Shokuhou Misaki

Shokuhou Misaki (食蜂 操祈) is the fifth ranked Level 5 esper and a student at Tokiwadai Middle School that goes under the alias "The Queen". This refers to her having the largest faction and influence within Tokiwadai Middle School due to her ability. Originally referred to only in passing in Toaru Majutsu no Index, her character later officially debuts in Toaru Kagaku no Railgun  and later made her debut in the Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index novels.

Etymology
Misaki's first name can be translated as "Wish For Control" and her name as a whole can be translated as "Dominated Psychology". Her first name is composed of the characters for "control" and "pray", and her surname carries a "honey bee" motif, which was later decided by Kamachi to illustrate Misaki as someone who eats through societal structures.

Appearance
Misaki appears as an elegant beauty of Tokiwadai Middle School, sporting long straight hair of golden color. She wears a pair of white gloves and stockings, both adorned with laces. She is also seen holding a shoulder bag with a star adorned on the middle. Her eyes are also gold colored, however, one notable feature of her eyes is that they have star designs on them. Literally, she is a starry-eyed girl. She claims that she was born that way.

Her large breasts are a point of jealousy for Mikoto, who mocks her for it. She even once suspects Misaki of not being a middle school student based on her bust size, to which Misaki replies that it may be possible with her abilities that she is not. Both Seria and Touma have also question her if she was even in middle school. However, a year before the story Misaki had a smaller bust, even being called flat-chested by Touma.

Background
Not much is known about her past and childhood. In a discussion about siblings, Shokuhou acts as if she is not among those who have one. When she entered Academy City and passed through the Power Curriculum Program, she became an esper of an unknown Level, but higher than 0.

When she was younger, Shokuhou Misaki was a subject of the Clone Dolly first research laboratory. It's revealed that Shokuhou Misaki and Mitsuari Ayu of the third laboratory were found by Tree Diagram to both have the possibility of reaching Level 5, possessing abilities with a near-identical basic theory and scope, though they would plateau at Level 3 under the standard curriculum. The higher-ups decided to prune one and focus on developing the other. Following the Parameter List, they chose to focus on Shokuhou Misaki, with Mitsuari Ayu being kept as a back-up in the event of her death. Her researchers soon begun to train Misaki's powers for the Exterior Project, using her powers to brainwash people like Makuwa to think melons are apples. Part of this project was the development of Exterior, a giant brain that could replicate her powers with much higher potency, with significantly increased reach and number of people that can be controlled at one time, and to allow anybody to use Mental Out for themselves. For that project, part of her cerebral cortex was taken from her to create Exterior.

At some point during her time in the first laboratory, Shokuhou approached Hokaze Junko, a subject of Clone Dolly's third lab, and discovered that Junko suffered painful headaches every day due to her power. Misaki used her power to sync with Junko's mind and relieve the headaches, despite the risk to herself if Junko were to lose control. She advised Junko to stop trying to everything by herself and said that she owed her one.

During the project, she was asked to brainwash a girl that is known as Dolly, which the scientist required for data, into thinking she is her friend that left her after discovering the machines implanted on Dolly's person. Misaki somehow acquiesces and begins pretending as Dolly's friend. This ultimately ends in tragedy when it is revealed that Dolly's condition is steadily deteriorating even with Academy City's powerful medical technology, and by the time the two have become close Dolly falls ill and dies shortly after—supposedly a foregone conclusion and necessary to the Exterior project. A crestfallen Misaki soon turns against the facility and its researchers, exerting her influence and control over everybody involved in the project. She learns that the Clone Dolly Workshop is related to the Exterior project, and also that the scientists are to dispose of her once Exterior is completed. By the time she enters Tokiwadai Middle School, Misaki has effectively hidden Exterior and its capabilities completely, though later had help from people apparently loyal to her to maintain it. Her admission to Tokiwadai happened simultaneously to her being officially classified as a Level 5, at which point she was higher ranked than Misaka Mikoto.

