Power Levels - detailed descriptions (analysis)
7 years ago
As a better description of the ‘power levels’ I mentioned here, these are some expected characteristics and examples of the various logarithmic ‘power levels’, varying from normal people to omnipotence, to help better show how to apply the concept of power levels to particularly powerful beings (e.g. heroes, superheroes/metas, supernaturals, spirits, vampires, pagan gods, demons, angels, aliens, sci-fi energy beings, etc.):
Each logarithmic ‘power level’ covers a factor of ten (and more for levels 11 & 12) so there is significant variation within a single level and since a factor of three difference is usually sufficient to ensure victory in a conflict (all other things being equal) there can easily be situations where two beings are on the same general ‘level’ but one is clearly superior to the other. If someone is concerned with that amount of detail, each of the first ten ‘power levels’ could be subdivided into smaller subcategories, three is sufficient for most purposes: low, middle, and high.
Note that these descriptions of power levels focus on the expectations of reasonably balanced characters in regards to their offense, defense, sensory, movement, and miscellaneous powers. One key characteristic of a balanced character is that they can effectively ignore beings that are two levels below themselves (except for perhaps a specific weakness, such as silver bullets or green argonite meteorites) and their movement ability will be on par with the scope of their level (e.g. by level 5 character should be able to move around a city quickly with ease and by level 8 a nation, level 9 a continent, and level 10 move around a planet quickly and with ease). Such balance is not required in a character and fictional characters are not always well balanced. An example might be a character with the offensive ability to shatter a planet but not having the physical defenses to survive the damage of the event or perhaps lacking the ability to survive in outer space or travel at faster than light speed after the planet they were standing on has been destroyed. A lack of balance may be intentional to improve the excitement/suspense of stories involving that character and/or to give the character weaknesses that can be exploited by other characters, allowing them to interact in a competitive environment with characters that are on a different level (either being threatened by characters on a lower level or themselves being an actual threat to a character of a higher level). In stories/comics/shows/movies where the characters' defenses are not at the same level as the typical weapons/offense in the setting, including many sci-fi settings like Star Trek and MiB, the major characters are almost always protected by 'plot armor' (like the 'Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy').
Regarding the example characters: For the franchise fictional characters that have had multiple authors over the years such as Marvel and DC superheroes or Dr. Who, please note that characters that have existed long enough under multiple authors to be widely recognized have also varied widely in their power level during the course of their existence, retcons and reboots so the level they are placed in is just an approximation of the 'typical' level that they are portrayed at. Also, I am no expert on the Marvel or DC universes so I needed to research some of the examples and I focused on examples from the Marvel universe for better consistency of the examples and because of the popularity of the recent movies set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Finally, regarding any characters in a work of fiction (comic, book, movie, etc.), the character that will win in a conflict is always the character that the author wants to win!!! This is completely different from an actual competitive environment such as a board game or video game where there are objective statistics to describe the characters and strict rules that describe how conflict works, with no 'plot armor', author manipulated luck or deus ex machina. Most tabletop Role Playing Games (RPG's) are somewhere between these two, with objective statistics and rules but also often featuring DM/GM provided aid or luck.
Power Level 1: Typical human civilians. Animals from a dog up to lion/tiger/bear. Soldiers with ancient or medieval weaponry (spears, swords, bows, etc.) up to muzzleloading firearms (about the American Civil War era, circa 1850AD). A person driving a typical family car.
Notes: In heroic epics, beings of this level are just supernumeraries (extras) or ‘cannon fodder’, they often aren’t given names and are referred to by their position, profession or species, and their quantity (e.g. the hero’s ship had sixty sailors, or the town had a thousand serfs, or the general commanded ten thousand soldiers), likewise their deaths will probably be reported as a statistical number. Problems like collateral damage or superhero registration aren’t an issue since these are normal people, or paranormal ones with weak powers that can easily be duplicated by available skills and equipment.
Examples: A man with a kitchen knife or baseball bat, a cowboy with a six-shooter, a modern police officer, grandma in her Cadillac, the hobbits in Lord of the Rings (LotR), a small party of starting D&D characters of levels 1-3.
Power Level 2: Heroes. Low-powered Superheroes. Animals from a polar bear to a T-rex. A person driving a large truck or piece of heavy equipment. A military armored car. Well equipped elite soldiers or field weapons up to about 1850AD, for example a medieval knight in armor on a heavy warhorse (in his day), or a muzzle-loading cannon or a Gatling gun (in their day). Typical infantry soldiers from WWII up to present era, for example a modern infantry soldier with a military assault rifle up to heavy squad support weapons like light machine guns, rocket propelled grenades and shoulder-fired missiles. An elite Special Operations soldier (Navy SEAL, Delta Force, etc.) up to a fire team or small squad of 4-8 soldiers or a police SWAT team. Genetically engineered lifeforms or aliens with scientifically plausible abilities for an organic being. Very basic warbots or partial body cyborgs.
Notes: An appropriate rank would be OR-4 to OF-1: Corporal/Specialist, Sergeant to Warrant Officer to Lieutenant/Ensign. This level is the beginning of the ‘one man army’ trope, where one character can wade virtually unharmed through dozens of opponents (an enduring trope, from ancient heroic epics to a modern action films). This level is also the beginning of the big gun (BFG) trope, where a strong character uses a large gun in a way that a normal individual could not, such as hip firing a heavy machine gun or anti-tank gun. Collateral damage starts to become a problem for characters with good offensive powers that use them indiscriminately. Collateral damage might kill bystanders, punch small holes in things, put a person sized hole in a wall, or destroy a car but it isn’t likely to collapse buildings. In settings with 'superhero registration' this level may or may not be required to register, possibly varying with the country's culture and policies regarding private firearm ownership.
Examples: Bruce Lee, Black Widow or Hawkeye (in MCU), Batman (without vehicles, author provided luck, or special preparations for a particular opponent), the Naʼvi (in Avatar), the xenomorphs (in Aliens), 75-150pt Champions (Hero System) RPG characters that don’t have any ‘superpowers’ but are equipped with real world weapons and armor that do not count toward their point total, 100-200pt Champions RPG characters that have ‘superpowers’, 100-250pt Champions RPG characters that don’t have any ‘superpowers’ and have to pay character points for any real world equipment, Gimli or Legolas in the LotR books (each kills ~40 orcs in the battle at Helm's Deep), a party of D&D characters of levels 2-7 or one of level 5-11.
Power Level 3: Typical Superheroes. A team of elite Special Operations soldiers (SEALs, etc.). An armored personnel carrier with a heavy machine gun or automatic grenade launcher. Modern artillery like a howitzer or multiple rocket launcher (MRL). An attack helicopter or an AC-130 gunship. Simple sci-fi power armor. Typical warbots or full body cyborgs.
Notes: Possibly heavily resistant to common infantry weapons but not immune to special weapons. A modern soldier with an assault rifle isn't a serious threat but a well equipped fire team of 4 soldiers might be a threat, and a mechanized platoon of 16-50 soldiers is most likely a threat. Real world weaponry of this level is restricted to the military and generally isn't used in peacetime. Even genetically engineered organic beings or aliens would likely require some sort of cybernetic or nanotech modifications or other semi-magical powers like psionics to be this powerful. Superhumanly superb fighters (or Super Soldiers) of this level often fit the ‘one man army’ trope, where one character can wade unharmed through many dozens of well armed opponents. Collateral damage can destroy homes or small buildings and damage large or heavy buildings. In settings with 'superhero registration' this level of superhero is likely to be required to register, especially if they have highly destructive powers rather than just being superb fighters.
Warnings: Supernatural, magical, or 'meta' powers can be far more powerful than they appear at first glance, particularly when combined with science and/or technology. A very simple example is a character with superhuman strength using it to wield a large weapon like a heavy machine gun. A slightly more subtle version is a technopath or superhumanly skilled 'hacker' in a heavily technological environment. In a competitive environment like a RPG, this can quickly lead to issues like the DM/GM saying ‘you can't do that’ or imposing external constraints like ‘the police/military won't let you carry heavy weapons’. Genetically engineered beings or aliens at this level and above probably have abilities that can't be explained using modern science and require 'hand waving' explanations like nano-tech, psionics, or other forms of pseudo-scientific 'magic' which puts a story into the realm of science fantasy rather than hard science fiction.
Examples: Captain America and The Winter Soldier (in MCU), Black Panther, Spiderman (young), Nightcrawler (X-men), Mystique (X-men villain), Wolverine (when his healing factor is portrayed as taking a minute or so to heal injuries), typical Asgardians (in Marvel comics the typical Asgardian could lift 25-30 tons, possessed a long lifespan, was immune to Earth diseases, and highly resistant to injury), Batman with a vehicle, the Terminator (first movie), 200-500pt Champions RPG characters with superpowers (with a 50-100 active point limit), Legolas in the LotR movies (where he has improbable athletic superpowers), a party of D&D characters of levels 6-11 or a single character of level 12-18, especially a wizard with a fully charged combat wand or staff (e.g. a wand of fireballs or a staff of the magi).
Power Level 4: High-powered Superheroes. Generic demi-godly beings. A modern main battle tank or a jet fighter aircraft (or a small group of either) up to a naval frigate, destroyer, or light cruiser. Basic sci-fi anti-grav tanks. Advanced sci-fi power armor or small mecha. Advanced warbots or full body cyborgs.
Notes: A modern soldier with an assault rifle isn't a serious threat and even a fire team of 4 soldiers isn't much of a threat, but a mechanized platoon of 16-50 soldiers might be a threat and an appropriately equipped company of 100-250 soldiers most likely is. An appropriate rank would be OF-2 to OF-4: Captain, Major, or naval Commander. Should be able to ignore or avoid small arms fire and probably be immune to some common types of damage, immunity to poison and similar common environmental threats is fairly common, or they may have some sort of precognition, 'danger sense', luck, or plot armor that allows them to avoid damage or situations that they could not withstand. Will generally require either special weaponry, lots of damage, or luck to bring them down and having the right weapons is often critical. Any character that can be thrown through a brick wall or a building and then get up and continue to fight is at this level or above. Depending on the genre and character they might have either extremely powerful attacks or extremely effective defenses or a vast assortment of moderate level powers (e.g. one character with as many different powers as a whole team of typical superheroes). Just being a superhumanly superb soldier isn't sufficient, they would also need additional powers like precognition, near invulnerability or flight, or would need to be carrying a big gun. This level is the epitome of the BFG trope where a character uses a weapon that would normally be mounted on a vehicle or aircraft, from a machine gun or multi-barrel auto cannon to a small artillery piece. This level is about the minimum for characters or beings that are capable of reassembling their bodies from catastrophic damage or self-resurrection (e.g. some types of vampires and demons, liches, a wizard with a horcrux, a robot with 'nanotech' repair, etc.). In heroic epics this level is about the most powerful someone/something can be and still be simply referred to by their position or species/class of creature without getting individually named (e.g. a captain/general, a giant, a rakshasa, a vampire, a demon, a dragon, a starship trooper). Collateral damage can destroy buildings. In settings with 'superhero registration' this level of superhero is likely to be required to register and get some mandatory training in things like anger management. They may rule a small country with the aid of allies or deception.
Warnings: This sort of power and above can warp a story that is mostly about 'normal' people. Having any characters with this sort of power indicates particular genres, such as high fantasy, supernatural horror, sci-fi or superheroes/metas/paranormals/etc. Since they are at the lowest end of the 'godlike' beings, characters of this level and above can be overconfident due to how much better they are than normal humans, even well trained and equipped ones, and the fact that they’re on another level compared to 'typical' superheroes or metas, which can lead to their humiliating defeat when they meet something that is on a higher level from them (a recurring trope in anime). [A good example of this level including the overconfidence it can have is the scene in the 2012 MCU movie ‘Avengers’ where the Loki tells the Hulk “I am a god” and the Hulk then grabs Loki and repeatedly smashes him back and forth against the concrete floor like a rag doll, breaking the flooring and leaving Loki embedded several centimeters deep in the floor, with the Hulk walking away dismissively saying, "Puny god." However Loki is merely knocked unconscious and has a few scratches as a result of this beating.]
