Yuri is a commoner born in the lower quarter of Zaphias. Initially seeking to recover the lower quarter's stolen Aque Blastia, he is swept up in an adventure that will take him far beyond the Empire's borders. Although he is quite close to Flynn, they frequently clash over their conflicting world views, and have a friendly rivalry.Some tropes that apply to Yuri:
Badass: Yuri Lowell is probably the Tales Series' poster boy for this trope. In fact, allow us to count the ways...
Animal Motif/Big Badass Wolf: Several of his attacks have the title "Wolf", and is the proud owner of an actual badass canine, Repede. His last name, "Lowell", means "little wolf".
Badass Boast: Very fond of giving these. The best example is probably when he claims he and his True Companions "eat guys like (Kratos) for breakfast" — and he has the skills to back it up.
Badass Creed: "O brilliant blade of coldest steel, rend the infinite darkness... and crush my enemies to nothing! SAVA--GE WOLF FURY!"
Badass Crew: Becomes part of one (as well as its de facto leader) when Brave Vesperia is formed.
Badass Normal: He can't use any magic, even though all Blastia users should be able to in theory — he's simply a disinterested student. Not that it stops him from kicking all kinds of asses.
One-Man Army: Can pretty much slaughter the whole coliseum with his Fell Arm, and Water Burst Arte, which obliterates pretty much everything around him.
Blood Knight: He seems to be happiest when in a good fight. Made especially clear in his reaction to the Giganto Monsters all being defeated, which is pure disappointment because there are no more monsters left that could give him a decent scrap.
Blow You Away: Despite his general disinterest in the workings of Blastia magic, some of his attacks trend towards Wind. Yuri will literally say "I'll blow you away!"
Celibate Hero/Chivalrous Pervert: A rare combination with both. He enjoys flirting in general, but he never actually pursues any kind of romance.
Dude Looks Like a Lady: One Zaphias NPC mistakes him for a girl and, upon realizing his error, tells him to cut his hair, because having it long is "unmanly". Apparently either he hasn't heard of Even the Guys Want Him.
Yuri's "True Knight" costume gives him a ponytail and curves around his waist in such a way that it is even easier to confuse him for a woman until you here him speak.
"Facing the Bullets" One-Liner: In the Kogorh desert believing he's about to get eaten: "Heh...go ahead. Hope you choke...on my bones..."
He Who Fights Monsters: Yuri is aware that he can become what he kills, but he'll keep killing criminals the laws refuse to punish, as no one else will.
Humble Hero: Doesn't care to be acknowledged for saving the world.
Hypocrisy Nod: He's aware that his vigilantism are rather hypocritical when he's called out for them. However, he does it anyway because nobody else will.
Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: He grows increasingly but steadily ruthless in his dealings with villains over the course of the story, until Don Whitehorse's death causes him to re-evaluate things, at which point he decides that he's been "too soft" and starts threatening to kill his own friends over relatively minor infractions. Thankfully he is pulled out of this mindset before he gets a chance to act on it.
Knight in Sour Armor: He left the Knights because he felt they were doing little to protect the downtrodden and end the corruption among the nobles, but his sense of honor and justice still drives him toward this goal.
Knight in Shining Armor: Despite what he might say about himself, he'll always come to the aid of the needy, even at his own risk. In the scene for Yuri's True Knight title, Estelle says he is more of a knight than anyone she knows.
Mr. Fanservice: Not only a Tall, Dark and HandsomeNice Guy with Chronic Hero Syndrome, can fight, can cook (with love even), loves animals, and even shows some skin in the PS3 version's Mitsurugi costume. His normal and swimsuit costumes showing a peek at his chest are certainly appreciated by us fangirls. He also looks great in a tank top.
Nerves of Steel: Being very close to dying freaks him out a little.
Subverted when around Judith. He wholeheartedly admits that he thinks she could rip open a monster's stomach from the inside. And that the idea scares him.
"You can't deny that lives were saved because those bastards [i.e., Ragou and Cumore] were put down! You'd rather tell people, 'sorry you have to die today, I promise we'll change things soon'."
Small Steps Hero: Kill a villain to end his villainy forever? No problem. Allow an innocent young woman die to save the world? Forget it.
Supreme Chef: Presumably perfected his skills from helping out at the inn he lives above, but he started learning how to cook so Flynnwouldn't.
According to the skits, he's one the best cooks in the party, along with Judith.
The Southpaw: Technically he's ambidextrous, but he favours his left hand when fighting.
Sweet Tooth: Yuri likes every cookable dish. However, he loves every single dessert.
Technician Versus Performer: His fighting style is very much that of a performer. He's not as technically skilled as Flynn, but more than makes up for it with his agility, creativity and sheer Rule Of Cool.
The Nicknamer: Seems to have a nickname for everyone — he's coined "Estelle", "Captain", "Judy", "Old Man", "Tweedle A and B", "Apple Head"...
Think Nothing Of It: Has turned down rewards for several of Brave Vesperia's jobs, much to the rest of the guild's economic despair. Also doesn't mind when people attribute his heroics to Flynn, though Flynn certainly does.
Flynn is Yuri's childhood friend who Yuri states that he "could never beat at anything", and a rising star in the Imperial Knights. Over the course of the story he is promoted to Captain, and later Commandant.Some tropes that apply to Flynn:
Accidental Hero: He's very often credited for Yuri's work, and is even named Commandant. He doesn't approve of being given all of Yuri's credit and becomes (highly) upset that Yuri doesn't care who gets credit for what he does.
