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1[[WMG: The Wonder Chef is from Mizuho]]
2He always appears and vanishes with the puff of smoke that Sheena notes as being a Mizuhoan technique (when she sees the Pope's men using it).
3
4[[WMG: Yuan is Sheena's true father]]
5By the end of the game, all the other missing/dead/abandoned parents have had their backstory revealed and completely resolved. (This is basically ''all the playable characters'' except Kratos and Regal, who are old enough for their parentage to be irrelevant.) But we never find out who abandoned Sheena in the forest and why. Yuan could have abandoned her there so that she could be raised by Mizuho and learn summoning arts, which were necessary for his plans in releasing Origin's Seal. But to him she's just a pawn in his plans, and he doesn't really care about her in the way that [[spoiler: Kratos takes care of Lloyd.]]
6* This has some holes in it - namely, at some point, someone would have noticed that she was 1/4 or 3/4 elf. Not to mention, the two look nothing alike, unlike every other family relation in the game. However, it's not unreasonable that Yuan killed Sheena's biological parents, or otherwise manipulated the situation to create a summoner, such as feeding Sheena Aeonis.
7
8[[WMG: Soul gems from ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' and Exspheres are related]]
9[[spoiler: Both soul gems and Exspheres hold the consciousness/souls of people. Both of them can turn their users into monsters/witches if untreated. Both of them provide power boosts to their users. This would explain where Mithros acquired Exsphere technology; after Martel died, Kyubey offered him a contract. Because his wish involved 'ending discrimination', which was based on race, he transformed into an angel and founded the Church of Martel as a SaintlyChurch. After a time, he became a fallen angel (i.e. a devil) and the Church of Martel similarly shifted into a CorruptChurch. By the time of the story, he's started up a smaller scale knock-off version of Kyubey's energy business to revive his sister. Kyubey doesn't mind because he/they gets a cut of it.]]
10
11[[WMG: The Quick Jump feature is a residual effect of Lloyd's gaining the Eternal Sword.]]
12[[spoiler: Think about it; the Eternal Sword has ultimate control over space, right? So surely skipping someone from one entrance in a dungeon to another couldn't be too hard. As to why it happens even before he gets the Eternal Blade, remember that it controls time as well. Presumably at some point there was an Alpha Lloyd who wished that he hadn't had to go back through the dungeons all of those times after initially making his way through them, so long as nothing important happened on the way. In the original version of the 4th wall breaking skit he probably wondered why they couldn't have rode Rheairds to the top instead or something.]]
13
14[[WMG: Colette and Zelos are both descended from Mithos]]
15The ideal vessel for Martel is supposed to be someone with her same mana signature. Who better to begin breeding someone like that other than her brother, her closest living genetic match? Plus Colette and Mithos look like they could be twins.
16* Note that Mithos' Yggdrasil form very much resembles a male version of Martel with Mithos' coloring (blond hair and blue eyes); while the age-up is intentional to portray the leader of Cruxis, it's likely that the resemblance is just genetics at work. If so, that would simply mean that magic/mana is connected to genetics, and that in breeding appropriate Chosen Cruxis has simply reproduced the DNA sequence found in the Yggdrasil siblings.
17
18[[WMG: Luna and Aska are married, and will soon get a divorce]]
19In Tales of Symphonia, they share the title of "summon spirit of light", something which is likely the summon equivalent of being married. However, there seems to be trouble in paradise- Aska is something of a deadbeat husband, spending all of his time flying around (joyriding?) rather than doing his job- he doesn't even come when Summon: Light is used. Luna is clearly stressed out about this, and as such is acting sorta emotionless. At some point in the next 4000 years they get a divorce, with Luna becoming the Summon Spirit of the Moon, and getting a lot more chipper. This is why Aska is doing his job and the two have nothing to do with one another by the time of Phantasia.
20* Wut? The only married Summon Spirit who's married is Ratatosk. And he's literally married. ''To his fangirl.''
21** Ah, but do you know this for sure? Does it actually say anywhere in game that no summon spirit is married? And remember, sharing a title may ''be'' their equivalent of marriage, which is why Ratatosk didn't get married until he became human(-ish).
22
23[[WMG: Colette and Zelos are ''extremely'' inbred]]
24Which is why Colette is a clumsy moron and Zelos is a horny moron suffering from depression. They were specifically bred to have a specific mana signature, not for brains. And, as any dog breeder or [[Webcomic/VGCats chocobo breeder]] will tell you, if you're breeding for a specific trait (and, assuming that mana signatures are like fingerprints, it is '''really''' specific), you ''will'' be having cousins, siblings parents-and-children, and so on marry, '''very''' often. Given that the breeding has been going on for 4,000 years, its amazing that they're as viable as they are.
25
26[[WMG: Ratatosk retired relatively soon after we last see him]]
27The reason he was needed in Dawn of a New World was because Martel was extremely weak due to Yggdrasil being a sapling- she didn't yet have enough strength to be the core of the Centurion-based planetary mana distribution system, and not ''nearly'' enough power to keep the Ginunggagap closed.
28* We know that four thousand years later, Yggdrasil is fully grown.
29* What must have happened- at some point in the interim, when Yggdrasil was big enough, he trained Martel in how to do the whole "summon spirit of the Tree" gig, transfering control of the mana distribution system and Ginunggagap to her, then going off somewhere- perhaps dispersing into mana, in effect dying. This is why he is nowhere to be seen in Phantasia.
30* Also note, the Phantasia crew sneaks in through a crack in the seal on the Daemonium- if Ratatosk was still in charge of the seal, you ''know'' he'd step in to stop the morons from making a pact with demons that would only try to manipulate them (although any manipulations they tried failed in the end, Ratatosk would have no way of knowing that when they went in).
