Irina Shidou

General

Irina Shidou (紫し藤どう イリナいりな, Shidō Irina) is one of the many female protagonists of High School DxD and the childhood friend of Issei Hyoudou. Irina is a third-year high school student at Kuoh Academy in Class 3-B and is a devout Christian who, even after learning of God's death, still follows his teachings. She is later reincarnated as an Angel by the Archangel Michael, through one of the Brave Saints, her ranking among his peerage being "Ace Of Spades". She is also one of Issei's fiancées.

Appearance

Irina is a beautiful young woman with violet eyes. She has long chestnut hair that is usually tied into twintails, each held with a blue scrunchy, but on some occasions, she lets her hair down. Her body measurements are B87-W59-H89 cm [B34-W23-H35 in]; height is 164 cm (5 feet 4 inches) and body weight is 56 kg. She wears the standard Church battle attire, same as Xenovia's with some slight differences. After transferring to Kuoh Academy and moving into the Hyoudou Residence, she starts wearing the Kuoh Academy girls' school uniform, with black short shorts under her skirt and the addition of white sneakers with blue accents. Following her Angelization by Michael, she wears a red "A" printed on her right hand, symbolizing her position as Michael's Ace. Irina also gained white Angel wings and a halo, as of Volume 17, she has a total of 4 wings.

Personality part.1

Irina is a cheerful, goofy, upbeat, and enthusiastic person. She is also shown to be cooperative and open-minded to others as she is seen with Arthur Pendragon discussing Excalibur Ruler. She is a fiercely devout Christian, even more so than Xenovia, showing great respect for God's teachings. In one of her past adventures, she revealed how happy she was to be able to wield a Holy sword like her father before her. During her first appearance, she was harsh towards those whom she perceived as an opposition to her religion. This was demonstrated by how she and Xenovia treated Asia Argento when they first met, although she was nowhwere near as harsh towards the exiled nun as her partner, as well as her reaction to Xenovia becoming a Devil. The death of God of the Bible was a great shock for Irina, yet she still believes in his teachings and transferred her belief to Michael who is the current "God". As noted by Michael, in addition to her strong Christian faith, Irina is innocent, honest, respectful, and friendly, traits which he valued and also the reason he chose her to be his Ace. Irina seems to have a strong but subconscious eroticism of her own, being suprisingly easygoing and ready to "submit" when she accidently ended up being groped by Issei, her first reaction to the idea of becoming a cyborg being dislike as she wouldn't be able to bear Issei's children with a robotic body, and her reaction to seeing Elmenhilde crying to Ravel and Issei about her homeland was wondering if she'd been sexually assaulted. Xenovia both encourages and makes fun of this trait, providing justification for Irina to indulge, such as with thoughts of Issei's half-Angel children increasing Heaven's war-power, a reasoning that once helped provoke Irina into an independent "attack" on Issei, and simultaneously branding her an "ero-Angel," much to Irina's embarassment. After kissing Issei, she becomes bolder in her relationship with him, as she becomes less concerned about "falling"

Personality part.2

in order to show her love for him. She is shown to be very sensitive to and annoyed about being called "self-proclaiming."

History

Irina's family lineage is related to the church, and her father being a pastor and exorcist of the Protestant Church and possessing a currently unidentified Holy Sword.[1] She is Issei's childhood friend, who was under the impression that she was a boy due to appearing quite tomboyish, and they were close friends who used to play together. At some point, she kissed him while he was sleeping at her house. She later left Japan and went to England with her family, due to her father's job, where she trained to become an exorcist of the Protestant Church. Three years prior at age 14, Irina was granted the ability to wield Holy Swords via a Holy Element and was given Excalibur Mimic, thus following in her father's footsteps. Soon after, she was eventually partnered with Xenovia, where they undertook a mission to slay the stray Vampire from the House of Manthar. At some point in time, she crossed blades with a knight from Riser Phenex's Peerage named Karlamine.

Powers and Abilities part.1

Light Power: As an Angel, Irina has the ability to create and wield Light. Light-Based Weapons: As an Angel, Irina is able to create Light-based weapons. In the anime, she has shown to be able to use light halos that wrapped about foes of remarkable power and size, such as one of Fenrir's sons. In Volume DX.4, Irina created a move which forms rings of light that home in on her opponents and radiates light. In Volume 25, she made a whip of light that imitates Excalibur Mimic. Artificial Holy Sword Wielder: After taking in the Light Container, Irina became an artificial Holy Sword user, able to wield Excalibur Mimic and later Hauteclere. Enhanced Speed: While she can't match up to the likes of Yuuto Kiba, Irina is still noticeably fast due to her training as an Exorcist, being able to dodge Jeanne's attacks with ease. Enhanced Strength: As a Human, Irina stated she was strong enough that the force of her swings could create wind to scatter clouds of scales from a Chimera, intense enough that she was concerned about the scales flying over to a nearby town.[2] After being reincarnated as an Angel, her base physical prowess increased as she could fight and hold her own against more powerful supernatural beings. Enhanced Luck: Due to also receiving Ophis' blessing, Irina gained improved luck, winning second place in a lottery. Master Swordswoman: Like Xenovia, Irina is talented in swordsmanship, specialized in tricky movements that makes use of her speed, being able to fight on par with Jeanne during their first encounter. Even at 14 years old, Irina is skilled enough to be chosen as a Holy Sword wielder. By Volume 19, Irina's swordsmanship skills became great enough being able to keep up against Ewald Cristaldi wielding a replica of Excalibur. Tomoe Meguri admitted that Irina's swordsmanship is on a whole different level.

Powers and Abilities part.2

Skilled Magician: In addition to her Light Weapons, Irina is mentioned to be a skilled user of Magic specializing in Holy Magic as an Exorcist, She is also currently learning from Rossweisse. Defensive Magic: Irina is shown to be able to create defensive magic circles to shield herself in battle as well, as was shown in the battle with Loki. Teleportation Magic: Irina has shown the ability to use teleportation magic in order to transport herself and others. Flight: Being an Angel, Irina can fly using her wings.

Equipments part.1

Hauteclere (オートクレールおーとくれーる, Ōtokurēru): Irina's current primary weapon, a Holy Sword given to her by her father. The sword has the ability of purifying those cut by it. Excalibur Mimic (擬態の聖剣エクスカリバー・ミミック, Eskukaribā Mimikku): Irina's initial weapon (through artificial means). A Holy Sword that has the ability to transform itself into any shape as its wielder's desires. This sword was later given to Xenovia to be fused with Durandal. Katana: Irina typically wields Excalibur in the form of a katana. Holy Demonic Sword (聖せい魔ま剣けん, Seimaken): A prototype Irina received from Heaven in Volume 12, based on Yuuto Kiba's Sword of Betrayer. She is able to use the swords ability to use different elemental attributes, ranging from fire, ice, and lightning.