Metahuman law

This article has not yet been officially approved.

The over-riding legal principle is that simply being a metahuman is not, in and of itself, a bad thing. This applies just as readily to supernatural creatures as to people in suits of powered armor as to extradimensional visitors as to super-strong people running around in spandex.

In civilized parts of the world, this is also generally accepted as a social principle. Metahumans aren't necessarily treated like normal people, but they are usually treated more like celebrities than monsters. (In some places, like Colonial Bay, they aren't even particularly noteworthy.)

Of course, there are plenty of backwoods parts of the world where neither principle applies. And even in the civilized world, there are plenty of individual bigots of various sorts. And even reasonable people can get a little weird when faced with individuals who can read their thoughts or blow a city block to smithereens.

Using a metahuman ability in the commission of a crime increases the severity of the crime in much the same way using a firearm does. Using an unregistered ability does so even more (see Registration.

Legal code defines the use of any metahuman ability against an unwilling target as a crime equivalent to assault, unless the intent is to protect the target or bystander (see Good Samaritan Laws), or the target is committing a crime or in a hot pursuit situation. There are also some special cases involving mentalists