Sailor Moon is a series with a cast of strong heroines who face off against evil villains from alternate dimensions, space and wherever else darkness lurks. The titular protagonist, Usagi Tsukino, manages to save the day with the help from her crew of fellow Sailor Guardians -- and the love of her many incarnations, Tuxedo Mask. However, as Usagi's daytime love interest and evening would-be hero, Mamoru is rather lackluster on the heroics front and invokes troubling romantic situations more often than he proves of any use. Sometimes he even goes beyond useless into dangerous territory!
Naoko Takeuchi's series paints a rosy picture of Mamoru and Usagi's storied romance, as the pair share past and future lives together. Only in the present are the duo given time to truly explore their rocky relationship and the trouble that lies therein. From casual insults to being the reverse damsel in distress, Mamoru has proven his liability both on and off the battlefield.
He's a Master Manipulator
If Mamoru and Usagi are destined to be together, it is nothing short of a miracle that their relationship wasn't torpedoed from the get go. In the 1990s anime, Mamoru was a complete jerk to Usagi upon their first encounter -- when she was only 14 years old and he was 17.
From calling her “Meatball Head” to disparaging her weight and intelligence, Mamoru was a bully, adopting misogynistic “negging” as a method by which to influence Usagi. Again, she was only 14 years old when they met, and still, the older Mamoru went after her with no mercy. If Usagi hadn't given it back in turn, his constant ribbing may have been a roadblock on her way to personal growth and developing the confidence needed to be Sailor Moon. Over time, Mamoru's cruelty subsides long enough for him to allow Usagi's best friend, Rei, to swoop in after the pair already established an ongoing relationship.
While Mamoru never technically encouraged Rei, he never put his foot down either, becoming quietly complicit in driving a wedge between her and Usagi. Mamoru would eventually settle down as he grew older and more mature, but his personality in the beginning isn't easily forgotten.
He's a Liability in Battle
With the strum of a Spanish guitar, behold: Tuxedo Mask has arrived! A single rose disrupts the villain's finishing blow, rescuing Sailor Moon and the Guardians once again. Or is Tuxedo Mask's signature entrance just another pretentious and useless stroke of his ego?
Given that Sailor Moon often finds herself in sticky situations, it's true that she often needs help. She has the other Guardians for that, though, and Tuxedo Mask just complicates the situation rather than offering anything useful to the battle. Paired with a poorly timed soliloquy often focused on being a gentleman or the latest in Tuxedo fashion or whatever -- honestly, it's easy to tune him out -- Tuxedo Mask leaps into action and is promptly incapacitated by the much stronger villain, giving the Guardians an opportunity to unleash hell.
Tuxedo Mask is the equivalent of throwing a raw steak in the path of a charging Rottweiler. His only use is as a meaty distraction and nothing more than that. At his worst, however, he is the sole reason the Guardians are in danger. In Sailor Moon R: The Movie, Mamoru makes a grandiose promise to a childhood friend that comes back to bite him on the ass. As Mamoru recovers in hospital following a car accident that killed his parents, he makes kind with an alien boy and gifts him a single rose upon his departure. The boy, Fiore, promises to return the kindness with an insane amount of flowers.
This eventually leads to Fiore being corrupted by a space plant that sends him on a path of destruction back to Earth, where Mamoru becomes the metaphorical victim tied to the train tracks. The Sailor Guardians are, of course, on the scene and save the day, but if it hadn't been for Mamoru's odd choice to gift a roughly eight year old boy with a bouquet of flowers, they wouldn't have needed to in the first place.
He's Kind of Creepy
Yes, it's weird that a University student would have anything to do with a girl in middle school, but at least it can be dismissed as them having a connection that transcends time. However, when their future daughter Chibiusa arrives, his relationship with the child calls into question his moral judgment.
Chibiusa is the daughter of Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion -- the future Usagi and Mamoru, respectively -- but treats the pair in modernity as if they were casual acquaintences. In fact, Chibiusa develops an Electra complex regarding Mamoru, showing affection to him that, considering her appearance as a five year old girl, is rather disturbing.
What's worse is that Mamoru, similar to how he treated Rei, does not dissuade her from this behavior even though it's obvious her intentions. Her attraction to Mamoru is so strong that when Chibiusa transforms into Black Lady, her older, corrupted form, one of the first things she does is to hypnotize Tuxedo Mask and plant a giant smooch on his lips. Either Mamoru lacks the intelligence to understand his adult responsiblity to do the right thing and get her the help she needs, or he's simply continuing the trend of manipulation that began with Usagi. Neither is a good look.
Tuxedo Mask for the People
Maybe in a series dedicated to abnormally powerful teenagers, Mamoru offers some sort of anchor for the casual viewer, a kind of compass to guide the way betwixt soul-sucking monsters and clothes-disintegrating transformations. Regardless, his initially toxic personality and clueless battlefield tactics are character flaws that Tuxedo Mask wears proudly and cannot be hidden behind a handsome, boujee disguise.