Examples: Iron Man and War Machine (in MCU), Loki (in MCU), Colossus or Cable (X-men), Spiderman (adult, due to ‘spider sense’), the T-1000 (in the second Terminator movie), the Cyberdemon at the end of the original 1993 PC version of DOOM, Near ascended beings in Stargate SG-1 (e.g. Adria, Khalek), 800-2000pt Champions RPG characters (with a 75-150 active point limit) and master villains like Mechanon and Dr. Destroyer, Motoko Kusanagi (in Ghost in the Shell), In the anime One Punch Man the Hero Association Threat Level: Tiger, a party of D&D characters of levels 10-18 or one of epic level, particularly an archmage. [An example of the epitome of the BFG trope is Seras Victoria in the Hellsing anime, in both the scene before she became a full vampire where she uses the “Harkonnen II” system – a pair of 30mm belt fed auto cannons one in each hand with a huge backpack of ammo and a huge rifle grenade for each (345kg for the system) and the later scene of her as a full vampire using a WWII German 88mm anti-aircraft gun (over 3000kg) like it was a pistol]
Power Level 5: Demigods. Very high powered superheroes. Naval battleships and aircraft carriers. Sci-fi multi-story mecha (~10m) or advanced anti-grav tanks. Powergamers*.
Notes: A mechanized platoon probably isn't a threat but a company of 100-250 soldiers supported by tanks and aircraft might be a threat and a battalion or brigade of 400-4000 soldiers probably is. An appropriate rank would be OF-4 to OF-6: Colonel, Brigadier General, or naval Captain. A large number of immunities to both environmental conditions and types of damage is common. Should be able to ignore or avoid a heavy machine gun; can probably avoid, dodge, or take a hit from a tank gun but it is likely still a threat to them. Should be resistant or immune to a wide variety of chemicals and poisons that affect normal people, though may have specialized vulnerabilities (e.g. silver bullets, wooden stakes, green meteorites) for story or game balance. They may be able to survive in outer space. Resistance to mind control and illusions is not uncommon. Depending on the genre and character they might have either ridiculously powerful attacks or ridiculous defenses or a ridiculously long assortment of powers. This level is the pinnacle of the trope of a ‘one man army’ where one character can wade unharmed through hundreds of well armed opponents, seemingly unable to be stopped by anything other than an eventual need to rest and possibly rearm or an equal opponent; if there were no equal opponents then someone of this level on a rampage might eventually rack up a body count in the hundreds of thousands but it would probably take weeks or months. This level is about the upper limit for the BFG trope and for wearable sci-fi power armor, which would likely have things like a personal force field, 'inertial dampers', and anti-grav or 'reactionless' flight. In heroic stories characters of this level and above will almost always have individual names, rather than being 'generic' characters that are referred to by their position or species/class of creature. Excessive collateral damage can destroy city blocks. In settings with 'superhero registration' this level of superhero in a large country is very likely to be required to register and get mandatory training in things like anger management and may even be under constant government monitoring. They might simply rule a small country.
Warnings: Because of their power it can be difficult to challenge characters of level 5+. Normal people, even skilled and heroic ones, are no match at all for them so their opponents will either need to be very intelligent and crafty or virtual demigods themselves and actually challenging them requires an opponent with godlike power. Alternatively their 'opponent' could end up being their own personal ethics and moral restrictions or issues with public perception, image, and legal issues. It can be difficult to try to discuss OC’s (original characters) of this power level or greater with other people; in particular, discussions about conflicts between characters of these levels tend to break down due to the lack of objective statistics. Deus ex machina becomes a serious problem for stories. Also, unless the genre is not expecting realism to the laws of physics (e.g. cartoons and most anime) then unless the author has experience with a college level physics and engineering it is very likely they will make mistakes about the laws of physics and how devices and structures work, which will require lots of retroactive ‘it's just magic’ sorts of explanations when the science geeks point them out. Issues with Newton's first and second laws (momentum and the relationship between force and acceleration) start to become common and lead to author/GM 'hand waving' and vague explanations about technomagical 'inertial dampers' or the like. [An example is the quote, "The nanites absorb the kinetic energy and hold it in place for redistribution," from the 2018 MCU movie ‘Black Panther’, which sounds scientific-ish but ignores the difference between momentum and energy.]
Examples (organizations): modern Montenegro, Latvia, Costa Rica, Panama, Tanzania, or the entire LAPD or NYPD.
Examples (individuals): Thor (in MCU), Vision, Juggernaut, the X-men (as a group), Rogue (X-men, after she permanently absorbs Ms. Marvel's powers), (Storm & Professor X if they had better defenses), Dabbler (in the webcomic Grrl Power), the Champions RPG game mechanics aren't designed for characters this powerful but they'd have over 2000pts (120pt+ act limit) [*there's a humor section titled "Are you a powergamer?" featuring example overpowered parody characters: PlanetMan, Azathoth, Landlord, and NovaMan, note that even NovaMan can only destroy skyscrapers in about a 1km radius so he's rather underpowered by OP anime standards], Seras Victoria (in the anime Hellsing, full vampire form), Dr. Who^ without the TARDIS, Lord Voldemort (from the Harry Potter series), Smaug the dragon, Gandalf or the Balrog of Moria (in LotR), a party of D&D epic level characters, a very powerful archmage (e.g. a lich), D&D demigods and lesser gods. [^advanced scientific knowledge and gadgets, omni-liguist, encyclopedic knowledge of history on a galactic scale, can survive some energies and poisons that would kill a human, can survive briefly in vacuum, very difficult to mind control, odd timey-wimey powers possibly including precognition, twelve regenerations]
Power Level 6: Gods. City threat. WMD's. Crazy high powered superheroes. Giant skyscraper-sized anime mecha (50m+). Personal starships. Persons of Mass Destruction.
Notes: A company of soldiers supported by tanks and aircraft isn't a serious threat, it would probably take at least a division of 8,000 soldiers to be a threat. An appropriate rank is OF-6 to OF-9: General/Admiral. They should be able to ignore or avoid a tank’s main gun or an aircraft’s auto-cannon or bombs and they might even survive a tac-nuke in some manner. A large number of immunities to both environmental conditions and types of damage is common. They are likely to be able to survive in outer space at least briefly and possibly indefinitely. These are generally arch-villains that are intended to take on a group of powerful heroes all by themselves. This level is moving beyond the trope of a one man army where one character can wade unharmed through hundreds of well armed opponents; generally by this level they can neutralize or destroy large numbers of opponents with some effect that requires little more than a thought or wave of their hand. This level is also beyond the BFG trope for real guns that something vaguely human sized but immensely strong could hold, since even a 30mm rotary barrel auto cannon or 155mm artillery piece would likely be a downgrade from their own powers (since they can probably drop a building or battleship on their opponent, hit them with lightning or a tornado, or do something similarly effective). If they do use a weapon a killer satellite is perhaps more likely than a BFG. Sci-fi power armor at this level is essentially a personal spaceship or starship with a force field and may have nuclear or antimatter weapons, though near-magical 'floating orb' drones are as likely as armor and weapons. Massively excessive collateral damage can heavily damage a small city. In settings with 'superhero registration' this level of superhero may be allied to a government or running one, though they might be able to just flout the registration requirement if they want since they’re more powerful than a small country (however, in some settings beings of this level may be registered or restricted by other beings on a similar level to themselves or by even more powerful beings).
Warnings: Resistance or outright immunity to mind control (from beings of a lower level) is almost required to prevent their power from being usurped/controlled by someone of a lower level and in fact such resistance can be used as a key indicator of characters at this level and above. Similarly, they tend to be resistant or immune to ‘trump card’ sorts of powers from lower level beings, such as the ability to ‘steal’ or negate somebody else’s power. Because of their massive power, fictional beings of level 6+ are sometimes limited by a location or other condition where their powers are strongest (e.g. in their own city-state, or in their home dimension, or under a full moon or yellow sun) or they may have some special weakness that opponents can take advantage of (e.g. silver bullets or green meteorites). If they are going to have opponents who are lower level beings then they will require weaknesses that can be exploited by their weaker opponents in order for those conflicts to be interesting. Like all level 5+, discussions about conflicts between characters of these levels tend to break down due to the lack of objective statistics.
Examples (organizations): modern Belgium, Syria, Poland, Canada, or the entire US Marine Corps [budgets ~$2-30billion USD].
Examples (individuals): Godzilla, Mechagodzilla, Magneto, Hulk, Hela (in MCU), most Bankai (in the anime Bleach), Halo (in the webcomic Grrl Power), the Champions RPG forbids gods via 'the ban', In the anime One Punch Man the Hero Association Threat Level: Demon, Sauron in Lord of the Rings, D&D greater gods. [Loki: “I have an army.” Tony: “We have a Hulk.” Another good example of this level is the scene in the 2017 MCU movie ‘Thor: Ragnarok’, which has this exchange showcasing level 4-5 characters (Loki and Thor) trying to deal with a level 6 character (Hela), Loki: “Hit her with a lightning blast.”, Thor: “I just hit her with the biggest lightning blast in the history of lightning, it did nothing.” and presumably Hela would have increased to level 9-11 if she remained in Asgard since Thor then says: “The longer Hela is on Asgard the more powerful she grows.”]
Power Level 7: Overpowered gods. State threat or small nation National threat. The largest of WMD's or multiple WMD's. Small starships. Insanely high powered superheroes or villains designed to be a challenge for a high power team all by themselves. Munchkins & Mary-Sue’s.
Notes: The word “Overpowered” (OP) is the best way to describe this level and above. Probably has a long list of powers or different effects that they can achieve with their power, but may just have insane amounts of skill and luck that allow them to do things that shouldn’t be possible for their supposed type of being (e.g. a highly trained human or a skilled scientist who seems able to do anything). Flight is almost expected and supersonic flight or being able to exit the atmosphere wouldn’t be uncommon. Very likely to be able to survive in extreme environments like outer space or the bottom of an ocean for lengthy periods. Might be able to survive being at ground zero when a nuclear weapon detonates (perhaps by armor/force-field or energy absorption or by intangibility, teleporting, dimensional travel, time travel, super speed, stasis field, multiple bodies, climbing into a convenient lead-lined refrigerator, etc.). If they are villains that can't survive a nuke they are probably either very good at hiding, capable of self-resurrection, or spend most of their time in locations with lots of innocent civilians to help explain why they don't get bombed or tac-nuked. Also, by this level defenses like 'nuclear dampers' that prevent nuclear explosions may start to appear. Characters of this level may well be able to resurrect themselves in some manner (e.g. clone backups, nano-tech, regeneration, magic, or whatever) making them effectively immortal. By this level, many beings are moving beyond the need for physical strength due to the nature of their other powers (and perhaps beyond the need for a physical body altogether), but if they’re a physical type who is fighting hand to hand then being able to punch an opponent into outer space is a real possibility. Also by this level, the limits of the author’s understanding of the laws of physics tends to become apparent (for example, large physical objects have internal structures and cannot simply be ‘picked up’ by grabbing them anywhere, or the fact that planets are held together by gravity and not by any sort of structure). Massively excessive collateral damage can destroy cities (and they might even be able to destroy the world if they tried and there were no heroes to stop them). In settings with 'superhero registration' this level of superhero is likely to be allied to a government or running one, otherwise they are so powerful they can probably just flout the registration requirement if they want since they’re more powerful than most modern countries (however, in many settings beings of this level may be registered or restricted by other beings on a similar level to themselves such as a pantheon of gods or by even more powerful beings such as cosmic entities).
Warnings: Generally at level 7+ a character will be a plot device, an author’s pet, or someone who wants to author or GM their own Mary-Sue character for wish fulfillment. It typically isn’t worth the effort to try to discuss OC’s (original characters) of this power level or greater with other people; in particular, discussions about conflicts between characters of these OP levels tend to break down into silliness unless there is a neutral ‘referee’ and/or objective 'game mechanics'. As a result it is difficult to differentiate between power levels 7-10 and they could effectively all be grouped together into one level that could be described as overpowered but still on a planetary level. If you are planning to tell a story specifically about a character with this sort of power expect to need to do some real work to define their limitations and explain them to the audience, otherwise the audience is likely to quickly get bored with them since they can effectively do almost anything they want (the latter is essentially the reason that Mary-Sue characters with this sort of power exist, so that they can do anything they want within the defined setting which satisfies the author's desire for wish fulfillment). For beings that aren't the absolute overlord or future overlord or could-be-but-don't-want-the-job overlord of their own nation/planet there is often the story limitation that there are other powerful beings in existence (e.g. gods, time lords, cosmic entities, Q, etc.) that will take action against the character if they use their powers too directly or excessively. For example, the internal political structure of interstellar empires or conflicts between different interstellar empires often provides these sorts of limits in a sci-fi environment where starships realistically possess the ability to end nearly all life on a non-starfaring planet simply by tossing a large enough 'rock' at it at orbital velocities. Note that although most starships in a sci-fi setting are this level or above, it is uncommon in sci-fi for individual beings to possess this level of power unless they have 'transcended' physical bodies or are energy beings and such beings are almost never main characters. Beings of power level 7-10 tend to be limited to certain genres, including gods in classic heroic tales, 'comic book' superheroes, anime and manga, and the top villains of supernatural horror (especially eldrich horror). Example characters in the level 7-10 range can be difficult to place in a specific level since their powers are often poorly defined and there is often a lack of conflict with directly comparable beings to be able to adequately compare them.
