Enemy Type

Enemy Types (種族, Shuzoku^?, "Races"), also known as Categories, are a recurring battle feature in the Tales series. Their main purpose is help in organizing a title's Monster Book for easier navigation. However, some enemies' types may change between titles due to differences on enemy types included.

Function[]

Tales of Symphonia[]

Enemy types were first introduced in Tales of Symphonia, where they help organize the Monster List. It sets the basic enemy types which would appear in many following titles using the feature. Enemy types are also relevant to battle, as certain weapons deal increased damage to enemies of those types, such as the Dragon Tooth twin blades dealing more damage to dragons.

Tales of Legendia[]

Enemy types are related to two types of Eres in Tales of Legendia. Most Compound Eres deal additional damage to a particular class of enemy; Senel Coolidge's allow him to target specific classes of enemies that otherwise cannot be thrown except for Lord of Creation, an eres learned at a high level. Crystal Eres have a second requirement beyond being learned at a certain level; they require amount of eres stones from particular enemy types to be held.

Tales of Vesperia[]

Enemy types tie into the Fatal Strike mechanic, where they determine what types of Fatal Strikes enemies are weak to as well as what bonuses are obtained from successfully executing a Fatal Strike.

Tales of Graces[]

With elements, damage types, and enemy types rolled into the collective called attributes, Tales of Graces has many artes assigned with attributes aimed to be more effective against certain enemy types, like Pascal's Magnetic Gate which deals increased damage to Inorganic, Machine, Plant, and Amorphous enemies. The game also includes skills which reduces damage received from certain enemy types, like X-Bird which reduces damage taken from Bird-type enemies.

Tales of Xillia and Tales of Xillia 2[]

In Tales of Xillia, enemy types are redesigned and indicate an enemy's fighting style, known as combat style in the game. There are seven enemy types, with six being susceptible to one party member's Partner Skill. Tales of Xillia 2 simplifies enemy types by reducing their number to four to give more focus on newly introduced damage types.

Power (パワー, Pawaa^?) - They use attacks that can knock down or back enemies. In Tales of Xillia 2, they also frequently guard against attacks.
Speed (スピード, Supiido^?) - They have fast movement speed.
Guard (ガード, Gaado^?) - These enemies often defend against attacks. It was removed in Tales of Xillia 2 where enemies previously categorized as Guard types where reclassified to Power.
Technical (テクニック, Tekunikku^?, "Technique") - Aside of boasting immense amount of TP, they do not have any particular strengths. It was removed in Tales of Xillia 2.
Magic (マジック, Majikku^?) - They have large amount of TP and use many spirit artes. In Tales of Xillia 2, Magic-type enemies are easier to steal from compared to other types.
Strange (ストレンジ, Sutorenji^?) - Carry valuable materials that can be stolen. It was removed in Tales of Xillia 2 where Magic types were made easier to steal from.
Boss (ボス, Bosu^?) - Powerful enemies encountered during the story.

Moreover, many materials used for shop leveling in Tales of Xillia and completing Custom Orders in Tales of Xillia 2 are categorized by the more traditional enemy types including Plant, Beast, Bird, Aquatic, and Insect.

Tales of Zestiria[]

Tales of Zestiria further revolutionizes enemy types where some enemies may be assigned multiple enemy types.

Tales of Arise[]

Due to a lower scope of the game and smaller number of enemies in Tales of Arise, the game categorizes them into three types: Normal (ノーマル^?), Unique (ユニーク^?), and Gigant (ギガント, Giganto^?).

Furthermore, some enemies have traits that require a certain character's Boost Attack to nullify and down. Alphen's Iron Blade and Burning Wave can down any enemy without inhibiting their trait. Enemies can also have multiple traits.

Aerial (飛行, Hikou^?) enemies can be shot down by Shionne Imeris's Wing Clip.
Armored (装甲, Soukou^?) enemies can be broken by Law's Breaker Fist
Enemies casting magic can have their spells stolen by Rinwell's Magic Cancel.
Charging (突進, Tosshin^?) enemies can be stopped by Kisara's Fierce Guardian.
Fleet-Footed (俊足^?) enemies can be ensnared by Dohalim il Qaras's Prehendere.

Recurring Enemy Types[]

Ajin[]

Ajin (亜人^?) encompasses enemies with both human and animal features.

Amorphous[]

Amorphous (不定形, Futeikata^?), also known as Free Forms (軟体, Nantai^?), are Slimes, Leeches, Octopuses, Starfish, and Float Eyes of various kinds. In battle, they are unpredictable.

The icon for Amorphous is a bright magenta slime.

Apodous[]

Apodous (無足, Muashi^?) foes include legless monsters like Snakes, Lamias, Plantuses, and Treants of various kinds. In battle they are very resilient.

The icon for Apodous foes is a green snake.

Aquatic[]

Aquatic (水棲 / 水槽 / 水棲生物, Suisei / Suisou / Suisei Seibutsu^?) is a recurring enemy type that includes water-based enemies like Polwigles, Merrows, Fish, and Tortoises of various kinds.

The icon for Aquatic enemies is a blue fish.

Armored[]

Armored (装甲, Soukou^?) includes Lizardmen, Goblins, possessed and not Armors, and Rock Giants of various kinds. In Tales of Berseria, daemons under Abbey's control are also part-Armored. In battle, it is preferrable if they attack first for the opponent to counter.

The icon for Armored foes is a gray shield.

