Aries Mu

Infobox animanga character
name = Aries Mu
series = Saint Seiya


caption = Aries Mu by Masami Kurumada
first =
creator = Masami Kurumada
voiced by = Shiozawa Kaneto (塩沢 兼人)
Takumi Yamazaki (山崎 たくみ)
age = 20
gender = Male
born = March 27
nationality = Tibet
class = Saint
paux1 = Athena
paux1 name = Loyalty
paux2 = Aries
paux2 name = Cloth
paux3 = Gold
paux3 name = Rank
paux4 = Jamir
paux4 name = Training
paux5 = 1.82 m
paux5 name = Height
aux1 = 75 kg
aux1 name = Weight
aux2 = A
aux2 name = Blood type
aux3 = Glamour Illusion
Crystal Wall
Crystal Net
Starlight Extinction
Stardust Revolution
aux3 name = Secret moves
aux4 =
manga: chapter 12, vol.3
Anime: ep.10
aux4 name = First appearance

nihongo|Aries Mu|牡羊座のムウ|Ariesu no Mū is a fictional character from the manga "Saint Seiya", authored by japanese mangaka Masami Kurumada, and later adapted to anime. He is one of the bronze saint's most trusted allies, and serves as the man who repairs damaged cloths in the early stages of the series.

Personality and background

Mu was introduced by Masami Kurumada in vol. 3 of his manga.

Under the tutelage of Shion, the Pope of the Sanctuary, Mu was able to become the Gold Saint of Aries at a young age. While all gold saints have a base of psychic powers to some degree, Mu has been stated to possess the strongest raw psychic talent among all living gold saints. This allows him to manipulate his gift to various degrees: psychokinesis, telepathy, teleportation, and various other powers are at his command.

Mu is very soft spoken, with a scholarly-like personality; his demeanor is very tranquil and logical, almost as if he is a professor of the Sanctuary. Various official translations of the manga and anime, as well as Mandarin language Saint Seiya fans, tend to refer to the character as 'Lord Mu' or 'Mister Mu'. He is good friends with Taurus Aldebaran, and is very respectful to the 243 year old master Libra Dohko.

Before the start of the series, Mu removed himself from Sanctuary after suspecting that his mentor (and then-Pope), Aries Shion, had been quietly assassinated. He relocated to Jamir, a mystical land that only those with a high level of either psychic or Cosmo power can enter. From here, Mu severed all ties to Sanctuary and lived a life of solitude with his apprentice, the young psychic Kiki. It wasn't until years later, when he met Dragon Shiryu and Pegasus Seiya, that he began to become involved in the affairs of Sanctuary again.

Throughout the manga and anime series, Mu is the man to go to when a Saint needs his or her cloth repaired. Although every individual Cloth has the ability to regenerate itself after a battle, a hands-on restoration from Mu is needed if a cloth has been severely damaged to the point of death. In normal cases, 1/3 of a person's total blood supply is required for Mu to begin work right away. When restoring an armor, Mu uses hardware tools and the elements that are used to forge a Cloth: the mythical and extremely rare metal known as "Gammanium", used in an alloy with the legendary metal Orichalcum, and finally, the radiant "Star Dust Sand".

Plot overview

The sanctuary saga

After their lengthy battle with one another, bronze saints Shiryu and Seiya found themselves with the loss of their cloths -- they had both heavily damaged them to the point where it was impossible to wear them. With the impending threat of Phoenix Ikki and his Black Saints, Seiya and Shiryu both desperately needed a solution. Luckily for them, Shiryu's sensei, Libra Dohko, knew of a man who would be able to return life to their bronze cloths. That man was known as Mu of Jamir. Shiryu, carrying both the Dragon and Pegasus cloth on his back, quickly left for a journey to locate this mysterious entity.

