Sailor Moon is a beloved series with fans around the world, but sometimes the series pushes itself in ways that even the most faithful fan gets surprised by. Sometimes, it's because the series did things that would not be expected of a shojo manga or anime, such as gruesome tragedies or the direction the characters take.
Other times, it's because later adaptations of the series, such as the musicals or even the live-action show, handled the beloved story in ways nobody expected them to. Ultimately, this is a franchise that proves to fans that anything can happen.
10 The Time The Sailor Scouts All Died
In the '90s anime, the first series ended with a two-part story where, in the first half, each of the Sailor Scouts die horrible deaths trying to protect Sailor Moon. What made it especially surprising is that most of them died in kamikaze attacks, meaning they were killed by their own powers. By the second part, Tuxedo Mask ended up dying while trying to protect Sailor Moon, who ends up dying from using her full powers even though she manages to destroy Metalia with the help of the ghosts of her friends. Only a last-second wish was able to revive everyone at the cost of everyone losing their memories.
Infamously, this story arc was considered so dark that the original English release had to cut much of the violence, in addition to having the Scouts only be "captured" by the villains, reducing it to a single episode.
9 The Time Tuxedo Mask Killed Someone
In the '90s anime, Mamoru is already friends with Motoki, a civilian friend of the Sailor Scouts, but this wasn't the case in the original manga. During his brief stint as a member of the Dark Kingdom, he actually erases Motoki's friend Endou from existence and steals his identity. The plan wasn't foolproof, as even Reika notices something is off despite barely knowing Endou.
Fans speculate that the character was somehow restored after the battle with the Dark Kingdom ended, but this was never confirmed. Sailor Moon Crystal was more merciful towards him: Mamoru merely hypnotized him into walking away from Motoki.
8 The Time Usagi Really Wanted To Murder Someone
In the '90s anime, it was explained that Minako's work as Sailor V brought her to England to fight the Dark Kingdom. While there, she befriends Katarina, an Interpol officer, and they become so close she eventually divulges her secret identity. However, Minako decides to return to Japan upon learning that a man she loved, Alan, was in love with Katarina. Unfortunately, however, Kunzite transforms Katarina into a monster to track down Minako.
When Usagi learns about Minako's lost love, she becomes willing to murder the transformed Katarina, despite knowing that she's actually a human being. Minako herself had to talk her out of this.
7 The Time Chibiusa Helped Murder A Man
During the second series, the villain Wiseman corrupts Chibiusa and transforms her into his minion, Wicked Lady, who causes more trouble for the Sailor Scouts. One of her cruelest acts, however, was her part in the murder of Saphir, Demande's brother and one of the more sympathetic villains of the season, especially in the initial anime adaptation.
In the manga, Wicked Lady orders Saphir, who is being controlled, to murder his brother, causing Demande to kill him in defense. While it's unclear if she intentionally sent Saphir to his death, she at least planned for someone to die. It was arguably so shocking to see Chibiusa have a hand in causing someone's death that the '90s anime changed this to have Wiseman kill Saphir directly.
6 The Time Usagi Got Naked In The Last Episode
In the final episode of the '90s anime, Usagi goes through her usual power-ups: transforming into Princess Serenity and even sprouting a pair of angelic wings. Things then took an unusual twist with her eventually stripping her down to nothing, with only her wings, hair, and floating star seeds providing occasional covering. In this form, she ultimately saves the day by cleansing Galaxia.
This was so controversial that some foreign releases edited Usagi to have a dress, cover her body in light, or blur out her body.
5 The Time Sailor Astarte Gave Into The Dark Forces
The musicals often introduced new characters into the series' universe. An example would be a new Sailor Scout dubbed Sailor Astarte. Tragically, she was possessed and controlled by the villains, with her ultimately giving in to the dark forces, with Sailor Moon being unable to save her.
While this series wasn't above killing off even their more sympathetic villains, it was still surprising to see a new Sailor Scout introduced to only end up being killed off.
4 The Time Sailor Mercury Got Turned Into A Bad Guy
Sweet, shy Ami Mizuno, also known as Sailor Mercury, is known for being a fan-favorite, often scoring high in polls for the series' favorite character. That made it especially surprising when she temporarily became a villain during the live-action series, dubbed "Dark Mercury."
While the '90s anime toyed with a similar idea in one episode, with the villain Giwaku attempting to turn Sailor Mercury against the other Scouts, she broke the control almost immediately. Seeing Ami remain a villain for a few episodes was genuinely shocking.
3 The Time Luna Became A Sailor Scout
Fans like to make their own original Sailor Scouts and sometimes have preexisting characters become Sailor Scouts in fanart and fanfiction, but one character many fans wouldn't have expected to have become one is Luna, Usagi's helpful feline advisor. However, the live-action show ended up making her the Senshi of "candy."
Allegedly, even the actress playing Luna's human alter-ego was surprised over which character she was playing. She initially thought she was cast as Chibiusa.
2 The Time Sailor Moon Destroyed The Earth
In the live-action series, one change made to the plot that it wasn't the villains that destroyed the Moon Kingdom, it had been Princess Serenity herself over the grief of losing Prince Endymion. To make things worse, when Usagi reawakened as Princess Serenity in this version, she posed a powerful enough threat that she could destroy the Earth.
And she indeed proved powerful enough when she actually did destroy all life on Earth towards the end of the series, albeit with the Silver Crystal being eventually able to restore everything as well.
1 The Time(s) Chibiusa Has Been Erased From Existence
There have been a few times in both the manga and the anime where Chibiusa endures a fate arguably worse than death - getting erased from existence. In the '90s anime, this once happens due to the machinations of Nehelenia and this happens in the manga when Galaxia kills Mamoru.
The '90s adaptation of Sailor Stars also seems to turn this into a running joke, with Chibiusa disappearing from a photo she took with Usagi and Mamoru. As Mamoru's death isn't properly revealed until late in the story, Chibiusa's lack of existence is never directly spelled out but this also means it is never properly resolved either.