Fan Senshi Guide

By: Katie Jones

One of the most popular trends in Sailormoon fanfiction is the creation of new senshi. Yet there is a problem that comes along with this, the dreaded Mary-sue.

Mary-sues are those oh so perfect characters with out a single flaw. They are often gorgeous, lively, powerful, and every character wants to be her friend. The story ends with everyone either congratulating Mary-sue on her triumphant victory, or mourning over her death which she sacrificed herself to save the day. Here is a guide to help you avoid the creation of a Mary-sue.

SENSHI NAME

The first obvious thing when creating a senshi is the senshi's name. Most of the senshi in Sailormoon are named after planets or other astrological bodies. I'm going to say this right now, it's best not to create a Sailor Earth, Sailor Sun, or Sailor Star. We have enough of those to last us an eternity and most of them unfortunately are Mary-sues. If you want a good story on Sailor Earth or Sailor Sun, go to this link.

http://secondlight.animehunters.com/

Here are some Suggestions on choosing your Senshi's name.

Jupiter's moons: Adtrastea, Amalthea, Ananke, Callisto, Carme, Elara, Europa, Ganymede, Himalia, Io, Leda, Lysithea, Metis, Pasiphae, Sinope, Thebe,

Pluto's Moon: Charon

Saturn's Moons: Atlas, Calypso, Dione, Enceladus, Epimetheus, Helene, Hyperion, Iapetus, Janus, Mimas, Pan, Pandora, Phoebe, Prometheus, Rhea, Telesto, Thethys, Titan.

Uranus's moons: Ariel, Belinda, Bianca, Caliban, Cordelia, Desdemona, Juliet, Miranda, Oberon, Ophelia, Portia, Puck, Rosalind, Sycorax, Titania, Umbriel (Anyone else notice the Shakespeare theme on those?)

Neptune's moons: Despina, Galatea, Larissa, Naiad, Nereid, Proteus, Thalassa, Triton.

Many other bodies have thought to exist in our solar system. The following suggestions have proven not to exist but that's not to say they never did.

Neith: Venus's moon

Lilith: Earth's second moon

No name: Mercury's moon

No name: Jupiter's moon

Themes: Saturn's moon

Vulcan: Between the sun and Mercury.

No name: Beyond Pluto, tenth planet in the solar system.

Or there's the zodiac and constellations

Constellations: Cassiopeia, Orion, Canis, Cetus, Centarus, Draco, Eridanus, Hydra, Lupus, Pegasus, Ursa, Phoenix, Big and Little Dipper.

All the planets besides Earth are named after Roman Gods mainly supreme gods.

Roman Gods: Juno(motherhood), Vesta(Hearth), Vulcan(Metal and forge), Apollo(Light), Diana(Hunt), Minerva(War and wisdom), Cupid(Love), Discordia(Discord), Fauna(animals), Flora(Plants), Iris(rainbows), Ops(creation), Janus(beginnings), Mithras(armies), Victoria(victory), Terra(earth)

There are many more but there's too many to list.

You could also use the original senshi's Greek counterparts. Although it's not recommended.

Mercury: Hermes
Venus: Aphrodite
Mars: Ares
Jupiter: Zeus
Saturn: Chronos
Uranus: Gaia?
Neptune: Poseidon
Pluto: Hades

POWERS AND ATTACKS

Now that you have your senshi name it's time to decide her attacks. Before deciding these you need to choose a basic idea that your senshi's powers are based off of. For example Mars is fire, Jupiter is lightning, Venus is love. If you chose to name your senshi after one of the Roman gods, this might be a little easier and each God represents something.

Here is an example. I chose my Senshi's name to be Sailor Neith, Venus's lost moon. Looking up information on Neith, I found out she was the Egyptian goddess of War and weaving. Immediately I decided her powers would be centered around weaving.

Her first attack I gave her was "Tapestry Thread." Billions of tiny threads wrap around the enemy and tie it up.

Her next attack I chose was "Needle Army." A series of hundreds of needles stab her enemy.

You can see that I did not make Sailor Neith all powerful Her first attack would probably be used to aid the other senshi while her second can be used to harm an enemy.

Does your Senshi need a weapon? If so what is it called? What does it do? If you are going to give your senshi a weapon it doesn't necessarily have to be an actual weapon. Here are some suggestions:

Sword paintbrush Bow and arrow musical instrument Scythe clover Spear wristband Staff

bottle Dagger candy Hour glass mirror jewelry deck of cards wand scepter

There are many more possibilities but those are a few suggestions. Here some examples on how they can be used.

Sailor Minerva uses a spear for two of her attacks. She can use it for assaulting her enemy also. Sailor Isis has a deck of cards she can use to make herself disappear. Sailor Ops plays beautiful music on her flute and can lure a youma into a hypnotizing state.