Due to the events involving Dolly and the Exterior Project, Misaki became weary and depressed to the point of wanting to use her powers on herself to remove what she called "heavy thoughts".

Meeting Kamijou Touma
Back in August of the previous year of the timeline, Misaki meets Kamijou Touma several times, which would later be remarked upon by her "as the happiest period of her life", despite their relationship ending abruptly. Misaki, a 1st year of Tokiwadai, first meets Touma in an intersection, bumping into him as he was in a hurry. In his haste he leaves his cellphone with Misaki, forcing her to hand over the phone to Anti-Skill. This event would later consequently lead to the attempted suicide of Mitsuari Ayu at Ground Geo, a girl similar to Misaki, who had just reached an impasse in her ability development. This is because the cellphone could have been used by Touma to call her and prevent her from trying to take her own life as she stated "wanted to be saved" by him. Later, a still-depressed Misaki, goes to Ground Geo and pondered using Mental Out on herself. She later meets Touma again who was still hounded by his failure to help Mitsuari, recognizing him from before. The meeting would subsequently prevent Misaki from doing the deed as Misaki discovers first-hand, several times, on how Touma's power worked against her.

Touma would later meet Misaki several times during the summer, bickering and getting into shenanigans, like going for a swim, where they introduce each other and where Touma relates his preference for big-breasted women, and getting tricked by Kumokawa Seria. This later culminates with Touma giving a used cheap whistle for her to use to call him when she is in trouble, which notes is an indirect kiss with him. The similarities with Misaka Mikoto's relationship with Touma are clear, and they can be described as acquaintances that often run into each other in the city. Misaki even hypothesized that these similarities may be the reason why she can't stand her.

These run-ins with Touma, however, would later come to an abrupt end. Deadlock would later try and attack Misaki, forcing Touma to defend her using his own body while she used her powers to whittle their numbers by having them attack each other. Touma's efforts however later come at a price as he becomes severely injured. Needing to save Touma's life, Misaki volunteers to use her powers on Touma, as in essence, it manipulates the brain's fluids, cutting off his sense of pain and allowing the EMT to treat him. However, due to Touma's low blood pressure, her attempt didn't work correctly as planned, leaving Touma brain damaged and making him unable to remember and make new memories of her and only her.

The reason why she has complete trust towards Touma is likely because of their previous relationship. Indeed, during the Agitate Halation Arc, she helps Touma, while using the body of another girl, regardless of the unscientific and ridiculous things he speaks to her.

Toaru Majutsu no Index
Misaki is often referenced throughout the series for her role as a powerful telepath and is always referred to in the third person or as her alias, The Queen of Tokiwadai.

Index Arc
Kamijou Touma first references her during the Index Arc. While trying to convince Kanzaki Kaori to let Academy City help Index, he tells her that there's a Level 5 at Tokiwadai that could extract people's memories by just touching them. It is unknown what would happen if Misaki were to do what Touma what intended her to do, but if she was to see into Index's mind, and thus her many grimoires, the backlash would most likely severely harm her.

Acqua of the Back Arc
Mikoto mentions Shokuhou (by her epithet "The Queen") for the first time, recalling that the Queen is the best mind controller in Academy City. Mikoto first considers asking her to fix Kamijou Touma's memory loss problem, but quickly dismisses the idea since she isn't on good enough terms with her, and Mikoto did not want to end up in the "Queen's" debt. Mikoto also did not like the idea of trusting the health of a friend to someone she has an indirect rivalry with.

Christmas Eve Arc
On the morning of December 24th, Shokuhou worked together with Mikoto in their attempt to escape from Tokiwadai's strict Christmas oversight. However she was abandoned by Mikoto on a rooftop before she could betray her and was left to take the blame, swearing revenge.

Christmas Day Arc
Shokuhou was present at Heaven Canceller's Hospital on Christmas Day, intending to make up for lost time with the injured Touma and take revenge for the first kiss opportunity stolen by Anna Sprengel, while keeping an eye on his condition.

