OVA
Description
Capricorn El Cid is the Gold Saint of the Capricorn constellation in the 18th century, serving Athena during the Holy War portrayed in Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas. He is a man of Spanish origin, standing tall at 187 centimeters with a slim yet powerful build, black hair with a blue tint, and a demeanor as sharp as his legendary blade. His name is a direct reference to the 11th-century Castilian knight Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, known as El Cid, which comes from the Arabic al-Andalus term "sidi" meaning "lord".
El Cid possesses a quiet, introspective, and deeply reserved personality, often giving the impression of a silent assassin or a cold, unapproachable warrior. This exterior, however, conceals a determined soul and a true gentleman’s heart. While he can seem ruthless and apathetic, even willing to execute deserters without hesitation, this stems from an absolute and unwavering dedication to the laws of the Sanctuary and his duty as a Gold Saint. According to the Libra Saint Dohko, El Cid’s soul is as cold and sharp as a sword, a reflection of his singular focus. Despite this intimidating presence, he is highly esteemed by his comrades and is always willing to lend his strength to protect others, believing that a true knight must defend the innocent even if it means defying the gods.
The core of El Cid’s being is his ambition to perfect his right arm into the ultimate weapon, the sacred sword Excalibur. He harbors no personal dreams, fantasies, or ambitions beyond this singular goal, treating his own body as a blade to be honed to its absolute limit. This obsession is so profound that when the Dream God Phantasos attempted to trap him in an illusion by showing him his fondest dream, the vision was simply that of a perfected sword, which manifested as a spiritual blade that cut down the god instead.
Within the Sanctuary, El Cid shares a profound bond of brotherhood with Sagittarius Sisyphus. The two were not only close friends but also allies who traveled together to investigate the Twin Gods, Thanatos and Hypnos, long before the war began. This relationship is crucial, as Sisyphus is one of the few who can temper El Cid’s harshest impulses, such as when he prevented the Capricorn Saint from executing his own disciple, Pakia, for desertion. El Cid commands a group of loyal subordinates, including the Bronze and Silver Saints Pyxis Rusk, Vela Tsubaki, and Puppis Lacaille. He keeps them at a distance during dangerous missions to prevent them from being harmed, yet he is strict with them, enforcing the Sanctuary's laws without mercy. His childhood was shaped by his friend Mine, a girl who shared his dream of forging the sacred sword, and by a warrior named Felser, who sacrificed himself to save them from a fire.
El Cid enters the main story following the death of Cancer Manigoldo. He is dispatched to the Forest of Hades and later pursues the Dream Gods into the World of Dreams to rescue the soul of Sisyphus. His confrontation with the four gods of Dreams, Oneiros, Icelus, Phantasos, and Morpheus, defines his role in the narrative. In his initial encounter with Icelus, the god used his power to warp space, reflecting El Cid’s own Excalibur back at him and severing his right arm below the elbow. Despite being cast down a cliff and presumed dead, El Cid survives. Using the resonance of his severed arm, which still wore a piece of his Cloth, he tears open a dimensional rift to invade the Dream World. Upon arrival, he immediately destroys Phantasos. Confronting Icelus again, El Cid endures the god’s relentless spatial distortions, using his own flowing blood to map the warped space and detect where the next attack would originate, allowing him to decapitate his foe.
El Cid progresses to the deeper realm of Morphia, where he meets Pegasus Tenma. Together, they face the fused form of the four gods under the control of Oneiros. Realizing that the creature regenerates endlessly, El Cid uses his blade to cut the barriers between dimensions, opening a path for Athena’s soul to enter and rescue Sisyphus from his eternal nightmare. Back in the real world, after Oneiros kills his three subordinates, a weakened El Cid executes the decisive strategy devised by Sisyphus. As the liberated Sagittarius Saint fires the Golden Arrow imbued with Athena’s cosmos, El Cid uses his perfected Excalibur to cut the single arrow into four separate projectiles, each striking one of the four souls composing the god Oneiros simultaneously. In the manga, El Cid finally succumbs to his severe blood loss and dies immediately after this feat. In the anime adaptation, he dies a moment later, using his own severed arm to impale Oneiros in a final explosive sacrifice to protect Tenma from the god’s last attack.
El Cid’s fighting style revolves entirely around the concept of the blade. His primary technique is Excalibur, the sacred sword granted to the most loyal saint of Athena, which manifests as a cut from his right arm capable of slicing through virtually anything, including diamonds and dimensions. Even when his physical arm is lost, he can concentrate his cosmos to form Caliburn, a replacement sword of pure energy. He also utilizes Jumping Stone, a counterattack that hooks his legs under an opponent to redirect their own momentum against them. Notably, El Cid possesses the ability to slay gods; his cosmos, sharpened to the absolute limit of a blade, is lethal to divine beings, a feat he demonstrates multiple times against the children of Hypnos. His willpower itself functions as a weapon, allowing him to cut through illusions and conceptual attacks that target the soul.
