Jay

Jay (ジェイ) is one of the main protagonist of Tales of Legendia. He is a young boy who has lived with small, otter-like creatures called Oresoren for most of his life. He is extremely protective of these creatures and will do everything in his power to make sure that no harm may come to them. He is considered a genius in tactics and is highly knowledgeable when it comes to geography. His "Norma Nickname" is "JJ".

Personality
Seeming to be a rather playful and sarcastic 16 year old, Jay is rather intelligent for his age and knows a majority of information about the Legacy and what is going on. He gets most of his information by either spying or from the Orosoren. Jay is also an excellent strategist, making up some of the plans that take place during the game.

While giving off that he is possibly one of the most mature people of the party, Jay can act like a child and claims that he gets excited when he meets someone who is skilled in something that he can also do. At first it seems as though he doesn't get along well with people outside from the Orosoren, but over time he becomes more open and starts having close relationships with all of them. His constant sarcastic remarks and insults get on some of the character's nerves, particularly Norma and Moses, and that fact that he can sometimes be a little trickster doesn't help either.

Fighting Style
Jay uses a variety of knife throwing techniques and kicking attacks that resemble that of a ninja. He mostly fights with his hands in his pockets and uses semi-long distance attacks to damage the enemy without having to put himself in harm's way. While he is capable of hitting enemies from far away or from above, using eres like Dagger or Falcon, and for performing combos, Jay has reduced defensive capabilities compared to others who rely on iron eres.

Before Tales of Legendia
Before the events of the game Jay was abandoned as a baby and was found by a assassin named Solon. Over the years Jay beganv to train under Solon in the art of assassination. Jay was beaten and punished whenever he was trying to rest or showed any emotion. One day Jay with Solon and his men were send to the Legacy, but another group of men were waiting for them and they annihilated every one of Solon's men. With only Jay and Solon left to be killed, Solon then abandoned Jay as decoy and escaped. Jay was attacked, but he managed to escape barely. Jay then wondered around the Legacy weak and on the verge of death, he eventually collapsed in front of the Oresoren Village. Three young Oresoren Quppo, Pippo, and Poppo had found Jay and took him back to the village. Jay in the Oresoren Village was silent and never really talked to Quppo and the others, but eventually he grew fond of them and opened up. Jay eventually decided to make the Oresoren Village his new home and left his old life behind.

In Pursuit
Jay is first seen in the Fountain Plaza in Werites Beacon and is one of the first main characters that Senel Coolidge meets on the Legacy. Their meeting was anything but friendly, as Jay ended up getting Senel caught up in a small quarrel with the townsmen, and then the Bantam Bouncers, by tricking everyone into thinking that Senel was going to give them fifty thousand Gald if they could beat him. Jay then leaves the fountain plaza before he can get caught.

Just Out of Reach
During the events of the second chapter Will Raynard and Chloe Valens desire Jay's help in finding Shirley Fennes. Jay leaves a letter for the two in the fountain and tells them to go to Port-on-Rage. At Port-on-Rage Jay pretends to be a ship repairman. Will asks if the boat is his, then requests a ride to the Crags. While heading to the Crags, Jay encounters Senel again and challenges him to a boat race and wins due to the fact that Senel's boat's engine begins to burn up. Once at the Oresoren Village, Jay brings out a group of Oresoren as a fake ambush in an attempt to surpise them, although both Will and Chloe knew of the Oresoren's existance already. Senel, Norma and Harriet Campbell, along with Poppo arrive, causing Jay to ask what Senel was doing being with Poppo. After Senel explains, Jay thanks the group for taking care of the Oresoren. Jay then takes the party into the village after introducing himself, while there Jay tells the party that Shirley is being taken to the Ruins of Frozen Light and devices a plan to ambush the Crusand soldiers at The Waterways. Jay then leaves to the Waterways to prepare the plan. At the Waterways Jay meets up with the party and reveals his plan to save Shirley, but the plan becomes haywire due to the fact that Moses Sandor and his men interfere. After the party escapes from the Waterways, Jay heads to the Ruins of Frozen Light in order to get more info on what Vaclav Bould is aiming to do.

A Fateful Encounter
At the Ruins of Frozen Light, Jay meets up wih the party and instructs them to go to the Great Hallow to meet up with Poppo to get into the ruins another way, due to the tight security that prevented the group from getting into the Ruins from the usual entryway. However, Jay does not inform them that there is another entrance right before them. At the Great Hallow, Jay reveals that they have to enter the ruins through Poppo's submarine the Poppo Mark III. After the party departs once again for the Ruins of Frozen Light, Jay isn't seen again untill the events at Maurits' Hermitage.

