View source for Isabella Theism

{{Character Infobox
|Full Name = Isabella Theism
|Images = Isabella Theism.jpg
|Kanji = イザベラ＝テイズム
|Romaji = Izabera Teizumu
|Gender = Female
|Classification = [[Magician]]
|Affiliates = [[Necessarius]]
|Magic = [[Necromancy]]
|Appears In = Novels
|Novel Debut = {{TrackTag93}}[[Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience|Agnese SS]]}}
{{Nihongo|'''Isabella Theism'''|イザベラ＝テイズム|Izabera Teizumu}} is a [[necromancer]] and member of [[Necessarius]], introduced in ''[[Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience]]''.<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt1>[[Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience]] Chapter 1 Part 1</ref><ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt2>[[Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience]] Chapter 1 Part 2</ref><ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt3>[[Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience]] Chapter 1 Part 3</ref><ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt8>[[Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience]] Chapter 1 Part 8</ref><ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt9>[[Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience]] Chapter 1 Part 9</ref>

=={{TrackTag13}}Etymology==
{{W|Isabella (given name)|Isabella}} is an Italian name<!--feminine, given-->, a <!--Greek/-->Latinized form of the Hebrew name Elisheba (meaning "God is my abundance" or "God is my oath"), from which Elizabeth is also derived. {{W|Theism}} is a term referring to belief in God or gods, derived from the Greek ''theos'' or ''theoi'' (meaning "god" or "gods").

==Appearance==
Isabella is a gaunt, silver-haired and brown-skinned woman, who dresses in tattered rags, clothing of the dead.<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt1/><ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt9/><!--scent--> She wears a necklace with a cracked heart and has a skull symbol on her head.<ref name=AgneseSSCh5I>[[Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience]] Chapter 5 Illustration</ref>

==Personality==
{{Expand|Enjoyment out of work besides money, bewitching smile<!--called nuns 'cute'-->,<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt9/> interrogation behaviour<ref name=AgneseSSCh2Pt5/><ref name=AgneseSSCh2Pt9/><!--Ch3--><!--Ch7Pt1-->}}
Isabella is described as eccentric for her choice to wear the clothes of the dead as her regular attire, along with the stench of death.<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt9/><ref name=AgneseSSCh2Pt9/><ref name=AgneseSSCh3Pt8/>

Excitable and enthusiastic when it comes to subjects involving death and the dead,<ref name=AgneseSSCh5Pt1/><ref name=AgneseSSCh5Pt1/><ref name=AgneseSSCh6Pt1>[[Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience]] Chapter 6 Part 1</ref> Isabella takes enjoyment in her work as a necromancer,<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt9/><ref name=AgneseSSCh2Pt5/><ref name=AgneseSSCh3Pt8/><ref name=AgneseSSCh6Pt1/><ref name=AgneseSSCh6Pt2>[[Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience]] Chapter 6 Part 2</ref> and has expressed excitement at the prospect of getting new research material, even if it might be the corpse of a colleague.<ref name=AgneseSSCh6Pt1/><ref name=AgneseSSCh6Pt2/>

==Background==
At various points in the past, [[Necessarius]] has had Isabella create and place fake corpses to deliver a desired impact against certain enemies. She has worked together with [[Stiyl Magnus]] on several occasions before the [[Agnese Forces]] training in Barcelona, with Stiyl having seen her casually cut down magicians just as they had managed to escape the labyrinth of fear and doubts she had created and thought that they were finally safe again.<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt9/>

==Chronology==
===Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience===
{{TrackTag123}}{{TrackTag117}}{{Main|Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience}}
During [[Agnese Sanctis]], [[Lucia]] and [[Angelene]]'s training for [[Necessarius]], Isabella fought Stiyl in a mock battle in Barcelona, [[Spain]], which the nuns were to forensically clean afterwards. In the simulated battle, Isabella was playing the role of a member of the [[magic cabal]] [[Armada]] who had been burying people alive to create a graveyard for the burial shrouds needed for her magic.<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt1/><ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt2/><ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt3/>

