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Textbook answer when faced with a brute was to ignore them as much as they allowed you to. It would take too much effort and it would take too much time when dealing with someone who couldn’t be decisively dealt with. [...] He’d said the rule for brutes had an unofficial second part. That as much as you might try to put them off, they had a way of making you deal with them.

Victoria, Daybreak 1.5

Brute is one of the twelve power classifications created by the PRT still in modern day use.[1] A Brute classification typically indicates enhanced strength or durability, often both.[2] There are no known Brutes without at least some form of self-protection or enhanced durability.[3]

Methodology[]

Brute powers might manifest themselves in variety of ways. Most Brutes are either some combination of big, strong, and tough or possess some other method of self-protection.[4]

Subtypes[]

Brutes can be divided in twelve categories, where individual Brutes can fall into multiple groups[5]

Name Focus Trigger event
Muscle Brute Relies on size and physical strength, often utilizing biokinesis or some sort Changer effect.[6] Involved physical, focused damage or struggle.[5]
Armor Brute Has a sort of shell around themselves, producing raw armor that will absorb blows until it is cracked or penetrated.[7] Involved physical, surface-level damage or physical helplessness.[5]
Shield Brute Has a direction-dependent defensive feature or one that is based around an object or field moved around at will.[8] Involves physical, massive damage or awe.[5]
Intensity Brute Has a very pronounced offensive lean using an 'element', with assisting defensive powers.[9] Involves energy-based, focused damage or pain.[5]
Field Brute Maintains a personal forcefield, or durability that is very potent but temporary or readily broken.[10] Involves energy-based, surface-level damage, stress or time constraints.[5]
Dynamic Brute Has skill-based defensive measures or ways of redirection.[5] Involves energy-based, massive damage or despair.[5]
Sunder Brute Has aggressive defensive measures that weaken foes.[5] Involves other, focused damage or diminished strength.[5]
Repression Brute Has abstract or indirect measures used to moderate harm.[5] Involves other, surface-level damage or emotional helplessness.[5]
Negate Brute Has access to all-or-nothing measures, often with matching offense.[5] Involves other, massive damage or horror.[5]
Regen Brute Has abilities that offer benefits over time and healing abilities.[5] Involves damage dealt over time or self-harm.[5]
Transfiguration Brute Has abilities related to transformation and revival.[5] Involves situations where death is sought or held at bay.[5]
Immortal Brute Offer one-time, massive benefits, but do not heal easily.[5] Come from cases where the harm laid in wait or was delayed.[5]

In some rare cases, parahumans with enhanced senses fall under the Brute rather than the Thinker classification.[11]

Trigger events[]

For Brutes, trigger events involve some form of physical harm, where the source and severity of the damage, combined with contextual factors, inform the resulting ability.[12] (See also the table above).

In particular, the nature of the harm effects the powers in the following ways:

  • Harm from a physical, solid source (crushing, smashing, dismemberment, broken bones, etc.) results in powers emphasizing raw strength, biological alterations, armor, shields, and size.[13]
  • Damage from 'energy-based' sources (extremes in temperature, radiation, electrocution, vacuums, etc.) results in more energy-based powers: Examples including personal telekinesis, forcefields and energy manipulation.[14]
  • Forms of harm outside of these two categories (chemicals, poison, disease, etc.) lead to powers relating to growth, phasing, constructs, and more esoteric manifestations of time, space, or reality warping.[15]

Brute powers are also influenced by the degree and nature of the damage, expressed in the following ways:

  • Surface damage tends to create surface level protection, often along the lines of personal forcefields or exterior armor.[16]
  • Deeper tissue damage will involve more thorough changes and restructuring. Brutes along these lines may more closely resemble Breakers, drawing from endless fountains of muscle mass or energy to repel or stand firm against attacks.[17]
  • Internal harm without clear outside source will often express itself by giving powers that relate to absorption or expression of forces. This might be kinetic energy, light, electromagnetism, or something more abstract like time or inertia.[18]
  • Gradual damage will often provide regeneration in some capacity, or biokinesis of a more intentional sort than might be seen in deeper tissue damage.[19]

Common combinations with other ratings[]

Muscle and Armor Brutes often fall close the Changer rating, have powers that morph their form and appearance.[6][20] Flight is also a common secondary power for Brutes, to the point flying Brutes are known as Alexandria-packages.[21]

A rare subset of Transfiguration brutes is the Resurrection brute. Who are, as the name implies, able to come back from the dead when they die. however they usually lose something in the process.[22]

The mechanism which the brute expresses their power can dip into other areas.[23]

Role in the Cycle[]

Brute powers are economical, requiring little investment by the entities to investigate. They are a function of the entities constant refinement of their ability to survive. However a small fraction of dedicated brute shards, and unrelated high performing Brute power that crop up during a given cycle, are Entity experiments in true perpetuity, both for continuing the cycle and for their end goals.[24]

PRT countermeasures[]

Brutes are most dangerous in a melee and are typically very difficult to put down. As such, the PRT's general response involves focused fire, limiting movements, and maintaining a safe distance, depending on the exact Brute rating.[2]

Threat level Additional measures
2+
  • The team is notified of a Brute classification.[2]
  • It's assume divided fire will not have any serious effect, and focused fire is devoted to the target.[2]
  • Treated as low priority unless movements cannot be restricted, in which case the brute can be escalated to moderate priority.[2]
5+
  • It's assumed standard munitions are unable to hamper the target.[2]
  • Lethal munitions are authorized, truck emplacements are authorized.[2]
  • Property damage should be expected and accounted for. Where possible, move fight to an open area.[2]
9+
  • Inter-city missile emplacements and other large scale munitions are authorized.[2]
  • It's assumed standard parahuman abilities are unable to hamper the target.[2]

Known Brutes[]

Note: This list describes the Brute classifications and Brute aspects of different parahumans. For a full overview of their abilities, please check their individual pages.

