[ application ]

[selfless]

OUT OF CHARACTER:
Name/Handle: Mimi
Contact: glimmers
Reference: Me!

IN-CHARACTER:
Character name: Colette Brunel
Character journal: selfless
Series name: Tales of Symphonia
Canon notes: She would be coming from the end of the first game.

Species: Human (With slightly altered DNA that allows for Angelic properties).

History: "Once upon a time, there existed a giant tree that was the source of mana. A war, however, caused this tree to wither away, and a hero’s life was sacrificed in order to take its place. Grieving over the loss, the goddess disappeared unto the heavens. The goddess left the angels with this edict: “You must wake me, for if I should sleep, the world shall be destroyed.” The angels bore the Chosen One, who headed towards the tower that reached up unto the heavens. And that marked the beginning of the regeneration of the world."

This is the legend that defined Colette's life-- the legend of the Chosen of Regeneration. It is commonly known in the Church of Martel that the Chosen is the child of angels. Legend has it that they are born holding a crystal in their hand, a crystal that marks the grand destiny that awaits them. As the Goddess grows distant from the world, nature begins to fail and the Desians (an evil organization that is feared by the people of Sylvarant) appear in greater numbers. In these times of unrest, is the Chosen's duty to save the world. When they turn sixteen, the Chosen will leave their home and embark on a pilgrimage. By visiting magical seals that are scattered all over the world, they will eventually reach the Tower of Salvation. At this time, they will become an angel and call the Goddess Martel back to the world. Then, peace and prosperity will reign.

This is the role that Colette was raised in. Ever since she was born, she wasn't known as Colette... she was the Chosen of Regeneration. This afforded her some privileges-- she was respected and adored by the common people, worshiped as a to-be-savior... heck, her birthday was even regarded as a national holiday! However, it also meant that she was secluded in many ways. While other children were playing outside, Colette was in the temples with priests, learning Angelic language and other religious lessons. When her birthday rolled around each year, she had to sit in stuffy chairs that were too big to her and hear people talk about how they couldn't wait until she came of age. The World Regeneration was one year closer--

One year closer to death.

That's the thing, when Colette was very young she was told the true nature of World Regeneration. When she became an angel and ascended to heaven, she would die. It was expected that when she came of age, Colette would give her life so that the world could flourish and live in peace. Because of this, Colette grew up in this strange bubble... Her family was kind and loving, but they loved her at a distance (after all, she would die when she turned sixteen). The people of Iselia loved her, but they loved her as a religious figure, not as a person. Colette would have led an incredibly lonely and heartbreaking childhood, except for the influence of one special person.

Lloyd Irving. The strange boy who lived in the woods with this adopted Dwarven father. The loud troublemaker who was always getting underfoot and causing a ruckus. He and and a young genius half-elf named Genis... These two were Colette's best friends, and they filled her life with joy. Together, the three of them went on countless adventures. They laughed together, cried together, and with them Colette grew up to be a kind and selfless individual. She grew to embrace her role as Chosen, and she accepted the sacrifice that was to come. After all, if giving her life meant that she was protecting Lloyd and Genis? Well... she would be willing to do anything for them, and for the world she loved so dearly.

Life continued on in this way until Colette turned sixteen. It was then that a light shone from Iselia's temple, and Colette left to face her destiny. After receiving a red crystal from an angel named Remiel, Colette set out on her journey. While Lloyd and Genis said that they wanted to come with her, Colette lied so that Lloyd and Genis would be left behind. Wanting to spare them the pain that the World Regeneration journey would bring, she left with her childhood teacher (Professor Raine Sage) and a mysterious mercenary who was hired to protect her (Kratos). However, they didn't even reach the first seal before Lloyd and Genis caught up with them.

With only a few delays, the group arrived at the Seal of Fire, there Colette prayed at the altar and received her first "blessing from heaven", a pair of sparkling pink angel wings. And thus, Colette began her angel transformation. As the group traveled from seal to seal, Colette gained more powers. Her eyesight and hearing improved, she gained access to new magical spells, and she became stronger physically. However, there was also a cost for this power. After the first seal was unlocked, Colette found that she was no longer hungry. Then, no matter how hard she tried she couldn't sleep. Lloyd discovered that she was loosing her humanity after she lost the ability to feel anything. As Colette went on to loose her ability to talk, she assured her friends that this is just what it means to become an angel. Lloyd swore that he would find a way to regain what she had lost, but Colette knew... this was just what it meant to die, to become an angel.

