Abu Nidal

Sabri Khalil al-Banna (Arabic: صبري خليل البنا; May 1937 – 16 August 2002), known by his nom de guerre Abu Nidal, was the founder of Fatah: The Revolutionary Council (Arabic: فتح المجلس الثوري), a militant Palestinian splinter group more commonly known as the Abu Nidal Organization (ANO). At the height of its militancy in the 1970s and 1980s, the ANO was widely regarded as the most ruthless of the Palestinian groups.

Abu Nidal ("father of struggle") formed the ANO in October 1974 after a split from Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Acting as a freelance contractor, Abu Nidal is believed to have ordered attacks in 20 countries, killing over 300 and injuring over 650. The group's operations included the Rome and Vienna airport attacks on 27 December 1985, when gunmen opened fire on passengers in simultaneous shootings at El Al ticket counters, killing 20. Patrick Seale, Abu Nidal's biographer, wrote of the shootings that their "random cruelty marked them as typical Abu Nidal operations".

Abu Nidal died after a shooting in his Baghdad apartment in August 2002. Palestinian sources believed he was killed on the orders of Saddam Hussein, while Iraqi officials insisted he had committed suicide during an interrogation. "He was the patriot turned psychopath", David Hirst wrote in the Guardian on the news of his death. "He served only himself, only the warped personal drives that pushed him into hideous crime. He was the ultimate mercenary."

## Early life

### Family, early education

Sabri Khalil al-Banna was born in May 1937 in Jaffa, on the Mediterranean coast of what was then the British Mandate of Palestine. His father, Hajj Khalil al-Banna, owned 6,000 acres (24 km2) of orange groves situated between Jaffa and Majdal, today Ashkelon in Israel. The family lived in luxury in a three-storey stone house near the beach, later used as an Israeli military court. Muhammad Khalil al-Banna, Abu Nidal's brother, told Yossi Melman:

> My father ... was the richest man in Palestine. He marketed about ten percent of all the citrus crops sent from Palestine to Europe - especially to England and Germany. He owned a summer house in Marseilles, France, and another house in İskenderun, then in Syria and afterwards Turkey, and a number of houses in Palestine itself. Most of the time we lived in Jaffa. Our house had about twenty rooms, and we children would go down to swim in the sea. We also had stables with Arabian horses, and one of our homes in Ashkelon even had a large swimming pool. I think we must have been the only family in Palestine with a private swimming pool.

Khalil al-Banna's wealth allowed him to take several wives. According to Sabri in an interview with Der Spiegel, his father had 13 wives, 17 sons and eight daughters. Melman writes that Sabri's mother was the eighth wife. She had been one of the family's maids, a 16-year-old Alawite girl. The family disapproved of the marriage, according to Patrick Seale, and as a result Sabri, Khalil's 12th child, was apparently looked down on by his older siblings, although in later life the relationships were repaired.

In 1944 or 1945, his father sent him to Collège des Frères de Jaffa, a French mission school, which he attended for one year. When his father died in 1945, when Sabri was seven years old, the family turned his mother out of the house. His brothers took him out of the mission school and enrolled him instead in a prestigious, private Muslim school in Jerusalem, now known as Umariya Elementary School, which he attended for about two years.

### 1948 Palestine War

On 29 November 1947, the United Nations resolved to partition Palestine into an Arab and Jewish state. Fighting broke out immediately, and the disruption of the citrus-fruit business hit the family's income. In Jaffa there were food shortages, truck bombs and an Irgun militia mortar bombardment. Melman writes that the al-Banna family had had good relations with the Jewish community. Abu Nidal's brother told Melman that their father had been a friend of Avraham Shapira, a founder of the Jewish defense organization, Hashomer: "He would visit [Shapira] in his home in Petah Tikva, or Shapira riding his horse would visit our home in Jaffa. I also remember how we visited Dr. Weizmann [later first president of Israel] in his home in Rehovot." But it was war, and the relationships did not help them.

Just before Israeli troops took Jaffa in April 1948, the family fled to their house near Majdal, but Israeli troops arrived there too, and the family fled again. This time they went to the Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, then under Egyptian control. Melman writes that the family spent nine months living in tents, depending on UNRWA for an allowance of oil, rice and potatoes. The experience had later a powerful effect on Abu Nidal.

### Move to Nablus and Saudi Arabia

The al-Banna family's commercial experience, and the money they had managed to take with them, meant they could set themselves up in business again, Melman writes. Their orange groves had gone, now part of the new state of Israel. The family moved to Nablus in the West Bank, then under Jordanian control. In 1955, Abu Nidal graduated from high school, joined the Arab nationalist Ba'ath party, and began a degree course in engineering at Cairo University, but he left after two years without a degree. In 1960, he made his way to Saudi Arabia, where he set himself up as a painter and electrician, and worked as a casual laborer for Aramco. His brother told Melman that Abu Nidal would return to Nablus from Saudi Arabia every year to visit his mother. It was during one of those visits in 1962 that he met his wife, whose family had also fled from Jaffa. The marriage produced a son and two daughters.

### Personality

Abu Nidal was often in poor health, according to Seale, and tended to dress in zip-up jackets and old trousers, drinking whisky every night in his later years. He became, writes Seale, a "master of disguises and subterfuge, trusting no one, lonely and self-protective, [living] like a mole, hidden away from public view". Acquaintances said that he was capable of hard work and had a good financial brain. Salah Khalaf (Abu Iyad), the deputy chief of Fatah who was assassinated by the ANO in 1991, knew him well in the late 1960s when he took Abu Nidal under his wing. He told Seale:

> He had been recommended to me as a man of energy and enthusiasm, but he seemed shy when we met. It was only on further acquaintance that I noticed other traits. He was extremely good company, with a sharp tongue and an inclination to dismiss most of humanity as spies and traitors. I rather liked that! I discovered he was very ambitious, perhaps more than his abilities warranted, and also very excitable. He sometimes worked himself up into such a state that he lost all powers of reasoning

Seale suggests that Abu Nidal's childhood explained his personality, described as chaotic by Abu Iyad and as psychopathic by Issam Sartawi, the late Palestinian heart surgeon. His siblings' scorn, the loss of his father, and his mother's removal from the family home when he was seven, then the loss of his home and status in the conflict with Israel, created a mental world of plots and counterplots, reflected in his tyrannical leadership of the ANO. Members' wives (it was an all-male group) were not allowed to befriend each another, and Abu Nidal's wife was expected to live in isolation without friends.

## Political life

### Impex, Black September

In Saudi Arabia, Abu Nidal helped found a small group of young Palestinians who called themselves the Palestine Secret Organization. The activism cost him his job and home: Aramco fired him, and the Saudi government imprisoned then expelled him. He returned to Nablus with his wife and family, and joined Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction of the PLO. Working as an odd-job man, he was committed to Palestinian politics but was not particularly active, until Israel won the 1967 Six-Day War, capturing the Golan Heights, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Melman writes that "the entrance of the Israel Defense Forces tanks into Nablus was a traumatic experience for him. The conquest aroused him to action."

After moving to Amman, Jordan, he set up a trading company called Impex, which acted as a front for Fatah, serving as a meeting place and conduit for funds. This became a hallmark of Abu Nidal's career. Companies controlled by the ANO made him a rich man by engaging in legitimate business deals, while acting as cover for arms deals and mercenary activities.

