Doll

The Bount's foremost weapon, a Doll gives shape to the power sleeping inside its owner, in much the way a Zanpakutō externalizes a Shinigami's strength. The likeness is deliberate, since the mishap that first spawned the Bount used Shinigami souls as the blueprint from which the Bount's Artificial Souls were grown. Every Doll begins dormant within its Bount and stirs only once that person is prepared to command its power.

At rest a Doll stays sealed inside a distinctive object called a Bount Crest, and its master brings it out by first shouting the German cry Zeige Dich, which means show yourself, and then speaking the Doll's name. The tie between the two is rarely secure. A newly roused Doll that deems its master too feeble will round on them and kill them, a badly hurt Doll or a gravely wounded Bount can bring about the ruin of both, and smashing the crest may finish the pair together. A handful, such as Yoshino Sōma and her Goethe, instead build real mutual regard that endures even serious injury. Devouring a living Soul grants a Doll a huge surge of power.

Dolls come in every size and temperament, from tiny rodent-like creatures to towering humanoids. Many battle on their own beside their Bount, some morph into blades and shields for their masters to wield, and a few stay active outside combat to handle travel or scouting. A strong enough Bount can fuse with its Doll, stamping the crest onto its own flesh, altering its hair and eye color, and greatly boosting both. For Bount who cannot summon unaided, Ran'Tao devised an amulet, and Kariya and Ugaki built an elaborate rite that births a Doll from candle flame after a chant is spoken over measured amounts of sulfur, phosphorus, carbon, and other matter.

One special breed, the Bitto, feeds on human souls and refines that energy into a purified orange elixir the Bount drinks for an intense jolt of strength. Left undrunk, the trapped soul rots into poison, letting the spent Bitto be thrown like a dagger, stinger foremost. Kariya spawned a whole swarm of them in a ritual that cost the life of Yoshino Sōma, who alone among the Bount could reproduce.

Each Doll belongs to a single Bount, and the pairings recur across the race. Jin Kariya, a recognized child prodigy, merges with Messer; Yoshino Sōma stands beside Goethe; Cain conjures Waineton; Mabashi directs Ritz; and Yoshi swings Nieder as a pair of weapons. The twin Dolls Guhl and Günther answer jointly to the brothers Hō and Ban. Ran'Tao, whose research first brought these powers to heel, crafted the amulet that lets weaker Bount draw their Dolls out. The entire concept appears in the anime alone.