Sailor Moon is about Usagi Tsukino, the superhero who fights for love and justice by the light of the moon. Each season and story arc brings in a new team of villains that Usagi (Sailor Moon) and the rest of the Sailor Guardians must defeat. Often, the villains' goals are very similar; they want to harvest energy from humans and dominate planets, starting with Earth. The villain origin stories tend to be different, though.
Sailor Galaxia's motivations are entirely different from Queen Beryl's. Sailor Galaxia was once the best of the Sailor Guardians before Chaos corrupted her, and Queen Beryl turned to serving an evil queen because of unrequited love. While many Sailor Moon villains act out of their own greed and avarice, some are victims of greater evils which ultimately lead to excellently written redemptions.
10 The Spectre Sisters Embrace Their True Passions
The Spectre Sisters are the evil mirror image of the four Inner Guardians. Koan dresses in purple, has long dark hair, and fire attacks similar to Sailor Mars. Berthier has a blue aesthetic and powers like Sailor Mercury. Petz wears green and has abilities similar to Sailor Jupiter. Calaveras has a red-orange style and powers like Sailor Venus.
The Spectre Sisters don't have the same arc in the manga and in Sailor Moon Crystal as in the original anime. The original anime gives them a pretty charming redemption. One by one, the Spectre Sisters convince each other to turn good, and eventually start working together in a cosmetics counter where their skills and personalities are put to much better use.
9 Nephrite Has Two Different Redemption Arcs
Nephrite is one of Queen Beryl's four generals. He enacts many schemes to harvest human energy and capture Sailor Moon; he even impersonates the swashbuckling Tuxedo Mask at one point. Nephrite assumes his Dark Kingdom duties after Jadeite's defeat, summoning youma and consulting the stars, which is his own particular gift.
Nephrite has two different redemption arcs. In the original Sailor Moon anime, Nephrite goes so far as to switch sides, fighting for the good side against the Dark Kingdom because he can't bear to see Usagi's friend Naru hurt. In Sailor Moon Crystal, all four Dark Kingdom generals (also called the Shitennou) have post-mortem redemption arcs where they remember their past lives as Prince Endymion's knights and encourage the Inner Guardians to keep fighting.
8 Chibiusa Becomes Wicked Lady
Chibiusa, Sailor Chibi Moon, is the future crown princess of Crystal Tokyo. Villains like Wiseman target her because she's so powerful for one so young. As Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask's child, she's the key to their future, and corrupting her means destroying the future. Wiseman exploits young Chibusa's worst fears and insecurities. He lies to her, telling her that she's unloved and unwanted.
Wiseman beats Chibiusa down psychologically, and then turns her into Wicked Lady. Wicked Lady is an older, evil version of Chibiusa and not even Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask can turn her back onto the right path. In the manga, it's Chibiusa's love for her best friend and mentor, Sailor Pluto, that lets her shake Wiseman's powerful hold, and she saves herself from him.
7 Fiore Trades His Life
Fiore is a very sad villain whose story only occurs in Sailor Moon R: The Movie, The Promise of the Rose. He's a lost alien who landed on Earth and befriended Mamoru after he lost his parents. The two boys bonded, and it's obvious that they had some sort of puppy love. When Fiore comes back to Earth as an adult, he's still in love with Mamoru, and it's understandable that he would at least want to renew their friendship.
The parasitic flower alien, Kisenian Blossom, possesses him, though, and convinces Fiore that Usagi is manipulating Mamoru and keeping them apart. Kisenian Blossom twists Fiore's mind, and he attacks Sailor Moon and Earth; Sailor Moon spends all her life energy stopping his comet from crashing into the planet. Once the Kisenian Blossom dies, Fiore's wracked with guilt, and he becomes his former kind-hearted self. Fiore empathizes with Mamoru and Usagi and gives Mamoru a blossom containing his life force so that Mamoru can revive the fallen Usagi.
6 Queen Nehelenia Was Once a Noble Leader
Queen Nehelenia is the evil mirror version of Neo-Queen Serenity. Like Neo-Queen Serenity, she once ruled over her own kingdom as Queen Helenia, with kindness and fairness. Sailor Moon can be a fearful person, but Queen Nehelenia lets her fears grow out of control and eventually rule her.
Queen Nehelenia wants to defeat Sailor Moon by making her give into the same fear and hate that she did. Sailor Moon refuses to hate her, even when Nehelenia abducts and corrupts Mamoru and traps the Sailor Guardians. Rather than defeating her, Sailor Moon heals Queen Nehelenia. Once Nehelenia's healed, she's her true kind self again, and she releases Mamoru and the Sailor Guardians.
