Poseidon

The Greek god Poseidon (海王ポセイドン or 海皇ポセイドン, Kaiō Poseidon, the two instances of Kaiō meaning King of the Seas and Emperor of the Seas, respectively) is one of the main antagonists in Saint Seiya. He was created by Kurumada based on the mythologic persona of the same name.

Overview
As in Greek mythology, he is the god and ruler of the seas, brother of Hades and Zeus. In Kurumada's mythos, he incarnates on Earth by possessing the body of a human, to be able to fulfill his will.

Poseidon has engaged in battle the protector goddess of the earth Athena, in several occasions, in different incarnations centuries apart. Kurumada reveals in his manga that Poseidon battled Athena in the age of myth (Saint Seiya manga, vol.1), and later they battled in the region of Attica, 2000 years before their encounter in the 20th century. (Saint Seiya manga, vol.14). In the same way as Athena's Saints, Poseidon has a personal army assisting him since the ages of myth, formed by thousands of low-ranking soldiers, and commanded by seven tremendously powerful warriors known as the Marina Generals, whose Cosmo equals that of a Gold Saint, and don powerful armors known as Scales, that represent mythical beings of the sea.

Poseidon was introduced by Masami Kurumada in vol. 14 of his manga Saint Seiya, as a young man named Julian Solo, and he first appeared in the anime adaptation in episode 100, in the same manner. Julian, the vessel chosen by Poseidon for his soul, is a young, very handsome man, with blonde hair. In the anime adaptation, his hair color is blue, to represent the seas.

Although Masami Kurumada presented Poseidon first in an antagonic role in his manga, it was revealed that in fact Poseidon never wanted the destruction of mankind out of whim or pure evil. He is in fact, an honorable and benevolent deity. He wanted to punish humans for their evil deeds and corruption of Earth. Also, he had considerations toward Athena, since she has been the object of his affection during millennia. He awoke in the 18th century and wanted to take revenge on Athena, but because she was fighting Hades at the time, he decided he wouldn't take advantage of the situation, knowing that she wouldn't be able to oppose both deities, and returned to his slumber within Athena's Amphora, where he had been sealed centuries ago. In the third act of Kurumada's manga, Poseidon awakens briefly from his slumber, to assist Athena and her Saints in a moment of desperate need, in stopping the evil scheme of the god of the underworld, Hades.

Incarnation
Poseidon, in a color panel from the manga, vol.15. Drawing by the author Masami Kurumada.In Kurumada's mythos, Poseidon, the god of the seas, in order to incarnate, has chosen a male member of the Solo family, since the age of myth. The Solo family, one of the wealthiest in Greece and in the world, has had hegemony over the seas during millennia, and has had Poseidon's blessings as his chosen servants. The member of the Solo family Poseidon chooses serves as a vessel for his soul, to help him achieve his goals.

In Poseidon's latest incarnation, in the 20th century, he incarnated in the young heir of the family, a teenager named Julian Solo. His goal was to cleanse the Earth of humans, whom he considered to be evil and unworthy of the blessings of the gods, and wanted to build an utopian society on top of the ruins of the old Earth once all humans were eradicated. Also, he wanted to exact revenge on Athena for having sealed his soul 2000 years before, in their last battle.

Abilities and Attributes
Being one of the most powerful deities and the brother of Hades and Zeus, Poseidon is far superior to humans in every way. As the god of the seas, Poseidon rules over the sea and all its creatures. He commands the waters and rains, and can make them obey his every whim. He possesses an immense, divine and immeasurable Cosmo, far superior to that of human, and can surpass even Athena's under normal circumstances. He can channel his Cosmo through his body in the form of intense energy blasts, more often he channels it through his Trident. His only weakness stands in his use of an incarnation, leaving him vulnerable to the power of Athena's Seal, which extracts his soul and induces him into a deep slumber. With the weakening of the Seal, he is capable of freeing himself from the imprisonment for a few minutes.

He wields the "Big Will", also known as the Divine Cosmo, only possessed by gods, although he can't use all his divine cosmo due to being reborn as an avatar. Poseidon was the first character Kurumada had make such statement in his manga.

Scales
In the same way his Marina Generals don powerful armor known as Scales, the Emperor of the Seas also possesses his own Scales. It is far superior to those worn by his Marina, and it is one of the Divine Armors that only the gods are allowed to wear. It was forged on the image of the mighty ruler of the seas Poseidon, brandishing a trident, symbol of his power and domain.

