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The ABB (Azn Bad Boys)

A gang that specifically targeted and recruited Asians (Koreans, Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese) from Brockton Bay's high schools and lower-class neighborhoods. Wear red and green gang colors. Wiped out after Bakuda goes on a bombing spree in Lung's absence and the other gangs decide they are too disruptive and join forces against them.The name, if nothing much else, is probably based on the Real Life gang, The Asian Boyz, or ABZ.

    In General 


    Lung 

Kenta

Debut: Gestation 1.3

Lung exploded. No metaphor there. He detonated in a blast of rolling fire that set his clothes, several pieces of litter and one of his gang members alight. Almost every bug in his immediate vicinity died or was crippled by the wave of extreme heat. From my vantage point on the roof, I watched as he turned himself into a human bomb a second time. The second explosion turned his clothes to rags and sent his people fleeing for cover. He stepped out of the smoke with his hands burning like torches, the silvery scales that covered nearly a third of his body reflecting the flame.

The leader of the ABB, born to a Chinese mother and Japanese father. Tall and muscular, with his torso covered with tattoos of dragons from Eastern mythology. He triggered after suffering a drug overdose during a battle with Contessa. His power grants him pyrokinesis, a strong Healing Factor, and, as any given fight goes on, transforms him into a larger and larger form armored with more and denser scales and — eventually — wings. He wears an ornate metal mask.

Classification: Brute 4-9*; Blaster 2-6


  • Arc Villain: He's Taylor's first major opponent, and stopping the ABB is the main focus for the first few arcs of the story.
  • Attention Whore: Is constantly searching for attention from others, which is related to his power due to the fact that the moment he realizes that there's no one around to watch him beat down Leviathan he starts turning back to normal.
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Lung's power increases as he fights, which he once used to fight Leviathan and singlehandedly drive him off. The only other people who could claim that are Eidolon and Scion.
  • Enemy Mine: Joins forces with Taylor to fight Scion.
  • Eye Scream: Taylor cuts his eyes out in their second encounter. Due to his Healing Factor, they eventually grow back.
  • Flight: If he continues Hulking Out long enough, he grows wings.
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: Originally, Lung was just an unpowered member of a small-time street gang in Japan before triggering while suffering a drug overdose while fighting Contessa. Now, he's one of the most dangerous capes in Brockton Bay.
  • Gathering Steam: Lung is a parahuman who on top of his pyrokinesis and Healing Factor, transforms as a battle goes forward, growing larger and stronger, gaining scales, and even growing wings as long as a battle's going forward and there are people watching, as well as an increased proficiency with his pyrokinesis and healing. Word of God is that he has no true upper limit, and at the highest level witnessed in the story, he manages to singlehandedly beat back Leviathan, one of the Endbringers, when he flooded Kyushu, only stopping when he notices pretty much everyone else is dead and therefore can't witness the fight.
  • Good Thing You Can Heal: Lung suffers worse beatdowns than almost any other surviving character due to his Healing Factor.
  • Groin Attack: A combination of Armsmaster's tranquilizers and Taylor's black widow venom caused his crotch to necrotize after his first encounter with her, and people reminding him of this is a good way to irritate him.
  • Half-Breed Discrimination: He was subject to this during his original prison stay in China — he's half Chinese and half Japanese, and neither the Chinese nor the Japanese gangs wanted a mixed-race man in their ranks. Bakuda theorizes that this is why he chose to make a pan-Asian gang and recruit a fellow mixed Asian like her.
  • Hulking Out: As long as he fights, he gradually transforms, growing in size, gaining scales, enhanced strength, healing and enhanced proficiency with his pyrokinesis. Word of God is that his transformation has no upper limit as long as the fight continues.
  • In a Single Bound: Lung can jump several stories in a single bound.
  • Large and in Charge: Lung is well over six feet tall even before he transforms, and he's the leader of the ABB.
  • Meaningful Name: His name is pronounced the exact same way as the Chinese word for dragon, long.
  • Our Dragons Are Different: As evidenced by his whole motif, Lung's eventual transformation is a giant, flaming, winged, reptilian beast. That said, he mixes things up by having an X-shaped, catlike snout and omnidirectional teeth for maximum creepiness.
  • Playing with Fire: Has pyrokinetic abilities.
  • Power Gives You Wings: He can grow at least four wings as his transformation escalates.
  • Scaled Up: His fully transformed form heavily resembles a (western, not Asian) dragon.
  • Sole Survivor:
    • Lung was the sole survivor of his original gang, as the rest were killed by Contessa after they stumbled across a Cauldron deal.
    • He's the only ABB cape to survive Worm.
  • Starter Villain: He's the first cape Taylor fights as Skitter.
  • Super-Senses: His first fight with Taylor reveals that, at a minimum, his hearing is highly acute when he is transformed.
  • The Worf Effect: What happens to him looks a lot like this even after more than a few glances. What it clearly illustrates, however, is that every last power, however awesome and powerful, has downsides attached. Which can get found and used by creative or lucky enough opponents. No exceptions.
  • Worthy Opponent: Starts seeing Taylor as one towards the end of the story for her numerous victories against him and others. When it looks like they're all going to die to save him inside Cauldron's base, he even offers to kill anyone Taylor wants as a favor, and later he is sufficiently impressed by Taylor's suggestion that he satisfy his desire to hurt her by burning off her (heavily bleeding) arm that he does so and lets her live afterward.
  • Wreathed in Flames: Lung can set himself on fire, which is quite useful for keeping Taylor's bugs from attacking him.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He tends to have this view towards nearly everyone.

    Oni Lee 

Oni Lee

Debut: Hive 5.7

Lung's lieutenant, who joined the Azn Bad Boys after his gang was absorbed by Lung. His power allows him to teleport repeatedly, each time leaving a duplicate behind who can act autonomously for several seconds before dissolving in a cloud of white ash. He wears a black bodysuit with weapons on a bandoleer and a belt, and an ornate Japanese-demon mask in crimson and green.

Classification: Mover


  • And I Must Scream: He's apparently still conscious after being revived by Bonesaw and having his head sewn onto Hatchet Face.
  • The Dragon: To Lung, and briefly to Bakuda.
  • Empty Shell: According to Jack Slash, his use of his power has turned him into one, which probably explains why he doesn't seek a leadership role despite being in some ways the most dangerous member of ABB.
  • One-Man Army: It takes two Undersiders (Taylor and Rachel), Labyrinth, Newter, and a group of Coil's mercenaries who also happen to be snipers to drive him off. And this is with Labyrinth blocking his line of sight teleportation and tripping up his footing by summoning walls and ledges that only he is affected by.
  • Psycho for Hire: According to Jack Slash, he mainly gets off on killing any way he can, even after being injured.
  • Psycho Knife Nut: He carries quite a few knives in his arsenal and enjoys killing people. He can throw them well enough to punch through Skitter's mask lens from several feet away.
  • Reforged into a Minion: Bonesaw grafts his corpse with Hatchet Face's to create Hack Job, a misshapen monster with both of their powers.
  • Suicide Attack: A fan of doing this while teleporting away to leave the temporary double to suffer the effects instead, pulling people off roofs or setting off grenades.
  • Teleport Spam: A standard tool in his repertoire, rendered even more lethal by the fact that he also has temporary Self-Duplication.

    Bakuda 

Bakuda

Debut: Shell 4.6

Lung's latest recruit: a tinker specializing in bombs of all kinds. Apparently triggered while at Cornell and held the university ransom. She has straight black hair, Asian features, and pale blue eyes; while in costume, she wears large opaque goggles and a metal mask with a gas mask filter over her mouth, and a braided cord of black, yellow, and green wires over her shoulders. She's noted to have a noticeable Boston accent when her mask's voice modulator is off.

