History Characters / TalesofTheAbyss

* MakeMeWannaShout: It's implied that Rending Saber is connected to the Seventh Fonon, as one of the Kanji used for it relates to sound.

* BadassCrew: Despite all the issues noted below, this team is very competent and strong, and ultimately save their world. You also can have any of them act as a OneManArmy in the Coliseum.
* DysfunctionJunction: Oh boy. The best way to put it is that they all meet in circumstances that make them '''hate''' each other. For example, Luke meets Tear when she attempts ''assassination'' against his ParentalSubstitute and they meet [[{{Troll}} Jade]] when he ''arrests'' them. And that's not taking into account all the various issues and problems that come bubbling up over the course of the game.
* EmbarrassingNickname: They are dubbed 'The Jade Gang' in a letter by Dist, which they obviously take exception to. Unfortunately, due to Jade's exceptional popularity with fans, it is the closest to an actual name for their team that they receive.
* FireForgedFriends: Despite their dysfunctions, they are friends. It takes a lot of work, but by the end they are loyal to each other and will stand up and besides any of the party members.
* GenderEqualEnsemble: Three men (Luke, Jade and Guy) and three women (Tear, Natalia and Anise).

* ItsPersonal: Unique to the Jade Gang is that, in comparison to other games in the ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'', the villain goes out of [[spoiler:his]] way to ensure the personal enmity of all the members by the end of the game. Though Luke is TheProtagonist, ''every'' character is given their own specific pair of scenes with the villain at the end of the game as the final boss rages on, contingent on who the player enters the fight as. In each of these scenes, [[spoiler:Van]] in some way references their connection to the plot as a whole and effectively picks a fight with them personally as a final obstacle in the path to the story's conclusion. Natalia, for instance [[spoiler:ties the fight back into her ability to lead the people of Kimlasca to a bright new age while Van tries to counter with the idea she'll lead from a throne drenched in blood, and admits that she's a skilled opponent.]]

* WithFriendsLikeThese: Let's just say they tend to be their own worse enemies for quite some time.

* NoGuyWantsToBeChased: [[PlayingWithATrope Played With]]. He doesn't appreciate [[PrettyPrincessPowerhouse Natalia]] and [[GoldDigger Anise]]'s attempts to woo him but he's got some good reasons for it; Natalia is LovingAShadow and insists on him remembering their ChildhoodMarriagePromise while being a [[RoyalBrat royal pain]] to him. Meanwhile Anise is rather ''creepy'' in how a 13 year old is wrapping around him, pulling a [[TheFakeCutie Fake Cutie]] and flirty act to get at him for the sake of money, which results in an in-universe {{Squick}} reaction. [[spoiler:When he develops a crush on Tear, he {{avert|edTrope}}s this as his actions and comments make it clear, in part due to low self esteem, he wants her to chase him.]]

* PetTheDog: Even before he loses his {{Jerkass}} attitude, he has a soft spot for Ion. An early skit even shows him trying (awkwardly) to make Tear better when she keeps apologizing and obviously feels guilty for accidentally dragging him across the world via hyperresonance. And he admits to being worried about Anise when they meet up with her in Kaitzur...he does this ''a lot'' actually.

* RecklessPacifist: His aversion to killing puts himself and his allies in danger and injuries Tear. Moving past this is one of the earliest stages of his extensive CharacterDevelopment.

* ShelteredAristocrat: What he starts as. Character development moves him from a cloistered nobleman's brat to [[TheWisePrince a heroic royal that is honored by his king for bravery.]]

* StepfordSmiler: [[spoiler:Does his best to seem happy despite his various [[HeroicSelfDeprecation issues]] past a certain point. Gets worse once he starts dying as he plays up the positive things more and more in an attempt to hide it.]]
* ThouShallNotKill: He doesn't like killing. Ultimately defied in that he realises that it is unfortunately necessary.
* TomatoInTheMirror: [[spoiler:The game leads the player and TheTeam to believe that Asch is an evil clone but the truth is that Luke is the clone.]]
* TookALevelInJerkass: [[AssInAmbassador Ambassador Asshat.]] He wasn't a role model from the start, but after being appointed as an ambassador, he becomes much more irritable and quick-tempered; impatient to meet Van at Akzeriuth. The fact that he is LockedOutOfTheLoop by the rest of the party only provokes him more.