War Torn Land
Jay meets the party when they return to The Village of the Ferines after retrieving the Whisper Crystal from The Man-Eating Ruins. He is the strategy officer for the upcoming war, and makes plans with Will and Maurits Welnes. During the war Jay is with Maurits and the Bouncers most of the time during raid at the Front Line Base. Jay doesn't enter the battlefield until the Oresoren are reported to be also fighting Vaclav's soldiers. Jay meets up with Quppo and his brothers, saving them from being attacked by Vaclav's soldiers that had surrounded them. Senel's group is also there at this time. Jay tells the Oresoren that they will be going back together, then turns to Senel's group to tell them they will be leaving the battlefied, but he is cut off by Quppo, who says they still want to go with them and fight with them. After some convincing from the Oresoren and Senel's group, Jay insists he still will not allow the Oresoren to participate in combat. However, he tells them that he will go with the group in place of the Oresoren, also suggesting that the Oresoren provide backup support from the rear. He is welcomed into the party by Senel beofre they head off to the Bridge.

After Jay joins the group, the party storms the Bridge of the Legacy where they come into contact with Melanie the Crimson. Rather than fighting her, they run to avoid wasting any time as Jay requests to the party. However, she is seen again further inside the Bridge, where the group is forced to fight her. After fighting her, Jay informs the man in charge of running information back and forth that they have defeated her after the man runs in, likely looking for an update on the situation. When the party confronts Cashel the Phantom, Jay manages to easily see through all his illusions and eventually corner him, where the party then fights him. After the battle, Moses also welcomes Jay to the group for having helped him avenge the other bandits. Jay does not have much involvment during the battle with Stingle thr Vicious, although he does briefly speak with Moses about Chloe seeming to know Stingle. At the final level of the Bridge, Jay and the others witness the Nerifes Cannon being launched. After realizing that Shirley and Stella are still alive, Jay helps in the battle with Vaclav and the group finally defeats him. After being defeated, Vaclav manages to fire the cannon one more time, but Stella sacrifices her Teriques to destroy the blast and dies. After the war is finally over, Jay seems to have returned to the Oresoren Village, as he is mentioned in the next chapter to not have been in town.

Awakening
Two weeks later, Jay returns to Werites Beacon and is first seen spying on Will's conversation with the Captain of the Gadorian Knights. He recieves a medal from Gadoria for helping during the war from Senel and Harriet. Jay heads to the Village of the Ferines with the party to speak with Maurits once thr group is gathered together. The next day Jay and the others go to Vaclav's Hidden Fortress with Walter Delques to help find Vaclav's remaining troops. Jay recognizes the Hidden Fortress to be connected to the Vaclav's army, but wonders if there are really still soldiers there. This turns out to be a trap set by Walter in a attempt to keep them from finding out about the Rite of Accession, as well as to kill them, but his plans are interrupted by urgent news about events occurring at the Altar of the Sea. At the altar, Jay and the others arrive and find out that Fenimore Xelhes is dead. Shirley as the Merines takes away Jay's eres along with everyone else's, in which they are then about to be killed, but they are saved by the summon spirit Celsius, who appeared due to Grune's want to protect the group. At the entrance of the Altar they are attacked by the Automata and are forced to return to Werites Beacon, as they are unable to fight them, now lacking the power of eres.

The Fallen Lands
After fleeing from the Automata, the Jay and Will go to Madame Musssete's house to speak with her. After this Jay and Will get the image of the light house in Werites Beacon their minds and decide to go there to meet up with Senel and the others. There they find a elevator and it leads them to the Quiet Lands, Jay and the party find out that their eres are working again. When the party finds themselves in the Fallen Lands, they name it "The Quiet Lands". When Chloe mentions that it's a good thing to ended up there, as they can use eres in this area, Jay becomes suspicious and believes they were actually led to this place by someone. As the group goes through the four dungeons of the Quiet Lands, Jay starts up the discussions about what they had seen that day for each dungeon. During their time in this area, Jay is constantly asking Senel if he prepared to find out the answers to their questions. This eventually leads to tension between the two. Eventually, Jay finally explains who it is he believes has been answering their questions. As he explains, Senel realizes there may be a Nerifes of the Quiet Lands, separate from the above. Jay tells him that is what he believes. By the fourth dungeon, both boys are very upset. When the party goes to recieve Sacred Eres, Jay tells them that eres may be a communication method for speaking with Nerifes.

