Sheena Fujibayashi

Sheena Fujibayashi, known as Shihna Fujibayashi (藤林しいな) in Japan, is one of the main protagonists in Tales of Symphonia. A beautiful girl from the flourishing world of Tethe'alla, Sheena is originally sent to Sylvarant by the Pope and the King of Tethe'alla with orders to assassinate Colette Brunel. Sheena is a skilled warrior from Mizuho, a hidden village of ninja. She is tough but kindhearted, and is always accompanied by Corrine, the only man-made Summon Spirit and Sheena's best friend. Because of her good looks and enormous breasts, Zelos Wilder loves to flirt with her, but she usually manages to set him straight, usually in a violent way. For a ninja, Sheena is something of a klutz, although not nearly as disastrously so as Colette; when the party first encounters her as an enemy at Ossa Trail, her enemy name is "Clumsy Assassin". As stated in a skit, her name is not actually her real name, but only those of her family can know what their real names are.

Personality
Sheena is a very strong-willed person. In part owing to her ninja upbringing, she tends to act somewhat tomboyish most of the time, but she does possess a sweet side, which becomes more apparent as the story progresses; she unexpectedly shows an interest in the flowers in Zelos' mansion. She has little confidence in her ability to make important decisions, a flaw that was considerably deepened since the disaster with Volt. She dislikes having to be rescued, preferring to rely on her tough facade instead. Although Sheena prides herself at being native to Mizuho, she was actually an orphan found in the Gaoracchia Forest as a baby. Because of this, there is no way of knowing why she has the ability to make pacts with Summon Spirits. She reveals to Lloyd in Flanoir that her summoning abilities indicate that she has some elven blood, and because of this, she felt the people in Mizuho began to treat her differently after it was discovered she had summoning powers.

Like Lloyd, she is a strong believer in altruism. She is willing to bend the rules imposed on her, such as the Pope's orders to kill the Chosen of Sylvarant, in order to do what is right. Despite the anger some of Mizuho bears towards her, she understands that mistakes can be corrected, and absolutely refuses to give up on someone, even her greatest enemy.

Sheena's tough facade has created an interesting outer personality. She tends to anger easily and is not above disciplining someone with an occasional swift smack. When she is angry, she will most definitely let someone know. However, she is also talkative, despite her troubled past and angry members of society who have cast her out of their circles.

Fighting Style
Armed with a variety of magic-infused seals, Sheena proves a decent melee fighter. More importantly, however, she can call upon powerful Summon Spirits to aid the party in battle. These summoning abilities are also vital to the storyline. With the exception of Corrine, she can only summon when she is in Overlimit mode, and at a heavy cost to her TP; once she begins the incantation, however, the chosen Summon Spirit will appear to wreak massive damage on all enemies in range and give a support stat to the party members. It should be noted, however, that during a point in the story, Sheena will no longer be able to summon Corrine, as he dies while trying to protect Sheena from an attack from Volt, the Summon Spirit of Lightning.

In the PlayStation 2 version of the game, she is the only character who does not have a mystic arte, though arguably, using Summon Spirits is technically her mystic artes, as cut-ins occur when she is summoning.

Sheena's gag weapon that the player can buy after fully restoring Luin is the Money Bags, but her strongest weapon is the Divine Judgment. Her Devil's Arm is the Gates of Hell.

In Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, gameplay wise, she can no longer call any of the Summon Spirits despite the fact that she can clearly use them in cutscenes. This is possibly due to the gameplay changes, as Overlimit cannot be triggered by the player. Because of this, she becomes a simple melee-oriented character with stat-inflicting attacks.

A past mistake
Sheena was left in the Gaoracchia Forest when she was an infant, and found by her adopted grandfather, Igaguri, who took her in to Mizuho and taught her the ninja style. Thanks to her discovered ability to use summon abilities, Igaguri put a lot of trust into her, but Sheena herself noted that she was treated much different by the townspeople ever since.

At the tender age of seven, Sheena ventured to the Temple of Lightning with people from Mizuho in order to form a pact with Volt, the Summon Spirit of Lightning. Unfortunately, Volt went into a rage, killing a quarter of Mizuho's population and causing Igaguri to fall into a coma. The causes are not explicitly revealed, but presumably, Sheena was too young and inexperienced to attempt to make a pact. It is possible that no one in the group could understand Volt, the only Summon Spirit that does not use human speech.

