History VideoGame / TalesOfXillia2

** As you might expect, a number of the victory quotes are similar to the first game's, mainly when certain members are in your battle party.
** When escaping from Chronos through the Dimensional Breach, Alvin picks up Elle in a similar manner to how he carried Elize in the first game.

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Xillia 2'' is much less optimistic than contemporary titles in the ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'', leaning more towards a [[CrapsackWorld Half-Empty]] CrapsaccharineWorld, topped off by [[spoiler:every single canon ending being a BittersweetEnding]].

* DubInducedPlotHole:
** A minor one occurs at the start of the J-code side quest, which involves finding mission logs a younger Julius left scattered around the world map. In the English version, 11-year-old Julius simply signs off as "Julius Kresnik", while in the Japanese version, [[ConvenientlyInterruptedDocument the sign-off message is cut off at "Julius Wi--"]] [[spoiler:in order to hide that his birth name is "Julius Wi Bakur", which he changed to "Julius Will Kresnik" at 13-years-old after killing Claudia Il Kresnik and adopting her son, Ludger.]]
** In the skit where Vera threatens to disclose Nova's secrets as revenge for Nova blabbering about hers, it's revealed that Nova once had a crush on Julius when she and Ludger were still classmates. The English dub specifically adds that [[AgeLift Nova and Ludger were in college at the time]], instead of high school. This change only occurs in that one skit, and thus contradicts everything involving Ludger's personal timeline.

* OdeToFamily: The Hymn of Proof, a song passed down through the Kresnik clan, is stated by Julius to be a song about "longing to see someone", which he hums for Ludger, [[spoiler:causing [[AlternateSelf Victor]] to hum it for Elle]]. Possibly subverted, however, [[spoiler:due to the implied InterspeciesRomance between Milla Kresnik, who created the song and presented it to Maxwell.]]

** Averted for middle names, which appear to be hereditary, Ludger and Julius have the same middle name "Will", and [[spoiler:Julius was born with the same middle name as his mother, "Wi".]]

* ParentalAbandonment: In a skit with Elize, Ludger can tell her he's also an orphan, though he never personally elaborates on what happened to his parents. Supplementary materials reveal he doesn't know the details himself. [[spoiler:Both of their mothers are dead, Julius' was the previous Key of Kresnik who perished empowering Bisley's Chromatus, and Ludger's mother died when she attacked a teenaged Julius and he killed her in self-defense, causing Ludger's TraumaInducedAmnesia. Inverted with Julius himself, who cuts ties with Bisley after the above events and moves out to Frères Apartments at thirteen with Ludger.]]

* VoiceForTheVoiceless: While Ludger does talk outside of the player's control, it's just in short one word responses at the most. As a result Elle will very frequently speak for him, especially during the victory quotes.

* {{Interquel}}: The manga spin-off ''Soukyoku no Crossroad'' starts after ''Xillia'' and before ''Xillia 2'', featuring Jude and Alvin dealing with Exodus in the year between the games. It details Jude's new outfit and hairstyle, as well as showing what Ludger and Julius were up to in that time. However, it eventually begins adapting the start of the latter game, including the Striborg attack, albeit strictly from Jude and Alvin's perspectives.

* MamaBear: [[spoiler:Ludger's mother, Claudia Kresnik, according to [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary materials]]. She disappeared when she found out she was pregnant so he wouldn't be drawn into Origin's trial or the Kresnik clan's infighting. She was even willing to kill her own nephew when she thought he had been sent by Bisley to retrieve Ludger. Unfortunately, Julius found them completely by accident and had no intention of taking Ludger anywhere, but Claudia didn't believe him so [[KillingInSelfDefense he was forced to kill her in self-defense]].]]

* TakeYourTime: In addition to the typical plot events that would seem time-sensitive and aren't, the final chapter of the game takes it to the extreme. Despite all the urgency in the penultimate chapter about [[spoiler:killing Julius as quickly as possible to get to Canaan and save Elle]], there are several sidequests that open up between this time, and even more in the post-game, some of which even allow you to travel to other Fractured Dimensions despite the ''much'' more pressing matters.

* TheCoverChangesTheMeaning: The [[{{Leitmotif Hymn of Proof]] is presented as a charming familial lullaby hummed by Julius and [[spoiler:Victor]] about longing to see someone. The Bonus Episode reveals it was neither that deep nor strictly platonic, but a rather silly song composed by [[spoiler:Milla Kresnik demanding to meet with Maxwell, including a line about how if he didn't show up, she'd pull on his beard]].

One year after the fall of the Schism, the newly unified Rieze Maxia and Elympios are working towards peace and harmony, and research into the newly-developed [[GreenAesop Spyrite technology]] promises to one day end Elympios' dependence on the environmentally-degrading Spyrix, allowing the barren land to recover. But not all is well: the terrorist group Exodus continues to stir tensions between the two countries, the denizens of which struggle to accept each other, and a new conflict threatens both worlds...

Ludger Kresnik lives in Trigleph with his older brother Julius Kresnik, one of the top agents of [[MegaCorp Spirius Corporation]], a company with overwhelming influence over Elympios. After failing to pass the entrance examination and become an agent himself, Ludger finds a new job as a cook at a train station, briefly meeting Jude Mathis on the way there, but gets caught up in an Exodus terrorist attack on his first day and finds himself protecting a lost child, [[{{Deuteragonist}} Elle Marta]], who carries her father's [[OrphansPlotTrinket brass pocketwatch]], a pocketwatch that appears identical to the one Ludger's brother owns, and seeks the Land of Canaan, a mythical place that is said to grant wishes. In the ensuing Exodus attack, the two watches merge, and reveal that Ludger possesses the power of the [[HenshinHero Chromatus]], an ability passed down through the Kresnik clan.

In the aftermath, [[HealthcareMotivation Ludger racks up a staggering twenty million gald medical bill]] due to his and Elle's injuries, and his brother goes missing after being accused of working with Exodus, with Ludger himself also a possible suspect. Together with Jude, Elle, and [[TeamPet his cat Rollo]], he reluctantly aids the Spirius Corporation in tracking down Julius, recruiting Jude's friends from the first game, and running into strange [[AlternateUniverse parallel worlds]] along the way. After a warrant comes out for Ludger's arrest, Spirius' CEO Bisley Bakur offers Ludger a job as the agent of Spirius' Department of Dimensional Affairs, previously headed by Julius himself. The worlds the party have been running into are known as Fractured Dimensions, offshoots of the Prime Dimension, powered by a Divergence Catalyst. Ludger is hence tasked with destroying these dimensions, as their existence drains soul energy from the rightful Prime Dimension, as well as [[PlotCoupon the five Waymarkers needed to reach the Land of Canaan]] and stop the threat of Fractured Dimensions once and for all.

For the first time in a mothership ''Tales'' title, Ludger is a [[HeroicMime silent protagonist]], whose spoken dialogue is limited to {{Dialogue Tree}}s that appear in skits and cutscenes, which can affect the way the story plays out, including its MultipleEndings.

The game released in November 2012 in Japan, and internationally in August 2014, both exclusive to the UsefulNotes/Playstation3. It received a manga adaptation by Ryu Naitou, that began serialization in Dengeki Maoh the same month as the game's Japanese release, which is a shortened but largely faithful adaptation of the original story.

* AdaptationalContextChange: In the Fractured Kijara Seafalls chapter, if Ludger chooses to lure the monster out himself to save Elle, Julius will remark on how far Ludger would go for her before changing his mind about using Elle, instead telling Ludger to protect those that are important to him[[note]]in English this line was translated as "Protect that girl to the end, no matter the cost!"[[/note]], and giving him the first Waymarker. In the manga, however, Julius is confused by Ludger's desire to protect her, and it's Ludger who delivers that line to Julius, stating that Julius was the one who taught him that. When Julius does say the line himself, it's an acceptance of Ludger's beliefs.

* AfterlifeWelcome: In the manga adaptation, [[spoiler:Ludger's final moments has him seeing apparitions of Fractured Milla and Julius standing behind Elle.]] The ensuing omake is PlayedForLaughs, [[spoiler:Fractured Milla jealously demanding to know who Elle's mother is, prompting Ludger to beg Victor to explain while Julius cries about how much Ludger's grown.]]
* AllForNothing:

** Rideaux and Vera's full names are never stated in game. Character biographies reveal that Rideaux's full name is Rideaux Zek Rugievit, and Vera's full name is shown in an Official World Guidance short story to be Vera Ru Leshy[[note]]''Veru Ruu Reishii''[[/note]]. Both of their last names [[ThemeNaming refer to Slavic gods]], just like Kresnik.
* AMindIsATerribleThingToRead: During Muzét's chapters, Ludger wears a special bracelet that lets him hear Muzét's outrageous thoughts. Unfortunately, he wasn't told beforehand that taking it off can kill him, so he's stuck with it and reading Muzét's mind for quite a while [[spoiler:at least until the thing releases itself off during her last chapter]].

* BaitAndSwitchBoss: In Chapter 9, [[spoiler:Julius]] is about to fight Ludger to take Elle away from him, only to be sidelined by the Divergence Catalyst that's trying to kill Elle first, [[EnemyMine compelling him to help the party save her]].

* BilingualBonus: Ludger and Julius live in a place called the 'Frères Apartment'. Frère is French for 'brother'.

