Tsuchimikado Motoharu

Tsuchimikado Motoharu (土御門 元春) is a character in Toaru Majutsu no Index series. He is Touma's next door neighbour, and along with him, Touma, and Aogami Pierce, are part of A Certain Highschool's Class 1-7, and with the three of them, they are called the Three Idiots—Delta Force.

Initially referred to off-handedly as Touma's other classmate and neighbour (though in the anime is shown earlier as a recurring side character), is later properly introduced during the Angel Fall Arc, as a spy for several organizations, most prominently Academy City and Necessarius, and as the first known Magician-Esper hybrid. After the events of the invasion of Academy City, he later becomes an important character in the events of Toaru Majutsu no Index, and becomes a member of GROUP, which which he joins to ensure the safety of his beloved stepsister Maika.

Etymology
Motoharu's last name is derived from the Tsuchimikado clan, who took control of Onmyoudou in the 11th century, up until the middle of the 19th century, when it was prohibited by the government.

Appearance
He has blonde hair and is always seen with sunglasses and a gold chain around his neck. He wears shorts and only a green shirt with white floral patterns, reminscent of sterotypical Hawaiian shirts, when not in his school. However, he wears the shirt along with his winter uniform. His appearance is due to the fact that he wants to be popular with girls, however, because of this he is mistaken as a delinquent.

Personality
As the meaning of his sorcery name indicates, he is a trickster and liar by his own admission, willing to betray anyone if it helps him. Maybe because of this attribute, he has survived being a multiple agent of various factions.

Regardless of being a serious magician and a spy, Motoharu enjoys being a highschool student. He is with good terms with Kamijou Touma, and with his classmates, and gets into various shenanigans with them. However, he shows he has a caring side, and that is when regarding his step-sister, Tsuchimikado Maika which he dotes on and loves, and is the reason why he is referred to as the Siscon Sergeant, due to his behavior with his step-sister. And it shows, as he easily gets jealous when Touma and Aogami Pierce where referred by Maika as Onii-chan. Maika is also the reason why he has somehow stayed loyal to Academy City, and puts his life on danger for it, in order to protect the world Maika lives in.

Background
According to him, Motoharu was an agent of Necessarius, as an Onmyouji Professor specializing in Feng Shui, and up until his graduation in middle-school, stayed in London most of the time. He is fluent in both Japanese and English, and upon Kanzaki Kaori's joining of Necessarius taught her how to speak English. After graduation, Motoharu went to Academy City, and from then on, joined the Power Curriculum Program as a Level 0, rendering his usage of magic dangerous. He later enrolls into A Certain Highschool, and was set into Tsukuyomi Komoe's Class 1-7, along with Touma, and Aogami Pierce, and became good friends.

It is unknown when he became a multiple agent, or how he acquired his sorcery name, but the reason is obvious that is for his step-sister. He even indicates that she is the only one he will not betray. For the most part of the story, he is aware of the Imaginary Number District, as well as having exclusive access to Aleister Crowley in his Windowless Building. He is also aware of Touma's various trials, such as his rescue of Index, his assault with Stiyl Magnus of Misawa Cram School to rescue Himegami Aisa, as well as Touma's hand in the shutdown of the Level 6 Shift and his defeat of Accelerator.

Index Arc

 * Main article:Index Arc

In the anime adaptation, Motoharu is introduced alongside Aogami Pierce, making fun of Touma being punished by Komoe. In the light novel, he is referred as being Touma's neighbor, and before discovering the truth, assumed that the bloody Index that was in front of apartment porch was Motoharu's vomit.

Deep Blood Arc

 * Main article:Deep Blood Arc

Once agian for the anime adaptation, Motoharu comes along Aogami, and commenting on Touma's relationship with Index. He and Aogami Pierce is later taken to a fastfood restaurant, due to Index, and is allowed to buy food, due to Touma paying for them all. They later discover Himegami Aisa, where he, Aogami Pierce, and Touma, play a game of rock, paper, and scissors, in order to determine who gets to talk to help Aisa, who just lost all her money. Motoharu is not seen again after Aisa is taken by the teachers of Misawa Cram School.

