Other: Senel, I think, was more interesting towards the beginning of the game, when he was psychotically protective of Shirley. When he pounded his fists against her door until they were bruised and bloody, for instance - that was interesting. Of course, it made me hate Shirley all the more, but it was definitely interesting. He got far too laid-back and sociable later in the game. But then, maybe it would've gotten boring having a main character who's psychotically obsessed with his "sister." Everyone knew that "brother/sister" thing was bullshit from the beginning, right? I mean, they didn't even bother giving them the same last name, for God's sake.
But, yeah, he does become much nicer towards the middle/end of the game with no real explanation.
Other: First of all, I just want to say that Namco's idea of people's weight is horrifically skewed. If they make one more anorexic-sized chick, then they're all going straight to the bottom of the caste system once I rule the world. No one can weigh 90 lbs at five-one and be able to fight at all. Ever. She should be fucking hospitalized.
That said, I have mixed feelings about Shirley. She gets points for being the first ever princess/Chosen/Merines/other that I know of to actually try and escape on her own. That's right; she actually had the sense to fucking run when Vaclav and co. were distracted. On the other hand, she still spends half of the game captured, and she's a timid little pain in the ass and I want to smack her.
I have no mixed feelings regarding her voice actress, on the other hand. Her voice actress should die in the most painful way comprehensible.
Um, anyway, Amelia's Evil Daddy came and stole her back and charged Will with kidnapping. As a result, Will was exiled to the Legacy, but he snuck back to live with his wife for a while. I'm not at all sure how long he lived there, as Harriet later said that she barely knew him, but I do know that he left when Harriet's mother died. When Amelia died, Will saw Harriet at the funeral screaming that she hated her father and never wanted to see him, he was stupid enough to take his daughter at her word. So he took off and wound up living on the Legacy for ten years, which is where he stays until the plot takes place - and that's where Harriet eventually tracks him down.
Other: Will looks and acts older than he is, and everybody calls him on it. It's amusing, even though I kind of feel bad for him. Kind of. He's basically like the father of the group - according to Norma, and I agree - and, as the oldest, he winds up looking after everybody.
He has a very cute relationship with Harriet, I think, though it takes a while for them to get it going. Harriet's a lot like her mother, particularly in that Will can't say no to either of them.
Anyway, after that, Chloe set out to find the guy who murdered her parents, and her search led her to the Legacy, where she met Senel and Will.
I should mention that the bandit turned out to be Stingle, one of Vaclav's soldiers, who in turn was actually Alcott, the father of her friend who was named after the ship in Xenosaga (Elsa).
Other: Chloe is a fun character. She really should get together with Senel, especially since he and Shirley have been thinking of eachother as siblings for years. Shirley's too annoying to have a boyfriend, anyway.
Maybe I'm just a bit distracted by my feminist fangirling side. It's just so very nice to have a girl in a video game who's not a pathetic wimp - even if she does squeal occasionally and has a water phobia. Apparently all the strong women have to have some kind of phobia. *Sigh*
Sven was searching for the Everlight, which is said to have the power to grant any wish. Most "educated" people believe the Everlight is a load of bull, but her "goofball" teacher managed to reach some conclusion to the extent that the Everlight is in the Crystal Forest. Norma's spent an extensive amount of time studying Relares to find out more about the Everlight and exploring the Crystal Forest to find it, but thus far, hasn't actually found it.
In fact, she's rather scared to look where she really thinks it is, because she's terrified of finding out that it doesn't exist. She'd rather keep searching and believing it exists than trying and failing to find it.
Other: I very much enjoy Norma. She makes me giggle, especially when she goes into "dreamy mode." My favorite scene in the game was her daydreaming while stranded on the boat with Senel. "Stay back, you manly beast!" is now one of my favorite lines.
Also, I find it interesting that her dreams seem to be mildly prophetic. Most of the characters have tried to wake her up at some point, and she's always managed to hit on one of the weaknesses of the character attempting to wake her up. Her knowledge of Chloe's inability to swim was particularly prophetic, and we can only hope and pray that her dream of "pants riding low" and "something popping out" were not prophetic - especially as it was referring to Moses.
(Later...) Okay, I just got the frigging Emperor's New Clothes for Moses. I rather wish I hadn't, even though they absorb all elements. Either way, I'm now convinced Norma has prophetic dreams.
Moses saved Giet from the egg bears - briefly - but there were too many for him to take on alone, so Giet saved him back. In the process, however, Moses lost an eye, and spent three days unconscious while Giet waited for him to wake up.
When Moses did come around, his tribe (I think of them as a tribe, though I don't actually have any proof that they could be called that) decided that Giet, as a Grand Galf, was too dangerous to have around. Apparently, Grand Galfs are capable of wiping out an entire village of people, possibly because everybody else is too busy panicking.
Anyway, Moses took off and became the leader of his bandit gang. But, of course, nothing's that simple - not even Moses - so the developers threw in a bit about "turning wild." (Giet, not Moses.) This, of course, means that Giet will inevitably one day try to kill Moses, as well as any other people he comes in contact with.
That bit irritates me rather, mostly because it's such bullshit excuse to inject some angst into him. Plus, they solved it so easily (sticking Giet into the Calm Lands and calling it good).
