Shaina of Ophiucus

The Life of a Female Saint

The Strongest Silver Amazon

Shaina is a trainer of Cassios, a fifteen year old competing against Seiya for the Pegasus cloth in Greece. After he was beaten by Seiya, Shaina fought and threatened to kill Seiya. After a lengthy battle, the Pegasus Saint shattered her mask, only to find that beneath it, Shaina concealed a striking beauty that seemed unthinkable for a person with her temper. Seiya praised her beauty and spared her, as he didn't wish to fight a woman, which only fueled Shaina's confusion and hatred, making her one of Seiya's most dangerous enemies. The reason of Shaina's wearing a mask resided in a tradition practiced for centuries: As the world of Saints was forbidden by Athena to women, the only way for them to become one was abandoning their feminity, thus their mask become a symbol of their decision. For female Saints, it was preferable to be seen naked than without their masks, by men. If their face was seen by a man, their choices were to either kill him or fall in love with him.

Sanctuary Arc

Shaina stays in the Sanctuary training to take revenge and when when the Pope changes his personality he has a free way to start his revenge with Marin.

Marin accepts a training match against Shaina in the Colosseum.

Shaina does not miss her chance and starts fighting aggressively by testing the speed and resistance of Marin who manages to dodge but quickly tires and is forced to retreat. Marin complains because he thought this was a spar but Shaina teases her. Shaina uses a faster attack like her Thunder Claw to knock out Marin.

Shaina continues to dominate the fight trying to make Marin suffer as much as possible and continues to hit Marin until with a kick in the head leaves her completely stunned, then Shaina begins to use punches, the beating is too much for Marin and soon she begins to bleed , but Aiolia interrupts the fight by saving Marin. Shaina leaves angry.

Some time later during the same arc, after seeking a last duel with Seiya and being refused, Shaina's emotions overcame her and she hurled herself at the attack that Leo Aiolia unleashed in order to protect Seiya and tell him how she felt she had to love him. Seiya was very shocked at the revelation, and seeing Shaina injured for him gave him the courage to face Aiolia.

During the last parts of the 'Sanctuary' arc, Shaina was in recovery from her injuries, which upset Cassios. She later mourns the loss of Cassios and helps Seiya and Eagle Marin to break free from Pisces Aphrodite's poisonous roses.

Poseidon' Arc

Libra Roushi had sent Ophiuchus Shaina and Aries Mu's apprentice Kiki to the scene, carrying the mighty Libra Gold Cloth. Wielding one of the twelve weapons of the Libra Cloth each, the Saints were able to demolish the Pillars as if they were merely glass. Mermaid Thetis tried to block the way, fighting briefly with Kiki, and then she had to engage Ophiuchus Shaina in battle, so Kiki could escape, since there was no time to waste. Thetis met her defeat at Shaina's hands.

Shaina challenges Poseidon, but she is defeated.

Seiya appears and helps Shaina . Seiya was wearing the Sagittarius Cloth and shot the golden arrow, but Poseidon reflected it back, thus injuring him. He tried again, but the same effect occurred, which resulted in Shaina protecting him.

Hades' Arc

Shaina has been promoted to the position of Captain of the Guard of Sanctuary, and is held in great respect by all the surviving Bronze Saints. Her relationship with Seiya is now one of comradeship and respect. She leads the Bronze Saints who did not go to the Underworld, in the protection of Sanctuary. She discovered , first of all, the invasion route of the enemy.

During Seiya's fight with Thanatos, Thanatos showed Seiya where his real sister was, and as Thanantos was trying to kill Seika to mock Seiya's human weakness, Shaina, along with Marin, Kiki and the Bronze Saints, jumped in and protected Seika with their gathered power.

Next Dimension

Shaina and Marin appears before Hyoga, offering to protect Seiya Hyoga with Marín so he can join Athena and the other in the past. This leaves two silver saints to protect Seiya vs an angel. Her cloth appears to have been repaired (repair itself probable), and the damage it had in the Hades arc.

In Chapter 54, it was revealed by Virgo Shijima that there was a myth/legend of a 13th Gold Saint. The Ophiuchus Gold Saint who will bring the end of Sanctuary. In the Present Shaina seems to get possed by some means and journeys to the mid-point between the House of Scorpio and Saggitarius where she discovered ruins of a 13th House of the Zodiac. Marin, who had become worried about Shaina's bizzare behvaior followed her and was astonsihed to see the myths/legends of the cursed 13th house of the Zodiac were true. Shaina in her trance like states that not only the end of Sanctuary is coming but the end of Earth as well.

