Creed Diskenth

"What I hate most are useless individuals. However... there is too many such people on this planet, including those elders of Chronos. I cannot bear to think that we share the same air! That's why some house-cleaning is in order. To get rid of the worthless. I will only allow those superior individuals who serve me to remain...! That is my ideal world, "Eden!" As a god I will forever dominate it from above...! - Creed Diskenth

The primary antagonist of the Manga Black Cat, as well as the major part of its anime adaptation. Creed Diskenth is a crazed and narcissist psychopath, with an insane lust for blood and a desire to control everything. He was once a top-class assassin and the partner of Train Heartnet, the primary protagonist whom he idolizes, until he betrayed Chronos, the secret organization he belonged to. He later murdered Train's closest friend, Saya Minatsuki, and gained the power of Tao, before creating his own terrorist organization, the Apostles of the Star, bent on destroying Chronos and reshape the world to fit his demented ideals. His ultimate goal is to become an immortal God in order to rule the world for all of eternity, and he would stop at NOTHING to have Train joining him.

Background
Creed was born as the undesired son of a single, alcoholic mother who hated him and and intensely abused him. She constantly insulted him, throwed full bottles of whiskey at his face, violently rejected his displays of affection and blamed him for everything wrong in her life. He ultimately ended up homeless and miserable, living in the street, picking "food" in bins and being beaten down without reason by policemen. All these ill treatments and suffering drove Creed to insanity and gave him a fierce hatred towards the entire world. (The anime strongly implies that he murdered his mother, though this seems much less likely in the manga.)

Some time later, Creed was taken in the ranks of Chronos: an extremely potent secret organization that controls one third of the world's economy and politic from the shadows. There, he was trained in the arts of fighting and raised to become one of Chronos' countless erasers. (assassins) Over the years, Creed developped immense fighting skills and a swordsplay beyond human's level, becoming one of Chronos' top-class erasers. Therefore, the supreme leaders of Chronos considered making him join the Chrono Numbers: Chronos' elite brigade, a group of thirteen supreme erasers, each one of them being unmatchably talented in the use of a specific sort of weapon. (sword, spear, bow, dagger, flail, wires, and so on and so forth) However, Creed's bloodlust, insanity and desire for power were (rightfully) deemed too dangerous.

Chronos leader partnered Creed with Train Heartnet, the world's best gunfighter and the other candidate for becoming Chrono Number. In these times Train (who had been raised by his parents' murderer) hated the entire word and trusted none but himself, looking only for power. This state of mind coupled with Train's supreme fighting skills made a very strong expression on Creed, who came to regard him as his equal, both in term of strenght and hatred, despite Train not caring the slightest about him. They teamed up for about a month, before Train was appointed as the Chrono Number XIII.

During three years, Train became known worldwide as the "Black Cat," the "bringer of bad luck," and grew to become the world's strongest and most feared warrior, superior to the Chrono Number I Sephiria Arks herself. All this fueled Creed's fascination for his former partner. From then on, the demented swordsman kept working as Chronos' best (regular) eraser, hoping that one day he would once again team up with Train.

However, Creed despised Chronos. At some point, he started to hold a grudge against the Number X Ash, whom he fought and killed. From then on, he defected from Chronos and went into hidding, as he was now on the mighty organization's black list.

No one knows if it was before or after defecting from Chronos, but two years before the start of the manga, Creed came in the town where Train lived. There, he found out that Train had gotten acquainted with a sweeper (bounty hunter) named Saya Minatsuki. The lively young woman has become Train's best friend after saving his life, and she was teaching him how to enjoy life, something Train has forgotten since his parent's murder. Creed was extremely displeased by this. He called Saya a "witch" who "made Train weak." Thus, Creed resolved to "lift the spell" by killing Saya and he viciously attacked her one night, while Train was away. Saya fought on par with Creed, but she got distracted by three children whom Creed tried to kill. Saya saved the children at the cost of her life, and managed to break the blade of Creed's katana. Train ultimately arrived and beat Creed down, but it was too late and Creed fled, telling him that one day he would realize that he killed Saya to save him.

After Saya's death, Train defected from Chronos to live his life "free as a stray cat" and he became sweeper. As for Creed, he got in touch with two Tao Masters from the faraway continent of Yamto. These Taoists named Shiki and Maro wanted to overthrow Chronos (which almost wiped out their clan 20 years prior) and chose Creed as their leader, granting him a power of Tao. Creed and his newfound allies, spent the two next years to recruit Tao wielding followers from all over the world, building a secret organization of their own, which they called the Apostles of the Star.

