http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/DeconstructedCharacterArchetype/TalesSeries
Deconstructed Character Archetype in this series is pretty commonplace, since
the games are known for taking apart tropes common to RPGs and anime.
- Farah deconstructs Chronic Hero Syndrome by examining in detail her motivations for constantly jumping in without thinking to help people, and Rassius only needs to spend a few hours with her to notice that she has deep emotional scars. As a child, Farah was a bit of a Spoiled Brat with a bad habit of bossing her friends Reid and Keele around. It came to a head one day when Farah stole the key to Regulus Knoll, which everyone but Farah's father, the village elder at the time, was forbidden from entering, just because she wanted the pretty crystals she found within. The crystals were the remains of the seal on Nereid. When Farah's father came to retrieve the children, Nereid possessed him, causing the Tragedy of Rasheans where Farah's father killed many villagers before Reid's father was able to put him down in a Mutual Kill. Ever since, Farah has been fixated on helping as many people as she can to escape her overwhelming guilt.
- Meredy deconstructs the Manchild by examining why she behaves like a small child despite being sixteen and a Teen Genius. Meredy is an Inferian/Celestian hybrid, and when she was six years old, she and her Inferian father, Balir, were targeted by a racist mob that included Meredy's maternal uncle, Hyades. Meredy had to witness her mother, Shizel, fight off enemy soldiers that were attempting to kill her and Meredy before they watched Balir get murdered right in front of them. In her grief and rage Shizel was opened to possession by Nereid, causing a magical explosion that destroyed the city and killed hundreds of people. Meredy and Hyades only survived because as Shizel's closest relatives they carried the same power that allowed Nereid to take over. Meredy also didn't find out about the possession until the events of the game, so she thought her once-loving mother became a mass-murderer of her own free will. Meredy's extreme Emotional Regression is a severe trauma response and was the only alternative to going catatonic from grief and despair.
- Similarly to Farah, Kyle deconstructs Chronic Hero Syndrome. Kyle suffered such severe trauma from witnessing his father's brutal murder that he had Trauma-Induced Amnesia and forgot his father died. His mother, Rutee, didn't help by forging letters from Stahn describing the wild and carefree adventures he "went" on, making Kyle grow up thinking being a hero was the most amazing thing ever, as well as something that would let him see his father again. Over the course of the story Kyle learns that Being Good Sucks for several reasons and heroism isn't all it's cracked up to be. However, this trope is also reconstructed as Kyle decides no matter how hard, grueling, and unsung being a hero is, it's still Worth It.
- Reala deconstructs the Messianic Archetype. Initially she is standoffish and rude, ignoring Kyle's spiels on how he really is a hero and singlemindedly traveling the world in an effort to find the hero she needs. Reala starts as a Shrinking Violet due to lack of prior human interaction due to having really been born as the story began. Reala grows increasingly more depressed as her Dark Messiah sister Elraine overtakes her efforts and wants to give up when she believes Elraine has granted humanity true happiness by depriving them of their free will. However, the party's insistence on Elraine's world being a horrible place causes her to question her creator and as she speaks to more and more people and gains more and more experiences, she comes to the conclusion that her creator is not a benevolent god and must be destroyed in order to truly do what's best for humanity. Her insistence on choosing mankind over her creator Fortuna means she becomes willing to cease to exist to save the world.
- Judas deconstructs The Atoner. Having been brought Back from the Dead by Elraine, Judas refused to serve her and escaped. The party first finds him hiding in what remains of his father's old home, wearing an unsettling bone mask to hide his identity. Loni immediately identifies him as suspicious when he meets him and tries to warn Kyle against befriending him. He himself doesn't want to join the party at first, wanting to follow along in the shadows, and only joins up after Kyle chases after him and insists he come with them even after he tries to warn Kyle his presence will make things more difficult for him. He has to continuously make excuses to avoid coming face to face with the people he betrayed and is silent with guilt when Loni talks about how he blames Leon Magnus for his parents' death during the Aethersphere's return. Despite bonding with the party, he is shocked when they save him from Elraine's Psychological Torment Zone, fully expecting to be not forgiven and forever trapped in the moments before his death. When Philia expresses Survivor's Guilt regarding how Leon died, he breaks character and tells her Leon didn't regret how he died and she shouldn't blame herself for his failings. His monologue during Majin Rengokusatsu, while a Badass Creed, fails with Judas feeling bound to his fate and being unable to atone for his past sins even though he's now fully one of the heroes. Only by equipping a hidden option in New Game Plus can Judas finally "cut off the past" and freely show his identity again by breaking his mask.