As with the other eleven Olympians, he also possesses a Kamui, or Divine Cloth. But he never donned it in Kurumada's original manga.

Poseidon arc : The resurrection of the Emperor of the Seas
In the second act of Masami Kurumada's manga, Saori Kido attends millionaire heir Julian Solo's party, at Cape Sounion, Greece. Julian tells Saori that his father was a good friend of her late grandfather Mitsumasa, and that he had been looking forward to meet her, since he felt like he had always knew her. Minutes later, Saori was surprised by Julian's marriage proposal, to which she refused. Some time after Saori left, Julian was approached by a mysterious woman, who told him he had been chosen by Poseidon as the vessel of his soul to reincarnate in this era. The woman called herself Mermaid Thetis, and having said that, as Poseidon, she was his servant. Astonished, Julian was dismayed and in disbelief. Against his will, Thetis grabs Julian and quickly begins to dive to the depths of the sea. Julian Solo's human body could not handle the tremendous dive to the bottom of the ocean and faints during the journey. Upon awakening, he discovered he was at Poseidon's Undersea Temple and the legendary city of Atlantis. Thetis' words turned out to be true, and Julian was brought in front of his legendary Scales, the divine armor that belonged to the God Poseidon since the age of myth.

Donning the Scales, the soul of Poseidon slowly began to flow and awake within Julian. Afterward, seven powerful warriors presented themselves before Poseidon, as they were the legendary Marina Generals, the personal guard of the Emperor of the Seas. Having sensed Poseidon's awakening and his will, they gathered and assumed their destinies as protectors of the god, as they had done since the ages of myth. Soon Poseidon's Cosmo begins summoning and immense army of Marina, led by his Generals - all loyal to Poseidon's will. Julian Solo's quest to "cleanse" the planet has begun.

Julian Solo became disilusioned with mankind and realizing that the Earth was corrupted and ravaged by the evil of mankind. Mankind has become a dirty stain on this world and soon decides to eradicate this cancer. Using his Poseidon's will and limitless cosmo, Julian Solo unleashes powerful rains and heavy flooding on Earth for countless days. Destruction, death and chaos followed after. In the Manga, Poseidon sends his powerful army and Siren Sorento in chase of Athena. After failing in trying to make Athena meet with him by force, she decided to attend Poseidon's summonings, to try to find a way to solve the crisis.

In the Anime, the Poseidon arc was slightly modified in its first parts to tie it to the anime-only Asgard arc, as Poseidon manipulated Hilda and her Asgard Holy Warriors to attack Athena, as well as sended his emissary Sorento to control the situation. However the spell is soon broken and Hilda ends up regaining control of herself. Much to everyone dismay, Saori ends up being swallowed by whirpool and transported to Atlantis.

Upon arriving to Poseidon's Undersea Temple, she discovered that the god had incarnated in the body of Julian Solo. Athena was surprised when she realized this, since she knew she had imprisoned Poseidon centuries ago and sealed his soul, submerging him in an eternal slumber, so she wondered who or what could be the reason behind his return.

The Emperor of the Seas then proposed her to marry him, and proposed her to help him in the eradication of mankind and in the creation of his utopia. She again refused Poseidon's proposals, enraging him. She asked him to stop the rains, to what he refused, telling her that the only way to stop the rains and flooding was to drain the waters by demolishing the columns that supported the seas and his Temple, the enormous and almost indestructible Mammoth Pillars. She then offered herself as sacrifice to delay mankind's destruction by being locked away in the Main Breadwinner, the main support of the seas, and receiving the waters and punishment on her. She knew that her Saints, sensing her will, would promptly assist her in stopping this threat to the peace of Earth.

As Athena hoped, her Saints felt her will and Cosmo and prepared for a new Holy War. The Bronze Saints, along with the remaining Silver and Gold Saints at Sanctuary were aware of the return of Poseidon. Awakening from a deep coma resulting from the battle of the Twelve Temples, the Bronze Saints Pegasus Seiya, Dragon Shiryu, Cygnus Hyoga, and Andromeda Shun quickly gathered at Rozan GoRouHou, where they received the challenge of Poseidon, delivered by Thetis. She told them that Athena offered herself as sacrifice to delay the destruction of Earth, and that the only way to save her and stop the rains was to come to Poseidon's Temple and destroy the Mammoth Pillars. Following her with the help of Kiki, the Saints were able to reach the Undersea Temple. Later, Phoenix Ikki joined them. Demolishing the Pillars would be no easy task as they were guarded by the immensely powerful Marina Generals, who represented mythical beings of the seas. They were known as Sea Horse Baian, Scylla Io, Chrysaor Krishna, Lyumnades Kaza, SeaDragon Kanon, Kraken Isaac and Siren Sorrento.