Angel Fall Arc

 * Main article:Angel Fall Arc

As his official debut, he comes to the beach with Kanzaki Kaori, as agents of Necessarius, being the only ones who are and are apparently able deal with Angel Fall. He and Kaori where in Windsor Castle, and were able to detect and protect themselves at the advent of Angel Fall.

In the original novel, Motoharu is the first person Touma meets that to him is completely normal, and warns him that Kaori is after him, as they have tracked the source of Angel Fall near him. After clearing up Touma's confusion of him being a spy and a magician, as well as his innocence, they later retire for the night, where Motoharu is forced to hide himself due to being in the form of Hitotsui Hajime. He berates Kaori's attitude towards Touma, telling him to be more thankful and trust him. After Hino Jinsaku's failed attack on Wadatsumi, and meeting Misha Kreutzev, they later agree on making Jinsaku the prime suspect of Angel Fall. They later travel to Touma's neighborhood the next day, as they see that Jinsaku has invaded his home, and with him leading the way, stealthfully make their way, from the police present. During the time where Kaori tries to setup a spell to distract the police, he discusses to Touma regarding feng shui and onmyoudou, as well as Kaori's history, telling Touma not to say his "such misfortune" catchphrase, as Kaori laments her own great fortune. Him and Touma later invade his home in the ground floor, while Kaori and Sasha take the second floor. Motoharu sees the queer charms that Touma's father has collected but is apparently too occupied to take action. They later get attack by Jinsaku, and with a little bit of fighting, take him down. After Touma discovers Touya is the culprit of Angel Fall, he is later left alone with Jinsaku, telling Touma and Kaori to go after her. He later returns to the beach, during Misha being discovered as Archangel Gabriel, and later leaves Kaori to fight Gabriel on her own. In the Wadatsumi beachhouse, he drugs the denizens, there including Index, and Touma's cousin, and later tells Touma that Touya did indeed cast Angel Fall, but purely by chance, and that to stop Angel Fall, and stop Gabriel from destroying civilization itself, the ritual location, which is Touma's house filled with charms and idols, need to be destroyed in one blow, and indicates that someone needs to be sacrificed. Seeing the implications, Touma and then later Touya, fight him, but is quickly dispatched. Soon after, Motoharu shows to Touma who the one that needs to be sacrificed, himself, and uses magic, knowing that it would injure him. Touma tries to stop him, but the spell activates regardless, destroying Touma's house, and ending the crisis. Motoharu later visits Touma in the hospital, much to the latter's surprise, and shows him his ability, Auto-Rebirth, an esper power that heals him, though he is still Level 0, and that using magic might kill him. He leaves later, as Index, angered by Touma's actions against her (since she was in the form of Aogami Pierce), invades Touma's ward.

The anime adaptation, removes the entire Jinsaku subplot, allowing Motoharu to explain to Touma not to say his "Such misfortune" line later on, and as well as extremely limiting the explanation regarding Onmyoudou. In the anime adaptation, as Touma, Misha, and Motoharu, discover that Touya is the culprit behind Angel Fall, Touma's mother discovers Motoharu and hugs, as she is a fan of him (being that Motoharu is in the form of Hitotsui Hajime), forcing Motoharu to be left behind. It is unknown how Motoharu got Shiina safe from the eventual destruction of her home. Later, as Motoharu arrives in the beach, he does not talk with Kaori after discovering that Misha is an angel, and remains hidden from her, as he begins planning to stop Angel Fall.

Three Stories Arc

 * Main article:Three Stories Arc

With Aogami Pierce, he makes fun of Touma for not being able to finish his summer homework, this later devolves into fighting in the original novel, as he discovers that Maika has been calling the both of them as Onii-chan. He and Aogami are later mouth agape, as they see Misaka Mikoto, come upon Touma, who later drags him away.

Kazakiri Hyouka Arc

 * Main article:Kazakiri Hyouka Arc

Motoharu appears before Aleister Crowley in the Windowless Building, telling him that Sherry Cromwell of Necessarius, has infiltrated Academy City. He states that he will go after her, being a magician of Necessarius, allowing the balance of magic and science side not to strain. However, Aleister tells Motoharu to stay his hand, as he wants to use Sherry for his plans with the Imaginary Number Sector, and Kamijou Touma, much to Motoharu's shock.

