Shokuhou Misaki

Shokuhou Misaki (食蜂操祈, Shokuhō Misaki) is the fifth ranked Level 5 esper and a student at Tokiwadai Middle School that goes under the alias "The Queen". This refers to her having the largest faction and influence within Tokiwadai Middle School due to her ability.

Etymology
Misaki's first name can be translated as "Wish For Control" and her name as whole can be translated as "Dominated Psychology".

Appearance
Misaki appears as an elegant beauty of Tokiwadai Middle School, sporting long straight hair of golden color. She wears a pair of white gloves and stockings, both adorned with lace. She is also seen holding a shoulder bag with a star adorned on the middle. Her eyes are also gold colored, however, one notable feature of her eyes is that it has a star design on it. Literally, she is a starry-eyed girl. She claims that she was born that way.

Her large breasts are a point of jealousy for Mikoto, who mocks her for it. She even once suspects Misaki of not being a middle school student based on her bust size, to which Misaki replies that it may be possible with her abilities that she is not.

Personality
Coupled with her cute face, Misaki exudes a seemingly playful and childish personality, as seen with her interaction with Mikoto. This is backed up the fact that she has a taste for sweets and likes to do silly and cutesy poses that even other people such as Kumokawa Seria try to jokingly emulate. However, with this facade belies a much more cunning nature, as she demonstrates her power to intimidate Mikoto by controlling the entire student body that was currently inside the Tokiwadai Middle School library.

As one of the two Level 5s of Tokiwadai, she and her followers have a rivalry with Misaka Mikoto and her fans. She never shows herself in public, instead using her followers or mind-controlling people to act as her representatives when talking with individuals. It is hinted that she has a strong dislike for public appearances, and this is why whenever the school needs a "face" to promote certain public events, she and her faction will simply stand aside and let Mikoto hog all of the attention and responsibilities. She seems to prefer working alone, even if it is a Level 5 like Misaka Mikoto, though is able to work well with Kamijou Touma. She is also terrible at athletics, and a mere jog, according to Mikoto, will quickly tire her. Unlike most girls in School Garden, she has described herself as someone who is not a pure girl who knows nothing of the world, after describing that girls from School Garden are either those who go out or those who stay in. She can be described as being similar to Laura Stuart because of her frivolous outward personality that hides a layer of cunning scheming, though much more downplayed.

She uses the word ~ability or ~power (~力) as a suffix to certain words, like "relationship ability" or "brainwashing power".

Background
Not much is known about her past. Like all Level 5s, there are research facilities dedicated to her. In the past she was part of a project to train her powers, being able to use her powers to brainwash people like Makuwa to think melons like apples. Part of this project was the development of Exterior, which is apparently a technology to significantly increase her reach of her powers and how many people she can control at a time. During the project, she was asked to brainwash a girl that is known as Dolly, which the scientist required for data, into thinking she is her friend that left her after discovering the machines implanted on Dolly's person. Misaki somehow acquiesces and begins pretending as Dolly's friend. This ultimately ends in tragedy when it is revealed that Dolly's condition is steadily deteriorating even with Academy City's powerful medical technology, and by the time the two have become close Dolly falls ill and dies shortly after -- supposedly a foregone conclusion and necessary to the Exterior project. A crestfallen Misaki soon turns against the facility and its researchers, exerting her infuence and control over everybody involved in the project. She learns that the Clone Dolly Workshop is related to the Exterior project, and also that the scientists are to dispose of her once Exterior is completed. By the time she enters Tokiwadai Middle School, Misaki has effectively hidden Exterior and its capabilities completely.

By the way she speaks to Seria she seems to have a bit of rivalry between them though it is unknown how this developed. Finally, it has been revealed that she has knowledge of Touma prior to his memory loss, though by the way pre-memory loss Touma refers to her unassuredly as the "Level 5 at Tokiwadai who can remove people’s memories just by touching them," it was most likely not a deep one or that Touma does not connect the 5th Level 5 and Shokuhou Misaki as one and the same. According to her own words, their paths have crossed many times before their meeting in Daihaseisai, and by the way Touma is acting towards her during the Agitate Halation Arc, he must've been often preoccupied or busy to pay attention to her. Furthermore, she has stated that Touma was once angry at her and that it might be the fate of having her kind of power. This may imply that Touma was once angry at her for doing something with her powers. She has shown complete trust towards Touma despite the unscientific and ridiculous things he speaks to her. Also implying that she is in love with him.