Later on, she and Stiyl watched as the nuns dealt with a [[curse]]-fearing [[Barcelonan Priest|priest]], who had applied magical [[Forensic Cleaning|cleaning techniques]] in order to frame and dispose of a [[Nihili Padpois|Haitian restaurant owner]] whose wife had apparently died from a curse, with Agnese dumping the remains of Isabella's fake corpse on the priest.<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt8/><ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt9/> With the girls having passed the test, Isabella noted that they were about to be very busy.<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt9/>

During the {{W|HMS Hood|Hood}} [[summoning]] incident, Isabella was present when the five magicians who had used the shared ceremonial ground within the past month were gathered and spoke to make them more compliant for interrogation.<ref name=AgneseSSCh2Pt5>[[Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience]] Chapter 2 Part 5</ref> After the incident, Isabella talked with Agnese about the feelings that prompted [[Jack Prometeria]]'s actions and their relation to her field.<ref name=AgneseSSCh2Pt9>[[Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience]] Chapter 2 Part 9</ref>

While the nuns were in Frankfurt, Isabella mentioned information to Agnese concerning bike delivery workers in the city going missing,<ref name=AgneseSSCh3Pt7>[[Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience]] Chapter 3 Part 7</ref> luring the nuns into carrying out a sting operation when they discovered Angelene had been doing a similar job part-time for snack funds.<ref name=AgneseSSCh3Pt1>[[Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience]] Chapter 3 Part 1</ref><ref name=AgneseSSCh3Pt3>[[Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience]] Chapter 3 Part 3</ref> Later, when Angelene was being pursued by the demon from the [[Ceremony of Ba Moun]] and trapped in a restaurant, Agnese and Lucia captured Isabella, who was observing from a nearby rooftop, tied her up and had her tell them what she knew of the situation and how to stop the curse, under threat of catapulting her into the restaurant.<ref name=AgneseSSCh3Pt7/> Isabella managed to deal with the demon using two fake corpses modelled after its true target [[Frau Halveria]], leading the demon to tear itself apart, before handing her a mop to [[Forensic Cleaning|clean up]] the remains.<ref name=AgneseSSCh3Pt8>[[Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience]] Chapter 3 Part 8</ref>

[[File:Agnese SS Chapter 5.png|thumb|180px|Isabella with Stiyl during the attack on the Guild's base on Thira.]]
Following the nuns' investigation in Zurich and Turin, Isabella participated in the attack on [[the Guild]]'s base on the island of {{W|Thira}}, together with Stiyl.<ref name=AgneseSSCh5Pt1>[[Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience]] Chapter 5 Part 1</ref><ref name=AgneseSSCh5Pt4>[[Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience]] Chapter 5 Part 4</ref> After the battle, when the Anglicans sought clues on Guild leader Tu's identity from a destroyed statue in the base,<ref name=AgneseSSCh6Pt1/> Isabella invoked a dead spirit (which promptly attacked her) in order to [[Divination|divine]] the location from which the statue was stolen.<ref name=AgneseSSCh6Pt2/>

Having gone with Stiyl to investigate evidence relating to the Guild in [[Italy]], she later spoke with him when the nuns' investigation of the museum thefts and the disappearance of [[Brax Mizhine]] uncovered Tu's identity as [[Albert Dying]], whom Stiyl had previously encountered and thought he had killed, and his plan to use the [[Sickle of Saturn]] in the heart of the [[Vatican]].<ref name=AgneseSSCh6Pt7>[[Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience]] Chapter 6 Part 7</ref> Shortly afterwards, she was forced to temporarily stop Stiyl's heart with lime poison to save him from death from the Sickle of Saturn (avoiding death herself through her own mindset for the time being), which had been used and engulfed the entire Italian Peninsula, with the two escaping from the area-of-effect into the sea by boat.<ref name=AgneseSSCh7Pt1>[[Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience]] Chapter 7 Part 1</ref>

