Editing Endbringers (section)

==Personality==
===Creation===
[[Eidolon]], who has [[Eden]]'s [[List_of_Shards#High_Priest|counterpart shard]] to [[Scion]]'s [[List_of_Shards#The_Administrator_.2F_Queen_Administrator|Queen Administrator]],<ref name="reddAdmin">'''HighSlayerRalton:''' Taylor is Eidolon's 'reflection'. Or rather, the Queen Administrator is the High Priest's reflection.<br><br>Taylor gets to administrate bugs, because Scion damaged and limited his Queen Administrator shard before distributing it.<br><br>Eidolon gets to administrate the pool of shards Eden was reorganising when she crashed (including the power-drawing ability), because Eden was still using her Queen Administrator counterpart to do that at the time.<br><br>The kid who controls bugs and the world's most powerful superhero are two sides of the same coin.<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Yeah, pretty sure I already confirmed this elsewhere, but this is a great summary of it. - Conversation with Wildbow on Reddit, archived on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/79765900 --> is the unwitting<ref>If it was something he knew/had grokked already, it wouldn’t have hit him like it did. - Comment by Wildbow on [[Interlude 27.y]], archived on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/36662542 --> creator of the Endbringers.<ref name="II19.z e4" /><ref name="II19.z e6" /> His power gives him what he needs;<ref>“Eidolon’s power… he chooses what powers he gets?”<br><br>“He gets the powers he needs,” Dispatch said.  “He can be receptive to new ones, hold tighter to ones he wants to keep, but that’s it.”<br><br>I nodded.  He was at the mercy of his passenger, it seemed. - [[Crushed 24.4]]</ref><ref>'''Eidolon''' –  Third member of the Protectorate’s ‘Triumvirate’.  Eidolon has the ability to use any power he needs at a given point in time, maintaining a set of two to four powers at a time.  Adopting a new power is not immediate, but after minutes, his abilities with that power grow to the point they rival or surpass veteran users of the same abilities. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/cast-spoiler-free/cast/ Cast (In Depth)]</ref><ref>'''Eidolon''' – Member of the Triumvirate and head of the Houston branch of the Protectorate.  Viewed by many as one of the most powerful capes in the world, can manifest a handful of powers at a time, with virtually no restrictions, automatically gaining whatever abilities he needs to face a given crisis.  Wears a green-white costume with a hood, and a glow emanating from both hood and sleeves. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/cast-spoiler-free/ Cast (spoiler-free)]</ref> according to Scion, Eidolon subconsciously needs worthy opponents.<ref>Some people don't believe it's the case, saying that Scion only said it because it was a way to blow ''Eidolon'''s mind. Some say it was truth.<br><br>But Eidolon's power gives him what he needs. Scion says Eidolon needed worthy opponents. - Wildbow on Reddit, archived on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/35365744 --><ref name="27.y e1">“''You needed worthy opponents.''” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/08/29/interlude-27b/ The entirety] of [[Interlude 27.y]]</ref> As a result, Eidolon's [[shard]] will order the [[shard network]] to begin production of Endbringers when needed<ref name="reddit eProduceNew" /> out of Eden's<ref name="reddEndbringerLite">If people start forming alliances/peace and Eden sees it as too much trouble to sabotage, then she sics an Endbringer Lite on them, and then works with the remains. - Wildbow on Reddit, archived on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://spacebattles.com/posts/14727588 --><ref name="SB eNoVials" /> pool of emergency resources<ref name="II19.z e4" /> on an alternate [[Earth]].<ref name="prtSquadMission e1" /> After this manufacturing process completes, the shard network will then transport the finished Endbringer to [[Earth Bet]].<ref name="25.4 eKhonsuFirst">“Japan,” Wanton said.<br><br>The camera was shaking, and the view on the screen reacted in kind.<br><br>Dust rose in clouds, billowing, until they obscured the camera’s view.<br><br>The audience was reacting.  Moans, cries of alarm and despair.  They knew what was going on.<br>[...]<br>The timing, the fact that it was happening so soon after Behemoth had died… it was all wrong.<br>[...]<br>The fourth, it seemed, was appearing in plain sight.<br><br>The dust took forever to clear.  But for a few mutters here and there, small animal sounds of despair from the audience and studio employees who were watching, the studio had plunged into quiet horror.<br><br>It stood somewhere between Leviathan and Behemoth in height, if I ballparked by the number of stories in the adjacent buildings.  I waited patiently for the view to clear, revealing more details.  Clues, as if there was a solution to what we faced here. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/07/09/scarab-25-4/ Excerpt] from [[Scarab 25.4]]</ref>