Personality
The first and foremost thing to keep in mind about Creed is that he is completely mad! He is a bloodthirsty murderer who kills as naturally as he breathes and enjoys battles to no end. He will slay even his own followers without hesitation, simply because they disobeyed him, lacked respect or ceased to please him. The suffering he endured during his childhood caused him to fiercely hate the entire world but he doesn't seek revenge or anything like this, he simply hates and kills.

Creed is also deeply narcissit and megalomaniac. He cares about nothing but himself, and he considers himself superior to everyone in every way. As such, he wants to become immortal in order to remain perfect forever. Creed considers that he is the only one right in the world, and he is convinced that those who disagree with him simply don't understand the truth. When things doesn't go the way he wants, he fabricates absurd explanations that follows his way, instead of questioning himself. This delusion is so strong that he doesn't understand why people such as Train hold a grudge against him. Creed considers that if he thinks something, none can think otherwise and doesn't hesitate to eliminate any contradiction. Nothing infuriates him more than a persistent opposition. However, deep down in his heart, he knows when he cannot bend a will to his own, and this only infuriates him more.

Creed is obsessed with power and talent. He regards regular people as mere trash, and he despises even more people who have done nothing to deserve their political influence but who take it for granted. (Chronos' executives and leaders being the best example.) Creed wants a world where only gifted and obedient people can live, and plans to select them one by one, killing anyone whom he would deem unworthy of living. To put it simply, he wants the entire world to revolve around him and to fit his demented ideals of perfection. He doesn't only care about fighting skills though, and he considers any talent worthy. But he only regards even his strongest and most devoted followers as pawns, and he rarely considers their objections.

Train Heartnet is the only one whom Creed truly respects. He considers him as his only friend and his dearest wish is to have Train rule the world by his side. Back when they were partners, he was not only fascinated by Train's astonishing skills but also by his hatred of the entire world, that mirrored Creed's own. Creed felt that Train was exactly like him, and that he would be the only one who could understand him. But unfortunately for him, this wasn't Train's true personality, but rather a shell that he built during all those years of loneliness. This shell would eventually be shattered by Saya Minatsuki, much to Creed's dismay. Creed is persuaded that the ruthless killer is Train's true personna and he would stop at nothing to restore it. To do so, he is determined to destroy anything that's part of his new life, hoping that it would drag Train back to his killer's life, even if there is no hope right from the start.

Despite all this, Creed is a refined person, who remains calm and down to earth as long as he is in a good mood. He enjoys luxury and refined foods, and he lives in opulent manors and castles. When he interacts with people he deems worthy, even if they are enemies, he acts with smiling and courteous manners. He also enjoys doing casual jokes, that people rarely likes. Creed is clever and knowledgeable; He knows what he needs, he knows how to use it and he never underestimates his opponents, only making his move only when he has all cards in hand, or where he has at least one backup plan. Yet, when he has all cards in hands he gets so overconfident that he will even reveal the only weakness he has left, because he is convinced that none can defeat him even by knowing his weak point.

Power and Abilities
"There is nobody other than him who is capable of stopping me. The Black Cat of course." - Creed Diskenth Even before being granted the power of Tao, Creed was already a highly skilled warrior with a level matching that of any Chrono Number. (With the exceptions of number I, II and XIII.) His weapon of choice is a "Kotetsu" katana, which he wields with incredible proficiency, being without a doubt one of the world's best swordfighter, second only to Number I Sephiria Arks herself. He his naturally highly fast and agile, being able to jump atop a buiding without effort and to fight normally even with a bullet in the leg.

When Creed drank Shiki's Shinkito (a potion that reveals the dormant Tao powers and kills those who don't have one) he gained a power of Tao. He also gained the regular Ki-based abilities that come with a power of Tao: namely to feel people's ki to detect their location in a close perimeter, and to use his ki to increase his own speed and strenght. However he is never seen using these abilities and he is already fast and strong enough not to need it.

Creed's power is called Imagine Blade. (Sometimes translated Phantom Blade.) By concentrating his ki on the hilt of his sword, he can create a blade made of solidified ki that can slice through almost anything, as if the cells were separated. This blade is linked to his mind and its full power remains dormant during most of the story. When Creed is submitted to a particularly strong emotion, his blade evolves and gains a new, stronger form. Creed then becomes able to switch between his blade's different forms as he pleases, but he almost always fights with the strongest available.

