Ability

Three different abilities activated.

Ability (異能力,, Inōryoku^?, Yen Press: Skill) is a special force possessed by many individuals throughout the world. A person who possesses an Ability is called an Ability User (能力者,, Nōryoku-sha^?).

History

The Great War

The Battle of Tokoyami Island, a battle near the end of the war where an Ability is used to heal the soldiers.

Before the Great War, samurai were once unable to adapt to the rise in guns and rifles, which led them to perish. Following such defeat, a Great War emerged, during which tanks and gun turrets were proven ineffective. Instead, entire forces of countries stampeding through enemy countries ultimately crushed opponents. Moreover, naval battles were lost against advanced aircraft weapons that ultimately destroyed nautical forces. After this war, the Great War surfaced, which acknowledged Ability Users as the main forces of destruction and weapons in battles.

European powers recognized the efficiency of Ability Users in the fight and deployed them to the main battlefield. A group of highly skilled Ability Users known as the Transcendents were dispatched, but they soon clashed and produced even more casualties and war damages. Furthermore, sometime during the end of the war, an extinction weapon known as the Shell was developed by English engineers including H. G. Wells by intentionally creating a Singularity and weaponize it.

Mori's "Immortal Regiment" required Yosano's Ability in healing war soldiers.

Concomitantly, the Japanese military likewise saw Ability Users' importance and power during the war. As a result, military physician Ōgai Mori submitted the "Immortal Regiment" (不死聯隊,, Fushi Rentai^?) plan to the Emperor, which focused on creating an infantry that could survive countless injuries throughout the war. This scheme primarily used the healing ability of Akiko Yosano, who was enlisted by Mori. It came to fruition in Tokoyami Island located in the Pacific Ocean, where close and physical combats were mainly fought due to electromagnetic interference of northern lights that rendered electronic devices useless. Initially successful, Yosano later stopped using her Ability after becoming distraught with the inhumane events unfolding during the war, more so because the troops blamed her for dragging the war and prolonging their agony in fighting only to be constantly attacked and injured by enemy forces.

Sometime during the war, upon the Japanese government's orders, Ōchi Fukuchi entered the battlefield, who was known for his outstanding power due to his Ability. As such, he engaged in brutal battles and tortured soldiers and civilians alike, among others.

Post-War

The Great War later ended partly due to the efforts of Ability Users. However, as a result, a great number of Ability Users who were engaged in legal professions had decreased. Majority of them either secluded themselves from society or affiliated themselves with underworld organizations. During such period, the Japanese government refused to admit the existence of Ability Users to the public, regarded by society as mere rumors or lores. Though it was not forbidden at the time to expose the reality of such entities, there was a dark shadow cast over their existence.

Nonetheless, upon being discovered that a proportion of Ability Users possessed highly lethal powers, the government created the Special Division for Unusual Powers, a department comprising of Ability Users responsible for secretly monitoring dangerous Ability Users throughout the country. Moreover, there was a certain group of special Ability Users regarded as the most important individuals in Yokohama who received the government's secret protection referred to as the Witness Protection Program. Such figures were believed to have possessed certain secrets that had to do with the foundation of the country. As such, they were targeted by countless enemies, including foreign military parties, local criminal organizations, and the like.

The Special Division for Unusual Powers, the Armed Detective Agency, and the Port Mafia as the constituents of the Tripartite Framework.

Among the aforementioned organization is Sōseki Natsume, who devised the Tripartite Framework. In this framework that aimed to preserve the balance of peace and order in Yokohama, the Special Division and the Military Police would oversee and handle Ability-related affairs during the daytime, the Port Mafia at night, and the Armed Detective Agency in the twilight. When this plan was finally realized, Natsume retired shortly after.

In the present era, Ability Users are not unknown in the society, though not entirely recognized mostly due to the intervention of the Special Division and other government departments. Moreover, albeit majority of Ability-related cases are monitored to be criminal in nature, there are also organizations allowed by the government in utilizing Abilities legally, such as the Yokohama-based Armed Detective Agency comprised of gifted detectives who take on dangerous cases that are too much for the military and the police to handle.

Are you prepared to handle the spoilers ahead?

Information

It is said that a person can have no more than one Ability. An Ability User may be conscious of and can control their Ability, though in some cases, an Ability may be uncontrollable and activated automatically. Moreover, a person may be an Ability user since birth or could manifest such power in later life. In some cases, it is said that Abilities are considered as a curse rather than a blessing to their users.

An Ability is also powered by their user's soul and will as their energy source. Therefore, when an Ability User dies, their Ability is eviscerated. The only exception to this are Singularities which are capable of outlasting their user(s) infinitely as massive energy.

Singularity

Oda and Gide in a singularity sphere.

Singularity (特異点,, Tokui-ten^?) occurs when two Abilities cancel each other out and create something different from either skill. As studied by the Special Division, the Singularity phenomenon develops into an unpredictable direction due to a resultant loss of control over Abilities. In most cases, one of the Abilities is expected to win over the other. It is also possible albeit rarely where neither party wins, or, as researched by England, where two Abilities cause a reciprocal reaction and generate a greater effect in scope compared to when activated individually.

