Aogami Pierce

Aogami Pierce (青髪 ピアス) is a character introduced in Toaru Majutsu no Index. A young man with perpetually closed eyes, he is an esper of a yet-unknown level and is a friend and fellow classmate of both Kamijou Touma and Tsuchimikado Motoharu, who often find themselves in comedic shenanigans when they're together.

Etymology
"Aogami Pierce" is in fact a description of his appearance, meaning blue hair (青髪) and piercings (ピアス); his real name hasn't been revealed yet. He is addressed as "BLAU" (literally "Blue" in German) by his admirers.

Background
Aogami Pierce, Touma, and Motoharu make up the "idiot trio" of their class (クラスの三バカ lit "the three idiots of the class", also known as デルタフォース or delta force), the reason being that not only at least two of them are Level 0 but also that the three of them have the poorest grades in the class and often have to do remedial lessons. Despite his low academic grades, he is surprisingly the class representative for Touma and Motoharu's class. His otaku knowledge is unmatched, and he has a fetish for just about any kind of girl. He lives as a freeloader in a bakery, and states that the reason he's staying there is because the uniforms look like maid outfits. He is also a S-rank Dream Ranker for Indian Poker.

Personality
He is a self-admitted pervert, lolicon, stalker, and masochist as well as numerous other fetishes, to the point where he is labeled as "Fetish King". Expanding on this, he also intentionally does not do his homework so that he can receive punishment from his teacher Tsukuyomi Komoe. He apparently knows Komoe's address, as Touma got this piece of information from him, and suspects him as a stalker.

His future aspiration is "to become popular", and even goes as far as to write that on the future survey of his class. He is also fond of faking a kansai accent, a fact that prompts Touma to call him "fake kansai jin" in more than one opportunity, and points out that Aogami Pierce was born in a village full of rice fields, which he vehemently denies.

Index Arc
He first appears the day after Mikoto causes a city-wide power outage. He is with Touma, taking up remedial classes, and is later called out by Tsukuyomi Komoe for being too noisy while he talks to Touma. He later gets Touma in trouble with Komoe and the rest of the class.

Much later into the arc, in the original novel, Touma is able to discover Komoe's address after asking Aogami Pierce, whom he suspects is a stalker.

Deep Blood Arc
Aogami Pierce is the first person from his old life he meets up with, and is surprised by Touma's dull expression when they meet. Much more, he is surprised by Touma being with Index, and assumes her to be a boy that looks like a girl, much to her irritation. After Touma irritates Index to the point where he is forced to treat her to a meal, Aogami Pierce mooches off him. They later come upon Himegami Aisa, where Aogami Pierce takes pictures of her since she is beautiful. He is later weirded out by the appearance of cram school teachers from Misawa Cram School, escorting Aisa away. He later parts ways with Touma.

Sisters Arc
Although he does not appear in the original novel, Aogami Pierce, along with Tsuchimikado Motoharu, are with Touma, listening to Komoe's remedial class.

Angel Fall Arc
Due to the effects of Angel Fall, Index takes the form of Aogami Pierce, much to Touma's horror, Index is thoroughly abused throughout the arc as a result.

Three Stories Arc
In one of his most character defining scenes, Aogami Pierce accompanies Motoharu and Touma, with the latter asking for help in his homework. After Touma complains about them talking about their fetishes and not helping him out with his homework, Aogami Pierce goes into a long outburst talking about the kind of girls he likes, as well as boys who look like girls. In the original novel, they later get into fight after Motoharu discovers that his sister refers to just about anyone, Touma and Aogami Pierce included, as 'onii-chan', a term that should be reserved only to him.

Later, Aogami Pierce and Motoharu are later surprised as Misaka Mikoto approaches Touma, and is later bewildered by the two leaving.

Kazakiri Hyouka Arc
Aogami Pierce returns to A Certain High School, and with his carefree nature, relieves Touma of the fears of people suspecting something off about him (his memory loss), making fun of him forgetting his homework, which the 2/3rd of the class has forgotten as well. He later becomes excited about the upcoming transfer student, though becomes concerned on how Touma is starting to act all weird after hearing about it. He later becomes angry at Touma like the rest of the class for being familiar with the transfer student, which everyone is mistook Index for.

Daihasei Festival Arc
He, Touma, and the rest of the class are in a stupor, but is later motivated to victory in their next competition after seeing Komoe and their class being made fun of by a fellow teacher. Here, Aogami Pierce shows his agility in the competition, using the opportunity that he is being broadcasted on TV to attract girls. He later falls after Touma distracts him.

