Black Moon Clan
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 Black Moon symbol |
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| Black Moon Clan | |
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| Story arc: | Sailor Moon R |
| Dub name: | Negamoon Family |
| Leader: | Prince Demande |
| Chaos form: | Death Phantom (Wiseman) |
| Key figures: | Rubeus, Esmeraude, Safiru, Ayakashi Sisters, Black Lady |
| MOTD: | Droids |
| Tools: | Black Crystal |
The Black Moon Clan (ブラックムーン一族 Burakku Mūn Ichizoku?) is a fictional clan existing in the 30th century in the Sailor Moon metaseries. It comprises the antagonists of the second major story arc, which is called Black Moon in the manga and which fills the majority of the Sailor Moon R anime. In the dubbed anime they are called the Negamoon Family.
Members of the Black Moon Clan come from Planet Nemesis, a fictional tenth planet of the Solar System. It is described as a planet of "negative energy," having the ability to vanish from visual sight. Due to its negativity, it was claimed to be traceable by X-Rays. All members of the Black Moon Clan have an inverted black marking of the Silver Millennium on their foreheads. They also wear earrings which, according to the Materials Collection, are made of Black Crystal and allow them to warp.
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[edit] Story
Powered by a mysterious fortuneteller named Wiseman and led by Prince Demande, the Black Moon Clan are desendents of those who refused to be purified by Neo-Queen Serenity's Silver Crystal and were exiled to Nemesis. At first they wanted to ask Neo-Queen Serenity for permission to live on Earth, but Wiseman brainwashed them into wanting revenge instead. Prince Demande, the de jure leader of the Clan, wished to take revenge for his people, but was ignorant of Wiseman's true purpose. Wiseman eventually revealed himself to be the Death Phantom, a creature intent on using his Evil Black Crystal to open the Black Gate, eliminating all life in the world. His plan was to travel back into the 20th century and wipe out human civilization there, in the past. Demande and those who followed his orders were killed--only the Ayakashi Sisters survived, and only in the anime, because they were willing to accept purification by Sailor Moon and live as normal humans. Because of the Sailor Senshi, the battle in the past never came to fruition, and was eventually taken back into the 30th century.
[edit] Death Phantom (Wiseman)
Death Phantom (デス・ファントム Desu Fantomu?), who calls himself Wiseman (ワイズマン Waizuman?), is an immortal form of Chaos from the future. In the English version of the anime, he is called Doom Phantom.
In the manga, Death Phantom was originally a human who lived in the time of the future kingdom of Crystal Tokyo, and possessed dark powers which he used to wreak havoc upon the citizens of Crystal Tokyo. These powers were: his death hands; able to reach insurmountable distances to attack people, and his evil vision, capable of controlling the minds of others by simply looking at them. He was banished to the barren tenth planet, Nemesis, by Neo-Queen Serenity. Over an unspecified period of time, Death Phantom managed to merge his spirit with the planet and became one with Nemesis. He cloaked his decayed and crumbling human body, and reached out psychically to earth in order to look for discontent. He convinced certain denizens of earth that the 30th century utopia of Crystal Tokyo was an abomination against nature, as all of its citizens were given immortality through the power of the Mystical Silver Crystal. Thus the Black Moon Clan was born. Calling himself the Wiseman, Death Phantom lead their way into a near fatal attack on Crystal Tokyo, and then into the past of Sailor Moon's time in order to obtain the Mystical Silver Crystal and have his revenge.
Death Phantom cares little for his pawns; he manipulates them and sends the young traitors to their deaths, and even kills Rubeus himself. When faced with a new conduit for power, in the form of Chibiusa, he fills her with dark energy and she becomes his Black Lady. When Demande finally comes to his senses and blasts the Wiseman with all of his strength, the decayed body shatters; but Black Lady only laughs, before revealing that Wiseman is Nemesis. When all of his followers are gone, and Black Lady reverts to Sailor Chibi Moon, he creates a dark energy swirl to kill the Sailor Senshi, but they attack the planet and are able to destroy it.
