A Certain Magical Index/Characters/Academy City Leadership

The people running Academy City behind the scenes. As one would expect, they are all mysterious individuals with various agenda for the entire city.

Aleister Crowley
The Wickedest Man In The World

"Voiced by: Toshihiko Seki"

An ancient magician who resides within the Windowless Building, the founder and General Superintendent of Academy City. He rules Academy City from the shadows, having a higher authority than even the directors. He has a hand in almost everything going on within the city, and spends most of his time weaving innumerable plots together. Possibly the Big Bad of the entire series, though his motives remain mostly unknown save for two -- creating an Artificial Heaven, and wanting  double-dead for


 * 0% Approval Rating: He made an enemy of close to everyone on the Magic Side because he decided to do scientific research instead of magic.
 * Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: When he scolds Fiamma after his A God Am I plan fails, he outright says he has achieved such a thing -- though it isn't far-fetched to say that he hasn't attained the highest position yet.
 * Assimilation Plot: His vision, as revealed in Volume 6 to some degree, is to set up an Artificial Heaven of AIM fields encompassing the entire world by spreading the MISAKA network worldwide and using the influence of on it. Basically, by creating a world covered in AIM, all magic will be destroyed and all humans will have access to esper powers. Whether this is his primary Evil Plan or merely a backup plan of sorts is yet to be seen, as he seems to have several other plans for Academy City.
 * Bishonen
 * Big Bad: Certainly a possibility, but...
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: ...this is also plausible.
 * Big Brother Is Watching: His People Jars has access to all the data being processed in Academy City, from security cameras to communications equipment.
 * Brain In a Jar: Sort of. Everything except his consciousness is sustained by machinery, so it's more a case of Body In A Jar.
 * The Chessmaster: Probably the greatest in the series; he does little else.
 * Code Name: His magic name is "Beast666".
 * A Day in the Limelight: NT Volume 18 focuses on his backstory, showing what made him the man he is today.
 * Deceptive Disciple: Is hinted to be one to Aiwass.
 * Didn't See That Coming:
 * Crowley's plans are derailed spectacularly when
 * At the end of NT Volume 13, he's caught completely off guard when
 * Disproportionate Retribution: His hunting of  could be interpreted as this. See It's Personal below for the details.
 * Dude Looks Like a Lady: It doesn't help that the production art gives him a bustline. A rather impressive one at that.
 * Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
 * Flying Broomstick: Rides one
 * Gambit Roulette: Oh so very many. Some of his plans are designed to fail from the start so that another can succeed. A good example would be the Sisters project, which was supposed to fail from the start so that the MISAKA Network would spread worldwide for his Artificial Heaven plan to succeed. And he doesn't care even if his actual plans fail.
 * The Heretic: He was the most famous magician of his time and the unofficial representative to the Magic side. His defection to the Science side was not well-received, since he is the best magician, and by defecting to Science, he unofficially proclaimed the superiority of the Science side. This earned him the hatred of close to everyone on the Magic side.
 * Hidden Agenda Villain: For much of the series, it's unclear just what, exactly, his goal is. More light is shed on this in New Testament, with NT Volume 18 giving the full explanation:
 * Historical Domain Character: With a Historical Villain Upgrade, considering that the nickname of The Wickedest Man In The World was said of the real Aleister Crowley.
 * It's Personal:
 * Aleister, for the first time ever, is livid when absolutely fucks all his plans up the wazoo with what Aleister considers "dumb luck." Now he won't rest until the guy's dead.
 * His vengeance against
 * Mad Scientist / For Magic!: He was said to have sacrificed his wife's life in a magical experiment. His daughter's whereabouts are unknown, although he was said to have used children no older than his daughter for his experiments.
 * The Man Behind the Man: To all of Academy City.
 * Manipulative Bastard: And what a bastard he is.
 * Me's a Crowd:
 * Mysterious Past: Until NT Volume 18.
 * Not So Omniscient After All:
 * He wasn't able to predict
 * He also never realized that
 * People Jars: Floats upside down in one.
 * Physical God: He defeated before the guy knew what was happening.
 * Rapunzel Hair: It goes down to his ankles.
 * Reality Warper: He is capable of . And NT Volume 11 reveals that
 * Simple Staff: The Blasting Rod, said to follow him only out of pure respect.
 * Chekhov's Gun: The Blasting Rod was introduced back in Volume 10, when Aleister was pondering whether to take direct action or not.
 * Spanner in the Works: eventually remarks that, despite constant re-calculations, Crowley's plans are beginning to come apart at the seams thanks to
 * Superpower Lottery: The third most powerful character yet introduced, only outranked by Aiwass and, although he really doesn't do much except sit around inside his People Jars, that is, until the volume 22 epilogue, where he

Heaven Canceler


"Voiced by: Yutaka Nakano"

A high ranking Academy City doctor whose face resembles a frog, leading to his nickname, "The Frog-Faced Doctor". He often treats Touma's injuries after his latest escapades. An old friend of Crowley, as chief doctor he built and oversees the machinery that keeps the ancient mage alive. He is a kind-hearted old man who faithfully follows his Hippocratic Oath and treats the injuries of everyone who comes to him, good or bad. - ""Don't die. As long as you don't die, I can save you.""
 * Awesome McCoolname: Heaven Canceler. It doesn't get much more awesome than that.
 * Badass Boast: Not your usual boast, but still pretty badass and fitting for a doctor.

