Cancer Deathmask

Cancer Deathmask (蟹座のデスマスク) is one of the fictional characters from the manga Saint Seiya, which was written and illustrated 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 was Cancer and initially he was a guardian of Sanctuary alongside the 11 other Gold Saints.

Personality and background
Deathmask was one of the first Gold Saints to be introduced in both the 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 wished without bending to Athena's will. Deathmask covers his temple with the faces of his fallen victims - warriors and civilian men, women and even innocent children. Deathmask is one of the few Saints who knew the truth about the false Pope and the Gemini Saint, along with Pisces Aphrodite, but he continued obeying his orders. He believed 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, sadistic person, facing Aries Mu and Pegasus Seiya without showing remorse and even attempting to kill the latter. In the English adaptation of the manga and the animation, 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.

The 'Sanctuary' arc
Deathmask first appeared in the Rozan Peaks. He was there to reclaim the Libra Gold Cloth from Dokho and to kill him under the order of Pope Arles (or Gemini Saga). Before he could reclaim the Gold Cloth and harm Dokho, Dragon Shiryū stepped in and challenged him. Although Shiryū was a strong saint, he was no match for a Gold Saint. The battle between Deathmask and Shiryū came to a halt when the Gold Saint Aries Mu, stepped in. He told Deathmask that he will not allow anyone to harm Shiryū because of their friendship. Seeing the fact that facing two Gold Saints was a huge challenge, Deathmask decided to retreat momentarily. Although Shiryū 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, Shiryū rejoined Seiya and the others as Bronze Dragon Saint, after a long hiatus. He would face Deathmask once again at the Temple of Cancer in the Sanctuary.

Shiryū 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 those of children.

Suddenly, Deathmask appeared, and explained that these masks are the faces of the "enemies of justice" he had 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 them both to his collection. Shiryū told Seiya to go ahead to the Temple of Leo while he finishes the business between him and Deathmask; to make this possible, Shiryū 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 Shiryū's attack before at the Rozan Peaks. Using his technique, he sent Shiryū to the gates of hell, known as the Hill to the Land of Spirits (黄泉平坂). There, he tortured Shiryū to his own pleasure.

After he felt satisfied, he tried to throw Shiryū into the death hole, the entrance to hell with no return. However, he was interrupted by the prayers of Shiryū's sworn friend, Shunrei. Angered, he used his telekinesis to throw Shunrei off the cliff in the Five Old Peaks of Rozan. Angered for his friend's apparent death, Shiryū fought back possessed by unbridled fury, swearing that he'd kill Deathmask.

During the fight, Shiryū was again almost thrown into the death hole, and again Deathmask tried to torture him. Shiryū, in turn, smashed Deathmask's ankle to defend himself. Deathmask laughed and told him that it was useless because he was protected by the Cancer Gold Cloth. Yet, to his shock, his ankle's armor suddenly abandoned his leg. Then, piece by piece, his entire Cancer Cloth left his body. The Gold Cloth of Cancer abandoned him due to his evil deeds and more importantly, because he completely forgot what true meaning of justice and being a Saint was.

Wanting to preserve his honor and defeat Deathmask in a fair match, Shiryū took off his Bronze Cloth. Awakening to the seventh sense, he defeated the evil Gold Saint by throwing him into the pit of hell with his Rising Dragon Blow.

The 'Hades' arc


Later in the 'Hades' arc (both in the manga and the anime), Deathmask returned from beyond the grave 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 Mu's Starlight Extinction. Then, he was thrown into Yomotsu Hirasaka due to his own Praesepe Underworld Waves attack, which was reflected during a fight with Wyvern Rhadamanthys, one of the commanders of Hades' army. Deathmask and Aphrodite were easily defeated and thrown into the Yomotsu Hirasaka entrance to the world of the dead.

Later, Aries Shion revealed his plan of awakening Athena's Cloth even at the cost of being called traitors by history, by joining sides with Hades while secretly remaining true Saints of Athena, thereby revealing that Deathmask had returned to the path of virtue.

Later, Deathmask arrived wearing the Cancer Gold Cloth to break the Wailing Wall. Surprisingly, he showed that, having redeemed himself, even in death, he remained loyal to Athena.

Power and abilities


While powerful enough to attain the rank of Gold Saint, Deathmask is considered to be one of the weakest of Athena's Gold Saints.

As a Gold Saint, Deathmask mastered the 7th sense, hence he can move at the speed of the light. He has displayed strong psychic powers, using his telekinetic abilities over a target in China while he was in the Yomotsu Hirasaka. He often uses this power to levitate in the air as well, as shown in his first fight against Dragon Shiryū. So far, he only showed a single special technique, the:

Praesepe Underworld Waves (積尸気冥界波), or Tseih She Ke, pronounced in Japanese as Sekishiki, is the Chinese name for the Beehive Cluster (also known 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 gateway to the underworld in Japanese folklore, 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 lose almost all strength. Normally it is impossible for someone's soul to travel back from the Yomotsu Hirasaka.

It is implied that, like the other Gold Saints, Deathmask reached the 8th sense at the end of the 'Hades' arc, to be able to fight along the other Gold Saints in the Underworld without being subject to its laws.

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 Kyokaikyū, the "Temple of the Giant Crab".

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 Shiryū once more. By this point, Shiryū 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, Shiryū was only pretending in order to lure Deathmask into telling him the whereabouts of Athena. After he realizes there's still a chance to save her life, Shiryū turns the tables on him. Taking advantage of a handlock between him and the Gold Saint, Shiryū managed to land a point blank, full power Rising dragon Force attack to Deathmask's face. The blow proved lethal to the Gold Saint as his head was not protected.

Previous Saints: The Lost Canvas
Note: The Saint Seiya Lost Canvas is an alternate story and the events depicted in it are out of the established Saint Seiya canon.
 * Cancer Sage

As revealed in the sidestory Saint Seiya Lost Canvas, the Gold Saint of Cancer in the 15th century Holy War was Cancer Sage. Sage functioned as Cancer Saint until the ordination of his student, Manigoldo, as the 18th century Cancer Gold Saint. Originally, Sage's twin brother, Hakurei, was to become the Cancer Gold Saint, but he left the role to Sage, Hakurei himself becoming the Altar Silver 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 appearance of the 20th century Cancer Gold Saint, though he isn't evil. Also, Manigoldo possesses three more techniques besides Praesepe Underworld Waves.
 * Cancer Manigoldo

Next Dimension
A Cancer Saint has yet to make an appearance in Next Dimension, also whether said Saint would be with or against Athena is also not known.