Botta (Tales of Symphonia)
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Botta is a fictional character from the role playing game, Tales of Symphonia, by Namco.
Botta is the second-in-command of the Renegades, an organisation dedicated to fighting the Desians. He is, like his boss Yuan, a half-elf. He is seen several times throughout Tales of Symphonia, mainly as an enemy, until he dies trying to save the protagonists of the game.
[edit] History
Botta is first seen right at the beginning of the game. Lloyd, Colette and Genis arrive at the Martel Temple near Iselia to find all the priests slain. In front of the temple, they find a group of Renegades cornering Colette's grandmother, Phaidra. Botta is among them, demanding the whereabouts of the Chosen. The three are attacked by the invaders (who they mistake for Desians) and are almost killed when Kratos arrives to save them. Surprised by the appearance of the Cruxis angel, Botta and his men flee.
A little while later, after being captured by the Renegades (who at this point are still believed to be Desians), Lloyd escapes his prison cell and wanders around inside the Renegade base in Triet Desert. When he stumbles into Yuan's office, Botta runs in to report the arrival of the Chosen's group, as well as Kratos. Yuan hurries out of the room, leaving Lloyd to fight Botta and his two Renegade lackeys. However, the rest of the party comes to rescue him at that moment, defeating Botta and his men. Renegade leader escapes after glaring angrily at Kratos.
A long time after this encounter, as they are infiltrating the Asgard Human Ranch, Lloyd's party run into Botta again, this time being chased by the Desian Grand Cardinal, Kvar. He speaks to Kratos as if he knows him and agrees not to fight, raising the group's suspicions about the mercenary. Their brief conversation is interrupted by Kvar himself attacking, but both groups manage to make themselves scarce.
In the Tower of Salvation, as Yggdrasill is about to kill Lloyd and the others, Botta arrives with a few of his troops to distract the angel and carry the group to safety. After teleporting back to the Triet base, he and Yuan explain the true identity of Cruxis and their own intentions. Then the Renegades try to capture Lloyd, saying they have no need for the Chosen, but fail again.
The party next encounters Botta when trying to infiltrate the Tethe'alla Base and steal the Rheairds. Yuan and Botta are warned of Lloyd's arrival by Zelos, and they wait for the party in the hanger. When Lloyd's group arrives, Botta aids Yuan in battling them. The two warriors lose, and Lloyd takes back the Rheairds.
Botta's second-to-last appearance is in the ruins of the Palmacosta Human Ranch. He and Yuan tell the story of the Giant Kharlan Tree and the Great Seed to Lloyd's party. They reach a temporary truce and plan together to go to the Remote Island Human Ranch to deactivate the Mana Cannon. Botta and two Renegade soldiers accompany the group. Upon reaching the ranch, the Renegades go off on their own, choosing to head towards the Mana Cannon while the others take care of Rodyle.
When Rodyle activates the ranch's self-destruct system, Botta and his men arrive from the water-filled Mana Cannon passage and tell Lloyd and his friends to hurry out while they shut the sequence down. Locking themselves in the room and getting Lloyd's group to safety, the Renegades manage to reprogram the ranch's computers. They do this however, with the knowledge that the entire facility is being flooded with seawater. Despite Lloyd's attempts to move them, Botta refuses to save himself, as the water would then reach the others. After one final prayer, Botta and his two followers bravely drown.
[edit] Yuan's Reaction
When Lloyd's group report on their success at the Remote Island Ranch, Yuan immediately guesses that Botta is dead. Surprisingly, he seems to neither react to this or care about his lieutenant's sacrifice. It almost seems as if he had expected him to die, or perhaps had been preparing for it mentally, just in case. It seems most likely that in this situation, Yuan was reluctant to show weakness in front of people who he would likely be at odds with in the future; being a double agent would surely give him the necessary acting ability to suppress his grief until he could express it more privately.
