Gemini Saga
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Gemini Saga is a character from Saint Seiya, a manga/anime by established manga-ka Masami Kurumada. Saga served as the main antagonist for the Sanctuary arc, and one of the most powerful and wiser characters in the series. Before the final showdown between himself and Pegasus Seiya, Saga was portrayed as a mysterious being with his facial features hidden from view.
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[edit] Statistics
- Age: 28
- Height: 188 cm
- DOB: May 30
- Blood: AB type
- Trained: Sanctuary, Greece
- Seiyuu (1986-1991): Kazuyuki Sogabe
- Seiyuu (2002; 2005-2006): Ryotaro Okiayu
- ADV Dub VA: Mike MacRae
[edit] Secret Moves
- Another Dimension: Saga uses his powers to open a warp to a different dimension, trapping his opponents inside. This attack was first used by the shadow Gemini Saint, which was actually a manipulation he performed using the Gemini Cloth to create the illusion of a Saint guarding the Gemini Temple.
- Galaxian Explosion: Saga most powerful attack, and one of the most destructive techniques in the entire Saint Seiya series. When used at maximum power, the strength of this move is said to be as powerful as the explosion of a star system or a galaxy, which is seen in the background whenever Saga uses this technique.
- Genrōmaōken: Also known as the Demon Emperor Fist, this move allows Saga to strike into the mind of his opponents, and manipulate them to do his bidding. He used this technique to control Leo Aiolia at one time, and he also used it against Phoenix Ikki, which was not completely successful (this was only in the manga).
[edit] Before Saint Seiya
Although he is not in the same age range as Libra Dohko or Aries Shion, Saga is perhaps one of the oldest Gold Saint at the age of 28. Before the events of the conspiracy, Saga was one of the most popular men in Greece, and was often regarded as a kind, generous soul loved by many, earning him the alias of "the Demigod." Unknown to most people in Sanctuary, there was an evil side lurking within him, one that Saga had struggled to suppress for years. Of course, only his twin brother Kanon knew about this, which later was the reason why Saga had Kanon imprisoned in the dungeon at Cape Sounion when Kanon suggested that Saga embrace the evil. However, after Kanon's imprisonment, Saga had only became further corrupted by the evil within him.
[edit] The 13 Year Conspiracy
Along with fellow senior Saint Sagittarius Aiolos, Saga was summoned by the Pope Shion for a meeting to decide the successor to the throne. Due to the fact that most of the gold saints were too young at the time for this honor, the choice fell upon Gemini Saga and Sagittarius Aiolos. Unfortunately for Saga, Aiolos would be the one announced to take the seat and lead infant Athena towards the path of good. This news did not please the Gemini Saint, and it brought him to an eventual confrontation with Shion.
Gazing at the constellations on Star Hill, Pope Shion recalled the words of prophecy said by the last Pope before him. Suddenly, Saga appeared and demanded to know why he, the superior gold saint, had been denied the throne. Shion hesitated at first, but finally explained that he felt an uncomfortable presence residing within Saga. Saga's hair color suddenly faded from blue to gray, and his eyes turned blood-red with black pupils -- the transformation confirmed Shion's suspicions. Before the Pope could react, however, Saga landed a fatal blow through his heart.
With Shion's death, Saga assumed his identity and orchestrated a mass conspiracy that would last for 13 years. The Pope's head-dress and mask allowed Saga to hide his true face from the rest of the world, and soon, rumors began to circulate throughout Sanctuary that the Gemini Gold Saint had vanished. The new Pope in charge of Sanctuary called himself the Pope Ares.[1] Saga, under the disguise of Ares, then attempted to assassinate the baby Athena -- an event that would result in the banishment and death of Aiolos, the Sagittarius Gold Saint appointed to be next Pope of Sanctuary. Pulling baby Athena away from the tips of Ares' mysterious golden dagger, Aiolos confronted the Pope and demanded an explanation. Ares ignored him and resumed his attack, which led to Aiolos retaliating with a blow of his own. The punch sent Ares flying onto the nearest wall, knocking off his head-dress and mask as a result. The revelation shocked Aiolos, for he now realized it was Saga beneath the robes of the Pope -- and the one who had killed Shion to acquire this rank. With his cover blown, Saga unleashed a fury of assaults that heavily injured Aiolos. Aiolos, concerned for the infant Athena's safety, quickly took off from Sanctuary with the child in his arms.