The Ace: He's even the ace card in the poker minigame.
Big Damn Heroes: Often heads The Cavalry that bails Brave Vesperia out of situations too big to handle on their own, like halting the war between Dahngrest and the Empire, and ramming the rampaging battleship Heracles off-course so its laser cannon misses the heavily populated Zaphias. Also played in the Big Damn Villains territory when his brigade is the one that's meant to cut Yuri and his party off after Belius' death.
Colonel Badass: Especially in the PS3 version where he is promoted into a proper party member. Although he's not quite a colonel — he goes from Lieutenant to Captain to Commandant over the course of the game.
Expy: He is designed to highly resemble classic Tales protagonists, such as Cless and Stahn. As a bonus, he uses the "Demon" Artes skills normally reserved for protagonists.
Former Teen Rebel: Apparently was something of a trouble-maker back in the day.
Guest Star Party Member: Only in the Xbox 360 version. The PS3 version, however, upgrades him to a full party member who is available much more often throughout the game, although not often enough to disqualify him from this trope. He permanently joins after Aurnion.
Holy Hand Grenade: His primary element in the original version. Doubles up with Playing with Fire in the PS3 version thanks to his second Mystic Arte, along with Gurenken and Gou Gurenken. He can also combine his light with Blow You Away thanks to a Skill Change in the Updated Rerelease.
Lethal Chef: If he follows the recipe to the letter, his food is great. If he doesn't... he is apparently so bad he got the Wonder Chef to yell at him, and causes one of the judges in a cooking contest to spontaneously combust. Yuri comments during a skit that he learned to cook for himself so as to avoid Flynn making the food.
Cordon Bleugh Chef: The problem with Flynn is that he has a really warped sense of taste. Though it will always look appetizing, there is no way to know what he put in it. Thus, eating a meal cooked by Flynn is much like playing Russian Roulette.
Mana Shield: He has a skill which reduces damage taken by sacrificing some TP.
Technician Versus Performer: A technician, favouring traditional swordmanship while sacrificing speed and style.
Think Nothing Of It: Flynn goes out of his way to help people as much as he can, but he doesn't like it when people do this to him.
Took a Level in Badass: The PS3 version significantly buffed him in every way possible, including turning him into a permanent party member. Unfortunately for the player, this also applies to the Duel Boss against him, which is no longer a joke, even if you know what you're doing.
Wide-Eyed Idealist: He believes in making things better by rising high enough to make a difference, though he is at least somewhat down-to-earth about it.
Yuri (and Flynn)'s dog. Mainly a supporting character not directly involved in the plot, but serves as Yuri's loyal companion and moral support. The pipe in his mouth is a memento from his previous master.Some tropes that apply to Repede:
Amplified Animal Aptitude: Highly intelligent, and usually seems to understand what the party is saying. He still needs Yuri to read him skill manuals, though.
Item Caddy: Many of his skills augment item usage. There's a skit where the party complains to Yuri about having to use items covered in dog slobber.
Lightning Bruiser: Repede isn't much more fragile than the other melee characters, and if played right, he can decimate an entire field of enemies before they even have time to react.
One Note Cook: You can assign him to be the party's chef...though all he knows how to make is dog food.
The Stoic: Justified. He can't talk, after all. Even so, he is very indifferent and haughty towards most of the party, with the exception of Yuri, Flynn, Rita, Judith, and Patty.
Troll: For a dog, he really seems to enjoy messing with Rita and Estelle's heads.
Yuri finds Estelle while escaping from the castle dungeon. One escape sequence and an attack by a Psycho for Hire later, and the two are running off on a quest to find Flynn. Over the course of the journey, Yuri and Brave Vesperia help Estelle discover who she really is.Some tropes that apply to Estelle:
Action Girl: Believe it or not, she is a pretty decent fencer, a good tank, and serves as the game's resident Combat Medic.
A-Cup Angst: Played with; while she's not flat by any means (she's in the middle in the Boobs of Steel scale by being a both a strike and magica arte user, not to mention between Rita and Judith), she has the most problems with Judith's proportions, leading to this quote...
Animals Hate Her: She just can't get Repede to warm up to her, no matter how hard she tries...
"Why doesn't he like me? (sniff)"
And she's not getting better with other animals in Radiant Mythology 3.
Apocalypse Maiden: Prior to act three she was virtually a walking, talking Hermes Blastia.
Apologetic Attacker: One of Estelle's battle-opening quotes is "I'm sorry if I hurt you!"
Artificial Stupidity: And how! She has a nasty habit of rushing into close combat when she really should be healing, and rarely heals status ailments without being directly ordered to. It takes a large amount of finagling with the AI settings to make things go smoothly.
Artificial Brilliance: But at the same time? She often uses Angel Ring to bring enemies close together when Rita or Raven is preparing to hit one one with an ability that inflicts damage across a small area.
Blessed with Suck: As a Child of the Full Moon, she has the ability to use Artes without a blastia. Oh, and her mere existence causes the world to slowly die by disrupting the Aer flow.
The Ditherer: For a vast majority of the game, she has a hard time deciding what to do or what she really cares about.
Friend to All Living Things: Subverted. She really, really tries, but for one reason or another, it doesn't work out for her. Sometimes with tragic consequences, sometimes just plain hilarious, such as her skits with Repede.
