Lunar's most beatiful girl.

[Shinto-Cetra]

Xenobia all the way!

[TempestOne]

LOL Am I the only freak around here?

I can't believe I am pretty much alone in my stance for... first of all, I can't believe I am answering this question, but I am going to support Fresca with a signboard so to speak. Back when I first played, I thought the answer was pretty clear-cut just from one obvious observation in that that she never had a speaking role. I might start to get intertwined in the storyline a littlest bit too much when I explain so I hope it makes sense. Pretty much, during Silver Star Story, there was a point in the game where all the songstresses in the world were pretty much or basically kidnapped because there was a ploy to capture the human incarnation of Althena, the goddess. All the singers would show off when you talked to them, and I thought those were cool points in the game, but when you meet Fresca, she never said a word. She got kidnapped along with the other singers but it was for her beauty and therefore likeness to the goddess since she was so quiet if you break it all down like that. I kind of thought she might've done it on purpose...

I was very young back then, so I had some immature, weird thought-process that she was the most goddess-like or the most like Althena because she knew when to speak when spoken to, not because she was anything else but just a humble young person. It kind of reminded me of the deities from all over and statues in our land where you'd never be able to talk to them or who they actual were, now; but you'd wonder why they were held in so such high regard to be made into an artist's rendition... a simulacrum, an effigy.

*yawns* Such a boring-minded answer. I thought she was smart and sneaky-looking, too.

[Alunissage]

Fresca is a favorite of mine, and I'm surprised I never mentioned her in this thread. But she was never kidnapped... don't know where you're getting that idea. She got sick, that's all. In all versions -- one of my big disappointments with every remake is that her role wasn't expanded to make her playable.

By the way, it's pretty safe to assume that everyone here knows the storyline of Lunar 1. There are very, very few people who have joined this forum not already familiar with it.

I had some immature, weird thought-process that she was the most goddess-like or the most like Althena because she knew when to speak when spoken to,

I can't argue with your description of your thoughts there. The heck?

[Sonic#]

I did mention Fresca! It was 7 years ago:

Ehhh, I'd be more inclined to say it's Fresca, right now. Normally I'd say Mia, but she didn't come to mind first or ultimately. ^^;;;

I hold to that. Fresca is great. I wish she were playable. She's outspoken, strong, sharp-witted, and good looking. She's also fiercely loyal, and it'd be really cool to see that in play a little more.

Also, thank you Alun. I was wondering whether I was remembering TSS/SSS wrong. I was pretty sure she got sick in both versions.

[TempestOne]

I noticed it as I was reading the thread earlier in the day but "beatiful," really? Some sort of Freudian slip? LOL

Um, I swear to God she was kidnapped because I've only played LUNAR: Silver Star Story Complete three times. I am, like, not even embarrassed by it or the fact that I can't remember anything anymore these days. I just remember that portrait of her's looking fatigued, yet still fierce. Haha! I tend to trek down the obscure, less beaten path of overthinking things because I have a lot of time in my hands... at least in my own head. I wanted to say it before but she reminded me of Pocahantas, the way you first meet her up on top of her horse and her full name, Francesca, reminds me of that even more. Just from similar looking syllables or what have you.

I dunno, I thought it was so freakin', friggin' funny to me being so quiet growing up because I had so much fun roaming around in my own imagination. I have other reasons why I like that pair/couple the most. Sometimes I wonder why most fanatics do not even realize, or tend to forget that they're warriors, too.

Saw that post, but it was looking all messed up on my computer.

[Alunissage]

Funny bit of trivia: She was actually named for the soda Fresca, but Vic wanted to camouflage that so he put in the line about her full name being Francesca (was it spelled Franchesca in TSS?). It's always seemed pretty weird to me that there are exactly two horses in all of Lunar, the ones Tempest and Fresca ride.

And really, she wasn't kidnapped. The portrait you're thinking of is her being sick.


That's when she, Jessica, and Mia have all gotten sick.

[TempestOne]

Being passive-aggressive towards my own self, I wrongly remembered in my own memory bank that she, along with the other main female party members, were kidnapped and taken atop the Black Dragon Shrine with the rest of the songstresses in the land & caged behind the Black Dragon. That's why the rest of the remaining party had to go up there to rescue them. I tend to always be on cloud nine during that segment of the video game, though, because reaching Pao was such a power point in the game to me. I felt everything that happened there was such a treat...

I do not think it's bias but I always, always thought that Fresca looked like Althena the goddess the most. Just from sheer outer looks alone. I always wondered why they never hired a voice actress for her. It kind of made me imagine that she was another of Althena's incarnations because she seemed like such a funny, uh, creature herself. I could just be fleeting away a bit from reality right now again, though.

The graphics for the remixes are so good, actually. And, I am not one to harp on that type of stuff. *wants to drool* LOL

[Alunissage]

Well, they did have a voice actress for Fresca... but all she says is "Hut!" I think I'd have forgotten it except that there are outtakes for it. (Same voice actress as Xenobia, actually.)

