Presea Combatir

Presea Combatir (プレセア・コンバティール) is a character from Tales of Symphonia. She is a lumberjack from the small town of Ozette in Tethe'alla.

Tales of Symphonia
Presea's sister Alicia Combatir had left to work in Altamira, and their father Sieg had become too ill to continue work as a lumberjack. Presea wished to be strong enough to use her father's axe in his place, so she agreed to take part in an experiment which involved using herself as a host body in creating a Cruxis Crystal. The Exsphere increased her strength, but due to the nature of the experiment, it also halted her physical growth and suppressed her emotions. Under the influence of the Exsphere, Presea grew into a routine and did not notice when her father died. As a result, she did not bury him, instead leaving his corpse in his former bed.

After the party meets Presea in Meltokio, they use her to get themselves in the castle. Afterward, she expresses little more than a desire to return to Ozette. After a run-in with Kate in the basement of Sybak's Royal Research Academy, it is revealed that the Exsphere slowed Presea's aging process; although she appears to be 12, she is actually 28. After a short while, the party makes Presea a working Key Crest, finally bringing her back to conscious reality. It is at that point that she returns to Ozette and buries her father, swearing vengeance on Vharley and asking to continue with the party. The villagers in Ozette ostracize Presea for her unusual past and her dangerous connection to the Tethe'allan clergy. Her emotions were suppressed for 16 years, and as such Presea tends to behave like the "emotionless girl" anime archetype or a robot, especially when the party meets her. She begins to age again once her Key Crest is attached.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
Presea returns in the sequel as a playable character. After receiving a keycrest for her Exsphere two years ago, time began to flow for Presea again, and she is now able to smile once more. She is currently working with Regal, similar to how her sister Alicia once did, in hopes of rebuilding her hometown of Ozette. During the past two years she has regained most of her emotions back, and seems to have developed a slight fetish for paw pads. Her weapons in the game are "Fransesca" and "Gaia Cleaver".

Presea first appears in Altamira after she stops Alice from killing the party. After escaping, Sheena Fujibayashi gives Presea the task of protecting Emil Castagnier and Marta Lualdi until they arrive in Altessa's House. Along the way they are stopped by the Vanguard, and they hide Marta in her "Iron Maiden". When the Vanguard attempt to inspect the case, she states a curse will afflict anyone who opens it to have diarrhea for 77 hours and the demon king to pick their noses for 777 days. At Altessa's House, Presea and the others are forced to fight Magnar and after defeating him she gives him to Altessa to hold hostage. Presea only has a small role after Altessa's House and Mizuho, but she later helps the party in the Altamira invasion with Raine and Genis Sage. Before the final battle, she and Emil have a conversation at Altessa's House about how they are kindred spirits, relating to facts that made them not comfortable with who they were, with her being much younger than she is supposed to be due to the negative effects of the Exspheres and Emil being Ratatosk. After the final battle, when the party is bidding farewell to Emil in the Ginnugagap, she says goodbye and places a paw pad for good luck, then leaves. She also reminded Emil that he is not alone.

Appearance and Personality
Presea's true personality is repressed by her special Exsphere until the middle of the story, when Lloyd Irving attaches a Key Crest made by Altessa to it. Even afterwards, her emotional response remains somewhat subdued. Her speech is relatively blunt, and she is unfamiliar with the basic etiquette against such directness and can be socially distant. She tends to follow along with the group, only stopping to truly take in the situation when it is extremely important. Her lack of social graces makes her unable to recognize her own awkwardness until someone points it out.

Although Genis likes Presea, she never really shows if she has any true interest in Genis beyond friendship. Due to the anti-aging effects of her Exsphere, Genis sees Presea as a girl near his own age, and does not completely comprehend the fact that she is actually sixteen years older than him. In Dawn of the New World, however, she seems to have spent enough time with Genis to understand what he says when he is stuttering. Presea's only emotional constant is her loneliness. She constantly counts herself out and assumes she has no one left to be with. This makes her extremely quiet and very reserved, and thus she usually only speaks when addressed. She dwells on the fact that she has lost sixteen years of her life and is loath to speak of her father or sister around others.

Fighting Style
Despite Presea's appearance, she is a highly effective close-ranged warrior. While able to deal and receive the most damage of all usable characters in Tales of Symphonia, she is also the slowest, causing her to be more vulnerable when it comes to taking hits; however, she makes up for this flaw with her aforementioned high defense. She is also the only usable character besides Lloyd who does not possess any magic-based artes.

Tales of Hearts
Presea appears as a support arte when the player uses the "Red Jewel Brooch" item. When summoned she will perform either Kogetsusen or Shougetsusousen.

Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3
Presea, along with the rest of the Symphonia cast, appears as playable character in the game.

Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2
Presea appears with most of the Symphonia cast as playable characters. Presea first arrives on the Van Eltia, and she goes along with the Protagonist and Zelos Wilder during the seventh story mission at the World Tree's roots. There, they find Janis Kern and his assistant attempting to use a detonator on a large solid plant. Presea and the others convince Janis to stop and he agrees, but his assistant sets off the bomb by accident and unleashes the antagonist Goede. Presea with the others fight Goede and defeat him, Presea then returns to Van Elita after. Presea plays no important role after this event, but the player can take up other quest with her with either Zelos or Genis. After Goede is defeated, she is seen with the other Symphonia cast on the Van Eltia looking at the mana spreading across the world. The axe Presea uses throughout the entire game is her strongest weapon the "Gaia Cleaver".

Tales of VS.
Presea makes an appearance as a playable character in Tales of VS.. Three years prior to the events of the story, she was tested in mana experiments and caused her to stop growing. Since then, she has become an emotionless, freelance warrior. During Mao and Caius Qualls' story, Presea gains her emotions back and is able to grow up again.

Trivia

 * Presea can gain the "Dream Traveler" title, which changes her outfit to that worn by Klonoa, the star of his own game series.
 * Presea is referenced in Tales of Vesperia as a skill Karol Capel can learn called "Combatir", which increases his power when wielding an axe.