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Please put any Headscratchers for the sequel on the [[Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
==
Why are elves okay, and humans okay, but elves mixed with humans are bad? Especially on the part of the elves. It makes as much sense as black people discriminating against multiracial kids. And furthermore, how does Raine's mother get off the hook? She was with a human long enough to have not one, but two kids. If we accept the logic that half-elves equal bad, then multiracial couples should be just as bad.
* I suspect it has something to do with how isolationist the elves are- they never leave their one town, remember, the only interactions come from the few humans that visit them, and the few elves that might occasionally leave. This, along with what we see of elves, indicates some sort of fundamental difference- likely psychological, but also probably having to do with lifespans, half-elves living much longer than humans but much shorter than elves, between elves and men that makes it impossible to co-exist for lengthy periods of time, which works fine when there's a whole other society to banish to. When the kid is half-elf, and thus too differerent from ''both'' sides to live with either, it causes tension. No matter the origin of the hatred, though, remember that it became self-propagating once Mithos fell from grace and began Cruxis and the Desians.
* You seemed to be referencing black Americans in your example, but that's not a good equivalency at all, for ''so'' many reasons that I'm not touching it. Let's put it this way: if a person of random race X has children with a person of random race Y, they hopefully love their kids, and probably wouldn't discriminate against other children who are half X/half Y, however there is ''no'' guarantee of that, nor is there any guarantee about how other members of race X or Y would receive said children. Additionally, the race relations between humans and elves aren't elaborated on at length, but judging by the way humans are treated in the elven village, elves ''are'' racist toward humans, and it's quite possible (and even probable) that the racism is reciprocated by humans. The thing is, elves apparently self-segregate, so it's not as much of an issue. Just because elves aren't immediately executed without proper trial the way half-elves are doesn't mean humans and elves get along at all. Nobody said racism was smart or rational. Also, Raine's mom ''didn't'' get off the hook. She was ostracized from the elven village along with her kids and lived in Exire in a flying ghetto composed mostly of half-elves (and presumably parents of half-elves).
== Why did nobody question Kratos' behavior ==
* [[Idiot Hero|Lloyd]] aside, why does no one question the way Kratos acts regarding Anna during the Asgard human ranch segment (the "Mustn't speak ill of the dead" line in particular)?
** Lloyd questioned it? He's more genre savvy than I remember. [[Genre Blind|That's probably the answer, incidentally]]. Like one FAQ writer said, "{{spoiler|Say, you sound pretty enraged for a person with no relations with Lloyd}}."
*** Actually, Raine questions Kratos' presence during a skit that can be triggered in the first part of the game. She asks him why he's traveling with the group, and he simply responds that he's a mercenary and consequently in it for the money. She seems doubtful of his explanation. Makes sense, since she's the most cynical and least trusting member of the group to that point, Kratos himself excepted.
*** I meant Lloyd had his questionable intelligence as an excuse for not doing so.
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* What the blazes happened to Celsius? She's there for Symphonia and its sequel, but there's no explanation as to her whereabouts in Tales of Phantasia. She's not so much as mentioned.
** In the time between Symphonia and Phantasia the art of Summoning has been almost entirely lost. Klarth is the only person actively pursuing it, and if you believe him, almost no one in the magical research community believes it's even possible. Spirits are known to exist, but at the same time, some important spirits (notably Origin) are thought to be completely mythical. Even the folks in Alvanista's magical research lab and Midgard's Magitech facility don't seem to know that much. It doesn't seem implausible that after 4000 years her existence would be forgotten, and the characters never ran across any old books/ruins/random magical researchers who knew about her, so they just never had a reason to go looking for her.
* We know that Symphonia is a prequel to Phantasia, and as such, the summons are the same guys. So, what happened to them over the 4000 some-odd years between the two games? Sylph loses a part of herself (literally), Shadow practically dissolves, Undine goes from demure female mage to 8-year-old with a [[BFS]], and most confusingly, Gnome goes from a large mole with a propeller to a large collection of missiles. What happened to them?
