who is the main character in highschool dxd

Issei Hyodo (兵藤 一誠, Hyōdō Issei, Issei Hyoudou)[a] is the viewpoint character and main protagonist of High School DxD. Introduced as a second-year high school student at Kuoh Academy, he has a reputation of being a pervert. Raynare, posing as Yuma Amano, goes out on a date with him. However, Issei realizes too late that the date was a trap set up by Raynare, and is fatally stabbed in the abdomen. After he is revived by Rias Gremory, he becomes a devil and her servant, where he joins the school's Occult Research Club.[6] Ishibumi describes him as "a guy who loves girls and is really stupid".[LN 1 afterword]

List of High School DxD characters

The light novel, manga, and anime series High School DxD features a diverse cast of characters. The visuals of the characters were designed by Miyama-Zero and their stories were created by Ichiei Ishibumi. The stories follow the adventures of Issei Hyodo, a perverted high school guy who is killed by his first date, but reborn as a devil to serve Rias Gremory, a crimson-haired school beauty who heads the Occult Research Club (オカルト研究部, Okaruto Kenkyū-bu). Issei, Rias, and the club members interact with various groups and organizations, some of which are run by devils who compete against them in sanctioned combat matches called Rating Games, where the characters have been assigned positions akin to chess pieces.

Author Ichiei Ishibumi had previously worked on a horror genre series two years before publishing the first light novel for High School DxD. In the volume 1 afterword, he mentions that he changed his writing style, and wanted to develop one in the school-life, love-comedy, battle, and fantasy genre. His main character Issei was made into a lecherous guy at the request of his editor. For the first volume, he made Rias a second lead character and heroine, and Asia to be the second heroine. Some of his characters are loosely referenced from the Bible, non-fiction books, and mythology. He created a world where the war between the three main factions (angels, devils, and fallen angels) is over, and where many famous angels and devils have already ceased to exist. He also added characters and legendary beasts from a variety of places from Norse mythology to Japanese yokai.[LN 1 afterword] Ishibumi named the Four Great Devils after characters from the Gundam media franchise. For example, Sir Zechs Lucifer is a combination of Char Aznable and Zechs Merquise, and Millicas is named after Merquise and Aznable's real names Milliardo and Casval.[1]

In Volume 5 of the light novels, Ishibumi writes that he likes to pair the main characters: Rias and Akeno as the big sister duo, Asia and Xenovia are the church-related duo who become friends, Gasper and Koneko are the young first-years, and Issei and Yuto are the guys.[LN 5 afterword]

When Rias' English voice actress Jamie Marchi was writing the dub script, she noted it was a breast-centric show, even noting that they have sound effects for when they move. She saw the main heroine Rias was calm and stern and a character that she isn't used to playing. She also liked giving the side characters more personality.[2] Ishibumi also agrees with the appeal of the characters' oppai (breasts) especially in later volumes of the light novels, and had planned to make the heroines more erotic,[LN 1 afterword] especially in the side story volumes that focus on comedy.[LN 7 afterword]

Most of the protagonists serve as members of Kuoh Academy's Occult Research Club, a team of ten devils, an angel and a dragon which is a front for Rias Gremory's team of devils.[LN 1] They are involved in various devil activities from making contracts with humans to participating in Rating Games and other conflicts that involve the school.[LN 2] At the end of volume 4 of the light novels (and the second anime series), fallen angel leader Azazel becomes the club's adviser, and has the girls live at Issei Hyodo's home.[LN 4][S2 ep 12]

Voiced by: Yūki Kaji[3] (Japanese); Scott Freeman (Season 1–2),[4] Josh Grelle (Season 3–present)[5] (English)

Issei demonstrates great potential as his resurrection required Rias to consume all eight pawns of her allotted team.[S1 ep 5] Learning that he can assemble his own team in the future, he aspires to become a Harem King.[S1 ep 2] He tries to protect and help his friends,[S1 ep 3] some of whom fall in love with him, but while he enjoys their lustful affections, he hesitates to get serious with them because of the trauma suffered from Amano.[LN 10] As he progresses, he becomes a middle-rank devil,[LN 12] and acquires a familiar named Skithblathnir.[LN 13][LN 14] He later reaches the upper-ranks, with Asia, Xenovia, Ravel and Rossweisse as part of his group.[LN 22]

Issei's main item in combat is the Boosted Gear[b],[3] a Sacred Gear which initially takes the form of a gauntlet on his left arm.[S1 ep 3] Rias reveals that the Gear is one of the Thirteen Longinus items;[S1 ep 5] as it houses Ddraig,[S1 ep 12] the Red Dragon Emperor.[S1 ep 9]  His abilities with the Gear include: Boost enables him to double his powers every ten seconds;[S1 ep 4]  Boosted Gear Gift[c] lets him amplify his ally's ability; [LN 5][S1 ep 11] and Dragon Shot[d] fires a beam against his enemies.[S1 ep 9] He can be promoted to use additional abilities associated with higher ranked pieces, either by reaching an opponent's headquarters during a Rating Game, or with the permission of the King.[S1 ep 11] Over the course of the series, he becomes more powerful and acquires abilities and powers such as  Juggernaut Drive,[LN 6] Balance Breaker Scale Mail,[LN 4][S1 ep 12], Illegal Move Trident[e] (which allows him to be promoted without the restrictions)[LN 8][LN 10]; Dividing Wyvern Fairy[LN 16] and Longinus Smasher.[LN 17]  He also has not-so-serious techniques that he uses against his female opponents including: Dress Break[f] obliterates a girl's clothes after previously touching her;[S1 ep 10] and Bilingual[g] listens to her inner thoughts as if her breasts are talking.