At Level 1, Creed's Imagine Blade looks like a regular katana blade, albeit invisible. Creed can materialize the blade so that people can see it, but he rarely does so. Thus, the blade can only be detected by reading through Creed's movements, the position of the hilt or the air it makes move. Creed can control the lenght and the sharpness of the blade. (He can extend it to a maximum of 80 meters.) He is also able to channel his ki through the blade and use it to send invisible waves of slicing energy.

At Level 2, the Imagine Blade looks like a huge scimitar with a demonic face. The sword is (fortunately) no longer invisible, but it is still linked to Creed's mind and it gains a limited sentience that enables it to move by its own accord. The Imagine Blade Level 2 obeys Creed's every command and sychronizes with his emotions, smiling and laughing according to Creed's humor. The blade can be extended and distorted, enabling Creed to strike from unpredictable sides. It can also bite Creed's foes and swallow their projectiles to spit them back at them with equal strenght. With this blade, Creed gain access to a dangerous attack where he smashes the ground and sends a blade-like wave of slicing energy across the ground.

The Imagine Blade Level 3 is only revealed during the final fight between Creed and Train. In this form, Creed fuses with his sword, which becomes part of his right arm, and gains a third eye and a demonic arm. (In fact, Creed still holds the hilt of his sword and the ki it produces envelopps his arm under a solid shape.) In this form, Creed's speed, agility and strenght skyrocket and his attacks become stronger than ever. He becomes able to cut an entire terrace in half and make it collapse with is blade-like wave, and to destroy two bullets with a single sword strike, faster than the eye can see.

Not only Creed can extand and distort his sword, he is now able to increase its size along its length and to reshape it. He can also increase the size and distort the shape of his demonic arm, which gives him two weapons in one! Creed wields this arm like a normal one, but one with a strenght way over that of Creed's regular body. Creed uses it to deliver extremely strong punches and claw swipes. He also uses it to grab things and propels himself, or to grab his opponents and toss them violently on the ground. Creed's attacks create so much pressure that blocking them becomes close to impossible, and he synchronizes the swords strikes and the arm attacks, so that he can hit his foes with one, right after they dodged the other.

When Creed calls forth his full might, the Imagine Blade becomes a gigantic, house-sized blade of pure energy, reminiscent to the Imagine Blade Level 2. With one strike of this blade, Creed can easily obliterate almost everything that stand before him.

Very early in the story, Creed gets injected with healing nanomachines that make him recover at a very fast rate. At the moment of the final battle, he got injected with nanomachines called the "God Bless" that make him immortal. With these nanomachines he will no longer age and he can recover from any injury (even a sliced neck or a severed limb) in the blink of an eye. Thus, he becomes an immortal "God." As a God, he can only be killed by injuring his brain, the only thing that the "God Bless" cannot restore. He can also be defeated by destroying the Imagine Blade, which would shatter his ki and his own spirit along.

Aside from his Tao power and his fighting skills, Creed is a capable spy, able to come up with decent disguises and to act with remarkable stealth. Creed is also more skilled in strategy than meet the eye. He knows full well Chronos' immense network of informations, and can use it as well. Moreover, he is a skilled orator who managed to convince many people from different horizons to join his cause, and to enlist the financial help of many wealthy criminals. Thanks to this financial support, and probably thanks to the fortune of many of his "sponsors" that he killed, Creed has gained considerable wealth, which enabled him to purchase many residences all over the world and to invest huge amounts of money into scientific research in the field of nanomachines. The anime even depicts him as a talented piano player, who can play the "Presto," the third movement of the sonata in C minor by Giovanni Pescetti without fault.

Role in Black Cat
In the manga, Creed is first seen speaking with the arm dealer Torneo Rudman. During this scene, neither his face nor his name are shown. His name is revealed when Train and his sweeper partner Sven Vollfield defeat Torneo and save Eve, a young girl with nanomachines inside her body that allow her to transform at will, whom Torneo was using as a human weapon. Upon hearing Creed's name, Train gets overcome with fury and he orders Torneo to tell everything about him. Torneo appears to be one the sponsors of Creed's group, the "Apostles of the Star," and he shared with him the results of his experiments with nanomachines. Later, Creed and his second-in-command Shiki have Torneo killed.

