Nephrite's Alter Ego

The form differs by medium. In the original anime the Soul Shadow, when it is not inhabiting a host, appears as a mass of purple energy topped by a stylized, wholly red version of Nephrite's head, with a red hand sometimes reaching out of it. In the manga it is instead a female monster masquerading as an interpreter for Princess D.

The entity holds no real will of its own; it functions as an extension of Nephrite, and its strength rises and falls with his concentration. Its single purpose is to slip into a host, take the coveted treasure, and deliver it to its master.

In the manga the disguised monster takes over Princess D and tries to make off with the treasure thought to be the Silver Crystal; shrugging off Sailor Mars's attacks, it falls to a freshly appeared tiara that fires Moon Twilight Flash. The anime frames it not as a true monster but as an apparition split off from Nephrite himself. There he plants the shadow in the smitten Naru Osaka and routes it through her into Princess D so she can carry off the treasure, an easy job complicated when Usagi sneaks into the embassy. Sailor Mars eventually exorcises the shadow with an Ofuda and Akuryo Taisan, and after it lashes out with dark energy, Sailor Mercury's Bubble Spray opens the way for Sailor Moon to finish it with Moon Tiara Action. In Crystal, Nephrite poses as a female attendant, possesses the princess, and cloaks the room in darkness before Sailor Moon's Moon Twilight Flash once again destroys the emerged shadow.