God tier



The God Tiers are a series of the highest levels of power available to players of Sburb. Achieving God Tier status provides the beneficiary with godlike power in their respective element. To reach the God Tiers, one is required to access the Quest Bed (or Quest Cocoon) located on their planet (or at the center of Prospit or Derse's moon) and die while lying upon it, a process apparently referred to as taking a "legendary nap;" the specific cause of death does not appear to be important. It is unknown whether a player absolutely has to have gained all the levels (all of them) of their Echeladder before proceeding with the ascension - both John and Vriska had fulfilled this alleged requirement, and Jade, having successfully bred the Genesis Frog just before her death, likely was as well. It is possible that Dave has as well, merely by the fact that he was in the Medium for much longer than the other kids (in a relative, Weird Time Shit sense).

After attaining God Tier status, the player then begins to level up further, though the increase in power to a person already called a god is likely redundant. John and Jade, as well as Dave and Rose, have all levelled up after attaining their God Tier. It is unknown how far Vriska got into her levels (likely all of them), and whether Aradia increased in level as well. As shown by the HS 6192 (levelling up of John and Jade), normal stats still increase in the God Tiers. However, instead of Boondollars (because that shit is for babies), the player in question receives HS 6194 (ACHIEVEMENT BADGES for their KIDDIE CAMPER HANDYSASH).

The process


Players ascend to God Tier in one of two ways. John, Jade and Vriska all ascend by dying - as their original selves - on the Quest Bed of their planet, causing their Dream Self to appear on a corresponding Skaian Quest Bed and subsequently ascend. During this process, both Jade and John were visited and enshrouded by a totem creature of their Planet - John by Fireflies and Jade by Hummingbirds. The second method of ascension involves another set of Quest Beds hidden deep within the centre, or 'Crypt,' of each kingdom's moon. When a Dreamself has taken on the role of a dead player, dying on this bed causes the Dreamself to resurrect as a God Tier player. In both cases, it is the Dreamself that becomes the God Tier character, and the original player is dead before ascension occurs. Aradia's quest bed was in the crypt of Derse itself, rather than its moon. Andrew Hussie has stated that since she was dead to start with, her Dreamself didn't "belong" with the living players on the moon, and was sequestered in the planet. This is also why the moon of Derse only had five towers. Another unusual aspect of her ascension is that a separate instance of herself existed as Aradiasprite. During her ascension Aradiasprite was merged into her new God Tier self, leaving her Soulbot empty, causing it to explode.

This unusual aspect also applies to Jade, who resurrected her dreamself as Jadesprite, making her ascension somewhat unusual as well. Jade was already labeled "dead" before being put on her Quest Bed, challenging the current assumption that the moment of death must take place on the Quest Bed. John and Vriska's dreamselves were transported from Prospit to a corresponding Quest Bed on Skaia, where they ascended, while Jade's dreamself, in the form of Jadesprite, was already on Skaia.

It can be noted that all Prospit dreamers reaching God Tier have used the quest bed on their planet, while all Derse dreamers have used the quest bed in the core of Derse or it's moon. It is not known if the distinction between Derse and Prospit ascensions is significant. "Crypt-beds" have only been depicted in Derse and its moon, so the second method may only be available - or recommended - for Derse dreamers. Andrew has, however, implied that both methods can be used by dreamers of either kingdom.

According to what the Trolls believe, the process required to ascend is a test issued by Sburb to see if the player in question is willing to face their own oblivion to obtain greater power. In the course of the sessions seen, six characters have ascended and none of them have done so unequivocally willingly; Dave and Terezi even explicitly denied the ability to face their own deaths. John Egbert was killed by Jack Noir and Jade Harley by Courtyard Droll's shaving-cream bomb, but other characters arranged their transportation to their quest beds. Vriska Serket chose to die in her Quest Cocoon only after she was beaten half to death by Aradia. Aradia Megido's dream self was sleeping in her Quest Cocoon at the heart of Derse when she was killed by Jack Noir's Green Sun powers. Likewise Dave Strider and Rose Lalonde died in the wake of their creation of the Green Sun, though they did not make any attempt to escape the explosion and had previously accepted this task as a suicide mission. After the death of the main self triggers the process, their consciousness will merge permanently into the body of the dream self, and the new form will be given a significant power increase. Accompanying the ascension is a new hooded outfit for the newly-ascended god -- a godhood, as it were. A player's title affects the general design of the god tier hoodie, based on a vaguely medieval motif, while the color is determined by the symbol of their aspect. For no given reason, the player's choice of eyewear is also included in the outfit, even if just an accessory (such as Dave's shades). Whether a player who needed corrective lenses still has impaired vision after ascending isn't clear - Vriska was upset at losing her glasses, but didn't seem to need them.

