Gemini Saga

Infobox animanga character
name = Gemini Saga
series = Saint Seiya


caption = Gemini Saga by Masami Kurumada
first =
creator = Masami Kurumada
voiced by = Kazuyuki Sogabe (曽我部 和恭)
Ryōtarō Okiayu (置鮎 龍太郎))
Akio Nojima (野島 昭生)
age = 28
gender = Male
born = May 30
nationality = Greece
class = Saint
paux1 = Athena (good side)
Himself (evil side)
paux1 name = Loyalty
paux2 = Gemini
paux2 name = Cloth
paux3 = Gold
paux3 name = Rank
paux4 = Greece
paux4 name = Training
paux5 = 1.88 m
paux5 name = Height
aux1 = 87 kg
aux1 name = Weight
aux2 = AB
aux2 name = Blood type
aux3 =
Galaxian Explosion
Another Dimension
Specter Emperor Fist
aux3 name = Secret moves
aux4 =
manga: chapter 1, vol.1 (as the Pope)
manga: chapter 42, vol.12 (as Gold Saint)
Anime: ep.1 (as the Pope)
Anime: ep.71 (as Gold Saint)
aux4 name = First appearancenihongo|Gemini Saga|双子座のサガ|Jemini no Saga is a fictional character from "Saint Seiya", a manga series authored by Masami Kurumada, and later adapted to anime.

Personality and background

Along with Leo Aiolia, Saga disguised as the Pope was the first Gold Saint that Masami Kurumada introduced in his manga, although their rank was revealed until later volumes. In his first appearance, Saga presided the event in which Pegasus Seiya acquired the status of Saint. In the anime adaptation, he was introduced in identical manner, in episode 1.

Saga served as the main antagonist for the Sanctuary arc. Being an excellent strategist, Saga managed to put himself in control of the sanctuary (though unfairly) for many years. Before the final showdown between himself and Pegasus Seiya, Saga was portrayed as a mysterious being with his facial features hidden from view.

Kurumada described Saga and Kanon in his manga (vol.7) as being extremely beautiful. This was probably a reference he made to the myth associated to the Gemini Constellation, which represents Castor and Pollux, brothers of Helen of Troy.

Saga is often described by other characters as someone with the kindness of an angel but with the darkness of a demon. This ambivalence ended up creating a split personality: a good Saga that was extremely loyal to Athena and an evil one that keep the control of the body most of the time and killed the previous Pope to steal his place. Sometimes it is hinted that the creation of his "bad" personality had the influence of some external force, although nothing was clearly stated.
When it takes the control of Saga's body, his hair turn from blond to jet-black (the color schemes were altered for the anime, in which Saga's normally blue hair turned light grey). Saga's two "sides", can also communicate between them : in a dialogue the good Saga reproaches his evil "side" to have forced him to hurt Athena.

