Cardinal King is a Sailor Moon Alternate Universe Fic, in which the Senshi were corrupted at the end of the Silver Millennium instead of the Shitennou.
It can be found on AO3
and Fanfiction.net.
Cardinal King contains examples of.
- Adaptational Heroism: Beryl and the Shitennou are some of the main protagonists.
- Adaptational Villainy: The four Inner Senshi fill the roles of the Shitennou from the main canon. Queen Serenity is the Big Bad.
- Affectionate Nickname: Pluto refers to Mamorin as "Little Lord".
- All There in the Manual: The one-shots explain most of the plot points not present in the main story.
- Alternate Continuity: One of the one shots is an early draft of chapter 13.
- Ascended Extra: The Doom and Gloom Girls were simply a set of slightly tougher Monster of the Week in the anime. Here, they become the the Quirky Miniboss Squad for Arc 2.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Dark Kingdom has been deposed, Diana is dead, the Senshi have returned to their normal lives, and Usagi now has the Silver Crystal, but Queen Serenity is still out there and the Jewel Tiara powers have been lost for good.
- Body to Jewel: The fate of a defeated Senshi is to be reverted to a Sailor Crystal upon death. Jewel Tiara is collecting the crystals for an unknown purpose.
- Cute Kitten: Gaea of Mau, Mamorin's guardian.
- Curtains Match the Windows: Mamorin has red hair and red eyes.
- Death by Adaptation: Luna and Artemis died years ago, surviving as holograms in the present.
- Dragon-in-Chief: Diana, the Moon Kingdom's mistress of war.
- Dramatic Irony: Everyone assumes that Princess Serenity wasn't reincarnated like the others. Anyone familiar with Sailor Moon will know otherwise.
- In-Universe example. Sailor Jupiter notes that Nephrite finishes her off the same way he did 1000 years ago.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Just because a formerly peaceful empire goes to war and starts to attack innocents, doesn’t mean everyone is onboard with the idea, as Sailor Venus demonstrates in her focus chapter.
- Family-Unfriendly Death: Sailor Jupiter has her ribcage crushed by rocks.
- In Spite of a Nail: Most of the events occur virtually identical to how they do in the manga, albeit with a Gender Flip.
- Irony: Helios says that the Senshi would never betray their Queen. That is how the day is saved at the end of the first arc.
- It Amused Me: Diana started the whole conflict between the two kingdoms because she was bored.
- Kid from the Future: Mamorin, the fic’s equivalent to Chibi-Usa.
- Locked Out of the Loop: After finding out that Mamoru is the Prince, everyone tries to keep it a secret from him.
- Mentor Mascot: Helios disguises as a plush toy to talk to Mamoru.
- Mysterious Protector: In keeping with the Swapped Roles premise, Usagi as Jewel Tiara is the counterpart to Mamoru as Tuxedo Mask.
- Mythology Gag: Despite being based on the manga, there are some similarities with the anime. Examples include:
- Shingo is afraid of cats.
- The counterpart to Chibi-Usa being called Mamo-Rin may be a reference to the original character being called Rini in the English dub.
- Neprite's reincarnated self, Nero Midori, having grown up in Canada may be one to Sailor Moon: Another Story.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Sailor Venus' taunts lead Mamoru to unlock his powers and memories from his past life.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Averted. The Heavenly Kings all wear masks in their superhero forms and Jewel Tiara wears a scarf over her mouth. Played straight with the Senshi, despite three of them being a senator's daughter, a missing orphan and a local genius.
- Shout-Out: Usagi's favourite movie is Kiki's Delivery Service.
- Khalid (Kunzite) is compared to Indiana Jones.
- Token Good Teammate: Sailor Venus appears to be this for the Dark Kingdom, being the only one to believe that Princess Serenity is still alive and that the Prince isn't the monster he's been made out as. Unfortunately, Diana just removes her sanity, reducing her to a mad destroyer
- Wham Line: For those unfamiliar with the franchise. Aimed at Mamoru.Venus:Is your love so fickle, my Prince?
- What the Hell, Hero?: Mamoru calls the other Heavenly Kings out for not telling him he was the Prince, despite knowing for a while.
- Downplayed, but Venus calls out the Prince for being with
someone other than Princess Serenity.
- Downplayed, but Venus calls out the Prince for being with
