Accelerator/Personality and Relationships

Personality
Due to the potential of his ability, Accelerator has been targeted by assassins and researchers throughout his life. As a result, he only believes in power and trusts no one. He also became a jolly and mocking, yet also twisted and maniacal person. While fighting, he invokes fear and has a sadistic tone. He willingly joins the SISTER experiment to gain a reputation as the most powerful and feared esper so that no one would dare to be foolish enough to challenge him and won't hesitate to kill anyone who gets in his way. The Sisters' memories of his behavior during the experiment may suggest that he is, in a way, a pacifist; because his power won't disappear, the only way he sees an end to the fighting is to be so strong and sadistic that no one would dare to raise a finger against him. He even seems to attempt to frighten the Sisters out of fighting or otherwise encourage them to refuse their battles.

After meeting Last Order, he strives to protect her. He saved her from Amai Ao's plot and from being pursued by the Hound Dogs. He treats Index in a similar fashion, such as when he buys her lunch while searching for Last Order and by protecting her from the Hound Dogs. By Volume 19, he has mellowed out to the point that he actually lectures a child in order to prevent him from getting himself killed after a hostage situation. In spite of this, he does so in a violent way. In volume 15 he styles himself as the perfect villain in contrast to Touma being the ideal hero. However, despite his words, there is no mention in the narration that he has killed anyone and goes out of his way to incapacitate only his enemies up until his battle with Kakine, who challenges his contradictory way of thinking. This contrast with Touma is hinted at throughout the novels after Volume 5 when it is shown that he both idolizes and is slightly jealous of Touma's heroic personality, and is outright shown when he and Touma finally come to blows in Volume 20. By comparison according to Heaven Canceller, Touma and Accelerator are very similar, but their methods are like opposite sides of a coin; Touma is able to protect his loved ones without killing and is able to stand by their side, while Accelerator protects his loved ones through violent methods and even admits that he is unable to stand by Last Order and Yomikawa Aiho's side. Deep down, he is someone that aches for the light, as shown when Yomikawa Aiho was able to walk up to him and slowly take a gun from his hands before he tried to finish off Kakine Teitoku after their fight, and later when he refused to hurt a Misaka Worst clone and tried to heal her wounds after she tried to kill herself. His obsession with heroes and villains is excised after his defeat in his second fight with Kamijou Touma, telling him to reject the confines of heroes and villains and just do whatever he needs to protect those he cares for.

Aiwass has also commented on the differences between Touma and Accelerator – stating how Accelerator craves for the wholesomeness of being a 'hero' like Touma, even to the point that he declared himself evil because he believes he cannot reach that level. He is someone that tries hard to redeem himself.

Accelerator was shown to often arrogantly underestimate his enemies earlier in the series, which led to his loss against Touma. However, after nearly being killed by Kihara Amata and fighting Komaba Ritoku, he no longer underestimates his enemies. This fact is noted by one of the terrorists in Hula Hoop in Volume 19 as possibly being the most terrifying thing about him: he always uses exactly how much force he needs to in order to defeat his enemy: no more and no less. If he ever underestimated his enemies, it would have given them an opening they could have exploited, but since he didn't, he simply wiped them out with manic glee.

In Volume 22’s afterword the author states that what Accelerator wants most is not a lover but a family, and states Last Order is like his child he has to take care of. Also in Volume 22, Misaka Worst said half-jokingly she wants the same fatherly treatment he gives to the other Misaka clones.

He has a rather lazy personality, showing indifference to people and the events that surround him most of the time. He has a vulgar and threatening way of speaking with easy fits of anger, but he is also capable of showing himself to be moderate and rational if the circumstances are serious.

Misaka Worst stated that Accelerator is a tsundere while she made a brief comparison between him and Misaka Mikoto. For this reason, he rarely shows emotions of affection and concern for others, hiding most of the time behind a mask of hostility and indifference in order not to seem weak. Despite this, the people he helped managed to see beyond that mask, showing gratitude and respect for him, and even admiration from Estelle Rosenthal who wanted to be her student.