Vánagandr/Abilities and Powers

Powers and Abilities
As the leader of the Iron Legion, Vánagandr controls a vast amount of manpower and resources located in the New World. While Vánagandr has only the formal rank of a military commander, not a ruler, he has almost absolute authority of the Kingdom of Midium, exceeded only by his master dr. Weil. Due to the Iron Legion's deep involved in the Underworld, Vánagandr has a throughout knowledge of many of the key events and players in the world geopolitical chess-board.

Believed by his creator to be the “perfect fighter”, Vánagandr is a quintessential war machine, a being who can easily go toe to toe with the strongest creatures in the planet, be they humans, animals, or other androids.

Physical Abilities
hen he underwent to the physical surgery to save his life and repair his broken body, most of his mangled flesh was replaced piece by piece by sturdy metal. Pretty much all his muscles left the place to artificial fibers, his skin put in a cage of connectors and transistors, his inner organs either bolstered by mechanical support or simply removed entirely. It is difficult to assess how much (or little) of his former existence, as the only one with enough technical expertise and ingenuity to maintain his cyborg form is dr. Weil himself. As per any cyborg, he was devised to be far stronger, tougher and sharper than most humans. This process is not something groundbreaking: cyborg implants have been somewhat of a staple in warfare since the times of Dr. Vegapunk, the man credited of transforming Kuma Bartholomew in the first human machine. However, while hybridization between man and machine is certainly implemented, Vánagandr possesses a might which surpass any metallic construct ever conceived in his era.

This is mostly due to the materials his body was rebuilt with. His master had perfected a special alloy, a blend of iron and extraterrestrial material known as the Uskotos, bound together by a reagent called Orichalcum. Both the latter materials are considered substantially more durable than even industrial diamonds, so much that they are employed on a semi-industrial scale by only the richest and powerful people in the planet. Weil had spent years both in meticulously unveiling the deepest secret of metallurgy and planned just as meticulously to obtain the necessary ingredients; so, when he was to time to upgrade Valerius, he spared no expenses.

When it comes to physical capabilities, Vánagandr’s alloys muscled allows him efforts which would be unfathomable for even some of the strongest fighters, and vastly eclipses that of even the most advanced model of Pacifista employed by the World Government. Vánagandr is more than capable of not just destroying but turning mountains in piles of dust with a mere punch, lift off entire chunks of cities exceeding the billions of tons in weight and throwing them away with zero effort, or dissipate hurricanes into nothingness. His punches and kicks carry so much strength and speed within them they are followed enormous gusts of wind pressure, engulfing the enemy whole; if connected, they end with the ignition of large masses of hydrogen, resulting in explosions observable from hundreds of miles away. Rather than mere physical blows, his attacks resemble more high-tier nukes, and are just as capable of completely blow apart targets ranging from human sized enemies to whole islands. Whenever Vánagandr stops holding back, destruction surpassing the most terrifying of natural calamities is ensured to occur, countries are so thoroughly annihilated that not a blade of grass would remain standing; the survivors, if any, are left dreading, paralyzed in awe and terror.

The power of his alloys is expressed also in speed and agility, which is just as important to Vánagandr’s style of combat as his sheer might. He can easily disappear from the line of sight of his enemies, be they men or machines, and attack so fast their nervous system can barely register the blow before shutting down. Even when his movements are captured by high-tech cameras equip to register fractions of milliseconds, they will appear as confused blurs. Since Vánagandr does not share the fear of Devil Fruit users of being drowned in water, he can cross oceans on foot simply by running at high speed and relying on momentum, which he does whenever he desires to reach a place alone, unhindered by the bulk of his stewardship.

Far before he had become a cyborg, Vánagandr was already blessed with supreme nimbleness and coordination, his movement fluid and ungodly precise. The transformation has added a lot off mass to his body, but the power of his metallic muscle is far more than enough to compensate for any kind of imbalance. If anything, his new muscles are so durable and flexible that they do not suffer any amount of strain of over-contraction. As such, the speed and flow of Vánagandr's movements will remain impeccable in virtually all situations, without being subjected to the small biases which hampers ever so slightly the performance of martial artists after hours of toiling effort.

A super-humanly sharp body requires equally lightning fast reflexes and instantaneous ability to process the nearby surrounding. Vánagandr’s mind was already on par with supercomputers when it comes to speed and precision in battle, but now it is aided by two actual processors, connected to Vánagandr’ central nervous system via the cerebellum. These computational devices boost Vanargard’s mental process to a considerable degree, but, even more importantly, can function as crutch, covering any faltering in Vanargard’s conscious mind. Plus, one of this is deputed to help his motor control, giving him a nigh flawless sense of space in even the most confusing predicament.

