Gemini Kanon



Gemini Kanon (双子座のカノン, Jemini no Kanon) is a a character from the classic anime/manga series, Saint Seiya. He was the younger twin brother of Gold Saint Gemini Saga, and later took up the position after Saga's death. Before finally embracing his destiny as the Gemini Saint, Kanon masqueraded as the Sea Dragon, one of Poseidon's seven Sea Generals, thus he was ever known as Sea Dragon Kanon (海龍のカノン, Shīdoragon no Kanon).

Personality and background
Kanon is a character with a substantial importance in the universe of Kurumada's manga, and therefore in its anime adaptation. He is directly responsible for triggering two main events : the conflict of the 12 temples by inciting Gemini Saga to succumb to his evil desires, and the resurrection of Poseidon, Emperor of the Seas. Also, Kanon is notable for redeeming himself after all his sins in the past and wreaking havoc as the Gemini Gold Saint against the army of Hades' 108 Specters.

At first, Kanon was depicted as a treacherous man, always tempting his twin brother to use his status and power to advance his status of influence beyond that of a Gold Saint. He concluded that their amazing and powerful abilities were gifts from the Gods for them to take advantage of. Much to his dismay, his brother opposed this and caused his incarceration at Cape Sounion. After his redemption, however, Kanon becomes a much centered person, much like his brother.

Kanon was the one person responsible for Poseidon's awakening, although he kept Poseidon just half awakened so that he could pose as the true leader of the Marines as a Marine General and use Poseidon's army to achieve his desires. In order to do so, Kanon stole the scales of Sea Dragon and pretended to be the Sea Dragon General under Poseidon's order. Even after joining forces with Athena, Kanon retains his ruthless personality and harsh characteristics, scolding Pegasus Seiya and Andromeda Shun that they should never hesitate to finish their enemies, because their hesitation was a weakness that their enemies would take advantage of. Even so, he quickly absorbs the honor of a Gold Saint.

Kanon's imprisonment
The water level of the cave was very unstable, as it would continually rise and fall with each passing day. For 10 days, Kanon was trapped and barely survived. Oddly, every time he found himself within an inch of death, a powerful yet gentle cosmos would somehow lift the younger Gemini away. Still refusing to give up his ambitions, Kanon began to search the prison for a way out, and he discovered it in the form of a hollow wall in the back of the cave. With a single blow, Kanon destroyed the wall and was instantly shocked to see the object concealed behind it: the legendary majestic trident of the Lord of the Seas, Poseidon. The Gemini also recognized the tag that had previously concealed its power: Athena's seal. The bind was losing its effects, however, as Kanon noticed that even his own strength was enough to release the trident from its hold. Freed from Athena, the trident suddenly glowed with power, and immediately sought to return to its owner, taking Kanon along for the ride.

Kanon and Poseidon
The Lord of the Seas demanded to know why he was awoken 300 years too early. Kanon, struck with awe, informed him that Athena's seal had weakened to the point of being non-existent. The god scoffed and claimed that Athena's seal had zero effect on him; that if he wanted to, he could've awoken at any point in time. Kanon then revealed that Athena's next manifestation had arrived, and that the goddess was preparing to once again walk the Earth in mortal form. Poseidon was surprised by this, and recalled that he had awoke under similar circumstances 200 years ago. At the time, Athena had reincarnated once again to battle with a certain god, a god that was even more ambitious than the Lord of the Seas. Poseidon then declared that since the seal had weakened, it was probably his turn to do battle with the goddess. Thus, he needed a living host. Fortunately, there was a certain bloodline that he had always counted on for this task. Exiting the Under Sea Temples, Poseidon's soul jumped into the 3 year old toddler body of Julian Solo, the heir of a wealthy business family whose expertise was the seven seas. Before the god left, he inquired Kanon's name, and Kanon replied that he was known as "Sea Dragon." The god warned him to make sure that his soul does not awake within Julian Solo's body until the child is 16 years of age. Kanon smirked and vowed that he will do exactly just that. In fact, he won't ever truly wake up the god within Solo's body, if he could help it.

Kanon donned the Marine Scale of the Sea Dragon, and recalled the bit where Saga mentioned that only the gods can help Kanon. It seems the gods have allowed this happen, and Kanon once again declared his ambition of ruling not only the lands, but the seas, as well.

As Kanon patiently waited, he received news that his older brother had finally snapped and succumbed to his evil side. Not only that, but Saga had actually followed through with the very same plans that Kanon had laid out for him. He had assassinated the Pope and attempted to kill the infant Athena. The Sea Dragon sat back and waited, as his own ambitions could not be fulfilled unless he had the other sea generals with him, and they would only arrive when Solo has declared that he is Poseidon. Eventually, Kanon received news that five bronze saints had invaded Sanctuary, and that Saga had fallen. The Sea Dragon could only smile, it was now up to him to succeed where his older brother had failed.

