The Maenads are two peaceful humanoid priestesses who watch over the shrine in Elysion along with Helios. They appear in the Dream arc of the manga and crystal.
Nomenclature and Etymology[]
In Greek mythology, the Maenads were the female followers of Dionysus, the god of wine.
Appearance[]
Both girls are almost exactly the same in appearance and feature a very light colour scheme. They have long, white, wavy hair in a hairstyle almost the same as Usagi's with the exception of a larger and more wavy fringe. They wear white toga-like floor length dresses with a lilac cross shaped binding around the stomach area. They both have pale lilac eyes like glass beads and have light pink lipstick as well as teardop shaped earrings and a circlet with the same styled gem.
Information[]
Before the Dead Moon Circus invaded Earth at the start of the Dream arc, it had already conquered Elysion. Helios was captured by the Dead Moon, turned into the form of a pegasus, and cursed along with the land. The Maenads were protected from the curse by the purifying crystals of Elysion that they slept inside, much like what Neo-Queen Serenity did when the Black Moon Clan attacked Crystal Tokyo. They and Helios were the only survivors. This was the state Usagi and Mamoru saw them in when they first visited Elysion before heading to the surface to fight Zirconia.
During the fight with Zirconia, Helios sent Elysion's crystals to the surface to protect the Sailor Guardians and collapsed. Without their crystals the Maenads awakened. When that fight was over the protagonists returned to Elysion and found the Maenads who introduced themselves and led Sailor Chibi Moon and the others into the shrine where Helios remained. As Sailor Uranus and other Sailor Guardians were detecting something wrong, the Maenads screamed in fear at Queen Nehelenia descending on Elysion for the final battle. During it, the Maenads hid and were unaffected by the various attacks and curses unleashed until the Queen was defeated.
Afterward, they knelt with Helios at the coronation of Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion. They remained in Elysion after the curse of the Dead Moon Circus was lifted.
Differences in Crystal[]
In Sailor Moon Eternal they are essentially the same as in the manga. The differences present are very small.
- When Queen Nehelenia arrives in Elysion for the final battle they are shown and heard screaming in Crystal while the manga panel with their screaming speech bubble didn't show them at all.
- In the manga, they are shown standing next to Helios as he is speaking to Eternal Sailor Chibi Moon and Diana once he stands up after being revived, but he stays sitting in this scene and they are not shown with Helios until the coronation in Sailor Moon Eternal.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- "Maenads" of Greek Mythology directly translates to "raving ones" and those followers of Dionysus have personalities quite the opposite of their subdued and courteous selves in Sailor Moon. This discrepancy led the English translators of the 2011 Edition and Eternal Edition of the manga to suggest reasonable alternative origins for their name in the translation notes.
