| Pegasus Seiya | |
|---|---|
| Saint Seiya character | |
 Pegasus Seiya by Masami Kurumada |
|
| Created by | Masami Kurumada |
| Voiced by | Tōru Furuya (古谷徹) Hiroko Emori (江森浩子) Masakazu Morita (森田成一) |
| Profile | |
| Age | 13 |
| Gender | Male |
| Date of birth | December 1 |
| Nationality | Japan |
| Class | Saint |
| Loyalty | Athena |
| Cloth | Pegasus |
| Rank | Bronze |
| Training | Greece |
| Height | 1.65 m |
| Weight | 53 kg |
| Blood type | B |
| Secret moves | Pegasus Meteor Punch Pegasus Comet Punch Pegasus Rolling Crush |
| First appearance | manga: vol.1 Anime: ep.1 |
Pegasus Seiya (星矢, Star Arrow) is the eponymous protagonist of the manga Saint Seiya( along with his fellow bronze saints Dragon Shiryu, Cygnus Hyoga, Andromeda Shun, and Phoenix Ikki), authored by Japanese mangaka Masami Kurumada, and later adapted to anime.
Contents |
Character Outline
Concept and Creation
When Masami Kurumada was in the process of creating Saint Seiya, he gave him the name Rin at first, since he was going to title his manga "Ginga no Rin" (Rin of the Galaxy). But as he continued developing his manga, he decided to change the name to Seiya, which was more fitting, and the manga title as well, to Saint Seiya. Also, he stated that one of the first ideas he conceived for Saint Seiya was the Pegasus Meteor Fist. Since his manga was going to use the constellations as a very important and ever-present theme, he wanted his protagonist to have a special move that would be like a shower of meteors. Kurumada designed Seiya's likeness inspired in the main character of his hit manga Ring ni Kakero (recently adapted to anime), Takane Ryuuji, which he created 9 years before Seiya. Most protagonists of Kurumada's works bear a resemblance to Ryuuji, such as Seiya, B't X's Takamiya Teppei, Aoi Tori no Shinwa's Tendou Aoi, Shou from Silent Knight Shou, Kikukawa Jingi from Otoko Zaka, Kenzaki Rindou from Ring ni Kakero 2, etc., because he suscribes to the revered Osamu Tezuka's Star System (a stable cast of characters) technique. The reason why Masami Kurumada chose the Sagittarius Gold Cloth as the most powerful of the Gold Cloths it's because of its symbolism, related to Seiya. In Japanese, Seiya means "star arrow", a metaphor for meteor, and the Sagittarius represents an archer, so Kurumada thought it would be a perfect match for Seiya, since he already had in mind that the Sagittarius Gold Cloth would eventually be worn by Seiya at certain parts of his manga. Hence Seiya's zodiacal sign is Sagittarius, as in Kurumada's canon, a Gold Cloth bearer's sign must match that the Gold Cloth represents. In Japan, Seiya is the most unpopular characters in Saint Seiya ranking in 5th in the main characters poll (the vote was only for the main bronze saints)[1]. The reason of this is that fans say that he "steals" the plot and the "glory". However in the techniques poll his Pegasus Meteor Fist ranks 1st.[2].
The Saint of Pegasus
Seiya is the main character of his namesake series, Saint Seiya. He is one of the 88 saints of Athena, and serves loyally at her side. Seiya dons the bronze Cloth (an armor that denotes sainthood) of Pegasus, and draws power ("Cosmos") from the constellation that connects to it. Seiya is a decently capable fighter; he has the uncanny talent of understanding the mechanics of an opponent's technique after seeing it performed. In many of Seiya's fights, he begins as the underdog but works hard to gain enough of an advantage to outclass his opponent by the end of the battle. Throughout the series, Seiya defeats Silver Saint Lacerta Misty by changing his meteor punch to a comet punch, he was able to avoid Gold Saint Leo Aiolia's lightspeed attacks, with his extraordinarily observant eyes. Although Seiya is not necessarily the most powerful bronze saint, his determination and courage, along with the support of his friends and Athena/Saori, have allowed him to overcome many obstacles and adversaries.
