In the Dar Kingdom arc, it says that Luna and Artemis come from the Moon. However, in StarS, it says that they are from Mau. Anyone know which one is correct...?     

They were born on Mau and moved to the Moon to be advisors, I think.

Yes, it is never officially stated in the manga HOW the cats came to live on the Silver Millenium, but their home planet is Mau. In the Dark Kingdom, they say they are from the moon instead of saying they are from Mau most likely due to the fact that they are the Queen's and Sailor Guardian's closest advisers, trainers, and guides. They obviously felt a strong and deep loyalty to the Moon (look at their moon crescents! And how Luna is so devoted to her Moon Princess) to where they felt that was their true home.

OK! I have the Japanese manga, so I assume I just read it wrong. Thanks!

Np! (and lucky having Japanese copies of the manga D:)

(All the pages of the forum are reaaaaally slow to load for me for some reasons. Guess I'm getting my harddrive a cleanup soon-ish)

Luna and Artemis pretty much have the same problem as Phobos and Deimos. I feel like the idea of them being from another planet was never really planned by Takeuchi.

Let's see, the only real mention of this we have is when they fight against Tin Nyanko. But that never really made sense to me... Artemis and Luna both have the crescent moon on their forehead. Something only Silver Millenium natives have. Is it a seal of allegiance Queen Serenity bestowed upon them? Why did so Mau immigrants come here to begin with?

My guess is that Shadow Galactica's attack is what pushed some of the survivors from Mau to immigrate. Luna and Artemis were probably babies, or not born yet, when it happened. That would explain why they couldn't remember much about Mau, their senshi, and Tin Nyanko. Plus, their memories of what happened back in the Silver Millenium is pretty much a giant cosmic mush. I can see why they wouldn't remember any of it, until they saw Tin Nyanko transform.

I don't think they have anything to do with Nyanyan (You know, that genius loci from the Pet arc of Sailor V), but I think it's safe to assume that the other Mau immigrants died in the Dark Kingdom's attack, and that both of them, Diana and Tin Nyanko are the last ones of their species.

I don't like at all the "The cats weren't revived because they didn't have Sailor Crystals" headcanon. Neo Queen Serenity did live everything Usagi lived, and the cats were shown to be just fine in the future. (Even though the only time you see them is when they are uncounscious)

Also, Luna did come from the moon. It just wasn't where she was born. She didn't have all of her memories when she told this to Usagi and the others.

Yeah, the Mau thing was probably another detail that was never planned and part of the issues Sailor Moon's plot has. Though I admit I have never seen the anime of Stars or read the manga of it. I just have indirect information.

My thoughts on their background are thus: They were born and lived on Mau for a time, but moved to the Moon on a permanent basis when they became advisors. I was always under the impression that the crescent moon mark was only for the royal family, not all moon natives. And my thought was that the moon mark was given to Luna and Artemis upon their appointment.

Their parents also might have been diplomats between Mau and the Moon. It would help explain why they got chosen as advisors for a different planet, and it would also explain why they were given moon-related names. The same could also be said of Phobos and Deimos. They are supposed to be from a different planet, and yet each is named after a moon of Mars. More than likely their parents worked heavily with the Martians, to the point that wanted to name their daughters after Mars's moons. (Are they sisters? It would make so much more sense if they were.)

As for the idea that Luna and Artemis didn't live at the end of StarS, I call nonsense. They were important characters, everybody else lived, and they were supposed to have a daughter in the future. If this was the manga, I'd say their lack of appearance was because they were simply unaccounted for by the author. The same thing happened in the manga with Rei's crows in her introduction, where they suddenly appear in that alternate dimension without establishing HOW they got there suddenly, or whether they had already been in the scene.

Yeah I feel their origin is most likely what Phantom theorized. (Also just so you know, they don't even mention Mau or that Tin Nyanko is from Mau or the cats are from Mau in the anime at all, this is a manga only thing. And shame shame! You best get busy and get to StarS xD).

We had another thread discussing the cats' fate at the end of the StarS manga but I can't seem to find it. :/

I just remembered something, though. Remember what Luna said about the crescent seal on her forehead? If it is covered, she becomes just a regular cat. Do you think that means all Mausian have a symbol on their forehead like this one? Tin Nyanko could have covered it with jewelry for all we know.

My theory is that the others Mausians all have the planetary mark of Mau at that spot, originally. As a traitor to Mau, Tin Nyanko probably has a star. One of the symbols of Shadow Galactica.
As for Luna and Artemis, well, as I said in my last post, it's probably a mark of allegiance given to them by Queen Serenity.

I could see that being true. Every Mau has a certain mark (maybe families have the same mark, like a clan symbol), but the way it looks can be changed with magic.

I wonder if human form is something every mausians have? All the mausians we know about achieved it at least once (In Tin Nyanko and Sailor Mau's case, we don't even know if they have a cat form).

