Colette Brunel

Colette Brunel is the female lead of Tales of Symphonia, the fifth major release in the Tales series. She is the "Chosen One of Sylvarant", a being destined to regenerate the world by ascending the Tower of Salvation as an angel, thereby saving Sylvarant. Colette is a kind, selfless girl who always puts others before herself. Throughout the game, Colette is shown to be fairly clumsy (at one point even receiving a title called "Klutz"), as her repetitive tripping causes the most unusual (and occasionally beneficial) things to happen, from making a hole in the wall at school to deactivating the most complex of machines. She can also appear somewhat clueless as she misses some things that are obvious to everyone else.

She is also set to appear as a playable character in the sequel, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World.

Character
Colette is kind and selfless, but occasionally silly and clumsy, having fallen through several walls. However, Sheena notes that Colette's clumsiness is truly blessed, as proven in various scenes, such as when Colette is attacked by Sheena at the begining of the Osasa Trail and trips over a lever that causes Sheena to fall through a mine shaft. Another scene that attests to this fact is the one when the group is trapped in a portable prison set up by Yuan which is deactivated when Colette trips, breaking the base machine. Despite the positive outcomes of her clumsiness, Colette still takes it the wrong way; when Sheena fell down the shaft, Colette immediately looks down and says "Oh-no! I hope she's alright!" Meanwhile, everyone explains that it was a good thing, as Sheena was seemingly trying to kill her anyways. As the Chosen of Sylvarant, she prays for the world's safety every night. She is very self-conscious and wishes she weren't different. She is quick to take responsibility and puts others above herself. She is brave and is quick to do what she believes is right, but she is not very self-confident and can be slow to decide what the right action is.

Relationship with Lloyd
Colette also has romantic feelings for Lloyd, a fact revealed very early in the game. She tends to use subliminal movements and messages such as "I'll stay by your side", rather than completely admitting it. This is not caused by shyness, but by her personality; that is, she hates worrying anyone or distracting them from their goals. This, however, also works against her, since she tries to hide illnesses like Angel Toxicosis and Chronic Angelus Crystallus Inofficium from the others, forcing characters to discover them on their own. This factor annoys Lloyd the most, because he feels that he can't help her, but from Colette's perspective, she feels that worrying anyone or showing something odd is just not appropriate for the journey she's begun.

Family
Her father's name is Frank, and her grandmother,who also happens to be a member of the curch, is known as Phaidra. Her mother is never mentioned, although she was probably a member of the Mana Lineage (as opposed to Frank). It was rumored that Colette's true father was not Frank, but in fact an angel, whom Colette assumes to be Remiel. After she and her friends discover the truth about Cruxis, however, this rumor is revealed as false.

It's clearly hinted that neither Frank nor Phaidra really think of Colette as their family, because they know she will die. That, or they stopped thinking of her as a family after she began her Journey of Regeneration. However, at the end, Colette tells them that she no longer is the Chosen, and she wishes to be known as just "Collette".

History
Colette was born and raised in Iselia, a small community located in the north-western part of Sylvarant. When she was born, there was a Cruxis Crystal, a kind of Exsphere, in her hand, signifying her as the seventh Chosen of Regeneration in Sylvarant.

Her adoptive father, Frank Brunel, raised her in the village as his own. Colette's grandmother, Phaidra, was the priestess at the Martel Temple, which is located just outside Iselia. At some point during the early years of her childhood, Colette was taught how to read angelic language. As she got older, she was introduced to the clergy, some of whom she would later meet during her Journey of World Regeneration. She also met the priests who were meant to accompany her on her journey. She then started her formal education at the Iselia schoolhouse, where she met Lloyd Irving. She and the young Lloyd soon became friends.

The Journey of Regeneration
The day Colette turns sixteen, Cruxis sends down aN Oracle. Colette, accompanied by Lloyd, Genis Sage, and the mysterious mercenary Kratos Aurion, after they defeat the Renegades-thought-Desians, enter the Martel Temple to meet the summons of the angels. At the highest level of the temple, Colette's "real father", the angel Remiel, arrives to convey the blessings of Cruxis and bestow the Tower of Salvation upon the land of Sylvarant. As the game goes on she unlocks more of her powers from her father's angelic side. This marks the beginning of Colette's Journey of Regeneration, during which she must release the "Seals" that are scattered throughout the world. There are a total of five Seals, the fifth being at the Tower of Salvation, where the Journey would end, Colette would be sacrificed, and the dying world would be regenerated.

