Dead Moon Circus

Dead Moon Circus
The Dead Moon Circus. Left column: CereCere with Zircon, PallaPalla, JunJun, VesVes. Right column: Zeolite and Xenotime, Fisheye, Tiger's Eye, Hawk's Eye, Zirconia, Queen Nehelenia.
Publication information
Publisher	Kodansha
First appearance	Sailor Moon chapter #34: Dream 1 – Eclipse Dream (September 1995)
Created by	Naoko Takeuchi
In-story information
Base(s)	Dead Moon circus tent
Leader(s)	Zirconia Queen Nehelenia
Member(s)	Amazon Trio Amazoness Quartet Xenotime and Zeolite Lemures

The Dead Moon Circus (デッドムーンサーカス, Deddo Mūn Sākasu) are a group of fictional antagonists from the Sailor Moon manga series created by Naoko Takeuchi. They serve as the main antagonists of the fourth arc, called Dream in the manga and Sailor Moon SuperS in its first anime adaptation. They are first introduced in chapter #34 "Dream 1 – Eclipse Dream", originally published in Japan on September 6, 1995.^[1] In the English dubbed anime, they are called the "Dark Moon Circus".

The Dead Moon Circus is led by the twisted Zirconia, in command by the absence of the dark Queen Nehelenia who is trapped within a mirror. Zirconia is searching for the legendary Golden Crystal, which will allow Nehelenia to break free of her entrapment and take over the Earth. They are the only group of villains with two subordinate groups: the Amazon Trio and the Amazoness Quartet.

Key figures

Zirconia

Zirconia (ジルコニア, Jirukonia) appears as an insectlike old woman with lavender skin. Secondary to Queen Nehelenia, she controls the Amazoness Quartet and the Amazon Trio. Her name is derived from the mineral Zirconium dioxide, which is often called Zirconia. She first appears in Episode 128 of the anime and Act 34 of the manga, her connection to Nehelenia varying. In the English-language adaptation, Zirconia's gender was changed from female to male.

In the manga, Zirconia communicates with Nehelenia and delivers her orders to the Amazoness Quartet. When Sailor Saturn and Sailor Chibi Moon begin to break through Zirconia's influence on the Quartet, Zirconia captures all of them, imprisoning the Quartet inside four magic balls and Saturn and Chibi Moon within two shards of broken mirror. She sends the objects through the mirror to Nehelenia. When the Sailor Soldiers confront her, she rises into the sky and grows in size, but the Sailor Soldiers use Sailor Planet Attack to defeat her. Zirconia escapes into Nehelenia's mirror, but when Sailor Moon follows, she only finds Nehelenia. Following Nehelenia's apparent defeat in the mirror's world, Zirconia reappears in the mirror and claims that the Queen of the Dead Moon will not die yet and that the Dead Moon will triumph yet before disappearing, reviving Nehelenia in the process.

In the anime, Zirconia is an entity created by Nelehenia from her own being and serves as the queen's representative in directing their followers on missions to find Pegasus in the beautiful dreams of people in Tokyo. While the Amazon Trio feared her, Zirconia has trouble keeping the Amazoness Quartet in line. When the Quartet begins to develop sympathy for the Sailor Soldiers and destroy their balls, Zirconia escapes to Nehelenia's mirror, disappearing as her services for the freed queen are no longer needed.

Zirconia is voiced by Hisako Kyōda.^[2] In the Cloverway English Adaptation, Master Zirconia's voice is supplied by Rowan Tichenor.

Queen Nehelenia

Queen Nehelenia (女王ネヘレニア, Joō Neherenia), leader of the Dead Moon Circus, is named after the ancient goddess Nehalennia. In the English version her name is spelled Nehelenia. She first appears in Episode 148 of the anime and appears in full in act 37 of the manga, though she appeared as a voice in a mirror starting in Act 35.