Classification: Tinker 6 (Bombs)


  • Agony of the Feet: In Shell 4.10, Skitter cuts off two of her toes with a knife while suffering from a concussion from one of Bakuda bombs in order to disable her ability to use her toe rings for more detonations.
  • Ax-Crazy: Bakuda seems to really enjoy hurting others, up to her Evil Laugh and Mad Bomber tactics. Tattletale surmises that she suffers from multiple psychiatric issues.
  • Bad Boss:
    • Conscripts hundreds of people, including kids, into the ABB by sticking bombs in them. She sometimes detonates these bombs simply For the Evulz and has made sure that it's borderline impossible for her victims to be freed.
    • The reason she worked for Lung in the first place is that he impressed her with how concisely he could articulate how to rule through fear. This is a good indication of what she's like when she's in charge.
  • Evil Gloating: She loves the sound of her own voice.
  • Evil Laugh: After detonating the two-twenty-seven Bakuda breaks down laughing in delight at the Body Horror she just created.
  • Gadgeteer Genius: Specializing in bombs, and can imbue them with various parahuman abilities.
  • Insufferable Genius: She loves to brag about what a genius she is, and tells the Undersiders that she can think twelve moves ahead before they've decided on their first. While her tinker skill means she genuinely is a genius in the field of bombmaking, the fact that she spends her big fight making elementary mistakes and shortly afterward irremediably mishandles the gang situation in the city shows that she is nowhere near as smart as she thinks she is.
  • Mad Bomber: When Lung is captured, she reacts by implanting Explosive Leashes in hundreds of people around the city and going on a bombing spree.
  • Mad Doctor: To implant the aforementioned bombs into her soldiers, she did a few surgeries with her eyes closed, presumably for shits and giggles.
  • Machine Monotone: Her gas mask records her voice and replaces it with a robotic-sounding version.
  • Made of Iron: Her attempts to break out of the transport to the Birdcage include stabbing herself repeatedly in the shoulder and using her teeth to bend heated metal into rudimentary tools. She may be an insufferably arrogant psychopath, but you have to acknowledge her resilience.
  • Meaningful Name: Bakuda is derived from "bakudan", the Japanese word for "bomb", which is her tinker specialty.
  • Narcissist: According to Tattletale, she is this in the clinical sense of the word. She proves as much when she actually stops her Evil Gloating to thank Regent for talking about how cool one of her detonations was.
  • Psycho for Hire: Completely insane, and a formidable lieutenant, her mismanagement of the situation once she got to be in charge proved that she should have stuck to being an underling.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: Indirectly causes the ABB vs Everyone gang war, which in turn causes Leviathan to come calling (and that leads to Jack Slash deciding to visit). Basically, she's responsible (however indirectly) for the escalation of threats in the story.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Even if Lung had not killed her, she would not have lasted long in the Birdcage. Even before this, her attempts to build a rep went too far, moving her from "just another criminal" to "target of every cape in the city, including all of the authorities and both heroes and villains" within a day of her premiere. She ultimately causes the destruction of her own gang by deliberately breaking the Unspoken Rules for little to no reason.
  • To the Pain: Her description of the two-twenty-seven bomb, which creates a nonlethal spatial distortion only affecting living matter.
  • Trick Bomb: Very few of her bombs have standard effects, ranging all the way from gas bombs for killing bugs to temporary black holes.
  • Worthy Opponent: Furious as she is to be sent to the Birdcage, she expresses sincere admiration for Dragon's masterful design of the facility and equipment.

E88

Empire Eighty-Eight, a neo-Nazi gang led by Kaiser that fractures after he's killed by Leviathan.

    In General 

  • Meaningful Name: The "8" repeated twice in the gang's name represents "H", the eighth letter of the alphabet. "H.H." is meant to stand for "Heil Hitler".
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: They're a neo-Nazi group, so they're every bit as bigoted as you'd expect.

    Kaiser 

Max Anders

Debut: Interlude 4.x

The leader of the Empire Eighty-Eight, a white supremacist gang in Brockton Bay, and the CEO of Medhall Corporation, a local pharmaceutical company. A handsome man, thirty-five or so and fit; his costume consists of a suit of armor with a crown of blades that he creates around himself.

Classification: Blaster(?); Shaker(?)


  • Abusive Parents: Purity believes he was emotionally abusive to Theo, we never see this confirmed on-screen, however. It's a major reason Purity divorced him, in order to prevent Aster from getting hurt.
  • Big Bad Wannabe: After Lung's defeat, Kaiser seems posed to become the primary threat of Brockton Bay's gangs. Not only is his influence severely curtailed by Coil exposing his identity, he's then promptly slain by Leviathan and his empire fragments.
  • Enemy Mine: His first appearance is as an ally against the ABB, then again against Leviathan.
  • Extra-ore-dinary: He can cause the metal to spring from any solid surface.
  • Half the Man He Used to Be: Leviathan rips him in half.
  • Manipulative Bastard: As best shown when he convinces Purity to work with him again.
  • Pretend Prejudice: Word of God confirmed that he didn't really believe a single word of the neo-Nazi creed but pretends he does so that he will have followers.
  • Those Wacky Nazis: He's the leader of a Neo-Nazi villain group.
  • Tin Tyrant: Wears a suit of armor.
  • Villainous Valor: Brings his whole parahuman force to the fight against Leviathan and dies in the ensuing fight.
  • Visionary Villain: Plans to take over Brockton Bay.

    Krieg 

James Fliescher

Debut: Hive 5.1

One of Kaiser's lieutenants along with Hookwolf and Purity. His power allows him to manipulate kinetic energy in himself and the surrounding area.

Classification: Shaker/Brute


  • All Germans Are Nazis: Hails from the German neo-nazi Gesellschaft, apparently holding a pretty high rank in it to take a powerful position after Kaiser's death.
  • Blow You Away: A very subtle version. Because of the Manton limit, he can't directly affect people but he can imbue the air itself with kinetic force to create an effect of greater air resistance.
  • Meaningful Name: German for "War," deliberately evocative of the blitzkrieg against London during WWII.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After Kaiser's death he moves to England rather than stick around to wrestle for position in the new gang situation.
  • Super-Strength: By boosting the kinetic energy of his own movements he can create this effect.
  • Winds of Destiny, Change!: Due to his power acting subconsciously within a close enough range to him, it has this appearance. Hostile forces move slower, skew off target, have trouble breathing, etc.

    Alabaster 

Alabaster

Debut: Hive 5.1

A fanatic and loyal member of E88. He's a young man with a "flawless appearance," with his hair, skin, and eyes all appearing an unnaturally pure shade of white.

Classification: Breaker/Brute, Thinker


  • And I Must Scream: During the Leviathan fight, he gets thrown into a blast from a Bakuda bomb and gets trapped in a bubble of glacially slow time. Normally that would mean he'd simply see the world outside moving at superspeed while he moved normally, but the nature of his power ensures he's freed of the effect every few seconds only to be retrapped, essentially letting him perceive the world outside in real-time even as his body remains immobile..
  • Boring, but Practical: He has a minor Thinker power to maintain and improve equipment at a low cost. Good for keeping upkeep costs low, but not very showy.
  • Feel No Pain: A minor power of his.
  • Healing Factor: Of a sort. Every 4.3 seconds his body resets itself to a pristine condition, effectively undoing any harm he'd suffered. This also served to free him from emotion or mind-altering effects, though only if they originated from powers.

The Pure

One of two organizations formed from the remnants of the collapse of Empire Eighty-Eight after Kaiser was killed by Leviathan.

    In General 

    Purity 

Kayden Anders (nee Russel)

Debut: Interlude 4.x

The leader of the organization. An ex-partner (both romantically and professionally) of Kaiser. Her powers create what the cast page describes as "kinetically charged light" that she can use to fly and as beams to attack. When her power is not active, she is a mousy woman with brown hair and eyes, but when they're active her hair, eyes, and costume all radiate light, so she has no need for a mask or costume.

Her power is charged up by absorbing ambient light, making her more powerful after sunny days and long breaks.

She has a daughter named Aster Klara Anders. Is the caretaker for Aster's half-brother, Theo.

Classification: Breaker (Blaster 8, Mover 4)


  • Amicable Exes: Played with. She utterly hates Kaiser but is still partly susceptible to the charm that attracted her to him in the first place, and when that is combined with Kaiser's carefully controlled mild voice and courtesy, they may well look like this to anyone watching.
  • Anti-Villain: She hates the way she's associated with the white-supremacist Kaiser and his Empire Eighty-Eight, and wishes she could be a hero instead, though she still holds white supremacist views.
  • Chronic Villainy: Tried to break away from the Empire and act as a rogue hero but found her solo efforts weren't enough. She ends up rejoining the Empire with hopes of reforming it to be more civic-minded about its neo-Nazi minority-bashing.
  • Fate Worse than Death: Is stuck in Grey Boy's time loop forever.
  • Flight: Her powers give her the ability to fly.
  • Flying Firepower: Can fly and fire light beams.
  • Glowing Eyes of Doom: When her powers are active her eyes glow with light.
  • Hard Light: Her main power is creating kinetically charged light.
  • Light Is Not Good: Has powers over light, but also happens to be the leader of a gang of white supremacists.
  • Mama Bear: Don't ever mess with or attempt to take away her children.
  • Meaningful Name: She's a neo-Nazi with the cape name "Purity," symbolizing her desire for white supremacy.
  • Mercy Kill: Tries to kill Aster, her baby daughter to spare her from whatever the Slaughterhouse Nine had planned.
  • Moral Myopia: According to Tattletale, Purity somehow thinks of herself as an "upstanding" person despite leading a group of white-supremacist supervillains, and having ordered her followers to kill a cameraman just to make a point after Aster and Theo are taken away from her.
  • Parental Substitute: Ends up becoming this for Theo after Leviathan kills Kaiser. She does her very best and is genuinely fond of him, but he recognizes that she's not able to genuinely love him because of his resemblance to his father.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: You don't rise to the top of a neo-Nazi gang by being a particularly avid anti-racist, and even when she's trying to be a hero, she only targets non-white gangs such as the ABB out of the belief that they're more inherently criminal. Notable however for how it doesn't dominate her personality apart from the occasional, rather despicable comment about other non-white ethnic groups and willingness to overlook her even more messed up comrades' actions.
  • The Power of the Sun: She uses sunlight and other ambient light sources to power up, so she's more powerful on sunny days and when she hasn't used her power much. Jack Slash exploits this by making sure that when he pays a visit to her apartment to murder Aster and Theo in front of her, it's on an overcast day when she's gone for some time without charging, so she's at her weakest.
  • Straight Edge Evil: Lacks any major vices.
  • Tautological Templar: It's implied her attempt to be a hero was this, with her attacking minorities assuming they must be criminals.
  • They Look Like Everyone Else: It's surprising to Taylor that one of the higher-ups of the former E88 is just a brunette, overall average-looking interior designer out of costume, directly contrasting Kayden to the twins Fenja and Menja, who are noticeably attractive unmasked.
  • Travel Transformation: She has to enter a Breaker state in order to use her powers, which include flight.
  • Working with the Ex: After she rejoined Empire Eighty-Eight, the organization of her divorced husband.

