Hotaru Tomoe

Character Information

Name:	Hotaru Tomoe
Name (kanji/kana):	土萠ほたる
Alignment:	Moon Kingdom, Crystal Tokyo
Species:	Human
Gender:	Female
Lives:	Tokyo
Occupation:	Junior high student
Family:	Professor Souichi Tomoe (father), Keiko Tomoe (mother; deceased)
Associates:	Chibiusa, Haruka Tenou, Michiru Kaiou, Setsuna Meiou
Aliases:	Sailor Saturn, Messiah of Silence, Mistress 9, Miss Dream
First Anime Appearance:	The Grail's Divine Power! Moon's Double Transformation
First Manga Appearance:	Mugen 1 - Yokan
First PGSM Appearance:	N/A
English Name:	Sailor Saturn, Hotaru Tomoe
Actors:	Yuko Minaguchi (anime), Jennifer Gould (dub)

Hotaru Tomoe

Hotaru Tomoe was the civilian identity of Sailor Saturn, and appeared in the anime and manga series.

Background

During her childhood, Hotaru was involved in a freak accident in her father's genetic engineering laboratory. Germatoid, a Daimon from the Tau Nebula, used an experimental space created by Professor Souichi Tomoe to cross over to Earth. His arrival caused a massive explosion that left Hotaru dead and her father injured. The sinister entity promised to restore Hotaru to life if the professor agreed to his terms. The distraught professor agreed immediately, at which point Germatoid hijacked his body, while Hotaru's body was possessed by a second entity, Mistress 9. While Germatoid's personality completely overwhelmed that of Souichi Tomoe, Mistress 9 remained largely dormant in the resurrected Hotaru, only surfacing occasionally. Hotaru tried to return to a normal life but, largely due to Mistress 9's presence, she had become very frail and prone to mysterious seizures. She also possessed unique abilities that allowed her to heal minor injuries in seconds. Meanwhile, her possessed father set about establishing the Death Busters and arranging Pharaoh 90's passage to Earth, quite unbeknownst to Hotaru.

In the manga, her background was similar, but in the lab accident Hotaru was severely injured but not killed, and her father used his banned research to transform her into a cyborg in order to keep her alive.

Meeting Chibiusa

Due to her strange abilities and inexplicable mood swings, Hotaru was ostracised by her classmates and lived a largely solitary life. However, she met Chibiusa by chance during a visit to Juuban Natural Park. After she discovered that Chibiusa was not afraid of her powers, the two became friends. The friendship was to be cut short, however, when Chibiusa's Pure Heart Crystal was stolen by Kaolinite and used to awaken Mistress 9. Hotaru's personality was pushed into the background by her evil alter ego, who succeeded in stealing the Holy Grail from Sailor Moon and transferring its power to Pharaoh 90.

Awakening, Death, and Rebirth

Hotaru had not been defeated, however, and kept attempting to regain control of her body. Eventually, she succeeded in this by awakening as Sailor Saturn. Saturn's presence completely overwhelmed Mistress 9, destroying her permanently. After returning Chibiusa's Pure Heart Crystal, Saturn resolved to defeat Pharaoh 90 by using the full extent of her powers. Sailor Moon objected, knowing that it would mean Saturn's death. Sailor Saturn refused to relent, however, and leapt into Pharaoh 90's core. She managed to annihilate Pharaoh 90 from within, but, as predicted, the battle killed her. Fortunately, Sailor Moon entered Pharaoh 90 and retrieved a reincarnated baby Hotaru from the entity before it disappeared. Hotaru had been reborn as a baby, and was eventually returned to her father, now amnesiac but free from Germatoid's possession.

The Second Awakening

Baby Hotaru lived with her father for a while, but soon Setsuna Meiou came for her, aware that her powers would be required for the forthcoming battle against Queen Nehellenia. When threatened by a Mirror Paredri, Hotaru's power exploded, destroying the creature and causing her to age by a few years in just a few seconds. She later continued to age at an accelerated rate, until, upon reaching early adolescence after a few weeks, she reawakened as Super Sailor Saturn, regaining the memories of her previous life. Her power also allowed Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, and Sailor Pluto to achieve their Super forms, and also advanced Super Sailor Moon to her Eternal Sailor Moon form.

Family

Hotaru's mother, Keiko, died in the same laboratory accident that injured her daughter. Hotaru lived with her father, Souichi Tomoe. In the anime, she continued to live with him after the end of the Sailor Moon S season after she was reborn, but in the manga, she was adopted by Haruka Tenou, Michiru Kaiou, and Setsuna Meiou, and she called them "Haruka-papa," "Michiru-mama," and "Setsuna-mama" respectively.

Relationships

Hotaru never really aged to the point to have a romantic relationship in either series. However, Hotaru and Chibiusa were good friends in both the anime and the manga series, and she formed an adoptive family with Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna in the Dream arc of the manga. She also lived with Haruka and Michiru in the Sailor Moon Sailor Stars season, but the "family" relationship was not present to the extent it was in the manga.

Musicals

In the musicals, Hotaru was played by Keiko Takeda, Chihiro Imai, Asami Sanpei, Mao Mita, Mario Tomioka, Ayami Kakiuchi, Ruria Nakamura, Yui Iizuka, and Eriko Funakoshi.

Trivia

• Hotaru was one of the only two Senshi who had powers in their civillian forms, as she could heal; the other was the psychic miko Rei Hino.

• Her name literally means "firefly rising from earth."

• In the Spanish translation of the manga, her civilian name was at first translated as "Olivia," the same as in the French version, even though in the Spanish dub of the anime her name was "Andrea." In later volumes, her name was changed to match the anime.

• She is the only charater to have kept her real name.