A refined sense of space, however, means little if one is not able to visualize in clear details the environment. To take full advantage of his computerized nervous system, Vánagandr was endowed with multiple sensor placed in the gasps of his armor. Having been designed to mimic the “|campaniform sensilla”, a natural organ found in his insect which detects strain within the animal cuticle. This artificial sensilla are shaped like domes made of plastic like substance, tailored to be even more sensitive to vibration than the organs insect is endowed with. Because of that, while Vánagandr mechanical armor should prevent him to detect close range signal as effectively as human tactile corpuscles, he is, thank to the sensilla, just as perceptive as the most sensitive human beings. That heightened sensitivity, however, does come with the price of being forced to sense as one was naked all the time; Vánagandr mechanoreactors are also equipped to send signals to his pain. The cyborg has welcomed these changes, as he believes that his robotic resistance would have dulled him sooner of later, while pain makes him sharper and more alive. He could, however, deactivate both sensorial and pain receptors in case of stimuli overload.

While his mechanoreceptors are very powerful, their range is also very limited. To make it up for it, Vánagandr uses a far more precise method to comprehend the surrounding based on radio detection. Placed between his sense, Vánagandr has built thousands of small yet very efficient monostatic radars. By taking advantage of electromagnetically backtracking, Vánagandr has a 360° perception of each and any object in the range of tens of meters, the only exceptions those which can totally absorb radio waves. While they are not quite on par with naval radars, Vánagandr’s receptors are very accurate and highly precise in terms of spatial assessment; they are also tuned to ignore any reflected radiation from Vánagandr himself. This magnificent mechanism is built as extension of Vánagandr’s natural parasympathic system, directly plugged in his neural system. In layman terms, Vánagandr has the ability to perceive incoming harm on a totally unconscious level, with multiple microprocessors speeding up the time of reaction. Adding it to a borderline unnatural fighting instinct, honed through the harshest conflict, these modifications allow Vánagandr to need not to think when responding to incoming dangers. Vánagandr lets his unconscious mind dealing every opponent who is foolish enough to try to take him by surprise, dodging and counterattacking with no effort.

Vánagandr’s “convential” sensorial organs are just as pioneering and effective at tracing preys. Vánagandr’s visor drew his inspiration from the mantis shrimp ocular apparatus, possibly the most complex and versatile vision system ever made by nature. Possessing a number of photoreceptors far surpassing that of a human eye, Vánagandr is capable of perceiving light waves on incredibly wide spectrum, easily grasping frequencies from ultraviolet to infrared. The world to Vánagandr is painted in colors man can not even fathom, grasping invisible things. Vánagandr's eyes are equipped with multiple lenses, which increases the reach and the precision of his sight to a super human degree, above that of a normal telescope in deeper than widening lenses. As far as his auditory system goes, it is also equipped to perceive frequencies of ranges far higher than it is humanly possible. Because of the |Doppler effect, Vánagandr can calculate the distance between himself and moving targets simply by measuring the shifts in wavelength emitted by their sound.

Vánagandr’s armor, easily the most imposing part of his look, is also an outstandingly functional mean of defense. Built by large scales, seamlessly blended together, the gear is made of an incredibly sturdy alloy, matching Vánagandr’s bones and fiber in terms in durability. An unique ingredient, however, was added to the mix: an outer layer of seastone, the most infamous type of metal known in the world of One Piece, as it deprives Devil Fruit users of his power and strength. Because of that, Vánagandr’s lethality is maximized these wielders of otherworldly powers: even the most strenuous physical combatants, who nonetheless have eaten a forbidden fruit (and the upper echelon of the New World is full of these monsters) will find their strength and resilience weakened simply by the touches of the Black Wolf, all the more ripened for a defeat. If we add to debilitating of the sea stone Vánagandr’s already outrageously high strength, it is almost impossible for Devil Fruit wielders to best the Black Wolf in a brawl: either they must rely to an unimaginably strong Haki, or take protecting measures against the seastone just to survive.

