Aiolos

From Seiyapedia

This is about the character of the Classic "Saint Seiya" series. For Aiolos in "Episode G", click here. For Sisyphus in "Lost Canvas", click here. For info on the Sagittarius constellation, click here. For info on the Sagittarius Gold Cloth, click here.

See, Aiolos is the best damn saint ever, because, honestly, how do you live up to someone who sacrificed himself to save a baby?

Occupation: Gold Saint of Athena
Constellation: Sagittarius
Armour: Sagittarius Gold Cloth
Age: 14 (deceased)
Birthday: November 20th
Birthplace: Greece
Trained at: Sanctuary, Greece
Height: 187cm
Weight: 85kg
Blood type: O
Related characters: Aiolia (younger brother), Saori Kido (Athena), Saga, Mitsumasa Kido
Seiyuu: Yūsaku Yara

Sagittarius Aiolos (射手座のアイオロス) is a major character in the anime/manga series, Saint Seiya. He is one of the twelve Gold Saints of Sanctuary, with the Sagittarius as his destined constellation. Aiolos is the infamous gold saint who died protecting Athena when she was a small infant, and the inspiration for Mitsumasa Kido to start training his own league of saints to defend Athena.

Gone With The Wind

"Aiolos" (アイオロス) is based on the Greek name Aeolus, the Greek god of wind.

Special Techniques

Aiolos, being a gold saint, possesses the skills to attack with light-speed movements.

Atomic Thunderbolt

Cosmos energy is harnessed into small electric currents, and the resulting discharge is then concentrated into various balls of lightning energy. The attack is then propelled as lightning balls.

Sagittarius Arrow

While Aiolos only uses the arrow once throughout the entire series, this weapon is often utilized by Pegasus Seiya during the occurrences where he is able to don the gold cloth. During such events, the cosmos that Seiya puts into the arrow is usually amplified by Aiolos' spirit as well as the cosmos of the other bronze saints. This results in the arrow becoming unusually more powerful, to the point where it can pierce deities.

The Pope's Chosen One

At a young age, Aiolos and his younger brother Aiolia inspired to become Saints -- a warrior of Athena who defends the peace of the world from corrupted higher powers. Both brothers were successful, and became gold saints at a young age. When Aiolos was 14 years old, he, along with fellow gold saint Gemini Saga, were summoned to Pope Shion's throne room for an audience. There, the Pope revealed that their goddess had once again reincarnated in the form of an infant, and so the Sanctuary must prepare itself for the imminent wars. As Shion himself was getting up in the years -- he was one of the two survivors of the last war of 243 years ago --, he decided that it was time to appoint one of the twelve gold saints as the successor to his seat. At the time, most of the gold saints were still too young, thus leaving only Gemini Saga and Sagittarius Aiolos to be the most qualified. The Pope eventually selected Aiolos as the new head, and ordered Saga to serve as an assistant to the Sagittarius Saint.

Gemini Saga, possessed by his evil side, became jealous at the fact that he was not chosen for the seat -- especially since he believed that he was superior to Aiolos in terms of power, wisdom, and popularity. Finding Shion alone, Saga confronted him regarding the decision, and the Pope revealed that he had not chosen Saga because he sensed a great evil within him. Saga's dark side surfaced at this point, and the Gemini Saint promptly killed the Pope in an act of treachery. Saga then disguised himself with the Pope's garments, and left to kill the infant Athena. Inches before Saga could dig the golden dagger into the baby's belly, Aiolos appeared and halted the blade from striking the death blow. The Sagittarius berated the man he assumed to be the Pope, but was quickly shoved aside. After a minute of struggle, Aiolos had no choice to but to attack, sending Saga flying onto the nearest wall -- and knocking off his headdress and mask at the same time.

Protecting Athena Until Death

Upon seeing Saga's face and realizing what Saga had done, Aiolos immediately snatched away the infant Athena and ran off from Sanctuary. Saga, disguised as the Pope once more, sounded the alarm and sent guards to go after the saint. It is at this point that he officially branded the Sagittarius Saint as a "traitor".