In the manga, she is like the dark mirror image of Queen Serenity; the self-styled Queen of the dark center of the moon that existed since the Silver Millennium. She made herself known at the celebration of Princess Serenity's birth. Swirling with dark energy, she confronted the Queen who used the Moon Wand to seal Nehelenia inside a dark mirror forever. In retaliation, Nehelenia cast a curse that the Moon Kingdom would fall and the princess would never inherit the throne. The Sailor Soldiers thought this might have been what ultimately brought about the end of the Silver Millennium. Thousands of years later, a solar eclipse allowed her to breach the seal and make her way to Earth, where she found Sailor Chibi Moon's four future guardians, the Sailor Quartet, sleeping in the forest. She awakened them prematurely and brainwashed them into becoming her minions, the Amazoness Quartet, to aid her in her goals. She set out to take over the planet from within, by way of corrupting the land of Elysion with her dark powers, capturing its High Priest, Helios, and then by sending the Amazoness Quartet to defeat the Sailor Soldiers and retrieve the Silver Crystal from Sailor Moon. Once the Sailor Soldiers managed to defeat all of the minions, they eventually found out the Golden Crystal, an item that could save Elysion and the planet, was inside Tuxedo Mask's body, and went to confront Nehelenia in Elysion, where she attempted to take the Silver Crystal one last time. But the power of it combined with Tuxedo Mask's newly awakened Golden Crystal prevented this yet again. When defeated by Eternal Sailor Moon using the joined powers of all the Sailor Team, Nehelenia shrivelled into a wizened old woman, and, after being sealed inside her mirror once more, was vanished completely.

In the anime, Nelehenia was revealed to have been a queen of her own kingdom and adored by her people. Due to her childhood of having no real friends or loved ones, Nelehenia learned to love herself which led to her vanity which played into her madness when she asked an enchanted mirror to show her future and saw herself as an old hag. As a result, Nelehenia became obsessed with the notion of keeping herself young and beautiful so she consumed the dreams of her subjects, who became Lemures, and founded the Dead Moon Circus. Nelehenia sought the Golden Crystal possessed by Helios, who escaped her in the form of Pegasus, only to be later sealed by Queen Serenity within her mirror. To rectify her condition, during the events of the SuperS series, Nelehenia creates Zirconia to lead the Dead Moon Circus to hunt down Pegasus. Eventually learning of Helios's close friendship with Chibiusa, Nehelenia realizes that she is the holder of the Golden Dream Mirror that Pegasus is inhabiting. Once obtaining the Golden Crystal, Nelehenia breaks from her mirror and attempts to use its power when the Amazones Quartet steal it to give it to the Sailor Soldiers who, along with the people of Earth, break Nehelenia's spell, revealing her true aged form. Nehelenia renters her imprisonment within the mirror to restore her youthful appearance.

In Sailor Stars, Nelehenia serves as the main antagonist of the first quarter when she is freed from the mirror by Sailor Galaxia and encouraged to annihilate the Sailor Soldiers and to exact her revenge through the shards of her Black Mirror. Among the victims is Mamoru, rendered emotionally dead. After dragging Mamoru into her nightmare dimension, Nelehenia captures all the Sailor Soldiers before revealing her tragic past to a powerless Usagi. However, Nehelenia is ultimately redeemed by the Sailor Soldiers' forgiveness, and reborn as a small child. Signs point to her having learned her lesson, as she is seen making an effort to become close to her subjects as true friends.

In the original Japanese series, Nehelenia is voiced by Yoshiko Sakakibara while her purified reincarnated child version is voiced by Wakana Yamazaki. In the Cloverway English adaptation, her voice is supplied by Lisa Dalbello. In the musicals, Nehelenia is portrayed by Kaori Ishikawa.

Amazon Trio

The Amazon Trio (アマゾントリオ, Amazon Torio) are a subset of the Dead Moon Circus, and follow the threatening commands of Zirconia.

In the manga they are created from animals from the circus by the Amazoness Quartet to destroy the Sailor Soldiers.^[3] They each respectively target a relevant Soldier to kill; the only exception to this is Sailor Venus, who is targeted by Xenotime and Zeolite.^[4] While commenting on their looks, series creator Naoko Takeuchi says all three members of the trio show some ambiguity.^[5] They do not summon lemures themselves, but are treated as lemures.

