Template:Sailor Moon villain group The Dark Kingdom (ダークキングダム, Dāku Kingudamu) is an organization of antagonists in the Sailor Moon metaseries. They are the primary villains of the first story arc in every version of the series, and are responsible for the destruction of the ancient Moon Kingdom.

The kingdom came into being in the 20th century when the servants of those who had served the evil Queen Metalia millennia before (in the battle against the civilization on the Moon) were reawakened. (However, in the English dub, the word "reincarnation" was never used — it is implied that Queen Beryl and her cohorts were active the whole time even if they did not accelerate activities until the coming of Sailor Moon). Queen Beryl and her four Shitennou lead this group, attempting to gather human energy with which to reawaken Metalia.

Creatures called youma (meaning "monster") serve as monsters of the day in the anime. They are summoned by the Shitennou in order to drain energy, hunt the Princess, distract the Sailor Senshi, or perform various other tasks.

DiC's English dub of Sailor Moon calls them the Negaverse, a portmanteau of negative and universe. Being that the Negaverse and its inhabitants are inherently evil, the English dub shows Beryl and her cohorts using "Nega" as a common prefix to show their devotion to wickedness and to underscore their dimension's inherent negativity — i.e. "negapower" "negahistory". The term is applied to all enemies in the English dubs of the first two Sailor Moon series, implying that they are all loyal to Beryl or her cause. In the original Japanese anime, the Dark Kingdom is separate from the origins of any other set of antagonists, and is the extra-dimensional location of the evil Queen Beryl and her minions. In the English dub of the Sailor Moon R movie by DiC, references are made to Kisenian Blossom sowing seeds of "negativity". Later, when Cloverway took over dubbing, references were made at first to "old enemies" but this was soon dropped entirely. In the English version, the youma are only referred to as "Negamonsters" by the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask.

Key figures

Queen Beryl

Queen Beryl (クイン・ベリル, Kuin Beriru) is the first major villain in every version of the Sailor Moon series. She is named after the mineral beryl. Beryl has immense magical power, but she uses most of it to channel the life energy harvested by her servants to the entity called Queen Metalia.

In most versions of the story, she has the ability to corrupt others into serving the powers of darkness. Her generals, for instance, were once the bodyguards and best friends of Prince Endymion, and in most versions of the story she is able to use her powers to sway Tuxedo Mask into her service.

In the manga, Beryl was a beautiful girl on Earth during the age of the Silver Millennium.^[1] Beryl was in love with Prince Endymion, but her love was unrequited; when she discovered Endymion with Princess Serenity of the moon, she was crushed. She later states that having Endymion was her sole reason for siding with the evil force from the sun, Queen Metalia.^[1] She was corrupted and empowered by Metalia, and used her new powers to mobilize the Earth in a war against their protectors, the Moon Kingdom.

Beryl killed Prince Endymion as he was trying to protect Princess Serenity, leading to the princess's own suicide. At some point after this, Sailor Venus killed Beryl with the holy moon sword. Queen Serenity, greatly weakened, sealed away Metalia again, and before dying sent the whole of her Kingdom to be reincarnated on Earth.^[1]

Beryl is "reborn" in the 20th century, but finds Queen Metalia sealed within the Earth while traveling in the Arctic. She becomes Queen of the Dark Kingdom, communicating with Queen Metalia and wielding her reincarnated generals Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoisite, and Kunzite to find the Silver Crystal and defeat the newly-awakened Sailor Soldiers.

Queen Beryl is able to summon the reincarnated Prince Endymion (Tuxedo Mask) to her side, but only after he has been killed and merely exists as a mindless zombie. In the end she fails to get the Silver Crystal, and is again killed by Sailor Venus, who drives a sword through her body. As she falls, she says Endymion's name, and murmurs that she had always just been watching him.^[1]

She is generally portrayed in a more tragic light in the manga than she is in the anime, even experiencing a brief moment of regret as she knows that she can no longer turn back.^[2]

In the anime, Queen Beryl is the mastermind behind the various attacks against the citizens of Tokyo while Sailor Moon, and later the other Sailor Soldiers, are searching for the Moon Princess. She also kidnaps and brainwashes Prince Endymion in order to force him to kill his lover. But when he breaks free of her control and attacks her she lies in a swoon and begs Queen Metalia for more power, which results in Beryl becoming Metalia's vessel for the destruction of everything on Earth.^[3] Queen Beryl is soon vaporised along with Metalia when Sailor Moon, who has transformed into Princess Serenity, combines the power of the Silver Crystal with that of the Moon Stick.