Examples (organizations): modern North Korea, Japan, Germany, or the entire USA navy (including the Marine Corps but without nukes).
Examples (individuals) [of level 7-10 characters]: Thor (in the Marvel comics), Hulk (when really angry), Apocalypse (the greatest X-men villain), Ultron (in the Marvel comics), Ronan the Accuser (Marvel), High Evolutionary (Marvel), Maxima (in the webcomic Grrl Power), Alucard (in the anime Hellsing, level 0 release), Lina Inverse (in the anime Slayers), Vash the Stampede (in the anime Trigun), Aizen (in the anime Bleach), Ains Ooal Gown (in the anime Overlord), In the anime One Punch Man the Hero Association Threat Level: Dragon, Elder Eldritch Abominations (level 7-15), Squirrel Girl (a low powered Marvel character who has the author given ability to somehow win over vastly more powerful opponents as part of an ongoing joke in the Marvel universe, effectively a parody of a Mary-Sue and an example that any character can have up to level 15 power if the author is on their side).
Power Level 8: Overpowered gods II. WWII. National threat. Nowhere near extinction-level. Military starships.
Notes: The main thing that distinguishes level 8 from level 7 is that they are clearly so superior to other overpowered (OP) beings that they are on another level. By this point, abilities like faster than light travel, time travel, or matter transmutation are almost expected. They can probably avoid or survive a tac-nuke in some way or another. Their powers are likely somewhat ill defined. If their powers are given an ‘explanation’ other than just being effectively magic, the explanations given often reference very small particles (molecules, atoms, sub-atomic particles or tachyons); physics concepts like space, energy time, chaos, dimensions, entropy or quantum; or philosophical concepts like life, death or souls; possibly with some sort of royal sounding title like lord, king or emperor, or maybe a superlative like ultimate or supreme (e.g. ‘time lord’, or you could even combine multiple words, like an ‘ultimate quantum time chaos sorcerer-king’, how could that not be powerful). In settings with ‘superhero registration’ this level of superhero can just flout the registration requirement if they want and there’s probably nothing a government can do about it (however, unless they are the ultimate being of the setting they will likely be registered or restricted by other beings on a similar level to themselves or by even more powerful beings, which helps explain why beings of this level don't destroy the world/setting). In fiction, beings of this level and above are often shown or described as not being very active with their physical bodies, they don’t tend to run, exercise, or do yoga (though meditation poses may be used to help showcase the more ‘enlightened’ ones), in visual mediums they tend to casually walk or float slowly as if they’re immune to harm unless they’re in a hurry in which case they may fly quickly or teleport, if they physically fight it may seem to be nearly effortless. Massively excessive collateral damage can heavily damage whole countries.
Warnings: It is difficult to tell good stories about individuals who are at level 8+ (nations or starships are another matter). Stories will likely need to have some sort of explanation of why these characters and their conflicts don't destroy the world or reduce it to a post-apocalyptic ruin. A common literary convention in settings that don't exceed one planet is that beings of power 8-10 have either an agreement not to interfere in mortal affairs, or a pact that any who use their full powers will be immediately destroyed by a large group of others, or they have some sort of 'cold war' that prevents them from acting, or there is a level 11+ overseer who makes them 'play nice'. Conflicts between different genres or world views tends to be silly or somewhat nonsensical at levels 8+, like Superman vs. Dr. Who, or Dr. Strange vs. Dr. Manhattan, or the Starship Enterprise vs. the Archangel Michael. Note that levels 8-10 in this system have some similarity to the Torino scale that is used for things such as such as asteroids and comets, and that by the time a (hero or villain) character's potential effect on the planet needs to be rated on the Torino scale there can be serious ethical discussions about the responsibility required to wield such powers. The Examples in the level 8-10 range can be especially difficult to place in a specific level since their powers are often poorly defined and there is often a lack of conflict with directly comparable beings to be able to adequately compare them and it is difficult to have those comparable beings demonstrate their powers since you need a different planet/world for them to damage/destroy in order to even show what they’re capable of.
Examples (organizations): modern China, France, or UK; the entire human race before the atomic age, circa 1800-1945AD (based on the casualties of WWI or WWII, which were in the tens of millions each, and the fact that the world population didn't reach 1 billion till 1804), the starship Enterprise (in Star Trek).
Examples (individuals) [of level 8-10 characters]: Superman, up-powered versions of the Hulk (e.g. World-Breaker Hulk), Thanos (the greatest Avengers villain, when he's not just nigh-omnipotent due to some dingus or MacGuffin), Frieza in Dragon Ball Z (though he can destroy a planet, he is missing many perception/sensory, movement and miscellaneous powers that would characterize a more balanced level 10 being, so he’s only power level 8 or 9 overall despite having a threat level 10 offense), Saitama in One Punch Man (which also deals with some of the problems of being OP), Meklor/Morgoth in The Silmarillion.
Power Level 9: Overpowered gods III. WWIII. Continental threat. Sub extinction-level. A squadron of military starships.
Notes: By this point, abilities like faster than light travel (FTL), time travel, or multidimensional travel are basically required (from a storytelling standpoint) because they need to exist in environments that have more than one world (since the villains will likely require a different world to destroy in order to showcase their threat/powers). They can very likely survive a nuke in some way or another. By this level powers and their limits are very likely to be ill defined. They may even be able to exist at multiple locations at the same time. Massively excessive collateral damage can destroy continents.
Warnings: This level of potential collateral damage makes it difficult to tell stories about conflicts between beings of this power level, unless the story itself is about a civilization-destroying apocalypse. Conflict between individuals of this level could easily destroy the world but tends to be fairly silly and full of deus ex machina, like Q vs. Dr. Manhattan. The prospect of conflict between organizations of this level is a painful real-world threat (c.f. Cold War).
Examples (organizations): modern USA or Russia (assuming a full nuclear war does not render the Earth uninhabitable); WWIII assuming it doesn't wipe out all life on the planet.
Examples (individuals) [of level 9+ characters]: Dr. Who in the TARDIS, Dr. Manhattan (as portrayed in the beginning and middle of The Watchmen movie, where it is questionable if he could stop all incoming missiles in a full nuclear war and his retaliation ability is described as being able to destroy ‘large areas’ of the Soviet Union), Dr. Strange (I’m not exactly sure where those Doctors fit but they’re are up here somewhere at level 8+ and maybe as high as 13).
Power Level 10: Planetary threat. Extinction-level. A fleet of military starships.
Notes: At this level an individual or organization has a realistic capability of killing a significant portion of the life on a planet (at least 10%) and possibly all life on a planet. They may even have planet-killer or star-killer attacks or weapons and/or weaponized FTL or time travel. They can certainly survive a tac-nuke in some way or another and can probably deal with entire volleys of megaton nukes, possibly with just a wave of their hand. Individual beings at this power level should be able to basically just ignore attacks from anything less than Superman and be capable of rapid travel on a planetary level (e.g. supersonic flight or teleportation). In a modern setting they may be large countries with WMD like nuclear or biological weapons. In a sci-fi setting they may be energy beings or physical beings the size of a moon (e.g. the Death Star). In a supernatural setting they might be millennia-old vampires, archangels or demon lords. In a fantasy setting they might be greater gods who have enough power to destroy the entire setting if they want to. Power levels above this generally only make sense in a starfaring sci-fi setting or other settings where there are multiple inhabited worlds. Massively excessive collateral damage could destroy the entire world. Good examples are a weaponized spacial gateway or wormhole device that can create a gateway to the heart of a nearby star or other forms of weaponized faster than light travel (FTL). Individual beings of this level rarely have just one power unless it is 'magic', luck, reality warping, or time-travel (all of which can be up to level 14); even if they only have one type of power it will tend to have multiple uses for attack, defense, transportation, and miscellaneous uses. It is important to note that having the ability to destroy the world does not make a character power level 10 by itself, the character needs to have commensurate defenses and miscellaneous powers; a classic example is the president of the USA or Russia, who could theoretically launch WWIII (level 9 or 10) but is otherwise a normal human (level 1). In order to be power level 10, the president of the USA/Russia would also need to be virtually immune to mind control and 'magic' and be able to take a sucker-punch from Superman.
Warnings: The ability to destroy (or rule) the world makes it absolutely essential that an author/creator provide the reason that they don't; this generally means beings of this power will be in some sort of super/meta/godly/ascended cold war and will be conducting their conflict through politics and proxies rather than open combat. Frequently they will be under restrictions due to other beings of similar or greater power level that rival them, threaten them, or otherwise limit their actions in the setting (e.g. the 'Others' Ascended beings in Stargate SG1 or the Vorlons/Shadows of Babylon 5). It is noteworthy that almost every long-running sci-fi setting features one or more 'planet killer' weapons, from simply throwing a 'dinosaur killer' asteroid at a planet to 'planetbuster' bombs or beam weapons, to weapons that destroy a star, to weaponized FTL/wormholes/time-travel, to genetically engineered diseases or nanotech plagues, or more exotic or setting specific threats; thus these sorts of things are hardly new or novel in sci-fi. In fact, sci-fi itself can be split into two genres, similar to the difference between 'low' fantasy and 'high' fantasy, 'low' sci-fi that deals with individuals and small groups living their lives in a sci-fi setting and 'high' sci-fi that deals with nations or stellar empires.
Examples (organizations): modern USA or Russia (assuming a full nuclear war would create a 'nuclear winter' or otherwise render the Earth uninhabitable), the entire human race circa 1950-2050AD, The Death Star (in Star Wars), Starkiller Base (in Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens), The Doomsday Machine (in Star Trek: The Original Series), the pirate planet (in the Dr. Who ‘The Key to Time’ arc), the Grand Cannon (in Robotech).
Examples (individuals): Classic Superman, Silver Surfer, Odin with the Odinforce (Marvel), Mephisto (Marvel), Captain Yamamoto (in the anime Bleach), In the anime One Punch Man the Hero Association Threat Level: God.
Power Level 11: Stellar Empires. Celestials. Ravagers of Worlds.
Notes: Interstellar empires of this level control multiple star systems, at least several dozen but not enough to be a significant fraction of a galaxy (e.g. less than a billion stars or one percent of a galaxy) and are generally capable of interstellar travel (usually faster than light) but not intergalactic travel. If a story is going to be about stellar empires these could be broken down into multiple levels by size and technology; if you want to keep the logarithmic notation place a decimal point after the 11 and follow it with a number that indicates the number of digits in the number stars located within the area the civilization controls (e.g. an interstellar empire whose territory contains 500 stars would be 11.3 and one that has 5 million stars would be 11.7 and one that has around a billion stars would be a 11.10 which is the highest before moving to the next level) assuming that civilization possesses the 'average' level of technology expected for an interstellar empire of that size. Individual beings at this power level are essentially cosmic level forces. At this level and above the character may not even have a defined list of 'powers' but may be able to do anything they (or their authors) can imagine. Nuclear weapons are irrelevant to them, they can easily survive the largest volley of nukes and their own powers are so great there’s no need for them to use nukes themselves. They can easily destroy planets and may be able to destroy stars. They can probably travel to other stars at Faster Than Light (FTL) but probably not to the far side of the galaxy nor to other galaxies. However they are not omnipotent, omniscient, nor omnipresent. A key characteristic is that their vast power has a finite area of effect, they might be able to simultaneously destroy multiple solar systems or teleport planets to orbit another star but they cannot destroy an entire galaxy at once. They are also typically limited to one finite location of less than galactic size, rather than being omnipresent, and their awareness is limited to a specific area at any given time, rather than being omniscient. Names will often tend toward astronomical items or events, to help highlight their celestial levels of power.
Warnings: At this level the author starts needing to consider that actions may be astronomically observable. If something that could destroy stars or teleport black holes really existed elsewhere in the galaxy and was used frequently then it could be observed by astronomers on Earth. This problem cannot easily be solved by the standard ‘coverup’ and conspiracy sorts of explanations, since a cosmic level coverup would require a level 11-14 power just to do the coverup and has serious epistemological philosophical implications, since if there exists something capable of deceiving others on a galactic or universal scale then what can possibly be known (see Descart’s demon theory).
Examples (organizations): In Star Trek, the Federation as well as the Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, Ferengi, etc., even the Organians. Kardashev scale 1+.
Examples (individuals): Galactus (Marvel’s famous eater of worlds), Darkseid (DC), The Celestials (Marvel beings that manifest as 2000ft tall armored shells possessing untold cosmic power, one is a fight for Galactus and three can beat him or Odin and all of the Asgardians in the Destroyer construct that Odin built specifically to try to fight them), reality warpers whose area of effect can include an entire planetary system.
