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Emil Castagnier
Emil Castagnier (DotNW)
Information
Appearance Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
Hometown Palmacosta
Residences Luin
Age 16
Height 5'6" / 169 cm
Weight 132 lbs / 60 kg
Weapon Sword
Japanese Voice Actor Hiro Shimono
English Voice Actor Johnny Yong Bosch[1]
Character Designer Daigo Okumura

Emil Castagnier (エミル・キャスタニエ Emiru Kyasutanie?) is one of the main protagonists in Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World.

History[]

Past[]

Emil's parents were killed by Decus posing as Lloyd Irving, the main protagonist in the original Tales of Symphonia. He is portrayed as a coward, but promises to protect Marta Lualdi, the bearer of the Ratatosk Core by forming a contract with the Lord of Monsters, Ratatosk, thus making him the Knight of Ratatosk. He receives the strength to fight against monsters through this contract, making his voice deepen, his eyes turn red, and his attitude bolder. In the duration of this phase, Emil is more violent and blood-thirsty, which is why some call him a monster. This form is later on called "Ratatosk Mode". His goal is to help Marta hatch the Centurion Cores and ultimately avenge the death of his parents. Emil eventually falls in love with Marta. Depending on the choices the player makes, Emil may or may not end up with Marta in the end.

Humble Beginning[]

Toward the beginning of the story, Emil is shown to have saved Marta during the Palmacosta Blood Purge. However, he leaves her with barely a word, returning to his parents, who are dying from wounds that Lloyd had inflicted on them. His mother's final words were to find his relatives in Luin. After this introductory sequence, the story skips forward in time. Emil is in Luin, living with his Aunt Flora and Uncle Alba, yet he is shown to be timid, indecisive, and otherwise cowardly. He has a less than loving relationship with the two, in addition to the rest of the town, due to him being a so-called, "supporter" of the Vanguard, an organization that wishes to free the Sylvaranti people from oppression, and against Lloyd, who led the attack in the Blood Purge, but is, ironically, a true hero to almost every person in the game for leading the Chosen, Colette in the Journey of Regeneration. He is also highly revered in Luin after rebuilding their town.

Emil's day in Luin begins with a howl of a monster waking him up. He wanders around town, eventually bumping into Richter, who saves him from some bullies. Richter ends up having quite the impact on Emil, saying things that inspired him to persevere until the end of the game, one of his quotes being, "Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality". As quickly as he met Richter, he parted with him, as he did not know of who he was looking for a girl with a red gem on her forehead. However, some chaos outside Luin gave Emil the chance to sate his curiosity as to what was going on with the recent monster influx, despite not truly being able to defend himself. It was then that he first met Marta, who saved him.

True Self[]

Later on in the story it is discovered that Emil is not really Emil Castagnier, but actually a personality created by Ratatosk who was implanted with false memories. The name Emil belongs to a person who most likely died during the Blood Purge. Ratatosk assumed the form of Aster, possibly because he was the last human he saw before Richter reduced him to core form. Ratatosk/Emil were awakened by Marta Lualdi as she called for help in Palmacosta. In a ruse to escape, he implanted her with a fake core to draw attention away from himself while he regained his power. Exhausted, Ratatosk became dormant while the personality Emil took it's place. The new Emil, in the guise of Aster, wandered upon previous Emil's dying parents and Emil's mother Lana, now blind, mistook him for her son. Emil then followed her directions to escape to his aunt in Luin.

Emil Status (DotNW)

Status image in Dawn of the New World.

With the "spirit" of Emil and physical form of Aster, he was able hide after being attacked by Richter Abend. The Emil who acts as the protagonist in the story is the personality Ratatosk created which grows from his experiences after fleeing Palmacosta. Some clues that other characters are aware the new Emil does not look like the real Emil despite taking on his identity are when the player meets Ms. Dorr, the widow of Palmacosta's governor-general, and Thomas, Emil's apparent next-door neighbor, both stated that they didn't recognize Emil, but eventually let it slide. Tenebrae chose to let Emil/Ratatosk live for a while without telling him the truth, even letting him believe the core on Marta's forehead is real so the gathering of the other Centurion's cores would be easier. The pact with Ratatosk and the title of Knight of Ratatosk that go with it in fact do not exist, and are fabrications by Tenebrae.

Family[]

The real Emil Castagnier's father and mother were named Reysol and Lana Castagnier, respectively. They are killed by Decus, who was impersonating Lloyd at the time, and with her last breath, Lana tells the new Emil to go to her younger sister in Luin, Flora, and her husband, Alba. She does that without being able to see his face. This suggests that she thinks Emil is the one right there. She then dies. The reason that Flora and Alba accepts Emil as their nephew is because they had never seen Emil before, but knew of his birth.

Appearance and Personality[]

Emil has the same appearance as Aster himself due to Ratatosk's fabrications. Personality-wise, Emil is initially a blank slate. Throughout the story, he develops his own direction.