Shiryu had to endure many traps and hardship on his way across the mountains. Dead spirits of former saints haunted him. Giant boulders crashed down from the sky. But after all was said and done, Shiryu overcame Mu's tests of determination and finally reached the mystical Jamir. At first, he was greeted by Kiki, of whom he had assumed to be Mu himself. Fortunately, Mu was present in Jamir at the time, and appeared to the Dragon Saint to correct the misunderstanding. Shiryu then dropped the two bronze cloths and begged Mu to repair them. Mu originally refused, stating plainly that the armors had been far too damaged for him to fix. However, he soon found himself convinced to give Shiryu a chance when the bronze saint revealed that he would sacrifice his very life if it meant the cloths could come alive once more.

Mu agreed to take the job, but explained that he would need 1/3 of Shiryu's blood on the cloths before he could touch them. Shiryu, without the slightest bit of hesitation, slit his own wrists and poured his blood onto the Dragon and Pegasus bronze cloth. Mu was impressed, and healed Shiryu's wounds just as the blood had dripped to the amount he needed.

In the manga, Mu appeared moments after the Phoenix Ikki vs. the Bronze Saints battle was over. He used his teleportation abilities to remove Seiya, Shiryu, Hyoga, and Shun out of the collapsing Mt. Fujii. After getting the saints to safetly, he was confronted by silver saint Lizard Misty, who threatened him by creating a crater with one finger, inches from Mu's feet. Mu was unimpressed, however. The would-be fight was interrupted when Seiya's mentor, Eagle Marin, appeared on the scene.

At one point, the silver saints commented that it would be a bad idea to challenge Mu. Although it was not known at the time, their assumption was correct because Mu is, in fact, a gold saint.

After the defeat of the Silver Saints, the Supreme Pontiff commented that he was missing 3 sets of Gold Cloth to complete the 12 Gold Saints of the Zodiac: The Gold Cloth of Sagittarius, which belonged to the "traitor," Aiolos, which was now currently in Japan; the Gold Cloth of Aries, belonging to a hermit living in Jamir with the power to repair Cloths; the Gold Cloth of Libra, belonging to the oldest Gold Saint who left Sanctuary many years ago, living in the Roshan Falls.

He dispatches Cancer Deathmask to Roshan, attempting to take the Gold Cloth of Libra by force from its owner, who was revealed to be Dohko, Shiryu's master. Dohko does nothing to stop Deathmask, and Shiryu was clearly no match for Cancer Deathmask - a Gold Saint with the ability to move at the overwhelming speed of light. As Deathmask was about to use his deadliest technique on the Dragon Saint, the Gold Saint of Aries interferes, and prevents Deathmask from killing Shiryu, saying that Shiryu is a good friend of his. Shiryu is shocked that Mu was actually the Gold Saint of Aries.

Although he has left Sanctuary many years ago, Mu was bound by duty to return to Sanctuary when Saori Kido declares that she is Athena, and challenges the Pope for leadership of Sanctuary. When the Bronze Saints were sent to make their run through the 12 Temples, they see that Aries Mu was the guardian of the first temple. Instead of fighting them, Mu tells the Bronze Saints that their Cloth withstood small amounts of damage over the past battles, and asks them to spend 1 hour here so he could repair them. He also reveals to the Bronze Saints about the "Seventh Sense," the strongest cosmo that is mastered by the Gold Saints.

Mu decides to stay behind with his apprentice Kiki, and watch over the body of the fallen goddess while the Bronze saint go through the 12 Zodiac palaces.

Near the end of the battle in Sanctuary, Mu suddenly hears the voice of Virgo Shaka, calling him from another dimension to help him return to the material plane. Mu replies that Shaka is a Gold Saint and should have no trouble crossing over this plane. Shaka explains that he has another being with him, and he need his help. Out of all 12 Gold Saint - Mu is the most gifted Saint in Telekinesis. Mu agrees to help and suddenly Phoenix Ikki returns to the Earthly plane along with Virgo Shaka. After their return, Ikki rushes to help Seiya fight with the Pope.

Aries Mu reveals the secret which was known among very few (Libra Dohko, and perhaps Cancer Deathmask - see Episode G) that the Grand Pope is actually the former Gold Saint of Gemini - Gemini Saga. It was Saga that had orchestrated the assassination of Athena, labeled Aiolos a traitor and took over Sanctuary as Pope.

