Wyvern Rhadamanthys

Celestial Fierce Star, Wyvern Rhadamanthys (天猛星ワイバーンのラダマンティス, Tenmōsei Waibān no Radamantisu) is one of the first antagonists introduced by Kurumada in the prologue of the Hades chapter of his manga, in vol.19, and is featured prominently throughout the story. Rhadamanthys is one of the infamous "3 Judges of Hell", with Gryphon Minos and Garuda Aiacos sharing his rank. Rhadamanthys' source of power lies in the Celestial Fierce Star (天猛星), and pledges his loyalty to the Greek god of the Underworld, Hades, Emperor of the Darkness.

Concept and creation
As Masami Kurumada uses the revered Osamu Tezuka's Star System technique, (A stable cast of characters which play a different or similar role in the author's various works, sometimes with the same personality and sometimes with an entirely new one), he designed Rhadamanthys's facial features very similar to Southern Cross Christ, a character he designed for the first Saint Seiya movie.

Caution To The Wind
Wyvern Rhadamanthys is, undoubtedly, one of the most respected warriors of Hades army. His skills and talents easily overcome those of most of Athena's Gold Saints—her strongest warriors --, and his reputation as a powerhouse is famous among the Specters of the Underworld. Along with Judges Garuda Aiacos and Gryphon Minos, Rhadamanthys has command over different sections of the Hades army.

As shown various times throughout the arc, Rhadamanthys prefers to take no chances when it comes to securing the victory. Against the orders of Hades' aide Pandora (and, in turn, Hades himself), the Judge ordered several Specters to invade Athena's Sanctuary in secret. While Rhadamanthys was later punished for this act, he has shown to not regret his decision.

The Wyvern has but one known technique he utilizes to destroy the opposition—the "Greatest Caution". It is a wind-type move that charges up Rhadamanthys' Cosmo to the highest point of power, then unleashed at a central point via two opened palms. The opponent becomes helpless as powerful typhoon-like winds blast them into oblivion. It can take two forms: a dark energy blast, or the form of Rhadamanthys' spirit, the mythical Wyvern.

Obliterating the Saints
After the recently-revived Gold Saints Cancer Deathmask and Pisces Aphrodite had failed in their mission to assassinate Athena, they decided that they were not going to be sent back to the Underworld in eternal slumber. The pair proved their dominance over various Specters, until they were confronted by none other than Wyvern Rhadamanthys himself. Deathmask and Aphrodite struck relentlessly even with the Judge present, but the two began to panic when they realized that their most powerful techniques had no effect on Rhadamanthys. The two Saints abruptedly pleaded for mercy, but by now it was too late—the Wyvern had already passed his judgement, and it was death. With just the "Greatest Caution", Rhadamanthys single-handedly sent two Gold Saints down to the pits of the Underworld.

Rhadamanthys was later summoned by Lady Pandora, "sister" and guardian of Hades, to discuss the details of the Specters' attack on Sanctuary. Rhadamanthys reported that he felt very distrustful of Aries Sion and his group of renegade Gold Saints, and wished to send an army of true Specters to assassinate Athena. Pandora disagreed, and stated that Hades would not like to suffer heavy losses from his own side until the war reached a more decisive stage. She then dismissed Rhadamanthys.

Despite Pandora's orders, Rhadamanthys decided to send a group of spectres under his command, lead by Specter Cyclops Gigant, to attack Sanctuary. One of Pandora's minions, Frog Zelos, offered Rhadamanthys a warning about disrespecting the Lady's orders, but Rhadamanthys refused to reconsider his decision.

After the battles in Sanctuary, Athena was assumed to be dead, but all of the Specters sent by Rhadamanthys were killed. Frog Zelos once again reminded the Judge that Lady Pandora would not be pleased at this outcome, but Rhadamanthys replied that he would take the responsibility for the losses they suffered for this battle. Pandora then tortured Rhadamanthys with her power, and only forgave him due to his high rank as a Judge of Hell. She then dismissed him with an order to call all of his Specters to return to the Underworld.

At this time, Gold Saints Leo Aiolia, Aries Mu, and Scorpio Milo invaded Hades Castle in an attempt to discover a way into the Underworld. Rhadamanthys soon arrived on site to defend the castle, and a 3 vs. 1 battle ensued. Unbeknownst for the Gold Saints, their Cosmo had been reduced to 10% power due to the effects of the Underworld barrier that protected the castle ground - the castle was under Hades' Cosmo and will. To their disadvantage, Rhadamanthys retained 100% power due to his status as a Specter of Hades—and neither Aiolia, Milo, nor Mu could put a scratch on the Judge. Once they had accepted the fact that they were no match for the Specters, the three Gold Saints sacrificed themselves in Athena's honor.

Four more of Athena's warriors appeared during the 3 vs. 1 battle—Bronze Saints Pegasus Seiya, Dragon Shiryu, Cygnus Hyoga, and Andromeda Shun. They had come to the castle hoping to aid their Gold Saint comrades in battle, but their services were rejected. Eventually, Rhadamanthys would catch up to the Bronze Saints after disposing of Mu, Aiolia, and Milo. Although Seiya and the others did not lose 90% of their power (due to the blood of Athena blessing their Bronze Cloths), they fared no better than the Gold Saints had against Rhadamanthys (though the Judge was surprised that none of them were weakened by the power of the Castle, but it was rather their unbending will that kept their Cosmos burning).

