Ganzer Lejick is a minor villain from the manga Black Cat and its anime adaptation. He is disturbed and violent serial killer who gained a power of Tao without bothering to train and totally lost his mind. He makes a stark contrast with the Apostles of the Star, who master their powers perfectly.
Background
Ganzer was once a talented yet sadistic boxer, who enjoyed since his early childhood to kill small animals, a "game" he called "hunting". One day, he accidentally killed a thug in a bar fight and was arrested by Sven Vollfield, one of the three main protagonists who worked back then as a secret agent. Ganzer was sentenced to 40 years of labour, but he managed to escape jail a few months before the start of the story.
While hiding, Ganzer was visited by Creed Diskenth, Charden Flamberg and Kyoko Kirisaki. They gave him a vial of Shinkito, a potion able to reveal someone's power of Tao, and offered him to join them should he have one.
Characteristics
Ganzer at full might.
Ganzer gained the power "Muscle". He can increase his muscles and magnify his already impressive strength to enormous levels. He can even harden his muscles to serve as a shield. When using all his power, he turns into a hulking mass of muscles with extreme destructive power. With this power of Tao, Ganzer also gained the ability to locate people by sensing their ki.
While always violent, sadistic and a bit disturbed, gaining such a power made him completely insane, addicted to the thrill of murders and revelling in causing fright. He delusionally fancies himself as one of the mightiest warriors alive, while he is without a doubt the weakest Tao-wielder of the entire series.
Indeed Ganzer wields the most limited of all powers of Tao, which offers the least possibilities and prevents him from developing special techniques, reflecting his brutal and straightforward fighting style. Even worse, he never bothered to train his power or to learn how to use his ki, which would ultimately lead to his downfall.
Role in the Story
Ganzer came to Rubeck City and started slaughtering its population, making more than 30 victims and frightening the civilians into hiding at home all day, turning it into a ghost-town. The mayor, Carl Walken, sent the entire police force after him, but this only increased Ganzer's body count. Being a superior of Chronos, Carl calls his former protégé Train Heartnet, the main protagonist and most powerful warrior alive, asking for his help as a bounty hunter and promising a reward of 15 million yens to get rid of Ganzer., Carl could get in touch with his former protégé Train Heartnet, the main protagonist and most powerful warrior alive, known as the Black Cat. Carl asked Train's help as a bounty hunter, promising him a reward of 15 million yens to get rid of Ganzer.
Charden and Kyoko search for Ganzer to recruit him. The maniacal murderer violently punches the ground (without even making them flinch) before recognizing them. But he has no intention of keeping his part of the bargain, as he is having too much fun by now, and tells them to forget about him and leave, lest he attacks them as well. As he is taunting Kyoko, stating that he would love to hear her cry (not knowing that she could reduce him to ashes with little effort), Charden tells him that they will come back. Charden later states that Ganzer's obsession for "hunting" took over his deranged mind, meaning that would be nothing but a hindrance to them.
Train, Sven and Eve start investigating. Eve offers to serve as a bait, closely watched by Train and Sven, but their target is hiding in the sewers, and captures Eve, who is too afraid to do anything. Train fires on his arm from above, but not to avail and he gets punched into a wall. Sven then rushes into the fight but Ganzer destroys his gun. He then recognizes Sven and expresses his desire of revenge. Sven deduces that Ganzer wields a power of Tao, but Ganzer refuses to give explanations unless he captures him again, and attacks. Train fires an explosive bullet that only grazes him and he escapes in the sewers.
Incensed, Ganzer gathers all his might and attempts to strike his enemies from below, as he can sense their ki and knows exactly where they are. Sven then decides to use his own power, the "Vision Eye", which enables him to foresee the future and allows his team to dodge Ganzer's deadly punches. Upon Sven's advice, Train ends up using a "Freeze Bullet": a bullet filled with liquid nitrogen that freezes his entire body, rendering him unable to move.
Charden and Kyoko, who witnessed the fight, then appear and mock Ganzer for not listening to what they told him. Ganzer ultimately dies from ki overuse, as he spent it carelessly without training during entire weeks, serving as an example of what happens to Tao-wielders who do not train properly.
Role in the Anime
In the anime, Ganzer is quite similar to his manga counterpart, though much more villainous as he only targets women, whom he rapes before killing them. He also remembers Sven very well and is looking for him to kill him. Ganzer was broken out by Charden and Kyoko, who revealed his power of Tao. Ganzer then went to Rubeck City with three cellmates who call him "big brother".
The hunt for Ganzer and his ultimate demise are the same as in the manga, except than Sven must dress up as a woman as a bait. One of Ganzer's followers drinks Shinkito, believing that he will be "invincible" as well but dies due to lacking power to begin with, prompting the other two to flee.
Stray Cat
Ganzer also appears in the short story Stray Cat, which served as a prototype for the series. He appears taller, wearing a trench coat and sunglasses. In this story, Train used to work as a bounty hunter for a secret society of Tao Masters and is now a delivery man alongside Sven; (contrary to the manga where he worked as an assassin and became a bounty hunter).
Train and Sven are tasked to bring back home the runaway daughter of a very rich man who offers them a 5 million yens reward. Said daughter, Sherryl Kenius, is a clumsy and inexperienced bounty hunter wannabe, whom Train saved earlier from two thugs.
Sherryl runs into Ganzer Lejick, still a perverse and psychotic murderer who killed more than 200 persons with his sword. However, he is much calmer, more collected and knowledgeable than his manga counterpart. When Sherryl tries to arrest him for his 12 million yens bounty, he calmly remarks that a gun is useless when the security device is locked, (Sherryl forgot to unlock it) before destroying said gun with a swipe of his sword.
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Train facing Ganzer.
Sherryl only owes her life to Train's intervention, and the young delivery man challenges the serial killer into a fight. Train pulls out his Ki Gun, a special revolver based on a technique of Tao which absorbs its wielder's ki to shoot devastating bullets of pure energy.
Ganzer recognizes the gun as the signature weapon of the legendary Bounty hunter Black Cat, and ironically from someone who dies in the manga from misusing his ki, he warns Train that someone inexperienced will die at once using this weapon. If Ganzer knows the gun and its particularities, he mistook Train for a rookie and gets easily defeated. He manages to dodge Train's first energy blast but Train channels his ki to form a blade, which he use to break Ganzer's sword and Ganzer passes out from the sheer pressure emitted by Train.