SAINT SEIYA

Saint Seiya (聖闘士星矢, Seinto Seiya?), also known as Knights of the Zodiac, is a manga and anime series about a group of five mystical warriors called the "Saints" (or "Knights") who have adopted various constellations as their guardian symbols.
Body Armors

In Saint Seiya, most characters are warriors who wear different types of "cloth" (armor). The different cloths are fashioned by smiths working for the competing Gods, to be used by their own warriors to defend themselves or attempt to conquer the domain of other gods (more frequently, a god will attempt to seize the human world, which is the possession of Athena). Of note is the fact that none of the actual makers of cloth is ever depicted, although it is explained that Mū (and by inference, Shion and Kiki) are descendants of the tribe who forged Athena's Saints' cloth. It is said that only Mu is capable of repairing cloth.

Despite the fact that each type of cloth has different characteristics, these are usually ignored in the main story, and each receive a different name. However, the main attributes of all cloth are highly similar: they are stronger than normal cloth made of regular metals, and, if the wearer has awakened their cosmos, it serves to amplify the wearers' defense, several times over. Below, the main cloth types and their particulars:

Athena's Cloths
Characteristics: Athena's Cloths were fashioned by a lost tribe of smiths, and were actually the second group of Cloths created (as far as it is presently known). They were created to protect Athena's Saints in her first confrontation with Poseidon. Each of Athena's Cloth represents a constellation. Also, Athena represents justice and righteousness, and as such, if a Saint acts in a severely undignified manner, his Cloth will abandon him (as the Cancer Gold Cloth abandoned Deathmask due to his behavior).

Many Cloths lie "dead" in the "Cloth Cemetery" which is located in the mountains of Jamir. These dead Clothes were left there by perished Saints who wanted to reach the Aries Saint, Mu, so that he could repair their Cloths. The harsh journey before reaching Mu proved dangerous, or even fatal, for most Saints.

In the Saint Seiya universe, there are 88 Cloths, each representing one of the 88 constellations. They are divided into 3 categories, from the weakest to the strongest : 48 Bronze Cloths, 24 Silver Cloths, and 12 Gold Cloths. The databook named "Cosmo Special" explains that there are also 4 Cloths which are still unaccounted for. However, in the Episode G manga and on some action-figures packaging, it is said that there are 52 Bronze Cloths. The theory is that 4 cloths became god cloths, in according to Hypnos statement that there havn't been any since mythological times. Vol. 24 of the manga positions Seiya, Shiryu, Hyoga and Shun under the Argo Navis constellation, which may indicate that the 4 missing cloths are of the four Argo Navis constellations. Vela, Pyxis, Carina and Puppis. In the Saint Seiya Encyclopedia, it says that the Graad foundation started piecing together some of the Cloths from the "Cloth Graveyard". And thus we got to see the Bronze Sculptor cloth which owner has the duty of repairing cloths with. The Silver Cup(Crater) Cloth which owner has the duty of medic. And lastly the Silver Altar(Ara) Cloth, which owner has the duty of following the Pope around like a shadow and be his bodyguard.

• Bronze Cloths: Granted to the Bronze Saints, the lowest class of Athena's Saints. They are of various colors, and are the weakest in terms of protectiveness. They freeze at minus 150ºC. 12 bronze cloths have been confirmed with around 30 unconfirmed demised cloths.
• Silver Cloths: Granted to the Silver Saints, the middle class of Athena's Saints. They are usually very conservatively colored, appearing in tones of gray for the most part. Many Silver Cloths have similar designs when worn by the Saints. They freeze at minus 200ºC. 21 Silver cloths has been confirmed so far.
• Gold Cloths: Granted to the highest class of Athena's Saints, the 12 Gold Saints, said to be the most powerful warriors of all the Sanctuary. They represent the 12 Zodiac constellations. Distinctive features include the fact that they protect most of the body (unlike many Silver and most Bronze Cloths), and that they are practically indestructible, even when facing the power of a god (except when they were severely damaged or their energy drained). They freeze at absolute zero (−273.15 °C).
• God Cloths: The most powerful Cloths. They only appeared in the last chapters of the manga. They aren't commonly used by Saints, and appear only seldom and in certain conditions. In this particular case, they were Bronze Cloths, enhanced by a great amount of Athena's blood and Cosmo. Thus they became God Cloths, nearly as powerful as the armors of the gods (Kamui) themselves.

All cloths wear off as a result of battles, and must be repaired by a master smith like Mu (who is the only Cloth smith of his generation). It is possible for a Cloth to slowly restore itself, unless it "dies", that is, if it is completely destroyed or receives too much damage. If that happens, it is impossible to repair unless restored using a great amount of the Saint's blood. However Ikki's Phoenix Cloth can revive itself at a much greater rate, even if it has been reduced to dust (a power that comes from the Phoenix, a mythical bird that could revive from its own ashes).

A Cloth can evolve when the Saint's cosmo increases or under other circumstances. The Bronze Cloths of Seiya, Shun, Ikki, Shiryu and Hyoga were almost destroyed during the Sanctuary arc, but were revived with the blood of the Gold Saints still alive after the battles. However, these Bronze Cloths, due to the "golden" blood with which they were regenerated, acquired different characteristics, becoming as powerful as Gold Cloths, provided a better protection, and even exhibited the shine of a Gold Cloth when the wearer's Cosmo was increased. Indeed, during the Poseidon Saga, the 5 Bronze Cloths actually "became" Gold Cloths temporarily; this effect is seen again at the start of the Hades conflict in the Hades Chapter OVA. In the Hades arc, the Bronze Cloths became even more powerful upon receiving a drop of Athena's Blood (in the case of Pegasus and Cygnus, they spawned wings later on) and at the end of the story they became almost divine (named God Cloths), thanks to a great amount of Athena's blood and Cosmo.