- Yggdrasill deconstructs The Determinator simply by asking what would happen if the determinator were wrong. Yggdrasill is the Big Bad precisely because he refuses to budge from his goal and his worldview no matter what evidence he is confronted with that his endgame is a horrible idea. Even being read the riot act by the sister he worked so hard to resurrect isn't enough to get through to him; instead he essentially says I Reject Your Reality and refuses to budge on his views or plans, even invoking Insane Troll Logic to justify why he can't be wrong. By the finale, he's still so determined to continue his plans and views, that he loses all the support he once had. Since every attempt to get through to Yggdrasill has failed, the heroes decide that he has to be killed to stop his insanity and for the sake of the world. This is pointedly contrasted by Lloyd, who is The Hero because he is willing to adjust and refine his goals and worldview as he gains more information, while still being strong willed about his core beliefs.
- Colette is a deconstruction of the Purity Sue. She's the daughter of an angel, loved by everyone, and is kind and selfless to a fault. However, as the Journey of Salvation continues, the game shows just what being raised to be some kind of puritanical savior does to her psyche. She's actually not the daughter of an angel at all; everyone just assumed she was, and the angel guiding Colette decided to latch onto that to better control her. As time passes, she decides she wants to live instead of sacrificing herself for the sake of the world, causing all of Sylvarant to turn on her. And Colette's attempts at hiding the horrible things her Cruxis Crystal is doing to her body for fear of making everyone worry just makes things worse for herself, and makes the party (especially Lloyd) suffer even more when they do find out.invoked
- Zelos deconstructs The Chosen One, just like Colette, but from a different direction. In his case, he's a deconstruction of The Hedonist. Zelos has the same pressures that Colette does, and is just as broken as she is. But while they both have a martyr complex, Colette is self-sacrificing to a fault, while Zelos is inherently flippant and flighty because he feels like nothing else he does outside of being the Chosen One will ever matter. He was born into a loveless marriage, and spent much of his youth wondering why his mother never seemed happy. While he was still a child, he witnessed his mother get murdered before his eyes by his father's mistress before she, with her dying breaths, proceeded to tell him that she wished he had never been born. Then, he was forced to watch helplessly as his then-5-year-old half-sister (one of the only people he truly cares about) Seles was locked up in an Abbey with no hope of being released, as punishment for the crime her mother committed. And that was just the start of a spiral of events that lead to Zelos having a serious amount of self-loathing underneath his smiling exterior. There's quite a bit Beneath the Mask. He outwardly shows a perverted flirty side, but he's actually extremely intelligent, especially with regards to people and their personalities. He also has a remarkable insight into Tethe'alla's social structure and the accompanying problems, and knows far more about the nature of the Church of Martel than he lets on. He just rarely lets the mask drop because of the aforesaid self-loathing and feeling like there's ultimately no point in letting people in. And indeed, based on Relationship Values, he can pull a genuine Face–Heel Turn if you play your cards wrong.
