Velvet Crowe

Velvet Crowe is the central protagonist in Tales of Berseria. Originally kind and family-oriented, the events of the Scarlet Night three years prior turned her into an angry woman tainted by vengeance. Velvet is a tall woman with long, black hair and golden eyes. In the prologue, Velvet's attire consists of a brown, short-sleeved shirt over a black, one piece uniform, with shin-pads strapped above brown boots, and her hair is woven in a braid tied by a red strap around the tips. During this time, Velvet is a cheerful, kind, loving girl with a normal life. She expresses overprotectiveness of her little brother, and instantly falls into shambles when her loved ones are massacred. After three years of her imprisonment, being forced to fight, kill, and devour daemons, Velvet's uniform have been ripped and tattered into rags, exposing a lot of her skin with her left arm's therion capabilities sealed by bandages whenever they are not currently activated. Her hair has become messy, and grown down to her legs, and the red strap is replaced with a bandage. When Seres helps her escape, she takes a tattered, black coat with several belts and silver leg-guards. Eleanor Hume once offered to mend her clothes, and a confused but appreciative Velvet accepts, even showing consideration to Eleanor's health and hygiene, noting how the male members of the party "aren't considerate enough" to do the same, something Velvet seemed annoyed by. Eleanor chooses not to mend Velvet's clothes only out of respect for Velvet, as Eleanor incorrectly assumed Velvet's clothes belonged to someone Velvet held dear; in fact she just threw her clothes together haphazardly. Contrary to heroic protagonists fueled by a need to help others and pursue good-intention motives that involve enacting the moral kind of justice, Velvet's rogue path opts for a more personal and less moral kind of justice, almost similar to Yuri Lowell's vigilante approach to things in Tales of Vesperia, as the latter takes things that cause harm to others into a personal matter. Consumed by the betrayal of Artorius and the death of her loved ones, Velvet has changed from a kind girl into a standoffish woman driven by vengeance. She is very cold, aloof, and brutally honest about her goals and how she views other people, and her aggressive demeanor especially ignites whenever Artorius is nearby. Because of her childhood trauma of losing her arm and her brother, Velvet inevitably shuts herself from all other emotions, viewing them as mere obstacles that would hold her back in her goal to kill Artorius, whom she once loved and trusted. His betrayal ultimately spurred a distrust in Velvet that results in her only using people for her own advantage, initially refusing to form friendships until Laphicet, Eleanor, Magilou, Eizen, and Rokurou collectively wear down Velvet's cold exterior. Before long, Velvet finds herself showing frequent concern and consideration to the other party members despite herself and repeated statements professing to the contrary. When Eleanor is experiencing ill effects from taking sale'tomah, Velvet goes out of her way to ask Laphicet how Eleanor is feeling, and when told the redheaded Exorcist is doing better, Velvet shows genuine relief, but when Laphicet brings up how she seems worried about Eleanor, Velvet brushes it off and claims she doesn't care. Magilou, who watched the exchange, doesn't believe the Daemoneater at all, even outright saying Velvet has "trouble expressing her feelings." Later on, when Eleanor is driven to tears after Oscar defends the Abbey's atrocities, Velvet kicks Oscar's head to the wall, roundly denouncing him, not for defending the Abbey, but for "making a girl cry," referring to Eleanor. Velvet even admits privately that the only reason she chose not to kill Oscar on the spot is because she did not want to upset Eleanor, and this was long before she discovered the truth of malevolence and how it affects Laphicet. Velvet's motherly nature allows her to become an older sister figure of the team, particularly to Laphicet and Kamoana to a lesser extent. But Velvet's relationship with Eleanor undergoes the most drastic change due to Velvet's own growth throughout the course of the game, as they start off enemies from their fundamentally different views of the world as well as Eleanor's association with the Abbey. Through circumstances outside their control, Eleanor and Velvet become uneasy allies due to Eleanor becoming Laphicet's vessel, preventing him from dying, leading to some jealousy over their closeness to him and mistrust due to their early rivalry. But as the story progresses, both women grow to respect and care for one another, and by the end of the game, Velvet and Eleanor develop a deep trust despite still retaining much of their snarky banter, eventually becoming close friends despite their initial emnity. Before the final battle, Velvet even says "We're lucky to have you, Eleanor," to which Eleanor playfully notes how strange it is for the Lord of Calamity to show gratitude to an Exorcist. Although Velvet's rage keeps her pressing forward and fighting for the one thing she believes will deliver her resolve, she nevertheless holds to her former self in vulnerable moments, often showing a tenderness that surprises her companions, who only know her current self. While she is wracked with self-loathing, believing herself irredeemable and calling herself a "selfish, horrible girl," the party members all disagree, and each of whom throughout the course of the game express admiration for her passion and still-existing humanity. Rokurou says she hates as much as she loves, a kind of humanity he admires, while Eizen, who initially felt her crusade against the world was the height of "foolishness," admits that same "foolishness" is worth respecting and following. Magilou, in a rare moment of seriousness, praises her for giving Laphicet a name and helping him forge his own identity. Magilou is left speechless after realizing Velvet will not give up even after losing her first fight with Artorius, and when Velvet breaks through the illusions at Aball, Magilou expresses her surprise, impressed at Velvet's willpower to avoid false happiness such as the sight of Niko and her brother being alive. Even Eleanor, who was her enemy at first, loses all willingness to betray Velvet after realizing the truth behind Velvet's hatred for Artorius and the Abbey's true goals for the world. Laphicet is typically the cause of this vulnerability due to his likeness of Velvet's dead brother. However, Velvet wrestles with connecting and disconnecting the two in her head, knowing they are different people but never fully suppressing her softer emotions she still retains. Ultimately, Velvet spends much of the game's plot in a trance-like state that is only broken when her resolve falters, her rage and sorrow conflicting in her mind and confusing her to the point that her internal struggle eventually reaches a climax. After learning the truth about her brother's death and nearly succumbing to her despair, and through Laphicet's affection towards her, she finally found balance between the two sides of her, becoming more kindhearted to her friends, but still holding a deep grudge towards those who wronged her. But Velvet never does manage to overcome her self-loathing due to her deep-seated remorse and shame for her actions. She admits that she still loves Artorius for who he used to be and what he meant to her as a kid, but she resolves to kill him to avenge herself and to save the world from falling under Innominat's suppression.