Apoptosis

**Apoptosis** (アポトーシス, *Apotooshisu*), also called **Self Destruction Factor** (自滅因子, *Jimetsuinshi*), is a special characteristic of Hegemony Type Gods, acting as a reproduction of the Soul's self destruction impulse in a bigger scale. An Hegemony God's Apoptosis is a person born from said God's thoughts and desire to die.

Usually attracted to and deeply intertwined with their originator's life and fate, an Apoptosis' very being in geared towards the destruction of their originator: from their Craving to the actions they take in their life. Even if said actions seem harmless at first, everything an Apoptosis does will eventually result in their source's demise, even if unconsciously, as its not requiered of an Apoptosis to be aware of their nature and role to end up performing it. At the same time, the originator God is subconsciously compelled to help his antithesis bring about their own death. Thus, it can be said that a God's Apoptosis is like a cancer cell, lurking within them and leading them to death.

Beffiting this comparison, if the source God dies, then their Self Destruction Factor also does, in the same way that cancer cells cannot outlive their hosts. Their way of behaving, thoughts and beliefs are usually the polar opposite of their source, and yet, despite the animosity this would cause, both existences are inexplicably attracted to one another.

## Power and abilities

People born as a God's Apoptosis often have souls of extreme quality, allowing them to perform feats of inmense superhuman prowess, sometimes along with an extremely dulled sensitivity to pain, in Shirou's case. As an example, Reinhard Heydrich, the Apoptosis of the Mercurial Snake, was able to easily overpower 4 other people with souls of enormous quality and who were already displaying superhuman feats of strength, while being decried by Anna Schwagerin's Demon Eye as being the most monstrous existence among those fighting in Berlin's streets at the time.

Shirou himself is able to somewhat manage around the physically superior Apostles forming the Obsidian Round Table, and is even capable of firing a Desert Eagle one handed. His soul, of a quality superior to even that of many of the Longinus Dreizehn Orden's members, allows him to resist having his soul diggested and wrestle control of their Ahnenerbe away from them, either when they are completely fine or when they have been sufficiently weakened.

Apoptosis born in the world of Omega Ewigkeit, due to their intense connection to the Mercurial Snake, are cursed to feel a sensation of Foreknowledge: a kind of Deja Vu, in truth limited awareness of previous iterations of the Eternal Recurrence, allowing them to predict what is it that will happen next. Shirou Yusa, in particular, abuses this to gain an advantage in combat. This ability, which he feels is a curse that makes every event in his life dull and meaningless, turns into his biggest advantage when fighting the Longinus Thirteen, which are overwhelmingly superior to him in terms of physical might. Though Reinhard Heydrich can also access this Foreknowledge, it seems he doesn't exploit it while fighting. Both Reinhard and Shirou are deeply troubled by this Deja Vu, which won't fade away. In aiming to correct it, Reinhard arrives at the solution of washing away the Ghetto of Eternal Recurrence, while Shirou decides to join Ren's fight against the Obsidian Round Table, in the hopes of being able to finally get some excitement out of life, which has otherwise been rendered boring by his Foreknowledge.

In line with them being an Hegemony God's cancer cells, Apoptosis are able to spread and "pollute" other cells under the domain of the God in question, making them take on their special characteristics. This ability manifests differently in each individual: while Reinhard Heydrich is able to turn all souls he comes into contact with into Einherjar, thus into part of him, Shirou is able to infect people he has been around of for a long time with his Foreknowledge. This is mainly seen with Eri Honjou, although Bey also suffers this condition for a short time. In Rindou's case, she was able to spread the influence of the Tumor Mandala, which normally can only affect Habaki himself, to their companions in the Eastern Expedition at times of extreme danger through her Hegemony Type characteristics.

When under the influence of Ren's Legion Reincarnation, Shirou's Malignant Tumor Apoptosis, as an anti-God power, can be thought of as an externalization of his nature as Ren's Apoptosis.

When it comes to facing its originator, an Apoptosis will automatically grow in power until it is equal to that of his creator, even if this involves ascending to Godhood. However, once the source God dies, so does their Apoptosis.

This, however, also works in reverse: an Apoptosis may never truly die as long as their source still lives. As an example, Rindou Koga seemingly recovered from her lethal wounds dealt by Akuro and Morei Tenma with no apparent explanation, albeit she was kept alive in a living corpse like state, with no blood flow or body heat, but with no signs of rotting. In the case of Shirou, he is able to die while Ren is neither a God nor connected to the Throne, as the Tumor is in Rindou's case. However, this characteristic still manifests in a weakened form, granting Shirou some kind of supernatural luck that makes him extremely hard to actually kill. Furthermore, since Shirou himself is part of "Ren's daily life", one may argue that, by dying, he fulfills his purpose. Reinhard is also subject to this kind of immortality, even in the cases he actually seems to die, such as in the ending of Marie's Route, he didn't truly die, simply being affected by the Goddess' Law to reincarnate into a seemingly average person, although with his Godhood intact. His death during the events of the struggle against Hajun only came about because it set in stone Mercurius' own death. However, the immortality seems ineffective against a power superior to that of the Apoptosis' source God.

## Involvement in the series

### Dies irae

Reinhard Heydrich, leader of the Longinus Dreizehn Orden and Number I in the Black Round Table, Demon Name Mephistopheles, is the Apoptosis of the Mercurial Snake, the originator of the current world, who masquerades as Karl Krafft, Number XIII of the Round Table and Heydrich's second in command, under the Demon Name Mercurius. His status as his sworn friend's Self Destruction Factor, alongside the Foreknowledge derived from it, is what motivates him to destroy Omega Ewigkeit in order to replace it with his own world, an impetus that would bring him into conflict with his originator.

