Taurus Aldebaran



Taurus Aldebaran (牡牛座のアルデバラン, Taurasu no Arudebaran) is one of Gold Saints.

Personality and background
Masami Kurumada introduced Aldebaran in chapter 29, contained in vol.8 of his manga.

Aldebaran is one of the 12 Guardians of Sanctuary, with the Taurus as his destined constellation. He was the physically strongest of the Gold Saints of modern era. He is Brazilian in origin.

Unlike most of the characters, Aldebaran is often depicted as a friendly guy, laughing and being less serious in times of peace. He was a good friend of Aries Mu, and with Pegasus Seiya (as this last is said in the anime adaptation of the Hades Saga, when Aldebaran sacrificed himself with the other eleven Gold Saints to destroy the Wailing Wall).

In a flashback in the anime version of the Hades Saga, he is shown to awkwardly accept the gift of a flower from an unnamed small girl, while Aiolia, Mu and other village girls from around the Sanctuary look on.

Although Aldebaran followed the orders of the Pope, he was growing suspicious of his integrity and tested the Bronze saints during their invasion on the Sanctuary. According to Aries Mu, Aldebaran could have killed all of them if he used his true power, but Aldebaran answered that if his enemies were fighting so hard, then their beliefs couldn't be all wrong.

In Saint Seiya Episode G, Aldebaran is depicted as an easy-going person who likes to buy little mementos. He is also shown as someone who has strong faith in his beliefs and learns from his past errors, seeing them as steps and not sins. Due to that, he was able to easily defeat the Brabeus Talanton that was smashing Leo Aiolia and Capricorn Shura with the weight of their sins.

Being a Brazilian character made Aldebaran popular in Brazil, since he is one of the few Brazilian characters in manga and anime, and Saint Seiya was hugely popular in Brazil (being in that country renamed "Os Cavaleiros do Zodíaco", literally "Knights of the Zodiac").

The Sanctuary saga
Aldebaran was first seen in the 12 Temples in the Sanctuary. At his Taurus temple, he faced the four Bronze Saints: Pegasus Seiya, Dragon Shiryu, Cygnus Hyoga, and Andromeda Shun. The four Bronze Saints were no match to Aldebaran since none one of them had reached to the seventh sense. His battle stance (with crossed arms) allowed him to attack and defend at the same time; since he moves at the speed of light, he can launch his "Great Horn" and return to defense without being seen. Using his "Pegasus Ryu Sei Ken", Seiya reached to the seventh sense for the very first time, getting Aldebaran out of his stance and making it possible for him to see his technique.

In the end, he cuts Aldebaran's horn off his helmet. Aldebaran, who had told Seiya that he would let him pass the Temple of Taurus if he could break the horn, kept his promise. Before the four Bronze Saints left his temple, Aldebaran told them that without the seventh sense, they don't stand a chance against any of the gold saint. In order to reach to the seventh sense, they must burn their cosmo to the limit.

Later, Aldebaran joined Mu, who was watching over the wounded Saori. Mu asked him why did he allowed Seiya and the others to pass through his temple; Aldebaran replied that he saw that the Bronze Saints truly believed that Athena is on their side and had his own misgivings about the Pope's claims that they were traitors. The ensuing conversation allowed him to realize that perhaps the Pope was not as he seemed.

Asgard (Anime Only)
In the Anime only Asgard arc, Aldebaran was the first one to be confronted by one of the God Warriors. After the Twelve Temples arc, Aldebaran was unexpectedly attacked by Mizar Syd, and seemingly defeated. It was later revealed that Syd never landed a single blow;t instead, it was his brother Alcor Bud who attacked Aldebaran from behind. Aldebaran confined this information to Silver Saint Shaina, asking her to warn the Bronze Saints who would face Syd in battle. The Asgard saga, however, doesn't exist in the original manga, and therefore is not considered canon.

