History YMMV / ArTonelicoMelodyOfElemia

* MagnificentBitch: [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds The Mother Virus, Mir Teiwaz Ar Tonelico]] was made to be a weapon as the most powerful Reyvateil, but after seeing them murder someone she loved, Mir went to war, driving humanity to brink of destruction before being sealed away by Shurelia and Tastalia. Resurfacing during the events of the game, Mir in her hundreds of year stasis prepared for the same acts that thwarted her before, overwhelming Platine and manipulating Bourd and Fals. Not short of back-up plans, Mir sent a virus disguised as a Teru name Ayatane to be a double agent to hijack Shurelia in case they managed to stop her, nearly victorious until being stopped by Shurelia's HeroicSacrifice and later [[HeelFaceTurn changing]] after Lyner showed he understand her anger. Returning in the 2nd game as an AntiHero under the name Jacqli, Mir used the Grand Bell to get the Heart of the Land for a plan to save the planet Ar Ciel, and later assists the heroes with her intelligence even outplays [[BigBad Infel]] in a quest to redeem herself from her sins as the Mother Virus. A respectable adversary later ally, Mir has cemented herself as one most impressive individuals in the series.

** [[TheBrute Bourd Rade]] is the second-in-command of the Tenba Organization, notorious for its shady practices. Rade has a penchant for using innocent people in his army, and lets them abuse the Reyvateils they capture. Seeking to dissolve all governing bodies as a power grab, he worked with Bishop Falss to awaken [[SealedEvilInACan Mir]]. To do that, he first stole the song, "Chronicle Key", from the Star Singer Misha, to prevent the ritual which would keep Mir's seal intact and kidnap Misha to be his personal weapon, burning down an innocent village to get her. One day, Bourd was told to meet Lyner by Falss and tries to forcefully recruit him. After chasing him and Misha in an airship when they escape, Bourd takes Aurica as a hostage and threatens to throw her off until Misha returns to him, and then [[ILied goes back on his word]], throwing Aurica off anyway. When Lyner and his group goes to stop Mir, Bourd tries to stop them, seemingly killed by Misha; he survives and continues to antagonize the party. After entering Bourd's secret lab, Bourd reveals his goal is to use Mir to create an army of lifeless Reyvateils under his command and use them to destroy the world's government and establish himself in power. He is encountered one last time trying to kill Misha and Lyner to prevent the newly regained "Chronicle Key" from being sung.

** [[TheBrute Bourd Rade]] is the second-in-command of the Tenba Organization, notorious for its shady practices. Rade has a penchant for using innocent people in his army, and lets them abuse the Reyvateils they capture. Seeking to dissolve all governing bodies as a power grab, he worked with Bishop Falss to awaken [[SealedEvilInACan Mir]]. To do that, he first stole the song, "Chronicle Key", from the Star Singer Misha, to prevent the ritual which would keep Mir's seal intact and kidnap Misha to be his personal weapon, burning down an innocent village to get her. One day, Bourd was to told to meet Lyner by Falss and tries to forcefully recruit him. After chasing him and Misha in an airship when they escape, Bourd takes Aurica as a hostage and threatens to throw her off until Misha returns to him, and then [[ILied goes back on his word]], throwing Aurica off anyway. When Lyner and his group goes to stop Mir, Bourd tries to stop them, seemingly killed by Misha; he survives and continues to antagonize the party. After entering Bourd's secret lab, Bourd reveals his goal is to use Mir to create an army of lifeless Reyvateils under his command and use them to destroy the world's government and establish himself in power. He is encountered one last time trying to kill Misha and Lyner to prevent the newly regained "Chronicle Key" from being sung.

