Index Librorum Prohibitorum (A Certain Magical Index)
Index Librorum Prohibitorum is a female character who features in A Certain Magical Index.
Contents |
Biography
Index Librorum Prohibitorum (禁書目録 インデックス Kinsho Mokuroku (Indekkusu)?, lit. "Index of Prohibited Books") was a female human born in the modern age where she claimed that she was born and raised in St. George's Cathedral.
At some point, she became a vessel for grimoires and was given partners who were tasked with protecting her. Three years ago, she came to be partnered with Aureolus Izzard and a year later with Stiyl Magnus.
She came to escape to Academy City where she found herself hanging over the apartment balcony of Tōma Kamijō. Index would remark about how she was very hungry and would be extremely grateful if he could give her some food. It was then that she introduced herself as a nun of Necessarius and revealed that she was being pursued by magicians who were after the grimoires that she had in her possession. Upon waking, she explained that she was being pursued by magicians and sought safety. Her actions included warning Tōma of the dangers surrounding her, explaining that she possessed the 103,000 grimoires memorized in her mind, and attempting to convince him to shelter her. When magical attackers came near, she did not fight directly but took cover, relying on Tōma’s Imagine Breaker ability to shield her from incoming spells. Despite her lack of combat involvement, she revealed critical knowledge about the magical world, which set the stage for their alliance. Index actively tried to evade the magicians pursuing her, particularly Stiyl Magnus and Kanzaki Kaori. When confronted by Stiyl, she invoked magical terminology to identify the spells being used against Tōma, providing him with crucial analysis mid-battle. She displayed fear but also determination, stepping into danger to warn Tōma about the nature of fire-based magic and how it spread. She also revealed the presence of the “Walking Church,” the protective habit she wore, which acted as a magical defense. When Stiyl struck at her directly, she was protected by this garment, and she retreated quickly behind Tōma to avoid further attacks.
Index’s role shifted toward defense of knowledge and survival. After being cornered by Kanzaki, she pleaded with her former guardian, trying to appeal to their shared past. She revealed that her life span was limited due to the 'automatic refreshing' of her memories, explaining that she could only survive with periodic memory erasure to handle the weight of the grimoires. When Tōma refused to let her sacrifice herself, Index cried out in despair but still tried to protect him by insisting he abandon her for his own safety. Despite being powerless in combat, her actions—running, warning, explaining magical theory—were central to guiding Tōma’s choices and keeping him alive against superior enemies.
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Index Librorum Prohibitorum was a 14-15 year old girl of small stature with a petite build and a flat chest whilst she had thigh length silver hair along with large green eyes. She wore a long, white nun’s habit adorned with golden trims and symbols that marked her as a member of Necessarius, the Anglican Church’s 0th Parish. Most distinctive was the garment known as the Walking Church, designed as a protective habit that enveloped her body in layers of defense against magical attacks. Her youthful features and small stature gave her a delicate look, emphasized by the oversized nature of her religious clothing. She tended to be known by a shortened version of her name where she went by Index.
In personality, Index was portrayed as kind-hearted but stubborn, with strong convictions about protecting others despite her own lack of combat ability. She was deeply knowledgeable, having memorized grimoires, but also naïve about ordinary life, showing childlike curiosity about mundane things. Her fear of magicians was clear, but she still chose to warn Tōma instead of remaining silent, showing loyalty to allies quickly. She also displayed a streak of temper, often scolding or snapping at Tōma for his careless behavior, reflecting both her innocence and her strong-willed nature.
Her life in the church along with her lost memories meant that she was quite innocent and naive. This led to her often being elated by things that an adult or even people her age would find mundane. It was shown that she was slightly ignorant and curious of modern technology.
Though irritable at times, Index was usually very gentle and polite.
Due to her periodic memory loss, she was unsure about much of her past.
A recurring gag for Index was to bite Touma whenever he has inadvertently annoyed or irritated her in some way.
Powers and abilities
Index had no mana and therefore could not use a grimoire. Though unable to use magic, she did possess a magic name which was Dedicatus545, "The dedicated lamb protects the knowledge of the strong" (献身的な子羊は強者の知識を守る Kenshinteki na Kohitsuji wa Kyōsha no Chishiki o Mamoru?).
She possessed Perfect Memory (完全記憶能力 Kanzen Kioku Nōryoku?, lit. "Capability of Perfect Memorization") that gave her an eidetic memory allowing her to memorise anything she read. In abilities, Index’s defining trait was her perfect memory and containment of 103,000 magical grimoires within her mind. This did not give her raw magical powers to attack with, but it allowed her to instantly recognize, analyze, and explain virtually any spell cast around her. She wore the Walking Church, which gave her an automatic defense against most magical assaults, functioning almost like an absolute barrier. Physically, she was human and lacked combat ability, relying entirely on Tōma and her knowledge for survival. Her role was not that of a fighter but of a living archive and advisor in magical confrontations. It was this reason she was chosen as a vessel for the storage of 103,000 grimoires and magic books that were poisonous to the mind.
Among the spells known to her included:
- St. George's Sanctuary (聖セントジョージの聖域 Sei (Sento) Jōji no Sei'iki?, lit. "Sanctuary of St. George", Yen Press: St. George's Hallowed Ground) :
- Dragon's Breath (竜王の殺息ドラゴン・ブレス Ryūō no Satsuiki (Doragon Buresu)?, lit. "Killing Breath of the Dragon King") :
- Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani (神よ、何故私を見捨てたのですかエリ・エリ・レマ・サバクタニKami yo, naze watashi wo misuteta no desu ka?, "Lord, why have you forsaken me?") :
- Scarlet Stone of Pexjarva (神よ、何故私を見捨てたのですかエリ・エリ・レマ・サバクタニ Kami yo, naze watashi wo misuteta no desu ka (Eri Eri Rema Sabakutani)?, "Lord, why have you forsaken me?") :
- Sulfur Rain will Scorch the Earth (ペクスヂャルヴァの深紅石 Pekusujaruva no Shinkuseki?, Yen Press: Crimson Stone of Pexjarva) :
- The Sword the Harvest God Freyr (豊穣神フレイの剣 Hōjōshin Furei no Ken?) :
She was capable of using Spell Intercept (強制詠唱スペルインターセプト Kyōsei Eishō (Superu Intāseputo)?, lit. "Force Chant", Yen Press: Spell Interception) that used Notarikon codes. This was a quick Kabbalah reading method that used only the first letter of a word to hijack the spell formula that the caster had been conjuring in their head and caused the magic to go berserk or be outright cancelled.
An automated system was inducted into her mind with this being referred to as John's Pen (自動書記 ヨハネのペン Jidō Shoki (Yohane no Pen)?, lit. "Automatic Secretary"). Once activated, Index went through a mode where she operated in a machine-like and toneless manner with her seemingly being immune to pair. In this state, she was not able to perform magic but was active when Index was incapacitated with the mode sifting through all information among the collective knowledge in her mind.
She wore garments that were referred to as the Walking Church (歩く教会 Aruku Kyōkai?) which was a defensive tool provided by the Anglican Church.
Index was a member of Necessarius that was the 0th Parish of the English Puritan Church.
Notes
- Index Librorum Prohibitorum was created by Kazuma Kamachi where she featured in the setting of A Certain Magical Index.
In other media
Television
- In A Certain Magical Index, Index Librorum Prohibitorum appeared in the setting of the anime television series adaptation where she was voiced by Japanese actress Iguchi Yuka and by English actress Monica Rial in the dub.
Films
Video games
Appearances
- A Certain Magical Index:
External Links
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