The rankings of superhumans predates the existence of superhumans on the planet. Ever since humanity first started to dream of the powerful heroes that would one day become reality, there have been rankings. The first comics of Superman and Batman quickly saw fans of the two heroes argue over who would win in a fight. It's this same question that gave rise to formal rankings of superhumans in the years during and after WWII. Initially such rankings had a much more practical combat purpose than arguments over Superman and Batman.
The ranking system is not an exact science. While it is well-known that some superhumans are stronger than others, measuring the differences is a high challenge indeed. The ranking system was created in order to classify threats during the era during and immediately following WWII, when commanders needed to be able to accurately judge the capabilities of super soldiers on both sides of a conflict. For this reason, rankings are primarily decided for and by combat encounters. There is a well-known experiment conducted during the late 1990s in which a scientist measured the max amount of energy outputted by two heroes, one an A-ranked crime-fighter and the other an E-ranked botanist. The total energy of the E-ranked superhuman was several orders of magnitude greater than the A-ranked hero could match, even at max power. This has led many to question the validity of focusing on combat rankings. However, due to the publicity and appeal of clashes between superheroes and supervillains, there has been no real push to classify superhumans by any other ranking system.
There is also some controversy regarding the ranking of some capable heroes such as
Snowy Owl. Though the Owl has yet to demonstrate more than a modest level of personal superhuman capabilities (some would say only a peak human level, nothing superhuman at all), her combat ability is greatly augmented by the various devices that she employs in order to fight crime. While detractors argue that this should afford her a rank lower than S, proponents counter that she has shown the capability of neutralizing threats that would have earned her a SS-rank if she were using personal powers rather than devices, and point to heroes such as
Barricade, whose powers are dependent on battle suits and yet who face none of the same questioning.
During WWII power rankings were developed by military intelligence agencies as a way of classifying the threats on a battlefield. After the war rankings continued to be maintained as part of Cold War intelligence efforts. The responsibility eventually passed to the CIA once it was formed. After the formation of the
SIB in response to the rise of domestic born superhuman activity, primary responsibility for the maintenance of power rankings passed to that bureau. Initially classified, the rankings of non-military superhumans would eventually be declassified as part of an effort to enable coordination and cooperation between law enforcement and the superheroes who had begun to work to protect the streets of America.
Rankings of military super soldiers, both of the US, her allies, and of other foreign nations, remain classified intel, as do the call-signs, names, powers, and appearances of most super soldiers. There are a few exceptions made for very high-profile super soldiers.
Rankings
The ranking categories are shown below. The lower classification are weaker in power level, and then each step up the table represents a significant increase in combat ability, with an O-class individual being capable of destroying a planet.
| O-Class: Omega Classification. Capable of destroying the entire planet. |
| SSS-Class: Three Sigma Classification. Combat ability exceeding that of Minuteman in his prime by at least an order of magnitude. |
| SS-Class: Two Sigma Classification. Combat ability on the order of magnitude of an entire developed nation's combined military forces. |
| S-Class: Sigma Classification. Combat ability approaching that of an army. |
| A-Class: Alpha Classification. Approximate combat ability on the order of a platoon of tanks. |
| B-Class: Beta Classification. Approximate combat ability on the order of magnitude of a tank. |
| G-Class: Gamma Classification. Combat level equivalent to a small platoon of normal soldiers. |
| D-class: Delta Classification. Special Forces combat level. |
| E-class: Epsilon Classification. Slight combat advantage. |
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