Saturos

Saturos is a Mars Adept who along with his partner Menardi is the main antagonist of Golden Sun. The pair leads the original effort to break the seal on Alchemy and bring it back to the world of Weyard, and is opposed by Isaac's party all throughout the first game.

Biography
Saturos hails from the northernmost settlement on the world map, Prox. He, like the people of Prox, is of a distinctive race that is very humanlike but characterized by almost reptilian scales and spikes on various areas of their flesh - but more importantly, their natural proficiency to the Mars element. They are thus afforded both a natural toughness and a natural immunity to the constant cold of their environment. Among Prox's warriors, Saturos has become recognized as the village's strongest, even amongst his contemporaries Agatio, Menardi, and Karst.

Alchemy and the Elemental Stars
Three years before the present, the chieftain of Prox, Puelle, found that the abyss at the edge of the world a distance north of Prox has been consuming the world's end down in Prox's direction, and that in the future, it would eventually destroy both the town and the nearby Mars Lighthouse. Puelle and the Elder of Prox make the deduction that this is caused by the absence of the force of Alchemy, long sealed in a state of dormancy since the world's ancient past ages ago, and that to circumvent this the Elemental Lighthouses must each be activated with their respective Elemental Stars, currently hidden within Sol Sanctum in Mt. Aleph down south in Angara. However, when Prox sent envoys to the town at the foot of the mountain, Vale, to explain circumstances and persuade the elders to retrieve the Stars to light the Lighthouse Beacons with, the envoys were steadfastly turned back by the town's elders and mayor. Prox's ruling body was soon forced to make the decision to have the Stars outright pilfered from Sol Sanctum. So, Puelle organized a raiding party of Prox's finest warriors, headed by the extremely talented Saturos and Menardi, and sent them down to Vale so as to retrieve the Stars in a covert operation.

When Saturos and his raiding party arrived at Vale and infiltrated Sol Sanctum during the night, they came upon the sanctum's ancient riddles and traps. One of the switches they triggered, alas, was one such deathtrap: In a matter of minutes, all of Saturos' raiding party was dead, and Saturos and Menardi barely survived to make it out of Sol Sanctum. A violent thunderstorm manifested around Mt. Aleph and over Vale as though specifically triggered in response to Saturos' intrusion, and a large boulder situated on Mt. Aleph named the Mt. Aleph Boulder became dislodged and rolled on a course of destruction through the town below.

As Saturos and Menardi reconvened in hiding in an abandoned area in Vale that was evacuated due to the storm, they suddenly found that they were being eavesdropped on by two young Valeans, Isaac and Garet; Saturos and Menardi immediately knocked them unconscious so that the boys would lose their memories of the Mars Adepts. Saturos and Menardi began to leave the town, but as they passed along the town's flowing river they discovered four more Valeans floating in the river unconscious: Felix, his two parents, and Isaac's father Kyle, all of whom had been knocked out and away by the fall of the Mt. Aleph Boulder. Possibly out of remorse for the disaster they caused for the town, Saturos and Menardi saved the four Valeans' lives and took them back with them on their return trip to Prox. Saturos and Menardi would report to Puelle and the Elder everything about what had transpired.

Over the next three years, Felix and the Valean adults lived new lives in Prox, and were nominally kept as captives of Prox. Saturos insisted to Puelle that the Valeans be explicitly held as Prox's hostages (possibly having the idea that they could be a bargaining chip that would prompt Vale to trade the Elemental Stars to them), but Puelle disagreed and willed that the Valeans be set free. In the meantime, Saturos and Menardi conducted some in-depth research on each of the Elemental Lighthouses, and they discovered that, in order to even enter a Lighthouse, you need an Adept of that Lighthouse's respective element, meaning that Saturos and Menardi would need to be accompanied by at least one each of a Mercury Adept, Venus Adept, and Jupiter Adept the next time they set out to light the Lighthouses. (The Jupiter Lighthouse, in particular, also requires the usage of an artifact named the Shaman's Rod for whatever reason.) Therefore, Saturos decided that Felix would serve as the Venus Adept of their future party, and as he trained Felix he bent Felix to his will by making use of the fact that Felix's parents will be kept quarantined at Prox and will only be set free once all four Elemental Beacons are active and Alchemy has been restored to the world. In addition, during their research ventures, Saturos and Menardi encountered the Mercury Adept Alex, a guardian of the Mercury Lighthouse, and Alex agreed to ally himself to them and their purposes, himself interested in the prospect of bringing the power of Alchemy back to Weyard.

