Serena Tsukino

"And I say on behalf of the Moon, I shall right wrongs and triumph over evil, and that means you!"

- Sailor Moon, Ep. #1

Serena Tsukino (月野 うさぎ) is the primary protagonist of Sailor Moon series. Serena is the reincarnation of Princess Serena, Princess of the Moon Kingdom, and the daughter of the late Queen Serenity. A lazy and clumsy schoolgirl living in Tokyo, Japan, Serena struggles with her position as Sailor Moon, leader of the Sailor Scouts.

Rebirth
Princess Serena was reborn on Earth as Serena, the daughter of Kenji and Ikuko Tsukino. Serena spent the earliest part of her childhood as an only child until her mother became pregnant with her little brother, Sammy. On the day of her little brother's birth, Serena met an orphaned Darien Shields, the reincarnation of Prince Darien. The two connected immediately after Darien expressed his sadness over losing his friend, Fiore. Hoping to comfort him, Serena gave Darien a rose as a token of her friendship and to show that he would never be alone again.

Serena spent the first fourteen years of her life on Earth unaware of her previous life as the Princess of the Moon. Adopting the traits of her new mother, Serena grew to become a struggling student and something of slacker, constantly late for school and getting low marks in assignments. Much to the displeasure of her parents, Serena shirked her responsibilities as a member her family and as a result of her spoiled nature, often whined about performing rudimentary tasks. Her relationship with Darien would also grow to become antagonistic, Darien often teasing her about her bad habits and hairstyle.

Becoming Sailor Moon
On her way home from school, Serena saw a cat, she’d later come to know as Luna, being picked on by cruel kids, and discovered a crescent moon on her forehead. That same day, the Negaverse began gathering energy. As Queen Beryl's commander, Jedite, sent the Negamonster, Morga, to drain energy, disguised as her best friend’s, Molly Baker, mother, Luna told Serena that she was Sailor Moon, and gave her a locket to allow her to transform into Sailor Moon. Though Serena was frightened by the talking cat, she followed her orders and repeated the phrase, "Moon Prism Power!"

She then went to the jewelry store to face Morga. After the arrival of the mysterious Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Moon used her special attack, Moon Tiara Magic and destroyed Morga. Following her first victory against the Negaverse, Luna gave Serena the Luna Pen, allowing her to use the ability to disguise herself in various personas for every given situation.

Serena foiled three more of Jedite's schemes, destroying two monsters and releasing some men from Jedite's control. Serena became friends with a brainy and lovely girl named Amy Anderson. Luna initally suspected Amy to be an agent of the Negaverse, but was later discovered that Amy was the reincarnation of Sailor Mercury, a member of the Moon Kingdom's court. With her help, Sailor Moon destroyed the Negamonster, Garoben.

After another of Jedite's plans was foiled, Raye Hino was revealed as the reincarnation of Sailor Mars, another member of the Moon Kingdom's court. Though relieved they found another scout, Serena's relationship with Raye was tense. On top of sharing a like-minded interest in Tuxedo Mask, they also liked Darien.

Raye showed complete contempt for Serena's laziness and whining, the latter of which often triggered fights between them. Raye's tendency to agree with Darien on Serena's behavior make things between herself and the alter ego of Tuxedo Mask, tense as well.

Serena, Amy and Raye fought against Jedite and his monsters on each of his attempts. After Sailor Moon destroyed Titus, Jedite challenged the Sailor Scouts to a battle at the airport. As a result of his defeat at their hands, Jedite was put into Eternal Sleep by Queen Beryl, despite his pleas that he had discovered Serena and the other Scouts' identities.

From here, Neflite became Queen Beryl's top commander, and the Sailor Scouts foiled every one of his evil plans. Soon, Neflite turned good, saving Molly from three of Zoycite's monsters, but was killed in the process. Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars killed all three monsters, but were saddened by Neflite's death when he had shown a possible change to the side of good.

