Harpy Valentine

Infobox animanga character
name = Harpy Valentine
series = Saint Seiya


caption = Harpy Valentine by Masami Kurumada
first =
creator = Masami Kurumada
voiced by = Eiji Takemoto (竹本英史)
age = 20
gender = Male
born = February 14
nationality = Cyprus
class = Specter
paux1 = Hades
paux1 name = Loyalty
paux2 = Harpy
paux2 name = Surplice
paux3 = Celestial Wailing Star
paux3 name = Star
paux4 = 1.82 m
paux4 name = Height
paux5 = 71 kg
paux5 name = Weight
aux1 = AB
aux1 name = Blood type
aux2 = Greed the Life
Sweet Chocolate
aux2 name = Secret moves
aux4 = manga: chapter 81, vol.22
Anime: ep.135
aux4 name = First appearance

nihongo|Celestial Wailing Star, Harpy Valentine|天哭星ハーピーのバレンタイン|Tenkokusei Hāpī no Barentain is a minor character from "Saint Seiya", the classic manga series, authored by the renowned japanese mangaka Masami Kurumada, and later adapted to anime. He is one of Hades' 108 spectres, and his power lies in the Celestial Wailing Star (天哭星). Unlike many of the spectres that the bronze saints have faced, Valentine proved himself to be exceptionally powerful.

Heart of Darkness

As the dark castle of Hades began to collapse, Pandora and Wyvern Rhadamanthys ordered all spectres who were still in the living world to relocate back to headquarters -- the World of the Dead. Rhadamanthys and the spectres moved out, but were shortly stopped by four of Athena's bronze saints -- Pegasus Seiya, Dragon Shiryu, Cygnus Hyoga, and Andromeda Shun. The saints challenged Rhadamanthys to a fight, and the Judge prepared to annihilate his foes -- until four spectres suddenly made their presence known: Harpy Valentine, Basilisk Sylphid, Minotaur Gordon, and Alraune Queen. Next to the 3 Judges of Hell, these four spectres were renown for their extraordinary skills.

Harpy Valentine took on Pegasus Seiya, while the other spectres found foes in the rest of the bronze saints. It wasn't long until it became clear that Seiya may have found more than his match in Valentine. The Pegasus struggled against Valentine, but was overwhelmed every time. After several exchanges, Valentine decided that the bronze saint was an unworthy opponent, and made his exit back to the World of the Dead. To the spectre's surprise, however, Seiya refused to stay down and charged towards Harpy -- knocking them both into the dark pit that led to the Underworld.

Chocolate For Pegasus

Some time later, Valentine was summoned directly to Hades' chamber to dispose of garbage -- a bronze saint of Athena by the name of Phoenix Ikki. Valentine picked up the corpse and dropped it in Cocytus, an icy part of Hell where those who rebel against the gods were punished. It was here that Harpy once again met Pegasus Seiya, who had been sent here after the ordeal with Andromeda Shun becoming Hades. The Pegasus' body was mostly encased in ice, and he could not free himself. Dropping off Phoenix Ikki's body, Valentine explained to Seiya about the prison, and pointed out that several of his own comrads were in his company -- namely, gold saints Aries Mu, Leo Aiolia, Scorpio Milo, and presumably Lyra Orphée.

Valentine once again began to leave the presence of Seiya. The Pegasus challenged the spectre to a rematch, but Valentine had already decided that Seiya was no longer worth the effort. Fortunately, his interest was ignited when Seiya revealed that he was carrying Athena's Cloth on his person, and that the rematch would be for the possession of the sacred armor. Valentine freed Seiya from the ice, and the bronze saint immediately attacked with a swift kick. Valentine was uneffected; Seiya's encasement in Coctyus' ice had severely affected his body and Cosmo. The spectre then unleashed his "Greed the Life" technique on the Saint -- the blast of energy damaging a portion of Seiya's cloth as well as knocking Athena's Cloth out of his grasp.

Confident that he had already obtained his victory, Harpy went to pick up his prize -- until he found Seiya's hand on top of it. Valentine stomped on the Pegasus' hand repeatedly, but the bronze saint refused to release his hold. With no other choice, Harpy prepared for a second wave of blows -- but before he could pull of the technique, he was pushed back by a single kick from the Pegasus -- it seems the saint's cosmos had been ignited by Athena's Cloth. Valentine shrugged off the rebound -- until he realized that Seiya's "one, single kick" had completely shattered his surplice -- and his own life.

Some time later, Valentine's corpse was discovered by several spectres. They were shocked that a man like Harpy Valentine would be killed by a saint. It was then revealed that Valentine had fallen to several hundred kicks that had been unleashed in an instant.

urplice

Valentine's Surplice represents the mythical Harpy, the dreadful winged death spirits found in Greek mythology.

Notes

*In the manga, Seiya initially meets Harpy Valentine in the Hades castle when it was falling apart. Valentine was able to handle Seiya rather easily. The fight ended abruptedly when Valentine was ordered to return to the Underworld, with Seiya taking him to the entrance of the realm of Hades. In the anime, this fight is modified with all four bronze saints against Wyvern Rhadamanthys, shortly after the Judge had disposed of Aries Mu, Leo Aiolia, and Scorpio Milo, and Seiya takes Radamanthys with him, instead of Valentine.

*Masami Kurumada gave Valentine that name, because the word Harpy, when pronounced by the japanese, sounds identical to "Happy". So he thought it was a nice play on words, because it sounded just the same as "Happy Valentine"

*In the anime, the fight between Seiya and Valentine was slightly longer. In the manga, Seiya's fatal kicks ended the battle entirely; in the anime, it merely destroyed Valentine's surplice head piece. Valentine was able to toy around with Seiya for several more minutes before the bronze saint finished him off with a cosmos-charged "Pegasus Ryu Sei Ken".

*His slightly longer intervention in the anime adaptation was due likely to make up for the fact that he was introduced at a later point than he appears originally in the manga.

References

Saint Seiya manga vols.22, 25, by Masami Kurumada