Phoebus Abel

Phoebus Abel (太陽神フォェボス・アベル, Taiyō-shin Foebosu Aberu), is a deity of Mount Olympus and the older brother of Athena who came back to life in the modern era. He seeks to find his sister's latest incarnation and bring her back with him, in addition intending to obliterate the Earth. He appears as the main antagonist of the movie Saint Seiya: Legend of Crimson Youth.

Appearance
Phoebus Abel is presented as an attractive young man between the ages of 16 and 22. Short hair slightly tousled, slim and lanky complexion, with fair skin and blue eyes in light shades. He wears a red tunic, a silver belt with a design of a sun in the center, golden sun-like shoulder pads, golden earrings, and a long white cape.

Personality
His nature is portrayed in most of the film as a calm and kind god, with a serene and stoic gaze, whose hobby is playing a golden harp. He is also proved to be a cruel and ruthless god towards those he considers inferior. He considered himself powerful enough to name himself God of the Sun, defying the Olympians in the mythological age.

He is seen to be a rather affectionate and kind towards Saori and even seemed delighted to be reunited with her. He placed a flower in her hair and sheds himself from his stoic gaze to smile brightly in her presence. He showed her great appreciation towards her refers to as his "younger sister" due to their mythological connection. He even cried for her when he killed her, in response to her rebellion against him. Even in her death, he speaks to her and often kisses her cheek. This is more than likely due to their separation for eons.

Despite being the antagonist, Abel is somewhat a tragic villain. He was stripped from his birthright and, when he attempted to claim it, the Gods waged war against him and cast him into isolation, which is the leading factor to him being rather detached and distant towards those who are not his knights and his sister. When Saori betrays him before he ends her life, he is crying and continuously asking her why she would betray him. When Hyoga approached, he allowed him passage and even asked if he could make an ice coffin for his sister to preserve the beauty of his sister and utilized his cosmo to guide her to Elysium, showing even despite the betrayal he still cared for her. Later, when Seiya hesitates to kill him, he moved away from Saori in means to give him no means to hesitate. Even after that, Abel continues the destruction to force Seiya's hand, however, he acknowledged that he was scared of dying despite being a God. The final exhibition of his kind yet tragic nature is even in death, he removed his statue that was the last proof of his existence and in its stead built a statue in his fallen temple of a younger version of himself and Saori playing together.

In the Final Holy War / Warriors of Armageddon, his personality is completely different from his previous nature. He seems sadistic and finding pleasure in destroying the world, whereas in the previous movie, he was not doing it out of any sort of desire but rather because he felt as if he had to because humanity was polluting the world.

Saint Seiya: Legend of Crimson Youth
Abel returns to the Earth to find Athena, now living as Saori Kido. Despite their reunion, Saori discovers that Abel has returned to the Earth to punish mankind, whom he feels have polluted the Earth. Shockingly, Saori agrees with that decision and departs with her brother. The Corona Saints, Abel's followers, inform the Bronze Saints that their services to Athena are no longer required. These new Saints also resurrect the fallen Gold Saints, whom swear allegiance to Abel as well. In spite of their disbelief, Saori reiterates her wish that Seiya and the other Bronze Saints should not fight anymore and that to disobey that order will be consider treason. Seiya especially is angry over this turn of events.

Saori and Abel enjoy their time together in the Corona Temple. However, Saori reveals her true intentions of protecting the human race and declares herself an enemy to her brother. On learning this, Abel easily puts Saori's life to an end; but he seems sad after doing it. All Saints feel this tragic event through their Cosmos. Only Capricorn Shura and Aquarius Camus of the Gold Saints try to avenge the death of their Goddess, but they die at the hands of the Corona Saints (the rest of the Gold Saints remain loyal to Abel).

The Bronze Saints arrive at the Corona Temple to defeat Abel. Seiya goes directly to Dignity Hill, but he is easily defeated by Carina Atlas. The other Bronze Saints find the revived Gold Saints waiting and fight against them. After the defeat of the Gold Saints, the rest of the Corona Saints launch a counterattack.

Hyoga is able to make his way to the Corona Temple and finds Abel, who is willing to spare him, on the condition that Hyoga builds an ice coffin for Saori. Hyoga refuses and fights Coma Berenices, but the Cygnus Saint is outmatched. Although wounded, Hyoga remembers his mother, which inspires him to amplify his Cosmo and defeat Berenice. Injured but still alive, Shiryu, Shun, and Ikki also arrive at Abel's lair.

