Line #34 Anime/SaintSeiyaSoulOfGold


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/84eec1c2befe46e319afbeba8d9dcd35.png]]
2	%%[[caption-width-right:300:Insert awesome flavor text here.]]
3
4	An entry in the ''Franchise/SaintSeiya'' franchise, this series is a {{sequel}} to the (anime-only) Asgard chapter, and a "[[GaidenGame Gaiden Story]]" to the Hades chapter, as it happens in the interval between the Gold Saints' sacrifice to destroy the Wailing Wall, and the Bronze Saints final battle against Hades.
5
6	The Gold Saints just after their death during the Hades chapter, who come back to life on Earth, [[GrimUpNorth Far up North]], in Asgard. There, a new group of God Warriors, Odin's warriors, have been awoken; Hilda, the Asgardian priestess and Odin's representative, has fallen seriously ill, so she sends her LadyInWaiting Lyfia to seek for help...
7	----
8	!!''Saint Seiya: Soul of Gold'' provides examples of:
9	* AmplifierArtifact: [[spoiler: The God Warriors get new, red Odin Sapphires that increase their Cosmo to even the battlefield after they lose their HomeFieldAdvantage and the Golds get a better handle of the God Cloths ]].
10	* ArtifactOfDoom: [[spoiler: Loki's ultimate objective is to obtain Asgard's ultimate weapon, the Spear of Gungnir, from the fruit of Yggdrasil once it's fully ripe. When seeing the destruction wrought by one strike from it, destroying the Odin Robe, and greatly damaging the whole land of Asgard, it definitely deserves that name.]]
11	* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler: Odin pulls an epic one and OutGambitted ''Loki'', the Trickster God of Norse myth, of all people. Hilda was out of commission, and Lyfia was tricked into resurrecting the Gold Saints, which were to act as a power source for his EvilPlan and as zombie puppets. What did Odin do? Promptly take over Lyfia as his representative, and resurrect the Gold Saints in his name, with their full abilities and powers, so they could stop Loki. And then, one of his God Warriors, Utgardar, commits a HeroicSacrifice to ComeBackWrong, to provide his own body as a hiding place for the Odin Robe, and to keep on protecting Lyfia so she can bail out everyone with Odin's power when the time is right.]]
12	* BackFromTheDead:
13	** The Gold Saints are resurrected and transported back to Earth from Hell.
14	** [[spoiler: Utgardar is eventually revealed as this when the markings show up on his body.]]
15	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: The Gold Saints ultimately defeat Loki and stop him from taking over the world and send their Gold Cloths (with Poseidon's assistance) to help out the Bronze Saints fighting in Elysium. However, they also decide to return to being dead after their mission has concluded, leaving Lyfia in tears but she continues to tell their story to the children of Asgard, in order for their legacy to be remembered.]]
16	* TheBusCameBack: Hilda Polaris and Freya from Asgard anime-only arc returns.
17	* ByThePowerOfGrayskull: In this series, every Gold Saints has their own version of exclamation before burning their cosmo to transform their regular Gold Cloth into God Gold Cloth, as seen in episode 13.
18	--> '''Aries Mu''': Rise!
19	--> '''Taurus Aldebaran''': Seethe!
20	--> '''Gemini Saga''': Burst!
21	--> '''Cancer Deathmask''': Roar!
22	--> '''Leo Aiolia''': Burn!
23	--> '''Virgo Shaka''': Resound!
24	--> '''Libra Dohko''': Rage!
25	--> '''Scorpio Milo''': Rumble!
26	--> '''Sagittarius Aiolos''': Burn!
27	--> '''Capricorn Shura''': Pierce!
28	--> '''Aquarius Camus''': Scorch!
29	--> '''Pisces Aphrodite''': Burgeon!
30	--> '''all of them''': ...our cosmo!
31	* CallBack: All over the place in the 3rd Episode.
32	* CameBackStrong: Arguably, all the Gold Saints, since they now can summon God Cloths as a SuperMode, unlocking a further degree of power than what they could muster before dying at the Wailing Wall.
