A Spirit (精霊 Seirei?) is a being that represents some primal or divine force in the world. Often, they can be called forth by a summoner, and in this instance, they are referred to as Summon Spirits in localization. They are known as aggregate sentiences (意識集合体 ishiki shuugotai?) in Tales of the Abyss. In Tales of Eternia, Craymels are similar beings, and in Tales of Rebirth, Spirits are replaced with the Sacred Beasts.
Appearance in Original Titles[]
Tales of Phantasia[]
In Tales of Phantasia, Spirits are beings comprised of mana, sustained by the Great Tree Yggdrasill. Claus F. Lester researches the art of Summoning, which focuses on using jeweled rings to make pacts with the Spirits in order to summon them, allowing even those without elven blood to use magic. Cress Albane and Mint Adenade seek out Claus for his skill and magic, and much of the beginning of the story is spent on the quest to make a pact with Luna in order to use her power to help defeat Dhaos. A book in Claus's home in Euclid states Spirits are divided into Greater and Lesser Spirits. Claus makes pacts with the Greater Spirits, but there are Lesser Spirits beneath Luna, Aska, and Shadow. Claus not only learns to summon the Spirits of his world Aselia but also to summon the Spirits of Daemonium, a world connected to Aselia.
In Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon, most Spirits are fought during the Ordeal of Spirits that the heroes Mel and Dio undergo in order to test their hearts.
The Spirits in the games are as follows:
- Martel, the Tree Spirit who watches over the Great Tree Yggdrasill. She is revered by people as the Earth Goddess in the nature worship-based religion predominant in Toltus.
- Sylph, the Wind Spirit, who makes a pact with the Opal Ring.
- Undine, the Water Spirit, who makes a pact with the Aquamarine Ring.
- Efreet, the Fire Spirit, who makes a pact with the Garnet Ring.
- Gnome, the Earth Spirit, who makes a pact with the Ruby Ring.
- Maxwell, the Elemental Spirit and Lord of the Four Elements, who makes a pact with the Turquoise Ring.
- Luna, the Moon Spirit, who makes a pact with the Moonstone Ring.
- Shadow, the Dark Spirit, who makes a pact with the Amethyst Ring.
- Aska, the Light Spirit, who makes a pact with the Topaz Ring.
- Volt, the Lightning Spirit, who makes a pact with the Sardonyx Ring.
- Origin, the Spirit of All Things and King of the Spirits, who makes a pact with the Diamond Ring.
- Gremlin's Lair, hungry Spirits from Daemonium, who make a pact with the Sapphire Ring.
- Chameleon, beast Spirit from Daemonium, who makes a pact with the Emerald Ring. Chameleon only appears in the Super Famicom and Game Boy Advance releases of the game.
- Pluto, the King of Daemonium, who makes a pact with the Emerald Ring in most versions and with the Lapis Lazuli Ring in the Game Boy Advance version. Pluto appears in all of the Tales of Phantasia games except the original Super Famicom version.
- Norn, the Tree Spirit of Derris-Kharlan's Great Tree Kharlan, who administers the Ordeal to Mel and Dio.
Tales of Destiny and Tales of Destiny 2[]
In the original PlayStation version of Tales of Destiny, Spirits capable of being summoned through consumable items termed ancient weapons in their descriptions. In Tales of Destiny 2, they can be summoned in mystic artes by extending certain advanced-tier spells.
The Spirits in these games are as follows:
- Wendiene, the Water Spirit, a misromanization of Undine, summonable through an item as well as through Aqua Rimms, the extension to Embrace End.
- Efreet, the Fire Spirit, summonable through an item as well as through Flam Brave, the extension to Ancient Nova.
- Gnome, the Earth Spirit, summonable through an item as well as through Earth Tapper, the extension to Gran Vanish.
- Sylph, the Wind Spirit, summonable through an item as well as through Sylphis Tear, the extension to Fearful Storm.
- Bolt, the Thunder Spirit, another name for Volt, summonable through an item.
- Luna, the Moon Goddess, summonable through an item.
- Rem, summonable through Sol Bright, the extension to Divine Saber.
- Shadow, summonable through Luna Shade, the extension to Execution.
Tales of Eternia[]
Tales of Symphonia[]
In Tales of Symphonia, Summon Spirits are beings supported by mana from the Giant Kharlan Tree. The original legend of the Regeneration states that when the Chosen wakes the goddess Martel, she will have the Summon Spirits to protect the world as well. The Summon Spirits actually do exist. It is the Summon Spirits with whom the hero Mithos Yggdrasill made pacts that hold the two worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla apart. His pact with Origin forged the Eternal Sword, which gave him the power to split the worlds in the first place. Sheena Fujibayashi, a summoner from Mizuho, begins to annul these pacts to at first separate the worlds so that they would not vie for the same mana any longer, as it is the seals of the Summon Spirits which created the connection in the first place. She offers her own pacts in their place to do so.