31* Unless he made a pact with Dhaos. Which makes sense considering Dhaos has a monster army and was wanting to stop mana cannons.
32** Nah, then he'd have ''more'' reason to show up when Cless and co. went through a crack in his barrier.
33*** Ratatosk seals Niflheim, no where is it said that the Daemonium and Niflheim are the same.
34*** Two known extradimensional demonic incursions, with plenty of time inbetween for names involved to change. Occam's Razor states that the simplest explanation is the best, and the simplest explanation here is that there's only one invading hellscape which changed its name at some point.
35* Alternately he might have been forced into that hibernation state that the spirits seem to do so often in Tales games, and the reason his barrier is failing is because of this and the general decrease in mana during the time periods Phantasia takes place in. Or maybe his seal is only for a large dimensional gap in that particular spot, the gaps in Phantasia are not in the same location.
36
37[[WMG: Regal is Batman]]
38** Head of a major company? Check. Demonstrated mastery of incredible martial arts? Check. Moral compunction against taking lives? Check. DarkAndTroubledPast? Check. Fights evil? Check. He wouldn't use a bat as a symbol, he'd have his own superhero title, like... "The Ominous Shackle".
39[[WMG: Alternatively, Regal is Jean Valjean]]
40** Head of a major company? Check. Repenting criminal? Check. Moral compunction against taking lives? Check. DarkAndTroubledPast? Check. Fights evil? Check.
41
42[[WMG: Dhaos, the BigBad of ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'', is really Yuan.]]
43Going solely by the events of the games and {{OVA}}s, and ignoring the various manga and novel adaptations, it's possible. Yuan stayed behind to help the Kharlan Tree grow, but after it and Martel were able to sustain themselves, he had nothing to do. So, he decided to join Kratos and the rest of the "angels" on Derris-Kharlan. Eventually, the comet started to lose its mana. Yuan had spent a couple hundred years watching over Aselia's mana tree and knew all about it, so he was the one sent to retrieve a seed. Fearing he would be recognized a hero of the Kharlan War, he adopted a new identiy, Dhaos. However, upon returning to Aselia, he discovered what humans had done with Magitechnology over the years that he'd been away, and decided to play the "demon lord" role to prevent humans from destroying the planet that he had worked to save long ago. 4000 years pass between the games, and Derris-Kharlan comes close to Aselia every 500 years, so he would've had 6 opportunities to go there (this excludes the first pass where Kratos leaves, and the final pass at the 4000-year mark). Neither game ever says how long it takes for a mana tree to grow, but it is fully grown by ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia''. Cruxis Crystals allow people to live forever without aging, and Mithos showed that [[VoluntaryShapeshifting it was also possible to use them to alter a person's appearance]]. (Also, Yuan's Japanese voice actor in both the game and {{OVA}} is the same as Dhaos's in the ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' {{OVA}}.) In the ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' {{OVA}} especially, Dhaos seems to have some sort of emotional connection with Martel and the Kharlan Tree (including helping Mint heal it), which would make sense if he's actually Yuan, since he would have watched over Martel until she was strong enough to take care of the tree on her own.
44* If people recognized him, wouldn't it be better to say "You know I helped save the world years ago? Trust me, a mana cannon is a stupid idea"? Granted, Symphonia had many an idiot plot, but Yuan was not involved in them.
45* Ditto. Nobody knows better than Yuan that "playing at being a Demon Lord" is a good way to make people waste MORE mana, not less.
46** Not even elves can live for 8000 years, so if he said who he really was, people would likely either think he was insane and not believe him, or think he was some kind of ghost/monster/hallucination/etc.
47* Can't really be helped considering there was a catastrophe that occured in the world between the times of Symphonia and Phantasia. Remember how in Phantasia's time there is this big underwater magitek-powered city named Thor? It became like that because a huge comet that impacted the world. It's not far removed to consider that this catastrophe not only erased all prior history, but also reset the technology level of the world. Remember, not only was Thor a fully magitek-city, it also had a working ''TimeMachine''. They had practically perfected magitechnology in the 2000 years or so after Lloyd's time.
48** History and technology may have been damaged, but not destroyed. Enough records were left behind to identify and locate summon spirits (except poor Celsius), rebuild the mana cannon (for like the third time), build new rheards/techbirds..
49
50[[WMG: Alternately, Dhaos is actually ''Mithos''' reincarnation.]]
51Think about it.
52* Mithos is frozen in his child form, but assuming his Yggdrasil form is just an aged-up version of his true form (which seems to be the case), if he hadn't stopped aging he'd have grown up to be a tall fair-skinned blond with blue eyes. The physical description matches that of [[http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy307/pornoakleo103/Dhaos.jpg Dhaos]] give-or-take a few years, as Dhaos in [=ToP=] looks older than Yggdrasil/Mithos, who looks to have chosen an age about that of Martel's when she died. (No surprise, the guy's obsessed.)
53* Going further on appearance, [[http://aselia.wikia.com/wiki/File:Plume_Dhaos.png Dhaos' Plume form]] bears a distinct resemblance to both [[http://aselia.wikia.com/wiki/File:Yggystance.gif Yggdrasil]] (white full-body suit, pastel wings of light, long blond hair) and [[http://aselia.wikia.com/wiki/File:Mithos_Rainbow.jpg Mithos' Avenger mode]] (wings appear a closer match to Dhaos' in color and way they 'connect' to the body) - All three forms are also capable of flight with the wings.
