Zelos Wilder

Name: Zelos Wilder
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Canon: Tales of Symphonia
Canon Point: Post ToS1, Pre-ToS2
Link to Application: Right here!

Moogle Name: Sebastian
Moogle Gender: Male

Jobs: Red Mage (Lv 1) / Paladin (Lv 1)
Limit Break: Shining Bind

Link to HMD: Constructive criticism encouraged!

Player Information:
Name: Jayne
Age: 22
Contact: bronnichiwa
Other Characters Played: N/A

Character Information:
Name: Zelos Wilder
Canon: Tales of Symphonia
Canon Point: Post ToS, pre Knight of Ratatosk
Age: 22
Reference Links: Here you go!

Setting: Tethe'Alla, the world that Zelos originally hails from, is pretty standard fantasy fair. It's primarily divided into three races; humans, elves, and half-elves. Elves were usually sequestered away into one of two villages; either in a town called Exire, which floated above the sky, or in a village in the depths of Ymir forest. As both are fairly inaccessible by normal means, elves were rarely seen. Half-elves had few distinguishing qualities from humans (the ability to use magic and an absurdly long life span), and most opted to blend in with the surroundings. Despite this, the half-elves still faced major discrimination, and were often touted as the cause of the world's problems. Zelos was not exempt from this; he harbored a deep hatred for half-elves ever since his mother was killed by one when he was younger. As such, most people on Tethe'alla at least appeared to be human.

To that extent, most of the people in Tethe'alla appeared to have basic human capabilities. However, there were special gems called exspheres that could supplement these abilities. Having an exsphere was basically akin to having (low-strength) superpowers; exspheres enabled their users to jump extremely high, perform feats of super strength, and use special weapon attacks. Exspheres allow the user to harness more mana from the air, amplifying their abilities; they also have the ability to be mined for power-as is, acting like a battery of sorts. Thanks to exspheres, Tethe'alla had budding magitechnology; there were things such as boats and bridges that were powered with exspheres. Exspheres can also have a negative effect on their owners, however. If not protected by a special piece called a key crest, the exsphere will act like a parasite to the human host; it will prevent aging, and essential strip the user of any free-will by turning them into a soulless doll. It's later explained that exspheres were created using the souls of people, which probably partially explains their bad side-effects.

In addition to Soylent Green, there's one other thing that sets Tethe'alla apart from typical fantasy fair; it's political system. Tethe'alla is, in essence, one country. There's one capital city, and aside from the secluded village of elves, no sign of any other major political entity. At the top of the food chain in the capital is the royal family, the church, and the mana lineage. Ideally, these three forces would work in harmony, but in truth they were often at odds with each other. While there was an official pecking order (Royal family, church, mana lineage), the three were often making political moves to vie for power. The mana lineage was often seen as a threat by both the royal family and church, as it held almost as much political power. As such, even though things appeared to be working on the surface, the system was in almost constant turmoil. This was aided by the fact that the pope at the time was far from uncorrupt, in fact, he almost reveled in his corruptness, making constant ploys to either get rid of the mana lineage or the royal family (ala kidnapping the princess). Zelos took it upon himself to thwart all these plans single-handedly, by being as much of an asshat as he could and making the pope's life a living hell. To his credit, it did kind of work.

The mana lineage that Zelos is part of is the basis of the Chosen system and in Zelos' day was known purely as a political function. That said, its actual purpose was to be the most needlessly complicated selective breeding program in history, the mana lineage and the Chosen family serve a very important function in Tethe'alla. Nowadays, the mana lineage serves a very important political function as the third most-powerful institute in the kingdom, but a few hundred years ago they served another purpose; acting as the proprietors of World Regeneration.

As the legend goes, once every few hundred years, the world of Tethe'alla will fall into disaster and it will fall upon the Chosen to "regenerate" the world by unlocking all of the mana seals. As it so happens, the journey of regeneration is actually a way to revert the mana flow between Tethe'alla and its opposing world, Sylvarant. The two worlds exist on two sides of the same coin, so to speak, and vie over a limited pool of mana, or energy. The prospering world takes the mana from the declining world until the Chosen of the declining world completes the journey of Regeneration, and then the flow of mana is switched. This is all overseen by an organization of "angels," referred to as Cruxis. Opposed to Cruxis are the renegades, who want to stop the Chosen system.

At the beginning of the game, Zelos is acting as the Chosen of Mana for Tethe'alla (while also covertly working for Cruxis and the Renegades), and is asked to spy on travel with the Chosen of Sylvarant when she comes to Tethe'alla. Through the power of friendship and plot convenience, the party manages to combine the two worlds into one using the elemental summon spirits and plot sword of awesome.