As their creator, [[Eidolon]]'s belief system influenced how the Endbringers function.<ref name="28.4 eBelief">“They run on different patterns.  Fair bit of anger, room for some vengeance.  Cleverness, sure.  More in her than in Behemoth.  Some killer instinct, maybe… a blend of fear and caution.  Not so they’re ''afraid'', but so they can temper their actions.  This?  Right here?  It’s the closest we’re about to get to communicating directly with a passenger.”<br>[...]<br>“They’re passengers?” I asked.<br><br>“The shell?  No.  The outer shell, the concept, the ''execution'', they’re tapping into religious metaphors.  The devil, the serpent, the angel, buddha, mother earth, the maiden, each connected in turn to fundamental ''forces''.  Flame, water, fate, time, earth, the ''self''.  Things deep-seated and fundamental to their creator’s belief system, because that’s how the passengers interpret our world.  Through ''us''.  But deep down?  Beyond that surface, beyond the basic programming that drives them to do what they’ve been doing for thirty years?  It’s the passenger’s brush strokes.  And I’m ''getting'' to her.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/09/07/cockroaches-28-4/ Excerpt] from [[Cockroaches 28.4]]</ref> For example, [[Endbringers#Appearance|their appearance]] taps into metaphors derived from his experiences as a religious man.<ref>“I wanted to talk to you,” Eidolon said, sounding very normal, “because there are few I can trust to listen.  I might have found a priest, but it’s late, and there are so few good ones out there.  I’ve used psychometry to view the past few days of your life.  You’ll do what I need you to do.” - [[Interlude 18.z]]</ref><ref>“If you were a priest,” he said, “I would have you say a prayer and bless my endeavor tonight.  I will settle for having you wish me luck.” - [[Interlude 18.z]]</ref><ref>He frowned behind his mask.  His voice was just a touch harder than it had been.  “This ‘High Priest’ you speak of doesn’t sound like any priest I know.”<br><br>“I have little love for gods or the godly, High Priest.  I may have to apologize for choosing such an unflattering title to describe you, but it fit as described, fit on other levels.” - [[Interlude 27.x]]</ref><ref>He prayed.<br><br>''God, let me see.  The agent never listens, but please, for all that is right and just in the world, let it give me the ability to see.'' - [[Interlude 27.x]]</ref><ref>To dig so deep for something mental, it was scary.<br><br>Something he’d explored, but not like this.<br><br>He took a deep breath, murmured an indistinct prayer, and tried to empty his mind of all of the other needs and wishes and fears. - [[Interlude 27.x]]</ref> Eidolon created Endbringers more powerful than the ones in [[Eden]]'s [[Endbringers#Original Plan|original plan]].<ref name="reddEndbringerLite" /> However, he is still capable of stopping his creations in combat by design.<ref name="reddit eProduceNew" /><ref>'''Running an Endbringer fight'''<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' As Wrandm suggests, I'd treat this as a mass combat - except against one foe. The objective as GM isn't to drop a huge unkillable monster on the board and expect them to kill it, but to have a list of objectives and scenarios.<br>[...]<br>Hit them with a briefing, and outline the rules for what's going on. Win conditions: get through to the end. There's no guarantee the major players (like Scion) are going to show up, but after X segments there's a d20 die roll: on a 20+ Scion shows. On a 18-19 Eidolon shows.<br><br>Rule for Eidolon - Survive through 3 objectives from the time he arrives to win. If an objective is completely failed, doesn't count for progression. Continue to roll for Scion.<br><br>Rule for Scion - survive for two more 'rounds', no more objectives except for surviving. - Wildbow on Reddit</ref><!-- https://redd.it/arsedt --><ref name="18.z eReserve" /><ref name="28.4 e2" />

If an individual other than [[Eidolon]] kills an Endbringer, or if an individual other than Eidolon and [[Scion]] decisively drives it into submission,<ref name="reddit eLeviathanSuperman" /> he would unknowingly order the [[shard network]] to make an attempt at producing Endbringers that could not be stopped by that individual but could still be stopped by Eidolon.<ref name="reddit eProduceNew">'''Medium-term consequence:''' the shard network begins producing Endbringers that Superman can't stop that Eidolon could. [...] Eidolon gets to be more of a hero with worthy opponents (but the power drain starts accelerating). - Wildbow on Reddit, [https://spacebattles.com/posts/77707099 archived on Spacebattles]</ref> After Scion killed [[Behemoth]], the shard network produced [[Khonsu]]<ref name="25.4 eKhonsuFirst" /> whose [[Khonsu#Teleportation|teleportation]] allowed him to escape Scion<ref>“Helpful,” Tattletale commented.  “Enough with the bullshit and posturing.  We were brought here for one reason.  Well, a lot of reasons, but the main one that ties us all together is that we’ve got that monster rampaging around and we’re not making headway.  We whittle him down, he heals.  Scion attacks, he teleports, and the golden fool doesn’t follow.  So let’s be honest, let’s talk about this and introduce ourselves before we say anything so we’re not completely in the dark-” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/07/11/scarab-25-5/ Excerpt] from [[Scarab 25.5]]</ref> while still allowing Eidolon to be more of a hero with worthy opponents.