Phyllo

"Today is the same as yesterday. Tomorrow is the same as today. Did you think that would last forever?"

- Phyllo

Phyllo (フィロ) is a mysterious floating sage with a tail. He seems to know a great deal about The World R:2 and all of its mysteries and inhabitants. Though he's one to talk rather than to fight, he can hold his own in a battle.

Appearance
Phyllo appears as a small Tu Tribe character dressed in a dark gray robe, with brown fur, blonde hair and magenta eyes. He has the ability to hover when he moves and wields a gnarled wooden staff with a carved dragon head image.

Personality
Phyllo has become a sort of landmark in The World R:2. He can almost always be found sitting on the same bridge in the Root Town of Mac Anu. People of all classes, levels, and ideals come to ask him for advice, making him one of the most well known players in the game. His level is quite high, so he is able to wander through the game without having to worry about attacks by PKers.

Basic Info
In the real world, Phyllo is a 62 year old male named Kojirou Nakamura. He lives alone with his pet dog and 2 cats. Terminally ill with cancer, he has decided to live the remainder of his life as a sage in "The World".

.hack//Roots
As one of the first people to encounter Haseo in "The World", Phyllo took it upon himself to show the young Rogue how to play the game. He advised Haseo throughout his time in the Twilight Brigade and was one of his few remaining friends after the Guild was dissolved. After Shino fell into a coma he became increasingly concerned with Haseo's increasingly erratic behavior and tried helplessly to dissuade Haseo from hunting Tri-Edge. Having encountered Tri-Edge himself, he knew that Haseo had no chance of defeating the mysterious PKer in combat. Unfortunately, Haseo saw Phyllo as nothing more than a meddling old man and frequently told him to mind his own business.

Phyllo also provided much-needed advice to Tabby. His guidance would help her find the motivation to create the Guild Paw Pad Squadron and also help her find the courage to reconnect with Haseo. However, despite the help he gave others, his mind was always fixated on Haseo. When Tawaraya reappeared in The World as the character Tohta, Phyllo encouraged him to meet with Haseo, hoping that he could give Haseo the help that he had refused from Phyllo. His plan worked, and Phyllo was able to help Haseo using Tohta as a middle-man.

When Ovan returned to The World after his long absence, one of the first characters he met with was Phyllo. Meeting at the Arche Koeln Waterfall, he told Phyllo the truth about his character. Phyllo promised that he'd take Ovan's secret to the grave. This promise would come true faster then Phyllo had expected when Phyllo's health in the real world suddenly began to worsen. Knowing the end of his life was near he contacted Tohta, who agreed to give Haseo one final message. Phyllo died shortly after, and Tohta delivered the message as promised. "Stick to your guns...Faith will always win, no matter what".

.hack//CELL
Sometime before the story began, Midori, in her Professional Victim days, met Phyllo, who asked her if she ever heard of Dragonblossom. Phyllo brought her to one of the Lost Grounds where a massive tree stood. Somewhere close to the tree Phyllo showed Midori the Dragonblossom, a one-handed broadsword curved like a bow. He then allowed her to take the sword and vanished from the area.

He briefly appeared at the end of the book where he had a short chat with Haseo about the Strange PKs that Haseo encountered and then left before a scheduled maintenance began.

.hack//G.U. Games
Before he passed away, Phyllo contacted his friend Antares, a former Arena Emperor. Giving Antares access to his character, he asked him to watch over Haseo. Phyllo told Antares about the Lost Ground Caerleon Medb and the Lost Weapons sealed inside of it. He also gave Antares a note to pass onto Haseo when he was ready. Though accepting of his fate, Phyllo seemed to find it auspicious that the Lost Ground "at the end of the world" would be his last contribution to Haseo's quest.

Long after Phyllo's death, Antares would fulfill his wish, training Haseo and bringing him to Caerleon Medb. Antares contacted Haseo through an e-mail using Phyllo's character, making Haseo believe that Phyllo was still alive and leading him to the temple. Once there, Antares revealed that he was merely following Phyllo's last wishes, and apologized for impersonating him. Afterward, he taught Haseo how to claim the Lost Weapons.

After Haseo and his party claimed the remaining Lost Weapons (excluding the 4th Phase's, as Yata had not yet awakened), Phyllo's character appeared to Haseo one last time. Initially believing him to be controlled by Antares, Haseo addresses him as such and remarks about his continued assistance. However, Phyllo voicelessly communicates the message "Haseo...Whatever you do, don't lose sight of your hope...Or yourself being happy in the future. Good luck...". Haseo realizes that this is truly Phyllo, and speculates, only to immediately rebuke, that Phyllo is still alive. He decides to leave the question for another time, then silently acknowledges to Phyllo that he heard what Phyllo wanted to tell him.

Trivia

 * The Tu Tribe characters used by Medic Union could possibly be an homage to Phyllo, who helped shape their Guild's predecessor the Paw Pad Squadron.
 * As with art for other characters in Roots, Phyllo's e-mail icon from Reminisce was silhouetted. Gord, Bset, Sakisaka, and Shino had the same thing done to them in Rebirth's Terminal Disk, as well as Carl for her Redemption theme icon.
 * He can be seen during the flashback sequence of Tabby's wedding.