Zelos Wilder

Zelos Wilder (ゼロス・ワイルダー) is a key protagonist in the video game Tales of Symphonia.

Overview
Zelos is the Chosen One from Tethe'alla. He is rarely serious and acts as a comic relief for the group, always ready to cheer the party up at heavy-hearted moments. Quite the ladies' man (one of his possible titles is called Gigolo, which he gets by speaking to every female character in the world, while another, Casanova, can be received by his being in a party with three female characters), he has the ability to charm every woman he sees, who in turn give him gifts (the player will be able to take this advantage in the game). Zelos is quite handsome, and approaches most situations hoping to meet or impress any pretty girls nearby. He takes almost every opportunity to hit on his female team members, much to their annoyance, especially given the nicknames he gives them. He gets along poorly with Genis, whom he considers a brat.

However, he is actually quite perceptive, and can be surprisingly sensitive at times. After Corrine sacrifices himself to save Sheena at the Temple of Lightning, Sheena becomes depressed. In one of the optional Z-Skits, the player sees that Zelos is still acting lighthearted, as if Corrine had not just died. He is then chastised by the other members of the party for his lighthearted approach. When they leave, Zelos remarks to himself that, if the party members continue being visibly upset, Sheena will only get more depressed, and will not move on with her life; the only way to help her get over the loss is for them to move on.

Contrary to what one might assume, Zelos is actually very similar to Colette in some aspects. Both of them tend to bottle up any worries or insecurities they might be feeling and mask them with cheery personalities so that they don't have to deal with others in the party asking them if something is wrong. Both of them also have to deal with the consequences of hoarding such feelings, in that they suffer alone and they ultimately end up causing others in the party to feel guilt for not noticing that something was bothering them sooner.

Personal History
The first impression Zelos gives is that of a skirt-chasing, irresponsible and immature man. However, Zelos has more internal conflicts and emotional pain. As Zelos reveals to Lloyd in Flanoir (if the player chooses to talk to Zelos), his mother, Mylene, was told to marry his father, the Chosen at the time, by the Oracle of Cruxis, even though she loved someone else. Growing up, his home life was less-than-comforting. Neither his mother nor his father cared much for him; his father was already in a relationship with another woman, and his mother would only occasionally pay any real maternal attention to him. As such, Zelos' main caretaker was Sebastian, the family butler.

When Zelos was a child, his father's mistress, a half-elf, gave birth to Seles, Zelos' half-sister. As children, Zelos and Seles got along with each other, Seles in particular enjoyed getting time to play with her big brother, but their relationship would become strained following the death of their father. Following his death, life became considerably harder for Seles's half-elven mother. Wanting a better quality of life for herself and her daughter, she attempted to kill Zelos, knowing that if Zelos died, Seles (as the last relative of the half-siblings' father) would by default become the Chosen of Mana. The incident occurred on a snowy day- supposedly the first day Zelos saw snow. Mylene had taken Zelos outside and was building a snowman with him when the half-elf unleashed a barrage of magic aimed at Zelos and Mylene was caught in the crossfire. Her last words to Zelos were: "You should never have been born." Zelos would grow up to dislike snow, to the point he'd vacation in the farthest place away from Meltokio during its winters, as snow would be a constant reminder to him of the traumatic event. The image of snow stained red with Mylene's blood is one of the defining memories Zelos has of the incident.

After Mylene's death, Seles' mother was executed without trial for her crime. Seles herself was sentenced to under house-arrest in an abbey for life. It is highly likely most of Zelos's narcissist-like behavior stems from the fact that he was neglected and unappreciated throughout his childhood.

Following his mother's death, Zelos began to develop a loathing for both himself and his status as a Chosen, blaming himself for his mother's death and cursing the Chosen system for causing his mother's misery in the first place. He grew up under the impression that he was worthless, a pathetic Chosen who could never save the world. This impression was further nurtured by the knowledge that Seles would have been a far more capable Chosen than he. Zelos lived in the knowledge that, had he died that snowy day in Meltokio, Seles would've possibly become the greatest Chosen that Tethe'alla had seen in decades. Both this and the knowledge that he could not live up to the expectations set upon him as Chosen further deepened Zelos's lack of self-worth. Growing up in Meltokio's uncaring society, Zelos was forced to lock his emotions away and adopt a mask of confidence, self-assurance, self-esteem, and superficiality. This "mask" allowed him to differentiate between those who merely had a passing interest in him and those who truly wished to know and befriend him. It also allowed him to defend himself from further emotional trauma.

