Name: Nephrite, [ne-fu-ra-i-to]
First appearance: volume 1, act 3
Defeated: volume 1, act 5
Estimated age: 19
Hair: wavy, dark auburn (reddish-brown), reaches just past his shoulders
Eyes: reddish brown
Height: slightly shorter than Kunzite, but taller than Jadeite and Zoisite
Dark Kingdom uniform: dark blue with red piping (see: Dark Kingdom Uniforms)
Division: North American
Powers: Usually has his "Shadow" fight for him. His Shadow is a being that often appears as just that--a shadow--but can assume the form of any person, or possess a human being or object (such as a mannequin). In its shadow form, it has a sort of face (with two glowing eyes and a mouth, rather like Metallia), but it can also create a large image of Nephrite's face, through which Nephrite himself can speak and fight the sailor senshi without being hurt himself. Like Jadeite, Nephrite's shadow has powers of persuasion and can manipulate anyone into obeying his will.

Personality
Nephrite has always struck me as arrogant and hot-headed. He's got the evil laugh down pat, but the moment his enemies have the upper hand it is hard to miss the look of absolute fury on his face. Naoko says that he is "emotional and intense. Will likely get himself killed right away..." I think that pretty much sums up his entire personality right there.

The first time Nephrite appears is when he teasing Jadeite in Beryl's throne room. From the very first panel, he presents a somewhat conceited attitude, simply by the way he leans casually against the wall, his head thrown back in a rather taunting way, a drink in his hand. He is the picture of arrogance. After insulting Jadeite's "fragile" youma, he then asks Beryl to hand Jadeite's job over to himself, seeing as how he would obviously do a better job at gathering energy AND track down the ginzuishou while he's at it. If Nephrite's self-centeredness was not apparent before, it certainly is now.

The next time he appears is when he is, once again, making fun of Jadeite--this time about Jadeite's latest scheme. Besides once again showing himself to be somewhat of an arrogant jerk, this short scene does present a rather interesting point. As much as Nephrite puts him down, it does not seem as though he and Jadeite hate each other. In fact, the fact that Jadeite would trust Nephrite enough to discuss his plans with him shows that they might even have a sort of friendship (some have suggested that they are "closer" than friends, but we won't go into that issue here). It could be that making jokes and insults is simply Nephrite's way of communicating with anyone--whether they be his friends or his enemies.

Nephrite once again proves that he has some sort of relationship with the blonde king when Jadeite is killed. As Nephrite watches Jadeite get burned to a crisp through Beryl's crystal ball, he immediately becomes furious, and (at least in the Mixx translation, though not in others) swears revenge on the sailor senshi.

This presents an interesting question. Why is it that when his friend dies, Nephrite's first reaction is not sadness, but anger? In this scene, and in others, he shows that any time he is in a situation where the normal emotional response would be sadness, fear, or any other negative emotion, those feelings are always somehow translated into anger. It is possible that Nephrite has an overdeveloped sense of masculinity (hyper-masculinity, even), and that when faced with what he would deem to be a "weak" emotion, he tries to turn it into something that would not be seen as weak, such as anger.

This would also explain why he cannot communicate with his friends in any way other than through insults and teasing. As it might be seen as weak or feminine to express any sort of fondness for Jadeite, he tries to flaunt his masculinity by putting his friend down at every opportunity. The fact that Jadeite puts up with this enough to still share a friendship with him says an awful lot about Jadeite.

Later, Nephrite is shown visiting Jadeite's coffin. He still has that angry sneer on his face as he vows to find the ginzuishou in order to revive him. This seems to largely be the driving force behind Nephrite's search, showing that despite how he may act, he has just as much compassion for his friends as anyone.

Beryl seems to realize this too, as she plays on Nephrite's emotions by telling him that the ginzuishou, once he finds it, can revive Jadeite. This is significantly different than how Beryl treats Jadeite--using threats and a sense of allegiance to the Dark Kingdom to convince him to act. With Nephrite, Beryl does not bother with any of this, but aims directly for his heart. This also highlights the main difference between Nephrite and Jadeite--while Jadeite is an intellectual person who is driven more by his thoughts, Nephrite is largely an emotional person who is driven by his feelings.

At last, with Jadeite gone, Nephrite is finally shown in action. While most of Jadeite's plans concentrated on gathering energy, Nephrite's first plan was directed entirely towards finding the ginzuishou. News of the D Kingdom's mystical treasure sent everyone to the party that was thrown in Princess D's honor, including Nephrite. Rather than following Jadeite's example by using youma to do his dirty work, Nephrite uses what he calls his Shadow. Nephrite's Shadow is a creature that can take on the appearance of a human, or possess another human, and can act on Nephrite's behalf without Nephrite being physically present.

The Shadow appears to Princess D in the form of a beautiful woman who looks remarkably like a female version of Nephrite. She agrees to show Princess D to her room and, the moment D's back is turned, enters her body, possessing her. The implications of this are obvious--Nephrite sees nothing wrong with striking an opponant's back. (In the What The Heck is a "Shitennou" page, which discusses the mythology behind the Shitennou, I mentioned the idea of Nephrite's Ssu Ling counterpart being the animal of the West, which is either a Ki Rin or a tiger. The tiger is claimed to be the only predator that attacks its prey from behind.)

