OnS Theories (21S). First Theory - Inverse Trinity
Hello everyone, it’s been a long while since I updated, a lot of things happened in May but nevertheless, here I am again.
Chapter 103 Spoilers are out, you can check the link if you’re curious about them, the official translation will be available tomorrow in MangaPLUS or Viz Media.
This theory popped early but the burst of ideas popped after talking with some friends on discord about the chapter and the translations. Mika, one of my friends, being the one that translates the manga with passion, gave me an insight of what the characters stated in there; and of course, after some thinking, this lead me think to something huge, therefore, let’s begin!
P.S: Theories are held within a neutral view and ships are excluded.
As a side note, this time, this theory will have some elements taken from the Bible, therefore, I apologize if there are issues here and there
As I stated, thanks to the translations made by several readers that love OnS, specially Mika; there was something curious about Shikama Doji within the latest chapter and is the fact he stated he aimed to save Mikaela and Yuichiro when we’ve seen his attitudes and objectives are rather of doubtful procedence.
Along with this, there has been something intriguing which is the fact that he has constantly called Mika his “son”.
At first glance, it seems like he might be a passionate figure that aims to recover what he lost long ago but in fact, there’s something deeper to it, what do I mean?
For that, let’s take an insight of some aspects of the bible and religion itself.
It is often said in texts that back when Chirst was about to get crucified, the devil appeared within the path Christ had to go through to reach the final destination of his life; but, what does this have to do with the story?
In such aspects of the bible, it is stated that the devil carried out a baby and proclaimed it to be his son, one that he could love in order to mock Christ on how he would suffer for humanity in order to remove their sins.
Therefore, the main question is, how is Shikama relatable to such fragment?
By now, it is known that Shikama is literally a representation of the devil, which once was known as Lucifer, the most beautiful creation of God.
And of course, this is heavily represented in the LNs of the Catastrophe, specifically in the 7th Volume of the story, after Guren gave Shinoa her cursed gear so she could survive the apocalypse by Mahiru’s orders.
In said chapter of the last volume, Shinoa stated that Shikama was beautiful and she had troubles to determinate whenever Shikama was a she or a he but despite that, she was taken in awe by their beauty:
Image taken from Seraph of the End: Guren Ichinose Catastrophe at 16 - Chapter 43
Along this there has been subtle evidence that of what Lucifer, the name itself means, which is Morning Star, Light Bringer, etc.
But nevertheless, we’ve seen that Shikama only once stated that he was punished for a “taboo” he broke long ago and took the form we saw back in the old days of Greece.
And so far, within the story, the only taboo we as readers know so far is to bring back those who have perished, such as is the example of how Guren brought back his friends leading to the eventual end of the world by a virus; of course, despite this action, it was something that was bound to happen whenever he was the trigger for it or not.
Therefore, what does the theory itself imply? Why is it titled as inverse trinity?
It is known that religion takes two special numbers as holy, one of them being the number 7 since that was exactly the amount of time God took in order to create his most perfect work which was life, the planet and eventually the first humans.
Ironically to this, there is an exact representation to that, what could it be?
Correct. The seven seraphs of the end.
Despite only having awareness of 3 active seraphs, there are 7 in total that have relied in Sinful Keys in order to awake them.
But despite such number being special, there’s actually another one that does take a special meaning, which number might it be?
Correct. Number 3. The Holy Trinity.
The Holy Trinity represents God = Father, Son and the Holy Spirit which at the very end represent God (In Christianity of course).
But again, how can this be related with Shikama’s actions, objectives or taboo?
Shikama once stated that God has a far more twisted personality than him which strongly implies that he once knew God at a certain point of his existance:
Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 57
Therefore, there’s a high possibility that his biggest taboo wasn’t that he aimed to bring back someone that passed away, but rather, by taking an insight of the elements of Lucifer’s fall and how he is literally a Fake God on Earth that has managed to twist the strings of fate and made different empires fall and raise along religions, it can be said that after his exile of heaven, he did exactly what God had.
