Syd

Syd
Biological Information
Age	30
Physical Information
Gender	Male
Other
Appears In	Gravity Rush Gravity Rush 2
Voice actor	Go Shinomiya

Syd is a major character in Gravity Rush and its sequel. He appears quite often throughout both games and is the third person whom Kat meets after waking up in Hekseville, after Aujean and Eugie.

Biography

Template:Spoiler At the beginning of the game, Syd is a police officer. Later on in the game, the police force merges with the military after D'nelica becomes mayor.

When Kat first meets Syd, he is getting beat up by a couple of bandits. Kat comes in and saves him. Kat however isn't interested in what he has to say at this point, and ignores him as she checks out the wanted poster for Raven.

Syd is the one who gives Kat her name, as she couldn't remember her own.

Throughout the game Syd's path crosses with Kat's multiple times, most notably when the situation involves Alias, and he often benefits from Kat's heroism.

In Gravity Rush 2, it is revealed that Syd was one of Kat's attendants during her time in Eto as Queen Alua. He was stabbed in the back and cast from Eto along with Kat immediately prior to the first game's opening. Additionally, he is revealed to be the true identity of Alias.

He possesses a device that allows him to control the Nevi. It bears a resemblance to the symbol on Alias' shirt collar. It is first shown briefly during the climax of the first game in the comic strip intro of Episode 21, but in Gravity Rush 2, he unveils its true power, the ability to control Nevi.

Personality

Although his actions don't suggest it, Syd is highly intelligent as he seems to know a lot more about the Nevi than anyone else, as well as Kat's past and her origins. He is the one on the police force who comes up with all sorts of weird and crazy schemes in order to catch Alias, plans which even his colleagues seem to like for some reason.

Syd is also very gifted when it comes to craftsmanship; over the course of the series, he has made two replicas of Sacred Gems, patched up Kat's main outfit, and built a device he calls "The Miracle Hand". He has even built robotic copies of his Alias persona behind the scenes.

He expresses great confidence in his plans, which is likely what got him promoted, even though these usually tend to be ill-conceived and a sign for trouble for Kat. During Gravity Rush Overture, he considers himself to be the brains rather than the brawn, to which Kat dryly snarks that he is neither.

Despite his talents and intelligence, Syd is quite the lounger. Often, he will send Kat away to do his jobs for him, only to once again take full credit for her efforts. In particular, Misai expresses a deep dislike towards Syd because of his methods of getting out of doing any work.

Though subtle, he is also quite excitable in certain instances. One can tell when Syd is excited when a comic panel he is in starts to load up with speech bubbles.

Relationships

Kat/Alua

He is the second character that Kat helps, and in turn gave her the name she goes by. Syd is actually the first character that Kat befriends, and the two bond throughout the series. He tends to use Kat as an instrument for his schemes, which most of the time ends with him getting all of the credit. He always seems to know where to be when Kat's help is needed. As Kat states numerous times, asking her for help is a sign for trouble. That said, he does look out for Kat, and he does have her back when she needs help herself, even going as far as to commit treason to save her from the military. Syd usually ends up on the receiving end of Kat's dry and snarky comments, but they still value each other's friendship.

Syd was also one of Alua's (Kat's true name) servants when she ruled Eto as queen. The dynamic between them during this time was more akin to a Lady and Knight. Syd was the only person in the kingdom who took Alua's side when she learned of the swirling black hole at the bottom of the world, and wanted to help the people below. Kat actually repressed her memories as Alua after seeing Syd die right before her eyes.

Gravity Rush 2 reveals that Syd created the Alias persona in order to help Kat gain the trust and respect of the locals by acting as a villain for her sake, and to ready her for the darkness underneath Hekseville. This is likely why most of his contributions to the story took place behind the scenes.

Appearances

Gravity Rush

• Episode 2: Shadows Over the City
• Episode 3: Home Sweet Home
• Episode 4: The Hekseville Phantom
• Episode 9: Letting Old Ghosts Die
• Episode 17: Fading Light
• Episode 20: An Unguarded Moment
• Episode 21: No Rest For the Virtuous

Syd also plays a large role in the Spy Pack DLC, appearing in both episodes.

Gravity Rush 2

Syd appears in every episode (barring Episode 9: And the Soldier's Wife?) prior to returning to Hekseville, and isn't seen again until Episode 23: Lamentations. He later appears in:

• Episode 26: A Song Without Voice
• Episode 27: Black Cat

Trivia

• Appearing in the opening cutscene, Syd is actually the first major character introduced in Gravity Rush, and one of two major characters (the other being Raven) to be introduced before the main protagonist.
  • He is the fourth character after Aujean, Eugie, and Raven to have his name revealed before giving Kat her nickname.
• According to the Gravity Rush 2 Complete Guide, Syd is 30 years old.
• It was widely believed early on by many fans that Syd was indeed Alias. This is brought on by the fact that Syd and Alias are never seen together, among other oddities.
• Kat reveals in Gravity Rush: The Animation - Overture that Syd is a wine enthusiast.
• Due to how important Syd's role would ultimately be in the game, Syd never appeared in any trailers for Gravity Rush 2, likely to avoid spoiling the story.

Gallery

Gravity-rush-nov-20.jpg

Syd holding a Sacred Gem

Syd in comic book form

How Syd looks in game

How Syd looks in Gravity Rush 2

Syd's dialogue picture in Gravity Rush 2

Dialogue portrait 2

Dialogue portrait 3