Mithos is a character in the Namco RPG "Tales of Symphonia".
Backstory[ | ]
Mithos is a half-elf who is thousands of years old. He used to believe that Humans and Half-Elves and all other races could get along peacefully and as such, he ended the Great Kharlan War by making the two sides of Sylverant and Tethe'alla negotiate with each other along with his companions Martel, Yuan and Kratos Aurion. However, that ended when his sister Martel was killed by humans. Blinded by rage he set out to fulfil Martel's final wish, to end discrimination as well as resurrect Martel herself. He started this by using the Eternal Sword to split the continents of Tethe'alla and Sylverant apart from each other so that they could not interact. He also had them sharing the mana supply so as to prevent the rise of magitechnology. He made it so that one world would prosper and one world would decline, alternating when the World Regeneration took place. He also needed a vessel for Martel (whose soul he trapped in the Great Seed, the seed of the Great Kharlan Tree). To do this he killed two birds with one stone. He set up the system of the 'Chosen of Mana' who is created through selective breeding. These persons would be the one's to initiate the World Regeneration process and they are also bred to be as close to Martel's mana signature as possible, so they can be the vessels, every chosen (until Collette) hasn't been a close enough match and were killed.
Mithos also had a greater plan: he aimed to eliminate discrimination in the two worlds. With Exspheres, he could transform all people into lifeless beings. He did not care that millions would have to be sacrificed to achieve this; the only thing that that mattered was that everyone became the same. For this to happen, he set up the Desians, who mass-produced Exspheres in their Human Ranches. He seems to be a different person at first, when using his Yggdrasill form. But then he saves Genis Sage from an attack that is launched by one of his associates (below) Pronyma.
Associates[ | ]
Hios two main confidants in the game are Kratos Aurion and Yuan. These two were his comrades during the Great Kharlan War. However, they both disagree with what Mithos intends to do. Yuan disapproves because he was engaged to Martel and thinks that her soul should be allowed to pass on rather that be kept in containment. Kratos disapproves because he is a human and doesn't wish for his race to be destroyed. They both betray Mithos eventually as Yuan started up the Renegades and Kratos is contantly leaking information to Lloyd.
Mithos also has confidants in the form of the five Desian Grand Cardinals. These people run the human ranches in Sylverant in order to control the human population.
Pronyma
Kvar
Rodyle
Magnius
Forcystus
Controversy[ | ]
While he is made out to be the villain in the story, there are many fans who believe that Mithos' ideas were in fact correct. These fans feel that Lloyd Irving's opinion that no-one should die for a cause is unrealistic and naive. They argue that while Mithos' plan to kill all humans was overkill, the ideas behind his actions were more realistic than Lloyd's. For example, when Lloyd says that people discriminated against should just ignore it and live their lives, Mithos replies that not everyone is strong and can stand being hated and that it is unrealistic to expect that they should.
Battle[ | ]
The first two times that the party meets Mithos, he is in the adult form of Yggdrasill. In these fights, it is impossible to win. However, later on in the game you have to fight him in his Yggdrasill form, his Mithos form and Mithos merged with the previous bosses "The Judged", "The Neglected" and "The Fugitive". These are the representations of the three main negative parts of Mithos.
In all five battles, Mithos acts in a similar manner: he is unable to fight in close combat but has desvastating magical powers. Slow, he rarely moves and teleports around the battlefield to evade the enemy.
Attacks:
- Cyclone - a large tornado sweeps the target up into the air.
- Death Eater - a miniature version of Judgement. Small light beams fall onto the area around the target.
- Ground Dasher - fissures in the ground create a powerful earthquake to hit the target.
- Indignation - a gargantuan bolt of lightning blasts a large area of the battlefield.
- Indignation Judgment - a special variant on the Indignation technique and Mithos's strongest spell. Every character on-screen (excluding Mithos himself) is caught in a huge pillar of lightning. The move ends with a huge sword falling from the sky, dealing even more damage. Mithos only uses Indignation Judgment in the first form of the final battle on Hard or Mania mode.
- Judgment - rays of angelic light shoot down, covering the whole battlefield.
- Holy Lance - Surrounds the enemy with balls of light which launch lances into the target.
- Outburst - Mithos punches the ground and creates a shockwave around him. Outburst is only used by Mithos's adult form (Yggdrasill).
- Prism Sword - giant swords of light slam into the ground around the target, finishing with one central sword.
- Ray - an orb of light appears above the target and fires beams upon it.
- Thunder Arrow - a triangular field of electricity appears around the target and calls down a giant bolt of lightning.
- Tidal Wave - a cascade of water pours forth from the centre of the battlefield, attacking every character on-screen.
- Yggdrasill Laser - beam of light energy fired at the target. PS2 version only.
- Time Stop - freezes time temporarily. PS2 version only.
- Shining Bind - A special Hi-Ougi that wraps up whomever within a distance into a vortex of light energy. PS2 version only.
Trivia[ | ]
- The name of the tree at shown at the end of the game is most likely 'Yggdrasill', named after the fallen hero. This is mostly because 'Yggdrasil' is the name of the Tree of Life in Norde Mythology. Also, it is also the Giant Tree in the game "Tales of Phantasia", of which "Tales of Symphonia" is a prequel (albeit set a few thousand years prior).