Sogiita Gunha

Sogiita Gunha (削板 軍覇) is the 7th ranking Level 5 esper and one of the most powerful in Academy City. He is the most powerful Gemstone esper in the series so far. Despite being a Level 5 the underlying nature of his ability is unknown and defies the understanding of Academy City. His rank as the 7th may not be reflective of his true capabilities since no one truly understands his powers.

Etymology
His full name can be translated as "Supremacy of the Military Court".

Appearance
Gunha can easily be recognized by his modified white uniform. He wears his jacket over his shoulders as a make-shift cape similar to Musujime Awaki. He also wears a white headband on his forehead to match his overall style. But the most noticeable part of his ensemble is his Rising Sun shirt, which aptly matches his personality. His hair is black and is somewhat windswept and spiky.

An alternate drawing of Gunha has him wearing a sweater vest, a collared shirt, and hair that is swept and combed down. He also looks calm and discreet, unlike his usual flamboyant and hot-blooded self. This version reflects one of the possible alternate characterisations for Gunha before his character was finalized by the author, or it might be to give him a Clark Kent mode like any hero.

Background
Currently very little is known about Gunha's background, though it is confirmed that he is one of the few pure Gemstones in the world and is also the greatest among them so far. He was also trained by the Kihara Research Institute.

Personality
His personality is not unlike Kamijou Touma, though he is considered hot-blooded and dives into problems headfirst without considering the consequences, as shown through the encounter between Gunha and Ollerus or Gunha and Mikoto, where he misunderstood the intentions and situation.

He is also somewhat dense in certain situations, as shown in Toaru Jihanki no Fanfare. The first thing he says after catching Mikoto's Railgun (Shot with 1/3 of Mikoto's actual power) with his bare teeth is commenting that gaming tokens aren't supposed to be taken outside arcades, and that he'll go back with her to return it and apologize.

He also appears to have a habit of giving completely impossible explanations for the nature of his abilities. For example, his explanation for what he does when he executes Attack Crash is that he creates an unstable field of psychokinesis in front of him and destroys it by providing a stimulus from his fist, thus causing an explosive aftereffect for some distance, something which Haratani Yabumi -- a student in the Power Development Curriculum's psychokinetics -- says is impossible. Also, he explains his Aurora Guard as him lifting the Earth's electromagnetic field and using it to defend against electricity-based attacks, another impossible phenomenon.

Level Upper Arc
Gunha himself does not appear early in the manga but is seen in one of the collections of memories that formed the AIM Burst, where he was referred by a man who used the Level Upper, with Gunha being the catalyst for the man to use the Level Upper after witnessing Gunha using his Amazing Punch on a bunch of thugs. The man later dresses-up like Gunha after recovering from the coma-induced by the Level Upper, but is told that he doesn't look good in it.

Daihasei Festival Arc (Railgun)
The Daihaseisai committee is looking for Level 5s for a demonstration. They go to Gunha's school, but he has been absent for awhile. However, a teacher accepts the proposition, saying that he's the type of person that when asked something won't turn it down.

Gunha makes his official debut during the opening of the Daihaseisai, he speaks along with Shokuhou Misaki, but quickly overshadows her with his fiery speech. Since he didn't memorize the real speech and was going on guts alone, there was no coordination and he made things as he went on. He gives a show and shouts passionately about guts, prompting teachers to say he goofed it.

After seeing the lighting strikes caused by Mikoto's power boost, he decides to investigates the situation. He arrives just in time to save Kamijou Touma from being crushed by a large pile of magnetic controlled rubble, which he easily destroys. He then ignores Touma's explanation of the situation, as they continue to argue about what to do when Misaka fires a lighting blast at each of them. Both teens not bothered by the incoming attacks and stop them in their own ways, they then decide to stop their argument and work together to stop her. As their fight against Mikoto continues she is becoming stronger due to her ongoing transformation. When Touma mentions that he wanted to come near Mikoto to check if he can negate her transformation, Sogiita says to leave it to him and uses Amazing Punch to create a path for him. He then procides to throw Touma at Mikoto and catching him in midair, Touma explains he can't fully negate her transformation because the source of power constantly sent her power and they can only held Mikoto back as an another person tries to stop her transformation. As she further transforms, Gunha asks what she is trying to do. As he ponders this he is stuck full on in the face by one of her attacks and is shot into a building. When Touma wants to check if he is okay, he jumps up and lands near Touma saying he is pathetic for letting his guard down and needs more guts or he will be in trouble while ignoring his bleeding head wound before resuming their fight against her.

Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume SS2
In his original debut in the novels, Gunha ended up in a fight with some thugs on a patrol, saving Haratani Yabumi. Later, he fought against a very powerful magician known as Ollerus due to a misunderstanding and the fact that the Sister clones had been protecting him without his knowledge. Without trying, Ollerus beats Gunha, prompting the latter to marvel at the amazing people in the world and to train his guts all over again.