<ref name="25.6 e14">'''Indiscriminate''', February 5th, 2013 // Khonsu<br/>Notes:  Victory by Eidolon/The Guild.  List of the twenty-nine targets '''here'''. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/07/13/scarab-25-6/ Excerpt] from [[Scarab 25.6]]</ref> The shard network can also get an order to produce new Endbringers if the current ones are insufficient opponents. For example, the shard network produced [[Leviathan]] as a response to defenders banding together against the too predictable<ref name="I24y 1" /> Behemoth; Leviathan is the better combatant against humans.<ref name="IRC eLeviathanTactics">I'd argue he's stronger than Behemoth. In a fight, and in terms of the damage he can do, and against humans, he's stronger. People tend to underestimate the value of enhanced speed. He can use skitter tactics. He doesn't have to, but he can. But honestly, imagine fighting Skitter, right? Except he's nigh invincible, he has super speed, and he has tidal waves instead of bug swarms. He only fights the fights he wants to. Give them a little hope, then crush it. Then, when all is said and done, just keep his distance from anyone and everyone and let the tidal waves finish them off. That fight against Lung, he destroyed Japan. In his damn /introduction/ the heroes warn not to underestimate him. I'll just add that he's sort of a response to the fact that the heroes have banded together, ready to organize to defeat this monster Behemoth. So he's there alternately as a coward and a duellist, to bait out fights and crush morale. - Comment by Wildbow on IRC, archived on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/15988245 --> The shard network later produced [[the Simurgh]] when defenders started coordinating defenses globally against the Endbringers.<ref name="I24y 1" />

In theory, it is possible for [[Eidolon]] to find a worthy opponent without needing an Endbringer; this would presumably stop further production of new Endbringers.<ref name="reddit eRefill" />

===Drives===
[[Eidolon]] created the Endbringers with a fundamental drive to go to war against him.<ref name="II19.z e6">She had other drives.  To go to war against her creator.  To these ends, she created a nemesis.  She made him better.  He freed people, upset the system, disrupted the process, and in that, he created the chaos that would keep her simulation from being too sterile. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/02/23/infrared-19-z/ Excerpt] from [[Infrared 19.z]]</ref> However, because he unwittingly built them from structures derived from [[Eden]]'s<ref name="reddEndbringerLite" /><ref name="SB eNoVials" /> pool of emergency resources,<ref name="II19.z e4" /> the Endbringers also have other drives which give each Endbringer its own paradigm and purpose:
* [[Behemoth]] has a drive to break stasis.<ref name="II19.z e4">Her creator was an administrator of the highest order, and she had been selected out of a pool of emergency resources.  All of her kind had.  Behemoth had been created to break stasis, Leviathan to take away resources in space and land, forcing communities into conflict as they were made to relocate. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/02/23/infrared-19-z/ Excerpt] from [[Infrared 19.z]]</ref> For example, France has a long insistence on using nuclear power as its largest source of electricity; he attacked Lyon twice as it has many nuclear plants in its vicinity.<ref>'''Asmora:''' Just thought I’d point this out, since no one else has mentioned it: Lyon was attacked twice. Is this an editing error on Wildbow’s part, attributable to the fact that he was rushed in writing this monstrously huge (and yet it felt like one of the shorter reads to me) chapter? I sincerely doubt it, given that Lyon is the last entry. Thus, we require WMG as to what the deal is there. Was there something in Lyon that interested Behemoth, but he was driven off before he got it on the first trip, so he came back for it? Did he decimate the city the first time, then get upset because they rebuilt it too quickly and thoroughly?<br><br>'''wildbow:''' Lyon is an area with a great many nuclear plants in the vicinity. - Wildbow in [[Interlude 24.x]]</ref><!-- https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/06/22/interlude-24/#comment-29217 -->
* [[Leviathan]] has a drive to take away resources necessary for survival, and thus force relocating communities into conflict.<ref name="II19.z e4" /> For example, his attack on [[Kyushu]] started a refugee crisis and some 'small' wars.<ref name="15.5 c1" />
