If one reads enough Sailor Moon fanfics (including crossovers where the SM setting is technically secondary to another setting), they'd notice that a good number of fans perceive the Silver Millennium as being comprised of several realms alongside the Moon Kingdom -- namely, each of the other eight planets, from Mercury to Pluto, has its own nation. Typically, the culture of each planet's nation is conveniently matched up to the personality of its modern-day Sailor Senshi (Mercury is the scientific "capital" of the Silver Millennium, Venus is all about love and beauty, etc.). That said, in all of my reading the concept is only superficially touched upon, with nobody I know of having tried to do any serious world-building.

So, assuming that there were indeed separate nations on each of the Solar System's planets besides Earth (and the Moon)... What do you guys think their respective cultures could be like, whether or not they match up with their respective Sailor Senshi's personalities?

I'm not sure I understand. Are you asking if the cultures were different planet to planet, or that there were differing cultures on every planet themselves?

I would think so, do you have any examples?

I agree simply because if there weren't different cultures, there'd be little differences period and I'm sure there were disagreements on each planet because of these differences just like on Earth today.

I imagine the differences would be celebrated more on the moon since it's known as multi cultural and it seemed to be a good thing and accepted but on Earth, not so much. Makes me wonder about the other planets actually.

What's your take on it?

Hard to tell, really. I mean it would depend on how the planets topography is for starters. I can't answer this question without pulling other elements from other sci-fi shows like star trek or star wars. Would they even have human forms? I mean, to have a civilization there would have to be laws and currency, as well as a government. The many aspects of what the cultures on other planets is just too vast since we have so little to work on.

If the planets kept the topography as they have in real life, it's be a bit easier to tackle what environmental dangers each group would have to combat with in daily life, but again, that's not very sailor moon like, that's more of something from star wars. In the cannon of sailor moon, at least with the moon-the planets are capable of sustaining life.

This question is gonna give my imagination a work out, that's for sure.

I personally don't subscribe to the Silver Millennium senshi having the same personalities as the ones we see in present day, since Japanese culture would be so radically different to whatever they reincarnated from, but I do see that past life culture subtly affecting them in present day. So yeah, I can see Mercury as being a technological planet, but their entire way of life probably required all that technology to survive so close to the sun, so it's very important to them. 

Ami might have been drawn to technology and learning because of that heavy reliance in the past, but it doesn't mean she's a carbon copy. I don't really see any of the Silver Millennium girls as having the same confidence issues, as one example, or the exact same hobbies.

I did explore this topic in a small set of fanfiction pieces I'm working on though, but I'm still fleshing out a lot of the minor cultural details. I'd be happy to share what I have so far if anyone is interested though. ^^

Luna Love wrote:

I'm not sure I understand. Are you asking if the cultures were different planet to planet, or that there were differing cultures on every planet themselves?

No, I'm first assuming that there each planet had a different culture from the other planets (as per the trend in Sailor Moon fics that bother with exploring the Silver Millennium civilization), and then asking what would your take(s) on the difference would be like.

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What's your take on it?

It's still a work in progress, actually.

Cosmos-Hime wrote:

Would they even have human forms?

Well, given that not only the Lunarian Queen and Princess Serenity were indistinguishable from Terran humans, but so were the Sailor Senshi of that time (both the quartet bodyguard of the Princess and the Outer Planets' Senshi), I'd say that the answer is a 100% "yes" to this question.

JupiterThunderCrash wrote:

I personally don't subscribe to the Silver Millennium senshi having the same personalities as the ones we see in present day, since Japanese culture would be so radically different to whatever they reincarnated from, but I do see that past life culture subtly affecting them in present day.

What makes you so sure that Silver Millennium culture didn't have some commonalities with some later Terran cultures, akin to convergent evolution?

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So yeah, I can see Mercury as being a technological planet, but their entire way of life probably required all that technology to survive so close to the sun, so it's very important to them.

Actually, most fics that I've come across simply handwave the issues of the planets' habitability with planet-wide magic fields that give them Earth-like living conditions; in fact, canon itself more or less says that the Lunarians did something similar to this, when the story talks about how Princess Serenity's secret visits to Earth were motivated by a desire to see real trees, flowers, and skies, rather than the Moon's artificial versions (apparently even the "plants" there weren't "natural", somehow).

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Ami might have been drawn to technology and learning because of that heavy reliance in the past, but it doesn't mean she's a carbon copy. I don't really see any of the Silver Millennium girls as having the same confidence issues, as one example, or the exact same hobbies.

Well, that would actually depend on the circumstances. Princess Jupiter could still feel a bit isolated from fellow Jovians due to Jovian culture having its own slight stigma against "abnormally" tall women; and Princess Mars could still have had bad experiences dealing with Martian men for one reason or the other, which left her with a rather pessimistic view on the male sex in general and was one reason she took her vow of chastity when she was inducted into the Princess's Sailor Senshi bodyguard. (If you're wondering, yes, more than one fic follows this approach, evoking the idea that the characters are destined to have at least some commonalities in their successive lives.)

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I did explore this topic in a small set of fanfiction pieces I'm working on though, but I'm still fleshing out a lot of the minor cultural details. I'd be happy to share what I have so far if anyone is interested though. ^^

That's the whole point of this thread in the first place: To throw around our personal headcanons and discuss them.

I don't see any reason why the other planets need to match Earth, mostly because that seems like a waste of world building to me. Why just make everything the same as the present when you can come up with all these cool ideas centered around different planets? They might have similar concepts, but I imagine the different cultures have different values and beliefs that separate them enough from Earth's seemingly monolithic kingdom, or at least a less diverse one than present day.

