Despite only being Death's "adoptive" granddaughter, Susan has inherited certain of his abilities: She can ""walk through walls and live outside time and be a little bit immortal"." As well as being able to find any living creature, Susan can sense whether or not an is human. She can understand the intentions of the Death of Rats even though she cannot directly interpret its speech, and has the ability to use her grandfather's voice to command or intimidate others. This speech is indicated, similar to Death's, ""; however, unlike those of her grandfather, the words which Susan speaks in this voice are often (if not always) enclosed within quotation marks, particularly in "Hogfather".