Editing Goblin (section)

===Puissance===
Goblins inherently defy and despise [[classification]]; classifying them by power level tends to encourage them to increase (or occasionally decrease) in power to change their classification. Nevertheless this is commonly practiced.<ref name=":0">Goblin, third class, which put her between lesser and middle tiers.  The problem was that goblins despised and defied boundaries and convention, and trying to apply one saw a given goblin slip into a tier above or even a tier below.  They came in all shapes and sizes, humanoid and not, and as Deedee went, she was a beauty among goblinkind and she was a beauty to him. - Excerpt from [[Poke 2]]</ref> Their names offer a clue to their "power level", with more powerful goblins adopting more dramatic names.<ref name=":3" /> Size also correlates with a goblin's power.<ref>[Goblins] don’t have courts, but there are a few ways of categorising them.  There’s size, apparently.  It seems like, mostly, the bigger the goblin, the more respect and power it has. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/08 5.2 Bonus: Faerie & Goblins]</ref><ref>The little goblin hurried to get out of the way, but he was small and Bumcake was big and bigger was better for most things goblin-wise.   - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/24 Excerpt] from [[Back Away 5.d]]</ref> 

Minor goblins (such as the various goblins allowed to roam [[Jacob's Bell]], like [[Buttsack]]<ref>The Faerie were active, the goblins allowed to run rampant so long as they were ''minor'' goblins. [...] She hadn’t been able to help everyone that ''Buttsack'' had hurt or plotted against, and even though he was the most malicious and capable goblin she’d run into since she’d arrived in Jacob’s Bell, he was still a minor goblin.  Resourceful, but minor. - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/07/12 Excerpt] from [[Signature 8.2]]</ref> and Arsepint<ref>He didn’t expect me to call Arsepint back, and have the lesser goblin bring me the dropped firearm. - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/01/14 Excerpt] from [[1.x (Pages 1)]]</ref>) are largely humanoid in shape; and often have tools like corkscrews and forks that are tainted with filth and feces.<ref name=":0" /> Lesser goblins are the ones who have amusing rude names;<ref name=":3">Wilbdow: At a higher tier they lose the sweary/rude nickname convention and take on other names.  That's mid-tier.  At highest tier they start getting prefixes and affixes.<br>Aantioch: Yeah, we saw goblins that were more serious business like, uhh<br>Aantioch: Remember that one other goblin king dude? Hal, I think?<br>Aantioch: He had a non-rude goblin<br>Wilbdow: Spikedick, yeah<br>Wilbdow: (was the practitioner)<br>Wilbdow: Dragon-bat and hyena are mid-tier, as was Spikedick's, I believe.  His might've been more toward high-tier. [...]  That's where you definitely get into the 'better left unsummoned' part of things - [https://www.irccloud.com/pastebin/yUiEI9eh/Goblin%20progression Wildbow on IRC]</ref> some lesser goblins have no names at all.<ref>“Little one, you have a name?  I didn’t hear it.”<br><br>The little goblin hesitated, then shook his head.  - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/24 Excerpt] from [[Back Away 5.d]]</ref><ref>The tiny goblin nodded.  It had no nose, only two oval nostrils that might have been larger than its eyes, which were black and spaced too far apart.  It had a beak rather than a mouth, too small, too stubby, too low on its round head, and set off center from the rest of its face, jutting out a bit from the folds beneath the weird nose.<br><br>It stuck one long finger into its large nostril, dug around, and then drew a line of snot onto her leg.  It barely seemed to care that she was watching it.<br><br>“Hey dude,” she told it.  “Got a name?”<br><br>It shook its head.<br><br>“Want one?”<br><br>It shook its head.  It drew another line of snot. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/10 Excerpt] from [[Back Away 5.3]]</ref><ref>The goblin managed to get its arm out of its mouth, pointed teeth raking flesh.  Flecks of blood flew from her mouth as she screamed, “Name me!"<br><br>“Earn it!”<br>[...]<br>Huffing for breath, Deedee looked up.  “Ben, this is Sir Turdswallow and some nameless twist.  My gang.”<br>[...]<br>“Ha Bin,” the nameless goblin managed, with the mouth situation it had going on.  She turned back to Deedee.  “Nam meh!” - [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bPsZs1iPqHAcsJr4N7UgW-W7Ne4OCTtUjfvcxIoBmdI/edit#heading=h.7onrtmkk8mas Excerpt] from [[Poke 3]]</ref> 

[[Deedee]] is considered a "goblin, third class", between the lesser and middle tiers.<ref name=":0" /> 

[[The Hyena]] is a mid-tier goblin.<ref>“Today, I’ve got to deal with this goblin called the Hyena.”

