Cress Albaneedit

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Cress Albane
Information
Game	Tales of Phantasia, Narikiri Dungeon, Summoner's Lineage
Japanese Name	Cless Alvein (クレス・アルベイン, Kuresu Arubein?)
Hometown	Toltus
Age	17
Weight	59 kg
Height	170 cm
Race	Human
Occupation	Heroes of Eternity
Weapon	Swords, Axes, Spears, Halberds
Japanese Voice Actor	Takeshi Kusao
English Voice Actor	Robert Tsonos (GBA), Johnny Yong Bosch (Animation)

Cress Albane, appearing in original Japanese media under the name of Cless Alvein, is the main character in Tales of Phantasia, the first game in the Tales series. This makes him the very first main character in the series.

Cress is a seventeen year-old swordsman from the small village of Toltus. He is the son of Miguel Albane, a famous swordsman and master of the local sword fighting school. As such, he has practiced sword fighting since he was a young child.

Contents 1 Personality 2 Fighting Style 3 History 3.1 Tales of Phantasia 3.1.1 Present Timeline 3.1.2 Past Timeline 3.1.3 Reunion 3.1.4 Future Timeline 3.2 Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon 3.3 Tales of the World: Summoner's Lineage 4 Relationships 4.1 Party 4.2 Family and Friends 4.3 Enemies 5 Other Appearances 5.1 Tales of Destiny 5.2 Tales of Eternia 5.3 Tales of the Abyss 5.4 Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2 5.5 Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3 5.6 Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 5.7 Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World 5.8 Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 5.9 Tales of VS. 5.10 Tales of Mobile: Material Dungeon 6 Trivia

[edit] Personality

Cress is a kind and caring person with a great sense of justice and a desire to do good. In the face of the enemy, especially Dhaos, who murdered his family as well as the villagers of his hometown, he is instead ruthless and unforgiving, driven by vengeance. There are times, however, when Cress can be a bit thick, such as the time when it takes him a bit to realize why he and Mint can't share a bed.

[edit] Fighting Style

Cress, being the traditional swordsman, uses swords and other blades in battle using the "Albane School of Sword Fighting" (アルベイン流剣術, Alvein-ryuu Kenjutsu^?). Being the first swordsman in the series, many of his artes are considered the archetypal swordsman artes for the Tales series. His attack strength is, unlike the rest of the characters in the game, separated into thrust and slash stats, with his various artes depending on one or both. Many of his artes are designed to either halt or push enemies away, as for most of the game it is Cress protecting three mages from most enemies. He has such artes as Sword Rain, which subjects an enemy to a flurry of stabs, and Beast, which knocks enemies back with a lion's head. Cress also has several artes to boost his own abilities, to allow him to either defeat enemies quicker, in the case of Coil which boosts his attack power, or allow him to fight longer, such with Inspiration which restores his own health.

Also unlike the rest of the characters in the game, his artes are separated into two, later three, distinct classes: the Deadly Skills (必殺技, Hissatsuwaza^?) and the Secret Skills (奥義, Ougi^?). The Deadly Skills are learned through levels, while the Secret Skills must, for the most part, be learned from books which have to be bought or found throughout the world. The Secret Skills build on his Deadly Skills, combining two of them into a stronger attack. Cress introduces an even higher tier of physical artes: the Hidden Secret Skill (秘奥義, Hi Ougi^?), which would later be termed the Mystic Arte. His Dark Blade is the first Mystic Arte in the series.

Cress, through the agency of obtaining the Eternal Sword and its components, also uses various artes termed "space-time attacks" (時空剣技, jikuu kengi^?), which are mostly unique to him.

In Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon, Dio can dress up as Cress by combining a "Warrior" costume with a "Clovis" costume. In Tales of the World: Summoner's Lineage, Cress begins as a member of the "Sword Master" class as part of the male Warriors branch of units.

[edit] History

[edit] Tales of Phantasia

[edit] Present Timeline

Cress is a seventeen year-old swordsman from the small village of Toltus. He is the son of Miguel Albane, a famous swordsman and master of the local sword fighting school. As such, he has practiced sword fighting since he was a young child.

