Shing Meteoryte

Shing Meteoryte (シング・メテオライトShingu Meteoraito?) is the main character from Tales of Hearts. Shing lives with his grandfather Zeks in the town of Seeble. He inherits the ability to use Soma from his grandfather and mother, but he hides this fact from them. He is given the SomaAsteria (アステリア Asuteria?) by his grandfather, passed down by their ancestors. His quest begins after findingAmber Hearts and her brother, Jadeite Hearts, on the shore.

History
In the beginning of the story, Amber collapses due to the attack from Incarros. Shing, worried about her, goes inside Amber's heart with the help of his Soma. When he enters her Spir Maze, Shing meets Richea, the girl who makes Amber as her vessel. When Amber's Spir Maze is attacked, Shing fends off the attackers with a dark aura, which causes him to be to be thrown out of Amber's heart and her Spirune to be shattered. Her Spirune scattered over the world, leaving Amber emotionless. Feeling guilty and wishing to see Amber's smile again, Shing resolves to go all over the world to retrieve Amber's Spirune.

After Shing manages to retrieve all of Amber's Spirune, Shing discovers a depressing truth about himself, the creator of Zerom, Kreed Grafyte, lies within his heart. The fact complicates the party's "saving the world from Zerom" plan. Shing also receives severe injuries and gets depressed. By the end of the story, it is discovered that Kreed is just the same as Shing, a lonely person. Despite being cheerful all the time, Shing has always felt lonely due to the death of his family. This loneliness started to fade when he met Amber and the others.

Appearance and Personality
Shing is an easygoing and cheerful person, but his personality can turn serious every time one his friends, especially Amber, is in need. Shing is also a persistent person, as it is proven by his action to retrieve Amber's Spirune, which were scattered all over the world. He is also a selfless person when it comes to others. He does not care what happens to him as long his friends are safe. Due to his curiosity and personal inexperience, he lacks delicacy in his speech and conduct. He notices his mistakes, and is able to properly reflect upon them.

Fighting Style
Shing's Soma is in the form of an extendable short sword, so he is a close-ranged fighter devoted to speed and combos. He is not a fragile character, but he does not have the same raw damage-dealing potential as Innes Lorenz or Kunzite. As a rarity for Tales male protagonists, Shing's artes are primarily of the Light element.

Relationships
Amber Hearts - Shing gets a crush on Amber the first time he sees her on collapse on the beach. Despite having a crush on her, Shing always manages to act as himself in front of her. He shows a great care for her upon wanting to retrieve back her heart, saving her from a falling cliff, saving her from getting suck into the destroyed Gardenia, and many other things. Seeing this devotion, Amber also has begins to return Shing's feelings, putting a great trust in him and even calling him her "knight". Amber also shows great care for him, as she is the one who change Shing back to the way he was after the Kreed Grafyte incident. Before entering Gardenia's core, Amber is desperately scared, and she asks why Shing can still be cheerful although they will encounter a very strong enemy soon. Shing replies that there is no way he is not scared, but he say as long there is a bond between them, they will somehow made it. At this point, Amber finally confesses to Shing that she loves him, shown by hugging him.

Jadeite Hearts - Shing and Jadeite's relationship starts roughly due to Amber's heart being torn in pieces all over the globe. After seeing Shing's intention and eagerness on retrieving back Amber's Spirune, Jadeite slowly soften toward Shing. As time passes, they become very good friends, although sometimes Jadeite still physically abuse Shing whenever he teases him, or Shing talking nonsense or stupid things, or whenever Shing and Amber are being close to each other and Jadeite plays the protective older brother. At first, Jadeite is very overprotective over Amber toward Shing, then after seeing Shing's great care for her, he finally agrees that they could become a couple.

Beryl Benito - Despite Shing being younger than Beryl, they both share a sibling relationship with each other. Although it seems that Beryl also has a crush on Shing, she keeps it for herself since she knows that Shing loves Amber. Sometimes, Beryl also teases both Shing and Amber whenever they get close to each other, like saying "stop this love atmosphere" or "don't make world for you two only".

Tales of VS.
Shing makes an appearance alongside fellow Hearts party member, Amber Hearts, as a playable character.

Trivia

 * Developer statements on the Tales of Hearts development blog state that Shing's name derives from 心具 (shingu?), composed of two kanji characters that refer to heart and tool.
 * Shing is the only protagonist within Tales of Hearts whose name does not relate to a mineral stone. Rather, his last name refers to meteorites, which drop into the atmosphere from outer space.