Administrators (관리자, 管理者, Gwahnlija; "Manager") are mysterious giant beings that rule over the Shinsu of their Floor.^[1] Their duty is to give tests to those who wish to climb the Tower and such tests reflect the "worth of the things they want" so they may proceed to the next Floor. However, under the current political system, Zahard and the Great Warriors conquered the first 134 Floors and now Rankers are appointed as "The Examiners" who can conduct the tests on behalf of the Administrators for those Floors.

About

Administrators have existed from the ancient times and may be as old as the Tower itself.^{[citation needed]} The first Administrator Zahard and the 10 Warriors encountered was Headon, hence his title of the most experienced veteran of the Tower.^[2][3] As the supreme rulers of the shinsu on their Floor, they were considered to be the ultimate shinsu users, real Gods,^[4] the true owners of the Tower,^[5] and immortals. However, Enryu, an Irregular, murdered the 43rd Floor Administrator and heretically broke those assumptions.^[6]

As Headon stated, their duty concerns Irregulars, and only Irregulars can request to be tested directly by the Administrator.^[7] However, Regulars may be allowed to participate in the test given by the Administrator. Most or all Administrators can make exceptions and allow someone who's not an Irregular to take a test if they want to take it alongside said Irregular (for example: Baam's team in the Last Examination).

Every Administrator from the 1st to the 134th Floor has made a contract with King Zahard.

Administrators cannot leave their Floors with the exception of Headon. He is the only one who can teleport to all Floors from the 1st to the 134th Floor.^{[citation needed]}

Contracts

A contract is a special deal made with an Administrator. Through such contracts, one can obtain special powers or privileges, up to and including immortality. The exact mechanisms of a contract are unknown. The first person to ever form a contract with a Administrator was Zahard.^[8]

The most important difference between a Regular and a Ranker is the contracts with the Administrators.^[9]

All contracts are null and void on the 43rd Floor.^[10]

List of Known Contracts

The following are list of known contracts that had been revealed by Author SIU, with information sources gathered from the comic itself, SIU's Twitter statement, and his blogpost from every chapters. See also: SIU FanCafe Question And Answer (By Bunnyasbanana).

• The Shinsu contract, which Regulars are taught to make on the 2nd Floor. Regulars form the contract on each Floor, from the 2nd Floor onwards to the 134th Floor (with the exception of the 43rd Floor, where the Administrator is dead and anyone may use shinsu without a contract). Even items which use shinsu have a contract made for them. Additionally, anyone born into one of the 10 Great Families has a 'family contract' allowing them to use shinsu from the moment of their birth.
• The Eternal Life Contract: is a special contract created by the Administrator to slow down the aging process of Tower inhabitants.
• The Immortality Contract: Most of the 10 Great Family Heads were given the gift of immortality by the 100th Floor Administrator; except the Family Head Hendo Lok Bloodmadder. He was left out of this for unknown reasons. Instead, he was given his own unique contract with that Administrator which "trades the lifespan of his children and other descendants in order to continuously extend his own life". Evan Edrok also mentioned that only 10 Great Family Heads and Zahard were given immortality contract.^[11]
• Iron Man Contract: It is a contract used by Mule Family that allows the user to overcome one's physical limits; in short, it is a contract that restores one's stamina. A Family's Ranker can attain this contract with a Administrator after passing a special test.^[12]
• King of The Tower Contract: Zahard has a special contract with the Administrators that protects him from harm; none of the inhabitants of the Tower can kill him. As a result, he can be killed only by an Irregular.^[13] Author SIU himself stated Zahard's "Kingship" of the Tower also derives from a contract.^[14]
• Second Floor Test Director contract. This contract allows Yu Han Sung to obtain the power of the Ruler of the Second Floor in case of emergency.^[15]
  • He owns a contract embedded item which increases his Shinsu Resistance on all floors.^[15]
• Name Hunt Station Contract. As stated by Lo Po Bia Elaine during her time as “Kaiser” in the Name Hunt Station, due to her being officially placed as the Ruler of the Name Hunt Station, Kaiser was given special privileges and protection by the Administrators. As stated, Kaiser is protected by the rule “No one in the Name Hunt Station, can attack Kaiser unless they obtain the right to participate in the festival or Kaiser directly requests a match”. Under this rule, No one is able to attack or kill her in the station unless they satisfy one of the requirements in the rule and those who do attack her without doing so will immediately and automatically be obliterated by the power of the Administrators.
• Enkidu’s Blessings. In the past when Enkidu was still serving Lo Po Bia Traumerei, Traumerei had made at least two contracts/deals with the Administrators that granted Enkidu two special blessings that gave him special protection and powers. The first blessing granted through these contracts is that, aside from the 10 Great Family Heads, no other being in the Tower can kill Enkidu. While able to injure and weaken him, unless they are one of the Family Heads, Enkidu cannot be killed by them. The second blessing granted to Enkidu is that aside from the 10 Great Family Heads, he can bring death anyone he likes. Although the specifics havent been revealed, Enkidu has stated that he needs to be justified when killing someone using this blessing. As shown, this blessing allows him to kill someone even if they are much more powerful than him, as shown where he managed to kill Po Bidau Tiara despite her being much stronger than him and her largely dominating their fight. ^[16]

The 2nd Floor Administrator told Twenty-Fifth Baam that a contract was "not his strength, but his shackles".^[17] The meaning of this sentence was most likely clarified by the "God" of Guardians (He is not a Floor Administrator, but one of the Hell Train Guardians) as he told Baam that, as "one who has opened the Door", he is preternaturally authorised to control shinsu and does not require the Floor Administrator's approval.^[18]

Alternate Translations

• Manager
• Floor Administrator
• Guardian (The COMPANY)

Notes and Trivia

• The COMPANY, the first scanlation team that translated Tower of God (series) before the LINE Webtoon app existed, used the term "Guardian" for their English translation. However, it turns out that author SIU gave two different Korean Hangul for the term Administrator (관리자, "Gwahnlija") and Guardian (가디언, "Gadieon").
• According to SIU: "the Administrators of every Floor have their unique aspects, and they all have different forms or personalities, so there's nothing I set as "Admins are all ___"...". Moreover, "since this Floor's Admin is more aggressive, so I went for a more freakish feel".^[19]
• At the 39th Floor, a Regular attacked Kaiser in violation of the rules of the Name Hunt station, resulting in him getting utterly disintegrated by the Administrator.^[20]
• Khun Aguero Agnis would expect the Floor Administrator to intervene in a battle where Rankers are jeopardising Regulars unless it is deemed necessary for the Tower.^[21]
• A full Administrator in their floor is basically a god. It is rare that an administrator holds private grudges or expresses anger, with the exception of Headon.^[22]

References

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