Create Your Own Otaku Senshi: A Sailor Moon Fan-Character Help Site
Sailor Animamates
Recently, it's become pretty popular among otaku senshi creators to come up with new Sailor Animamates as fan characters. This page will help to explain the specific regarding these types of characters in case you are interested in trying!First, a little lesson on Sailor Animamates, for those of you not familiar with the details. In the manga, Sailor Moon has a rival soldier, Sailor Galaxia. Sailor Galaxia is the leader of Shadow Galactica. Within the ranks of Shadow Galactica are soldiers called Sailor Animamates. They are: Sailor Iron Mouse, Sailor Lead Crow, Sailor Aluminum Seiren, Sailor Tin Nyanko, and Sailor Heavy Metal Papillion. Sense a theme to their names? There certainly is one! When naming the Sailor Animamates, Naoko stuck to a formula which included a metal and an animal name.
Another important aspect of the Sailor Animamates is the origins of their powers. None of the Sailor Animamates in the manga were originally Sailor Senshi to begin with; they are, in fact, fake Sailor Senshi. It is explained in the manga that the Sailor Animamates are people that killed the original Sailor Soldier of their home planet in the name of Shadow Galactica. In return for killing the senshi of their planet, Sailor Galaxia gave them access to the powers of the soldier they killed.
The new, false senshi assumes a name that is related to the soldier they killed. For example, Sailor Chuu was killed by the person that took the form of Sailor Iron Mouse. 'Chuu' is like the sound that a mouse makes, so Sailor Iron Mouse's name and appearance relate to a mouse. Sailor Tin Nyanko killed Sailor Mau, the soldier from Luna and Artemis' home planet. Her appearance is related to a cat. Sailor Lead Crow killed Sailor Cronis, the senshi of the planet Coronis. This is the planet that Sailor Mars' two guardian crows came from. Therefore, Sailor Lead Crow takes on the name an appearance of a crow.
It seems that the appearances of these Animamates in the manga is different than that of the original soldiers who's lives they took. This assumtion is based on one small panel in the manga which shows Sailor Coronis' back. She is wearing an outfit that is unlike Sailor Lead Crow's attire.
In the anime, Animamates operated a little different. The Animamates of the anime were actually Sailor Senshi who gave up their Sailor Crystals to serve Galaxia and avoid death. When Sailor Iron Mouse is partially healed in the anime, half her outfit turns white. This 'pure' side of her seems to indicate that anime Animamates had original forms which were the same as their Galactica outfits with some possible color alterations.
In both storylines, the Sailor Animamates all wore golden bracelets with large gemstones on them. These bracelets were what allowed the Sailor Animamate to access the power of the Sailor Crystal which Sailor Galaxia kept. They also were a symbol of Sailor Galaxia's power over their lives; if Galaxia revoked the bracelets, the Animamate would die.
If you are interested in creating a Sailor Animamate and you would like her to fit into the ideas shown in canon, here are the basic questions you should consider:
What Sailor Senshi did she kill to obtain power? OR What Sailor Senshi was she before she gave up her crystal?
What animal would this Sailor Senshi be related to?
What metal sounds good with that animal name?
Bear in mind that the manga also contains characters who willingly gave up their powers to join Shadow Galactica. They are not called Sailor Animamates, but they are not given any other name collectively. These senshi are: Sailor Lethe, Sailor Mnesmosyne, Sailor Chi, and Sailor Phi. Much like the soldiers in the anime, it seems that these characters retain their original appearance while under Galaxia's control.
What animal would this Sailor Senshi be related to?
What metal sounds good with that animal name?
There are other ways to make Sailor Animamates. For example, not all Sailor Senshi have powers from animal realms. What would happen if a soldier of fire was killed by someone that gained her powers? Perhaps she would become Sailor Golden Flame. Or perhaps instead of metals for the middle word, you would like to use flowers, gemstones, or colors! Branching out from the original formula could be a great way to set you Sailor Animamate(s) apart!
The Sailor Animamates often had outfits related to their animal element, but they also generally wore outfits that were more revealing than the ordinary Sailor Senshi. Because we don't know a lot about the original senshi they killed, we don't know how similar the Animamate outfits are to the original soldiers.