An entry in the Saint Seiya franchise, this series is a sequel to the (anime-only) Asgard chapter, and a "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.
The Gold Saints just after their death during the Hades chapter, who come back to life on Earth, 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 Lady-In-Waiting Lyfia to seek for help...
Saint Seiya: Soul of Gold provides examples of:
- Amplifier Artifact: The God Warriors get new, red Odin Sapphires that increase their Cosmo to even the battlefield after they lose their Home Field Advantage and the Golds get a better handle of the God Cloths .
- Artifact of Doom: 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.
- Batman Gambit: Odin pulls an epic one and Out-Gambitted 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 Evil Plan 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 Heroic Sacrifice to Come Back Wrong, 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.
- Back from the Dead:
- The Gold Saints are resurrected and transported back to Earth from Hell.
- Utgardar is eventually revealed as this when the markings show up on his body.
- Bittersweet Ending: 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.
- The Bus Came Back: Hilda Polaris and Freya from Asgard anime-only arc returns.
- By the Power of Grayskull!: 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.Aries Mu: Rise!Taurus Aldebaran: Seethe!Gemini Saga: Burst!Cancer Deathmask: Roar!Leo Aiolia: Burn!Virgo Shaka: Resound!Libra Dohko: Rage!Scorpio Milo: Rumble!Sagittarius Aiolos: Burn!Capricorn Shura: Pierce!Aquarius Camus: Scorch!Pisces Aphrodite: Burgeon!all of them: ...our cosmo!
- Call-Back: All over the place in the 3rd Episode.
- Came Back Strong: Arguably, all the Gold Saints, since they now can summon God Cloths as a Super Mode, unlocking a further degree of power than what they could muster before dying at the Wailing Wall.
- Came Back Wrong:
- The Gold Saints suffering from Resurrection Sickness seems to indicate this at first.
- Also, when Loki brings out his Elite Mooks, the Einerjahrs, Dohko points out they don't have Cosmo or anything, and they look like plain zombies, so these fall in this trope.
- Utgardar is a willing example of this trope, taking part in Odin's Batman Gambit to conceal the Odin Robe.
- Loki also fully intended for the Gold Saints to come back wrong, but got Out-Gambitted by Odin.
- Cast From Hitpoints: The Sapphires amplify the users' Cosmo but slowly drain their soul.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: Same as the original series, but taken to ridiculous degree when Aiolia casually breaks down a wall and a chain attached to his leg.
- Continuity Nod: Of the Asgard Saga overall, since it was an anime-only filler and hardly got any recognition before this point.
- Dohko remembering Aldebaran's defeat against a God Warrior in the past (Mizar or Alcor more specifically).
- Sigmund is Siegfried's older brother.
- Deathmask still can't use his Gold Cloth, after being abandoned by it all the way back in the Sanctuary arc.
- Episode 5 shows both Shura and Aioria's feelings regarding the former's involvement in Aioro's death.
- The dagger that Saori used to kill herself in the Hades Arc reappears and it's used as an Amplifier Artifact MacGuffin to manifest God Cloths, to create a gap in Yggdrasil so it can't absorb the Gold Saint's Cosmo.
- All the former God Warriors appears in episode 9: Sigfried, Mime, Syd, Alberich, Thor, Hagen and Fenrir.
- Andreas gives the God Warriors a new batch of Odin Sapphires, though these serve as power-boosters rather than keys to summon the Odin Robe. It doesn't stop Frodi from summoning the Odin Robe anyways for Aiolia to don during the fight against Loki though.
- Episode 13 has two nods in the same scene. 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.
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Fridge Logic: 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)
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- Crossover Cosmology: The Greek-myth based Gold Saints end up in Asgard.
- Curbstomp Battle: Several throughout the series. Some of the most notable examples would be Aldebaran vs. Hercules during episode 7 and Saga vs. Sigmund during episode 9.
- Deadly Upgrade: Given that overexerting themselves might very well suck their life force, activating one's God Cloth counts as this.
- Demonic Possession: It is suspected it is what happens to Lyfia, or something close enough that the difference is moot. Eventually revealed to be Odin's influence as he is awakening within her, since Hilda can't perform her duties for now.
- Didn't Think This Through: 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 Spanner in the Works that was Pisces Aphrodite.
- Doomed by Canon: The Gold Saints.
- Dying Declaration of Love: Oh Lyfia...
- Eldritch Abomination: One look at the 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 Sea Monks◊ and even a squid-faced boy◊ some of us are familiar with. - Evil Counterpart: 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:
- Shaka and Balder; one being said to be the closest man to God while the other is said to be immortal and maybe a god himself, for extra points, both have long hair.