In the English-dubbed anime no mention is given to her origin and she is only said to be the ruler of the Negaverse, an evil alternate dimension, from which she was somehow able to escape in order to attack this dimension. Yet while she is an extra-dimensional monster in human form that was never born on Earth, it can be assumed that this Beryl has a similar origin because when she sees Tuxedo Mask without his mask, she recognizes his face and seeks to claim him as her own. Her love for Endymion is not mentioned; indeed, she does not even know anything about love, vaguely saying that she has heard of it when Jadeite mentions it as a human phenomenon.^[4] She is, however, capable of carnal lust, as seen with her attraction to Darien/Mamoru.

A key difference between the dubbed Beryl and her Japanese counterpart, is that, with the demotion of Metalia to the dub Negaforce, Beryl is much more assertive, vindictive, power hungry, and possessive (When towards the end of the first season, Darien is freed from mind control, she shouts "Traitor!" and kills him with a stone spear, screaming "You are mine!"^[5]).

In the original Japanese anime, Beryl was content to serve Metalia and her chief motivation was loyalty to Metalia. In the English dub, she rules the Negaverse in her own name and is regarded by her foes as a "snake... all twisted and ugly and full of bitterness." Aside from enslaving the entire universe, (or even destroying it with everyone in it), for herself, her chief motivation there was to avenge her defeat one thousand years ago at the hands of her most hated enemy, Queen Serenity, whom she vowed to have "begging for mercy!".^[6] She looked down on Serenity's daughter, Sailor Moon as being a nuisance at best. Beryl was supreme leader and junior partner to her advisor, the Negaforce. Aside from being one of the more ruthless and power hungry of her counterparts, there was almost no sympathy extended to her. The sole exception was when she recalled Queen Serenity imprisoning the Seven Shadows, Beryl's voice actress, Naz Edwards, intoned a sad voice when she read "they disappeared into the Earth's atmosphere..."^[7]

At the end of the season Beryl is said to be merely banished back to the Negaverse when Sailor Moon defeats her. While the narrator who opened the first season, opens the second season reiterating that information, there is also a continuity error when Artemis mentions during the second series that Queen Beryl had been "completely destroyed."^[8] (Anne and Alan also mention her, saying that she had told them about the Earth.^[9] They imply that all villains who appear thereafter are being dispatched by Queen Beryl as revenge and it is supported by how later villains mention Negapower and Negamoon). For example Rubeus says "You're no match for the power of the Negamoon... [...] I'm Rubeus from the far side of the Negamoon. I live to see Crystal Tokyo ruled by the forces of the Negamoon."^[10]

In the live-action series, as in the manga, Beryl sends out her Shitennou to collect energy for Metalia, find the princess, and obtain the Silver Crystal. Beryl had problems, however: Jadeite and Nephrite were rivals for her affections; Zoisite was more loyal to Prince Endymion than to her; and Kunzite had set his sights on taking Queen Metalia's power for himself. However, it was soon revealed that Beryl had revived the four and used her magic to bring them into her service, though only Jadeite and Nephrite are completely under her spell as they have forgotten their past memories. At one point, Beryl creates a shadow of herself, Mio Kuroki (Kuroki Mio), who sets out to ruin Usagi Tsukino's reputation while being Beryl's eyes and ears.

When she learns that Mamoru Chiba was Endymion, Beryl forces him to come with her by showing him that she can easily kill the Shitennou, with Nephrite as an example. Once she has the object of her desire under her services, Beryl has Jadeite implant an item in Mamoru's body that will shorten his life when he is with Usagi. However, Mamoru still risks his life for Usagi, to Beryl's dismay. Even more, thanks to Usagi's overuse of the Silver Crystal, Beryl loses control over Metalia's actions. She dies in the finale when her castle crumbles under the stress of a distraught Princess using the Silver Crystal to destroy the world. However, for all her sadness she is not alone, as Jadeite stays by her side after she removes her mind-control spell on him, claiming that Beryl is his master by choice.

Beryl's original form appears, blurrily, in a flashback in the later episodes of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. Beryl's original form also appears in the manga, where she wears a gypsy-like outfit.^[11] In the manga her original form had black hair, but in PGSM her hair was red in her original form.

Queen Beryl appears in the first musical, Gaiden Dark Kingdom Fukkatsu Hen and its revision, in a similar plot to the series first story arc. She is then revived in the semi original musical Eien Densetsu and its revision by Sailor Galaxia, who merely uses her as puppet to awaken Saturn.^[12] Beryl dies while protecting Sailor Moon from a stab by the evil Tuxedo Mask mud puppet, her last statement being, "This time I die for passion".^[13] Similarly, in Shin Densetsu Kourin Beryl kills the evil King Endymion mud puppet to give Sailor Moon a fighting chance against Galaxia.^[14]

Several times in the musical, Beryl and Sailor Pluto share the song Onna no Ronsou which explains why betrayal by Endymion in the past killed Beryls' emotion of love.^[15] Each time this song is played, Sailor Pluto would always begin with "Because we are the same" or a similar phrase.^[16][17][18]

In the original Japanese anime, Beryl is voiced by Keiko Han, who also voices Luna. During recording, this contrast resulted in occasional fits of giggles among the cast when she would change from Luna's cute, catlike voice to the deep, evil tones of Queen Beryl. Sometimes, she would accidentally play Beryl with Luna's voice.^[19] In the English dub, the character was played by Naz Edwards.