On learning that Touma was dying due to the ingested St. Germain, the two Level 5s teamed up to confront Anna Sprengel for the cure. Despite bringing their best equipment, they were unprepared for Anna's power, toyed with before being utterly defeated, unable to stop Anna from reaching the hospital,          where Touma came out to confront her. The girls were subsequently hospitalized due to their injuries.

Operation Handcuffs Arc
At the end of Christmas Day, Mikoto and Shokuhou met Kuroko in the hospital after she was hospitalized from injuries sustained during Operation Handcuffs.

Los Angeles Arc
Early in the morning on December 26th, Shokuhou snuck off to Touma's room in the hospital, manipulating Kuroko to distract Mikoto, only to find to her dismay that Touma had already escaped from the hospital. Later in the day, the two Level 5s were having a minor scuffle (starting over the television), when Touma phoned Mikoto for help in unlocking Melzabeth Grocery's phone for information, with Kuroko's interruption ending up providing the information Touma needed.

Mikoto and Shokuhou were watching when the Sisters willing revealed themselves to the world to support Touma, who was fighting Citrinitas to save the trapped population of Los Angeles and to prevent Melzabeth Grocery from being framed for the magician's actions. Despite being alarmed at the suddenness of the reveal and faced with having to explain things to their family, friends and acquaintances, the two were proud of the girls for choosing for themselves to act to protect others and taking their first steps into a larger world.

Toaru Majutsu no Index: Shokuhou Misaki Figurine
Shokuhou Misaki encounters a moving, speaking miniature of herself and seeks out its creator to find out when her body data had been leaked out. She finds the doll's creator, a woman called the Professor, imprisoned in a doll museum. Once there, the Professor reveals to her that she created the doll in order to leave behind a memory of her since she will be dead. Misaki is then shot by one of the woman's accomplices, fulfilling the condition that made her create the mini-Misaki figure in the first place. Little did she know that Misaki has already used her Mental Out on her and her accomplice.

Under the illusion of Mental Out, the Professor is forced to reveal her plan of preserving Academy City using her Urban Processor, believing that the city will be destroyed soon. Misaki refuses to accept the Professor's reasoning, and believes that there is still some path other than what the Professor is taking. In the end Misaki has the Urban Processor destroyed, while the Professor is left satisfied with Misaki's answer.

In the end the doll ends up living with Misaki. However, the thought of Academy City being destroyed is still on Misaki's mind, and it would be only two days before Othinus remade the world.

Toaru Majutsu no Virtual-On
Piloting the Virtualoid, Angelan, Misaki did battle with Misaka's friends and eventually Misaka herself, during a Virtual-On Tournament.

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun OVA 01
Not actually appearing in person per se, but she is referenced by Shirai Kuroko in the final moments of the first Toaru Kagaku no Railgun OVA, where she states that there are two Level 5s in Tokiwadai Middle School.

Toaru Majutsu no Virtual-On (game)
Miksaki is one of the playable characters in the Toaru Majutsu no Virtual-On video game. Her associated Virtuaroid is SGV-417-l/VSL Angelan. As indicated in the prequel short story Toaru Majutsu no Virtual-On: Misaka Mikoto's Dangerous Tea Party, Misaki agrees to team-up with Mikoto during the Vooster's Cup, which draws the ire of Shirai Kuroko.

Dengeki Bunko
Misaki appears as one of the new playable characters (in the latest updates) in this gacha-RPG game.

Mental Out
Her ability is Mental Out (心理掌握 (メンタルアウト) ), a very powerful ability involving the human mind which includes mental control, reading other people's memories, telepathy, changing a person's personality, willpower and memory destruction, revelation and transplantation of emotions, brainwashing, and psychometry.

Her powers (and that of Mitsuari Ayu's Mental Stinger) are derived from her control of the secretion of chemicals in the target's brain via the control of blood distribution, cerebrospinal fluid, and others, in the brain. Instead of controlling bio-electricity directly, she changes its conductive efficiency by controlling the fluid that acts as a catalyst for the electricity to flow through. Furthermore, Misaki's method of reading minds without relying on another person's brain is likely also related to moisture.

