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aka: Sailor Moon Chibi Usa Small Lady Serenity

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This page covers the Sailor Guardians, a group of Magical Girl Warriors who protect the solar system in the world of Sailor Moon.


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    In General 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sailor_senshi_crystal.png
Click to see them in the 90s anime

  • Action Girl: Every single one of the Guardians kick lots of ass, whether it be monsters, minibosses, or the prime evils themselves. Fitting for a series about female empowerment.
  • Adaptational Jerkass:
    • Chibi-Usa's no saint in the original anime nor the Viz dub, but the DiC dub had her Bratty Half-Pint tendencies cranked up.
    • Both Haruka and Michiru are more standoffish in the first anime. They often refuse to work with Usagi and the Inner Guardians and try killing Usagi at the end of S to test to see whether she is truly the Messiah of Good. And in Sailor Stars, Haruka and Michiru willingly enter into a Deal with the Devil with Galaxia. With the end goal of killing her, but they still murder Setsuna and Hotaru to uphold their masquerade and beat Usagi when she refuses to fight them.
  • All of the Other Reindeer: All of the Inner Guardians were social outcasts until Usagi comes into their lives and draws them into her circle of friends.
  • Amazon Brigade: The Sailor Guardians, the Magical Girl Warrior rulers of their respective celestial bodies, as well as many Evil Counterpart teams with parallel power sets that double as Dark Magical Girl Quirky Miniboss Squads for their respective arc Big Bad, whether the Black Moon family's Ayakashi Sisters, the Death Busters' Witches 5, the Dead Moon Circus' Amazoness Quartet, or Shadow Galactica's Sailor Animamates. Sailor Moon Crystal even references it in the Theme Song: "We're not weak girls/Who need men's protection"
  • Ancestral Weapon: Most of their primary weapons are as much their birthright as the rest of their powers.
    • The titular character inherits the Silver Crystal from the ancestral Moon Kingdom.
    • Sailor Neptune's and Uranus' Talismans may also count, although its a strange situation since, although they are certainly ancient, they belonged to their own selves before being reincarnated, which may dispute them being actually ancestral (can you be your own ancestor?). Sailor Pluto's Talisman avoids this completely since due to time shennanigans she has always existed owning her own Talisman.
  • Armor Is Useless: The Sailor Guardians wear nothing but moderately skimpy clothing made of what appears to be cotton, yet appears to be perfectly capable of keeping the wearer — exposed skin and all — protected from everything from flying debris to flames to the vacuum of space. Further, while they are often smacked around, their clothing only shows it when they are fighting the Big Bad or somebody directly under them. In the live-action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, the Guardians wear some armor — a sports-bra-style Breast Plate made of what looks like fiberglass or plastic. The design of their leotards in the anime and manga being split into the same two segments has fans theorizeing there's one there too. Notably, Eternal Sailor Moon's design lacks it.
  • Back from the Dead: Even if you don't count Reincarnation, all of them are killed at least twice in both the manga and anime (the whole team at the end of the first and last arcs), but are revived.
  • Badass Adorable: Pretty Soldiers by name. Particularly Usagi/Moon, Ami/Mercury, and Hotaru/Saturn.
  • Badass Crew: The inner and outer soldiers function as examples of these in their own right, though all ten of the Solar System Soldiers can be considered one when they actually manage to work together (e.g. in the SuperS movie).
  • Badass Family:
    • Usagi/Moon, Mamoru/Tuxedo Mask and Chibi-Usa/Chibi Moon, although technically they're a badass future family, as the former two are Chibi-Usa's future parents. In Crystal Tokyo, they're still very powerful, though they don't really fight anymore as rulers.
    • The Outer Soldiers become one when the three older ones adopt Hotaru/Saturn.
  • Batman Can Breathe in Space: In the manga they can just jump into orbit, breathe in space, and survive re-entry with ease.
  • Beauty, Brains, and Brawn:
    • The original three Guardians:
      • Beauty: Usagi/Sailor Moon, a typical teenage girl, cares about and loved by everyone.
      • Brains: Ami/Sailor Mercury, a technological genius and straight-A student.
      • Beauty and Brawn: Rei/Sailor Mars, a shrine maiden with fire powers and anger issues.
    • Later additions add one more of each:
      • Beauty: Chibi-Usa/Sailor Chibi Moon, basically a smaller, cuter version of her mom.
      • Beauty and Brains: Minako/Sailor Venus, The Strategist of the team.
      • Brawn: Makoto/Sailor Jupiter, a tall girl with super strength.
    • The Outer Guardians:
      • Beauty: Michiru/Sailor Neptune, the Elegant Classical Musician.
      • Brains: Setsuna/Sailor Pluto, a wise scholar who controls the Time Gate.
      • Brawn: Haruka/Sailor Uranus, a Lovable Jock who fights with a sword.
  • Because You Were Nice to Me: While honor and duty would have made the Guardians loyal to her anyway this seems to be the major reason that the Sailor Guardians are so willing to put their lives on the line for Usagi. Each of the Soldiers were alone or in pain in some way but Usagi gave them each love and affection and gave them the friendship they always wanted. It's summed up best by Rei in the R movie:
    Rei: You don't get it, do you?! If not for Usagi, we... WE WOULD'VE BEEN ALL ALONE!"
  • Big Sister Instinct: They all look out for Usagi's well-being, even Rei. They will immediately come to her defense when she is stricken by an enemy.
  • Blank White Eyes: Played for Drama when the Guardians are brutally attacked by Metallia and lose consciousness.
  • Breakfast Club: At least half of them suffered from a lack of friends and a lack of acceptance before they found each other. Usagi and Minako had stable families and good friends, but were often treated as losers, and their regular lives were torn apart after they got their powers. Haruka and Michiru's backstories aren't described much, but they still didn't seem to have any lasting interpersonal relationships except with each other before they joined the group.
  • Broken Bird: Pretty much all of them are this to some degree. Let's see:
    • Minako's backstory varies between versions, but it always comes out as this. She either sacrificed her social life and love life for her duty as a Sailor Guardian (in the manga) or left England after being heartbroken and realizing she was unpopular (in the anime) or has a terminal illness and is generally a blunt, cynical anti-heroine (in the live-action).
    • As for the other Inners, Ami's parents are divorced and she's shunned for being too smart; Rei's mother is dead, her father turned her back on her, and she's treated as an outcast for having Psychic Powers; and Makoto is an orphan and people assume she's a Delinquent.
    • The Outers aren't much better. One of them is an ill girl who was almost killed in the fire that took her mother and has a father as the enemy; another was stuck being isolated at the time gate for an eternity until she did a heroic sacrifice; and the other two believed they would have to give up their dreams for their mission, and their devotion to it has made them pretty hardened.
    • Usagi and Chibi-Usa play with this. Usagi is usually an All-Loving Hero who starts out as the most well-adjusted of the group with a loving family and plenty of friends, but everything she goes through over the course of the series puts her through shades of this. How much depends on the version. Chibi-Usa, meanwhile, thinks she is this, claiming that her parents don't care and she is without friends, but she's really being brainwashed by Wiseman as Black Lady.
  • Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu:
    • Prior to the series, Queen Serenity's battle with the series first Big Bad Queen Metallia, where the most she can do is seal Metallia away, and dies doing so, and while not all the details are given, Metallia apparently managed to kill the rest of the Guardians as well. Metallia's marks another case of this, with everyone but Usagi dying before she's finally killed in the manga, though Usagi undoes the damage of her rampage. The anime also ends with this way, with the Guardians dying fighting the DD Girls, Mamoru dying saving Usagi from Beryl, and Usagi as she dies from using the Silver Crystal to destroy Metallia, but she manages to revive herself and everyone else with it.
    • The third story arc, both versions when Sailor Saturn stops Pharaoh 90 from bring about The End of the World as We Know It, using her powers causes her to die and she only makes it back because Usagi saves her.
    • The manga ends this way. Eternal Sailor Moon does a Heroic Sacrifice to prevent the Anthropomorphic Personification of Chaos from rising. After she gets better, we're told that Chaos was not completely destroyed. Sailor Cosmos confirms that Chaos will be reborn as a Sailor Guardian itself, and that it will instigate a huge cosmic war that will tear the galaxy apart and that the damage and sacrifice necessary to destroy it will be just as bad as losing the war. While Cosmos traveled to the past to prevent its rebirth, she realized that Chaos' rise was inevitable and that there WAS no Third Option. Oddly the characters don't seem to perturbed by the bleak future that awaits them, preferring to enjoy their happy present lives taking comfort that life will always go on even if the galaxy is destroyed by war. To be fair, given that Cosmos' plan to stop Chaos would kill the galaxy, it's understandable that they were all right with their win.
  • Brought Down to Normal: In the Dream arc of the manga and at the end of the live action.
  • Calling Your Attacks: Attacks can be thrown without naming, if one needs the element of surprise, but they're generally called out loud.
  • Can't Stay Normal:
    • They actually get two cracks at this, both times because they died in the past. Queen Serenity revives them as completely different people in the future with no memories of their past lives, and the power of the Silver Crystal that also killed Usagi brings back her friends and lover along with herself right after killing Super Beryl. Once again, they have no memories of their past lives or even their time spent as friends. Luna and Artemis even take a crack at killing a monster in [Sailor Moon R Ep 01 Moon Returns The Mysterious Aliens Appear the first episode]] of Sailor Moon R just so Usagi and the others won't have to be forced to fight and lose their lives again. After Usagi gets her powers back, she attempts to kill another monster on her own for the same reason. Obviously, everybody has to get their powers back or there wouldn't be a show, but Usagi approaches Heroic BSoD before the end of the first story arc as this trope weighs down on her.
    • Later in the series, this also affect Hotaru, who had been reverted to a powerless infant at the end of Sailor Moon S so she and her father could have a second chance at life (or just herself in the manga, since her dad died at the end of the plot in the manga). Both the anime and the manga show circumstances requiring her to age up and regain her powers as Saturn. Unlike Usagi, she doesn't seem particularly bothered by it.
  • Career Versus Man: Zig-zagged all over the place. At the start of the series, Usagi doesn't even dream of any sort of career and just wants to get married. Rei, Minako and Setsuna, on the other hand, sacrificed their chance at love and are now content focus on other things. Ami wants to become a doctor but is still interested in love and family, and she once brought up the possibility of giving up her career for the sake of this. Hotaru's plans are never made clear. Makoto is determined to avert this and have both. And Haruka and Michiru are a lesbian couple, so it doesn't apply to them, but somehow, they manage to keep their relationship going and raise Hotaru while being completely devoted to their lives as Uranus and Neptune. Keep in mind that it varies a little between continuities. In Parallel Sailor Moon, for instance, all four Inners avert it because they are married with kids and they all have their dream careers.
  • The Chosen Many: At first, it seems like there's only one Sailor Guardian, but more begin showing up over the course of the series. Theoretically, every celestial body could have one.
  • Chromatic Arrangement: The first three Guardians who join Usagi are Ami/Sailor Mercury in blue, Rei/Sailor Mars in red, and Makoto/Sailor Jupiter in green.
  • Clark Kenting: Most of them basically look and act exactly like themselves when in and out of costume in most versions. In fact, say what you will about Toonmakers Sailor Moon, at least it had them change their hair colors mid-transformation (like with Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon).
  • Color-Coded Characters:
    • Moon Guardians:
      • Usagi/Moon: Pink/White/Silver
      • Chibi-Usa/Chibi Moon: Pink
    • The Sailor Guardians
      • Ami/Mercury: Blue
      • Rei/Mars: Red
      • Makoto/Jupiter: Green
      • Minako/Venus: Orange note 
    • The Outer Guardians:
      • Setsuna/Pluto: Black note 
      • Haruka/Uranus: Navy note 
      • Michiru/Neptune: Turquoise
      • Hotaru/Saturn: Purple
  • Combat Stilettos:
    • Most of the Sailor Guardians have heels on their shoes: Mars, who wears red stilettos, even mentions it in the above pre-battle speech in the manga. Though the creator of Sailor Moon is a straight woman. She really likes drawing shoes.
    • Interestingly, Sailor Venus has a tendency to kick her enemies' throats with her heels: she apparently realized what she could do by weaponizing them. The fact she has possibly the shortest heels of the group just means she has less trouble performing a Flash Step before the kick.
  • Combination Attack: From time to time, the Sailor Guardians would combine their powers to create bigger, stronger attacks. Sailor Moon and Mars could combine Moon Tiara Action and Fire Soul to create a burning tiara and even add Mercury's Bubble Spray for an extra kick. Venus and Jupiter could also combine Supreme Thunder and Crescent Beam to create a beam of thunder.
  • Cool Crown: All Sailor Guardians wear tiaras in their transformed states, mostly because they're all princesses in another life. At least two had functions — Sailor Moon could throw hers like a discus while Sailor Jupiter had an antenna extend from the jewel in the center, which allowed her to bring lightning down to her. Later on, Neo-Queen Serenity wears a more pimped out tiara.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: At least half of the Soldiers have either lost family members, were friendless while growing up, or both, in their present-day lifetimes. And that's not even getting into their past lives, where Princess Serenity was Driven to Suicide after Prince Endymion sacrificed his life fighting Queen Beryl.
    • Not only did Ami lose her father (who lives in Europe and barely has any contact with her and her mother), she was disliked by her peers because they thought she was an Insufferable Genius, when in reality she was too shy to approach anyone until Usagi started talking to her.
    • In the manga, Rei grew up estranged from her father, who didn't even care when her mother was dying from an illness. As a result, she deeply resents her father, and Does Not Like Men. Also, her First Love was her father's Right-Hand Hottie and prospect successor, who got engaged to another woman (the daughter of Mr. Hino's friend) and claimed that he did it for convenience, but Rei realised that he was lying since if he truly wanted better connections in politics, he would've married her instead. In the anime, Rei isn't like this at all but she was still implied to have been discriminated in the past due to her Psychic Powers. This was confirmed in the R movie, where she's seen sadly playing with Deimos and Phobos while others gossip about her.
    • Makoto was caught in a plane crash in which she lost both of her parents, leaving her to raise herself and with a crippling terror of airplanes. She was ostracized by her peers because she was tall and frighteningly strong. The one boy who liked her enough to be her boyfriend eventually dumped her for the exact same reason.
    • Minako had been fighting youma as Sailor V a year before the Sailor Guardians, without any help. So much of her time was taken up by saving the world, she lost the friends she used to have. On top of that, the first youma she'd killed was her crush. At the end of C:SV, she learned that Kaitou Ace, her idol crush and love interest was a member of the Dark Kingdom, and Minako chose to kill him with her own hand, breaking her own heart in the process. As if that wasn't painful enough, she learned of the fall of the Moon Kingdom in the past lives of the Guardians, and as the Guardians' leader, she came to blame herself for the fall.In the anime, she moved to England, and lived with an older woman named Katarina and a man named Alan, whom she'd fallen in love with. While fighting crime as Sailor V, she gets wounded by a grenade, and witnesses Alan and Katarina fall into each other's arms, thinking that the two of them had fallen in love (really, they thought Minako had died and were embracing out of despair). She left England with a broken heart. Not only was she ignored by her peers for not spending any time with them, she was outright bullied by them as she heard them say that she was a childish weirdo who "liked to play Sailor V".
    • Not a past per se in Chibi-Usa's case, since she travelled back to 20th century Tokyo to prevent a Dark and Troubled Future for 30th century Crystal Tokyo. Her mother, Neo-Queen Serenity, was frozen in crystal, and Crystal Tokyo was on the brink of destruction. She also felt neglected by her parents, who were busy ruling Crystal Tokyo. Also in the manga, she was picked on by fellow students for not having any powers.
    • Hotaru lost her mother in a lab accident, and was herself fatally wounded. Her father made a Deal with the Devil with Master Pharaoh 90 to make Hotaru a cyborg (manga) or heal her in exchange of both of them being possessed (anime) so that she could survive. As a result, Hotaru's father became a villain himself. Hotaru grew up as a frail ill girl who was scorned by her peers because of her Healing Hands, which people found weird. Also, she was being hunted by the Outer Guardians because of her status as an Apocalypse Maiden. Chibi-Usa was pretty much the first friend she'd ever had, which is a shame because she's really freaking cute.
  • Dub Name Change: Some dubs go this route. For example, all of them except Hotaru receive new names when the first anime was first dubbed into English (but not when Viz redubbed). Some of them, particularly the Outers, have different English dub names in different source material, but the official ones are:
    • Usagi to Serena in the anime or Bunny in the manga.
    • Ami Mizuno to Amy Anderson (though Amy Mizuno was also used).
    • Rei to Raye (really, only the spelling changed, as Rei and Raye have the same pronunciation).
    • Makoto to Lita.
    • Minako to Mina.
    • Chibi-Usa to Rini.
    • Setsuna to Trista.
    • Haruka to Amara.
    • Michiru to Michelle.
    • Hotaru only stayed the same because, by the time she was introduced, Cloverway had already eschewed this practice and switched to using the original names of characters of the week instead. However, since Professor Tomoe had introduced before that, which led to his surname being mispronounced, Hotaru's surname was similarly mispronounced.
    • Mixx Entertainment/Tokyopop went back and forth on this when translating the manga and adapting the episodes into books. Initially, names from the Dic dub were used (i.e. the Inner Scouts were Amy, Raye, Lita, and Mina) but Usagi was more commonly translated as Bunny (although her introduction said her real name was still Serena). Bizarrely, Rini kept her name, despite there being no reason to differentiate between Bunny and "Little Serena." The Outer Scouts and the Starlights kept their Japanese names, due likely in part to the manga being translated before the anime. That said, Haruka once became Alex and Hotaru once became Jenny due to translation errors. note 
  • Dysfunction Junction: One of them was orphaned at an early age and lives alone as a minor, two have dead mothers, one is the child of divorce, and three never have their parents mentioned at all. Only three of the main characters have whole nuclear families (incidentally, these are the happier, more-or-less well-adjusted characters) and both Chibi-Usa and Minako have some intense issues with their parents - Chibi-Usa feels completely inferior to her messianic mother, and Minako is constantly hounded by her shrill one. Usagi's really the only one without any deep-seated problems regarding her folks. With two exceptions, the Guardians all have lonely lives at school before they team up, as well.
  • Elemental Eye Colors: At very least the Inners in the manga. The Materials Collection makes note that when they transform their eyes (among other things) change. Mercury goes from deep blue to a light blue, Mars from purple to a bright red, Jupiter from (what seems to be) a hazel to green and lastly, Venus who changes from a blue that matches her uniform as Sailor V, to bright gold.
  • Elemental Powers: The assignment of magical powers and Guardians names comes from a mix of European and Chinese astrology and alchemy that sometimes seems almost random. Mercury gets fresh-water ice powers from Asian symbolism, while Neptune gets ocean-themed water powers from Western. Mars as Fire is because in Japanese, Mars is "Kasei" (literally Fire Star or Fire Planet). Meanwhile, Jupiter gets powers from both sides, with an elemental affiliation to Wood that shows up in later seasons and manga issues, but she started out with lightning powers from her Roman god namesake. Venus has an easily missed Metal affiliation with her "Love-Me Chain". Neptune gets ocean-themed water powers because of the Japanese word for Neptune: "Sea king star/planet". Same goes for Uranus ("Sky king star") and Pluto ("Dark ruler star"). Saturn's meaning might be a bit more obscure ("Soil star") but it's related to the whole idea of dying, while Sailor Moon is her opposite (rebirth) in the S arc.
  • Elite Four: It is shown in flashbacks to the Moon Kingdom, Princess Serenity/Sailor Moon and the four Sailor Guardians were a "leader and four elite subordinates" group. Season two reveals that in the future, the current incarnation of the gang will be this for Crystal Tokyo, once an After the End world is pulled Back from the Brink and into prosperity by them; a happy ending even if they can't avert the disaster that will befall Earth as we know it in a few years.
  • Enlightenment Superpowers: In the manga, they overcome Nehellenia's seal on their powers and get their Super forms thanks to this.
    • Also happens in the live action, as they awaken their full power through this.
  • Everybody Cries: They do this a lot.
    • In the first season of the 90's anime, Sailors Moon, Mercury and Mars cry with Naru when her crush, Nephrite, dies.
    • In the R movie, the scene with the Guardians and Tuxedo Mask all surrounding the deceased Usagi (with Rei shaking Usagi to try to wake her up to no success)... just before Mamoru brings her back to life thanks to Fiore's sacrifice, causing all of them to break out in tears.
    • In SuperS, Usagi telling Nehelenia that she can't imagine living as lonely and sad as she did (after Nehelenia explains her Freudian Excuse and Start of Darkness), then sweetly begging her to let go of the others and focus only on her, if she truly wants revenge. And then we see the Magic Mirrors the Guardians are trapped in and every single one (even the Outers) are weeping as they foresee Usagi's upcoming Heroic Sacrifice. Heck, even the brainwashed Mamoru cries, which saves him from his brainwashing.
    • In Sailor Moon Crystal, Sailors Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus all cry when the four generals were destroyed by Queen Metalia's death beam after having their memories restored.
  • Family of Choice: They all regard each other as family, something that some of them don't even have. The unrelated Outers act like a family unit made up of a child with two mothers and a father.
  • Family-Unfriendly Death: In the anime, most of them go through a pretty horrific death at least once. Luckily, Death is Cheap.
  • Fetal Position Rebirth: Towards the end of the first anime series, the souls of Princess Serenity, Endymion and the Sailors are seen like this and encased inside bubbles, as a dying Queen Serenity uses the Silver Crystal to make sure they will reincarnate on Earth.
  • Fire, Ice, Lightning: In the original anime, mostly, with Rei using fire, Ami using ice, and Makoto using lightning (she mostly had plant-based attacks in the manga). Downplayed, since Ami doesn't actually use ice until well after Minako, who uses none of the above, joins.
  • Fire, Water, Wind: Rei, Ami, and Makoto respectively, although wind isn't Makoto's dominant element, but it does come up in some of her attacks.
  • Four-Girl Ensemble:
    • Out of the Inner Sailor Guardians, Minako/Venus is The Ditz, Makoto/Jupiter is The tomboy, Rei/Mars is the Proud Beauty, and Ami/Mercury is The Smart One.
    • Out of the Outer Guardians, Hotaru/Saturn is the Token Mini-Moe, Haruka/Uranus is the tomboy, Michiru/Neptune is the pretty one, and Setsuna/Pluto is the Team Mom.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble:
    • The Five Guardians:
      • Usagi/Moon — Eclétic (anime The '90s)/ Eclétic
      • Ami/Mercury — Melancholic (anime The '90s)/ Phlegmatic
      • Rei/Mars — Choleric (anime The '90s)/Melancholic
      • Makoto/Jupiter — Phlegmatic (anime The '90s)/Sanguine
      • Minako/Venus — Sanguine (anime The '90s)/Choleric
    • The Outer Guardians:
      • Setsuna/Pluto — Phlegmatic
      • Michiru/Neptune — Sanguine
      • Haruka/Uranus — Choleric
      • Hotaru/Saturn — Melancholic
  • Friendless Background: At least half of the Guardians were this way until Usagi befriended them. Hotaru was this until Chibi-Usa followed in her mother's footsteps. Minako used to have a good social life, but being Sailor V wrecked it and left Artemis as her Only Friend.
  • Freudian Trio
    • Inners (pre-Jupiter):
      • Id: Rei, who has a Hair-Trigger Temper and tries to keep the team on task.
      • Ego: Usagi, The Heart who'd rather have fun but always does what's right.
