Martel

Martel is a fictional character in the fifth release of the series, Tales of Symphonia. She makes other, more minor appearances in another part of the Tales series, Tales of Phantasia.

Goddess Martel
The Goddess Martel is the chief deity worshiped by the inhabitants of the worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, along with the the angels of Cruxis. According to most people, especially in Sylvarant, it is widely 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 and regenerate the world.

Few specifics are revealed about the Goddess Martel, aside from the fact that she is a goddess who protects the world from harm.

Martel Yggdrasill
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 the place of their mother. She would worry about Mithos and the others in the group in a very motherly way. Martel was said to be selfless and self-sacrificing, just like Colette, the perfect match of her mana signature. The thing she wanted most was for the different races to be able to live together peacefully. At one point, she suffered from the rare disease known as Chronic Angelus Crystallus Inofficium, brought on by her Cruxis Crystal. Fortunately, it was later cured, although she seemed to have been weakened by it long after that. She was also engaged to Yuan and enjoyed playing panpipes.

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 within the Great Seed, which needed help in order to live through the massive abuse of mana.

In his fervor to revive 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 her back to life. The only way to create the perfect vessel is 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 in Sylvarant, is the result of this, as 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.

Rampage of the Giant Kharlan Tree
When the Giant Kharlan Tree germinates out of control, Martel is put in danger of being engulfed by the vicious tree. However, Lloyd and his father, Kratos and the Renegades uses the Mana Cannon to fire its energy at the monstrosity, and Martel become fused with the Great Seed once more.

Reawakening
Late in the game, Mithos’ 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 the pain that it had caused, and because it was a twisted interpretation of her final wish. Having said this, Martel returns to her slumber within the Great Seed when either Kratos Aurion or Zelos Wilder places a Rune 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.

Spirit Martel
At the game's end, "Martel" is returned to life when the Great Seed germinates to create a new World 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. Mithos' sister Martel is only one of the many souls that compose Martel the Spirit's consciousness.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
In the sequel of the game, Martel the tree spirit comes forth before Lloyd and tells him the situation about Ratatosk and the Centurions' cores. She asks him to help save the world a second time. It is also thanks to Martel that Lloyd is not affected by the Centurions' cores, as he is the giver of the new World Tree's name.

Tales of Phantasia
4000 years later, Tales of Phantasia takes place. The Kingdom of Midgard is depleting the mana from the World Tree, Yggdrasil. Martel, the guardian of Yggdrasill 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 using the body of the slain Dhaos, granting the Seed to the dying world of Derris Kharlan. Depending on the version of the game, she may also use her own spirit as part of the seed.

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”.
 * Martel is also the French word for 'hammer'.
 * Martel’s last name is derived from Yggdrasil, a great tree in Norse mythology.