Gratuitous French: Her strongest non-arte attack involves her counting to three in French, and one of her physical artes uses a musical term and a dancing term (respectively) both created by the French. Both conveniently combine to make a decent combo in-game.
Holy Hand Grenade / Light 'em Up: Her only elemental attacks involve the light element. The PS3 version gives her a fewmore, though, but this one still takes priority.
Idiot Heroine: Estelle, there's an Entelexia in pain. Whaddyawannado? "HEAL IT!" Okay, that didn't go over so well. The important thing is to learn from our mistakes. There's another one in pain over there. What are we going to do? "HEAL IT!" Gorrammit...
In-Series Nickname: Her full name is "Estellise", though to Brave Vesperia she's "Estelle." To make no mention of the canon "Ristelle" nickname...
Technical Pacifist: She hates having to hurt people, however knows that world outside the barriers; and at time even inside them, is too dangerous to not fight and not everyone is willing to sit down and talk.
Took a Level in Badass: Arguably post-rescue; it's subtle, but afterward she no longer seems to be the same girl wanting to make graves for every monster she killed.
A Kid Samurai that Yuri and Estelle find wandering through the forest. He was a member of the guild called "The Hunting Blades" but gets fired for desertion. He and Yuri go on to make a new guild called Brave Vesperia.Some tropes that apply to Karol:
Cowardly Lion: Karol keeps joining guilds, only to quit shortly afterward when his cowardice sends him running for the hills...traveling with Brave Vesperia allows him to take a level in badass, but he still retains his nervousness in battle.
He even has several skills that reference this cowardice, ranging from shortening battle escape times to being able to restore HP and MP while "playing dead."
Deadpan Snarker: Not as much as Yuri, obviously, but he still has his moments.
Dishing Out Dirt: Both his first Arte and his first Mystic Arte have a definitive "earth" theme to them. Much like Presea, another Team Symphonia under-age Mighty Glacier.
Jack Of All Trades: He might be a Mighty Glacier in-combat, but out of it, he's a competent mapmaker, monster analyst, and handyman, with a wealth of knowledge about the Union and many areas of the world. Justified, since he probably picked up his skills from his constant guild-hopping.
A partial in-combat example as well, as he has aerial arts (Havoc Thunder and Rending Drop), a ranged art (Reaper Knock), a self-buff (Coil Beat), enemy debuffs (Destructo Booing, Destructo Spider Web, etc.), and healing arts (Nice Healing Smash series). He's the second most versatile party member after Raven!
The Lancer: Qualifies for this trope in terms of the story due to his personality differences with Yuri and the fact that he's always either the first the one to back him up, or the first one to disagree with him. Combat-wise, he's more of The Big Guy.
Mighty Glacier: Team Symphonia continues their tradition of pre-pubescent tanks.
Stone Wall: Though he doesn't have as many guard-augmenting skills as Estelle, his high HP and defense make him an ideal tank.
Shout Out: Karol has two skills, "Combatir" and "Raynard", which allows him to do more damage when equipped with an axe or a hammer, respectively.
Took a Level in Badass: When he rescues the rest of the party in the Blade Drifts of Zophier.
Also when he first learns his Mystic Arte — he gets it in a sidequest where he trains using the sword of his hero. The sidequest comes shortly after he watches his childhood hero commit suicide right before his eyes, thus giving him the needed motivation to start training.
You Shall Not Pass: Karol gets a scene that is arguably his Crowning Moment of Awesome. With the rest of the party paralyzed and a giant monster baring down on them, Karol decides to invoke this trope rather than abandon his friends to a grisly death even though its clear from his expression that this battle is also probably a case of Bring Me My Brown Pants.
A talented, feisty mage from Aspio. Yuri thinks she stole the blastia from the lower district. She joins the companions to continue her blastia research, and fights with a scroll and magic.Some tropes that apply to Rita:
Action Girl: Has some awesome offensive magic on her.
Ambiguously Lesbian: She becomes very "dere-dere" around Estelle and seems quite interested in her, to say the least.
Regardless of which side of the fence you stand on, the main thing to remember about her is that Estelle is the first real friend (or otherwise) that she's had in her life.
It seems like Namco isn't even bothering to cover it up anymore. They look after a baby in one sidequest in the PS3 version.
Animal-Eared Headband: Her waitress outfit gives her a cat-ear headband, and a bunny-ear headband is available for everyone.
Awesome, but Impractical: Her Levitation skill. Even with the Risky Ring to solve the TP consumption problem, it basically negates the more useful Resilience skill. All the same, a flying spellcaster never gets old.
Badass Adorable: Well, look at the picture for the "adorable" part, and as for the other, head over to "Game Breaker."
The Comically Serious: Especially during victory poses or skits, when the other party members start being silly.
Companion Cube: Thanks to her lonely, orphaned childhood, she came to see blastia as her only friends. She anthropomorphizes them accordingly, bestowing them with names as she interacts with them.
Covert Pervert: Depending on what you believe Estelle found in her dresser drawer.
Elemental Powers: Her status as a mage allows her to cast spells from most of the elements in the game, such as Fireball,Tidal Wave,Stone Blast, Spread Zero, etc, although the one she seems to use the most in cutscenes is Fireball, as well as Stone Blast in a PS3 exclusive cutscene.
Improbable Age: She started studying blastia at age 10. That was 5 years ago!