In the anime, members of the trio summon lemures. The Amazon Trio's job is to look into the dream mirrors of mortals, searching for the legendary and powerful Pegasus. The Trio choose their victims by seducing various women and men, whether they be young or old, and attacking them while they are vulnerable. Rather than being killed by the Sailor Soldiers like in the manga, the Amazon Trio share a different fate in the anime. After their many failures, Zirconia reveals to them their true natures (those of animals), and while she sends them to steal Usagi's dream mirror, she instructs PallaPalla to send a clown-like Lemures called Mr. Magic Pierrot to finish them. After Usagi's mirror is restored and Mr. Magic Pierrot is defeated, Pegasus grants the Amazon Trio dream mirrors, knowing that the trio have suffered greatly and have truly changed for the better. They cannot, however, retain their current forms as humans and are taken away by Pegasus to the Crystal Forest. As he places them within the forest, he promises that one day they will be reborn as the humans they wish to be, with their beautiful dreams intact.

Tiger's Eye

Tiger's Eye (タイガーズ・アイ, Taigāzu Ai) was a tiger turned into a human by Zirconia. He takes the form of a tall, long haired blond man. He wears tight tiger-striped pants and a white top, and attacks with a whip.

In the manga, Tiger's Eye, in animal form, first assisted PallaPalla and VesVes in causing havoc in the Juban district. After becoming human, he and PallaPalla attempted to pollute Sailor Mars with negative thoughts in order to take her energy while she was investigating a mysterious hall of mirrors. He is killed by her just after she powers up into her 'Super' form. He is destroyed in the blast from her new attack, Mars Flame Sniper.^[6]

In the anime, his targets of seduction are particularly younger women, as he uses his charming abilities to lure them into his traps until the right time to look into their dream mirrors in search of Pegasus. Tiger's Eye is killed when he and Fisheye give up their power to rebuild Usagi's destroyed Dream Mirror. However, Pegasus revives him, and he is sent to Elysion with the others.

In the original Japanese series, his voice actor is Ryotaro Okiayu. In the Cloverway English adaptation, he is voiced by Jason Barr. In the stage musicals, he is played by Ryujji Kashahari.

Hawk's Eye

Hawk's Eye (ホークス・アイ, Hōkusu Ai) was a hawk that was turned into a human by Zirconia. He takes the form of a tall young man with bright, wild pink hair. He wears a bra-like toga and tights in his battle attire. Creator Naoko Takeuchi characterized Hawk's Eye as a sort of grown-up Zoisite, with the dream of someday being a "bar madam" in either Las Vegas or Ginza.^[7]

In the manga, Hawk's Eye deceives Sailor Jupiter pretending to be a female owner of a herb store. He is killed later, just after she powers up into her 'Super' form. He is destroyed in the blast from her new attack, Jupiter Oak Evolution.^[8]

In the anime, he often gets into fights with Tiger's Eye, though their relationship is rather love-hate, and their arguments are usually playful. His attacks are fire-based, and uses a torch as his primary weapon. His targets reflect his romantic preferences, in this case older women (to contrast with Tiger's Eye's preference for younger girls). He first appears in episode 128 of the anime but his first offensive move is made in episode 130, his victim being Usagi's mother, Ikuko Tsukino. Hawk's Eye is killed by the lemures Mr. Magic Pierrot, who is sent by PallaPalla to eliminate the trio. However, Pegasus revives him, and he is sent to Elysion with the others.

He is voiced by Toshio Furukawa. In the Cloverway English adaptation, he is voiced by Benji Plener. He is played by Hikari Ono in the stage musicals.

Fisheye

Fisheye (フィッシュ・アイ, Fisshu Ai) was a fish that was turned into a human by Zirconia. He takes the form of a slender, effeminate man with long, pale blue and green hair. In some disguises, he is styled with some hairdos such as a ponytail. In the Materials Collection, creator Naoko Takeuchi describes him as the Circus's "ball-balancing girl (??)", who one day dreams of becoming the "best ball-balancing girl (!) in the world"; emphasis is hers. She also compares his temperament to that of the exciteable Mimete.^[7] This has led some fans to believe that Fisheye was a girl in the manga, or originally intended to be one.

