Kantus

Kantus
Biographical information
Homeland	The Hollow
Physical description and appearance
Species	Locust
Gender	Male
Height	7'0" ft. (Average)
Eye color	Gold
Chronological and personal information
Rank(s)	Combat Support Field Commander Religious Officials
Era(s)	Locust War Lambent Pandemic
Subclasses	Armored Kantus Savage Kantus
Notable Facts	Capable of Manipulating Animals Capable of Reinvigorating Locust
Weapons	Gorgon Submachine Gun Hammerburst Assault Rifle Ink Grenade
Affiliation	Locust Horde † Savage Locust † Queen's Guard †

"KANTUS!"

—Marcus Fenix, upon seeing a Kantus

The Kantus were one of the Locust's three primary species, making up the religious sect of the Horde. Known for their powerful screams, Kantus are presumed to be extinct along with the rest of the Locust Horde after the detonation of Adam Fenix's Imulsion Countermeasure in the year 17 A.E.

History

Locust War

Emergence Day

Kantus may have partaken in Emergence Day like every other Locust, seeing how they were present during the attack on Halvo Bay one month or six weeks after Emergence.

Evacuation of Ilima

A number of Kantus partook in the Evacuation of Ilima, as several were personally slain by Zeta Squad.

Operation: Hollow Storm

"Humans!"

—A Kantus spotting Delta Squad for the first time

As Delta Squad made progress inside the Hollow they begin to hear odd chants, screams and growls. When they reach what it looks like a temple, they find the source of the strange noises which is a Kantus Priest. As soon as he finds them, he begins to scream and orders his Locust allies to attack the Gears. This Kantus fell at the hands of Delta, but as they killed him another one appeared from behind a closed door, along with a pack of Wretches, but also failed to stop the Gears, being killed while the gears took cover behind a Rockworm. As Delta advances more into the Inner Hollows, they encounter more Kantus, but manage to deal with them all. They appeared at the Ilima sinkhole giving support to the ground forces used to clear the city from any remaining humans. They defended the Locust processing center and tried to prevent Delta Squad from leaving Ilima but were killed. 

As they returned inside the Hollow, another Kantus prepared an ambush near some docks, aided by several gunboats and Drones. After deploying a beacon inside the Hollow and reaching the Palace with a gondola, they found another Kantus waiting for them with a small number of Drones and Grenadiers. After killing it, they had to choose to go on a lift with a Troika or follow the stairs. After clearing an entire level of Drones, they find another level with several Drones and a Kantus. They were dispatched by the Troika and the humans continued their way below. In the next level a Kantus, along with Cyclops and Grinders was dealt with the Troika. Another Kantus along with a pair of Boomers and some Drones killed a group of Lambent Drones before they were discovered and killed by Delta. A Kantus ambushed them near another group of Lambent corpses along with a Flame Grenadier. Later on the Gears took control of a lift with a pair of Palace Guards, two Maulers and a Kantus and they killed all of the Locust just as a Horde of Lambent ran at them. When Delta searched for an alternate route inside the Palace they found a lift with a Kantus and Palace guards. They killed this one too and continued their way. Inside a room full of Locust terminals, another Kantus guarded the room with Palace Guards just as Delta arrived and killed them. Shortly thereafter they would hear a message of Adam Fenix from one of the terminals telling them to sink Jacinto City to drown the Locust.

Siege of Jacinto 

A single Kantus took post inside the Archives Building during the Siege of Jacinto and possibly led the forces inside it before it got killed by Marcus and Dom. Outside of the building, another Kantus led a small Troika outpost but they were also killed by the Gears. A Kantus ambushed Marcus and Dom as they fell deeper inside the sinkhole and led a small group of Drones before being slain by the Gears.

Post-Operation: Hollow Storm

After the Flooding of the Hollows, the Kantus caste was scattered and divided. Two Kantus stragglers orchestrated an ambush for the COG who evacuated to Port Farrall after the Sinking of Jacinto. The Kantus lead a large force during said ambush, but were killed by Pvt. Augustus Cole and Sgt. Bernadette Mataki in the battle.