Poseidon saga

Because their Cloth has been destroyed in the battle against various Gold Saints, Mu had to repair them again. This time, each Cloth was repaired by the blood of a Gold Saint, allowing them to reach levels of strength similar (though not equal) to a Gold Cloth. Similarly, they would glow golden when a Bronze Saint powers his cosmo to a Gold Saint level.

During the war against Poseidon's Marine Generals, Leo Aiolia wanted to join the Bronze Saints to save Athena. Unable to stand still, with the knowledge that the weaker Bronze Saints are battling overwhelming odds, enemies powerful than them, and even confronting a God - decides to leave the House of Leo and head off to Atlantis to help the Bronze saints. However, Mu reveals that under orders of Roshi (who acts as second-in-command of Sanctuary due to the death of the Grand Pope, and the absence of Athena - and him being the Eldest of the Gold Saints) all the Gold Saints must remain in Sanctuary, to prepare themselves for "the war that is ahead." Aiolia was angered by this, and Mu threatened to stop him by force if he tried to leave.

The spirit of the deceased Gold Saints Sagittarius Aiolos and Aquarius Camus, hearing their dispute, send their Gold Cloth to Seiya and Hyoga, allowing the remaining Gold Saints to remain at Sanctuary.

Despite the order that Roshi has declared in Sanctuary - Aioria comments in how that won't stop his older brother's way of thinking. He has always watched over everybody and has decided to go off to Atlantis to help the Bronze saints against Poseidon. Shortly - the Aquarius Gold Cloth takes off as well.

Mu thanks both former Gold saints in helping them in such crucial moments.

Hades Arc

At the entrance of the Aries temple, the first temple of Sanctuary, several black cloaked men have appeared before Mu. Mu tells them to stop, but the leader of the cloaked spectre orders Mu to bow down to him. Mu is shocked when he recognizes the man as his deceased master Aries Shion, former Pope of Sanctuary, and does so. Shion orders Mu to enter Sanctuary and return with the head of Athena, an order which Mu could not accept. Shion then sends two spectres: Cancer Deathmask and Pisces Aphrodite, to attack Mu. Mu managed to reflect their attacks with his technique: "Crystal Wall", while Shion mocks Mu for daring to stop him with such a simple trick, and shatters the Crystal Wall.

Pegasus Seiya, who arrived in Sanctuary, is shocked to see Deathmask and Aphrodite still alive, and tries to fight them. Mu stops him by hitting Seiya, and explaining to him - that this is no longer a battle for a simple Bronze Saint. Deathmask proves this point by hitting the Pegasus saint many times, while Mu only watches. Seiya is ready to counter-attack when a gold beam pierces his chest from behind. Mu declares that he will kill him if he refuses to leave Sanctuary, an order decreed by the Goddess Athena herself. Seiya refuses to believe that, and Mu is left with no choice but to finish off the Pegasus Saint with a "Starlight Extinction" attack (though in reality, he actually warped Seiya to another part of Sanctuary). After that Mu proceeds to defeat Cancer Deathmask and Pisces Aphrodite with another "Starlight Extinction" attack, intending to banish them to the world of death once more (but, instead, they are sent to Hades' castle in Germany). According to Shion, this was the first time Mu fought to kill his opponent.

Shion tells Mu that this is not over, and warns him that Cancer Deathmask and Pisces Aphrodite are not the only fallen saints after Athen. The spectre of Gemini Saga, Aquarius Camus and Capricorn Shura appear before him. Mu is shocked to see, the strongest of the Gold Saints stand before him and he was no match for their combined power. A battle of the most powerful Gold Saints begin, which ends with Mu being defeated, allowing the three to pass through the Aries temple. Shion paralyzes Mu, and decides to kill him in a painless manner because he was fond of his former pupil. Shion tries to finish Mu himself, but is interrupted by Libra Dohko (Roshi), Shion's friend in the past Holy War 243 years ago. Roshi reveals Shion's true nature, and reveals that it was him and Shion, the only 2 survivors of the past Holy War. He orders Mu to gather Aioria and the rest to protect Athena for next 12 hrs (Roshi realizes that Shion's and the others' lives are like the flame on the clock, slowly dying away) - Mu then pursues after Saga, Camus and Shura.

