In the second arc, the Saints are confronted with the god of the sea, Poseidon, who kidnaps the mortal reincarnation of Athena and threatens to flood the world with incessant rain to cleanse it of the evils of mankind.
An orphaned child later revealed to be one of Mitsumasa Kido's sons, he was separated from his sister Seika and sent to Greece to become a Saint, a soldier of the goddess Athena.
Initially motivated by the desire to rejoin his sister, he eventually discovers he has protected Athena for millennia, his soul returning every time she reincarnates to assist her in the battles against the evil agents that threaten the Earth.
As a warrior of immense might, Seiya achieves victory in impossible battles, occasionally donning the Sagittarius Gold Cloth before particularly challenging opponents.
As one of Mitsumada Kido's sons, he was sent at an early age to the Five Old Peaks of Rozan to train under the Libra Gold Saint and acquire the Dragon Cloth.
After he returns to Japan, Shiryu becomes involved in the battles to recover the Gold Cloth from Ikki and the Black Saints, and eventually discovers that Saori Kido is the goddess Athena whom he swore to protect.
He recovers his sight upon awakening his seventh sense during the fight against Cancer Deathmask, but later loses it a second time while facing Poseidon's General Chrysaor Krishna.
He was born in the fictional village of Kohoutek, in eastern Siberia, which, at the time when Kurumada wrote and drew his manga, was in the Soviet Union.
Calm by nature, he displays a seemingly emotionless exterior, but a more tender side of his character emerges on occasions, such as when he expresses his gratitude to Andromeda Shun for having saved his life and his undying devotion to his mentor Aquarius Camus.
He first appears in the series as he receives an order from Sanctuary to eliminate his fellow Bronze Saints, but he quickly abandons this mission when he discovers the truth about Saori Kido's identity and joins her in the battles against her enemies.
He trained at Andromeda Island under the Silver Saint Cepheus Daidalos and returned to Japan after earning his Cloth, hoping to be reunited with Ikki.
Ikki manages to free him after the god takes hold of his body and both follow Athena to Elysion, where Shun briefly dons the Virgo Gold Cloth and helps to finally defeat Hades.
She usually carries a golden staff representing Nike, the Goddess of Victory, and a shield which can eliminate all evil and owns a powerful Divine Cloth.
While still a baby, Gemini Saga attempts to kill her, but Sagittarius Aiolos saves her life and delivers her to Mitsumasa Kido, who raises her in secret in Japan.
Thirteen years later, after Mitsumasa's death, Saori gathers the Bronze Saints that the Graude Foundation trained and battles to reclaim Sanctuary from Saga's control.
In Next Dimension, hoping to save Seiya's life from the curse cast on him by Hades's sword, Saori travels to Olympus to ask for Chronos's help.
The God of Time sends her back to the 18th century war against Hades, as per her request, but she appears in the past as a helpless baby at the mercy of her enemies.
In the latest chapters of Next Dimension, author Kurumada introduces Sasha (サーシャ, Sāsha), Athena's previous incarnation, who descended to Earth once again during the 18th century.
Sasha is later instrumental in the sealing of Hades' curse on Seiya in 1990 and joining Athena Saori in sending the Bronze Saints back to their era.
[15] Returning to Sanctuary with Dohko and Shion, Tenma later encounters Andromeda Shun and the two begin to climb the Twelve Temples, joining forces to protect the infant time-traveling Athena.
An alternate version of Tenma makes an appearance in the spin-off Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas, where his name is spelled only in katakana.
The short story dedicated to Hyōga that followed the Sanctuary arc of the manga introduced the Blue Warriors from the icy lands of Bluegrad.
This article comprises a list of characters that do not exist in Masami Kurumada's Saint Seiya manga and are found only in its anime adaptation, therefore they remain out of the canon of the fictional universe.