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She is joked to be the Boba Fett of the series: rarely seen, but extremely popular.
She lives with her demon-possessed father, while her mother is deceased. Hotaru is known for her extreme shyness, and weak constitution. She is technically the second youngest Senshi, although due to the bizarre nature of her body to age abnormally, her 'physical' age fluctuates at times.
Adding to the mystery, her violet-clad, Sailor Saturn persona is also rarely seen in the series, and she possesses few attack powers. Saturn's most fearful power is the destruction she can bring by using her Silence Glaive (an unusual polearm which is actually neither glaive nor scythe; fans have playfully, but rather accurately, described it as a giant, slender can opener). The official Japanese anime and manga sources state that she can destroy the world. In the manga, when she brought down her Silence Glaive long ago, the Silver Millennium went into oblivion. Later in the manga, she brings down her weapon and her power affects the world (we see a picture of Earth being affected afterward and someone actually says "the world... is ending"). For a time the "Outer Senshi" are somewhat aware of her reawakening, and consequently make it part of their mission to 'deal' with her, causing the initial friction between them and the "Sailor Scouts" a.k.a. the "Sailor Team". In the manga, the threat of Saturn actually doing damage is more overtly implied.
Athough much more cheerful later, Hotaru herself dresses nearly always in black and much art of her features a superficial western loligoth style, although this is more for aesthetics than anything else. She also enjoys poetry and collecting lamps ("hotaru" means firefly in Japanese). Hotaru has almost no fan detractors, though ironically her best friend is ChibiUsa, one of the most disliked charcters in the show's American fandom.
In the Mixx (now TokyoPop) manga, she was once named Jenny; Mixx later admitted this was a mistake and changed her name back to "Hotaru".
Hotaru's father, Professor Tomoe, is malevolent. She was involved in a lab accident, and her father reconstructed her body as a cyborg. This is the in-plot explanation of why she wears black (to cover her skin).
Hotaru's father, portrayed more sympathetically, is possessed by a demon in exchange for Hotaru's life. A 'normal' Hotaru is featured heavily in the third series, and later in the final fifth series. Changes in her father's character create a logical plothole in the anime when she lives with the Outer Senshi.
In Sailor Moon's copious yuri fanfiction, she is paired almost exclusively with ChibiUsa, usually diluting the latter character's somewhat poor image among fans.
| Sailor Moon Characters | |
|---|---|
| Protagonists | Tsukino Usagi | Mizuno Ami | Hino Rei | Kino Makoto | Aino Minako | Meio Setsuna | Kaio Michiru | Ten'o Haruka | Tomoe Hotaru |
| Chiba Mamoru | ChibiUsa | Chibi Chibi | Sailor Starlights | Princess Kakyu | Luna | Artemis | Diana | Queen Serenity | |
| Villains | "Dark Kingdom" (Classic / Live action): Metallia | Queen Beryl | Jadeite | Nephrite | Zoisite | Kunzite |
| R villains: Al | En | "Black Moon Clan": Death Fantom | Demand | Saphir | Esmeraude | Rubeus | Koan | Berthier | Calaveras | Petz | |
| "Death Busters" (S): Pharaoh 90 | Mistress 9 | Professor Tomoe | Germatoid | Kaolinite | Eudial | Mimete | Tellu | Viluy | Cyprine | Ptilol | |
| "Dead Moon Circus" (SuperS): Nehellenia | Zirconia | Zircon | Tiger's Eye | Fish Eye | Hawk's Eye | CereCere | PallaPalla | JunJun | VesVes | |
| "Shadow Galactica" (Stars): Chaos | Sailor Galaxia | Iron Mouse | Aluminum Siren | Lead Crow | Tin Nyanko | |
| Others | Tsukino Shingo | Tsukino Ikuko | Tsukino Kenji | Osaka Naru | Umino Gurio | Sakurada Haruna | Furuhata Motoki | Furuhata Unazuki | Kumada Yuichiro |