A Certain Magical Index: Difference between revisions

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** The ending of NT Volume 8 is a particular example. {{spoiler|Othinus gains her full power as a Magic God and instantly destroys the world}}.

* [[Balanced Harem]]: Touma still doesn't show any notable romantic interest in any member of his harem.

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* [[Batman Gambit]] / [[Gambit Roulette]]: {{spoiler|Fiamma of the Right and Aleister Crowley}}.

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** To elaborate on the latter (as it is explained in the Light Novels, but has been ignored in the Anime thus far), {{spoiler|Aleister intentionally set up the experiment with Accelerator and the clones so that it would be foiled and scrapped... at which point, the remaining sisters would be sent to various countries for recalibration, spreading the MISAKA Network worldwide -- a necessary step in his plans}}.

* [[Battle Harem]]:

** Touma has one. Among the girls interested in him are: a human repository of thousands upon thousands of spellbooks, the [[Shock and Awe|third most powerful Esper in Academy City]] (plus several thousands of her clones), a sword-wielding priestess, one of her spear-wielding subordinates, a magical spy/courier who wants to seduce him into working for her country, the pre-teen leader of a magical cabal, {{spoiler|and a goddess-turned-fairy}}.

** Shiage's harem also counts: the fourth most powerful Esper in Academy City, a [[Sensor Character]] who can influence the powers of others, and one who can control nitrogen. Later on there's {{spoiler|an AI who's seemingly as intelligent as a human, if not more so}}.

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* [[Batman Gambit]] / [[Gambit Roulette]]: {{spoiler|Fiamma of the Right and Aleister Crowley}}.

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** To elaborate on the latter (as it is explained in the Light Novels, but has been ignored in the Anime thus far), {{spoiler|Aleister intentionally set up the experiment with Accelerator and the clones so that it would be foiled and scrapped... at which point, the remaining sisters would be sent to various countries for recalibration, spreading the MISAKA Network worldwide -- a necessary step in his plans}}.

* [[Beach Episode]]: Episodes 15 to 17 in Index, combined with [[Bizarro Universe]].

* [[Berserk Button]]:

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* [[Boss Rush]]: New Testament Volume 10 is a non-stop example of this, with {{spoiler|Touma and Othinus up against the entire anti-GREMLIN alliance, plus the rest of GREMLIN}}. This is outright lampshaded in the afterword by the author. Though it's unusual in that {{spoiler|the majority of opponents are actually on Touma's side and let him win}}.

* [[Bottle Fairy]]: [[Older Than They Look|Komoe Tsukuyomi]] is one of these, what with all those beer cans and her messy apartment. Her colleagues, Yomikawa and Tessou, are also these, although only Tessou usually remains sober enough to drag them back home.

* [[Breather Episode]]:

* ~~[[Breather Episode]]:~~ New ~~Testiment~~ Volume 2. Part of the novel is a [[Recap Episode]] regarding all the magical incidents, justified in that Shiage and Accelerator are being introduced to magic, and Leivinia Birdway wants to provide context to the new magical threat targeting them. Other parts include the numerous comedic interactions between the characters, the fate of the other members of GROUP, and seeing how Touma's associates dealt with his disappearance. {{spoiler|There was some drama involving a possible [[Colony Drop]], but there wasn't much combat in averting it.}}

** New Testament Volume 2. Part of the novel is a [[Recap Episode]] regarding all the magical incidents, justified in that Shiage and Accelerator are being introduced to magic, and Leivinia Birdway wants to provide context to the new magical threat targeting them. Other parts include the numerous comedic interactions between the characters, the fate of the other members of GROUP, and seeing how Touma's associates dealt with his disappearance. {{spoiler|There was some drama involving a possible [[Colony Drop]], but there wasn't much combat in averting it.}}

** After the non-stop action of the Magic God Othinus arc, NT Volume 11 is a much lighter volume focusing on the previously-minor character Misaki. The central conflict is far smaller in scale and motivated by purely personal reasons.

