Noishe

From Aselia, the Tales wiki

Noishe is a character in Tales of Symphonia, and Lloyd's pet.

[edit] Story

Noishe is introduced in the game as Lloyd's pet, a unique animal who appears to be a giant green-and-white dog. He is gentle and friendly, but also extremely terrified of monsters. This fear stems from the incident, when Lloyd was three years old, where Kvar attacked Kratos and Anna during their attempt to escape Cruxis. When Anna turned into a monster after her Exsphere was removed, she tried to attack Lloyd, but Noishe was holding Lloyd while Kratos attempted to defend them both. Anna momentarily regained control of herself, but Kratos was unable to kill her until she threw both Lloyd and Noishe off a cliff. Both of them were taken in and cared for by the dwarf, Dirk.

Despite Noishe's unusual appearance, Lloyd insists, often comically, that he is just an ordinary dog. However, it is revealed that Noishe is actually much older than Lloyd, and was originally found by Kratos over four thousand years ago. It is implied that he joined the party of Mithos, Kratos, Yuan and Martel on their original journey to stop the Kharlan War and revive the Great Tree.

Noishe's true origins are revealed both in the elven village Heimdall and by Mithos himself. He is a Protozoan, the first form of life born in the world, and was created "when the power of the Giant Kharlan Tree united with the land itself." A creature guided by mana, he will change form for his entire life. His first form is the fishlike Aquan, the second a bird-like creature named Aeros, and the third (current) form is the doglike Arshis. The fourth form, Fenrilra, is unknown, and his final form is of a human who fights evil. Kratos has seen one of Noishe's evolutions, presumably from Aeros to Arshis. Speaking privately to Noishe, he expresses regret that he cannot be there for his next evolution, and requests that Noishe protect Lloyd.

As well as being as old as the world, Noishe is extremely intelligent: Mithos and Kratos speak to him knowing very well that he can understand them, and in Dawn of the New World, Tenebrae converses with Noishe and laughs at a joke he makes.

During the story, Lloyd can ride Noishe on the world map after touching stones in certain areas.

While never alluded to in game, Noishe matchs the description of the mythological Cu Sith and his name rhymes with it ("coo she").