      • Superego: Ami, the smartest and most reserved of the group.
    • Outers (pre-Saturn):
      • Id: Haruka, a tough girl willing to charge into a fight head-on with her sword and strength.
      • Ego: Setsuna, understands what's important but willing to do the right thing for others (also acts as an ego between the two groups).
      • Superego: Michiru, a calm and coolheaded Proper Lady who will make any sacrifice necessary to save the world.
  • Frilly Upgrade: Any time they get a power-up, their Fuku design gets frillier and fancier.
  • Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Several of them do this to each other, sometimes escalating to slaps, when one of them falls into doubt or panic.
  • Girly Bruiser: Their transformation cry is "X power make up!" and their uniforms are Sailor Fukus with bows and pleated skirts. The girls themselves also like archetypically girly stuff like fashion, cooking, pop music, makeovers, romance, etc.; for example, there's a whole scene in the anime where Minako and Usagi bond over Usagi possibly getting a haircut while Minako combs Usagi's hair.
  • Goal in Life: Although devoted to their duties, they each have a goal in life beyond that:
    • Usagi: To get married.
    • Ami: To become a doctor.
    • Rei: To be the head priestess at her shrine.
    • Makoto: To open a flower and cake shop and to get married.
    • Minako: To become a pop idol.
    • Chibi-Usa: To become a true lady.
    • Setsuna: To be a fashion designer.
    • Haruka: To be a professional racing driver.
    • Michiru: To be a professional violinist.
    • Hotaru: To be a nurse.
  • Gratuitous Princess: According to the manga, not only Usagi but ALL of the other Sailor Guardians were princesses of their planets during the Silver Millennium so this applies to all of them. Whether this trope is valid outside of the manga is up to debate.
  • Group Hug: They do this a lot to emphasize their friendship and love.
  • Henshin Hero: Every one of them uses some magical device to turn into a superhero.
  • Hero Secret Service: If Sailor Moon is the only one who can break spells, destroy monsters, defeat the enemy, and prevent The End of the World as We Know It, what are the Inner Guardians there for? To protect Sailor Moon!
  • Human Aliens: In their original incarnations, the Sailor Guardians were not native to Earth (and the manga implies that Queen Serenity and the Silver Millennium have their origins outside the Solar System entirely). The trope no longer applies in the present day, however, due to all of the Guardians being reincarnated on the Earth as humans.
  • Humanoid Abomination: By the end of the manga they acquire shades of this, as their final forms are just as powerful as any of Chaos' avatars and they're shown to be extremely long lived.
  • I Believe I Can Fly: In the manga everyone can fly by the Infinity arc.
  • "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: A favorite tactic of theirs whenever a loved one, an ally or a teammate gets Brainwashed and Crazy. And considering how often that happens, well...
  • In the Name of the Moon:
    • Moon: "I am the Pretty Guardian who fights for love and for justice! I am Sailor Moon! And now, in the name of the moon, I'll punish you!"
    • Mars: "Soldier of Flame and Passion, Pretty Sailor Suited Soldier, Sailor Mars! In the name of Mars, I will chastise you!"
    • Mercury: "Soldier of Love and Intelligence, Pretty Sailor-Suited Soldier, Sailor Mercury! Douse yourself in Cold Water and Repent"
    • Jupiter: "Thunder and Courage, Pretty Sailor-Suited Soldier, Sailor Jupiter! I will beat you into submission!"
    • Venus: "Soldier of Love and Beauty, Pretty Sailor-Suited Soldier, Sailor Venus! In the name of Venus I bring divine punishment!" She has some variations in her solo series, with one being so long that the youma protested it was too long (and was beheaded as he was distracted).
    • The Outers' speeches were designed to be done together.
      Uranus: Guided by the new era, Sailor Uranus, appearing magnificent!
      Neptune: Also Guided by the new era, Sailor Neptune, appearing elegant!
    • When Pluto joined the group, they had a longer and more complicated speech describing the planets they came from.
      Uranus: My guardian is a planet far up in the heavens. Soldier of the sky; Sailor Uranus!
      Neptune: My guardian is a planet of sea and sand. Soldier of embrace; Sailor Neptune!
      Pluto: My guardian is the planet suspended in time and space. Solider of revolution; Sailor Pluto!
      All three: The three soldiers of the outer solar system, being led by a new crisis, have arrived!
    • Chibi Moon: For love and justice, I am the pretty sailor soldier in training, Sailor Chibi Moon! In the name of the future moon, I will punish you!
    • Saturn: My guardian is the planet of silence. Soldier of ruin and birth; Sailor Saturn!
  • Jerkass Ball: While the Inner Guardians (bar Rei) are generally Nice Girls, plenty of moments will have them be jerks to Usagi due to Rule of Funny. One of the worst examples by far is Episode 106, where they not only refuse to share the blame with Usagi over what happenednote  but laugh when Chibi-Usa keeps giving Usagi a hard time at the end.
  • Kid Hero: Only Setsuna is an adult, being in her early twenties. The rest are children or teenagers, though Haruka and Michiru live and act like adults.
  • Knight, Knave, and Squire: The first season includes two of each:
    • Minako and Makoto are the Knights. They're strong and experienced fighters who fight for what's right.
    • Rei and Mamoru are the Knaves. They're capable on the battlefield but more cautious and cynical, and they were loners before they met the girls.
    • Usagi and Ami are the Squires. They get thrust into the role of warrior with no real fighting experience to speak of.
  • Leitmotif: Several. Usagi/Sailor Moon herself has by far the most, but all of them get their own theme music. Whether it's for their transformation sequences, attacks, civilian appearances or speeches to the villains, the franchise just loves to throw these in whenever they can.
  • Likes Clark Kent, Hates Superman: Sailors Uranus and Neptune are willing to let innocent bystanders suffer and even die to prevent a prophecy of doom, which gives them a very antagonistic relationship with the other Sailor Guardians. However, in their civilian identities, Haruka and Michiru are universally adored by their younger counterparts, and are fond of them in turn. In particular, Makoto greatly admires Haruka, but physically attacks Uranus after having her heart pulled out while Uranus and Neptune stood by and watched.
  • Limited Social Circle: As the series progresses, it becomes more apparent when the Guardians find it hard to keep anyone besides each other in their social circle without revealing their identities or putting people at risk of getting attacked. Usagi started out with a much broader social circle, but most of them were limited to a token appearance or two after the Dark Kingdom arc before vanishing all together. And while the girls meet new people all the time, most of them don’t stick around beyond a single episode.
  • Living with the Villain: The villains Ail and An from the "Makaiju" arc of Sailor Moon were disguised as schoolmates of most of the Guardians. The same applied with Chibi-usa's friend Hotaru (possessed by Mistress 9, The Dragon to that series Big Bad) in the third season, and the Witches Five, who worked at Michiru and Haruka's Elaborate University High. In Ami's introduction episode, Luna suspects this of her, but learns she's actually another Sailor Guardian instead.
  • Magical Girl: Perhaps the most famous outside (and inside!) of Japan. Many misinformed people will call any other magical girl series a "ripoff" of Sailor Moon, which isn't true in the slightest.
  • Magical Girl Warrior: Helped to define the genre.
  • Maid and Maiden: The cats play the Maid role to their respective owners who play the Maiden. This is most obvious with Luna as Usagi's mentor and care taker in the early stories.
  • Meaningful Name: All of them, usually in reference to their elements or powers and/or appearance and personality. See Theme Naming below.
  • Nice Mean And In Between:
    • From the first half of the first season, Ami/Mercury is always sweet, gentle, and patient (nice), Rei/Mars is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold with a Hair-Trigger Temper (mean), and Usagi/Moon is nice and optimistic, yet whiny and occasionally bratty (in-between).
    • Of the Outers, Setsuna/Pluto is open and friendly to the Inner Guardians (nice), Michiru/Neptune is more aloof and less agreeable but at the same time still behaves polite and cordial to them (in-between), and Haruka/Uranus is colder and more distant (mean).
  • Out of Focus: Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus have vanishingly little involvement after the first arcs in the manga/Sailor Moon Crystal, and 90's anime storylines. The Infinity arc focuses more on Usagi and Chibi-Usa's interactions with the Outers, but they do receive their own chapters in the Dream arc.
  • Overshadowed by Awesome: Usagi begins as this with Mercury by her side; the other Guardians just have more strength and fighting ability, plus their attacks are offensive. As the seasons pass Moon levels up and passes over everyone else. The Outers then overshadow the Inners, and everyone overshadows Chibi Moon. At least Chibi Moon has the potential to be insanely powerful, according to the manga.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: One of the more infamous examples, the girls essentially wear uniforms similar to actual school girl uniforms and no one of them wears even a simple mask. Yup, no masks, no hair color changes, pretty much nothing concealing their identities (Sailor V did once wear a mask, but she ditched it after becoming Venus). Despite this, no one seems to recognize Usagi and her pals.
  • Past-Life Memories: All the Guardians gain their memories of their lives during the Silver Millennium. The completeness of these memories depends on the individual Guardian and the version of the series.
  • Personality Blood Types: Most of them have the blood types associated with their personalities. The two main groups of four have one of each type.
    • Usagi, Chibi-Usa, Makoto, and Michiru are type O.
    • Ami and Setsuna are type A.
    • Minako and Haruka are type B.
    • Rei and Hotaru are type AB.
  • Pre-Meeting: They do this all the time. For example:
    • How does Usagi meet Mamoru, who turns out to be the re-incarnation of her lover in a past life and the phantom thief/superhero that shows up to save her neck at the end of the episode? By throwing a test paper into the air and accidentally hitting him with it. They don't have another "proper" meeting (in civilian identities) until the next episode, when she hits him with her shoe.
    • She meets her feline mentor, Luna, by chasing a bunch of bratty kids away from a black cat they were beating up. While Luna initially runs off, she shows up later in the episode to stalk her and give her superpowers.
    • She meets Makoto, who saves her from a bunch of delinquents on the way to school. Sure enough, Makoto is the new transfer student the same day and before the day is out, Makoto is Sailor Jupiter.
    • Usagi meets her future daughter Chibi-Usa this way, with Chibi-Usa landing on her head after falling from the sky. Chibi-Usa runs away, and Usagi thinks nothing of it until she comes home and suddenly has a brand-new cousin that she can't remember having.
    • That hot young man Usagi meets suddenly and crushes on during the S season and "his" girlfriend? Sailors Uranus and Neptune.
    • Chibi-Usa's meeting of Hotaru, who turns out to be both the major villain Mistress 9 and Sailor Saturn. Ironically, she actually traveled back to the past in this series because her mother told her she would meet an important person, essentially predicting this event.
  • Princesses Rule: In the manga, the Inner and Outer Guardians are revealed to have been the princesses of their respective planets and also appear to be the main rulers. This is somewhat offset, and possibly explained, by the fact that they are subordinate to Princess Serenity. Being under the rule of Queen Serenity and the Moon Kingdom, the planets probably weren't kingdoms in their own right, but they might have been principalities.
  • Rags to Royalty:
    • Usagi, Mamoru and most of the others are Sleeping Beauty-type figures, being reincarnated princess and one prince of their respective homeworlds, now living as average Japanese teenagers. They don't learn they're royalty until well after they appear.
    • Pluto is more a Snow White, since she never lost her memories of the Silver Millennium, and spent her time guarding the Door of Time instead of living as a princess.
    • Chibi-Usa is also Snow White-type, coming back in time to before her mother rose to power to receive guardian training and having to live like a civilian with Usagi and her family. Subverted in the sense that the guardians already know she's a princess.
  • Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Starting with a clumsy, food-loving crybaby who keeps bringing home failing grades. She's joined by four social outcasts: a genius Shrinking Violet from a broken home, a psychic priestess whose father abandoned her, a boy-crazy orphan whom everyone thinks is a delinquent, and a tomboyish pop junkie who had to kill the one she loved. Later additions include a bratty Kid from the Future, a woman forced into isolation for millennia, a pair of Wrong Genre Savvy rich kids, and a sickly girl who barely survived the fire that killed her mother.
  • Reincarnation: Of the warrior princesses of the Solar System who protect the Moon Princess.
  • Reincarnation Friendship: They all lived in the Silver Millennium and found each other again when they all got reincarnated.
  • Reincarnation Romance: Usagi and Mamoru, but some versions hint that the Inners and the Shitennou at least had feelings for each other in their past lives. Unfortunately, their second chance ends no better than the first because the Shitennou are killed in modern times.
  • Relationship Reset Button: The first season ends with everyone losing their memories of everything relating to the Moon Kingdom and their time as heroes, including Mamoru forgetting his relationship with Usagi. Usagi remembers everything before anyone else in the next season, leading to her having restart their relationship from scratch.
  • Requisite Royal Regalia: They all wear tiaras, given that they are princesses.
  • Roofhopping: The first season several instances of implied roofhopping, in that the girls leapt off into the sky and vanished into the distance. Also, Minako pulled it off on screen, once. Not Sailor Venus, Minako. Just because walking from the road to Usagi's room the normal way was too slow. And Usagi's reaction implies she does it fairly often.
  • Sealed Cast in a Multipack: All of them were killed in a great battle and reincarnated in the modern world. While they weren't actually "sealed", the show follows the same pattern of tracking them down and unsealing them. In-universe, it's more tracking their reincarnations down and awakening their dormant powers.
  • Secret Identity Change Trick: Done oh-so-often, but most notoriously in the unusually humorous and self-aware Episode 184, where the entire team, as well as the villains, happened to gather in Usagi's house, and she had to run through the rooms looking for a place to transform without revealing her secret identity to the Three Lights. (Who, in turn, had to find a way to transform without revealing theirs.)
  • Sentai: They combine elements of this (namely by being Color-Coded Characters) with Magical Girls, becoming the Trope Codifier for the Magical Girl Warrior trope.
  • Sexy Santa Dress: They all wear cute Santa dresses on the cover of the Sailor Moon Sailor Stars "Merry Christmas!" CD.
  • Signature Move: They all have at least one, each usually lasting until the next upgrade:
    • Sailor Moon: Moon Tiara Action/Moon Tiara Boomerang, Moon Healing Escalation, Moon Princess Halation, Moon Spiral Heart Attack, Rainbow Moon Heartache, Moon Gorgeous Meditation, Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss, and Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss, all in that order. There is also a manga-only ultimate attack, Silver Moon Crystal Eternal Power.
    • Sailor Chibi Moon: Pink Sugar Heart Attack
    • For Tuxedo Mask in the anime, there's his signature rose toss, while in the manga, he has his own power, Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber.
    • Sailor Mercury: Bubble Spray, Shine Aqua Illusion, Mercury Aqua Mirage (manga/Crystal only), Mercury Aqua Rhapsody
    • Sailor Mars: Fire Soul (anime only), Akuryo Taisan (exorcism for demons), Burning Mandala, Mars Snake Fire (manga/Crystal only), Mars Flame Sniper
    • Sailor Jupiter: Supreme Thunder, Flower Hurricane (in the manga), Sparkling Wide Pressure, Jupiter Coconut Cyclone (manga/Crystal only) Jupiter Oak Evolution
    • Sailor Venus: Sailor V Kick (the only physical move), Crescent Beam, Venus Love-Me-Chain, Rolling Heart Vibration (manga/Crystal only), Venus Wink Chain Sword (manga/Crystal only), Venus Love and Beauty Shock
    • In the anime the Crescent Beam is particularly prominent, as she doesn't fully abandon it until the final season, well after acquiring more powerful moves, while in the manga she ditched it before the start of the series (she used it a lot in Codename: Sailor V, but never used it once in the main series).
    • Sailor Pluto: Dead Scream, Chronos Typhoon (manga/Crystal only)
    • Sailor Uranus: World Shaking, Space Sword Blaster, Space Turbulence (manga only)
    • Sailor Neptune: Deep Submerge, Submarine Reflection, Submarine Violon Tide (manga only)
    • Sailor Saturn: Death Reborn Revolution (magna/Crystal only), Silence Glaive Surprise (anime only)
  • Significant Birth Date: According to the Western Zodiac, each of them was born under a sign that her planet rules:
    • Usagi/Moon and Chibi-Usa/Chibi Moon: June 30 (Cancer).
    • Ami/Mercury: September 10 (Virgo).
    • Rei/Mars: April 17 (Aries).
    • Makoto/Jupiter: December 5 (Sagittarius).
    • Minako/Venus: October 22 (Libra).
    • Setsuna/Pluto: October 29 (Scorpio).
    • Haruka/Uranus: January 27 (Aquarius).
    • Michiru/Neptune: March 6 (Pisces).
    • Hotaru/Saturn: January 6 (Capricorn).
  • Slapstick: The anime frequently featured slapstick gags with the main female cast as the victims. Usagi was the most common victim, due to her extreme clumsiness getting her hurt and general This Loser Is You nature as a character, but plenty of gags featured the rest of the cast as well. Ironically, Mamoru/Tuxedo Mask, the only male human in the regular cast, was the least likely to be on the receiving end of the show's physical comedy until the notably more serious and poised Outer Guardians were introduced, suggesting it had more to do with finesse and grace than anything.
  • Stellar Name: Their Sailor identities are named after celestial bodies, and their civilian names are Japanese puns on the same bodies.
  • Stock Superhero Day Jobs: All of them are students in all continuities, ranging from elementary school to university. Some are shown working one of the other stock jobs, like Minako (police officer) and Michiru (teacher).
  • Taking the Bullet: They do this often to show their status as True Companions and willingness to protect the princess. For example, all four Inners die this way near the end when they take hits from Galaxia to protect Usagi and Chibi-Chibi.
  • Taking You with Me: It's usually only a last resort, but they're known to do it. At the end of the Dark Kingdom arc, three of the Inners did it to the DD girls and unleashes the full power of her crystal to wipe out Beryl and Metalia evil though it would kill her.
  • The Team: There are a great many Sailor Guardians and allies, but they tend to form a few distinct groups.
  • Theme Naming:
    • All of the Inner Soldiers have surnames referring to their respective planet in some way or another, while their first names typically reflect an aspect of their personality. Furthermore, all of their surnames end with the same character (no, a homophone for the Japanese word meaning "of").
    • The Outer Soldiers' surnames literally are the Japanese names of their respective planets except without the "-sei", leaving them all (except for Hotaru) ending in ou; the kanji for "king".
  • Three Plus Two: The first season spent an inordinate amount of time with just Sailor Moon, Mars and Mercury. Jupiter and Venus came later. Of course, as the season progressed, the five became a true Five-Man Band.
  • Threesome Subtext: When three of them get close, or two of them have feelings for the same guy, this tends to happen. To list all the combinations would take forever, but here are a few examples:
    • Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna get a lot of this, with Haruka and Michiru being an Official Couple and Setsuna moving in with them later on so they can all raise Hotaru together. In the manga, the three of them wear promise rings after moving in together. Hotaru calls them Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama, and Setsuna-mama.
    • Usagi, Rei, and Minako get a little of this too. The latter two, who are often depicted as having a Pseudo-Romantic Friendship, claim that the reason they don't need men is because they've devoted themselves to Usagi. In most versions, Usagi idolizes Sailor V from the start and is smitten with Rei when she first sees her. In the 90's anime, though, swap Minako for Mamoru. In that series, while he and Usagi are still an Official Couple, he originally dated Rei, and Usagi and Rei are very much Like an Old Married Couple.
  • Took a Level in Badass: All of the girls who get power-ups over the series qualify, but three examples stand out the most:
    • Usagi starts off as a ditzy crybaby, but she tends to level up at least once per arc. By Sailor Moon R, she'd already started growing into her role as The Hero, and by the time Stars comes around, she's already become a very competent Action Girl. At the end of the series, she's able to fight Galaxia, the strongest Sailor Guardian in the galaxy, on equal terms.
    • Ami originally didn't have any fighting skills or damaging attacks. All she could really do was distract and analyze the enemy while her teammates defeated it. After she starts getting new attacks, she can genuinely kick ass all on her own.
    • Hotaru is introduced as a sickly, fragile girl, who has a tendency to collapse from painful "attacks". After Mistress 9 takes over her body, her spirit manages to protect Chibimoon's soul and moon crystal and the souls of the other Guardians, all while confining Mistress 9 to her body and preventing her from becoming more powerful. And from there, she goes to be Sailor Saturn, who has enough power to singlehandedly drive the enemy from Earth.
  • Town Girls:
    • The clearest example is Haruka (butch), Michiru (femme), and Setsuna (neither).
    • The rest of the group plays with it. In the original anime, Usagi is the neither to Makoto and Rei's butch and Minako and Ami's femme. In the manga and Crystal, Minako is butch, Rei is femme, and Makoto is neither.
  • Transformation Is a Free Action: In the anime, their transformations seem to go on for long periods of time with the enemy doing nothing. It's implied that it takes seconds in real time and that the long sequences are just for show.
  • Transformation Name Announcement: In the first anime, all of the Inner Guardians and Sailor Pluto have their own In the Name of the Moon speech that announces their form, and Sailors Uranus and Neptune share one. You generally only hear the Inner Guardians other than Sailor Moon delivering it during their Once a Season focus episode. Sailor Moon Crystal does this with all the Inner Guardians.
  • Transformation Sequence: They pretty much codified the Magical Girl version of it, with tons of frills, fanservice and stock footage.
  • Transformation Trinket: Brooches for the Moon Guardians, wands or pens for the rest.
  • True Companions: All the Guardians have this relationship with Usagi and with each other.
  • Undying Loyalty: Each and every one of the Guardians would give their lives to protect Usagi (and have done so multiple times). Usagi in turn can and will go to hell and back to bring them back to life should the need arise.
  • Unstoppable Rage: Each of the inner soldiers receive a power-up after experiencing this in the R season of the anime. Sailor Venus receives another power in a similar fashion in the SuperS season after being bound up and having her Dream Mirror ripped out by the two guys she was two-timing. Same with Sailor Mercury in her SuperS movie special, when she thinks that her academic rival is trying to get under her skin and attack her (the enemy she attacks turns out to be someone completely different).
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Even though they tend to bicker and make fun of one another, they are still the closest of friends.
  • We Are "Team Cannon Fodder": Any Soldier who doesn't have Moon in their name in the series. It especially shows in the fourth season.
  • The Weird Sisters: The Outers qualify as this after Setsuna joins but before they join the Inners. They're a group of three supernatural and somewhat mysterious women separate from the rest, and they fit the "three personalities" aspect in multiple ways.
  • World of Action Girls: Sailor Moon is about Usagi Tsukino and her friends who transform into Magical Girl Warriors to battle demons, Usagi herself becoming the titular Sailor Moon. Her friends, meanwhile, become Sailor Mercury, Sailor Venus, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Saturn, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, and Sailor Pluto. A good deal of the montsers of the week, Quirky Mini Boss Squads and Big Bads were also women. The series is iconic for not only running on this trope, but doing it in a way that portrays their "girly girl" aspects as strengths instead of weaknesses. Not only that, there are several occasions where the male lead (Usagi's boyfriend) is put in the Damsel in Distress position and the eponymous heroines must rescue him.
  • World of Technicolor Hair: Ami, Chibi-Usa, Setsuna, and Michiru all have hair colors that aren't natural in real life, respectively blue, pink, dark green, and bluish green. Rei's hair, though described as black, looks purple in some versions, while Usagi, Minako, and Haruka are all blondes, which is odd considering they are supposed to be fully Japanese.
  • You Are Not Alone: It's what keeps them going even on the brink of destruction. Quite literally with some of them who had no friends before meeting each other.

