Pegasus Seiya - Creation and Conception

Creation and Conception

While in the process of creating Saint Seiya, Masami Kurumada gave Seiya the name Rin at first, since he was going to name his manga Ginga no Rin (Rin of the Galaxy). As he continued developing his manga, however, he decided to change the name to Seiya, which was more fitting. First he spelled the name with the kanji that mean Holy Arrow, to relate it to Seiya's condition as a Saint, but later decided to use the kanji that mean Star Arrow, to emphasize the constellation and mythological motif. Finally, he changed the manga title to Saint Seiya, once he had fully developed the concept of the Saints. Kurumada also stated that one of the first ideas he conceived for Saint Seiya was Seiya's fighting technique, the Pegasus Meteor Fist. Since his manga was going to use the constellations as a very important and ever-present theme, he wanted his protagonist to have a special move that would be like a shower of meteors.

Kurumada drew inspiration from Takane Ryūji, the main character of his previous hit manga Ring ni Kakero, to design Seiya's likeness. Most protagonists of Kurumada's works bear a resemblance to Ryūji, because he subscribes to Osamu Tezuka's Star System (maintaining a stable cast of characters to be used in different works).

The author chose the Sagittarius Gold Cloth as the most famous of the Gold Cloths due to its symbolism in relation to Seiya. Since Seiya's name can also be understood as a metaphor for meteor in Japanese and Sagittarius represents an archer, Kurumada thought it would be a perfect match for Seiya. He already had in mind that the Sagittarius Gold Cloth would eventually be worn by Seiya in certain parts of the manga.