Cendrillon

Cendrillon (サンドリヨン) is a character introduced in Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index. She is a magician who was once affiliated with GREMLIN and is the first human magician (unlike Mjölnir) from their group to be introduced in the story.

Etymology
Cendrillon is French for, being the language of origin of the tale.

Appearance
Her nationality and language is French. She has blonde hair and white skin. Her body is slender, beautiful, and she had a well-featured face. Her dress gives an image of an ideal girl from a picture book looked like a princess. The dress is made of countless thin membranes placed one on top of another with her body lines clearly visible (compare with Carissa). The only thing out of appearance is the figure-correcting underwear binding to her entire body; it seems like a diving suit that lays at the core of her elegant dress.

After being saved by Ollerus, she now has the ability to reconstruct her body via having someone use the proper amounts of ingredients. However, if the one that is going to reconstruct her gets the amount incorrectly, strange results can happen, for example, like what happened with Mugino Shizuri, where Cendrillon, though alive and well, was in the form of a young girl, with an age somewhere between 12 or 13.

Personality
Cendrillon is merciless against her enemies and, during battle, is very smart as well, using the powers of her enemies to her advantage, as shown during her battle in the airport against Dawn-colored Sunlight and the Kamijou Faction, using Touma's Imagine Breaker to her advantage. She also shows loyalty to her comrades even under the pain of torture, and is willing to cause harm upon herself for the sake of their plan, as with her interrogation by Accelerator and Leivinia Birdway shows.

But loyalty comes with trust, and Cendrillon shows utter contempt on those who betray her trust, as shown towards her hatred for Marian Slingeneyer after she reveals her betrayal. She holds grudges, and is willing to manipulate other people to getting what she wants for vengeance. However, along with this, Cendrillon acknowledges debts from those who aid her, and is willing to pay for it.

Cendrillon is an intelligent and resourceful woman, able to create an IV through found objects nearby.

Background
Her real name and other personal information is unknown. Since she speaks French uses the French name for Cinderella, it can be assumed that she is French and that she only changed her name into Cendrillon to make her Cinderella-based magic more effective via Idol Theory.

Hawaii Invasion Arc
When Leivinia Birdway activated her plan to draw out GREMLIN magicians by setting up a bomb, Cendrillon was sent to stop the bomb, since GREMLIN was an ideological organization, not knowing that it was a trap set-up by her. During the battle, she uses her Cinderella-based magic against Leivinia's guards, and later showed her knowledge on Kamijou Touma by using him against Hamazura Shiage and Misaka Mikoto's attacks during his attempts to stall for time until Leivinia. Her domination however, was short-lived, as before she can perform a spell after noticing Accelerator, Leivinia attacks using a jet fuel tanker to keep her down up until Leivina can use the one weakness of her magic. Using Idol Theory, she mimics the arrival of dawn using the explosion of the tanker, weakening her, and releasing the spell on Leivinia's subordinates. She is later caught for interrogation.

During the interrogation by Leivinia and Accelerator, a superior of Cendrillon contacts her, forcing Leivinia's hands into violence, which resulted in breaking her wand, and seriously injuring Cendrillon. Expecting the superior to aid her, she is later surprised as the superior forces her using a spell to drive the part of Leivinia's wand that have been broken into her temple. She later falls to the ground, bleeding severely. Leivinia notes that what she has done may have caused a subarachnoid hemorrhage to her brain, and would not allow them to extract information from her anymore. Leivinia later notes that she needs only to reel GREMLIN, due that the fact that they contacted them in order to silence Cendrillon.

Cendrillon is later discovered to have survived, and is being heavily guarded by American forces along with Saronia A. Irivika, the colleague who forced her to stab herself. However, she later escapes at the onset of the invasion without anyone knowing at all, and confronts Marian Slingeneyer, the smith and creator of Mjölnir, and one of the true members of GREMLIN. Here, she reveals to Cendrillon the true nature of the invasion, as the eruption was the only event they wanted to happen. Angry at the fact that she was used and the fact that the invasion a lie, Cendrillon attacks but is quickly struck down. She is later asked by Dvergr what form she would like to her to make into.

