Richter Abend

Richter Abend is a new character introduced in Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World and serves the role as the antagonist. During the game his partner is Aqua the Centurion of Water.

Despite being the third playable character in the game, he only joins the party very briefly at the beginning of the story and during three special side-quests that involve him and Emil.

Early Life
Even before the events of the original Tales of Symphonia Richter lived in Tethe'alla as a researcher at the Sybak University, where he and his friend Aster were researching Ratatosk. Together, they were in charge of looking into Ratatosk's mana; however, due to a previous betrayal by Mithos' group, the spirit's trust had disappeared. Ratatosk grew angry and killed Aster in rage; since then, Richter has held resentment towards Ratatosk and began the Vanguard and searching for the Centurian Cores.

Meeting Emil
He first meets Emil at the beginning of the game while searching to find the Ratatosk Core when he notices that Emil is being picked on by bullies. He took Emil with him because he reminded Richter of his past when he was bullied around for being a half-elf. Richter acts as the tutorial in this game, as he teaches Emil the basics of fighting. After traveling to cave next to the former Tower of Mana with Emil, he finds Marta and tries to kill her for the Ratatosk's core implanted on her head; this is where Emil considers Richter to be his new enemy. Richter is also a member of the Vanguard and has been said to be the founder of the Vanguard combat group along with Brute.

The End
Richter travels to the Ginnungagap to settle things with Ratatosk. When Emil and co. confront him, he uses the powers of the Sacred Stone to transform the mana in his body into flames, granting him extra power. He then attacks the party, but loses. As the demons try to force their way out of the door, Richter tells the party to use the Sacred Stone. Since mana is toxic to demons, it could be used to seal the door for a while. Lloyd then realises he actually wanted to turn himself into a human sacrifice to seal the Ginnungagap. Richter adds that as an added bonus, Aster would come back to life as well.

Normal Ending - Since Richter forced open the door, the old seal ceased to function. He then decides to go ahead with his original plan to use himself as a seal. Ratatosk agrees to help, saying that he will change the law of nature so that the world's mana can be used to guard the door. After the ritual is prepared, Richter remarks how his fate is fitting for his crimes. Ratatosk says that once the world is seperated from its dependancy on mana, Richter will be released.

Perfect Ending - Richter then asks Ratatosk to allow Emil to live his full life as a human, saying that 'Emil' has already suffered enough, trying to atone for a crime 'Ratatosk' committed.

Trivia

 * Richter Abend means "judge evening" in German.