King of Illusion | Appearance

Appearance

Even the most unbending Jeddy-dislikers will usually admit that "...at least he looks okay."
Sailor Moon commented that he was handsome, far more often then when she met the other Shitennou.
Thetis, a youma soldier, born and raised in an environment were love was seen as a hindrance fell in love with him and admired his looks.

Let's face it - Jadeite is gorgeous ^_^

While I could go on about that for half an eternity, I think you'll find it more interesting if we, with clinical precision, go through his looks and clothing, before I return to gush over my beautiful king. Since I find Jadeite even more kawaii in the manga then the anime, let us begin with that version, shall we?

Earstuds

All male villains in Sailor Moon wear earrings of some kind, except for Sapphire. The Dark Kingdom men fashion a simple stud in the ear, the same color as the lining of their uniform.
Jadeite's colors vary from red to blue in the manga, and because of this his earring also have different colors in different images. See piping for more details.

Piping

The small line of color is the most visible difference in clothing between the four kings, at least in the manga.
The piping goes, in Jadeite's case, from one shoulder ornament to the other. The collar is double lined, and from the left side (or the right, if the image is flipped) the lining continues diagonally downwards, marking the flap of the jacket. There is also piping at the bottom of the jacket and by the wrist, one just where the cloth ends and one somewhat higher up, marking the wrist-cuffs.
In some images, one of the lines by the wrist aren't visible, but that should only be a technical error.

The question if Jadeite's color is red or blue is made somewhat difficult by the fact that official manga images by Naoko Takeuchi have both colors. The earlier pictures, like the famous general/senshi images, uses blue. The latest images that I know of, the two apparent in the sixth artbook have red. Now what?
First of all, I'll say that I believe blue is the correct color, since it was the original, and Takeuchi might have been influenced by the anime in the later ones. Also, according to Buddhist tradition the color of east is blue, and since Jadeite represents the eastern quadrant of Earth...
Another theory is that the first images show Jadeite while he was in Endymion's guard, and that he later changed his color to red when he came under Beryl's servitude. That Metallia's influence can change people, and that she appears to be fond of red can be seen in these before/after image of Queen Beryl. (lucky Jadeite didn't far that badly!)

Épaulette

An épaulette is a shoulder pad, often used in the army to show rank (the more stuff you've got, the more important you are). As opposed to the anime, all the kings wear shoulder pads, not only Nephrite and Kunzite.
The decoration consists of an oval, glossy stone that is purple to blue in color. The stone is fastened in either fabric or metal, that has an oval shape with some frills in direction of the neck. The setting is light gray in color, and the entire épaulette is also used to fasten the cape, when Jadeite wears it.
I'm not sure if the shoulder pads are attached to the jacket permanently, or if they can be removed. The fact that you can use them to put on a cape indicates the latter, but if someone is more familiar with military wear and know this to be false, please tell me.

Uniform

The standard uniform in the Golden Kingdom (old Earth) looks a lot like a modern day Japanese school uniform. This is of course because the story focuses on the Sailor senshi, and the Shitennou are 'reflections' of the inner senshi, with similar duties and powers.
What is sometimes forgotten however is that the Japanese school uniform is based on the is navy uniform of Prussia, today a part of Germany. The Prussian army was at the beginning of the twentieth century probably the most modern and well equipped army in the world, and the Japanese used the navy clothes when they modeled their new school uniforms, which is why we have things like the Sailor fuku.
If you Look at Ail's (anime only) and Umino's uniforms, details like the high collar and the lining are easily recognized.

Jadeite's uniform jacket is gray, but seems to acquire a blue shimmer when hit by light. In the manga, the jacket appears to be looser then in the anime, and also seems to consists of a thinner material (it's shiny and falls more softly)
It has a large flap, that covers around 3/4 of the front, and is fastened with a single button near the top corner. The button looks a lot like the stone in the épaulettes, probably the same material.
There is also a belt, that tightly goes around the waist and is seemingly not held fast by any buttons or hooks. Most likely, it goes two rounds around the waist and has the has the fastening on the inside.

There exists a few images that indicate that the Shitennou might have other uniforms besides the standard gray, and that this was the one used only in times of peace. I'm talking about a small SD image, with the four kings in white (lost that one in a computer crash, bummer) and an image of Kunzite in armor.

Gloves

Good old navy gloves, no complications here. Well, hardly any.
The generals all wear white gloves with a hole near the top, where you button the gloves together. The gloves also have three small decoration lines, and a fold-back flap.
Jadeite wears gloves when on a mission, unless he's in disguise, and most of the time when in Beryl's presence.

Cape

Contrary to the anime, all of the Shitennou are seen wearing a cape in the manga. Kunzite, hovewer, is the only one constantly using it.
Jadeite's cape seems to be the same material as the rest of the uniform, possibly a shade lighter, and is fastened with two shoulder pads.
While under Beryl's influence, Jadeite doesn't wear his cape, meaning we only see it on him once he has died and his spirit returned to Endymion's service.
If one is going by what else we know of the clothing in the Sailor Moon universe, the cape is merely ornamental, possible a wink to the wide collars of the senshi fuku.

Pants

Dark and glossy, Jadeite's pants look mostly as if they were made from leather. Since there are no full-figure color pictures of him, let's assume that his pants are black, 'kay?
The pants are properly tucked into his boots, and are most likely fastened with a belt or buttons. (This would not be the same belt as the jacket is fastened with.)
There are no apparent fold marks, which officer pants usually have, meaning Jadeite is either a bit sloppy with taking care of his clothes or the pants are made of a different material then most mens-wear.

Boots

Ending slightly below the knees, the boots look more or less the same as in the anime. However, they are in a lighter color and have very pointed tips.
The heel is a bit over average height for men's shoes, and there is a seam near the top.

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