Sailor Moon is a global phenomenon that pretty much everyone knows, from longtime fans of anime and manga to people who just have a casual knowledge of the Japanese entertainment industry. And as a late ’90s girl myself, I was not immune to the Sailor Senshi effect—I watched it religiously every afternoon coming home from school and the complete edition of the manga is one of the most cherished pieces of my collection.
All of this to say that it’s time I tackle the challenge of ranking every Sailor Senshi that ever appears in the manga. Just the manga—so every new character added by the anime, or the stage versions, or the videogames does not count for this list. I’ve decided to rank them by their powers, weakest to strongest, with a bit of my personal taste thrown in—let me know what your ranking is in the comments!
Tuxedo Mask
Yes, Tuxedo Mask isn’t a Sailor Senshi—Naoko Takeuchi herself has specified that only women can become Guardians. But Tuxedo Mask is the closest thing Earth has to a Sailor warrior since he acts as the planet’s protector and he also holds his very own version of Sailor Moon’s Silver Crystal (the Golden Crystal, to be specific), which gives him a set of personal attacks just like the other Sailor Senshis. So it makes sense to have him on this list, but it is also true that Tuxedo Mask doesn’t do that much throughout the story—as per one very famous meme, he appears, throws roses, sometimes gets kidnapped, and then disappears. This is why he can’t outrank any of the actual Sailor Senshis.
Sailor Quartet
The Asteroid Scouts—Sailor Vesta, Sailor Pallas, Sailor Ceres and Sailor Juno—had a different role in the anime, but in the manga, they are all Sailor Scouts whose original mission was to be ready for Sailor Chibi Moon to step into her own as a warrior and then serve as her team, so essentially becoming to Chibiusa what the Inner Senshis are for Usagi. Once the Dead Moon Circus is defeated and they can return to waiting for Sailor Chibi Moon to grow up they pretty much disappear from the story, which is also why they rank this low on the list—we don’t really get a chance to connect with them, or to see their full powers on display.
Sailor Starlights
The Sailor Starlights—made up of Sailor Star Fighter, Sailor Star Maker and Sailor Star Healer— come from a galaxy far beyond the Solar System, and their main mission on Earth is looking for their lost Princess-slash-leader of their Sailor Scout team. The Solar System Senshis don’t trust them at first, but when the threat of the Shadow Galactica empire grows closer they decide to fight Sailor Galaxia together. The Sailor Starlights fall into a trap, however, which will lead them to lose their star seeds and succumb to the evil forces of Galaxia’s minions.
Sailor Lethe & Sailor Mnemosyne
The twins Lethe and Mnemosyne appear in the final arc of the manga, where the Senshis have to battle Sailor Galaxia and her Shadow Galactica empire made up of other Sailor Scouts—Lethe and Mnemosyne, respectively the Guardian of Oblivion and the Guardian of Memory, joined Sailor Galaxia after the destruction of their twin homeworlds, which were always at war with each other. As Galaxia’s foot soldiers they eliminate Luna, Artemis and Diana and trap the Sailor Starlights during the final battle before they are stopped by Sailor Moon, who convinces them to turn their backs on Shadow Galactica. For their betrayal, they meet their demise at the hand of some other characters higher on this list.
Sailor Kakyuu
Kakyuu is the Sailor Scout of the fictional planet Kinmoku, located far beyond the Solar System and the homeworld of the Sailor Starlights—who arrive on Earth to search for her after getting separated during Galaxia’s destruction of Kinmoku. She transforms into Sailor Kakyuu during the final battle against Shadow Galactica, and while her attacks are strong enough to defeat one of Galaxia’s lieutenants she ends up being killed by the other (and then brought back at the end of the story, like all the other characters who were one way or the other eliminated by Galaxia).
Sailor Chibi Moon
Chibiusa is a polarising character in the fandom—she’s Usagi’s and Mamoru’s daughter from the future and still very much inexperienced, but her attitude can rub fans the wrong way (and sometimes she’s downright insufferable). Her powers as a Sailor Scout are still developing, and while her attacks are powerful she can’t always command them as well as she would want. But we know she has great potential—we saw it when she turned into Black Lady, her evil version, and she proved a real match for Sailor Moon and her Senshis.
Sailor Chi & Sailor Phi
Sailor Chi and Sailor Phi are the two most trusted of Sailor Galaxia’s servants—they guard her star seeds, which she collects from other Sailor Scouts she has defeated throughout the universe. Devoted and ruthless, Sailor Chi and Sailor Phi are responsible for the death of Princess Kakyuu, as well as those of Sailor Lethe and Sailor Mnemosyne, and they definitely rank as some of the toughest enemies that ever appeared on the pages of Sailor Moon.
