Villian

Princess Villian (ヴィリアン) is a character introduced in Toaru Majutsu no Index. She is the third and youngest daughter of Queen Regnant Elizard. Timid and soft-spoken, she is caught in the coup d'état of the Knights of England and her elder sister, Princess Carissa, and was supposed to be executed until she is saved by Acqua of the Back.

After allying herself with the Anglican Church and those resist Carissa's attempts to overthrow the government, she is forced to strengthen her resolve in order to protect her country and stands against Carissa.

Of the three princesses, she possesses the trait "virtue" or a natural benevolence.

Appearance
Villian is described as a woman with long blond hair, which is tied in a sort of ponytail, and white skin. She has blue eyes. She is most often seen in a green dress with a spread out skirt. Included in this ensemble are arm length gloves, a veil hanging from behind her hair, likely as part of her ponytail. Finally, she wears jewelry, like necklaces and earrings, and also a small crown.

She apparently exudes a demeanor similar to that of a stereotypical princess that one would expect in a picture book.

In both public and private matters, Villian dressed at the minimum needed for an official appearance.

Personality
Villian's personality is a passive one, Elizard pointed out that Villian takes others into such high consideration that she barely has opinions of her own; and that her personality could lead her almost to the point that she needs to depend on others to survive. Despite that Villian can show resolve if necessary, and due to her trait of "virtue" she can gather around her valuable people that can aid her in her endeavors.

In spite of this, she has a quirky side as well, not unlike her mother, as she is willing to participate in a group photo of Touma, her sisters, and her mother despite the urgency of their meeting.

Background
When she was 14 years old, while she was in her royal carriage, abducted by the Spanish Astrological Sect. Normally, the carriage provided perfect protection, but didn't due to a deal arising from political circumstances. The carriage would later be stuck on the French side of the Strait of Dover, making it a political quagmire for England. Later, either Villian or the carriage itself would later send an SOS, an unprecedented event as the Traveling Fortress was said to be magically the perfect "protection net". Because of the political circumstances, the Knights of England would be unable to rescue her, as such she was instead rescued by the mercenary, whom at this point has been warmly invited by the Royal Family to become a knight, William Orwell.

William Orwell would later leave Great Britain and abandon becoming a knight in order to protect the country from the outside, much to the Knight Leader's dismay. Villian would bear witness to this event on that day after being rescued. It is unknown when Villian has taken a liking to William Orwell, who would later be known as Acqua of the Back, but she too would be dismayed with his leaving. The empty spot in Buckingham Palace, where his escutcheon would have been displayed serving as a reminder for her.

As a benevolent princess of the United Kingdom, she had high popularity, though despite this she had no real power to move the country and did not give her any connections within the factions. She is mostly used as the public face of the Royal Family by the media, and to be used in political marriages.

British Royal Family Arc
Villian first appears urging the person in charge of Edinburgh Airport to deliver the food that was transported by planes such as Sky Bus 365 as soon as possible. She later leaves the room as her maid reports that the heads of the Knights and the Royal Family, as well as a guest from Academy City, Kamijou Touma, have arrived, and that the audience will be held soon. As she walks pass the hallway of crest of the various knights there, she finds the empty spot where William Orwell's crest was supposed to be put, and calls out his name.

Villian is the final princess to arrive in the strategy meeting for the Eurotunnel bombing, apparently slipping in just after Carissa introduces herself to Touma. Carissa later turns toward the youngest sister, Villian, surprised at her arrival. She turns to Touma and Index and introduces her to them, saying that she is boring. As all of the girls have gathered, Elizard suggests they move to another room where their conversation isn't recorded and not wait for the other participants or "specialists" in order to allow them to talk without reservations, much to Kaori and the Knight Leader's chagrin, though Carissa agrees. Villian however, does not participate in the discussion and is silent for most of the time as their group moves to another room to start the meeting proper. As the Eurotunnel bombing meeting in Buckingham Palace begins, she is the least vocal of the group even more so than both Index and Touma. Here, she asks if they can ask the French, Roman Catholic, and terrorists groups first what they want and try to find a non-military solution for it but is quickly vetoed by both of her sisters.