El Cid possesses a quiet, introspective, and deeply reserved personality, often giving the impression of a silent assassin or a cold, unapproachable warrior. This exterior, however, conceals a determined soul and a true gentleman’s heart. While he can seem ruthless and apathetic, even willing to execute deserters without hesitation, this stems from an absolute and unwavering dedication to the laws of the Sanctuary and his duty as a Gold Saint. According to the Libra Saint Dohko, El Cid’s soul is as cold and sharp as a sword, a reflection of his singular focus. Despite this intimidating presence, he is highly esteemed by his comrades and is always willing to lend his strength to protect others, believing that a true knight must defend the innocent even if it means defying the gods.
The core of El Cid’s being is his ambition to perfect his right arm into the ultimate weapon, the sacred sword Excalibur. He harbors no personal dreams, fantasies, or ambitions beyond this singular goal, treating his own body as a blade to be honed to its absolute limit. This obsession is so profound that when the Dream God Phantasos attempted to trap him in an illusion by showing him his fondest dream, the vision was simply that of a perfected sword, which manifested as a spiritual blade that cut down the god instead.
Within the Sanctuary, El Cid shares a profound bond of brotherhood with Sagittarius Sisyphus. The two were not only close friends but also allies who traveled together to investigate the Twin Gods, Thanatos and Hypnos, long before the war began. This relationship is crucial, as Sisyphus is one of the few who can temper El Cid’s harshest impulses, such as when he prevented the Capricorn Saint from executing his own disciple, Pakia, for desertion. El Cid commands a group of loyal subordinates, including the Bronze and Silver Saints Pyxis Rusk, Vela Tsubaki, and Puppis Lacaille. He keeps them at a distance during dangerous missions to prevent them from being harmed, yet he is strict with them, enforcing the Sanctuary's laws without mercy. His childhood was shaped by his friend Mine, a girl who shared his dream of forging the sacred sword, and by a warrior named Felser, who sacrificed himself to save them from a fire.
El Cid enters the main story following the death of Cancer Manigoldo. He is dispatched to the Forest of Hades and later pursues the Dream Gods into the World of Dreams to rescue the soul of Sisyphus. His confrontation with the four gods of Dreams, Oneiros, Icelus, Phantasos, and Morpheus, defines his role in the narrative. In his initial encounter with Icelus, the god used his power to warp space, reflecting El Cid’s own Excalibur back at him and severing his right arm below the elbow. Despite being cast down a cliff and presumed dead, El Cid survives. Using the resonance of his severed arm, which still wore a piece of his Cloth, he tears open a dimensional rift to invade the Dream World. Upon arrival, he immediately destroys Phantasos. Confronting Icelus again, El Cid endures the god’s relentless spatial distortions, using his own flowing blood to map the warped space and detect where the next attack would originate, allowing him to decapitate his foe.
El Cid progresses to the deeper realm of Morphia, where he meets Pegasus Tenma. Together, they face the fused form of the four gods under the control of Oneiros. Realizing that the creature regenerates endlessly, El Cid uses his blade to cut the barriers between dimensions, opening a path for Athena’s soul to enter and rescue Sisyphus from his eternal nightmare. Back in the real world, after Oneiros kills his three subordinates, a weakened El Cid executes the decisive strategy devised by Sisyphus. As the liberated Sagittarius Saint fires the Golden Arrow imbued with Athena’s cosmos, El Cid uses his perfected Excalibur to cut the single arrow into four separate projectiles, each striking one of the four souls composing the god Oneiros simultaneously. In the manga, El Cid finally succumbs to his severe blood loss and dies immediately after this feat. In the anime adaptation, he dies a moment later, using his own severed arm to impale Oneiros in a final explosive sacrifice to protect Tenma from the god’s last attack.
El Cid’s fighting style revolves entirely around the concept of the blade. His primary technique is Excalibur, the sacred sword granted to the most loyal saint of Athena, which manifests as a cut from his right arm capable of slicing through virtually anything, including diamonds and dimensions. Even when his physical arm is lost, he can concentrate his cosmos to form Caliburn, a replacement sword of pure energy. He also utilizes Jumping Stone, a counterattack that hooks his legs under an opponent to redirect their own momentum against them. Notably, El Cid possesses the ability to slay gods; his cosmos, sharpened to the absolute limit of a blade, is lethal to divine beings, a feat he demonstrates multiple times against the children of Hypnos. His willpower itself functions as a weapon, allowing him to cut through illusions and conceptual attacks that target the soul.