Fridge Horror: Consider how emotionally detached she is from people while that into account. It seems like there may be more wrong with The Empire's system than even Yuri is aware of.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She becomes one of these as the game goes on. Initially she's just a jerk, but after Estelle saves her after the blastia malfunction at Heliord she becomes more open and gains her Heart of Gold.
Kindhearted Cat Lover: She's a bit rough around the edges, but she is very fond of felines.
Lethal Chef: Tough not as bad a Flynn. It's not that she can't cook, she's just too impatient to put the time or effort into it.
Petite Pride: An NPC dubs her "Flatty McChesterson." Unlike Estelle, she doesn't seem to mind, thinking large breasts just get in the way.
Although in the skit "The Proper and the Picky" she does seem to get sensitive about it.
Playing with Fire: Though she has access to spells of most elements, she always defaults to her Fireball spell during cutscenes. There's also mention of her using Fire magic in a skit.
Samus Is a Girl: Sort of. The person who Yuri was chasing in the beginning was clearly male, but was, for whatever reason, using her name. Thus, he was still surprised when he first met Rita and discovered she was female.
Teen Genius: 15-year old Rita is the smartest person in the world. Period. Ask her to create something that will tear the laws of nature asunder and her response will be something like, "Eh, it'll take until breakfast at least."
A 'Fishy Old Man', Raven is the right-hand man of Don Whitehorse, leader of the Five Master Guilds. Yuri initially encounters Raven in a jail cell next to his. Here, Raven gives Yuri the key to his cell so he can escape. The party later encounters him in Capua Nor, where he tricks them into going the opposite way towards Ragou (it works out in the end).Raven is actually Captain Schwann Oltorain - sent by Alexei to spy on Estelle, and eventually capture her. He later rejoins Yuri after fierce coercion.Some tropes that apply to Raven:
Ambiguous Disorder: It's never outright stated by the characters, but there are enough clues to suggest that Schwann could be a completely separate personality. The way Schwann and Raven talk about each other like they're separate people is the most obvious indication: Schwann saying "Raven isn't here" during his boss fight or Raven saying that Alexei "buried that poor schmuck" in reference to Schwann.
Becoming the Mask: Adopted his Raven persona to spy on the guilds and grew to be genuinely comfortable there. Later he used it to spy on Brave Vesperia, and wound up joining them for good.
Despair Event Horizon: Happened before the game's events, when he (and his unrequited love, Casey) died in the Great War and Alexei took control of his life.
Dirty Old Man: Only not as creepy; the only girl in the party he hits on is Judith.
He does have several... close female friends in Dahngrest, though.
If he and Estelle are in the party together, during one Victory Pose, he'll try to get Estelle to give him a hug. She refuses.
Easily Forgiven: Although he does have a close eye kept on him.
Gratuitous Italian: Two of Raven's artes, Arrivederci and Inverno, are Italian words (for "Goodbye" and "Winter", respectively).
Grumpy Old Man: Although he's only thirty-five, he gets invoked with the "Old Man" nickname by the other, much younger guild members and whines often about not being able to keep up with them physically on their long journeys.
In the original Japanese script, they refer to him by a slanderous term for a middle aged man. No similar word exists in English, so he gets the Old Man nickname instead, which is only slightly strange given his definitely-not-old age.
Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: There are a few skits where Raven notes he's not interested in cooking for the guys, or giving them a piggyback. Yuri even teases him in one skit when Raven implies that Estelle's concern for Yuri is because she's 'grown close' to him. Yuri then points out that Raven cares about him as well, so they must have grown close too. Raven of all people, then seems awkward.
Like You Were Dying: One of Raven's enter battle quotes after Baction: "Fight like I'm gonna die, huh?". He becomes much less of a Death Seeker after the events of Baction, and has gained a new lease on life by the end.
Meaningful Name: Ravens are black and considered dirty, but Raven is free. Swans are pure white and considered noble and beautiful, but Schwann is caged by his past.
The Mole: In both the Guild Union and your party for Alexei.
Not Brainwashed: Yes, Raven really did kidnap Estelle and hand her over to Alexei of his own free will. Though he was somewhat forced to, since Alexei had control over the continuing function of his blastia heart.
The Southpaw: Most notably in his Schwann guise. Less obvious normally since bow-usage is determined by eyesight rather than hand laterality, meaning that Raven wields his long-range weapon in the conventional manner.
Split Personality: Raven and Schwann certainly act like they're separate personalities, though it is a deliberate act on his part. Flynn calls him out on it in an optional scene in the PS3 version.
Weapon of Choice: Bow and Sword in Accord with Trick Arrow (normal ones, healing ones, landmine-planting ones...) This is played with in-game, as he shifts his fighting style to suit the situation, much like he shifts personalities.
Welcome Back Traitor: He kidnaps Estelle, hands her over to Alexei, and then proceeds to fight against you to slow you down in your pursuit. After the fight, the party discover that Alexei has been blackmailing Raven with his life all along, and Raven proceeds to pull a Heroic Sacrifice in order to save the lives of the party. He's welcomed back after a series of good punches.
I Owe You My Life: A darker version. Yuri states that Raven's life belongs to Brave Vesperia after that little incident.