Powers and abilities
The key aspect of the power of God Tier players relates to their mythological aspect: the level of power they exert over is significantly enhanced to the point of near-complete control. John, the Heir of Breath, has shown that he can manipulate the breeze at levels both fine enough to fly a car around and strong enough to create a massive tornado powerful enough to drill cleanly through The Battlefield. Vriska, the Thief of Light, is capable of commanding fortune, an ability said by Terezi Pyrope to only be accessible and controllable to those who have full mastery over the power of light. Shortly after her ascension, Aradia, the Maid of Time, immediately demonstrated her level of power over time by freezing the rampaging Jack Noir (who possessed a godlike power) completely of her own accord without the aid of any time-controlling items. Jade as the Witch of Space can shrink entire planets into her playthings with no external tools whatsoever, a power she did not have as her main self and which her Bec-prototyped dreamself seemed unable to use to this extent, manifesting her role as Hero of Space- only through making glasses that could see every part of space and breeding the Genesis Frog. Absolutely no specific training seems to be necessary to access the full extent of their power even immediately after ascending.

Players who achieve God Tier are immortal, and after completing a session, would live in the newly created universe as literal gods. They can be killed, but the death must either be "heroic" or "just." A heroic death requires that they fall while opposing a corrupt adversary or through a noble self-sacrifice for the greater good. A just death requires that they deserved to be killed, either through becoming corrupted and being slain by a hero, or else through causing HS 5735 (something terrible). keeps a grandfather clock, with a pendulum ticking between "heroic" and "just" halves of the clock, while displaying the symbol of the player in question. It is unclear if the clock simply displays the outcome or if it has deeper ties to the resurrection of God Tier players. Vriska Serket is so far the only God Tier player that has died a permanent death when she was stabbed by Terezi to prevent her from accidentally tipping off Jack Noir to the trolls' location and killing them; according to the clock, Vriska's death was just. However, some theories state that she died simply because the clock was destroyed by Spades Slick, and the "just" judgement given by the clock was merely because of the direction it was leaning when it was broken.

God Tier players appear to be able to dreamshare at will. Vriska was able to enter and interfere with the nightmares of the Wayward Vagabond, and Aradia demonstrated mastery of dream bubbles in her conferences with Tavros, Kanaya, and Jade.

The physical result of ascension to the God Tiers has ties to the cultural image of perfection and the perception of what godhood should be like for the species in question. Since troll biology is largely based on insect-like metamorphosis, fairies are often seen as an (imaginary) ideal, as a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. Consequently the God Tier trolls gain butterfly wings. Mindfang's journal HS 5658 (mentions) that Tavros' Ancestor, The Summoner revealed wings similar to the ones trolls receive upon ascending to God Tier status, most likely due to him being the Page of Breath from the HS 5953 (failed session). Humans have no real cultural equivalent to the trolls' wing ideals, and so instead merely get rad clothes. Jade, however, retains the animal ears of Jadesprite upon ascension, which could be concurrent with her ideal for the pinnacle of human form and its manifestation in her love for anthropomorphic fauna. It could also be because of her dream self having the exception of being a sprite prototyped with some of Bec's features, some carried over through ascension.

John

 * Galesmate
 * Revenge of Doctor Ragnarok
 * Reward: Gift of Gab (No need for chat client to talk)

Jade

 * Growing Panes Await
 * Sayanora Kansas
 * Reward: Gift of Gab

Rose

 * Pentacle Therapist
 * Ariadne's Threadspinner
 * Reward: Gift of Gab
 * Surya's Lurid Glare (not yet achieved)

Dave

 * Hotpotato Butterfingers
 * Revenge of Ricky Schrödinger
 * Reward: Gift of Gab
 * Pimpslayer (not yet achieved)

Failure to ascend
It seems Sburb may intend all its players to be able to live as gods in the new universe they create, given that they can face their own mortality. Rose and Dave are the only players for whom it is even arguable that they faced their own deaths. Hence we do not know how common it is throughout Sburb sessions to reach this tier, a question which is rather moot as both of the sessions of concern to us are some form or another of "a special case."