Luke fon Fabre

Luke fon Fabre, known in Japan as Luke fone Fabre (ルーク・フォン・ファブレ), is the main protagonist in Tales of the Abyss. In the Ancient Ispanian language, his name means Light of the Sacred Flame (聖なる焔の光). He is the son of Duke Crimson Herzog fon Fabre and Duchess Suzanne fon Fabre, and by extension, the nephew of King Ingobert VI.

Kidnapping
Seven years prior to the events of the story, Luke is reportedly kidnapped by the Malkuth Empire, an experience so traumatic as to cause him to lose all memory of events and people encountered before this event. Since his return to Kimlasca, he has been confined in the Fabre manor in Baticul, by orders of his uncle, King Ingobert VI, having only the company of his parents, Natalia Luzu Kimlasca-Lanvaldear, the servants, his teacher Van Grants, and his best friend Guy Cecil. Because of this, Luke has attempted to escape many times from the manor, but to no avail. His methods of escaping have included hiding inside a bag left in a wagon that came to deliver goods to the kitchen's manor, climbing the fence, and disguising himself as a "White Knight". Since this event, Luke has periodically experienced painful headaches, similar to migraines but apparently less severe and with no perceptible cause, hearing voices each time they occur. Luke's family believe them to be linked to the kidnapping.

Spirited Away
One day in the middle of sword practice, Tear Grants enters the Fabre manor using a fonic hymn to lull its occupants to sleep, and attempts to assassinate Van. Luke intervenes, causing an isofon-induced hyperressonance which transports the two away into the Tataroo Valley, which lies within the territory of the Malkuth Empire. Thus begins Luke's adventure into the world he has never had knowledge about with Tear as his guide. As he makes his way across Malkuth, Luke begins to develop a better understanding of the world outside his manor, despite still behaving like a spoiled child until much later in the story. Shortly after their arrival in the farming village of Engeve, Luke and Tear encounter Malkuth Colonel Jade Curtiss and Fon Master Guardian Anise Tatlin of Daath.

It is later revealed that the two are escorting Fon Master Ion of the Order of Lorelei to the Kimlascan Capital, Baticul, in the hope of persuading the king of Kimlasca not to go to war with Malkuth. Luke agrees to aid Jade and Ion in obtaining an audience with his uncle, King Ingobert VI of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear, after being captured by Malkuth forces and taken aboard the Tartarus following an investigation of food theft by the cheagles under threat of being eaten by ligers. They are later joined by Guy after the Tartarus is attacked and commandeered by the six God-Generals of the Order of Lorelei, who appears miraculously on time to save Luke, Jade and Tear from Legretta and Arietta. When Largo is supposedly killed by Jade, Luke is astonished to see how Jade simply murders him. He is placed on guard when he unwilling kills an enemy soldier. Luke is shocked that he killed someone, and after some convincing conversations with Tear, he once again picks up his sword. When the party, now accompanied by Guy, runs into more soldiers, Luke cannot bring himself to draw his sword. Tear jumps in the way as the soldier prepares to strike the killing blow. Fortunately, Tear is not hurt badly, but Luke places it upon himself to not be as fearful of killing because of her injury.

After the return to Baticul, Luke discovers that Van has been arrested and possibly faces execution. However, Van is freed, and after a meeting with him Luke sees the promise of becoming a hero as stated in Lorelei's score. Luke is tricked by his very own master into destroying Akzeriuth, the mining town to which he and his party had been sent to provide assistance following an earthquake that released the miasma from below the surface. As a result of Van's deception, the Sephiroth supporting the mining town was destroyed and the entire city fell into the Qliphoth, the world beneath the Outer Lands. The Qliphoth is known only to the upper echelons of the Order of Lorelei, is shrouded in the deadly miasma, and spreads beneath the Outer Lands as an expanse of liquified crust beneath an eerie, violet sky. After the catastrophe with the destruction of Akzeriuth at Luke's hands, he starts to lose the trust and support of the whole party. They turn from him when he needs their support most. His selfish and arrogant attitude had proven to be too much for the group. They chose to abandon his side to deal with the situation that he refused to acknowledge his share of the blame of, ultimately leading him to tears. The only one who would stay by his side was Mieu.

Desire to Change
After his close encounter with God-General Asch, Luke enters in a depression shock after finding out that he is merely a replica of Asch, and that Asch is the original Luke kidnapped by Van in order to overturn Yulia Jue's Score. He is unable to overcome this on his own. As he saw through Asch's eyes the way that Guy still considered him a friend, and Tear's council about what exactly to do to make up for his mistake, Luke cuts his hair with Tear's knife to throw away his old self and try to change into a better person. From this point on, Luke's resolve seems solid, since he now wants to save the world, even if that does not make up for his actions at Akzeriuth. A little later in the game, Luke finds his own way to save the world by controlling the Sephiroth Passage Rings with his hyperressonance. If done correctly, this could allow him to steadily lower the Outer Lands into the Qliphoth before they fall.

