A few days ago I finished reading After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn, which is a novel about the daughter of Commerce City's prime heroes. She doesn't have any superhuman powers. She's a forensic accountant, but she's not the point of this post.
One of the superheroes is Arthur Mentis. He's a telepath—your basic mind reader and lie detector. I like his character (he might be my favorite), but one thing bugs me: People automatically trust him. No one questions him. Everyone assumes Arthur tells the truth.
He can tell if people are telling the truth. That doesn't mean he has to be honest all the time.
I want to believe he's completely a good guy but he makes me think of the Salem witch trials.
Arthur Mentis has the same power as those girls who accused people of witchcraft. He can see if people are telling the truth. What's stopping him from lying about what he sees? This bugs me because this novel does a good job of seeing superheroes as people first, and vigilantes second. Most people think the heroes are great, but under the masks, these heroes have flaws. But the author hasn't addressed this undeserved trust of the telepath.
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