In the series, Makoto is the third Sailor Guardian to be discovered by Usagi Tsukino, and serves as the "coordinator" of the group,[1] as she possesses superhuman strength, as well as powers associated with electricity and plants.

Aside from the main body of the Sailor Moon series, Makoto features in her own manga short story, The Melancholy of Mako-chan.

It has a long skirt, which when coupled with her hair, was a common visual cue for a tough or delinquent girl at the time the series was created.

One of the most consistent characters across the many versions of the series, Makoto is always depicted as simultaneously the most masculine and the most feminine of the four Sailor Guardians.

In Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Makoto's parents' death is told in a flashback in Act 6, but how they died is not mentioned.

[11] As a character with different incarnations, special powers, transformations and extended longevity; a really long ageless lifetime virtually spanned between the Silver Millennium era and the 30th Century, Makoto gains multiple aspects and aliases as the series progresses.

In Japanese, the name for the planet Jupiter is Mokusei (木星), the first kanji meaning 'wood' and the second indicating a celestial object.

Although the Roman planet-name is used, Sailor Jupiter's dominant element is wood[16] due to this aspect of Japanese mythology.

She is by far the most skilled of the Sailor Guardians, able to lift a full-grown man above her head,[18] even while ice skating[19] or to stop a stone pillar from falling.

The first change takes place in Act 42 of the manga, when she obtains the Jupiter Crystal and her outfit becomes similar to that of Super Sailor Moon.

A third form appears in Act 49 of the manga, unnamed but similar to Eternal Sailor Moon (without wings).

As Princess Jupiter, she dwelt in Io Castle and wore a green gown—she appears in this form in the original manga, as well as in supplementary art.

[24][25] Naoko Takeuchi once drew her in the arms of Nephrite, but no further romantic link between them was established in the manga or the first anime adaptation.

[29] Makoto is portrayed as unusually strong for a teenage girl,[1] but like the other Sailor Guardians, she must transform in order to gain access to her celestial powers.

[41] When they first meet in the manga, Usagi thinks the roses have a nice fragrance, and late in the anime the sight of them brings her back from temporary memory loss because it reminds her of Tuxedo Mask.

In the live-action series, she frequently uses unnamed electric attacks, and is given a tambourine-like weapon (the Sailor Star Tambo) by Artemis.

Makoto is present in the original proposal for a hypothetical Codename: Sailor V anime, but her name is given as Mamoru Chino.

Creator Naoko Takeuchi confirms that this character eventually became Makoto, and writes that the original concept was quite different—Makoto was not only tough, but in fact was meant to be the leader of a female gang as well as a smoker.

It featured buckles, very long gloves, blue and yellow highlights, a bare lower torso, and a profusion of thin, dark pink ribbons—along with a face-plate and communicator.

"[1] The kanji of Makoto's surname translate as "tree" or "wood" or "spirit" (木, ki) and "field" or "civilian" (野, no).

[48][49] In the stage musicals, Makoto has been portrayed by 22 actresses: Noriko Kamiyama, Marie Sada, Takako Inayoshi, Emika Satoh, Akari Tonegawa, Chiho Oyama (whose older sister Anza was the first to play Sailor Moon), Emi Kuriyama, Yuriko Hayashi, Ayano Sugimoto, Kaori Sakata, Karina Okada (Although she appears as her and sings with the others in the event promoting the musical she was not the one who played her in the actual musical performances), Mai Watanabe, Yu Takahashi,[50] Kaede.,[51] Ami Noujo, Minami Umezawa, Kie Obana, Kanna Matsuzaki, Shio Yamazaki, Junna Ito, Kisara Matsumura, Mao Ioki, and Nao Tomisato.

Also, child actress Misho Narumi portrays Makoto in flashbacks, dream sequences, and childhood photos.