After Senel is rejected by Nerifes, Jay is forced to make plans that do not involve him. During the meeting, he tells everyone that if they cannot kill Shirley themselves, he will do it. He abruptly ends the meeting and leaves, and Moses says that he is disappointed, having not known Jay was so cold. Grune tells him, "Nobody wants to do things they don't want to do. So that's why Jay said he'd do it himself." Jay is alone with the Oresoren later that night, where Will and Moses go to speak to him. Will says that they will bear this burden together, and Moses tells him that he can't just stand by and watch the two of them suffer. The next day, after Senel recieves his Sacred Eres, Jay realizes he must plan the operation over again. Senel aplogizes for worrying him, and tells him that from the on, they are a team. Moses rushes over to say that the moment is touching, while Jay asks what he is doing there, as nobody called for him. This lightens the mood, as everyone is back to normal. Jay soon leads everyone back to the elevator. He shows them the tram that the Oresoren found, and the party uses it to reach Mirage Palace.

Shining Blue
After Senel fails to convince Shirley at Mirage Palace, Jay recognizes the Trail Across the Heavens that is extending from Werites Beacon's lighthouse to the Wings of Light, which Shirley has re-located herself to. When the party heads back to town, Jay requests a night to test out the tram running on the Trail Across the Heavens, and later that night is brought to a party by Grune at the Fountain Plaza that was started by Norma.

In the Wings of Light, the party comes across an image that that Chloe points out seems to be trying to explain something. Grune points out that it looks as though it's creating land, and although the others settle on thinking about it later, Jay questions to himself why the Radiant would care so much about the land in the first place, seeing as they were trying to destroy it. When the group confronts Maurits, Maurits begins to explain the truth about the Wins of Light, as well as the truth about the Orerines and the Ferines. Jay comments that what Maurits had told them was likely the truth, explaining what he considered to be odd points. After everyone finally understands, they seem to lose faith until Chloe tells Senel that even if it is him alone, she will insure someone gets to Shirley. Jay, along with the others, free Senel enough from the Teriques restricting his movements so that he can stop Shirley. After the last battle at the Wings of Light, Jay returns to the Oresoren Village.

The Guardian and the Guarded
Jay's Character Quest starts after Musette informs the party of a group of assassins that have infriltrated the Legacy. They head to the Secret Passage, where after they face a first ninja, Jay recognizes the enemy's style of fighting. The party is unsure as to why his behavior has suddenly changed, as he was easily angered with Moses and Norma's comments. After making their way a bit farther into the Secret Passage, they are faced with an enemy who summons a monster to attack them. Once the battle is over, Jay tells the others to leave things to him as he runs off to follow their enemy. He leaves, the party, leaving the rest of the group to chase after him. Once Jay catches up to their enemy, he attacks but misses, due to his enemy disappearing and reappearing behind him. He immediately recognizes the person behind him to be Solon, his former trainer and foster father. He loses his usual composure when faced with Solon, who tells Jay he wants help with his job. Jay refuses, but Solon hits him until he falls to the ground. Solon soon begins to imply that he will kill the Oresoren if Jay continues to refuse to help him. The party soon catches up to them, Senel attacking Solon to move him away from Jay. After Solon leaves, Jay collapses, with WIll commenting that he looks pale. They decide to bring him back to the Oresoren Village. Once there, Jay walks on ahead to his house even though the others stopped walking. Pippo, Quppo and Poppo wonder what happened, saying that he wouldn't respond when they spoke to him. Senel tells them what happened, and they know right away that the person Senel told them about was Solon. The three brothers go on to tell the party about Jay's hstory with Solon, explaining that he was abandoned by his parents and raised by Solon as an assassin. Solon had brought a number of his men with him, along with Jay, to the Legacy to attempt to assassinate someone, but the group was defeated, and Solon left Jay behind as a decoy to escape. Jay had collapsed outside of the Oresoren Village, where the brothers found him and took him in. The party agrees to help save Jay, while Moses also tells the Oresoren to take care of Jay for them. Jay is then seen by himself, while the three brothers try talking to him. He doesn't respond to them, although he is affected by the Black Mist due to his feelings of loneliness. He begins to become confused as to what he should and what it is he is supposed to do.