5 Saphir Sees Through Wiseman
Prince Saphir works for Wiseman and the Black Moon Clan, but he never actually does anything to hurt Sailor Moon or her allies. He mostly acts as his brother's lackey, who is also under Wiseman's hold. Saphir's also the first of the Black Moon Clan to suspect that Wiseman isn't a man of his word. Wiseman has everyone fooled and speaks only in lies.
Saphir's driven by love, and nothing can come between him and his brother, Prince Demande. Sadly, Prince Saphir doesn't survive resisting Wiseman, but his actions have a vital and heroic ripple-effect. He uses his last moments to warn his brother, and he helps ultimately dismantle Wiseman.
4 Prince Demande Sacrifices Everything to Right His Wrongs
Prince Demande is Wiseman's most powerful soldier and war general in the Black Moon Clan. Demande has a history with Neo-Queen Serenity, and Wiseman warps his feelings for her into something dark and covetous. Eventually, Prince Demande realizes that Wiseman is totally dishonest, and that he's being misled. Wiseman slowly takes everything away from Prince Demande: his brother Saphir, his vision for the future, and his honor.
Shaking off Wiseman's hypnotizing hold is nearly impossible, but Prince Demande does it when Sailor Moon's in trouble. When Wiseman tries to kill Sailor Moon, Prince Demande blocks his fatal attack, sustaining a grave injury. Before he dies, Prince Demande repents to Sailor Moon for his actions under Wiseman's influence, and, of course, Sailor Moon forgives him.
3 Sailor Galaxia Tried to Quell Chaos Before It Could Hurt More People
Sailor Galaxia is both the most terrifying Sailor Moon antagonist, and the most sympathetic villain. She was once the most powerful Sailor Guardian in the Milky Way Galaxy, and an ally to Sailor Moon. When Sailor Moon realizes Sailor Galaxia's true identity, she can't bear to fight and defeat her. Sailor Galaxia's possessed by Chaos, a primeval god of destruction who is responsible for annihilating peoples, planets, galaxies.
Chaos possessed Sailor Galaxia and instructed her to snatch away Star Seeds because Sailor Galaxia was in the wrong place at the wrong time. When she came across Chaos in the vacuum of space, she tried to sacrifice herself to absorb and nullify Chaos. But Chaos is too strong for even the strongest Guardian. Once Sailor Moon joins Sailor Galaxia and fights for her, Galaxia helps her fight back against Chaos, freeing herself, the Star Seeds, and the galaxy.
2 Dark Endymion's Saved by His Love
If Queen Beryl can't have Prince Endymion, then she's going to keep him away from anyone else. Once Tuxedo Mask remembers his past life and his love for Princess Serenity, Queen Beryl injures him and snatches him away to the Dark Kingdom. There, she brainwashes him and turns him against the allies he loved and served, the Sailor Guardians.
Prince Endymion becomes Dark Endymion and no matter what Sailor Moon tries to do, she can't save him. Meanwhile, he serves Queen Beryl with the rest of his former Shitennou, further breaking Sailor Moon's heart. Even Sailor Mercury confronts him, filled with rage and betrayal. Sailor Moon finally gets through to Dark Endymion after many episodes, breaking the hypnotism by playing him the music locket he once gave her in the Moon Kingdom. Not even dark magic can break Endymion's love for Sailor Moon, and he fights through the hypnotism to come back to Sailor Moon and help her.
1 Professor Tomoe Only Wants to Save His Daughter
Professor Tomoe is a fan favorite Sailor Moon villain because he's so funny. Most Sailor Moon baddies are nihilistic and tyrannical, even to their generals and underlings. Queen Beryl thinks of her four powerful generals as disposable, while Professor Tomoe is humorous, playful — even tolerant of his lackeys to a certain degree. Germatoid possesses Professor Tomoe and directs all his actions.
Professor Tomoe's true motivations tie back to wanting to save his daughter, Hotaru, and ensure her welfare. He's just in over his head because Hotaru is one of the more powerful reincarnated Sailor Guardians, Sailor Saturn, and Germatoid wants to awaken her as the Messiah of Silence. The first chance that Professor Tomoe gets away from Germatoid, he goes to his daughter and tries to save her. Tomoe even gives his life to protect his daughter.