She leaves the village of Iselia under the protection of Kratos and Raine Sage, her teacher. As she is leaving, she acts, in Genis's words, "overly cheerful" in an attempt to hide the fact that the Journey of Regeneration would end with her death. Trying to cause her trusted friend Lloyd the least amount of grief, she lies to him about the time of her departure, in the hope that he would then be able to live in the regenerated world. Her bluff fails, however, and Lloyd and Genis later catch up with her.

As the party moves from one Seal to the next, Colette begins to gain more angelic powers, like wings, enhanced sight and improved hearing. However, she also loses the things that make her human, like the ability to taste food, sleep, or even speak. Eventually, the party reaches the Tower of Salvation, where Colette is forced to make the final sacrifice: her heart and memory.

Humanity taken
Having lost all those things that made her human, Colette is the perfect vessel for Martel, her mana signature being the closest possible to that of Martel. Remiel says, during the ritual in which Colette sacrifices her heart and her memory, that he is not Colette's father, and that the "inferior beings" only called him her father because he placed the Cruxis crystal on her. Colette reveals to Lloyd, through some non-oral form of communication, that she somehow knew this, before sacrificing her heart and memory and becoming unresponsive to the rest of the group. Remiel reveals that he seeks to become one of the Four Seraphim, showing that he cared little for Colette, or even the world, and plans to dispose of the group, but they fight and kill him. Kratos then arrives and reveals that Cruxis plans to transfer Martel's consciousness to Colette, denying that it will cause Colette to die. Before Cruxis is able to put Martel's consciousness into Colette's body, however, she is taken to relative safety by the Renegades. Lloyd and the party are later forced to flee to the parallel world of Tethe'alla, taking the soulless Colette with them in hope of curing her.

After the loss
Colette regains her senses after Lloyd carves a Key Crest into her birthday necklace (he completed it the morning that she left, but it breaks some time between then and the night after the Fire Seal is broken). She apparently remembers everything that happened while she was unresponsive, as she knows Zelos' name. As the journey to reunite the worlds continues, Colette is kidnapped by the rogue Desian Grand Cardinal Rodyle, who plans to use her in his Mana Cannon. His plans are foiled when he realizes that she has Chronic Angelus Crystallus Inofficium, a rare disease that crystallizes the body. The party rescues her, but does not realize this until later; Colette believes that his referring to her as "sinful" is a reference to her failure to perform the world regeneration, something she feels guilty of despite knowing that it would only bring about what Lloyd describes as "a false peace."

Colette's disease is introduced gradually, starting with mild discomfort and leading to her collapsing in pain in Ozette shortly before Rodyle abducts her. After Forcystus shoots her when she shields Chocolat, it reveals that she has begun to crystallize. The party then searches for a cure, learning about Mithos the hero and Mithos' splitting the world into two with the power of the Eternal Sword in the process. Colette is cured in time after the party escapes Welgaia.

Colette is captured in the Tower of Salvation after Zelos betrays the group. When Lloyd reaches the Great Seed Chamber, although he is reunited with his friends (whom he had thought dead), Mithos succeeds in merging Martel with Colette. Martel, however, uses Colette's body to urge Mithos to stop what he is doing. At this time, either Zelos or Kratos arrive in the Great Seed Chamber and place a Key Crest on Colette's Cruxis Crystal. After Martel's consciousness leaves Colette, the young Chosen urges the group to stop Mithos from moving the Great Seed to Derris-Kharlan, having understood Martel's desires. In a skit after the group leaves, it is revealed that Colette was able to understand Martel's feelings while she was possessed.

Colette in alternate scenes
Colette is possibly the assumed choice for Lloyd's soul mate, given that she is close to Lloyd throughout the plot, and she least often teases, criticizes or insults him. Additionally, if someone other than Colette is his soul mate, she will replace them during the sequences in Welgaia that show characters confronting their inner flaws (for example, if Regal is Lloyd's soul mate, she will replace him in "The Judged" scene; instead of Presea being told by an illusion of Alicia to kill Regal to avenge her, Presea is told to kill Colette to free her of her guilt over abandoning the world regeneration, thereby allowing Martel to possess her body). If Kratos is Lloyd's soul mate, Colette will be possessed, with Mithos making a brief remark about how Kratos never understood him.

A major change
At the end of the game, Colette returns home to Iselia, and reveals that she is no longer the Chosen.