Poseidon saga
Aldebaran, in a color illustration from the manga, drawn by the author Masami Kurumada.In the beginning of the Poseidon chapter, Aldebaran followed Athena to the hospital where Seiya, Hyoga, Shiryu and Shun was. After Athena went to attend some matters, the Marina General Siren Sorento appeared. Upon Aldebaran returning to find Siren on the way on turning the medical equipment down, a battle was eminent. Although under Sorento's music that reduced Aldebaran's power to just one percent of its total, he still was able to knock his enemy away with his Great Horn, but without causing him any injuries. Aldebaran had to puncture his ears for Sorento's music not to come through, but it was in vain and the Siren utilized a final move leaving only the Taurus Cloth behind. Despite this, the saint had actually evaded the attack and used his Cosmo to paralyze the movements of his enemy. Before they could start to fight again, Athena appeared and demanded to be taken to the Sanctuary of Poseidon. Aldebaran could not refuse the wishes of Athena and returned to Sanctuary though helmless, while Sorento escorted Athena. In the anime, Aldebaran just had a cameo appearance in this saga.

he Hades
In the beginning of Hades Chapter, Mu ran to the Taurus temple while chasing after Gemini Saga, Aquarius Camus and Capricorn Shura. There, he found Aldebaran standing strong in front of him. At first he was relieved to see he is all right. Sadly, after a short while, Mu found that Aldebaran was already killed by Nyobe, a spectre of Hades.

With Aldebaran's very last remaining cosmo, Mu was able to move again after Nyobe attacked him with Deep Fragrance. Mu then defended himself with "Crystal Wall" against Nyobe's attack. Afterward, he quietly walked away. Nyobe was surprised, until Mu reminded him that he was, in fact, already dead: Aldebaran's Great Horn had already hit him and destroyed his entire body. Mu thanked Aldebaran for his help and swore on his life that he would protect Athena to the end.

In the manga, Aldebaran was surprised by Deep Niobe because he was deaf after destroying his own eardrums in his battle against Siren Sorrento.

Later, Aldebaran joined the rest of the twelve Gold Saints at the Wall with his Gold Cloth. He showed his surprised comrades that he remained loyal to his friends and Athena, even after death.

Power and abilities
Having mastered the Seventh Sense, Aldebaran is able to fully control his Cosmo energy and make movements at the speed of light. This power allowed him to become one of the Gold Saints, the strongest class among the protectors of the goddess Athena. It is hinted that he achieved the Eighth sense in the Hades saga, so he could freely fight Hades and aid the other Gold Saints. Aldebaran has displayed superhuman physical strength in Saint Seiya Episode G, being able to lift a plate that was crushing two other Gold Saints with one hand. Between his techniques, he has only shown the Great Horn (グレートホーン, gurēto hōn) in which Aldebaran sends two waves of massive cosmo toward his enemy. The offensive power of this technique is great enough to pulverize a warrior completely together with his armor. In order to improve the power and strength of his Great Horn, Aldebaran keeps his arms-crossed posture throughout the series. As noted by Pegasus Seiya this is a strategy similar to iaijutsu: While in this pose, Aldebaran can instantly react to incoming attacks, uncross his arms and counter-attack, so quickly the enemy is unable to perceive the blow before Aldebaran crosses his arms again.

Cloth, Constellation and Temple
Aldebaran's guardian constellation is Taurus, and his Gold Cloth represents it and its associated myth : the Cretan Bull, captured by Heracles as his seventh task.

The temple Aldebaran guarded was known both in manga and the anime adaptation as KinGyuuKyuu, the "Temple of the Golden Bull".

Other media
Main article: The Taurus Gold Saint in the 18th century was also called Aldebaran, but he revealed that he took this name as Taurus Golden Saint and because of the brightest star in the Taurus constellation. His real name was Rasgado (ハスガード, Hasugādo). He appears only in Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas. In Masami Kurumada's current Saint Seiya work, Saint Seiya Next Dimension, the Taurus Saint in the 18th century was known as Taurus Ox (牡牛座のオックス, Taurasu no Okkusu). In the same way as Aldebaran, Ox is a giant, with blonde hair and bushy eyebrows, and also possesses the Great Horn. A recently introduced character that has yet to take a more prominent role in the plot, he is ackowledged by Libra Dohko to be a true Gold Saint. He first appeared in chapter 13, punishing Pegasus Tenma, Libra Dohko and Aries Sion because of their reckless charge against Hades.
 * In the Heaven Arc Prologue his soul is sealed with the other Gold Saints when they talk to the gods and say they always be loyal to Athena. Although being sealed he would encourage Phoenix Ikki and Andromeda Shun to fight against the angel of Artemis.
 * Taurus Ox