In the stage musicals, Queen Beryl has been played by two actresses: Yuri Nishina and Akiko Miyazawa (who previously played Sailor Venus). In the live action series, she is played by adult film star Aya Sugimoto.

The inclusion of her, as an evil character in a line of dolls for girls has been described as a "radical idea".^[20]

Queen Metalia

Queen Metalia (クイン・メタリア, Kuin Metaria) is a malignant, amorphous energy being, similar to the depersonalized Japanese god of evil Amatsu-Mikaboshi. She/it was born as a result of radioactivity in the sun and is the true mastermind behind the Dark Kingdom. Like all arch-villains in the Sailor Moon manga, she is an incarnation of the final arch-villain, Chaos. The rereleased manga romanizes her name as Metaria.^[21]

In the manga, when Prince Endymion and Princess Serenity were to be wed, Metalia took advantage of those on Earth who despised the union. Such a person was Beryl, whose affections for Endymion were preyed on by Metalia. After the war, Metalia was sealed at the North Pole and placed in suspended animation.

In the 20th century, Metalia manages to return a reborn Beryl to her service and orders her to find the Silver Crystal so it may be used to free Metalia. After Endymion's reincarnated form is captured, Metalia enters the young man's body to use him as a suitable host, letting Beryl die in battle. After Sailor Moon is forced to kill Endymion, Metalia is freed to resume her evil. She is eventually destroyed by Sailor Moon.

In the anime Metalia is much the same, with a few exceptions. She eventually becomes powerful enough to resurrect on her own and then takes possession of the dying Beryl, transforming into a towering goddess like creature.

In the English dub of the anime, she is referred to only as the Negaforce, a combination of Negative and Force. This dark lord (or lady) is a god/demon-like creature to the peoples of the Negaverse, and though it is the supreme being of its dimension, and thus not beholden to any being from the human dimension, not even Chaos, her/its role is greatly downplayed. As the name change implies, the Negaforce is nameless and impersonal and is more a force of nature. Unlike Metalia, she seems never to have been sealed away and she seems to have always been a faceless diabolic force, content to have Beryl do the actual work. Despite this, it is Beryl's primary adviser and the power behind her throne; without the Negaforce, Beryl could not rule. It is also more treacherous and manipulative than its Japanese counterpart, showing that despite having no overt dreams of power, has an agenda for which Beryl, her nominal superior is a tool. That can be seen with how she stokes Beryl's ego by telling her "queen" "You alone will rule the universe!" in one episode, and demanding the minion she insults for stupidity call her master in another. The possession of Beryl in the dub is reworked as "giving her one last chance", and appears to be the Negaforce imbuing Beryl with power rather than possessing her.

In the live-action series, Metalia lacks a personality other than the desire to destroy the world. Beryl originally intends to use the Silver Crystal to control Metalia, but later learns that the gem's power only makes Metalia stronger due to Usagi's rage transmitted through it. This escalates to the point where Beryl can no longer control the actions of her own youma and fears that Metalia may destroy everything. During Acts 45-46, Metalia transfers her will into the strongest youma at its service. In a vain attempt to stop Metalia, Endymion takes the creature into his own body with the intent of committing suicide to take it with him. This has nightmarish results, as Metalia takes control of Endymion and then uses him in an attempt to force Sailor Moon to use the Silver Crystal's power. Metalia's plan succeeds, but only after Sailor Moon is forced to kill Endymion. But Sailor Moon manages to revive Mamoru with the Silver Crystal's power, with Metalia gone for good.

In the anime, Queen Metalia is voiced by Noriko Uemura, who reappears in the Death Busters story arc as Professor Tomoe's assistant, Kaolinite. In the dub, Metalia's voice actress is Maria Vacratsis. In the live-action series, she was voiced by Miyū Sawai, who also played Usagi Tsukino and who had her voice digitally deepened and altered for this role.^{[citation needed]}

Shitennou

The Shitennou (四天王, Shitennō, Four Heavenly Kings) are sub-leaders of the Dark Kingdom, working directly under Queen Beryl, and provide the major antagonistic force for the beginning of every version of the series—manga, anime, musicals, and live-action. The group's title, shitennou, comes from Buddhist mythology. Each member has epaulettes on his uniform, which indicate their respective ranks.

