{INNOCENCE}

OVERVIEW

In the world, right now, it is estimated that there are about 7,000,000,000 humans living and dying on Earth. Out of all of them, there are several hundred special individuals who hold the special ability of being compatible with the substance called Innocence. They are said to be both loved and hated by God. Loved because they're the ones who are given special abilities in order to defend the Earth, and hated because their lives are being sacrificed for the rest of mankind.

These special individuals are called Exorcists. They come from all over the world and Innocence is not picky when it chooses its user. Some Exorcists consider themselves to be super humans or a superior race. Others see themselves as super heroes. Then there are some who consider themselves cursed and loathe Innocence for choosing them.

Many, if not all currently discovered Exorcists, are working in a military funded by the Vatican that has authority in every country except for the United States.

INNOCENCE

First discovered nearly 100 years ago, Innocence -- as it was officially named by scientists -- is a mysterious substance that can be used by certain individuals as a weapon against demonic beings. Those who are able to use the substance are said to be "compatible" with it as they are the only ones capable of unlocking its power.

It is thought by many that Innocence was created by God back in the days before the Great Flood. Back then, the Innocence was whole and kept inside the Noah's Ark in order to keep the animals at peace. Soon after the flood, however, the Innocence was broken into hundreds of pieces and scattered around the Earth where the small shards lay dormant until very recently when its power was needed again.

Innocence is used by Exorcists chosen by the Innocence to wield them. Each piece of Innocence is different and is specifically created for their use. Innocence is somewhat sentient and can make up it's own mind who it will use as a host. If someone who is not chosen by the Innocence tries to use it, the Innocence will slowly kill them, turning them into a mindless killing machine, destroying everything in its path for 24 hours before the human finally dies of exhaustion.


"Our descendants, We have battled the darkness, and they are a dying breed. There will be calamity in the future, so we leave behind this message here in order to help you."

EXORCISTS

Exorcists are humans who are compatible with Innocence and work in The Black Order with their main duties being to destroy Akuma and search the world for scattered Innocence before the Earl does. They work under the Vatican as a type of army, each one a crusader for the Catholic faith... even if the majority aren't religious. Other names they go by are "Apostles" or "Soldiers of God".

There are two types of Exorcists. The first and most common type is called "Equipment". These exorcists possess anti-akuma weapons that are not connected to their bodies and take the form of an object such as a sword, a computer, boots, or even a jar of bubbles. The second, and most rare type is called "Parasite". Born with Innocence in their bodies, parasites generally have a better understanding of their anti-akuma weapon and can control it easier than an Equipment type.

Exorcists are ranked on how compatible they are with their Innocence. A machine in the Black Order's HQ called Hevlaska determines an exorcist's "sync rate" which shows how powerful a weapon is and how easy and safe it is to activate it. Normal humans are always at 0% as they cannot use Innocence. Exorcists are given levels based on their sync rate. Between 30% and 40% is level one, 40% - 60% is level two, 60% - 80% is level three, and most stay within that range. If an exorcist reaches a 100% sync rate, they have mastered their weapon and are given the title of General Exorcist.

The uniform is a black leather coat with silver trim and a silver Rose Cross symbol on the right side of the chest. The coat can be any length and style the individual wishes and the rest of their uniform is highly customizable. Generals have the same uniform, but the silver is replaced by gold.

GENERALS

The Generals are Exorcists who have surpassed the 100% sync rate with their Innocence and become so much stronger for it. Such is their strength, they are consider the elites of the Black Order. Their uniforms differ to the normal Exorcists in that the decorations are gold, not silver.

Generals are immensely powerful combatants, shown to be able to fight off hordes of level one Akuma, level two Akuma and level three Akuma, and are able to destroy the giant level 3 Akuma with relative ease. They are even able to survive attacks from level four Akuma. The Generals are able to command all the Exorcists under them and are themselves only answerable to the Vatican. The only qualification to be a General Exorcist besides the 100% sync rate is that the individual must be over twenty years of age.

WEAPONS

Equipment

Equipment Innocence is the term for Innocence that resides inside an object. This object can be a weapon such as a gun or a sword, or it can be something completely harmless like a clock or teddy bear. Depending on what the Innocence is inside of, the Order may or may not extract the shard and put it into a more suitable weapon.