** Considering the state you find him in in Symphonia, poor Shadow might just be ''really'' bad at holding his form together, hence the 'dissolving'.
** Gnome in Phantasia is in a very Japanese stylized form of a mole. See
** I've heard that Gnome is like that in Phantasia because of a comment he made in Symphonia about how 'four against one' wasn't fair. Might be stretching it a bit, but you never know.
* Sheena informs us that a Summon Spirit's physical appearance is not immutable. They can appear however they want to appear. You'd probably get bored too after 4000 years.
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== What's up with the Chosen? ==
* Just a little something... The chosen is for Martel, right? Then, why they choose Zelos, a boy? I mean, yeah, the sister is just half-sister, but the Pope says that she would be fine, if Zelos dies, so there's no real problem in switch the Chosen One, no? So, the first question is why they didn't switch with Seles, seeing that for the Pope the change didn't matter. The second is... but if, instead of Colette, there was Zelos... Mithos would give Martel's soul to Zelos? I mean, all right, what matters is that she's alive again... and, obviously, if I did be dead for 4000 years then one day magically alive again thanks to my little brother that choose to sacrifice thousand and thousand of people for me, not counting all the pain on the world and all the idealism thrown away, the last thing I would be shocked for would be why I'm in a male body instead of a female, but what the hell.
** Actually, you're missing several points. The Chosen has several purposes; they're responsible for switching the mana flow, "sealing" the Desians and continuing the lineage. None of that depends on gender. Only the higher-ups of Cruxis know about using the Chosen as a physical vessel for the soul of a dead chick, and that's only if the Chosen is compatible, which, as the game shows, took 4000 years for Cruxis to manage through selective breeding (since they've been doing this for so long, I doubt they care if that generation produces a boy instead of a
** First I assume Zelos was less important, as the Chosen of the prosperous world. Then I imagine they'd rather not use Seles anyway, given that she was the daughter of a half-elf; it'd have made all the discrimination and racism against half-elves lose a lot of credibility if people learned the Chosen had one for a mother.
** It's implied that they're trying to get a "magical signature" (read: genetic code) as close to Martel as possible. Presumably Zelos was just that much closer to being Martel, so that his (ideally female) descendant would be... well, Colette, basically, since she proved compatible where no one else did. And if they had to use Zelos, well, it was a small sacrifice to make to have Martel back.
** They also mentioned that Seles was sickly as a child. If she were to die as the Chosen, they would be left with Zelos as their only candidate for a Chosen, which would mean doubling back on their own decision, something Churches don't like to do; but if they don't make her Chosen, Zelos can fulfill his duties as a figure head for as long as they want him to AND they get to keep Seles around as both leverage and a Plan B.
** It really wouldn't matter at all for Martel if she woke up in a man's body, because as Mithos explains (and demonstrates) in the game, "When you become a lifeless being, you can even control your appearance and growth."
* I always just assumed that Zelos was only there to keep the cycle going until Martel's new body was found (in case Colette wasn't a suitable match). After that he'd probably become another one of Yggdrasil's mindless angels or he'd just be stuffed in a coffin and left in the Tower of Salvation.
* The title of "Chosen of Regeneration" has a different meaning depending on whether the world is in decline or not. When it is, the Chosen is the person who fixes that. When it's not, the Chosen is meant to keep the linage going and pass the title down to their child. Zelos (and every other male Chosen, such as Zelos' father) pretty much exists for the 2nd purpose. And, before it's asked, Zelos says his father was the previous Chosen in his "Night in Flanoir" scene.
* Think about it: if you were dead, and had been dead for thousands of years, would you honestly give a shit that you had been resurrected with something else between your legs? a Chosen girl or a Chosen boy doesn't make any difference whatsoever.
== What's up with the coffins? ==
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** For that matter, why don't the spirits say/do something about it? They're supposed to be protecting the world in some vague way and moreover they're the ones that suffer when there's not enough mana around. Is Ratatosk the only spirit that isn't completely apathetic about the mortals screwing everything up by killing the World Trees? Iffor example, Origin was to show up with all the weapons and lightning and whatnot and say "Dude! Quit building this cannon, it's a bad plan!" I'd be inclined to take him seriously.