As the party starts severing the mana links, however, the Great Seed, which was protected by the seals, weakened and began to draw mana into itself, going out of control and rampaging across Sylvarant. This is because uniting the two worlds is the Great Seed in the center, which was drawn upon equally by both worlds and maintaining balance. With the disruption of the process, the Seed goes out of control, and only a blast of mana from the Tethe'allan Spirits, as the Seed was infused with only the Sylvaranti Spirits' mana, calms it. In the end, when the new tree germinates, a new Spirit is created to guard: Martel, born from all those whose lives were sacrificed to the Giant Kharlan Tree.
In Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, Summon Spirits return, though they as a group are not significant to the plot. Rather, only a few particular Spirits are focused on, though the places where the Centurions' cores are located are generally in the same places as their element's Summon Spirit was found in Tales of Symphonia, as Tenebrae explains that the places were the altars of the Centurions, which Cruxis repurposed as seals. Though Sheena retains the ability to summon them, she does not use their power in battle and only does so in cutscenes. The game's focus is primarily of the Summon Spirit Ratatosk, the Lord of All Monsters, who sealed away the demons of Niflheim, and is the Summon Spirit of the Giant Kharlan Tree.
The Summon Spirits in these games are as follows:
- Undine, the Maiden of the Mist, the Summon Spirit of Water and one of the Sylvaranti Summon Spirits.
- Efreet, the Ruler of Hellfire, the Summon Spirit of Fire and one of the Sylvaranti Summon Spirits.
- Sylph, the Heavenly Messengers, the Summon Spirit of Wind and collectively one of the Sylvaranti Summon Spirits.
- Volt, the Hammer of Godly Thunder, the Summon Spirit of Lightning and one of the Tethe'allan Summon Spirits.
- Gnome, the Servant of Mother Earth, the Summon Spirit of Earth and one of the Tethe'allan Summon Spirits.
- Celsius, the Disciple of Everlasting Ice, the Summon Spirit of Ice and one of the Tethe'allan Summon Spirits.
- Shadow, the Envoy from the Dark Abyss, the Summon Spirit of Darkness and one of the Tethe'allan Summon Spirits.
- Luna, the Light of the Heavens, and Aska, the Summon Spirits of Light and two of the Sylvaranti Summon Spirits.
- Origin, the King of the Summon Spirits, the Summon Spirit of All Things and he who forged the Eternal Sword.
- Maxwell, the Ancient Ruler of the Elements, who keeps the city of Exire in the air.
- Corrine, an artificial Summon Spirit created in Meltokio's Elemental Research Laboratory. After being killed protecting Sheena from an attack by Volt, he is reborn as Verius, the Summon Spirit of Heart.
- Martel, the Spirit who guards the new World Tree.
- Ratatosk, the Lord of All Monsters and the Summon Spirit of the now deceased Giant Kharlan Tree. He resides in the Ginnungagap and is responsible for sealing away the demons of Niflheim. Underneath him are eight Centurions, each representing one of the eight elements of the game.
Tales of Legendia[]
In Tales of Legendia, Summons Spirits appear as the end as a gift from Grune to help sustain life to the world. There are six of them, representing the game's six elements. The Summon Spirits periodically appear as balls of light to Grune, introducing themselves and lamenting the fact that Grune has lost her memory. They then enter Grune's urn in seed form. At the proper places, Grune then plants their seeds, which she makes bloom at the end of the game with the last of her power.
The Summon Spirits in this game are as follows:
- Celsius, associated with the game's Ice element.
- Efreet, associated with the game's Fire element.
- Volt, associated with the game's Lightning element.
- Gnome, associated with the game's Earth element.
- Shadow, associated with the game's Curse element.
- Rem, associated with the game's Sea element.
Tales of the Abyss[]
In Tales of the Abyss, aggregate sentiences form when a massive amount of a certain fonon, the fundamental particle in Auldrant, gather in one place and gain awareness. Their names are the basis of Auldrant's calendar system, which uses the names of the sentiences for days and months.
The aggregate sentiences in this game are as follows:
- Shadow, the aggregate sentience of the First Fonon, the Fonon of Darkness.
- Gnome, the aggregate sentience of the Second Fonon, the Fonon of Earth.
- Sylph, the aggregate sentience of the Third Fonon, the Fonon of Wind.
- Undine, the aggregate sentience of the Fourth Fonon, the Fonon of Water.
- Efreet, the aggregate sentience of the Fifth Fonon, the Fonon of Fire.
- While the calendar system uses the name "Ifrit", there is an "Efreet" spear, though Ifrit is a viable alternative.
