These "Saints" had special powers that derived from a type of enery called cosmo, and each cosmo took the name of a constellation: the Saint of Pegasus wore armor that resembled the winged horse and was protected by the Cosmo of the constellation Pegasus, the Saint of Andromeda was protected by the Cosmo of the constellation, and so forth. The main characters of this anime and manga are Seiya, Pegasus Saint (obviously the character the series is named after), Shun, Andromeda Saint, Shiryu, Dragon Saint, Hyoga, Cygnus Saint, and Ikki, Phoenix Saint.
Each Saint has his own powers. Seiya, the pegasus Saint, is able to strike with the "meteor" blow (this actually consists of thousands of different blows inflicted in an extremely short period of time- often seconds). Shun, the Andromeda Saint, has control of the Andromeda Chains (legend claims they are the same chains by which Princess Andromeda was tied to a rock in order to be sacrificed). His chains are famous for having the best offensive and defensive capabilities among all the Saints. Shiryu, Dragon Saint, uses ancient techniques based on his protective constelation, the Dragon. Hyoga, the Cygnus saint, has the power to freeze any object and controls the powers of ice and snow. Among his blows are the "diamond dust" and the "aurora execution." Ikki, the Phoenix saint (and Shun's older brother), controls the immortal power of the Phoenix. Like the Phoenix, he can come back from the dead (rise from his own ashes). His most vicious attack is one in which he makes his victims suffer their hidden phobias through realistic hallucinations.
The Saints´ powers follow a certain hierarchy: the highest, the Golden Saints, have the ability to move at the speed of light and their cosmo is the most powerful. There are twelve Golden Saints, each armor representing a Zodiac sign. The next in line, the Silver Saints have powerful cosmos and are usually quite powerful, vicious, and very brave. The least poweful Saints are (you guessed it) the Bronze Saints. The Bronze Saints, though more powerful than any normal human being, are of inferior power to both the Silver and Golden Saints. Any Bronze Saint who tries to face a Saint of a higher hierarchy is easily defeated. Unless, of course, you happen to be Seiya or any of his buddies (that is, Shiryu, Shun, Hyoga, or Ikki). Usually, a Saint cannot move up or down the hierarchy. They´re stuck there for life. That, as I´ve made quite clear before, is not true of any of the main characters.
The story of how the Saints came to be is rather obscure in detail. The only established fact is that, in mythological times, Athena (Greek goddess of Just War, wisdom, and practical arts) recruited the finest warriors of the land to fight for preserving peace and justice. Since then, Athena returns to the earth every one to two hundred years in human form, and she once again recruits her Saints. A cycle of battles against several gods ensues after an internal conflict. The first may vary in oponenent (the one presented in the Saint Seiya anime show was fought against Norse warriors. However, the manga version showed a different battle in similar settings). The second battle is fought against the Greek God of the Sea, Poseidon. The third battle is fought against the God of Death, Hades. The Hades saga was only featured in the Manga, but a campaign exists to bring the Hades chapter to anime. According to the person in charge, the campaign should end in December 1997. For more information on the Hades Pro-anime campaign, click here. It is imperative that you visit this site.
So, you ask, what's the deal with Athena? Where is she in all of this, and why haven't you said anything about her before? First off, Athena is the symbol of peace, prosperity, and justice. When the saints claim that they are fighting and defending peace, prosperity and justice, they really mean they are fighting for and defending Athena. Athena is reborn every few hundred years, and the Saints work to protect her. I have already mentioned Athena's human name. I'll give you three guesses. Okay, that sounded stupid. This is the lovely lady the saints work for:
While the Saints were growing up in the Kido estate, she loved to make them suffer by rubbing their faces into the fact that their condition as adoptees made them permanent slaves to the Kidos. Later, as she grew up, her manners did not soften until an unfortunate mishap during the Galactic Wars. The Galactic wars were an event sponsored by the Graude foundation. These "wars" were bloody combats between all the saints who managed to return from their training. The winner of these combats would be awarded the Golden Sagitarious Cloth. By the time the first season of Saint Seiya started, Seiya was just arriving. By then, only Hyoga, the cygnus Saint, and Ikki, the phoenix Saint, were missing. Hyoga soon arrived, but Ikki was nowhere to be found.
