While Chibiusa had a few crushes in the 1990s anime, overall, only two characters are officially seen as her "boyfriends".

The first and probably best known is Priest Helios of Elysion, though his story slightly differs between Sailor Moon SuperS and Sailor Moon Eternal/The manga.

In the 90s SuperS anime, Helios can turn into a Pegasus, while in Eternal and the manga, he is cursed to appear in the form of his pet Pegasus, but the two end up splitting into their own characters after the curse has broken.

In the Sailor Moon Materials Collection art book, Helios is supposed to have the body age of a seventh grader, so his body age is roughly 13 while chronologically, he is over 1000 years old.

In the 90s anime, he sounds much older, and his body age is closer to Usagi's, so in varying episodes, he looks 15.

In any case, when he meets Chibiusa, her body age is only between 9 and 10 years old, so this looks sus as fuck.

In the manga, her body age does catch up to him after she breaks the spell as Eternal Sailor Chibi Moon, so it looks a lot less creepy at the end, and in Crystal/Eternal and in the manga, they do make it clear that she is over 900 years old, so you can argue that this is a consensual love affair between two legal adults, but it still creeps out newer fans when you bring this up, especially when they figure out his ass was alive during the days of the Silver Millennium, so he's still got an extra 900+ years over her, and with the exception of when she is Eternal Sailor Chibi Moon or when Palla Palla switches her body age with Usagi, this still looks like a teenage boy hitting up a tween, and it makes people give you side-eye when you champion their romance.

And then the 90s anime just doesn't help at all.

In the 90s anime, they meet in the first episode of SuperS when he cries out for anyone who will hear his plea. This gets retconned around episode 159 when he says he was following her pink sugar energy light in the darkness.

He uses this call to make Chibiusa climb up out her bed, wander the streets barefoot looking for his ass, then he whisks her away to Elysion, and ain't nobody run out after her to make sure she's okay.

And then he re-dresses her in her mama's princess dress, and then spends the rest of the season acting like he don't know THIS IS THE FUCKING MAIDEN YOU WERE LOOKING FOR, YOU DOOFUS!!

Oh, and if re-dressing her doesn't scream Super SuS, he also tells her not to tell anybody about what happened, while leaving her in a puddle of don't ask me what that is, and then they cut to the next scene and have you thinking it was "all a dream" until he comes back to let her borrow new super powers for two episodes before giving them to her full time.

And yeah, that is still a gripe I have with this season. Unlike Eternal/the manga, Chibiusa and the Inners don't pull out their own new powers. Pegasus has to give them new powers. He gets to hang that over her. She won't get to bring forth new powers without him in this arc, except for episode 157 when she has a new version of Pink Sugar Heart Attack via the Crystal Carillon, episode 165 when she uses the Golden Crystal, and the SuperS movie where she creates her own Chibi Moon Kaleidoscope and does her mother's attack. This is supposed to be her time to shine as "The next Sailor Moon" but without Pegasus/Helios, she's unable to grow or fight. She needs her man to do ANYTHING this season. Hell, she doesn't even make her own decisions for the most part, which was her signature trait for the last two seasons. Now all of a sudden, without his life lessons, she's clueless? And worse? Her main power for most of this season is just calling her boo to come help her Mama fix things. Our princess just got robbed of all that character growth she had in the manga!

Episode 135, he finally gives her the Stallion Reeve so they can talk to each other every night before bed, but again, she has to be ALONE. She can NEVER tell ANYONE that he talks to her. He watches her change clothes. He knows all of her secrets, but he refuses to tell her jack shit until episode 159, and anytime she hints at looking at dudes closer to her in body age or you know… human, he gets all pouty. Hell, let's be real, SHE DON'T EVEN KNOW THE BOY'S NAME UNTIL EPISODE 158!!! Episode 157 he quits her for a full episode because she tried asking general questions, he tries to leave again in episode 161 KNOWING that would have fucked over her entire team, these insipid head games he plays with her overshadows whatever goodwill this relationship should have had, and it's a big reason why a lot of people see him as a groomer.

