![]() Right now, if I were to say “list three words that come to your mind when I say angel” what would you come up with? White? Holy? Wings? Halo? Nice? Boring? Whatever your words may be, in most cases you can probably trace their origins back to some Hallmark card representation of them. Symphonia also tries to get its audience to really think about the complacency surrounding angels. Because she holds such resentment for the people around her, the fact that she can put that aside to selflessly heal someone really does show that purity is not something reserved only for the naïve, stereotypical white mages. This is especially important in concerns to Raine’s character. However, the conclusion shows that purity in regards to sexuality is ultimately useless: what’s more important is the purity of one’s intentions. Should the unicorn be held responsible for hindering their progress for this skill because the healer-Raine-is not archaically pure? The answer the game gives is yes (mostly because the side quest is somewhat annoying). Yet, in the end Raine is still able to obtain the unicorn’s horn, not because she repents of her sexual history, but because her intention for the horn’s use is “pure” in and of itself.Īce has spoken before on virginity and how it’s related to magic in other games, and though Symphonia still draws on these well-known tropes for some parts of its plot, I appreciate that in this moment, the audience is made to re-evaluate what’s really important. As such, Colette is able to speak with the unicorn, but Raine is not. To those who are aware of the tropes surrounding the creatures, it should come as no surprise that the unicorn only speaks with pure maidens in this case, this purity is more than subtlety in reference to a girl’s virginity. To that end, the group must also find a unicorn horn. One of the best scenes that exemplifies this is when the main group heads off to find a more powerful healing skill-eventually ending with learning the skill resurrection. I bring these two up not because Colette is exempt from the white mage trope due to her lack of healing skills (she’s still a “white mage” in terms of motivation), but because the game actively presents opportunities in which the audience can re-evaluate the inherent tropiness of having someone be a “white mage” in the first place. The healer in Symphonia is Raine Sage, a somewhat bitter half-elf who has more fondness for ruins than for the people around her. In fact, Colette gets no healing abilities and is actually more aggressive in her play style. Yet Colette isn’t the healer/white mage of the group. As such, it makes sense for Colette to carry the typical angelic-healer looks and personality: blonde hair, blue eyes, white clothes, and a sense of self-sacrifice that could make anyone around her feel ashamed. However, most people aren’t aware that this ‘chosen’ will end up giving their life, and instead believe that they will become an angel. Its story focuses on a religion that has been perverted to the point of sacrificing someone in waking up the goddess that will bring mana back to the world, and it just so happens to be Colette that has been chosen to-rather, has been bred to-become this sacrifice. Instead, my first true foray into the JRPG scene, and probably the RPG scene as a whole, was Tales of Symphonia. #Tales of symphonia colette gif seriesThis is an obvious choice in my case because, while my brother certainly is a fan of the Final Fantasy series, I never really got into it until X-2 and honestly, I’m still not really into the series beyond that specific game. Unsurprisingly, the character that I automatically think of when considering this trope is not, in fact, Yuna from FFX, but Colette from Tales of Symphonia. I still very much think this, but in writing said article I made myself consider the white mages that I had already come across in my gaming life. A little more than a month ago, I brought to light my dislike for the white mage trope in RPGs and my wishes that such lazy tropes would be re-worked into more dynamic characters in the future. ![]()
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