19 February 2011

The Origins of Index

by 10:23

The story of magic and science anime, "To Aru Majutsu no Index" delves deep into the back pages of Christianity with many references to certain figures or titles from the past.
Here, we'll take a look at some of the characters and their origins.

It amazing just how much the Index series had referenced to many individuals and past figures.
This just means the author of the novel really did his homework and that's makes me love it even more.
Honestly, it feels like I learned loads just from reading this chart.
So now, I'd like to pass this info to you as I've prepared a small translation below each comparison chart ^^

(Not sure if someone has already made something similar to this but I'll just put here then, 
as I just found this and I haven't translated any works for quite sometime.)


A rough translation of the chart text. 
Had to find/wiki/google more about these individuals but it was a good read in fact.

Anime Version
Original Reference
Index
  • Gluttonous heroine  
  • A list of prohibited publications known as the "Index Librorum Prohibitorum" deemed anti-Catholic by the the Catholic Church in the 16th Century
Stiyl Magus
  • Pedophile priest
  • Sorcery name; Fortis931
  • "I prove why my name is the strongest here"


  • Also known as Albert the Great, a German theologian in the 13th century.
  • Personally verified many works by Aristotle and known to have practiced alchemy
Innocentinus
  • King of Witch Hunters
  • Core of Stiyl's magic
  • Ordered the encyclical which increased activity of witch hunts and inquisitions  
Aureolus Izzard
  • Last boss class, alchemist
  • Early Renaissance Swiss physician and alchemist.
Aleister Crowley
  • Always floating in the beaker.
  • Recently active and ventures out a little
  • A ceremonial magician involved with modern Western secret societies and ritual magic, member of mysticism group, Golden Dawn.

Found another chart after searching for more materials to add (^ω^)

id303

Another translation for the chart text above. 
And some were a real pain to decipher its origin.

Character (Anime)
Original Reference
(Historical Figures)
Sherry Cromwell
  • Magic name; Intimus115
  • "Everything I offer to my lost friend"
  • The angry goth maid goddess.
  • Leader of the Puritan Revolution
  • Wrecked the state of the Presbyterians, Levellers and Independence forces
  • Similar to Sherry's background
Ellis Golem
  • A golem created by Sherry.
  • Robustness simulated from angels rather than humans.
  • Appeares in Jewish folklore.
  • A mud doll that moves by itself.
Agnese Sanctis
  • Sister of the Roman Orthodox Church
  • Leader of 250 Battle Nuns
  • Had a hard life in the past


  • A saint in the Catholic Church, Anglican Church, Lutheran Church and non-Chalcedonian sect.
  • "Agnes" read as "Agnese" in Italian.
  • Patron saint of chasity, gardeners, girls, engaged couples, rape victims and virgins.
Sister Lucia
  • Sister of the Roman Orthodox Church
  • A tall, cat eyed girl and one of the troops commanded by Agnese.
  • Skirt flipped by Angelene
  • Saint Lucia in Italian
  • Christian martyr and patron saint of the blind.
  • A saint by the Lutheran Church, Anglican Church, Catholic Church and Orthodox Church
  • During torture, both of her eyes were plucked out. But a miracle happened and Lucy was able to see even without eyes.
Orsola Aquinas
  • Originally a Roman Orthodox sister.
  • Has a grandmother way of thinking
  • Medieval philosopher and theologian
  • A Dominican priest. Notable works is his "Summa Theologica" work in scholaticism.
  • Recognized as a saint in the Catholic and Anglican Church. 
  • Another original reference could also be "Saint Ursula" for the first name(?) 
  • Read as "Orsola" in Italian
Spear of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli
  • A replica of the spear possessed by the Aztec God of Venus and disaster which reflects the light from Venus, destroying anything the light falls upon.
  • Said to be the god of destruction in Aztec legends and personified as "The Morning Star" (Lucifer) of Venus.
  • Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli means "Lord of the Dawn"
  • The intense burning spear (of light) is expressed in his throwing.
Etzali
Etzali
  • Stalker, member of GROUP
  • "Brother-in-law" character (novel)
  • An Aztec dish with corn and beans boiled into prridge form. 
  • From Nahuatl language
    *further explanation here after the chart

Allow me to further explain about the origin of "Etzali":
Firstly, there's almost no such thing as "Etzali", according to my conventional search methods with Mr.Google, except for a certain fictional character in a certain anime.
The only reference I could find about that word was from a single page in the book, "Ancient America Rediscovered", which documented and explained loads about Aztec history, along with its other or true name; "Etzalqualizti", which is Nahuatl language for the 6th month. God knows how long it took me but I'm finally done this chart.

Hopefully, more charts like these will pop up for me to read and share it with everyone again ^^

And the battle of magic and science, continues...

1 comment:

Blacksun88 said...

reading halfway through this series post and suddenly i lol... etzali=somekind of food? lol... and good job to you too for being able to search for such reference. interesting finding, and it is always a trend for japanese media to import foreign culture to make it sound "cooler" (nope, im not talking at you square enix)

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