Personality: As an ice saint it is necessary for Hyoga to keep a calm and cool demeanour. He strives for that calmness and emotional distance, to be as cold and unmoveable as the thousand year glaciers. …except under all that Hyoga is an emotional wreck. He has a tender, sentimental heart and honestly ends up more reckless than he should be but in the end that is also his greatest strength even if he tries to stifle it. It’s his love for his friends and his faith in them that drives him to the greatest heights.
Hyoga is someone who lives in the past, the past that is made up of all the loved ones that built him up to who he is now, all the loved ones that died so that he could grow. It’s their memory that encourages him when things seem hopeless (and sometimes Camus’ voice cutting through the barrier of death). That’s not to say that he doesn’t hold his living friends dear, he does and if not for them he probably wouldn’t do much in terms of living. But the guilt of being the one who survives (and the one who kills) often pushes him away from his comrades. At the start of the Hades arc Hyoga is shown in Siberia, lying against the ice, his love for the ones that have passed on as well as the guilt of having been the one that killed them leads him to isolate himself. It’s a kind of self-inflicted punishment (much like how he insists on keeping his right eye bandaged), because Hyoga is honestly someone who loves and needs to be around people.
In between fights when he’s shown with the other bronze saints it’s obvious that he thrives off of their presence. He laughs, he teases, he goes to the zoo, and generally acts like a normal teenager. Only his bronze saint comrades are capable of bringing that out in him because they know and understand that deep down they can never be normal teenagers. With other people Hyoga will most likely start off like he did early on in the series, cold, distant, a caricature of what his Master always taught him to be. In a sense he wouldn’t know how to be with normal people who weren’t involved in the Holy War and saints and gods. When Saori dismissed the five bronze saints Hyoga’s reaction is to head off back to Siberia, in fact all the saints end up isolating themselves in some way because they aren’t made for normal society. Hyoga just makes it more depressing and tries to not-quite-freeze himself to death.
This isn’t to say that Hyoga is a weak character because he isn’t, he’s the kind of person that gets up time and time again from the brink of death and keeps fighting even after being pitted against those dearest to him, keeps going even after being forced by circumstances to kill two of the most important people to him (three if you count Crystal Saint who was kind of retconned into non-existence in the Hades Arc). It’s just that Hyoga hasn’t frozen his heart and feelings, it’s not something that he’s capable of and through all the fighting and world saving he’s never had a chance to come to terms with their deaths. So he lives desperately in their memory and places them on pedestals flanking the shining image of his mother.
Did I mention he has a huge Oedipus complex? Well he does. He’s the only one out of all the saints in the series that is shown to have a concrete memory of either of his biological parents. Given that his mother stayed on a sinking ship while Hyoga was dragged away on one of the lifeboats he will never get over her loss. She is the starting point of his obsession with guilt and the past; the death of Camus and Isaac only build upon it. He wants to be someone that they can be proud of, someone worthy of their sacrifices. At the same time he knows that this clinging to the past is precisely what keeps him from really being all that he can be for them. He has the strength of body and of spirit but the fact that he never lets go of these emotions is no doubt the biggest disappointment. He knows that and even hates himself a little for this weakness but in some aspects he’s still growing and learning even if he’s already broken all the other boundaries placed upon him.
Strengths: Physical: As a Saint of Athena Hyoga is adept in harnessing the power of his Cosmo, it’s explained as the power of the big bang that sleeps within all matter. The ability to burn and explode at an atomic level, also to grow and expand. Most saints channel their Cosmo to break apart matter at an atomic level but Hyoga is an ice saint which means his specialization is not destruction but slowing and halting molecular motion, freezing matter. At the top of his game this means he can lower temperatures to the theoretic absolute zero.
Cosmo also gives him the ability to generally break the laws of physics. Strength, speed, and endurance are all rendered superhuman. In cases of extreme circumstances Saints are able to fight even if their five senses have been destroyed. Cosmo at its greatest limits grants access to the 7th and 8th sense which basically allows the individual to transcend death. Not that Hyoga is immortal, he is very capable of dying, it just takes a lot to kill him.
As a Saint Hyoga is also granted a Cloth (holy armor worn by Athena’s Saint) and the power/protection of the corresponding constellation. The cloth itself is somewhat sentient and is capable of repairing itself as long as it’s not damaged to the point of “death,” it has also evolved through a combination of the wearer’s will and by being enhanced by the power of other people’s blood (gold saints and then Athena). The Cygnus Cloth in its current state is capable of transforming into a God Cloth (basically going from sacred to outright divine) when Hyoga pushes his Cosmo to its limits. This is unlikely to happen without the world being in danger and a cheering squad of Camus/Isaac/his mother/Seiya/Saori/etc. breaking through time/space/death/etc. to urge him on.
