Cancer Deathmask
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| Cancer Deathmask | |
|---|---|
| Saint Seiya character | |
 Cancer Deathmask by Masami Kurumada |
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| Created by | Masami Kurumada |
| Voiced by | Ryōichi Tanaka (田中 亮一) |
| Profile | |
| Age | 23 |
| Gender | Male |
| Date of birth | June 24 |
| Nationality | Italy |
| Class | Saint |
| Loyalty | Athena Gemini Saga |
| Cloth | Cancer |
| Rank | Gold |
| Training | Italy (Sicilia) |
| Height | 1.84 m |
| Weight | 82 kg |
| Blood type | A |
| Secret moves | Sekishiki Meikai Ha (Praesepe Underworld Waves) |
| First appearance | manga: chapter 28, vol.8 Anime: ep.39 |
Cancer Deathmask (蟹座のデスマスク Kyansā no Desumasuku?) is one of the fictional characters from the manga Saint Seiya, which was authored by Japanese mangaka Masami Kurumada, and later adapted to anime. He was a Gold Saint and the most vicious and cruel in comparison to all of them. His constellation is Cancer and initially was a guardian of sanctuary alongside 11 other Gold Saints.
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[edit] Personality and background
Deathmask was one of the very first Gold Saints to be shown in both manga and the anime adaptation. Since his first appearance, he was depicted as a very sadistic and malevolent man who used his power as he wanted without bending to Athena's will. Deathmask covers every inch of his temple with the faces of his fallen victims - warriors and civilian men, women and even innocent children. Deathmask is one the few Saints who knows the truth about the Pope and the Gemini Saint, along with Pisces Aphrodite, but he continues obeying his orders. He believes that justice is not a real concept and is just a name given to the will of the stronger, since those with power can force their wills on the weak and call it fair. Even after joining sides with Athena, Deathmask remains a diabolic, sadist person, facing Aries Mu and Pegasus Seiya without showing remorse and even attempting to kill the latter. In the US version his name was changed to Mephisto. It is unknown if Deathmask is his real name or a title since he collects the faces of his victims.
[edit] Plot overview
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[edit] The Sanctuary saga
Deathmask first appeared in Rozan Peaks. He was there to reclaim the Libra Gold cloth from Dokho and to kill him under the order of the Pope Ares (or Gemini Saga). Before he could reclaim the Gold Cloth and harm Dokho, Shiryu stepped in and challenged him. Although Shiryu was a strong saint and very determined to protect his master Dokho, he was no match to a Gold Saint. The battle between Deathmask and Shiryu came to a halt when Mu, the Gold Saint of Aries, stepped in. He told Deathmask that he will not allow anyone to harm Shiryu because Shiryu is his friend. Seeing the fact that facing two Gold Saints is a huge disadvantage, Deathmask decided to retreat. Although Shiryu was not able to defeat Deathmask, he did prove to his master and to himself that he could still battle as a Bronze Saint even if he was blind. After this incident, Shiryu rejoined Seiya and the others as Bronze Saint of Dragon after the long hiatus. He would face Deathmask once again at the Temple of Cancer in the Sanctuary.
Shiryu faced Deathmask for the second time when he and Seiya reached his temple in the Sanctuary. When the two Bronze Saints arrived, they were surprised to see so many masks on the walls of the temple, even some children.
Suddenly, Deathmask appeared. He explained that these masks are the faces of the "enemies of justice" he has defeated as well as the innocent victims that were caught in the fire while he was "dealing justice", and finished by saying that he intended to add Seiya and Shiryu to his collection. Shiryu told Seiya to go ahead to the Temple of Leo while he finishes the business between him and Deathmask; to make this possible, Shiryu attacked Deathmask first, and Seiya jumped over Deathmask's head to get away.
When the battle began, it was obvious that Deathmask had the upperhand. Not only was he a Gold Saint, he also observed Shiryu's attack before at the Rozan Peaks. Using his technique, he sent Shiryu to the gate of hell. There, he tortured Shiryu to his own pleasure.
After he felt satisfied, he tried to throw Shiryu into the death hole, a pit of hell. However, he was interrupted by the prayers of Shiryu's sworn friend, Shunrei. Angered, he uses his telekinesis to throw Shunrei off the cliff in the Five Old Peaks. Angered for his friend's apparent death, Shiryu started to fight back, swearing that he'd kill Deathmask.
During the fight, Shiryu was again almost thrown into the death hole, and again Deathmask tried to torture him. Shiryu, in turn, smashed Deathmask's ankle to defend himself. Deathmask laughed and told him that it was useless because he was protected by the Gold Cloth. Yet, to his shock, his ankle's armor suddenly disintegrated. Then, piece by piece, his entire cloth left his body. Obviously, the Gold Cloth of Cancer abandoned him due to his evil and sadistic deeds and more importantly, because he completely forgot what true justice was.
Wanting to preserve his honor and defeat Deathmask in a fair match, Shiryu took off his Bronze cloth. Using his seventh sense, he defeated the evil Gold Saint by throwing him into the pit of hell with his rising dragon blow.
[edit] The Hades
Later in the Hades Arc (both in the manga and the anime), Deathmask returned with Pisces Aphrodite and Aries Shion with one apparent intention: to kill Athena. In the showdown against Aries Mu and Pegasus Seiya, he was banished into Hades' Castle by Starlight Extinction. Then, he was thrown into Yomotsu due to his own Mekai Ha which was reflected by Wyvern Rhadamanthys, one of Mekai's Judges. Shion revealed his plan of awakening Athena's Cloth even at the cost of being called traitors by history, thereby revealing that Deathmask was not evil at all. Later, Deathmask arrived with the Cancer Gold Cloth to break The Wailing Wall. Surprisingly, he showed that even in death he remained loyal to Athena. In the Heaven Arc, he is shown with the other 12 saints in a dark place punished because of their rebellion against the Gods.