    Night 

Dorothy Schmidt

Debut: Hive 5.1

A supervillain who can transform herself into a powerful, fast-moving, heavily armored monstrous form as long as no one can see her. Married to Fog.

Classification: Breaker 8 (Brute(?); Mover; Stranger 3)


    Fog 

Geoff Schmidt

Debut: Hive 5.1

A supervillain who can transform himself partially or wholly into a living mist — one which can deal tremendous harm to any creature that inhales it. Married to Dorothy.

Classification: Changer 9


    Crusader 

Justin

Debut: Buzz 7.9

Creates ghostly replicas of himself that can float and can pass through solid objects. Can manage a limited form of flight by having one of these replicas carry himself.

Classification: Master 6


    Theo Anders 

Theodore Richard Anders

Debut: Interlude 4.x

Usually goes by Theo. The fifteen-year-old child of Kaiser, making him potentially a third-generation parahuman. Dreams of growing up to be a superhero. Pudgy, somewhat timid, but smart. Apparently triggered after being abandoned at Harvard by Crusader and Purity; joined the Chicago Wards as a hero with the codename Golem.

For tropes related to his superhero identity, see Sponsored Heroes.


  • Face Death with Dignity: His bravery when faced with Jack Slash convinces him to spare Theo's life for the time being just so he could see if Theo can kill him.
  • Jock Dad, Nerd Son: Jack mentions that Kaiser used to be an athlete. Theo agrees and remembers how disappointed his father was when he couldn't follow in his footsteps.
  • Politeness Judo: Kaiser's lessons on addressing his betters as "sir" quite possibly save his life when Jack turns up.
  • Tagalong Kid: To E88, albeit unwillingly since he doesn't really agree with their philosophy.
  • White Sheep: He doesn't agree with his father or adopted mother Purity's villainous views — he would rather become a hero and does as Golem.

Fenrir's Chosen

The other group that formed out of Empire Eighty-Eight after Kaiser's death.

    In General 
  • Master Race: A central tenet of Chosen ideology is white supremacy.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: They're a lot more overt about being wannabe-Nazis than the Pure.
  • Proud Warrior Race Guy: How they view themselves. Everyone else is a bit too intimidated to mock them for it.
  • The Remnant: Of Empire Eighty-Eight following its dissolution as a result of Kaiser's death.

    Hookwolf 

Brad Meadows

Debut: Hive 5.1

The first leader of Fenrir's Chosen. A big man, hairy, with long, greasy blond hair, an "E88" tattoo on one bicep, and a wolf superimposed on a swastika on the other. Can sprout a maelstrom of whirling metal blades out of his body. Usually wears a metal wolf mask in human form, as a reference to his favorite metal form. Is recruited by the Nine when they leave the city. Killed by Foil.

Classification: Brute 7; Changer 4,


  • Born in the Wrong Century: In his opinion, he should have been a Roman legionary or a Viking berserker, not a twenty-first-century supervillain.
  • Dark Secret: Shatterbird implies that he may have been the one who murdered Allfather. Notably, Hookwolf gets rather angry at the accusation but doesn't actually deny it.
  • Evil Feels Good: While he was always bad, he considered himself a Proud Warrior Race Guy while working with his group. However, Defiant's analysis of his first crime as a member of the Nine shows a growing experimentation with drawing out the suffering of his victims for the fun of it, and the fact that he keeps going after his trial run shows this trope was in play.
  • Extra-ore-dinary: His shapeshifting powers work on a body more metal than flesh.
  • Heart Drive: His 'real' body recedes into a core whenever he changes forms.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: Apart from the obvious neo-Nazi thing, he's a bit of a sexist, giving his female recruits rather shorter shrift than his male ones.
  • Noble Demon: Defiant noted that he operated according to a sort of warrior's code before being recruited by the Nine.
  • Sadist: Likely always a facet of his personality, it really comes to the foreground after he joins the Nine.
  • Savage Wolves: His favored transformation is a metal wolf and he's a vicious neo-Nazi.
  • Scaled Up: Forms himself into an enormous, wolf-headed snake shortly before Foil kills him.
  • Too Dumb to Live:
    • Lets his paranoia of the Undersiders drive him to push them out of the alliance even though he's aware that the Nine are dangerous enough that everyone has to be involved.
    • He also regularly goes up against opponents who are fully capable of killing him without using his power to its full potential; he can shift his metal form into practically anything, but his personal fondness for wolf imagery means he doesn't take advantage of that flexibility until he joins the Nine.
  • Who Needs Their Whole Body?: His alternate form is torn into two pieces by Leviathan, he simply shifts one half back into his human form unscathed, although it seems he was unable to change back into a combat form for a while after that.
  • Wolverine Wannabe: Downplayed, but the combination of his canid-motif, Berserker combat style, borderline feral personality, and (while in breaker form) ability to promptly heal from serious damage — up to and including being ripped in half — makes him pretty reminiscent of what Wolverine would be if he were an evil scumbag.

    Menja & Fenja 

Nessa Biermann & Jessica Biermann

Debut: Hive 5.1

Twins, blondes, built like Playboy models, both of their powers allow them to enlarge their physical forms (including their armor/weapons) to as large as three stories tall. Fenja fights with a sword and shield while Menja fights using a spear. Both wear Valkyrie-style armor (covered with metal feathers) with closed helms.

Fenja was killed during the Leviathan battle. Afterward, Menja began fighting using her spear and her sister's shield. She took over command of Fenrir's Chosen after Hookwolf was recruited by the Nine.

Classification: Breaker (?), Changer (?), Brute (Depending on size),


  • Amazonian Beauty: Are repeatedly referred to as drop-dead gorgeous in their normal forms and are skilled fighters, meaning this trope is likely in play as they grow.
  • Bodyguard Babes: They serve as Kaiser's bodyguards and are very attractive.
  • Giant Equals Invincible: Menja and Fenja actually become tougher to hurt the bigger they grow.
  • Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Menja inherits her shield from her sister after she dies.
  • Sizeshifter: Menja and Fenja's power is primarily to scale up in size.
  • Super-Strength: The secondary effect of growing larger is hitting harder.

    Stormtiger 

Stormtiger

Debut: Buzz 7.7

A pale, tall, musclebound man with a blue-white tiger mask. Has an enhanced sense of smell and the power to make claws of compressed air he can then release in bursts of wind.

Classification: Blaster(?), Shaker (?), Thinker (?), Mover (?)


    Cricket 

Melody Jurist

Debut: Buzz 7.7

A twenty-something girl with a gymnast's build, a blonde buzz-cut, and a metal cage as a mask. Her powers appear to involve enhanced reflexes and some sound-based abilities like echolocation.

Classification: Breaker(?), Thinker (?), Shaker (?),


  • Dual Wielding: Wields dual kama.
  • Machine Monotone: A past injury to her throat means she has to rely on an electrolarynx for talking.
  • Make Me Wanna Shout: She uses a form of echolocation to orient herself in combat, making her one of the few people relatively unaffected by Grue's powers. When projected continuously, it also has the useful side-effect of inducing nausea in humans, confusing the hell out of Taylor's bugs and even temporarily blocking Shatterbird's powers from working.
  • Scars are Forever: Has made it a point to not have any of her injuries—even the permanent ones—healed by Othala.
  • Super-Reflexes: One of her powers.