When Zoycite began looking for Rainbow Crystals and turning the seven crystal carriers into monsters (who are really the Seven Shadows, whose souls were inside the carriers), Sailor Moon received the Crescent Moon Wand from Luna, and used Moon Healing Activation to heal them all, one by one, in the course of their efforts to find and obtain the Rainbow Crystals before the Negaverse, and oppositely, Tuxedo Mask, who wished to find them for his own reasons. Serena's powers worked on every person turned into a monster by Zoycite.

During their hunt for the Rainbow Crystals, Serena and Luna discovered another reborn Sailor Scout, Sailor Jupiter, was Lita Kino, a gorgeous tomboy Serena became friends with after she defended her against bullies.

The Past Revealed
Mina Aino, the reincarnation of Sailor Venus, was the last to join Serena and the others, and came of her own volition, having already been discovered by, Artemis, an ally of Luna's.

Serena and Darien's relationship is brought to a new head when Serena encounters him again after his battle with Zoycite. Serena proceeded to tease and make fun of him until she slapped him in the side of his back that hurt. When she spotted the blood on her hand, she chose to follow him to find out what was going on. Unaware of his deal with Zoycite, she was taken with Darien to another dimension inside the Starlight Tower.

She was forced to transform into Sailor Moon in front of Darien when the elevator they rode in was attacked, and in turn, she discovered that he was Tuxedo Mask. After he was injured by Zoycite, Serena discovered she was the lost Moon Princess, and defeated Zoycite.

Her past as Princess Serena was revealed to her by Luna and Artemis. She then fought off Zoycite's successor, Malachite. Malachite's task was to find Serena, kill her, and take the Imperium Silver Crystal from her.

He turned people into monsters, but they were all healed by Sailor Moon. Eventually, Sailor Moon healed Darien, but he was recaptured by the Negaverse. On their way to the Negaverse, Sailor Moon and the others encountered Malachite. After the full story of the Moon Kingdom was revealed to them by Queen Serenity, Sailor Moon killed Malachite by reflecting his own attack back at him.

One by one, the Sailor Scouts were all captured by the Doom and Gloom Girls, and Sailor Moon fought Queen Beryl alone. After healing Prince Darien again, she fought Queen Beryl, who had been merged with the Negaforce. Powered up by the other Sailor Scouts, Sailor Moon destroyed Beryl with Cosmic Moon Power, ending the Negaverse for good. Along with Darien and the other Sailor Scouts, Serena's memories of being Sailor Moon were erased following Beryl's defeat.

Doom Tree Arc
Serena's memories were restored by Luna when Alan and Ann sent the Cardian, Vampeal, to gather energy for the Doom Tree. She transformed into Sailor Moon and destroyed Vampeal with her tiara. However, Sailor Moon's tiara lost its power sometime after the other Sailor Scouts returned. Her locket was destroyed by Cardian Racy, transforming her back to Serena, but Queen Serenity gave her a new locket, saying "Moon Crystal Power" to transform, and a new weapon to combat her new enemies.

Using an attack called Moon Scepter Elimination, Sailor Moon destroyed Racy. From here, Sailor Moon and the others foiled more of Alan and Ann's plans. In the first episode of Sailor Moon R, Alan, posing as a human, fell in love with Serena. After Serena and Darien discovered Alan and Ann's true identities, the Doom Tree attacked them. Eventually, the truth about the Doom Tree was revealed, and Alan and Ann left Earth with it to start a better life. Darien's memories were restored when the Moonlight Knight (the manifestation of his desire to protect Serena) recombined with him.

Negamoon Arc
Afterward, a cute and pretty little girl named Rini appeared from the future and brainwashed Serena's family into thinking she was her cousin. The evil Rubeus and his Negamoon Sisters tried to capture Rini and take over Crystal Points in Tokyo with their Droids, but Serena destroyed each of the Droids. Darien, after hearing a voice in his nightmares, broke up with Serena. Once the Negamoon Sisters decided to turn good, Serena healed them with Moon Crystal Healing Activation. She then fought Rubeus inside his ship, and defeated him when Rini broke his power source, leaving him to perish when his ship self-destructed while Serena, the other Scouts, and Rini escaped back to Tokyo.