* [[The Simurgh]] has [[The_Simurgh#Her_Drives|a drive]] to collect, consolidate, and sort information<ref name="II19.z e5">She was built out of greater structures intended to salvage a situation where the species eliminated itself.  Future-looking, she would create a forced simulation.  It was worse than an organically emergent simulation, but in a process that saw the planet revolve three hundred times around its star, it could be necessary in the final years, consolidating and sorting information, forcibly exploring the resources the planet had to offer.<br><br>That was her drive, as much as water and food were necessary for this life she farmed out and put to task in a greater system. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/02/23/infrared-19-z/ Excerpt] from [[Infrared 19.z]]</ref> produced by [[parahuman]]s and humanity in a world of conflict.<ref name="II20.8 plan">This whole plan, the idea was to give them exactly what they wanted.  The Simurgh wanted a fight, wanted conflict, everyone on the planet pushing themselves to the limit, testing a system she’d set in motion.<br><br>Well, she’d got that.  Contained to this one facility.  With ''her'' as our primary enemy, more than each other.<br><br>Now Fortuna wanted to end the world.  We needed to help her do that.  If we balked, if we stopped… we lost.  Hesitation when parrying an incoming strike was death.  My early sparring with Manpower had taught me that much.  It was especially true when your opponent was a hundred times stronger than you, if not stronger. - [[Last 20.8]]</ref><ref name="II19.z e8">Three or four billion years would pass before one of the entities returned to this world.  In the interim, she would keep this world alive, and she would glean all knowledge that the minds of this world could produce.  Every means of suffering, every desperate solution, every invention and inspiration. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/02/23/infrared-19-z/ Excerpt] from [[Infrared 19.z]]</ref> 
* Although the other drives of [[Khonsu]], [[Bohu]], and [[Tohu]] are unknown, they are different from the first three Endbringers.<ref name="Rjla e2" />
All these drives are just as fundamental to them as water and food are for humans.<ref name="II19.z e5" />

After [[Eidolon]]'s death, the Endbringers begin behaving in an erratic manner.<ref name="28.2 eStrangeBehavior1" /><ref name="28.2 eStrangeBehavior2" /> [[Tattletale]] speculates that Eidolon may have inadvertently created them as a way to use his abilities to their fullest and make a unique difference;<ref name="28.4 e2">"Let's face the facts, Simurgh.  Ziz.  Israfel.  Ulama.  Whatever you want to go by.  You started acting funny pretty much right away, after Eidolon bit it.  Maybe that's mourning.  Maybe you respected him as an enemy, 'cause he was one of only two individuals who could really give you guys a run for your money.  Or maybe you had a different relationship."<br><br>Tattletale let the words hang in the air.<br><br>"Maybe a parent-child relationship?  Maybe he created you.<br>[...]<br>“They say loneliness breeds the best masters, and it’s awfully lonely at the top,” Tattletale said.  "Nobody that can really put up a fight, no excuse to flex his abilities to their fullest, nothing that can really give the man any real ''stature'', next to Legend, who had all the face time with the media.  No real role to play, compared to Alexandria, who was managing the PRT.  Odd man out." - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/09/07/cockroaches-28-4/ Excerpt] from [[Cockroaches 28.4]]</ref> [[Scion]] killing Eidolon denied the Endbringers their purpose.<ref>“…Do it for the psychological impact, leave a mark.  Or do it because Scion killed Behemoth, your brother, and some part of you is programmed with a sense of kinship or whatever.  But above all else, I’m hoping you’ll help us murder that golden alien motherfucker because he killed Eidolon, and he stripped you of your ''purpose''.”<br><br>''Sixty percent sure'', I thought.  Tattletale had revised her number.  How confident was she now?<br><br>The speech had no meat to it if Eidolon hadn’t made the Endbringers.<br><br>Very little if he ''had''. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/09/07/cockroaches-28-4/ Excerpt] from [[Cockroaches 28.4]]</ref> She claimed to be 60% sure of this conclusion,<ref name="28.4 e3">"He's really their creator?"  Defiant asked.  "Eidolon?"<br><br>"…Sixty percent sure.  Eidolon's some kind of exception, on a lot of levels.  His power works by different vectors, the innate limits aren't there… something broke, and I'm betting the Endbringers are tied to it.  Like, this entity is fissioning off into countless fragments that impregnate hosts and somehow a little extra gets tacked on.  Or Cauldron's method of replicating the fragments gets that little extra." - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/09/07/cockroaches-28-4/ Excerpt] from [[Cockroaches 28.4]]</ref> but grew increasingly confident about it when she met [[the Simurgh]].<ref>“Seventy,” Tattletale said.<br><br>“Hm?” I asked.<br><br>“I said I was sixty-five percent sure before.  I’m revising it to seventy.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/09/07/cockroaches-28-4/ Excerpt] from [[Cockroaches 28.4]]</ref><ref>“You’re seventy percent sure.”<br><br>“Seventy percent, yes.  If I’m ''wrong'', then I’ll be approaching this entire conversation from the wrong angle, and we might wind up siccing an otherwise passive Endbringer on humanity.”<br><br>“Let’s hope you’re right, then,” I said.<br><br>She nodded. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/09/07/cockroaches-28-4/ Excerpt] from [[Cockroaches 28.4]]</ref>

After [[Gold Morning]], the surviving Endbringers except for [[the Simurgh]] went dormant.<ref name="E.end eDormantEB" /><ref name="II10.x e1">There were other things.  News.  Status of Class-S threats…
:''Sleeper; active''
:''Machine Army; 4.83% growth since last check, active''
:''Endbringers; one dormant, one active, others dead or unknown locations.''
