Innominat

Innominat
Information
Appearance	Tales of Berseria
Race	Empyrean
Occupation	Leader of the Empyreans
Weapon	Paper
Japanese Voice Actor	Rie Kugimiya
English Voice Actor	Abby Trott
Character Designer	Mutsumi Inomata

Innominat (カノヌシ, Kanonushi^?) is the overarching antagonist of Tales of Berseria. He is the great Empyrean of Suppression whom the Abbey, more specifically Artorius Collbrande, is attempting to revive so that he may sunder emotion from humanity and "free" the world of malevolence, of which he is the only being who can resist and devour as a food source.

History

Innominat lies dormant until the Advent, in which he assumes the body of the sacrificed Laphicet Crowe by the hands of Artorius, the very event that prompted the protagonist Velvet Crowe's path of vengeance.

It is not revealed until much later in the story, however, that Laphicet was reincarnated as Innominat, who required two Scarlet Night sacrifices in order to fully incarnate himself into the world. The first sacrifice was Artorius and Celica Crowe's nameless, unborn child during the Opening, and the second was Laphicet during the Advent, during which Innominat finishes his incarnation by making Laphicet his malak vessel.

Artwork for Tales of Asteria.

Although Innominat carries with him Laphicet's memories, with which he uses to taunt Velvet, he is an autonomous being who adheres to Artorius's goals in his insatiable desire for malevolence, which he feeds upon. Through seven therions located at different earthpulse points across the world, Innominat uses these "mouths" to strengthen himself, though he requires eight different types of malevolence in order to reach his fullest potential and engulf the planet in a large enough domain that will suppress the entirety of humanity's emotions. These malevolent types are hatred, despair, greed, conceit, obsession, lust, cowardice, and selfishness.

Artorius manages to feed Innominat with six of the eight required types before needing only the two Velvet holds in her possession: hatred and despair.

Using the memories of the earthpulse to his advantage, Innominat toys with Velvet's emotions when she becomes trapped in the earthpulse after a confrontation with Artorius. This backfires when the malak Laphicet is able to snap Velvet back into reality. Giving her just the support she needs, Velvet's despair dissipates, giving her the newfound determination to kill Artorius.

Innominat's ceremony of suppression is later foiled when the party reawaken the four Empyreans, forcing him to expel his body into the skies.

The party eventually confront Artorius and Innominat for a final time in Innominat's body, fighting the Empyrean alongside Artorius. In a last-ditch effort, Artorius himself offers his own despair in a final attempt to subdue Velvet and rid the world of emotion, allowing them to armatize.

However, Velvet is able to sever the connection and finally kill Artorius. Afterwards, Innominat appears physically and mentally exhausted, yearning out of hunger. In a dramatic scene, Velvet chooses to seal Innominat away, along with herself, where the two can adhere to a stable, endless cycle of Innominat feeding off Velvet's malevolence while she converts his very power into malevolence. Being that Innominat revives every 1,000 years in order to purge the world of malevolence before falling into a slumber and allowing the four elemental Empyreans to recreate the world, this cycle ends with Velvet's decision, and Laphicet assumes Innominat's place as leader of the Empyreans, taking on the form of a dragon called Maotelus.

By the time of the events of Tales of Zestiria, Innominat is long forgotten by the modern populace. Even the protagonists Sorey and Mikleo, who spent their time studying ruins and history, only know him as an enigmatic seraph, appearing only in the most ancient of texts they read.

Appearance and Personality

By the time Innominat reveals himself, using Laphicet Crowe's body as a vessel, the body itself has grown taller, as if he never died in the first place. The main difference being his hair is colored white by the time it reaches down his neck. He wears a pure white outfit outlined with silver that exposes the majority of his legs, as well as the middle part of his stomach, and a coat of the same pattern with six flaps in the back, and two smaller ones in the front.

Fighting Style

Cut-in image for Tales of Berseria.

Innominat mostly levitates off the ground, able to quickly avoid enemy projectiles. Similar to Laphicet and Seres, he uses paper sheets in battle. He is even capable of producing a thin sword out of the papers, strong enough to casually cut through an orichalcum sword.

As one of the most powerful entities in existence, he can also perform some of the deadliest spells in the series, such as Crown Fire, Insubstantiality, and Meteor Storm. His mystic arte is Primal Kill.

Trivia

• Innominat derives from the Latin innominatus, meaning "nameless", literally referencing his alias "The Nameless Empyrean".
  • Innominat's Japanese name appears to derive from "that lord" (彼の主, ka no nushi^?) and further illustrates his namelessness.
• Innominat's true name given by Artorius is "Nevn Hiw Ejuam" (ネブ＝ヒイ＝エジャム, Nebu Hii Ejamu^?), which means "Wings for an Ideal".