Light Spear

Spiral Attack as it appears in Tales of Eternia.

Light Spear (閃空裂破, Senkuureppa / Senkuuretsuha^?, "Flash Empty Fissure Destruction" / "Flashing Air Rending Blast"), also localized as Spiral Attack, Spiral Destruction, and Tornado Drive, is a classic technique in the Tales series.

Arte Description and History

This arte has appeared several times throughout the series, but it has had many variations in both effect and appearance. In addition to these frequent changes, the arte itself has had a pronunciation change in the original Japanese reading of the kanji name. In the original release of Tales of Phantasia for the Super Famicom, this arte is voiced as "Senkuuretsuha", but all later games and ports use the standardized reading of "Senkuureppa". Both forms are written the same way in Japanese text.

In all versions of Tales of Phantasia, Cress Albane lifts the enemy with an upward slash, calling forth a blast of fire in front of him as he follows through by spinning around once, finishing with a powerful thrust. The Game Boy Advance port of the game replaces the blast of fire with a blast of light, changing the elemental property of the arte, but the execution of movement is identical to the other versions.

Spiral Destruction as it appears in Tales of Eternia.

In the original Tales of Destiny, Stahn Aileron's weapon becomes a long spear of light, which he thrusts at the enemy several times, raising his weapon to a higher angle with every strike to push the enemy upward. In the remakes of the game, the arte allows Stahn to spiral upward and around the enemy, followed by a downward strike onto the ground, which causes light to shoot upward at the enemy. However, Stahn also obtains the new arte Senkoureppa, which is identical to his version of Senkuureppa from the original game, in which he performs the same rising thrusts to the target with a spear of light.

In Tales of Eternia, Reid Hershel performs a horizontal spin that leaves a spiraling trail of light from his weapon while he jumps into the air. He follows through with a strong downward thrust into the ground at an angle, causing the battlefield to shake upon contact with the ground. This pattern of movement is now the current standard for the arte since similar actions are used for this attack and its more powerful forms in most later games. On the other hand, during the exhibition battle at the Inferia Coliseum, Cress retains the original motions of his version of the arte, localized as "Spiral Destruction" to emphasize the difference between the attacks while keeping the name similarity. Additionally, if Reid uses this arte at the precise moment that the Cyclone spell is cast, both artes combine to form Earth Divide, one of four Team Skills that combine artes from two characters into one powerful elemental arte.

In Tales of Symphonia, the arte is executed with the same movements used in Tales of Eternia. Starting from the PlayStation 2 port, a Wind-elemental property can be added to Zelos Wilder's attack through the use of the "Opal" accessory, the Sylva Seal: Wind arte, a Wind-elemental weapon, or the "Green Quartz" item, to replace Senkuureppa with the more powerful Wind-based arte Decisive Slice, if Light Spear has been used over 200 times. This elemental variant can be used only by Zelos, despite the nearly identical moveset he shares with Kratos Aurion.

Appearances

Mothership Titles

Light Spear as it appears in Tales of Innocence.

• Tales of Phantasia (SFC) - Cress Albane
• Tales of Phantasia (PSX / iOS) + Full Voice + Cross Edition - Cress Albane (Light Spear)
• Tales of Phantasia (GBA) + Mobile - Cress Albane (Light Spear)
• Tales of Destiny (PSX) - Stahn Aileron (Light Spear)
• Tales of Destiny (PS2) + Director's Cut - Stahn Aileron
• Tales of Eternia - Reid Hershel (Spiral Attack); Cress Albane (Spiral Destruction)
• Tales of Symphonia - Kratos Aurion, Zelos Wilder (Light Spear)
• Tales of Innocence - Spada Belforma
• Tales of Innocence R - Spada Belforma
• Tales of Vesperia - Repede, Zagi, Radiant Winged One, Traitor to Heaven (Light Spear)
• Tales of Xillia - Alvin (Tornado Drive); Ivar (Light Spear)
• Tales of Xillia 2 - Alvin (Tornado Drive); Ivar (Light Spear)
• Tales of Zestiria - Sergei Strelka (Tornado Drive)

Escort Titles

Light Spear as it appears in Tales of Vesperia.

• Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon - Kengou costume
• Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X - Cress Albane
• Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2 - Seikenshi, Kengou costume, Cress Albane
• Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3 - Swordsman costume, Cress Albane, Kratos Aurion
• Tales of Eternia Online - Swordsman class
• Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology - Swordsman class, Magic Knight class, Stahn Aileron, Reid Hershel, Kratos Aurion (Light Spear)
• Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 - Swordsman class, Magic Knight class, Twinsword class, Cress Albane, Stahn Aileron, Reid Hershel, Kratos Aurion, Zelos Wilder, Spada Belforma
• Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3 - Swordsman class, Magic Knight class, Twinsword class, Cress Albane, Stahn Aileron, Reid Hershel, Kratos Aurion, Zelos Wilder, Spada Belforma
• Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World - Zelos Wilder (Light Spear)
• Tales of VS. - Cress Albane, Stahn Aileron, Kratos Aurion
• Tales of the Heroes: Twin Brave - Cress Albane

Mobile Titles

Tornado Drive as it appears in Tales of Xillia.

• Tales of Mobile: Tales of Breaker - Mika
• Tales of Link - Zelos Wilder (Tornado Drive), Ivar (Tornado Drive / Light Spear), Kratos Aurion, Zagi (Light Spear)
• Tales of the Rays - Reid Hershel, Zelos Wilder, Repede (Light Spear)

Animation

• Tales of Eternia: The Animation - Reid Hershel
• Viva - Tales Of! - Zelos Wilder

Other

• Tales of Wall Breaker - Cress Albane
• Namco x Capcom - Stahn Aileron

Fan-Translated Names

• Tales of Phantasia (SFC) (DeJap Translations): Magma Rift
• Tales of Phantasia (PSX) (Absolute Zero): Shining Strike, Senkuretsuha
• Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2 (Kajitani-Eizan): Light Spear
• Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3 (Kajitani-Eizan): Light Spear
• Tales of Innocence (Absolute Zero): Light Spear

In-Game Descriptions and Battle Quotes

Tales of Phantasia (SFC)

Japanese Description: 闘気を上空高く巻き上げる回転突き
Romanized Description: Youki wo joukuu takaku maki jougeru kaiten tsuki
Translated Description (DeJap Translations): "Open a hole from the center of the earth, creating a sudden lava sprout."

Tales of Destiny (PSX)

Localized Description: "Fires off repeated bursts of piercing, spear-like light."

Tales of Phantasia (PSX)

Translated Description (Absolute Zero): "Knock the enemy upward with a powerful blow and finish with a rotating thrust."

Tales of Eternia

Localized Description: "The enemy is sucked into a violent spin and thrashed."

Tales of Phantasia (GBA)

Japanese Description: 闘気を上空高く巻き上げる回転突き
Romanized Description: Youki wo joukuu takaku maki jougeru kaiten tsuki
Localized Description: "Spinning thrust that lifts attack power high into the air."

Tales of Symphonia

Localized Description: "Lv. 2 Sp. Attack: float target with a sword swing and thrust."

Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology

Localized Description: "Master: Lift an enemy with a spinning slash, finishing with a powerful thrust."

Tales of Xillia

Localized Description: "A spinning sword dance into the sky. When charged, becomes the Cyclone Drive arte with a follow-up attack."

Tales of Xillia 2

Localized Description: "A spinning sword dance into the sky. When charged, becomes the Cyclone Drive arte with a follow-up attack."

Tales of the Rays

User: Reid Hershel
Localized Description: "A spinning slash that launches foes, then hits with a piercing thrust."

User: Repede
Localized Description: "A spinning attack that ensnares nearby foes."