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun
She is finally formally introduced in Toaru Kagaku no Railgun, where Mikoto is already aware of her status as well as displaying her animosity towards her. Here, she warns Mikoto if she attempts to create a clique of her own and challenge her, controlling several Tokiwadai students at the same time to get the point straight. Finally, after letting go, Mikoto asks if she truly is a middle school student after seeing her bust size, to which Misaki states the ambiguity of her appearance may be due to her powers before leaving.

Daihasei Festival Arc (Railgun)

 * Main article:Daihasei Festival Arc (Railgun)

She is later seen with members of her faction as they discuss the proposal by the Daihaseisai committee for a showing of Level 5s. Misaki says she doesn't feel it'd be right to take Mikoto's spotlight. One of her underlings expresses concern when Misaki has a second crepe when she just had one, and the girl with drill hair takes it away. Suddenly, a nameless man that was a supervisor in the Level 6 Shift prompts up Misaki as he drinks a cup of coffee from an adjacent table. Her underlings are about to intervene but she uses her powers to rewrite their memories and shoo them away—adding on that they should eat twenty Éclairs as fast as possible while they're at it. When they are gone, the man and Misaki speak on an arrangement about certain knowledge she wants. The man says he has what she wants but that Misaki shouldn't concern herself with that; the top priority this time is to get the client to trust them. He says Misaki's help is appreciated and the two beam contrasting smiles at each other that perhaps aren't that different.

During the opening of the Daihaseisai, she speaks along with Sogiita Gunha, but is quickly overshadowed by Gunha's fiery speech, drowning out her own. Since he didn't memorize the real speech and was going on guts alone, there was no coordination. She sulks afterwards, saying she was beaten.

She is later seen preparing for a competition and boasting she can just mind control the referees and player to easily win. However, Fukiyose Seiri barges in and takes the purse that contains her remote control, saying Misaki can't have gear on her that isn't for sports. Misaki stand idly with a blank look, realizing she's been had. She is absent during Tokiwadai's ill-fated ball hunting competition, but reappears at the end with the supervisor of the Level 6 Shift, looming over a tired and unconscious Misaka 10032. She reappears later during the lunch break, talking to Mikoto on how about she's too tired on doing anything else for the day, hither comes Touma, who just talked to Mikoto before Misaki showed up, and is allured by her appearance. She teases Mikoto regarding her temper, and alludes to her knowledge of his name (Touma did not introduce himself to her) and of their acquaintance from before Touma's memory loss, before leaving.

It is later revealed that she has altered the memories of the paramedics that took Misaka 10032, as well as her own teacher, Watanabe, whom she fully controlled, putting Mikoto in a tight spot. Finally, with the supervisor, she uses her powers to completely erase the memories of Misaka Mikoto from Uiharu Kazari, Shirai Kuroko, and Saten Ruiko.

In the next chapter, Misaki is shown once again standing over a bedridden Misaka 10032, seemingly coordinating her actions with Baba Yoshio while members of her clique continue to stall Mikoto's attempts to uncover her plots. By the end of Chapter 51 following the conclusion of Kongou and Baba Yoshio's battle, Misaki's clique members are unable to further stall a furious Mikoto. The following chapters introduce Kouzaku Mitori and the possibility that Misaki may not be involved with the attack on Mitsuko Kongou and her friends.

