Acheron Charon (天間星アケローンのカロン, Tenkansei Akerōn no Karon) is one of Hades' 108 Specter. Just like his name says he transports the dead over the river Acheron. His power lies in the Celestial Spatial Star. Charon's appearance is similar to the design he gave to Juggler, a character in B't X, another manga by Kurumada. Both Charon and Juggler are guarding the entrance of the next stage.
Plot (TLC)[]
Charon is enchanted by the beauty of Yuzuriha and how she would make a nice souvenir to sell. Confronted by Tenma he uses his Rolling Oar, with which he turns his oar multiple times to destroy the enemy, he stops upon Shion and Regulus' arrival, commenting that his life was more valuable than fighting two Gold Saints. He agreed to take Sasha, Regulus, Shion and Tenma to the entrance for the first temple of the Guardians of Stars, explaining that they were the most powerful warriors of Hades. During the sailing, he tricks Sasha by asking her hair as payment to the crossing, with which he sealed her powers as Athena. Killed by Aries Shion.
Plot (Hades Arc)[]
As the Saints of Athena had breached the Underworld, the first to get to the river Acheron was Pegasus Seiya and Andromeda Shun. Charon came rowing his boat as any usual day, as he spotted the two he told them to get on quickly since it seemed they were the only dead ones today. But then he realized they were alive, and couldn't figure out how they had gotten to the underworld. Since it is only Specters that can access the underworld, he tried to shoo the Saints away. The Pegasus refused and tried to board the boat by force, but Charon easily doged the attack. He then realise it was because Athena had slipped into the underworld that the alarm had been raised, and these two must be her Saints. Seiya charged again at him, but Charon shielded himself with his oar and tried to hit Seiya. But his oar was interrupted by Shun's chains, and as Charon responded by pulling the chains he was attacked again by Seiya so he used his oar to defend himself again. He stated that he could reach Mach 18, and that the Saints couldn't touch him. But by then he was annoyed by the two and didn't want to fight anymore, so he asked if they had money on them for the ride over. The Pegasus Saint got furious, but the Andromeda Saint took forth his valuable pendant which well served for the trip.
Charon sang during the trip, which wasn't so enjoyable for his passengers. As Seiya started complaining he revealed that they were only halfway over, and that the river was the deepest here. He then continued with knocking the Pegasus Saint overboard, to leave him for the dead souls to drown him that inhabitated the river. Andromeda Shun refused to let that happen and threw his chain to catch his fellow Saint. Charon became really angry now and was about to smash his oar into Shun, as suddenly Seiya launched several of his punches against him. The ferryman shielded himself using his oar, but he noticed that one had gotten through. As he was confused why he could have been hit, the Saint launched more of the "Pegasus Ryusei Ken" Technique which continued to hit him. Charon eventually toppled over into the river, and as Seiya climbed aboard again he begged for his life since he was the only one who could take them over the river. The Saints agrred and hoisted up on the boat again, still as Seiya gave him his oar he attacked with his "Eddying Current Crusher". The attack knocked out the Pegasus Saint and let Charon deal with Shun, yet as he attacked him he saw something. Shun's eyes held a gaze that the ferryman had never seen before, and realized that the Saint could actually reach Elysion. He then agreed to transport the two over the river, because they were precious souls and that he would finish them personally. As they reached the shore of the first prison, the Saints almost forgot what their ferry condition was. Charon reminded them directly and put himself in position, while Pegasus Seiya did the same. As they both unleashed their attacks, the result was that Seiya toppled over as Charon's Surplice broke into small pieces. He then fell backwards into his boat, which started moving outwards by the shock. The Specter sang his last song as the boat headed into the river.
Surplice, Star & Name[]
- Acheron Surplice
The Acheron surplice is in the form of the ferryman Charon from Greek myth, depicted sitting on his boat with his oar. The anime variant differs from the original to minor details and coloring. The name Acheron comes from the first river of the underworld, the Acheron (the River of Lamentation). The river acts as the boundary line between the world of the living and the Underworld, and can only be crossed by boarding Charon's boat. Those spirits who could not pay for the trip were forced to remain on the shores, and such spirits would often wander back to the world to torment the living.
- Divine Tranquillity Star
The star originally comes from the character Gong-sun Sheng in the Water Margin story.
- Charon
The name comes from the ferryman Charon, who would transport the dead over the River Acheron (sometimes confused with the River Styx) in the Underworld in Greek Myth. Passengers were required to pay Charon for the ride to the Underworld's entrance; those who didn't were left behind. Occassionally, despite Charon's irritation about the added weight, living humans (particularly heroes or heroines) were allowed to cross in Charon's boat, either by persuasion or force.
Techniques[]
- Remo Swivel (ローリングオール, Rōringu Ōru, "Rolling Oar"): A blow both offensive and defensive. Charon rotate your paddle in a high-speed Mach 18 (He) creating a sort of invisible barrier that prevents attacks from reaching your body or you can use it with the same intensity spinning to attack your enemy. He turns his paddle every millisecond. A weakness of this technique is that it can not stop the strike at the speed of light.
- Whirlpool Crusher (エディングカレントクラッシャー, Edingu Karento Kurasshā, "Ending Current Crusher"): Charon mentions that his arms have greater strength than the paddle. Charon focuses his cosmos of his fists, then he fires a capsule or powerful vortex of energy, the energy will be expanding to become a whirlwind of energy or a cyclone around the enemy, suffering a crushing pressure and is tossed meters high.
Notes[]
- Charon, DoB=2/10, is one of the characters with clownish personality next to Hydra Ichi whose DoB=10/2.
References[]
- Saint Seiya Vol. 23, by Masami Kurumada.
- Saint Seiya Official Encyclopedia
- Saint Seiya Meikai Hen: Inferno OVA Episode 1 (anime episode 128)
Saints | ||
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Types | Bronze Saints • Silver Saints • Gold Saints • Steel Saints • Black Saints • Caraib Ghost Saints • Corona Saints • Pegasus Saints • Resurrected Saints • Saintias • Unknown Saints |