Cancer Manigoldo

Cancer Manigoldo (蟹座（キャンサー）のマニゴルド, Kyansā no Manigorudo) is the Gold Saint of Cancer circa 1700's. He is one of the most cunning saints to have lived within the era, and is the pupil of Cancer Sage, one of the most powerful Grand Popes of Sanctuary. Manigoldo appears in Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas

Not a Judge nor Jury
Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas

Manigoldo lived his life as a young street urchin in a poor village ransacked and destroyed by the war. As a child, he developed an extraordinary talent of being able to see the souls of the deceased. Unfortunately, living in poverty and a war stricken childhood left Manigoldo jaded by life in general. To him, the concept of life - his and those around him - was no more than specks of dust that could easily be blown away by a breeze. His experiences showed him that life would come and it would go without much significance. This was until he met Sage, the Grand Pope of Sanctuary.

Investigating a village about a series of crimes being perpetrated by someone calling himself "The Executioner of Death", Sage was surprised to discover a young boy in filthy clothes sitting by the remains of a building. He noticed something peculiar about this child: there were literally a dozen souls surrounding his body, yet he did not show fear. The Pope took a moment to speak with this boy, and asked him his name. Suddenly, the child latched out at Sage with a knife and connected, tearing the Pope's holy garment and prayer beads to reveal the majestic Gold Cloth of Cancer underneath. Sage grabbed the boy and explained that his philosophies regarding life weren't inaccurate, just slightly misconstrued. Being a veteran and survivor of the last war, he himself had witnessed the lives of many of his friends and comrades extinguished. However, he understood that they had merely returned to the cosmos to be a part of a much grander design. As long as humans realized this, they would be capable of shining brightly and proudly. Manigoldo felt confused, but the single tear in his eye showed that he knew there was something in the Pope's words. Sage invited him to go to Sanctuary to learn more. The two developed a teacher/pupil relationship, and Manigoldo would manifest a powerful enough cosmos to earn the Cancer Gold Cloth from his master.

Caught In a Pinch
Some time after Taurus Aldebaran had been killed in a battle against two specters, Pegasus Tenma decided to leave Sanctuary on a self-imposed exile. The spectre Bennu Kagaho had appeared during the final moments of the Taurus battle, and explained that the two specters who killed Hasgard were, in actuality, targeting the Pegasus. Kagaho warned the Bronze Saint that Pandora had made him a marked man, and his presence in Sanctuary will continue to cause those he associate with to pay with their lives. Taking Kagaho's words into consideration, Tenma grabbed his Pegasus Cloth and walked out of Sanctuary to avoid causing more unnecessary deaths among his peers.

The Pegasus Saint was soon stopped by Manigoldo, decked out in his Cancer Cloth. Tenma attempted to explain that Aldebaran's death was really his fault, but the gold saint merely laughed at the idea. Manigoldo reminded him that they were all living in a time of war -- of course there would be casualties! He was also well aware of the fact that Tenma and Hades used to be good friends, which, considering the value of the strategic advantage their friendship would offer Sanctuary, made the notion of exiling the Pegasus to be an absolutely ridiculous idea. Refusing to allow the Saints to loose a significant tool against Hades, the Cancer Saint grabbed Tenma and locked him away in a specialized holding cell.

Eventually, Tenma would be freed from prison to joinCrane Yuzuriha and Unicorn Yato as they journeyed into the Forest of Death, guarded by the spectre Nasu Veronica. Once the spectre proved to be too much for the three saints to handle, Manigoldo made his dramatic reappearance. The Crab and the Fly traded blows, and the gold saint ended the exchange with his "Acubens" pincer hold that snapped the spectre in half. Veronica survived, throwing away his torn robe to reveal his majestic surplice. Manigoldo decided to relocate the fight to the Underworld as spirits, and the spectre obliged -- after all, the Saint had just made this battle suicidal on his part by giving the spectre the home field advantage. Manigoldo laughed. Not only did he not feel intimidated by the Underworld as any dead soul would be, he rather enjoyed the sights and viewed hell as something akin to a huge amusement park! Utilizing the nearby surrounding souls to fuel his "Sekishiki Kisoen", the Saint of Cancer swiftly defeated Veronica, then proceeded to move on to fight a bigger challenge: the god who command death itself, Thanatos.