You can probably tell those three were made up off the top of my head but hey, they're only examples.

SENSHI FUKU

What color's are your senshi's fuku? This can be determined by her personality.

Red: Love and war
Orange: Flamboyant and Energetic
Yellow: Hope and happiness
Green: Life and renewal
Blue: Calm and cool
Purple: Royalty and Spirituality,
Pink: Flirty and sweet
Gold: Money and riches
Brown, Tan, Beige: Down-to-earth
Silver and Grey: elegant neutral
Black: depression, death, sexy
White: purity,

Each senshi has both a primary color and a secondary color. The primary is usually the color of the senshi's skirt and shoulder flap, while the secondary color is usually the bow color.

CIVILIAN NAME

Each of the senshi's names have a lot to do with their powers. Usagi Tsukino means moon field rabbit, Rei Hino's is fire field and so on.

If your going with the Japanese version you need a Japanese name that fits your senshi's theme. Here is a translator that I often use. Remember if you're using a Japanese name the last name always comes first.

http://www.solon.org/cgi-bin/j-e

If you're going by the English dub try babynames.com for an English name.

Example:

Sailor Apollo's theme is light and music. Her civilian name is Kashi Hikari which means Day song. When Sailormoon was dubbed into English, she was given the name Lucy Score. Lucy meaning light, and Score is music related.

PERSONALITY

This is the one category most people seem to have trouble with and unfortunately it's one of the most important. All too often I have seen in fan senshi profiles "Just like Usagi's" Come on! No two people are exactly the same!

Let's analyze a few things.

Birthdate: When you choose a Birthdate for your senshi you also choose a Zodiac sign along with it. Each Zodiac sign has a personality that defines a person born under it. Here is a website that explains Zodiac signs.

http://www.oberlin.edu/~dkurtenb/ast/index.html

Bloodtypes: In Japan there is a belief that a person's blood type determines their personality.

Type A:

Positive traits: orderly, law-abiding, fastidious, soft-spoken, fashionable

Negative traits: picky, selfish, secretive, pessimistic, inflexible, reckless when drunk.

Suitable careers: accountant, librarian, economist, novelist, computer programmer, gossip, columnist.

Type B:

Positive traits: Independent, flexible, candid, sensitive, passionate, persuasive Negative traits: Unpredictable, Indiscreet, lazy, impatient, overbearing

Suitable careers: cook, hair dresser, military leader, talk show host, journalist, golfer.

Type AB:

Positive traits: rational, calculating, honest, diplomatic, organized, strong

Negative traits: Unforgiving, playboy, easily offended, too conservative, nitpicker, hard to know

Suitable careers: bartender, attorney, teacher, sales representative, social worker, witch.

Type O:

Positive traits: healthy, idealistic, goal-oriented, clear-sighted, good at sports, sexy.

Negative traits: status seeking, jealous, greedy, unreliable, obsessive lover, can't shut up.

Suitable careers: Banker, Politician, Gambler, Minister, Investment broker, baseball player.

Those are two ideas you can base your senshi's personality on.

LIKES AND DISLIKES

Likes/hates: What makes your senshi happy? Ponies? Children? TV? Boys? What makes her unhappy? Adults? Spiders? Ghosts? The dark?

Favorite color: This one is very easy as it is usually the senshi's primary color.

Favorite Subject, Hated Subject: This one is important as it can determine your senshi's career goals. (Math seems to be a favorite hate)

Favorite Food, Hated Food: This can also say a lot about your senshi. Does your senshi love sweets? Vegetables? Does she not like eating animals so she's a vegetarian?

Hobbies: What does your senshi like to do in her free time? Soccer? Basket ball? Painting? Studying? Bird watching? Playing an instrument?

Gemstone: Every senshi has a favorite gemstone usually their birthstone.

January: garnet
February: Amethyst
March - Aquamarine
April - Diamond
May - Emerald
June - Pearl
July - Ruby
August - Peridot
September - Sapphire
October - Opal
November - Topaz
December - Zirconia

Dream: What does your senshi want to be when she grows up? A lawyer? A vet? A scientist? A mother?

PERSONAL LIFE

Family: Does your senshi have any siblings? Is her parents alive? What are their jobs? If your senshi doesn't have any family how does she support herself?

School: What school does your senshi attend? Is it the same as any of the other senshi?

How does she get along with the other senshi? Do they like/hate her? Does she have many friends?

HISTORY

Where did your senshi come from? Is she originally from Tokyo? Why hasn't she ever been heard of by the other Senshi? Has anything in her past shaped her personality?

