Awesome / Saint Seiya

You know it's about to get real.

• The Italian dub in general. They had to convey the same sense of awe and mystery Classical Mythology did with the Japanese and being hammy with viewers that are both extremely familiar with Classical Mythology and from the hammiest people in the world. They succeeded.
  • Despite some problems with name pronunciations and how many of the actors there were either new to the VA scene or not familiar with anime dubbing until then, the original Latin-American Spanish dub is damn awesome as well. There's a reason why many of the performances eventually became Star making roles.

Sanctuary Arc

• The very first episode, the Establishing Series Moment. After a brief scene with Jabu and Ban duking it out in the Galaxian Wars and Saori wondering where Seiya is, we get:
  • Athena's Pope detailing what Seiya and Cassios go through for the right to a mere Bronze Cloth - that is, fighting giants. Hundreds tried, but only Seiya and Cassios survived and won. And since two guys got through the culling, they have to fight for the Cloth.
  • Cassios taking advantage of Seiya gaping at his goal to slug him and gain the upper hand (without rebuke from anyone but Marin for the underhanded attack), only for Seiya to get free by hacking his larger opponent's ear off and start pummelling him.
  • The flashback of Seiya learning about Cosmos: at his third year of training, Seiya tries to chop a rock but fails to even scratch it, Marin chastizes him for being at his third year and failing such a basic task as she grabs the rock and pulverizes it with a squeeze, then she gives her iconic explanation about Cosmos and has Seiya repeat the exercise. He punches a rock on the ground-and makes a crater.
    • This scene is played differently in the manga, as it's Seiya trying to escape from training on the eve of his fight with Cassios-and falling down from the sky like a meteor after Marin tossed him around and rising unharmed. Then Marin shows up and threatens that if he doesn't get back to training she'll kill him as a deserter, he replies he doesn't need training, and demonstrates with the punch on the ground. Marin deems it acceptable, and takes him back to their home to rest.
  • In hindsight, Cassios taking the beating Seiya gave him before going down. Here's what basically amounts to an upper tier Bronze Saint pummeling him, and not only it takes a few minutes and a Pegasus Meteor Fist to take him down, the only permanent damage was the loss of his ear.
  • When Seiya tries to leave and go back to Tokyo, Shaina confronts him with full intent to kill him-and quickly puts him in his place, even counting how many times he can strike in a second-as she parries each and every punch before she sends him flying.
    • Seiya was firing 85 punches per second. Eighty-five.
  • Seiya (or any Saint on-screen) putting on the Cloth for the first time-and turning the tables on Shaina. And then, Shaina starts taking him seriously, and knocks him down. Turns out Seiya can't use his Cloth well yet, and taking on a far more experienced opponent is out of his abilities.
  • Shaina lets her soldiers finish off Seiya after she softened him up. Except Seiya is still a Bronze Saint and has figured out how to properly use his Cloth during the beating. Cue the soldiers being casually defeated... And Shaina getting her mask broken by an attack too fast for her to follow. That's when Shaina relents and lets him go, with a warning that next time she'll be wearing her Cloth too.
• Pretty early in his career (episode 5, to be exact), Seiya punches Shiryu so hard that Shiryu's heartbeat stops. And then, despite being terminally wounded, punches him again to restart Shiryu's heart.
  Seiya (almost collapsed due to blood loss, pretty much about to miss): No... I never wanted the fight to be like this... I'm not letting him die... not... die... DRAGON! YOU WILL NOT DIEEEEEEEE!!!
• Ikki's first and most extreme Curb-Stomp Battle. Wolf Nachi confronts him and prepares to fight, but Ikki just raises his punch near his forehead and Mind Rapes him, before making him fall with a poke. To add to Ikki's awesomeness, he did all of this without even looking.
  • Let's not forget Ikki taking on Seiya, Hyoga, Shun and Shiryu at the same time in the 1st arc of the manga. It takes Seiya being protected by the Sagittarius Gold Cloth, Shun's chains, Shiryu's shield and Hyoga's ice to bring him down.
    • The anime version of Ikki getting serious after his Specter Fist proved ineffective (Italian dub).
  • While we're talking about Ikki. His return in the anime against the Flame Saint. The Saint fought Shun, and seeing that his chains were too good of a defense to defeat him, he engulfed him in fire and waited. The gigantic blze actually resurrected the Phoenix. The Flame Saint tries using fire against Ikki, cue Mind Rape.
• You think Andromeda Shun is a wimpy, waifish, whiny boy? In one of the earliest episodes of the Sanctuary Saga, the Black Saints mini-arc... When his Evil Twin of sorts Black Andromeda has both him and a poisoned, dying Seiya against the ropes (one extremity of Shun's Andromeda chains is keeping Seiya from falling off a cliff, the other serves as Shun's only defense against Black Andromeda's chains that turn into poisonous snakes) and Seiya pulls a sort-of Heroic Sacrifice by cutting the chain wrapped around his arm and letting self fall, Shun gets pissed off and tells Black Andromeda that upsetting him was a big mistake. The next moment? The Andromeda chains attack at full force, destroying the serpents *and* instantly killing Black Andromeda.
