First Things to Know

With the new generation of fans I can’t wait to see all the new Sailor Moon OCs and Otaku Senshi.

Except I get it! You’re filled with the fires of inspiration! Who wants to trawl through eighteen volumes of manga, two hundred episodes and three movies of one series, and thirty nine episodes of another just so we don’t get hurled out of the fandom by the Nerd Police?

Let me start by saying welcome! I hope this community inspires you and embraces you! Whether you join us as a role player, writer or artist; we look forward to meeting your otaku senshi! So where do you start?

1) Starseeds and True Starseeds

It all comes down to this! What is it?

Pfft!

It’s probably just some seasonal McGuffin! Like the Rainbow Crystals or the Dream Mirrors! It can’t be that important because it doesn’t show up until Arc 50 of the Manga or the final season of the 90’s Anime….

Well this is a starseed. Everything alive is born with a starseed and they will glitter and gleam but eventually as life drifts away they will lose their shine.

This one isn't just any starseed, its special. It’s called by different things through the canons; True Starseeds, Sailor Crystals and you’ll often hear me calling them Shining Starseeds because I grew up with shitty fan Scanilations and Fandubs but in essence this is the heart of a Guardian.

In order to be a Sailor Guardian you have to have a Shining Starseed.

But how do you get one?

You have to be born with one.

How are you born with one?

Here’s the kicker... Remember how I said everything is born with a starseed…

The biggest and most powerful starseeds of all belong to heavenly bodies. A moon. A planet. An asteroid. That starseed… that soul… is filled with immense power. Sometimes it is reborn with a physical body, that life inherits its great strength.

Hmm, sounds familiar....

A Sailor Guardian is the soul of a heavenly body reborn into a frail mortal shell and many are drawn to repel an entity only known as Chaos.

…. What? That’s it?!

Yes, a Sailor Senshi is the soul of a planet reborn!

Gowan! Pick a heavenly body! Planets! Dwarf Planets! Moons! Stars!

What about making up your own? What if your OC was like the Sailor Starlights, their own Planetary System, their on royalty and their own Sailor Guardians?

Pick a star! Any Star... What about that star right there!

That star is now Arjean (French for silver), and its planets are all based on French names. Cendrillon (From Ash), Celina (Sky), Rivage (Seashore)….ect Bam! Congrats! You are a protector of Love and Justice, Sailor Cendrillon!

And there! That's it! That's the equation you need to make an OC Guardian for Sailor Moon!

Heavenly Body + Starseed = Sailor Guardian!

2) One Starseed = One Guardian

This is an easy one, a Planetoid only has one soul to give so if they’re already named, you can’t have a second one.

I know it sucks to hear but this is one of the fundamental rules of the canon.

Sharing starseeds is like sharing knickers, waaay too personal!

A planet only has one starseed to give because its the equivalent of a soul. They are born in the Galaxy Cauldron, nurtured by their star and grow with their heavenly body. They then incarnated inside a physical (human? Alien?) vessel alongside their transient human starseed, at least in the manga.

The hardest answer to find is why do we have Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibimoon? In the future Neo Queen Serenity never transformed despite her planet being in trouble because Small Lady inherited the powers of the Moon's Sailor Crystal.

Does this mean a starseed can be inherited?

I don't know. We do know they can be stolen, ala Sailor Galaxia and the Sailor Animates.

We also know that sisters can inherit different starseeds. Sailor Lethe and Sailor Mnemosyne are canonically stated by Naoko to be twins. They were born together on an unnamed impoverished planet of their star systems, but they were incarnated with the Sailor Crystals belonging to a binary star system, and inheriting each of their respective star.

This fundamental rule doesn't leave room for interpretation. Usagi has the Moon's starseed, Mamoru has Earth's starseed. When you choose those starseeds as your own you dismiss those characters, characters who are the heart of Sailor Moon.

Nothing screams Mary-Sue like breaking a fundamental rule of the canon to suit your own desires.

No Sailor Earths or Sailor Moon Sisters, and by breaking this rule your OC will be avoided by many of fellow Otaku Senshi fans. Save the heartbreak and find your unique starseed!

3) One Heavenly Body per Guardian

Following the same logic, a body can only have one soul at a time. This rules out another common but easily followed logic of a new creator; there are no Zodiac or Constellation senshi.

