Shirley Fennes

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Shirley Fennes
Information
Game	Tales of Legendia
Japanese Name	シャーリ・フェンネス Shaari Fennesu
Age	15
Weight	41 kg / 90 lbs
Height	154 cm / 5'1"
Race	Ferines
Occupation	Merines
Weapon	Quills Pens
Japanese Voice Actor	Hirohashi Ryo
English Voice Actor	Carrie Savage

Shirley is the female lead of Tales of Legendia, and purportedly Senel Coolidge's younger sister. At the beginning of the game, Shirley is shown to constantly attempt to protect her brother Senel from the dangers faced in the course of his work with the marines of the Holy Alliance, a presumably multinational entity the nature of which is not expounded upon in the course of the game, though Shirley possesses a unique body chemistry that causes her to fall ill should she come in contact with salt air or sea water, rendering her ill-suited to such a task.

Contents 1 Personality 2 Fighting Style 3 History 3.1 Damsel in Distress 3.2 As the Merines 3.3 Character Quests 4 Relationships 4.1 Party 4.2 Family 5 Other Appearances 5.1 Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 6 Trivia

[edit] Personality

Although she is calm and quiet, giving those around her the mistaken impression that she is frail, Shirley is, in fact, quite stubborn and, upon reaching a decision on a course of action, is nearly impossible to dissuade.

[edit] Fighting Style

Shirley is a Crystal Eren, making her roughly the equivalent of a spellcaster, though she learns the fewest Crystal Eres of any Crystal Eren in the game and possesses the lowest intelligence among them. Due to her numerous kidnappings and her role as the Merines throughout the main scenario, Shirley only becomes a playable character during the character quests.

In combat, Shirley acts as a cross between a spellcaster and a melee fighter by default, though her Crystal Eres are significantly stronger than her physical attacks. She attacks by casting her teriques out of the pen she carries, though it is never explained why she is shown to carry a feather pen, and later other writing implements, at all. It is likely she acts this way by default because all of her spells, except for Tidal Wave, are shared with all the other Crystal Eren.

Interestingly, though Shirley possesses one of the lowest intelligence scores of any of the Crystal Eren, she is perhaps the most powerful one, as her spells, barring Tidal Wave, are stronger variants of several possessed by her fellow Eren. In addition to possessing separate animations for her spells, she is the only character to learn an Eres ranked as "Ancient High", this being her exclusive Tidal Wave spell, which also appears to be the strongest in the game. Most of her spells also have hints of the pink color when used.

[edit] History

[edit] Damsel in Distress

The first several chapters of Tales of Legendia have Shirley being somebody's captive - first Moses Sandor, then Vaclav Bolud and his minions. Though Senel and his party are successful in rescuing Shirley from Moses, Senel's distrust of the party leads him to take Shirley and break off from the others. In doing so, they are intercepted by Vaclav, and Shirley is once again captured. She is moved between several sites, with the ultimate goal of using her to fire Nerifes Cannon upon rival kingdoms on the mainland.

While incarcerated at the Hidden Fortress used by the Crusand forces aboard the legacy under Vaclav, Shirley befriends Fenimore Xelhes, who reveals that Vaclav is torturing Ferines to determine their suitability to be used as ammunition for the Nerifes Cannon, a deadly weapon sleeping aboard the Legacy that draws its power from the Ferines themselves. During their transfer to the Ruins of Frozen Light, an altercation between the escort, Senel's party, and Moses' bandits results in Shirley and Fenimore being freed, though they are pursued into the Waterways by the Crusand Military under the command of Melanie the Crimson. Melanie herself separates Senel from Shirley yet again, flooding one of the pathways upon which Senel's party is currently walking. Shirley and Fenimore are later approached by Walter DelQues, who, seeking to perform his duty as the head of the Merines's personal guard, wishes to help the two Ferines escape.

Later, Walter is shown to bow in deference to Shirley, addressing her as "Merines", a title given to the one who hears the voice of Nerifes and is, therefore, the de facto leader of the Ferines. When the three Ferines are nearly discovered by the Crusand forces, Shirley turns herself over rather than allowing Walter and Fenimore to be captured alongside her.

