Mugino Shizuri

is a recurring character in Toaru Majutsu no Index and Toaru Kagaku no Railgun. She is the 4th-ranked Level 5 and is the leader of , a mercenary group in the Dark Side of Academy City. Mugino plays an antagonistic role to the 3rd-ranked Level 5 Misaka Mikoto in Toaru Kagaku no Railgun and is the archnemesis of Hamazura Shiage for most of her run in the original Toaru Majutsu no Index. She is relentless in battle, and combined with her destructive powers, makes her a very dangerous opponent to face.
After , led by Kakine Teitoku the 2nd-ranked Level 5, constantly one-ups during the course of factional war on October 9, Mugino takes a dark turn to the worst in her blind desire to take revenge, resulting in the death of Frenda Seivelun by her own hands, an action that will haunt her afterwards, and the destruction of . As she requires Takitsubo Rikou for her vengeance, she instantly becomes at odds with Hamazura Shiage, whom she later transfers her wrath to. His struggle against her and the Dark Side of Academy City in order to protect Takitsubo allows him to grow into a heroic character in the series.
After the events of World War III, Mugino Shizuri reconciles with the remaining members and reforms the group and goes on the path of rehabilitation. The organization becomes the only known faction from the Dark Side of Academy City that fought in the factional war on October 9 to not have been disbanded after the war.
==Etymology==
The name means "wheat field".
==Appearance==
Mugino is a girl with a tall and slender figure. She has soft tea-colored hair. She has a knack for stylish clothing. Indeed she has been designed by Haimura to look like a model. Shiage noted that originally, from all the girls of Mugino Shizuri was the most beautiful and endowed with both style and grace fitting for an ojou-sama. Chapter 9 Part 4 Despite this, Mugino can also be practical, wearing shorts underneath her skirt. However unlike Misaka Mikoto, Mugino does not always wear them, as shown when Last Order sees that she is wearing panties. Chapter 3 Part 4
In Toaru Majutsu no Index she wore a bright short sleeved coat with a belt and checkered pattern ascot or cravat. She wore yellow stockings and sweater underneath. After her defeat at the hands of Shiage, the injuries she suffered would scar her face, take away her right eye, and destroy her entire left arm from the shoulder down . After World War III, one-third of her face was artificially treated with cosmetics and her missing eye and arm replaced. Chapter 1 Part 1 By the time of Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index she begins wearing jacket over a shirt with a bolo tie, and then underneath a camisole. She now wear pants, belt, and boots.
In her appearance in Toaru Kagaku no Railgun, she wears a violet dress with shorts, along with black thigh high socks and white boots.
According to Ainame Caroline's analysis in early August of the year before the main story, Mugino's outfit then included a limited-edition Sheep & Sheep knit cardigan, a White Season sleeveless blouse and a Royal Secret reversible skirt.. Between the Lines 1
==Personality==
Mugino Shizuri has a mature appearance compared to the other girls in her team. Indeed, she acts like the big sister of the group, which works well with her position as leader of the organization. As the leader of , she cares for the utility of her teammates and would not hesitate to dismiss them when they get in the way, such as when she dismissed both Frenda and Takitsubo as they would only get in her way in taking down Mikoto, as well as the time when she belittles Shiage's shouting to himself that he once was the leader of Skill-Out. Chapter 2 Part 2 She praises those who are worthy of her praise, like Frenda and Takitsubo for their hard work, as well as Shiage when he showed his skill in lock picking. Chapter 2 Part 5 She, however does not tolerate incompetence or idiocy, which she responds to varying degrees, such as frustration when Shiage accidentally sends porn to 's cellphone, to anger as Frenda has been subjected to several times. She can also be quite blunt, as exemplified with her lack of tact to the half-asleep Fremea Seivelun when she tried to explain that she killed her sister. Chapter 3 Part 8
Despite what her appearance may suggest, in missions she is willing to kill other people. Moreover, she is a relentless person when it comes to victory, unable to let go of her quarry to the point of irrationality and the damage she is doing to others. This is especially prevalent if her quarry has embarrassed or has defeated her, in which her need for revenge just drives her. An example of this is her drive to defeat eventually leading to the destruction of , and especially her pursuit of Hamazura Shiage after defeating her twice to Russia in a midst of global war. Hamazura Shiage surmises this part of her in their first fight thusly:
:"You’re the kind of person that can’t stand it when you can’t complete a video game without 100% accuracy. If you fuck up even slightly, you fly into a rage and won’t accept it even if you complete the game." Chapter 4 Part 9
Further emphasizing her radical behavior, he states, continuing in his use of a video game metaphor, if she isn't able to get 100% accuracy she instead goes for a high score to compensate. An example of this was her failed attempt at killing Misaka Mikoto and instead letting her go after discovering she was trying to stop the Level 6 Shift in order to see her suffer against the Dark Side of Academy City instead.
