Saint

Saints (聖人) are powerful people on the Magic Side, who possess bodily characteristics that match those of the Son of God and allow them to draw on his power, with less than 20 of them in the world. Their existence is also called 'Child of God'.

Saint is also used as a religious title in Christianity, given to notable individuals who lived or are said to have lived in the past and accomplished miracles by the strength of their faith, making them subjects of holiness and veneration. The stories of Saints also form the basis of various forms of magic.

This article covers both Saints as in the individuals who possess bodily characteristics corresponding to the Son of God and those given the religious title.

Individuals with special bodily characteristics
The theory behind their power is based on Idol Theory, where a replica of a more powerful being or item can also gain a tiny portion of the original's strength. Humans are said to be made in the image of God, and Saints are said to be a higher replica, with skeletons and organ placement identical to the Son of God's, and thus can bring out more strength. This condition is similar to a, and not something inherited from parent to child.

The special bodily characteristics that allow a Saint to draw out a portion of the Son of God's power are sometimes inaccurately referred to as Stigma (plural Stigmata), however, this technically refers to appearing in the same places as the stab wounds the Son of God received on the cross - wounds which the Saints don't necessarily have.

Traits that most Saints have include superhuman physical strength, incredible speed, capable of channeling a larger amount of mana compared to normal magicians, and superhuman senses. Examples of superhuman senses are demonstrated many times in the novels, when it was stated Kanzaki have vision of 8.0 and Acqua of the Back can hear a whisper from over 10m away. Some Saints possess blood with special healing properties.

Weaknesses
Due to their nature, Saints in general are weak to attacks that resemble how the Son of God was killed (being stabbed, a crown of Thorns, and the crucifix), though this weakness normally is inconsequential since most magicians don't have the power to exploit these weaknesses, and most saints are aware of this problem and take measure to prevent them being affected by the weakness.

The spell Saint Destroyer designed by the Amakusa Church aims to disrupt the balance of holy power and magic power inside a saint, and against a normal saint it only temporarily brings them down to levels like a normal human. In Amakusa's fight against Acqua of the Back, the Saint Destroyer made him self-destruct because he has too much power due to his role as one of the God's Right Seat as well.

It is also possible for a Saint to use up too much power, past the limits of the human body, and destroy themselves. This was demonstrated when Kanzaki Kaori fought Misha Kreutzev during the Angel Fall incident and was on the brink of over-exertion and death before Motoharu blasted the ritual location. Some Saints can also fall victim to their own power in other ways, such as meeting obstructions and failing sharp turns at supersonic speed without adequate protection.

Fate
There is a path which many Saints, such as Kanzaki Kaori and Brunhild Eiktobel, go down due to their nature. Being born with rare qualities, they are often on the receiving end of the darker side of human nature and this not only affects them but also the few people that have truly connected with them, who don't share these unique traits that allow them to survive most attacks against them. As a result, loved ones may be caught in a trap meant for the Saint and likely perish while they live on.

When this happens, the Saint wouldn't resign themselves to fate and give up - this feeling is strong in them because they are Saints, and thus possess characteristics similar to the Son of God, who in one story raised the dead, allowing them to use a portion of his power. Knowing this and the smiles of the people who cared about them, they would seriously think about detailed and absurd plans to miraculously save them, store up power and accurately carry them out, not giving up without trying - their actions opposing the image given by the word Saint.

In the end though, they all despair for none of these plans would work and no matter what the people whose minds and bodies were destroyed would never return to normal. In trying to bring their loved ones back, they lose sight of the simple fact that human life isn't such a simple thing. After wearing themselves down, trying everything and offering all they have, they fail, despair, then finally come to terms with the deaths of the ones they cared about.

Ranking
Saints have rankings akin to the seven Level 5s of Academy City, which is based on their level of contribution to society.