  • During his first fight against Jabu, Shun literally wiped the floor with him without trying. Just like the above moment against Black Andromeda, this is not Early-Installment Weirdness. While in the anime and the movies as a whole, Shun is very much a victim of Flanderization due to being the sensitive guy to the others' manly men, in the manga he is much more consistently able to open a can of whoopass on no notice on his opponents, without having to go through Angst and Heroic Second Wind.
    • Case in point, in the Gemini Temple in the manga, when the Gemini Saint returns after Ikki drove him away for a moment, Shun simply goes full force on his opponent because he decided the situation warrants it.
  • Don't forget that this is the same boy that was willing to put his life on the line by burning all of his Cosmo and then some, in order to help Hyoga revive after his fight with Camus. A boy this caring and gentle doesn't need to be on this team, but damn if he isn't a great asset anyway.
• Episode 20 of the anime has the one fight that should have been in the manga but never was: Ophiuchus Shaina versus Pegasus Seiya, both wearing their Cloths and going all-out. And, at the sound of Final Soldier, the battle provides awesome for both fighters:
  • For Seiya, because he went against a Silver Saint (and one of the strongest at that) out for his blood, and actually gave her a run for her money.
  • For Shaina, because after some initial trouble she mauled Seiya, and by the time they're finished she's a bit winded while her opponent is bleeding, defenseless, and utterly terrified of facing her again.
  • For both, because their final exchange literally shattered the Earth and sent a group of guards flying with the shockwave of their attacks meeting.
  • And for Marin for saving Seiya under Shaina's nose, giving him a fake beating with the excuse it was her duty to kill Seiya because she had taught him while she told him about the Crystal Saint being after Hyoga's life-and when Shaina realizes the situation she has Seiya run and keeps her fellow Silver Saint from giving chase, also keeping her from reporting what really happened by pointing out she would have got in trouble too.
• The climax of Shiryu vs Black Dragon, where both of them become enormous Eastern Dragons wrestling and fighting through the sky, burrowing through mountains and hillsides and causing volcanic eruptions, all to the tune of some of the finest 80's Butt Rock ever created.
• Seiya vs. Misty in the manga because the closest Seiya gets to a deus ex machina finale is merely that his cloth is brought to him just at the start of his first fight with Misty. The second fight features him throwing a 'Comet' Punch, actually damaging a hefty chunk of Misty's Cloth, followed by throwing back Misty's signature move, then finally grabbing him and torpedoing him to the bottom of the sea and finally winning.
  • Misty himself gets credit in the anime for taking his upcoming death with all the calm of the world and even praising Seiya's strength and will before falling dead.
  • Misty's sheer record of slaying monsters for years without being ever wounded or even hit, something not even Shaina, who is objectively stronger, can claim, has earned him the nickname of "The Silver Saint". First mentioned by Shaina when Phaeton told her he had sent Misty and she blurted out "The Silver Saint?!", and later repeated by the other Silver Saints. And when we see him in combat he backs it up, as Seiya's Pegasus Ryuseiken just stops short from hitting him while he apparently stands still while showing his palms.
  • Even the explanation of how he pulled it off is amazing: he was generating a wind barrier with his hands... By moving them so fast Seiya couldn't see them moving. Even after finding out two counters (it doesn't work in water, and a sufficiently powerful hit will get through and stop him long enough to be dragged into the sea) Seiya is still amazed by this ability - and later compared it to Baian's own barrier and found the latter wanting, as in spite of the difference in power Misty's skill was just better.
  • In the manga, Misty's debut: he blows up Mount Fuji. This in turn makes Seiya surviving long enough to counterattack awesome, as he just took the power to destroy a mountain in the face and lived to tell.
  • In the anime, this is a moment for Phaeton. He's just been promoted to commander of Sanctuary's forces, with command on everything save for the Gold Saints, his predecessor often screwed around and let himself being browbeat by Shaina... And this guy, facing a group of strong Bronze Saints, sent in the mightiest of all Silver Saints, a move that even Shaina couldn't protest... And just to be on the safe side, gave him a back-up in the form of the almost as formidable Marin, the nearly unbeatable duo of Cetus Moses and Hound Asterion (a mind reader), and Centaurus Babel. The only reason it fails is that Misty is too arrogant to properly keep an eye on Marin, allowing her to save Seiya from Misty and actually fight rather than being murdered on the spot and then defeat Asterion, and then the Steel Saints saving Hyoga when he's about to be killed by Babel.
