Magic-Related Falsities refer to inaccuracies between known information about a concept or entity in magic and its true nature. These errors are often used by magicians in a variety of ways, from eluding deeper research about a magic spell's mechanics to concealing the true identity of a magical artifact. Due to the intellectual nature of magic, falsifying information is sometimes vital in the survival of magicians in the world of Toaru Majutsu no Index.
Principles[]
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This section requires expansion NT22R-GT9 - Clouds (Westcott, Rosicrucian, Fortune) |
There are various different types of falsities present in the Magic side, and various different reasons for these falsities. These may have arisen by accident, the result of a lack of accurate information and speculation by uninvolved parties, or they may have been engineered on purpose, to deceive enemies, to lead them on wild goose chases and prevent them from finding the truth, to make something seem more or less than it actually is, or perhaps even without a purpose at all.
Battles between magicians are often battles of intellect - if a magician understands the principles on which their opponent's magic operates, they can put together countermeasures which can render their opponent's magic ineffective. In order to prevent enemies from figuring out the principles of their Magic and finding a way to counter it, magicians sometimes employ deception, using false information and decoys to mislead foes, leading them away from the truth.[1]
There are various cases where factions conceal details concerning their magic and spiritual items, and due to a lack of viable information, inaccuracies, rumors and false information can also develop around them, much like Urban Legends. These can be left alone or deliberately spread, in order to aid in hiding the truth.[2]
In some cases, what might have originally been a falsity may be taken as truth and developed so far that it becomes far more than just a mere falsity. An example of this would be the Rosicrucian movement which forms the foundation of modern Western magic. Though it began with a false book written by a single person, magicians developed it beyond the falsity and Rosicrucianism grew into something much more, such that when the original author revealed the truth of the lie he was completely ignored.[3] There are various cases where magicians have deliberately taken a subject of fiction and falsity, and made it into a reality by utilizing existing systems and Magic, such as with the Necronomicon [3] and St. Germain.[4]
There are also various cases where a subject may possess history and recognition, such that many would recognize it if shown or be able to picture it in their minds, but on closer examination be shown to have no clear myth or legend as the basis behind it. Though there may be apparent sources that are cited, such as having read it in a certain book or heard it from a certain person, a thorough investigation will run into a dead end with no objective proof. There are various things that could have happened to account for this, such as if the subject had been spread orally, if written records had been lost to time, if personal opinions had slipped in during compilation or physical evidence been fabricated. For whatever reason though, the legends may still spread between people, gaining credibility and history despite having never actually existed, and becoming something that people have a common image of despite not having been seen by anyone. These are known as logical reversals (論理の可逆 Ronri no Kagyaku?).[5]
Examples[]
Falsities[]
| Name | Details | Truth |
|---|---|---|
| Stab Sword | A weapon said to be capable of killing a Saint in one blow,[6] regardless of location and distance.[7] It is said to do this by exploiting the fact that Saints derive their power from qualities which replicate those of the Son of God, inheriting his strengths and weakness. As the Son of God was nailed to the cross and stabbed with a spear, the Stab Sword extracts the religious meanings of nailing and stabbing to exploit these inherited weaknesses. Apparently, once the sword is activated and by just pointing it in the direction the target is, it will kill the Saint wherever they may be. | The Stab Sword was actually created by the collective reasoning of people regarding the true nature of the Croce di Pietro, one of the Ten Holy Artifacts of the Roman Catholic Church, capable of forcibly converting a territory and its inhabitants. Laura Stuart speculated that these reasonings and rumors were propagated by the Roman Catholic Church to hide the true purpose of the artifact.[2] |
| Tsukebumi Tamazusa | A cursed tool that looks like a Shinto talisman sold at a shrine, it can be used to cause someone far away to hallucinate, creating internal conflict inside the person. By reducing its power it can be used in a peaceful way to send a message to a person far away. | The talisman doesn't actually exist, so the one created by Tsuchimikado Motoharu had no magical meaning and was merely a part of his bluff to Oriana Thomson about contacting Kanzaki Kaori by taking advantage of Oriana's lack of knowledge about Onmyoudou. In fact, the characters used for the spell, Tsukebumi (付文) and Tamazusa (玉章), are two archaic terms meaning "love letter".[8] |
| Death of a King | An unnamed large-scale attack spell which is said to activate on the death of a member of the British Royal Family and cause destruction on a national level, completely blowing its target away. It was supposedly used during the 16th century, targeting other European countries. However it were activated, it would cause changes in the Earth's crust and other natural disasters in England as well, apparently killing most of the UK's population with the recoil and aftermath. Though codes would likely be in place to prevent a misfiring, if a Royal Family member were assassinated or slain in battle, and their last rites weren't carried out, the spell would apparently be triggered. The spell is said to be a 'final attack' left over from an age when people believed the death of a king was the death of the country.[9] | This rumor is false as no such spell actually exists. It is, in the words of Princess Carissa, little more than a ridiculous legend.[10] The Agnese Forces also considered it a rumor, but brought it up as a possibility when investigating New Light's objective, though in actuality they were transporting the Curtana Original.[9] |