In the manga, the Shitennou originally functioned as the four guardians of Earth's crown prince, Endymion. They were led astray during the time of the Silver Millennium, finally selling their souls to the Dark Kingdom and becoming Queen Beryl's servants. When reincarnated in the 20th century, they again fall prey to her and obey her every command, but retain a sense that they need to seek out their real master and aid him. In the manga, they continue to appear after the first season as spirit-advisors to Mamoru, the reincarnation of Endymion. This backstory was not included in the anime, but was reintroduced and built upon for the stage musicals and even more so live-action series.

In DiC's English adaptation of the anime, the Shitennou were human-like beings from the Negaverse, an alternate dimension of evil, and had only a vague understanding of human ways. From dialogue between Nephlite (Nephrite) and Zoycite (Zoisite), they were even required to take classes in human psychology to blend in.^[22]

The first musical, Sailor Moon - Gaiden Dark Kingdom Fukkatsu Hen and its revision featured all four Shitennou. During a ball, Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion sang Waltz ni Koi wo Nosete, and the Shitennou were paired with their respective partners. However this romance was short-lived as Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Venus were each forced to fight Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoisite and Kunzite respectively. While the Guardian Senshi won in each case, the Shitennou used lies and trickery to harm each of the soldiers, resulting in members of both sides dying.

In the 1997 musical Eien Densetsu, only Kunzite and Zoisite appear. Zoisite flirts with Ami, and even sings a duet with her (Itsuwari no Forevermore, lit. Lies Forevermore). Ami only responded to Zoisite's flirting because he subtly brainwashed her. They would have shared a kiss if they weren't interrupted.^[23]

In Starlights - Ryuusei Densetsu, the implied romance between the Shitennou and Guardian Senshi can be seen in various situations. The Shitennou are sent to flirt with the Senshi to make them distracted. The Shitennou in their human identities protect the Senshi who are also in their civilian identies from Sailor Galaxia.^[24] They can also each be seen flirting in their respective couples, as the Shitennou present gifts to the Senshi in a park.^[25][26]

The musical Kakyuu-Ouhi Kourin had a group that which called themselves the Neo Shitennou. The members of the Neo Shitennou were Kunzite, Hematite, Hiddenite, and Kalunite. There was no explanation for changing their names, but Hematite, Hiddenite, and Kalunite looked identical to Zoisite, Nephrite and Jadeite respectively. The group worked with the reborn Queen Beryl under Sailor Galaxia, though the five of them were plotting to get out of Galaxia's rule.

Jadeite

Jadeite (ジェダイト, Jedaito, called Jedite in the English anime) is the first of the Shitennou to appear, and the lowest in rank (despite being older than Zoisite, who is one rank above him). In her Materials Collection, Naoko Takeuchi describes him as being about 18 years old in appearance,^[27] making him the second-youngest, while in the live-action series he is the youngest. He is the head of the Dark Kingdom's Far-Eastern Division^[28] and is named after the mineral jadeite.

In the manga, Jadeite's mission is to track down the Silver Crystal but eventually changes to gathering life energy to awaken Queen Metalia. He has very little interaction with the other Shitennou, only briefly being seen with (and mocked by) Nephrite. He expresses an attraction to Sailor Mars and is eventually killed by her, at which point Nephrite vows to take revenge for his fallen comrade. In the later sidestory Casablanca Memories, Zoisite also tries to avenge Jadeite.

In the anime, hunting energy is Jadeite's primary mission. He is adapted to be outspokenly sexist against women, often remarking how women and girls cannot match his power nor comprehend his methods, although this is toned down in the English dub and replaced with a more general rivalry between himself and the Sailor Senshi. Most of his schemes in the anime involve disguises; he takes on a variety of occupations and personas to trick humans into giving him energy, always targeting mass numbers at once. Eventually, as a punishment for his repeated failures, Queen Beryl places him in "Eternal Sleep," not knowing that just before coming to her he had learned the Senshi's secret identities. Encased in a crystal and teleported away, he is never seen again.

Of all the Shitennou, Jadeite is the only one to retain his basic appearance and mannerisms in the live-action series. He is totally subservient to Queen Beryl, for which she rewards him with her favor, sending him on missions that range from gathering energy to spying on his fellow warriors to attacking the Senshi directly. He disappears early in the series, reverting to crystalline form due to an injury, but is revived some time later by the growing power of Queen Metalia. Firmly loyal to Beryl, he rejects Endymion as his true master until the very last episode of the series.

In the first official Sailor Moon popularity poll, Jadeite was ranked the twentieth most popular character out of thirty eight choices.^[29]

Jadeite's voice for the original anime was provided by Masaya Onosaka and in the English dub by Tony Daniels. In the live-action series he was portrayed by Jun Masuo, and two people have played him in the stage musicals: Susumu Futabashi and Yuhka Asami (an actress).