Sailor Mercury
Ami has always been a much-beloved character by fans—including myself, a Blue Character Enthusiast since the very start. But I still have to place Sailor Mercury just shy of the top ten in a ranking based mostly on power, since her abilities are most often shown on the defense rather than the offence. That doesn’t mean that she isn’t a fundamental part of the Inner Senshis, since she’s the brain behind their operations and a great strategist.
Sailor Pluto
I debated for a while whether I should place Setsuna before or after Ami, and I went with the latter option just because of my belief that Outer Senshis are stronger as individual Scouts than their Inner counterparts—since they were posted all by themselves at the very edge of the Solar System. Then again, Sailor Pluto is an exception—she’s a “guardian” in the most literal sense of the word, guarding the Space-Time Door and being bound by it so that we rarely see her using her full power. So yes, she’s stronger than Ami as an Outer Senshi but she’s also more constricted by her role than the rest of the Inner Senshis ranked above her.
Sailor Mars
Iconic and beloved Rei Hino has a mastery of fire that allows her to cast some pretty powerful attacks. She’s definitely more of a fighter than a strategist, even though she has a deep spiritual insight that some of her companions lack, and we see her take action often in all versions of the Sailor Moon story, which is why she deserves a spot in the top ten—but not above Sailor Jupiter.
Sailor Jupiter
Sailor Jupiter’s powers over the Earth and lightning are those of an Inner Senshi, but hers have a more destructive effect than Sailor Mercury’s or Sailor Mars’s. Makoto also has physical strength on her side, and she’s also one of the few Scouts who defeats enemies on her own rather than “just” as a team, which is why she’s the highest-ranked apart from Sailor Venus and Sailor Moon herself.
Sailor Uranus
Sailor Uranus is a charming character, and both she and Sailor Neptune had a massive impact on me as I was growing up. In terms of power, I think she can be described as “the Sailor Jupiter of the Outer Senshis”—her powers are equally destructive, but Haruka has the upper hand on Makoto due to her being an Outer Senshi, for the same reasons Sailor Pluto has an edge over Sailor Mercury. And let’s not forget the abilities that Sailor Uranus receives from her talisman, the Space Sword.
Sailor Venus
The leader of the Inner Senshis, Sailor Venus is just shy of the top five—but that doesn’t mean she should be underestimated or devalued. The root of Minako’s powers is very similar to Usagi’s, which is fitting considering how it’s Venus who technically commands the Sailor Scouts to serve Princess Serenity and how she’s also the only one who had a whole crime-fighting history before her memories of the Silver Millennium were awakened.
Sailor Saturn
I hear you—Sailor Saturn has the power to end entire civilisations with a simple swing of her Silence Glaive, why isn’t she in the top spot? Throughout this list I’ve tried to rank the characters based on powers we see, and how consistent they are with those powers—so while Hotaru’s abilities as Sailor Saturn are incredible, they’re also reserved for extreme situations. She’s not a fighter in the same way most of the rest of the Inner and Outer Senshis are, which is why she is in the top five but not in the number one position.
Sailor Galaxia
Sailor Galaxia is, without a doubt, the most dangerous villain the Senshis had ever had to face—which is fitting, considering how the war against her Shadow Galactica is the arc that brings the manga to an end. Her powers are sustained by her own star seed as well as by those she steals from other Sailor Scouts throughout the universe—and her ability to remove said crystals is what makes her such a devastating villain. Do I like her? Not particularly. But is she a force to be reckoned with? Definitely.
Sailor Neptune
Michiru, my beloved. My favorite character, my icon, and one of my many queer awakenings throughout childhood. If this list was based solely on personal attachments she would probably take all three top positions, but I’m trying to be objective here—which is why I can say that objectively, Sailor Neptune is probably the strongest of all Outer Senshis, thanks to both her powers and the knowledge she receives from her talisman, the Deep Acqua Mirror.
Sailor Cosmos
We see Sailor Cosmos only once in the manga, but that one apparition is enough to realise that she’s the ultimate Sailor Senshi—and definitely the strongest one, since her future timeline she is endlessly battling the malignant entity Chaos to keep it from destroying the universe. But much like Sailor Saturn, we don’t see Sailor Cosmos use her powers consistently, and she appears in the manga as more of a figure for extraordinary times and measures—which is why she’s only second in this ranking.
Sailor Moon
How could the top spot not go to Sailor Moon herself? Usagi is an annoying character at times, but her heart is always in the right place and her growth as a warrior—throughout all the incarnations of Sailor Moon—is truly stunning to see. Ultimately, it’s always Sailor Moon who saves the situation with her strength and selflessness, which is why she deserves to be in the top spot.
(image: Kōdansha)
