Tragedy is repeated
from the farside of oblivion.
Endless cycle of rebirth and reincarnation. Destruction and healing.
What is 'God' ?
What is its intention?
GOD ONLY KNOWS
Table of Contents for Part 1:
Introduction
- The main idea of Xenogears
- The universe of Xenogears
- The style of Xenogears
- The characters of Xenogears and their characterization
- The themes and message of Xenogears
Introduction
Given the scale of the story and world of Xenogears, along with its big cast of characters, it is not an easy or simple task to write a complete coverage of this game. This is further complicated by the complexity of the plot, the presence of translation errors in the official North American version, the number of mysteries left vague or unexplored even after the game's ending, the supersaturation of intertextuality resulting in a deeper text, and the game's relation to a larger series spanning six episodes.
In order to do it justice, a coverage would most likely benefit from focusing on just one or two of these aspects of the game so as to scale it down. Alternately, one would have to find some way to reduce all of the above into something more manageable by figuring out what the main "idea" of Xenogears is and have the coverage revolve around that, touching briefly on the world, characters, plot, story, intertextuality, episodic structure, mysteries, and issues with the translation to the extent that they relate to the main idea and themes.
In this coverage and analysis I will attempt the latter, and in order to approach the main idea of Xenogears I will refer to the intent of its main creator, Tetsuya Takahashi, and then expand out from there. In part 2 I will examine the narrative structure of the game (Xenogears Episode V) and end it with some hypothetical speculation on, or interpretation of, the other two "main episodes" of this world that were never told - Xenogears Episode I and Episode VI - in order to arrive at a more complete picture of Tetsuya Takahashi's vision for the entire Xenogears story.
The main idea of Xenogears
The essence of Xenogears, apart from it being an interactive game (something that will mostly be ignored in this analysis), is that of a fictional representation of our universe in which its creator intended to gradually unveil its laws, structure, purpose, beginning, ending, and meaning - its entirety - from the position of something like the god of this universe. Its philosophical implication being to reflect back from this fictional world truths that would touch and leave an impression on its audience.
One of these truths was to be the clash of ideology or the clash of wills between human beings with different backgrounds and different personalities, having this be the main catalyst of the drama within this universe. Related to this clash of individuated wills and central drama lies the eternal question of "where do we come from, what are we, where are we going?" And in order to give it historical weight, a big theme of the game is religion, spirituality, and the nature of the human soul as proposed by the worlds major religions and, especially, their mystic or esoteric counterparts. In particular, Xenogears is inspired by esoteric Christianity such as Gnosticism, and its relation to Jungian psychoanalysis. Given that Christianity is related to Judaism, there is also a strong influence of Jewish mysticism, with the plot revolving around an important object called the "Zohar."
Closely related to religion and the human soul is the subject of philosophy and psychology, with a huge part of the story's intertextuality pointing at famous names and concepts from 19th and early 20th Century philosophy and psychoanalysis, such as the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, Karen Horney, and Jacques Lacan. And with the setting spanning thousands of years within a representation of our universe, as well as needing the work to satisfy the demands of a Japanese role-playing video game tradition (RPG), the stage of the story is mainly set in our future by utilizing the genre of science fiction. The grander narrative, in turn, is split up into three major parts or momentary checkpoints across this long span of time with important events before and between them.
Xenogears was, from the very beginning, intended by Takahashi to be "pure sci-fi" rather than the more common RPG fantasy type of world. As such, the work was not intended to include any overt magical or implausible narrative elements, apart from those that are in line with traditional religious or occult notions of magic and the supernatural (such as how supernatural elements are used in Childhood's End or The X-Files for example), and advanced but believable elements of science fiction or speculative fiction. But since the development team Takahashi worked with was more familiar with fantasy worlds, a compromise was made to incorporate some elements from fantasy genres. What these elements are can be difficult to pinpoint since Xenogears in the end still feels more like sci-fi than fantasy, but most likely these elements include the Chu-Chu character, the animal forms of some Demi-humans, and the general aesthetics in parts of the setting and lesser enemy monsters you fight as part of the game.
Apart from these out-of-place elements, it is also clear that both the setting and the story was intended to be quite dark and gloomy, if not downright dystopic and grotesque, with an opportunity for mature intellectual discourse. With Xenogears ultimately being a collaborative effort, having several other team members contributing with script writing, one can tell that the core or main parts of the story have a much darker and heavier style to them than those lighter, sometimes quirky or silly, parts of the script that were most likely the contribution of others. This can be contrasted with the style and script of Xenosaga: Episode I and Xenosaga: Pied Piper, two games that were more or less entirely written by Tetsuya Takahashi and his wife Kaori Tanaka (Soraya Saga), which retain much more of that serious tone.
In fact, Takahashi has referred to himself as being drawn to darker and more intense forms of expressions and has made references to how his early games reflect his personal taste; such as his love of giant humanoid robots (related to the work's title), as well as incorporating aspects and feelings from his real life and mental struggles - being motivated by negative emotions. Thus you also have the temperament of the unconventional or rebellious artist, which gives the work a roughness or edge to it as well as the occasional problem with being a finished project that holds the pieces of story or plot elements together in a comprehensible fashion. Takahashi's feelings or opinion about his works also keeps changing, sometimes acknowledging the feat of some achievement and other times seemingly dismissing or devaluing his works.
Returning to the main idea of Xenogears, then, we have the emphasis on a complete world or universe representing our own with a beginning and an end, given historical weight through the use of religious connections and scientific terms, inhabited by human beings with different wills or personalities engaged in conflict and cooperation, the fate of these human beings within this cosmos told through three main narrative story arcs divided by thousands of years, and giving the audience the possibility of emerging themselves in this world interactively. Thus it is important for this coverage to analyze the world or cosmos of Xenogears, the connections to real world historical concepts, the characters and their differing wills that creates the drama, as well as the themes, style and structure of the story and narrative.