An aerial specialist that fights with a Blade on a Stick and wears very little clothing. Yuri meets up with her after being captured by Barbos. Turns out, she was the "dragon freak" flying around destroying blastia. At first, she accompanies the Guild to continue her mission of destroying out-of-control blastia, and to spy on Estelle as per Phaeroh's request. Despite herself, she grows close to everyone, and becomes a permanent part of the Guild's True Companions.Some tropes that apply to Judith:
Apologetic Attacker: Only once, but notable because in the battle with Raven, Blood Knight Judith is the only one to apologise for being forced to fight him.
Ax Crazy: Subtly done. It's implied from her love of fighting and her otherwise stoic personality that Judith is somewhat... odd in the mind; even by Krityan standards.
Badass: The second biggest one in the game, after Yuri.
Memetic Badass: Played for Laughs. Yuri regards her as an in-universe one for her willingness to kill a monster by getting eaten by it and then ripping open its stomach from the inside out to escape.
Judith: If that's all it is, just wear this outfit yourself.
Estelle: Like my boobs could fill out that top!
Cat Smile: In some promotional artwork (see right...), but not usually in-game.
Cloudcuckoolander: Myep. Our Judy's not always all there in the head.
Combat Stilettos: Taken to their logical extreme as her actual secondary weapon.
Daddy's Girl: Judith's father was the inventor of the Hermes blastia, and flew around the world on Ba'ul with Judith. In a dialogue with Yuri aboard the Fiertia, Judith says that her father has a huge influence on her, and she misses him a great deal.
Dragon Rider: She is the armored "dragon freak" that has been flying around destroying blastia. She and her "dragon" (or rather, Entelexeia) friend Ba'ul have shared a bond ever since she befriended the lonely creature as a child.
Easily Forgiven: She cripples the party's only mode of transportation and abandons them in hostile territory, but everyone seems to forget this after she rejoins. Then again, the fact that she actually had a very good reason for crippling the ship (the abandonment, less so) probably helped.
Guide Dang It: You want to know about her backstory? Good luck, unless you've got a strategy guide to find the hidden scenes.
Hot Chick in a Badass Suit: In the PS3 version she can get Richter's suit as an alternate costume. She also has the poker dealer's outfit that she can get at the casino, which is basically a vested tux without the topcoat.
Kick Chick: She can equip greaves as her secondary weapon, and many of her artes are flying kicks and the like.
Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter: Hermes, the creator of the Hermes blastia, was Judith's father. She makes it her responsibility to destroy the manufactured Hermes blastia.
The fact that she's an excellent fighter skyrockets this even higher. Like your average female warrior, she prefers to be swift and agile during combat, and she pulls off wicked acrobatics and flashy attacks on the battlefront. I'd say she's 200% sexy!
And there's the fact she loves teasing/flirting with Yuri, Raven, and just about everyone who's interested (see TheTease below).
Professional Gambler: At Nam Combunda, it is revealed she made most of her traveling money before joining up with Brave Vesperia by gambling. She was quite infamous in the industry for her unflappable poker face.
Statuesque Stunner: She's the second-tallest party member in the game after Yuri.
Stepford Smiler: She spends the first half of the second part hiding her conflict between keeping her life's mission a secret and her newfound friendship to the party.
Theme Naming: All of her techs have something to do with the moon.
Unusual Ears: Has pointed elven ears and long antennae, like all krityans.
Vigilante Woman: Revealed to have been a non-killing variant for the Entelexeia; what with her destroying of Hermes Blastia and all. When Estelle turns out to be an even greater threat to the world, she promises to take this trope to the extreme if there really is no hope that she can properly control and maintain her power. Three guesses as to whether she does this or not.
A new character for the Playstation 3 Updated Rerelease. Was originally planned to be in the Xbox 360 version, but was scrapped. Patty is a little girl with dreams of sailing the seas. She talks like an old lady. She is actually the pirate Aifreed, whose crew made her drink a substance that reduced her age at the cost of her memories in order to protect her.
(In the PS3 version, surprising absolutely no one, this is in fact Patty's room.)
Fighting Clown: Uses playing cards, jack-in-the-boxes, rockets, etc. with random effects ranging from wiping out all enemies instantly to wiping out the party instantly. Handle with care.
What the Hell, Hero?: Should her abilities create a difficult situation in battle, the other party members will call her on it.
Luck-Based Mission: Meeting all her "Summon Friends" pals for her "Successor to the Great Pirate's Name" title.
Luck Stat: And she can max it with an exclusive accessory.
My God, What Have I Done?: She feels this way after killing Seifer, even though he asked that she kill him. Directly after the fact, she regrets having to do it, and sobs over the death of her friend, with Estelle nearby to comfort her.
Stance System: Between Normal, Advance, Brainel, and Critical. Normal is Exactly What It Says on the Tin, Advance emphasizes direct attacks, Brainel caters to range and spell casting, and Critical has the benefits of the previous two. Critical also has so much going for it, it's almost unfair.
Non Indicative Name: "Brainel" is not exactly indicative of its purpose, however, since the word doesn't exist in the English language.
What Could Have Been: The three letter player-character identifier PAT appears in a few places on the Xbox 360 disc, so she was probably cut fairly early into production.
The Commandant of the Imperial Knights. As Commandant, Alexei was tasked with saving a world he soon realised was killing itself through its excessive blastia culture. Believing that the world was incapable of relinquishing its blastia culture and exhausting every other reasonable solution, Alexei crossed the Despair Event Horizon and arrived at an insane scheme to rewrite the natural laws of the world with the Enduring Shrine of Zaude, destroying the old world in the process.