Moon Guardians

    Usagi "Chibi-Usa" Small Lady Serenity/Sailor Chibi Moon 

Usagi "Chibi-Usa" Small Lady Serenity/Rini — Sailor Chibi Moon

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sailor_chibi_moon_season_iii.png

Click to see Usagi "Chibi-Usa" Small Lady Serenity.
Click to see Chibi-Usa in Crystal Season 2.
Click to see Small Lady.
Click to see Small Lady in Crystal.

Voiced by: Kae Araki (first anime), Misato Fukuen (Crystal onwards) (Japanese), Tracey Hoyt (DiC), Stephanie Beard (Cloverway), Sandy Fox (Viz) (English), Cristina Hernández (Latin American Spanish, original/Crystal), Vanessa Garcel (Latin American Spanish, movies), Úrsula Bezerra (Brazilian Portuguese), Fernanda Figueiredo (European Portuguese), Amélie Morin (French, first anime, R movie), Sophie Gormezano (French, eps. 84-89), Corinne Martin (French, Stars, S and SuperS movies), Jennifer Fauveau (French, Crystal), Deborah Morese (Italian, first anime), Letizia Ciampa (Italian, R movie), Monica Volpe (Italian, Crystal onwards)
Portrayed in the musicals by: Ai Miyakawa, Mao Kawasaki, Tamaki Dia Shirai, Natsumi Takenaka, Ayano Gunji, Arisu Izawa, Kasumi Takabatake, Noël Miyazaki (Noeru Kariya), Aisha Yamamoto, Nanami Ōta, Mao Ōno, Mina Horita, Moe Ōsaki, Kokoro Kuge, Airi Kanda

"Guardian of Love and Justice, the pretty sailor suited soldier in training, Sailor Chibi Moon! In the name of the future moon, I'll punish you!"

Usagi and Mamoru's bratty Kid from the Future who travels to the 20th century to steal Usagi's Silver Crystal in order to save the 30th century. She takes after her mother in most ways and generally behaves like an odd sort of Annoying Younger Sibling to her, but underneath the constant bickering and whining, it's apparent that the two really do care about each other. After departing for the future at the end of the second season, she returns for the third and fourth, this time a few years older and on a peaceful mission to train as a Sailor Guardian.


  • Adaptational Comic Relief: In the 90s anime, expect her to become a Butt-Monkey as soon as she gets into a fight. The first time she tried using her Pink Sugar Heart Attack says it all. Although in the manga, there were a number of side comics that dealt with her fighting a number of bad guys alongside of Sailor Moon and occasionally Sailor Venus. These were usually very goofy villains, like a spirit who got power from cavity pains.
  • Adaptational Nice Guy: In Crystal, she's less bratty and more mature and polite as she's got a lot of Character Development and Took a Level in Kindness afterwards.
  • Adaptational Wimp: In the manga and Crystal, she had legitimate attacks. In the 90s anime, her one attack in S didn't work half the time, and the rest of the time it hurt the monster only as much as a hard spanking. By Super S she lost any attacks at all and her only power was transforming and having the ability to call Pegasus.
  • Adaptation Personality Change: Chibi-Usa in the manga and Crystal is noticeably less bratty and more shy than her 90s anime version.
  • Afraid of Doctors: Dentists, to be exact. She and Usagi are both terrified of them and think that the only dentist in town is sadistic.
  • All Girls Like Ponies: Falls in love with Helios who initially appears as Pegasus. Also, she briefly bonds with Reika over a fondness for horses.
  • All Love Is Unrequited: Has some… confused feelings about Mamoru. Even after she knows he's her father, she sees his past self differently than his future self.
  • All-Loving Heroine: Not as much as Usagi, though.
  • Ambiguously Bi: She falls head over heels, literally, with Pegasus/Helios, to the point that the other girls and Mamoru attempt to work out who she was in love with, but she is also shown to have romantic moments with Hotaru, the two of them being shown non-sexually naked in the Crystal version of her in the third opening sequence.
  • Ambiguous Situation: In the 90s anime, it's unclear if Chibiusa is in possession of the (future) Silver Crystal post Sailor Moon R. In the manga, Chibiusa manifested her own Silver Crystal near the end of the Black Moon arc which she uses to power her transformation brooch just as Usagi does. However, this does not occur in the 90s anime and though Chibiusa returned the (future) Silver Crystal to Neo-Queen Serenity, it's possible she once again has it and is using it to power her transformation brooch by the time she reappears in Sailor Moon S as a trainee guardian. But since Usagi didn't have the Silver Crystal in her very first brooch, it's unlikely that Chibiusa does for her own.
  • Ancestral Name: Her name is Usagi, just like her mother (although the latter calls herself Serenity in the future). People nickname her "Chibi-Usa" to tell the two apart. In the DiC dub, her name is also Serena, so she gets the nickname Rini to tell them apart.
  • Animal Motifs: Rabbits, just like Usagi. She's even referred to as "Rabbit" (in English, no less) by the Black Moon Clan and the Ayakashi Sisters.
  • Annoying Younger Sibling: She acts like this towards Usagi, despite how she's actually Usagi's Kid from the Future.
  • The Atoner: In Episode 74, despite Usagi's objections, she goes with her to save the inner soldiers to make up for her previous mistake in the previous episode.
  • Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Despite their constant bickering and fights with one another it's made clear, multiple times, that Usagi and Chibi-Usa do indeed love one another with Usagi going full Mama Bear if anyone even thinks about hurting her. Their tearful goodbye at the end of R really makes it stand out especially this line in the Viz English dub.
    Chibi-Usa: I love you, Mommy.
  • Berserk Button: She will go on an Unstoppable Rage if someone takes away her food — accidentally or not — even if she herself often does this to Usagi.
  • Big Damn Heroes: At the Marine Cathedral, after Eudial snatches the talismans away from the Guardians and causes a wall of flames to trap them, Chibi-Usa and Mamoru arrive in the nick of time by way of crashing through a stained glass window. She then uses her Luna-P to extinguish the flames.
  • Bratty Half-Pint: At her worst. More in the anime, but the manga version wasn't above everything.
  • Broken Pedestal: As a child, she had always heard stories about Sailor Moon always managing to save the world. But finding Usagi as a clumsy crybaby rips her faith in Sailor Moon apart and makes her think that Usagi is unworthy of the title and the crystal.
  • Butt-Monkey: In the original anime, when she transforms, she's on the receiving end, being a pathetic comic relief whose powers are no good to fight with.
  • By the Power of Grayskull!: "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!", "Moon Crisis, Make Up!", "Pink Moon Crystal Power, Make Up! (manga)"
  • Cain and Abel and Seth: She's the Seth who joins Usagi and Shingo's Cain and Abel. Before, Usagi and Shingo had a petty but close and caring relationship. When Chibi-Usa comes along, she practically takes over the family. She becomes so bratty and troublesome to Usagi that Shingo would never stoop to her level, but she also steals Shingo's relationship with Usagi, while he is pushed out of the spotlight like an overlooked middle child.
  • Canon Foreigner: In the first Super Famicom Sailor Moon side-scrolling game only (1993). Chibi-Usa makes an appearance in the game despite it being based on the first season of the '90s anime, in which she was not yet introduced.
  • Character Development: In the 90s anime, she was more mature in S than she had been in R. By SuperS, however, she was Wise Beyond Her Years to the point of being more mature than the other Soldiers, her friends, and even adult characters-of-the-day. Though it's more directed to Flanderization on SuperS.
  • Cheerful Child: At her best. She's usually more of a Mouthy Kid.
  • The Chew Toy: Not as often as Usagi, but the moments she gets the short end of the stick is quite amusing given how bratty she tends to be.
  • Comedic Spanking: She's constantly on the receiving end of this by Usagi for her brattiness. Needlessly to say, it's very deserving.
  • Cousin Oliver: She came from the future and brainwashed Usagi's family into thinking she was her little sister/cousin (depending on the translation). Even if the intervention of Luna — Usagi's magic talking cat — prevents Usagi from falling under the influence of Chibi-Usa's magic, making her for some time the only one aware of Chibi-Usa's nature (even if Usagi learns only much later the whole story and that Chibi-Usa is really her daughter from the future).
  • Crash-Into Hello: This is how Chibi-Usa is introduced. She literally falls from the sky when Usagi and Mamoru are on a date, lands on Usagi, and ends up accidentally kissing Mamoru. Hilarity Ensues.
  • Creepy Child: Occasionally, particularly in her first appearance.
  • Cute, but Cacophonic: Like her future mother, she is able to scream loud enough to stun a monster. It is said that, when Chibi-Usa and Usagi transformed, their screams are amplified by the red hairclips they have on their odango and turned into supersonic waves, which is how they manage to cause so much damage. However, it does require a cry loud enough to activate this "weapon", apparently.
  • Cute Witch: She's time-traveled from the future for unspecified training, and her powers are mostly trickery rather than anything useful for fighting.
  • The Cutie: Despite regularly being a Bratty Half-Pint, she has her moments of being this, particularly involving her friendship with Hotaru.
  • Daddy's Girl: She is a perfect example, monopolizing her future father Mamoru/Darian's time and fighting over him with her future mother Usagi/Serena. Her unfortunate transformation into Black Lady even twists her innocent need for approval and love for Mamoru into a vision of her kissing him (90s anime) and her actually taking him hostage and kissing him (manga). Even in the future, Chibi-Usa appears to have a more normal relationship with her father Endymion; while she loves her mother Neo-Queen Serenity dearly, she also idolizes her to the point of an inferiority-complex.
  • Dark Magical Girl: Wiseman corrupts her into one as Black Lady, a dark version of herself.
  • Demoted to Extra: By the end of SuperS, she was reduced to a cursory nod and eventually disappears altogether in Sailor Stars. This was no doubt a result of fan backlash against the character.
  • Depending on the Writer:
    • Her relationship with Usagi. On some occasions (particularly in R), she can get rather vicious when antagonizing Usagi. In other episodes, she does mess with Usagi but makes it clear she does love her.
    • Normally, she has more emotional maturity and common sense than Usagi, but some episodes will have her be just as immature and clueless as Usagi is.
    • Her relationship with the other Guardians also counts. Either she is somewhat more respectful towards them than to Usagi or just as much as a grievance towards them. The latter is mostly in R, though.
  • Didn't Think This Through: In R, she stole Usagi's brooch under the reasoning that a ditz like Usagi didn't deserve to be Sailor Moon and decided to take the Silver Crystal inside back to the future. Only thing she ends up doing is getting the Guardian Sailors captured and Usagi giving her a What the Hell, Hero? for her actions.
  • Does Not Like Spam: Like Usagi, she despises carrots.
  • Dramatically Missing the Point: Her Broken Pedestal about finding out what kind of person Sailor Moon is in present time. She overlooked one thing: Usagi is still a teenager with some growing up to do and Neo Queen Serenity has centuries' worth of maturity.
  • Establishing Character Moment: Turning her Luna-P into a gun, pointing it at Usagi in order to get her to hand over the Silver Crystal and is willing to pull the trigger, but only fires a dart.
  • Expy: Pink-haired princess of a magical kingdom, who magically makes her adopted parents (or in this case, her maternal grandparents and uncle) think she's their daughter (or niece/cousin)? Sounds a lot like Magical Princess Minky Momo... (As a bonus, Momo's magical rod looks a lot like the one Moon has in Super-S.)
  • False Memories: Courtesy of Wiseman, she is given these into thinking that both her parents' Tough Love on her were them giving her the cold shoulder. This turns her into Black Lady temporarily, though after she gains the real memories back, she becomes Chibi-Usa again.
  • Father, I Want to Marry My Brother: She is (sort of) in love with her father, Mamoru, or more specifically his past self, whom she seems to regard as a different person, up to the point where she brainwashes him as Black Lady, an aged-up evil version of herself, and remains with the Black Moon simply because this way she will have Mamoru to herself forever. She's mentally only 8 years old at the time and seems to get over these feelings later, especially when she meets Helios and develops a Pseudo-Romantic Friendship with Hotaru, suggesting this is the childish variant rather than an actual incestuous crush.
  • Fear of Thunder: Like mother, like daughter. Though in her case it's played more seriously since, in the anime, she panics so much during a storm that she tries to come back to the future and starts crying when it doesn't work, causing quite the physical phenomenons around her and releasing a huge Pillar of Light that reveals her whereabouts to the Black Moon.
  • Flight of Romance: She goes flying in the dream world with Helios.
  • Free-Range Children: Played with. She's Really 700 Years Old but is still physically a child. Either way, she still often wanders town unsupervised.
  • Generation Xerox: In The '90s anime, Mamoru openly points out that she and Usagi are very similar personality wise.
  • Girlish Pigtails: Pink and pointy.
  • Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: Mainly in the first anime. She's a Pink Heroine with pink Girlish Pigtails whose main power is the "Pink Sugar Heart Attack", which is all about sending tiny hearts to her opponents. This sounds as cutesy and girly as it can get, but Chibiusa is also a cheeky and hotheaded Little Miss Snarker who likes pranks.
  • Heart Beat-Down: The Pink Sugar Heart Attack sends tiny Heart Symbols to pelt opponents, though its effectiveness varies. The manga also had her team up with Sailor Moon to use Rainbow Double Moon Heart Ache.
  • Hereditary Hairstyle: She wears her hair in exaggerated odangos just like Usagi.
  • Hidden Heart of Gold: When she isn't bickering with Usagi, she makes it clear she does love her and is sincerely thankful whenever Usagi helps her out. Not that she'll admit it to others.
  • Hollywood Genetics: The pink-haired and red-eyed daughter of a blue-eyed blonde and a black-haired and dark blue-eyed man. Though in the manga, Grandma Ikuko has pink hair in some art.
  • Hypocrite:
    • She accuses Usagi of being "ungrateful" for rejecting her mother's hot cakes (and she only rejected them because she had already eaten something and didn't even know her mother was making something for her in the first place) when she herself does not appreciate that Usagi has constantly put her own life on the line to save her from danger.
    • In one episode, she gets viciously angry at Usagi after the latter unknowingly steals the pie she baked for a classmate. In other episodes, she would knowingly steal Usagi's food just for the sake of it.
    • For all her talk about Usagi being an incompetent guardian, she proves to be quite incompetent at being a guardian herself once she starts her training.
    • She (along with the others) criticizes Usagi for her laziness, even though she is shown to be rather lazy herself; for instance, she has Usagi carry all the groceries while she herself is empty-handed.
  • Iconic Sequel Character: She doesn't appear until the fourth volume of the manga and the second season of the anime, but quickly becomes a very prominent character and eventually the deuteragonist in Super S (though she's Demoted to Extra after that).
  • "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Sailor Moon tries to make Black Lady return to being Chibi-Usa multiple times thorough Act 24, only to be rebuked each time.
  • Immortal Immaturity: In the manga, where she's hundreds of years older than she appears but still has the maturity of a little girl.
  • Implied Love Interest: Has had two of them.
    • Helios/Pegasus is all but confirmed to be the winner of Chibi-Usa’s hand in the future timeline, as Sailor Moon media and dialogue from the arc in which he appears suggest that he’s her prince, however, the audience never gets to see their relationship come to fruition in the form of an official couple due to how the series ends. Sailor Moon Drops, which is currently the latest update in Sailor Moon media, depicts Helios alongside Chibi-Usa in her Small Lady form, holding her hand as they nuzzle against each other romantically, seemingly to push this trope further. They even have an official figure, though it’s only Helios in his Pegasus form.
    • Perle, the Canon Foreigner from the Sailor Moon Super S movie, was also this to Chibi-Usa, though unlike Helios, he never shows up anywhere else and isn’t pushed as a love interest for her outside of it.
  • Incest Subtext: She has a Freudian relationship with her future mother Usagi (who she looks down on) and her future father Mamoru (who she idolizes), and later, she's implied to have a crush on her future uncle Shingo. Possibly justified by the fact that she tends to think of them as different people from her future family, even while she knows that's not true.
  • Interspecies Romance: She falls in love with a winged unicorn. Or better said, a guy who appears to her first as a winged unicorn, and even in human form has a sort-of horn in his head.
  • In the Name of the Moon: "For love and justice, I am a sailor-suited pretty soldier in training: Sailor Chibi Moon! In the name of the future moon, I will punish you!"
  • It's All My Fault: She will often willingly admit it's her fault when things go wrong because of her. Pretty impressive given her occasional Never My Fault tendencies.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: In the anime mostly. While Chibi-Usa was genuinely extremely bratty and rude towards Usagi, it's somewhat understandable that she would resent Usagi's immature and irresponsible behavior; especially since Chibi-Usa idolizes the infinitely more wise and graceful Usagi of the future to the point of hurting her own self-esteem.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She can definitely be a pain in the rear, and even went as far as drugging Usagi in the R season so that she could have easy access to the Silver Crystal. On the other hand, it can't be denied her friendship with Hotaru and willingness to protect her (including nearly taking an attack that would've definitely killed her) is nothing short of caring. And as much as she may like to tease Usagi, she grows to genuinely appreciate her help and accept her as her future mom.
  • Joke Character: As a fighter, especially in the anime. She starts to get a lot more powerful later in the manga, even able to collect her own team of Soldiers and help Sailor Moon fight Galaxia. Granted she can't help in the final battle, owing to her dad's past self dying and erasing her from existence, but she still saves Sailor Moon's life.
  • Kid-Appeal Character: She's the youngest of the Sailor Guardians (at least emotionally), and she's clearly meant to appeal to younger fans. Toei's attempts to focus on her story arc in SuperS, however, backfired miserably and as such, her role was substantially reduced for the final episodes of the season. She had much better luck in Crystal, though.
  • Kid from the Future: Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion's daughter. Her real name is Princess Usagi Small Lady Serenity Tsukino. She liked the nickname Chibi-Usa so much, she added that to it as well.
  • Kid Sidekick: To Usagi. At least she's physically and mentally a child (she's really over 900).
  • Kiss of Life: After Helios had used up all his energy to protect Usagi and Mamoru and presumably has died, in a last attempt to revive him, Chibi-Usa kisses him, begging him to do so. And he does.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: After her ungrateful attempt of spitefully taking away Usagi's broach causes the Sailor Guardians to get captured by Rubeus, she gets harshly scolded by Usagi for it and eventually decides to become The Atoner in order to fix the damage she caused.
  • Late-Arrival Spoiler: Not many people may remember that Chibi-Usa/Rini being the daughter of Sailor Moon was once a late second-season revelation. Once she became Sailor Chibi Moon, it was everywhere.
  • Legacy Character: Chibi-Usa is in training to become the next Sailor Moon, although she only ever appears in-series as a Bratty Half-Pint Sidekick with a cute addition to the name. The final arc of the manga implies that, in the future, she does indeed become the new Sailor Moon, since she brings her own quartet of Sailor Guardians to help Moon in the final battle against Sailor Galaxia.
  • Like Mother, Like Daughter: As mentioned in Generation Xerox, Chibi-Usa and Usagi are very similar, and in more than just personality:
    • Both have a Fear of Thunder.
    • Both have manifested a/the Silver Crystal from their tears. And in the manga, they're manifested after a loved one dies (Usagi manifests the Silver Crystal from her tears after Tuxedo Mask takes a hit for her; Chibi-Usa manifested her own Silver Crystal after Pluto dies from stopping time).
    • Both have a tendency to be lazy (even if Chibi-Usa refuses to admit it).
    • Both of them have an interest in drawing. In the manga, Usagi stated she would join the Manga and Illustration Club in high school and was shown to be able to draw in earlier seasons of the anime. In the manga side-stories, Chibi-Usa was noted to be a good artist and was shown to be interested in drawing and painting in the fourth season.
    • Both of them have a love interest from the Earth Kingdom (for Usagi, Mamoru/Prince Endymion; for Chibi-Usa, Helios).
    • Both of their love interests were captured and under the control of an evil queen (Endymion was captured and brainwashed by Queen Beryl; Helios was imprisoned and cursed by Queen Nehellenia).
    • In the manga, both of them awakened their love interests with a kiss (in the Black Moon arc, Neo-Queen Serenity awoke King Endymion with a kiss; in the Dream arc, Chibi Moon awoke Helios with a kiss).
  • Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Light feminine to Hotaru's dark feminine. This could be considered a subversion, however, considering what Chibi-Usa is...
  • Little Miss Badass: In the manga and Crystal, where she's legitimately more powerful.
  • Little Miss Snarker: Towards Usagi.
  • Living Emotional Crutch: To Hotaru. Before Hotaru joined the team, Chibi-Usa was her only real friend, so Hotaru depended on her to keep her from being lonely.
  • Look Behind You:
    • She and Usagi try this on a Snow Dancer chasing them during the second Sailor Moon movie. The Snow Dancer falls for it completely, and looks genuinely puzzled when she turns around and they aren't there anymore.
    • Played adorably in the last episode of SuperS, where Chibi-Usa wants her private discussion with Helios while the rest of the girls watch them. She screams "LOOK! A UFO!" and every one of them turns while she gives him a huge hug and says her goodbye.
  • Lunacy: She gets her powers from the moon just like her mother.
  • MacGuffin Turned Human: In the anime, turns out the Silver Crystal she was trying to find? Inside her the entire time.
  • Maybe Ever After: With Helios across all of Sailor Moon media. It’s always heavily implied that the two will become a Official Couple in the future timeline, though due to how the series ends, the audience never gets to see it happen.
  • Meaningful Name: Shares the name of Tsukino Usagi, so she also represents the Moon Rabbit. Her nickname "Chibi-Usa" means "little rabbit", too. Her English name "Rini" is a diminutive of "Serenity" (or Usagi's dub name "Serena"), after her mother Neo-Queen Serenity (who in turn is named after her mother from her past incarnation).
  • Meet Cute: Chibi-Usa finds a little boy's keychain when he drops it. Cue bishie sparkle when she sees him and he seems wonderful... until he starts doing a lewd routine from Shin-chan, which his keychain depicts. Chibi-Usa is not amused.
  • Modest Royalty: Her princess dress in the manga is pretty modest, if you ignore the colour and frills.
  • Moon Rabbit: Same Punny Name as her mother. Her hair is designed to look like rabbit ears and she is even referred to as "Rabbit" at various points in the series.
  • Moral Myopia: She has the knack of taking away Usagi's food for her own amusement, but she goes ballistic when Usagi unknowingly takes the pie she was baking for a classmate.
  • More than Mind Control: When she's turned into Black Lady, especially in the manga.
  • Mouthy Kid: Towards Usagi in The '90s anime.
  • Mysterious Waif: She first appears in this type of role. Convincing her that she can trust the Sailor Guardians is a major plot element.
  • Nephewism: Subverted. This is Chibi-Usa's explanation about why she lives with the Tsukinos. She hypnotizes them into thinking she's Ikuko and Kenji's niece, and they ignore Usagi when she claims that they don't have any cousins. Who the Tsukinos think her parents are is never discussed. When she turns out to be Usagi's Kid from the Future (which actually makes her Shingo's niece), Usagi is a lot more understanding about the lie.
  • Never My Fault: Part of her Character Development in R is her problem with admitting and accepting responsibility for her actions, particularly that she caused the Silver Crystal of Crystal Tokyo to be lost to start with. She feels like it's her fault, but refuses to openly acknowledge and accept these feelings, which is part of how Wiseman is able to brainwash her. During the final battle, she is able to make the crystal appear and save the day after finally breaking down and admitting "It's all my fault!"
  • New Transfer Student: The first chapter of Chibi-Usa's Picture Diary starts with Chibi-Usa having her first day of classes at Juuban primary school, after time traveling from 30th century to 20th century.
  • Nice Girl: In 'S' or Crystal's 'Infinity Arc' onwards. Like her mother, Usagi, she's an upbeat, kind and friendly girl who not only gets along well with Usagi but she easily befriends Tomoe who's been ostracized and judged for her unusual personality by her peers.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In R, she probably shouldn't have stolen Usagi's brooch. However, her action ends up forcing Rubeus' hand, which causes the other Sailor Guardians to be abducted by him.
  • Nom de Mom: Her official last name is Serenity, which is the name Usagi has taken after becoming queen in the future. When she's living in the present, she uses Tsukino as her last name since she is pretending to be Usagi's cousin.
  • Not Growing Up Sucks: In the manga, much of her own personal angst derives from the fact that she has not been able to physically age past childhood. Fortunately for her, after spending a lot of time with Usagi and Co. in the past and after tons of training, she appears to be 12-13 years old around the final arc of the manga. The anime seems to have cut this plot point out entirely and just presents her as a regular little girl.
  • Oh, Crap!: Has this when she leaves her time key behind.
  • Overly Long Name: Her real name and full title is Princess Usagi Small Lady Serenity. She liked the nickname Chibi-Usa so much, she added that to it as well. When she arrives in the present, she introduces herself as "Usagi" despite everyone in the future calling her "Small Lady" and she's registered at school as "Usagi Tsukino" much like her mother, though it's unknown if Tsukino actually part of her name, if her dad's family name is her legal in the future or if she even has one at all. (If it is part of her name, it would be Princess Usagi "Chibi-Usa" Small Lady Serenity Tsukino).
    • It's established that when she eventually grows up, she drops the small part of her titles becoming "Princess Usagi Lady Serenity".
  • Parental Incest: As Black Lady, she specifically targets her own father for brainwashing to monopolize his attentions, kissing him on-panel in the manga.
  • Parent-Child Team: With Usagi whenever they fight side by side.
  • Pink Means Feminine: Sailor Chibi Moon's fuku always has pink, not to mention that her hair is pink.
  • Plot-Relevant Age-Up: In the manga, after Pluto's death, Chibi-Usa is able to de-brainwash herself and transform from a powerless little kid into a 12-year-old Sailor Chibi Moon.
  • Poor Communication Kills: When she feels that Usagi isn't responsible enough to have her transformation brooch, instead of discussing the issue with Usagi herself, she decides to steal her brooch without the latter's knowledge, causing Usagi's friends to get captured by Rubeus since she cannot transform into Sailor Moon without it. Usagi unsurprisingly is extremely pissed at her for this.
  • The Prankster: On Usagi.
  • Prayer Pose: Clasps her hands and kneels right before she summons Pegasus.
  • Precocious Crush: She has some... confused feelings about Mamoru. Even after she knows he's her father, she sees his past self differently than his future self and keeps crushing on him.
  • Princesses Prefer Pink: Her Guardian outfit. Her princess outfit is also pink, but not in the 90's anime, where it's a mini-version of Princess Serenity's dress.
  • Puppy Love: With Helios/Pegasus, who has the looks of a 12-year-old.
  • Raised by Grandparents: She lives with Ikuko and Kenji whenever she time-travels to the past, although for convenience she makes them think it's Nephewism.
  • Really 700 Years Old: In the manga, Chibi-Usa is much older than her anime counterpart. Justified that her birth took place eight years after the beginning of the Sailor Moon storyline.
  • Rebuilt Pedestal: Though she still thinks of Usagi as a ditzy crybaby and likes to get under her skin, she does come to appreciate her more as time goes on.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red Oni to Hotaru's Blue Oni. She is often bratty and rather hot-headed, in contrast to her sweet and reserved best friend Hotaru.
  • Replacement Flat Character: To Shingo. After he got some Character Development and Hidden Depths over the course of the first season, she became the new Annoying Younger Sibling to Usagi and was even more childishly bratty than Shingo had ever been.
  • Ret-Gone:
    • Happens to her in Stars after Galaxia kills her father so she can never be born. In the manga, it takes a while because the future becomes unstable, while in the anime, it happens almost immediately (though she vanishes from photos, the other Soldiers remember her). Fortunately, since Mamoru is revived, she can once again exist.
    • It also happened (again temporarily) in the Nehellenia arc of Stars due to Mamoru being placed in an almost permanent state of dreaming by Nehellenia because Usagi couldn't get together with a man in a coma.
    • She worries about this happening inSuperS, when a girl crushes on her father and Chibi-Usa fears she might want to take her away from her mother. Fortunately, the other girl knows that she can't break up Mamoru and Usagi's love.
  • Rings of Activation: Chibi-Usa's transformation into Black Lady is preceded by a pillar of black rings materializing around her and then fusing into a shadowy black suit that causes her to grow taller.
  • Rose-Haired Sweetie: Downplayed since she can be bratty and selfish at times, but her pink hair still highlights how at her best, she's a Cheerful Child who ultimately has a good heart like Usagi does.
  • Rude Hero, Nice Sidekick: Inverted. She's the Rude Sidekick (a rude Bratty Half-Pint who has a knack of belittling Usagi) to Usagi's Nice Hero (a compassionate All-Loving Hero). She does get better after Episode 73, though she still has the habit of messing with Usagi every once in a while.
  • Say My Name: At the end of season 4: "Helios!" "Chibi-usa!" "That's the first time... you said my name."
  • Ship Tease: Though she gets some moments with Hotaru and Perle, in the Dream arc, she finds her own prince in the form of Pegasus/Helios.
  • Shoo Out the Clowns: After the backlash against Chibi-Usa that she had in SuperS, her role was reduced substantially towards the end of the season and completely disappears by the beginning of Sailor Stars. Unlike the manga version, she doesn't even show up with her team, the Sailor Quartet, to help in the final battle.
  • Shrinking Violet: Has some shades of this in the manga.
  • Sibling Rivalry: Though she's actually Usagi's Kid from the Future, she and Usagi act like vitriolic siblings; they poke and bother each other, but are very mutually protective when push comes to shove.
  • Signature Headgear: Wears Odangos and barrettes in her Sailor form just like her mother.
  • Smart Jerk and Nice Moron: Smart Jerk to Usagi's Nice Moron. Chibi-Usa a wise but rude and condescending Bratty Half-Pint who regularly messes with her, while Usagi is the textbook example of Dumb Is Good.
  • Solar and Lunar: With her prince Helios, since she gets her powers from the moon and he's named for the sun god (and may actually be the stand-in for Sailor Sun).
  • Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Became this during Super S, where the show is more about her than Usagi.
  • Summon Magic: In the Dream arc, she has the ability to summon Pegasus. In the anime adaptation, that's about all she can do.
  • Super-Cute Superpowers: Her "Pink Sugar Heart Attack" is every bit as feminine as it sounds.
  • Superpowered Evil Side: Black Lady.
  • Support Party Member: In the fourth anime season, where her only apparent powers were to summon Pegasus. In the manga, she was actually a decent fighter.
  • Surprise Incest: When she appears, she has an Accidental Kiss with Mamoru and competes with Usagi for his affections. Mamoru and Usagi are surprised to learn that she's their Kid from the Future.
  • Tagalong Kid: Of the Bratty Half-Pint variety.
  • Token Mini-Moe: As the youngest and smallest of the main cast, she is intended to to be cute to readers/viewers.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: She eventually gets better in S and Super S where she did act mature at some points. On top of that, she even nicer in Crystal where she gets along with Usagi better. This is a huge Character Development for Chibi-Usa.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Pudding and pancakes.
  • Trauma Swing: In one episode, in a battle-damaged playground, she sits on a swing going over traumatic memories of when the Black Moon Clan attacked Crystal Tokyo.
  • Tsundere: A distinctly non-romantic variant, but she's definitely a hard tsun type in R. To give an example, when she's trying to convince Usagi to go rescue Mamoru during the R movie, she whips out a handgun and shoots her in the face. note  Whereas in Super S, she's at her most dere.
  • Ungrateful Bitch: Chibiusa had this tendency in the 90s anime, especially notable in "R". Then again, in her defense, she does eventually grow out of this... especially after the following trope takes place. In R, she had a habit of blithely running off and getting Sailor Moon and the Soldiers into major trouble when they try to get her out of whatever situation she'd gotten herself into. And she still didn't deem Usagi worthy of possessing the Silver Moon Crystal Brooch and steals it from her, leading to the What the Hell, Hero? moment below.
  • Unstoppable Rage: She goes completely ballistic when Usagi accidentally took away the pie she was baking for a classmate.
  • Wacky Parent, Serious Child: The Serious Child to Usagi's Wacky Parent, though only when she's time travelled to the present and Usagi is a teen.
  • "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: In both the manga and anime, her chief motivation in her initial arc is to live up to her mother's standards.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: She gets a huge one from Usagi in R, when the inner soldiers are captured by Rubeus after she foolishly steals Usagi's brooch containing the Silver Crystal and attempts to return to the future, preventing Usagi — the most powerful member of the team — from being able to transform and come to her aid when Rubeus comes after her. When this happens, the usually forgiving Usagi is so angry that she has to be stopped by Mamoru from slapping Chibi-Usa:
    Usagi: CHIBI-USA!!! Stupid! You ruined everything! This is all your fault!
  • Who's Laughing Now?: Wiseman convinces her that everyone saw her as an annoying little brat and wanted her gone. She uses the powers he gives her to turn into Black Lady and treats her former friends this way.
  • Young and in Charge: After returning to the future at the end of the Dream arc in the manga, she joins up and leads the Sailor Quartet, her own team consisting of Sailors Vesta, Pallas, Juno and Ceres. Official artwork also groups Hotaru in with them but it's unknown if she's actually fought with them.