When Fatah asked him to choose a nom de guerre, he chose Abu Nidal ("father of struggle") after his son, Nidal. Those who knew him at the time said he was a well-organized leader, not a guerrilla; during fighting between the Palestinian fedayeens and King Hussein's troops, he stayed in his office. In 1968 Abu Iyad appointed him as the Fatah representative in Khartoum, Sudan; then, at Abu Nidal's insistence, to the same position in Baghdad in July 1970. He arrived two months before "Black September", when over 10 days of fighting King Hussein's army drove the Palestinian fedayeens out of Jordan, with the loss of thousands of lives. Abu Nidal's absence from Jordan during this period, Seale writes, when it was clear that King Hussein was about to act against the Palestinians, raised suspicion within the movement that he was interested only in saving himself.

### First operation

Shortly after Black September, Abu Nidal began accusing the PLO, over his Voice of Palestine radio station in Iraq, of cowardice for having agreed to a ceasefire with Hussein. During Fatah's Third Congress in Damascus in 1971, he joined Palestinian activist and writer Naji Allush and Abu Daoud (leader of the Black September Organization responsible for the 1972 Munich Massacre) in calling for greater democracy within Fatah and revenge against King Hussein.

In February 1973, Abu Daoud was arrested in Jordan for an attempt on King Hussein's life. This led to Abu Nidal's first operation, using the name Al-Iqab ("the Punishment"). On 5 September 1973, five gunmen entered the Saudi embassy in Paris, took 15 hostages and threatened to blow up the building if Abu Daoud was not released. The gunmen flew two days later to Kuwait on a Syrian Airways flight, still holding five hostages, then to Riyadh, threatening to throw the hostages out of the aircraft. They surrendered and released the hostages on 8 September. Abu Daoud was released from prison two weeks later; Seale writes that the Kuwaiti government paid King Hussein \$12 million for his release.

On the day of the attack, 56 heads of state were meeting in Algiers for the 4th conference of the Non-Aligned Movement. According to Seale, the Saudi Embassy operation had been commissioned by Iraq's president, Ahmed Hasan al-Bakr, as a distraction because he was jealous that Algeria was hosting the conference. Seale writes one of the hostage-takers admitted that he had been told to fly the hostages around until the conference was over.

Abu Nidal had carried out the operation without the permission of Fatah. Abu Iyad (Arafat's deputy) and Mahmoud Abbas (later President of the Palestinian Authority), flew to Iraq to reason with Abu Nidal that hostage-taking harmed the movement. Abu Iyad told Seale that an Iraqi official at the meeting said: "Why are you attacking Abu Nidal? The operation was ours! We asked him to mount it for us." Abbas was furious and left the meeting with the other PLO delegates. From that point on, Seale writes, the PLO regarded Abu Nidal as under the control of the Iraqi government.

### Expulsion from Fatah

Two months later, in November 1973 (just after the Yom Kippur War in October), the ANO hijacked KLM Flight 861, this time using the name Arab Nationalist Youth Organization. Fatah had been discussing convening a peace conference in Geneva; the hijacking was intended to warn them not to go ahead with it. In response, in March or July 1974, Arafat expelled Abu Nidal from Fatah.

In October 1974 Abu Nidal formed the ANO, calling it Fatah: The Revolutionary Council. In November that year a Fatah court sentenced him to death in absentia for the attempted assassination of Mahmoud Abbas. Seale writes that it is unlikely that Abu Nidal had intended to kill Abbas, and just as unlikely that Fatah wanted to kill Abu Nidal. He was invited to Beirut to discuss the death sentence, and was allowed to leave again, but it was clear that he had become persona non-grata. As a result, the Iraqis gave him Fatah's assets in Iraq, including a training camp, farm, newspaper, radio station, passports, overseas scholarships and \$15 million worth of Chinese weapons. He also received Iraq's regular aid to the PLO: around \$150,000 a month and a lump sum of \$3–5 million.

## ANO

### Nature of the organization

In addition to Fatah: The Revolutionary Council, the ANO called itself the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, Black June (for actions against Syria), Black September (for actions against Jordan), the Revolutionary Arab Brigades, the Revolutionary Organization of Socialist Muslims, the Egyptian Revolution, Revolutionary Egypt, Al-Asifa ("the Storm," a name also used by Fatah), Al-Iqab ("the Punishment"), and the Arab Nationalist Youth Organization.

The group had up to 500 members, chosen from young men in the Palestinian refugee camps and in Lebanon, who were promised good pay and help looking after their families. They would be sent to training camps in whichever country was hosting the ANO at the time (Syria, Iraq or Libya), then organized into small cells. Once in, As\`ad AbuKhalil and Michael Fischbach write, they were not allowed to leave again. The group assumed complete control over the membership. One member who spoke to Patrick Seale was told before being sent overseas: "If we say, 'Drink alcohol'", do so. If we say, 'Get married,' find a woman and marry her. If we say, 'Don't have children,' you must obey. If we say, 'Go and kill King Hussein,' you must be ready to sacrifice yourself!"

Seale writes that recruits were asked to write out their life stories, including names and addresses of family and friends, then sign a paper saying they agreed to execution if discovered to have intelligence connections. If suspected, they would be asked to rewrite the whole story, without discrepancies. The ANO's newspaper Filastin al-Thawra regularly announced the execution of traitors. Abu Nidal believed that the group had been penetrated by Israeli agents, and there was a sense that Israel may have used the ANO to undermine more moderate Palestinian groups. Terrorism experts regard the view that Abu Nidal himself was such an agent as "far-fetched".

### Committee for Revolutionary Justice

There were reports of purges throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Around 600 ANO members were killed in Lebanon and Libya, including 171 in one night in November 1987, when they were lined up, shot and thrown into a mass grave. Dozens were kidnapped in Syria and killed in the Badawi refugee camp. Most of the decisions to kill, Abu Daoud told Seale, were taken by Abu Nidal "in the middle of the night, after he [had] knocked back a whole bottle of whiskey." The purges led to the defection from the ANO in 1989 of Atif Abu Bakr, head of the ANO's political directorate, who returned to Fatah.

Members were routinely tortured by the "Committee for Revolutionary Justice" until they confessed to disloyalty. Seale writes that reports of torture included hanging a man naked, whipping him until he was unconscious, reviving him with cold water, then rubbing salt or chili powder into his wounds. A naked prisoner would be forced into a car tyre with his legs and backside in the air, then whipped, wounded, salted and revived with cold water. A member's testicles might be fried in oil, or melted plastic dripped onto his skin. Between interrogations, prisoners would be tied up in tiny cells. If the cells were full, Seale writes, they might be buried with a pipe in their mouths for air and water; if Abu Nidal wanted them dead, a bullet would be fired down the pipe instead.

### Intelligence Directorate

The Intelligence Directorate was formed in 1985 to oversee special operations. It had four subcommittees: the Committee for Special Missions, the Foreign Intelligence Committee, the Counterespionage Committee and the Lebanon Committee. Led by Abd al-Rahman Isa, the longest-serving member of the ANO—Seale writes that Isa was unshaven and shabby, but charming and persuasive—the directorate maintained 30–40 people overseas who looked after the ANO's arms caches in various countries. It trained staff, arranged passports and visas, and reviewed security at airports and seaports. Members were not allowed to visit each other at home, and no one outside the directorate was supposed to know who was a member. Abu Nidal demoted Isa in 1987, believing he had become too close to other figures within the ANO. Always keen to punish members by humiliating them, he insisted that Isa remain in the Intelligence Directorate, where he had to work for his previous subordinates, who according to Seale were told to treat him with contempt.

