Allen Walker

Allen Walker
D.Gray-man character
First appearance	Chapter 1 Of D.Gray-man Episode 1
Created by	Katsura Hoshino
In-universe information
Relatives	Mana Walker (foster father, deceased)

Allen Walker is a fictional character in the anime and manga series D.Gray-man created by Katsura Hoshino. Allen Walker is the main protagonist of D.Gray-man. He is an Exorcist of British origin and also the youngest to date.

Background

Allen is an orphan who was abandoned by his biological parents because of the supposed "deformity" of his left arm (which was later revealed to be caused by his Innocence). He was eventually found and adopted by Mana Walker on Christmas Day. Though the circumstances were never revealed (though the anime supplies one possible cause with a scene of an overturned carriage), Mana died, and Allen, tormented with grief, turned Mana into an Akuma, hoping that his beloved surrogate father would be fully resurrected. But the Mana Akuma cursed Allen and sliced through his left eye, leaving the "Pentacle" -- the mark of the Akuma -- which scars the left side of his face and turns his hair white. This enabled his left eye to see the souls trapped within the akuma from then on. It was at this same moment that Allen's left arm first invoked as an anti-Akuma weapon, which instinctively destroyed the Mana Akuma.

Allen eventually met Cross Marian, a general of the Black Order, who explained to Allen the ways of the Akuma and the trapped souls within them: Once a soul becomes trapped inside an Akuma, they are trapped forever; and that the only way to save one is to exorcise them from their Akuma vessel. Allen subsequently became Cross' disciple and spent the next three years with him before being sent to the Black Order to become an official exorcist.

Abilities

Crown Clown: The Innocence of Exorcism

Allen's anti-Akuma weapon, initially unnamed, is a rare, parasite-type Innocence that shares a symbiotic relationship with Allen's body. It appears as a cross-shaped shard embedded in the back of his left hand, which causes his entire left arm to appear red, scaly, and deformed. As a parasite-type, it is capable of both invoking and acting of its own accord, such as when it destroyed Mana's Akuma or regenerated the portion of Allen's heart that was hollowed out by Tyki Mikk's Tease.

Due the unique nature of parasite-type Innocence, Allen's Innocence has undergone a series of "evolutions" based on Allen's synchronization ratio. The first and most basic form of Allen's Innocence augments his left arm into a monstrous adamantine claw with a supernatural glow at Allen's scapula-joint. At this phase, his Innocence is capable of manipulating its size and shape. Despite the magnitude of size it can achieve, it retains a phenomenal degree of speed and reaction, making it an extremely versatile anti-Akuma weapon when engaging LV1 Akuma. The next evolution of his Innocence occurred during Allen investigation of "The Ghost of Mateel". This evolution takes a more offensive approach, in the form of a massive arm-cannon. This form is capable of ranged and melee combat; a contrast to the defensive nature of his Innocence's first form. This second phase can switch between two modes, a cannon mode and a rod mode. Below is a listing of abilities Allen is capable of invoking between these two phases:

• Cross Grave (十字架ノ墓（クロス・グレイヴ）, Kurosu Gureibu): At the first level of invocation, the Innocence's power can be channeled into one powerful stream, capable of crucifying and destroying multiple LV1 Akuma simultaneously.
• Cross Paling (十字架ノ杭（クロス・バリング）, Kurosu Baringu): At its second phase of invocation, Allen's Innocence is capable of firing volleys of rod-shaped energy palings; these laser stakes are made of hard-light Innocence energy, which enables them to picket the ground and fence in the adversary, or to pile upon them; Allen may also stand atop the palings. This ability is often mistranslated as "Cross Beam".
• Cross Spear (十字架ノ槍（クロス・スピアー）, Kurosu Supiā): Also in its second phase of invocation, Allen is capable of focusing the barrel of his Innocence-cannon to generate a spear-like energy paling, which can then be used like a sword.

Allen's synchronization ratio reached a maximum of 83% before having his Innocence destroyed by Tyki Mikk. Yet unbeknownst to Allen, the Innocence lingered around as a hazy fog of particles; at the time, a direct reflection of his shattered state of mind. It wasn't until he came to an epiphany that he was able to seize control of his anti-Akuma weapon once again and achieving his Innocence's fully-invoked form. At this phase, his Innocence fully integrated with his body, appearing as a red discoloration on his left arm, intertwined with his natural skin tone at the shoulder, wrapping around his chest forming a crest-shaped tattoo. It was given its official name of Crown Clown (神ノ道化（クラウン・クラウン）, Kuraun Kuraun), due to its jester-like appearance when invoked. The kanji used in the name literally translates to God's Clown (神ノ道化, Kami no Dokue)

When invoked, Crown Clown drapes Allen in a long, white, ectoplasmic cowl, fitted with a masquerade-style mask. His left arm transforms into a slender, black arm fitted with silver, crown-shaped braces and rings, as well as razor-sharp talons, while his right arm and hand are encased in a sleeve and glove of the same ectoplasmic material as the cowl. When Allen forced his synchronization to a critical state, exceeding 100% synchronization, Crown Clown undergoes another evolution: Allen's entire left arm is transmuted into a massive zweihander with a large cross emblazoned on the blade, with his left shoulder being capped with a cross emblem. Allen wields the sword with his free right hand and the Innocence cowl becomes a high-collared cape which covers his missing left arm, with the mask acting as a clasp across the chest. Below is a listing of Allen's abilities in between these phases of Innocence:

