Sagittarius Aiolos

Sagittarius Aiolos (射手座のアイオロス, Sajitariasu no Aiorosu) is one of the Gold Saints.

Personality and background
Kurumada introduced Aiolos in chapter 24 of his manga, contained in vol. 6.

He is one of the 12 Guardians of Sanctuary, with the Sagittarius as his destined constellation. Aiolos is the famous gold saint who died protecting Athena when she was an infant.

Aiolos always was a paradigm of righteousness, seen as the perfect Saint and one of the two Gold Saints who could succeed Aries Shion as the next Pope of Sanctuary and the chosen one.

Not much is known about Aiolos, since he died before the main story began. More of him is seen in Saint Seiya Episode G, like his relationship with Garan, a servant of his young brother, Leo Aiolia, who once trained with Aiolos for the Sagittarius cloth.

Despite his condition, Aiolos managed to help the main characters many times sending his cloth to aid them.

Aiolos is probably named after the Greek god of Wind, Aeolus.

Plot overview
Aiolos, in a color illustration of the manga. Drawing by the author Masami KurumadaWhen Aiolos was 14 years old, he, along with fellow gold saint Gemini Saga, were summoned to Pope Shion's throne room for an audience. There, the Grand Pope revealed that their goddess had once again reincarnated in the form of an infant, and so the Sanctuary must prepare itself for the imminent wars. As Shion himself was getting on in years, he decided that it was time to appoint one of the twelve Gold Saints as the successor to his seat. At the time, most of the Gold Saints were still too young; only Gemini Saga and Sagittarius Aiolos were most qualified. The Pope eventually selected Aiolos as the new Pope, and asked Saga to serve as an assistant to the Sagittarius Saint.

Saga, possessed by his evil side, became jealous at the fact that he was not chosen for the seat, especially since he believed that he was superior to Aiolos in terms of power and wisdom. Saga confronted Shion regarding his decision and killed him. He disguised himself with the Grand Pope's garments, and left to kill the infant Athena. Inches before Saga could dig the golden dagger into the baby's belly, Aiolos appeared and halted the blade from striking the death blow. The Sagittarius berated the man he assumed to be the Pope, but was quickly shoved aside. After a minute of struggle, Aiolos sent Saga flying into the nearest wall, knocking off his headdress and mask. Upon seeing Saga's face and realizing that Saga had killed the Grand Pope, Aiolos immediately snatched away the infant Athena and ran off from Sanctuary. Saga, disguised as the Pope once more, sounded the alarm and sent guards to go after the saint. It is at this point that he officially branded Aiolos as a "traitor". He was eventually found by Capricorn Shura and managed to flee, but was deadly injured. As he was dying, he ran into Mitsumasa Kido, who was touring Greece at the time. Aiolos begged the elder Kido to become Athena's new guardian, and explained to him the travesty that had taken place at the Sanctuary. Along with other secrets, Kido learned about the existence of Athena's Saints and their Cloths. Entrusting the elder Kido with Athena and his own Sagittarius Gold Cloth, Aiolos succumbed to his injuries. It is unknown as to where exactly Aiolos died and buried, as the whereabouts of the location is omitted in the series.

The Sanctuary saga
After his death, Aiolos' spirit would provide assistance for Athena and her Saints. He has aided Seiya in battles by lending the young bronze saint the Sagittarius Gold Cloth time and time again, and even appeared once to his brother Aiolia during Aiolia's fight with Seiya, when he demanded proof of Saori's identity as the goddess Athena. When the bronze saints were in the Temple of Sagittarius, the Sagittarius Cloth moved on its own (or with Aiolos' spirit), and fired its golden arrow into a nearby wall—revealing a final hidden message of the gold saint's last will: "To you young boys who have reached this temple, know that I entrust Athena's life in your hands. Aiolos." It is likely that Aiolos foresaw that one day, new Saints would go to his temple to fight for Athena.

The Hades
When Athena's saints were once again fighting against Hades's spectres, all the Gold Saints, both dead and alive, gathered in Hades' room to break the Wailing Wall. Only with sunlight can the wall be destroyed, and because each individual gold cloth contained a bit of solar energy, gathering all twelve would provide enough of it to properly damage the wall. At this point, the spirit of Aiolos appeared with the rest of the recently deceased Gold Saints to aid their comrades in accomplishing this task. Focusing on a single point of the Wailing Wall, Aiolos guided all twelve gold saints' individual attacks into one, and struck the wall. Once the mission was completed, Aiolos and the rest of the gold saints dissipated, leaving only the gold cloth behind.

Power and abilities
Although Aiolos' moves were not shown in the original manga, there are nevertheless two techniques that were attributed to him in other mediums: one in the anime adaptation, and another in Episode G. They are: Aiolos' cloth, Sagittarius Cloth, is armed with a bow and a golden arrow. This arrow is often depicted as the main weapon of the series and gives the final blow in four of the five movies of the series when used by Pegasus Seiya. It was hinted on the original series and confirmed in Saint Seiya Episode G that the golden arrow can concentrate the Cosmos of those surrounding it if they wish.
 * Atomic Thunderbolt (atomikku sandāboruto): Aiolos shoots a massive amount of energy balls with some electric charge. This attack is from the anime, and was revealed during a flashback fight against Capricorn Shura.
 * Infinity Break (infiniti bureiku): This technique allows Aiolos to shoot an infinite number of light darts that pierce anything upon contact. With this attack, Aiolos destroyed Horus' army in Saint Seiya: Episode G.

Cloth, constellation and Temple
Aiolos's guardian constellation is Sagittarius, and his Gold Cloth represents it and its associated myth : The centaur Chiron aiming its bow at Scorpio. Though it is also widely associated to simply a Centaur, since Chiron is more associated to the Centaurus constellation.

The temple he guarded was known both in manga and the anime adaptation as JinBaKyū, literally the "Centaur Temple".

Other media
Main article: In the Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas sidestory, the Sagittarius Saint in the 18th century was known as Sagittarius Sisyphus.
 * Sagittarius Sisyphus

In the manga Saint Seiya Episode G, parts of Aiolos' past were revealed. He was a friend of Garan's, who eventually became a servant for his younger brother, Aiolia. Garan and Aiolia once had a stand-off, after the Gold Saint caught him attempting to steal Athena's holy blood. Other pieces of Aiolos' past include him destroying Typhon's spirit as it awoke; as well as single-handedly defeating the Sun Army, Horus' warriors. In various parts of Episode G, Aiolos' spirit appears from time to time to guide his little brother. In a flashback, it was Aiolos who forbid Aiolia to use a newly developed attack, the "Photon Burst", as he deemed it to be too dangerous of a technique.

Since both Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas and Saint Seiya Episode G are not authored by Masami Kurumada, their status as canon is unknown.