In Chapter 55 Mikoto finally confronts Misaki. The Mental Out ensures that Misaka 10032 is currently safe in her custody, and directs the Railgun to a truck. Misaki reveals that she abducted 10032 herself after she had been incapacitated to try to keep her safe while searching for the aggressors. Misaki forced information about the Level 6 Shift out of a group of researchers, realizing that Kihara Gensei was behind the plot, and also that he is attempting to exploit the Misaka Network. Misaki tells Mikoto that they are en route to Gensei's hideout to end his schemes. Mikoto asks why Misaki erased her friends' memories of her, at first suggesting that it was Misaki's idea of being considerate by keeping them out of danger. Misaki denies this, stating that it stopped Mikoto from enlisting the aid of her friends and also from forcing her way out of Misaki's clique, and that it was necessary to prevent any variables and irregularities from interfering with her plan. A shocked Mikoto asks why she couldn't have just worked with her from the beginning, pointing out the extent of Kongou's injuries. Misaki says that although what happened to Kongou was unfortunate, it ultimately helped her since it resulted in the destruction of Baba Yoshio's robots, which Misaki had no way of dealing with. An enraged Mikoto demands once again why she did not simply ask for her help, but Misaki states that co-operation and trust are unreliable -- it was Mikoto's trust in others, after all, that led to the Radio Noise Project and the Level 6 Shift. Misaki concludes that she has no intention of working with anybody whose mind she cannot read. They are only working together, Misaki says, because of her respect for Mikoto's devotion to her friends and the possibility of finishing the job before Gensei can react. Mikoto says that she doesn't think that she will ever be able to get along with Misaki. Before they are about to begin the assault on Gensei's hideout Mikoto asks why a person like Misaki would help the Sisters, to which the Mental Out says she has no obligation to tell her that much.

The impromptu alliance between the Railgun and Mental Out begins with Mikoto hurrying forward, speeding past her ally. When Misaki doesn't catch up, Mikoto believes that she has been set up since the path they took was straight and there was no way that she could have gotten lost. An exhausted Misaki catches up moments later, chastising Mikoto for losing focus and getting worked up. Mikoto says that she thought she was jogging. Misaki hurriedly responds that Mikoto is simply lighter than her in certain areas and that she is more aerodynamic. Mikoto asks if she is simply out of shape and the two argue heatedly about the importance of athletic abilities and body shapes. They finally decide that they should not be moving together and split up, both Tokiwadai students telling the other not to get in each others' way. Misaki is later seen mind-controlling a group of Gensei's thugs, forcing several to fire on each other while sealing off the rest of the complex to prevent any escape. As the infiltration of Gensei's hideout progresses, Misaki's mental manipulation has completely broken apart the cohesion Gensei's troops as they cannot identify who is friend or foe. Misaki meets up with a disguised Mikoto, making a quip about her outfit as she is escorted by a pair of guards. She says that the building has been sealed off and is then told by a mind controlled guard that Gensei has been captured. Later, Mikoto and Misaki attempt to interrogate a restrained and blindfolded Gensei, but he only utters gibberish. Misaki says that she doesn't need him to talk, she only needs to ask his brain. When she uses her remote on him, she realizes that something is wrong. She grabs Gensei and yanks at his scalp, ripping it apart and revealing that they had only apprehended a disguised minion. Misaki hurries away from the body double and a confused Mikoto—her reading of the body double's mind shows that the real Gensei was a step ahead of Misaki and he quips that she is in the wrong place, and that she "can't protect Exterior like that." She rushes towards towards Exterior before Gensei can reach it. She tells Mikoto that Gensei that he might've used the urban legend website that was recently buried into the Internet in order to find it. As the car she is on races towards their destination, they are suddenly stopped by a huge traffic jam. The driver tells her that an Automated bus that exploded yesterday (due to the work of Stiyl Magnus), and since the City pulled out its main transportation for the Festival to find the cause, it caused a traffic jam. Running out of time, Misaki calls out to Exterior, allowing him to control many people for kilometers on end, forcing them to drive out of the way. This event amazes Mikoto, though questions how she was able to pull it off.

It is revealed in a flashback that Misaki was part of an experiment used to develop her powers further. This involved gathering data on a clone named Dolly -- though the only means to do this was by the pretext of befriending her, as Dolly had been traumatized by the loss of a friend in the past due to the latter seeing her disfigured, machine-embedded body (a necessity to keep her alive). However, as Misaki, who Dolly refers to as Mii-chan, begins to spend more time with Dolly she slowly warms up to her.