While hunting in the South Forest which his friend Chester Burklight, Cress has a vision of a woman pleading that the tree not be defiled. Hearing the village's alarm go off, he returns to Toltus, only to find it destroyed. Finding first the corpse of his father, Miguel Albane, he returns home just in time to find his dying mother, Maria Albane. After being told that his village was attacked for his family's pendant, Cress finds Chester mourning his sister, Ami Burklight, and decides to head to his uncle's home in Euclid. He parts ways with Chester after promising to find their vengeance together, though Cress internally decides that as long as he is apart from Chester, the other would be safer.

Seeking refuge at his uncle Olson and aunt Joanne's house, he is awoken in the middle of the night by soldiers under the command of Mars Uldole, the one who attacked Toltus for his pendant. He is taken away, having been given up by his uncle in order to protect Euclid. Imprisoned and stripped of his equipment, a woman offers him an earring, which allows him to blow a hole in the wall of his cell, only to find that the only woman there is a corpse. Cress then meets a young woman named Mint Adenade, whose mother was supposed to be the cell with the corpse. Lying about her mother's state, the two escape from the dungeon through the Aqueducts, only for Cress to be felled in the end by a slime. Half-conscious, Cress dreams of his parents as Mint helps him escape.

Cress awakens at Trinicus D. Morrison's house, with both Mint and Chester. Chester tells him that Morrison helped him bury the people of Toltus, while the latter says that he knew his and Mint's parents. When asked about his pendant, of which Mint also had a similar one, Cress tells Morrison that it was taken, and Morrison leaves for the Catacombs. Frustrated by the lack of answer, Cress, along with Mint and Chester, take up oath of vengeance and follow Morrison to the Catacombs, where they arrive just in time to discover the purpose of the pendants.

The pendants were used by his, Mint's, and Morrison's ancestors to seal away the Ancient King Dhaos. Mars uses them to free Dhaos, who kills him for his impudence. Morrison uses divine power to send Cress and Mint to the past to find a way to defeat Dhaos, while Chester takes an enemy blast meant for them.

[edit] Past Timeline

Cress and Mint find themselves on an empty hill. They discover Chester's broken bow, much to Cress's worry, and also find that they are 100 years in the past, where a power called magic flourishes. From the chief of Belladem Village, they discover that only magic can defeat Dhaos and decide to head to Euclid in order to find Claus F. Lester, the only human of non-elvish blood to harness magic.

Cress and Mint rest at Belladem at night, and in one of the few cases of how dense Cress can be, it takes him a bit of time to realize why they can't share a bed. During the night, Mint checks on Cress and then drapes a blanket over him.

At Euclid, they meet up with Claus F. Lester, who takes them to Lone Valley to make a pact with Sylph. Told by Sylph to visit the Great Tree Yggdrasill, they are told by Martel that the tree is dying. Determined to stop the tree's death, which would cause magic to fade, the party decides to find Luna, the strongest Spirit Claus knows of. On the way to Alvanista, the party encounters and befriends Arche Klein, who allows Rhea Scarlet to avenge her killed family and destroyed hometown of Hamel.

On the boat to Alvanista, the rest of the party is incapacitated by a night of overeating, so Cress has to deal with Meia, who is under Dhaos's control, by himself. They arrive in Alvanista in time to save the prince from Dhaos's control, though they are thrown in prison afterward. Upon explaining the situation to the king with the aid of Lundgrom, Alvanista's Court Magic User, the party receives a pass to the Morlia Mineshaft, where Luna's pact ring is to be found, and Cress receives the Gungnir, though its power lies in a dormant state.

The party then traverses the world, making pacts with Undine, Efreet, and Gnome. With the help of the four Spirits Claus made a pact with, they encounter and befriend Maxwell, gaining access to the treasure room, only to find that the pact rings are broken. Traversing to the Elf Colony in Ymir Forest, they learn about the Elves and their isolationist stance, as well as getting the rings fixed. Upon returning to Midgards, the party makes a pact with Luna.

