#(Summoning Devils) Touma

[dive-into-shadows]

A familiar but definitely unwelcome face pokes through the door to Adam’s hospital room.

“…It IS you! Haha, I thought I saw your dad out there, man!”

-Mikazuki “We Will Be Friends Whether You Like It Or Not” Touma, Poorlydrawnmoriocs

Adam looks severely annoyed. “Are you here to mock me, satanist?”

[katzkinder]

LMAO so that’s why Shamrock is the Devil Arcana!

Further context: I’m looking into whether there’s more connections for the known arcana of characters to help me assign further Arcana to C3 connected characters, and boy are there

MOST C3 characters with Major Arcana officially assigned to them have the relation inside their names

Jun, Yumi, Tsurugi, Shuuhei, and Touma instantly come to mind (The bolded characters are the relevant ones)

Kurumamori Junichiro, the Chariot: 車守盾一郎 with 車 meaning "car" (listen, it counts, okay. Chariots are just ancient sports cars)

Tsukimitsu Yumikage, the Moon: 月満弓景 with 月 meaning "moon"

Kamiya Tsurugi, the Hanged Man: 狼谷吊戯 with 吊 meaning "hang" (notably, this is also the kanji you'd use when talking about wearing a sword. Clever!)

Tsuyuki Shuuhei, the Hierophant: 露木修平 with 修 meaning "discipline" or "study" (I'm going to explain this one a little since it's not as direct. The Hierophant arcana is one which represents wisdom, traditional values, and guidance, and is characterized by a "mentor" or "teacher" figure)

Touma Taishi, the Tower: 塔間泰士 with 塔 meaning "tower"

Iduna is an outlier whose Arcana, the Star, doesn't appear to have any relation to her name, so I started to wonder what set her apart? And, of course, it's because she's an Eve! Realizing that allowed me to extrapolate likely arcana for some of the other Eves based off of what part of her character is star inspired: her combi with Freya

She draws the constellation Cassiopeia in the air, along with the Nighthawk’s falling star, in order to summon swords of light for her Servamp to fight with since Freya has no weapon of her own, right?

If it’s related to her attack, then, Mikuni would be the Justice, representing equality, fairness, and balance when upright, and when reversed unfairness (duh), lack of accountability (oof), and dishonesty (sounds about right). I think this suits Mikuni's character pretty well, don't you?

For Licht, the Temperance. When using his combi "Phantom of the Opera" with Lawless, Lawless proclaims for Licht to "Sing, my angel of music!" The Temperance arcana is illustrated with an angel as the focus of the card. When upright, it signifies prudence, harmony, and the merging of opposites. When reversed, it indicates excess, a need for self healing, and even a kick in the pants. Pretty perfect for our Greed pair, right?

Now, for Misono, there's only one Arcana that can suit him as needed, and hot take! It's not the Lovers (and the Lovers doesn't represent Lily, either, for reasons I will explain) It's Death! The Death arcana, while possessing a scary name, isn't really a scary card to draw at all. Well. In the grand scheme of things. Ultimately, the Death arcana represents an oncoming major change in life, regeneration, and the start of something new. It can be a shock to the system, but in the end, no matter the outcome, whether upright or reversed the Death arcana is good! Stagnation is spiritual death after all, and change leads to growth. Misono and Lily needed that big wake up and shake up the Death arcana provided for them more than any other pair!

Okay so, now for why I said the Lovers doesn't represent Lily. At first, I also thought Lovers for Lily, and Empress for Freya. However... While the Lovers does embody Lily's relevant character struggles, and the Empress does suit Freya, the Mother... They and another character knock the formula I've been seeing out of whack.

The formula goes like this. The characters with Arcana must be directly affiliated with C3 in some way. Failing that, they must be Eves. If they are affiliated with C3, their Arcana must be tied to their name if they are human.

Which brings me to Shamrock, the guy who threw a big ol wrench into everything. Neither of his names allude to the Devil. But you know what does? His attack, Die Verwandlung

And, furthermore, his literary motif, the Nighthawk Star

When he’s consumed by his wrath, the giant bird appears devilish in nature, BUT, there’s also a genus of nighthawk called the “Satanic Nightjar”

You see where I'm going with this? :3

To finish up, by removing Freya and Lily from the running and considering their Arcana to be tied to their Eve's journey as Servamp pairs are, ultimately, two characters with the same end destination by the very nature of the contract functioning like a marriage, this allowed me to place two more characters, including a rather recent one.