Second Raid of Sol Sanctum
By the present day and age, the Adepts Saturos, Menardi, Alex, and Felix depart Prox on Menardi's Lemurian Ship and set out on their worldwide journey to restore the Elemental Lighthouse Beacons and subsequently restore the power of Alchemy to the world. The four travelers sail to the peninsula of Idejima on the continent Gondowan and anchor their ship there, and travel north to enter Angara and eventually reach Vale and Sol Sanctum. Before they enter Vale once again, Felix forces Saturos to promise him not to let any of the people of Vale, particularly Felix's former childhood friends Isaac and Garet and especially his younger sister Jenna, get involved in what they're trying to do. The Mars Adepts and Felix then lodge at Vale's inn without introducing themselves to the Mayor of Vale (recall that it was the Mayor who turned Prox down previously), and Saturos and Menardi conduct a preliminary investigation around town.

Saturos and Menardi stop by the cottage of a wizened scholar of Alchemy, Kraden, and attempt to glean information from him about Sol Sanctum by telling him about how "the Elemental Stars are the key" to their plan to "set the elements into motion", things that not even Kraden and the elders of Vale are aware of. Kraden uses his cunning to send them away by stating that he has a big errand to run with Isaac, Garet, and Jenna. Saturos and Menardi convene in secret and note that Kraden's knowledge of Alchemy and related matters is no meager thing; he would be invaluable for them to use for the purposes of their quest. They are suddenly happened upon, however, by the three teenagers Kraden was waiting for (though unnerved by Saturos and Menardi's somewhat non-human appearance, Isaac and Garet do not recall their previous encounter with the pair three years back), but after a brief but tense interaction, Saturos decides to let them pass and see Kraden.

When Saturos, Menardi, Felix, and Alex eventually commence their secretive second raid of Sol Sanctum, they find that none other than Kraden and the three teenagers Saturos saw earlier are exploring the sanctum on their own as well. Saturos and Menardi are quick to seize the situation and take Jenna and Kraden hostage, and make demand that Isaac and Garet fetch the Elemental Stars for them. When Kraden asks what guarantee he and the others have that Saturos will not harm them if they comply, Menardi has Felix remove his mask and reveal his identity to those who believed him dead since three years prior, shocking everyone effectively into submission. Isaac and Garet hand Saturos three of the Elemental Stars; when Isaac removes the fourth Star, the Mars Star, from its pedestal, however, the volcano that is Mt. Aleph begins to stir, and everyone watches as the almighty entity and protector of Alchemy's seal, known as the Wise One, emerges into view. Saturos' group realizes that they cannot get the Mars Star without very likely dying, so they must flee with their lives at the expense of leaving Isaac and Garet and the Mars Star behind. Obviously it would completely defeat their purpose if the Mars Star was lost for good, but before they flee Alex proposes to take Jenna and Kraden with them as captives that accompany them on their quest; if Isaac and Garet survive, he reasons, they will pursue Saturos' group to try to free Jenna and Kraden from their grasp, and they will bring the Mars Star if they want Jenna back. Saturos and Menardi agree, and reluctantly flee the erupting chamber and sanctum with three of the four Stars in their possession.

Angara and the Mercury Lighthouse
Saturos' group have already caused the world to begin changing by setting off Mt. Aleph's eruption, which showered Psynergy stones across Weyard, changing the lives of many a person and wild animal. And now, the four travelers and their two captives aim to climb and light the nearest Lighthouse, Alex's own Mercury Lighthouse. After passing through the town of Vault, through the Goma Range, and then north through Bilibin Cave, they reach Imil. After Alex admits them into Mercury Lighthouse with his Mercury Psynergy and the group climbs through the Lighthouse to arrive at the tower's aerie, Saturos and Alex cast the Mercury Star into the well of the Mercury Lighthouse to light the Mercury Beacon. With one Lighthouse lit, three remain before the seal on Alchemy is broken.