Power and abilities
Although Seiya began his journey as a bronze saint -- the lowest of three ranks --, his abilities gradually grew to rival those of gold saints (by awakening his 7th sense), the most powerful of Athena's soldiers. Before decending into the realm of Hades he awakened his 8th sense. His most seen technique is the Pegasus Meteor Fist (ペガサス流星拳 - りゅうせいけん Pegasus Ryū Sei Ken?) which initially allows him to send 85 punches per second. Seiya learns it during his training in the Sanctuary and probably from Marin who is seen performing it during the series but without the name Pegasus. Seiya can combine all his meteor in one fist to create the Pegasus Comet Fist (ペガサス彗星拳 - すいせいけん Pegasus Sui Sei Ken?). Seiya first performed this attack against Lizard Misty to destroy his defense. However, its full name is not given until his fight against Gemini Saga. His most powerful technique is Pegasus Rolling Crush (ペガサスローリングクラッシュ?) where he grabs hold of his opponent from the back, soar miles into the air, then suicide dive head-first into the ground. If the opponent escapes from this attack Seiya will receive a big damage after falling in the ground.
Constellation and The Bronze Cloth of Pegasus
Seiya was implied to be the 8th or 9th bronze saint to receive his cloth. He, along with Cassios -- a giant of a man who had previously bullied him in his training days, defeated 9 other trainees in order to advance to the final round of the tournament. The last match pitted them against each other, with Seiya pulling the victory almost effortlessly due to his mastery of the cosmos (Cassios was only familiar with using his Cosmo for brute strength, which is completely ineffective against the strength possessed by someone who has mastered completely the use of his Cosmo). The Pegasus bronze cloth was damaged various times throughout the series, with Mu of the Aries constellation typically responsible for repairs. In the manga, the cloth changes shape each time it is fixed, with each revision evolving the cloth more beautifully. In the anime, the original design of the cloth remains intact until the beginning of the series's second arc:
- Manga 1st change: When Shiryu returns it to Seiya after getting it repaired by Mu.
- Manga 2nd change: When Mu repairs it again an hour before Seiya and the other bronze saints rushed to battle the gold saints.
- Manga 3rd change/Anime 1st change: When Leo Aiolia volunteered to repair the cloth with his blood, just before the Poseidon arc.
- Manga 4th change/Anime 2nd change: When the cloth is reborn with Athena's blood during the Hades arc.
- Manga 5th change/Anime 3rd change: When the cloth is completely revived from dust with Seiya's cosmos rising enough to rival the gods, after hearing his sister Seika's weep.
- Anime 4th change: When the cosmos of Pegasus Seiya rose to a new height during the confrontation against Apollo, God of the Sun (Still not clear if this is a future event, or an actual event in the movie timeline).
It should also be noted that when the gold saints used their blood to revive the bronze cloths, the cloths gained a little bit of the gold Cloths' strength. Because of this, the second version of the Pegasus cloth (fourth version in the manga) can change from bronze to gold whenever Seiya charges his cosmos to the maximum. The Pegasus Cloth represents the constellation Pegasus, which is associated to Pegasus, the divine winged horse from Greek mythology.
The Gold Cloth of Sagittarius
Eventually, Seiya became powerful enough to wear the Gold Cloth of Sagittarius, a cloth that had lost its true owner before the series began. It seems the Cloth had chosen to protect Seiya as Athena's true guardian. When Seiya has the gold cloth on, his cosmos is magnified, thanks to Aiolos' cosmos expressed through the armor and his attacks can now defeat opponents previously too powerful for just a mere bronze saint. Nevertheless, while Seiya used the Sagittarius gold cloth many times throughout the series to save Athena from certain peril, he was never officially granted ownership of the cloth. The owner is still the former (and now deceased) saint, Aiolos of Sagittarius.