Along the way, the group met a mysterious and foreign assassin. This woman, Sheena, attempted and failed to kill Colette. In a twist of fate, Sheena ended up travelling with the group until she realized that they were all kind and good people. She told the group that she was from another world, a place called Tethe'alla. They discovered that Tethe'alla existed parallel to Sylvarant, and that the two worlds used the same supply of mana (energy that powers the world, essentially). While one world was flourished, the other declined. So while Sylvarant was experiencing famine and tragedy, Tethe'alla was experiencing peace and luxury. Sheena didn't want to hurt Colette, but she said that she would fight to protect her homeland. Colette and the group promised that they would talk to Remiel, and hopefully they would find a way for both worlds to live in peace.

When the group reached a certain town in the mountains, they decided to rest there before continuing on to the Tower of Salvation. However, Colette lied and snuck away in the night with Kratos. She had still not told the rest of the group that the journey would end with her death, and she wanted to spare them that pain if she could. When the group awoke, they followed Colette to the Tower of Salvation, where they witnessed her last moments before she became an angel. Remiel promised her that he would make both worlds prosper, and with that peace in her hearth she was able to say a final goodbye to Lloyd and her friends.

But after the last of the light in her eyes faded away, Remiel started to laugh. He confessed that this was all just a sham... the Chosen of Regeneration, she was just being prepared as a lifeless vessel for the Goddess Martel. Furious, Lloyd and the others fought against Remiel to save Colette. After they defeated him, they were challenged by Kratos, who was revealed to be an angel. After they fought to a stalemate, another angel appeared... a powerful angel named Yggdrasil. Unable to defeat him, Lloyd and his friends where whisked away by a group called the Renegades. They tell the party about Cruxis, the organization that is pulling the strings behind the Church of Martel and the villainous Desians. There they are also reunited with Colette-- or to be more specific the soulless body of Colette. Lloyd vowed to find a way to save her, and so their journey continued.

In an effort to save Colette, the group traveled to Tethe'alla. There they met other members of their party-- the playboy Chosen Zelos, the young soulless girl Presea, and the repentant criminal Regal. Together they eventually discovered a key crest for her unique Cruxis Crystal, and this key crest allowed Colette's humanity to return. However, these blessings came with side-effects, Colette then contracted a rare disease that was causing her body to slowly and painfully turn to crystal. However, she did not want to burden the others so she did not tell the others of her worries.

This illness is discovered by Rodyle (a rogue member of Cruxis). Unable to use her to power his horrible Mana Cannon weapon, he calls her a 'sinful Chosen' and discards her. Believing that her illness is directly related to her failing to complete her journey of regeneration, Colette begins to experience doubt and guilt. Even if her sacrifice would only have lead to a temporary peace, she can't help but feel guilty for wanting to live.

As the journey to find peace continues, the party discovers Colette's illness, and works to find a way to heal her. In discovering a cure, the party learns more about the hero Mithos, and the way that he separated the world into two worlds-- Tethe'alla and Sylvarant. After Colette is cured, the party discovers that the ancient hero Mithos is actually Yggdrasil, and the Chosen system is an elaborate plan where Mithos intends to create a soulless vessel for his dead sister Martel to inhabit.

The group travels back to the Tower of Salvation, but when they arrive Zelos takes Colette captive, and delivers her to Mithos. While Lloyd and the others rush to save her, they are too late. When Colette opens her eyes, Martel is the one speaking... they believe that Colette is gone.

However, Martel turns the tables. She begs Mithos to stop this madness, and asks Colette to stop her brother before Colette's key crest is returned to her. Colette awakens, and tells the party that Martel wants peace to return to the world more than anything. Yggdrasil retreats to begin his new plan, and the party travels to the final seal, the seal that contains the power of Origin (the Summon Spirit and Mithos used to fracture the world).

After Lloyd fights Kratos and harnesses the power of Origin, Yggdrasil returns in the form of his Cruxis Crystal. The crystal possesses Colette (or another party member depending on player choice) and spirits her away to his base of operations. The party follows, and while they are waylaid by various traps and illusions, the party manages to break free and all together they go to confront Yggdrasil.

The group manages to defeat Yggdrasil, and Lloyd uses the power of Origin to unite the two worlds. He and Colette together fly down to the newly planted Tree of Mana, where they meet the tree's spirit. Colette urges Lloyd to think of a name for the world's new hope and with that the game fades to black. After the credits, we see a short scene where Colette returns back to Iselia. There, she tells her family that she is returning not as the Chosen, but as Colette.

