Dark Kingdom
The Dark Kingdom is a group of fictional characters in the Sailor Moon manga series by Naoko Takeuchi. They are the chief villains of the first story arc in every version of the series, and were first introduced in the first chapter of the manga, "Usagi – Sailor Moon", originally published in Japan's Nakayoshi on 28 December 1991. In the DIC English adaptation, the Dark Kingdom's title was changed to "Negaverse".
In each variation of the series, the characters—led by Queen Beryl—attempt to steal life energy from humans and the Silver Crystal so they can release the evil Queen Metaria, who was imprisoned by Queen Serenity during the destruction of the Moon Kingdom during the Silver Millennium period.
Creation and conception
The Dark Kingdom is first referenced in Naoko Takeuchi's Codename: Sailor V, which features Sailor Venus as the main character, who confronts a group of villains called the [|Dark Agency]. In the final volume of Codename: Sailor V, the Dark Agency is revealed to be a subset of the Dark Kingdom, which leads to the beginning of Sailor Moon. Takeuchi developed the Sailor Moon series and the Dark Kingdom when Codename: Sailor V was first proposed for an anime adaptation. The idea was ultimately dropped, but Sailor Venus became part of a new group alongside Sailors Moon, Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter, and instead of fighting the Dark Agency, they fought the Dark Kingdom.The names of Queen Beryl and the Four Kings of Heaven are derived from minerals: beryl, jadeite, nephrite, zoisite, and kunzite. In some English adaptations, Kunzite's name is changed to Malachite. Several villains from subsequent arcs follow this pattern of using minerals as namesakes. The Four Kings of Heaven is speculated to be based on the Buddhist gods, The Four Heavenly Kings.
In the DIC Entertainment English adaptation, the Dark Kingdom's name is changed to the "Negaverse", a portmanteau of negative and universe. Beryl and her cohorts use "nega" as a prefix to show their devotion to wickedness and to underscore their dimension's inherent negativity—e.g. "negapower" and "negahistory".
Key figures
Queen Beryl
Queen Beryl, named after the mineral beryl, is the first main antagonist in the Sailor Moon series. Beryl has immense magical power and uses it to channel the life energy harvested by her servants into the entity Queen Metaria. In most versions of the story, Beryl has the ability to corrupt others into her service.Before the events of Sailor Moon, Beryl is a young girl on Earth during the age of the Silver Millennium. Beryl is in love with Prince Endymion, but her love is unrequited. After discovering Endymion's relationship with Princess Serenity, she sides with Queen Metaria and is corrupted. Beryl mobilizes the Earth in a war against the Moon Kingdom, killing Endymion while he is protecting Serenity, leading to the princess' own suicide. Though killed by Sailor Venus with the Holy Moon Sword, Beryl is reborn in the 20th century, regaining the memories of her past life upon finding Queen Metaria while traveling to D-Point in the Arctic. She becomes Queen of the Dark Kingdom, communicating with Metaria while recruiting her reincarnated generals Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoisite, and Kunzite, to find the Silver Crystal. Beryl is able to summon the reincarnated Prince Endymion, Mamoru Chiba, to her side, as a lifeless thrall after he dies and is revived with a fragment of the Silver Crystal inside him. Beryl fails in her attempt to get the Silver Crystal and is killed by Sailor Venus with the Holy Moon Sword.
In the original anime adaptation, Beryl attacks Tokyo while Usagi Tsukino and the other Sailor Guardians are searching for the Moon Princess. She also kidnaps and brainwashes Mamoru to love her and to kill Usagi. But he breaks free of her control and fatally wounds Beryl. Having lost everything, Beryl begs Metaria for more power which results in Metaria possessing Beryl's body, transforming her into an enhanced appearance. Usagi confronts the Beryl/Metaria being as Princess Serenity and a battle ensues in which Usagi obliterates Beryl along with Metaria, destroying the two for good.
In the live-action series, Jadeite and Nephrite are rivals for her affections; Zoisite is more loyal to Endymion than to her, and Kunzite sets his sights on taking Metaria's power for himself. At one point, Beryl creates a shadow of herself, Mio Kuroki, who sets out to ruin Usagi's reputation while being Beryl's eyes and ears. When she learns that Mamoru Chiba was Prince Endymion, Beryl forces him to come with her by showing him that she can easily kill the Four Kings of Heaven with Nephrite as an example. Once she has the object of her desire under her services, Beryl has Jadeite implant an item in Mamoru's body that will shorten his life when he is with Usagi. However, Mamoru still risks his life for Usagi and Beryl loses control over Metaria's actions due to the overuse of the Silver Crystal. She is killed when her castle crumbles under the stress of a distraught Princess using the Silver Crystal to destroy Earth. However, for all her sadness, she is not alone as Jadeite stays by her side after she removes her mind-control spell on him, saying that Beryl is his master by choice.
