Editing All-or-Nothing (section)

==Details==
All-or-nothing is not strictly linked to the general threat level of a parahuman, but denotes high quality, "hard counter" nature of the power itself. For example Clockblocker, Damsel of Distress and Torso all have very strong powers once applied, but are severely limited in that three of them have to use their own legs and wits to get to the target, which hurts their general threat levels. Contessa, on the other hand, is directly aided by her power to be in the right place in the right time, which solidly puts her into 12+ "do not expect to win" category of threat.<ref>“What’s her classification?”<br><br>“Thinker.  Don’t worry about the number.  Just run.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/ Excerpt] from [[Drone 23.2]]</ref><ref>Contessa and Glaistig Uaine were easily twelves or higher on the power-ratings scale, and I could look to others with powers in that neighborhood to figure out who she was referring to. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/08/22/ Excerpt] from [[Extinction 27.4]]</ref>

Expanding on this, the parahumans showcased here 'break' the rules that other parahumans follow.<ref name="9.2">Flechette wasn’t a breaker, though her power came close. Technically, she was a striker, a cape with the ability to apply some effect by touch or at point-blank range. The striker classification could include certain breaker effects as they were applied to things other than the cape themselves, but not always.[...]<br><br>She infused the three-foot length of sharpened metal that was mounted in her arbalest with her power. The more power there was in it, the less it was affected by the natural laws of the universe. Focusing more power into an object meant gravity, air resistance and general physics held less and less sway over it. She could tune it, make the effect longer lived, shorter lived or bias the effects to allow for more of one element or less of another.<br><br>She could do other things, but the primary benefit, the easiest thing to do, was making her ammunition punch through '''''anything'''''. [emphasis added] - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/04/07/sentinel-9-2/ Excerpt] from [[Sentinel 9.2]]</ref> Part of what makes a parahuman an All-or-Nothing is the sheer violation of physics they accomplish,<ref>Siberian was on the far side of the two-lane road that stood beside Amy’s hideout.  She didn’t walk straight for Amy, but walked down the street with an almost casual slowness.  She had one arm out, a hand tracing the side of the building she was walking by, as if to guide her through the effects Grue’s lightless world.<br><br>My swarm felt dust shower onto them in her wake.  It was unexpected, and it demanded investigation.  I moved them across the wall, and felt a gap.  She wasn’t just putting her hand on the wall, but her hand and forearm ''through'' it.  What did that mean?<br><br>My bugs felt more dust fall from above.  A moth was bludgeoned by a rock that fell from above.<br><br>I felt realization hit me like a bucket of cold water.<br><br>Her hand was punching through the exterior wall of the building, but it was also tearing through the supports and load bearing areas.  She’d made her way halfway through the ground floor.  By the time she finished, part of the building was going to collapse and fall.<br><br>If the building tipped in the direction of the shattered area, it could easily fall on the mall where Amy was hiding. - [http://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/09/08 Excerpt] on [[Prey 14.2]]</ref> that takes them a step beyond the consequences that other parahumans have to deal with.<ref>[Alexandria] walked across the empty building. By the time she reached the other end, she was floating, her feet not even touching the ground. She set her hands on the wall, dragged her fingertips through the concrete, then crushed it in her hands. It should have ruined her skin, left scrapes or torn her fingernails, short as they were, but it hadn’t.<br>[...]<br>Legend fired beam after beam at Siberian, but the striped woman didn’t even flinch. She was invincible on a level that surpassed even Alexandria.<br>[...]<br>Eidolon was trying to heal Hero, to teleport people out of danger when Alexandria and Legend proved unable, and changing up his abilities every few seconds to throw something new at Siberian in the hopes that ''something'' would affect her. She waded through zones of altered time, through lightning storms and force fields, tore through barricades of living wood and slapped aside a projectile so hyperdense that its gravitational field pulled cars behind it. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/11/08 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 15.z]]</ref>