33	* CameBackWrong:
34	** [[spoiler: The Gold Saints suffering from ResurrectionSickness seems to indicate this at first.]]
35	** [[spoiler: Also, when Loki brings out his EliteMooks, the Einerjahrs, Dohko points out they don't have Cosmo or anything, and they look like plain zombies, so these fall in this trope.]]
36	** [[spoiler: Utgardar is a willing example of this trope, taking part in Odin's BatmanGambit to conceal the Odin Robe.]]
37	** [[spoiler: Loki also fully intended for the Gold Saints to come back wrong, but got OutGambitted by Odin.]]
38	* CastFromHitpoints: [[spoiler:The Sapphires amplify the users' Cosmo but slowly drain their soul]].
39	* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Same as the original series, but taken to ridiculous degree when Aiolia casually breaks down a wall and a chain attached to his leg.
40	* ContinuityNod: Of the Asgard Saga overall, since it was an anime-only filler and hardly got any recognition before this point.
41	** Dohko remembering Aldebaran's defeat against a God Warrior in the past (Mizar [[spoiler: or Alcor more specifically]]).
42	** Sigmund is Siegfried's older brother.
43	** Deathmask [[spoiler:still can't use his Gold Cloth, after being abandoned by it all the way back in the Sanctuary arc.]]
44	** Episode 5 shows both Shura and Aioria's feelings regarding the former's involvement in Aioro's death.
45	** [[spoiler: The dagger that Saori used to kill herself in the Hades Arc reappears and it's used as an AmplifierArtifact MacGuffin to manifest God Cloths, to create a gap in Yggdrasil so it can't absorb the Gold Saint's Cosmo.]]
46	** [[spoiler: All the former God Warriors appears in episode 9: Sigfried, Mime, Syd, Alberich, Thor, Hagen and Fenrir.]]
47	** Andreas gives the God Warriors a new batch of Odin Sapphires, though these serve as [[PoweredByAForsakenChild power-boosters]] rather than keys to summon the Odin Robe. [[spoiler: It doesn't stop Frodi from summoning the Odin Robe anyways for Aiolia to don during the fight against Loki though.]]
48	** Episode 13 has ''two'' nods in the same scene. [[spoiler:After Loki is defeated and the Gold Saints are ready to die again, they muse about how they wish to send their cloths to Seiya and he others in Elysium. Poseidon then reveals himself, saying their Cosmo woke him up, and he is willing to help them send the cloths across dimensions; then, Hilda is suspicious of him because he manipulated her in the Asgard saga, but realizes they have no better option.]] This wraps up ''Soul of Gold'' in both ''Saint Seiya'' manga and anime's continuity.
49	*** FridgeLogic: However, while the events of this series take place in a few days, it is not possible for so much time to pass for the Bronze Saints in Elysium, who go there right after the Wailing Wall was broken. Unless, time flows slower in the Underworld than on Earth, or the Saints spent literal days in limbo trying to reach Elysion across the Hyper Dimension. (Which seems to be the most plausible explanation since the Greatest Eclipse is still underway)
50	* CrossoverCosmology: The Greek-myth based Gold Saints end up in Asgard.
51	* CurbstompBattle: Several throughout the series. Some of the most notable examples would be [[spoiler: Aldebaran vs. Hercules during episode 7]] and [[spoiler: Saga vs. Sigmund during episode 9]].
52	* DeadlyUpgrade: Given that overexerting themselves might very well [[CastFromHitPoints suck their life force]], activating one's God Cloth counts as this.
53	* DemonicPossession: It is suspected it is what happens to Lyfia, or something close enough that the difference is moot. [[spoiler: Eventually revealed to be Odin's influence as he is awakening within her, since Hilda can't perform her duties for now.]]
54	* DidntThinkThisThrough: [[spoiler: Arguably, Loki with powering up Yggdrasil to produce Gungnir from the Gold Cloths. This enables them to have a modicum of sway over Gungnir's attacks and screw with Loki. Though to be fair to him, he thought to get rid of the twelve Gold Saints BEFORE executing his master plan, was supposed to have offed them for good, and it would have worked too, if not for the SpannerInTheWorks that was Pisces Aphrodite.]]