Suddenly, four of Rhadamanthys' servants, Harpy Valentine, Alraune Queen, Minotauros Gordon and Basilisk Sylphid, attacked the four Bronze Saints, allowing Rhadamanthys to depart for the Underworld. The four Specters then made their leave, but Seiya decided to attack Harpy Valentine by throwing both Valentine and himself down the pits that lead into the Underworld. (Manga ONLY, the scene is slightly modified in the anime adaptation, as Pegasus Seiya follows and pushes Rhadamanthys into the pits, instead of Valentine, introduced at a later point in the anime.)

A Heated Rivalry: The Wyvern Specter vs Gemini Saint
When Rhadamanthys initially returned to the Underworld, he immediately discovered Gold Saint Gemini Kanon sneaking about. Kanon had placed an illusion on fellow Spectre Balron Lune through his GenRouMaOuKen technique, and Rhadamanthys was the one to break it. After Lune was quickly disposed of, Kanon quickly challenged Rhadamanthys to a showdown. The Judge originally felt confident, but became worried when Kanon proved that he was more than a match when he repelled the "Greatest Caution" technique. He is then trapped by the powerful illusion created by Kanon. The Gold Saint was about to secure a decisive victory when Rhadamanthys' warriors suddenly appeared and stopped the fight with a report, that Pandora wanted an audience with him. Rhadamanthys left his underlings to face Kanon, but they were no match against the power of a Gold Saint, and he comments not even if there were hundreds of them, it would still not be enough for a man like Kanon—Eventually, all of the Specters summoned by Pandora were easily killed by Kanon's Galaxian Explosion attack.

Rhadamanthys the Invulnerable?
Seiya and Shun eventually came across the fabled, long-lost Silver Saint Lyra Orphée. Orphée had constructed a plan to assassinate Hades: being the musician of Hades, he could smuggle Seiya and Shun into his court where he played for Hades every 13 days. Orphée would use the power of his music to put Hades and Pandora to sleep, and then have the three of them attack the Dark God. The Silver Saint managed to hide Seiya and Shun in a giant case of flowers he had gathered, and narrowly avoided having Pandora discover the duo hiding inside.

However, Pandora threw a wrench into the mix when she revealed that she had summoned the three Judges together to enjoy Orphée's music. After playing his song, everyone in the court room was apparently asleep. Orphée thought that this was his chance to sneak attack Hades when the deity was at his most vulnerable. However, surprisingly, Rhadamanthys intervened and punched a hole through Orphée's chest, stating that he had always suspected Orphée's loyalty. Unlike the other Judges, he did not actually listen to his music and was only pretending to be asleep. Before Rhadamanthys could inflict further damage on Orphée, Seiya and Shun quickly came to the rescue—this time around, Seiya's "Pegasus Ryu Sei Ken" scored enough hits to cause substantial damage to the Wyvern Surplice.

But as Orphée attacked Hades, he was shocked that Hades looked identical to Shun, and that upon striking him with his attack, Hades merely disappeared. Being fatally wounded by Rhadamanthys, Orphée decided to use the strings of his lyre to bind Rhadamanthys and himself in place, and urged Seiya to strike at them both to kill Rhadamanthys. Sadly, Seiya unleashed his Pegasus Ryu Sei Ken, which struck both of them, killing the already critically wounded Silver Saint.

Although his attack shattered large portions of Rhadamanthys' Surplice, Seiya was shocked to find the Judge uninjured. Rhadamanthys taunted Seiya, stating that his technique could not damage him at all, and preceded to attack the Bronze Saint. The fight only ended when Shun began to manifest the effects of the possession by the soul of Hades, and ordered Rhadamanthys to cease his attack. Eventually, Aiacos and Minos awakened as well, and Pandora ordered them to return to their posts while she tended to Hades.

The Wyvern's Defeat
Kanon and Rhadamanthys would cross paths again some time later. The Wyvern once again used the "Greatest Caution", but the Gemini Saint had experienced the attack before and now understood its mechanics—this time, he was able to block it with merely one hand. The same technique does not work twice on a Saint. Once again, Rhadamanthys found himself in the face of certain doom, quickly being overpowered by the Gold Saint. His injuries from previous battles with Lyra Orphée and Pegasus Seiya had taken their toll on him. He is soon rescued by his other two companions and fellow Judges Gryphon Minos and Garuda Aiacos. The two Judges worked over Kanon individually with their own techniques. Rhadamanthys is angered by the fact that he is being assisted by them, when this was his fight. The combined attacks by Minos and Aiacos on Kanon would not last—as the Bronze Saint Phoenix Ikki appeared and rescued Kanon from certain death.

Phoenix Ikki would soon go on to obliterate Garuda Aiacos, and is soon teleported by Pandora to Hades' throne room. Minos soon leaves afterwards as he goes to intercept the remaining bronze Saints.

With Minos, Aiacos, and Ikki out of the way, Rhadamanthys once again fought Kanon for the last time. The Gemini Saint still proved to be the superior of the two, and Rhadamanthys would not get the upper-hand until Kanon voluntarily striped off the Gemini Gold Cloth. By this time all the 12 Gold Cloths had been reunited in Hell to break the Wailing Wall. Seeing this to his advantage, Rhadamanthys was finally able to damage the Gold Saint with his "Greatest Caution" -- but by this point, Kanon was no longer looking for a decisive victory; he merely wanted to remove Rhadamanthys from the war altogether to protect his fellow Saints—even at the cost of his own life. He felt accomplished by his actions to redeem himself as a worthy Saint of Athena, and self-sacrifice was nothing he feared. Utilizing a kamikaze attack, Kanon grabbed Rhadamanthys from the back and launched both bodies into the air. The Judge of Hell was defeated when Kanon unleashed his Galaxian Explosion, with all his might, killing himself along with the Wyvern Specter.

Surplice
Rhadamanthys' Surplice represents a Wyvern, mythical dragon-like creature found in medieval heraldry and legends.