In the anime, Death Phantom first approached Prince Demande when he was significantly younger. The Black Moon Clan were the descendants of traitors who had been exiled to Nemesis centuries before by Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion of Crystal Tokyo; and, posing as Wiseman, the Death Phantom manipulated them into gathering power for himself. He promised them that he could give them the power and ability to go to Earth and appeal directly to Neo-Queen Serenity to gain amnesty for the citizens of Nemesis, who had committed no crimes themselves. However, Wiseman's influence slowly warped the minds of his pawns until they carried out his plan for revenge and the ultimate destruction of the planet Earth.
The Wiseman personally counsels Rubeus during his mission for a long time, but is all the same unconcerned about his death. He condescendingly humiliates Esmeraude when she comes to him asking to be the queen of Nemesis, and thus brings about her transformation into a hideous dragon and, ultimately, her death. He manipulates Chibiusa's childhood memories in order to make her into Black Lady. Wiseman then kills Saphir when Saphir realizes that he and his brother have been lied to. In the end, Death Phantom is destroyed, but Nemesis and its inhabitants aren't; from Sailor Moon's promise to Prince Demande, we imagine they are given a better life.
Death Phantom was voiced in the anime by Eiji Maruyama. In the English version, the Doom Phantom was voiced by Tony Daniels, who also voiced Jedite of the Dark Kingdom.
[edit] Crimson Rubeus
Crimson Rubeus (紅のルベウス Kurenai no Rubeusu?, known simply as Rubeus in the English dub) is the first member of the Black Moon Clan to appear in the 20th century. He is charged with finding a person codenamed "Rabbit", who had fled into the Tokyo of the past. Besides following the orders of Prince Demand and Wiseman, he leads his own set of minions (the Ayakashi Sisters). In the anime, he is the love interest of Kōan, the youngest of them.
In the anime, while trying to take Chibiusa, Rubeus kidnaps the Sailor Senshi and blackmails Sailor Moon into bringing the Mystical Silver Crystal in exchange for her friends. Sailor Moon comes to rescue them, and Rubeus takes her and Chibiusa (who had followed Sailor Moon in secret) aboard his spaceship. Onboard, a battle ensues for the custody of the Sailor Senshi. Chibiusa eventually finds and destroys the crystal that controls his spaceship, causing it to go haywire and catch fire. After Sailor Moon attacks Rubeus, the Sailor Senshi are freed, and they, Chibiusa, and Sailor Moon teleport away, leaving Rubeus onboard his burning ship. Rubeus is then confronted by Esmeraude, and begs her to take him back to the future. Esmeraude refuses, and leaves Rubeus in the unstable spaceship, saying he's failed too many times to be of any more use; in the end, his obsession with killing Chibiusa is his downfall. The spaceship finally explodes, and Rubeus dies.
In the manga, he kidnaps Sailor Mars, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Jupiter. He is extremely loyal to Prince Demande, appearing with him to taunt the captured Sailor Moon. He realizes that there is more to Wiseman than what appears and he is killed by Wiseman when he confronts him.
In the anime, Crimson Rubeus was voiced by Wataru Takagi. In the dub, he was voiced by Rob Tinkler.
[edit] Green Esmeraude
Green Esmeraude (翠のエスメロード Midori no Esumerōdo?, known simply as Emerald in the English dub) is the second of the Black Moon Clan to appear. She is a very greedy, selfish, and vain woman who tries to emanate a goddess-like appearance. She has a very distinctive laugh that is extremely loud and piercing, and is generally the most comedic member of the Black Moon.
In the anime, Esmeraude is the successor to Rubeus, deliberately passing up the chance to save his life from an exploding spaceship. She is completely infatuated with Prince Demande, who unfortunately is obsessed with Sailor Moon. Consumed by her jealousy and greed, Esmeraude goes to Wiseman with the desire to have Demande and ruin Sailor Moon. He presents her with a magical tiara which, he claims, will make her the queen of Neo-Tokyo.