55	* DoomedByCanon: [[spoiler: The Gold Saints.]]
56	* DyingDeclarationOfLove: [[spoiler: Oh Lyfia...]]
57	* EldritchAbomination: One look at the [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/saintseiya/images/6/62/Libra_god_cloth_soul_of_gold_ver_2_0_by_saintaldebaran-d8z34ny.jpg Libra God Cloth]] hints at ''something'' with a squid for a head and a water/marine motif. It's the most unnatural-looking cloth of the bunch, as it evokes the image of the medieval [[https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Charles-Paxton-2/publication/237570554/figure/fig1/AS:339931579863046@1458057412936/Various-drawings-of-the-sea-monk-with-some-possible-source-animals-a-Rondelets-sea.png Sea Monks]] and even [[https://images.goodsmile.info/cgm/images/product/20201006/10180/75332/large/a9ec5ebb0faad48cc81b0d68a340f4c6.jpg a squid-faced boy]] some of us [[Characters/CthulhuMythos are familiar with.]]
58	* EvilCounterpart: Some of the new god warriors seem to function as this, having similar but opposite qualities as the Gold saints. Appropiately enough, they tend to battle each other so far. Examples include:
59	** Shaka and Balder; one being said to be the closest man to God while the other is said to be [[spoiler: immortal and maybe a god himself]], for extra points, both have long hair.
60	** Aldebaran and Heracles both being their teams´ resident Big Guy but one being calm, serene and kind while the other is aggressive and is willing to hurt innocent people.
61	** Mu and Fafner; both being their teams smart guys, but one is a PragmaticHero, and uses his intellect to analyze a situation and for the greater good, while the other one takes sadistic pleasure in experimenting with innocent people and mercilessly tortures his opponents. Deathmask serves as another good counterpart to Fafner, since both are the "black sheep" of their respective groups but Deathmask learns compassion for others in this story's beginning while Fafner revels in villainy.
62	** Saga and Sigmund; both older brothers who were considered paragons among their respective groups. But while Saga developed an evil side and yet became the Pope of Sanctuary, Sigmund had been loyal and tried to report Hilda's own brainwashing but was branded as a traitor instead. Amusingly, both of their deceased younger brothers, Kanon and Siegfried, take action during their fight to respectively guide Saga's hand and protect Sigmund so that he could be saved from Andreas's influence.
63	** Aiolia and Frodi; both being the perfect image of the brave hero on their side, both having ties with Lyfia. But Frodi fanatically believes in his cause, and Aiolia seeks to find the true reasons behind their resurrection and the battle.
64	* EvilPlan: [[spoiler: Andreas reveals that his true objective is to nurture the fruit of Yggdrasil using the Gold Cloths' power, and because of that he manipulated Lyfia into reviving the Gold Saints.]]
65	* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler: Deathmask traps Fafner forever in the the Yomotsu Hirasaka, the entrance to the world of the dead, between the life and the death. And it is AWESOME.]]
66	* ForcedIntoEvil: [[spoiler: Camus sides with the God Warriors because of a promise he made to Surt after accidentally killing his little sister in an avalanche.]]
67	* ForegoneConclusion: [[spoiler: The Gold Saints dying at the end of the series.]]
68	* {{Foreshadowing}}: In Episode 13's opening sequence you can briefly see [[spoiler: Julian's possessed eyes, foreshadowing his intervention on getting 5 Gold Cloths to Elysium, like in the original manga.]]
69	* GrimUpNorth: The anime is set in Asgard, which had been used for an anime-only arc of Saint Seiya.
70	* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: Pisces Aphrodite, big time. First, he demonstrates he can put roses in his enemies, which allows him to read their minds. Second, see SpannerInTheWorks, below.
71	* HeelFaceTurn: Frodi and Sigurd eventually change sides when they realize the extent of Andreas's machinations. There's also the case of [[spoiler: Utgardar]] but that was more him being GoodAllAlong.
72	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: The Gold Saints give up their new lives in order to stop Loki and save Asgard.]]
