CHARM

Several Lilies carrying their CHARMs

CHARMs, also known as "Divine Keys", are the only weapons capable of inflicting meaningful damage on Huge that are Large-type or above. "CHARM" is an abbreviation of Counter Huge ARMs.

They are controlled by computerized magic jewels known as Magi Crystal Cores, or 'cores' for short. These cores can be replaced and customized to the wielder's preferences. However, they all share the inherent quality of resonating most strongly with women of junior high and high school age. Girls trained to wield CHARMs are called Lilies. How effective Lilies are at attacking with CHARMs depends upon their Skiller Value, and some CHARMs require a Skiller Value in excess of the universal minimum of 50 to be wielded at all.

CHARMs damage the Huge by producing energy referred to as Magi Crystal Force, which does not obey the principles of space-time as they are commonly understood. Many mysteries remain among the fusion of science and magic that makes CHARMs possible, and manufacturers and researchers strive to solve them to this day in order to create more efficient and powerful CHARMs. They are assisted by the Lilies, who perform field tests of their discoveries.

There are many CHARM manufacturers throughout the world. Gardens tend to favor CHARMs made by certain companies, often because they share a mythological theme; for example, Yurigaoka, with its Norse theme, encourages its Lilies to use CHARMs made by the Yggdrasil Corporation. They may also issue specific CHARMs to all their Lilies due to school policy or tradition. However, at the majority of Gardens, each Lily is allowed to fight with her preferred CHARM.

According to Futagawa Fumi, though the cost of CHARMs varies depending on the specific model, most are "around the same price as a tank." As a result, only Gardens and not individuals can afford them.

CHARM Designations

The AC-13 Gungnir, a popular CHARM

Some CHARMs have designations. These consist of an identification code, which broadly indicates the design philosophy of the CHARM; a number, which has no clear meaning; the CHARM's name; and sometimes a suffix.

Assault Lily Setting Materials lists the following identification codes:

• AC: Attacking CHARM — CHARMs oriented towards close-range combat.
• DC: Defensive CHARM — CHARMs oriented towards defense.
• GC: Generalized CHARM — CHARMs not specialized for any particular purpose.
• SC: Shooting CHARM — CHARMs oriented towards long-range combat. (Later abandoned)
• BC: Buster CHARM — CHARMs with high firepower. (Later abandoned)
• MC: Medic CHARM — Support CHARMs used by medics, equipped with maintenance functions. (Later abandoned)

An identification code with an unknown meaning, CC, appeared in a CHARM designated as the "CC-32 Vicious Dog" listed on Date Furiru's character page on the old Assault Lily website. Neither this identification code nor this CHARM have ever been mentioned elsewhere.

Though they were still mentioned on the Assault Lily website until it was redesigned in late 2018, the identification codes SC, BC and MC appear to have been abandoned early on. This resulted in some CHARMs being reclassified; the "SC-15 Asterion" had become the GC-15 Asterion by the time Taneda Seina's doll was released in 2016.

The following suffixes are known from the Assault Lily Setting Materials and other sources:

• EX: "Extra" — Meaning unknown; the only example is the AC-28EX Gram Extra
• RE: Rebuild — A CHARM that has undergone a significant redesign, such as the AC-17RE Lichtbringer
• SP: Special — A CHARM customized for an individual Lily
• SS: Meaning unknown
• prt: Prototype — A formally registered prototype

In Assault Lily: Last Bullet, the "SP" suffix is placed after the CHARM name and followed by the Lily's initials. For example, Rokkaku Shiori's custom Charlemagne is designated as the "DC-22 Charlemagne SP.RS".

Generations

All CHARMs are considered to belong to a generation. This does not correspond to the CHARM's power, quality, or how recently it was designed, but simply describes how novel the technology it incorporates is. Though fourth-generation CHARMs exist and a handful of Lilies use them, the reliable and proven second-generation CHARMs are favored by many Lilies, and even some first-generation CHARMs are manufactured and used to this day.

Lilies retrieving first-generation CHARMs from a CHARM pod

First-Generation CHARMs

The earliest CHARMs to be built could not transform, and are sometimes known as "single-function CHARMs". Lilies and other CHARM users often carried two of them, a melee CHARM and a ranged CHARM (but, as with all CHARMs, could not wield both at once unless they had Circlet Bless). Some of these CHARMs have only utilitarian labels such as "Blade-type", "Claw-type", "Handgun-type" and "Shotgun-type". Others received names reminiscent of those which more advanced CHARMs would come to have.

