Akuma (D.Gray-man)

Akuma are creatures that feature in D.Gray-man.

History
Akuma's were living weapons that were created as servants of the Millennium Earl who crafted them from human souls. All of humanity suffered from a dark side but the Earl sought out individuals whose such qualities were magnified due to a tragedy. In those moments, he approached them and caused the grieving individual to call out for the soul of a loved one to place them within the body of an Akuma. This was under the mistaken belief by the human that this would bring their loved one back to life. However, it simply trapped them into the Akuma's body where they were used to kill their loved one and inhabit their body. Afterwards, the Akuma was forced to forever follow the commands of their Maker namely the Millennium Earl. The Earl claimed that he did not fashion the Akuma entirely by himself but rather they were made from the darkness present within human beings and as such he was not evil for simply creating them.

Human legends spoke of Akuma in encyclopedias as imaginary demons created by ancient civilizations used to explain away illness and natural disasters.

Overview
In appearance, the most basic form of an Akuma was a skeletal creation with a star-shaped symbol over its head. These creations were said to be able to take a soul and bring the person back to life. To accomplish this feat, a loved one was required to call forth the soul of the departed in order to bring it into the skeletal body to inhabit. However, the body was simply a prison and the soul of the tormented person was used to animate the Akuma. As such, Akuma were machines not made of mechanical parts but rather the sorrow and experience of the souls that they inhabit. They were classed as weapons that were built specifically to target mankind. Akuma were able to take the form of humans making them very difficult to find. They took over the body of a dead person in order to blend into society. After taking over the corpse, they were able to pretend to be close family members with the humans completely unaware that an Akuma resided among them. They used a defense system where they transformed their bodies into guns making them highly effective killers. At such moments, they sprouted numerous gun turrets were situated over the body. Bullet shells shot from an Akuma were filled with an extremely destructive virus. After a bullet hit a target, it took less than a minute for the virus to eat away the insides before the target disintegrated into dust. Ordinary projectile guns were completely useless against an Akuma. Low ranking Akuma could not hear the cries or pleas of their human targets. Their existence of killing mankind was not because they desired such a life but were rather programmed to seek nothing but evolution through murder. Despite this being the case, they were not mindless killing machines but rather living weapons that carried around the souls of others. These souls were controlled by the maker of the Akuma and the souls themselves were conscious to what happened to them. As such, they were fully aware of their situation but unable to do anything about it and thus left to agonize over their sins. All of these emotions were used as energy for the Akuma allowing it to evolve quickly and efficiently.

Akuma came in a variety of forms during the course of their evolution that included:
 * Level 1 : the first form following creation where they molded their bodies into floating spheres that had numerous gun ports present on the surface and the face of a human by the front.
 * Level 2 : upon entering this form, the spherical body cracks and the Akuma emerged into a new humanoid body where it gained an ego and personality along with a new ability. Such abilities varied from shooting out frost that could burn, sonic screams or the capacity to copy the shape along with powers of another.
 * Level 3 :
 * Level 4 :

Through battle, an Akuma grew stronger and more powerful as it evolved to combat its enemies. They were shown to be highly capable of infiltration as they took over a human body and acted human enough to fool bystanders. Such was the case of a newly arisen Akuma that a child had seen with the human body claiming that it was simply playing a prank on the boy. Once the bystanders were gone, the Akuma was prepared to kill the only witness to its creation. Whilst able to hide in human form, it did not possess the memories of the body it masqueraded as that was used to fool society. Akuma were compelled to follow the commands of the Earl of the Millennium and the family of Noah. This meant that they would follow orders that caused them to kill former friends or loved ones or even to self-destruct against their wishes. Higher stage and more intelligent Akuma showed distinct personalities along with the capacity of speech. Such Akuma were also able to forcibly merge with others of it kind killing them and absorbing their power in order to enhance themselves.

Among the only weapons capable of destroying them were Anti-Akuma weapons that were crafted from Innocence. Once destroyed, the soul of the human inside the Akuma was set free. Should an Akuma be killed by any other means, then the soul inside was not freed and lost forever unable to go to the afterlife. As such, an Akuma commanded to destroy itself suffered such a fate as they exploded and the soul died screaming as it became lost. Some forms of Innocence were able to create a barrier of energy that repelled Akuma. When facing this field, Level 1 Akuma were kept out whilst Level 2 were able to enter but were weakened. In such cases, a Level 2 Akuma suffered a shift in its personality as long as it was exposed to the field but reverted to their true nature when outside the barrier or if the Innocences power was shattered.

Members

 * Mana Walker : after adopting Allen Walker, he died with the Millennium Earl appearing to Allen offering to resurrect him but this turned him into an Akuma with Walker killing his adoptive father with his anti-Akuma weapon.

Appearances

 * D.Gray-man: