Emil Castagnier

Emil Castagnier (エミル・キャスタニエ) is the main protagonist of Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World.

Information
His parents were killed by Lloyd Irving, the main protagonist in the original Tales of Symphonia. He is portrayed as a coward, but promises to protect Marta Lualdi, the bearer of the Ratatosk Core by forming a contract with the Lord of Monsters, Ratatosk, thus making him the Knight of Ratatosk. He receives the strength to fight against monsters through this contract, making his voice deepen, his eyes turn red, and his attitude bolder. In the duration of this phase, Emil is more violent and blood-thirsty, which is why some call him a monster. This form is later on called "Ratatosk Mode". His goal is to help Marta hatch the Centurion Cores and ultimately avenge the death of his parents.

Emil eventually falls in love with Marta. Depending on the choices the player makes, Emil may or may not end up with Marta in the end.

An Almost Humble Beginning
As the game starts, Emil is shown to have saved Marta during the Palmacosta Blood Purge. However, he leaves her with barely a word, returning to his parents, who are dying from wounds that Lloyd had inflicted on them. His mother's final words were to find his relatives in Luin. After this introductory sequence, the game skips forward in time. Emil is in Luin, living with his Aunt Flora and Uncle Alba, yet he is shown to be timid, indecisive, and otherwise cowardly. He has a less than loving relationship with the two, in addition to the rest of the town, due to him being a so-called, "supporter" of the Vanguard--an organization that wishes to free the Sylvaranti people from oppression--and against Lloyd, who led the attack in the Blood Purge, but is, ironically, a true hero to almost every person in the game. This is why most people call him Lloyd The Great.

Emil's day in Luin begins with a howl of a monster waking him up. He wanders around town, eventually bumping into Richter, who saves him from some bullies. Richter ends up having quite the impact on Emil, saying things that inspired him to perservere until the end of the game, one of his quotes being, "Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality." As quickly as he met Richter, he parted with him, as he didn't know of who he was looking for - a girl with a red gem on her forehead. However, some chaos outside Luin gave Emil the chance to sate his curiosity as to what was going on with the recent monster influx, despite not truly being able to defend himself. It was then that he first met Marta, who saved him.

The Real Emil Castagnier
Later on in the story it is discovered that Emil is not really Emil Castagnier, but actually a personality created by Ratatosk who was implanted with false memories. The name Emil belongs to a person who most likely died during the Blood Purge. Ratatosk assumed the form of Aster, possibly because he was the last human he saw before Richter reduced him to core form. Ratatosk/Emil were awakened by Marta Lualdi as she called for help in Palmacosta. In a ruse to escape, he implanted her with a fake core to draw attention away from himself while he regained his power. Exhausted, Ratatosk became dormant while the personality Emil took it's place. The new Emil, in the guise of Aster, wandered upon previous Emil's dying parents and Emil's mother Lana, now blind, mistook him for her son. Emil then followed her directions to escape to his aunt in Luin.

With the "spirit" of Emil and physical form of Aster, he was able hide after being attacked by Richter Abend. The Emil who acts as the protagonist in the story is the personality Ratatosk created which grows from his experiences after fleeing Palmacosta. Some clues that other characters are aware the new Emil does not look like the real Emil despite taking on his identity are when the player meets Ms. Dorr (the widow of Palmacosta's governor-general) and Thomas (Emil's apparent next-door neighbor) both stated that they didn't recognize Emil, but eventually let it slide.

Tenebrae chose to let Emil/Ratatosk live for a while without telling him the truth, even letting him believe the core on Marta's forehead is real so the gathering of the other Centurion's cores would be easier. The pact with Ratatosk and the title of Knight of Ratatosk that go with it in fact do not exist, and are fabrications by Tenebrae.

Family
The real Emil Castagnier's father and mother were named Reysol and Lana Castagnier respectively. They probably knew Lloyd, hinting this when they were afraid for Lloyd killing them in the Blood Purge. They are killed by Decus, who was impersonating Lloyd at the time, and with her last breath, Lana tells the new Emil to go to her younger sister in Luin, Flora, and her husband, Alba. She does that without being able to see his face. This suggests that she thinks Emil is the one right there. She then dies.

The reason that Flora and Alba accepts Emil as their nephew is because they had never seen Emil before, but knew of his birth. [At a certain point in the game, Emil says that before he moved in with his Aunt and Uncle, he has never seen them before.]

Fighting Style
Like all main characters, Emil is a strong, frontline swordsman who can hit fast and hard, similar to Lloyd, Zelos and Kratos. Unlike them, he has an unrefined sword style as he tends to swing more wildly than the other swordsmen and is a lot more brutal with his attacks in comparison.