To achieve their goals faster, the Bronze Saints split, and faced the Marina one by one, on their own. Terrible battles ensued, and the Bronze Saints seemed to face certain death at the hands of the Marina. But in their darkest hour, they would be encouraged by their goddess Athena, who despite her ordeals was watching over them, and by the Gold Saints, who, after the battle of the Twelve Temples, had offered their blood to revive the Bronze Cloths. Having received the blood of the Gold Saints, and with the Cosmo of the Bronze Saints, who had mastered the Seventh Sense, flowing through them, the Bronze Cloths had been imbued with immense new power and resistance, enough to equal that of the mighty Gold Cloths.

With such incomparable new attributes, the Saints were able to equal and surpass the tremendous might of the Marina Generals. Defeating one by one, the Bronze Saints faced a new dilemma: demolishing the Mammoth Pillars, that seemed impervious to any kind of attack. Help arrived promptly, as Libra Roushi had sent Ophiuchus Shaina and Aries Mu's apprentice Kiki to the scene, carrying the mighty Libra Gold Cloth. Wielding one of the twelve weapons of the Libra Cloth each, the Saints were able to demolish the Pillars as if they were merely glass.

Still, the mystery of the resurrection of Poseidon remained unsolved. How was he able to freem himself from Athena's seal was an enigma to all. The answers could be many, the power of the seal wore off, Poseidon's might was enough to free him, and many more. But the real answer was much more frightening, and unexpected. It was revealed that Poseidon's servant and former Gemini Gold SaintSeaDragon Kanon had been the force behind the return of Poseidon, and the events of the Holy War had actually started 13 years ago, a few days after the return of Athena to Earth. Sent by Aiolos' soul, the holy Sagittarius Gold Cloth arrives to assist the Bronze Saints in the battle against Poseidon. Screenshot from the anime.Kanon, driven by his greed of power, had attempted to convince his brother, Gold Saint Gemini Saga, to murder Athena and usurp her power at Sanctuary. Outraged, Saga imprisoned his brother Kanon at a cave in Cape Sounion, were he vowed to break free and kill Athena and all who dared to oppose him. Some time later, Kanon found casually a trident and a small Urn with an ancient seal with Athena's name written in the Greek alphabet. Upon further inspection, Kanon realized the trident belonged to the god Poseidon and freed his soul, that was contained within the urn. By breaking through a wall in the prison, Kanon found a passageway that lead to a hall in Poseidon's Undersea Temple. He found there the Marina Scales and was inquired by Poseidon why had he awakened him. Posing as a servant of Poseidon, Kanon claimed to be the SeaDragon Marina, and said that he was at his feet, managing to deceive the deity. Poseidon told him that he was ready to awake and engage Athena in battle, for he bore a grudge towards her, and that the Marina had already sensed his will and would soon assemble to assist him. Since Athena was merely a baby then, Poseidon said he would do no harm to her for the time being, and that he would possess the body of a young member of the Solo family, Julian, who by then was a three year-old. Doing so, Poseidon remained dormant in Julian waiting for Athena to mature in the next few years to confront her once again. Poseidon then entrusted Kanon with seeing to his army being assembled to be ready for his return. Seiya gets ready to attack Poseidon with the arrow of Sagittarius. Screenshot from the anime.Kanon, realizing that he could use Poseidon to achieve his evil goals, was overjoyed and started to scheme the destruction of Athena and his rise to power. However, he knew that to be able to make his dream come true, it was necessary to keep Poseidon from fully awakening within Julian, because if he did awake completely, he would be unstoppable and his plans would backfire.

Unfortunately, the Saints arrive at Poseidon Temple and battle the god. Even in his dormant state, Poseidon is strong enough to shatter the Saints' Cloths and to wound them seriously. It seems the end of Athena, but from Sanctuary arrives the Sagittarius Gold Cloth. Seiya dons the Gold Cloth and tries to hit Poseidon with its Golden Arrow. Poseidon repels it repeatedly, but in the end, supported by the cosmo of all his friends, Seiya is able to strike Poseidon in the head. For some moments, the god's cosmo disappears. The Saints leave the scene, heading to assist Athena.

