Characters' Ages at the Start of Their Quests

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Characters' Ages at the Start of Their Quests

Postby Tanith » Fri May 14, '10, 7:05 am

I've made a list of the playable (and a few non-playable) characters and their ages at the beginning of their respective quests. I have a few missing ages, though. If anyone can help me fill in the blanks I would really appreciate it. If any ages are wrong, let me know.

Note:
-I used AW1284 for determining the PSII characters' ages. I don't know what time of year the game takes place, but it's probably after springtime, according to info in the Compendium.
-The PSIII ages are taken from the English version of the game. I'm not really interested in the Japanese version, though feel free to post any differences.

Adan - 16
Alis - 15
Alys - ?
Amy - 23
Anna - ? (possibly 19 based on her in-development character profile)
Aron - almost 18
Ayn - 15
Chaz - 16
Crys - 20
Demi - 324
Gryz - 19
Gwyn - 16
Hahn - 24
Hugh - 20
Kain - 20-21
Kara - almost 18 (Aron's quest), ? (the other three 3rd gen. quests)
Kyra - 18
Laya (sister) - ?
Lena - 17
Lutz/Noah (at the time of PSI) - 27
Lyle - 20
Maia - 16
Mieu - over 1,000
Myau - ?
Nei - 1 or almost 1
Nero - 17-18
Nial - 18
Odin - 28
Raja - 85
Rika - 1
Rhys - 18
Rolf - 20-21
Rudo - 34-35
Rune - ?
Sari - ?
Sean - ?
Shir - 21
Thea - ? (Same age as Ayn, maybe?)
Wren (PSIII) - ?
Wren (PSIV) - 998

Some of the characters' ages are purposely not revealed (Alys, Rune, Anna), I guess to make them appear more mysterious. Any speculation as to how old they are? I think Alys and Rune are probably in their 30s at the time of PSIV. Anna is possibly 19, but I've always found that hard to believe.
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Re: Characters' Ages at the Start of Their Quests

Postby Rune_Walsh » Fri May 14, '10, 7:06 am

Nice list, Tanith!

I agree with you that Alys and Rune are a bit older than the average. I think Rune is probably about 30. Alys strikes me as being in her late-twenties, maybe 28-ish.
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Re: Characters' Ages at the Start of Their Quests

Postby Tanith » Fri May 14, '10, 7:12 am

Rune_Walsh wrote:I agree with you that Alys and Rune are a bit older than the average.

Yeah, both of them appear to have racked up some pretty hefty life experience before the game begins. Alys is #1 at the Hunter's Guild and is mentoring Chaz, Rune is parading all over Algo, and of course, they also seem to have some sort of history together (as friends, hunting partners(?), and maybe romantic).
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Re: Characters' Ages at the Start of Their Quests

Postby Lyla2284 » Fri May 14, '10, 7:54 am

Tanith wrote:
Rune_Walsh wrote:I agree with you that Alys and Rune are a bit older than the average.

Yeah, both of them appear to have racked up some pretty hefty life experience before the game begins. Alys is #1 at the Hunter's Guild and is mentoring Chaz, Rune is parading all over Algo, and of course, they also seem to have some sort of history together (as friends, hunting partners(?), and maybe romantic).


Alys and Rune were definitely romantically involved with each other. Just one look at Alys' face in the cutscene when the party encounters Rune is enough. If Rune was just a mutual friend, she wouldn't have reacted in that way... Regarding their ages, I have a bit of a theory. Taken from the Compendium of course.

Alys met Rune shortly after she lost her parents at the age of 14. We all know she was taken in by the Hunter Galf, and trained to be a Hunter. Then somewhere along the line they meet Rune, who travels with them for 4 years. Alys is around 18 when her mentor dies, and Rune leaves shortly thereafter, no doubt on Galf's orders, to hasten Alys' sense of independence. Now, when Chaz asks Alys how she knows Rune, she is very vague and says, "From a long time ago..."

How long is this period exactly? 5 years? 10? Ten years seems far more reasonable.
18+10 = 28 years old at the time of PSIV. So she was around 25 when she took in Chaz, having met him 3 years before in the fishing village of Tiria.
So RW was right in estimating Alys' age. :wink:

Rune I'll put at around 29+, but being as Esper and Lutz makes it very hard to put down his age.
Anna I'll estimate at around 24, maybe...?
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Re: Characters' Ages at the Start of Their Quests

Postby tilinelson2 » Fri May 14, '10, 11:42 am

I don't know, I think the undisclosed ages would range from 18 to 25. Japanese characters have unusually low ages in the games/mangas/animes, so I wouldn't be surprised if an 'oldie' like Alys was just 3 or 4 years older than Chaz.
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Re: Characters' Ages at the Start of Their Quests

Postby Lucas » Fri May 14, '10, 12:07 pm

tilinelson2 wrote:I don't know, I think the undisclosed ages would range from 18 to 25. Japanese characters have unusually low ages in the games/mangas/animes, so I wouldn't be surprised if an 'oldie' like Alys was just 3 or 4 years older than Chaz.