Despite her dark nature, she truly cared for the members of . Chapter 9 Part 4 She regrets killing Frenda, visiting her grave and trying to continue living her life as a testament to keeping Frenda's memory. Indeed, she doesn't take kindly to anyone making light of Frenda's legacy such as being used to trick her. Chapter 7 Part 6 Although, this is likely an extension of her growth as a person after the war. In Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Mugino's personality has shown a slight change. When she meets and speaks with Last Order for a short while, she is far kinder and more patient than in the first series, as shown when Last Order commented on her panties. She simply laughed at the comment and moved on. Another example of this is her patience with Cendrillon, barging into her apartment naked after she "cooks her up", only losing her patience and destroying part of the apartment she lives with the others after she asks to make her a Cinderella dress and then comments on how Mugino was training to be a good wife. Chapter 3 Part 3 This may be, however, an example of her continued mercilessness towards her enemies, though now it has a focus, using it to defend the people she cares for, like Shiage, Fremea, and the rest of . Indeed, she surprised an assailant who dressed up as Frenda and hacked her artificial eye, believing she has mellowed out after the War. Here, she states that she will get into trouble and into fights, kill people, and even destroy things, but no matter what, it will be fine and will be resolved in a happy ending because as long as she has Shiage, it will be fine, for he will forgive her in the end. Chapter 5 Part 1
She has the tendency to drag the pronunciation of words, specifically she uses it on people who has angered her such as "Haaamazuraaa."
==Background==
Mugino Shizuri is a daughter of the , a family among the five wealthiest in the world, who took advantage of the Westernization of Japan to prosper, particularly in the field of wheat. In the present, at least a year prior to the main story, the group was running a worldwide grain production company in secret as well as various hidden criminal enterprises, laundering money through banks and casinos, possessing a worldwide army a hundred thousand strong and buying up any company which would give the corporation an opening to spread across the world. Chapter 1 Part 1
Possessing a dark lineage, Mugino Shizuri is described as having being raised in darkness, unlike certain other members of Academy City's dark side who had ended up there due to mistakes or circumstances. Not much else is known of her youth, other than having been raised with the family home's butler Mujinayama at her side,Ogino Kentarou (Railgun editor), Twitter. Retrieved on 7 May 2021. though she also had a grandfather who gave her a rare head rub when she mixed Japanese and Western styles while doing flower arrangement. Epilogue She also seems to have had a snobbish look as a child. Hamazura himself recalls that, in his time as 's lackey, she always looked like a glamorous and elegant girl, who seemed as though she grew up as a rich girl.
It is unknown when she enrolled in Academy City, but when she went through the Power Curriculum Program and became an Esper, her power was researched and developed at a secret lab inside the Hula Hoop particle accelerator, Chapter 3 Part 2 which was run by head researcher Ainame Caroline. Chapter 1 Part 6
Somewhen in the past, she rescued Takitsubo Rikou from being imprisoned under false charges intended to make her vanish in the system to become a lab's guinea pig, subsequently recruiting her as her support since Meltdowner is too powerful, Chapter 3 Part 2 making Takitsubo 's oldest member. Chapter 2 Part 12 Takitsubo Rikou's inclusion into , with Mugino Shizuri giving her Ability Body Crystal, was, unbeknownst to them, part of the research on Takitsubo and her AIM Stalker. Chapter 12 Part 7 Specifically, to see who between Mugino's Project Angelica letting her slice up DNA and Takitsubo's potential to rewrite Personal Realities via AIM Diffusion Field would create a Level 5 able to create more Level 5s, a test similar to what happened between Shokuhou Misaki and Mitsuari Ayu to determine who should be pruned. The liaison liaison implies this was the plan of Director Nakimoto Rizou and that he had a direct hand in the false charges that led to Mugino meeting Takitsubou.
