| Heldalf | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Appearance | Tales of Zestiria |
| Hometown | Rolance |
| Race | •Human (former) •Hellion (current) |
| Occupation | Lord of Calamity |
| Japanese Voice Actor | Takayuki Sugo |
Heldalf (ヘルダルフ Herudarufu?) is the Lord of Calamity in Tales of Zestiria who serves as the primary antagonist and final boss of the game. Formerly a human named Georg Heldalf (ゲオルグ・ヘルダルフ Georugu Herudarufu?), he is now the most powerful hellion and only seeks to create more malevolence and hellions by initiating a war between Hyland and Rolance.
History
Heldalf's backstory is central to the game's plot. During his journey, Sorey gathers iris gems, which contain part of Heldalf's past, in order to understand how he became the Lord of Calamity, as well as how the Age of Chaos began. When Heldalf was human, he was a general in the Rolance army. Several years prior to the events of the story, Heldalf seized control of Camlann, the Origin Village, for its geographic position. When Hyland attacked the village, Heldalf decided to flee to avoid losses, leaving the village unprotected. Dying, Michael, the previous Shepherd, cursed Heldalf to a life of eternal solitude by sacrificing his nephew, Mikleo, at Maotelus's altar. Seeing his family dying, Heldalf attempted to end his life. However, due to the curse, he became immortal. Heldalf slowly accepted the malevolence and became the Lord of Calamity. He then decided to end all sorrow by killing all humans and seraphim in the world.
In the game's final fight, Heldalf fuses with Maotelus and becomes a dragon-like hellion. After Sorey uses all of his seraph companions to sever Heldalf's link with Maotelus, he decides to face Heldalf alone. After the battle, Sorey kills Heldalf to release him and Maotelus from the curse. Even in the end, Heldalf, having returned to his human form after being defeated, despises the purity of Sorey's heart, which cannot be consumed by malevolence, and warns Sorey that a new Lord of Calamity will be born. Heldalf's death releases all of Sorey's seraph companions.
Appearance and Personality
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Cut-in image for Tales of Zestiria.
Heldalf resembles a lion hellion with a brown beard, claws, and dark skin. Corrupted by the malevolence, he only seeks destruction and the expansion of malevolence in the hearts of humans and seraphim.
Trivia
- Heldalf possesses the arte Lion's Howl, which is a secret technique belonging to the Platinum Knights, of which Heldalf was once captain.
- A running gag throughout the English-language version of Tales of Zestiria is for certain seraph characters to refer to Heldalf as "Kittybeard".
- In Tales of Zestiria the X, Heldalf's role in starting the Age of Chaos is sightly different. Instead of unknowingly bringing it about as he did in the game, by occupying the then abandoning Camlann, Heldalf betrayed the Shepherd Michael's trust, who even revealed Maotelus to him and asked for his help in keeping the peace.