Creed then abducts Rinslet Walker, a famous thief for hire and a recent acquaintance of Train, while Shiki tells Train that Creed will await him at the Lunafort Tower, with a hostage who will get killed if he doesn't come. Enraged, Train takes back his old Chrono Number's black coat and goes to the meeting, intending to kill Creed, to avenge Saya, and destroy the last link that binds him to his foul past. Train is greeted by Creed, who tells him that he spent the last two years building a group of Tao wielding fighters whose power rivals that of the Chrono Numbers themselves. Creed plans to take down Chronos and rule the world, and he wants Train to join his group. Trains responds by demanding a one on one fight. Creed accepts at the condition that if he were to win, Train would join the Apostles of the Star. Creed then uses his invisible Imagine Blade and drives Train into a corner, but Train ultimately sacrifices his right hand to shoot Creed in the stomach with an explosive bullet.

Later, Creed is saved by Shiki and he orders Doctor, one of his followers who can heal wounds, to find Train and to give him back his severed right hand. Doctor does as ordered and Train asks him to tell Creed that he'll make him regret healing his arm. Doctor later injects Creed with healing nanomachines and puts him into an artficial coma. Creed is seen again at the end of volume 3, not yet fully healed.

Some time later, Creed who has now recovered calls all his followers, in order to declare war to the entire world. The Apostles of the Star goes to Sanzers City (the Black Cat counterpart of New York) for the World Conference: an international meeting that gathers twenty of the most powerful state leaders, with seven of Chronos' highest-ranking executives among them. The Apostles slaughter anyone, from the soldiers to the politicians, before taking their leave. Hearing this, the Elders of Chronos order the Chrono Numbers to make the anihilation of the Apostles of the Star their absolute priority. The Chrono Numbers I and II, Sephiria Arks and Belze Rochefort pays Train, Sven and Eve a visit, telling them that Chronos put a 3 billion yen bounty on Creed's head. But surprisingly, Train seems to have come into terms with his past, and while he is still determined to defeat Creed with his own hands, he is no longer interested in rushing after him. Meanwhile, Creed and his group travels around the world, destroying several of Chronos' suborganizations.

Shortly after the Numbers visit, Train defeats Duram, a crazed gunfighter, member of the Apostles of the Stars, who wants to prove that he is the world's strongest gunman and that Train is only the second. Duram then returns to the Apostles' hideout where he confesses what he have done. Irked by his insubordination and by his desire to kill Train, Creed kills Duram, which prompts Sharden, one of the Apostles, to doubt about Creed's motives.

In the volume 8, the Apostles of the Stars are hiding in a castle in the mountains, near the city of Stoke Town. Many bounty hunters manage to track him down but most of them are killed and the others are used as guinea pigs for Doctor's experiment on nanomachines. Sephiria Arks then sends the group Cerberus, consisting of the Numbers V, VII and XI to eliminate him and uses Rinslet Walker as a bait. Shiki's insects spies spot Rinslet, and Creed has her brought into his castle. The Numbers then follow her and storm into the castle, managing to escape after a short skirmish against three Apostles. Creed greets them, holding Rinslet hostage and forces them to fight a brainwashed bounty hunter, whom Doctor transformed into a shape-shifting, werewolf monster, thanks to special nanomachines called the "Lucifer." The numbers manage to kill the werewolf and engage a fight against Creed, who is helped by several Apostles.

After a little while, Train enter the castle and joins the fight, "guided" by some Chrono Numbers. Overjoyed, Creed believes that Train has come to join his side but Train answers by shooting him. After a few shots, Train grabs Rinslets and departs, stating that he doesn't have anything to do in the conflict between the Apostles of the Star and the Chrono Numbers. Distraught, Creed discovers the Imagine Blade Level 2, which he uses to attack the Chrono Numbers, while the Apostles exits the castle which is about to be blown up. Creed gets rescued by Echidna, an Apostle of the Star who can travel through space, but not before Jenos, the Number VII manages to sever Creed's left arm. Then the castle explodes. Belouga, the Number XI is dead, Naizer the Number V was critically wounded in the figth, and Sharden and another Apostle named Kyoko have defected from the Apostles of the Star, while Creed and Echidna have taken shelter in a doctor's house. (Creed later kills the unfortunate doctor.)