Some tinkers, such as [[Armsmaster]],<ref>Leviathan turned to run.  Armsmaster sent out one blade like a grappling hook, circled the smaller of the Endbringer’s claws with the chain.  Leviathan moved, oblivious or uncaring, and Armsmaster waited until the slack was out of the chain, pressed a button.<br><br>The chain and Halberd ceased moving, and even Leviathan’s strength ceased to move it.  Rather than pull away, the Endbringer skidded, fell on his back, wrist still held by the chain.<br>[...]<br>“For the record, that last trick was a temporal stasis trigger, with thanks owed to the cooperation of a subordinate of mine.  Drains my battery reserves, but you don’t understand that, do you?”<br><br>Leviathan lunged, and Armsmaster fired out the grappling hook, stopped it in mid air by freezing it in time.  Leviathan ran himself through on the chain, the thing spearing deep into his neck and out the back of his torso.  Uncaring, the Endbringer continued to charge at Armsmaster. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/03/13 Excerpt] from [[Extermination 8.4]]</ref> are able to replicate these effects possibly even to block these abilities.<ref name="blind"/>

Using All-or-Nothing powers are one of the few ways to [[Endbringers#Vulnerabilities|kill an Endbringer]]<ref name=R3>'''Nekron-akaMrSkeletal:''' I guess that works. I was actually wondering about sting. If Foil had been at the behemoth fight could she have finished behemoth when his core was exposed?<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Yep. - [https://www.reddit.com/r/Parahumans/comments/3ofej1/endbringer_versus_endbringer/cvwxx13/ Wildbow on Reddit]</ref><ref>8:47 PM <•Wildbow> If you have multiple effects in place and you trap the whole Endbringer, it'll count as dead. - [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/14919700/ Answer by Wildbow on IRC, archived on Spacebattles]</ref> or an “unkillable” cape like Alexandria<ref name=R2/> or Gavel.<ref name="sb eGavel">What do you do with the villains who can't be killed, like Gavel? You maybe try to wrangle some giant-killers like Flechette/Foil, but how many of those guys are there, really? - [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/15024820 Wildbow on Spacebattles]</ref>

===Vulnerabilities===
Powers that are ''unbeatable'' (e.g., defense that defends against ''all'' attacks without fail, attack that penetrates ''all'' defenses without fail) can beat an All-or-Nothing effect.<ref name=R1 /><ref name=R2 />

====Mutual Nullification====
If an All-or-Nothing effect comes into tangible contact with another All-or-Nothing effect, they mutually nullify each other's effect:
*In her final fight against [[March]], [[Foil]]'s charged weapon conflicted with March's charged weapon. Both weapons lost their charge and became normal swords after contacting each other.<ref name="II12.x eConflict" />
*When Foil fired a charged bolt at the [[Blaster]] from [[Lord of Loss]]'s group, his crystal conflicted with her bolt. Both objects mutually lost their effects and thus shattered from the force behind their collision.<ref name="II11.7 eConflict" />
*[[Clockblocker]]'s power conflicted with [[Hookline]]'s chain. Clockblocker experienced some backlash after failing to apply his power; Hookline's chain lost its effect and became a normal chain.<ref name=clockline>Clockblocker hurried to Hookline’s side.  A non-living weapon that would serve the same purpose-<br><br>The effect as they made contact wasn’t the same purpose.  Clockblocker winced, hand pulling away, and the chain went completely limp.<br><br>''Power conflict''. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/03/03 Excerpt] from [[Last 20.3]]</ref> Note that the chain regained its effect in short time.<ref>Hookline and Disjoint were at the ready, Hookline grabbing Damsel and pulling her out of the way of the spikes, while Disjoint reached out with dismembered limbs and shoved capes out of the way. - [[Last 20.7]]</ref>
*Foil's power versus the [[Siberian]] is the classic scenario where an unstoppable force strikes an immovable object.<ref>'''Belial666:''' Harm is harm. Since there doesn’t seem to be a limit to what powers can actually do, think of an effect that could trump other effects. For example, a sword that cuts ANYthing is something that has occasionally appears in fantasy. Not the “absurdly sharp edge” version but the “name the object of objection and it’s cut” version.<br>Swing it at someone and you could cut off a limb. Or, you could cut off their will to fight. Or their strength. Or their ability to interact with the world. Or anything else of them you could name at all.<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' But if you’re talking in that respect, you might as well be asking what happens when the unstoppable force strikes the immovable object. You might be talking about exactly this if you’re referring to flechette’s arrows vs. Siberian. - Comment by Wildbow on [[Prey 14.2]]</ref><!-- https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/09/08/prey-14-2/#comment-4085 --> The Siberian touching an object frozen by Clockblocker is an identical scenario.<ref name="26.5 eConflict" /> Their conflict causes the following to occur:
**As the Siberian is entirely an All-or-Nothing effect, it pops (i.e., flickers out of existence).<ref name="26.5 eConflict" /><ref name="26.b eDartSiberian">Up until the moment Foil, still screaming, using her augmented sense of timing to measure the length of each scream, stepped around the monochrome field he’d cast just in front of her.  She threw a handful of darts through the Siberian and Gray Boy’s head as his back was turned.<br><br>The Siberian flickered out of existence as Gray Boy collapsed.<br><br>Neither reappeared, healthy or otherwise. - [[Interlude 26b]]</ref>
**Clockblocker's object unfreezes. Forces such as gravity can once again affect the object.<ref name="26.5 eConflict" />
**Foil's charged object becomes a normal object but continues its trajectory.<ref name="26.b eDartSiberian" />
*If Foil's charged object theoretically comes into contact with Clockblocker's frozen object, they presumably nullify each other's effect so that their interaction effectively becomes a question on whether Foil's normal object can pierce Clockblocker's normal object.<ref>'''[Spoilers Possible] Could one of Flechette's projectiles...'''<br>...pierce an object or person that's been Clockblocked?<br><br>'''gardenofjew:''' I'd guess yes because the following happens in the story:<br>time-frozen objects and Siberian will cancel each out-- Siberian 'pops', the object unfreezes. We see this in the S9000 arc.<br>A Foil! dart passes through a Siberian (and pops it) during the S9000 arc.<br>Since Foil>Siberian and Siberian=time-frozen, Foil>time-frozen<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' More or less. - Conversation with Wildbow on [https://redd.it/3xjc5q Reddit]</ref>
*If [[Ashley Stillons]]' blast theoretically comes into contact with the Siberian, the Siberian pops<ref name="SBashley e1" /> and the All-or-Nothing effect of her blast is presumably nullified.