Another reason why people see him as a groomer? Get this. In episode 158, Palla Palla switches her age with her Mama, making her A LOT closer to Helios in body age. Now in a normal situation, you'd think he'd love that, right? NOPE. He flat out tells her that unless she grows down back to being a tween again, he will quit her. Don't you think this would have been a great time for him to have her break the spell and then use his magic to age her ass back up again? Like if he KNEW she wasn't really a tween, but was just magically stunted for her age because she takes after her damn stunted daddy, don't you think aging her up to where she should be would be great for their dating life? Nooooo, he wants a CHIBI Moon. Riiiiight. And this aired on weekday afternoons on Cartoon Network in America and YTV in Canada BTW.

Now unbeknownst to Chibiusa until episode 159, Pegasus is kinda sorta here "in spirit" which is why nobody has been able to capture him as of yet. His real body is hanging upside down and naked in Queen Nehellenia's lair, where she keeps him in a gooey, bloody cage with spider webs and makes creepy hand gestures while he slumbers and is juuuuuust barely a corpse, and that's supposed to make you feel more empathetic towards his treatment of Chibiusa, instead of just wanting to barf nasty into the can.

Now it isn't until episode 161 that Pegasus comes clean to the Inners and Tuxedo Mask about "most" of the things that they totally should have known about him and about the Dead Moon Circus this entire season long, but he STILL has her keeping secrets, and her parents and her Mama's friends are like "kay fine" and like nobody cares that he's still playing head games with her, while the Earth is going to shit.



Oh, but get this. In episode 162, we find out he was going on adventures with ALL OF THE INNERS, including Chibiusa's own MAMA!!

WHATCHU MEAN HE WAS ALMOST MY DADDY??? THE FUCK WERE YOU DOIN' WIT MY MAN, MOM??? Did I just stress myself out for a whole ass season for a triflin' ass man-horse???

While I'm here, them shrine maidens in Eternal/the manga might set her off too. You just here to pray? You're not lookin' at this boy? Uh huh. <_<

Now the frustrating joke in all of this is that he sees only her for most of the season, she is the only one who can call upon him, she is the one who can see him, talk to him, his power doesn't appear without her, he's already seen her as Princess Small Lady Serenity, and yet his stupid ass STILL doesn't get that SHE IS THE MAIDEN HIS DUMBASS WAS LOOKING FOR until Zirconia shoots her Golden Dream Mirror out. Just think about it. I get that the villains wouldn't have known, since they had fewer clues than Queen Beryl when she was looking for the MOON princess, but fucking really, Peggy???

Now in the final episodes, they are a solidified couple. He saves her from certain death twice, she uses his crystal, they work well as a team, it does seem like there's potential for a better romance in the final episodes, but you still have to take it with the knowledge that for a whole season, our princess had her mind twisted by someone who clearly needed an attitude adjustment.

Aaaaaand this is why the version of Helios we see in Sailor Moon Eternal stands head and shoulders over his SuperS counterpart.

So while it is true that he does sneak her out of her daddy's apartment in the middle of the night (sus, sus as fuck, major sus) and he does temporarily make Chibiusa keep some of what they do a secret, THIS IS TEMPORARY. Literally, the ONLY reason why he makes Chibiusa keep any secret at all, is because he knows Queen Nehellenia and the Dead Moon Circus could be eavesdropping. The exact moment he knows they're in the clear, guess what? HE TELLS HER MAMA AND HER DADDY ALL OF THE THINGS and never asks Chibiusa to keep any more secrets ever again.

When Palla Palla switches up her age here? Guess what? He likes grown-up Chibiusa BETTER than little tween Chibiusa! Now granted, some of that is because of the vision he got of Princess Lady Serenity, and it still takes until the end of Eternal Part 2 for him to get that SHE IS PRINCESS LADY SERENITY, YOU DOLT, but the fact that he wants her to grow the fuck up and he is more enticed by her being an adult than by her stunted form was such a fucking breath of fresh thank you for reading the manga air that I instantly breathed a sigh of relief. This version of Helios is a good boi. Bonus points? He only helps transform ONE item for her, and gives her a little bell. THAT'S IT. All her new powers? HERS. She does NOT need him to transform, and she can still fight while he is passed out, AND she even produces her own damn crystal. Her want to save his ass made her own powers appear. He does not own her the way his 90s counterpart did. This is a much more healthy dynamic.