- Rem, the aggregate sentience of the Sixth Fonon, the Fonon of Light.
- Lorelei, the aggregate sentience of the Seventh Fonon, the Fonon of Sound.
Tales of Vesperia[]
In Tales of Vesperia, spirits are the result of putting apatheia of Entelexeia through the process of Spirit conversion, developed by Rita Mordio and using the power of the Child of the Full Moon. Their existence is required to convert aer into mana, a vital role in Terca Lumireis as an excess of aer not only causes the world to go out of balance but also corrupts the Entelexeia charged with absorbing it into the world-threatening Adephagos. To end the threat of the Adelphagos, Yuri Lowell and his friends turn the world's blastia cores as well as the Adelphagos itself into spirits.
The main Spirits in this game are as follows:
- Undine, the Ruler of the Waters and Spirit of Water, reborn from the Entelexeia Belius.
- Efreet, the Blazing One and Spirit of Fire, reborn from the Entelexeia Phaeroh.
- Gnome, the Spreader of Roots and Spirit of Earth, reborn from the Entelexeia Gusios.
- Sylph, the Binder of Winds and Spirit of Wind, reborn from the Entelexeia Khroma.
Tales of Graces[]
In Tales of Graces, the three Spirits in the game are the servants of the three Chroma Dragons who in turn serve Solomus. They are each associated with one of the three main eleth types that the valkines cryas regulate. After Pascal touches a piece of cryas heavily imbued with a particular eleth, the Spirits respond to her blood and form a pact with her, allowing her to summon them in battle.
The Spirits in this game are:
- Grim Sylphie, the Emerald Messenger associated with Wind eleth.
- Cyandine, the Sapphire Maiden associated with Water eleth.
- Bloodflamme, the Ruby Warden associated with Fire eleth.
Tales of Xillia and Tales of Xillia 2[]
In Tales of Xillia, spirits are, for the most part, invisible and intangible beings who share the world with humans, divided into two classes into the generic Lesser Spirits and the Great Spirits who hold dominion over some aspect of the world. By offering the mana from their mana lobes, humans can form contracts with these spirits to perform artes in a process known as spirit channeling. Five hundred years prior to the start of the game, Professor Howe theorized the existence of spirits through his Howe's "Egg Principle", which was later proven true with the discovery of physically manifested spirits, ushering in the age of spirit artes in Rieze Maxia.
Two-thousand years prior to the game, however, the development of spyrix technology threatened the existence of the world, as it allowed almost instant use of spirit artes without dependence on the strength of the user. This ease of use came at the cost of killing spirits. As the existence of spirits was not believed despite their vital nature, the Lord of Spirits Maxwell's warnings and attempts to curb spyrix usage fell on deaf ears. He responded by taking his chosen few humans into Rieze Maxia and creating the schism to seal it off from the wider Elympios, planning on releasing it once the humans who depended on spyrix died off.
During the events of the game, the two worlds come into contact and clash. After all is said and done, the schism is dispelled in order to allow humanity several more years to solve their energy crisis. The party throws their support behind the development of spyrite technology, which revives spirits from spirit fossils to perform the same functions as spyrix without killing spirits.
Tales of Xillia 2 expands on the history of Spirits as well as introduces new ones. Maxwell is revealed to be one of the three Primordial Spirits who set up Origin's Trial to test the worthiness of humanity.
The games feature following Great Spirits:
- Undine, the Great Spirit of Water.
- Efreet, the Great Spirit of Fire.
- Sylph, the Great Spirit of Wind.
- Gnome, the Great Spirit of Earth.
- Celsius, the Great Spirit of Ice revived through spyrite technology.
- Volt, the Great Spirit of Lightning revived through spyrite technology.
- Muzét, a Great Spirit who can manipulate space and gravity.
- Maxwell, the Lord of Spirits.
- Chronos, the Great Spirit of Time and the guardian of the Land of Canaan.
- Origin, the Great Spirit of the Void.
- Aska, the Great Spirit of Light.
- Shadow, the Great Spirit of Darkness.
- Pluto, the Great Spirit of Eternity and the Ruler of the Underworld.
- Verius, a Great Spirit with dominion over the heart.
Tales of Arise[]
In Tales of Arise, Spirits (星霊 Seirei?, "Astral Spirits") manifest when massive amounts of astral energy are concentrated in a single area and attain a level of sentience. When even more gathers, it can even gain corporeal form. "The Wedge" fires out four lights that result in energy concentrating into four Spirit-like entities.
The game features following spirits:
- The Fire Avatar is a fire spirit born when Balseph's spirit vessel ruptures during his battle against Alphen and Shionne Imeris. It ultimately kills Balseph.
- Efreet Malum is one of the four lights fired from "The Wedge".
- Grand Gnome is one of the four lights fired from "The Wedge".
