Bookman

Bookman is disciplined, secretive and committed to neutrality. His profession requires recording history that governments and institutions conceal, so he repeatedly reminds Lavi that they are not genuinely members of the Black Order's cause.

He is severe with Lavi because emotional attachment threatens the impartiality expected of his successor. Bookman recognizes that Lavi has become increasingly attached to Allen Walker, Lenalee Lee and the other Exorcists, and he treats that development as a professional danger.

His stern manner occasionally gives way to eccentricity, particularly concerning his hair and his physical appearance. He also possesses extensive medical knowledge derived from acupuncture.

Bookman's equipment-type Innocence is Heaven Compass, a collection of specialized needles. Needles of Spells: North Crime multiplies the needles into a large offensive barrage capable of impaling targets across an area.

Needles of Divine Protection: East Crime creates a defensive formation by surrounding a target with needles. This allows Bookman to use the same Innocence for both attack and protection.

He is also trained in acupuncture and can use needles to treat injuries or manipulate bodily functions. His Bookman training gives him exceptional memory, historical knowledge and observational ability.

Bookman and Lavi join the Black Order because its war against The Millennium Earl is producing history that their clan must record. Bookman never allows the Order to forget that their allegiance is temporary.

He accompanies the Exorcists through major conflicts while collecting information unavailable to ordinary historians. His knowledge sometimes exceeds what the Order itself understands, but the principles of his clan prevent him from freely sharing everything he knows.

Bookman's neutrality becomes increasingly difficult to maintain as the Noah's interest in the Bookman Clan grows. He and Lavi are eventually captured, and the Noah torture Bookman for information concerning the Fourteenth.

Later revelations indicate that the Bookman succession and the identity of his intended heir are more complicated than Lavi initially knows, connecting Bookman's personal history to unresolved events surrounding the Campbell family.

Lavi is Bookman's apprentice and intended successor. Bookman trains him to memorize history while abandoning personal attachments, repeatedly criticizing Lavi when genuine friendships interfere with that neutrality.

Allen Walker is an important historical subject to Bookman because of his role in the conflict with the Millennium Earl. Allen's connection to the Fourteenth makes the information surrounding him increasingly valuable to both the Bookman Clan and the Noah.

The Millennium Earl is one of the central figures whose war Bookman has joined the Black Order to document rather than an enemy he follows out of ideological allegiance.