I also wonder if the people of Chuu, Cocoon and Mermaid were animal people too. (You could also ask that for Coronis. Phobos and Deimos were reincarnations of their past selves as crows. They weren't put in cryostasis like Luna and Artemis.)

Damn the Sailor Moon universe had so many awesome species we never heard about. It's a shame Shadow Galactica drove half of them to extinction.

I've added this in my story for Luna and Artemis, but here's how I view their ability to speak and the whole human form thing:

The Mauians are naturally in the form of cats, though different internally from Earth cats. They were not only sentient, but had psychic powers. The use of telekinesis would help explain a civilized planet for a group that lacks opposable thumbs. I like it better to think they are just normally cats. It makes their species more interesting and highlights their alien nature. The whole human form thing is part of a Mauians ability to physically change shape.

However, it's not exactly a natural ability. It's actually a skill, something that requires practice in order to do. Not only that, but no matter how skilled the Mauian, doing that is very draining, so the altered form can only be held for a limited time before the Mauian is forced to revert from exhaustion.

All of the Mauian's psychic powers in my view are centered in a single spot at the front of the brain that lies directly under their forehead. This is their psychic focal point. To the Mauians, that spot is considered sacred, so in allowing the mark of the Lunar royal family to be put there, it was an honor both for them and Serenity.

Another common Mauian ability besides telekinesis is language translation. They use their psychic abilities to access the brains of other beings and identify that being's native language. As long as the psychic connection is there, they can both understand those that speak said language, and communicate in it. As an ability it would certainly be easier than having to learn to speak that language.

This explains the manga. Luna said that with her forehead covered her scanning abilities were messed up and she couldn't communicate with humans, only make cat sounds. Strange isn't it?

If her ability to talk was simply magic granted by Serenity with the crescent mark, that would mean she could only make normal cat noises. And yet if that were true, why would she or Artemis be chosen for advisors in the first place? They would need to have communicated with Serenity somehow before even being offered the job. So that's why I reasoned the mark itself must not give them power. It's just a magically induced and very special tattoo. Her inability to communicate was because her psychic focal point was blocked, so she couldn't connect with anyone.

Phantom can I use some of this in my bios for Luna and Artemis?  I really like this theory!

Just to add to the conversation, I have a theory about why the tattoo is moon shaped. Maybe when a Mau cat is born it is a circle or something else simple. As they go on, the shape morphs into something representative of their life our something important to them. The cats felt so strongly about being advisors  to the moon kingdom that eventually the mark looked just like the crescent on Serenity's head.

Radicaledward124 wrote:

Phantom can I use some of this in my bios for Luna and Artemis?  I really like this theory!

Really? Oh certainly. You can use all of my ideas regarding them if you so wish, as long as you give me credit of course. Really I am just flattered someone else wants to use my ideas.

thanks!

Honestly it feels like the cats being from Mau is just another one of those things you're not supposed to question. The manga (and by extension, the anime) has a lot of these. Wouldn't it be cutesy if the cats were from a planet conveniently called "Mau"? And wouldn't it be nice if they could take human form? But if they were still naturally cats?

There are so many of these things... I was reading another topic about what the manga did wrong and I found myself agreeing with most of what you guys were saying there. If someone were to make a Hollywood adaption or something with a bigger budget (or heck, even a novel!) they'd have to do some serious clean-up and re-interpretation work. And then they'd get backlash from the old fans (meaning, us) because "That's not how it was!" or "why did they change that detail!". 

Myself... I prefer the idea that the cats received the Moon tattoo when they became servants/advisors of Queen Serenity. Kinda like a medal - but one imbued with magic.

I've always assumed that the Mau kingdom sent Luna and Artemis to the Moon as an act of solidarity to Serenity. Serenity's origins have always been ambiguous but it seems that she may be more powerful and revered than the manga or anime let on. (Hence Cosmos' comments about her) Perhaps the Mau kingdom wanted to show their loyalty to Serenity and sent Luna and Artemis to support her kingdom. And I agree with @Childlike Empress on the crescent symbols. Serenity could've given these to them after they became advisors. 

Same with Phobos and Deimos. They were given to the Mars kingdom as a gift - perhaps to recognize Rei's birth? It's not uncommon for kingdoms to do this. 

I also feel like Helios was a gift to Endymion from...somewhere. Unusual that his name comes from a Sun god... What other senshi/extras could've been gifts from other kingdoms? I like the idea of the planet Mermaid being close with the planet Neptune. And the Planet Butterfly (whereever Heavy Metal Papillion comes from lol) would've been close with the Jupiter kingdom.

I have my own share of threads on the subject in case any of you all are interested:

http://www.thegalaxycauldronforums.com/t9989-theorysailor-mau

http://www.thegalaxycauldronforums.com/t9965-theory-sailor-cosmos-identity

This one as well: http://www.thegalaxycauldronforums.com/t10003-theoriesqueen-nehelenia