| Stigmata-related Bullets | Flack Anchors and his associates use rifles, loaded with nail-like bullets, together with incantations which apparently use symbols of the execution of the Son of God, bloody nails, the story of those nails being mass produced around the world, and the wounds known as Stigmata. This gives the impression that his spell is based off the execution of the Son of God and the Stigmata.[11] | In actuality, the tubes of the rifle's gun barrels are designed to produce multiple, consecrated chords. When Flack's group use their rifles together, they act like a pipe organ to create a spell that attacks anyone who hears the sound, similar to the Anglican method of ringing church bells together to launch a magical bombardment.[1] |
| Altar of the Wisdom King | A special type of Homa altar, which normally alters the user's mind by cleansing worldly thoughts to increase one's focus. The Altar of the Wisdom King takes advantage of this and acts outward instead of inwardly. It is created to alter the minds of others, draining the knowledge and skills of anyone within 5km, damaging their minds in the process.[12] | The true nature of the Altar of the Wisdom King and its user Umezaki Yuuga is a dubious one, given that it was mentioned by Tsuchimikado Motoharu in a lie told to Kamijou Touma, in order to send him on a wild goose chase through School Garden, keeping Touma out of the way while he pursued those who "killed" Tsuchimikado Maika.[12][13] |
| Blasting Rod | Effects described by Allan Bennett as a trick to send a target's refined magical power out of control to render them unconscious without harming them.[14] | Aleister Crowley eventually reveals that Bennett disguised the Blasting Rod's power to avoid jealousy from Westcott and Mathers. Its actual power is amplify the effects of magic to ten times what its target thinks it is.[14] |
Actualizations[]
| Name | Description | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Necronomicon | An infamous grimoire appearing in stories of the Cthulhu Mythos, created by H.P. Lovecraft. | Magicians who wished to realize the beings and events in the Cthulhu Mythos created a "real" grimoire called the Necronomicon, using calculations from existing magical systems. This Necronomicon is different from the fictional one, instead being a manual for recreating all of the hopeless situations found in the Cthulhu Mythos, as well as knowledge from other books in the Mythos and "new horrors" added to it by later authors after Lovecraft's death.[15] |
| St. Germain | A dubious legendary figure said to have appeared at various points in history through medieval Europe's high society, claiming to be among other things, an immortal, a time traveler, and a technician capable of repairing broken jewels. | The identity of St. Germain was initially fake and the legends fabricated, however at some point it was given actual "life", using existing legends and Magic to create and stimulate a core to create a real crystal. The existence known as St. Germain was a collective identity, which spread like the legend, infecting and synchronizing minds into its network, its diamond-like structure calibrated through the ingestion of pills containing microbes.[16][4] |
Logical Reversals[]
| Name | Description | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Queen Anne's Shield | A shield said to have belonged to the sister of King Arthur, as a counterpart to his sword Excalibur. | Recognized as a logical reversal by Index and Othinus, it played an important role in St. Germain's plans for Kanou Shinka, fabricated as a legend and a spiritual item.[5] |
| Sunken Atlantic continent | A lost continent said to have sunken to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. | Given as an example of a logical reversal during consideration of Queen Anne's Shield.[5] |
| Supernatural swords used against the shogunate | A group of magical swords which were used against the shogunate. | Given as an example of a logical reversal during consideration of Queen Anne's Shield.[5] |
| Red string of fate | An invisible red thread said to connect the pinkies of lovers. | Given as an example of a logical reversal during consideration of Queen Anne's Shield.[5] |
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Necessarius Special Admission Test Chapter 2 Part 11
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 09 Chapter 4 Part 6
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Necessarius Special Admission Test Chapter 2 Part 12
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 12 Chapter 2 Part 17
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 12 Chapter 3 Part 15
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 09 Chapter 2 Part 1
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 09 Chapter 2 Part 2
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 09 Chapter 2 Part 8
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 17 Chapter 3 Part 16
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 17 Chapter 3 Part 17
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Necessarius Special Admission Test Chapter 2
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 07 Prologue
- ↑ Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 07 Chapter 1
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 18 Chapter 4 Part 2
- ↑ Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Necessarius Special Admission Test Chapter 3 Part 4
- ↑ Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 12 Chapter 2 Part 14