All There in the Manual / Guide Dang It: For such a major character, Alexei's backstory, motivations, goals and hopes are very poorly explained throughout the game. Not only do you need to play through the game about twice, or do every sidequest under the sun to piece it all together, you also need to read the Japanese-exclusive guidebooks to get the full picture. Oh and, for the record? Namco has never had to do this for any of its Tales characters before. Ever.
Bond Villain Stupidity: He has no reason not to turn off Raven's heart blastia when he betrays him. It's even lampshaded by the heroes. Despite this, he never does it.
Big Bad: Narratively-wise. Interestingly, he gets defeated after the second act. The last act is, essentially, cleaning up the mess he left. (The "mess" in question is an Eldritch Abomination threatening to devour the entire planet.)
Dystopia Justifies The Means: ... Began plotting to unite the whole world under a single, united order. His order. At any cost.
Despair Event Horizon: Happened to him before the game's events and more than likely led to his Jumping Off the Slippery Slope. When tasked with protecting the world as Commandant, he realised the impossibility of the task due to the blastia culture that was slowly killing it.
Evil Laugh: Just in case you had any doubts he was a villain.
Evil Plan: His is something along the lines of taking over the world by forcing everyone to give up blastia, which is slowly destroying the planet, by scaring them into submission with Zaude; which he believes to be a super-weapon. This will then somehow improve the lives of everyone in the world. No, it's not very well explained.
Go Mad From The Revelation: He puts years of effort into uncovering and controlling Zaude, which he believes to be an ultimate weapon which he can use to force the general populace to give up blastia. When he activates it he realizes that it is actually a barrier sealing an Eldritch Abomination. Upon learning that his efforts only hastened the death of the world, Alexei literally snaps and begins raving about how humans are doomed.
Large Ham: In retrospect, a character voiced by D.C. Douglas really had no choice but to be one.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Zigzagged. It's not clear as to whether he's one or another corrupt knight for the first part of the game. Then he tells Yuri to keep protecting Estelle. Then he more or less screws the peace pooch between the Guilds and the Empire by attacking Phareoh with Heracles. Then he reveals that he was the BigBad all along.
Trailers Always Spoil: The European trailer of the game reveals that you have to fight him.
Villain with Good Publicity: Surprisingly averted. Although Alexei is a hero who is beloved by the Empire, when he shows his true colors, only the Leviathan's Claw Guild (under Yeager) and his personal Brigade continue to support him.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Despite his abuse of Estelle and her powers, he was trying to reform the corrupt Empire and Guilds... by enacting a military dictatorship under his personal guidance.
Estelle's distant cousin, and another member of the Imperial Family. He too was drawn into the succession crisis as a potential Imperial Candidate. He spends most of his time traveling and meeting with Guild leaders to improve the relationship between the Guilds and Empire.Alexei's insurrection and the Adephagos crisis sees him named as emergency Emperor, and his leadership abilities help form an alliance between the Guilds and Empire. It is implied that he is made Emperor permanently with the support of the Council and Knights, ending the succession crisis.
Big Good: He basically becomes this for the Empire by the end of the story.
Distressed Dude: He's introduced by Yuri rescuing him from a sinking ship. Damsel tendencies must run in the family...
Expy: Looks an awful lot like Flynn, who himself looks an awful lot like Guy.
Reasonable Authority Figure: First as a noble who's willing to listen to commoners and form treaties with the Guilds, and then as Emperor.
"It's the privilege of my exalted station to dispel such boredom with the...help of the common people."
An Imperial Councilmember tasked with governing the port town of Nor Harbor. He is corrupt and depraved; feeding his own people to his pet monsters if they cannot pay his obscenely high taxes. He openly despises Flynn for being a commoner and does his best to make his life difficult.After using his connections in the Council to escape punishment for his crimes in Nor and nearly starting a war between the Empire and Guilds, Yuri takes matters into his own hands and murders him.
Evil Is Petty / For the Evulz: Sure he's corrupt but that doesn't explain why he feels the need to feed kids to wild animals. It's heavily implied that he just enjoys being as evil as he can be for no other reason than because his connections prevent people from being able to touch him.
Moral Event Horizon: In-universe, Yuri and Flynn consider him to have crossed it by feeding children to monsters. This is what motivates Yuri to kill him.
An Imperial Knight Captain of noble birth. Like Ragou, he also openly despises the commonly-born, especially those who have made a name for themselves in the Knights: namely, Flynn, Schwann, and Alexei. He is the appointed governer of Mantaic, a desert town, and has been tasked by a mysterious benefactor to find the creature Phaeroh.After the full abuses he has heaped upon his townspeople have been brought to light, Yuri chases him out of his bed at night and watches as he drowns to death in quicksand.
Sissy Villain: Just... look at him. Loads of makeup, namely the blue lipstick, the loads of pink on his outfit, the fact that his outfit makes the shape of a heart twice (in the front and the back)... ...Look at him.
Smug Snake: He seems like one at first, but we soon learn he's much worse.
A trio of bumbling knights serving under the perpetually-absent Captain Schwann. They are dedicated to the pursuit of justice, and are determined to get the fugitive Yuri back behind bars.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Schwann is a hero of the Great War and a hell of a fighter, but he's also a recluse who leaves everything up to Leblanc. He also likes to sleep in prison cells and has grown far too attached to being Raven.
