< Tales of the Abyss

Tales of the Abyss/Characters


Protagonists

Luke fon Fabre

Seiyuu: Chihiro Suzuki / Voice Actor: Yuri Lowenthal

"It's not my fault!"

Luke is the son of a duke in Kimlasca-Lanvaldear, and has been kept locked up in his family's manor since the age of ten after an incident in which he was kidnapped by an opposing nation and developed complete retrograde amnesia. In that time, he's grown up into a spoiled and selfish person with little regard for anyone outside of his immediate circle of friends. After he is inadvertently teleported halfway across the world with Tear, his journey to return home leads to some startling discoveries about himself: not only is he a prophesied Chosen One, but he possesses the power of hyperresonance, a force that can reshape reality itself.

After his ignorance and self-absorption lead to a disaster killing thousands, he vows to change himself for the better and gives himself an Important Haircut.

Luke is actually a replica of the original Luke fon Fabre (who would take up the name of Asch). He was originally created by Van in order to act as a decoy, deceiving people into believing that Asch had been rescued when in fact he was being raised by Van as his protege. Because he was only created seven years prior, Luke has the body of a seventeen-year-old but a mental age of seven.

As the main character, Luke is a pure swordsman. He is balanced in both attack and defense, and his combat style specializes in chaining artes to keep the enemy off-balance.

Tropes exhibited by Luke include:
  • Anti-Hero: Type I, maybe II. As is common with those types, he eventually becomes a straight example of a traditional hero.
  • Ass in Ambassador: His power as ambassador goes to his head, and he uses it to order the party around.
  • The Atoner
  • Bare Your Midriff
  • Bishonen
  • Blessed with Suck: In regards to the fact that he has the power to cause hyperresonances on his own but it gets abused by the Big Bad, and it's also supposedly too unstable to use in battle. Doesn't stop him from launching it at enemies anytime he uses his Mystic Arte, though.
  • Book Dumb: Justified.
  • Break the Haughty
  • Butt Monkey: The world of Aldurant seems to exist solely to break Luke's mind into tiny little pieces as often and as brutally as possible, and almost all of his otherwise noble friends and family seem only too glad to help it out.
  • The Chosen One: Only "not really but kinda yeah".
  • Cloning Blues realizing that he's a replica causes him no need of angst.
  • Deadpan Snarker: He has his moments seen here
  • Doting Parent: His mother.
  • Evil Knockoff: A complete inversion of the trope in every aspect.
  • Expy: He looks a heck of a lot like Zelos Wilder who is also a member of the nobility who acts like a jerk and tries to use other people.
  • Fiery Redhead
  • God in Human Form: According to in-game physics, he is Lorelei. Though Asch is still somewhat more powerful.
  • Good Eyes Apathetic Eyes: His eyes are drawn quite a bit wider after his haircut than before, most likely due to less apathy from him post-Heroic BSOD. They also give him a younger look.
  • Green Eyed Red Head
  • Guilt Complex: After the events of The Reveal tore Luke's sense of self-worth into little-itty-bitty pieces, he becomes susceptible to this kind of thinking, and the rest of the party have to keep a close eye on him to keep him from going over the edge. It begins spiraling out of control in the last third of the game.
  • Heroes Prefer Swords
  • Heroic BSOD
  • Heroic Sacrifice
  • Heroines Want Redheads: Just ask Tear. Or Anise (though she was more interested in Luke's fortune). Or Natalia until she found out Asch was the real Luke.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: Frankly, after Akzeriuth trusting almost anyone at all would qualify him for this trope.
  • Idiot Hero: He even admits it himself. Justified in that, even before the dramatic reveal, its common knowledge that he only remembers the last seven years of his life and was basically under house arrest and deliberately Locked Out of the Loop that entire time.
  • Important Haircut
  • Internalized Categorism: After he finds out that he's Asch's replica, he gets a massive inferiority complex about whether or not he should even exist or not. It gets especially bad in the lead up to the Tower of Rem, when he goes from Heroic Self-Deprecation into full-blown Fantastic Racism. He gets better.
  • It's All My Fault: Luke's mindset through about the middle of the game till just before the end.
  • Jerkass: Before Akzeriuth, he's abrasive, arrogant, and typically has selfish motives for his good deeds (he wants to save Akzeriuth so that he'll be a hero and be freed more than out of concern for the people)
    • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite his mouth, he pretty much automatically helps people when he sees them in trouble and is one of the few RPG protagonists who are completely and utterly averse to killing. This of course means that the plot forces him to destroy an entire city against his will, and then later consciously choose to disintegrate what are basically thousands of newborn clones in order to save the world from being covered in poisonous, continent dissolving miasma. See Butt Monkey.
    • After his Important Haircut, he loses the "jerk" part.
  • Kamehame Hadoken: His Lost Fon Drive
  • Kid Hero: Made all the more shocking when you realize Luke's really only seven years old. His true age and the ramifications of being thrust into so many difficult decisions and dangerous situations is pointed out several times.
  • Lethal Chef: No where near as lethal as Natalia, however. At least his food is edible.
  • Limit Break: Radiant Howl and Lost Fon Drive
  • Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Pre-Important Haircut.
  • Meaningful Name
  • The Messiah: Post-Important Haircut.
  • A Million Is a Statistic: Averted hard. While he never knew any of the people there, it's clear that Luke feels incredible guilt over his role in the destruction of Akzeriuth, to the extent that atoning for it becomes the defining point to his character.
  • Mr. Fanservice: Taking into account all of the alternative costumes, he easily shows the most skin out of the entire male cast.
  • Multicolored Hair: He has sort of dip-dye style blond tips, thought these get chopped off later on.
  • Never My Fault: After the destruction of Akzeriuth, he refuses to take responsibility for what happened, at one point repeatedly shouting "It's not my fault!" This is what finally drives the rest of the party to leave him.
  • Nice Guy: Post-Important Haircut.
  • Protagonist-Centered Morality: He more or less runs off this trope in the beginning, with very little consideration for anybody else's moral notions. He gets called out for it a lot. It gets cut off at the same time as most of his hair.
  • Redheaded Hero
  • Reformed but Rejected: Jade and Anise are initially not too pleased to see him when he reunites with them.
  • Reluctant Warrior
  • Replacement Goldfish: He's Asch's clone, called replicas in this game.
  • Royal Brat: Initially; his mother is the king's sister.
  • Secretly Dying: Post-Tower of Rem. Though it turns out by the end that everyone knew.
  • The Southpaw: Both Luke and Asch were originally left-handed. However, Asch wields his sword with his right hand, hinting that he trained himself to be ambidextrous, likely to differentiate himself from the replica Luke. During the ending, Jade reaches out to Luke to shake his left hand despite being right-handed in a subtle gesture of acknowledgment that Luke is his own self.
    • The handshake symbolizes more than that. An old Japanese saying goes that a left-handed handshake implies trust, because that is traditionally the hand in which you hold your shield.
  • Sphere of Destruction: His "Radiant Howl" Mystic Arte has shades of this. Not to mention what happened at Akzeriuth.
  • Thou Shall Not Kill: He really doesn't like killing.
  • Tomato in the Mirror
  • Took a Level In Kindness: After his Important Haircut. Even his quotes during and after battle become more polite.
  • The White Prince -> The Wise Prince
  • Younger Than They Look: He’s only seven years old, the kicker being that nobody trustworthy, not even himself, is aware of it.
Tear Grants