After the death of Rubeus, Emerald took over, sending Droids to fill Tokyo's weak points with negative energy. Serena foiled each of her plans, destroying all her Droids. The Sailor Scouts eventually went to the future with Rini. It was revealed by King Darien that he and Neo Queen Serenity (currently encased in crystal) are the future selves of Serena and Darien, and Rini is their daughter, and he wanted to test their affection for each other. Prince Diamond was in love with Sailor Moon, which made Emerald jealous, resulting in Wiseman turning her into a dragon. She was subsequently destroyed by Sailor Moon.

Eventually, Sailor Moon convinced Diamond that Wiseman has been lying to him, and Wiseman attempted to kill him. He eventually sacrificed himself to save her. Sailor Moon then convinced Rini, whom Wiseman had turned into Wicked Lady, that she and the others did love her, and she became Rini again. Wiseman attacked them a final time in an attempt to open the Dark Gate and destroy the world, but Sailor Moon, and later Rini, transformed into their princess forms and used the Imperium Silver Crystal from the past and future to destroy Wiseman and the Dark Crystal, restoring the future back to its peaceful state.

Sailor Moon S
Sailor Moon and the others had to foil several evil plans by Kaorinite, the assistant of Doctor Tomoe, leader of the Bureau of Bad Behavior, sending Daimon Heart Snatchers to extract Pure Hearts. When the Heart Snatcher Nekonnell attacked Sailor Moon, the power of the love between her and Darien took them to the Moon Kingdom where Sailor Moon received the Spiral Moon Heart Scepter. Sailor Moon used Moon Spiral Heart Attack to destroy Nekonnell, and did the same with most of the following Daimons sent by Kaorinite and her successors.

The Sailor Scouts initially did not get along with the two Outer Sailor Scouts, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, but at one point, Sailor Moon and Sailor Uranus worked together to stop one of Kaori Knight's plans. Rini returned from the future as Sailor Mini-Moon.

At one point, Serena's Pure Heart was extracted by the Daimon Senishenta, but was not one of the three Kaorinite was searching for. She was the fourth of the Sailor Scouts to be targeted for her Pure Heart.

After Kaorinite was killed, Eugeal took over. This led to a battle at an island where the three Pure Hearts were used to summon the Purity Chalice (the holders of the Pure hearts survived and got their Pure Hearts back). Sailor Moon and Eugeal raced for it, but Sailor Moon got it first and turned into Super Sailor Moon, increasing her power. She defeated Eugeal, who drove off and later crashed because of Mimet, who then took over. Sailor Moon was initially believed to be the Sovereign who would stop the Silence, but after she collapsed from the power, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune thought otherwise.

Sailor Moon foiled more of Mimet's schemes, destroying her Daimons by turning into Super Sailor Moon and using Rainbow Heart Ache, until Mimet was killed by Telulu. After stopping the final three witches, Telulu, Byruit, and Cyprin, Sailor Moon tried to protect Hotaru Tomoe, who was the host of Mistress 9. Once Doctor Tomoe was returned to normal, and Mistress 9 destroyed by Hotaru, who then became Sailor Saturn and tried to destroy Pharaoh 90, Sailor Moon received power from the other Sailor Scouts (including Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune) and transformed into Super Sailor Moon (the Purity Chalice could not be used for this because it was destroyed when Pharaoh 90 was summoned). She then entered Pharaoh 90 and destroyed him by destroying his core. She also saved Hotaru from Pharaoh 90, though Hotaru was turned into a baby.

Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune challenged Sailor Moon for who should be the leader, as they were still unable to forgive her for risking the world's existence to save one person, but eventually they were defeated, and accepted her as their leader and future queen.

