Gold Saints

The Gold Saints (Gōrudo Seinto, 黄金聖闘士) are the most powerful Saints in Athena's army, almost invincible among them since the mythological ages. They wear the 12 Gold Cloths that correspond to the zodiac constellations, the most powerful among the 88 Cloths. The Gold Saints have mastered the Seventh Sense, the essence of Cosmo, which grants them miraculous abilities, such as the capacity of attaining the speed of light. Their duty at Sanctuary is mainly to defend the 12 Zodiac Temples, one for each sign, but they are also the trump cards at the disposition of Athena and the Grand Pope to accomplish the most difficult missions and they represent the main war potential during the conflicts with the other deities armies. They are known for being among the most powerful characters in the series. While they are all known to dominate the Seventh Sense, a few of them are so powerful to have reached the Eighth Sense (Arayashiki) during the series. They are protected by the twelve zodiacal constellations that are on the ecliptic thus containing the energy and light of the sun. With the evolution of the series, only the most powerful enemies are compared to the Gold Saints, like the Marina Generals or the high-ranked Specters including the 3 Judges of the Underworld and most of the other Celestial Star Specters. The anime series and films added some other Gold Saint-level enemies like the God Warriors and generally the elites of any army master a Cosmo of the same extent of a Gold Saint and sometimes even above, although like any other Saint, the Gold Saints are capable of overcoming their limits in time of crisis up to accomplish miracles. Not only the power of the Gold Saints is incomparably superior to all other Saints, except for a few cases, but also their notions of honesty, ethics and righteousness and is therefore, very respected by the other Saints and in many cases the Grand Pope choses his successor amongst them. During the battle of the 12 Temples, the final part of the Sanctuary saga, five Gold Saints die, but only two were actually traitors to Athena, Cancer Death Mask and Pisces Aphrodite, but the manga considers a third as a traitor, Capricorn Shura. The others, including those that survived and fought for what they believed, were part of other frames but were indeed generally faithful to Athena infact in the following sagas they sided with the protagonists helping them as much as they could. When the 12 Gold Cloths are near one another, they shine and produce very loud sounds, this phenomenon is called resonance but it's not a common event, because the reunion of all the 12 Gold Saints is an event that happens rarely and when Athena and the Grand Pope summon the Gold Saints to a reunion in view of an upcoming crisis. If the Gold Saints with two equivalent forces waging a struggle, the battle is so fierce, that ends up lasting forever. In this confrontation, which is called the "War of a Thousand Days," they can both die or fight forever without a winner. The Gold Saints dominate a legendary technique known as Athena Exclamation, where 3 Gold Saints join their Cosmo to form a single blow. This power is so immense that it releases an energy similar to the explosion that gave birth to the universe, the Big Bang. When Two Athena Exclamation collide, they will not only double or multiply, but increase infinitely. Athena banned all Gold Saints to use this technique because, besides being considered cowards because of three Saints attacking a single enemy, they can also cause terrible damage to both the opponent and the sourroundings. Who dares to make use of this technique, is regarded as a barbaric, horrible, and dishonored person that can never be called a Saint anymore. The Athena Exclamation appears in the saga of Hades when initially Gemini Saga, Aquarius Camus and Capricorn Shura used this technique to defeat Virgo Shaka's Tembu Horin secret attack. After defeating Shaka, the three former Saints revert to using the blow against Aries Mu, Scorpio Milo and Leo Aiolia that retaliate with the same technique. It's unclear why the latter dared to use this forbidden move without breaking their code of honor, but it's possibly due to the fact that the enemies were equally in number and were about to use that attack against them as well, not to mention the difficult situation the Sanctuary was into. Athena Exclamation is also used in The Lost Canvas, first by Sisyphus, Shion and Regulus to destroy the Lost Canvas Gate cursed by the dying Pharaoh and later by the fighting genius Regulus on his own to defeat the powered up Rhadamanthys. He managed to use a technique that needs three Gold Saints to be used with his single strength thanks to his unrivaled talent. However, the most powerful and destructive technique for this class of Saints is the one that can be referred as the "sacrifice of the Gold Saints." In it, the twelve Gold Saints raise their Cosmo and release an energy as strong and bright as the sun. All who come in contact with this energy, including the Gold Saints themselves, die. It's unclear though if it has a real destructive power or if it's limited to the creation of a focused sunlight beam at the cost of the explosion of the full Cosmo of the 12 Gold Saints that causes a massive deflagration. Added to the already amazing array of skills the 12 Gold Saints have, there is the Cloth of Libra having six pairs of golden weapons that can be used only in exceptionally desperate cases and with the consent of the Saint of Libra, the one allowed to value the justice of the cause in place of Athena herself and if it can be righteous to make use of such a power. The destructive force of the weapons is amazing as they are said to be able to pulverize a star with a single blow, a feat proper only to the most devastating techniques like Gemini's Galaxian Explosion. The six pair of arms are: Tongfar, Spear, Sword, Shield, Triple Rod and Twin Rod.

Omega ( 20th Century )

 * Sagittarius Seiya

Hades Arc (20th Century)

 * Gemini Kanon

List of Gold Saints (20th Century)

 * Aries Mu
 * Taurus Aldebaran
 * Gemini Saga
 * Cancer Deathmask
 * Leo Aiolia
 * Virgo Shaka
 * Scorpio Milo
 * Sagittarius Aiolos
 * Capricorn Shura
 * Aquarius Camus
 * Pisces Aphrodite

The Lost Canvas (18th Century)
Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas Wiki's article Before Lost Canvas
 * Aries Shion
 * Taurus Rasgado
 * Gemini Aspros/Gemini Defteros
 * Cancer Manigoldo
 * Leo Regulus
 * Virgo Asmita
 * Libra Dohko
 * Scorpio Kardia
 * Sagittarius Sisyphus
 * Capricorn El Cid
 * Aquarius Degel
 * Pisces Albafica
 * Leo Ilias
 * Pisces Lugonis

Next Dimension (18th Century)

 * Taurus Ox
 * Gemini Cain/Gemini Abel
 * Cancer Deathtoll
 * Virgo Shijima
 * Capricorn Izō
 * Pisces Cardinale

16th Century

 * Aries Saint
 * Taurus Saint
 * Cancer Sage
 * Pisces Saint

15th Century

 * Aquarius Krest