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Richard
Richard (ToG)
Information
Appearance Tales of Graces
Hometown Barona
Age •12 (Childhood Arc)
•19 (Main Arc)
Height 5'10" / 178 cm
Weight 148 lbs / 67 kg
Race Human
Occupation Prince of Windor
Weapon Rapier
Japanese Voice Actor •Yuuko Sanpei
(Childhood Arc)
•Daisuke Namikawa
(Main Arc)
English Voice Actor •Wendee Lee
(Childhood Arc)[1]
•David Vincent
(Main Arc)[2]
Character Designer Mutsumi Inomata

Richard (リチャード Richaado?) is a temporary playable character and secondary antagonist in Tales of Graces who is the prince of the Windor country and a close friend of Asbel Lhant. In the "Lineage and Legacies" arc, Richard becomes a fully playable character. During the childhood arc, Asbel gives him the nickname "Tiger Festival" during their Barona sightseeing since Richard was a prince at the time and calling his name out loud would draw unnecessary attention.

History[]

Prologue[]

Richard is first seen sitting alone in a dark room with a saddened expression on his face before he notices someone at the window. That someone is Asbel as he pushes the windows open, making the room brighter. At first, Richard rejects Asbel's offer to go out and play, believing the only reasons people would want to get close to him is so they could use him and gain something in return, but soon realizes that Asbel is different. When Richard offered Asbel his ring in exchange for having saved his life, Asbel angrily rejects it, stating that he did not save him to gain something or that he was a prince. Along with Sophie, the two made a vow of friendship at the flower garden, carving their names onto the tree. Richard promises that he will never forget that moment.

After Asbel and Sophie arrive in Barona, he meets up with them in town and decides to go exploring in the capital city. However, Richard arrives early and gets taken into the underground cave by monsters. When Asbel and the others arrive in the cave, they discover an unconscious Richard on the ground, and Asbel hurries up to wake him. While he and Sophie tend to Richard, a monster appears and attacks Hubert Oswell and Cheria Barnes, leaving them unconscious. Sophie manages to defeat the monster, but at the cost of her life. The monster, with the last of its power, jumps to Richard and inserts itself into Richard's body. After the incident, Richard is confined in his estate and not allowed to leave.

The War for Windor[]

Richard Status (Child)

Status image as a child in Tales of Graces.

Seven years later, Richard's father, the King of Windor, is murdered by Richard's uncle, Cedric. Richard manages to escape and meets Asbel and Sophie in the Barona Catacombs. Along the way they meet Pascal and manage to return to Richard to Gralesyde. While in Grelsyde, the party is ordered to infiltrate the Wallbridge fortress. At the Wallbridge fortress, Richard is stabbed by a soldier and seems to be dead, but Richard begins to go berserk and kills the soldier brutally. The party is then forced to fight Malik Caesar and defeat him. The party makes their way to Windor Castle and defeat Cedric. After Cedric is defeated, Richard grabs his rapier and kills his uncle, despite what the party said. Richard is then crowned the King of Windor and smirks in triumph.

Betraying Asbel[]

After regaining his kingdom, Richard show signs of brutal behavior and eventually attacks Lhant. Asbel tries to reason with Richard, but Richard attacks both Asbel and Hubert. Sophie arrives and fights Richard for a short while, but Richard remains victorious and tries to kill Sophie. Asbel intervenes and manages to attack Richard, causing Richard to stop. The party is forced to fight Richard and manage to defeat him. After being defeated, Richard is taken back to Barona by his soldiers.

Richard (ToLink)

Artwork for Tales of Link.

Richard then appears in the Strahta Desert Ruins and drains the energy out of the valkines cryas there. Asbel, again tries to reason with Richard, but Richard sends his monsters to attack the party. Richard is not seen again until the party defeats Kurt Bessel in the Fendel Glacier Ruins. When he arrives, he manages to absorb he energy out of Fendel's valkines cryas. After doing some research, the party learns that Richard is being controlled by a being named Lambda. When the party arrives on World's Eye, Richard appears again and fights the party.

After being defeated, Richard appears to fighting Lambda's control and Sophie speaks to Richard, but Lambda regains control and fires an attack at Sophie. Richard then forms Lambda's Cocoon and sends powerful monsters throughout the world. After returning from healing Sophie, Asbel and the others manage to infiltrate Lambda's Cocoon. Within the Cocoon, they find Richard fused with Lambda and are forced to fight him. After defeating Richard and Emeraude, Richard accepts Lambda back into his body and destroys the Cocoon. Richard escapes and waits for Asbel and the others in the final dungeon.

