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This article, Arata Kogo, was added by Seireitou who determines its usage on this wiki. |
"I suppose the sudden sight of your lost friends and family being brought before you like this has left you speechless, Kuchiki Byakuya. You should know that they had nothing but words of spite to say about you. Your beloved sister wonders why you would allow me to take her like this. She thinks you're just a cowardly deserter, like that dead wife of yours. And your precious subordinate... He's just disappointed. He thought you were stronger than this. Answer me, Kuchiki Byakuya! Does it hurt seeing them?! Tell me! I want to see the light leave your eyes when you gaze upon the faces of the people who once loved and admired you, come here to kill you!" |
| Arata Kogo | |
| |
| Name | Arata Kogo |
| Kanji | 梧生 新 |
| Romaji | Kogo Arata |
| Characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Race | Soul |
| Birthday | April 9 |
| Age | 245 |
| Gender | Male |
| Height | 5'10" |
| Weight | 143 lbs |
| Blood Type | O |
| Professional Status | |
| Affiliation | The Coven |
| Previous Affiliation | None |
| Occupation | Mage-Class of the Coven |
| Previous Occupation | Sixth Seat of the Twelfth Division |
| Team | The Coven |
| Previous Team | Twelfth Division |
| Partner | Unknown |
| Previous Partner | Unknown |
| Base of Operations | "Our Home" |
| Personal Status | |
| Marital Status | Single |
| Relatives | Unknown |
| Education | Necromancy Studies |
| Status | Unknown |
| Powers | |
| Main Skill | Kidō (Necromancy) |
Arata Kogo (梧生 新, Kogo Arata) is a male Soul that is among the Mage class of the Coven. He is known by the title of "Reaper Serpent" (死蛇, Shija). Over a hundred years ago, he had served as the Sixth Seat of the Twelfth Division, serving as one of the first generation members of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute after the dishonorable discharge of Kisuke Urahara and the subsequent promotion of Mayuri Kurotsuchi. Despite their shared interests in the work of creating life, their motives differed greatly; while Mayuri was motivated solely for interest's sake, Arata viewed the uses of such methods as a means to an end. He dabbled in forbidden arts which posed a threat to the flow of souls, and eventually, he defected from the Soul Society when a warrant for his arrest was issued. However, this did not deter Arata from his work; he continued to refine his craft, and was eventually offered to join the Coven due to his abilities. While initially reluctant to join hands with the organization, he viewed such an opportunity as the perfect method of furthering his work.
Appearance[]
Arata's full appearance.
Personality[]
Although he presents himself as being a sort of enigma, his intentions seem to be quite straightforward. Arata views himself as a researcher, seeking to understand the concepts of life and death in an existence where their meaning changes depending upon the culture one is to examine. In there being so many different meanings of what the notion of death itself represents, Arata devoted himself to the study and experimentation of souls in order to uncover what he considers to be the "truth of all death". It is through his studies that the mage had become jaded with life, coming to believe that if death simply means a transition between one life to the next, then there is no real importance to be attributed to any individual being. Yet all people have an instinctive fear of death, no matter their existence, so this can only mean that death is meant to hold an importance in the natural scheme of things. Arata wishes therefore to uncover the truth hidden behind the truth, transcending death itself and reaching plateaus beyond even the natural world.
However, his ambitions were forced to undergo a brief hiatus when he was cast aside by the Soul Society. Deep down, he despised the Soul Society for being so simple-minded and naive, despite holding themselves to be the balancers of souls. However, at the same time, he felt that he could understand their fear, for all inferior beings have an innate fear of death. Could he blame them for acting out of their natural impulse? Of course, it is there where one sees that Arata is a being with a severe superiority complex. He believes that his studies have given him an immense level of understanding and wisdom that make him superior to the average people, for he acclaims to have transcended his instinctive fear of death.