In spite of Abel's efforts, the Bronze Saints reach the Corona Temple, but all are defeated by Atlas. However, Seiya ignites his cosmos to the maximum level, Shiryū and Hyoga follow him and gain the Gold Cloths of Sagittarius, Libra and Aquarius, in accordance with their zodiac signs. With this new cosmos level, in a combined attack, they manage to defeat Atlas, but are not able to defeat Abel when the god engages them in battle. In their eagerness to save Saori, the Saints raise their cosmos and interrupt Abel's, which guided Athena to Elysion. Saori revives and faces Abel. Sagittarius Seiya gathers everyone's Cosmo and concentrates it in a golden arrow that he shoots at Abel. The god is unable to stop it, and he feels respect for Seiya. Abel is killed by Seiya's arrow, and his temple is destroyed.

Saint Seiya: The Warriors of Armageddon
His behavior is differs from the first movie. Now, he sports a smile and seemed to take a sadistic pleasure in seeing how human beings suffer. Lucifer appears in the world of the living and with his cosmos he was able to summon his powers, along with the appearance of Eris and Poseidon and together they begin to destroy the Earth without control. But later they are returned from the place they came from thanks to the destruction of the fallen Angel.

Origin of the Name & Influences

 * Phoebus comes from the Greek and means "radiant", being one of the names of the god Apollon, and also one of the names by which the authors of antiquity referred to this god.
 * Abel is a name that comes from Hebrew and means "breath", "nothing", "son" or "ephemeral", Abel is the second son of Adam and Eve . He was assassinated by his brother Cain, who envied the divine satisfaction with Abel's offerings ; according to the story, his was the first death of a human being.
 * Ephebos is a Greek word that means adolescent, although its use was intended for Athenian men between 18 and 20 years old, who were instructed in ephebeia, a kind of military service.
 * His character could be based of Athena's unborn brother in the myth of her creation. In the original mythology, Metis was to bear a son after the birth of Athena. Once Zeus learned of this, he consumed her, however, Athena still sprung from his his head either by herself or by the assistance of Prometheus (or Hephaestus in some versions) who threw an ax at his head. Due to Zeus' interference, though, this child was never born but speculation suggested that should the son have been born he would have possibly been the "God of the Sun." This could explain why in this version, implying that was the son born from Metis, therefore, not only making him the direct brother of Athena but why he self-proclaimed himself as the God of the Sun.

Abilities

 * Phoebus Abel like every god possesses immortality, and is a creature that has lived since the mythological era.
 * Phoebus Abel, like every god, possesses complete mastery of the energy known as Cosmos.


 * Phoebus Abel plays the lyre extremely well.


 * Phoebus Abel was able to revive warriors; exhibited when he revived the Gold Saints that died during the Sanctuary arc, which were Gemini Saga, Cancer Deathmask, Capricorn Shura, Aquarius Camus and Pisces Aphrodite.


 * Phoebus Abel can put a person into a coma while he uses his cosmos to forcibly guide him to whatever part of the world of death he wishes. Abel uses it on Saori to guide her to the Champs Elysees.


 * Phoebus Abel can create a green cosmos sphere which he launches against his enemy, once launched this sphere increases in size.


 * Phoebus Abel can awaken the sleeping volcanoes on Earth so that he can release their fiery lava on nearby towns and thus annihilate everything in his path.


 * Phoebus Abel can move the Earth's tectonic plates so that the wave produced by strong shocks makes large fissures in the surface, collapsing buildings and killing thousands of people.


 * Phoebus Abel can envelop himself in a powerful amount of Cosmos that protects him from any attacks and returns those attacks to the opponent like a mirror.

Trivia

 * Many fans confuse him with the god Apollo because he calls himself "God of the Sun", and the fact that he includes "Phoebus" in his name, but in the same movie it is explained that they are not the same god. In the first dubbing into the Italian language, Phoebus Abel and Apollo were considered the same god, however this was corrected in the second dubbing. This error aside, Abel is very similar to his half-brother Apollo, but their hair is opposite, Apollo has red hair and he has blue.
 * In mythology, Athena and an unborn son are children of the union of Zeus and Metis. That unborn brother could be Abel and this would explain a lot of confusion caused by the movie. Even the relationship between Athena and Abel is not half-siblings, but a reference to the fact that they are children of the same parents if one takes into account that Abel is the only relative to whom the goddess shows affection who is not with her half-siblings, Apollo and Artemis.
 * Abel's name means: breath, breath and vanity.
 * Abel shares the same voice actor for Apollo in Saint Seiya: Heaven Chapter Overture in the first dubbing of the Italian version of Crimson Youth. This could have augmented the confusion between the two characters.