• While in the anime Marin is considered a Faux Action Girl, this doesn't stop her at all from curbstomping the Psychic Silver Saint Hound Asterion. Note that Asterion effortlessly defeated Seiya with his Psychic Power and Million Ghost Attack. Marin, who had been knocked out by the physically stronger Silver Saint Cetus Moses regains consciousness, proceeds to save herself from the inverted crucifix she's put in, and then proceeds to No-Sell Asterion's mind-reading, along with the same Million Ghost Attack that he used on Seiya. She then unleashes her own original technique, Eagle Toe Flash to near effortlessly defeat Asterion, who couldn't read Marin's mind the second time around, since she managed to make her mind completely empty and impervious to his powers, cue Oh, Crap! reaction. Still a crowner because she could pull that after having taken a beating from Moses and being in aforementioned inverted crucifix.
  • Marin was the one who pointed Seiya and his friends in the right direction with her message "Seiya Guard Athena". She also explains her motivations to a dying Asterion, saying she full knows that the Bronze rebellion will spell total war with the Sanctuary, so it means she knew something was off all this time. A bit of Flip-Flop of God is involved given Marin was likely meant to have a different and larger role, but otherwise combine this with her uncanny ability to investigate on her own culminating in reaching Star Hill, which is said to be forbidden to all but the Pope, and you have quite a lot of lowkey awesome moments for her. And then she proceeds to save Seiya from Aphrodite's roses, even after having been very badly battered by scaling Star Hill alone, see below.
• The third and final battle between Seiya and Shaina is again one for both: for Seiya because, after nearly dying in the first two encounters, he finally defeats Shaina with the Pegasus Comet Fist-Pegasus Rolling Crash combo that had killed Misty; for Shaina because not only she had the upper hand until the Comet Fist (and even parried the Meteor Fist with ease once again), but, differently from Misty, she survived-and later came back to support Corvus Jamian for a new attempt on Seiya's life, with Seiya actually being scared for his life.
  • Speaking of which, Shun and Hyoga face her when she comes with Jamian, with Shun launching his Nebula Chain at a charging Shaina. Shaina jumps on the chain and runs on it to kick Shun in the face, and then starts inflicting a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to Hyoga. The only reason they manage to turn the tables on her is that she kicked Shun only once, so he recovered enough to provide a distraction just long enough for Hyoga to hit her with the Diamond Dust and throw her down the same cliff where Jamian (another Silver Saint) had fallen to his death. The two Bronze Saints were happy for having finally gotten rid of Shaina... Except she survived (hinted when the bottom of cliff is shown and Jamian's body can be seen, but Shaina is nowhere to be found).
• Shaina deserves mention for another awesome moment. When Aeolia makes his big entrance in full regalia and Battle Aura, baring his Tranquil Fury killing intent as a Consummate Professional, Shaina first freaks out and attempts to make excuses, pretending she will finish the job, before Aeolia states what has become painfully obvious by now : she simply doesn't have it in him, and seeing the fearful look on her soft features shows she is perfectly aware of how bad the situation is. It should be stated that ten episodes earlier, as Perseus Algol was chosen to deal with the Bronze Saints, Shaina and Algol were basically talking crap to his face for being soft. Here, Shaina realizes how DEAD SERIOUS Aeolia is because he is wearing his Gold Cloth and he is focused on the business at hand. Even so, she still strikes at him, only to get blasted out of the way for her trouble. But then, Seiya gets an Heroic BSoD upon realizing the sheer difference in power between him and Aeolia, and goes for a Defiant to the End strike instead of waiting to be killed. But just as Aeolia's blow hits... It turns out Shaina took it for him! Let's state this once again. Aeolia can move and perceive things at the speed of light, one million times the speed of sound. And she moved so fast and suddenly that Aeolia, a Gold Saint, Could. Not. Sense. Her. As she lay in a pool of her own blood, Seiya points this out, and verbally (if not physically) rips Aeolia a new one, while the latter is simply unable to process what happened or to find any excuse, merely acknowledging that he was at fault. Aeolia is understandably both moved by her selfless gesture and disgusted at what he just did, so he decides to retreat, still more willing to listen to Seiya's side as to why the Bronzes are rebelling, recognizing their valor. This just goes to prove that when acting on her true feelings for Seiya, Shaina can display so much more power than she is given credit for.
• The moment where Seiya's being manhandled by three Silver Saints, and without a Cloth to protect his body, and Aeolia has basically been intimidated into inaction lest he gets reported as a traitor. Just as the three Saints are about to deliver the killing blow, throwing him up in the air for the quickest of them to kill, his body disappears, and in its place... The Sagittarius Gold Cloth in all its glory. Then, as the armor separates itself, Aeolia gives them a final warning to just RUN FOR IT, as they realize the implication: Seiya is a Gold Saint candidate. They then have the literal mother of Mass "Oh, Crap!" moments in their last seconds of life. As the Cloth finishes equipping itself on Seiya, the resulting power discharge causes a Curb-Stomp Battle. Aeolia promptly realizes This Is Gonna Suck and reassesses the threat level.
