Gardle

Gardle (ガードル) is a major antagonist in Tales of Innocence. Later in the story, he is revealed to be the god Thanatos (タナトス), having never reincarnated. He is also the brother of Hypnos.

Antagonistic Cause
After rescuing Ange Serena at Naohs Base, the group encounters Gardle at the exit as they are leaving. He calls the group of Avatars a disgrace to Devaloka and states that he must kill them for the sake of Naraka, introducing himself as Naraka's protector. He then engages them in battle and is defeated, allowing the group to escape.

Gardle is not shown again until later in the story, when Oswald fan Kuruela meets with Regnum's privy council. There, Gardle reveals that he has a spy collecting information regarding the Manifest for him, as well as that he is planning on capturing the group and extracting their memories. When Ricardo Soldato betrays the group in Regnum, he explains that Gardle is his older brother through his previous life, Thanatos, the god of death who collected souls and was banished by Ratio. After these events, the group is held at Grigori Village, where Ricardo questions Gardle's intentions regarding the group. Gardle replies that he is going to operate on them but remains vague in the consequences of how it could affect them. Ricardo beckons for their safety, but Gardle reprimands him, stressing that Ricardo is now safe from Arca and the armies by being in the village.

Revelation
When Ricardo frees the group and boards a ship to Mamut with them, Gardle pursues them through flight and confronts them on the ship. Ricardo barks that Gardle is no different from all the others attempting to find the Manifest and is nothing like his brother in the past. However, Gardle claims that he is attempting to locate the Manifest in order to prevent it from being used against Naraka, which prompts Ruca Milda to stress to him that their goals are the same, asking for Gardle's help. Despite this, Gardle makes it evident that he wants only to extract the group's memories and that Avatars should be eliminated because of their past sins. It is then that Gardle reveals himself as Thanatos, having never reincarnated and always having loved Naraka. The news shocks the group, but their reactions are cut short when Gardle again engages them in battle.

After the fight, Ricardo prepares to kill the defeated Gardle, only to hesitate. A large robotic machine then appears from the sky, and the group immediately recognizes it as one of the machines they saw in Naohs Base. Gardle is surprised to discover that the machine's pilot is a Grigori, one of his people. The soldier proclaims that Oswald shall be the one to command his people now before Gardle leaps toward the machine, only to be killed by its laser. The group then fights and defeats the "Gigantess Z".

Thanatos
Subsequent dialogue in the story reveals more aspects concerning Gardle's life as Thanatos. In a skit, Ricardo explains that the Grigori are not Avatars despite having similar powers. He states that they inherited Gardle's blood, for Thanatos was banished from Devaloka because he fell in love with a woman from Naraka—their offspring being the Grigoris. For Gardle, protecting Naraka was his greatest wish. Despite having died on the Grigorian ship, Gardle is seen once more at the Tower of Dawn, where Oswald is using Gardle's body to power the "Gigantess Omega".

Appearance and Personality
Gardle has dark skin, white hair, and three red eyes—one resting in the center of his forehead. He also has long, pointed ears that contribute to his non-human appearance. His attire consists of a white and yellow suit fastened by buckles and a gold plate of armor around his neck. As Thanatos, he wears a white and gold robe fastened with black straps and large, gold armor for his arms. His skin is lighter than Gardle's, and he has long black hair braided into three gold ornaments. In addition, Thanatos's weapon is a much larger blue scythe. Personality-wise, Gardle's love for Naraka stems from his love for the mysterious woman with whom he fell in love. Seeking to protect her and the world from which she comes, he fights vigilantly for their cause and populates Naraka with his many Grigori descendants.

Fighting Style
In battle, Gardle fights with a scythe and is relatively slow. During his second fight, he gains access to his mystic arte, Echt Schwarz. Like other antagonists in the original version of the game, none of Gardle's artes are named, save his mystic artes, but he does gain named strike artes and an arsenal of spells in the remake. These strike artes include Jagd Reisen (ヤクトラーゼン), Stark Nicht (スタークニヒト), and Nacht Elgar (ナハトエルガー), while his spells are all of the Earth or Dark elements.

Trivia

 * Thanatos is the daemon personification of death in Greek mythology.