Editing Leviathan (section)

====Tidal Waves====
Leviathan's ability to call tidal waves presents an offensive time-intensive ability<ref name="8.2 e10">“These were errors, grave mistakes from defending heroes.  We had but one strategy at the time – to hem him in, minimizing the effects of growing waves and casualties until Leviathan was beaten into a retreat or Scion arrived.  These areas, however, were too vulnerable.  Waiting let Leviathan build up the strength of his attacks, and we lost.”<br><br>He paused.  “We have since classified the locations the Endbringers target as either hard targets or soft targets.  The hard battlefields are where we stand our ground, buy time, wear him down.  The soft ones are locations where we cannot afford to do this.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/extermination-8-2/ Excerpt] from [[Extermination 8.2]]</ref><ref name="8.2 eStrongerThanLast" /><ref name="8.4 eMomentum" /><ref>“She’s scary,” Ballistic said.  “Let’s settle for that.  You don’t get within Behemoth’s range, you don’t aim for the long fight against Leviathan, and you don’t send everyone against the Simurgh at once, or you’re screwing yourself over.  Trust me when I say this is better all around if I skip this fight.  She knows me, and she’ll use me against you.” - [[Queen 18.2]]</ref><ref name="SB sink" /> that enables him to threaten and exert pressure against his opponents over a broad area.<ref>She wasn’t an Endbringer, in the end. It would be impossible to trap any of them like this, to get an advantage. They had other tools, ways to exert pressure that were entirely independent of their own abilities. Behemoth generated storms and background radiation, Leviathan had the waves, the Simurgh had her scream. - [[Scourge 19.7]]</ref><ref>My growing sense of dread was confirmed as the image on the monitors changed.<br><br>''Even with those circles being as devastating as they are, it wasn’t enough.  There wasn’t the same broad scale, the promise of lingering devastation.''<br><br>No.  There was something more to Khonsu.<br><br>The monitors showed him in a different city.  A caption on the bottom of the screen showed the words ‘Cape Verde’.<br><br>He’d teleported halfway around the planet.<br><br>All of the problems with getting to Endbringer fights on time, with mobilizing and dealing with the fact that half of our best teleporters and movers had been slain in past battles… he was capitalizing on that weakness. - [[Scarab 25.4]]</ref> They can also help him regain the initiative when put on the backfoot<ref name="8.5 eRetaliate">Leviathan slapped the teenage hero down, swiped at one of my swarm-people, then was forced down onto all fours as Purity struck him square between the shoulderblades with a column of light.  A metal shelving unit shot from the interior of a store, Ballistic’s power, I was almost positive, and made Leviathan stumble back.<br><br>We had the upper hand, but that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.  More than once, in the past hour alone, the Endbringer had demonstrated that any time the fight was going against him, he’d pull out all the stops and do something large scale.  A tidal wave or tearing up the streets.<br><br>We did ''not'' have what it took to withstand another wave.  No forcefields, no barriers. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/03/17/extermination-8-5/ Excerpt] from [[Extermination 8.5]]</ref><ref name="8.3 eSecondWave" /> or relocate.<ref name="22.y eRelocate" /> Each tsunami-like wave that he calls over to crush a target location (e.g., city, landmass) is stronger and reaches further inland than the last.<ref name="redditWWW e1" /><ref name="8.2 eStrongerThanLast">He paused, “We have to end this ''fast''.  Each wave he brings on top of us is stronger than the last.  This means we have two priorities.  First, we cannot let him out of our sight.  From the moment the battle is initiated, we hem him in, sustain an offensive onslaught.  If we let him slip past our defensive lines, precious time will be wasted chasing him, getting him in another situation where we can contain his movements.<br><br>“Our second priority is that we need to find ways to ''hurt'' him.  If you cannot, if your attacks are deflected or prove otherwise useless, work to support those who ''can''.  It is vain to hope to kill him, but he can be whittled down enough that he will flee back to the ocean, and if we hurt him enough, it may delay the time before he is capable of making another attack elsewhere.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/extermination-8-2/ Excerpt] from [[Extermination 8.2]]</ref><ref name="22.y eWaves" /> For example, Leviathan's initial wave on [[Brockton Bay]] left the ferry, south-end harbor, and [[the Boardwalk]] in ruins.<ref name="8.2 eInitialWave">One of the television screens toppled in the onrushing flood.  The other two showed a flickering series of images, a half second of each.  The coast of Brockton Bay being struck with a wave.  The ferry, the harbor down at the south end of town, the boardwalk, all smashed by the initial wave.  I saw a glimpse of a tall figure in the middle of one shot, little more than a blur behind the spray of water and the rain.<br>[...]<br>At the end of the road, downhill, was the Boardwalk, or what was left of it.  From what I could see through the downpour, the wooden pathways and docks had been shattered by the initial wave, to the point that many were standing nearly straight up, or were buckled into fractured arches.  Water frothed and sprayed as it rushed back against the ragged barrier that had been Brockton Bay’s high end shopping district. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/extermination-8-2/ Excerpt] from [[Extermination 8.2]]</ref> However, his second summoned tidal wave was several stories high<ref>“Wave!” someone screamed.<br><br>Forcefields went up, and being as high as they were, they were out of reach of the worst of it.  She could see it, a tide of water several stories high.  The impact was reduced to a manageable level  only by the shattered Boardwalk and fallen buildings at the end of the road, the uphill slope.<br><br>The crash when when the wave rolled against the side of the building was enough to knock over nearly everyone on the roof.