As soon as the Lighthouse Beacon is activated, a group of four young traveling Adepts suddenly arrive to confront them: Alex's clanmate Mia, a young boy named Ivan, and none other than Isaac and Garet, who survived Mt. Aleph's eruption and have indeed come to stop Saturos' quest and take back Jenna and Kraden. Saturos and Alex immediately hide behind the Mercury Beacon to discuss this, and shortly afterward Saturos steps out to accost Isaac's party while Alex watches from secret. Saturos instructs Menardi to take Jenna, Kraden, and Felix with her and leave the Lighthouse while he engages the opposing Adepts in battle. Not surprisingly, Saturos is an extremely powerful and capable combatant who could easily have killed all of Isaac's party were the circumstances normal. As fate would have it, however, Saturos finds he is battling with a huge handicap: The purified energy influence exuded by the nearby Mercury beacon directly contrasts and inhibits Saturos' innate Mars powers, leading to Saturos' eventual and surprising defeat by the four Adepts. Alex immediately makes himself known and stalls for time for Saturos to recuperate by talking to Mia and Isaac's party, and then Alex and Saturos flee the Lighthouse from Isaac using the elevator from the Beacon. After the events at Mercury Lighthouse, Saturos and Alex rejoin Menardi and the others, and they immediately resume their journey to the next Lighthouse.

In the extended period of time to come, Saturos' group travels all across Angara, along the way either directly or indirectly causing problems for the various towns and locations they go through to impede the progress of Isaac's pursuing party. Among Saturos' less-than-honorable activities during this period are when he crosses through Bilibin Barricade and pushes Kolima children already petrified as trees by the curse of Tret into the river for no apparent reason; when his group reaches Fuchin Temple and he forces Master Nyunpa to reveal his secrets so that his group can then cross through Mogall Forest; and beyond the town of Xian, Saturos causes a landslide at Alpine Crossing to block off an important trade route and prevent Isaac's party from catching up to them, in the process injuring and trapping an uninvolved person named Hsu. Saturos and his band soon travel through the scorching heat of Lamakan Desert without much incident or trouble because, as the oracle Hama theorizes to Isaac's pursuing party at a later point, Saturos' Mars-based powers somehow allow them to suppress the heat for his group.

Gondowan and the Venus Lighthouse
Saturos and his group eventually pass the town of Kalay in southwestern Angara and take a ship across the Karagol Sea to the continent Gondowan, where the Venus Lighthouse lies. While they travel through the Suhalla Desert cutting down the rampant Tornado Lizards, Saturos happens upon Sheba lost in the desert. He sees that she is Jupiter aligned - the element of Adept his party needs to be able to enter the Jupiter Lighthouse - so he and Menardi capture her, something Felix takes poorly. They soon arrive at Venus Lighthouse, and Felix, like Alex with Mercury Lighthouse, uses his Venus Psynergy to admit them entry.

In Venus Lighthouse, as Saturos' party climbs up through the tower, Saturos and Menardi take Sheba with them to the top as they order Felix and Alex to lead Jenna and Kraden outside to Idejima, the place where Menardi moored their ship a long while back. Saturos and Menardi are on the verge of lighting the Venus Beacon on the Venus Lighthouse's aerie, however, when Felix suddenly arrives by himself. Felix demands to know why they haven't released Sheba to the Laliverans, but when Saturos explains how she is needed for Jupiter Lighthouse, Felix proclaims he will take Sheba away from Venus Lighthouse and bring her down to Idejima for safety's sake, but Saturos and Menardi deny Felix his demand, pointing out out that they cannot trust him anymore thanks to his outburst. Felix prepares to battle both Mars Adepts outright when at that moment, Isaac's party arrives at the aerie to confront Saturos and Felix. A tense standoff occurs, and Saturos threatens to harm Sheba unless Ivan gives him the Shaman's Rod in Ivan's possession. Isaac and Ivan agree to his terms, assuming that Saturos means he would free Sheba from their hold once they have the rod, and Saturos has Felix be the one to take the rod from Isaac so as to ensure his continued loyalty to them. But Saturos only clarifies to Isaac afterwards that he only said he wouldn't let harm come to her; he never actually said he'd let Sheba go, to Isaac's party's exasperation.

