A Catalyst is the emotional impulse create through one's breakthrough.
A genius' Breakthrough is a traumatic experience that can wipe away sections of memory and radically change parts of a new mad scientist's personality; for every one of the Inspired who catalyzed gradually, her mundane concerns slowly transforming over the course of weeks or months into Inspired conceptions, others experience the Breakthrough like a lightning-stroke that wiped away consciousness and intellect and left mind and spirit utterly transformed.
Rage, hope, sorrow, jealousy, curiosity: one of these defines a genius so completely that it serves as a bridge between the mundane and Inspired worlds. This catalyst defines a genius' behavior, as well as their Obligation. When morality and sanity fall away, when Illumination gleams like a poisoned star in the genius' mind, he turns to his catalyst, which is his one inseparable link with humanity. Often or not, a person's catalyst is always precedent before becoming a Genius, and can never change in their lifetime as it chains the mortal brain to the Inspired vision.
There are five Catalysts a Genius can catalyze as:
Grimm, The Catalyst of Fury[]
Grimms are often born amidst violence, either personal or cultural. A country in the grips of revolution and war will birth Grimms, as will places plagued by inequality and great suffering. In more civilized places, Grimms catalyze through personal fury, ranging from threats to lives, livelihoods, or families, or merely seeing the injustice of the world every day until they dream of stopping it. They are often more direct than other catalysts as they look for the most effective way of solving problems.
Grimms are, out of all the catalysts, most likely to come from outside the breeding pool, their breakthrough coming from the result of a mortal trapped in an impossible situation who is forced to fight back. Their favored Axiom is Katastrofi and are often more focused on aggressive skills and power as many Grimms temper their fury with justice and have a pechant for total destruction. Their Derangement is Irrationality.
Hoffnung, The Catalyst of Vision[]
Hoffnungs often see the world in their vision beforehand and are afloat with the desire and hope to change the world in their ideals. They are usually politicians, reformers, dreamers, and futurists, obsessed with what comes in their way. All hold a picture of what they want the world to be, and possibly how to do it.
This is often seen as one of the less traumatic of all the catalyzations as the genius's breakthrough never actually replaces their old personality, but in fact, enhances it. More often than not, their breakthrough is gradual, often by finding all the solutions that were never thought possible to the questions given to them. Their favored Axiom is Metaptropi and are concentrated on expressing their ideals for change and acting them out themselves. Their Derangement is Narcissism.
Klagen, The Catalyst of Loss[]
Klagens are born of a breakthrough of pain, regret and sorrow and are the least likely of all geniuses to bear seeds of their catalyst before the tragedy that defines them. Klagens are often either stoic or driven mad by their experience, though they also tend to be the most sensible and down-to-earth Catalyst, as odd as it sounds. A Klagen will consider any solution a good solution, whether plausible to downright psychotic, if it means it will help them fix the problem.
By default, a Klagen's breakthrough is the hardest and most traumatizing of all breakthroughs. Many of them often had careers that had the potential for tragedy, whether it be in the field of medicine as a doctor or a surgeon or a construction worker working in bad conditions. Klagens are in fact rarer than other catalysts, since the quiet contemplation necessary to catalyze as a Klagen contrasts very poorly with the frantic Mania coursing through a new genius' brain. Their favored Axiom is Exelixi and they concentrate to right the wrongs that can or have happen. Their Derangement is Depression.
Neid, The Catalyst of Banishment[]
Neids are seen as the most common mad scientists as there is an irresistible lure to embrace jealousy, spite, and hate. They often are those who saw things others did not, and shunned by their colleagues for them, believed they were being ostracized for questioning what were comfortable beliefs. Other might also Catalyze as a result of watching people squander power with which they are convinced they could do so much more. Neids are also the most likely to go crazy well before their catalysts, which starts from a subtle madness to skewed reasoning and paranoia.
Neid Breakthroughs almost always come from the sight of the newest scientific innovation, whether it was something revolutionary or something spectacular and the subsequent suspicion that others will take their invention for their own use. Their mind often becomes twisted into one that doubts the good in humanity and constantly speculates betrayal. Their favored Axiom is Epikrato and they often try and find a way to make attention with the absolute certainty of security. Their Derangement is Suspicion.
Staunen, The Catalyst of Curiosity[]
Staunens are able to see the light in the depressing world and are eager to share their discovery with everyone. They are defined by curiosity and wonder and have a constant need to gather and learn information. They are eager to learn more of the world around them and beyond, often using more than dubious methods to attain them or to rip away the falsehoods that hide the horde of truths hidden away. They're often more subtle people like librarians, computer analysts, explorers or even mere hobbyists.
Surprisingly, given some of their lines of work, a Staunen's breakthrough is often seen as the least traumatic as any of the horrors or complications given to them from their revelations are often put on hold until they know more about it and have the insight to understand. Simply put, they just don't give their hardships the time of day while doing their research. Though most breakthroughs are gradual, some can come in a flash as they are exposed to something beyond their comprehension and left back in the darkness of mundanity. Their favored Axiom is Apokalypsi and they will do everything in their power to know as much as they can to satisfy their hunger. Their Derangement is Fixation.
There has been said that in other societies, there are different catalysts. One catalyst, said to have existed in China before Lemuria's eradication of their Inspired society, focused on a sort of enlightened embracing of the universe-as-it-is. Another concentrated on an Inspired mastery of one's place and position in the complicated social strata of those societies. The catalyst of "Enthusiasm," triggered by a genius touching the Godhead during his Breakthrough, often shows up in rumors and legends. Nonetheless, almost all known geniuses belong to one of the five catalysts listed above.