Weapon
      strike down those who would be mine enemy
You'll notice that Jade's weapon is rarely visible outside of battle. As first revealed in the opening movie, Jade has the ability to form a spear out of a bunch of... green glowing stuff, and in battle his weapon appears out of nowhere with a flash. If you take part in the "contamination" sidequest, Jade reveals that he can fuse his weapon to his arm by means on the "contamination effect." As Tear explains: "It's an effect where the fonons and elements of matter separate and refuse together." Meaning, Jade is able to fuse his spear into the outer layer of his right arm. It's also mentioned that this is a difficult thing to master (like almost everything else he does...).

Jade is one of the few characters in the Tales series to fight with a spear, and also one of the few who has strength in both combat and magic, thus going against the "mage" stereotype that magic users tend to fall into. Cless Alvein of Tales of Phantasia is also able to equip spears, Eugene Gallardo of Tales of Rebirth fights with a spear as does Moses Sandor of Tales of Legendia. Most notably is Loni Dunamis of Tales of Destiny II, a polearms wielder whose name makes an appearance in TotA as Jade's weapon received from the coliseum, "Dunamis."

Many of Jade's weapons' names have historical or mythological origins. He can equip Glaive, Guisarme, Halberd, Partisan, Bardiche, and War Hammer, all of which are bladed pole weapons of medieval European origin. Other spears, Efreet, Undine, Sylph, and Gnome, gain their names from Summon Spirits of past games in the Tales series, and the names of fonon elements in TotA. "Bahamut's Tear" is named for the Arabic mythological figure Bahamut, and is also a recurring weapon in the Tales games, alongside the infamous Deck Brush. "Gae Bolg" draws its name from Irish mythology as the spear of the hero Cúchulainn. The weapon "Longinus," obtained while ascending the Tower of Rem, is a reference to the "Lance of Longinus" or Spear of Destiny: the name given to the legendary spear that the soldier Longinus used to pierce Jesus' side while he was on the cross. Jade can also equip "Gungnir," named for the spear of the Norse god Odin, and I've gone into some detail on possible connections here.

« backwards xx top xx index xx forwards »
"Tales of the Abyss" and its characters © Namco. All other content belongs to Michelle.