Eventually, the Kantus reorganized into two separate factions: those who were able to reunite with Queen Myrrah and those went savage. The Savage Kantus began acting as shamans to their savage brothers while the Queen-aligned Kantus introduced a new subclass to their ranks, increasing their lethality.

Lambent Pandemic

Numerous Queen-aligned Kantus, including Armored Kantus, partook in the Battle of Endeavor Naval Shipyard, trying to stop Delta Squad from finding a submarine that could take them to Azura, using containers, crates and even ships as elevated fire positions. Their attempts, however, were futile and Delta managed to find a suitable submarine and slip away. Later, Delta encountered even more Kantus in their push to disable the Maelstrom device and then when they tried to reach Adam Fenix but again, the Gears succeeded in their mission and reached Adam Fenix. It is presumed that every Kantus on Sera died with the detonation of Adam's Imulsion Countermeasure Weapon atop of Pinnacle Tower.

Notable Kantus

Skorge, the High Priest of the Kantus monks

Skorge

Skorge was the High Priest of the Kantus. His personal equipment consists of Ink Grenades, a Gorgon Burst Pistol, and his personal staff with chainsaws on each end. Like his Kantus monks he uses his vocal chords to communicate with Rock Worms and even the Locust deity, the Riftworm, which he leads to destroy the cities of Tollen, Montevado, and Ilima. He can summon Tickers and can perform incredibly high jumps, displaying great agility. He also has a personal Hydra as his mount. Skorge is killed when Delta Squad on Reavers destroy his Hydra, sending him falling a great height to his death.

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Scarred Kantus

This scarred Kantus led the Locust forces during the Second Battle of Jilane. This Kantus was able to set up an ambush that nearly killed Marcus Fenix, but during the battle, he was killed by Damon Baird and Alex Brand while trying to revive a downed Drone.

Behind the Scenes

• Kantus will be included in the Gears of War 3 HeroClix Toys.
• Kantus comes from Latin cantus meaning 'to sing' and references its deafening, debilitating and functional battle cry.
• In the Gears of War comic "Barren Part 4" a Kantus is seen screeching in order to revive a fallen comrade. This screeching is translated into the text as Locust Runes. Using the newly released version of the Locust alphabet, the screeching can be translated into the word "RISE" (whether this is what all Kantus say when reviving comrades is unknown).

Controlling a Kantus

• In Gears of War 2 multiplayer, the Kantus Monk is a playable character for the Locust Horde. Unlocking it once you beat Chapter 2 of Gears of War 2 on any difficulty.
• The Kantus is unlocked for multiplayer in Gears of War 3 after getting the gold Medic medal.
• The Kantus is a second-tier creature in Gear of War 3 Beast Mode, available for $950. It is armed with a Gorgon pistol and an ink grenade, can regenerate the health of nearby allies and raise the fallen with a scream, but cannot take cover and cannot be healed. In addition, the Kantus cannot heal the following creatures: Wild Tickers, Tickers, Serapede, Savage Corpser, Berserker and Armored Kantus. Also, upon death, a Kantus unleashes an ink cloud.
• While playing as the regular Kantus in beast mode, there are no extended executions. Even if Y is held down, a curb stomp is still performed.
• While most Kantus explode in a cloud in ink upon death, Kantus do not release this cloud if their body is gibbed by weapons like a chainsaw bayonet or a Silverback minigun.
• The Kantus is a first-tier playable character in Gears of War: Judgment's OverRun mode. Both medic and combat support, they're capable of strafing, taking cover, chain-healing allies and resurrecting fallen Locust players. In this game mode, a Kantus can heal almost all of its allies, even other Kantus, with the sole exception being the Serapede.

Weapons

kantus uses a gorgon pistol with ink grenades( armored kantus uses 2 gorgons and skorge uses a dual cainsaw staff and boltok pistol