Giselle

* Promo
* Cloaked
* Angel
* Copy

**Giselle** is a mysterious girl who appears when Alto and the 9th Regiment are in danger when fighting the Harbingers. With several Angels accompanying her whenever she arrives, seemingly in the nick of time, her origins and reasons for her appearances are a mystery.

## Appearance

When first introduced, Giselle dons a large cloak that covers the entirety of her body. Her face is all that is visible, with her red eyes and features partially obscured by the cloak's large hood and by the bangs of her purple hair.

With her cloak removed, Giselle is revealed to have a sleek artificial body, with an amber-colored fake Qualia embedded at the base of her sternum. Her limbs, which appear prosthetic in nature, are attached to her torso by brass-like ball joints. She lacks feet, instead having slender, prod-like legs. Atop the left side of her head is a small tilted halo, that floats above a brand-like symbol imprinted into her hair. A single mechanical wing adorns her back, though this wing apparently serves no purpose as Giselle simply levitates like her other fellow Angels. She also possesses a black cable-like tail that has a sharp, red tip.

Despite her origins as a man-made Angel, Giselle has a navel.

## Personality

As a man-made creation akin to an android, Giselle speaks and acts in a subservient and robotic manner. When fighting, Giselle utters protocol and battle precepts with every action she makes, such as "my turn has commenced" and "the attack has commenced". She is frank with those she speaks to, lacking extensive social skills, and typically does not speak any more than what her duty warrants; nor does she expect further response from her conversation partners.

When she joins the Tuning Knights, Giselle is shown to be quite lost without orders. She is easily impressionable, and is prone to taking simple suggestions as commands. She is also quick to change her mind on certain matters if her actions offend those she deems superior to her.

## Background

Seventeen years prior to the story, Xeno created Giselle to serve as his personal guard and chief enforcer. Her time together with him during this period is largely unknown, but due to Giselle possessing a personal vanguard of Angels and a fake Qualia, it can be assumed that Xeno was somehow able to get into contact with Mother Qualia to provide the means for Giselle's beginnings on Earth. At some point between that time and the start of the story, Giselle started to develop emotions. Shortly before the start of the story, Xeno assigns Giselle to watch over the 9th Regiment and help further his plans for the Anthem, as well as to keep track of the Witch of Destruction and her allies.

## History

### Chapter 5 - *As The Mirage Fades*

Giselle first appears in the Mujabalaar Desert, accompanied by several Angels. She assists the 9th Regiment in defending Niki from the Harbingers. She flees after the supposed Earth Witch's death and resumes her tailing of the 9th Regiment and Harbingers with her Angels.

### Chapter 6 - *Shadows In Ice*

Giselle appears once again when the 9th Regiment are cornered by the Harbingers in Fahrenheit, the City of Ruin. When the Harbingers attempt to retreat, Giselle prepares her Hyperion Cannon in an effort to stop them. The charging process is interrupted by Hrodulf and Dante which causes her to misfire, creating a large hole in the ground to Fahrenheit's underground ruins which Alto and Hilda fall into.

Having recovered, she follows the regrouped 9th Regiment and Harbingers to Fahrenheit's underground. Despite cornering the Harbingers, they manage to escape and Giselle gives pursuit.

### Chapter 7 - *A Lambert Holiday Pt. 2*

Patrolling the streets of Lambert one night, Giselle is bumped into by Alto. When the Conductor thanks and regards her as an ally, she expresses confusion in his attempts in getting to know her; referring to herself as a simple 'tool' in carrying out orders.

On standby the night before the performance of the Anthem, Giselle shows signs of self-doubt mulling over Alto's words and the concept of allies. Casting her worries aside, Giselle telepathically responds to an unknown master, stating that "everything will go according to plan."

### Chapter 8 - *Let the Anthem Ring*

After the Anthem's performance by the Witches, which triggers the Eclipse, a duplicitous Klaus reveals himself to be the Forgotten King Xeno. Giselle appears by his side, having just returned from exterminating the de-crystallized masses of Fahrenheit. Discarding her cloak, Giselle reveals her form as a man-made Angel as well as her servitude to Xeno. She is ordered by her master to destroy Lambert, starting with the 9th Regiment and Harbingers present.

Hrodulf stays behind in order to buy time for the group to retreat and confronts Giselle and Xeno in a last stand. The Angel is ordered by Xeno to kill Hrodulf, though he manages to evade her and sacrifices himself in a duel against the King. When Marie arrives, Giselle and Xeno approach her with the intent to kill, though both are forced to stay their hand and retreat when she sings her song - recognizing the girl as the Lunar Witch and Eve's counterpart.

### Chapter 9 - *The End of the World*

Giselle follows Xeno as they ascend the Yggdrasil and reach the Moon. There, she learns of its (as well as Mother Qualia's) origins as a byproduct of the dark age during the era of the Technomolies.

### Chapter 10 - *The Celestial Hymn*

Giselle returns from the Moon, leading a large scale assault on Lambert. The five Witches, alongside Veronica, confront her force at the castle gates and hold her off while Alto is in the process of tuning himself. Despite the group's best efforts, they are eventually worn down as Giselle prepares to fire her Hyperion Cannon at them. Alto, having inherited Elcrest's will, arrives just in time to disarm her and orders her to withdraw.