** The Tales cameo costume DLC from ''Xillia'' can be carried over to this game as well, and there's naturally new ones. There's a (formerly) preorder set for Jude, Ludger and Milla that gives them costumes, accessories and haircuts based off of [[VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia Yuri Lowell]] (including his Blastia), [[VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld Emil Castagnier]] (complete with haircut and sword prop) and [[VideoGame/TalesOfGraces Asbel Lhant]]. Naturally, Gaius and Muzét get a costume each as well, based off of [[VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny Dymlos Timber]] and [[VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia Sheena Fujibayashi]] respectively, and Ludger has a second cameo costume based off of [[VideoGame/TalesOfInnocence Ruca Milda]], complete with sword AND changing his Chromatus form to Asras. [[spoiler:Completing the Bonus Dungeon gets you Jude and Milla's formerly preorder Cless and Stahn costumes from ''Xillia'' as well.]]

* CompanionSpecificSidequest: The game's Character Episodes [[ADayInTheLimelight center on one specific party member]], accompanied by Ludger and another character, handling some of personal subplot. Jude's focuses on his spyrite research, Alvin with his business endeavours, Leia with her desire to become a reporter, Elize's grapples with her own childish idealism while trying to act as an CoolBigSis to Elle, Rowen's tackles his duties as Prime Minister, Fractured Milla wishes to become a better cook than Ludger, Gaius' struggles with whether or not he can have friendships while being king, Muzét's involves her trying to win the rest of the party over after her actions from the first game, and [[spoiler:Prime Milla's seek the origins of Milla Kresnik]]. These sidequests don't have a direct impact on the main story and can be skipped, but playing them through nets additional bonus scenes during main story cutscenes, such as Rowen and Gaius' Character Episodes resulting in seeing the ratification of the peace treaty in the aftermath of Chapter 11.

* DiabolusExMachina: Upon assembling the Waymarkers, it's revealed that [[spoiler:[[SomeoneHasToDie a powerful member of the Kresnik clan has to die]] in order to create the bridge to Canaan, with the only viable options being Ludger or Julius.]]

* EngineeredHeroics: In the final episode of Muzét's Character Quest, Muzét schemes to set up a surprise attack against the party under the rationale that after she swoops in to save the day, everyone will like her. [[spoiler:Unsurprisingly it goes terribly wrong when the monster is far more powerful than she expected. While she does get chewed out for it, it ''does'' make everyone realise how ostracised she feels and leads to them making more of an effort to befriend her]].

* GroupieBrigade: In Trigleph, you can find fangirls of Julius and Rideaux arguing over which top agent is better. After Julius is framed for the Oscore attack, Julius' fangirls will express shock, while Rideaux's will feel vindicated in their choice of favorite. In the Japanese text of an early-game sidequest, Ludger's landlady will reminisce that Julius' fangirls used to hang around Frères Apartments, and in Chapter 15 [[spoiler:she can be found complaining about them stalking the apartment in the latter's Fractured Dimension.]]
* HappyEndingOverride: ''Xillia 2'' introduces a new EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt plot to surpass the previous game's threat of spyrix killing all the spirits and [[GaiasLament rendering the Earth uninhabitable for humans]], in a way that indirectly downplays the party's efforts in the first game.

* InterspeciesRomance: [[spoiler:The original Maxwell is implied to have had this relationship with the genesis sage, [[SamusIsAGirl Milla Kresnik]], especially since two thousand years after she died, he still cared enough to give her name to Milla Maxwell. Dr. Howe, the man who developed spirit artes, turns out to have done so because of his attempts to woo Celsius. This discovery gives Jude the epiphany he needs to perfect spyrite technology. Also applies to Jude and Milla if Milla's feelings towards Jude are interpreted romantically, since she is now a full spirit. There's also ShipTease between Gaius and Muzét.]]

* ItRunsInTheFamily: The power of the Chromatus runs through the Kresnik family blood, though not every descendant has it. The pocket watches that they're born with serve as keys to triggering the ability. It's implied in-game that the ability of a Key of Kresnik is also hereditary, as [[spoiler:the only other mentioned Key of Kresnik is Cornelia, Elle's great-aunt through Ludger]], and eventually confirmed in supplementary materials.

** PlayedForLaughs at the start of Chapter 9, where according to Ivar, Rideaux is wearing sunglasses because while escaping from Spirius, Julius succeeded in stomping his face in. This happens regardless of if Rideaux did it first.

** In the English localization of the Frères Apartment landlady's sidequest, she offhandedly mentions that Julius used to bring girls back to the apartment. However, her original line in Japanese is actually her saying that Julius' fan club used to stalk the building, which is why in Chapter 15 [[spoiler:her Fractured counterpart can be heard complaining about the exact same thing.]]

** Victor's love for his daughter, Elle, exacerbated by [[spoiler:his [[SanitySlippage degradation]] into a Divergence Catalyst. He's a Fractured version of Ludger, whose dimension runs ten years ahead of the Prime. He murdered [[SiblingMurder Julius]], [[{{Patricide}} Bisley]], and ''the entire party'' ([[SoleSurvivor except for Gaius]]) to protect Elle, and then uses Elle to lure the Prime Dimension Ludger into their Fractured one, where he intends to kill Ludger and complete Origin's Trial in the Prime Dimension, using his wish to request he and Elle be reincarnated again.]]

* MarkOfTheBeast: In addition to their [[PaintItBlack hair and skin turning pitch black]], Divergence Catalysts have swirling marks on their necks and faces, most easily seen on Fractured Muzét, whose more revealing outfit demonstrates that the markings on her torso pulsate.

* MoodWhiplash: At the Fractured Kijara Seafalls in Chapter 9, Julius cues his presence by humming the [[{{Leitmotif}} Hymn of Proof]], before either giving exposition on Ludger's history with the song or otherwise reminding Ludger of Julius' BigBrotherInstinct. He then tells Ludger he can keep the pocketwatch he's been trying to get Ludger to return, because [[spoiler:he wants [[LivingMacguffin Elle]] instead, and is entirely willing to fight Ludger and take her with him by force.]]

* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: Jude and his tethering with spirits. Muzét brings it up a few times, especially in skits, and one of the fractured dimensions has a CampGay Aska imply that he and Jude had been tethering a few times and acting jealous when Jude and Milla appear to be tethering instead.

* ParentalAbandonment: In a skit with Elize, Ludger can tell her he's also an orphan, though he never personally elaborates on what happened to his parents. Supplementary materials reveal he doesn't know the details himself. [[spoiler:Both of their mothers are dead, Julius' was the previous Key of Kresnik who perished empowering Bisley's Chromatus, and Ludger's mother died when she attacked a teenaged Julius and he killed her in self-defense, causing Ludger's TraumaInducedAmnesia. Inverted with Julius himself, who cuts ties with Bisley after the above events and moves out to Frères Apartments at thirteen with Ludger.]]

* PowerOfTheVoid: Origin is given the title "Great Spirit of the Void".

* ShipTease: Ludger's [[DialogueTree dialogue options]] during cutscenes or skits are ripe with these, with the skits themselves teasing as good as any pairing that can come up in the party. Particularly when Muzét's in the skit or talking about [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBT9hmEq6cg tethering-up]] with another.

* SituationalSword: Ludger's Chromatus lance can be used as an ordinary weapon by others, as demonstrated when Fractured Muzét knocks it out of his hand and Milla stabs her with it instead, but it cannot destroy the Divergence Catalyst unless wielded by him.

* ThemeMusicPowerUp: Happens during [[spoiler:the final boss fight, after Ludger unlocks his Lv.4 Chromatus]].

* TheUnReveal: There is never an explanation for Ludger's nightmare of Julius lecturing him about Origin's Trial.

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Most of the time, Muzét's appearance isn't commented on outside of the party, not in the Prime nor Fractured Dimensions. The most it comes up is in Gaius' first character episode, where the Trigleph police are baffled by her ability to fly.

** There's also [[spoiler: Muzét (Fractured)]] about halfway through the game. This boss is already tough on their own, but is also the first boss to use a [[LimitBreak Mystic Arte]], so the player knows that any subsequent (human) boss fight will most likely involve this being a potential danger now.

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Subverted. At the end of Chapter 13, Bisley informs Ludger that he has no further need for his Chromatus, to which Muzét will namedrop this trope, only for Bisley to clarify that Ludger has simply completed his duties.
* YourHeartsDesire:

** The Ludger Ending, [[spoiler:Ludger [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl either tries too hard to save Elle at the expense of the world]], hesitates in sacrificing his own life, or [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential doesn't care about saving Elle at all]], resulting in Elle wishing for all the Fractured Dimensions to be destroyed, sacrificing herself before she can become the millionth Catalyst, and allowing humanity to pass Origin's Trial. Ludger lives on to become [=CEO=] of Spirius, eventually meeting Lara Mel Marta, Elle's mother. However, the Elle he knew is still dead, and the ending's subtitle "Fate Repeats", as well as the reward being [[AlternateSelf Victor's]] suit, heavily imply this version of Ludger will never truly get over losing the first Elle he knew.]]

** The Ludger Ending, which is literally subtitled as "Fate Repeats", where [[spoiler:after losing Elle, Ludger becomes CEO of Spirius and eventually meets Lara Mel Marta, with whom it's implied he'll have his dimension's version of Elle, just like Victor did.]]