Villian somehow ends up joining her sister Carissa and Index to go to Eurotunnel for the investigation. They are in the Travelling Fortress escorted by the Knights of England towards the Eurotunnel terminal that connects to Dover. As they neared Dover, the sisters discuss their elder sister's quirk of being distrustful towards others before moving to the topic regarding the current situation of the United Kingdom. Carissa observes that the back-to-back attacks on the United Kingdom, the Eurotunnel bombing and the Sky Bus 365 terrorist incident, has been a blow to the country and would lead to a major riot in the population which the three factions of the country could not possibly contain. Villian knows that Carissa is blaming France for this, and points out that the Roman Catholic Church has a hand in the incidents. Carissa says that regardless of the Roman Catholic Church's involvement, sees that they still need to invade France and establish a supply line there. She says that from there they would be able to create a base right in front of the Vatican. Villian offers a compromise and that they should rather create a large supply base in the Mediterranean Sea and apply pressure to the Vatican instead of invading France. Carissa points out however that France is the one guarding the Mediterranean and that a sea base is too vulnerable than a land base. Villian is upset that the only thing Carissa can think of to solve the crisis in their country is too use military force. Carissa says that she is wont to the thoughts of military might, though points out that since Villian's quality is benevolence, then she might be able to find her own more moral solution. She says to Villian to stay focused if she wants to lead them to the best solution as they are about to find the information needed to make the decision in the Eurotunnel.

Their convoy later arrives at Folkestone, with Villian being handed a thermos from a maid, not knowing that a coup by her sister Carissa and the knights was about to take place.

British Halloween
Villian's servants later notice the situation and hurriedly put her inside of the Travelling Fortresses to get her to Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury via Dover to circumvent the mountains, not knowing that the carriages have tracking magic installed on them for the knights' convenience. As she approached her destination 10 kilometers away, in the hopes of getting aid from the Anglican Church in order to save the servants who were left behind in her place, the Anglican Church's magic takes effect on the horses that pulled the carriage, as Canterbury Cathedral blocked its own coordinates against what they deem their enemy, the Royal Family Faction and the Knight Faction, both of which are under Carissa's control. With that, Carissa, who had just arrived, orders Villian out of the now overturned carriage. Although Villian hesitates, she opens the doors of her carriage. Immediately after however, it is crushed by a destructive pressure. Here, Villian sees that her sister now has control of the Curtana Original. She tells her that the Anglican Church has abandoned her because she now controls the other two factions. The Knight Leader then arrives and reports that he has defeated Kanzaki Kaori.

Carissa then orders the execution of Villian, which the Knight Leader complies, shocking Villian who has known of the Knight Leader for many years and the service he has done for her and her family. Knight Leader then orders for an executioner's axe in order for him to cut off Villian's head. With a sigh, the Knight Leader raises the axe and promises to the teary-eyed Villian that he will take care of her head with the utmost respect. Suddenly, William Orwell returns, knocking out several knights, destroying the axe, and has princess Villian already in his arms. Everyone is shocked except the Knight Leader who has expected him to come as they face him, carrying his great sword Ascalon. As Villian cries, she berates him for being too slow. Acqua of the Back promptly uses his sword in order to get away. As Acqua of the Back carries her in his arms leaping away, Villian starts laughing, casting aside her manners. As Acqua of the Back arrives in his destination, he tells Villian that his Bayard that will take her to a Necessarius hideout who will not abandon her unlike in Canterbury Cathedral. Acqua of the Back says that he will deal with the knights and prevent them from tracking her. Acqua of the Back however is silenced as Villian rants on how she has neither power nor authority and that all she can do is run and hide and that there is no value of her being protected by anyone. She tells him that she has lost hope and since the Knight Leader has betrayed her, William Orwell may do so as well, declaring that she doesn't trust him, basically telling him to abandon her. Without a word, Acqua of the Back merely puts her on his Bayard, surprising her. He then tells her not to worry, saying that even if she doesn't trust him, the reason he is fighting for her remained unshaken. Villian is annoyed because that isn't what she wanted to hear from him, but before she can air her complaints she is taken away by the Bayard. Later, as she continues to flee, she later come across Touma and Floris' bodies floating down stream. An An Amakusa Christian scout later finds them after being informed by Agnese Sanctis that Touma is in Folkestone.

