The most common forms of Rank in the Marvel Universe are Police, Military, Administrative, and Merchant. Rank always coexists with Status, and hence Rank will almost always cost 5 points per level. The peimary exceptions are for certain government agencies – such as the CIA, FBI, and SHIELD – where Rank is built following the rules in Social Engineering: Pulling Rank, where the rank indicates an Assistance Roll from the organization as if it was a Patron, not the number of subordinates. The other exceptions to this are Corporate and Merchant Ranks, which are 4/level, and Organized Criminal Rank for 2/level (note that I have not yet adjusted several past characters which used the full 5/level for these). Religious Rank exists, but doesn't normally affect anyone outside of a single church, temple, mosque, synagogue, or shrine; the exception would be if anyone worked directly for the Vatican or a similar multinational church.
The Administrative Rank, Merchant Rank, Military Rank, and Status tables are adapted from Traveller: Interstellar Wars, pages 137-142, as these are the tables I've found that come closest to modeling the modern day. I've expanded the Administrative Rank table for interstellar empires. The Military Rank tables are derived primarily from adjusting the Terran Military Rank Tables on p. 140 of Traveller: Interstellar Wars for the equivalent ranks in the United States military; they can be adjusted easily enough for other modern-day militaries.
The Police Rank table is by no means the definitive word on the subject, given that every police agency has different rank names and number of grades. Instead, the table gives a usable approximation for the ranks normally encountered by the superhuman population.
| Administrative or Political Rank Table | |
|---|---|
| Rank | Notes |
| 11 | Leader of a large interstellar empire (e.g. Kree Empire, Skrull Empire) |
| 10 |
Leader of a typical interstellar nation-state (Rigellian Annex; Snark Empire) Leader of an interstellar sector (up to a few dozen systems) (e.g. Sol Sector) Head of an interstellar empire's government agency (State, War, Treasury, Post) Member of an interstellar empire's legislative or judicial branch (Imperial Senate) |
| 9 |
Leader of a star system Head of an interstellar nation-state's government agency (State, War, Treasury, Post) Member of an interstellar nation-state's legislative or judicial branch Head of a division of one of the interstellar empire's government agencies (e.g. equivalent of the FBI or CIA) |
| 8 |
Leader of a planet (United Nations Secretary-General) Head of a star system's government agency (State, War, Treasury, Post) Member of a star system's legislative or judicial branch Head of a division of one of the star system's government agencies |
| 7 |
Leader of a planet's nation-state (e.g. United States, China, Lichtenstein) Head of a planet's government agency (U.N. Security Council) Member of a planet's legislative or judicial branch (U.N. General Assembly) Head of a division of one of the star system's government agencies |
| 6 |
Leader of a province in a nation-state (e.g. California, Texas, Ontario) Head of a nation-state's government agency (State, Defense, Treasury, Post, Justice, etc.) Member of a nation-state's legislature or judicial branch (US Congressman, US Supreme Court Justice) Head of a division of one of the planet's government agencies |
| 5 |
State or Province Sub-Division (County) Supervisor State or Province Legislator or Judge Federal Circuit Court Judge Head of a division of one of the nation-state's government agencies (FBI, CIA, SHIELD) |
| 4 |
Township Supervisor Town or City Mayor County Legislator or Judge Federal District Court Judge Head of a state or province branch of one of the nation-state's government agencies |
| 3 |
Rural Municipal or City Council Town or City Head Judge Head of a County or Federal District Court Prosecutor's Office Head of a city or regional branch of one of the nation-state's government agencies |
| 2 | Local Office Leader (e.g. City Prosecutor's or Coroner's Office) |
| 1 | Local Office Team Lead |
| 0 | Rank-and-File Local Office Worker |
Note that in most cases, Corporate and Merchant Ranks are generally not worth the full 5 points per level, being 4 points per level, lacking the dominance aspect inherent in other forms of Rank that are 5/level.
| Corporate or Merchant Rank Table | |
|---|---|
| Rank | Notes |
| 9 | CEO of a multinational corporation (about 1 million employees) |
| 8 | CEO of a large corporation (about 200,000 employees) |
| 7 | CEO of a medium-sized corporation (about 50,000 employees) |
| 6 | CEO of a small corporation or subsidiary (about 10,000 employees) |
| 5 | Chief of a large department or small subsidiary (about 2,000 employees) |
| 4 | Chief of a large office or small department (about 500 employees) |
| 3 | Chief of a small office (50-200 employees) |
| 2 |
Branch or division leader (10-50 subordinates) Technical specialist with a large staff |
| 1 |
Team leader (1-10 subordinates) Technical specialist with a small staff |
| 0 | Ordinary rank-and-file worker (no subordinates) |
Elisa Maza: "Repelled an invasion?" You're a private citizen, Xanatos, not a country.
David Xanatos: I am the head of a multinational corporation that is larger than some countries you could name.