    Rune 

Rune

Debut: Buzz 7.9

A teenage girl with powerful telekinetic powers, capable of lifting multiple objects, each weighing close to a ton, as long as she has a chance to touch them first. Taylor refers to her as "Sabrina the Teenage Nazi".

Classification: Striker (?), Shaker (?),


    Othala 

Othala

Debut: Buzz 7.6 (mentioned), Buzz 7.9 (appearance)

A woman with the ability to grant any one of several temporary superpowers to the people she touches. Among the powers she is known to be able to grant are pyrokinesis, invincibility, regeneration, and super-speed. She is married to Victor.

Classification: Striker/Trump


    Victor 

Victor

Debut: Buzz 7.6 (mentioned), Buzz 7.9 (appearance)

An ability-thief, able to gain the skills of anyone he spends time in the presence of. Is consequently a veteran martial artist and computer hacker, among other things. Married to Othala.

Classification: Trump(?), Striker (?), Thinker (?),


  • Battle Couple: Fights together with Othala.
  • Becoming the Mask: In the face of a Breaking Speech by Tattletale, he doesn't deny that it was a political marriage, but claims that genuine love is resulting anyway. Unfortunately, he doesn't know his wife well enough to know how much it would hurt her to hear him admit this.
  • Fights Like a Normal: Among the skills, he has stolen are numerous forms of martial arts.
  • Power Parasite: Steals people's skills and knowledge (but not powers) and permanently makes them his own.
  • Red and Black and Evil All Over: Wears a black-painted breastplate with a v-neck, a blood-red shirt, and black slacks.
  • Renaissance Man: He has stolen enough skills to easily qualify.

Coil's Organization

    In General 
  • Badass Normal: Coil's mercenaries mostly fall in this category, being able to go toe to toe with capes despite not having powers of their own.
  • Child Soldiers: A lot of Coil's hires are or were child soldiers at some point.
  • Private Military Contractors: Most of Coil's employees, including most of those assigned to work for Tattletale and Regent.
  • Supervillain Lair: And an incredibly Troperiffic one — it includes secret vaults, computer resources, special cells for containing parahumans, and a self-destruct mechanism. He is also responsible for setting up ones for the Undersiders and Travelers.

    Coil (Unmarked Spoilers) 

Thomas Calvert

Debut: Hive 5.1

A supervillain with seemingly destiny-controlling powers: he has the ability to mentally create two simulations of the future, which differ from each other based only on the actions Coil takes, and then choose which of the two to carry out. The simulations are so convincing that he thinks he has the ability to split the world into two timelines and then collapse whichever one he likes less afterward. Skeletally thin. His costume is a skintight black bodysuit with a white snake curling around it, its head on his forehead and its tail at one ankle. Works largely behind the scenes, hiring mercenaries to do his fighting. He is also secretly the backer of the Undersiders and the Travelers. From the beginning of the story, he is plotting to take over Brockton Bay. It's late revealed that he bought his powers from Cauldron and that he was a key figure in one of their plots. Killed by Skitter in the course of her plot to free Dinah.

Classification: Thinker


  • Boom, Headshot!: How he dies, a bullet to the brain courtesy of Skitter.
  • The Chessmaster: He loves using espionage, double-agents, and the like.
  • Clasp Your Hands If You Deceive: He steeples his fingers in front of where his mouth would be if he wasn't wearing a mask.
  • Crazy-Prepared: When Coil attempts to kill Skitter, the fallback site he uses is a specially-built house that has screws with hexagonal slots. Because he wanted to be sure that, in the event, things somehow went pear-shaped, his enemy wouldn't try to escape with the standard screwdriver they might be packing.
  • Diabolical Mastermind: Coil's particular power is what has allowed him to basically become king of Brockton Bay's underworld.
  • Disc-One Final Boss: Coil, as the mastermind behind the Undersiders, is the entire reason Taylor enters the criminal underworld in the first place. Though he's a less insidious threat than the likes of the Slaughterhouse Nine, Taylor's primary motivation for staying in his employ is to first find out his identity and then save Dinah from his clutches, with his machinations to take over Brockton Bay driving much of the plot before his death about halfway through the story.
  • Elites Are More Glamorous: Before he became a Cape, he was a member of the PRT's Special Forces.
  • Faux Affably Evil: He seems fairly reasonable for a diabolical mastermind, up until you learn he tortures people for fun and hooks a child on drugs in order to keep them compliant.
  • Fatal Flaw: He relies on his power to control the short-term consequences of his actions, which can lead to him failing to spot long-term problems in time. This bites him in the ass when he makes an enemy of Tattletale, since her power lets her know how much she can get away with before he catches on.
  • I Control My Minions Through...: A combination of facilitating their desires if they're in line with his own, and fear of failing him.
  • Lean and Mean: Is described as being skeletally thin and he's a villain willing to torture people and hook children on drugs to keep them compliant.
  • Logical Weakness: His powers are only simulations of what will happen, not cast-iron truth (which has confused fanfic writers out-of-universe), so while he is skilled enough at planning a Batman Gambit to predict how events will play out with some degree of accuracy, he'll be left with egg on his face if someone acts counter to expectations or something he couldn't account for massively changes the playing field.
  • Malicious Misnaming: After capturing Dinah, he has a particularly sick preference for referring to her as "Pet".
  • Mental Time Travel: His power is basically Save Scumming, where he makes mental models of two possible futures then chooses one which his body will essentially autopilot through based on the choices already made to that point.
  • Mundane Utility: He not only uses his power to pick the actions that will result in the timeline he likes the most, he also uses it to get twice the work done that he normally would by using one timeline's simulation to research information and track his troop movements while he uses the other to actually sleep and rest.
  • Mundane Solution: As he is a former Spec Ops soldier and his power doesn't provide direct offense, his main recourse to problems is to just shoot it.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Coil's death at Skitter's hands unleashed the significantly more dangerous Echidna on the world.
  • Power Perversion Potential: He uses his power to do horrible things to his own men in simulated timelines for his own personal gratification, then discards the timelines so he doesn't have to suffer any consequences. The only reason he doesn't do this to Dinah is because he's not oblivious to the possibility that he might accidentally snuff out the wrong timeline, or have his powers malfunction at an inconvenient moment, so he only does this to people he considers expendable.
  • Pragmatic Villainy:
    • He is perfectly willing to support actions that temporarily undermine his financial powerbase (such as Skitter's many Pet the Dog moments) in exchange for keeping his various minions (reasonably) happy.
    • On the other hand, he's also not afraid to use his powers to torture said minions and then use his Reset Button to obtain information to keep them in line, or simply for fun.
    • While he delights in torturing subordinates and then not carrying out the actions necessary for that timeline so that they were never actually hurt, he doesn't do this to Dinah... because, thinking he's actually creating alternate universes, he's worried he might accidentally snuff out the wrong timeline or have his powers malfunction and he'd then have thrown away an irreplaceable asset just for some temporary amusement.
  • Retroactive Preparation: Inverted in that he makes alternate presents to see if his preparations were good enough. If not he can just discard the timeline and try again later as he'll remember all the information he got in those scenarios.
  • Sadist: A very disciplined one, but he gets his kicks by torturing his subordinates and then preventing that timeline from occurring.
  • Save Scumming: The practical effect of Coil's power. With the ability to perceive himself in two parallel realities simultaneously, he makes different decisions in each, then act out the actions for whichever one works out better for him.
  • Smart People Know Latin: Averted and discussed. Cherish is able to sneak a message past him by speaking Latin, and then promptly mocks him for spoiling his Wicked Cultured image by not understanding it.
  • Split Timelines Plot: His power splits his consciousness between two parallel simulated timelines in which he can take different actions, then choose which one to remain in once it deactivates.
  • Take Over the City: Coil's ultimate goal is to take over Brockton Bay. He admits it's a cliché, but goes for it anyway. Word of God states that he had a much longer-term plan than that meant to expand out to other cities in time but he got nipped in the bud before that could happen.
  • Unwitting Pawn: He is unaware that Cauldron is deliberately fostering his takeover of the city as an experiment to see what happens when parahumans try ruling openly.
  • Visionary Villain: Wants to take over the city with himself as mayor.
  • Would Hurt a Child:
    • Is willing to kidnap, imprison, drug, or torture children and teenagers if it is in his best interests to do so.
    • Coil inflicted all of the above on Dinah to take advantage of her power to predict the future. He also intended to use Tattletale similarly.
    • He also simulated torturing one of the Undersiders for information.
  • Xanatos Gambit: His power makes it even easier for him to carry out this kind of maneuver, since he can make sure he'll come up ahead no matter what his enemies choose.
  • You Wouldn't Shoot Me: Claims that Skitter isn't a killer and therefore can't shoot him when she has him at her mercy after his betrayal. He's quite wrong.

