Diclonius



Diclonius (pl. diclonii) is the name given to a fictional subspecies of humanity from the Japanese manga and anime series Elfen Lied. They are characterised by two rounded horns emanating out of the skull (which resemble cat ears), and the telekinetic ability to manipulate solid matter, which is manifested through the use of limited range invisible or translucent non-corporeal arms extending out of their backs, known as "vectors". A diclonius' vectors can be several meters in length, and are many times stronger than the physical human body, allowing a diclonius to telekinetically lift objects many times their own weight and hurl them with tremendous force, or to dismember an enemy by pulling them limb from limb. They can also be used to telekinetically shield a diclonius from projectile weapons, rendering most guns useless against them (with the exception of heavy-caliber armor-piercing ammunition). Vectors can pass through living flesh without causing harm, but if a diclonius wills it their vectors can become razor-sharp, and effortlessly slice a human being in half. Diclonii also possess a limited psychic ability, in that they can sense a fellow diclonius' presence via telepathy. Diclonius mutants are theorized to be an emergent new race, in direct evolutionary conflict with normal humans, each possessing the inate drive to exterminate the human race so their new race can thrive (though as the series progresses, this is called into question). The name "diclonius" translates from Latin as "double sprout", referring to the horns which visually marks a member of the sub-species.

Varieties
Diclonism can take many forms. It is possible for two normal human parents to give birth to a normal diclonius, such births however, are rare. Diclonism can also be spread via genetic infection contracted by direct contact of the Pineal gland with a vector, this more common form of procreation does not affect the human infected but causes any off spring of that person to be born as a "Silpelit" Diclonius variant.

In the anime, all Diclonius born with vectors are females sharing the same physical traits of red or pink eyes and hair, though it is reasonable to assume that male Diclonius could also be born naturally, and share the same characteristics and powers as that of their female peers. The only male Diclonii shown in the anime were bald and had no apparent vectors due to interbreeding with humans continuously over generations. The high frequency of certain traits shared by all Diclonii suggests homogeneity in the Diclonius gene pool. Since interbreeding with human tends to decrease the frequency of these traits, the mutations caused by the Diclonius virus seem to be recessive to human genes over successive generations. In addition, since Diclonii could interbreed with humans, they are not considered a separate biological species.

A diclonius born of human parents, sometimes described as the Queen Bees of Diclonii society have life aspects similar to that of there human counterparts ageing at approximately the same rate and life expectancy at around the human norm. Silpelits are a subvariant of diclonius, described as Worker Bees, which age at twice the speed of normal humans and lack reproductive organs. Silpelits can seem mentally immature due to their rapid growth rate, but this is not the case: for example, the Silpelit Nana appears 12 years old, but behaves like a 6 year old, because she is actually 6 years old. It is theorized that these silpelits are used to exterminate the human race and allow full diclonii to reproduce and re-populate the planet. It is unknown if both parents are infected by a diclonius the resulting child will be a full or silpelit member of the species.

The term silpelit comes from the the German poem Elfenlied which in turn comes from the opera Eduard auf dem Seil.

Abilities
Although natural diclonii (as born from non-infected human parents) have the ability to reproduce, their range and amount of vectors appear to be inferior to those of the silpelits. The character of Lucy, seen as the only natural diclonius in the series not to have been diluted with the human gene pool through interbreeding has a maximum vector range of two meters as opposed to the shortest silpelit range of three meters and the longest of eleven. This could be explained as natural diclonii are not warriors, with their vectors required only for infecting humans and been used as extra appendages, whereas the purpose of a silpelit is battle with the goal of extinction of an entire race. However, Lucy is the only natural Diclonius seen in the series, and only 2 Silpelits (Nana and Mariko) are described in detail, and they may not be representative of other Silpelits and Diclonii as a whole.

The seemingly supernatural power wielded by all diclonius comes from the vast development of the pineal gland (in a diclonius it is approximately the size of an egg ), in contrast, human pineal gland is the size of a pea).

All diclonii share an extremely homicidal tendencies towards humans, occasionally bordering on sadism. According to Chief Kurama, a diclonius will attack and murder any human, including their own parents, from the age of three when their vectors begin to develop. However, it is debatable as to whether the homicidal tendencies shown by the diclonius are inborn, the result of harsh treatment from others during early development, or a side effect of their maturing vectors. In the anime, the various Diclonius characters exhibit various degrees of psychological instability. For example, Lucy's alter-ego, Nyu, is almost incapable of feeling any kind of violent tendencies toward anyone. Lucy, on the other hand, kills without regard for human life (although she does care for a few people, most notably Kohta, even after her vectors are developed). Nana has a natural goodness that seems to be reinforced by Kurama, who treats her like his own daughter. So long as he treats her with care, she can deal with the pain of her testing. She becomes homicidal only when compelled to (to the point that when initially ordered to find and kill Lucy, she insisted on being allowed to merely subdue Lucy with non-lethal force). It may be said that the homicidal tendencies are a result of an unstable psyche, itself a result of congenital recessive mutations, aggravated to such high levels by inhumane treatment from humans. The homicidal behavior observed in diclonii has only ever been directed towards normal humans; towards non-sentient animals (which do not pose a threat to them) diclonii can behave quite benevolently.