Unicorn Jabu

Infobox animanga character
name = Unicorn Jabu
series = Saint Seiya


caption = Jabu, the Unicorn Bronze Saint, in a screenshot from the anime adaptation
creator = Masami Kurumada
voiced by = Kōsuke Meguro
Hideo Ishikawa OVA
Akie Yasuda (child Jabu)

age = 13
gender = Male
born = November 3
nationality = Japan
class = Saint
paux1 = Athena
paux1 name = Loyalty
paux2 = Unicorn
paux2 name = Cloth
paux3 = Bronze
paux3 name = Rank
paux4 = Oran, Algeria
paux4 name = Training
paux5 = 1.65 m
paux5 name = Height
aux1 = 55 kg
aux1 name = Weight
aux2 = B
aux2 name = Blood type
aux3 = Unicorn Gallop
aux3 name = Secret moves
aux4 =
manga: chapter 3, vol.1
Anime: ep.1 (briefly)
Anime: ep.2 (fully)
aux4 name = First appearance

nihongo|Unicorn Jabu|一角獣星座の邪武|Yunikōn no Jabu is a fictional character from the manga "Saint Seiya",authored by Japanese mangaka Masami Kurumada, and later adapted to anime. Jabu is one of the Bronze Saints which protect Athena.

ecret moves

*Unicorn Gallop :Jabu's only known attack. He used this technique a few times during the anime series, most notably against Andromeda Shun, with no success. It is presented as nothing more than a simple and physical kick attack, which he developed during his training.

In the manga, however, it is a more detailed and powerful attack, at least on the level of the early attacks of the main 5 Bronze Saints (Seiya, Shiryu, etc). For some reason, the animators chose not to give this attack much detail, or even use it at all in the animated series. For example, while it was used successfully against 3 unknown Specters in Hades Saga in the manga, the entire scene was ignored when the Hades Saga was animated.

It's been suggested that Unicorn cloth's horn is a powerful weapon, but it never shown that Jabu actually uses it. In the manga he fought Lionet Ban in the Galaxian Wars Tournament. In the anime adaptation, this fight occurs as it did in the manga, slightly longer, it looks as if Jabu used the horn of his headpiece to attack Ban, but it's likely that it was only used to make the battle seem more authentic to the audience.

History of Unicorn

Childhood

Jabu is one of the 100 orphans that were sent by Mitsumasa Kido all over the world to train and bring back the saint cloth in order to protect his foster granddaughter, Saori. When Jabu was just a kid, he was very obedient to Saori Kido, even if she wanted him to become her horse. He even offered himself after Seiya blatantly refused to do so. (In the manga, Jabu is in fact Kido's son, as well as Seiya and the other 98 orphans). He went to train at Oran, Algeria where he managed to get the Unicorn Bronze Cloth after six years.

Galaxian Warrior

Jabu later returned to Japan to participate in Saori Kido's Galaxian Wars, a tournament to get the Sagittarius Golden Cloth, also he wanted a chance to fight his old rival, Seiya (now the Pegasus Saint). Jabu win the first round against Lionet Ban, but during his second round Andromeda Shun had the upper hand over him, however their fight was interrupted as Phoenix Ikki showed up and stole the Sagittarius Cloth, so the Galaxian Wars was put on hold till the Sagittarius Cloth was returned.

Loyal Guardian

After that, Jabu "retired", supposedly to re-train and repair his cloth after the battle with Shun. He appeared again in Sanctuary to protect Athena while Seiya and other four main bronze saints (Shiryu, Hyoga, Shun, Ikki) were fighting the Golden Saints.

Toward the end of the series Jabu became one of the guardians of the Sanctuary, as Hades' power awoke the dead saints and attacked the guards. Jabu stepped in and fought some of the specters (see below) and later at the end of the Hades series he also helped defend Seika, Seiya's sister, against Thanatos' attempts to kill her.

Controversy

In the Tenkai-Hen feature movie, one of the most controversial things took place: Jabu abandoned Athena to serve Artemis, without any great sort of remorse. Seeing as Jabu was one of the most loyal to Athena even since her childhood in the Kido mansion, that caused quite the controversy among fans.

As a result of his "treachery", Jabu came to attack Pegasus Seiya, but only succeeded in revealing the location of the Pegasus Cloth.

Constellation and Unicorn Bronze Cloth

The Unicorn Cloth is one of the 88 armours of Athena's "army", the Saints. There are three ranks, and the Unicorn Cloth is one of the lowest one of the Bronze Saints cloths, along with other 47 cloths. The Unicorn Cloth represents an Unicorn standing.

In the manga it received what seemed to be a small upgrade during the 12 temples saga when Jabu appeared again with his armor fixed after the Galaxians Wars, but the only notable difference to the original is the leggings.

There are some minor differences between manga and anime version. But the most notable is the helmet. In manga it looks like an intricate headband with a horn and minor details, while in the Anime it is a whole head helmet with a vague Unicorn's head appearance. In the anime it was purple, but in the manga it is green.For Unicorn Myth, see Unicorn

For Constellation details, see Monoceros

Unicorn Yato

Main article:
* As seen in the The Lost Canvas manga, nihongo|Yato|耶人 is the name of the Unicorn Saint living in the 18th Century.
Since he looks a lot like Jabu, has a Japanese name and the same attack, it's speculated being his previous incarnation.

However, The Lost Canvas manga status as canon is unknown.

Notes

*Jabu's name kanji literally (邪武) mean "Evil warrior", so it is possible that Masami Kurumada only used them phonetically, without an intended meaning, since Jabu is not an evil character. Also, it can be translated as "He who fights evil", a translation that would be more fitting.

*Oddly enough, in the first Saint Seiya videogame for Playstation 2, Jabu's name was changed to Yokoshima, it meaning wicked, coinciding with the meaning of the first kanji of his original name.

*As Masami Kurumada uses the revered Osamu Tezuka's Star System technique, (A stable cast of characters which play a a different or similar role in the author's various works, sometimes with the same personality and sometimes with an entirely new one), he designed Jabu's appearance very similar to Ishimatsu Katori, a character in the successful Ring ni Kakero, a manga that Kurumada wrote and drew years before Saint Seiya, and that he considers his favorite creation.

*As with some Cloths, the Unicorn Cloth represents a constellation that wasn't used by ancient Greeks. The Unicorn constellation was added by modern astronomers in the 17th century. Masami Kurumada took some creative liberty when using the Unicorn Cloth, which in his manga plotline, was created in the times of Ancient Greece.

*The Unicorn myth says that the beast could be tamed by a virgin. Jabu's action or rage is tamed whenever Saori gives orders and he obeys without questions.

*His hair color is black in the manga, while light brown in the Anime.

*Unicorn Jabu is probably the most powerful secondary Bronze Saint.