List of Saint Seiya characters
This article comprises a list of characters that play a role in Saint Seiya and its canonical continuation, Saint Seiya: Next Dimension, two manga series created, written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada.
The plot of Saint Seiya begins in 1986, spanning until 1990, and follows a group of five mystical warriors called Saints as they battle in the name of the goddess Athena against agents of evil who seek to rule the Earth. Their main enemy in the first arc of the story is the traitorous Gold Saint of Gemini, who has murdered the representative of Athena and taken his place as leader of the Saints. In the second arc, the Saints are confronted with the god of the sea, Poseidon, who kidnaps the mortal reincarnation of Athena and threatens to flood the world with incessant rain to cleanse it of the evils of mankind. Their final enemy, who appears in the third arc of the series, is the god of the Underworld, Hades, whom Athena has fought since the age of myth.
acts both as a prequel and a sequel to the first series. It details the aftermath of the war against Hades and starts with Athena seeking help from the gods of Olympus and from Chronos to save Pegasus Seiya from Hades' curse by travelling back to the 18th century. The two main antagonists are the troops of the goddess Artemis, in the 20th century storyline, and the incarnation of Hades in the 18th century.
Protagonists
Pegasus Seiya
is the Bronze Saint of Pegasus in the 20th century and titular character of the series. An orphaned child later revealed to be one of Mitsumasa Kido's sons, he was separated from his sister Seika and sent to Greece to become a Saint, a soldier of the goddess Athena. Initially motivated by the desire to rejoin his sister, he eventually discovers he has protected Athena for millennia, his soul returning every time she reincarnates to assist her in the battles against the evil agents that threaten the Earth. As a warrior of immense might, Seiya achieves victory in impossible battles, occasionally donning the Sagittarius Gold Cloth before particularly challenging opponents. He defeats the gods Poseidon and Hades, although the latter curses him at the end of Saint Seiya to stop his cycle of rebirth. He is left in a comatose state which Athena seeks to revert in the canonic sequel Next Dimension. Seiya is proclaimed as the future Gold Saint of the Sagittarius successor to Sagittarius Aiolos.Dragon Shiryu
is the Bronze Saint protected by the constellation of Draco the Dragon, considered the calmest and most collected of the protagonists. As one of Mitsumada Kido's sons, he was sent at an early age to the Five Old Peaks of Rozan to train under the Libra Gold Saint and acquire the Dragon Cloth. This Cloth is known for possessing the strongest fist and shield. After he returns to Japan, Shiryu becomes involved in the battles to recover the Gold Cloth from Ikki and the Black Saints, and eventually discovers that Saori Kido is the goddess Athena whom he swore to protect. In the ensuing battle against the Silver Saint Perseus Algol, Shiryu is forced to blind himself to achieve victory. He recovers his sight upon awakening his seventh sense during the fight against Cancer Deathmask, but later loses it a second time while facing Poseidon's General Chrysaor Krishna. More than once, he dons the Libra Gold Cloth when confronting a particularly powerful opponent. In the Next Dimension official sequel of the manga of Saint Seiya, Shiryu and Shunrei have adopted a baby whom they named Shoryu. Then, he goes back in time with Hyoga, to the time of the previous Holy War against Hades in the eighteenth century, in order to help Saori / Athena save Seiya's life, who is cursed by the sword of the god of the underworld. Shiryu is proclaimed as the future Gold Saint of Libra successor to Dohko, from the Gold Saint of the eighteenth century Libra DohkoCygnus Hyoga