### Committee for Special Missions

The job of the Committee for Special Missions was to choose targets. It had started life as the Military Committee, headed by Naji Abu al-Fawaris, who had led the attack on Heinz Nittel, head of the Israel-Austria Friendship League, who was shot and killed in 1981. In 1982 the committee changed its name to the Committee for Special Missions, headed by Dr. Ghassan al-Ali, who had been born in the West Bank and educated in England, where he obtained a BA and MA in chemistry and married a British woman (later divorced). A former ANO member told Seale that Ali favoured "the most extreme and reckless operations."

## Operations and relationships

### Shlomo Argov

On 3 June 1982, ANO operative Hussein Ghassan Said shot Shlomo Argov, the Israeli ambassador to Britain, once in the head as he left the Dorchester Hotel in London. Said was accompanied by Nawaf al-Rosan, an Iraqi intelligence officer, and Marwan al-Banna, Abu Nidal's cousin. Argov survived, but spent three months in a coma and the rest of his life disabled, until his death in February 2003. The PLO quickly denied responsibility for the attack.

Ariel Sharon, then Israel's defence minister, responded three days later by invading Lebanon, where the PLO was based, a reaction that Seale argues Abu Nidal had intended: The Israeli government had been preparing to invade and Abu Nidal provided a pretext. Der Spiegel put it to him in October 1985 that the assassination of Argov, when he knew Israel wanted to attack the PLO in Lebanon, made him appear to be working for the Israelis, in the view of Yasser Arafat. He replied:

> What Arafat says about me doesn't bother me. Not only he, but also a whole list of Arab and world politicians claim that I am an agent of the Zionists or the CIA. Others state that I am a mercenary of the French secret service and of the Soviet KGB. The latest rumor is that I am an agent of Khomeini. During a certain period they said we were spies for the Iraqi regime. Now they say that we are Syrian agents. ... Many psychologists and sociologists in the Soviet bloc tried to investigate this man Abu Nidal. They wanted to find a weak point in his character. The result was zero.

### Rome and Vienna

Abu Nidal's most infamous operation was the 1985 attack on the Rome and Vienna airports. On 27 December, at 08:15 GMT, four gunmen opened fire on the El Al ticket counter at the Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport in Rome, killing 16 and wounding 99. In Vienna International Airport a few minutes later, three men threw hand grenades at passengers waiting to check into a flight to Tel Aviv, killing four and wounding 39. According to Seale, the gunmen had been told the people in civilian clothes at the check-in counter were Israeli pilots returning from a training mission.

Austria and Italy had both been involved in trying to arrange peace talks. Sources close to Abu Nidal told Seale that Libyan intelligence had supplied the weapons. The damage to the PLO was enormous, according to Abu Iyad, Arafat's deputy. Most people in the West and even many Arabs could not distinguish between the ANO and Fatah, he said. "When such horrible things take place, ordinary people are left thinking that all Palestinians are criminals."

### United States bombing of Libya

On 15 April 1986, the US launched bombing raids from British bases against Tripoli and Benghazi, killing around 100, in retaliation for the bombing of a Berlin nightclub used by US service personnel. The dead were reported to include Hanna Gaddafi, the adoptive daughter of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi; two of his other children were injured. British journalist Alec Collett, who had been kidnapped in Beirut in March, was hanged after the airstrikes, reportedly by ANO operatives; his remains were found in the Beqaa Valley in November 2009. The bodies of two British teachers, Leigh Douglas and Philip Padfield, and an American, Peter Kilburn, were found in a village near Beirut on 17 April 1986; the Arab Fedayeen Cells, a name linked to Abu Nidal, claimed responsibility. British journalist John McCarthy was kidnapped the same day.

### Hindawi affair

On 17 April 1986—the day the bodies of the teachers were found and McCarthy was kidnapped—Ann Marie Murphy, a pregnant Irish chambermaid, was discovered in Heathrow airport with a Semtex bomb in the false bottom of one of her bags. She had been about to board an El Al flight from New York to Tel Aviv via London. The bag had been packed by her Jordanian fiancé Nizar Hindawi, who had said he would join her in Israel where they were to be married. According to Melman, Abu Nidal had recommended Hindawi to Syrian intelligence. Seale writes that the bomb had been manufactured by Abu Nidal's technical committee, who had delivered it to Syrian air force intelligence. It was sent to London in a diplomatic bag and given to Hindawi. According to Seale, it was widely believed that the attack was in response to Israel having forced down a jet, two months earlier, carrying Syrian officials to Damascus, which Israel had supposed was carrying senior Palestinians.

### Pan Am Flight 73

On 5 September 1986, four ANO gunmen hijacked Pan Am Flight 73 at Karachi Airport on its way from Mumbai to New York, holding 389 passengers and crew for 16 hours in the plane on the tarmac before detonating grenades inside the cabin. Neerja Bhanot, the flight's senior purser, was able to open an emergency door, and most passengers escaped; 20 died, including Bhanot, and 120 were wounded. The London Times reported in March 2004 that Libya had been behind the hijacking.

### Relationship with Gaddafi

Abu Nidal began to move his organization out of Syria to Libya in the summer of 1986, arriving there in March 1987. In June that year the Syrian government expelled him, in part because of the Hindawi affair and Pan Am Flight 73 hijacking. He repeatedly took credit during this period for operations in which he had no involvement, including the 1984 Brighton hotel bombing, 1985 Bradford City stadium fire, and 1986 assassination of Zafer al-Masri, the mayor of Nablus (killed by the PFLP, according to Seale). By publishing a congratulatory note in the ANO's magazine, he also implied that he had been behind the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, writes Seale.

Abu Nidal and Libya's leader, Muammar Gaddafi, allegedly became great friends, each holding what Marie Colvin and Sonya Murad called a "dangerous combination of an inferiority complex mixed with the belief that he was a man of great destiny". The relationship gave Abu Nidal a sponsor and Gaddafi a mercenary. Seale reports that Libya brought out the worst in Abu Nidal. He would not allow even the most senior ANO members to socialize with each other; all meetings had to be reported to him. All passports had to be handed over. No one was allowed to travel without his permission. Ordinary members were not allowed to have telephones; senior members were allowed to make local calls only. His members knew nothing about his daily life, including where he lived. If he wanted to entertain, Seale writes, he would take over the home of another member.

According to Abu Bakr, speaking to Al Hayat in 2002, Abu Nidal said he was behind the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, on 21 December 1988; a former head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines was later convicted. Abu Nidal reportedly said of Lockerbie, according to Seale: "We do have some involvement in this matter, but if anyone so much as mentions it, I will kill him with my own hands!" Seale writes that the ANO appeared to have no connection to it; one of Abu Nidal's associates told him, "If an American soldier tripped in some corner of the globe, Abu Nidal would instantly claim it as his own work."

### Banking with BCCI

In the late 1980s British intelligence learned that the ANO held accounts with the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) in London. BCCI was closed in July 1991 by banking regulators in six countries after evidence emerged of widespread fraud. Abu Nidal himself was said to have visited London using the name Shakar Farhan; a BCCI branch manager, who passed information about the ANO accounts to MI5, reportedly drove him around several stores in London without realizing who he was. Abu Nidal was using a company called SAS International Trading and Investments in Warsaw as cover for arms deals. The company's transactions included the purchase of riot guns, ostensibly for Syria, then when the British refused an export licence to Syria, for an African state; in fact, half the shipment went to the police in East Germany and half to Abu Nidal.