Active Endbringer.  She zeroed in on that.  A few mouse clicks brought her to a site that tracked the Simurgh.<br/><br/>The activity was only a renewed cluster of sightings.  Not an attack.  The Simurgh was somewhere near Bet’s [[Indonesia]].  Not flying as she’d once done, either.  Floating around.  Facilities and factories in the area had been repurposed into accommodations.  People in the area were hunkered down, enduring life on new Bet instead of moving on to new places, leaning on some risky non-tinker tech advances.  Going the sci-fi route in tackling what Bet was going through.  Those same people were responsible for the flurry of reports about the Simurgh, which had led to her being flagged ‘active’. - [[Interlude 10.x II]]</ref> Although the Simurgh unsuccessfully tried cloning [[Eidolon]],<ref>“Actually, no.  I had suspicions, but the Endbringer making a baby wasn’t one of them.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/11/16/teneral-e-5/ Excerpt] from [[Teneral e.5]]</ref><ref name="E.5 eProtectProject" /><ref name="E.5 eDestroyClone">The light caught the glass, at first, obscuring the contents.<br><br>A baby.  Male.  With large ears and a large round nose.  Not attractive, as babies went.<br>[...]<br>Lung touched a burning hand to the glass, melting it.  Water steamed on contact with his claw.<br>[...]<br>The water was crimson and boiling by the time Lung withdrew his claw. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/11/16/teneral-e-5/ Excerpt] from [[Teneral e.5]]</ref> she still explicitly intends to recreate him later.<ref name="II19.z e6" /> According to [[Titan Fortuna]], the Simurgh can only command [[Khonsu]], [[Bohu]], and [[Tohu]] by successfully merging with her and then using an Eidolon shade via [[Valkyrie|Titan Valkyrie]];<ref>A great, long-fingered hand of silver with bone-white nails reached out.  The shadow of Eidolon stepped down onto the fingertip.<br><br>Titans appeared from clouds of darkness, arranging themselves in a formation around their new center and commander.<br><br>''Other'' things stepped out of clouds of darkness.<br><br>Not Titans, but scary enough in their own way.  Especially considering what all of this ''meant''.<br><br>Endbringers.  One tall and narrow, of a size to rival any Titan.  One small, a knot of formlessness, with faces periodically flashing out.  One with a great chrome orb for a midsection, a black, whiskered head, arms, and feet mounted at different positions around that orb.  There were other shapes that stood in the dark clouds, but they didn’t emerge or seem consistent.  Still taking shape. - [[Infrared 19.9]]</ref> the Simurgh-Fortuna amalgamation would then use the other Endbringers as bodyguards.<ref name="II19.10 e1">“Let’s assume they have clear goals.  The Simurgh wants… ''that''.  Whatever that was.  Humanity under her sway, her with Titans, Endbringers, and an army of capes brought back from the dead to protect her.  Titan Fortuna wants to bring about the end of our world so their species can try their hand at replicating.  Both have similar endpoints.  But those are just that.  Endpoints.  What happens after the end?”<br><br>“The world is enslaved, or the world blows up,” Byron said.<br><br>“Immediately?”<br><br>“The slavery, it seems like.  The world blowing up… don’t know.” - [[Infrared 19.10]]</ref>

===Tactics===
As the Endbringers intend to constantly escalate over roughly 300 years<ref name="reddit eLifespan" /> in their war against [[Eidolon]],<ref name="II19.z e6" /> they hold back on a tactical and strategic level in their fight against humanity.<ref>She only grinned.  She reached over to the bedside table and retrieved a pen and notepad.  Her grin fell from her face as she wrote something, then tore the page free, handing it to me.
:he’s going easy on us.  all Endbringers are.  but Behemoth holding back, even from moment he arrive.  taking more hits than he should.
“We already knew that they’re holding back for some reason,” I said.  “The way they space out attacks, they could accelerate the timetable or coordinate their strikes if they wanted to fuck us over.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/06/15/crushed-24-3/ Excerpt] from [[Crushed 24.3]]</ref><ref name="24.3" /> [[Wildbow]] speculates that sandbagging Endbringers are straightforward fighters, using raw power instead of finesse and catching opponents off guard with a few of their obvious tricks.<ref>'''Wildbow:''' It's worth saying that Endbringers tend to show up on the scene and appear pretty straightforward.  Just bring raw power to bear, fuck shit up, let a few of their tricks (Kill aura, tidal waves, 'lose the war' precognition) catch people off guard.<br>Then as time goes on, they pull out more tricks, reveal they have things up their sleeve, etc.  (attacking the island with water pressure underwater, pulling on the thinker powers of people in scream range, pulling on tinker tech & powers in the same way) - Comment by Wildbow on Parahumans Discord</ref> When their enemies think they are comfortable fighting them, sandbagging Endbringers will escalate<ref>“Essalated,” I managed.  “Esc-”<br><br>“Escalated,” Sveta said.<br><br>“It did.  Like an Endbringer.” - [[From Within 16.9]]</ref><ref name="reddit eLifespan" /> and gradually unveil new tactics<ref>''That'' was what I was waiting for.  My limited experience with Endbringers had taught me one thing.  When someone actually found a way to respond, to cancel out the attacks or to deliver a measure of real damage, they changed tactics.<br><br>Some capes were already responding.  Captains and leaders were giving orders, and various barriers were being reinforced or thrown back up.  Some were trying to give the warning, but their voices disappeared in the midst of the chaos around us.<br><br>“Take cover!” I hollered, and my swarm carried my voice.<br><br>It was only two or three seconds later, as the second wave of spheres drifted to Behemoth and began to cut into his torso and groin area, that he responded.  His ‘mouth’ opened, the craggy spikes of obsidian ‘teeth’ parting.<br><br>And he roared.  A sound that was slow at first, growing steadily more powerful. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/06/15/crushed-24-3/ Excerpt] from [[Crushed 24.3]]</ref><ref name="24.5 eHitRunTactic">I didn’t deny it.  “There’s one more reason we should go, though.  He’s going to-”<br><br>''Retaliate.''<br><br>Behemoth rose from beneath the ground a distance away.  In a heartbeat, things shifted from a near-quiet to chaos.  He was still glowing, and his claws crackled with electricity as he struck quickly, violently, and indiscriminately.<br><br>Three capes taken down, struck out of the sky by the bolts of electricity.  Even if they’d survived that much, the kill aura and the radiation would end them.<br>[...]<br>''It’s the Endbringer’s pattern.  We hurt them or stall them enough, they change tactics, hit us back.'' - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/crushed-24-5/ Excerpt] from [[Crushed 24.5]]</ref> and ways to leverage their existing powerset as they figuratively speaking have a lot of cards up their sleeves.<ref name="24.x e1">Then he’d taken command of a team, and he’d seen the process of trial and error, as they learned their opponents’ capabilities, saw how Leviathan or the Simurgh could keep tricks up their sleeves for ''years'', before using them at a critical moment.  Even now, they didn’t fully understand the Simurgh’s power, how long it might take someone to recover, if recovery was even possible. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/06/22/interlude-24/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 24.x]]</ref><ref name="29.1 e1">“Way I understand it, she needs to have a tinker in her sphere of influence to borrow their schematics, or a specific device, if she wants to copy it.  Thinkers, too, I think she borrows their perception powers as long as she’s tapped into them.  Might be why she’s attached to me.  Either way, she didn’t have schematics or anything she’d need to modify the guns.”<br><br>“Or she ''can'' modify them, and it’s a card she’s been keeping up her sleeve for the last while.  I mean, it was only three years ago or whatever that she really showed off her ability to copy a tinker’s work wholesale.”<br><br>Tattletale nodded.  She frowned.  “I don’t like being in the dark.  But that’s the gist of it.  She made cosmetic changes because she couldn’t make concrete ones.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/09/19/venom-29-1/ Excerpt] from [[Venom 29.1]]</ref><ref>“The Simurgh!  Pay attention, even if you won’t be fighting her.  You can’t know what will happen!” Legend announced, and he was confident, assured.  If the head injury had impaired his faculties any, it didn’t show.  “Our analysis of the Simurgh comes from years of experience!  I can tell you, don’t let your guard down.  She ''will'' surprise us.  She will throw curveballs at us.  In all the times we’ve engaged with her, she has had new tricks.  Stay the course! - [[Last 20.1]]</ref><ref>'''AutobotYoung1:''' He [Behemoth] is literally a walking nuke, everything he touches is radioactive and yet the city [New York] is mentioned constantly as if it’s not a fallout wasteland. What the hell is going on?<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Keep timeline and the gradual unveiling of powers in mind. Endbringers keep tricks up their sleeves to reveal later. There's no guarantee he was even demonstrating his ability to use radiation back then. - Conversation with Wildbow on Reddit</ref><!-- https://redd.it/y9stye -->

An Endbringer that goes all out would better leverage their existing powerset from the start without worrying about their lifespan.<ref name="SB eSmartLeviathan">I think part of the reason Anzer'Ke isn't necessarily getting it is that he's imagining some scenario where Leviathan throws himself at the enemy.<br><br>Quite frankly, if Leviathan wants to win (and if he's not in Earth Bet and he's not dormant, he will) he's going to do it smart, which is something he is capable of (see his actions during the timeskip, hitting multiple cities). He's not going to surface, and he's just going to call tidal waves and rainstorms down on the enemy until they stop moving (see his literal first appearance in story - he interrupts the strategy meeting by hitting them with a wave before he shows himself. Now remove the 'show himself' element). If they're on boats (they're often on boats) he may well gut the boats from beneath. The only ones standing are going to be the ones who have special ships and/or powerful devil's fruit abilities.<br><br>What happens after that? Well, maybe they can block the waves or simply weather them, but can they resupply? Or does he simply occupy them and prolong the fight until the fruit users get tired or exhausted, make a mistake, or start to falter for lack of sleep and/or food? There are a lot of advantages to being nonhuman in nature.<br><br>I stopped watching shortly after Ace's execution arc, so I can't speak to the individuals who appear after (or the fishmen) but I suspect Anzer'Ke is simply making the classic mistake of underestimating Leviathan. - Wildbow on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/16048226 --><ref name="IRC eLeviathanTactics" /><ref name="Rjla e6" /><ref name="reddit eLifespan" /> [[Wildbow]] speculates that Endbringers are exactly as strong as they appear: non-sandbagging Endbringers still work within their established rules and power levels.<ref>'''KreenWarrior:''' I think the non-jobbing Endbringers thing is less about taking power limiters off and more about turning the difficulty on the AI way way up.  Suddenly they never miss skillshots and can read your controller inputs<br>Except at the highest levels they just wipe your hard drive<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' More that they have a lot of cards they keep up their sleeves.  A lot of things they can do that do technically fit within the established rules and power levels, that they don't unveil until you think you're comfortable fighting them.<br>Leviathan attacking the island shelf underwater to sink Kyushu.  The Simurgh pulling tinkertech together using the collected knowledge of all scanned tinkers in her radius.<br>Or they retreat when they're at 70%, implying that their health bar is a lot smaller.  