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[CHARACTER] Nephrite.

Series: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon

Kana: ネフライト Romaji: Nefuraito

Role: Villain Type: Humanoid Alignment/Organization: Dark Kingdom Alias: Masato Sanjouin First appearance: Episode 13 Last appearance: Episode 24 Status: Dead Voice actor: Katsuji Mori

TRIVIA

He is named after the mineral nephrite. Like jadeite, it is a variety of jade.

Sailor Jupiter killed Nephrite early on in the manga. His death was postponed until episode 24 of the anime, though. Yet in that continuity, he was killed by Zoisite’s youma rather than by a hero.

In one of Naoko Takeuchi’s illustrations, Nephrite was romantically paired up with Sailor Jupiter. Takeuchi never had the chance to explore the idea of Princess Serenity’s four guardian Sailor Senshi being involved with the Shitennou in the manga. While the first anime and the live-action adaptation both excluded the Sailor Senshi/Shitennou couplings, they were included in Sailor Moon Crystal. In what was likely an unrelated moment, an image of the planet Jupiter appeared when Nephrite created his Black Crystal in episode 23.

Nephrite was the first villain in the anime to be redeemed.

Nephrite and Zoisite were the only two members of the Shitennou to have signature attacks with vocal calls. In episode 23, Nephrite used a technique called Starlight Attack.

Unlike his peers, Nephrite adopted a human alias and persona that lasted for more than one episode. He went by the name of Masato Sanjouin (三条院正人). Broken down, the characters in his names respectively translate to: “San” (三; three), “jou” (条; article), “in” (院; institution), “Masa” (正; real), and “to” (人; person).

Nephrite bled green blood in episode 24. After Sailor Venus injured Zoisite and Kunzite’s hands in episode 33, those two were shown to have red blood.

As he crossed paths with Mamoru in episode 18 at the museum, Nephrite had a déjà vu moment where he mistook Chiba for someone else. This could have been a reference to the manga subplot where the Shitennou were once Prince Endymion’s friends and protectors in the past. The concept was otherwise never brought up in the anime.

Masato drove a Ferrari Testarossa 512 TR.

That’s a good point. I don’t remember Kagura and Akito having any interactions either. I know you didn’t ask for this, but how about we take a look at Akito’s relationships with each of the zodiacs because that’s something I’ve never thought over before and it seems interesting. SPOILERS AHEAD. Trigger warning for physical and mental abuse, child abuse, and suicide.

Yuki (Physically and mentally abusive): There’s flashbacks of both psychological and physical abuse that Akito inflicts on him. The abuse mainly happened in his childhood and possibly up until his pre teen years. Manipulation came when Akito convinced him that no one else loved him and that she was the only one who did. In my opinion, Yuki got the worst of Akito’s abuse. Rin probably comes in second. Yuki is terrified of Akito. Akito has a love/obsession thing going on with Yuki.

Kyo (Manipulative/physically and mentally abusive): Kyo isn’t as much of a target for Akito as Yuki is, but we get a few scenes in the manga where their interactions don’t go well. Akito manipulates Kyo the majority of them time, telling him that if he beats Yuki in a fight, she will allow him into the zodiac and won’t lock him away in the cat house. Though it’s safe to assume Akito could be lying about that. She also uses his mother’s suicide against him to prove that he’s terrible since he supposedly encouraged her to kill herself. And she says to him “If you hadn’t existed, the world would be a much happier place”. Which is just...fuck you, Akito. These are signs of very manipulative behavior. During the beach arc, Aktio slaps and hits him, which is where the physical abuse sets in. Kyo loathes Akito. Akito takes joy from abusing him and views him only as “the monster”.

Shigure (Mentally abusive/love): Shigure’s relationship with Akito is the most unique out of all of them. Akito tries to get under Shigure’s skin, but fails to do so as Shigure has never been afraid of her for the very reason that he doesn’t view her as God, but as a woman. So any abuse Akito puts on him doesn’t work because he knows this isn’t really her. It’s the curse. Which is why he’s desperate to break it so that he can free her from being a hazard to herself. Shigure loves Akito. Akito love/hates Shigure.

Kagura (Indifference?): Like you mentioned, Akito doesn’t seem to bother with Kagura either. We never get any interactions between them. In fact, we never get an idea of Kagura’s true feelings toward Akito either (that I can remember).

Momiji (Manipulative/physically abusive): Akito tries to manipulate Momiji into staying with her after his curse breaks, which he declines. Afterwards, she tells him that he has no where else to go and that no one else will love him if he leaves her (manipulative behavior). In the same scene, she slaps him. She also hits him during the beach arc after Momiji refuses to let her see Tohru when he’s under the suspicion that Akito is in a dangerous mood. Momiji doesn’t appear to absolutely hate Akito, but there’s no affection there either. I would say he’s afraid of her. Akito seems to find him vulnerable enough to easily abuse.

