Aries Shion

Aries Shion is a character from the anime/manga series Saint Seiya. In the classic series, Shion is the original Grand Pope of the Sanctuary, as well as one of the remaining survivors of the Holy War from the 1700's. He also served as the master of  Aries Mu, who would eventually become the successor to the Gold Cloth of Aries slightly prior to his death. Later Shion is one of the resurrected Saints in Saint Seiya Hades Chapter.

Saint Seiya: Next Dimension


Aries Shion is the young Aries Saint in Saint Seiya: The Next Dimension.

Promoted to the Gold Saint of Aries at the beginning stages of the Holy War against Hades, Shion caught up with his partner Libra Dōko (ND), who had also just became the Gold Saint of Libra, and the two men immediately invaded the Elysium Fields on Earth. They were unable to reach very far before being interrupted by various guards and spectres, including Griffon Veemer, one of the three Judges of the Underworld. The Saint of Pegasus, Pegasus Tenma (ND), also found his way to the fields while searching for his friend, Alone (ND) - the current reincarnation of Hades. A short battle between the Saints and Spectres occurred, with the former overwhelmed due to the crippling barrier surrounding Hades Castle on Elysium.

Eventually, Suikyō, the former Saint of Crateris, made his presence known on the battleground. An old acquaintance of both Shion and Dohko, he had appeared under the mantle of the Spectre of Garuda. The three friends shared a small exchange before the spectres were recalled into Hades Castle. Shion, Dohko, and Tenma, each still powerless from the effect of the barrier, were left to be killed by the guards. Fortunately, they were saved when Tenma's horse, apparently unaffected by the barrier, comically knocked the guards away. The saints then quickly relocated to a safer location.

Tenma's horse had brought the Silver Cloth of Crateris with it. The armor, in the shape of the holy chalice of which Athena drank, contained sacred water which reflect the future of whomever looked into it. Upon viewing down at his own image, Shion saw his face covered with the Pope's headdress.

Some time later, the three saints were confronted by two of their gold peers, Taurus Ox and Capricorn Izō. Shion, Dohko, and Seiya were briefly punished for acting on their own during a most important time where unity amongst the Saints were not only necessary, but a strategic advantage.

Later on, Shion returned to his post at the Aries Temple, where he would run into Andromeda Shun ( ND ), who had traveled to the 1700's with Athena by the might of the deity Chronos. Somewhere along the way, Shun had become separated from Athena, and was attempting to relocate her when he ran to the Aries Temple. Like most of Sanctuary, however, the gold saint did not recognize the Andromeda, and forbid him from passing through. The bronze saint eventually slipped past when Suikyo made his reappearance and engaged in battle with Shion. Shun along with Tenma go to the second house of Taurus, while Shion confronts and kills 5 specter, then, fights with Suikyo, that in the past had been his training partner.

Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas
Aries Shion is a close friend of Gold Saint Libra Dohko, and the only other survivor of the previous generation of Saints together with Dohko.

Shion was a very smart and strong man, loyal to his beliefs and above all, to Athena. He respected all of his fellow Saints and his master, who saved his life when he was a child. He is also very protective of lower ranking saints.

Before becoming a Saint, he was a student of Hakurei. He lived and trained in Jiamir where he learned how to repair Cloths. Shion possessed a unique ability to be able to see the previous lives of Saints when in contact of wounded Cloths. One day while he was repairing the cloths, he encountered a mysterious man who offers him the chance to see the story of all humans, past, present and future. When Shion was about to accept, the Cloths started to move, and the man noticed that even when Shion was spying on them, they were asking him to stay. However, Shion's desire to go made him start destroying the Cloths... until he found his master's Altar Silver Cloth. The story and feelings emanating from it were warm and melancholic. Shion asks the man for more time to consider his offer. The man then tells him that one of humanity's greatest sins was hesitation, and slashes him with a black whip, wounding him deeply. Shortly thereafter, the man reveals himself to be Balron Lune, the Celestial Excellence Star, and leaves. About to die, the Cloths protected Shion until his master found him. Hakurei makes another wound in his arm and passes blood from his body to Shion's, allowing the boy to live again.
 * Background

Saint Seiya (20th Century)


Upon becoming the Grand Pope, Shion could no longer perform the duties of the Aries Saint. Thus, he began to train an apprentice to succeed the Cloth. In the 20th century, Shion found that successor in Mu, an extraordinary young man of the same race as Shion with a natural talent for Cloth reparation. Mu not only became the new Gold Saint of Aries, but he did so with all of Shion's abilities under his belt.
 * Flashbacks

After Athena had once again reincarnated as a human infant after more than two centuries, Shion began preparations for the inevitable war. He understood that, due to old age, his own time would soon be up, and therefore needed to choose a successor for his seat. With the exception of Sagittarius Aiolos and Gemini Saga, all of the Gold Saints were too young and inexperienced to take up the responsibilities. After a lengthy time of consideration, Shion eventually settled on the Gold Saint of Sagittarius. While Aiolos was not as powerful as Saga, Shion felt confident in his choice because he knew of Aiolos' undying loyalty to Athena and undeniable devotion to virtue.