### Assassination of Abu Iyad

On 14 January 1991 in Tunis, the night before US forces moved into Kuwait, the ANO assassinated Abu Iyad, head of PLO intelligence, along with Abu al-Hol, Fatah's chief of security, and Fakhri al-Umari, another Fatah aide; all three men were shot in Abu Iyad's home. The killer, Hamza Abu Zaid, confessed that an ANO operative had hired him. When he shot Abu Iyad, he reportedly shouted, "Let Atif Abu Bakr help you now!", a reference to the senior ANO member who had left the group in 1989, and whom Abu Nidal believed had been planted within the ANO by Abu Iyad as a spy. Abu Iyad had known that Abu Nidal nursed a hatred of him, in part because he had kept Abu Nidal out of the PLO. But the real reason for the hatred, Abu Iyad told Seale, was that he had protected Abu Nidal in his early years within the movement. Given his personality, Abu Nidal could not acknowledge that debt. Seale writes that the murder "must therefore be seen as a final settlement of old scores".

## Death

After Libyan intelligence operatives were charged with the Lockerbie bombing, Gaddafi tried to distance himself from terrorism. Abu Nidal was expelled from Libya in 1999, and in 2002 he returned to Iraq. The Iraqi government later said he had entered the country using a fake Yemeni passport and false name.

On 19 August 2002, the Palestinian newspaper al-Ayyam reported that Abu Nidal had died three days earlier of multiple gunshot wounds at his home in Baghdad, a house the newspaper said was owned by the Mukhabarat, the Iraqi secret service. Two days later, Iraq's chief of intelligence Taher Jalil Habbush handed out photographs of Abu Nidal's body to journalists, along with a medical report that said he had died after a bullet entered his mouth and exited through his skull. Habbush said Iraqi officials had arrived at Abu Nidal's home to arrest him on suspicion of conspiring with foreign governments. After saying he needed a change of clothes, he went into his bedroom and shot himself in the mouth, according to Habbush. He died eight hours later in hospital.

Jane's reported in 2002 that Iraqi intelligence had found classified documents in his home about a US attack on Iraq. When they raided the house, fighting broke out between Abu Nidal's men and Iraqi intelligence. In the midst of this, Abu Nidal rushed into his bedroom and was killed; Palestinian sources told Jane's that he had been shot several times. Jane's suggested Saddam Hussein had him killed because he feared Abu Nidal would act against him in the event of an American invasion.

In 2008 Robert Fisk obtained a report written in September 2002, for Saddam Hussein's "presidency intelligence office," by Iraq's "Special Intelligence Unit M4". The report said that the Iraqis had been interrogating Abu Nidal in his home as a suspected spy for Kuwait and Egypt, and indirectly for the United States, and that he had been asked by the Kuwaitis to find links between Iraq and Al-Qaeda. Just before being moved to a more secure location, Abu Nidal asked to be allowed to change his clothing, went into his bedroom and shot himself, the report said. He was buried on 29 August 2002 in al-Karakh's Islamic cemetery in Baghdad, in a grave marked M7.

## See also

- List of unsolved deaths

Palestinian militant, founder of Fatah (1937–2002)

Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region politicians


Tales of Symphonia

is an action role-playing video game developed by Namco Tales Studio and published by Namco for the GameCube. The fifth main installment of the Tales series, it was released in Japan on August 29, 2003, in North America on July 13, 2004 and in Europe on November 19, 2004. In Japan, the game was ported for the PlayStation 2 with additional content and was released on September 22, 2004.

The game takes place in a fictional world called Sylvarant and follows Lloyd Irving. Lloyd accompanies his childhood friend, Colette Brunel, who is destined to go on a journey to save their world. As their journey progresses, they learn that saving Sylvarant endangers Tethe'alla, a world parallel to their own. The game's central theme is an "RPG that resonates with you" (君と響きあうRPG, Kimi to Hibikiau RPG).

Tales of Symphonia received generally positive reviews upon release. Critics praised the battle system, art direction, voice acting and character development, but had mixed reactions to the music and narrative, and criticized some graphical shortcomings. The game received a Japan Game Awards in 2003 and had received re-releases under the Player's Choice and PlayStation 2 the Best labels. In the United States, over 100 thousand copies were sold during the first two weeks and has sold 2.4 million copies worldwide across all platforms, making it the best-selling title in the franchise. The game has been adapted into seven manga collections, two novel series, seven drama CDs, and an OVA anime series. A sequel entitled Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World was released for the Wii in 2008. Tales of Symphonia and its sequel were collected as a PlayStation 3 high definition release in Tales of Symphonia Chronicles in 2013. A Steam version was released on February 2, 2016. A remastered version was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on February 17, 2023.

## Gameplay

Like previous installments in the Tales series, Tales of Symphonia consists primarily of three major areas: an overworld field map, town and dungeon maps, and a battle screen. The overworld map is a 3D model, featuring a scaled-down version of the game's fictional world which the player travels through to reach the game's locations. As with preceding games in the series, the world map can be traversed by foot, on the party's quadrupedal pet Noishe, and on flying vehicles known as Rheairds. On field maps, characters are directed across realistically scaled environments. The battle screen is a 3D representation of an area, in which the player commands the characters in battles against CPU-controlled enemies.

On the overworld and field maps, various skits between the characters can be viewed. They involve animated character portraits, subtitles, and, in the Japanese version, full voice acting. Skits concern anything from character development to side details. Overworld map skits affect Lloyd's relationships with other party members. The player will be able to make certain decisions that imperceptibly affect how the other characters think of Lloyd. Some of these choices have minor ramifications for the game's storyline.

Battle system

During battle sequences, the game uses the Multi-Line Linear Motion Battle System. Four characters from the party are chosen to battle; those not controlled by a player are guided by artificial intelligence with instructions set by the player beforehand. Damage dealt to the opponent fills a "Unison Gauge". When this is full, a "Unison Attack" can be triggered, allowing the party to use techniques simultaneously on a single enemy. When certain techniques are combined, a special attack results in additional damage.

After battle, a currency called Grade is awarded or subtracted based on specific criteria that are fulfilled in battle. It is used to purchase bonuses during New Game Plus. Players are also prompted to cook food after battles if they have the materials. Cooking recipes determine the benefits received such as health recovery. The degree of the benefit is determined by which character is chosen to cook.

Tales of Symphonia's skill system is built around the use of "EX Gems", which come in four ranks. Each character can equip up to four EX Gems and set abilities to those gems. The abilities determine if the characters will learn Strike or Technical techniques and spells. Combinations of EX Gem abilities can also grant additional abilities called "EX-Skills". The development of a character's attributes is determined by their equipped "Title". Titles are earned through story progression, side quests, or completion of miscellaneous criteria.

## Plot

### Setting

The initial setting of Tales of Symphonia is Sylverant, a world in a state of decline due to the depletion of mana, a force essential to life and the use of magic. 4000 years prior, a war was waged by an evil race known as the Desians, who were sealed away by the legendary hero Mithos via a pact with the world's goddess Martel. Due to Sylverant's weakening mana, the Desians have reemerged and are terrorizing humanity, conducting biological experiments on abducted humans in facilities known as "human ranches", which further consumes mana. During this time, humanity puts his hopes upon the descendant of Martel's angels, the "Chosen", who must undertake a pilgrimage and awaken the "Summon Spirits" who protect Sylverant. This will in turn awaken Martel, who will reseal the Desians and restore the world's mana, and the Chosen will be reborn as an angel. The Chosen's pilgrimage is complicated by the presence of the Renegades, a group that deliberately dresses in Desian garb and has assassinated Sylverant's Chosen for the past 800 years, preventing Martel's awakening. Later, the existence of a parallel world named Tethe'alla comes to light. The two worlds are separated by a dimensional barrier that can only be passed through using magical technology (or "magitech"). They share a single source of mana and are caught in a precarious equilibrium in which mana is unevenly distributed; as one world prospers, the other declines.

