The Sailor Moon franchise: Queen Beryl. Beryl had a grudge against the Moon Princess that went all the way back to the original days of the Silver Millennium.
Queen Beryl appeared in many other adaptations of the Sailor Moon story. Fans know her character inside and out. There might still be a few things they can learn about her though if they’re not familiar with every version of her character.
Was Queen Beryl Always A Queen?
In the ancient days of the Moon Kingdom, Queen Beryl was simply known as Beryl. Of course, in the Sera Myu musicals, her character did claim to once be the “queen of Earth,” but that was likely just her boasting.
In the manga, and later the fleshed-out anime story in Sailor Moon Crystal, Beryl was a less extraordinary woman who fell in love with Prince Endymion. Some adaptations point to her as a low-level sorceress to begin with, while others refer to her as a “kind sage.” Either way, her anger at Prince Endymion falling in love with Princess Serenity caused her anger and hatred to grow, and opened the door for Metalia to corrupt her. It wasn’t until Metalia gave her power over others that Beryl became Queen Beryl.
What Does Her Name Mean?
Like many of the villains in the Sailor Moon franchise, Queen Beryl’s name is a reference to a type of mineral. Pure beryl is actually a clear hexagonal crystal. It was once used to make the lenses of glasses because glass itself couldn’t be made clear enough.
The most well known forms of beryl with color are actually aquamarine or emerald. Funnily enough, another well known form is morganite, which provided Beryl with her dubbed name, Morga, in the Swedish version of the anime. Its rarest form, however, has something in common with the Sailor Moon villain: it’s red, like her hair.
Was She From The Moon Kingdom?
Unlike Princess Serenity and the Sailor Guardians, Beryl wasn’t actually from the Moon Kingdom. Instead, she was from Earth like Prince Endymion.
In fact, part of her jealousy of the princess stemmed from the fact that she witnessed her and her Guardian companions travel to Earth to visit him. Travel between the Moon and Earth was, for some reason never revealed, strictly forbidden. Witnessing the princess on Earth was Beryl’s first hint that something was going on. Eventually, she became the leader of the forces on Earth who rebelled against the Moon Kingdom.
What Did Queen Beryl Have In Common With Sailor Pluto?
Though the Outer Guardians weren't feature in the first arc of the Sailor Moon franchise, they did interact a bit in the Sailor Moon musicals performed live in Japan. Sailor Pluto in particular had a lot of empathy for Queen Beryl.
When Queen Beryl was resurrected and used by Sailor Galaxia in a few of the different Sera Myu stories, Sailor Pluto tried to help her. They even shared a song together as Sailor Pluto pointed out that they were “the same.” While Beryl loved Prince Endymion in the past, Sailor Pluto loved the King Endymion she knew in the future, and neither could ever be with him.
How Did She Reincarnate In The Same Time Period As The Sailor Guardians?
The entire Sailor Moon franchise really kicked off because Minako Aino (Sailor V) and Usagi Tsukino (Sailor Moon) discovered they were the reincarnated forms of ancient beings. They weren’t the only ones.
It was Queen Serenity’s magic that allowed the Sailor Guardians and the princess to be reborn. It was also her magic, in the manga, that meant Beryl and Metalia weren’t gone for good. So distraught by the death of her daughter, when Queen Serenity tried to seal away the darkness of Metalia, the seal wasn’t fully intact, allowing some of her energy to awaken when the Sailor Guardians were reborn on Earth. Metalia then woke up the memories of the woman who was the reincarnated form of Beryl on Earth in much the same way Luna and Artemis woke up the Sailor Guardians.
What Surprising Character Did Queen Beryl Share A Voice With?
Fans of the ‘90s anime around the world saw a different version of the story with the many dubs and edits that existed. In Japan, however, the original version of the anime featured the voice work of Keiko Han as Queen Beryl. That’s not the only character Han played.
Han also provided the voice of Sailor Moon’s advisor Luna. The contrast between the higher tones of Luna and the deeper voice of Beryl might give some fans pause, but it is the same actress in the first season of the anime.
Until the very last episode of the first season of the classic anime, Keiko Han was not even credited as Queen Beryl, though.
Later, Keiko Han went on to play Luna in the live-action series.
How Was She Different In The Live-Action Series?
The manga, and by extension the anime, focused fully on the heroes of the story. As a result, the Sailor Guardians were fully developed, but some of the villains were not. The live action series Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon attempted to do both, giving the Inner Guardians and Queen Beryl their own storylines so fans could get to know their characters.
In the case of Queen Beryl, her love for Endymion was explored a bit more, as was her control over his former generals. Two of them even fell for her. The biggest difference for her, however, was that she got to interact with Usagi Tsukino more in the guise of her “shadow self,” Mio Kuroki. She got to experience life as a teenage idol and make Usagi miserable in a whole new way.
When Is Her Birthday?
Not every Sailor Moon fan would have been interested in this information, but if they were, Bandai decided to release it. Bandai created and released a line of Sailor Moon dolls in the United States. Some of the Sailor Guardians didn’t have the right names attached to them, but, in the case of Queen Beryl, her name was correct, and her doll came with a bit more information.
The packaging included that her favorite color was black and her favorite food was liver, as well as the information that her birthday was November 1. That would make her a Scorpio for those interested in Western astrology, a sign characterized by a ionate nature and staggering ambition.
What Does Queen Beryl Have In Common With A Marvel Queen?
Queen Beryl has an ability that wasn’t used very often in the franchise. Fans actually got a good look at it during the first season of Sailor Moon Crystal. She was able to use her prehensile hair to restrain the Sailor Guardians in battle.
This is one ability she has in common with the Marvel comic book character Medusa. Medusa has complete control over every individual cell in her hair, able to make it do anything she wants. Like Beryl, Medusa is also a queen. Of course, she’s the queen of the Inhumans in a base on the Moon, so Beryl probably wouldn’t like her very much.
Has The Franchise Ever Redeemed Her?
As the villain who appeared in the most parts of the franchise (manga, both anime, live action series, Sera Myu, and all of the games), Queen Beryl can often be thought of as the ultimate villain, even though she’s really just the first big bad Sailor Moon went up against. One aspect of the franchise did attempt to redeem her.
In addition to Sailor Pluto’s empathic response to her in the Sera Myu stage shows, Queen Beryl also made a surprising decision in them. Upon discovering that Sailor Galaxia just wanted to use Beryl and her followers and not allow them their own power, Beryl turned on Galaxia. She even sacrificed her own life to save Sailor Moon from Galaxia.