The nexy day, Jay tells everyone at Will's house that he wants them to go eliminate Solon. He and the others head to the Ruins of Frozen Light, where Jay continuously seems very down, while Norma eventually notices that something about Jay and Moses' usual remarks to each other are off. The party eventually reaches the last room of the Ruins, where Jay tells Shirley something is written in Relares, and asks if he she can come over to read it. However, this is a trap set up by Solon, in which Jay knocks Shirley unconciouss, and the rest of the party is trapped in a cage surrounded by electricity. Solon takes Jay and Shirley to Mirage Palace, leaving a monster to fight them in the cage, which also becomes surrounded by the now commonly seen Black Mist. At Mirage Palace, Jay begins to rebel against Solon, constantly throwing insults at him and arguing with him. Solon's most common response is physical abuse, although he does comment on Jay's Star Festival wish of "I want a family". This happens shortly after Black Mist srrounds him, when Jay loses his Festival leaf from being knocked down. Jay asks if it's wrong for him to want a family, and Solon tells him that he is nothing more than an instrument of killing, that he could never have a family. As soon as Solon is about to hit Jay again, he is hit by something. The three Oresoren brothers tell him they are Jay's family, and they tell Shirley to take Jay and run. Shirley nods to them and runs to Jay, picking up his Fesitval leaf as well, pulling Jay alnog and away from the area. Once the two are away from the fighting, Jay insists that he has to go back and save them. As he talks with Shirley, Shirley tells him that his heart is very weak, but he has the strength to defeat his enemies. She mentions that the Oresoren have the opposite traits, and she believes it is reasons such as these that people reach out to each other. Jay believes he has no one to reach out to, which causes to Shirley to ask him if he ever wondered what the others would say about that. She says they have all been worried about him and have reached out to him, namely Senel and Moses. She says she is going back to them for help, then tells Jay to decide for himself as to what he wants to do. Jay remembers how he was with the Oresoren as a child, and lastly thinks of himself chasing after Moses, with Senel chasing him and the Oresoren chasing behind. He then tells Shirley he is also going back, as he needs everyone's help.

They return to the Oresoren Village, where Shirley tells Jay not to forget what they came back for. Jay begins to tell everyone about his relationship to the Oresoren, and how they have called him family. He admits that he can't lose anyone like that, and begins crying in front of Senel and the others. AFter saying he wants to protect them, Senel hits him on the head, telling him to stop crying, and that he'd just said he wanted to protect someone. Moses says he won't forgive the person who made his little brother cry, while Chloe congratulates him for now having a brother. Moses continues by saying that they're going to go bring serious pain to Solon for making Jay cry, whereas then, he, Norma and Grune use what seems to be Grune's favorite term, "Charge!". Norma becomes upset that only they did it, saying that at times like that, everyone should join in. The party agrees, and they head off to Mirage Palace to rescuse the Oresoren.

Once everyone is at Mirage Palace, the party catches up to Quppo, where he tells Jay that his eyes have become strong. This is shown once the group meets up with Pippo and Poppo, who are still fighting off Solon. He tells Solon that he will pay for hurting the Oresoren, which Solon mocks him by saying that he's not afraid of him as long as his friends are around. Moses tells him he'll pay for everythhing he's ever done to Jay. Solon remarks that the group has no idea of the things he has done, although Senel tells him they do know, and that is why they were all there together with him. Black Mist begins to surround Solon again, and it also envelops Jay. Jay begins to agree with all of Solon's comments of being a murderer, although when Solon tells him to show Senel and the others the truth, calling them fools, Jay tells him the only fool there is him (Solon). He attacks Solon, angering him, and Senel tells Jay it is tyime to finish this by hsi own hand. The party then fights Solon and Dark Jay. They are successful in defeating Solon, which then, Jay uses his Sacred Eres to defeat Solon for good. Moses and Senel calls Jay over, holding up their hands for a high fives, which Jay gladly gives them. Shirley shortly after gives Jay his Star Festival leaf back, which she had still been holding since she picked it up the last time they were at Mirage Palace. Norma and Moses begin chasing him around, asking what he wrote. He refuses to tell, and although Shirley begins to tease him about telling the others, she never does, making her the only member of the group who knows what he wish was. Senel noticed something sparkling nearby and Jay goes to it, picking it up and realizing it was the bell he always had with him as a child. Norma wonders how much they can get for it, causing Jay to ask what she's thinking, getting the response, "About money?". Jay tells Norma to keep her thoughts to herself, although everyone is now in a good mood. With the mood lightened, everone is glad Jay is back to normal and still together with him, with Moses commenting that their usual attitudes together are the way things should be.

Relationships
Jay shares a rather shaky relationship with the others at the start, but becomes more close with them as time passes.

He shows a small irritation toward Moses, constantly teasing him and mocking him, but he really does care for him like a brother. He doesn't seem to like being a "Little Brother" by Moses though, but at the same time he doesn't seem to mind, since he hugged Moses out of need for comfort when Grune was going to dissapear. In addition he also teases Norma at times, but the two are not afraid to insult Moses at the same time whenever they feel like it.

He gets along well with Chloe, Senel, and Will, and even develops an understanding relationship with Shirley during his Character Quest. He also seems to care a lot for Grune, as at the end of Grune's Quest he appears to be affected the most by her disappearance and even hugs her, begging her to stay.

Trivia

 * Jay's Character Quest item is a bell that Solon took away from him during one of his training sessions. The bell holds a special meaning to Jay as it was a bell that he has had since he was a baby and he believes it would help him find his family. Jay's bell is used to customize his strongest weapon, the Hotate.
 * Jay's secret wish is "I want a Family", and only Shirley is aware of this.
 * Jay's Mascot Costume is a Cat