Power scales/comparisons/rankings?

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Nov 9, 2016
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#1
For my own purposes, I've been trying to find some sources to help me make sense of where all the characters stand across the series (specifically the 90's anime). The conventional logic I've followed up to now is that the villains in the later arcs obviously overpower the ones from the previous one, but I dunno if that's entirely the case.

Example: Where would the Phantom/Ayakashi Sisters stand compared to the Shitennou? It's hard to actually gauge if the Sisters are stronger or weaker, considering any fight against a single member of the Shitennou required several of the Sailors to really stand up, whereas the Sailors are regularly shown able to hold their own against the Sisters in single combat. Of course, the Sailors supposedly gain a significant power boost prior to any major fights against the Sisters, so again, hard to gauge.

Then there's the Death Busters, where as far as I can gather, a single MotD Daimon apparently trumps almost everything the Inners had dealt with up to that point. Extrapolating further kinda leads me to theorize that the Outers could've just steamrolled the entire Dark Kingdom if they decided... :/ As for the Witches, I'm kinda hanging up the topic at the point... >.>

...BUT, fast forward to the 30th century invasion, one has to assume everyone's exponentially more powerful at this time, and had the Black Moon successfully invaded the 20th, an armada as large as they had would have to spell trouble for anyone up to and including most of the Death Busters, but again, it's killing my brain trying to pin this all down... @_@

So, are there any sort of concrete sources on any of this to help me out here?
 
Aug 2, 2012
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Belfast
#2
I like this question since the mid level villains are one of my favorite parts of the SM universe.

First tier:
The Shitennou
because they have several different powers/attacks and, as you say, the fights against them required more than one senshi. They are also able to teleport and fly, and have shown that they were good at physical battling too.

Kaolinite: She's definitely the best at physical fighting (out of the women villains at least) as we've seen from the fact that not even Uranus managed to land a hit on her and we know how easily Uranus beat Jupiter and Star Fighter which are two other characters that are very good at fighting. She is also able to teleport, fly, and has more than one power/attack (e.g. extended her hair to strangle Neptune, made a lightning-like ray to strike by snapping her fingers). She was also the leader or highest ranking member of Professor Tomoe's henchwomen.

Second tier:
The Amazon Trio. Powers/attacks seem to be innate but they each have only one (e.g.fire and water control). They were able to fly and teleport but their teleportation ability was dependent on a hoop. They were also good at using whips and throwing knives (except for Fish Eye). Hawk's eye has shown to be very strong physically.

Third tier:
The Amazon Quartet
. Their powers are not innate - they're due to the magical billiard balls that Nehelenia has given them but it grants them several different attacks. They're able to teleport (thanks to the billiards) but they can fly only on top of the balls. They haven't shown any physical fighting skills and even if they have them they're teenagers so they're weaker than the other villains. They beat the senshi in their confrontation if I remember correctly.

The Ayakashi Sisters: They could fly and teleport thanks to the black earring that each of them was wearing. I'm not sure if their powers were innate or thanks to the earrings but in any case they each only had one (e.g. fire and water control). Shown to be good at physical fighting. When it came to battling the senshi it was a mixed bag: easily beat Jupiter and Venus the first time they fought but it was a draw during their second (group) fight.

The Sailor Animamates. The powers are not innate - their main attack was the stuff that they were able to shoot out of their bracelets and they also each used some sort of object/device (e.g. whips, gun). They aren't able to fly and are only able to teleport by using that phone cabin. Sailor Lead Crow did a really good job when she fought the inners. Note: I'm not counting here what powers they may have had before they came under Galaxia's control.

Forth tier:
The Witches Five
. Their attacks are due to a weapon or lab experiment which makes them less quick to use and more easy to disarm. Aren't able to fly or teleport. Cyprine might have been different since she was a magic user but we haven't seen enough of her.

Esmeraude and Alin and Ann: they were able to fly and teleport (not innate in case of Esmeraude) but they didn't have any powers/attacks.


I'm not entirely sure where Zirconia fits in. She's definitely stronger than the Quartet as we've see from her confrontation with Ves-Ves but I don't know if she's stronger than the Shitennou and Kaolinite.

Let me know what you think and if I've missing anything. It's all a bit relative but I would say my ranking is quite justified.
 
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Aug 2, 2012
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Belfast
#3
I like this question since the mid level villains are one of my favorite parts of the SM universe.

First tier:
The Shitennou
because they have several different powers/attacks and, as you say, the fights against them required more than one senshi. They are also able to teleport and fly, and have shown that they were good at physical battling too.