Seiyuu: Yukana / Voice Actress: Nicole Karrer

Born Mystearica Aura Fende, Tear is a Seventh Fonist who- at the beginning of the game- attempts to assassinate her brother Van Grants. She accidentally teleports herself and Luke halfway across the world, and stricken with guilt she vows to return him home. Though she carries herself as a soldier, Tear possesses a powerful mothering instinct and a weakness for girly or cute things. As a Songstress of Yulia, she can sing hymns that bestow powerful magical effects.

She is the only character who stays behind to tend to Luke after his Heroic BSOD, and makes a promise to witness his change into a better person. She's been secretly tasked by Mohs to find and retrieve the lost Seventh Fonstone, but renounces her allegiance once she discovers that he is attempting to start a war for the sake of the Score.

Tear is the main healer of the party, and possesses several spells for creating Fields of Fonons. Though Tear's healing spells heal less damage than Natalia's, they have a large area-of-effect.

Tropes exhibited by Tear include:

M-me-melons, what do you mean melons!? Are you stupid!? Can't you be a little more quiet!?

Guy Cecil

Seiyuu: Yasunori Matsumoto / Voice Actor: Johnny Yong Bosch

Guy is Luke's personal servant and "best friend", going so far as to travel into the middle of enemy territory looking for Luke when he goes missing. Though Guy is extremely charming, he suffers from a crippling case of gynophobia and freaks out if he is touched by a woman. He also has a geeky obsession with Fon Machines.

Guy was actually born Gailardia Galen Gardios, the sole surviving member of a Malkuth noble family that was wiped out by an army led by Duke Fabre. Guy infiltrated the Fabre household with Van in order to take his vengeance, but ended up befriending Luke instead and losing his motivation.

In battle, Guy is a swordsman who sacrifices attack power for pure speed, in both his movement and rate of attack.

Tropes exhibited by Guy include:

Luke: Don't you feel sorry for the women you lead on like that?

Jade Curtiss

Seiyuu: Takehito Koyasu / Voice Actor: Kirk Thornton

"I merely express distrust as a matter of formality."

Also known as Jade the Necromancer, Jade is the oldest character to join your party (being in his thirties). Born as Jade Balfour, he is a prodigy in fonon use and research. He grew up with the Emperor of Malkuth as a neighbor, and serves Malkuth's military as commander of the Third Division Forces. Unofficially, he's the Emperor's right-hand-man.

Jade is (usually) calm and collected, and is always ready with a witty or sarcastic remark. He also tends to enjoy playing the age card to get himself out of physical labor (like pushing boxes). His fonic ability is sealed by an Artifact of Doom early in the game, restricting access to all but his most basic spells. He unseals his existing abilities as he levels up.

Jade is the inventor of fomicry, a technology that can be used to create an exact copy of anything. He attempted to use fomicry to resurrect his deceased mentor, who he accidentally killed in an act of hubris. Although he was successfully able to replicate her body, the replica did not bear her mind and went berserk. Jade attempted for many years to perfect the process until he was finally persuaded to stop by Peony. Jade thereafter banned the use of fomicry on living creatures.

Jade is mainly an offensive spellcaster, though he can also summon a spear for close-range combat.

