"Protected by Saturn, the Planet of Silence, I am the Guardian of Ruin and Rebirth, Sailor Saturn!"
— Sailor Saturn's stock introduction from Sailor Moon Sailor Stars
Hotaru Tomoe (土萠 ほたる, Tomoe Hotaru) is the civilian identity present-day incarnation of Sailor Saturn (セーラーサターン, Sērā Satān). She is a close friend of Chibiusa and the last of the Outer Sailor Guardians to awaken in the 90's anime.
Quick Answers
What is the significance of Hotaru Tomoe's name in Japanese mythology?
How does Sailor Saturn's personality differ from Hotaru Tomoe's?
What is the age of Sailor Saturn in the 90's anime?
What is the transformation of Sailor Saturn into Eternal Sailor Saturn?
Who are the close friends of Hotaru Tomoe in the Sailor Moon series?
Etymology[]
Hotaru: The kanji of "Hotaru" (蛍) means "firefly." Fireflies are associated with the spirits of the dead in Japanese mythology.
Tomoe: The kanji of "Tomoe" (土萠) translates as earth (to,土) and sprouting (moe, 萠). The first kanji in "Tomoe", 土 , is also the first character for the Japanese name for Saturn: "Dosei" (土星) .
So, her name means "firefly sprouting from Earth".
Appearance[]
Civilian[]
Hotaru mainly appears to have a black shoulder-length bob with purple shine on front and purple eyes. In her initial appearance, she is usually seen in her casual attire or sometimes wears a winter jacket, while in Mistress 9's control.
Like both Haruka and Michiru, Hotaru wears the standard Mugen Academy winter school uniform, as she wears blue pantyhose and black flats.
Sailor Saturn[]
Sailor Saturn' sailor uniform consists of a white, chest-armored leotard, a dark purple sailor collar, a dark purple choker with a six-pointed star attached to it. A dark purple skirt with a white puffy belt sat above it, and a dark brown bow at the chest and at the back. She wears dark purple knee-high boots laced up in the front, her gloves have pointy elbow fittings with dark purple on the ends, and she has a white crystal on the center of her front bow similar to a pure heart crystal. Her leotard does not have any stripes on it and her shoulder pads resemble flower petals. A golden tiara with a white, oval-shaped gem is located on her forehead, and she wears white pearls adorned with a ring to look like her own guardian planet, with white dagger pendants hanging from them.
Super Sailor Saturn[]
Head shot of super form
As Super Sailor Saturn, she wears an upgraded version of the Sailor Saturn sailor uniform. The only things that change are the length of her back bow, a dark purple heart on her front bow, her tiara now has a white, oval-shaped gem, her glove fittings are identical to that of the other Super Sailor Guardians, the sailor collar now features one white stripe, her choker has a gold star shape at the center of her choker. The shoulder pads last pad is more wing-like and translucent and her white crystal gem is embedded in a yellow star.
Information[]
Background[]
Hotaru is the only child and daughter of Professor Soichi Tomoe. During her childhood, Hotaru was involved in a freak accident in her father's genetic engineering laboratory. Germatoid, a Daimon from the Tau Star System, uses an experimental space created by Professor Soichi Tomoe to cross over to Earth. His arrival causes a tremendous explosion that leaves Hotaru dead and her father injured. The sinister entity promised to restore Hotaru to life if the professor agrees to his terms. The distraught professor agrees immediately, at which point Germatoid hijacks his body, while Hotaru's body is possessed by a second entity, Mistress 9. While Germatoid's personality completely overwhelmed that of Soichi Tomoe, Mistress 9 remained largely dormant in the resurrected Hotaru, only surfacing occasionally. Hotaru tries to return to a normal life, but, largely due to Mistress 9's presence, she has become very frail and prone to mysterious seizures. She also possesses unique abilities that allow her to heal minor injuries in seconds. Meanwhile, her possessed father set about establishing the Death Busters and arranges Pharaoh 90's passage to Earth, quite unbeknownst to Hotaru.
Due to her strange abilities and inexplicable mood swings, Hotaru is ostracized by her classmates and lives a largely solitary life.
Sailor Moon S[]
When Sailor Moon first uses the Holy Grail to become Super Sailor Moon, a bright light is unleashed, and dark energy starts emerging from Hotaru. Days later, after Sailor Moon retrieves the Holy Grail, she and Chibiusa go to the park.
Chibiusa loses her hat at the park and runs to retrieve it, where she first meets Hotaru. She and Hotaru become best friends. However, Hotaru suffers from fits obtained from a lab accident years ago, so she sometimes collapses in pain.
During a few Daimon attacks, Hotaru starts showing she has powers, as she is able to unconsciously damage a few Daimon that cross her path during her fits. It these instances that catch the attention of the Outer Sailor Guardians (Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto). They start to realize that she could be the Messiah of Silence. Sailor Pluto reveals that Hotaru is the reincarnated Sailor Saturn, and fears that if Saturn awakens, she would end the world.