:''Structure, building age, strength of wave; building will hold.''
''Hope the people on the ground are as fortunate.'' - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/interlude-7%C2%BD-bonus/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 8.y]]</ref> and strong enough to tear the [[PHQ]] off its fixtures.<ref>Leviathan had more than halved our ranks with the wave.  I could see people face down in the water.  Others were crumped up, their bodies contorted, broken, still.<br><br>And the damage to the city was just as bad, in a different way.  I stared at the wreckage, the block and a half of shattered buildings, and saw a looming mess of arches and massive iron beams and girders, unable to comprehend what it was.<br><br>It dawned on me.  The PHQ.  The headquarters of our local superteam, tourist attraction, torn from whatever fixtures had rooted it in place, smashed to ruins against our coastline. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/03/10/extermination-8-3/ Excerpt] from [[Extermination 8.3]]</ref> Despite being dampened by existing wreckage and [[Eidolon]]'s barrier of ice, his fourth wave reached half a mile into the city, uprooted trees, and flattened entire neighborhoods.<ref>“BZ-4,” I reported.  Then I saw movement from the coast, called out through the armband’s channels, “Wave!”<br><br>I was glad to be in the air as the tidal wave struck.  The barrier of ice and the wreckage at the beaches did a lot to dampen the wave’s effect, but I watched as the water streamed a good half-mile into the city.  Buildings collapsed, cars were pushed, and even trees came free of the earth.<br>[...]<br>The area we were entering had been further from the heroes with the forcefields, where waves hadn’t had their impact softened or diverted by the the PHQ’s forcefield or the larger, heavier, blockier structures of the Docks.  Entire neighborhoods had been flattened, reduced to detritus that floated in muddy, murky waters.  Larger buildings, what I suspected might have been part of the local college, were standing but badly damaged. Countless cars sat in the roads and parking lots with water pouring in through shattered windows. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/03/17/extermination-8-5/ Excerpt] from [[Extermination 8.5]]</ref> After some hours at [[Kyushu]],<ref name="22.y eHours">He could feel his power rippling under his skin.  Against Leviathan, he’d waited hours before engaging the beast, had fought longer than he ever had. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/interlude-22-donation-bonus-1/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 22.y]]</ref> Leviathan's tidal waves are powerful enough to eventually topple even tsunami-proof buildings.<ref name="22.y eWaves">A tidal wave rocked the area, and Lung had to hold on to a nearby building to keep from falling.  Heroes were swept up in the wash of water, and buildings were leveled.<br>[...]<br>The waves were more frequent now.  Buildings here had been built to tight specifications, to remain standing in the face of earthquakes and tsunamis, but it wasn’t enough.  Barely a minute passed between the strikes, with each wave reaching further inland than the last, and only a handful of buildings stood at their full height, where there had been a city here only an hour ago.<br><br>It was in one of those brief moments of respite that the ground shuddered.  Lung nearly lost his footing.  When he looked up at the night sky, he could see that the tallest standing buildings were swaying, like fronds bending in the wind.<br><br>Somewhere he couldn’t see in the gloom, a building swayed too far and crashed to the ground. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/interlude-22-donation-bonus-1/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 22.y]]</ref>
<!-- The frequency of these waves is dependent on whether he is able to focus his ability on them, meaning a sustained attack can delay them. He often uses these to cripple strategic areas like evacuation centers or and smaller ones to change the balance of the battlefield if he begins to lose the advantage. -->

