A Shepherd (導師 Doshi?, "Monk") is a human contracted to a powerful seraph in Tales of Zestiria who has the ability to purify malevolence at its roots, and by extension, able to purify and cleanse the hellions.
History
Background
The Shepherd plays a crucial part in the story and serves as the mediator between humans and seraphs. Normally, the Shepherd is advised to not venture into the affairs of humans, such as politics and being a person on which others heavily rely.
The following is a list of all known Shepherds:
- Asura - A former Shepherd during an unspecified time period. He possessed the sword that was infused with the power to cleave malevolence. He became a hellion, and his sword was taken by his seraph companion, Altul, before being stolen again by Maltran during the events of the game.
- Pawan - A former Shepherd, contracted to Lailah during an unspecified time period. He was known to purify hundreds of hellions. He was a former human before becoming a seraph upon death.
- Michael - The Shepherd prior to Sorey, 200 years before the game's events.
- Sorey - The Shepherd during the Age of Chaos and the protagonist of Tales of Zestiria. Initially a human with high enough resonance to see the seraphim, Sorey becomes the Shepherd through contracting with Lailah by taking the Ceremonial Sword.
- Rose - Initially Sorey's "Squire", Rose takes the mantle of the "Shepherd" by contracting with Lailah and makes Alisha Diphda her "Squire" three months after the Age of Chaos in the post-game epilogue DLC titled "Alisha's Story".