It is because of this incident that many of her fellow ninja bear a deep grudge against her. However, Kuchinawa, who lost his parents, seems to the only one to actively seek vengeance.

Mission in Sylvarant
At some point between the Volt incident and leaving Tethe’alla, Sheena met Zelos, and they met at least once before she broke up with him after looking at her in her shower.

Twelve years after the incident in the Temple of Lightning, Sheena is appointed to the mission of assassinate the Chosen of Sylvarant, Colette Brunel. Supported by the Renegades, she travels to the other world, but fails to kill Colette during all their encounters in the Ossa Trail and Balacruf Mausoleum.

Throughout her stay in Sylvarant she prays in their Houses of Salvation for help. For a while, she also stays in Luin and plays with the children there. When the town is attacked by the Desians, she tries to save them, but ultimately fails, forcing her to get help from Raine Sage, the healer of the Chosen’s group. She will join the party to fight the Desian Grand Cardinal Kvar, and after the Asgard Human Ranch has been destroyed, continues traveling with the group, temporarily giving up on killing Colette after seeing so much of her kindness.

When Colette has released her fourth seal, thus taking away her ability to speak, Sheena tells them everything about Tethe’alla. They later find a unicorn, trapped under the water, and Sheena admits that she can make a pact with Undine, the Summon Spirit of Water, so that they can free it for its horn with healing abilities. Although scared, Sheena eventually manages to form her first real pact.

At the Tower of Salvation, Sheena is shocked to know that Colette was supposed to die at the end of the journey, and tries to save her with the others. When they fail and lose consciousness, Sheena helps the party escape from the Renegades after they rescue them. They then agree to go to Sheena’s world, Tethe’alla.

Corrine’s Death
When they arrive in Tethe’alla, Sheena has to go and report to Tiga about her failure to assassinate the Chosen of Sylvarant, and bids farewell with the party in Meltokio.

In Mizuho, Tiga tells Sheena that she will be sent to be Mizuho’s spy, and keep an eye on the group. She finds out that the party has been captured and hold down in the basements in Sybak, and so goes there to help Lloyd and the others help Genis Sage and his sister Raine, who will be sentenced to death for being half-elves.

After rescuing the Sage siblings, the group travel to the Gaoracchia Forest, where Sheena is forced to take them to Mizuho. There, she is appointed a new mission; to follow the group as a representative, not a spy. However, she has to try to make another pact with Volt, forcing her to tell her comrades what happened twelve years ago. However, she tries once again, but it ends with Corrine sacrificing himself to save her from Volt’s attack. Moved by Corrine’s sacrifice, Sheena tries once again and succeeds with the pact.

Forming Pacts
After realizing that forming pacts with Summon Spirits sever the mana links that makes the worlds connect to each other, the party travels around Tethe’alla to form pacts with Gnome, Summon Spirit of Earth, and Celsius, Summon Spirit of Ice. After the help of the Renegades, they form pacts in Sylvarant, too, with its Efreet, Summon Spirit of Fire, and Sylph, Summon Spirit of Wind. Before making a pact with Luna and Aska, the Summon Spirits of Light, the party goes back to Tethe’alla to form a pact with Shadow, the Summon Spirit of Darkness.

After the final pact with Luna and Aska is formed, the Giant Kharlan Tree goes wild. With the help of the Renegades, she uses the power of the Summon Spirits to activate the Mana Cannon and take it down. She rejoins the group just as Kratos leaves the house.

Alternative Scene
If Sheena has the highest tension with Lloyd, the conversation with her will be extended, where she tells Lloyd about her fear for forming pacts, and how she was found in the forest when she was an infant.

Settling the Score
Because of Colette’s rare angelic illness, Sheena is forced to make a deal with Kuchinawa, who has revealed himself to be a traitor who wants her dead. They agree upon Corrine’s bell that they will fight to settle down their score, and when entering Mizuho after this meeting, Sheena will go to fight him. The fight will have just the two of them. When Sheena wins, Kuchinawa attempts suicide, but is stopped by either Lloyd or Sheena and is told that he has a meaning of living. Kuchinawa decides to not return and instead travel for himself.

