Here’s part one in case you missed it. It covers who/what the Shitennou represent.

So tumblr user whittertwitter chimed in about the Golden Kingdom being set in Babylonia and made a fantastic reference on two points. One, this highlight in the post:

Babylonia was a part of Mesopotamia, which is regarded as a cradle of civilization of the Old World. Besides Mesopotamia, there are four other cradles of civilization in the Old World, these being Ancient Egypt to the west, Ancient Greece to the north, the Indus Valley Civilization to the south, and China to the east. Each of the Shitennou could correspond to a civilization!

And two, that the end of the Silver Millennium was set during the Bronze Age collapse.

I am completely subscribed to this theory since look what happens when you map that out according to the Four Symbols assignment and the early civilizations:

Beautiful. All the image colors and directions match up. Here’s a recap from part one

Jadeite → Seiryuu, East, Blue

Nephrite → Suzaku, South, Red

Zoicite → Genbu, North, Green

Kunzite → Byakko, West, White

So why is Nephrite heading the North American division in the Dark Kingdom? Well, considering that the modern world is much bigger and more understood than it was back in the Bronze age/Golden Kingdom, they probably had to elect someone to go. Maybe even Nephrite himself volunteered, he seems like the type.

So now that we covered that, let’s move onto personalities. This will also cover the Inner Senshi as well since it involves how the two interact.

There’s a conceptual scheme called the Wu Xing, or Five Elements, that is used in things like astronomy, horoscope, etc. They are Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, and Water. Naturally, each of the Four Symbols are each assigned one:

Seiryuu → Wood

Suzaku → Fire

Genbu → Water

Byakko → Metal

Huáng-lóng/Yellow Dragon → Earth

In addition to these, there is a yin and a yang to each, one of which might be more influential over the other. Yin is described as female, but it can also mean introvert. Similarly, Yang is male and extrovert.

So what do these mean in terms of personalities and Chinese astrology? (Just as reference, this site is pretty good on giving the most amount of information with the least amount of confusion)

Let’s start with Kunzite, Byakko as a Metal personality.

Right off the bat, there’s a connection here. Metal is written as 金, which can also be read as “money” and “gold.” The planet Venus is written in Japanese as 金星(Gold Star). Adorable, yes? That and gold and silver are precious metals usually paired together.

Metal is described as feminine but not as much as Water. As a masculine Yang presence its color is white, as Yin, it’s silver. Direct from that site:

“The metal personality is very determined and powerful. Metal types succeed by being less opinionated, accepting change, and gracefully releasing the past.

The emotion associated with metal is grief. Other metal emotions are insecurity, inability to achieve parental or spousal expectations, and lack of confidence. The challenge for a metal type is to learn how to express grief and find healing.”

This is interesting because Kunzite is the leader and, personally, I’ve always wondered if it was his weakness and insecurity that led to Metalia and Beryl convincing them to rebel. I know it’s hard to picture Kunzite as insecure, but remember that as leader he was intensely aware that the Moon Kingdom had guardians and royalty significantly more powerful than their Earthling team. He knew that if it came down to war, they would lose. So what if Beryl fed into that fear, convincing him the all-seeing Moon needed to be taken down, for Endymion’s sake? And she could provide him the power to do it?

Also keep in mind that both Venus and Kunzite value their past lives’ duty at a higher level than the others. While Venus doesn’t necessarily let go of that, she does get the chance to live somewhat normally along with the others. Kunzite does not. He does, however, advise Mamoru when he can out of loyalty and perhaps atonement.

Next up is Zoisite, Genbu as a Water personality.

Water is the most feminine of the elements and naturally, there’s more kanji symbolism here too. Water is written with the character 水 which is present in the Japanese word for Mercury as well as Ami’s own surname Mizuno. The colors for the yin and yang of Water is actually black and grey, as it was mentioned that Genbu is the Black Tortoise and its depiction as green is a modern one. But if you’d like to stretch a little, you can make a note that there is a word that can describe both green and blue simultaneously, “aoi.”

From the site:

“Water qualities are creativity, sensitivity, reflection, persuasion, effectiveness, and desire for life and sex. Water types value family and social contacts and possess the ability to attract (being receptive, water can attract, rather than pursue). The emotion associated with water is fear. Other water emotions are indecisiveness, vacillation, and uncertainty. Those born in a water year succeed by not allowing fear to block the fullest expression of creativity. The challenge for water types is to overcome their fears and become active participants in life.”

Interesting that you can actually take this to mean both Ami and Zoisite depending on the situation. If Ami takes the yin/introvert qualities and Zoisite the yang/extrovert, it becomes pretty complementary. Remember that Ami had family issues: her parents are divorced and she doesn’t see her mother or father that often due to their occupations. She was quiet at first but then opened up to her new friends (and duty) readily. Zoisite on the other hand seems like exactly the type to attract attention or persuade someone to think his way. In the Materials Collection, he’s described as “effeminate, youngest child type” and willing to use “dirty methods of attack.” Fear is a strong word here, but I can see that being used as motivation to not attack from the front, instead employing sneakier, more underhanded methods.

As a couple, they’d be kind of hilarious in the sense that Zoisite might be frustrated the bookish Ami doesn’t pay attention to him like others do. I could see them having something pleasantly sweet going on since they’re both fairly non-confrontational under normal circumstances. I say this for Zoisite because while he might be sassy or catty he’d probably eventually just scoff and walk away rather than provoke a fight. Since Genbu is also associated with winter, they’d have a nice “water and ice” thing going on.