CHARM pods, containers that hold multiple CHARMs, typically contain first-generation CHARMs. These pods may be air-dropped onto battlefields to supply Lilies whose CHARMs have broken with replacements, and are also installed in urban areas in case of emergency. The CHARMs in the latter type of pods are special models with "Dummy Cores" that don't require Lilies to synchronize with them. However, they're less powerful and can only be used for a short period of time.

A few Gardens, such as Odaiba with the Jötunn-Schwert and Heimskringla with an unspecified gun-type CHARM, issue a specific first-generation CHARM to all their Lilies and train them in its use. Other first-generation CHARMs that still see use are the Charlemagne and Zeroshiki Mikasa.

Endo Araya transforming her Asterion into axe mode

Second-Generation CHARMs

As switching between the two types of first-generation CHARMs was cumbersome and lowered their wielders' combat efficiency, CHARM designers invented a transformation system and ushered in the second generation of CHARMs. These CHARMs always have a "Blade Mode", optimal for melee combat and self-defense, and a "Shooting Mode" for ranged combat; a few, such as the Asterion, have additional transformations. Second-generation CHARMs remain the most common CHARMs used throughout the world.

Some famous second-generation CHARMs are the Brionac, Dainsleif, and Gungnir.

Third-Generation CHARMs

Unlike their predecessors, CHARMs of this generation have few characteristics in common. Third-generation CHARMs sometimes feature additional transformations, such as the powerful "Buster Cannon Mode," or can be split into two parts for a Lily to wield in each hand as the combat situation dictates (without requiring Circlet Bless; technology called the "Cloud Magi Control System" makes this possible.)

What third-generation CHARMs do have in common is that they tend to demand considerable skill from their wielders. Some also rely on expensive components. They are often not mass-produced, but custom-made and tailored to their intended user.

Some famous third-generation CHARMs are the Durandal, Triglav, and Tyrfing.

Banshoya Ena testing an experimental fourth-generation CHARM, the Einherjar

Fourth-Generation CHARMs

These experimental CHARMs, also known as "mind-coupled CHARMs", are directly linked to their user's minds and do not need to be in contact with their bodies.

The designers who conceptualized them hoped that they would reduce the dependence of Lilies upon legions and squad tactics, allowing each one to become a potent force in her own right. As day by day, Lilies pay the cost of the endless war against the Huge and some Gardens struggle to recruit enough new ones to even form legions, this is an appealing prospect.

Unfortunately, all fourth-generation CHARMs take a severe toll upon their users—their minds in particular. Many of those who have tested these experimental CHARMs, even veteran Lilies, have died or fallen into comas as a result. The flaws with them can't simply be solved by Lilies further honing their skills... and yet a few use fourth-generation CHARMs regardless.

Improvised CHARMs

Lilies do not absolutely need purpose-built CHARMs in order to fight. They can channel their Magi into other objects in order to reshape them and use them as improvised weapons, or for other purposes. Garden uniforms, or parts of them, occasionally see use in this manner.

Alchemy Trace, a Boosted Skill, allows Lilies who have it to swiftly create an effective CHARM from their own spilled blood even in the midst of battle.

Other CHARM Users

It's sometimes possible, although impractical, for those who aren't teenage girls to use CHARMs.

In the early days of the war against the Huge, particularly in the Antarctic Campaign, there were some male CHARM users (also known as "male Lilies.") With Skiller Values no higher than 50, these CHARM users were only as powerful as the very weakest girls acknowledged as "Lilies" in the present day. As they can't fight Large-type Huge and beyond effectively nor use the Neunwelt Tactic, men don't use CHARMs anymore, though they commonly serve in defense forces and some use conventional weaponry to fight weak Huge in an auxiliary role.

GEHENA has developed at least one experimental CHARM that can be used effectively by Madecs (although these CHARMs, when used, rapidly taint their users with a hazardous amount of negative Magi.)

In addition, certain Boosted Lilies who would normally have a low Magi capacity on account of their age remain strong Lilies despite this, as one effect of the boosting process is to slow the rate of Magi decline that Lilies experience.