Most importantly with Emil are his skills which take advantage of the battle systems in the game. Emil is able to be more of an airborne fighter using the Sky Combo and Sky Attack series of skills. This allows him to fight flying enemies more easily as well as dragging ground enemies into the air where they'll be helpless and unable to counter attack.

The second important part of Emil's skills are the skills gained acquiring the Centurion Cores. All of these skills (named after the centurion of that element) alter Emil's artes depending on which skill is turned on (for example, the skill Tenebrae turns the arte Demon Fang into a darkness element melee attack). This is important as Emil can have direct control of the elemental grid which makes monster capturing and Unison Attacks easier to perform.

Endings

 * Bad Ending - Depending on the player's actions when facing Lloyd and Marta at the end of the game, Emil may or may not live. If the Bad Ending occurs, Marta will pass out, and when Emil's feelings come forth, he kills himself, thinking that Marta is dead. He then transforms into Ratatosk's Core. Marta then wakes up and cries out for Emil. There's a small scene with a journal background where Marta writes about what happened. In the Japanese version of the game, the message is implied to be a suicide note, but this wording was avoided in the English release. The ending screen occurs after the message is read, and it provides no option to save the game, requiring the player to restart from the previous save point like a standard game over screen.


 * Good Ending - Depending on the player's actions when facing Lloyd and Marta and the player's choices throughout the game, the Normal Ending will occur, where Emil recombines himself with Ratatosk. Ratatosk, realizing his past mistakes, tells the group to get out of the Ginnungagap, in order for him to be locked inside there. However, when Marta, as the last to exit, tells him that she loves him, referring to both Emil and Ratatosk. Ratatosk turns around, revealing Emil's greens eyes, and says that he, as both Emil and Ratatosk, loves her as well. The door is then locked.


 * True Ending - Depending on the player's actions when facing Lloyd and Marta and the choices throughout the game, the Perfect Ending will occur. Before the end credits, Richter and Ratatosk will have a conversation where it seems like Richter switches place with Ratatosk in the job of guarding the Ginnungagap. Richter then suggests that Ratatosk, here noticed to be able to maintain a physical form along with his core one, divides himself in a Emil and a Ratatosk form. Ratatosk tries to refuse, but after some arguments from Richter, Tenebrae, and Aqua, he thanks them and the credits roll on. After the credits, there will then be a cutscene where Emil appears before Marta in Palmacosta, smiling. They then hug or possibly kiss and unlock their ultimate titles Perfect Partner.

The result of the very final battle, the one between Emil himself and Ratatosk, does not interfere with the endings, although the fight will only occur when going through either Normal or Good ending.

Relationships
Marta Lualdi - Emil's first real friend since the attack on Palmacosta and his love interest. At first, Emil was able to play along with Marta's advancing their relationship forcefully, but he finally stood up for himself and Marta finally realized just how special Emil really was. He always does whatever he can to protect her and would sacrifice himself to make sure Marta was safe, despite their awkward first encounter. Over time, Emil and Marta's relationship blossoms into true love as each supports the other. If the Perfect Ending is achieved, it hints that Emil and Marta have a possible marriage in the future.

Tenebrae - Loyal to Lord Ratatosk, Tenebrae stood by Emil's side throughout the entire game with Emil unaware of how he was tied to Ratatosk. Despite Tenebrae's usual teasings and corny jokes, Emil views Tenebrae as a very close and good friend.

Colette Brunel - The two met in Asgard and she quickly became Emil's next friend. They get along without any problems, though Emil is sometimes dumbfounded by Colette's clueless words. Also when Marta and Emil first met Colette, Marta felt that Colette was trying to steal Emil from her.

Raine and Genis - Strangely, while Marta had her fear of half-elves, Emil quickly bonded with the two and they became good friends of his. He has probably earned some kind of brother like admiration from Genis as well as a teacher/student relationship with Raine. Raine even remarks how Emil's words nearly match those of Lloyd during the World Regeneration. Emil always seems to turn to Raine when he needs advice. Genis is also excited to be Emil's friend as, since he will outlive all of his human friends, Emil will still be around.

Regal Bryant - Like Colette, Emil and Regal bond very fast and have a sort of father/son bond with each other as Regal treats Emil fairly and like an equal. In turn, Emil acknowledges Regal's kindness and they are good friends going to him for any advice.

Zelos Wilder - Though their first encounter was slightly strange and a bit rough, Zelos has gotten to be one of Emil's friends. He does wonder why Emil has not come to Zelos for helpful advice when he has with Regal and Raine.