One year after the fall of the Schism, Rieze Maxia and Elympios are enjoying peace. Research into the newly-developed [[GreenAesop Spyrite technology]] promises to one day end Elympios' dependence on the environmentally-degrading Spyrix, allowing the barren land to recover. But not all is well...

On his way to start his new job as a cook at a train station, [[SilentProtagonist Ludger Kresnik]] encounters a young MysteriousWaif named Elle Marta whose father is in trouble. In order to help him, she's trying to board a train that she hopes will help her get to Canaan, a mythical land that can supposedly grant wishes. In the process of saving her during a terrorist attack, Ludger racks up a staggering twenty million gald medical bill with [[MegaCorp Spirius Corporation]], where his brother Julius works as one of their top agents. But Julius has gone missing, and is now the top suspect in the attack. And thus, Ludger, aided by Elle, [[TeamPet his cat Rollo]], and the returning cast from ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia'', set out on a journey to find Julius, pay off his debt, and search for Canaan.

Making things even more complicated, [[AlternateUniverse fractured dimensions]] have begun opening up and leeching off the prime dimension, threatening to destroy it. Ludger's [[SuperPowerfulGenetics bloodline]] gives him an ability called Chromatus, allowing him to transform into [[HenshinHero powerful, monstrous warrior]] capable of entering fractured dimensions and destroying the [[ForWantOfANail divergence catalysts]] that created them, eliminating them from the inside. Spirius Corp's CEO, Bisley Bakur, makes Ludger a deal: take a job destroying divergence catalysts, and he'll be able to pay off his debt virtually overnight. But the fractured dimensions seem to have some sort of connection to Elle, Julius, and their mysterious pocketwatches...

The game places a huge emphasis on choice, with many cutscenes allowing the player to make multiple-choice decisions affecting the course of the plot. The game received a Western release in August 2014.

!!Trope associated with ''Tales of Xillia 2'':

* AdaptationalContextChange: In the Fractured Kijara Seafalls in Chapter 9 of the game, if Ludger chooses to lure the monster out himself to save Elle, Julius will remark on how far Ludger would go for her before changing his mind about [[spoiler:using Elle]], instead telling Ludger to protect her if she's important to him, and giving him the first Waymarker. In the manga, however, Julius is confused by Ludger's actions, and Ludger tells ''Julius'' that he has to protect those that are important to him, and that he knows that because he learned it from Julius. When Julius does say the line himself, it's an acceptance of Ludger's beliefs rather than a lesson.
* AllForNothing: The Bad Ending, [[spoiler:with Julius even saying so directly, as not only is the path to Canaan locked off, Ludger has murdered all his friends to save his brother and Julius is ''still'' transforming into a Divergence Catalyst. The event summary even acknowledges that they won't have long together.]]
* AllThereInTheManual:

* AMindIsATerribleThingToRead: During Muzet's chapters, Ludger wears a special bracelet that lets him hear Muzet's outrageous thoughts. Unfortunately, he wasn't told beforehand that taking it off can kill him, so he's stuck with it and reading Muzet's mind for quite a while [[spoiler:at least until the thing releases itself off during her last chapter]].

* AndYourRewardIsClothes: Get Ludger's affinity up with the Xillia cast to maximum and some of them will reward the player with a palette swap version of Ludger's clothes, with the color now matching the Xillia character's clothes.

* BagOfSpilling: The entire Xillia cast are weaker than a year ago. Justified as Lilium Orbs have lost their power.

%%* BigBrotherMentor: The relationship between Ludger and Elle is set to be a familial one. Given that there's a twelve-year age gap between them and [[spoiler:they're father and daughter]], it's for the best. Ludger also has his own in the form of Julius.
%%* BigOlEyebrows: Bisley has very odd ones shaped in the style of the letter 'Z'. He's definitely giving [[VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss Van]] a run for his money with those things.

* BilingualBonus: Ludger and Julius live in a place called the 'Frères Apartment'. Frère is French for 'brother'.
%%* {{Bishounen}}: Almost all of the male characters so far. Especially the Kresnik brothers. Looks like good looks run in the the family.
* BittersweetEnding:
** The Normal Ending, [[spoiler:Ludger either tries too hard to save Elle at the expense of the world, hesitates in sacrificing his own life, or [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential doesn't care about saving Elle]], resulting in Elle wishing for all the Fractured Dimensions to be destroyed, sacrificing herself before she can become the millionth Catalyst, and humanity passes Origin's Trial. Ludger lives on to become [=CEO=] of Spirius, eventually meeting Lara Mel Marta, Elle's mother. However, the Elle he knew is still dead, and the ending's subtitle "Fate Repeats", as well as the reward being [[AlternateSelf Victor's]] suit, heavily imply this version of Ludger will never truly get over losing the first Elle he knew.]]
** The True Ending, [[spoiler:Ludger wishes for all the Fractured Dimensions to be destroyed, but transforms into his Chromatus in order to become the millionth Catalyst and reverse Elle's transformation, [[TheHeroDies causing his death]]. However, Elle survives and the epilogue reveals the rest of the party are doing well.]]
** The Bad Ending, [[spoiler:occurs in Chapter 15 if Ludger refuses to kill Julius, but in defending him [[KillEmAll must kill the rest of the party]] and doom the world. And even though the brothers find solace in each other, Julius is still infected by his divergence catalyst, and Bisley will either complete the Trial, enslaving all spirits, or fail, resulting in miasma flooding the world and turning all humanity into {{Empty Shell}}s. Either way, Elle will die and one of the two races will suffer immeasurably]].

* BookEnds: The very first Fractured Dimension the party appears in and very last Fractured Dimension of the main story [[spoiler:both involve Julius as the Divergence Catalyst dying at Ludger's hands.]]

** One of the first lines Fractured Milla says to Jude is "you really are a do-gooder, aren't you?" and he answers with "Yeah, I get that a lot." That is, word for word, something the Prime Milla said to him in the first game.

** As another call back to [[spoiler:Alvin shooting Leia in the first game, she's weak to shot-type artes when Ludger fights her in the Bad Ending.]]
** The ESS Pelune uses the same design, layout, and background music as the ESS Zenethra from the first game. [[spoiler: And like the first game, it ends with Fractured Milla sacrificing herself.]]
** When Milla returns she quietly shushes Jude with a finger to the lips, just like she did in the first game when they first met and when she [[spoiler: came back from the dead]].
** As you might expect, a number of the victory quotes are similar to the first game's, mainly when certain members are in your battle party.
** Chapter 15 has many [[spoiler:echoes to Chapter 1, namely recreating the nightmare sequence from the very beginning of the game, except here Ludger counters and overpowers Julius' Mystic Arte with his own, and before Ludger's Mystic Arte lands, Julius resigns himself to his fate and closes his eyes the same way his Chapter 1 Fractured counterpart does if Ludger doesn't hesitate to kill him. Finally, there's also Julius' interactions with Fractured Ludger, where he fixes Ludger's tie and remarks that Ludger is bribing him with tomatoes, which is what he does at the start of the game.]]
* CallingTheOldManOut: After six chapters of [[CoolBigBro Julius]] being on the run with zero contact to Ludger and Ludger being suspected as an accomplice, [[BigDamnHeroes Julius finally shows up when Chronos attacks the party]] and the brothers are eventually reunited in the Fractured Nia Khera. While Julius is clearly glad Ludger is safe, he's barely said more than two lines before telling Ludger to hand over the pocketwatch that activates his Chromatus, and one of Ludger's dialogue choices will trigger this:

** The Tales cameo costume DLC from X1 can be carried over to this game as well, and there's naturally new ones. There's a (formerly) preorder set for Jude, Ludger and Milla that gives them costumes, accessories and haircuts based off of [[VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia Yuri Lowell]] (including his Blastia), [[VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld Emil Castagnier]] (complete with haircut and sword prop) and [[VideoGame/TalesOfGraces Asbel Lhant]]. Naturally, Gaius and Muzet get a costume each as well, based off of [[VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny Dymlos Timber]] and [[VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia Sheena Fujibayashi]] respectively, and Ludger has a second cameo costume based off of [[VideoGame/TalesOfInnocence Ruca Milda]], complete with sword AND changing his Chromatus form to Asras. [[spoiler:Completing the Bonus Dungeon gets you Jude and Milla's formerly preorder Cless and Stahn costumes from X1 as well.]]

* ChekhovsGun: In Chapter 1, [[spoiler:Elle's father's pocketwatch appears to merge with Ludger's watch.]] In Chapter 16, [[spoiler:that watch returns, having been [[OnlyOneMeAllowedRightNow ejected from the Prime Dimension upon coming in contact with its Prime equivalent]], but returning due to Ludger's watch being destroyed by Bisley.]]
* ChildhoodFriends: Nova and Ludger were classmates when they went to school together.
* CombatParkour: Both Ludger and the first Exodus agent he fights on the Striborg line demonstrate this, jumping and flipping over the train seats around each other trying to land a hit.