In the Taurus temple, Mu is surprised to see Taurus Aldebaran dead. He realizes the true Spectres of Hades' army have infiltrated as shadows in Sanctuary after the appearance of Deep Niobe, who claims that he poisoned Aldebaran to death, and attacks Mu. Mu blocks his attack with the "Crystal Wall", and tells Niobe that he is already dead and has been killed by Aldebaran's "Great Horn" but fails to realize that his body his about to fall apart. Niobe is shocked as his body explodes as Mu exits the temple.

Mu then comes across another Spectre, saying Mu is his target (all Spectres seemed to fear him, and thus leave). The Spectre revealed himself to be a caterpillar-looking creature, and traps Mu in a cocoon. Mu managed to break free eventually, and the Spectre states that he was only biding time to transform into his ultimate form: he now appears as a human with a butterfly surplice, Papillon Myu. He possesses strong telekinetic powers much like Mu, which he uses for this battle. Myu managed to block Mu's "Stardust Revolution" attack easily with his fairies, and used his "Fairy Thronging" attack which managed to pin down Mu twice, but Mu escapes both times by teleportation. Myu wonders why Mu wouldn't teleport away to another temple escape the battle, and Mu reveals his attack: he has woven a web with his psychic powers and stardust, trapping Papillon Myu and the fairies he use for his "Fairy Thronging" in a giant spider web. He then proceeds to kill him with the "Starlight Extinction", throwing Myu's fairies against himself.

Mu arrives in the Virgo temple, and prevents Seiya and others from helping Virgo Shaka, saying that this was Shaka's final wish, but is shocked to see that Saga, Camus and Shura have just killed the Gold Saint Virgo Shaka with the "Athena Exclamation", the forbidden technique. Saga, Camus and Shura charge up another "Athena Exclamation" - threatening that they will do it again if anyone stands in their way. Mu reminds Saga, that there are also 3 Gold Saints ahead. Mu combines his powers with Leo Aiolia and Scorpio Milo to use "Athena Exclamation" against them. The clashing powers of two Athena Exclamations destroy the Virgo temple apart. Eventually, the combined power of these two attacks was deflected by Dragon Shiryu (in the anime, it was by the combined power of all 4 Bronze Saints). Athena beckons the two parties to stop fighting and come to her at her palace. Athena tells the fallen Gold Saints that they no longer have to suffer and commits suicide (secretly invoking the 8th sense as told by Virgo Shaka in his petals he sent her) and it was then that Shion's true intention was revealed: they came to Sanctuary as Spectres to tell Athena of the God Cloth, and that the only way to defeat Hades was to enter Hell alive using the Eighth Sense - the ability to go the realm of the dead while having the will to live.

Mu, Aioria and Milo arrive in Hades' castle, where they face Wyvern Rhadamanthys. To their shock, Rhadamanthys easily overpowers the three of them, revealing that in Hades castle is under Hades' will and cosmo - all Saints have their power reduced to 1/10th (this was stated by Gemini Kanon in the anime and in the Manga). He defeats all three of them easily, and throws them into the abyss to Hell.

When Pegasus Seiya was cast into the frozen Hell where those who dare to defy the gods are kept, he saw Aries Mu, Leo Aiolia and Scorpio Milo trapped in there as well, apparently dead. However, upon Athena's arrival to Hell, they were revived by her power, and broke free. The three arrived in front of the Wall of Sighs, the gateway to Elysion, with Virgo Shaka and Libra Dohko, and the group attempts to break the wall with the weapons of the Libra Gold Cloth, but fail. In fact they must have had to gather all 12 of the Gold Cloth, and sacrifice themselves to open this gateway, allowing the Bronze Saints to reach Elysion - the paradise of the Gods - the true home of Hades.

Powers and abilities

While Mu is depicted as a pacifist throughout the first half of the series, he is an extremely capable and powerful fighter when the situation demands so. Not only is the Saint of Aries built with two offensive and one defensive attacks, he is also a master of various psychic techniques. From basic teleportation to advanced telekinesis, Mu is revered as a premiere psychic user among even those outside of Sainthood.

