Tear Grants - Soldier Persona vs. True Self

[rumynoir]

The main girl in Tales of the Abyss (TotA) has a hell of an intro: She walks into Fabre manor putting everyone to sleep by singing a song in a fictional language. Of course, there’s also the whole animated cutscene with her stepping into the portal in Yulia City and going, “It’s time” and all, but I’m talking about when she really gets down to action, what is her establishing moment.

Tear Grants interrupts Luke fon Fabre’s sparring session with Van Grants not by simply walking in like a normal person. Instead, she stands on the friggin’ roof, jumps down, and declares, “I’ve finally found you, Vandesdelca! ...Prepare to die, traitor!”

If that’s not an Establishing Character Moment, I don’t know what is.

Whether she manages to hold your interest or not depends on the viewer, but I personally was always interested in Tear and her personality...

...which takes us to our topic of the day: Tear’s growth and the criticisms Abyss fans have towards her. The biggest complaint I’ve seen towards Tear is that she’s “boring” or that she “doesn’t grow”. While the first one is absolutely objective, the second one has me going, “huh?”

My short answer: Tear grows, but her growth isn’t nearly as obvious as a character like Luke or even Jade Curtiss. At the same time, you don’t need a magnifying glass to see her development unlike [REDACTED] in Tales of [REDACTED]. But to say she doesn’t grow or she doesn’t have her struggles is, uh, well, it’s Something.

Let’s take a closer look:

While I’m not begging you to like Tear (I couldn’t care less), I do want to put down thoughts about her character development and have something that fans who genuinely like her can look back on.

On the surface, Tear is a stoic young woman. She hardly lets her emotions show, she’s no-nonsense, and there’s a pretty darn good reason why she gets the Cool Chick title. Tear’s a soldier who’s been training for years and has hardened herself into a poker face that would put those scamming cowz and katz out of business.

She’s also 16 years old.

Yeah. You’d be forgiven for thinking Tear is 19 (like me) or even in her early-twenties. This is the part where we say “Tales of ages do not exist - especially in Abyss.”

No, the truth is Tear is a 16 year old girl emulating her mentor, Legretta the Quick, one of the God Generals. There’s a light novel (manga, something, whatever) that dives into Tear’s POV about her wanting to be more like Legretta. Of course, she didn’t exactly have a smooth start with her, and Tear herself was rather difficult at first. But seeing Legretta dig her heels into this mess is what made Tear change her mind.

If we dig a bit deeper, you’ll see that Tear was bullied by other people in Yulia City, and it only grew worse when she got special training from Legretta. However, that tidbit’s just something to put in your angst fics/fanart, so disregard that for this meta.

Let’s rewind to my intro: Tear’s establishing moment.

You’d think after being warped away with Luke to Tataroo Valley she’d be as hard-hearted and maybe even willing to just leave Luke and carry on with her mission. After all, why should she have to escort a spoiled brat back to Baticul? I think I speak for most of us when I say most people would probably drop Luke off at the border or something and leave him there to be picked up by some Kimlascan or whatever.

But no, Tear adds onto her Missions Log that she needs to get Luke home. I find the word choice she uses her very interesting. She makes it explicit that it’s her fault for getting Luke home, and she even apologizes to him about it too. This right here is your first nudge that Tear’s got more layers to her than that soldier-persona she puts up.

The second crack is in the Cheagle Woods. She sees the Cheagles and thinks their cute, coupled with a speech bubble with blush lines and hearts. Even Luke is so taken aback by this he calls her out on it. Of course, the minute he does, Tear brushes him off and pretends like nothing happened.

While the above scene is certainly played for comedy, it’s also a showcase of just how young Tear is. She can play the role of a soldier all she wants, but at the heart of it, she’s still a girl. There are things she’s going to like and take an interest in, but she reminds herself that “no, that’s not how a soldier (how LEGRETTA) would behave” and straightens herself out.

A drama CD reveals that Tear once had a collection of stuffed animals that she threw out one day after she started training. Van notices this and Tear says, “Well, I’m getting older now. I don’t need stuff like that” or something along those lines. It’s interesting to note that neither Van or Legretta tell Tear “hey, get rid of your stuffed animals, they’re creeping me tf out” or anything like that. She does this to herself, which brings me to my next point.

Tear doesn’t know how to let herself just be. She’s so caught up in wearing her mask that even if it slips just a little, she’s gotta rein herself in. While it helps her, it also hurts her. In playing the soldier, she manages to convince everyone around her that she’s a heartless, cold person - like Legretta. Her team eventually comes to know that the soldier!Tear isn’t the real Tear, but she still keeps it up as much as she can.

