(OC) Sailor Eris

Let me tell you a little bit about why I drew this first of all. I was simply trying to draw Sailor Moon characters using my own style instead of Naoko Takeuchi's (as opposed to my Sailor Moon: Venus and Ceres piece) while still keeping the same "feel" of the original art, if that makes sense.

Eventually I decided to start drawing up characters based on the more recently discovered planetoids in our solar system, the most commonly senshi-ed being Eris. Discovered in 2005, before Pluto got reclassified as a dwarf-planet, Eris was known as the 10th Planet before the IAU decided it was time to categories solar systems objects more specifically. Since Eris got named, people have been inventing a senshi to represent her.

So, as I was sketching away I just ended up drawing what I thought she would look like. Having done a little research into the ideas some people have for her and into the goddess herself, I started thinking what her colour scheme/symbol/etc.

 

Symbol

The symbol of the staff she is holding is the "Hand of Eris" which is an unofficially accepted symbol for the dwarf planet itself as well as being heavily associated with Discordian religions, i.e. worship of order and chaos. It is usually portrayed as being on its side but because the planet-symbol shows it up right, I did it here too.

The Hand of Eris represents two opposing arrows converging on the same point. It is an equally positive symbol as it is a negative one as it portrays balance and equilibrium. 

 

Colours

Initially I thought about purple or red for her suit/eye colour/hair colour but I felt a little odd giving her such typical colours. Moreover Saturn and Mars both use those colours already. Gold or yellow was also a possibility but again with those colours so strongly tied to Venus, it seemed a bit redundant. It was then I thought, "With all of these Senshi associated with Usagi/Sailor Moon, why don't I make one chiefly associated with just Chibiusa/Sailor Chibi Moon?" That really helped me get an idea of what Sailor Eris could be about. The opposite of Pink/Red (i.e. Chibiusa and also Ceres, her own Senshi Group's leader, hair colour/eye colour) on the traditional colour wheel is Aquamarine/Green. More specifically, the colours I gave Eris here are colour opposites of Chibiusa's own colourings or near enough.

My justification was that I didn't want to make a Senshi who was around during the original Silver Millennium. There are more than enough of them and it's a bit tiring trying to come up with excuses as to how they got reincarnated after everything went to Dis. Considering also that Eris is technically a "new" planetoid I felt it was nicer to add her to Chibiusa's generation rather than Usagi's, much like the Quartet is and Saturn sort of is.

 

Power/Abilities

Much like most senshi, I would imagine Eris's powers would be heavily influenced by the mythology she is named for. As the goddess of war, chaos, strife and discord it is important that her magic would reflect this. It is a little difficult to explain but Eris's power would likely resolve around manipulating the world around her or turning her enemies' powers on themselves. She wouldn't be a destructive force but she would not be a positive force either.

Going back to my idea surrounding her colour choices, I imagined Eris as being the embodiment of chaos against Chibiusa's own Sailor Quartet. The Quartet are named after objects in the asteroid belt - the dwarf planet Ceres and the three ice bodies Pallas, Juno and Vesta - and while another later discovered asteroid "40 Harmonia" was named after Eris's mythological opposite "Harmonia/Concord" I felt it made more sense to give the role to the four Senshi we have than make up another one. Considering also that I *doubt* that the Quartet actually hailed from the Silver Millennium originally - there is no proof of them doing so that I can remember - it means gives Eris room to have been created to be their opposite.

So... yeah, I imagine that her original form would probably be an antagonist prior to awakening as a fully-fledged senshi.

 

In the end I just wanted to draw some pretty pictures. That is all.