Power Classifications
(Detailed power classification breakdown direct from Wildbow)
Since parahumans began to appear in the 80s the need of a power classification to be used by the Law, the Government and the Media have been clear.
Initially used only for classifying Villains, this classification is used now for all parahumans: Heroes, Villains, and Rogues alike.
When a new parahuman reveals his presence he (or she) is identifed with one or more of 12 categories and a number (usually betwen 1 and 10) to express the level of threat they offer to a PRT team.
The categories are: Mover, Shaker, Brute, Breaker, Master, Tinker, Blaster, Thinker, Striker, Changer, Trump and Stranger.
Weld theorizes that the powers may have been named the way they were to facilitate memorization using the following rhyme: <poem> Mover, Shaker,
Brute and Breaker.
Master, Tinker,
Blaster and Thinker,
Striker, Changer,
Trump and Stranger.</poem>
Mover
Capes whose powers let them move great distances at a time. These category include flyers, teleporters and speedsters.
Known Movers
| Cape | Classification | Power Description |
|---|---|---|
| Aegis | Mover ?, Brute ? | Flight |
| Alexandria | Mover ?, Brute ?, Thinker 6 | Flight |
| Bambina | Mover 4, Shaker 4 | Ricochets off hard surfaces at will, creating explosions at each point of contact. Can protect teammates from her own power. |
| Battery | Mover 4 | Short intervals of extreme speed and strength. Must charge between intervals and must not personally move while charging. |
| Burnscar | Mover ?, Blaster ? | Teleportation through open flames |
| Butcher | Mover/Shaker? (among other things) | Explosive teleportation |
| Chariot | Mover ? | High speed flying suit |
| Glory Girl | Mover ?, Brute ? | Flight |
| Lady Photon | Blaster 4, Mover 3, and Shaker 3 | Flight |
| Laserdream | Mover ?, Blaster ?, Shaker ? | Flight |
| Legend | Mover ?, Blaster ?, Breaker ? | Flight. Capable of attaining relativistic speeds when traveling in a straight line at the expense of conscious thought. |
| Oni Lee | Mover ? | Teleportation with a clone left behind |
| Purity | Blaster 8, Mover 4 | Flight |
| Rosary | Mover ?, Shaker ? | Minor telekinesis |
| Shadow Stalker | Breaker 3, Stranger 2, Mover 1 | Lower weight allows her to jump great distances, intangibility allows her to take shortcuts through walls, floors and ceilings |
| Shielder | Mover ?, Blaster ?, Shaker ? | Flight |
| Squealer | Tinker 2, Mover 3 | Modified vehicles |
| Strider | Mover ? | Mass teleportation |
| Trickster | Mover ? | Teleportation. Can cause any two objects/people (including himself) within line-of-sight to switch places. The less similar in shape/mass/volume they are, the harder and slower the teleport is. |
| Velocity | Mover ?, Breaker ? | Superhuman speed inversely proportional to strength |
Shaker
It's currently unknown what being a shaker entails. Vista and Labyrinth's powers suggest it involves affecting their surroundings. Most wide-area-effect, forcefield and spacetime manipulation powers fall under the Shaker classification.
Known Shakers
| Cape | Classification | Power Description |
|---|---|---|
| Damsel of Distress | Shaker ?, Mover ? | Creates poorly controlled storms of unevenly altered gravity, time and space |
| Golem | Shaker, Thinker ? | Inserts appendages into surfaces of a given material, corresponding replicas emerge from other surfaces of the same material with their speed of emergence inversely proportional to chosen size. |
| Labyrinth | Shaker 12 | Can completely change her surroundings at will |
| Lady Photon | Blaster 4, Mover 3, and Shaker 3 |
Forcefield bubble and shaped forcefields |
| Laserdream | Blaster, Mover, Shaker | As Lady Photon, weaker forcefields |
| Rosary | Shaker ?, Mover ? | Deconstruction and reconstruction of matter in thin, leaf-like sheets |
| Shielder | Blaster, Mover and Shaker | As Lady Photon, stronger forcefields |
| Skidmark | Shaker 2 | Creates a layer of effect on flat surfaces that create a push towards one direction and corresponding resistance towards the other. Can be stacked repeatedly on the same spot(s) for increased intensity/magnitude of effect |
| Topsy | Shaker | Alters the direction but not magnitude of gravitational pull over a wide area |
| Vista | Shaker 9 | Can bend, stretch, or compress space |
| Winter | Shaker | Wide area effect that sapped heat from the environment, kinetic energy from moving objects and volition from biological life forms |
Breaker
Generally those who had some ability to ‘break’ the natural laws of the universe as far as those laws applied to them. This is frequently a side effect of powers to prevent them from harming their owners.
