Gold Saints



The Gold Saints (黄金聖闘士「ゴールドセイント」, Gōrudo Seinto) are the most powerful, almost-invincible Knights in Athena's army, since the mythological ages. They wear the 12 Gold Cloths that correspond to the zodiac constellations, the most powerful among the 88 Cloth. The Gold Knights have mastered the Seventh Sense, the essence ofCosmo, which grants them miraculous abilities, such as the capacity of attaining the speed of light.

In the Toei adaptation, the artists gave their aura a golden color though other media sometimes did not. Their duty at the Sanctuary is mainly to defend the 12 Zodiac Temples, one for each sign, but they are also the ultimate arsenal at the disposition of Athena and theGrand Pope to accomplish the most difficult of missions. They represent Athena's main war strength during the conflicts against the other deities' armies.

They are known for being among the most powerful characters in the series. While they are all known to dominate the Seventh Sense, a few of them are so powerful that they have reached the Eighth Sense(Arayashiki) during the series. They are protected by the twelve zodiacal constellations that are on the ecliptic cycle, thus, containing the energy and light of the sun.

With the evolution of the series, only the most powerful enemies are comparable to the Gold Saints, such as theMarina Generals or the high-ranked Specters, including the 3 Judges of the Underworld and most of the otherCelestial Star Specters. The anime series and films added some other Gold Saint-level enemies such as the God Warriors.

Generally, the elites of any army can master a Cosmo to the same extent as a Gold Saint, and sometimes beyond, although like any other Saint, the Gold Saints are capable of overcoming their limits in time of crisis to accomplish miracles. Not only the power of the Gold Saints is incomparably superior to all other Saints (except for a few cases), their notions of honesty, ethics and righteousness are also highly respected by the other Saints. In many cases theGrand Pope choses his successor from amongst The Gold Saints.

Omega ( 21st Century )Edit
Pallasites Arc Died during the Sanctuary Arc: 2nd Wars:
 * Aries Kiki
 * Taurus Harbinger
 * Gemini Paradox (manga-only)
 * Virgo Fudō
 * Libra Genbu (Deceased)
 * Sagittarius Seiya
 * Cancer Schiller
 * Leo Mycenae
 * Scorpio Sonia
 * Capricorn Ionia
 * Aquarius Tokisada
 * Pisces Amor
 * Libra Shiryū

Hades & Classic Era (20th Century) Edit
Hades Arc Died during the Sanctuary Arc: Before Classic Era:
 * Aries Mu
 * Taurus Aldebaran
 * Gemini Kanon
 * Leo Aiolia
 * Virgo Shaka
 * Libra Dōko
 * Scorpio Milo
 * Gemini Saga
 * Cancer Deathmask
 * Capricorn Shura
 * Aquarius Camus
 * Pisces Aphrodite
 * Sagittarius Aiolos

Next Dimension (18th Century)Edit
Saint Seiya: The Next Dimension Era
 * Aries Shion (ND)
 * Taurus Ox
 * Gemini Cain
 * Gemini Abel
 * Cancer Deathtoll
 * Leo Kaiser
 * Virgo Shijima
 * Libra Dōko (ND)
 * Ophiuchus Gold Saint
 * Capricorn Izō
 * Pisces Cardinale

The Lost Canvas (18th Century)Edit
After Lost Canvas Era Died during the Lost Canvas Era: Before Lost Canvas ==NotesEdit==
 * Aries Shion (TLC)
 * Taurus Teneo
 * Libra Dōko (TLC)
 * Taurus Rasgado
 * Gemini Deuteros
 * Cancer Manigoldo
 * Leo Regulus
 * Virgo Asmita
 * Scorpio Cardia
 * Sagittarius Sisyphus
 * Capricorn El Cid
 * Aquarius Dégel
 * Pisces Albafica
 * Gemini Aspros
 * Leo Ilias
 * Pisces Lugonis
 * They are so incredibly powerful that a weaker opponent may feel them as being all more or less equal in strength, because he is likely to be too far from their level to notice differencies, however when fought on the same category it can be noted that they are indeed approximately equal for the most part, although a few of them actually show to have a superior ability and Cosmo than others.
 * The Gold Saints, despite being secondary characters, are among the most favorited characters by the Saint Seiya fanbase at the point that after the battle at the 12 Temples Kurumada decided to revive some of them during the Hades saga and even in the following decades various new works related to the Saint Seiya universe has been made about them, like Episode G, a whole manga all dedicated to the character of Leo Aiolia, or The Lost Canvas, a prequel that has Pegasus Tenma as the central protagonist but dedicates much space to the loved Gold Saints. The Next Dimension itself, while set after Hades arc, when all the Gold Saints are dead, introduced a time travel to the past and Kurumada managed to show the past Gold Saints again.
 * For the previously mentioned reasons and for the fact that Gold Saints are related to zodiac signs, and any person is born under a sign, many fans have elected one of the Gold Saints, often that of their zodiac sign, as their favorite, in many case becoming real fanatics.
 * A struggle among fans has always been up around comunities to establish who is the strongest among the Gold Saints, more than for any other class of characters of similar and high strength, typically arguing that for this or that reason a particular Gold Saint should be considered the strongest or among the strongest. The two more common candidates are usually Gemini Saga and Virgo Shaka because of their feats, but also some others are included. This question has been made to Kurumada himself who answered laughing that he has created the Gold Saints to be all incredibly powerful, but some of them stand above the others. This means that probably both Saga's and Shaka's fans are equally right.
 * It was implied in Asgard arc as well as in the 4 old movies that Gold Saints were weaker than the five bronze Saints, that was an old error. It was fixed since Hades arc, close to origin, made the Gold Saints stronger than five bronze Saints again. In the 12 temples battle, Gold Saints conceded Bronze Saints for this tutorial fight. In the Hades arc, though Gold Saints were once suffering 'own goal' curse from Hades, they could still use their full power at Hell and the Wailing Wall.
 * There is also a reversed feeling among many fans about some Gold Saints to be weaker or less capable than the others and they are typically Taurus Aldebaran, Cancer Deathmask and Pisces Aphrodite. This is mostly a misunderstanding of Kurumada's intentions, because in the case of Aldebaran he is used to give a demostration of the new enemies fearsome level of strength and he is chosen among the Gold Saints because he is the bulkiest and has thus the look of a tough one. As for Deathmask and Aphrodite, they are heavily defeated by both Mu and Rhadamanthys in the Hades saga, but beside the fact of showing how strong the 3 Judges are to treat two Gold Saints like crap, they are regarded as weak more for their vicious personality and notably cowardliness compared to real brave Saints like Mu or Seiya, than for a specific lack of power. The fans of those 3 characters, often born under the same signs, have been always complaining for how their Gold Saints are treated, but their hopes have been finally fulfilled by the great battle performances the three correspondents Hasgard, Manigoldo and Albafica have shown in The Lost Canvas. A Cancer Gold Saint of 16th Century, Sage, has been even made Grand Pope, a sign of being a powerful and wise Saint.
 * There are two groups of gold saint of the 18th century, but only to Next Dimension designed by Kurumada are considered the gold saint officers, being Lost Canvas a manga by another author. Next Dimension is also indicated in the first volume of the Japanese series, as the official sequel to the first manga of Saint Seiya.
 * In Next Dimension, it is the first canonical introduction of a thirteenth, evil, Gold Saint.