Alisha Diphda

Alisha Diphda
Information
Appearance	Tales of Zestiria
Hometown	Ladylake
Height	5'3" / 161 cm
Race	Human
Occupation	•Princess Knight of Hyland •Squire •Queen of Hyland (by the end of ToZtX)
Weapon	•Spear •Knife (ToZtX)
Japanese Voice Actor	Ai Kayano
English Voice Actor	Alexis Tipton
Character Designer	Daigo Okumura

This article is about the character from Tales of Zestiria. For the character from Tales of Symphonia, see Alicia Combatir.

Alisha Diphda (アリーシャ・ディフダ, Ariisha Difuda^?) is one of the main protagonists in Tales of Zestiria and princess of the Kingdom of Hyland.

History

Alisha was born to a commoner woman and the King of Hyland. Due to her mother's low social status, she is the farthest from inheriting the throne. Like most in her country, Alisha grew up reading the Celestial Record, learning of the existence of the Shepherd. With her future looking likely vague, Alisha decides to serve her country as a knight, training under the tutelage of the legendary Maltran.

Right when war is about to start with the Rolance Empire, various disasters occur around the world. Believing this be a bad omen, Alisha goes on a journey to seek out the fabled Shepherd in her country's time of need. This journey eventually leads her to the mystic realm of Elysia, where she would meet a boy named Sorey.

In the "Alisha's Story: The Strength of a Knight" DLC scenario, Alisha is given the leading role of the party. As part of her Squire's pact with Sorey, he gave her the name Melphis Amekia (マオクス＝アメッカ, Maokusu Amekka^?), meaning "The Smiling Alisha". While she was Rose's Squire, she was given the name Isylvia Amekia (イスリウィーエブ＝アメッカ, Isuriwiiebu Amekka^?), meaning "The Crying Alisha".

Appearance and Personality

Status image in Tales of Zestiria.

Alisha wears a white and yellow flower in her almond blonde hair, which is worn in a side ponytail swirling downward. For a princess, her haircut is strangely uneven, with each of her bangs crisscrossing, and the ends of her hair curled. She has bright green eyes. She wears black, gold, and silver armor on her arms and legs. Her attire consists of a mauvelous pink and white tunic and black shorts.

Status image in Alisha's Story: The Strength of a Knight.

In her DLC, Alisha wears a pelorous-blue and navy corset with tails, a pelorous-blue and navy bolero, a white skirt edged with black lace, white boots with gold edges tied with blue ribbons, black thigh-high stockings, and white gloves. Alisha also wears a large white hat with golden rims, accented with blue feathers with yellow tips. Her ponytail is lower down and more on the back of her head. The new look also replaces her current status image and mystic arte cut-in image.

As a knight and princess, Alisha places her kingdom first, even before her own life. This is evidenced when she requests that the Scattered Bones spare Chancellor Bartlow even after he tries to have her killed, because she knows his death will bring chaos to the government. This conviction to do everything in her power to help her country is also what influences her to leave her journey with Sorey. Alisha is a truth-seeker, and is not afraid to get involved in situations herself in order to find out more about them. While she tends toward the emotional, she tries to master her personal feelings and do what must be done, such as when the group confronts her beloved mentor, Maltran, who turned out to be a hellion.

Fighting Style

Cut-in image for Tales of Zestiria.

Alisha uses a long spear in combat to perform quick attacks, much like her instructor, Lady Maltran; the two also share a mystic arte, Light Blast. Alisha's artes allow her to attack from further away than the others and enable her to rapidly close the distance to her target. Since Alisha is not a full-time party member, her artes do not inflict as much damage as Sorey's and the others' abilities, but her fighting style and weapon are proficient at keeping the enemy stunned, oftentimes sending them into the air.

Cut-in image for Alisha's Story: The Strength of a Knight.

As part of the game's pre-order bonuses, Alisha can acquire the mystic arte, Soulstoke Celebration, which originates from Tales of Xillia and is associated with Leia Rolando. In the "Alisha after Episode" DLC scenario, Alisha gains a new mystic arte, Azure Apocalypse.

In Tales of Zestiria the X, Alisha shows additional prowess with both knife and sword; her knife skills are such that she can fend off Rose, and she can fend off a group of soldiers with a sword. Her main weapon is still a spear, but she keeps a knife with her at all times and wields it when ambushed or unable to bring her spear.

Appearances in Other Media

Tales of Zestiria the X

Alisha in Tales of Zestiria the X.

In Tales of Zestiria the X, Alisha is the heroine of season 1, and a major character in season 2. Her character plot deviates greatly from the game, focusing more on political conflict, with Chancellor Bartlow serving as her rival and primary antagonist. She is shown to be a natural leader and has a platoon of knights who trust her completely, two of which are her childhood friends, Shiller and Ian. Unlike in the game, Alisha is able to remain as Sorey's Squire, and even achieves armatization with the Earth Armatus.

By the end of the story, Alisha ascends to the throne as queen of Hyland, and dedicates her forces to rebuild alongside the Rolance Empire.

Tales of the Rays

Cut-in image for Tales of the Rays, spirit gear attire.

Fervid Swimming: Medley Relay

In Tales of the Rays, Alisha first appears deep within the ruins of Aquatopia, where Aifread's pirate crew allegedly honed their swimming skills. Alisha goes here to train for participating in a long-distance medley relay as a favor for the kindness from the Seabreeze Villagers.

