Harpy Valentine

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
Harpy Valentine, in a panel from the manga, vol.22. Drawing by the author Masami Kurumada.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.

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