The following day, Creed finds Train's whereabout. He convinces himself that if he kills Train's partners, Train would lose what makes him a bounty hunter and would then join his side. Creed and Echidna set a trap to drag Sven and Eve in a Church, where Creed attacks Sven and tries to talk Eve into the Apostles of the Star. Creed then changes his mind and decides to turn Sven into a monster by shooting him with a bullet full of "Lucifer" nanomachines. Train comes in in the last second and block the bullet with his arm, before punching Creed in the face because he just cannot stand to see it. Creed departs with Echidna, and Train is later turned into a child by the nanomachines.

While Train, Sven and Eve goes to find the word's greatest nanotechnician, Dr Tearju (who happens to have created Eve from her own DNA) who would be able to revert Train's transformation. Meanwhile, the Apostles of the Star contact Dr Tearju and ask her to create nanomachines that would make Creed immortal. Dr Tearju ultimately rejects the Apostle's offer and she helps Train to transform back into an adult. Trains transforms back and he gains the ability to turn his gun into a Rail Gun (an electricity powered gun able to fire extremely fast and devastating bullets) in the process. Train uses his newfound power to save Dr Tearju from the Apostles of the Stars, who stole her knowledge and were about to get rid of her.

Later, the Chrono Numbers, who discovered the Apostles of the Stars' main hideout on Clarken Island, had the Lin Shao Lee, the new Number X, using a false identity to recruit many very skilled bounty hunters. (Including Train, Sven and Eve.) The Number's Plan is to send the newly formed Sweeper's League on Clarken Island to distract the Apostle of the Star, while Sephiria Arks and several other Numbers would sneak into Creed's manor and Sephiria would engage a one on one swordfight against Creed.

The sweepers land on Clarken Island and engage a series of fight against the Apostles of the Star and Creed's regular soldiers. Train and his friends manage to take down almost every Apostle one by one, but every other sweeper ends up forced to withdraw at one point or another. Upon entering Creed' manor, Train and his friends meet the villain in person, who wanted to speak to Train. Creed asks Train if he has come to avenge Saya like the other time, but Train tells him that he is here to capture him and to end his madness once and for all. Horrified, Creed laments that Train was totally "swallowed by that witch's spell." Creed then departs, telling Train that he will "save his soul" by all means even if it means killing him.

Creed orders his remaining followers to give everything they have in the fight, hoping that this would turn back Train into a ruthless killer. In the ensuing fights, two of the remaining bounty hunters get brainwashed and two other get severly wounded, leaving only Train, Sven and Eve. While the Chrono Numbers help the wounded sweepers to get out safely, Sephiria manages to reach Creed and challenges him to a fight.

The world's two strongest swordfighters then do battle, but in spite of her superior skills, Sephiria cannot kill Creed, who became immortal thanks to special nanomachines called the "God Bless," that even gave him back his left arm. Sephiria deals two lethal wounds, but the demented anarchist recovers in a matter of seconds. He then wounds Sephiria several times, before telling him about his new "godhood" and about the only weak point he has left: his brain. Sephiria then unleashes Apocalypse: her most devastating attack and reduces Creed to ashes... Or so she thinks. This near-death experiences activates the Imagine Blade Level 3, which Creed uses to escape Apocalypse by hiding under the floor. He then reverts to the Level 2 and defeats Sephiria, preparing to land the coup de grâce. Unbeknowst to him however, Sephiria is ready to die. She wears a explosive bangle which will detonate with her last breath and damage Creed's brain.

Meanwhile, Echidna unleashes the Phantom Star Brigade, several of Creed's soldiers wich were turned into powerful cyborgs thanks to the nanomachines. Only Train is allowed to enter Creed's private quarters, while Sven, Eve and the Numbers must fight against the cyborgs. Train arrives just in time to save Sephiria's life, saying that he has come to "bring Creed bad luck." The hour of the final battle has come.

"Degraded as you are, you're still the Black Cat, the only man in this world I respected... That's why I can't forgive you!!" - Creed Diskenth (to Train Heartnet)

Creed reverts to the Imagine Blade Level 1, but now that he knows the invisible blade's secret Train is able to detect it by reading Creed's movements and he easily lands a blow. Creed then recovers, tells Train about his immortality and attacks him with the Imagine Blade Level 2, giving Train a hard time.

In the Anime
In the anime, Creed first appears as an eraser for Chronos. He meets Shiki and gains his power of Tao before killing Saya and the Number X Ash, and he defects from Chronos some time later.