Allen Walker

Allen Walker appeared in the 2006 TV series called D.Gray-man. Allen Walker (アレン・ウォーカー, Aren Wōkā^?) is the main protagonist of D.Gray-man. Allen is a former Exorcist and a former member of the European Branch of the Black Order. He is the adoptive son of Mana Walker, and the former apprentice of Cross Marian.

Allen is a teenager of average height with a lean, muscular physique which, over the course of time, has become heavily marred with scars. He has medium-length gray/white hair that has now grown to shoulder-length, silver/gray (purple in the Hallow anime) eyes, and pale skin.

Allen has an unusual scar on the left side of his face that starts as a pentagram on his forehead, trailing down in a line that severs his eyebrow and mars his eyelid, and hooks slightly at his cheekbone and follows his cheek down close to his chin. It also has an extra line of scar tissue that runs parallel to his lower eyelid. This scar was given to him by Mana Walker, after Allen turned him into an Akuma. The scar is also the source of his Cursed Eye, which allows him to detect Akuma and see the human souls bound to their bodies.

Allen has also been described by other characters as being "cute" or "angelic".

Allen's parasitic type Innocence takes the form of the entirety of his left arm, from his shoulder down. Originally, it was red and quite veinous, but after he invoked his Crown Clown for the first time, the skin became much darker and more scale-like, his fingernails turning black and growing out and arrow-shaped markings forming along his shoulder blade.

Because of his odd hair color and his strange arm, Allen has a tendency to cover his hair with hats and hoods, wearing gloves and long-sleeved shirts to keep people from seeing his arm.

Allen's Exorcist uniforms often consist of concealing jackets and gloves, as well as pants and heavy duty boots, though Allen's latest uniform features a shorter jacket and capri-like pants. He always asks for gloves to be included so he can keep his hand hidden, though recently Allen has gotten more comfortable with showing his hand when he is around his comrades.

Allen's natural hair color was brown; his hair turned white from the shock of reviving Mana as an Akuma and destroying him. Allen revealed to Timothy that he had tried to dye it numerous times, but eventually gave up as it would return to white in no time.

When in his Noah form, Allen has the typical dark skin tone and amber eyes. Unlike the other Noah his hair seems to remain white like Wisely's.

Allen usually portrays himself as a kind, generous, and very polite young man. He refuses to accept gifts from others that he feels he has not earned. He tends to be very self-sacrificing, often willing to let his body and emotions take devastating blows for the sake of others; this trait is something that has angered several of his comrades and friends, most noticeably Yu Kanda and Lenalee Lee. Allen also has an unassuming and borderline naive appearance, despite the troubled life his master, Cross Marian, forced him to live. Because of his Cursed Eye, which allows him to see the human souls bound to Akuma, Allen considers Akuma to be just as important to him as humans, swearing his left arm to saving Akuma and his right to saving humans. Kanda believes him to be too idealistic for his own good and does not hesitate to tell him this, saying an Exorcist is simply a destroyer and that they will never be anyone's savior, though Allen claims that they can be both, pushing him to be, as he once put it, "a destroyer that saves".

Over time, Allen's personality has seen a shift. Several times, his "dark side", which is a result of him perfecting his poker skills to pay back Cross's debts, has shown itself, frequently shocking and scaring those around him. He is an expert at cheating in poker, which is shown for the first time when he brought Tyki Mikk (disguised as a human) and his two friends down to their underwear without any of them noticing what he was up to. He has also begun using less formal speech around his close friends, something noted by and encouraged by Lenalee and Johnny Gill. The one person who can consistently make Allen break his polite mold is fellow Exorcist Yu Kanda. Their differing views but similar "darkness", as it is described by Noise Marie, lead to them butting heads and arguing almost constantly, sometimes over menial issues. He also has a strong hatred for the Millennium Earl due to their history.

As a child, Allen was abandoned by his family because of his "abnormal" left arm and they sold him to a circus. He was taken in by Mana Walker and began travelling with him. Mana later died, and the desperate Allen was tricked by the Millennium Earl into bringing him back. A furious Mana then cursed Allen, slashing at the left side of his face. Allen's arm, which is actually a piece of Innocence, then activated without his consent and started chasing after Mana. After Mana told Allen he loved him and begged to be destroyed, Allen's arm exorcised Mana's Akuma, killing him a second time. After this ordeal, Allen's hair turned white from shock, and his left eye is cursed to perpetually see the suffering souls bound within Akuma, leading to his decision to live for their sake.

Originally, Allen was a rough and embittered child, speaking rudely and being very brash, probably due to his suffering at the hands of the greedy Ringmaster and the violent clown, Cosimov. In a stark contrast to the gentlemanly personality he grew up to have, he was more honest about his thoughts. He also refrained from getting attached to others and considered friends unnecessary, as he hoped to one day leave the ruthless circus and lead his own life. However, he later came to love Mana dearly as they traveled together, considering him his father.