I get it! Most of us have one in our closet somewhere. When we've outgrown our Sailor Dark Moon phase, Zodiac senshi make perfect sense! They're an astrological figure! They come with their own symbol, elemental powers and a sense of mystery and fate.

Except in their traditional sense the Zodiac Signs and Constellations are not a singular entity but a collection stars.

The constellations as we know them are based on the pictures drawn in the night sky by ancient man, unaware of the vast depths of space.

Each star in the constellation Libra are separated by hundreds of lightyears. Their closeness is an illusion brought on by our own selfish need to be the center of the universe. If I went to a different hemisphere those shapes are different, let alone another star system.

Look at those little balls! Each could represent a heavenly body! Imagine how schizophrenic that Guardian would be! That's its own can of worms but it all means that Zodiac and Constellation Senshi can't exist....

... But a single warrior from a planet taking the alias of Sailor Libra could.

4) No Generic Guardians

Often when we first join a fandom, we're so eager to start we finish the first season and leap to make an OC. It means our information is incomplete. We think we see patterns, there or not, and try to complete them.

It's why, when Australia only got the first two seasons, my very first otaku senshi was Sailor Saturn... Well, if I'm honest, Sailor *cough* Satern.

So when all the nine planets were taken, what is the obvious next step? Well, Sailor Sun, which I will grudgingly allow is possible, but we look at other astronomical bodies! Duh! Sailor Comet! Sailor Meteor! Sailor Nebula, Nova and Milky Way!

Except there must be an identifiable heavenly body for your OC to belong to.

Maybe Halley's Comet has a senshi, but there is no Sailor Comet, the Guardian of all comets. Same with Nova. Its a nuclear explosion within a White Star, not a heavenly body of its own. And meteorites are space debris burning up through our atmosphere.

The other pattern we might see when trawling for possible OCs are the elements! Sailor Mars is the Guardian of Fire! Neptune the Guardian of Oceans! Why couldn't Sailor Ice or Sailor Heart next step?

Often When Sailor Earth and Sailor Sun are rounding up their own team of Sailor Guardians, Sailor Fire, Water, Storm and Love show up, the little sisters of the Inner Senshi nobody knew about!

These guys can't be be Sailor Guardians because they don't have an astronomical body to call their soul.

But what if you have your heart set on Sailor Storm, guardian of Storms?

Well, you pick an asteroid and say 'yes, this is her planet Storm', but then you have a Guardian who's name stands out like a sore thumb to stand beside Sailor Typhon and Sailor Amalthea.

This is a case where the Exo-Senshi, Sailor Storm from the Horseshoe Nebula, might make a name for herself.

5) Guardian Titles

Life was so much easier when we had Guardians named after their planets! It was such as seamless pattern to follow.

But then we met the Sailor Starlights! Sailor Star Maker? Sailor Star Healer? Sailor Star Fighter? Sailor Galaxia? Let's not get started on Tuxedo Mask!

The Eternal Arc was when we discovered that a) There are senshi beyond our solar system, b) they have really cool names and c) they don't need to be related to the name of their heavenly body.

You know, unless there are lovers on a planet of Kinmoku gazing up and whispering, "Wow, Starfighter is so full tonight!"

Good news for you! You can have Sailor Diamond, Sailor Rainbow and Sailor Laserface! Your senshi can be named anything! Google Fu! Hyah!

Look up name meanings! Names meaning black? Sailor Cierra or Umbrielle! Beautiful names meaning star? Sailor Ostara or Astrophel! List of Ancient Phoenician names? Sailor Melkath or Tanith! Top Aztec names and meanings! Or Demons of the Apocrypha! Japanese Oni! Arabic Shaytam!

Google Translate! Kapow!

The word Fire in latin! Lithuwanian word for Fear. Premonition in Malay! Prophecy in Arabic! Butterfly in french!

So with all those options- do ya really want to be Sailor Silver Moon? Sailor Darkness? Sailor Star?

There's a whole world of Identities out there to explore, let Google lead the way!

6) Size Doesn't Matter

When we first begin as OC makers we want to give into our every desire.