The universe of Xenogears
At the start of the story, the universe of Xenogears is shrouded in mystery, waiting to be unveiled in its totality. This mystery is highlighted by small things like the enigmatic opening sequence, then a second prelude that hints at a world with a lost memory of the past, followed by the possibility of looking through a small telescope at Citan's house at the beginning of the game. Of course, most games in the RPG genre involves an exploration and unveiling of its world. But Xenogears is on a whole other level of mystery, detail, and scope. Yet in the beginning this is not immediately apparent, apart from a few clues, creating a common difficulty in discerning the difference between this work and other RPGs.
Takahashi desired a sense of realism with the world of Xenogears, giving you a close-as-possible feeling of really being in this world and being able to emerge yourself in it. Hence why developing the world in 3D was important to Takahashi. This world-building aspect seems to be the most consistent part of Takahashi's works as a whole, not limited to Xenogears in particular, and so the focus will be more on the style, scope and themes of this world.
The world of Xenogears is essentially dystopic, recalling to mind such novels as Brave New World and 1984; or films such as Soylent Green and Solaris, and the war-torn galaxy of the original Star Wars trilogy - along with pretty clear allusions to historical atrocities associated with the Catholic Church and Nazi Germany; or ancient stories of destroyed civilizations such as Atlantis. But, just like the scope of the setting is not immediately apparent, so is this prominent dystopic (and even apocalyptic) style or theme not immediately apparent. While the mysterious opening is dark and attention grabbing, the first part or set-up of the story features a bright and even upbeat pastoral setting in the village of Lahan, only to have the tone slowly begin to change as the game progresses.
As the world opens up more and more, its dark and dystopic nature soon becomes more and more apparent. Even in the prelude we learn that on the largest continent of this world, a war has been going on between two nations for so long that the people have even forgotten the cause, knowing only a "pointless circle of hostility and tragedy." The first plot-point involves the complete annihilation of Lahan village along with many of the protagonist's close friends. And the story proceeds to involve elements of planet-wide war in a post-apocalyptic setting, hidden totalitarian social control and suppression of entire nations through the use of drugs and advanced technology, social elitism and racism, secret abductions and experimentation, forced hard labor, brainwashing and mind-control, the use of human guinea pigs turned into mutants and monsters for the sake of said warfare and suppression, and even the secret reusing of mutated human flesh as a source of food and medicine. In addition to all this going on, there is already early on an ominous sense of impending doom with time supposedly catching up to something only referred to as the -Time of the Gospel- that concerns God and the ultimate fate of mankind as determined from their beginnings.
The cultures or civilizations of this world can roughly be divided into four broad categories. The first category is comprised of the various nations and factions on the surface of this planet. These include the desert kingdom of Aveh, the northern empire of Kislev, the small religious nation of Nisan, and the free trading city of Thames roaming the oceans, along with recently destroyed nations such as Elru. At times, these nations engage in war with one another, and other times they group together to face the second category as their common enemy.
The second category is comprised of the Church (The Ethos institution), the mysterious military force called Gebler, and the hidden empire of Solaris in the upper stratosphere. Just like with the first category, these are allied and can be regarded as different aspects of one unit or group, but at times they are also engaged in internal conflict. They constitute the most powerful group and their aim is world domination and control of the other nations. As such they express the main dystopic trait of the present time period, with Solaris' strict class system, vapid shallowness in its citizens, grim exploitation of the people on the surface (referred to as "Lambs" or "surface-dwellers"), eugenics and ideals of racial purity, genetic manipulation and grotesque experimentations, religious indoctrination and information control on what is to be known about history, interference and manipulation in the affairs of other nations so as to keep them at war with one another to reduce the risk of uprising, and referring to themselves as God's chosen people.
To the third category belongs only one culture, the isolationist aerial country Shevat roaming the skies. Originally, this country existed on the surface as with the other nations (except for Solaris) and only relatively recently isolated itself around 500 years before the beginning of the game. If it wasn't for this detail, Shevat could easily be grouped together with the first category since they more often cooperate with the surface nations and oppose Solaris.
To the fourth and last category belong lost and ancient civilizations, such as the sunken city of Zeboim, and also the civilization in outer space that we only get an idea from based on one of their titanic colony ships (The Eldridge) seen in the opening movie and its derelict parts such as Babel Tower. It is also not unreasonable to assume that this spacefaring civilization still exists in some form out there in the vast universe and constitutes the origin of mankind. Of note is that there are no signs of alien civilizations in this universe that are not made up of human beings.
Also, one major aspect of this world and its cultures is the presence and use of giant humanoid fighting machines called 'Gears'. To the extent that the cultures are advanced enough, they are all Gear-using cultures and influenced by their existence and use; whether it be for war, construction, digging, salvaging, children's toys, gladiatorian entertainment, experimentation in human biomechanical evolution, and even incorporated into religious myths. The origin of Gear technology is, in fact, as mysterious as the origin of human beings themselves, as also alluded to by the work's title 'Xenogears', which has the implication of foreign or alien machines.
While the world of Xenogears is quite large and detailed, it is still essentialized to the point of merely complementing the story. In fact, for such a large world it still feels quite small or underused, and there are many places that we only catch brief glimpses of, or hear about but never visit. But given the amount of detail put into the history and social structure of those places the characters mainly engage with, the world and narrative achieves a good balance and never lets the world take primacy over the story.
Finally, an important part of the universe in Xenogears is its inherent cosmic laws and structure. Unfortunately, due to Xenogears remaining only one third (or barely one third) of the complete story, not everything about the laws and structure of this universe is fully clarified or unveiled. I will go into more about this in the last part of this analysis (in part 2), when I move on to speculation about episode I and VI. But what is revealed or otherwise hinted at in Xenogears (Episode V) and its sourcebook (Xenogears: Perfect Works~The Real Thing~) is a universe with at least two separate dimensions: our "four-dimensional" universe of space and time, and a higher dimension of "waves" that can be considered the source or origin of our lower universe. Yet the two dimensions form a single universe with both parts included.