Action Girl: When first attempting to enter Baction, Alexei uses aer to incapacitate your party, leaving you at the hands of a squad of royal guard. When you regain consciousness, the royal guards have been dispatched by Sodia and Witcher.
Karma Houdini: Although Yuri says he hasn't forgotten or forgiven her for stabbing him, she is never actually punished for the murder attempt, nor is it discovered by anyone other than the two involved.
Alexei's aide and secretary, a mysterious Krityan woman. She is an Entelexeia in disguise, keeping tabs on Alexei's movements. She is close to Duke, and is the one who convinces the party to attempt to reason with him.After challenging the party to defeat her as a test of their worthiness, she is reborn as the wind spirit, Sylph.
Mr. Exposition: Notable even in her brief appearance during the Zaphias attack, but especially so after she joins with the party, and is the only source of information about Duke's past.
The head of the Guild Union and Karol's hero. Old friends with the leader of Nordopolica, Belius. He commits suicide to atone for his grandson's inadvertent role in her death, and without his leadership the guild union falls into chaos.
The cunning, much-beloved leader of the guild city of Nordopolica, and close friend to Don Whitehorse. She is also an Entelexeia, and is accidentally killed by Estelle in the midst of an invasion of the city by the Hunting Blades and Imperial Troops.Later reborn as the water spirit, Undine, in the game's third act.
Ax Crazy: Estelle tries to heal Belius when she gets injured, but her powers are poisonous to the Entelexeia and it leads on to a boss fight.
Back from the Dead: Is accidentally revived by the party when they attempt to use her apatheia to condense an aer krene in the third act. She is reborn as the water elemental spirit, Undine.
Interspecies RomanceShip Tease: Her comment that she wishes Don Whitehorse had been born as one of her race could be interpreted as a one-sided version of this.
MacGuffin Girl: A rather cruel example, since it's only by her dying that said MacGuffin can be acquired.
Making a Splash / An Ice Person: Focuses on water and ice attacks even before her death. After, she is reborn as the water elemental spirit, Undine.
Mr. Exposition: Rather, "Miss." Until the Hunting Blades interrupted.
Reasonable Authority Figure: And how! In a world where everybody who could give you answers is backstabbing you, manipulating you, or just plain old trying to kill you, it says a lot about the character that Belius is the first one who tries to start answering your questions. Sadly, she gets killed before she can. Additionally, Belius runs the city lawfully, as you might expect a Guild leader to, but at the same time is willing to tell Estelle about her role regardless of whether or not she should rightfully be the one to do so.
Screw Destiny: She tries to do this, telling Estelle who she is and what her destiny may be and more or less saying "Screw the consequences", but the Hunting Blades interrupt.
Tragic Monster She becomes one, no thanks to the Hunting Blades.
Diabolus ex Machina: Zagi has no backstory, no motive, no discernible allegiances (he doesn't even show concern or loyalty to the other members of Leviathan's Claw), no specific goal beyond killing people For the Evulz and no concrete connection to any of the characters. He just turns up at random points, even when it makes no sense for him to do so, to antagonise the party. This is exactly why Yuri is so frustrated with him.
New Powers as the Plot Demands: In his final confrontation, he uses... some kind of arte that seals the pathway behind him; forcing Yuri and co. to fight him. How and why he has this power is never explained.
It's also never explained who gave him his Blastia Arm and later upgraded it to have a giant skull shaped guard on it. Presumably his path-blocking skill was related to the previous, as he doesn't have his Mystic Arte, Shining Blastia Field, before the final battle with him either.
Not So Harmless Villain: Yuri regards him as a joke until his actions almost result in the destruction of Zaphias.
Psycho for Hire: Eventually, he disregards the "for hire" bit completely.
Rasputinian Death: Zagi is not only repeatedly beaten up, but thrown off a boat several times, left on an exploding boat, had his mechanical arm short out, poisons himself, and finally dies from falling.
Recurring Boss: Five times, excluding the Memory Dungeon. Think of it this way, there are that many of the 23 (or 25 in the PS3 version) Secret Missions dedicated to him!
The leader of Leviathan's Claw, a guild that specializes in assassination and illegal Blastia distribution. In the English version, he speaks with a German accent, while in the Japanese version, he uses Gratuitous English.
Keep It Foreign: Yeager speaks English in the Japanese version. So to keep up with the foreign trait, he speaks with a German accent in the American version, ja?
Yeager: See you in the funny papers, leibchen!
Heel Face Revolving Door: He seems to be a villain for ages, then he directs you to Baction and saves your ass on the Heracles. Then in Zaude he's suddenly back to being a villain again.
Easily Forgiven: Spoofed in the coliseum if you fight them with Raven. Droite basically shrugs off Raven's hand in Yeager's death with "Okay!" Gauche is less than pleased.
Fiery Redhead: Personality-wise, not so much, but because she deals Fire element damage with her sword, Gauche would probably be a more literal example.
Punch Clock Villains: They serve as Yeager's personal bodyguards [[spoiler:because he helped fund the orphanage in which the twins lived, and their loyalties lie with him and only him. They serve him as gratitude for his kindness, and as such their duties to him are all that matter to them, regardless of his evil intentions.
The head of the Blood Alliance, a powerful mercenary guild behind the string of blastia core thefts that kicks off the story. He is collaborating with Ragou, but it's clear Barbos is using him for his own ends. At the end of the first act, he is soundly defeated by Yuri and company. He dies after throwing himself from off the top of Ghasfarost tower.
