Hotaru Tomoe (土萠 ほたる, Tomoe Hotaru) is the daughter of Soichi Tomoe and Keiko Tomoe, and the civilian identity and present-day incarnation of Sailor Saturn (セーラーサターン, Sērā Satãn). She is a close friend of Chibiusa and the last of the Outer Sailor Guardians to awaken in the manga.
Quick Answers
What is the significance of Hotaru Tomoe's name in the Sailor Moon series?
Who are the parents of Hotaru Tomoe, also known as Sailor Saturn?
What are the powers of Sailor Saturn in the manga?
Who is the close friend of Hotaru Tomoe in the Sailor Moon series?
How does Hotaru Tomoe awaken as Sailor Saturn in the manga?
Etymology[]
Hotaru: The kanji of "Hotaru" (蛍) means "firefly." Fireflies are associated with the spirits of the dead in Japanese mythology, which fits her as she is the Sailor Senshi of Ruin/Death and Rebirth.
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).
Together, her name means "firefly sprouting from Earth".
Appearance[]
Civilian[]
Hotaru is a petite girl with short black hair, violet eyes, and pale skin. On normal days, she wears a black turtleneck sweater, a grey skirt, and black stockings. On other days, she will wear a black mini dress and dark blue pantyhose. Her school uniform consists of a dark red long-sleeved top with a light blue and blue bow and a Mugen Academy emblem on the front, a green and black checkered skirt, 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 maroon 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 dark purple, 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[]
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 white 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, the shoulder pads last pad is more wing-like and translucent and her white crystal gem is embedded in a yellow star.
Eternal Sailor Saturn[]
As Eternal Sailor Saturn, her outfit is almost completely altered. Her leotard no longer has chest armor, and the gemstone in the middle of her tiara is dark purple and star-shaped. Her earrings have a white star dangling from a single gold stud. Her choker is v-shaped with a yellow star in the center. Her sailor collar has a singular gold stripe on it. The gem at the center of her chest bow is also star-shaped. Replacing her shoulder pads are short solid lavender bubble-like sleeves with dark purple fittings at the end. Her gloves now have dark purple, v-shaped wristbands and are extended to reach her upper arms. And her skirt is attached to her leotard by a dark purple and lavender belt. A yellow star is connecting both belts in the center. Her skirt now consists of two layers; dark purple on the top and lavender on the bottom. Her belt is now made up of two ribbons, the bottom one being lavender and the top one being dark purple, the top one being very lengthy and extending past her skirt. Her back bow is now back to its original size but this time it’s lavender with narrow, long, dark purple ribbons extending from it down to her knees, and she now has white knee-length boots; they have larger heels and dark purple v-shaped borders at the top that have yellow stars in the center.
Princess Saturn[]
As Princess Saturn, she wears a dark purple gown with long purple gloves. Her dress has two straps with gold diamond-shaped jewelry on each one. She also wears a purple ribbon choker, a gold pendant with a purple gem, and purple high heels with straps.
Personality[]
Hotaru is timid, quiet, and always keeps to herself. Never having had any real friends, she was surprised yet happy to have met Chibiusa. She had growing fears of losing herself someday and struggled to keep her dark side in check, so as not to harm those she held most dear. She and Sailor Saturn are initially entirely different entities with their own personalities. Saturn is cold and analytical and will do what needs to be done.
When she is reborn, she is a cheerful and highly gifted child. She loves reading and can memorize entire books. She sometimes switches to a colder personality which is more reminiscent of Saturn. When she reawakens to her powers, she regains the memories of all of her past lives and in this new person, Hotaru and Sailor Saturn are one and the same. She is protective of her friendship with Chibiusa. She is deeply intellectual and lacks street smarts as she is completely befuddled by Ruruna Kobe and Naruru Osaka. She loves her new family and dies trying to protect Setsuna.
Information[]
Background[]
Hotaru was raised by Souichi and Keiko Tomoe. Years ago, an accident occurred in one of her father's labs which killed her mother and badly wounded Hotaru. To save her life, her father replaced parts of her limbs with machinery making her a cyborg. During the medical procedure, he connected with Pharaoh 90, who implanted her with a Daimon: Mistress 9. Unlike the Witches 5 and other Daimons, Mistress 9 did not awaken and remained suppressed within Hotaru. She had been Pharaoh 90's partner in the Tau Star System. Over the following few years, her father, fused with a Daimon himself, worked to establish Mugen Academy, create other human-daimon hybrids, and to prepare the expansion of the Death Busters' invasion of Earth. She lived with her father feeling pain from the monster within and underwent regular checkups on her mechanical parts. She saw Kaolinite as trying to replace her mother and resented her.
Infinity arc[]
She is shown as a daughter to Souichi Tomoe and is a 6th grader at the Mugen Academy. At school, she is bullied because of her constant sickness which is revealed to be hosting Mistress 9. Hotaru meets Chibiusa fighting a Daimon. When Chibiusa got injured, she healed her. The latter became best friends. After Mistress 9 awakened with Pharaoh 90 to make Tokyo the new Tao System, Sailor Saturn later awakened when the Sailor Guardians attacks did not hurt the evil entity. She later expels the evil entity out of the universe where she instructs Sailor Pluto to open the Gate of Time and have it close with her for rebirth to be possible. Hotaru is later reborn as a baby and raised by Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna as her adoptive parents.