* the cosmo thing kind of straddles physical and mental but I will include additional mental strengths *
Mental: Hyoga has a good solid mask of indifference and aloofness, this is a good thing because the nature of his abilities require an amount detachment to be effectively used. He is naturally calm (except when certain triggers are poked), early on in the series he tends to be the one to keep a cool head when Seiya panics with his hotblooded tendencies. He's someone that's capable of rationalising what needs to be done, whether he agrees with the actions emotionally or not. And even when he experiences violent shocks (such as when Ikki uses an illusion of his mother to attack his mind) he is able to pull himself together and hold it until it's safe to fall apart.
Another possible source of mental strength is that Hyoga is very aware of his own weaknesses. These don't sound like very good strengths...
Emotional: It's a bit difficult to define Hyoga's strength emotionally, they are as much his strenghts as they are his weaknesses. He's loyal and dedicated once someone wins him over and that dedication is capable of driving him to great heights. His greatest strength is that he can overcome his weaknesses while still remaining true to himself, something he proved to his mentor in the fight of the twelve temples. He's someone that's capable of compassion and kindness though he doesn't let that control all his actions.
Weaknesses: Physical: Honestly he doesn't have too many. Hyoga isn't invulnerable to pain or death he can just withstand a great deal more than the average human. At the end of the day he is truly still mortal and the amount of abuse his body has taken can't speak well for how he'll age. Saints have a tendency to die young though so he may never have to find out.
Mental: His indifference is a mask in the end and once someone gets past that he's quite fragile. He can be inflexible in spite of his logic and he has trouble discarding that same mask that gives him strength even when it might be better for him. His great respect for the teachings of his mentor leads him to be very fixed in his idea of what he should be like even after he proved himself to be equally strong in his own way. At times he can be extremely dependant on others (or the memory of them) for strength and remains unable to simply live as his own person. His mental strength only serve to hide his weaknesses, he is unable to see his own potential because of his reliance on what he was taught. He can't (stubbornly refuses to) see himself clearly and views himself instead through what he assumes would be his mentor's judgemental gaze.
Emotional: Has not gone through emotional puberty.
His very obvious and excessive attachment to his mother (and to a lesser degree Camus and Isaac) is something that can be easily exploited by those with bad intentions. He has a lot of emotional trauma starting from when he was forced to watch his mother remain on a sinking boat while he was rescued and everytime he has been forced to kill those dearest to him his feelings of guilt and impotence are magnified. A part of Hyoga doesn't really believe he deserves to be the one alive. He gets stuck in a state of self-hatred and ends up punishing himself by depriving himself of things he thrives off of. People, his comrades, laughter, friendship, these are things he treasures dearly but pulls himself away from more and more as the series goes on.
Because of his emotional issues Hyoga has the poential to be very easily manipulated in spite of all his logic and superficial calm. Press the right buttons and it would be extremely easy to make him dance into his own death.
Cygnus Hyoga | Saint Seiya
Hyoga is someone who lives in the past, the past that is made up of all the loved ones that built him up to who he is now, all the loved ones that died so that he could grow. It’s their memory that encourages him when things seem hopeless (and sometimes Camus’ voice cutting through the barrier of death). That’s not to say that he doesn’t hold his living friends dear, he does and if not for them he probably wouldn’t do much in terms of living. But the guilt of being the one who survives (and the one who kills) often pushes him away from his comrades. At the start of the Hades arc Hyoga is shown in Siberia, lying against the ice, his love for the ones that have passed on as well as the guilt of having been the one that killed them leads him to isolate himself. It’s a kind of self-inflicted punishment (much like how he insists on keeping his right eye bandaged), because Hyoga is honestly someone who loves and needs to be around people.
In between fights when he’s shown with the other bronze saints it’s obvious that he thrives off of their presence. He laughs, he teases, he goes to the zoo, and generally acts like a normal teenager. Only his bronze saint comrades are capable of bringing that out in him because they know and understand that deep down they can never be normal teenagers. With other people Hyoga will most likely start off like he did early on in the series, cold, distant, a caricature of what his Master always taught him to be. In a sense he wouldn’t know how to be with normal people who weren’t involved in the Holy War and saints and gods. When Saori dismissed the five bronze saints Hyoga’s reaction is to head off back to Siberia, in fact all the saints end up isolating themselves in some way because they aren’t made for normal society. Hyoga just makes it more depressing and tries to not-quite-freeze himself to death.
This isn’t to say that Hyoga is a weak character because he isn’t, he’s the kind of person that gets up time and time again from the brink of death and keeps fighting even after being pitted against those dearest to him, keeps going even after being forced by circumstances to kill two of the most important people to him (three if you count Crystal Saint who was kind of retconned into non-existence in the Hades Arc). It’s just that Hyoga hasn’t frozen his heart and feelings, it’s not something that he’s capable of and through all the fighting and world saving he’s never had a chance to come to terms with their deaths. So he lives desperately in their memory and places them on pedestals flanking the shining image of his mother.