54* Both Mithos and Dhaos use a wide variety of powerful physical and magical multi-element attacks, with their signature moves involving light/lasers; additionally, the [=PS2 ToS=] has Yggdrasil use the ''Yggdrasil Laser'', a clear reference to the ''Dhaos Laser'' used by the character of the same name. As well, Mitho's [[http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v185/Nonchalance/mithosfinalform.png final form]] bears at least a passing resemblance to [[http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v185/Nonchalance/d1defdb2.jpg Dhaos']] [[http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v185/Nonchalance/Phaser_Dhaos.png Phaser form]], allowing for stylistic differences and the fact they're two different people (despite one being the reincarnation of the other, they're not clones).
55* Dhaos is referred to as a feared "Ancient King," which sounds like a reasonable way people might refer to Mithos/Yggdrasil once his true identity or at least his deeds ("Stop fighting because this guy we know caused it mostly!") became known, and given the span of time assumed to pass between Symphonia and Phantasia. Mithos-as-Yggdrasil certainly caused havoc aplenty, and the loss of the Mithos Hero figure - central to the mythology - seems to have contributed to the downfall of the Church of Martel, which by the time of ''Dawn of a New World'' just two years later is teetering on the edge of obsolescence after having been the primary religion for roughly 4,000 years. That said, the existence of the Church in ''Phantasia'' is likely a renewed religion, more of a veneration of Martel-the-spirit-who-protects-the-Great Tree.
56* Dhaos has a very strong attachment to Martel and the Yggdrasil tree, even outside of simply needing it to save his homeland; Martel mentions in [=ToP=] that a 'man with golden hair watched over her as she slept,' and the wording indicates that it was more personal than simply posting a guard or keeping watch to make sure no-one ruins your investment. Mithos, of course, had a very strong [[BigBrotherInstinct attachment]] to Martel, and Martel's words as the Mana of the tree in [=ToS=] - "You must provide the tree with love and adoration. As long as those conditions are met, I shall always protect the sibling." - are reflective of the way Martel cared for her younger brother, unintentionally setting off the entire chain of events. By the time of ''Phantasia'' the Tree has grown up and Martel is still there, but perhaps her subsuming into the spirits of multiple spirits has dimmed her memory. (Clearly she can't have forgotten everything, still identifying as Martel in ''Phantasia'', though possibly some recollection could have returned over the years.)
57* During the ''Symphonia'' endgame, Mithos says: "... If there is no place where I can live, and if I’ve been denied my Age of Lifeless Beings, then the only thing left for me is to build a new world on Derris-Kharlan. A world just for my sister and me!" We've established that Derris-Karhlan is essentially a really big comet or meteor that brought both the elves and the Tree, and is still spaceworthy by the end of ''Symphonia''; it's not that unthinkable that the remaining half-elves, once gathered on Derris-Karhlan, would leave the old planet behind, so that by the time Dhaos appears it may as well have been an entirely different planet.
58* Mithos also said: "... I wanted my own world, so I don’t regret my choice." Assuming reincarnation as one of the half-elves on the then-spaceborne Derris-Kharlan, and taking into account the references to Dhaos being some kind of royalty (Ancient/Demon King and the info for the Dhaos costume in ''Narikiri''), it may well be that Mithos was indeed reborn to lead/rule over the 'planet' of Derris-Kharlan and its population.
59* Mithos' final words: "I would make the same choice all over again. I will continue to choose this path!" Again, reincarnation: While his physical body and presence was obviously destroyed when they shattered his Cruxis Crystal, the law of drama states that a sufficiently important/strong-willed person can overcome such petty things as dissolution; perhaps it merely freed his soul to move along in the cycle of life and death? If he indeed was reincarnated, wouldn't he again try to reunite with Martel, even if under different circumstances and possibly with muddled memories? Yes, yes he would.
60* Dhaos restrains himself from fighting the heroes when given a chance due to possible damage to the Tree, which - while practical - is also somewhat odd given that apparently his homeland really needs that Tree, yet he's dawdling for some reason. When Dhaos ''does'' fight the heroes in the final battle, he's defeated by the Eternal Sword (oh, irony!) and achieves his angelic form 'with the blessing of Derris-Karhlan's gods'; that form just happens to be near-identical to those of the angels formed by the Cruxis Crystals.
61* Following his death and defeat, the cycle is seemingly completed once more: A quest revolving around the destruction of magiteck to funnel mana back into the Tree, a quest for the Great Seed that ultimately fails. But this time, Dhaos succeeds: Martel creates a new Seed and incorporates her spirit and Dhaos' body into the result, sending it spaceward and presumably towards Derris-Karhlan. This time, Mithos/Yggdrasil/Dhaos won't need to repeat the cycle of incarnation, since he's gotten everything he wanted (before he snapped), if not exactly how it was expected to happen. The incarnation would also explain how anyone could live that long, death aside-- 8,000+ years must be insane even for a full elf, but it's a non-factor here because it's not as if Mithos lived all the way through those 8,000+ years straight.
62* Reincarnation ''is'' a possibility thanks to the events of ''Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon'', which stars a pair of children from Derris-Karhlan who died during the events that sapped their planet's supply of mana, then were reincarnated with the aid of Norn (a powerful spirit from their world). They're even re-reincarnated at the very end of the game, to live happy lives without the internal conflict they suffered before; it's certainly plausible that someone like Mithos, who died at the height of his power and before the fledgling spirit, might have been reincarnated in a similar way. Not as spectacularly perhaps (no pillar of light, ect, possibly because Martel was yet fairly weak), but enough to send him into another life. The similarities between the reborn include being exceptionally powerful, having a great destiny, having been people of significance/importance (if not necessarily rank) and destruction in their past life, and failing to understand the emotions of humans/mortals. It also explains why Dhaos was neutral re: Aselia until he 'heard his inner voice tell him to destroy the users of magitechnology'; coming into contact with the site of his past death and the focal point of his past life shook loose some memories of his life as Mithos (or at least feelings if not memories) that spurred such a vehement reaction.