, also known as Swan Hyoga in several international adaptations, is the Bronze Saint of Cygnus. He was born in the fictional village of Kohoutek, in eastern Siberia, which, at the time when Kurumada wrote and drew his manga, was in the Soviet Union. His mastery over his Cosmo grants him the ability to create ice and snow at temperatures as low as absolute zero by stopping subatomic particles. Hyoga is often portrayed wearing a cross and rosary of the Northern Cross, another name for the Cygnus constellation. Calm by nature, he displays a seemingly emotionless exterior, but a more tender side of his character emerges on occasions, such as when he expresses his gratitude to Andromeda Shun for having saved his life and his undying devotion to his mentor Aquarius Camus. He first appears in the series as he receives an order from Sanctuary to eliminate his fellow Bronze Saints, but he quickly abandons this mission when he discovers the truth about Saori Kido's identity and joins her in the battles against her enemies. While in Poseidon's Undersea Temple, he reencounters Kraken Isaac, a fellow apprentice of Camus. To repay an old debt to the Mariner, Hyoga sacrifices one of his eyes. He occasionally dons the Aquarius Gold Cloth. In the anime adaptation, he was given a different master: an original character referred to as the Crystal Saint, who was, in turn, Aquarius Camus's apprentice. In Japan, Hyoga is a popular character, ranking second in the main character polls of the Bronze Saints. In the Next Dimension official sequel of the manga of Saint Seiya, Hyoga goes back in time with Shiryu, to the time of the previous Holy War against Hades in the eighteenth century, in order to help Saori / Athena save Seiya's life, who is cursed by the sword of the god of the underworld. Hyoga is proclaimed as the future Gold Saint of Aquarius successor to Camus, from the Gold Saint of the eighteenth century Aquarius MystoriaAndromeda Shun
is the Bronze Saint of Andromeda and Phoenix Ikki's younger brother, although he shares the same father as the rest of the main Bronze Saints. He trained at Andromeda Island under the Silver Saint Cepheus Daidalos and returned to Japan after earning his Cloth, hoping to be reunited with Ikki. He helps Athena reclaim Sanctuary and later becomes involved in the battles against Poseidon and his Generals. In the final arc, it is revealed that the necklace he has carried since he was a baby was given to him by Pandora, to mark his body as Hades's future container. Ikki manages to free him after the god takes hold of his body and both follow Athena to Elysion, where Shun briefly dons the Virgo Gold Cloth and helps to finally defeat Hades. In Next Dimension, Shun accompanies Athena to the 18th century, to save Seiya from the curse of Hades's sword. There, he joins forces with the former Pegasus Saint, Tenma, to save the helpless goddess from Hades's Specters.Shun is proclaimed as the future Gold Saint of Virgo successor to Virgo Shaka.
In the anime adaptation, his master's name was changed to Albiore.
Phoenix Ikki
is the Bronze Saint of the Phoenix constellation and Shun's older brother. He trained at the hellish Death Queen Island under Guilty, which turned him into a loner, cold and harsh. Ikki first appears as an antagonist, as the leader of the Black Saints who is set on taking the Sagittarius Gold Cloth for himself and destroying the other Bronze Saints for revenge against the Graude Foundation. He later overcomes his hate and becomes an ally to Athena and the Bronze Saints, often arriving at critical moments to save them from certain death. Born under the sign of Leo, Ikki dons the Leo Gold Cloth once, during the fight against the twin gods Hypnos and Thanatos in Elysion. In , the ongoing canonical sequel and prequel to Saint Seiya authored by Kurumada that deals with the aftermath of the war against Hades. After Athena visits Mount Olympus to meet her sister Artemis and ask for her help to cure Seiya from the curse Hades inflicted on him, Andromeda Shun is attacked by Artemis's soldiers, the Satellites, and their commander Lascomoune. Shun manages to defeat the Satellites, but not Lascomoune, who nearly takes his life. Ikki then intervenes to protect his brother and defeats the commander of the Satellites. Afterwards, he follows Athena and Shun into the past, to the war against Hades that took place in the eighteenth century. Ikki is proclaimed as the future Gold Saint of the Leo successor to Aiolia, from the Gold Saint of the eighteenth century Leo KaiserSaori Kido
