"Fire Soul Bird" is an upgrade to Fire Soul which caused the flames to attack in the shape of a bird. The attack only appeared in the anime and video games. The DiC dub refers to this attack as the Mars Firebird Strike.
Anime[]
Sailor Mars first used this attack in episode 54 against Cardian Siren after she destroyed her music sheets. She had first tried to attack with Fire Soul, but Siren's water attack extinguished the flames before they could destroy her. The upgraded Fire Soul Bird broke through her flames and destroyed Siren and released all of the energy the Cardian collected.
To perform the attack, Sailor Mars first chanted while holding an ofuda in front of her, then threw the ofuda and yelled, "Fire Soul Bird" to release a fireball from her index fingers. The fire then engulfed the ofuda and took on the shape of a phoenix-like bird.
The attack was used once more during episode 59 when it was used against Ail and An. The attack was performed without the chanting and was not powerful enough to breach the two aliens' energy shields.
Video Games[]
Fire Soul Bird appeared in several video games
- Sailor Moon R
- Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Another Story : Performed by Sailor Mars. It hits multiple enemies and uses 4 EP. It seems to be part of two different link techniques: Fire Dragon and Love-Me Bird.
- Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon S: Jougai Rantou!? Shuyaku Soudatsusen.
Mythology[]
"Fenghuang are mythological Chinese birds that reign over all other birds. In the West, it is commonly referred to as the Chinese phoenix and occasionally Ho-Oh bird (from the Japanese name Ho-Oh).
Fenghuang seems to have no connection with the phoenix of the Western world, which derives from Egyptian mythology. Peculiarly, the "Western" (actually: Ancient Egyptian) phoenix may also in part reference a prehistoric bird, Bennu Heron. Unlike the Fenghuang, which is a chimaera not very much like an actual bird (though elements of a cock and a cursorial ground bird probably best interpreted as an ostrich are recognizable), the Egyptian phoenix was a rather conventional animal most often considered similar to a heron or eagle which "merely" had a supernatural lifestyle.
During the Han Dynasty (2,200 years ago) the phoenix was used as a symbol depicting the direction south, shown as a male and female phoenix facing each other. It was also used to symbolize the Empress in a pairing with a dragon where the dragon represents the Emperor. It might come from the merging of eastern and western tribes of ancient China.[citation needed] The phoenix represented power sent from the heavens to the Empress. If a phoenix was used to decorate a house it symbolized that loyalty and honesty were in the people that lived there. Or alternatively, phoenix only stays when the ruler is without darkness and corruption."