63
64
65[[WMG: Altessa is a girl.]]
66Dwarves aren't the same as humans; who says that their women can't have beards and deep voices? Plus, Al''tessa''
67
68[[WMG: Martel never revived during the endgame of ToS.]]
69* The person speaking was Colette, attempting to convince Mithos to put an end to his plans by using the persona of Mithos' beloved sister. Martel's soul had either escaped or was too dormant to revive, having lost most of its personality and thus allowing Colette to puppet the body even after the transfer was supposedly completed. This is why, after 'Martel' becomes the Tree, it denies being Martel: Martel-the-woman had ceased existing long ago, probably driven catatonic after four thousand years of being [[AndIMustScream unable to speak or move]].
70** Z skit has her talking to Raine about Martel's memories that she picked up during the merge. It's theoretically possible that Martel's consciousness lingered, allowing Colette to learn Martel's residual thoughts and figure out that she probably wouldn't have approved of Mithos' actions/taken the chance to try and stop the whole mess before it gets worse. That seems unnecessarily complicated, though.
71
72[[WMG: Regal is an alternate universe heroic version of [[VideoGame/FatalFury Geese Howard]]]].
73They're both rich, have huge skyscrapers and fight with their limbs rather than weapons.
74
75[[WMG: Emil's body is eventually used to create [[Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow Rocky]]]].
76In addition to Rocky looking like a 10-15 years older, beefier Emil, it's worth noting the Knight of Ratatosk always seemed to be [[TheWoobie at the start of a pretty big downer]].
77[[WMG:Zelos is the Queen(King?) Carrier and everyone claws out their throat from[[VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry Hinamizawa Syndrome]] in every storyline in which you kill Zelos]]
78The group spreads the Parasite to all inhabitants of Symphonia though their travels, this would also explain why there is no sequel in which Zelos is dead.
79
80[[WMG: The Church of Martel falls out of existence for a millenium or two]]
81As pointed out in Dawn of a New World, its purpose for existence is gone, so its only reasonable that it falls into unpopularity, and becomes a dead religion. However, it exists 4000 years later, in Phantasia? How is this possible? Simple- once Yggdrasil grows large enough, Martel will be a powerful summon spirit on par with Ratatosk- perhaps greater, since she'll have an active tree fueling her. Once that happens, its entirely possible that, as the personification of the giver of life, a new church springs up around her, possibly as a resurrection of the old church. The time period of dormancy is unknown, as we don't know the life cycle of Mana Trees.
82
83[[WMG: Sheena is Regal and Alicia's Daughter]]
84Rich Noble dating a commoner bad? If there's a bastard coming, Regal's head servant would really want the evidence to disappear to avoid a scandal. So, she's sold off under the table. The baby's allowed to be born in hopes they'll get another subject, but they can't use her. Whoever was supposed to get rid of her threw her into the Gaoracchia forest, figuring that would suffice. As luck would have it, someone from Mizuho found her. Regal never knew about any of it (probably for the best, the last thing he needed was more angst), and Sheena doesn't really care who her biological parents were.
85* The reason Sheena can summon spirits has something to do with having a little bit of elvish blood in her. In Sheena's Flanoir scene, she implies that many people are at least some small part elf, as elvish blood is required to do any magic at all. People with more of it can do better magic, though. It seems to be the case that Regal does have some elvish blood.
86* Also, even if Regal knocked up the preteen Alicia and she became pregnant, chances are he would notice the growing bulge of pregancy. Regal would definitely want to know what happened to the child. And as this is Regal, the man who was more interested in his love than company image and is still angsting about it years later, it seems likely that he would have said something when the child disappeared and still angst about it years later to the group.
87* Apparently, healing doesn't count - several characters in Phantasia can use healing techniques even though they live at a point in time where magic is a lost art.
88
89[[WMG: Genis is actually a girl]]
90Supported by Genis's voice in [=TOS2=], where it is quite girlish at times. She didn't want that idiotic Lloyd to fall in love with her, so she pretended to be a boy.
91* So Genis is gay for Presea? Sweet.
92* So Raine, Genis' sister (who I'd assume would know their own sibling's/foster child's sex), is in on this?
93* One thing is a bit wrong there. Genis goes in the hot spring with the guys. So either he's not a she or she's just really good at hiding her lack of male features. This would be more of a problem in DOTNW where Genis is 14 and should be displaying definite female features (namely the sudden appearance of boobs, and the lack of any facial hair). Even if neither of these tip the others off the fact that he'll eventually start looking like a woman may strike everyone as a bit odd (if your childhood friend who you were pretty sure was male suddenly started looking like a woman I'm sure you would probably end up asking a few important questions).
94** There's also the possibility that he's transgender and that this setting is extremely accepting of this sort of thing (there might even be magical hormone replacement[=/=]SRS written in Boltzman's book that Raine could use to "heal" Genis of his incorrect sex hormones/genitalia.)
95
96[[WMG: [[VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld Dawn Of The New World]] is a ComingOfAge story disguised with fantasy window dressing]]
97Think about it. Emil starts off as a wimpy guy at the mercy of the world, [[ThisLoserIsYou like your average teenager]]. Richter is the guy with traits that such a person would admire: [[{{Ubermensch}} strong, assertive, and in control of his own life and actions]]. Marta is the ManicPixieDreamGirl instantly falling for Emil that exists in dreams, and from her perspective, Emil is the idealized dream boy. Ratatosk is like an escapist fantasy counterpart that kicks ass in one's mind to make up for one's wimpiness in real life, and [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys that only makes him dreamier]].
