Tomoe Hotaru
The Darkmatter Kora
Owner: Crow
Job: Demon Hunter

☽ Usagi Tsukino
☿ Mizuno Ami

♂ Hino Rei
♃ Kino Makoto

♀ Aino Minako
♅ Tenoh Haruka

♆ Kaioh Michiru
♇ Meioh Setsuna

♥ Chibiusa
♡ Chibi Chibi

★ Seiya Kou
★ Taiki Kou

★ Yaten Kou

♄ TOMOE HOTARU ♄

"Protected by Saturn, Planet of Silence... I am the soldier of destruction and rebirth. I am Sailor Saturn."

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Tomoe Hotaru (土萠 ほたる) is a strange, sickly little girl who attends the prestigious Infinity Academy, headed by her father. Although she is gentle, affectionate, and sweet, Hotaru has no friends. If anything, the people around her seem to fear her; she has spells of violent behavior that she can't explain or remember. Her increasingly distant father keeps her isolated, and his aide Kaolinite emotionally abuses her until Hotaru believes that it's her own fault that she seems so strange and alone. And yet Hotaru never fully loses the loving, hopeful part of herself -- so that when another little girl she meets by chance actually wants to be friends with her, she responds like a flower turning toward the light . . .

Hotaru is possessed by opposites. Her body houses the daimon Mistress 9, a sinister being who devours pure hearts for their power, so that she can ultimately open the way for the extradimensional monster Pharaoh 90 to conquer the Earth -- and it is Mistress 9 who is responsible for Hotaru's sickness and violent attacks. But Hotaru is also the reincarnation of Sailor Saturn, the Senshi of Destruction, who awakens only to destroy a ruined world so that a new one can be born, as she once did with Silver Millennium. Between these two forces lies Hotaru, the shy and loving girl, who maintains her own soul even within Mistress 9's possession so that she can protect Chibiusa's pure heart.

Originally resigned, even willing to sacrifice herself to destroy Pharaoh 90, Hotaru's rebirth brings with it a new determination to fight with the other Senshi to protect the Earth, before it is reduced to the need for Saturn's scythe. Though her powers remain strange and often unexplained, she has learned how to use them to do more than destroy. With the promise of family and friends at last, seeking to save the world rather than destroy it, Sailor Saturn fights for love and justice!

♄ WHAT'S IN A NAME ♄

♄ The kanji for Hotaru's last name are 土, to ("earth") and 萠, hou ("bud" or "sprout"). The kanji 土 appears in the Japanese name for Saturn, 土星 (dosei). Her given name, Hotaru, sounds like 蛍 hotaru, which means "firefly".

♄ Hotaru's names in various international translations include Olivia Williams (French); Ottavia/Otavia (Italian/Portuguese); Andrea (Castilian) 土萌螢, Tomang Ying (Cantonese); 코코, Koko (Korean); and 본아, Bona (Korean manga translation).

♄ BITS AND PIECES ♄

♄ Hotaru's birthday is January 6^th, making her a Capricorn. In astrology, Capricorn is ruled by Saturn.

♄ Hotaru likes soba noodles, the color purple, and history; she dislikes milk and playing sports.

♄ She collects beautiful lamps.

♄ Especially in S, Hotaru is often shown wearing clothes in black or very dark shades of purple. When she is with Chibiusa, however, she sometimes wears brighter colors.

♄ DEATH AND REBIRTH ♄

♄ In both the anime and manga, Hotaru is shown as being sickly and prone to fits in which she acts violent and strange. In both versions, this resulted from an explosion at her father's lab that killed her mother and fatally wounded Hotaru herself. Dr. Tomoe allows himself to be possessed by Germatoid and Hotaru to be possessed by Mistress 9, both minions of the extradimensional being Pharaoh 90, in order to save her. In the manga, he also makes her body cybernetic.

♄ Hotaru also has healing powers, but unlike her illnesses and periods of strange behavior, these seem to come from the spirit of Sailor Saturn that is also within her.

♄ Because of Sailor Moon's determination not to let the innocent Hotaru/Saturn die, leading to her rescuing her from Pharaoh 90's dimension, Hotaru is ultimately reborn with a new, healthy and fully-human body in both the manga and the anime.

♄ Mistress 9, the daimon that possesses Hotaru, is intended to be the partner of Pharaoh 90 when it enters Earth's dimension and takes over the planet. Hotaru's fits are the result of Mistress 9 trying to gain control of her body. When she finally does gain control, Hotaru remains separate and aware inside her, and rescues Chibiusa's pure heart crystal after Mistress 9 swallows it.

♄ In the manga, Dr. Tomoe dies after the conclusion of the battle against Pharaoh 90. Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna adopt the newly reborn Hotaru and live together to raise her. Hotaru calls them Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama, and Setsuna-mama.

♄ In the anime, Haruka and Michiru return Hotaru to her father; Dr. Tomoe is injured and has lost his memories of being possessed. Foreseeing that she will be part of the next battle, Setsuna later goes to get her (at the beginning of Stars), and takes Hotaru to live with herself, Haruka, and Michiru. (It's not shown how much Dr. Tomoe remembers of Hotaru's former life, or what Setsuna tells him or does when taking Hotaru.)