Zelos is also somewhat prejudiced against half-elves, likely due to Mylene's murderess being half-elven and being taught from birth that half-elves were "disgusting, filthy creatures." Despite this apparent prejudice, he is actually more sympathetic to half-elves than his peers, exerting his influence to stop some of the Pope's radical anti-half-elf legislature from becoming law even before he meets Lloyd. After meeting Genis and Raine, he eventually learns to accept them, despite his conflicts with Genis, at one point commenting on how they're nothing like the half-elf stereotypes he'd been taught about, but remarking that he is not quite able to rid himself of feelings of prejudice. His slightly more sympathetic view on them is due to the fact he feels he can relate to them in some aspect, remarking once that "nobody wanted us to be born".

When Zelos was six, he met a young Regal at the Princess' birthday party. He is thus somehow able to recognize who he is when Regal joins their group; he repeatedly implies that Regal is the President of Lezareno, but the party fails to realize this until it is made apparent by Regal himself.

As he reached his teenage years, Zelos found that he was considered very popular amongst Meltokio's noblewomen. It soon became apparent that these aristocrats were not interested in him for his personality, nor for his good looks; they only wished to be associated with the Chosen of Mana. Zelos used this superficial interest to his advantage, and soon gained a world-spanning reputation as a womanizer. He was educated at the Imperial Research Academy in Sybak, where his good looks and status allowed him to manipulate his female classmates into taking notes and tests for him despite the fact that, although he excelled at mathematics, he was less-than-proficient at most everything else. As such, he graduated at the top of his class.

Sometime in the years before meeting Lloyd, he was approached by Cruxis themselves, and was given the offer to rid himself of the Chosen status should he in return become their spy. By this time Zelos had already grown very bitter towards his position, as well as towards himself, and had given up practically all hope that things could get better for him or his sister, thus, he allied himself with them.

In both the manga and video game, it is made apparent the Sheena and Zelos knew each other before meeting in Meltokio with Lloyd's party, although how long they've know each other and how they met is never made clear. Only that Sheena has some standing animosity towards him, most likely because he habitually makes unwanted passes at her. (A skit once revealed that he has attempted to watch her showering.) Despite this however they have been proven to have a stable, though rather dysfunctional, friendship, frequently chatting (or bickering) and bouncing ideas off of each other. During the game Zelos shows some concern for Sheena's well being, and Sheena has admitted that she doesn't doubt that deep down Zelos is a good person. Near the end of the game there's a skit where Zelos offers to help Sheena find a place to relocate Mizuho should the event ever arise that they have to move.

Role in the plot
The player first meets Zelos with his entourage in Meltokio, where he attempts to woo (the then-unresponsive) Colette Brunel and Raine. When the party reaches the castle, he helps them negotiate with the King and the Pope in order to find a way to save Colette—as the Chosen, he is very influential, second in power only to the King of Tethe'alla himself. One stipulation, however, is that the party remain at all times in Tethe'alla. When the party plans to go meet Dirk in Iselia to see if he can help Colette, and convinces Zelos to allow them to do so, Zelos is branded a traitor for doing so and the Pope orders his arrest.

When the party attempts to retrieve the Rheiards on the Fooji Mountains, Zelos claims that he has some device to transport them. However, at the summit, he leads them into a trap (supposedly by accident), where Yuan and Pronyma find them. The party defeats Pronyma, but Yuan's Renegades reclaim the Rheiards.

Zelos also helps the party return to Meltokio through the sewers when the Papal Knights refuse them entry through the city's gate. Inside Meltokio, the citizens, despite being aware of Zelos's status as a traitor, still treat him as they always have. Even some members of the church do so as well; the pastor in the Hot Springs island agrees not to report Zelos' presence.

Inside the Tethe'alla Base, Zelos suspiciously disappears for a moment before reappearing. He then makes several odd references to betraying the group, such as "joking" that he would try deceiving Lloyd and being somewhat surprised when Sheena says "I hate traitors more than anything else," when referring to the very recent revelation that Kuchinawa is working for the Pope. These initially seem incidental, but ultimately serve to foreshadow future plot twists.