Personality: When trying to think of Colette, one word comes to mind right away... kind. It's a word that encompasses so much about her, and describes her so completely-- Colette is a kind girl. A kind, caring, sweet, naive, gentle, loving, self-sacrificing, apologetic, and incredibly strong girl.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself. To understand Colette, it is important to understand how she was raised. As was discussed in the history section, Colette grew up as the Chosen of Regeneration, a religious figure that is somewhat akin to Jesus. When Colette was very young, she was told that when she grew to the age of sixteen, she would die so that the world would flourish. While many people would balk under such responsibility, Colette embraced it. After all, she loved the world. She loved all the people in it, all the beautiful flowers and trees... she loved her precious friends, and if her death could ensure their safety and happiness, then that is a sacrifice that she would willingly make.

Obviously, for a person to make that choice, they must be exceedingly kind, and Colette is that. She is just the sort of person who sees the good in everyone and everything around her, and with that she is able to love everyone. By seeing the best in people, she is able to encourage those traits, and strangely her belief in others often leads to them becoming better people. For example, when Sheena (a future party member) was sent to kill Colette, her assassination attempt failed and she was forced to flee. While the rest of the party was fuming and wondering how anyone could want to kill Colette, Colette was trying to figure out how she could befriend this mysterious assassin. After all, Colette pointed out that she had kind eyes, and she was sure that there was some explanation for her actions. Then, when the party later met a wounded Sheena, Colette pleaded Raine to heal her, even though they were still enemies at the time. We see this countless times throughout the game, Colette will approach everyone with kindness, and often that is exactly what the person needed.

Of course, that doesn't mean that Colette's kindness never comes back around and bites her in the ass. While Colette is very kind, she can also be very naive. While she is always able to see the hidden good in another person, sometimes she sees good intentions where there are none. For example, the party encounters another group during their travels, a group that is posing as the Chosen of Regeneration. This group is just performing a scam, by pretending to be Colette and her friends, they are granted access to things like food, shelter, and precious religious artifacts. While they are obviously con-men, Colette comments that she thinks that this other group is cool, and she's excited that there are other groups who are also working to save the world. This means that, if people wanted to, it would be easy for liars to take advantage of her trusting nature.

And, on a sillier note, as you might guess from that last paragraph Colette can be a bit of an airhead. She's not dumb, but she can say things that are awfully... special from time to time. In fact, one party member comments that the topic of conversation tends to fly out the window when Colette is involved. She doesn't have a very good ear for sarcasm or metaphorical turns of phrases, so many things simply fly over her head. For example, there is a moment where Lloyd was talking about how he learned all of the Dwarven Vows (a set of sayings in Tales of Symphonia world). He said that he had to recite one vow before each meal, or he didn't get to eat. However, Colette took this to mean that there was something special about Dirk's food, like it was magical and it strengthened Lloyd's memorization skills. There are little examples like this sprinkled throughout the game, reminders that Colette can be a little... ditzy when it comes to common sense.

That does not mean that Colette is stupid or ignorant. While she can be obtuse in some fields, she has a very keen awareness towards the feelings of those around her. She is good at reading people, and is often able to tell when someone is feeling sad but is trying to hide it, or if someone is bothered by something. She also is able to fully grasp emotional situations, and we see throughout the game she will boil down and explain the feelings and actions of others to Lloyd. Perhaps it goes hand in hand with her kindness-- because she so readily believes in people, she is often able to see the motivations of villains that others can't understand. After all, every villain is a hero in their own story, and by understanding their motivations Colette is able to sympathize and mourn for them... a kindness that few can achieve.

Another reason why she's easily able to see when others are hiding their sufferings, is because Colette is an expert at smiling when she's feeling sad. Because she is so kind, and because she was raised to be someone who would help others, Colette doesn't like to share her worries, and often tends to hold her sadness close to her chest. When something is bothering her, she will go out of her way to smile extra wide, and giggle a little for good measure. When she is tired, she will never show it and will likely push herself well past her breaking point so that she doesn't slow down everyone else. For years she never told Lloyd or Genis that her Journey of Regeneration would end with her death, because she wouldn't want them to be sad. As the journey continued her body changed in subtle ways (she lost her ability to eat food, she couldn't sleep, she couldn't feel things) but she kept that a secret until Lloyd uncovered the truth. When her body was being overtaken by a disease that would turn her into a crystal, she didn't say a word until it was forcefully uncovered... she's just the kind of person who wants to deal with her own problems, if she can, and never wants to be a burden on others.

