Arthur Edward Waite

**Arthur Edward Waite** (アーサー・エドワード・ウェイト, *Āsā Edowādo Weito*?) is a posthumous character introduced in *Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index*.

## Appearance

When reproduced, Waite is a middle-aged man who looks like a tailor, wearing a vest and slacks with a measuring tape around his neck and a slide rule in his belt.

## Personality

Waite was considered as sensible but lacking in skill by Westcott.

## Background

At some point after his death, Arthur Edward Waite was reproduced along with other members of the Golden Dawn by Choronzon, through the application of Tarot-based grimoires, as part of her anti-Crowley countermeasures.

## Chronology

### Aleister Crowley Arc

*Main article: Aleister Crowley Arc*
When Kamijou Touma was being shown a recreation of Aleister Crowley's past in the Windowless Building, Arthur Edward Waite's name was brought up during the downfall of Golden Dawn.

### Choronzon Arc

*Main article: Choronzon Arc*
During the Crowley's Hazard invasion of the United Kingdom, Waite was among the reproduced members of the Golden Dawn who confronted Aleister Crowley in the graveyard of Westminster Abbey. He and John William Brodie-Innes accompanied Dion Fortune in pursuit of Aleister, while Waite tracking him to the Naked Shopping Center in Piccadilly Circus After Fortune was temporarily incapacitated by Aleister's Super Sonic Striker, Waite attempted to decapitate Aleister in a sudden attack with The Tower and thought he had easily succeeded, only to find Aleister had tricked him in a manner similar to a Rorschach test. He then had a bag filled with iron oxide and aluminium shoved into his mouth and was incapacitated by the resulting exothermic chemical reaction. Brodie-Innes then acted to buy time for the Lady of the Masquerade Ball to launch an attack on the building with Taphthartharath.

When the Golden Dawn pursued the British Royal Family on the roads between London and Edinburgh, in order to protect Mathers' true grave, Waite carried out the records and backup in their collective high-speed ceremony, as well as using his Tarot to track their target. Eventually, Aleister managed to disrupt the flow of power to the reproductions' grimoire bodies, causing Waite and the others to come apart and revert to cards.

## Abilities

Waite is described as being more skilled with Tarot than anyone else in the Golden Dawn, having played a major role in the development of the cabal's own GD Tarot. He can use his tarot expertise to track down targets and apparently can't be thrown off a trail no matter where his prey tries to hide. His readings are very accurate, however they do have limits, such as being unable to fully predict the randomized phenomena from Dion Fortune's box.

Wielding **The Tower** (塔（タワー）, *Tō (Tawā)*?), depicting a tower being destroyed by lighting and symbolizing destruction and shock, in his hand, Waite can use the card's edge as a blade to slice and sever, enough to behead a human. He is also capable of using his cards in a manner to guide lightning through the air.

## Trivia

* Arthur Edward Waite, commonly known as **A. E. Waite**, was a member of the Golden Dawn and co-creator of the Rider-Waite Tarot deck.

## External Links

* Arthur Edward Waite (Wikipedia article)