==Abilities==
Outside of her esper ability, Mugino is very resilient, able to stand back up even after an entire magazine being emptied into her and having her left arm blown off. Additionally, she can deal both strong punches and kicks, experienced by Hamazura Shiage and Misaka Mikoto, both of whom had an urge to vomit after being hit in the stomach. Chapter 4 Part 6 She was capable of knocking out a white tiger with a single palm strike to its face. Chapter 2 Part 8
After she lost her arm and eye, Mugino was given prosthetic replacements. The eye allows her to track movements, while her arm is strong enough to crush even Chambord spears.
===Meltdowner===
Mugino's ability is , which allows her to manipulate the state of s and utilize them in an abnormal state. Chapter 4 Part 7 Prologue Between the Lines 1The color of Mugino's Meltdowner differs between mediums. In the novel, it is described as white and pale bluish. In the Index PSP game, it is of a light purple color, while in the anime and Imaginary Fest, it is green in color.Toaru Majutsu no Index (PSP game)Toaru Majutsu no Index: Imaginary Fest
Electrons can exhibit the properties of either depending on the conditions, and can be observed in one state or another. Mugino's ability allows her to forcibly control electrons in an "ambiguous" state where they are neither a particle nor a wave. Ignoring , Prologue it can manipulate the state of an electron no matter who is observing it, a highly unique property.Given its nature, it was expected at least one year prior to the main story that Meltdowner would have a wide-variety of research applications, such as in weapons development, zero-dimensional matter proof and non-laser nuclear fusion reactors. Its unique property of ignoring quantum theory and manipulating an electron's state regardless of observation was thought to potentially have applications in new types of quantum computers and cryptography, the development of highly flexible artificial intelligence, and the next generation of high-volume high-speed communications, with some research results being used in the Aneri Project and others. Between the Lines 1
When they contact or strike other objects, the electrons are unable to react as either a particle or a wave because of their abnormal stuck state, and "stop". Normally, electrons have a mass close to zero, but the "stopping" creates the effect of a seemingly solid object, a false "wall", with objects hitting or being hit by them experiencing destructive force as though they hit the "wall" at that speed. Coupled with a strong resistance which can produce massive heat and friction, this results in highly destructive effects when the affected electrons collide with other objects at speed, forcibly burning through targets.
As an attack, with the technical classification of , the ability usually takes on the form of a high-speed beam of light that can easily melt through thick metal walls and cause things like refined alcohol to explode with its heat alone.
The beams are fired from either Mugino's palm or from points in the air in her immediate proximity. During the events between August and October of the story's first year, Mugino typically prepared and fired up to four or five at once, but was capable of more when enraged or driven out of control. By December, Mugino could create and use up to twenty beams at once under neutral conditions. Chapter 2 Part 6
While Meltdowner is extremely powerful, it has a number of downsides. Mugino is not immune to its destructive effects and risks harming herself if she does not handle it correctly, either from the main shot or the backlash.According to researchers, her output is suppressed due to her survival instincts, but if it wasn't restrained, it could easily kill the likes of the Railgun in an instant. However, because actually firing at such output would also blow away Mugino's body with the backlash, this assessment is not covered. Mugino herself understands that killing the 'Railgun in one hit' is just a poor excuse by the researchers and, for that reason, also harbors great hostility towards the Railgun. Mugino needs a certain amount of time to aim properly and as such, it isn't suited for dealing with surprise attacks. When she was stabbed in the eye, in anger she tried to immediately blow away Hamazura's head without proper handling and blew off her own left arm from wrist to elbow in the process. Meltdowner's high-power output also makes it ill-suited for tasks requiring high precision and control, such as the precise gene slicing required for Project Angelica (which Mugino had initially been considered for but ultimately rejected by Ainame Caroline). Chapter 3 Part 9
Another weakness of her ability is that despite being able to make twenty beams, she can only fire in one direction, the direction she is facing. Also, her ability can only be used on one target at a time, though it has an accuracy high enough to blow away the members of the opponent before he can draw a gun and fire. By its nature, it is incapable of rapid-fire, thus poor at surface occupation and saturation attacks. To compensate for the former, she has to consciously limit herself when using her ability and to compensate for the latter, she carries around silicon cards that can disperse her individual laser shots into multiple ones, this attack is labeled by Mugino as .