Four Soldiers of the Guardian Gods

Soldiers of the Outer Solar System

    Setsuna Meioh/Sailor Pluto 

Setsuna Meioh/Trista — Sailor Pluto

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sailor_pluto_season_iii.png
Click to see Sailor Pluto in Crystal Season 2.
Click to see Setsuna Meioh.
Click to see her in the 90s anime.

Voiced by: Chiyoko Kawashima (first anime), Ai Maeda (Crystal onwards) (Japanese), Sabrina Grdevich, Jill Frappier (as Luna Ball) (DiC), Susan Aceron (Cloverway), Veronica Taylor (Viz) (English); Ana Isabel "Anabel" Méndez (first anime), Betzabé Jara (Crystal onwards) (Latin American Spanish); Rita Almeida (Brazilian Portuguese); Isabel Wolmar (European Portuguese, R) and Cristina Cavalinhos (European Portuguese, S and Stars), Sharon Shachal (Hebrew), Daniela Fava (Italian, first anime), Eva Padoan (Italian, Crystal onwards)
Portrayed in the musicals by: Miwa Hosoki, Rei Saitou, Yuki Kamiya, Seiko Nakazawa, Teruyo Watabe, Yūko Hosaka, Yukiko Nakae (Yuki Nakae), Miho Funatsu, Mikako Ishii

The mysterious, eternal gatekeeper of the Door of Space-time. She's fairly aloof thanks to millennia of isolation and takes her job very seriously, but as shown by her interactions with Chibi-Usa and Hotaru, she does have a softer side and is more than willing to bend the rules for those she cares about. In the third arc, she comes to Earth in the guise of a college student in order to aid Chibi-Usa and the other Sailor Guardians.


  • Adoptive Peer Parent: Is "Setsuna-Mama" to young Hotaru after she's been orphaned, co-parenting with teens Haruka and Michiru.
  • Affectionate Nickname: In the original anime, Chibi-Usa fondly calls her "Puu."
  • All Love Is Unrequited: Is implied to have unrequited feelings for Prince Endymion, which became Ascended Fanon in one of the musicals. invoked
  • Aloof Dark-Haired Girl:
    • Her hair long hair has shades of dark green, and she's one of the most imposing warriors as she's older than them. Personality-wise, she tends to be mysterious and detached—traits necessary as she's isolated guarding the gate of time. However, in the anime it's noted that she seems to be deeply saddened by her isolation.
    • Subverted in the early musicals, where she's fast paced, funny and likened to a mother to her dislike.
  • Ambiguously Absent Parent: She's never shown having parents in present time. After she died at the gate, she was reborn, but it's not clear exactly how that happened. In her case, it's possible that she never even had parents in her current life. However, it is stated in most media that in her original incarnation, she is the daughter of Chronos, the god of time. This is referenced in Chibi-Usa's incantation for time travel in both the first anime and manga (where she calls Chronos "the guardian of time’s father," referring to Pluto). King Endymion also states that the blood of Chronos runs through her veins.
  • Ambiguously Brown: In the manga her skin colour is the darkest of the main characters. She's much lighter-skinned in the anime, however.
  • Artistic License – Physics: Her frequent 'spacetime is warping.' In physics, spacetime is everywhere, and mass warps it. Maybe she did intend to mean 'a new star is born,' or 'we have to completely get rid of that,' but it's also possible the terminology is being misused.
  • Back from the Dead: In the second arc, she sacrifices her life, but is reborn as a fully-grown human woman afterwards.
  • Badass Bookworm: Usually studies an enemy before acting, only striking first in desperate situations. When she does take action, that's when shit gets real.
  • Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The brains to Michiru's beauty and Haruka's brawn.
  • Big Damn Heroes:
    • Setsuna appears at the Marine Cathedral, and transforms into Sailor Pluto. She then takes the talismans Eudial had stolen and uses them to bring Haruka and Michiru back to life — while showing off her own.
    • In the manga and Crystal Pluto appears right before Prince Demande smashes the past and future versions of the Legendary Silver Crystal and stops time allowing her to regain the Crystals at the cost of her own life.
  • By the Power of Grayskull!: "Pluto Planet Power, make up!", "Pluto Crystal Power, make up!"
  • Celibate Hero: Well, Heroine: In the anime she's the only one of the guardians who has never had a romantic interest, nor shown any interest in either sex.
    • In the manga and Crystal, on the other hand, it's implied that she has a slight crush on King Endymion but can't reveal her feelings under any circumstances for obvious reasons. The (first set of) Musicals canonize this, giving her a duet with Queen Beryl over their shared unrequited feelings, Onna no Ronsou. (Women's Depute)
  • Comes Great Responsibility: The three taboos that come with being the Guardian of Time: never leave her post, stop time, or let anyone travel through time.
  • Cool Big Sis: Was one to Chibi-Usa, eventually becomes one to the inner soldiers too.
  • Cool Key: The Garnet Rod, her weapon.
  • Custom Uniform: In Crystal, her and Ami's uniforms are sleeveless instead of having short ruffled sleeves like the others.
  • Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Stopping time serves as one for her and is considered the one rule of time she absolutely cannot break. If she does she will die. Naturally, in any adaption that Pluto appears in, she is eventually forced to use her powers to save her friends.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Being the Guardian of the Underworld is part of her duties and her Sailor Fuku is black, yet she is a kind, benevolent woman who fights for good like the others.
  • Demoted to Extra: Pluto's appearances in the Black Moon arc of the 90's anime are drastically reduced from what she had in the manga going from being a main supporting character to an extra at best during the arc. Even her Heroic Sacrifice in the manga gets moved into the next season instead.
  • Does Not Like Spam: Despises eggplants.
  • Energy Ball: Her Dead Scream.
  • Frequently-Broken Unbreakable Vow: She breaks her rules repeatedly and with near impunity. Even the one about stopping time, which costs her life to use. Helps that Sailor Moon can fix trifles like that.
  • Friend to All Children: Setsuna is very good with children, as seen with her relationships with Chibi-Usa and the reborn Hotaru. She even becomes a school nurse at Chibi-Usa and Hotaru's elementary school.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: The manga, 90s anime, and Crystal all have her breaking one of her taboos, stopping time, to save the world, even knowing that the price of breaking her taboos is her death. In the manga and Crystal it's during the Black Moon arc to stop Prince Demand, while the 90s anime has it in the Infinity arc/S season to allow Uranus and Neptune to escape a helicopter explosion. She gets better.
  • Hospital Hottie: Extremely attractive and becomes the School Nurse of Chibi-Usa's school.
  • I Just Want to Have Friends: In Crystal right before she dies after stopping time she tells Sailor Moon that all she ever wanted was to be able to fight by her Queen's side.
  • Improbable Weapon User: Her weapon is a giant key.
  • In-Series Nickname: Chibi-Usa usually calls her "Puu".
  • Irony: Her main attack, "Dead Scream", is whispered.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: She is implied to have feelings for Endymion, but she never acts on it because he's dating her princess. It helps that their future daughter was Setsuna's only friend for a while, and tearing them apart would have prevented Chibi-Usa from even being born.
  • Lady of War: Handles her Cool Key very gracefully.
  • Living Relic: Her first life apparently extends from before the fall of the Silver Millennium to centuries into Crystal Tokyo.
  • Magic Skirt: Even when blown back it stays in place.
  • Married to the Job: She has fully accepted her life of solitude guarding the Space-Time Door. And when she is reborn as a regular human who can live a normal life, she still doesn't show an interest in romance, partly because Prince Endymion, whom she is hinted at having feelings for, is already spoken for.
  • Meaningful Name: Meioh as in Meiōsei, the Japanese for Pluto which means "King of the Underworld Star". Her given name has no inherent meaning, but is a homonym for a Japanese word meaning 'moment'. More specifically, it refers to the Japanese transliteration of the term 'ksana' — the smallest measurement of time in Buddhism. "Setsuna" also sounds similar to "setsunai," which is the Japanese word that means "bittersweet" (describing a mixture of feelings such as sadness, heartache, love and nostalgia). Fittingly, the Cloverway dub gave her the name "Trista," which means "full of sadness" in Latin.
  • Mind Screw: In the manga there's apparently three of her existing at the same time. The first two are explained (see Non-Linear Character below), but in the final arc, when Setsuna is already in her Eternal form, a Super Sailor Pluto appears out of nowhere to inform Neo Queen Serenity about the consequences of Galaxia's actions in the past, and Serenity treats that as perfectly normal.
  • Morality Pet: In the manga and Crystal Pluto serves this role to Chibi-Usa when she was brainwashed as Black Lady. Despite everything Chibi-Usa has undergone she still holds Pluto dear to a part of her heart and when Pluto dies after stopping time Chibi-Usa's grief is enough to break Death Phantom's control over her and allow her to transform into Sailor Chibi Moon.
  • Mysterious Past: At least in her modern-day incarnation. While it's explained that she exists in the present because she was reincarnated into the past, the details of how that actually happened are kind of vague, and there's no backstory covering the events of her current life leading up to the Infinity arc.
  • Never Found the Body: In the '90s anime, at the end of Sailor Moon S, she appears to die in a helicopter explosion after breaking a taboo and stopping time to save her comrades. She is absent for the rest of the finale as the apparent price of using this power. However, she is hinted to be alive at the end of S and makes a full return at the end of Sailor Stars, though why she survived is not explained in the anime.
  • Nice Girl: She is the only Outer willing to cooperate with and help the Inners, and is very caring and warm towards Chibi-Usa.
  • Non-Linear Character: Because time doesn't pass at the Gate, after she died in the Black Moon arc, she was able to be reincarnated at any time, hence how she was reborn in the near past and reappeared as an adult woman the next arc.
  • Obstructive Code of Conduct: Pluto had three of them: 1: Don't let anyone use the Door of Space-time. 2: Don't leave your post at The Door of Space-time. 3: Do not use your powers to stop time. She still breaks all of them. There doesn't appear to be a punishment for the first two (that we see, at least) but the last one costs her life in exchange. Exactly who or what set these is never stated.
  • Only Friend: Is on both ends of this trope with Chibi-Usa during their time in Crystal Tokyo as both of them are lonely people who weren't able to form connections with other people and ended up finding a friend in each other. It's for this reason that Pluto trusts Chibi-Usa with a time-space key and allows her to visit as much as she wants.
  • Parental Substitute: To Chibi-Usa.
  • Pluto Is Expendable: Pluto hasn't exactly had the most comfortable career as a Sailor; it gets lonely guarding the Gates of Time after a few centuries. She also makes a Heroic Sacrifice in the series. Pluto's demotion as a planet became a joke among the Sailor Moon fandom. invoked
  • Prim and Proper Bun: Wears a bun, symbolizing her wise, mature personality and her maternal behavior towards Chibi-Usa and Hotaru.
  • Really 700 Years Old: Her age is vague, depends on the continuity and is additionally complicated by time travel, but she's been at that post for a really, really long time.
  • The Sacred Darkness: Not quite as obvious as Hotaru since her primary domain is Time, but Pluto was clearly designed as a "dark" soldier, what with her general appearance, her last name meaning "dark king" and her attack being called Dead Scream.
  • School Nurse: In the Stars manga and a few of the musicals, she becomes a school nurse at Chibi-Usa's elementary school.
  • Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Pluto ends up breaking all three of her taboos in order to aid Chibi-Usa and the inner guardians. In the end, she pays for this rule-breaking with her life.
  • Semi-Divine: She's the daughter of the god of time, "Chronos". King Endymion in Act 13, says: "The blood of the god of time, "Chronos", runs through her veins.", and the incantation to use the Space-Time Key has "the almighty god of time, the guardian of time's father, Chronos!", and Sailor Pluto is that soldier of time.
  • Sleeves Are for Wimps: Her Sailor outfit has no sleeves in its first form.
  • The Slow Path: She dies in the future to save Chibi-Usa. She reveals herself to Chibi-Usa in the next arc in the present day, having explained she was reincarnated backwards in time to a point before Sailor Moon's adventures began. She laid low until after the Sailor Guardians went forward in time, saw her death, and returned.
  • The Smart Girl: A wonderful physics student, she is among the wisest and most intellectual of the Guardians.
  • Stealth Pun: Sailor Pluto is associated with the gemstone garnet. The Japanese name for garnet is "zakuroishi", which is formed from the words "zakuro" (pomegranate) and "ishi" (stone). In Greek mythology, Persephone had to stay with Hades for half of the year because she ate the fruit of the underworld: a pomegranate.
  • The Stoic: Although her role as the Guardian of Time is very lonely and isolated, she does her duty without any complaints or regrets. At most, other characters notice that she has sad eyes.
  • Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Often the sugar with Chibi-Usa and formerly the ice to everyone else.
  • Team Mom: Sometimes. She's the oldest, acts as a mediator between the idealistic Inners and the pragmatic Outers, and is a Parental Substitute to Chibi-Usa.
  • Time Master: Guards the time gate and has the power to stop time.
  • Time Police: As the guardian of the Space-Time Door, her job is to prevent/regulate time travel and make sure people don't use it to change history. However, as mentioned above in Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!, she's willing to allow Chibi-Usa and the Inner Guardians to time travel.
  • Time Stands Still: She can do that, but only at the cost of her life. And uses it anyway, at least once in each continuity.
  • Token Adult: The only adult of the Sailor Guardians. The next oldest members, Haruka and Michiru, are high school students.
  • Token Good Teammate: The only member of the Outer Guardians who is both willing to work with the Inner Guardians as well as consider an alternative to sacrificing innocents.
  • Token Minority: She is Ambiguously Brown in the manga, with her skin noticeably darker than the other Sailor Guardians, hinting that she's a different ethnicity from the rest of them, although she still has a Japanese name.
  • Town Girls: The Neither to Michiru's Femme and Haruka's Butch.
  • Trademark Favorite Drink: Green tea.
  • Unexplained Recovery: Pluto's resurrection from the dead tends to get glossed over after she stopped time. The best explanation that is ever given is that Neo Queen Serenity somehow reincarnated Pluto in the modern era. The 90's anime doesn't even give her a token explanation and she just sort of comes back.
  • Weirdness Search and Rescue: Sailor Pluto is the Soldier of Space-Time and is described as "a goddess, eternally guarding the Portal of Space and Time". Chibi-Usa finds her at the gates of time while attempting to go back to the future. Subverted at first, considering she has specific orders NOT to open the gates, but she helps anyway.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: She is with Uranus and Neptune in wanting to murder Hotaru/Saturn to prevent what they believe will result in the end of the world. Generally, though, Pluto is less cynical than her fellow talisman-bearers.
  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Cockroaches disgust her to no end.

    Haruka Tenoh/Sailor Uranus 

Haruka Tenoh/Amara — Sailor Uranus

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sailor_uranus_season_iii.png
Click to see Haruka Tenoh.
Click to see her in the 90s anime.

Voiced by: Megumi Ogata (first anime) (Japanese); Junko Minagawa (Crystal onwards) (Japanese), Sara Lafleur (Cloverway), Erica Mendez (Viz) (English); Belinda Martínez (first anime), Paulina Soto (Crystal onwards) (Latin American Spanish), Rosana Beltrame/Adriana Pissardini (Brazilian Portuguese), Olga Lima (European Portuguese), Maddalena Vadacca (Italian, first anime), Tatiana Dessi (Italian, Crystal onwards)
Portrayed in the musicals by: Sanae Kimura, Nao Takagi, Mari Hatano (Asako Uchida), Akiko Nakayama, Shū Shiotuki

"Guided by a new era, Sailor Uranus acts with elegance!"

The most pragmatic of the guardians, even willing to sacrifice lives for the greater good. Although she puts up a tough facade, she's more damaged by this outlook than she's willing to admit. When not fighting evil, she enjoys playing sports, playing the piano, driving her Cool Car, and generally wowing everyone else in the cast.


