Taurus Aldebaran (牡牛座のアルデバラン Taurasu no Arudebaran?) is a fictional character in the manga series, Saint Seiya, written and illustrated by Japanese author Masami Kurumada, later adapted to anime.
Personality and background[]
Masami Kurumada introduced Aldebaran in chapter 29, contained in vol.8 of his manga.
Aldebaran is one of the 12 Guardians of Sanctuary, with Taurus as his destined constellation. He was the physically strongest of the Gold Saints of the modern era. He is Brazilian in origin.
Unlike most of the characters, Aldebaran is often depicted as friendly, laughing and being less serious in times of peace. He was a good friend of Aries Mu, and with Pegasus Seiya (as this last is said in the anime adaptation of the 'Hades' arc, when Aldebaran sacrificed himself with the other eleven Gold Saints to pierce the Wailing Wall).
Although Aldebaran followed the orders of the Pope, he was growing suspicious of his integrity and tested the Bronze saints during their invasion on the Sanctuary to try to uncover the truth. According to Aries Mu, Aldebaran could have killed all of them if he used his true power, but Aldebaran answered that if his enemies were fighting so hard, then their beliefs couldn't be all wrong.
In Saint Seiya Episode G, Aldebaran is depicted as an easy-going person who likes to buy little mementos. He is also shown as someone who has strong faith in his beliefs and learns from his past errors, seeing them as steps and not sins. Due to that, he was able to easily defeat the Brabeus Talanton that was smashing Leo Aiolia and Capricorn Shura with the weight of their sins.
Being a Brazilian character made Aldebaran popular in that country, since he is one of the few Brazilian characters in manga and anime, and Saint Seiya was hugely popular in Brazil (being in that country renamed "Os Cavaleiros do Zodíaco", literally "Knights of the Zodiac").
Plot overview[]
The 'Sanctuary' arc[]
Aldebaran was first seen in the 12 Temples in the Sanctuary. At his Taurus temple, he faced the four Bronze Saints: Pegasus Seiya, Dragon Shiryū, Cygnus Hyōga, and Andromeda Shun. The four Bronze Saints were no match to Aldebaran since none one of them had awakened to the seventh sense. His battle stance (with crossed arms) allowed him to attack and defend at the same time; since he moves at the speed of light, he can launch his "Great Horn" move and return to defense without being seen. Using his Pegasus Meteor Punches, Seiya reached to the seventh sense for the very first time, getting Aldebaran out of his stance and making it possible for him to discover the mechanics of Taurus' technique.
In the end, he cut Aldebaran's horn off his helmet. Aldebaran, who had told Seiya he would let him pass the Temple of Taurus if he could break the horn, kept his promise. Before the four Bronze Saints left his temple, Aldebaran told them that without the seventh sense, they wouldn't stand a chance against any of the Gold Saints. In order to reach the seventh sense, they had to flare their Cosmo past their limits.
Later, Aldebaran joined Mu, who was watching over the wounded Saori Athena. Mu asked him why he allowed Seiya and the others to pass through his temple; to which Aldebaran replied he saw the Bronze Saints truly believed that Athena was on their side and had his own misgivings about the Pope's claims that they were traitors. The ensuing conversation allowed him to realize that perhaps the Pope was not as he seemed.
'Asgard' arc (Anime Only)[]
In the Anime-only Asgard arc, Aldebaran was the first to be confronted by one of the God Warriors. After the 'Sanctuary' arc, Aldebaran was unexpectedly attacked by Mizar Syd, and seemingly defeated. It was later revealed that Syd never landed a single blow; instead, it was his brother Alcor Bud who attacked Aldebaran from behind. Aldebaran confided this information to Silver Saint Ophiuchus Shaina, asking her to warn the Bronze Saints who would face Syd in battle.
The 'Asgard' arc, however, doesn't exist in the original manga, and therefore is not part of the established Saint Seiya canon.
'Poseidon' arc[]
Aldebaran, in a color illustration from the manga, drawn by the author Masami Kurumada.
In the beginning of the Poseidon chapter, Aldebaran followed Athena to the hospital where Seiya, Hyōga, Shiryū and Shun were recovering after the conflict of the Twelve Temples. After Athena went to attend some matters, the Marina General Siren Sorrento appeared. Upon Aldebaran returning to find Siren on the way on turning the life-sustaining medical equipment off, a battle was eminent. Although under Sorrento's music, that reduced Aldebaran's power to just one percent of its total, he still was able to knock his enemy away with his Great Horn, but without causing him any injuries. Aldebaran had to puncture his ears for Sorrento's music not to come through, to no avail, and the Siren Marina utilized a final move leaving only the Taurus Cloth behind. Despite this, the Saint had actually evaded the attack and used his Cosmo to paralyze the movements of his enemy. Before they could start to fight again, Athena appeared and demanded to be taken to the Sanctuary of Poseidon. Aldebaran could not refuse the wishes of Athena and returned to Sanctuary, though helmless, while Sorrento escorted Athena.