Plot overview

The Sanctuary saga

Although he is not in the same age range as Libra Dohko or Aries Shion, Saga is perhaps one of the oldest Gold Saint of his generation at the age of 28. Before the events of the conspiracy, Saga was one of the most popular men in Greece, and was often regarded as a kind, generous soul loved by many, earning him the alias of "the Demigod." Unknown to most people in Sanctuary, there was an evil side lurking within him, one that Saga had struggled to suppress for years. Of course, only his twin brother Kanon knew about this, which later was the reason why Saga had Kanon imprisoned in the dungeon at Cape Sounion when Kanon suggested that Saga embrace the evil. However, after Kanon's imprisonment, Saga had only became further corrupted by the evil within him.
Along with fellow senior Saint Sagittarius Aiolos, Saga was summoned by the Pope Shion for a meeting to decide the successor to the throne. Due to the fact that most of the gold saints were too young at the time for this honor, the choice fell upon Gemini Saga and Sagittarius Aiolos. The exception was Dohko but he was in charge of watching the seal of Hades therefore he could not leave the 5 peaks Mountain in China. Unfortunately for Saga, Aiolos would be the one announced to take the seat and lead infant Athena towards the path of good. This news did not please the Gemini Saint, and it brought him to an eventual confrontation with Shion.
Gazing at the constellations on Star Hill, Pope Shion recalled the words of prophecy said by the last Pope before him. Suddenly, Saga appeared and demanded to know why he, the superior gold saint, had been denied the throne. Shion hesitated at first, but finally explained that he felt an uncomfortable presence residing within Saga. Saga's hair color suddenly faded from blonde to gray, and his eyes turned blood-red with black pupils -- the transformation confirmed Shion's suspicions. Before the Pope could react, however, Saga landed a fatal blow through his heart.
With Shion's death, Saga assumed his identity and orchestrated a mass conspiracy that would last for 13 years. The Pope's head-dress and mask allowed Saga to hide his true face from the rest of the world, and soon, rumors began to circulate throughout Sanctuary that the Gemini Gold Saint had vanished.
Saga, under the disguise of the Pope, then attempted to assassinate the baby Athena -- an event that would result in the banishment and death of Aiolos, the Sagittarius Gold Saint appointed to be the next Pope of Sanctuary. Pulling baby Athena away from the tips of Ares' mysterious golden dagger, Aiolos confronted the Pope and demanded an explanation. Ares ignored him and resumed his attack, which led to Aiolos retaliating with a blow of his own. The punch sent Ares flying onto the nearest wall, knocking off his head-dress and mask as a result. The revelation shocked Aiolos, for he now realized it was Saga beneath the robes of the Pope -- and the one who had killed Shion to acquire this rank. With his cover blown, Saga unleashed a fury of assaults that heavily injured Aiolos. Aiolos, concerned for the infant Athena's safety, quickly took off from Sanctuary with the child in his arms.
The rest of Sanctuary saw this as an act of treason. Saga, content in knowing that his true identity was still hidden from the rest of the world, declared Aiolos a villainous traitor who attempted to kill the baby Athena.
Posing as the Pope, Saga lead the Sanctuary on the fight against the Titans and, after that, against Athena, saying that she was just pretending to be the goddess.
It seems that the evil nature in Saga hadn't fully consumed him, as the series depicted various scenes of the two sides arguing back and forth with each other. In the final confrontation between himself, Pegasus Seiya, and Phoenix Ikki, the kind Saga fought his evil side several times, each time to intercept his evil nature's would-be-fatal assaults on Seiya. In the manga, it is Seiya (using the shield of Athena) who, at last, ejected the evil spirit from Saga. In the anime, it was Saga himself (with the Goddess of Victory staff that he used in a brief moment of lucidity) who finished off the evil entity. Before the arc was over, Saga is finally cleansed once and for all, and, in a final attempt to restore his honor, committed suicide in front of Athena, by thrusting his fist through his heart.

Asgard and Poseidon saga

In Asgard, Saga's spirit appears in the sky to comfort and give advice to a battle-worn Seiya, of whom at the time had fallen down a cliff. The sudden appearance of Saga's spirit cheering Seiya, makes Seiya shed tears. Even after death, Saga remained a true loyal Saint to Athena.
Saga makes a cameo in a flashback with his twin brother Kanon during the fight against Poseidon's army, in which his evil dual nature is revealed. As a result, he attempted to murder his brother by locking Kanon in Cape Sounion. He later on appears in the last episode of the Poseidon chapter among with Shura, Camus, and Aiolos, as spirits looking down a beautiful morning backdrop at top of the Sanctuary hill.

The Hades

Saga is one of the six Gold Saints to return from the depths of Hell. The revived Saints have seemingly abandoned their Sainthood to plead alligenace to Hades, God of the Underworld. Saga would fight against his twin brother Gemini Kanon in the Gemini Temple. After having some troubles with the illusion, Saga sent an attack directly at the Pope's temple, almost hiting Kanon and ending his influence over the Gemini Temple. After the fight Saga cried being proud of his brother as he is now an Athena Saint. Later Saga fought against Virgo Shaka together with Capricorn Shura and Aquarius Camus, killing the Virgo Saint using the forbidden technique Athena Exclamation. After fighting against Aries Mu, Leo Aiolia and Scorpio Milo it is revealed that they were attempting to fool Hades in order to warn Athena of his ambitions, as well as grant the goddess her Holy God Cloth and survive the upcoming Holy War. The three planned and succeeded in going to the castle of Hades and tricking Pandora by telling her they have the corpse of Athena. Although they trick her, their bodies disappear because twelve hours had passed but before disappearing, Saga tells the Bronze Saints to protect their goddess. Later on, he (combined with Kanon's soul) and the other previously deceased Gold Saints revived on the underworld in order to help Seiya get to Elysium by sacrificing themselves destroying the Sighing Wall.

Other media

Saga is a prominent character in Megumu Okada's Saint Seiya Episode G. It is shown that he conspired with Cronus to free the Titans, and that it was him who gave Saga the golden dagger. He is shown as a very morally complex character. The two sides, as in the original manga, are constantly arguing.