Mikado and Shirayuki.

Mikado represents the Emperor Arcana. While the Kanji in Mikado's name does not directly allude to this, the most common way for his name to be written is 帝, literally "emperor." The emperor represents control, stability, protection, and leadership, but reversed, means abused authoritative power and rigid thinking. For stubborn hovercopter parent Mikado, there's no Arcana that fits better! Fittingly, someone who draws the Emperor arcana can often learn a thing or two from our next character, the Empress

As for Shirayuki, her name is also the way a Japanese person would refer to Snow White. This, while kiiiind of a stretch, qualifies her for the Empress arcana, since at the end of the story, Snow White lives happily ever after after killing the evil queen, right?? |D And she IS a mother, sooo... She fits the Empress Arcana's maternal energies and symbolism, along with the connotations of creativity, abundance, and fertility. I mean, lady's got three kids that we know of AND she's the previous former Branch Manager of Tokyo C3. Statistically speaking, she would have been running Tokyo branch while lil baby Yumi was still on her hip. You gotta have some brass ones and a hell of a lot of brains to manage THAT.

Anyway, phew, that was a lot! Thanks for reading, and lemme know what y'all think! :D

[project-rebirth]

Beasts and Beings: Angels

Angels are immensely powerful beings with very volatile existences in the Toaru Majutsu no Index universe. They can be beings of either divine origin, such as the Archangels Gabriel and Michael of Christian doctrine, or artificial existences consisting of masses of highly concentrated AIM fields built-up from the thousands of espers within Academy City. Angels of divine origin get their magical power from an energy accumulated in Heaven known as Telesma. 

General

Appearances

Angels, both divine and artificial, have been described as possessing halos above their heads and various forms of wings manifesting from their backs, some of which such as the case of Archangel Gabriel can reach several kilometers into the sky, as well as speaking in an Angelic language that sounds like high-pitched gibberish to normal humans.

If deemed necessary, like a command from God, or being forced down from Heaven, an angel can acquire a human form. In the Old Testament of the Holy Bible, Angels hid their identities to enter ordinary people's cities and had meals with them. Indeed, as Gabriel can attest, he can hide his being an angel from humans quite easily.

Personality

Vento of the Front explains that Angels in the magic side have no free will of their own and that they are meant to be God's perfect tools, and are often referred to as messengers of God to humanity. Although, they can malfunction and in turn can be called a Fallen angel, or known as demons. According to Stiyl Magnus, Angels and Devils are similar in nature, however, the important thing is who they take orders from.

However, when a divine angel falls from heaven due to the effects of Angel Fall, they can break the orders of God in order to return to Heaven, such as killing humans, despite creating a paradox for God's plans for the Final Judgment, and seemingly have an orderly fashion of thinking. As with the case of Archangel Gabriel under the guise of Misha Kreutzev, who spends his time helping Touma, Tsuchimikado Motoharu and Kanzaki Kaori trying to find the culprit of her fall. Later when Kanzaki and the others try to prevent him or more appropriately inconvenience him from killing Kamijou Touya who was unknowingly the culprit, Gabriel resorted to destroying the world instead.

The case is somewhat different in the science side however, as evidenced by Kazakiri Hyouka's existence, as she displayed emotions similar to that of humans. However, Hyouka herself is shown to behave as a mindless tool similar to that of angels in Christian lore, after having her Fuse Kazakiri mode activated.

Abilities

As stated angels in both sides are extremely powerful beings, capable of causing great destruction. So much is their power, that their very existence can distort the world. It has been said that a single angel has the power to bring down the Vatican. Even a depowered one such as Archangel Gabriel in his first appearance was simply toying with Kanzaki, a powerful Saint in her own right.

An archangel such as Gabriel has been shown to possess the ability to manipulate any celestial body through the use of "Astral in Hand", allowing it to immediately block the sun by speeding up Earth's rotation. He also displayed tremendous speed, able to move from Russia to France easily and eliminate their forces.

In order to be "summoned" or take a physical form on Earth, Angels must have a medium, or "core", to keep them bound to the Earth. Likewise, if the core that binds them is destroyed their physical form will leave the Earth.

Both divine and artificial angels seem to be weak to Touma's Imagine Breaker as well, as with the case with Misha Kreutzev trying to avoid Touma's right hand, as well as Touma himself trying to avoid touching Kazakiri Hyouka after finding out her true form.