Despite feeling there must be a catch, she accepts the gift and is instantly transformed into a 'queen'. As the power courses through her, she laughs triumphantly thinking Demande will be all hers. But, to her horror, she becomes overwhelmed by the dark powers and changes into an evil dragon. Immediately, she proceeds to attack the Crystal Palace. The Sailor Senshi face her, unaware that the monster is really Esmeraude. She attacks, but at the last moment, Sailor Moon fires an attack at the dragon, instantly defeating it. Esmeraude briefly reappears as the queen she most desperately wanted to be, surrounded by a pure, heavenly glow, but a dark, swirling void opens up underneath her. Unable to save herself, Esmeraude slips into the dark vortex, whispering Demande's name.
In the manga, Esmeraude's obsession with Demande still exists. After failing to kill the Sailor Senshi using her subordinates Chiral and Achiral, she attacks Chibiusa in the 30th century, after taking off her gloves to reveal long, monstrous hands. After trying to strangle Chibiusa, she is briefly stopped by Sailor Venus. Sailor Moon attempts to use Moon Princess Halation on Esmeraude, but it doesn't work. Esmeraude then proceeds to use her now multiple hands to strangle Sailor Moon, Sailor Venus, and Tuxedo Mask. When King Endymion's spirit appears behind Tuxedo Mask, allowing him to use Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber, Tuxedo Mask uses his new power to kill Esmeraude, freeing the other two Sailor Senshi.
Green Esmeraude was voiced by Mami Koyama in the Japanese version, and by Kirsten Bishop in the English version. In the musical is played by Miki Kawasaki
[edit] Blue Saphir
Blue Saphir (蒼のセフィール Ao no Sefīru?, known simply as Sapphire in the English dub) is the Alchemist of the Black Moon Clan, and the younger brother of Prince Demande. He is noted for being considerably more cautious and rational than his companions. He is the only member of the Clan that does not wear earrings made from Black Crystal, despite having invented them.[1]
In the manga, Saphir prefers to work with droids (the most minor of the Clan's minions) over serving his unpredictable, easily swayed older brother. He even attempts to question the intentions of Wiseman, and the wisdom of Prince Demande in listening to everything he says. Prince Demande reacts violently to this, accusing him of wanting the power for himself. When Prince Demande kidnaps Sailor Moon and brings her to his castle on Nemesis, she stumbles into Saphir's laboratory, where he admits that their plans were insensible and that she was guiltless, but nonetheless attempts to kill her. This prompts the still recovering Neo Queen Serenity to activate Sailor Moon's crystal, allowing her to transform even on Nemesis. The amount of power poured out from Sailor Moon causes Nemesis to become unstable. Saphir and Demande are rescued by Black Lady, who leads them to Wiseman's castle. Wiseman then attacks them with a mind controlling spell and loans Saphir the use of his "Demon Hands". When it is later revealed that Demande's "Evil Eye" rendered him immune to Wiseman's spell, Saphir attacks him and is killed by his brother.
Saphir was portrayed more sympathetically in the anime version of Sailor Moon, just as the rest of his clan was. A past relationship is alluded to between Saphir and the oldest Ayakashi sister, Petz, even though they are never in the same scene together in the manga. The English dub also implied that he had an unrequited love for Esmeraude. In a flashback, Saphir recalls growing up on bleak Nemesis with his brother, who promised him that one day they would go to Earth and he would show him real flowers. Saphir overhears the Wiseman talking out loud about how he is only using Prince Demande and the others for his own goals, and, barely escaping with his life, Saphir steals the power of the Black Crystal and takes it to the Earth of the past. He is briefly reunited with Petz, and aided by the Sailor Senshi, but Wiseman kills him before he can warn his brother about the coming treachery. After he dies, the bandage on his head falls off, showing that his Black Moon symbol has disappeared.
Blue Saphir is voiced by Tsutomu Kashiwakura. His English voice is provided by Lyon Smith. In the musicals he is played by Yuri Kuroda.
[edit] Prince Demande
Prince Demande (プリンス・デマンド Purinsu Demando?, Prince Diamond in the English dub) is the leader of all of Planet Nemesis in the 30th century.