What the laws and structure of the higher dimension is like is unknown, but some type of wave being or wave beings exist there. In our lower dimension of space and time as we know it, the primary inhabitants are human beings and their civilizations, along with lower animal-type lifeforms that are only sometimes given human-like intelligence due to human genetic engineering (The dotesqueChu-Chupolin race being the primary example of the latter).
The laws of this universe of human beings involves a type of soul-body dualism with human souls reincarnating into new human bodies, and there even exists beings with immortal flesh, giving them status as "gods" within our four-dimensional universe. What allows for this longevity or immortality is left unexplained, but is related to two other mysterious substance elements known as "Animus" and "Anima" that can merge with both human beings and machines to enhance their powers and abilities, either through advanced scientific engineering or generational mutations (evolution).
Another important feature of this universe is a mysterious object given the name "Zohar" that appears to have existed since the birth of the universe and has the capacity to link to the higher dimension when made into a super engine using a mysterious technology of unknown origin. By itself this engine has the ability to alter phenomena (or events) to a certain degree by user request similar to praying or calling "upon God" to grant the desired phenomenon into actuality. This fusion of spiritual concepts and advanced machines finally culminates in the creation known as "Deus" (originally "Yahweh") that serves as the core of the plot and brings all of these various devices together.
The Deus system is regarded either as God or as an advanced sentient interstellar weapon, depending on the point of view of various characters in the story, since the system creates the Animus-fused human beings on the particular planet that serves as the stage of Episode II-V. Yet the circumstances of Deus' creation and what its real aim is remains intentionally unclear in the game, clearly setting up more twists and complications to be explored in Episode I and VI. But all of the various supernatural aspects are somehow tied to it; from its use of human souls as interface weapons (called "Angels"), to the immortal organic elements that makes up human beings with incredible abilities, and even the higher dimensional wave-being that is captured to be used as its primary source of energy along with the Zohar engine. As such, Deus cannot simply be dismissed as a mere advanced weapon system. Its activation or resurrection is even dependent on something akin to occult powers, using a key or ignition device that simulates symbols used in occult ritual magic.
In fact, the human beings in Xenogears have the ability to use magic-like powers called "Ether" by means of their connection to this being they call God or Deus, as does many of their machines. This is possible to the extent that human beings or machines have merged with the mysterious bioelements Animus and Anima that are able to serve as mediums to request phenomenon alteration energy from Zohar. In the case of humans, they are only able to use the Animus in this way after thousands of years of evolution. And the amount of phenomenon alteration energy they are able to request appears to be limited. If the humans of ancient times experimented with access to Zohar's event changing abilities, then they must have used the Animus and Anima substances in their external form as conduits, before they became the basis for the flesh of a new mankind. Of course, Deus is able to request full power or phenomenon alteration due to Anima and Animus making up its core elements.
Thus Xenogears is, by its very make-up, an inherently dramatic universe. A mixture of science fiction and supernatural elements with a mysterious, often mature and dark tone or style. We shall take a closer look at this style in the next part.
The style of Xenogears
The style of Xenogears is often related to and tied in with its world, themes, characters, and narrative structure, so much of the style is already covered in the discussion and coverage of the other elements of the work. Consequently, this part of the analysis will not be long and will mostly serve as a reminder or a way to bring up a few things that isn't covered in the other parts.
As stated, the style is primarily dystopic, dramatic and dark. Xenogears arguably invokes the style of the horror genre at times, especially body-horror. The tone tends to be serious, particularly in the main parts written by Tetsuya Takahashi. The story is very adult, not only in its darker elements but also in its use of nudity and sex. The entire ending sequence contains almost nothing but nudity, and several characters are implied to have had sex in the narrative. Sometimes the inclusion of sex and drama show up together, such as in the implication that orphan children had been used for sexual pleasure by members of the Church clergy. Composer Yasunori Mitsuda even said that Xenogears is a game they probably couldn't make today due to many of these elements.
Another part of the style that stands out is the heavy presence of intertextuality, such as incorporating names that alludes to famous psychoanalysts, many biblical and Hebrew concepts and terms, as well as direct references to the Catholic Churh and Nazi Germany. This fits well with the adult tone and aim towards a more mature intellectual discourse, and it creates a deeper text. The intertextuality also reinforces the story's allegories and allusions, while at times transforming them into something new. The script also appears to be written in a very high level of Japanese, reflecting the type of literature that has influenced its main author. Then there is the prominent use of mystery and foreshadowing in the construction of the narrative, sometimes not revealing things completely until the end or leaving things to be explained in prequels and sequels.
Related to the intertextuality alluding to religious, psychological, and scientific concepts, the style of Xenogears also involes a lot of technical jargon that is common to the science fiction genre, as well as seemingly attempting to be faithful in the portrayal and implementation of some of these modern psychological and scientific concepts. It is also for this reason, in dealing with these mature and real-life relevant concepts, that the fictional style or "covering" must set a tone and world-building that matches the message and isn't too fantastical. Although Xenogears sometimes oversteps the limits of believability or appropriateness in style considering the themes and message, it still does so to a less significant degree than most other RPGs.
The style also has a cinematic quality to it, often brilliantly using the game's own engine to create dynamic and interesting camera angles or cuts. For example, the "camera" shots of Weltall standing tall, dark and ominous in the morning where the vaporized village of Lahan used to be is a particularly striking and cool piece of cinematography early on in the game. Takahashi himself has said that he enjoys cinema a lot and was inspired by the cinematography and style of various movies more so than Japanese animation. Perhaps this aspect, along with the Western religious elements and particular flavor of the intertextuality, adds to the style not feeling as "Japanese" as other RPGs and yet still retains more of that anime feel than many of its Western influences. It is an unusual mix as far as my own experience goes, and gives Xenogears both that flavor of "familiarity" combined with its "alien" uniqueness.