  • Adaptational Badass: In the manga she, along with all the other Solar System Guardians, succumbs to Sailor Galaxia's mind control and relentlessly attacks Sailor Moon until she's disposed of. In the 90s anime, she and Sailor Neptune resist the mind control – in fact, they deliberately feign defecting in order to gain the Galactica bracelets only to wait for the first opening and try to kill Galaxia with her own weapons. It doesn't work, but even Galaxia herself is impressed by the strength of their willpower.
  • Adaptation Dye-Job: Haruka/Sailor Uranus' hair in the manga is most often white-blond, but dark, sandy blonde in The '90s anime.
  • Adaptational Jerkass: In both the manga and Sailor Moon Crystal, the reason Uranus and Neptune initially refuse to work with the Inner Guardians is they awoke too late to stop Pharoah 90 and the Death Busters from invading. As their role is to protect the Solar System from external threats, they didn't want the Inners getting hurt for what they considered a failure in their duty. However, when the Inners gained new power and proved they didn't need to be protected, the Outers apologized for their conduct and accepted them as allies before parting on mutual good terms. In the 90's anime however, the Outers arrogantly refuse the aid or even to offer aid to the Inners and even try to outright attempt to kill Sailor Moon because they couldn't stand her idealism, forcing Sailor Moon to outsmart them before they admitted defeat. Then in the final arc, they outright murder Pluto and Saturn as part of a ploy to get close enough to kill Sailor Galaxia.
  • Adoptive Peer Parent: Is "Haruka-Papa" to young Hotaru after she's been orphaned, co-parenting with respective "Mama"'s Michiru and Setsuna.
  • Aloof Ally: With Neptune towards the inner guardians in that they are too idealistic and refuse to use lethal force.
  • Amateur Sleuth: When not fighting, she and Michiru often investigate suspicious activity rather than getting caught up in it like so many other characters. For example, they enrolled in Mugen Academy to get to the bottom of the strange things happening there.
  • Ambiguous Gender Identity: In Crystal it's left unclear where Haruka's stands on their gender identity. Unlike the 90's anime, where in Haruka was a pure bifauxnen, in Crystal Haruka tends to mix and match outfits, going from wearing slacks and suits, to mini-skirts to skirts. Usagi asks Haruka in one episode whether they are a man or a woman and Haruka simply replies "does it matter?" Making things even murkier later on in the season Michiru states that "Uranus in both a man and a woman who is a guardian with both sex and strength", suggesting she may be bigender.
  • Ambiguously Absent Parent: The Tsukinos appear often enough, other parents of the girls are either dead or rarely appear but are still confirmed to exist, but Haruka's family is never referenced.
  • Ambiguously Christian: She and Michiru both qualify. They're searching for the Messiah, and Uranus even sports a cross at times. There is certainly a lot of Catholic imagery in the S season. Michiru telling the story of Adam and Eve and referring to them as the first man and woman drives the point home.
  • Artistic License – Cars: Her 2000GT is shown to be a four-seater. The real Toyota 2000GT (including the Bond model that she drove) only have two seats.
  • Badass Biker: Almost runs over Makoto too!
  • Badass Driver: Is a racecar driver, one considered to be gifted enough for Japan to be proud of her.
  • Battle Couple: With Neptune. They usually arrive together and attack enemies in tandem.
  • Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The brawn to Michiru's beauty and Setsuna's brains.
  • Bifauxnen: She's depicted as the most tomboyish and androgynous-looking of the Sailor Guardian in all versions, but much more so in the 90s anime where she almost always dresses in a masculine way and regularly invokes Even the Girls Want Her. In the manga she starts out as looking very masculine, but leans towards wearing more feminine outfits after her identity as a Sailor Guardian is fully revealed.
  • Bifauxnen and Lad-ette: Is the Bifauxnen to Seiya's Lad-ette.
  • The Big Damn Kiss: Not a romantic one, but Season 3 of Crystal gives us one between Haruka and Usagi.
  • Tomboy: To the Outer Guardians, when united with the Inners, secondary tomboy.
  • The Big Girl: For the Outer Guardians, and in general, the Sailor Team. She is the second tallest of all guardians (towering over Makoto), is a competitive racer, is athletic enough to dominate Jupiter in a brawl, and like Jupiter, likes physical fighting just as much as using her guardian powers. In contrast to Ami, she prefers to power through enemies rather than step back and make a plan.
  • Black-and-White Morality: The Materials Collection notes state that she "sees everything in black and white terms".
  • Blood Knight: Is always more than happy to jump into battle, although her Action-first bravado is eventually put at odds with Sailor Mercury.
  • Bloodless Carnage: In the episodes where the Talismans show up. Despite both Uranus and Neptune getting injured (the former shot by apparently invisible darts and the latter ripping herself free from some sort of thorny vines), neither bleeds.
  • Blow You Away: Played with. Her namesake is the planet and god of the skies, but her most well-known ability, World Shaking, is often associated with the earth. Interestingly, the attack is described as "the heavens crashing down on the earth." Her other abilities usually involve unleashing blasts of energy or cosmic winds, so while she doesn't have explicitly wind-based powers, her abilities are still technically associated with the skies and the cosmos.
  • Boyish Short Hair: She's a tomboy and Butch Lesbian with short hair, in contrast to Lipstick Lesbian Michiru's short, but traditionally feminine short hairstyle which looks long in comparison to Haruka's.
  • Brains Versus Brawn: The brawn to Ami's brains. While Ami is a genius with an IQ of 300 and the best test scores in school and prefers to carefully analyze her enemies before attacking, Haruka is a physically strong athlete who fights with a sword and charges into battle like there's no tomorrow. The contrast between these two is most explored in the Nehellenia arc of the last season.
  • Break the Badass: She and Michiru pretend to defect to Galaxia to gain her trust, but doing so they kill Pluto and Saturn by removing their Star Seeds. Then, when it turns out that Galaxia doesn't have one to remove, they break down and realize it was all for nothing.
  • Broken Ace: Along with Michiru, she's rich, beautiful enough to have Usagi fall for her, powerful enough to trash Jupiter in a fight in civilian or guardian form, and has a wide range of talents. In the manga, Usagi, Ami, Rei, and Makoto frustrate Minako (the original ace) by gushing about how awesome Haruka and Michiru are. However, before becoming a Sailor Guardian, she felt aimless in life. She wishes to run away from her fate, and initially didn't want to be a guardian. She was initially as unwilling to hurt a human being as an inner guardian, but gradually lost her sense of idealism. While Haruka will kill or leave innocent people to fate if she deems it necessary, she's deeply troubled by the actions she feels she has to take and fears that what they're doing is ultimately for nothing.
  • Butch Lesbian: She's tall, athletic, a race car driver, and wears her hair short. Played up more in the anime, where she rarely wears women's clothes.
  • But Not Too Gay: The anime is, even in the Japanese version, very coy about Haruka and Michiru. While the main, straight couple of the series still only kisses infrequently, Haruka and Michiru never kiss. The manga does not have this problem. Though Haruka and Michiru still never kiss, Haruka does kiss Usagi.
  • Butt-Monkey: To Michiru whenever she's in troll mode. Especially in the last season, where Michiru loves saying Haruka doesn't like Seiya because she doesn't like popular men. In this way, Michiru's saying Haruka is actually jealous of Seiya because he has better luck with women, leaving Haruka in the position of either admitting she's jealous or having to say she does like Seiya.
  • By the Power of Grayskull!: "Uranus Planet Power, Make up!", "Uranus Crystal Power, Make up!"
  • Car Fu: She and Michiru make their badassery known on a motorcycle in their debut episode (as themselves, at least).
  • Celebrity Masquerade: A car-racing champion who gets a lot of attention from the media due to her talent and young age. She transforms into the tough Sailor Uranus and defends the solar system from evil and chaos.
  • Chained Heat: An attack by a Daimon handcuffs Sailor Moon and Sailor Uranus together for an episode. This serves as a plot device since they'd been at odds since they ran into each other and have avoided contact. Being stuck together helps each to understand how the other thinks.
  • Character Exaggeration: In the manga, Haruka is still butch but has her feminine moments and even occasionally wears girly clothes. In the 90s anime, she is much more masculine and is even a Bokukko (in the manga she uses the girly pronoun "atashi").
  • Chastity Couple: Haruka and Michiru are girlfriends, but there's nothing too explicit about their relationship. In fact, the only onscreen kiss Haruka has is with Usagi, not Michiru.
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: Haruka can become easily and extremely jealous whenever someone takes an interest in Michiru.
  • Close-Range Combatant: It helps that she has a sword. She has even defeated Makoto in combat.
  • The Comically Serious: Sometimes. Haruka can easily flirt with others, but any flirting back tends to fly right over her head or fluster her.
  • Commander Contrarian: In the anime, though it's more to provide a counter-balance to Usagi's blind optimism. And while Usagi ultimately proves right in the long run, Haruka's reaction to some of her more reckless actions are presented as extremely logical instead of being wrong for the sake of being wrong.
  • Conflict Ball: Sailors Neptune and Uranus clutch it tightly more often than not, especially in their introductory arc.
    • In the Infinity arc of the manga/Crystal they spend nearly half the arc stubbornly refusing to tell Sailor Moon and her team anything about who they are or what's going on. Their reasoning is eventually explained as "we feel that this is our responsibility to handle as Outer Guardians and we don't want to risk you being hurt by getting involved" - never mind that they had previously attacked Sailor Moon rather than explain this, and that the lack of communication placed her and her team in greater danger by inspiring them to investigate on their own without knowing what they're up against.
    • The S arc of the '90s anime depicts them as actively antagonistic to Sailor Moon and the Inner Guardians, despite the fact that by this point Usagi and her team have saved the world no less than three times, while those two were only investigating their first and sole threat.
  • Control Freak: Whenever Haruka and Michiru enter the season's plot, they act as if they know better than the other Guardians (even if they don't know very much about the enemy), make decisions without considering anyone else's input, as well as undermine Usagi and take away her choice in the situation. This is best exemplified in the S season when Haruka steals Usagi's transformation brooch so she can't interfere when they confront Eudial and in the Stars season when they order the Sailor Starlights (mainly Seiya) to stay away from Usagi and when they tell Usagi to stay away from them in return. With the latter, Usagi calls them out on deciding the situation themselves and sticking their noses in their business like that.
  • Cool Big Sis: To the Inners, but mostly to Usagi.
  • Cool Car: One of Haruka's main characteristic traits. This is mainly due to Takeuchi's own love of certain cars and wanting to draw them.
    • One of Naoko Takeuchi's artwork of Haruka shows her posing beside a white Ferrari Testarossa F512M.
    • In chapter 14 of the manga, when showing how the Outer Guardians' life have been after the Death Busters arc, one panel shows her racing an open-wheeler race car in South Africa. Judging by what type of the car and where, it's presumed that she's racing a Formula One car in Kyalami. Eternal outright confirms this, stating that they now work as a Formula One test driver.
    • In the anime, she primarily drives a roofless yellow Toyota 2000GT, as the cool car in You Only Live Twice. She ups the ante in episode 168 of the anime, when she's shown driving another cool car, a navy blue Ferrari Testarossa 512 TR.
    • In her debut episode, she's talks about her passion to become a racing driver before giving it up for another task (i.e. becoming a Sailor Guardian). There's an imagine spot of this featuring Group A racers from The '90s, which in this case almost entirely consists of Nissan Skyline Group A racers.
    • Episode 179 shows Haruka and Michiru sitting on the hood of a car near a lighthouse. It is not clear as in what model the car is, but it's clear that it's not the 2000GTnote  or the Testarossanote . Judging by the shape and design of the car, it's presumed a 1960s or early 1970s European-made super car.
  • Cool Sword: Her Space Sword, has jewels on the white sheath and a cool curved red blade that glows when in use (The color varies) in the 90s anime. In the manga and crystal, the blade is straight and while the manga depictions vary the color of the hilt and blade (even appearing transparent in some artwork), along with the length, crystal solidifies it with silvery decorations on the hilt and hand guard with a large blue orb connecting it to a blade the length of Haruka's arm.
  • Custom Uniform: She and Michiru have short gloves instead of elbow-length ones.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Prone to sarcastic remarks like Michiru.
  • The Dividual: With Neptune; they were created as a pair, never get solos in the Sera Myu, instead getting duets, and the scenes they have solo can be counted on one hand. The 90's anime forcibly separates them for a single episode, instead pairing Uranus with Mercury leading her to comment how weird it is to not have Neptune around, noting she hadn't noticed until now just how hard Neptune worked to keep up with her speed.
  • Does Not Like Men: A Running Gag for Haruka in season 5 is that she's always gets teased that she doesn't like popular men (especially by Michiru), much to her dismay and annoyance.
  • Does Not Like Spam: Natto soybeans are her least favorite food.
  • Dramatically Missing the Point: When Haruka and Michiru's visions of the Silence come, you can't blame them for being terrified, but they believe that the Silence is something that must never be allowed to happen, ever, and that they have to kill Hotaru to stop it. They don't realize that Sailor Saturn and her powers exist for a reason: the old must be destroyed so that the new can be created, and when things go too far, sometimes it's better to just Restart the World.
  • Dub Personality Change: Like several other characters, the original English dub flanderized her and Michiru, making them even meaner and harsher than the original anime.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: In the manga Uranus' first appears as a Guardian in a Tuxedo Mask outfit. Every subsequent appearance she was a Sailor like the others and it is never brought up again. Oddly, this was kept in Crystal.
  • Even the Girls Want Her:
    • Mostly played for laughs; several characters still express admiration for her even after learning she isn't a boy.
    • This extends to real life as well. In a poll conducted among Japanese lesbians about which anime character they'd want as a girlfriend, Haruka was in the Top 5 responses.
  • Fake Defector: In the final episodes.
  • Foil: To Ami, which is explored in the Nehellenia arc of the Stars season. While Haruka is the brawn of the Outer Soldiers, and tries to plow through hordes of enemies with brute force, Ami is the brains of the inner soldiers, and insists on studying an enemy before attacking. Haruka is tomboyish, gruff, cynical enough to think that a horrible sacrifice is necessary to preserve peace, appears very confident, and genuinely does not care whether others accept her or not, while Ami is ladylike, gentle, idealistic, insecure, and wants to be liked by others.
  • Friendly Rivalry: With the anime one-shot character Elza Gray. As track runners, they're each other's biggest competition. Despite this, they remain friendly to each other, and Elza was even the one who introduced Haruka to her friend Michiru.
  • Gender-Blender Name: Like Makoto, she has a unisex name to emphasize how she has masculine and feminine traits. When she's first introduced, it also adds to the confusion over whether she's male or female.
  • Genius Bruiser: More known for her strength and fighting skills than her intelligence, but she's quite mature, a gifted musician, and must be a great student to get into the super exclusive Mugen Gakuen.
  • Good Is Not Nice: In the 90s anime, Haruka and Michiru are very cynical, trying to kill Hotaru in an attempt to stop Saturn from ending the world. Even after Usagi manages to both save Hotaru and the universe, they still are aloof. In the Stars arc, both act as Double Reverse Quadruple Agents for Galaxia, even killing Saturn and Pluto to prove their loyalty. However, they are also Wrong Genre Savvy and end up dying themselves. They have good intentions, but also believe that the ends justify the means and thus do not hesitate to resort to violence or trickery. They are are much nicer in the manga.
  • Handsome Lech: No, really! In the anime, she flirts with a lot of girls, including Usagi and a hotel maid who appears to reciprocate (or at least be flustered). In the latter case, Michiru walked in the room when Haruka was putting the moves on said maid. She seems to have long ago accepted this part of her partner and lets it slide... mostly.
  • Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: In the old English dub, they tried to remove Haruka's sexuality by having her, and everyone around her, never shut up about how she's cousins with Michiru/Michelle. This even extended to Sailor Uranus and Neptune, despite the fact none of the characters even knew about their civilian identities. The only problem is that Haruka and Michiru have a plethora of romantic scenes together, all of which were left intact by the dub. So, instead of just regular lesbians, the dub turned them into incestuous lesbians instead.
  • Heroes Prefer Swords: Has a sword as her weapon across all continuities.
  • Heroic BSoD: Goes into one in the middle of S when she watches Neptune almost die to try and save her. She then tells not to go off without her and removes her Pure Heart Talisman (though that was more or less part of her mission). They get better thanks to Usagi.
  • Heroic Suicide: Sort of. She loses consciousness rather than die, although she intended for the latter to happen. After Eudial removes Neptune's Talisman, Uranus realizes she holds what she believes to be the final talisman inside her. To save the world, she decides to shoot herself in the heart using Eudial's gun. Usagi tries desperately to prevent this from occurring, but her cries go unnoticed, as the other guardians (including Setsuna) arrive too late. Don't worry, she gets better.
  • Hero of Another Story: She and Michiru are usually living their own adventure while the protagonists are in Tokyo. In the anime they even leave after the third season specifically to do this.
  • High-School Sweethearts: With Michiru.
  • Huge Schoolgirl: She's in high school at the start and end of the series, and is even taller than Makoto. Not that Haruka (or anyone else) is bothered by it.
  • Hypocrite:
    • During the early stages of her relationship with Michiru, Haruka snarked that she didn't think a privileged rich girl like her could possibly understand a concept as bleak as the apocalypse, even though Haruka herself is a privileged rich girl.
    • Before going to confront Eudial with Michiru, Haruka tells Usagi that they won't let her slow them down with her "half-baked play war". She says this, even though she and Michiru didn't have a concrete plan for finding the Talismans all season and they hadn't formed a plan for when they confronted Eudial and when they did, she quickly gained the upper hand. Had Usagi heeded their threat and stayed away, Haruka and Michiru would've died and the Death Busters would've gotten a hold on two Talismans.
  • I Did What I Had to Do: She and Michiru consistently fail to learn from their mistakes and are willing to sacrifice lives—both innocent civilians and their own fellow soldiers — on the basis that the end (destroying the enemy) automatically justifies the means. But their Control Freak tendencies and habit of acting as if their decisions are superior to the others' marks them out for the Stupid Sacrifice category. Also, see the end of SailorStars for a classic example of this trope dovetailing with Nice Job Breaking It, Hero.
  • Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance: Uranus and Neptune in the anime refused to work with Sailor Moon and the Inner Guardians because they believed they were too idealistic for their own good and couldn't make pragmatic decisions. After the battle with Pharaoh 90, they lecture Usagi for protecting Hotaru which almost led to the planet's destruction and say she's unfit to be queen. However, Uranus and Neptune were rookie soldiers without the experience of fighting various enemies Sailor Moon and her guardians had (judging by the information and flashbacks from the anime, they were active for roughly a year, with the Death Busters as their only threat to investigate). Naoko Takeuchi's Materials Collection notes even state that Haruka is "ignorant of the regular world" and "sees everything in black and white terms" so her claims that she and Michiru were making the best decisions don't hold much weight. Examples of their behavior include:
    • If Uranus and Neptune were as pragmatic as they believed they were, they would've teamed up with the more seasoned girls who had among them a national genius girl with a handheld supercomputer that's suggested to be more advanced than modern day appliances (Ami), a psychic girl who could've figured out who held the Talismans by divining through the Sacred Fire (Rei), and a girl with a legendary crystal that has the capacity to heal/destroy an entire planet, purge evil from a person or place, and bring the dead back to life (Usagi). Granted, Uranus and Neptune might not have known about their previous missions to know they're capable, but since Sailor Moon and the Inners started picking up notoriety after they awakened (to the point of having little dolls made in their image and kindergarteners knowing about them in R) and Pluto let them know that Chibi-Usa was the Princess of the Future Silver Millennium, it's hard to believe that they wouldn't have heard of their exploits through the news or word of mouth, or that Pluto wouldn't have told Uranus and Neptune about them herself.
    • After Eudial lets them know she has found a Talisman, Haruka and Michiru call Usagi to meet them, tell her they won't let her slow them down with her "half-baked play war" and steal her brooch... with the Silver Crystal inside. However, Haruka and Michiru don't realize their plan for finding the Talismans had been rather half-baked. In spite of the time they spent investigating them, they were just piggybacking off the enemy's efforts: they just sat around and waited for the Death Busters to strike, remove a victim's Pure Heart, then check to see if it was a Talisman. At no point did they try to find them themselves. Eudial had to call and tell them that she found a Talisman. And at no point did they think she could have been leading them into a trap. They just rushed to meet Eudial without coming up with a plan other than collecting a Talisman for their mission.
    • Regarding Hotaru, they were hell-bent on killing her because she was the reincarnation of Sailor Saturn and they believed she would destroy the world when she awakened, yet they were unaware of her true purpose (to destroy the world only when things were at their lowest point so everything could be reborn anew) and would've killed an innocent girl and valuable comrade had they succeeded.
    • Finally, if Uranus and Neptune had teamed up with the girls and shared what they knew about the Death Busters (admittedly, something Neptune had suggested to Uranus who refused her), the issue would've been resolved quicker with far less conflict, but instead they were aloof and condescending towards them and even hindered them on several occasions. Even Tuxedo Mask said that while the Outer Guardians are strong, Sailor Moon is stronger because she has teammates.
    • In short, while Uranus and Neptune were smug and condescending towards Sailor Moon and the Inners for their beliefs, it was their aloof behavior, hasty decision making, and inability to cooperate and share meaningful communication that often led them to make things worse and cause unnecessary conflict.
  • Incest Subtext: The Cloverway dub creates an interesting Inversion with Haruka and Michiru. The romantic subtext is meant to be there... but they're not supposed to be cousins in the original. The company that decided to make them cousins did so for the exact reason of preventing there being any openly gay people in the show, without actually changing enough other stuff to even try and hide how they feel for each other, just hoping no one would think it's odd for two cousins to be THAT devoted to each other.
  • Ineffectual Loner: She and Michiru have a consistently condescending view of many of the other characters, despite being surprisingly useless when combating actual Dragons or Big Bads.
  • Informed Attribute:
    • Is thought to be more pragmatic than the Inner Soldiers, yet her decisions say otherwise. See Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance above for more details.
    • Uranus and Neptune are stated to dread the idea of sacrificing innocents for the sake of their mission, but this doubted due to the fact that they never bother to search for other options, acting as if killing is the only thing they can do about the situation that they don't know very much about, and react angrily to the suggestion that they look for another way, even though they should be jumping at any opportunity to learn alternative methods if they really wanted to avoid sacrificing innocents.
  • Intertwined Fingers: Haruka and Michiru do this quite a few times throughout the series. Most notably during the "I like your hands" scene, on the morning that they go to the Marine Cathedral expecting to have to kill an innocent person and again while they're dying/fading out of existence at the end of Stars.
  • Irony: At the conclusion of the battle against Pharaoh 90, Haruka and Michiru state that Usagi's way of handling it makes her unfit to be the Queen of the Future Silver Millennium, and yet it is heavily implied that Neo-Queen Serenity herself was the one to set things in motion when she told Chibi-Usa to train in the past and befriend an "important person" who would later turn out to be Hotaru, thereby leading to the events of the season to play out the way they did with no one being sacrificed as Hotaru's bond with Chibi-Usa was an important factor in her overpowering Mistress 9, awakening as Sailor Saturn, and destroying Pharaoh 90 with Super Sailor Moon once and for all.
  • I Surrender, Suckers: In the fifth Season, Sailors Uranus and Neptune pretended to do a Face–Heel Turn, submitting to Galaxia's will and even killing Saturn and Pluto, and then, when the going got good and they did enough damage, made an attempt on her life. Subverted in that Galaxia is seemingly immortal, and both Uranus and Neptune are instantly destroyed upon the revelation of her immortality.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While Haruka can be a pretty big jerk to those around her especially in S a lot of this is due to the stress of being an Anti-Hero and her belief that committing necessary evil is required to save the world. Wherever she is allowed to be herself she shows a much softer, even goofier, side especially around her lover Michiru or Usagi. In the original manga and Crystal, she and Michiru's aloofness and initial unwillingness to work with the Inner Guardians was based on the fear that the Inners weren't strong enough and would get themselves killed as well as feeling responsible for the Death Busters' invasion due to not awakening in time to intercept them.
  • Lady Looks Like a Dude: She is easily mistaken for a boy. When she first appeared, the others thought she was Michiru's boyfriend. Her androgynous appearance helped some dubs to claim that she was a boy in order to hide her and her girlfriend's sexualities.
  • The Leader: Of the Outer Guardians. Her leadership isn't outright stated like with Minako, but she usually takes charge once the Outers become a team. As a group, they're sometimes called "Haruka-tachi" or "Uranus-tachi" to show that she's the central figure of the group.
  • Lesbian Jock: She's a track star at school and Physical Education is her best class.
  • Lightning Bruiser: Due to being a former track star, Haruka is quite the speedster, and easily takes out Jupiter with a single blow in the gut.
  • Love at First Sight: She decided Michiru was "the one" for her upon Elsa Gray introducing the two to each other.
  • Love Makes You Evil: Subverted. She and Michiru make Galaxia think they'll defect to her as long as they can be together, but it's part of a plan to overthrow her. It doesn't work.
  • Luminescent Blush: In the Super S movie, after killing some Mooks, she questions whether their plans have good or bad intentions. Michiru points out that being a child forever is a terrible idea because "there are so many fun things to do as adults." Haruka awkwardly blushes.
  • Magic Knight: Despite being a Sailor, Uranus is physically strong and has a magical sword as add-on weapon, preferring to bash rather than magically attack enemies.
  • Magical Girl Warrior: Even has a sword.
  • Martyr Without a Cause: Like Neptune, Uranus strongly believes that victory is impossible without some horrible angsty sacrifice they believe only they have the moral strength to make.
  • Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: Haruka is a short-haired, athletic, sword-wielding Butch Lesbian while her girlfriend Michiru is a refined, violin-playing Lipstick Lesbian.
  • Master Swordswoman: Has the Space Sword as her personal weapon, handles it very well.
  • Meaningful Name:
    • Tenoh as in Tenōsei, the Japanese name for Uranus literally meaning "sky king star".
    • Her given name in kanji means "distant".
  • Mirror Character: To Seiya Kou/Sailor Star Fighter. While neither of them get along, both of them are the leaders of their respective groups (The Outer Soldiers for Uranus and the Sailor Starlights for Fighter), dress as men (for Seiya, crossdressing in the manga and a physical disguise in the anime), are dedicated to their respective missions, refused to work with Sailor Moon and her guardians, and are huge flirts. Not surprising when one remembers Naoko Takeuchi based Seiya's personality off of Haruka's.
  • Morality Pet: Hinted to be this for Michiru in the first anime: Sailor Neptune's one battle before Haruka joined her shows that Neptune was far more willing to sacrifice innocents back in the day.
  • Mysterious Past: While in the first anime we see how she met Michiru, in the manga she was just there.
  • My Way or the Highway: Also crosses with Control Freak. She and Neptune believe that their methods are better and disregard those who don't think the same way as them.
  • Necessarily Evil: How Haruka sees killing Hotaru. It's even stated that Haruka carries deep sadness about the idea of ending Hotaru's life but believes that it is the better alternative than Sailor Saturn's return.
  • The Needs of the Many: She and Michiru were frustrated with Sailor Moon not seeing that saving the world is more important than the life of one person, although Usagi did manage to find a way without sacrificing Hotaru.
  • Never My Fault: At the conclusion of S, Michiru and Haruka never acknowledge that it's their aloof behavior, hasty decision-making, refusal to think of another plan, and communication problems that contributed to the outcome of the battle with Pharaoh 90 just as much as Usagi's actions did, if not more so.
  • Not So Stoic: When she witnesses her girlfriend, Sailor Neptune, get her Pure Heart Talisman removed, while Uranus doesn't break down or cry, for the first time in the series she looks truly heart broken. She then removes her own Pure Heart, even though she knows that if it's separated from her for too long, she would die.
  • Not Your Problem: Haruka and Michiru constantly tell the Inners to back off and leave everything to them. The Inners, being who they are, never listen.
  • Odd Name Out: Like her respective planet, Sailor Uranus is the only one named after a Greek god (instead of his Roman equivalent Caelus), while the other Sailors are named after the Roman names of the gods.
  • The One Guy: In the foreign dubs that changed the gender of Haruka's civilian identify, "he" becomes the one guy among the Sailor Guardians.
  • One True Love: She and Michiru are in a long-lasting relationship and are rarely seen apart from each other.
  • Only Has Same-Sex Admirers: Both men and women tend to remark upon Haruka as being attractive, but it's really only the latter that show outright infatuation. Most guys are simply surprised Haruka isn't a handsome man.
  • Opposites Attract: With Michiru. She's a sporty tomboy, Michiru is a cultured and elegant lady.
  • Out of Focus: In SuperS, hers and Michiru's only appearance is in one of the specials, although they return to full-time characters in Stars.
  • Passionate Sports Girl: Was this in the past, while Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life. She stated in a flashback that track-and-field and motorbike racing were all she had to give her life meaning.
  • Pastel-Chalked Freeze Frame: Haruka and Michiru's scenes are done this way more often than not, when not in any form of battle, in order to emphasize how elegant they are.
  • Poor Communication Kills: Neptune and Uranus' stubborn refusal to open any kind of discussion with the other Guardians about what's going on during the Infinity arc approaches the absurd. Even after it becomes clear that Moon and her team are not going to stay out of it no matter what Neptune and Uranus say, the pair keep everything they know entirely to themselves, forcing the Inners to fumble around blindly in their own investigation covering ground that Neptune and Uranus have already covered and repeatedly coming into danger as their efforts draw the attention of the Death Busters.
  • Post-Game Retaliation: Double subverted. Haruka wins a motorcycle race and other bikers plan to attack her. One of her more honorable opponents warns them to stay away. But later on, bikers riding in a truck attempt to run Haurka and Usagi off the road; they then attack Haruka afterwards, but she easily mops the floor with them.
  • Pragmatic Hero: How she and Michiru see themselves. They really aren't. Sure, they're willing to make hard decisions and sacrifices that the Inners are against, but that's far as they go. If they were as pragmatic as they thought, they'd try to get more help, especially from the more experienced and successful Inners, or at least try something else to complete their mission when Plan A fails.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Michiru's Blue. While both had the same intentions in season 3, Haruka's attitude was more outgoing and harsh in comparison to Michiru's calmer, more introvert demeanor.
  • Refusal of the Call: Initially, she refused to accept her destiny as a soldier because her life would have been upended. It took Michiru getting injured protecting Haruka for her to eventually accept her fate.
  • Related in the Adaptation: In the Cloverway dub, she and Michiru were infamously stated to be cousins to Hide Your Lesbians. But the dub didn't edit out their flirting scenes, so not only did they look like lesbians, but also incestuous ones. The dubbers apparently thought they could make their affection look familial instead of romantic.
  • Right for the Wrong Reasons: She was right that Hotaru was a threat to Earth, but it wasn't for the fact she was Sailor Saturn, rather because she was the vessel for Mistress 9.
  • Sadistic Choice: How she and Michiru see their mission. While they are willing to make any sacrifice for their duty, they still feel torn up inside about letting innocent civilians die just so they can find the Talismans, especially when they can't even tell people why they have to be sacrificed. Ultimately, their worries were for nothing because nobody had to die.
  • Samus Is a Girl: In her introductory episodes.
  • She's a Man in Japan: The French dub depicts her as a man, except when transformed.
  • Ship Tease: Despite being in a loving relationship with Michiru, the manga and Crystal ship-teased her with Usagi when the two of them share a kiss on the lips in Sailor form. This helps Usagi figure out Uranus' identity because earlier, Usagi had dreamed of kissing Haruka.
  • Shoot Your Mate: During their deception of Sailor Galaxia, she and Michiru are forced to remove Pluto and Saturn's Star Seeds to keep up the charade.
  • Signature Scent: Downplayed in episode 98 of the anime. Early on, Usagi and Haruka are hiding together, and Usagi notices the scent of Haruka's cologne. Later, as Sailor Moon and Sailor Uranus, they're handcuffed together by the Monster of the Day, and when they once again hide, Moon notices the same scent on Uranus. This is Moon's first clue to Uranus' identity.
  • Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: She and Neptune look down on Sailor Moon and the Inner Guardians because they think they are too idealistic for their own good and can't make hard decisions. Even though they have beaten several serious threats long before they came into the picture.
  • Smug Smiler: She and Michiru do this from time to time.
  • Smug Super: Along with Michiru. In their civilian guises, they seem friendly enough but their arrogance comes out when they transform.
  • Something Only They Would Say: As Usagi is being given a ride by Haruka, Usagi recognizes the latter's speech about "people only surviving by trampling on others" as the same words Sailor Uranus spoke.
  • Sour Supporter: In the anime, the idea that The Power of Love and justice could triumph without a horrible sacrifice seems to offend her on some level.
  • Spotlight-Stealing Squad: After Haruka and Michiru are introduced, they take the focus away from Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako, who are little more than Usagi's support during the Infinity arc, although the four get back in the spotlight during the Dream arc.
  • Statuesque Stunner: She's the tallest of the guardians, and Even the Girls Want Her.
  • Super Gender-Bender: The French dub censors Uranus' relationship with Neptune by making the former into a man with a female Guardian form.
  • These Hands Have Killed: While she hadn't killed anyone at that point yet, during the S season she looks at her hands and laments that they will become dirty after she and Neptune collect the Talismans from Eudial since the only way to get the Talismans is to rip them out of the hosts Pure Heart Crystals. Which makes it double ironic when it turns out the Talismans are inside her and Michiru's bodies the entire time.
  • Tomboyish Voice: She has a voice deep enough that it can easily pass as a teenage boy that hasn't broken his voice yet, thanks to Megumi Ogata in the 90s anime and Junko Minagawa in Crystal. This fits with her masculine characteristics.
  • Tomboy Princess: She'll power up and then literally kick your ass.
  • Tomboy with a Girly Streak: In the manga she wears very feminine outfits as often as she cross dresses, she also wears the female school uniforms and refers herself as female when not in male disguise.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: Downplayed. At the start, Haruka and Michiru both refuse to work with the other Sailor Guardians, look down on them like fools, and refuse to trust anyone but each other. They also thought that Usagi is unqualified to be the queen and that sparing Hotaru was foolish and idealistic. Once they accept the truth and see things beyond their old views, they become more open and caring and are just as loyal to Usagi as the Inners. However, once they return in the Stars season, they remain somewhat harsh, critical, and arrogant, but they're still clearly on Usagi's side.
  • Town Girls: The Butch to Setsuna's Neither and Michiru's Femme.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Salads.
  • Tsundere: To some extent, she acts this way toward Usagi/Sailor Moon, specially as the S season went on. She can be downright mean and rude towards her, but it's clear that she deeply cares for Usagi.
  • Tsurime Eyes: Fits her tough, badass actiony personality.
  • Unskilled, but Strong: While Uranus and Neptune have some skill, they don't have the experience Sailor Moon and the Inner Guardians have (and are implied to have awoken as Soldiers a few months after the Black Moon Clan's final attack/before the Death Busters struck when they received visions of the world being destroyed by The Silence), yet their magical attacks are stronger than the Inners to better suit their responsibilities of keeping outside threats from attacking Earth.
  • Underestimating Badassery: Haruka and Michiru are set on the idea that the younger (younger by only one year) Sailor Guardians are just too idealistic to deal with threats as well as they do, despite the fact that it's common knowledge that Sailor Moon's team have been fighting and defeating all kinds of evil threats long before Uranus and Neptune appeared. Either Uranus and Neptune paid no attention to what's been going on or they think the Inners just got lucky too often.
  • Universal Driver's Licence: She can drive motorcycles, racing cars, helicopters, and who knows what else? And somehow, she learned all of that by age 16 (which isn't even legal in Japan in Real Life).
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: With their refusal to cooperate with the other guardians (who have more experience than them) and their belief that only they have the moral strength to make hard choices, she and Michiru tend to try and take control of the situation as if they know better which often makes things worse, like their Fake Defector scheme in the Grand Finale where they end up sacrificing Setsuna and Hotaru for nothing.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: This is mellowed a bit by working with the inner soldiers, but Uranus and Neptune still occasionally resort to more extreme tactics. Of course, they are usually proven wrong about said tactics being necessary.
  • Wholesome Crossdresser: She only cross-dresses some of the time in the manga rather than almost all of the time as in the anime, but Takeuchi tended to make her appear a little more physically masculine when cross-dressing.
  • World's Strongest Woman: Maybe not in terms of her powers, but certainly in terms of physical strength.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Uranus and Neptune try to kill 12-year-old Hotaru while her body is inhabited by Mistress 9, though Usagi defends her. Near the end of the series, they steal her Star Seed to keep up their deception against Galaxia.
  • Wrong Genre Savvy: Haruka and Michiru are convinced that they're the Pragmatic Heroes of a dark urban fantasy where victory without sacrifice is impossible. They're really living in a Magical Girl series that runs on The Power of Friendship, Usagi is the protagonist, and since they won't consider other options or accept help from anyone else, they're not nearly as pragmatic as they think they are.
  • You Are Worth Hell: Sailors Neptune and Uranus risk damnation in the last season, as long as they're together. Then there's Neptune's line about the world not being worth saving if Uranus isn't in it...