Voiced by: Azumi Asakura[3] (Japanese); Chloe Daniels (Season 1–3),[4] Leah Clark (Season 4–present) (English)

While being raised as a nun of the Catholic Church, Asia Argento (アーシア・アルジェント, Āshia Arujento), a blonde-haired girl, develops her abilities to heal people. However, Diodora Astaroth injures himself and has Asia heal him. As a result, Asia is excommunicated from the church.[S1 ep 4] When she moves to Japan, she befriends Issei, but is abducted by Raynare who steals her rings and kills her. After a lengthy battle, Rias revives her to become a devil and serve as her bishop.[S1 ep 5] She moves into the Hyodo residence and transfers to their school.[S1 ep 6] Despite her devil identity, Asia tries to continue her faith, although whenever she prays or reads the Bible, she initially gets a severe headache.[S1 ep 6][S1 ep 9][note 1] She possesses a set of Sacred Gear rings called Twilight Healing[h].[3]

Asia is strongly attracted to Issei as her first friend; she is jealous whenever he acts perverted towards the other girls, asking that he redirect his actions towards her. This makes Issei conflicted between wanting to protect her innocence and indulging in her affections.[S1 ep 8][S2 ep 1][S2 ep 2] Her familiar is a baby Sprite Dragon named Rassei[i][S1 ep 7] She later becomes a Dragon User, [LN 14] and after Rias and Akeno graduate, she becomes the club's new president.[LN 18]

Voiced by: Shizuka Itō[3] (Japanese); Teri Rogers (Season 1–2),[4] Kelly Angel (Season 3–present)[5] (English)

Akeno Himejima (姫島 朱乃, Himejima Akeno) is the black-haired vice-president of the Occult Research Club; she wears her hair in a long ponytail. Issei describes her as an ideal Japanese woman with a pretty face that is always smiling, and along with Rias, make up the two great big sisters that are idolized at the school.[ LN 1] She exhibits a gentle personality, but during combat, becomes highly sadistic.[S1 ep 3]. As Rias's queen, she possesses a variety of abilities, preferring elemental attacks[S1 ep 3] such as lightning strikes.[LN 3] She transforms her costume to that of a shrine priestess[S1 ep 4] and assumes the nickname Priestess of Thunder.[S1 ep 10]

Later on, she helps draw off energy from Issei's Boosted Gear by sucking on his finger, and flirts more openly with him.[7][S2 ep 7] She is later revealed to be the daughter of the fallen angel leader Baraqiel and a human shrine maiden.[S2 ep 6] After showing Issei her mixed wings, she is concerned he will hate her, but he accepts her, after which she acts more affectionately towards him, saying that she does not mind being third (after Rias and Asia).[LN 4] Eventually, Issei convinces her to add her fallen angel aspects to her abilities, creating the Holy Lightning attack.[LN 5] She gets in a conflict with her father in volume 7 that causes her to act unstable and fragile, but Issei helps her reconcile with him.[LN 7]

Over the course of the series, Akeno continues to progress her abilities. She acquires Fallen Angel Mode (堕天使モード, Datenshi Mōdo), which increases her Holy Lightning abilities, and passes the promotion exam for the middle-class devil rank.[LN 12] In a later volume, she creates Raikouryuu, an Eastern dragon made of Holy Lightning.[LN 14]

Voiced by: Ayana Taketatsu[3] (Japanese); Jad Saxton[4] (English)

A white-haired two-tailed humanoid nekomata raised by a devil, Shirone (白音) has to witness her master being killed in self-defense at the hands of Kuroka, who becomes a stray devil. Sentenced to death for her crimes, Shirone is rescued by Sir Zechs Lucifer and Rias takes her in, giving her the name Koneko Toujou (塔城 小猫, Tōjō Koneko).[LN 5] Koneko eventually becomes a first-year student at Kuoh Academy. Issei describes Koneko as petite with a loli-face, a mascot character admired by both boys and girls.[S1 ep 2] Her position in Rias's group is the rook, where she withstands crushing forces and can throw heavy objects with little effort.[S1 ep 3] Although she is quiet and cool-headed, rarely showing emotion, she is often irritated with Issei's perverted tactics.[LN 5] Her familiar is a small white cat named Shiro (シロ).[S1 ep 7] Ishibumi discussed Koneko's identity with his editor but it was not fleshed out for over a year until Volume 5.[LN 5 afterword]

Voiced by: Kenji Nojima[3] (Japanese); Sean O'Connor[4] (English)

Yuuto Kiba (木場 祐斗, Kiba Yūto) is a blond-haired second-year student and the school's top prince.[LN 22] He serves as the knight on Rias's team.[S1 ep 3] His Sacred Gear, Sword Birth[j], lets him generate swords with various properties for their blades, such as Holy Eraser (a blade that devours light) or Flame Delete (an ice blade that negates fire attacks). He can also generate a large number of blades from the ground to pierce enemies or give him more options in combat.[S1 ep 11] Ishibumi created Yuto to add appeal to the female readers of his series, [LN 4 afterword] and has him develop as the ace of the team as well as a strong backing character for Issei.[LN 5 afterword]