After the events of arc, Motoharu confronts Aleister's using of Touma, and implicating him in allowing Sherry to come into Academy City for the sole purpose of having her and the key to the Imaginary Number Sector get involved. Aleister later states that his plans are slowly coming into fruition thanks to the events that had transpired, sickening Motoharu, who later deduces parts of Aleister's Plans, the makng of an artificial heaven, which Aleister gives a vague answer to. Disgusted with Aleister Crowley, Motoharu leaves, telling Aleister not to tread on Kamijou Touma's path, as he will surely destroy those illusions of his.

Orsola Aquinas Arc

 * Main article:Orsola Aquinas Rescue Arc

With reports of the Book of the Law, being taken away by the Amakusa-style Remix of Church, Motoharu is tasked by an unknown organization to steal it. Motoharu later sees the Knights of England, land upon the shores of Japan, but is quickly taken down by Kanzaki Kaori. Here, Motoharu probes Kaori's motivations for returning to Japan, but is disregarded, and is later threatened by Kaori if he ever gets in her way. However, Motoharu states that Kaori could never kill him, as she does not want to kill, and is the reason why she can never defeat him if they fought, for he is willing to risk all just to win.

During the Assault on the Church of Orsola, Motoharu once again meets up with Kaori, and tells her that the rumors about the Book of the Law were false, as it was deliberately spread by the Roman Catholic Church to implicate and allow them to persecute the Amakusa Church and Orsola Aquinas. Here, Motoharu asks Kaori regarding her opinion on Touma with the Church, to which she states that she is a proud of them, and with Touma, would go into a righteous path.

Motoharu is later seen after the events of the arc, visiting Touma in the hospital, and teasing Kaori about being more thankful to Touma by using her body.

Daihasei Festival Arc

 * Main article:Daihasei Festival Arc

In the the arc, Motoharu along with Stiyl Magnus, as members of Necessarius, and one of the few members of the church with friendly relations with Academy Citym are sent out to deal with Oriana Thomson making a deal with the Stab Sword, and is forced to rely on a mission without Kanzaki Kaori. Touma later appears, and gives aid to the both of them, and here, Motoharu and Stiyl briefs Touma about the Stab Sword that is to be exchanged in Academy City, on how Kaori cannot be mobilized, and on Index to be kept away from the incident. Touma is the first one to make contact with Oriana, and contacts Motoharu and Stiyl. They give chase, but later end up in an abandoned automatic bus terminal. Motoharu tells Stiyl to place rune cards on all of the buses, while he and Touma chase after Oriana, dodging spells along the way. She later disappears from their sight, but Motoharu gains one of her flashcards that she used as a clue.

Motoharu creates a magic array so they can determine Oriana's location with a 3 kilometer radius, with Stiyl performing the spell in his place. Immediately after, Stiyl is affected by a counterspell, causing him great pain. After a brief rest, he restates his determination to protect the world Index is in, and at any cause. Here, he uses the searching spell again, and though he is affected by the counterspell, the spell is able to determine Oriana's location. Discovering that it was in a middle school, Motoharu and Touma race towards there, infiltrating it and disguising themselves as students while the hectic events go on. Touma later mistakens one of the poles used in the competition as one of Oriana's spellcards, and Fukiyose Seiri pays the price for it, collapsing to the ground and enraging Touma. Motoharu later calls Stiyl to use the searching spell, telling Touma and Motoharu of Oriana's whearebouts. They later corner her after Motoharu contacts Stiyl to activate one of the rune cards that he set up on the buses a while back. At their confrontation, Motoharu is taken out of commission immediately as Oriana uses a spell that targets those who is already injured, as Motoharu was injured creating the spell previously, he collapses as Touma is forced to battle her alone.

After the battle with Oriana, Touma, Motoharu, and Stiyl meet again, with new information from Anglican Church. Regarding Oriana carrying a distraction for them, and the fact that the exchange is not actually about the Stab Sword, but of the Croce di Pietro, a powerful magical artifact that turns the territory it is established towards the ownership of the Roman Catholic Church.

