Saori Kido

Athena
Saint Seiya character
Athena senses the menace of Hades, in a panel from Saint Seiya volume 22.
First appearance	Manga vol. 1, chapter 3 Anime episode 1
Created by	Masami Kurumada
Voiced by	Japanese Keiko Han (Original Series) Fumiko Orikasa (Hades Chapter) Aya Hirano (The Lost Canvas) Shoko Nakagawa (Omega) Ayaka Sasaki (Legend of Sanctuary) English Allison Sumrall

Athena (アテナ, Atena) (spelled in Greek as Ἀθηνᾶ and Ἀσάνα, in the manga and the anime adaptation respectively, and occasionally as Ἀθάνα in both) is one of the main characters in the Saint Seiya series, a manga authored by Masami Kurumada, which was later adapted to anime and originated three other spin-off manga.

She was introduced by Masami Kurumada in chapter 1 of his manga, Saint Seiya, as the mythical Greek goddess, and then in chapter 3 of the first volume as Saori Kido, the head of the Graude Foundation, an extremely beautiful young woman, who radiates elegance, wisdom and serenity, and who is followed and protected by her dedicated Saints. In the anime adaptation, she appears in episode 1, initially unaware of her divine nature. She also appears in several other related works, such as a sequel, five films, video games and two manga by different authors. Saori is also a main character in the official sequel to the original manga, Saint Seiya: Next Dimension. In alternative spin-off series Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas, written and drawn by Shiori Teshirogi, introduces an alternate eighteenth century incarnation of Athena named Sasha (サーシャ, Sāsha), an orphan from a small village of Italy who is adopted by the Sanctuary. The fifteenth century incarnation also appears briefly, whom Teshirogi refers to as "The previous Athena" (先代アテナ, Sendai Atena).

Masami Kurumada once stated that, when he was in the process of creating Saint Seiya, Athena was not going to exist as a character, but she was rather going to be experienced individually by each of the protagonists in different spiritual ways. Later, he thought this concept would be somewhat confusing to readers and difficult to use, so he decided to integrate her into his manga as a character, with her own traits and personality.