Yuuto is the sole child survivor of the Holy Sword Project, which tries to develop children that can wield the Holy Swords that can destroy devils. He nearly dies from escaping the destruction of the children, but is saved by Rias, and becomes her servant.[S2 ep 2] Hoping to avenge the death of his comrades, he seeks to destroy the Holy Sword Excalibur's remnants.[S2 ep 3] During his battle against Kokabiel and Freed Sellzen, he receives a crystal that contains the souls of his comrades from the project's leader Valper Galilei, and uses it to make his ultimate Balance Breaker sword form called Sword of Betrayer[k], which has both Holy and Demonic attributes.[S2 ep 5]

Ishibumi purposely gave light novel volume 3 a boy's love-themed title as that story focused mainly on Yuuto.[LN 3 afterword] Following the battle, he acts more friendly towards Issei, although some of his statements make Issei uncomfortable.[S2 ep 7] Yuuto's familiar is a small bird, but Issei refuses to express further interest in the topic.[S1 ep 7]

In volume 12, Yuuto defeats Siegfried after the latter's demonic sword Gram accepts him as his new master. Other demonic swords choose Yuto, and he is also officially promoted to the middle-class devil rank.[LN 12] However, in volume 17, he has difficulty controlling Gram.[LN 17]. Following Akeno's graduation, he becomes Vice-President of the Occult Research Club.[LN 18]

Voiced by: Risa Taneda[8] (Japanese); Ramona Newel[9][10][11] (English)

Raised by a swordswoman-turned-angel named Griselda Quarta, Xenovia Quarta (ゼノヴィア・クァルタ, Zenovia Kuaruta)[LN 19] becomes an exorcist and member of the Catholic Church. Along with her partner Irina Shido, they are sent to retrieve or destroy the stolen Excalibur swords. She has blue hair with part of her hair dyed green and is first seen wearing traditional Christian clothing.[S2 ep 2][S2 ep 3] When Xenovia discovers that the God of the church no longer exists, she is exiled from the church as a heretic, becomes a devil for Rias's team as a knight, and joins the school in Issei's year.[S2 ep 6] She reconciles with Asia Argento for her misdeeds towards her during their first encounter and they become friends soon after. Xenovia later moves into the Hyodo residence,[LN 4] She seduces Issei Hyodo by telling him she wants to make a baby with him because they both have strong genetics.[7][S2 ep 7]

Xenovia uses the Holy Sword Excalibur Destruction[l]; however, during the battle against Kokabiel, she brings out the Holy Sword Durandal, allowing her to cut through anything. A natural Holy Sword user, she possesses the genes that enable her to wield a Holy Sword instead of having them implanted as with Freed and Irina.[S2 ep 5] she has her Durandal sword fused with some of the Excalibur fragments to create Ex-Durandal[m], which is able to transform into one of the seven Excaliburs.[LN 9] When Cao Cao shatters Ex-Durandal, she repairs with the final Excalibur fragment from Arthur Pendragon,[LN 12] and masters the powers of six of the seven Excaliburs.[LN 14]. Following Sona's graduation,[LN 17] Xenovia is eventually appointed to the student council as its president.[LN 19] Ishibumi describes Xenovia as "a troublesome girl because she does things she doesn't understand herself which she regrets afterwards." and that Issei calls her a girl who a person cannot “grasp a hold of”.[LN 3 afterword]

Voiced by: Maaya Uchida[8] (Japanese); Kristi Kang[12] (English)

Irina Shidou (紫藤 イリナ, Shidō Irina) is a Church follower and Issei's childhood friend. Ishibumi developed her as a character that represented someone on the Heaven/Church side of the three factions.[LN 3 afterword] She was a tomboy who has since styled her hair into twintails. She bears the Holy Sword Excalibur Mimic[n], which transforms itself into any shape its user desires. Although she is saddened that Issei has become a devil, she still has feelings for him.[S2 ep 2][S2 ep 3] In the storyline involving the Grigori, Irina is defeated by Freed Sellzen, and her Excalibur Mimic is taken.[S2 ep 4] She is sent to the Church headquarters to recover,[S2 ep 6] and returns as a representative of the Church to support Michael at the summit.[LN 4] She reappears in Volume 6 where she joins Xenovia and Asia as a group which Issei calls the "Church Trio" (教会トリオ, Kyōkai Torio).[LN 6 afterword]

Like Xenovia, she sometimes shows a lack of common sense: in one early instance, she spends her and Xenovia's money on a fake painting of a saint, and ends up having to beg for food.[LN 3] In another instance, when Xenovia and Asia are seducing Issei; she proclaims that it is too dirty, but clarifies that she meant the location rather than the act itself.[S3 ep 6] Regardless, she is attracted to Issei and is concerned whether having Issei's babies will put her at risk of being a fallen angel.[volume & issue needed]

As of volume 6, she becomes an angel with the Ace ranking, which allows her to throw spears of light. She also moves into Issei's residence.[LN 6] In Volume 17, she gains a second pair of wings,[LN 17] and later obtains her own Holy Sword, Hauteclere.[LN 18]

Voiced by: Ayane Sakura[8] (Japanese); Alison Viktorin (English)