Nephrite

Nephrite (ネフライト, Nefuraito, called Nephlite^[30] in the English adaptations) is the second of the Shitennou to appear, and the second-highest in rank. Takeuchi describes him as cocky and emotional, writing in her concept notes he will probably get himself killed right off. He is the second-oldest, estimated at about 19 years old,^[27] and is in charge of the Dark Kingdom's North American division.^[31] He is named after the mineral nephrite.

Nephrite's primary goal in the manga is to locate the Silver Crystal, but he also takes on a vow to avenge the death of Jadeite, and this is his main driving force. He uses a female "shadow" of himself to attack his victims, simultaneously taking control over their bodies and draining their energy. He is killed by Sailor Jupiter after using Motoki to manipulate her emotions.

In the anime, Nephrite hypothesizes that more energy can be taken by concentrating on a single human than by drawing from a crowd as Jadeite usually did. Establishing himself in an abandoned church, he uses intonation with the stars to detect the "energy potential" of individual people before attacking them. He, in turn, is mocked by his would-be successor, Zoisite. Also unlike Jadeite, Nephrite uses just one alter ego, that of Masato Sanjouin, a wealthy businessman and socialite. To match his monogrammed belongings, the English dub gave him the pseudonym Maxfield Stanton, which author Patrick Drazen describes as "ridiculously soap-opera."^[32]

Over the course of his missions, Nephrite inadvertently attracts the attention and affections of Usagi's best friend, Naru, which interferes with his progress. The Black Crystal he crafts to detect the Silver Crystal reacts instead to Naru's love for him. In the end, he comes to return her love and chooses to rescue her from Zoisite at the cost of his own life, dying in her arms just as the Sailor Senshi arrive to help. Naru screams in despair, which Drazen says must have been an unexpected development for viewers used to happy endings. Drazen describes this as a scene of redemption, pointing out that, before the end, Nephrite gives a genuine smile, as well as a good laugh, which Drazen considers "would have been beyond him in the past, but love is turning him human".^[32]

In the live-action series, Nephrite is Jadeite's main rival for the attentions of Queen Beryl, who considers him useless. His physical appearance is drastically changed, and he is portrayed as hot-headed and violent. Repeatedly humiliated by the Sailor Senshi, and mocked by the other Shitennou, he strives to win Beryl's favor, but is eventually murdered by her as a demonstration of her power. He is then reborn in Tokyo as a normal human being with all his memories intact, getting a job at the karaoke parlor and forging a tenuous friendship with Ami Mizuno, who was compassionate toward him when she was Dark Mercury. At the end of the series, he is reestablished with the other Shitennou as one of Prince Endymion's guardians.

Nephrite's voice for the original anime was provided by Katsuji Mori and in the English dub by Kevin Lund. In the live-action series he was portrayed by Hiroyuki Matsumoto, and two actors have played him in the stage musicals: Toshikazu Seike and Shuusuke Yoda.

Nephrite was the joint seventeenth favorite male character in a May 1993 Animage poll, tying with a character from Zettai Muteki Raijin-Oh.^[33]

Zoisite

Zoisite (ゾイサイト, Zoisaito, called Zoycite in the English anime^{[citation needed]}) is the third of the Shitennou, and is second-lowest in rank (despite being younger than Jadeite, who is the lowest in rank). Of the four, his character has undergone the most drastic changes from version to version of the story. He is the youngest, at about 16–17 years of age, described by Takeuchi as the least mature and most effeminate.^[27] He manages the Dark Kingdom's European Division^[34] and is named after the mineral zoisite.

Zoisite enters the manga in much the same way as his predecessor, first mocking Nephrite and then crying out in anguish when he is killed. However, he also works closely with the one remaining Shitennou, Kunzite, sharing concerns and strategies as he works. Seeking the Silver Crystal, he uses news reports and press releases to make the population of Tokyo help with his search, then resorts to taking their energy when they fail. He very nearly defeats the Sailor Senshi, but is killed in a surprise attack by Sailor Venus.

In the anime, Zoisite is introduced along with Nephrite, ridiculing him in each episode and finally orchestrating his death. He is more successful than either of his predecessors, obtaining all seven fragments of the Silver Crystal, and very nearly succeeds in killing Sailor Moon, but Tuxedo Mask takes the hit for her. The two are then revealed to be Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion. Unbeknownst to him, Queen Beryl is in love with Endymion and, infuriated, kills Zoisite in punishment for injuring him.