Sheena Fujibayashi - Emil has a mother/son relationship with Sheena, though this is more likely one sided. He once almost called her "Mom" while leaving the Temple of Darkness after reviving Tenebrae. And thanks to Tenebrae, Emil was accidentally accused by Sheena for calling her "motherly" because of her breasts. Despite these moments when she thinks Emil might be perverted, Sheena knows Emil is a good friend of hers. And after discovering he was really the summon spirit Ratatosk, Sheena wanted to make a pact with him so she could see him whenever she liked. It's not sure if she has done this or not if one reaches the Perfect Ending.

Presea Combatir - Emil and Presea share a big brother/little sister relationship, as Emil cares deeply for her well being battle, stating he cares for her well fare because she's small. Presea admires Emil for not giving up on his many attempts to discover his true identity and thinks helping him achieve his goals will give her the courage to regain her real self. Presea an Emil also feel close to each other because both of them have lived much longer than they appear.

Lloyd Irving - At first, Emil got angry whenever someone stood up for Lloyd as a hero when Emil saw him attacking and killing everyone in Palmacosta. Throughout the story, Emil seems to go into Ratatosk Mode a lot when dealing with his anger towards Lloyd. But once Emil learns the truth and Lloyd joins Emil, the two bond almost immediately with no hatred held against either. Lloyd also admires Emil for all he's gone through and still remaining himself.

Richter Abend - Despite being a member of the Vanguard, Emil admired Richter for all the kindness he gave him when they first met and how he helped him stand up for himself. It was this belief that Richter had a kind heart that motivated Emil into trying to reason with Richter in the Ginnungagap, trying to avoid another incident like when he helped take Decus' life when protecting Marta from Alice. It works and Richter abandons his goals to become Emil's friend.

Ratatosk - Both he and Emil share the same body, but Ratatosk fights to control Emil. At first, Ratatosk tells Marta that Emil is too weak and cowardly to protect Marta and depends on him to step in and finish the fight. But Emil finally decided to temporarily put away Ratatosk's power by having Verius seal him away. However, this proves useless as Emil faces Ratatosk within his own conscious to try and reach an understanding. Afterwards, Ratatosk finally accepts Emil as part of himself and the two agree to share the same body.

Trivia

 * The name Emil in general means, "enthusiasm". This is possibly an indirect reference to Emil's character growth in the game.
 * The name Emil in German also means "to copy". This could be related to the fact that he is merely a copy of Aster's body and the original Emil's personality.
 * Early magazine scans for ToS: DotNW had shown Emil to have not only red and green eyes, but blue eyes as well. This has led some people to believe that Ratatosk has red eyes, Emil has green eyes, and Aster's eyes are blue.
 * Both Emil and Ratatosk have a talent for cooking, and both have their unique styles; Emil has a habit of carving what he makes into various things (examples being: carving a turnip into a dove, making a turtle out of a pumpkin, shaving carrots into flowers, etc.) while whatever Ratatosk makes is very rough in appearance (as described by Marta and Tenebrae). Regardless of who cooks, it's still apparently good.
 * Many fans have notice that Emil has many similiarities to Luke fon Fabre from Tales of the Abyss. This can be suspected, because Emil earns many of Luke's artes, they are both replicas of somebody else, they carry their swords in a simliar way, and their endings are very similiar.
 * Apparently no one ever notices the difference in Emil's and Ratatosk's eye colors, only being able to tell the difference through their behaviors and possibly tone of voice. A prime example of this is late in the game, during a period when Ratatosk has remained dominant for a long period of time. Marta was distressed at this, and Ratatosk tried to cheer her up, looking her in the eyes and mimicking Emil's tone of voice, but accidentally calling Marta a "fool". Marta only realized that Ratatosk was in control after this. Another example is at the end of the game, when Emil tries acting like Ratatosk to get the group to kill him and turn him into a core. While he replicates Ratatosks personality and voice perfectly, fooling everyone, his eyes remain Emil's green. Marta, depending on the outcome of the fight, realized that it is Emil pretending to be Ratatosk.
 * Both Emil and Ratatosk can mimick each other's voices perfectly; only Emil can perfectly replicate Ratatosk's personality, not the other way around.
 * Emil is currently listed as the 10th most popular character in the Tales series. This contradicts several negative opinions about his even being listed as the 4th most irritating character by 1up.
 * When Emil meets Decus in the Lezareno Building, he still refers to him as "the one who killed my parents," even though it has been implied that Emil is Aster at this point in the game.