Martel

Martel is a fictional character in the Namco video game Tales of Symphonia for the Nintendo GameCube, and makes other, more minor appearances in another part of the Tales series, Tales of Phantasia.

Tales of Symphonia
WARNING! MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW!

The Goddess Martel is the chief deity worshiped by the inhabitants of the worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, along with holy beings of Cruxis (evolved half-elves who call themselves angels) being worshiped as gods (a reference to this was made by Yuan in a dialogue). Mention of local gods in the town of Mizuho are made, although in retaining their cultural traditions the people of Mizuho most likely rejected the outside influence of the Church of Martel. Although there are frequent references to other gods in the course of the game through dialogue, equippable items, and weapons, Martel is the focus of worship in the Church of Martel (for obvious reasons). The Church is nearly identical in both the worlds of Tethe'alla and Sylvarant, save for the hiearchical system present in Tethe'alla (which has a Pope as its spiritual leader). It can be assumed that while Mithos was proselytizing for the Church of Martel in introducing his method of keeping the common masses of the world docile, people assimilated the Church's belief systems with their own, creating a syncretic belief combining the beliefs of the Church and their "pagan" beliefs.

It is believed that the goddess is in a state of deep sleep within the seed of the ancient Giant Kharlan Tree and that the process of World Regeneration is intended to awaken the goddess.

Few specifics are revealed about Martel. It is unknown if she is the goddess of anything specific. It is generally accepted that Martel is a general goddess among whose main roles is the protection of her faithful, along with revelation and spiritual growth through the meditation of Her scriptures and examples.

Church of Martel
The Church of Martel is generally believed to be a monotheistic religion, with aspects derived from the real-life Roman Catholic Church (There is a Pope, purgatory and hell are mentioned in the game, mention of saints, a savior that will save the world, the architecture of the churches, priests and pastors, altars, use of statues, etc.). There seems to be a sort of priesthood, with women being able to become priestesses, and there is no set worship date; rather, the priests appear to cater to the spiritual needs of the people. Kratos explains that the angelic language is the basis for the language of the world, which points evidence to some sort of vernacular and/or church language (or an ancient root language, playing a role similar to that the real world's Latin). In Tethe'alla, there seems to be a festival of some sort in which the residents of Meltokio, the capital city, dress up as angels and parade in the streets (similar to the Jewish festival of Purim). However, this is not elaborated on. There is evidence of sacraments, as confession is encouraged at the Cathedral in Flanoir. Relics of Spiritua (the first Chosen to save Sylvarant) are also held in great esteem in, and statues of Spiritua are displayed in many churches and Houses of Salvation in Sylvarant. One of the most widely known verses of the scriptures of Martel includes a calling to travel, because life is a journey, and the followers of Martel must therefore journey as well. These journeys are known as pilgrimages, and must be made at least once in one's lifetime (similar to the Hajj in Islam}. There is no set pilgrimage site, but locations of seals such as the Thoda Geyser, and previously the Tower of Mana are popular tourist sites.

The Truth
As the game progresses, it is revealed that Martel is not actually a goddess, but is in fact a historic figure: the sister of the ancient hero Mithos Yggdrasill. She and her brother, being half-elves, were outcasts, and Martel raised Mithos in place of their mother. Martel enjoyed playing the panpipes. At one point, she suffered from the rare disease known as Chronic Angelus Crystallus Inofficium, brought on by her Cruxis Crystal (the same disease that later would affect Colette). Fortunately, it was later cured. She was also engaged to Yuan.

At some point during their quest to save the world from the ravages of the Ancient Kharlan War, Martel was killed by a human traitor. However, because she was in possession of a Cruxis Crystal, her soul remained attached to it long enough for Mithos to use the Eternal Sword to fuse her soul with the Great Seed. In his fervor to save his sister, Mithos established the Church of Martel and the Rituals of World Regeneration in order to maintain the fragile state of the world. He would later use the Journey of World Regeneration to try to create a vessel for his sister's consciousness to inhabit, believing that this would bring his sister back to life. The only way to create the perfect vessel, Mithos knew, would be to find a person with an identical mana signature to that of Martel. To this end, he began controlling the marriages of the citizens of both worlds in an attempt to create the signature that most resembled hers (Colette Brunel, the current Chosen of Sylvarant, is the result of this; she is a perfect match to Martel). This system, however, means that should either Martel or the Great Seed be resurrected, the other would be lost (showing that Mithos was willing to sacrifice the world in order to save his sister).

When the Great Seed germinates out of control, Martel is put in danger of being engulfed by the vicious tree. She appears on the upper part of the trunk in a bluish-green, womb-like structure, with arms spread out in a Christ-like position. When the Mana Cannon is fired at the dendric monstrosity, Martel becomes fused once more with the Great Seed, as she had previously been.

Late in the game, Yggdrasill's four thousand-year-old goal succeeds and Martel's consciousness is awakened in the body of Colette Brunel. However, upon awakening, Martel spurns her brother's misguided efforts to revive her because of pain that it had caused the worlds. Having said this, Martel returns to her slumber within the Great Seed when either Kratos Aurion or Zelos Wilder places a Key Crest on Colette. The Key Crest contains Colette's Cruxis Crystal, and Martel's consciousness is expelled from the Chosen's body. This renders all of Mithos' efforts useless, driving him into a total state of insanity and denial.

At the game's end, "Martel" is returned to life when the Great Seed germinates to create a new Giant Kharlan Tree. Martel, the newborn Spirit of Mana, assumes the role of the tree's guardian, and is said to be the "incarnation of all the souls that died to protect the land of Kharlan." The souls incarnated through the physical vessel of Tabatha (an android girl created as an early attempt to house Martel's consciousness, as an alternative to breeding a perfect Chosen. The experiment had initially failed). Mithos' sister Martel is only one of the many souls that compose Martel the Spirit's consciousness.

Tales of Phantasia
4000 years later, Tales of Phantasia takes place. The Kingdom of Midgards is depleting the mana from the reborn Giant Kharlan Tree, Yggdrasil. Martel is the one who warns the humans of the danger they are facing by doing so. At the end of the game, she forms a new Mana Seed by combining her own spirit with that of the slain Dhaos, granting the Seed to the dying world of Derris-Kharlan.

Trivia
It must be noted that in Akkadian, the language of Ancient Babylon, Mart means daughter and El means God. Thus the name itself means Daughter of God.