Her power allows her to prevent the use of powers, movement, and even sense of pain of other people using the remote. Also, unique to the power is that some of the people that have been tampered and controlled by Shokuhou display star markings (Misaki's eyes have stars on them) on one or both their eyes. She can take-over a person and use their body to interact with other people in long distance. She has the ability to control up to 10-14 people at once using her full power. She can also control large number of people, up to triple digit, but she can only give them simple commands. Using her powers, she was able to give preset commands to each student of all five schools in the School Garden, and is able to switch between them constantly if she needs to. In addition, she can remove people's memory just by touching them. She is also able to use her ability on herself and apply mental blocks to prevent Mental Out being used against her, though these blocks only work while she is conscious. She can even use her ability to swap out concepts, like the concepts of limiter release code and self-destruct code, in people's minds, as she did on herself to trick Gensei. Outside of the human mind, Misaki can make use of her powers to recall an object's residual memory like a form of Psychometry. Misaki touches an object with her bare hand, and then presses a remote control on herself to extract its memories. She can extract memories from an object from the past 24 hours. She can use the same application on herself even extracting her memories of the past year.

As one of her personal rules Misaki divided up her esper ability in preset "categories" to make it easier to use These "categories" are often used for specifics applications or simple commands. Likely to better concentrate and control her powers, Misaki speaks the word "Category" followed by a number and then its corresponding application when using one. Seemingly, a "category" can have more than one corresponding application and targets and conditions can be slightly modified at the moment. Misaki's "categories" include, but are not limited to:


 * Category 005: Locates a mental ‘bomb’ set in the indicated individual.
 * Category 011: The indicated individual must answer accurately to all questions. (Misaki uses a television remote for this)
 * Category 030: Leaves the indicated individual unconscious for twenty-four hours.
 * Category 044: Extracts the past twenty-four hours'/year’s memories from the object Shokuhou Misaki touches with her bare right hand. (Misaki uses a digital recorder remote for this)
 * Category 061: Sensory Misidentification.
 * Category 081: Can make the targeted individual believe that Shokuhou Misaki is their target and that she is the person standing next to them, or can designate Shokuhou Misaki as the target's "Direct Superior A". (Misaki uses a television remote for this)
 * Category 109: The target recognizes Shokuhou Misaki as their ally and immediately eliminates anyone who attacks her. (Misaki uses a television remote for this)
 * Category 220: The target becomes afraid of sailor uniforms and wants to eliminate said uniforms if any get near them. (Misaki uses a television remote for this)
 * Category 330: Prevents the indicated individual from detecting the passage of time for sixty minutes. (Misaki uses an audio set remote and spins the volume dial with her thumb for this)
 * Category 401: Returns the indicated individual’s mind to its state just before a mental ‘bomb’ activated.
 * Category 433: Pain Shutoff.

Through the use of Exterior, Misaki can increase her reach and the number of people she can control. In the first instance the audience sees her use it, she forces kilometers wide of drivers to move out of the way in order for their car to drive through. She still requires the usage of a remote controller to do this however. After Exterior's destruction, she cannot access it anymore.

Drawbacks
There is most likely a limit to the number of people she can control. Her powers apparently have so many applications that she does not have a stable control of it unless she creates "boundaries" for herself. Repeatedly, Misaki is shown to use a remote to use her powers. According to Toaru Kagaku no Railgun's editor, Misaki's powers has too high a degree of freedom, so she uses a remote to provide a basis to control her powers. She does not have a single remote. She uses different remotes depending on what type of power she wishes to use. The bag she carries around is filled with many different remotes. It is possible for her to use her powers without a remote, but it is very difficult, so she generally prefers not to as it has a too high degree of freedom. This is backed up by the fact that Rensa, the cyborg which can mimic the powers of all Level 5s except the 7th ranked one, is forced to dumpster dive for a television remote for her to use her powers against Touma. The fact that she tried to use a television remote taken from the trash, implies that Misaki can use any sort of remote control, even things like a Wii remote control. Moreover, Misaki apparently uses different kinds of remotes depending on her intentions, like using digital recorder remote controller to extract residual memories of an object.