After Mithos betrays the group and hurts Altessa and Tabatha, Sheena sends some people from Mizuho to protect them while the group prepare themselves for the final battle in Flanoir.

Alternative Side-Quest Scenes
It is possible to fight Kuchinawa by entering Mizuho after their deal. If Sheena loses, they agree to meet again when Sheena has become stronger. If Sheena wins, Kuchinawa will at first attempt to take his own life. However, if Lloyd interferes, Kuchinawa will go into a self-imposed exhile.

Alternative Scene
If Lloyd goes outside with Sheena in Flanoir, they will then talk about the way to use magic and summon, and Sheena admits that she most likely has some elf blood inside her, since she can summon.

Final Battle
The group goes to the Tower of Salvation, and to Sheena and everyone else’s shock, Zelos betrays them and hands Colette over to Pronyma. Sheena admits to him that she never actually thought of him as a bad guy, but Zelos turns his back on her, and goes to Welgaia together with Pronyma and Colette. After fighting off the angels, Orochi and other ninjas come to hold the rest of them back while the group continues and retrieves Colette.

After losing Regal and Raine, Sheena and Lloyd come to a bridge that is guarded by a root of the previously rampaging World Tree. Although Sheena manages to hold the root off with the Summon Spirits long enough for Lloyd to get over the bridge, the root falls and destroys the bridge, taking Sheena with her. She tells Lloyd to continue after reminding that falling into a hole was how she met Lloyd. As Lloyd runs further into the tower, Sheena reflects on her decision before letting herself fall down the hole.

Off-screen, Sheena is saved by Zelos, who is also going around saving the other group members who got trapped on their way. While going to the chamber, Zelos tells the true reason for his betrayal; he was sent by Kratos to acquire Aionis. The group get into the Great Seed’s chamber and saves Lloyd from being killed by Yggdrasill and Pronyma. After their deaths, the group travels to Heimdall, preparing themselves for the fight against Kratos in order to form a pact with Origin.

After the battle against Kratos and Origin, Colette is possessed by Mithos’ soul, as Genis kept his Cruxis Crystal behind everyone’s back. As they all go to save her, everyone except Lloyd are trapped in their own fear. Sheena and Zelos must run away from a giant spider while they watch illusions of Kuchinawa and Seles Wilder convincing them to join Mithos, as they have no value in life. However, Lloyd comes and saves them, telling them that they do have a value in life, as his friends. In the end, Sheena and Zelos stop running, and find out that the spider was just an illusion. When they are all gathered, they go to face Mithos one final time.

Alternative Scenes
If Lloyd chose to talk with Kratos in Flanoir, Sheena cries as Zelos dies, revealing his true intentions for the group after fighting him at the Tower of Salvation. She will later be rescued by Kratos instead of Zelos.

Because the possession of Lloyd’s soulmate can be everyone, it is possible for Sheena to take a walk with Lloyd the night before battling Kratos, where they agree to travel after the world regeneration to look after Exspheres. By taking this night walk, Sheena will rescue Lloyd from being possessed instead of Colette. If this happens, Sheena will keep the Cruxis Crystal after being saved, as she cannot get it away. This will cause the Cruxis Crystal to revive Mithos when they find his body.

In the End
After the battle against Mithos and the reunion of the worlds, Sheena watches as Lloyd and Colette flies up to the sky to save the Great Seed. As revealed in the drama CD Rodeo Ride Tour, Sheena is saddened that she could not be by Lloyd’s side instead of Colette, but admits that they are better matched together. According to the sequel, she would later, with the rest of the group, meet Lloyd and Colette together with Martel before the newborn World Tree, and get to know its name. However, she is requested by Martel to keep the name a secret.

Sheena returns to Mizuho, where she is welcomed by everyone. Although they are celebrating a victory, Sheena claims that it is not over yet, as they have to move to Sylvarant and make themselves a name to be proud of, and also make it a place where Kuchinawa can return to.