Sailor Moon Super S
Sailor Moon then had to deal with the Amazon Trio, foiling each of their plans and destroying their monsters. The Amazon Trio's goal was to find the one with beautiful dreams, by looking into the bearer's dream mirror. Sailor Moon's Moon Spiral Heart Attack did not work on Hawk's Eye, one of the Amazon Trio members. When Pegasus gave her and Rini the ability to turn into Super Sailor Scouts, she learned a new attack. By Super Sailor Mini Moon summoning Pegasus using her bell, Super Sailor Moon could used Moon Gorgeous Meditation to destroy the Remless sent by the Amazon Trio as they searched people's dream mirrors for Pegasus.

Serena was suspected to be the holder of Pegasus, and after she was targeted by Hawk's Eye, her dream mirror was destroyed by Mr. Magic Pierrot, but was rebuilt when Tiger's Eye and Fish Eye gave up the power that made them human to rebuild the mirror, enabling her to transform into Super Sailor Moon and destroy Mr. Magic Pierrot. The Amazon Trio were revived by Pegasus.

Afterward, the Super Sailor Scouts had to deal with the Amazon Quartet. In the end, Super Sailor Moon defeated them and fought Zirconia, defeating him as well. The Amazon Quartet turned good, and Zirconia was killed when Queen Nehelenia, the leader of the Dark Moon Circus, escaped her mirror.

Super Sailor Moon fought Nehelenia, who was unstoppable with the Golden Crystal, until the Amazon Quartet switched it for a pineapple, and Super Sailor Moon and Super Sailor Mini Moon reawakened the power of the Golden Crystal and used it to defeat Nehelenia, who survived and threw Super Sailor Mini Moon over the edge of the crumbling circus tent. Super Sailor Moon jumped off after her (Nehelenia returned to her mirror for eternity). Super Sailor Moon and Super Sailor Mini Moon were turned into Princess Serena and Princess Rini with wings, and survived the fall. Serena then joined the other Scouts and Darien with seeing Pegasus off as he returned to Elysion, but when Rini and Pegasus are about to share a tender moment, Serena and the others are, thankfully, diverted away by a well-timed distraction from the reformed Amazon Quartet.

Etymology
"" is a  meaning, "clear, tranquil, serene". In accordance with the "Americanization" of the characters Japanese names, "Serena" is a reference to the character's former name, "Serenity", which remained unchanged in the English localization. Serena's family name, "Tsukino" (月野), is a of the phrase "of the moon" (月の; Tsuki no).

Serena's original name, "Usagi Tsukino" is a pun referencing the Japanese adaptation of the (a ). In one version of the "Rabbit of the Moon" (月の兎) folktale, the rabbit presses, or is the companion of a fox, monkey, or crow. In one version of story, the rabbit offers to sacrifice himself for a moon deity who visits Earth when he cannot find a suitable gift. He is instead taken to live with the deity on the moon.

Trivia

 * Serena's is the . The visual motif is repeated throughout most of Serena and Sailor Moon's equipment or clothing.
 * Serena's hair buns are compared to in the Optimum Productions English dub. The original Japanese dub and manga likened them to.
 * In further reference to Tsuki no Usagi, Naoko Takeuchi often likens Serena's hair to long droopy rabbit ears.
 * Though Tracey Moore was replaced by Terri Hawkes as Serena mid-way through Sailor Moon, she voiced the character in "Dangerous Dollies" (episode 15), and again in "Jupiter Comes Thundering In" (episode 21). This suggests some episodes were recorded out of order.
 * After her pregnancy, Terri Hawkes declined to reprise the role of Serena following Sailor Moon R.
 * Prior to Hawkes' departure, she recorded voice work for the Pioneer Entertainment produced dubs for The Promise of the Rose, Hearts In Ice, and The Black Dream Hole.
 * Terri Hawkes was replaced by Linda Ballantyne for Sailor Moon S and Sailor Moon Super S, which were recorded shortly after the three films.
 * And she does have severe problems fighting monsters, villains and evil aliens.
 * In promotional material from DiC Entertainment and Bandai America Inc. for a in early 1995, Serena was given the name "Victoria".