Abrahamic Angels

One notable feature that the angels of the magic side has is their name being chosen by God, which is the purpose for which they are created. As such the names of angels cannot be easily changed, unless a powerful distortion changes these laws of God. Angels are also genderless and is depicted in some Christian lore as having qualities of both male and female.

Angels are also apparently susceptible to Angel Fall, which forcibly casts them down from heaven. At which point, angels will try to get back into heaven, even if it means disobeying the will of God.

An angel's name and attributes are widely referenced by magician's spell chants throughout the story, such as being used as a way to borrow power from when constructing a magic circle.

Archangels

Archangel is a term used to refer to angels of higher rank than normal angels, in the Toaru Majutsu no Index universe there are four recognized archangels that are aligned to their own corresponding elements and attributes.

Each member of God's Right Seat derive their powers from the four archangels depending on their alignment after cleansing as much of their original sin as possible.

Archangel Gabriel

Archangel Gabriel (大天使　(ガブリエル) Daitenshi Gaburieru?) is an archangel that appears in Toaru Majutsu no Index. He embodies the The Power of God (神の力 Kami no Chikara?) and represents the symbol of water which is its attribute, and is the guardian of the moon, the governor of blue, and the protector of the rear side. He is the only true abrahamic angel to appear in the series thus far.

Acqua of the Back is aligned with the archangel. Because of the distortion of the elements, he can bypass the name God has given him and is weaker than normal, even then Gabriel is still more powerful than several other characters combined such as Accelerator and Kazakiri Hyouka.

Other Archangels

   Archangel Uriel, also known as God's Flame or Fire of God    Archangel Raphael, also known as Medicine of God    Archangel Michael, also known as Regard of God or The Likeness of God

Other angels

Fallen Angel

Lucifer the Light-Bringer was said to be an angel that was the closest being to be allowed to sit to the right of God, until he malfunctions and causes chaos in one-third of all the angels in heaven, making him rebel against God's will and causing war and becomes a fallen angel. He is later defeated by Archangel Michael who became the ruler of all the angels, and had become a higher being compared to Lucifer even though they were once equals.

Moreover, there is a mention of the Grigoris by Sherry Cromwell as the ones who gave knowledge to humans on how God created Man from clay before the time of Noah, knowledge which eventually gave birth to the golem.

Non-Abrahamic angels

Aiwass

Aiwass, the entity that Aleister Crowley supposedly summoned and the true author of the Book of the Law, has also shown the characteristics of an Angel, possessing a halo above its head and a divine form.

Espers

Espers of Academy City have been shown to sometimes exhibit angelic characteristics under specific circumstances. The most well-known example is what is termed "Awakening" by the fandom, wherein an esper gains wings and sometimes halos following contact with Magic and an emotional breakthrough. So far, only Accelerator has been shown to "awaken", gaining black wings partially during the Taowu incident at Seiin High School, then fully during the 0930 Incident, white wings and a halo during World War III, and finally platinum wings during the Ceremony of Mo Athair. Accelerator also speaks the garbled language of the angels in the early manifestations, though he can now retain his rationality.

The exact reasons behind this phenomenon are unclear, but it is known to be linked to Accelerator's mental state or him having an emotional breakthrough, like him feeling cornered or having something to protect. And when first manifesting a particular color, it follows Accelerator having contact with magic: redirecting the explosion resulting from Taowu's body collapsing into space; hearing Index's singing prayer to free Last Order from her coma induced by the manifestation of Fuse Kazakiri; singing a magic spell to save Last Order using data from Index's song, his encounter with Aiwass, and magical parchments under a Telesma-filled sky and crossing the Abyss using the new kabbalistic tree Clonoth with the assistance of Qliphah Puzzle 545. Index also compares the matter of the wings as similar to Telesma yet also fundamentally different in some way, and after first manifesting the wings, Accelerator, similar to Sasha Kreutzev as a former vessel of Telesma, is able to sense magic.

The cyborg Rensa 29, while making use of Accelerator's ability, was shown to be able to manifest wings same as Accelerator, deliberately getting pushed into a difficult situation to draw out the black wings and manifesting the white wings while determined to protect Yakumi Hisako, though she didn't manifest a halo.

The #2 Level 5 Kakine Teitoku manifests angelic wings when using his powers, but it is unknown if this is like Accelerator's, or just an aesthetic choice stemming from personal preference.

During the Level 6 Shift attempt on Misaka Mikoto, the transformed Level 5 esper manifests a halo, and even physically resembles the form of Misha Kreutzev during World War III.