To the "cinematic" quality also belongs the unusual use of silence or mere sound effects (such as wind blowing, birds chirping, or machines humming and clanking) for many of its cutscenes and dungeons instead of having music all the time, as well as the soundtrack itself that blends aspects of religious, ethnic and orchestral music. The combination of all this makes the setting very sharp, vivid and memorable. In addition, Xenogears was the first game at the company of Square to feature a vocal track for the ending, like in cinema.
The episodic structure of the larger story also borrows heavily from Star Wars, which, at the time, consisted of only Episode IV, V, and VI. Similarly, it seems that Takahashi wanted to begin with Xenogears: Episode IV just like the first Star Wars movie, but the company told him to stick to one episode and Takahashi deemed Episode V to be the most interesting and easy to grasp. Like Star Wars, the style of Xenogears features an archetypal hero's journey set in a high-tech environment with a sense of adventure, wonder and grandeur. Elements of other science fiction films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey is also apparent with the mysterious Zohar monolith and an opening sequence set thousands of years in the past.
Besides cinema, the game also at times incorporates a style intended to evoke the sense of paintings, especially religious paintings, such as in the ending with the chorus, the imagery in the Nisan cathedral, and the actual paintings made by Fei, the protagonist. This also ties in to the religious aesthetics that constitutes yet another part of Xenogears' style.
Finally, it goes without saying that the inclusion of mechs, common in Japanese popular culture, also bring to Xenogears the style of Japanese giant robot anime, such as Macross, Gundam, Ideon and Evangelion. One element of the mechs that appear to be unique to Xenogears, however, is its merging of humans with machines, often in unpleasant and grotesque ways. At least not in any of the famous robot anime's can I find this element.
The characters of Xenogears and their characterization
While characters are important to any story, it seems that Takahashi puts more emphasis on the world and plot than on characters. Thus this is primarily a Plot-Driven story, using disturbed chronology, limited disclosure, unusual personages, exotic settings, purposeful narrative, metaphoric significance, the improbable or out-of-the-ordinary, etc. Yet Xenogears also refreshingly incorporates some elements of Character-Driven writing, such as revealing psychic states through dialogue, inner monologues, and dreams. Or including complex, evolving characters that are changed by events and where inconsistent behavior is sometimes motivated. No doubt the influence of psychological concepts assisted in broader characterization beyond simply serving the plot, as well as the desire to explore the clash of different human wills. But in the end, the characters more often serve the plot and the setting and thus must be analyzed in that context.
The concept of human beings with different values and motivations engaging in conflict is not in any way new or unique when it comes to Xenogears. Such conflict is necessary for any story that aims at drama, unless the conflict is solely between human beings and some alien force. What separates the characters in Xenogears from many other science fiction stories is perhaps its exclusion of any other intelligent species besides human beings and the result of their creations. This way the story mainly avoids the parody of making up contrived aliens and alien cultures, instead sticking to the tried and true with allusions to historical concepts. Even the Demi-humans behave like other human beings, despite their outward appearance, and their mutated forms instead serves the drama by having to deal with prejudice and physical suffering.
The conflict between the characters run parallel with the conflict between the various nations and factions, with the main protagonists representing the surface nations and the antagonists representing the governing empire of Solaris. Secondary conflicts involves internal disputes or war within these two groups, convenient but temporary alliences, and minor conflicts involving disagreements amongst individual characters within those subgroups, such as Fei's conflict with Dan, Billy's conflict with his father, Elly's conflict with Emeralda, or Cain's conflict with the Gazel Ministry, etc.
The characters I will be focusing on are those written or created by Tetsuya Takahashi since the other characters mainly exist to fill out and diversify the cast, create substory drama, or provide comic relief. Takahashi himself has said he likes pop culture characters, and I suppose we can recognize this in characters such as Grahf and Rico who resemble Darth Vader from Star Wars and Blanka from Street Fighter II, respectively. And Kaori Tanaka (Soraya Saga) has said that the two of them tend to depict human characters as being strong-willed but limited in their more fragile flesh and blood.
Elly, on the other hand, is given a lot more depth. Especially in her inner struggle with wanting to be free from the questionable duties forced upon her by her home country of Solaris, yet also being uneasy with the idea of running away with surface-dwelling foreigners, as she becomes more and more attracted to Fei and his way of life. Elly has to struggle with the idea of being regarded as a traitor to her country and also coming to terms with the fact that she may be the reincarnation of the Holy Mother of Nisan that people still yearn for to receive salvation and healing. I feel that Elly is, perhaps, a bit too idealized as a moral and self-sacrificing character. But given her origins and purpose in the plot, this makes some sense. Again, the plot seems to take primacy in the actions of this character, but her abandonment of the duties to her homeland is well done and my favorite part of Elly's characterization. She certainly had a lot to lose by doing so, and that takes bravery.
In the story, Ramsus serves as a kind of self-appointed rival to Fei once he learns that Fei is both the "demon" who destroyed Elru and the reason he was rejected at birth. In reality, all this is merely used by others to manipulate Ramsus, using him as a pawn. As such, Ramsus' main purpose in the plot is to serve as a tragic character, and perhaps one of the more original and well-done characters in the story. In his tragic fall he goes from treating women well, abhoring violence against women, to both physically hurting Elly and killing his lover Miang in his desperation and rage as he is being provoked to the limit.
Much of the brilliance of the plot owes itself to this character, since Krelian's hidden motive to essentially reprogram and use the Deus system as an "Ark" for the "salvation" or benefit of not just some chosen humans, but all of them, elevates what would otherwise just be a "false god" or "out of control doomsday weapon" plot into a much more interesting climax and philosophical discourse. Unfortunately, and perhaps because the last half of the narrative was rushed, the details concerning this plan of Krelian's requires careful reading and is easily lost on the audience the first time. The complexity and intended depth for this character appears to have been a bit too much for the authors to handle and get across properly, especially in combination with his intentional hiddenness for most of the narrative. Perhaps if the story had started with Episode IV as originally planned, where Krelian likely would have been one of the main characters, more insights could have been given into his humanity and love for people, which was otherwise only implied in one brief flashback and what Elly learned after merging with his consciousness.