Hatori (Manipulative/physically and mentally abusive): Akito shows signs of manipulation toward Hatori when she tells him that Kana would be happier if he erased her memories of her being in love with Hatori. Clearly, Akito has no sympathy for Kana like she’s making it seem. Rather she’s trying to trick Hatori into removing her memories so he will leave Kana and stay with her. Which is ugh...so despicable. Physical abuse comes when she throws a vase at his head (2001 anime) or pushes him against a mirror, injuring his eye (2019 anime). Hatori feels the need to forgive and protect Akito. Akito has a sort of love/obsession with him.

Hatsuharu (Manipulative): Akito seemed indifferent towards Haru up until the moment he confronted her about hurting Rin. Akito’s explanation for her actions is that she pushed her out a window and strangled her because Haru chose Rin over Akito, telling him it was basically his fault she got hurt. Haru appears to have a distaste for her while Akito has some affection for him.

Ayame (Doesn’t bother with): And now we come back to what inspired this topic. Like I said, Ayame is too annoying to Akito to deal with and, frankly, too confident. It takes a lot to get under his skin. (I read somewhere that Takaya confirmed that Ayame and Ritsu are the two zodiac members Akito leaves alone because she finds them too aggravating to handle, but I can’t remember where so I have no evidence. You’ll have to trust me on this one.) So if Akito ever did try to get to him, she probably gave up after he showed no signs of vulnerability. Ayame appears indifferent towards Akito although he probably holds it against her for abusing Yuki. Akito finds him...irritating.

Kisa and Hiro (Cruelty/physically abusive): She hits Kisa and smacks her against a wall after Hiro told Akito that he loves Kisa. Not wanting any of the zodiac to love anyone but herself, she hit Kisa for the sole reason of punishing Hiro. After that, there’s no signs of interactions between her and Kisa. Likewise, Akito manipulates Hiro by harming Kisa to put him in his place. Kisa is scared of Akito. Akito appears indifferent towards her and possibly views her as an easy target. Hiro is probably also scared of her. Akito feels the need to be cruelly manipulative with him.

Ritsu (Doesn’t bother with): Like I said while talking about Ayame, Akito leaves Ritsu alone because she finds him too irritating. I’m assuming she finds his continuous outbursting apologies too annoying. She might have tried to get to him, but got too fed up with his over dramatic reactions. I don’t think we’re ever clued in on Ritsu’s true feelings for Akito. Akito just finds him annoying.

Rin (Manipulative/mentally and physically abusive): Rin is one of the severe cases when it comes to Akito’s abuse. It is known that Akito hates women because she hates her mother and Rin looks a lot like Ren. That’s why Akito abuses her so much. After finding out that her and Haru are dating, she pushes her out a window without concern that she may not survive the fall. During the same scene, Akito tells Rin that she isn’t wanted since her own parents don’t love her anymore. She chopped off Rin’s hair after Rin tried to steal the box that held Akira’s soul. Akito was unnecessarily cruel to Rin and, with the situation of throwing her out the window, it’s possible that Rin is the only zodiac member Akito has ever intended to kill. Rin loathes Akito. Akito hates her as well.

Kureno (Manipulative): Kureno is, what I feel like, the zodiac member that fell for her manipulation the most. After Kureno’s curse breaks, she persuades him into staying with her. And since Kureno is the most loyal character of the series, he stays with her out of pity. Akito keeps him isolated from the rest of the family for years so she can have him all to herself. Another idea is that she used her femininity to keep him by her side, using sex to her advantage so he would want to stay. (I can’t remember if this is canon and I’ve spent the last half hour trying to find out if it is so it’s a theory for now.) The only instance of physical abuse is when she stabs him at the end of the series. But since she instantly felt genuinely remorseful over it, I’d count it as a mindless act rather that it being intentionally cruel. Kureno feels obligated to her and pities her. Akito is obsessed with him.

Adding to that, I think Akito mostly goes after the vulnerable members, such as Yuki, Kyo, Rin, and Momiji because they’re least likely to falter under her abuse. Whereas Ayame and Kagura have a lot of confidence so they’re harder to manipulate.

It’s also important to note that the older members (Shigure, Ayame, Hatori, Kureno) don’t really fear her. This is probably because they’re older than her and remember her as an innocent child. They also grew up taking care of her. They know her not just as God, but as the young girl she is. In contrast, the zodiac’s who are younger than her (Yuki, Kyo, Rin, Momiji, Kisa, Hiro, etc) are afraid of her because they’ve only ever known her as God, not as a young, innocent child, which puts Akito far above them.

Tomb Raider III: the Lost Artefact (or “Artifact” in the American version)

Most people were not aware that due to the lack of cutscenes the Lost Artefact’s story was told through the loading screens and manual :D

masquerades as the “blind bandit” in secret, taking on a new name, appearance, and personality that goes directly in contrast with how she was raised

plays up her fragile feminine side around her parents purposely to throw them off this trail

laments that her parents will never see her as anything but the specific image of her that exists in their head 

her purposeful rejection of high society manners can be read as a rejection of feminine gender roles  

changes her voice on purpose when she talks to her parents, teacher, and the guards at her house (thats her cissona)

“i actually feel girly for once” 

her reaction to being played by a dude in the ember island play:

and thus, i conclude that: