The Nine Roads

Wing Road

The first Road introduced, it is said to be the "purest" and closest to the sky. Wing Road is broken down into several levels:

■ The rider runs a low pressure current by breaking the barrier front. The rider may also be able to dissipate impact forces throughout their body, greatly reducing injury.

■ The second element is "Gravity Control", or the shifting of one's centre of gravity in order to extend the height and distance of jumps.

■ The third element is "Wings", a phenomenon which takes an existing tailwind and adds the user's own wind to it.

■ The fourth principle is the rider's ability to see and predict the wind and differential pressure via scattering light.

■ The final principle is "Catching Moon Drops", or interfacing with the air. The rider interfaces with and creates a surface of air via differential pressure. This principle is needed to use the Wind Regalia properly.

---

Flame Road

The Flame Road is similar to the Wing Road in that both Wind and Fire are said to be "free". There are several principles to the Flame Road:

■ The first is the generation of heat via friction. This can bend light, create updrafts, and create illusions using heat mirages. This ability to create heat is especially useful against the Rising Road; a sufficiently skilled Flame Road rider can nullify all but the strongest Rising Road techniques with their flames.

■ The second is the use of fast and precise attacks to freeze the movement of their victims. These tricks are collectively referred to as "Time".

---

Bloody Road

Nicknamed "fang" because of its "slice" characteristic, the Bloody Road is literally carved into the flesh of one's adversary. "Slice" describes the practice of abrupt acceleration and deceleration (0-Max-0) to gain inertial energy, which exerts tremendous pressure on the thigh muscles. Getting hit by a "fang" is described by Ikki as "felt like something exploded in front of my body". Bloody Road riders also use chains and hooks to bind their opponent. One of the Bloody Road's underlying themes is imprisonment; a number of Fang Kings have likened their road to being in jail. This attitude even manifests itself in the road's Infinity Atmosphere on more than one occasion.

---

Sonia Road

Sonia Road users are defensive experts. It is the opposite of the Bloody Road, in that it shreds the user's body instead of the enemy's; its current Queen, Ringo Noyamono, goes so far as to refer to this aspect of the road as 'torture'. The Sonia Road constantly burdens the users body with high pressure, which is why the Sonia Road can reach its full potential at areas of high pressure. Storm Riders who follow this road have a natural advantage against the Wing Road and Gaia Road, according to Kilik of Sleeping Forest. The principles of the Road are as follows:


■The hip are the axis and the base point for all moves instead of the knee. This improves maneuverability by moving the rotational axis closer to the centre of gravity.

■Supersaturation of the bloodstream with nitrogen through hyperventilation, which is used to form cushioning bubbles at joints.

---

Rising Road

Rising Road specializes in the offensive applications of electric and magnetic energy. It converts kinetic energy from the Rider's run into an electromagnetic field, enabling a skilled Storm Rider to create illusions and manipulate electricity for their own benefit. Ultimately, however, the Road's greatest strength lies in numbers, as demonstrated by Thunder King Nue and his team Black Crow. By applying illusions directly onto teammates, riders can create monsters actually capable of striking their enemies. Moreover, by using teammates to magnify the scale of his Infinity Atmosphere, Nue can create a giant formation of ice and lightning that easily pushes back an entire team of A-rank Storm Riders.

---

Over Road

The Over Road's principle lies in the windmill theory - it compresses wind to form walls of air. Its strength grows with the strength of the wind it faces, as a strong wind can be compressed even further. The Hurricane Road is a fusion of the Wing and Over Roads; it combines both tricks and philosophies of both roads and incorporates the design of both original regalia.

---

Gaia Road

A Road that specializes in interactions with the ground. Riders of the Gaia Road are shown to focus on immobilizing their enemies and damaging their A-Ts, limiting their ability to ride. This is reflected both in its Infinity Atmosphere and in the philosophies of its riders. Riders of the Gaia Road are also able to memorize the shape of the land, allowing them to locate other riders. Its principles are:

■Using the piezoelectric effect, riders can paralyze opponents by numbing them.

■Creating seismic waves to create a 'Sonar' that reveals information about the opponents.

■Creating vibrations to levitate objects and induce seismic activity.

---

Ring Road

The only Road that is primarily non-offensive, the Ring Road is a supportive road that consists of Link Tuners - mechanics who fix and tune other riders to their A·Ts. Not all Ring Road users can actually ride A·Ts. Ring Road focuses on sound - every rider and A·T has a rhythm. The Link Tuners match the rhythm of the A·T to it's rider's, increasing performance. A person with the potential for Ring Road will know the exact time without reference.

Tools: Link Tuners tend to carry an arsenal of tools and parts for fixing and tuning A·T or other machinery. Some modify their bodies in order to fit more tools, or increase productivity. When directly interfacing with a king, link tuners use special suits called "SC". The SC is skin tight, elastic, and translucent, containing 7600 sensors within its fabric. Tuners also can carry a small machine that resembles a stenographer's typewriters. This machine allows them to monitor and retune regalia on the fly.

A select few Storm Riders are shown to use the aural properties of the Ring Road in an offensive manner. Examples include Kanon of Tool Toul To , who uses a guitar mechanism to create blades of sound; as well as Merlin of Genesis , who can produce cutting sound waves with her long fingernails. Even Kururu , a person with no battle experience, shows the ability to detune and destroy AT based technology using her Infinity Atmosphere, Infinite Scale .

---

Hurricane Road

The Hurricane Road is a fusion of the Wing and Over Roads; it combines both tricks and philosophies of both roads and incorporates the design of both original regalia.



Aside from the main Nine rods their are several others that people have created
[hr

Gabishi's Road

Gabishi's road is unnamed; he carves it on the faces of his opponents.

The Horn Subregalia: Hatch Venom is the front portion of the A·T it is equipped on. It appears as skulls adorning the front of both A·Ts. The Regalia operates by converting the energy produced by the wheels during high-speed braking into heat, which is kicked outward as a "shell" of compressed, heated air, then kicked again to produce a laser-straight current of molten wind. Hatch Venom is likely the degraded form of Bloody Armor.

---

Lather Road

Lather Road operates by sealing air into water to create explosive bubbles. The ability to ride in bodies of water is likely related.

The Water Subregalia are the wheels of the A·T, and resemble rain tires. It operates by vibrating at high speed creating superpressured bubbles that rotate with great intensity and burst with immense force. The Regalia can also be used to resonate with the water inside of a target's body to cause further damage. The bubbles can also be used for communication. The Regalia's weakness is that it is only usable when the user's back is facing the opponent, which creates an opening for attack.

---

Gladius Road

Unique to Gawain, the riders A·T is fitted with interconnected blades capable of piercing flesh and machines easily.

---

Smell Road

Unique to Onigiri, the Smell Road specializes in using body excretions to hinder opponents. It also has the ability to break down or reverse the Roads of female Storm Riders through Onigiri's perversions, as demonstrated by his ability to break through the illusions of the Rising Road and his negation of Mimasaka Ryo's Gaia Road.

---

Jade Road

A road created by combining the Wing with the Gaia Road. Not much is known about this Road but it seems to give a philosophy of control over land and sky {mastery of the Wing and and Gaia Road}.

---

Gale Road

A road created by Mikan Noyamono. It appears to be a variation of the Wing Road that focuses primarily on Mikan's strength and aggressiveness, rather than the speed-based Road favored by other Wind Kings.