Known Breakers
| Cape | Classification | Power Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scion | Breaker ?, Unknown others | |
| Night | Breaker 9, Changer? | Becomes an inhuman monster when out of sight |
| Shadow Stalker | Breaker 3, Stranger 2, and Mover 1 | Transforms into a shadow state |
| Fenja | Breaker | Warps space so she is simultaneously bigger and attacks against her are smaller |
| Menja | Breaker ? | Same as her sister |
| Velocity | Mover ?, Breaker ? | Is accelerated in relation to the world, but proportionally loses his ability to affect it |
| Lustrum | Breaker ? | Saps energy sources to form a hard light body which is unnaffected by gravity. |
Brute
Those under the 'brute' label are unnaturally tough and strong.
Known Brutes
| Cape | Classification | Power Description |
|---|---|---|
| Lung | Brute 4-9, Blaster 2-6 | Regeneration. Becomes progressively bigger, stronger and faster-healing as the fight goes on |
| Weld | Brute ?, Changer ? | Made of metal |
| Aegis | Brute ?, Mover ? | Redundant body and has a never ending supply of adrenaline |
| Alexandria | Brute ?, Mover ?, Thinker ? | Super strength and invulnerability |
| Hookwolf | Shifter 4, Brute 7 | When transformed is made out of metal blades |
| Glory Girl | Brute ?, Mover ? | Super strong with a forcefield constantly surrounding her |
| Crawler | Brute ? | Extremely rapid regeneration; adapts to any injury with permanent physical changes that render him increasingly resistant and increasingly monstrous |
| Butcher | Trump ? | Multiple instances of super-strength inherited from Butchers I, III, VI, IX, XI and XIII; enhanced durability; healing factor; pain-negation |
| Hatchet Face | Brute, Trump | Superhuman strength and durability |
| King | Brute, Striker ? | Superhuman strength, automatically transfers all damage received to everyone he has touched in the previous 24 hours |
Master
A cape whose powers let them control others or create minions (be they humans, parahumans, animals or specific objects).
Ability to control beings. Can range from ability to control simple insects all the way up to superhuman/projections. Varies from area (touch to long distance), number of beings affected (one being to nearly infinite), simple commands to absolute control and across a spectrum of time lengths and programming (short durations vs. indefinitely or programmed commands). Can be of telepathic variety or require voice commands.
Known Masters
| Cape | Classification | Power Description |
|---|---|---|
| Bitch | Master ?, Striker 5 | Transforms dogs and wolves into strong monsters the size of vans |
| Canary | Master 8 | Voice lets her command humans |
| Cherish | Master ? | Emotional control. Can sense and control other's emotion through a city-wide range. |
| Crusader | Master 6 | Creates ghostly replicas of himself |
| Echidna | Master ?, Brute ?, Striker ? | Can create a clone of a living creature that she has contact with. As long as she is in contact, she can create endless clones. The clones retain all memories from the originals and similar if not identical variations on their powers but are evil and often protect Echidna. |
| Heartbreaker | Master ? | Emotional manipulation with potentially permanent effects |
| Mockshow | Master-Shaker 6 | Animates inanimate objects into rhino-like constructs under her control. |
| Moord Nag | Master ? | Controls a giant shadow-monster that apparently grows stronger by feeding on lives. |
| Nilbog | Master ? (>7) | Creates life (non-human forms) |
| Parian | Master 6 | Can create and control cloth contructs. |
| Prism | Master ? Brute? | Creates duplicates of herself that can be condensed back into one, giving the remaining one (aka the original) a temporary surge of superhuman strength and speed. |
| Regent | Master ? (>6) | Can control a human's nervous system for hours at a time. |
| Skitter | Master 8, Thinker 1 | Absolute control of arthropods within an area of about a quarter kilometer. |
| Teacher | Master? Trump? | Bestows tinker and thinker talents on chosen volunteers at the expense of their free will. |
| Satyrical | Master ?, Changer ? | Shapeshifting self-duplicator whose copies can also change shape (apparently human forms only) and are slightly tougher than normal. |
Tinker
Covers anyone with powers that give them an advanced grasp of science. Lets them make technology years ahead of its time.
