Cheagle

A cheagle (チーグル) is a small, herbivorous creature in Tales of the Abyss. One of the game's central characters, Mieu, is a cheagle.

History
Cheagles are quiet, timid animals with high intelligence and a capability of breathing fire. They have large ears and come in a variety of pastel-based colors. Since the Dawn Age, cheagles have been used as experimental test subjects by humans. A central figure of this time, Yulia Jue, was revered as a child prodigy due to her ability to see into the future, and because of this, she was often regarded as deviant and shunned by her peers. Yulia's loneliness was overcome by her love for cheagles, and the creatures would later become a symbol of the Order of Lorelei due to this affinity she shared for them. She gave them a device known as the Sorcerer's Ring, which allowed them to speak the human language and communicate with her.

During the events of the story, cheagles are only ever seen living in one habitat: the Cheagle Woods north of the farming village Engeve. When cheagle fur is found at the scene of a food theft in Engeve, Luke fon Fabre, Tear Grants, and Fon Master Ion venture to the Cheagle Woods to investigate. There, they learn from the Cheagle Elder, who uses the Sorcerer's Ring to communicate with them, that one of their members, a young cheagle named Mieu, accidentally burned down a nearby habitat of ligers. This resulted in the ligers migrating to the Cheagle Woods to hunt the cheagles for food, so the cheagles resorted to stealing food from humans in Engeve to appease the ligers. Luke, Tear, and Ion agree to help the cheagles by visiting the ligers' lair to reason with them, using Mieu and the Sorcerer's Ring as a method of communication.

Forced to fight and kill the Liger Queen, the group returns victorious, leaving the cheagle tribe safe. However, because of Mieu's actions, the Cheagle Elder demands that he accompany Luke for a full cycle of the seasons. Mieu thereafter becomes an accompanying group member. The only other cheagle seen in one named Star, whom the group finds caged in Ortion Cavern, having been used as a replica experiment.