** [[TheBrute Bourd Rade]] is the second-in-command of the Tenba Organization, which is notorious for its shady practices. Rade has a penchant for using innocent people in his army, and lets them abuse the Reyvateils they capture. Seeking to dissolve all of the organizations to get what he wants, he worked with Bishop Falss to awaken [[SealedEvilInACan Mir]]. To do that, he first stole the song, Chronicle Key, from the Star Singer Misha, to prevent her from performing her ritual which would keep Mir's seal intact and kidnap Misha to be his personal weapon, even burning down an innocent village. One day, Bourd was to told to meet with Lyner by Falss and tries to forcefully recruit him. After chasing him and Misha in an airship when they escape, Bourd takes another Reyvateil named Aurica as a hostage and threatens to throw her off until Misha returns to his side, and when she does, Bourd throws Aurica off anyway. When Lyner and his group goes to stop Mir, Bourd tries to stop them from heading to their destination, only to end up seemingly killed by Misha; he survives and continues to antagonize the party through attacks. After entering Bourd's secret lab, Bourd reveals to the heroes that his goal is to create an army of lifeless Reyvateils under his command and use them to destroy every organizations, including [[TheStarscream Falss and his church]]. Escaping from them, he is encountered one last time trying to prevent the newly regained Chronicle Key from being sung.
** [[SinisterMinister Bishop Falss]] is the seemingly friendly leader of the Church of Elemia, but as his name suggests, [[BitchInSheepsClothing is wearing a false facade to hide his true colors]]. From Platina, Bishop Falss's true identity is Kyle Clancy, one of the leaders of Platina who became obsessed with power. Believing he could use the Mother Virus Mir to prosperity and glory, he tried to awaken her only to go mad with power which led to banishment by his fellow leaders Shurelia and Leard. After another attempt Kyle went into hiding in the lower world where he changed his name to Falss. Gaining leadership of the Church of Elemia due to his advanced knowledge from Platina, he began [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating everyone]] to start Mir's awakening, working with Bourd and twisting the Church to declaring war against Platina to get revenge on them even if it means sacrificing [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness his own allies]]. Returning to Platina during the war, Falss manages to awaken Mir and gain her power, which he uses to try kill the heroes.
** ''~arpeggio'' spinoff manga: The seemingly-kind scientist [[MadScientist Masticus]] is the BigBad of the story. Having a [[FantasticRacism deep hatred of non-humans]] like the Reyvateils, blaming them for two apocalyptic disasters in the past despite humans playing a strong role in them, he aims to fully control all of them. Unleashing [[TheVirus the Reveris virus]], which caused Reyvateils to go berserk or become comatose, Masticus plans to study the virus itself and find the Hymn Crystal "Soporific" in order to perfect. When [[TheHero Espada]]'s father had the Crystal inside his sword, Masticus sends out the living prototype of the virus, Kauron to retrieve it and kill Espada's father and his wife. Once Sonnet manages to retrieve the sword from Espada, Masticus begins showing his true colors, as he reveals that Sonnet is his latest version of the virus, and with the stone, Masticus transforms her into the perfect version of the virus and has her try to kill her two friends Espada and Adagio when they came to see her. Once Sonnet was able to break free, the virus manifests itself into a new physical form, and under his command Masticus orders the death of those who stand in his way. Once the virus is dealt with, he was asked to surrender, only for him to laughs at the heroes for their ideals before throwing himself to his death as one last attack. A hateful scientist, Masticus pretends that he fights for humanity side, but [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist in actuality]] just wants to satisfy his hatred towards non-humans and humans who support them.

** [[SinisterMinister Bishop Falss]] is the seemingly kind and friendly leader of the Church of Elemia, but as his name suggests, [[BitchInSheepsClothing he is wearing a false facade to hide his true colors]]. From Platina, Bishop Falss's true identity is Kyle Clancy, one of the leaders of Platina who became obsessed with power. Believing he could use the Mother Virus Mir to bring forth prosperity and glory, he tried to awaken her only to get caught and banished by his fellow leaders Shurelia and Leard. After trying again and getting caught again, instead of facing his crimes, Kyle threw himself off Platina and landed on the lower world where he changed his name to Falss. After gaining leadership of the Church of Elemia due to his advanced knowledge from Platina, he began [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating everyone]] to bring forth Mir's awakening, from his deal with Bourd, to twisting the Church, to declaring war against Platina to get revenge on them and eliminating anyone who might stand against him, [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness even his own allies]]. Having returned to Platina during the war, Falss manages to awaken Mir and gain her power, which he uses to try kill the heroes.