Born on a prisoners' planet, Demande's original intention is to reason with Neo-Queen Serenity, explaining that he and his people are descendants of criminals, and not actually criminals themselves. However, Wiseman slowly manipulates the young prince to be unforgiving to the people of Earth. One day, during an attack on Crystal Tokyo, Prince Demande manages to see Neo-Queen Serenity and falls in love. He seems to be fascinated with her eyes, and the anger they bore toward him during the glimpse they caught of each other.
In all versions of Sailor Moon, including the musicals, Demande's deep obsession with the Neo-Queen eventually drives him to kidnap her and attempt to brainwash her with his third eye into becoming his Queen. Invariably, Usagi escapes this fate because her love for her friends reminds her that she must save the world.
In the anime, Sailor Moon is saved by Tuxedo Mask from Prince Demande's castle. In the manga and musical versions, she saves herself and her friends (Ami, Rei, Makoto, and, in the musical, Minako.)
Prince Demande's final moments are different in every version of the series:
- Manga: He is killed by Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask after he attempts to combine the Silver Crystals of the future and the present in a fit of insanity after realising that he was used by Wiseman.
- Anime: He defends Sailor Moon with his life by blocking an attack that Wiseman directs toward her.
- Musical: As in the manga, Prince Demande attempts to combine the Silver Crystals of the future and present. However, they too are taken from him when time stops. After Saphir and Esmeraude are killed by the Death Phantom (aka Wiseman), Demande helps Sailor Moon defeat him. After the battle is over, Demande confesses his love for Sailor Moon and dies in her arms, flowers grow around Demande's limp body and he repents for his evil. He leaves through the "Door of Time and Space," possibly hoping to start a new life.
In the original anime, Prince Demande was voiced by seiyuu Kaneto Shiozawa, who died in 2000[2]. In the English dub, he was voiced by Robert Bockstael. In the musical, he has been played by Hikari Ono.
[edit] Boule Brothers
The Boule Brothers, Chiral and Achiral, are two minor antagonists belonging to the Black Moon Clan. They are under the service of Green Esmeraude, even appearing on her page in the Materials Collection art book. They are more significant in the manga plot than the anime, in which they are simply monsters of the day.
In the manga, the brothers are sent to greet the Sailor Senshi when they arrive in Crystal Tokyo. They create a mirror-image replica of the Crystal Palace as a trap. When Sailor Moon attacks them, she is paralyzed by a magnetic field from a man-made crystal at her feet. However, the other Senshi destroy the crystal by willing it to break, and the brothers are killed by Sailor Venus and Tuxedo Mask.
The brothers' anime counterparts are used to grow "Dark Henges" at Jūban Park and Jūban Elementary School. They cause all of the pupils and teachers at the school to fight each other, viciously and constantly. They also attack Chibiusa's best friend, Momo-chan, which causes Chibiusa to reveal her identity as "The Rabbit" to the Black Moon Clan.
[edit] Black Lady
Black Lady (Wicked Lady in the dub) is the brainwashed form of Chibiusa. Wiseman comes across the lonely Chibiusa, who is still trying to find her place in the 20th Century, and twists her memories of her family to make her do his bidding. As Chibiusa's dream is to become a beautiful lady like her mother, Black Lady's form is something like a femme fatale.
Her history and personality differ between the anime and the manga. In the anime, Black Lady hates her family and the Sailor Senshi and tries to kill them because she believes she is unloved. She also considers her toy, Luna-P, as her only friend. The love of her parents finally restores her. In the manga, she throws away the Luna-P after her transformation and derides it as a childish toy. She also uses her powers to brainwash and seduce her future father, Mamoru. It is the shock of witnessing the death of her closest friend, Sailor Pluto, that frees her from the dark power and causes Chibiusa to power up into Sailor Chibi Moon for the first time.
[edit] References
- ^ Takeuchi, Naoko (September 1999). Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon Volume V Original Picture Collection. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-324521-7.
- ^ Doi, Hitoshi. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon. Retrieved on October 6, 2006.
[edit] External links
- Green Jealousy - Contains information on the Green Esmeraude and her relations.
- Brilliantly Blue - Sapphire's Shrine - Contains information on the various versions of Blue Saphir, including the musical version.
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