Saphir

Character Information

Name:	Saphir
Name (kanji/kana):	サフィール
Alignment:	Black Moon Clan
Species:	Humanoid
Gender:	Male
Lives:	Nemesis
Occupation:	Member of the Black Moon Clan
Family:	Prince Demande (brother)
Associates:	Esmeraude, Petz (anime); Veneti, Aquatici, Black Lady (manga, Crystal)
Aliases:	Blue Saphir
First Anime Appearance:	A Mysterious New Senshi, Sailor Pluto Appears
First Manga Appearance:	Act 15 Shinnyuu SAILORMARS
First PGSM Appearance:	N/A
English Name:	Sapphire (dub, Mixx manga), Saphir (Kodansha manga, Viz dub)
Actors:	Tsutomu Kashiwakura (anime), Tsubasa Yonaga (Crystal), Lyon Smith (dub), Greg Felden (Viz dub)

Saphir was a member of the Black Moon Clan and the younger brother of Prince Demande.

Anime

In the anime, Saphir was charged with creating the Dark Henge, making them in Esmeraude's likeness at her request. Eventually, he began to grow suspicious of Wiseman's intentions and attempted to warn his brother but was ignored. Upon learning of Wiseman's treachery, he attempted to inform his brother of it, and because of this, Wiseman tried to kill him. Saphir, though wounded, managed to escape and made his way to a park on Earth where he collapsed. While lying there he saw a flower and had a flashback of seeing flowers with his brother on Nemesis when they were younger.

The Spectre Sisters discovered the wounded Saphir and took care of him, particularly Petz, with whom he apparently had a previous relationship. He left her, however, to try and persuade his brother. Despite the presence of the Sailor Senshi, Wiseman attacked him a second time as he tried to sway Demande, and this time Saphir was killed.

At the end, the bandage wound around his head slipped off, revealing that he no longer bore the inverse crescent mark of the Black Moon, indicating his firm transition to the side of good.

Manga

In the manga, Saphir believed that the existence of Neo-Queen Serenity and her Silver Crystal were responsible for causing strife and turmoil, and that Sailor Moon was to blame for his brother Demande's distraction from their original plans. When Prince Demande captured Usagi and brought her to Nemesis, she was unable to transform into Sailor Moon because of the dark energies of the planet. As this rendered her defenseless against Demande's advances, she ran from him and came upon Saphir, at the reactor containing the power of the Evil Black Crystal, deep within the core of the planet. Upon finding her there, Saphir tried to kill her with the help of his two droids, Veneti and Aquatici. Usagi, however, discovered that she was able to access her powers in that place, whereupon she transformed into Sailor Moon and fled with her friends, who had been taken captive.

Saphir and Demande eventually began to question Wiseman's agenda, but before they could turn on him, Wiseman brainwashed them and gave them new powers so they could attack the Sailor Senshi and take the Silver Crystal of the past. Saphir acquired Beast Hand, and used the ability to attack the Sailor Senshi. Although Demande managed to free himself of Wiseman's control, Saphir did not; when Black Lady ordered Saphir to attack his brother, Demande killed him instead.

Musicals

Yuri Kuroda as Saphir

In the musicals, Saphir was played by Yuri Kuroda and Sora Manami. He was very similar to his manga incarnation there, except for the fact that he had been born on Nemesis and longed to visit the beautiful Earth of which his brother had told him. He fell under Wiseman's control when Black Lady forced him to wear earrings made of Evil Black Crystal, and subsequently attacked his brother, who was forced to kill him. Demande made a promise to his brother's memory that he would bring flowers to bloom on Nemesis, such as they had never seen when they were children.

Trivia

• Saphir's name is the French word for sapphire.

• Since "Saphir" is also the German word for sapphire, his name was Saphir in the German translation of the manga and the German dub of the anime, and was pronounced accordingly. However, in the German dub of Sailor Moon Crystal, though his name was still spelled "Saphir," it was pronounced as "Sapphire."