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Sailor Guardians (セーラー戦士; Seera Senshi), alternatively called Sailor Senshi or Sailor Soldiers, are the leading female protagonists in all versions of Sailor Moon.

Etymology[]

In Japan, many schools impose school uniforms on their students and one of the most common among female middle-school students is the sailor-suit (セーラー服, seera fuku). These sailor outfits have a distinctive collar and look. The main protagonists in Sailor Moon are school aged girls who wear these sailor uniforms themselves and transform into super-hero forms (Guardians) who continue to wear sailor-suits like these real school aged girls - the franchise's original target demographic. Series creator Naoko Takeuchi attributes the idea for this motif to her editor Fumio Osano.[1]

Overview[]

Sailor Guardians are magical girls who are initially presented as super-heroes who use their powers to vanquish the forces of evil. They are each associated with an object in outer space. These celestial bodies include stars, planets, moons, asteroids, and comets among other objects.

Sailor Guardians, as magical girl heroines, have both civilian and magical identities. Before transforming into their Sailor forms, the Sailor Guardians look like average girls. They use transformation items to turn into their Sailor Guardian forms through a transformation sequence that grants her a uniform in her theme-colors and her kind of elemental power; these powers come from an object called a "Sailor Crystal" said to be within each of them. Accessories gained with their uniform, such as Sailor Moon's tiara, can also be used as weapons. Usually, during their initial awakening, the Sailor Guardians would have the astrological sign associated with their respective planet display on their forehead.

The franchise initially presents Sailor Guardians as heroines in a fight of light against darkness; however, their more noble characteristics are from the ideology Sailor Moon shares with her close protectors. The idea Senshi are inherently well meaning is gradually subverted throughout the series. This process is completed with the final villains being Sailor Guardians themselves who hold a different point of view. The manga takes this further and suggests Senshi are not inherently different from the villains they have been fighting and they spring from the same source.

Though Sailor Guardians are all humanoid women,[2] others can have similar magical abilities. For example, Mamoru Chiba displays many parallels. He can transform into Tuxedo Mask (a form based on his Tuxedo school uniform), is associated with a celestial body, and has an analogue to a Sailor Crystal: the Golden Crystal.

Powers[]

Each Senshi has unique abilities centered around a theme which ties back to their Guardian Planet or Star. For example, the Senshi of our Solar System's planets have powers related to each planet's name. Their names are tied to the Five Elements in Japanese and Greek and Roman Gods in English.

In addition to their elemental powers, the Guardians possess abilities common to all of them like flight[3], unnamed energy attacks, teleportation[4], and limited telepathic powers.[5]

Uniforms and Power-Ups[]

Eternal sailor moon wall paper

The Sailor Guardians in their Eternal forms

Initially, each Senshi of the Solar System had her own somewhat unique sailor outfit with the same basic form but with unique customizations. They bear the hallmarks of a sailor-suit including a large collar, a skirt, and a large front bow. They have additional shared elements including tiaras, chokers, back bows, brooches in their front bows, and their fukus are white and accented by a color unique to each of them. Only the outfit worn by Minako Aino during her time as Sailor V varies significantly from the others. As they advance to their Super and Eternal forms their uniforms become more similar with the later only differing in color.

They have many unique elements in their base uniforms. For example Sailors Mars and Uranus have different color front and back bows, Sailors Mercury and Pluto lack sleeves, Sailor Neptune wears a pendant on her neck, and Sailor Saturn has flower-petal shaped sleeves and a spiky, star-shaped, brooch on her front bow. The sub-groups show traces of theming: for instance, the Outer Sailor Guardians do not have stripes on their collars, while the Inner Sailor Guardians each have one, two, or three (in the manga). These initial uniforms are not static and change throughout the story with tweaks to them before they gain their Super forms. For example, most of their brooches turn heart-shaped when the Holy Grail awakens in the manga.

In their Super forms, their uniforms become more similar to each other but allow for some distinctions to remain, such as earrings and shoe-style. They have back bows with long ribbons hanging from them, heart-shaped brooches in the middle of their front ribbons, and chokers with a star on them. Their collars have a single line on them. They lack sleeves with a small transparent shoulder pads and long white gloves.

The Eternal forms replicate each other entirely in form and generally reach an ornate peak. They have star shaped brooches in their front ribbon and waist with stars also appearing as their earnings, on their chokers, boots, and tiaras. They have double layer skirts. They have bubble shaped, transparent, shoulder pads with white sleeves and long white gloves. When Sailor Moon takes on this form she gains wings and loses her tiara while the others do not reflect any of these two changes. This form never appears in the 90's anime for anyone but Sailor Moon.