Most Tinkers have a specialty or a special trick. Something they’re particularly good at or something that they can do, which other Tinkers can’t.
Known Tinkers
| Cape | Classification | Power Description |
|---|---|---|
| Dragon | Tinker ? | Understanding of other Tinkers' work |
| Bakuda | Tinker 6 | Bombs |
|
Armsmaster/ Defiant |
Tinker ? | Miniaturization/Improved efficiency |
| Kid Win | Tinker 4 | Modular equipment |
| Leet | Tinker ? | Can create anything, but rate of failure increases if he made it already |
| Chariot | Tinker ?, Mover ? | Devices that help with mobility and/or rapid transit |
| Squealer | Tinker 2, Mover 3 | Modified Vehicles |
| Andrew Richter | Tinker ? |
Computer programs |
| Mannequin | Tinker ? | Used to be biomes, terraforming and ecosystems. Currently used for body modifications |
| Masamune | Tinker ? | Mass-reproduction of others' tech |
| Bonesaw | Tinker ? | Human biology/medicine |
| Blasto | Tinker 6 (sub: master 5, blaster 2, shifter 2, brute 2) | Plants, Biology |
Blaster
A cape with a ranged attack.
Known Blasters
| Cape | Classification | Power Description |
|---|---|---|
| Purity | Blaster 8, Mover 4 | Fires beams of light |
| Lung | Brute 4-9, Blaster 2-6 | Can create and control fire |
| Flechette | Striker ?, Blaster ? | Fires crossbow bolts that break the laws of physics |
| Legend | Blaster ?, Mover ? | Shoots beams of light that can bend and split |
| Lady Photon | Blaster 4, Mover 3 and Shaker 3 | Fires hard light blasts |
| Laserdream | Blaster ?, Mover, and Shaker ? | Same as her mother With more emphasis on offense |
| Shielder | Blaster ?, Mover ?, and Shaker ? | Same as his mother with more emphasis on shields |
| Ballistic | Blaster ?, Striker ? | Can accelerate an object to a set, bullet-like speed with a touch |
| Spitfire | Blaster ? | Spews fluid from her mouth that ignites with air contact and can melt concrete |
| Lightstar | Blaster ? | Slow moving projectiles that he detonates at will |
| Flashbang | Blaster ? | Creates light grenades |
| Burnscar | Blaster ?, Mover ? | Pyrokinetic |
Thinker
No exact definition is known, but it is likely to include powers relating to perception, planning, information acquisition and/or narrow cognitive enhancement.
Known Thinkers
| Cape | Classification | Power Description |
|---|---|---|
| Tattletale | Thinker 7 | Can obtain information by making connections, essentially making superlatively good guesses that build on each other. |
| Dinah | Thinker ? | Can calculate the probability of any event to an exacting degree |
| Alexandria | Thinker ?, Mover ?, Brute ? | Perfect memory, heightened cognitive speed and planning. |
| Skitter | Thinker 1, Master 8 | Superhuman multitasking, able to perform literally hundreds of thousands of complex tasks with bugs simultaneously; Superhuman awareness of environment through sensory information received from bugs; Administration. |
| Accord | Thinker | Superhuman problem-solving, intellect scales with the complexity of the problem |
| Floret | Thinker ?, Shaker ? |
Enhanced awareness and processing ability regarding fine detail. |
| Uber | Thinker ? |
Instant mastery of any one learnable skill as long as he concentrates on it. |
| Watch | Thinker ?, Mover ?, Striker ? | Short-duration 360-degree X-ray vision uninhibited by shadows, walls or skin |
| Butcher | Thinker?, Brute?, Trump? | Danger sense, ranged x-ray vision calibrated for circulatory systems |
| Contessa | Thinker ? | Can instantly determine the steps needed to accomplish any task. |
| Number Man | Thinker ? | Complete mastery of numbers and probabilities. |
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. Other strikers included those who used energy weapons, those who had certain kinds of superstrength that weren’t accompanied by durability and those with pyrokinesis or such that didn’t extend more than a foot around them.
