Teigu

Teigu (帝具, lit. "Imperial Arms") are mysterious and extremely powerful relics that exist in the world of Akame Ga Kill! They are rare, and only the strongest of warriors are able to wield them. Some have the appearance of equipment or weapons, while others seem to be living creatures. It is implied that a form of magic was used to create them.

Origin
The Teigu were created on the instruction of the First Emperor, who feared that the Empire he had founded would eventually fall. To prevent this, he gathered many materials and hired many scientists throughout the world to make strong weapons and defenses. The creation of the Teigu are the result of their efforts. There were 48 Teigu in all, but almost half of them were lost during a civil war about five centuries before the start of the story. Several Teigu have been seen to be destroyed; it is not known how many of the original 48 remain.

Many Teigu were created from the remains of Danger Beasts that had unique powers, imbuing the equipment with special abilities. Many weapon and armor type Teigu were forged from a rare metal called Orichalcum. Teigu are not limited to one ability; some are known to have secret powers that are yet to be discovered, and some have powers that are lost to history.

According to Akame Ga Kill! Zero, the technology forged by the Empire is not as advanced as Wakoku's. This is due to Wakoku Island possessing more Teigu experts, or also called Meihou on their island.

Creation
Teigu were presumably created through a long and intricate process. As stated by the Strange Elder, the weapons forged into Teigu or Meihou must have a Danger Beast's attributes imbued into it, and the raw materials selection can determine the strength and its capability.

The process can take a very long time, and it was quite costly to create one. In order to do so, one must bring the materials by themselves as seen when Elder's Class are bringing Umibouzu raw materials and a large sum of money. The creation will take at least a month.

Meihou on Wakoku can be produced at a faster rate than the usual Teigu due to the blacksmiths there being more proficient than those of the Empire. Around six hundred years after the Teigu were created, an Emperor tried to create weapons to surpass them, only resulting in creating Shingu that were far inferior to Teigu. In Wakoku, anyone can create Meihou as long as they have raw materials from Danger Beasts and a large sum of money as evidence as the King of Tenrou invests many of the fortunes to equip every possible Commander of Tenrou, including the Ten Stars of Tenrou with Meihou.

To create it; however, one must look for specialists. On Wakoku Island, the Soukai Nation Capital houses a blacksmith that can produce Meihou.

Usage and Limitations
While the Teigu give its user amazing powers, they are not almighty. It is stated that there is no Teigu that can resurrect the dead. Even if a user is strong enough to use a Teigu, it can still reject them, and a user's first impression of it affects their compatibility. The user must be compatible with the Teigu in order to wield it.

Biological Teigu are shown to be capable of regenerating after serious damage, but are not indestructible; if their core is destroyed then so is the Teigu itself. Some Teigu have limitations in its usages. Overusing a Teigu has had a variety of consequences. For example, Pumpkin was excessively overheated beyond its limits. Despite this, Mine still used it for one last grand attack, leading to its own self-destruction as a result. Certain Teigu begin to fuse with the user if it is overused, slowly transforming the user into the original Danger Beasts. This has been shown through Tatsumi and Leone.

Several Teigu were shown to have a hidden ability (奥の手, oku no te, lit. secret move), often referred to as "Trump Card" or "Ace in the Hole". It is said that not all Teigu have those, however, certain users can develop such abilities themselves. Usually, such moves are the most powerful, last resort ones.

If two Teigu users engage in a battle, both with killing intent, one of them is certain to die. If multiple users are involved, there is a high probability of only one of them surviving.

An ironclad rule among its users is that every person can wield only one Teigu, since a single Teigu requires a considerable amount of mental and physical strength in order to be controlled. According to Esdeath, if one were to use two Teigu at the same time, they would be destroyed by it. However, it is not outside the realm of possibilities to utilize two Teigu at once, should the user be compatible with both Teigu and have the physical strength to withstand the burden.

Currently, Wave has been the only one that has ever been able to use two Teigus at once. However, despite the minimal time spent using two Teigu, Wave suffered severe damage to his body, stating that an unspecified organ was damaged beyond repair and required that he see a doctor once a year.

Teigu can also be self-destructed, either through detonation or overuse shown when Bols self-destruct Rubicante and Mine's Pumpkin was destroyed because of the Teigu is unable to withstand the overheat.

Known Teigu
Out of the original forty eight Teigu created by the First Emperor, only thirty-six have been shown so far, out of which fifteen have been destroyed, while two are currently missing.

Teigu Тейгу Armes Impériales 帝具