--- The Eternal Lost Lurker, on 2005-08-05 10:34, wrote:
"That sounds like either an amalgamation of the various
traditional sets, or a standard videogame RPG set," Nabiki
observed.
Nah...it's missing Ice and Thunder for that...(yes, Ice and Water
are separate elements in most RPG sets...well, in Squaresoft
lore, anyway...do NOT ask me why...@_@)
Influence of the I-Ching, no doubt.
It's possible to bastardize three of the eight I-Ching trigrams
to come up with something which closely resembles, or exactly
matches, many of the eight element systems found in some RPGs:
Heaven ~> Light/Holy
Swamp ~> Dark/Shadow/Evil
Fire => Fire
Thunder => Thunder/Lightning
Wind => Wind/Air
Water => Water
Mountain ~> Ice
Earth => Earth
I'm still wondering why Sailor Moon has two Water senshi when none
of the others repeat... <.<;;
Sailor Mercury is more Ice elemental, and also embodies fresh water.
Sailor Neptune has no ice-based attacks, and embodies sea water.
It STILL doesn't make sense, but there you have it.
Actually....
The Sailor Senshi borrow their names from various celestial bodies,
which in turn borrow their names from Roman mythology, while their
respective powers mostly originate from the Chinese elements and
Roman mythology, usually in the order of Chinese -> Roman -> blend.
Occasionally, neither was helpful for suggesting a power set for a
magical girl and/or Takeuchi-san ran out of Chinese elements, so
she improvised (i.e. pulled additional ideas from the celestial
characteristics of the bodies in question, the Zodiacs, Yin and
Yang, and finally just pulled some shit out of thin air).
Here are two very simple breakdowns of Sailors Mercury and Neptune's
power origins:
Sailor Mercury: Mercury is the planet associated with the Chinese
element of Water, which is itself associated with the season of
Winter. Result: Water & Ice powers.
Sailor Neptune: Neptune is the planet associated with the Roman
god of the sea. Result: Sea/Ocean powers.
That's why Mercury (elemental Water) and Neptune (sea/ocean) both
have water based powers.
As a side note, the complete set of senshi based, in part or whole,
on the Chinese elements are:
Sailor Mercury (Chinese)
Sailor Venus (Roman w/ a pinch of Chinese flavor)
Sailor Mars (Chinese)
Sailor Jupiter (Roman w/ a splash Chinese flavor)
Sailor Saturn (Chinese)