A reference to Karellen, Takahashi's favorite character from the book Childhood's End, Krelian can be considered an inverse mirroring of Karellen. Karellen is an advanced and emotionally calm alien overlord with the appearance of a devil that is attempting to help humanity evolve in a benevolent way, but is unable to ascend to a higher plane himself. Krelian, on the other hand, is a sensitive and emotionally volatile human underdog with the appearance of a holy man attempting to help humanity and even the "gods" evolve in a more ruthless and darker way, yet is the only one that ends up ascending to the higher plane while leaving the rest of mankind behind.
As actual personalities there is not much to them and for the most part they are merely there to serve the plot and aspects of the world, as well as the theme of freedom versus duty or fate, with the Emperor on the side of freedom and the Ministry on the side of duty. However, due to their special powers as the first human beings born from the Deus system they will often be the target of discussion and analysis.
The themes and message of Xenogears
As I have touched upon in relation to the main idea of Xenogears, two major themes of the work is the clash of different human wills (inspired partly by Nietzsche's idea of the 'Will to Power' as revealed later by Xenosaga Episode I) and a journey of discovering the laws, structure, purpose, beginning, ending, and meaning of the world, of "God," and of the universe itself. As such, the themes of psychology, religion, philosophy, science, and anthropology follows from these two major themes to give it historical weight and tie it to the experience we have of the real world. "How does religion come about?" is one of the themes or questions explored in Xenogears.
Aside from these already mentioned themes, there is also a major theme of freedom versus duty as well as a theme of overcoming "grief" or tragedy that many characters struggle with. Destruction and healing. The former theme of freedom versus duty is likely pertinent to the intended Xenogears series as a whole and carries on in Xenosaga as the theme of chaos and order. The latter theme of grief or sorrow is more specific to the particular episode we are focusing on here, Xenogears Episode V (or II-V), which is also known as the second main part of the larger story or "series."
These themes are also tied together, with an inquiry into the world system also involving the discovery of human individuation as a source of conflict (the "alien" will of another also implied in the "Xeno-" title as once clarified by Takahashi) resulting in a continued cycle of grief and sorrow that leads people to form philosophical or ideological conclusions involving ideas such as those of freedom or duty as forms of escape or solutions to an otherwise never ending problem.
The exploration of these themes culminates in the main message of Xenogears, which has probably best been identified and summerized as "becoming whole" or "foreign things becoming one." Throughout the game there is recurring imagery of human beings resembling broken shards or fragments of a greater whole, "a million shades of light" broken off from a common origin, whose true meaning in the universe is to exist in an integrated and mutually supportive manner rather than willfully clashing against each other.
The theme of freedom versus duty can, in the case of Fei, perhaps also be looked at from the angle of acceptance versus comfort since one of Fei's subpersonalities tries to escape reality in order to overcome the grief of his childhood (which involved both torture and the loss of his mother), and this involves a loss of freedom or agency along with the loss of reality. Although not explored as such, it evokes the idea that comfort rests on a kind of illusion or lie that also the Solarian citizens maintain in a fashion somewhat comparable to Fei's inner coward, who must refuse to look at or explore the world if they are to maintain their own small or ideal reality.
Judging by what Takahashi briefly mentioned in the 20th Anniversary Concert interview, in the context of the religious and philosophical themes of Xenogears, it seems Takahashi considers religion to be a foreign concept to him, and that he wanted to explore religion from an outsider's perspective. Following from this, it seems as if he found the essence or appeal of religion to be the longing for a purpose; that humans want a reason for their existence. As a result, he wanted to deliver a philosophical message that would define such a purpose that could be easily understood, and, presumably, involve a benign (though fictional) religion without the negative aspects or baggage of historical organized religion and how they came about. If this interpretation is correct, I am guessing this purpose for existence he wanted to convey would be to regard oneself as a piece of the larger whole, existing with the purpose to assist or support another piece of the whole, to eventually feel complete.
A big theme appears to be that humans are all flawed and "imperfect", and at the end we will all have to realize this and be forced to become humble in the face of our own exposed weaknesses, using this to support and appreciate one another as we are instead of chasing imaginary perfection. This ties in with the themes of "becoming whole" or "foreign things becoming one"; the complications arising due to individuated human beings developing a strong will yet retaining a vulnerable flesh and blood; the question of freedom versus duty in which both sides of the argument has a point; how to deal with human grief, tragedy and sorrow; and what can be learned from discovering the real form and structure of the universe using knowledge, exploration and advanced science to better discover this human purpose and the potential danger of ignoring it. "A mirror that reflects truth" as one of the opening pages in the sourcebook Xenogears: Perfect Works~the Real Thing~ puts it, that offers "much food for thought."
I suppose I could elaborate on these themes, bring up examples and dialogue from the game, reference more statements by the creators from various sources, compare influences and references with how they are explored in the game, and so on. But I prefer to keep this story analysis essentialized, brief and to the point, so as to not get bogged down in extraneous research or elaborate, dogmatic conclusions. I prefer this story summary and inquiry into the message and themes of Xenogears to mainly be a competent and well-researched, albeit brief, starting point for those who wish to make their own informed articles or essays on the subject.
In the second part of this Story Analysis I will examine the narrative structure of Xenogears Episode V and the untold parts of the larger story.