** The thought process is probably "The guy with he biggest gun wins, right? And anyway ''I'm'' smart enough not to make the same mistakes that ''these'' people made! [[Tempting Fate|What could possibly go wrong?]]"
** You have Symphonia's Mana Cannon entry COMPLETELY wrong- The Cannon fired in Symphonia SAVED countless people. The Tree was caused by forming all of the pacts, and the Mana Reactors of the operational Human Ranches giving the Great Seed Mana- causing it to give rise to the Berserk Tree- which was going to destroy the entire world. The Cannon fired at the Tree- destroying it, thereby saving many people- true, lives were lost in the tree event, but many more would've been if it wasn't for that gun. The Vanguard wanted it- because it made "World Destroying Tree" go BOOM.
*** Fair point there, but remember that the goal was to ''stabilize'' the tree, making everything hunky-dory again and ending the journey right there- not turning it into a seed again. So in that respect even at its most successful point it ultimately failed miserably, suceeding only at returning the previous troubled status quo (and inspiring a literal Reign of Terror in the vein of the classic French one 2 years later).
* This one's easy enough. [[Humans Are Morons]]. [[Humans Are
== The Wonder Chef ==
* Seriously, the smeg? What is he? How is he capable of traversing the world and between worlds? Is he some sort of cooking ninja exile who stowed away on their rheirds? Is he a summon spirit? Why does he hide as inanimate objects? NOTHING about him makes any sense.
** The Wonder Chef is a warrior of the kitchen who is in an eternal struggle with the "Dark Chef Alliance". I only wish that was a joke.
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*** That doesn't quite change the fact that he's ''still shackled''
**** look, it all makes sense except the sleeves. Just mentally put him in a tank top and it all comes out smooth.
***** Aha, solution to how he changes his normal clothing (but nor the formal outfit however). [http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f378/Twisted_Spirit/Games/Tales%20of%20Symphonia/Regal%20Bryant/t-R_gal_01.jpg He has laces on his sleeves]{{Dead link}}
****** I... I just realized that Regal is wearing a top...
*** Yeah, it's the sleeves. If he can cook with those shackles, then he can probably lace those easily enough. Also [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|(not that I've been looking)]], his trousers are really low, making them easy to remove as well.
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*** I doubt Mithos is all too attached to a bunch of sociopaths whose sole purpose is to wreaking havoc on the declining world. If Kratos would've skewered Kvar right there and then Mithos would've probably just replaced him with another flunkie.
*** Also, Kratos is one of Mithos' oldest friends and one of the Seraphim (the top 4 guys in Cruxis, Mithos being #1, Kratos either being #2 or #3, depending on how much Mithos likes Yuan, and Pronyma being #4 since she's the leader of the Desians). The only Grand Cardinal who seemed to have any real importance was Forcystus (he was a Desian hero), all the others are (for all we know) just a bunch of psychopaths. I doubt Mithos would really care if he killed a Desian. He'd probably assume Kratos had a good reason to kill him.
**** Pronyma isn't one of the Four Seraphim, as proved by the fact that Yggdrasil exclaimed that nobody but his old comrades may refer to him as Mithos, [[You Have Failed Me...|right before killing her]]. Although, seeing as she's the leader of the [[Quirky Miniboss Squad|Grand Cardinals]], and therefore the de facto leader of the Desians, it really proves how little Mithos cares about them when he killed her. Also, for the record, the fourth Seraph is presumed to be Martel herself.
**** It was said somewhere Martel is the fourth.Also funny thing is number 4 means death in asian culture,so it fits her as the 'absent' one here
** ...Or maybe he was too busy running down the cliff trying to see if his son was okay? Because he HAD just fallen off it, you know. Priorities, people.
*** And now you got me imagining Kratos defying gravity and [[Literal
== That crown? ==
* Who did Raine get that ancient crown (the one that's traded to Koton) from? A former student, lover, etc., or what?
** Former lover. It's also heavily implied that they did ''[[Freud Was Right|that]]'' by the Unicorn Scene. Other than that, [[Noodle Incident|nothing else is known]].
