OVA
Description
Càncer Manigold is the Gold Saint of the Cancer constellation during the 18th century Holy War against the god Hades, serving as the disciple of Sage, the Pope of Sanctuary and the previous Cancer Gold Saint. As a child, Manigold was a street urchin whose village was destroyed, leaving him as the sole survivor living among the ruins and the souls of the deceased. This trauma instilled in him the nihilistic belief that life itself was worthless, mere refuse or specks of dust easily blown away by the breeze. He survived by becoming a rogue, calling himself The Executioner of Death, until he encountered Sage. The Pope, investigating the boy who could see souls and showed no fear of them, was attacked by Manigold but easily subdued him. Sage offered him a different perspective, explaining that while lives may end, they return to the cosmos and have the chance to shine brightly as part of a much grander design. Carrying this confusion yet a single tear of understanding, Manigold accepted Sage's invitation to follow him to Sanctuary and become his pupil.
Manigold is defined by a striking contrast between his irreverent, bold, and arrogant exterior and the deep bonds of loyalty he holds within. He is often described as the most shameless, cynical, and yet amiable of his Gold Saint generation, possessing a dark, sarcastic sense of humor that allows him to even mock a god without flinching. This aggressive and confident demeanor, including the informal and humorous way he speaks, presents a hostile front to the world. However, underneath this facade lies a profound value for life, justice, and human connection—lessons imparted by his master. He appears uninterested in the problems of others and is motivated by his own convictions, but this masks a sensitive side capable of great sacrifice. He believes that those who have not known true desperation are weak, a mindset Sage deliberately corrected by sending his soul to the entrance of the Underworld to understand what the Saints fight against.
Throughout the story, Manigold acts as a crucial, powerful asset for Sanctuary. He initially intercepts Pegasus Tenma when the young Saint attempts to leave, imprisoning him because he recognizes that Tenma's friendship with Hades' host, Alone, provides a vital strategic advantage that cannot be wasted. When Tenma and his companions are endangered in the Forest of Death by the Specter Veronica of Nasu, Manigold is dispatched to aid them. In this battle, he demonstrates the full mastery of his soul-manipulating abilities. After using his physical technique Acubens to seemingly bisect the immortal Specter, Manigold transports himself and Veronica's soul to the entrance of the Underworld using the Sekishiki Meikaiha. There, where immortality is meaningless, he incinerates the Specter's soul with the Sekishiki Kisoen, proving that an immortal body means nothing if the soul is destroyed.
His definitive role, however, is his direct assault on the God of Death, Thanatos. Using the portal opened by the defeated Veronica, Manigold crashes into the palace of the twin gods, Hypnos and Thanatos, and immediately demands to know which one commands death so he can punch him in the face. Though overwhelmingly outmatched, Manigold fights with ferocious tenacity, even managing to land that punch. He is saved from Thanatos's deadly divine vortex by the arrival of his master, Sage. Together, the two Cancer Saints combine their Sekishiki Meikaiha technique to forcibly separate Thanatos's soul from the vessel he is possessing. Realizing this is the only chance to stop the god, Manigold latches onto Thanatos's physical body and, ordering his Gold Cloth to return to its master, drags both himself and the vessel into the divine vortex, a dimension where no mortal can survive. As he vanishes into oblivion, he declares that both he and the god's temporary body will become dust. His sacrifice succeeds in destroying Thanatos's vessel, allowing Sage to use the power of the Altar Cloth and a sacred chest to seal Thanatos's soul permanently. Though physically gone, Manigold's will endures. His soul later appears before Aries Shion to deliver the Pope's helmet, and finally, he is among the souls of the deceased Gold Saints who return to assist their living comrades in the final battle against Hades.