====Power Negation====
By cancelling out specific wavelengths, [[Scion]] can tune his Stilling attacks to negate an All-or-Nothing effect (e.g., [[Gray Boy]]'s time loop,<ref name="sb eScionStilling">Scion equipped himself to be able to fight pretty much any threat. His big weapon is a very versatile 'stilling' ability, which lets him cancel out wavelengths, which can be applied in a variety of ways, defensive or offensive - it lets him counteract, manipulate, and cancel virtually any parahuman or human generated effect. He can cancel out heat, eliminate sound, break Grey Boy's ability, disintegrate molecular bonds, etc. He can do so with beams, thrown orbs/bullets, a light he emanates, and a personal forcefield, among a variety of other mechanisms. - Wildbow on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/15025980/ --> the [[Siberian]],<ref>The Siberian appeared beside us in the same instant.  Manton spoke, “He finally took action and struck my Siberian.” - [[Venom 29.7]]</ref><ref>'''Wildbow:'''
:'''would a golden blast still erase her?'''
Yep. - Comment by Wildbow on Reddit</ref><!-- https://redd.it/sg11jg --> [[Foil]]'s charged object<ref>They stepped out of portals, one to my left, one to my right.<br><br>Cuff to shape a sheet of metal into a giant razor blade, Foil to rig it with her power, setting it in Scion’s way.<br>[...]<br>I banished Foil as well, sending Cuff and Canary after her.  They’d keep Tattletale and the others company.  I disconnected them from my control network, giving them free will once again.<br>[...]<br>It didn’t matter.  His hand glowed as he struck the flat side of the razor, and it dissolved into a ruin of glowing fragments. - [[Speck 30.5]]</ref>). [[Mantellum]], a [[Shard]] awareness-power nullifier,<ref>Mantellum	'''Case 53.  Blocks out sensory aspects of powers progressively more with proximity.'''	Irregulars - Parahuman List, bolded edit by Wildbow</ref><!-- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pgn9rgYutpBqJg1lSBP3NHnq9WK4ToLq9K4ys_I4cRc/edit --><ref>'''ReekRhymesWithWeak: ''' Edit: Can we also have clarification on whether Mantellum could beat Cherish or not?<br><br>'''Wildbow: ''' Mantellum operates in a different way than Hatchet Face, blocking all power use into or out of his radius. It becomes a contest of strength. Make your decision accordingly. - Conversation with Wildbow on Reddit</ref><!-- https://www.reddit.com/r/Parahumans/comments/32y8lk/comment/cqfwj5i/ --><ref name="Reddit eBlindShards">'''Torrieltar:''' How do you nullify a power in Wormverse? Would any old power nullifier from another universe work, or does it need to be done in a specific way? Similarly, what would it take to duplicate a Wormverse power?<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Depends, really. Mantellum was a power nullifier who basically blinded shards. He arguably wouldn't have any effect on a sensory power that wasn't a Worm power. - Conversation with Wildbow on [https://www.reddit.com/r/whowouldwin/comments/5jmo6d/_/dbnr64k/ Reddit]</ref> can block [[Contessa]]'s power from seeing/accounting for things in his radius.<ref>Fog approached.  A wall of it, moving down the corridor.  She could see normally, but the effect on her powers was absolute.  It was impossible to make out any steps that moved within the fog.<br>[...]<br>She ducked.  “-have a perception blocker, [...] They’ve got a thinker, I think, they planned this ahead of time, knowing I wouldn’t pick up on their presence.”<br>[...]<br>This ‘Mantellum’ had been close enough that he should have been able to block her power.  He hadn’t.<br><br>Because he’d been on the other side of the portal.  The power didn’t cross dimensional boundaries. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/10/12 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 29]]</ref><ref>The only times her power isn't running is if the shard is disabled by outside interference (Lung's interlude in Worm, another active trigger event momentarily leaves her blindsided - she recovers immediately after, Mantellum blocks shards from seeing/accounting for things in his radius) or if she's actively suppressing the shard to make decisions on her own, at which point she has to pose questions - Comment by Wildbow on Reddit, archived on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/29824546 --> [[Jeanne Wynn]] believed she could use her power to cancel out an existing All-or-Nothing effect (i.e., Gray Boy's time loop).<ref>“The Wardens were looking into those effects, as well as the ongoing Gray Boy loops,” Jeanne said.  “They researched it and decided no.  The same people who petitioned the Wardens then petitioned the government.  It crossed my desk, but I already had some faint knowledge of what it was about.  I considered, researched, and came to the decision that ''yes'', I know a way to undo the effect.  ''No'', I won’t actually do it.”<br><br>''Using her power'', I thought.  ''She could free people from perpetual torment and she says no''.<br><br>“Why no?” I asked. - [[Blinding 11.4]]</ref>

