SAINT SEIYA CHARACTERS SERIES

The home and training ground of the Saints is the Sanctuary ( иЃ–еџџпј€г‚µгѓіг‚ЇгѓЃгѓҐг‚ўгѓЄ, Sankuchuari), an isolated location in Athens, Greece, that only Saints, apprentices and their servants have access to. Cloths also reflect this classification system, being usually divided into Bronze, Silver and Gold Cloths, the latter being the most effective and durable. There are eighty-eight Saints in total, as many as the constellations, and they are divided into three hierarchic categories according to power: the lowest-ranked are the Bronze Saints, followed by the Silver Saints, then the twelve elite Gold Saints. As such, Saints are usually referred to by their guardian constellation and their given name. Since their bodies are still as frail as any ordinary man's, however, Athena gifts her Saints with protective armours called Cloths ( иЃ–иЎЈпј€г‚Їгѓг‚№пј‰, Kurosu) which are linked to the constellations. It is said that their fists can rend the sky and their kicks can split the earth. Although Athena's Saints are only human, their use of Cosmo ( е°Џе®‡е®™пј€г‚іг‚№гѓўпј‰, Kosumo) вЂ“ the energy of the Big Bang that remains inside every being вЂ“ gives them superhuman strength and allows them to perform formidable feats. Devoted to the goddess Athena ( еҐізҐћпј€г‚ўгѓ†гѓЉпј‰, Atena), they are sworn to defend the Earth from danger and the influence of evil gods. The protagonists of Saint Seiya Episode.G are Athena's Saints. Some of the supporting characters also appear solely in this manga, while others, especially among the Silver Saints, were previously established in the Saint Seiya universe by Kurumada. Most are based on Greek mythology, but it is also possible to find a few characters inspired by Egyptian mythology. The antagonists of Episode.G appear in the Saint Seiya franchise for the first time in this manga. Entire scenes have been taken directly from Kurumada's work and replicated in Episode.G, with the only change being the drawing style. Characters appear more stylised, 'anorexic and androgynous' in the words of Manga-News's critic, and are drawn with enhanced details, especially on clothing and armours. At the same time, Okada adds to their back-stories and renovates designs according to his personal drawing style. The story has many dialogues and situations that refer to the original manga. Okada adopted the colour schemes of either the original manga or its anime adaptation and used the same fighting techniques and mottoes that identified each character in Kurumada's manga. In the first volume of Episode.G, author Megumu Okada has commented that his intention was to write a prequel to the original story and critics have noted that he has done a good job in making the characters his own while staying true to their original concept. Most of the protagonists were originally created by Masami Kurumada, who introduced them in his 1986 manga Saint Seiya as supporting characters and, at one point, antagonists.

The sharp differences and similarities between Okada's characters and Kurumada's, however, have been a target of both criticism and praise among critics. Several merchandise items depicting the main characters of Episode.G have been released with the limited edition volumes. The Titans are led by Kronos, father of the leader of the Olympian gods, Zeus, and are assisted by an army of Giants and other evil creatures. They seek to overthrow the Olympian gods and regain control of the Earth. The antagonists are the twelve Titans and the primordial god Pontos, a group of ancient gods who escaped from the prison of Tartarus, where they had been confined in since the mythological era. Among them, Leo Aiolia plays the role of main character. The protagonists of the story are the Gold Saints, an elite group of twelve warriors devoted to the goddess Athena, whose duty is to protect the Earth from evil and maintain peace and justice. The old main characters appear only briefly, in flashforwards of the future.

SAINT SEIYA CHARACTERS SERIES

Okada takes characters who had played only a supporting role in the original series and puts them in the position of protagonists. Episode.G acts as a prequel to Kurumada's work and it is set seven years before the events of the first manga, in a fictional universe where the Greek gods cyclically reincarnate into the world to wage war on each other for dominance. The Saint Seiya Episode.G manga features a large number of fictional characters, both created by its author, Megumu Okada, and by Masami Kurumada, author of the original Saint Seiya universe in which the story takes place. A poster from Champion Red showing the Gold Saints as they appear in Episode.G

Saint seiya characters