Crateris Suikyō

Crateris Suikyō
Saint Seiya character
Crateris Suikyou Crateris Suikyō, drawn by the author Masami Kurumada
Created by	Masami Kurumada
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Class	Athena's Crateris Silver Saint Hades' Garuda Specter
Nationality	Presumably Japan

Crateris Suikyō (杯座の水鏡, Kuraterisu no Suikyō) is a fictional character that forms part of the universe of the Saint Seiya manga, authored by Masami Kurumada. Although he never appeared in the original 28 volumes of Kurumada's popular work, Suikyō was introduced by him in his current work, Saint Seiya Next Dimension, a prequel to his original Saint Seiya manga.

Character Outline

Suikyō is a Silver Saint, living in the 18th century, who trained with former Bronze Saints Shion and Douko. His destined guardian constellation was Crateris, and he wore the Cloth that represented the mentioned constellation. Although he was a man of justice and honor, whose destiny was to become one of Athena's 88 Saints, for reasons yet to be revealed by Kurumada he chose a different path and abandoned Athena and his status as a Saint, to become one of Hades' 108 Demon Stars, also known as Specters. As a man with two destinies, Kurumada revealed Suikyō was the previous incarnation of the Garuda Specter, known in his 20th century incarnation as Garuda Aiacos, one of the three judges of the Underworld.

When Suikyō was a Silver Saint, he was respected as a man who lived for justice and to protect others. He became the teacher of the previous incarnation of the Pegasus Saint, Pegasus Tenma. They met for the first time during a raging snow storm, Suikyō caught Tenma sneaking away after stealing the belongings of the boy named Alone, Hades' chosen vessel for his soul in the 18th century.

After scolding Tenma, Suikyō was convinced by Alone that Tenma didn't steal his belongings, and they went inside a log cabin nearby. The night was extremely cold because of the snowstorm. Suikyō took the boys and heated them with his body, so they could survive. Thereafter, Suikyō and Tenma strongly bonded emotionally, Tenma became the disciple of the Crateris Saint and was trained by him to become the Pegasus Saint.

File:Saint-Suikyou-manga2.jpg

Suikyō, donning the mystical Crateris Cloth, drawn by the author Masami Kurumada.

After sometime, Suikyō disappeared, never responding to summons from Sanctuary. Tenma lost contact with him, and never talked to him again until he resurfaced as Garuda Suikyō, of the Divine Valiance Star, much to Tenma's, Shion's and Douko's shock.

Upon returning, Suikyō seemed a different man, having forgotten his loyalty to Athena and to his comrades, the Saints, as he didn't hesitate to kill Shion and Douko, and even his former pupil Tenma, when he was ordered so by Griffin Minos previous incarnation, Griffin Vermeer, to prove his loyalty to Hades. Only Hades' summoning stopped Suikyō of fulfilling Vermeer's commands.

As the Garuda Specter, Suikyō believes Hades will bring peace to Earth, and decides to join his army to kill Hades sworn enemy, the goddess Athena.

Since Suikyō is a character recently introduced by Kurumada in his manga, not much is known about him. As Suikyō is the previous incarnation of Garuda Aiacos, they share the same physical appearance. It is likely they will also share the same personality traits and secret fighting techniques, added to the ones known by the Crateris Saint.

Cloth and Constellation

File:CraterisCloth-manga.jpg

The Crateris Cloth, giving Pegasus Tenma a glimpse into his future. Drawing by the author Masami Kurumada.

Suikyō acquired the Crateris Silver Saint status, and as such, he was awarded one of the 24 Silver Cloths, the Crateris Cloth, as proof of his Sainthood.

The Crateris Cloth possesses remarkable properties that set it appart from other Silver Cloths. It possesses not only the standard qualities of the Silver Cloths, but additional, almost mystical ones.

In Kurumada's mythos, the goddess Athena always used a beautiful Silver cup to quench her thirst in the battlefield, in the ages of myth. That cup was the legendary Crateris Cloth, upon which divine properties had been bestowed by the goddess.

When assembled, the Crateris Cloth takes the shape of a cup, as the constellation it represents (Crater, Crateris : latin for cup). If water is poured in it, it becomes a divine liquid, which has the power of healing the injuries of whomever drinks it. In addition, the liquid also becomes a window to the future, mirroring a person's reflection, into his future. Douko, to his disbelief, saw his reflection as the aged Roushi of Rozan Gorouhou, Shion witnessed his future as the Pope of Sanctuary, and Tenma, although not understanding its meaning at the moment, witnessed his future incarnation within almost 250 years, confined to a wheelchair and with his Cosmo depleted. It was Tenma himself, reincarnated as Pegasus Seiya, after the death of Hades, in the 20th century.

In Greek mythology, the Crateris constellation represents the cup which Apollo used to send a raven to fetch water, to quench his thirst.

Specter Surplice

File:Specter-Suikyou-manga.jpg

Suikyō, Garuda Aiacos' incarnation in the 18th century, drawn by the author Masami Kurumada.

As Suikyō abandoned his destiny as Athena's Saint, and embraced his new destiny as one of Hades' Specters, he also inherited the attributes of one of the three Judges of the Underworld. His Surplice, the proof of his status as one of Hades' 108 Specters, represents the mythical Garuda, and it has been donned by the Garuda Specter, since the ages of myth.

Canonicity

As Saint Seiya Next Dimension's status as a canonical work has not been disclosed by Masami Kurumada, the events and characters created by him for it are still disputed as to whether or not are they canonical in the universe, chronology and continuity of his manga Saint Seiya.

As Next Dimension is written and illustrated by the manga series' author/creator Kurumada, this prequel is regarded by general consensus as canonical.

References

• Saint Seiya Next Dimension : chapters 9, 10 & 11, by Masami Kurumada.