Fighting Style[]

Emil Devil's Hellfire

Cut-in image for Devil's Hellfire in Dawn of the New World.

Before becoming a knight of Ratatosk, Emil cannot perform basic hit combos or artes, making him one of the weakest characters in the game. However, this changes after forming the pact with Tenebrae. Like many main characters, Emil is a strong, front-line swordsman who can hit fast and hard, similar to Lloyd, Zelos, and Kratos. Unlike them, he has an unrefined sword style as he tends to swing more wildly than the other swordsmen, and is a lot more brutal with his attacks in comparison. His blade is of a unique make, with the grip being shaped like a cane's head via the portion closest to the blade's starting point having an open space that allows more of a focus on reverse-gripping it.

Emil Cut-in (TotR) 2

Cut-in image for Tales of the Rays.

Most importantly with Emil are his skills which take advantage of the battle systems in the game. Emil is able to be more of an airborne fighter using the Sky Combo and Sky Attack skills. This allows him to fight flying enemies more easily, as well as dragging ground enemies into the air where they will be helpless and unable to counter attack. The second important part of Emil's skills are those that are gained after acquiring the Centurion Cores. All of these skills, which are named after the centurion of that element, alter Emil's artes depending on which skill is currently active. For example, the skill Tenebrae turns the arte Demon Fang into a Dark-elemental melee attack. This is important as Emil can have direct control of the elemental grid which makes monster capturing and Unison Attacks easier to perform. Emil can perform the mystic arte Devil's Hellfire, which he can extend into Ain Soph Aur, provided he is in "Ratatosk Mode", though he loses the ability to perform the extension after sealing his Ratatosk personality away. Even without the Lord of Monsters fighting for him, Emil manages to fight similarly to how he did when Ratatosk was in control.

Other Appearances[]

Tales of Crestoria

In Tales of Crestoria, Emil's village is struck with an epidemic. He is captured by Malcolm Sloat, who implanted several monsters' souls into his body, giving birth to Ratatosk. Eventually, he meets Marta Lualdi, who goes on a journey with him.

Side Story Cress

Emil and Marta enter Dalchia and offer Cress Albane their services, asking for money or food as payment. With Ratatosk's help, the group continues their investigation in regards to to increased monster activity. They soon come upon a monster holding a doll that the orphans gave Cress' teacher, Mibaru. Realizing that this is the Lord of the Woods, Cress attacks. Subdued, the Heavy Claw suddenly speaks with Mibaru's voice. Mint Adnade arrives just in time to tend to his wounds. From them, Cress and his companions learn the truth. After successfully killing the Lord of the Woods, Mibaru slowly succumbed to his wounds, and was being approached by Cody Hjuger, the recently deceased leader of Dalchia. When Mibaru woke up, he had the body of the Lord of the Woods. It turned out that Cody's orphanage was just a front for a slave trafficking business, and Cody had given both him and the Lord of the Woods to the scientist Malcolm Sloat, who transferred Mibaru's soul into the monster's body. Ratatosk theorizes it was the same guy who created him. Due to his wounds, Mibaru is escorted to Torini Cave were the healers tend to his wounds. Suddenly they hear commotion in the village and humans race there and see that monsters have attacked it in great numbers.

Together, the group fights off the monsters to protect the village. In the chaos, Mibaru appears and help defend the village as well. The villagers, in the fervor and ignorance to the truth, slay Mibaru, who dies happy, seeing that the villagers have finally started to work together. Cress arrives at the scene too late, and Mibaru dies in his arms, now back to his former appearance. The villagers, confused at what happened, blame Mibaru's fate on Cress and are ready to use their vision orbs to pass judgment on him. The others try to intervene until Cress tells them that Mibaru only wanted them to be strong enough to protect themselves, and by spitting on his sacrifice, they are truly beyond redemption. The villagers reluctantly decide to own their sin and decide to protect the village in his honor. Cress, Mint, Emil, and Marta say their final farewells to Mibaru at his grave. Afterward, Cress asks Emil and Marta to join them in their journey, saying that he does not want to see repeat of Master Mibaru to happen again, and together with Mint who also decides to join them, the group sets on a journey.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

Emil Castagnier (ToAsteria)

Artwork for Tales of Asteria.

  • Emil means "enthusiasm", indirectly referring to his character growth in the game. Early in development, Emil's name was "Soleil", which is French for "sun".
  • Emil's mystic arte, Ain Soph Aur, is derived from Ein Sof, which, in Kaballah, is God prior to his self-manifestation in the production of any spiritual realm, and Ohr, a central Kabbalistic term in which light is used to describe divine attributes. In addition, Ain Soph Aur, or Ohr Ein Sof, is the Kabbalistic term for "Infinite Light".
  • Emil's outfit appears as a legacy costume for Ludger Will Kresnik in Tales of Xillia 2.

References[]


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