* TheWatson: Being an amnesiac ShelteredAristocrat who hasn't left the family manor in seven years, Luke is perfect for the role of asking "what's going on?"

* YoungerThanTheyLook: [[spoiler:He's only seven years old]], the kicker being that nobody trustworthy is aware of it until it is [[WhamEpisode too late]]. [[spoiler: Interesting side note: Luke's one of the oldest replicas encountered in game. The only one that's older than him is the Nebilim replica, who's more than twice his age. However, he is the oldest Seventh-Fonon-based replica.]]

* AlliterativeName: His full name ([[spoiler:Gailardia Galan Gardios.]])

* BadassNormal: He's the only one of the team to not have any fonic artes or special power/destiny, and he keeps up just fine with them. In fact, he's a GameBreaker in terms of ability!

* BrokenAce: Charming, well-spoken, an accomplished swordsman, unfailingly kind and intelligent; it seems like Guy's only flaws are a few endearing quirks like his fear of women and obsession with fontech. [[spoiler:Then you find out about his family's murder, and the plot to kill Luke in front of his father as a result. Add that he knew Van was up to no good, and did nothing to stop him despite not really wanting Luke dead anymore. ''Then'' he holds a sword to King Ingobert's throat at the peace conference, and it becomes clear that he's not over his past [[StepfordSmiler nearly as much as he seems to be]].]]

* ChickMagnet: To his great despair, many girls would like to hold his hand or otherwise be too close to him for comfort.

* CoolSword: [[spoiler:The Jewel of Gardios which hangs in the entrance hall of Luke's house throughout the game and is acquired through a sidequest. Like the Key of Lorelei it doubles as an InfinityMinusOneSword in subsequent playthroughs, since it unlocks Guy's second Mystic Arte]]

* DarkAndTroubledPast: [[spoiler:When he was young, his entire family was wiped out, and his homeland was destroyed soon after. He dedicated himself to {{Revenge}}, something which is subtly implied to be the only reason he stayed alive, and originally supported [[BigBad Van's]] plans just so he could have that revenge.]]

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: {{Invoked}} and {{Deconstructed}}. [[spoiler: Guy is given the chance to get revenge for the slaughter of his family during the negotiations during the later portion of the game, and King Ingobert even admits he is justified in doing so. However, it's quickly dropped because Guy realizes he would need to become this trope if he wanted to feel satisfied, because everyone involved at the meeting was guilty in some way for the destruction of Hod (Duke Fabre led the attack that killed his sister, Malkuth was responsible for the experiments that destroyed Hod, and Tedoro basically let people know it was destined to happen). Guy drops his vengeance for good after this; realizing he has nobody to blame for his revenge without killing a lot of people]].

* ActionGirl: A crack-shot with a bow, and often one of the first party members to leap into battle. For more detail, see TheAce below. This girl kicks ass.
* TheAce: In regards to her archery. In terms of cutscenes alone, if one pays attention, during cutscenes where fights take place, ''she's nearly always the first one to get a hit in''. Seriously, Luke would have ''died'' had she not fired on Largo, and would have died even earlier if she hadn't, while ''turning'', expertly ''sniped'' Sync out of a tree. She gives cover fire when the group is ambushed by Legretta (who uses ''guns''), and certainly gets a ''LOT'' farther than the others in doing any real counterattack. Ironically, that girl who everyone but Jade and Luke have doubts letting into their group is ''also the one who most often saves their collective asses.''

* DeathOfAThousandCuts: CutscenePowerToTheMax notwithstanding, Natalia doesn't do a lot of damage in battle with her primary weapon. Still, her ranged attacks are a lot more effective than Tear's, on account of a much higher projectile movespeed, and it lets her participate in battle from a safe distance. Additionally, her high rate of fire and low recovery time means she's able to keep attacking fast enough for her damage to add up quickly, making up for her middling damage output. Her artes, additionally, pack quite a punch. One such arte in particular, Gallant Barrage, is this trope incarnate; she unleashes a veritable ''stream'' of arrows, first fanning outward and then in a singular burst forward. These arrows briefly stun enemies, meaning if Natalia uses this arte at point blank range, whatever enemy is on the other side of her bow is in for a world of hurt.