Baggage City Arc
Cendrillon reappears while Marian communicates with Sigyn. As Marian Slingeneyer promised, Cendrillon is alive but is in a form of a table. Here, she is being kept in a secret room made by Marian near Baggage City's waste disposal facility.

After the battle between Othinus against Ollerus and Fiamma, Touma still wanted to help those in need despite needing rest himself. Ollerus told him that with the intellect of him and Fiamma and his eventually recovered right hand, the soldiers who were turned into pillars, Cendrillon, and others made into furniture could return to normal.

Eve of the Festival
Ollerus turned Cendrillon back into a human and is now able to reconstruct herself. She swears vengeance on GREMLIN and tries to contact the group that opposed them in Hawaii. She somehow sneaks into Academy City via putting the ingredients and tools for her reconstruction into a package and mails it to Mugino Shizuri. Although, she was most likely trying to get into contact with Shiage, who was part of the group in Hawaii. Regardless, Shizuri acquires the package, and part of her readjustments of her new prosthetics was to carry out moderate exercises with the parts. After following the instructions carefully, she successfully "cooks up" Cendrillon. She introduces herself to Shizuri and tells her of her goals. She then asks Shizuri to make her Cinderalla dress, at which point she has exhausted Shizuri's patience after she states that whatever Shizuri is doing looks like good training for a wife, who proceeds to attack her with her Particle-Function Waveform High Speed Cannon, destroying a part of the apartment she and the rest of ITEM are staying in. Cendrillon escapes with only a towel and the instructions for sewing her dress on her person.

Cendrillon later successfully sneak into one of the schools and sew herself the Cinderella dress. She ponders on how Touma is being used by several people through the use of edited information in for them to use his right arm. She then makes up her mind that she will follow Touma in order to achieve her goal in getting revenge against GREMLIN.

During the Festival


Cendrillon first appears before Touma shortly after Fräulein Kreutune escapes his presence. Cendrillon catches Touma as he succumbs to his injuries from yesterday, noting that he must not die yet for she needs her revenge. She drags Touma into a nearby alleyway. Discovering that he was shot, she tries to use healing magic on him but the Imagine Breaker simply negates her attempts. Cendrillon tries to use first aid on Touma with found objects, to which he protests, however, the language barrier prevents them from communicating. Touma later takes a better look on her, to which she averts his gaze, probably knowing what he is thinking regarding her appearance, and responds that a lot has happened.

After Thor tricks Misaka Mikoto, she approaches Touma still being taken care of by Cendrillon. She attacks him, and is surprised that he did not block it. She later discovers that he has gunshot injuries and feels sorry. Nonchalantly, Cendrillon comments on Mikoto's attacks but says that it is only natural for her to get angry as Touma is the only clue leading to GREMLIN. Touma seeing this opportunity, asks Mikoto to translate for him. Here, the both of them discover Cendrillon's circumstances, on how she snuck into Academy City, her new abilities, as well as the reason she got so small. The last one piques Touma's attention, as there is still leftovers from her reconstructing her body, which can be made into whatever they want. Touma asks Mikoto to tell Cendrillon that he needs her help in constructing a brain that would prevent Fräulein Kreutune from eating a person's brain. Only now did Mikoto know of Cendrillon as the same one from Hawaii, but Touma's urgency takes precedence and Mikoto do what she is told. Cendrillon tells Touma that she doubts she can help him as her vengeance with Marian takes precedence, and that the leftovers, if lost, will no longer able to remake herself back to normal. Hearing Marian's name however, Touma casually comments on how he defeated Marian back in Baggage City. As Mikoto translates it to Cendrillon, she is caught by surprise by Touma's actions, and unreasonably concludes that Marian must be dead, but he makes no attempt to amend her misinterpretation. Cendrillon clicks her tongue, noting that not only did Touma save her life in Baggage City, but freed herself from her revenge, lamenting on the fact that he was supposed to be her enemy, but has grown more indebted to him. However, Mikoto refused to translate what she just said. Touma pleads Mikoto to continue translating, and she acquiesces. Cendrillon tells Touma that she will pay back her debts, and asks Touma what she needs to do.