    Dinah Alcott 

Dinah Alcott

Debut: Buzz 7.11

The mayor's niece, a twelve-year-old girl with straight dark-brown hair. Possessed of some of the most powerful precognitive powers in the story. Was kidnapped by Coil during the Undersider's bank job. Became a roguenote  answering questions for money after being freed by Skitter.

Classification: Thinker


  • Apologetic Attacker: The messages she leaves for Skitter, which read "Cut Ties" and "I'm Sorry." When Skitter doesn't heed the first, she organizes Dragon's attack on Skitter at the school.
  • Drama-Preserving Handicap: Her power is out of the picture for the entire Slaughterhouse Nine and Revolution Arcs due to Coil being forced to overuse it to deal with Crawler. Coil probably would have been unbeatable otherwise.
  • Functional Addict: Her time in captivity has left her addicted to the drugs used to subdue her. However, her powers allow her to predict when she'll have withdrawal symptoms and work around it.
  • I Did What I Had to Do: Has this view with regards to telling the PRT how to capture Skitter — it would have happened anyway eventually, and the only difference would be how many people would die in the process.
  • Junkie Prophet: Drugs help to stabilize the crippling headaches overusing her powers result in, which Coil exploits by getting her addicted so she's reliant on him to function. After being rescued, she manages to kick the habit.
  • Ludicrous Precision: Her usual precognitive technique is to state the percentage probability of various events — sometimes to up to five decimal places. Not only that, but this is enforced — it actually causes her headaches to try and round the numbers off too far.
  • MacGuffin Super-Person: Coil wants her for her powers allowing him to predict future outcomes, and for most of the story her role does not revolve around anything she does but the fact Coil needs her powers and Taylor is determined to free her.
  • The Needs of the Many: A textbook example — Dinah has dedicated herself to increasing the number of survivors of the end of the world event she's seen coming in two years. To this end, she will do anything.
  • Seer: She's a precognitive, and one of the most powerful in the setting, though overusing her power results in awful headaches that can leave her incapacitated for hours or even days at a time.
  • Sixth Ranger: Starts working with Faultline's crew during the Time Skip.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: Her role in the story as a whole is marginal at best, but between being a captive of Coil that Taylor is trying to rescue and predicting that Scion is going to destroy the world, her presence and actions end up indirectly driving the majority of the plot.
  • Took a Level in Badass: After her captivity, she comes back even more skilled, but more ruthless.
  • The Unfettered: After her captivity, she's willing and able to betray the person who rescued her for the sake of a better chance at human survival.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: She effectively becomes this after being freed from Coil by Skitter, manipulating events to improve the chances of survival for humanity as a whole, even if it screws some people over.

Mercenary Soldiers

    Brooks 

Brooks

A medic who performs surgery on Skitter.
  • The Medic: His role, though apparently his bedside manner is lacking for one. He's also mentioned to have some experience dealing with poisons.

    Dmitri 

Dmitri

A sniper and second in command of the soldiers Coil lends to Tattletale.

    "Creep" 

"Creep"

A mercenary with unsettling predilections.
  • Hated by All: None of Coil's mercenary captains will have the guy on their squad and he's unemployable in the public sector due to his predilections. What exactly those are is never outright stated, but there's not exactly a lot of things it could be to garner a reaction like that. The only person who knows and doesn't hate him is Coil, who likes him because he's A) useful, and B) desperate for something Coil can provide, which makes him a useful tool.
  • More Despicable Minion: While his boss is definitely evil, Creep's (unrevealed) depravity even disgusts the rest of Coil's subordinates. And considering they were on board with kidnapping a young girl and drugging her, that's saying something.
  • Undying Loyalty: To Coil, as he's the one person who can and will get him the 'payment' he craves.

    Leah 

Leah

A mercenary who infiltrates The Chosen.
  • The Mole: After E88 crumbles, she's sent to infiltrate Hookwolf's successor organization.

    Senegal 

Senegal

A burly mercenary working for Coil.
  • The Brute: He's noted for being a pretty big guy.
  • Ephebophile: He gets slightly touchy-feely with Taylor, a not-particularly well-developed 15-year-old, during the infiltration of the Merchants' party.

Non-Combatant Employees

    Mr. Pitter 

Mr. Pitter

Debut: Interlude 8.z

A small, unassuming man and former registered nurse whose career as a caretaker for a pair of young children ended — according to Coil — when he tried to divorce his wife for cheating on him and she retaliated by ruining his reputation. He took up working for Coil in exchange for Coil killing his wife. He is the one responsible for drugging Dinah as a way of making it easier to use her powers.


    Doctor Q 

Doctor Q

Debut: Shell 4.11

A cranky old thin-lipped medic whom Coil sends the Undersiders to when they call asking for medical assistance.


  • Jerkass Has a Point: He may act like a jerk, but he has a valid point about Taylor's unconscious summoning of all bugs in the area both contaminating the site of him working on her and potentially drawing unneeded attention that could get him in trouble with the law.

Faultline's Crew

A group of supervillains-for-hire. Many of their jobs deal with information-seeking, but they have worked combat-related jobs as well.

    In General 

    Faultline 

Debut: Hive 5.1

The leader of the group. Twenty-something and sharp-featured, with her long, straight black hair tied into a ponytail while in costume, a costume which blends 'dress' and 'riot gear'. She seems to have worn a variety of masks — one example being one like a welder's with a jagged crack to look out through. Able to separate molecular bonds in any non-living material to make holes or cuts by touching it.

Classification: Striker


  • Arch-Enemy: Really doesn't like Tattletale, though their enmity never seems to go beyond snarking and name-calling.
  • Crazy-Prepared: she and her entire team are trained with guns and basic squad tactics. As we later discover, her long, wavy black hair is actually in a bun while she is in costume, and the ponytail is a detachable hairpiece filled with thorns.
  • Noodle Incident: We never do learn why she and Tattletale hate each other.
  • Only Flesh Is Safe: Faultline, like many other parahumans, is subject to the Manton effect. Her power cannot be used on living organic matter.
  • Shatterpoint Tap: Except that the "shatter point" is "whatever point she just touched".

    Spitfire 

Emily

Debut: Hive 5.1

A potential hire for the Undersiders who was scared off by Bitch and signed up with Faultline, instead. Has the ability to spew geysers of liquid from her mouth that ignite on contact with air. Wears a red and black costume with a gas mask. Has dense freckles and curly brown hair underneath the costume.

Classification: Blaster(?)


  • Bad Powers, Good People: Emily is not the kind of person who's okay with setting other people on fire.
    Spitfire had often complained that having a power based around creating flame meant you faced two kinds of opponents. There were the people who burned, who were the majority. Civilians fell into this category. Unless the person with the power was amoral, which Spitfire wasn’t, this actually wound up being a detriment, because of the easy possibility of life-altering injuries, death, and scars.
  • Meaningful Name: Spitfire essentially spits fire.
  • Super Spit: Her main power, a liquid that ignites on contact with air.

    Newter 

Newter

Debut: Hive 5.1

Case 53, his body is in the form of an orange lizard with dyed hair and Animal Eyes. His bodily fluids all have hallucinogenic and sedative effects, with duration depending on the dosage.

Classification: Striker(?) Mover(?)


  • Can't Have Sex, Ever: Newter's bodily fluids are contact hallucinogens, to the point that even trace sweat on his skin can render someone incoherent. As one reader points out, this poses certain difficulties in the bedroom. His giving hot girls a diluted taste of his saliva for hallucinogenic trips may be him compensating for this.
  • In a Single Bound: During one fight with the ABB, Skitter sees him jump from ground level onto the second floor in ... well, this.
  • Instant Sedation: The primary combat application of his biology.
  • Lizard Folk: Looks like a giant humanoid lizard.
  • Prehensile Tail: The secondary combat application of his biology is using his tail to grab and attack people.
  • Wall Crawl: One of his powers lets him cling to surfaces.

    Gregor the Snail 

Gregor (Gregor the Snail)

Debut: Hive 5.1

Case 53, his body is bulging and translucent with a scattering of spiral-shaped shells embedded in it. He can generate various fluids within his body and release them in jets from his skin.

Classification: Blaster(?)


  • Kevlard: Appears as a morbidly obese man, and has apparently been hit by a car with little ill effects.
  • Nice Guy: Somewhat dour, but extremely loyal, considerate, and gentle to his teammates.
  • Relationship Upgrade: Appears to be in one with Shamrock.
  • Shout-Out: His name is a reference to Kafka's The Metamorphosis
  • Was Once a Man: Although he doesn't remember the details of his past.

    Labyrinth 

Elle

Debut: Hive 5.1

A former inmate in the same asylum as Burnscar, her power allows her to change the terrain surrounding her into a projection of other places. The power grows stronger the longer she remains in an area, contracting again as soon as she leaves the affected zone. Her costume is a simple dark green robe with a maze drawn on it and a mask. Out of costume, she has platinum-white blonde hair.