Now for Jadeite, Seiryuu as a Wood personality.

Wood is a masculine personality but not as much as Fire. This is interesting because unlike the first two, Jadeite shares this symbol with Jupiter instead of his semi-canon partner Mars. Like before, the character 木 is shared in the spelling of Jupiter and Makoto’s surname “Kino.” Additionally, when in yang, Wood’s color is green; as yin, it’s blue. This means that it’s actually Jupiter that possesses the masculine/extrovert traits, while Jadeite has the feminine/introvert ones.

Wood qualities are bold actions, planning, initiating new projects, idealism, imagination, compassion, and competition. Wood types possess decision-making skills and the ability to create change. From an Asian perspective, the go-getter, do-or-die, pioneering spirit of American culture is very wood. The challenge for a wood type is to learn to control anger and channel it into positive work that benefits all people.

The emotion associated with wood is anger. Other wood emotions are tension, criticism, discouragement, regret, excitement, dislike of self and others, negative judgment, and repressed anger related to thwarted affection.

It’s funny because I would ascribe all the positive traits to Jupiter and all the negative ones to Jadeite. Jadeite’s personality is kind of all over the place depending on medium, but I always had the impression he had some unresolved anger issues. He’s described in the Materials Collection as “ruthless, serious.” He could be violent, but wasn’t necessarily even good at that so he’d be left stewing to himself. The live-action suggested a more childish, even likable side to him and I think that could be incorporated. Like if Jadeite had immature tendencies that he covered up as much as he could, secretly hating himself. But maybe deep down, he just wants to do his best. That’s how I would read it anyway.

Finally Nephrite, Suzaku as a Fire personality.

Fire is the most masculine of the group, but can be still be swayed toward yin or yang. As yang, it’s red; as yin, it’s purple. This is pretty interesting because Mars’ accent color (her bow and eye color) is in fact purple, making her the Yin. Like before, Nephrite is being compared, personality-wise, with Mars instead of his semi-canon pairing with Jupiter. Again, the character火is present in the spelling of Mars and Rei’s surname “Hino.”

Fire personality traits are love, passion, leadership, spirituality, insight, dynamism, aggression, intuition, reason, and expressiveness. The fire personality is direct-right out front. A fire type succeeds by becoming warm- hearted and generous. Experiences of love, compassion, fun, joy, and pleasure are healing for fire individuals. The challenge for a fire type is to share joy and laughter without thought of reward.

The emotion associated with fire is happiness. Other heart emotions include joy, vanity, jealousy, frustration, regret, grief from loss of love, and disappointment in relationships.

Since Mars is the yin, she gets all the introvert traits which makes sense since her manga depiction was much more calm and mature than her anime counterpart. She did seem to start off a little more dismissive of being a Senshi, but of course became a strong loyal fighter in her own right. Nephrite on the other hand is described in the Material’s Collection as “boastful” and “emotional and intense, likely to get himself killed.” In the anime, he did seem like an openly angry type and even had the disguise of a millionaire so he could drive around a Ferrari whenever he wanted. He’s of course, the only one who became good through Naru’s care before dying as well.

Personally, I think that Nephrite as normal guy would probably be a playboy who wears his heart on his sleeve. He’d see a lot of women but not because he’s a conquering type, but because he’s actually looking for happiness in a shotgun kind of way. I’d consider him the most openly friendly of the Shitennou, since he’s described as the “elder brother” type.

So now that that’s cleared up, what does that mean for those last two who aren’t matched up with their partners? Well, there’s two possibilities. One is that it’s possible that Ms. Takeuchi had originally had them switched then changed her mind when she changed their colors/symbols from Shitennou to Four Symbols. Remember that Nephrite’s original design has him with blue eyes (Wood’s yin color) and Jadeite’s original image color was red (Fire’s yang color). Also, that site mentions directly that the “go-getter” attitude was seen as American, which would make sense if Nephrite was originally Wood and assigned to North America.

(Their Materials Collection info for quick reference)

The other possibility is that this isn’t a bad thing to have different signs together. After all people don’t always fall in love with people exactly like them. Also keep in mind that Fire and Wood are actually complementary to each other. Wood will fuel Fire in a constructive way according to the creation cycle.

For Nephrite and Jupiter, they both have combative natures, Jupiter in the physical sense, Nephrite in the emotional sense. I think that with Nephrite as fire and Jupiter as wood and both being Yang, it would create a really interesting dynamic between the two. I could see them being the friendly sparring and competition kind of couple. If Nephrite is in a bad emotional state though, Makoto would probably bring out her more domestic aspects. Maybe she’d bake him a cake or just comfort him in general.

With Jadeite and Mars, you have again Wood and Fire, just switched and both being Yin. But with their personalities, the “ruthless, serious” Jadeite who might have issues with women is paired with the manga depiction of Mars, a lady who definitely doesn’t think she needs men in her life. I think that’s a combination for hilarity. Mars would have the upper hand in any relationship between the two, romantic or otherwise, because Jadeite would be prone to quietly sulking underneath Mars’ steady fire. Maybe over time she would have affection for him, because sometimes people find pouting pets adorable.

So in total, the couples would be two that matched and two that complemented.

So there’s the Shitennou laid bare. This is, of course, my own personal theory (with tons of additional input from other fans) and is no way meant to taken as the only way to assign them. Especially since this last bit is essentially just horoscope which can be twisted as anyone pleases. But I had tons of fun following the evidence trail and making connections in the best way I could.

Knowing my luck though, the new anime just going to have them come out in the live action costumes with rainbow colors…