98
99All this gets deconstructed through the course of the game. The great person one looked up to [[BrokenPedestal turns out not to be as nice as one thought]]. The dream girl / boy relationship turns out to be based on idealized fabrication. The fantasy self ends up consuming the real self and impairing one's social relations. Thus, eventually Emil and Marta come to see each other and themselves for who they really are rather than what they want to be. Emil sealing away Ratatosk is a sign he is ready to stop living in dreams and face reality, and turns out to be stronger for it. The confrontation with Richter demonstrates independence and a willingness to go one's own way after being taught enough about life. Finally, the bad ending represents one's fantasies spinning out of control leading to the destruction of those one loves and the self, while the good ending demonstrates that one is ready to live a fulfilling life integrated into society. [[FridgeBrilliance This is the meaning of "Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality."]]
100** Why are the fantasy aspects "Window Dressing"? [[FantasyGhetto Why can't a fantasy story also be a coming-of-age story?]]
101
102[[WMG: Richter chose Brute to give Solum's core to because the latter already seemed evil.]]
103[[BaldofEvil Bald,]] [[BeardofEvil bearded,]] [[EvilBrit has a British accent]], [[NamestoRunAwayFromReallyFast and his name is Brute.]] Everything about the guy just screamed, "Evil Overlord!"
104
105[[WMG: If another game in the Phatasia/Symphonia series gets made, it will focus on Mithos and Co.]]
106What else would they do? There's so much they could focus on. The death of the Giant Kharlan Tree, the politics surrounding the war that caused it to whither, Mithos' rise to power, the creation of the Church of Martel... There's an ocean of vaguely described events in mentioned Symphonia to take advantage of, here!
107* Alternately, they could explore the end of the "Three Great Civilizations" mentioned in VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia. Why were the civilizations at war? How did they maintain their high level of technology without harming the Yggdrassil? Who were the mysterious men who appeared with the pieces of the Eternal Sword? Of course, either of these games would have the disadvantage of inevitably ending with a big downer...
108
109[[WMG: The Symphonia games are in the same kind of time line as the VideoGame/MetalGearSolid games]]
110If you look at [=MGS1=] and [=MGS2=] compared to [=ToS=] and [[VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld DotNW]], this makes perfect sense.
111* Tales of Symphonia and [=MGS1=] are both about a brown haired hero going on a mission to save the world, so far so normal, right? Hehe '''WRONG!'''
112* Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World is about a blonde haired hero with identity problems confused about his past, and it is unclear whether the hero from the first game is good or evil until the tail end of the game. Also he has a love interest who will stop him in the middle of a battle to talk about their relationship.
113* This also coincides with the above entry about the next game taking place in the past, explaining the back story of the villains from the original game.
114* It does break down somewhat in that MGS was a ''sequel'' to Metal Gear and Metal Gear II, explaining what happened after- whereas Tales of Symphonia is a ''prequel'' to VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia, explaining HowWeGotHere. It'd be a better parallel if Symphonia was the classic game, and Phantasia was the newer reboot/sequel series- but it isn't.
115** It is... [[WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries in America]]!
116
117[[WMG: The Cruxis are Chinese, and their fighting style and angelic powers are based on Qigong]]
118The Ancient Kharlan War was fought 4,000 years ago. Chinese martial arts has--in the words of [[Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi Ku Fei]]--"4,000 years of history". One of the techniques developed during the War was the ability to slow down the body's aging process, as well as boosting their martial prowess and allowing them to use magic. (Okay, well only [[spoiler:Kratos]] had to find a way to use magic, because he's human, not half-elven.) That sounds suspiciously like chi-manipulation.
119
120[[WMG: Zelos wasn't intended to be a vessel for Martel.]]
121Because despite 4000 years of eugenics, Zelos seems to share very little with Colette. He looks almost nothing like her. He can become an angel in the ending where he dies without crystalizing (though to be fair, he could simply be hiding it). On the other hand, gameplay-wise he's a Kratos clone. It could be that Mithos was setting up Sylvarant's Chosen to be Martel's vessel, while keeping Tethe'Alla's as backup in case Kratos kicks it. Kratos, being Origin's Seal and the person ensuring that the Eternal Sword stays in Mithos' hands, is as important a player as Mithos himself is. It's in Mithos' best interest that Kratos doesn't die.
122* Just because Zelos looks nothing like Collet/Martel, doesn't mean his mana signature can't fit. Or, a more insane fangirl reason, Ew! Why would Mithos be happy with his sister being in a guy's body, turning her into a GenderBender?
123** A fully developed Cruxis Crystal allowed Yggdrasil to manipulate to manipulate his age and appearance, it's not too farfetched that Martel would have been able to to change the sex of her vessel. Anyways things such as sex and appearance no longer matter in an Age of Lifeless beings. However, Collette did seem to be a better fit. Mithos had no reason to believe that Kratos would die anytime soon. Having two worlds work towards a single goal is better than just one.
124
125[[WMG: Derris-Kharlan ceased to exist]]
126Because it stopped to be inhabitable.Kratos used the fact of the comet being now a big body of mana-flame, which already incinerated anything that existed on it and turned it into a flaming rock,to finish his own ,prolonged enough ,life.He asked Lloyd to send him there ,knowing that it will make him die in instant.Of course,he never told Lloyd,and probaly no one but only Yuan knows what became of Derris-Kharlan,lying that he will continue his journey there.He could let himself die after such long time because he found his peace knowing that his son is alive and the new Tree has been planted.
127* One problem with this- VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia. 4000 years later, there's a "planet", named Derris-Kharlan, inhabited by Angels, which knows where the planet inhabited by humans is and about the Tree, which altogether implies that the comet continues to exist and be inhabited.
