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The Cold Steel collection of JRPGs — published by Nihon Falcom during the past ten years — was an ambitious undertaking, considering the quantity of personas and plot points included. It required the developer five games to fully develop these protagonists. Emma's personal narrative journey is developed in conjunction with the series' central narrative, but it's through the progressive shift in her skill set that we truly grasp the depth of her personal transformation.

Warning: Our discussion includes minor spoilers for the central plot of the Trails of Cold Steel games.

In The Legend of Heroes: Cold Steel, the character Emma is a ordinary teenager, just as the fellow pupils of Thors Academy's her class. As the representative, she's approachable to all and works to avoid any conflicts between her classmates. While Emma approaches her studies with great dedication, she leads two separate lives. In truth, she is a witch, a member of the magical Hexen family. Enrolling in the academy is one step in her underlying objective of guiding Rean, the central character of Class VII, who is fated to call forth a Divine Knight.

In all Trails of Cold Steel title, most characters have at least one special technique, a unique skill that demands you to have a sufficient quantity of skill points to use. These finishing moves are meant to be your ace in each battle. S-Crafts are additionally a way for the developers to illustrate the transformations protagonists are undergoing. They can represent the development of a individual's combat prowess, for example Rean Schwarzer’s ultimate move the skill Breaking Dawn in Trails of Cold Steel IV, which he gains after earning the designation of Divine Blade. In other cases, such as Emma’s, the developers uses ultimate abilities to express the emotional changes a individual goes through.

When the great war in the nation of Erebonia begins in Trails of Cold Steel I, Emma’s approach to the circumstances is the idealistic but reasonable notion that battle means striking. The struggle continues to the next installment in the series, where the dual ultimate skills she possesses are Albireon and Zodiac Rain. These two are offensive techniques that indiscriminately hit foes on the battlefield.

Once we have the chance to meet Emma again a second time in the third game, we witness a different girl. She has graduated from Thors, and after training with her witch community, she appears to have grasped an vital revelation about her own nature. Even though she becomes a formidable spellcaster, the character realizes that, primarily, she is a guardian. She is ready to sacrifice herself to ensure all her friends — but especially Rean — out of harm's way. Her goal to occupy this role is subtly indicated by her special ability, which in the third installment transforms into Palace of Eregion.

When you use the ultimate ability Emma's new skill, the character conjures a quartet of semi-transparent magical towers, and barriers appear joining them and encircling the combat area. The allies affected by this skill receive one or two stacks of damage immunity, a status that negates damage of all types. She had never been a belligerent character, so she shifts to a protective strategy, mirroring the caring look she had invariably extended to her friends.

It’s compelling to observe how Nihon Falcom employs a persona's skill set to enhance the series' story. RPGs frequently employ storytelling or graphics to show what a character is experiencing. But this character shows that right down to a spell can add an extra dimension of meaning.