"You may call me Kanto, and I am great Darkseid's personal assassin."
-- Kanto
This blog is the first in a long line of Respect Threads I intend to make about the New Gods of DC, starting with the infamous planet of Apokolips. Out of all of the New Gods of Apokolips, I feel Kanto is the most underappreciated so my first thread in this series will be about him.
Note 1: This is best viewed in blog format
Note 2: I will include prefixes to show if a feat is {Post-Crisis}, [New 52] or (Rebirth).
Durability
{Post-Crisis}Kanto survives getting stabbed in the back by Count Vertigo:
{Post-Crisis}Kanto survives getting thrown a vast distance away, by Superman:
{Post-Crisis}Kanto keeps fighting against Martian Manhunter after a punch to the face, although a kick floors him:
Strength
{Post-Crisis}Kanto easily overpowers Virman Vundabar:
{Post-Crisis}Kanto, just after escaping gruesome torture, and a good few centuries before his prime, destroys a door and sends several soldiers flying:
{Post-Crisis}Kanto, while still Iluthin, knocks back Kanto-13, Darkseid's elite assassin, with a kick:
{Post-Crisis}Kanto tears Lashina's whips off him. These whips are strong enough to restrain solid mid-tiers like Wonder Girl, Superboy and the Supergirl Matrix, and durable enough to tank heat vision:
Speed
{Post-Crisis}Iluthin, while still training under Granny Goodness, moves so fast that he clears the entire gauntlet of Granny's orphanage(besides Kanto-13 who cheapshots him before he can finish):
This feat even impressed Darkseid, as it was unheard of before Kanto had done it:
{Post-Crisis}Kanto swings his blade so fast he creates an "impenetrable net of steel" and blocks Kanto-13's blaster fire:
{Post-Crisis}Kanto outspeeds Kanto-13, dodging all of his attacks and appearing as a blur:
{Post-Crisis}Kanto easily evades all of Artemis' attacks:
Equipment
Kanto, as an assassin, has a wide array of unique weaponry.
{Post-Crisis}Starting with the basics, he has exploding knives:
{Post-Crisis}Has a sonic weapon that can drive hundreds of people insane:
A blaster that's powerful enough to stun Barda(this is technically Pre-Crisis, but I'll include it for the hell of it):
{Post-Crisis}Has gear that can short-circuit and depower other machinery(this is possibly a Mega-Rod):
{Post-Crisis}Kanto has a specific weapon called the "Fireball Protocol", which essentially generates orbs of flame that physically and telepathically torture the target(this was designed, not surprisingly, for Martian Manhunter):
His most frequently used weapons are his blades, however. Kanto's blades are transdimensional, which means they can even cut through intangible foes:
{Post-Crisis}Kanto defeats Martian Manhunter by using his blades(although J'onn at the time was caught off-guard since he didn't know about their properties):
[New 52]Kanto has a Mother Box built in to his knife:
[New 52]The knife, when thrown, can change it's course according to the will of the user, sort of like Thor's Mjolnir or Artemis' Mistress. Kanto uses this feature to defeat Mister Miracle:
Skill
Accolades
{Post-Crisis}Kanto is Darkseid's personal assassin, and thus is a member of his elite:
{Post-Crisis}Kanto is a master of weaponry:
[New 52]Mister Miracle admits that Kanto can kill him:
[New 52]Mister Miracle considers Kanto the biggest threat out of Darkseid's elite, and urges Cyborg not to engage him:
Feats
{Post-Crisis}Kanto has remarkable knife throwing skills:
{Post-Crisis}Kanto knows a sting that could take people out for hours, and uses it to put DeSaad to sleep:
{Post-Crisis}Kanto contends with, but ultimately is defeated by, Martian Manhunter:
{Post-Crisis}Kanto stomps Count Vertigo with a knife throw. Kanto also notes he's been trained to deal with spacial distortion:
{Post-Crisis}Kanto defeats Artemis(it's possible he used his sting here):
{Post-Crisis}Iluthin forces Kanto-13 to flee, with just a few moves:
I need to explain why this is so impressive. Before Iluthin took it, Kanto wasn't a name -- it was a title, given to Darkseid's most capable assassin. Kanto-13 was the thirteenth assassin so far who had earned this title, meaning he defeated Kanto-12, who in turn surpassed Kanto-11, who was better than Kanto-10, etc. etc. Kanto, upon defeating and finally killing Kanto-13, was given the title without the need of a number, implying Darkseid thought him unsurpassed amongst the assassins of Apokolips. What I'm saying is: Kanto is the greatest assassin who ever served Darkseid(that we're aware of, anyways). Speaking of assassination...
Assassination/Stealth
As Darkseid's personal killer, Kanto is primarily known for his cunning and stealth(and willingness to cheapshot opponents).
{Post-Crisis}Iluthin poisons Kanto-13, killing his former mentor and taking his name:
{Post-Crisis}Kanto takes out Artemis:
{Post-Crisis}Kanto has telepathic resistance, capable of sneaking up on even Martian Manhunter:
{Post-Crisis}Kanto at one point trapped J'onn in a construct that essentially made him body-hop from one of his former identities to another, which made him easier to kill. MMH survived, of course, but still putting him in such a disadvantageous position is a good feat of intelligence for Kanto:
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