Academy City Invasion Arc
Before the invasion of Academy City by Vento of the Front, Aogami Pierce enjoys a pleasant high school student day with his friends, but is later beaten up Fukiyose Seiri for causing a ruckus. In the novels, he is with Motoharu in the School District 7 Underground Shopping Center, and teases Touma about being with Last Order, and as their perversion begins showing, Touma runs away from them.

Skill-Out Uprising
Still having a cheerful outlook even after the disaster of that befell Academy City, he and the rest of the class discuss on what food to indulge in before the prices of food go up as a war is brewing. Motoharu's suggestion later wins out in the end, and they eat at a hidden store near the Underground Mall along with the rest of class, and Index.

Document of Constantine Arc
He, Touma, Motoharu, and Seiri, get in trouble after arguing about bunny suits, and later tasked by Oyafune Suama, after being "counselled" by Saigo, to weed behind the gym. Expectantly, he and Motoharu ditch the work, leaving Touma and Seiri alone.

Acqua of the Back Arc
Not having anything in the cafeteria for lunch, he and the rest of the class decide to go out for lunch. He follows an elaborate plan they created, but is later betrayed by Motoharu and left to be bait for their teacher, the gorilla-like Saigo, but is all over naught, as he ignores Aogami Pierce and goes after the rest instead.

British Royal Family Arc
Aogami Pierce and the rest of the class talk about the Ichihanaransai. He comments on how high school cultural festivals are much larger than middle school ones and states that their budget is much bigger now. Motoharu then joins in the conversation regarding why they have a large budget. Touma later joins in after Seiri points to him being idle, prompting him to say he likes waitresses over maids, which prompts comments from Aogami and Motoharu, which frustrates Seiri.

Ichihanaran Festival Arc
Aogami Pierce reappears with Tsuchimikado Motoharu doing the preparations for the Ichihanaransai, meeting up with Touma after he was dragged around town by Fukiyose Seiri, and reuniting the three idiots for the first time since the start of the English Civil War. Aogami Pierce adds to Motoharu's comments, lamenting that their school does not have a school girl beauty contest, unlike Eiri High School. He later gets into an argument with both Motoharu and Touma after the latter points out that they shouldn't go too crazy with what their presenting for the festival as they are being watched. Here, Aogami Pierce references Touma breaking other people's illusions, asking what's wrong with them, and asks if he is one of those people who claims victory after shooting down everyone else's ideas. Their fight however, is stopped by the timely arrival of Seiri.

Aogami Pierce reappears during the festival, apparently part of a takoyaki stand. When he went out to get some flour, he notices Uiharu Kazari befuddled by little girls surrounding. Seeing that she is part of Judgment and in that situation, some strange inspiration comes out of Aogami Pierce and becomes excited. This is short lived as Konori Mii, a member of Judgment as well, calls out to him for questioning, deeming him to be a suspicious person. Shirai Kuroko is with her and questions her on why they couldn't just throw him into a cell, as there are cases and mysterious reports that are needlessly driving down their efficiency, especially about rampaging Rhinoceros beetles. Mii says not to take her frustration on Aogami Pierce, to which she then asks for his belongings to check them.

That was the 43rd time he has been questioned by authorities that year.

Magic God Othinus Arc
In the first recreation of the world by Othinus, known as the Version_Alpha world in-text, where she has changed the entire perspective of the world to make Touma into the world's enemy and thus break his spirit, the alliance formed to combat her and GREMLIN in Touma's original world is an international coalition that is set out to kill Touma. When Touma first arrives through Othinus' powers, he discovers that Tokyo has been invaded by the coalition in order to eliminate him, ravaging Japan's capital greatly with 70% of its 23 special wards destroyed.

Aogami Pierce first appears right after Shibuya Station, the refugee shelter used by the students of Academy City after they have been evacuated from the city, has been bombed by the international coalition. Here, he survives the attack as he is deep within the underground tunnels. He finds Touma after he is stabbed by Seiri and is bleeding profusely. Still calling him Kami-yan, Aogami is surprised by running into him. He says that he is impressed that he is able to avoid being surrounded on his way there as everybody would applaud and cheer if he was killed. Othinus then appears to Touma. She says to him that she did not brainwash them nor added anything new but just changed their point of view. She also told him that he had already done what it would take to be treated like this and it's just that he and the others haven't realized it before. Continuing on, she told him that in the world he knows, he always charged headfirst into some kind of incident using his fists to defeat the enemy and protect someone as a result then being treated as a type of hero and only that positive aspect was emphasized. She then continued on by whispering to him about what will happen if their point of view was changed and emphasized the other side of his actions, specifically the negative ones and that it would be strange for people to silently accept an incarnation of violence like that. After saying those words, Othinus cleanly vanished.