====Power Immunity====
The [[Manton Effect]] can grant a cape (or even their clones<ref>Her counterpart reached up.<br><br>“Hands down,” the Patrol guard said.<br><br>“It’s fine,” Ashley said.  “She won’t hurt me.”<br>[...]<br>It was reassuring to see the only other person left in existence that understood, that she couldn’t hurt with her power, should a freak accident happen. - [[Eclipse x.8]]</ref>) immunity to their own All-or-Nothing effect.<ref>“Any chance you could arm me with your spear?”<br><br>“Specially made bolts, yes, if I had any left.  This?  No.  The power would conduct to the part you held, and you’d hurt yourself.” - [[Radiation 18.5]]</ref><ref>She used her power, aiming at her own body.  The shirt, still in her hand, was destroyed in the curls and waves of energy.  As her power bucked and kicked, hurling her arm one way and the other, she was jerked into the sink.  She didn’t have much padding, so the impact was sharp.<br><br>She hid the pain, which wasn’t hard, because she she was caught up in the moment.  Her power washed over her body, destroying everything that wasn’t her.  Sweat, dirt, lint, dust.<br><br>It washed over her face and her head, and she thought and saw white.<br><br>The hair that fell across her face was no longer dyed.  The hair had been preserved, and the dye hadn’t. - [[Eclipse x.2]]</ref> [[Usher]] can grant single-target power immunity to [[Ashley Stillons]]' blast.<ref>Swansong severed the tongue, and then looked at Ingenue.  A blast of her power saw her lunge ten feet forward, as her other hand reached out.<br><br>The blast consumed Ingenue, head to toe.<br><br>It cleared away.  Swansong stood there, head bent, a glare in her eyes.<br><br>Ingenue was untouched.  She turned her head and saw Usher.  Usher could grant an invulnerability to powers. - [[Interlude 15.z II]]</ref>

