Name	Tsukino Usagi
Meaning	Rabbit of the Moon
Aliases	Sailor Moon (Super, Eternal), Serenity (Princess, Neo-Queen), Messiah
Birthday	30 June 1978
Astrological sign	Cancer
Blood type	O
Favorite food	Everything (except carrots, that is)
Dream	To marry Mamoru
Age	14 at the beginning and 16 at the end of the series
Family	Kenji and Ikuko (parents), Shingo (younger brother)

Tsukino Usagi was a clumsy, whiny, spoiled, tardy, and gluttonous crybaby. Period. Nah. I'm just pulling your leg. Usagi was much more than that. In the beginning, it was true she was all those things, but if you'd seen the entire series -- all seasons, movies, and specials -- you'd realize that she had matured a lot in the end. You see, before Luna found her, she pretty much led a sheltered life. The only things she "cared" about was getting to school on time (for she was perpetually late), satisfying her mom with decent marks (which she never did), and hanging out with her friends (hey, she was a teenager!). But when Luna gave her the brooch that enabled her to transform into the pretty-suited super heroine, her world changed. She was forced to grow up and see the evil around her in the form of the Dark Kingdom.

Unlike the rest of the girls, Usagi didn't have any other special skills -- besides running really, really fast -- before she became Sailor Moon. (You know, Rei was a priestess-in-training, Ami was already analytical, Makoto was into martial arts, Minako was into sports, and so on.) So yeah, Usagi had to start from scratch. When she first transformed into her alter persona, she was cowardly and she whined a lot. It was only because she was determined to save her best friend, Naru, that she won. (Of course, Tuxedo Kamen helped a little too...) Since that fateful day, every time she transformed, she learned more about her powers, her mission, and basically herself.

What do I mean by that last bit, you ask? Well, Usagi initially didn't believe in herself. And when things got tough, she'd complain. Like in episode 35, when Tuxedo Kamen was hurt and kidnapped by the Dark Kingdom, Moon whined about not wanting to be a Senshi or a Princess anymore. But that didn't mean she completely gave up. No, siree. Because when Usagi, or rather Princess Serenity, confronted Beryl all by herself, she found the strength, with the help of her friends, to destroy the evil queen for good. In the R movie, when the asteroid was hurtling through space and was going to hit the Earth, Serenity used the Ginzuishou to slow it down. She used it even though her friends warned her that it would kill her. You know what she said to them? She said, "The only way for everyone to survive is to use the Silver Crystal. It's alright. I won't die. Let's all go back to Earth together... Okay?" Clearly, the usually whiny and wimpy Usagi grew a backbone when it mattered the most. Her friends were, after all, very important to her. She then added, "I will protect everyone! Please... Silver Crystal... Lend me more power... Power to protect everyone... Power so nobody will be alone. That's right... Everyone lends me their power all the time... And courage... The Silver Crystal and I can become stronger! I won't leave anyone alone ever again!" She managed to save everyone but at a cost. She died when the Ginzuishou shattered from the enormous strain (but, of course, she was eventually brought back to life by Mamoru using Fiore's life force.) That she broke her promise ("I won't die") wasn't the point. The point was, she believed that she could save everyone. And she did.

Still not convinced? Let's consider this snippet from episode 173, shall we?

L: Usagi-chan?
U: Luna!
L: Cheer up!
U: But I can't...
L: Usagi-chan...
U: Although spring has arrived, Chibiusa is back in the 30th century and Mamo-chan... Mamo-chan is going to study abroad... To be honest with you, I just want to say, "No, please stay with me..." I'm not so strong.
L: Hey! Do you remember when you met me for the first time? You were a crybaby and rash, but, compared to those days, I think you've become much more mature...
U: Luna...
L: Let's see him off with a smile!

See? Even Luna commented that Usagi had grown up. How could she not grow up after everything that had happened? She faced a lot of challenges since she first transformed into Sailor Moon, didn't she? Not only that, she endured heartaches as well:

• when Mamoru was kidnapped and brainwashed by the Dark Kingdom
• when Mamoru broke up with her without telling her it was for her own safety
• when Chibimoon was kidnapped and Mamoru was seriously injured in the SuperS movie
• when Mamoru fell under Neherenia's evil spell
• when Chibimoon died in her arms in Neherenia's castle
• when Seiya's rose reminded her of Mamoru
• whenever her friends got hurt and/or die right before her very eyes

(I'm sure there were more, but those were the main ones.)

Usagi was good at hiding some of her emotions. Really. Yeah, I know she was cheerful and loud and all, but there were times when she wouldn't show what she was really feeling. You don't believe me? Let me give you an example. In episode 179, when Usagi was writing a love letter to Mamoru who hadn't responded at all and Haruka and Michiru saw her, she tried to cover up that she was lonely and worried. So yeah, Usagi wasn't a total flake.

