Board Thread:False Info and Speculative Discussion/@comment-207.254.224.12-20140717193212/@comment-19765459-20140718041832

Paul.rea wrote: Scott should based on what?

You have to have a baseline for Alpha strength - which you don't.

You have to assume that abilities such as Krav Maga training or fight experience don't count - which they would.

All we have is observational evidence - from that we've seen Alphas exhibit various levels of ability and strength.

You can't "should" all over the place - you have to go based on what we've seen.

And from what we've seen we can determine that Scott is average.

As for Peter - Werewolves have skills - not powers.

Shapeshifting is part of what they are - not an additional superpower.

That mental link is part and parcel of their physical make-up - it's not something extra.

You do realize that your last three sentence contradict each other right? The rest are not very coherent either.

So...

FACT: Alphas are stronger than Betas. By exactly how wide of a margin does seem to vary. But the simple fact that Derek was able to hold both Boyd and Cora in place, while they clawed at him, for an undefined length of time, does provide a reasonable assumption for what a relatively unskilled Alpha is capable of doing.

FACT: Shapeshifting may be inherent in all werewolves, but only as a latent power. Even you yourself ackowledge that skill is a factor (and I have posted that same statement myself many times, I thought you said you were going to review my posts...). So far only Peter, Talia, Laura and (coyote) Malia have been shown to be able to shapeshift substantially. Peter was actually able to change his size and apparent mass in his hybrid form. Talia, Laura and Malia all seem to have assumed true animal forms of equivalent size or mass based on what we have seen. We have NEVER seen Scott, Derek, Isaac, Erica, Boyd, Cora, Kali, Ennis, Aiden, Ethan, Deucalion or any other werewolf change more than their facial features and appendages.

FACT: The mental link is NOT part and parcel of their physical makeup. Now YOU are the one making up headcanon! Peter is the only one who has demonstrated it. Derek could not even track his wayward Betas without help (and in fact coaching from Chris Argent, who is not even a werewolf!). He definitely was not able to exercise any Alpha mental link with them! At best, it is another latent power, which has to be learned.

Why is all this important? Because it establishes something better than a baseline. It establishes known minimums and maximums.

In essentially every category Scott is at the minimum for Alpha. In fact, he is the defining individual we are using to judge the minimum here! We have never seen an Alpha that appears to have been weaker than him. Indeed, as many individuals here have been commenting, he is lately underperforming relative to his demonstrated capabilities as a Beta! The fanon explanation, with some backing from the show, is that he is holding back somehow.

As for maximums.

Peter has demonstrated the greatest extent of onscreen telepathic prowess, hands-down. Most other werewolves have not shown telepathy onscreen at all. Derek was only able to do so while his powers were out of control due to wolfsbane poisoning. He has not been shown to be able to perform any telepathic acts while healthy. Talia did so in a flashback. Scott was able to do so, while being coached by Peter. But he has not been able to do it on his own, nor does he seem to be able to do it without using his claws (i.e. no sending mental images).

Peter's Alpha strength relative the other Alphas is untested, but clearly exceeded that of Betas Scott and Derek. So even if he were a "weak" Alpha, he was still stronger than those Betas, and Derek in particular is fairly large, strong and has astonishing stamina! Deucalion demonstrated the maximum physical strength we have seen. Since Jennifer was able to overpower even the merged twins, and yet Deucalion manhandled her easily, we can use him as a current upper boundary. Scott is the lower boundary because he has fared the most poorly in fights since becoming an Alpha. Even assuming a lack of fighting skill (even though he has demonstrated some skill in the past), he underperforms relative to a Beta like Kincaid (which makes him lucky he had backup or else Kincaid would be an Alpha now).

Shapeshifting has only been demonstrated by a minority of werewolves as mentioned above. Other than Peter, Talia and Laura (plus Malia if you count coyotes), no other werewolf has been shown to change more than their facial features and extend their claws, although Deucalion did also change color. There are many unknowns here. Other than Malia (again, a coyote), every wolf to change shape onscreen has been an Alpha. We also do not know if Talia and Laura could assume hybrid forms like Peter, or conversely if Peter could become an actual wolf. Regardless, Scott can do none of these things.

So what we have in the case of Scott is hypothetical potential. Although I have to point out here that you have floated the hypothesis that a True Alpha might in fact be weaker than a regular one. If that is accurate, then there is no basis for assuming that Scott may be able to ever match Derek's extraordinary stamina, Peter's mental prowesss or shapeshifting, Deucalion's strength or magic resistance...

He may just be cute and cuddly. Although he does seem to have a good resistance to electricity, which is necessary considering what he is dating and what could happen should they ever explore his known @$$ man preferences....