73	* HomeFieldAdvantage: The God Warriors are stronger when near the Yggdrassil, becoming more than a match for a Gold Saint. To make things more uneven, Yggdrassil absorbs the Gold Saints' cosmo when they're near it.
74	* {{Hypocrite}}: In the classic series, Camus says to Hyoga that emotions and feelings are an obstacle. Here, all his entire actions are driven by feelings.
75	** This can arguably be justified by the fact Camus merely stated that emotions should not stand in a Saint's duty, which he thought he had fully accomplished by dying again for Athena at the Wailing Wall. Therefore, he thought he could use this second unfettered life to fulfill his pledge to Surt.
76	* ILetGwenStacyDie: [[spoiler:Deathmask failed to protect and save the flower shop girl Helena's life in episode 4.]]
77	* ImportantHaircut: Deathmask spends the early parts of the series badly shaven and fooling around, but fully shaves his beard for the final battle as he prepares to [[spoiler:avenge Helena]].
78	* {{Interquel}}: The whole series happens in an extremely short time span between the last episode of "Hades: Inferno", and before Poseidon sends the Gold Cloths as reinforcements in the climactic moments of "Hades: Elysium".
79	* MerchandiseDriven: ''Soul of Gold'' was created to promote the Divine Gold Cloths for Bandai's Cloth Myth line of action figures.
80	* MyGreatestFailure: [[spoiler:When younger, Camus caused an avalanche that caused the death of Surt's sister. Now, he's at the God Warriors' side because he swore to someday compensate Surt for what he did.]]
81	* NeverFoundTheBody: Aiolos.
82	* OurZombiesAreDifferent: [[spoiler: Einerjahrs, as brought back by Loki, tend to be mindless zombies in guard armor that he can control and destroy at a whim. Utgardar is also revealed to have become one willingly to fulfill his duty to Odin.]]
83	** [[spoiler: Loki thought he had summoned the Gold Saints as this, tricking Lyfia in performing the ritual, but he was OutGambitted by Odin who chose her to be his next representative. This explains why the markings on the Gold Saints and on Utgardar or the EliteMooks are different.]]
84	** [[spoiler: Ultimately revealed in Episode 12: the Gold Saints were resurrected by Odin himself, when Loki attempts wiping out their life essence after doing so to his other EliteMooks, and realising this failed. Lyfia, as Odin's representative, explains that the Gold Saints have been fully resurrected, with full freewill and their abilities, thus averting this.]]
85	* OutOfCharacter: Deathmask is less evil and more goofy compared to normal. Justified in universe in that 1) he did turn a new leaf in the Hades arc (willingly taking part in the attack on the Twelve Temples, and clued in to its true purpose) but willingly played the ObviouslyEvil guy role along with Aphrodite 2) he died again fulfilling his duty towards Athena against the Wailing Wall 3) now, he just got a temporary new life with no strings attached, he knows it is not going to last, so he thinks he might as well enjoy some harmless fun while he's at it.
86	* OutOfTheInferno: [[spoiler: Gemini Saga's introduction at the end of episode 3]]
87	* PartyScattering: The Gold Saints came back to life in different places, but apparently all of them are in Asgard now.
88	* PowerCreepPowerSeep: A very unusual In-Universe example; The Gold Saints have long been established to be the most powerful non-god members of any army, being stronger than Poseidon's Generals and the other God Warriors, and being matched only by Hades' Judges, and even they get curb-stomped by the Gold's stronger members. And, in a series where the Golds get God Cloths, the only ones who could possibly be a threat to them, power-wise, would be GODS. Hence, the series is constantly changing the power balance to give it a genuine sense of tension, first [[spoiler: giving the God Warriors a HomeFieldAdvantage that both makes them stronger AND drains the Golds' Cosmo, making the God Cloth a necesity for victory]], and, when that is taken care of, [[spoiler: giving the God Warriors an AmplifierArtifact]].
89	* PoweredByAForsakenChild: [[spoiler:Something dark is growing inside Yggdrassil and it's using human lives to feed. Episode 4 ends with Aphrodite defeated and implied to be drained out of his Cosmo and life for this thing to feed.]]
