Emil Castagnier.

PLAYER
NAME: Jan
PERSONAL LJ: angelis_ignis
EMAIL/MESSENGER(S): AIM = i have c0okies MSN = adeathwish-@hotmail.com
TIMEZONE: GMT +8

CHARACTER
NAME(S): Emil Castagnier
FANDOM: Tales of Symphonia 2
BACKGROUND HISTORY:
Emil's hometown is Palmacosta, but after the Blood Purge, which was thought to be led by Lloyd Irving, he lost both his parents and had to go to Luin to live with his aunt and uncle. Emil was mistreated badly during his stay with his aunt and uncle, and when he was 18, his life took a major turn when he met a half elf, Richter as well as a mysterious girl, Marta.

Marta, who believes that Emil saved her during the Blood Purge, chose Emil to become a Knight of Ratatosk. However, at that time, Marta was being pursued by Richter, who turned out to be the bad person in the entire equation. Emil made a pact with Centurion Tenebrae to become a Knight of Ratatosk, which allows him to accept the summon spirit, Ratatosk's power. Thus, Emil, using his newfound power, pursued Richter, only to find him lying on the floor, wounded. Richter told Emil that Lloyd was inside the other room, and Marta was there as well. After telling Richter's Centurion, Aqua, about Richter, Emil ran into the next room, only to find Lloyd Irving and Marta engaged in battle. Emil and Marta teamed up to battle Lloyd, but got defeated. For some reason, Lloyd did not kill them, but he took away Centurion Lumen's core. Emil and Marta tried to pursue him, but he got away with the core. At this point of time, the both of them returned to Luin, only to find it overrun by the Vanguard, an army who called themselves the Sylvarant Liberation Front. Emil found out that they were pursuing Marta, who had Ratatosk's core on her forehead. However, the Martel Knights arrived, defeated the Vanguard, then demanded to have Ratatosk's core, or they would have another Blood Purge in Luin. Marta almost surrended herself, but Emil, or rather, his split personality, managed to subdue the Martel Knights.

Emil learnt from Marta and Tenebrae that Centurions were employed by Ratatosk to keep the world's mana in balance. Centurions do this by making a pact with the monsters of it's respective element. Ratatosk, the lord of all monsters, and the guardian to the gate between Niflheim and the world, was then in a deep slumber. Most of the Centurions had turned to their core state too. This caused the monsters to break their pact with the Centurions and run wild around the world. Centurions, while in their core state, possess remarkable powers that even the Centurions themselves are unable to control. This caused the upset of nature, leading to scorching hot deserts blanketed in snow, rivers drying up, and glaciers melting into the sea. To sum it all up, if the Centurions were not woken up, the world would be destroyed.

During the course of his and Marta's journey to retrieve the Centurion's cores and wake the Centurions up, Emil found out that the one who led the Blood Purge was an imposter, and together, he teamed up with with Lloyd and the rest of the gang(Colette, Sheena, Zelos, etc.) to defeat the Vanguard, who had been causing rebellions all over the world. However, Richter, who was found to be the mastermind behind the Vanguard, had made a pact with the demons of Nilfheim.

At that time however, Emil found out that Ratatosk was planning to eliminate all the humans once he regained his power. Using the Summon Spirit of Heart's power, Emil decided to seal Ratatosk's personality within his heart. From this point onwards, Emil was unable to use Ain Soph Aur.

Together with his newfound friends, Emil travelled to the Ginnungagap, where the gate to Niflheim was. As he journeyed deeper into the cave in which the door to Niflheim was located, he arrived at a place known as the Monster Graveyard. At this point of time, Lloyd, Colette, Zelos, and the other members of the team that regenerated the world in the first game, suddenly vanished. Emil, Marta, and Tenebrae decided to save them, as all of them had always helped the both of them (three if you count Tenebrae). As they proceeded on however, they met Alice and Decus. Alice explained that she joined the Vanguard just to gain power, and revealed that if Richter was to make a pact with the demons to become stronger, she would do that too. Alice, having been born as a half-elf, lost both her parents at a very young age. These events which happened in her life thus pushed her to become power-hungry. Decus, who met Alice at the orphanage, said that he would sell his soul to the demon if Alice were to ask him to. With that, Emil and Marta engaged in battle with Alice and Decus in order to stop them.