Strengths: What gifts does your senshi possess? Strength? Intelligence? Athletic ability? Speed?

Weakness: What are some draw backs for your senshi? Greed? Jealousy? Physically weak? Mentally unstable? (Note: Never make this something to admire like 'Cares to much for her friends.' This leads to Mary-Sue's)

LOOKS

What does your senshi look like?

Hair: What color is her hair? How does she wear it?

Eyes: What color are her eyes?

Distinguishing characteristics: Does your senshi have any traits different from normal humans? Scars? Tattoos? Piercing? Special birthmarks?

Build: What is your senshi's body type? There are three characteristics for this one.

Weight: skinny, slender, plump Shape: delicate and fragile, tough and wiry, curvaceous and sensual Strength: physically weak, average strength, well toned muscles, heavily muscled.

Example:

Usagi: Slender, delicate and fragile, average strength. Ami: skinny, delicate and fragile, average strength. Minako: Plump, curvaceous and sensual, well toned muscled. Makoto: Slender, tough and wiry, well toned muscles. Rei: Slender, tough and wiry, average strength

*Please note, plump doesn't necessarily mean fat. It can either mean not fully developed like Chibi Usa, or they possess more curves than usual like Minako.

Skin tone: Is your Senshi pale or darker skinned? This can depend heavily on where your senshi comes from.

Skin tones- albino, pale, tanned, medium, dark, very dark

FINAL PRODUCT

Here is what your fan senshi should be similar to at its final stage.

Sailor Neith

Name: Sensouno Hari
Translation: Needle of War
Birthdate: May 3
Zodiac: Taurus
Age: 15
Blood type: B+
Hair: Blond, kept in a high ponytail
Eyes: gray
Build: Slender, curvaceous and sensual, average strength
Skin tone: tanned
Family: Mom, Dad, younger sister, older brother
Likes: Art, stability and comfort.
Dislikes: being disrupted, rushing
Strengths: reliable, patient, determined
Weakness: resentful, greedy
Hobbies: Weaving tapestries, archery
Favorite food: veal
Hated Food: dark chocolate
Favorite subject: Home EC.
Hated subject: Biology
Favorite color: Maroon
Dream: To be a mother
Origin: Osaka Japan

Hari moved to Tokyo in order to get a better education because education where she lived was poor in quality. At home she lived with her father, mother, brother and sister. Her father was an archeologist and was particularly interested in Egyptian pyramid remains. Her mother was a weaving instructor and that's how Hari became interested in it. She had an older brother but he moved away for College in America. Her younger sister Seioko was pretty much her best friend when she lived at home and the two would do everything together.

Hari is very reliable and patient. Not much can sink her spirit. However she can at times be stubborn and jealous of those who are better than her at her own talents. When she moved to Tokyo she became friends with Minako. The two became so close that the other girls thought they were a couple. But the two have their own love lives and aren't romantically involved with each other.

Sailor Neith

"I am the soldier of the lost moon to Venus! Goddess of Weaving, Sailor Neith!"

Venus's moon. This observation has proven to be false but that's not to say it never did exist.

Neith solar power, Make up!- Sailor Neith's transformation phrase. She uses a pen in order to transform.

Tapestry thread!-Neith's attack where she sends billions of tiny threads to the up the enemy.

Needle war!- Neith's second attack. She sends a series of hundreds of needles at her enemy which pierce it.

Rather than...

Sailor Universe
Name: Mary-sue Powers
Birthdate: June 29
Zodiac: Cancer
Age: 15
Bloodtype: O-
Hair: perfectly combed beautiful shiny black hair.
Eyes: gold
Build: slender, curvaceous and sensual, well toned muscles
Skin tone: tanned
Distinguishing characteristics: the most beautiful of all the Sailor
Senshi. Family: Mom and Dad
Likes: Animals, boys, fighting
Dislikes: bugs
Strengths: Very strong, determined, patient, flexible
Weakness: No matter how much she eats she never gains weight
Hobbies: Hanging out with her friends, playing games
Favorite food: apples
Least favorite food: Meat
Favorite Subject: Math
Hated subject: none
Favorite color: Pink
Dream: To end her war
Origin: Japan

Mary-sue is an absolutely gorgeous girl with extreme talent. She is always happy and lively. All the senshi wants her to be their best friend because she is very nice. She is the most powerful of all the Sailor Senshi even more so than Sailor Moon and Saturn. Everyone loves her and feels safe around her. She is the only senshi everyone can rely on. Yadda yadda yadda!

Now which girl do you like better?

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Comments on this article can be sent to: Katie Jones.

Comments made on this page are opinions of the author. They are not necessarily shared by Tripod and the Amazoness Quartet.