Gemma (Secret of Mana)

Gemma, also known as Jema prior to the 3D remake, is a major supporting character in Secret of Mana and a recurring character in the Mana series.

Background
A seasoned knight from the Republic of Tasnica, Gemma travels the world investigating the various events that have occurred since the rise of the Empire. As monsters begin to appear, he soon finds himself acting as a mentor to the young Randi when he learns that the boy has acquired the Mana Sword. His true past remains a mystery.

Secret of Mana
Gemma is first seen at Potos' pub as mentioned by a young bystander. The mysterious stranger doesn't answer back upon being interacted. It is only when Randi falls into the Mantis Ant lair alongside Elliott that he tries to help defeat the creature by instructing the young lad to look for an opening. After vanquishing the giant insect, Gemma pulls the two boys out of their misery and introduces himself to Randi. The old knight seems intrigued to see the Mana Sword in the hands of such a young man and finds this troublesome since the sword can only be retrieved by a knight when the world is in peril. He notes that something must be wrong with the holy blade since Randi seems too young to bear such a responsability. The young lad tries to give him the weapon, but Gemma refuses, stating that the sword has lost its power and must be restored and only the one who pulled it free can do that. He then advices the burgeoning hero to visit Sage Luka at the Water Palace, as she as protected the neighboring lands for more than two hundred years. Gemma adds that he'll be waiting for him at the fated destination before taking off.

After heading to the Water Palace, the old knight is seen waiting for Randi at the entrance, immediately heading inside after interacting with the hero. While exploring the temple, the young hero seems lost and decides to ask a young maiden Luka’s whereabouts. Gemma reprimands the lad for being so casual and properly introduces Luka to Randi, who is shocked to see a young girl being at least 200 years old. Gemma then informs the sage that monsters are invading villages. Luka replies that she is aware of that since the ebb and flow of water brings me news from around the world. It’s because Mana’s power is growing weak that the young hero was able to remove the sword and when he did, the balance of Mana in this area shifted and made monsters reappear. Luka adds that there are enemies that seek to steal away the power of the legendary blade. By defeating those creatures, Randi can restore the power inside the sword kept inside orbs, just like the one the young lad found upon defeating Mantis Ant. The sage continues by telling Randi to seek the hidden orbs that can power up the blade and find someone that can forge the sword by releasing its stored power. She then wishes Gemma goodbye as he heads out to Pandora to seek an audience with the king and warns him about the Empire’s schemes to revives the Mana Fortress. Randi is surprised to hear about the same name mentioned in fairy tales, but Luka reframes it by telling him that the Mana Fortress is real. She adds that the Empire is going to unlock the seals from the world’s eight Mana Seeds, remarking that strangers have already been lurking around the Water Palace. Before leaving, Gemma advises Randi to head for Gaia’s Navel where he will find Dwarves that are knowledgeable about weapons.

Making a stop in Pandora, Randi inquires about Gemma's whereabouts and learns from the town's gatekeeper that he has come from his hometown of Tasnica to make an audience with the King inside the castle. The young hero visits the throne room and finds the old knight discussing grave news with his majesty. He then explains that a witch called Elinee has been draining pandoran citizen's life energy for some unknown purpose. Once their eneergy is consumed, victims gather lifelessly near the southern ruins. Gemma continues by telling Randi to hurry up to Gaia's Navel and to not follow him, as this town has become dangerous. He then left the premises to investigate the ruins.

Sometime later after retrieving Undine and Gnome's powers, Luka comments that Gemma hasn't returned from Pandora and suspects foul play in the ruins to the south. This prompts the party to investigate the ancient structure, where they enventually meet Thanatos, the evil sorcerer responsible for collecting the townsfolk's life energy. The party successfully lifts the curse by defeating Wall Face and encounter Gemma among the drained victims. The old knight comments that he let his guard down and that Thanatos is one of the Empire's best and most fearsome generals. While he doesn't quite understand their motive behind such underhand tactics since they don't need Thanatos for breaking the seals and resurrect the Mana Fortress, he aknowledges that the evil sorcerer's presence is certainly cause for deep concerns. He suggests Randi, Primm and Popoi to return to the Water Palace while he's off to the Underground Palace.

After lifting the curse afflicting the kingdom and returning yet again to Luka for guidance, they find a distressed maiden claiming that the Seed of Water has been stolen. She senses the seed's whereabouts deep within Gaia's Navel and urges the protagonists to get it back before it falls into the wrong hands. The party rushes back to Dwarf Village where they find Gemma and the Dwarf Elder contemplating a large hole in the center. The old knight explains that the thieves are below and that they are after the Mana Seed in the Underground Palace. He then tells the party that he'll protect the palace while the party investigate the hole while urging them to be careful down below. One the heroes have retrived the water seed and thwarted the robbers, Gemma is nowhere to be seen and presumed to have left for his hometown.