Alternative Scene
If Sheena was chosen to take a walk with Lloyd in Flanoir, Sheena will put her duties in Mizuho on hold and travel with Lloyd to collect the world’s Exspheres, though will still take responsibility as the successor of the Igaguri style.

Mad Man’s Bomb
Sheena and some fellow people from Mizuho are in a mission to stop a man’s mana-fueled bomb from destroying the anniversary festival of Sylvarant and Tethe’alla’s union. Ready to sacrifice herself to stop the bomb from killing the Meltokioans, Sheena takes the bomb away and summons Efreet to destroy it, ending their mission.

While Sheena is in her house in Mizuho, Zelos comes for a visit and tries to persuade her into following him on his new journey. Seeing him and Orochi fight about responsibility, Sheena rejects Zelos’ offer, making him leave.

Later, however, when they have an audience with the king, the King of Tethe’alla tells him that the reason Zelos let go of his duties was because the mad bomber and his companions are after his life as the Chosen of Tethe’alla, which would result in risking Meltokio’s people’s lives should he stay. Realizing this, she regrets rejecting him and, encouraged by Orochi, goes to follow him.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
Sheena returns in the sequel to Tales of Symphonia, still a little clumsy assassin. Emil Castagnier, Marta Lualdi and Tenebrae encounter her in the Temple of Ice, using one of her ninja style moves to save Marta from Richter Abend. She continues with the group until she falls into another hole. When they rescue her, she forces herself on to the group, just to look for Lloyd. She continues with the party until they reach Altamira, when she stays and goes back to help Regal. She will meet the trio again when they journey back and will follow to the Otherworldly Gate. She leaves Emil with a smile of their friendship and wishes him good luck. She still retains her crush on Lloyd and annoyance to Zelos. Sheena falls into a hole twice in this game.

Party
Lloyd Irving - She appears to harbor a crush on Lloyd, despite sometimes being irritated with him, which becomes more apparent as they travel together. Predictably, though, she has a great deal of trouble expressing these feelings. As seen in the Drama CD Rodeo Ride Tour, she still harbors feelings for him, and is sad that, when he needed someone beside him the most, Colette was the one who could be there for him. As seen in the sequel, she has not let go of her feelings. In the alternative storyline where Sheena travels with Lloyd in his journey to collect Exspheres, they have both admitted their feelings and have become a couple.

Colette Brunel - Although Sheena originally was supposed to kill Colette, they almost immediately become friends when she joins them in their journey. As the journey progresses, their friendship becomes greater, and Sheena is somewhat protective for Colette in many situations, like when Yuan Ka-Fai yells at her or when Zelos tries to flirt with her.

Genis Sage - Genis and Sheena’s relationship is not clearly shown in the game, but they seem to go in good terms, as Sheena most of the time asks Genis about complicated things instead of asking Raine. This may be because of her poor relationship with Raine, though.

Kratos Aurion - Kratos and Sheena’s relationship is not clearly shown, but like Raine, they have problems trusting each other. After his betrayal, Sheena encourages Lloyd to become stronger so that he can beat him.

Raine Sage - Sheena and Raine’s relationship is rather cold, as Raine always is suspicious of Sheena. However, as the story progresses, they begin to respect each other for their abilities and intelligence, and they begin to talk about the worlds’ situation in skits.

Presea Combatir - The relationship between Sheena and Presea is never shown, which might hint that they get along.

Zelos Wilder - Although she seems to hate Zelos, their relationship is more complex than that. They met each other prior to the start of the game, and it is implied they have at least gone out on a date. Sheena states that although Zelos is a pervert, she sincerely believes that he is a good person, and, should the player take the path that leads Zelos to his death, Sheena is the most visibly upset about his passing. Sheena and Zelos, in fact, actually have a deep friendship (albeit a turbulent one), shown by the multiple skits in which they discuss recent events. Sheena does not appear to know the truth about Zelos' unhappy past during the game, though.

Regal Bryant - Sheena and Regal’s relationship is never shown in the game, though in Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, it is noted that they work fairly well together and respect each other's position of authority.

Family
Igaguri Fujibayashi - Igaguri is Sheena’s grandfather, though she is still guilty for causing his coma. During a side-quest where they wake him up, it is revealed that Sheena holds great respect to him, but gets also somewhat annoyed with his on-and-going goofy attitude.