Misaki reveals to Dolly that her powers tend to alienate her at school, hence her ambivalence towards it. Their relationship culminates in Misaki's promise to take Dolly to the ocean when she is released from the institute. Unfortunately, by the time they have become close friends Dolly's condition deteriorates immensely and she is taken away, asking Misaki for her real name just before she leaves her. When Misaki asks a researcher if Dolly's condition will improve and if she will return soon he coldly replies that this will be the last time she sees Dolly, and that the full details are murky at best; he explains to a shocked Misaki that Dolly's body had "long since passed its limit", even with Academy City's scientific capabilities. He then states that everything is going according to plan, and that even Dolly was aware of it. Misaki sinks into a stupor at this development and ceases to further any of her curriculum. A researcher passes by to chastise her lack of activity and also to inform her that Dolly has died — Misaki does not react to this at all. Later, the scientists discuss Misaki becoming a problem due to her inactivity and her negativity over Dolly's death. One scientist in particular notes that "even that girl has human emotions", while another suggests telling Misaki that Dolly was simply a clone to improve her attitude. One researcher explains the significance of the Exterior project and that the "Clone Dolly Workshop is the crystallization of our greatest wishes," another adding that the substantial growth of Misaki's power will soon render their mental guard helmets useless, and finally that the truth of the project will be impossible to hide at that point. The other researcher replies that it is not a problem, and a certain figure asks why; he replies that once Exterior is complete, there will be no further use for Shokuhou Misaki and that she can be disposed of when the opportunity presents itself. It is then revealed that Misaki has been among the meeting all along, having brainwashed every single scientist in the project starting with the lower-level researcher they had experimented on earlier, using him to tamper with the other researchers' helmets while she asserted her influence everywhere else.

Misaki notes that she brainwashed everybody related to Exterior before she had entered Tokiwadai Middle School, and that none of them would leak any information even if they were tortured -- there should be no way Gensei should have known about Exterior otherwise.

Toaru Majutsu no Index
Misaki has never made an appearance in Toaru Majutsu no Index but is often referenced throughout the series for her role as a powerful telepath, and is always referred to in the third person or as her alias, The Queen of Tokiwadai.

Index Arc

 * Main article:Index Arc

Kamijou Touma first references her during the Index Arc. While trying to convince Kanzaki Kaori to let Academy City help Index, he tells her that there's a Level 5 at Tokiwadai that could extract people's memories by just touching them. It is unknown what would happen if Misaki were to what Touma what intended her to do, but most likely if she were to see into Index's mind, and thus her many grimoires, the backlash would most likely severely harm her.

Acqua of the Back Arc

 * Main article:Acqua of the Back Arc

In Volume 16, Mikoto mentions Shokuhou (by her epithet "The Queen") for the first time, recalling that the Queen is the best mind controller in Academy City. Mikoto first considers asking her to fix Kamijou Touma's memory loss problem, but quickly dismisses the idea since she isn't on good enough terms with her, and Mikoto did not want to end up in the "Queen's" debt. Mikoto also did not like the idea of trusting the health of a friend to someone she has an indirect rivalry with.

Homecoming Arc

 * Main article:Homecoming Arc

Misaka Mikoto, when faced with a drunken Touma, thinks to herself that it isn't an illusion created by Misaki.

Kumokawa Seria tries to psyche herself up by imitating something Misaki would say, but finds that she can't do it and is way out of Misaki's league for that sort of thing. This hints that these two schemers know each other somewhat for Seria to know Misaki personally.

Baggage City Arc

 * Main article:Baggage City Arc

Although she does not appear, research material from her are used by Kihara Ransuu to create hallucinogenic drugs he uses against GREMLIN.

Ichihanaran Festival Arc

 * Main article:Ichihanaran Festival Arc

Kumokawa Seria mentions her saying that she would use her powers in order to win a swimsuit competition, implying that Shokuhou will join Eiri High School's swimsuit competition.

At 8 AM of the festival, Misaka Mikoto tried to go to A Certain High School to check out its trial enrollment. There, she runs into Shokuhou at the main entrance, much to her bewilderment. She then controls several people in the vicinity and had them chase and tease her, forcing Mikoto to flee. It is unknown why Shokuhou was there in the first place.

Shokuhou later appears in Eiri High School for the swimsuit competition. She claims to have been forced by her friends to become part of the competition, and refers to Seria as an old woman, as she refuses to come near her. Seria then mentions that she is in the opposite side is to get out of her strange.

