Blackout

Blackout
Kanji	ブラックアウト
Rōmaji	Burakkuauto

A Blackout (ブラックアウト , Burakkuauto) is a phenomenon experienced by seraphim, and appears as a monster known as a Shadow (シャドウ , Shadō) emerging from a black hole in the sky.

Effects

A seraph's mark reacting to an approaching blackout.

Blackouts begin to manifest from the moment a seraph is created, even if the seraph in question has not yet awakened. When it appears, its arrival is heralded by a sharp pain experienced by the seraphim nearby that stems from the wing-shaped marks on their backs. A blackout usually appears once every ten days, but the duration is decreased as the number of seraphim in the area increases. It generally appears in the vicinity of the seraph that it belongs to.

The shadow from the blackout chases and attacks the seraphim relentlessly, leaving no chance for escape. When the shadows are defeated, they burst open and disappear until the next blackout appears. If the seraph cannot defeat the blackout, then the blackout will kill them.

From a medical standpoint, blackouts are a form of rejection by the body and the shadow is the darkness within the seraph that personifies the things they are trying to hide or the part of them that they do not want to acknowledge.

Blackouts happen in the seraph's subconscious and the motif of the shadow that appears varies depending on the seraph. If there are many seraphs in a particular area, the shadow that appears will belong to one of those seraphs and become much larger and stronger than if that seraph were to face it alone. By confronting the shadow, the seraph can grow as a person.

Each blackout has their own abilities and weaknesses, based off the seraph it belongs to. Some blackouts such as Sagisawa Rei and Fiona's are able to speak, dealing psychological damage to their seraphs. Others like Kamoda Mikisada's have strong physical abilities, but are weak against psychological attacks. There are also those like Takayama Sou and Karasuma Eishi's to which psychological attacks will not work and may instead make the blackout stronger and will have to be defeated by pure physical strength.

As the blackout and the subsequent fight happens within the seraph's subconscious, there will not be any collateral damage and any damage to the surroundings will disappear after the battle is over.

Blackouts can be repressed by medicine for more than a year, and are given to the seraphim that are controlled by Eden as a means to not only keep the seraphim who are unable to fight their blackouts on a leash but also to stop their evolution. However, the medicine is carefully administered so that the seraph will not develop a resistance towards the drug.

Known Blackouts and Seraphim

Known seraphim and their respective blackouts are as follows:

Umino Tsubame
Motif	Blackout	Description	Chapter Appearance
Stuffed toys		The first shadow seen in the series. Its abilities are unknown although it seems to be quite weak and was easily defeated by Takayama.	Chapter 3
		A shadow seen in a flashback. It is said to be smaller and weaker than most of the other shadows faced by the Bird Club. Its abilities remain unknown but was said to be so slow that Umino could kick it five times before it moved and finish it off with a final hit.	Chapter 16
		A human-shaped shadow made out of ties that attacks using its ties as whips. It has a single eye on its head and a fang-filled mouth on its stomach that can grab and swallow enemies who approach its main body.	Chapter 36

Karasuma Eishi
Motif	Blackout	Description	Chapter Appearance
Airplanes		A coffin-shaped entity that grows airplane wings and propellers. The top of the coffin can open up like an engine to release a gout of flame that is capable of melting off a seraph's armor. The shadow has a spin attack that causes it to be wrapped in flames as it chases its target. It can also release propeller blades that can easily slice through a seraph's wings and penetrate their armor.	Chapter 8
		A long worm-shaped shadow that resembles goldfish poop. It can grow wings along the entire length of its body. If broken into two, both segments become sentient and can attack individually. The shadow attacks by charging at its targets. Psychologically attacking it will make it stronger and angrier. Its weakness is its wings, and breaking them off will slow it down significantly.	Chapter 24
		A massive tower made out of the bodies of airplanes. Numerous offshoots of itself in the form of winged, rocket-powered turbines chase after their targets relentlessly whilst circling about the tower. Its weaknesses are the wings of its sentinels and the central portion of the tower, so it is easily destroyed by focusing attacks on those two parts.	Chapter 43

Sagisawa Rei
Motif	Blackout	Description	Chapter Appearance
Marionette		A shadow that appears to be a skeletal doll wearing a crow-shaped mask. It is slimy to the touch. If one of its limbs is disconnected, it can regain control of it by extending strings from all over its body, much like a marionette. It speaks with the voice of Sagisawa's dead older brother. The only phrase it speaks is "Truth is, I never loved you.".	Chapter 12

Kamoda Mikisada
Motif	Blackout	Description	Chapter Appearance
Niō		A bald basketballing buddha statue that wears a feathered robe. It attacks using hand-to-hand combat and by throwing and recalling the basketball in its hands, although its recall ability is quite weak. It can also defend from attacks by blocking and entangling enemies with its robe. It can get distracted when its basketball is being passed around out of its reach. It is weak to psychological attacks and takes damage when called a "bald old man". It is also somewhat cowardly and tries to retreat when Eishi told Takayama to break its fingers.	Chapter 15

Takayama Sou
Motif	Blackout	Description	Chapter Appearance
Bugs		A round, furry fly with three eyes and a slobbering mouth full of fangs. It can sprout wings and can harden its fur into an armored shell of spikes. It has an impulsive behaviour and dives headfirst into battle, but is easily countered by using a strong defense. It is able to speak, but only says the word "Kill".	Chapter 17
		A mosquito-shaped shadow. It is smaller than most of the shadows encountered by the Bird Club and was easily defeated by two people. Its abilities are unknown.	Chapter 26

Fiona
Motif	Blackout	Description	Chapter Appearance
Mouths		A shadow that is seen in Fiona's flashback. It has wings, stands on legs covered by a diamond patterned upholstering, and has Fiona's mother's eye contained within a mouth. Its abilities are unknown.	Chapter 17
		A shadow that consists of a sphere covered by mouths and supported by four wings. It can spin rapidly to deflect its assailants. It has a feminine voice, laughs maniacally and speaks in english from all of its mouths. The phrases it can speak include "Get out of here!" and "You suck!".	Chapter 18

Eva Oulu
Motif	Blackout	Description	Chapter Appearance
Flowers		A shadow that takes the appearance of a carnivorous flower. It attacks by engulfing its target in its jaws.	Chapter 21

Arthur C Phoenix
Motif	Blackout	Description	Chapter Appearance
Devil		A giant imp-like, goggle-eyed shadow with wings and a single horn on its head. It was easily defeated with a single punch.	Chapter 30
		A massive goggle-eyed shadow that resembles a baby. The hole from which it manifests dwarfs the moon as seen from Earth. It was easily defeated with a single punch.	Chapter 32

Robin Howard
Motif	Blackout	Description	Chapter Appearance
		A shadow that resembles an eyeball with three pairs of wings. Spike-like appendages extend from each of its wings, some serving as its legs. It attacks with its tail which ends in a fanged mouth that is used to engulf and swallow prey whole.	Chapter 38

Barbara Novak
Motif	Blackout	Description	Chapter Appearance
Organ		A level 5 Blackout. It takes the form of a giant, upside down pipe organ. It attacks by sound using its pipes and has a giant mouth hidden within its keyboard.	Chapter 46