Ingrid “the Nose” Noss (from Psi High)

Nose icon By Olga in the Noun Project

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Ingrid “The Nose” Noss (29)

Project: YA Novel (Psi High)

Known as: The Nose

Real name: Ingrid Noss

Group affiliation: The Omegas

Physical description: Ingrid’s father was Nordic and her mother Nigerian, and Ingrid has a smooth brown complexion. She has a great deal of curly brown hair and is attractive in a non-ostentatious way. She is of average height and build. Despite her name and abilities, she has a small, button nose.

Personality: Ingrid is shy and quiet. She is also quite smart and is a very warm and giving friend once you get to know her. She helps keep several of the Omega’s grades up with study groups and friendly reminders (she is a popular choice for group projects).

History: Ingrid was born in New York City to immigrant parents. Her parents always told her that they met in an English class after coming to the United States, but Ingrid has her doubts. It is obvious to her that both her parents (studious by nature) already had a good command of English before immigrating, and Ingrid has fun imagining how they really met that they feel like they need to make up stories (her current theory: they were early online dating users who might be embarrassed as they both had traditional upbringings). Regardless Ingrid has amazing, loving parents who have shown her her roots in both countries.

Ingrid started reading early and never stopped. Like many teenagers she is often looking at her phone. Unlike many teenagers it is because she’s reading an on-line book. She is primarily a history buff with a special weakness for biographies.

She knew that her becoming an Electi was almost a forgone conclusion. Her father’s family has fairly reliably passed down the SSP ability of smell from generation to generation (in fact, the family name “Noss” means “nose” – as a result of Ingrid’s Nordic ancestors possessing the gift). In history, “bloodhounds” (as they are colloquially known) were tremendously treasured parts of any tribe. Their gift warned of danger (predators, fire), could help detect poor food (rotting or poisoned), and was great for tracking.

In modern times, bloodhounds are a little less treasured. Still, Ingrid is thrilled to be an Electi, as it brought her to Coldwater. Her family would have not been able to afford a private school otherwise and Ingrid loves the small class sizes and the faculty (for the most part). An exception to most of the Coldwater students, Ingrid has no plans of basing her profession on her gift (unsurprisingly, she wants to be a history professor).

By the way, she may or may not have a crush on Mateo (she is shy enough it is a little hard to tell). Jeep quite obviously has a crush on her.

Role in the narrative: Ingrid will uncover things. Her history knowledge and research abilities will be a big help as the story unfolds. Plus, her ability is actually quite useful – she can usually tell who has recently been in a room and the like. I don’t specifically know yet all the secrets she’ll uncover but such characters are handy.

Abilities: Again, SSPs (Super Sensory Perceivers) are the most common type of Electi. Among those gifted with a sensitive sense of smell, Ingrid is actually quite gifted. Her sense of smell can equal some of the more sensitive canines (bloodhound indeed). As with most SSPs, she has to concentrate to reach this level of ability. Without concentration her sense of smell is certainly better than average but not extraordinary.

As a practical matter, Ingrid uses her power sparingly. There are simply too many unpleasant odors out there for her to leave it on most of the time. She has used her power among her close friends enough that she could track them by memory of their scent. Otherwise she would need a sample (much like police K9 units).

Inspirations: There are a few super-smellers out there, but usually it is one of many powers (e.g., Wolverine, Daredevil, etc.). Actually, Daredevil is likely influencing several of these super-sensors – I just greatly enjoyed season 3 and read the comic. So many writers have done a great job with that character showing how super-senses are pretty awesome. I first started writing about super sensors as a play on “ESP” (Extra Sensory Perception). I’ve been looking for a way to make my rank-and-file Electi not TOO powerful, so I thought about what was a click below ESP.