Player
Name: Nena
Personal Journal: kuwata
E-mail: nenabearr@gmail.com
AIM/Plurk/Etc.: nenabearr (AIM); nenabearr
Timezone: CST
Current Characters in Route: N/A

Character
Name: Minako Aino / Sailor Venus / Sailor V
Series: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon (manga-verse)
Timeline: post-Stars but pre-Usagi's wedding, so sometime after they're revived and living their daily lives on Earth again.
Canon Resource Links: Minako Wiki Page | Sailor Venus Wiki Page | BSSM Manga Wiki Page | Codename: Sailor V Manga Wiki

Personality:

One would expect the reincarnation of the goddess of love and beauty, Venus, to be feminine, graceful and refined; however, Minako Aino certainly does not fit the description, and her stark contrast from these expectations can make it rather difficult for one to believe that she actually is a descendant of the goddess Venus.

At first glance, Minako appears to be your average teenage girl, and she even describes herself as a "totally normal girly girl." While this is true in some aspects, it isn't the most accurate assessment of her. Minako has been described by her classmates as a "coarse girl," by her mother as unladylike, and her guardian tomcat, Artemis, states that she acts more like a guy than she does a girl...which is true. Minako doesn't behave even remotely similar to how her kindred goddess would, and Artemis goes so far to describe her as a "total beauty and the beast comparison." Why do people consider her as such, you ask?

This is because Minako doesn't follow Japan's expected feminine behavior. Firstly, Minako is loud and talkative; she has no concept of what an indoor voice or a verbal filter is most of the time. She has a very casual way of speaking and uses swears and slang in her speech, saying things such as "I'll kick your ass!" or even calling the policemen bastards for laughing at her. She has an extremely short temper and can resort to violence when she's especially angry, causing her friends to have to restrain her and try to calm her down. But she has also been shown to beat up two boys with her bare hands after they made the mistake of setting her off. Minako isn't afraid to get her hands dirty...or the rest of her dirty, for that matter. She regularly hops over walls as a shortcut, and her only response to her mother telling her that she soiled her uniform when she came home is that she was going to take a bath. Minako is absolutely shameless and has no problem talking about things that would probably be considered gross by other people - she outright asks Rei if she farts and tells Chibiusa that cavities will cause her jaw to decay into mush.

Minako's interests don't quite fall under these expectations either. She is an avid gamer, and prior to meeting the other inner senshi, she was the only girl at the arcade who actually played video games. And she's quite the formidable foe - she wins a toy from the crane machine on her first attempt and even beats the high score of the arcade's formerly reigning champion, Ootaku Takurou. The idea of a girl surpassing him at video games is so uncommon to Takurou that he actually suspects Minako is a man in disguise. Video games aren't Minako's only interests, however; she is actually heavily involved in athletics and is a member of her school's volleyball club. She was the only girl in her class capable of keeping up with the boys, and when she plays a round of volleyball against the girls at Rei's academy, she ends up spiking the ball so hard that it rebounds and actually shatters one of the academy's windows...and the Sister of the academy calls her none other than a "crude girl."

Now, how does Minako respond to all of this criticism? She doesn't take it well, and her boyish behavior is one of her biggest insecurities. She is aware that she doesn't act like the standard Japanese girl or like the goddess Venus and becomes frustrated and upset whenever people mention it. She makes a comment about how she wishes she could be pretty because one of her crushes, Higashi, was attracted to feminine girls - why, her signature red ribbon she wears in her hair is because Higashi suggested she wear one, which shows how desperate Minako is to have someone accept her. She'll try and change herself to become more feminine, but she knows that despite her efforts, she is still the same within. Even after she begins wearing the ribbon and tries to confess to Higashi, she believes that Artemis' interference of her confession attempts is because he knew that Higashi liked another girl who was more feminine than she was (when, really, he was only trying to help her awaken as Sailor Venus) and goes so far as to say she doesn't blame Higashi, because "what man wouldn't want someone so beautiful and graceful?"

Her femininity isn't the only insecurity that Minako has, however. Her duties as a soldier whose sole purpose is to protect Princess Serenity surfaces a lot of doubts as well. As Sailor Venus, Minako is the leader of the inner senshi, and this puts a lot of pressure on her as she knows that she is the one responsible for guiding their team. She often times feels that she is inadequate, and this is especially shown in the Dreams arc of the manga when she is the only member of her team who is incapable of transforming. Minako beats herself up over the lack of her powers and even comments on how she doesn't seem like the goddess, Venus, doubting herself: "Some leader. I'm really supposed to be everyone's leader, I guess. I don't know why." Her inhibitions about being the leader are so strong that she takes offense to when the other inner senshi are constantly speaking about the outer senshi - Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna - telling them the only reason they were so reliant on them was because they didn't "depend on their leader" and runs away, calling herself "a total failure of a leader." Minako tries so hard to prove herself to her team that she goes off by herself to confront the enemy, even without her transformation powers, saying that it was her chance to prove her worth as leader to Ami, Makoto, and Rei. Even when she knows that she isn't able to defeat the Dead Moon Circus by herself, she refuses to call the others for backup because they would discover that she couldn't transform, and in her eyes, how can a team rely on their leader if their leader doesn't even have powers to fight? In her words, she'd "just become a giant burden to everyone."