• Cross Grave (十字架ノ墓（クロス・グレイヴ）, Kurosu Gureibu): Much more powerful than its previous incarnation, Allen crucifies and annihilates his targets by etching a cross onto them with his left hand, capable of destroying even LV3 Akuma with only a single talon. It can now also be used defensively, generating a shield by drawing a cross in the air.
• Clown Belt (道化ノ帯（クラウン・ベルト）, Kuraun Beruto): The cape of Allen's cowl is released as a webbing of Innocence-energy that can be used to grasp objects, immobilize opponents, or form hardened spikes to impale enemies. It can also be released from the sleeve and glove on Allen's right arm.
• Crown Edge (爪ノ王輪（クラウン・エッジ）): A projectile attack which unleashes a barrage of crown-shaped rings from the clawed fingers on Allen's left hand. The kanji used in the name of this attack literally translates to "Claw of King-rings" (爪ノ王輪, Tsume no Ōwa).
• Edge End (破滅ノ爪（エッジ・エンド）, Ejji Endo): A swipe of raw destructive power dealt with Allen's fully-invoked claw. The kanji used in the name of this attack literally translates to "Destruction Claw" (破滅ノ爪, Hametsu no Tsume).
• Sword of Exorcism (退魔の剣, Taima no Ken): The giant broadsword Allen's left arm transmutes into after his synchronization exceeds 100%. The sword can be wielded like any other, though once invoked, the blade can exorcise evil from any vessel it strikes without any harm coming to the vessel itself. If used on an Akuma, it will explode, leaving behind a glowing cross similar in shape to that of Allen's Cross Grave. But peculiarly enough, in the case of Noah, the Sword of Exorcism seems to unleash their powers in full rather than exorcise them. Skulls also seem to be affected by it as if it were a regular sword. Essentially, the Sword of Exorcism is an inversion of the Millennium Earl's sword, in both ability and appearance.

The Cursed Eye of the Pentacle

In addition to his Innocence, the Pentacle that scars his left eye curses Allen with the power to see the souls trapped inside an Akuma. The first incarnation of the curse is a black and red ringed eye which is automatically activated whenever Allen is near Akuma.

However, during the vampire incident involving the Eliade-Akuma and Arystar Krory, Allen's curse had grown stronger, resulting in his eye undergoing some dramatic changes. Resembling a sort of cogwheel monocle, this new cursed eye enables Allen to pinpoint an Akuma's position even when they are not visible to the naked eye, regardless of obstacles. But the most astounding change is that others close to Allen are able to see the lost souls trapped within Akuma as well. After witnessing Allen's 'world of black and white', Lavi comments that the way Allen sees the world 'is like hell on earth'. However, the cursed eye appears to lust for the destruction of Akuma, often causing pain to Allen in the middle of the night by self-activating, as though "it is a sin to be sleeping instead of destroying Akuma".

Allen speculates that his curse evolves in a similar fashion as Akuma, and may yet again evolve over time. It seems to have temporarily evolved again when Allen was playing the Musician's piano, but the scar returned to normal when he stopped playing. Perhaps this evolution is in connection to the fact that Mana - who is speculated to be the 14th Noah - gave Allen the curse and allowed him to play the nonsensical score in which both Mana and himself had come up with.

The Musician

It has been hinted that Allen is connected to the 14th Noah in someway, The Musician. Cross Marian told Allen that he was the only one who could stop the download of the Akuma plant in the Ark, through the use of the room of the 14th Noah, something which, initially, only Allen and Timcampy could enter. In the glass inside the room, an inverted version of Allen was shown. Whether or not Allen will show signs of having a Noah's abilities remains to be seen. Amongst the members of the Black Order, there is a rumor spreading that Allen's Crown Clown isn't really an Innocence, mainly because of the Crown Clown's shape and size being so similar to the Earl's sword.

Later, when Allen plays the piano-like instrument in the room, the destroyed Ark is regenerated and rebuilt, along with all the previous occupants who did not escape its original destruction: namely, the Exorcists who were considered as "lost" after being left behind in the crumbling rooms of the Ark. As Allen returns back to the Black Order, he notices that the letters on the music score are the letters that he and Mana had made which means Mana might have been the 14th Noah. After that, Allen begins to notice the inverted image of himself in various glass fixtures.

• Confirmed to have eaten mountains of food in around 10 minutes
• Allen is ambidextrous.
• Allen refuses to touch anything with alcohol due to an incident with Cross. He accidentally found some of his master's alcohol-laced chocolates and ate one. Cross went berserk and punished him so harshly that Allen promised him that he would never touch alcohol ever again.
• Allen becomes "evil" and merciless when playing poker due to a special "training session" he had when he was still General Cross' assistant in order to pay some of the enormous debts of Cross. Allen is a master at cheating and refuses to lose while gambling. Both Lavi (during the first time when Allen gambled against Tyki Mikk and his gang) and Lenalee (in the anime, episode 27) noted that Allen has turned "black" when Allen thinks about his genius in gambling and turns monstrous.
• Notice that the skin behind Allen's "cursed monocle" is similar to that of the Akuma-bound souls.
• Allen has never touched a piano before, except for one incident which isn't talked about in detail.
• Allen is the only one who can see the inverted picture of himself in the mirrors.
• Allen is terrified of damaging his Anti-Akuma weapon as Komui doesn't do anything to make the repairs less than torture.
• Allen's favorite food is mitarashi dango.
• In flashbacks, it was revealed Allen's hair used to be brown, whereas today its silvery.

See also

• List of D.Gray-man characters