End of Madness[]

The party meets with Richard in the final dungeon, but Richard refuses to listen to their words before attacking them. After Richard is defeated, he regains control and tries to fight Lambda's influence. He tells Asbel that he does not know which feelings belong to himself or Lambda, because in some way the two feelings are identical. He then asks Asbel to kill him and Lambda while he is still in control, knowing what they are doing is wrong. But Asbel refuses, telling him that he is his friend. Richard thanks him for that, but he continues to urge Asbel to hurry and end him as Lambda starts taking control again. Lambda is angered by Richard's betrayal, and he attempts to kill Richard himself by doing what he had done to Emeraude, but Asbel is able to pull Richard out of Lambda's grasp, thus saving him. At the end of the game, Richard arrives in Lhant with Windol soldiers and helps to defeat Lambda's monsters attacking the city.

Appearance and Personality[]

Richard Status (Adult)

Status image as an adult in Tales of Graces.

Richard is calm and collected, he takes political affairs very personally, and is quite peace-loving. He loves his country and will do anything to help his people. He trusts his friends, Asbel and Sophie, with his most personal issues and together they help each other out. After Lambda's possession takes effect, he becomes quite the opposite, doubting his friends and having a huge hatred for people. This is highly due to Lambda's nature of sorrow and loneliness.

After being released from Lambda's control, Richard returns to his former self, even more so due to the trouble he caused and attempts to atone for his actions. He has also become quite silly as his lack of common social skill has led to fairly awkward moments between him and the party. The experiences he has from being with the party properly has also given him a renewed sense of how to go about his duties as King, especially learning more about being with his friends. In the Future arc, he expresses himself very jovially and spends a good deal of time relating to Asbel and the others in numerous and often surprising ways; for example, he and Malik become quite the theatrical jokers, creatively teasing the other party members at their expense.

Fighting Style[]

Richard Cut-in (ToG)

Cut-in image for Tales of Graces.

Richard fights with rapiers in battle. As a child, Richard was instructed in swordplay and knows a few artes that reflect emphasis on speed and multiple hits. As an adult, Richard uses two different fighting styles, the Fencing Blade Artes Style (細剣技 Saikenwaza?, "Slender Sword Arts") and the Offensive Burst Style (攻撃術 Kougekijutsu?, "Attacking Techniques"). While his Artes Style is active, Richard relies on thrusting at the enemies with his rapier, using classic swordsman artes, which include Sword Rain: Alpha and Lightning Blade. His burst-style artes often deal with Wind and Darkness-related spells such as Soul Reaper and Shade Imperial. His only Blast Caliber is Vertex Rose.

As an enemy, Richard gains a few unnamed artes. One of them has him summon a ring of pink needles of eleth around him. After this attack, his left eye glows red until he is staggered. His second one is similar to Searing Gale, spinning then slashing upward before planting his sword in the ground, surrounded by strands of flame. During his possession, Vertex Rose changes to Bloody Rose. In his second battle, Richard can summon a demonic sword that he can use to thrust across the area, slam down to create a beam of damaging light, or swing in front of him.

Fused with Lambda, he fights using his eleth as a weapon, using it to conjure a sword to slash at his opponent, or using his left leg to direct three slashes. He can also somersault, spinning fast enough to form a ring of fire around him, similar to Blazing Tempest. He also uses his wings to shield against attacks. Richard's Blast Caliber in this form is Divinity Blade.

In Tales of Graces ƒ, his artes and Burst Styles are expanded to include more varied abilities. Of particular note, Richard directly copies a move from each of the other party members in the future arc, to reflect his newly restored friendship with them and overall increases his elemental-offense pool. In Tales of Graces ƒ, Richard's Accelerate Mode is called Arcane Vigor (ハイスペル Haisuperu?, "High Spell"), which halves his spell-casting time for all his spells until his Accelerate Mode wears down. He also gains three more Blast Calibers in order to match the number of Blast Calibers the others have, which are Majestic Gate, Spiral Ascension, and Burning Phoenix.

Other Appearances[]

Tales of Crestoria

In Tales of Crestoria, Richard is the prince of Blanquille. Following an uprising plotted by his uncle, Richard is forced to flee along with Rowen, Blanquille's military tactician, with Richard posing as a minor noble.

Trivia[]

Chibi Richard
  • Richard is a name of French origin, deriving from riche, meaning "rich", and the suffix -ard, which is used primarily to form nouns representing or belonging to a particular class or sort, a name fitting for a king.
  • Richard's main arc outfit appears as a legacy costume for Laphicet in Tales of Berseria.
  • During the "Lineage and Legacies" story arc, Richard creates an alter-ego known as the "Mask of Barona", who, in certain skits, appears out of nowhere to help people. However, his advice or methods of helping people are usually uneventful. Additionally, some of the other party members are able to see through his disguise.
  • In Tales of Xillia 2, Richard is mentioned in the job, "Researching the Competition", where he rewards the player with the "Sealed Graces" weapon, in exchange for seven "Gaius Dumplings".
  • In Tales of Berseria, the general store in Meirchio is called "Weapon Dealer Tiger Festival".

References[]


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