** The aforementioned [[SinisterMinister Bishop Falss]] is the seemingly kind and friendly leader of the Church of Elemia, but as his name suggests, [[BitchInSheepsClothing he is wearing a false facade to hide his true colors]]. From Platina, Bishop Falss's true identity is Kyle Clancy, one of the leaders of Platina who became obsessed with power. Believing he could use the Mother Virus Mir to bring forth prosperity and glory, he tried to awaken her only to get caught and banished by his fellow leaders Shurelia and Leard. After trying again and getting caught again, instead of facing his crimes, Kyle threw himself off Platina and landed on the lower world where he changed his name to Falss. After gaining leadership of the Church of Elemia due to his advanced knowledge from Platina, he began [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating everyone]] to bring forth Mir's awakening, from his deal with Bourd, to twisting the Church, to declaring war against Platina to get revenge on them and eliminating anyone who might stand against him, [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness even his own allies]]. Having returned to Platina during the war, Falss manages to awaken Mir and gain her power, which he uses to try kill the heroes.

* MagnificentBitch: [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds The Mother Virus Mir Teiwaz Ar Tonelico]] was made to be a weapon as the most powerful Reyvateil, but after seeing them murder someone she loved, Mir went to war, driving humanity to brink of destruction before being sealed away by Shurelia and Tastalia. Resurfacing during the events of the game, Mir in her hundreds of year stasis prepared for the same acts that thwarted her before, overwhelming Platine and manipulating Bourd and Fals. Not short of back-up plans, Mir sent a virus disguised as a Teru name Ayatane to be a double agent to hijack Shurelia in case they managed to stop her, nearly victorious until being stopped by Shurelia's HeroicSacrifice and later [[HeelFaceTurn changing]] after Lyner showed he understand her anger. Returning in the 2nd game as an AntiHero under the name Jacqli, Mir used the Grand Bell to get the Heart of the Land for a plan to save the planet Ar Ciel, and later assists the heroes with her intelligence even outplays [[BigBad Infel]] in a quest to redeem herself from her sins as the Mother Virus. A respectable adversary later ally, Mir has cemented herself as one most impressive individuals in the series.

* MagnificentBitch: [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds The Mother Virus Mir]] was made to be a weapon as the most powerful Reyvateil, but after seeing them murder someone she loved, Mir went to war, driving humanity to brink of destruction before being sealed away by Shurelia and Tastalia. Resurfacing during the events of the game, Mir in her hundreds of year stasis prepared for the same acts that thwarted her before, overwhelming Platine and manipulating Bourd and Fals. Not short of back-up plans, Mir sent a virus disguised as a Teru name Ayatane to be a double agent to hijack Shurelia in case they managed to stop her, nearly victorious until being stopped by Shurelia's HeroicSacrifice and later [[HeelFaceTurn changing]] after Lyner showed he understand her anger. Returning in the 2nd game as an AntiHero under the name Jacqli, Mir used the Grand Bell to get the Heart of the Land for a plan to save the planet Ar Ciel, and later assists the heroes with her intelligence even outplays [[BigBad Infel]] in a quest to redeem herself from her sins as the Mother Virus. A respectable adversary later ally, Mir has cemented herself as one most impressive individuals in the series.

* RedemptionQuest: What this series could be considered as for [[spoiler: Mir]].

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: All of the hymmnos songs are fantastic, but there are a few that definitely stand out above the rest:
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1GtMiKXE_E EXEC_CHRONICLE_KEY/.]] is a fan favorite and regarded as Misha's best Song since Akiko Shikata frankly knocks the emotions it carries out of the park.
** Special mention to the ending song, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWKSfdo9DT8 EXEC_PHANTASMAGORIA/.]], which features all three heroines Singing to convey the hopes and wishes of everyone living on Sol Ciel to the world, and is over ''eight minutes long''!