Once her identity as Saturn is confirmed during a Daimon attack, the Death Busters hide her away in Mugen Academy to keep the Outer Sailor Guardians from killing her. They are convinced that if she is not killed by the time of the next eclipse, she will destroy the world. Hotaru's body is under the control of the Messiah of Silence, passing orders to Professor Tomoe.
Chibiusa is eventually captured by the Death Busters and the Messiah of Silence consumes Chibiusa's Pure Heart Crystal, changing her form into Mistress 9. While possessing Hotaru's body, Mistress 9 struggles to keep control as Hotaru continues to fight. After Mistress 9 opens the way for Pharaoh 90, Hotaru is finally able to regain control and destroy Mistress 9, reawakening as Sailor Saturn.
After Sailor Saturn is willing to give her life to destroy Pharaoh 90 and save the world, Sailor Moon is able to use her Pure Heart to enter the core to save Hotaru. Pharaoh 90 is destroyed and Sailor Moon survives, holding an infant Hotaru in her arms. Sailor Uranus and Neptune take Hotaru and gave her to Soichi Tomoe (who is no longer possessed by Germatoid) to raise her again.
Sailor Moon Sailor Stars[]
In the 5th and final season, infant Hotaru is still living with her father and has a vision of Neo-Queen Serenity and Eternal Sailor Moon in front of a vast full moon. Soon, Setsuna comes over to take Hotaru back with her, as she will be needed for the battles ahead. Professor Tomoe gives baby Hotaru to her, which implies that he has gotten his memory back and knows her destiny as a Sailor Guardian.
After Sailor Saturn's spirit suddenly awakens inside of her, Hotaru begins to grow up at a rapid rate throughout days, until she reaches an age slightly younger than that of Chibiusa. Hotaru is still an innocent girl without any memory of her previous life, until she is visited by the spirit of Sailor Saturn. Sailor Saturn gives her host the memories of her previous life and reawakens her as Super Sailor Saturn, the Sailor Guardian of Death and Rebirth.
As Super Sailor Saturn, Hotaru is very determined when it comes to her mission and her duty as a Super Sailor Guardian, and her personality is very different from her human identity as Hotaru Tomoe, as she is partially possessed and influenced by the spirit of Sailor Saturn herself.
Hotaru is absent for a majority of the Sailor Stars episodes but appears during all of the Nehellenia arc episodes and only the very end episodes of the main arc. Despite being seen alone, she does not transform into Super Sailor Saturn on-screen via Crystal Power.
Sailor Pluto returns with baby Hotaru and is upgraded to Crystal Power along with Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. Shortly through the season, Sailor Pluto is killed by Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, who take her Star Seed alongside Sailor Saturn.
She, along with all the other Super Sailor Guardians, are revived by Princess Serenity after she turns Galaxia back into her normal self by expelling Chaos out of her body entirely. She praises Serenity for cleansing Galaxia and defeating Chaos. She watches as Serenity is happily reunited with Mamoru (who bore the attire of Prince Endymion) and the departure of Chibi Chibi.
Sailor Guardian Info[]
Sailor Saturn has powers related to death and destruction, silence and ruin themselves. She can easily obliterate entire planets and reduce them and their inhabitants to complete oblivion. If she uses her full strength, she will be able to bring ruin to entire worlds.
She can also erect force-fields around herself and others that can withstand, even Galaxia's strongest attacks.
Attacks[]
Items[]
Gallery[]
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Trivia[]
- Sailor Saturn and Sailor Chibi Chibi Moon are the only Sailor Guardians that don’t have a stock transformation sequence in the anime. There is a partial transformation sequence for Saturn in the anime's style created for the Sega Saturn and PS1 videogames, however.
- She, along with Sailor Pluto, have the least appearances of all the Sailor Guardians in the anime.
- Hotaru's personality in the S season is very different from that in the Stars season.
- In Sailor Moon S, she is normally calm, shy, usually very gloomy, and kind-hearted. As her other self, Sailor Saturn, she is very serious and without much emotion.
- In the 5th season, a 5-year-old Hotaru is instead more playful and energetic, especially when it comes to spending time with Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna, but also very serious and determined when it comes to her duty as a Sailor Guardian. She is no longer shy, gloomy, or reserved like she was in the third season.
- This can be attributed to Sailor Saturn's spirit possessing her to return her memories to her, as well as the fact that she realizes Usagi is in danger and realizes the Earth was almost destroyed because of her.
- Hotaru is the only Sailor Guardian to not receive a name change in the original DiC English dub, but her last name is pronounced differently (pronounced toe-moe instead of toe-mo-eh).
- Hotaru is the only Solar System Sailor Guardian to awaken over the course of several episodes, instead of in a single episode.