In the anime adaptation, Aldebaran's appearance simply mirrored the remaining short participations he had in this arc, in the original manga.
The 'Hades' arc[]
In the beginning of Hades Chapter, Mu ran to the Taurus temple while chasing after Gemini Saga, Aquarius Camus and Capricorn Shura, who apparently had sold their souls to Hades. There, he found Aldebaran standing strong in front of him. At first he was relieved to find him all right. Sadly, after a short while, Mu found that Aldebaran was already killed by the Earthly Darkness Star, Deep Niobe, a Specter of Hades.
With Aldebaran's very last remaining Cosmo, Mu was able to move again after Niobe, who attacked him with his Deep Fragrance. Mu then defended himself with the Crystal Wall. Afterward, he quietly walked away. Niobe was surprised, until Mu reminded him that he was, in fact, already dead: Aldebaran's Great Horn had already hit him and destroyed his entire body. Mu thanked Aldebaran for his help and swore on his life that he would protect Athena to the end.
In the manga, Aldebaran was surprised by Deep Niobe because he was deaf after destroying his own eardrums in his battle against Siren Sorrento.
Later, Aldebaran joined the rest of the twelve Gold Saints at the Wall with his Gold Cloth. He showed his surprised comrades that he remained loyal to his friends and Athena, even after death.
Power and abilities[]
Having mastered the Seventh Sense, Aldebaran is able to fully control his Cosmo energy and attain the speed of light. This ability allowed him to become one of the Gold Saints, the strongest class among the protectors of the goddess Athena. It is implied that he achieved the Eighth sense in the 'Hades' arc, so he could freely fight Hades and aid the other Gold Saints in the Underworld. Aldebaran has displayed superhuman physical strength, which is mentioned to be the greatest among the Gold Saints by Aries Mu.
Among his special techniques, he has only shown the Great Horn (グレートホーン gurēto hōn?) in which Aldebaran sends a devastating waves of massive Cosmo toward his enemy. The offensive power of this technique is great enough to pulverize a warrior completely together with his armor.
In order to improve the power and strength of his Great Horn, Aldebaran keeps his arms-crossed posture throughout the series. As noted by Pegasus Seiya this is a strategy similar to the japanese iaijutsu sword style: While in this pose, Aldebaran can instantly react to incoming attacks, uncross his arms and counter-attack, so quickly the enemy is unable to perceive the blow before Aldebaran crosses his arms again.
Cloth, Constellation and Temple[]
Aldebaran's guardian constellation is Taurus, and his Gold Cloth represents it and its associated myth : the Cretan Bull, captured by Heracles as his seventh task.
The temple Aldebaran guarded was known both in manga and the anime adaptation as Kingyūkyū, the "Temple of the Golden Bull".
Other media[]
The Taurus Gold Saint in the 18th century was also called Aldebaran, but he revealed that he took this name as Taurus Golden Saint because of the brightest star in the Taurus constellation. His real name was Rasgado (ハスガード Hasugādo?). He appears only in Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas.
- In the movie Heaven Chapter ~Overture~, his soul is sealed with the other Gold Saints when they are judged by the gods and say they will always be loyal to Athena. Although being sealed he would encourage Phoenix Ikki and Andromeda Shun to fight against the angels of Artemis.
- Taurus Ox
In Masami Kurumada's current Saint Seiya work, Saint Seiya Next Dimension, the Taurus Saint in the 18th century was known as Taurus Ox (牡牛座のオックス Taurasu no Okkusu?). In the same way as Aldebaran, Ox is a giant, with blonde hair and bushy eyebrows, and also possesses the Great Horn. A recently introduced character that has yet to take a more prominent role in the plot, he is ackowledged by Libra Dohko to be a true Gold Saint. He first appeared in chapter 13, punishing Pegasus Tenma, Libra Dohko and Aries Sion because of their reckless charge against Hades. In more recent chapters, he joins fellow Gold Saints Capricorn Izō and Virgo Shijima in finding Athena's incarnation in their era.
Notes[]
- In his manga, Kurumada gave Aldebaran very long blonde hair. In the anime adaptation his hair was dark brown and since his back wasn't often visible, the length of his hair sometimes varied.
- It's never explained how Seiya could break the horn of Aldebaran's helmet with merely his hand, giving the supposed imperviousness of Gold Cloths to physical attacks.
- As revealed by Masami Kurumada in vol.12 of his manga, Aldebaran became a Gold Saint at an early age. He had already been granted the Gold Saint status and the Taurus Gold Cloth by the time he was 7 years old.
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