====Oblique Workarounds====
If an offensive All-or-Nothing effect is not inviolable before hitting its target, it is possible for powers to obliquely act on the vector of attack to prevent it from hitting. For example, [[Trickster]],<ref>Flechette moved to shoot, then reconsidered, threw a handful of darts at Trickster instead. The darts disappeared in midair, and splinters of wood and small stones dropped straight out of the air where they had been. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/04/10/ Excerpt] from [[Sentinel 9.3]]</ref> [[Gray Boy]],<ref name="26.b e2>Foil threw darts. Gray Boy froze them in mid-air. - [[Interlude 26b]]</ref> and [[Vista]]<ref>March doesn’t stop as the rapier points at the heart, continuing forward and using both hands to overcome the resistance of the hard breastplate.  She presses forward until the hilt sits flush against Vista’s armor plate.<br><br>The face that focuses on the explosive fuse was what allowed the sword to slide into and through the material.  Now it charges it, let the charge grow with every passing half second. - [[Heavens 12.all]]</ref><ref>“The batshit bunny stabbed me, right?  I telescope her sword, so it barely punches past my breastplate, she doesn’t realize.  But it does punch through.  I concentrate the point that’s supposed to explode into a smaller area and pull it away from me- screws up my breastplate.  But that part that did stab me… can’t do anything about that.” - [[Black 13.1]]</ref> can obliquely act on objects charged by [[Foil]]'s primary [[shard]] and redirect them before they make contact. [[King]]'s power can obliquely redirect Gray Boy's time loops to other touched individuals.<ref>King had a flimsy hold, Jack had a stronger hold. The former Gray Boy was closer to a Labyrinth in full-on powers mode than anything else. Using powers indiscriminately, staying within an area. King was effectively immune to him, and used this to introduce himself and start leading him around. - [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/13172170 Wildbow on Spacebattles]</ref>

Preventing the cape from using their All-or-Nothing power in the first place is an obvious workaround. For example, [[Foil]] could not charge her projectiles when in [[Hatchet Face]]'s radius.<ref>The camera images that Clockblocker and company wore shifted as they scrambled away.  There was a shudder as a mass landed in their midst.<br><br>Hatchet Face, dropping down from a vantage point somewhere above them.<br><br>Rachel’s dogs went on the offensive, attacking him, but their flesh was already sloughing off, their connection to Rachel shut off, their bodies disintegrating.<br><br>Parian’s creations were already deflating.<br><br>More range than the Tyrant had possessed, and the power loss was immediate.<br><br>Foil shot her crossbow, but it did surprisingly little damage.  Hatchet Face pulled the bolt from his shoulder with no difficulty. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/07/30/ Excerpt] from [[Sting 26.5]]</ref>

[[Jack Slash#Vulnerabilities|Without outside interference]], [[Jack Slash#Shard|Jack Slash's secondary power]] prevents [[parahumans]] with All-or-Nothing powers from killing him.<ref name="Reddit interact">'''A)''' Broadcast would reach out to the shard well before the point of that other shard triggering. His very shard interacts with others to dissuade things that would target him. Parahumans don't kill Jack, as a firm rule. This isn't an arbitrary protection. It's an in-story protection that got a fair bit of time and focus in the narrative, toward the end. - Wildbow on Reddit, archived on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/72724278 --><ref name="Reddit eIsolated">You can qualify, you can quibble, you can tack on extra powers, but ''Jack doesn't lose to parahumans''. - Wildbow on Reddit, archived on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/73903345 --><ref>'''ReekRhymesWithWeak:''' He still gets wrecked by trumps like citrine, and there are some capes that just completely destroy him such as The Siberian, Grey Boy, Number Man (can dodge Jack's attacks), and so on<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Jack beats Citrine, Siberian, Grey Boy (until interfered with by outside sources), Number Man and arguably Contessa. - Comment by Wildbow on Reddit, archived on Spacebattles</ref><!-- https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/19115968 -->