Other: Moses annoyed me at first - especially his voice actor, as I'm not at all convinced that accent's real. I suppose I've rather gotten used to him now, though - I don't mind the accent, and I don't mind his, um...well...Moses-ness, I suppose. He's an amusing character, and at least he's not a complete stereotype like certain other characters I could mention.
Plus he has a dog, so he can't be all bad.
The Oresoren found Jay, half dead, lying around in the street, and they took him back to their village. There, they nursed him back to health, presumably by wiggling at him.
Other: "Information Dealer" sounds like a vaguely sinister occupation, if you ask me. I tend to picture him on street corners, whispering to passersby, "Psst...I've got your information right here."
In reality, of course, it means that he sends out his otter pals to gather information for him. Ah, well.
Anyway, I really like Jay. He's sarcastic and fun and not stupid, which is very important, in my opinion. Plus he's adorable in a little-kiddish kind of way. Well, ok, he's 16, but he seems like he should be about 12. He just has that "boy genius stereotype" vibe.
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Shirley Fennes
Age: 15
Height: 5'1"
Weight: 90 lbs
Occupation: None
Eres: Crystal
Backstory: Shirley is one of the Ferines, the People of the Water. In fact, she's the Merines, basically the Big Apparently Anorexic Important Magical Chosen Person of the game. Basically, she could destroy the world if she wanted to, and she actually comes very close to doing just that. But that occurs during the game, so it's not backstory. I'm getting off-topic again. Anyway, before the game takes place, back in her home village, she attempted to "become the Merines" (which basically means being possessed by the goddess Nerifes), but failed when she realized that if she became the Merines, she'd end up killing Senel. She has a big crush on Senel, I should mention, and as much as she loved her sister, Shirley's very jealous of the fact that Senel chose Stella over her.
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Will Raynard
Age: 28
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 168 lbs
Occupation: Sheriff/natural historian
Eres: Crystal
Backstory: Once upon a time, Will fell in love with a woman who I think was named Amelia. She was a Rich Noblewoman, and her daddy didn't like Will because he was just a Commoner. And these are Big Important Issues. Anyway, Will and Amelia ran away to the Legacy together, where they named flowers together and had a kid. Kid and Flower had the same name, which speaks to me of a lack of creativity. I have a feeling they'd name their dog Harriet, too.
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Chloe Valens
Age: 17
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 108 lbs
Occupation: Knight
Eres: Iron
Backstory: Chloe is another character who was orphaned as a child. Hers was a family of knights, but they were killed by a rather desperate bandit with the tattoo of a snake. Afterwards, Chloe took up the sword and did her best to hold up the name of the House of Valens, but that kind of went down the drain when her family was declared, well, not knights. Partially because the "Holy" Kingdom of Gadoria (her homeland) is full of misogynistic bastards, I think.
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Norma Beatty
Age: 16
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 95 lbs
Occupation: Treasure Hunter
Eres: Crystal
Backstory: Apparently, somewhere on the mainland, there's a university exclusively for treasure hunters. Norma attended that academy - paid for by her teacher, Sven. He was an extremely important person to her, even though she never really showed how much she respected him.
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Moses Sandor
Age: 17
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 146 lbs
Occupation: Bandit Chief
Eres: Iron
Backstory: Moses doesn't have quite as much of a backstory as everyone else. Once upon a time, he lived with a tribe of...um, people. Beast tamers, I'd assume, but I don't recall it being explicitly stated as such. Anyway, one day, Moses was chasing after Giet, apparently in an attempt to tame him ("him" meaning Giet, not Moses), but Giet wound up getting attacked by a group of monsters. (Egg bears, if you must know.)
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Jay
Age: 16
Height: 5'1"
Weight: 104 lbs
Occupation: Information Dealer
Eres: Iron
Backstory: Jay was raised by ninjas - or, rather, one ninja in particular, named Solon. Solon was a general bastard with freaky hair, and he had a tendency to beat up Jay regularly. He also made Jay believe he was nothing more than a weapon - a disposable weapon, apparently, because Jay was left behind after a mission that went sour.
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Grune
Age: Unknown
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 117 lbs (If that's true, her bones are apparently made of foam)
Occupation: Unknown
Eres: Crystal
Backstory: Senel and co. found Grune sleeping in the middle of some ruins, with no idea of who she was, no memory of her life at all. She never really seemed to care much, though; Grune's always smiling and cheerful, occasionally talking to things that nobody else can see. These things tend to have a strange resemblance to the summon spirits of previous games.
When Grune does reclaim her memory, it turns out that she's a goddess (thus explaining her ability to weigh 117 lbs at 5'9, with a very generous chest size). She is, in fact, the polar opposite of Schwarze (which means that her name should really be Weiss, but unless you speak German you probably have no clue what I'm talking about). Schwarze is the one who creates and ends the world, while Grune attempts to maintain it.
Other: I love Grune, despite her placing of "ditzy bimbo" on the stereotype scale. She amuses me to no end, and I love her brainlessness.
The majority of her magic (or "crystal eres," as the game insists on calling it) is darkness-based, which is rather...interesting, in my opinion. The most cheerful character in the game uses dark magic. Granted, she also has a lot of water-based attacks (and, for some reason, the water element has replaced light in this game, which is bizarre).
