Xenogears Story Analysis: Part 2

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[Last updated 2024.09.22]

The structure of the story and narrative

In this second part of the Xenogears story analysis I will begin examining the narrative framework used to tell the story, and in between each part also analyze in more detail some of the intricacies of the plot and characters that are sometimes difficult to understand. Occasionally I will also respond to some of the criticism often aimed at the story, or voice some of my own. I have tried to be as brief as possible, but given the size of the story this examination of the narrative structure still became quite long and has therefore been divided into two parts.

Xenogears has many of the elements that define epic form, such as having a vast setting, a hero connected to the divine who achieves the extraordinary, the involvement of warfare and the supernatural, and beginning in the midst of the action with earlier crises in the story brought in later by flashback. At its most basic level, Xenogears' narrative appears to follow something like the "Seven-Point Story Structure," whether intentionally or not, even going so far as to having its end written or plotted out first with the authors then working their way back to the starting point. The co-creator and main co-writer of Xenogears, Kaori Tanaka (Soraya Saga), even gave that advice on Twitter in 2013, saying that "I usually come up with the ending first then details follow." Not only was the narrative of Xenogears the game most likely plotted out backwards starting from the end, but judging by the first game in the grander story being episode five out of six, it also seems like the Xenogears series in its entirety was conceived and plotted out from near the end before making its way to the first episode (and only after that, the very last episode).

Interestingly, the author who developed the Seven-Point Story Structure (Dan Wells) gives the same advice as Kaori Tanaka in his book on the subject, so that the writer can better contrast the state of the main character at the beginnng from where they will end up, in order to maximize the dramatic change. The only problem is that this book was written in 2013, with the author saying he borrowed the idea of the Seven-Point Story Structure from the Star Trek Roleplaying Game Narrator's Guide. Since Tetsuya Takahashi has mentioned Star Trek we know he probably is a fan, but I doubt this is his actual inspiration or source for crafting a narrative framework back in 1995. I am pretty sure this Seven-Point Structure existed before Dan Wells "developed it" since I clearly found it (or something extremely similar to it) on the Net and used it to examine Xenogears and Xenosaga side by side in 2011. Supposedly the Seven-Point Story Structure is also a slightly less detailed adaptation of The Hero's Journey, and I can see The Hero's Journey template being a more likely source of inspiration unless Takahashi and Tanaka simply used their intuition and inspiration from works such as Star Wars and 2001: A Space Odyssey (among other works) to plot and write the story.

Still, I am going to use a combination of the Seven-Point Story Structure and The Hero's Journey (twelve-point) structure as an appropriate and simplified template through which to better summerize and analyze the narrative of "Xenogears Episode V," while also using terms that Tetsuya Takahashi himself has used to describe the narrative structure. For example, during development on Xenosaga, which uses an almost identical narrative structure to Xenogears, Takahashi referred to the immediate drama taking place in the present of the games as "momentary checkpoints in time" with "important modules (parts) before and after them." In the Xenogears 20th-Anniversary Concert interview he also said that he wanted to try his hand at "the popular fad at the time of littering the plot with foreshadowing and having all of those storylines coming together for the central story."

Basic Narrative Structure of Xenogears (Episode V):
  1. Opening Movie - The Hook
  2. Set-Up - Protagonist's Everyday Life
  3. Inciting Incident - Upsetting the Status Quo
  4. Refusal of the Challenge - Meeting the Guardian
  5. Rising Action - A Wanderer Among Allies and Enemies
  6. Revelations - Getting Closer to a Defined Goal
  7. Midpoint Context Shift - Going on the Offensive
  8. Facing the Monster - An Ordeal
  9. A Reward - Getting an Upgrade
10. Continuing the Struggle up to the Lowest Point
11. Final Transformation of the Protagonist - Climax
12. Resolution/Denoument - A New Status Quo

I will examine each of these parts in the broadest possible sense, only touching on details that may be easy to overlook or get confused about, so as to make this analysis more manageable while still being useful. Of course, the basic plot points shown here are not unique to Xenogears, they can be found in many other stories. Rather, it is the meat contained within each of these parts and how these are told that makes Xenogears what it is.

1. Opening Movie - The Hook

Xenogears opens with the epigraph "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." The use of an epigraph (i.e. a citation or quote) at the start of a story is meant to introduce the reader or viewer (or, in this case, the player) to a theme, tone, or context for the work. In this case the theme or tone is biblical with a specific focus on something all-encompassing or eternal, such as God. For something like this to set the tone at the start of the work suggests we are not about to experience an ordinary story but something quite heavy, cosmic, apocalyptic, and maybe even religious or revelatory. This particular quote comes from the Book of Revelation, and basically means "I am God," and "I am eternal." While the use of an epigraph is not uncommon in literature, cinema or even television, it is quite uncommon in video games and especially around the time Xenogears was first released.

The cinematic opening takes place 10,000 years in the story's past, and can be considered the initial "hook" that attempts to captivate the audience by kicking things off in a compelling way by posing questions that compel answers and makes a promise of a rewarding experience ahead. Opening a story several thousands of years before the story's main setting is another, quite unusual feature that mainly brings to mind the famous science fiction movie and novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, which most likely was the inspiration for such a choice. In both Xenogears and 2001: A Space Odyssey the story begins with "the dawn of man," although in Xenogears the dawn is more like a second or new dawn while also making allusions to the fall of man from the biblical story of Genesis.