Real Family - As revealed in alternative scenes, Sheena is not really from Mizuho, but was found by Igaguri in the Gaoracchia Forest when she was an infant. It is possible that her real family had some elf blood in them, as Sheena herself states that only those with elf blood can be summoners.

Allies
Orochi - Sheena still feels guilty for being the cause of Orochi and Kuchinawa’s parents’ deaths, but Orochi has long ago forgiven her. Sheena puts a lot of trust into Orochi, and they are good friends.

Tiga - Sheena views Tiga as her superior, and is very loyal to him when he acts as a chief while her grandfather is in coma. Tiga seems to trust her, too, and has forgiven her for her failures.

Seles Wilder - Zelos's sister Seles is apparently jealous of the relationship Sheena has with her older brother, as Zelos falsely claimed to her that Sheena is his girlfriend.

Enemies
Kuchinawa - Because of her failure in making a pact with Volt and assassinate Colette, Sheena is still guilty for letting Kuchinawa’s parents die. However, she believes his act of peace, and is devastated when she gets to know that it was all just a play, and that he hates her.

Dawn of the New World characters
Emil Castagnier - Sheena and Emil's relationship is almost a mother-son bond, but this is mostly on Emil's part, almost blurting out "Mom" when speaking with her in the Temple of Darkness. Though Sheena gets frustrated at Emil for what appears to be his "perverted thoughts", she admires Emil's guts and becomes a true friend to him. Once she learns he is actually the summon spirit Ratatosk, she tries to make a pact with Emil, so she can see him whenever she wants.

Marta Lualdi - Sheena and Marta get along almost instantly, meeting when she was able to fake Marta's death before Emil and Richter's eyes while switching her real self with a replica. Through skits, Sheena often acts as an older sibling that Marta can easily relate to. Though Marta is a little jealous of her "development."

Tenebrae - Openly disturbed by him at first, Sheena shows some admiration for Tenebrae, but due to his actions and teasing, Sheena also shows a bit of aggression towards him.

Tales of Symphonia manga
In the Tales of Symphonia manga, Sheena acts more serious in her roles, and is not as clumsy. Her crush on Lloyd has also been cut off.

Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3
Sheena appears in Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3 along with the rest of the cast from Tales of Symphonia.

Tales of Fandom Vol 2
Sheena appears along with the other characters in the second volume of the game. There, she gets separated with Arche Klein from Tales of Phantasia and Natalia L.K. Lanvaldear from Tales of the Abyss.

Tales of Symphonia: The Animation
Sheena appears in the second episode of Tales of Symphonia: The Animation, first trying to assassinate Colette at night after the first seal, and then after the second to trick them into the sewer to attack again. However, she is defeated by Kratos, but Lloyd convinces him to spare her, as she saved them from Magnius.

In episode three, Sheena joins the group after failing rescuing Luin, and pushes an alarm button when they arrive at the Human Ranch. She stays behind to distract the other Desians while the party goes inside, and comes to rescue Lloyd with Kratos when Kvar is about to electrocute him. She then leaves the party.

In the fourth episode, Sheena comes near the end, disguised as a Renegade to save Lloyd and the others from Yuan, before she guides them to the Rheaird hangar so that they can fly to Tethe’alla.

Unlike in the game and manga, Sheena has yet to make a pact with any Summon Spirit except Corrine, but the opening trailer for the Tethe’alla episodes shows that she still tried to make a pact with Volt when she was small.

Dramatic DVD: Atsumare! Tales Park
During the “Song Corner” in the preorder bonus of the anime version of Tales of Hearts, the Japanese voice actor of Corrine sings a song dedicated to Sheena, titled “To the One I Love”.

Tales of The World: Radiant Mythology 3
Sheena appears as a playable character in Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3 along with other characters from Tales of Symphonia.

Trivia

 * Her name is derived from a ninja master of feudal Japan, Sabuji Fujibayashi.
 * She is the only character to be able to deal dark damage with Summon: Shadow without the use of an item or the arte Tethe Seal: Darkness in Tales of Symphonia.