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 gained the power of Tao, before creating his own terrorist organization, the Apostles of the Star, bent on destroying Chronos and reshape the world. 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 intensely abused him. She constantly insulted him, hit him and blamed him for everything wrong in her life. He later ended up living in the streets, picking "food" in bins and being beaten down without reason by policemen. All these ill treatments drove Creed to insanity and gave him a fierce hatred towards the entire world. (The anime implies that he murdered his mother, though this seems less likely in the manga.)

Some time later, Creed was taken in the ranks of Chronos: a secret organization that controls one third of the world's economy and politic from the shadows. There, he was trained to become one of Chronos' countless erasers. (assassins) Over the years, Creed developed a swordplay beyond human's level, and became one of Chronos' top-class erasers. Therefore, the Elders 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. However, Creed's bloodlust, insanity and desire for power were (rightfully) deemed too dangerous.

The Elders 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," 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. Meanwhile, the demented swordsman kept working as Chronos' best (regular) eraser. However, Creed utterly despised Chronos' leaders. At some point, he killed the Chrono Number X Ash, whom he disliked. From then on, he defected from Chronos and went into hidding.

Two years before the start of the story, Creed came in the town where Train lived. There, he found out that Train had befriended a sweeper (bounty hunter) named Saya Minatsuki. The lively young woman 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 attacked her one night. 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 "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 25 years prior) and chose Creed as their leader, granting him a power of Tao. Creed and his newfound allies spent the next two years recruiting Tao wielding followers from all over the world, building a secret organization of their own, which they called the Apostles of the Star.

Personality
"In a battle, there is no such word as under-handed" - Creed Diskenth

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, because they disobeyed him or simply ceased to please him. The sufferings he endured as a child caused him to hate the entire world but he doesn't seek revenge or anything like this, he simply hates and kills.

Creed is also deeply narcistic 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, he is convinced that those who disagree with him simply don't understand the truth, and he never hesitates to eliminate any contradiction. 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. 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 talent. He regards regular people as mere trash, and he despises even more people who have done nothing to deserve a political influence that they take for granted. Creed wants a world where only gifted people who obey him can live, and plans to select them one by one, killing anyone whom he would deem unworthy. 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 to its rightful worth. But he only regards his followers as pawns, and if he values their strength and listen to their advices, he rarely considers their objections.

Train Heartnet is the only one whom Creed truly respects. 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 power 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. A shell that Saya Minatsuki would break, much to Creed's dismay. Creed is persuaded that the ruthless killer is Train's true persona and he would stop at nothing to restore it, even if there is no hope right from the start.

Despite all this, Creed is a very charismatic and refined person. He enjoys luxury 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. Creed is also clever and knowledgeable; He knows what he needs, he knows how to use it and he rarely 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 confronted to an opponent he admires, he may reveal his weaknesses to make things more interesting.

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 gained a power of Tao, he also gained the regular Ki-based abilities that come with it: 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. 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.

Imagine Blade level 1
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. 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.

Imagine Blade level 2
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 sychronizes with Creed's emotions, smiling and laughing according to Creed's humor. The blade moves with extreme speed and 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 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.

Imagine Blade level 3
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, strenght and power skyrocket. He becomes able to cut an entire terrace in half and make it collapse with his blade-like energy 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 and to reshape it. The same goes with his demonic arm. Creed wields this arm like a normal one, but one with a strenght way over that of Creed's regular body. Creed mostly uses it to grab things and propels himself, to grab his opponents and toss them violently on the ground, or to throw large pieces of ruble. 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 is injected with healing nanomachines that make him recover at a very fast rate. At the moment of the final battle, he got injected nanomachines called the "God Bless" that make him immortal. With these nanomachines, he no longer ages 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 such, he can only be killed by injuring his brain, the only thing that the "God Bless" cannot restore.

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 knows Chronos' immense network of informations like the back of his hand, and he 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, as well as a skilled paintor.

Role in Black Cat
In the manga, Creed's name is revealed when Train and his sweeper partner Sven Vollfield defeat the arm dealer Torneo Rudman, and save Eve, a young girl with nanomachines inside her body that enable 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 goes to the meeting, intending to kill Creed, in order to avenge his late friend Saya. 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 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 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. Then, the Chrono Numbers I and II, Sephiria Arks and Belze Rochefort pays Train, Sven and Eve a visit, telling them that Chronos has labelled Creed as a Double S class criminal and put a 3 billion yen bounty on his head. But surprisingly, Train seems to have come to terms with his past, and while he is still determined to defeat Creed by his own hand, 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 Durham, a crazed gunfighter, member of the Apostles of the Stars, who wants to prove that he is the world's strongest gunman. Irked by his insubordination and by his desire to kill Train, Creed later kills Durham, 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 those who aren't killed serve 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. Creed has Rinslet brought into his castle. The Numbers then follow her and storm into the castle. Creed greets them, holding Rinslet hostage and forces them to fight a brainwashed bounty hunter, whom Doctor transformed into a shape-shifting werewolf, 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 the Chrono Number X. 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, and uses it against 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 his left arm is severed in the fight. The castle explodes and Creed and Echidna take 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 at the last second and block the bullet with his arm, before punching Creed in the face. Creed ultimately departs with Echidna, and Train is later turned into a child by the nanomachines.

Train, Sven and Eve goes to find the word's greatest nanotechnician, Dr Tearyu Lunatic, (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 Tearyu and ask her to create nanomachines that would make Creed immortal. She ultimately rejects the Apostle's offer and 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 Tearyu 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, have Number X using a false identity to recruit many powerful bounty hunters. (Including Train, Sven and Eve.) The Numbers plan to send the newly formed Sweeper's League on Clarken Island to distract the Apostles of the Star, while Sephiria Arks would sneak into Creed's manor and engage a one on one swordfight against Creed.