Xenogears Story Analysis: Part 2
The style also has a cinematic quality to it, often brilliantly using the game's own engine to create dynamic and interesting camera angles or cuts. For example, the "camera" shots of Weltall standing tall, dark and ominous in the morning where the vaporized village of Lahan used to be is a particularly striking and cool piece of cinematography early on in the game. Takahashi himself has said that he enjoys cinema a lot and was inspired by the cinematography and style of various movies more so than Japanese animation. Perhaps this aspect, along with the Western religious elements and particular flavor of the intertextuality, adds to the style not feeling as "Japanese" as other RPGs and yet still retains more of that anime feel than many of its Western influences. It is an unusual mix as far as my own experience goes, and gives Xenogears both that flavor of "familiarity" combined with its "alien" uniqueness.
To the "cinematic" quality also belongs the unusual use of silence or mere sound effects (such as wind blowing, birds chirping, or machines humming and clanking) for many of its cutscenes and dungeons instead of having music all the time, as well as the soundtrack itself that blends aspects of religious, ethnic and orchestral music. The combination of all this makes the setting very sharp, vivid and memorable. In addition, Xenogears was the first game at the company of Square to feature a vocal track for the ending, like in cinema.
The episodic structure of the larger story also borrows heavily from Star Wars, which, at the time, consisted of only Episode IV, V, and VI. Similarly, it seems that Takahashi wanted to begin with Xenogears: Episode IV just like the first Star Wars movie, but the company told him to stick to one episode and Takahashi deemed Episode V to be the most interesting and easy to grasp. Like Star Wars, the style of Xenogears features an archetypal hero's journey set in a high-tech environment with a sense of adventure, wonder and grandeur. Elements of other science fiction films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey is also apparent with the mysterious Zohar monolith and an opening sequence set thousands of years in the past.
Besides cinema, the game also at times incorporates a style intended to evoke the sense of paintings, especially religious paintings, such as in the ending with the chorus, the imagery in the Nisan cathedral, and the actual paintings made by Fei, the protagonist. This also ties in to the religious aesthetics that constitutes yet another part of Xenogears' style.
Finally, it goes without saying that the inclusion of mechs, common in Japanese popular culture, also bring to Xenogears the style of Japanese giant robot anime, such as Macross, Gundam, Ideon and Evangelion. One element of the mechs that appear to be unique to Xenogears, however, is its merging of humans with machines, often in unpleasant and grotesque ways. At least not in any of the famous robot anime's can I find this element.
The characters of Xenogears and their characterization
While characters are important to any story, it seems that Takahashi puts more emphasis on the world and plot than on characters. Thus this is primarily a Plot-Driven story, using disturbed chronology, limited disclosure, unusual personages, exotic settings, purposeful narrative, metaphoric significance, the improbable or out-of-the-ordinary, etc. Yet Xenogears also refreshingly incorporates some elements of Character-Driven writing, such as revealing psychic states through dialogue, inner monologues, and dreams. Or including complex, evolving characters that are changed by events and where inconsistent behavior is sometimes motivated. No doubt the influence of psychological concepts assisted in broader characterization beyond simply serving the plot, as well as the desire to explore the clash of different human wills. But in the end, the characters more often serve the plot and the setting and thus must be analyzed in that context.
The concept of human beings with different values and motivations engaging in conflict is not in any way new or unique when it comes to Xenogears. Such conflict is necessary for any story that aims at drama, unless the conflict is solely between human beings and some alien force. What separates the characters in Xenogears from many other science fiction stories is perhaps its exclusion of any other intelligent species besides human beings and the result of their creations. This way the story mainly avoids the parody of making up contrived aliens and alien cultures, instead sticking to the tried and true with allusions to historical concepts. Even the Demi-humans behave like other human beings, despite their outward appearance, and their mutated forms instead serves the drama by having to deal with prejudice and physical suffering.
The conflict between the characters run parallel with the conflict between the various nations and factions, with the main protagonists representing the surface nations and the antagonists representing the governing empire of Solaris. Secondary conflicts involves internal disputes or war within these two groups, convenient but temporary alliences, and minor conflicts involving disagreements amongst individual characters within those subgroups, such as Fei's conflict with Dan, Billy's conflict with his father, Elly's conflict with Emeralda, or Cain's conflict with the Gazel Ministry, etc.
The characters I will be focusing on are those written or created by Tetsuya Takahashi since the other characters mainly exist to fill out and diversify the cast, create substory drama, or provide comic relief. Takahashi himself has said he likes pop culture characters, and I suppose we can recognize this in characters such as Grahf and Rico who resemble Darth Vader from Star Wars and Blanka from Street Fighter II, respectively. And Kaori Tanaka (Soraya Saga) has said that the two of them tend to depict human characters as being strong-willed but limited in their more fragile flesh and blood.
Fei, Id and Grahf
The main character is the most important, as is the central antagonist (or antagonists) that confronts him. Fei is an interesting case in that he mainly struggles with his own inner demons and split-off subpersonalities, one of these from a past life even taking on an external form in the case of Grahf. Not only that, but the rest of the protagonists must face the main character as a potential threat themselves. By making the main character, in a sense, both the hero and the villain, very interesting moral questions arise, such as the question of personal responsibility and everything not being black or white. Fei, the hero, must primarily face and conquer himself and his own reluctance to accept reality before he is able to truly save the world and help others, because, until this self-healing has been achieved, the hero is just as much a threat to the world as anyone else. This central conflict for the hero also allows for more psychological depth than what is usually the norm for Plot-Driven characters.