Meaning of Birth
One month after the Outer Lands were lowered, Luke has returned to his manor in the city of Baticul. This time though, he has decided to keep in contact with his friends. After a while, Luke and his friends reunite and start travelling the world once again. As they do, it becomes clear that the world was not fully saved by their actions. Miasma starts to pour back into the Outer Lands, and replicas wander the streets with nowhere to go but the mysterious Tower of Rem. Eventually, Luke discovers a way to save the world that would involve the loss of ten thousand lives and one Seventh Fonist. The replicas, willing to die if it will put an end to their pain, offer themselves up as a sacrifice as well as Luke. He believes that he has no reason to exist and thinks that by living, he is denying Asch the life he was meant to be living. His friends try and persuade him that he is wrong, but Luke makes up his mind. He and the replicas travel to the top of the Tower of Rem and Luke starts to cast an amplified hyperressonance to absorb the world's miasma. During this time, Luke realizes that he does not want to die. His efforts to remove the miasma are not enough, and Asch is forced to step in and help again. Both him and Luke are caught up in the energy field and when it disappears, they are both still alive. Both the miasma and the replicas are gone, however.

Slow Death
Even with the miasma gone, the fate of the world still hangs in the balance. Van Grants has replicated the destroyed city of Hod, now renamed Eldrant, and will use it to destroy the world and build a new age of replicas. Luke and the others decide that they have to stop this from happening, and that they have to do it fast. At the Tower of Rem, Luke finds Asch attempting to use the replicas to erase the world's miasma, but Luke refuses to let this happen and argues with Asch for the sword. Luke tells Asch, that he should be the one to die since he is a replica. Asch leaves after failing in this attempt and Luke and his party head to Daath. At Daath, he reveals his choice that he will sacrifice his life and allow Asch to live. At the tower, Luke and Asch fight again on who will use the Key of Lorelei, but Luke manages to take Asch's place when Jade manages to hold on to Asch. While attempting this, a large object emerges from Luke's chest. Asch reveals that it is the Jewel of Lorelei that they had been searching for, and that Luke must have sealed into himself during the fight with Van. Luke uses the sword along with jewel to clear the miasma. Luke and rest of the party are surprised to see Luke living, but Luke notices that his hand is becoming transparent. The party goes back to Belkend to speak with the doctor; the doctor explains that Luke's Seventh Fonons are separating, and at some point he will die.

Desire to Live
As Luke makes his way to Eldrant to stop Van, he realizes that his remaining time after finally discovering the meaning of life is too short. Tear tries to persuade him that he is going to live and keep on living, even with the Seventh Fonons inside of him slowly fading away. He eventually reaches Eldrant but finds himself falling through a trap door into a large, sealed off chamber. Asch is down there too, and he has discovered a way to escape. Unfortunately, it requires one person to stay behind and hold the door open using hyperressonance. Luke volunteers to stay, saying that Asch would be able to defeat Van easier, being the original. Asch cannot stand Luke putting himself down though, and he cannot allow Luke to decide who is stronger on his own. He challenges his replica to fight. The winner will be declared stronger and will be allowed to go forward and defeat Van. Luke emerges from the fight victorious and Asch hold the door open for him. Afterwards though, Asch is killed by Oracle Knight replicas. As he breathes his last breath, he gives Luke what remains of his power, allowing Luke to perform Second Order hyperressonance. After defeating Van, Luke frees Lorelei and saves the world. But after catching Asch´s dead body, both of them are engulfed in a blinding light as Asch´s finger twitches.

Resurrection
One year after the battle on Eldrant, and three years after the start of his initial journey, Luke is presumed to be dead, either killed in the destruction of Eldrant or worn down by separating Seventh Fonons. However, on the night of his coming of age ceremony, his twentieth birthday, Luke mysteriously reappears in Tataroo Valley. But the Luke seen is slightly different than the one who defeated Van. Notable changes include longer hair, with a hair tone between Asch's dark ends and Luke's light ends, a completely different outfit, a slightly different voice from both Luke and Asch, and the Key of Lorelei positioned in the same way Luke always had his sword. When Tear asks why he was here, he replies that there was a nice view of Hod, and he tells her that he made a promise to someone. Tear begins to cry as she rushes over to him, joined by his other friends who were nearby except Jade, who merely smiles.