The manifestation of angelic characteristics is not restricted to Level 5s only. While fighting to save her mother and using the magic of the Rosicrucian Spiritual Item violin Stativarius Ainsel, Sakibasu Yuri temporarily gained white wings and a halo.

Artificial Angels

The AIM Burst is a less obvious form of an artificial angel.

Magic cabals such as the Hermentic Order of the Golden Dawn (Aleister Crowley's former magic organization), seem to have dabbled in creating angels themselves by collecting the formless telesma into a container which is in the image of a person. It is unknown if they had succeeded, though since Aleister Crowley has successfully manage to create an artifical angel on his own, he was most likely influenced by the cabal's methods.

One example of an "artificial angel" is Fuse Kazakiri, the "artificial angel form" of Kazakiri Hyouka, an existence that manifested from the mixing of AIM fields throughout Academy City and resides in the "Imaginary Number District" when not physically manifested. Fuse Kazakiri, an existence that is considered considerably less powerful than an a Christian archangel, has displayed the ability to fire beams of energy that can reach several kilometers in length, project an AIM barrier that protects all those around her, flying at supersonic speeds and manifest a powerful energy sword.

The AIM Burst, an AIM entity product of the Level Upper network also displayed angelical attributes such as a Halo and wings similar to those of Fuse Kazakiri. It should be noted that Kazakiri Hyouka, Aiwass and AIM Burst all had small triangular-prism shaped cores inside their bodies that sustain their existence.

[toku-explained]

The Sword's Shadow

Heroes Odyssey: Not likely to cover every episode, but will cover this episode a little. Zero is talking about people, villains and defenders across the universes. All the heroes I saw listed below, but on with the episode. Zero still not admitting Zero is his apprentice, come on dude. Okay, Zero is talking like the events of Z are still ongoing here. I might not talk about this much until nearer the end, we'll see.

Hayata, Dan, Go, Seiji, Misuzu, Gen, Choichiro, Yamato-sensei, Ryoko, Scott, Chuck and Beth, Jack, Kai, Spark Lens, Reflasher, Gamu, Fujimiya, Katsuto, Genki, Seven 21's girl disguise, Ginga, Musashi, Julie, Maki, Himeya, Komon, Kaito, Serizawa, Sakomizu, Mirai, Jin, Rei, Ran, Nao, Taiga, Hikaru, Shou, Daichi, Gai, Riku, Leito, Asahi, Isamu, Kataumi, Hiroyuki, STORAGE, Haruki. So a couple of oddities, specifically the use of Misuzu instead of Kotaro, the not using Asuka even though Tsuruno Takeshi is definitely not a problem like Nagano Hiroshi's agency is, never mind I have learnt some stuff, and using all 3 of Zero's hosts and only one of Nexus' (counting The Next and Noa as separate). There's also stuff like not using Tsubasa, Amui or Yuuto or Tomoya, or not using Kazamori even though they used Jim, but that's less weird really. Okay

The Absolute Conspiracy: We're now set between Zero & Z Voice Drama and Z itself. In Tartarus' relative past he brought Reibatos to Future Earth, where he revives Bat Seijin. Bat Seijin concluded that with a heart Zetton could defeat the Ultra heroes, creating Uchu Kyoju Majin Zett. Later, the Tri Squad train on Planet Maijii, a high gravity world where Taiga and Titas had trained before meeting Fuma, when Zett appears. Taiga and Titas recognised him from when they faced another version on U40 and sealed him, probably referencing a Voice Drama scenario. Zett summons the Zetton Army, two regular Zettons, 2 Hyper Zetton, EX Zetton and, a modification of a Baltan Zetton fusion from around the same time as Zett on stage, Zetton Falx. The team struggles against them. At Ayaka City Ultrawoman Grigio is still fighting on behalf of her brother's against Zandrias and Noiseler, managing to drive them off. Zero arrives to recruit her, Grigio mentioning her brothers are helping in the hunt to stop Devil Splinters. Tartarus arrives on U40, noting it will be a problem for him one day. Joneus' quickly appears and Tartarus challenges him. After determining he will be a threat, Tartarus leaves, Zero arriving right after to ask for his help. The Tri-Squad continue to struggle against the Zetton Army until the sudden arrival of Galaxy Rescue Force members Andro Melos and Ultraman Ribut.