[Edit]
Name Known ratings Power description
Aegis Brute, Mover[25] Poseesses redundant biology, always operates at peak capacity, can fly, unable to fear self-harm.[25]
Alabaster Brute Thinker (minor)[26] Restores himself to pristine condition every 4.3 seconds.[27]
Alexandria Brute, Mover, Thinker[28] Has enhanced strength and a virtually invincible body.[21]
Antares See: Glory Girl.[29]
Auroch Brute 2, Shaker 3, Striker 2, Mover 2[30] Generates an effect around her that controls inertia.[31]
Behemoth Brute 10[32] Has incredible strength, durability and regeneration.[33]
Blasto Tinker 6 (Master 5, Blaster 2, Changer 2, Brute 2)[34] Produces plant-hybrid minions.[35]
The Blue Bomber Changer/Brute[36] Can assume three different forms. One tall and rubbery, one thin and metallic and one muscular and brutish.[36]
Brandish Striker 5, Breaker 1 (Brute 1)[37] Can become an immobile, nigh-invulnerable sphere.[38]
Cask Tinker 5 (Blaster 1, Brute 2*, Master 1, Trump 2)[39] Produces and consumes chemical batches that enhance the drinker for a short while.[40]
Crawler Brute[41] Heals with incredible speed and adapts natural defenses or augmentations in response to any healing.[42]
Cuff Brute[43] Slightly enhanced physique and increased resistance to damage after getting hurt.[43]
Echidna Master/Striker 10, Brute 8, Changer 2,[44] Thinker,[45] Trump/Master[46] Superstrength, durability and regeneration.[47]
Glory Girl Shaker,[48] Mover,[49] Brute[50] Possesses an invisible forcefield which grants her invulnerability and strength.[51]
Grumman Breaker,[52] Mover 6, Brute 8 or Mover -1, Blaster 9[53] Toggles between two different states, one granting exceedingly maneuverable flight abilities, the other turning him into an immobile artillery platform.[53]
Hadhayosh See: Behemoth.[33]
Hatchet Face Trump, Brute[54] Enhanced strength and toughness.[54]
Hookwolf Changer 4, Brute 7[55] Can replace parts of his body with metal shapes comprised of blades, hooks and needle points, all violently shuffling next to each other.[56]
Hydrofoil Brute/Mover[57] Has a personal shield that produces torrents of water in reaction to breaches.[57]
Jormungand See: Leviathan.[58]
Jörmungandr See: Leviathan.[58]
Koschei Brute[59] Disappears on death, only to emerge from a nearby location, bigger, tougher and stronger, but less intelligent.[59]
Krieg Brute[60] Wide range kinetic manipulation, more powerful closer to him.[60]
Leviathan Brute 9[61] Has enhanced strength, incredible durability and regeneration.[62][63]
Lung Brute 4-9*, Blaster 2-6*[64] Gradually transforms over the course of a conflict, gaining armor plating, enhanced strength, enhanced pyrokinesis, regeneration, and other benefits.[65]
Mog Changer, Brute[66] Can absorb impacts and utilizes the energy to trigger physical changes, including new features, armor and weaponry.[67]
Prathama See: Behemoth.[68]
Snubnose Blaster 3 (Brute 5)[69] Wears a heavy armored suit, using her power to keep it mobile.[69]
Sploosh Shaker 6/Blaster 4/Brute 6/Mover 5/Stranger 2[70] Takes the form of a living being of condensation, drawing all available, airborne or liquid moisture to him and reshaping himself as he wills.[70]
Vellum Breaker 4/Striker 4/Brute 2/Mover 1[71] Able to absorb skin from touched subjects. Gains permanent increase to strength and durability as a result.[71]
Virago Mover 5, Shaker 4, Brute 1[72] Produces disorienting shockwaves in a radius around herself. Renders her more or less immune to conventional ammunition.[72]
Weld Brute, Changer[73] Has the ability to absorb metal and incorporate it into his biology, giving him metal flesh and rendering him nigh-indestructible.[74]


References[]

  1. “I do,” Weld nodded. He’d memorized it as a rhyme, as suggested by his old boss. Maybe that had been the intention from the start:

    Mover, Shaker,
    Brute and Breaker.