With the Amakusa Christians, she is later taken out of Folkestone with their commandeered sea plane, along with Index and Touma. She is later informed of her playing a key role in their next mission, the Overloading of Curtana Original, in order to start a counterattack against Carissa, as she has royal blood, which she readily accepts. With Index's instructions and Villian's driving, Touma's party easily bypasses the knight's magic after discovering that Carissa had London's security cameras deactivated. After coming near Buckingham Palace, the group disembarks on foot following Index's lead, eventually arriving at a subway station.

After coming upon a locked electronic gate, Touma calls Mikoto for her aid, much to her shock as she discovers that he is in London during the coup. Thanks to Mikoto's directions, Touma is able to open the shutter’s electronic lock, much to Index's chagrin. Afterwards, Mikoto tries to ask Touma if he wanted to spend some time with her due to all the half-days that were happening because of Ichihanaransai preparations, but she is cut-off before she could finish. Coming into the station platform, Touma and Index quickly makes their way to the tunnel, but Villian is hesitant, leading to Touma to assist her in getting down. Villian however puts her weight on to Touma and she topples on top of him, leading to Index that what Touma is doing is lèse majesté. They later come upon a wall with paper on it, which is actually the barrier. After Touma touches it with his right hand it turns into a giant made out of paper, which Index states is based on the legend of the Mokkerkalfe. Touma fights it and manages to use Imagine Breaker on it, however, the paper collapses on Touma, trapping him. This forces the servants to act against it in order to give Touma some time to recover. Before they can do so, Villian, wanting to save the servants from sacrificing her life for her, fearlessly charges towards the giant. Later, after Index uses Spell Intercept to prevent the giant from hitting Villian, she then uses a chant in Notarikon, instructed to her by Index, that dispels the "barrier". As it crumbles, Touma manages to free himself and finally destroys the giant. With the branching railway open, the special car begins moving towards Buckingham Palace. Touma and the others later leave as Curtana is overloaded.

The group later rendezvous with the Anglican Church forces in the outskirts of London. When Villian later notices Acqua of the Back's presence a kilometer away from the rendezvous point, she enlists the help of Oriana to track him down. Despite this, Acqua of the Back notices the two and quickly leaves the area he is in, not wanting to deal with Villian after he said embarrassing things to her after he rescued her.

Prior to the Battle of Buckingham Palace, Villian allows the bombardment of the palace for the Anglican Church forces' offensive against Carissa. During the bombardment, Touma looks at her as the palace is attacked, but Villian, noticing his gaze and knowing what it meant, tells him that she doesn't mind as she shouldn't be selfish as the rest of the country suffers. She shows off her bowgun, and tells Touma that she will fight it meant protecting them. She then asks Touma, whom obviously has no reason to risk his life for England. Touma says that he has no major reason, and gives a similar reply to her. Touma tells her that if everyone wrapped up in the coup were the enemy characters in a shooting game that existed solely to be shot, then he'd already abandoned everything and try to find a way back to Academy City. However, Touma says that since the people who are wrapped in the coup are not like the ones he described as everyone carries something important enough to die for and are doing their best not to lose it, then he cannot simply abandon them. Touma says that it is not a matter of duty or important-sounding reasons, it is simply because he wants to fight. Villian replies that no matter the principles or thoughts he has, he still listens to the voices of everyone at each place he goes to and does everything he can to go with the best option for that situation, comparing him to William Orwell, though Touma doesn't connect that he and Acqua of the Back are the same people. Their truck is later attacked by the debris caused by Curtana severing dimensions, forcing them to flee as Carissa rains debris on them. Separated from the group, Villian decides to head to the palace on her own. She later finds Carissa and gets into an argument with her, who is completely disinterested. Touma later pushes Villian out of the way just in time before she could use her sword on her.