Tropes exhibited by Jade include:
  • Adult Child: Subtly done for the most part, but it really comes out when he joins forces with Anise to tease the others, such as the moment when he joins in on tickling Guy.
  • Adults Are Useless / Competence Zone: Subverted, and lampshaded to hell and back.
  • Anti-Hero: Type III/IV.
  • Badass
  • Biseinen
  • Black Mage: All his spells focus on dealing offensive magical damage.
  • Blade on a Stick: Uses spears for melee combat.
  • Character Development: Subtle, and rather depressing. While he keeps an almost invariably cool façade, Jade is initially very emotionally detached and aloof to everything. As Luke grows, and Jade gets to see the fruits of both his inventions and his apathetic treatment of others, he begins to increasingly loathe his work and curse his irresponsible detachment from his surroundings. Late in the game, during a particular skit contemplating both, he wishes he could go back in time and kill himself as a newborn, and for once, he doesn’t seem to be joking.
    • During a private chat with Luke, he confesses that he had guessed that Luke was a Replica long before The Reveal, but that he had withheld the information simply because he felt explaining would be a hassle. He’s very aware of the ramifications of keeping everyone in the dark about this, with no small amount of self-loathing.
  • Colonel Badass
  • Complete Monster: Averted in-universe and it's actually one of the most important points in his backstory. He was a sadistic freak with his fonic artes in his younger days, but Gelda Nebilim was able to change him. Tragically, however, it was his immense love and respect for her that led to the Break the Haughty moment that puts the events of the whole game into motion: her death and his subsequent application of fomicry to living beings.
  • Cool Old Guy: Parodied. Jade repeatedly pulls the "old man" card despite being only thirty-five and he's aware of how ridiculous this is when he states that he doesn't consider someone a true adult until they're in their forties. He just invokes it to get out of hard work.
  • Colony Drop: A late-game sidequest grants him several "forbidden spells", one of which is Meteor Storm.
  • Creepy Child Prodigy: To the extent of his own sister calling him a Complete Monster, since he used his genius-level skill in fonic artes to torture even the most helpless of monsters For the Evulz... but he got better after Professor Nebilim showed him the errors of his ways.
  • Crutch Character: Sort of. The first time he joins your party, he's level 45, while Luke and Tear are probably closer to 5. This changes very fast.
  • Cursed with Awesome: Jade admits on several occasions that his intelligence is a curse.
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Dressed to Heal: The "Doctor Mambo" costume.
  • Fetish Fuel Station Attendant
  • The Gadfly
  • Gender Blender Name
  • Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: He delivers a Bright Slap to Natalia during their final mission in Eldrant for being so clingy to Asch.
  • Glass Cannon: He's probably putting out better numbers than anyone else on Unknown difficulty, due to his huge Fonic Attack growth and very strong spells. However, he's got low physical defense growth and mediocre health and is the only character incapable of healing himself without special equipment and/or items.
  • The Glasses Come Off: Before the fight with Van. Which is bad news for Van, considering the glasses act as a Power Limiter for his fonic powers.
  • Intelligence Equals Isolation
  • It Seemed Trivial: The reason why he kept the information concerning Luke being a replica to himself.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold
  • The Leader: Pretty clear Type I for he protagonists.
  • Limit Break: Mystic Cage and Indigination
  • Mad Doctor: A small sidequest results in him testing out an experimental treatment on the character of your choice. He gets a doctor's outfit costume title as a result. If you equip it for a battle, he tells Anise in a skit that he originally planned on being an autopsist, not a soldier.
  • Mad Scientist: He was the one who invented fomicry. When he was nine. No more needs to be said.
  • Magic Knight: He is actually the game's most powerful offensive magic user, yet he also has high enough attack power and hit points to make him aptly suited for melee combat as well.
  • My Sister Is Off-Limits: He is not pleased when he discovers that the rappig Peony named after Nephry has the prettiest collar.
  • Necromantic: Tried to save his mentor from the brink of death. It didn't go well.
  • Older Than They Look: He's 35.
  • OOC Is Serious Business: As Luke ponders sacrificing himself, Jade says that "as (Luke's) friend," he feels compelled to stop it, something Luke says he never heard Jade refer to him as before. Jade then follows with an apology.
  • Overrated and Underleveled: Justified in a way that makes him seem even more awesome. Using a fon slot seal on someone is the equivalent of nuking them from orbit (at least in terms of cost).
  • Perpetual Smiler
  • Phlebotinum Breakdown
  • Professor Guinea Pig: In his youth, he experimented on himself, which increased his Fonic ability by way of the Fonic Sight. However, during an experiment of harnessing the power of Seventh Fonons, it backfired horribly. Professor Nebilim's house was set ablaze and the backlash fatally wounded her. This course of events led up to his attempt of replicating Nebilim and her coming back as a bloodthirsty monster.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: And he did it to himself, when he was eight, by using magic to mutilate his eyes. "Fonic Sight" increased his power, but it's been banned now because the arte usually makes people go blind. Or insane. Or just dead.
  • Sociopathic Hero: Jade is aware of the concepts of right and wrong, but is unable to fully comprehend them. Unlike most Sociopathic Heroes, he is troubled by this and makes an effort to do the right thing.
  • Specs of Awesome
  • Stepford Smiler / Stepford Snarker: Manages to hit both by constantly snarking with a cheerful tone and smile.
  • Stoic Spectacles
  • A Taste of Power: That Liger Queen was created so that Jade would brutally murder her with powerful spells.
    • THEN it becomes quite necessary in Unknown given Luke and Tear do Scratch Damage if they're not properly leveled with bonus stats.
  • What Is This Thing You Call Love?: Jade is the only main character in the game who is never shown taking an interest in anyone. This also extends to friendly compassion, to the point that Anise has to tell him flat-out that he's becoming concerned for their well-being when he starts questioning his feelings towards them.
Natalia Luzu Kimlasca Landvaldear

Seiyuu: Michiko Neya / Voice Actress: Stephanie Sheh

Natalia is the princess of the game, being in line for the throne of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear. She is stubborn, haughty and an utter romantic. As Luke proposed to her before his amnesia, she constantly pesters and pressures him to remember the promise they made. When Luke leaves the capital on a diplomatic mission, Natalia stows along and blackmails her way into the party. Despite her overbearing attitude, she is a sincere ruler who only wishes to see her country and people prosper.

Natalia is actually a commoner taken as a baby to replace the real princess (who was still-born). Natalia was unaware of this until it was revealed by Mohs in an attempt to undermine her and the party. However, despite not being of royal blood Natalia still possessed the support of her people, and later reconciled with her assumed father.

Natalia is an archer who fights at a distance. She also possesses several healing spells; in comparison to Tear, Natalia's spells are more effective but only affect a single person at a time.