    Master, Tinker,
    Blaster and Thinker,

    Striker, Changer,
    Trump and Stranger.
    - Excerpt from Sentinel 9.1
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Has enhanced strength or durability, most dangerous in a melee, typically very difficult to put down.  While the execution may remain fairly stable, the source of this power can vary.
    General response depends on degree of brute classification, but should involve focusing fire, limiting movements, and maintaining a safe distance.
    Threat level 2+:  Communicate brute nature.  Assume divided fire will not have any serious effect, and devote focused fire to the target.  Treat as low priority unless movements cannot be restricted, in which case the brute can be escalated to moderate priority.
    Threat level 5+:  Assume standard munitions are not going to hamper the brute.  Lethal munitions are authorized, truck emplacements are authorized.  Property damage should be expected and accounted for.  Where possible, move fight to an open area.
    Threat level 9+:  Inter-city missile emplacements and other large scale munitions are authorized.  Assume standard parahuman abilities are not going to hamper the target. - PRT Master Reference - Classifications - Brute
  3. Brute#Known Brutes
  4. Brutes are some combination of big, strong, and tough, with very high innate durability or self-protection methods through one mechanism or another. - BRUTE, document by Wildbow
  5. 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18 5.19 When figuring out the framework of the trigger and how it applies to the power, take note of the two categories below that stand out the most, and combine them. The detail sheet has suggested powers for cross-interactions.

    Muscle brutes offer raw mass and offensive tools.
    They manifest from physical, focused damage to a part and struggle.
    Armor brutes offer external protection and reactive tools.
    They trigger from physical, surface level damage and physical helplessness.
    Shield brutes offer partial protection, and utility.
    They come about from physical, massive damage and awe.
    Intensity brutes offer raw elemental power and defensive tools.
    They trigger from energy-based, focused damage to a part and pain.
    Field Brutes offer temporary layers of invulnerability or extreme durability.
    They arise from energy-based, surface-level damage and stress/time constraint
    Dynamic brutes offer skill-based defensive measures and redirection.
    They trigger from energy-based, massive damage and despair.
    Sunder brutes offer aggressive defensive measures that weaken foes.
    They arise from other, focused damage to a part, and from diminished strength.
    Repression brutes offer abstract or indirect measures that moderate harm.
    They arise from other, surface-level damage, and from emotional helplessness.
    Negate brutes offer all-or-nothing measures, often with matching offense.
    They arise from other, massive damage, and from horror.
    Regen brutes offer benefits over time, and healing abilities.
    They arise from damage over time, and from self-harm.
    Transfiguration brutes offer transformation and revival abilities.
    They arise from situations where death is sought or held at bay.
    Immortal brutes offer one-time, massive benefits, but do not heal easily.
    They come about from cases where the harm laid in wait or was delayed. - BRUTE, document by Wildbow
  6. 6.0 6.1 Muscle brutes are those who rely on size, physical strength, and some tenacity for their brute disposition. Biokinesis is often a factor, or their power might run through their bodies and have a sort of changer effect on them, with veins of fire and surging size and proportion. Where brutes fall somewhere on a sliding scale of raw strength and raw toughness, the Muscle brute fall rather heavily on the ‘raw strength’ end of the sliding scale. In execution, they tend to gain a lot of raw stats. - BRUTE, document by Wildbow
  7. Armor brutes piece together a shell around themselves, producing raw armor that will absorb blows up until it is cracked or penetrated, at which point the brute becomes easier to injure. The armor often regenerates and/or provides additional capabilities. Heavily defense-leaning, but often provided with a weapon of some sort, raw stats, or their offensive potential is interlinked with their defense, in a retaliatory sense. - BRUTE, document by Wildbow
  8. Shield brutes draw heavily on a defensive feature that is direction-dependent or is based around an object or field that is moved around at will. Their defense is typically top class… when it is situated to block the attack in question. Alertness, careful orientation and/or positioning may be necessary to make the most of the power. In many cases, where the defensive feature needs to be raised to meet an incoming attack, Wits may become a key statistic, with a 4+ or higher Wits roll being needed to react in time. Often comes with minor defensive augments to the parahuman. - BRUTE, document by Wildbow
  9. Intensity brutes lean very heavily on an element - a particular force or sub-power, that could include flame, ice, radiation, time slowing, light, vacuum or the like. They have a very pronounced offensive lean, but that lean is very short range if not requiring touch, and requires them to get into the thick of things to utilize it. To assist this, they get some defensive powers, which aren’t the focus but do keep them in the fight for long enough to tear down their enemies… and oftentimes a great deal of the surrounding property. - BRUTE, document by Wildbow
  10. Field Brutes maintain a personal forcefield, or durability that is very potent but temporary or readily broken. They may sport bursts of power, utility, or other benefits that - BRUTE, document by Wildbow
  11. Question by braincraft: What classification is used for enhanced or expanded senses? There are a lot of characters in Worm that have something along those lines, and outside of Worm there's stuff like Superman's telescopic vision, x-ray vision, and enhanced hearing, or Wolverine's ability to track by scent.