* [[Brown Note]]: Index' Sheol Fear, which incapacitates the religious by pointing out contradictions in their teachings.

* [[But for Me It Was Tuesday]]: Stiyl assumes this is why Touma doesn't remember fighting him.

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** At the end of Volume 22, Ollerus name drops {{spoiler|Othinus as the one who stole the title of Majin from him. In New Testament Volume 3, Othinus (referred to as Odin) is revealed as a true member of GREMLIN and one behind the novel's events.}}

* [[The Chessmaster]]: Fiamma, Aleister and Lola Stewart being the most prominent.

* [[Chew Toy]]: After being shrunk into a tiny fairy, {{spoiler|Othinus}} becomes a literal example of this. She's treated as a toy by Sphinx, while her struggles are largely ignored by Touma and Index.

* [[Chick Magnet]]:

** Touma is this to [[Exaggerated Trope|a ridiculous extent]]. By just the third volume, he has almost ''ten thousand'' girls after him... and it only increases from there.

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* [[Day in The Limelight]]:

** Volume 5 (episodes 19 and 20 of season 1) has former antagonist {{spoiler|Accelerator}} as the protagonist and shows the events that make him less of a jerk.

** Volume 8 of the novels (Episodes 6 and 7 of season 2) casts minor character (and eventual main character of the Railgun spinoff) ~~Shirai~~ Kuroko as the protagonist, as she stumbles into the world Mikoto has been fighting in since the Sisters Arc.

** Volume 8 of the novels (Episodes 6 and 7 of season 2) casts minor character (and eventual main character of the Railgun spinoff) Kuroko as the protagonist, as she stumbles into the world Mikoto has been fighting in since the Sisters Arc.

** Volume 11 of New Testament features Misaki, delving into her {{spoiler|past connection with Touma.}}

* [[Defeat Means Friendship]]:

** {{spoiler|Agnese and Lessar}} after Touma beaten them.

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** An argument could be made for Touma and his [[Those Two Guys|friends]] being delinquents as well. Low marks and very little effort to improve them? Check. Constantly getting into fights? Check. Bleached hair, piercings and general disregard for the dress code? Check check and check. There are even hints the three used to go out drinking together and frequently ended up in back alley brawls. Of course it a subversion since Touma would rather avoid fights and just run away.

** And there's the Skills-Out's, gangs of Level 0's who protect themselves against higher level epsers who bully them. Noble at first until some of those gangs started attacking espers who never bother them.

* [[Demonic Possession]]: NT Volume 18 reveals that {{spoiler|Lola Stuart}} has been possessed by the demon {{spoiler|Coronzon}} for the entire series.

* [[Demoted to Extra]]: Poor Aisa. Her importance in the series got reduced after the Deep Blood arc. She and even her [[Mamiko Noto|Voice Actress]] [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshades about it]].

* [[Despair Gambit]]: This is {{spoiler|Othinus' entire plan for Touma in NT Volume 9}}. Among many other things, she shows him a world where he's considered an infamous villain solely by changing everyone's perspective, and another world in which a different person has completely taken over his life without anyone noticing. {{spoiler|And she succeeds, through a world in which everyone has been saved without his intervention, convincing him that he has to die to preserve this perfect world. Only the intervention of the Will of the Misaka Network makes him want to keep living}}.

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** In the Epilogue of episode 24, we have the guest appearance of {{spoiler|Lola Stuart, the Archbishop of Necessarius.}}

* [[Easy Amnesia]]: Index remembers very little of her own life {{spoiler|because of her periodic mind-wipes}}, and at the end of the first [[Story Arc]], all of Touma's memories are permanently destroyed due to magic-induced brain damage.

* [[Eldritch Abomination]]:

** In a side story, the Amakusa encounter magicians whose magic is based on the [[Cthulhu Mythos]]. Their schemes result in, among other things, a part of Cthulhu being (temporarily) summoned.