Sylverant and Tethe'alla are inhabited by humans as well as elves, a race of long-lived humanoid extraterrestrials who originated from the giant comet Derris-Kharlan and can manipulate mana to cast magic. Although normally only those of elven blood can cast magic, humans such as Kratos and Zelos can gain the same ability by ingesting the powdered ore "Aionis". Offspring born between humans and elves are half-elves, who bear both the fighting spirit and curiosity of humans and the longevity and magical capabilities of elves. Because of this, they are discriminated against by condescending elves and jealous humans, and in Tethe'alla they are deprived of civil rights. The Desians are composed entirely of half-elves who act out of vengeance for this discrimination.

Several characters bear an "Exsphere", a small jewel that enhances the wearer's natural abilities when implanted onto the skin, and is also used as a power source for machinery. However, an Exsphere's amplifying capability can only be awakened at the cost of a human life, and the Exsphere parasitically feeds off the user's mana unless a suppressant named a "Key Crest" is installed. An evolved form of Exsphere known as a "Cruxis Crystal" grants its user immortality, a pair of angel-like wings, and a relinquished need for human functions such as eating or sleeping, but eventually erases the user's ego if worn without a Key Crest. The Chosen is said to be born holding a Cruxis Crystal, though it is actually granted by its namesake organization Cruxis, the central body of the religion surrounding Martel. Cruxis' duty is to ensure the perpetuation of the Chosen's genetic lineage in the prospering world and to guide the Chosen's pilgrimage via an oracle in the declining world.

### Characters

The main protagonist is Lloyd Irving, a young swordsman who joins the Chosen's pilgrimage as a means of protecting his childhood friend Colette Brunel. He also seeks to defeat the Desians and avenge his mother, who was said to be killed protecting the Exsphere on the back of Lloyd's hand. The other members of the pilgrimage include Lloyd and Colette's mutual friend Genis Sage, their village schoolteacher and Genis's older sister Raine Sage, and the traveling mercenary Kratos Aurion, who is hired by the village church to escort Colette. The group is later joined by Sheena Fujibayashi, a ninja from Tethe'alla who initially tries to assassinate Colette; Zelos Wilder, the arrogant and womanizing Chosen of Tethe'alla; Presea Combatir, a young lumberjack with superhuman strength as a result of Cruxis Crystal-related experiments; and Regal Bryant, an ex-convict who wishes to avenge his lover, whom he was forced to kill.

The organization Cruxis is led by Yggdrasill, a half-elf whose ultimate goal is to turn all people into lifeless beings in order to bring about an age free of discrimination. Yggdrasill's secret identity is that of the legendary hero Mithos, an ageless half-elven boy who seeks to revive his older sister Martel, whom he propped up as a goddess following her death in the ancient war. Prior to Yggdrasill's appearance, the oracle Remiel, who promotes Colette's transformation into an angel, serves as the primary representative of Cruxis. The Renegades, a group attempting to thwart Cruxis' goals, are led by Yuan, a half-elf who aided Mithos in ending the ancient war and was engaged to Martel.

### Story

Colette is summoned to her village's church to receive the oracle who will initiate her pilgrimage to regenerate Sylverant. She is protected from an apparent Desian attack by her friends Lloyd and Genis, as well as the traveling mercenary Kratos. Lloyd and Genis are initially denied the opportunity to accompany Colette on her pilgrimage, and Colette, hoping to protect them, secretly leaves early with Raine and Kratos. However, Lloyd and Genis's intervention to rescue a friend of Genis at a nearby human ranch results in their village's retaliatory decimation and their subsequent exile, leaving them no other option but to join Colette's pilgrimage. During the journey, the process of the Chosen's transformation into an angel is revealed to entail the gradual loss of Colette's humanity. They also encounter and eventually make peace with the assassin Sheena, who comes from the parallel world of Tethe'alla. From her, they learn how the two worlds vie for each other's mana through the journey of regeneration. Within a human ranch, the group discovers that Exspheres are cultivated within humans, with Lloyd's Exsphere having came from within his mother. Hoping to find answers from the oracle Remiel, the party meets him at the Chosen's final destination and are betrayed by Remiel and Kratos; both are revealed to be members of Cruxis, an organization that seeks to use the Chosen's body as Martel's vessel.

The party is rescued by the Renegades, a group that poses as Desians and aims to prevent Martel's resurrection. The Renegades' leader, Yuan, explains that the Desians are servants of Cruxis and act to terrorize the population of the declining world and stimulate the growth of the Chosen's Cruxis Crystal. When Yuan declares his intent to secure Lloyd to further the Renegades' purpose, the party escapes for Tethe'alla, where they restore Colette's humanity after crafting a Key Crest for her Cruxis Crystal. In search for a way to save both worlds, the party determines that awakening the Summon Spirits in both worlds will sever the mana tie between them. Believing that to be the answer, they successfully sever all mana ties between the two worlds. Their actions instead destabilize the Great Seed, the supplier of mana to both worlds, causing it to grow and engulf Sylvarant at an exponential rate. After the party re-stabilizes the seed, they learn from Yuan about the origins of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla and how they used to be one world but was split by Cruxis' leader Mithos with the Eternal Sword; the party realizes they can save the world if they wield the Eternal Sword, merge the worlds, and germinate the Great Seed. They decide to confront and defeat Mithos before seeking the Eternal Sword.

At Mithos' stronghold, Zelos allows Colette to be kidnapped in a genuine or feigned betrayal of the party (depending on the player's choices), and Mithos uses Colette's body to reawaken Martel. However, Martel rejects Mithos' actions and twisted vision, and before vanishing back into the Great Seed, she laments that the elves should never have left Derris-Kharlan. Mithos misinterprets this sentiment as a wish to leave the two worlds for Derris-Kharlan, but is seemingly killed by the party before carrying out his seizure of the Great Seed, and Genis keeps his Cruxis Crystal as a memento of his sole half-elven friend. Kratos reveals that he has been gathering materials to forge a ring that will allow Lloyd to use the Eternal Sword. Mithos' spirit, having survived within his Cruxis Crystal, emerges and possesses a member from the party before fleeing to Derris-Kharlan. Mithos attempts to take the Great Seed with him, but is foiled and killed by Lloyd. Using the Eternal Sword, Lloyd merges Sylvarant and Tethe'alla together and germinates the Great Seed into a Giant Kharlan Tree to supply the world with mana.

## Development and release

On May 8, 2002, Namco and Nintendo announced at a Tokyo press conference that they would collaborate on a number of titles for the GameCube, including a new installment in the Tales series slated for a July 2003 release. Originally developed under the title Tales of Phantasia, its final title was revealed to be Tales of Symphonia in February 2003. An April 2003 edition of Famitsu revealed the game had been in development for two years, most of the development staff previously worked on Tales of Eternia, the game would have the most main characters in a Tales game to date, and would be the first 3D game in the series. A North American localization was confirmed at E3 2003. A conference by Namco on June 9, 2003 revealed the game would be on two disks and its theme song would be "Starry Heavens" by J-pop group Day After Tomorrow. To celebrate its release in Japan, the game was bundled with a symphonic green GameCube. To increase the North American version's appeal to Western audiences, localization producer Nao Higo replaced "Starry Heavens" with an orchestral anthem by composer Motoi Sakuraba, and focused on hiring experienced voice actors such as Scott Menville, Tara Strong, and Cam Clarke for the English voice-acting. The game was released in Japan on August 29, 2003, and was localized in North America and Europe on July 13, 2004, and November 19, 2004, respectively. The game was re-released in North America under the Player's Choice label on July 19, 2004.

