Natalia Luzu Kimlasca-Lanvaldear
Information
Game	Tales of the Abyss
Hometown	Baticul
Age	18
Weight	53 kg / 117 lbs
Height	168 cm / 5'6"
Occupation	Princess of Kimlasca
Weapon	Bow
Japanese Voice Actor	Michiko Neya
English Voice Actor	Stephanie Sheh

Natalia Luzu Kimlasca-Lanvaldear (ナタリア・ルツ・キムラスカ・ランバルディア, Nataria Rutsu Kimurasuka Ranbarudia^?) is the princess of the kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear and one of the protagonists in Tales of the Abyss.

Contents 1 Personality 2 Fighting Style 3 History 3.1 In the Beginning 3.2 Meeting Asch 3.3 As Heir to the Throne 3.4 True Identity 3.5 Eldrant 4 Other Appearances 4.1 Tales of Hearts 4.2 Tales of Graces 5 Trivia

PersonalityEdit

Although at first Natalia seems demanding and somewhat harsh, she cares deeply for her kingdom and its people, and is strongly devoted to them. Her promise with Asch to change her country so that "no one has to be poor" and that "war never happens" is just one example of her love for Kimlasca. She was sometimes among her people as well, rather than just hearing about them in her castle.

It is obvious that the people of Kimlasca love her very much in return. When Natalia and Luke are declared impostors and sentenced to death, the civilians aid their escape by standing in the way of their pursuers, risking their lives in the process. To the people of Baticul, all that mattered was that their princess, royal blood or not, was safe.

Natalia is a strong leader and passionate humanitarian. After the events of the Absorption Gate, she travels Auldrant to ensure that peace is kept between Malkuth and Kimlasca, and to help cities in need.

Fighting StyleEdit

Natalia is a Seventh Fonist and archer who trained at the Lanvaldear School of Archery, providing her with the skills to attack targets from a safe range. As a Seventh Fonist, she can heal and support her allies with spells similar to the abilities of Tear Grants.

Unlike Tear however, Natalia focuses on single-target healing with artes like Heal and Cure, as well as Revive being a similar counterpart to Tear's Resurrection; this makes her spells more potent and effective for individual allies. The only way she can provide area-based healing is through the use of the FOF changes Healing Wind and Angel's Breath from the original artes Heal and Revive, respectively. She is also the only character with Recover, allowing her to purge ailments without the use of an item or FOF change.

Also, unlike other spellcasters, none of Natalia's fonic artes can not be used offensively to damage enemies; her spells primarily consist of support abilities that increase the statistics of her allies, such as Sharpness and Barrier. She also possesses unique defense-altering artes that can affect an ally, Resist, or an enemy, Scare Shot.

Natalia is very capable at backing up a close-ranged ally. She can create arte chains that cause enemies to stagger, and is able to hit several enemies, all while maintaining a distance. Her arcane artes, Star Stroke, Star Embrace, and Gallant Barrage, all fire multiple arrows for effective damage. She also has the arte Calvary, which prevents staggering for a short period; generally enough time for her to cast a spell without being interrupted.

HistoryEdit

In the BeginningEdit

Natalia is initially bossy to the entire party, even forcing Luke to let her join him on their trip to Akzeriuth by blackmailing him.

Throughout the party's time in the Abandoned Factory, she was rather haughty to the party and a constant annoyance, berating Luke on how he should not be mixing with "commoners" and even taking over Luke's position as leader of the group. Her attitude only truly changed when Tear saved her from being flattened by a monster.

Meeting AschEdit

Natalia is shocked to find that Asch was her true fiancé, and that the Luke she had known for the last several years is his replica. Despite Asch's claims of not being the same person he once was, Natalia states she still loves him; these feelings are not unrequited, as Asch shows that he still cares for Natalia on multiple occasions.

It is at this point Natalia becomes heavily dependent on Asch's support, causing future problems for the party later on.