The party returns to Midgards where Reisen shows them the Magitech Lab. Arche begins to question Dhaos's motives, suggesting that there may be a greater reason behind his actions, but Cress, in a break from his normally kind demeanor, harshly shuts her down to the point where Mint reprimands him. After returning to Migards once more after attempting to figure out the reason as to why Dhaos chose to destroy only Hamel, they discover that Dhaos has sent a minion to declare war on the world. To save a child, Edward D. Morrison disappears with Dhaos's minion using time travel, causing Cress to lament that Morrisons have now saved him twice.

Cress and his party then lead an offensive on Dhaos's army at Valhalla Plains, succeeding in taking out his commander. They return to Midgards, only to find that Dhaos has launched an aerial assault. While Midgards fires the Mana Cannon, Cress trades he Gungnir for Valkyrie's Pegasus, allowing him and Arche to do battle in the skies. Once the force is repelled, the party strikes for Dhaos, who they manage to defeat in a long battle only for him to disappear into time.

[edit] Reunion

The party, after providing Yggdrasill with more life in order to preserve its existence in the future, return to the present through the power of the ancient civilization Thor. There, they return to the Catacombs with Morrison and Chester still battling Dhaos, managing to defeat him this time. With his body lost amid the ruins, the party believes they can rest, only for Harrisson to come from the future to call for aid, because Dhaos is wrecking havoc there. The party, with Chester in tow, head for the future.

[edit] Future Timeline

In the future, in the town of Miguel, the future Toltus, the party rests. Cress stumbles upon Chester practicing in the middle of the night, who confesses that he feels outstripped by Cress. Cress in turn offers Chester encouragement, and the two discuss the dreams of their destroyed hometown. While resting in the inn again, Cress remembers his parents talking about the pendant which would eventually lead him to his current standing, while also discussing the decision to teach Cress how to fight. He also remembers his father developing the Dark Blade arte and learns how to perform it as well, in effect becoming the successor to his father's school of sword fighting.

The party go to Euclid where they find they need the Techbirds in order to reach Alvanista through the air and need the Spirit Volt's help. On the way to Volt's Cave, they meet a ninja, later revealed to Suzu Fujibayashi, in several encounters where the party forces Cress to help her. Upon obtaining Volt's power and subsequently obtaining the Techbirds, they proceed to Alvanista.

If the party heads to the Ninja Village in Treantwood, they meet Suzu again, who invites them into the village. Cress falls victim to a bunch of traps but eventually meet with Ranzo Fujibayashi, the chief, who tells them the role of ninja and ask them to find Suzu's parents, Dozo and Okiya. Cress eventually meets them at the end of Euclid's tournament, and though he defeats the pair, they commit suicide in order to atone for their sins. Cress tries to comfort Suzu, who teleports away in order to steel her heart. Upon returning to the Ninja Village, Suzu joins them on their quest.

At Alvanista, the party is tasked with finding the Three Weapons which defeated the three ancient civilzations of Thor, Fenrir, and Odin. Upon claiming the Fire Sword Flamberge and Ice Sword Vorpal Blade from the Fenrir and Odin civilizations, the guardians draw out Cress's latent abilities to teach him the space-time attacks. Returning to Treantwood, the party subdues Origin, who creates the Eternal Sword from the two swords and the power of the Diamond pact ring. The Sword speaks to Cress, granting him with more space-time attacks.

The party traverses to Arlee. Surrounded by snow, Cress and Mint have a talk. Mint shows to Cress a unicorn earring that was her mothers, and Cress is reminded of the woman who saved him from his cell. Cress apologizes for not telling her about her mother's death, but Mint instead thanks Cress because she is not sure she could have gone on with that knowledge.

Afterward, using the Eternal Sword, they break the time barrier that surround Dhaos's castle. Meeting him one final time, the group defeats him once and for all. In the end, however, Cress realizes that there was perhaps some noble intentions behind Dhaos's actions, which blunts some of his previous rage. Cress says good bye to Claus, Arche, and Suzu and returns to the present with Mint and Chester. The three then resolve to rebuild Toltus, but first head out to meet with Arche.