For the rest of Touma's short struggle against Carissa, Villian is unable to do anything as he gets beaten up by not only Carissa but with her Griffin Sky mobile fortresses as well. It is not until the arrival of the Anglican Church forces that she is able to become useful in the battle. After fighting everyone on her own using her sword and the dimensional debris it creates, Carissa gets an opportunity to get to Villian. She tries to use her bowgun on her but she is too late as she has already grabbed Villain by her head and had her sword on her neck. Carissa mocks Villian for being there despite her inability to use magic, reasoning that she was there because of her own cowardice or even arrogance for using magic for the first time a while ago that caused Curtana Original to go haywire. Despite this, Villian is not afraid of Carissa and glares at her, preparing her bowgun. She tells her that now she knows what the people who protected her is facing in order for her to escape, but now it is her turn to protect people. She fires her bowgun at Carissa, though she easily dodges it. However, it was a mere ruse by Villian, as the arrow, which was a spiritual item made with the help of the Anglicans, hits one of the shots of the Coven Compass' large scale flash spell. The attack is turned into a mass of water, destroying one of the Griffin Sky and heads for Carissa. For the first time, Carissa is shocked by the turn of the events, and hurries to avoid the water. At that moment, Villian shoots another arrow which hits another large scale flash spell from Coven Compass. It turns the attack into golfball-sized spheres, which Carissa evades. As Carissa closes in on Villian, she tells her that what is happening is the limit of what relying on others can give to her. Villian agrees, saying that what was happening was the "peak" of her relying on others can give to her as close combat members of the Amakusa Christians appear and speed up towards Carissa. Here, she realizes that the golfball-sized spheres actually boosted the physical abilities of the Amakusa Christians and not an attack. Carissa is the forced to deal with them using dimensional debris again. Seeing as the spheres that boosts the Amakusa Christians had buried themselves in the ground, Carissa tries to create another dimensional debris to dig them out and then destroy them. However, Touma finally gets his chance and negates the phenomenon of cutting of the dimensions, preventing Carissa to create dimensional debris. Vulnerable to the Coven Compass' attacks, Carissa tries to defend herself. However, immediately afterwards, Index uses Spell Intercept on one of the incoming large-scale flash bombardments of Coven Compass. It hits the Griffin Sky mobile fortresses and hits Carissa through an opening in Curtana Original’s defenses. Carissa is then caught in a tremendous explosion. Despite this, Carissa survives and Villian is powerless to stop her from using a Bunker Cluster warhead equipped cruise missile on their location.

After surviving the blast from the missile due to the intervention of Kanzaki Kaori's defensive barrier, she later overhears Riméa's announcement using communication spiritual items where she reveals to them Carissa's true intention of shouldering the troubles of the United Kingdom alone, becoming a tyrant with the Curtana Original in order to defeat the Roman and Russian Churches and then sealing herself and the sword away never to be abused. Villian wonders if Touma heard it as well, though notes that his determination to stop Carissa remained. Despite the revelation of her motivations, Carissa continues to resist. All hope seems lost as the Anglican Church forces no longer have enough strength to create a defensive barrier as the cruise missile with the Bunker Cluster warhead will soon arrive. Touma tries to search for a communication spiritual item, wanting to contact one of the Selkie Aquariums in order to hit the missile, though Carissa just mocks his efforts as the mobile fortresses would have attacked if they could when the first missile was launched. The missile arrives but before it can launch its Bunker Cluster warhead, the Knight Leader and the knights arrive. He uses his Thororm Defense Spell to negate the missile, crashing without exploding. Seeing this, Carissa uses a dimensional debris to attack Villian but the Knight Leader just knocks it away with his fist, injuring him. He tells Villian that after the coup is over she can have him decapitated, but he would at least save Carissa so that the entire Royal Family can join forces to stop Rome and Russian Churches. Villian tells the Knight Leader that he should act according to his own will not something he is forced to do.

She later likely sees the clash of Carissa against Kaori, Acqua of the Back, and the Knight Leader at the same time, and later, her mother. When Elizard uses Union Jack to distribute the power of the Curtana Original to the British people and calls on them to use their power how they see fit, her servants finally arrive in the battlefield. Villian is shocked why they were there. She tells them that there is no longer a reason for them to follow her as there is no longer a distinction between a member of the royal family and a servant. She tells them to make their own decisions and use their power to help everyone else as she is just completely useless that could only find hope in others and run away. One of her servants correct her, saying that the Queen said that they should make their own decision to use the power that was given to them as they see fit, and there are only using it as they desired. Here, they tell her that just this once they want to show courage and fight alongside her. Ashamed of herself for preventing them from doing what they wanted and being blind to their earnest feelings, Villian replies that she will use her power as well as she sees fit. She then takes her bowgun with renewed strength in order to protect the future with them. She likely participates on the relentless assault on Carissa, which forces her in focusing her attention on retaining the power of the Curtana Original as much as possible instead of fighting back. She likely witnessess her defeat as well after Touma destroys the Curtana Original.