Tropes exhibited by Natalia include:
  • Absolute Cleavage: Her Star of Malkuth costume prominently displays her, er, assets.
  • Action Girl: She's an awesome archer.
  • The Archer
  • Archnemesis Dad: Largo.
  • Artificial Stupidity: Her AI just loves to waste her TP...
  • Badass Princess
  • Childhood Marriage Promise: With Luke. But not the Luke you think.
  • Combat Medic: She can be played as either a healer or an offensive fighter.
  • Damsel in Distress: Ends up captured, TWICE; one of which times you actually have to save her.
    • Somewhat subverted, however, as while she does get captured twice, she's actually a very competent fighter.
  • Dude, Not Funny / My God, What Have I Done?: She gives herself this treatment in-universe. She's extremely fond of teasing Guy for his fear of women. However, once she learns exactly why he suffers from it, she apologies instantly and stops ridiculing him for it.
  • Fragile Speedster: Can usually get in several hits in comparison to other characters, but don't let anything hit her back.
  • Green Eyes
  • Hair Decorations
  • Hair of Gold
  • Heroes Want Redheads
  • Idiot Ball: Played purely for laughs. She's the first to swallow Anise's tall tales, and tends to make outright idiot decisions whenever the Rule of Funny calls for it. For example? She set a metal pot on fire by accident and tried to fix it by casting Heal.
  • Infinity-1 Sword: The Elven Bow. There are a couple bows that have better stat boosts than it, but you can only use her second level mystic arte Noble Roar when the Elven Bow is equipped, so most people end up using it.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Yeah, she's a bona fide Royal Brat, but at the same time she has legitimately changed her people's conditions for the better. As she progresses through the game, she loses the "Jerk" part completely.
  • Kissing Cousins: Subverted. Natalia and Asch were thought to be cousins before her parentage was revealed and it turned out that she was of no relation to Asch.
  • Lethal Chef: In every way imaginable.
  • Limit Break: Astral Rain and Noble Roar
  • Luke, I Am Your Father: Though her father didn't tell her this himself, Mohs and the wet-nurse did. And even then, they didn't specify who daddy exactly was.
  • The Medic
  • Missing Mom: Her mother died in childbirth. Her real mother committed suicide out of grief over her baby daughter being taken away from her.
  • Modest Royalty: Her outfits are quite un-pimped out. She can get her princess dress as an alternate outfit, but it's still pretty modest for something you'd expect a royal to wear.
  • Ms. Fanservice: To an extent in some of her alternate costumes. Somewhat surprising given that she's not the resident Gag Boobs character.
  • Mythology Gag: Her real name belonged to another powerful healer much earlier in the series.
  • Overly Long Name: Princess Natalia Luzu Kimlasca Lanvaldear... Holy fuck, try saying that five times fast.
  • Parental Abandonment: Her real mother died before the game, and her father is one of the God Generals. Though not really her fault, as she was taken away from her biological parents as a baby to replace the real Princess Natalia, who was stillborn. As an attendant, there wasn't anything her mother could do about it and keep her job. Her father was away at war at the time, and couldn't do anything about it either, though he gladly would have.
  • Plucky Girl
  • Politically-Active Princess: Despite her initial brattiness, she is very much one of these. Luke even refers to her as a "wannabe queen" at one point. She uses her influence for the benefit of her people or engaging in international diplomacy, to the point where she's already almost universally considered a much better ruler than her father, the king. The people in fact, are so fond of her that they choose to protect her even after her lineage is revealed, even though she is not a real member of the royal family.
  • Royal Brat: Despite all that she goes through she still acts like a stuck up and initialed brat. At one time she said that she was trying not to boss Guy around so much but she was having trouble because she was so used to acting that way.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: The reason everyone in Baticul is willing to save her from the guards when it's revealed that Natalia's not the real princess. She actually does take good care of Kimlasca, and listen to the needs of its people.
  • Spoiled Sweet
  • Stripperiffic: Although her regular outfit is modest enough, her alternate costumes reveal quite a surprising amount of flesh; much more than anything the Gag Boobs character wears.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: Greatly resembles a younger version of her wet nurse/maternal grandmother.
  • Ugly Guys Hot Daughter: She does not look like her father. She doesn't look like her biological father either.
Anise Tatlin

Seiyuu: Haruko Momoi / Voice Actress: Jolie Jackson

Anise is a Fon Master Guardian, the personal bodyguard and aide of Fon Master Ion. Her sugary sweet appearance and demeanor hide a ruthless and money-hungry personality that dreams of marrying into money and violently curses out enemies. She also works as a subordinate to Jade.

She is The Mole, having been blackmailed by Mohs into leaking information on the party's movements. The reason Anise does this is because Mohs is holding her parents hostage with a debt they have no chance of repaying; this is also why Anise is so determined to acquire as much money as possible.

She is known as a "puppeteer", and can make her plushie Tokunaga grow to an incredible size. She uses this ability to ride Tokunaga into battle and beat her enemies into submission. Anise is also a powerful spellcaster in her own right.