Fisheye has a very small part in the manga, in which he is sold to Ami Mizuno in fish form. He gives her nightmares about her father abandoning her, luring her into a trap. She powers up and defeats Fisheye with Mercury Aqua Rhapsody, and he is killed soon after by Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon.^[9]

In the anime, like Tiger's Eye and Hawk's Eye, he targets his ideal romantic interests, which are young males. His magical attacks are water-based, but his primary choice of attack is knife-throwing (which, to his frustration, he is not very good at). Crossdressing is the basis of many of his disguises, as he is usually able to pass himself off as a woman to attract his targets, who are generally heterosexual males (he portrayed his gender honestly to the one gay target he had).^[10] Undisguised, he speaks Japanese with exclusively masculine pronouns, such as boku when referring to himself. Fisheye is the first of the three to wonder if what they are doing is right, and his wavering loyalty lands him in hot water when he is nearly killed by Zirconia. Fisheye was killed when he and Tiger's Eye gave up their power to rebuild Usagi's destroyed Dream Mirror. However, Pegasus revives him, and he is sent to Elysion with the others, given the promise of rebirth as real humans..

Fisheye was changed to a woman in the English dub of the anime, which is not unprecedented within this adapted series: Zoisite and Zirconia also had their genders changed.^[11] However, the female Fisheye's voice seemed to waver between effeminacy and boyishness, and the TV version of the dub slightly edited a fairly noticeable scene in which Fisheye is seen without a shirt— the chest was placed off-camera.^[12] In the uncut DVD, the many references to Fisheye as female are retained, but the scenes showing "her" as a shirtless man are still shown. Fisheye merely claims that "she's" not like other women.

He is voiced by Akira Ishida. In the Cloverway English adaptation, Fisheye's voice is supplied by Deborah Drakeford.

Amazoness Quartet

The Amazoness Quartet (アマゾネス・カルテット, Amazonesu Karutetto)^[13] consists of CereCere, PallaPalla, JunJun, and VesVes. Their attacks are derived from circus skills, with each having a specific talent. In the manga, they also created and commanded the Amazon Trio to attack the Sailor Soldiers, whereas in the anime the Trio came before the Quartet and served Zirconia. In the Cloverway English adaptation, they are called the Amazon Quartet.

In the manga, they are actually the Sailor Quartet—commonly referred to in English-speaking fandom as the Asteroid Soldiers, because they are named after the first four major asteroids to be discovered. The four asteroids hold particular importance because they were originally considered planets in history before more were discovered.^[14] They had been placed in a deep sleep somewhere within the Amazon Jungle, awaiting the time when they could become the future protectors of Sailor Chibi Moon, analogous to Princess Serenity's four Guardian Soldiers and to Prince Endymion's four Four Kings of Heaven. However, Queen Nehelenia woke them prematurely and forced them to work for her. At her defeat, they are returned to their true forms by Usagi (in the form of Neo-Queen Serenity) and to their long sleep. During the fifth story arc, they accompany Sailor Chibi Moon from the future to help in the fight against Sailor Galaxia. The Sailor Quartet's uniforms are a cross between those worn by the Sailor Team in their first forms and their final forms, with the Quartet's own image colors. They are shown using two attacks as a group: Pink Lady's Freezing Kiss (all four of them plus Sailor Chibi Moon) and Amazoness! Jungle Arrow (used by the four Quartet members).

In the anime, the Quartet's history of being Sailor Soldiers is never shown to viewer and the story is followed after they are captured by Queen Nehelenia and is already a part of her Dead Moon Circus. They begin working for Queen Nehelenia after she appears inside a magical mirror after hearing the Amazoness Quartet playing in a forest, and then offered to keep the Amazoness Quartet from ever growing old in return. Nehelenia changed their dreams into the physical form of Amazon Stones, instructing them to use these to remove the "dream mirrors" of humans. The Quartet also use the Amazon Stones for other attacks. They are dedicated to this task, but still generally spend more time playing than working.