– Gargoyles, "Awakening"
| Military Rank Table: Army, Marine Corps, Air Force | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Army Titles | Marine Corps Titles | Air Force Titles | Notes |
| 11 | Grand General | Grand General | Grand General | Empire-level commander |
| 10 | Sector General | Sector General | Sector General | Sector-level commander |
| 9 | High General | High General | High General | System commander |
| 8 |
General Lieutenant General |
General Lieutenant General |
General Lieutenant General |
Theater, field army, or corps commander |
| 7 |
Major General Brigadier General |
Major General Brigadier General |
Major General Brigadier General |
Division or brigade commander |
| 6 | Colonel | Colonel | Colonel | Regiment or brigade commander |
| 5 | Lieutenant Colonel | Lieutenant Colonel | Lieutenant Colonel | Battalion commander |
| 4 |
Major Captain |
Major Captain |
Major Captain |
Company commander |
| 3 |
First Lieutenant Second Lieutenant Chief Warrant Officer |
First Lieutenant Second Lieutenant Chief Warrant Officer |
First Lieutenant Second Lieutenant |
Platoon commander |
| 2 |
Warrant Officer Sergeant Major Master Sergeant Sergeant First Class Staff Sergeant |
Warrant Officer Sergeant Major Master Sergeant Gunnery Sergeant Staff Sergeant |
Chief Master Sergeant Senior Master Sergeant Master Sergeant Technical Sergeant |
Senior staff at the company level or higher |
| 1 |
Sergeant Corporal Specialist |
Sergeant Corporal |
Staff Sergeant Sergeant Senior Airman |
Platoon senior squad leader or team leader |
| 0 |
Private First Class Private |
Lance Corporal Private First Class Private |
Airman First Class Airman Airman Recruit |
Ordinary soldier |
Note: For a Starfighter Corps, replace Private or Airman with Spacehand; all other ranks equal.
Note: In the United States (and other nations such as Germany, China, and Russia, though with differing rank names), the ranks stop at 9, with General of the Army, General of the Marine Corps, and General of the Air Force being the top-ranked military personnel (only one person to fill each of those ranks at any given time).
| Military Rank Table: Navy, Starfleet, and Coast Guard | ||
|---|---|---|
| Rank | Titles | Notes |
| 11 | Grand Admiral | Empire-level commander |
| 10 | High Admiral | Sector commander |
| 9 | Fleet Admiral | System commander |
| 8 |
Admiral Vice Admiral |
Fleet or theater commander |
| 7 |
Rear Admiral Commodore |
Commander of a capital-ship task force (battleships, carriers), a division of smaller ships, or an important naval base |
| 6 | Captain | Commander of a large-ship task force (heavy or attack cruisers), a large warship, or a naval station |
| 5 | Commander | Commander of a small-ship squadron (destroyers, frigates), head of a major division on board a large warship |
| 4 | Lieutenant Commander | Commander of a small warship or minor division on a large warship |
| 3 |
Lieutenant Lieutenant Junior Grade Ensign Chief Warrant Officer |
Commander of a crew section or division on a small warship |
| 2 |
Warrant Officer Master Chief Petty Officer Senior Chief Petty Officer Chief Petty Officer |
Senior staff for a large ship or crew section |
| 1 |
Petty Officer 1st Class Petty Officer 2nd Class Petty Officer 3rd Class |
Senior staff for a small ship, or junior staff for a large ship or crew section |
| 0 |
Seaman Seaman Apprentice Seaman Recruit |
Ordinary sailor |
Note: For a Starfleet, replace Seaman with Spacehand; all other ranks equal.
Note: In the United States (and other nations such as Germany, China, and Russia, though with differing rank names), the ranks stop at Rank 9, with Fleet Admiral (or Admiral of the Navy) being the top-ranked military personnel (only one person fills the rank at any given time)
| Police Rank Table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Rank | Typical Titles | Notes |
| 7 | Commissioner or Supervisor | Head of the Department for larger cities and state police forces |
| 6 | Chief or Assistant Supervisor |
Head of the Department for smaller cities Day-to-day manager for larger cities and state police forces |
| 5 | Commander |
Section, Division, or Bureau Commander for cities and state forces Head of the Department for larger municipalities |
| 4 | Captain, Sheriff, or Inspector | Precinct or Unit Commander; head of the department for smaller municipalities |
| 3 | Lieutenant or Deputy Sheriff | Duty or Shift Lead Officer for precincts and smaller municipalities |
| 2 | Sergeant | Squad Leader |
| 1 | Detective | Investigator, CSI team lead |
| 0 | Officer | Beat Cop, CSI technician |
Note: In a lot of police forces, the Detective is the same pay grade and effective rank as the Officer, but possessing greater authority with regard toward investigating crimes.
Note: CSI technicians and leads don't normally possess Legal Enforcement Powers, lacking the ability to make arrests.
Status above 2 is granted according to Rank and Wealth levels. For example, the CEO of a typical multinational corporation (Merchant Rank 9) would probably be Filthy Rich at minimum (Multimillionaire 1 or better being expected), granting 3 levels of Status from Rank, and 2 or 3 levels of Status from Wealth, before the family's standing is taken into account.
| Status Table | |
|---|---|
| Status | Notes |
| 2 | Extremely wealthy citizen family, famous or highly respected professional status |
| 1 | Wealthy citizen family, respected professional status |
| 0 | Ordinary citizen family |
| -1 | Struggling citizen family, citizen of bottom-tier nation |
| -2 | Poor citizen family, outcast, or vagrant |