During the second week of April 2004, Weekly Shōnen Jump announced a PlayStation 2 port of Tales of Symphonia. It received new in-game additions and its theme song is by Day After Tomorrow, which is also remixed as , which is also performed by the band's lead singer, Misono, in the PS3 version in both the Japanese and Western releases, as well as the PC and Remastered versions. It was released exclusively in Japan on September 22, 2004, and re-released under the PlayStation 2 the Best label on July 7, 2005.

### Scenario

Takumi Miyajima, the game's writer, explained Tales of Symphonia was planned to create a "unique symphonia", dependent on the player's choices and the affection system. Miyajima wrote many scenarios, with the most significant events centered on Zelos Wilder. Originally, Zelos' death was supposed to be canon. His survival would have been dependent on the affection system: He would die early on if he was ranked the lowest in the affection system, would die at the end if he ranked in the middle, and would only survive if he ranked the top. However, the development staff suggested to have Kratos Aurion return to the party and the team discussed how it would work. The change in scenario had Miyajima rework Zelos' death into a non-canon path of the story. While generally a self-contained story, Symphonia apparently takes place within either the same or a similar timeline to the first Tales game, Tales of Phantasia.

### Sequel and Chronicles release

A direct sequel, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, was announced on July 20, 2007, for the Wii. It was released in Japan and North America in 2008 and in Europe a year after.

Tales of Symphonia Chronicles was announced on June 1, 2013, for the PlayStation 3. It contains Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World with remastered graphics and additional content. It was released in Japan on October 10, 2013, and it was released in North America and Europe in February 2014 as both a retail version and download release, with the option to purchase Tales of Symphonia as a standalone release.

## Adaptations

### Comics

Tales of Symphonia spawned seven manga adaptations after its release: six anthology collections and a traditional manga series.

The first anthology collection, , consists of five volumes which were released between November 25, 2003, and February 25, 2006, by Ichijinsha. The second anthology collection, , is a four-panel comic. It consists of five volumes released between November 25, 2003, and December 25, 2006, by Ichijinsha. A third anthology collection entitled had two volumes published by Mag Garden in February 2005 and 2007. The fourth anthology collection is and consisted of a single volume which was released by Mag Garden on October 10, 2007. The fifth anthology collection is . It consisted of two volumes which were released by Square Enix on May 27, 2005, and September 16, 2005. The sixth anthology collection is is a single volume released on June 5, 2010, by Ichijinsha.

The manga series by Hitoshi Ichimura was titled Tales of Symphonia and was an adaptation of the game's storyline. The first four chapters were serialized between the April and July 2005 editions of Monthly Comic Blade. Future chapters were released in tankōbon volumes by Mag Garden thereafter. Six volumes were released: the first was released on August 10, 2005, and the last two were released on July 10, 2007.

### Books

Tales of Symphonia has spun off two novel series adaptions, four strategy guides, a character book, an official scenario book, and an art book. The first novel series is titled Tales of Symphonia and is written by Kiyoshi Yuki. It consisted of three novels released between November 21 and December 20, 2003, by Shueisha. The second novel series is titled Tales of Symphonia: Radiance of Time (テイルズ オブ シンフォニア 久遠 の輝き, Teiruzu Obu Shinfonia Toki no Kagayaki) and is written by Sera Yajima. It consists of four volumes released between December 20, 2003, and June 19, 2004, by Enterbrain. An after story by the same author was released on September 18, 2004.

Two strategy guides under the V Jump Books brand were published by Shueisha: the Gamecube guide was released on August 29, 2003, and the PS2 on September 22, 2004. Namco Bandai Games released two official strategy guides on October 1, 2003, and October 27, 2004, for the Gamecube and PS2 respectively. is a book by the game's designer, Kōsuke Fujishima, and was released on January 26, 2004, by Ichijinsha. It provides details on the characters' back story and how their design came to be. was released on June 26, 2008, by Namco Bandai. The book details the history of the world and characters. is an art book for the anime released on March 28, 2013, by ASCII Media Works.

### Audio CDs

Seven drama CDs based on the game's plot were produced by Frontier Works. 1, 2, and 3 are stories preceding the game. They were released between July 23, 2004, and September 24, 2004. First Part and Second Part follow Sheena Fujibayashi and Zelos Wilder as they tour the world a year after the events of the main game. The two CDs were released on May 25, 2005, and June 24, 2005. and are side stories with guest characters from Tales of Vesperia and Tales of Graces, respectively.

`was published by DigiCube on October 1, 2003, and consists of 4 discs. It debuted at 98 on Oricon's charts. The soundtrack was re-released on October 27, 2004, by King Records (Japan) for the PS2 port of Tales of Symphonia.`

### Animation

Tales of Symphonia The Animation (テイルズ オブ シンフォニア The Animation, Teiruzu Obu Shinfonia The Animation) was an OVA series animated by Ufotable and produced by Geneon Universal Entertainment and Frontier Works. It consists of four episodes which were released direct-to-video on four separate DVDs on June 8, August 10, October 24, and December 21 of 2007. They were later released in a Blu-ray Disc collection on September 26, 2008. The series later rereleased on Universal Media Disc between June 25 and July 23, 2010. On May 8, 2010, the series were aired on AT-X as a promotion to the sequel of the series. The episodes used three pieces of theme music: The opening theme is "Almateria" by Eri Kawai and the two ending themes were by Kaori Hikita and by Nana Mizuki.[^1]

The sequel series, Tales of Symphonia the Animation: Tethe'alla Episode (テイルズ オブ シンフォニア The Animation テセアラ編, Teiruzu Obu Shinfonia The Animation: Teseara hen), was announced during Tales of Festival 2008. It consists of four episodes which were released on March 25, May 26, September 23, 2010, and February 25, 2011. All four episodes received an early screening: The first was screened on March 13, 2010, in Fukuoka and was hosted by Music Plaza Indo; The second on May 4, 2010, in Tokushima, Tokushima by Ufotable; the third on September 17, 2010, in Yokohama by Animate; and the fourth on February 20, 2011, in Roppongi by Toho. The first two episodes were later aired on September 12, 2010, on AT-X. The episodes used the opening theme by Nana Mizuki and the ending theme by Akiko Shikata. Ending theme of the 4th episode is by Akiko Shikata.

The second sequel, Tales of Symphonia the Animation: The United World Episode (テイルズ オブ シンフォニア The Animation 世界統合編, Teiruzu Obu Shinfonia The Animation: Sekai Tōgō-hen), concludes the anime's plot. It consists of three episodes released directly to DVD and Blu-ray on November 23, 2011, June 20, 2012, and October 24, 2012. All three episodes had early screenings: the first was screened between September 23 and September 25, 2011, by Cinema Sunshine in Ikebukuro; the second on May 3, 2012, in Tokushima by Ufotable; and the third is on September 29, 2012, by Cinema Sunshine in Ikebukuro. The episodes use four pieces of theme musics: an opening theme by Misono and three ending themes, , , and , all by Akiko Shikata.

A Blu-ray box set containing all three series was announced on June 1, 2013, and released on November 6, 2013.