Zoisite is much more effeminate in the anime than in the manga, often using female disguises or surrounding himself with flower petals. As in the manga, he and Kunzite work closely together, but in this case they are also involved in a homosexual relationship, and Zoisite literally clings to him for support and guidance. To avoid any controversy, as they were focusing on a younger age group than the original anime, DiC therefore cast "Zoycite" as a woman for the dubbed production, because of his romantic relationship with Kunzite.

In the live-action series, Zoisite is an enigmatic piano player, using magical songs to hunt for the hidden Moon Princess. In addition to his own "Requiem for a Princess," he plays such compositions as the "Fantaisie-Impromptu" and "Moonlight Sonata." He cares very little for Queen Beryl and comes to recognize Prince Endymion as his master long before the others. After being defeated by Sailor Venus and subsequently revived by the power of Queen Metalia, he ignores Beryl altogether and uses his music to attempt to reach out to Endymion and to restore the memories of their collective past life to his fellow Shitennou. His loyalty to Endymion is such that he offers his own life in exchange for the Prince's, and when Queen Beryl asks for Usagi's life instead, Zoisite sets out to kill her. Diverted from this course of action by Endymion, he dies protecting Sailor Moon and is ultimately revived along with the others.

Zoisite's voice for the original anime was provided by Keiichi Nanba and in the dubbed anime by Kirsten Bishop. In the live-action series he was portrayed by Yoshito Endou, and four actors have played him in the stage musicals: Toshitaka Akita, Misao Idono, Akira Tomemori and Kaname Aoki.

Zoisite was the tenth most popular male anime character in a May 1993 Animage poll.^[33]

Kunzite

Kunzite (クンツァイト, Kuntsaito, called Malachite in the English anime) is the fourth and final member of the Shitennou, and the highest in rank. He carries a shortsword, and Takeuchi describes him as the greatest of the four, with the majesty of an Arabian king. She also admits to being very fond of him as a character. He is about 25–26 years old,^[27] leads the Dark Kingdom's Middle Eastern Division,^[35] and is named after the mineral kunzite (or, in the dub, malachite). Unlike the others, he wears a white cape in addition to his uniform.

In the manga, Kunzite is first shown acting in an advisory role to Zoisite, finally taking over as Queen Beryl's henchman when all the other Shitennou are dead. He defeats the Sailor Senshi at Tokyo Tower and nearly kills Sailor Moon, but Tuxedo Mask takes the injury for her, and they are revealed to be Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion. Remembering that Endymion was his former master, Kunzite becomes uncertain about his loyalties, and so Beryl plants a crystal in his forehead that reduces him to little more than a zombie. It takes the combined strength of all the Sailor Senshi to defeat him. Afterward, he appears as a spirit to Endymion to tell him where Queen Metalia's weakness lies.

Kunzite and Zoisite are even closer in the anime, lovers as well as allies. After Zoisite's death, Kunzite remains loyal to Queen Beryl, although he greatly resents being forced to work with the brainwashed Prince Endymion because he believes it is his fault his love Zoisite is dead. Near the end of the series, he battles the Sailor Senshi all at once and defeats all of them except Sailor Moon; his attack on her reflects back and kills him. He dies crying out to Zoisite, begging his love to meet him on the other side.

In the live-action series, Kunzite is first introduced in the form of a kindly amnesiac named Shin, whom Usagi attempts to befriend. His memories are restored by Queen Beryl, who had apparently tucked him away until she needed him, and he becomes a ruthless and powerful warrior. His efforts to reawaken Queen Metalia are largely motivated by a desire for personal gain, and he is dismissive to Beryl, sometimes to the point of insubordination. For the most part, however, he works with her toward their shared goals, and it is he who transforms Sailor Mercury into Dark Mercury. Kunzite is awakened early on to the memory that Endymion was his master in his previous life, but he feels extreme contempt for the prince, believing he betrayed the Shitennou in ages past and left them for dead. In the end, however, he defends Endymion against an attack by Jadeite and confesses his loyalty before dying.

Kunzite's voice for the original anime was provided by the late Kazuyuki Sogabe and in the dubbed anime by Dennis Akayama. In the live-action series he was portrayed by Akira Kubodera, and four people have played him in the stage musicals: Yuuta Mochizuki, Ryuji Kasahara, Hideka Asano, Miki Kawasaki (an actress).

Servants

Dark Mercury

In Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Kunzite attempts an experiment in which he turns one of the Sailor Senshi evil. In Act 20, he kidnaps Ami Mizuno, who at the time is the loneliest and most vulnerable member of the team, and exposes her to the power of Queen Metalia, changing her into Dark Mercury. A black motif is added to her uniform, and she uses "Dark" powers and an icicle sword. Kunzite keeps her fairly close, being careful to withdraw her whenever Sailor Moon attempts a healing, but he does take advantage of her newly-sadistic personality by allowing her to attend school and antagonize Usagi. While a part of the Dark Kingdom, Mercury is as arrogant as her allies, but she does extend a small amount of kindness to Nephrite. Queen Beryl finds the experiment interesting, but does not entirely trust it. In the end, Dark Mercury is very nearly able to kill Sailor Moon, but the knowledge that she has injured her friend finally reverts her back to herself. She has no memory of her experiences afterward.