    Answer by Wildbow: Thinker. In some rare cases they'd fall under a Brute classification. - RPG.net comment by Wildbow.
  12. Brute triggers generally involve being physically harmed.  The nature of that physical harm, the degree or type of damage, and the contextual factors all inform the resulting ability. - BRUTE, document by Wildbow
  13. Physical based harm involves crushing, smashing, collisions, cuts, gouging, disembowelment, impalement, stabbings, abrasion, scraping, tearing of flesh, dismemberment, broken bones and more in that vein.  Powers derived from physical damage will tend to be more physical as a result, emphasizing raw strength, biological alterations, armor, shields, and size. - BRUTE, document by Wildbow.
  14. Energy damage includes extremes in temperature, energy based damage like burns from fire, radiation and steam, electrocution, low temperature burns from cold or vacuum.  Powers derived from energy-based harm will often be more energy based, with personal telekinesis, forcefields, energy manipulation, and some more concrete manifestations of time, space, or reality warping. - BRUTE, document by Wildbow.
  15. ‘Other’ damage includes chemicals (ie. acids), poison, drugs, disease, and ambient damage from genetic issues, and serves as a ‘misc’ category for sources of harm that fall outside this spectrum.  Powers relating to growth, phasing, constructs, and more esoteric manifestations of time, space, or reality warping all fall into this category. - BRUTE, document by Wildbow.
  16. Surface damage tends to create surface level protection.  Damage limited primarily to the skin or to sensitive areas of the body will tend to produce powers along the lines of personal forcefields or exterior armor.  This provides a degree of protection that may be penetrated, accessing the flesh within, which often isn’t protected more than a typical unpowered person (or only marginally so). - BRUTE, document by Wildbow.
  17. Deeper tissue damage will involve more thorough changes and restructuring.  Brutes along these lines may more closely resemble Breakers, drawing from endless fountains of muscle mass (deep physical harm) or energy to repel or stand firm against attacks.  Such brutes are often hurt more, but have a capacity to keep going despite this harm, and/or they get stronger while injured. - BRUTE, document by Wildbow.
  18. Finally, sources of harm that don’t come from the outside but from within, will often grant a form of brute power that ties into absorption and/or expression of forces.  This might be kinetic energy, light, electromagnetism, or something more abstract like time or inertia.  Absorbing one form of energy to power defenses or taking damage to charge a battery and then lash out with an offensive application of the power would be example cases.  Gross impalement (to a degree where the shard may be confused as to whether the object is going from the outside in vs. the inside out) may also fall under this category. - BRUTE, document by Wildbow.
  19. Sources of harm that do gradual damage (some poisons, being on fire, being immersed in chemical, drowning) will often provide regeneration in some capacity, or biokinesis of a more intentional sort than might be seen in deeper tissue damage. - BRUTE, document by Wildbow.
  20. The damage suffered can go hand in hand with physical weakness. This kind of damage leads to blood loss and faltering strength. This low point is driven home by the fact that these kinds of triggers tend to impact appearance in the long-term, which feeds into the changer aspect of the resulting power (the armor that is pulled forth oft being changer-ish). Self image is deeply affected. The shard might well find leverage in the difference in self image before and after, with the armor’s aesthetic taking on a dark interpretation drawn from the triggeree’s subconscious, becoming a subtle, dark reminder of the event, or, inversely, pushing them to go out in costume by making the armor beautiful while its wearer, within, remains scarred. - BRUTE, document by Wildbow.
  21. 21.0 21.1 Alexandria – Second in command of the Protectorate. Flies and has enhanced strength, a virtually invincible body, eidetic memory, and senses emotions. The triad of flight, strength and invincibility recurs often enough, in enough variations, that it’s often referred to as ‘the Alexandria package’. Runs the team based in Los Angeles. Member of the now-disbanded Triumvirate. - Cast (In Depth)
  22. What kind of trigger event will create a resurrector?
    They arise from situations where someone wants to die but can't, or in situations where they should die but are held at the boundary for what they perceive as a long time, and are consequently somewhat rare.

    * A man suffers burns to 70% of his body in an industrial accident that also cracks his head open, and through the miracles of medicine, is kept alive. They put him into comas intentionally, for set periods at a time, only bringing him out to recuperate in the week leading up to a surgery for his head. Every day is pain and agony, and while the drugs take the edge off... it remains a dull, constant, miserable pain. He lives in torment, held on the threshold but not allowed to cross it, even if he might want to.

    * She had seizures from infancy, and medication only helped a little. They were almost under control until late childhood, and it was then that a seizure hit and did enough damage that she didn't come back from it... for years, anyway. She came to as if from the deepest sleep, and realized that while she was aware and conscious, she didn't have control over her body. Locked-in syndrome. Unable to communicate, or even to move her eyes, she quickly realized the fate she had been consigned to, and the horrors of the fact that even if she did somehow recover, she had been made what some termed a 'pillow angel' - surgically and hormonally altered to stunt her growth, prevent puberty, and consequently make caring for her as easy as possible. Unable to communicate her desire for this paralyzed existence to end, unable to envision a future for herself with her body being what it is, she triggers.

    * He tried to kill himself with a gun to the side of his head, wracked by guilt over an accident involving a family member, and frustration over the fact that nobody would listen or try to understand the situation. He did inconceivable damage with the bullet, and yet he lived. Humans are more durable than they sometimes believe, and he was a durable sort. He turned to pills, downing as many as he could, and he experienced the worst pain of his life... yet lived through the night. Pain and guilt surging through every inch of him, he hears the answering machine kick in, another condemnation from people who were only thinking as a mob.

