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Spoiler Alert: This article/section contains details about future plot lines described in the light novels, not covered in the anime. Do not proceed unless you want to be spoiled. |
Spirits (精霊, Seirei?) are extraordinary beings from a different dimension. Through their own will or not, it is unknown, but each time they come through to this world, they create a spacequake that is similar to a bomb explosion which destroys everything that it engulfs. Each individual Spirit is unique in personality, power, and their knowledge of the world.
It is eventually revealed in Volume 13 that all Spirits were originally humans who bonded with gems called Sephira Crystals, which turned them into Spirits. Some of them received one from Phantom under the promise that it would grant their wish.
History
The existence of a Spirit first came into being when Westcott, Woodman, and Ellen used their <Spirit Formula> to gather all the world's mana in a single location. The result not only brought about the Great Spacequake that destroyed most of Eurasia but also lead to the birth of the First Spirit, Mio Takamiya.
Afterwards, Mio would later divide her power into Qlipha Crystals, using them to turn humans into fellow Spirits. This was done under the intention of them acting as vessels for her power so that one day Shido Itsuka would be able to gradually seal and obtain each Spirit's powers and reach a state of omnipotence similar to herself. However, the crystals proved incompatible with human physiology. In cases where hosts were irreconcilable, they would run rampant with their newfound powers and lose all sense of reasoning. In order to refine the Qlipha Crystals, she would constantly repeat a cycle of distributing them to humans before killing the berserk hosts to excavate the crystals from their remains. Repeating this process acted similar to a filtration device, gradually turning the Qlipha crystals into Sephira Crystals. These purified crystals would be able to turn humans into Spirits without costing them their sanity.
This process was later assisted by Kurumi Tokisaki, who was convinced by Mio to become a Spirit Hunter after the First Spirit told her that Spirits were a disaster destroying the world. During this time, Kurumi was given power in the form of the <Zafkiel> crystal, unknowingly becoming a Spirit herself. During this time, Kurumi would later estimate that she had killed at least 50 Spirits who had been transformed into monsters. After Kurumi discovered the truth about Spirits, Mio apologized for her actions but stated that her actions cannot stop until the completion of her goal. After saying this, Mio caused Kurumi to black out, with the Spirit <Nightmare> having no recollections of her past memories after waking up until she used her tenth bullet on herself. Afterwards, Kurumi hatched a plot to use her twelfth bullet on herself to travel back to when Mio first appeared in the world and kill her to prevent the existence of Spirits from ever being born.
As this process was near completion, Mio decided to give the rest of the Sephira Crystals to those she had chosen among humanity, with Origami being the last recorded human to have been transformed into a Spirit.
Power & Abilities
Each individual Spirit has their own unique powers and abilities as well as the amount of “Spirit Mana” they hold within their bodies. However, all Spirits have the same ability to create their own Astral Dress, as well as having an Angel, plus the ability to fly. Also, while they remain unsealed by Shido, their aging is slowed. Kotori theorized that this is because their Reiryoku prevents cellular aging.
Spirits also have another form called Inverse Form, which they enter when exposed to severe negative emotions. While in this form, their appearance becomes much darker and their behavior becomes much more violent. Their powers while in this form remain the same except their Angels are replaced with Demon Kings and the source of their powers are not their Sephira Crystal but their Qlipha Crystal.
Another exclusive form that a Spirit can assume called Full Form was demonstrated by Tohka Yatogami in the movie Date A Live: Mayuri Judgement. In order to gain this form, she has to combine the power of her fellow sealed Spirits into herself with the help of Mayuri. She gains another Angel called Shekinah and is able to dual-wield both the new Angel and her current Angel Sandalphon at the same time.
Angels
The absolute shield that protects the Spirits. Its form, shape, and function all differ between each individual Spirit. Angels can take many forms, from monsters to swords, all of which seem to display some special power. Their counterparts are the Demon Kings wielded by Spirits in their Inverse form.
Astral Dresses
Astral Dresses are the Spirits' armor or clothing created by their power. Spirits can change it to whatever shape, color, style, or appearance they want. When a Spirit goes into its Inverse form their Astral Dress changes into a darker appearance.
Demon Kings
The primary armament of a Spirit while in their Inverse Form. They are described to be the opposites, or darker versions, of their angels. They also appear to have the same abilities as their Angels just darker in color and nature.
Post-sealing
After being sealed, the Spirits will only have a tiny fraction of their powers stored inside them[1]. However, their physical abilities are still far superior to regular humans. The rest is stored within Shido's body through an invisible path between them. The Path actually circulates the Spirit's Mana between him and the Spirits. If the Spirit's emotions became unstable enough, the ratio of the Spirit's Mana between Shido and the Spirits will change, thus allowing the Spirits to use their Limited Astral Dress or an Angel. It can also be used to help a Spirit recover, as seen with Nia after her Qlipha Crystal was removed from her[2].