The Eternal/manga version of Helios is kind, patient, and up front with her parents every step of the way. He works with her entire team, and unlike in SuperS where his connection to her father was lightly teased, they have a full bond here in the way Luna is bonded to Usagi. So technically, Chibiusa dating Helios is like if she was to date Luna in the sense of this is her dad's guardian, but considering the alternative version we had in the 90s, I'll live.

When Helios leaves in SuperS, he turns into a Pegasus and really doesn't say very much to her, so the viewer is left with the idea that he may never see her again. But in Eternal/the manga, he makes it very clear that he's only going back to Elysion because he has to, and that he WILL see her again, probably after she's gotten comfortable as a stand-alone Sailor Guardian without her mom's help, so even the ending is happier. This was such a major leap forward when compared to the 90s.

Now in the SuperS movie, Pegasus is AWOL. A lot of people mistake that to mean that this film exists in it's own universe, some see it as a retconning of the entire SuperS season, but if you pay attention, the SuperS movie actually takes place AFTER Helios leaves. You can tell because it's still Fall, Chibiusa is strong enough that she can transform without him and use her mother's attack, and Pluto isn't dead anymore, but the Outers still don't have baby Hotaru or their new powers yet. So this film takes place between episodes 166 and 167, with Ami's First Love taking place immediately before the film.

So with that said, it really didn't take Chibiusa that long to get over Helios.
In the SuperS movie, we are introduced to Peruru/Perle, who really is just minding his own fucking business. His older brother Poupelin/Pupuran is kidnapping kids out of bed, possessing them and then dropping them off in energy-zapping dream coffins, and Perle? He's not doing any of that shit.

You know what he likes? Cookies, candies and not bothering any damn body. That's why he hides his fairy wings. That and this was the 1990s, and people were major ASSHOLES about male fairies, and this is a major reason why Boomer and Gen X jokes from back then have aged like milk in the sun, but that's neither here nor there.

Anyway, unlike with Helios where dude shows up, kidnaps Chibiusa, tells her to keep secrets and she starts to fall for him, here? I gotta say, Chibiusa is initially a little on the rude side while Perle once again, is minding his own business. But then he does some magic tricks with his flute, she quits being rude and the two have an instant date and she gives him her home-baked cookies afterwards.

Later on in the movie, he jumps right up to fight alongside her, feeling really responsible for his older brother and their friends kidnapping all them babies for Queen Badiyannu. Unlike Helios who has the Golden Crystal in SuperS and the power of prayer in Eternal, Perle/Peruru has a magic flute with a limited amount of power. But similar to Helios, he also relies on the power of dreams, though Helios is dreams in general, while Perle is specifically children's sugar dreams. So kinda sus, but since his body age is about 11 or 12, he gets away with a little more than Helios, though it's generally assumed that they're both over 1000 years old, since his anime self was slightly patterned off of Helios. Chibiusa's body age in the 90s anime caps off at around 10, so visually, they look closer in age than she does with Helios.

Now in the SuperS anime, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus do NOT trust Pegasus until after he thwaps himself a few rounds into a black energy shield Fish-Eye is responsible for, and Chibiusa tells her Mama's team to grow the fuck up and trust his ass, so since they've known Perle an awful lot less, of course they don't trust him at fucking all, especially after Chibiusa gets kidnapped. Usagi on the other hand already accepts him as Chibiusa's boyfriend, even though she just met him and doesn't even know his name. What does that say about her as a mother? Does not even know this boy and already, she's inviting him to the cookout. I should also note that Diana had absolutely NO relationship AT ALL with Helios in the 90s, but does talk to him in Eternal. Here? She is all over Perle, so at least you know who she picked.

I also need to point out that he knew Chibiusa for less than one twilight, already had a date with her, ate her cookies, fought with her and then brought her Mama and an army to the end of the fucking universe to rescue her ass, and not once has he asked her to keep a damn thing a secret.

And not that Helios didn't mind you, because he nearly died a few rounds trying to help her get through Queen Nehellenia's magic, but Perle here also took a pretty good ass whoopin' in this movie, and again, he barely knows her. And unlike Helios in the 90s, not only doesn't Perle bestow Chibiusa with any powers to help her transform or fight, it's actually her mom's power that helps him sprout his wings so he can return to the dream world… probably where Helios is now that I walk this back.