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Secret Moves

As a Silver Saint, Shaina possesses advanced mastery of the Cosmo, which grants her abilities that are far superior to those of Bronze Saints, including tremendous superhuman physical strength, and the ability of attaining speed of movement that ranges from mach 2 to 5.

Her signature technique is Thunder Claw. It is a fast strike that shocks the opponent as if it was made of lightning, appearing to be an electric cobra wrapping around the foe. The receiver of the technique is overwhelmed by the strength of the blows.

Anime Portrayal

Her story in anime version is much like the manga one, but with slight modifications. Shaina fought many times against Seiya .

Shaina first met the Pegasus Saint when they were both very young. Few after Seiya's arrival, after training during one afternoon, Shaina saw a rabbit and took her mask off because the little animal was scared and she didn't want to terrorize it more. She heard the footsteps of the young Seiya, who was still a trainee; she took a defensive stance, but reeled back since she was wounded from her previous training. Upon seeing the wound, Seiya ripped a piece of his tunic and tended to it, which left Shaina flushing. When she protested, he lectured her for not taking care of herself and insisted into helping her. Though Seiya didn't seem aware of it, it had long been a law in Sanctuary that female Saints were to cover their feminine faces with masks; should a man see a female Saint's face, she would have two choices: love him, or kill him.

She also appears in the anime only Asgard saga to help the saints. Shaina saves Shun , but she is beaten by Alcor Zeta Bud. Receives a direct blow of Dube Alpha Siegfried , protecting Seiya .

In Poseidon' Arc, Shaina is the only one who is sent with Libra Cloth, and when she met Tethis, she entrusts Kiki with the Libra Cloth in order to carry it to the Mammoth Pillars so the Saints can shatter them.

In Hades' Arc, she tries to stop Hyoga Cygnus and Andromeda Shun from entering the Sanctuary , but then realizes the importance of the Bronze Saints and allows both to pass.

Episode G

She is seen fighting a sabertooth tiger that had been resurrected with the release of Kronos and protecting a group of researchers alongside Lynx Retsu in the middle of an Egyptian jungle.

Saint Seiya Omega Ω

She has a large participation in the first episode. Shaina has been serving as Saori’s protector along with Tatsumi. Shaina also is Kouga’s mentor. Her armor had some modifications.

Ophiuchus Silver Cloth

Shaina's cloth is the Silver Cloth of Ophiuchus which represents the constellation Ophiuchus (the snake bearer). It is depicted as half a person with a cape, holding a cobra. The anime version doesn't differ greatly, except that the head piece has been simplified and the pelvis armor have been removed.

What is interesting to note is, though the constellation Ophiuchus is in the path of the Sun during Earth's rotation, and rests between the constellations Scorpius and Sagittarius, the cloth and story behind it are not as profound as the 12 Gold Saints, whose cloths are based on the constellations that the Sun crosses over.

Ophiuchus and the zodiac

Ophiuchus is one of thirteen constellations that cross the ecliptic. It has therefore been called the '13th sign of the zodiac'. However, this confuses sign with constellation. The signs of the zodiac are a twelve-fold division of the ecliptic, so that each sign spans 30° of celestial longitude, approximately the distance the Sun travels in a month, and (in the Western tradition) are aligned with the seasons so that the March equinox falls on the boundary between Aries and Pisces. Constellations, on the other hand, are unequal in size and are based on the positions of the stars. The constellations of the zodiac have only a loose association with the signs of the zodiac, and do not in general coincide with them. In Western astrology the constellation of Aquarius, for example, largely corresponds to the sign of Pisces. Similarly, the constellation of Ophiuchus occupies most of the sign of Sagittarius.

Notes

• Seiya and Shaina's voice actors, Tohru Furuya and Mami Koyama, were married

• Along with Marin, Shaina is the first Silver Saint Masami Kurumada introduced in his manga, though he didn't reveal their rank until after the introduction of Lizard Misty.

Video Games

Shaina appeared in several games. Many as playable character , and in others , only serving as a supporting character . The most relevant are : Saint Seiya: The Sanctuary and Saint Seiya: The Hades for PlayStation 2.

In Saint Seiya: The Sanctuary exist an extra chapter that appears once you clear the main game with 80%+ of it unlocked; a new Palace / Temple appears between Scorpio and Sagittarius, featuring Shaina wearing a Golden version of her cloth.

She's a playable character in the new game for PS3, Saint Seiya: Brave Soldiers.