Acheron Charon

Infobox animanga character
name = Acheron Charon
series = Saint Seiya


caption = Acheron Charon, in a screenshot from the anime adaptation
first =
creator = Masami Kurumada
voiced by = Shiro Saito (斎藤 志郎)
age = 38
gender = Male
born = October 2
nationality = Italy (Napoli)
class = Specter
paux1 = Hades
paux1 name = Loyalty
paux2 = Acheron
paux2 name = Surplice
paux3 = Celestial Spatial Star
paux3 name = Star
paux4 = 1.83 m
paux4 name = Height
paux5 = 65 kg
paux5 name = Weight
aux1 = O
aux1 name = Blood type
aux2 = Rolling Oar
Eddying Current Crusher
aux2 name = Secret moves
aux4 = manga: chapter 83, vol.23
Anime: ep.128
aux4 name = First appearance

nihongo|Celestial Expansion Star, Acheron Charon|天間星アケローンのカロン|Tenkansei Akerōn no Karon is a fictional character in the Manga series Saint Seiya, authored by Masami Kurumada, and later adapted to anime. He is one of Hades' 108 Specters, and just like his name says he transports the dead over the river Acheron. His power lies in the Celestial Espansion Star (天間星).

The Ferryman

As the Saints of Athena had breached the Underworld, the first to get to the river Acheron was Pegasus Seiya and Andromeda Shun. Charon came rowing his boat as any usual day, as he spotted the two he told them to get on quickly since it seemed they were the only dead ones today. But then he realized they were alive, and couldn't figure out how they had gotten to the underworld. Since it is only Specters that can access the underworld, he tried to shoo the Saints away. The Pegasus refused and tried to board the boat by force, but Charon easily doged the attack. He then realise it was because Athena had slipped into the underworld that the alarm had been raised, and these two must be her Saints. Seiya charged again at him, but Charon shielded himself with his oar and tried to hit Seiya. But his oar was interrupted by Shun's chains, and as Charon responded by pulling the chains he was attacked again by Seiya so he used his oar to defend himself again. He stated that he could reach Mach 18, and that the Saints couldn't touch him. But by then he was annoyed by the two and didn't want to fight anymore, so he asked if they had money on them for the ride over. The Pegasus Saint got furious, but the Andromeda Saint took forth his valuable pendant which well served for the trip.

One Trip Acheron

Charon sang during the trip, which wasn't so enjoyable for his passengers. As Seiya started complaining he revealed that they were only halfway over, and that the river was the deepest here. He then continued with knocking the Pegasus Saint overboard, to leave him for the dead souls to drown him that inhabitated the river. Andromeda Shun refused to let that happen and threw his chain to catch his fellow Saint. Charon became really angry now and was about to smash his oar into Shun, as suddenly Seiya launched several of his punches against him. The ferryman shielded himself using his oar, but he noticed that one had gotten through. As he was confused why he could have been hit, the Saint launched more of the "Pegasus Ryusei Ken" Technique which continued to hit him. Charon eventually toppled over into the river, and as Seiya climbed aboard again he begged for his life since he was the only one who could take them over the river. The Saints agrred and hoisted up on the boat again, still as Seiya gave him his oar he attacked with his "Eddying Current Crusher". The attack knocked out the Pegasus Saint and let Charon deal with Shun, yet as he attacked him he saw something. Shun's eyes held a gaze that the ferryman had never seen before, and realized that the Saint could actually reach Elysion. He then agreed to transport the two over the river, because they were precious souls and that he would finish them personally. As they reached the shore of the first prison, the Saints almost forgot what their ferry condition was. Charon reminded them directly and put himself in position, while Pegasus Seiya did the same. As they both unleashed their attacks, the result was that Seiya toppled over as Charon's Surplice broke into small pieces. He then fell backwards into his boat, which started moving outwards by the shock. The Specter sang his last song as the boat headed into the river.

urplice, Star & Name

*"Acheron SurpliceThe Acheron surplice is in the form of the ferryman Charon from Greek myth. Depicted as sitting on his boat with his oar. The anime variant differs from the original to minor details and coloring.

*"Divine Tranquillity Star The star originally comes from the character Gong-sun Sheng in the Water Margin story.
*"CharonThe name comes from the ferryman, who would transport the dead over the river Aceron in the Underworld in Greek Myth, Charon.

References

*Saint Seiya Vol. 23, by Masami Kurumada.
*Saint Seiya Official Encyclopedia
*Saint Seiya Meikai Hen: Inferno OVA Episode 1 (anime episode 128)