User blog:Auric Drake/Theory on Touma's true power

I've been thinking about this for a while and came up with a theory on Imagine Breaker and the things it apparently seals. Basically, every character who thinks they know the true nature of Imagine Breaker is wrong.

A number of explanations have been proposed throughout the series. Fiamma of the Right treated IB as a tool to power up his Holy Right. Ollerus proposed that IB could be used as a reference point for the world, something that Othinus later demonstrated and that the Magic Gods seemingly confirmed. Aleister Crowley, portrayed as the most knowledgeable character in the series, described it as a spiritual item created from a Saint's right hand "meant to drive an uncontrolled being back beyond the magic circle after a failed summoning". Terra of the Left also claimed to know IB's true nature, though he was interrupted before he could say it.

However, none of them are necessarily correct. Fiamma succeeded in powering up his Holy Right with IB, but he had no idea that the Invisible Thing existed nor did he predict IB returning to Touma. Ollerus specifically said that his explanation was just a theory on how IB could be used, not of its actual origin. Aleister is demonstrated to not know everything, having no idea that Lola Stuart was his daughter possessed by Coronzon. And of course we can't know whether Terra of the Left was correct or not.

Meanwhile, there's the entities (and I use the plural because I believe that there's more than one) apparently being sealed by IB. The one commonly called the Invisible Thing has been mentioned by various characters, including Othinus, Kakeru and Aleister. The dragons, however, have never been mentioned except immediately after their appearances. In the first appearance by a dragon, Stiyl dismisses it as an illusion created by Aureolus with Ars Magna. In the second appearance (in Railgun Chapter 67), Mikoto and Gunha both explicitly see the dragons, yet neither of them brings this up later on. Touma himself has never tried to find out more about either the IT or the dragons, seemingly forgetting about them soon after their appearances. This has two possible explanations: (a) bad writing (which I find unlikely, especially for one of the main mysteries in the series); (b) people genuinely can't remember them.

My theory is that the latter is true. No one knows the true identity of Imagine Breaker or the things inside because the truth is being erased from their memories. This explains all the inconsistencies - people fill in the gaps with information convenient to them. It's also ironic in that the person distinguished by having amnesia inflicts amnesia on other people constantly.

So what exactly are IB, IT and the dragons? This is the part I'm not so sure about. I'm not that familiar with mythology, so I don't know of any beings that negate supernatural powers and/or erase memories. My theory (which I admit is not really supported by evidence) is that the dragons aren't being sealed by IB, they are in fact the source of IB. The IT is Touma's own power, explaining why he can suppress it on his own. This explains the alternate reading of "Invisible Demon" for his given name. The dragons seal IT, not by negating it, but by erasing Touma's own memories of it.

One thing to consider: Touma is constantly called "normal" by himself, by other characters and by the narration. But when you think about it, he isn't normal at all. He was born with a one-of-a-kind power to negate supernatural powers. That's not getting into all the things he actually accomplishes during the series. The only way this makes sense is if everyone's minds are being tampered with. I believe that the whole idea of Touma being "normal" is an illusion created to seal away his true power.

This then raises the question of how Touma could have power greater than someone supposedly more powerful than God. My answer is inspired by NT Volume 9. Essentially, he gained incredible power by constantly fighting gods, demons and other powerful beings (hence the epithet "The One Who Purifies Gods and Slays Demons"). Eventually, though, he had to be sealed. It wouldn't be out of character for him to request this himself - power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. As part of this sealing, memories and other evidence of Touma's actions were erased from the universe, possibly to stop others from geting ideas. This wasn't perfect, with a few people remembering traces of the original history (like the Magic Gods and Aleister, which is why they're focused on Touma). The events of NT Volume 9 are only known to a few people in-universe, showing that something like this is possible. He doesn't gain more power in the present of the series because the dragons constantly erase his experiences of combat.

I admit that there's problems with this theory. One that I don't have an answer to is what this means for World Rejector, if IB wasn't actually created by the hopes of magicians. There's also the meta issue of having the main protagonist suddenly turn out to be overpowered after 40+ volumes.