Saori Kido, also known as Princess Sienna in some English versions of the series, is the reincarnation of the Goddess of War. Based on the Greek goddess of the same name, she is the daughter of Zeus and sister of Artemis and Apollo. She usually carries a golden staff representing Nike, the Goddess of Victory, and a shield which can eliminate all evil and owns a powerful Divine Cloth. She is reborn approximately every 250 years to protect the Earth from evil with the help of her loyal Saints. While still a baby, Gemini Saga attempts to kill her, but Sagittarius Aiolos saves her life and delivers her to Mitsumasa Kido, who raises her in secret in Japan. Thirteen years later, after Mitsumasa's death, Saori gathers the Bronze Saints that the Graude Foundation trained and battles to reclaim Sanctuary from Saga's control. During the Poseidon arc, she offers to be locked inside the main pillar in Poseidon's Undersea Temple while it fills with water that would have otherwise flooded the Earth. After her Saints save her, she reseals Poseidon's soul. In the Hades arc, she infiltrates the Underworld and follows Hades to Elysion, where she also seals away the evil god. In Next Dimension, hoping to save Seiya's life from the curse cast on him by Hades's sword, Saori travels to Olympus to ask for Chronos's help. The God of Time sends her back to the 18th century war against Hades, as per her request, but she appears in the past as a helpless baby at the mercy of her enemies.Pegasus Tenma
Trained to be the Pegasus Saint by Crateris Suikyō, is Seiya's incarnation in the 18th century and Alone's best friend. After he and Alone escape from Libra Dohko and Aries Shion, Tenma realizes that his friend has become Hades. He vows to protect Alone, but, when he tries to make him remember who he is, Pandora and some Skeleton soldiers intervene and Tenma has to be saved by Dohko and Shion. The trio is then beset by Griffon Vermeer and Suikyō, who reveals himself as the Garuda Specter. The Saints manage to escape after Pandora summons the Specters and drink water from the Crateris Cloth to revitalize themselves. There, Tenma sees his future: Seiya in a wheelchair. Returning to Sanctuary with Dohko and Shion, Tenma later encounters Andromeda Shun and the two begin to climb the Twelve Temples, joining forces to protect the infant time-traveling Athena.An alternate version of Tenma makes an appearance in the spin-off , where his name is spelled only in katakana.
Other Saints
Athena's army is composed of warriors known as Saints, who for millennia have battled to protect the goddess and the ideals she stands for. They inhabit the Sanctuary and possess superhuman powers thanks to their Cosmo, the energy of the Big Bang that dwells inside every being. They are divided into three hierarchical ranks – Bronze, Silver and Gold – and wear armors that are linked to the constellations named Cloths. Although all Saints have sworn allegiance to the goddess, Kurumada first presented most of them in an antagonistic role.Antagonists
The first characters to appear in an antagonistic role are the Black Saints, servants of Phoenix Ikki on his quest to kill all the Bronze Saints. The second were most of the Silver and Gold Saints, deceived by the dark personality of the Gemini Gold Saint Saga. The short story dedicated to Hyōga that followed the Sanctuary arc of the manga introduced the Blue Warriors from the icy lands of Bluegrad. Afterwards, most antagonists were various deities from Greek mythology: Poseidon and Hades, in the original Saint Seiya, and the Olympians of the Heavenly Realm, in Saint Seiya: Next Dimension. The anime adaptation of the manga introduced several other antagonists, such as the Ghost Saints and Odin's God Warriors.Support characters
Other deities
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Characters outside the manga and the anime
Considered canonical within the universe of Saint Seiya, as they were created by Masami Kurumada, these characters were not introduced in his manga, but instead in the first Saint Seiya film. They were also featured in the musical Saint Seiya: Super Musical of 2011, which is based on the same film. They are five former Saints, collectively known as the Ghost Saints: Southern Cross Khristós ; Sagitta Maya, predecessor of Sagitta Ptolemy ; Scutum Jan ; Lyra Orpheus, predecessor of Lyra Orphée ; and Orion Jäger.Kurumada contributed to designing the looks of the God Warriors of Odin in 1988's ', but had virtually no involvement in the creation of Abel and his three Corona Saints in 1988's ' or of Lucifer and the Fallen Angels in Saint Seiya: Warriors of the Final Holy Battle. On the other hand, the 2004 film was based on an original story by Kurumada. Since the discontinuation of the project, however, the characters and events of that film have since been replaced in the canonical continuity of the series by those found in Next Dimension.