He aimed to have his own Earth, one that had no sunlight that could torture him since he clearly stated back in chapter 94 that he disliked the Sun:
Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 94
Furthermore, to add strength to this,to his possible taboo, he had a “son”, one that was eventually killed supposely after being blamed of certain unknown crimes that so far haven’t been revealed yet:
Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 94
But then, how can Shikama exactly create an inverse trinity if he only brought a son to his life?
To explain this, it is needed to take Shikama as a reflection of the Devil or what Lucifer ended up being after being expelled from heaven,it is to say he has played the role of God on Earth for his own goals without caring of who he’ll hurt if it means to succeed on what he has always aimed; the second point to this inverse trinity is the fact that he has created a demon child and has labeled it as his own son, which of course in religion would be the clear example of the envy the Devil had towards God.
But where exactly lies what could reflect the third point of the inverse trinity when the Holy Trinity has the Holy Spirit?
This one falls with Yuichiro Hyakuya
But then, the question would fall on how exactly Yu could fit into such role when he’s something that can’t be labeled as human nor demon or seraph despite being able to transform into one.
For this, it is needed to remember on how Yuu was created long ago back in the dark ages of Greece:
Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 79
Correct. Yuu wasn’t a human being to begin with but was given a personality and attitude to behave like one; of course, at such time Sika Madu was performing experiments from a different nature with kids; he was seeking whenever the blood the artifitial Yuu had could turn humans into vampires, and of course, Ashera was the prime result for this. Such orbs had an element that allowed to heal Yuu since, at that time, Shikama cut his head off after he attacked Ashera leading to his death as a human:
Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 79
It could be said that Yuu was pretty much like a lifeless doll used for the purpose to achieve certain goal Shikama never revealed at such time; furthermore, to give strength to this, it is very well known that back in those ages, Yuu was killed again by Noya after the vampires Shikama created grew in few numbers:
Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 85
Noya stated that dozens of Yus would be created even if he killed one, leading to understand that Yu in fact has been an artifitial life cloned endlessly, but within this, there’s something that must be taken in consideration with the latest chapter which is 103.
Thanks to the fan translations proved by Mika, the demon Mikaela in one panel stated that there were fake souls within the human’s heart which is of course related to Yu’s heart since Yu aimed to make Mika remember what they went through to bring him back home with him.
But then, what’s the main key to the third aspect of the trinity Shikama is seeking?
There’s a huge key element that plays very well despite how the demon Mikaela stated that Yu’s heart had fake souls, but what could it be?
Correct. Yu managed to have a solid soul after unknown years of a constant cycle of life and death, a constant samsara and this is heavily pointed out by Shikama Doji back in chapter 74:
Image taken from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign - Chapter 74
Shikama Doji expected Yu to be another of his pieces in order to clean the path he was focused to reach; but to his surprise, Yu had autonomy, what do I mean?
Instead of being the servant Shikama had long ago, Yuichiro had a soul of his own, a mind of his own, a purpose of his own, a reason to exist and live despite the conditions he had to face. He had the means to what it can be called someone “human”.
But then, how can Yu be the last piece to the inverse trinity Shikama seeks?
Returning again to the fan translations, Shikama stated that he is going to protect Yuichiro and Mikaela, of course, such statement and the fact that the main cast is rushing against time implies that he is aiming to use them for whatever he plans to do with them since he finally is getting what he has seeked for long, therefore, in order to kill two birds with one stone, he is waiting for the moment Yu and Mika are together in order to bring or reflect this inverse trinity.
It could be said that Yu would work as the reverse of the Holy Spirit, since he pretty much has been tainted by many taboos, one of them is mixing his Serah form with a curse of a cursed gear that holds a demon, given how his wings are very different to those of the seraphs that have been displayed in the manga story.
It could be concluded at the end, that Shikama has all the key elements to express the total and absolute rebellion towards everything God has created, something that has been inverted in order to stamp of the holiness that such elements carry within meaning.
The fact he managed to end almost all the life within Earth, the fact that demons have descended upon Earth with the methods he carried out to bring vampires and from them demons, is only a reflection of a possible huge ambition and raison d’etre.
What do you think dear readers?