Classification: Shaker 12


  • Achilles' Heel: Her powers can only reach their zenith when she's staying still, along with having an inverse relationship with her lucidity.
  • Black Bug Room: Labyrinth's "bad place", based on the filthy asylum where she and Burnscar were kept. If she doesn't focus on other worlds she's made, she can unintentionally project the bad place.
  • Empty Shell: Her Reality Warper powers came with the unfortunate side effect of making her veer unpredictably between lucidity and this, to the point that on bad days, she doesn't eat unless prodded and doesn't talk. She has her good days, but the strength of her power is directly related to how out of it she is at the time.
  • Readings Are Off the Scale: In-universe, powers have ratings. 10 means "get the hell out of Dodge". Labyrinth is rated a 12, which in universe means exactly this.
  • Unskilled, but Strong: Her Reality Warper projections have a Readings Are Off the Scale rating, but leave her far less lucid, making her this by default.
  • With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Much like Burnscar, she becomes far less lucid when using her powers.

    Shamrock 

Shamrock

Debut: Interlude 5 (mentioned)

An attractive, redheaded girl from the Las Vegas area and non-monstrous Case 53 who escaped from Cauldron without having her memory wiped. Her ability uses a mixture of low-strength telekinesis and precognition to make her exceptionally lucky. Was recruited by Faultline's crew during the course of their investigation into the Case 53s on Gregor and Newter's behalf.

Classification: Thinker; Breaker(?)


  • All There in the Manual: According to Word of God Shamrock comes from an Earth in which monarchies were still going strong.
  • Fiery Redhead: Downplayed, she's an active parahuman in a profession that favors strong personalities, but she's far more amiable than the typical example.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: Averted, Shamrock is one of the few Cauldron escapees without a memory wipe.
  • Lucky Seven: Her number while in Cauldron custody was 777, and she has probability-altering powers.
  • Paranormal Gambling Advantage: Shamrock is the combined version of this being able to use a combination of precognition and telekinesis to seemingly legally clean out casinos. These seemingly minor powers actually make her a major threat given she can use it like having overwhelming luck manipulation powers.
  • Relationship Upgrade: She and Gregor start dating.
  • Winds of Destiny, Change!: Her telekinesis combined with her precognition allows her to minorly alter events around her, such as being able to land on ice without slipping or managing to shoot exactly the spot she needs to hit.

The Merchants

The Archer's Bridge Merchants, one of the more minor gangs of Brockton Bay. Expands in the wake of Leviathan's attack; is later essentially wiped out by the Slaughterhouse Nine.

    In General 
  • Asshole Victim: Are completely annihilated by the Nine, save for Scrub. Nobody gives a damn.
  • Atrocious Alias: Skidmark pretty much assigns these to every one of his group. Taylor even lampshades it at one point when he opts for the name "Scrub" over "Eraser" for his newest recruit.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: Queer people are not allowed to enter their territory.
  • Super Loser: Skidmark, in particular, is granted essentially zero respect.

    Skidmark 

Adam Mustain

Debut: Hive 5.1

The leader of the Merchants. A meth addict capable of coating areas with a pushing effect — these effects can be layered up with multiple uses of his power. Wears a mask covering the top half of his face, revealing a dark-skinned jaw with bad teeth.

Classification: Shaker 2


  • Butt-Monkey: Is considered a joke of a villain in-universe.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: He takes multiple hits from Jack Slash's Sword Beam, which causes him to topple into some helicopter blades.
  • Drugs Are Bad: Happens to be a meth addict.
  • Dude, Where's My Respect?: Since he's the leader of a gang, he assumes he's got a seat at the villains' meeting. Kaiser promptly disabuses him of this notion and additionally clarifies that it's not because Skidmark's black and Kaiser's a white supremacist, this is entirely due to Skidmark's personal failings. Ironically, his seemingly weak power could make him an actual player in the stalemate between the major gangs (case in point, with some creative application he could potentially create railguns)... but he's a junkie idiot with no real goals or motivation so nothing ever comes of it.
  • Giver of Lame Names: Seriously thought "Scrub" was a better name for a villain with matter disintegration powers than "Eraser".
  • Sir Swears-a-Lot: He has a gift for creative vulgarity.
  • Smarter Than You Look: Most of the time he's exactly as dumb as he acts, but apparently he knows enough about Cauldron vials to know that splitting one between multiple people is a very bad idea. Lampshaded by Taylor when she realizes that he is trying to bolster up his gang's power by forcing trigger events among his many underlings.

    Squealer 

Sherrel Bailey

Debut: Hive 5.1

Skidmark's girlfriend. A tinker specializing in vehicles. Has very little class.

Classification: Tinker 2 (vehicles); Mover 3


    Mush 

Mush

Debut: Infestation 11.5

A shifter who can form an expanded body out of loose debris.

Classification: Changer 4


  • Adaptive Armor: He can assimilate loose matter (e.g. junk, sand, compost) to become stronger and tougher.
  • Body Horror: He gets stronger by growing vein-like tendrils from his body that let him fuse with, among other things, dirty garbage. It's a good thing he's no germaphobe.
  • Gonk: Taylor describes him as looking more like a cartoon goblin than a human, with scrawny limbs, a pot-belly, and shadowed eyes.
  • Kill It with Fire: He gets ignited by Burnscar.

    Trainwreck 

Trainwreck

Debut: Tangle 6.7

A man with massive mechanical arms and legs. He's a Case 53 whose mutation turned his body into a fleshy mass, but allowed him to use it as a power source for the artificial body his power let him build. Actually working for Coil.

Classification: Tinker (crude), Brute


  • Blob Monster: What his real body is under the armor.
  • Cyborg: How his power is mainly used, with his real body serving as a power source for the mechanical parts he incorporated into himself.
  • MacGyvering: He's a "crude" Tinker. There's not a lot of depth or specialization to what he can make, but he can take parts from a rusted car and make it into something workable faster than someone like Armsmaster could make a new gadget.
  • The Mole: For Coil.

    Whirlygig 

Whirlygig

Debut: Infestation 11.7

A young woman with long hair that covers her face.

Classification: Shaker


  • Mind over Matter: Her power is telekinesis, but only in a counter-clockwise rotation around herself.
  • Uncertain Doom: Never killed on-screen, but given her association with the Merchants it's highly likely she was killed during the Nine's "arrival party."

    Scrub 

Scrub

Debut: Infestation 11.6

A kid whose power creates essentially-unaimed spherical holes in his surroundings, cutting through anything they hit, although they seem to leave the ground untouched. The only cape of note in the Merchants to escape being killed by the Nine; later seen in Faultline's crew. Tattletale speculates that his power works via Portal Cuts — he chooses spherical volumes, and their contents are replaced with the contents of the corresponding sphere on an alternate Earth with similar geography, architecture, etc.

Classification: Blaster/Shaker 8-10, Trump (low)


  • Portal Cut: Tattletale's understanding of his power is that it works by choosing spherical volumes and replacing their contents with stuff from an alternate Earth. When applied to one of Labyrinth's constructions, it can be used to cut actual portals leading to alternate Earths — Labyrinth can then adjust the destination.
  • Power Incontinence: His power suffers from not being well-aimed, and (at least initially) going off unintentionally.
  • The Speechless: Sometime after gaining his power he became nonverbal, possibly due to its influence on his mind.
  • Sole Survivor: Last confirmed survivor of the Merchants following the Slaughterhouse Nine massacring the rest.
  • Unblockable Attack: His blasts shear through everything we've seen them hit and their interdimensional nature earned him a low Trump rating for how they effectively ignore most power-based defenses.

The Travelers

A group of traveling villains who never stay in one place for too long due to Noelle's rampages. Their costumes are red and black.

