Hotaru Tomoe / Sailor Saturn

"*I am an emissary from the abyss of Death. Protected by Saturn, the Outer Planet of Destruction, the Guardian of Silence. I am Sailor Saturn."*

**Hotaru Tomoe** (土萠 ほたる, Tomoe Hotaru) is the civilian identity and the present-day incarnation of **Sailor Saturn** (セーラーサターン, Seeraa Sataan). When she is first introduced, she was possessed by Mistress 9 and later adopted by Michiru Kaiou, Haruka Tenou, and Setsuna Meiou following Mistress 9's defeat.

### Relatives

Souichi Tomoe (father), Keiko Tomoe (mother)

## Nomenclature & Etymology

### Etymology

**Hotaru**: The kanji of "Hotaru" (蛍) means "firefly." Fireflies are associated with the spirits of the dead in Japanese mythology, which fits her as she is the Sailor Senshi of Ruin/Death and Rebirth. Also, the first kanji in Tomoe is the first character for the Japanese name for Saturn.

**Tomoe**: The kanji of "Tomoe" (土萠) translates as earth (*to*,土) and sprouting (moe, 萠). 土 also is the first kanji of the word "Dosei" (土星) meaning: "Saturn"

So, her name means "firefly sprouting from Earth".

## Appearance

### Civilian

Hotaru is a petite girl with short dark purple hair, violet eyes, and pale skin.

On normal days, she wears a black turtleneck sweater, grey skirt, and black stockings. On other days, she will wear a black mini dress and dark blue pantyhose. Her school uniform consists of a red top, green skirt, and blue pantyhose.

### Sailor Guardian

Sailor Saturn's dominant color was purple (choker, collar, elbow fittings of gloves, skirt, and boots), and her accent colors were white (tiara gem, earrings, front middle of choker, and center of front bow) and maroon (front and back bows). Her choker had a white six-pointed star, her collar had no stripes, her shoulder pads resembled flower petals, and the center of her front bow was a white crystal, similar in appearance to Pure Heart Crystals or half a Moravian star. Her gloves were elbow length with elbow fittings unique among the Guardians. Her boots were knee-high and laced up in the front. Her earrings were the most unique of all Sailor Guardians, being white pearls adorned with a ring to look like her guardian planet, with white dagger pendants hanging from them.

## Personality

Hotaru is timid, quiet and always keeps to herself. Never having had any real friends, she was surprised yet happy to have met Chibiusa. She had growing fears of losing herself someday and struggled to keep her Mistress 9 in check, so as not to harm those she held most dear.

## Background

Hotaru was raised by her mother and father. An accident occurred in one of her father's labs, which killed her mother and fatally wounded Hotaru. To save her, her father replaced parts of her limbs with machinery, making her a cyborg. He also connected with Pharaoh 90, who had her possessed with a Daimon who would become Pharaoh 90's partner in the future.

## Information

### Infinity arc

She is shown as a daughter to Souichi Tomoe and is a sixth grader at the Mugen Academy. At school, she is bullied because of her constant sickness which is revealed to be hosting Mistress 9. Hotaru meets Chibiusa fighting a Daimon. When Chibiusa got injured, she healed her. The latter became close friends. After Mistress 9 awakened with Pharaoh 90 to make Tokyo the new Tao System, Sailor Saturn later awakened when the Sailor Guardians attacks did not hurt the evil entity. She later expels the evil entity out of the universe where she instructs Sailor Pluto to open the Gate of Time and have it close with her for rebirth to be possible. Hotaru is later reborn as a baby and raised by Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna as her adoptive parents.

## Sailor Guardian Information

Hotaru as Sailor Saturn possesses powers associated with silence and ruin, nothingness, destruction, death, and rebirth that made her a potential threat as she can wipe out a planet and even an entire star system or reset its evolution.

* **Death and Rebirth:** Hotaru as The Guardian of Silence possesses the power to completely obliterate an entire planet; thus reducing everything and everyone on said world to complete and utter nothingness by swinging down her weapon, the Silence Glaive.
* **Great Healing Power:** During Infinity Arc, Hotaru is shown to have healing power, curing Chibiusa's wounds after the battle in Act 28.
* **Age Shifting:** After being reborn, in Dead Moon Arc, more precisely in Act 44, Dream 6, she is also shown to grow at a faster rate than a normal human, and when the critical moment comes, she grows to a 10-year-old child. When Sailor Saturn's powers are brought back to her, she instantly grows back a 13-year-old. But after the end of Dream Arc, she regressed of age back to a 10-year-old girl.
* **Illusions:** In the same chapter, she also possesses the power to project, through illusions, what's on her mind, showing Super Sailor Chibi Moon and Pegasus, and after that, the history of Solar System's creation.

### Weapons and Items

* Silence Glaive
* Saturn Crystal

### Attacks

* Death Reborn Revolution
* Silence Wall
* Silence Glaive Surprise
* Galactica Glaive Surprise
* Galactica Cannon
* Death Ribbon Revolution

## Development

* The idea of Hotaru being an android was originally intended for Ami Mizuno until it was rejected by the editor.
* The fact that she's the Sailor Senshi of Destruction and Ruin can be associated with Cronus, which is portrayed with a scythe or sickle, as well as being one of Gaia's descendants. Gaia is the Earth in Greek Mythology, as referenced in her name's etymology.

## Trivia

* She is the only Sailor Guardian who is reborn after using her powers. The other Guardians stay alive after using their powers apart from Sailor Moon as Princess Serenity.
* She's the only Sailor Guardian who doesn't transform in the Stars Arc and her Sailor form is only seen when she was brought back as Sailor Galaxia's servant.