* CompressedAdaptation: The manga doesn't feature any of the Character Episode sidequests, shortening the story considerably and [[DemotedToExtra demoting]] a lot of the original ''Xillia'' cast. It also omits two of the required Waymarkers, thereby skipping the section of Chapter 8 with Gaius, as well as Chapter 10's Fractured Dimension featuring the Ark of Time. In addition, [[spoiler:Elle steals the Waymarkers for Bisley, and the fight with Chronos that occurs after setting up the Waymarkers never happens]].

* CuttingOffTheBranches: The manga adaptation, naturally, can only adapt [[DialogueTree specific dialogue choices]] and [[MultipleEndings one of the endings]], often the kinder choices and often the ones that will raise affinity with Elle, all of which ultimately lead to [[spoiler:the True Ending, where Ludger sacrifices himself instead of Elle.]]

* DeadlyEuphemism: Spirius and the party refer to Divergence Catalysts and Fractured Dimensions as being "destroyed" or "eliminated" instead of killed.
* DemotedToExtra:
** Everyone from the original except Jude and Milla. There's still the Character Episodes, but aside from that, don't have a major involvement in the story arc itself.
** Taken even further in the manga, due to excising the Character Episodes and because Ludger is no longer a HeroicMime and thus doesn't need Jude or Milla to react to dialogue in his stead.

* DimensionalTraveler: People who are born with a Chromatus watch are able to travel to [[AlternateUniverse Fractured Dimensions]], which are [[ForWantOfANail offshoots]] of the original Prime Dimension, caused by a [[PointOfDivergence Divergence Catalyst]]. Spirius Corporation has an entire department dedicated to finding those with this ability and tracking these Fractured Dimensions, known as the Department of Dimensional Affairs, of which Julius, and later Rideaux, is director. Unfortunately, while Chromatus users can ''enter'' Fractured Dimensions freely, they can't leave until they kill or destroy the Divergence Catalyst, [[ApocalypseHow which will subsequently destroy the universe itself]]. In addition, it's later revealed that [[spoiler:Fractured Dimensions are ''created'' by Chromatus users who overuse their powers.]]

* DubPersonalityChange: Downplayed, Julius's dialogue and temperament is slightly altered in English from Japanese, with him teasing Ludger more in the opening scene of Ludger's first day at work, and while he's still just as cryptic about [[LockedOutOfTheLoop keeping Ludger away from Spirius]], in Chapter 9 he directly states he's doing so because he cares about Ludger, as opposed to Japanese where the line cuts off before he can explain.

* EngineeredHeroics: In the final episode of Muzet's Character Quest, Muzet schemes to set up a surprise attack against the party under the rationale that after she swoops in to save the day, everyone will like her. [[spoiler:Unsurprisingly it goes terribly wrong when the monster is far more powerful than she expected. While she does get chewed out for it, it ''does'' make everyone realise how ostracised she feels and leads to them making more of an effort to befriend her]].

** And this point is underscored by TheReveal that [[spoiler:Elle herself is from one of these parallel worlds]].
* ExtradimensionalEmergencyExit:

** PlayedForLaughs and {{subverted}} in the "Eating Omelette In A Fractured Dimension" [[AudioPlay drama CD]]. Julius secretly checks up on Rollo in Ludger's apartment after Chapter 9. When Ludger and the party suddenly return, he hides inside a giant mascot costume in the kitchen and is eventually suspected when Rollo begins meowing at the costume. He jumps into a Fractured Dimension before he can be unmasked, but due to a Key of Kresnik (Elle) being present, the effect extends to the entire party, dragging everyone else with him and blowing his cover anyway.
%%* {{Expy}}: Chronos shares a lot of his moveset and general disdain of humanity with [[VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia Dhaos]], leading to many fans nicknaming him "Dhaos 2.0".
%%** Also another one for Chronos. Chronos is a spirit sent from another time/dimension to kill the main character as well as to test him. Not only that, being voiced by Creator/JunichiSuwabe makes it clear that Chronos has elements of [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Archer]] in him.

** Inverted the first time Ludger finds Julius on the Striborg train, Julius is transformed into his SuperMode, but he transforms back before he turns around, and he's actually killing the Exodus terrorists who've hijacked the train.

* {{Foil}}: Milla and [[spoiler: alternate universe Milla]]. This is shown in their drastically different personalities, their status in the world, their abilities, and their relationship with the rest of the party. Their victory quotes are often mirror images, but slightly different. [[spoiler: E.g, both their victory quotes with Ludger feature them crossing swords, however Fractured Milla is back-to-back with him, whereas Prime Milla stands opposite, further away.]]
* ForWantOfANail: The Fractured Dimensions run on this, usually having one key difference that is centered around whatever or whoever has been infected by the divergence catalyst.

%%* FutureMeScaresMe: [[spoiler: Victor causes this for Ludger.]]
* GameplayAndStorySegregation:

* GayOption: With the return of the affinity system absent from the first game, Ludger can choose to flirt with all party members, male or female.

* GroupieBrigade: In Trigleph, you can find fangirls of Julius and Rideaux arguing over which top agent is better. After Julius is framed for the Oscore attack, Julius' fangirls will express shock, while Rideaux's will feel vindicated in their choice of favorite. In the Japanese text of an early-game sidequest, Ludger's landlady will reminisce that Julius' fangirls used to hang around Freres Apartments, and in Chapter 15 [[spoiler:she can be found complaining about them stalking the apartment in the latter's Fractured Dimension.]]

* IHatePastMe: [[spoiler: Alvin encounters a fractured version of himself in chapter 4 of his character story. He already hated how he used to be, but seeing himself first-hand ''painfully'' drives it home.]]

** Ludger himself, in the Normal Ending, where [[spoiler:he becomes [=CEO=] after Bisley's death]], also at only 20. After being [[spoiler:Vice President for at best a few ''days''.]]
** Vera may be YoungerThanTheyLook, but she is also only 20 years old and yet has immediate access to details concerning Fractured Dimensions as Bisley's secretary.

* {{Irony}}:
** There's a skit in the first game where you find out that almost everyone in the party prefers dogs to cats [[note]]the sole exceptions being Alvin (a cat person) and Milla ([[ComicallyMissingThePoint whose favorite animal of all time are humans]])[[/note]]. Guess what kind of animal serves as the mascot for ''this'' game, and guess what species of animal you have to track down 100 of in order to help you complete a sidequest and utilize a game mechanic based around the animal? (hint: [[CuteKitten they're not dogs]]).
** Despite Ludger's SupremeChef skills being outright plot-significant and defining several of his relationships through the story, the game lacks the series' staple cooking mechanic and all the food is obtained through buying them at inns or [[InexplicablyPreservedDungeonMeat finding them in dungeons]].
* InternalRetcon: In ''Xillia'', Kresnik was merely a notable follower of Maxwell who joined him in Rieze Maxia and became the ancestor of the Nia Khera villagers. ''Xillia 2'' [[spoiler:establishes she was a woman and was important to Maxwell, but she actually lived in ''Elympios'' and is the ancestor of all Chromatus users]] and that this information was intentionally purged from history.
* InterfaceSpoiler:
** In the Epsilla Ruins, Rollo wanders off for a little bit before Elle finds him again. [[spoiler:However, he doesn't appear on the title screen or kitty dispatch menu, which happens whenever he's not traveling with the party, spoiling that it's actually a fractured Rollo.]]
** The "Xillia Encyclopedia" entry on Kresnik the Genesis Sage [[spoiler: refers to them using female pronouns, despite their gender not being mentioned in the previous game. So it's obvious their gender is going to be a plot point in this one...]] This could be blamed on LostInTranslation though.
* InterspeciesRomance: [[spoiler:The original Maxwell is implied to have had this relationship with the genesis sage, [[SamusIsAGirl Milla Kresnik]], especially since two thousand years after she died, he still cared enough to give her name to Milla Maxwell. Dr. Howe, the man who developed spirit artes, turns out to have done so because of his attempts to woo Celsius. This discovery gives Jude the epiphany he needs to perfect spyrite technology. Also applies to Jude and Milla if Milla's feelings towards Jude are interpreted romantically, since she is now a full spirit. There's also ShipTease between Gaius and Muzet.]]
* ItRunsInTheFamily: The Chromatus Ability, the ability to cross through worlds, runs through the Kresnik family blood. The pocket watches serve as keys to triggering the ability. It's implied that the ability of a Key of Kresnik is also hereditary, as [[spoiler:the only other mentioned Key of Kresnik is Cornelia, Elle's great-aunt through Ludger.]]
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: A familial variation for all parties. Julius is the (or at least one of the) first to realize [[spoiler:[[KidFromTheFuture who]] and [[MacGuffinSuperPerson what Elle is]], and openly states his intent to take her away from Ludger, since Elle can both serve as an [[SuperEmpowering amplifier]] to his Chromatus, as well as be sacrificed for the creation of the Soul Bridge needed to reach Canaan]]. They nearly come to blows over this, only for Elle to wind up in mortal danger and for Julius to see just how much Ludger cares about her, causing him to change his mind and [[spoiler:sacrifice his own life to create the Soul Bridge instead.]]

%%* KidHero: Averted. Like [[VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia Yuri]], Ludger is a grown man who's past his teenage years.