Reaping the Benefits
Inside the palace of the Underworld, Thanatos was engaged in a game of chess with his twin brother,Hypnos, while discussing the current events of the Holy War. Just as the God of Death prepared to make a move in his game, a figure clad in gold armor crashed down onto the table from the ceilings above. Manigoldo, face to face with Thanatos, demanded to know which of the two was the one who commanded death -- because he owed him a punch to the face.

Still grasping the chess piece with his fingers, Thanatos revealed that it was he who the Cancer Saint was looking for. Manigoldo immediately responded with a straight hook, but the blow could not connect -- the deity halted it effortlessly with the same chess piece. Hypnos excused himself from the room, but warned Thanatos to exercise caution as he made his exit. Amused that a human dared raise his fist at him, Thanatos brought all of the chess pieces to life and had them strike the gold saint.

Manigoldo fended off the challenge, and lounged towards Thanatos with the "Sekishiki Kisoen" technique, vowing to cremate his soul and everything he stood for with the flame of the will-o'-wisps. Unfazed, Thanatos summoned his holy kamui and ascended into the air. He began to transform the walls of the palace into a divine vortex -- one that only the gods could travel freely about without combusting into specks of nothingness from the heightened pressure. The God of Death then forced Manigoldo forward into the deadly space with his divine cosmos. Suddenly, a voice declared that he would not allow Thanatos to act as he pleased. Surprised at the sight of a human being walking freely among the vortex, the Greek god demanded the name of this new invader. It was Sage, who had arrived to aid his pupil.

A Mask of Death
Words could not express the rage Thanatos felt. He was overcome with infuriation at the fact that a pitiful human being had not only dared to strike him physically, but celebrated over it! With the seals of Athena no longer in effect, the god once again transformed the palace into the deadly vortex, and pulled Manigoldo towards the void. Unable to defend himself, the gold saint found his entire right leg swallowed up by the dimension's nothingness - cloth and all. Sage retaliated with the Saint of Cancer's signature attack -- the "Sekishiki Meikai Ha". The technique was able to strip off some of Thanatos' kamui, which confirmed a suspicion that the Grand Pope already had in his mind since the beginning of the fight -- that, the god's true form was actually still residing in the Elysium Fields, and that at the moment, he was actually commandeering a puppet vessel with his holy soul! Thanatos was unimpressed, but Sage explained that the "Sekishiki Meikai Ha" was a move that specialized in extracting souls out of a given target's body. Unfortunately for the saints, Thanatos was a deity, which meant drawing his spirit out would be an extremely difficult task.

Just as Sage was about to give up, Thanatos felt a second tug for his soul - from an exhausted, but still very alive Manigoldo! The young Crab expressed that he always had a strong distaste for the God of Death since he was young, and that punch to the face from moments ago was easily the most satisfying thing he had ever felt in his entire life. Manigoldo then thanked his master for all the times they've spent together; he was truly grateful that he chose to go to Sanctuary with him. With both Cancer Saints smirking ear to ear, the two men unleashed a combined effort of the "Sekishiki Meikai Ha" technique. Even a powerful god like Thanatos could not drive the two saints back. With all of the kamui - his source of power - removed from his puppet body, Manigoldo latched onto Thanatos by the throat and declared that, without the blessing from the deity's holy soul, this vessel and the gold saint himself would both now become dust. The Cancer Saint then ordered his gold cloth to return to its rightful owner, and combusted into oblivion along with Thanatos' body.