- 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.
- Mu and Fafner; both being their teams smart guys, but one is a Pragmatic Hero, 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Evil Plan: 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.
- Fate Worse than Death: 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.
- Forced into Evil: Camus sides with the God Warriors because of a promise he made to Surt after accidentally killing his little sister in an avalanche.
- Foregone Conclusion: The Gold Saints dying at the end of the series.
- Foreshadowing: In Episode 13's opening sequence you can briefly see Julian's possessed eyes, foreshadowing his intervention on getting 5 Gold Cloths to Elysium, like in the original manga.
- Grim Up North: The anime is set in Asgard, which had been used for an anime-only arc of Saint Seiya.
- Heart Is an Awesome Power: Pisces Aphrodite, big time. First, he demonstrates he can put roses in his enemies, which allows him to read their minds. Second, see Spanner in the Works, below.
- Heel–Face Turn: Frodi and Sigurd eventually change sides when they realize the extent of Andreas's machinations. There's also the case of Utgardar but that was more him being Good All Along.
- Heroic Sacrifice: The Gold Saints give up their new lives in order to stop Loki and save Asgard.
- Home Field Advantage: 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Deathmask failed to protect and save the flower shop girl Helena's life in episode 4.
- Important Haircut: 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 avenge Helena.
- Merchandise-Driven: Soul of Gold was created to promote the Divine Gold Cloths for Bandai's Cloth Myth line of action figures.
- My Greatest Failure: 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.
- Never Found the Body: Aiolos.
- Our Zombies Are Different: 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.
- Loki thought he had summoned the Gold Saints as this, tricking Lyfia in performing the ritual, but he was Out-Gambitted by Odin who chose her to be his next representative. This explains why the markings on the Gold Saints and on Utgardar or the Elite Mooks are different.
- 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 Elite Mooks, 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.
- Out of Character: 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 Obviously Evil 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.
- Out of the Inferno: Gemini Saga's introduction at the end of episode 3
- Party Scattering: The Gold Saints came back to life in different places, but apparently all of them are in Asgard now.
- Plot Parallel: The story takes place simultaneously with the battle of the Bronze Saints against Hades to the Elysium.
- Power Creep, Power Seep: 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 giving the God Warriors a Home Field Advantage 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, giving the God Warriors an Amplifier Artifact.
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: 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.
- Power Gives You Wings: The Gold Saints have now, albeit temporarily, god cloths.
- 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.
- Resurrection Sickness: Gold Saints using their full powers and overexerting themselves, such as when activating their God Cloths, will feel bouts of weakness and pain, and collapse, as shown when the Einerjahr markings appear on their bodies, and this is implied this is a consequence of their resurrection.
- Revenge Before Reason: Sigmund know how Siegfried is dead, but blames both Athena and Poseidon for his death.
- Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: Dohko openly teases Aldebaran about his former defeat against a God Warrior.
- Ship Tease:
- Aiolia and Lyfia. Their farewell, between many other moments, seal the deal.
- On one hand, there's Deathmask's remark about Aphrodite on episode 3. On the other, he also has moments with an Innocent Flower Girl named Elena. Only to have her dying.
- Simultaneous Arcs: There will apparently be several pairs of Gold Saints : Aiolia and Mu briefly, Dohko and Aldebaran are already established. Episode 3 gave us Milo and Camus as rivals and episode 4 gave us Milo and Saga and Deathmask and Aphrodite for a very short time, as Milo decides to work alone and Aphrodite is defeated and trapped in Yggdrassil.
- Spanner in the Works: The reason Loki's plan fails (other than making Gungnir grow with the Golds' Cosmo)? He imprisoned 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.
- The Stinger: Episode 9 has an extra scene after the ED. Frodi lets Aioria go on towards Andreas' chamber and prepares to take on Utgardar.
- Super Mode: The Gold cloths now transform into Golden God Cloths, though for a brief period of time.
- Take a Third Option: Between killing Fafner and a group of children that Fafner is holding hostage and letting him off the hook to protect the kids, Deathmask takes the choice of... coming up with a technique that lets him trap Fafner in a Fate Worse than Death, defeating him and freeing the kiddos.
- The Worf Effect:
- 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). Then it turns out he still survived, showing up in-person to help Aiolia fight Andreas again.
- 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.
- Undeath Always Ends: 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.
- World Tree: The legendary Yggdrasil that seems to have a central role in the history. It makes the God Warriors stronger and Asgard's weather warm. It's also sucking the life of people trapped in its roots in order to grow something dark inside it.
