What was up with the Sailor elements?

[PrimoPiccolo]

I was talking about this with my brother the other day. The elements of the Sailor Scouts were extremely varied from the planets their power was supposed to come from.

Mercury's basis is water, yet Mercury is the hottest planet, being so close to the Sun. Mars' power is then fire, yet Mars itself is quite cold. Jupiter's powers already range somewhere between thunder and wood, yet neither originate on the actual planet Jupiter. And Uranus' power is ground or rock or something, while Uranus is actually one of the more watery planets in our solar system.

Then there's the fact that both Mercury and Neptune intercede with the water element, so the way I thought it out, couldn't the powers have been more varied? Some of the ideas were brilliant, like Venus having love as her weapon, since the Roman goddess of love was Venus. And Pluto and Saturn's powers don't hail from elements at all, so it's not like they were tied down to anything basis-wise.

In the end it doesn't bother me, but couldn't it have been done more creatively somehow?

[Neo Moonlight Knight]

Pluto on the Roman/Greek Mythology was the god of hell, Hades. that's why her attack is called: "Dead scream" and she wears black. But the time thing, doesn't fit her. They mixed Hades with Chronos.

Saturn.. I forgot her mythology

[christphern]

Saturn was the god of time, or Chronos. Pluto was the god of the underworld, or Hades.

They were backwards.

Chris

[PrimoPiccolo]

They were backwards.
That's hilarious!

[Neo Moonlight Knight]

At least they made it look cool

[PrimoPiccolo]

Extremely cool. Saturn couldn't have pulled off timekeeping like my girl Pluto.

[christphern]

They didn't have to make Hotaru the time guardian or anything. All they had to do is swap their senshi names, and it would have worked fine. Make Hotaru Pluto, and Setsuna Saturn. Keep everything the same, except the name.

Chris

[PrimoPiccolo]

That actually might have worked. Certainly would have given the name Setsuna a lot more validity.

[Neo Moonlight Knight]

I did a whole thing on this once.. It's in the Archives of my old board, The New Storm will Anime message board. I'll dig it up and post it

[christphern]

You know, I just read something on Mercury that may explain why Takeuchi-san decided to associate her with ice. Mercury only has 1 and a half rotations in the amount of time it takes the planet to orbit the Sun. The planet takes 88 of our days to orbit the sun, and the planet takes 59 to rotate fully. So, as a result, the dark side of the planet plummets in temperature, to around -170 degrees C. That could very well be why Ami's associated with ice in the series.

Oh, and a slight side note. Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system, due to the over-active greenhouse effect of it's atmosphere. It also takes longer to rotate than it does to orbit the sun. It takes 225 of our days for it to complete it's orbit, and 243 days to rotate.

Chris

[PrimoPiccolo]

Ah, I've finally got my answer! Apparently, Chinese Taoism has a different elemental organization, so typical earth/wind/fire/water doesn't apply. And planets play into the role. This belief is also prevalent in Japan, which is obviously the home of Sailor Moon.

Mars is the Fire Star, Mercury is the Water Star, Jupiter is the Wood Star, Venus is the Gold Star, and Saturn is the Earth Star.

Now, that still doesn't explain Sailor Jupiter's affiliation with lightning/thunder, or why Uranus inherited the Earth Star's power, but at least I know the basis for it at last.

[christphern]

Okay. Here's the breakdown of the gods that the planets were named after.

Jupiter - Roman god of lighting, aka Zeus in Greek mythology
Mercury - Roman god of merchant trade (hence the word, 'merchant'), also known as Hermes to the Greeks
Mars - Roman God of war, Ares in Greek mythos
Venus - Roman Goddess of Love, aka Aphrodite in Greek mythos
Saturn - Roman God of Time, aka Chronos
Pluto - Roman God of the Underworld, or dead, aka Hades
Uranus - Greek God of Skies, aka Caelus to the Romans
Neptune - Roman God of the Seas and Earthquakes, aka Poseidon in Greek mythos

And, if by Uranus' power, you mean her attack, "World Shaking," it's probably derived from the nickname "World Shaker" for Neptune, due to his control of Earthquakes.

Chris

[PrimoPiccolo]

So, Sailor Moon's powers come from an amalgamation of elements, planets and mythological Gods. That's actually fascinating. God, this show is good.

[Neo Moonlight Knight]

Moon as explained in the original version is from Serene the goddess of the moon. and her name from the legend of the rabbit of the moon

[Sailor Saturn]

Um...let me think....Saturn is the God of the harvest, Mercury is the messenger, Mars is the God of war, Uranus is the God of wind, Neptune is the God of the sea, Venus is the Godess of love and beauty, Pluto is the God of the Underworld, and I forgot Jupiter. I pay good attention to my studies at school, so that's why I'm pretty good at naming these things.