After the battle, Villian is searching for Acqua of the Back but he is nowhere to be found. The Knight Leader comes along and tells Villian that he left because the Russian Orthodox Church has made their move according to a comrade of his, and is planning to stop the conflict in a different direction than through the Anglican Church. Hearing of the word "comrade" Villian says that she feels that she alone is still the only one doing nothing when everyone has gained so much the past 10 years. Seeing that Villian is hurt by Acqua of the Back's lack of farewell, the Knight Leader becomes angry at him for leaving with him with a difficult job. Villian notices, to which the Knight Leader then tells Villian, Acqua of the Back's parting words to her, with some modifications of his own. He tells her that when the war is over Acqua of the Back would be able to hang his escutcheon in Buckingham Palace, but adds a part where it seemed like Acqua of the Back is proposing to her, surprising Villian and giving the Knight Leader a smug sense of satisfaction.

Later, she likely witnesses the activation of Index's John's Pen mode by Fiamma of the Right's usage of its external controller from the ruins of Buckingham Palace.

Abilities
Princess Villian has stated that she had refused to undergo magical training as she doesn't like the idea of gaining abilities that could be used as weapons as such her refinement of her magic power is capped at zero. This would later become useful when she, Index, and Touma sneak into the Knight-controlled London. Despite this, Villian is still skilled enough to make use of Notarikon, after Index's instruction, in order to dispel the Mokkerkalfe.

Equipment
Villians makes use of a special bowgun. It is described as custom-made bowgun for royalty. It was over a meter long and was made of polished wood. It had an antique-looking scope attached to it. It had a slide that had gears and pulleys installed on the bottom, allowing for ease of use in reloading the bowgun. Despite the large size, Villian makes great use of it during their battle against Carissa. With the advice of the Anglicans, Villian's bowgun has been modified to include a number of magic tricks in it. The bowgun drew red, blue, yellow, and green lines with magic of the four elements and their distribution could form various types of magic.

Villian can equip a special arrow that has a arrowhead that functions as a spiritual item. When combined with the Coven Compass' large-scale flash spell, the mobile fortress' attack can turn into different types of attacks depending on the arrowhead that is used. One effect turns the attack into a mass of water that acts like a whip and weighs a few dozen tons. Another turns the attack into golfball-sized solid spheres that boosts physical abilities, allowing for anyone to be affected by them (apparently through Villian's designation as the spheres didn't affect Carissa) to have their speed increased 3 to 4 times than normal.

Design evolution
Villian's design remains static throughout the series. According to Haimura, she was designed similarly to Tina (Terra in the English releases) of Final Fantasy VI fame, but most specifically, her appearance in Dissidia Final Fantasy.

Trivia

 * Kanzaki Kaori and Tatemiya Saiji warned Kamijou Touma that if he gets involved in any embarrassing accident with the princess (such as, flipping her skirt), that would be considered certainly enough, Index was quick to point when Kamijou's misfortune caused Villian to end up in an unsightly accident.

Quotes

 * (To Acqua of the Back, from Index Volume 17): "Too slow!! You idiot mercenary!"
 * (To Touma as she drives a car, from Index Volume 18): "…Even if I am a princess, I’m not that sheltered."
 * (To her servants, ibid): "I understand how you all feel... But that reason does not make it all right for you to die. If that spiritual item is set to eliminate the threats to the barrier that itself is in order of priority, then I am the best option for a lure."
 * (Regarding the fight with the Mokkerkalfe, ibid): "To Carissa, this thing is probably a complete weakling that does not even have the same amount of power as her pinky finger. If she saw us struggling here, she would surely ridicule us for our incompetence... But if even this tiny power is going to injure those who will stand up to support me and if my sister whose overwhelming power makes this fearsome power seem 'tiny' is going to make people suffer…I will oppose you!! I will oppose you to the very last instant no matter what!!"
 * (To Touma, ibid): "I have realized something... Those servants and cooks who cannot use magic stood to fight despite their fear just so I could escape. And that mercenary fought a group of knights to protect me... If I can protect them by fleeing, I am willing to hide anywhere. However, if their plight will not change if I do that, then I have no choice left but to fight."
 * (To Carissa, ibid): "Then it is about time that I stood up to fight. As a princess of this nation, I need to become the kind of person that creates a roof that can protect everyone from this kind of fear!!"