** Exaggerated with his Fractured counterpart during the Striborg hijacking. Supplementary materials explain Julius decided to collude with Exodus and assassinate Bisley specifically because [[GreenEyedMonster Ludger had gotten close to Bisley and admired him]], sowing a rift between the two brothers when Ludger ignored Julius’ warnings to stay away.
** Inverted with Ludger if, [[spoiler:after being told that Julius needs (and ''wants'' to, as he's [[ConvenientTerminalIllness already dying]]) to sacrifice his life to create the Soul Bridge the party needs to save the world, Ludger refuses to let him die. Gaius proceeds to state that he'll do the deed himself, and things [[KillEmAll get ugly from there]].]]

%%* LittleMissSnarker [=/=] PluckyGirl: Elle could go either way at the moment. [[TakeAThirdOption Or be both]].
* LostInTranslation: The first dialogue choice where Ludger has to choose between calling Julius by his name or "brother" seems like nothing more than a throwaway interaction in the international version of the game. However, in the original Japanese, this dialogue choice actually decides how Ludger refers to Julius ''for the entire game'', either as [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseSiblingTerminology "nii-san" or "Julius"]], including alternate voice clips for both forms of address in dialogue options. This distinction is omitted in the English dub, making Ludger calling Julius "brother" a one-off occurrence.

** In the Bad Ending, [[spoiler:Ludger's refusal to let Julius be sacrificed for the Soul Bridge results in him killing all his friends and dooming the world, even though Julius is already dying. The event summary even has him saying that he'll stay with Julius even if he has to destroy the world to do it.]]

* MarkOfTheBeast: In addition to their [[PaintItBlack hair and skin turning pitch black]], Divergence Catalysts have swirling marks on their necks and faces, most easily seen on Fractured Muzét, whose more revealing outfit demonstrates that the markings on her torso pulsate.

** The Normal Ending, [[spoiler:also called the Ludger Ending: the world is saved, but Elle has to sacrifice herself in the process. Humanity technically passes Origin's trial, but on a bittersweet note because of Elle's sacrifice, and Ludger eventually lives to meet her mother, Lara.]]
** The True Ending, [[spoiler:also called the Elle Ending: the world is saved, but Ludger sacrifices himself in place of Elle so that she can live. Humanity technically fails Origin's trial, but Origin allows them to pass anyway because Ludger's selflessness proves the point the trial was meant to test. Elle grows up with peace between Elympios and Reize Maxia, and nature is healing with help Jude's spyrite research.]]
** If you choose to pay off your debt in its entirety, you unlock a HotSpringsEpisode.

* OdeToFamily: The Hymn of Proof, a song passed down through the Kresnik clan, is stated by Julius to be a song about "longing to see someone", which he hums for Ludger, [[spoiler:causing [[AlternateSelf Victor]] to hum it for Elle]].
%%* OlderThanTheyLook: Nova, unlike her older twin sister, looks as if she's in her mid-teens.

** Averted for middle names, Ludger and Julius have the same middle name "Will", and [[spoiler:Julius was born with the same middle name as his mother, "Wi".]] Justified as supplementary material explains the middle names are an Elympion custom.
** Averted when the party discovers the Genesis Sage Kresnik's given name: [[spoiler:Milla]].
* OnlyAFleshWound: Depending on if Ludger chooses to protect Bisley or Elle from the Exodus agent on the Striborg train, Julius will either have his pocketwatch [[BlastingItOutOfTheirHands shot out of his right hand and into the air]] by accident, or he'll take a shot to the right arm while protecting Elle, causing him to drop it. Neither cause him lasting harm, and he's still DualWielding his swords without issue.

* ParentalAbandonment: In a skit with Elize, Ludger can tell her he's also an orphan, though he never personally elaborates on what happened to his parents. Supplementary materials reveal he doesn't know the details himself. [[spoiler:Both of their mothers are dead, Julius' was the previous Key of Kresnik who perished empowering Bisley's Chromatus, and Ludger's mother died when she attacked a teenaged Julius and he killed her in self-defense, causing Ludger's TraumaInducedAmnesia. While Bisley, their father, lets Julius move out at thirteen, Julius is intentionally keeping him unaware of Ludger's existence.]]

* PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo: Making up for the previous game's lack of cameo battle, Xillia 2 features a cameo battle that is in essence a multi parter. There are two jobs post game that are posted by none other than [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia Mint Adnade]] and [[VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny Rutee Katrea]], and you actually meet them in person when the jobs are complete.]] Furthermore the final boss battle of the game's bonus dungeon is against [[spoiler:what are obviously shadowed out copies of [[VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia Cless Alvein]] and [[VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny Stahn Aileron]].]] After doing all of that, [[spoiler:next time you clear the Xian Du coliseum's Elite Team mode, the cameo team shows up comprising of the real Cless and Stahn along with Mint and Rutee. Beating them even gets you an alternate ending to the game if you feel like it!]] Furthermore, there's transformation items that change any character's appearance to story [=NPCs=] along with the Chimeriad, Cline Sharil from the previous game, and yes, the cameo bosses...and [[VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny Brusier]] [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Khang]] for some reason.

* SamusIsAGirl: [[spoiler:The famed Genesis Sage, Kresnik, was in fact a woman, who's full name was Milla Kresnik. Milla Maxwell was created in her image.]]

* ShipTease: Ludger's [[DialogueTree dialogue options]] during cutscenes or skits are ripe with these, with the skits themselves teasing as good as any pairing that can come up in the party. Particularly when Muzét's in the skit or talking about [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBT9hmEq6cg tethering-up]] with another.
* SiblingMurder:

* SituationalSword: Ludger's Chromatus lance can be used as an ordinary weapon by others, as demonstrated when Fractured Muzet knocks it out of his hand and Milla stabs her with it instead, but it cannot destroy the Divergence Catalyst unless wielded by him.
* SomeoneHasToDie: At the end of Chapter 14, it's revealed that [[spoiler:in order to create a portal to reach the Land of Canaan, a powerful member of the Kresnik family line has to die. By the end of the game, the only available candidates are Ludger and Julius, who offers his life since [[ConvenientTerminalIllness he's already dying from overextending his Chromatus abilities]]. If Ludger refuses to kill his brother to save the world, he'll murder the rest of the party so they can't do the deed for him.]]

%%* SuperMode: Ludger seems to transform when he goes into the parallel world into... something with [[LovecraftLite Anime]] {{Lovecraftian Superpower}}s. This ability is said to run in his family.
* SuperCellReception:

** In the manga adaptation, Rideaux attacks [[SuperEmpowering Elle]] with poisoned knives to depower Ludger. Ludger takes the hit instead, and only survives due to his Chromatus.

* ThanksForTheMammary: When Jude, Elle, Ludger, and Milla go through a volcano, Milla trips and nearly falls in. Ludger can save her after a [[DialogueTree dialogue choice]]... which results in this.

* TomatoInTheMirror: People in fractured dimensions usually don't know they're from one. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, neither do the fractured versions of the Kresnik clan, at least until they gather the Waymarkers and attempt to reach Canaan, only to be [[ShaggyDogStory denied entry]] because Canaan is only in the Prime Dimension.]]

** There's also [[spoiler: Muzét (Fractured)]] about halfway through the game. This boss is already tough on their own, but is also the first boss to use a [[LimitBreak Mystic Arte]], so the player knows that any subsequent (human) boss fight will most likely involve this being a potential danger now.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The introduction mentions that Ludger was on his way to the train station, where he was starting a new job as a cook. Then the train hijacking begins and nothing is ever really mentioned about Ludger's intended job anymore, not even a small mention of him being fired. [[spoiler: Some fractured dimensions seem to imply, though, that he is working as the cook at the Trigleph Station, though, with his tomato omelettes being an amazing dish on the menu.]]
* WritersCannotDoMath: In a Fractured Dimension, an alternate version of Julius recognizes Alvin as a child he used to babysit, even addressing him as "Alfie", referring to Alvin's birth name. Prime Julius never brings this up, but Prime Alvin recalls that "this older kid used to babysit us [and] was always humming that song", and implies it's possible they also met in the Prime Dimension and [[ForgottenFirstMeeting simply forgot about it]]. Except that Julius is only ''one year'' older than Alvin, and would have have been seven years old at the most before Alvin disappeared through the Schism.

* BigBrotherIsWatching:
** The Elympion government keeps strict tabs on criminals. After Ludger being indebted, he's tracked so closely he can't even leave Duval to ''go home'' until he pays off his debt enough to regain travel privileges to Trigleph.
** Then there's Spirius itself, who are spying on Ludger long before he becomes employed by them. An [=NPC=] states that [[{{Irony}} Julius is the one who developed the GHS' tracking technology used by both Spirius and the government]] and thus knows how to evade it. Funnily enough, it's never stated if the actual big brother is tracking Ludger that way.

** Ludger himself, in the Normal Ending, where [[spoiler:he becomes [=CEO=] after Bisley's death]], at only 20. After being [[spoiler:Vice President for at best a few ''days''.]]
** Vera may be OlderThanSheLooks, but she is also only 20 years old and yet has immediate access to details concerning Fractured Dimensions as Bisley's secretary.

* BigOlEyebrows: Bisley has very odd ones shaped in the style of the letter 'Z'. He's definitely giving [[VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss Van]] a run for his money with those things.