** Sample Shoggoth, a bizarre parasite found in Antarctica which kicks off the plot of NT Volume 14. Its appearance is compared to an octopus, a piece of fat or a melted rubber film. It infects a human host, consuming and replacing their body fat - this ensures that it cannot be removed without killing the host. {{spoiler|It is actually an artificial creation, made from discolored Dark Matter.}}

* [[Elite Mooks]]: Several, such as the Hound Dogs and {{spoiler|the [[Unobtainium|Dark Matter-enhanced]] soldiers during World War III.}}

* [[Enemy Mine]]: This happens on several occasions. A notable example is when the Anglican Church and Academy City team up against {{spoiler|the Russia-Roman Catholic Church alliance in World War III}}.

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* [[Go Mad From the Revelation]]: Aureolus doesn't take it well when he learns that {{spoiler|all his hard work in trying to find a cure for Index was pointless, as Touma already found an answer}}.

* [[Good with Numbers]]: This is a [[Required Secondary Power]] for all espers. Notably, {{spoiler|when Accelerator loses his calculation ability due to brain damage, he becomes unable to use his ability (until he receives calculation support from the Misaka Network}}).

* [[Good Versus Good]]: There's several occasions when heroic characters clash with each other. This is especially prominent in NT Volume 10, where it applies to almost all fights: {{spoiler|Touma and Othinus want to rid the latter of her power so she can surrender peacefully, while most of their opponents attack them for the perfectly reasonable justification of removing a major threat to the world.}}

* [[Gratuitous English]]: Anti-Skill, Dummy Check, Imagine Breaker, Judgment, Skill-out, BLOCK, STUDENT, ITEM, GROUP, AIM...

** Also, all the anime openings. ''All of them.'' (Granted they are all perfectly understandable, and with the exception of the first opening "PSI-Missing", which contains no English whatsoever within the lyrics)

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* [[Harem Show]]: Touma's harem includes but is not limited to: Index, Misaka Mikoto, Tsukuyomi Komoe, Himegami Aisa, Kanzaki Kaori, Orsola Aquinas, Agnese Sanctis, Fukiyose Seiri, at least some of the [[Over Nine Thousand|9,968]] Misaka Imoutos, and Itsuwa. And since {{spoiler|volume 20, Lessar is on it too. Volume 2 of New Testament has some '''very''' heavy hinting from Kumokawa Seria, considering she went from [[Teen Genius|genius]] to "blankly sitting around like an idiot" during his disappearance. In the same Volume, Touma finally make his [[Drunken Boxing|glorious]] return, maknig the papers and all, greeted by all of his female acquaintances in Academy including: Hyouka, Seria, Fukiyose, Komoe, Aisa, and '''AWAKI'''. Mikoto ends up complaining about the guy to girl ratio and yells at them to stop taking her scene.}} [[Unwanted Harem|Touma is genuinely bothered by his harem.]]

* [[Heads I Win, Tails You Lose]]: This describes {{spoiler|Othinus' path to becoming a full Magic God. If she succeeded in constructing Gungnir, it would give her access to her full power. If Ollerus interfered and used a spell to weaken her, she could twist that spell into also giving her access to her full power}}.

* [[Healing Factor]]:

** Motoharu's esper ability, Auto-Rebirth. It is very limited, only reconnecting damaged blood vessels, and being a Level 0 ability, it doesn't always consistently activate.

** Touma has an extremely-powerful one, but it only triggers under specific circumstances. {{spoiler|If his right hand or arm is destroyed, the entity sealed by it emerges, but his hand/arm then regenerates completely.}} It's also possible that he has a much weaker version that works in normal circumstances, considering the incredible amount of punishment he experiences in a short timeframe.

** Magic Gods can rapidly regenerate from any injury, including their head being destroyed.

* [[Heel Face Turn]]: Several characters, the most notable of which is {{spoiler|Accelerator}}, almost bordering on [[It Was His Sled]] territory, since he's one of the main protagonists.