Aogami tells Touma that he knows that he has own issues but asks him why he did what he had to around them. He tells Touma that if he had only stayed put and did nothing, none of the bad things would've happened. Hearing this, Touma still resolute, says that he cannot do what he asks of him. He says that although all of that has happened may be because of him and their current fates were simply because of simply knowing, he will still never agree that staying silent and overlooking what happened was the right thing to do. Having enough, Aogami attacks Touma with his flashlight, striking Touma's left arm, which he did deliberately to protect his right hand. Working through all the pain, Touma manages to head-butt Aogami. As he writhes in pain, Touma apologizes. He tells him that he first needs to find his parents, as such he can't be taken out yet. He promises that he will do something about what happened to the world because of him. Despite this, Aogami asks him if he really still has hope, at which point he tries to tackle the handicapped Touma. However, Touma knew his weaknesses, kicking up a piece of concrete and hitting Aogami in the face. Touma then continues his assault on Aogami. As they are surrounded by darkness however, Touma stops and runs off. As Touma did not knock Aogami out, he shout at Touma that there's nothing left for Touma in this world as they have lost everything, as such he won't let the source of it all (Touma) be the only one saved. Despite Aogami's threats, he isn't able to carry it out as Touma leaves him alone.

In the second recreation of the world by Othinus, known as the Version_Beta world in-text, where another "Kamijou Touma" exists living Touma's life. Aogami Pierce and Tsuchimikado Motoharu first appears after "Touma" accidentally molests Seiri after trying to check her wounds, seemingly experiencing the events that have transpired in the Version_Alpha world. They comment on "Touma" brazenness with Seiri leading to a little fight between the three of them reminiscent of a classic Delta Trio scene. Their roughhousing isn't interrupted even at the sudden arrival of Index, complaining about the inadequate luch he prepared. Only when Komoe arrived did it stop, and since Motoharu and Aogami were tossing him into the air, he became stuck on a duct opening. Aogami then believes that the duct may lead to the girls' locker room, while Motoharu ponders how Komoe was able to tell it was "Kamijou Touma". He later falls after much struggling and later writhes in pain, much to the shouting of his classmates. "Touma" later negotiates with Index to later have a luxurious dinner of a scraped together lunch there.

St. Germain Arc
During lunchtime on December 1st, following a comment made by their history teacher, the three idiots compete with one another in a game involving throwing small paper fans made from loose leaf paper at a pencil case on the teacher's desk, with the loser to deal with the classroom trash. However, the target falls down by itself before they can knock it over.

Magic God Invasion Arc
Aogami Pierce and Tsuchimikado Motoharu are together prior to meeting up with Touma. As part of the Anti-Crime Orientation, they were to roleplay as criminals. Aogami had earlier acquired a pair of panties, putting it on his head and apparently making a girl cry. This leads Fukiyose Seiri to chase after them with several sasumatas. It is unknown who owned the pair of panties.

Aogami and Motoharu later meet up with Touma, at which point Aogami is finally taken down by Seiri throwing sasumatas at him, forcing Motoharu and Touma to leave him behind. Motoharu continues running down the halls while Touma chooses to climb the next floor through a window.

Silent Party Arc
In the anime-original arc, Aogami Pierce is found wearing a Gekota costume in the venue of the Academy City Research Exhibition Assembly, apparently promoting a Frog Wrap Experiment, hence the reason for his attire. Tired, Aogami sits down to take a rest, at which point he notices Febrie, and refers to her as cute. Febrie who believed him to be a Gekota is horrified of her realization, and runs away from Aogami, confusing him.

Dream Ranker Arc
Aogami first appears at a cafe where he is met with several fans, among whom he is known as "BLAU." It should be noted that he is acknowledged as a Rank-S Dreamer, and as such, is able to handcraft Dream Cards of any type. True to his lecherous and perverted nature, the Dream Cards all contain sexual fantasies, including ones featuring the Level 5s of Tokiwadai. Unfortunately for both him and his present company, Misaka Mikoto and Shokuhou Misaki just so happened to be in the neighboring cafe and were listening in on the entire conversation, whereupon they then decided to punish them for such a breach in their privacy. A short while later, he and his fans are seen knocked out, his Dream Cards totally destroyed.

He appears again in Aisa's dream, which was accessed by Misaka Mikoto. In spite of attacking Aogami earlier, she doesn't seem to recognize him in the dream. Nonetheless, in the dream Aogami is beaten up by Seiri after he and Motoharu make too much noise in their classroom, leading him and Motoharu to apologize to her.