Agitate Halation Arc
Gunha makes a brief appearance during the riot of "heroes" in the Learning Core. Seemingly unaffected by Agitate Halation, Gunha is more concerned for the trees burning due to their riots and is apparently oblivious of Fremea Seivelun or the reason the "heroes" are rioting in the first place. He literally punches out the fires that is burning the trees with enough power to knock out other people. He is the one responsible for knocking out Fusou Ayame before Mugino Shizuri could attack her in earnest. He later warns the "heroes" that his method of saving lives is not something that they can withstand without any guts, warning them that if they want to run away they better do so now.

Toaru Jihanki no Fanfare
He appears in the Railgun Sidestory where Shirai Kuroko thinks he's bullying students--which isn't the case--and has a brief skirmish with her. They stop when they see Kihara Nayuta and Misaka Mikoto fighting near Vending Machine 7116, and both rush to the scene. Gunha steps in and ruins the fight, and prompts Mikoto's anger after saying a few dumb things. They test each other's mettle, where Gunha demonstrates that he is able to catch her Railgun at 30% power in between his teeth. He also managed to withstand various attacks like twin chainsaw-like swords of iron sand and a lightning strike from the sky Mikoto used to attack him. In the end, the Tokiwadai Dorm Supervisor arrives and snaps Mikoto's neck, and warns Gunha to move along, sending shivers up his spine.

Abilities
His ability displays a variety of effects which maybe the reason why Academy City cannot comprehend it fully. Ollerus has said that if Gunha were to understand his own ability, he could beat him hinting that Gunha's true potential hasn't been unlocked yet. There are parallels between his incomprehensible powers and the way a Majin's powers work. Kihara Nayuta, which can see AIM fields, has said the AIM around Gunha bends and twists. Haratani has said, regarding Gunha's powers to Kuroko: "What you saw was all just an illusion. It would be better for your mental health if you think of it like that. Maybe..."

The abilities he has demonstrated are:


 * Explosion - Create a strange explosion around him that throws people away.
 * Indifference to pain and Invulnerability - Not wholy but feels prickly pain when hurt and will not receive any serious damage when he is shot or pierced in the heart. He also is able to catch Mikoto's 30% Railgun shot with the teeth. He could also take an attack from Mikoto while her powers were rising to Level 6 with only slight head wound and recovered almost instantly.
 * Enhanced Speed - He can perform physical combat at twice the speed of sound.
 * Pseudo-teleport - He is also capable of "teleport", displayed in a little fight against Kuroko.
 * Forcefield Projection - Cover his whole body with unknown forcefield.
 * Attack Crash (念動砲弾 (アタッククラッシュ) ) - Gunha's sure-kill technique. He yells 'Amazing Punch' (すごいパーンチ) when executing it. Stated to be impossible by physics and cannot possibly be the explanation in the light novels, so the exact mechanics of this attack are unknown.
 * Aurora Guard (磁力戦線 (オーロラガード) ) - He can bring up a part of Earth's electromagnetism field by using "telekinesis" to act as a shield against Mikoto Misaka's most powerful lighting strike. Stated to be impossible by physics and cannot possibly be the explanation in the light novels, so the exact mechanics of how he can stop Mikoto's electric attacks are unknown.

Design evolution
Preliminary design for him had Gunha look completely different from his final design, noted by Haimura as his poor grasp of his character. His design was finalized after asking Kamachi. Here, Haimura had designed him with an overall concept of a (mistaken) Showa era banchou.

Quotes

 * (To Ollerus in SS2)" "I’ll show you what true guts are!! You don’t need some great reason. A man who isn’t twisted or rotten, even if he’s a complete stranger, can stand up for some injured girls!!"
 * (To Mikoto in Toaru Jihanki no Fanfare): "Fufu, I can imagine what you're going to do now. Either way, it'll be really painful if I take one of these. Then, I have to bet all my guts and defend with all I got."
 * (To Mikoto in Toaru Jihanki no Fanfare): "Arcade game coins are not to be brought out. [...] I feel that it's better that you return this to the arcade before the shopkeeper gets angry. Well, I can go apologize with you if you want."
 * (To Mikoto, after she calls him an idiot): "I see, so I'm an idiot. [...] But, well, SUCH TRIVIAL STUFF LIKE WHETHER I'M SMART OR DUMB IS UNNECESSARY! I DON'T HAVE TO MIND!!"
 * (To Kuroko in Toaru Jihanki no Fanfare): "Owww... What was that? ...Super speed or time stop? No, wait, you can teleport yourself, right? That's some guts you have there! But I won't accept ambushes. A man has to teleport his opponent right in front of him! Oh, but you're a girl, so that's fine... I guess."
 * (Gunha's derailing speech in the Daihaseisai's opening): "...And the unbreaking bonds will... The bonds will... Ah, what was it? Ah, well. There was a bunch of stuff about the unbreakable bonds that you'll have to deal with while your guts overflow! Show the results of your everyday training and guts! Show off that splendor and guts to those weaklings without it! To make this tournament the best memory ever! By overcoming all sorts obstacles through trial and hardship and getting up everytime we fall down! OVERCOME EVERYTHING WITH GUTS!!!"