Following Mana's death, after spending over a month in a lifeless, unresponsive state, he resurfaced bearing Mana's personality, becoming much more polite. Cross seems troubled by this development from the start, and has expressed that he prefers Allen's 'dark side' because it was closer to how he used to behave. He often refers to Allen as wearing Mana's "mask" (仮面＝おもいで), though the furigana actually reads "memories", hinting that even now, Allen kept the memory of Mana alive through his own personality in order to cope with the loss.

Allen seems to believe in God's existence (once referring to his arm as "the crucifix of God that lies within me") though he has stated he does not care about "such a thing"; Allen had come to consider the Order and his comrades his second "true home" after Mana, but he is not simply fighting in the name of God, but rather for the vows he made to Mana, his friends and himself. He is also shown to greatly resent Suman's Innocence after its judgment cruelly left Suman alive but without a mind. After the truth of the Second Exorcist Project is revealed to him, he openly defies the Order by letting Kanda and Alma escape, due to his disdain of the Order's higher echelons and their questionable methods. He is also greatly disgusted with the idea of joining with Apocryphos after learning what it has done to Cross.

Allen is a big eater. This is a trait shared by all parasitic type accommodators but in Allen's case this is even more extreme. Fellow parasitic-type Arystar Krory thinks that Allen uses this as an excuse to eat more in order to hide other issues.

Allen has shown some shades of pride, refusing to run away from a Noah even when cautioned by Komui (which nearly led to his Innocence's second destruction). Tyki Mikk called him arrogant for believing he could deprive him of his Noah without hurting him.

Initially, Allen is very loyal to the Black Order; due them sharing the same goals; defeat the Millennium Earl and save the world from destruction. However, upon discovering the Order's unspeakable experiments, his loyalty towards them becomes strained, as he realizes that the higher ups are no different from the Earl.

During a fight against the Noah, Allen is imprisoned by the Order, who fear the reappearance of Nea. There, he is attacked by Apocryphos, a sentient Innocence that tries to assimilate Allen's Innocence. Tyki Mikk and Road Kamelot rescue him from Apocryphos, making the Order believe he has betrayed them. However, after Tyki points out that most members of the Black Order will never see him as anything more than an Noah and after learning from Road that Nea spent his whole life protecting Mana; he realizes that not all members of the Noah Family are evil.

From there, Allen officially severs all ties with the Black Order (except the members who are truly his friends) and refuses help from both the Order and the Noah Family.

Powers and Abilities

• Physical Prowess: Due to Allen's Innocence being largely used for close combat, Allen is noted to be above normal human standards in terms of physical fitness, making him able to perform in seemingly physically impossible workouts and hold back Akuma attacks that are known to take out walls. His physical abilities are only increased when his Innocence is activated.
• Amateur Swordsmanship: After Allen receives his Sword of Exorcism, he begins training with Kanda to develop his swordsmanship skills, though after losing in a spar he reverted to physical brawling.
• Martial Skills: He can hold his own against Marie during a sparing match. Allen was able to fight a level 3 Akuma without his innocence and with only one arm for a little while.
• Cross (, Kurosu^?, lit. Cross Stand): Cross is a parasitic type Anti-Akuma Weapon that is centralized in the cross-shaped, stone-like Innocence embedded in the back of Allen's left hand. The Innocence has caused Allen's entire arm to be taken over by Innocence, so his arm from the shoulder down is actually "foreign" tissue that his body symbiotically accepts as part of himself. Originally, Allen's arm was quite veinous and red, but over time its color has darkened and the skin has smoothed out, taking on a slightly more normal appearance. In terms of its naming via the kanji, "jūjika" is a term for the type of cross rack used for crucifying, different from the usual usage of cross and/or cruciform.
• Cross α (alpha): 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 even to extreme ends, such as when it grew enough to grab the entire body of the mountain-sized Fallen One, Suman Dark. While very durable against Akuma and Dark Matter, it can easily be damaged by Innocence, shown by the dents left on it when Kanda sliced it with his Mugen and the bites that Krory left on his hand.
• Cross Grave (, Kurosu Gureibu^?, lit. Cross Stand's Grave/Tomb): At the first level of invocation, the Innocence's power can be channeled into one powerful stream, capable of destroying multiple Level 1 Akuma simultaneously, and leaves a cruciform of energy behind on each of its targets (hence the name should Allen defeat a group of Akuma with it).
  • In the games Jump Super Stars and Jump Ultimate Stars, Cross Grave is instead a palm-slamming smash attack with the Innocence that causes a shockwave, but also has an effect of breaking guards (thus being unblockable). The energy stream from the attack is able to emit from whatever surface Allen strikes/impacts with it, and the cruciforms appear as usual (only if the shockwave contacts any targets with it).
    • Minor versions of this attack can be used as Allen's Guard Break/Punt Attack in Super Stars. In both Super and Ultimate, his 4 Koma version Cross Grave's shockwave is blue-colored. While in Super Stars, his 5 Koma Cross Grave is red-colored and covers a large area in front of him. The attack was greatly nerfed in Ultimate Stars among several moves (in terms of shockwave size and power), and the 5 Koma version is instead colored yellow.

