Cloths

Cloths are various armors the Saints wear during their battles to protect Earth and Athena. There are cloths for each constellation: 48 Bronze Cloths, 24 Silver Cloths and 12 Gold Cloths. In addition, there is also one more Cloth above all, which is Athena's Cloth.

Kurumada gave semi-anthropomorphic style to the Cloths. For example, the Pegasus Cloth will not fly, speak or transform from object to a physical pegasus, but the it will fly to join its owner. It will then turn into armor to be worn by its owner such as Pegasus Seiya.

A common trait in the series, is that the stronger the Cloth is, the more it covers the wearer's body, with a few exceptions. While Bronze Cloths cover a small part of the body, usually the most important vital points and not much more, the Gold Cloths leaves very small parts of the body uncovered, like the upper part of the legs and arms.

The Cloths are of extreme importance to Saints both defensively and offensively: While they have surpassed normal humans and have super human capabilities, they are not invincible by any means and are still susceptible to physical harm. Saints also have great offensive prowess not only because their arms and legs are covered by the Cloth, but most importantly becuse it creates a sort of synchronized energy with the Saints and their constellations, helping to burn their Cosmo at a much greater extent than usual.

However, Cloths are not weapons and do not contain their own source of power. Cloths can only reach their potential when the wearer burns their own Cosmo. If a wearer has no Cosmo, then the Cloth serves as nothing more than a heavy shell. When Seiya first donned his Pegasus Cloth, he expected the Cloth to be a sort of a magical item and essentially fight for him, but instead he was incapable of moving because he was not burning his Cosmo.

In the case that a Saint would burn their Cosmo, the Cloth amplifies the Saints' skills greatly, allowing them to reach their full potential. That is proven when Seiya managed to damage Ophiuchus Shaina, a Silver Saint, because he was able to utilize the Cloth properly. It also happened to Gemini Kanon in the Hades saga; when he had his Gemini Cloth he was able to fight on par with Wyvern Rhadamanthys, but when he returned it to his brother, he was no match for Rhadamanthys anymore during their final showdown.

Cloths are known to be living beings, because they are filled with Cosmo, the source of all life and in extreme situations have shown to be able to take decisions on their own, like when the Cancer Cloth, faithful to Athena, left its owner Deathmask because it considered him too wicked to be a Saint. They can also respond to the will of their previous owners.

According to lore, the Cloths were created during the Myth Age by the Alchemists of the Mū Continent to counter the power of Poseidon's Marinas, who were impossible to defeat by the unarmed followers of Athena. The descendants of those Alchemists, the Jamir tribe, remain the only people who know the secret art of repairing Cloths or bringing them back to life. Cloths have their own regenerative abilities, but a Cloth that is heavily damaged or destroyed could actually "die" and become useless. The only way to revive these dead Cloths is with a great amount of a Saint's blood. The blood given doesn't have to be an actual Saint's, it can be an individual who has the equivalent strength of a Saint.

Cloths are made of various elements: Gamanium, Stardust Sand and Orichalcum, an almost undestructible metal that is also the base component of the Scales. Cloths are kept hidden in wild places until a destined Saint receives them from their masters who often happen to be the previous owners of the Cloth.

There is a place in Jamir known as the "Cloths' Graveyard" where many dead Cloths are left unused. It is said that they are remnants of a previous Holy War but very little is known. Cloths are kept inside a special box called Pandora's Box, referring to the fact that it can bring both hope or despair, according to how it's used, because all Cloths are in the end weapons.

Cloths may also at times, exceed their own limits in terms of protection and power. Depending on whose blood is used to repair the cloth, the cloth may change shape and gain enhanced power. For example, after the battle of Sanctuary, Pegasus Seiya, Andromeda Shun, Dragon Shiryū, Cygnus Hyōga and Phoenix Ikki's Cloths were destroyed and unuseable. Through the blood of the remaining Gold Saints, they were repaired and improved. If the Bronze Saints were able to raise their Cosmo to the level of a Gold Saint, the Cloth would glow gold and attain the same strength as a Gold Cloth. In the first part of the Hades arc, the Bronze Cloths were repaired again with Athena's blood, enhancing the Cloths to their highest potential. If the Bronze Saint were able to transcend the 8th sense and awaken a miracle, their Cloths transform into God Cloths.

To repair Cloths, a Saint needs some special tools. The owner of these tools during 20th Century is Aries Mū, the only one left able to repair a Cloth, an art he is teaching to his apprentice Kiki. Previous clothsmiths included Aries Shion and Altar Hakurei.