The rest of Sanctuary saw this as an act of treason. Saga, content in knowing that his true identity was still hidden from the rest of the world, declared Aiolos a villainous traitor who attempted to kill the baby Athena. Aiolos himself managed to escape along with Athena, but on his way to the outside world, he encountered the gold saint and best friend Capricorn Shura. Shura, labeled as "the most loyal Saint of Athena," felt disgusted with the fact that Aiolos was truly running off with a baby stolen from Sanctuary, and so did not hesitate to commence battle with him. The fight, which was not shown in the manga but created for the anime, concluded with Shura critically injuring Aiolos and throwing him off a cliff, which worsened the Sagittarius Saint's injuries. Aiolos would not live to survive the morning. Before dying, however, he was able to pass both his Gold Cloth and the baby to Mitsumasa Kido, a wealthy Japanese businessman on a sightseeing trip to Greece. Aiolos revealed to Mitsumasa Kido about the legend of the Saints, and how the baby he held in his arms was the reincarnation of the goddess Athena. His last wishes were to grant the Sagittarius Gold Cloth to a young and worthy saint who will be valiant enough to protect the world along with Athena, and to protect her at all cost. Whispering his last dying words, the sage of Sagittarius passed the fate of Athena to Kido.
This event had tremendous lasting effects. The banishment of Aiolos and the shocking revelation did not settle well with the rest of Sanctuary, especially for Leo Aiolia - the younger brother of the so-called "traitor." As a result, Aiolia was branded with a notorious reputation as "the brother of a traitor" due to the unforgivable crime Aiolos committed against Athena and Sanctuary.
Aries Mu, unsettled by these events and troubled by the appearance of Ares, removed himself from his duties of guarding the Temple of Aries. He relocated to Tibet and lived an isolated life away from Sanctuary and the world. Similarly, Libra Dohko severed ties with Sanctuary, but retained his position as the Guardian of the Seal of Athena at Five Old Peaks in China. The seal is later revealed to be the same one that kept the 108 Spectres of the Underworld Army from reincarnation. It was also implied that both Mu and Dohko's individual departures from Sanctuary were due to the two having known Shion at a personal level (Shion used to be Mu's master and Dohko's best friend), and therefore already suspect that he had been assassinated and replaced by another person.
It should also be noted that Cancer Deathmask, along with Capricorn Shura and Pisces Aphrodite, were some of the very few people who knew the true identity of the Pope, but remained quiet because they shared his view about "True Justice Through power." However, in the case of Capricorn Shura, the anime changed this and showed him only as a man abused by Saga's lies (he thought Athena was still in the Sanctuary).
[edit] Differences between manga and anime
In the manga, Saga killed Shion 13 years ago and assumed his identity during all of the Sanctuary arc. "Pope Ares" simply doesn't exist in the manga; the Pope during the Sanctuary arc is indeed thought (by those who don't know the truth) to be Shion. Whereas in the anime, the script writers decided in the early episodes (before Kurumada thought about the story of Saga and Shion) to name the mysterious Pope "Ares". When they had to deal with the story of Shion and Saga, they created another character, Ares, the young brother of Shion.
An "Outside Story", written by Takao Koyama (the main anime scriptwriter) and published in a databook in 1987, explained that Ares was Shion's younger brother and assistant. He wore a mask similar to that of Shion. After many mishaps, Ares discovered the truth about Saga's evil side, and was thus killed. He then assumed the identity of Ares and took his mask. It was how Saga came to be known as Ares in the anime. He later usurped the pope's throne as in the canon arc, by killing Shion.
[edit] Pope Ares
Shortly after the killing of Ares, Saga had apparently became tired of hiding under his guise. He finally killed Shion, and spread the word that the seat of the Pope would be "passed down" to Shion's younger brother, Ares. Of course, it is still Saga underneath the newer head-dress and Cloth.
Evidently, Shion's younger brother must not have been an influential or even popular figure, as his name allowed Saga the freedom to make decisions without instigating too many questions about his acts, or developing any uprising that may compromise his goals to achieve total world domination. The Pope (mostly in the anime) was projected as a cruel dictator, and often acted in various ways that assured his dominance over Sanctuary's Saints. Nevertheless, as time went by, many came to question his rise to power, including some of his actions. One such act is his constant attempts to forcefully reclaim the Sagittarius Gold Cloth from the Bronze Saints in Japan.
Ares loved chaos and death as it is so plainly seen in the series by the drastic change in Sanctuary. Ares, as the Pope, hired and trained mercenaries, murderers, and assassins, all loyal to his cause. The scenes of death and cruelty shown in some episodes depicting the environment that most of his henchmen had to go through, truly proved the atmosphere of cruelty and Ares' true nature.