Power Level 12: Galactic empires. Lower powered cosmic beings.
Notes: Galactic or intergalactic empires at this level control at least a significant fraction of one galaxy (at least a couple billion stars or several percent of a galaxy) up to multiple galaxies (up to millions) and are generally capable of at least intergalactic if not universal travel. If a story is going to be about galactic empires these could be broken down into multiple levels by size and technology; if you want to keep the logarithmic notation place a decimal point after the 12 and follow it with a number that indicates the number of digits in the number galaxies the civilization controls (e.g. an intergalactic empire whose territory contains 50 galaxies would be 12.2 and one that has 50 million galaxies would be 12.8 and one that has around a billion galaxies would be a 12.10 which is the highest before moving to the next level) assuming that civilization possesses the 'average' level of technology expected for an interstellar empire of that size. Generally at this power level the concept of an individual being starts to break down so ‘beings’ of this level may be galactic empires or vast hive-minds or collectives (often portrayed as partially or totally mechanical or non-organic). Individual beings at this power level are essentially cosmic level forces. Often characters, collectives, or empires of this level will tend to be used by authors to stand for some concept or idea. At these sorts of power levels, uses of their full power would tend to be astronomically observable in the real world (e.g. galaxies don’t just disappear or appear). FTL travel on a galactic scale is expected but not to the entire universe. Authors need to deal with why an entity of this level would even be interested in the events occurring on some particular planet or why it has an individual finite form that can interact with other characters. Names start to move away from astronomical themes and start to become arbitrary or abstract. The potential collateral damage when beings (or stellar empires) of this level fight could destroy a significant part of a galaxy, or perhaps merely all life on all inhabited planets in it.
Warnings: By this level, the idea of centering a continuing story on one planet and/or one species or one small group of characters is silly and requires the audience to suspend disbelief (e.g. almost all of the events of significance in the Federation occur near the starship Enterprise or the Deep Space Nine station).
Examples (organizations): The Borg and the Dominion (in Star Trek), The Federation/Klingon/Romulan alliance against the Dominion (in Star Trek, circa 2370AD), The Galactic Republic/Empire (in Star Wars), the Ori (in Stargate SG-1), the Cybermen or Daleks or Time Lords (in Dr. Who) at the height of their empires (and their Time War was a level 13-14 event).
Examples (individuals): Dormammu in his home dimension (Dr. Strange’s arch-nemesis), Beerus and Whis in the Dragon Ball series, reality warpers whose area of effect can include a significant part of a galaxy up to an entire galaxy.
Power Level 13: Universal empires. Cosmic genies. Overpowered comic entities. Universal-level Munchkins & Mary-Sue’s as well as Magic Pencil*** beings [***the author of a story or GM of a RPG has a ‘magic pencil’ to just create whatever they want].
Notes: Intergalactic empires at this level control enough galaxies to be a significant fraction of the universe (or multi-verse), or at least a few billion galaxies and are generally capable of universal travel. So while a level 12 galactic or intergalactic empire would certainly be mentioned in an encyclopedia about that galaxy or group or galaxies, it might be too insignificant to mention in an encyclopedia about the universe or receive little more than a footnote, whereas a level 13 empire would be mentioned in the first few pages of an encyclopedia of the universe. If a story is going to be about universal empires these could be broken down into multiple levels by size but they would all need to possess fairly similar technology or one would have dominated, so by this point technological development is probably stagnant and limited by the laws of physics, having reached the ultimate level of what is possible (note that this may well turn out to happen at less than level 13 in the real world, for instance if faster than light travel turns out to be impossible or impractical at any technology level then even the greatest interstellar empires will be level 11 entities). In stories with time travel, by this level travel back to the beginnings of a planet, galaxy or the beginning of the universe allows such time travelers effectively unlimited power, but such stories tend to devolve into time/continuity police or temporal cold wars where various powers are fighting to preserve their own time lines. Individual characters of this level require a reader’s suspension of disbelief because essentially everything these beings can do is deus ex machina. By this level an entity can do effectively whatever they want so a list of 'powers' is not even needed. Their physical form, if they even have one, is typically just for decoration, it doesn’t really need to do anything in order to make things happen in the universe, they just happen. They might be able to warp reality in any way they desire over a finite scale, or to make a finite change across the entire universe. FTL travel on a universal scale is expected. The only things they don’t have are omnipotence (their power is still finite in some way and is less than the totality of the universe), omnipresence (they still exist in some finite location or set of locations), immunity to causality (cause and effect), and the ability to change the ‘rules’ of the universe itself (depending on the setting these rules may be the laws of physics or some rules that the author has established, such as anyone who holds the MacGuffin of Infinite Power is omnipotent). Their powers are essentially ‘magic’ but depending on the author or setting they may be attributed to a scientific or pseudo-scientific theory the author doesn’t really understand or to an abstract concept like love or death. Typical abilities include things like instant universal teleportation, universal range clairvoyance, and true immortality (cannot die or be killed). Within a given genre and fictional universe there may be different levels of these beings, but there’s no real way to compare them across genres or universes. The potential collateral damage when beings of this level fight could destroy the universe.
Warnings: Similar to level 7+ characters, an individual character at level 13+ will certainly be a plot device or someone who wants to GM their own Mary-Sue character (a clear author insert as a nigh omnipotent being within their own universe). In fact, level 13-15 is to the universe as level 7-10 is to a planet. Level 13+ storytelling is generally fairly silly and tends to occur when an author (typically a comic book) wants to give heroes and villains (particularly the OP level 7-11 ones) a bigger 'stage' and replaces the planet with 'the universe' (or multi-verse). It definitely isn’t worth the effort to try to discuss OC’s (original characters) of this power level or greater with other people, it will almost always devolve into a level 15 discussion of who the author is. Trying to tell stories at the universal level really requires a different mindset than stories about what occurs on a single planet or within a single galaxy and in my opinion really should be avoided unless the author has a pretty good grasp of astronomical concepts like relativity and is ready to deal with advanced sci-fi concepts like technological stagnation at the maximum possible level.
Examples: Parallel universes that are dominated by a single universal empire, Q (in Star Trek), Mister Mxyzptlk (DC), Franklin Richards (Marvel reality warper), Scarlet Witch (Marvel reality warper who eventually has universal scope regarding ‘mutant powers’), Cosmic Beings in the Marvel Universe (such as Death, Eternity, and the Phoenix Force), gods of magic that can change the way magic works across the entire setting (e.g. the Scarlet Witch removing most mutants’ powers in the Marvel setting), reality warpers whose area of effect includes multiple galaxies and possibly the entire universe or multiverse.
Power Level 14: The universal genie and/or Philosophy, Religion, and Metaphysics.
Notes: Even attempting to tell stories on this level is inherently a spiritual, religious, and philosophical endeavor. At this power level concepts like time and causality break down and we’ve left the realm of any sort of meaningful conflict (and any sort of ‘realism’) and entered the realm of philosophy and religion. One way this can be dealt with in a story or RPG is to pick an abstract idea like ‘creation’, ‘order’ or ‘destruction’ and say that all actions within the universe that are tangible reflections of that abstract idea are just parts or manifestations of something greater (without making that greater thing an individual entity that communicates in any direct manner with sentient entities). Less philosophically inclined authors tend to just portray this/these being(s) as some sort of ultimate cosmic genie – the universal genie. The concept of an individual entity (that was born on a particular planet in a particular time) with the ability to change, remake or destroy the entire universe is inherently silly, not only is it centering the entire universe on this one place/time but also if it were even possible for something within the universe to destroy it, then it probably would have already been destroyed eons ago or certainly will be at some time in the future. Stories involving beings of this power level are generally structured to present a mortal entity somehow gaining near infinite power by some deus ex machina (typically a MacGuffin), this is partially so that the audience can relate to what is going on and partially so the author doesn’t have to deal with all the implications of the level of maturity and enlightenment that an entity on this level should have developed over untold millennia of existence. This sort of storyline introduces some logical and philosophical problems with positing (proposing/suggesting) that the universe can be destroyed by something that originated within it, not to mention the question about why some omnipotent entity would create a MacGuffin that grants omnipotence to a finite entity which seems quite silly and requires a significant philosophical willing suspension of disbelief. The weakness of such mortal entities that have become omnipotent is their lack of experience, enlightenment, and philosophical consistency, as well as the fact that if infinite power can destroy the universe it can also restore it, making the idea of ‘destroying’ the universe essentially meaningless. Such ‘omnipotent’ beings are also vulnerable to further deus ex machina by the author (e.g. some even more powerful entity simply depowers them or erases them from existence). Fictional ‘entities’ of this level generally exist to either to provide the ultimate villain possible or to be an ‘in-story’ explanation for a reset in a shared continuous universe in order to provide readers with some sense of explanation for the reset and a sort of continuity across the reset.
Warnings: Note: In my opinion, authors, RPG players, and GM’s who are less than 200 years old and don’t have multiple PhD’s in Philosophy and comparative Religion shouldn’t attempt to tell stories about millennia old entities of this power level and especially shouldn’t try to roleplay them or give them speaking parts in a story, while stories about MacGuffins that grant nigh omnipotence require a willing suspension of disbelief.
Examples: The Infinity Gauntlet or Cosmic Cube or Reality Gem (in Marvel), the Key to Time (in Dr. Who), the dodecahedron of universal domination, or any other cosmic bauble, dingus, or MacGuffin that grants ‘infinite’ power (but does not allow its wielder to change the ‘rules’ of the setting/universe that the author has set), the philosopher Descarts’ proposed evil demon/genie who can delude all beings in the universe about the nature of external reality, Hell itself or any other dimension whose nature is semi-philosophical to wholly philosophical except for one that is associated with God (capital G, see level 16).
Power Level 15: The author or gamemaster (GM), a being with essentially infinite power within their own fictional ‘multiverse’ or head world, including the ability to change the ‘rules’ of that multiverse. The creator of all deus ex machina in that multiverse.
Notes: The key characteristic of this level is that it is still admittedly fiction whereas the next level purports to be non-fiction. The author actually invoking their ‘infinite’ power within their own multiverse tends to quickly lead to inconsistencies with real world physics and often philosophical inconsistencies or logical errors. There is no way to ‘beat’ them in their own ‘universe’ but their ‘enemies’ (who could be called ‘critics’ or ‘philosophers’) will settle for pointing out their inconsistencies or logical errors. A typical example of that would be an author or GM saying that some near omnipotent being was destroying whole galaxies, making them ‘disappear’ from the night sky and a more technically oriented reader or player pointing out that those galaxies would have needed to have been destroyed billions of years ago since their light that is reaching us now is billions of years old. Conflict at this level takes place in the ‘real’ world through real world legal maneuvers like copyrights, lawsuits, and establishing a majority share in the publishing company, or through real world ‘game table’ events like players walking out of a role playing game (RPG), or through real world violence like religious jihads.
Warnings: Note that in a RPG the gamemaster’s omnipotence ends where the real-world players’ free will (and/or legal rights) begin, the GM can take control of a character’s actions in the game but they can’t actually force the players to play the game or make them portray their own characters in any particular way. An example of a RPG conflict at this level would be a player telling the GM that they are leaving the game and that the GM does not have their permission to further use their intellectual property, including their character (this essentially forces the GM to either have that character simply disappear in a puff of logic or be ret-coned into a similar but sufficiently different character that is then portrayed by the GM, or some similar solution).
Power Level 16: The Will of God with a capital G -- the Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent Deity of all possible realities.
Notes: An author can try to claim this level of power but if they’re serious then they’re claiming to actually be God (with a capital G) or his, hers, or its prophet and that their stories are not works of fiction but rather their own holy work or ‘bible’. Authors/prophets/kooks making this claim should be ignored unless they have a completely consistent philosophy and/or can clearly demonstrate real world miracles, or somebody wants to have ‘faith’ in them. There is no conflict at this level, nor can there be, since this is the real world God and is eternal and immune to causality; though there is plenty of conflict among lower level beings about the true nature of this level. Atheists will argue that this level does not exist, or perhaps is the laws of logic or physics. Agnostics may argue that this is some abstract concept like ‘love’ or is inherently unknowable to finite beings. Theists will argue for their own particular view of this being, though it seems logically impossible for all of them to be correct so some of the theists must surely be incorrect. Trying to claim that multiple different groups of theists with seemingly conflicting views are all somehow correct implies the agnostic view that God is somehow unknowable to finite beings.
Warnings: Discussions about this level among people of different beliefs tend to lead to real world conflicts.