    Do they always have built-in limitations, like Koschei's decreasing intelligence and and eventual immobility?

    Generally something. The ones who don't have a built in limitation might have the resurrection but not much else, aside from maybe a penchant for getting buried alive by their enemies or otherwise put in situations where they're out of the picture somewhere, suffering until the cycle ends. But generally there's an alternate weak point or a way their methodology can be disrupted. - Wildbow on Reddit
  23. did move to flank, leaving Rain behind, but I didn’t do it with the intent of mounting a direct attack. I circled around, and I came within ten feet of a cape surrounded by what looked like a personal sandstorm of black sand. A big cape.

    Brute, was my thought, as he reached out, arm forming a rough hand shape as the sandstorm expanded and extended out. He tore into cover and hauled it away, and his sand stripped away at the material of my costume, scraping up my armor, and taking off flecks of my chin.
    [...]
    - Excerpt from Dying 15.8
  24. Brute powers are a very low level power, easy for the entities to explore, as they continually refine their ability to persevere.  Very select brute powers and brute powers that perform exceptionally are actually attempts on the entities’ parts to devise a form of immortality, both for perpetuating the cycle and for their end goals. - BRUTE, document by Wildbow.
  25. 25.0 25.1 Carlos Aegis Redundant biology, operating at peak capacity so long as alive, possessed of flight and ability to use body with no fear of self harm. Wards Brute Mover - Parahuman List; bolded edit by Wildbow.
  26. Power: Maintenance. Thinker power makes him more effective at maintaining and fixing gear. He can reroll craft checks, and is assumed to have a grounding in all non-niche craft types. - Playtest Capes, document by Wildbow.
  27. Alabaster – A white skinned (literally) young man who restores himself to pristine condition at set intervals (every 4.3 seconds). Initially seen as a member of Empire Eighty-Eight. - Cast
  28. Alexandria had originally named herself after the Library of Alexandria, though she’d ceased mentioning that, choosing to leave enemies in the dark instead. As strong as she was on a physical level, her mind was equally formidable. She never forgot a detail, absorbed information quickly, reading two pages of a book with a glance, and she learned quickly, retaining everything she picked up. She knew most commonly spoken languages, no less than ten styles of martial arts and she could match some of the best non-tinkers in the world hen it came to computers. Not only was she rated well in the brute classification, but she held high scores in the mover and thinker categories. - Excerpt from Interlude 14.y
  29. “I’m breaking every single rule,” I said. “Because it’s a name that needs an explanation, and you’re not supposed to do that. There’s no time to spell it out.”

    “I don’t care,” Capricorn said. “Out with it.”

    “Antares,” I said. - Excerpt from Torch 7.8
  30. ◈ AUROCH; Charley nCothra
    Classification: Brute 2, Shaker 3, Striker 2, Mover 2.
    Inertial alteration effect in an area, somewhat selective, inverse effect for self. Disrupts energy. - PRT Quest (Anchorage)
  31. Auroch generates an effect around her that either dampens inertia, protecting and slowing things in the area, or accelerating them to prompt faster, less controlled movement. Can affect herself independently of the general effect, with some benefits of a dampening effect alongside the benefits of acceleration, justifying her Brute, Striker and Mover classifications. Machinery tends to fail or work intermittently within the field. - PRT Quest (Anchorage)
  32. Behemoth/Hadhayosh is a ten. - Scourge 19.5, comment by Wildbow.
  33. 33.0 33.1 Behemoth, originally called Hadhayosh, is a forty-five foot tall horned brute with incredible strength and durability, regeneration and dynakinesis; the ability to manipulate energy in all its forms. Creates shockwaves, lightning, thunder and delivers massive impacts, and can ignore the Manton effect within a radius of about thirty feet, allowing him to roast capes from the inside-out. He has racked up the most cape kills during the fights, and is consequently nicknamed ‘Herokiller’. - Cast (In Depth)
  34. Blasto, Real Name Unknown
    Classification: Tinker 6 (sub: master 5, blaster 2, shifter 2, brute 2); plants.
    Disposition: Villain (B)
    Last Known Location: Boston (Allston area, east). - Excerpt from Interlude 19.x
  35. Power: Blastocyst - Produces plant hybrid minions. Minions cannot communicate (this includes clones and humanoids), are lumpy/misshapen, and have social scores of 0. They suffer one additional wound of the same type (without any attached effects) every time they take fire damage. Creations are loyal. They follow simple instructions, 20 words or less, and obey a pheromone-laden Blasto so long as he is in earshot. - Playtest Capes, document by Wildbow.
  36. 36.0 36.1 ◈ BLUE BOMBER; Dexter Schucandy
    Classification: Changer/Brute
    Rating subject to change. Seen in three forms: Tall and rubbery; thin and metallic; and muscular and brutish. - WD Helena, document by Wildbow.
  37. Striker 5, Shifter 1 (Wildbow note: should be Breaker 1 (Brute). If you had to put a number to the Brute, it would be 1. Classifications get murky out of context, though.) - Wildbow on Brandish
  38. Ranked 1 powers mentioned thus far include Shadow Stalker and Brandish (Mover 1 and Shifter 1, respectively).
    For Shadow Stalker, that’s the ability to float or jump a good distance (12-15 feet from a standing position). Somewhat more versatile than an olympic athlete might be able to maintain.