[edit] Power and abilities
As a Gold Saint, Deathmask mastered the 7th sense, hence he can move at the speed of the light. He has shown strong psychic powers, using his telekinetics abilities over a target in China when himself was in Greece. He often uses this power to levitate in the air as well, as shown in his first fight against Dragon Shiryu and when he fought the Giant Kyanos Phlox. So far, he only showed a single special technique:
- Praesepe Underworld Waves (積尸気冥界波 SekiShiki Meikai Ha?): Tseih She Ke, pronounced in Japanese as Seki Shi Ki, is the Chinese name for the Beehive Cluster (also know as Praesepe). Deathmask blasts his opponent with a spiral cosmic-wave attack. As a result, his opponent's soul is sent into the Yomotsu Hirasaka, the Japanese gateway to the underworld, a dimension between the world of the living and the world of the dead.
Deathmask himself can freely travel from the living dimension to the Yomotsu Hirasaka without suffering any consequence. However, enemies sent there through the Praesepe Underworld Waves are heavily affected and their bodies loose almost all strength. Normally is impossible to someone's soul to travel back from the Yomotsu Hirasaka, but if someone conduct them from the living dimension, it is possible to follow the path back.
It is implied that, like the other Gold Saints, Deathmask reached the 8th sense at the end of the Hades's saga to be able to regain his will on the underworld and help the other Gold Saints.
[edit] Cloth, constellation and Temple
Deathmask's guardian constellation is Cancer, and his Gold Cloth represents it and its associated myth : The crab that Hera sent to attack Heracles while he was battling the Lernaean Hydra.
The temple he guarded was known both in manga and the anime adaptation as KyoKaiKyuu, the "Temple of the Giant Crab".
[edit] Other media
[edit] Movies
Although the events depicted in it are not canonical to Kurumada's original manga storyline, in the 3rd Saint Seiya movie, Deathmask returned from death to duel with Shiryu once more. By this point, Shiryu had matured in power and, having fought Deathmask once before, he put up a better fight. Deathmask still seemed to have the upper hand. However, Shiryu was only pretending in order to lure Deathmask into telling him the whereabouts of Athena. After he realises there's still a chance to save her life, Shiryu turns the tables on him. Taking advantage of a handlock between he and the gold saint, Shiryu managed to land a point blank, full power rising dragon blow to Deathmask's face. The blow proved lethal to the gold saint as his face was not protected.
[edit] Previous Saints: The Lost Canvas
Note: The Saint Seiya Lost Canvas status as canon is unknown.
As revealed in the sidestory Saint Seiya Lost Canvas, the Gold Saint of Cancer in the 15th century Holy War was Cancer Hakurei. After the war Hakurei switched role and cloth with his brother, Altar Sage, to allow him to become Pope. Sage functioned as Cancer Saint until the ordination of his student, Manigoldo, as the 18th century Cancer Gold Saint.
As revealed in the sidestory Saint Seiya Lost Canvas, the Cancer Saint in the 18th century was known as Cancer Manigoldo. Manigoldo shares some personality traits and the look possessed by the 20th century Cancer Gold Saint, though he isn't evil. Also, Manigoldo possesses three more techniques besides Praesepe Underworld Waves.
[edit] Notes
- Masami Kurumada derived Deathmask's abilities from the Japanese and Chinese folklore related to the Cancer constellation. The Cancer Constellation contains the Beehive Cluster, also known as Praesepe, which is considered in those folklores as the entrance to the realm of the dead. Hence Deathmask's abilities to freely traverse that realm.
- Masami Kurumada probably conceived Deathmask's name inspired by the ancient practice of funerary Death Masks, mostly known by those created by Marie Tussaud. The masks that covered the KyoKaiKyuu Temple (Temple of the Giant Crab), that Deathmask held as trophies, closely resemble Death masks, which were wax casts made after a person's death, in order to preserve their likeness, and was a common practice during 17th century in Europe. Death masks were also made in ancient civilisations, including Ancient Egypt, such as that of Tutankhamun, and Ancient Greece, most notably the golden death mask of Agamemnon.
- SekiShiKi is the name given in Japanese to the Beehive Cluster sector of the Cancer Constellation, and the western equivalent word is Praesepe. Since the kanji that form the word Sekishiki (積尸気) mean literally "Piled Corpse Spirits", Masami Kurumada also used it as a play on words and implicit meaning in the name of Deathmask's signature technique.
- In his manga, Kurumada gave Deathmask gray hair. In the anime adaptation it was modified to light purple.
- As revealed by Masami Kurumada in vol.12 of his manga, Deathmask became a Gold Saint at an early age. He had already been granted the Gold Saint status and the Cancer Gold Cloth by the time he was 10 years old.
- The place where Deathmask sends his opponents with his SekiShiKi MeiKaiHa is known as the Yomotsu Hirasaka, "the Hill to the Land of Spirits", an it can be related to Yomi, the realm appearing in Japanese mythology and folklore, also associated to the Praesepe. Interestingly enough, Kurumada presents it as a separate entrance to the realm of the dead, an alternative entrance to the Underworld's Gate he presented in the Hades arc of his manga. This also explains how Deathmask could travel in the otherworld with his body and without using the 8th sense (at the time never mentioned).
[edit] References
- Saint Seiya manga, vols. 8, 10, 12, 13, 19 to 28, by Masami Kurumada.
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