The Quartet appears in several of the stage musicals, with a substantially different background. Here they are homonculi created by Professor Tomoe, and are known as the Sammael Quartet. They are portrayed as young children around Chibiusa's apparent age, instead of their normal ages. They are created from Chibiusa's starseed, and are linked to her, having the power to transform into Sailor Soldiers as a result.

CereCere

CereCere (セレセレ, Seresere) is the pink haired, and most mature acting member of the Quartet. She is a trapeze artist for the Circus and is known as the Flower Magician. She is the leader of the Quartet. CereCere has light skin and wears pink, but has a yellow ball. She is very feminine and tries to be mature compared to the others in the Quartet. Her Sailor Soldier counterpart is Sailor Venus. Her hair is decorated in bows and a flower. Takeuchi has stated that CereCere is sexy and talks in a very aristocratic tone.^[15] She is the eldest sister, which corresponds to the order of discovery of the dwarf planet she is named after when 1 Ceres was classified as a dwarf planet, Ceres and the Roman goddess Ceres. Later in the manga it is revealed that she is actually Sailor Ceres, one of the four protectors of Chibiusa. In the manga, she is the only member of the Quartet not to use any attacks or spells.

In the anime, CereCere tends to be arrogant and haughty, and chases after people that will highlight her perceived beauty for her, such as when she chased after an artist and asked him to repaint her. She also appears extravagant and outrageous while disguised and not in her circus uniform. However, there are moments when she breaks the mature mask and plays for fun. The other Amazonesses see her as lazy, and take every opportunity to call her such. CereCere summons only plant-based lemures, a possible nod to her Roman namesake, Ceres, a goddess of vegetation and plants.

In the anime series, her voice actress is Yuri Amano. In the Cloverway English adaptation, her name is changed to "CeleCele" and she is voiced by Daniela Olivieri. In the musicals she is played by Shiori Eguchi and Risa Honma, the latter of whom later went on to play Sailor Mars.

PallaPalla

PallaPalla (パラパラ, Parapara) is the blue-haired, childlike member of the Quartet. She uses ball-based attacks. She is called the Magician of Balancing Balls. Her Sailor Soldier counterpart is Sailor Mercury, and her color is blue. Takeuchi listed her as being a bimbo, crybaby and childish. She is the second eldest sister,^[15] This corresponds to the number of her asteroid, Pallas. She was also named after the Greek goddess Pallas Athena. In the manga, it's revealed that she is actually Sailor Pallas, one of the four protectors of Chibiusa.^[16]

In the anime, she speaks in third person and is equally childish as she is in the manga. Nevertheless, she shows some signs of cleverness, such as pointing out that the arrangement of the curtains is wrong in one episode (when no one else saw it), setting up a popular dentist office in another, and using a doll to manipulate the Soldiers in yet another. The other Amazonesses think she is very dangerous; in one episode she rips the head off her own doll as a cure for its toothache. She often summons ball-like lemures or uses dolls as part of her attacks, and likes to attack groups of people rather than one at a time. All of the Lemures she summons have two faces, a good one and an evil one, reflecting her own dual nature.

She is voiced by Machiko Toyoshima. In the Cloverway English adaptation, her name is changed to "ParaPara" and her voice is supplied by Jen Gould. In the musicals she is played by Kurumi Nishijima and Seira Saeki.

JunJun

JunJun (ジュンジュン, JiunJiun) is the green-haired tomboy of the Quartet. She is athletic and somewhat impulsive. JunJun is referred to as the Magician of Acrobatic Feats. Her Sailor Soldier counterpart is Sailor Jupiter, and her color is green. She is described by Takeuchi as a vulgar "Yankee"—Japanese slang for a delinquent or rebellious youth^[17]—and uses very informal male speech. She is also said to have dark skin and is the third sister, which corresponds to the number of her asteroid. She was supposed to ride a motorcycle.^[15] In the manga it is revealed that she is really Sailor Juno, named for the asteroid Juno and the Roman goddess Juno.