And then we discover fanfiction where anything we want is within our reach we let our greedy little Id run wild. We're now the main character and the main character has to be more powerful! We instinctually think that bigger is better. It seems like a natural escalation.

What's bigger and more powerful than the moon?

The Sun!

And the progression must continue because there's a Sailor Galaxia and a Sailor Cosmos! I must be more powerful than them!! How will people know I'm more powerful if my OC's Starseed not bigger!

Shhhh... Shhhh..... You don't need to lie to me. We've all been there...

As you can see, this power inflation leads to an absurdist end. Its why in the Dragonball universe power levels have become meaningless. Its a childish notion that bigger means better.

You can actually see it in Sailor Moon itself because the two of the most powerful shining starseeds in the Milky Way Galaxy are the best examples; Sailor Moon and Sailor Galaxia.

Despite her name, Sailor Galaxia does not possess the starseed for the Milky Way Galaxy. It is a name she chose for herself.

Sailor Galaxy's planet is never identified, it is only described as a 'trash planet' in early translations. She is portrayed as a peasant until her starseed awoke. Hers is extraordinarily powerful, the Lazurite/Sapphire Crystal, and she describes it as the most destructive force in the Milky Way.

Her reflection is Sailor Moon. She too was born on a tiny little dirt ball. She too is linked to a glittering starseed of inexplicable, exceptional power. The Silver Crystal described as having unlimited powers of creation. Sailor Galaxia wanted it to create her own perfect planet worthy of her greatness.

Or something like that.... the manga is real bloody unclear about the properties of the Silver Crystal and Starseeds...

But here's the takeaway.

The power of a glittering starseed is not reflected by the size of its heavenly body. Rather than determine your senshi's importance with a meaningless power level, give your OC a powerful purpose.

Sailor Pluto was powerful because she guarded the time gate. She with the Outers were bearers of the Talisman which guarded the unspeakable purpose of ruin and rebirth, bringing about the end of the Silver Millennium.

What is your Guardian's important purpose?

7) Sailor Guardians have Sailor Collars

Nothing shouts Sailor Guardian like that iconic Sailor Collar.

Naoko was inspired the the collars of school uniforms and the cue carried through to all her following Sailor Guardian fukus.

If you're designing the uniform for your otaku senshi, this is the first step on your list. There are many villains wielding incredible powers, but the only ones calling themselves Sailor Senshi have that little triangle as a design cue.

That little triangle is the design cue we're all looking for.

If you're designing your OCs uniform, that is the first place to start.

It doesn't mean you can't have fun with it! Lines, patterns and decorations can still make it unique!

8) Each Star System Has its Own Uniform, and the Sovereign's is Extra Special

Just like your school, every star system has their own uniform, the same way different armies do to differentiate factions. At a glance you know someone's alliance, and their position within, in spite of small personalisations.

It's why I think your OCs fuku is the biggest reflection of what you want in your OC. Do you want to be a soldier? Do you want to be a ruler? Do you want to fight as a loyal defender of Sailor Moon? Do you want to be a lone wolf, or have your own team?

Take the time to make your OC fit, their alliance and role because nothing screams Mary Sue like shouting 'rules don't apply to me.

Sailor Phoebe, protector of the moon of Saturn doesn't get to walk in with a three tiered skirt, a pair of wings and all the extra bells and whistles for own custom fuku, then fit in with Sol Senshi.

Sailor Sun doesn't get to copy Sailor Moon's Eternal fuku and declare herself ruler of her own supa-speshul Kingdom of the Sun.

The senshi of the Polaris system aren't going to have recoloured uniforms the exact same as Sol with the white bits painted black.

9) No Male Sailors

This is likely my most contentious opinion and most up for interpretation. This is very much a YMMV situation. Your Mileage May Vary.

It seems like a very straight forward argument.

Naoko said it herself, you say. There are No Male Sailors.

What else is there to say?

Actually, context means a lot, and it all started at the 1998 San Diego ComicCon. It started with an expected question. "Where is Sailor Earth?"

Naoko answered clearly, "That would be Tuxedo Mask." This seems like an obvious answer, his name Chiba uses the kanji for 'Earth', and hidden within him is Earth's Golden Crystal.