{{TrackTag116}}
==Abilities==
Isabella is a [[necromancer]] who is skilled in creating corpses for fear, confusion and deception.<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt3/><ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt9/> Using only pig and cow remains in her work, she can rearrange the bones and organs to match human anatomy, treat it with chemicals, and produce a high quality imitation of a dead human body.<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt3/><ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt9/> These fake corpses can be designed after an enemy or ally and left in a crucial location to deceive or inspire fear and confusion.<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt9/> While some others might produce higher quality imitations, she is unrivalled in terms of cost-performance.<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt9/> She can also control her corpses remotely.<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt1/><ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt3/><ref name=AgneseSSCh3Pt8/>

Isabella is skilled at creating and exploiting the doubts and confusion resulting from her use of corpses, and has been described as the type of magician who can win a battle without actually fighting, though she is fully capable of fighting if necessary.<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt9/>

One form of [[necromancy]] which Isabella uses involves the living donning the stolen clothes of the dead (clothing being a symbol of position) in order to become one with them and draw on their power.<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt1/> The tattered rags which Isabella normally wears are such clothes.<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt1/><ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt9/> In the mock battle with [[Stiyl Magnus]] in Barcelona, Isabella made use of a long cloth, a [[spiritual item]] created by sewing together burial garbs, apparently obtained via grave-robbing, and based on a mixture of {{W|Haitian Vodou|Haitian}} [[Voodoo]] and the [[Christian]] {{W|Shroud of Turin}}. It was capable of spiraling around Isabella, bending down like a spring and launching her over ten meters upwards onto a rooftop.<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt1/>

In the same mock battle, Isabella made use of Voodoo-based techniques in conjunction with a substitute corpse prepared for the training exercise.<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt1/> With the vocal command "Detach the [[Ti Bon Ange]] and place it within me"{{NeedNihongo|}} and breaking open a capsule of zombie powder (which she might have stored within {{W|cnidocytes}}) hidden in the canine tooth, an entity (possibly a [[summoned]] [[soul]] or something which seemed to be one) was drawn into the body and moves it on its own, regardless of damage<!--abnormal movements, anatomic/biological, ordinary circulation of life force and magic power ignored-->.<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt1/> When bisected, tentacles emerged from the lower half of the body, and when the upper half would have been burned away, a disembodied brain in a transparent shell and supported by many tentacles (resembling a jellyfish) burst out of the skull and leapt away in a final effort to escape.<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt1/>

The corpse in the training exercise was apparently infected with a Voodoo curse, meaning the nuns needed to be careful during cleanup and disposal.<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt3/><ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt4>[[Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience]] Chapter 1 Part 4</ref><ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt8/> During the cleanup, some clumps of flesh started to tremble and move, with the possibility of coming together to form a {{W|globster}}.<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt3/> It was also noted that AEDs and epinephrine were off limits as trying to revive the corpse could cause the soulless doll to get up and start moving.<ref name=AgneseSSCh1Pt3/> During the battle on Thira, Isabella made use of a catapult, with twisted human skin used in place of a rope, to propel corpses filled with curses and disease towards the Guild base<!--land in water source-->.<ref name=AgneseSSCh5Pt1/>