    Michiru Kaioh/Sailor Neptune 

Michiru Kaioh/Michelle — Sailor Neptune

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sailor_neptune_season_iii.png
Click to see Michiru Kaioh.
Click to see her in the 90s anime.

Voiced by: Masako Katsuki (first anime), Sayaka Ohara (Crystal onwards) (Japanese); Barbara Radecki (Cloverway), Lauren Landa (Viz) (English); Chelo Vivares (European Spanish, original); Irma Carmona (Latin American Spanish, original/Crystal); Márcia Regina (Brazilian Portuguese); Olga Lima (European Portuguese), Alessandra Karpoff (Italian, S), Patrizia Scianca (Italian, Super S and Stars), Giulia Franceschetti (Crystal onwards)
Portrayed in the musicals by: Kaoru Ukawa, Chikage Tomita, Miyuki Sena (Miyuki Fuji), Yūko Harada (Yūko Tahara), Sara Shimada, Yūka Asami, Tomoko Inami, Takayo Ohyama, Sayaka Fujioka

"Likewise, Sailor Neptune acts with grace!"

Uranus' classically refined girlfriend, a talented violinist and swimmer. Her poise and elegance coupled with her surprisingly friendly demeanor make her an immediate inspiration to the Guardians. Despite her graceful manners, she's no less merciful than her girlfriend towards those who get in her way.