• Episode 39 has one for Cancer Deathmask: sent to force Dohko to explain why he's not answering the Sanctuary's summons, he's confronted by Shiryu... And inflicts on him what goes beyond a Curb-Stomp Battle. Multiple times:
  • First he casually dodges a Clothless Shiryu's attacks by running in circles around him, then mauls him with the shockwave of his punches (that he's actually pulling), and when Shiryu appears to be about to finally hit him with a flying kick Deathmask decides to drive home how superior he is by blocking it with one finger. With whom he then nearly kills him by shooting a beam of Cosmo at him, also throwing him in the nearby falls.
  • After surviving the above beating, Shiryu comes back for the second round wearing his Cloth (something that catches Deathmask completely by surprise, as he thought Shiryu had either been killed by his attack or drowned), and, thanks to his fury after overhearing Deathmask explain his Social Darwinist ideology, inflicts him a Lushan Rising Dragon Lord that actually moves back the Gold Saint... And enrages him enough to get half-serious, at which this point he starts to use his Praesape-based techniques. Had Mu not arrived there, Shiryu would have died there, messily. But as he would have to fight two Gold Saints to finish him off, Deathmask decides to retreat... And starts walking away in mid-air, before disappearing somewhere else through the waterfall.
    • The Praesepe Underworld Wave terrified Dohko. Deathmask scared a Gold Saint far stronger than he was, one who survived the war against Hades.
  • What Deathmask did doubles as awesome for all the Gold Saints: aside for the black hole and the disappearing trick, everything he did was in a Gold Saint's normal realm of abilities.
• In spite of his small screentime, Sagitta Ptolemy has one: he mortally wounded Saori after she awoke her divine Cosmos, and under four opposing Saints' noses to boot. Thus started the Twelve Temples Arc: to save Saori from what he had done to her.
• Dragon Shiryu gets his Moment of Awesome during his second fight with Gold Saint Cancer Deathmask. After he uses his telekinetic powers to grab Shiryu's adoptive sister and possible love interest Shunrei and throw her into the Lushan cascade, a near dead Shiryu that has been reduced to a soul and drained of fighting spirit makes the biggest come-back ever from the literal gaping mouth of Hell, glowing Cosmo and furious "The Reason You Suck" Speech included as he beats the freaking crap out of Deathmask, while at the same time asking him why he tried so hard to push his ONLY Berserk Button. Then, as Deathmask tries to go to the counterattack, he finds out that his own armor is so ashamed of his owner's evil actions that it refuses to protect his body, which lets Shiryu kill him.
• Saori Kido/Athena gains a pretty good one in the anime when she uses her Cosmo to disrupt Virgo Shaka (the most powerful psychic among the Golden Saints, alongside Aries Mu) and block him from assisting his disciples Agora and Shiva, who are fighting Ikki to keep him from joining the fight in the Sanctuary. And she does this while having her chest pierced by a Golden Arrow. Wow.
  • A more subtle one, overlapping with Heartwarming Moment: when after she and Seiya take a Suicidal "Gotcha!" to escape Shaina and another Silver Saint and gain time, she faces a very upset and jealous Shaina with all the tranquility of the world, ignoring her insults and pretty much telling her "I cannot fight, yes, but no way I'm abandoning Seiya after he got himself almost killed for me". This is a sweet girl without any fighting skills, who is facing a very arrogant and strong Dark Action Girl without even batting an eyelid, in a situation where almost any other girl would faint out of fear. That proves that Saori's got huge balls, erm, boobs, dammit.
    • Even more meaningful when you recall that one of Shaina's insults was asking Saori "Where did you learn to do that?!" when she caught her leaning on Seiya to kiss him. Yeah, Shaina basically slut shamed Saori. And yet Saori didn't take the bait.
• Seiya facing Aeolia without the help of the Sagittarius Cloth. At first, he manages to see through Lightning Plasma at light speed, and land a solid kick on his face. Too bad Saga knew this would happen.
  • Then the true awesome moment is when Cassios takes the bullet for Seiya, triggering his Heroic Resolve, landing a full powered Pegasus Meteor Fist on Aeolia, knocking him out as the hypnosis spell breaks.
• Ikki facing an uphill fight against Shaka, up to this point his toughest foe (which in the manga left him traumatized so bad Shaka had to use Laser-Guided Amnesia to ensure he remained sane).
  • Straight Mind Rape with showing him the 6 Dharmas just keeps him down a few moments.
  • Being unable to defend or to flee? No problem, commit fully to attack.
  • Shaka eventually wises up and decides to use his full power, having him through go what amounts to Cold-Blooded Torture by removing one by one his senses, with Ikki's spirit obviously wavering.
    • Even deprived of his five senses, Ikki still has the will to fight, and tries to launch a psychic assault, and scares Shaka for a second, before he decides to destroy his mind.
    • And then... He goes and awakens the Seventh Sense. He did not get the lecture from Mu, this was all Ikki on his own. And then, the clincher: Ikki explains he understood the logic behind Shaka's Enlightenment Superpowers: depriving himself of one of his senses to increase his power, and he applied it to himself. Shaka is aghast that anyone would go through that sort of pain to win, and this prompts his eventual Heel–Face Turn.