But really they can keep fighting as skeletons. - Conversation with Wildbow on Parahumans Discord</ref> After tanking [[Phir Sē]]'s time bomb in [[New Delhi]],<ref name="24.4 eBehemothEighty" /> [[Behemoth]] started burrowing underground<ref>“He went underground,” Eidolon informed us.<br><br>“He ran?  It’s over?”<br><br>“No,” Eidolon said. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/crushed-24-5/ Excerpt] from [[Crushed 24.5]]</ref> and using hit-and-run tactics for the first time.<ref name="24.5 eHitRunTactic" /> He then stayed underground for an extended duration<ref>The sound of the fighting stopped with a crash.  Where was the motherfucker?  I rose higher to check, but saw neither Behemoth nor the cape who’d been binding him.  He’d burrowed.<br><br>It was ''quiet'', all of a sudden, if not quite silent.  The defending capes were spreading out, and were hovering in place or holding positions, rather than bombarding the landscape.  The lightning and fire had stopped, and no shockwaves ripped through the city.  The rumbling was intermittent, mild when it wasn’t almost imperceptible.  The ringing in my ears was louder than the ambient noise.<br><br>This was his new tactic, burrowing, surfacing.  But where was the retaliation?  Their whole damn pattern centered around repaying us twice over for any abuse we inflicted on them.<br><br>The armband crackled, and I jumped, despite myself.  The first message didn’t come through the static, but the second was clearer.  “''Be advised, seismic activity suggests the Endbringer is still local.  Regroup and form defensive lines''.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/crushed-24-5/ Excerpt] from [[Crushed 24.5]]</ref><ref>Where the hell was the bastard?  I was a little caught off guard by how ''quiet'' things had gone.  He was giving us a chance to regroup?  Or was he letting us gather, so he could take us all out at once? - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/crushed-24-5/ Excerpt] from [[Crushed 24.5]]</ref> to use shockwaves in key areas to set up fissures<ref>As if reminding us of the culprit, there was a distant rumble.  It grew steadily in intensity, then stopped abruptly.  As far as I could tell, with bugs spread out over the area within two thousand feet or so, the Endbringer wasn’t moving any closer to us.<br>[...]<br>There was a rumble, with a shaking that affected the whole structure.  Something distant, beyond my power’s range.  A heavy crash.  Somewhere in a northwesterly direction. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/crushed-24-5/ Excerpt] from [[Crushed 24.5]]</ref><ref>“Probably,” I agreed.  “But my guys are moving out anyways.  We’ve never done this much damage to him, and yet he’s sticking around.  What I’m wondering is, ''why''?”<br><br>Defiant glanced at Dragon, then spoke.  “He’s-”<br><br>The ground shuddered.  Again, as before, the rumbling intensified.<br><br>This time, it didn’t stop.  It got worse with every passing second.<br>[...]<br>The rumbling reached the point where capes were unable to keep their balance.  I raised off the ground, but the movement of the ''air'' in response to the shuddering was enough to make me sway. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/crushed-24-5/ Excerpt] from [[Crushed 24.5]]</ref> and shatter the above landscape.<ref>Behemoth emerged with a plume of gray-brown smoke, and the landscape ''shattered''.  It was Tecton’s natural power, taken to an extreme.  Fissures lanced out in every direction and disappeared into each horizon.  ''Secondary'' fissures crossed between each of the major ones, like the threads of a spider’s web.<br><br>As far as the eye could see in every direction, terrain shifted.  Hillsides abruptly tilted, standing structures fell like collapsing houses of cards.<br><br>A full quarter of the temple collapsed.  The bugs I’d kept to the edges of the room could sense it as a small share of the capes who were in the entry hall were caught beneath the falling rubble.  The ones furthest towards the back.  Eidolon’s protective effect kept the remainder intact.<br><br>Behemoth emerged from the smoke.  He was more robust than he had been, but that wasn’t saying much.  Seventy percent burned away, perhaps.  The regeneration had slowed, but it was still functioning to a degree.  He’d recuperated, built his strength, and he’d used the time to, what?  Burrow through strategic areas?  Had the distant rumbles been controlled detonations or collapses at key areas?<br><br>The temple was the one building that stood.  Everywhere else, there was devastation. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/crushed-24-5/ Excerpt] from [[Crushed 24.5]]</ref> A non-sandbagging Behemoth would fight from beneath the city at the start.<ref name="Rjla e6">The reason the Endbringers haven't destroyed the Wormverse, in large part, is that they're jobbing every fight. The post that follows will assume that Leviathan and Behemoth are going full-strength and Simurgh is using her powers as detailed in the story (where she's jobbing, in large part).<br><br>As I see it, the Endbringers have the attacker's advantage. Assuming the two sides don't have prior knowledge of one another, the Simurgh can use the same tactic she used in Lausanne. Be ''benign''.<br>[...]<br>Lay groundwork for maximum amount of time allowed, psychic scream not audible, read the future, turn a city of people into individual rube goldberg devices. More time = more people and more complex machinations.<br>[...]<br>The Simurgh sees how long she can scan/sing, Leviathan and Behemoth just stay where they are, in Gotham bay or beneath the city.<br><br>If the Endbringers reach the point where they can set the above scenario in motion, they're basically forcing the Justice League to devote time and effort to saving lives, and they change the paradigm of the fight. The heroes have to save the city from itself, rescuing people who may turn around and try to kill them, slow them down, or attack other civilians. Picture a city of B-list Jokers. Or the worst possible people finding a cache of Bane venom. Kill squads going after Batman's associates. - [https://redd.it/2sju2u Wildbow on Reddit]</ref>