Gasper Vladi (ギャスパー・ヴラディ, Gyasupā Vuradi) is a cross-dressing dhamphir, a half-vampire boy who is a bishop on Rias's team.[LN 4].[LN 4] His Sacred Gear, Forbidden Balor View[o], lets him freeze time whatever is in his field of vision, but because he is unable to control it, he is sealed in a remote room in the school, and acts as a shut-in.[S2 ep 9] Ishibumi notes that Gasper's being a cross-dressing, vampire, shut-in gave him a lot of material to work with.[LN 4 afterword]

As a child of a Vampire Lord and a human woman, Gasper is frequently ridiculed by the Vampires, including those in his clan.[S2 ep 9] Combined with his shyness and Sacred Gear, he tends to hide a lot and not make friends.[S2 ep 9] After the club rescues him from the clutches of Cattleya Leviathan, he becomes more open to attending school, although he sometimes hides his face under a paper bag or hides in a cardboard box. He is able to control his power better after drinking Issei's blood.[LN 4]

In Volume 12 when he heard about Issei's death from Georg, who mocked Issei's sacrifice, this caused Gasper to undergo a change where he created an enormous amount of darkness that literally devoured everything (even the mist created by Dimension Lost, although where anything devoured "went" is unknown), which allows him to defeat Georg. These shadows are capable of turning into grotesque parodies of creatures.[LN 12]

In Volume 16, Gasper returns to his birthplace to meet up with Rias and Yuuto who were confined in the Tepes Castle. He was then reunited with his childhood friend, Valerie, who became the new "King" of the Tepes Clan, but was greatly saddened to see her mentally broken due to overusing the Longinus, Sephiroth Graal, caused by Marius Tepes. Angered and disgusted by Marius and the Vampires that made use of Valerie, Gasper's hidden power awakens and he killed Marius and the Vampires that supported him. It is revealed that he was born with a fragment of the consciousness of the original god Balor, and created a different aspect of him, called Forbidden Invade Balor the Beast. Its power is so great that has the potential to become the 14th Longinus. [LN 16]

Voiced by: Rikiya Koyama (Japanese); Phil Parsons[9] (English)

Azazel (アザゼル, Azazeru) is the Governor-General of the fallen angels. He is interested in the Sacred Gears and collects a vast number of them to study.[S2 ep 4] In the anime series, he introduces himself as a regular patron of Issei, asking him to accompany him for drinks or to play video games. However, he formally introduces himself halfway into the second anime series.[S2 ep 6] He becomes the club's advisor and a teacher at Kuoh.[LN 4]  Ishibumi created Azazel with the role of a coach, so that he does not participate in Rating Games, and also, along with Yuto Kiba, appeal to the female readers of his series. He also uses him as a "strong and cool explanation character." [LN 4 afterword].

According to Sir Zechs Lucifer, Azazel dislikes fighting, which was the reason why the Fallen Angels were the first to retreat from the war. He is very laid back and relaxed, He meets up with the leaders of the Devils and Angels to form a truce. While fighting with Cattleya Leviathan, Azazel is forced to cut off his arm in self-defense and replaces it with a prosthetic arm made from his Sacred Gear research. Azazel has a self-made artificial Sacred Gear that is used to seal Fafnir, the Golden Dragon and one of the five Dragon Kings.

Azazel's artificial Sacred Gear, Down Fall Dragon Spear[p], takes the form of a jewel, as its core and its exterior are fragile, and forcefully activates its Balance Breaker, the Down Fall Dragon Another Armor[q], which creates a Golden Dragon Armor that is similar to Issei and Vali's Scale Mail. He also has a second artificial Sacred Gear called the Blazer Shining Aura Darkness Blade[r].

In Volume 12, Azazel resigns from his post as Governor-General of the Fallen Angels, which is now succeeded by Shemhazai, and became Grigori's Advisor of Special Technology and supervisor for Issei's town.[LN 12]

Voiced by: Ai Kakuma[13] (Japanese); Mallorie Rodak[14] (English)

Rossweisse (ロスヴァイセ, Rosuvaise) is a silver-haired Valkyrie who excels in Norse magic, first appearing in Volume 5 of the light novels, and in the third anime series.[15] She wears white armor or a business suit. Introduced as Odin's bodyguard, Rossweisse always prevents him from doing dirty things; however in retaliation, Odin always teases her for being a Valkyrie that has no boyfriend. Eventually, after the battle with Loki and Fenrir, Odin leaves her in Issei's town and later gets persuaded by Rias to become her servant, her ranking being "Rook" alongside Koneko, and remains in Kuoh Academy as a teacher.

Unlike most of the female characters who already have a crush on Issei, she is still figuring out if she likes him or not. She is extremely bitter on the fact that she does not have a boyfriend and gets angry when she is made fun of for that. Odin uses this several times to knock the wind out of her when she is protesting or interfering with him doing something vulgar. She has a tendency to buy things at sales when they're cheap, allowing Issei to coin for her the nickname "The 100-Yen Shop Valkyrie" (100均ヴァルキリー). This also shows during the Kyoto trip when Issei used dress break on her so he could peep on the female students in the hot springs by her getting mad and lecturing him about destroying her clothes before getting embarrassed about being naked. She moves into the Hyodo Residence in Volume 8. She left to train with a Norse mage she knows in Volume 11 and returns in Volume 12 after learning new, powerful defensive spells along with how to combine them with the defensive traits of Rook. Thus, gaining enough power to defend against Balance Breakers and even the equivalent of 10x the damage that Heracles' Balance Breaker can create.

