Symonne

Symonne
Information
Appearance	Tales of Zestiria
Height	4'11" / 152 cm
Race	Seraph
Weapon	Baton
Japanese Voice Actor	Hiromi Igarashi
English Voice Actor	Christine Marie Cabanos[1]
Character Designer	Minoru Iwamoto

Symonne (サイモン, Saimon^?) is a major antagonist in Tales of Zestiria. Despite being a seraph, she works with the Lord of Calamity to end all life.

History[]

Initially a seraph who loved humans, Symonne bestowed blessings upon a village. In time, however, her blessing brought ruin upon the inhabitants, who fell into endless sleep after rejecting reality in favor of the beautiful and ideal dreams she showed them. As a result, Symonne came to the disturbing realization that she was an Angel of Death, a seraph whose blessings inflict suffering upon others, and fell into denial. Arriving in her time of need, Heldalf, drawn to Symonne’s power, introduced her to his ideals and she came under his employ, saved by the idea of a life where she doesn’t have to struggle against her own suffering.^[2]

Over the years, Symonne utilized her power over illusions to deceive, wishing to bring about her master’s world.

Five years before the start of the game, Symonne was present during the fall of the mercenary band called the Windriders. Symonne wished to witness the outcome of the seraph Dezel's own cursed blessing,^[3] which tragically resulted in the team being betrayed and his friend turning into a hellion. In mockery, Symonne revealed the disturbing truth that he, too, was an Angel of Death.

Symonne, meanwhile, continued to manipulate events from afar to achieve Heldalf’s goals. During the game, she works alongside Lunarre and occasionally observes Sorey’s team. With Lunarre’s aid, Symonne is able to draw the Shepherd and his allies to Pendrago. There she reunites with Dezel, who’s come to believe that she was responsible for the tragedy that befell Lafarga and the Windriders due to his repressed memories. Symonne takes the opening to reveal to Rose how Dezel had been manipulating her body in secret but, when Dezel attacks Symonne, she uses her illusions to fake transforming into the Fuseface hellion. During this time, Dezel forcibly uses the armatus with Rose and manipulates her body in an effort to kill the hellion that he believes to be Symonne, only for his memories to return upon seeing that the monster is actually Lafarga. As a result of Dezel’s recklessness, he and Rose are both mortally wounded, and she becomes bonded with Fuseface. The heroes are unable to sever the bond without risking Rose’s life and leaving her bonded with Fuseface would not only chance her becoming a hellion, but her injury would kill her before it could happen. Symonne’s scheme is foiled when Dezel volunteers to become an energy bullet for Siegfried, which allows him to safely disconnect Rose from the hellion at the cost of his own life. Symonne leaves them with honeyed words.

She makes her last stand in the Mt. Mabinogio Ruins, where she attempts to stop the group with illusions of themselves in order to sway their hearts and draw them into becoming hellions. The heroes power on through, especially as the malevolence cloaking the area is weakening her. She eventually attempts to defeat them head-on, desperate enough to break her oath not to kill, but is defeated. Rather than kill her, however, they continue forward. Symonne rages at their backs, espousing her nihilistic views, and questioning if one such as herself, an Angel of Death who brings only misfortune, should exist within the world. Sorey treats her kindly, saying that even one who believes they only bring misfortune can exist so long as everyone tries to find a path of coexistence. Feeling self-affirmation, Symonne begins to wail as the group continues onward.

Symonne appears once more during Alisha Diphda's story after Heldalf's ultimate defeat. She conjures an illusion of Maltran to attempt to break Alisha, but she uses it as an opportunity to achieve catharsis. Afterward, Alisha thanks Symonne for giving her that opportunity, which surprises her. She then exits without further conflict, meeting up with Lunarre, who had orchestrated these events. She tells him that the promise has been kept but that they would probably never meet again. Symonne then leaves.

Appearance and Personality[]

Symonne's appearance is that of a young girl. She has ashen-pale skin, purple eyes, and a thin build. Her black hair gradients to purple at the tips and is pulled into two pigtails at the back of her head, held in place by vivid orange flowers. Her bangs spike down over her forehead, and the side most strands hang down neatly to frame her face. On either side, she has small braids pinned to the sides of her head, reaching from behind her bangs towards the back of her hair. She also has a small mole beneath her left eye.

Symonne's shirt resembles a long, dark purple tank top that hangs below her waist, and ties at the shoulders, with the left strap hiding a tattoo of Heldalf beneath the left side of her navel. Along the bottom is a light purple pattern, which resembles a recurring decoration used across various seraphim. Her collar is V-neck and plunges to below her chest. Her back is similarly exposed, and the sides of her garment hang open with the front and back held together by a thin purple cord on either side. She wears short, black shorts and a thick brown belt with vertical silver lines every few spaces. Off the back of her belt hangs a tail-like red cord studded with silver beads, ending in a solid red diamond. Her ankle-high shoes are white with low heels, and beneath them she wears dark purple leggings with a narrow red stripe up the sides. Her leggings extend upwards to a few inches below her pant legs. Loose black belts wrap around her ankles, as well as her wrists, and a larger one sits around her neck.

Symonne speaks in a manner which suggests she has knowledge of the world and has a tendency to use theatrical metaphors. Symonne has complete loyalty to the Lord of Calamity and holds him in high respect; her pure willingness to sacrifice for him is what prevents her from incurring malevolence. She has a nihilistic outlook on life and has devoted her entire being to the destruction of every living creature in order to end all sorrow. Symonne takes cruel pleasure in harming others emotionally, often taking the time to divulge painful truths to them, and has the cunning expected of an illusionist, as she was able to manipulate Dezel's misplaced rage to her benefit. She becomes more aggressive when things don't go as she planned, such as Lunarre acting out of line, or when Sorey and his companions comment on her illusions' failure to dissuade them.

Fighting Style[]

Symonne primarily specializes in illusions, using them to attack the hearts of her targets or kill others by proxy, a skill she has enhanced by taking an oath not to kill. During battle, she displays the ability to create copies of herself that can act independently. She can attack with her baton for several quick strike artes, and is capable of seraphic artes of all elements.

Other Appearances[]

Tales of the Rays: Fairy's Requiem[]

Seaside Mirage[]

In Tales of the Rays, Symonne is exoflected into Tir Na Nog after the events of Alisha's Story: The Strength of a Knight, as opposed to the majority of the other Tales of Zestiria characters who are from before they encounter her in Pendrago. Using her illusions, Symonne initially conceals her presence from Dezel as she accompanies Ix Nieves' party.

References[]