* TearJerker: "Mir, all this time you were really [[spoiler:just an innocent little girl]]."

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: All of the hymmnos songs are fantastic. Special mention to the ending song, Phantasmagoria.

** Bourd Rade is the second-in-command of the Tenba Organization, which is notorious for its shady practices. Rade has a penchant for using innocent people in his army, and lets them abuse the Reyvateils they capture. Seeking to dissolve all of the organizations to get what he wants, he worked with Bishop Falss to awaken [[SealedEvilInACan Mir]]. To do that, he first stole the song, Chronicle Key, from the Star Singer Misha, to prevent her from performing her ritual which would keep Mir's seal intact and kidnap Misha to be his personal weapon, even burning down an innocent village. One day, Bourd was to told to meet with Lyner by Falss and tries to forcefully recruit him. After chasing him and Misha in an airship when they escape, Bourd takes another Reyvateil named Aurica as a hostage and threatens to throw her off until Misha returns to his side, and when she does, Bourd throws Aurica off anyway. When Lyner and his group goes to stop Mir, Bourd tries to stop them from heading to their destination, only to end up seemingly killed by Misha; he survives and continues to antagonize the party through attacks. After entering Bourd's secret lab, Bourd reveals to the heroes that his goal is to create an army of lifeless Reyvateils under his command and use them to destroy every organizations, including [[TheStarscream Falss and his church]]. Escaping from them, he is encountered one last time trying to prevent the newly regained Chronicle Key from being sung.

** Bourd Rade is the second-in-command of the Tenba Organization, which is notorious for its shady practices. Rade has a penchant to use innocent people for his army, and lets them abuse the Reyvateils they captured. Seeking to dissolve all of the organizations to get what he wants, he worked with Bishop Falss to awaken [[SealedEvilInACan Mir]]. To do that, he first stole the song, Chronicle Key, from the Star Singer Misha, to prevent her from performing her ritual which would keep Mir's seal intact and kidnap Misha to be his personal weapon, even burning down an innocent village to do it. One day, Bourd was to told to meet with Lyner by Falss and tries to forcefully recruit him. After chasing him and Misha in an airship when they escape, Bourd takes another Reyvateil named Aurica as a hostage and threatened to throw her off until Misha returns to his side, and when she does, Bourd throws Aurica anyway. When Lyner and his group goes to stop Mir, Bourd tries to stop them from heading to their destination, only to end up seemingly killed by Misha. He actually survives and continues to antagonize the party through attacks. After entering Bourd's secret lab, Bourd reveals to the heroes that his goal is to create an army of lifeless Reyvateils under his command and use them to destroy every organizations, including [[TheStarscream Falss and his church]]. Escaping from them, he is encountered one last time trying to prevent the newly regained Chronicle Key from being sung.
** The aforementioned [[SinisterMinister Bishop Falss]] is the seemingly kind and friendly leader of the Church of Elemia, but as his name suggests, [[BitchInSheepsClothing he is wearing a false facade to hide his true colors]]. Once from Platina, Bishop Falss's true identity is Kyle Clancy, one of the leaders of Platina who became obsessed with power. Believing he could use the Mother Virus Mir to bring forth prosperity and glory, he tried to awaken her only to get caught and be banish by his fellow leaders Shurelia and Leard. This doesn't stop him and tried it again only to get caught, but instead of facing his crimes, Kyle threw himself off Platina and landed on the lower world where he changed his name to Falss. After gaining leadership of the Church of Elemia due to his advance knowledge from Platina, he began [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating everyone]] to bring forth Mir's awakening through his deal with Bourd to twisting the Church to declaring war against Platina to get revenge on them and eliminating anyone who might stand against him [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness even if it's one of his own allies]]. Having returned to Platina during the war, Falss manage to awaken Mir and gain her power which he use to try kill the heroes.