Unfortunately, Shion was confronted by Saga in regards to his decision shortly after the announcement. It seems Saga felt discontent at Shion's choice, and demanded an explanation for it. Shion revealed that, while he acknowledged that Saga had a heavenly reputation and was the more powerful of the two, he could not help but sense something terrifyingly dark within the Gemini Saint. It is at this point that Saga confirmed Shion's suspicions, and assaulted the weary Pope with a deathblow.

In the Underworld, the realm of the dead, it was announced that Hades would attack the Sanctuary and unleash the Greatest Eclipse on Earth. This left the dead Saints in a predicament, being unable to do anything, but opportunity rose when Hades told them that, if they killed Athena, they would live again.
 * Hades Arc

Not even death could keep Shion from aiding Athena in her Holy War against Hades. Years after his assassination, he returned from death to help Athena and the current Saints with a way to get into the realm of the Dead. Originally, it was assumed that Shion, along with other deceased Saints such as Saga, Shura, Camus, Deathmask, and Aphrodite, had sold their souls to Hades in exchange of resurrection and returned to Sanctuary to kill Athena. It turned out that this was a grand scheme by the former Pope and the dead Saints in order to get a message to Athena—that she must die and awaken her 8th sense if she hoped to successfully defeat Hades within his domain.

After the message had been delivered, Shion met with the Bronze Saints Seiya, Shiryū, Hyōga, and Shun to tell them what had really happened between the Gold Saints and Athena. Perhaps as a nod to his apprentice's talents for armor reparation, Shion instantly restored all four Saints' individual Cloths using the blood of Athena. Finally, in his last act as the Grand Pope, Shion commanded the young Bronze Saints to invade the realm of the dead — they must not stop until every Specter had been killed, and Hades himself was on his knees.

In the manga, it is at this point that Shion's restored body gave way, and the former Aries perished into dust. In the anime adaptation the event is depicted in the same way, although Shion lasted until near sunrise. Prior to disappearing for good, Shion reunited with his old friend Dohko to share past times for a brief moment.

Power and abilities
Superhuman Strength: As a Gold Saint Shion had the strength to destroy a gigantic boulder with a single finger and cause immense damage with one hit.

Cosmos Mastery: As a former Gold Saint, Shion has fully mastered the 7th sense, which gave him great power and the ability to move at the speed of light. Shion is among the most powerful of Athena's Gold Saints, something made very apparent with the Saint Seiya Taizen stating that Saga (who is confirmed to be the strongest Gold Saint of his generation in the prequel Next Dimension) would be incapable of killing Shion had the latter still been youthful.

Inmense Psychic Power: Shion is naturally gifted with great psychic powers that allow him to have control over telekinesis, telepathy and even teleportation.

He is also versed in the ways of Cloth restoration.

Next Dimension

 * Stardust Revolution: Stardust technique that uses as raw material to create a shower of stars that is fired at the opponent.
 * Crystal Wall: The technique creates a barrier that acts as a strong defense, it may also reflect enemy attacks.

The Lost Canvas

 * Superhuman Strength: As a Gold Saint Shion had the strength to destroy a gigantic boulder with a single finger and cause immense damage with one hit.
 * Cosmos Mastery: As a former Gold Saint, Shion has fully mastered the 7th sense, that gave him great power and the ability to move at the speed of light. Shion is among the most powerful of Athena's Gold Saints.
 * Inmense Psychic Power: Shion is naturally gifted with great psychic powers that allow him to have control over telekinesis, telepathy and even teleportation.
 * He is also versed in the ways of Cloth restoration.

Stardust Revolution: Stardust Revolution is a technique that uses as raw material to create a shower of stars that is fired at the opponent. In the anime The Lost Canvas, the stardust was also used to form, beyond the stars, a huge stream of energy.

Crystal Wall: The technique creates a barrier that acts as a strong defense. The staying power of Crystal Wall is hard to contain a Gigantic sucifiente Feathers Flap for Griffin Minos. Shion demonstrates the ability to manipulate the stroke and make it take several formats.

Praesepe Celestial Wave: A technique that fuses all souls around the user into one giant energy sphere, capable of defeating a God. Shion learned this technique empirically from his master and used it against Lune.