    For Brandish, it’s the ability to become an immobile, nigh-invulnerable sphere. - Scourge 19.5, comment by Wildbow.
  39. CASK; Lawrence Batson (“L.B.”)
    Classification: Tinker 5 (Sub: Blaster 1, Brute 2*, Master 1, Trump 2)
    Medicine and performance enhancing admixtures. - PRT Quest (Anchorage)
  40. Produces chemical batches that enhance strength, flexibility, resistance to toxins, resistance to the elements, resistance to harm, reflexes, or focus. Produces chemical batches that quickly restore damaged tissues and prompt rapid cellular growth. One dose is a minimum of 1.33 liters, administered orally, limiting the speed consumption, emergency application and the number of successive doses that can be given. Potentially shortens patrol runs or prompts somewhat frequent pit stops. - PRT Quest (Anchorage)
  41. Crawler was one of the two group members who had yet to rejoin the group. He was engaged with a young man with a glow that suffused his hair and emanated from his eyes and mouth. White flashes appeared with little accuracy and devastating effect, carving spherical chunks out of the brute. - Excerpt from Interlude 12
  42. Crawler – Member of the Slaughterhouse Nine, Crawler is a monstrous figure who heals with incredible speed and adapts natural defenses or augmentations in response to any healing. - Cast
  43. 43.0 43.1 Cuff is more of an agility/aim sort of metallokinetic. She can hurl metal objects and control their flight to a limited degree (her ability to manipulate these objects lingers for several seconds after they leave her vicinity) and shape metal as it hits an enemy. Throw/swing a metal pipe and have it form a shackle or binding around a foe on impact. Further, so long as she's wearing metal armor or is within arm's reach of metal, she can fling or slide herself using metallokinetic pushes. This can augment ongoing movement. She also has a passive, secondary brute power that enhances her physique slightly and increases her resistance to damage for a little while after she gets damaged (it's part of why she survives Behemoth's lightning). - reddit comment by Wildbow.
  44. “Tentative ratings, based on what we know, we have her down as a brute eight, a changer two and a combination of striker and master with a rating of ten.” - Excerpt from Queen 18.4
  45. “Chevalier, take your team, follow after my Wards. If she can detect capes, we’ll need to assign her a thinker classification, and we’ll need to assume that any isolated groups are at risk. Undersiders? Take Myrddin’s Wards and pursue Flechette and Parian. Ensure they aren’t intercepted. The rest of us will track down Noelle. Any indications about her location from the video?” - Excerpt from Queen 18.5
  46. She’d be a Trump/Master hybrid.

    Oliver would be a low-level shifter. - Cell 22.6, comment by Wildbow.
  47. “What does she do?” Grue asked.

    Ballistic sighed. “Besides the ridiculous super strength, durability and the regeneration?”

    “Besides that,” Grue said. - Excerpt from Queen 18.2
  48. Question by WyldCard4: Aura: What exactly is her aura classified as? Personally I have classified it as a low level Stranger power, as I believe you once told me it is not a Master power. Stranger seems to fit best, as it alters the perceptions of her enemies.

    Answer by Wildbow: Shaker, not stranger. - Spacebattles post by Wildbow.
  49. ‘Mover’, therefore, covers anyone that can cross great distances at a time. Flight, teleportation, superspeed (Armsmaster uses this designation in 8.2). ‘Master’ refers to the ability to control others or (in the case of specialized cases of other powers, like Tinkers) to create minons… Taylor, Parian, Crusader, Heartbreaker and Nilbog all fit this classification. Bitch is kind of an outlying case in this category because she doesn’t have absolute control or loyalty from those she creates. She has to train them – of the sixteen or so dogs she had at the one shelter, she only considered eight well trained enough to obey her and come with her in this chapter, and even then she was relying on Brutus and Judas to sort of herd them and keep them in line. - Extermination 8.5, comment by Wildbow.
  50. I could remember studying the PRT paperwork with Dean, doing the quizzes. He’d said the rule for brutes had an unofficial second part. That as much as you might try to put them off, they had a way of making you deal with them.