- Luke deconstructs the Idiot Hero, Amnesiac Hero, and Kid Hero. He's a seemingly entitled and idiotic noble who is incredibly rude to people, but it's because he was kidnapped as a child and had his memories wiped. And not in a Laser-Guided Amnesia way, either — he lost all his memories, including how to walk, talk, write, and what his own parents looked like. As such, Luke been living the past roughly seven years trying to become a functional member of society, making him mentally only seven years old. As a result, once he gets taken out of his manor unexpectedly, he is ignorant to many of the realities of the world such as commerce and combat, and has no idea of the world's current political situation, causing the party to dislike him as he comes across as an annoying liability. It's later revealed that he is actually a replica of the real Luke, meaning he is really only seven years old, and he's only an "idiot" because he's mentally a child, and doesn't have the mental growth to properly handle things at first. He is also made an ambassador briefly, and the fact he is given such a position of power causes it to go to his head and drive a further wedge between him and the party, and his inability to understand why makes things worse as the story goes on before reaching its zenith when Luke accidentally helps the Big Bad kill many innocent people via a Fantastic Nuke, causing them to abandon him for a time. Luke matures and grows after, but remains haunted by what happened.
- Jade is this for The Ace and Mad Scientist. Jade is well known and respected by the world at large for his magical and scientific research and intelligence, to the point where the main villains consider sealing most of his powers away a better use for it than their original target. Although Jade is smart and the world's leading expert on most scientific research in Fonic Artes, he later reveals he hates himself because while he is skilled and talented, he doesn't feel he deserves all the praise he gets since he admits to being a sociopath who has trouble emotionally connecting to other people. He also points out that his Mad Scientist elements are not cooky or endearing; when he was younger he genuinely cared little for other people, and only softened when he made a mistake that killed his beloved mentor. He later admits he envies Luke, because despite everything, Luke was able to change as a person, with Jade admitting if he had the power to, he'd kill his past self to avoid all the damage he's brought to the world. (The Big Bad's plan relies on the Fomicry technology Jade invented)
- Marta deconstructs Clingy Jealous Girl and Manic Pixie Dream Girl. She meets Emil early in the game and helps inspire him to adventure, which from that point on has her swoon over him, getting jealous of other girls when they interact with Emil, and being fairly clingy, which makes Emil uncomfortable. However, it becomes clear that Marta wants Emil to become a Knight in Shining Armor, and so she pushes him to be more "badass" so that he can become the ideal love interest for her, seemingly not thinking that Emil would take issue with this. Later in the game, Emil finally has enough and makes it clear that he finds her advances annoying, but also makes Marta realize she's trying to make him become what she wants over who he truly is, making it clear he doesn't feel a romantic connection due to those reasons. This makes Marta question her approach and how selfish she has been, causing her to seek to improve how she has been behaving. She ends up winning Emil's affection through this in the end, but she only does so after apologizing for how selfish she was.
- Cheria is this for the Patient Childhood Love Interest. She's had feelings for Asbel since they were kids, but Asbel never noticed it. Once the incident in their childhood happened, Asbel left suddenly while leaving Cheria behind, so she decided to remain home for the chance he would come back. When they finally meet again, it's only because Asbel's father passed away, and when they do, Asbel doesn't even really seem to notice that Cheria has still been waiting for him, and still has feelings for him. Between being essentially ignored for years by him, and him barely even noticing how deeply she likes him, Cheria eventually calls him out on basically not even bothering to keep in contact, yet act like things are the same as when they were kids. Asbel apologies in the end and explains why he felt the need to do what he did, which makes things easier for Cheria to move on with.
- Lambda deconstructs the Omnicidal Maniac by both showing how one arrives at that point, and how futile it is. Lambda was originally made to be a living weapon, but one of the scientists saw him as a son instead and tried to raise him like he was human. However, because his creator was killed by the other scientists and Lambda witnessed it, he grew to resent people and then eventually life itself, which combined with his creation as a weapon, meant that he essentially decided to become said weapon and destroy all life for how much suffering he had endured. At the end of the game, when Asbel tries to convince Lambda he's wrong, Lambda rants about his desire to end all life. This prompts Asbel to simply ask what Lambda plans to do once humanity is dead, since everything in the entire world will eventually die without human intervention, including Lambda himself. Lambda suffers a Villainous Breakdown when it becomes clear that he legitimately didn't think that far ahead, letting Asbel convince Lambda to at least observe humanity and then decide what to do from there.