Isabella is capable of using her necromancy for [[divination]], although the invoked dead spirits can only reveal lost information which cannot be found through methods available to the living<!--such as carbon dating, alternate light sources, lies detectors, truth serums etc--> (though not necessarily known to Isabella herself).<ref name=AgneseSSCh6Pt2/> In the case of finding where the destroyed stolen statue on Thira came from, Isabella began her spell by spreading her arms wide, with fluttering scraps of paper, clippings from newspapers and magazines filling the area. Invoking a dead spirit, drawn in by {{W|Eucharist|unsalted rye bread and unfermented grape juice}}<!--(not needing the complete resurrection that is the work of the Lord to invite in a being capable of answering the question)-->, she demanded that it don a temporary garb<!--(with no boundary there between the living and dead)--> to draw out information once formed by human hands but lost through death, declaring what she sought. As she completed her incantation and commands, the mini-whirlwind of papers took the form of a life-sized human<!--claws-->. With no safety measures in place, it promptly began to attack the living (Isabella included), who then had to attack and tear all the articles from the raging dead spirit, with the last one left being the result.<ref name=AgneseSSCh6Pt2/>

Isabella can also use a Voodoo-based {{W|lime}} poison to temporarily stop someone's heart.<ref name=AgneseSSCh7Pt1/> She has gathered many techniques relating to death from various cultures besides Christianity and Voodoo, including [[Greek Mythology|Greek]] and [[Roman Mythology]]<!--loves the deaths that smell of pomegranate, lime (Voodoo), corn and grapes (Wine - Christianity?)--><!--Izanami/pyramid mention-->.<ref name=AgneseSSCh5Pt1/><ref name=AgneseSSCh7Pt1/>

==Character Art Design==
{{EmptyDesign}}
===Gallery===
{{TrackTag50}}<gallery hideaddbutton="true">
Isabella Theism (Design).jpg|Isabella Theism's character design by [[Haimura Kiyotaka]]
</gallery>

==Quotes==
<!--Ch2/3?-->
*{{QuoteTrack|''“[[Necromancer|We]] rob graves, steal the stained clothing within, and wear them to become one with the dead so we can provide otherworldly answers from the mouths of the dead. That might sound like a cursed thing to do, but ours is the correct way to hear the words of a specific dead person.”[...]“As long as enough people come seeking our techniques, [[Necromancy|our field]] will never die out.”[...]“Eternal life will bring only loneliness. It is much more comforting to contact the dead and speak with the deceased. Twisted as it might seem, that’s just how humans are.”''<ref name=AgneseSSCh2Pt9/>}}{{TrackTag122}}
*{{QuoteTrack|''"“We’re talking about a [[Greek]] [[The Guild|secret society]] here, so what do you think? Orpheus, Dionysus, or Persephone maybe? I can’t wait to find out☆”[...]“Necromancers like me have a fondness for this genre. Like Japan’s Izanami or the Egyptian pyramids. …Yes, a true magician can’t just rely on the [[Arsenal]]. You need to see things for yourself! Yes, yessss! The world is awash with death!!”''<ref name=AgneseSSCh5Pt1/>{{UncertainPositioning}}<!--(to [[Stiyl Magnus]], about [[the Guild]])-->}}{{TrackTag122}}
*{{QuoteTrack|''"Eh heh heh. Now, this is getting interesting. A fresh corpse with no external injuries is rare indeed. Drool. And this isn’t just a pickled [[Hand of Glory]] or a {{W|memorial diamond|body compressed into a diamond}}! It’s a full corpse I could do anything I want with!! I need as much reference material as I can get for the corpses I construct out of animal meat and bones and I was hoping to try out some new things. This really gets my imagination running wild! Ahh, the ideas just won’t stop! Is this further proof that I’m a genius? I could do so many cool things with this!!"''<ref name=AgneseSSCh6Pt1/>}}{{TrackTag122}}
*{{QuoteTrack|''"I’ve gathered all techniques related to death and the [[Greek Mythology|Greek]] and [[Roman Mythology|Roman]] mythologies are no exception. I was already madly in love with death that smells of pomegranate, so there was no need for me to convert. Of course, I love death that smells of [[Voodoo|lime]], corn, and [[Christianity|grapes]] just as much. My body carries far too much desire to remain faithful to just the one.”''<ref name=AgneseSSCh7Pt1/>}}{{TrackTag122}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
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