- "Oh, the tragedy! It moves me to the depths of my soul!" —Simeon, revealing his true colors
Simeon is a character in Octopath Traveler. Although he works as a poet and playwright known for his dramas and tragedies, he also secretly leads the criminal organization known as the Obsidians, who orchestrated the murder of Geoffrey Azelhart. As such, he is the main antagonist and final boss of Primrose's story.
Profile[]
Appearance[]
Simeon has long silver hair tied in a braid and wears a coat and black cape. The mark of the crow is on his neck, which he conceals with a cravat.
Personality[]
Simeon initially appears to be a considerate gentleman for whom Primrose has had affection since childhood. However, he later reveals himself to be a cunning psychopath who uses his charisma as a façade to mask his true personality - an extremely sadistic man who enjoys using other humans as his playthings, deriving pleasure from watching their lives fall apart. He adores art and theatre for its tragic aspects, is a passionate poet and playwright himself with a specialty in writing tragedies, and refurbished the castle of his former kingdom into a massive amphitheatre. He seems to enjoy the challenge of psychologically breaking those with strong wills, a fact that furthered his unhealthy obsession with Primrose.
Simeon also reveals himself to be rather nihilistic, as he believes that pain is the only thing that truly matters in life. He lives only to ruin the lives of others, and seems content to kill or be killed by Primrose. Although he retains his eloquent manner of speaking even after his true colors are revealed, during his final confrontation with Primrose, Simeon's cordial façade eventually collapses in his unhinged joy in tormenting her, questioning her motives, and pressuring her to resign herself to a life of never-ending, lonely despair.
Story[]
 |
(I don't think this is where I should be going at the moment...) The following section contains potential story spoilers! |
126 years prior to the events of Octopath Traveler, the Ventus Dynasty, a kingdom in Everhold in the Highlands, fell into civil war after the death of Ventus the Third's son. The younger brother, son of the queen, battled for the throne against his older half-brother, the bastard son of the king's mistress. Simeon, the younger brother, emerged victorious, but he later went missing that same year. At an unknown time, he received the blessing of agelessness from Lyblac.
Simeon met Mattias, a former priest who had lost his faith after his loved ones perished, 11 years later; and Ceraphina, a woman who swore vengeance upon the man who unfairly demonized and executed his grandfather. Both Mattias and Ceraphina had also met Lyblac, who bestowed upon them the power of agelessness. But while Ceraphina followed her own agenda (first giving Simeon the Thief's Ring), Mattias and Simeon co-established the criminal organization known as the Obsidians, of which Simeon became the leader. At some point, Simeon met Auguste, a fellow playwright, and gave him the Thief's Ring.
11 years prior to the events of Octopath Traveler, Simeon was employed as a gardener for the Azelhart family in Noblecourt. There he met Primrose, who grew attached to him, spending time with him and listening to his poems. Unbeknownst to Primrose, however, Simeon headed the Obsidians who were working to ruin her household.
A year later, alongside his men Albus and Rufus, Simeon murdered Primrose's father, Geoffrey Azelhart, for possessing knowledge about the Gate of Finis.
Ten years later, in the events of Octopath Traveler, Simeon returns to Noblecourt in order to meet Primrose, expressing his delight that she has become such a beautiful young woman. However, following Albus's death at the hands of Primrose and her comrades, Simeon appears in the room after Revello departs, evidently by a secret entrance. He stabs Primrose, revealing his role in her father's death as "the head of the crows," before leaving her to die or survive by chance.
Afterward, Simeon returns to Everhold and prepares a play that is a mockery of Primrose's life down to the last detail, an attempt to distract her from exacting her vengeance. When she confronts him on the balcony, he meddles with her mind and attempts to convince her that vengeance would disappoint her father. Primrose overcomes his insidious words and exacts her revenge, recognizing that he speaks out of a desire to psychologically break her rather than any concern for her well-being. Simeon, in his mad quest for drama, sees this as a beautifully tragic end to her story and welcomes Primrose's dagger into his heart.
Simeon is fought twice:
- The first fight is as Simeon.
- The second fight as the Simeon, the Puppet Master.
During the first phase of his boss battle, Simeon will fight alongside a Father Marionette and a Dancer Marionette. If Simeon is defeated before the marionettes, the boss battle will end.
Simeon will begin battle with 3 shields, but will increase them by 2 after recovering from a break, up to a maximum of 7 shields. He occasionally will not act during his turn.
When a marionette drops below 50% health, Simeon will activate an aura that powers up its moves and increases its actions per turn to 2. This effect can be applied to both marionettes and cannot be removed.