Elly and Miang
Xenogears employs a lot of doubling and mirroring in its characters and narrative. Both the hero and the heroine are mirrored as having an "evil doppelgänger" type character that creates a duality and internal opposition. However, unlike with Fei and Id or Fei and Grahf, we do not get any internal monologue or even external dialogue and confrontation between the two split-off parts of Deus' key program 'Persona' - Elhaym and Miang. This, I feel, was a missed opportunity, since both characters represent the nurturer or priestess archetype that attempts to help guide humanity into its full potential: Elly in the form of spiritual guidance as the Holy Mother of Nisan; and Miang in the form of ruthless control and eugenics to make humans into the perfect parts for God (Deus). Miang still works very well as a plot twist and effective element of horror, but the way she just seems to disappear provides weak resolution with many questions left unanswered. She is, after all, Deus personified.Elly, on the other hand, is given a lot more depth. Especially in her inner struggle with wanting to be free from the questionable duties forced upon her by her home country of Solaris, yet also being uneasy with the idea of running away with surface-dwelling foreigners, as she becomes more and more attracted to Fei and his way of life. Elly has to struggle with the idea of being regarded as a traitor to her country and also coming to terms with the fact that she may be the reincarnation of the Holy Mother of Nisan that people still yearn for to receive salvation and healing. I feel that Elly is, perhaps, a bit too idealized as a moral and self-sacrificing character. But given her origins and purpose in the plot, this makes some sense. Again, the plot seems to take primacy in the actions of this character, but her abandonment of the duties to her homeland is well done and my favorite part of Elly's characterization. She certainly had a lot to lose by doing so, and that takes bravery.
Citan
Citan takes on the role of a mentor or older brother of Fei, similar to the wise old man archetype, but has more youthful energy and also doubles as the excentric inventor archetype. In an interesting twist he is also set up to be a potential traitor of the protagonists, something that is unusual for this kind of archetype that tends to sacrifice themselves for the hero or go out with a bang (as was done with Citan's counterpart in Xenosaga). As with Elly, however, it could be argued that he is too idealized in his moral character, his talents, and his efficiency. (Perhaps because of that, my favorite part is when he surprisingly says "Huh? What... You are asking me what to do?" when Id is about to attack the protagonists and likely would have wiped them out if it weren't for Elly.)
Bart and Zephyr
Prince Bartholomew Fatima (written by Kaori Tanaka) and Queen Zephyr (written by Masato Kato?) are powerful allies that provide the necessary support and resources for the main character to succeed in his struggles to liberate the world from the tyranny of Solaris and the Deus system. They also serve to provide directions or to motivate the protagonist and are mostly static characters that don't change much over the course of the story. There is also a connection with the protagonist going back to an era 500 years before the start of the story. In the case of Bart the connection is between Fei's previous incarnation Lacan and Bart's ancestor Roni Fatima. Zephyr herself has been alive for over 500 years thanks to life-extension treatment.
Hammer
A surprisingly interesting character, Hammer represents the everyday man among the main characters, not taken very seriously by the other protagonists even though he starts out being rather useful as a handyman with connections, only to betray the protagonists later on due to an inner weakness and anxiety about not being special. His betrayal comes as a big surprise to most people, as does his return and demise, probably because most players did disregard Hammer as a rather insignificant minor character and comic relief at first. The fact that they set it up that way was rather genius. Hammer is also contrasted with Elly's mother Medena in his big scene, who both represent "normal" individuals that have no special abilities or powers, but Hammer is anxious about being powerless and seeks to gain the satisfaction and experience of power even at the expense of his freedom while Medena makes due with the limited power that she has and remains free in her actions. However, it still ends badly for both of them. They both represent the tragedy of the everyday person getting involved in the larger conflict, while also exemplifying that even the seemingly unimportant individual is capable of both heroic deeds and devastating damage to even special people.
Ramsus
Ramsus is, according to Takahashi, the character that reflects him the most, even saying they are very similar. This came as something of a surprise to me since I would have thought Fei or Krelian reflected Takahashi the most. If I had to guess, it is the feeling of neglect or of being useless, the fundamental motivation of Ramsus to prove himself, that Takahashi identifies with. He has said that he was brought up in a family of intense competitiveness, and has described himself as someone with low self-esteem ever since he was a child. Takahashi has also mentioned being betrayed by people on his team while working on Xenogears, so it is likely that this leadership role within the development team along with hidden low self-esteem and struggling in his ambition finds an analogy in the character of Ramsus.In the story, Ramsus serves as a kind of self-appointed rival to Fei once he learns that Fei is both the "demon" who destroyed Elru and the reason he was rejected at birth. In reality, all this is merely used by others to manipulate Ramsus, using him as a pawn. As such, Ramsus' main purpose in the plot is to serve as a tragic character, and perhaps one of the more original and well-done characters in the story. In his tragic fall he goes from treating women well, abhoring violence against women, to both physically hurting Elly and killing his lover Miang in his desperation and rage as he is being provoked to the limit.
Krelian
Krelian is perhaps the main antagonist, or second only to Fei and Elly's alter egos, yet is presented in a most unusual way. He is introduced much later than other antagonists and remains remote from the main characters and the action for most of the story, not ever directly fighting the protagonist like the others, but instead is mainly shown having interactions with Fei in a past life 500 years prior to the present (through flashbacks). Unlike the other major characters in the story he lacks a heritage or destiny from his origins, and instead rises to a position of power and knowledge from the position of an underdog. He is essentially an outsider outwitting the system and everyone, yet he does so by actually appearing to embrace it more than anyone else through the use of his strong will. While the archetype or image of Grahf is that of a demon out to destroy God and the world, the archetype or image of Krelian is that of a holy man seeking to find (or create) God and lead people to some form of salvation.Much of the brilliance of the plot owes itself to this character, since Krelian's hidden motive to essentially reprogram and use the Deus system as an "Ark" for the "salvation" or benefit of not just some chosen humans, but all of them, elevates what would otherwise just be a "false god" or "out of control doomsday weapon" plot into a much more interesting climax and philosophical discourse. Unfortunately, and perhaps because the last half of the narrative was rushed, the details concerning this plan of Krelian's requires careful reading and is easily lost on the audience the first time. The complexity and intended depth for this character appears to have been a bit too much for the authors to handle and get across properly, especially in combination with his intentional hiddenness for most of the narrative. Perhaps if the story had started with Episode IV as originally planned, where Krelian likely would have been one of the main characters, more insights could have been given into his humanity and love for people, which was otherwise only implied in one brief flashback and what Elly learned after merging with his consciousness.