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S E09 05m 38s.jpg|Meltdowner's shield disintegrating a thrown object.
Toaru Majutsu no Index III E17 16m 45s.png|Mugino's Meltdowner shaping a temporary left arm.
Aside from her typical beams, Mugino can also create a shield out of her Meltdowner that can disintegrate objects upon contact and block shockwaves, and emit her power near her feet in a manner similar to a rocket, allowing her to perform high-speed evasion, fast enough to escape an explosion. Chapter 4 Part 4 A radical application is to loop Meltdowner into the form of a high energy limb, such as the arm she formed while lacking a left arm. Chapter 3 Part 12
Aside from the destructive burning effects of the beams, flashes of light and booming sounds that can be created by Meltdowner firing can also be used to momentarily blind or deafen an adversary. Chapter 1 Part 7 During her fight against Kouzaku Mitori, Mugino used her beams to inject electrons into her opponent's liquid metal puppets, altering the metal's molecular structure into something outside their ability's specific range of control.
As it is a form of electron manipulation, Mugino's ability also allows her to affect electrical attacks (such as those done by Misaka Mikoto, who can likewise bend her Meltdowner beams) and bend their trajectory. Although they are both electric Level 5s and capable of a degree of mutual interference, unlike the Railgun, Mugino is a Level 5 that manipulates electrons without using waves or particles, an electron beam esper rather than the more generalized Electromaster. Following a near-fatal shock at the end of her battle with Ibotanokikouji Kaede at the damaged bus terminal, Mugino claimed that she has more resistance to electricity than the average person, given that she is technically an electrical esper, though the electrical shock from the terminal's main power through the sprinkler-flooded floor stopped her heart for two minutes before she was resuscitated. Epilogue
==Character Art Designs==
===Design Evolution===
Mugino Shizuri's preliminary design had her wear different clothes, and was designed by Haimura to look like a model. It is not until the design of the other members of are drawn that her current design was finalized. In volume 19 up to the end of volume 22, Mugino Shizuri receives a dramatic change of design, to which Haimura states that she is something like a horror character that chases around the main character.
Haimura gives Mugino in the 5th Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index light novel, her autumn and winter attire, consisting a jacket over a shirt, and with pants and boots. According to Haimura, the reason he gave her pants was because of an illustration from the 1st Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index light novel depicting her meeting with Last Order showing a pantyshot, despite wearing stockings.
===Gallery===
Mugino art1.png|An early design of Mugino for her appearance in the 15th Light Novel Volume, by Haimura Kiyotaka.
Mugino art2.png|Mugino's character design for the 15th Light Novel Volume, by Haimura Kiyotaka.
Mugino art3.png|Mugino's character design for her appearance in the 19th Light Novel Volume, by Haimura Kiyotaka.
Ilpa40.jpg|Mugino's character design for her appearance in the 21st and 22nd Light Novel Volumes, by Haimura Kiyotaka.
Mugino Haimura.jpg|Mugino's alternate clothing by Haimura Kiyotaka.
IndexPSPmugino.png|Toaru Majutsu no Index (PSP game) profile.
Ni r20-Mugino.jpg|Mugino's new casual clothes first appearing the 5th Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index.
Item at the spa.jpg|Mugino playing table tennis, drawn by Haimura Kiyotaka
c20130524_rgss_01_cs1w1_720x.jpg|Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S anime Character Design
Mugno Shizuri-RailgunSBooklet.jpg|Mugino Shizuri's character profile for the Railgun S anime from the fourth BD/DVD booklet.
Mugino Shizuri (Index III Anime Design).png|Toaru Majutsu no Index III anime Character Design
Toaru Anbu no Item Light Novel v03 cover.jpg|Mugino in her school uniform, on the cover of 
==Trivia==
*Mugino's animated and voiced debut was in Toaru Majutsu no Index (PSP game) in 2011, two years before her appearance in Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S.
*Mugino's English voice actress, Lydia Mackay, also voices Kamijou Shiina.
*Mugino was among the characters that were featured on a set of Toaru-themed Tarot cards were released by Animate for the series 20th anniversary. The cards were based on the Major Arcana of the deck, and Mugino's card was , with the image used being from .Animate
==Quotes==
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==Notes==
==References==
==Navigation==
zh:麦野沈利
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