Taking this aside, the gear is, by the itself, borderline indestructible. For surpassing almost every material known to man, there is little on Earth who can do so as much as scratching it. From storms of cannonballs to mighty sword slashes, to even island-shattering kick and punches, physical attacks of all kind will crash down fruitlessly against the black armor, with even Haki being nigh-useless. In all the physical confrontations Vánagandr has ever been involved with, he did not receive a single dent on his armor. When testing his creation durability, Weil has proven that it can easily withstand a point-blank explosion from weapons of Dynas Stones’ caliber without taking a scratch. The only thing that might hurt Vánagandr is the full might of a Yonko or being of a comparable caliber in destructive strength, and Weil boast that even such level of power won’t suffice. When creating Vánagandr’s armor, Weil drew inspiration by the Kingbreaker, using his detailed researches on the weapon to recreate the alloy that made the sword so powerful in the first the place. While the results are amazing because of that, that may suggest in a limit in the armor durability, with weapons of the same tier being able to penetrate his defenses.

Vánagandr’s expert engineering is also shown in all the various ways he is equipped to maintain his homeostasis. Between his outer plate and tendons and skeleton, his body is protected by foils of reinforced carbon–carbon and various silicate derivatives, a cutting-edge material composed of carbon fire which has tremendously effective insulating properties, capable of withstand extreme thermal shocks and temperatures ranging over 2000 F°. The jet-black gear works a lot like a cake, with multiple laminas of different materials interwoven among each other, so maximize protection both against physical blows and thermal incursion. Compared to most androids, whose metal components suffer tremendously while bearing great leaps in temperatures, Vánagandr can bathe in lava with no problems. In the innermost part of Vánagandr’s armor, multiple foils of an experimental insulator tape protect the circuits below from electrical currents of extreme amperage, ensuring that no lighting bolt may ever scorch the machine.

However, if one has to ask his creator and the Imperator himself what is the greatest asset, the greatest piece of engineering in Vánagandr's body, both of them would indicate the Core Reactor. In terms of Engines, the main source of the Black Wolf is quite like no other, having being built to sustain and transform the endless source of matter Logia can provide in energy. The engine, permanently fused with the heart, will force an involuntary contraction that would release of a considerable amount of ashes from its. The spark will be collected in a centrifugal room and subjected to a process of collision with each other. While clashing, each cinder will produce a spark, whose released heat will be spread all throughout the machine. Through a constant process of striking and sparking, the matter will be reduce to mere atoms of carbon dioxide, the same substance the humans breath; instead of being expelled, however, it will be converted in Baldifuel and stored in another van, providing for an emergency reactor in case of malfunctions of the main engine.

Because the amount of matter produced by Devil Fruits is virtually unlimited, the engine can generate and endless amount of energy from ashes. Because of that Vánagandr would never feel fatigue or weakness, living his entire without any real need to sleep, to whom he substitute a deep form of meditation. Nor Vánagandr has any need to breather, his engine pumping raw energy through his body like a heart pumps oxygen. If Vánagandr still needs a form of nutrient, it will be moderate amounts of proteins to flesh out the little human tissue he bears, as he is equipped to extract water from the surrounding air. Believing that resilience is the greatest virtue of a warrior, Vánagandr bears an immense pride his mental and physical nigh-unlimited endurance: while somebody in the world may be able to outfight him, there no mere mortal he can not outlast. Vánagandr will always keep fighting, always be sharp, always try to come on top, always learning new aspects of his opponent and himself.

Fighting Style
While Vánagandr’s enhancement is what made him the world class terror he is today, that edifice was built on already solid foundation. The very reason Vánagandr was elected to be a god of destruction in the first place was a borderline freakish talent in the art of killing, boasting terrific technique and an unbreakable determination. Such qualities had shone ever since he was a child, when he was capable of slaughtering gangs of adults with almost nothing but in two arms. Crixus years of patient care made Vánagandr’s natural talent blossom and flourish, as his innate brutality was tempered by a growing respect for the intricacy of martial arts. Having passed his earlier years in the sand of Coliseum, Vánagandr was being accustomed with all different kinds of fighting techniques, from mundane to highly exotic. Vánagandr strove to improve his skills by learning from whatever source he could, integrating useful moves in his repertoire and widening his arsenal of moves and countermoves. This constant process of improving his martial form has not stopped since he has become a cyborg; on the contrary, Vánagandr relishes on his self-substance precisely so that he can train constantly for entire days without any need to rest or stop. While the Dark Wolf scoffs at any kind of compliment, he can be easily considered a genius in the art of fighting, picking up techniques like a sponge and out performing masters with little time of practice.

