Artemis

The Greek goddess of the moon Artemis (月の女神アルテミス, Tsuki no megami 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, the hunt and virginity, and younger sister of Apollo, god of the sun. In Kurumada's mythos, she is also the older sister of the protector goddess of Earth Athena.

She first appeared in the only one out of the five Saint Seiya teathrical releases that holds a canonical status: Saint Seiya Tenkai-Hen Josō 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, although she was recently introduced by Kurumada in his manga Saint Seiya, in chapter 15 of his current work Saint Seiya Next Dimension, the canonical continuation of his original manga.

Although it should be noted that the depiction of the character in the mentioned media varies to some extent, both conceptually and design-wise.

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, Tenkai-Hen Josō 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. {| class="toc" id="toc"

Contents
[hide]*1 Incarnation
 * 2 Abilities and attributes
 * 3 The serene goddess of the moon
 * 4 Jabu, Ichi and Shaina : Artemis' Saints?
 * 5 Angels : servants of the Olympians
 * 6 Other appearances
 * 7 Notes
 * 8 References
 * }

//

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
Artemis, as she appears in the Tenkai-Hen Josō Overture movieIn Kurumada's mythos, not much is revealed about her attributes. In Next Dimension, he reveals she is the ruling goddess of the moon, the hunt and virginity.

She also has an army of female guardians at her disposal, known as the Satellites, who are lead by one of her servants, known as Callisto.

In the Tenkai-Hen Josō 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. Unlike her rendition in Next Dimension, Artemis doesn't have an army of female guardians, but she relies on servants called Angels to protect and serve her. Also, in the movie, some of Athena's Saints switch their loyalties from Athena to Artemis.

In both interpretations of the character, as a deity, Artemis' Cosmo is far superior to that of humans.

InOverture, she 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 canonical 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 Tenkai-Hen Josō 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, apparently not caring that Poseidon and Hades had been trying to wipe humans and that the Saints were trying to save their own race from extinction. 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?
Jabu, Ichi and Shaina, who had renounced to being Athena's Saints. Screenshot from Tenkai-Hen Josō Overture.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.

Other appearances
Artemis has been confirmed as a canonical character within the universe of Saint Seiya by her apparition in Kurumada's current work, Saint Seiya Next Dimension. Artemis was mentioned by her name by Athena, who called her the goddess of the moon and elder sister to her, as well as telling Andromeda Shun to accompany her to Artemis' temple.

To date, Kurumada's rendition of the character in Next Dimension seems to keep some of the traits she exhibited in the Overture movie, although there are some variants in her design and concept. It is unknown if Kurumada will concile both versions of the character, or if one of them will impose over the other.