Nastika

the original nastika kings

Nastikas are the original suras as well as the most powerful beings in the current universe along with the 5th-zen gods. They were created at the beginning of the present universe and given their Power of names by Visnu. They are practically immortal as they neither age nor require food and water to survive; however, they can be killed in battle, although this is a near-impossible feat even for most gods, considering both the immense strength of nastikas and their regenerative ability.

Overview

At the beginning of the series, almost all of the most powerful nastikas are either already dead or weakened in some way. Of the original kings, Ananta is deceased, Vritra is unable to assume his more powerful female form, Yaksha is deceased, Gandharva is substantially weakened, and Garuda is in a coma. The status of Asura and Kinnara are currently unknown, although Asura was last seen declining to participate in Manasvin's plan sometime after the realms were separated in N0, while it seems Airavata is the one leading the Kinnara clan. Besides the notable kings, Manasvin (the second king of the Ananta clan) is dead, Shuri (the second king of the Yaksha clan) is gone one way or another, the majority of strong nastikas in the Garuda clan were dead during the events of The Finite (making Vinata the second strongest Garuda at the time in spite of the power gap between her and Garuda), and based on comments Gandharva has made during the events of the story it is likely most of the nastikas from his clan are dead as well.

Characteristics

Human/Sura forms

Gandharva's various forms
Gandharva's preferred human form, with blue skin full human form

partial sura form full sura form, planet-sized

The size of a nastika in sura form is truly unimaginable. Taksaka's sura form was so large that Ian could only see the fields and hills of his back and his red skin as she sat on his head. Ananta, who is said to have had the largest sura form of all, dwarfed entire galaxies. In addition to their colossal size, nastikas are stronger than the astikas. They are described as "those who are strong, but live only once." The astikas, by comparison, are "those who are weaker, but live many times."

The "normal" form of nastikas are their human-like form, which is the form in which they were created by Visnu. They are able to go through various partial transformations between their human and full sura form. However, even in human form, they often have one or two sura characteristics that can never transform, such as Gandharva's right eye, Garuda's mask-like markings on his face, Taksaka's horns (though their color is modifiable), or Sagara's snake-like eyes. For example, Gandharva has been shown in various forms in the story:

nastika gender change example
Sagara's usual female form male form

In their human form, nastikas (unlike the other sura classes) are able to change their appearance, including their age and gender, at will. However, nastikas tend to have a clear preference for one gender or the other, usually their birth gender, indicating they have a concept of gender identity not dissimilar to humans. A nastika's transcendental power changes depending on his/her gender. Most nastikas are stronger as males, like Vasuki, but three known exceptions are Shuri, Akasha, and Vritra; the latter once had a stronger female form that rivaled even Ananta, but he is now permanently male. Nastikas also have a preferred age of appearance. Yaksha had the appearance of an old man before switching to that of a 12-year-old boy. Taksaka normally appears as a 13-year-old boy, though he changed to his more intimidating adult appearance during his fight with Utpala. Before the Vritra clan suras were forced to stay permanently male, Utpala appeared as a 12-year-old girl. Sagara normally appears as a 15-year-old girl.

Since the events of the Cataclysm, nastikas can no longer take sura form in the human realm, which greatly reduces their power. Because of this fact, powerful rakshasas can actually surpass the strength of a nastika in the human realm, as rakshasas may take on their sura forms without penalty. However, first generation nastika kings are able to defeat rakshasas in sura forms and gods easily, even in their human forms, due to their immense power. (Gandharva is not even half his original strength at this moment). Not even all seven 5th-Zen nature gods are a match for a single first generation nastika king. Gandharva divided gods into two categories: those which are too weak and annoying to even confront, and those who are at least a bit more entertaining.

Children

The children of nastikas are rakshasas, and the power level of said children is influenced by the strength of the parents, meaning those with only a single nastika parent are weaker than those with two.

It is generally regarded as impossible for suras of different clans to breed with one another. The single possible exception, Yuta, is a result of the union between a primeval god and a nastika, rather than two suras of differing clans. As the primeval gods created all the nastikas and astikas to begin with, Yuta is an unique existence.

The gender of nastika Halfs is dictated by which gender their parent spent the largest amount of time as. A nastika who is normally female would always give birth to a female Half, Hana's mother being a good example. Taksaka, having spent his entire existence as a male and never once (not even trying) becoming female, had a Half son, Kasak, whose gender before birth was never in question.

Afterlife

In the finite, it was stated that suras, after death, cease to exist along with their Power of the Name, thus preventing them from reincarnating. In the webtoon, it is implied that suras generally believe this to be true. However, Sagara angrily reveals that the 5th-zen gods have lied about annihilation after death, and that nastikas go to a special afterlife where they are isolated from other beings. Agni, however, warns that it is not an afterlife but a separate dimension where a nastika's soul is ripped away from its name; any nastika that is resurrected will have power, but no mind.

Nastikas v. Gods

Because both races were created at the beginning of the universe, the gods' insight does not work on nastikas. The gods are known to hate suras and will go to any lengths to kill them; for example Gandharva's daughter, Shakuntala, was kidnapped when she was in 1st stage in order to lure Gandharva into a trap. Agni is the exception to this enmity, instead giving Shakuntala back to her father, and offering to help him on multiple occasions. Kubera is said to have once been friends with Ananta; however he is also responsible for killing Ananta, but the exact details of this event are currently unknown.

The primeval gods largely remain neutral in the conflict between the lower-ranked gods and the suras. In fact, Visnu is known to have befriended several nastikas, Brahma designed the barrier orbs with flaws in the name of fairness, and Kali had a child, Yuta, with Garuda.