From
Worm.
The Endbringers are a trio of massive, nigh-unstoppable
things, not quite supervillains, not quite forces of nature, a hair away from being kaiju. They showed up, one by one, starting in the early 90's with Behemoth. It
1 attacked every several months. Over the next decade, Leviathan and Simurgh showed up. Now, one of them attacks every three months or so, almost always attacking a major population center. These events bring the entire cape
2 community--across ethnicities and ideologies, from all corners of the globe, villains and heroes alike--together for a great battle in which dozens of heroes and thousands of civilians die before the great monsters retreat, nursing whatever minor, passing wounds the most powerful parahumans
3 in the world can inflict on them. A good day is when only one out of ten of the defenders die, total casualties are in the high hundreds, property damage in the millions, and no one stayed near the Simurgh too long (if applicable).
And now to identify these three beasts that terrify humanity so.
Behemoth, the eldest, largest, and most physically powerful of the Endbringers. Also called Hadhayosh. It is forty-five or fifty feet tall (I forget which), with gray skin, overlong arms, one eye, horns like spikes of obsidian, teeth and claws like its horns. It barely looks humanoid. Behemoth is a dynakinetic--it manipulates energy. This comes in several forms; it reduces damage dealt to its massive, sturdy frame even further, enhances the force of its own blows, fires bolts of electricity capable of killing nearly all non-Brutes
4 and many (if not most) Brutes in one hit, releasing massive amounts of radiation or heat and--most infamously--the ability to ignore the Manton effect
5 within a certain radius, meaning that anyone who comes within about 50 feet of the big Brute
4, 6 gets burnt alive from the inside, nearly instantly. It also burrows through the ground with ease, typically remaining near the Earth's core.
Leviathan, the "middle child," not as big and strong as Behemoth nor as clever and versatile as Simurgh, but faster than either and with more wide-reaching destructive power. Also called Jörmungandr or "lizard". Leviathan is about thirty feet tall, with four eyes (three on one side, one on the other), scales, a torso like an upside-down teardrop, long limbs, and a tail. He is a hydrokinetic
7 on a massive scale, calling on tidal waves so massive and frequent that it sank Japan and Newfoundland. (Not at the same time, mind you, but sink them he did.) He is also, as mentioned, fast, capable of outrunning virtually every speedster that could be dug up to fight him in sufficiently wet conditions; this has been hypothesized by some fans to be a result of his hydrokinesis. Leviathan is more cunning than Behemoth, but lacks the brilliance of Simurgh. When not destroying islands, Leviathan likes to nap in the ocean trenches, lick its wounds, and dream of having tentacles to molest Japanese women with
[citation needed].
Simurgh, the youngest, smallest, weakest, and most-feared of the Endbringers. Also called Ziz, the Smurf, or "Fuckmee"
8. Fifteen feet tall, white, and nearly human in appearance, save for all the wings, Simurgh was originally thought to be another Scion
9, but this was proven wrong when she began smashing stuff and the people near her eventually turned insane. Murderously insane. Telepath, telekinetic, and presumed genius precog, Simurgh has set events into motion with nearly each gesture she makes. Simurgh has turned good, benevolent capes
2 into villains, even members of the Slaughterhouse Nine
10, and has even set off monsters. She can also use telekinesis and convenient technology nearby to mimic the work of various tinkers
11. With such a wide array of abilities, is it any wonder that Simurgh is the bogeywoman of the trio?
Will more Endbringers show their ugly faces?
Only one way to find out! (...Two, if you count TV Tropes.)
1: Who knows what gender, if any, the Endbringers are, or if gender applies to them? People who have read
Worm, of course, but that's less than half of us. Anyways, for simplicity, I refer to Behemoth as "it" (due in part to being the least human-like or clever of the Endbringers), Leviathan as "he," and Simurgh as "she".
2: Slang term for parahumans
3, sometimes used specifically to those who use their powers as heroes or villains. Indeed, few rogues
12 make it to Endbringer attacks.
3: Technical term for people with superpowers.
4: A power category used by the PRT
13 to describe parahumans
3 who are unusually tough, strong, or are have unusually good at hand-to-hand combat. The Hulk, Superman, folks like those.
5: An unexplained and possibly hypothetical construct that explains how powers (usually) affect either non-living stuff only or living stuff only. Those parahumans
3 who can ignore the Manton effect, from Narwhal to Behemoth, tend to be considered top-tier. (Unless it's something like changing the color of both living and non-living stuff, but no parahumans with such pathetic powers ever showed up.)
6: While hardly the most important quality of Behemoth, it and the other Endbringers would be top-tier Brutes
4.
7: Person/Monster who controls water.
8: No one ever calls Simurgh this in the story.
9: The first parahuman
3, a golden man seen floating above the ocean in the early 80's. He has a wide variety of superpowers, from basics like flight, invulnerability, super-strength and "lasers" to more esoteric stuff like a water-calming aura thing, rain-and-grime repulsion, and never being picked up by cameras or satellites.
10: A group of (usually) nine villains, the worst of the worst, the craziest of the crazy, murderers all. Their members rotate frequently, but they always include Jack Slash, their leader.
11: Parahumans
3 who have the ability to design and create all sorts of advanced gizmos.
12: Parahumans
3 who use their powers for business, entertainment, or other non-cape
2 purposes.
13: The Parahuman Resistance...what does the T stand for? Tactics? Team? Anyways, the PRT is an organization that is sort of like the police, but dealing with supervillains rather than common crooks. It has a bunch of officers outfitted in advanced gear, containment procedures that the SCP Foundation
14 would love to study, and essentially runs the Protectorate and Wards, the largest team of parahumans
3 in the world and their junior version. The PRT, Protectorate, and Wards only operate in the US and Canada.
14: Just Google it. It's not really related.
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