Touma Kamijou

Kamijou Touma (上条 当麻) is the main protagonist of the Toaru Majutsu no Index series and is an important character in the Toaru Kagaku no Railgun side stories. He is also mostly involved in the events of the Magic Side.

He is a Level 0 Academy City high school student in his first year and possesses the mysterious 'Imagine Breaker' in his right hand, which is capable of negating all forms of magic, esper and divine abilities, even his own good luck. Having a strong sense of justice, he will help anyone who is in need and will not hesitate to challenge an opponent who is several times more powerful than himself. Because of his willingness to help others unconditionally, he has attracted the affections of many females in the series, which Himegami Aisa jokes about, stating that his life is like a dating sim where he is bound to unlock more paths to more girls.

Etymology
On its own, Touma's name spelled in kanji doesn't mean anything special. However, when spelled by others it yields interesting results.

When Touma first meets Kanzaki Kaori she believes his name means (神浄討魔) in kanji as opposed to (上条当麻). Kaori's interpretation translates to One that cleanses God and exorcises the Devil.

In volume 14, Touma's family name 'Kamijou' (上条) can be translated as The person superior to God (La persona superiore a Dio) (神上) in Japanese. The author's Afterword section also mentions a tantalizing hint on what the difference is between these two possible alternative translations of Touma's name.

Another interesting case is that Touma's given name can be spelled as (透魔), which can be translated as Invisible Demon. This is interesting as Touma wields an incredibly powerful force invisible in his right arm if severed that Fiamma of the Right even feared.

Appearance
The most striking feature of Touma is his spiky black hair, apart from which he looks like an ordinary high school student. It's been mentioned that his spiky hair isn't natural, but was made that way using hair gel after seeing it on a fashion magazine a while back. His father remarks that Touma looks just like his mother when he is worried about something or is thinking deeply.

Because he resides in Academy City, Touma is often seen wearing his school uniform along with an orange T-shirt underneath it. This applies to both summer and winter versions of his uniform (though when wearing the summer version he does not button it). Because of his tendency to wear his uniform in such a manner and the fact that he seems to attract trouble, many easily mistake Touma for a delinquent. During certain days like weekends, Touma simply wears a casual shirt and pants.

Personality
Touma is the type that acts before he thinks. He can never just sit around upon seeing someone in a pinch and will go to great lengths to protect or help the person. This he does at great risk to himself, which typically results in him being hospitalized for several days after each confrontation. When fighting seriously against a particularly strong opponent, Touma would usually first declare that he'll "destroy that illusion" of theirs, before actually engaging. He once answered to Himegami Aisa's question about the reason why he saves people: "I don't need a reason to save someone".

It is evident that even when he is in a blank slate after losing his memories, Touma can still display such personality. Touma, however, after losing his memories, now seems to approach people with more caution, carefully choosing what emotion or mood to display when meeting someone he thinks he might know, lest they see through his ruse and exploit him in any way. When Touma meets Stiyl once again after saving Index, he displayed politeness and casualness towards him which made Stiyl suspicious. Touma then realized his mistake quickly and created an explanation for his behavior. Touma also bears no grudge on former enemies, and is willing to help them if they asked for it.

Aiwass commented that Touma is only doing whatever he feels is right and is labeled "righteous" by other people impulsively. He is one who will follow what he believes regardless of what others try to convince him of. In addition, earlier Villian commented Touma is just like William Orville, someone who follows his own ideals no matter what. Though there are differences between the two: William is someone who stays true to his ideals and firmly believes it is the right path no matter what happens, and no matter who speaks against it; while Touma does not have set ideals and therefore can be manipulated into helping other people's plots. Even so, he works to correct his mistakes in order to bring a smile to everyone's face at the end of the road, no matter the cost he himself may have to pay. Even though he is a gentleman who is kind to women, Touma will not hesitate to strike female opponents who harm innocents or disrespect life, such as Sherry Cromwell, who was going to start a war between Science and Faith that would result in the death of millions, Agnese Sanctis, who was tasked to eliminate Orsola, Oriana Thomson, who hurted Fukiyose Seiri and Himegami Aisa, or Vento of the Front when she had planned to destroy Academy City and anything related to science to settle her grudge on what happened to her brother in the past.

Despite his righteous and heroic personality Touma occasionally displays poor choice of words which results in him getting bitten by Index, having bolts of lightning thrown by Misaka Mikoto, and creating misunderstandings with the other girls he encounters.

During the World War III, after his first clash against Fiamma of the Right, before leaving, when Touma was questioning Fiamma's actions about how rightful are both, Fiamma dared him to confront Index about his memory loss which left Touma with a down on his confidence, during his fight with Accelerator regained his confidence but the guilt still stays on him.

Other traits
As the result of his Imagine Breaker negating his own luck, Touma is unfortunate and often bemoans his situation when confronting an unfortunate situation with his famous catchphrase: "Such misfortune!" (不幸だ!, fukou da!). However, regardless of his own misfortune Touma believes that he is not regretful for being unfortunate, and states that he rather be unfortunate and help people than be fortunate and be happy and not notice people who are suffering. He states that being unfortunate is his fortune and it would be the path that he continue to walk on.

Ironically, despite Touma having several girls attracted to him, he has shown no apparent romantic attraction to them. However, Touma stated that he specifically prefers Dorm manager Onee-san (elder sister) types, as is the case with Kanzaki Kaori when he dreamed of things like her wearing the swimsuit used by Index during the Angel Fall incident, and asking a kiss from Oriana Thomson when they first meet.

Because of his personality, former antagonists in his side of the series such as Stiyl Magnus, Accelerator, Agnese Sanctis, Vento of the Front, Hamazura Shiage, and Lessar became his allies.