They later split ways, gathering information on their own, and from here, Motoharu sees Oriana close by and contacts Touma and Stiyl, instructing them of her whereabouts using his spell, which he was forced to use on his own, injuring him further. While, Touma and Stiyl follow Motoharu's instructions, Oriana changes direction towards Motoharu, and Stiyl and Touma are unable to do anything about it. Motoharu does battle with Oriana, not being able to use any magic, his esper power utterly uses, and already injured, Motoharu is overwhelmed by Oriana. Motoharu only survives, as he threatens her that he can contact the Saint, Kanzaki Kaori, into the battlefield knowing that the Stab Sword is false, and that even if she kills him, it would all for naught, as she would've just be wasting time. Oriana leaves a bloody and exhausted Motoharu, who reestablishes contact with them, after his battle with her, sending out instructions. After, Himegami Aisa is taken out by Oriana due to the fear of Anglican agents that Motoharu has put into her, and forced Stiyl to look after her, Touma contacts Motoharu regarding the Croce di Pietro's condition of activation, where in the conversation, they come into the conclusion that the artifact might be using the stars somehow. Motoharu later confirms this after cleaning himself up, concluding that Ridovia Lorenzetti, and Oriana Thomson, are most likely using the constellations to activate the cross in some location inside Academy City. He meets up with Touma regarding this, and is later contacted by Orsola Aquinas, who has discovered the exact location where Croce di Pietro might be use in, using the constellations.

Stiyl later regroups with Touma and Motoharu after escaping Komoe. With Motoharu's special position in Academy City, they travel to 23rd School District, where Oriana would be and where Ridovia, the mastermind of the plot, would set the Croce di Pietro. Here, Stiyl tells them that it would be a bloodbath, to which Touma acknowledges. Sneaking around one of the airbases, they come upon, Oriana waiting on them for battle. Perhaps due to his exhaustion, Motoharu walks right into a trap, and forces both Touma and Stiyl to finish the mission on their own.

For the most part between Touma and Oriana's battle, Motoharu and Stiyl are unconscious. However, he later awakens as he witnesses Oriana and Ridovia's miscalculation, as the Night Parade covers the sky, preventing the Croce di Pietro to activate. Motoharu is later taken into intensive care afterwards for his injuries.

La Regina del Mare Adriatico Arc

 * Main article:La Regina del Mare Adriatico Arc

At the end of the arc, he is giving Kanzaki Kaori a report on what happened and suggesting that she owes Touma many more favors and should return it all by wearing a Maid Outfit.

Academy City Invasion Arc

 * Main article:Academy City Invasion Arc

Before the invasion of Academy City by Vento of the Front, Motoharu enjoys a pleasant highschool student day with his friends, he gets beaten up Fukiyose Seiri. In the original novels, he laters asks Index and Touma finish up the huge amount of food Maika has left for him, not knowing that she was leaving him for awhile, much to his horror. Still in the novels, he is with Aogami Pierce, in the Underground Mall, and teases Touma being with Last Order, and as their perversion begins showing, Touma runs away from them.

During the invasion, he remains unaffected by Vento of the Front's Divine Punishment, as he is too focused on his sister to antagonize Vento, he goes outside of the city, knowing that it was the only way to help with the situation. Here, he discovers that the Roman Catholic forces are planning to use Crested Ibis stakes to skewer the people who have fallen unconscious due to Divine Punishment. He succeeds in halting this attack and later witnesses the phenomena of Fuse=KAZAKIRI.

At the end of the arc, Academy City has recovered Motoharu from the outside.

Skill-Out Uprising

 * Main article:Skill-Out Uprising

He becomes a member of GROUP, and later talks and gives advice to Accelerator after their mission at ending of Dangai University Database Center attack, Motoharu convinces Accelerator that GROUP should work together in order to escape their own "prisons", the yoke of bondage of the higher-ups upon them, and expects all of its members, Musujime Awaki, and Etzali, to betray each other if they become a burden.

Toaru Majutsu no Index: Love Letter Competition

 * Main article:Toaru Majutsu no Index: Love Letter Competition

He first appears alongside Aogami Pierce as usual, seeing Kumokawa Seria's visit to their room, and discovering that she is looking for Kamijou Touma, who is absent on that day. She reveals a love letter to be given to Touma, and gives to Fukiyose Seiri, much to her annoyance, who curses Touma. Later, the side story features the only moment since volume 19 where both Motoharu and Maika are present in a single scene. Here, after Seria's letter strangely blows into their direction, Maika catches it, and recognizing it to be the letter earlier, requests his sister to give it to him, to which Maika refuses stating privacy and such. The letter later blows away, with Motoharu never finding out about its contents.