- Milla deconstructs the Determinator, in that there are times when her dedication to finishing her mission can actually be a hindrance. An example of this is when she attempts to get to Fennmont despite not even being able to walk. Ultimately, Jude decides to help heal her legs, as he knows that if he didn't, she'd just "waddle off somewhere and get into trouble". After she's able to walk again due to the asphyxia, she starts pushing herself very hard, to the point that Alvin is convinced she doesn't know the meaning of 'taking it easy'. It should be noted that, while she never quite loses this trait, by the final act she seems to have finally learned to slow down once in a while- before the group enters The Very Definitely Final Dungeon, it is her who suggests that the group go back to Rieze Maxia and finish whatever business they may have there beforehand. It helps that Gaius gave them all the time they needed to prepare.
- Jude deconstructs Chronic Hero Syndrome and Constantly Curious, in that it's these very traits that result in him being labelled a wanted criminal in Rashugal, specifically because he snuck into a private facility due to being curious about Milla and helped her escape after she tried to destroy a top-secret weapon. Alvin, for his part, is very critical of this attitude of his, claiming he has a "nasty habit of poking [his] nose where it doesn't belong", and that he needs to learn to think before he acts. Milla's route takes this even further, with Jude's mother saying that Jude's always been "too quick to help others" even when he was a child, to the point that he was even bullied for it. That said, this later turns into a Decon-Recon Switch, since Jude helping Milla proves to be the right decision in the long run.
- Alvin deconstructs the Token Evil Teammate. He's a shady, manipulative, money-hungry mercenary who will switch sides at the drop of a hat... and the other party members treat him as exactly that, to the point that they make it clear they do not trust him and the only reason he's in the party at all is because they need to keep an eye on him. The writers have also confirmed that him being an Obvious Judas was the Intended Audience Reaction, with the real mystery being his motives and what would cause somebody to act the way Alvin does. What's more is that Alvin knows full well the others don't like him and by the time it finally dawns upon him that he needs to change, he acknowledges that it might be too late for him.
- Rowen deconstructs the Humble Hero. Despite being an accomplished military tactician, even picking up a title as a result, Rowen has made the incredibly humble decision to serve as a butler to the Sharil family, and so Jude and the others were shocked once they learned who he really is. Unfortunately, this decision, while sympathetic, is nevertheless portrayed as the wrong thing to do, as the years he spent separated from King Nachtigal partially contributed to the latter's fall from grace. Wingul even tells Rowen point-blank that it's his fault Nachtigal became a tyrant (and gives Jude a Shut Up, Kirk! when the latter tries to argue that Nachtigal made his own decisions). It's telling that, at the end of the game, Rowen has become Gaius' Prime Minister, most likely as a way to prevent history from repeating itself.
- Muzét deconstructs the Satellite Character. Created for the sole purpose of protecting the Schism, Muzét defines herself by her loyalty to the real Maxwell and her job of protecting it, to the point of deliberately finding the most likely person to help her do so, and practically revolving herself around being as helpful to them as she can they can do as she desires. When Maxwell decides to remove the Schism after practically abandoning her however, Muzét freaks out when her genuine loyalty is repaid with silence, and joins forces with Gaius to avoid losing what little sense of worth she has in her job as protecting the Schism. It takes her and Gaius being defeated, and Gaius changing his mind, for her to be able to be convinced that she can be more than simply what Maxwell created her for, and what others want her to be.
- Ivar also deconstructs the Satellite Character, as well as the Sycophantic Servant. Having served her his whole life, Ivar has absolutely no personality outside his fanatical devotion to Milla. Unfortunately for everyone else, said devotion really is fanatical, as it causes him to make increasingly questionable and stupid decisions over the course of the game, thereby proving Milla's point that he's better off protecting Nia Khera instead of travelling with her. When Milla (temporarily) dies, Ivar snaps since it means he now has nothing to live for, and challenges the party to a completely pointless fight, even saying he cares about nothing except proving once and for all that he's superior to Jude. Fortunately, the party manage to talk him down and he goes out to find his own path, and by the time they meet him again in the sequel, he's shown to be much more at peace with himself, having found a new purpose as an agent of Spirius.