Battles of Seven Seas
The plan was genius, with about half of the twelve gold saints killed in action in their fight with the bronze saints, Poseidon's resurrection would require whomever was left of Sanctuary's high ranked fighters to invade the Under Seas Temples of Atlantis and counter the threat in a swift and efficient manner. The abduction of Athena would only further entice this. By this point, the other six Sea Generals and the massive army of foot soldiers had fully awakened and gathered to the seas. The disappearance and death of all twelve gold saints would make Sanctuary easy pickings.

Unfortunately, a wrench was thrown in Kanon's plans, and instead of gold saints arriving to rescue their patron goddess, Sanctuary had sent bronze saints in their place. Humored by the minuscule power of these lower ranked saints, Kanon swatted them away and advised the challengers to call for the older, more powerful gold saints instead. Unbeknownst to the Sea Dragon, however, the bronze saints that stood before him were the same ones who had battled their gold brethrens and walked away alive. They thwarted Poseidon's foot soldiers, then went on to take on the sea generals who awaited them.

The bronze saints were successful in combat against the sea generals, and later confronted Julian Solo. It appeared that Poseidon's true power had not yet manifested in him. However, each blow that the saints made against Solo brought him closer to the sea god. Kanon, worried that they would eventually pull Poseidon out of his slumber, prepared to march into the throne room to stop them.

Before he could go anywhere, Kanon was challenged by Phoenix Ikki, the same bronze saint who had previously engaged his brother Saga in a stalemate in a battle of illusional fists. The Sea Dragon was unable to put down the Phoenix no matter which technique he chose, and even fell to Ikki's "Genma Ken". Kanon once again recalled the time where he approached Saga with the plot to overthrow Athena and rule Sanctuary. He then found himself in the present, but staring in the face of his twin brother, who, by all accounts, should be dead. Saga expressed his disappointment that Kanon had not learned his lesson, and declared that Athena had punished him for his crimes. The Sea Dragon suddenly discovered that his face was infested by maggots and screamed in terror.

The illusions dissolved, and Ikki explained that Kanon should be grateful to Athena, for it was her who had kept him alive all of this time. Kanon was bemused at the Phoenix's suggestion, but the Bronze Saint explained that after Saga had locked up Kanon in Sounion, it was Athena's cosmos who continuously lifted him to the surface of the water each time it ascended. Kanon scoffed at the notion that Athena, an infant at the time, could do this. However, at this point, the seeds of doubt had already been planted in his mind. Not soon after, Ikki demanded that Kanon should return the favor he owed Athena for relentlessly saving his life by revealing the location of the jar in which the goddess had kept Poseidon sealed for hundreds of years. The Sea Dragon laughed, he disclosed the whereabouts of the jar, but touted that the other bronze saints had already foolishly provoked Poseidon into fully awakening. Ikki immediately left to join his bronze brothers in battle.

Sea General Siren Sorento, who had been watching Kanon's fight with Ikki the entire time, recognized that the entire war had been a ploy, and that this was not Poseidon's time to awaken. The Siren declared that the Sea Dragon had completely failed in his scheme to manipulate the gods, and considered him too pathetic to even be killed in action. Kanon lamented that his plan had crumbled to pieces, but there was one final thing he could do. He set off to the scene of the bronze saints' fight with Poseidon, and realized that they had been successful in freeing Athena from the main breadwinner. At a very critical moment of the battle, Poseidon launched his trident towards Athena, and Kanon suddenly jumped forward, taking the sharp end of the spear with his chest and protecting the goddess in the process. Before falling unconscious, Kanon begged Athena for her forgiveness.

Kanon's redemption
Kanon explained to Milo that he had come to terms with his past and was now a Saint of Athena. Milo berated him and offered Kanon one last opportunity to leave unharmed. Kanon refused, and Milo immediately attacked the former Sea Dragon with his patented move, the "Scarlet Needle". Kanon, determined to prove his new allegiance, remained still and did not lash out. Milo unleashed a second wave of needles, and Kanon still did not budge. A third and fourth wave followed, until a bloody Kanon was now writhing in pain from the holes in his body. Having heard the commotion, Athena herself walked out of her bedroom to plead with Milo to stop. Milo contested that, while their goddess may have forgiven Kanon for his deeds, the other saints of Sanctuary cannot afford to do the same. The Scorpio stalked towards the Gemini and prepared to release the final blow, the Antares. Determined to gain the trust of the saints, Kanon told Milo that he would receive the Antares to illustrate his new dedication to Athena. At the same time, Milo was silently bewildered that Kanon had not once retaliated. Being Gemini Saga's younger brother, Kanon certainly had enough raw power to really hurt Milo if he wanted to. Milo struck the final blow into Kanon, impaling his chest with one finger. Kanon dropped to the floor. Milo then turned around and apologized to Athena before exiting the palace. Athena looked over to the Gemini, who was now on his knees and recovering. With tears flowing down his face. It seems that the "final blow" Milo had used on him was not the deadly Antares, but a pressure point to stop the bleeding. Kanon's act of benevolence had earned their trust, after all.

