Illegitimates (
Description[]
Little is known of their true nature, but Illegitimates are immortal entities that originate from The Other Side and cross into This World without warning (although their rate of appearance is incredibly low). The first recorded appearance occurred around the 14th century.[1]
Illegitimates do not normally have a consciousness, personality, or sense of self. "Hikaru" describes his existence prior to body-snatching Indou Hikaru as unthinking and unfeeling, moving like a machine on autopilot.[2] Illegitimates do not possess human urges or instincts such as hunger, lust, or fear of death. They instead have their own set of "instincts," mainly the instinct to consume souls (including impurities, which were originally human souls).[3]
Interaction With Humans[]
Illegitimates do not fit any human construct, and they are therefore incomprehensible to the human mind. Because of this, whenever people encounter them, they attempt to fit the being into a human concept that they can understand – such as hell, a demon, or a god. For example, Yoshiki finds artwork titled "A Sketch of Gehenna" which depicted the Illegitimates.[4] Additionally, humans in Kubitachi gave Something the name "Nounuki-sama" and worshipped it as a deity for generations.[1]
Abilities[]
Immortality[]
Illegitimates are undying.[1] Based on "Hikaru", even if they are gravely injured, Illegitimates are capable of repairing themselves to their normal state.[5] They completely lack a sense of pain[6] unless they are significantly weakened somehow.[7][8]
"Hikaru" attempts to break Asako's mind.
Reality-Bending[]
Illegitimates are able to warp reality to grant wishes for humans. However, according to Tanaka, these wishes typically result in tragic outcomes for the human(s) that requested them.[1]
Consuming Souls[]
Illegitimates can consume souls, which is their primary instinct.[3] Since impurities were originally human souls, Illegitimates can also crush up and consume impurities, which extinguishes them completely. If the impurity puts up a fight while being consumed, then it may cause damage to the Illegitimate's body.[9][10]
Mind-Meddling[]
"Hikaru" is able to "touch" or "meddle" with a human's mind by gazing into their eyes.[11] By meddling with their mind, the human starts to hallucinate to the point that they reach a mental break, and then they eventually die "all on their own".[7] Dying on their own seems to refer to some form of suicide. In the case of Old Lady Matsuura, she pushed her own fist into her throat and choked herself to death.[9] It is possible for a human to survive this effect if they are mentally strong enough, although it would leave the human with some sort of spiritual impairment. In the case of Asako, she survives mind-meddling with hearing loss in her right ear that has no physiological cause.[6]
Healing[]
"Hikaru" can heal people's impurity-related injuries, although he specifies that it doesn't work on everything.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Chapter 27 (Vol. 6)
- ↑ Chapter 2 (Vol. 1)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Chapter 29 (Vol. 6)
- ↑ Chapter 25 (Vol. 5)
- ↑ Chapter 22 (Vol. 5)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chapter 17 (Vol. 4)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chapter 16 (Vol. 3)
- ↑ Chapter 23 (Vol. 5)
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Chapter 3 (Vol. 1)
- ↑ Chapter 19 (Vol. 4)
- ↑ Chapter 15 (Vol. 3)
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