Monster Rankings

Similarly to Superhuman levels, Monsters are split up between ranks. The higher the rank the more danger said monster poses to humans, superhumans, and other monsters alike.

Another word of importance is **class** or **classes** which is used interchangeably with the word rank or ranks. Classes denote the classification of a monster by its strength in comparison to other monsters. While **rank** is the danger rating HERO gives to missions or **hunts** involving monsters. Meaning if a superhuman was assigned a C rank hunt they'd hunt a Class C monster.

In the event an additional monster appears during a hunt of another monster the rank of said hunt will increase.

**F Rank**: The weakest of all the monsters, an ordinary male human could potentially overwhelm this rank of monster. They are still able to kill a superhuman though if given the chance but are typically no more threat than a person charging a superhuman with a knife. Something to note is they are referred to as a 'human level' threat.

**E Rank**:: Another weak ranking of monster and can typically be killed by a human with a gun. Level 1 superhumans should be able to kill these rank of monster by themselves

**D Rank**: This is where things start to get dangerous as D rank monsters are vicious bastards that live to hunt and kill. An armed squad of humans most likely would be unable to take one down, and a level 1 superhuman on their own would experience trouble. Typically HERO will assign a duo of Level 1s to combat a D rank threat for maximum safety of their operatives in the field.

**C Rank**: This is an extremely dangerous rank for regular humans because even if an entire army fought it they'd still be hard press to take even one down. It requires a level 2 or higher superhuman to match one C rank monster and typically HERO likes to send a single level one as backup just in case.

**B Rank**: This rank of monster is currently unbeatable with humanity's current level of technology even with using tanks, helicopters, or fighter jets. HERO sends Level 3s to combat this rank.

**A Rank**: This rank of monster has been denoted as a threat to an entire sector and if left unchecked, countless humans, hundreds of thousands more, will die. There is nothing any human can do against this rank of monster. No amount of preparation they could arrange. Even anti-monster weaponry HERO is developing would be useless against them. Only Level 4s and 5s are used by HERO to combat this rank of monster.

**S Rank**: This rank of monster is one that no superhuman better hope to run into. These ranked monsters are recognized as 'Special Threats' and given the rank and class of S. These monsters are not like others of their kind. Most monsters have their own specific species, with a danger rating that broadly applies across said species but with these 'Special Threats' or S class monsters, are aberrations, even among their own kind. They could be uniquely mutated D rank that somehow gained an incredible power. Or they could be an A rank, who was simply born bigger and stronger than their brethren. Only level 5s are capable of defeating them, the rest shouldn't even try.

Their energy levels are more varied compared to the lower ranks, the gap in power between some being quite wide, but each and everyone of them far surpasses even the strongest A ranked monster.

H.E.R.O. has only ever killed ten. Four by Bernhardt, two by Malik, the other captains and Henri have each killed one

**Ranks beyond S**: If any rank is found beyond S...then in the words of the teacher "We're all fucked"

**Plus and Minus**: Plus and minus ranked monsters are a step above or below the usual ranking. For example a C+ class monster is generally only as powerful as others in class C, but possesses potential to be as dangerous as B class. This typically occurs because of a special ability that makes them dangerous, even if their raw power generally isn't up to par with B rank.

Similarly, a minus means a type of monster that has the energy levels of others with the same class, but with fighting ability or habits that can often lead to a fairly easy fight for its tier.

Something noteworthy is that there are no S+ or S- ranked monsters as they are quite rarer in comparison to any other monster so they determine their response to class S by investigating them first and then tailoring a response specific to them, rather than just considering their rank.