** The Normal Ending, [[spoiler:Elle wishes for all the Fractured Dimensions to be destroyed, sacrificing herself before she can become the millionth Catalyst, and humanity passes Origin's Trial. Ludger lives on to become [=CEO=] of Spirius, eventually meeting Lara Mel Marta, Elle's mother. However, the Elle he knew is still dead, and the ending's subtitle "Fate Repeats", as well as the reward being [[AlternateSelf Victor's]] suit, heavily imply this version of Ludger will never truly get over losing the first Elle he knew.]]

** The Bad Ending, [[spoiler:occurs in Chapter 15 if Ludger refuses to kill Julius, but in defending him [[KillEmAll must kill the rest of the party]] and doom the world. And even though the brothers find solace in each other, Julius is still infected by his divergence catalyst and has no hope of a cure]].

* OlderThanTheyLook: Nova, unlike her older twin sister, looks as if she's in her mid-teens.

%%* SadisticChoice: Ludger gets faced with a ''lot'' of these. [[spoiler: See the entries for MultipleEndings and BittersweetEnding for examples.]]

** One of the first lines Fractured Milla says to Jude is "you really are a do-gooder, aren't you?" He answers "yeah, I get that a lot." That is, word for word, something the prime dimension Milla said to him.
** Due to the [[DarkerAndEdgier nature of the game]], a lot of the callbacks amount to FridgeHorror. For example, the scene in which [[spoiler: a fractured version of Alvin accidentally shoots Presa is disturbingly similar to the scene from the first game where Alvin shot Leia. He even utters the same MyGodWhatHaveIDone line in the exact same tone]]
*** And as another call back to that same scene, what's Leia weak to [[spoiler: when you fight her in the bad ending? ''Shot-type artes.'' Thanks, game.]]

* {{Irony}}: There's a skit in the first game where you find out that almost everyone in the party prefers dogs to cats [[note]]the sole exceptions being Alvin (a cat person) and Milla ([[ComicallyMissingThePoint whose favorite animal of all time are humans]])[[/note]]. Guess what kind of animal serves as the mascot for ''this'' game, and guess what species of animal you have to track down 100 of in order to help you complete a sidequest and utilize a game mechanic based around the animal? (hint: [[CuteKitten they're not dogs]])

%%* YouShallNotPass: Said by Rowen when using use Anti-Magic Shield. Also a bit of a [[ShoutOut shout-out]] as he is an [[Film/TheLordoftheRings elderly wizard]].

** Chapter 11. The atmosphere right from the start hammers in that things are about to get ''very'' bad. Even the gameplay reflects this, where you're suddenly given a time limit to rescue [=NPCs=] who will die if you take too long. Adding to the sense that the chapter is not going to end well is the dungeon itself, which is a replica of the first game's BleakLevel, right down to the background music. [[spoiler: The chapter ends with Alternate Mila's death.]]

** Many of the dialog choices themselves are the same idea expressed two different ways.

** One of the first lines Alt!Milla says to Jude is "you really are a do-gooder, aren't you?" He answers "yeah, I get that a lot." That is, word for word, something the prime dimension Milla said to him.

* {{Foil}}: Milla and [[spoiler: alternate universe Milla]]. This is shown in their drastically different personalities, their status in the world, their abilities, and their relationship with the rest of the party. Their victory quotes are often mirror images, but slightly different. [[spoiler: E.g, both their victory quotes with Ludger feature them crossing swords, however Alt Milla is back-to-back with him, whereas Prime Milla stands opposite, further away.]]

* KilledOffForReal: The body count by the end of the game [[AnyoneCanDie is surprisingly high]], with the parallel universes allowing for plenty of carnage. Of the main characters though: [[spoiler:Alt!Milla dies no matter what you do. The entire party is killed by Ludger if you choose to save Julius. Julius has to die for the party to be able to go to Canaan. And either Elle or Ludger have to sacrifice themselves to complete Origin's trial. Pretty much the only main character who survives no matter what is [[TeamPet Rollo]].]]

* EverybodysDeadDave: The Bad Ending. [[spoiler:Ludger decides not to kill Julius. The party, and Julius himself, try their hardest to convince him otherwise, and eventually Gaius decides that their best course of action is to go through Ludger and kill Julius themselves, since they must get to Canaan and save the world. Surprisingly, Ludger snaps and goes into full protective mode, snatching Julius' pocketwatch, and uses it to hit his third Chromatus form. What follows is an epic cutscene where the entire party tries to fend off Ludger, which ultimately leads into the final battle of the Bad Ending... The [[OhCrap ENTIRE PARTY]]. Gameplay-wise, this could easily turn into [[CurbStompBattle]], but after the battle, we see Julius in absolute shock and horror, then we cut to a shot of Ludger looking at Canaan with bloody swords and blood smears on his cheek. The party is nowhere to be seen. That's right. Everyone you knew and loved from the first game, who had hopes and dreams and good futures ahead of them, all dead. [[YouBastard Murdered by you]]. Of course, since Bisley is going to sacrifice Elle to save the world, and you decided not to help, she'll eventually die too]].

* CompressedAdaptation: The manga doesn't feature any of the Character Episode sidequests, shortening the story considerably and [[DemotedToExtra demoting]] a lot of the original ''Xillia'' cast. It also skips Chapter 10's Fractured Dimension featuring the Ark of Time, and omits setting up the Waymarkers, with [[spoiler:Elle instead stealing them for Bisley]].

* OnlyAFleshWound:
** Depending on if Ludger chooses to protect Bisley or Elle from the Exodus agent on the Striborg train, Julius will either have his pocketwatch [[BlastingItOutOfTheirHands shot out of his right hand and into the air]] by accident, or he'll take a shot to the right arm while protecting Elle, causing him to drop it. Neither cause him lasting harm, and he's still DualWielding his swords without issue.
** In the manga, Ludger is stabbed with multiple poisoned blades that, according to Rideaux, would kill a normal human if Ludger hadn't been transformed with his Chromatus at the time. Since this is a manga-exclusive scene, he's perfectly ambulatory a short scene skip later, despite last being seen with knives impaled through his back.

* EarnYourBadEnding: In Chapter 15, if [[spoiler:Ludger absolutely refuses to let Julius die to create the Soul Bridge, he has to fight the entire party to stop them from trying, resulting in an 8-on-1 FinalBoss fight, four characters at a time.]] Made word in that ''Xillia''[='=]s token battle mechanic is based on linking your character with one of the other party members to unleash your more powerful artes. So while your opponents are linked up to do extra damage against you, you're stuck flying solo with only basic attacks, no Overlimit, no Linked Artes, and no Mystic Artes. Even your Chromatus is of little use because the time it takes for it to charge is more than enough to get yourself killed, and it doesn't charge while you're trying to free-run your way to safety.

* YouShallNotPass: Said by Rowen when using use Anti-Magic Shield. Also a bit of a [[ShoutOut shout-out]] as he is an [[Film/TheLordoftheRings elderly wizard]].

** Chapter 15 has many [[spoiler:echoes to the start of Chapter 1, namely recreating the nightmare sequence from the very beginning of the game, except here Ludger counters and overpowers Julius' Mystic Arte with his own. It also features some to the Fractured Julius on the Striborg train. In Chapter 15, before Ludger's Mystic Arte lands, Julius resigns himself to his fate and closes his eyes the same way his Chapter 1 Fractured counterpart does if Ludger doesn't hesitate to kill him. In the Chapter 15 Fractured Dimension, Ludger also stabs him in a way where Julius is leaning on his shoulder, similar to the cutscene that occurs if Ludger does hesitate to kill him in Chapter 1. Finally, there's also Julius' interactions with Fractured Ludger, where he fixes Ludger's tie and remarks that Ludger is bribing him with tomatoes, which is what he does at the start of the game.]]

* EverybodysDeadDave: The Bad Ending. [[spoiler:Ludger decides not to kill Julius. The party, and Julius himself, try their hardest to convince him otherwise, and eventually Gaius decides that their best course of action is to go through Ludger and kill Julius themselves, since they must get to Canaan and save the world. Surprisingly, Ludger snaps and goes into full protective mode, snatching Julius' pocketwatch, and uses it to hit his third Chromatus form. What follows is an epic cutscene where the entire party tries to fend off Ludger, which ultimately leads into the final battle of the Bad Ending... The [[OhCrap ENTIRE PARTY]]. Gameplay-wise, this could easily turn into {{Curbstomp Battle}}, but after the battle, we see Julius in absolute shock and horror, then we cut to a shot of Ludger looking at Canaan with bloody swords and blood smears on his cheek. The party is nowhere to be seen. That's right. Everyone you knew and loved from the first game, who had hopes and dreams and good futures ahead of them, all dead. [[YouBastard Murdered by you]]. Of course, since Bisley is going to sacrifice Elle to save the world, and you decided not to help, she'll eventually die too]].

* RelationshipValues: Completing their Character Episodes and selecting certain dialogue options will strength Ludger's friendship with his party members. This unlocks additional scenes with these characters, and eventually their [[LimitBreak Link Mystic Arte]] with Ludger.

** Julius and Bisley, as both Vice Director and [=CEO=] of Spirius Corporation respectively, both have one, with Julius' being white and blue and Bisley's being red and black.