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Each logarithmic ‘power level’ covers a factor of ten (and more for levels 11 & 12) so there is significant variation within a single level and since a factor of three difference is usually sufficient to ensure victory in a conflict (all other things being equal) there can easily be situations where two beings are on the same general ‘level’ but one is clearly superior to the other. If someone is concerned with that amount of detail, each of the first ten ‘power levels’ could be subdivided into smaller subcategories, three is sufficient for most purposes: low, middle, and high.
Note that these descriptions of power levels focus on the expectations of reasonably balanced characters in regards to their offense, defense, sensory, movement, and miscellaneous powers. One key characteristic of a balanced character is that they can effectively ignore beings that are two levels below themselves (except for perhaps a specific weakness, such as silver bullets or green argonite meteorites) and their movement ability will be on par with the scope of their level (e.g. by level 5 character should be able to move around a city quickly with ease and by level 8 a nation, level 9 a continent, and level 10 move around a planet quickly and with ease). Such balance is not required in a character and fictional characters are not always well balanced. An example might be a character with the offensive ability to shatter a planet but not having the physical defenses to survive the damage of the event or perhaps lacking the ability to survive in outer space or travel at faster than light speed after the planet they were standing on has been destroyed. A lack of balance may be intentional to improve the excitement/suspense of stories involving that character and/or to give the character weaknesses that can be exploited by other characters, allowing them to interact in a competitive environment with characters that are on a different level (either being threatened by characters on a lower level or themselves being an actual threat to a character of a higher level). In stories/comics/shows/movies where the characters' defenses are not at the same level as the typical weapons/offense in the setting, including many sci-fi settings like Star Trek and MiB, the major characters are almost always protected by 'plot armor' (like the 'Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy').
Regarding the example characters: For the franchise fictional characters that have had multiple authors over the years such as Marvel and DC superheroes or Dr. Who, please note that characters that have existed long enough under multiple authors to be widely recognized have also varied widely in their power level during the course of their existence, retcons and reboots so the level they are placed in is just an approximation of the 'typical' level that they are portrayed at. Also, I am no expert on the Marvel or DC universes so I needed to research some of the examples and I focused on examples from the Marvel universe for better consistency of the examples and because of the popularity of the recent movies set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Finally, regarding any characters in a work of fiction (comic, book, movie, etc.), the character that will win in a conflict is always the character that the author wants to win!!! This is completely different from an actual competitive environment such as a board game or video game where there are objective statistics to describe the characters and strict rules that describe how conflict works, with no 'plot armor', author manipulated luck or deus ex machina. Most tabletop Role Playing Games (RPG's) are somewhere between these two, with objective statistics and rules but also often featuring DM/GM provided aid or luck.
Power Level 1: Typical human civilians. Animals from a dog up to lion/tiger/bear. Soldiers with ancient or medieval weaponry (spears, swords, bows, etc.) up to muzzleloading firearms (about the American Civil War era, circa 1850AD). A person driving a typical family car.
Notes: In heroic epics, beings of this level are just supernumeraries (extras) or ‘cannon fodder’, they often aren’t given names and are referred to by their position, profession or species, and their quantity (e.g. the hero’s ship had sixty sailors, or the town had a thousand serfs, or the general commanded ten thousand soldiers), likewise their deaths will probably be reported as a statistical number. Problems like collateral damage or superhero registration aren’t an issue since these are normal people, or paranormal ones with weak powers that can easily be duplicated by available skills and equipment.
Examples: A man with a kitchen knife or baseball bat, a cowboy with a six-shooter, a modern police officer, grandma in her Cadillac, the hobbits in Lord of the Rings (LotR), a small party of starting D&D characters of levels 1-3.
Power Level 2: Heroes. Low-powered Superheroes. Animals from a polar bear to a T-rex. A person driving a large truck or piece of heavy equipment. A military armored car. Well equipped elite soldiers or field weapons up to about 1850AD, for example a medieval knight in armor on a heavy warhorse (in his day), or a muzzle-loading cannon or a Gatling gun (in their day). Typical infantry soldiers from WWII up to present era, for example a modern infantry soldier with a military assault rifle up to heavy squad support weapons like light machine guns, rocket propelled grenades and shoulder-fired missiles. An elite Special Operations soldier (Navy SEAL, Delta Force, etc.) up to a fire team or small squad of 4-8 soldiers or a police SWAT team. Genetically engineered lifeforms or aliens with scientifically plausible abilities for an organic being. Very basic warbots or partial body cyborgs.
Notes: An appropriate rank would be OR-4 to OF-1: Corporal/Specialist, Sergeant to Warrant Officer to Lieutenant/Ensign. This level is the beginning of the ‘one man army’ trope, where one character can wade virtually unharmed through dozens of opponents (an enduring trope, from ancient heroic epics to a modern action films). This level is also the beginning of the big gun (BFG) trope, where a strong character uses a large gun in a way that a normal individual could not, such as hip firing a heavy machine gun or anti-tank gun. Collateral damage starts to become a problem for characters with good offensive powers that use them indiscriminately. Collateral damage might kill bystanders, punch small holes in things, put a person sized hole in a wall, or destroy a car but it isn’t likely to collapse buildings. In settings with 'superhero registration' this level may or may not be required to register, possibly varying with the country's culture and policies regarding private firearm ownership.
Examples: Bruce Lee, Black Widow or Hawkeye (in MCU), Batman (without vehicles, author provided luck, or special preparations for a particular opponent), the Naʼvi (in Avatar), the xenomorphs (in Aliens), 75-150pt Champions (Hero System) RPG characters that don’t have any ‘superpowers’ but are equipped with real world weapons and armor that do not count toward their point total, 100-200pt Champions RPG characters that have ‘superpowers’, 100-250pt Champions RPG characters that don’t have any ‘superpowers’ and have to pay character points for any real world equipment, Gimli or Legolas in the LotR books (each kills ~40 orcs in the battle at Helm's Deep), a party of D&D characters of levels 2-7 or one of level 5-11.
Power Level 3: Typical Superheroes. A team of elite Special Operations soldiers (SEALs, etc.). An armored personnel carrier with a heavy machine gun or automatic grenade launcher. Modern artillery like a howitzer or multiple rocket launcher (MRL). An attack helicopter or an AC-130 gunship. Simple sci-fi power armor. Typical warbots or full body cyborgs.
Notes: Possibly heavily resistant to common infantry weapons but not immune to special weapons. A modern soldier with an assault rifle isn't a serious threat but a well equipped fire team of 4 soldiers might be a threat, and a mechanized platoon of 16-50 soldiers is most likely a threat. Real world weaponry of this level is restricted to the military and generally isn't used in peacetime. Even genetically engineered organic beings or aliens would likely require some sort of cybernetic or nanotech modifications or other semi-magical powers like psionics to be this powerful. Superhumanly superb fighters (or Super Soldiers) of this level often fit the ‘one man army’ trope, where one character can wade unharmed through many dozens of well armed opponents. Collateral damage can destroy homes or small buildings and damage large or heavy buildings. In settings with 'superhero registration' this level of superhero is likely to be required to register, especially if they have highly destructive powers rather than just being superb fighters.
Warnings: Supernatural, magical, or 'meta' powers can be far more powerful than they appear at first glance, particularly when combined with science and/or technology. A very simple example is a character with superhuman strength using it to wield a large weapon like a heavy machine gun. A slightly more subtle version is a technopath or superhumanly skilled 'hacker' in a heavily technological environment. In a competitive environment like a RPG, this can quickly lead to issues like the DM/GM saying ‘you can't do that’ or imposing external constraints like ‘the police/military won't let you carry heavy weapons’. Genetically engineered beings or aliens at this level and above probably have abilities that can't be explained using modern science and require 'hand waving' explanations like nano-tech, psionics, or other forms of pseudo-scientific 'magic' which puts a story into the realm of science fantasy rather than hard science fiction.
Examples: Captain America and The Winter Soldier (in MCU), Black Panther, Spiderman (young), Nightcrawler (X-men), Mystique (X-men villain), Wolverine (when his healing factor is portrayed as taking a minute or so to heal injuries), typical Asgardians (in Marvel comics the typical Asgardian could lift 25-30 tons, possessed a long lifespan, was immune to Earth diseases, and highly resistant to injury), Batman with a vehicle, the Terminator (first movie), 200-500pt Champions RPG characters with superpowers (with a 50-100 active point limit), Legolas in the LotR movies (where he has improbable athletic superpowers), a party of D&D characters of levels 6-11 or a single character of level 12-18, especially a wizard with a fully charged combat wand or staff (e.g. a wand of fireballs or a staff of the magi).
Power Level 4: High-powered Superheroes. Generic demi-godly beings. A modern main battle tank or a jet fighter aircraft (or a small group of either) up to a naval frigate, destroyer, or light cruiser. Basic sci-fi anti-grav tanks. Advanced sci-fi power armor or small mecha. Advanced warbots or full body cyborgs.
Notes: A modern soldier with an assault rifle isn't a serious threat and even a fire team of 4 soldiers isn't much of a threat, but a mechanized platoon of 16-50 soldiers might be a threat and an appropriately equipped company of 100-250 soldiers most likely is. An appropriate rank would be OF-2 to OF-4: Captain, Major, or naval Commander. Should be able to ignore or avoid small arms fire and probably be immune to some common types of damage, immunity to poison and similar common environmental threats is fairly common, or they may have some sort of precognition, 'danger sense', luck, or plot armor that allows them to avoid damage or situations that they could not withstand. Will generally require either special weaponry, lots of damage, or luck to bring them down and having the right weapons is often critical. Any character that can be thrown through a brick wall or a building and then get up and continue to fight is at this level or above. Depending on the genre and character they might have either extremely powerful attacks or extremely effective defenses or a vast assortment of moderate level powers (e.g. one character with as many different powers as a whole team of typical superheroes). Just being a superhumanly superb soldier isn't sufficient, they would also need additional powers like precognition, near invulnerability or flight, or would need to be carrying a big gun. This level is the epitome of the BFG trope where a character uses a weapon that would normally be mounted on a vehicle or aircraft, from a machine gun or multi-barrel auto cannon to a small artillery piece. This level is about the minimum for characters or beings that are capable of reassembling their bodies from catastrophic damage or self-resurrection (e.g. some types of vampires and demons, liches, a wizard with a horcrux, a robot with 'nanotech' repair, etc.). In heroic epics this level is about the most powerful someone/something can be and still be simply referred to by their position or species/class of creature without getting individually named (e.g. a captain/general, a giant, a rakshasa, a vampire, a demon, a dragon, a starship trooper). Collateral damage can destroy buildings. In settings with 'superhero registration' this level of superhero is likely to be required to register and get some mandatory training in things like anger management. They may rule a small country with the aid of allies or deception.
Warnings: This sort of power and above can warp a story that is mostly about 'normal' people. Having any characters with this sort of power indicates particular genres, such as high fantasy, supernatural horror, sci-fi or superheroes/metas/paranormals/etc. Since they are at the lowest end of the 'godlike' beings, characters of this level and above can be overconfident due to how much better they are than normal humans, even well trained and equipped ones, and the fact that they’re on another level compared to 'typical' superheroes or metas, which can lead to their humiliating defeat when they meet something that is on a higher level from them (a recurring trope in anime). [A good example of this level including the overconfidence it can have is the scene in the 2012 MCU movie ‘Avengers’ where the Loki tells the Hulk “I am a god” and the Hulk then grabs Loki and repeatedly smashes him back and forth against the concrete floor like a rag doll, breaking the flooring and leaving Loki embedded several centimeters deep in the floor, with the Hulk walking away dismissively saying, "Puny god." However Loki is merely knocked unconscious and has a few scratches as a result of this beating.]
Examples: Iron Man and War Machine (in MCU), Loki (in MCU), Colossus or Cable (X-men), Spiderman (adult, due to ‘spider sense’), the T-1000 (in the second Terminator movie), the Cyberdemon at the end of the original 1993 PC version of DOOM, Near ascended beings in Stargate SG-1 (e.g. Adria, Khalek), 800-2000pt Champions RPG characters (with a 75-150 active point limit) and master villains like Mechanon and Dr. Destroyer, Motoko Kusanagi (in Ghost in the Shell), In the anime One Punch Man the Hero Association Threat Level: Tiger, a party of D&D characters of levels 10-18 or one of epic level, particularly an archmage. [An example of the epitome of the BFG trope is Seras Victoria in the Hellsing anime, in both the scene before she became a full vampire where she uses the “Harkonnen II” system – a pair of 30mm belt fed auto cannons one in each hand with a huge backpack of ammo and a huge rifle grenade for each (345kg for the system) and the later scene of her as a full vampire using a WWII German 88mm anti-aircraft gun (over 3000kg) like it was a pistol]
Power Level 5: Demigods. Very high powered superheroes. Naval battleships and aircraft carriers. Sci-fi multi-story mecha (~10m) or advanced anti-grav tanks. Powergamers*.