Because the weapon is not part of the Exorcist's body, equipment type exorcists are able to fight for longer that their parasitic counterparts without wearing themselves out, wasting energy on keeping the weapon in an active state. If the weapon is damaged, the Exorcist will not be affected in any direct way.

On the negative side, however, Equipment-type Exorcists are not attached to their weapons and can be made totally powerless if their weapon falls out of their grasp. Equipment-types are also vulnerable to the virus found in Akuma blood and cannot risk being hit anywhere on the body. Equipment users cannot control their Innocence with the mind. Their Innocence is not connected to their bodies, therefore, they do not have as much control over their weapon.

Crystal Sub-Type
A new type of Innocence where blood is the Innocence's medium. The full power of this type has yet to be seen. There is no telling what this type will do to the person in life. Currently The Order is recording all uses of this type and finding out what it can do as well as find out what would happen to the person using it. The Innocence takes a metallic form created from the Exorcist's blood.

Although the Innocence can be controlled through emotions like a parasite-type, no part of the user's body is altered. Instead the Innocence resides in the crystals made from the Exorcist's blood forming an object such as a ring. When the user activates the Innocence, the item transforms into a weapon of sorts, similar to equipment-type, but not actually part of the body like the parasite-type.

Crystal type Innocence has a large advantage over other types of Innocence because, it cannot be lost or stolen like Equipment types; if it is damaged, no damage is done to the user like a Parasite type, it can repair itself when damaged by using the Exorcist's blood, and it is immune to Akuma blood poison like Parasite types. The only real drawback to the Crystal type is that it is more difficult to control and level up and -- as said before -- no one is sure what its effect is on the human body over a period of time.

This type of weapon only evolves from a regular equipment-type, which is why it is listed as sub-type rather than in its own category, altogether.

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Parasite

Parasite Innocence is actually embedded in the compatible user's body, living off of it and gaining its power from their life force... much like a real parasite; however, unlike a real parasite, this innocence is also a part of the user's body. This part of their body that is affected has a completely different cell structure from a normal human and considered alien. For that reason, parasitic users are not considered human by many "normal" people.

While their Innocence is easier to control that Equipment-types, it takes a lot of energy to keep it running. Parasite-type users must eat and sleep a lot more than normal humans in order to have the energy to use their weapon. Since their weapon's a part of their body, if the weapon is damaged in any way, so too is the Exorcist. If the Innocence is destroyed, it's very possible the Exorcist could die depending on where it's located. They also have a much shorter life span than the normal human due to the Innocence draining life from them each time they activate. Recent studies show that it's likely a parasite will die around the tenth year after having first activated their weapon.

Innocence also likes to mark its owner's body in one way or another to make it known to all that the person is a compatible. Some of these markings can be extremely obvious and ugly (odd colored or textured flesh for example) or more subtle or beautiful (a small "mole" or a pretty tattoo-like design for example). When the weapon is activated, that marking will typically change in some way or another.

Bestiary Sub-Type
Sometimes parasitic Innocence will make a compatible user animalistic. Rather than just having their normal human body as a weapon, they have something a little extra. Animal traits and appearances. Some may have fangs, animal ears and/or tails, fur, wings, or claws when the Innocence is activated {though some traits may stick around in an unactivated state, as well}. Bestiary Exorcists never have more than one specific animal's traits; so an Exorcist with scorpion claws, wolf ears, and a pair of wings is out of the question.


Familiar Sub-type
The familiar sub-type is when the innocence resides inside of the body of an animal rather than a human. There is a human compatible with the Innocence inside of that animal and can activate it, having complete control over the transformed animal while in its weaponized state. Some groups find this to be a type of animal abuse, but the animals themselves actually seem to be extremely affectionate and close to the Exorcist.

THE HEART

The Heart of Innocence is a shard of Innocence that contains the source of power of all Innocence shards. It is unknown what it exactly looks like but it has been speculated that the Heart holds much more power than an ordinary Innocence shard and reacts in even stranger ways than usual. However, should the Heart be destroyed, every other piece of remaining Innocence would shatter along with it. Currently, both the Earl and the Order are trying to find the person who has it and or where it is. The side that finds it first would hold a large advantage over the other, and finding it is one of the key agendas of both sides.