128** That and in DOTNW you can see a scene where Yuan is talking to Kratos one last time before he is too far away from Earth to send anymore transmissions.
129
130[[WMG: Lloyd is more than a human]]
131Seriously! Geneticaly, being born to Anna - Angelus Project test subject who already grew an exsphere and bore a child having it embed in her body, and [[spoiler: Kratos, who is an 4000 year old 'angel' living by Cruxis Crystal]]... He just can't be born normal!!
132* Interesting theory, no doubt. Not much is known, after all, on the effects that children of test subjects endure. Which makes me ponder those effects and if some children are born in the Human Ranches... anyway, I'm digressing. I can't remember where exactly it was ingame, but angels are really more mutant half-elves or humans--think Jackalope--than a whole different species. But that still means it's possible it had some effect on him. After all, he tapped into some form of 'angel power' without having to deal with the burden of mutation that others went through, since it's heavily hinted he has a Cruxis Crystal instead of your regular ol' Exsphere. So, uh, yeah, I'm not coherent, but you've got this Troper plunnied.
133
134[[WMG: Lloyd is the true angel]]
135If we take his vague genetics ,fact that he got [[spoiler:the most different wings from any other angel]] and also he fits in with his character traits being very compasionate towards just anything (well,after character developement), him being a MessianicArchetype, changing people's hearts and also 'bringing the judgement upon sinners' (that is the people who deliberately hurt others),he could fit into biblical description of an angel just fine.(I would say he's something between archangel Raphael and archangel Michael).We should point out that biblical angels aren't really 'holy' and 'innocent' like those little cute cherubs which Colette was meant to represent.Angels are more virtue and they are fierce fighters of God and justice if the time calls for it.
136** Actually, most angels have different wings than others. Your lower angels, such as those on Welgaia and Remiel, have the feathered ones. Colette, [[spoiler:Kratos, Yuan and Mithos]] have seem to be the typical mana wings set for the game, but then you see [[spoiler:Zelos' when/if you fight him]] and they're totally different. But that's kinda explained by Yggdrasil; angels can change their appearence. I'm guessing wings count there, too. Lloyd's were possibly a symbol of his will to reach the Great Seed and stuff. Still, that's my conjecture. Otherwise, I agree with you about Lloyd being the Messiah type. Many characters change and grow by what he does and says.
137** Actually, cheribum aren't "cute", or "innocent" at all. They're the second highest order of angels, described as having four faces, those of a lion, an ox, an eagle, and a man, and are said to have many, many eyes. You're thinking putti, which are an invention of the Renaissance and responsible for the western confusion of cherubim and putti.
138
139[[WMG: Kratos used a GambitRoulette to control the Eternal Sword]]
140In search of a way for a human to weld the Eternal Sword,he descended to Sylvarant and found out about human ranches and their Angelus Project.Finding out that the subjects of this project are able to grow a cruxis crystal - the strongest exsphere - within their body gave him an idea that such person would be of a great use as cruxis crystals could not be made or be extracted naturaly,these were only created under strict control of Yggdrasill.Thus he snatched the subject - Anna,and ran away with her.But because she was a woman who lacked the strengh to fight,he probably hoped that at least he will try to make her get an offspring which would naturaly be compatible for equiping her special exphere.Years didn't matter for him anymore ,so he would just be there and watch over that person to guide and train.So first he decided to find her a mate.The only thing he didn't expected was,that he would be the one to fall in love with her,who he saw at first as a mean to an end,but it turned out differently.Nevertheless he became father of the child and still hoped for his son to be able to gain the power to weld the Eternal Sword.He planned to train him but we know what happened.After the apparent 'death' of his family,he gave up,but when he found out that his son is still alive,he immediately put his plan into work again - he trained and guided Lloyd,knowing that strong emotions are good for nurturing the exsphere,by betraying him he gave him the determination to become stronger.At this point Kratos started his second phase - searching for the materials to create the Eternal Ring,occasionaly encountering Lloyd and giving him clues.
141
142[[WMG: It was AllJustADream]]
143Tales of Symphonia never happened and it was just all a dream that Lloyd had during his classes (or maybe somewhere else).He did hear his name being called but he never got to be hit with a chalk/sponge and everything that happened he dreamed during the time he slept.
144* Unless someone else did [[PsychicDreamsForEveryone the same thing to the world that he dreamed of doing]], [[VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia he did a lot of dreaming.]]
145
146[[WMG: Clara is related to Colette]]
147* Probably going out on a limb here by saying all blondes are related or something. But seriously, Colette is said to have many relatives around the world, but we never meet them. And being of the Mana Lineage, I don't think it's surprising that she would marry to a someone of practically noble status.
148** So Dorr is Colette's uncle?
149
150[[WMG: Tales of Phantasia and Tales of the Abyss are alternate-universe sequels to Tales of Symphonia, and Tales of Vesperia was the start of it all. Also, Zelos is descended from the Children of The Full Moon]]
151
152There are two main ending results to Symphonia- One where Zelos lives, and another when he dies. In Tales of the Abyss, one replica in Daath says, "...Ze...lo...s...Di...ed...", or "Zelos died", which implies that the canonical ending is the one where Zelos perishes. However, in the sequel, he's still alive and well (that is, unless he's a zombie). An obvious contradiction, correct? Wrong. When Origin aided Mithos in splitting the world in two 4,000 years prior and set up this new mana balancing system, they disrupted the very fabric of reality and time itself, causing numerous rifts in time and reality. It caused a split into two parallel universes that never touched, yet mirrored each other up to a certain point. This point is the point in which Zelos either lives or dies, as he is the key that will affect the future. In one universe, he lives on, and this ends up leading to Dawn of the New World and later Phantasia, where humanity had to start over from scratch after the Adaphagos destroyed almost everyone (More on that in VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia's WMG page). The time rifts also explain how Dhaos can so easily travel through time; he simply uses those rifts. Meanwhile, in the universe where Zelos dies, his status as a Child of the Full Moon in addition to his death holds back the Adaphagos and the world goes on to Tales of the Abyss's timeline. Note that this troper has never played Tales of the Abyss, and this was all though up whilst taking her evening shower.