Once firmly in Vaclav's custody, Shirley is finally brought to the Ruins of Frozen Light, where she is made to translate an ancient slab hinting to the Nerifes Cannon, but not giving any explicit instructions relating to its operation. It is here shown that her sister, Stella, who has been presumed dead until this point, is not only alive but being held in suspended animation inside a hollow crystal, and that it was she who brought Shirley and Senel to the Legacy and that it is she who currently controls the ship. Shirley is forced to activate the Legacy's Bridge, the structure that enables the use of the Nerifes Cannon, and while Senel's party manages to reach Shirley and Vaclav, the latter easily defeats Senel's party and escapes with Shirley once more. Senel is saved by a golden light, which is later revealed to have been the light of Stella's teriques and carried into the Forest of No Return while Shirley herself is forcibly taken to the bridge.

After Senel's party departs the Forest of No Return, the party is encountered by Maurits, the leader of the Ferines village aboard the Legacy, who then explains the events that have transpired since Shirley was forced to activate the bridge. This ultimately results in an alliance between the Ferines under Maruits and the Holy Rexalian Empire, represented by Will Raynard as an emissary of Her Excellency the Holy Sovereign, to defeat the Crusand forces aboard the Legacy and to rescue Shirley and Stella before they can be used to power the Nerifes Cannon.

Though Shirley is held in high regarded as Merines, it is later revealed that she is in fact a failed Marines, who, having purposefully failed the Rite of Accession, thereby rejecting the voice of Nerifes, does not yet possess the power to control the Legacy at will, but rather is only able to do so erratically and often not at all when under great pressure. This failure is later stated by Shirley to have been of her own choosing, as, were she to have succeeded, her consciousness would have been bound to that of Nerifes, and, though she is later shown to retain her own will, and, once playable, is able to summon the power of the same, she realised that she would kill Senel, with whom she had fallen in love with. As a result of this failure, Shirley fell into a coma from which she was revived by means of a stone similar to the Everlight, in addition to acquiring her lingering intolerance of seawater and sea breezes, though in retrieving the gem Senel and Stella had inadvertently drawn the Crusand forces to the Village of the Ferines, initiating the flight of Senel and Shirley to an unnamed land in which Senel would find work as an Alliance Marine.

When Shirley attempts to stop the Nerifes Cannon from firing, she is entirely unable to command her powers, and, in her stead, it is Stella who diverts the blast from the Cannon in sending her enhanced teriques to absorb the force of the blast, though she does so at the cost of the destruction of her teriques and, therefore, at the cost of her life; in the last moments of her sister's life, Shirley uses the remaining power her brooch's power to wake Stella long enough for her final words to be heard.

[edit] As the Merines

Following her rescue from Vaclav, Shirley goes with the Ferines to their village. At first she claims to go with them to provide emotional support (as even without full mastery over her abilities, a Merines still has significant social influence). However, as Maurits and others would mention, it is implied that Shirley chose to re-attempt the Rite of Accession (cleverly disguised as a "simple purification ritual" when described to Senel's party). Having been rejected by Senel the night before, Shirley throws herself entirely into the role of the Merines, believing that doing so would fulfill her responsibility to her peers as well as Stella's dying wish. Still, Shirley has difficulty securing Nerifes' cooperation, leading onlookers to wonder if she will fail again.

The Rite is disrupted when a unit from the Holy Empire of Gadoria invades the Altar of the Sea and kills several of the observers and guardians, including Fenimore, but the trauma of Fenimore's death is enough to complete the Rite as signaled by her hearing the voice of Nerifes. Once Senel's party arrives, Shirley states that she will no longer carry on the illusion of pretending to be Senel's sister, and takes back the "blessings of Nerifes" literally, by revoking the ability of Orerines to use any kind of Eres. Before Walter and Maurits are able to finish off Senel's party, the latter is swept away to the entrance, and Shirley departs for the Mirage Palace to prepare to activate the Wings of Light.

