Milla Maxwell

Do-Gooder
Full Name	Milla Maxwell
Alias(es)	Maxwell, Lord of Spirits, Wielder of the Four Elements, Eldest Spirit
Origin	Tales of Xillia (2011)
Occupation	Lord of Spirits
Powers / Skills	Expert swordsmanship, Superhuman strength and speed, Elemental artes, Control over the Four Great Spirits
Hobby	Eating, Reading and learning about humans
Goals	Take spyrix technology away from humanity to restore balance to them and spirits, Stop Exodus
Family	Maxwell (Creator), Muzét (Older 'sister')
Friends / Allies	Jude Mathis, Alvin, Elize Lutus, Leia Rolando, Rowen J. Ilbert, Muzét, King Gaius, Ludger Will Kresnik, Elle Marta
Enemies	Chronos, Rideaux, Gaius (formerly), Muzét (formerly), Maxwell, Gilland, Exodus, Chimeriad, King Nachtigal, Alvin (briefly)
Type of Hero	Elemental Cosmic Entity, Determined Global Protection, Paragon, The Messiah

“	Why do humans persist in seeking power that could destroy the world?	„
	~ Milla Maxwell

Milla Maxwell is the main female protagonist of the video game Tales of Xillia, being the main protagonist of her route and the deuteragonist of Jude Mathis's route, as well as one of the main protagonists of Tales of Xillia 2. Created as the incarnation of Maxwell, the "Lord of Spirits", Milla controls the Four Great Spirits: Efreet, Undine, Sylph, and Gnome. She holds the duty to protect the world and everything that resides in it. Sensing the death of a great number of spirits, Milla travels to Fennmont to investigate the cause.

She is voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro in the Japanese version and Minae Noji in the English version.

Appearance

Milla takes the appearance of a tall, beautiful young woman with pink eyes and long, blonde hair that reaches down to her waist. She is said by Jude to have amazing curves. In the first game, she wears a rather revealing outfit, consisting of largely lavender material, with dark red and black gloves on her hands and a pair of lavender boots on her feet.

Personality

“	Jude: You really do care about all spirits, don't you? Not just the Great Four, but the lesser spirits too. Milla: Not just spirits. Humans, as well. To me, all lives, whether human or spirit, are equal and precious.	„
	~ Milla telling Jude that she considers all life equal

Having lived twenty years together with the Four Great Spirits, Milla has had little human contact except with her worshippers in Nia Khera. As a result, her social skills are dangerously lacking. Contrary to popular belief, Milla does not know everything and her knowledge of human behaviour stems largely from what she has read in books, leading her to have many odd mannerisms. The problem is that she seems to believe just about anything she reads in books, and Jude questions on more than one occasion exactly what kind of books she's read. She also heeds no mind to her rather light attire, claiming that it is comfortable and easy to move in, despite Jude's initial discomfort. In spite of her odd mannerisms, Milla is frequently shown to be extremely wise, as noted by several characters, including Rowen, who would expect no less from the Lord of Spirits.

Milla is shown to have been highly dependent on the Four Great Spirits before losing them; she always relied on their help to guide her arm when fighting with a sword, and so after losing them she had to learn how to use a sword from scratch, though she learned how to use one fairly quickly, implying that she's a fast learner. She also considers walking for long periods of time to be gruelling, since she was used to simply having Sylph fly her everywhere and only ever walked when she used Undine to travel across water. In spite of all this, she refuted Alvin's claim that she treated them like her own personal servants, claiming that if anything, they were the ones who pestered her, going so far as to call them 'a bunch of bickering in-laws', much to Jude and Alvin's surprise. Even after reuniting with the Four, Milla doesn't depend on them nearly as much as she used to, having learned to rely more on her own strength.

Milla frequently muses at the behaviour that makes humans "human", giving a lot of insight to Jude as they journey together. Milla also shows a rather deep fondness of food, not knowing the delight of eating for the first twenty years of her life due to Sylph and Undine giving her all the energy she needed. She is often caught drooling while any food subjects are mentioned and claims humans should learn to enjoy simple pleasures such as eating. However, Milla is a lot more human than even she realises e.g. she can be surprisingly vain and somewhat envious, which she only manages to veil thinly.

Milla shows a strong determination to play her role as Maxwell despite losing the power of the Four early in the story. She shows that she is willing to go to any lengths to uphold her duty, at many points risking her very life to accomplish this. However, this can sometimes be to a fault; after having her legs crippled, she still refuses to give up on her mission, even after Jude tries to convince her that there's no other choice and that she has to accept reality. Ultimately, he decides to help heal her, as he knew that if he didn't, she'd "waddle off somewhere and get into trouble." After gaining the aspyrixis, Milla starts to push herself very hard with little to no concern for her well-being, as noted by Jude and Alvin. She states, however, that the pain she's going through is a small price to pay, as to her, there is no greater pain than having something to do and being unable to do it. By the time she reunites with the group in Elympios, however, she seems to finally learned to take it easy; when the group are on their way to the final battle, it is she who suggests that the group return to Rieze Maxia to finish whatever business they may have there beforehand

Milla holds her duty of protecting the world above all else. She states that it is synonymous with the name Maxwell, as being the Lord of Spirits it is her responsibility to protect all living things. At first, she even shows disregard for people if it were for the greater good and the sake of completing her mission, such as not caring what happened to the people of Hamil even after what they had done for her and the others, prompting Jude to ask how she could be so cold. She reasons this with her belief that she doesn't have time to be sentimental and getting emotional could possibly interfere with her mission. She also starts off with a somewhat low opinion of humans, considering them to be infants that she must babysit. After spending time with the party, however, she gains a greater appreciation for individual life, eventually telling Jude that all life, whether human or spirit, is both equal and precious to her.