    • Even better when you realize Shaka looked down on Ikki and called him names such as demon, shura, confident in his superiority as the incarnation of Buddha. Ikki proved him wrong, SO VERY MUCH, and gave him a much needed helping of humble pie.
• Cygnus Hyoga is walking Awesome already, but the particular example comes in his rematch with Gold Saint Aquarius Camus: After having his own Bronze Cloth frozen and shattered into dust by his master, Hyoga counters Camus' ultimate technique Aurora Execution with his own, projecting power matching and exceeding Camus' own even after falling unconscious in his battle stance. Even Camus realizes the astonishing drive in his student's heart, conceding who is the best between them, before falling over frozen to death.
  • Major props also to Hyoga shattering Camus' second Freezing Coffin from the inside, and his world views regarding absolute zero. This was when Hyoga's counterattack started and he finally registered as a threat to Camus.
  • Back during the Galaxian Wars/Black Saints arc, he was the one Saint who could have taken out Ikki in a straight fight. Ikki himself admits that Hyoga would have killed him with the Aurora Thunder Attack, had Black Swan not managed to forewarn him.
    • The forewarning is one for Black Swan: almost completely frozen and dying, he burns all his Cosmo to send Ikki an image of the attack held either in a fragment of his helmet (anime) or in his own eye that he ripped out just to teleport it to Ikki (manga), and causes an explosion in the process to try and kill Hyoga-or at least distract him from his real goal. And while Hyoga is unharmed, Black Swan successfully passed Ikki the information he needed to survive the Aurora Thunder Attack.
• Hyoga's battle with Camus' best friend, Scorpio Milo isn't bad either. This is the battle where Hyoga turned into a Seiya level determinator by surviving everything Milo throws at him including Antares. He further deserves mention for overcoming his Fatal Flaw, and thanks to The Power of Friendship, finally achieving what he failed to do against Camus: the Seventh Sense.
  • Milo outright admits that if he had not been wearing a Gold Cloth, he would have been the one to die, since Hyoga hit all of his vital points in the split second he received a lethal blow. In his own words, Milo won the battle of life and death, but lost the fight proper.
  • Hyoga took the 15th blow of Scarlet Needle, Antares, and lived (barely), trying to crawl his way forwards. The sheer determination pushed Milo to heal Hyoga, because he started doubting his own cause, and because he wanted to see how far Hyoga would go.
• Shiryu's fight against Shura was one of the bloodiest and gruesome battles he ever faced. It involved Shiryu's Cloth being shredded to ribbons, his heart being skewered (and in the anime cutting Shura's hand), and finally a Heroic Sacrifice by sending himself and Shura burning in the stratosphere.
  • The most awesome moment is Shiryu's counterattack as he pulls a successful Barehanded Blade Block against Shura's Absurdly Sharp Blade, that had just destroyed his shield and Cloth; and lands a hit on Shura that has him reconsider his opponent's power level, and realizing he has to get serious.
  • Also a very nice callback to Shiryu's fight against Seiya and his Character Development, showing Shiryu was now fully willing to use his weak point as bait to cripple his opponent, having conquered his fear of death and understood fully what a Heroic Sacrifice entails.
  • This is further driven home by the flashback where he was about to unleash Rozan Ko Ryu Ha by mistake and Dohko explained to him what fate would await him if he ever used its power.
• Pisces Aphrodite in the Sanctuary Arc has one for sheer smarts: he anticipated the Saints would try and have someone keeping him busy while the other continued to run, so he planted his roses on the stairs behind his temple to act as Deadly Gas. By all rights, he had won with mocking ease. He only lost because of Marin, who then gets her moment - she appears, puts her mask on Seiya which allows him to recover from the poison even when it poisons her as well, and that gives Seiya enough time to get up and destroy the roses, clearing his path to the top.
• Shun has a second one when he fights Aphrodite and reveals his wind powers for the first time, and we discover that whilst for every other Saint their armor is an amplifier, for Shun it's played as a safety cut-off, he can actually be much MORE powerful when not wearing the armour.
  • Debatable on why it was a bad idea: there's the chance he had awakened his Seventh Sense before the series started and got scared by his own power, using the armor as a safer option. Without those he had to surrender or cross the Godzilla Threshold, and as surrender was not an option he finally unleashed his Seventh Sense and his wind powers.
  • The Nebula Storm cracked Aphrodite's Cloth. Shun's attack damaged a Gold Cloth. It usually takes the power of a god or similar to do it...
• Seiya, Determinator extraordinaire, has his five senses removed. Saga then gloats he is just a living lump of meat with a dead brain, but then Seiya gets up for more (which is not a surprise since Ikki was able to do the same, but STILL), and manages several very powerful attacks on Saga in this state, even though the man is just so broken he shrugs it off all. However, with a bit of help, Seiya eventually manages to crawl all the way to Athena's shield, and to save Athena in the nick of time.
  • For the record, Seiya first gets up, Cosmo flaring and all, strong enough to startle Saga, and is capable of coherent speech in this state, stating his will to refuse to die, where Ikki for the record had his tongue paralyzed.