It wouldn't be too long when Aiolos found himself being pursued by someone of his rank -- Gold Saint Shura of the Capricorn constellation. Shura, labeled as "the most loyal Saint of Athena," felt disgusted after he confirmed for himself that the rumor of Aiolos running away from Sanctuary with the stolen infant was true, and did not hesitate to commence battle with him. The fight was easily one-sided towards Shura's favor, as Aiolos was still suffering from Saga's blows, and he also could not afford to strike offensively with Athena in his arms. The battle concluded with Shura critically injuring Aiolos and throwing him off a cliff, adding to the gold saint's existing wounds. Out of the Capricorn's sight, Aiolos resumed fleeing Sanctuary, but he would not live to survive the next morning.

Before his death, Aiolos ran into the leader of the Graude Foundation, Mitsumasa Kido, who happened to be touring Greece at the time. Aiolos revealed to Kido about the legend of the Saints, and how the baby he held in his arms was the reincarnation of the goddess Athena. The Sagittarius then pleaded for the elder Kido to become Athena's new guardian, and explained to him the travesty that had taken place at the Sanctuary. Along with other secrets, Kido learned about the existence of Athena's saints and their cloths. With the mission to protect and raise the baby Athena into a fine young woman, Mitsumasa Kido decided to search for potential warriors who will fight along her side in the upcoming wars. Entrusting the businessman with Athena and his own Sagittarius Gold Cloth, Aiolos finally succumbed to his injuries.

Death Is No Obstacle

That's right, Aiolia, even in death he's disappointed in you.

Even after his death, Aiolos' spirit would continue provide assistance for Athena and her saints. He has aided Seiya in battles by lending the young bronze saint the Sagittarius Gold Cloth time and time again, and even appeared once to his brother Aiolia during the Leo Saint's fight with Seiya when he demanded proof of Saori's identity as their patron goddess. When the bronze saints were in the Temple of Sagittarius, the Sagittarius Cloth moved on its own (or with Aiolos' spirit), and fired its golden arrow into a nearby wall -- revealing a final hidden message of the gold saint's last will: "To the young men who have reached this temple, know that Athena's life lies now in your hands. Aiolos."

When Athena's saints were fighting against Hades' spectres in the Holy War, all of the gold saints, both dead and alive, gathered in Hades' throne room to break the Wailing Wall. Only with sunlight could the wall be destroyed, and because each individual gold cloth contained a bit of solar energy, gathering all twelve would provide enough of it to properly damage the wall. At this point, the spirit of Aiolos -- donning the Sagittarius Gold Cloth one last time after 13 years --, appeared with the rest of the recently deceased gold saints to aid the warriors in accomplishing this task. Focusing on a single spot of the Wailing Wall, Aiolos guided the cosmos of all twelve gold saints' individual attacks into one point, and struck the wall. After the mission was completed and the wall opened, Aiolos and the rest of the gold saints dissipated, leaving only their cloths behind.

Beyond the Classic

Episode G

In Episode G, the Sagittarius Gold Saint had long since died after a major incident with Saga, but his presence is continually felt in his younger brother Leo Aiolia, and through flashbacks.

Lost Canvas

In Lost Canvas, Aiolos' previous reincarnation was a humble but noble man named Sagittarius Sisyphus. Sisyphus was the man responsible for bringing Sasha, then-reincarnation of Athena, from the orphanage she grew up in to Sanctuary to prepare for the era's Holy War.

Notes & Trivia

Although he died before the series began, Aiolos serves as a prominent character throughout the series. Aside from flashbacks, however, he only participates in the main story as a spirit in the Hades arc.
The Sagittarius Cloth originally debuted with a drastically different appearance than the final and more commonly recognized design. The explanation given in the manga is that Mitsumasa Kido had hired technicians to create a fake Sagittarius Cloth in order to deceive Sanctuary. In the anime, the Sagittarius Cloth seems to spontaneously change to the more familiar design while hibernating at the bottom of a lake, between episodes 34 and 37.
In a recent interview, author Masami Kurumada commented that had he kept Aiolos alive, it's likely he would've eventually become a main character of the series.

→ back to Character Index (Classic)

Gold Saints:

Shion · Mu · Ox · Aldebaran · Abel/Cain · Saga · Kanon · Deathtoll · Deathmask · Kaiser · Aiolia · Shijima · Shaka · Dohko · Milo · Aiolos · Izo · Shura · Camus · Cardinale · Aphrodite