Princess D, now controlled by Nephrite, steals the chest containing the treasure and runs out onto the balcony, succeeding in both knocking Usagi over the edge and hypnotising all of the guests. When the sailor senshi confront Princess D, the Shadow comes out of her, flooding the palace with darkness. A huge image of Nephrite's face appears in the midst of the Shadow, grinning down at the girls. He looks rather sadistic here, with his eyes all dark and his huge evil grin. Laughing, he says that he will take the mystical treasure and the people in the ballroom as sacrifices for Metallia. Once again, Nephrite's arrogance shows through here. He laughs and boasts about what he will do before his plan is even finished being carried out, rather than concentrating on the sailor senshi who are trying to stop him.

Using her Moon Twilight Flash attack, Sailor Moon defeats the Shadow and returns the guests to normal. Nephrite, watching through Beryl's crystal ball, once again immediately becomes furious. His expression is almost completely identical to when Jadeite was killed, showing that this is his normal reaction to everything that goes wrong. It does not matter what it is, whether a friend dying or a plan being foiled; you can always count on Nephrite losing his temper.

Nephrite's next plot consists of having his Shadow possess a manequin that sits above the door of a bridal shop and using it to seduce young men in order to drain their energy. This seems to be a surprisingly discrete plan for Nephrite, as it is entirely non-confrontational, and mostly occurs at night when no one else is around. This shows an interesting point--when Nephrite doesn't allow his emotions to get in the way, he is actually quite tactical. It is only when he allows himself to lose his temper that he goes charging mindlessly into battle.

At one point the Shadow targets Motoki (who seems to be an easily brainwashable character), and Motoki, in turn, does the same to Makoto, brainwashing both of them and draining their energy. Evidently, this plan would have gone perfectly well if Mamoru had not happened to stroll by while this is taking place. That's the problem with being the bad guy, I suppose. Regardless of how perfect your plans are, the good guy will likely foil your plan by accident anyway.

When the sailor senshi arrive, the ghost bride tries to fight them, but upon finding out that she was manipulated by Nephrite, Makoto goes berzerk and slams the manequin onto the ground, destroying the Shadow. Nephrite, once again showing his arrogance, appears on the scene and challenges them. Not only does this show his arrogance, but it illustrates his emotionalism. Since he is driven by his anger about the sailor senshi killing his friend and foiling his plans, he quickly charges into battle without taking into account the consequences of such an action, and whether it would even be possible to defeat them with such a direct attack. No sooner does he make his presence known, then Sailor Jupiter blinds him with Flower Hurricane, then strikes him with a powerful lightning attack, killing him.

There is one more interesting observation that I'd like to make about Nephrite. In both of his major plots, he is seen using his Shadow. Also in both plots, Nephrite's Shadow takes on the appearance of a female incarnation of himself.

Why would the most masculine member of the Dark Kingdom use female versions of himself to fight for him? Wouldn't that be seen as, well, girly?

Again, this comes right back to Nephrite's hyper-masculinity. For whatever reason, the man obviously goes to great lengths to cover up any aspect of his personality that may be seen as effeminate. This idea that he has to present himself as "manly" may be so deeply ingrained in his mind, that any feminine side that he may have is immediately squished. And that is where our Shadow comes in.

The Shadow is a part of Nephrite, or at least it is a product of his power, but at the same time it is a seperate being. It is controlled by him the way that a regular shadow follows the movements of its living counterpart (indeed, it may not even have the ability to think or act independantly), but it is not attached to him in any physical sense. When it is wounded, he does not feel its pain. When someone looks at it, they only see the Shadow, not Nephrite.

Since the Shadow is not Nephrite himself, he can do whatever he wants with it, without fear of his own image being tarnished. He can make it into the things that he wishes himself to be, but is too afraid to become. He can make it sexy, seductive, sensual. Yes, he can even make it pretty.

Being "pretty" would be considered taboo in the masculine world. Nephrite may have long hair, but the way he presents himself makes that hair seem more like the brown hair of a warlord than the auburn locks of a pretty boy. He may maintain his looks, but it is doubtful that he indulges in anything that would make him feel good-looking, such as a silk shirt or a nice cologne. A masculine person is not supposed to care about such things. But a female shadow can.

Thus, while he may not be able to make himself feel pretty, he can make his Shadow that way. Instead of putting on that silk shirt, he'll put her in a beautiful dress. He can't wear that cologne, but he can give her perfume and expensive jewelry. He can express himself through her appearance without fear of embarrassment, because when people look at her, she is the one they see, not the man behind her. It can even be said that the Shadow is a personification of Nephrite's otherwise suppressed feminine side. By distancing himself from his feminine side, he can more easily express it.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am not trying to imply that Nephrite's secret fantasy is to parade around in a miniskirt. All I am saying here is that because he feels the need to suppress the aspects of his personality that he feels are weak or girly, when those personality traits do become expressed through the Shadow, they are somewhat exaggerated. Just as a writer who wishes he or she could be a little bit braver will write about a grand epic hero, a man who wishes he could be just a little more feminine will create a likeness of himself who is the picture of beauty and femininity.



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