Sailor Saturn
The Guardian of Silence, Destruction, and Ruin and Rebirth.
Sailor Saturn (Japanese: セーラーサターン, Hepburn: Sērā Satān) is a fictional supporting character in the Sailor Moon franchise. Her spirit resides deep within twelve-year-old Hotaru Tomoe (土萠 ほたる, Tomoe Hotaru), a frail middle schoolgirl who is her lookalike reincarnation, which makes Sailor Saturn her alter ego; entirely apart from how the other nine Sailor Guardians are reborn and their human identities remain separate. She is the tenth and last of the Sailor Guardians of the long gone Moon Kingdom to be introduced, possessing dark powers associated with silence and ruin, nothingness and the void, destruction and death, annihilation and rebirth. Her powers made her a potential threat as she can wipe out a planet, an entire solar system, or reset its evolution. Her immense destructive powers complement the restorative powers possessed by Sailor Moon.
Quick Facts
- Series
- Sailor Moon
- Creator
- Naoko Takeuchi
- Nationality
- Japanese
- Weapon
- Silence Glaive (renamed Silent Scythe in Cloverway English version)
Lore & Background
Prior to the main events of Sailor Moon, when Hotaru was eight years old, she lived with her parents in Tokyo's Sankakusu District when a freak storm occurred causing a fire that killed her mother Keiko and left her on the verge of death herself. Later admitting that she was meant to die at the time, Hotaru's life was unnaturally prolonged by both the actions of her father Souichi Tomoe turning her into a cyborg and being made a host to the Daimon Mistress 9 whose presence caused Hotaru's body to suffer seizures with only the Tairon Crystal appearing to reduce the pain, only seen in Sailor Moon Crystal's thirteen-episode third season.
Wearing clothes to conceal her altered body, unaware of Mistress 9's existence prior, Hotaru was friendless before meeting her best friend, Chibiusa. By the time she realized Mistress 9's existence, she loses her body to the Daimon as she steals Chibiusa's Silver Crystal to fully regain her strength. Hotaru is also revealed to be the reincarnation of Sailor Saturn who was responsible for destroying the last remnants of the fallen Moon Kingdom Silver Millenium so it can begin anew of Earth.
This fact and her power made her feared by the Outer Guardians as they initially intended to kill Hotaru and seal her soul before she could awaken and destroy Earth. But Hotaru, seemingly destroyed when Mistress 9 ripped herself out of the human's body, ended up awakening as Sailor Saturn when Pharaoh 90 appeared and Sailor Moon appeared to have died in a gambit. Though Saturn intended to destroy Earth along with Pharaoh 90, she stops the destruction upon seeing Sailor Moon alive and deemed destroying Earth to make way for the new Silver Millenium not necessary.
She then drives Pharaoh 90 to his domain while sacrificing herself to ensure he remains trapped, though Sailor Moon's restoration brings Hotaru back to Earth as an infant. With her father dead, Hotaru becomes the adopted daughter of Haruka Tenoh, Michiru Kaioh and Setsuna Meioh as the four of them reside at an Empire Victorian House. In the original anime, Hotaru's story is mostly the same except that she was not modified into a cyborg and Mistress 9 had a stronger influence that played a role in her being ostracized by her classmates.
Her father also survived the Death Busters' defeat and was allowed to raise her until Setsuna asks for her help in the first part of Sailor Moon Sailor Stars. Hotaru's age fluctuates during the series; she is first introduced as a twelve-year-old, is reborn as an infant due to Sailor Saturn's spirit forever within her, quickly develops into a young four or five-year-old child around then reaches her proper chronological age after a metaphysical epiphany with Sailor Saturn herself appearing before her to "wake up."
When not transformed, her body retains the smaller height of a five-year-old; the exact same height she gained since being reborn. Naoko Takeuchi, the series creator, describes her as delicate, quiet, precocious, and expressionless.
Reader's Guide
Sailor Saturn wears a dark blue-violet uniform with a pale maroon bow in the front of her chest with a silver crystalline brooch and in the back of her miniskirt. The initial version of this uniform has petal-shaped sleeves, a windrose brooch and choker with the same kind of windrose, bellflower-shaped white gloves, and knee-high, lace up boots. She is given various specific titles, including Guardian of Silence, Guardian of Destruction, and Guardian of Ruin and Rebirth.
Sailor Saturn carries the Silence Glaive, which she may use to bring about the destruction of a world or worlds with a single swing. She also has the ability to heal minor wounds in both her civilian and Guardian forms, having healed Chibiusa when she was attacked by a Daimon, though the process weakens her which was more detrimental while she had Mistress 9 in her body. In her past life, Sailor Saturn lived far from Silver Millennium and only appears during a crisis with the Three Talismans of her fellow Outer Guardians serving as keys to summon her once the items were brought together.
Because of their distance from Silver Millennium and each other, Saturn and the Outer Guardians were not intended to be reborn. But as Hotaru theorized, the events caused by the Death Busters played a key role in her awakening when she was originally meant to die and the Outer Guardians allowed to live normal lives. Sailor Saturn gains additional powers as the series progresses, and at key points her uniform changes to reflect this. The first change takes place in Act 44 of the manga, when she obtains the Saturn Crystal and her outfit becomes similar to that of Super Sailor Moon.
She is not given a new title. A similar event takes place in Episode 168 of the anime, and she is given the name Super Sailor Saturn. A third form appears in Act 49 of the manga, unnamed but similar to Eternal Sailor Moon (without wings). In the official visual book for Sailor Moon Eternal, this form was named "Eternal Sailor Saturn".
In the original anime's fifth and final season, her Eternal form is never seen neither is her transformation sequence into her Super Sailor form. According to the manga, on Silver Millennium, Sailor Saturn was also the princess of her home planet. She was among those given the duty of protecting the Solar System from outside invasion. As Princess Saturn, she dwelt in Titan Castle and wore a purple gown—she appears in this form in the original manga and in supplementary art.
Unlike the other Sailor Guardians, it is stated that Saturn did not awaken on Silver Millennium until after it was destroyed so Princess Saturn's exact status during that time is unclear.
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