♄ In the Stars arc, the approaching threat of Galaxia causes Hotaru to age rapidly, growing from an infant to a small child to the same age as Chibiusa within the span of a few weeks. She also uses her power to upgrade Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto into Super form.

♄ PRETTY SOLDIER ♄

♄ Sailor Saturn is the Senshi of Destruction. She is immensely powerful and is able to destroy any enemy, albeit at the cost of her own life. Sailor Saturn is also able to destroy a world that can no longer survive, allowing it to be reborn -- she delivered the finishing blow to Silver Millennium, allowing the Senshi to be born into a new world.

♄ According to the manga, Saturn was the princess of her planet and was (with Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto) responsible for guarding Silver Millennium from threats from outside the solar system. The manga also states, however, that Saturn only awoke when the kingdom was destroyed, so her exact status in past incarnations is not clear.

♄ The extent of Sailor Saturn's destructive powers led Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune to believe at first that Saturn was the Messiah of Silence they were trying to stop; when Hotaru was revealed to be Sailor Saturn, they were prepared to kill her.

♄ Like the other outer Senshi, Sailor Saturn has a weapon: she has a massive bladed polearm called the Silence Glaive. She can use it as a weapon in its own right or as part of a magical attack.

♄ Sailor Saturn is the only Senshi who is never shown fighting a monster of the week -- though Hotaru encounters (and destroys) a daimon in S.

♄ Her dominant color is purple and her uniform colors are purple, white (on her tiara gem), and a very dark, almost black shade of red/brown. Saturn's uniform has several unique details, including a six-pointed star on her choker, a brooch that looks like a white crystal (similar to a pure heart crystal), and wing-like sleeves.

♄ In the anime, Hotaru has no transformation item or sequence. The only times she is shown transforming are by the direct intervention of the awakened Saturn within her. A transformation sequence was created for her in the Sega Saturn game Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon SuperS: Various Emotion.

♄ In the manga, each of the planetary Senshi is the princess of her own planet and has her own castle, given to her by Queen Serenity. These castles are named after the respective planets' moons. Saturn's castle is called Castle Titan.

♄ MUSIC ♄

♄ Hotaru has no image songs.

♄ "The Second Coming" and "Dreams", a spoken prologue and poem from Disc 5 of the Memorial Song Box. The prologue is a recitation of the Japanese translation of Yeats' "The Second Coming".
(Translation here)

♄ PLAYED BY ♄

♄ Hotaru was voiced by Minaguchi Yuuko in the anime.

♄ In SeraMyu, she was portrayed by Takeda Keiko, Imai Chihiro, Sanpei Asami, Mita Mao, Tomioka Mario, Kakiuchi Ayami, Nakamura Ruria, Iizuka Yui, and Funakoshi Eriko.

♄ She was portrayed by Takahashi Karin and Mirai in the revival musicals.

♄ In the original English dub, Hotaru was voiced by Jennifer Gould.

♄ In the new English dub by Viz, she is voiced by Christine Marie Cabanos.

♄ MAGICAL GIRL ♄

♄ indicates a video! NB: Videos may contain flashing images!

S SEASON/INFINITY ARC

Death Reborn Revolution: Sailor Saturn's ultimate power, which allows her to destroy any enemy -- no matter how powerful -- at the cost of her own life. Exactly how this power is used is never shown, although the manga refers to Saturn dropping the blade of her glaive to bring about the end of the world.

Silence Glaive: A huge polearm with a scythelike blade. As with the other Outer Senshis' weapons, Sailor Saturn can use her glaive for magical attacks, or as a deadly weapon in its own right.

SUPERS SEASON/DREAM ARC

Saturn Crystal: Hotaru's sailor crystal, a heart-shaped stone. She uses it to transform into Super Sailor Saturn with the phrase "Saturn Crystal Power, Makeup!" The Saturn Crystal appears only in the manga.

Guardian Saturn: Hotaru's Sailor Power Guardian, a small sprite who looks like a tiny version of Sailor Saturn. She resides in Castle Titan. Guardian Saturn appears only in the manga.

SAILOR STARS SEASON/STARS ARC

♄ Silent Wall: A defensive maneuver in which Saturn uses her glaive to block an enemy's attack.

♄ Silence Glaive Surprise: An attack in which Sailor Saturn uses the Silence Glaive to create a huge burst of energy that was capable of destroying Nehellenia's stronghold, while creating a protective shield around herself and Sailor Chibi Moon.
In the manga, this attack first appears in the Dream arc; Saturn also uses a variant of it called Galactica Glaive Surprise while she is controlled by Galaxia in the manga.

Galactica Cannon: While controlled by Galaxia in the manga, Sailor Saturn and Sailor Pluto use the Silence Glaive and Garnet Orb in a dual attack, sending a massive surge of energy at Sailor Chibi Chibi. It's not shown if they are able to perform this dual attack while not under Galaxia's control.

Star Seed: Star seeds are crystals that are the embodiment of each person's life. In the anime, Hotaru's star seed is a purple crystal with a glowing core; in the manga, it is the Saturn Crystal.
It is a true star seed (anime) or sailor crystal (manga), the star seed of a planet(/star/asteroid/etc). Being born with a true star seed/sailor crystal enables a person to transform into the Senshi or guardian of that planet.

♄

"Along with death... hope and rebirth begin."