    In General 
  • Anti-Villain: Much like the Undersiders, though a bit darker on the scale due to being slightly more willing to do less than good acts.
  • Blessed with Suck: They're not all very fond of their powers, let's just say that.
  • Double Meaning: "The Travelers" can either refer to how often they move around the country, or how they came from a parallel world.
  • Famed In-Story: As previously mentioned, the Undersiders and the Travelers attain this status after the Slaughterhouse Nine arc when they take over the city. The Travelers also somewhat met this trope beforehand, explaining why they didn't need testing like the Undersiders did before joining Coil's plan.
  • Hero of Another Story: As with Glory Girl, Panacea, and Faultline's Crew they were the main protagonists in one of the many early drafts that would eventually become Worm. This story was actually included in the form of the "Migration" arc.
  • I Know Mortal Kombat: They were originally a professional-level real-time strategy gaming club.
  • Irony: As Wildbow points out, the powers the Travelers get all come with a hint of irony:
    • Sundancer preferred to stay in the background, but has a power that makes her always noticed.
    • Ballistic was once the person who kept everyone together, but his power can only destroy and he stands alone.
    • Genesis was a major cape fan, now she's in the realm of her dreams but has little else.
  • Red and Black and Evil All Over: Their costumes all have red and black and they're villains, albeit more on the anti-villain end.
  • Strong, but Unskilled: Compared to the Undersiders, they have stronger powers (at least at first glance) but are generally much less effective due to a combination of intra-group tension, general lack of killer instinct, and Trickster's tactical incompetence compared to Grue and especially Skitter.
  • Super Serum: All got their powers from a batch of Cauldron doses left behind in a Simurgh-attacked city.
  • Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: They're stuck together out of obligation and circumstance, any friendship they had has faded, at least when it comes to Trickster and Ballistic, contrasting how the Undersiders at worst have strictly a business relationship and can at least be civil with one another.
  • There's No Place Like Home: All of them want to get back to their homeworld, and Coil's promise to help them was one of their two major motivators for their working with him.
  • Tournament Play: The purpose of the group before they got their powers after being transplanted to Earth Bet was to play Ransack, a fictional video game in the setting.
  • Trapped in Another World: Were originally from Earth Aleph before being sent to Earth Bet by the Simurgh.
  • Walking the Earth: Are constantly moving from city to city prior to settling in Brockton Bay. This is revealed to be due to Noelle's moments of lost control.

    Trickster 

Francis Krouse

Debut: Hive 5.1

The leader of the Travelers, he wears a black costume with a red mask and top hat. His power is to switch at will the places of any two objects of similar mass he can see, including himself. Underneath, he has light brown skin and a prominent hook nose. He was sent to the Birdcage for betraying the teams that were fighting Noelle and became one of the Teacher's thralls. Killed fighting Scion in Speck 30.5.

Classification: Mover


  • Ambiguously Brown: Trickster looks like he could be a darker-skinned Caucasian, biracial, Middle Eastern, or Eastern Indian unmasked according to Taylor, but his exact ethnicity goes unmentioned.
  • Cavalry Betrayal: Betrays the teams fighting Noelle, including his own teammates.
  • Cigarette of Anxiety: Smokes when anxious, and he has much to be anxious about.
  • A Day in the Limelight: The whole of Migration is told from his perspective.
  • Equivalent Exchange: Can switch the places of any two objects of similar size.
  • It's All About Me: Trickster is a very selfish person who will always put himself first before anyone.
  • Jerkass: Trickster happens to be kind of a dick, caring little about anyone else besides himself and Noelle, and the other Travellers on a lower scale.
  • Leeroy Jenkins: He's good at thinking in the moment, which is how he became the leader of the group originally, but he sucks at long-term planning. The one time the Undersiders followed his lead tactically resulted in half the team finding themselves at the mercy of Bonesaw.
  • Love Makes You Evil: His love for Noelle leads him to betray the other Travelers.
  • Never Bareheaded: Is always wearing a red top hat.
  • Smug Snake: His plans and improvising skills are nowhere near Skitter's or Noelle's. On top of that, he gets more reckless the more odds are stacked against him, usually putting his team in an even worse position than they were in previously.
  • Swap Teleportation: Trickster can swap-teleport himself or anything within the range of his senses with any other person or object within the range of his senses. The closer the two people/objects are in shape/size/volume, the easier and faster he can do it.
  • Undying Loyalty: Noelle is the only person he's more loyal to than himself.
  • Teleportation with Drawbacks: Trickster can teleport any two objects of similar size, including himself, but only ones he can see, and the speed of teleportation is further affected by distance and mass.
  • Villain Respect: Skitter was surprised to see Trickster show genuine respect for a hero who fell to Leviathan. It makes sense when you learn of his history with the Simurgh.
  • Weak, but Skilled: On his own, he's the weakest of the Travellers, but his power makes him incredibly annoying and frustrating in a fight and as part of a group he's a massive force-multiplier.
  • Would Hurt a Child: He nearly hangs Vista to get the Wards off his back, then threatened one of the Mayor's children to win his support.

    Sundancer 

Marissa "Mars" Newland

Debut: Hive 5.1

An attractive young blonde woman with delicate features. Her power allows her to create a miniature sun that she can slowly expand and then move to attack with. Her costume is a suit of black body armor emblazoned with red suns. Mercy Kills Noelle in return for Tattletale giving the remaining Travelers a way back to Earth Aleph — she throws away her suit as she walks through the portal.

Classification: Blaster(?)


  • Always a Bigger Fish: Her sun is incredibly strong as an offensive power, but a sufficiently powered up Lung proves that his pyrokinesis is stronger.
  • Blessed with Suck: Hates how destructive her powers are.
  • Dramatic Irony: Out of the Travelers, she's the one who has the strongest morals, specifically against killing. Her power is also one of the most destructive powers, easily able to kill en masse if she allows it to go too far.
  • The Fettered: She almost always reigns herself in to avoid killing. Weld notes that she could probably incinerate the entire team of Brockton Bay Wards, but was holding back to avoid doing so.
  • Glass Cannon: Probably the most powerful Blaster in the Wormverse short of Behemoth or Scion. But aside from Fire Immunity, she has no defensive abilities.
  • I Just Want to Be Normal: Is not really crazy about being a villain or having powers.
  • The Power of the Sun: Her ability to create a mini sun, which she can expand to any size.
  • Required Secondary Powers: Automatically normalizes temperature close to her, preventing her from being harmed by any flame, including her suns. It doesn't actually extinguish the flame but prevents it from burning anything.
  • Stage Mom: She still has bad memories of her overbearing mom.
  • Thou Shalt Not Kill: She really hates hurting people.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: Had this relationship with her mother, who was a bit of a show parent.

    Genesis 

Jess

Debut: Hive 5.1

A wheelchair-bound girl, average-looking with auburn hair. Her ability is to create a new body and control it while her own body sleeps. The new bodies can have powers of their own, but using her power is easier the more biologically-stable the body she makes is. Returns to Earth Aleph with Mars, Oliver, and Ballistic after the fight with Noelle.

Classification: Changer 9


  • Ascended Fanboy: More fangirl, she was a "cape geek" long before getting powers. More uncommon than you'd think since she's from Earth Aleph.
  • Disabled Snarker: She's confined to a wheelchair and very snarky.
  • Fiery Redhead: Genesis is a redhead with attitude, albeit she's more of the snarky variety.
  • Mission Control: Has this role due to being confined to her wheelchair. A rare case where the character overlaps with being the most expendable in a fight, as her projected bodies can be reconstructed with no ill effects.
  • Swiss-Army Superpower: Her power is one of the most flexible in the Wormverse, and Skitter is repeatedly in awe of just how powerful she could be if she set her mind to it. On a technical level, she and The Siberian share the same power, meaning Jess could potentially damage Scion if she so desired.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifter: What her power appears to be. In truth, she just creates avatars she controls remotely, with each avatar custom-made to her desires.

    Ballistic 

Luke Brito/Casseus

Debut: Hive 5.1

One of the offensive powerhouses on the Travelers — he has the ability to touch any object (from ball bearings to automobiles) and cause it to go flying at a bulletlike speed in a direction of his choice. He wears bulky armor and a square mask. Underneath the costume, he has a jockish appearance, with short brown hair and a snub nose. Returns to Earth Aleph after Noelle's death. Unlike Mars, he keeps his costume.

Classification: Blaster/Striker


  • Abnormal Ammo: Ballistic can send any object moving at bulletlike speeds.
  • Blessed with Suck: Ballistic heavily dislikes the fact that his powers can only be used for offensive purposes, and that they don't give him the ability to fly.
  • The Brute: Has one of the more destructive powers amongst the Travelers and is the most physically imposing, with both Taylor and Kid Win comparing him to a football player in terms of build.
  • The Heart: He used to be the emotional center of the team and was friends with everyone, but spending time in Earth Bet turned him into the cold person seen in Worm.
  • Jerkass: Wasn't always this way, but by the time the Undersiders meet him he's become a real asshole.
  • Only Sane Man: When the Undersiders point out that being with Coil's pointless, he's the only one who accepts.
  • We Used to Be Friends: Excluding Noelle, he used to be the closest to Trickster. Come the modern day, he hates Trickster the most.

    Oliver 

Oliver

Debut: Interlude 11.f

One of the two members of the Travelers who do not participate in missions — instead mostly taking care of Noelle. Returns to Earth Aleph with the remaining Travelers after Noelle's death.

Classification: Changer (?)