I agree that in the remakes Fresca definitely resembles Althena at least as much as Luna does, except maybe eye color. In TSS, though, she had greenish hair (about the color of the large rug in the above screenshot), so the similarity wasn't really there, and so it never occurred to me while playing the remakes.

[TempestOne]

Yeah, I know. I can't believe I forgot about what exactly Fresca did "say" because I always misheard it being her horse. LOL

I am strangely into video game conspiracy theories and Xenobia's voice actress doing anything for Fresca is such a coincidence being that Xenobia was a master of disguise herself, at least in the original. Sometimes I feel that Xenobia's sisters weren't even actually her, how do you say it, real sisters but more like clones of different parts of her personality. Fleshing them out to be "real-life" incarnates would've been ideal to any of the Vile Tribe's plans working out.

I know that's a totally weird comment.

[Alunissage]

That's not an entirely unreasonable way of looking at them -- Royce and Phacia being clones of different parts of her personality. That's basically how they were developed for SSS, since it was only Xenobia in TSS. The leadership part of her role (sorta) was split off into Phacia, and the cruelty of her became Royce, leaving the love for Ghaleon as being part of Xenobia. At least, that's what the creators said, I'm pretty sure. Personally, I don't think it worked all that well... Royce got so many of Xenobia's scenes (and additional ones) that you hardly saw Xenobia at all, weakening her impact as the evil leader of the Vile Tribe, and there wasn't all that much distinction between the two of them. The love for Ghaleon is I think only mentioned after you defeat Xenobia, or perhaps shortly before. Phacia, on the other hand, is clearly distinct in opposition to the other two, as she is supposed to be, and of course, she had already been conceptualized in a manga before SSS was developed. I would guess that Royce was created to offset the balance between Xenobia and Phacia as good/evil (so they didn't seem to cancel out) and so there was always a "majority" of the three of them working with Ghaleon. But in the process too much of Xenobia was turned into Royce.

[TempestOne]

Everything that you said is basically what I love about the Vile Tribe sisters, actually. I love/like a lot that Xenobia was basically dulled down or hyped up, however you want to look at it, to be "the last one you have to beat." Kind of like, she's the de facto leader out of seniority (of the video games LOL) and isn't ranking almost arbitrary most times? A player would most likely be inclined to see Phacia as the so-called "leader" because she was mentioned to be the eldest, but to me, I saw it as they just drew sticks and Xenobia picked the shortest stick and "had" to be the leader. It's some sort of unfair yet fair way of bickering amongst siblings? I wouldn't know.

Royce I liked because not only did she do all the dirty work, but she did all the work in general no matter how you looked at it. Tricking and/or manipulating the party in Meribia, followed with leading them on by Phacia at Althena's Temple. I loved, or loved to hate, that trio because they lived up to their official, in-game moniker of terrorizing the party both on the battlefield (with Royce) and haunting them, and the player, off the battlefield in their heads (with Phacia). I always saw Phacia as the cruelest of the sisters because she seemed so false in a goody two-shoes kind of way. Her whole, entire personality was wishy-washy. It's like, are you good or are you bad? Can you please make up your mind? I never really believed her towards the end of the story and I feel kind of wronged still about what they've done. You want to like her but at the same time... it just makes you think and it felt like to me she was almost literally trying to kill the party with kindness.

Looking back on the series, having finally been able to play the originals... I almost kind of see this as a comeuppance or a, the powers that be will be kind to the villains and give them another chance, yet they weren't able to succeed once again. It made for a really good story retelling in my book. I thought it was a great redemption kind of arc for Xenobia (and thus Ghaleon). To make the baddies relive their mistakes made for an amazing-looking, evil-sounding, villainous tribe.

[Alunissage]

Actually, Xenobia's the eldest, in the Japanese version, and their relative ages aren't mentioned in the English version of SSSC, according to Kizyr's J-E differences list.
http://www.lunar-net.com/sssc/sss_diff.php

I dunno, I never had trouble seeing Phacia as genuine. She wanted to improve the lives of her people and thought the only way to do that was to war on the humans and take their land, even if she wasn't happy about it. She came to believe that coexistence with humans would be possible, and likely this was her preference anyway as she never really wanted to fight. I doubt she had any feelings about Ghaleon's issues with Althena, so once she decided that her people could have better lives without the fighting, she had no reason to continue to fight. But that took time -- I think that change is only after Alex and company rescue the Vile Tribe miner in the Talon mine. So yeah, she's basically a Good Person who happens to be on the other side of a conflict that she thought could only have one winner. I'm sure it's no accident that she was the only one whose disguise was flawless, unlike the other two, whose malice showed clearly.

Xenobia, on the other hand, not only wanted revenge on Althena for stuffing them in the Frontier but to eradicate the humans who had gotten to live the good life all along. And, of course, she was firmly committed to aiding Ghaleon for personal reasons. Royce probably just wanted mayhem. Neither of them develops at all during the game, while Phacia does.

[TempestOne]

Eldest in age, not eldest in seniority by rank.

