Pegasus Seiya

Pegasus Seiya is the main character of the manga/anime, Saint Seiya. He, along with fellow bronze saints Dragon Shiryu, Cygnus Hyoga, Andromeda Shun, and Phoenix Ikki, are the main protagonists in the epic adventure.

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Seiya, in the initial form of his Pegasus cloth as seen in the anime's ending theme, "Blue Forever"

Statistics

• Age: 13
• Height: 165 cm
• Weight: 56 kg
• DOB: December 1st
• Blood: B type
• Birth Place: Japan
• Trained: Sanctuary, Greece
• Techniques: "Pegasus Ryu Sei Ken" ("Meteor of Pegasus"), "Pegasus Sui Sei Ken" ("Comet of Pegasus"), "Pegasus Rolling Crush"
• Seiyuu (1986-1991; 2002): Tōru Furuya
• Seiyuu (2005-2006): Masakazu Morita
• ADV Dub VA: Illich Guardiola

Character Outline

The Saint of Pegasus

Seiya ("Star-Arrow") is the main character of his namesake show, Saint Seiya. He is one of the 88 saints of Athena, and serves loyally at her side. Seiya dons the bronze cloth (an armor that denotes sainthood) of Pegasus, and draws power ("cosmos") from the constellation that connects to it.

Special Techniques

Although Seiya began his journey as a bronze saint -- the lowest of three ranks --, his abilities gradually grew to rival those of gold saints, the most powerful of Athena's soldiers. Seiya uses the infamous "Pegasus Ryu Sei Ken," a technique that initially allows him to send 85 punches per second. His other attacks include "Pegasus Sui Sei Ken," a single blow that concentrates all of his cosmos, and "Pegasus Rolling Crush," a move that allows him to grab hold of his opponent from the back, soar miles into the air, then suicide dive head-first into the ground.

The Bronze Cloth of Pegasus

Seiya was implied to be the 8th or 9th bronze saint to receive his cloth. He, along with Cassios -- a giant of a man who had previously bullied him in his training days, defeated 1027 other trainees in order to advance to the final round of the tournament. The last match pitted them against each other, with Seiya pulling the victory almost effortlessly due to his mastery of the cosmos (Cassios was only familiar with brute strength, of which is completely ineffective against the cosmos).

The Gold Cloth of Sagittarius

Eventually, Seiya becomes powerful enough to wear the Gold Cloth of Sagittarius, a cloth that had lost its true owner before the series began. It seems the Cloth had chose to protect Seiya, as Athena's true guardian. When Seiya has the gold cloth on, his cosmos is magnified, thanks to Aioros' cosmos expressed through the armor, and his attacks can now defeat opponents previously too powerful for just a mere bronze saint. Nevertheless, while Seiya uses the Sagittarius gold cloth many times throughout the series to save Athena from certain peril, he is never officially granted ownership of the cloth. The owner is still the former (and now deceased) saint, Aioros of Sagittarius.

Notable People & Events

The Bronze Saints

100 young men were brought into the Graude Foundation to fulfill a project -- to be trained into becoming future saints for the goddess Athena. Only 10 of the children survived the entire process, and they grew up to become bronze saints. Although Seiya is familiar with each of them (because of their childhood days), he would grow to form strong bonds with Dragon Shiryu, Cygnus Hyoga, Andromeda Shun, and Phoenix Ikki.

In the manga, it is revealed that all 100 orphans were actually half brothers, with their father being Mitsumasa Kido, the man they have grown to despise for tearing them from their happy homes. Seiya was especially not pleased to hear of this news, and even engaged in various bloody battle in hopes of "cleansing" his body of Kido's blood.

Seika & Miho

Before becoming a saint, Seiya lived in an orphange with his older sister, Seika and his childhood friend, Miho. He was fairly content with having Seika and the other children in the orphange as his family, and had a normal boy's life. Sadly, this was not fated to last, as the Graude Foundation would separated him from this happy home in order to secure one more prospect for their project.

Near the end of the series, on the Hades saga, it is revealed that Seika had chased after him all the way to Greece after receiving news of him being sent to Athena's Sanctuary. Unfortunately, Sanctuary was not a place that normal humans could reach, and it was inevitable that she would suffer from an accident -- a traumatic blow to the head that resulted in long-term amnesia. Seika was eventually found by a kindly old shopkeeper, who offered her a job at his shop when she recovered. That's why no one knew about her for many years.

During his fight with Thanatos, the God of Death, Pegasus Seiya is allowed to see that his friends in Sanctuary had discovered Seika's whereabouts, and were struggling to protecting her from the God of Death's wrath. Seiya eventually increased his cosmos to the point that it was strong enough to reach Earth (he was far away in the Elysium Fields at the time) and snap Seika out of the amnesia: They finally contacted each other.

