Kakine Teitoku

Kakine Teitoku (垣根 帝督) is one of the seven Level 5 espers, ranking second after Accelerator and is the leader of SCHOOL, one of the many underground factions in Academy City.

Personality
He is rivals with Mugino Shizuri, ITEM's leader and the #4 Level 5 esper. He strives to become the strongest, even if it means that he needs to kill off Accelerator. He's also a ruthless, cocky, and cold hearted individual, though at times he may show mercy. When attempting to find Last Order to draw out Accelerator he attacks and tortures Uiharu and was on the verge of killing her when she refused to get him Last Order's location; but when attempting to eliminate Takitsubo Rikou, he decided to let her go as she was already on the verge of self-destruction from over-use of her ability. He prefers not to get innocent people involved in his battles, though if they do get involved, he will not go out of his way to protect them. However, he shows no mercy to his enemies or anyone who opposes him and will crush them without hesitation.

In his fight with Accelerator, it was noted Kakine probably also went through tragedies like the kind Accelerator went through which twisted his personality. He is extremely envious of Accelerator because of his right to communicate directly with Aleister and seeks to defeat him and become the #1 Level 5 so that he may have that right.

Plot (Toaru Majutsu no Index)
He was the "spare plan" for Aleister Crowley's secret project in the event that Accelerator would not meet Crowley's expectations. He did not like the idea and tried to eliminate Accelerator but failed.

The first time when he is mentioned in volume 15 is when Mugino Shizuri and ITEM assault the District 5 Virus Isolation Center. ITEM encounters SCHOOL there, and are presumably able to kill the Goggles Boy before being forced to retreat, leaving behind both Frenda and Kinuhata Saiai. While escaping, Shizuri reveals that Teitoku was with SCHOOL at the destination and she was defeated.

The first time Kakine is seen in person, it is revealed that he has managed to obtain the Pincet Glove. He explains that he plans to use the glove in some way to get close to Aleister. He is then ambushed by "The Professor", the leader of MEMBER who uses a type of nanomachine called "Mimosa" to attack him. "The Professor", believing he has won begins to gloat about his victory to Baba Yoshio. However, Kakine reveals that he is still alive and proceeds to kill "The Professor".

Later, he attacks ITEM in an attempt to eliminate Takitsubo Rikou. However, Saiai manages to help both Takitsubo and Hamazura Shiage run away while Mugino holds Kakine back. However, Kakine easily defeats both Mugino and Kinuhata (though he leaves both of them alive) before intercepting Takitsubo. Takitsubo opts to save Hamazura and stays to fight Kakine on her own, but Hamazura returns to help her out. Takitsubo attempts to defeat Teitoku by forcibly taking control of his AIM field and turning it against him, but fails and is defeated. As Rikou is already on the verge of death due to her over-use of Body Clear, and because he does not view Hamazura as a threat in the first place, Teitoku leaves them both alive, informing Hamazura that if Takitsubo uses Body Clear again, she will most probably die.

Later, he learns the true capability of his power and "awakens", after which he gains three pairs of wings (like a seraph) and acquires flight capabilities and greater proficiency with his manipulation of Dark Matter. He is able to corner Accelerator, but Accelerator manages to update his AIM field and add Dark Matter to the list of things he can control. Accelerator then proceeds to hold an advantage even using Dark Matter against Kakine. Accelerator then also "awakens" and finally defeats him, destroying most of his body.

He is currently being kept alive by "Dark Legacy", where his brain is preserved as a constant source of Dark Matter.

Abilities
The angelic nature of his ability is described as "He who wields a piece of the Heaven that is inhabited by God", and just like Accelerator, Aiwass has shown great interest in the now torn apart body of Kakine.


 * Dark Matter (未元物質), is his esper ability which allows him to create an unknown material that he uses to attack. It should be noted that the term "Dark Matter" is not to be confused with the true "Dark Matter" which is among the components of the universe. In addition, 'unknown matter' here does not mean matter that has not been discovered by humans but matter that did not exist until it was created by Kakine. The material he creates defies the Laws of Physics. It also grants him flight capabilities. When fighting Kinuhata Saiai, he is also able to utilize his ability to create a strange explosion which is able to instantly knock Saiai out. His Dark Matter can initially even strike through Accelerator's Reflect, though after Accelerator took into account how 'normal' physics don't work on Kakine's ability he re-calculated and managed to reflect Kakine's Dark Matter, and even use it against him later.


 * Pincet Glove: Is the claw that Kakine wears on his right hand, it is the tool he uses to to grab nano-sized matter. Kakine used it to capture Underline, the nano-machine which Crowley used to monitor Academy City. It should be noted that the glove was originally a large, bulky piece of machinery, but Kakine modified it by "only leaving the truly necessary parts" greatly diminishing it's size and weight.

Trivia

 * Fans usually depict Kakine in various works as a man - or in rare instances, a brain with three pairs of wings - inside a refrigerator. This is a reference to how his brain was restored by Aleister Crowley in order to utilize his esper ability beyond his death.
 * It is suggested that his ability and Accelerator's are related in some way. Once Kakine and Accelerator fully Awaken, it is stated that Accelerator controls the organic while Dark Matter controls the inorganic of a higher plane. In addition to this, it is stated that Accelerator's black wings are made of the same Dark Matter that Kakine creates with his ability.

Quotes

 * (Against Professor's surprise attack) "Are you making fun of me? Cause it sounds to me like you want to become a nice corpse."


 * (Against Kinuhata Saiai's surprise attack) "So you weighed your pride against your death. That’s sentimental but not realistic."