[edit] Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon

Cress plays quite an important role in this game as one of the Heroes of Eternity that guide central protagonists Mel and Dio on their quest. Several years have passed since the battle with Dhaos, and Cress has built a new town where Toltus once stood. He spends most of his time traveling around with Mint as she goes from town to town, healing the sick and injured. He also helps Chester run his orphanage whenever he is around.

Time has caused Cress to ruminate on his actions. He tells Mel and Dio about the war with Dhaos, about his own actions. He admits that while the loss of Yggdrasill would have been bad, it would be much more dire for Derris-Kharlan. While he doesn't regret what he has done, he does acknowledge that there is a bit of ambiguity about his actions and that, from the standpoint of Derris-Kharlan's residents, he and his party may have very well been the "evil ones" preventing their ability to live.

Afterward, towards the end, as Mint recovers from overexerting herself, Cress tells her that she can rely on him, that he will become her strength. He tell her that she is his most precious person, and proceeds to not understand why Mint blushes after this.

[edit] Tales of the World: Summoner's Lineage

In order to defeat the Demon King Xex, Claus's descendant Fulein K. Lester and his partner Macaron bring forth Claus and his allies into the future for help. After summoning Claus, he suggests that the call Cress to the future with a possession of his. The problem is that Miguel has already been destroyed, with Velga and Volga Montore as the only survivors. The party heads to Miguel's outskirts, and after a fierce battle against Kerse, they obtain Cress's signature bandanna, which they use to call him forth. Cress suggests going after Chester next and directs them to the Elven Village, where his Elven Bow may still be.

After summoning Mint using her Unicorn Horn, Arche and Chester tease them about their relationship and proceed to push them together, literally. Bumping into each other, both blush and act angry, though they seem pleased to see each other. At the Underground Mausoleum after defeating the vampire Reesis's servants, a zombie named Dead still remains and Mint convinces the party to hear him out. Throughout Dead's speech, Cress is impatient and threatens to destroy Dead if he acts out of line, causing Arche to tease him about being jealous.

[edit] Relationships

[edit] Party

Mint Adenade - Cress bonds with Mint first in their escape from prison and then when they are sent to the past together. Through their journeys, they grow close, confiding in each other and discussing their positions. During the events of the sequel, Cress supports Mint as she travels the world healing, and he wishes to become her strength. Cress considers Mint his most precious person.

Chester Burklight - Chester is Cress's childhood friend, and Cress worries when he believes that Chester might've been killed by Dhaos. They get along like brothers, poking fun at each other but always at the other's back when necessary. They've grown up together and are very close.

Claus F. Lester - Cress is at first put off by Claus's blunt attitude, but as time passes Cress grows to rely on Claus's maturity and judgment.

Arche Klein - Cress and Arche get along, though Arche tends to tease him, especially about his relationship with Mint.

Suzu Fujibayashi - Though at first Cress doesn't want to save Suzu, he eventually takes up a quest to find her parents. When fighting at the Arena, he is confronted by her parents and becomes the catalyst for their deaths, a role for which he feels immense guilt. Neither Suzu nor her family blame him however.

[edit] Family and Friends

Miguel and Maria Albane - Cress is close to his parents, and is devastated when they are killed.

Ami Burklight - Cress gets along with Chester's little sister, though after her death, Chester reveals that Ami had a crush on him and he isn't able to respond.

[edit] Enemies

Mars Uldole - Cress swears vengeance on Mars for killing his parents, though he later transfers this hate to Dhaos.

Dhaos - Cress hates Dhaos with a passion for the harm he has caused and for the role he plays as the catalyst for Mars's actions. His hatred borders fanatical at times, and when Arche even begins to contemplate that there might be a reason for his actions, Cress displays some of his harshest behavior to his fellow party members. Upon learning of Dhaos's motivations, Cress cools down, understanding some of Dhaos's behavior and, though he still believes he was right in killing Dhaos, doesn't show the same fanatical hate.

