Artemis (Saint Seiya)

Infobox animanga character
name = Artemis
series = Saint Seiya


created by = Masami Kurumada(車田正美)
caption = Artemis, in a screenshot from the TenKaiHen movie
voiced by = Hino Yurika (日野由利加)
creator = Masami Kurumada
gender = Female
nationality = Olimpo
class = Deity
paux1 = TenKai (the Realm of Heavens)
paux1 name = Domain
paux2 = 1.59 m
paux2 name = Height
aux4 =
Saint Seiya TenKaiHen Josou Overture movie
aux4 name = First appearanceThe Greek goddess nihongo|Artemis|アルテミス|Arutemisu is one of the antagonist deities featured in the universe of the Manga Saint Seiya, authored by Masami Kurumada, that was later adapted to Anime. She was created by Kurumada based on the mythologic persona of the same name.

As in Greek mythology, she is the goddess of the moon and younger sister of Apollo, god of the sun. It is implied that also the goddess of hunt. In Kurumada's mythos, she is also the older sister of the protector goddess of Earth Athena.

So far, she has only appeared in the only one out of the five Saint Seiya teathrical releases that holds a canonical status: Saint Seiya TenKaiHen Josou Overture, as it follows the author Masami Kurumada's true chronology and manga plot. In the same way as her brother Apollo, not much has been revealed about Artemis, and even though she is a canonical character, she has never appeared in Kurumada's manga.

In early interviews about the eventual Heaven chapter of his manga, Kurumada stated that he wanted the Olympic Pantheon from Greek mythology to make an appearance, once he had finished the Hades arc. He wanted to introduce 12 divinities, to use both as antagonist or allies to Athena's Saints. Apollo was one of the gods he wanted to use, as well as Zeus, king of the Greek gods, whom he drew in an early conceptual sketch published in the Saint Seiya Encyclopedia.

At first, Kurumada wanted to publish the Heaven Chapter in manga form, written and drawn by him, as the fourth act of his popular comic Saint Seiya, but later, he decided to present the project in OVA format, beginning with a movie that would serve as opening for the Chapter(hence the name Overture), and continue the story with the progressive release of OVAs. He authored the script that was used for the fifth Saint Seiya movie, TenKaiHen Josou Overture, that would be the start of the Heaven Chapter, thus, it became the only one of the theatrical releases of the series to be granted a canonical status. In Overture, Artemis plays an important role, as her participation is even longer than that of her brother Apollo.

Unfortunately, Kurumada and Toei Animation (producer company of the anime adaptation and the movies of Saint Seiya) had discrepancies regarding the script, because the Heaven Chapter started right after the death of Hades, and those critical points of Kurumada's manga (the Hades arc of the manga was still unfinished in the anime, the finding of Seiya's sister Seika, the death of Hades, to name a few) had yet to be reached by the anime adaptation, and thus Toei thought changes to the script were needed to be made, to make the movie understandable to audiences familiarized more with the anime adaptation than Kurumada's published manga. Kurumada was unhappy with the results and the Heaven Chapter project fell apart, so Artemis' participation in the Saint Seiya universe was cut short, until Kurumada decides to retake the project of publishing his Heaven Chapter, this time, in manga form, as he afterward realized it to be the best choice.

Incarnation

Kurumada didn't reveal much about how Artemis incarnates on Earth. But she seems to have a body of her own, and does not need a human as a vessel for her soul, unlike Poseidon and Hades. Athena recognized Artemis instantly the moment she arrived, which suggests that Artemis' body is her own, from the times of myth.

Abilities and attributes

In Kurumada's mythos, not much is revealed about her attributes. In the TenKaiHen Josou Overture movie, it is clearly stated that she is the goddess of the moon, and thus, she rules over it and the night, being able of turning day into night instantly at will. It is not stated in the movie, but it is implied that she is also the goddess of hunt, as her weapon of choice is a bow, which she tried to use to kill her younger sister Athena. As a deity, her Cosmo is far superior to that of humans and also possesses the ability to walk in the sky. She apparently has the ability to distort reality to some extent, as she altered Athena's Sanctuary appearance greatly, when her younger sister surrendered the control of Earth to her.

The serene goddess of the moon

Artemis is a character created by Masami Kurumada, and as such, holds a cononical status. She was the sixth deity introduced by Kurumada in the universe of his manga Saint Seiya, and she first appears in the initial moments of the TenKaiHen Josou Overture, as Athena takes care of Seiya, who after the death of Hades, was left cursed, confined to a wheelchair and with his Cosmo depleted. ("In Kurumada's original script for the movie, it was not Athena who was taking care of Seiya, but his sister Seika, with whom he was reunited after the death of Hades.")

In a similar way to greek mythology, Artemis is a beautiful young woman, with long, wavy green hair, dressed in semitransparent silk robes. She radiates serenity, and seriousness. She seems colder and less expressive than her younger sister, and though she may be forgiving and benevolent, she can also be stern and merciless.

After Poseidon's defeat and Hades' death, the Olympian Gods had decided that Athena and humans had offended them for rebelling against them, and passed sentence, which was, eradication of mankind, starting with Athena's Saints. Artemis sent her servants, the Angels, to consummate the sentence, killing Pegasus Saint Seiya first. The Angels were unable to accomplish their mission, due to Saori Athena's intervention, so Artemis decided to arrive at the scene. Meeting her younger sister, Artemis informed her of the decision of the Olympian deities. Athena, never willing to abandon mankind, asked for mercy for it, by telling her older sister that she would surrender the control of Earth to her, if she could forgive mankind for its sins against the gods. Athena also said, that, in exchange for forgiveness for mankind, she would never allow her Saints to raise again in battle under her banner, and that she would strip them of their Sainthood, allowing them to live a normal life at last.

Agreeing to Athena's proposal, Artemis was handed by her the Niké Staff, symbol of her power and control over Earth. Artemis said before leaving that she would pretend humans didn't exist, but if they dared to offend the gods again, she wouldn't be to blame for their eradication. The goddess of the moon told Athena to rejoin the greek gods in Olympus. So saying, Artemis left, taking the Niké staff with her, and now endowed with all Athena's attributes and control over Earth.

Jabu, Ichi and Shaina : Artemis' Saints?

After Athena surrendered Earth, all her attributes became Artemis'. And so became Athena's Sanctuary at Greece, which was strangely altered by the goddess of the moon upon becoming her possession.

Because Athena had forsaken Earth, Athena's Saints found themselves in a dilemma. Among them, Bronze Saints Hydra Ichi and Unicorn Jabu, along with Silver Saint Ophiuchus Shaina. All of them thought that since there weren't a protector goddess of Earth anymore, they had been abandoned by her, and therefore, they were no longer her Saints, and so they sought a new deity to pledge their loyalty to, and they found it in Artemis.

Angels : servants of the Olympians

Notes

*Artemis, her older brother Apollo, along with Poseidon and Hades, are the only Olympians who have been fully revealed by Kurumada so far, although Ares is mentioned in vol.1 of his manga.

*It is unclear at this point if Kurumada will continue to use Artemis when he publishes officially the Heaven Chapter of his manga.

References

*Saint Seiya : TenKaiHen Josou Overture movie. Script written by Masami Kurumada.

*Saint Seiya TenKaiHen Josou Overture prologue manga appendix, by Masami Kurumada.