A lot of people, mostly haters, think that Usagi was stupid because her marks at school were awful. I admit she wasn't the scholarly type, but she was far from stupid. No really. Let's look at some examples, okay?

When Luna stated that the bat-like youma's attack was a high frequency sound wave, Moon used its own attack against it by throwing a microphone. The amplified sound wave distracted the youma long enough for Moon to use her Tiara.

When she was fighting the youma by herself (Mercury and Mars were captured in a photograph earlier) and she was backed against a mirror, she realized that the youma could trap itself inside its own camera. She waited for it to take a picture and, just as the light was about to hit her, she did an aerial flip. So instead of her getting hit, the light from the youma's camera bounced back to the youma itself. Afterwards, Moon used her tiara to destroy it and save her friends.

It was actually Moon's idea to fool the enemies that she and the others were having a spat and/or that she was quitting the team in order to infiltrate the Dark Kingdom and save Tuxedo Kamen. For a while, Kunzite and his lackey were convinced... convinced enough to offer Moon to join them so that she could see Endymion in exchange for the Ginzuishou. Of course, when Kunzite finally noticed the other Senshi hiding in the bushes and watching the scene unfold, his lackey was quick to attack her. Mars and the others tried not to deviate from their plan, but when they couldn't stand to see her helpless anymore, they jumped in to her rescue.

Usagi discovered that there many stray cats living in an abandoned and soon to be demolished building. She tried to help by assigning them to her friends. Since Rei and the others couldn't keep them for various reasons, Usagi finally suggested that they give them to the animal farm.

Mistress 9, in the form of Hotaru, accidentally called Super Sailor Moon by her civilian name as she tried to convince the older girl to bring out the Grail so it could save everyone. Upon hearing it, Super Sailor Moon immediately suspected something was amiss. Hotaru couldn't have known that she was Usagi so she asked the small girl about it. If Usagi was indeed stupid as some haters claimed her to be, then she wouldn't have caught onto Mistress 9's trick.

Usagi noticed a circus tent from a far while everyone else remained oblivious to its sudden appearance. I thought this was interesting since the circus, uh, freaks commented that humans "were creatures who [didn't] care about what [was] beyond the walls of their rooms." Obviously, Usagi could be quite observant/perceptive at times.

Badiyanu (sp?), the evil queen who wanted to imprison the world inside her black dream hole, encased Super Sailor Moon inside a dream. Super Sailor Moon, upon hearing Mamoru's declaration that she was the only person that mattered to him, realized that it wasn't the truth. You see, in the beginning of the movie, when Usagi asked Mamoru who was more important, her or Chibiusa, Mamoru couldn't answer. To Mamoru, they were both equally important. So anyway, this was what happened in the dream:

M: Usako... What are you doing here?
SSM: Mamo-chan? Is this Mamo-chan's room?
Mamoru: Where else could it be?
SSM: Mamo-chan, are you alright?
M: My injury isn't that serious.
SSM: Good. I'm relieved. Ah, Mamo-chan, Chibiusa isn't waking up!
M: Chibiusa...
SSM: Chibiusa... Mamo-chan...
M: Don't worry. Let her keep dreaming. Chibiusa must be having a happy dream. Let her enjoy her dream. And that goes for you us too. You and I will spend the rest of our lives together like this.
SSM: But we have to save the children and my friends first! They're all in danger!
M: Why do you have to take care about other people? To me, you are all I care about, Usako.
SSM: Mamo-chan? Between Chibiusa and I, which one do you love more?
M: Don't be ridiculous. It's you, Usako. You are the only person I'll ever love in this world.
SSM: Mamo-chan? Even in my dreams, you're just as dreamy as the real you. Crisis Power!

The last example was when Usagi thought that there was a connection between a classmate and Mamoru because their eyes "were shining like gold." Afterwards Super Sailor Moon -- not Mars and Saturn who had psychic abilities -- realized that the shadow in the mirrors was really Neherenia.

So you see, Usagi wasn't really that stupid. Just because she wasn't book smart like Ami didn't mean she had no use for her brain cells. Besides, she was able to get into high school with the others, right? If she really were that dumb, she would have been held back or she wouldn't have graduated at all. Besides, to borrow one of Zig Ziglar's quotations: "It [was her] attitude, not [her] aptitude, that [determined her] altitude." So there! Pfffffft!

And oh, a lot of haters piss me off when they claim Usagi had no talent whatsoever. If only they paid attention to the episodes, they'd know that Usagi was really good at throwing a frisbee/discus. Hello?! Moon Tiara Action? Yeesh. In episode 37, Kunzite tried to find out Sailor Moon's civilian form by forming an etiquette class. Usagi put the other students to shame, didn't she? And let's not forget all that wicked cool tier-twirling, too. Have you seen her attacks (Rainbow Moon Heartache or Silver Moon Therapy Kiss, for example)? She could be a majorette or something. And running... Thanks to her daily mad dashes to school, she could probably race Haruka, the Senshi of the Wind, and win. Well, maybe not... =P