Tales of Crestoria

In Tales of Crestoria, she lost her parents at a young age and was raised by her uncle, the acting count of Southvein, who trained her to be the new countess. Wishing to protect her people and homeland, she left her village to learn the ways of knighthood after convincing her uncle that it would make her a better countess. One day, she learned that everyone in Southvein had been killed by Senegal, the count of Southvein's rival, Northmine, and Luke fon Fabre.

Wracked with guilt for having not been there for her people, Alisha seeks out Luke in hopes of discovering what happened that day.

Side Story: Luke

One night, in the forest outside of Palumi Village, Alisha finds Luke wounded against a pack of monsters. She manages to rescue him, and brings him back to the village to receive care. Upon his awakening, Alisha explains her connection to Southvein, and how she had been searching for Luke in hopes of getting a clearer picture of what happened to her people. Luke admits to his guilt and begs for her to kill him in vengeance. Alisha refuses, explaining that Vision Central had already passed its verdict whether they like it or not. Angry that she will not kill him, Luke storms out of the building.

Alisha finds Luke in the forest, once more battling the pack of monsters. She advises him to withdraw from the hopeless battle, however Luke remains intent on fighting. Alisha joins him, and the two clear the monsters from the area. In spite of their victory, Luke remains dissatisfied and refuses to receive aid for his injuries, hoping to find someone who will kill him. Alisha expresses her confusion towards his obsession with atonement, as Luke has already been deemed innocent by the masses. At her request to know the truth of what happened, Luke consents to returning to Palumi Village where he can explain everything.

Luke tells Alisha the truth about the destruction of Southvein, and how he had been tricked by Count Senegal into killing the local Hegemon, a monster whose death would result in the collapse of the mountain. Southvein was destroyed in the ensuing landslide, and the few survivors were picked off by soldiers from Northmine. Luke confesses that everything on Vision Central had been fabricated, and the people's deaths were the result of his own recklessness. In spite of the truth, Alisha still refuses to kill Luke, feeling that she has no right to judge his actions.

Garr Kelvin, the village manager, finds the pair arguing and offers that Luke investigate a local Spirit who is said to grant wishes. Alisha decides to tag along, though believes that Luke is simply looking for an excuse to get out of living with his guilt. When he accuses her of not understanding, Alisha confesses to feeling responsible for Southvein herself, having been plagued with thoughts that she could have saved someone had she been there. The two decide to ask the spirit for a chance to apologize to the victims of Southvein.

In the eastern woods, Luke and Alisha meet Muzet, the local spirit. Luke tells her about his wish to apologize, and Muzet confirms that she can bring back the victims for him. She asks Alisha for her wish, but the knight agrees to sharing Luke's. Muzet then sends the duo to collect the spring water and flowers necessary for the arte. Despite Luke's optimism, Alisha questions whether the spirit can actually revive the dead.

While gathering the catalysts for Muzet, Alisha explains her feelings towards having failed to save her people, and admits to finding her own survival to be her sin. Having come to understand the suffering Alisha's endured because of his actions, Luke apologizes to her and decides that he must stop running from his own sin, no longer caring if the people of Southvein ever forgive him, so long as he can apologize.

After receiving the catalysts, Muzet performs her arte and the people of Southvein return before the pair's eyes. Though both Luke and Alisha try to apologize, something goes wrong, and the villagers begin rampaging in anger. Recognizing that they are headed towards Palumi Village, Luke and Alisha resolve to stop them.

The pair encourage Garr to evacuate the villagers while they attempt to stop the army's advance. Unable to stall them for long, Luke cries out to the people of Southvein, apologizing wholeheartedly as he explains that their deaths were the result of his actions. In response, the revived villagers vanish, leaving behind the catalysts. Having arrived to see how things progressed, Muzet explains that the villagers had never been resurrected, but were images extracted from both Luke's and Alisha's memories and given form through the catalysts. Now that Luke's wish to apologize has been granted, the inhabitants of Southvein have returned to their original forms. Unsatisfied, Luke vents to Muzet how his wish was never really granted, as the fake villagers could never forgive him for his actions against the real people. Alisha, however, suggests that the pair had only been trying to please themselves with their actions, and that simply living and asking themselves what they can do may be the atonement they seek.

Despite having saved the people of Palumi Village, Luke and Alisha take responsibility for their actions and apologize for the attacks, receiving forgiveness from the villagers.

Luke decides to depart, knowing that the atonement he seeks will not be found by waiting, and Alisha joins him in their shared goal.

Gallery

Artwork for Tales of Asteria.

Alisha's armatization in Tales of Zestiria the X.

Reference sheet for spirit gear attire, as shown on the Tales of the Rays Twitter.

Trivia

• Alisha's name means "nobility", which suits her status as a princess.
• According to a skit, the transparent parts of Alisha's armor have been passed down through the Diphda family for generations. It supposedly belonged to one of Alisha's ancestors, who was said to have defeated a monster who turned anything it saw into black crystal.
• Alisha's leaving the party after a short period in Tales of Zestiria proved highly controversial in Japan. Many fans felt they had been misled by marketing that depicted Alisha as the game's heroine, while others felt the character of Rose was an inferior replacement.
• Stores throughout the world continue to stock higher tier weapons for Alisha as the game progresses. These weapons are also sold in numerous locations that she cannot visit in the main game. Both facts have led to fan speculation that she was not intended to permanently leave the party in earlier versions of the script. It's also possible that this was simply an oversight while the DLC was being planned.
• In the localization of Tales of the Rays, Alisha was occasionally localized as "Alicia".

External Links

• [JP] Character アリーシャ Tales of Zestiria (Official Website)