The Heavy: In the first act, as he works primarily for Ragou.
Impossibly Cool Weapon: He's seen wielding (though not in any battles) a chainsaw sword (powered by the missing aque blastia core) that allows him to fly.
Red Baron: Refers to himself as "Barbos the Stormblast" just before the boss fight with him.
The head of Fortune's Market, an extremely successful merchant's guild. A shrewd businesswoman, she is not above taking risks to expand her company, and is one of the few guild leaders willing to do business with the Empire. She employs Brave Vesperia on many occasions, and her company's aid is instrumental in the construction of Aurnion.
Adam Smith Hates Your Guts: On the Ghost Ship, which Kaufman herself lampshades: "What, you expect me to give you supplies for free? You're kidding! You're gonna have to pay up!"
Antiheroic Neutral: Clint doesn't really care about anything except fighting and killing monsters. Anything that doesn't involve one or both of those things is simply none of his business.
Improbable Age: Nan is held in high regard as a warrior in the guild... despite being twelve. Since there's no word on when her family was killed by monsters, it's likely Tison has been training her for years to be the warrior she is today.
Karma Houdini: You would think that they would have been punished for betraying the Union, openly attacking Nordipolica without first telling the Don about their suspicions over Belius, and directly causing Belius' death. You would be wrong. In fact, it is Harry Whitehorse, who wasn't even involved in the attack, who gets punished for what the Hunting Blades did. (or he would have, if the Don didn't commit suicide to save him)
Well-Intentioned Extremist: The Hunting Blades go in and out of this trope. They want to protect citizens from monsters; but they don't know that the Entelexeia, especially Ba'ul and Belius, are not monsters. Most of their members have a Freudian Excuse.
Except for Clint, who knew the whole time and attacked them because his parents were killed by an Entelexeia.
A mysterious man who knows a lot about the aer and the Entelexeia. He becomes an antagonist when he decides to sacrifice humanity to destroy the planet-devouring Adephagos.
All Your Powers Combined: His true final boss form gains a new Mystic Arte that combines all of your party's Mystic Artes into one super-powered attack, and will surely kill at least one party member and significantly heal Duke himself.
Anti-Hero-> Anti-Villain: Starts off as a mysterious, but fairly douchebaggish wanderer who, despite everything, still assists the party. The Adephagos pushes him over the edge, however. He then saves the day, like Shizel did in Tales Of Eternia, but unlike Shizel, became the first Tales Series villian to survive the final battle.
Boomerang Bigot: Played with. Duke makes it clear that he doesn't think all humans are terrible. Just the ones who ignore the Entelexeia and live off the luxury provided by the blastia.
Despair Event Horizon: Happened before the game's events, when his best friend Elucifer is betrayed and killed after helping the humans win the Great War.
Early-Bird Cameo: There is a series of optional scenes featuring him. The first couple of these are triggered before he is formally introduced to the player.
Freudian Excuse: He... doesn't have the best opinion of his species, since he single-handedly turned the Great War around for them, and then they stabbed his Crystal Dragon JesusLancer in the back.
Grave Marking Scene: Part of the optional sidequest involving him will have you finding him paying his respects at Elucifer's grave.
Heel Face Revolving Door: First he's an ominous villainous guy who seems threatening, then he gives you Dein Nomos to help you save Estelle. Then he saves Yuri after he falls off Zaude, takes his sword back, and decides that the only way to save the world is to kill mankind.
Heel Realization: After being defeated by the party, and reminded of Elucifer's wish to protect humanity.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain / "Funny Aneurysm" Moment: An in-universe example of the latter. The Empire has spent the better part of ten years looking for its royal treasure, Dein Nomos, because without it they can't crown a new Emperor (for some reason). As it turns out, Duke pinched it at the end of The Great War: thereby making him directly responsible for the political crisis that has gripped the world for a decade. However, if he hadn't, it's very unlikely that he would have been able to resolve the issue of the Aer Krenes going out of control.
No Cure for Evil: Subverted. Part of what makes his optional form That One Boss is that he is able to heal himself. Not only is it very hard to interrupt, but he'll usually heal himself for more damage than you just did.''
One-Man Army: One of the Entelexeia, massive Olympus Mons that can raze armies by themselves, says point-blank that the party has no chance fighting him. This is after you've fought and killed a few Entelexeia yourself.
An ancient, incredibly powerful Entelexeia resembling a phoenix. He is aware of how Estelle's power is causing the world to die, and believes that killing her is the only way to prevent it.
Back from the Dead: Suiting his phoenix appearance, immediately after being killed by Alexei's armada, he is reborn as Efreet.
Humans Are Bastards: Has very little faith in the human race. Considering how he has firsthand knowledge of how humans still haven't learned not to mess with aerflow after the last Adephagos disaster...
Playing with Fire: He is reborn after his death as the fire elemental spirit, Efreet.
The Unfought: He is the only major antagonist who the party never fights - although it certainly helps that the party doesn't want what he fears to happen as much as anybody, and that he wasn't really a true villain.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: He knows killing Estelle is wrong, but believes it's the only way to preserve the world.
Elucifer
A dear friend of Duke's from the Great War. He was a powerful Entelexeia who advocated living with humans. Though he and Duke fought together during the Great War, the Empire feared his power and murdered him in the aftermath. His grave lies on Ehmead Hill.