In Volume 14 both the Gremory and Sitri groups are surprised to hear her speak in an unpolished, country voice while talking to her grandmother in her homeland. Also, its noted that part of the reason she is so concerned about money is that she has been sending money over to her grandmother, to help out since the area her hometown is in is described as having nothing and essentially barren. She is currently pursuing two goals, the first is to create a school to teach devils how to become Valkyries, and the second is to open a discount store that carries everything in her homeland. In Volume 17 she asks Issei to pretend to be her boyfriend to convince her grandmother GÃ¶ndul that she is safe in her new life as a devil and as teacher. During her date with Issei, she mentions that when she was a student she wrote an essay that could show a way of sealing the Trihexa (666). Sona invites her to be an expositor at the inauguration of her school and even offers her a position as teacher in a few years. Euclid Lucifuge tries to kidnap her not only for the information, but also because he sees her as a replacement for his sister Grayfia. She helps Issei defeat him and it becomes clear that she has finally fallen in love with him.

Voiced by: Asuka Nishi (Japanese); Brittney Karbowski (English)

Ravel Phenex (レイヴェル・フェニックス, Reiveru Fenikkusu) is the blonde-haired younger sister of Riser Phenex and a former member of his team.[S1 ep 11] She first appears in volume 2 of the light novels as a bishop who has yet to reveal her true powers.[LN 2] She follows her brother in the belief that no one could defeat him. After witnessing Riser's defeat, she becomes infatuated with Issei (albeit with tsundere tendencies), and later transfers to his school so she can spend more time with him.[LN 10] Ishibumi notes that Ravel's popularity with readers after volume 6 prompted him to make her a main character.[LN 6 afterword]

When Ravel was young she developed a great fondness for the hero stories that her butler told her. As a result, she dreamed of becoming a woman who could become a support for her ideal hero but as she grew older she slowly forgot this dream. Watching Issei fight for the sake of the woman he loves at Riser's engagement party reminded Ravel of her forgotten dream and instilled a desire to understand everything about him.

As the story develops, she falls in love with him completely, and does not mind becoming his concubine so long as she can be with him. She is currently a "free" bishop: her mother (who does not participate in Rating Games) traded one of her unused bishop pieces to Riser for Ravel. She has later traded herself to become one of Issei's Bishops when he has gained peerage, as she wanted to be of use to Issei. She moves into the Hyodo Residence in Volume 10 and enrolls in Kuoh Academy as a first-year student, alongside Koneko and Gasper. She is in Koneko's class at school and despite the two of them bickering often (paying homage to the vitriolic relationship between cats and birds, given their species), they are very close friends. Currently, she is one of Issei's managers (alongside Grayfia) and had been tutoring him so that he is able to pass the written part of the exam to become a Middle-Class Devil. During the events of Volume 12, the Phoenix family indicates that not only are they going to allow her to "stay" at Issei's house to "attend school", they are also hoping that she enters into an intimate relationship with Issei (for various reasons).

Voiced by: Suzuko Mimori (Japanese); Megan Shipman (English)

Ophis (オーフィス, Ōfisu), known as Ouroboros Dragon[s] and the Infinite Dragon God[t], is a dragon that is said to be more powerful than God and the devil kings;[S2 ep 12] she also has the ability to transform into a black-haired humanoid. She organized the Chaos Brigade with the hopes of getting rid of Great Red from the Dimensional Gap. However, she was betrayed by Cao Cao who stole her power under the intention of creating another Ophis, rendering her in a presumed powerless state. Cao Cao, however, underestimated her, as she has released her powers in forms of snakes before Cao Cao came to steal her powers. As such, she did not lose most of her powers. Like Great Red, Ophis does not like to interfere in the matters of the world, having interest only in Great Red. As such, she is more of a figurehead than a leader of the Chaos Brigade, and any plans or acts not pertaining to Great Red were by the will of the members, not hers.

In Volume 12, she is rescued by Great Red and helped him in restoring Issei's body. The two seem interested in Issei, and both were saying "Zoom Zoom Iyaaan" after the battle with the Jabberwocky to Issei and Ddraig's dismay. Although she does not say it, she is probably very fond of Issei, as he is her first friend and had offered her a home in his house in Volume 11. This is a big deal as she had helped protect Asia and Irina later in the volume simply because they had tea and played cards together. According to Issei, Orphis is not evil, just naÃ¯ve and did not mind being used by the Chaos Brigade, as they had promised to kill Great Red for her. Currently, the faction heads have used numerous seals to hide her presence. This is to avoid upsetting members of their factions and hide her from the remaining members of the Chaos Brigade. Even with the power stolen from her, they are aware that she is too powerful to control, but are allowing her to stay with Issei to encourage the interest she seems to be showing for him. She later moves into the Hyodo Residence at the end of Volume 12 to continue "observing" Issei, saying she has a vested interest in him as a part of her was used to recreate Issei's body with Great Red's flesh. Currently, she seems to be welcoming the feeling of having an actual home and friends, even to the point of not attempting to do any significant damage to Great Red other than kicking him during the time she and Issei were riding his back.