In the third main "act" of the game, in which the party attempts to cure Colette and ultimately reunite the worlds, Zelos cleverly tricks two Papal Knights into believing that Colette is Spiritua, an angel of death, and takes advantage of their fear of her to convince them to drop the charges against him and the others, as well as to try to capture the Pope(who escapes). He also succeeds in convincing Princess Hilda to persuade the King of Tethe'alla to write a letter to the Elder of Heimdall in order to let them into the village. Throughout the mission to cure Colette, Zelos is seemingly distrustful of Kratos' motives.

It is later implied that he dislikes Kratos for manipulating and leading his son, Lloyd, on for his own intentions, which possibly reminds Zelos of the father who abandoned him. It is also implied that Zelos also dislikes Kratos because he sees himself in him, something that he finds disturbing.

Zelos' choice
One of the major twists in the plot involves Zelos. After Altessa, the dwarf craftsman in Tethe'alla, is badly wounded, the party takes the Rheiards to the city of Flanoir to find a doctor. The doctor requests an entourage and takes the four characters who have the lowest relationships with Lloyd. That night, the three characters with the highest relationships with Lloyd will come to the his room at the Flanoir Inn, asking for him to go for a walk with them. The player may have Lloyd agree to the walk with any one of them, or may deny them all (in which case, Lloyd goes outside on his own, where he meets his father, Kratos). Morning comes, and Lloyd decides to make a direct attack on Cruxis, at the Tower of Salvation.

If Lloyd spoke to one of the first three guests, Zelos betrays the party at the Tower, revealing that he had been working for both Cruxis and the Renegades the entire time. This sheds new light on past incidents, and might suggest that he had planned for the party to be trapped on the Fooji mountains, and was speaking with a contact when he disappeared in the Renegades' base (Yuan says that their "friend" can help the Renegades find the party, which may be a reference to Zelos). Claiming to care only for himself, he decides to join with the group most likely to win the upcoming fight: Cruxis. (In reality, while in Flanoir, Kratos(unseen at the time) requested that Zelos retrieve the rare stone known as Aionis, a material needed to form the Ring of the Pact, and thereby wield the Eternal Sword. The only way for Zelos to obtain it would be for him to enter Cruxis' stronghold.)

Upon reaching the tower, Zelos then leads Colette forward, claiming that he wants her help in taking the Eternal Sword, but angels surround the two, and Pronyma reveals Zelos' betrayal, before leaving with him. While Lloyd's party makes their way to the Hall of the Great Seed, each and every single one of them falls, one-by-one, into various traps in an effort to allow Lloyd to challenge Mithos and save Colette and the world. Unbeknownst to Lloyd, Zelos releases them, and guides them to the Hall, where they reunite with Lloyd and help defeat Pronyma. Shortly thereafter (presumably after obtaining the Aionis), Zelos rejoins the party and helps to defeat Yggdrasill. He confesses that he did, in fact, deceive Lloyd when Lloyd asks him if all of what he did was to obtain the Aionis; as Kratos begins his plan to make the Eternal Ring midway through the second "act," Zelos may have been acting for other motives before Kratos approached him.

If Lloyd is paired with Zelos, he will receive the Chosen's Orb from him. When Lloyd is shot by an arrow fired from a trap in the Tower of Salvation, the Chosen's Orb protects him. Lloyd is briefly conflicted, realizing that Zelos saved him but that he also betrayed the group.

On this path through the game, Zelos survives and will, if paired with Lloyd, be possessed by Mithos after Lloyd makes a pact with Origin. During the game's final cutscene, Zelos is seen requesting that an emissary of peace—specifically Sheena—be sent to Iselia, using his influence as the Chosen to do so.

However, if Lloyd spoke with Kratos at Flanoir, Lloyd will ask Zelos if he can trust him. This seems to prompt Zelos to confront the party on his own (rather than leave with Pronyma) when he betrays them. He says that he never earned their trust when Lloyd takes umbrage at his betrayal (saying "You said I could trust you!" rather than "I still trust you, you hear me?"). He then fights the party, hoping that they will kill him and end his life. As the Chosen of Tethe'alla prepares for his last battle, he tells Lloyd how he only ever wished for a "fun, easy life", a simple life he couldn't have as the Chosen.