Toaru Majutsu no Index: Love Letter Competition
Aogami Pierce is present when Kumokawa Seria enters their room with a love letter for Touma, who is absent at the time, much to his irritation.

Toaru Majutsu no Index Movie: Miracle of Endymion
Aogami appears only once, expounding to the sleepy Touma his wisdom about on how one must support an idol before she becomes super popular, as Meigo Arisa is fast becoming.

Toaru Majutsu no Index-tan
Aogami Pierce appears alongside Tsuchimikado 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, Aogami Pierce with Tsuchimikado 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 fourth episode, Aogami Pierce's voice can be heard celebrating after Touma announces to the entire class that Seiri is wearing a front hook bra.

Abilities
His powers and level is still unknown, but he is very agile and quick, as shown when he is able to avoid many esper attacks in the first match of Daihaseisai, and was once considered by the pre-memory loss Touma as tough, alongside with Misaka Mikoto. Whether or not Touma considers Aogami Pierce as strong as a Level 5 Misaka Mikoto, or just an arbitrary list of people he considers strong is unknown, and any opinion regarding a comparison between Aogami Pierce and Mikoto is forever lost after Touma loses his memories.

Design evolution
Aogami's design was introduced in volume 2 despite appearing in volume 1. Here, Haimura references that his design was inspired from a certain major RPG's protagonist.

Along with other characters, like Touma, Aogami Pierce was not spared with the drastic change in the design of characters. The artstyle has become even more deformed, with bigger heads, and shorter arms and legs.

Trivia

 * Within his jokes he has referenced many mishaps that Touma is going to encounter or has encountered already; even those that he keeps a secret. It is unknown if this is the author's sense of irony or if Aogami actually has a way of knowing what exactly is going on. Motoharu has done that as well, but it is clear that he knows about Academy City's secrets.
 * Rumors abound in the fandom that he is a powerful esper or even the sixth Level 5, as pre-memory loss Touma referred to him and Mikoto as "tough people who he would not have to worry about getting involved in this kind of trouble" when he was thinking about who he could call to help the wounded Index, but they are unfounded. It is also very possible that Touma simply acknowledged him as a very competent street fighter (as hand-to-hand combat is an area in which Imagine Breaker doesn't take effect, as it is a natural phenomena). After his rather unfortunate encounter with Misaka Mikoto and Shoukuhou Misaki, both Level 5's, during the Dream Ranker Arc, he was knocked out (along with his fans) with relative ease, suggesting that he might not be as powerful as he is speculated to be.

Quotes

 * (During Vol 5) : "Ha, you’re too naïve, Kami-yan. I have a wide range of acceptance when it comes to women: not just fallen female main characters but also foster sisters, foster mothers, foster daughters, twins, widows, senpais, kouhais, fellow classmates, teachers, childhood friends, ojousamas, blondes, brunettes, brown-haired, silver-haired, long-haired, medium-haired, short-haired, girls wearing bobby pins, wavy-haired, twintails, ponytails, one-sided ponytails, twin braids, ahoges, curly-haired, girls in sailor clothes, blazers, judogi, kyuudougi, kindergarten nurses, maids, policewomen, witches, shrine maidens, nuns, military women, secretaries, lolis, shotas, tsunderes, cheerleaders, stewardesses, waitresses, goth girls wearing black, goth girls wearing white, girls in China dresses, frail girls, albino girls, fantasists, girls with split personalities, queens, princesses, thigh-high socks, garterbelts, girls who cross-dress as guys, girls who wear glasses, girls who wear an eyepatch, girls who wear bandages, girls in school swimsuits, one-piece swimsuits, bikinis, V-shaped bikinis, bikinis that barely cover anything, youkai, ghosts, animal-eared girls, etc.- any female is within my area of acceptance."
 * (During Vol 9) : "I’ll go first, Kami-yan. Watch how this comedian crushes the irritating aura of those corrupted elites! WA!!"―During a Daihaseisai event
 * (During Vol 12) : "When you invoke those words, a weird girl appears tumbling for some reason. Aah yes, it always happens to you! If it's Kami-yan, then it seems like it could be anything and even a super electric robot girl or an oujou-sama fairy spirit from a spring are unable to resist the call!!" ―In answer to Kamijou Touma's "I want an encounter" line.
 * (During Vol 17) : "Heh…you fool. There's no rule saying someone who loves maids can't fall in love with waitresses. However, there’s nothing wrong with the pure feelings causing one to stand up for the honor of one's favorite genre."―To Motoharu.