Beast[]

Beasts (獣 / 魔獣, Kemono / Majuu^?) encompass wildlife, like various kinds of Wolves, Boars, Skunks, Bears, Wild Rabbits, Apes, and Elephants. In battle, Beasts have high attack power.

The icon for Beasts is an orange wolf-like head.

Bird[]

Bird (鳥, Tori^?), also known as Winged (有翼 / 飛翼, Yuuyoku / Hiyoku^?), is a recurring enemy flying types that includes Chirpees, Eagles, Harpies, Axe Beaks, Peacocks, and Hawks of various kinds. It also includes Bats at times, resulting in the type's name to Winged in recent games. In battle, they have low vitality.

The icon for birds is a yellow chick, which is also lifted into its more inclusive, renamed name. In Tales of the Rays, the icon for Winged foes became a yellow wing.

Bosses[]

In Tales of Zestiria and Tales of Berseria, there is an additional categorization to separate Bosses from normal enemies. It is more symbolic as it is only used in games' Enemy Books to highlight story-related enemies as gameplay-wise there are no artes or other methods to interact with enemies' Boss status.

The icon for bosses is a gold star.

Crustacean[]

Crustaceans (甲殻, Koukaku^?) encompass animals with shells like Spiders, Centipedes, Armadillos, Scorpions, and Bugs. In battle, Crustaceans are weak against magic artes.

Initially, Crustaceans were represented by a red pincer, but it was lated replaced with a red scorpion.

Demihuman[]

Demihumans (獣人, Juujin^?, "Beastman"), also known as Therians in Tales of Zestiria, include Werewolves, Orcs, Trolls, humanoid Tigers, and Cyclops of various kinds. In Tales of Zestiria and Tales of Berseria, they are susceptible to hidden artes.

The icon for Demihumans is a green ogre head.

Dragon[]

Dragons (竜 / 竜族, Ryuu / Ryuuzoku^?) include Drakes, Dragons, Wyverns, and Dinosaurs of various kinds.

The icon for Dragons is a red, spiked dragon head.

Fiend[]

Fiends (妖魔, Youma^?), also known as Demons (悪魔, Akuma^?), encompass various types of otherworldly creatures like Pixies, Demons, Scyllas, and recently Angels.

The icon for Fiends is a violet flying demon with a long tail.

Human[]

Humans (人, Hito^?), also referred as Persons, encompass various kinds of humans, including soldiers and assassins.

The icon for Humans is a pink-flesh human torso.

Inorganic[]

The Inorganic (無機物, Mukibutsu^?), later known as Golems (ゴーレム, Goorem^?) mainly encompasses Golems, with Weapons and Humanoids being prominently featured in Tales of Graces.

The icon for Inorganic and Golems is a brown golem torso.

Insect[]

Insects (昆虫, Konchuu^?), or Insectoids (昆虫類, Konchuurui^?), is an enemy type that includes various kinds of enemies related to Bumble Bees, Scorpions, Crawlers, Spiders. In recent titles many Insect-type enemies are commonly classified as Crustaceans.

The icon for Insects is a dark green beetle.

Machine[]

Machines (メカ / 機械, Mekai / Kikai^?) include various kinds of robots and automatons.

The icon for Machines is a gray cog.

Magical Being[]

Magical Beings (魔法生物, Mahouseibutsu^?) or Magical, also known as Magic (魔生物, Maseibutsu^?) encompass enemies like Golems, Gentlemen, enchanted Swords, elementals, and Spirits.

The icon for Magical Beings is a silver sword animated by magic.

Nova[]

Nova (暴星, Bousei^?, "Violent Star") encompasses enemies associated with Lambda and the monsters created from him, exclusively in Tales of Graces. These enemies have the unique ability to conjure a Nova Barrier.

Plant[]

Plant (植物, Shokubutsu^?) is a recurring enemy type that includes a variety of Filifolias, Funguses, Ethelianas, and Mandragoras. In recent titles it largely replaced by Apodous.

The icon for Plants is a green leaf.

Reptile[]

Reptiles (爬虫類, Hachuurui^?), also known as Scale (鱗, Uroko^?), is a common enemy type that includes Lizards, Raptors, Tortoises, and Drakes.

The icon for Reptiles is a bright green lizard.

Spirit[]

Spirits (精神体, Seishintai^?), also known as Ghost (霊, Rei^?), include a variety of Ghosts and Specters. Titles that lack this enemy type, have the Undead type include Spirits.

The icon for Spirits is a white ghost.

Synthetic[]

Synthetic (合成生物, Gousei Seibutsu^?) encompasses enemies with literal synthetic biology.

The icon for Synthetic in Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X is shared with Inorganic.

Undead[]

Undead (死体 / 不死者, Shitai / Fushisha^?) encompass Heddins, Skeletons, Zombies, Wraiths, and Ghosts of various kinds. In Tales of Zestiria the Undead-type enemies regenerate HP over time, requiring the party to afflict them with status ailments to prevent it.

In Tales of Zestiria and Tales of Berseria the icon for the Undead is a gray scary face of a phantom, and in Tales of the Rays it is replaced with a white skull.

Unknown[]

Unknown (無形 / 不明, Mugyou / Fumei^?) foes includes enemies that are hard to categorize into other enemy types, like malakhim and hellionized/daemonized humans in Tales of Zestiria and Tales of Berseria as well as Gentlemen.

The Unknown type is represented by a violet question mark.