In Sailor Moon Crystal, Beryl's role in the reboot is the same as the manga. Unlike the manga, Beryl's demise was altered to have her necklace that maintained her existence shattered by the Holy Moon Sword wielded by Sailor Moon.
Beryl appears in the first musical, Gaiden Dark Kingdom Fukkatsu Hen, and its revision, in a similar plot to the series' first story arc. She is then revived in the semi-original musical Eien Densetsu and its revision by Sailor Galaxia, who merely uses her as a puppet to awaken Sailor Saturn. Beryl dies while protecting Sailor Moon from a stab by the evil Tuxedo Mask mud puppet, her last statement being "This time I die for passion". Similarly, in Shin Densetsu Kourin, Beryl kills the evil King Endymion mud puppet to give Sailor Moon a fighting chance against Galaxia. Several times in the musical, Beryl and Sailor Pluto share the song Onna no Ronsou, which explains why betrayal by Endymion in the past killed Beryl's emotion of love. Each time this song is played, Sailor Pluto would always begin with "Because we are the same" or a similar phrase.
In the anime series, her voice actress is Keiko Han. During recording, this contrast resulted in occasional fits of giggles among the cast when Han would change from Luna's cute, catlike voice to the deep, evil tones of Beryl. Sometimes, she would accidentally play Beryl with Luna's voice. In Sailor Moon Crystal, she is voiced by Misa Watanabe. In the DIC English adaptation, she is voiced by Naz Edwards with Jill Frappier as a stand-in during a clip show in Sailor Moon R. In the Viz Media English adaptation, her voice is supplied by Cindy Robinson. In the stage musicals, Beryl has been played by two actresses: Yuri Nishina and Akiko Miyazawa. In the live-action series, she is portrayed by adult J-pop idol Aya Sugimoto.
Queen Metaria
Queen Metaria is a malignant, amorphous energy being, and the true mastermind of the Dark Kingdom. She was born as a result of an abnormality in the Sun. Like all arch-villains in the Sailor Moon manga, she is an incarnation of the final arch-villain, Chaos. While the first official English release of the manga in English spelled her name as "Metalia", it was a translation error; reprints of the manga in English as well as multiple reprints in Japanese consistently depicted the character's name spelled as "Metaria" in Latin letters.Being responsible for the fall of the Silver Millennium, Metaria used her power to corrupt the majority of Earth's population, including Beryl, whose affections towards Endymion were exploited into attacking the Moon Kingdom as Prince Endymion and Princess Serenity were to wed. The battle came to an end when Metaria was sealed away by Queen Serenity in the area of the North Pole known as D-Point. In the 20th century, Metaria summons a reborn Beryl back into her service to obtain the Silver Crystal and take its power as her own. After Endymion's reincarnated form is captured, Metaria turns the youth into a thrall to retrieve the then powerless Silver Crystal while sacrificing Beryl in the process. When Sailor Moon's attempted murder-suicide of Endymion restores the Silver Crystal, Metaria makes her move and absorbs the crystal while wiping out all life on Earth. But after Sailor Moon and Mamoru escape with the crystal thanks to the Sailor Guardians' sacrifice, the form eventually destroys Metaria by targeting the star mark on her forehead and then uses the Silver Crystal's power to restore everyone to life.
In the original anime adaptation, Metaria is much the same, with a few exceptions. She eventually becomes powerful enough to resurrect on her own and takes possession of the dying Beryl, transforming into a towering goddess-like creature who is eventually destroyed by Princess Serenity.
In the live-action series, Beryl originally intends to use the Silver Crystal to control Metaria, but later learns that the gem's power only makes Metaria stronger due to Usagi's rage being transmitted through it. This escalates to the point where Beryl can no longer control the actions of her own Monsters and fears that Metaria may destroy everything. Metaria later transfers her will into the strongest Monster in its service. In a vain attempt to stop Metaria, Endymion takes the creature into his own body with the intent of committing suicide in order to take it with him. Instead, Metaria takes control of Endymion and uses him in an attempt to force Sailor Moon to use the Silver Crystal's power. Metaria's plan succeeds, but only after Sailor Moon is forced to kill Endymion and Metaria with him. Sailor Moon revives Mamoru with the Silver Crystal's power, with Metaria gone for good.
In the anime series, her voice actresses are Noriko Uemura in the first series and Yōko Matsuoka in Sailor Moon Crystal. In the DIC English adaptation, she is voiced by Maria Vacratsis. In the Viz Media English adaptation, her voice is supplied by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn. In the live-action series, she possesses Mamoru, portrayed by Jouji Shibue.