    What had I said in response to that? I was a brute on paper. - Excerpt from Daybreak 1.5
  51. Glory Girl, Victoria Dallon (Incarcerated; Asylum) – Possessed of flight, invincibility, and capable of deadlifting over a ton. She radiates an energy that makes her allies more inclined to like, respect and look up to her, while making her terrifying and intimidating to her enemies. Following the conclusion of the Slaughterhouse Nine arc, Glory Girl was altered by her sister, in both mind and body, and was placed in an asylum for parahumans, where she currently remains. - Cast (In Depth)
  52. Eric becomes a breaker, transitioning between two forms. Because of the nature of the problem and of Eric himself, he doesn't get a form that returns him entirely to normal. He has one form where he's essentially a living artillery platform, unable to move, but capable of devastating firepower, and one form where he flies at stunning speeds, capable of turning on a dime, durable. A living bullet. - Spacebattles post by Wildbow.
  53. 53.0 53.1 ◈ GRUMMAN; Eric Stodt
    Classification: Mover 6, Brute 8 or Mover -1, Blaster 9
    Toggles between two breaker states, one granting exceedingly maneuverable flight abilities, the other turning him into an immobile artillery platform. - PRT Quest (Anchorage)
  54. 54.0 54.1 Hatchet Face was a brute. His claim to fame was attacking a news station where a superhero was being interviewed and brutally cutting the hero down, stripping them of powers and then butchering them with swings of his namesake axe. The segment never made it onto the airwaves, but the audacity of the deed sparked attention. By lowering his enemies to a baseline level and then going after them with his still-enhanced strength and toughness, he gave every cape cause for worry. Triggering when he was injured by capes in a careless attack, he started out as a brutal vigilante, but quickly left that mission behind in favor of a simpler, brutal agenda of taking what he wanted and cutting down the biggest boys and girls around. - reddit comment by Wildbow.
  55. “And it looks like he’s a Shaper 4, Brute 7, with the longest list of homicides or suspected homicides I’ve seen on someone who wasn’t already in prison. Thick file, I take it he has lots of followers?” - Excerpt from Sentinel 9.1
  56. Hookwolf – A onetime contestant in underground Parahuman fighting tournaments, he found his way into Empire Eighty Eight after murdering a stadium manager, then formed a splinter group after Kaiser’s death. His journey has led him to the Slaughterhouse Nine. A ‘caniform metalstorm’, Hookwolf is a powerful shapeshifter with the ability to replace parts of his body with shapes comprised of blades, hooks and needle points, all violently shuffling amongst one another. His favored form is a quadruped ‘wolf’, thus his name. - Cast (In Depth)
  57. 57.0 57.1 ► Database Ticket: Don Fraser
    Ticket came in re: our systems check on Mr. Fraser. We can add the following to what we know:
    • Cape name confirmed as Upperhand.
    • Targeted and defeated a blaster/striker cape called Facet. The cape was powerful, and highly sought after by the San Francisco team, creating crystal growths with a touch and dismantling them for catastrophic artillery-level sieges. Facet was pulverized beyond all recognition.
    • Targeted and defeated two capes in one confrontation:
      • A shifter villain by the name of Deviant. The cape could manifest changes in reaction to wounds, but the changes were to areas far from the wound site. Deviant was shredded.
      • A weapon dealer Blaster capable of ‘machine gunning’ endless sprays of needles, punching through concrete, was torn in half, midsection pulverized.
    • Protectorate member by the name of Hydrofoil was targeted. A brute/mover cape with a personal shield that produced torrents of water in reaction to breaches, traveling by means of a personal tidal wave, was found in an apartment. The floorboards of the apartment apparently shattered, and Hydrofoil’s shattered remains were piled within the ensuing depression. A note (handwriting suggestively similar to Don Fraser’s) pointed the PRT to Hydrofoil’s illegal side business. - Department Sixty Four, PRT Quest thread iii p18
  58. 58.0 58.1 Jormungand / Jörmungandr – Another name for Leviathan (see below). - Cast
  59. 59.0 59.1 “Koschei is a Brute. He dies, he disappears, only to emerge from a nearby location, bigger, uglier, tougher, stronger, and a little stupider. He’s gnarled and enough deaths may well see him rendered immobile by the side effects. He appears to be leading this group. Expect him to have guns. He’s strong enough to carry a small arsenal.” - Department Sixty Four, PRT Quest thread ii p32
  60. 60.0 60.1 Krieg Wide range kinetic manipulation, more powerful closer to him, resulting in brute classification. - parahumanList, bolded edit by Wildbow.
  61. Question: This is a bit out of left field but I didn’t know where to put it. In the comments during the Leviathan fight, you stated that Leviathan wasn’t considered a Brute 10, despite his incredible toughness. With the imprisonment of Lung, he was classified as capable of going up to Brute 9 on the scale. Does this mean that Lung has the potential in a drawn out fight to be as strong and as durable as Leviathan?