Toaru Majutsu no Index-tan
Motoharu appears alongside Aogami Pierce in the first episode as hosts in a shopping channel, where they present the Cleaning robot as a product. The sketch ends as Kaori slashes them for Aogami trying to force her to say the Nanasen pun over and over again.

In the 2nd episode, Motoharu alongside Aogami again, talks to a skeptical Touma about a scary rumor regarding a car that is moving without someone in the driver's seat, which is actually Tsukuyomi Komoe driving and humming a scary tune.

In the 3rd episode, Motoharu appears briefly and promptly leaves as Kaori obliterates the Knights of England arriving in Japan, several times.

Toaru Majutsu no Index (PSP game)

 * Main article:Toaru Majutsu no Index (PSP game)

Motoharu is a playable character in the game, being the only character of both the magic and science side. Predominantly a close-combat character, what sets him apart from Touma, is his ability to set up origami shikigami, which he uses for spells. His finisher is his Shikigami Pistol.

He has no route on his own, but appears on other routes. He appears in Touma's story mode, as first as antagonist during the Angel Fall Arc, as well as later as a partner during the Daihasei Festival Arc. In Accelerator's route, he is his partner, and later betrays him. Motoharu appears during Kaori's route as an antagonist, and is also confronted in Sasha Kreutzev's route. In Mugino Shizuri's route, is Touma's partner, and is killed alongside with him if Shizuri is victorious.

Abilities
His sorcery name is Fallere825, "The backstabbing blade" (背中刺す刃).

He was formerly a skilled onmyouji, as being of the Tsuchimikado family, famous in historical Japan as the dominating the arts for several centuries, but gave up his abilities when he went under the Power Development Curriculum. His esper ability is the Level 0 Auto Rebirth, which allows him to recover from life-threatening injuries over time. This allows him to somewhat bypass the penalty inflicted on non-magicians that try to use magic, making him the first successful esper-magician hybrid.

Onmyoudou abilities
Onmyodou Arts: He's very skilled in basic magic and onmyoudou, as he managed to erect a barrier during Angel Fall and destroy Touma's home using a spell. He was known as the best teacher of Feng shui and Onmyoudou in Necessarius and seems to be keen on spells that involve the 4 guardian deities: Genbu, Byakko, Seiryu and Suzaku. The chant: "Establish the Altar. The paper snow will now remove the corruption on the eight-sided Altar (Ladies and gentlemen, behold a magic full of tricks and mysteries!)" "Designate the boundary. The 4 sides of the seal protected, treasures to be obtained from the 4 earths (Today's stage is over here! Let me begin with the cumbersome preparation!)" "The folded paper will be the basis of this spell that's to be supported by the spirits (And now, allow me to introduce my comrades of the magic brigade!)" "Commanding the four beasts. Black of the North, White of the West, Red of the South, Blue of the East! (Work faster, you idiots! Genbu, Byakko, Suzaku, Seiryuu!)" "Offering the Altar. Summoning the force to stabilize the Altar (The pistol is complete, now it's time to load the bullet!)" "At the early hours of 1-3, the wicked and wild witch with the nail will provide the motivation (This bullet shall be one so ridiculous powerful and violent!)" "Using this boundary to replace the scarecrow (A seal will be formed on the pistol!)" "Using thy God to replace the nail (A Shikigami will be cast on the bullet)"
 * Red Spell (赤ノ式(あかのしき)): Also known as the Shikigami Pistol, using Shikigami representing the four guardian deities, and placing them in them in their proper place in the four directions, to create a ritual location, which would draw from the Power of the World. Motoharu chants a spell that would send a powerful long distance spell that turns the spellcaster as the gun for the power to be released. It is capable of destroying an entire house, and has a long preparation time.
 * Black Spell (黒ノ式(くろのしき)): An unknown spell that uses the water, and with accordance with the principles of Feng shui.
 * '''All-Around Reality Array (理派四陣(りはしじん)):Using a memento left behind by a spell caster, Motoharu forms a simple circle as magic array, and sets up colored paper that indicates the four colors representing the four deities: Black in the north, White in the West, Blue in the East, and Red in the South. A spellcaster is required to state a simple incantation to activate the spell, from there the paper will spiral into the center of the array, and will draw a map, using the color of the paper like a printer. Once the paper touches the memento, the papers will explode, and an accurate realtime adjustable map will be created. The spell takes about 15 minutes to set up, and encompasses 3 kilometers. It can be activated by a different caster to the one who set up the array.
 * '''Divination Circle Array (占術円陣(せんじゅつえんじん)): Forming a basic circle using a colored paper for a magic array. It is a spell that can react to the magic used by a spellcaster and relay information like distance and direction. It can be activated by a different caster to the one who set up the array.