That’s very true a large majority of anime seem to pull this stunt. But I like to believe Alys and Rune are also in their late 20's. BTW nice list Tanith!
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Re: Characters' Ages at the Start of Their Quests

Postby Tanith » Fri May 14, '10, 12:35 pm

I think that making the playable characters teenagers reflects the target audience the game developers had in mind. When I first played the games it never occurred to me that they were so young, because I was a teenager, too. These days, though, one of the things I like about PSII is that the characters are all at least 20 years old (except Nei, of course).

Glad you all like the list! :) I hope I can fill in more of the unknowns.
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Re: Characters' Ages at the Start of Their Quests

Postby Thoul » Fri May 14, '10, 7:56 pm

Sari has to be about the same age as Ayn and Thea. Sean's quest begins "when he reached manhood" according to the game. That's probably around 15 or 16. We might consider that to be a teenager, but in a half-medieval world, "manhood" would be a younger age than in our society.
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Re: Characters' Ages at the Start of Their Quests

Postby Rune_Walsh » Sun May 16, '10, 9:38 am

I concur on the nature of Rune and Alys's relationship being romantic, as well as their ages.

Here is a post fellow Fringer and very good friend Srijita wrote on the romantic evidence and age range of Rune and Alys (mind you, it is brilliant. Srijita darling, you're terribly missed!):

Srijita wrote:IMHO there are several lines of evidence supporting a romantic relationship between the two of them.

(1) Notice Alys’s range of facial expressions when Rune invites himself to join the group! At first she appears rather taken aback; then she glances at the protesting Chaz, before finally conceding that they will enjoy his company. Had their relationship been platonic, even a very close friendship, the decision would have been much simpler: “Sure, join us, do!”

After a minor squabble with Chaz, Rune reassures them that he won’t “get in the way”. Alys responds that he has already done so. Reading between the lines, I’d say that his sudden reappearance after a lengthy time apart has left her somewhat perturbed. Again, it would be unlikely to have this impact on her if they had merely been friends.

(2) Alys appears mildly exasperated, perhaps even embarrassed, by Hahn and Saya’s public display of affection in Krup. Her reaction may be influenced, at least in part, by Rune’s presence at the scene. Perhaps it brings back memories that she has tried to push to the back of her mind?

(3) Rune treats Chaz like a child and, on at least one occasion, is also quite offhand with Gryz (“What a braindead kid you are!”). However, he always acts the gentleman in his dealings with Alys. In Tonoe, Rune intercedes after Alys socks Grandfather Dorin for reciting her measurements. “Please excuse him, Alys, the old man didn’t intend any harm…”
Perhaps any good friend (or any gentleman!) would have done the same, but the shot of the two of them in that scene suggests a certain intimacy from days gone by.

(4) Aiedo appears to be full of young men who would like to get to know Alys, but she doesn’t give them a second glance. One of her neighbours even declares her intention of finding Alys a good husband. These snippets of conversation create an impression of Alys as a strong, independent career woman who attracts men, but may be unwilling to settle. Perhaps she has been in love with someone in the past, someone with more depth and intelligence than the young hunters at the bar?

The scene at her bedside in Krup is also suggestive, but the emotions displayed therein could equally derive from a very close friendship. Assuming that the two were romantically involved, the next question is: what was the extent of their relationship? Again, I’d argue that it was long-term, quite intense and, moreover, that they were probably quite a bit older than is usually suggested. Could puppy love in adolescence create a lasting bond that survives several years’ absence? Not in my experience.

According to the PS Compendium, Rune inherited Lutz’s memories at the age of 15, then underwent strict ascetic training before travelling to Motavia, where he met Alys and the hunter Galf. Galf rescued Alys from highwaymen at the age of 14, and then trained her to become a hunter. I’d guess that both Rune and Alys were training for some time in their respective disciplines before they met – possibly even 5-6 years. So they meet in their late teens /early twenties, spend four years together, and become romantically involved.

Final question: why do they break up? Since Rune appears to be a gentleman, his mission as the “reverent fifth one” is the most plausible reason he might have to leave Alys and return to Dezolis. The Compendium talks about his leaving her to “hasten her independence”, but that sounds to me like a much flimsier excuse! Love happens between individuals who are independent, and I somehow doubt that Alys was ever clingy or needy.

She accepts Rune’s decision to return to Dezolis, picks herself up, focuses on her career and becomes a renowned Hunter. A couple of years later she takes 13-year-old Chaz off the streets and gives him a home, trains him for three years… and then, out of the blue, they encounter Rune Walsh on their travels, a decade after Alys first met him.

Anyhow, that’s how I’ve developed the theme in my fanfiction, so take it all with a pinch of salt…
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Re: Characters' Ages at the Start of Their Quests

Postby Icecypher » Tue Sep 16, '14, 7:56 pm

I would not be surprised if Anna/Amia were in her 30s, perhaps even early 40s.

Her "undetermined" age kind of makes me think of Madonna. How old is she, really? At any point in time can we count the years from her birth to present day and say she is that old? Or is she in another timescale entirely?

Since reaching 30 was the point in which Japanese women would be considered "old" if they wanted to get married, perhaps that (from the perspective of the developers' team, of course) had something to do with her not giving info on her age. She seemed to be perfectly fine whether she was married or not, not needing to be defined by her marital status. Or her age.
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