Camus and Shura were baffled as to the identity of the man wearing Saga's Gemini cloth, but Saga himself immediately knew who it was that dared to don his old armor. The older Gemini urged his two companions to find a way out of the temple as he remained to confront the new Gemini Saint. Saga remembered the time where Kanon had proposed the plan to assassinate the Grand Pope and Athena, and demanded an explanation from his younger brother as to what he was doing in this temple. Kanon simply replied that he had Athena's permission to guard over the temple from intruders. Saga scoffed and blasted the illusion with a fist. Revealing that, although Kanon was not physically there, the Gemini Cloth was. This confirmed that the cloth had accepted Kanon as its current master, and Saga secretly wept with joy. Never in a million years would he thought he would see his "evil" little brother take up the duties of the Gemini Saint and fight for justice.

In the climax of the Sanctuary prelude to the Hades arc, Kanon and Saga finally came face-to-face physically. In a symbolic gesture, Athena ordered the younger Gemini to present the older Gemini with the very same golden dagger he had used to try to murder her 13 years ago.

After the events in Sanctuary, Kanon finally donned the Gemini cloth for the very first time. Together with senior gold saint Libra Dohko, bronze saints Pegasus Seiya, Dragon Shiryu, Cygnus Hyoga, and Andromeda Shun, the saints of Sanctuary invaded the World of the Dead in Athena's name.

Battles of the Underworld
In the Underworld, Kanon moved on his own, mentally controlling and killing the Specter Balrog Lune and challenging Wyvern Rhadamanthys to a battle in which quickly overpowered him. Their fight, however, was interrupted by the arrival of some minor spectres, as well as bronze saints Seiya and Shun. Later on, Kanon found himself traveling with Shiryu and Hyoga as they sought out the palace of Hades. On the way, the group easily defeated many spectres, including the Deadly Beetle Stand of the Sky Ugly Star, and Lycaon Phlegyas of the Sky Guilt Star. Kanon and Rhadamanthys soon crossed paths once again, and Kanon instructed his two bronze saint companions to leave him as he battled the Wyvern Specter. The gold saint proved to be an adequate challenge for the Judge until Griffon Minos and Garuda Aiacos suddenly arrived on the scene. The two Judges expressed individual interest in battling the Gemini Gold Saint, and attacked him until Phoenix Ikki arrived on the scene.

In the OVA 25, when the twelve Gold Saints join to destroy the Sighing Wall, his soul briefly appears with the body of Gemini Saga when the latter used the Gemini Cloth once more before the final sacrifice. However, this is never explained.

"Golden Triangle"
A technique parallel to Saga's "Another Dimension". Although slightly weaker, Kanon's version of the move puts more emphasis on illusion, trapping its target in a dimension filled with ghastly images of death, abandonment, and loneliness. It is undoubtedly meant to be a reference to the legendary Bermuda Triangle, where ships would mysteriously vanish without trace. It, like Kanon, was first encountered in the Northern Atlantic!

"Galaxian Explosion"
"Galaxian Explosion" Though not as strong as Saga's Galaxian Explosion the move is practically similar to his big brother's.

"Genrou Ken (Illusion Fist)"
Last but not least, Kanon has his own interpretation of Saga's infamous "Genrou Maou Ken," with minor differences: it does not require the opponent to kill a target in order to be released, and the technique can be executed in the same manner as Ikki's "Phoenix Genma Ken," where the enemy is tricked by a series of illusions into doing Kanon's bidding.

Cloth, Constellation and Temple
Kanon's guardian constellation is Gemini, and his Gold Cloth represents it and its associated myth : the Dioskuroi, Castor and Polydeuces, twin sons of Leda and brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. The temple Kanon guarded after recovering his status as Gold Saint was known both in manga and the anime adaptation as SouJiKyuu, the "Temple of the Twins".

As the Sea Dragon Marina General, his Scales represent a sea dragon, mythical being of the seas.