Notable People & Events
The Bronze Saints
100 young men were brought into the Graude Foundation to fulfill a project -- to be trained into becoming future saints for the goddess Athena. Only 10 of the children survived the entire process, and they grew up to become bronze saints. Although Seiya is familiar with each of them (because of their childhood days), he would grow to form strong bonds with Dragon Shiryu, Cygnus Hyoga, Andromeda Shun, and Phoenix Ikki. In the manga, it was revealed that all 100 orphans were actually half brothers, with their father being Mitsumasa Kido, the man they have grown to despise for tearing them from their happy homes. Seiya was especially not pleased to hear of this news, and even engaged in various bloody battle in hopes of "cleansing" his body of Kido's blood.
Seika & Miho
Before becoming a saint, Seiya lived in an orphanage called Hoshi no Ko GakuEn (Star Children School) with his older sister, Seika and his childhood friend, Miho. He was fairly content with having Seika and the other children in the orphanage as his family, and had a normal boy's life. Sadly, this was not fated to last, as the Grande Foundation would separated him from this happy home in order to secure one more prospect for their project. Near the end of the series in the Hades saga, it was revealed that Seika had chased after him all the way to Greece after receiving news of him being sent to Athena's Sanctuary. Unfortunately, Sanctuary is not a place that normal humans could reach, and it was inevitable that she would suffer from an accident -- a traumatic blow to the head that resulted in long-term amnesia. Seika was found by a kindly old shopkeeper, who offered her a job at his shop when she recovered. Because of this, she was "lost" for many years. During his fight with Thanatos, the God of Death, Pegasus Seiya was allowed to see that his friends in Sanctuary had discovered Seika's whereabouts, and were struggling to protect her from the God of Death's wrath. Seiya eventually increased his cosmos to the point that it was strong enough to reach Earth (he was far away in the Elysium Fields at the time) and snap Seika out of the amnesia: in one of the biggest moments of Saint Seiya, Seiya and Seika were finally able to contact each other again.
Marin of Aquila (Eagle Marin)
Once he had received adequate conditioning from the Graude Foundation, Seiya was sent to Greece to continue his training with an actual saint. His instructor turned out to be Marin, the Silver Saint of Eagle. Although her facial features were concealed by a mask (a procedure required for all females as Amazon saints), Marin's appearance was remarkably similar to Seika's, and it led Seiya to ponder if they were one and the same. However, unlike the loving sister he remembered, Marin was a strict, sometimes harsh instructor, and many of her training techniques resulted in bloody conflict for the young Seiya. Fortunately, Seiya persevered, and the two grew a sisterly/motherly bond over the years that rivalled the relationship Seiya shared with his true sister. Early in the series, it was mentioned that Marin herself had lost a younger brother similar to Seiya's age. This character would later be revealed in the fifth Saint Seiya feature, "Tenkai-hen: Overture".
Shaina of Ophiucus
Shaina is the silver saint who played a huge role throughout Seiya's journey as a saint. She began as his rival, then potential romantic interest, and now platonic friend. Female saints in Sanctuary cannot display any traits of femininity, and must conceal their faces with a mask at all times. If these rules are broken by a man, then the female saint must deal with him in two ways: she must either kill him, or renounce her sainthood and give herself to him as a lover. Unfortunately for Seiya, he not only end up seeing Shaina's real face twice, but he was also responsible for her unveiling some of her more tender moments. Shaina was often branded with the reputation of being one of the most vicious saints alive (male or female), and thus this was bad news for Seiya. Since becoming the Pegasus Saint, Seiya has found himself the target of her wrath at least on three different occasions throughout the series. Shaina agreed to drop her revenge after bigger threats presented themselves. Seiya's misdeeds were soon mended, and Shaina became one of Seiya's platonic friends, with the two sharing in an "on again, off again" relationship.