* DudeNotFunny: She gives herself this treatment in-universe. She's extremely fond of teasing Guy for his fear of women but once she learns ''why'' he suffers from it, she apologies instantly and stops ridiculing him for it.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: The hair of gold is always on display and heart of gold is most commonly shown around her subjects. She's done a great deal to make her kingdom a better place to live for everyone.
* HumbleHero: Surprisingly so, in fact. While she can act like a royal brat at times, one of the first things she requests of the party is that they treat her as an equal. Her authority over Guy can be forgiven because he's literally been one of her servants for years, and she quickly acclimates to considering him as an equal. All but her actual princess outfit, which she only wears for formal events, mind you, are practical, not showy. When she wins battles, she cites her people as the source of her strength, and in general tries to actually make friends with the commonfolk and succeeds. This is best exemplified if she's chosen as the person to oppose Van at endgame - he'll quickly assume she's a power-hungry monarch who thinks herself noble for serving Asch's will, only for Natalia herself to reply she isn't as vain as to think herself the hero - and when he presses the issue further, she [[StealthInsult tells him to his face she has the less important job of kicking his ass and taking his power so]] [[TheHero Luke]] can save the world without any hint of jealousy or scorn.
* IdiotBall: Played purely for laughs. She's the first to swallow Anise's tall tales, and tends to make outright idiot decisions whenever the RuleOfFunny calls for it. For example? She ''set a metal pot on fire by accident and tried to fix it by '''casting Heal'''''.
* InfinityMinusOneSword: 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 stick with it.

* LethalChef: In the skits, burns a roast and tries to use Heal on it. [[GameplayAndStorySegregation This is less prominent in the game itself]].

* LovingAShadow: Just by how she treats Luke and her glorification of the ChildhoodMarriagePromise suggests this, paired with her romantic nature and tendency to pester Luke about remembering his promise. [[spoiler:It ultimately turns out to be more complicated than that; Natalia made the promise with Asch and the traits she loves still are in there, if buried under a lot of trauma.]] Part of her character development lies in her moving past that and finding true, genuine love for Luke [[spoiler:though whether she picks the original or replica is unknown.]]

* TheMedic: Shares the role with Tear in an odd way. They seem to make up for each other's weaknesses: Tear can't heal as well as Natalia, but she can heal more people. Natalia can only heal one person, but she also gets spells that not only buff party members but also gives them cool other effects. Physically, Tear is a pain to fight as, but has actual, painful spells. Despite not having spells capable of hurting others, Natalia's strike artes and physical attacks are probably tied with Guy as the third strongest on the field.

* ParentalAbandonment: [[spoiler:Her ''real'' mother died before the game, and her father is one of the God Generals. It's not their 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. Her adoptive father also abandons her on learning she's not his blood relative, but comes to his senses and realises it doesn't matter.]]

* PrettyPrincessPowerhouse: Natalia has a very romantic soul and is (usually) very polite and sweet, but is also a very competent member of the team with her archery skills and healing abilities.
* RoyalBrat: When she first joins the party she is abrasive and acts stuck up, but mellows after a short period. She does occasionally slip into these habits later on, but then she's usually quick to check herself and apologise. 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. After she ran away and forced her way into the group, [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Anise asked the question everybody else was thinking]]- "Anybody else think I should rip daddy's little girl a new hole?"
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: She's beloved by her people because she does so much to help them and volunteered to save the world instead of lounging in the palace. The reason everyone in Baticul is willing to save her from the guards when [[spoiler:it's revealed that Natalia's not the real princess]]. She takes good care of Kimlasca and listens to the needs of its people.

* SilkHidingSteel: She's a firm and proper princess but she's unquestionably one of the most lethally effective party members of the group. To put into perspective her strengths, she's the only party member to, for sure, [[spoiler:kill one of the God Generals, her own father Largo at that, where as the others are defeated in battle and pass away after from wounds]]. Once the game gets past her introduction, she's shown to be as strong as Tear in her resolve and dedication.

* TrueBlueFemininity: The three outfits you're guaranteed to see her in without obtaining extra costumes (that is, her main outfit, the dress she wears when she's first introduced and her epilogue outfit) are all pale blue. It's a little odd, considering she's the princess of Kimlasca, a country whose flag, coat of arms, military uniforms, etc., are always red, whereas Malkuth's are blue.

* ArcherArchetype: She's an ''awesome'' archer, and gets plenty of opportunities to show it off.