That seems like an obvious answer, but why the discord? Because there was a second question, related Sailor Uranus as her introduction and her gender was unclear. After translation, Naoko said "All the Sailor Scouts are girls. Haruka is a girl and always will be."

This seems a very pointed answer, but it could be the only answer you need. Naoko was very focused on female empowerment and other that Tuxedo Mask we never meet another True Starseed with a male host in all of the manga. Its why I understand if you choose the Only Girls are Scouts interpretation.

On the other hand, she also said she wasn't good at writing men. This could be similar to Akira Toriyama's Dragonball franchise. He hated writing women so we never got a female Super Saiyan until other writers were on board.

Well Blu, what do you think?

My interpretation is purely because I love inclusivity in the fandom, but yes, I want there to be men defending Earth with their own True Starseed, transforming into protectors of love and justice.

I hate seeing guys going into their favourite fandom, their OC clutched to their chest and holding it out for their fellow creators to see only to have some shriveled up Comic Book Nerdette hound them that their OC is less than hers.... because of one interview in 1998 conducted with woman who didn't know English.

I believe there are male glittering starseed holders, they just aren't called Sailors. Its a terminology thing! Just like you can't have a male Princess. Well you can have a male princess, except they're called a Prince!

According to the 90s Anime, we can allow there are other male starseed holders out there aside from Mamoru because in Season 5 the animates do not distinguish between men or women when they look for ‘True Starseeds’. Nezu in particular Episodes 174 and 177, targeting Yuji Kayama and DJ Jack.

We also know that just because a starseed belongs to a man doesn't make it any less powerful. The Golden Starseed is felt by Sailor Galaxia from across the Milky Way Galaxy!

Your Guardian can be male, you just have to do a lot more creative finagling. It's all up to you as a creator because we only have one sexy man to compare to and we have no the specifics.

How are they dressed? What are they called?

We don't know, so long as they're not Sailors.

10) Do Whatever You Want, Have Fun

I lied, there are no Mary-Sue Police. Or at least not any more. The days of Mary Sue Attack Journals, Protectors of the Plot Continuum and MST Fics are long behind us.

The truth is Sailor Moon's canon knowledge is thinly spread out over several canons by a woman on a deadline who never had an endgame. All knowledge of Starseeds and Sailor Guardians was dumped at the end and the rest was retrofitted after the fact. Little is said out loud and most is implied.

If you watched the first season of Sailor Moon Crystal and leapt head first into fandom, I'm glad you were so inspired to join us and I welcome you! I hope this tutorial has taken out a lot of the guess work.

But what do you do with Sailor Rainbow, now you know?

Well, you don't have to do anything! Take joy in your creation, have fun and explore the possibilities because you might inspire others!

There are many, many small niches of the Sailor Moon fandom with their own rules and fanons. One of the most popular is the Crystal Animamates of Deviantart, a marvelous way of pushing the forth wall.

We are past the age of snark and I don't regret that, but I do have to warn you of something more insidious.

We are all kids in the playground, where most of the rules are in spirit rather than spoken. We don't really know them by heart, but we know when someone isn't playing fair.

Most people won't tell you. Most people think, "Ahh, it's just fanfiction! Let them enjoy themselves".....

But without ever quite knowing why, you might find your totally awesome OC you love and want to share in the middle an expanding pool of silence. You'll see other senshi get fanart, and tons of fic reviews while Sailor Earth gets the sporadic comment or reference.

Nobody wants to hurt your feelings, and they don't have to. They will sidestep your OC, onto an OC they like more. They will just quietly ghost your OC out of the fandom to the sound of lonely crickets.

But don't give up. So many people take their ball and go home; utterly inflexible and unwilling to take advice. I'm right, everyone else is wrong. Why don't they love my OC?

You are free to make any kind of OC you want, but you are not entitled to anyone's attention.

Killing your darlings is the hardest thing to learn as a new creator, but you can be brave. Change things up! Switch things around! Don't be afraid to break old habits! Learn the rules, and break them properly!

Ask for help! Ask for advice! Ask for criticism! Most fans will go out of the way to help guide you, show you resources and include you. They can show you where the rules are more like guidelines, where they can be stretched. Maybe you won't be able to get everything you want, but enough to still love them.

And that's the last tip I have to give; Whatever Sailor Moon OC you have, you'll love them because they are yours.