- Alisha is a deconstruction of the Politically-Active Princess. She actively tries her hardest to help her country, but she isn't able to do much as a princess and feels like she isn't able to provide more aide to her people. Initially it seems as though this is because Bartlow and his cohorts control her home country and leave Alisha powerless. However, later it becomes clear Alisha valued being a knight over her duties as a princess, and as a direct result of that she actively neglected her own position as princess in order to live out the stories of knights and heroes that she loved. During the confrontation with Maltran, she reveals that she deliberately raised Alisha that way to make it easy to manipulate her before forcing Alisha to kill her, all while telling her This Is Reality; this forcefully shatters Alisha's idolization of knighthood and makes her set aside her knighthood and her belief in honor and chivalry to focus on being as the Princess of Hyland. It is only by doing this that she becomes effective politically.
- Velvet is this for The Unfettered. She'll do whatever it takes to get revenge on Artorius for killing her brother and imprisoning her for several years, ranging from taking hostages, to damaging towns, and even killing people who are connected to him but aren't aware of his plans. For most of the game, she stays focused on her goal above all else; when questioned about what Velvet intends to do after Artorius is dead, Velvet's answers can always be boiled down to "I don't care what happens after I kill him". The game also shows that Velvet hates that she has become someone who would casually hurt people to get what she wants, but feels she has to because her revenge is motivated by avenging her little brother. Eventually, Velvet learns that her brother Laphi willingly died for her sake, that Artorius never intended for Velvet to be involved, and that Laphi is now the vessel for the Big Bad. This shatters Velvet's resolve, as she realizes she was justifying her actions on a lie and she believes she has become a monster who is no longer worth saving. The party snap her out of this and she resolves to stop Artorius to protect the world, but Velvet believes she has crossed the line, as no matter how hard she may try, her actions were inexcusable. She willingly submits herself to a Lotus-Eater Machine in the finale to stop the Big Bad, believing it the only way she can even attempt to undo the harm she's caused.
- Laphicet is this for the Replacement Goldfish. His uncanny resemblance to Velvet's dead brother (the real Laphicet), causes her to Freudian Slip and call him Laphicet, leading to her giving him the name since he lacked one as a Malak used by the Abbey. For most of the game he goes by it and Velvet develops an older sister relationship with him, with Laphicet being mostly ignorant of her past. When he learns that she named him after her brother, he eventually calls out Velvet for seemingly using him as a replacement for her brother, on top of her being overly controlling of him. Velvet realizes she was being selfish, and gives him a nickname instead to give him his own identity.
- Magilou deconstructs the Aloof Ally. She's a Cuckoosnarker who's constantly cracking jokes at the party's expense, she's the Butt-Monkey for all kinds of physical comedy, and she gets all kinds of snark right back at her from the rest of the party members (especially Velvet). At the same time, it's also shown that Magilou harbors some deep self-loathing, as befits the kind of person who tries to keep people at arm's length. However, Magilou also is able to ask an Armor-Piercing Question or two of Velvet and the way she treats those around her, while simultaneously being impressed by Velvet's resolve to keep going. Magilou insists that she's sticking with the party because she "has to know how it all ends", but also because she is genuinely growing attached to them, despite actively trying not to open up to them. Her status as one also makes her the prime suspect for being a mole within the group, something she turns out not be, but does little to discourage.
- Eleanor deconstructs the Token Good Teammate. Yes, Eleanor is a genuinely kind and heroic person working for a shady organization. However, the game pulls no punches in showing that, even if she is undeniably more virtuous than her superiors, she is nevertheless complicit in their crimes and has sinned as a result. It doesn't help that, pre-Character Development, she's essentially everything she claims to hate without even realising it. There's some Reconstruction, when she joins Velvet's group and becomes their Token Good Teammate, but she nevertheless acknowledges that she has to make up for turning a blind eye to the truth for so long.