[...]

“I don’t think your chances would be that much worse going up against the Lord of Toronto on your own,” the son said.

“They’d be a great deal worse,” the fat guy by the window said.  “The Lord is an Incarnation, and the goblin is still a mid-tier goblin.  Mid-tier or not, it’s still a bad idea to go up against the Hyena.” - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/03/29/collateral-4-10/ excerpt] from [[Collateral 4.10]]</ref><ref>Blake, though, had something related to goblins, something that wasn’t small?  A <em>moderate</em> goblin? - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/07/12 Excerpt] from [[Signature 8.2]]</ref><ref name=":1">“Gerhild.  Redcap Queen [...]  Used to be a goblin queen, just like you, but she stopped being so human and started being more goblin a bit ago.  Enjoys being both practitioner and goblin at the same time.  [...] she’s a goblin queen, with a small herd of redcaps, and she’s got three of the big ones with her.<br>[...]<br>“Do you know the Hyena?  From Toronto?  [...] it was described to me as being middle tier,” Mags said.  “Was that off base, or-”<br><br>“Middle tier’s right,” the nameless goblin said.  “An’ these ones, the three, they’re bigger, better, meaner, fuckier.  So I guess they’re upper tier.”  - [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bPsZs1iPqHAcsJr4N7UgW-W7Ne4OCTtUjfvcxIoBmdI/edit#heading=h.7onrtmkk8mas Excerpt] from [[Poke 3]]</ref> [[Gallowscream]]'s goblin weapons, themselves moderate Goblins on a par with the Hyena in Blake's estimation, hint at some other abilities a mid-tier goblin might have - one was able to cause anyone struck by it to explode into gore, another to cause decaying cuts in objects that birthed small goblins.<ref>[[Execution 13.8]]</ref> Mid-tier goblins generally shed their "sweary" names and take on more dramatic ones,<ref name=":3" /> usually after a transformative event.<ref>Olivebirdy: Do goblins choose their own names? Do they change as the goblin grows?<br>Does the Hyena have a silly name like Dogdipper?<br>You kinda think that if Buttsack had gotten big and strong enough, he'd stop being Buttsack and start being Hindbag the Ripper.<br>Wildbow: Generally requires a transformative event.  Whether they choose their own name or not depends on the circumstance and the goblin - [https://www.irccloud.com/pastebin/fH7Jgtu0/ Wildbow on IRC]</ref>

Gallowscream itself is considered a medium or greater goblin, as was the [[Goblin Dragon]] Blake encountered in the Drains.<ref name=":3" /><ref>[[Null 9.5]]</ref>

[[Gerhild]]'s three chief minions were themselves considered upper-tier goblins, and presumably she would be as well.<ref name=":1" /> [[Rackspatter]] of the Nine Thousand Scalps was considered a superior goblin. Binding a superior goblin required special techniques, which [[Maggie Holt]] traded away her ability to swear in order to learn.<ref name="LAsh">“I traded the harshest part of my tongue to a goblin for information on how to bind superior goblins.  I, uh… that’s pretty much the whole story.”<br><br>“Ah.”<br><br>“I don’t suppose you know where there are any superior goblins?” she asked.<br><br>“I’d be betraying my guests if I directed a practitioner their way.”<br><br>“Goes against the whole point, huh?”<br><br>“Yes.  In theory, I ''could'' point you to a certain individual who betrayed my rules, Rackspatter of the Nine Thousand Scalps, but I wouldn’t be doing you a service.  For one thing, he can’t be bound.  If I remember right, ninety-nine of his nine thousand scalps are from practitioners that tried and failed.  It’s like the rule of three, reinforced thirty three times over.  At this point, it’s a foregone conclusion.  You’d be the hundredth.”<br>[...]<br>“''Damn it.''  So the goblin I dealt with got my curse words, letting him give people tongue lashings that ''hurt'', but I’m gonna have to wait.”- [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/07/24 Excerpt] from [[Signature 8.7]]</ref> A greater goblin might be comparable in power to a minor [[Deities|Deity]] or major [[Incarnation]].<ref>That much power that fast has to come from somewhere, and then be given form as a ritual by someone or something.  A strong incarnation, a lesser god, a great Goblin.  If it had appeared in the last month, I might think it had something to do with the current state of the Carmine Beast.  That could be a big enough power source… ''perhaps''.  [...] There are things that have that kind of power, like gods and strong incarnations, but I’m not aware of anything that strong that could have any connection to the Choir, and I’ve done some extensive searching. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/07/18 Excerpt] from [[Out on a Limb 3.2]]</ref> Greater goblins generally acquire dramatic titles in addition to their names.<ref name=":3" />