Colette is a very mature young woman. She was brought up with the knowledge that she would need to die to save the world, and has gained from that a truly selfless nature. However, she later recognizes that she made a mistake in her willingness to sacrifice herself, believing in Lloyd's ideas that no life is born for the sole purpose of dying. As such, her greatest wish at the end of the game is to ensure that no one else makes the same mistake she did.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
Colette returns in the sequal Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World as a playable character. After the worlds were reunited, the Chosen system was stopped. As such, Colette was the final Chosen decides to perform the very last duties of the Chosen as a aid to the people of the world, and she is therefore called the Chosen of Regeneration. However, she is criticized by people from Sylvarant for rumors that says that the reason behind the Giant Kharlan Tree's rampage was because she ran away from her duty as the Chosen One. This is also the reason Marta is angry at Colette, because her mother was in Palmacosta during the rampage, and was killed. she is also hunted by the Vanguard because they see her as a traitor for being supportive of Tethe'alla, their enemies.

Colette is first seen in Asgard in a house talking to Aisha, looking for Lloyd. When there, Marta asks Colette if the rumors about her running away from her duties in the Journey of Regeneration are true. Still feeling guilty of what happened at that time, Colette answers positive, which makes Marta yell and throw Colette towards a shelf on the wall of the house. Later, Emil and Marta try to save a boy who is a fan of Colette from falling of a rim, but are attacked by the Vanguard. Alice is about to have Marta and the boy fall down and most likely die, but then Colette comes and saves then with Angel Feathers. After a battle against Hawk, Colette once again expresses her guilt for letting the Giant Kharlan Tree go wild. After a battle, Colette leaves and is met in the local building in Asgard. When Emil and Marta goes to thank her for saving them, it is revealed that she runs a charity organization to help the suffering people, thus showing that she still cares about the world more than herself, even though she is no longer the Chosen. Shortly after, Colette joins the party to help them in their search for Centurion Ventus' core. When they find it, Colette runs over and get it, but Marta says it is dangerous ofr her, explaining that if normal people try to touch the a Centurion's core, they might get insane. The reason Colette did not get any effects may be because she is an angel.

Although two years have passed, she is still kind and clumsy, going as far as to say that she loves Emil (in a friendly way), getting Marta upsett without knowing why. After Colette and Marta reconcile about the rampage of the Giant Kharlan Tree, Marta often thinks that Colette is her rival in romance when it comes to Emil, although it looks like both Colette and Emil are clueless about what she means.

Tales of Fandom Vol 2
Colette appeared as a cameo character with the rest of the Tales of Symphonia-cast. When she gets separated along with Mint Adenade from Tales of Phantasia and Tear Grants from Tales of the Abyss, she surprises the other girls by revealing her angel wings.

Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2
Colette will appear in the second installament of Radiant Mythology as a playable character. Scans have shown that she will fight with her wings.

In Battle
In battle, Collette fights with two rings called "chakrams" which she throws at the enemy. Later in the game, Collette will also learn some Angel Skills. Although initially, she isn't very powerful, she soon becomes a valuable asset with her light spells and overwhelming magic. However, when completing some spells, she can be seen tripping afterwards. This causes a slight delay in the time she can cast.

Colette's strongest chakram is Angel Halo. The name of her Devil's Arm is Evil Eye. The gag weapon the player can buy to her in Luin after completely rebuilting it, is Tambourine.

Trivia
The word "colette" means "necklace" in a French-Latin dialect. In the game, a major plot device is the birthday present Colette receives from Lloyd. This present is a necklace. "Colette" is also a shortened version of the name Nicolette (Nicole), which means "born by angels".

During the Pope Chase event, the player discovers that the first successful Chosen of Sylvarant, Spiritua, is known as an angel of death and destruction in Tethe'alla, and had killed a king who had threatened a Chosen. In order to gain entry to Meltokio's Palace, Zelos Wilder tells Colette to pretend to be Spiritua. Colette agrees, and hovers in the air with her wings extended. When told by Lloyd to act "in control", she says one of the most memorable quotes in the game: "Um... um... die!"

Colette, always one to accept blame even when there is none, apologizes a total of 33 times during the game: 25 times during overworld skits, and 8 times during Z-skits. At one point Lloyd finally asks her to stop apologizing, and predictably, she apologizes. Her perpetual concern for humility and deference have earned her popularity in some fans' circles and severe contempt in others'.