[Sonic#]

You aren't right about the ages either. Alunissage pointed this out.

their relative ages aren't mentioned in the English version of SSSC

In the Japanese version, Xenobia is still eldest, with Phacia the middle sister.

Phacia: "...we Vile Tribe need Althena's power to live. That is why we will do anything. My elder sister, Xenobia, says that. ...but, I don't believe that... ... The Goddess Althena's power... there may be another way we should obtain it, besides through confrontation. While watching your travels, I have come to believe that..."

And I never saw Phacia as wishy-washy either. Do you have any evidence to illustrate what you mean? She was always pretty clear about backing up the needs of her people, the Vile Tribe, over defending Ghaleon's plans. She switched when it was clear that Ghaleon was no longer acting in her people's best interests, as she expresses in Cadin above.

[TempestOne]

Well, I dunno if this is off-topic or not to tell you something I found personal but you come across so confused or surprised-sounding sometimes that it rattles my vision. Plus the "Alunissage" screen name at the bottom of your message in this post confuses me at the same time. So, I am trying to mash them together... um, so what you're basically saying is...? LOL

I might've not been online for as long as you all collectively, but when you type up essay-looking/sounding answers within an online community, I basically have no idea what you're saying half, if not, most of the time. That's why I keep it conversational myself...

Uh, I kind of had to pick apart what you were trying to say... while having coffee... and you referenced Kizyr's English-Japanese FAQ, which I loved and read a while ago, and you're trying to tell me that Phacia's basically the oldest sister in that version, right? I said she was the eldest, and I meant eldest both in age and in superiority just to say it. I think you're just trying to say she's the oldest - in that version. I actually kind of separate the English and Japanese versions pretty much all the time... kind of bento box style, haha. Like, I'd love if there was a reference to just the U.S. translation's version only, only to be more organized. I almost do not see the Japanese version as canon because, honestly growing up, I never made that connection that "Oh, this is a game from Japan" it was more like "Oh, cool a great video game." Looking into it's roots and series' tradition is more of a treat, for me, and I personally don't immediately jump into the Japanese traditions right off the bat... so... I know you all greatly dislike my wanting to share personal anecdotes or feelings but that's the best I can offer you guys.

Just for my own personal whatever, I saw that FAQ as the Japanese differences to our English version, not the other way around just from how it was titled.

If you want me to talk more about Phacia, I'd be glad to do it in a separate post but I do not think picking apart her almost... strategy in the game is relevant to her as a person or character...

[Alunissage]

My name's in his post because I saw that the quote tag had a typo and fixed it. It may only show that because I put in a reason; I don't recall edits showing up before.

No, we're saying Phacia is NOT the eldest ANYWHERE. She's the middle sister. (Though to be fair, I don't remember their ages being mentioned in Lunar Legend, and I haven't played enough of SSH in English to know. But it's unlikely that any of the localizers would've actually changed the relative ages around.)

[Sonic#]

Right, Phacia is always the middle sister in age. My statement was unambiguous:

In the Japanese version, Xenobia is still eldest, with Phacia the middle sister.

Second point:

If you want me to talk more about Phacia, I'd be glad to do it in a separate post but I do not think picking apart her [...] strategy in the game is relevant to her as a person or character...

Motives are pretty important to the definition of character. She keeps the same motives throughout the game. She always seeks to protect the Vile Tribe. Thus, she is not wishy-washy.

[TempestOne]

Whoa, you two need to stop yanking my nipples. LOL

[Shinto-Cetra]

That's not an entirely unreasonable way of looking at them -- Royce and Phacia being clones of different parts of her personality. That's basically how they were developed for SSS, since it was only Xenobia in TSS. The leadership part of her role (sorta) was split off into Phacia, and the cruelty of her became Royce, leaving the love for Ghaleon as being part of Xenobia. At least, that's what the creators said, I'm pretty sure. Personally, I don't think it worked all that well... Royce got so many of Xenobia's scenes (and additional ones) that you hardly saw Xenobia at all, weakening her impact as the evil leader of the Vile Tribe, and there wasn't all that much distinction between the two of them. The love for Ghaleon is I think only mentioned after you defeat Xenobia, or perhaps shortly before. Phacia, on the other hand, is clearly distinct in opposition to the other two, as she is supposed to be, and of course, she had already been conceptualized in a manga before SSS was developed. I would guess that Royce was created to offset the balance between Xenobia and Phacia as good/evil (so they didn't seem to cancel out) and so there was always a "majority" of the three of them working with Ghaleon. But in the process too much of Xenobia was turned into Royce.

I agree, I like just Xenobia in TSS, rather than dividing her character in the remakes. In TSS, Xenobia was not a coward like she was in the remakes. She was the one who captures Luna, and she attacks the party, and Laike fends her off while the party escapes to Althena's tower. In regards to Xenobia and Ghaleon in TSS, there's a pixie in the Grindery garden that says that Ghaleon does have some feelings for Xenobia (in addition to hers for him), which is completely different in the remakes too.

[brit]

Lucia, Royce and Jean are my personal favorites. ^_~