* [[Heel Realization]]: {{spoiler|Accelerator, the most powerful esper in Academy City}}, is constantly challenged and attacked by espers wishing to prove themselves. [[Technical Pacifist|He just wants to be left alone and live in peace]]. He figures if {{spoiler|he got even stronger then he would outclass everyone to such a degree that nobody would ever dare to attack him. So he accepts a proposal by Academy City researchers to slaughter more than 10,000 clones of Misaka Mikoto for a program that is intended to level him up exponentially. The clones appear soulless to him and they never made an effort to plead for their lives. Because of this, he never faltered}}. But after being defeated by Touma he comes to realize that he was the bad guy. After meeting {{spoiler|Last Order, a ten year old clone of Mikoto, he goes about atoning for his sins while simultaneously denying his intention to become a hero. He loathes the dark side of Academy City, which he considers himself to be a part of, and directs the majority of his animosity at them.}}

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** NT Volume 4 has an [[Anyone Can Die]] format, and uses a very atypical layout to ensure that the reader can't predict what will happen next. Chapters are categorised as either "Main" (these usually end in someone dying, accompanied by an image of the survivors), "Sub" (relatively normal chapters with a variety of viewpoint characters) and "Period" (the ones where Touma makes an appearance).

** NT Volume 10 has each chapter named "VS _", with the blank being a title for the enemy/enemies encountered in that chapter. This fits the [[Boss Rush]] nature of the Volume, though it also [[Spoiled by the Format|makes it easy to guess who the enemies are just by looking at the table of contents]].

* [[Idiot Ball]]: An immediately-lampshaded example in NT Volume 15. After {{spoiler|Yuiitsu steals World Rejector}}, Touma shouts to Salome to be careful of {{spoiler|World Rejector, mentioning its method of use in the process. As a result, Yuiitsu learns how to use World Rejector}}! Salome immediately yells at Touma for this, since {{spoiler|as part of the Kamisato Faction, she already knows this information anyway.}}

* [[Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance]]: Several characters, mostly the ones living in Academy City, believe their conflicts and world of science is all there is, completely unaware of the conflicts and world of magic.

* [[I Just Want to Be Special]]:

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* [[Lethal Harmless Powers]]: Plenty of powers in the series can be used in extremely dangerous ways. For just one example, any teleporter can teleport an object into something - or someone.

* [[Letter Motif]]: Academy City has the Hard Science line of technology, all of which have names beginning with "Hs".

* [[Level Grinding]]: According to the Tree Diagram supercomputer, ~~{{spoiler|~~Accelerator needs to kill}} about ~~{{spoiler|~~20,000 Sister clones}} in order to become a Level 6. And so the project begins.

* [[Level Grinding]]: According to the Tree Diagram supercomputer, Accelerator needs to kill about 20,000 Sister clones in order to become a Level 6. And so the project begins.

** In the Railgun manga, when ~~{{spoiler|~~Mugino}} finds out about the project, she literally describes ~~{{spoiler|~~Accelerator's}} actions as ~~{{spoiler|~~"Killing 20,000 slimes to level up."}}

** In the Railgun manga, when Mugino finds out about the project, she literally describes Accelerator's actions as "Killing 20,000 slimes to level up."

* [[Life or Limb Decision]]: Acqua specifically invokes this. He considers Imagine Breaker a threat, but is willing to let Touma live if he cuts it off. It's a good thing that he doesn't go through with it, consider [[Sealed Evil in A Can|what happens when it his right hand is cut off]].

* [[Life or Limb Decision]]: Acqua specifically invokes this. He considers Imagine Breaker a threat, but is willing to let Touma live if he cuts it off. It's a good thing that he doesn't go through with it, consider [[Sealed Evil in A Can|what happens when his right hand is cut off]].

* [[Light Is Not Good]]: God's Right Seat. Each member is blessed with God's power. Except for Acqua who is the only noble member among the four, the rest are corrupt, selfish or manipulative.