Beyond Poseidon's Chamber lies the Main Breadwinner, the last and strongest pillar in the submarine sanctuary. The efforts of the Saints to shatter ir are futile, even while brandishing the Libra weapons. In despair, Seiya, Shiryu and Hyouga concert an absurd plan: Shiryu and Hyouga would use their strongest attacks as a propellant for Seiya, throwing himself against the pillar, acting as a living battering ram.

As the Saints prepare to act, Poseidon reawakens on Julian's body, almost completely. Enraged, he engages the Saints in battle once again. Phoenix Ikki arrives at the scene and restrains the maddened deity until Shiryu and Hyouga are able to fulfill their plan. Seiya flies toward the Main Breadwinner fully powered by the collective cosmo of his friends. Smashing himself against the Pillar, the Pegasus Saint is able to release Athena from her punishment and bring her to safety. Amazingly, the Main Breadwinner shatters and crumbles before an awe-struck Poseidon. Having demolished the seven Mammoth Pillars and the Main Breadwinner, the flooding on Earth began to weaken.

The Sea god renews his attack on the Saints. Utterly overpowered by the deity, the Saints have been gravely wounded by his fury. Poseidon decides to kill the goddess who dared to foil his ambition, throwing his trident at her. In the split second before the collision, a Saint acts as a human shield to protect the weary goddess. It turns out to be Kanon, who ashamed by his sins, regains his sanity and commits to his duty as a Saint once again.

Poseidon attacks Athena fiercely, but Athena decides to play her high card. Bringing her Amphora from the Main Breadwinner, she approaches Poseidon and opens it before him. The Amphora attacks Poseidon's soul within Julian and after a fierce struggle seals it within itself.

Poseidon's soul enters a dormant state again, and without the Pillars and his divine Cosmo, the Sea Sanctuary begins to crumble. With her last ounces of strength, Athena brings her Saints to safety, and Thetis takes Julian back to the shores.

After this sublime sacrifice by Athena and her Saints, peace returned to Earth once again.

Hades arc : Divine assistance from Poseidon
In the third act of Kurumada's manga, Poseidon quickly becomes a key character during the climax. Athena has engaged once again her sworn enemy Hades, the result is a war between deities of catastrophic proportions for both sides.

After hours of deadly battles, the Bronze, Silver and Gold Saints manage to restrain the invasion of Sanctuary by Hades' army, and proceeded to the Underworld to kill the evil deity. The Gold Saints sacrifice their lives to demolish the enormous Wailing Wall, that separates the Underworld from the Elysion, in order to allow the Bronze Saints to assist Athena, who was made prisoner by Hades' subordinate twin deities Hypnos and Thanatos

Despite that his soul was sealed again in the Amphora by the current re-incarnation of Athena a few weeks before, Poseidon manages to once again seize Julian Solo's body to aid the weakened Bronze Saints battle the twin gods, in order to save the world from Hades's tyrannical rule by sending the immensely powerful Gold Cloths through the terrible interdimensional expansion between the Underworld and the Elysion, by means of his divine might, to turn the tide of the battle in favor of Athena.

The Twin Gods commend and criticize Poseidon, a deity of immeasurable might, for crossing the Wall of Wailings and helping the same people who foiled his attempt to drown the world. They also insinuated that Poseidon's motives may not have been entirely altruistic. The Twin Gods hinted that the reason Poseidon was helping the Bronze Saints against Hades was so that Poseidon was hoping to attempt to conquer the world again in the future, something that would have been impossible if Hades won.

The sole surviving Marina General, Siren Sorento, is shocked to learn that the Emperor of the 7 seas has managed to weaken the seal on his soul to help Athena's Bronze Saints. However, the Sea God quickly departs from Julian Solo's body. Julian wonders the origin of Sorento's perplexity, for he has no recollection of the previous event. Sorento deduces that Poseidon's soul must have gone to slumber again and wishes that Athena and her Saints bring back light to this world which is quickly being plunged into darkness by Hades's eternal eclipse.

Julian Solo and Sorento resume the long task of aiding those who found themselves victims during the catastrophe unleashed by the great flood from the Poseidon arc.

With their strength renewed by the assistance of the Emperor of the Seas, the Bronze Saints were able to continue their struggle against the malevolent deities, and after terrible battles and suffering, were able to overcome their threat and restore peace to the world once again.