Mio Kuroki

Mio Kuroki, on the outside, was a new teenage idol whose signature song, "Change of Pace," had a following comparable to that of Minako Aino's "C'est la Vie." Also like Minako, she was good at volleyball, and claimed to be a good friend of Usagi's. The truth, however, was much more sinister.

Mio was a "Shadow" of Queen Beryl, created by her and Jadeite some time between Act 25 and Act 28. Her objectives in life were: to be Beryl's eyes and ears in the human world, to give Mamoru Chiba to Queen Beryl, and to generally make the lives of the Sailor Senshi as miserable as possible - especially Usagi's. To do this, Mio did her best to be Usagi's friend (and always called her "Usagi-chan"), while simultaneously humiliating her at every turn. She also harmed people who saw through her, such as Naru Osaka, and constantly tried to upstage Minako whenever she could, with mixed results.

Mio was principal in getting Mamoru Chiba into Beryl's grasp; she also generally watched Mamoru during his time in the Dark Kingdom and provided him with outside "encouragement" from Rei Hino when he was cursed. However, her treatment of Mamoru inadvertently came back to haunt her when Prince Endymion was possessed by Queen Metalia, who seemingly blasted her out of existence.

Unfortunately, it turned out that the attack did not completely destroy her, though it took her four years to completely recover without Beryl's power to help her.^{[citation needed]} Nevertheless, she returned in the Special Act and attempted to recreate the Dark Kingdom with her as its queen - and Mamoru as the king. After realizing that Mamoru would always love Usagi even when brainwashed, she transformed into her true form: a terrifying, giant black flower with sharp vines. She was finally destroyed when the Sailor Senshi, sans Mars performed the Sailor Planet Attack.

Dark Agency

In Codename: Sailor V, Minako faces off with the Dark Agency, a group of villains posing as a talent and idol agency. In the final volume of the manga it is revealed that the Dark Agency was established by the Dark Kingdom. After Sailor V defeats their leader, the group dissolves and the Dark Kingdom begins to act directly, thus leading into the Sailor Moon series. They are never mentioned in the Sailor Moon manga or other continuities.

Danburite

Danburite is a subordinate of the Shitennou in the Sailor V manga. He takes a human form as Ace Kaitou, Minako Aino's love interest, and fights alongside Sailor V until revealing his true identity as a servant of the Dark Kingdom and leader of the Dark Agency, a subsect of the Dark Kingdom. He is later revealed that in his past life he was Adonis, a lowly foot soldier posted to Princess Venus's army in her past life. He was later assigned to fight under Endymion. He had fallen in love with Venus, but the love was one-sided. It is because of him that Minako learns of the existence of the Dark Kingdom and joins the Sailor Team. At key moments, the symbol of Venus glows on his forehead.^[36]

Youma

Youma are the monsters of the day in the first arc of the Sailor Moon anime and in the live-action series. All of the Shitennou, as well as Queen Beryl and occasionally Metalia herself, use youma to achieve their goals. Although the origin of earlier youma is not shown, in the anime later youma are created from human beings. These can be returned to their human form by Sailor Moon. In the English anime members of the Negaverse refer to the youma as their "servants", while the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask. just call them "Negamonsters".

Seven Daiyouma

In the anime, the Seven Great Youma (Daiyōma, Seven Shadows in the English dub) are most powerful youma in the Dark Kingdom. Thanks to the power of Queen Serenity, they were sealed within seven separate shards of the Silver Crystal and carried to Earth where they were reincarnated centuries later, with no memories of their prior existences. Zoisite manages to reawaken them one by one, only for Sailor Moon to heal them and revert them to their humanoid forms.^[37]