However, this is where we focus on Minako's relationship with her guardian, Artemis. Despite all of his dismay at her various flaws, Artemis is (and always has been) Minako's biggest supporter. Sure, he scolds her more often than not, but he has nothing but the utmost respect for her and is always encouraging her to do her best as a sailor soldier. He serves as Minako's confidant and is the only one that is aware of the insecurities she hides from everyone, and he never fails to try and lift up her spirits. Upon her first meeting with Artemis, after Minako seemed disheartened that she had, one - transformed into Sailor V, a magical soldier of justice, and two - just destroyed her crush, Higashi, who was truthfully an enemy, Artemis was quick to come to her rescue, giving her an affectionate lick on the face to lift her spirits. Minako is appreciative of Artemis, but she doesn't always show it in the best way and, more often than not, mistreats him, and she's made aware of that when Artemis comes through for her during her biggest crisis: losing her powers. He breaks her out of the spell that the Dark Moon Circus placed upon her and catches her when she falls down a trap door. It is at that moment that she realizes that she and Artemis share a bond - they give each other strength, and if one of them has doubts about their ability, it strongly impacts the other. Artemis acknowledges that it was his own lack of strength that made Minako doubt herself and prohibited her from being able to transform, and his newfound resolve inspires Minako, giving her the ability to transform again. It is because of Artemis that she remembers her strengths that outshine her shortcomings.

Minako is actually a great leader, and she doesn't give herself the credit that she deserves. When she first meets the rest of the inner senshi, under the guise of the princess, Usagi comments that Minako is "courageous and awe-inspiring" and that it seemed as though she was protecting them instead of the other way around. Due to the fact that she was awakened longer than the others, Minako is more knowledgeable about being a sailor soldier, and therefore knows when to become serious, what action needs to be taken, and when it should be taken. She is the one who guides the sailor senshi into victory against their enemies - in the Dark Kingdom arc, she commands everyone to combine their powers and tells Sailor Moon to create a barrier to perform Sailor Planet Attack, and in the latter part of the arc, she tells the other inner senshi to sacrifice their transformation pens, which would ultimately kill them, to give Sailor Moon the power needed to defeat Queen Metallia.

Aside from her strengths as Sailor Venus, Minako also has a lot of strengths as herself. She is cheerful, spirited, and outgoing, allowing her to make friends with ease. Her social confidence allows her to take the initiative and reach out to others without any hesitation, and she even states herself that "just sitting around waiting" isn't her style. Minako has a go-getting mindset, and once she has set her sights on something, she's not afraid to go out there and get it. Her tenacity can almost be considered stubbornness, depending on what exactly she has her mind set on, but it remains the same, regardless of her motives, that she doesn't believe in giving up. Even when others may be discouraged by something, Minako keeps pressing on until the end and can get upset at others who are willing to give up without putting up a fight. She snaps at one of her classmates, Otonaru, in Codename: Sailor V when he tells her that he no longer believed that his heart condition would improve, telling him: "You're not even trying to hold out hope. Why are you saying this kind of stuff? Being a human takes hard work and courage. 'Giving up' are the words that disgust me the most! I hate them!" And later on in the chapter, she tries to inspire him to stay determined and keep fighting, saying: "I have to show Otonaru the joys of being alive! I'll show him all the things there are to live for!" Minako always acts as a light of encouragement for everyone around her, as shown by the numerous times she's rekindled hope for her inner senshi. For example, when Usagi worries about Mamoru being captured by the Dark Kingdom, Minako is the first to reassure her that they would rescue him and tells her not to cry. She empathizes with others easily and does her best to help others obtain their happiness.

Which is a little bittersweet, as Minako sacrifices her own happiness, in a way. She doesn't hold any resentment about it, but she knows that she has to push aside her own aspirations for the sake of her duty. There are two things that Minako dreams of - to become an idol and to find a boyfriend. Minako is a hopeless romantic and is always falling in love with a guy, even if she hasn't known him long; she literally believes in love at first sight. One of the running gags in her manga, Codename: Sailor V, is that she already has had five thousand "first loves," and the number is sure to increase. Minako is obsessed with boys - especially idols - and a huge flirt. Even if she knows that she will never truly find love, it doesn't stop her from checking out guys, going out on a few dates, or even sharing a few kisses, and she's still just as susceptible to a boy's wiles. A little too much so.

Minako is a bit of an airhead, and she could give Usagi a run for her money, honestly. She is incredibly clumsy, as shown when she trips and drops the Holy Sword onto Ami's marble floor immediately after Usagi warns her not to. She cannot remember proverbs for her life and oftentimes butchers them into something completely incomprehensible. She can also be quite melodramatic, as seen in her introduction speeches as Sailor V, and comes off as overconfident. She can be lazy and whiny if she doesn't want to do something (studying), and she oversleeps a lot. She can also be a bit of a tease to her friends, such as when she teases Makoto about getting closer to Furuhata's sister in order to get him to like her, and as the self-proclaimed "goddess of love," she can especially be a bit too involved with her friends' love lives, such as when she drags the other inner senshi on an adventure to discover who this "Mercurius" sending Ami love letters was. She can sometimes be too impulsive and careless, such as when she fell for the Dead Moon Circus' idol audition scheme, causing trouble for herself and the others around her.

Overall, Minako can be a bit of a handful and pretty much regularly makes her teammates exasperated at her, but she is an essential part of the team. What you see with Minako is what you get - it isn't a mask, even if it is how she presents herself to others who don't share her destined fate. It's purely authentic, because while she may be Sailor Venus, the guardian of love, she is also a teenage girl at her core who chooses to enjoy her life to the best of her ability but is also vulnerable to the everyday stress that humans face. And when the time comes when Sailor Venus is needed, she knows how to switch between her natures and do what is expected of her, because she is ultimately a sailor soldier whose purpose is to protect.