** Bourd Rade is the second-in-command of the Tenba Organization, which is notorious for its shady practices. Rade has a penchant to use innocent people for his army, and lets them abuse the Reyvateils they captured. Seeking to dissolve all of the organizations to get what he wants, he worked with Bishop Falss to awaken [[SealedEvilInACan Mir]]. To do that, he first stole the song, Chronicle Key, from the Star Singer Misha, to prevent her from performing her ritual which would keep Mir's seal intact. One day, Bourd ended up meeting with Lyner and tries to forcefully recruit him. After chasing him and Misha in an airship, Bourd takes another Reyvateil named Aurica as a hostage and threatened to throw her off until Misha returns to his side, and when she does, Bourd throws Aurica anyway. When Lyner and his group tries to stop Mir, Bourd tries to stop them from heading to their destination, only to end up seemingly killed by Misha. After entering Bourd's secret lab, Bourd then explained the heroes that he wanted to create an army of lifeless Reyvateils under his command. Escaping from them, he is encountered one last time trying to prevent the newly regained Chronicle Key from being sung.
** The aforementioned [[SinisterMinister Bishop Falss]] is the seemingly kind and friendly leader of the Church of Elemia, but as his name suggests, he is wearing a false facade to hide his true colors. Once from Platina, Bishop Falss's true identity is Kyle Clancy, one of the leaders of Platina who became obsessed with power. Believing he could use the Mother Virus Mir to bring forth prosperity and glory, he tried to awaken her only to get caught and be banish by his fellow leaders Shurelia and Leard. This doesn't stop him and tried it again only to get caught, but instead of facing his crimes, Kyle threw himself off Platina and landed on the lower world where he changed his name to Falss. After gaining leadership of the Church of Elemia due to his advance knowledge from Platina, he began [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating everyone]] to bring forth Mir's awakening through his deal with Bourd to twisting the Church to declaring war against Platina to get revenge on them and eliminating anyone who might stand against him. Having returned to Platina during the war, Falss manage to awaken Mir and tried to gain her power.

* AwesomeMusic: All of the hymmnos songs are fantastic. Special mention to the ending song, Phantasmagoria.

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: Among non-fans and even some casual fans, the series is ''very'' well known for the [[CrossesTheLineTwice sheer amount]] of fanservice and innuendos it contains. ''[[ArTonelico3 Qoga]]'' gets this treatment worst of all, due to stripping being an actual game mechanic. Some parts of the fanbase are a bit resentful of this, as it gives the games an unfortunate reputation in the eyes of the public.

* TheWoobie: All three of the heroines in various ways.
** WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler:Mir]].

* TheWoobie: All three of the heroines in various ways.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The music track [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoBbyahBpXk Sleipnir]] resembles the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XrDr-CPHZI Pyramid Cave]] music from ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2''.

* InferredHolocaust: The game's first two endings. If Aurica [[spoiler:doesn't sing Re-Nation to revive Shurelia and the Tower, without power from Ar Tonelico Frelia would eventually be forced to drop all of Metafalss, killing every character in Ar Tonelico 2 except Jacqli and Spica. Then there's the question of what would happen to Sol Ciel with both song magic turned off. They're lucky that the weather is run by another system, not the tower itself, but if it, like Metafalss, was using the Ar Tonelico song server as a power source, they're going to run out of drinking water before very long.]]

* InferredHolocaust: The game's first two endings. If Aurica [[spoiler:doesn't sing Re-Nation to revive Shurelia and the Tower, without power from Ar Tonelico Frelia would eventually be forced to drop all of Metafalss, killing every character in Ar Tonelico 2 except Jacqli and Spica. Then there's the question of what would happen to Sol Ciel with both song magic and grathmelding turned off. They're lucky that the weather is run by another system, not the tower itself, but if it, like Metafalss, was using the Ar Tonelico song server as a power source, they're going to run out of drinking water before very long.]]