Swordsmanship
More than any other martial skills, Vánagandr has perfected swordsmanship like very few in the planet. Due to the colossal size of the sword, almost as tall and wide as the man himself, Vánagandr is naturally geared toward a power-style swordsmanship, plowing his way through with brute force. When wielding his weapon, the amount of destruction Vánagandr can muster skyrockets through new heights. His slashes are considered authentic acts of God, creating air pressures of such length they make mountains insignificant by comparison, easily cleaving countries in half and cutting down through whole armies. Vánagandr’s own swordsmanship can rewrite maps, slicing archipelagos like cakes or being capable to dig so deep in the ground they carve through tectonic plates. Vánagandr's slashes come usually in the form of simply bouts of air pressure, though he so precise with the use of this sword that he can mold the air he created with the sword like an expert waiver makes clothes. Much like the deceased captain T-bone, Vánagandr does not merely cut through the air but he draw in it, bringing forth a array of figures sculpted through brute force and outstanding precision. The level of his tapestry, however, is incomparably higher than that of the Shipcutter, launching such a quantity of air slashes interwoven they create spaces of "cutting vacuum", turning air in meat grinder that seemingly capable of breaking down everything on his path down to its base molecules.

This level of destructive swordsmanship, however, is spared only when Vánagandr needs to go all out in a contest of might or simply end battles quickly. When facing one-o-one an opponent worthy of his respect, he uses the Kingbreaker strength in a minimal amount and clashes with pure skills. His swordplay borrows heavily from real life Wushu styles, employing kicks, leaps and flips while launching cleaves and coiling attacks; however, Vánagandr tempers this with thrusts coming from western fencing styles, showing often an exquisite work of his wrist. Vánagandr’s style is incredibly relentless and acrobatic, sweeping through his opponents at every move and giving them no pause. Yet is feels never erratic: his martial form remains tights and efficient, and not micrometer of his movements is out of place. While the Kingbreaker has the handle of a broadsword, Vánagandr prefers to use it efficiently with one hand only, benefiting of an added flexibility on the muscle of his wrists. Whenever Vánagandr wants to go for a fast killing, he adopts the mentality and the footwork of a kendo or iaido user, using simple yet effective crosscuts. Many warriors who have faced the Black Wolf mistaking him for a brutal with no finesse have all regretted it, as that savagery belies perfect polish in swordplay.

Devil Fruit
Main Article: Busu Busu no Mi

To fulfill his vision of an unbreakable God of Destruction, dr. Weil sought to provide an form of fuel which would never deplete, something that the normal law of physics do not allow. He had, therefore, to rely on forces that defy reason, which the Devil Fruit provides in abundance. While Valerius was still asleep in the operational table, the first thing he did was to feed a him a Logia with combustible property, then implementing his superior mechanical knowledge to install an engine which could capitalize on this infinite supply of mass and energy. Smoldering embers was the perfect choice for a fuel, a material it would have kept his creation warm and optimal for virtually forever.

After consuming the Busu Busu no Mi, Vánagandr produces his own fuel near constantly and unconsciously, every time an input of energy is required. Embers functions almost as a secondary breath to the Black Wolf, so much that he sometimes exhales a smoldering dust, potentially dangerous for those near him. Vánagandr respects the power of his Devil Fruit and his thankful to have found a resources that would pushed  his body to levels of stamina on par with inexhaustible thirst for challenges; aside of that, however, he does not think much of it. Always hating any form of complacency, Vánagandr uses his ability only when he necessitates to overcome challenges his own daunting physical prowess is unable to do so, never as a crutch to just make life or fights easier. Vánagandr is so thoroughly uninterested in exploring the potential of the Busu Busu that he has yet to learn how to fully transform his body in the element he creates; besides, he thinks himself to be unable to do so, as the seastone forming the upper layer of his armor would likely refuse to change nature. However, while his gear may have robbed Vánagandr of the most common power Logia can provide, it also negates the most notorious weakness of Devil Fruit users, being drowned. Vánagandr needs only to close any opening that may let water enter in his physical body to be completely unimpaired by the effects of submersion, an advantage he can exploit by diving deep underwater, in places that most Devil Fruits will seldom reach.

