Exorcist

**Exorcists** are hunters professionally trained by the Abrahamic Factions to become protectors of humanity from supernatural threats such as monsters, devils, 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 (sometimes) 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).

## Factions

Like most organized groups, exorcists are categorized into multiple different groups, factions, and institutions, each with a different beliefs and ideology, yet all answered to Heaven and follow God's teachings. While there are as many factions as there are Abrahamic faiths, the main factions are the Christian Faction, the Jewish Faction, and the Islamic Faction.

## Training

Before one could become an exorcist, they would be extensively trained within one of the Abrahamic Factions' numerous training institutes across the world depending on their religious beliefs and background. According to Xenovia, around 10-45 people die every year during their exorcist training, though this number is said to have reduced significantly in recent years.

In these institutes, they would learn and perfect their **Meister** (称号マイスター, *Maisutā*), the classification of an exorcist's primary fighting style, as well as a title given to Exorcists who have achieved proper usage of said fighting style. There are five categories of Meister:

* **Knights** (騎士ナイト, *Naito*): Meister who fights using melee weapons such as swords or staves. Some Knights use enchanted holy swords, many of which have unique abilities. Other Knights are able to use powerful long-ranged magic techniques from their weapon.
* **Dragoons** (竜騎士ドラグーン, *Doragūn*): Meister who fights using firearms, such as pistols, machine guns, grenades, or bazookas in the form of the typical light gun. Some may use specific weapons or special ammunition to exploit the weaknesses of certain monsters and daemon.
* **Tamers** (手騎士テイマー, *Teimā*): Meister who fights by summoning and controlling familiars through use of a Summoning Magic and a blood contract. To be a Tamer, one must have an affinity for it as controlling familiars requires a strong will and the summoned will turn on their summoner if they lose confidence. More often than not, Tamers specialize in taming and controlling stray divine and/or celestial creatures.
* **Arias** (詠唱騎士アリア, *Aria*): Meister who fights by reciting verses from sacred and religious scriptures such as the Bible, the Tanakh, or the Quran just to name a few. Arias specialize in knowing which verses which, when recited, exorcise specific daemon. Being an Aria is very dangerous and requires a great amount of magical training so that they can recreate minor miracles through their prayers.
* **Doctors** (医工騎士ドクター, *Dokutā*): Meister who fights using special herbs and potions that are poisonous to monsters and daemon, or that can heal wounds, illnesses, and even curses inflicted by demonic fiends. These people typically possess the knowledge of basic first-aid, emergency first-aid, and the ability to treat ordinary injuries.

Selection of and acquiring the title of Meister is essentially the most basic qualification for becoming an exorcist, and many exorcists are known to utilize more than one Meister. Those who mastered all five Meisters are known as **Paladins** (聖騎士パラディン, *Paradin*).

## Equipment

Exorcists are equipped with many tools to help them battle supernatural beings with superior physical and magical capabilities compared to humans. Among the basic tools of exorcists are Light Swords and Light Guns which are dangerous weapons against demonic/dark creatures, holy water and other blessed items, and 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 angelic power 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.

## Uniforms

During missions, all exorcists are required to wear the uniform provided for them by their affiliated religious institution, all of which are different from each other and carrying the religious symbol of their institution. 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 wears similar outfit but in the color of green and white, with a gold mask engraved with Arabic words covering their entire face.

## Trivia

* Despite their similar duties, most exorcists and shadowhunters don't know about the other's existence, though this is implied to be because of ignorant rather than deliberate or hidden conspiracies.
* According to Irina, due to the long history of Christians suppressing paganism and other folk religions, many mythological factions have a... distaste for exorcists, especially those from 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.