After visiting several locations and synchronizing with seven of the eight Mana Seeds, the party visit the Republic of Tasnica in seach of Sage Joch. There they meet with Gemma again who bare recognizes Randi for he has matured so much. He informs the trio that the Republic is being infiltrated by an imperial spy who seems to be after their chancellor. He then advise to be on the lookout while he and his comrades try to suss out the operative. As the party meets with the Tasnican chancellor, the are immediately accused of being spies themselves and sentenced to be executed. Gemma irrupts amidst the commotion, claiming that the so-called chancellor cannot be him as he casts no shadow, effectively revealing him as fake. The impostor then casts a teleporting spell, sending the soldier and Gemma outside the castle as a last resort, engaging the party into a fight while attempting for the heroes the slay the real chancellor during the brawl. His plan fails and the head of state is saved, forcing the perpetrator to escape. The real Tasnican chancellor thanks the heroes and tells them that he has his doubts when Gemma told him that a child was in possession of the Mana Sword at first, but that Randi has proven himself to be a real hero. After being rewarded a Sword Orb by the chancellor, Gemma recommends Randi, Primm and Popoi to not let their guard down and that skill alone does not make a hero. The old knight speculates that the empire must be close to revive the Mana Fortress if it is making overt attempts to take over the republic and that he must not let that happen since it's his mission. He then advises to seek Sage Joch's guidance and learn about true courage before leaving the room.

The seasoned knight is seen again waitin at the entrance of the now fulled emerged Mana Palace after the Empire successfully broke the eight Mana seals. He infoms the heroes by telling them the sunked continent has resurfaced, along with it the Mana Fortress. He's gathered troops from around the world in an attempt to stop the empire from using the fortress and urges the heroes to find the ancient city lying below the Grand Palace while they make an offensive. He then adds that Emperor Vandole made a pact with Mavolia, the underwold, and made the place chock-full with monsters. If they want to stop the emperor, the Mana Sword needs to be fully restored. The party then leave Gemma and his troops fighting outside while they venture deeper into the ancient structure.

After failing to prevent the Empire from operating the Mana Fortress, Gemma is seen standing near the entrance to the Mana Palace, whose entire structure has now sunk into the ocean once again. The old knight seems deeply concerned by the fact that the fortress is now roaming free in the sky and that the Mana Sword has yet to be restored. According to legend, the Mana Beast will soon appear and the world will fall in the crossfire between the legendary creature and the fortress. He advises the party to not lose hope and to remember what Sage Joch said. At the edge of the world lies a sealed realm called Pure Land who can now be landed on by Flammie since the Mana fog has been depleted by the Mana Fortress. He then mentions that the seeds the sword synchronized with are part of the Mana Tree itself and that Randi should be able to merge the holy blade with the tree itself and bring it to its full power. His last words are to be careful since no human has set foot in the sacred realm.

Gemma's last appearance is at the end of the game where he greets Randi and Primm visiting his hometown.

Circle of Mana
Gemma makes a cameo appearance in the online game, along with several Secret of Mana characters.

Physical appearance
Gemma is depicted as a tall, yet husky old man with short silvery lilac hair and neatly trimmed beard. His 3D remake artwork shows him wearing an elaborate silver plated armor with a chainmail underneath. A yellow cape adorns his back, as with matching loincloth and fabric covering the back of his legs. He wears long multi-tiered leather boots decorated with embroidery, laces and gold buckles. His weapon of choice is a longsword with gold ricasso, cross-guard and pommel with silver ridged grip.

Personality
Gemma is a typical calm and collected seasoned knight who also act as the primary adviser to Randi, along with Luka. His experience in combat proves that he has mastered physical prowess and wisdom through his numerous peregrinations and that his actions are for the most part carefully pondered. He is proven to have leadership skills in numerous occasions, like during the imperial spy incident in his hometown of Tasnica where he gathered soldiers to find the culprit or when he's rallied troop from around the world to fight against the Empire upon the sunken continent emerging. This also shows that he is deeply concerned with the Empire's actions and is aware of the potential implications. He can also be considered well versed in diplomacy, as he successfully gained an audience with the King of Pandora during the kingdom's most dire moments. Finally, he is found to be knowledgeable about various mana lore as he has mentioned being one of Luka's pupil when he was studying the dwindling mana influence in the world.

Trivia

 * Gemma's name is also that of the Mana Tree seedling introduced in the first game, and may also be a reference to the order of knights sworn to protect the seedling.
 * In all versions, Gemma bears a strong resemblance to Bogard in both his appearance and role in the story; both were knights in a prior generation, and both pass the torch to the present-day heroes.