  • The Ace: To perhaps a greater extent than Haruka, as she's considered to be the feminine ideal: sophisticated, cool, and artistically talented. She's wealthy enough to own a Stradivarius and attend an elite academy, has great artistic talent in many areas, athletic in civilian and guardian form, and is leagues more powerful than the inner soldiers. In the manga, Usagi, Ami, Rei, and Makoto frustrate Minako (the original ace) by gushing about how awesome Haruka and Michiru are. She's witty enough to fluster the normally suave Haruka, and intelligent enough to manipulate Seiya into letting his guard down by charming him.
  • Adaptational Badass: In the manga she, along with all the other Solar System Guardians, succumbs to Sailor Galaxia's mind control and relentlessly attacks Sailor Moon until she's disposed of. In the 90s anime, she and Sailor Uranus resist the mind control – in fact, they deliberately feign defecting in order to gain the Galactica bracelets only to wait for the first opening and try to kill Galaxia with her own weapons. It doesn't work, but even Galaxia herself is impressed by the strength of their willpower.
  • Adaptational Jerkass: In both the manga and Sailor Moon Crystal, the reason Uranus and Neptune initially refuse to work with the Inner Guardians is they awoke too late to stop Pharoah 90 and the Death Busters from invading. As their role is to protect the Solar System from external threats, they didn't want the Inners getting hurt for what they considered a failure in their duty. However, when the Inners gained new power and proved they didn't need to be protected, the Outers apologized for their conduct and accepted them as allies before parting on mutual good terms. In the 90's anime however, the Outers arrogantly refuse the aid or even to offer aid to the Inners and even try to outright attempt to kill Sailor Moon because they couldn't stand her idealism, forcing Sailor Moon to outsmart them before they admitted defeat. Then in the final arc, they outright murder Pluto and Saturn as part of a ploy to get close enough to kill Sailor Galaxia.
  • Adoptive Peer Parent: Is "Michiru-Mama" to young Hotaru after she's been orphaned, co-parenting with Haruka and Setsuna.
  • Aloof Ally: With Uranus towards the inner soldiers in that they are too idealistic and refuse to use lethal force.
  • Alpha Bitch: She is introduced as one in the manga, but this is just a front. She's more of a normal Ojou with small shades of Lovable Alpha Bitch.
  • Always Save the Girl: In one of the ‘’SuperS'' specials, an enemy is stealing Haruka’s life energy and bluffs Michiru into choosing between saving Haruka and saving the world. Michiru calls his bluff and saves her, stating that to her, a world without Haruka isn't worth saving.
  • Amateur Sleuth: When not fighting, she and Haruka often investigate suspicious activity rather than getting caught up in it like so many other characters. For example, they enrolled in Mugen Academy to get to the bottom of the strange things happening there.
  • Ambiguously Absent Parent: Like Haruka's parents, hers are never even mentioned. Obviously, their parents must have existed at some point for them to be reborn, but that's all we know.
  • Ambiguously Bi: Michiru is openly gay and in a relationship with Haruka, but is known to flirt with men, particularly Mamoru.
  • Ambiguously Christian: She and Haruka both qualify. They're searching for the Messiah, and Uranus even sports a cross at times. There is certainly a lot of Catholic imagery in the S season. Michiru telling the story of Adam and Eve and referring to them as the first man and woman drives the point home.
  • Animal Motifs: The '90s anime gave her an affinity towards fish to further emphasize her connection to the ocean. She's grateful when Haruka wins her a goldfish at a festival, and she loves aquariums and spending her free time watching fish.
  • Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance. Sea green eyes, check. Sea green hair that has a slight wave to resemble ocean waves, check. If it wasn't obvious enough she's a water user.
  • Badass Bookworm: An established violinist, whose swimming ability is just as remarkable, and it becomes a surprise that Ami is able to keep up with her during a race. Also, during her fight with Sailor Moon, she easily restrains her, and the Sailor Stars opener shows that Michiru is quite capable of getting physical.
  • Badass Teacher: Besides being a powerful warrior, the first anime series shows her working as an art teacher. She also teaches cooking in Parallel Sailor Moon.
  • Ballet: Someone as wealthy and graceful as she is must've had a lot of training in her youth, and her footwear as Sailor Neptune bears a striking resemblance to pointe shoes.
  • Barely-Changed Dub Name: Goes from Michiru in the Japanese version to Michelle in the original English dub. It's even closer than it looks because the L sound becomes an R sound in Japanese.
  • Battle Couple: With Uranus. They usually arrive together and attack enemies in tandem.
  • The Beautiful Elite: She's fabulously rich, is very charming and sophisticated, and looks like a cross between a supermodel and a princess. Her house, her clothes, and pretty much all of her other possessions are luxurious and beautiful.
  • Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The beauty to Setsuna's brains and Haruka's brawn.
  • Berserk Button: In the manga: She's usually calm and levelheaded, but do not tell her that her shade of lipstick is trashy or she may try to kill you.
  • Beware the Quiet Ones: Michiru is usually one of the calmer and quieter Sailor Guardians. The few times she loses her cool, however, she becomes absolutely murderous, and on one occasion she had to be kept from killing Yaten for hitting a previously unknown Berserk Button of hers—namely criticizing her choice of lipstick and stealing her spot as the school's make-up expert. Fittingly, she's Hotaru's adopted mother.
  • Bloodless Carnage: In the episodes where the Talismans show up. Despite both Uranus and Neptune getting injured (the former shot by apparently invisible darts and the latter ripping herself free from some sort of thorny vines), neither bleeds.
  • Break the Badass: She and Haruka pretend to defect to Galaxia to gain her trust, but doing so they kill Pluto and Saturn by removing their Star Seeds. Then, when it turns out that Galaxia doesn't have one to remove, they break down and realize it was all for mothing.
  • But Not Too Gay: The anime is, even in the Japanese version, very coy about Haruka and Michiru. While the main, straight couple of the series still only kisses infrequently, Haruka and Michiru never kiss. The manga does not have this problem. Though Haruka and Michiru still never kiss, Haruka does kiss Usagi.
  • By the Power of Grayskull!: "Neptune Planet Power, Make up!", "Neptune Crystal Power, Make up!"
  • Car Fu: She and Haruka make their badassery known on a motorcycle in their debut episode (as themselves, at least).
  • Celebrity Masquerade: An internationally acclaimed violinist. Having played in major venues around the globe, she is definitely a celebrity. She also is Sailor Neptune, the princess from planet Neptune and fights the evil Death Busters, protecting the Earth and her future Queen, Serenity.
  • Chastity Couple: Haruka and Michiru are girlfriends, but there's nothing too explicit about their relationship. In fact, the only onscreen kiss Haruka has is with Usagi, not Michiru.
  • Collector of the Strange: She collects cosmetics. Granted, someone like her would make good use of them, but it's odd that she's mainly interested in them as collectibles.
  • The Comically Serious: Sometimes.
  • Conflict Ball: Sailors Neptune and Uranus clutch it tightly more often than not, especially in their introductory arc.
    • In the Infinity arc of the manga/Crystal they spend nearly half the arc stubbornly refusing to tell Sailor Moon and her team anything about who they are or what's going on. Their reasoning is eventually explained as "we feel that this is our responsibility to handle as Outer Guardians and we don't want to risk you being hurt by getting involved" - never mind that they had previously attacked Sailor Moon rather than explain this, and that the lack of communication placed her and her team in greater danger by inspiring them to investigate on their own without knowing what they're up against.
    • The S arc of the '90s anime depicts them as actively antagonistic to Sailor Moon and the Inner Guardians, despite the fact that by this point Usagi and her team have saved the world no less than three times.
  • Control Freak: Whenever Haruka and Michiru enter the season's plot, they act as if they know better than the other Guardians (even if they don't know very much about the enemy), make decisions without considering anyone else's input, as well as undermine Usagi and take away her choice in the situation. This is best exemplified in the S season when Haruka steals Usagi's transformation brooch so she can't interfere when they confront Eudial and in the Stars season when they order the Sailor Starlights (mainly Seiya) to stay away from Usagi and when they tell Usagi to stay away from them in return. With the latter, Usagi calls them out on deciding the situation themselves and sticking their noses in their business like that.
  • Cool Big Sis: To the Inners. She is regarded as the feminine ideal.
  • Cool Teacher: Teaches art (in the anime) or cooking (in Parallel Sailor Moon). Having someone as rich, famous, and beautiful as her as a teacher would make any student wish they were in her class.
  • Cultured Badass: A fine classical violinist and painter who kicks plenty of evil ass.
  • Curtains Match the Window: Aqua eyes, aqua hair, even has an oceanic trend.
  • Custom Uniform: She and Haruka have short gloves instead of elbow-length ones.
  • Deadpan Snarker: She loves making sarcastic, thinly veiled comments behind a graceful smile about others all the time.
  • Depending on the Writer: Depending on the episode in the S season, she can be more contemplative or merciful than Sailor Uranus, or just as extremist and rude like her.
  • Did You Think I Can't Feel?: In the earlier days of their relationship before they became a couple, Michiru did not appreciate Haruka's patronizing attitude about what she's capable of. This was after Haruka saw a portrait Michiru created of the end of the world, with Haruka snarking she didn't think a privileged rich girl like her could possibly understand a concept as bleak as the apocalypse. Michiru makes it clear Haruka had no clue what she was talking about.
  • The Dividual: With Uranus; They were created as a pair, never get solos in the Sera Myu, instead getting duets, and the scenes they have solo can be counted on one hand. The 90's anime forcibly separates them for a single episode, instead pairing her with Mars.
  • Does Not Like Spam: Dislikes kikurage mushrooms.
  • Dramatically Missing the Point: When Haruka and Michiru's visions of the Silence come, you can't blame them for being terrified, but they believe that the Silence is something that must never be allowed to happen, ever, and that they have to kill Hotaru to stop it. They don't realize that Sailor Saturn and her powers exist for a reason: the old must be destroyed so that the new can be created, and when things go too far, sometimes it's better to just Restart the World.
  • Dreaming of Times Gone By: All we really know about her backstory is that she got the memory of her past life and awoke as Sailor Neptune from dreams she had. This makes her the only Sailor Guardian who awoke without someone else's help.
  • Dub Personality Change: Like several other characters, the original English dub flanderized her and Haruka, making them even meaner and harsher than the original anime.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Possibly in episode 44 of the first season. When we see how Mamoru and the girls were reincarnated, several other people from the Silver Millennium (presumably other members of the princess' court) are shown to have come with them. The only one shown as more than a silhouette is an extra Sailor Guardian who looks a lot like Michiru. The episode's animation director Hisashi Kagawa eventually revealed on Twitter in 2019 that it was a coincidence, since he didn't know yet that Michiru would even exist in the series, and that he inserted the character just because he expected it more Sailor Guardians to show up later. Fans still accept that it's Michiru, though.
  • Elegant Classical Musician: A very elegant young lady, and a professional violinist who also plays the piano.
  • Elemental Hair Colors: Her blue-green hair indicates her power over the sea.
  • Even the Girls Want Her: While she doesn't have quite the universal lady-appeal of Haruka, both Ami and Rei (among others) think she's beautiful.
  • Everyone Has Standards: She's a gleefully unrepentant troll, albeit an elegant one, but there are some things Michiru won't joke about.
    • When Usagi is upset because she thinks Mamoru forgot her birthday (he didn't, he just didn't know when it was because Usagi never told him), Michiru sounds truly disappointed in him, and is none too pleased when Haruka jokingly flirts with Usagi. Michiru might screw with Haruka sometimes by flirting with others, but she draws the line at teasing someone who's emotionally vulnerable at the moment.
    • After the guardians become trapped in a dimensional warp created in the Tomoe household, Haruka says it would be better if they didn't come back. Michiru is seriously offended by such a notion.
  • Fake Defector: In the final episodes.
  • The Fashionista: The classiest and prettiest dresser of the Sailor Guardians. Her sense of fashion and skills at applying makeup are commented on by the others more than once, and Usagi sees her as what a fairy tale princess would be like.
  • Finger-Suck Healing: Done when Haruka gets her hand injured with a glass shard from Nehellenia's Magic Mirror. Michiru then sucks on her injury to try getting the shard out and succeeds, then spits it out on her handkerchief. Then Haruka notices dark energy coming from the shard and knocks it away from Michiru; it transforms into a glass monster, and they have to fight it alongside others.
  • Friendly Rivalry: With Ami. They get along well for two girls who are also rivals in swimming races. In fact, the only time a swimming match gets between them is when Michiru calls Ami out over letting her win.
  • The Gadfly: Michiru just loves to innocently screw with people by making veiled comments hiding behind an innocent smile. She goes around making comments for the sake of screwing with people and watching their reactions when they finally get what she's really saying. For example, when she's paired up with Rei in the first Stars arc of the anime, she nonchalantly comments about her relationship with Usagi:
    Michiru: You two are close, huh? Quite similar to Uranus and me.
    • An earlier moment comes in S when Makoto asks about Haruka being able to drive. Haruka stammers that she got a license overseas, and Michiru just mentions "So she says."
    • Throughout Stars she loves to tease Haruka about her rivalry with Seiya, even telling the girls that Haruka doesn't hate men, she just hates popular men (implying she hates Seiya because he's more successful with girls).
  • Girly Bruiser: Michiru is very feminine, collected, cultured, and soft-spoken. She likes to wear long, flowing dresses and is interested in classical music, painting, and reading. She's also a balance of Lady of Black Magic and Lady of War with her water-based attacks and Stradivarius, and the 90s anime show her inflicting a brutal beating on Germatoid clones with her bare hands.
  • Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: Yes, even Michiru, the most feminine of the Sailor Guardians, qualifies as this. An elegant and sophisticated lady, she takes pride in her beauty, her interests include painting and playing the violin, Usagi compares her to a fairy tale princess, and she eventually assumes the role of mother to Hotaru. However, she's also a great swimmer, and at one point, she beats a group of Germatoid clones with her bare hands.
  • Girly Run: Clearly seen when running from Usagi in Season 3, Episode 6 of Crystal.
  • Go-Getter Girl: She seems to have a need excel at everything she does, from her artistic endeavors to her refined demeanor, from her swimming matches to all of her classes at school.
  • Good Counterpart: The notes in Naoko's materials collection describe her as being "like Esmeraude became calm."
  • Good Is Not Nice: In the 90s anime, Haruka and Michiru are very cynical, trying to kill Hotaru in an attempt to stop Saturn from ending the world. Even after Usagi manages to both save Hotaru and the universe, they still are aloof. In the Stars arc, both act as Double Reverse Quadruple Agents for Galaxia, even killing Saturn and Pluto to prove their loyalty. However, they are also Wrong Genre Savvy and end up dying themselves. They have good intentions, but also believe that the ends justify the means and thus do not hesitate to resort to violence or trickery. They are are much nicer in the manga.
  • Good Is Not Soft: Though Neptune is undoubtedly on the side of good, she is the most ruthless of the Sailor Guardians, and the most willing to Shoot the Dog if she feels that there is no alternative. She was at her most brutal when she was working solo; Uranus is the one holding back the worst of Neptune's impulses.
  • Guile Hero: She'll sometimes use her wits and charms to manipulate others to get what she wants. One time, she used this technique on Seiya when she and Haruka still thought the Starlights couldn't be trusted.
  • Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: Same deal with Sailor Uranus. In one scene in the old English dub when the girls are talking about first kisses, Michelle reminisces about having her first kiss with "Brad, the cutest boy at school." Then she and Amara exchange meaningful looks and hastily exit the scene.
  • Hero of Another Story: She and Haruka are usually living their own adventure while the protagonists are in Tokyo. In the anime they even leave after the third season specifically to do this.
  • High-School Sweethearts: With Haruka.
  • Honey Trap: This is one of her tricks when she's not as Sailor Neptune. In one episode, she briefly flirts with Seiya to investigate the Starlights.
  • I Did What I Had to Do: She and Haruka consistently fail to learn from their mistakes and are willing to sacrifice lives—both innocent civilians and their own fellow soldiers—on the basis that the end (destroying the enemy) automatically justifies the means. But their Control Freak tendencies and habit of acting as if their decisions are superior to the others' marks them out for the Stupid Sacrifice category. Also, see the end of Sailor Stars for a classic example of this trope dovetailing with Nice Job Breaking It, Hero.
  • Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance: Uranus and Neptune in the 90s anime refused to work with Sailor Moon and the Inner Guardians because they believed they were too idealistic for their own good and couldn't make pragmatic decisions. After the battle with Pharaoh 90, they lecture Usagi for protecting Hotaru which almost led to the planet's destruction and say she's unfit to be queen. However, Uranus and Neptune were rookie soldiers without the experience of fighting various enemies Sailor Moon and her guardians had (judging by the information and flashbacks from the anime, they were active for roughly a year, with the Death Busters as their only threat to investigate). Examples of their behavior include:
    • If Uranus and Neptune were as pragmatic as they believed they were, they would've teamed up with the more seasoned girls who had among them a national genius girl with a handheld supercomputer that's suggested to be more advanced than modern day appliances (Ami), a psychic girl who could've figured out who held the Talismans by divining through the Sacred Fire (Rei), and a girl with a legendary crystal that has the capacity to heal/destroy an entire planet, purge evil from a person or place, and bring the dead back to life (Usagi). Granted, Uranus and Neptune might not have known about their previous missions to know they're capable, but since Sailor Moon and the Inners started picking up notoriety after they awakened (to the point of having little dolls made in their image and kindergarteners knowing about them in R) and Pluto let them know that Chibi-Usa was the Princess of the Future Silver Millennium, it's hard to believe that they wouldn't have heard of their exploits through the news or word of mouth, or that Pluto wouldn't have told Uranus and Neptune about them herself.
    • After Eudial calls them to let them know she has found a Talisman, Haruka and Michiru call Usagi to meet them, tell her they won't let her slow them down with her "half-baked play war" and steal her brooch... with the Silver Crystal inside. However, Haruka and Michiru don't realize their plan for finding the Talismans had been rather half-baked. In spite of the time they spent investigating them, they were just piggybacking off the enemy's efforts: they just sat around and waited for the Death Busters to strike, remove a victim's Pure Heart, then check to see if it was a Talisman. At no point did they try to find them themselves. Eudial had to call and tell them that she found a Talisman. And at no point did they think she could have been leading them into a trap. They just rushed to meet Eudial without coming up with a plan other than collecting a Talisman for their mission.
    • Regarding Hotaru, they were hell-bent on killing her because she was the reincarnation of Sailor Saturn and they believed she would destroy the world when she awakened, yet they were unaware of her true purpose (to destroy the world only when things were at their lowest point so everything could be reborn anew) and would've killed an innocent girl and valuable comrade had they succeeded.
    • Finally, if Uranus and Neptune had teamed up with the girls and shared what they knew about the Death Busters (admittedly, something Neptune had suggested to Uranus who refused her), the issue would've been resolved quicker with far less conflict, but instead they were aloof and condescending towards them and even hindered them on several occasions. Even Tuxedo Mask said that while the Outer Guardians are strong, Sailor Moon is stronger because she has teammates.
    • In short, while Uranus and Neptune were smug and condescending towards Sailor Moon and the Inners for their beliefs, it was their aloof behavior, hasty decision making, and inability to cooperate and share meaningful communication that often led them to make things worse and cause unnecessary conflict.
  • Immune to Bullets: Eudial's death trap triggers bullets that fly from every direction. Neptune gets hit with every single one, until the guns are out of ammo. She survives, if only for a few moments, and it takes a blast from Eudial herself to finish her off and rip out her Pure Heart Crystal.
  • Improbable Weapon User: Some of her attacks use a mirror or a violin.
  • Incest Subtext: The Cloverway dub creates an interesting Inversion with Haruka and Michiru. The romantic subtext is meant to be there... but they're not supposed to be cousins in the original. The company that decided to make them cousins did so for the exact reason of preventing there being any openly gay people in the show, without actually changing enough other stuff to even try and hide how they feel for each other, just hoping no one would think it's odd for two cousins to be THAT devoted to each other.
  • Ineffectual Loner: She and Haruka have a consistently condescending view of many of the other characters, despite being surprisingly useless when combating actual Dragons or Big Bads.
  • Informed Attribute:
    • Is thought to be more pragmatic than the Inner Soldiers, yet her decisions say otherwise. See Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance above for more details.
    • Uranus and Neptune are stated to dread the idea of sacrificing innocents for the sake of their mission, but this doubted due to the fact that they never bother to search for other options, acting as if killing is the only thing they can do about the situation that they don't know very much about, and react angrily to the suggestion that they look for another way, even though they should be jumping at any opportunity to learn alternative methods if they really wanted to avoid sacrificing innocents.
  • Intertwined Fingers: Haruka and Michiru do this quite a few times throughout the series. Most notably during the "I like your hands" scene, on the morning that they go to the Marine Cathedral expecting to have to kill an innocent person and again while they're dying/fading out of existence at the end of Stars.
  • Irony: At the conclusion of the battle against Pharaoh 90, Haruka and Michiru state that Usagi's way of handling it makes her unfit to be the Queen of the Future Silver Millennium, and yet it is heavily implied that Neo-Queen Serenity herself was the one to set things in motion when she told Chibi-Usa to train in the past and befriend an "important person" who would later turn out to be Hotaru, thereby leading to the events of the season to play out the way they did with no one being sacrificed as Hotaru's bond with Chibi-Usa was an important factor in her overpowering Mistress 9, awakening as Sailor Saturn, and destroying Pharaoh 90 with Super Sailor Moon once and for all.
  • I Surrender, Suckers: In the fifth Season, Sailors Uranus and Neptune pretended to do a Face–Heel Turn, submitting to Galaxia's will and even killing Saturn and Pluto, and then, when the going got good and they did enough damage, made an attempt on her life. Subverted in that Galaxia is seemingly immortal, and both Uranus and Neptune are instantly destroyed upon the revelation of her immortality.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Her aloofness and sharp tongue make Michiru come off as an uncaring jerk. However, like Haruka, she does care deeply for all life.
  • Lady And A Scholar: She's clearly intelligent, studies art and music extensively but enjoys all of her classes at school, gets into a prestigious school easily, and is widely regarded by her peers as the classic ideal feminine woman.
  • Lady of Black Magic: Refined and classy, she uses water-based attacks and a Magic Mirror that can dispel illusions and teleport people.
  • Lady of War: She's an elegant, refined young lady who will defeat enemies by whatever means possible. She even uses a violin to blast enemies to oblivion. The femme counterpart to Uranus' butch.
  • Lap Pillow: Haruka rests her head in Michiru's lap in this manga spread.
  • Lightning Bruiser: Not to the extent of Uranus but in the Nehelenia arc, the team of 10 is split up into abnormal groupings by the villain, splitting up Uranus and Neptune. The former, paired up with Mercury, notes she never noticed how well Neptune had managed to keep pace with her high running speed until now, having been paired with someone who can't.
  • Lipstick Lesbian: The elegant, lady-like girlfriend of the more masculine Uranus.
  • Lonely Rich Kid: She was rich and privileged before meeting Haruka (as indicated by the fact that she owns a Stradivarius, a private helicopter, and a posh-looking condo) but is implied to have mostly kept to herself before they met.
  • Long Hair Is Feminine: Subverted hard with Michiru, who has short hair (albeit not as short as Ami or Haruka) and is the most classically feminine out of everyone.
  • Love Makes You Evil: Subverted. She and Haruka make Galaxia think they'll defect to her as long as they can be together, but it's part of a plan to overthrow her. It doesn't work.
  • Magic Mirror: The Deep Aqua Mirror. It acts as a weapon, can dispel illusions, allows communication over great distances, and can even teleport people.
  • Making a Splash: A powerful user of water. Her powers are stated to be from the sea rather than just regular water.
  • Martyr Without a Cause: Like Uranus, Neptune strongly believes that victory is impossible without some horrible angsty sacrifice that only they have the moral strength to make.
  • Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: Michiru is a refined, violin-playing Lipstick Lesbian while her girlfriend Haruka is a short-haired, athletic, sword-wielding Butch Lesbian.
  • Meaningful Name:
    • Kaioh as in Kaiōsei, the Japanese name for Neptune meaning "sea king star".
    • Her given name means "rising".
  • Mermaid Arc Emergence: The first time we see Michiru she is swimming in her apartment and climbs out of the pool while throwing her head back in this fashion.
  • Mirror Character: To Yaten. Both are artistic and fashionable girly girls, are vain, snarky, and try to keep their tomboyish leaders in check. Michiru sees Yaten as a rival when she dethrones her as the school's fashion queen.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Swims a lot. Which means we get to see her in swimsuits a lot.
  • Musical Assassin: With a Stradivarius!
  • Mysterious Past: The only thing we know of her past is that she's the only Sailor Guardian who got her powers and Awoke without external help (she simply dreamed of her past life), and even that comes from Word of God. Everything else, is completely unknown.
  • My Way or the Highway: Also crosses with Control Freak. She and Uranus believe that their methods are better and disregard those who don't think the same way as them.
  • Necessarily Evil: Haruka and Michiru only act hard and ruthless because they think it's necessary to save the world. They get better in the manga though. Not so much in the 90s anime though, as seen toward the end of Stars where they kill Saturn and Pluto out of necessity.
  • The Needs of the Many: She and Haruka were frustrated with Sailor Moon not seeing that saving the Earth is more important than the life of one person, although Usagi did manage to find a way without sacrificing Hotaru.
  • Never My Fault: At the conclusion of S, Michiru and Haruka never acknowledge that it's their aloof behavior, hasty decision-making, refusal to think of another plan, and communication problems that contributed to the outcome of the battle with Pharaoh 90 just as much as Usagi's actions did, if not more so.
  • Nice Girl: In the manga, she becomes this by the final arc. She no longer looks down on her fellow Sailor Guardians, though she still struggles opening up to and trusting people, and is genuinely a kind, genial woman who even takes Hotaru in as her daughter. Just don't insult her choice of makeup. While she and Haruka lighten up in all versions, they still tend act more like jerks late in the '90s anime.
  • Non-Idle Rich: She is, quite possibly, the richest character in the series. She plays a Stradivarius, flies her own helicopter, and lives in a luxurious flat. Though nothing is revealed about her family, she's implied to be an heiress to a massive fortune. Still, she's not above doing humble jobs like teaching grade school, and she likes earning her own money with her art and music. And that's not when she's fighting evil superbeings.
  • No One Could Survive That!: Neptune gets hit with every single bullet from Eudial's death trap and somehow survives.
  • Not Your Problem: Haruka and Michiru constantly tell the Inners to back off and leave everything to them. The Inners, being who they are, never listen.
  • Ojou: It's never stated who her parents are but she's clearly wealthy, as she owns a Stradivarius violin and a gigantic condo with its own aquarium and is a world-famous violinist and painter.
  • One True Love: She and Haruka are in a long-lasting relationship and are rarely seen apart from each other.
  • Opposites Attract: With Haruka. She is a cultured and elegant lady, Haruka is a sporty tomboy.
  • Out of Focus: In SuperS, hers and Haruka's only appearance is in one of the specials, although they return to full-time characters in Stars.
  • Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Basically every single thing that has come out of Michiru Kaioh's mouth is this. If Usagi is going to be the queen of the moon, Michiru is definitely queen of the trolls.
  • Pastel-Chalked Freeze Frame: Haruka and Michiru's scenes are done this way more often than not, when not in any form of battle, in order to emphasize how elegant they are.
  • Poor Communication Kills: Neptune and Uranus' stubborn refusal to open any kind of discussion with the other Guardians about what's going on during the Infinity arc approaches the absurd. Even after it becomes clear that Moon and her team are not going to stay out of it no matter what Neptune and Uranus say, the pair keep everything they know entirely to themselves, forcing the Inners to fumble around blindly in their own investigation covering ground that Neptune and Uranus have already covered and repeatedly coming into danger as their efforts draw the attention of the Death Busters.
  • Pragmatic Hero: How she and Haruka see themselves. They really aren't. Sure, they're willing to make hard decisions and sacrifices that the Inners are against, but that's far as they go. If they were as pragmatic as they thought, they'd try to get more help, especially from the more experienced and successful Inners, or at least try something else to complete their mission when Plan A fails.
  • Princess Classic: Subverted. She lacks the innocence of a typical Princess Classic, but she's probably the closest thing to one on the Sailor Team in present day.
  • Proper Lady: A mature, high-born, sophisticated, refined, elegant woman who plays the violin.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to Haruka's Red. While both had the same intentions in season 3, Michiru's demeanor was calm and introverted in comparison to Haruka's more outgoing and harsh attitude.
  • Related in the Adaptation: In the Cloverway dub, she and Haruka were infamously stated to be cousins to Hide Your Lesbians. But the dub didn't edit out their flirting scenes, so not only did they look like lesbians, but also incestuous ones. The dubbers apparently thought they could make their affection look familial instead of romantic.
  • Renaissance Man: Aside from being one of the better fighters on the team, she aces all her classes in school, is an accomplished concert violinist and gifted painter, a decent amateur sleuth, a master manipulator, up on high fashion, can fly a helicopter, has the certification to work as a teacher, cooks for her household, seems to know a bit about child healthcare and marine life, and is a champion-level competitive swimmer.
  • Right for the Wrong Reasons: She was right that Hotaru was a threat to Earth, but it wasn't for the fact she was Sailor Saturn rather because she was the vessel for Mistress 9.
  • Satellite Character:
    • Especially in the manga. Most of her characterization is based around her relationship with Haruka. Even though the two are rarely separated, Haruka gets much more focus and character development. Naoko Takeuchi wrote Michiru this way on purpose because Michiru is the Sailor Guardian the least like her and the hardest for her to relate to. She wanted Haruka to have a complimentary but opposite partner, and Michiru was what came of that.
    • This is carried over into both anime adaptations; while she's definitely a little more fleshed out, the writers don't develop her much beyond being Haruka's girlfriend who is a famous artist and musician. Even the episode that shows how they met is told entirely from Haruka's perspective.
  • Second Place Is for Winners: In Episode 97 of the first anime she's offended when Ami intentionally throws a swimming race as she wouldn't have minded losing against someone who was giving it her all vs. a win being handed to her.
  • Sexy Surfacing Shot: The first time we see Michiru she is swimming in her apartment and climbs out of the pool in a swimsuit while throwing her head back.
  • Shipper on Deck: In the '90s anime, it's implied that she ships Usagi/Rei. After seeing their arguments, she comments that their relationship is just like her and Haruka. Rei is not amused.
  • Ship Tease: Michiru may be half of an official couple with Haruka, but she is also a real flirt with both men and women. At one point, she flirts with Mamoru (the same episode ship-teases their girlfriends together), and in a later episode, with Seiya (though that was mainly because she wanted to see if the Starlights could be trusted), as well as a few one-shot characters. Of course, knowing how much she loves to screw with people, it's hard to tell when she's seriously flirting or not.
  • Shoot Your Mate: During their deception of Sailor Galaxia, she and Haruka are forced to remove Pluto and Saturn's Star Seeds to keep up the charade.
  • Silk Hiding Steel: While considerably more feminine and graceful than Haruka, it's obvious that Michiru has a will of pure steel. It's strongly hinted that she's the one with the reins in their relationship, and she could have Haruka wrapped around her finger if she wanted to.
  • Smug Smiler: She and Haruka do this from time to time.
  • Smug Super: Along with Haruka. In their civilian guises, they seem friendly enough but their arrogance comes out when they transform.
  • Sour Supporter: In the anime, like Haruka, she's somehow offended by the idea that love and friendship and justice can bring you a victory without a serious sacrifice. She's a milder version than Haruka due to her calm and refined demeanor, but she still counts.
  • Spotlight-Stealing Squad: After Haruka and Michiru are introduced, they take the focus away from Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako, who are little more than Usagi's support during the Infinity arc, although the four get back in the spotlight during the Dream arc.
  • Stalker with a Crush: It is heavily implied in episode 106 that Michiru was one of these to Haruka going way back before she even knew that Haruka was destined to become Sailor Uranus.
  • Stock Superhero Day Jobs: Schoolteacher. Despite being only sixteen, she is shown working as an art teacher in the anime or a cooking teacher in Parallel Sailor Moon. She and Haruka are also independently wealthy celebrities, so they also fit the rich socialite category.
  • Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She is very calm, cool and collected, as well as extremely dedicated to her mission...but she can also be very gentle to those she loves (if in a very princess-like way, befitting an Ojou like her), particularly her girlfriend, Haruka.
  • Surrounded by Idiots: How she feels during the Infinity Arc. She thinks that the younger Guardians are too naïve and idealistic to see what's really at stake or take the right action, and the only one who agrees with her is a partner whom she worries about going out of control.
  • Taking the Bullet: In the backstory episode of Uranus and Neptune in the 90's anime, she leaps in front of a monster about to attack Haruka, causing herself to be heavily injured.
  • Team Chef: When the Outers adopt Hotaru, Michiru does all the cooking for their household. In Parallel Sailor Moon, she actually gave up her chance at fame to become a cooking teacher, suggesting that she's very good at it.
  • The Tease: Michiru likes getting a rise out of people and flirting. She's also been shown to intentionally get her girlfriend Haruka jealous.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: Downplayed. At the start, Haruka and Michiru both refuse to work with the other Sailor Guardians, look down on them like fools, and refuse to trust anyone but each other. They also thought that Usagi is unqualified to be the queen and that sparing Hotaru was foolish and idealistic. Once they accept the truth and see things beyond their old views, they become more open and caring and are just as loyal to Usagi as the Inners. However, once they return in the Stars season, they remain somewhat harsh, critical, and arrogant, but they're still clearly on Usagi's side.
  • Town Girls: The Femme to Setsuna's Neither and Haruka's Butch.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Sashimi.
  • Troll: In contrast to her elegant demeanor she's a huge one. She's not malicious or evil, but the moment she says "Ara" expect the conversation to be full of innuendo and oh-so-innocent snarking.
  • True Blue Femininity: She's color-coded with turquoise and blue, and the Lipstick Lesbian to contrast with Sailor Uranus' butch. Not to mention that her hair is blue too. (Well, more of a sea green, but close enough)
  • Underestimating Badassery: Haruka and Michiru are set on the idea that the younger (younger by only one year) Sailor Guardians are just too idealistic to deal with threats as well as they do, despite the fact that it's common knowledge that Sailor Moon's team have been fighting and defeating all kinds of evil threats long before Uranus and Neptune appeared. Either Uranus and Neptune paid no attention to what's been going on or they think the Inners just got lucky too often.
  • Undying Loyalty: Obviously to Usagi/Princess Serenity, as is the case with all other Sailor Guardians, but more notably, to Haruka. She survived a barrage of bullets to reach Sailor Uranus and protect her from Eudial. She'll even casually risk the world being destroyed so long as Haruka is safe with her, which even surprises the villain attacking Haruka.
    Sailor Neptune: There seems to be a misunderstanding... The world is only worth protecting if Haruka is living in it.
  • Unskilled, but Strong: While Uranus and Neptune have some skill, they don't have the experience Sailor Moon and the Inner Guardians have (and are implied to have awoken as Soldiers a few months after the Black Moon Clan's final attack/before the Death Busters struck when they received visions of the world being destroyed by The Silence), yet their magical attacks are stronger than the Inners to better suit their responsibilities of keeping outside threats from attacking Earth.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: With their refusal to cooperate with the other guardians (who have more experience than them) and their belief that only they have the moral strength to make hard choices, she and Michiru tend to try and take control of the situation as if they know better which often makes things worse, like their Fake Defector scheme in the Grand Finale where they end up sacrificing Setsuna and Hotaru for nothing.
  • Vanity Is Feminine: She's the most feminine of the group and takes pride in her appearance. It's appropriate that she gets a mirror as a weapon.
  • Verbal Tic: "Ara" in the 90s anime.
  • Violently Protective Girlfriend: The whole deal with Eudial was triggered when she first took a hit for Haruka and got captured... and upon seeing Haruka coming to rescue her and fight Eudial, releasing herself and trying to stop her.
  • Waif-Fu: In the anime. While as tall as Makoto and only a few months older, she's much slimmer... And then, when confronted by a horde of Germatoid clones, she proceeded to maul them with her bare hands before being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. The only foreshadowing we had were the many times she has been swimming (thus developing muscles) and her instinctively assuming a Pankration stance when she sees their numbers.
  • Walking Swimsuit Scene: Swims so much it kind of comes with the territory.
  • Water Is Blue: Sailor Neptune's uniform is bluish-green with a navy-blue bow, fitting her powers of the sea.
  • Water Is Womanly: A very sophisticated young lady, conducting herself gracefully and being a classical violinist and painter. She has wavy sea green hair resembling waves. And as Sailor Neptune, she has powers over water that come from the sea.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: This is mellowed a bit by working with the inner soldiers, but Uranus and Neptune still occasionally resort to more extreme tactics. Of course, they are usually proven wrong about said tactics being necessary.
  • Wise Beyond Her Years: Despite being only 16 when first introduced, Michiru is easily the most mature and refined of the guardians.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Uranus and Neptune try to kill 12-year-old Hotaru while her body is inhabited by Mistress 9, though Usagi defends her. Near the end of the series, they steal her Star Seed to keep up their deception against Galaxia.
  • Wrong Genre Savvy: Haruka and Michiru are convinced that they're the Pragmatic Heroes of a dark urban fantasy where victory without sacrifice is impossible. They're really living in a Magical Girl series that runs on The Power of Friendship, Usagi is the protagonist, and since they won't consider other options or accept help from anyone else, they're not nearly as pragmatic as they think they are.
  • Yamato Nadeshiko: Although mainly an Ojou, but she also shows strong vibes of this in her devotion to her girlfriend Haruka and their Outer Guardians' mission.
  • You Are Worth Hell: Sailors Neptune and Uranus risk damnation in the last season, as long as they're together. Then there's Neptune's line about the world not being worth saving if Uranus isn't in it...