He does leave his magic flute with her, so now she does permanently have dream fairy magic, but he really doesn't make too many bold moves after she's safe. Actually, she kisses him. Stark contrast from when Helios kissed her all those times.

Perle does not appear in the manga, but does appear in the Materials Collection art book and like Helios, was created by Naoko Takeuchi. So he does count in the sense that she created him, and yet so many fans choose to ignore him because he isn't in the manga and he only appears in one movie. But count him we must.

Chibiusa's future has always been sold as unclear, but more and more people see her true love as being Helios. Still, Perle does have his supporters, so it boils down to which anime you prefer when it comes to who her true boyfriend should be.

Now one other potential future mate seems to be Hotaru, depending on which part of the internet you're on. In both anime and in the manga, Chibiusa and Hotaru are the absolute best of best friends who totally get each other. For ages, most people were happy with the idea of them just being best friends, but the internet has wanted them to become a couple, especially because of how many inappropriate, yet OFFICIAL images exist from the art books, where the two are next to each other in their birthday suits. And while that sounds perfectly fine on paper, there's two big problems here.

For one, most of the people who want this are usually straight folks who think it's okay to sexualize and fetishize the LBGTQ community. A lot of them vote away LBGTQ and female rights because of their fake "beliefs" but turn around and demand two girls kiss for their enjoyment.

Then you have those who are NOT fetishizing creepers at all, but they have a really hard time accepting the fact that two girls, or five girls or any number of girls can just be friends and nothing more, and if you tell them that, they flip out. It's like the concept of asexual folks or girls in a platonic situation is toxic to them. These are the people who get angry when a Disney Princess without a boyfriend… also doesn't have a girlfriend.

Now that's not to say that either of them should or should not be into girls, that's never been the issue. After all, the most normal couple in Sailor Moon is UranusXNeptune, so obviously there's room for more, and Hotaru or Chibiusa having a girlfriend close to either of them in age is a pretty normal concept here.

But it's issue number two that really stops the conversation cold.

Unlike Helios, Perle and Chibiusa, whose body ages are between 9 and 15 depending on who's drawing them, but chronologically speaking, they're all adults…

HOTARU IS A 12 YEAR OLD BABY.

I need to say this again. She's not like Perle who "looks" 12 but is a millennium old and therefore fine with 900+ year old Chibiusa, no, she's straight up TWELVE.

It already didn't look good with Chibiusa's body age being even YOUNGER when she meets Hotaru, with Chibiusa's body age here being about 7 or 8 while Hotaru is 12, but we KNOW Chibiusa's chronological age here. She is over 900 years old. Hotaru is 12.

Then in Parallel Sailor Moon, that version of Chibiusa, the one Usagi was pregnant with at the end of the StarS arc of the manga, that Chibiusa is 15 in a 15 year old's body… but Hotaru is 28 in a 15 year old's body.

Once is enough, but twice?? TWO times, we have a situation involving a legal adult and a kid??? Is anybody paying attention here??

Isn't it enough Chibiusa is technically dating a PEGASUS???

Maybe if we're talking 30^th Century Hotaru and Chibiusa, I can see that couple working. I can see either anime version of Chibiusa or her 30^th Century manga self coming home, hanging up the time key for good, and deciding to choose the version of Sailor Saturn waiting at home over Helios. Those two would be close in age, even closer than Helios or Perle, so if they've both over 900 years old and their body age is the same by that point, then that's normal. Go for it. That version of HotaruXChibiusa is perfectly fine, and they'd have more than enough in common.

But if we're talking either S/Infinity/Crystal kid Hotaru following 900+ year old Chibiusa into a relationship, or Parallel Hotaru acting like a kid until this Chibiusa is born and catches up to her in age? Sorry, no, that's too damn much for me. If Helios acting sus in SuperS isn't getting a free pass, neither is this. Nope nope nope.

Unless we finally get a follow-up series surrounding Chibiusa's future, who she ends up with is up to your imagination. Whether it's Helios, Perle, Hotaru or even someone else, let's just hope that they're close enough in age to where it won't be a stretch to see this as a consensual romance.