Saga also appears in the third Movie, being brought back to life by Abel. After the death of Athena he would encounter Seiya to encourage him to kill Abel. After the fight Saga fights against Jao of Lynx and performs the move Galaxian Explosion similar to the one of Gemini Kanon and die with him.
In the Heaven Arc Prologue his soul is sealed with the other Gold Saints when they talk to the gods and say they always be loyal to Athena. Although being sealed he would encourage Phoenix Ikki and Andromeda Shun to fight against the angel of Artemis.

In his incarnation appeared but still has not take part in the plot and so his name is unknown. Is not clear if he is the inncarnation of Saga or Kanon..
Since this 18th century incarnation appears only in the sidestory Saint Seiya Lost Canvas not authored by Masami Kurumada, he still holds a status as a non-canonical character.

Power and abilities

As one of the twelve Gold Saints, Saga was greatly skilled in all aspects of combat. He possesses light-speed attacks and strong mental-psychic powers, which allow him to create vivid illusions and distort time and space(Another Dimension). He is able to do this at great distances after mentally locating the opponents exact position. As an example of his great power, Saga was able to deprive Pegasus Seiya of his five senses using Cosmo energy blasts from his fists. In the anime, he is also able to deflect a triple attack from three Bronze Saints who acquired the 7th sense (although it's hinted that they hadn't "mastered" the 7th sense, so they're weaker than a Gold Saint), with minimal effort.

Many consider Saga to be one of the most powerful of all Gold Saints, including Virgo Shaka.

nihongo|Another Dimension|アナザーディメンション|Anazā Dimenshon Allows him to bend space and time itself provoking a rift or a passageway to a different dimension,intending to push and trap his opponents inside to wander forever after he has done this.The technique not only sends physical bodies to a different dimension but also intangible beings such as souls and spirits.An added fact about this particular move is that Saga can launch this at great distances,coupled with a very vivid illusion of himself wearing his armor,Saga thwarts the opponent into believing that he is in the given location performing the move,when in reality he might be miles away from the actual fighting ground.

nihongo|Specter Emperor Fist|幻朧魔皇拳|GenrōmaōkenThis move directly strikes the opponents brain, the weak version can paralyse the opponent's nervous system for a few minutes, rendering him immobile and ultimately open to any attack. The more powerful version allows Saga to strike into the mind of his opponents allowing him to "brainwash" the opponent into doing his bidding and even make them go against their most precious assets. The effects of the power will only wear off if the victim complies with the brainwashed mission that Saga gave him when applying this move,in other words, if the person was sent to kill someone, that person will go back to his original self once he had committed the action of killing. His most powerful attack is nihongo|Galaxian Explosion|ギャラクシアンエクスプロージョン|gyarakushian ekusupurōjon. One of, if not the, most destructive moves in the entire Saint Seiya series, with the Athena Exclamation as the only exception. When used at maximum power, this move is said to be as powerful as the explosion of a star system or a galaxy, which is seen in the background whenever Saga uses this technique, and hence its name. Its blast can destroy intangible beings such as souls. In Saint Seiya Episode G this technique is explained indirectly stating that it resembles Leo Aiolias' Photon Burst, but actually does not leave the quasi-fatal after effects of Aiolia's photon burst or at least he seems to actually have mastered this move to a point were it does not have does after effects on him, thus leaving him able to do it once and once again.

Cloth, Constellation and Temple

Saga's guardian constellation is Gemini, and his Gold Cloth represents it and its associated myth : the Dioskuroi, Castor and Polydeuces, twin sons of Leda and brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra.

The temple Saga guarded was known both in manga and the anime adaptation as Sōjikyū, the "Temple of the Twins".

Notes

*In his manga, Kurumada gave Saga blonde hair. When his evil personality took over, his hair color was light purple in color pages, and black represented this last color in the black and white pages. In the anime adaptation, due to a relative excess of yellow tones in Kurumada's design, Saga's normal hair color was blue, to achieve a better color balance and contrast. When his evil personality took over, his hair color was gray.

*As revealed by Masami Kurumada in vol.12 of his manga, Saga became a Gold Saint at an early age. He had already been granted the Gold Saint status and the Gemini Gold Cloth before the time he was 15 years old.

*When Saga donned the Pope's attire, Kurumada always drew his face shadowed by the helmet. In the anime adaptation, Kurumada's design from his manga was used, with a small addition: Saga's shadowed face was covered by a mask, similar to the ones worn by Eagle Marin and Ophiuchus Shaina, to emphasize the enigma of the Pope's true identity.