TV-Series
Description
Queen Neherenia, also commonly rendered as Queen Nehelenia, is the principal antagonist of the Sailor Moon SuperS season and the ruler of the Dead Moon, directing the villainous organization known as the Dead Moon Circus. In the anime, she appears as a regal and striking figure with pale skin, pointed ears, and long dark wavy hair styled in twin buns and ponytails, dressed in an elaborate gown and cloak decorated with spiderweb patterns. Her backstory is defined by isolation. As a queen she was adored by her subjects, but she grew up without genuine friends or loved ones, and in the absence of meaningful connections she came to love only herself. When she asked an enchanted mirror to show her the future, she saw herself aged and withered, a revelation that shook her vanity and drove her to a consuming obsession with eternal youth and beauty.
Her personality is shaped by that obsession. She is proud, vain, and cold toward others, yet deeply fearful of aging and ugliness, and she maintains her youthful appearance by consuming the dreams of others. The people of her kingdom who lost their dreams were transformed into creatures called Lemures, and from them she built the Dead Moon Circus. She has little regard for the lives or dreams of her servants, whom she uses as tools in her search for the Golden Crystal. Beneath her composed and commanding exterior lies a profound loneliness, and this core of insecurity becomes central to her later development, as the Sailor Guardians ultimately offer her pity and forgiveness rather than simple destruction.
Her motivations in SuperS revolve around obtaining the Golden Crystal, which she believes rightfully belongs to her and which she needs to break free from the mirror in which she was sealed. The crystal is carried by Helios, a priest of Elysion who fled from her and took refuge in the dreams of Chibiusa in the form of Pegasus. To locate him, Neherenia works through Zirconia, her representative in the waking world, who commands the Amazon Trio and later the Amazoness Quartet to search the beautiful dreams of people in Tokyo for Pegasus and the Golden Dream Mirror. When she finally secures the crystal and escapes her mirror prison, she attempts to cast the world into darkness, but the Amazoness Quartet turn against her and restore the crystal to the Sailor Guardians. With the combined strength of the guardians and the dreams of the people of Earth, her spell is broken, her aged true form is exposed, and she is forced back into her mirror to recover. Her story continues in the following season, Sailor Moon Sailor Stars, where she is freed by Sailor Galaxia and becomes a threat once more, but is ultimately redeemed and reborn as a child, seen making her first genuine attempts to form friendships.
Her key relationships define the shape of the SuperS story. Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom is her opposite and the one who sealed her within the mirror, making Neherenia a dark mirror image of the benevolent queen of light. Helios is her desperate target, as his Golden Crystal holds the key to her freedom and immortality, and he opposes her from within Chibiusa's dreams. Chibiusa herself becomes central to the conflict because Pegasus resides in her dream mirror. Zirconia acts as her proxy and carries out her orders, while the Amazon Trio and the Amazoness Quartet serve as her field agents, with the Quartet eventually defying her. The Sailor Guardians, particularly Sailor Moon, are her primary adversaries, and in the continuation of her arc she also targets Mamoru, leaving him emotionally lifeless before her eventual change of heart.
Her notable abilities include powerful dark magic and the casting of curses, the capacity to drain and consume dreams, and the transformation of her subjects into Lemures. She can project dark energy in the form of waves and spiderlike threads, and she is highly resistant to most attacks. She has deep mastery over mirrors, allowing her to exist within a mirror dimension, to conceal and restore her youthful appearance, and to send out shards of her mirror that manifest as copies of herself to fight on her behalf. Her beauty itself serves as both her public identity and her disguise, masking the aged form beneath, and her command over dreams and nightmares gives her influence over the minds and hopes of others.
Her personality is shaped by that obsession. She is proud, vain, and cold toward others, yet deeply fearful of aging and ugliness, and she maintains her youthful appearance by consuming the dreams of others. The people of her kingdom who lost their dreams were transformed into creatures called Lemures, and from them she built the Dead Moon Circus. She has little regard for the lives or dreams of her servants, whom she uses as tools in her search for the Golden Crystal. Beneath her composed and commanding exterior lies a profound loneliness, and this core of insecurity becomes central to her later development, as the Sailor Guardians ultimately offer her pity and forgiveness rather than simple destruction.
Her motivations in SuperS revolve around obtaining the Golden Crystal, which she believes rightfully belongs to her and which she needs to break free from the mirror in which she was sealed. The crystal is carried by Helios, a priest of Elysion who fled from her and took refuge in the dreams of Chibiusa in the form of Pegasus. To locate him, Neherenia works through Zirconia, her representative in the waking world, who commands the Amazon Trio and later the Amazoness Quartet to search the beautiful dreams of people in Tokyo for Pegasus and the Golden Dream Mirror. When she finally secures the crystal and escapes her mirror prison, she attempts to cast the world into darkness, but the Amazoness Quartet turn against her and restore the crystal to the Sailor Guardians. With the combined strength of the guardians and the dreams of the people of Earth, her spell is broken, her aged true form is exposed, and she is forced back into her mirror to recover. Her story continues in the following season, Sailor Moon Sailor Stars, where she is freed by Sailor Galaxia and becomes a threat once more, but is ultimately redeemed and reborn as a child, seen making her first genuine attempts to form friendships.
Her key relationships define the shape of the SuperS story. Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom is her opposite and the one who sealed her within the mirror, making Neherenia a dark mirror image of the benevolent queen of light. Helios is her desperate target, as his Golden Crystal holds the key to her freedom and immortality, and he opposes her from within Chibiusa's dreams. Chibiusa herself becomes central to the conflict because Pegasus resides in her dream mirror. Zirconia acts as her proxy and carries out her orders, while the Amazon Trio and the Amazoness Quartet serve as her field agents, with the Quartet eventually defying her. The Sailor Guardians, particularly Sailor Moon, are her primary adversaries, and in the continuation of her arc she also targets Mamoru, leaving him emotionally lifeless before her eventual change of heart.
Her notable abilities include powerful dark magic and the casting of curses, the capacity to drain and consume dreams, and the transformation of her subjects into Lemures. She can project dark energy in the form of waves and spiderlike threads, and she is highly resistant to most attacks. She has deep mastery over mirrors, allowing her to exist within a mirror dimension, to conceal and restore her youthful appearance, and to send out shards of her mirror that manifest as copies of herself to fight on her behalf. Her beauty itself serves as both her public identity and her disguise, masking the aged form beneath, and her command over dreams and nightmares gives her influence over the minds and hopes of others.