Joining hands with the Coven was initially something he was reluctant to do. Arata came to see, however, that only through a magocracy could he be able to continue his research with total freedom but also could push others to abandon their weakness of fear in order to become superior as well. A person who has educated themselves and enlightened themselves would assuredly want to be around others who are the same, not bound to their instinct. That is the reasoning that the mage cites when describing his motives for fighting for a world ruled by magic. As such, despite his superiority complex, he does show some modicum of respect to those he considers to be "more advanced" than himself; such as the Sorcerers and Archmages of the Coven, as well as the Masked Man himself. He has been known to call the Masked Man as a true revolutionary and a fighter for true justice, somebody who is worth fighting alongside.
Arata has a bit of a sadistic streak in him. When he learns that those he revived had an emotional connection with someone who stands against him as an enemy, Arata has a habit of taunting and provoking those individuals. He finds great joy in playing with the emotions of those he views as inferior, absolving himself of responsibility by justifying that it is their own fault for not overcoming their base instincts. It is because of this that he has earned the ire of Byakuya Kuchiki, as a result of the mage's success at reviving Rukia Kuchiki and Renji Abarai to serve as Arata's personal guard.
Despite considering himself superior, Arata is prone to certain displays of rage and hate; notions that he also considers to be fallacies of the mortal instinct. This seems to especially shine through whenever his research is threatened. He is not above holding grudges either, for when he suffered the loss of his work several decades ago, Arata swore to perform excruciating experiments on the one responsible for that incident as well as everybody that person ever held dear.
History[]
Synopsis[]
Powers & Abilities[]
Great Spiritual Power: Arata possesses a considerable amount of spiritual power that easily places him in the same league as a Captain of the Gotei 13. Manifesting as an eerie mauve color, his energy instills a creepy feeling in the atmosphere that makes most individuals uncomfortable to be anywhere near him; especially when his spiritual pressure is released. Its intense presence is enough to intimidate even seasoned warriors, despite himself being one that steers away from conventional battle.
Kidō Master[]
As a member of the Coven, who holds the rank of Mage, Arata is an exceptional Kidō Master whose skills allow him to rival even the prowess of Captains.
Knowledge of the Flow of Souls: Rare for even those among the Captain class within Soul Society, Arata carries a tremendous degree of knowledge regarding the role of the Soul King as the regulator of the flow of souls as well as the cycle itself. It is the culmination of a century's worth of research into the flow of souls that aided him in developing his abilities as a necromancer. He came across a method that he himself invented that enables him to locate the souls of former beings that have passed on and already reincarnated. By doing so, he could find the reincarnation of a soul from the past, and through his magic, he could reanimate that person under his will. Because their reanimation is a product of his magic, they are bound to him in the same manner that they are bound to the flow of souls — to life and death — and are forced to follow his every whim regardless of their own tendencies. Of course, the stronger the soul, the harder it became for Arata to maintain this dominance. However, through trial and error, repeated experiments, and continued study, Arata could keep even former Captains under his control with little effort.
Mastery of Necromancy: In a world where death has no true meaning, for its very existence is simply a transition from one existence to the next, the magic of necromancy is one that manipulates the transition of existences in order to manifest a desired stop along the cycle of souls. All souls were once born in the beginning, and every existence since then is one born of a recycled existence that had been faced with the notion that mortals know as death. Any specific life is nothing but a phase of an eternal soul. Necromancers literally anchor that desired existence into the current realm through their magic, a feat that only they can accomplish for to bring a soul from the long deceased is to spit upon the natural order of the cycle of souls; in other words, a violation against nature, of which only magic can successfully bring about. Anchoring that transient state means to bind its existence to the mage's will, and in this, one who employs necromancy controls the particular phase of the soul which they bring about through their magic. Arata is one of few within the magical community to have achieved mastery over this method of magic, which has aided him in his research of the cycle of souls as well as the role of the Soul King. Throughout his studies, he had pulled onto souls from as far as the distant past in order to study history long forgotten and teachings lost. Arata would eventually find a means of combat within this form of magic, pulling back the soul phases of old warriors with immense power and engineering them in order to bring out their spiritual potential. They would come to function as a sort of militia for Arata, to be called and commanded at his whim. He typically calls upon his creations, which are stored within a facility within the home of the Coven, through a type of teleportation Bakudō spell. They are bonded to his very soul, making their summoning carry a feeling reminiscent of a Shinigami's Zanpakutō release. Among his vast collection, he particularly fancies ten particular specimens which are divided among four uneven sets.
