Zodiac Knights

The Zodiac Knights (ゾーディアック・ナイト, Zōdeiakku Naito); also known as the Twelve Stars (十二星, Jūnisei) and the Twelve Constellations of the Zodiac (黄道十二星座, Kōdōjūniseiza) are a group of twelve powerful symbiotes; all gathered under the one known as Joker in order to lure out Tyrant Dragon Vritra. They answer directly to Joker, who share his ideals and believe themselves as superior to all others and that they were chosen by the universe itself.

The symbiotes underneath the Zodiac Knights are created on the day of the solar eclipse follow the orders of Joker, who gives them the task to find more humans and place them in despair so that more of their kind can be created—these symbiotes serve as foot soldiers for the Zodiac Knights.

Thirty years later, there is a new version of the Zodiac Knights; with new rankings. Their plan is to initiate the "Demon Impact", where anyone without a symbiote would be eliminated, in a sense purifying humanity and with their resources, this can be done on a planet-wide scale.

Symbiotes
Symbiotes (共存, Kyōzon lit. Coexistence) are born from within the bodies of despairing humans, an infant symbiote proceeds to destroy the human's soul before bursting from the host and gaining a physical humanoid body appearance and receiving the ability to disguise as the human which had given birth to them. Like humans, symbiotes have different personalities and not all are interested in their supposed cause. So far several of the symbiotes have shown little personal interest in creating more symbiotes, preferring to fulfill their own desires until forced to take action by the commanders. When a Symbiote bonds with a host, especially a type that responds to energy as well as a Human (in fact, Humans are the most ideal host for a Symbiote), they grant the host abilities far beyond the norm, usually in the form of enhanced physical traits, elemental manipulation, and a demonic form, a transformative super mode that further enhances these abilities, and makes the host a truly deadly combatant.

There are effectively two classes of Symbiote. The first far more common, and consists of the majority of the Symbiote race; the malevolent Symbiotes, intent on replacing all humans with symbiotes, infesting the native apex species of the planet. These Symbiotes unconcerned with the welfare of the species they infest, and will openly attack those seen as a threat. The second class, and far less common are the "benevolent" Symbiotes. These Symbiotes are true to their name, infesting hosts, but they only feed on the hosts life energy, granting them full access to their powers in exchange, and can even converse with their hosts casually. There are no "true" benevolent Symbiotes, merely ones with an actual sense of justice; they will save who they can, but those they cannot do not concern them, it is as simple as that. Interestingly, symbiotes are manifestations of the host's darker side. As such, while retaining their abilities as hosts, the symbiotes' personalities are the exact opposite of their former selves. However humans such as Psyga Delphinus who already embrace their dark side appear to be able to dominate their symbiote and gain their powers and form without dying.

Zodiac Knights
The twelve Zodiac Knights are the strongest symbiotes in existence; possessing powers that correspond to the zodiac constellations; the group has mastered all of their powers, granting them overwhelming power. When the Zodiac Knights are near one another, their magical energy emits a shining light and produces a very loud sound: this phenomenon is called a resonance. However it is not a common event, because the reunion of all Zodiac Knights is a rare event; if the Zodiac Knights decide to battle, the conflict can last a long time. In this confrontation, they can both die or fight forever without a winner. Due to their star power, they are protected by the twelve zodiacal constellations that are on the ecliptic cycle, thus, containing the energy and light of the sun.

They are distinctive in that they wear heavy cloaks that cover nearly all of their body, which they discard when entering battle and can be used as protection against certain attacks. A Zodiac Knight's most powerful ability is to undergo a transformation to either assume a more powerful form or gain a new technique. The transformation can only be used for a limited period of time as overuse in a short period of time will cause the symbiote to be destroyed. Any Zodiac Knight can create side troops using magical energy called the Parasite Warriors, which dissolves into dust after they are defeated.

Trivia

 * The title "Zodiac Knights" alludes to the western title of Saint Seiya, known as Knights of the Zodiac.
 * Many of the Zodiac Knights' personalities and goals line up with members of Team Daybreak; these members share a connection with each other to further highlight this contrast. Additionally, they can also be seen as foils.
 * Joker is seen as a benevolent ruler figure; as she fully understands the symbiotes she rules over—Tsuruko is also deep and empathetic towards her friends. As Tsuruko cares more about her friends than anything else, Joker seemingly cares only about herself and sees no value in friendship at all; pretending to be kind so that she can use them better. Additionally, Tsuruko's Super Soul Rings allow her to possess many abilities—Joker's Wild Card ability allows her to use all of the abilities of the symbiotes. Additionally, Joker is shown to be very similar to a suit of armour—and Tsuruko's Transformation Rings suit her up in armour.
 * King is known to idolize Joker after she showed him the error of his ways; the two supposedly have a history together. They were both somewhat cowardly before, but after became powerful. Additionally, the King Symbiote is known to be a competent martial artist; very much like Gary Straights. The key difference is that Gary wants to live to enjoy being with his friends, while King is willing to die.
 * Queen is shown to be snobbish and cruel; hailing from royalty. She feels no remorse for her actions and enjoys trampling on people's hopes and dreams for a cheap laugh. Queen additionally bases all of her impressions upon the first encounter, and is shown to wish to overthrow Joker and take the title of leader for herself. She also uses magical capsules in battle to bestow various effects upon her body. In a sense, Queen is very much Kaguya if she didn't develop.
 * Ace is shown to be a counterpart to Deen, but in what way hasn't been elaborated on yet.
 * Jack is calm, quiet and still, believing in using skill to get what a person wants. Jack also tries to shut people's spirits down by being reasonable; preferring to fight with illusions and nature-based spells; very much like Aeris.
 * Knight is shown to take on a somewhat fatherly role within the Zodiac Knights—yet he wants revenge on the Magic Council for killing his family. He is also shown to be mentoring King; a perfect analogue to Zanma—additionally, both specialize in swordsmanship and use wind-based powers.
 * Leo is shown to be a lot more than meets the eye; and has a past as a scientist, very much like Giselle. Additionally, both are hiding something from their leaders.