After the immensely tough fight in which Emil and Marta emerged victorious, Decus took a sword for Alice and died. Alice tried attacking Emil, but got killed by Marta instead. Emil and Marta, after having a short conversation, then proceeded to continue finding Lloyd and the others.

What Emil and Marta found was rather shocking. They saw Colette, Raine, Regal, Genis, Presea, Zelos and Sheena all turned into stone, and only Lloyd was approaching them. Lloyd told them that this happened because of the party members had the Derris Emblem. Apparently, Ratatosk had once given a Derris Emblem to a half elf and his friends, but got betrayed by them. To prevent to half elf from coming back, Ratatosk set a trap in which holders of the Derris Emblem would turn into stone. However, Lloyd was spared from the trap because he had Martel's protection. Emil managed to turn the rest back, and they set out together once more.

Once they had reached the gate to the sealed room in which the door to Niflheim was, however, they were stopped by Aqua. Aqua, wanting to help Richter stall time, called up a 3 headed dragon to fight Emil, Marta and the rest. Emil defeated it, however, and they got Aqua's core.

After they entered the gate, Richter himself appeared, then stopped them. He stated that he would not allow them to ruin his plan, then engaged them in battle. Richter, having made a pact with demons, was unusually strong, especially with his Mystic Arte. However, Emil and co. managed to defeat him. Emil started to act like Ratatosk. He forcibly engaged Marta and Lloyd in battle, hoping that they would kill him, and that Emil, as Ratatosk, would turn into a core, and they would use the core to seal the door to Niflheim. After the battle, Emil was defeated by both Marta and Lloyd, and was about to get finished off by Marta. However, Marta saw through Emil - she found out that he was just acting to be Ratatosk. Marta gave Emil Aqua's core, and urged him to believe in himself. Having heard his friends' encouragements, Emil decided to face Ratatosk.

In that battle, Ratatosk told Emil that they would finally found out whether there would be enough room in the body for both of them. The battle itself was almost like fighting the same person as yourself. Emil managed to win, and Ratatosk acknowledged Emil as part of himself. Emil too, realised that he needed Ratatosk's strength.

The both of them finally decided to trust each other. Ratatosk's personality came out, and told of how he would take back his words to destroy mankind. Richter, after having been defeated, agreed to become the guardian of the door while Ratatosk would rewrite the law of the world, and take mana out from every living being. This way, he would use the mana to create the seal for the door, and living beings would no longer need mana to survive. Both Ratatosk and Emil would live forever, and stay as the spirit of the door.

After the team bade their goodbyes to Ratatosk (or Emil, in Marta's case), Ratatosk told Richter that he would release him after 1000 years. By then, the new law of the world would be written. Richter then asked Ratatosk to let Emil live out his normal human lifespan, and the Centurions joined in the plea. Ratatosk agreed to this. However, it seems that Emil and Ratatosk would always be in the same body, and while Emil is allowed to live out his normal lifespan, Ratatosk would always be in him, albeit in something alike to a slumber.

In the end, Emil and Marta were seen reuniting in Palmacosta.

TIMELINE SUMMARY:
After Emil defeated Richter and his split personality. Ratatosk sealed the door seperating Niflheim and the world, and allowed Emil to live out his normal human lifespan. A week after Emil and Marta got reunited in Palmacosta.

PERSONALITY:
After becoming a Knight of Ratatosk, Emil would find that he would change personality in battle. "A totally different person", as he said. His eyes would turn red, and his voice would become much deeper, and more mature.

Later in the game, however, Emil found out that this split persona would not just come out in battles. He would also come out at times when, for instance, Marta gets hurt, or when Emil pleads him to. Raine (or was it Genis?) coined the term, "Ratatosk Mode", to call Emil while he is in his split persona.

Emil's split persona is actually Ratatosk. As a Knight of Ratatosk, Emil was bound to protect Marta. Thus, both Ratatosk and Emil had made a promise to protect Marta. This is why Ratatosk comes out usually because of one reason - Marta gets threatened or hurt.