[edit] Other Appearances

[edit] Tales of Destiny

Cress appears in Tales of Destiny alongside Arche Klein in the town of Armeida, where the two of them administer a quiz about previous Namco games, in which the winning prize is Stahn's Throw Sword arte. In the later versions, he is replaced by Kratos Aurion from Tales of Symphonia.

[edit] Tales of Eternia

Cress, with name last name romanized as Albain in this game, appears in Tales of Eternia as one of the cameos in the coliseum battle, next to Arche Klein on harder difficulties. Cress wields the Eternal Sword, and gives it to Reid Hershel after he is defeated.

Cress fights mainly with his sword and uses some of the artes he shared with Reid. He can use Demon Hammer, Sonic Blade, Neo Swarm, and Rising Phoenix. He has retains his original movements to Spiral Attack in his Spiral Destruction, where he raises a blade of fire before thrusting forward. He can also use two space-time attacks, Dimensional Strike and the rarely used Lunge. As with Reid, he can extend his Rising Phoenix into the Divine Skill Burning Phoenix, and can use Albain Finality: Final Justice, which brings Reid's HP down to 1. If Reid tries to attack him with Dragon Demon Chaos, Cress will counter with his exclusive Divine Skill Eternal Blade, a combination of all three of his space-time Deadly Skills which will most likely kill Reid, though Reid can target Arche with no penalty.

[edit] Tales of the Abyss

Cress appears as one of the costumes for Anise's doll, Tokunaga, which is gained by equipping the "Time Traveling Hero" accessory to Anise.

[edit] Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2

When Frio Sven and Kyaro Orange are attacked when meeting Aida and Stella, Cress comes to save them in their first battle. Alongside Mint, he escorts them around Regnia Town. When Mint is in trouble, Frio and Kyaro must fight Cress. At the end of the game, before fighting Thanatos, a party of Cress, Stahn Aileron, and Reid Hershel must also be fought.

Frio and Kyaro are able to recruit him to travel with them and also able to take quests from. him Frio can dress up as Cress by coming a male Holy Swordsman costume with the Eternal Sword root item.

[edit] Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3

Cress joins Frio Sven and Kyaro Orange in Mission 13 at the Elven Forest, forming a party with Stahn Aileron and Nanaly Fletch. He is able to be used as a party member after the completion of the mission.

Frio can dress as Cress by combining his Swordsman costume with the Arcane Arte Manual root item.

[edit] Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology

Though he does not appear in the game, if the Protagonist talks to Chester Burklight as a Swordsman, Chester will mention that, while the player looks good, the Protagonist does not compare another swordsman he knows, one of the greatest swordsmen. He is possibly referring to Cress when he says this.

[edit] Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World

Cress does not appear in this game. However, his trademark headband, called "Fencer Bandanna". is an equippable bandanna for Emil Castagnier. Its description is: "The bandanna belonging to the Eternal Swordsman from the story called Legends of Fantasy."

[edit] Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2

Cress appears as a playable character along with Mint, Chester, Suzu, and Arche.

[edit] Tales of VS.

Cress appears as a playable character in the Escort Title Tales of VS. During the story he ventures Mint and Kratos Aurion from Tales of Symphonia. During Lloyd Irving's story mode he serves as the first and final boss. During the story Dhaos makes dopplegangers of him and Kratos to fight Lloyd and Colette.

[edit] Tales of Mobile: Material Dungeon

Cress is one of the male costumes, using the "Cress's Bandanna" item and 10000 Grade.

[edit] Trivia

• Cress Albane's name appears (in English) as Cless Alvein during the ending credits to the Japan-only Tales of Phantasia on the SNES, as well as in the instruction manuals for the Japanese versions of the game. Because of this, fans tend to use the name "Cless" when referring to the character, especially in the unofficial DeJap translation of the game. However, in his cameo appearance in the US version of Tales of Eternia, his name was localized as Cress. This has carried through into Nintendo's official translation of Tales of Phantasia on the Game Boy Advance and the Tales of Phantasia OVA by Geneon. It should be noted that the Japanese pronounce 'R' and 'L' sounds in the same way, so neither one of Cress' name translations are wrong.