If the Paths become too narrow, it will block the circulation of Spirit Power, causing those powers that should be circulated to remain inside Shido's body, and thus resulting in an over-heat. The Spirit Power with nowhere to go then manifests as a single, massive power in him and that will result in his abnormal physical capabilities that can even make him go berserk[3]. In this case, the Spirits can only manifest their Limited Astral Dress and their Angel for about five minutes, since they only have a small percent of their powers remaining to use. After they had used it, they can't manifest it again, leaving them completely defenseless[4]. When that happens, the Spirits will have to kiss him again to return the Paths to normal and let their powers circulate between them and Shido. Once the circulation of Spirit Power continues, Shido's condition will improve, as will the Spirits.
As shown from Kotori's example, a Spirit will once again start aging after being sealed. Kotori believes that after being sealed, they will rapidly age to catch up to their actual age. However, she could have just said this to tease Nia.
Known Spirits
| Spirit Number | Spirit | Sephira | Angel | Codename |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Mio Takamiya | Unknown | Ain Soph Aur Ain Soph Ain |
Deus |
| 1 | Origami Tobiichi | Keter - "Crown" | Metatron | Devil Angel [5] |
| 2 | Nia Honjou | Chokmah - "Wisdom" | Rasiel | Sister |
| 3 | Kurumi Tokisaki | Binah - "Understanding" | Zafkiel | Nightmare |
| 4 | Yoshino | Chesed - "Kindness" | Zadkiel | Hermit |
| 5 | Kotori Itsuka | Gevurah - "Severity" | Camael | Efreet |
| 6 | Mukuro Hoshimiya | Tiphereth - "Beauty" | Michael | Zodiac |
| 7 | Natsumi | Netzach - "Victory" | Haniel | Witch |
| 8 | Yamai Sisters | Hod - "Splendour" | Raphael | Berserk |
| 9 | Miku Izayoi | Yesod - "Foundation" | Gabriel | Diva |
| 10 | Tohka Yatogami | Malkuth - "Kingdom" | Sandalphon Shekinah (movie only) |
Princess |
| Unknown | Reine Murasame | Unknown | Unknown | Phantom |
Game Only
| Spirit Number | Spirit | Sephira | Angel | Codename |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | Rinne Sonogami | Unknown | Eden | Ruler |
| None | Maria Arusu | Unknown | None | - |
| None | Marina Arusu | Unknown | None[6] | - |
| None | Rio Sonogami | Unknown | Eden | - |
Movie Only
| Spirit Number | Spirit | Sephira | Angel | Codename |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | Mayuri | Unknown | Kerubiel |
Trivia
- So far, all of the Spirits in the series are female.
- In Volume 12, Phantom calls all the Spirits present (excluding Kurumi, Nia, and Mukuro who weren't present) her "children".
- In Volume 13, Nia confirms all the Spirits were formerly human; however, it's currently unknown why some of the Spirits have no memory of being human.
- Spirits have alternate forms called "Inverse" forms, which Westcott claims to be their actual form from the bordering, alternate dimension in which they came from. However, he has been the only one to state this.
- The rank of a Spirit seems to be determined by their nature and the size of their spacequakes, rather than by their overall power.
- The best example of this is Yoshino, whose rank is low due to the small spacequake she causes and her preference to run instead of fight. While Kurumi's rank is high due to the fact that she has killed 10,000 people through non-spacequake means and can willingly form a spacequake whenever she wishes.
- All of the “Angels” used by the Spirits are named after Abrahamic Religious Angels in the Sephirot Tree.
- Likewise, the "Demon Kings" used by the Spirits in their Inverse Forms are named after the demons from the evil counterpart to the Sephirot Tree, the Qliphoth Tree.
- All of the "Astral Dresses" used by Spirits are named after the divine names of God representing each respective Sephirah in the Kabbalah.
- All known Spirits have special colored irises, except for Kurumi, who's left eye is a different color and looks like a clock instead.
- The four known In-Game Spirits, Maria, Marina, Rio, and Rinne don't have a number in their names.
- However, the movie exclusive Spirit, Mayuri, has the kanji for 10,000 (万) in her name.
- Each Spirit has had a hair color that corresponds to their Sephirot sphere's color. The exception being Tohka since her sphere is multi-colored.
- Each of the Spirits has a number in their name represented through a kanji which is significant to their position in the Sephirot and their respective angel:
- Origami is 1 (一)
- Nia is 2 (二)
- Kurumi is 3 (三)
- Yoshino is 4 (四)
- Kotori is 5 (五)
- Mukuro is 6 (六)
- Natsumi is 7 (七)
- Yamai is 8 (八)
- Miku is 9 (九)
- Tohka is 10 (十)
- Reine has the kanji of "0" (零), which is created with the first kanji of her name (令) plus the second kanji of her surname (雨).
Notes and References
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 1, Epilogue
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 13, Chapter 5
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 12, Chapter 2
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 12, Chapter 5
- ↑ As clarified to Artemisia by Ellen, Origami in her inverse form was first classified as Devil in the new timeline, but the code name changed to Angel after being sealed by Shido.
- ↑ While Marina did gain Eden as her Angel in one of the ending in Rio Reincarnation, the ending is considered as "non-canon" as Rio did not give her the power of Eden in the true ending.