[edit] Final Confrontation
It seems that the evil nature in Saga hadn't fully consumed him, as the series depicted various scenes of the two sides arguing back and forth with each other. In the final confrontation between himself, Pegasus Seiya, and Phoenix Ikki, the kind Saga fought his evil side several times, each time to intercept his evil nature's would-be-fatal assaults on Seiya. In the manga, it is Seiya (using the shield of Athena) who, at last, ejected the evil spirit from Saga. In the anime, it was Saga himself (with the Goddess of Victory staff that he used in a brief moment of lucidity) who finished off the evil entity. Before the arc was over, Saga is finally cleansed once and for all, and, in a final attempt to restore his honor, committed suicide in front of Athena, by thrusting his fist through his heart.
In the anime, Saga was confronted to the surviving bronze and gold saints, and to Athena. After one final fight against Seiya (who attacked him with a Pegasus Comet Fist, boosted by the cosmos of all his friends), Saga, finally cornered by the remaining Gold Saints, directed an ultimate and desperate blow to Athena herself: he flung his right fist (representing his evil side, the mocking face on his helmet) at her, but with his left hand (representing his good side and the peaceful face on his helmet), he grabbed her scepter and punctured his own gut. He died shortly after in Athena's arms, his form normal at last.
[edit] Saga: Dual Nature or Evil Entity?
It is often debated what Saga's evil side truly is: was it an evil spirit that eventually gained control over his body, or was it truly Saga's own lust for power ?
Throughout the story, it is shown that Saga has two personalities in him, one of a good person, and one of an evil person, seeking to kill Athena and to take over the Sanctuary. This "evil Saga" identity, when it was first seen in the 7th volume manga, has a demonic depiction, and seems to be way taller than a human. When it takes the control of Saga's body, his hair turn from blond to jet-black (the color schemes were altered for the anime, in which Saga's normally blue hair turned light grey). Saga's two "sides", can also communicate between them : in a dialogue the good Saga reproaches his evil "side" to have forced him to hurt Athena. However in the same dialogue, the evil side has ambiguous lines, either implying that Saga's body would be more that of the good Saga, but also implying that the body is both their's, which infuriated the good Saga.
Until the end of the Sanctuary arc, it was assumed that the two sides were just two different aspects of Saga's own personality, with one being his own subconscious desire to obtain absolute control of the Earth, in order, according to him, to protect it gainst the other greedy gods better than Athena could. However in the last pages, when evil Saga was finally hit by the purifying light of Athena's Shield, the color of his hair became blond again, and an evil soul was seen escaping from Saga's body. Afterwards, Saga became normal again, and even in his latter reappearance in the Hades arc he is never shown in his evil form again : this triggered the belief that his evil side could in fact be an external soul which had taken possession of Saga's body.
However this escaping soul was omitted in the anime version.
In the Poseidon arc, it is revealed that it was his twin brother Kanon who sent Saga down the path of evil by explicatively claiming that they both shared an evil nature: if Saga had always been as pure as a god, Kanon was completely dedicated to evil and since they were twins they shared everything, and he was certain Saga also had this evil inside him. This scene apparently took place just a few days after Saga was to be summoned by Shion. In the Poseidon arc, Kanon is often accused of being the one responsible for the tragedy at the sanctuary. But this idea of a shared natural evil, taken at the first degree, would appear self-contradictory with what was shown before, as Kanon himself never underwent any kind of transformation when he was either good or evil (his hair remained blond - or blue in the anime), and no spirit could be seen escaping his body when he finally redeemed and became loyal to Athena at the end the Poseidon chapter.
An interesting fact is that Saga wasn't the only character to have been possessed by an external entity. In the late Hades arc, Hades' soul took control of Shun's body. It should be noted that some physical changes also happened to Shun, which were the same that Saga experienced when he went from good to bad : the hair of both Saga and Shun turned jet black (in Shun's case it was explicited that this color change was to match the hair color of the true body of Hades). The similarity of the two phenomenons is even noted by Ikki, witnessing Shun's possession.
[edit] After Sanctuary Arc
Being one of the more popular characters in Saint Seiya, Saga has made various appearances after his initial storyline:
- Asgard Arc: Saga's spirit appears in the sky to comfort and give advice to a battle-worn Seiya, of whom at the time had fallen down a cliff. The sudden appearance of Saga's spirit cheering Seiya, makes Seiya shed tears. Even after death, Saga remained a true loyal Saint to Athena.