Agitate Halation Arc

 * Main article:Agitate Halation Arc

Shokuhou controls a student from one of the five schools that control the School Garden, wanting to expand her reach of information gathering after hearing about the rumors of a pervert sneaking into the School Garden. Much to her surprise, she finds that it is Kamijou Touma, and shows some familiarity towards him. She references their meeting in Daihaseisai, though he cannot remember it, as well as their relationship to him in the past, to which only confusing him after hearing of his explanation about magic in the School Garden and the danger poses to it. She helps him by having her clique serve as bait for Mikoto while she, still controlling a girl, hide Touma. She also follows him around the Garden, aiding and giving him information whenever she can. She acts a bit playful when doing so, tricking him into looking at the half naked boy the girl she is using, making him look more insidious to the girls than before, and trying to scare him, but all and all she means well.

After having collected all the maps from all five schools of the School Garden, Touma reaches an empasse on where the Altar of the Wisdom King would be kept. Misaki, after her usual trickery and cunning, convinces a luggage entry inspector to let them use the data for items that have passed through, as she deemed that antiques or works of art such as what the Altar of the Wisdom King would be referred as would go through there. Later, trying to get into Shiraha Social Support Club, Misaki gives a suprisingly pragmatic approach to getting an authorization card from the girls attend there. Using anpan and milk, they drop them on a target girl, which allowed Misaki to steal an authoriazation card from the other girl next to her authoriazation cards, using Touma is a decoy. Once inside, Touma searched for the spritual item but could not find it. Misaki tells him to become suspicious of the source of the information that was given to him. Touma begins to doubt Tsuchimikado Motoharu's words when he dropped him off in School Garden to deal with the Altar of the Wisdom King himself. At that point, an airship showing the latest headlines shows a news regarding the death of Tsuchimikado Maika in a fire in her dorm. Misaki tells Touma that someone might have intentionally kept him inside School Garden like a cage in order for them to be able to do something else.

From that point on, Touma completely abandons the wild goose chase as well as Misaki. She tries to pursue Touma, having been left out in the dark, Mikoto apparently followed her for the same purpose. They later find themselves in the midst of the "heroes" rioting in Learning Core due to the effects of Agitate Halation, and they too, presumably, were affected by it. Misaki discovers someone who is acting as the 6th Level 5, though does not care for it very much. As she is surrounded by the "heroes," she takes control of some of them to her advantage, diverting some of them towards Mikoto, much to her annoyance. After hearing Mikoto's explanation of being there, she tells her that the first one to reach Touma gets to do whatever she wants, which confuses Mikoto. As the riot continues, the "heroes" try to find ways to stop Mikoto, to which she requests Misaki to use her powers to stop them as she can use it without hurting them unlike Mikoto. Misaki ignores her request, but is then attacked by a leopard released from the zoo of Learning Core by one of the heroes, she is quickly surrounded by them as she is unable to control an animal's brain. She then asks Mikoto for help, to which Mikoto says she will but only after the leopard bite off her breast. Despite her request, Misaki makes use of espers and counterattacks, allowing to retain her ground. Misaki shows her annoyance at the unpredictable and pragmatic methods of heroes.

After the resolution of the rioting, Touma does not reference meeting the girls afterwards, implying that the both of them failed in their objective.

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun OVA 01

 * Main article:Toaru Kagaku no Railgun OVA 01

Not actually appearing in person per se, but she is referenced by Shirai Kuroko in the final moments of the first Toaru Kagaku no Railgun OVA, where she states that there are two Level 5s Tokiwadai Middle School.

Abilities
Her ability is Mental Out (心理掌握 (メンタルアウト) ), a very powerful ability involving the human mind which includes reading other people's memories, telepathy, changing a person's personality by means of brainwashing, memory elimination, amplification of will, institution of illusions, and transplantation of emotions.

Moreover, it has also been shown that she can somehow prevent the use of powers and movement of other people using the remote. Also, unique to the power is that some of the people that have been tampered and controlled by Shokuhou display star markings (Misaki's eyes are stars on them) on one or both their eyes. She can take-over a person and use his or her body to interact with other people in long distance. She has the ability to control not more ten people at once using her full power. She can also control large number of people but she can only give them simple commands. Using her powers, she was able to give preset commands to each student of all five schools in the School Garden, and is able to switch between them constantly if she needs to.