Tropes exhibited by Anise include:
  • Action Girl: "Ionian Sergerant and Fon Master Guard WINS!"
  • Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Downplayed as they have little screen time but when they do show up they embarrass her with their lack of common sense.
  • The Atoner: After Ion dies and she stops being a Gold Digger.
  • Black Magician Girl: Her specialty is offensive magic and she's so small and squishy that she has to ride Tokunaga just to take part in battle.
  • Bodyguard Crush: It's hardly a secret that she crushes on Ion.
  • Casting a Shadow / Light'Em Up: Her spells mostly consist of contrasting light and dark elemental powers.
  • Cute Bruiser: Tokunaga, her puppet, is cute and can crush monsters with its fists. SHE, on the other hand, is as physically weak as her young age and short stature would suggest.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Uses dark magic. (Negative Gate and Bloody Howling)
  • Detached Sleeves
  • Easily Forgiven: Acts as a spy for Mohs for most of the game due to the latter keeping her parents hostage, eventually leading to Ion’s death. Contrary to Luke’s game-long redemption arc, Anise’s villainous acts is glossed over with a bit of crying and no hard feelings from the rest of the party.
  • Feminine Women Can Cook: She's the best cook in the party, plays up her cuteness, and looks forward to being married (to a rich guy of course).
  • Genki Girl: Well, compared to the rest of the cast, anyway, she has a lot more energy.
  • Girlish Pigtails: Part of her 'cute girl' act.
  • Glass Cannon: Not so noticeable on your first run through the game, but God, does she die quick on higher difficulty levels.
  • Gold Digger: She does get over this later, and it's also explained that she was so focused on money because her parents are extremely gullible, and are constantly in ridiculous amounts of debt because they keep donating money they don't have to the Corrupt Church and they constantly fall for mail-order time share and vacation scams, and she wants to help them pay off their debts.
  • Idiot Ball: Really, the amount of opportunities the party had for freeing her parents from under Mohs’ watch are staggering.
  • I Have Your Wife: Forced to work for Mohs to pay off her parents' debt, and this escalates to outright kidnapping when Mohs wants to use Ion to read the Score.
  • Improbable Weapon User: While she equips staves and maces, all of her physical attacks use her plushie.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's nice to her friends but everyone else either gets the 'cute girl' act or scathing comments.
  • Kawaiiko: She deliberately plays up her age and appearance to invoke this trope.
  • Little Miss Con Artist
  • Limit Break: Final Fury and Fever Time
  • Love Hurts: Her love for her parents causes her a lot of trouble and Ion's death causes a Heroic BSOD.
  • Marionette Master
  • The Mole: For Mohs, for most of the game, culminating in the death of Ion.
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Averted. She's is actually weak physically and Tokunaga has to grow to seven or so feet to fight in battle.
  • Precision F-Strike: "I'll kill you bastards!" and "We're going to shove the Commandant's ideas up his ass!"
  • Single Woman Seeks Good Man: While she is after someone with a lot of gold what she really wants is someone with a heart of gold.

Allies

Fon Master Ion

Seiyuu: Ikue Ohtani / Voice Actor: Erin Fitzgerald

Ion is the Fon Master of the Order of Lorelei, meaning that he is technically the ruler of the world. He arranges for Malkuth to kidnap him so he can escape from Mohs and investigate the conspiracy that seems to have sprung up. He is one of the few people trained to read the Score. Though he can use powerful techniques known as Daathic Artes, he suffers from a weak constitution and often collapses after using them.

He is actually a Replica of the real Ion, who died two years before the start of the game.

Tropes exhibited by Fon Master Ion include:
Mieu

Seiyuu: Miki Maruyama / Voice Actress: Sandy Fox

A baby cheagle that accompanies the party. He is banished from his village for one year after accidentally burning down the Liger Woods, and bound to serve Luke for that time. Despite Luke's obvious dislike and abuse towards him, Mieu really doesn't mind and idolizes his master.

He uses the Sorcerer's Ring around his belly to communicate with people and help clear obstacles in dungeons.

Tropes exhibited by Mieu include:
Emperor Peony IX

Seiyuu: Takumi Yamazaki / Voice Actor: D. C. Douglas

The current emperor of Malkuth. To keep him safe from the political strife of Grand Chokmah, he was sent to live in Keterburg, where he met and befriended Jade and Dist. He keeps several rappigs as pets, collects weapons, and enjoys flirting.

Tropes exhibited by Emperor Peony IX include:
Florian

Seiyuu: Ikue Ohtani / Voice Actor: Erin Fitzgerald

Like Sync and Ion, he's a replica of the original Fon Master Ion. He was saved to keep reading the Score in case Ion refused. He plays the role of Fon Master after Ion dies.
Tropes exhibited by Florian include:

The Six God Generals

The Six God-Generals are the highest-ranking members of the Oracle Knights, the military arm of the Order of Lorelai, and answer directly to Van Grants. Despite their supposed allegiance to the Order of Lorelei, they seem to be following their own agendas and act as the main antagonistic force to the party.

The Six God Generals as a group provide examples of the following tropes:

Asch the Bloody

Seiyuu: Chihiro Suzuki / Voice Actor: Yuri Lowenthal

Asch is a mysterious character that works as one of the Six God-Generals under Van. His appearance is strikingly similar to that of Luke, but personality-wise they are completely different: where Luke is ignorant and naive, Asch is intelligent and hardened. Asch is also stubborn to a fault and easily angered (especially by Luke). Though he appears to be a loyal follower of Van at first, he soon becomes the Wild Card, working against Van as a Double Agent but still showing a venomous hatred of Luke.

Asch is actually the real Luke fon Fabre, having been kidnapped by Van at the age of ten and a replica--the Player Character we call "Luke"--made to take his place. Van raises Asch as his protege in order to exploit his power of hyperresonance, but Asch, driven by his hatred of the replica that "stole his life," rebels and becomes a Double Agent. Though Asch insists that he has left his past behind, he clearly loves Natalia and misses his home.

Having also studied under Van, he uses the same combat style as Luke. His moveset also includes several offensive spells. He is a Guest Star Party Member on two occasions.