- Poseidon Arc: Saga makes a cameo in a flashback with his twin brother Kanon, in which his evil dual nature is revealed. As a result. he seals his brother in Cape Sounion. He later on appears in the last episode of the Poseidon chapter among with Shura, Camus, and Aiolos, as spirits looking down a beautiful morning backdrop at top of the Sanctuary hill.
- Hades Arc: Saga is one of the six Gold Saints to return from the depths of Hell. The revived Saints have seemingly abandoned their Sainthood to plead alligenace to Hades, God of the Underworld. It is revealed in the end that they were attempting to fool Hades in order to warn Athena of his ambitions, as well as the grant the goddess her Holy God Cloth and survive the upcoming Holy War. Later on, he(combined with Kanon's soul) and the other previously deceased Gold Saints were revived by Athena's cosmos in order to help Seiya get to Elysium by sacrificing themselves destroying the Sighing Wall.
- Legend of the Crimson Youth: Saga returns to life with his comrades after being revived by Abel, the brother of Athena. It is interesting to note that, while the movie is non-canon and takes place prior to the Hades arc, it is Saga, Shura, and Camus who ultimately opposed Abel's actions when he killed Athena. Shura and Camus attacked immediately, whereas Saga waited for a more opportune moment to strike. Saga lectured Seiya into use his 7th sense to defeat Abel, shortly before sacrificing himself in order to defeat Lynx Jyao, one of Abel's Titan warriors and open the road ahead for Seiya.
- Tenkai-hen, Overture: Saga is shown with younger brother Kanon and the rest of the gold saints as the Olympians sentenced them for their crimes against the gods.
[edit] Notes
- ^ While this name might appear similar to that of the Greek god of war, Ares, in Japanese it is written アーレス (Aaresu?), which is slightly different from the most popular way to write Ares in Japanese: アーレス (Aresu?). "Ares" was how the name was transcribed in ADV's subtitled DVDs of the TV series, however, there are other possible transcriptions, like "Arles" (which was used in the French dub of the TV series). It should be noted that, in the light of Takao Koyama's Outside Story, "Pope Ares" isn't related at all to the Greek god of war.
[edit] Trivia
- In the anime, Saga did not perform his Galaxian Explosion technique until the Hades section.
- His other technique, Another Dimension, has a similar effect to Kanon`s Golden Triangle.
- In anime ,He was never shown wearing his helmet.
| Saint Seiya characters | |
|---|---|
| Bronze Saints | |
|
Pegasus Seiya | Cygnus Hyoga | Dragon Shiryu | Andromeda Shun | Phoenix Ikki Unicorn Jabu | Lionet Ban | Wolf Nachi | Bear Geki | Hydra Ichi |
|
| Silver Saints | |
|
Lizard Misty | Centaurus Babel | Auriga Capella | Kerberos Dante | Crow Jamian | Hound Asterion | Whale Moses ("Kaitos Moses" in the anime) | Cepheus Daidalos | Perseus Algol | Musca Dio | Canis Major Sirius | Hercules Algethi | Eagle Marin | Ophiuchus Shaina | Lyra Orphée | Sagitta Tramy Tarantula Arachne | Lotus Agora | Pavo Shiva |
|
| Gold Saints | |
|
Aries Mu | Aries Shion | Taurus Aldebaran | Gemini Saga | Gemini Kanon | Cancer Deathmask | Leo Aiolia | Virgo Shaka | Libra Dohko | Scorpio Milo | Sagittarius Aiolos | Capricorn Shura | Aquarius Camus | Pisces Aphrodite |
|
| Asgard God Warriors | |
|
Phecda Gamma Thor | Alioth Epsilon Fenrir | Benetnasch Eta Mime | Megrez Delta Alberich | Merak Beta Hagen | Mizar Zeta Syd | Alcor Zeta Bud | Dubhe Alpha Siegfried |
|
| Poseidon's Marinas | |
|
Sea Horse Baian | Scylla Io | Chrysaor Krishna | Lymnades Casa | Kraken Isaac | Siren Sorento | Sea Dragon Kanon Mermaid Tetis |
|
| Hades' Specters | |
|
Wyvern Rhadamanthys | Griffin Minos | Garuda Aiacos Papillon Myu | Deep Niobe | Worm Raimi Acheron Charon | Balron Lune | Sphinx Pharaoh | Lycaon Phlegyas | Basilisk Sylphid | Harpy Valentine |