This means that at the end of the game, the world of Symphonia is at a significantly different place than where it started; although there are certain things that remain constant (exspheres operating on nothing but rule of cool), there is a massive shift in the world during endgame. We're given a glimpse of what happens through both the credits and the sequel game, Dawn of the New World. The new world is called Aselia, and maintains both the governments of Tethe'alla and Sylvarant (to the extent that Sylvarant had a government), although there's still a great deal of resentment between the Sylvaranti and Tethe'allans. The mana lineage and Chosen system were abolished as well, although both Zelos and Colette (the Chosen of Sylvarant) still occupy very important political positions in the reunited world.

Personality: All the money anyone could ever want, every hunny in the kingdom at his beck and call, and power rivaling that of a king, is there more anyone could ask for?

On the surface, Zelos looks like a carefree playboy. He was born into the life of a chosen, and practically regarded as royalty. As the chosen, he's the person who's responsibility it is to go on the Journey of Regeneration and save the world, should the need ever arise, the truth is that Tethe'Alla hadn't been in danger for centuries, so his title, where bearing status, is free of any Regeneration-related tasks. It still binds him socially, and it still puts him as at least the third most powerful person in the country. Because it's a position of political power Zelos seemed to be using this...to his advantage. Known around the kingdom as the carefree playboy, he spent most of his days flirting with women (Enough that he has his own fan club, and any woman he talks to in the city immediately bestows him with gifts) and living the high life. He doesn't seem to let anything affect him; rather, he shrugs his shoulders, and lets it pass over him. After all, how could he not be happy with this life? And, if he was happy, what else mattered?

Well, the truth is, everything. Although he puts on a smile and is constantly surrounded by those he affectionately deems “his hunnies,” the truth is, he has very little love for himself. While when he was still a child, he was bright-eyed and excited about the world, eventually, being raised in a lavish environment became "harsh." His father, the previous chosen, died when he was young, while his mother always remained cold and distant. Their marriage had been one of status, and not love, and that negatively affected his mother emotionally while his father escaped by having an affair. Because of this, Zelos has one half-sister, who he didn't meet until his father's funeral. Her mother believed that everything in their life would be better if she had been chosen, so she makes an attempt on the chosen's life, accidentally killing his mother instead. Her last words to him were "It would have been better if you had never been born," and this has gone on to have a profound affect on his life. Because it happened at such a young age, he internalized it rather quickly and came to believe that, in fact, the world would be better off without him, and that everything would have been better if his sister, Seles, had been the Chosen instead.

In actuality, Seles is also the only family that he has left. Because of this, he's very close, and very protective of his sister, and took her under his wing after her mother was executed. Although he keeps her "trapped" on a small island off the coast, this is really just a front. In actuality, he keeps her there because of both the combined dangers of her being the Chosen's sister, and a debilitating childhood illness that she's still struggling with. Another similar situation to this is the betrayal to the party at the Tower of Salvation, he plays it off that he doesn't care and he was in it to turn on them all along, while he actually uses the opportunity to help the party out. These situations mimic how he treats his relationship with most people he's close with on a larger scale; while he tries to play off that he doesn't care, everything he does with her best interest in mind.

Unfortunately, there is often a gap between what he believes her "best interests" are and what her best interests actually are. Because Zelos was raised in a position where he was essentially a celebrity, there are very few people he's actually "close" to. Most people he knows, he knows on a very superficial level (i.e. his hunnies). Even the people he gradually gets closer to, he still doesn't feel very close to. Even after travelling with the party for an undisclosed (but still long) amount of time, he still felt like they were only friends on the surface, and that they, like most people, would distrust him when it came down to it. This is why he was willing to die (and let Seles obtain the position of Chosen that she deserved all along upon his death) when he went into the Tower of Salvation, and this is why him living or dying depends on one single line of dialogue; "I trust you." If Lloyd doesn't say this, Zelos' line of belief isn't changed; he still feels like he's better off dead and that the party believes he'll turn on them anyway, so he chooses to fight them. But, if Lloyd affirms that trust, Zelos begins to believe in his relationship with the party (and himself) just a little bit more, which is why he refuses to fight the party and instead actively help them.

But, this side of Zelos isn't something that most characters in Tu Shanshu are likely to see. At first glance, he'll appear like a playboy who does nothing but flirt with women and joke; to many, he'll appear like an idiot. Everything he's done is carefully calculated, as pointed out in a skit shortly after Corrine dies. Part of the reason he acts as cheerful as he does is to keep the spirits of those with him, even during the bad times. Essentially, the carefree attitude is just an act; a very perceptive person might be able to see through it, but it's unlikely that anyone in Tu Shanshu will grow close enough with him to let those barriers down.