To Giselle's surprise, her chances of victory apparently decrease to a ten-percent margin, though she continues to fight. Giselle sustains critical damage and unlocks her "D System" in desperation. Despite Alto's efforts in reaching out to her, the Angel self-destructs.

If Alto's Affinity with Klaus was Rank 2 prior to his betrayal in Chapter 8, Alto questions Giselle on whether Klaus really wanted the 9th Regiment's death, having been good comrades with them up until that point. This causes Giselle to hesitate, who ceases her self-destruct sequence and flees. She eventually returns and approaches Alto, stating her heartfelt wish to truly know the motives behind her masters actions, and is welcomed by the Conductor into the Tuning Knights. Giselle joining the party is required for the True Ending.

### Chapter X - *The Moon*

As the Tuning Knights ascend the Yggdrasil, several Giselle copies sporting a different color variant appear at the Yggdrasil's Trunk to eliminate the group.

If the original Giselle is present, she expresses mild surprise when confronted by her mass-produced counterparts. When they refuse her order in stepping aside and mount an attack, Giselle reassures the party of the impossibility of her inferior counterparts outperforming her. Upon the Tuning Knights' confrontation with Xeno on the Moon, Giselle continues to refer to the Forgotten King as her master despite turning on him. Her attempts in reasoning with him fall on deaf ears, with Xeno dismissing her as a "broken toy".

It is worth noting if the player decides to pursue the standard ending instead of the true ending during the final battle with Eve, Giselle makes no further appearances and the standard ending proceeds normally as if she were never present. However, her character-specific ending is still available for selection in the closing moments of the game.

### True Ending

Upon the purification of Mother Qualia and the prevention of the Moon's collision with Regnant, Giselle accompanies the Tuning Knights as they make their triumphant return to Lambert. Briefly pondering her continued existence, with the loss of her master and purpose with the cessation of the Eclipse, Giselle ultimately chooses to continue living. Smiling for the first time since her appearance, Giselle's newfound humanity sparks interest in Veronica, who decides to make the man-made Angel her newest research subject.

### Giselle's Ending

One month after the events of the Eclipse, Giselle remains as Alto's loyal attendant. She wakes him up one morning, the Regent having called for an Eclipse damage assessment. When a groggy Alto comes to, he wakes up to find Giselle in a maid uniform (complements of Rusty), much to his surprise. Interrupting her new owner's awkward reception to her getup, Giselle expresses her gratitude to Alto for having taken her in, to which Alto returns the sentiment by stating that she had also chosen to remain beside him. Giselle reaffirms her servitude to Alto and, with her "unlimited life span", would continue to serve him forever.

## Gameplay

### Combat

#### As an Enemy

Giselle is introduced as an enemy for the first time in the latter half of Chapter 8, where the game's difficulty spikes significantly. Giselle can make short work of Alto and his Witch companions in her first encounter, if not outright defeat them in one shot with **Redline**. Since she is not a mandatory target, it is highly recommended *not* to approach her perimeter, with **Redline's** range taken into account, as she will not fight the party otherwise.

Giselle is fought as a proper boss in her final confrontation in Chapter 10 and while the player can now stand their ground and fight, they should still exercise extreme caution against her powerful arsenal of Skills. During this fight, Giselle will use **Hyperion C** a large area of effect attack that deals massive damage, she will signal its use in a turn prior by applying Aim Up on herself with **Prepare Launch** to ensure it hits. The player should disperse their units in an effort to minimize damages or prepare themselves beforehand with damage negation i.e. Barrier with Lisette's **Song of Safety**.

Because of her origins as a man-made Angel, Abilities like **Angel Killer** do not affect her.

Several Giselle copies are fought on the Moon and, while leagues bulkier at that stage of the game, are offensively inferior compared to the original Giselle, possessing a limited Skill set with only **Arm Gear** and **Redline** at their disposal.

#### As an Ally

> "*Giselle is a mechanical entity who is a skilled attacker. Due to her robotic body, she is immune to status ailments. She is not fuel-efficient, but her strength more than makes up for that deficiency.*"
>
>

> — Giselle's unit introduction
>
>

Joining in the penultimate chapter if certain conditions are met, Giselle is the final playable character to join the party roster. As demonstrated in the battles with her several times prior, Giselle has excellent well-rounded stats and joins with every Skill at her disposal, which let her hit hard at various ranges. Giselle has great defenses thanks to passive Abilities like **Interceptor System** and **Ailment Block** that give her an immunity to arrow-based attacks and all Status Changes respectively.

Her main drawback is the high SP costs of her skills and her low SP growth rate, though this can easily be remedied by Absorb Orbs which are already available by that point in the game.

### Passives

* **Counter**: (Upon joining) Retaliate upon getting attacked.
* **Ailment Block**: (Upon joining) Immunity to all ailments.
* **Interceptor System**: (Upon joining) Immune to arrow attacks.
* **Limiter Release**: (Upon joining) Turn speed increases when HP is low.
* **Reboot** (Affinity Rank Max): Gain an extra turn upon defeating an enemy. Does not trigger in succession.

## Trivia

* Giselle shares several similarities with Olympia of Etrian Odyssey and Aigis of Persona, both android-like characters originating from franchises created by Atlus; the company's American subsidiary being responsible for the US release of *Stella Glow*.

## References

1. ↑ **Giselle**: "*My energy derives only from the fake Qualia within me.*" - First Affinity conversation