Notes: A mechanized platoon probably isn't a threat but a company of 100-250 soldiers supported by tanks and aircraft might be a threat and a battalion or brigade of 400-4000 soldiers probably is. An appropriate rank would be OF-4 to OF-6: Colonel, Brigadier General, or naval Captain. A large number of immunities to both environmental conditions and types of damage is common. Should be able to ignore or avoid a heavy machine gun; can probably avoid, dodge, or take a hit from a tank gun but it is likely still a threat to them. Should be resistant or immune to a wide variety of chemicals and poisons that affect normal people, though may have specialized vulnerabilities (e.g. silver bullets, wooden stakes, green meteorites) for story or game balance. They may be able to survive in outer space. Resistance to mind control and illusions is not uncommon. Depending on the genre and character they might have either ridiculously powerful attacks or ridiculous defenses or a ridiculously long assortment of powers. This level is the pinnacle of the trope of a ‘one man army’ where one character can wade unharmed through hundreds of well armed opponents, seemingly unable to be stopped by anything other than an eventual need to rest and possibly rearm or an equal opponent; if there were no equal opponents then someone of this level on a rampage might eventually rack up a body count in the hundreds of thousands but it would probably take weeks or months. This level is about the upper limit for the BFG trope and for wearable sci-fi power armor, which would likely have things like a personal force field, 'inertial dampers', and anti-grav or 'reactionless' flight. In heroic stories characters of this level and above will almost always have individual names, rather than being 'generic' characters that are referred to by their position or species/class of creature. Excessive collateral damage can destroy city blocks. In settings with 'superhero registration' this level of superhero in a large country is very likely to be required to register and get mandatory training in things like anger management and may even be under constant government monitoring. They might simply rule a small country.
Warnings: Because of their power it can be difficult to challenge characters of level 5+. Normal people, even skilled and heroic ones, are no match at all for them so their opponents will either need to be very intelligent and crafty or virtual demigods themselves and actually challenging them requires an opponent with godlike power. Alternatively their 'opponent' could end up being their own personal ethics and moral restrictions or issues with public perception, image, and legal issues. It can be difficult to try to discuss OC’s (original characters) of this power level or greater with other people; in particular, discussions about conflicts between characters of these levels tend to break down due to the lack of objective statistics. Deus ex machina becomes a serious problem for stories. Also, unless the genre is not expecting realism to the laws of physics (e.g. cartoons and most anime) then unless the author has experience with a college level physics and engineering it is very likely they will make mistakes about the laws of physics and how devices and structures work, which will require lots of retroactive ‘it's just magic’ sorts of explanations when the science geeks point them out. Issues with Newton's first and second laws (momentum and the relationship between force and acceleration) start to become common and lead to author/GM 'hand waving' and vague explanations about technomagical 'inertial dampers' or the like. [An example is the quote, "The nanites absorb the kinetic energy and hold it in place for redistribution," from the 2018 MCU movie ‘Black Panther’, which sounds scientific-ish but ignores the difference between momentum and energy.]
Examples (organizations): modern Montenegro, Latvia, Costa Rica, Panama, Tanzania, or the entire LAPD or NYPD.
Examples (individuals): Thor (in MCU), Vision, Juggernaut, the X-men (as a group), Rogue (X-men, after she permanently absorbs Ms. Marvel's powers), (Storm & Professor X if they had better defenses), Dabbler (in the webcomic Grrl Power), the Champions RPG game mechanics aren't designed for characters this powerful but they'd have over 2000pts (120pt+ act limit) [*there's a humor section titled "Are you a powergamer?" featuring example overpowered parody characters: PlanetMan, Azathoth, Landlord, and NovaMan, note that even NovaMan can only destroy skyscrapers in about a 1km radius so he's rather underpowered by OP anime standards], Seras Victoria (in the anime Hellsing, full vampire form), Dr. Who^ without the TARDIS, Lord Voldemort (from the Harry Potter series), Smaug the dragon, Gandalf or the Balrog of Moria (in LotR), a party of D&D epic level characters, a very powerful archmage (e.g. a lich), D&D demigods and lesser gods. [^advanced scientific knowledge and gadgets, omni-liguist, encyclopedic knowledge of history on a galactic scale, can survive some energies and poisons that would kill a human, can survive briefly in vacuum, very difficult to mind control, odd timey-wimey powers possibly including precognition, twelve regenerations]
Power Level 6: Gods. City threat. WMD's. Crazy high powered superheroes. Giant skyscraper-sized anime mecha (50m+). Personal starships. Persons of Mass Destruction.
Notes: A company of soldiers supported by tanks and aircraft isn't a serious threat, it would probably take at least a division of 8,000 soldiers to be a threat. An appropriate rank is OF-6 to OF-9: General/Admiral. They should be able to ignore or avoid a tank’s main gun or an aircraft’s auto-cannon or bombs and they might even survive a tac-nuke in some manner. A large number of immunities to both environmental conditions and types of damage is common. They are likely to be able to survive in outer space at least briefly and possibly indefinitely. These are generally arch-villains that are intended to take on a group of powerful heroes all by themselves. This level is moving beyond the trope of a one man army where one character can wade unharmed through hundreds of well armed opponents; generally by this level they can neutralize or destroy large numbers of opponents with some effect that requires little more than a thought or wave of their hand. This level is also beyond the BFG trope for real guns that something vaguely human sized but immensely strong could hold, since even a 30mm rotary barrel auto cannon or 155mm artillery piece would likely be a downgrade from their own powers (since they can probably drop a building or battleship on their opponent, hit them with lightning or a tornado, or do something similarly effective). If they do use a weapon a killer satellite is perhaps more likely than a BFG. Sci-fi power armor at this level is essentially a personal spaceship or starship with a force field and may have nuclear or antimatter weapons, though near-magical 'floating orb' drones are as likely as armor and weapons. Massively excessive collateral damage can heavily damage a small city. In settings with 'superhero registration' this level of superhero may be allied to a government or running one, though they might be able to just flout the registration requirement if they want since they’re more powerful than a small country (however, in some settings beings of this level may be registered or restricted by other beings on a similar level to themselves or by even more powerful beings).
Warnings: Resistance or outright immunity to mind control (from beings of a lower level) is almost required to prevent their power from being usurped/controlled by someone of a lower level and in fact such resistance can be used as a key indicator of characters at this level and above. Similarly, they tend to be resistant or immune to ‘trump card’ sorts of powers from lower level beings, such as the ability to ‘steal’ or negate somebody else’s power. Because of their massive power, fictional beings of level 6+ are sometimes limited by a location or other condition where their powers are strongest (e.g. in their own city-state, or in their home dimension, or under a full moon or yellow sun) or they may have some special weakness that opponents can take advantage of (e.g. silver bullets or green meteorites). If they are going to have opponents who are lower level beings then they will require weaknesses that can be exploited by their weaker opponents in order for those conflicts to be interesting. Like all level 5+, discussions about conflicts between characters of these levels tend to break down due to the lack of objective statistics.
Examples (organizations): modern Belgium, Syria, Poland, Canada, or the entire US Marine Corps [budgets ~$2-30billion USD].
Examples (individuals): Godzilla, Mechagodzilla, Magneto, Hulk, Hela (in MCU), most Bankai (in the anime Bleach), Halo (in the webcomic Grrl Power), the Champions RPG forbids gods via 'the ban', In the anime One Punch Man the Hero Association Threat Level: Demon, Sauron in Lord of the Rings, D&D greater gods. [Loki: “I have an army.” Tony: “We have a Hulk.” Another good example of this level is the scene in the 2017 MCU movie ‘Thor: Ragnarok’, which has this exchange showcasing level 4-5 characters (Loki and Thor) trying to deal with a level 6 character (Hela), Loki: “Hit her with a lightning blast.”, Thor: “I just hit her with the biggest lightning blast in the history of lightning, it did nothing.” and presumably Hela would have increased to level 9-11 if she remained in Asgard since Thor then says: “The longer Hela is on Asgard the more powerful she grows.”]
Power Level 7: Overpowered gods. State threat or small nation National threat. The largest of WMD's or multiple WMD's. Small starships. Insanely high powered superheroes or villains designed to be a challenge for a high power team all by themselves. Munchkins & Mary-Sue’s.
Notes: The word “Overpowered” (OP) is the best way to describe this level and above. Probably has a long list of powers or different effects that they can achieve with their power, but may just have insane amounts of skill and luck that allow them to do things that shouldn’t be possible for their supposed type of being (e.g. a highly trained human or a skilled scientist who seems able to do anything). Flight is almost expected and supersonic flight or being able to exit the atmosphere wouldn’t be uncommon. Very likely to be able to survive in extreme environments like outer space or the bottom of an ocean for lengthy periods. Might be able to survive being at ground zero when a nuclear weapon detonates (perhaps by armor/force-field or energy absorption or by intangibility, teleporting, dimensional travel, time travel, super speed, stasis field, multiple bodies, climbing into a convenient lead-lined refrigerator, etc.). If they are villains that can't survive a nuke they are probably either very good at hiding, capable of self-resurrection, or spend most of their time in locations with lots of innocent civilians to help explain why they don't get bombed or tac-nuked. Also, by this level defenses like 'nuclear dampers' that prevent nuclear explosions may start to appear. Characters of this level may well be able to resurrect themselves in some manner (e.g. clone backups, nano-tech, regeneration, magic, or whatever) making them effectively immortal. By this level, many beings are moving beyond the need for physical strength due to the nature of their other powers (and perhaps beyond the need for a physical body altogether), but if they’re a physical type who is fighting hand to hand then being able to punch an opponent into outer space is a real possibility. Also by this level, the limits of the author’s understanding of the laws of physics tends to become apparent (for example, large physical objects have internal structures and cannot simply be ‘picked up’ by grabbing them anywhere, or the fact that planets are held together by gravity and not by any sort of structure). Massively excessive collateral damage can destroy cities (and they might even be able to destroy the world if they tried and there were no heroes to stop them). In settings with 'superhero registration' this level of superhero is likely to be allied to a government or running one, otherwise they are so powerful they can probably just flout the registration requirement if they want since they’re more powerful than most modern countries (however, in many settings beings of this level may be registered or restricted by other beings on a similar level to themselves such as a pantheon of gods or by even more powerful beings such as cosmic entities).
Warnings: Generally at level 7+ a character will be a plot device, an author’s pet, or someone who wants to author or GM their own Mary-Sue character for wish fulfillment. It typically isn’t worth the effort to try to discuss OC’s (original characters) of this power level or greater with other people; in particular, discussions about conflicts between characters of these OP levels tend to break down into silliness unless there is a neutral ‘referee’ and/or objective 'game mechanics'. As a result it is difficult to differentiate between power levels 7-10 and they could effectively all be grouped together into one level that could be described as overpowered but still on a planetary level. If you are planning to tell a story specifically about a character with this sort of power expect to need to do some real work to define their limitations and explain them to the audience, otherwise the audience is likely to quickly get bored with them since they can effectively do almost anything they want (the latter is essentially the reason that Mary-Sue characters with this sort of power exist, so that they can do anything they want within the defined setting which satisfies the author's desire for wish fulfillment). For beings that aren't the absolute overlord or future overlord or could-be-but-don't-want-the-job overlord of their own nation/planet there is often the story limitation that there are other powerful beings in existence (e.g. gods, time lords, cosmic entities, Q, etc.) that will take action against the character if they use their powers too directly or excessively. For example, the internal political structure of interstellar empires or conflicts between different interstellar empires often provides these sorts of limits in a sci-fi environment where starships realistically possess the ability to end nearly all life on a non-starfaring planet simply by tossing a large enough 'rock' at it at orbital velocities. Note that although most starships in a sci-fi setting are this level or above, it is uncommon in sci-fi for individual beings to possess this level of power unless they have 'transcended' physical bodies or are energy beings and such beings are almost never main characters. Beings of power level 7-10 tend to be limited to certain genres, including gods in classic heroic tales, 'comic book' superheroes, anime and manga, and the top villains of supernatural horror (especially eldrich horror). Example characters in the level 7-10 range can be difficult to place in a specific level since their powers are often poorly defined and there is often a lack of conflict with directly comparable beings to be able to adequately compare them.
Examples (organizations): modern North Korea, Japan, Germany, or the entire USA navy (including the Marine Corps but without nukes).