## Reception

Tales of Symphonia garnered "generally favorable" reception from critics according to review aggregator Metacritic. Alan Averill and Steve Thomason of Nintendo Power determined the game to be the GameCube's best RPG, as well as one of the best Averill had played. Jeremy Jastrzab of PALGN regarded it as a "top gameplay experience", praising the depth of its gameplay and story. Jonathan Metts of Planet GameCube said that although the game "clings to many of the well-worn RPG elements", its distinct battle system, story, and visual presentation allowed it to stand on equal footing with the most recent Final Fantasy titles. Rob Fahey of Eurogamer argued that the game was "the finest example ever made of the truly traditional Japanese RPG", but was concerned that this traditional nature might dissuade players from trying it. Benjamin Turner of GameSpy said that the lush artwork and innovative battle system characteristic of Tales games helped Symphonia stand out in the GameCube's "RPG-starved" library.

The battle system was praised for its ease of use and fast pace, with Jastrzab declaring it to be one of the best systems conceived for an action RPG. Metts explained that it "strikes a perfect balance between the strategy of traditional menu-based RPG battles and the fast, skill-based action found in a weapons-based fighting game like Soul Calibur". While Star Dingo of GamePro concurred that the game's individual character control was "excellent", he lamented that the computer-controlled nature of the other party members resulted in a loss of the experience of learning new skills and spells, and said that attempts to micromanage the other members made the battle system clunky and burdensome. Joe Juba of Game Informer, meanwhile, was impressed by the variable customization of the computer-controlled characters' behavior. Daryl Vassar of G4techTV cited the battles as the game's high point and claimed they were fun enough to win over non-RPG fans, though he considered the summoning system — which requires a character to take a great deal of damage before performing such an action — to be a weakness. David Smith of 1UP.com was initially aggravated by the limitations imposed on three-dimensional movement combined with the number of enemies, but later acknowledged that the limitations encouraged strategic depth by preventing the player from exploiting repetitive or unbalanced tactics. In this regard, Smith deemed the system to be an improvement over that of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time; Fahey also drew a comparison to the title, considering the computer-controlled characters in Tales to be significantly more intelligent. Shane Bettenhausen of Electronic Gaming Monthly and Mary Jane Irwin of IGN complained that the game's difficulty was imbalanced by the boss battles, which required significant grinding and were sometimes fought in a close consecutive fashion. Jastrzab also acknowledged the boss battles as "fearsome and challenging", but regarded them more admirably.

Brian Gee of GameRevolution and Irwin noted that the free-roaming gameplay made it easy for the player to wander into a dungeon with excessively strong enemies. Irwin negatively compared the amount of backtracking in the game's vast overworld to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, but was thankful for the various modes of transportation that were continuously introduced. The dungeon puzzles were described as simple and easy to decipher. Irwin, comparing the puzzles to The Legend of Zelda, welcomed them as breaks from the frequent exploration and battles, as well as an expansion of the game's appeal to a broader audience. However, she regarded some of the later puzzles as fetch quests intended solely to lengthen the campaign. While Smith agreed that the quality of the puzzles was not exceptional, he considered them a decent challenge and an improvement over those in Tales of Destiny. Metts dismissed the puzzles as "more annoying than challenging and often feel out of place". Jennifer Tsao of Electronic Gaming Monthly opined that the "stingy" save system made the game "a tad too hardcore".

The visuals were commended for their cel-shading effects and anime-influenced art direction, with Jastrzab saying that the stylish characters, animations and special effects enhanced the game's battle sequences. Juba proclaimed the game's world to be "one of the most stunning [he has] ever experienced", likening the presentation to "Windwaker [sic]-meets-anime". Smith, however, disliked the lack of detail and facial expression in the character models, remarking that "the rare occasions where they do show emotion come across as disturbingly jarring". He negatively compared the character designs to Fujishima's earlier work in Tales of Phantasia, saying that Symphonia's characters lacked the personality of those in the preceding title, and claimed that "any number of cheaper artists could have delivered equally inspired designs". Smith also criticized the cel-shading style as uneven and shaky compared to that of Jet Set Radio. The settings were admired for their detail and variety, with some commenting that the background art transitioned well into a 3D format from the classic Tales titles. Jastrzab was stunned by the lack of slowdown during the game's chaotic action segments, Turner was also amazed by the consistently high framerate, which he regarded as "a great bonus in a time when most RPGs are content to chug at 30 [fps]". Fahey and Jastrzab were disappointed by the game's lack of cutscenes in the vein of the traditionally-animated opening cinematic. The in-game cutscenes were described by the EGM reviewers and Jastrzab as "dull" and "a little underdone". Fahey and GameSpot's Bethany Massimilla remarked that the game's attempt at depth of field effects in some scenes resulted in the characters appearing smeared rather than out-of-focus. The overworld's presentation was criticized as underwhelming; some compared its level of detail to titles from the previous generation of consoles, while Jastrzab argued that the quality would not have been passable even in that context. Massimilla additionally faulted the camera in these portions, explaining that it required frequent adjustment and sometimes obscured incoming enemies.

Reactions to the music were mixed; some regarded the score as unremarkable, which was a source of disappointment for Fahey, as he felt the "beautifully constructed" world deserved a more impressive soundtrack. Jastrzab deemed the music "exceptional" and "stellar", saying that it "captures the mood of the relevant scenarios with virtual perfection while avoiding the repetitious nature of anything related to anime". Massimilla observed that the soundtrack "[held] true to the Tales' norm of combining wind instruments and bells in pleasing ways for main themes". Juba, Turner, and Irwin respectively described Sakuraba's score as "pretty mellow", "a typically fine piece of work", and "pleasantly decent", though Irwin remarked that the musical variety was relegated to dialogue-oriented events, with the battle and overworld themes taking up most of the playtime.

The voice acting was commended, with Smith remarking that the characters were "more fun to hear than they are to look at". He added that the repartee between Lloyd and Genis elevated them above their archetypes. Fahey noted that his praise of the voice acting was rare as he was not a fan of dubbing, and was slightly disappointed that the skits were not voiced as well, which he said resulted in them feeling drawn-out. Although Jastrzab approved of the voice acting's professional quality, he mentioned that some of the dialogue was not well-placed, explaining that "There is no building of feeling or creation of tension, it pretty much bursts onto the scene". Irwin considered the delivery to be flat and stilted, observing that "Emotion is often expressed at the wrong times (or not at all) and conversations rarely sound natural". Turner also deemed the voices to be "so-so", opining that while the characters' battle vocalizations were sufficient, the actors lacked the range needed for the more emotionally demanding cutscenes, which he said were held back by "generally inept" direction.

Responses to the narrative were mixed, with some considering the story to be familiar and predictable. The Nintendo Power reviewers said that the story was told with "wonderful craft", and were surprised that the player-controlled character does not carry the "chosen one" role. Jastrzab argued that the story held a "never-ending" depth underneath its surface, which he said was highlighted by the variety of plot outcomes that arose from subtle decisions by the player, though he warned of the script's excessive moralizing. Metts agreed that the plot was standard, though he remarked that the set-up was "unusually blunt, in that you are told the implications of the quest right upfront". However, he proposed that the narrative could assuage GameCube owners desiring a traditional RPG, and described the ending sequence as "beautiful and powerful". Star Dingo compared the story's combination of "heart, warmth, humor, sadness and peril" to the works of Rumiko Takahashi, and proclaimed the writing to be some of the best among console RPGs, elaborating that "the tragedies really strike home, and the characters all have distinct voices, speaking their lines with a welcome sense of subtle irony and self-awareness about RPG clichés". While Fahry acknowledged that the premise was simple and cliché, he said that the plot twists were well-employed. Irwin was unengaged to the story, which she attributed to what she deemed a flawed localization; she explained that "The dialogue is often awkward and drawn out. Word choice ranges from overly formal to random slang -- the style is all over the linguistic map with little regard to who's speaking". The Nintendo Power reviewers and Metts were satisfied with the story's pace, while Turner remarked that the narrative meandered at times.