Zelos fights the party (in the place of a minor angel boss) and is defeated, being mortally wounded in the process. He tells the party where Colette is being held, and urges them to save her. He then says that after he is dead, Seles will become the Chosen and be freed from the abbey. When Lloyd expresses disbelief that Zelos would die for this purpose, he says that it is "just a bonus." With his last breath, he asks that the group destroy his Cruxis Crystal, then dies of his wounds.

Two skits are played, based on whether Zelos lives or dies. "Zelos' Betrayal" is played after the party enters the basement of the Tower if he lives, in which the party reflects on the warning signs of his betrayal. "Dear Friend" is played as the party exits the tower after saving Colette, in which they realize that he helped them.

Side plots

 * The player can fly to an island where the Church of Martel has hot springs. Only one hot spring exists, and as Sheena refuses to bathe with the other males (notably Zelos), only the males or females enter at once. When the females enter, Zelos spies on them, but when Lloyd catches him, he escapes and lets Lloyd take the blame.


 * If Zelos completes the Advanced Course in the Tethe'alla Arena, Seles will challenge him. Upon being defeated, Seles claims that she wanted to help Zelos. A subsequent skit in which Raine falsely claims that Seles is nearby and Zelos yells out to her that she is putting herself in danger reveals that Zelos hides his feelings about Seles in order to protect her, the consequence of which is his claiming he does not care for her.


 * If the party revisits Meltokio late in the game, it is revealed that the Pope, who had been a fugitive since Lloyd exposed his scheme to poison the King, has kidnapped the Princess and wants to exchange her for the Chosen. However, the Pope has substituted his half-elven daughter Kate, whom he has poisoned, for her. Zelos escapes the trap and takes Kate back to his mansion, where he has Sebastian treat her, resulting in Sebastian commenting on his change in attitude towards half-elves. Zelos then catches the Pope in Gaoracchia Forest, who reveals his plan to kill Zelos in order to get his jewel and become king. Zelos, however, defeats the Pope's men with the help of his friends and has the Pope arrested. Zelos takes the credit for saving the Princess, and a dinner party is held to celebrate the occasion. This dinner party enables Lloyd and four other characters of the player's choice to gain their formal costumes.
 * If the party revisits Sybak later in the game and talks to a young boy right outside the inn, a short side-event will ensue. The child is from the Meltokio slums, looking for his mother. During the scene, Zelos displays a side of him that reveals how defensive he is for the poor, and that he has come to accept that there are some benefits to the power bestowed upon the chosen, and claims he will take responsibility for his actions.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
Zelos returns as a playable character in the sequel, as this game does not follow the ending where Zelos dies in the first game. Two years later after the Chosen system was abolished, Zelos pushed for major reformations within the Church. As in the first game he is still after girls and persuades them for their items.

Zelos first appears in the once again rebuilt Palmacosta, helping Emil and Marta when they're about to fight Richter. He almost immediately flirts with Marta, something that slightly creeps her out, and also makes Emil gape at them. After Richter leaves, Zelos gives the two of them his name before he goes, as well. Marta begins to wonder if he is the Chosen of Tethe'alla, though they all doubt it as he is so different from Colette. Later while they try saving Emil's old neighbor Thomas, Alice appears and battles them. After her defeat, one of her monsters called Portos goes back to its senses and is about to kill her, but Zelos rescues her and tells her that as long as she leaves, he will forget her actions. Alice, understanding her situation, leaves them. Emil and Marta asks Zelos if he knows where Lloyd is, calling him a "bastard". This makes Zelos annoyed, telling them that he won't talk to people who seek revenge on his "bastard friend". Marta is disappointed that he, like Colette, does not believe them, but Emil says that he could see in the man's eyes that unlike Colette, he would not even listen to what they had to say about Lloyd.

Later, Zelos' sister is kidnapped by Lloyd, but Zelos tells Emil that the person who kidnapped her was not Lloyd. When the party sees two Lloyds fighting each other, and if Emil chooses to hit the real Lloyd, Zelos will stop him and reveal that he knew from the start who the fake was. Zelos is the only character who knows without a doubt that the Lloyd is innocent from the start, as he had faith that the real Lloyd would never kidnap his sister, and was tipped off by Decus', the fake Lloyd's, tell-tale scent. This emphasizes the theme that, although Zelos appears ditzy at times, he actually carries a good amount of insight about the other characters.

Like Colette, he has also achieved an angel status, though his wings manifest only while he uses his mystic arte Shining Bind.