Examples (individuals) [of level 7-10 characters]: Thor (in the Marvel comics), Hulk (when really angry), Apocalypse (the greatest X-men villain), Ultron (in the Marvel comics), Ronan the Accuser (Marvel), High Evolutionary (Marvel), Maxima (in the webcomic Grrl Power), Alucard (in the anime Hellsing, level 0 release), Lina Inverse (in the anime Slayers), Vash the Stampede (in the anime Trigun), Aizen (in the anime Bleach), Ains Ooal Gown (in the anime Overlord), In the anime One Punch Man the Hero Association Threat Level: Dragon, Elder Eldritch Abominations (level 7-15), Squirrel Girl (a low powered Marvel character who has the author given ability to somehow win over vastly more powerful opponents as part of an ongoing joke in the Marvel universe, effectively a parody of a Mary-Sue and an example that any character can have up to level 15 power if the author is on their side).
Power Level 8: Overpowered gods II. WWII. National threat. Nowhere near extinction-level. Military starships.
Notes: The main thing that distinguishes level 8 from level 7 is that they are clearly so superior to other overpowered (OP) beings that they are on another level. By this point, abilities like faster than light travel, time travel, or matter transmutation are almost expected. They can probably avoid or survive a tac-nuke in some way or another. Their powers are likely somewhat ill defined. If their powers are given an ‘explanation’ other than just being effectively magic, the explanations given often reference very small particles (molecules, atoms, sub-atomic particles or tachyons); physics concepts like space, energy time, chaos, dimensions, entropy or quantum; or philosophical concepts like life, death or souls; possibly with some sort of royal sounding title like lord, king or emperor, or maybe a superlative like ultimate or supreme (e.g. ‘time lord’, or you could even combine multiple words, like an ‘ultimate quantum time chaos sorcerer-king’, how could that not be powerful). In settings with ‘superhero registration’ this level of superhero can just flout the registration requirement if they want and there’s probably nothing a government can do about it (however, unless they are the ultimate being of the setting they will likely be registered or restricted by other beings on a similar level to themselves or by even more powerful beings, which helps explain why beings of this level don't destroy the world/setting). In fiction, beings of this level and above are often shown or described as not being very active with their physical bodies, they don’t tend to run, exercise, or do yoga (though meditation poses may be used to help showcase the more ‘enlightened’ ones), in visual mediums they tend to casually walk or float slowly as if they’re immune to harm unless they’re in a hurry in which case they may fly quickly or teleport, if they physically fight it may seem to be nearly effortless. Massively excessive collateral damage can heavily damage whole countries.
Warnings: It is difficult to tell good stories about individuals who are at level 8+ (nations or starships are another matter). Stories will likely need to have some sort of explanation of why these characters and their conflicts don't destroy the world or reduce it to a post-apocalyptic ruin. A common literary convention in settings that don't exceed one planet is that beings of power 8-10 have either an agreement not to interfere in mortal affairs, or a pact that any who use their full powers will be immediately destroyed by a large group of others, or they have some sort of 'cold war' that prevents them from acting, or there is a level 11+ overseer who makes them 'play nice'. Conflicts between different genres or world views tends to be silly or somewhat nonsensical at levels 8+, like Superman vs. Dr. Who, or Dr. Strange vs. Dr. Manhattan, or the Starship Enterprise vs. the Archangel Michael. Note that levels 8-10 in this system have some similarity to the Torino scale that is used for things such as such as asteroids and comets, and that by the time a (hero or villain) character's potential effect on the planet needs to be rated on the Torino scale there can be serious ethical discussions about the responsibility required to wield such powers. The Examples in the level 8-10 range can be especially difficult to place in a specific level since their powers are often poorly defined and there is often a lack of conflict with directly comparable beings to be able to adequately compare them and it is difficult to have those comparable beings demonstrate their powers since you need a different planet/world for them to damage/destroy in order to even show what they’re capable of.
Examples (organizations): modern China, France, or UK; the entire human race before the atomic age, circa 1800-1945AD (based on the casualties of WWI or WWII, which were in the tens of millions each, and the fact that the world population didn't reach 1 billion till 1804), the starship Enterprise (in Star Trek).
Examples (individuals) [of level 8-10 characters]: Superman, up-powered versions of the Hulk (e.g. World-Breaker Hulk), Thanos (the greatest Avengers villain, when he's not just nigh-omnipotent due to some dingus or MacGuffin), Frieza in Dragon Ball Z (though he can destroy a planet, he is missing many perception/sensory, movement and miscellaneous powers that would characterize a more balanced level 10 being, so he’s only power level 8 or 9 overall despite having a threat level 10 offense), Saitama in One Punch Man (which also deals with some of the problems of being OP), Meklor/Morgoth in The Silmarillion.
Power Level 9: Overpowered gods III. WWIII. Continental threat. Sub extinction-level. A squadron of military starships.
Notes: By this point, abilities like faster than light travel (FTL), time travel, or multidimensional travel are basically required (from a storytelling standpoint) because they need to exist in environments that have more than one world (since the villains will likely require a different world to destroy in order to showcase their threat/powers). They can very likely survive a nuke in some way or another. By this level powers and their limits are very likely to be ill defined. They may even be able to exist at multiple locations at the same time. Massively excessive collateral damage can destroy continents.
Warnings: This level of potential collateral damage makes it difficult to tell stories about conflicts between beings of this power level, unless the story itself is about a civilization-destroying apocalypse. Conflict between individuals of this level could easily destroy the world but tends to be fairly silly and full of deus ex machina, like Q vs. Dr. Manhattan. The prospect of conflict between organizations of this level is a painful real-world threat (c.f. Cold War).
Examples (organizations): modern USA or Russia (assuming a full nuclear war does not render the Earth uninhabitable); WWIII assuming it doesn't wipe out all life on the planet.
Examples (individuals) [of level 9+ characters]: Dr. Who in the TARDIS, Dr. Manhattan (as portrayed in the beginning and middle of The Watchmen movie, where it is questionable if he could stop all incoming missiles in a full nuclear war and his retaliation ability is described as being able to destroy ‘large areas’ of the Soviet Union), Dr. Strange (I’m not exactly sure where those Doctors fit but they’re are up here somewhere at level 8+ and maybe as high as 13).
Power Level 10: Planetary threat. Extinction-level. A fleet of military starships.
Notes: At this level an individual or organization has a realistic capability of killing a significant portion of the life on a planet (at least 10%) and possibly all life on a planet. They may even have planet-killer or star-killer attacks or weapons and/or weaponized FTL or time travel. They can certainly survive a tac-nuke in some way or another and can probably deal with entire volleys of megaton nukes, possibly with just a wave of their hand. Individual beings at this power level should be able to basically just ignore attacks from anything less than Superman and be capable of rapid travel on a planetary level (e.g. supersonic flight or teleportation). In a modern setting they may be large countries with WMD like nuclear or biological weapons. In a sci-fi setting they may be energy beings or physical beings the size of a moon (e.g. the Death Star). In a supernatural setting they might be millennia-old vampires, archangels or demon lords. In a fantasy setting they might be greater gods who have enough power to destroy the entire setting if they want to. Power levels above this generally only make sense in a starfaring sci-fi setting or other settings where there are multiple inhabited worlds. Massively excessive collateral damage could destroy the entire world. Good examples are a weaponized spacial gateway or wormhole device that can create a gateway to the heart of a nearby star or other forms of weaponized faster than light travel (FTL). Individual beings of this level rarely have just one power unless it is 'magic', luck, reality warping, or time-travel (all of which can be up to level 14); even if they only have one type of power it will tend to have multiple uses for attack, defense, transportation, and miscellaneous uses. It is important to note that having the ability to destroy the world does not make a character power level 10 by itself, the character needs to have commensurate defenses and miscellaneous powers; a classic example is the president of the USA or Russia, who could theoretically launch WWIII (level 9 or 10) but is otherwise a normal human (level 1). In order to be power level 10, the president of the USA/Russia would also need to be virtually immune to mind control and 'magic' and be able to take a sucker-punch from Superman.
Warnings: The ability to destroy (or rule) the world makes it absolutely essential that an author/creator provide the reason that they don't; this generally means beings of this power will be in some sort of super/meta/godly/ascended cold war and will be conducting their conflict through politics and proxies rather than open combat. Frequently they will be under restrictions due to other beings of similar or greater power level that rival them, threaten them, or otherwise limit their actions in the setting (e.g. the 'Others' Ascended beings in Stargate SG1 or the Vorlons/Shadows of Babylon 5). It is noteworthy that almost every long-running sci-fi setting features one or more 'planet killer' weapons, from simply throwing a 'dinosaur killer' asteroid at a planet to 'planetbuster' bombs or beam weapons, to weapons that destroy a star, to weaponized FTL/wormholes/time-travel, to genetically engineered diseases or nanotech plagues, or more exotic or setting specific threats; thus these sorts of things are hardly new or novel in sci-fi. In fact, sci-fi itself can be split into two genres, similar to the difference between 'low' fantasy and 'high' fantasy, 'low' sci-fi that deals with individuals and small groups living their lives in a sci-fi setting and 'high' sci-fi that deals with nations or stellar empires.
Examples (organizations): modern USA or Russia (assuming a full nuclear war would create a 'nuclear winter' or otherwise render the Earth uninhabitable), the entire human race circa 1950-2050AD, The Death Star (in Star Wars), Starkiller Base (in Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens), The Doomsday Machine (in Star Trek: The Original Series), the pirate planet (in the Dr. Who ‘The Key to Time’ arc), the Grand Cannon (in Robotech).
Examples (individuals): Classic Superman, Silver Surfer, Odin with the Odinforce (Marvel), Mephisto (Marvel), Captain Yamamoto (in the anime Bleach), In the anime One Punch Man the Hero Association Threat Level: God.
Power Level 11: Stellar Empires. Celestials. Ravagers of Worlds.
Notes: Interstellar empires of this level control multiple star systems, at least several dozen but not enough to be a significant fraction of a galaxy (e.g. less than a billion stars or one percent of a galaxy) and are generally capable of interstellar travel (usually faster than light) but not intergalactic travel. If a story is going to be about stellar empires these could be broken down into multiple levels by size and technology; if you want to keep the logarithmic notation place a decimal point after the 11 and follow it with a number that indicates the number of digits in the number stars located within the area the civilization controls (e.g. an interstellar empire whose territory contains 500 stars would be 11.3 and one that has 5 million stars would be 11.7 and one that has around a billion stars would be a 11.10 which is the highest before moving to the next level) assuming that civilization possesses the 'average' level of technology expected for an interstellar empire of that size. Individual beings at this power level are essentially cosmic level forces. At this level and above the character may not even have a defined list of 'powers' but may be able to do anything they (or their authors) can imagine. Nuclear weapons are irrelevant to them, they can easily survive the largest volley of nukes and their own powers are so great there’s no need for them to use nukes themselves. They can easily destroy planets and may be able to destroy stars. They can probably travel to other stars at Faster Than Light (FTL) but probably not to the far side of the galaxy nor to other galaxies. However they are not omnipotent, omniscient, nor omnipresent. A key characteristic is that their vast power has a finite area of effect, they might be able to simultaneously destroy multiple solar systems or teleport planets to orbit another star but they cannot destroy an entire galaxy at once. They are also typically limited to one finite location of less than galactic size, rather than being omnipresent, and their awareness is limited to a specific area at any given time, rather than being omniscient. Names will often tend toward astronomical items or events, to help highlight their celestial levels of power.
Warnings: At this level the author starts needing to consider that actions may be astronomically observable. If something that could destroy stars or teleport black holes really existed elsewhere in the galaxy and was used frequently then it could be observed by astronomers on Earth. This problem cannot easily be solved by the standard ‘coverup’ and conspiracy sorts of explanations, since a cosmic level coverup would require a level 11-14 power just to do the coverup and has serious epistemological philosophical implications, since if there exists something capable of deceiving others on a galactic or universal scale then what can possibly be known (see Descart’s demon theory).
Examples (organizations): In Star Trek, the Federation as well as the Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, Ferengi, etc., even the Organians. Kardashev scale 1+.
Examples (individuals): Galactus (Marvel’s famous eater of worlds), Darkseid (DC), The Celestials (Marvel beings that manifest as 2000ft tall armored shells possessing untold cosmic power, one is a fight for Galactus and three can beat him or Odin and all of the Asgardians in the Destroyer construct that Odin built specifically to try to fight them), reality warpers whose area of effect can include an entire planetary system.
Power Level 12: Galactic empires. Lower powered cosmic beings.