The characters were said to be likable and well-developed. Metts compared the cast to that of The Lord of the Rings in that they "initially seem simple and stereotypical but almost feel like real people by the end of the story". Fahey singled out Lloyd's development and was thankful that the writers were "of the persuasion which says that dark revelations of the past are not a substitute for creating a proper personality for your characters". Although Juba regarded the character archetypes as cookie-cutter (apart from Raine, who he described as "seem[ing] to derive sexual pleasure from uncovering archeological artifacts"), he along with Bettenhausen and Massimilla acknowledged that the optional skits substantially contributed to the characters' depth; Juba additionally compared the skits to the Active Time Event system in Final Fantasy IX. However, Bettenhausen and Massimilla faulted the skits for their slow pace.

### Remastered

Tales of Symphonia Remastered received "mixed or average" reviews according to Metacritic. The remaster was faulted for its downgraded and inconsistent framerate, as well as frequent and long load times. Some considered it to be the game's worst version, with Noah Leiter of RPGFan describing it as an "antithetical runt" to Metroid Prime Remastered and the Game Boy emulations for Nintendo Switch Online. Paul Shkreli of RPGamer added that selling the remaster at a premium price without the addition of its sequel Dawn of the New World felt "both confounding and anti-consumer", noting that the 2016 Steam release featured everything the remaster offered at half the price. Mitch Vogel of Nintendo Life agreed that the exclusion of Dawn of the New World resulted in an unclear value proposition. Glen Fox of Gamezebo, upon establishing that Tales of Symphonia is his personal favorite video game, denounced the remaster as "a complete and utter mess", and expressed bafflement as to why Bandai Namco would allow "one of its most treasured releases from yesteryear" to be released in such a state.

Kirstin Swalley of Hardcore Gamer considered the combat simplistic but enjoyable due to the small depths granted by its mechanics, though she warned that it may initially feel clunky to players more accustomed to modern Tales titles. Robert Ramsey of Push Square observed that, by modern standards, the combat was relatively basic and the controls were slightly stiff, but neverless deemed the fights satisfying because of their pace. Leiter described the combat as smooth, challenging, and rewarding to careful players, but he found the controls to be awkward and delayed. While Shkreli found the combat to be enjoyable without being overwhelming, he experienced difficulty with enemies approaching from multiple angles due to the 2D plane. Vogel cited the same difficulty, remarking that the battles felt stiff compared to similar hack 'n' slash combat featured in Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana and Kingdom Hearts II. He added that the inability to cancel out of attack animations, which would incentivize careful timing and skill usage, was complicated by a fast battle pace that encourages reactive and reckless tactics. Swalley and Shkreli commended the variety of puzzles and enemies in the dungeons, with Shkreli calling them elaborate without being inordinate. Ramsey, however, found some of the dungeon designs tedious. Vogel considered the dungeons a highlight in the title's conventional gameplay loop, positively comparing their use of puzzles to Golden Sun. Jake Dekker of GameSpot described the combat as stiff and slow compared to Tales of Berseria and Tales of Arise, but noted that unlocking more skills eventually made for a more intricate and satisfying experience. He singled out the boss battles as an engaging highlight due to their relatively increased challenge. Swalley noted that the multiple playthroughs required to obtain everything in the game encouraged significant replay value. Ramsey was annoyed by the overworld map camera. Swalley and Dekker complained of frequent game crashes, which were exacerbated by the lack of an autosave feature.

Swalley complimented the key locations as solid and said that the increased crispness and clarity of the character models enhanced their detail and expressiveness, though she felt that some textures "could have used more work". Vogel and Ramsey said that the visual improvements were negligible apart from the upgraded resolution. Both described the textures as muddy, and while they noted that the art direction was still distinct, Vogel felt that the environment designs lacked a unique visual flair. Leiter also found many textures to be stretched or glossy. Shkreli regarded the art style as timeless and vibrant despite the scaled-down cel-shading effects, but dismissed the overworld as drab and poorly modeled. Fox declared the remaster to be the game's ugliest version, citing an unpleasant sharpening effect caused by AI upscaling, missing cel-shading effects, desaturated colors, and missing visual features such as transparent menus and the "screen-shattering" battle transition effect. Dekker faulted the cutscenes as stiff and awkward and the overworld as bland and lifeless.

Swalley maintained that the soundtrack was "fantastic as it ever was", and marveled at the option to choose between the English and Japanese audio tracks. Ramsey described the soundtrack as "very catchy", and Leiter regarded Sakuraba's score as highly memorable, singling out the battle themes as highlights. However, he cited compressed voice lines as a fault. Shkreli "strongly felt" Sakuraba's presence in the battle anthems and village themes.

Ramsey said that while the story was somewhat predictable, the characters were endearing and had great chemistry given by "sharp and often comedic" writing. Leiter called the story a "banger" and enjoyed the novelty of the protagonist playing a supporting role to the "chosen one" character. However, he felt that the story's heavy themes of genocide and slavery were sometimes at odds with the light-hearted and humorous tone and mildly cutesy visuals, and considered the presentation of such themes uncarefully handled, referring to the human ranches as "Philosopher’s Stone factory/concentration camps". Dekker echoed this sentiment, remarking that some of the more emotional moments and darker themes were difficult to take seriously when played out by cutesy characters. Shkreli said that the story's "interesting and innovative" twists were still exciting, especially by the game's last third. He mentioned that the story's emotional center was grounded by the strong characterization between the party members, which he attributed to the optional skits. Vogel was impressed by the ambition in the narrative's "shocking" twists despite the initial impression of a "run-of-the-mill exercise in tired tropes". However, he deemed the "uneven" script to be stiff and unintentionally humorous, elaborating that "Some of these cutscenes cover a ridiculous range of emotions in just a minute or two, and dialogue rarely feels natural—it’s the epitome of a ‘video game script’". Dekker opined that the rareness of neat resolutions to conflicts improved the story, and he proclaimed that the game's cast is still the best in the series, although he said that some awkward localization held these elements back. He criticized the quest-tracking "synopsis" system as occasionally vague, which necessitated consultation of a walkthrough.

### Sales and awards

Over 100,000 copies were sold in the United States during the first two weeks after its release. In December 2007, Namco announced that the GameCube version had sold 953,000 copies worldwide, and the PlayStation 2 port had sold 486,000 copies in Japan. The bargain reissue for the PlayStation 2 in 2005 sold almost 50,000 copies in Japan by the end of 2006. Its total worldwide sales for the GameCube and PS2 have reached 1.6 million units as of 2008, making it the best-selling Tales title to date. It was also the best-selling Tales title overseas, with more than half of its sales coming from outside Japan, having sold 600,000 units in North America and 250,000 in Europe as of 2008. The 2016 PC release sold more than 250,000 copies on Steam, as of April 2018. The game is estimated to have sold 2.4 million copies worldwide across all platforms, making it the best-selling title in the franchise.

GameSpot named it the best GameCube game of July 2004, and nominated it for the year-end "Best Role-playing Game" award across all platforms. The game has appeared on many top game rankings and received a Japan Game Awards in 2003 for excellence. The January 2009 issue of Game Informer listed it at \#24 in its "Top 25 GameCube Games". Nintendo Power ranked Tales of Symphonia'' 107th in a list of "Top 200 Nintendo Games Ever". IGN users placed it 75th in a Top 100 Games list, while GameFAQs users put it at 81st in a similar list. In 2023, Time Extension included the game on their "Best JRPGs of All Time" list.

[^1]: Credits from

2003 video game

Multiplayer and single-player video games