Black Cloths
They are only found in the Death Queen Island. This island is what is left of the Mu continent. There were rebellious alchemists who decided to go against Athena by creating these Cloths, but since they were not skilled enough they could only manage to create copies of already existing Cloths. Saints who had received training and had obtained a saints strength, but misused it. They where sent to Death Queen Island where they would use the Black cloths. An unknown saint by the name of Guilty was sent to the island to create a barrier that would hold the black saints captive. The mask he wore was the seal of Death Queen Island, once broken, the Black Saints were freed from the Island.

Shadow Cloth
In the first Saint Seiya videogame to the NES, as a special boss you could meet a person in a Shadow Cloth. This special character was the result of a design contest held by Shûeisha among the fans (Not surprise, many of the official Cloths we see in the manga, such as Virgo and Aquarius, were designed by fans for contests the publisher used to hold).

Steel Cloths
Anime-only. The Sky Cloth, Sea Cloth and Land Cloth are three high-tecnology cloths made by a scientist (Dr. Asamori) of the Grado Foundation by order of Mitsumasa Kido. Even though these Cloths were not real so to speak, they were inspired by existing constellations. They and their owner vanished from the series when the Bronze Saints arrived at the Sanctuary at the beginning of the 12 Temples saga.

Odin's Robes
The God Robes represent the seven (or eight, to be more precise) stars of the Ursa Major constellation. They were created to protect Odin's legendary God Warriors. Each Robe also represents a mythological creature or object originating from Norse Mythology (such as the serpent of Midgard Jormungandr and Sleipnir, Odin's Horse). Some of the helmets have retractable parts.

Another characteristic of the God Robes is that each Robe has an Odin sapphire (except for Zeta Alcor). When Asgard is in need, the God Warriors can then take all seven sapphires and put them at the feet of Odin's statue, which then unlocks Odin's very own God Robe. Odin's Robe also comes with the Balmung sword.

Poseidon's Scales
Poseidon is the first god known to have created armors to protect his group of warriors, the Mariners. The Scales are made of Orichalcum, a rare metal which is said to have existed in the meteorite which sunk the lost city of Atlantis, which is now where Poseidon's Underwater Temple is located. The Scales are similar to the Gold Cloths, with a larger predominance of the color Orange, but are otherwise just as protective and imposing. But according to Seiya, who defeated Baian, these Scales are far from being as powerful as Gold Cloths. The Scales represent seven (or eight, if one is to include the non-Sea General Scales) mythological creatures, and it is said that the myths relating to those creatures actually originated from the Scales (within the Saint Seiya universe).

Hades' Surplices
Endlessly referred to by fans as "Sapuris", due to the Japanese pronunciation of the term, these are the protective armors created by Hades, God of the Underworld, to protect his warriors, the 108 Spectres. The common characteristic of the surplices is their highly ornate yet terrifying design, which is rather fitting considering who they were created for. The Surplices represent nightmarish creatures for the most part, or beings related to the Hades (such as the boatman, Charon). Besides these Surplices, nine more were created. One for Hypnos and Thanatos each (who are gods, not Spectres), one for Hades himself, and one each for the six revived Gold Saints: Capricorn Shura, Aquarius Camus, Gemini Saga, Pisces Aphrodite, Cancer Death Mask and Aries Shion (the later six are Surplice-like remakes of each Saint's original Cloth).

It must be noted that although the deceased Gold Saints joined Hades, their ultimate loyalty stayed true to Athena. They only accepted Hades' offer so that they could return from death and retrieve Athena's cloth, by using her own blood.

Titans's Somas
Seen only in the Episode G manga. To fight the tyrant god Uranos, Gaia gave to her 12 children a different weapon. These weapons had the ability to transform into very powerful armors called Soma (σώμα, "body" in Greek). As seen in the Episode G manga they are extremely strong, and almost impossible to break. During a battle between Gold Saint Leo Aiolia and one of the Titans, Hyperion of Ebony, after a direct attack by Aiolia the gold cloth was broken along with Aiolia's left arm. The Gold Saint needed a Miracle to damage the Titan's armor. The most notable of this weapons is the MEGAS DREPANON (Great Scythe), which belongs to the leader of the Titan Gods, Chronos, was the weapon that killed Uranos. The initial part of Episode G story revolves around this weapon.

Pontus's Ars Magna
Seen only in the Episode G manga, the Ars Magna (Latin for Great Art) is Pontus's armor. An armor shining like stars, with light emaning continuously from it, it seems even better than the Somas.

Giant's Adamas
Their armors are called Adamas, a Greek word that means "invincible". Adamas are made by precious minerals (opal, topaz, sapphire...) and thus have the respective colors. According to mythology (not cited in the two novels of Gigantomachia) every gem is characterized by a particular feature.
Note: the armor used by the Giants in the Episode G manga is unknown.

Olympian Gods's Kamui
Armors of the 12 Olympian gods. These are believed to be the most powerful of the armors. Not much is known about them and they never appeared in Saint Seiya. Each god depicted in the manga wore only the armor of his own conception (Athena wore her Cloth, Poseidon wore his Scale, and Hades wore his Surplice).