- Concept of Death: The idea of death does not simply mean the end of a biological being's function or their passing from one soul to the next. In fact, the concept of death itself is one born out of the idea that an end exists and flows into a new beginning. In truth, an end does not have to be a literal one, for simply the act of renewal and reaffirmation suggests that the former self has "died" so that a new self could be "born". This is commonly referred to as growth, but to a necromancer, they view growth itself as stages of life and death and life again, flowing into onto another until that soul has ended and another soul is born in its stead. For a person to achieve a new paradigm of themselves, to discard their past and claim their future, they had essentially died and are reborn as their current selves. Only the most skilled of necromancers can willingly manipulate death on a conceptual level, making it possible for Arata to revive and manifest a former aspect of even a living being, giving it its own identity. Among the four main sets of which he makes combat use, his "divine duo" is composed of Seireitou Kawahiru and Raian Getsueikirite; albeit, more specifically, their former selves as Captains of the Gotei 13 from over a thousand years ago.
Mastery of Bakudō: Due to his poor combat ability and preference for research over fighting, Arata developed his skills with defensive and binding spells as they best resonated with his disinterest in direct combat. With a mere glare, he can summon forth golden chains of energy to ensnare his targets, which has come in handy when hunting down the proper specimens for his reanimation work. The strength of his binding spells, even without incantation or even their name, is sufficient in restraining even the strongest of officers within the Gotei 13. With its name, the spells Arata casts are able to hold down Captains albeit with considerable effort. However, the true strength in his Bakudō lies not in its binding strength but that he can utilize them in offensive ways as well. With the same aforementioned spell that summons forth chains, he can control them as powerful whips that can overturn concrete; slithering through the air and the ground like snakes.
Ward Adept: Arata possesses a certain familiarity with ward magic. At any particular moment, he has a basic two-layer ward set up around his body, which negates offensive assaults by dispersing the damage that strikes the outer layer and seeps into the second layer, which repulses the dispersed force and sends it outwards through the first layer, leaving both layers of the ward intact. Only a sufficiently powerful amount of force, enough that it becomes too difficult for the first layer to disperse enough for the second layer to repulse it, will cause both layers to shatter simultaneously, leaving Arata exposed. However, this is not the only ward employed by Arata. In fact, he acquires a second ward which manifests underneath his first ward whenever he brings forth one of his four sets of reanimated souls. Through his magic, he performed a contract that makes it impossible for him to be reached as long as his summoned set remains intact and active. Only by defeating his active set into submission will his second ward shatter. When this occurs, as a drawback of this ward contract, Arata becomes unable to bring forth another set of his reanimated souls for fifteen minutes.
Reanimated Souls[]
Through his mastery of necromancy, Arata has successfully managed to reanimate beings from the past using reincarnated souls that have already passed on through the cycle of souls, while also establishing control in order to utilize them as instruments of his will. While he himself does not favor engaging in combat, he can manipulate certain favorites of his among the corpses he has reanimated to serve as his personal battalion. However, because they only possess minuscule remnants of their individuality when alive, they are only in possession of a fraction of their original power; a limitation that Arata has had to negotiate in order to retain total control over his reanimated souls. Among the four sets he possesses, his quartet are those few which have been revived with ninety percent of their original power, the trio possess eighty percent, the duo possess seventy-five percent, and his strongest resurrection possesses only forty percent.
Shinigami Quartet[]
Captain Trio[]
Divine Duo[]
Captain Seireitou Kawahiru
Captain Raian Getsueikirite