Touma orders her to use the leftover ingredients for something and had asked her to retrieve them. However, not knowing where the apartment was, she searches for Mugino Shizuri first. Cendrillon appears before Shizuri, Hamazura Shiage, Takitsubo Rikou, and Yoshikawa Kikyou near the multi-level overpass. She rudely tells Shizuri to point her to their apartment again, angering her. Cendrillon ignored their reactions and tells them that she has left some of her ingredients in back in the apartment, and that she needs them in order to resolve a large problem in the city. Shizuri is annoyed and not wanting to deal with the situation took Shiage and told Cendrillon that he will show him the way to the apartment. Then, with all this commotion, Yoshikawa Kikyou tells them that the girls are together and are with a large rhinoceros beetle, though she says that they are safe for the moment. Shizuri, unused to having information being given without compensation in return, is surprised with Kikyou's actions, which she points out. She tells them that Kakine Teitoku is trying to kill them, and asks for their help. Shizuri says she doesn't care as long as she gets Fremea away from Last Order, but Kikyou notes on what Fremea would feel if that were to happen.

Shiage tries to diffuse the situation, saying that if Fremea's friend is about to be killed, there's nothing wrong with fighting to save her. With that, despite in her displeasure, concedes, and asks where Teitoku is, to which Kikyou states that they are in the underground passageways of the multi-level overpass, noting on the behavior of Level 5s fighting. She also states that she also has to deal with Last Order being eaten. Cendrillon then speaks up on how she will be needed to keep the girl from being eaten, surprising Shizuri. Cendrillon states that to protect Fremea's friend, they also must protect Fräulein, as is the will of Kamijou Touma. After Shizuri translated her words, Shiage recalls the softhearted mood that pulled others together in Hawaii after hearing Touma's name. Shiage says to Rikou on how he is completely annoyed with the situation, but cannot overlook it. They then ask Cendrillon on how they could stop Fräulein Kreutune, to which Cendrillon says that Fräulein Kreutune will eat a specific person's brain, and that she left the materials needed to use against her back in the apartment. With that, they all went their separate ways in order to protect Fremea's friends, with Shizuri going to the multilevel overpass.

Shiage and Rikou leads Cendrillon back to their apartment, as Kikyou tags along. There, Shiage overhears Kinuhata Saiai complain to herself about doing all the work, even though she handed off the dark side investigation to Shizuri, she is missing the Ichihanaransai. She leaps up after being heard by Shiage as she relieved herself by shouting, and beats him up with a wrestling move. As Cendrillon prepares the ingredients left alone, Kikyou asks if this is truly how they could make a human body, doubting the ingredients before them. Still lying on the ground, Shiage asks what they need to do. Kikyou translates Cendrillon's words, stating that they need only to follow instruction using the specified amounts, knead together the excess brain material into a paste that has a similar structure to Last Order's brain. Kikyou states that she knows her brain structure, then sends out the plans to those involved, except Accelerator, who's mobile phone could not reach the message him at the moment.

Shiage asks if this is really Touma's instructions, to which Cendrillon replies that she doesn't know, and that tells that it may be a problem if the replica is too perfect, as such, they should create another replica that is made out of candy, and feed Fräulein Kreutune with it instead.

Cendrillon is not seen again, but is presumed to have escaped Academy City shortly after Fräulein Kreutune is rescued.

Magic God Othinus Arc
Cendrillon doesn't appear at all in-text or is even mentioned in passing. She however, appears in the illustration depicting the final recreation of the world by Othinus, known as the Version_Omega world in-text, where the various tragedies or trauma that affected the characters in Touma's Original World have been solved or have never transpired. Here, she is with the rest of GREMLIN while Marian complains about Bersi being with Kumokawa Maria.