Tropes exhibited by by Asche include:
  • Aloof Big Brother: To Luke.
  • Anti-Hero: Type III on the very best of days.
  • Badass
  • Bishonen
  • Blessed with Suck: Same as Luke, only he doesn't abuse it, because, unlike Luke, he actually knew about it his entire life and has full control over it.
  • Can't Catch Up: When he joins the party as a Guest Star Party Member for the second time, his level is adjusted accordingly but his equipment is still locked at the power level he was at during his first stint, severely handicapping him.
    • It becomes very sadistically if you're playing in Unknown. He's going to get crushed whenever you're controlling him. And for the record, trying to give him bonus stats with C.Cores is futile and waste of time since they will be wiped out when you're taking on the extra sidequest.
  • The Chosen One
  • Cloning Blues: Luke is his replica. Asch is not happy about this. (But then again, when is he ever happy?)
  • Death Seeker
  • Double Agent
  • Duel Boss
  • The Eeyore: He is never happy. Ever. The closest he gets is 'only slightly annoyed', which is only during his heart-to-heart talks with Natalia.
  • Fiery Redhead
  • Good Is Not Nice: Oh dear God, where to begin...
  • Green Eyes
  • Guest Star Party Member
  • Heroic Sacrifice
  • Hidden Depths: He's apparently an excellent cook.
  • Hopeless Boss Fight: Would be subverted by gameplay mechanics if it weren't for cutscenes.
  • I Was Just Passing Through
  • Jerkass: Considering that he presumably helped slaughter the Tartarus' crew, repeatedly tried to murder Luke for existing until he calmed down and settled for physical assault and constant belittling, repeatedly kidnapped Ion, and that his actions following Coral Castle (during which he had kidnapped and held hostage an innocent engineer to lure the party in) gave the Big Bad the opportunity to give Luke a post-hypnotic command which directly led to the event that Luke takes the most crap for, not to mention how he constantly keeps important information from the party throughout the game, Asch is at least ten times the Jerkass that Luke ever was, especially since he's old enough to know better, and probably the only playable character that is almost fully in the loop as to the Big Bad's plans.
  • Knight in Sour Armor
  • Limit Break: Rending Saber
    • Sadly, if he hits Luke when the latter tries using his own Mystic Arte, the game will freeze.
    • Sword Plant
  • Magic Knight
  • Meaningful Name
  • Mirror Boss: To Luke, as the two have the same fighting style.
  • Murder Is the Best Solution: Somebody trying to destroy Akzeriuth? Van must be killed! The continents sinking into the Qliphoth? If we kill Van, everything will fall into place! Planetary-replication threatening to engulf the world? Gee, I wonder what we need to do to fix that...
  • Perpetual Frowner: Often Lampshaded and it's memetic.
  • Red Headed Anti-Hero
  • Revenge Before Reason: This is pretty much the reason why he's unhelpful to the party. His hatred of Luke leads him to withhold information or outright manipulate the group for no other reason than because he's just that big of a jerk.
  • Say My Name: See the Memetic Mutation.
  • Secretly Dying: Maybe. It is certainly foreshadowed and one of the Dark Wings pretty much states it but the issue is never confronted directly in the main quest. Doing the Contamination Effect sidequests imply that he may have been undergoing a delayed Big Bang the whole time.
  • Semi-Divine: Though completely human by lineage, he was born as an isofon of Lorelei (something which should be impossible) and possesses powers far greater than any normal seventh fonist.
  • Show the Forehead: Except in that one scene where his hair gets wet, which appears to have been deliberate in order to make him look more like Luke.
  • The Sixth Ranger
  • Static Character: In contrast to Luke, whose character grows significantly throughout the game. This is the main reason why Luke is eventually able to surpass Asch. Only after Asch lets go of his bitterness towards Luke is he able to take the first step towards true character development. Sadly, this comes on the cusp of his You Shall Not Pass moment...
    • Showcased perfectly towards the end, as a self-assured Luke, now confident in his individuality, nonchalantly asks for his help while casually noting his superiority in regards to Hyper-resonance, and Asch simply flips. After a whole game of denigrating Luke, Asch is the one who keeps defining himself by contrast to Luke, and has trouble accepting him as a separate individual from himself who doesn’t care about competing.
  • Stockholm Syndrome: He spent seven years being awfully loyal to the man who kidnapped him, and even after switching sides it's very clear that he still admires and respects Van. There's also a scene in the manga adaptation which shows Van convincing him that he is the only one who still cares about him after seeing everyone else embrace Luke in his place.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: He looks a lot like a younger version of his father, Duke Fabre.
  • Tsundere: A male version, towards both Natalia and Luke.
  • We Could Have Avoided All This: Massive chunks of the game could have been skipped had Asch been more cooperative with the party instead of taking turns leading them on with little explanation or antagonizing Luke. Gets lampshaded several times later on, as Luke is as baffled as the players by his stubborn uncooperativeness.
  • The Wise Prince: The way he used to act according to Natalia most certainly qualifies, and disregarding his more... brusque actions toward Luke, he still has strong tendencies in this direction.
  • You Shall Not Pass
Legretta the Quick

Seiyuu: Miki Ito / Voice Actress: Cindy Robinson

The leader of the Six God Generals and Tear's mentor, who carries herself with the composure and integrity of a soldier. She wields two pistols and light-elemental magic.

Her real name is Giselle Oslo. She tried to kill Van after he sent her brother to his death in accordance with the Score, but joined him when she failed and he spared her. While she initially plotted to use her new position to get close enough to Van to kill him, she fell in love with him instead and became his loyal servant.

Tropes exhibited by Legretta the Quick include:
Dist The Reaper

Seiyuu: Kazuki Yao / Voice Actor: Liam O'Brien

Also known as Dist The Rose (his preferred moniker) or Dist The Runny (Jade's preferred moniker for him), Dist is an effeminate Mad Scientist who is also one of the Six God Generals. He hangs out on a floating chair in a permanent Slouch of Villainy, and summons Humongous Mecha to fight in his place. He has a long history with Jade.

His real name is Saphir Ortion Gneiss. After Jade accidentaly killed their mentor, Gelda Nebilim, the two of them worked together to create a Replica of her. While Jade eventually saw the error of his ways and banned fomicry, Dist never gave up and stubbornly continues his quest to revive his beloved mentor (thus "surpassing" Jade). He was a crybaby as a child and clung to Jade, who considered him an annoyance.