Devils (悪魔, Akuma) represent one of the three major supernatural groups (the others being the fallen angels and the angels in a three-way struggle over the control of the world). Because of the great war hundreds of years ago, the devils have become few in number, so they have organized themselves by a feudal system in which the higher-ranked devils lead a small group of up to 15 servants, each of whom is designated by a piece in the game of chess, and has enormous powers. The servants are lower-ranked devils, some of whom are made from humans. However, if a devil were to free themselves from their master they are known as a stray devil and are to be executed.[LN 1] The devils overall are led by the Four Great Devils (四大魔王, Yondai Maō, also Four Devil Kings), who are titled by devil names from folklore.[LN 3]

Stray devils are devils who have betrayed or killed their masters.[S1 ep 3]

Zeoticus Gremory (ジオティクス・グレモリー, Jiotikusu Guremorī)

Venelana Gremory (ヴェネラナ・グレモリー, Venerana Guremorī)

Millicas Gremory (ミリキャス・グレモリー, Mirikyasu Guremorī)

Lord Phenex (フェニックス卿, Fenikkusu-kyō)

Ruval Phenex (ルヴァル・フェニックス, Ruvuaru Fenikkusu)

Misla Bael (ミスラ・バアル, Misura Bāru)

Diodora Astaroth (ディオドラ・アスタロト, Diodora Asutaroto)

Diehauser Belial (ディハウザー・ベリアル, Dihauzā Beriaru)

Seekvaira Agares (シーグヴァイラ・アガレス, Shīguvarira Agaresu)

Mephisto Pheles (メフィスト・フェレス, Mefisuto Feresu)

Fallbium Asmodeus (ファルビウム・アスモデウス, Farubiumu Asumodeusu),

Zekram Bael (ゼクラム・バアル, Zekuramu Bāru)

Fallen angels (堕天使, Datenshi) are angels who used to serve God but because of their corrupt emotions, have descended into the underworld, and battle against the devils.[S1 ep 2] Their appearances are similar to those of the angels, albeit with black wings and lacking a halo above their head. Even though they have been cast out from Heaven, fallen angels have somehow retained the ability to use light-based weapons. However, they receive damage like devils do if they pray to God. The Grigori (グリゴリ, Gurigori) is a group of fallen angels and humans also known as the Ones Who Watch Over the Children of God.[S2 ep 3] Members include humans exiled from the Church and Sacred Gear wielders. Like devils, they mainly live in the Underworld.

Raynare (レイナーレ, Reināre)

Supporting Raynare are the following fallen angels: Dohnaseek (ドーナシーク, Dōnashīku), who dresses in a trenchcoat and fedora;[S1 ep 1] Kalawarner (カラワーナ, Karawāna), a blue-haired woman in a minidress who is the first one to be hit by Issei's Sacred Gear attack;[S1 ep 2] and Mittelt (ミッテルト, Mitteruto), who has blonde hair dresses as a gothic lolita..[S1 ep 4] The fallen angels are eventually killed by Rias.[S1 ep 5]

Kokabiel (コカビエル, Kokabieru)

Shemhazai (シェムハザ, Shemuhaza)

Baraqiel (バラキエル, Barakieru)

Angels (天使, Tenshi) are the beings from Heaven, which in Ishibumi's DxD world, supports all the religions, including the Church that Asia and Xenovia were part of.[LN 6 afterword] They have the powers to inflict pain upon devils due to their light-based powers. They have white wings (golden wings for Archangels) and a halo above their head. During the great war between the three factions (angels, fallen angels and devils), God and the original Four Devil Kings die. The angels are unable to increase their numbers[S2 ep 6] until the creation of the Brave Saints[as] system which reincarnates humans into angels and assigns them positions associated with playing cards, much like the devils and their Evil Pieces. Meanwhile, the archangel Michael takes over maintenance of the system and keeps it a secret from the followers of the Church.[S2 ep 6]

Gabriel (ガブリエル, Gaburieru)

Dulio Gesualdo (デュリオ・ジェズアルド, Dyurio Jezuarudo)

Griselda Quarta (グリゼルダ・クァルタ, Gurizeruda Kwaruta)

Some of the deities associated with mythology make appearances in the series:

The Khaos Brigade (禍の団（カオス・ブリゲード）, Kaosu Burigēdo) was an organization led (as a Puppet King) by Ophis, the Dragon God, with the main purpose of removing Great Red, the most powerful Dragon in existence known as the True Dragon, out of the Dimensional Gap. It consists of a mix of beings from the fallen angels, humans, and angels.

The Vali Team (ヴァーリチーム, Vāri Chīmu) is a team of seven members of the Chaos Brigade. Their main goal is exploring, going on adventures, and finding strong opponents to battle. Ishibumi developed the team as a way to introduce some of his Norse mythology characters and that this team would have the most interaction with Issei among the Chaos Brigade's groups.[LN 4 afterword] Eventually, the Vali Team join the DxD team against the remnants of the Chaos Brigade.[LN 16]

Vali Lucifer (ヴァーリ・ルシファー, Vāri Rushifā)

Arthur Pendragon (アーサー・ペンドラゴン, Āsā Pendoragon)

Le Fay Pendragon (ルフェイ・ペンドラゴン, Rufei Pendoragon)

Bikou (美猴, Bikō)

Kuroka (黒歌)

Fenrir (フェンリル, Fenriru)

Gogmagog (ゴグマゴグ, Gogumagog)

The Old Maou Faction (旧魔王派, KyūmaŌ-ha, lit. "Old Satan Faction") is an organization of the Chaos Brigade consisting of descendants of the original Maous. They are the only group of Devils who resist using the Evil Pieces system, as they believe them to be a disgrace to Devils because they reincarnate Humans and other races into Devils. They are also against the Devils' current system, and seek to change it by overthrowing the current Maous. Vali Lucifer is part of the Old Maou Faction before his defection and organization of the Vali Team. The remaining three leaders are eventually defeated, with the remaining members killed by Ajuka Beelzebub.