Dream arc[]
In the Dream arc, Hotaru appears in Act 44, which offers a glimpse of the Outer Sailor Guardians' current lives. Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna swore to raise Hotaru and to live a happy life together. When a threat emerges, Hotaru ages rapidly, up to 10 years old and awakens as Sailor Saturn for the second time. She gives the other three Guardians their Sailor Crystals and they all return to Sailor Moon and the Inner Sailor Senshi to help them defeat the current enemy.
Sailor Saturn reunites with Sailor Chibi Moon and she alone notices the Amazoness Quartet are not normal enemies, but corrupted Sailor Guardians and, after a brief time being a prisoner of Queen Nehelenia, she safeguards them until the threat has passed. Once that happens, Hotaru gets Usagi to lift the curse on them and they reawaken as the Sailor Quartet who will one day be Chibiusa's guardians.
Stars arc[]
After the defeat of the Dead Moon Circus, Hotaru began to attend Juban Public Elementary School alongside Chibiusa. During these months of peace, the events of The Secret Hammer Price Hall occur where she meets some of Chibiusa's other friends and shows herself to be protective of her status as Chibiusa's best friend.
In the first chapter of the Stars arc, a younger, more sarcastic, but cute Hotaru is seen holding hands with Chibiusa on their way to school. Usagi sees them and remarks that they are acting very friendly. Hotaru then asks her why she is not holding Mamoru's hand. This causes Usagi to get very angry and push the girls away from each other due to Mamoru's eminent departure. After Chibiusa returns to the 30th century, she, along with the other Guardians, notice the arrival of Chibi Chibi. In the third chapter of the stars arc, she, along with Setsuna, notice crow wings falling from the sky and senses it's too late to stop the invasion. In the fourth chapter, while playing with Chibi Chibi, she notices something terrible about to happen to Sailor Pluto by Sailor Galaxia. She teleports to Charon Castle to try to help, but she gets killed along with Sailor Pluto, Guardian Pluto, and Guardian Saturn. She is revived and enslaved by Shadow Galactica in her Eternal Sailor Guardian form to kill Sailor Moon, but fails, and thanks to Usagi's efforts, she later gets truly revived within the Galaxy Cauldron.
Sailor Guardian Info[]
Hotaru as Sailor Saturn possesses powers associated with silence and ruin, nothingness, destruction, death, and rebirth that made her a potential threat as she can wipe out a planet and even an entire star system or reset its evolution.
- Death and Rebirth: Hotaru as The Guardian of Silence possesses the power to completely obliterate an entire planet; thus reducing everything and everyone on said world to complete and utter nothingness by swinging down her weapon, the Silence Glaive.
- Great Healing Power: During Infinity arc, Hotaru is shown to have healing power, curing Chibiusa's wounds after the battle in Act 28.
- Age Shifting: After being reborn, in Dream arc, more precisely in Act 44 Dream 6, she is also shown to grow at a faster rate than a normal human, and when the critical moment comes, she grows to a 10-year-old child. When Sailor Saturn's powers are brought back to her, she instantly grows back a 12-year-old. But after the end of Dream arc, she regressed of age back to a 10-year-old girl.
- Illusions: In the same chapter, she also possesses the power to project, through illusions, what's on her mind, showing Super Sailor Chibi Moon and Pegasus, and after that, the history of Solar System's creation.
Phrases[]
Weapons and Items[]
Attacks[]
- Death Reborn Revolution
- Silence Wall
- Silence Glaive Surprise
- Galactica Glaive Surprise
- Galactica Cannon
- Galactica Planet Attack
Development[]
- The idea of Hotaru being a cyborg was originally intended for Ami Mizuno until it was rejected by the editor.
- The fact that she is the Sailor Senshi of Ruin and Rebirth can be associated with the Greek god Cronus, who is portrayed with a scythe or sickle, and is known as the god of periodic renewals as the Roman god Saturn. Her full name meaning "firefly sprouting from Earth" also has ties to Cronus as Cronus was the son of Gaia, the Greek goddess and personification of Earth.
- Earth is one of the four classical elements in ancient Greek philosophy and science. It was commonly associated with qualities of heaviness, matter and the terrestrial world. Due to the hero cults, and chthonic underworld deities, the element of earth is also associated with the sensual aspects of both life and death in later occultism.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- She is the only Sailor Guardian who doesn't transform in the Stars Arc and her Sailor form is only seen after she was brought back as Sailor Galaxia's servant.
- Many different souls and spirits have been in Hotaru. In the Infinity arc, there was Mistress 9, Chibiusa, the four Inner Sailor Guardians, and, separate from her, Sailor Saturn. In the Dream arc, she eventually awakened as Sailor Saturn again, and in the Stars arc short story, she was possessed by Otakura.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Official Sailor Moon website; Sailor Saturn's Profile
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon (Volume 10)/Tankoubon - Hotaru's Profile
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 The Materials Collection states she was born on January 6th and has the appearance of a 12-year-old. At the end of the Infinity arc, she dies and is reborn as a baby. In the Dream arc, she rapidly ages to match Chibiusa's physical age, and in the Stars arc, she attends school with her as seen in The Secret Hammer Price Hall. Chibiusa is in her 3rd year of Elementary School in the Stars arc and in Japan that would make her classmates 8-9 years old. In the alternate universe of Parallel Sailor Moon, she is in her 3rd year of middle school and in Japan they start the school year at 14 and the story takes place in July - well before her birthday.