Leviathan's tsunami-like waves are periodic and take time to arrive;<ref>I think core identities to keep in mind are that Behemoth is the herokiller, Leviathan levels cities, and Simurgh creates long-term problems that last beyond the fight.<br>For Leviathan, I honestly wouldn't make it a chart, but like, various effects that could come in at different stages.  So you could have one fight defined by the heavy rain followed by the periodic waves smacking buildings by the coast, and another where he opens with ripping up the streets and geysers everywhere. - Comment by Wildbow on Parahumans Discord</ref> he explicitly needs time to build up the strength of his waves in order to pull in his most devastating macro-scale attacks.<ref name="redditWWW e1" /><ref name="8.2 e10" /> Indeed, a non-sandbagging<ref name="tarot e1" /> Leviathan could not fully stop the immediate tidal waves produced as collateral damage by [[Scion]]'s blasts.<ref>One was in the thick of things, creating different types of forcefield to try to mitigate the damage Scion was doing to our side.  Capes had baited Scion out over the water, but the fact that there were less targets in range was counterbalanced by the fact that Scion was more focused on those who were there, and he was hitting harder.  When he hit the water, waves crashed against the shore, doing nearly as much damage as any of his attacks might.  A Leviathan with one arm, one leg, and most of its head missing was perched on the shoreline, apparently mitigating the damage. - [[Speck 30.4]]</ref> That said, the longer he continuously pulls in tidal waves on a target location, the more momentum he builds up with these waves.<ref name="8.4 eMomentum">Either way, it was a delaying tactic.  Holding off the damage, in the hopes that we could end this or get reinforcements before Brockton Bay became another Newfoundland.<br><br>We were hoping for Scion.  The first cape, the golden skinned man.  The guy that could go toe to toe with an Endbringer and win, if things hadn’t already gone too far south.  If Behemoth hadn’t already turned the area into a radioactive, magma-ridden wasteland.  If Leviathan hadn’t built up enough momentum with his waves.  If the Simurgh… Ok, the Simurgh was different, I had to admit.  The issue with her wasn’t so much winning the battle.  It was what came after.  Win every battle against her, lose the war, more or less. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/extermination-8-4/ Excerpt] from [[Extermination 8.4]]</ref> Thus, their frequency will generally increase over time. For example, in the [[Battle against Leviathan]], he only summoned three tidal waves<ref name="8.2 eInitialWave" /><ref name="8.3 eSecondWave">There was the girl with the crossbow, who had been with Shadow Stalker.  She had a teammate next to her, handing her the needle-like bolts from a quiver, was loading them into the large crossbow and firing them as fast as she was able.  More than any other attack, the bolts were stabbing deep into Leviathan.<br><br>The attacks were actually having an effect.  He was on the defensive, now, and he was hurting.<br><br>''We’re winning'', I thought.<br><br>A flash to my left caught my eye.<br><br>It was my armband.  The screen was ringed by a square of yellow, a yellow triangle with a black exclamation mark pointing in Leviathan’s general direction.<br><br>People were shouting.  Screaming, Narwhal was moving forcefields up in between us and Leviathan, other forcefields were going up.<br><br>“To me!” someone near me shouted.  I turned to look, saw Shielder from New Wave.<br><br>''Tidal Wave''. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/03/10/extermination-8-3/ Excerpt] from [[Extermination 8.3]]</ref><ref>And then Leviathan was in view, entering the same street I was on.  As if to herald his coming, a massive wave crashed hard against the barrier of ice Eidolon had erected around the wrecked Boardwalk, the spray seemingly reaching nearly to the stormclouds above. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/extermination-8-4/ Excerpt] from [[Extermination 8.4]]</ref> in the first hour, though [[Clockblocker]]'s power did give the city a short reprieve,<ref>The time freezing effect of Clockblocker’s power lasted anywhere from thirty seconds to ten minutes.  How long had we spent, here, since Clockblocker had given us this momentary reprieve?  It was hard to judge the passage of time with the adrenaline, the frenetic pace of the ongoing battle. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/03/10/extermination-8-3/ Excerpt] from [[Extermination 8.3]]</ref> and Leviathan did spend some time targeting the city's [[Leviathan#Underground Water Manipulation|underground water infrastructure]] after his third wave. The time between his third and fourth wave was at least 3.4 minutes.<ref name="8.4 eDelay">For several long seconds, Leviathan didn’t move.<br><br>“Delaying, buying time for a tsunami?” Armsmaster laughed, and Leviathan cocked his head at the display of emotion.  “No.  Three point four minutes before the next big wave breaks through the ice.  Dragon’s probes are giving me the data on that.  This will be over before then.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/extermination-8-4/ Excerpt] from [[Extermination 8.4]]</ref> In contrast, after some hours<ref name="22.y eHours" /> in [[Kyushu]], he could summon tsunami-like waves every minute to hit the target location.<ref name="22.y eWaves" />