While this can be a weakness, it also points to one of Colette's greatest strengths. She has an iron will, despite her sweet and easy-going appearance. If there is something that she cares about, she will work tirelessly until she is able to help. When she sees people suffering right in front of her? You can bet Colette will involve herself in some way. If she sees someone wounded by the side of the road? Colette will want to stop and give them her full attention. If dying will save the world? Then she will literally walk to her own death. While the characters in the game found a way to avoid Colette's death, she still willingly gave up her heart and soul for the good of the world... that speaks volumes.

Because she is so kind, and because she is so determined, Colette is also quite apologetic and has a tendency to take the blame for everything that happens around her, even when it is not her fault. Because she is able to see good intentions in everyone, and because she often sees the best in people... It’s no surprise that she often thinks that she is at fault in many situations. Because of this, she tends to apologize constantly, to the point where she is scolded for apologizing too much.

However, not all of her apologies are on behalf of herself, if that makes any sense. Sometimes, she is just apologizing for the world... If a friend is talking about how their life is terrible, or something that is making their life really hard, Colette will say sorry. When that friend replies with a statement like “don’t worry, it’s not your fault” Colette will reply and say that no... She’s just sorry that this is happening. This aspect of her was touched on earlier, but I feel it is important to emphasize that Colette is an extremely empathetic person. She acutely feels the pain of the people around her, and that is why she will constantly put her all into helping those around her.

Unfortunately, that means that she can also be self-sacrificing. This aspect of her personality was also touched upon earlier when discussing Colette’s tendency to hide her suffering, but it was not fully explored. Because Colette is a person who was raised to essentially give her life for the world, she has a tendency to sacrifice her own happiness for the sake of others. Over the course of the game, she learns that this is not a healthy way to live, and that no one should make sacrifices... But this is a concept that she has lived with her entire life. She has lived for sixteen years thinking that her own happiness was ultimately unimportant, and while she now knows that her death would not bring happiness to anyone, it is still a hard habit to shake. She will still often put herself second, and will put the wants and happiness of others first. However, because she was taught that one should never sacrifice their own life this is something that Colette has very strong feelings about. If she encounters someone who is trying to sacrifice themselves, you can be very sure that Colette will not stand for such shit.

So, as you can see, Colette is a very interesting and complex character. She comes off as a gentle, kind, sweet, and slightly air-headed girl... But that gentle outside belies her will of iron. She will do anything within her power to help the people around her, and that is an amazing trait. She hopes to keep growing, and someday become a Chosen who can lead the Church of Martel and bring happiness to everyone. But for now, she is what she is... A young woman with a huge heart, a silly sense of humor, a tendency to hide behind smiles and fake laughter when she’s sad, and endless love in her heart for every person in the world.

Abilities: Colette's main abilities comes in the form of her Cruxis Crystal, the red crystal that she wears on her neck. In Tales of Symphonia, Cruxis Crystals are essentially stones that are created by harvesting human life. When a person wears this crystal, and encounters mental and physical hardship, the crystal fuses with them and grants them new abilities. Because of the crystal, Colette has incredible sense of vision and hearing, and she is granted with strength that allows her to easily lift a man who is twice her size with no visible effort. She also has sparkling pink wings, that she can use or hide at will. With these wings, she is able to fly, and she uses them whenever she fights. Finally, this crystal grants her access to several holy magic spells that can either damage enemies, or buff her allies.

Lastly (and unrelated to her angelic skills) Colette has experience fighting with two chakrams, and she has many fighting techniques related to them. Many of these involved lightning, which is possibly a manifestation of her angelic abilities, although the game does not go into detail on that. A complete list of the techniques in all their JRPG glory can be found here for reference.
Augment Skillset: Engineer
Sample: Hello? Ah, it's working! [Colette beams. Technology has always been... difficult for her, so she was worried that she wouldn't be able to operate this thing. Strangely, operating this device came more naturally to her than she thought it would. But, she pushes that to the side for the moment. She can worry about that in her private time]

My name is Colette, I just woke up here a few hours ago. I'm sorry to bother all of you, but I was wondering if I could ask some questions? I think there's been a mistake, I didn't sign up to come to a spaceship like this. I think I might have taken someone's place by accident...? [these seems like a cruise, or maybe it's someone's vacation? She'd feel really bad if she stole someone's spot]

So, if there's any way that I can talk to someone and set this right, I'd be really grateful. [and, just because she's a little nervous right now she tacks this on] I'm really sorry for causing trouble like this.