I’m not sure if it’s explicitly stated Tear does this because it’s easier for her, or because she thinks people will take her more seriously. But in a realistic scenario, it’d probably have something to do with both.

Throughout Arc 1, everyone just kinda tolerates Luke. When he starts complaining that he has no fucking idea what’s going, it’s Tear who steps in and explains things. You learn that hey, Tear’s actually a nice girl. I want to point out that even Guy, Luke’s childhood friend, doesn’t stop to explain as much as Tear. However, Guy’s issues are a bit more deeply-rooted, and that’s for another day and another time.

Whether she says it aloud or not, it’s clear that Tear’s starting to soften up on Luke in Act 1. She’s starting to realize he’s not as much of a bad person as people think he is. She is the only one out of the main group who sympathizes with Luke’s “memory loss.”

Then the Akzeriuth thing happens, and...

(Aside: I love Tear’s English voice, but I don’t know why the voice direction for this scene had Tear deliver this line in a harsh, almost spiteful way. In the JP version, Tear legit sounds disappointed, but her voice is softer. She sounds like she’s just put all her faith into something and now it bit her in the ass. And in this case? Yeah, I’d say that’s pretty much what’s happening.)

So this shows Tear did think Luke was improving, and that he wasn’t beyond redemption. But now that Luke is pushing the blame on other people instead of taking responsibility, she wants nothing to do with him.

You have Tear fans who argue that Tear was the only one who stayed for Luke, and uh, kinda, but not really...

Tear has no reason to be “tsuntsun” with Luke in this skit. You need to remember that Tear is as blunt as they come. It’s why Luke comes to appreciate her so much because she, like Van, is the only one who tells him what he needs to hear, not what he wants.

So yes, I do believe Tear would have left Luke behind just like everyone else, had he not woken up when he did.

If we wanna argue about who never left, it’s Mieu. No joke.

After Luke’s famous hair cutting scene, Luke vows to change. Tear points out that he can say that all he wants, but he doesn’t understand the weight of his words. If he is serious about changing, he needs to show it. His actions speak louder than his words. It’s one of the reasons she points out that he has no idea what it means to change when he talks about dying so easily.

It’s at this point he asks Tear to watch over him, to steer him on the path if he starts to go astray. She warns him that if he slips up, she can walk away just as easily, and given the Akzeriuth scene, it wouldn’t surprise me if she did had things gone differently.

Luckily for Luke, that isn’t the case.

Act 2 mostly culminates in Tear growing softer around Luke and taking the time to teach him what he needs to know about fonons and Hyperresonance. Unfortunately, there are some very missable sidequests that really highlight how close these two get, and I think this scene is where Tear is the most honest with Luke about Van:

If I recall, she doesn’t really say this to anyone else - not in the same way at least. Whether this is because Tear feels she can be honest or if she just finally has someone who will listen, is up for interpretation. I personally think it’s because she wants to give Luke a chance, and the first start is by trusting him with something as delicate as this ^

Let’s fast forward a little:

During the scene where Class M and Class I are killed by Van and Legretta, the team escapes to the Tartarus to stop the core’s vibration. It’s when they’re on the Tartarus after everyone’s been killed does Tear remind Luke and the others that they have a job to do and that they can’t afford to be wasting time.

This angers Luke, and he demands how she can be so cold-hearted?

Tear deflects him with facts before leaving. It’s at this point where Guy mentions out of all of them, Tear’s the one who’s probably the most upset about Iemon and the others’ deaths. After all, it was her brother that got them killed, right? No doubt Tear’s feeling excessive guilt over this.

At this point, you’ve probably realized that Tear uses hard facts to keep moving forward. She doesn’t let her emotions get to her because she doesn’t know if she’ll be able to pick herself up afterwards. She relies so heavily on this soldier front and she does a damn good job of fooling people who don’t pay close attention (like Luke).

Fast forward again:

When your team goes to Belkend, you find out that Tear’s dying.

The more everyone works to lower the outerlands, the weaker Tear seems to get. Every time Tear opens a passage ring, she’s letting an incredible amount of miasma into her body. Coupled with having lived in the Qliphoth for her entire life, this doesn’t make for a very good combination. This is because the fonons she’s absorbing have no way out, so it’s slowly killing her.

I should point out that Luke and Tear’s relationship has grown closer as well as Tear’s relationship with the rest of the team. She’s not fully letting her hair down, but she’s much more “relaxed” than she was in Act 1.

So when Tear receives the news, everyone picks up on Tear trying to stay strong.

You have an incredibly well-written (and acted) scene where Luke confronts her about her health.