Saturos and Menardi then decide it is time for Isaac's party to die, and they launch an all-out offensive against Isaac's group. The master Mars Adepts are indeed immensely powerful opponents together, and unlike at Mercury Lighthouse their Mars powers are not inhibited. But nonetheless, the fierce battle eventually ends in victory for Isaac's party. But Saturos and Menardi are not out of the picture yet: After Isaac confronts Felix over the latter's involvement in Saturos' quest, Saturos arises and casually tosses the Venus Star into the Venus Lighthouse's well, to everyone's surprise and Isaac's horror. As the Venus Lighthouse activates, the energy output by the forming Venus beacon revitalizes and recharges the pair. Saturos and Menardi then execute their ultimate power: magically merging together to form a single, gigantic, terrifying creature resembling a two-headed dragon. The beast attempts to overwhelm and annihilate Isaac and his group with its superlative Mars powers, but Isaac and his friends ultimately slay the dragon. The dragon reverts to the defeated forms of Saturos and Menardi, who can only express disbelief at their complete defeat before falling backward into the Venus Lighthouse's opening. Thus do Saturos and Menardi meet their shared demise.

Isaac's incredible victory over Felix's master intimidates Felix into declaring that he is no match for Isaac now, and thus he declares that he must now flee to complete Saturos' quest objective while he still can. But that is when the Venus Lighthouse suddenly experiences a violent earthquake as the structure itself evenly splits up into four quarters, as part of the process that lights the Venus Beacon on the tower's top; when Sheba loses her footing, falling off the side of the lighthouse, Felix insanely jumps clean off the tower after her, to the disbelief of Isaac and his companions. After the Lighthouse reforms and the chaos subsides with the Venus Beacon now brightly alight, Isaac and his friends assume Felix and Sheba have been killed, and that now that Saturos is gone their priority is searching for Jenna and Kraden. Both Felix and Sheba are far from dead, however; as a result of a series of fateful coincidences and incidents, Sheba and Felix land safely in the water while the nearby Idejima, which has been severed off from the mainland in the quake, floats east out to sea, and the two swim to the island to rejoin Alex, Jenna, and Kraden, reporting everything that has transpired, including the deaths of Saturos and Menardi. Now that they're gone along with the Black Orb they used to commandeer Menardi's ship, the ship that's at the island with them is now useless.

In Golden Sun: The Lost Age
Saturos and Menardi, of course, are never seen in person in The Lost Age, but they are by no means no longer important to the story; the entire course of the game's story revolves around Saturos' legacy. Felix leads the party of Jenna, Sheba, and Kraden across much of Weyard in his quest to eventually reach and properly climb Jupiter Lighthouse, while Alex operates on the sidelines and threatens Felix to hasten the latter's progress in achieving Saturos' original objective. (In one scene, though, Alex expresses how he thinks Saturos and Menardi were pretty much simple brutes lacking in intelligence, since while they were climbing Venus Lighthouse the Mars Adepts were having some serious trouble solving the structure's riddles). Felix and Jenna's drive in doing this is to earn the freedom of their parents at Prox and to save the town itself from eventual destruction. At the same time, two other warriors from Prox, Agatio and Karst, set out to search for Isaac and gain vengeance upon him for his killing of Saturos and Menardi.

Much later on in their epic journey, Felix's group discovers and enters the lost society of Lemuria, and from there he learns that the world of Weyard has effectively been dying and shrinking in size because of Alchemy's absence; in order to save the entire world from collapsing in the distant-yet-near future, Alchemy must be returned.

Eventually at Jupiter Lighthouse (which is eventually lit by Felix), Karst and Agatio make their move against Isaac's party, but Felix's party steps in to battle them off, and the dramatic personal conflicts are eventually resolved when Karst takes the Mars Star and Alex advises them to flee the tower while they can so that the Mars Adepts can finish Saturos' goal by activating Mars Lighthouse to the north by Prox. While Felix and Isaac's respective parties engage in a discussion and resolve their misunderstandings about each other and the overall circumstances, Agatio and Karst return north to their hometown of Prox on their way to light Mars. The pair report to the Proxeans before leaving for Mars Lighthouse that Saturos and Menardi were slain in battle by Isaac during their original journey; while the villagers of Prox are shocked, they are not vengeful themselves. Puelle, in fact, gives the order that when Isaac and Felix come to Prox later, their respective parents shall be set free from their quarantine, though it turns out that the parents have suddenly disappeared on their own. When Isaac and Felix's combined party eventually travels to Prox in the Lighthouse's direction, they explain to the Proxeans why and how things happened at Venus Lighthouse, and Isaac receives the Proxeans' forgiveness.