On Clarken Island, 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 as he did last time, but Train tells him that he is here to capture him as a sweeper. Horrified, Creed laments that Train was totally "swallowed by that witch's spell." Creed then departs, telling Train that he'd rather see him dead than see him the way he is now.

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. Sephiria deals two lethal wounds, but the demented anarchist recovers in a matter of seconds, because of his new "God Bless" nanomachines that makes him immortal. (The "God Bless" even gave him back his left arm.) Creed wounds Sephiria, before telling him about his new "godhood" and the only weak point he has left: his brain. Sephiria then unleashes Apocalypse (her most devastating attack) and reduces Creed to dust... Or so she thinks. This near-death experience activates the Imagine Blade Level 3, which Creed uses to escape Apocalypse by hiding under the floor at the very last second. He then reverts to the Level 2 and defeats Sephiria, preparing to land the coup de grâce. Unbeknowst to him however, Sephiria wears a explosive bangle which would detonate with her last breath and destroy his 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 "deliver bad luck to Creed." The hour of the final battle has come.

Final Battle and conclusion
"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 starts the fight with his Imagine Blade Level 1. However, Train is now able to detect it by reading Creed's movements and he strikes his enemy with his gun. Creed then recovers, telling Train about his immortality and his weak point. Creed attacks with the Imagine Blade Level 2, determined to kill Train in order to "save his soul." He drives Train into a corner, but the young sweeper manages to hit him with Saya's signature technique: the Reflect Shot. (bouncing bullets) Infuriated by this attack and by Train's refusal to kill him, Creed reveals his ultimate form, the Imagine Blade Level 3. Given his immortality, the sheer strenght of his attacks and Train's weakened state from his previous battles, Creed gains the upper hand. Train then decides to destroy the Imagine Blade, which would shatter Creed's spririt and defeat him.

Train combines all his remaining electric power with an explosive bullet, in order to create the Burst Rail Gun, the most powerful attack he can muster. Infuriated, Creed calls forth his Imagine Blade at its maximum level and prepares to obliterate him. As the two attack collide, the Imagine Blade ultimately disintegrates, shattering Creed's power and spirit along with it. As they are about to fall from the manor's roof, both Creed and Train are rescued by Leon, a wind-wielding Apostle of the Star, whom Eve defeated and who witnessed the entire fight.

Creed later wakes up, conscious but unable to move, and Eve uses her nanomachines to destroy his "God Bless" ones and revert him back to a mortal state. As he pleas Train to kill him so that he wouldn't be a "mere" human again and asks him why he doesn't understand his hatred for a world that mistreated them, Train tells him that he musts live on as a human and bear the weight of his crimes for the rest of his life, like he himself did. He then allows Echidna to depart with him.

Having been proved wrong through his own logic, Creed ends up confined in a wheelchair in a nearly vegetative state, under Echidna's care. Now that the Apostles of the Star have been disbanded and that Creed is reduced to the state of powerlessness he despised so much, the former terrorist has his entire life left to reflect on his past and his mistakes.

In the Anime
In the anime, Creed first appears as an eraser for Chronos.

Creed meets Shiki and Maro when he still is an eraser, and they begin to create the Apostles of the Star while Train still serves as a Chrono Number. Creed later betrays Chronos and kills the Number X Ash. He tries to make Train joining his side before he kills Saya, and it is Train, not Saya who breaks the blade of his katana. Creed also kills Number X and Saya after he gained his power of Tao.

The rest of the story is more or less the same as in the manga, but Creed is portrayed as even more demented and obsessed with Train. It must be noted that Creed has gained immortality during the time gap between his defection from Chronos and the creation of the Apostles of the Star. Creed and Train meet again during the Apostles' attack of the World Conference, because Creed broadcasted an "invitation" instead of luring him to the Lunafort tower wih an hostage. If Train manages to wound Creed in the stomach when they meet again, Creed heals immediatly thanks to the "God Bless," which are never mentioned. Also, contrary to the manga, each time they meet Train attacks Creed with the intent of killing him. It is only during the showdown in the castle than Train finally chooses the safety of his friends over his revenge.

Creed spends almost the entire war of Clarken Island playing piano, not caring the slightest about anyone but Train. He later fights against Sephiria, and he once again defeats thanks to his nanomachines of immortality, but his Imagine Blade Level 2 does all the fighting while he is busy playing piano. Train later uses the Orichalcum bullet that Sephiria gave himto defeat Creed, and Sephiria helps him by stabbing Creed in the back while Train attack from the front.

In the anime, when Creed loses his nanomachines of immortality, he apparently recovers his sanity. This reformation is symbolized by the fact that he is now seen with white roses in his hand instead or red ones. In the anime, Creed's crippled state is short lived and he and Echidna take part in the battle against the Zero Number and "Eden." Apparently the Apostles of the Star and the Zero Number were in contact from the very beginning and worked together. (The Zero Numbers may even have manipulated Creed and the Apostles.)

Creed, who knew about the "Eden" project manages to sneak into "Eden" alongside Echidna (likely thanks to Echidna's power) as Train and Sven are fighting the leader of the Zero Numbers, Mason Ordrosso. Creed takes over the battle, allowing Train and Eve to go ahead. Creed is later saved when Echidna takes one of Mason's attack for him. After "Eden" and the Zero Numbers are destroyed, Creed is seen living with Echidna in a chalet in mountain, where he is painting a landscape.

No one really knows however if he retained his power of Tao or if he simply fought against Mason with a regular katana.

Balthus Dire 11:06, July 16, 2010 (UTC)