Zelos' fighting style
Zelos' is described in the game as being a "magic swordsman", since although he uses a sword to be an effective close-range striker, he also knows long-range magic and healing spells. It is suggested by Sheena in her scene with Lloyd in Flanoir that Zelos must be at least a small part elf for him to be able to use such magic. Zelos himself tells the group he can use magic because while being an infant he was given elven blood transfusions.

Zelos' fighting style is similar to that of Kratos, though it seems like Zelos has a little shorter range than Kratos. Zelos has some useful spells, although he prefers to fight on the front lines if left to his own devices. Although he uses the same weapons and armor as Kratos, his sword-play varies subtly from that of Kratos: Zelos' sword-play is quicker, reflecting his finesse rather than his strength (he resembles a dancing figure when swinging his sword). The varied sword-play style also affects some of his techniques. For example, when Kratos uses the technique Victory Light Spear, he tends to lift himself up too fast, often missing the final mid-air spiral cut. Zelos, on the other hand, has no trouble flawlessly delivering all four hits from the same technique. Also, he is one of the three playable characters in the PS2 version (Raine and Presea are the other two) who has two Mystic Artes: Shining Bind and Divine Judgment. In the sequel of the game, however, his Mystic Arte is only Shining Bind. He retains Divine Judgement in some spin-offs, however.

Zelos' uses swords and daggers, like Kratos. His strongest weapon is the sword Last Fencer which can be won by defeating his sister Seles in the Coliseum. The strongest dagger is Crystal Dagger, although it is not as strong as Last Fencer. His gag weapons are the dagger Toy Dagger and the sword Baseball Bat, and they can be bought in the completely rebuilt Luin. His Devil's Arms are the dagger Fafnir, which is obtained in the Gaoracchia Forest, and the sword Soul Eater, which is obtained after beating a giant Sand Worm in the Triet dessert.

Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3
Zelos appears in Narikiri Dungeon 3, and at one point, he jokes around about Suzu being his and Sheena's child because of their last names.

Tales of Fandom Vol 2
Zelos appears in the second volume of Tales of Fandom along with the other Tales of Symphonia-cast. In this volume, it is confirmed that Zelos talked to Kratos when he was separated from the group in Flanoir.

Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2
Zelos makes his second appearance in the Tales of the World series in Radiant Mythology 2 as a playable character. In this game, Zelos is a young man part of a family that has protected the World Tree for many generations. Zelos first appears in the story when he along with Colette, Lloyd, and Raine return with information for Jade. Zelos goes along with the Protagonist and Presea during the seventh story mission at the Slime Nest. There they find Janis Kern and his assistant attempting to use a detonator on a large solid plant. Zelos and the others convince Janis to stop and he agrees, but his assistant sets off the bomb by accident and unleashes the antagonist Guede. Zelos with the others fight Guede and defeat him, Zelos then returns to Van Eltia after. During the end of the game after Guede is finally defeated, Zelos is seen with the other Symphonia cast on the Van Eltia looking at the mana spreading across the world.

Zelos in addition can be fought during a Trial Quest or in the Arena, when he is faced as boss the music Beat the Angle is played. The job class Zelos is set with is called Templar and the sword he uses throughout the entire game is the Ether Sword which he used when he fought the party as boss in his original game.

Viva - Tales Of!
Zelos is usually one of the two who host Viva Tales of!, along with Jade Curtiss from Tales of the Abyss. Although there have been times where he has not been a host, he still manages to get a role. Usually he is seen flirting with the female guests, mostly the main heroines.

Trivia

 * In Tales of the Abyss, a replica in Daath says when the player talks to him, "...Ze...lo...s...Di...ed..." This possibly states that the canon story in Tales of Symphonia is the one where Zelos died. This statement is later contradicted in Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World.
 * As Masaya Onosaka, Zelos's Japanese voice actor, he is often the MC of Tales events. Zelos by default is also the MC of such events, and Onosaka is often presented with a Zelos's skit face shown talking on a screen while Masaya Onosaka speaks in the style and manner of Zelos.
 * There is a glitch using zelos' title narcisist that you get by completing the princess kidnapping side quest, when you go on a fight with zelos as one of the 4 on screen characters, regardless of the sword equipped (only swords apply this) it will be replaced with a bouquet of roses, it has no effect on the fight but it is fun to see