153* That... makes a surprising amount of sense.
154* This doesn't explain is the fact that fonons have been around since "the beginning of existence", the presence of the Fonic Belt, the lack of many summon spirits, and their associated elements, as well as several other issues, including the presence of the Miasma, the world's name changes, and the lack of the Giant Tree in Alderant.
155[[WMG: The Gentleman enemy that appears around Altamira is [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos the Slender Man.]]]]
156FFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU--
157* Confirmed. But he's still easy as dirt to beat. And yes, he does "take" characters. Still easy.
158
159[[WMG: [[VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia Cress and Chester]] are the descendants of [[VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld Emil and Marta]] and [[VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia Lloyd and Collete]] respectively.]]
160* It's just weirdly right for some reason, as Emil and Cress share many similarities, the both have the same English VA, are blonde, and use one sword instead of 2. Must have really good genes.
161* Don't Forget Genis and Presea- those two lead to Arche.
162* With Suzu being a possible descendant of Zelos and Sheena, this seems all the more appropriate.
163
164[[WMG: Lloyd knew about his angel wings all along on a subconscious level]]
165The knowledge was always there, lingering at the edges of his brain for his entire life. The thought of using them just never occurred to him until he truly needed to fly.
166* Or, perhaps he had feelings similar to that of a [[UsefulNotes/{{Otherkin}} therian]], and secretly longed for wings to sprout out of his back his whole life. When he needed to fly, they manifested.
167
168[[WMG: Colette possesses a [[Literature/AlcatrazSeries Smedry Talent]].]]
169She has a strange "ability" to trip and fall over, sometimes leading to property damage. Many times, however, her falls are oddly lucky: she can discover hidden passageways, find useful items, or avoid enemy attacks. This not only sounds like a Smedry Talent, a seemingly bad habit or negative quirk that can also be very beneficial, but it's similar to Sing's Talent. 'Course there's the matter of Colette having the surname of Brunel...maybe her real last name is Smedry?
170
171[[WMG: Sheena is a half-elf.]]
172Sheena tells Lloyd that she was abandoned in the forest as a baby, then taken in by the people of Mizuho. She has no idea who her parents are and calls the Chief her father. She is also the only person in the game other than Mithos who can Summon and even vaguely mentioned during her Flanoir scene that some humans can have elven blood in them. Also, what other city is near the forest? Sybak. It's entirely possible her parents escaped via the secret tunnel, fled the city and were chased into the forest and either captured, killed or just couldn't keep going with a baby in tow. (Or alternatively, they could have been thrown out of Ozette, which is also nearby and very intolerant of half-elves.) Not to mention that Sheena has a VagueAge- one skit she says she's nineteen, yet in the "Successor" sidequest, the Chief's spirit tells Sheena that she couldn't possibly be the real one, saying "Sheena is only seven years old!" and Sheena says that the Volt incident happened "ten years ago". Not to mention Sheena has been mentioned to be able to pass for being older than she is. Since half-elves age a lot slower than humans do, this might be why.
173* Three problems. The first is that if Sheena were a half-elf, other half-elves such as Genis, Raine, Harley, Kate, and Mithos would have noticed and said something. The second is that the pure-blooded elves would have noticed and they wouldn't have let her into Heimdall. The third is that she wouldn't have been confused by Genis and Raine's ability to tell the difference in the mana levels of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla because she would've had the same ability.
174** It's never explained in-game ''why'' half-elves can sense each other. However, another possibility exists. It's possible that, like Zelos, Sheena had elven blood artificially given to her at some point. Zelos outright tells her it's possible in Flanoir and it might explain why she's able to Summon. Half-elves never mention Zelos' having an unusual mana signature and he isn't banned from Heimdall. Sheena tells Lloyd that as a child she was sent to both Sybak and the Elemental Research Laboratory, the latter which focuses on Summon Spirits. It's possible that Sheena was experimented on in her childhood, much like what would have happened to Raine if she had remained in Sybak. Sheena might not remember it, since she was younger than seven at that time and she already had the Volt incident traumatising her, but Lloyd points out she was essentially Mizuho's bargaining chip. It also explains why the Elemental Research Academy are willing to do extra favours for Sheena and Sheena's special connection with Corrine, a man-made spirit.
175*** It's explained indirectly when Raine and Kate meet and in a skit in the Fooji Mountains. Elves, and by extension half-elves, have a sixth sense for sensing the flow of mana in everything. Humans and elves both have mana signatures that are very distinct from each other. When human and elven blood is mixed, it creates a third, equally distinct signature.
176*** Zelos lied about receiving elven blood transfusions. His ability to use magic is actually from ingesting aionis.
177** It's still possible.
178*** Than why wasn't she barred from Heimdall? Why didn't any of the canon half-elves say anything? Why can't Sheena sense the flow of mana?
179*** It's possible that while Sheena's mostly human, she has very distant elven ancestry that has been diluted over time through her family generations. Considering how old elves and half elves can live, it seems likely that some humans may have slightly more of a "mixed" mana signature that differs from "pure" humans, but isn't distinctive enough to class them as half-elves who had a pure blooded elf as a parent, therefore making their mana signature much more potent and easily identifiable. Especially as half-elves are usually not allowed to leave their labs, so if two half-elves had children, their elven blood would likely become fainter with each generation.