Karst and Agatio are confronted by a mysterious entity in Mars Lighthouse and are turned into dragons, which Isaac and Felix unwittingly kill when they engage the beasts in battle later during their exploration of the tower. Karst and Agatio, near death, put aside their past antagonism with Isaac and entrust the Mars Star to the Adepts so that the Adepts may be the ones to finally fulfill Saturos' goal and save the world. This is as it happens: After the Adepts experience a series of incredibly dramatic events and revelations of their own atop Mars Lighthouse Aerie, the Mars Lighthouse is finally lit, and all four Lighthouses operate to break the seal on Alchemy within Mt. Aleph and restore the great force to the world at last.

As a boss in Golden Sun
Saturos is the only major boss opponent in the Golden Sun games to be fought as himself in three separate, scripted instances, one anonymously. This signifies his role of chief antagonist towards the player's party.

In the prologue sequence
The first battle with him takes place in the game's prologue in Vale, labeled at that point in the game as "Mystery Man", and he is a level 10 opponent that fights you along with Menardi (appropriately named "Mystery Woman"). This scripted battle, near the end of the prologue sequence, is the only one in the game that the player's party is expected to lose within a turn, since the two playable characters, young Isaac and Garet, are extremely weak while their opponents are about as durable as when they are fought at the end of the game. When the party loses, the following cutscene plays, where it's Isaac and Garet laying on the ground and Saturos and Menardi leaving the screen off the left.

Since he cannot be defeated normally, he does not yield any EXP or coins when slain. If one hacks the game so that young Isaac and Garet are strong enough to defeat Mystery Man and Mystery Woman, what happens afterwards is exactly the same as if it was the opponents that won: The cutscene where Isaac and Garet are knocked out on the ground, the pair of Mars Adepts leaving off to the left.

Saturos as Mystery Man's statistics are as follows:

Saturos as Mystery Man uses these battle commands:

On Mercury Lighthouse
This scripted battle with Saturos alone, where he is at level 18, occurs after you are teleported to the aerie of Mercury Lighthouse somewhat early on in Golden Sun, triggering as soon as you approach the Lighthouse's central region with the beacon (this gives you an opportunity to heal and recharge your party with the nearby Psynergy stone.) This is a battle which you are required to win this time around, and while he is not as strong as normal, he will be a far tougher boss encounter to survive and win than anything before that point in the game. First-time players of the series who have fallen into the habit of running from enemy fights, not equipping the latest armor and weapons and acquiring at least two of each type of Djinn may get stuck at this point.

To do well against this challenging boss fight, ideally each of your party members have two Djinn each, and it would be a good idea to use their battle effects and then use them for summoning all throughout the battle. Mia summoning Nereid for two Mercury Djinn is the strongest offense available against Saturos, but this is risky because the battle is challenging enough that usage of many healing spells will probably be necessary, and Mia is most often used for healing. A viable alternative is to Set the Mercury Djinn onto Isaac or Garet so that he will become a Swordsman whose Mercury-based Cutting Edge Psynergy is a reliably strong single-target attack. Or use a different party member to actually perform the summon.

Saturos' statistics are as follows:

Saturos uses these battle commands

On Venus Lighthouse
At the end of Golden Sun, the final two-part sequence of boss battles will trigger in much the same way as on Mercury Lighthouse, with the party walking up to the center of the lighthouse's top. After a relatively lengthy cutscene, the first of what will be two boss battles will occur, which is when Saturos, this time at level 38, is paired up with Menardi to fight against you. What makes things especially difficult is that after winning this first battle, the second battle against an even stronger enemy will automatically trigger with no chance of rest for the player.