    • He has a strong enough hold on his 7th sense that it compensates the loss where it matters. If you look at his face, Saga seems to recall this happened with Shaka, and to kick himself mentally, realizing the miscalculation with obvious annoyance, and a blooming sense of grudging respect: removing his senses just made it so much easier for Seiya to use the 7th sense.
  • Then he proceeds to unleash his Pegasus Meteor Fist, which Saga shrugs off as Mach-1, before briefly going Oh, Crap! at realizing speed is steadily increasing to light speed! He doesn't get any measure of lasting damage from that, but does get knocked down for his trouble.
  • Pretty much of the blue, Saga sucker punches Seiya in the gut, giving some begrudging praise for his spirits, and as you think our hero is done for, Seiya goes for his remaining ace in the hole : Pegasus Rolling Crash. Saga is too surprised to break off from the hold, and goes for a quick trip in the air before crashing to the ground, but is none the worse for wear, to Seiya's despair.
  • Saga then justly decides to go for the kill, and would have if not for the successive interruptions of the Mask of Gemini, and then Phoenix Ikki pulling a Big Damn Heroes.
• Also Ikki vs Saga deserves mention.
  • In the manga, Saga outright states a psychic fight between both would end up in a One Thousand War. Saga acknowledged Ikki as his equal as far as illusions were concerned.
  • In the anime, Saga decides to just do away with Ikki and send him in another dimension. Too bad, Ikki comes back for more, giving Saga a This Cannot Be! moment, where the man visibly has to be wondering "Just WHAT will I have to do to get RID of him?". Ikki then proceeds to land a solid hit, pushing an increasingly annoyed Saga to collapse his whole throne room on Ikki to JUST get the few SECONDS he needs to catch up with Seiya.
    • Further capped when it shows that Saga was right to be worried: cue the next episode and Ikki comes in to save Seiya, unscathed after the whole palace collapsed on him.

Asgard Arc

• A couple more at the beginning of the Asgard filler arc. The Brainwashed and Crazy Polaris Hilda attacks with a a lightning powered silver bolt. Cue all the Bronze Saints jumping out of the way, and when it seems that Saori is going to be hit she calmly unleashes her own golden bolt attack to protect herself. A little later, while Saori is acting again as a Barrier Maiden to prevent the northern ice cap to melt due to Hilda neglecting her duties, the God Warrior Thor attacks her with his Mjolnir (which is basically a double axe that works as a boomerang). The blade comes a hair width from Saori's throat, and then gets pushed back to the sender by her Cosmo. Thor himself is impressed and says "she really deserves being named Athena". And in both moments, Saori does this without even batting an eyelid.
• Shiryu winning his fight against Alberich through wits and strategy. He had the right equipment to deal with "Amethyst Sealed" that Alberich kept on spamming, and the mental discipline to avoid falling prey to Nature Unity or to Alberich's mind games, but he was still unable to make a proper counterattack, thus locking the both of them in a stalemate. His answer? Remove his cloth, pulling a I Surrender, Suckers to taunt Alberich into using "Amethyst Sealed" one too many times now he knows the technique in and out, taking the blow safely enough without his shield, while dealing the killing blow.
  • One mention for Alberich's plan working, allowing him to incapacitate four Saints.
• Mime should deserve mention for pushing Shun far enough as to use Nebula Storm, and actually surviving it unscathed. After that, Mime didn't want to take any chances and went for the kill.
• Mime and Bud deserve mention for actually giving Ikki two very tough fights. Most of the time in the manga, Ikki is here to dish rightful anger in the form of Cool and Unusual Punishment on an opponent that deserves it after kicking the dog, and is only very rarely put in difficulty.
  • Mime did this as easily as breathing, rivaling Saga as far as lightspeed blows are concerned, and putting Ikki through the wringer so hard he was near death, and out for several hours.
  • Bud also managed to manhandle Ikki and make it look downright easy.
  Bud:"Impossible. I hit you with everything I had ! You shouldn't be standing.
  Ikki:Don't make me repeat myself. So long as even a whisp of my cosmo continues to burn I can wishtand anything that comes my way. I'm the GODDAMN PHOENIX ! I can be reborn as many time as it takes ! TRY ME !
  • Also notable that in both cases, The Power of Hate was involved and Ikki had to play Warrior Therapist to even barely get the upper hand.
• Seiya repeating the feat that allowed him to win against Shiryu, against Siegfried.
• Siegfried pulling a Dying Moment of Awesome, attempting a Heroic Sacrifice against Siren Sorrento. It didn't work, but should deserve mention still.
• Hilda points out that Odin should be subservient to Poseidon and therefore will NEVER help a Saint, and everything seems lost... Seiya lets go of the sapphires, seemingly falling to his death in the chasm below. But the falling stones start levitating and placing themselves on the crown of Odin's statue, which proceeds to destroy the statue, releasing the Odin Robe from the Balmung sword on the statue. A very awesome, non-verbal Shut Up, Hannibal! to the sound of an epic soundtrack lifted from the Asgard movie when the statue breaks down.