Ren Fujii, due to his connection to Mercurius as his Ahnenerbe, also generated an Apoptosis in the form of Shirou Yusa, his best friend. Shirou's nature would unknowingly push him towards smashing Ren's precious daily life: first by killing Kasumi's father (an event which was also brought about by Ren subconsciously wishing for his death, which prompted his Apoptosis to do the deed), then by threatening to tell her the truth about the incident, which prompts Ren into starting a fist fight that would send both of them to the hospital for months. Ultimately, it would have pushed him into ending Ren's life itself. His own sense of Foreknowledge, as well as his wish of finding an explanation for his suddenly heightened physical capabilities, motivates both Shirou and Erii to join Ren's struggle against the Longinus Thirteen.

At the end of Marie's Route, as Reinhard is reincarnated upon his death by Ren's Guillotine, he keeps his Godhood intact. This is because of the Snake's continued existence and, despite being banished within the Singularity, as long he exists, so will Reinhard (even as a God). During the fight of the Goddess of Twilight and her guardians against Hajun, Reinhard's Apoptosis status proves crucial in detecting Hajun's twin brother, absorded by him prior to their birth, and the source of his Craving and rage, which allows the Goddess to reincarnate it, so her guardians have a chance to win the fight by a hair's breadth.

In Rea's Route, the concept takes on a greater importance. Upon the revelation of his nature by Mercurius, Shirou decides to "fulfill his destiny" and fight Ren again, with the hidden goal of helping him access Gladsheimr. Witnessing the fight of the future Eternal Moment and his Apoptosis, makes Reinhard ponder about his friendship with Mercurius and, upon speaking to Isaak per Valeria's request, realizes he had been making an exception of his supposed "best friend", who he hadn't decided to make a target of his "love". Therefore, during his final clash with Ren, Reinhard awakens as the Snake's Apoptosis, diving through the Singularity to reach his friend's true body, so as to battle him to the finish. At the very end of the fight, as the Snake is embraced by Marie and finally dies, Reinhard fades away, as his existence was tied to that of Mercurius and, therefore, won't be able to take the Throne for himself, no matter how much he tries. He will be reincarnated as a completely normal human by the Goddess, now freed of his Foreknowledge and freakish strength.

### Kajiri Kamui Kagura

Rindou Koga is the Tumor's Apoptosis, born out of a contradiction between his desire to "live" and to "stay hidden from Hajun" and his desire to "see the outside world", which the Tumor harbours despite it being a death sentence, as going into the outside world would mean his brother would find and kill him. Therefore, by proxy, she's also an Apoptosis to the Tumor's Sensory, Habaki Sakagami. As a result of not being born from the Sixth Heaven, she's the only person in Mahamara that possesses Hegemony Type characteristics, not being tarnished by the extremely selfish and egotistical worldview of most of her world's inhabitants. Due to her Hegemony attribute and great skill as a commander, she's the only person in Mahamara who might inherit the Golden Beast's weapon.

However, given her very being is geared towards the Tumor and Habaki's ultimate end, she unconsciously takes actions that would bring about their ruin. Her spread of the Tumor Mandala to her companions in times of need, while beneficial in appearence, is actually harmful to the Tumor, as the more pronounced his influence gets, the more likely it is for Hajun to take notice of him. Similarly, by seeking to end Edo and the Yatsukahagi's existence, she unconsciously completes Hajun's Principle and puts the Tumor in peril. However, due to her will to live together with Habaki and everyone else, she surpasses her role as his Apoptosis, bringing about the birth of a new Law that might replace Hajun's.

Tenma Sukuna, a composite of Shirou Yusa and Eri Honjou, reprises his role as the Apoptosis of Tenma Yato, formerly known as the Eternal Moment. Due to his nature as the Self Destruction Factor of their leader, the other Yatsukahagi tend to mistrust Sukuna. However, his deep connection with Yatou makes him the only of them (aside from Ootake, for similar reasons) whose mind is not clouded by Yatou's hatred, and makes him able to decipher his true intentions. Thus, he seeks the end of Edo, so he can bring about Hajun's overthrowing, a plan he hatches alongside Ryuumei. Due to his deep connection to Yatou, he's the deadliest of the Tenma, being able to crush all supernatural power, as long as it doesn't surpass his originator's. Sukuna manages to pollute Akuro at some point, releasing him from his mind clouding hatred, allowing him to show his true colours in his last moments. Similarly, his brief encounter with Reizen Nakanoin allowed his pollution to free him from Hajun's control once he turned into one of his Srgala, and allowed him to die as himself.

It seems that the records of the Golden Beast, held by the Throne, are still bound by his nature as the Apoptosis of the Mercurial Snake, given that when his record faded away, so did the Beast's.

Ryuumei at first set to find Hajun's own Apoptosis in order to use it against him, thinking her protegé Rindou was the one. However, Hajun's perfect ego makes it impossible for him to create an Apoptosis.

## Known Examples:

* Reinhard HeydrichGo to Reinhard Heydrich
* Shirou YusaGo to Shirou Yusa
* Tenma SukunaGo to Tenma Sukuna
* Rindou KogaGo to Rindou Koga
* MagsarionGo to Magsarion
1/5
* Reinhard Heydrich: Apoptosis of the Mercurial Snake.
* Shirou Yusa/Tenma Sukuna: Apoptosis of the Eternal Moment/Tenma Yato.
* Rindou Koga: Apoptosis of the Tumor and of his Sensory, Habaki Sakagami, by proxy.
* Magsarion: Apoptosis of Ahura Mazda, the divine sword.