Marin of Eagle

Once he had received adequate conditioning from the Graude Foundation, Seiya was sent to Greece to continue his training with an actual saint. His instructor turned out to be Marin, the Silver Saint of Aquila (the Eagle). Although her facial features were concealed by a mask (a procedure required for all females as amazon saints), Marin's appearance was remarkably similar to Seika's, and it led Seiya to ponder if they were one and the same. However, unlike the loving sister he remembered, Marin was a strict, sometimes harsh instructor, and many of her training techniques resulted in bloody conflict for the young Seiya. Fortunately, Seiya presevered, and the two eventually grew a sisterly/motherly bond that rivaled the relationship Seiya shared with his true sister. Marin was born in Japan and had a lost brother, of Seiya's age, as well (the truth of this was revealed in the Tenkai-hen movie, the set-up to the Heaven saga).

Shaina of Ophiucus

Shaina is the silver saint who plays a huge role throughout Seiya's journey as a saint. She began as his rival, then potential romantic interest, and now platonic friend. Female saints in Sanctuary cannot display any traits of feminity, and must conceal their faces with a mask at all times. If these rules are broken by a man, then the female saint must deal with him in two ways: 1) she can abandon her sainthood and fall in love with the offender, or 2) she can choose to kill him.

Unfortunately for Seiya, he not only end up seeing Shaina's real face twice, but he was also responsible for her unveiling some of her more tender moments. Shaina is often branded with the reputation of being one of the most vicious saints (male or female), and thus this was bad news for Seiya. Ever since becoming a saint, Seiya has found himself the target of her wrath for at least three times throughout the series.

Eventually, Shaina agreed to drop her revenge when bigger threats presented themselves. Seiya's misdeeds were soon mended, and Shaina became one of Seiya's platonic friends, with the two sharing in an "on again, off again" relationship.

Leo Aiolia

Throughout various parts of the series, Aiolia appeared to lend Seiya his support. When Seiya first arrived in Sanctuary to participate in his training, he immediately looked up to the kind and gentle man as an idol. In the manga, Aiolia was also present when Seiya fought Cassios to determine the new owner of the Bronze Cloth of Pegasus.

Later in the Sanctuary arc, Seiya was disheartened when Aiolia, now revealed to be the Gold Saint of Leo, appeared in Japan to exterminate Saori Kido and her bronze saints as ordered by Pope Ares. Seiya's cloth was out of reach at the time, but the two of them battled nonetheless. Aiolia dominating the unarmed Pegasus, and would've killed the bronze saint if the Sagittarius Cloth hadn't intervened at the right moment. Seiya donned the gold cloth and battled Aiolia on an even scale. The fight was undecisive, however, until Saori Kido herself. Sensing the young woman's enormous cosmos for the first time, Aiolia was finally convinced that she was, indeed, true reincarnation of Athena, and the same infant that had gone missing 13 years ago.

When Seiya and the other bronze saints invaded the 12 Temples of Sanctuary, the Pegasus Saint once again found himself having to fight Aiolia in order to gain passage through the Temple of Leo. The gold saint had apparently confronted Ares regarding the incident with Athena prior to Seiya's arrival, and the results was disastrous -- Aiolia fell under the spell of the Pope's "Demon Emperor Fist" attack, a technique that turned the gold saint into a ruthless fighting machine until he killed whomever stood before him. Without the Gold Cloth of Sagittarius aiding him, Seiya found himself battered and beaten -- until Cassios, hoping to sooth Shaina, showed up unexpectedly to help the Pegasus. Still under the control of the "Demon Emperior Fist," Aiolia unleashed his "Lightning Plasma" move and almost instantly killed Cassios. Combined with the death of the giant and several thousand fists from Seiya's "Pegasus Ryu Sei Ken," the Leo Saint was finally knocked back to normal.

Saori Kido

Saori's relationship with Seiya is sometimes the subject of speculation. At the very least, it is obvious that Seiya cares greatly for Saori's well-being and will not think twice to sacrifice his life for her. However, Saori is also the current reincarnation of Athena -- the goddess that the saints live to protect -- so it is only natural that Seiya, being one of her saints, would not hesitate one second to defend her. It is up to the fans to decide whether or not their relationship should be defined as romantic or platonic.

Seiya initially despised Saori Kido because of events that took place when they were children. Being the granddaughter of Mitsumasa Kido, Saori was raised as a spoiled child, and readily saw Seiya (along with the other 99 orphans brought into the Foundation) as a slave for her personal use. Seiya, however, was defiant of Saori's commands, and even challenged her authority at one point.

