Kanti

RACE: Tiger AGE (in human years): 19 FIRST APPEARANCE: The Draconia Chronicles FIRST COMIC APPEARANCE: 008
As Tigers lack any written history, major events are chronicled through song and stories. Kanti is part of this team to create a record of the journey through her art. Young and impressionable, she's also a bit of a thrill-seeker. While on the mission, Kanti has become a close friend and ally to Xiu, an historian and a fellow student of Tiger lore.
Kanti is another fun character to work with, mainly because of the dynamic she's got with Xiu. The two play off each other very well. Kanti's lute is her prized possession--a gift that she's shown a great aptitude for playing since a young age, and the channel through which her art flows. It also has a couple of hidden compartments where she can stash daggers, and that notwithstanding, the lute itself can be used as a formidable weapon. The idea of having Xiu and Kanti grow close arose from the observation that both of them were students of closely-related fields. The idea wasn't hatched to build some sort of romance between the two until the hot-spring scene. Up until then, though, there had been purely unintentional signs throughout the series, such as the two walking close together and looking out for one another. The idea automatically retconned itself. Danny's original design for Kanti called for her to have a 'do-rag covering the back half of her hair. Donnie said no to the idea, and the 'do-rag was gone. There's still an early sketch or two floating around of her like that, though. Kanti's another one of Donnie's favorite characters, and he often curses the artist for making her so damn cute.

Lord Rozen's Comments:

An interesting character that is almost always paired with Xiu.

Second favorite tiger, right after Xiu.

Kanti's name is from the Native American name that means "sings". The reason she is drawn so cute is because her name is also from the Hindi name meaning "beauty".