• Cross β (beta): This evolution takes a more offensive approach, in the form of a massive arm-cannon with his fingers becoming energy spikes. This form is capable of both ranged and melee combat, but tends to use up more energy initially.

• Cross Paling (, Kurosu Baringu^?, lit. Cross Stand's Paling/Stake): 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.
  • In the anime, the laser stakes are colored yellow along with his β version fingers. Jump Super/Ultimate Stars instead colors the stakes green and his fingers to be grayish white (same color as his arm cannon).

• Cross Spear (, Kurosu Supiā^?, lit. Cross Stand's Spear): 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.

• Innocence Activation Maximum Limit Release (イノセンス発動最大限開放, Inosensu Hatsudō Saidaigen Kaihō): While not specifically named outside of its appearance in Jump Ultimate Stars, Allen powers up his Innocence to cause his Anti-Akuma Weapon to grow to a massive size and to be coated in energy, used to halt the rampage of Suman Dark having transformed into a Fallen One. It becomes an attack in the aforementioned Jump Ultimate Stars as Allen's 6 Koma Special Attack A, where Allen fires the giant energy claw forward like an energy beam blast.

• Crown Clown (, Kuraun Kuraun^?, lit. God's Clown): When Tyki Mikk pulverized Allen's Cross, the particles of the Innocence lingered around Allen in a fog-like state that kept him alive while the gaping wound in his heart was being regenerated. When Allen realized the peculiar state of his Innocence, he made many attempts to synchronize with it, which weren't successful until his battle with Thread. Responding to his renewed resolve, his Innocence reformed, fully evolved.
  • When invoked, Crown Clown functions like an armored suit, forming a white-hooded cowl and sleeve of Innocence energy which covers his shoulders and right arm. His left arm and hand become noticeably slender and black, and also equipped with armor, complete with razor-sharp claws. A masquerade-style mask is always affixed to the cowl, which takes on various configurations and appearances. This transformation also changes Allen's usual hairstyle from flat to a spiky rear. As before, his Innocence possesses a certain degree of sentience and can assist in evasive tactics or even manipulate Allen's body like a marionette should he become incapacitated. When not activated, Crown Clown takes residence in left arm, becomes a visible black pattern that rises the length of arm to his shoulder in a spiraling pattern with a tattoo-like emblem on the end.

• Cross Grave (, Kurosu Gureibu^?, lit. Cross Stand's Grave/Tomb): Much more powerful than its previous incarnation, Allen can crucify targets simply by etching a cross upon them with his left hand, effectively annihilating even Level 3 Akuma with a single talon. It can now also be used defensively, generation a shield by drawing a cross on the air.

• Clown Belt (, Kuraun Beruto^?, lit. Clown's Belt/Sash): 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. The ribbons of energy were once used by Crown Clown itself to wrap around Allen's limbs and control him like a puppet when Allen was too injured to move by himself.

• Crown Edge (, Kuraun Ejji^?, lit. Claw's King Ring): A projectile attack which unleashes a barrage of crown-shaped rings from the clawed fingers on Allen's left hand.

• Edge End (, Ejji Endo^?, lit. Claw of Destruction): A swipe of raw destructive power dealt with Allen's fully-invoked claw.

• Self manipulation: By wearing Crown Clown and commanding it with his mind Allen can force his own body to move even if it is too physically damaged to move normally.

• Sword of Exorcism (, Taimaken^?, lit. Repelling Demon's Sword): When Allen's synchronization rate exceeds 100%, he is able to remove and transmute his entire left arm into a large broadsword with a cross emblazoned on the faces of the blade. In doing so, his left shoulder is capped with a cross-shaped emblem, and his cowl usually forms a cloak to cover the missing arm. Once invoked, the blade can exorcise evil from any vessel it strikes, though it does not harm humans; this means that Allen can damage the inner Noah of members of the Noah family without killing their human bodies. If used against Level 1 to Level 3 Akuma, it vanquishes them in the same effect as the Cross Grave attack, leaving a residual glowing cross crest in the wake of the defeated Akuma. However, in the case of a Level 4 Akuma the sword carries a diminished effect. Allen is shown with the ability to telepathically recall the Sword to himself, should it be separated from his body. It is noted by Lero and other Noah that the design of the sword is the same as the sword of the Earl of Millennium except for the inverse color.

• Death Ball (, Desu Bōru^?, lit. Destruction Roaring Howl): Also called Death Orbs. When using the Sword of Exorcism, Allen can create a series of large explosions, though this technique heavily exhausts him.