Usagi is the protagonist of Sailor Moon. Usagi has a rich mythological and legend-based backstory.
Legend: Legend has it that Usagi’s name translates to “Moon Rabbit.” Once upon a time in Japanese tradition, a monkey, a rabbit, and a fox lived together as friends. They played on the mountain throughout the day and returned to the forest at night. This carried on for a long time. When the Lord of Heaven heard about it, he wanted to check whether it was true. He approached them dressed as an elderly traveller. “I’m exhausted after traveling over mountains and valleys. Could you please provide me with something to eat? “He stated this while putting down his staff to rest. The monkey immediately went out to fetch the nuts he had provided, while the fox delivered a gift from his fish trap in the river. The rabbit dashed across the fields in all directions but returned empty-handed. The monkey and the fox mocked him, saying, “You’re truly excellent for nothing.” The young rabbit was so disheartened that he requested that the monkey fetch some thistles and that the fox set fire to them. They did just that. The small rabbit then pleaded to the old man, “Please eat me,” and jumped into the flames. This sacrifice touched the pilgrim’s heart, and he sobbed, saying, “There are no winners or losers; everyone deserves to be praised. However, the small bunny has shown great affection.” So speaking, he returned the rabbit to his natural shape and carried the small corpse to heaven to be buried in the moon palace.
Every Japanese knows the tradition and still sees a rabbit threshing his rice in the shadows of the full moon.
Mythology: Selene (Greek for “moon”) was the earliest Greek goddess of the moon, and she was the daughter of two of the original twelve Titan gods, Hyperion and Thea. Selene rides the chariot of the moon across the sky at night, much as her brother Helios (Greek for “sun”) rides the chariot of the sun across the sky during the day and her sister Eos (Greek for “dawn”) delivers the dawn to proclaim the arrival of Helios every morning. (It’s ironic that Naoko called her Usagi/Princess Selenity/Serenity.) Selene is a purely abstract goddess. She is actually only a literary or poetic personification of the Moon. Artemis, the more well-known Greek goddess of the moon, subsequently absorbed Selene (Goddess of the hunt).
The Roman version of Selene is Luna (Latin for moon), and the Roman version of Artemis is Diana… how fitting are the names for the three cats (Luna, Artemis, and Diana)? And Princess Serenity originated from the moon deities, which is appropriate.
The moon has three aspects, each represented by a distinct moon goddess: Selene represents the heavenly aspect, Artemis represents the earthly aspect, and Hecate (an underworld goddess of the moon and witchcraft) represents the underworld aspect.
According to legend, Selene was driving her moon-chariot through the night sky when she saw a gorgeous shepherd resting peacefully among his sheep (his name was Endymion…can you identify who this is??). She instantly fell in love with him and started to visit him in his dreams every night as he slept. Knowing that Endymion was mortal, Selene petitioned Zeus to give Endymion endless life, immortal youth… and eternal slumber (so that Selene might visit him in his dreams every night). The request was fulfilled, and according to folklore, Selene sees Endymion every night… and Endymion sleeps with a (wide) grin on his face. However, there seems to be a little modification to the tale at points. Instead, everlasting life and endless youth put him to sleep and froze his age for all eternity. Selene would come to Endymion every night as he dreamt of making love to a beautiful lady, and she gave him 50 daughters (let’s count… Chibi-Usa…. uh… wait, we still have 49 more to go! Can you image having 50 Chibi-Usas? Frightening.:|) The link between this tale and Moon Princess Serenity and Earth Prince Endymion is obvious.
Attacks (Anime):
Moon Tiara Magic
Moon Tiara Stardust
Moon Healing Escalation
Moon Princess Halation
Moon Crystal Power
Moon Spiral Heart Attack
Rainbow Moon Heart Ache
Moon Gorgeous Meditation
Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss
Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss
Attacks (Manga):
Moon Frisbee
Moon Twilight Flash
Moon Healing Escalation
Moon Princess Halation
Moon Spiral Heart Attack
Rainbow Moon Heart Attack
Rainbow Double Moon Heart Ache
Moon Gorgeous Meditation
Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss
Silver Moon Crystal Power Therapy Kiss
Silver Moon Crystal Eternal Power
Attacks (Live Action):
Moon Healing Escalation
Moon Tiara Boomerang
Moon Twilight Flash
Moonlight Attractive Attack
Birthday: June 30