Acqua of the Back

Acqua of the Back (後方のアックア), or '''William Orwell (ウィリアム＝オルウェル), is side character of Toaru Majutsu no Index.

A member of God's Right Seat, his sorcery name is Flere210, "The one who changes the reason of tears" (その涙の理由を変える者). The name "Acqua" is derived from the Italian word for water.

Background
He was formerly a mercenary that operated mostly for the benefits of UK, taking jobs from the Royal faction and sometimes working with the Knights of England, but later changed his religion and joined God's Right Seat. He's also the only one who does not ignore the opinions of the Pope.

An example of his actions are the "England Third Princess Rescue Mission", where he uses his role as a mercenary to step into any battlefield when the Knights of England are otherwise tied down by political issues and orders from the Royalty faction. His friend, The Grand Master of the Knights, was willing to give up his Family Crest and all that comes with it in order to accompany him and help save the then 14-year old 3rd princess, but was disabled by William from doing so. Saying that his own role as a mercenary means he can enter any battlefield, but he can't stop the same scenario from happening again, where one of the Royalty is discarded like a mere pawn, so looking at the long run the Grandmaster needs to keep his position as a Knight where he has access to the Royal faction and prevent something like this happening again.

Appearance
He is brown haired man who usually wears blue things which are related to the color of the symbol of God's Power.

Personality
A realist when it comes to combat, recognising that there is only allies and enemies on the battlefield and shows no mercy when it comes to a battle. Outside combat he is an honourable and intelligent person. Because of his actions outside battle, being considerate to the victims he helps he is called a 'Sage' in some circles.

Like Touma, he also is true to his ideals, though his ideals are different to Touma's. As suggested by William's crest when he was designated to be a Knight, his goal is harmony between the four cultures (English, Irish, Dutch and Scottish) and three factions (Knights, Royalty and Anglican Church) of UK so they can perform at the best of their abilities, and believes by performing outside the system he himself can do things that any one of the factions cannot do when restrained by political pressure.

In addition, also like Touma, he values his friendship with others, though he won't allow that to get in the way on the battlefield. This is demonstrated when he finally defeated the Grandmaster in volume 18, saying though he have won he did not carry a blade that used to kill an old friend.

The Way of the Light and Darkness Arc
His first appareance is at the end of this arc, when he picks Vento, threatens Touma and leave.

Itsuwa and Aqua of the Back's Attack Arc
He was the antagonist in Volume 16, that battled with Touma, the Amakusa Catholic Church, and Kanzaki Kaori. He was defeated by Amakusa's "Saint Destroyer" after multiple battles.

War in Britain Arc
Later on, he appears again, but still weakened by the effects that created by Amakusa's "Saint Destroyer," his power was reduced to a ordinary Saint.

He participated in the English Civil war protecting Villian from being captured and executed by Carrisa and demonstrates why his magic name is "to change the reason of tears" - he saved Villian who was crying in despair, and she ends up crying in tears of happiness that someone actually is willing to save her regardless of the situation. He fights his old friend, the Knight Leader, and finally defeated him in the civil war. Later he, the Knight Leader, and Kanzaki Kaori fight together against Carrisa to end the civil war, along with many others supporting them.

After the civil war in England, he heads to Russia in order to stop Fiamma. He left a message for Villian before he left, which the Knight Leader twisted into a indirect way of proposing marriage for the 3rd princess.

Fiamma of the Right and the World War III Arc
In Russia he saves Hamazura Shiage from a pirate attack. Later, he sacrifices himself to reduce Archangel Gabriel's power down to 50% so Accelerator and Kazakiri Hyouka can fight evenly. As he lay dying Hamazura Shiage came across him and convinced him to not abandon his life, and live on for the people he has saved in times past who follow in his footsteps.

Abilities

 * Divine Mother's Mercy (聖母の慈悲), although a member of God's Right Seat cannot use spells that are used by normal sorcerers, he is blessed with this condition which allows him to use spells that a normal human can use like runic magic as shown in volume 16 when fighting against the Amakusa Church, and later on Kanzaki, he demonstrated he can use runic magic similar to Stiyl's, though Acqua's runes are ones controlling water into various forms, as part of the powers from being part of God's Right Seat and aligning with Archangel Gabriel. Kanzaki notes he is just as capable as "The Power of God," Gabriel, when it comes to manipulating water, having experience in a battle with them both.

Some other spells he is capable of are vacuum cuts, avalanches, and his trademark technique as a mercenary where a layer of water is between his feet and the ground, allowing him to move in such a way that can't be predicted by opponents. After the battles against the Amakusa Church, he can no longer use the Divine Mother's Mercy spell, though it is unknown whether or not this is permenant.
 * Stigma, the ability to call upon God's power, so he is also endowed with super-human capabilities. Divine Mother's Mercy nullifies the limiter of the body so that he could use 100% of said capabilities as a Saint. He also fought against Kanzaki Kaori, who also has the capacity of a Saint, and displayed a great gap between their power.


 * Mercenary abilities, he has many years of battle experience accumulated from his role as a mercenary and can perform maneuvers like blocking a physical attack without needing to see it, judging the distance and direction only by the wind pressure.


 * Great Sword Ascalon (聖剣アスカロン), shown in the Volume 17, was acquired it from a organization which was in debt with him, its a replica of the legendary sword made by a craftsmen many centuries ago that can theoretically slay the 50-foot long "Dragon of St. George" using only that one weapon. It is 3.5 metres long and weighs 200kg. It also possesses the following traits, though only one can be used at a time:


 * 1) Red glow - gains capability like an axe used to cut the tendons of the dragon,
 * 2) Blue glow - a slicing weapon that cuts away the dragon's fat,
 * 3) Green glow - a 'can-opener'-esque weapon used to tear off a dragon's scales
 * 4) Yellow glow - Steel wires designed to tear apart a dragon's internal organs
 * 5) Purple glow - a metal saw designed to cut away the dragon's back-bone
 * 6) Pink glow - two-pronged nails that's used to remove a dragon's teeth
 * 7) White glow - nails that forcibly remove a dragon's nerves
 * During his fight against the Grandmaster, all 7 of the above were nullified by "Solomon's Defense." After that, he removed the hilt that had a hidden blade embedded into the main blade, and can turn into a giant mace or club, and also has a hidden mechanism that can shoot a hidden dart. William used this to finally bypass Solomon's Defense to defeat the Grandmaster.

Trivia

 * The narrative from Volume 17, chapter 4, part 8 echoes the Volume 17 prologue, suggesting that William Orwell is just like St. George in terms of arriving just in time to save the damsel in distress.

Quotes

 * (To Touma in vol.13) "I am a Saint. Pick any unreasonable fight with me and I will shorten your life span."
 * (To The Grand Master in vol.18) "I'm sorry to say that, I didn't bring a suitable blade for cutting an old friend."