Luin, known at different times by the titles of the City of Hope, City of Devastation, City of Rebirth, and City of Water, is a city in the center of the Balacruf region of Sylvarant in Tales of Symphonia. It is built on Lake Sinoa and known for hiding refugees and people who have escaped from Human Ranches.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Tales of Symphonia 1.1.1 City of Hope 1.1.2 City of Devastation 1.1.3 Exspheres 1.1.4 City of Rebirth 1.1.5 City of Water 1.2 Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World 1.2.1 World in Discord 2 Other Appearances 2.1 Tales of Symphonia manga 2.2 Tales of Symphonia: The Animation 3 Trivia

History

Tales of Symphonia

City of Hope

If the party goes to Luin before breaking the Seal of Wind, Lloyd Irving finds Sheena Fujibayashi before the fountain playing with children. When the children run to hide, Sheena spots Lloyd and she swears that the next time she meet Lloyd he will be dead, then runs off.

City of Devastation

When Kvar, the leader of the Asgard Human Ranch, finds proof that prisoners that have escaped from his ranch were hiding in Luin, he invades the city and takes every survivor as prisoners. Sheena tries to help the citizens as thanks for them helping her until then, but she fails, nearly dying from her wounds before the party arrives. Lloyd, Colette Brunel, and Kratos Aurion to some extent, convince Raine Sage to heal her, and Sheena tells them about the attack. Depending on the previous choices the player has taken, she may or may not join the group for the moment. If she does not join, she tells them that she wants to save the villagers by herself, but will join later on. While this conversation occurs, a priest crys out to the group while running from a monster that is either Clara or a grasshopper, also depending on the player's previous choices. Though wounded, Sheena tries to stop the monster, but instead she is hurt even more. Colette and Raine try to calm Clara down, but they fail when she once again attacks before she runs away.

Exspheres

After finding out the truth about the Exspheres, the Chosen's group goes back to Luin to rest and to talk about the newly found information. Furious at the whole thing, Lloyd takes off his exsphere, and is about to destroy it before Colette tells him not to, that nothing good will happen if he does it. Kratos joins in and says that they can take their exsphere anytime, but if they do that, that is the end, because without them, they are just some normal powerless humans.

Depending on the choice the player takes, Lloyd may or may not need more time to think through what they have said. If he does, he will be alone to talk to the exsphere, asking his mother if it would really be okay to use the exsphere, which turned her into a monster. Kratos then appears and asks Lloyd what he would have done if his life had been thrown away because of the exsphere. As Lloyd is not really sure about the answer, Kratos says that if it had been him, he would have wished to be used by someone who could break the tragic cycle of making exsphere, possibly then be able to make up for some of his sins. Lloyd asks Kratos what he means by "sins", but Kratos shoves it away, and before he leaves, he says that the important thing is his choice about his exsphere. The day afterward, he will then say that for the moment, he will use the exsphere's power to get rid of the Desians and stop the circle. If the player chooses the other opinion, he will say this earlier.

City of Rebirth

In a sidequest, the player can meet Pietro in Luin, and upon hearing that he wants to pay back for being the reason the Desians attacked Luin by helping restoring it, Lloyd and the group will give an enormous amount of Gald to help rebuilding the city, and even make it better from how it was prior.

City of Water

Almost when finishing the quest, the city is rebuilt to a much better state than before being attacked. New, joke-themed weapons can be purchased in the shop. Statues of Lloyd, Raine, and Sheena will also be present within the city. Luin is later revealed to be the place Anna, Lloyd's mother, was born. When Kratos tells this to Lloyd, they both agree to protect the city while the worlds still are in danger.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World

In the sequel, Luin is the hometown of Emil Castagnier, the new main hero. As it is like the upgraded Luin from the original game after completed the sidequest, and has the statues, it is proven that the city's restoration is considered canonical. Many people in Luin adore Lloyd for his past actions and call him Lloyd the Great. In particular, the young men admire his actions and life. However, because of his past, Emil is not a follower of Lloyd, and makes it often clear that he hates him for killing his parents.

World in Discord

When Emil wakes up, he hears a roar in the distance. After being scolded by his aunt Flora, he goes around Luin, and comes to the fountain, where the statue of Lloyd stands. He sees some people praying or giving vows to the statue, but he just turns around and is about to walk away. However, two male twins of his age named Dida and Moll come over and force him to kneel before Lloyd the Great. The player then receives the option of obeying or disobeying the twins' orders. Either way, a man will appear and scare them off. After doing so, he says that his name is Richter Abend, and that he is looking for a girl with a jewel on her forehead. After getting help from Marta Lualdi, the girl that has a jewel on her forehead, he tells Richter where she is, and he gets permission to follow him.

When Emil, Marta, and Tenebrae get back to Luin, it is attacked by the Church of Martel because they have heard that Marta is residing there for the time being. Marta, after hearing Emil blame her for the attack, goes to them to get them to stop the attack, but in the end, they will destroy the city anyway. Just then, Emil is blown away by an explosion, Emil changes into his Ratatosk-Mode persona, killing some guards that had seized Marta and battling Magnar. After defeating him and beating him half to death, everybody in Luin is afraid of him, including his uncle and aunt. He is then called by the mayor of the town, and he is requested to go and search for Lloyd, because the mayor does not believe that Lloyd would send the Church of Martel to Luin and tell them to destroy it. Emil says that he will do that, and also avenge his parents. When he is about to leave Luin, Marta runs after him and says that she and Tenebrae will follow him, as Lloyd is their common enemy.