I know this might be contradiction the vague canon slightly, but I like to headcanon the other planets were once habitable, via magic, but were not as incredibly barren as the Moon was, so they did have their own plants and animals and ecosystems, but very different from what's seen on Earth. Hence why Earth is still unique in its own way. 

Mercury could be inhabitable, but I liked to imagine it as a world of extreme heat and cold, like a desert and tundra shoved together. Mercurians can survive out in it for limited times, but being underground makes it far easier to build a civilization, so they stick with tunnels.

And yeah, I'd rather Silver Millennium senshi be a product of their unique culture than just repeating their issues into the past, which sort of takes away from their present day struggles. I know a lot of fanfics liek similarities, but I honestly didn't like reading about that. 

 I want there to be a difference between Makoto and Jupiter, just like how Usagi became more than just Serenity Reincarnated. Why can't Jupiter's culture be proud of being bigger and taller, and generally support their princess? Why can't Mars just be focused on her job? Rei's reason for disliking men came from her father's actions after her after her mother's death as a child (He dumped her off with her grandfather instead of caring for her), and then having another bad experience with a love interest in the manga, so her feelings towards men do make sense.

Basically, I'm okay with a few similarities in base personality, but just copy pasting their present day issues, hobbies, and likes and dislikes into the past feels like a lack of effort to me.

Here's a short summary of what I had come up with, if only for the inner planets:

Mercury:

Venus:

Mars:

Jupiter:

It seems that if we take the approach that the other planets had their own civilization, they were obviously able to travel around either via technology or magic. Earth in this case seems to be the least sophisticated in that way. 

I don't see why Earth couldn't have adopted some aspects of other cultures (called cultural appropriation) and integrated it into their own culture. This can be things like religions, languages, modes of currency etc. 

I head cannon that we find surviving reminiscent of the other planets cultures on Earth which explains why we have such diversity on Earth yet most other planets seem to have one culture.

Sorry for the late reply. Been real busy during the last few months.

JupiterThunderCrash wrote:

I don't see any reason why the other planets need to match Earth, mostly because that seems like a waste of world building to me. Why just make everything the same as the present when you can come up with all these cool ideas centered around different planets? They might have similar concepts, but I imagine the different cultures have different values and beliefs that separate them enough from Earth's seemingly monolithic kingdom, or at least a less diverse one than present day.

I know this might be contradiction the vague canon slightly, but I like to headcanon the other planets were once habitable, via magic, but were not as incredibly barren as the Moon was, so they did have their own plants and animals and ecosystems, but very different from what's seen on Earth. Hence why Earth is still unique in its own way. 

Mercury could be inhabitable, but I liked to imagine it as a world of extreme heat and cold, like a desert and tundra shoved together. Mercurians can survive out in it for limited times, but being underground makes it far easier to build a civilization, so they stick with tunnels.

When I said "Earth-like living conditions", I only meant it in the loose sense of "if you take a Terran human to any of the other planets, they'll be able to live without any major problems, though they might be uncomfortable for one reason or the other (e.g. higher gravity than usual, slightly different gas makeup of the local atmosphere). So yeah, we're more or less on the same page with regards to the planetary environment... though I'd imagine the Mercurians should've been able to establish well-protected domed cities on the surface by the time the Silver Millennium is at the apex of its golden age.

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And yeah, I'd rather Silver Millennium senshi be a product of their unique culture than just repeating their issues into the past, which sort of takes away from their present day struggles. I know a lot of fanfics liek similarities, but I honestly didn't like reading about that. 

 I want there to be a difference between Makoto and Jupiter, just like how Usagi became more than just Serenity Reincarnated. Why can't Jupiter's culture be proud of being bigger and taller, and generally support their princess? Why can't Mars just be focused on her job? Rei's reason for disliking men came from her father's actions after her after her mother's death as a child (He dumped her off with her grandfather instead of caring for her), and then having another bad experience with a love interest in the manga, so her feelings towards men do make sense.

Basically, I'm okay with a few similarities in base personality, but just copy pasting their present day issues, hobbies, and likes and dislikes into the past feels like a lack of effort to me.

I can see where you're coming from, but cannot help but feel that you're swinging too far into the other direction. I find merit in the idea that someone may be destined to experience similar circumstances across a repeating cycle of reincarnations, possibly until some sort of "karmic balance" has been fulfilled. Heck, who knows if those circumstances are vital to the way their personality may develop? A Makoto/Jupiter that doesn't experience even mild discrimination for her height (and indirectly realize that abuse of physical superiority, the thing that many people tend to fear of her, is a bad thing) might end up becoming so full of herself that she'd eventually become the sort of bully that her canon self would actively hunt down. Also, there are such sayings as "adversity breeds strength", which I can see as applying to strength of character.

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Here's a short summary of what I had come up with, if only for the inner planets:

Mercury:

Venus:

Mars:

Jupiter:

You've put a lot of thought into this. Kudos.

... Also, would I be persumptuous in suspecting that the rare incidence of blonde hair in Martians is a reference to Mars/Venus-shipping?

Addelyn wrote:

It seems that if we take the approach that the other planets had their own civilization, they were obviously able to travel around either via technology or magic. Earth in this case seems to be the least sophisticated in that way. 

I don't see why Earth couldn't have adopted some aspects of other cultures (called cultural appropriation) and integrated it into their own culture. This can be things like religions, languages, modes of currency etc. 

I head cannon that we find surviving reminiscent of the other planets cultures on Earth which explains why we have such diversity on Earth yet most other planets seem to have one culture.

I like your idea! Heck, by her computerized emulation's own admission, Queen Serenity herself is still remembered by Terran humans, as the Greek goddess of the moon Selene (which one could extend to include any/all other lunar deities -- even male ones, with the handwave that someone got the gender wrong over the countless millennia of largely oral traditions and/or deliberate changes by some patriarchal cultures).