* [[Limited Special Collectors' Ultimate Edition]]: The Index DVDs contain an 8-part Railgun side story mini novel written by the author of the novels, Kazuma Kamachi and art drawn by Motoi Fuyukawa of the Railgun manga. Wanna have good reasons why you want to read this mini novel? Lets see:

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* [[Minor Injury Overreaction]]: Accelerator goes from toying with Touma to raging fury after Touma [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|slaps Accelerator's hand away with impunity]]. He really isn't used to [[Mage Killer|people being able to ignore his power like that]].

** Later this scene was turned into some sort of a yaoi joke in the DVD extras.

* [[The Mole]]:

** Motoharu was originally sent by the Anglican Church to spy on Academy City. However, he became a [[Double Reverse Quadruple Agent]], passing information to the Church, to Academy City and to other groups.

** {{spoiler|Fran}} is another agent sent by the Anglican Church, this time to infiltrate {{spoiler|the Kamisato Faction. However, she came to fall in love with Kakeru, and secretly defected to his side. When the other members of the faction find out, she finishes her current goal of rescuing Kakeru before voluntarily leaving the group.}}

* [[Monster of the Week]]:

** The first few volumes are more or less self-contained story arcs. The major plot featuring the Roman Catholic Church only starts in Volume 7.

** After the Magic God Othinus arc, the series starts returning to this format. NT Volumes 11, 12 and 14 feature their own distinct antagonists, with no relation to each other or to the main plot. {{spoiler|This turns out to be subverted, when the new antagonist Yuiitsu uses their various tools for her own scheme.}}

* [[Morality Pet]]: The young girl Last Order {{spoiler|(the 20001st Sister)}}, for {{spoiler|'Accelerator}}, the guy who {{spoiler|killed over ten thousand Sisters}}! She even gives a long speech about how he isn't such a bad guy deep down. Even {{spoiler|Accelerator}} is in disbelief.

* [[Morton's Fork]]: {{spoiler|Pulled on Olay Blueshake}} in New Testament Volume 3. {{spoiler|As she is hiding, not wanting to be prosecuted for treason against America, President Robert Katze uses his influence to make it look like that Lindy is meant to inherit Olay's corporate empire at a young age while Olay's still alive. Now Olay has two options, either she reveals herself to regain her assets, risking prison time or assassination, or do nothing as everything she owns is given to her estranged daughter. In any case, she loses everything.}}

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** Just for New Testament volume 3, Shiage, Worst and Umidori.

* [[Pragmatic Adaptation]]: Surprisingly for a [[J.C.Staff]] light novel adaptation, the anime is very faithful to the novels. However some parts of the novels have to be cut for time and constraint like {{spoiler|the serial killer in the Angel Fall arc.}}

* [[Private Military Contractors]]: Trident, {{spoiler|introduced in New ~~Testiment~~ Volume 3, hired by a media mogul to assist GREMLIN and defeat the American military stationed there.}}

* [[Private Military Contractors]]: Trident, {{spoiler|introduced in New Testament Volume 3, hired by a media mogul to assist GREMLIN and defeat the American military stationed there.}}

* [[The Protagonist]]: The novels as a whole take great pains in delving into the differing natures of 'protagonists' and heroes (or heroines). Of the three mains, one is the type who will always do what he feels is right, another is the type who wants to right what he percieves as wrongs, and another just wants to protect the girl who is closest to him. They also go into detail about what a protagonist is and how they affect the people around them.

* [[Psychic Children]]: Nearly ever esper encountered in the series is a teenager or younger. This is justified by natural born espers being rare, and all the children in Academy City are students taking part in an esper development program. Said program only reached the point of being able to mass-produce espers fairly recently, so older espers are a rarity.

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** In the second SS Novel, Jeans.