- Simeon strikes a pose...: Used when Simeon recovers from the first two breaks. Each recovery increases Simeon's shields by 2, up to a maximum of 7.
- Attack: Physical attack, single target.
- Dramatic Build: Elemental damage,
. Single target. - Rondo of Stillness: Elemental damage, . Single target. Chance to inflict Silence for 2-5 turns.
- Simeon sits back and enjoys the show...: Simeon does nothing.
- Well...shall we dance? // Dark shadows surround Simeon...: Simeon enters boost mode for 1 turn. Uses Serenade to the Darkness if not broken before Simeon's next action.
- Serenade to the Darkness: Heavy elemental damage, . Targets entire party.
- Serenade to the Darkness: Heavy elemental damage,
- Come, my shadowy friends!: Used when a marionette is at XX% of its maximum HP. Increases the actions per turn of a marionette to two. Unlocks additional abilities for the marionette for the remainder of the battle.
- AttA!cK: Physical attack, single target.
- ??Sw3Ep: Physical attack, targets entire party.
- Sl1cE---!: Physical attack, single target.
- ArM0r??CrUSh: Physical attack, single target. Chance to inflict Decreased Physical Defense for 3 turns.
Father Marionette will uses the following abilities once the effects of Simeon's Come, my shadowy friends! has been applied:
- AttAcKKKK: Physical attack, single target.
- CruSH?: Physical attack, single target. Chance to inflict Unconsciousness for 2-3 turns.
- CraZeD StRike!: Heavy physical attack, single target.
- Atttck: Physical attack, single target
- SiCKenING OdE: Elemental damage, . Targets entire party.
- LioN D3ATH!!!: Augments single foe with Increased Physical Attack for 3 turns.
- FuNErEAL?DanC3: Augments single foe with Increased Physical Defense for 3 turns.
Dancer Marionette will uses the following abilities once the effects of Simeon's Come, my shadowy friends! has been applied:
- !!!kcattA: Physical attack, single target
- StrANgL3: Physical attack, single target. Restores health by damage inflicted.
- ???L0Se ConTrOL???: Physical attack, targets random allies. Hits 4-6 times.
Simeon will fight alone during the second phase of his boss battle. At 50% health, he will increase his actions per turn to 3.
He will begin battle with 6 shields (4 when fought at The Gate of Finis), but will increase them by 2 after recovering from a break, for a total of 10 shields (8 when fought at The Gate of Finis). He will also change weaknesses after recovering from a break, in the pattern shown above.
Simeon will begin with all but one weakness locked. After each break, he will unlock another weakness, with Dark (the only weakness present in all sets of weaknesses) being the last weakness to unlock.
During the latter half of the battle, Simeon will use Future Denied, which conceals the party's turn order for the rest of battle. Simeon's actions will still be visible, and the amount of actions each party member receives is unaffected.
Simeon is able to inflict silence on the entire party. It is recommended to bring an Apothecary and equip at least one party member with an Articulate Stone.
- Simeon flashes a leery smile...: Used at the beginning of battle. Sets Simeon, the Puppet Master's weaknesses to the following:
- You can spot a crack in Simeon's defenses...: Used whenever Simeon, the Puppet Master recovers from a break. The following effects occur:
- Simeon changes weakness sets in the order shown below. He will not return to his original set of weaknesses.
- After each of the first two breaks, Simeon will increase his shields by 2, up to a maximum of 10.
- After each of the first three breaks, Simeon changes which weaknesses are locked in the order below. After the fourth break, all weaknesses are unlocked.
- Always followed by Master of Silence
- Simeon changes weakness sets in the order shown below. He will not return to his original set of weaknesses.
- Attack: Physical attack, single target.
- Silence Comes: Elemental damage, . Single target. Chance to inflict Silence for 2-5 turns.
- Boiling Blood: Buff. Targets self. Simeon gains Increased Physical Attack and Increased Elemental Attack for 4 turns.
- Hushed Melody: Elemental damage, . Targets entire party.
- Give yourself to the darkness!: Used once Simeon, the Puppet Master reaches 50% of his maximum HP. Simeon increases his actions per turn to three. Unlocks use of the following abilities:
- Act of Impulse: Heavy physical attack, single target.
- Shredded Fortunes: Debuff. Targets entire party. Inflicts Decreased Physical Defense and Decreased Elemental Defense for 4 turns.
- Future Denied // There is no telling who will act when!: Used once Simeon, the Puppet Master reaches 50% of his maximum HP. Effect persists for the rest of the battle and cannot be removed. The following effects occur:
- Ally action order per turn is obscured.
- Simeon's action order remains visible.
- Quiet down! I'm trying to enjoy the show...: Simeon, the Puppet Master enters boost mode for 1 turn. Uses Master of Silence if not broken before his next turn.