Because of the fact that she controls electricity indirectly through the brain's bio-fluids, Misaki has problems against espers that can directly manipulate their bio-electricity, such as Electromasters. The most celebrated example of this is Misaki's powers being used against Misaka Mikoto, the 3rd-ranked Level 5. Her electromagnetic barrier surrounding her body prevents Misaki from using her powers on her. Despite this, Misaki can force her powers through an Electromaster's defenses by raising her power. This either indicates her using Exterior or her having a higher power level than her target. Regardless, Misaki was able to penetrate Misaka 10032's mind, and through her, provide a multi-layered protection on the Misaka Network against electric viruses.

Finally, Misaki cannot control animals or anything that is not human. This is seen when she is desperately trying to get escaped zoo animals off of her and resorts to controlling a hero to save herself by shooting ice at the animal that had pounced on her.

Other
Given Mental Out's root in the manipulation of moisture, although it is primarily utilized on a microscopic level for purposes relating to the human mind, it is possible for the ability to manifest it in other ways under certain circumstances. Many of these infrequent occurrences have happened under states of heightened emotion or distress, and were not consciously invoked or under proper control. Relating to this, Shokuhou has noted the complexity of her ability, and how her physical and mental state influences it a lot, with not even her knowing how far that influence can take it.

When Mitsuari Ayu's Mental Stinger, a similar ability at Level 3, went out of control during a breakdown, it caused an explosive phenomenon similar to freeze-drying, creating a territory that would cause any living being within it to crumble like dried paper mache. When Shokuhou herself lost control of her power under extreme distress during the incident at the Windsor Castle party, a similar destructive phenomena manifested with dry popping sounds in the vicinity, a nearby turkey bursting and spilled red wine boiling. During a confrontation with members of the Sha Clique in her first year at Tokiwadai Middle School, while trying to use her ability without her remotes, she managed to make the ivy vines used to restrain her by Lin Lihua disintegrate, presumably through freeze-drying.

When Shokuhou and Gaouin Tsukasa were attacked and the latter was injured, Shokuhou managed to stop Iori Mashiro's water balls. Although she lied to her opponent that the saline water balls were just similar enough to human fluid to barely take control, she didn't actually know how she did it and guessed that she wouldn't be able to reproduce the phenomena once the connection broke. She also wondered if this exception to the rule might have been due to seeing so much blood.

One conscious use of Mental Out in this way is in the Liquid Proof Railgun, a variation of Misaka Mikoto's Railgun technique which Mikoto uses while Shokuhou is using Mental Out to support her mind and alleviate the burden from the Anti-Art Attachment. In this case, its fine control is used to apply a slight liquid coating to the projectile coin, with a highly precise lattice pattern designed to melt in a specific way - this ablative coating takes away frictional heat and cools the coin while the steam expansion propels it further, increasing its overall range and destructive power.

Other abilities
Misaki is very intelligent and a skilled tactician. She is able to predict how a large number of people will react and to make plan to counter or use them to her advantage. This is exemplified when she helped Touma to get around the School Garden, as she was able to keep everybody from realizing who he was by dressing him with an Anti-Skill uniform and to quickly make everybody focus on something else, and when she outwitted a brilliant mind as Kihara Gensei using bluffs and taking double-edged gambles, like to manipulate her own mind, to deceive him, leading him to self-defeat.

She also possesses a good haptic memory, being able to memorize and select the remote she want by touch alone.

Design Evolution
Haimura was told that there was going to be a meeting that would decide her character for her appearance in the Toaru Kagaku no Railgun manga. Haimura's first draft of her design was drawn without thought and before he was given instructions and descriptions on what Misaki would look like, other than that she was designed to look like a shoujo character that will not stand out when mixed in a group of characters. After the meeting that decided her character, the draft of Misaki with the blonde hair was chosen and Haimura later finished the overall look of her character.