Then it happened. During the fight that was held between Shun of Andromeda(Ikki's younger brother) and Jabu of Unicorn (another Bronze Saint that sort of faded into the background later on in the show), Andromeda's chains, which have the power of sensing an enemy, started to move on their own and pointed towards the box that contained the Golden Cloth of Sagitarious. A figure rose from within it and attacked Shun, then stole the Golden Cloth. That figure was a very bitter Ikki of Phoenix who returned to take revenge on all the Saints, his brother included. And to steal the Golden Cloth. Just as Seiya and the others prepare to attack Ikki, Some goons dressed in a black version of Ikki's own Phoenix cloth show up. They are the Black Saints, warriors who lack any real power, but know enough about the Bronze Saints' attack techniques that they would probably have a good chance to win in a match.
Anyway, by the time anyone realizes what's happening, the Golden Cloth is missing and the mighty Paparazzi realize that this is their one and only chance to bring down the once invulnerable Graude foundation. This is when Saori begins to change and mature. Then the real problems begin. When Shun goes for a walk in the forest, he is attacked by a saint dressed in a black version of Hyoga's Cygnus Cloth. Soon the four bronze saints realize that there is a black cloth version for all four bronze cloth versions. Then they realize that they must go to Death Queen Island, Ikki's training ground and hideout, to retrieve the Golden Cloth. The saints, however, are one saint short of their foresome. Seiya and Shiryu's cloths were badly damaged during their battle, and Shyryu has decided to take them to the Master of Jamiel, a cloth repairman, if you will. Soon he returns (with a lot less blood) and rejoins the fighting.
A long adventure begins with Ikki. Soon the Saints realize that Ikki's apparent desire for revenge and power is actually part of a coverup for a much larger force. Although Ikki's hatred and wishes were authentic, he had a boss. Also, Ikki's hatred was fueled by deep pain and grief. When he was training, his master (a very nasty, evil, guy, by the way) killed Ikki's true love, Esmeralda (who also happened to be the master's daughter). This event made him incredibly angry and hateful. Seiya and the other Saints finally get through to him and he joins their fight, but is killed in a battle right the same day. His boss had decided to keep an eye on him in case something like this happened, so he immediately ordered his murder. Unfortunately, the Saints now have a new problem. In all the confusion, the Saints lost all parts of the Golden Cloth except the helmet.
This "boss" was the Sanctuary, the single most important training ground of the world. This Sanctuary, found in Greece, officially "honors and protects the reencarnation of Athena." Nobody there realizes that Athena hasn't been in the Sanctuary since only a few months after her birth. The main "bad guy" during the story is the pope of the Sanctuary, who turns out to be Saga of Geminis, and he suffers from a severe split personality problem. The series basically involves the Saints protecting the Sagitarious Helmet, their fighting different oponents, realizing that Saori is Athena, becoming best friends with her and bringing Ikki back to life.
Eventually they decide to attack the Sanctuary head-on. Saori then proceeds to get shot with an arrow that (surprise!) only the pope can remove. To reach him, they have to cross the Twelve Houses of the Sanctuary, these mini-temples that are protected by a single Golden Saint each. From the map, they appear to be formed in a big "Z" shape (why the Saints didn't just cut through is beyond me). Here's the catch (?!). If they don't get the pope to remove the arrow in Saori's chest in twelve hours, she'll die. Eventually, after terrible battles, Seiya, the lone survivor, manages to get to the pope's room, discover his secret, find out that it's actually Athena's shield that will remove the arrow and all he has to do is point it in her direction, and fight him miserably. Finally, Athena, feeling much better, thank you very much, revives all of the saints and beats poor Saga, whose good side takes over just as he dies.
This marked the end of the best season Saint Seiya would have as an anime. Its animation, characters, plot, and overall performance were superior to any other animated Saint Seiya feature. I'm not going deeply into the Norse and Poseidon sagas. Basically, the second season begins when, somewhere in the north pole, a young priestess named Hilda is possessed by a weird ring that makes her act all evil and bends her on getting her own "warrior gods" organized and beating Athena. Later on, the audience finds out that Hilda is in charge of keeping the poles from melting, and by going of and trying to kill Athena she's neglecting her responsabilities. And so, good old Saori, with her saints in tow, travels all the way up to Asgard so she can do Hilda's job for a while. Hilda knows that Saori cannot stand the cold Asgard air, so she decides to simply let her die. Seiya, Shiryu, and Shun follow saori to Asgard, where they realize the only way to let her live is to get Hilda to do her job. Hyoga somehow finds himself in Asgard, trapped by the royal guard, beaten, and then meets a young woman named Fler, Hilda's younger sister. Fler, a sweet over-all innocent girl, runs away with Hyoga and eventually finds herself with Saori and Kikki, waiting for the Saints to bring her sister to her senses. Eventually, after many fights, that is exactly what Seiya manages to do. Unfortunatly, just as Saori is, once again, rescued, the sea swallows her up.