Butcher

Butcher is the chosen name for the possessive entity which acts as a leader of the Teeth. This entity is a quirk that exists because of the nature of the shards as pieces of the entities.

Psychology
Being the butcher means you have innumerable voices in your head constantly bombarding you with advice and tips and numerous other things all in an attempt to get you to do what they want. Obviously this lends itself to developing an extreme psychosis unless they have secondary abilites that let them handle it.

Abilities and Powers
Butcher I had increased strength and durability, a ranged agony-infliction aura potent enough to induce cardiac arrest, and the ability to transfer a watered-down version of his powers and a share of his consciousness to his killer, making them the next Butcher.“The first Butcher had super strength, durability, and the ability to inflict enough pain at a distance that his enemies went into cardiac arrest. His other powers only became evident later. He was killed by a subordinate, and the man who would later be known as Butcher Two inherited a fraction of his powers and a share of his consciousness.” “Butcher Three inherited it too, along with a share of Two’s powers and consciousness,” Tattletale said. “He was a hero, though.” Accord rankled at the fact that she’d spoken out of turn. Her voice rang in his ears, as though each syllable were the echoing toll of a bell, growing louder with each iteration. Out of turn, out of sync, out of place. He bit his tongue. “Yes. And the two voices in the hero’s head worked together to drive him mad. He was gone from this world well before he died in battle. The Teeth reclaimed the power, and the legacy has largely remained within the group since, each successor inherting{sic} powers of the ones before. The voices and consciousnesses only work with rightful heirs, members of their group who challenge the leader and beat him in a fair match.” “Which one is this?” Regent asked. “Fourteen,” Tattletale said. “This one’s number fourteen?” Regent asked. “Which means she’s got thirteen sets of powers?” [...]  Tattletale answered, “Only a small share of each power. Don’t forget she’s got thirteen voices in her head, giving her advice and helping her work stuff out, and all the powers she brought to the table, besides. Her attacks don’t miss. She imbues them with an effect which means they bend space so they strike her target, Bullets turn in midair, swords curve, all means she’s pretty much guaranteed to hit you if her attack reaches far enough.” - Excerpt from Interlude 20.y

While no two powers from independent shards are the same, if Butcher does get multiple copies of the same power, such as from a bud of a shard, they will stack.

A succession of fourteen different parahumans have added their own abilities and minds to Butcher. In addition to granting more powers, the Butchers' minds will drive successor insane if they are not a member of the Teeth who challenged the previous Butcher and beat them in a fair match. Butcher III, for example, was a hero who was driven mad by the personalities from the two previous iterations. Presumably the effect has only increased with the addition of more voices personalities.

Butcher XV is likely to have access to the following powers:
 * The ability to cause excruciating pain at range and increased durability (I). Butcher didn’t react as bugs bit and stung, and capsaicin-laden bugs found her eyes and nose. Her skin was too tough, and she didn’t feel pain, thanks to Butcher twelve’s powers. She was composed as she lifted a gun that would normally have been mounted on the back of a truck. Without putting it down, she held it with one hand and donned her mask. She turned our way, as though it wasn’t even a question. A sensory power.  Butcher two, the ability to see people’s veins, arteries and hearts through walls.  [...]  She teleported past the worst of Vex’s forcefield barrier. Flame billowed around her in a muted explosion as she appeared.  Butcher six’s explosive teleporting. It’s weaker than it was when six had it, shorter range, and the intensity of the explosion isn’t nearly what it once was.  [...]  Wounded but intact, the dog turned and snapped at her.  She was gone a heartbeat before the teeth snapped together.  Butcher three’s danger sense. Didn’t do him much good. Driven mad, died in a suicidal attack against the Teeth. Window of opportunity is lower, application limited to more physical danger.  [...]  She reappeared in a cloud of rolling flame, reversed her grip on her gatling gun and swung it like a club, knocking Bentley clean off his feet.  Super strength, courtesy of one, three, six, nine, eleven and thirteen. Cumulative effects. A little bit of super strength from multiple sources added up.  [...]  Bentley had recovered and charged her. She responded by hitting him with a wave of pain, putting him off his guard so she could strike him aside.  Butcher one. Inflicted agony at range.  [...]  Butcher had a grip on Regent, threw him into Biter with enough strength to take the two of them out of the fight.  Possibly enough strength to kill one, if Lizardtail’s power wasn’t able to outpace the internal damage done.  Induces mindless rage. Power from Butcher Nine. Very low range.  Inflicts wounds that fester. Power from Butcher Four. Less effect than Four had. Far shorter duration.  [...]  Butcher had time to string her bow before she had to teleport out of the way, appearing on top of a building with a vantage point of the battlefield. She knelt, touching the rooftop, and reformed the stone into arrows.  That power was Butcher Eight’s, except he’d had more reach, was faster.  [...]  Butcher drew her bow again.  She didn’t miss. She did something to warp space or adjust the very fabric of reality, so her shots always struck the intended target. - Exerpt from Imago 21.6
 * Superhuman strength (I, III, VI, IX, XI, XIII).
 * The ability to see hearts, veins and arteries even through walls (II).
 * Short-range danger sense against physical attacks (III).
 * The ability to cause festering wounds (IV).
 * Short-ranged explosive teleport, that can't move user into open water (VI).
 * The ability to reshape unrefined matter into objects (VIII).
 * The ability to cause mindless rage at short range.
 * Immunity to pain (XII).
 * The ability to always hit with a ranged attack as long as the target is within range (XIV).
 * The ability to manipulate/sense emotions at range (XV).

Background
The original Butcher may have triggered from being held at deaths door for a long time. In some circumstance he ended up tunning the original iteration of The Teeth in Brockton Bay

The Teeth originally operated in Brockton Bay, were they participated in a turf war with Empire Eighty-Eight at some point, killing Heith Anders. They eventually participated in a bidding war to hire the services of the Slaughterhouse Nine, instructing them to kill some members of the Protectorate. After completing the task, the Nine turned on them, nearly wiping them out.

Story Start
However, they settled elsewhere and bounced back, with operations in Boston and New York, although none of their original members remain.

Post-Echidna
The Teeth return to Brockton Bay after the battle of Echidna to oust the Undersiders and claim territory, first targeting Parian. The Undersiders try to negotiate with both the Fallen and the Teeth, although these quickly fail. After an extensive battle in which Butcher is killed by a remnant of Cherish's power, the Teeth are marginalized. Tattletale still considered them a potential threat afterward.

Gold Morning
Cherish may have died when the Eastern Seaboard on North America was destroyed. However, no nearby capes are recorded as inheriting Butcher's powers, so she could have survived. On the other hand, she is not mentioned later in the Gold Morning, despite having an extremely useful power.

Trivia

 * There is speculation of a link to Cauldron, given that one vial is mentioned whose tested results included "a power that allows one to take over a nearby parahuman’s mind, body and powers automatically on death". However, given that even in a hypothetical world without the existence of Cauldron there still exists a "Butcher Queen", this theory is likely incorrect, if the "Butcher Queen" is meant to be an alternate version of the Butcher.
 * The ability to transfer a share of consciousness to killer can possibly be classified as Transfiguration Brute, more specifically a Ressurection Brute.
 * Had any Butcher been killed by the Simurgh, the Simurgh would not inherit their minds. Butcher's powers would likely go to the nearest available parahuman - given the Simurgh, probably someone inconvenient.