Did I mention he has a huge Oedipus complex? Well he does. He’s the only one out of all the saints in the series that is shown to have a concrete memory of either of his biological parents. Given that his mother stayed on a sinking ship while Hyoga was dragged away on one of the lifeboats he will never get over her loss. She is the starting point of his obsession with guilt and the past; the death of Camus and Isaac only build upon it. He wants to be someone that they can be proud of, someone worthy of their sacrifices. At the same time he knows that this clinging to the past is precisely what keeps him from really being all that he can be for them. He has the strength of body and of spirit but the fact that he never lets go of these emotions is no doubt the biggest disappointment. He knows that and even hates himself a little for this weakness but in some aspects he’s still growing and learning even if he’s already broken all the other boundaries placed upon him.
Strengths:
Physical: As a Saint of Athena Hyoga is adept in harnessing the power of his Cosmo, it’s explained as the power of the big bang that sleeps within all matter. The ability to burn and explode at an atomic level, also to grow and expand. Most saints channel their Cosmo to break apart matter at an atomic level but Hyoga is an ice saint which means his specialization is not destruction but slowing and halting molecular motion, freezing matter. At the top of his game this means he can lower temperatures to the theoretic absolute zero.
Cosmo also gives him the ability to generally break the laws of physics. Strength, speed, and endurance are all rendered superhuman. In cases of extreme circumstances Saints are able to fight even if their five senses have been destroyed. Cosmo at its greatest limits grants access to the 7th and 8th sense which basically allows the individual to transcend death. Not that Hyoga is immortal, he is very capable of dying, it just takes a lot to kill him.
As a Saint Hyoga is also granted a Cloth (holy armor worn by Athena’s Saint) and the power/protection of the corresponding constellation. The cloth itself is somewhat sentient and is capable of repairing itself as long as it’s not damaged to the point of “death,” it has also evolved through a combination of the wearer’s will and by being enhanced by the power of other people’s blood (gold saints and then Athena). The Cygnus Cloth in its current state is capable of transforming into a God Cloth (basically going from sacred to outright divine) when Hyoga pushes his Cosmo to its limits. This is unlikely to happen without the world being in danger and a cheering squad of Camus/Isaac/his mother/Seiya/Saori/etc. breaking through time/space/death/etc. to urge him on.
* the cosmo thing kind of straddles physical and mental but I will include additional mental strengths *
Mental:
Hyoga has a good solid mask of indifference and aloofness, this is a good thing because the nature of his abilities require an amount detachment to be effectively used. He is naturally calm (except when certain triggers are poked), early on in the series he tends to be the one to keep a cool head when Seiya panics with his hotblooded tendencies. He's someone that's capable of rationalising what needs to be done, whether he agrees with the actions emotionally or not. And even when he experiences violent shocks (such as when Ikki uses an illusion of his mother to attack his mind) he is able to pull himself together and hold it until it's safe to fall apart.
Another possible source of mental strength is that Hyoga is very aware of his own weaknesses.
These don't sound like very good strengths...Emotional: It's a bit difficult to define Hyoga's strength emotionally, they are as much his strenghts as they are his weaknesses. He's loyal and dedicated once someone wins him over and that dedication is capable of driving him to great heights. His greatest strength is that he can overcome his weaknesses while still remaining true to himself, something he proved to his mentor in the fight of the twelve temples. He's someone that's capable of compassion and kindness though he doesn't let that control all his actions.
Weaknesses:
Physical:
Honestly he doesn't have too many. Hyoga isn't invulnerable to pain or death he can just withstand a great deal more than the average human. At the end of the day he is truly still mortal and the amount of abuse his body has taken can't speak well for how he'll age. Saints have a tendency to die young though so he may never have to find out.
Mental:
His indifference is a mask in the end and once someone gets past that he's quite fragile. He can be inflexible in spite of his logic and he has trouble discarding that same mask that gives him strength even when it might be better for him. His great respect for the teachings of his mentor leads him to be very fixed in his idea of what he should be like even after he proved himself to be equally strong in his own way. At times he can be extremely dependant on others (or the memory of them) for strength and remains unable to simply live as his own person. His mental strength only serve to hide his weaknesses, he is unable to see his own potential because of his reliance on what he was taught. He can't (stubbornly refuses to) see himself clearly and views himself instead through what he assumes would be his mentor's judgemental gaze.
Emotional:
Has not gone through emotional puberty.His very obvious and excessive attachment to his mother (and to a lesser degree Camus and Isaac) is something that can be easily exploited by those with bad intentions. He has a lot of emotional trauma starting from when he was forced to watch his mother remain on a sinking boat while he was rescued and everytime he has been forced to kill those dearest to him his feelings of guilt and impotence are magnified. A part of Hyoga doesn't really believe he deserves to be the one alive. He gets stuck in a state of self-hatred and ends up punishing himself by depriving himself of things he thrives off of. People, his comrades, laughter, friendship, these are things he treasures dearly but pulls himself away from more and more as the series goes on.
Because of his emotional issues Hyoga has the poential to be very easily manipulated in spite of all his logic and superficial calm. Press the right buttons and it would be extremely easy to make him dance into his own death.