Urban Legend

Urban Legends (都市伝説) are a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true. As with all folklore and mythology, the designation suggests nothing about the story's veracity, but merely that it is in circulation, exhibits variation over time, and carries some significance that motivates the community in preserving and propagating it.

Urban legends are a unique part of the world of Toaru Majutsu no Index, specifically Academy City. The legends and rumors are quite often important to the plot later on, and in Toaru Kagaku no Railgun is a central point in several storylines, having many storylines based on an urban legend.

Principles
Despite being the city of science, urban legends are still quite pervasive in Academy City, apparently having entire websites dedicated to following and recording details on urban legends. Because of the fact that they are in Academy City, the rumors and legends take a pseudo-scientific appearance, having basis in the Academy City.

They are first defined by Tsukuyomi Komoe as nothing but rumor talk related to the unknown "Seven Mysteries" that are supposed to be around Academy City. This is of course ironic since Komoe Sensei is herself considered one of the seven wonders.

Evolution
Despite the many ridiculous and ludicrous situations that are featured in rumors and urban legends that a person may somehow run into and not escape. Urban legends and rumors are constantly "looked into" or change to accommodate weaknesses in order for the person that may run into one of the situations in urban legends and rumors to escape. And even then, such things continue to evolve to even more complicated rituals or change weaknesses or strengths regarding the contents of the rumors and urban legends.

For example, if a rumor was spreading that said no one could escape from a certain woman who could run 100 meters in 3 seconds, a different rumor would be created saying one would be safe as long as one had some hard candy or pomade. Then another rumor would crop up saying the hard candy and pomade only worked on the original woman, but they were completely ineffectual against the second one whose mouth had been split open by the original woman.

The urban legends and rumors of Academy City are apparently a never ending cycle of changing its contents, to weaken or strengthen it. It is unknown if a rumor or urban legend is proved or disproved, though one can assume that actual information regarding the rumor will eventually replace false information of the rumor.

Sisters Arc
A number of urban legends were referenced at several points during the events surrounding Kamijou Touma's encounter with the Sisters (themselves the subject of an urban legend) and his intervention in the Level 6 Shift Project. At one point while these events were occuring, Tsukuyomi Komoe discussed the nature of urban legends in Academy City with Index and Himegami Aisa.

Ichihanaran Festival Arc
A number of grisly urban legends were mentioned in the aftermath of events which occurred during the Ichihanaransai, along with new rumors which had cropped up after Beetle 05 usurped Kakine Teitoku (believed by Kihara Yuiitsu to have been in too short a time to be natural), and one concerning the nature and manipulation of the city's urban legends themselves.

Post-Handcuffs Arc
During Anna Sprengel and Aradia's conversation on the legends of the Transcendents, when the former was officially joining the Bridge Builders Cabal and touring their base, urban legends were talked of, along with letters, notes, texts from correspondence lessons, and texts coded, analyzed and rearranged.

Level Upper Arc
A number of urban legends were brought up during events concerning the Level Upper and events around the time it was being circulated. The Level Upper itself was the subject of an urban legend, as was its creator Kiyama Harumi due to her stripping tendency.

Sisters Arc
Besides the urban legend concerning the existence of Misaka Mikoto's clones, another urban legend involved in the events surrounding Mikoto's initial encounters with the Sisters and the Level 6 Shift Project was that of a cash cards in alleys, the result of Nunotaba Shinobu's actions to draw attention to areas used for the outdoor experiments and hinder the project. Saten Ruiko looking into the urban legend played a part in Mikoto meeting Nunotaba, leading her to learn about, look into and eventually encounter the Sisters.

Daihasei Festival Arc
Several urban legends were involved in the events which transpired on the second day of the Daihaseisai. One was the Shadow Metal which was rumored to be created from a clash of many different esper abilities, such as the ones occurring during the festival - supposedly baseless and having developed from the increased security to prevent people from stealing DNA maps during the games. While trouble arose from pursuit of the rumored metal on the first day, the incident on the second day led to a quantity of the material being created. The other main rumor, posted on Auribus Oculi Fideliores Sunt, involved a DNA computer believed to be capable of reproducing esper abiltiies and housed in a facility in School District 2 (actually Exterior), the website and facility being the subjects of Kihara Gensei and Shokuhou Misaki's respective manipulations surrounding Exterior, Gensei's to uncover and exploit it and Shokuhou's to conceal and safeguard it.

Dream Ranker Arc
During the time Indian Poker was in circulation, some of the cards being traded involved urban legends of various kinds, including the infamous Bust Upper. Some time after the events surrounding Indian Poker, Uiharu Kazari took Saten Ruiko on a tour of various urban legend sites in order to cheer her up.

Necromancer Arc
Around the same time as events involving DA, Saten Ruiko talked to Uiharu Kazari about some urban legends involving Academy City's subway system, one about how there were so many tracks that the city couldn't track them all and one about a subway train that continued forever without stopping at any stations, the latter actually belonging to board member Nakimoto Rizou.

Astral Buddy Arc
During Hokaze Junko's initial investigation into the ghost girl she encountered, she was introduced to Saten Ruiko and had a discussion which included mention of various urban legends, including Tokiwadai's variant of the 'seven mysteries' and the ones which could be experienced through Indian Poker.

Much later, Houjou Arei spread footage of her fight with Hokaze, along with certain other rumors to give rise to a new urban legend. Circulation of urban legends and Indian Poker was a key part of Mitsuari Ayu's plan for Yuuri Senya and Ideal's legacy, with mention of how urban legends and rumors were said to be spread to guide the flow of people's thoughts and the AIM diffusion fields. Part of Shokuhou Misaki's countermeasure against it involved spreading a new rumor, of the Level 5s becoming Idols, to eclipse it.

Tokiwadai Election Arc
During Shokuhou Misaki's involvement in Tokiwadai Middle School's student council presidential election and the Relics, a number of rumors were referenced regarding the two.

Later on during these events, when hearing that the former #1 Level 5 was a born esper from outside the city, a Gemstone, a skeptical Shirai Kuroko questioned it, asking if such espers weren't just urban legends.

Known Urban Legends and Rumors
Below are some of the known urban legends and rumors which have been featured or referenced in the series. It should be noted that some of them, while being counted as urban legends, also overlap with aspects of folklore and ghost stories.

Academy City Urban Legends
This section covers urban legends found primarily in Academy City and its cooperative institutions, rather than the wider world.

Imaginary Number District Rumors
Rumors about the Imaginary Number District are pervasive in Academy City, with several rumors popping up declaring that it is the first First Research Organization, it has Imaginary Technology, and that it secretly controls Academy City behind the shadows.