Felt Blanchimont is the main male protagonist of Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny. He also appears in the spin-off title Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World.
Felt was born and raised in Eden, and is a budding alchemy student. Orphaned at a young age, he was raised with Viese Blanchimont at the Eden Temple. Always curious, he prefers playing with swords over studying. He had long dreamed about the legendary land of Belkhyde.
Throughout the game, Felt is depicted as a calm, cool young man with warm attitude and always with a smile. He is very curious, and is very gentle towards everyone he meets. Although sometimes he let emotions guide his head, he is a man with strong sense of justice, as he told Fee, he was unable to see anyone suffering. He is a man of forgive and forget. Felt is also surprisingly courageous, as seen when he confronts Chaos inside Altena's Church, at the Gardo Continental Device.
He is also able to gain respect and trust from his allies, and eventually, his strong sense of justice is approved by Azure Azoth, deeming him worthy to destroy Crimson Azoth and save the two worlds.
In later game, Felt expressed his envy towards Noin, who had a father. Deep inside, Felt is kind of lonely since he was orphaned at a young age, and he never knew who his parents were. Although rare, there are some moments when Felt thought about who his parents could be, and in a flashback, he is seen of telling Viese that he would protect her like a father would.
Story[]
Felt's story begins when he was found by Viese on the Belkhyde Gate, the latter got angry because he forgot his promise to come to her establishment as a full-fledged alchemist. To make up for his mistake in forgetting his promise, he accompanied Viese to make her first pact with Dour, the Wood Mana, toward the Marmel Forest. Along the path, once again of so many times, Felt came across the Azure Azoth, a mystical sword with red glowing orb in the middle of the hilt. Felt told Viese how much he admired the sword, and he once again, tried to unsheath the Azoth out of its resting place. Failing to do so, he responded that as usual, it even didn't move. After making a pact with Dour, they were about to take their leave when a great earthquake immediately shook Eden, and as the quake subsided, the pair was surprised when they saw a large crater in a place where the Great Tree of Dour was once. Viese advised that they should go to the Eden Temple, where they should meet Kreuz.
Along the way, he came across the Azure Azoth once again. He was surprised that he could hear the voice of the sword, and he asked Viese if she could hear the same voice he heard. Viese responded negatively, saying that she didn't hear any voice. Once again, curiosity take over, and Felt tried again to pull the sword out. Much to his and Viese's surprise, he did manage to pull the sword off. He then heard the Azoth talked to him, and although he did not understand, the Azoth told him that indeed, Eden will soon pace towards the crisis. He then sheathed it as his possession, and he returned to the Eden Temple.
Kreuz then personally talked to Felt, when Felt volunteered himself to investigate the cause of the quake and the disappearance of Mana Holy Grounds. Kreuz accepted his offer, but then he asked about Viese. Felt was startled, and he said that he caught Viese crying when she knew that Felt is leaving to Belkhyde. Steeling his heart, he knew he had to go. He then set out to the Belkhyde Gate, and Viese gave him the Share Ring she received from Kreuz. Promising Viese once again to come back, he then left for the new world.
Landing in desert, Felt could not withstand the weather and immediately collapsed from heat-stroke. Fortunately, Noin came across him in her search for another member to join her cause. He was taken to the Simsilt HQ in Tatalia Village, and there he was tended until he became healthy again. He then asked Noin about Eden, however Eden is a strange word to the brunette. Felt had not given hope, he then met with the mayor of Tatalia Village only to receive the news of the capture of Max. Noin, surprised, then headed to the West Regenbogen right away with Felt tailing behind her. Noin rejected the notion of having Felt helping her, saying that it's her own problem, but Felt insisted that he must repay her kindess. Giving in, Felt then headed out to the West Regenbogen with Noin.
Getting in with Noin's charms, Felt then headed to the back alley of Riesevelt. There, he met with a bartender who told her the way to get in to Great Lighthouse, where Max was being held. The pair then headed toward the Great Lighthouse, but the gate was tightly locked. They then headed to the Central Park, meeting with a boy named Naru, who apparently know a secret passage to the Great Lighthouse. Naru indeed knew, however he refused to let Felt know where it is until he brought a flower that gets cold when touched. Felt then asked the boy if he could be referring to a Huffin, since Huffin is a flower that gets cold when stroked or touched. He then returned to the Camp, writing a letter to Viese asking her to get a blooming Huffin.
Abilities[]
Felt has a great potential in alchemy, although he devoted himself more to sword playing than studying. His natural talents in swordmanship was very apparent, as he wields the Azoth easily despite the fact he has little experience on real fighting. He is very adept at practical study, as seen when he could do weapon synthesis despite the fact that he is not a full-fledged alchemist, and he could do blacksmithing taught by Hagel only once. Game-wise, he is the only character able to do weapon synthesis. Viese also once pointed out that Felt is able to use elemental extraction less in a week, making his talent in alchemy very apparent as well.
In Battle[]
Felt is a naturally blessed character, with competent growth both in magic and strength. His HP growth was impressive, although his HP is far below compared to Gray. Game-wise, Felt is a very balanced character with high damage output and a balanced cap of HP and Defense. Although his Charge and Break Attack would be classified as Physical Attacks, he is able to inflict damage toward Ghost-type enemies, whereas other physical oriented characters (such as Noin, Fee or even Gray) aren't able to deal damage toward Ghost-type enemies, resulting in an invalid attack. This trait is one of Felt's biggest advantage, as he is able to take on enemies classified as solid being or spirit being. His most valuable point would be the fact that he can equip Viese's Charm, a piece of equipment exclusive for him in the early stages of the game that enables him to gain the "Extra Blow" secret factor.
Stats-wise, Felt's highest growth on stat is his Attack point, enabling him to deal high amount of damage in short time. Felt is also quite fast, although slower than Fee. Resistance-wise, Felt is weak against Dark element since his Dark Resistance is the lowest.
Etymology[]
His name, Felt, is the past form of the word 'feel'; 'Felt' is also an Old English word rooting from several old languages including Proto-Germany and Proto-Indo-European. While this may not have any association with the character, his last name, Blanchimont, may rooted from the word blanche. Blanche is an old French word meaning "white", and curiously enough, blanche is a feminine form of blanc. Or, it could be concluded that Blanchimont was rooted from the world blanc, the masculine form of blanche to more suit Felt as a male rather than blanche.
In German language however, felt means "square". This could allude to the scene where Felt pulled the Azoth out of its resting place, the Azoth Square in Marmel Forest.
Trivia[]
- Apparently, Felt's main counterpart is Chaos. For instance, both of them wield Azoths (Azure Azoth and Crimson Azoth).
- Despite his talents in both synthesizing Mana Item and Weapon Synthesis, he cannot do alchemic synthesis in-game.
- Felt is the second tallest male playable character in the game, standing at 169 cm.
- He and Viese are the only character able to extract elements from the enemies if they deal the killing blow.
- Felt also holds the distinct honor to be the first Atelier protagonist to wield a traditional sword.
- Max, with his horrible memory, called Felt at least ten different names, one including "Klein", a tribute to the protagonist of the previous title, Klein Kiesling.
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