Hishigata Mikihiko

Hishigata Mikihiko (菱形幹比古) is a character introduced in Toaru Kagaku no Accelerator. He was a neuroscientist and the creator of the Coffins, who was working with the rogue Anti-Skill group DA, but actually just using them for his own ends.

Appearance
He has messy blond hair, and what could only be described as bored-looking eyes. He is shown to be wearing a labcoat over a turtleneck sweatshirt.

He is often seen with a lollipop in his mouth.

Personality
He is willing to use corpses for his Coffins and even use live humans for his research, if him wanting to use Accelerator as a specimen is something to go by. He is willing to slaughter a subordinate if they have failed the organization, as exemplified to what happened Nishio. However, he is wise enough not to take on challenges when he does not have the time, as with Accelerator.

He has a verbal tic or a peculiar way ending of a sentence, using Yeah (うん) sometimes at the end.

Background
He and his sister Hirumi are part of the DA, and are in search for the perfect mind and body, and in turn achieve the perfect esper. However, the two have their own plans and are just using DA for their own ends.

In the beginning he was doing research on how esper powers resided in the human body. He was later helped by the arrival of Esther Rosenthal, who claims she had been "tricked" into participating. Regardless, it was with her help that Hishigata was able to strengthen esper powers by reinforcing the body, though only on corpses. This would eventually lead to the Coffins. Later, Hirumi dies but is resurrected by Esther, much to his relief. However, she later discovers that Hirumi became possessed by the evil spirit Taowu, though Hishigata could not tell the difference.

DA apparently wants to cleanse Academy City of evil, as well as put a new "layer" unto the world using Last Order, which is apparently putting her into the core of a weapon that Hishigata has built. He later meets Esther Rosenthal who became privy to a few details on their plans, and becomes essential with the plan in putting Last Order into the core of the aforementioned weapon.

Necromancer Arc
He directs Nishio when he tries to infiltrate a certain hospital where Esther went into after escaping her restraints.

He later berates Nishio for blaming him regarding the Prototype Coffin failing against Accelerator. He later kills Nishio using the Qiong Qi after he discovers that he lied that he has captured Esther. When Esther arrives with Accelerator in the warehouse, he divulges to her that their plans are advancing, and later tells Accelerator that he would like him to be a specimen of his. He later has the mecha leave as it is too soon to fight Accelerator, easily deflecting his wind attacks using the mecha.

Later, he is present with the voice conference of his colleagues and superiors concerning the recent actions by their former bacler, Nakimoto Rizou of the Academy City Board of Directors (something which, in the anime at least, Hishigata himself had a role in). He later receives a report that one of the DA operatives captured a hostage during a botched mission. Seeing that the hostage is a clone, he requests his superior if he can have the clone, to which his superior allows, though asks why, to which Hishigata gives a hackneyed response that it is about "justice". As the extermination campaign on DA continues, the top brass of the organization are looking for a means to turn the tide, and one of them asks Hishigata about the weapon that can "settle things on the battlefield", to which he says the weapon will not work as Esther has escaped and that DA has failed in capturing Last Order as so to acts as its core. However, he assures them that if they can get the Sister he requested, then he should be able to pull it off. Seizing this chance, the leaders then have the remnants of Branch 03, the one that was destroyed by the Scavengers, to regroup in Seiin High School, specifically its Sixth Chemistry Building. After the end of the conference with the leaders, he then visits Hirumi, saying that it is about time for them to cut ties with DA, and that they will do it once they get their hands on the Sister.

After a fierce battle with DA and the Scavengers, Accelerator gets attacked by Hishigata and his Qiong Qi, and later Hundun and Taotie. This allows him to finally get Misaka 10046, and collect data from her. Esther and Hasami later infiltrate Hishigata's headquarters, where she confronts him about Hirumi who is possessed by the evil spirit Taowu, though Hishigata doesn't believe her. Esther promises that for her friend Hirumi's sake, she will stop them.

Managing to slow Accelerator by causing collateral damage with Qiong Qi and Taotie, Hishigata was able to complete the memory download from the arriving Hundun before he reached them and retrieved Misaka 10046. Faced with a provoked Accelerator, Hishigata managed to buy some time by talking about his research and through a ploy with a remote, enough for the formula to be installed into Qiong Qi and Taotie, restarting them to delay Accelerator while he installed the formula into Hirumi.

After Accelerator destroyed the Coffins, Hishigata spoke to him over one of the remaining speakers, telling him that they had done their job and that Accelerator would not be able to reach him in time. Unknown to him, Esther had arrived at his location. Alerted at the last moment to Esther's attempt to stab Hirumi's body with Emperor Shun's Blade, Hishigata intercepted her and was stabbed instead as the installation was completed. 'Hirumi' woke up immediately afterwards, acting as Hirumi did before death and then expressed horror and rage at seeing her brother stabbed, beginning to manifest a monstrous form.

As Accelerator and Misaka 10046 arrived, wondering what was going on, the dying Hishigata claimed that having received the memory formula, Hirumi was automatically growing the body required for Level 6. However, Esther refuted this, telling him again that it was Taowu and not Hirumi. Hishigata called Hirumi over to prove Esther wrong, but recognizing that he was fatally wounded and the deception was no longer required, the Taowu ceased imitating Hirumi and revealed itself. Shocked, Hishigata listened as the truth about the plan to obtain the perfect soul and body was revealed, along with the revelation that the Taowu housed the will of the Rosenthal ancestor Isaac.

Hishigata was separated from Esther as the body grew further, but made his way back up from the lower levels via a service lift. He offered to guide Accelerator and Esther's group towards their goal, recognizing that moving about with his wounds would only hasten his demise but wishing to take back his sister before then.

Accompanying them to the summit,  he witnessed Esther exorcising the Taowu from Hirumi with Emperor Shun's Blade. As she did so, the last lingering remnants of Hirumi surfaced and she said goodbye to her brother. He did likewise, noting that he would soon be joining her. He added that he probably would not be the only one, given what he calculated about the imminent explosive collapse, one he estimated would raze everything within 5 kilometers and likely wipe out the city with its shockwave. With some final words to Esther, Hishigata succumbed to his wounds and slumped over dead. Immediately afterwards, Hirumi's corpse crumbled and the constructed body began the explosive collapse, but Accelerator was able to prevent most of the damage by redirecting the explosion into space.

Abilities
Hishigata was a highly competent neuroscientist, having conducted research into the origin of esper abilities within the human body and devised the method of mechanically reinforcing and expanding the physical body to strengthen abilities, which would lead to his creation of the Coffins. Besides the core techniques, he also played a major role in the development of the Coffins' technology and programming.

Hishigata possessed knowledge of Rosenthal-style Necromancy, having learnt it through Esther, and could use its technique of inserting an artificial soul into a corpse to reanimate it, though not to the extent that he could be called a necromancer himself. He also obtained a number of Esther's charms during her captivity, including three of the Evil Spirits of the Numbers; Qiong Qi, Taotie and Hundun, which he used in Coffins.

Quotes

 * (To Nishio, from Accelerator Chapter 2): "Fragile justice is an evil that disturbs the order. An evil must be destroyed even if its one of us. Our organization is meant to bring perfect justice to Academy City."