  • Seiya then levitates in a daze and total disbelief, as the power radiating from the Odin Robe acknowledges Seiya, removing his Cloth and fitting itself on him. Even Drunk on the Dark Side, Hilda has the sense to fear for herself for a moment.
  • Hilda then pulls at Seiya's heart strings by pointing that if he kills her, Athena is as good as dead. Then, another awesome moment occurs as Odin HIMSELF gives a pep talk to convince Seiya to get up again to do the job. Once Seiya trusts in Odin's words and sets his mind to the task, Hilda can't do anything against him.
• Hilda, awakened from her possessed state, gets up in a daze, leaving the Bronze Saints very confused as to whether another fight awaits them... Then, her first act as the goodhearted princess she is again, is single-handedly restoring her country and saving the world by praying Odin to restore the icecaps, which triggers a World-Healing Wave over all of Asgard. It is implied she is basically risking her life to do this to atone for her sins, as she grabs Balmung by the blade to pray to Odin, shedding her own blood in the process.

Poseidon Arc

• Seiya fighting with Smug Super Sea Horse Baian. After taking Baian's two strongest attacks, Seiya is quick to put the General back in his place by pointing he's far from any Gold Saint's power level. He then proceeds to crush his defense with his trusty Ryuseiken before Baian goes on a very sweet Villainous Breakdown. Awesome points for revealing for the first time his Golden Bronze Cloth, and actually using experience from his previous battle with Misty.
  • The same fight also has one for the Saints in general: the moment Seiya says his techniques are similar to Misty's, Baian realizes he's screwed, as the Saint's ability to figure out enemy techniques after seeing them once or twice is just that famous. This leads to Baian's moment of awesome: no matter if he's screwed, he has a job to do and he'll succeed at it or die trying.
• Shun's third CMOA comes in the Poseidon arc. When facing Scylla Io, the Mariner general used an attack that was actually six in one on a "low" setting to taunt him. However, since It Only Works Once and Shun's chains are stated as early as the first tournament arc as being hyper adaptive to enemy attacks, Shun proceeds to counter each of his attacks differently, destroy his armor, and bind him in chains.
  • Io himself qualifies for being willing to perform what would be a Heroic Sacrifice for his own cause, but here shows a very strong example of Villainous Valour, cementing strongly his credentials as a Noble Demon, who even gives a dying warning to Shun that his kindness will one day be the death of him.
• Shiryu for realizing that he is too dependent on his Golden Bronze Cloth and shield, and casting it away so he can awaken Excalibur and take down Krishna's Golden Lance.
• Ikki as he unleashes a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against Lymnades Kasa in an epic Punctuated Pounding Curb-Stomp Battle. The most awesome part is that Ikki is just in Tranquil Fury the whole time, moving leisurely, and punching the guy for every single of his True Companions that he dared Mind Rape. He even scores a near Flawless Victory, if only for the fact Kasa figured his weak point but was already dying and could not actually turn it against him. If anything, it makes Ikki even more awesome since it shows he still has a human side deep down.
  • In case this needed to be stressed, Ikki's Cloth doesn't go Golden. In the manga this is obviously because he didn't need Gold Saint blood to revive his Cloth, but in the anime this just implies he didn't even begin to break a sweat.
• Everyone assisting Seiya to fire his arrow at Poseidon, in such a strong display of Determinator Heroic Willpower that even Poseidon can't control it.
• Seiya, Shiryu and Hyoga doning Gold Cloths, and taking down Poseidon with their first Combined Energy Attack ever, and reiterating the fact by breaking the Main Breadwinner pillar supporting the whole temple, that the Libra weapons could not even scratch.

Hades Arc

• One of the most famous examples in the saga: Dohko's old body starts to crack like a shell, and a younger body emerges from the old one. The young Libra Dohko has returned!
• The entire fight between Shaka and the three Spectres and ex-Gold Saints, Saga, Camus and Shura. Shaka nearly defeated all three with his most powerful attack, Tenbu Hōrin, to the point that they have to use a forbidden technique, the Athena Exclamation (its power is equal, or at the very least comprable to the Big Bang) to kill him. Turns out that Shaka had planned all this since he already had the Eighth Sense (The very reason why he's called the closest man to God) and descends into Hell alive.
• The clash of the two Athena Exclamation (Saga/Shura/Camus versus Mu/Milo/Aeolia). The anime added Seiya, Shiryu, Hyoga and Shun burning their Cosmo to push back the energy towards Saga and his group. Then they surrounded the exclamations in order to stop them, claiming they understood what was happening and what the renegade Gold Saints were really feeling, chiding the other Gold Saints for not believing each other more. Then the four Bronze Cloths turn gold, with the four Saints using their techniques to push the energy, sending the exclamations skywards, exploding with no casualties.
• Ikki, alone, defeats Aeacus, one of three strongest Spectres.