Cinderella-based magic
As Leivinia Birdway explained, Cendrillon used magic to transform the story of Cinderella into an attack spell by overwriting religious motifs into it using the symbolism of the dress she wears. For example, by using the fact that in the tale an amateur girl was given dancing skills for a ball, Cendrillon can similarly improve her physical skills and move at high speeds fast enough to casually dodge gunfire and likely avoid a cluster bomb dropped near her. Her magic and combat skills were developed to be countermeasures to Kamijou Touma's Imagine Breaker since he can't move fast enough.
 * Glass Slippers Attack Spell: Based on the part of the fairy tale where Cinderella's sisters try on the glass slippers in an attempt to trick the prince. Using her foot size of 22.5 cm, any feet smaller than hers will have their bones forcibly widened and any feet larger will have their toes severed, though Cendrillon can use a weaker version that will only dislocate the toes as a warning. Cendrillon used various chants for this spell, all asking the "old lady of the pumpkin carriage" for the test of the glass slippers. She can apparently designate conditions to the spell to establish an area of effect and a number of people to be affected by it, with a maximum shown of unlimited people in a 500 meter radius around her.
 * Pumpkin Carriage Attack: Based on Cinderella's pumpkin carriage, this spell causes an invisible shockwave to explode from Cendrillon's extended palm. The spell moves forward as if an invisible vehicle was moving through. The shockwave is powerful enough to smash a wall to pieces in a single hit. Chant: "Old lady of the pumpkin carriage, please send the carriage quickly. Send it before I wake… before I wake from this one-night dream. Please send the pumpkin carriage".
 * Winner's Aura: Based on Cinderella being a flawless princess in front of the prince. Since a mistake would be unthinkable, all the external factors are readjusted so that it remains that way.

Speculation
Cendrillon is the first magician to have Accelerator contemplate whether or not his vector manipulation could affect or defend against magic. He stated that if it was an attack that was area based or moving along surfaces he would be fine, but if the spell was like cursed straw doll ignoring any distance he would be in trouble.

Weaknesses
Leivinia demonstrates the inherent flaw to Cendrillon's spells: the concept of midnight, the same time when the magic placed on Cinderella by her Fairy Godmother wore off. The conditions of midnight like "sunrise" and "a clock that strikes twelve" is enough to render Cendrillon unable to use her abilities, and the conditions can be easily simulated by intense light or manipulating clocks to show 12:00 respectively.

Other abilities

 * Body Reconstruction: After being turned into a table and then returned into a human by Ollerus, Cendrillon gained the ability to somehow separate herself into small parts and apparently remain alive. Those same parts are the "ingredients" that are used for her body reconstruction, though, requiring someone to follow the instructions to the letter.
 * Healing Magic: Cendrillon has a simple healing spell, where she mutters a French chant and a pale blue light covers the wound and then the entire body.
 * Invisibility: Cendrillon is capable of using magic to turn herself invisible.

Design evolution
Haimura designed her to look like she was wearing a futuristic spacesuit and draws inspiration from.

Quotes

 * (From NT3): "Old lady of the pumpkin carriage, please give me the test of the glass slippers. Please give me the strict and cruel test of the glass slippers that dropped my selfish and dishonest mother and sisters to the bottom of the pit of despair."
 * (From NT3): "I thank you, old lady. I thank you for this lovely dance with the prince. I thank you for the glittering dress and glass slippers. These lovely clothes have turned this timid girl into an elegant and perfect princess for a night."
 * (From NT5 to Mugino Shizuri) "Can I ask you for one more favor? ...First cooking, now sewing. Both are excellent training for being a wife."
 * (From NT6 to Kamijou Touma) "…I finally found you. You are the key to the official members of Gremlin. You are the piece I absolutely need to carry out my revenge. Finally. I can finally begin my life. So do not die yet. I need you for my revenge."
 * (From NT6 to Kamijou Touma) "Not only did you save my life in Baggage City, but now you freed me from the revenge I would have sullied my hands with. Ugh, you were supposed to be my enemy, so why do I keep growing more and more indebted to you...?"