The Seal of the Century
Manigoldo was dead, leaving Sage to finish up matters with Thanatos. The Greek god, now appearing before the Pope in full spiritual form, ridiculed the younger Cancer's sacrifice as foolish. Yes, he destroyed one body, but what was stopping him from using someone else to serve as another vessel - for example, Sage? The Pope lamented his pupil's death, but assured that it will not become a wasted effort. The god laughed in response and jumped into Sage, causing the elder to scream in pain as the spirit attempted to steal his body. It would not be more than a moment later that Thanatos realized something was very wrong. Sage, bloodied, ripped off his holy garment to reveal that he was, in fact, wearing his older brother's Altar Cloth - an armor blessed by Athena with substantial sealing properties. Sage explained that ever since the last Holy War, he and his brother Hakurei had been restoring this silver cloth to its fullest power to trap both Thanatos and Hypnos - and today was Thanatos' turn. The god struggled to release himself from Sage's body, but to no avail - Athena's seals in the cloth had overcome his own. The elder then unveiled a small treasure chest with the last of Athena's seal. Thanatos, livid that a human being had achieved the impossible and manipulated a deity for a fool, cursed Sage and destroyed parts of his body in retaliation. Sage once more promised his pupil that his sacrifice would not have been in vain, and, using the last of his strength, the Grand Pope placed the chest next to the Altar Cloth's reflection of Thanatos where the god's spirit laid trapped. The holy soul was transferred to the chest, and the seal had, at last, become complete.

Final Farewells
Back in Sanctuary, Athena and Hakurei were both present in the Pope's throne room. They felt a surge of cosmos, and discovered the small chest containing Thanatos' soul upon the seat. Hakurei recognized it instantly, and knew that his younger brother was no longer with them. Athena expressed her gratitude for Sage's sacrifice, and Hakurei assured her and his departed brother that he would complete the duties they had set for themselves.

At the twelve temples below, Aries Shion also sensed the cosmos and prepared to move to the Grand Pope's throne room to check things out. He was stopped by Manigoldo on the way, who looked up to the sky and greeted his fellow gold saint with a smirk. The Cancer Saint held the Grand Pope's holy headdress in his arms, and tossed it to Shion. It was a gift between the both of their masters. Manigoldo then vanished from view, leaving the Cancer Cloth behind in the temple. Shion realized that he had just met with Manigoldo's spirit, and for the final time.

Techniques

 * Sekishiki Meikai Ha (積尸気冥界波, lit. Praesepe Underworld Waves) Praesepe, or the Beehive Cluster, is an open cluster in the constellation of Cancer. In China this cluster is known as "Tseih She Ke," literally translating as "Breath of the Dead" (the stench of corpses), and is associated with the underworld. "Sekishiki" is the Japanese name for it, and so Cancer's ability is to separate his opponent's soul from their body and send it to Yomotsu Hirasaka, the gateway to the underworld in Japanese mythology.Those sent to Yomotsu Hirasaka by Cancer find themselves drained of nearly all strength and can't return to the world of the living without divine help. Cancer, on the other hand, can travel freely to and from this doorstep of death and suffers no ill effects in the transition. He likes fighting on those terms. But not even Cancer can come back once the threshold of Yomotsu Hirasaka is crossed. The only path past its dreaded caldera leads to the underworld.
 * Sekishiki Kisōen (積尸気鬼蒼焔, lit. Praesepe Demonic Blue Flames) Manigoldo summons the Ignis Fatuus, blue flames that burn by feeding on others' souls, and sends them to incinerate the soul of his opponent. Whether they are embodied or not, immortal or not, they can not escape the power of the soul-devouring fire.
 * Sekishiki Konsō Ha (積尸気魂葬破, lit. Praesepe Soul Burial Waves) This technique takes advantage of any spirits nearby and makes their souls explode. The magnitude of the explosion is proportional to the strength of the spirits themselves. Manigoldo uses this to counter Thanatos' Tartarus Phobia.
 * Glowing Spheres In his fight against Naru Veronica, Manigoldo locked her flies in these bubbles and then crushed them with a snap of his fingers, destroying the insects inside. It may be a lesser version of Sekishiki Kiousen.
 * Acubens (アクベンス, Akubensu): Named after a star in the southern claw of the Cancer constellation, this is Manigoldo's melee attack, in which he imitates a crab's pincers by using both legs to cut his opponent in half.