Saint as a religious title
As well as referring to individuals with bodily characteristics matching the Son of God and possessing power as a result of it, saint is also used as a religious title in Christianity, given to notable individuals for their feats of faith. The former and the later uses of 'Saint', although distinct, are not mutually exclusive, and even if the latter is not the former, they may have had their own kind of power.

The individuals who were given the title 'Saint' in this sense, are people who lived or believed to have lived in the past, who are said to have accomplished great feats, with some being considered miracles, by the strength of their faith. As a result, they have become subjects of holiness and veneration.

Similar to other titles, saints are often referred to with the title in front of their name (e.g. Saint George (聖ジョージ)), which can also written in the shortened but identically pronounced form St. (聖) (e.g. St. George).

Due to the persecution of Christians in the early days of Christianity, by the Roman Empire and others, many of the early saints were also s, being killed after refusing to renounce their faith. Some were crucified in a similar manner to the Son of God, though a number chose to die on a different type of cross (considering themselves unworthy of dying in the exact same way), such as St. Peter and St. Andrew, with these crosses becoming their symbols.

Following Idol Theory, the stories and symbols of saints are used for a variety of spells and spiritual items. Some objects, held to be physical remains or personal effects of saints, are considered holy s (遺物) and believed to hold power.

Saints are often subjects of religious artwork and sculpture, with some of them designed for magical effect. For example, St. Peter's Square has 140 saint statues overlooking the grounds which keep the plaza under strict magical security. Numerous churches and cathedrals around the world are named after or dedicated to saints.

Patron Saints
s (守護聖人) are saints who are said to advocate or be associated with a place, group, activity, symbol or other subject, often related to the stories of their life, feats and fate. The magical method known as Ex Voto uses patron saints as intermediates for prayer when asking the Son of God for miracles. Archangel Michael is considered as patron saint as well as an angel.

Daihasei Festival Arc
The magic-related events which transpired during the first day of the Daihaseisai revolved around a saint-related spiritual item, initially thought to be the Stab Sword, a supposed weapon said to be capable of killing Saints, and later revealed to be the Croce di Pietro, which was deeply connected to St. Peter.

Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience
While dealing with the incidents instigated by the Guild, Agnese Sanctis, Lucia and Angelene made use of various spells based on saints,   and also discussed subjects related to them,  such as the martyrdom of early saints in the days of the Roman Empire,  and how some saints and parts of their stories were invented or assimilated from elsewhere.

Known Saints
There are known to be less than 20 Saints in the world as of the current year. These are the Saints seen or mentioned in the series thus far:
 * Kanzaki Kaori
 * William Orwell - Lost his Saint powers in World War III.
 * Silvia - Higher rank than Brunhild.
 * Brunhild Eiktobel - Lower rank than Silvia. A Saint–Valkyrie.
 * Number Ten Saint (第10位の聖人) - Not much is known of them, except that he/she has been continually flying through the sky for years.
 * Kanzaki Kigomi (神裂キゴミ) - Not much is known of her, except that she is the only successful example of standard saint with spiritual item assisted.

Special cases

 * Meigo Arisa - Due to her strange existence, she was temporarily ranked as the ninth Saint, and it is speculated by Kanzaki that she could outclass her if her powers awaken. It is likely her Saint rank is stripped after she merges back with Shutaura Sequenzia.
 * Pantagruel - The antagonist of the Toaru Majutsu to Kagaku no Ensemble game temporarily made himself into a Saint using his spell. He inputted Kanzaki's body parameters into his own body in order to gain the "parameters" of being a Saint. As a result, he gains the speed equal to that of a Saint like Kanzaki.

Historical Saints
These are some of the historical figures who have held the title 'Saint'. The stories surrounding them form the basis for various spells in the series.

Trivia

 * An artificial element in the series, Saintium, derives its name from the English term Saint.
 * In translations and on this wiki, outside of sentence openings and being prefixed as a title, saint in the title sense is typically written with the first letter in lower case while Saint in the Toaru sense is written with the first letter in capital.