Tropes exhibited by Dist the Reaper include:

Jade: Well if it isn't Dist The Runny!
Dist: It's Rose, dammit! R-O-S-E ROSE!
Anise: You mean Dist The Reaper.
Dist: It's DIST THE ROSE! I refuse to have such barbaric name!

  • Made of Iron/Nigh Invulnerable
    • Taking You with Me: He attempts this after beating him the last time. It fails. He survives the explosion, though only if you follow the catalysts and Nebilim sidequest to the end, even after she hits him in the face with a Fragmented End. Tenacious as a cockroach, indeed.
  • Mad Scientist
  • Opaque Lenses: Varies between the artwork and the game. In the artwork, only one is opaque, but in-game both are.
  • Pet the Dog: Anise relates a story where she approached Dist in the Oracle Knights lunch hall (where he usually ate alone) and struck up a conversation with him. In return, he modified her Tokunaga doll to allow it to grow to massive proportions. Anise comments that he always seemed lonely.
  • Reliable Traitor: Dist makes it clear that his goal is to revive Nebilim and that working for Van is a means to an end.
  • Sissy Villain: In case you hadn't guessed it from the rest of this list.
  • Unknown Rival: Jade prefers to pretend that he doesn't exist.
Arietta the Wild

Seiyuu: Satsuki Yukino / Voice Actress: Kate Higgins

One of the Six God Generals. When she was orphaned during the Hod War, she was rescued and raised by Ligers. Due to this, she is the only human on the planet that can communicate with monsters. Van found her at an early age and raised her to become a functional- if not entirely sociable- member of society.

She used to be the Fon Master Guardian to Ion, but was transferred to another position two years previously (to prevent her from realising that Ion had died and been replaced with a Replica) and replaced by Anise. Because of this, she has a bitter hatred of Anise, who she claims "stole" Ion from her.

The party kills her "mother" early in the game (in an unrelated boss fight) and she swears to take vengeance against them. She fights alongside monsters and is a powerful spellcaster.

Tropes exhibited by Arietta the Wild include:
Sync the Tempest

Seiyuu: Ikue Ohtani / Voice Actor: Erin Fitzgerald

The youngest of the Six God Generals, who wears a mask at all times. He has a cruel and manipulative personality, and uses powerful Daathic Artes to curse and torture his enemies.

He is a failed Replica of the original Ion, and was due to be destroyed. Van rescued him and recruited him into the Six God Generals. He despises his own existence, and wishes to destroy the Score in retaliation.

Tropes exhibited by Sync include:
Largo the Black Lion

Seiyuu: Tessho Genda / Voice Actor: Jamieson Price

One of the Six God Generals. A huge man who wields a giant scythe. Though he seems to know Natalia on a personal level, she does not recognise him.

His real name is Badaq Oakley, and he is Natalia's real father. When the real Princess Natalia was stillborn, she was taken from him by the Order of Lorelei. His wife killed herself shortly afterwords, driving Largo to Van and his plan to take vengeance on the Score.

Tropes exhibited by Largo the Black Lion include:

Other Characters

Van Grants

Seiyuu: Joji Nakata / Voice Actor: Michael McConnohie

Born Vandesdelca Musto Fende, Van is the commander of the Six God Generals, and Commandant of the Order of Lorelei's Oracle Knights. He is also Luke's sword-instructor and mentor, and one of the few people to treat him with patience and respect. Despite this, Tear seems rather intent on offing him, and the God Generals who are supposedly under his command are wrecking quite a bit of havoc upon Auldrant.

Van is actually the mastermind of a plot to destroy the Score by killing everyone on the planet and repopulating the world with Replicas. As a child, he accidentally destroyed his homeland and discovered later that even though the disaster had been predicted in the Score, no-one interfered because they saw it as predetermined. Van despises how the world relies on the Score for everything and bows to its every whim. Furthermore, he knows something that no-one else does: the Score of Prosperity is actually a Score of Destruction, and by blindly following it the world is on a spiral of self-destruction.