- Artorius is this for the All-Loving Hero and The Atoner. Artorius wants to save the world from the Daemonblight, but he believes that humans are too flawed to be allowed to be as they are, and so desires to force Emotion Suppression on the world to stop it. Later on it's revealed that this all stems from the fact that he feels guilt for being unable to save his mentor, and later his wife (Velvet's older sister) and unborn child, causing him to develop his extreme goals out of guilt. In the finale, it becomes clear that his love for his family was such that even if his wife had lived and Velvet and Laphicet died instead, he would have become the same man he ended up, because he wanted to protect everyone, and failing to do so was something he couldn't live with. His love for his family, and the guilt for failing them, made him unable to accept the world, leading to his villainous actions out of guilt.
- Shionne deconstructs the Tsundere. Shionne will help out anybody who needs healing, yet always has to make some kind of excuse for it, usually that it's beneficial to her mission. This is portrayed as a bad thing; not only does it exacerbate Rinwell's already sour opinion of her, but Alphen can clearly see that Shionne's actions don't match her words. This reaches its peak when, after hearing Alphen call her his friend in front of Dedyme, Shionne still has the gall to claim that they're only working together because of overlapping interests. This prompts Alphen to point out multiple things she's done for him that she never would have done if she didn't genuinely care for him. Further complicating matters is that with her Curse of Thorns, Shionne has her reasons for keeping people at arm's length, even when it's made increasingly clear over the course of the game that she'd really prefer not to. In short, Shionne is someone who believes she has to be a Tsundere but doesn't have the stomach for it, and she makes things much harder for everyone with her inability to be honest with herself.
- Dohalim deconstructs the Token Heroic Orc, Benevolent Boss, and Token Good Teammate. Dohalim really is a great man (only slightly less great than the image he presents) who is doing everything he can to make the lives of his subjects better. But he is just one part of a culture that has been built on slavery and exploitation for centuries. Many of his nobles are exploiting Dahnans behind his back. The game also points out how Dohalim's general motivations for running his city are born of guilt for personally killing a friend he was forced to fight to become a lord, rather than any moral compulsions towards Dahnans specifically. Essentially, Dohalim is a good person constrained by the values of his system, and can only act as a decent man in spite of it rather than because of it. Furthermore, his status as the "only good" Renan Lord is undermined by the fact that he will eventually be replaced, and there is no certainty his replacement will be a noble person, thus putting the region back to square one. In the end, he goes against the Crown Contest when he realizes all of this, and resolves to make things better for more than just his realm.
- Kanata deconstructs Chronic Hero Syndrome. Kanata always strives to be a Nice Guy and help out ordinary people, even after becoming a transgressor. This shows up by Kanata stopping his progress to help out anyone he sees that's being attacked by monsters, often getting involved in someone else's business in the process. However, this attitude gets deconstructed, as not only does he get on Velvet's bad side almost immediately, but both Vicious and Aegis point out that Kanata's very selfless attitude is quite unhelpful when the world wants their heads on a platter. Misella is also fiercely defensive of her view of Kanata as a Knight in Shining Armor, and will threaten anyone who she thinks is trying to distort that view of him. Also, When Esvanilla uses the truesight stone on Kanata's inner thoughts, it's revealed that Kanata secretly wants to die because he can't stand being hated by everyone, and finds living too awful and painful to bear. He says no matter what he does, he can't make his crimes go away and be forgiven, fueling his desire to vanish.
- Vicious deconstructs the Villain Protagonist. Vicious is not a pleasant person. He's a complete jerk even to people he's ostensibly helping, he's known as "the Great Transgressor", and he has a list of sins a mile long. He constantly suggests the most violent options first, and is willing to commit any number of crimes (up to and including murder) if he thinks it will make his life easier. In spite of this, Vicious can be surprisingly insightful when he wants to be, especially about the hypocrisy of the citizens who are so quick to label people as transgressors. Also, because people have no interest in hearing a transgressor's side of the story, however justified they may be, Vicious has decided that he may as well throw any pretense of morality to the winds and just give the people the monster that they want. His sin was being born, which just amplifies these feelings. It's only when Kanata keeps trying to help Vicious and be nice to him in spite of all the times that Vicious pushes him away that Vicious warms up to him at all, and even then, Vicious still thinks most people aren't worth his time.