Appearance: Here!

Abilities: Zelos is above-average physically; he's not super strong, but he is decent for his size. He has a decent amount of training and combat experience, so he's pretty handy with a sword, even if his style does focus more on speed than strength. And flair. Never forget flair. He has access to what the Symphonia-verse deems "Techs," which are basically fancy sword-moves. Most are outward striking and able to push the enemy away, with some able to toss the enemy up into the air.

Other combat abilities include the ability to cast magic; he has a decent amount of low and mid level elemental attack spells (Eruption, Air Thrust, Grave, Thunder Blade, etc), as well as a few healing spells in the same range (First Aid, Healing Stream, and Healing Wind). While the majority of his higher level magic spells are area spells and can hit a wide range, the lower level spells are often single target. For attack spells, this mean they'll only hit one enemy, and for healing spells, this means that they'll only hit one ally.

Additionally, since he has access to an exsphere, his physical abilities are amplified, meaning he can jump faster, hit harder, etc. In addition, thanks to plot magic, Cruxis' involvement, he's also jumped through the first few hoops of becoming an angel. This gives him access to a few special skills, including a nice spell named Judgement and a rockin' pair of wings that he can summon at-will. Although Zelos only ever uses the wings in battle (and even then, rarely), it's likely that he'd be able to use them to fly, as all the other characters with wings are seen doing the same.

Inventory:
> A basic set of late-grade equipment, including:
>>> Last Fencer (Sword)
>>> Star Shield
>>> Mythril Armor
>>> Rune Helm (Helmet)
> His Exsphere
> Chosen Orb
> The mask and hat from this costume because why not.
> A dozen red roses for his hunnies

Suitability: In addition to be a physically capable character, Zelos was born and raised in the world of politics. He spent the majority of his life acting as a major political figure, and despite what his usual attitude might imply, he's actually quite good at it. This means that, in addition to being able to handle more traditional fighting, he'll be able to play into the political intrigue as well, especially if he feels like there's something that he'll gain from it.

In addition, Zelos has also spent a fair amount of time travelling with the Symphonia crew, and it's not even the first time he's been to a new world!

In-Character Samples:
Third Person (Prose): There was a time when coming here would've made Zelos felt like he'd won the lottery, and to some extent, even now it still did. Yeah, the people were kind of pompous asses to anyone who wasn't from the back of this weird turtle to begin with, but all things considered, he was okay with that.

The people back in the royal quarter in Tethe'alla had been pompous asses too, albeit a much different sort. Back in Tethe'alla, they'd been nice to his face, if only because he was in a considerably more powerful position than them. He'd learned a long time ago how to maneuver around the cheerful facades at balls, parties, and what-have-you, and it had been a skill that'd served him well over the years. Here, though? Here the people wore their disdain openly; here there were no fake smiles to mask their disdain and disinterest, just genuine frowns and often denied service. It was liberating, to finally be free of that whole Chosen schtick. To finally, actually, do whatever he wanted, and leave that whole mana lineage thing in more capable hands.

Or, at least, it would have felt liberating ten months ago. In truth, after the whole reuniting-the-worlds-thing, the ex-Chosen actually felt a little bit homesick. He missed his bud, and his most well-endowed hunny, and probably his sister too (although he'd probably jump off this stupid turtle before he admitted it to her). Even with the whole "this turtle is outside of existence" thing, he might've been a bit worried for her safety too. That much political upheaval couldn't have been good for her condition. And as BS as he thought the whole Chosen (now Ex-Chosen) thing was, he guessed he still had something to do trying to help coordinate and get Sylvarant and Tethe'alla on somewhat equal footing. If what all the pamphlets and brochures and tour guides had told him was true, he had all the time he wanted (was stuck?) here before he had to go back and figure that stuff out. Still, there was a part of him that wanted to go home sooner rather than later.

Network:

Hey, this thing working?

[The feed clicks on to reveal yours truly; he looks like he's someone in the Central Sector of the city, the urban area serving as a backdrop.]

So, what do people do for fun in this city? I mean, I know the locals have a bunch of sticks up their asses, but there have got to be more than enough foreigners here to throw a decent party. [And more than enough foreign hunnies, he hoped.]

What's the deal with all the foreigners here, anyway? They said that this place was "somewhere between dreams and death" or whatever, and that time had stopped back home, but that stinks of being a giant cop-out.

[The redhead shrugs his shoulders. He doubted he was going to get more information than was available in the welcome center, but it was worth a shot. Something about this whole setup still didn't sit right with him, and there was a chance that someone here knew more.]

Anyway, party. Whoever knows where a guy can go to have a good time, drop me a line.