The first villain in any superhero story is always important. They shape who the good guys are going to be. In Sailor Moon, the inaugural antagonists are the Dark Kingdom, an ancient organization crucial in the Silver Millennium's downfall.
In the 1990s anime, the Dark Kingdom waged war against the Moon Kingdom in the past. Led by Queen Beryl and oversaw by Queen Metalia, the Dark Kingdom achieved its goal despite being defeated in the process. Nevertheless, the Dark Kingdom was reborn in the present day along with the Sailor Guardians.
Here are the villains of the Dark Kingdom, ranked.
9 Thetis
In episode 12, Jadeite teamed up with one of Queen Beryl's most powerful yōma, Thetis. She was intelligent and highly revered among all the other yōma. Her and Jadeite's plan consisted of sapping the energy from couples. Unfortunately, Thetis was swiftly defeated by Sailor Moon.
Thetis, who is inspired by the sea nymph of the same name from Greek mythology, did not exist in the manga. She is exclusive to the first anime.
With her powers rooted in water, Thetis could manipulate the ocean. She nearly crushed Sailor Moon with a torrent before Sailors Mercury and Mars showed up.
Despite only appearing in one episode, she was a formidable foe who could have gone further had she not worked with Jadeite, who was afforded one too many failures.
8 Jadeite
The first of the Shitennō was Jadeite. His mission was largely finding vital energy to help strengthen and power the Dark Kingdom, which had been substantially weakened since the battle with the Moon Kingdom. For twelve episodes, he experienced failure after failure. On the occasion, he did gather an adequate amount of energy, but he tested Beryl's patience.
Queen Beryl was very angry at Jadeite when Thetis' was defeated. In his last episode, he found out the secret identities of the three Sailor Guardians, but Beryl literally put him on ice before he could share the information.
7 Zoisite
Zoisite was the most conniving member of the Shitennō. He was ruthless and had no qualms with betraying someone else to get what he wanted. Rather than waiting his turn to be the next in charge, Zoisite foiled Nephrite's plans. He sent three of his most deadly yōma to abduct Naru and kill Nephrite.
With Nephrite out of the way, Zoisite was assigned the duty of finding the seven Rainbow Crystals, which would form the Legendary Silver Crystal. He managed to find them all, but several ended up in the hands of the heroes.
Zoisite's downfall was his ego. By disobeying Queen Beryl's orders not to harm Mamoru, Zoisite sealed his own fate. Had he not been so self-centered, he may have lived a lot longer.
6 Nephrite
Nephrite was a force to be reckoned with. He was headstrong, confident, and physically strong. Not to mention, he was smart. Nephrite found a way to tap into an individual person's life force so that whenever their energy peaked, he would take it.
Nephrite was eventually told to find the Legendary Silver Crystal. Mistakenly, he followed the wrong paths when looking for the object. This led to his romance with Naru. Nephrite ended up being the first villain in the series to be redeemed without the help of Sailor Moon. That willpower and courage ranks him quite high among the Shitennō.
5 Kunzite
As the last of the Shitennō, it makes sense Kunzite would be the most threatening. His tendency to involve bystanders annoyed Endymion, but Kunzite's aim was to avenge both Zoisite and find the Legendary Silver Crystal, no matter the cost.
Kunzite overpowered Sailors Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus rather easily. It was when he had to face Sailor Moon that he was outmatched. He was clearly overpowered by the Silver Crystal in his first duel with Sailor Moon. In his final physical appearance, he succumbed to his fatal wound at the hands of the Moon Princess. Regardless, Kunzite put up a good fight.
4 The D.D. Girls
Queen Beryl appointed five yōma to 'greet' the Sailor Guardians as they entered D-Point. The D.D. Girls were lethal and calculating. They knew how to take down their enemies. First, they removed the Sailor Guardians' powerhouse: Sailor Jupiter. Then, they got rid of the brains, Sailor Mercury. Next came the remaining protectors, Venus and Mars.
Despite dying themselves, the D.D. Girls earn the trophy of being the only monsters in the series to kill several of the Sailor Guardians.
3 Queen Beryl
As second in command in the Dark Kingdom, Queen Beryl is no pushover. She mainly sat at her throne and dished out orders to her underlings, but Beryl was a daunting antagonist. She was driven by her affection for Endymion, and she had no problems with disposing of her minions when they failed her.
Universal Sailor Moon lore states Beryl was once an Earthling who fell in love with Endymion. Her jealousy of his relationship with the Moon Princess caused her to partner with Queen Metalia.
While fusing with Queen Metalia made her more powerful, it also made her susceptible to Princess Serenity's wrath.
2 Dark Endymion
When Queen Beryl realized Mamoru/Tuxedo Mask was the present-day reincarnation of her beloved Prince Endymion, she set out to make him hers. Using Queen Metalia's power, Beryl put Endymion under her control after he was mortally wounded by Zoisite. Even after Sailor Moon successfully purged him of evil using the Legendary Silver Crystal, Beryl only re-performed the brainwashing ritual. This time, it made Endymion a killing machine who brutally beat up Sailor Moon.
It's true Endymion doesn't have the strength or powers of the Shitennō or Beryl. Instead, he had the ability to make Sailor Moon doubt herself and feel as if she failed. He got under her skin in a way that few other villains ever could.
1 Queen Metalia
The true ruler of the Dark Kingdom is Queen Metalia, a colossal demon from the Sun. Not a lot is really known about her, but she is one of the great evils in the Sailor Moon universe.
Until a little after the midway point of the first season, audiences did not see Metalia. And now, she was an amorphous shape of energy. She depended on Beryl to do her bidding. It was also Metalia who turned Endymion into a pawn of the Dark Kingdom.
In the end, Metalia fused with Beryl to form Super Beryl. They challenged Princess Serenity, who was almost done in until the spirits of her fallen friends lent her their power. Their combined forces destroyed Super Beryl as well as everything and everyone in D-Point.