Esper ability

 * Level 0 Auto-Rebirth (肉体再生 (オートリバース) ): Due to his ability, he can still use magic, as he can repair the damage done to his body. Despite these advantages, he still avoids using magic except in the most desperate of situations as he cannot avoid the extreme pain caused when casting it, shown when he destroyed the spell location of Angel Fall, resulting in him falling to the ground in a large pool of his own blood that came from his eyes, nose, mouth and several other parts of his body. He also mentions that his ability is not perfect (being a Level 0) and could at anytime fail to revive him, causing him to die permanently. He estimates that he may only have 5 or 6 'lifelines' left. Although he has this ability, it has not been shown as to how it activates or works. The only time when he is seen to be 'dead' is when lying in his own blood after destroying Touma's house to prevent Angel Fall, the next time Motoharu is seen, all his injuries have vanished.

Other abilities

 * Hand-to-Hand Combat: Tsuchimikado is a very skilled hand-to-hand fighter. He easily defeats Touma—who is a rather experienced street fighter himself —without Touma even being able to land a single hit. Touma claims that the only way he could possibly beat Tsuchimikado in hand-to-hand was if it was two against one. Furthermore, Motoharu is not restrained in any rule of honor, allowing him to do dirty tricks and lowblows to an opponent without hesitation.
 * Marksmanship:Motoharu is competent enough to use basic firearms. It makes up for his weakness in being unable to use magic in science-side missions, as well as the uselessness of his esper ability.

Design evolution
Not much has changed in Motoharu's design. According to Haimura, he followed through with illustrating Motoharu with long arms, though he states that it was "a bit creepy", as such he didn't represent that part of the description in the end of his character design.

By volume 12, Haimura's deformed style for the characters have become apparent, and Motoharu is not spared by this change, with characters having bigger heads, and smaller arms and legs.

Quotes

 * (To Touma from volume 4) "That’s right! It’s the most exciting summer festival activity! The peeping on Kanzaki nee-chin’s naked body contest!"
 * (To Touma regarding Angel Fall, from volume 4) "There's no reason, no cause, no sense, no aim, no theory, no meaning, no value. Nothing. "Kami-yan, you should understand very clearly [...] It's just misfortune."
 * (To Touma from volume 4) "Oh yeah, no need to worry about Kanzaki nee-chin. She's rather weak, but at least she can use that ridiculously long katana to peel an apple as recuperating exercise"
 * (To Touma from volume 5) "Helping you with your homework, Kami-yan, is not going to make my love comedy dreams come true, so sorry."
 * (To Touma from volume 7) "Hohoho! Say it, what’s your wish? Resting on Nee-chin’s legs? Let motherly Nee-chin clean your ear for you? Or do you want Nee-chin to make a bento that’s completely different from her character?"
 * (From volume 13) "I don't care if I betray everything else, but I definitely won't betray Maika."
 * (To Kanzaki from Volume 16) "In the end, I see Nee-chin is that type of person... fleeing because she’s too embarrassed... have you no gratitude at all for Kami-yan?" [...] "Itsuwa wouldn’t mind though, would she? That's because the gratitude she has towards Kami-yan is stronger than yours. To tell you the truth, even with just the 'normal' fallen angel costume, Itsuwa’s attack level would rise quite a bit. And if she wears the improved 'erotic' fallen angel costume... do you know what this new gap would mean?" [...] "It means, Nee-chin, you have lost to Itsuwa as a woman".