Kilgrave

Kilgrave's powers and abilities

Mind Control

Kilgrave had the ability to control another person's mind through literal verbal commands and make them completely obedient to him, thanks to a virus that he emits through microparticles in the air. He controlled Hope Shlottman for weeks and Jessica Jones for months, and he was able to enter into another man's house by simply saying "you'd like to invite me in" in order to acquire a place to stay. Kilgrave acquired over a million dollars by having the participants of a poker game all fold after betting everything. His abilities invade peoples thoughts and will, to the point of making them seemingly not feel emotion while performing his orders. This is not always the case, as some victims, especially some of the people he told to kill or harm themselves showed visible fear or confusion, such as Albert Thompson, who was panicked when Kilgrave enthralled him to go with him and put his hand near the blades inside a blender. Some people seemed overwhelmed with anxiety and panic while trying to or being unable to carry out Kilgrave's wishes, such as Shlottman when Jessica was keeping her from staying in the bed Kilgrave told her to stay in. Trish Walker was having an emotional breakdown from stress when she was unable to put a bullet in her skull as Kilgrave told her to. Lastly, Albert was frantic when trying to cut out his heart on Kilgrave's orders. His control over others' actions even seemed to make him able to control their emotions, such as making a little girl he sent as a messenger to Jessica angrily insult her for leaving Kilgrave for dead. He may have also done so to Luke Cage, making him angrily state that he could never forgive Jones for killing Reva Connors, though he did later hesitate in his actions and his anger with sadness when asking Jessica to shoot him. His victims in the hospital were urgently looking for Jones and even worked together to expose her, as one suspicious nurse alerted the others to Jones when she was disguised. However, Kilgrave himself had to have been present for his commands to have an immediate effect; speaking over a phone did not enthrall his victim. Kilgrave's power also had a time limit of ten to twelve hours before his victim began to regain his or her will. Until the time limit was up, the victims would continue to follow Kilgrave's commands unless he gave them a different order to follow. His power was revealed to be a side-effect of the viral treatment used to cure his childhood degenerative disease. If a person managed to have a significantly traumatic event happen to them to the point that they can break free of that control, they became immune to the virus and to the mind control itself. His thralls must have fulfilled Kilgrave's words specifically, but sometimes they were open to interpretation as when he told Trish Walker to put a bullet in her skull, and therefore in her head, and she automatically assumed she had to shoot herself in the head. Jessica Jones found a loophole in that command and told Walker to place a bullet inside her mouth, which was technically in her head, allowing her to satisfy Kilgrave's command. He was also willing to use an epidural during surgery to replace his kidneys, since putting him unconscious with surgical anesthesia, such as propofol or sufentanil would shut down different bodily functions, removing his control over others. Initially, Kilgrave could control anyone in his immediate vicinity or "share the same air with him", according to Jessica, but after Albert Thompson performed more experiments, he was able to extend Kilgrave's power to the distance of over a hundred yards and a time limit of 16 hours first, and then up to 24; later, Kilgrave demonstrated that he could control people by voice alone, without being present, when he took control of Metro-General Hospital and had everyone pursuing Jones to kill her by telling them to over the P.A. system. When enhanced for the final time by his father, ordering a large crowd of people to stop what they were doing caused purple veins to appear on his face.