* [[Shadow Archetype]]: Kakeru is this to Touma. Both are self-proclaimed normal highschool students, with an [[Unwanted Harem]] and a special ability in their right hand. Both are compelled to save people in need. While Touma's Imagine Breaker destroys illusions, Kakeru's World Rejector drags people into their desired world. {{spoiler|However, Kakeru absolutely hates his power, thinking that it has warped the minds of the girls around him and that they are only interested in him because of it. Unlike Touma, he actually grew up as a normal person, only gaining World Rejector recently.}}

** Similarly, the Kamisato Faction can be considered this to the Kamijou Faction. Both are large groups comprised of magicians, espers and [[Badass Normal|Badass Normals]], gathered together by the actions of their eponymous figures. However, the Kamijou Faction is not nearly as close-knit, with its members frequently going their own ways, and Touma doesn't lead the group in any meaningful sense. The Kamisato Faction, on the other hand, is always at the beck and call of its leader. This reflects the key difference in that the Kamijou Faction's members all have their own lives, whereas the Kamisato Faction's consider Kakeru to be their highest priority. [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|Also, the Kamisato Faction is comprised entirely of Kakeru and girls in love with him, while the Kamijou Faction is (relatively) more gender-neutral]].

* [[Shipper on Deck]]: Now, how do we begin with to describe? Let's name a few:

** Index/Touma: Surprisingly, Mikoto's mother Misuzu is very well aware of this and...

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** But even Othinus can't hold a candle to {{spoiler|the Magic Gods of the true GREMLIN, whom she had no idea even existed}}.

* [[Spanner in the Works]]: Shiage was a nobody that somehow defeated {{spoiler|Mugino}}. Something [[The Chessmaster|Aleister]] did not expect.

* [[Spell My Name With An "S"]]: "Laura" Stuart's first name should actually be "Lola", but until NT Volume 18, translations have consistently had it as the former. This actually hid an important plot point: {{spoiler|that Lola is actually Aleister's daughter (based on the daughter of the same name by the real-life Aleister Crowley.}}

* [[Squishy Wizard]]: ~~{{spoiler|~~After his fire summon is negated, Stiyl}} goes down with a single uppercut from Touma, who to be fair has a pretty impressive punch. {{spoiler|Accelerator, the strongest psychic in Academy City,}} has no experience in streetfighting and subsequently [[Glass Cannon|thus goes down to a flurry of Touma's punches]] as well.

* [[Squishy Wizard]]: After his fire summon is negated, Stiyl goes down with a single uppercut from Touma, who to be fair has a pretty impressive punch. {{spoiler|Accelerator, the strongest psychic in Academy City,}} has no experience in streetfighting and subsequently [[Glass Cannon|thus goes down to a flurry of Touma's punches]] as well.

* [[Stalker with a Crush]]:

** Although at that point the crush part is debatable, Mikoto did follow Touma quite excessively, including once chasing him around for a full night.

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* [[The Wiki Rule]]: [http://toarumajutsunoindex.wikia.com/wiki/Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index_Wiki Toaru Majutsu no Index Wiki]

* [[Wild Card]]:

** ~~{{spoiler|~~Tsuchimikado Motoharu}} — self-professed liar — plays at this; at the end of the arc where his secret identity is revealed, he claims to be an agent, or maybe a double agent, or maybe a double double agent, etc... for the Church or Academy City. Conveniently, his esper power is [[Healing Factor|slow regeneration]], thus allowing him to survive the bloody backlash that accompanies an esper using magic.

** Tsuchimikado Motoharu — self-professed liar — plays at this; at the end of the arc where his secret identity is revealed, he claims to be an agent, or maybe a double agent, or maybe a double double agent, etc... for the Church or Academy City. Conveniently, his esper power is [[Healing Factor|slow regeneration]], thus allowing him to survive the bloody backlash that accompanies an esper using magic.

** Touma himself ''very'' loosely, if seen from the side of Academy City. One moment fighting in their best intrests , and the next against them, depending on what he thinks is right. {{spoiler|Tsuchimikado even warns Aleister that if he keeps using Touma this way he might turn against him.}}

* [[Wolverine Publicity]]: Uiharu and Accelerator in season 2 OP and ED. Mikoto in the official artwork.