Editing Steelheart (Epic)

{{character
|image=Steelheart_portrait.png
|aliases=Paul Jackson
|died=Accidental suicide
|abilities={{tag+|Epic}}
|residence=Newcago
|earth=Reckoners
|books=[[Steelheart]]
}}{{update|lux}}{{for|Steelheart| the novel of the same name|pre=This article is for the Epic named Steelheart}}

'''Steelheart''' is a [[Epic#High Epics|High Epic]] of considerable power that rules over [[Newcago]].{{book ref|Steelheart|1}}

== Attributes and Abilities ==
=== Powers ===
;Invulnerability: Steelheart is impervious to harm from all known sources, including bullets, edged weapons, blunt force, suffocation, radiation, electricity and fire.
;Super Strength: Inhumanly broad and tall, Steelheart is strong enough to crush bones and throw people with ease.
;Wind Manipulation: Control of the wind grants Steelheart the ability to fly and pick up objects using the air around him.
;Flight: Steelheart is capable of flight under his own power. This ability is referred to separately from his wind manipulation. 
;Steel Transfersion: When angry, Steelheart spontaneously transforms non-living matter around him to solid steel, spreading out from him in a sphere. Steel and iron have the ability to "insulate" against the transfersion, but other metals are transformed to steel. As this ability is tied to his emotions, he sometimes uses it without intent. This power has a radius of about four miles.{{wob ref|6430}}
;Energy Beams: Steelheart can project energy beams from his hands that can vaporize people and melt steel with ease.
;Eidetic Memory: Steelheart claims to remember everything perfectly, but this is not broadly established and may be boasting.

=== Weaknesses ===
Steelheart can only be injured by the actions of a person who has absolutely no fear of him. Thus, he did everything within his power to make people fear him, including condoning the random executions of the Epics he ruled over, having Nightwielder shroud the sky in eternal darkness, fabricating stories of his previous mass killings, publicizing videos of him randomly targeting and destroying buildings, and killing people with their own weapons. 

Steelheart received this fear (and thus his weakness) during his job as a night watchman. He was afraid that someone would not respect his authority, and wanted everyone to obey him. When someone wasn't intimidated by him, he became afraid.{{wob ref|3125}}

He was killed by himself in a trap set by the Reckoners. [[David Charleston]] hid a small detonator inside the barrel of his pistol before dropping it, anticipating that Steelheart would attempt to use the gun to kill him. When Steelheart fired the gun, the detonator was triggered, setting off explosives the Reckoners had planted under the ground. Because Steelheart did not fear himself, and the detonator was triggered by his own action, the explosion killed him. David himself expected to die in the process, but he was saved by the last-minute intervention of [[Jonathan Phaedrus]].

== History ==
Before becoming an Epic, he was known by his given name, '''Paul Jackson'''. In high school, he was a track star and had a reputation for being a bully. After finishing high school, he worked as a security guard at a factory and was an active member of online conspiracy theory forums. {{book ref|Firefight|6}}

Steelheart came to Chicago shortly after the appearance of the [[Epic]]s. He annexed the city and much of the surrounding territory, declaring himself emperor and all those within his domain his subjects. He offered other Epics the choice of serving him or dying. One of his initial acts was The Great Transfersion, in which he transformed most of Newcago, including buildings, part of Lake Michigan, and several miles underground to solid steel. Initially, he claimed to be building an ideal city with a vast network of understreets, but he soon abandoned this pretense and ruled his subjects harshly and erratically. He enlisted three Epics, [[Nightwielder]], [[Conflux]] and [[Firefight]],his inner circle, built a high-tech [[Enforcement]] division, and allowed intelligent, wealthy or attractive humans to live above with the Epics, serving as functionaries and entertainers. Epics within his domain were allowed to kill or terrorize humans for any reason or no reason.

SPOILERS FOR LUX 
Steelheart's past is discussed in a flashback by Hershel Black.

Paul Jackson is sent on a mission to a secret Russian satellite facility lead by Hershel Black. In route to the facility Jackson sees Calamity glow. Jackson then falls unconscious for several hours, when he wakes he starts to show the characteristic barring of an epic. This is followed by the raiding of the secret Russian facility and the manifestation of his Epic powers. His team members turn on him and Steelheart kills each of them in turn leaving only the team leader Hershel. Steelheart then pins Hershel under the now collapsed Russian facility, and having to escape Hershel has to cut off of his leg to escape the trap. Steelheart then presumably traveled to Newcago to start the events of the first book.

== Notes ==
{{holder|title=Controller of [[Conflux]]|prev=[[Insulation]]|this=|next=unknown, possibly free}}

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