As Mu possesses extraordinary psychic and telekinetic abilities, he can manifest his mental prowess with the Glamour Illusion, a technique he has used only once to date, in vol. 5 of the manga, against the group of the Silver Saints Lizard Misty, Hound Asterion, Kaitos Mozes and Kentaur Babel. The Illusion tricks the opponent into thinking whatever Mu decides, make the opponent think white is black or glass is diamonds, as Cygnus Hyouga described it. Mu used it to trick the Silver Saints into thinking the Black Saints they killed were the Bronze Saints. However, an opponent with a strong mind or psychic power can be capable of seeing through the Glamour spun by Mu, as Lizard Misty was able to discover Eagle Marin's and Mu's deception after some time.

His defensive techniques are nihongo|Crystal Wall|クリスタルウォール|Kurisutaru Wōru which creates a transparent, glass-like barrier made of psycho-power, between Mu and an object. The wall is very durable, and has been shown to shield Mu against everything from normal cosmos attacks to poison scent and rebounding the attack back to the enemy with the same strength it was launched. The strength of the wall is dependent on Mu's cosmos level; at 100%, it is nearly unbreakable to almost all but Mu's mentor who taught him the technique, Aries Shion. A variation of this technique is nihongo|Crystal Net|クリスタルネット|Kurisutaru Neto that creates a psycho-power made spider web. This web can refrain the movements of the targets that get in contact with it.

nihongo|Starlight Extinction|スターライトエクスティンクション|Sutāraito Ekusutinkushion its a teleportation-based offensive technique. Although it essence rely not on destroying the opponent but on removing him from battle, by teleporting the opponent out of sight and out of the fight, when Mu used it against Pegasus Seiya, he was able to send the bronze saint to a location of his choosing. He also used this technique to send Cancer Deathmask and Pisces Aphrodite to Hades' earthly castle in Germany (it must be noted that he was trying to kill them by sending both to the "dead world"). In the fight against Papillon Myu, at the end of the battle when Papillon is entrapped by "Crystal Net", Mu sent him out of existence, and thus successfully killed him. (The kill was confirmed by Virgo Shaka's 108 Rosary. The number of the black beads also includes Papillon's.) In Episode G, Starlight Extinction is also used to remove Dimension Iapetos' dimensional rifts.

One of Mu's most powerful attacks is nihongo|Stardust Revolution|スターダストレボリューション|Sutādasuto Reboryūshon. Like "Crystal Wall", it is an attack that was handed down by his mentor Aries Shion (The former Aries Gold Saint and the real Pope of Athena's Sanctuary in this modern era). The attack summons stardust from stars and galaxies then throws million of blows instantly. It's well known that the attack has force of shooting stars and comets and obliterates an enemy with raw cosmos power. In Episode G, Mu used this attack to destroy all the hundred arms of the Hechatonchire.

In addition to all of these techniques, Mu is also blessed with the speed of light that all Gold Saints possess due their mastering over the 7th sense. He can also teleport his own body or any object at will at anytime, even during the midst of battle. The will of Athena wakes Mu and the other eleven gold saints out of death state in order for them to batter down the Wailing Wall.

Cloth, Constellation and Temple

Mu's guardian constellation is Aries, and his Gold Cloth represents it and its associated myth : the winged Ram that saved the boy Phrixus and his sister Helle, and later, the Ram's skin was known as the Golden Fleece, and found by the legendary Jason of the Argonauts.

The temple Mu guarded was known both in manga and the anime adaptation as HakuYouKyuu, the "Temple of the White Ram".

Notes

*In his manga, Kurumada gave Mu blonde hair. In the anime adaptation, due to a relative excess of yellow tones in Kurumada's design, Mu's color hair was modified to lilac to achieve a better color balance and contrast. His apprentice Kiki's orange hair in the manga remained so in the anime adaptation.

*As revealed by Masami Kurumada in vol.12 of his manga, Mu became a Gold Saint at an early age. He had already been granted the Gold Saint status and the Aries Gold Cloth by the time he was 7 years old.