- Master of Silence: Debuff. Inflicts Silence on entire party. Also used the action immediately after Simeon recovers from a break, You can spot a crack in Simeon's defenses...
- Master of Silence: Debuff. Inflicts
Quotes[]
- "Well...shall we dance?" —Before using Serenade to the Darkness
- "Come, my shadowy friends!" —Powering up a marionette
- "Give yourself to the darkness!" —Increasing turn actions
- "Quiet down! I'm trying to enjoy the show..." —Before using Master of Silence
- "And when the moon waxes full and bright in dark heaven, and stars glitter worlds away from earthly sorrow, Would that Sleep hold you in her soft embrace. Then shall my eyes close, lips open in prayer, For it is only in dreams that we may meet again." —To Primrose
- "I will tell you the only joy I have found in life... Watching the lives of others fall apart." —In Everhold Amphitheatre
- "That moment - that glorious instant when I see a man, a woman lose all hope. That is the only time I feel truly alive." —In Everhold Amphithreatre
- "The depths of emotion that burn in those eyes...!" —To Primrose
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Simeon's name is derived from the Hebrew name Shim'on, who was the second son of Jacob and Leah.
- Simeon is one of only two bosses in the game to have more than one separate battle (the other being Galdera, the final boss), making him unique as the only story boss to have multiple phases.
- With his battle spanning two phases, Simeon has the highest total amount of HP out of all of the Chapter 4 bosses.
- Simeon, the Puppet Master always targets Primrose with his first two attacks. His shadowy Gate of Finis counterpart does the same, provided that Primrose is in the party.
- The battle with Simeon during his first phase can be considered a parallel to the fight with Helgenish, as both bosses sit in chairs while other enemies back them up.
- Information regarding Simeon's identity is present only in the official Octopath Traveler guidebook. It is difficult, if not impossible, to draw the conclusion that he does not age based on game events alone.
- Despite his attempt at her life, it is implied that Simeon had feelings for Primrose, as his play ends with him convincing her to give up revenge and live together with him. When defeated, he claims that the depths of Primrose's heart are more beautiful than he could have ever imagined. However, his feelings for Primrose are warped by an unhealthy obsession with her suffering, rather than healthy affection and empathy.
- The English and Japanese versions of Simeon's death play out quite differently. While the English version portrays him as a madman who wants to see the conclusion of the drama he created come to an end, the Japanese version has him realize the error of his ways and the distress he caused to Primrose. Rather than encouraging her to give in to her hate, he accepts his defeat and asks Primrose to put him out of his misery for both of their sakes.
- Simeon is the only boss in Primrose's story weak to .
- Simeon is also the only boss in Primrose's story not weak to .
- Simeon is also the only boss in Primrose's story not weak to
- Along with his direct role as main antagonist of Primrose's story, Simeon is an indirect antagonist in both Ophilia and Tressa's stories — he worked with Mattias to co-establish the Obsidians and supported Mattias's crusade against the Sacred Flame, and Esmeralda is a member of the Obsidians.
- The diary of Geoffrey Azelhart, found in the Gate of Finis and containing his thoughts post-death, implies that Simeon was a double agent from the start, taking the job of gardener at House Azelhart so that he could spy on its lord.
- Despite Simeon's alias as "the Puppet Master," the post-game reveals that he himself was a pawn to Lyblac.
- In Champions of the Continent, Simeon disappears and cannot be interacted with as an NPC if Primrose is the party leader, but will return if she is swapped out. Likewise, any cutscene where he appears will have another traveler stand in as the Chosen One if Primrose is the party leader. Both occurrences are intentional, as Champions of the Continent is a prequel and Primrose does not canonically meet Simeon until chapter 3 of her main story.
- In Primrose's Chapter 3, Simeon describes Noblecourt as a "stuffy town" from which he was eager to depart. He goes on to explain that he "set out on a journey across the realm" in order to search for Primrose, implying that he spent the last ten years stalking her.
- According to Primrose, Simeon sang her songs and poems in the dark days proceeding her father's death.
- In Primrose's Chapter 4, Simeon claims ownership of the Everhold Amphitheatre, claiming that he visits occasionally to enjoy "the crowds and the ambiance."
- Simeon's clothes change colors between his various sprites. His character sprite has a black coat and white-gray pants, his first boss sprite wears a blue coat and white pants, and his final boss sprite sports a gray coat and dark pants.
- In other to reflect the past he shares with Primrose, Simeon's boss spite was designed with some sway in his step.[1]
References[]
- ↑ The Art of Octopath Traveler 2016-2020, page 118.