Ilene Rembrandt
Information
Game	Tales of Destiny
Hometown	Darilsheid
Other Residences	Neuestadt
Race	Er'ther
Occupation	Oberon Corporation Executive, Fitzgald Region Branch Manager
Japanese Voice Actor	Junko Shimakata

Ilene Rembrandt (イレーヌ・レンブラント, Ireenu Renburanto^?) is a supporting character in Tales of Destiny. She is a high-ranking executive member of the Oberon Corporation, serving as its branch manager within the Fitzgald region. Her home and office is at Neuestadt, where she owns a large and elaborate mansion at the highest point of the city.

History

Because the PlayStation 2 remake of Tales of Destiny has varying details that conflict with the original game, the events of the PlayStation 2 version is considered to represent the official canon.

Meeting the "Beautiful Collaborator"

After failing to capture Lydon Bernhardt at the Straylize Temple in Kalviola, Baruk Songram arranges for a ship to take the party south to Neuestadt, where a legion of monsters seemed to be gathering from the sea. At Neuestadt, the party first encounters Ilene at a kiosk that sells "Softy Kreem" ice candy, contemplating whether she should go home to eat or stay among the cherry blossom trees. She sees a group of children in the area, and she decides to treat all of them with the ice candy.

However, Bruiser Khang, the reigning champion of the local arena, sees Ilene with the children, and he immediately tries to provoke her into an argument, claiming that she is a foreigner who is plotting to take over the region. He views the presence of Oberon Corporation in Neuestadt as an unwelcome attempt by the kingdom of Seinegald to extend its control into the autonomous region of Fitzgald, despite Ilene's best efforts to prove him wrong. Bruiser detests her riches and her upbringing, claiming that she cannot possibly understand the people of his city. While attempting to speak in Ilene's defense, Bruiser insults Stahn Aileron and his Swordian, Dymlos, challenging Stahn to an official match within the local arena. Ilene denounces this fight as meaningless violence, but both men become too passionately hotheaded to listen to her at all.

Contemplation of an Ideal

While the party watches the match at the arena, a large force of sea monsters begin their assault on the city. Shortly after Stahn defeats Bruiser, Leon Magnus rushes into the arena to gather the party and prepare a counterattack to protect the civilians. Ilene begins to coordinate an effort to lead people into the safety of the arena, but she is injured when tournament monsters are let loose inside the stadium. The party realizes that this invasion was orchestrated by Lydon and his allies from somewhere far from the shore, and they request for Ilene to lend them a ship of their own to pursue him.

After invading the enemy warship and taking Batista Diego as a prisoner, Stahn finds Ilene alone at the central park, contemplating about her responsibility of taking care of the population. They talk to each other about their ideals, and Ilene forms a close bond with Stahn, since his desire to have a happy family resonates with her own wish to make everyone happy. Stahn proposes a bet with Ilene, to see who would achieve his or her ideals first, and both of them form a promise to do whatever it takes to achieve their ideals.

When Batista escapes from his confinement, the party proceeds to give chase, leaving Ilene behind to tend to the people of Neuestadt. Before they depart on a ship headed for the Aquaveil region, Ilene reaffirms her promise with Stahn while wishing for his group's safety.

Unwavering Loyalty

Shortly after Stahn and his group defeats Lydon and recovers the Eye of Atamoni, it is put under the protection of Hugo Gilchrist and the Oberon Corporation. Hugo siezes the device for himself and implants it within the lost Aetherian fortress of Dycroft, providing it with enough power to float in the sky once more. Hugo's three Oberon Corporation branch executives join him as accomplices, and when the Aethersphere itself is revived, Ilene is appointed as the guardian of the Helraios research facility.

When Ilene encounters the party, she pleads with Stahn not to interfere with Hugo's plan to restore the Aethersphere. Ilene truly believes that Hugo's actions are the only way to eliminate the suffering of the world, and she insists that civilization will renew itself on the outer shell of the world, as a world of happiness. She proceeds to fight the party knowing that she cannot hope to defeat them, because she is fighting for her ideals, and she hopes to delay the group from confronting Hugo before the Aetherspehere is completed.

After she is defeated, she looks back at her ideals once more, again doubting in her own capability to make others happy. Stahn reminds her of their shared promise, and he tries to persuade her that it is still possible for her to realize her ideals. Ilene remembers Stahn's cheerful optimism and outlook on life, and she tells him that he should always stay that way. She opens a large door behind her to reveal an empty sky and a massive chasm that leads to an unsurvivable drop to the surface, and with a tearful farewell, and she walks backwards through the door to fall to her death.

Apperance and Personality

Ilene is an idealist who believes in creating "a world where everyone can laugh and be happy". She sees Oberon Corporation as a means to achieving her goal of helping everyone, by using her wealth to promote city projects and ensure general welfare of the population. However, her philantropic efforts remain ignored by some civilians, who see her as an imposing figure who tries to use her riches to control their lives.

Later, she is influenced by Hugo Gilchrist into joining his campaign to destroy all civilization on the surface world, after being persuaded that this will cleanse the world of its sins and evils. She comes to see the people of the surface world as irredeemable souls that are tormented by suffering and wickedness, and she becomes one of Hugo's most ardent followers, who is willing to fight and die for her ideals.

Fighting Style

Ilene is a particularly potent spellcaster who focuses on Water-elemental magic. In the original release of Tales of Destiny, she frequently summons various mechanical devices that run across the screen, such as walking mines that explode upon contact, or mounted machine guns that shoot into the air to rain bullets from above. In the Playstation 2 versions of the game, she is accompanied by several flying machines that shoot lasers that can cause enemies to fall asleep, and additional machines can be summoned by sacrificing a small portion of her own health during battle. Additionally, she defends herself from all enemy attacks with a device that generates a permanent shield that greatly enhances her physical defense.

Other Appearances

Tales of Destiny PSX

This version of Tales of Destiny is considered to be retroactively overridden by the events of the PlayStation 2 remake, and some situations are no longer considered to be canon. While Ilene's role in this version of the game remains mostly identical to her role in the remake versions, the monster invasion of Neuestadt did not take place in the original game, and her initial doubts about her own beliefs did not occur. Furthermore, an additional date scenario between Ilene and Stahn takes place after Batista is taken captive for interrogation.

During their date, she takes Stahn on a tour of the city's major locations, before entering the arena to watch the ongoing fights. They enter the arena just after Bruiser completes a new victory, and he mistakes Ilene and Stahn as his next opponents. When they refuse to fight him, he becomes infuriated, insulting Stahn for hiding behind a woman instead of accepting his challenge. Bruiser then directs his insults at Ilene, prompting Stahn to fight for her sake. Ilene is impressed with Stahn's attempt to protect her, regardless of his success or failure.