** Depending on if Ludger chooses to protect Bisley or Elle from the Exodus agent on the Striborg train, Julius will either have his pocketwatch [[BlastingItOutOfTheirHands shot out of his right hand and into the air]] by accident, or he'll take a shot to the right arm while protecting Elle, causing him to drop it. Neither cause him lasting harm, and he's still [[DualWielding]] his swords without issue.

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: A familial variation for all parties. Julius is the (or at least one of the) first to realize [[spoiler:[[KidFromTheFuture who]] and [[MacGuffinSuperPerson what Elle is]], and openly states his intent to take her away from Ludger, since Elle can both serve as a PowerAmplifier to his Chromatus, as well as be sacrificed for the creation of the Soul Bridge needed to reach Canaan]]. They nearly come to blows over this, only for Elle to wind up in mortal danger and for Julius to see just how much Ludger cares about her, causing him to change his mind and [[spoiler:sacrifice his own life to create the Soul Bridge instead.]]

!!Trope associated with this game so far:
* AllThereInTheManual: A lot of information on the backstories of [[spoiler:Ludger, Julius, and Bisley]] is only in supplementary material, [[spoiler:most notably the fate of Ludger's mother]].
* AmplifierArtifact: The pocket watches. Using two watches to transform instead of one temporarily increases the power of your Chromatus by one level. [[spoiler:A bigger example is Elle herself, who unwittingly becomes Ludger's AmplifierArtifact as a Key of Kresnik and pays the price for his use of Chromatus]].

* AntiMagic: Rideaux and Spirius Corporation create [[spoiler:a portable version of the Spear of Kresnik from ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia'', which they equip their shocktroopers with like rifles]].

* BackToBackBadasses: Jude and Milla in the opening video.
* BadassAndChildDuo: Ludger and Elle by the looks of things.
* BadassLongcoat: Julius has one.

* BigBadEnsemble: Chronos and [[spoiler: [[ObviouslyEvil Bisley Bakur]] are orchestrating all the catalysts to get a wish]].
* BigBrotherMentor: The relationship between Ludger and Elle is set to be a familial one. Given that there's a twelve-year age gap between them and [[spoiler:they're father and daughter]], it's for the best. Ludger also has his own in the form of Julius.
* BigOlEyebrows: Bisley is definitely giving [[VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss Van]] a run for his money with those things.
* BigScrewedUpFamily: [[spoiler:According to the World Guidance Book, the Kresnik Clan and its offshoot family of the Bakurs, ''full stop''. Affairs, incest, children born out of wedlock, and casualties ahoy.]]
** Let's not forget that [[spoiler: Bisley had his first child, [[LukeIAmYourFather Julius]], when the mother was 22. Pretty good, right? Well, [[{{Squick}} he was 15]]. And after his wife died, he ended up in bed with her sister, which produced Ludger]].
* BilingualBonus:Ludger and Julius live in a place called the 'Frères apartment'. Frère is French for 'brother'.
* {{Bishounen}}: Almost all of the male characters so far. Especially the Kresnik brothers. Looks like good looks run in the the family.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The parallel worlds are erased and the world is saved from being consumed by Canaan, but either Ludger or Elle sacrifices themselves to save the other.]].
** [[spoiler:Then there's the Julius Ending, where Ludger refuses to kill Julius, but in defending him [[KillEmAll must kill the rest of the party]] and doom the world. And even though the brothers find solace in each other, Julius is still infected by his divergence catalyst and has no hope of a cure]].
*** There are good news and bad news. The good news is that [[spoiler: if Julius can hold on long enough, Bisley will most likely lose Elle during the inevitable fight with Chronos, thus turning her into the 1 millionth catalyst and saving Julius. The bad news is that Elle will die instead.]]
*** But the thing is if Elle becomes the 1 millionth catalyst, that means humanity failed the trial which while Julius might be cured, humanity is doomed.
* BleakLevel: Chapter 11. The atmosphere right from the start hammers in that things are about to get ''very'' bad. Even the gameplay reflects this, where you're suddenly given a time limit to rescuse [=NPCs=] who will die if you take too long. Adding to the sense that the chapter is not going to end well is the dungeon itself, which is a replica of the first game's BleakLevel, right down to the background music. [[spoiler: The chapter ends with Alternate Mila's death.]]

* BlessedWithSuck: On paper the Chromatus sounds like a awesome ability. [[spoiler: However, continued usage risks turning the user into a Divergence Cataclyst, which in turn causes them to turn into a Fractured Dimension. Oh and powering it up to furthur stages does it even faster.]]

* ButThouMust: In a rather blatant example, early on Ludger gets tricked into an absolutely massive 20 million Gald debt by the SmugSnake Rideaux simply for healing Ludger and Elle is basically held for ransom if he doesn't agree to take out a loan to pay for it. Despite the choice system in the game at no point is the player or anyone else for that matter allowed to tell Rideaux to shove it, or even attempt it.

* CallBack: One of the first lines Alt!Milla says to Jude is "you really are a do-gooder, aren't you?" He answers "yeah, I get that a lot." That is, word for word, something the prime dimension Milla said to him.

* TheCameo: The Tales cameo costume DLC from X1 can be carried over to this game as well, and there's naturally new ones. There's a (formerly) preorder set for Jude, Ludger and Milla that gives them costumes, accessories and haircuts based off of [[VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia Yuri Lowell]] (including his Blastia), [[VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld Emil Castagnier]] (complete with haircut and sword prop) and [[VideoGame/TalesOfGraces Asbel Lhant]]. Naturally, Gaius and Muzet get a costume each as well, based off of [[VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny Dymlos Timber]] and [[VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia Sheena Fujibayashi]] respectively, and Ludger has a second cameo costume based off of [[VideoGame/TalesOfInnocence Ruca Milda]], complete with sword AND changing his Chromatus form to Asras. [[spoiler:Completing the Bonus Dungeon gets you Jude and Milla's formerly preorder Cless and Stahn costumes from X1 as well.]]

* CampGay: Aska in one of the fractured dimensions.

* ChildhoodFriends: Nova and Vera are Ludger's. They went to school together. And apparently Nova [[ChildhoodFriendRomance pursued Ludger]] in the past.
** Nope, an optional skit has Vera reveal that Nova was actually interested in ''Julius'', something which Ludger misunderstood (and Julius implies was briefly heartbroken over, once he found out).

* CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption: What's that? You want the Platinum Trophy? [[spoiler: Be prepared to have to kill off the entire gang from Xillia if you want it that badly.]]
* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Xillia 2'' is much less optimistic than contemporary titles in the ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'', leaning more towards a [[CrapsackWorld Half-Empty]] CrapsaccharineWorld, complete with [[spoiler:a BittersweetEnding]].
* DiabolusExMachina: The discovery that [[spoiler:the party need a Soul Bridge to reach Canaan, and that either Ludger or Julius need to die in order to get it]].
* DemotedToExtra: Everyone from the original except Jude and Milla. There's still the Character Episodes, but aside from that, don't have a major involvement in the story arc itself.
* DiedInYourArmsTonight: [[spoiler:A parallel world Presa dies in Alvin's arms during one of his Character Episodes]].
* DualWielding: Both Ludger and his older brother Julius dual wield. It's most likely something Julius taught Ludger.

** [[spoiler:As expected, Ludger and Julius.]]
** Milla challenges Ludger to a one-on-one near the end of the game. Part of it is to test his resolve, but the other part is to make sure he can still use his chromatus after [[spoiler: Elle leaves him to head to Canaan.]]
* DugTooDeep: The fractured dimension in chapter 2 of Jude's story has shades of this.

* EverybodysDeadDave: [[spoiler:The Julius ending. Ludger chickens out at the last minute and decides not to kill Julius, however the party, and Julius himself, tries their hardest to convince him otherwise. Gaius decides that their best course of action is to go through Ludger and kill Julius themselves, since they NEED to get into Canaan. Surprisingly, Ludger snaps and goes into full protective mode, snatching Julius' pocketwatch, and uses it to hit his third Chromatus form. What follows is an epic cutscene where the entire party tries to fend off Ludger, which ultimately leads into the final battle of the Julius Ending... The [[OhCrap ENTIRE PARTY]]. Gameplay-wise, this could easily turn into {{Curbstomp Battle}}, but after the battle, we see Julius in absolute shock and horror, then we cut to a shot of Ludger looking at Canaan with bloody swords and blood smears on his cheek. The party is nowhere to be seen. That's right. Everyone you knew and loved from the first game, who had hopes and dreams and good futures ahead of them, all dead. [[YouBastard Murdered by you]]. Of course, since Bisley is going to sacrifice Elle to save the world, and you decided not to help, she'll eventually die too]].

* {{Expy}}: Chronos shares a lot of his moveset and general disdain of humanity with [[VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia Dhaos]], leading to many fans nicknaming him "Dhaos 2.0".
** Also another one for Chronos. Chronos is a spirit sent from another time/dimension to kill the main character as well as to test him. Not only that, being voiced by Creator/JunichiSuwabe makes it clear that Chronos has elements of [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Archer]] in him.

* ForWantOfANail: The Alternate Worlds run on this, usually having one key difference that is centered around whatever or whoever has been infected by the divergence catalyst.

