Mamoru and His Sunsign

Mamoru is a Leo (Leo - the Lion - fifth sign of the zodiac). At first glance it might seem that Mamoru should have been a Taurus instead of a Leo; let me try to explain that.

First off, you probably know that the Inner and Outer Senshi are named after the ruling planet of their zodiac sign; for example, Makoto is a Sagittarius, Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter, and Makoto is Sailor Jupiter.

While Mamoru isn't a Senshi, as a Leo his ruling planet is the Sun; yet Mamoru is the prince of EARTH - even the name "Chiba Mamoru" means "earth protector." Taurus' ruling planet is Venus, but Taurus is an earth sign (Leo is a fire sign), and furthermore quite a few astrologers consider Earth to be the actual ruling planet of Taurus, if not a co-ruler with Venus.

When he's not in a battle situation, Mamoru certainly doesn't act much like a Leo, especially in the anime. Leos have a flair for the dramatic and are flamboyant and enthusiastic; Taureans are more placid/reserved, calm, and silently strong. The way Mamoru throws a rose as Tuxedo Kamen is also rather Taurean, since earth signs rule over plants, and since roses are ruled by the sign of Taurus in the first place. Taureans are even known for having a certain constancy in their daily lives, like wearing the same clothes all the time, and we all know how many times Mamoru has been in that damn green jacket. :p

However, if you were to look at it from another viewpoint, Mamoru is very much a Leo, especially when you look at him in the manga (in his first scene in the manga he's *flamboyantly* wearing a formal party outfit during the day for no apparent reason), or as Tuxedo Kamen:

As Tuxedo Kamen, Mamoru appears in an outfit that's very flamboyant (and thus very Leonine), almost to the point of absurdity: he wears an old-fashioned tuxedo with a large cape, top hat, cane, and a domino over his eyes. His trademark habits of appearing at the VERY LAST possible moment to save the Senshi, of standing on lampposts or the roofs of buildings when he makes his entrance, and of spouting those corny/cheesy speeches we've all heard are very very good examples of a Leo's talent/tendency for drama, drawing attention, and making an entrance. And even though roses may be a Taurean flower, they are a noticeable and "high end" flower after all, :p and the fact that Mamoru uses them as *weapons* and as an *attention-getter* for Tuxedo Kamen is a very Leo trait.

It's safe to say that Mamoru is most like a Leo when he's Tuxedo Kamen. Perhaps the seriousness and quiet he displays when he's not Tuxedo Kamen can be attributed to the fact that he has A-type blood - in Japan, people with certain types of blood are thought to have certain traits, and A-type blood is associated with seriousness, reserve, and practicality. I won't go into that here though. *g*

An interesting side note is that gold is the metal associated with Leo, while silver is the metal associated with Cancer (Usagi's sign). I bring this up because Usagi has the silver crystal (ginzuishou), while Mamoru has the golden crystal (kinzuishou? :p).

Mamoru's Mythology

Helios, a Greek sun god (or more accurately, a personification of the Sun itself), is the child of Hyperion and Thea, two of the twelve first Titans, and he is the first sun god, Apollo being the second. Helios' two sisters are Selene (the Moon) and Eos (Dawn).

Although there is some mythology about Helios and quite a lot for Apollo, I can say with complete confidence that none of that mythology has any connection whatsoever to Mamoru's personality/character and such. However, Helios is important somewhat in that it is the name Naoko uses for Helios/Pegasus, Mamoru's guardian in the Super S series of both the anime and the manga. Since the ruling/patron planet of Mamoru is the Sun, and since the Helios of Greek mythology is a sun deity, it makes sense for the Helios of Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon to be Mamoru's guardian.

As for the mythology associated with the name Endymion (Mamoru's name as the Prince of Earth), we have to start by discussing Selene:

Selene ("selene" is Greek for "moon") was the Greeks' first goddess of the moon and she is the daughter of two of the first twelve Titan gods: Hyperion and Thea. Just as her brother Helios (Greek for "sun") rides the chariot of the sun across the sky during the day and just as her sister Eos (Greek for "dawn") brings the dawn to herald the coming of Helios every morning, Selene rides the chariot of the moon across the sky at night. It's no coincidence that Takeuchi named Usagi Princess Selenity/Serenity in her past life on the Moon Kingdom.

Along with Helios and Eos, Selene is really a "concept deity" or an "abstract deity" in that she is really just a personification of the Moon itself, like in books or poems where things like fear and anger are turned into actual people (e.g. "Death knocked on my door and said he had an appointment in Samarrah."). Selene was later subsumed by Artemis, the more well-known Greek goddess of the moon, who had an actual personality instead of just being a representation of the moon.

The moon has three aspects represented by three different moon goddesses - Selene is considered the heavenly aspect, Artemis is considered the "earthly" aspect who went among people, and Hecate (an underworld goddess of the moon and witchcraft) is considered the "underworld" or "dark" aspect of the moon. Here I only discuss Selene since she is the only one of the three goddesses connected to Mamoru.

Selene only has one myth connected to her (the other two moon goddesses have much more), but it's important to Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon in that the myth is about Selene and Endymion... sound familiar? ^.^ According to the story, Selene was guiding her moon-chariot across the night sky when she looked down at the earth and saw a beautiful shepherd sleeping peacefully by his flocks (his name was Endymion). She fell in love with him immediately, and began to "visit" him in his dreams every night as he slept. o_o Selene was smart though, and knowing that Endymion was a mortal man, she asked Zeus to grant Endymion eternal life, eternal youth... and eternal sleep (O_O;;;) so that Selene could "visit" him -_- every night in his dreams. The wish was granted, and the myth says that Selene continues to see Endymion every night (and that Endymion sleeps with a perpetual smile on his face! just kidding :p).

Obviously, the connection of this myth to Moon Princess Serenity and Earth Prince Endymion is quite clear. And by the way, Selene had FIFTY daughters as a consequence of her nightly "visits" with the sleeping Endymion... he must be able to perform well even in his sleep! What if Mamoru was like that, can you imagine it? FIFTY Chibi-Usa's? o_o