Known Strikers
| Cape | Classification | Power Description |
|---|---|---|
| Clockblocker | Striker 7 | Can freeze anything he touches in time; no control over duration of effect |
| Flechette | Striker ?, Blaster ? | Imbues objects with breaker-like effects |
| Brandish | Striker 5, Shifter 1 | Able to deal powerful strikes that can shear through steel |
| Ballistic | Blaster ?, Striker ? | Accelerates objects to supersonic speeds with a touch. Cannot create lesser accelerations. |
| Rune | Striker ? | Touching an object lets her control it telekinetically |
| Faultline | Striker ? | Can cut through any non-living material with a touch. |
| Panacea | Striker 9-10? | Can manipulate biology with a touch. |
| Assault | Striker 7 |
Absorption and redirection of kinetic energy, momentum and inertia on physical contact. |
| Watch | Striker ?, Mover ?, Thinker ? | Intangible hands used to cause internal injuries. |
Changer/Shifter
Those who can change their shape to some extent.
Known Changers
| Cape | Classification | Power Description |
|---|---|---|
| Weld | Brute ?, Changer ? | Can change the shape of his body parts to form weapons |
| Genesis | Changer 9 | Creates and projects a single solid image she controls from a remote distance that can have powers of their own |
| Fog | Shifter 8, Stranger 3 | Transforms into a living mist with varying solidity that erodes living matter |
| Hookwolf | Shifter 4, Brute 7 | Transforms into a giant wolf made of whirling metal blades |
| Brandish | Striker 5, Shifter 1 | Can transform into a ball of hard light |
| Mush | Shifter 4 | can change into a body composed of loose matter such as dirt |
| Satyrical | Changer ?, Master ? | Shapeshifting self-duplicator whose copies can also change shape |
Trump
Entails being able to change their powers based on specific circumstances, adapt their powers to different situations or act directly on the abilities of other parahumans whether to copy, borrow or nullify.
Known Trumps
| Cape | Classification | Power Description |
|---|---|---|
| Victor | Trump ?, Thinker ? | Temporarily copies others' learned skills, while they lose them. If held long enough, the skills become permanent to him, though the victim eventually regains them as well. |
| Grue | Shaker ?, Stranger ?, Trump ? | Creates an area of darkness that inhibits breaker type abilities, dulls normal senses, blocks radiation and later copies other powers in a weaker form. |
| Gregor | Trump ? |
Can manipulate his body to produce various chemicals. |
| Eidolon | Trump ? |
Can gain powers (2-3 major ranked powers i.e. flying, aerokinetics, etc. or 4-5 minor ranked powers at once) to use. Must 'charge' those powers in order to use them to their full potential and has a refractory period when he switches powers. |
| Hatchet Face | Trump ? Brute ? |
Can nullify the powers of other parahumans at short range. |
| Citrine | Shaker ? Trump ? |
Can attune the laws of physics within a given area to arbitrary specifications. Given enough time, can thus dictate which parahuman powers will and will not work within her demesne. |
| Othala | Trump ? | Can grant powers from a limited pool to any parahuman but herself. |
Stranger
The term "Stranger" refers to parahumans whose abilities can be used for stealthy action and/or impact the mind to prevent a specific reaction.
Known Strangers
| Cape | Classification | Power Description |
|---|---|---|
| Imp | Stranger 5 | Fades out of awareness and memory while her power is active |
| Fog | Shifter 8, Stranger 3 | Transforms into mist |
| Shadow Stalker | Breaker 3, Stranger 2, and Mover 1 | Transforms into a lightweight largely-intangible "shadow form" |
| Othello | Stranger | Has a mirror-self that travels in a parallel dimension yet retains the ability to perceive and act upon this one |
| August Prince | Master 3, Stranger 3 | Cannot be deliberately harmed by anyone within range of his power |
| Nice Guy | Stranger | Becomes barely noticeable and cannot be perceived as harmful by anyone within range of his power and perception. |
| Miasma | Stranger, Shaker? | Invisible, inaudible and emits an colorless odorless poison gas |