Through the use of Exterior, she can increase her reach and the number of people she can control. In the first instance the audience sees her use it, she forces kilometers wide of drivers to move out of the way in order for their car to drive through. She still requires the usage of a remote controller to do this however.

Drawbacks
The limitations of the number of people she can control is most likely a limiter. Her powers apparently have such a wide application for her powers that she did not have a stable control if it unless she created "boundaries" for herself. Repeatedly, Misaki is shown to use a remote to use her powers. According to Toaru Kagaku no Railgun's editor, Misaki's powers has too high a degree of freedom, so she uses a remote to provide a basis to work off of. She does not have a single remote. She uses different remotes depending on what type of power she wishes to use. The bag she carries around is filled with a lot of different remotes. It is possible for her to use her powers without a remote, but it is very difficult so she generally prefers not to. This is backed up by the fact that Rensa, the cyborg which can mimic the powers of all Level 5s execept the 7th ranked one, is forced to dumpster dive for a television remote for her to use her powers against Touma. The fact that she tried to use a television remote taken from the trash, implies that Misaki can use any sort of remote control, even things such as something like a Wii remote control.

Mikoto's electromagnetic barrier, which surrounds her body, prevents Misaki from using her powers on her. It is unknown if it applies to other Electromasters as well. Finally, Misaki cannot control animals or anything that is not human. This is seen when she is desperately trying to get escaped zoo animals off of her and resorts to controlling a hero in order to save herself by shooting ice at the animal that had pounced on her.

Design evolution
Haimura was told that there was going to be a meeting that would decided her character for her appearance in the Toaru Kagaku no Railgun manga. Haimura's first draft of her design was drawn without thought and before he was given instructions and descriptions on what Misaki would look like, other than that she was designed to look like a shoujo character that will not stand out when mixed in a group of characters. After the meeting that decided her character, the draft of Misaki with the blonde hair was chosen and Haimura later finished the overall look of her character.

For her bag, Haimura first designed the bag with many stars, and later realizing that it was too cluttered, simplified it.

Quotes

 * (Misaki as she is poking Mikoto in the library, from Railgun Chapter 41): "Miiii-saaa-kaaa-saaan!"
 * (Taunting Mikoto about Kongou Mitsuko, ibid): "I heard you were forcing yourself on a transfer student that had no place to belong to... On the surface you're being a wolf, while in the back you're making a secret gang?"
 * (Threating Mikoto and her friends, ibid): "Ah, I see! All I have to do is take Misaka-san's followers with my brainwashing ability.♥"
 * (Talking about the Level 5 demonstration, from Railgun Chapter 43): "Hmm... Just doing it would be fine, but going as a stand-in for Misaka-san just doesn't feel right..."
 * (Misaki commanding her clique, from Railgun Chapter 43): "You guys leave for 15 minutes. Oh, and challenge yourself to eat 20 Éclair as fast as possible during that time.☆"
 * (To Touma, from NT 7): "But you are always like this. Perhaps that is the proper form for our relationship ability. No matter how many times I ask or our paths cross, the answer is always the same. Saying this will probably make you angry just like back then, but perhaps that is my punishment for having this power. After all, these repeated coincidences cannot be explained logically☆"
 * (To Touma, ibid): "“Yes, yes. I believe you. If you say that is the case, then that must be the case."
 * (Misaki using her powers to affect the "heroes", ibid): "Category 109 / Shokuhou Misaki is your ally. Immediately eliminate anyone who attacks her. Category 081 / Your target, Shokuhou Misaki, is the boy standing next to you. Category 220 / You are afraid of sailor uniforms. If any get near you, you want to eliminate them."

Trivia

 * Along with the 6th Level 5, her identity was one of the most speculated in the series by the fandom. This was brought on by both series' characters referencing her, and Mikoto's apparent lack of trust towards her.
 * Misaka Mikoto stated in chapter 5 of volume 1 of the Railgun manga that every level 5 from Tokiwadai started out initially as level 1, it hasn't been touched up how accurate that might be.