As a Gold Saint, Manigold can move at lightspeed and fully masters the Seventh Sense. His abilities center on his unique power to see and manipulate souls, a skill he was born with and refined under Sage. His signature technique is the Sekishiki Meikaiha (Underworld Waves), which forcibly separates the soul from its body and banishes it to the entrance of the Underworld. For direct destruction, he uses the Sekishiki Kisoen (Demonic Blue Flames), which creates ghostly blue flames that use the target's very soul as fuel to burn it completely. He also possesses the Sekishiki Konsoha (Soul Burial Wave), which uses stray souls as gunpowder to create a massive explosion. For physical combat, he wields Acubens, a powerful leg-lock maneuver that mimics a crab's pincer to cut an opponent in half.
Manigold is defined by a striking contrast between his irreverent, bold, and arrogant exterior and the deep bonds of loyalty he holds within. He is often described as the most shameless, cynical, and yet amiable of his Gold Saint generation, possessing a dark, sarcastic sense of humor that allows him to even mock a god without flinching. This aggressive and confident demeanor, including the informal and humorous way he speaks, presents a hostile front to the world. However, underneath this facade lies a profound value for life, justice, and human connection—lessons imparted by his master. He appears uninterested in the problems of others and is motivated by his own convictions, but this masks a sensitive side capable of great sacrifice. He believes that those who have not known true desperation are weak, a mindset Sage deliberately corrected by sending his soul to the entrance of the Underworld to understand what the Saints fight against.
Throughout the story, Manigold acts as a crucial, powerful asset for Sanctuary. He initially intercepts Pegasus Tenma when the young Saint attempts to leave, imprisoning him because he recognizes that Tenma's friendship with Hades' host, Alone, provides a vital strategic advantage that cannot be wasted. When Tenma and his companions are endangered in the Forest of Death by the Specter Veronica of Nasu, Manigold is dispatched to aid them. In this battle, he demonstrates the full mastery of his soul-manipulating abilities. After using his physical technique Acubens to seemingly bisect the immortal Specter, Manigold transports himself and Veronica's soul to the entrance of the Underworld using the Sekishiki Meikaiha. There, where immortality is meaningless, he incinerates the Specter's soul with the Sekishiki Kisoen, proving that an immortal body means nothing if the soul is destroyed.
His definitive role, however, is his direct assault on the God of Death, Thanatos. Using the portal opened by the defeated Veronica, Manigold crashes into the palace of the twin gods, Hypnos and Thanatos, and immediately demands to know which one commands death so he can punch him in the face. Though overwhelmingly outmatched, Manigold fights with ferocious tenacity, even managing to land that punch. He is saved from Thanatos's deadly divine vortex by the arrival of his master, Sage. Together, the two Cancer Saints combine their Sekishiki Meikaiha technique to forcibly separate Thanatos's soul from the vessel he is possessing. Realizing this is the only chance to stop the god, Manigold latches onto Thanatos's physical body and, ordering his Gold Cloth to return to its master, drags both himself and the vessel into the divine vortex, a dimension where no mortal can survive. As he vanishes into oblivion, he declares that both he and the god's temporary body will become dust. His sacrifice succeeds in destroying Thanatos's vessel, allowing Sage to use the power of the Altar Cloth and a sacred chest to seal Thanatos's soul permanently. Though physically gone, Manigold's will endures. His soul later appears before Aries Shion to deliver the Pope's helmet, and finally, he is among the souls of the deceased Gold Saints who return to assist their living comrades in the final battle against Hades.
As a Gold Saint, Manigold can move at lightspeed and fully masters the Seventh Sense. His abilities center on his unique power to see and manipulate souls, a skill he was born with and refined under Sage. His signature technique is the Sekishiki Meikaiha (Underworld Waves), which forcibly separates the soul from its body and banishes it to the entrance of the Underworld. For direct destruction, he uses the Sekishiki Kisoen (Demonic Blue Flames), which creates ghostly blue flames that use the target's very soul as fuel to burn it completely. He also possesses the Sekishiki Konsoha (Soul Burial Wave), which uses stray souls as gunpowder to create a massive explosion. For physical combat, he wields Acubens, a powerful leg-lock maneuver that mimics a crab's pincer to cut an opponent in half.