In other words, Singularities occured when 2 abilities crash into each other in such a way that they create an infinite paradox. For example, when 2 users with the ability to see into the future for 5 seconds their abilities created an endless paradox. One would see the other attacking them and would adjust, while the other would see the adjustment and adjust themselves etc... however, at the same time none of the forseen events would have happened yet as they were still just visions of future creating an endless cycle.

N further explained that Singularities are the only form of an Ability that is capable of existing infinitely and outlasting their users as mass energy. Though Singularities typically occur when two or more compatible Abilities clash, there is in fact another way for it to occur. The second way is for certain Ability Users to use their Ability on themselves and multiply that use repeatedly until a Singularity occurs. However, the risk to this is the user being devoured by their own Ability due to the massive amount of energy this Singularity produces.

During the War, Germany managed to weaponize Singularities and shared this research with their allies France and Japan who used the research to create man-made sentient Singularities that produced Paul Verlaine and Chūya Nakahara.

Abilities

• Named Abilities
• Unnamed Abilities
• Non-Canon Abilities
• Non-abilities

There are currently 48 named Abilities.

Image	Name	Owner	Description
	A Feast in Time of Plague	Alexander Pushkin	"An ability which is able to infect a virus that targets two hosts. The virus will eat the host's internal organs, if one of the hosts die then the virus will stop infecting the other host."
	All Men Are Equal	Yukichi Fukuzawa	"Adjusts the output of his subordinate's skills, allowing them to become controllable on the condition that they pass the Agency's entrance exam."
	And Then There Were None	Agatha Christie	"Ability's effects are currently unknown."
	Anne of Abyssal Red	Lucy Maud Montgomery	"Able to create an alternate dimension called Anne's Room. Anyone who loses a game of tag against the monstrous Anne, who dwells inside, is locked in the dimension forever."
	Another	Yukito Ayatsuji	"Once the criminal behind a murder is identified, the killer will face certain death in an 'accident'."
	Beast Beneath the Moonlight	Atsushi Nakajima	"Transforms him into a white tiger, although he is unable to control his behavior before becoming a member of the Agency."
	Black Cat in the Rue Morgue	Edgar Allan Poe	"Able to drag anyone who reads his novels into the world inside."
	Crime and Punishment	Fyodor Dostoevsky	"Allows him to steal the body of the person that killed him and transforms them into Fyodor Dostoevsky."
	Demon Snow	Kyōka Izumi, Kyōka's Mother	"Able to summon Demon Snow, an otherworldly form that wields a mighty weapon. It does not listen to Kyōka's orders, instead doing the bidding of a voice heard over a cell phone."
	Discourse on Decadence	Ango Sakaguchi	"Lets him read memories 'carved' into objects."
	Dogra Magra	Kyūsaku Yumeno	"Able to curse anyone who physically harms them. Anyone cursed begins to sport a hand-shaped blotch on their body. Once they rips open the doll they carry with them, the cursed victim to wildly attack anyone around them."
	Draconia	Tatsuhiko Shibusawa	"A multi-formed ability. Is able to create a mysterious mist capable of separating abilities from their users. If the ability kills its user then it will be added to Draconia's Room."
	Falling Camellia	Ryūrō Hirotsu	"Able to send anything he touches flying backwards."
	Flawless	Sakunosuke Oda	"Gives him precognition at a maximum of more than 5 seconds but less than 6 seconds."
	Futon	Katai Tayama	"Remotely operates any electronic device within sight several times faster than normal. Only works when he's nestled in a soothing futon comforter."
	Gasp of the Soul	Teruko Okura	"Allows her to manipulate the age of anyone she touches."
	Golden Demon	Kōyō Ozaki	"Able to control the Golden Demon, a figure in Japanese clothes and a cape who wields a sword cane. While possessing the same type of Ability as Kyōka Izumi, she is fully capable of controlling her own demon."
	Gone With the Wind	Margaret Mitchell	"Able to make things wither away by exposing them to winds."
	Hail in the Begging Bowl	Santōka Taneda	"The Ability lets him grasp the true nature of a different ability when the ability is being used near him."
	Huck Finn & Tom Sawyer	Mark Twain	"Instills Tom and Huck, two small Ability-based spirits, into bullets to provide 100% accurate firing. Tom and Huck share the same consciousness, allowing for abilities like bullet-based long-range surveillance."
	I Am a Cat	Sōseki Natsume	"Lets him transform into a Calico cat. Though full extent of the Ability is currently unknown but, it was shown that it was capable to destroy an entire building."
	Illuminations	Arthur Rimbaud	"Allows him to create a hyperspace which he has full control over. Thanks to this he is able to create a nearly impenetrable defense that could not be broken by guns or explosives."
	Lemonade	Motojirō Kajii	"Able to withstand bomb blasts without injuries, as long as the bomb is lemon-shaped. His bombs are all hand-made."
	Light Snow	Jun'ichirō Tanizaki	"Able to project illusions into physical space, like a smokescreen."
	Little Women	Louisa May Alcott	"When thinking alone in a room, time passes at 1/8000th the normal speed for her."
	Midwinter Memento	Michizō Tachihara	"Grants him ferrokinesis, the ability to control metal. The ability can be used to do things as simple as breaking safes or even stopping an aircraft."
	Mirror Lion	Ōchi Fukuchi	"Increases the effectiveness of anything touched by him by 100 times."
	Moby Dick	Herman Melville	"Lets him materialize and control a large white whale that floats in the air. After some enhancements by The Guild, it saw use an aerial fortress."
	No Longer Human	Osamu Dazai	"Nullifies the Ability of anyone he touches."
	Plum Blossoms in Snow	Tetchō Suehiro	"Allows him to manipulate the length and form of his saber."
	Possession Drop	Natsuhiko Kyōgoku	"Allows him to possess a target with a spirit that indirectly instills anger and confusion in them.
	Priceless Tears	Saigiku Jōno	"Allows him to disintegrate his own body into atom-sized pieces."
	Rashōmon	Ryūnosuke Akutagawa	"Transforms his cloak into a black beast. The beast is able to cut through anything, even space."
	Strait is the Gate	André Gide	"Similar to Oda's Ability, gives him precognition at a maximum of more than 5 seconds but less than 6 seconds."
	The Grapes of Wrath	John Steinbeck	"Able to grow grapevines which can be grafted to other trees, sharing their senses with the host. He can also graft them to himself to control the branches and roots of the trees."
	The Great Fitzgerald	F. Scott Fitzgerald	"Boosts his physical strength in proportion to the amount of financial assets he consumes."
	The Madness of the Jewel King	Ace	"Lets him convert the remaining lifespan of his cohorts into jewels of equal value."
	The Matchless Poet	Doppo Kunikida	"Lets him use the pages of his notebook to create items, but the size of the items cannot be larger than the notebook."
	The Mysterious Island	Jules Gabriel Verne	"Absorbs the ability of anyone who dies in Standard Island"
	The Overcoat	Nikolai Gogol	"His overcoat serves as a portal connecting another point in space, up to thirty meters away"
	The Perfect Crime	Mushitaro Oguri	"Erases all evidence behind crimes committed."
	The Precipice	Ivan Goncharov	"Grants him the ability of geomancy for both offense and/or defense."
	The Scarlet Letter	Nathaniel Hawthorne	"Able to transform his blood into holy words and control them. These can be shot forth like bullets, used to form a protective wall, or even bind enemy movements"
	Thou Shalt Not Die	Akiko Yosano	"One of the rare healing-type Abilities among the staff of the Agency. However, it only works on those near-death, forcing her to half-kill her patients first."
	Time Machine	Herbert George Wells	"Allows her to slow down and manipulate time up to 55 minutes."
	Undefeated by the Rain	Kenji Miyazawa	"Unleashes untold strength and stoutness but only when he is hungry."
	Upon the Tainted Sorrow	Chūya Nakahara	"Able to freely alter the vector and strength of gravity affecting whatever he touches."
	Vampirism	Bram Stoker	Turns those he bites into vampires. Others who are bitten by vampires also become vampires.
	Vita Sexualis	Ōgai Mori	"Summons Elise, an ability-driven being with a sharp personality, just the way Mori prefers it."
	Yesterday's Shadow Tag	Mizuki Tsujimura	"Summons the 'Shadow Child', an ability-derived life-form living in her shadow. However, it does not accept orders and may come out at any time."