As Heir to the ThroneEdit

When the party arrives in Chesedonia in their attempt to end war between Malkuth and Kimlasca, Mohs reveals to Natalia that she is not truly of noble blood. He claims that the true princess was stillborn and Natalia was taken from the daughter of her wet nurse to replace the princess. Natalia is taken aback by these statements and affected by them for a large portion of the story. When the party returns to Baticul to confront King Ingobert, she and Luke are declared impostors to the throne, as she is not of royal blood and Luke is a replica.

King Ingobert sentences the two to death, intending to wage war against Malkuth once more. However, the two are saved by the rest of the party and escape with the help of Asch, Pere, the White Knights, Dark Wings, and Baticul's civilians. The civilians claim they don't care if she isn't of royal blood, and that Natalia is their princess because of the good things she has done for them. The group later returns to Baticul and Ingobert re-accepts Natalia as his daughter, stating that being related by years of memories is more important than being related by blood.

True IdentityEdit

It is later revealed that Natalia's real mother was a woman named Sylvia and her father is Badaq Oakland, also known as God General Largo the Black Lion. The name given to her by her true parents was Meryl Oakland (メリル・オークランド, Meril Ookurando^?), though she continues to go by "Natalia".

Natalia goes into denial and heads to confront Largo. He states that both his wife and daughter died years ago, meaning he no longer thinks of Natalia as his daughter.

The second time the party goes to the Absorption Gate, Largo is waiting for them and they battle. Natalia delivers the finishing blow to Largo to save Luke, and Largo breathes his dying words: "Farewell, Meryl", and a shocked Natalia replies, calling him "father".

EldrantEdit

Asch's death prompts Natalia to stop relying solely on the strength and words of others. When Luke tells the party about Asch's death, Natalia is broken. The group is almost killed by a trap laid by Sync, and Jade causes her to finally realize how dependent she had been on Asch, to which Natalia apologizes to the group.

Natalia overcomes her shock of Asch's death, marking the end of Natalia's over-reliance on others. She no longer sees Luke and Asch as the same person, finally understanding that they were two different people. She realizes that her promises made to Asch were no longer valid and that it is time to let them go.

Other AppearancesEdit

Tales of HeartsEdit

Natalia appears as a support arte within Tales of Hearts, using Pierces Line when summoned.

Tales of GracesEdit

Natalia's standard outfit appears as a DLC costume for Cheria Barnes in Tales of Graces ƒ. While her costume is equipped, the battle theme changes to an arrangement of Awkward Justice, the battle theme used when fighting most of the God Generals in Tales of the Abyss. The victory theme also changes to the fanfare used in Tales of the Abyss.

TriviaEdit

• Natalia shares her real name, Meryl, with Mint Adenade's mother.
• Natalia was the only playable character from Tales of the Abyss to not be included in Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2.
• Natalia is a notoriously bad cook, which is understandable given her position as royalty. This is part of a running gag in the Tales series: a female party member who is incapable of handling herself in the kitchen. This tradition began with Arche Klein in Tales of Phantasia.
• Natalia has many contrasts when compared to Tear:
  • While both are seventh fonists, Natalia can heal more to a single target as well as cure status ailments, and Tear can heal a wider area, with the ability to revive allies that have been knocked out.
  • In battle, Natalia is more physically oriented while Tear focuses more on using fonic artes and hymns.
  • Natalia is identified with brighter colors while Tear is identified with darker colors.
  • Natalia is a princess while Tear is a soldier.
  • Natalia's family is from Kimlasca while Tear's family is from Hod, which had been part of Malkuth prior to its destruction.
  • Natalia is emotionally fragile and often in need of emotional support, while Tear is stronger and keeps everything to herself.
  • Natalia is a terrible cook while Tear is a great cook.
  • Natalia loves ghost stories while Tear is afraid of ghosts.
  • Natalia is in love with Asch, the original, while Tear is in love with Luke, the replica.
  • Natalia openly admits her love for Asch while Tear is shy about her love for Luke and refuses to talk about it.
• She, along with some of the other characters make cameo appearances in the game Tales of Vesperia, though hers is in Nam Combana Island where in the locker room the player can check one of the lockers for a letter reading "Natalia to Asch".