• Gēsēn (ゲーセーン) (Game Machine Man): The keeper of the red Rainbow Crystal, he is a cyber-youma reborn as Crane Joe (Game Machine Joe in the English version), a pro at arcade games.^[38] His name is short for "game center".
• Bokushi (ボクシー) (Bobo the Vulture): The keeper of the orange Rainbow Crystal, he is a winged, boxing youma reborn as a priest who Naru meets at a cemetery.^[39] While fighting, Bokushi repeatedly paraphrases Muhammad Ali. His name is a pun on bokushi, meaning "priest" in Japanese, and bokushingu, meaning "boxing".
• Bumbō (ブンボー) (Bumboo): The keeper of the yellow Rainbow Crystal, he is a reptilian youma reborn as Ryo Urawa, who Ami developed a crush on. Though the beast awakened, Urawa attempted to retain control himself and attacked Zoisite, only to end up completely under his control.^[40]
• Bīna (ビーナ) (Veena) : The keeper of the green Rainbow Crystal, she is an angelic youma reborn as local artist Yumeni Yumeno. Her attacks are art-based.^[41]
• Rikokeidā (リコケイダー) (Techniclon): The keeper of the blue Rainbow Crystal, she is a youma wearing a black bathing suit reborn as Motoki's girlfriend, Reika Nishimura.^[42]
• Jiji (ジジ)(Pox): The keeper of the indigo Rainbow Crystal, he is an Oni-like youma who is reincarnated as Rei's grandfather.^[43] Its name may be derived from the Japanese word for grandfather, ojīsan.
• Bakēne (バケーネ): The keeper of the violet Rainbow Crystal, he is a beastly cat youma reborn as the cat Rhett Butler, who had a thing for Luna, even in youma form.^[44] In the English version, he is simply called Hercules.

DD Girls

The DD Girls (Doom and Gloom Girls in the English dub) are a group of five youma who work together in the penultimate episode of the first anime series. They are not chosen, but rather volunteer, to try to kill the Senshi as they attempt to find the entrance to the Kingdom.

The DD Girls have the power to fly, to produce powerful tentacles from their bodies (flexible or rigid and sharp like spears), generate electricity, and to create illusions of people the Senshi care about (namely Tuxedo Mask for Moon and Mars, Motoki Furuhata for Jupiter and Ryo Urawa for Mercury) in danger or pain, as well as one of a giant fireball that gave off real heat while the fireball itself was fake. The source of these illusions is the stone in the Leader's forehead decoration, which is eventually destroyed by Sailor Mercury.

One by one, each of the Guardian Senshi sacrifices herself to protect Sailor Moon and ensure that she reaches Queen Beryl. Sailor Jupiter is the first, destroying two of the Girls and mortally wounding herself with a massive, suicidal lightning strike. Next is Sailor Mercury, who uses her mini-computer to smash the stone that allows the Girls to create illusions and, though she survives a lava-flow with the protection of her Shabon Spray used as a force-field, she loses her life when she is crushed to death by the DD Girls' tentacles. She is followed by Sailor Venus, who knocks Sailor Moon away from a trap and performs her Crescent Beam attack point blank to the head of one of her assailants, blowing her apart and losing her own life in the resulting explosion. Finally, Sailor Mars detonates the rock formation, killing only one of the DD Girls and apparently herself. Before the final remaining DD Girl can kill Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars is revealed to be alive, expending the last of her living strength to set fire to the final youma. Sailor Mars finally dies only after clearing the way for Sailor Moon to proceed, meeting Beryl for their final battle.^[3]

In the English dub, the scenes of each sacrificed Sailor's dead bodies crucified in the frozen explosions following each Youma's death are all removed, and the episode is combined with the one following, also editing out a violent fight scene between a possessed Prince Endymion and Sailor Moon. The dubbed episodes are further edited so that, rather than killing the Scouts, the "Doom and Gloom Girls" state that they are merely captured and being held hostage in the "Negaverse".^[45]

Three DD Girls appear in the first musical, Gaiden Dark Kingdom Fukkatsu Hen, played by Hisako Doubayashi, Yuko Nishi and Mayumi Maikuma, and in its revision, played by Yuriko Nishiyama, Kaori Ishikawa and Ai Suzuki.

Live-action youma

In Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, youma serve much the same purpose as in the anime, except that they are most often monsters in their own right, rather than possessing the bodies of human beings. The creature designs used for individual youma are not thematically influenced by the story of the episode, and they are usually portrayed by human actors in suits, with only two being computer-generated. They never speak, and are commanded by the Shitennou.

In the second half of the live-action series, swarms of cloaked youma begin to appear after Sailor Moon is revealed to be the Princess. Their loyalty is to Metalia herself rather than to Queen Beryl and her servants, and their abilities include earth-swimming and fast movement. The costumes for these entities are recycled from the Golem Soldiers/Putty Patrol from Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger/Mighty Morphin Power Rangers^[46] with cloaks added.

Youma Metalia

In Act 41, the remains of numerous cloaked youma pile up on top of one another and merge into a single youma. This composite entity is an agent of Metalia, gathering energy from everything around it and responding to the Silver Crystal. Naru and Motoki are among its numerous victims. Using the energy it gathers, the youma is powerful enough to withstand attacks by the Sailor Senshi. By Act 45, Metalia turns it into her host, Youma Metalia, in order to absorb every bit of energy in the world. However, she is soon forced to leave her host, which is then destroyed by a group attack. This Youma was capable of speech while Metalia was using it as a host.

References