Several situations exist where Endbringers will stop holding back. If they realize they are currently fighting a legitimate threat to their life (e.g., [[Gray Boy]]), they will go all out against that threat.<ref name="IRC-1" /> When [[Leviathan]] attacked [[Battle against Leviathan|Brockton Bay]], he used non-optimal tactics such as letting [[Skitter]] walk right by him without retaliation.<ref>I felt him arrive, a small few bugs still inside him, though most of the rest had been washed away in his swim.  There were so few I’d missed his approach.<br><br>Leviathan.<br><br>People ran back inside the shelter, screamed and pushed, trampled one another.  I was forced into the corner by the door as they ran into the shelter, tried to make some distance between themselves and the Endbringer.<br>[...]<br>And he was there, climbing through the vaultlike door, so large he barely fit.  One claw on either side, he pushed his way through.  Stood as tall as he could inside the front door, looking over the crowd.  Hundreds of people were within, captive, helpless.<br>[...]<br>Leviathan took a step forward, putting me behind him and just to his right.  He lashed his tail again.  Another dozen or two dozen civilians slain.<br>[...]<br>One hand on my shoulder to steady my throbbing broken arm, I slipped behind Leviathan, hugging the wall, slipping around the corner and moving up the vault door with padded feet. - [[Extermination 8.5]]</ref> However, Leviathan immediately goes all out against [[Scion]] after Scion attacks him; he tries out multiple different attacks.<ref>Scion raised one hand, and a ball of yellow-gold light slammed into Leviathan from behind, sent the Endbringer skidding across the length of the street, past Bitch and I.<br><br>Leviathan leaped to his feet, reared around, swung his claws at the air ferociously.  Water around him rose, rushed towards Scion, a wave three times as high as Bitch was tall.  Three times as tall as I might be if I could stand.<br>[...]<br>Leviathan lunged up to the side of a half-ruined building, leaped down to a point three-quarters of the way between himself and Scion.  His afterimage slammed into the hero.<br>[...]<br>Leviathan grabbed a car, twisted his entire upper body to toss it in the style of an olympic hammer-throw.  The car hurtled through the air, and Scion batted it aside with the back of one hand.  The vehicle virtually detonated with the impact, falling into a thousand pieces, each piece glowing with golden-yellow light, disintegrating as they splashed into the water. - [[Extermination 8.5]]</ref> After his attacks prove ineffective, Leviathan then tries to run away;<ref>Leviathan heaved himself out of the rubble, turned to run, only for water to rise and freeze solid in one smooth movement, forming a wall as tall as Leviathan was, a hundred feet long.  He paused for a fraction of a second, to gauge which way he might go, poise himself to leap over.  Scion caught him with another golden-yellow blast before he could follow through. - [[Extermination 8.5]]</ref> he tries out multiple tactics to cover his retreat.<ref>Eidolon froze the water around Leviathan’s four claws, giving Scion the opportunity to land another blast.  Leviathan turned, raised a spraying wall of water to cover his retreat.  Scion sent out one blast of his golden light to strike the wave, following up with a second blast before the first even made contact with the water.<br><br>Seeing the second blast coming, Leviathan leaped to one side.  No use – the blast of light curved in the air to head unerringly for him, struck him down.<br>[...]<br>A tidal wave appeared in the distance, at the furthest end of the street, near the horizon.<br>[...]<br>Another blast of golden light, and one side was stopped, stalled.  A third blast was spared for Leviathan, who was getting his hands and feet firmly on the ground, crouching in preparation to run.  The Endbringer was knocked squarely to the ground.<br>[...]<br>When the flow of water was past us, I could see a fifth blast of light following Leviathan, who had used the cresting water to swim away.  He was making his way to the coast.  Scion rose, flew after his target with a streak of golden light tracing his movement.  Eidolon followed soon after. - [[Extermination 8.5]]</ref> Endbringers will also go all out if they are fighting enemies in an unknown world (e.g., Leviathan in [[w:c:onepiece:World|One Piece]]<ref name="SB eSmartLeviathan" />) or when the stakes are too high for their plans (e.g., [[the Simurgh]] against the [[Titans]] and [[the Wardens]]<ref>''We began this fight when you broke, child'', the Titan Fortuna thought, trying to communicate to the battered kernel of human consciousness within herself.<br><br>''She began this two years ago, when Gold Morning occurred.  It doesn’t matter that we have a hundred times her strength.  She’s within paces of the finish line, and she’s no stupid rabbit racing a tortise.  Nearly every action she could take brings her closer to a checkmate.'' - [[Radiation 18.z]]</ref><ref>It did not matter that she couldn’t see the remainder of that meeting in the lobby of the headquarters.  Were she to fly closer and gather information by emitting her signal, she might be able to piece together the events, but it did not matter.  She was entirely assured of Cryptid, Chris Elman’s trajectory.  There was no reality she could interpret where the result wasn’t entirely to her favor.<br>[...]<br>So it went.  Machines tore into her and studied her.  This would play a part in removing three more threats from play.  Later, a subversion of this network in coordination with her integration with Titan Fortuna would let her spread her signal.<br><br>In two minutes, the Wardens would come to the near-unanimous conclusion that the Simurgh was their first priority, too dangerous to be left alone as they enacted dangerous plans.  In twelve minutes, after everyone had gathered, they would announce this.  In sixteen, they would leave the lobby and attack her.<br><br>She abandoned the Machine Army, having given them what they would need later, and flew to the battlefield.  She was already prepared. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/02/23/infrared-19-z/ Excerpt] from [[Infrared 19.z]]</ref>).