Notes: Galactic or intergalactic empires at this level control at least a significant fraction of one galaxy (at least a couple billion stars or several percent of a galaxy) up to multiple galaxies (up to millions) and are generally capable of at least intergalactic if not universal travel. If a story is going to be about galactic empires these could be broken down into multiple levels by size and technology; if you want to keep the logarithmic notation place a decimal point after the 12 and follow it with a number that indicates the number of digits in the number galaxies the civilization controls (e.g. an intergalactic empire whose territory contains 50 galaxies would be 12.2 and one that has 50 million galaxies would be 12.8 and one that has around a billion galaxies would be a 12.10 which is the highest before moving to the next level) assuming that civilization possesses the 'average' level of technology expected for an interstellar empire of that size. Generally at this power level the concept of an individual being starts to break down so ‘beings’ of this level may be galactic empires or vast hive-minds or collectives (often portrayed as partially or totally mechanical or non-organic). Individual beings at this power level are essentially cosmic level forces. Often characters, collectives, or empires of this level will tend to be used by authors to stand for some concept or idea. At these sorts of power levels, uses of their full power would tend to be astronomically observable in the real world (e.g. galaxies don’t just disappear or appear). FTL travel on a galactic scale is expected but not to the entire universe. Authors need to deal with why an entity of this level would even be interested in the events occurring on some particular planet or why it has an individual finite form that can interact with other characters. Names start to move away from astronomical themes and start to become arbitrary or abstract. The potential collateral damage when beings (or stellar empires) of this level fight could destroy a significant part of a galaxy, or perhaps merely all life on all inhabited planets in it.
Warnings: By this level, the idea of centering a continuing story on one planet and/or one species or one small group of characters is silly and requires the audience to suspend disbelief (e.g. almost all of the events of significance in the Federation occur near the starship Enterprise or the Deep Space Nine station).
Examples (organizations): The Borg and the Dominion (in Star Trek), The Federation/Klingon/Romulan alliance against the Dominion (in Star Trek, circa 2370AD), The Galactic Republic/Empire (in Star Wars), the Ori (in Stargate SG-1), the Cybermen or Daleks or Time Lords (in Dr. Who) at the height of their empires (and their Time War was a level 13-14 event).
Examples (individuals): Dormammu in his home dimension (Dr. Strange’s arch-nemesis), Beerus and Whis in the Dragon Ball series, reality warpers whose area of effect can include a significant part of a galaxy up to an entire galaxy.
Power Level 13: Universal empires. Cosmic genies. Overpowered comic entities. Universal-level Munchkins & Mary-Sue’s as well as Magic Pencil*** beings [***the author of a story or GM of a RPG has a ‘magic pencil’ to just create whatever they want].
Notes: Intergalactic empires at this level control enough galaxies to be a significant fraction of the universe (or multi-verse), or at least a few billion galaxies and are generally capable of universal travel. So while a level 12 galactic or intergalactic empire would certainly be mentioned in an encyclopedia about that galaxy or group or galaxies, it might be too insignificant to mention in an encyclopedia about the universe or receive little more than a footnote, whereas a level 13 empire would be mentioned in the first few pages of an encyclopedia of the universe. If a story is going to be about universal empires these could be broken down into multiple levels by size but they would all need to possess fairly similar technology or one would have dominated, so by this point technological development is probably stagnant and limited by the laws of physics, having reached the ultimate level of what is possible (note that this may well turn out to happen at less than level 13 in the real world, for instance if faster than light travel turns out to be impossible or impractical at any technology level then even the greatest interstellar empires will be level 11 entities). In stories with time travel, by this level travel back to the beginnings of a planet, galaxy or the beginning of the universe allows such time travelers effectively unlimited power, but such stories tend to devolve into time/continuity police or temporal cold wars where various powers are fighting to preserve their own time lines. Individual characters of this level require a reader’s suspension of disbelief because essentially everything these beings can do is deus ex machina. By this level an entity can do effectively whatever they want so a list of 'powers' is not even needed. Their physical form, if they even have one, is typically just for decoration, it doesn’t really need to do anything in order to make things happen in the universe, they just happen. They might be able to warp reality in any way they desire over a finite scale, or to make a finite change across the entire universe. FTL travel on a universal scale is expected. The only things they don’t have are omnipotence (their power is still finite in some way and is less than the totality of the universe), omnipresence (they still exist in some finite location or set of locations), immunity to causality (cause and effect), and the ability to change the ‘rules’ of the universe itself (depending on the setting these rules may be the laws of physics or some rules that the author has established, such as anyone who holds the MacGuffin of Infinite Power is omnipotent). Their powers are essentially ‘magic’ but depending on the author or setting they may be attributed to a scientific or pseudo-scientific theory the author doesn’t really understand or to an abstract concept like love or death. Typical abilities include things like instant universal teleportation, universal range clairvoyance, and true immortality (cannot die or be killed). Within a given genre and fictional universe there may be different levels of these beings, but there’s no real way to compare them across genres or universes. The potential collateral damage when beings of this level fight could destroy the universe.
Warnings: Similar to level 7+ characters, an individual character at level 13+ will certainly be a plot device or someone who wants to GM their own Mary-Sue character (a clear author insert as a nigh omnipotent being within their own universe). In fact, level 13-15 is to the universe as level 7-10 is to a planet. Level 13+ storytelling is generally fairly silly and tends to occur when an author (typically a comic book) wants to give heroes and villains (particularly the OP level 7-11 ones) a bigger 'stage' and replaces the planet with 'the universe' (or multi-verse). It definitely isn’t worth the effort to try to discuss OC’s (original characters) of this power level or greater with other people, it will almost always devolve into a level 15 discussion of who the author is. Trying to tell stories at the universal level really requires a different mindset than stories about what occurs on a single planet or within a single galaxy and in my opinion really should be avoided unless the author has a pretty good grasp of astronomical concepts like relativity and is ready to deal with advanced sci-fi concepts like technological stagnation at the maximum possible level.
Examples: Parallel universes that are dominated by a single universal empire, Q (in Star Trek), Mister Mxyzptlk (DC), Franklin Richards (Marvel reality warper), Scarlet Witch (Marvel reality warper who eventually has universal scope regarding ‘mutant powers’), Cosmic Beings in the Marvel Universe (such as Death, Eternity, and the Phoenix Force), gods of magic that can change the way magic works across the entire setting (e.g. the Scarlet Witch removing most mutants’ powers in the Marvel setting), reality warpers whose area of effect includes multiple galaxies and possibly the entire universe or multiverse.
Power Level 14: The universal genie and/or Philosophy, Religion, and Metaphysics.
Notes: Even attempting to tell stories on this level is inherently a spiritual, religious, and philosophical endeavor. At this power level concepts like time and causality break down and we’ve left the realm of any sort of meaningful conflict (and any sort of ‘realism’) and entered the realm of philosophy and religion. One way this can be dealt with in a story or RPG is to pick an abstract idea like ‘creation’, ‘order’ or ‘destruction’ and say that all actions within the universe that are tangible reflections of that abstract idea are just parts or manifestations of something greater (without making that greater thing an individual entity that communicates in any direct manner with sentient entities). Less philosophically inclined authors tend to just portray this/these being(s) as some sort of ultimate cosmic genie – the universal genie. The concept of an individual entity (that was born on a particular planet in a particular time) with the ability to change, remake or destroy the entire universe is inherently silly, not only is it centering the entire universe on this one place/time but also if it were even possible for something within the universe to destroy it, then it probably would have already been destroyed eons ago or certainly will be at some time in the future. Stories involving beings of this power level are generally structured to present a mortal entity somehow gaining near infinite power by some deus ex machina (typically a MacGuffin), this is partially so that the audience can relate to what is going on and partially so the author doesn’t have to deal with all the implications of the level of maturity and enlightenment that an entity on this level should have developed over untold millennia of existence. This sort of storyline introduces some logical and philosophical problems with positing (proposing/suggesting) that the universe can be destroyed by something that originated within it, not to mention the question about why some omnipotent entity would create a MacGuffin that grants omnipotence to a finite entity which seems quite silly and requires a significant philosophical willing suspension of disbelief. The weakness of such mortal entities that have become omnipotent is their lack of experience, enlightenment, and philosophical consistency, as well as the fact that if infinite power can destroy the universe it can also restore it, making the idea of ‘destroying’ the universe essentially meaningless. Such ‘omnipotent’ beings are also vulnerable to further deus ex machina by the author (e.g. some even more powerful entity simply depowers them or erases them from existence). Fictional ‘entities’ of this level generally exist to either to provide the ultimate villain possible or to be an ‘in-story’ explanation for a reset in a shared continuous universe in order to provide readers with some sense of explanation for the reset and a sort of continuity across the reset.
Warnings: Note: In my opinion, authors, RPG players, and GM’s who are less than 200 years old and don’t have multiple PhD’s in Philosophy and comparative Religion shouldn’t attempt to tell stories about millennia old entities of this power level and especially shouldn’t try to roleplay them or give them speaking parts in a story, while stories about MacGuffins that grant nigh omnipotence require a willing suspension of disbelief.
Examples: The Infinity Gauntlet or Cosmic Cube or Reality Gem (in Marvel), the Key to Time (in Dr. Who), the dodecahedron of universal domination, or any other cosmic bauble, dingus, or MacGuffin that grants ‘infinite’ power (but does not allow its wielder to change the ‘rules’ of the setting/universe that the author has set), the philosopher Descarts’ proposed evil demon/genie who can delude all beings in the universe about the nature of external reality, Hell itself or any other dimension whose nature is semi-philosophical to wholly philosophical except for one that is associated with God (capital G, see level 16).
Power Level 15: The author or gamemaster (GM), a being with essentially infinite power within their own fictional ‘multiverse’ or head world, including the ability to change the ‘rules’ of that multiverse. The creator of all deus ex machina in that multiverse.
Notes: The key characteristic of this level is that it is still admittedly fiction whereas the next level purports to be non-fiction. The author actually invoking their ‘infinite’ power within their own multiverse tends to quickly lead to inconsistencies with real world physics and often philosophical inconsistencies or logical errors. There is no way to ‘beat’ them in their own ‘universe’ but their ‘enemies’ (who could be called ‘critics’ or ‘philosophers’) will settle for pointing out their inconsistencies or logical errors. A typical example of that would be an author or GM saying that some near omnipotent being was destroying whole galaxies, making them ‘disappear’ from the night sky and a more technically oriented reader or player pointing out that those galaxies would have needed to have been destroyed billions of years ago since their light that is reaching us now is billions of years old. Conflict at this level takes place in the ‘real’ world through real world legal maneuvers like copyrights, lawsuits, and establishing a majority share in the publishing company, or through real world ‘game table’ events like players walking out of a role playing game (RPG), or through real world violence like religious jihads.
Warnings: Note that in a RPG the gamemaster’s omnipotence ends where the real-world players’ free will (and/or legal rights) begin, the GM can take control of a character’s actions in the game but they can’t actually force the players to play the game or make them portray their own characters in any particular way. An example of a RPG conflict at this level would be a player telling the GM that they are leaving the game and that the GM does not have their permission to further use their intellectual property, including their character (this essentially forces the GM to either have that character simply disappear in a puff of logic or be ret-coned into a similar but sufficiently different character that is then portrayed by the GM, or some similar solution).
Power Level 16: The Will of God with a capital G -- the Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent Deity of all possible realities.
Notes: An author can try to claim this level of power but if they’re serious then they’re claiming to actually be God (with a capital G) or his, hers, or its prophet and that their stories are not works of fiction but rather their own holy work or ‘bible’. Authors/prophets/kooks making this claim should be ignored unless they have a completely consistent philosophy and/or can clearly demonstrate real world miracles, or somebody wants to have ‘faith’ in them. There is no conflict at this level, nor can there be, since this is the real world God and is eternal and immune to causality; though there is plenty of conflict among lower level beings about the true nature of this level. Atheists will argue that this level does not exist, or perhaps is the laws of logic or physics. Agnostics may argue that this is some abstract concept like ‘love’ or is inherently unknowable to finite beings. Theists will argue for their own particular view of this being, though it seems logically impossible for all of them to be correct so some of the theists must surely be incorrect. Trying to claim that multiple different groups of theists with seemingly conflicting views are all somehow correct implies the agnostic view that God is somehow unknowable to finite beings.
Warnings: Discussions about this level among people of different beliefs tend to lead to real world conflicts.
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The quick answer to your question is yes, you could apply the word 'god' (small g) to any power level from 5 to 15 and the reason for the 'power level' categories is to try to differentiate between different power levels of 'gods'.
The nicknames that I used for each of the 'power levels', like demigods, gods, celestials, and cosmic genies are somewhat arbitrary. I tried to pick words that gave a quick general impression of that power level and I am open to suggestions for other words that better describe the level. However words like 'demigod' and 'god' (in the sense of powerful beings that are not omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent) are not very precise and that's the reason for the paragraph of explanation for each power level.
Since I am trying to make my own sci-fi, I like to use your list as a guide to help me on character and world-building if you don't mind.