Shalba Beelzebub (シャルバ・ベルゼブブ, Sharuba Beruzebubu)

Katerea Leviathan (カテレア・レヴィアタン, Katerea Reviatan)

Creuserey Asmodeus (クルゼレイ・アスモデウス, Kuruzerei Asumodeusu)

The Hero Faction (英雄派, Eiyū-ha) is a faction of the Chaos Brigade led by Cao Cao, the descendant of the ambitious ruler of China during the Three Kingdoms era. The faction is allied with Hades, the God from the Realm of the Dead, and it is also the most dangerous faction of the Brigade due to its members being Sacred Gear, Holy/Demon Sword, and Longinus wielders. The Hero Faction was defeated in Volume 12 when Indra sends the majority of its main members, Cao Cao, Georg and Leonardo to the Realm of the Dead, taking all of their Longinus from them. Siegfried died in battle while Jeanne and Heracles are captured.

Cao Cao (曹操, Sōsō)

Georg (ゲオルク, Georugu)

Leonardo (レオナルド, Reonarudo)

Siegfried (ジークフリート, Jīkufurīdo)

Jeanne (ジャンヌ, Jan'nu)

Heracles (ヘラクレス, Herakuresu)

Rizevim Livan Lucifer (リゼヴィム・リヴァン・ルシファー, Rizevimu Rivan Rushifā)

Euclid Lucifuge (ユーグリット・ルキフグス, Yūguritto Rukifugusu)

Lillith (リリス, Ririsu)

Dragons (ドラゴン, Doragon) make up some of the most powerful beings in High School DxD. Most of the dragons are neutral and do not ally with the three factions.[S2 ep 8] Besides Orphis there are the following dragons:

Vritra (ヴリトラ, Vuritora)

Yu-Long (玉龍（ウーロン）, Ūron)

Fafnir (ファーブニル, Fābuniru)

Midgarðsormr (ミドガルズオルム, Midogaruzuorumu)

Tiamat (ティアマット, Tiamatto)

Crom Cruach (クロウ・クルワッハ, Kurō Kuruwahha)

Grendel (グレンデル, Gurenderu)

Aži Dahāka (アジ・ダハーカ, Aji Dahāka)

Apophis (アポプス, Apopusu)

Ladon (ラードゥン, Rādoun)

Yamata no Orochi (やまたのおろち, Yamata no Orochi)

Tannin (タンニーン, Tan'nīn)

Samael (サマエル, Samaeru, סמאל)

Yōkai (妖怪) are group of supernatural monsters from Japanese folklore. There are many species of yōkai. Kunou and Yasaka are Nine-tailed Foxes (九尾の狐, Kyūbi no Gitsune), while Koneko and Kuroka are Nekomata (猫又, lit. "Forked Cats"), a sub-species of Bakeneko (化け猫, lit. "Monster Cats"). Other types of yōkai include Yuki-onna, Kappa, Karasu-Tengu, and Nue. The ones shown so far are led by Yasaka in Kyoto. For Devils to visit, permission has to be requested ahead and special "tickets" given, allowing access to the various shrines and temples without feeling fear from Holy elements or receiving damage from traversing Holy Ground.

Sun Wukong (孫悟空, Son Gokū)

Kunou (九重, Kunō)

Yasaka (八坂)

Vampires (吸血鬼, Kyūketsuki) are a race of supernatural creatures even more proud and aloof than Devils. While some Devils, particularly the Gremory clan, treat their slaves/servants like family or allow advancement in rank, while for a Vampire to be treated as high-class, they have to be born into a high-class Vampire family. Transformed vampires are despised and eternally low-class and none of the clans are considered to even be close to treating their slaves even remotely as family. Gasper is despised for being half-human, his out-of-control Sacred Gear, and apparently the "Darkness" Vampire powers he used to defeat Georg. Like the stories tell, Vampires are weak against sunlight, garlic and holy items. Although Gasper's clan, the Vladi, have a clan trait of being Daywalkers, meaning sunlight won't kill or hurt them any more than it does Devils. Vampires are mostly cut off from other groups by preference, and word is that fighting between clans broke out shortly after one clan got hold of a Longinus user.

Elmenhilde Karnstein (エルメンヒルデ・カルンスタイン, Erumenhirude Karunsutain)

Valerie Tepes (ヴァレリー・ツェペシュ, Varerī Tsepeshu)

Marius Tepes (マリウス・ツェペシュ, Mariusu Tsepeshu)

Matsuda (松田)

Motohama (元浜)

Freed Sellzen (フリード・セルゼン, Furīdo Seruzen)

Mil-tan (ミルたん, Miru-tan)

Aika Kiryuu (桐生 藍華, Kiriyū Aika)

Valper Galilei (バルパー・ガリレイ, Barupā Garirei)

Tobio Ikuse/Slash Dog (幾瀬 鳶雄/刃狗（スラッシュドッグ）, Ikuse Tobio/Surasshu Doggu)

Kiyome Abe (安倍 清芽, Abe Kiyome)

Shuri Himejima (姫島 朱璃, Himejima Shuri)

Belzard (ベルザード, Beruzādo)