Abilities with unknown names.

Note: These ability names are not official and could be changed at any time.

Image	Name	Owner	Description
	Body Possession Ability	Unknown
	Card Ability	Hafis bin Wan
	Design Ability	Dr. Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley	Allows her to design anything she wants to.
	Electrokinetic Ability	Unknown
	Fire Ability	Zhang Jianlin
	Gravity-Manipulation Ability	Paul Verlaine
	Ice Ability	Emily Jane Smith
	Incineration Ability	Order of the Clock Tower Agent
	Information Exchange Ability	Sigma	"When he touches his target, he can gain the information he wants the most from them in exchange for the information he knows which the target wants the most."
	Intangibility Ability	Nemo
	Killing Intent Reaction Ability	Lippmann	Reacts to and counters any attacker's thirst for blood.
	Matter-Manipulation Ability	Colonel	Allows him to liquefy mass and manipulate it.
	Metal Transmutation Ability	Shunzen Tachihara	Appears to transmute matter from the pages of a book into metal.
	Number Ability	Blonde Guy
	Time-Stopping Ability	Criminal Ability User

These abilities are not canon to the series but created by the people behind Bungo Stray Dogs.

Image	Name	Owner	Description
	Inferno	Dan Brown	"Lets him write a three-line poem which contains many historical and religious symbolism, the poem shows what will take place 33 minutes in the future."

These are 'special powers' possessed by individuals but are not considered abilities.

Image	Name	Owner	Description
	Great Old One	Howard Phillips Lovecraft	"An Ability which is difficult to describe, as Dazai puts it, it is 'not a skill'."
	Super Deduction	Ranpo Edogawa	"Able to instantly solve mysteries simply by viewing the scene of the crime. He believes it to be an Ability, but in actuality he is simply intelligent."