* FutureMeScaresMe: [[spoiler: Victor causes this for Ludger.]]
** IHatePastMe: [[spoiler: Alvin encounters a fractured version of himself in chapter 4 of his character story. He already hated how he used to be, but seeing himself first-hand ''painfully'' drives it home.]]
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: When you leave a town, your party remains the same and you can't change it unless you return to town despite the characters being there and commenting on events. Especially odd since in the first game you could switch in the middle of battle.
* GayOption: With the return of the affinity system absent from the first game, Ludger can choose to flirst with all party members, male or female.

* HeroicTeamRevolt: Should Ludger [[spoiler: refuse to kill Julius]] the team turns against him. It doesn't end well.

* InterfaceSpoiler: In the Epsilla Ruins, Rollo wanders off for a little bit before Elle finds him again. [[spoiler:However, he doesn't appear on the title screen or kitty dispatch menu, which happens whenever he's not traveling with the party, spoiling that it's actually a fractured Rollo.]]

* ItRunsInTheFamily: The Chromatus Ability, the ability to cross through worlds, runs through the Kresnik family blood. The pocket watches serve as keys to triggering the ability.
* KidHero: Averted. Like [[VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia Yuri]], Ludger is a grown man who's past his teenage years.
* KilledOffForReal: The body count by the end of the game [[AnyoneCanDie is surprisingly high]], with the parallel universes allowing for plenty of carnage. Of the main characters though: [[spoiler:Alt!Milla dies no matter what you do. The entire party is killed by Ludger if you choose to save Julius. Julius has to die for the party to be able to go to Canaan. And either Elle or Ludger have to sacrifice themselves to complete Origin's trial. Pretty much the only main character who survives no matter what is Rollo]].

* LittleMissSnarker [=/=] PluckyGirl: Elle could go either way at the moment. [[TakeAThirdOption Or be both]].
* LuckBasedMission: Any job that asks for a rare item that can only be obtained through kitty dispatch [[note]] though the get-rate for rare items increases the more cats you have [[/note]]. Collecting all the cats is this as well, as kitty dispatch is the only way to find some of them.

* MamaBear: [[spoiler:Ludger's mother, Claudia Kresnik, according to [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary materials]]. She disappeared when she found out she was pregnant so he wouldn't be drawn into Origin's trial or the Kresnik clan's infighting. She was even willing to kill her own nephew when she thought he had been sent by Bisley to retrieve Ludger. Unfortunately, Julius found them completely by accident and had no intention of taking Ludger anywhere, but Claudia didn't believe him so he was forced to kill her in self-defense.]]

* MultipleEndings: There are five confirmed endings, including two [[HotSpringsEpisode gag endings]].
** [[spoiler:Ludger chooses to sacrifice the world to save his brother, Julius]].
** [[spoiler:The world is saved, but Elle has to sacrifice herself in the process. Humanity technically passes Origin's trial, but on a bittersweet note because of Elle's sacrifice]].
** [[spoiler:The world is saved, but Ludger sacrifices himself in place of Elle so that she can live. Humanity technically fails Origin's trial, but Origin allows them to pass anyway because Ludger's selflessness proves the point the trial was meant to test]].
** [[spoiler:One ending includes a HotSpringsEpisode!]]
** [[spoiler:The Tales Cameo team use the Eternal Sword to go up to Canaan, beat up the FinalBoss and rescue Elle for you]].

* NeverTheSelvesShallMeet: Characters from alternate worlds can be brought back into the "real" world, but if they ever meet the original then they fade away.

* OneSteveLimit: Sort of averted, in that the Kresnik brothers appear to have the same middle name (Will).
** [[spoiler: Averted more strongly when the party discovers the genesis sage Kresnik's given name: Milla.]]
* ParentalAbandonment: Implied to be the case for Ludger and Julius. It says that Julius, who is eight years older than his younger brother, has taken care of Ludger since he was young. Ludger also lives with only his brother. [[spoiler: Confirmed in supplementary materials. Bisley is their father, and Julius's mother died from being the conduit for Bisley's Chromatus. Her sister is Ludger's mother) and was killed by Julius in self-defense.]]

* RedRightHand: While not exactly villainous, [[spoiler: Julius's [[FashionableAsymmetry single glove]] is hiding the divergence catalyst manifesting in his left hand.]]

* {{Retcon}}: Most notably Rieze Maxia's spirit climes (such as the eternal night in Fenmont), which were shown in Xillia's ending to have been caused by the Schism and faded when it fell. A bonus scene with the Four indicates they have also forgotten that plot point.

* SadisticChoice: Ludger gets faced with a ''lot'' of these. [[spoiler: See the entries for MultipleEndings and BittersweetEnding for examples.]]

* SharpDressedMan: Pretty much every male character. But especially Julius.
* ShipTease: Ludger's [[DialogueTree dialogue options]] during cutscenes or skits are ripe with these, with the skits themselves teasing as good as any pairing that can come up in the party. Particularly when Muzét's in the skit or talking about [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBT9hmEq6cg tethering-up]] with another.
* SiblingTriangle: [[spoiler:Between Bisley and Julius and Ludger's mothers, who were sisters.]]
* SpoilerOpening: The Opening spoils Julius' and Ludger's Level 3 [[SuperMode Chromatus]] form, their duel much later in the game and shows that the game has two Millas appearing. [[spoiler: The fact that the two Millas are not shown at all in the same scene, implies that the player can only have one in the Team, foreshadowing the NeverTheSelvesShallMeet going on with them]].
* SuperMode: Ludger seems to transform when he goes into the parallel world into... something with [[LovecraftLite Anime]] {{Lovecraftian Superpower}}s. This ability is said to run in his family.
** And his last name is ''Kresnik''. If you played the last game, think about the possibilities.
** [[spoiler: Bisley also has access to Chromatus, and uses it during the final battle with him. This is because the Bakur family branched off from the Kresnik]]
* SupremeChef: Ludger and Elle's father, Victor. [[spoiler: Who is a fractured version of Ludger.]]

* TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot: The party tends to have urgent needs too go to places far away, but will always make it before it's too late. Jude, for example, will tell Ludger that he has to get to Helioborg quickly and that there's no time to explain... while he's in Hamil, which is practically on the other side of the planet. Though this could be justified if the quick jumping feature is an actual concept in universe.

* WakeUpCallBoss:

** There's also [[spoiler: Muzét (Fractured)]] about halfway through the game. This boss is already tough on their own, but is also the first boss to use a [[LimitBreak Mystic Arte]], so the player knows that any subsequent (human) boss fight will most likely involve this being a potential danger now.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: In a rare protagonist example, the party and the Spirius Corporation are essentially this for trying to wipe out every fractured dimension (and their inhabitants) in order to survive Origin's trial. [[spoiler: Though Bisley takes the extremism up a notch by trying to enslave spiritkind, putting him at odds with the party.]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The introduction mentions that Ludger was on his way to the train station, where he was starting a new job as a cook. Then the train hijacking begins and nothing is ever really mentioned about Ludger's intended job anymore, not even a small mention of him being fired. [[spoiler: Some fractured dimensions seem to imply, though, that he is working as the cook at the Trigleph Station, though, with his tomato omlettes being an amazing dish on the menu.]]

* MulticoloredHair: Ludger, Rideaux, and Nova. The former even has differently coloured ''eyebrows''.

* BadassBeard: Alvin has been growing one lately.

** Along with that is a set of DLC attachments as well. One set features plushie versions of [[VideoGame/TalesOfEternia Quickie]], [[VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss Mieu, Tokunaga]] amd [[VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia Repede]] while another set is a collection of hats worn by previous Tales series characters, which includes [[VideoGame/TalesOfEternia Rassius Luine]]'s feathered hat, [[VideoGame/TalesOfInnocence Spada Belforma]]'s beret, [[VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia Patty Fleur's tricorne]] and [[VideoGame/TalesOfHearts Beryl Benito]]'s customized witch hat.

* ZettaiRyouiki: Leia's new outfit is Grade A with [[WhoWearsShortShorts shorts]].

* SharpDressedMan: Pretty much every male character. But especially [[ManInWhite Julius]].

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Xillia 2'' is much less optimistic than the more recent titles in the ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'', leaning more towards a [[CrapsackWorld Half-Empty]] CrapsaccharineWorld, complete with [[spoiler:a BittersweetEnding]].

* OneWingedAngel: A rare example of ''TheHero'' doing this. Ludger seems to transform when he goes into the parallel world into... something with [[LovecraftLite Anime]] {{Lovecraftian Superpower}}s. This ability is said to run in his family.
** And his last name is ''Kresnik''. If you played the last game, think about the possibilities.
** [[spoiler: Bisley also has access to Chromatus, and uses it during the final battle with him. This is because the Bakur family branched off from the Kresnik]]

Making things even more complicated, [[AlternateUniverse fractured dimensions]] have begun opening up and leeching off the prime dimension, threatening to destroy it. Ludger's [[InTheBlood bloodline]] gives him an ability called Chromatus, allowing him to transform into [[OneWingedAngel powerful, monstrous warrior]] capable of entering fractured dimensions and destroying the [[ForWantOfANail divergence catalysts]] that created them, eliminating them from the inside. Spirius Corp's CEO, Bisley Bakur, makes Ludger a deal: take a job destroying divergence catalysts, and he'll be able to pay off his debt virtually overnight. But the fractured dimensions seem to have some sort of connection to Elle, Julius, and their mysterious pocketwatches...