Elsha (エルシャ, Erusha)

Göndul (ゲンドゥル, Gendouru)

Walburga (ヴァルブルガ, Vuaruburuga)

Touji Shidou (紫藤 トウジ, Shidō Tōji)

Masaomi Yaegakii (八重垣 正臣, Yaegakii Masaomi)

Vasco Strada (ヴァスコ・ストラーダ, Vasuko Sutorāda)

666 (Trihexa) (666 (トライヘキサ), Toraihekisa)

Theron Martin of Anime News Network praised the character development, in which Rias "gradually starts to be attracted to Issei for his unqualified admiration and devotion," and calls Asia Argento "a fairly typical helpless, innocent, kind-hearted moe type, one who becomes interesting in part because her transition from being a nun to being a devil is fraught with problems." He also said that Issei's "interactions with his perverted best friends [Matsuda and Motohama] are also occasionally good for laughs, as are his own reactions to situations and his amusing alarm clock."[18] Martin praised the English voice acting of Scott Freeman, Chloe Daniels and Felicia Angelle, but said that Teri Rogers made "Akeno sound cheerfully friendly without ever really infusing in the suggestive and sadistic undertones" and said that Jamie Marchi "often does not sound quite right as Rias even though she performs the role well."[18]

Davey C. Jones of ActiveAnime said that the characters "have a good range of different types, no one looks the same, and each has an individual personality and powers."[19] A reviewer for T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews said that "[TNK's] animation is generally doing those characters all kinds of favors" and although the reviewer said that the English voice actors are "a bit of an uneven bunch," the dialogue "keeps itself on a relatively informal level, with gratuitous usage of generally inoffensive sexual slang on the parts of Issei and his two friends."[20] Sheena McNeil of Sequential Tart not only liked the diversity of the characters, but also liked the designs and personalities in them. McNeil also praised the Japanese and English voice acting in the series as well.[21]


an illiterate person can also be called as

Functional illiteracy is imprecisely defined, with different criteria from nation to nation, and study to study.[2] However, a useful distinction can be made between pure illiteracy and functional illiteracy. Purely illiterate persons cannot read or write in any capacity, for all practical purposes. In contrast, functionally illiterate persons can read and possibly write simple sentences with a limited vocabulary, but cannot read or write well enough to deal with the everyday requirements of life in their own society.

Functional illiteracy

Functional illiteracy is reading and writing skills that are inadequate "to manage daily living and employment tasks that require reading skills beyond a basic level".[1] Functional illiteracy is contrasted with illiteracy in the strict sense, meaning the inability to read or write simple sentences in any language.

Foreigners who cannot read and write in the native language where they live may also be considered functionally illiterate.

For example, an illiterate person may not understand the written words of cat or dog, may not recognize the letters of the alphabet, and may be unable to write their own name. In contrast, a functionally illiterate person may well understand these words and more, but might be incapable of reading and comprehending job advertisements, past-due notices, newspaper articles, banking paperwork, complex signs and posters, and so on.

The characteristics of functional illiteracy vary from one culture to another, as some cultures require better reading and writing skills than others. A reading level that might be sufficient to make a farmer functionally literate in a rural area of a developing country might qualify as functional illiteracy in an urban area of a technologically advanced country. In languages with regular spelling, functional illiteracy is usually defined simply as reading too slow for practical use, inability to effectively use dictionaries and written manuals, etc.

In developed countries, the level of functional literacy of an individual is proportional to income level and inversely proportional to the risk of committing crime. For example, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics in the United States:[3]

According to begintoread.com:[4]

In the United States, according to Business magazine, an estimated 15 million functionally illiterate adults held jobs at the beginning of the 21st century. The American Council of Life Insurers reported that 75% of the Fortune 500 companies provide some level of remedial training for their workers. All over the U.S.A. 30 million (14% of adults) are unable to perform simple and everyday literacy activities.[5]

The National Center for Education Statistics provides more detail.[6] Literacy is broken down into three parameters: prose, document, and quantitative literacy. Each parameter has four levels: below basic, basic, intermediate, and proficient. For prose literacy, for example, a below basic level of literacy means that a person can look at a short piece of text to get a small piece of uncomplicated information, while a person who is below basic in quantitative literacy would be able to do simple addition. In the US, 14% of the adult population is at the "below basic" level for prose literacy; 12% are at the "below basic" level for document literacy; and 22% are at that level for quantitative literacy. Only 13% of the population is proficient in these three areasâ€”able to compare viewpoints in two editorials; interpret a table about blood pressure, age, and physical activity; or compute and compare the cost per ounce of food items.

The UK government's Department for Education reported in 2006 that 47% of school children left school at age 16 without having achieved a basic level in functional mathematics, and 42% fail to achieve a basic level of functional English. Every year, 100,000 pupils leave school functionally illiterate in the UK.[7]

A Literacy at Work study, published by the Northeast Institute in 2001, found that business losses attributed to basic skill deficiencies run into billions of dollars a year due to low productivity, errors, and accidents attributed to functional illiteracy.

Sociological research has demonstrated that countries with lower levels of functional illiteracy among their adult populations tend to be those with the highest levels of scientific literacy among the lower stratum of young people nearing the end of their formal academic studies. This correspondence suggests that a contributing factor to a society's level of civic literacy is the capacity of schools to ensure students attain the functional literacy required to comprehend the basic texts and documents associated with competent citizenship.[9]