTER (possibly friends) which she used to be part of.   While it is for the better overall, it does not make it easy to do.  

I think KNYFE and Choke were close. Very close, once upon a time. Maybe they were both on the Special Operations unit and went on countless missions together during KNYFEs decade+ in FILTER, a large measure of trust was built between them. It's hard to get close to people when you are an agent of FILTER, but there was probably a great deal of compfort in that relationship.

It must have felt like the worst kind of betrayal when KNYFE went rogue. And Choke knows full well how betrayal is repaid in FILTER.

That's my guess. The psychic damage is that mental toll it takes on you to kill someone you once considered your closest friend.

Nah, KNYFE wanted to leave, and saying goodbye to friends got her all choked up.

Literally.