While connected to Nerifes (specifically Raging Nerifes), Shirley gains some degree of omniscience as she is able to sense the party's location. However, she restrains Walter from attacking the party at the Ice Monument; first by recalling him and then resorting to forcibly carrying him away via teriques. When Senel's party comes to the Palace, it becomes clear that Shirley's connection to Nerifes is not perfect, either because it is Raging Nerifes, or because of Shirley's wavering feelings, or both, as Senel's presence disturbs her seemingly-firm resolve. Though Shirley threatens to kill Senel if he approaches and claims that the only way to stop her is to kill her, her powers fail again and her emotional state causes her to disconnect from Nerifes. But when it seems that all is well, Maurits arrives and reveals Senel's prior association with Vaclav, leading Shirley to doubt Senel's sincerity or that there can be any real understanding between Ferines and Orerines, and she reinstates her connection to Nerifes, thus activating the Wings of Light. Shirley and Maurits then depart for the newly-risen physical structure of the same name.

Senel's party follows Shirley to the Wings of Light, as to let her continue uninterrupted would bring about the Cataclysm that would cover the world in seawater. By now, it would appear that Shirley has given herself entirely to Nerifes as she does not hesitate to use force in dissuading Senel and his party from approaching, but Senel's persistence in reaching out to Shirley ultimately convinces her to willfully disconnect herself from Nerifes. Maurits is enraged at Shirley's "betrayal" and attempts to take her place so he can finish the Cataclysm, but cannot handle the sheer amount of power that the Raging Nerifes imbues him with. Though Shirley does not participate in the final battle, she is still imbued with the same power that the Quiet Nerifes supplies to the rest of the party.

After the battle, while the party beholds the calm sea, Senel falls off the edge due to his injuries, and Shirley dives after him. Shirley's internal commentary suggests that in doing so she initiated the Rite of Feriyen (effectively the Ferines wedding proposal ritual).

[edit] Character Quests

In the Character Quests, Shirley becomes a playable character, the last to join the party. Though disconnected from Nerifes, she did not entirely lose power as a Merines as she would learn her own flavor of Crystal Eres. Her role as the Merines is now primarily in the capacity of an ambassador, or peacemaker, as when she is directly traveling with the party she is working to mend relations between Ferines and Orerines. Though Shirley does not have her own Character Quest, she still has a subplotline involving Fenimore's twin sister Thyra, who is resentful of Shirley for having caused Fenimore's death.

Despite not having her own Character Quest, there is still a Dark Shirley. This incarnation of Shirley's dark side "that gave into weakness" is encountered in tandem with Dark Senel inside the Cradle of Time. These two are the last of the dark incarnations created by Schwarz, though Dark Senel's existence appears to entirely be in a capacity as a guardian to Dark Shirley.

[edit] Relationships

[edit] Party

Senel Coolidge - It is long believed that Shirley and Senel as siblings, but as time goes, it is revealed that they are in fact not. Honoring his lover's wish, Senel decided to protect Shirley in her place.

[edit] Family

Throughout the game, it is said that Senel Coolidge is the older brother of Shirley, but the two are later revealed to share no biological relation, going so far as to technically be of different species.

Stella Telmes - Shirley's only living relation is her older sister Stella, despite of them having different names, as that is a part of the Ferines culture. Stella and Shirley were probably close, Stella doing as much as possible to protect the future Merines from danger. It is unknown how Shirley feels about Stella and Senel being lovers considering her own feelings to Senel.

[edit] Other Appearances

[edit] Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology

Although Shirley ever appears in the game itself, she and Senel got separated when the Devourer attacked while they were at sea. This is Senel's main quest throughout the game, and is moving from all the towns looking for her. At the end of the game, Harold Berselius from Tales of Destiny 2 sees Shirley and tells Senel that she seems to be calling at him. Senel then runs to her in joy.

[edit] Trivia

• Shirley's Norma Nickname is "Shirl".
• Shirley's second name, "Fennes", means "one who prays" in the ancient language Relares.
• It is rather interesting to note that, despite being the Merines, Shirley has only one spell of the Sea element, where one would perhaps expect her to learn them all, barring Grune's ultimate Crystal Eres, Judgment.