Vánagandr's skills pale in comparison to the creativity and craftsmanship of true Logia masters; however, the does not mean he lacks power nor some levels of ingenuity. Vánagandr's primary usage of the Devil Fruit is to infuse in his weapon or limbs to add the element of heat. Similarly to his Vánagandr's style, the scale and amount of embers created is tailored to what Vánagandr need to accomplish. If the fight requires a subtle approach against a supreme skilled opponent, he will generate a moderate amount of half-extinguished smolder, just to enough to force to close her enough or disorienting while keeping track of the true movements of his blades. If Vánagandr is required to stop holding back, he will unleash torrents and tornadoes of fiery devastation, his already phenomenal blows releasing such heat it burns everything in the nearby to crisp. A subtler, more refined way he uses his fruit to bolster his wordplay involves the chain connected to the Kingbreaker: by turning in embers, he can add as many links as he desires, lengthening the already impressive reach of the Kingbreaker to a greater extent and maneuvering it like a clubbed whip. Also, Vánagandr is adept at turning the colliding embers in explosions to propel his limbs or his whole body, gaining momentum beyond his physical capabilities.

The only "primary" attack Vánagandr uses his Devil Fruit for is to inflame his own breath, in a somewhat analogous way to makeshift flamethrower. The amount of ember he can release, however, is still what one is expecting from a cataclysm of such level: sea, oceans of scorching fragments bursting from his mouth, more than enough to cover the sky for thousands of miles and searing countries. A display of power truly fitting for the hell-hounds Vánagandr was inspired by, begetting even more terror from his enemies and furthering his reputation as a creature coming from hell than a being of this world.

Weapons
Vánagandr's signature weapon is called the Kingbreaker (キングブレイカー ; Kingubureikā), a broadsword massive even compared to the Black Wolf himself. The swords' history is an ancient one, having drawn blood and brought destruction for centuries before the timeline. Its exact origins are largely shrouded in the mists of time, with even Vánagandr's ignoring the details. The one who seems to know the most about Kingbreaker, Simon N. Weil, is very elusive in giving away any precise information: every time he refers to Kingbreaker, he treats it more as an object of worship than a mere manufacture built from humans hands, an antiquity that should be venerated rather than fully understood. Regardless of the exact intent behind Kingbreaker's creation, it was surely made to wielded for warrior mighty beyond imagination, as it bears the rank of Saijo O Wazamono Grade Swords, the highest tier of rarity and quality a sword can attain, on par as other revered masterpieces such as Yoru and Shodai Kitetsu.

The blade itself jet black, shaped like an oblong pentagon whose sides closer to the base are far longer than the ones of the top, the latter forming the blade's tip. Kingbreaker's handle has its core made with the Treasure Tree Adam, the most renowned wood in existence, almost unbreakable and capable of lasting centuries. Bandages dangling from the pommel wrap the handle: they are an “improvement” that Simon N. Weil reluctantly made to sword, having insulating properties which protect the wielders from “maverick” flows of electricity. The blade and the hilt are held together by a single bolt; at the end of it, it dangles a chain link. Since the Kingbreaker's sheer size and width makes very impractical to secure it a sheath of any kind, Vánagandr loops a hook on his back into the chain, having the broadsword hanging with him all the time. Kingbreaker is a double-edge sword, its tips both being capable of cut and bite. To compensate with this relative fragility on both edges, the Kingbreaker's fuller is unusually large and thick even for a weapon its size, making it feel more like a club with bladed edge than a proper sword. The base of the blade is so large it can work as a cross-guard, which the Kingbreaker is lacking; because of that, the sword can also work are makeshift shield, blocking blows that could devastate countries.

The incredible power of the sword comes mostly from the stupendous alloy it is manufactured with: a mixture of iron, orichalcum and Uskotos: most importantly, its blades are laced with seastone. The composition of the sword makes it virtually indestructible by itself, surpassing in durability each known material and each other weapon except for its eleven brethren. The seastone making its edge adds another layer of danger to Devil Fruit users, which will feel weakened and stripped of their power when they come in contact with. The strongest defense Logias have, their intangibility, will turn into nothingness by the slightest touches of the Kingbreaker. This superb manufacture, however, comes with a parcel in terms of mass: the Kingreaker weights tens of metric tons, requiring men being not only of massive size, both boasting even greater strength to wield it properly.

Because the Kingbreaker looks and swings like heap of raw iron, effectiveness comes almost entirely from the sheer force behind its swings, being exceedingly difficult to properly manage with the finesse of true master swordsman. It is testament to Vánagandr's proficiency that the broadsword does not always give in to his destructive instincts. To fully master himself and his own rage, Vánagandr has managed to tame the monster, making it wearable for subtle and precise tasks.