Leo Aiolia
Throughout various parts of the series, Aiolia appeared to lend Seiya his support. When Seiya first arrived in Sanctuary to participate in his training, he immediately looked up to the kind and gentle man as an idol. In the manga, Aiolia was also present when Seiya fought Cassios to determine the new owner of the Bronze Cloth of Pegasus. Later in the Sanctuary arc, Seiya was disheartened when Aioria, now revealed to be the Gold Saint of Leo, appeared in Japan to exterminate Saori Kido and her bronze saints as ordered by Pope Ares. Seiya's cloth was out of reach at the time, but the two of them battled nonetheless. Aioria dominated the unarmed Pegasus, and would've killed the bronze saint if the Sagittarius Cloth hadn't intervened at the right moment. Seiya donned the gold cloth and battled Aioria on an even scale, but was still outclassed by the power of a true gold saint. The fight was never concluded, however, since Saori Kido herself made an appearance. Sensing the young woman's enormous cosmos for the first time, Aioria was finally convinced that she was, indeed, the true reincarnation of Athena, and the same infant that had gone missing 13 years ago. When Seiya and the other bronze saints invaded the 12 Temples of Sanctuary, the Pegasus Saint once again found himself having to fight Aioria in order to gain passage through the Temple of Leo. The gold saint had apparently confronted Ares regarding the incident with Athena prior to Seiya's arrival, and the results was disastrous -- Aioria fell under the spell of the Pope's "Demon Emperor Fist" attack, a technique that turned the gold saint into a ruthless fighting machine until he literally killed whomever stood before him. Without Aioros' cosmo through the Gold Cloth of Sagittarius aiding him, Seiya found himself battered and beaten -- until Cassios, hoping to sooth Shina, showed up unexpectedly to help the Pegasus Saint. Still under the control of the "Illusion Emperior Fist," Aioria unleashed his "Lightning Plasma" move and almost instantly killed Cassios. Combined with the death of the giant and several thousand fists from Seiya's "Pegasus Meteor Fist," the Leo Saint was finally knocked back to normal and allowed the bronze saint to pass through.
Saori Kido
Saori's relationship with Seiya is sometimes the subject of speculation. At the very least, it is obvious that Seiya cares greatly for Saori's well-being and will not think twice to sacrifice his life for her. However, Saori is also the current reincarnation of Athena -- the goddess that the saints live to protect -- so it is only natural that Seiya, being one of her saints, would not hesitate one second to defend her. It is up to the fans to decide whether or not their relationship should be defined as romantic or platonic. Seiya initially despised Saori Kido because of events that took place when they were children. Being the granddaughter of Mitsumasa Kido, Saori was raised as a spoiled child, and readily saw Seiya (along with the other 99 orphans brought into the Foundation) as a slave for her personal use. Seiya, however, was defiant of Saori's commands, and even challenged her authority at one point. When Seiya returned from Greece years later, he had expected to be greeted by the same spoiled brat he last had a spat with. Needless to say, he was quite surprised to see that Saori had matured into a diplomatic, philanthropist and very calm young lady, a far cry from the little princess he knew. This change allowed Seiya to gradually accept her into his life, and eased his decision to protect her when it was revealed that she was also the goddess Athena.
Hades, God of the Underworld
In the original climax of the Athena vs. Hades battle, it was revealed that Hades had fought a previous reincarnation of the Pegasus Saint from the mythological times and that he had served a significant role in the god's defeat. This line of dialogue was further elaborated in the prologue of Saint Seiya Next Dimension, where Hades disclosed that it was the previous Pegasus Saint that had hurt Hades and that he had actually befriended him. In Saint Seiya Next Dimension, it is revealed that the friendship Hades spoke of was between Alone, the god's previous chosen human vessel, and Tenma, the Bronze Saint of Pegasus. By Seiya's era, Hades had grown to despise the Pegasus Saint, and specifically sought to put a curse on Seiya in the final moments of the duel. The curse diluted Seiya's cosmos, and prevented him from using the fullest extent of his powers. To save Athena, Seiya blocked Hades' attack but was struck in the chest by Hades' sword. Seiya doesn't die, however, since he appears in the 5th Saint Seiya movie.