- Procella Sylph is one of the four lights fired from "The Wedge".
- Luo Undine is one of the four lights fired from "The Wedge".
- Great Astral Spirit, the spirit formed of concentrated Dark astral energy that exists only on Rena.
- Dahna's Will, which is formed from the energy of Dahna. It does not attain corporeal form but can express its will when enough energy is gathered.
Appearances in Crossover Titles[]
Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2[]
In Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2, the Spirit of Ice Celsius is counted among the playable characters for the game and is the guardian of Garret Village. Additionally, the party can collect Spirit Stones by gathering the Fragments of Spirits within each dungeon or buying them with Grade on the Van Eltia. Once the Summon Spirit Stones are complete, they can be used to unlock a special green chest in that dungeon after a sliding minigame. For those Spirits who appeared in Tales of Symphonia, they appear in that incarnation on the Spirit Stones.
The Spirits in this game are as follows:
- Undine, whose Fragments of the Water Spirit are found within Amell Cave.
- Luna, whose Fragments of the Moon Spirit are found within the Coral Forest.
- Gnome, whose Fragments of the Earth Spirit are found within the Peri Mines.
- Efreet, whose Fragments of the Fire Spirit are found within the Raisin Volcano.
- Martel, whose Fragments of the Tree Spirit are found within the Slime Nest.
- Celsius, whose Fragments of the Ice Spirit are found within the Garret Woods.
- Shadow, whose Fragments of the Dark Spirit are found within the Prison Gate Cave.
- Sekundes, whose Fragments of the Time Spirit are found within the Niata Monad.
- Volt, whose Fragments of the Lightning Spirit are found within the Churos Undersea Ruins.
- Maxwell, whose Fragments of the Elemental Spirit are found within the Underground City Mandaaji.
- Aska, whose Fragments of the Light Spirit are found within the Moscopi Desert.
- Sylph, whose Fragments of the Wind Spirit are found within the Mescal Mountains.
- Origin, whose Fragments of the Spirit King are found within the Negative Nest.
Tales of the Rays[]
Long ago, the summoner Aifread sealed Tir Na Nog's Spirits so that, in the future, he could lend a hand to Yaw Bique Yalanda Odanse, a mirrist and the priestess of Dana. At the time of Tales of the Rays, the exoflections made by Ix Nieves and Mileena Weiss fill the dying world with anima, which cause the shackles that bound the Spirits to weaken and the Spirits began to free themselves one by one. Since the exoflections draw anima from various worlds, every Spirit has memories of its incarnations from the exoflected worlds. Also due to exoflection's encoding process adapting non-native species to Tir Na Nog, elemental beings such as aggregate sentiences, centurions, seraphim, and malakhim become classified as spirits too, which also allows them to be affiliated with spirit gear, e.g. Tenebrae is a Dark-elemental spirit for Emil's spirit gear, while Lailah is a Fire-elemental spirit for Sorey's. Additionally, depending on the character, a spirit may assume different elemental properties, e.g. Lorelei who provides Luke with Light-elemental spirit gear, while for Asch she provides Fire-elemental spirit gear.
The currently known spirits in the game are:
- Efreet, the Spirit of Fire, who assumes his Tales of Xillia appearance.
- Celsius, the Spirit of Ice, who assumes her Tales of Eternia appearance.
- Undine, the Spirit of Water, who assumes her Tales of Xillia appearance.
- Sylph, the Spirit of Wind, who assumes his Tales of Xillia appearance.
- Gnome, the Spirit of Earth, who assumes his Tales of Xillia appearance.
- Volt, the Spirit of Lightning, who assumes his Tales of Eternia appearance.
- Aska, a Spirit of Light, who assumes his Tales of Xillia 2 appearance.
- Shadow, the Spirit of Darkness, who assumes his Tales of Symphonia appearance.
- Maxwell, the Lord of Spirits.
- Chronos, the Spirit of Time.
- Origin, the Spirit of All Things, who assumes his Tales of Phantasia appearance.
- Verius, the Spirit of Heart.
- Lorelei, the Spirit of Sound.
- Ratatosk, the Lord of All Monsters and Spirit of the Giant Tree.
- Milla Maxwell, the Lord of Spirits, who remains independent from the main spirit.
- Muzét, the Spirit of Dimensions.
- Rem, a Spirit of Light, who assumes her Tales of Eternia appearance.
Tales of Crestoria[]
In Tales of Crestoria, Spirits are the basis of the Spirit Blessing mechanic. After defeating them in a Spirit Trial (精霊の試練?), Spirits grant their blessing to the player. A Spirit can be assigned to a party to increases the stats of and provide bonuses to that party.
The Spirits in the game are:
Trivia[]
- Many Spirits' names derive from the works and theories of the alchemist Paracelsus.