A reference to Karellen, Takahashi's favorite character from the book Childhood's End, Krelian can be considered an inverse mirroring of Karellen. Karellen is an advanced and emotionally calm alien overlord with the appearance of a devil that is attempting to help humanity evolve in a benevolent way, but is unable to ascend to a higher plane himself. Krelian, on the other hand, is a sensitive and emotionally volatile human underdog with the appearance of a holy man attempting to help humanity and even the "gods" evolve in a more ruthless and darker way, yet is the only one that ends up ascending to the higher plane while leaving the rest of mankind behind.
Emperor Cain and the Gazel Ministry
Also important to the world and narrative of Xenogears is the Emperor of Solaris and his colleagues that originally towered above the rest of the new mankind as a group of immortal beings. They can thus be thought of as "gods" on a level similar to Miang, although events of the past 500 years in the story have crippled their previously immortal state and placed their existence at the mercy of ordinary human beings like Krelian. The Emperor requires life-extension treatments after having offered his undying body to be used for research and experimentantion to help humanity, and this somehow altered the nature of his flesh. The twelve elders of the Gazel Ministry lost their bodies in a great war that nearly ended with the complete destruction of humanity, but eight of them were resurrected as a digitized form of existence inside a computer.As actual personalities there is not much to them and for the most part they are merely there to serve the plot and aspects of the world, as well as the theme of freedom versus duty or fate, with the Emperor on the side of freedom and the Ministry on the side of duty. However, due to their special powers as the first human beings born from the Deus system they will often be the target of discussion and analysis.
The themes and message of Xenogears
As I have touched upon in relation to the main idea of Xenogears, two major themes of the work is the clash of different human wills (inspired partly by Nietzsche's idea of the 'Will to Power' as revealed later by Xenosaga Episode I) and a journey of discovering the laws, structure, purpose, beginning, ending, and meaning of the world, of "God," and of the universe itself. As such, the themes of psychology, religion, philosophy, science, and anthropology follows from these two major themes to give it historical weight and tie it to the experience we have of the real world. "How does religion come about?" is one of the themes or questions explored in Xenogears.
Aside from these already mentioned themes, there is also a major theme of freedom versus duty as well as a theme of overcoming "grief" or tragedy that many characters struggle with. Destruction and healing. The former theme of freedom versus duty is likely pertinent to the intended Xenogears series as a whole and carries on in Xenosaga as the theme of chaos and order. The latter theme of grief or sorrow is more specific to the particular episode we are focusing on here, Xenogears Episode V (or II-V), which is also known as the second main part of the larger story or "series."
These themes are also tied together, with an inquiry into the world system also involving the discovery of human individuation as a source of conflict (the "alien" will of another also implied in the "Xeno-" title as once clarified by Takahashi) resulting in a continued cycle of grief and sorrow that leads people to form philosophical or ideological conclusions involving ideas such as those of freedom or duty as forms of escape or solutions to an otherwise never ending problem.
The exploration of these themes culminates in the main message of Xenogears, which has probably best been identified and summerized as "becoming whole" or "foreign things becoming one." Throughout the game there is recurring imagery of human beings resembling broken shards or fragments of a greater whole, "a million shades of light" broken off from a common origin, whose true meaning in the universe is to exist in an integrated and mutually supportive manner rather than willfully clashing against each other.
The theme of freedom versus duty can, in the case of Fei, perhaps also be looked at from the angle of acceptance versus comfort since one of Fei's subpersonalities tries to escape reality in order to overcome the grief of his childhood (which involved both torture and the loss of his mother), and this involves a loss of freedom or agency along with the loss of reality. Although not explored as such, it evokes the idea that comfort rests on a kind of illusion or lie that also the Solarian citizens maintain in a fashion somewhat comparable to Fei's inner coward, who must refuse to look at or explore the world if they are to maintain their own small or ideal reality.
Judging by what Takahashi briefly mentioned in the 20th Anniversary Concert interview, in the context of the religious and philosophical themes of Xenogears, it seems Takahashi considers religion to be a foreign concept to him, and that he wanted to explore religion from an outsider's perspective. Following from this, it seems as if he found the essence or appeal of religion to be the longing for a purpose; that humans want a reason for their existence. As a result, he wanted to deliver a philosophical message that would define such a purpose that could be easily understood, and, presumably, involve a benign (though fictional) religion without the negative aspects or baggage of historical organized religion and how they came about. If this interpretation is correct, I am guessing this purpose for existence he wanted to convey would be to regard oneself as a piece of the larger whole, existing with the purpose to assist or support another piece of the whole, to eventually feel complete.
A big theme appears to be that humans are all flawed and "imperfect", and at the end we will all have to realize this and be forced to become humble in the face of our own exposed weaknesses, using this to support and appreciate one another as we are instead of chasing imaginary perfection. This ties in with the themes of "becoming whole" or "foreign things becoming one"; the complications arising due to individuated human beings developing a strong will yet retaining a vulnerable flesh and blood; the question of freedom versus duty in which both sides of the argument has a point; how to deal with human grief, tragedy and sorrow; and what can be learned from discovering the real form and structure of the universe using knowledge, exploration and advanced science to better discover this human purpose and the potential danger of ignoring it. "A mirror that reflects truth" as one of the opening pages in the sourcebook Xenogears: Perfect Works~the Real Thing~ puts it, that offers "much food for thought."
I suppose I could elaborate on these themes, bring up examples and dialogue from the game, reference more statements by the creators from various sources, compare influences and references with how they are explored in the game, and so on. But I prefer to keep this story analysis essentialized, brief and to the point, so as to not get bogged down in extraneous research or elaborate, dogmatic conclusions. I prefer this story summary and inquiry into the message and themes of Xenogears to mainly be a competent and well-researched, albeit brief, starting point for those who wish to make their own informed articles or essays on the subject.
In the second part of this Story Analysis I will examine the narrative structure of Xenogears Episode V and the untold parts of the larger story.
Xenogears Story Analysis: Part 2