Heaven Arc
In Tenkai-hen: Overture, the gods became weary of Athena's saints after they had proven themselves capable of challenging the Olympians. Artemis descended to Earth to deal with the saints with her own warriors, the Angels, and Apollo himself made a personal appearance to confront Seiya once and for all. Since Toei Animation wasn't completely faithful to Masami Kurumada's script for this movie, he was un happy with the results and canceled the project. Now TenKaiHen is no longer canonical, and the only part of it that can be considered as such, is the short introductory manga Kurumada drew previous to the release of the movie.
Other media
Seiya appeared briefly in Episode G, in a vision of Leo Aiolia's. Aiolia claims that years from then, new saints shall come forward to protect Athena, and he then receives a mental image of the five bronze saints. It is interesting to note that they all appear in the armors they wore during the Hades saga. Seiya makes another cameo later in the chapter "Be Blessed With The Future", which retells the final moments of his battle against Aiolia in the Temple of Leo. Seiya stars in all Saint Seiya repeating the idea he always defeats the villain using the arrow of the Saggitarius cloth. Although in all movies he does not make hard efforts to defeat the villain in his gold cloth, in the 3rd movie he is defeated by Abel when he was wearinf the Saggitarius cloth. Later, he would stand up and kill him when Athena tries to fight against Abel. In the Heaven Arc Prologue (considered now non-canonical) finally removing the curse of Hades, Seiya's cosmos reached a new level and his Pegasus Cloth transformed into a strange new shape -- a form that, while not as extravagant as the bronze god cloth, still appeared to be far above the final bronze cloth. It is unknown how much defensive power this new evolution offered Seiya, but it was enough to cause minor damage to Apollo with a single attack. However, the scene in the movie where Seiya is seen wearing this new cloth is not all that clear and is open to debate (see Constellation and The Bronze Cloth of Pegasus section). It is also a hot topic of debate among Saint Seiya fans as to what had happened to Seiya at the end of his battle with Apollo. The conclusion of the actual fight between the two is not depicted; rather, the climax of the movie cuts to a peaceful scene where Seiya apparently became reacquainted with Saori Kido. It was explained, in the Japanese DVD audio commentary with director Shigeyasu Yamauchi, that since Seiya's and Saori's greatest strength was in their love and trust for each other, Apollo erased their memory, so that they would never again be able to find the will to rebel against the gods
Pegasus Tenma
Main articles:
Seiya's incarnation of the 18th Century. Appears only in Masami Kurumada's Saint Seiya: Next Dimension, prequel to the original manga, and in the still non-canonical Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas manga. The few facts that both universe have in common is that Tenma (天馬 meaning "Flying Horse" or "Pegasus" though not in the Lost Canvas) is a friend of Alone since their childhood, Hades's chosen body of the time. Tenma has the same appareance of Seiya and uses his same techniques.
Notes
- By 1991, when Masami Kurumada was writing and drawing the Hades arc of his manga, a popularity decrease made Shueisha, his publisher, force him to end the manga prematurely. Kurumada put his manga in hiatus after the defeat of Hades, in the process of which Seiya seemingly lost his life. Kurumada decided to finish the arc in a cliffhanger style, as his original plan was to continue his manga with the Zeus arc as its fourth act. Although many fans believed Seiya died, in truth he survided the battle against the lord of the Underworld, as Kurumada showed the Pegasus Saint alive, confined to a wheelchair and with his Cosmo depleted as a result of Hades' curse, in the short prologue manga he authored as a introduction for the TenKaiHen Josou Overture movie, which had been planned as the opening of the Zeus arc of his manga.
References
