Seneca

Seneca (セネカ, Seneka) is a major character from Suikoden Tactics. Seneca was an assistant of Walter who was charged with protecting Kyril on his travels through the Island Nations and Kooluk.

She had helped to take care of Walter's son, Kyril, from a young age and after Walter's death, abided by his wishes to continue to help him. As such, she would become something akin to an elder sister figure and almost a mother to the young Kyril. She would continue to accompany Kyril on his journeys throughout the Island Nations and the Kooluk Empire.

Appearance
Seneca is described as a beautiful woman. Tall and slender, she wears a sleeveless, blue qipao with black and white striping on her right leg. The colour of her dress is said to compliment her ice-cold attitude in battle and has red piping running along the sides of the slits as well as a single white line running down from the left armpit. She compliments her dress with black, heeled boots as well as black fingerless gloves.

She has green eyes and long brown hair, swept back and tied into a bun save for her fringe, which is brushed towards the left side of her face, almost covering her right eye.

Personality
Seneca held a sharp wit and had a way with words, always prepared with a snappy remark. She is also said to have had a refreshing, care-free personality, which contrasted greatly with that of the much more serious Andarc who she would constantly tease. She would frequently admonish Andarc for his tense nature and his over-apologetic tendencies around Kyril. She had developed feelings for Andarc, working together over the years, but managed to keep them hidden.

That said, her sharp tongue had its limits. She would act deferential to Princess Flare, refusing to call her just "Flare" or even "Miss Flare".

Although she had filled the role of Kyril's surrogate mother, especially after the loss of Walter, she disliked the comparison being made opaquely as she had become somewhat sensitive about her age.

Biography
Seneca was a crossbow user who worked alongside Andarc under Walter in the Scarlet Moon Empire and would later aid in his investigation of Rune Cannons following his exile. She accompanied Walter on his travels in Razril as well as in Middleport where she had something of a personality clash with the unhelpful Sigurd. When Walter decided to fight alongside Brandeau and Edgar against Steele, he charged Seneca with protecting Kyril and with raising him if he did not return.

Kyril would manage to sneak away with his father on board Edgar's vessel, leading him to be caught in the explosion of Steele's Rune Cannon. The next three years saw Seneca, Andarc and Yohn take care of Kyril following his injuries in the explosion. Once Kyril was well enough to resume their mission, it was Seneca's search for information that brought them back to Middleport and their first encounter with Iskas. She would also back up Andarc's lie that Walter was an engineer and would reaffirm her desire to accompany Kyril once he stated his goal was to destroy the rune cannon that killed his father.

Knowing that Andarc kept a private diary of the groups travels, Seneca would imitate him by declaring her intention to keep a diary of her own, surprising him greatly. She gave up on this after only a few days, regarding the experiment as as a hassle before turning Andarc's questioning around on him by accusing him of wanting to read her work. During their travels, she would also form a friendship with Princess Flare, but found it very difficult to drop the honorific from her name, even on Flare's request. However, she found it easier to maintain a more casual friendship with Corselia, likely due to Seneca not knowing of her royal lineage when they first met. The two got along really well, Seneca even teaching her how to cook, something she had never learned in in her time as a princess.

She would continue to fight alongside Kyril, counselling him and comforting him when necessary, such as when the true reason behind Walter's search for the rune cannons was revealed in the wake of Heinz's death. During their travels, Kyril would thank Seneca for helping to take care and raise him, although he also stated that he never saw Seneca as a direct replacement for his mother, much to her relief.

Following the destruction of the Evil Eye, Seneca would return to the Scarlet Moon Empire with Kyril and Andarc, helping the needy. Once Kyril vanished, she would apparently continue to work with Andarc as Corselia's report on his whereabouts was addressed to them both but it is unknown if their relationship ever changed beyond their familiar work-related partnership.

Game info
As an archer, Seneca can attack from a distance but is unable to attack enemies immediately adjacent to her. Since she uses a ranged weapon, she is a good choice to open treasure chests without taking her too far away from the main battle. As she is a little weak in terms of STR, a physical rune may be a good idea to offset this. As a bow user, she can equip the Hawk Rune whose Level 2 Spell Strong Arm allows her to inflict 50% more damage with one attack with 100% accuracy. As every character, equipping her with her Elemental Sword Rune is also a good idea. She is a versatile character with several cooperation attack options and good will partners but she should be kept out of danger due to her somewhat fragile PDF stat.

Her default skills, Sniper and Battle Lust, are good skills to prioritise as they play to her strengths, allowing her to attack more often from a distance. Bull's Eye and Critical Hit are also skills that boost her physical strength even more and allow her to deal a lot of damage from a distance. She can also learn the versatile skill Extra Move which makes Seneca usable in Hit-and-Run tactics. Her other skills can mostly be neglected: Dodge and and Hidden Power only serve as last resorts as you should keep her from danger at all costs, and with a JMP stat fo 2, she can reach most platforms without learning the Jump skill.

Name and Weapon
Seneca was the name of a Roman philosopher and politician who was a tutor and advisor to Emperor Nero before being forced to commit suicide under suspicion of conspiracy against the emperor. The name comes from the Latin cognomen "senectus" meaning "old". Seneca is also the name of a Native American tribe from the Great Lakes region of North America, the name meaning "place of stones" in this instance.

Seneca's crossbow names, "Honeybee", "Wasp" and "Hornet", are each insects of the hymenoptera order, the third largest order of insects in the animal kingdom.