Ratatosk has a generally hot-headed personality. He would not hesitate to kill someone who threatens him or Marta. He almost killed a guard at the Temple of Lightning, because the guard hurt Marta. To sum it up, Ratatosk is a fierce, hot-headed, cruel, person. However, he would always take up the responsibilities willingly and see them through. He also, surprisingly, listens to Marta.

For instance, there was a part in the game in which Emil called Ratatosk out to help him, and Ratatosk got pissed off. Ratatosk then refused to let Emil's personality come out again, stating that Emil always made him "do all the dirty work". During this time, Ratatosk casted a spell that he himself did not know he possessed - Negative Gate - and sucked both Decus, as well as a half elf, in. The party was then looking for the half elf. Ratatosk, however, nonchalantly stated that it didn't matter to him what happened to the half elf. This caused Marta to get angry and start a cold war between herself and Ratatosk. Despite his pleas, Marta never stopped getting angry at him, and kept demanding Ratatosk to let Emil's personality out. Ratatosk then agreed, and Emil came back.

Emil, at the start of the game, is very wimpy, having been constantly mistreated by his aunt and uncle. He also suffers from low self-esteem. He apologizes to everyone for no reason, and hates Lloyd and the others who regenerated the world. Emil also shies away from major responsibilities, and hates the idea of killing. He also has a very good disposition - he almost never gets angry. I guess you could say Emil is the complete opposite of Ratatosk. After meeting Richter, however, Emil learnt to have more confidence, and he started to believe more in himself. His motto, which Richter gave him, is undeniably "Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality". He remembers this quote often in the game, and it spurs him to make better decisions. By the end of the game, Emil has become a confident swordsman, who, even without the help of Ratatosk, could complete a battle by himself.

At the end of the final battle between himself and Ratatosk, they both realised that they needed each other. Ratatosk needed Emil's kindness, while Emil needed Ratatosk's strength. Thus, I would say that they truly became one in the end.

SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Emil, being a swordsman, has just about the same Artes as Lloyd.

Artes are skills which people learn after they level up. Emil has many artes, such as Demon Fang, Havoc Strike, Sword Rain: Alpha and Demon's Fury, just to name a few.

Some of his Artes have elements to them. Artes like, Demon Fang (Dark) and Havoc Strike (Fire), are Base Artes which have elements.

Most of Emil's Artes, however, are Arcane Artes. These Artes are special in that they are especially powerful, and consume a little more energy than that of Base Artes. Some of Emil's stronger Arcane Artes are Sword Rain: Alpha, Demon's Fury, and Dark Radiance. These Arcane Artes usually comprise of 3 to 5 strikes of immense power.

Emil can also execute a Combination Attack, in which he will draw power from his team mates and create an eruption to hit the monster multiple times. At times like this, he can usually hit up to around 17 times.

After executing a Arcane Arte, Emil can also execute a Mystic Arte. These Artes are special skills which is unique to every character - basically, every character in the Tales series has their own Mystic Arte. Emil's Mystic Arte is Devil's Hellfire.

This is where the differences between him and Ratatosk become a little subtle.

Although both Ratatosk and Emil can execute Devil's Hellfire, the damages are different. Also, Ratatosk has a unique add-on ability which Emil cannot use.

The similarity between both their Devil Hellfires are that both has does around 11 sword strikes, then they will cause an eruption similar to that of Emil's combo attack. The eruption usually does around another 11 strikes.

Ah, here's the difference. Ratatosk's Devil Hellfire without the add-on actually deals less damage than Emil's Devil Hellfire. With the add-on, Ain Soph Aur, Ratatosk does around another 6 to 7 hits. Ain Soph Aur is an ability unique to only Ratatosk, and from the cutscenes in the game, it can be seen that Ain Soph Aur is Ratatosk's trademark.

Ain Soph Aur itself is in fact a light element ability - however, Ratatosk always says "Darkness devours" before shouting Ain Soph Aur. Ain Soph Aur has a rainbow-like colour to it, and is a massive ball of light. Hardly surprising, considering that it's Ratatosk's trademark.