Relationship with Tear
At first, Luke and Tear are off to a horrible start. Tear thinks Luke is a spoiled brat, while Luke regards Tear as bossy and cold. The only thing Luke knows about Tear is that her self-admitted ignorance of his having the power of the Seventh Fonon has caused them both to be transported across the lands. He treats Tear, and everyone else, terribly, constantly complaining and talking down to her. Tear puts up with it only because of his status and the feeling of responsibilty she has for placing him in this situation. Still, she is quick to criticise him, and he comes to think of her as a pretty face with a bad attitude. The most notable change in their relationship is after Akzeriuth is destroyed, and the party leaves Luke behind in Yulia City with Tear, who did not want to return to the surface. Awakening, Luke sees Tear in the garden behind her house. He approaches her with plans to save St. Binah, but she does not believe in him. Though Luke speaks of understanding and change, he can tell Tear does not believe him. Using one of her daggers, he cuts off his hair to symbolise his cutting himself off from his old way of being. Tear is still unconvinced, but Luke believes his actions will prove his words true. He asks Tear to watch him, make sure he stays on the right path. Tear agrees to do so. As time goes on, Luke's determination begins to affect Tear, and slowly she begins to trust him.

As the story progresses, it becomes obvious that Luke thinks the world of Tear. However, he is not very good at showing his feelings, and screws up whenever he tries to do so. It does not help that he is dense to a fault and all hints thrown his way by other people about Tear's feelings towards him misses him completely. The two constantly deny their growing feelings for each other, much to the amusement of their fellow party members. Along with their growing feelings for each other, the both of them also begin to have increasing concerns about one another. When activating the sephiroth, Tear begins to become increasingly exhausted with each sepheroth they trigger. When they discover that the miasma is being absorbed into her body causing her exhaustion, Luke insists on staying by her side recognizing that while he wants her to stop, there is no other way around the situation. Even when they finish using the sephiroth, Luke is still concerned about the miasma in her body.

Later in the story, the roles are reversed when Tear becomes extremely worried on Luke's behalf as he tries to find his worth in the world. Because of this, he is now prone to making irrational decisions if he thinks it will give his life meaning forcing Tear to look after him more closely. This reaches its peak when Luke is faced with sacrificing himself to eliminate the miasma at the Tower of Rem. She states that even if Luke were to die to eliminate the miasma and be called a hero, she would hate him but also says that she will leave that choice up to him as he did with her when they were activating the sephiroth. When she realizes he is going through with it, she immediately tries to run to him to stop him, her eyes about to burst crying, only to be held back by Guy. She is relieved to find him alive after the whole ordeal but becomes concerned for him again once she finds out about Luke's declining fonons. Unlike the situation with Tear where she is able to suppress and eventually eliminate the miasma from killing her, there is no way around Luke's ailment and he will ultimately die. While talking to him about it gives Luke someone to talk to about his ailment, she feels completely useless while Luke slowly dies.

The night before the group's final battle, Luke attempts to tell Tear something important, but, in the end, is too nervous to say it. Should the player read Luke's diary, it is implied that Luke had wanted to tell Tear of his true feelings for her, but backed out in the end since he believed that announcing his feelings would cause her pain as he was unsure if he would survive past the final battle due to the continuous deterioration of his fonons. After the final battle with Van, as everyone says their parting words to Luke, Tear tells him tearfully to come home after everything is over, which Luke promises he will.

Fighting Style
Luke continues the tradition of being a slower-hitting, more powerful swordsman who chooses to focus on more damaging techniques with less emphasis on combos. As such, he has techniques such as Raging Blast and Guardian Field, both of which do not chain well in combos. Luke has many elemental attacks which can create incomplete FOF Circles, adding a unique amount of elemental versatility which enables him to form his own FOF Changes when needed. Through a series of sidequest events involving the Albert-style textbooks, Luke can learn additional techniques like Sonic Thrust, Demon Fist, and Slag Assault.

Tales of Vesperia
In Nordopolica, the sign behind the talking Gladiator lists and mentions a small description of Luke and the other playable Tales of the Abyss characters. On Laulyse Island, a monster named "Gentlereplica" appears when it is raining. While it is a variation of the typical Gentleman, it wears a mask of Luke, granting it the ability to parody Luke's fighting style, including the arte Raging Blast. This enemy also appears in the Majestic rank of the coliseum, alongside similarly styled parody creatures that represent Tear and Mieu. Also, in the PS3 port, Flynn Scifo can dress up as Luke by equipping the "Seinaru Homura no Hikari" title that people could aqcuire through the pre order bonus or through the "Lorelei no Kenshi" title which can be bought through the PlayStation Network.

Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology
Luke appears along with Tear in Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology as a playable character. He is classed as a Swordsman with the "Duke's Son" title. It is implied that Luke and Tear reached Terresia though a hyperresonance reaction, much like what spirited them away to Malkuth in the beginning of the game. They also leave through another hyperresonance reaction. The sword Luke uses throughout the entire game is the average "Cutlass".

Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2
Short-haired Luke and most of the Tales of the Abyss characters appear as playable characters. Luke is first seen when the Protagonist and the guild on the Van Eltia see his ship is attacked out on sea. He along with Tear, Guy, and Jade flee into a nearby cave and stay in there until the manage to recover from the attack. After the player gets the story mission to go save him and along with the others. Deep inside the cave where they are located Luke is injured badly and Guy is trying to wait for Tear to show up to heal him. After defeating Guy, Luke is prepared to fight to the player also, but Jade and Tear stop this from happening and explains to Luke that the player is not their enemy. After Tear heals Luke, he heads to ship with the others to report to Chat and he is available to called out into the players party after. Unlike the original Tales of the Abyss and other spin-off games, Asch and Luke are portrayed as twins instead of Luke being Asch's replica or clone. During the course of the game Luke tries to get along with Asch, but he just ignores him. The sword Luke uses throughout the entire game is the "Fonic Sword".

Tales of VS.
He appears as a playable character along with most of the Abyss characters. In the game's timeline and plot, he is the prince of the Kingdom of Niddhog. He has a very haughty attitude due to him being brought up as a spoiled prince who has never faced any hardships or problems. He was forced to join the Yggdrasill Battle which is part of a rite for the Imperial succession of the kingdom of Nidhogg. As in Tales of the Abyss, Luke is a replica of Asch and was raised as the real Luke. When he finds out the truth, he decides to change, then cuts his hair. Although, the long-haired Luke can still be played by pressing the Start button while choosing Luke in the character selection screen.

Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3
In Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3, Luke takes part in the game with his long-haired appearance. He is the eldest son of Duke fon Fabre and the first successor to the throne of the kingdom of Lima. Asch is designated as his twin brother, younger than Luke and second in line to ascend to the throne. They both escape to the Van Eltia under the escort of their shared swordsmanship instructor Van, while the riot brews within their country, caused by a Descender-worshiping cult known as the Disciples of the Dawn. They reunite unwillingly with Natalia, Tear, and Jade, joining them to work for the guild in exchange for staying on the ship. Luke's personality follows that of the first half of the original game's story. He shows strong immaturity through his obstinate and wayward mannerisms, frustrated by boredom, extremely emotional, and bossy towards his guild colleagues. He showed a great lack of aristocratic manners. Asch refers him as trash, and the brothers always quarrel against each other. Eventually, Van arranges a test for both of them to prove who is more suitable to be the throne successor, leading to an outcome of failure for both of them compared to Van's expectations.

Tales of the Heroes: Twin Brave
In Tales of the Heroes: Twin Brave, Luke appears in Guy's serious scenario as his partner. He remains as the son of Duke Fabre, and he takes up his long-haired appearance at first. On hearing a voice in his head telling him that he will become a hero to save the world using the Eternal Sword, Luke leaves the manor and activates the sword in spite of Guy's efforts to stop him. But it turns out that he has been deceived by the owner of the voice, Elraine, resulting in the death of thousands of people. Unable to accept the gravity of what he has done, Luke flees and is absent for two chapters. When Guy finally finds him, he is on the verge of an emotional breakdown, and he even wants to commit suicide. Guy stops him by saying that death is nothing but an escape from responsibilities, and he assures Luke that he will accompany him as always in his upcoming life to pay for the crime he has committed. Luke recovers himself and destroys the Eternal Sword together with Guy. At the end of the story Luke cuts his hair to show his determination. His short-haired appearance can be seen in a picture after the story is cleared. Luke is also the protagonist of a comical scenario with Guy assisting him. He is again the long-haired spoiled son of Duke Fabre in this story who causes chaos with other Tales characters. In the end, however, he somehow saves the world from Schwartz by talking her out of revenge on human with unintended words. When Luke appears as a boss in other stories in the game, it is most often because he is the one that has caused troubles.

Trivia

 * Following the typical hereditary order of succession in existing monarchies in the real world, Luke is currently third in line to inherit the throne of the kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear. He is preceeded by the second in line, Luke's mother Suzanne, who is the sister of the reigning king, and further preceeded by the royal heir and Luke's cousin Natalia. This disregards all complications related to replication and genetic lineage. If Luke and Natalia's intended plan of marriage had progressed, Luke would not bypass the order of succession to become the next king, instead becoming the prince consort while Natalia retains her position as queen regnant.