When the Inner Sailor Guardians appear in the past Silver Millennium and the future 30th century they wear their original uniforms, without any enhancements.

The Sailor Quartet, although Sailor Guardians of the Solar System, don't follow the standard progression of power-ups. Instead, the Sailor Quartet's uniforms combine elements of those worn by the Sailor Team in their first forms and their Eternal forms. The outfits have one-layer skirts, belts, chokers, and back-bows like those on the Sailor Team's first uniforms, with boots, gloves, brooches, leotards, and tiaras the same as the final forms. Their shoulder pads reflect the style of the last outfits but in white. Each member has unique earrings.

Sailor Moon, whatever form she takes, always has a more elaborate costume than any of the others. Among other things, in her first form, she has hair ornaments; in her second, she adds a multi-colored skirt, and in her third, she gains wings and a three-layered skirt. She also gains minor, individual power-ups more frequently than any other character. Sailor Chibi Moon progresses similarly, down to the hair-ornaments, and her uniform as Super Sailor Chibi Moon is almost identical to her predecessor's. Chibiusa's Eternal form is more similar to that of the rest of the Sailor Team than to that of Eternal Sailor Moon.

Sailor Guardians originating from outside the Solar System generally have very different and widely varying outfits, but one single feature connects them all: the sailor collar.

Sailor Crystals[]

Main article: Sailor Crystals

Sailor Crystals, or "true star seeds" in the 90's anime, are a core part of Sailor Senshi and are intrinsically tied to the enigmatic Sailor Power Guardians. The Silver Crystal is one of them.

Sailor Princesses[]

Main article: Sailor Princesses

Many Sailor Senshi are also Princesses. This includes Princess Serenity and Princess Kakyuu among others.

Sailor Guardians of the Solar System[]

Present[]

30th Century[]

Sailor Guardians from Outside the Solar System[]

Kinmoku Sailor Senshi[]

Shadow Galactica[]

Killed by Shadow Galactica[]

Distant Future[]

Other Senshi[]

Miscellaneous[]

Civilians Dressed as Senshi[]

Imaginary Senshi[]

Trivia[]

  • Minako Aino or Sailor V is the original Sailor Guardian. Her first manga chapter spawned the entire Sailor Moon franchise and her manga series Codename: Sailor V has never been adapted into an anime, musical, or any other form.
  • The Earth and Sun don't have official Sailor Guardians and instead have an unique arrangement. The Sun is instead represented by Prince Endymion of the Golden Kingdom.[6] The Earth is watched over by those associated with two largest celestial bodies in the sky and holders of the Silver and Golden Crystals: Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion.[7] It was on the Earth's surface where they met after Endymion moved there.
    • Endymion also has a deeper connection to the Earth through his present day incarnation: Mamoru Chiba. Mamoru's full name translates to "Protector of Earth". Tuxedo Mask has abilities directly tied to the Earth[8] while he retains his connection to the Golden Kingdom and Helios. Tuxedo Mask is the Senshi equivalent for the Earth[2] and retains his previous life's strong connection to the Sun.
  • In the DiC English adaptation of the anime, the term "Sailor Scout" was used instead of "Sailor Guardian" or "Sailor Soldier".

References[]

  1. Animerica Magazine Vol 4 No 8 - Interview with Naoko Takeuchi in 1996.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Animerica Magazine Vol 6 No 11 - Coverage of Naoko Takeuchi's panel at 1998 San Diego Comic-Con.
  3. Manga & Sailor Moon Crystal - The Senshi and Tuxedo Mask are flying during most of the final battle against Mistress 9 and Pharaoh 90.
  4. Manga Stars arc - Outer Sailor Guardians teleported individually to their castles, Sailor Galaxia regularly teleported in an out of the scene, and the Sailor Starlights would always vanish when pursued.
  5. During the Dream Arc, while Usagi and Mamoru were afflicted with the curse, the other Guardians would seem to feel something was wrong and mentally call out to them, which Usagi could hear.
  6. Sailor Moon Eternal Edition Act 49 & Sailor Moon Eternal - Queen Nehelenia says Mamoru is protected by the sun. This is just like Senshi who are protected by their Guardian Planets and his Astrological sign matches the Sun like the main Senshi's do for their associated planets.
  7. Sailor Moon Eternal Edition Act 46 & Sailor Moon Eternal - Helios says Prince Endymion and Princess Serenity shared the same mission of protecting the Earth.
  8. In Act 14 he can touch the Earth to find the Inner Senshi and in the Dream arc he becomes sick when the Earth starts to be cursed.


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