Kaolinite: She's definitely the best at physical fighting (out of the women villains at least) as we've seen from the fact that not even Uranus managed to land a hit on her and we know how easily Uranus beat Jupiter and Star Fighter which are two other characters that are very good at fighting. She is also able to teleport, fly, and has more than one power/attack (e.g. extended her hair to strangle Neptune, made a lightning-like ray to strike by snapping her fingers). She was also the leader or highest ranking member of Professor Tomoe's henchwomen.

Second tier:
The Amazon Trio. Powers/attacks seem to be innate but they each have only one (e.g.fire and water control). They were able to fly and teleport but their teleportation ability was dependent on a hoop. They were also good at using whips and throwing knives (except for Fish Eye). Hawk's eye has shown to be very strong physically.

Third tier:
The Amazon Quartet
. Their powers are not innate - they're due to the magical billiard balls that Nehelenia has given them but it grants them several different attacks. They're able to teleport (thanks to the billiards) but they can fly only on top of the balls. They haven't shown any physical fighting skills and even if they have them they're teenagers so they're weaker than the other villains. They beat the senshi in their confrontation if I remember correctly.

The Ayakashi Sisters: They could fly and teleport thanks to the black earring that each of them was wearing. I'm not sure if their powers were innate or thanks to the earrings but in any case they each only had one (e.g. fire and water control). Shown to be good at physical fighting. When it came to battling the senshi it was a mixed bag: easily beat Jupiter and Venus the first time they fought but it was a draw during their second (group) fight.

The Sailor Animamates. The powers are not innate - their main attack was the stuff that they were able to shoot out of their bracelets and they also each used some sort of object/device (e.g. whips, gun). They aren't able to fly and are only able to teleport by using that phone cabin. Sailor Lead Crow did a really good job when she fought the inners. Note: I'm not counting here what powers they may have had before they came under Galaxia's control.

Forth tier:
The Witches Five
. Their attacks are due to a weapon or lab experiment which makes them less quick to use and more easy to disarm. Aren't able to fly or teleport. Cyprine might have been different since she was a magic user but we haven't seen enough of her.

Esmeraude and Alin and Ann: they were able to fly and teleport (not innate in case of Esmeraude) but they didn't have any powers/attacks.


I'm not entirely sure where Zirconia fits in. She's definitely stronger than the Quartet as we've see from her confrontation with Ves-Ves but I don't know if she's stronger than the Shitennou and Kaolinite.

Let me know what you think and if I've missing anything. It's all a bit relative but I would say my ranking is quite justified.
Nobody has anything to say about my ranking? I put a lot of hard work into it :D
 
Sep 6, 2014
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#4
In the “bad” 30th Century timeline the girls never got their Super upgrade and it doesn’t appear the Outers ever appeared. Chibi Usa going back in time to save her mom really affected the timeline and I wouldn’t use that as any indication the Black Moon clan was stronger than the Death Busters and beyond. Especially when Moon could destroy any droid with moon princess halation and it did nothing to Mikuzi.
 
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GalX3

Luna Crescens
Nov 13, 2018
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#6
Nobody has anything to say about my ranking? I put a lot of hard work into it
I'm not a big fan of the question because I think one of the charms about Sailor Moon is that it doesn't go on and on about "Power Levels" like some other anime from the 90s and the conflicts are not usually solely about "defeating opponents with power". But I really enjoyed reading your reply because I would not know where to begin addressing such a question. I think the strengths and weaknesses of Sailor Moon characters comes more in the form of their character traits and not their abilities. For instance Naru (unintentionally) defeats Nephrite in the anime with no special abilities whatsoever.
 
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Moon Star

Lumen Cinererum
Jun 21, 2010
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#7
I definitely don't think the villains get stronger as the show progresses. I dare say the Animamates are the weakest of all the show's villains. Aluminum Siren needed her phages to fight the Inner Senshi, and as soon as they were dispatched, her attack was not strong enough to stand up to the four of them. Plus I remember reading the summaries for the Animates' final episodes on Hitoshi Doi's site and thinking, "Is that it? These villains are weak." :P

Ail and Ann are definitely up there in the power scales. Remember when they easily overpowered the Inner Senshi in combat?

The Shittenou are definitely the most powerful. It was heavily stressed in Classic how strong they were (e.g. Jadeite easily deflecting all of Sailor Moon's attacks; Kunzite's ability to keep fighting through the Inner Senshi's force field). Kaolinite for that matter was a pretty formidable opponent, since she was able to withstand Sailor Planet Attack (albeit weakened) and continue fighting.

My theory is that as the series went on, the villains shifted from being powerful enemies for the senshi to mainly being comic relief.
 

SILVER

Aurorae Lunares
Jan 7, 2014
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#9
Hey, can you not take it so personal when people don't respond to your posts as you'd like them to?
You're also not going to get many people wanting to reply to them if you're insulting them.