In the anime, she often speaks with a hard edge. She tends to dress in biker outfits outside of her circus uniform even though she is never shown to ride a motorbike. She likes to let her targets attain their dreams before she takes their dream mirrors which may be an oddball reference to the mothering aspect of the goddess Juno. She always summons male lemures; the only one of the Quartet to do so.

She is voiced by Kumiko Watanabe. In the Cloverway English adaptation, she is the only member of the Quartet to retain her original name and her voice is supplied by Mary Long. In the musicals she is played by Hitomi Tomashino and Niki Ajima.

VesVes

VesVes (ベスベス, Besubesu) is the red-haired aggressive member of the Quartet. She is loud, brash, and somewhat violent. VesVes is known as the Magician of Beasts. Her Sailor Soldier counterpart is Sailor Mars, and her color is red. She carries a whip and her hair is tied up in a high ponytail which makes her distinguished from the other members of the Quartet. She is listed as being a "Queen" and having a darker skin color than JunJun.^[15] She is the youngest of the Amazoness Quartet. In the manga it is revealed that she is really Sailor Vesta named after the asteroid Vesta and the Roman goddess Vesta. In Act 39/45 ("Dream 6"), she uses "Steel Ball" to send knives at the Sailor Soldiers.

In the anime, VesVes can appear to lack a sense of reality, rushing into things without realizing what she is doing. She is not as picky about her targets as the other three. She tends to command lemures that are animal-themed. VesVes has the most appearances in the anime out of the four.

Junko Hagimori provides her voice in the original Japanese series. In the Cloverway English adaptation, her name is changed to "BesuBesu" and she is voiced by Karyn Dwyer. In the musicals, she is played by Miho Suzuki.

Servants

Zircon

Zircon (ジルコン, Jirukon) is Zirconia's companion and tool, a flaming eyeball with wings. In the beginning, it simply floats around her staff, but later can fly anywhere, and Zirconia uses it to gather images of those with beautiful dreams. She also uses it as a weapon, or to spy on her underlings. When Zircon is hit hard, any images it has gathered but not yet presented become distorted. It can also be used as a weapon with which to remove a human's Dream Mirror, similar to the Amazon Stones of the Quartet.

Xenotime and Zeolite

Xenotime (ゼノタイム, Zenotaimu) and Zeolite (ゼオライト, Zeoraito) are knife-throwing twins who only appear in the manga. After the failures of the Amazon Trio, they volunteer their services to the Amazoness Quartet. Xenotime, disguised as a talent scout, invites Minako to a fake idol audition set up by the twins and the Quartet in which the participants must undertake a 'survival audition' in a jungle setting. The participants, encouraged by the folk of the Dead Moon, become aggressive and fall prey to the Lemures but Sailors Mercury, Mars and Jupiter intervene before the same can happen to Minako, who has not received a power-up. Xenotime and Zeolite attack all four by throwing knives at them and commanding Lemures.^[18] When Minako attains her Super form, she destroys both twins with Venus Love And Beauty Shock.

Lemures

In the anime, both the Amazon Trio and Amazoness Quartet summon monsters called Lemures (レムレス, Remuresu) from the shadows to assist them in various battles with the Sailor Soldiers (mostly using them to fight their battles entirely for them) when on the quest to target people's Dream Mirrors in order to find the Golden Dream Mirror that contains beautiful dreams enough for Pegasus to hide in it. In the manga the Amazon Trio are Lemures themselves, created from circus animals by the Amazoness Quartet to destroy the Sailor Soldiers.^[3] The anime presents the Lemures as what remains of Queen Nehelenia's subjects after she took their dream mirrors to stay young. The manga, however, presents them as spirits of the dead. Each member of the Trio and Quartet seems to follow a basic theme with the Lemures they summon, in both appearance and naming. The majority of the Lemures seen in the anime are female, but Fisheye and JunJun summon male Lemures instead.

"Lemures" is the singular form of the word as well as the plural. In the English adaptation, the creatures are renamed Remless (meaning creatures who lost their dreams), possibly a reference to the REM cycle of sleep, during which dreams occur.

References

External links

• Soul Hunter's Lemures Page
• Nethermoon: Queen Nehelenia