Aradia

Aradia (アラディア) is a character introduced in Souyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index.

Etymology
is a central figure in , a 1899 book written by American folklorist Charles Godfrey Leland, allegedly based on material provided by an Italian woman called Maddalena, supposedly documenting the beliefs, rituals and religious text of pagan witches. The book was a major influence on and other forms of.

is said to be a goddess, daughter of and, who descended to the human world and became the first of all witches, teaching oppressed peasants witchcraft to use against the rich upper classes and the church.

Appearance
Aradia is described as a silver-haired girl looking around 17 or 18. She wears a wimple large enough to fall to her ankles, giving her a nun-like silhouette, but also wears as a skimpy dancer's outfit resembling a bikini variant and baring her feet and navel, the combination of which was apparently meant to look immoral.

Personality
Aradia expresses disinterest in things relating to the cross, considering it newfangled nonsense, and questioning if one would find anything of worth in people who rejected the witches of a bygone era yet appropriated their legends as part of their religion. However, Anna doubted that she was as fixated as she claimed and interpreted it as lip service, given the role she had to play and expectations as an advocate for witches, her position requiring her to always be skeptical of the cross's power.

Background
In reference to Aradia herself, her name has been explicitly noted as that of a figure from a famous witchcraft grimoire (namely ). Said to be the daughter of and, Aradia was described as a goddess who shines in the dark night and "god of all witches", who supposedly took a physical body and descended to the human world to save the poor from the wealthy church. In the story, all witches' sabbaths are used to worship her and involve rituals meant to teach people how to resist oppression from the rich.

Aradia's full background is unknown, but she was described as a witch of the moon and light, and later described as though she was the figure from the book, the daughter of Lucifer and Diana who took physical form and descended as the goddess of all witches to save the ancient priestess of the night persecuted by the wealthy cross. On being addressed as "Maiden of Nuremberg" by Aradia, Anna referred to her as "the picture book witch who was pierced by its many spikes".

Los Angeles Arc
Aradia had come into contact with Anna Sprengel at some point prior to the destruction of R&C Occultics on December 26th, and was with her at an unknown location in the aftermath. After a brief talk about the disposable pawn, the poisonous effect and chaos in the new age that it was meant to bring about, and a reference to Alice and the nonsense of Wonderland, Aradia told Anna that "everyone was waiting".

Post-Handcuffs Arc
On December 29th, Aradia brought Anna to their group's base, in a cruise ship in a flooded stadium in the middle of a rainforest, acting as her guide to the base and its members, but was dismayed to find Alice absent when she was going to introduce Anna to her.

After the events surrounding the crash of the Overhunting, as well as the battle in the Vanishing Tunnel, Alice was brought back from Academy City by Anna. Greeting Alice upon her return, Aradia and the others in the group were shocked and dismayed to find that Alice's newfound interest in Kamijou Touma had swayed her from using her magic to benefit their plans. Limited by the group's rule of not angering Alice, Aradia sets her sights on Touma, viewing him as a hindrance to their goal.

New Year's Eve Arc
As the cabal became split as to how to approach the issue of Kamijou Touma, Aradia was on the side of the Killers. On December 31st, she attempted to kill Touma, with the Bologna Succubus and Good Old Mary trying to thwart her.

Abilities
As a Transcendent of the Bridge Builders Cabal, Aradia is said to be powerful enough to rival the regular magic side on her own.