For her bag, Haimura first designed the bag with many stars, and later realizing that it was too cluttered, simplified it.

Trivia

 * Along with the 6th Level 5, her identity was one of the most speculated in the series by the fandom. This was brought on by both series' characters referencing her, and Mikoto's apparent lack of trust towards her.
 * In a deck of playing cards, the ace is two levels higher than the queen. Though possibly a coincidence, this is portrayed by how Mikoto (The Ace of Tokiwadai) is ranked two above Misaki (The Queen of Tokiwadai).
 * Based on the events in 7th novel of Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index, Misaki probably knows the identity of Number Six. Whether she already met them, or has access to the database of Number Six is yet to be determined. She could have also just read the mind of the man who was thought to be the Number Six.
 * According to Haimura, Misaki's design from a year before from NT11 is based on Index, drawing a parallel between them.
 * According to Ogino Kentarou, Misaki and Tsukuyomi Komoe might know each other. When asked about the nature of their relationship, he only names Himegami Aisa, Musujime Awaki, and Izanami, three girls who have stayed at Komoe's apartment.

Quotes

 * (Misaki as she is poking Mikoto in the library, from Railgun Chapter 41): "Miiii-saaa-kaaa-saaan!"
 * (Taunting Mikoto about Kongou Mitsuko, ibid): "I heard you were forcing yourself on a transfer student that had no place to belong to... On the surface you're being a wolf, while in the back you're making a secret gang?"
 * (Threating Mikoto and her friends, ibid): "Ah, I see! All I have to do is take Misaka-san's followers with my brainwashing ability.♥"
 * (Talking about the Level 5 demonstration, from Railgun Chapter 43): "Hmm... Just doing it would be fine, but going as a stand-in for Misaka-san just doesn't feel right..."
 * (Misaki commanding her clique, from Railgun Chapter 43): "You guys leave for 15 minutes. Oh, and challenge yourself to eat 20 Éclair as fast as possible during that time.☆"
 * (Talking about her comment remarking on Touma's arrival, from Railgun Chapter 62): "Oh, my, my, my, my!♥ Your Timing ability is a little too convenient. If this had nothing to do with me, I'd be a little disturbed. But... When it's about me you look like a prince. Girls really are selfish."
 * (To Touma, from NT 7): "But you are always like this. Perhaps that is the proper form for our relationship ability. No matter how many times I ask or our paths cross, the answer is always the same. Saying this will probably make you angry just like back then, but perhaps that is my punishment for having this power. After all, these repeated coincidences cannot be explained logically☆"
 * (To Touma, ibid): "“Yes, yes. I believe you. If you say that is the case, then that must be the case."
 * (Misaki using her powers to affect the "heroes", ibid): "Category 109 / Shokuhou Misaki is your ally. Immediately eliminate anyone who attacks her. Category 081 / Your target, Shokuhou Misaki, is the boy standing next to you. Category 220 / You are afraid of sailor uniforms. If any get near you, you want to eliminate them."
 * (To Mikoto regarding Touma, from NT8): "And even if an adult woman isn’t in his strike zone…If I bring in this much variation…He’s sure to like at least one of them☆"
 * (To Mitsuari Ayu about her choice in life, from NT 11): "You are weak, from the moment you could only use your life as an excuse for committing crimes, you insulted that very life. You didn’t notice, you were afraid of noticing, and you went around destroying everything that could make you notice, but you have also crushed your ability to ever gather respect. Even if you managed to reach the position of Level 5."
 * (To Mitsuari Ayu about Touma, from NT 11): "He is my hero. I don’t care how others see him. He can be someone else’s hero too. The authenticity of his righteousness doesn’t matter. But none of that changes his ability to be my personal hero. …So he will come. Even if he has forgotten everything and even if someone else is smiling by his side, just this once, it’s my turn☆" 

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食蜂操祈Shokuhou Misaki