"“Really? Pity, I thought I found a compatriot.”"
 * Catch Phrase: "Who do you think I am?"
 * Cool Old Guy
 * Dark and Troubled Past: Mentions to Accelerator that he has seen far more blood than Accelerator has. He also, apparently, created, and has a history with Aleister.
 * Dirty Old Man: A one-off joke in Aisa's arc, where he thinks Touma keeps going back to the hospital because he has a nurse fetish. When Touma replies that he doesn't, Heaven Canceler muses:


 * Embarrassing Nickname: Frog-Faced Doctor, though he doesn't know people call him that.
 * Fan Nickname: Dr. Gekota.
 * The Medic: It's all he does. The only thing he can't cure is very specific, brain-related injuries, such as
 * The Messiah: Takes one to heal one.
 * Mysterious Past:
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Let's be honest: If you hear about someone named "Heaven Canceler", you're going to do everything you can to avoid that person.
 * Or not, since the name implies that, being a person who can cancel the will of Heaven, he can essentially save people who might otherwise be said to be "destined" to die.
 * Nice Guy
 * Only Known by Their Nickname
 * Spanner in the Works:
 * What The Hell, Villain?!: Calls out Crowley on his immoral activities, but takes no action due to his Hippocratic Oath.

Board of Directors
The twelve individuals in charge of Academy City, they hold absolute power over all aspects of the city, with only Aleister himself above them. So far only four members have been revealed.


 * Omniscient Council of Vagueness
 * We Have Reserves: Three of them are killed when {{spoiler|Vento of the Front invades Academy City]], but Aleister comments that they can easily be replaced.

Tsugutoshi Kaizumi
The man in charge of Gemstone ESPer research. He is known to be involved with Seria Kumokawa.


 * Cool Old Guy
 * Fatherly Scientist: He's in charge of all the research being done on Gemstone Espers, and views them as more than just research material.

Monaka Oyafune
The mother of Suama Oyafune, one of Touma's teachers.


 * Big Good: Tsuchimikado calls her as the number one good person in the Board of Directors.
 * Cool Old Lady
 * Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter: She's not that mad a scientist, but may count by being part of the Board of Directors. Her daughter is Suama Oyafune, a Hot Teacher from Touma's school.
 * Manipulative Bitch: Her specialty is using her position as the Board of Directors and using agreements and powers that she was given in order to pull strings.
 * Motherly Scientist: One of the people in the board of directors who cares about the students.
 * She Knows Too Much: Defied the first time, subverted the second time.
 * Token Good Teammate: One of the only two such members of the Board.

Shiokishi
The man in charge of Academy City's military research.


 * Powered Armor: Shows up in one the first time he meets with GROUP.
 * They Know Too Much: He hunts down everyone trying to uncover DRAGON's identity, including GROUP.
 * Things Man Was Not Meant to Know:

Thomas Platinaburg
The man who funds ITEM. It seems that he is involved with Academy City's dark side.


 * Hoist by His Own Petard:
 * Revenge: He hasn't forgotten that shot him in the chest, so he hires an assassin to kill him.

Hisako Yakumi
The member of the Board of Directors who focuses primarily on medicine.


 * And I Must Scream:
 * Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence:
 * Creepy Cockroach: She makes use of a swarm of cockroaches, whose brains have been damaged by radiation to make them willing to eat anything. This allows them to attack targets anywhere, by chewing through any obstacles. The "creepy" part is outright weaponised, as Hisako deliberately chose cockroaches (instead of, say, termites) to disrupt an enemy esper's concentration and hence their ability.
 * Didn't See That Coming:
 * Eaten Alive:
 * Hoist By Their Own Petard: Subverted.
 * Mad Scientist: Definitely.
 * The Man Behind The Man: She turns out to have been behind many of the schemes in earlier volumes, all as preparation for
 * Older Than He Looks: She's actually 70, but looks young due to Academy City's anti-aging research.
 * Thanatos Gambit:
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: She orders the death of when she is no longer useful to her plans, though it fortunately fails.