History

In Milla's arc, she begins her journey traveling from her shrine in Nia Khera to the city of Fennmont, the capital of Rashugal. Sensing the death of many spirits, she investigates the cause and meets Jude along the way. Entering a research building from underground, they discover human experimentation and the Lance of Kresnik, a weapon of mass destruction that Milla refers to as a spyrix. Deeming it as the cause for the mass spirit annihilation as well as other threats, Milla attempts to destroy it by summoning the Four Great Spirits when they are interrupted by a mysterious girl in red clothing. After engaging in a fight and defeating the girl, she activates the lance, causing massive mana absorption, consuming the Four Great Spirits leaving Milla powerless. Before the floor collapses under the power of the lance, Milla manages to steal the key required for activation, stopping the machine. Jude saves her from drowning as they fall through the floor into a water reservoir. Leaving the sewers, they are soon apprehended by knights of Rashugal and placed under arrest for treason; however, Alvin, a wandering mercenary appears and saves them as they board a boat and begin their journey to regain Milla's powers and stop the Lance of Kresnik.

Being marked a fugitive along with Jude, Milla finds herself powerless without the aid of the Four Great Spirits. Regardless, she still holds strong to her duty to protect the world. With Jude wanting to follow her since she needs help, and having nowhere to go being a fugitive now, they continue their journey with Alvin. Despite wielding a sword, she has no practical experience, and asks Alvin to train her in basic combat since he is thoroughly experienced being a freelance mercenary, paying him with the rewards of a quest. In particular, the Lance of Kresnik is a weapon of war, adding additional danger to its existence. Reaching the town of Hamil, they are treated to a rather hospitable environment. There, they have a close encounter with knights from Rashugal, before leaving with the aid of Elize. They arrive at the village of Nia Khera, where a shrine dedicated to Milla is located. The residents all revere Milla, bowing in her presence recognizing her as Maxwell. At her shrine, Milla attempts a ritual to resummon the Four Great Spirits to regain her powers, but the process fails. They conclude that the spirits are still alive and trapped within the Lance of Kresnik, and set their next goal as finding away to release them.

Leaving Nia Khera, the party travels back through Hamil. There, they re-encounter Elize, who is being shunned by the village, completely contrary to the initial welcome they received, blaming her for the arrival of the knights resulting in injuries to the village people. Jude wants to take Elize with the party instead of leaving her there, but Milla initially objects since she would only be a burden to their cause; however, she eventually allows it, showing a more compassionate side to her and Elize joins the party as a non-playable character. Upon reaching Sharilton on their journey, they encounter Driselle Sharil, and her butler, Rowen J. Ilbert. Milla demonstrates her knowledge of Efreet as they meet Driselle in a market place where she is picking out a tea set. The shop owner claims the set was created to the liking of Efreet with his emblem, but Milla explains otherwise, describing Efreet's own tastes along with Rowen noting the date of creation, being younger than the last time Efreet was summoned. Despite the fraud, Driselle purchases the set, taking a liking to its appearance, and invites the party to her home later as a sign of goodwill for the help Milla provided.

Soon, Milla and Elize are kidnapped by the Rashugal army and taken to the Fort Gandala where they finally meet King Nachtigal Fenn. After a brief confrontation, Milla's legs become paralyzed, caused by an explosive trap wall. Jude takes her to Leronde and with the help of his childhood friend Leia, restore the use of Milla's legs. The party then decides to infiltrate Fennmont by other means, mainly by flying there with wyverns found in Auj Oule. As they meet the king of Auj Oule, Gaius, it is revealed that a war between the two countries in nearing and that the party must rush to Fennmont to stop Nachtigal. But as they travel there and defeat the king, they soon realize that the Lance of Kresnik has been taken away from the palace. They head to the battlefield to stop the Lance and the war once and for all. But the Lance is fired despite their efforts and is revealed to not being as a weapon, but a tool to destroy the schism surrounding Rieze Maxia. As the party head to stop the invading Elympios army ontop their flagship E.S.S. Zenethra, Milla sacrifices her mana, and her life, to save Jude and his friends from a deadly trap. It is later revealed by Muzét that she was not the real Maxwell, but only a part of the Lord of Spirits acting as a bait to destroy the remaining Elympios troops in Rieze Maxia, Exodus.

Fighting Style

Milla wields a traditional sword like many Tales protagonists. Her stats gained from the Lilium Orb are rather balanced with a slight focus on intelligence and strength. Her physical artes mainly consist of close range attacks that use the blade of her sword or short range magic projectiles. She can also summon the four great spirits to do quick attacks, unlike other Tales games where spirits are used like spells and require an incantation time.

Her unique "Magic Artes" allow her to use close range elemental attacks that take the place of her "Spirit Magic" when the "artes" button is not held down. Milla has Spirit Magic of elements from the four great spirits, but focuses more on fire and wind, as well as having access to lightning, a combination of fire and wind, and light magic. She can be played as an offensive spell caster or as a melee attacker. Her Magic Artes allow for fast elemental damage, compared to Spirit Magic that requires incantation time but covers wide areas. Milla excels more in aerial combat, exemplified by her many aerial skills that allow for better mobility and damage while in midair. Almost all of her artes have aerial enabled with quick speed to allow combos to be easily performed. Milla's partner characteristic support is "Bind". While Milla is the secondary partner, any time the monster targeted by the primary partner is stunned, she will bind them with a magic circle, disabling the target while the former is free to attack. Milla is best utilized against Speed-type monsters who are too fast to dodge.

Gallery

Tales of Xillia 2 appearance