Tropes exhibited by Van Grants include:
  • Aloof Big Brother: To Tear.
  • Anti-Villain: Type III
  • Badass Beard / Beard of Evil: Lampshaded hilariously. It's the source of all his power, you know. And his eyebrows can fire hypno-beams.
  • BFS & One-Handed Zweihander: His sword is pretty darn massive, yet he has no effort in swinging it around with a single hand.
  • Big Bad
  • Big Brother Mentor: To Luke. There are hints that he was this to Asch as well, before he learned the truth about him.
  • Broken Ace: Master Swordsman, top-level Magic Knight, Seventh Fonist, descendent of Yulia, promoted to Oracle Knights Commandant at a young age, has a beautiful singing voice... and yet he has mental and emotional scars deep enough to lose the collective Outer Lands in.
  • Broken Pedestal: For Tear. It's not explained what happened in their past for some time, but it's clear that it was something big for her to be so intent on killing him. He's also this to Asch and, eventually, Luke.
  • Bunny Ears Lawyer: Van is effectively "Screw Destiny" incarnate. The Order of Lorelei is dedicated to keeping destiny on its set path. The only reason why he's got such a high rank when he does nothing to hide his attitude even after The Reveal is because he's just that damn good at his job.
  • Cain and Abel: Played with. In the beginning, Luke sees him as the Abel to Tear's Cain, given her attempted fratricide, but it soon becomes clear who's who in their relationship.
  • Did You Just Manipulate The Score?: His enemy is The Score, but he does everything in his power to make it come true... so that it does so on his terms.
  • Disney Villain Death: He throws himself off a ledge into the core of Auldrant, and we get a shot of him grinning wildly as he falls to what he and the party fully believe to be his death. He survived, but only because he remembered that he could make a pact with Lorelei thanks to the Fonic Hymns.
  • Et Tu, Brute?
  • Evil Counterpart: To either Luke, Tear, or Guy. Or to all three at once.
    • He can also fill-in this role for Jade, given their differing outlooks on fomicry.
  • Evil Mentor: To Luke and Asch.
  • Famous Ancestor: The mother of the Score, Yulia Jue herself.
  • Final Boss
  • Guest Star Party Member: Japanese version only; though he never fights in battle, he still temporary joins you, and has a status entry in the main menu. This was removed in the American release for some strange reason. He also appears in a skit and gets his own chat face.
    • Rectified for Radiant Mythology 3, however, in which he's fully playable.
  • Improbable Age: This is actually a plot-point for him. He's just so damn good at everything he does that he became the Commandant at a young age. However, he got a lot of stick for it, so he grew his Badass Beard to look older.
  • Informed Ability: According to Tear, Van has an amazing singing voice. Sadly, we never get to hear it. However, we do get to see him play the organ (with one hand) and he uses the Fifth Fonic Hynm in the final battle.
  • In the Blood: Van can also use Yulia's hymns.
  • Karmic Death: His eventual defeat at the hands of Luke is ripe with this trope.
  • The Leader: A Type I/IV hybrid for the Oracle Knights.
  • Limit Break: Imperial Slaughter, Celestial Elergy and Ancient Requiem
  • Magic Knight
  • Meaningful Name: Van's full name, Vandesdelca, means "one who would seize glory" in Ancient Ispanian.
  • Memetic Badass: An in-universe example according to Luke and Anise, the latter of whom tends to play up his Badassery to ridiculous levels.
  • Necessarily Evil: See "Omnicidal Maniac".
  • Obviously Evil: Subverted. His affable nature means is most definitely not this, but that doesn't stop Tear and Asch from suspecting absolutely every little thing he does as part of a plot to take over or blow up the world. It turns out that they were only half-right...
  • Omnicidal Maniac: Played with. He isn't an insane monster and it's clear that he regrets the fact that so many people will die. He just believes that the world needs to be replicated in order to escape the Score, which has the tragic side-effect of destroying it.
  • One-Winged Angel: Subverted. He completely bypasses this and becomes something approaching the Bishounen Line during the final battle, as his last form is just his regular one with a few whistles and bells.
  • Parental Substitute: How Luke views him.
  • Promotion to Parent: Even though they were technically adopted, he did the bulk of the work raising Tear.
  • Say My Name: "Luuuuuuke!"
  • Screw Destiny: Despite being the leader of the Oracle Knights, Van makes it extremely clear that he thinks destiny can go screw itself.
  • Self-Made Orphan: See Where I Was Born and Razed, below.
  • Slipknot Ponytail: When Luke gets serious, he fights without concern for the survival of others. When Tear gets serious, she starts performing feats of knife and magic combo-ery that are impossible in-game. When Van gets serious, his... hair comes undone.
  • Take a Third Option: Essentially, his plan is to Screw Destiny by forcing the prophecy to come to pass, but building a new world as the old dies.
  • Treacherous Advisor: Though Mohs didn't really need Van's help with the whole "treachery" thing...
  • Villain with Good Publicity: Beloved master and father figure, high ranking member of the Order of Lorelei and world renown swordsman, fonist and soldier, who saves Luke from being stabbed in the back and having his powers fired against his will. It makes Tear's unexplained grievances against him come off as all the more egregiousOHMYGODHEJUSTMADELUKENUKEACITYANDLEFTHIMFORDEAD!
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist
  • Where I Was Born and Razed: When Van was 11, he was used as a test subject for experiments on generating hyperresonnance. He and the researchers lost control of a particularly powerful one, which destroyed the island of Hod, killing most of its citizens, Van's parents (more or less) included. It's implied that his father died during Hod's destruction, but his mother survived long enough to give birth to Tear, whom she was pregnant with at the time.
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Your Mileage May Vary on just how far The Woobie part of it stretches, of course, but he is largely portrayed in a sympathetic Well-Intentioned Extremist or Necessarily Evil light.
  • Younger Than They Look: Van attained the rank of Dorian General and Commandant of the Oracle Knights at a remarkably young age, and was on the receiving end of a lot of ire because of it. He grew his Badass Beard for the sole purpose of trying to look older so people would leave him alone about his age (he's 27, believe it or not).
Grand Maestro Mohs

Seiyuu: Kaneomi Oya / Voice Actor: Terrence Stone

The second-in-command of the Order of Lorelei. He is obsessed with the enforcement of the Score, and is attempting to provoke a world war because it is supposedly predetermined.

Tropes exhibited by Grand Maestro Mohs include:
Gelda Nebilim

Seiyuu: Mariko Suzuki / Voice Actresss: Tara Platt

Jade and Dist's childhood Hot Teacher. Her ability to use the Seventh Fonon- something even the child prodigy Jade could not- placed her in a rare position of superiority to Jade, and she used his (begrudging) admiration of her to instill him with as much morality as she could. It is due to her influence that Jade did not grow up to be a Complete Monster.

Jade accidentally killed her during an experiment with the Seventh Fonon, but tried to keep her alive by creating a replica. However, since the process, and Jade's understanding of replicas, was still flawed, it turned out to be an Ax Crazy shadow of the woman he respected. Jade tried to destroy his creation and eventually she was sealed away in a crag at the ends of the earth. If the party retrieves the Fonic Catalysts, she reawakens and attacks them. After the battle, Jade uses a portion of the Planetary Fonic Arte's power to destroy her once and for all.

Tropes exhibited by Gelda Nebilim include:
  1. ↑ 20,000 coins to be exact if it doesn't end the battle
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