90	* PowerGivesYouWings: The Gold Saints have now, albeit temporarily, god cloths.
91	* {{Retcon}}: Sigmund is imprisoned in the original Asgard-arc because he immediately noticed the change in Hilda's Cosmo when she was possessed by the Nibelungen Ring (controlled by Poseidon), and tried warning other people.
92	* ResurrectionSickness: Gold Saints using their full powers and overexerting themselves, such as when activating their God Cloths, will feel bouts of weakness and [[ImHavingSoulPains pain]], and collapse, as shown when the Einerjahr markings appear on their bodies, and this is implied this is a consequence of their resurrection.
93	* RevengeBeforeReason: Sigmund know how Siegfried is dead, but blames both Athena and Poseidon for his death.
94	* ScrewPolitenessImASenior: Dohko openly teases Aldebaran about his former defeat against a God Warrior.
95	* {{Sequel}}: The series also functions as a continuation of the anime-only Asgard arc, showing that, after Hilda's defeat, the whole place is under new management.
96	* ShipTease:
97	** Aiolia and Lyfia. [[StarCrossedLovers Their farewell]], between many other moments, seal the deal.
98	** On one hand, there's Deathmask's remark about Aphrodite on episode 3. On the other, he also has moments with an InnocentFlowerGirl named Elena. [[spoiler: Only to have her [[DiedInYourArmsTonight dy]][[ILetGwenStacyDie ing]].]]
99	* SimultaneousArcs:
100	** In an external sense, the story takes place simultaneously with the battle of the Bronze Saints against Hades in Elysium.
101	** In a more internal sense, there are several pairs of Gold Saints working in tandem: Aiolia and Mu briefly, Dohko and Aldebaran are already established. Episode 3 gave us Milo and Camus [[spoiler:as rivals]] and episode 4 gave us Milo and Saga and Deathmask and Aphrodite [[spoiler:for a very short time, as Milo decides to work alone and Aphrodite is defeated and trapped in Yggdrasil.]]
102	* SpannerInTheWorks: The reason [[spoiler: Loki]]'s plan fails (other than [[spoiler: making Gungnir grow with the Golds' Cosmo]])? He imprisoned [[spoiler: Aphrodite, who is revealed in episode 12 to be immune to vegetal toxins first, which allowed him to fake every imprisoned Gold Saint's death.]]
103	* TheStinger: Episode 9 has an extra scene after the ED. [[spoiler:Frodi lets Aioria go on towards Andreas' chamber and prepares to take on Utgardar.]]
104	* SuperMode: The Gold cloths now transform into Golden God Cloths, though for a brief period of time.
105	* TakeAThirdOption: Between [[spoiler: killing Fafner ''and'' a group of children that [[WouldHurtAChild Fafner is holding hostage]] ]] and [[spoiler: letting him off the hook to protect the kids]], [[spoiler: Deathmask]] takes the choice of... [[spoiler: coming up with a technique that lets him ''trap Fafner in a FateWorseThanDeath'', defeating him and freeing the kiddos.]]
106	* TheWorfEffect:
107	** In the episode 6 is revealed that Aiolos was resurrected before the other Gold Saints. But has faced immediately Andreas and, weakened by Yggdrasil, he was beaten (managing only to injure Andreas's eye). [[spoiler: Then it turns out he still survived, showing up in-person to help Aiolia fight Andreas again.]]
108	** Addressed and defied in regards to Aldebaran. In both of his fights with Herakles, he clearly dominates in contrast to Aiolia's difficulties with Frodi.
109	* UndeathAlwaysEnds: [[spoiler: At the end of the series, the revived Gold Saints decide to give up their lives once again in order to help out the future generation in their fight.]]
110	* WorldTree: The legendary Yggdrasil that seems to have a central role in the history. It makes the God Warriors stronger and Asgard's weather warm. [[spoiler:It's also sucking the life of people trapped in its roots in order to grow something dark inside it.]]

Context Anime / SaintSeiyaSoulOfGold