    Answer by Wildbow: In terms of sheer physical power and durability, yes. - Comment by Wildbow on Scourge 19.5
  62. Leviathan is a thirty-foot tall monstrosity with enhanced speed, enhanced strength, a watery afterimage that follows after his every movement and macrohydrokinesis. He killed forty six parahumans during his attack on Brockton Bay, leaving many others wounded or crippled. Most see him as the weakest of the three. Has shattered islands and coastlines in the course of his attacks. - Cast (In Depth)
  63. All three Endbringers are exceptionally tough, to put it mildly. See the latter half of this comment by /u/whispersilk (look for the numbers) for details. As a rule, the only things that are actually going to penetrate the center of their bodies are things that ignore the laws of physics. Endbringers regenerate (and regenerate faster as you get closer to the middle of their bodies) and fight at peak capacity so long as their core remains intact (keep in mind that you're effectively having to dig through a spiral galaxy's equivalent of matter to reach the core in the first place). - reddit comment by Wildbow.
  64. “Prisoner 599, codename Lung. PRT powers designation Brute 4-9 asterisk, Blaster 2-6 asterisk, fire and heat only. Individuals reading or viewing this log are directed to see page three and four of prisoner’s file for particulars on powers. Recommended protocols were properly carried out with sprinkler system and added restraints. Chance of escape following interment in the Baumann Parahuman Containment Center rests at a fairly steady .000041% with no gross deviations in any likely scenarios. Within acceptable limits. Will be processed to cell block W.” - Excerpt from Interlude 6
  65. Lung – A half-Chinese, half-Japanese individual, he was sent to prison in the East and eventually escaped, making his way to America, where he defeated and absorbed a number of sub-gangs, retaining all the Asian members. Tall and bearing tattoos of dragons up his arms, back and neck, he has a power that lets him gradually transform over the course of a conflict, gaining armor plating, enhanced strength, regeneration, claws, enhanced pyrokinesis, and other benefits. At the most extreme end of his transformation, he is capable of trading blows with an Endbringer, though he has only participated in one such fight. - Cast (In Depth)
  66. Mog’s acts as ‘the benefactor’ include financing Tuurngait/Derian, donating to children’s and research hospitals, funding medical research, charity and goodwill programs, and scientific research in general. Only Derian and Dredge know that the melee-shifter brute is the bankroll - to everyone else, Mog is just muscle. - PRT Quest (Villains), document by Wildbow.
  67. ➥ MOG; Real name unknown
    Disposition: Villain (A)
    Last known location: Anchorage
    Mog is the apparent leader of the Anchorage faction of Tuurngait. Despite being pure muscle, Mog has maintained a presence in the area for some time. Apparent crimes include robbery, black market trade and assault.
    Mog absorbs impacts and utilizes the energy to trigger physical changes, including new features, armor and weaponry. - PRT Quest (Anchorage)
  68. “Not our duty. Yours.”

    “It’s everyone’s duty.”

    “We handle enemy you don’t see, you costumes help enemies above ground. Scare Prathama away.”

    Like it’s that easy. “We need your help. Everyone’s help.”

    “No. We show ourselves, and all ends badly. We fight subtle war. Better to lose today and fight subtle war tomorrow.”

    Better to let Behemoth win than to show themselves and lose whatever edge they hold against their current enemies? - Excerpt from Crushed 24.2
  69. 69.0 69.1 ◈ SNUBNOSE; Zoe Shane

    Classification: Blaster 3 (Brute 5)
    Short range bursts of sparks, applying a forceful pushing effect. Power is used in perpetuity in costume, to keep a heavy armored suit mobile. - PRT: Department Sixty Four, thread II [Worm Quest] - Page 47
  70. 70.0 70.1 ➥ SPLOOSH; Real name unknown
    Disposition: Villain (B)
    Classification: Shaker 6/Blaster 4/Brute 6/Mover 5/Stranger 2
    Last known location: Anchorage
    Sploosh is a subordinate in the Anchorage faction of Tuurngait. Apparent crimes include assault and murder.
    Sploosh takes the form of a living being of condensation, drawing all available, airborne or liquid moisture to him and reshaping himself as he wills. Solidity (so to speak; he varies between mist and a gel-like liquid form) varies from moment to moment. - PRT Quest (Anchorage)
  71. 71.0 71.1 ◈ VELLUM; Tanya Engalychev
    Classification: Breaker 4/Striker 4/Brute 2/Mover 1 (Tentative classification)
    Nonlethal, albeit painful absorption of skin from touched subjects. Gains permanent increase to strength and durability as a result. Limited ability to alter skin patterns. - PRT Quest (Anchorage)
  72. 72.0 72.1 ➥ VIRAGO; Real name unknown
    Disposition: Villain (B) Classification: Mover 5, Shaker 4, Brute 1
    Last known location: Anchorage
    Subordinate within the Saltykovkoya Bratva. Has established criminal history in Yekaterinburg, has three murders in her file.
    Virago has short distance teleportation (roughly 30’) and produces disorienting shockwaves in a radius around herself, causing electromagnetic disturbance, shorting out or destroying electronics. Her shockwaves render her more or less immune to conventional ammunition. Is known to wear a cloak tipped with razor blades, utilized with her short distance teleports to slash at her surroundings. - PRT Quest (Anchorage)
  73. He was classified as a brute and changer, classifications meant for the unnaturally tough and strong and for those who could change their shape to some extent, respectively. He never liked the word brute being applied to him, even though he was aware that the labels had originally been intended for the PRT teams to identify and label villains, specifically. It was only later that they had been extended to identifying the heroes as well. - Excerpt from Sentinel 9.1
  74. Weld – Once the forerunner of a new phase in the Protectorate’s plan to acclimatize the public to capes, Weld was to be the ‘face’ of the more monstrous or unusual capes, taking over the Wards, with plans to eventually have him lead a city’s Protectorate team. Left the Wards following the revelations about Eidolon and Alexandria’s involvement with Cauldron. Now leads the Irregulars. Weld has metal flesh, a consequence of his ability to absorb metal and incorporate it into his biology. This renders him nigh-indestructible and gives him basic shapeshifting ability. - Cast (In Depth)

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Power Classifications
Modern Classifications MoverShakerBruteBreakerMasterTinker
BlasterThinkerStrikerChangerTrumpStranger
Historical Classifications NukerShifter
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