I thought that your list was accurate, and I think I'll make one for the manga characters since I feel that they'd vary
 
Sep 6, 2014
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#10
I'm not a big fan of the question because I think one of the charms about Sailor Moon is that it doesn't go on and on about "Power Levels" like some other anime from the 90s .
Off topic but Dragon Ball Z going on and on about power levels is pretty much a dub only thing. The Japanese version pretty much only refers to power levels for two arcs but the English dub continued to mention them after they stopped being a thing
 
Aug 2, 2012
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Belfast
#11
Hey, can you not take it so personal when people don't respond to your posts as you'd like them to?
You're also not going to get many people wanting to reply to them if you're insulting them.

I thought that your list was accurate, and I think I'll make one for the manga characters since I feel that they'd vary
No and I don't care.
 
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Zhortac

Aurorae Lunares
Oct 12, 2011
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zhortac.deviantart.com
#14
To be honest, the anime power scaling is all over the place, and really has no idea wtf it was doing.

It kinda felt like, towards the end of the first arc, they were trying REALLY hard to NOT have them as strong as the manga, and it gets really apparent in the final 2 arcs (especially Stars, where everyone ate a nerf bat buffet)
 
Likes: SILVER
Aug 18, 2011
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#15
As previously mentioned, anime power scaling for the villains is all over the place. Sailor Moon has a ladder system where newer sets of enemies should be stronger than the previous ones. The manga does a (generally) good job at establishing this through feats and statements. Like Eudial in the manga swiftly defeated Mars and Jupiter, but was outright crushed when Usagi entered the fight. That showed a gap between the Inners and the Witches 5, but not an impossible one to bridge. In the anime Eudial was able to cancel out Usagi's attack with her own. Really makes no sense. How could anyone expect any of the senshi to win when their strongest warrior couldn't even best Pharaoh 90's weakest minion.
 
Likes: SILVER
Sep 6, 2014
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#16
Eudial cancelled out Moon’s normal attack with an upgraded version of her weapon. After that Moon got an upgrade. It’s not nearly as much of an issue as you’re pretending it is.


Also pretty sure Mimette was the weakest per the manga.
 
Aug 18, 2011
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#17
Eudial cancelled out Moon’s normal attack with an upgraded version of her weapon. After that Moon got an upgrade. It’s not nearly as much of an issue as you’re pretending it is.
When a minor villain has a weapon that can rival the MC's power then that's an issue. Doesn't matter if Usagi got stronger, because who then could buy any of the Inners ever defeating Eudial if she has a weapon that strong. I didn't like it when Tellu casually absorbed one of Usagi's attacks either.

Also pretty sure Mimette was the weakest per the manga.
You are correct on that one.
 
Jul 31, 2012
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#18
The Eudial firebuster destroying Sailor Moon's energy attack was a slap in the face. I put in my list of top Sailor Moon embarrassing attacks fails, one with Petz stopping Burning Mandala in place and Iron Mouse casually side stepping Love and Beauty Shock.

Imo, The 4 Sisters are stronger or on par in terms of power to the Shittenou. I guess I never understood how the Senshi could hold their own against foes from the distant future and not stand a chance against daimon. Towards the end of classic, the Senshi displayed exceptional amounts of power. Jupiter creates a humongous blast, Venus, a powerful explosion of light, Mars a devastating wave of fire, and Mercury, a powerful shield from devastating heat. As soon as the second half of Black Moon started, it was nerf central. The Witches 5 were not really all that powerful, or shouldn't have been against the team. It should have been equal at least in terms of power.
 
Sep 6, 2014
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#19
The Eudial firebuster destroying Sailor Moon's energy attack was a slap in the face. I put in my list of top Sailor Moon embarrassing attacks fails, one with Petz stopping Burning Mandala in place and Iron Mouse casually side stepping Love and Beauty Shock.
Why though?

Imo, The 4 Sisters are stronger or on par in terms of power to the Shittenou.
What is this based on? Kunzite is clearly much stronger than the 5 Senshi combined and Sailor Moon had to use the silver crystal to do him in. Just because the Akayashi Sisters are from the future doesn’t mean they’re stronger. They’re roughly equivalent to their counterpart.

I guess I never understood how the Senshi could hold their own against foes from the distant future and not stand a chance against daimon.
Because the Death Busters are far more powerful. That’s why the Outer Senshi were called upon.


Towards the end of classic, the Senshi displayed exceptional amounts of power. Jupiter creates a humongous blast, Venus, a powerful explosion of light, Mars a devastating wave of fire, and Mercury, a powerful shield from devastating heat
In which they all died.

The Witches 5 were not really all that powerful, or shouldn't have been against the team. It should have been equal at least in terms of power.
The Death Busters were suppose to be far more powerful than any previous threat. It stands to reason the Witches 5 have greater power than the Shitenou and Akayashi Sisters