As usual, Tear puts up her front, but this time, Luke doesn’t back down. He gets fed up with her trying to face things logically and demands why she’s putting up an act.

This is a significant scene for Tear because it’s the first time someone ever calls her out on her... well, act.

Before, people would stand by and acknowledge that she’s doing things her way - even Luke. So for Luke to actually lay this flat on the table where she has nowhere to run... it hits her pretty hard.

Tear is afraid of dying. She doesn’t want to die, but she doesn’t want anyone to see her cry. To her, showing emotion is a weakness and it’s been drilled into her by herself by trying to be like her mentor.

Notice that after this scene, Tear goes back to “normal.” She’s assuring everyone she’s fine because of the medicine the doctor gave her, but you know that’s not how she really feels. It’s why Luke’s constantly asking her if she’s okay, etc etc...

But of course, old habits die hard.

Before the famous Tower of Rem scene, you get this:

Jade reluctantly implies that it’d be easier for Luke to sacrifice himself instead of Asch along with the other Replicas at the Tower of Rem.

If Tear were anything like she was in Act 1, she’d probably be as stone-faced as possible throughtout the whole exchange.

But she’s not.

Tear’s started putting down her mask and is more open about her emotions and how she truly feels.

Tear has an outburst where she demands everyone stop forcing Luke to make a decision - to die/sacrifice himself, or not. If this was Act 1!Tear, she’d no doubt be upset, but I don’t think she’d be this vocal about it either.

Notice how even her face is sad. Half the time her character model remains stoic and unflinching.

I didn’t notice this the first time, but the way Tear is standing reminds me of Legretta’s model:

The hand on the hip, the kinda-bent leg, the straight posture...

She’s really emulating her mentor here because Legretta is still, and always will be, her rock when the emotions are too much.

In a scene that mirrors the Belkend one, she lays hard facts out for Luke. She tells him if that’s her decision, she won’t stop him. Because that’s what she would want to hear if the shoe was on the other foot - and it has been.

But then...

She can’t even look at Luke, but she’s doing much better about showing her emotions than she was back in Act 1 and the midway point of Act 2. She’s being honest with him, and it’s a huge step up in their relationship and in Tear as a character.

She knows if she looks at Luke when she spills her heart out to him, she’ll cry.

And for what it’s worth, she does a pretty damn good job of keeping up that mask... Until the Tower of Rem scene actually happens.

Guy has to hold Tear back when she charges forward to stop Luke from sacrificing himself.

Now that everything’s happening, it suddenly becomes real to Tear. The hypothetical she can sweep aside with logic and facts, but when it comes down to it, she doesn’t want to see Luke die. She doesn't want him to sacrifice himself with the only thing she’ll have left of him is that “he was a hero” praised by people around the world.

Tear cares for Luke - loves him, even - and this is where it really makes itself known.

There are other noteworthy scenes, and a lot of Tear’s development/growth as a character is in partial to Luke. It’s really no wonder this pairing is as popular as it is because it has legit build-up that doesn’t rely on silly anime tropes to make it feel real.

I want to end this by showing the famous Albiore scene/the night before the final battle.

Luke says he hopes his body won’t disappear before they defeat Van, and you’d expect Tear would tell him that it will hold out until their mission is done. This entire game, Tear has been the one keeping Luke down to earth and telling him stuff he does and doesn’t want to hear.

But the night before the final battle, she does the opposite.

Instead, it’s Luke saying how he’s going to disappear because he knows that it’s inevitable. There’s no reason why he wouldn’t. He and Tear both know this.

But Tear tells him that his body will hold together for tomorrow, the day after, and forever.

She’s lying to him, but not in a malicious way. She’s saying what she wishes would happen but knows it won’t.

It’s a huge, huge improvement from the Tear that hid behind her soldier persona. She speaks from the heart, and this even shows in the final cutscene of the game where she sheds tears upon seeing Mr. Ending (Luke, obviously) return.

Tear’s growth and development is about change. She doesn’t need a fancy haircut like Luke to change because she needed to be honest with herself before anything else. The story of Abyss for Tear is about her honesty and how what she thought was mature and right is ultimately immature and what was holding her back. By suffocating herself in trying to emulate Legretta, she wouldn’t grow.

It’s with Luke and the others where she learns it’s okay to be emotional and that she has friends who will be there for her and not look at her differently for being who she really is.

That’s what makes Tear a fascinating character for some of us. Again, her growth may not be as obvious, but to say she remains the stone-faced, stoic woman all the way up to the end is rubbish.

There is a huge difference between the Tear from the beginning of Abyss, and the Tear from the ending.