• Shun when he is pretty much Hades's vessel, but manages to actually throttle Hades from within his body to give his brother Ikki a chance to kill them, and end any chance of Shun's body being used for evil. Too bad Ikki couldn't take it.
• A villain example. Thanatos is easily able to destroy five Gold Cloths, something that had never happened in all the millennia the Cloths had existed.
• Athena has her moments, too. When Shaka is given the order to kill Athena with Pandora's trident, he takes the opportunity to chuck it back at him, and Athena (who hadn't previously been able to do this) catches it in midair. When the trident is given back to Hades and he tries to take off her head as per agreement, she stops it again, with her bare hands touching the blades, and tells him to take her life only after the lives of everyone else on Earth have been guaranteed safe. Lady of War, thy name is Saori Kido.
• Seiya has legions of Determinator moments, but some mention has to be made for the moment he gets up and a God Cloth materializes on him. Both Physical Gods Thanatos and Hypnos are visibly destabilized. The accompanying music from the Lucifer OST is also awesomely well used, and the lull in the music before the low chorus sells the Oh, Crap! moment for Thanatos as it dawns upon him exactly WHAT they are dealing with.
• Ikki actually managed to damage Thanatos' surplice and mask in his normal state, before acquiring his God Cloth. This prompts Thanatos to take him a little more seriously.
• When Ikki is at the mercy of Hypnos after both the Leo Cloth and the Phoenix Cloth have been stripped away from him, who comes to his aid? Shun, who has regained the Andromeda Chain and subdues Hypnos' arm. Ikki has saved Shun many times over the course of the series, and now Shun's able to return the favor for his beloved elder brother.
  • The real crowner? Hypnos says the chain will just shatter, before realizing it should have already been broken by Thanatos. Cue Shun materializing his own God Cloth.

Movies

• In the Eris Movie:
  • Ikki and Jager's stalemate when exchanging blows. Jager is properly impressed.
  • Seiya's Pegasus Cloth removing itself on its own, for the Sagittarius Cloth to take its place.
• In the Asgard Movie:
  • Saori holds her own until Dolbr figures out he can just seal her away.
  • Shiryu taking down Hyoga and breaking the spell on him.
  • Ikki takes out both Ullr and Rung (the former in one hit).
  • Seiya has a pretty awesome moment taking down Loki in a 100% straight fight.
  • Frey also gains a Heroic Sacrifice, tanking a hellish amount of punishment to destroy the statue of Odin to beg for forgiveness for Dolbr's crimes.
• In the Abel Movie:
  • Aphrodite managing to take Shun nearly out of commission, showing he has learned from his mistakes. Immediately followed by Ikki taking out Aphrodite in truly glorious fashion, outright toying with the Gold Saint. The moment is subtle and layered : Ikki first provokes Aphrodite into Unstoppable Rage by mocking him with his illusions, then pummeling him with his physical attacks to counter the Bloody Rose technique... Aphrodite seems to come back for more, but realizes to his horror that he just stabbed himself with his own roses! ...Because of the first illusion that messed with his body control.
  • Of note is a very strong Heroic Second Wind moment when Seiya, after having been in a depressive funk for most of the movie, finds his fighting spirit, gets up and takes out Saga again, proving He's Back!.
  • Directly followed up by another moment against Atlas, standing up again from the Despair Event Horizon after another Curb-Stomp Battle, this time surrounded by the warm glow of a golden Cosmo. The music goes from outright depressing as the last standing man falls, before lightening up, like an ode to undying hope. "Our bodies may be broken, but Cosmo is eternal", all right. If this was not before the Hades saga, Seiya would have had his own God Cloth at this very moment, but the shout of "BURN, MY COSMO!" and the Sagittarius Cloth coming to his aid, before being joined by Shiryu and Hyoga, and respectively the Libra Cloth and the Aquarius Cloth, all make for a very poignant moment. Seiya, Shiryu and Hyoga proceed to return the Curb-Stomp Battle favor with a lot of gusto.
  • When Seiya tries to match powers with Abel, being hit by his own attacks, yet powering through and coming back for more. Seiya is so fearless that Abel himself, an actual God with dominion over aspects of reality actually thinks This Cannot Be!: Seiya seems to be thinking he can overpower a God, and Abel himself ends up thinking that Seiya MIGHT just succeed!
  • The final moment of the fight where Seiya proceeds to unleash the Golden Arrow on Abel. He faces a lot of mixed emotions, and is visibly torn between confusion, anger, yet a desire to acknowledge Seiya for his valor. This last spark of emotion jolts him into deciding he has to put down Seiya for his hubris in trying to surpass him. Extra points for Seiya actually SUCCEEDING!
• For all its flaws, the Lucifer movie has some good and extremely fast-paced fights.
  • It also has a very unique moment where Seiya draws upon the power of every Gold Saint and Gold Cloth to channel the Sun, parting the clouds to launch an arrow at Lucifer to destroy him. Keep in mind this was BEFORE the Hades Chapter and the Wailing Wall scene.

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