180*** Sheena outright says this if she is chosen as Lloyd's soulmate in Flanoir. It means she is ''not'' a half-elf. There was a discussion about his on the Headscratchers page. If Sheena's elven blood is diluted enough, she would effectively be a human that can use magic. The elves probably wouldn't care about someone like that any more than they would pureblooded humans. It's quite a bit different from being a half-elf though.
181[[WMG: In the next Tales game, Noishe will be the main character.]]
182It's mentioned that the final form as a Protazoan is a human that fights evil, which would make Noishe's inclusion in this game some cool foreshadowing. He might start out as a LovableCoward due to his fear of monsters in ''Symphonia'', but overcomes it as the game goes on.
183[[WMG: The Tower of Salvation is a reference to the Babel Tower]]
184An impossibly tall tower that reaches up to Welgaia, where everyone believes the Goddess Martel lived and is actually the base of Yggdrasill. As an inversion, though, it's after the Tower gets destroyed that Sylvarant and Tethe'alla combine again, when previously, only a select few knew that the opposing world existed.
185[[WMG: Exspheres/Cruxis Crystals are [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Philosopher Stones]].]]
186The biggest indicator is that both are made from human lives. Philosopher Stones are transmutated directly that way, while Exspheres are dormant stones mined before applied to a person and leach the life energy needed. The Key Crest used to prevent the Exsphere from causing "sickness" is designed like a transmutation circle that applies to not only martial arts enhancing but creating the caster's own mana circle for spells. The sickness of turning into a monster is similar to the mass human grotesque form that is Envy.
187
188[[WMG: Zelos has Narcissistic Personality Disorder]]
189It's easiest to explain this just by going through some of the symptoms and risk factors.
190* Excessive need for and expectation of admiration:
191** Check! He's groomed himself to be a ladies man, guaranteeing a constant stream of admiration and attention.
192* Disregard for other peoples' feelings:
193** More or less check! He cares only about being on the winning team, and has a harder time than the rest of Team Tethe'alla tolerating Raine and Genis.
194* Inability to handle criticism:
195** Check! Though it often happens as a joke, whenever Zelos is made fun of, he seems genuinely hurt and bothered by it even if it was meant in good fun. During the scene where he pulls Sheena away from the otherworldly gate, he seems ''quite'' offended at her disagreeing with his decison.
196* Sense of entitlement:
197** Check! Do I really have to explain this one?
198* Grandiose behavior:
199** Check! Again, do I have to explain it?
200* Secretly self-loathing and/or depressed:
201** Check again! Even before things take a turn for traitor, Zelos drops many, many hints of not thinking highly of himself.
202* Either emotional overbearing or emotional neglect by his parents:
203** Check! His mother ''did'' say she wished he'd never been born, and both of his parents died when he was young.
204
205[[WMG:Reasons the Church of Martel doesn't take a stand against half-elf discrimination.]]
206It's jarring that the BigBad, who was a victim of half-elf persecution, doesn't use his immensely popular religion to persuade humans to treat half-elves equally. Even more jarring is that the Tethe'allan ''Pope'' of that religion is allowed to promote half-elf discrimination with zero retaliation from Cruxis.
207* He may have actually tried that method in the past, and in the OVA, he states that he tried other methods before his plan for the "Age of Lifeless Beings." However, it's possible this didn't sit well with the public and made the church unpopular until they decided to abandon equality from their precepts. Any present attempt to campaign for equality could risk blowing the church's cover.
208* Related to the above, Mithos is so jaded with voluntary racial harmony that he's willing to allow or even secretly endorse the persecution of half-elves so that he'll have more potential and willing recruits. The Pope forcing the half-elves to work in labs could also give Mithos access to skilled scientists.
209* On the other hand, Zelos, Cruxis's mole, may be undermining the Pope on their orders, albeit as a low-priority job.
210
211[[WMG:Mithos tried to turn himself into a ZeroApprovalGambit, then went completely insane when he discovered there were no gods around to punish him]]
212It's fairly plausible that Mithos would become suicidal with Martel's murder. So to unify the warring world, he could have turned himself into a villain in order to give the world a scapegoat for all the evil in the world, which would give them a purpose to work together to overcome. Except he needed a lot of power and infamy to be considered a threat; he kept raiding and leveling up, committing sin after sin, waiting for a coalition of the world to unite as one and put him out of his misery. Then when he crossed the line (possibly with Exspheres), he waited for his world's gods to return to the world just to smite him... but they never came. And then one day, while pillaging dungeons as a lv. 100 super-villain, he discovered the power to ''become'' a god, because they had either left the world or never existed. This was the nail in the coffin for his sanity; everything he did had been for nothing, because there were no gods, no just afterlife, and it no longer mattered if people lived in unity and peace or killed each other for fun because they all met the same fate for no apparent reason. Of course, this also meant he could do whatever he wanted without any consequences. Including eternal revenge.
213This would explain why Mithos shows absolutely no signs of regret in what he does; his original religion revolves around the belief that the gods of his religion would look in disdain at all the racism, murder, and enslavement. Since they don't exist, he's free to be the GodOfEvil, justify it any way he wants, and get away with it.
214The Martel in the Seed is a growing resentment of himself, a desire to create a goddess that can finally punish him for his actions and control his dark impulses. Upon creation, she immediately calls him out for treating the world like his playground and pretending it was for her sake, then allows herself to die to save a single mortal. This drives him insane again.
215
216[[WMG: Exire gets moved to the other world every time a Chosen completes a successful Regeneration.]]

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