While in this fight Saturos is the more physically damaging of the two opponents, many players would consider Menardi to be the more dangerous one because her monster skill Death Size is an attack that has a chance to instantly kill an Adept, so she is often focused on defeating first. Regardless, the remainder of the battle will become much easier once one of the two antagonists are taken out.

Saturos' statistics are as follows:

Saturos uses these battle commands:

Trivia

 * In a beta screen of the original Golden Sun originating from that game's development, Saturos originally had a rather different, more humanlike appearance (pictured). Note the lack of pointed ears.
 * The "adventure mode" demo of Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, showcased as a floor demo at E3 2010, has as its final objective a poster of a cartoon image of Saturos that Matthew is to burn using Fireball as a utility Psynergy.


 * Saturos is the only boss fought 3 times

Quotes

 * In Vale, near Kraden's cottage:
 * Garet: "Hey, you're the ones who were sneaking around!"
 * Saturos: "Sneaking... Who are you, to accuse me!"
 * Menardi: "So Kraden's engagement was with you..."
 * Jenna: "Yeah, we're off to meet him right now."
 * Saturos: "And this appointment is important enough to drive us away?" (If Isaac says yes) "Pfeh! If your errand is more important than our own, then... Go..."
 * Jenna: "You're letting us go?"
 * Menardi: "Are you sure, Saturos?"
 * Saturos: "Menardi, we have no reason to delay these children any further."


 * In the Elemental Star Chamber in Sol Sanctum:
 * Kraden: "You! You mean to steal the Elemental Stars!"
 * Saturos: "Master Kraden... Are you calling us thieves?"
 * Menardi: "As I recall, aren't you the one who stole our information?"


 * Saturos: "You heard us... If you wish to save your friends, then give us the Elemental Stars!"


 * Saturos: (The elemental star chamber begins to erupt) "The Mars Star will have to wait for another day."
 * Jenna: "What about Isaac and Garet? You can't just leave them here!"
 * Saturos: "Forget about them. They won't make it out alive."


 * At Mercury Lighthouse's aerie:
 * Saturos: "You have endured so much, and now you want to throw your lives away? Fine. If that is your wish, prepare to have it granted."
 * Menardi: "Saturos... Are you going to fight them alone?"
 * Saturos: "Menardi, I can't expect you to leave our hostages alone and help me, can I?"
 * Menardi: "Umm... That's true..."
 * Saturos: "Besides, I want to see how much their powers have developed."
 * Menardi: "Are you sure about this, Saturos?"
 * Saturos: "Leave me be! Head for the next lighthouse--now!"


 * Saturos: "What's the matter!"
 * Garet: "Saturos is extremely powerful. I could sense it when I faced him."
 * Ivan: "You have to be very careful when fighting him... We have to match his strength..."
 * Saturos: "Match me? Pah! You think you can match the great Saturos?" (If Isaac says no) "And yet you still want to fight? Ship of fools... Fine then... I'll just teach you all a lesson!"
 * Mia: "What happened? Saturos is moving strangely."
 * Saturos: "What's this!? The light of Mercury... It's weakening my Psynergy! I must finish this quickly... Come on, fools!" (Saturos engages in battle with Isaac's party)


 * Ivan: (After defeating Saturos, he eventually stands up again) "Saturos is up again!? But we beat him!"
 * Saturos: "Me? Beaten? Never! I lost to this lighthouse, not to you!"


 * Saturos: "I look forward to our next battle!"


 * At Venus Lighthouse Aerie:
 * Felix: "I don't need you or anyone to rescue me, Isaac! I was just about to settle things with Saturos and Menardi... You can watch! And then we'll show you the true power of this beacon's light! But... Sheba has nothing to do with this! So set Sheba free!"
 * Saturos: "Silence! You'd best tread lightly, Felix, or both you and Sheba will suffer!"


 * Saturos: "Bring it on, whelp! You won't live long enough to regret your stupidity!"


 * Saturos: "Bear witness to the true strength of the northern wilds!"

In fan circles
Saturos as a character is popular for being a main character and essentially the main "villain" of the first Golden Sun. Being revealed to have had partially noble intentions in The Lost Age has made Saturos receive all the more focus from fan fiction authors. His most prominent shipping relationship is with Menardi, in a genre called Proxshipping.