Exorcist

* Jewish Faction
* Christian Faction
* Islamnic Faction

**Exorcists** are professional hunters affiliated with the Abrahamic faiths, protecting mankind from supernatural threats such as witches, monsters, or daemon.

## Overview

In some religions, an **exorcist** is a person who is believed to be able to cast out the devil or performs the ridding of demons or other supernatural beings who are alleged to have possessed a person, or a building or even an object.

An exorcist can be a specially prepared or instructed person including: priest, a nun, a monk, a witch doctor (healer), a shaman, a psychic or a geomancer (Feng shui).

## Institutions

Like most organized groups, most exorcists can be categorized into different groups, factions, and institutions, each with different beliefs, ideologies, and codes of honor; though all of them answer to the heavenly hosts and follow God's teachings.

And while there are as many religious institutions as there are Abrahamic religions, the three largest and most influential institutions are the Jewish Faction, the Christian Faction, and the Islamic Faction.

## Training

Before one could become an exorcist, they'd have to undergo extensive training from one of the Abrahamic Institutions' numerous training facilities, though which one they enter is dependent upon their religious beliefs.

In these facilities, the would-be-exorcists would receive training in combat, religious studies, and mundane academic subjects said the trainees are underage. In combat training, they'd learn and perfect their **Meister**, the classification of an exorcist's primary fighting style, as well as a title given to exorcists who have achieved proper usage of said training style. There are five classifications of Meister:

* **Knight**: Meisters who fight using melee weapons such as swords, spears, or staves. Some Knights used named holy swords, many of which have unique abilities. Others wield enchanted weapons that also act as their magical foci, allowing them to incorporate magic into their fighting style.
* **Dragoon**: Meisters who fight using light guns, such as pistols, machine guns, grenades, or bazookas. Some may use specific firearms or special ammunition to exploit the weaknesses of certain monsters and daemon.
* **Tamer**: Meisters who fight by summoning and controlling magical beasts through the usage of Summoning Magic. To be a Tamer, one must have an affinity for Familiar Magic, as controlling combatant magical beasts require a strong will and the summoned beast will often turn on their summoner if they lose confidence. More often than not, Tamers specialize in taming and controlling divine and/or celestial beasts.
* **Aria**: Meisters who fight by reciting verses from sacred and religious scriptures, all of which possess holy energy when imbuing them with the Aria's life-force. They specialize in knowing which verse which, when recited, exorcizes specific daemon. Being an Aria is very dangerous as it requires a great amount of magical training so that they can safely recreate minor miracles through their prayers and sacrificed life-force.
* **Doctor**: Meisters who fight using special herbs that are poisonous to monsters and daemon, or with potions that can heal special wounds, illnesses, and even curses inflicted by infernal energy. In addition to being thoroughly trained in Healing Magic, they are also educated in mundane methods of healing and can often rival world-renowned doctors in the medical field.

The selection and acquisition of the [Meister] title is essentially the most basic qualification for becoming an exorcist, and many exorcists are known to utilize more than one Meister, with those who mastered all five Meister titles are called **Paladins**.

## Uniforms

During missions, all exorcists are required to wear the uniform provided for them by their religious institution, all of which are different from other institutions and carries the religious symbol of their faith. The uniforms of the three main Abrahamic Institutions are:

 **Islamic Faction** | Star and Crescent | The uniform of exorcists of the Islamic Faction consists of a full-body outfit made of dark-colored cloak with a hooded cloak attached to it that covers the upper half of their face in shadow while the lower half is covered by a simple cloth.In addition, Islamic calligraphies are written on their skin with special ink to protect them from demonic influences and they also wear a silver pendant engraved with a star and crescent (☪).High-ranked exorcists within this institution wear similar outfits but in the color of green and white, with a gold mask engraved with Arabic words covering their entire face.

## Equipment

Exorcists are equipped with many tools to help them battle supernatural beings with superior physical and magical capabilities compared to ordinary humans. Among the basic tools of exorcists are Light Swords and Light Guns which are dangerous weapons against dark and infernal entities, holy water and other blessed items, as well as holy scriptures.

Exorcists with greater skills can be given more powerful weapons such as Holy Swords, however, these rare people would need to have a natural aptitude for them or have the light container implanted into them. High-ranked exorcists are also trained in harnessing the celestial energy that made up the foundation of existence to create miracles and blessings akin to that of the pagan gods. In addition, some exorcists are born with Sacred Gears so they use it as their main weapon over the usual equipment.

## Trivia

* Despite their name, the three Abrahamic Institutions are not three separate organizations but rather three large factions consisting of hundreds of smaller groups and organizations, all following the same religion but belonging in different denominations, with a single group chosen to be their religion's representative, as shown with the Christian Faction's representative being the Vatican who lead the exorcists affiliated with the Catholic Church.
* Despite their similar duties, most exorcists and shadowhunters don't know about the other's existence, though this is implied to be because of ignorance rather than deliberate or hidden conspiracies from the higher-ups.
* Due to the long history of Christians suppressing paganism and other folk religions, many pagan groups and mythological factions have a... distaste for exorcists, especially exorcists affiliated with the Christian Faction.
* "Meister" is German for "master". In Germany and Austria it is the highest educational degree for professions in craft and trade.
	+ A dragoon is a type of mounted infantry. They were used in most European armies during the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
	+ Aria, in music terminology, is most commonly used to describe a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without orchestral accompaniment, normally within a larger work, like an opera.