*** ...Is there any specific cutscenes of this, aside from the Unicorn and Selling it ones? 'Cause, uh, I can just imagine [[Flat What|Genis' reaction]].
== Derris Kharlan ==
* [[Tales of Phantasia
** Maybe Kratos fucked up and Karlan ran out of mana. Maybe Kratos decided he was old enough, and let a successor take over, and the successor fucked up. Maybe there were unforeseen problems that Kratos couldn't have known about which got worse until a new Seed was needed. Given how little we know, the possibilities are endless.
*** He probably forgot about it when he ran off to cameo in Vesperia.
** According to Tales of Phantasia: Narakiri Dungeon, Dhaos was the leader of a nation trying to stop a war between two other nations. The effort failed, and one of the warring countries fired off its experimental mana cannon...with the same tired results as ever other firing of a mana cannon in a Tales game. After that, he came to Aselia looking for a mana seed and [[
** Kratos went back to Derris Kharlan so he could destroy all Expheres there. That would include his own Cruxis Crystal. So, he was long dead by the time Phantasia happened, he "screwed up" just as much as Lloyd and co. did by "letting" Fenris and Odin rebuild the Mana Cannon.
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**** It depends on whether or not their gametes were affected. If they were unaffected, or the DNA in the reproductive cells were altered only slightly, then Lloyd being human is not that surprising.
** Lloyd's wings are also different from the others in that they're much wider (each one's span is longer than Lloyd is tall), while the other angels and Chosen have smaller wings.
** The answer is quite simple: Namco Fucked Up. The End. Perhaps there was some intention to hint at this, and then reveal it all in the end, but it got cut, and we were left with this.
*** {{spoiler|Kratos}} couldn't have affected the whole wings thing, as {{spoiler|he}} is technically still a human,and has no angelic DNA. If you removed {{spoiler|his}} Exsphere, {{spoiler|he'd}} go on aging like a normal human,and just die. So I think that the 'he got his wings from Mithos' theory is much more accurate, as Lloyd has no angelic genetic data; he's pure human.
* There's also the fact that Origin specifically told him that his body, even with the exsphere, wouldn't be able to handle the power needed to drag back Derris-Kharlan, and presumably making the whole thing very painful to do. Since creating an angel seems to require a great deal of suffering on the angel-to-be's part... that and all the other reasons listed might have something to do with it.
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== What were the terms of Mithos' pact with Volt? ==
According to Volt, Mithos' pact with Volt was broken, and he fights the party becuase he doesn't want a pact. As Mithos still has his pact with the other seven Summon Spirits and Maxwell, and only broke his contract with Origin by using the Eternal Sword for his plan, this would suggest that Volt's pact was somehow different from the others and Mithos did something to break it while upholding the others.
* He broke all the
== What's up with the amgel wings? ==
It may be because I haven't finished the game, but I haven't seen any angels with actual ''bird'' wings like Remial does. Collette, Kratos and Mithos all have butterfly/dragonfly wings {{spoiler|(though the wings seem to get more featherlike the bigger they are)}}. Is it because Remial was a relatively low ranking angel?
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== Are there other elf-human hybrids? ==
* There are half elves, sure, but they never mention any one quarter-elves or three quarter-elves. Surely in the past more than 4000 years there have been at least enough to be known. 4000 years is a long time
** In [[
** Perhaps quarter-elves and three quarter-elves et cetera just identify themselves as half-elves? Not to mention, with most of the elves of the world living in Heimdall (which barely allows human contact), there are probably fewer half-elves who actually one elf and one human parent than you'd first realize anyway. Or perhaps a half-elf has simply never (openly/knowingly) had a child with anyone other than another half-elf?
** Zelos' sister is a quarter-elf. She is show to be treated as primarily human with the only stigma being attached to her mother. Other elven descendents would presumably be treated the same way.
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== The Penguinists. Just... the Penguinists. ==
What in the name of Martel is UP with them?!
* [[Jerkass
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[[Category:Games/Headscratchers]]
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