It is possible to see a sidequest when going back to Luin after. There, they will see Alice and Richter talk about the Chosens and their Cruxis Crystals. Alice asks why Richter is after the Cruxis Crystal, but when Richter does not answer, she just says that she will help because they are comrades in more ways than one. By also saying that he should curse humans, Richter gets angry, something Alice points out. They then leave. Before meeting Marta in Altamira, Emil and Tenebrae go back to Luin in order to thank his uncle and aunt for taking care of him. While they talk, Alba and Flora says that they will not promise it, but if he ever comes back again, they will at least try to accept him as their nephew. Emil then sees the statue of Lloyd, and laughs when he sees the differences between the statue and the present Lloyd. Tenebrae expresses his worry for Emil sealing himself to a core in order to watch the gate of Ginnungagap. When joined by the rest of the party again, Emil also goes to talk to the twins. He apologizes for causing trouble by being against Lloyd, who they adore. The twins forgive him and apologize as well, and tell him that he must be sure to tell them about Lloyd when he comes back.

Other Appearances

Tales of Symphonia manga

Before entering Luin, Kratos has told Lloyd that it is an magnificent place, full of lively people. Though, when Lloyd asks how he knows all that, Kratos simply says that it is the birthplace of someone he knows. However, upon arriving in Luin, it is destroyed, like in the game, while searching for survivors, Colette hears a metallic sound under the ruins with her angelic senses, and they find the key to the Tower of Mana, which they in the game originally got from Clara in Hima.

When they continue their search, they find Sheena before the fountain. Lloyd is about to attack her, but Colette stops him, saying that she is seriously injured. Sheena explains that they city was attacked by the Desians, and that everyone who tried to escape wes sent to the Asgard Human Ranch. However, unlike in the game and the anime, Sheena did not try to defend the city, but rather save the prisoners at the ranch, although she was outnumbered and wounded afterward. Colette and Lloyd get Raine to heal her, but Raine makes it clear that one suspicious move, and they will leave her. Sheena tells them that she needs to help the villagers, because they showed such gentle hospitality to her. Because of this, she asks for their help. Remembering what happened to Iselia, Lloyd agrees, as he does not want to not be able to do anything again. After defeating Kvar at the ranch, they go back to Luin to think about the newly found information about the exspheres. Like in the game, Lloyd is about to throw away his exsphere, but Kratos takes a hold on his wrist and tells him that he will not gain anything from doing it. Lloyd still says that he cannot use it knowing the truth, and needs time to think about it.

While alone, Colette comes with coffee Genis made. Colette says that although her opinions may not matter, as she does not use an exsphere, but she believes that if they throw away their exspheres now, they will not be able to fullfull the Journey of Regeneration, and then even more people will lose their lives to the exspheres and Desians. Lloyd says that he will continue to use the exsphere. However, he then notices that Colette holds the cup of coffee with both her hands without flinching, even though the coffee is really hot. He then discovers that she can not feel anything, and Colette finally tells him about how she has stopped needing to eat and sleep, and that she can not taste or feel anymore. Because of this, Lloyd hugs her and apologizes for not noticing before.

Tales of Symphonia: The Animation

In the animated version of Tales of Symphonia, Luin appears after the opening of the third episode. It is attacked by Desians, and now it shows Sheena's side of the story, where she tries to defend the people by using her ninja skills. However, she is too wounded and weak to take down them all. But then Lloyd and his friends arrive and save her before she is killed by the Desians. In the game, they arrive after the attack, but now they come while it is in progress, though they were unable to find any survivors afterward. Before Sheena loses consciousness, she sees Raine going towad her to heal her, at the request of Lloyd and Colette. After waking up, Sheena tells them what happened to Luin. When Kratos returns and says that he could not find any survivors, he shows them a little doll, which belonged to a little girl Sheena saved from a Desian. Colette and Lloyd manage to convince the group to save the prisoners at the Human Ranch, and Lloyd tells Sheena to come with them, as he trusts her because of the wounds she got from trying to save the city.

After the city is saved, Raine and Genis argue about his use of magic. While they do this, Lloyd is standing before the lake, and is about to throw away his exsphere before Kratos interferes. He asks him if he really thinks that he can survive the journey if he does not use an exsphere, and Lloyd says that he can not use something that was made by the sacrifice of human lives. Before Lloyd once again tries to throw the exsphere away, Kratos takes a hold on his wrist. Lloyd is about to cry while he whispers how his mother Anna lost her life because of that gem, and lets it fall on the ground. Kratos pick it up and walks away, while Lloyd falls down on his knees, trying not to cry as he remembers Kvar's words how Anna turned into a monster, and that his father was the one who killed her.

Trivia

• The amount of Gald to restore Luin each time is as follows:
  • Donate 5,000 Gald and Pietro thanks the party.
  • Donate 12,000 Gald a new resident moves in.
  • Donate 21,500 Gald and the city's name changes to Luin: City of Rebirth.
  • Donate 15,000 Gald and more workers move into town to help rebuild.
  • Donate 20,000 Gald and more citizens move back to Luin.
  • Donate 25,000 Gald and more workers move in.
  • Donate 35,000 Gald and the Inn and Item Shop re-open.
  • Donate 40,000 Gald and more people come to Luin.
  • Donate 45,000 Gald and the Katz return.
  • Donate 50,000 Gald and the Weapon Shop re-opens.
  • Donate 75,000 Gald and the Weapon Shop now sells stronger weapons.
  • Donate 100,000 Gald and the city's name changes to Luin: City of Water.
  • Donate 5,000 Gald and a Sheena statue is placed near Weapon Shop.
  • Donate 5,000 Gald and a Lloyd statue is placed atop the fountain.
  • Donate 5,000 Gald and a Raine statue is placed near Item Shop.