When Seiya returned from Greece years later, he had expected to be greeted by the same spoiled brat he last had a spat with. Needless to say, he was quite surprised he realized that Saori had matured into a diplomatic, philanthropist and feminine woman. This change allowed Seiya to gradually accept her into his life, and eased his decision to protect her when it was revealed that she was also the goddess Athena.

Hades, God of the Underworld

In the original climax of the Athena vs. Hades battle, it was revealed that Hades had fought a previous reincarnation of the Pegasus Saint from the mythological times, and that he had served a significant role in the god's defeat. This line of dialogue was further elaborated in the prologue of Saint Seiya: Next Dimension, where Hades disclosed that he had actually befriended a previous Pegasus Saint. It is currently unknown whether this Pegasus Saint is related to the same incarnation that was responsible for his defeat, as Saint Seiya: Next Dimension focuses not on the Holy War of mythological era, but on the Holy War prior to the one Seiya and the bronze saints participated in.

Nevertheless, Hades had grown to despise the Pegasus Saint, and specifically sought to put a curse on Seiya in the final moments of the duel. The curse diluted Seiya's cosmos, and prevented him from using the fullest extent of his powers.

Artemis, Apollo, & Other Olympians

In Saint Seiya: Tenkai-hen Overture, the gods became weary of Athena's saints after they had proven themselves capable of challenging the Olympians. Artemis descended to Earth to deal with the saints with her own warriors, the Angels, and Apollo himself made a personal appearance to confront Seiya once and for all.

Finally removing the curse of Hades, Seiya's cosmos reached a new level and his Pegasus Cloth transformed into a strange new shape -- a form that, while not as extravagant as the bronze god cloth, still appeared to be far above the final bronze cloth. It is unknown how much power this new evolution offered Seiya, but it was enough to cause minor damage to Apollo with a single Ryu Sei Ken.

It is a hot topic of debate among Saint Seiya fans as to what had happened to Seiya at the end of his battle with Apollo. The conclusion of the actual fight between the two is not depicted; rather, the movie cuts to a peaceful scene where Seiya apparently became reacquainted with Saori Kido. It is unknown whether if the two characters shown here in this epilogue are the same Seiya and Saori from the main series, or if they are a past/future reincarnation.

Evolution of the Pegasus Cloth

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Seiya, donning the final form of his Pegasus cloth for the first time in the Hades arc

The Pegasus bronze cloth was damaged various times throughout the series, with Mu of the Aries constellation typically responsible for repairs. In the manga, the cloth changes shape each time it is fixed, with each revision evolving the cloth more beautifully:

• When Shiryu returns it to Seiya after getting it repaired by Mu.
• When Mu repairs it again an hour before Seiya and the other bronze saints rushed to battle the gold saints.
• When five of the gold saints volunteered to repair the cloth with their blood, just before the Poseidon arc.
• When the cloth is reborn with Athena's blood during the Hades arc.
• When the cloth is completely revived from dust with Seiya's cosmos rising enough to rival the gods, after hearing her sister Seika's weep.

In the anime, the original design of the cloth remains intact until the beginning of the series's second arc:

• When the gold saints offered to revive it from death by using their blood (2nd form).
• When Athena's blood is used to repair the otherwise unrepairable cloth (3rd form or "ultimate").
• When Seiya's cosmos exploded to its utmost limit in the duel with Thanatos (the "Divine Bronze God Cloth").
• When the cosmos of Pegasus Seiya rose to a new height during the confrontation against Apollo, God of the Sun (Still not clear if this is a future event, or an actual event in the movie timeline).

It should also be noted that when the gold saints used their blood to revive the bronze cloths, the cloths gained a little bit of the gold saints' cosmos. Because of this, the second version of the Pegasus cloth (fourth version in the manga) can change from bronze to gold whenever Seiya charges his cosmos to the max.

Notes & Trivia

• While Seiya himself does not have a specific image song, it can be said that the anime's opening song, "Pegasus Fantasy," serves simultaneously as his theme song.
• Tōru Furuya, the previous seiyuu for the character, was known to wear a red t-shirt and blue jeans (Seiya's character attire) whenever he attended voice recording sessions. Masakazu Morita, the current seiyuu, seems to have continued this "tradition" in Furuya's absence.
• The success of Seiya's character has led Kurumada to mold many of the main characters in his post-Saint Seiya series to resemble the bronze saint. This is evident in Kurumada's later projects, such as B't X and Ring no Kakero
• Seiya appeared briefly in Episode G, in a vision of Aiolia's. Aiolia claims that years from then, new saints shall come forward to protect Athena, and he then receives a mental image of the five bronze saints. It is interesting to note that they all appear in the armors they wore during the Hades saga.