  • Chekhov's Gunman: His power proves instrumental in defeating Scion, as his face turning to Eden's gives Khephri the opening to have Foil finish him off with Defiant's assistance.
  • Empathic Shapeshifter: His power changes his face and body according to his basic perception of attractiveness which slightly changes every time he sees a new face to the point that even his friends have had trouble recognizing him.
  • Non-Action Guy: Is mostly busy taking care of Noelle, and his power isn't a very useful one in combat to begin with.
  • Only Sane Man: States to Trickster outright that he's convinced that he only cares about Noelle and would throw everyone else under the bus if he thought it necessary. He turns out to be quite right, as Trickster does end up throwing everyone under the bus to help Echidna.
  • Required Secondary Powers: He seems to have gotten the secondary powers that would have prevented Noelle's powers from going out of control.

    Echidna (Unmarked Spoilers) 

Noelle Meinhardt

Debut: Interlude 11.f

A brown-haired girl, Krouse's girlfriend, and the leader of the group before they were pulled from Earth Aleph onto Earth Bet; as of the time of the story, she does not participate in the team's missions. The codename "Echidna" was assigned by a PRT agent named Meinhardt because he himself had a daughter named Noelle. Has the ability to absorb people and make clones out of them. Killed by Sundancer.

Classification: Master/Trump 10; Striker 10; Brute 8; Changer 2


    Perdition 

Cody

Debut: Migration 17.1 (flashback)

A former member of the Travelers with the ability to rewind people to their state as of a few seconds earlier. Given to Accord. By Drone, has been sold to the Yàngbǎn, who use his powers en masse during the fight against Behemoth in New Delhi.

Classification: Shaker


  • Brainwashed and Crazy: He's had his mind compromised twice, once by the Yàngbǎn and once by the Simurgh.
  • If I Can't Have You…: Tried killing Noelle once so that Trickster couldn't have her, which led to him being given to Accord to be dealt with.
  • It's All About Me: While outright stated by Trickster in his Day in the Limelight episode, the first time we actually listen in on Cody's thoughts validates Trickster's opinion of him. During an Endbringer attack, Cody still regards his personal revenge as more important than the consequences it might have on their collective defense strategies. He has a list of people who wronged him which includes Noelle and Krouse. The latter for winning Noelle's heart, the former for allowing him to be taken by Accord after Cody starts trouble in the crimelord's territory. Basically, his attitude is that he's sick of coming in second place and that Trickster has stolen everything from him simply by being a more tolerable form of Jerkass.
  • Manchurian Agent: He turns out to be partially influenced by the Simurgh in terms of his grudge against Krouse.
  • The Resenter: Resents Trickster for dating Noelle, which he makes clear at every given opportunity.
  • Time Master: Can cause anyone he sees to be reversed to their state and location as of a few seconds earlier. He abuses this in order to beat up Krouse without issue when he first gets his power, with Krouse not knowing until Cody tells him so.
  • Unstoppable Rage: His defining viewpoint once he sees Accord again is a desire to get even. This has disastrous consequences for the fight against Behemoth, as both Tattletale and Chevalier are in the room with them when Perdition attacks and are seriously injured as collateral. Tattletale, for instance, needs to breathe out from a tracheotomy for the rest of the battle.
  • Unwitting Pawn: The Simurgh increased his aggression towards Krouse, culminating in his attempted murder of Noelle. His failed murder attempt caused problems between the Travelers and Accord, resulting in him being handed over to the latter as recompense. Accord then sold him off to the Yàngbǎn, which put him in place to encounter Accord again years later. His anger over the aforementioned event leads him to seek revenge, killing Accord, severely wounding Chevalier, and rendering Tattletale mute. Unfortunately, the context means he just took out the Mission Control and a key part of the offensive in a battle against Behemoth. Just as planned.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Disappears after murdering Accord and seriously wounding Chevalier and Tattletale.

Others

    Circus 

Circus

Debut: Tangle 6.7

An independent villain whose power grants her enhanced reflexes, Improbable Aiming Skills with her throwing weapons, minor pyrokinesis, and a Hammerspace that she uses to store a variety of things — including a hammer. Actually in the employ of Coil.

Classification: Blaster(?); Shaker(?)


  • Ambiguous Gender: In costume, Circus is a girl. Out of costume, Circus is a guy. Even Tattletale is not sure which is Circus' actual gender.
    • Word of God says that Circus identifies as a gender-fluid crossdresser, confounding Tattletale's 'male or female' question because neither is correct.
  • Combo Platter Powers: Has enhanced aiming, pyrokinesis, and Hammerspace.
  • Hammerspace: Circus has such a power; she also literally pulls a sledgehammer from it.
  • I Work Alone: Doesn't play well with others, as she had made emphatically clear when the Undersiders tried to recruit her.
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: A benefit of her power.
  • Playing with Fire: She has a low-grade pyrokinesis.

    Über 

Über

Debut: Shell 4.5

One of a pair of video game-themed supervillains with Leet. His power grants him a high level of skill at anything he tries his hand at. Actually working for Coil with Leet. After Leet's death, Über worked with Circus for a time, and ultimately disproved the thesis that Leet was holding him back.

Classification: Thinker


    Leet 

Leet

Debut: Shell 4.5

One of a pair of videogame-themed supervillains with Über. He is a tinker who can create anything ... once. The second time he tries, it fails dramatically. Actually working for Coil with Über. Died as of the Cockroaches arc.

Classification: Tinker


  • Bungling Inventor: His power lets him create inventions decades ahead of their time, but the closer a project is to something he's made before, the higher the chances of a spectacular misfire or failure. He's something of a joke as a consequence.
  • Bus Crash: After the Echidna incident, he took a trip to South America, though details are scarce. By "Cockroaches", he is dead by unclear means, but it is implied he was killed by some villain or another for crossing the wrong people.
  • Gadgeteer Genius: While his power's weakness absolutely makes him a laughingstock, when the things he makes work, they can do incredible things.
  • Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: He and Über are this In-Universe, with Taylor noting that their nature as pathetic underdogs makes one almost sympathize with them, until they do something horrible and you remember why they are villains.
  • It Only Works Once: He can build anything ... once. Anything he builds a second time just fails to work and explodes. This can be remarkably specific, such as when a device for teleporting someone works fine unless it is being used to teleport them into a vat of acid, or next to a bomb.
  • Proud to Be a Geek: Über and Leet's main goal for their crime sprees in Brockton Bay has been to raise awareness of classic video games.
  • Super Loser: Thanks to his frequent failures. According to Word of God his passenger is actually working against him due to his tendency to play it safe putting him completely out of tune with it, purposely trying to mess him up and get him killed. Which it eventually succeeds at.
  • Vicious Cycle: See Super Loser above. In response to the failure of his devices, Leet plays it safe, which his shard disagrees with and sabotages him further for.

    Marquis 

Mr. Lavere (Marquis)

Debut: Interlude 10.5

A supervillain from Brockton Bay known for his inflexible code of honor. Also, the biological father of Panacea. His powers involve the manipulation of bone — his own and if it became exposed, that of his enemies.

Classification: Shaker; Changer


  • Affably Evil: He is very cultured and polite even in the middle of a fight or asking for help as he slowly bleeds to death. He never killed women (Most of the time, and even Jack Slash of all people doesn't think he actually did it and that there's more going on) or children and Jack mentions that he did everything possible to help people during the last time the Nine were in Brockton Bay. In his Odd Friendship with Lung in the Birdcage, he mentions casually that he preferred, rather than instilling fear in his subordinates through brute force, to simply make those that failed him disappear, leaving the survivors to remember what happened.
  • Bad Boss: Murders his minions who've displeased him by "disappearing" them.
  • Bad with the Bone: His power is the manipulation of bone, both his and that of others if it's exposed. He is adept with it and violates conservation of mass blatantly.
  • Body Horror: An inevitable result of his powers.
  • Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Marquis let Panacea go in order to protect her from Allfather, Kaiser's father, who wanted revenge on him for killing his daughter Iron Rain, though Jack Slash is convinced he didn't actually kill her.
  • Feel No Pain: Subverted, he does. Every time he punches skewers or blades of bone through his flesh, he feels the appropriate level of unspeakable agony. It's just that he's trained himself not to show even the slightest sign of it.
  • The Fettered: It is said that his unshakable code granted him great psychological strength.
  • One-Man Army: Marquis was fully capable of taking on an entire squad of Empire Eighty-Eight members and walking away. He was also able to take on most of New Wave at the same time, and only lost because he was protecting his daughter, who would have been killed due to the ambush at his manor.
  • Self-Harm–Induced Superpower: Marquis has to have his bones burst out from his body and break them in order to use his powers offensively, which causes him agony despite his minor healing factor, but he's trained himself enough to not show any signs of physical pain.
  • Swiss-Army Superpower: He is incredibly flexible and versatile with his bones, creating armor, shields, spikes, and even wings.
  • Wouldn't Hit a Girl: He doesn't kill women, at least, although he will fight them if he has to.
  • Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Doesn't hurt children.
  • You Have Failed Me: Did this with his underlings by having them disappear.


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