Cruxis

Cruxis is a fictional organization in Tales of Symphonia, by Namco. Cruxis is named after the constellation Crux.

WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW

At the beginning of the game, Cruxis is taught to be a society of holy beings who protect the world of Sylvarant. At first, they are thought to be a "good" force in the game but after the player reaches the Tower of Salvation, all is not as it seems.

It turns out that Cruxis angels are nothing more than half-elves evolved by special Exspheres called Cruxis Crystals. The Desians, an antagonist organisation made up mainly of half-elves, are also part of Cruxis. The whole thing was masterminded by Mithos, hero of the Ancient Kharlan War. Under the name of "Yggdrasill", Mithos used Cruxis Crystals to transform him and his allies. Then, using the Eternal Sword, a gift to him from Origin, the King of the Summon Spirits, he split the world into two bipolar parts: Sylvarant and Tethe'alla. This was all part of an attempt to resurrect his dead sister, Martel, whose soul was sustained only by using an Exsphere to bind it to the Great Kharlan Seed. The Seed had once been the Giant Tree, source of all mana, but the Kharlan War had caused it to die. Now the only way to truly bring Martel back would be to find a suitable host body for her.

This is where the journey of the Chosen comes in. Because of the instability of mana between the two worlds, one world would flourish while the other would decline. Every once in a while, a "Chosen One" of the mana lineage would be born. The Chosen would set upon a Journey of Regeneration and would become an angel at the Tower of Salvation, the symbol of the world regeneration. This served two purposes: firstly, to reverse the mana flow of the worlds, and secondly, to find a body for Martel.

Mithos also had a greater plan: he aimed to eliminate discrimination in the two worlds. With Exspheres, he could transform all people into lifeless beings. He did not care that millions would have to be sacrificed to achieve this; the only thing that that mattered was that everyone became the same. For this to happen, he set up the Desians, who mass-produced Exspheres in their Human Ranches.

The leaders of Cruxis are the Four Seraphim, composed of Mithos and his former allies; Kratos Aurion, Yuan and his deceased older sister Martel. Their base is in Derris-Kharlan, a great planet of mana and the homeworld of the elves. It is situated directly above Sylvarant/Tethe'alla but has remained hidden for millennia. The one route to Derris-Kharlan is through the Tower of Salvation, which appears in the flourishing world and in the declining world at the time of the world regeneration. New angels are taken from the Tower to the Holy City, Welgaia. Mithos himself takes residence in his private castle, Vinheim.

Known Members of Cruxis
1. Zelos turns his back on Yggdrasill at the last minute and helps defeat him.
 * Mithos Yggdrasill - the leader and founder of Cruxis, as well as Mithos, Hero of the Ancient Kharlan War from over 4000 years ago. Cast out of his village due to being a half-elf, he and his older sister Martel, a fellow half-elf named Yuan, and his human mentor, Kratos, set out to stop the war and restore peace. However, they were betrayed by an unknown human and Martel was killed. Grief-stricken, Mithos took his sister's last words to heart; that she wished for a world without discrimination. Deciding that the only way to do this would be to make everyone the same, Mithos used a Cruxis Crystal to gain an adult form and transformed himself into the angel, Yggdrasill.
 * Martel - Mithos's older sister, Martel was killed by a human during the war. She appears to have brought Mithos up by herself, being abandoned by their human and elven parents. This bears a striking resemblance to the relationship between Raine and Genis Sage, probably why Mithos was so quick to befriend Genis when he infiltrates the group. Although Martel is dead, she is still made a Seraphim by Mithos, which shows his utter devotion to her.
 * Kratos Aurion - Mithos's human teacher, Kratos joined him in his efforts to stop the war. After Martel's death, he was forced to join Cruxis but soon openly rebelled against his former friend and student. He fell in love with a human named Anna, and had a child; Lloyd Irving. Though Kratos, Anna and Lloyd managed to hide from Mithos, it was not long before the Desian Grand Cardinal, Kvar, found them near Iselia Forest. Anna had been imprisoned at Kvar's Ranch before Kratos rescued her and had been a test subject for the Angelus Project. Kvar removed the Exsphere she had been forced to wear and due to it not having a Key Crest, Anna transformed into a monster. She even attacked her own son, and Kratos had no choice but to kill her himself. Thinking that his son was dead as well, he surrendered and returned to Cruxis.
 * Yuan - a friend of Mithos's who was also a half-elf, Yuan was one of the hero's companions in the war and Martel's fiancé. Like Kratos, he was made to join Cruxis but he secretly formed an underground resistance group called the Renegades, dedicated to fighting Cruxis and the Desians. In this way, he was able to foil Mithos's actions for many years, while remaining a Cruxis Seraphim.
 * The Desian Five Grand Cardinals - Magnius, Kvar, Rodyle, Forcystus and their leader, Pronyma. This group was created to rule over the Desians' Human Ranches and to activate the Chosen's Cruxis Crystal - Exspheres are activated when their wearer is suffering or in danger. The Desians only appear in the declining world (i.e. the world currently being regenerated). The only exceptions to this in the game are Pronyma, who is constantly at Yggdrasill's right-hand side, and Rodyle, who plots to overthrow his master. All five Cardinals are killed throughout the course of the game.
 * Remiel - one of the countless angel minions serving Yggdrasill, Remiel guides the Chosen, Colette Brunel, on her journey during the game. He pretends to be Colette's father to give her motivation so she will complete the journey of world regeneration faster and become an angel like her "father". He is killed when he tries to take Colette from her friends.
 * The Gatekeeper - another angel, the Gatekeeper appears to be a military commander of some sort, showing close combat capabilities far beyond that of normal angels.
 * Zelos Wilder - the Chosen of Tethe'alla, Zelos wanted nothing more than a normal life. He was unable to have this because of his title so he eventually joined Cruxis on the condition that his younger half-sister, Seles, would become Chosen instead. He also assessed their strength, compared to the Renegades and Lloyd's group (who he joined earlier on), deciding that they were the most likely to win. There are two possible fates for him in the game, depending on who the player speaks to in Flanoir:

2. Zelos decides to fight the group, in the hopes that he would die. Upon his death, he talks about how his life "was a mistake" and that once he was gone, his sister would be freed*. (It should be noted that Zelos staying as an enemy to the group is one of two possibilities in the game.)

* Relatives of the Chosen are forced to live away from each other so that if some disaster strikes, there will still be someone to take the title. But in Seles' case her mother had killed Zelos' mother and Seles was placed under house arrest in the Abby.

Quotes

 * "We of Cruxis bless this holy event, and bestow the Tower of Salvation upon this land." - Remiel
 * "I am of Cruxis, the organization that guides this world. I am one of the Four Seraphim, sent forth to keep close watch over the Chosen." - Kratos
 * "I am Yggdrasill, leader of Cruxis...and the Desians!" - Yggdrasill
 * "By using the Exspheres to eliminate the different bloods that flow within elves and humans, everyone will become the same lifeless beings. Discrimination will vanish. That is the grand age I strive for." -Yggdrasill