Saber: Is the rooftop near Fantastic Bookstore Kamiyama? I thought of it as being like, Kento's place, but we're still using it so I don't know. Mei's editor is now a Yeti Megiddo. Yuri has been in Avalon for a thousand years it seems, doesn't like the comic SwordXMan, which seems like he might be making a comment on the show itself? Anyway, we're finally going to Southern Base. A reminder to the fandom that the fact to us Reika is clearly evil, or at least lying, doesn't make the fact the Northern Base members took her statements at face value contrived. Rintaro is incapable of seeing flaws within Sword of Logos due to his past, but at the same time wants to believe in Touma, while Ren is against Touma for believing Kamijo about the traitor given Kamijo killed Kento. Ogami and Daishinji don't really know what's true, but will follow Reika's instructions for now. Yuri seems... intrigued? Confused? By Legeiel...have they met, or does he know Legeiel as someone else? Okay, defeating Yuki-san's Megiddo form seems to part complete the new Alter Book she's using, or rather it's just time spent, if it completes she'll be gone. In the next battle Yuri demonstrates his next ability as Saikou, producing Shadow to fight with.

Kiramager: More focus in finding the last Kanaema Stone, and what is up with Takamichi and Garza? Oh, Illusia, that's what. I knew the mention of a crescent would tie into Garza somehow. Takamichi has unresolved issues with Garza, brought about by Oradin interrupting the last Graduel, in a way Mabusheena doesn't. And yeah, that Garza was trying to kill him I suspected. Garza symbolically destroys the image Takamichi has of him ever being a loving uncle. Yodonna gets away with Illusia.

Dogengers: Yabai Kamen declares to the assembled members of AHK that with the treasure he has acquired, a Golden Seal, they will end the era of the heroes. In Fukuoka City Tanaka Jiro watches the news, which is interrupted by Shaberryman, who announces he is on the run from heroes, specifically Fukuokaken Fukuokaliber, a wielder of two swords and the politest hero in Fukuoka. Fukuokaliber had been active for 8 years, and Dogengers is the debut of his new costume, indeed the promo images all use the original. The hero asks Kitaqman for help, but he's too busy showing off a drink on his blog, Shaberryman then runs into workers for Yahata Construction, including the boss, along with their hero, Tengen no Yusha El Brave, a masked wrestler who now fights as a hero, El Brave is completely resistant to the attacks, and is aided by the workers in fighting off Shaberryman, who bemoans the company finances going down the drain when he's interrupted by the Yamashiro Gas Co. Sales Department Hero Division, Redron, Aoiron and Daidairon. Redron is polite and a little naive, Aoiron has something of a cool image and Daidairon is the curry lover. Yamashiro Gas Co. is actually based in Saga Prefecture, but has offices in Fukuoka. With permission from the company, the three are able to combine into Yamashiron, and defeat Shaberryman, and the crowds celebrate the heroes. Tanaka admires the heroes' strength. He's talking with his childhood friend, Yuki, who he last saw 17 years ago when he moved to Tokyo, they're making plans to meet soon. Both make use of Hero related stickers. On Nokonoshima Island the heroes are filming Hero House, during which we see Kitaqman's Kitaq Machine. The girls seem to be having fun. On the ferry back to the mainland to get lunch, as they arrive the city is attacked, and they're soon confronted by Yabai Kamen, some Karami, as well as the Arakuremono thugs who support the two members of Marou Project, Marou Kaijin Gulf and Marou Kaijin Gallia. Marou just means Evil Wolf, Gulf is the elder brother with an Osaka accent who loves to fight, Gallia is the cuter younger brother with a Tokyo accent. As Yabai Kamen demonstrates his power, explaining he took the chance to invade while they were on Nokonoshima, the heroes evacuate those nearby to the island before confronting the villains, but Yabai Kamen demonstrates his power further. Tanaka finds himself at the scene of the battle, watching. The heroes are able to defeat the Karamis, but Gulf and Gallia demonstrate they're also stronger, wiping the heroes out. Tanaka, remembering his childhood, tries to stand up against the villains, but his heroic speech never makes it out if his imagination, Yabai Kamen does offer him membership as an Arakuremono. Sending the Marou's off, he tells Tanaka he's Fukuoka's last hero, and gloats, before the arrival of Ohgaman, who swiftly defeats the Karami with his thermometer projectiles, leaving him ready to challenge Yabai Kamen one on one.

[dive-into-shadows]

Touma voice: I’m so proud of you bro………….

Adam is caught off guard by the voice and let out a small "eep" in the process.