    Hotaru Tomoe/Sailor Saturn 

Hotaru Tomoe — Sailor Saturn

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sailor_saturn_season_iii.png
Click to see Hotaru Tomoe.
Click to see her in the 90s anime.

Voiced by: Yuko Minaguchi (first anime), Yukiyo Fujii (Crystal onwards) (Japanese), Jennifer Gould (Cloverway), Christine Marie Cabanos (Viz) (English), Cristina "Cris" Camargo (Latin American Spanish), Isabel Wolmar (European Portuguese), Giulia Franzoso (Italian, first anime), Margherita De Risi (Italian, Crystal onwards)
Portrayed in the musicals by: Keiko Takeda, Chihiro Imai, Asami Sanpei (Nao Asami), Mao Mita, Mario Tomioka, Ayami Kakiuchi, Ruria Nakamura, Yui Iizuka, Eriko Funakoshi, Karin Takahashi

"I am an emissary from the abyss of death. Protected by Saturn, Planet of Ruin. Guardian of Silence, Sailor Saturn."

A friendless ill girl and Apocalypse Maiden, not to mention the biggest Woobie in the cast... all thanks to the unfortunate double presence of world-destroying powers and Demonic Possession. She's had a rough childhood, to put it mildly, but manages to remain a kind, genuinely sweet girl and a precious friend to Chibi-Usa.


  • Abled in the Adaptation: In the manga, her injuries from the fire left her severely scarred and a cyborg with artificial limbs. The animated adaptations downplay her condition. She looks mostly like a normal child, although the accident left her prone to fits of pain or seizures.
  • Adaptational Heroism: Sort of. In the manga and Crystal, it is explained that Saturn was responsible for the destruction of the Moon Kingdom and her reawakening meant the end of the world. Although in this case, the Moon Kingdom had already been mostly destroyed by Queen Metalia, and it was necessary to summon Saturn to erase what was left so everyone could be reborn in the future. Saturn informs everyone of this when she unleashes her destructive powers during the Infinity Arc, explaining her destruction paves the way for rebirth thanks to Sailor Moon. In the 90s anime, not only was Saturn not responsible for the Moon Kingdom's destruction, she was also mistaken as the Messiah of Silence due to her body being used as a host for Mistress 9.
  • And Your Reward Is Infancy: In every continuity, after destroying Pharaoh 90, Hotaru re-materializes as an infant. It's a straight example of this trope, as the lonely and tragic Hotaru gets a fresh, happier start. In the 90's anime, it's implied that only Sailor Moon's intervention ensured her immediate rebirth.
  • Apocalypse Maiden: Has the power to destroy an entire planet. In the manga when first appears she's stronger than the rest of the cast combined.
  • Awesome, but Impractical: Saturn's power is ridiculously higher than anyone else's in the main cast to the point that she can casually destroy an Eldritch Abomination with little effort. However, since Saturn's power involves wiping out all life, she can't stop at just that and has to blow up, at a minimum, a planet. Plus, her powers end up killing her soon afterwards, but she would eventually be reborn.
  • Beware the Quiet Ones: Hotaru Tomoe/Sailor Saturn is very calm and quiet out of shyness. She also has the ability to annihilate any life form on Earth and neighboring planets by dropping her scythe, and in the manga, she verbally destroyed two girls who were trying to take her spot as Chibi-Usa's best friend.
  • Blessed with Suck:
    • She has healing powers, which made her classmates brand her as a freak in the anime.
    • Her sailor powers really are a good news/bad news situation.
  • Body Horror: Her cyborg body in the manga and 'Crystal'' could qualify as this. Chibi-Usa was certainly shocked by it.
  • Broken Bird: In the Infinity arc of the manga, Saturn casually comments on the fact that no one wants her around (right before killing Pharaoh 90 with a smile on her face); in the Nehellenia retread of the anime, she's absolutely floored that Chibi-Usa does care, and enough to give her a hug when she's about to sacrifice herself again, tearfully pleading her not to do so.
  • By the Power of Grayskull!: "Saturn Crystal Power, Make up!"
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: In the manga, she chews out two girls who were trying to usurp her spot as Chibi-Usa's best friend. Justified because Hotaru used to be friendless, and for a while, Chibi-Usa was all she had.
  • Collector of the Strange: Her hobby is collecting lamps.
  • Creepy Child: Goth-like appearance. Mistress 9's sudden bursts don't help her either.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: She may be the Soldier of Destruction, but she isn't evil. In fact, she's very shy and sweet, and even though she's possessed when we first meet her, it's not her fault at all. This extends to her very role as Sailor Saturn, the Soldier of Destruction. Despite her fearsome reputation as a planet-killer, Saturn's role isn't mindless destruction for destruction's sake. Her duty is to finish off planets that have run their course so that they can be reborn in the future. This "creative destruction" is akin to how, in many ecosystems, wildfires are actually a cleansing force that burn away old vegetation so their ashes can give rise to new life.
  • Dark Magical Girl: When introduced, she is a friendless and mysterious girl, whose father is a major villain, and whose power could end the world. It appears that she is helping him, due to Mistress Nine's possession. The friendship she forms with Chibi-Usa is critical to her arc.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Surprisingly in Crystal, where she is more cold and ruthless than her 90s counterpart. She remarks upon this when the Outers are horrified to see her despite the Eldritch Abomination beneath her.
    "It seems I'm always the uninvited guest."
  • Deus ex Machina: In the 90s anime, the powers Hotaru got when channeling Mistress 9 sometimes would serve as this. Hotaru managed to wither U-Baulla when she was about to strangle Sailor Moon, Sailor Chibi Moon and Tuxedo Mask to death, and to paralize U-Choten for long enough for Sailor Moon to destroy her, when before that the Sailors couldn't attack her because of the Daimon's Bullet Hell attacks.
  • Does Not Like Spam: Dislikes drinking milk.
  • The Dreaded: The Outer Guardians were deeply afraid of her and had attempted to kill Hotaru to prevent Sailor Saturn from awakening. Justified though, for the fact that she could destroy a planet on her own, and she just had to do it everytime she woke up. It's pretty telling in the manga that, when Saturn is reborn again, the guardians are more worried about her then the Eldritch Abomination that's currently eating the planet.
  • Elegant Gothic Lolita: Main colour is purple, secondary colour is black.
  • Empty Eyes: In the manga's "Infinity Arc", this is used to demonstrate that Saturn has awakened and Hotaru's no longer in control. In the anime's equivalent season, this is occasionally used when someone besides Hotaru is "behind the wheel," though it prefers to combine Glowing Eyes of Doom and Red Eyes, Take Warning.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Inverted. She still loves and misses her father in the manga and Crystal, despite everything he's done.
  • Everybody Hates Hades: She gets this a lot in-universe, given her role as the resident Apocalypse Maiden. Becomes a plot point when everyone realizes the true nature of her powers and necessity of her duties.
  • Failed a Spot Check: In the manga when she learns of Queen Nehellenia placing a curse on Princess Serenity when the latter was an infant. Saturn looks back and realizes the Dead Moon Circus somehow escaped obliteration when she was summoned to wipe out the rest of Silver Millennium, wondering where they could've been hiding that her power didn't reach them.
  • Fetal Position Rebirth: A variant; in Sailor Moon Eternal, we finally see a proper transformation sequence for Sailor Saturn, and it involves Hotaru curled up in the fetal position, appropriate for one whose power is over cycles of life, death, and rebirth.
  • Foil: Power-wise, she can be seen as one to Sailor Galaxia. They are both known as the "Soldier of Destruction" and are strong enough to destroy entire planets. However, Saturn represents creative destruction, the kind that is necessary to end the old and bring about rebirth and renewal. On the other hand, Galaxia represents destruction for destruction's sake, engaging in wanton violence and destruction that has no greater purpose. And while Galaxia claims that she intends to remake the galaxy in her own image, Chaos has other ideas.
  • Fountain of Youth: After sacrificing herself during her fight with Pharaoh 90, she is brought back as a baby. As mentioned below, she eventually goes back to near her real age.
  • Godzilla Threshold: She's meant to awaken as a Sailor Guardian only when a world-threatening event happens to destroy everything and reset it to zero, with the other Outer Soldiers' talismans working as a seal to her powers.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: In the manga, she's severely scarred and a cyborg!
  • Goth Girls Know Magic: She has a gothy appearance and usually dresses in purple and black. She's by far the most magically strong Sailor, able to destroy entire planets with the powers of silence and destruction.
  • Graceful Ladies Like Purple: She has purple as her main outfit colour, and she's a kind and demure young girl.
  • Happily Adopted: Is perfectly happy to have the other Outer Guardians as her (three) parents when her father dies. Even in the anime, where she's simply taken from him, by all accounts she's fine with her two mamas and one female "papa."
  • Healing Hands: She has healing powers, which made her classmates brand her as a freak in the anime.
  • Kamehame Hadoken: An explicit planet-killer attack which also automatically kills her.
  • Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Mysterious, dresses in dark colors, and the whole thing about destruction and ruin, but still kind. She's the Dark feminine to Chibi-Usa's light feminine.
  • Lonely Doll Girl: In the original anime, she is often seen being taken over by the Mistress 9 persona in a dark room full of stuffed animals and dolls as her Mad Scientist father talks to her. At least once, she would grab a stuffed animal and rip it apart while speaking.
  • Lonely Rich Kid: Her father was a rich and famous scientist, but she was labeled as a freak at school, so no one wanted to be her friend.
  • Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter: A beautiful young girl whose father is the Mad Scientist Souichi Tomoe.
  • Meaningful Name: 'To' is the first character in the Japanese name for Saturn, which oddly enough means "earth" (or "soil", or "ground"), because Saturn is the planet of the earth element in the East, while 'moe' means "sprouting from". Her given name, Hotaru, means "firefly". Thus, her name can literally be taken as "firefly sprouting from the earth".
  • Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds: Sailor Saturn is theoretically capable of destroying the world just by bringing down the tip of her weapon. Thing is: she's a heroic character. So in the anime, she only ever starts doing this as a threat against certain Big Bads but someone always has to stop her. In the manga, she actually does destroy the world, just once, at the end of the Death Busters arc. Since this is Sailor Moon and the main character has "reviving people and/or planets" explicitly as a power, it recovers. The manga also notes that Saturn slumbered during the Silver Millennium until the Talismans carried by Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto awoke her after the Moon Kingdom's destruction, causing her to also destroy the remnants of the Kingdom and allow a new world to be reborn (along with herself and the other Outer Guardians).
  • Mind-Control Eyes: Hotaru gets these when The Messiah is in control. An especially creepy example since it comes with Red Eyes, Take Warning and Glowing Eyes of Doom, which flicker on and off again, as though there's somehow a loose electrical connection.
  • Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: When she is first introduced, Hotaru is feared and rejected by her classmates because of her strange powers and blackouts.
  • Morality Pet: She brings out Chibi-Usa's Character Development by becoming the latter's main priority.
  • Mysterious Purple: Whether Sailor Saturn is a good guy or not is a major plot point in the Death Busters arc. She is first viewed as The Dreaded and a Token Evil Teammate by the outer warriors, given that the last time she woke up, she used her Person of Mass Destruction power to destroy the Moon Kingdom. They even go as far as trying to kill Hotaru (Saturn's reincarnated form) before she can manifest her abilities. The truth is she is a Necessarily Evil heroic teammate: her role is to Restart the World should she deem it beyond saving and the only way to do so is to destroy it first. It also doesn't help that prior to awakening to her powers, she gets possessed by one of the Big Bad's minions, Mistress 9. Hotaru has black hair with purple highlights, purple colored eyes, and her Sailor Saturn uniform has dark purple accents.
  • Mysterious Waif: Her revealed identity as Saturn in the anime and manga makes her an instant target towards the rest of the Outer Sailor Guardians.
  • Necessarily Evil: Saturn is widely feared by the other guardians due to the fact that she can, and will, destroy worlds if she believes they are beyond saving. However, as she explains, Saturn has to destroy planets in order for new life to begin. It's entirely possible that Princess Serenity and the other guardians would have never reincarnated if she hadn't destroyed the Silver Millennium first.
  • Nice Girl: A very sweet, gentle girl. Even though she has the power to end the world, she would never do it; that's just how nice she is.
  • Odd Name Out: In the Outer Guardians, Sailor Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto's last names are Ten'ou (天王), Kaiou (海王), and Meiou (冥王). They mean sky king (Uranus is the Greek "ur-god", the personified sky the way Terra is the personified earth), sea king (Neptune is the Roman name for Poseidon, the god of the sea), and dark king (Pluto is an alternate name for Hades, god of the death and the underworld). The Japanese name for Uranus, Neptune and Pluto (the planets) are Ten'ousei (天王星), Kaiousei (海王星), and Meiousei (冥王星). Sailor Saturn's last name is Tomoe (土萠). It means sprouting earth (and has no connection to mythology whatsoever). The Japanese name for Saturn is Dosei (土星), so Tomoe seems to fit the inner guardians' naming scheme. The reason is simple. Saturn is visible with the Naked eye and was long-ago given a name drawn from the Five Elements. The outers required telescopes to see and were learned of through Western Contact, which is why the names are translations from the Roman Latin ones. Saturn's the odd one out because the creators went with the Moon to fill out their Five-Man Band.
  • Older Alter Ego: In the manga, the original Sailor Saturn was awakened, unlike Hotaru in the '90s anime. She had a noticeably calmer, colder expression, and referred to herself and Hotaru as two different people.
  • Out of Focus: Probably due to Chibiusa leaving, Hotaru is barely in the 90's anime version of the Stars arc, only really partaking in the final battle against Sailor Galaxia.
  • Perky Goth: Despite tending to wear dark clothes, keeping a dimly lit (and somewhat creepy-looking) room, and wielding the element of death and destruction, Hotaru is a very kind and even joyful girl when she wants to be, especially when Chibi-Usa is around.
  • Person of Mass Destruction: Can destroy the world by bringing down the Silence Glaive, making her far and away the most powerful guardians. Fanon likes to jokingly give her dojikko tendencies (and the specific interpretation of "bring down"); one wonders what would happen if she just dropped it one day...
  • Plot-Relevant Age-Up: After her fight with Pharaoh 90, she was reborn as a baby. She soon started to grow up quickly, and in Stars she's already back to near her real age. It was later shown that this was planned by Galaxia.
  • Promotion to Opening Titles: Added to the third intro of Sailor Moon S, the only time in the 90s anime all ten guardians were ever in one opening, though Hotaru never gets to be shown as Saturn in it.
  • Purple Is Powerful: Her uniform has purple accents, her eyes are purple, even her magic is purple. She only awakens when there is a planet to destroy, a civilization to wipe out, or an Elder God to kill, solo. In her entire active history, she has only ever failed once.
  • Raise Her Right This Time: The Outer Guardians adopt her to give her a happier childhood after her rebirth.
  • Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: She has black hair and a skin tone described as "alabaster" by Chibi-Usa, who is quite taken with Hotaru after one sweet smile. Chibi-Usa describes Hotaru as "beautiful" and Usagi and Mamoru agree.
  • Redemption Demotion: She is considered as perhaps the most powerful of all guardians and was capable of destroying Pharaoh 90, but after entering the group she is as powerful as the others. This is justified since her powers are mostly destructive and she can't use them without most likely either destroying herself or endangering those around her.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue Oni to Chibi-Usa's Red Oni. She is sweet and reserved in contrast to her bratty and rather hot-headed best friend Chibi-Usa.
  • Reincarnation: Unlike the other soldiers, however, Hotaru's situation is a bit different. She is the only one who has the consciousness of her past incarnation with her current self. Sailor Saturn on her awakening even said that Hotaru is a person on her own while Saturn's consciousness just slept inside her. After being reborn and aging up, it appears that her situation is the same as the other soldiers, and she and Saturn are now one.
  • Restart the World: Part of her purpose is to do this if the world is beyond saving. It's implied that when the Dark Kingdom wiped out the Silver Millennium, Sailor Saturn just finished the job so that Queen Serenity could do her thing, and so she and the others could be reborn and the Silver Millennium could start anew in the future.
  • Room Full of Crazy: Whenever Hotaru Tomoe's Mistress Nine personality manifested herself before definitely taking over her , she would be seen in a huge darkened room with no visible windows (the light inside comes from many lamps instead), sitting on a very detailed chair similar on a throne, and with many dolls and stuffed animals (which MN!Hotaru would occasionally rip in half with her bare hands) at her feet.
  • The Sacred Darkness: Saturn functions as a dark counterpart to Sailor Moon herself. Saturn's power to destroy is less pleasant than Moon's power to create and terrifies the other soldiers, but Saturn is firmly on the side of good and removing her from the picture would be just as catastrophic to the cycle of death and rebirth as removing Sailor Moon.
  • Ship Tease: The closest she gets to an on-screen/on-panel love interest is her possibly romantic friendship with Chibi-Usa.
  • Shrinking Violet: She was so shy and withdrawn that, until Chibi-Usa came along, she had no friends.
  • Split-Personality Takeover: Poor Hotaru was not only the reincarnation for Sailor Saturn but, in her original life, she was also possessed by Mistress 9 and the two entities basically played tug-of-war with her mind for control of her body. It's noteworthy that, after Mistress 9 is destroyed, Saturn still tells everyone that Hotaru is gone. Thankfully, after she is reincarnated, Hotaru seems to have lost both personalities and can manifest her Sailor Saturn powers without worry of them taking over her mind.
  • Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Her manga/Crystal counterpart originally could be very gruff and cold, as evident by her first meeting with Chibi-Usa. Chibi-Usa saw Hotaru was in pain and asked to help, but Hotaru told her to leave. Also, as a bit of Dramatic Irony, she's incredibly hostile to Kaolinite and tells her to stay away from her father. The irony comes from that, while 90s anime Kaolinite was abusive to Hotaru and her father was being controlled, manga and Crystal Kaolinite (while still evil) shows genuine concern for her while her father is genuinely evil.
  • Throwing Off the Disability: At the end of the Death Busters arc, her condition is cured when she is reborn into a new body without the injuries from the fire.
  • Token Evil Team Mate: Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto think she is a merciless world-destroyer who is kept sealed until needed. This is not the case. She just has a necessary but unpleasant role.
  • Token Mini-Moe: Her age fluctuates, but she is always younger and shorter than the rest of the Guardians, except Chibi-Usa.
  • Took a Level in Cheerfulness: After she's reborn she becomes much less gloomy, an indicator that she's become free of the stigma previously attached to her life thanks to the misconceptions about Sailor Saturn and her association with the Death Busters. In fact, the Saturn of the 90s anime becomes the only one of the outer soldiers who has complete faith in Sailor Moon, and frequently tells others to believe in her.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Soba noodles.
  • We Can Rebuild Him: In the manga and Crystal, her body was so badly damaged after the explosion that killed her mom and injured her, that her Mad Scientist dad rebuilt her body with cybernetics. As as result, she wears long sleeves and tights year round to hide her robotic arms and legs. Being reborn fixes this.
  • Yank the Dog's Chain: After Hotaru ages up enough to be friends with Chibi-Usa again, Chibi-Usa is taken away from her via Ret-Gone. And while this is eventually fixed when Mamoru comes back to life, Hotaru won't see Chibi-Usa again for years after this until she's born, and even then, she'll have to watch her spend centuries as a small child while Hotaru's already a young woman.
  • Younger Than They Look: One way to look at this. After her rebirth, she was six months old when she was reawakened as Sailor Saturn, while physically looking like a 12-year old girl that is roughly the same size as the 900+ years old Chibi-Usa. Another way to see this is that she simply returned to her true/original age.

Alternative Title(s): Sailor Moon Chibi Usa Small Lady Serenity, Sailor Moon Haruka Tenoh, Sailor Moon Michiru Kaioh

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