The phrase that appears on the computer screens, 'You shall be as gods', is a reference to the forbidden fruit preceding the fall of man from the Garden of Eden. In Genesis this phrase is spoken by the serpent who tempted Eve, and when Deus is breaking out of the Eldridge's hull the image is that of serpents breaking out. Other than this intro's allusion to Genesis, I interpret this line as coming from Miang Hawwa after exon replacement awakens her in Persona (as explained on page 170 in Xenogears: Perfect Works~The Real Thing~), and alludes to her current symbolic role as both Eve and the serpent, as well as the Gnostic Demiurge that is about to create "the material world" for new humans. In that respect, Miang is Eve, the devil and Yahweh in one package. Another allusion to her being a devil figure is the fact that the Eldridge's auto-pilot system is named 'Faust' which is a reference to the protagonist of a classic German legend who makes a deal with the devil. The Eldridge's auto-pilot system submits to the Deus System just as Faust submitted to the devil. In fact, Gnostics (including John and Paul) saw the Hebrew God (Yahweh) as a fallen angel or worse, the devil himself. Clearly this must be why the concept of these beings are all fused into Miang/Deus. And in fact, Deus was originally called Yahweh but the name was changed due to the concerns of localizer Richard Honeywood who thought it might upset fundamental Christians. While Honeywood thought the developers were trying to twist the Judeo-Christian references, they are in fact based on Gnostic Christianity.

When the ship explodes and crashes on to the planet below, the Biological Computer 'Kadmoni' is ejected from Zohar and makes a soft landing. That is the wreckage we see on the ground at the end of the intro movie (as the Xenogears: Perfect Works book explains), where the Original Elhaym, in Miang mode, has exited Kadmoni (translated as 'Kadomony' in the U.S. version) as a newborn "Eve" of that world, as alluded to by her nakedness. The dark dawn of the new world is over, and the sun rises while burning parts of the Eldridge rains across the sky.

Some more notes about the opening movie:     The line "Damn, so they're planning on attacking" is a translation error and should be "Damn, so it's planning on attacking" or "That damn thing is planning on attacking?"     The Captain's daughter is probably not meant to look like Elly, since she has a different eye color and not quite the same hair style. The sketches in Xenogears: Perfect Works do not look at all like Elly.     Showing that the Captain had a family adds a human element to the opening, as it manages to condensely make the destruction of thousands of people important by focusing on the thoughts and actions of just one character.     "The main planet" spoken of is explained as referring to Lost Jerusalem (Earth) in Xenogears: Perfect Works, but the Captain immobilizes the Eldridge before Deus can go there.     The name of the ship, "Eldridge," is a reference to the USS Eldridge (DE-173), a Cannon-class destroyer navy escort ship built in 1943 that has become most famous for being involved in the "Philadelphia Experiment" myth where an experimental technology supposedly made the vessel vanish for some time before reappearing with strange after effects.     The Eldridge appears to be slightly based off of one of the Nazca Line drawings, specifically the Hummingbird. Which fits nicely into Erich von Däniken's Chariots of the Gods? premise that this opening movie resembles.

2. Set-Up - Protagonist's Everyday Life

After a brief prologue providing some information on the present day setting of the story, we actually get most of the set-up as a flashback following a short scene of the main protagonist fighting in a Gear. I wonder if this was the original opening hook to the game, since only partway through development did Takahashi decide to ask for more money to be able to afford special cutscenes. And after the opening movie was added, maybe they did not have time to change what they had already done? However, Kunihiko Tanaka said in the 20th Anniversary Concert interview that "Myyah appears in the intro, so she was designed very early on," which suggests they always planned for an intro like that.

Takahashi has said that he wanted to start off with something that was easy to get into, which then slowly begins to change as the game progresses. As such, the set-up resembles villages that can be found in other role-playing games, and I think it works well even though gamers who have played many Japanese RPGs beforehand might think of the set-up as all too familiar or cliché. But I do not think something being "cliché" or familiar needs to be regarded as a writing flaw if it sticks to something tried and true that tends to work while improving upon the idea and having it lead up to something that ultimately is different. I actually quite like the sharp contrast between the dark and heavy sci-fi intro with this lighter, down to earth setting. And it is not completely void of substance either. Examples of playing with the beauty of language, using figures of speech to toy with words, can even be seen in some of the mere NPC dialogue. Example:

"Here's a tip, Fei. Be very cautious of alcohol and women. Behind those sweet and beautiful appearances lies a deep, dark swamp. Before you realize it, you are trapped, and lose your freedom. They are the most fearsome demons in this world."

Citan's line about music seems to have touched a lot of gamers, as many fans cite that line as one of their favorites from the entire game. I also like the following line by one of the villagers; "In life, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is."

I am not going to bother touching much on the purpose of story structure elements, such as the "Set-Up" or "Inciting Incident," since anyone can read up on these concepts elsewhere. But the Set-Up, following the initial hook, serves the purpose of introducing the main protagonist. In Xenogears (Episode V) the main protagonist is Fei Fong Wong.

As a bit of trivia it should perhaps be mentioned that the characters in Xenogears (especially the major ones) appear to have been written partly based on a modern but somewhat esoteric personality classification system called the "Enneagram of Personality" that consists of nine interconnected types along a mystic, nine-pointed symbol. What leads to this conclusion is the Xenosaga Episode I -Official Design Materials- book, as well as a late game reference to Fei being a "peacemaker" - which is the nickname for one of the nine types in the Enneagram. No doubt this typology appealed to the writers due to its connection to psychoanalytical concepts and the way each of the nine types are connected to each other in both a fragmented and wholistic fashion, which fits with the core theme of Xenogears.

For the purpose of artistic or literary merit, analyzing the characters using a model like the Personality Enneagram is not necessary, and is mostly of interest for the same reason as other mechanics that merely explains the world system and its laws. In this case we can think of it as the hidden laws of the human psyche in Xenogears, and I will mostly treat it on that level. Furthermore, I will be using the most likely source that the writers used to study the Personality Enneagram, namely Don Riso's book Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery published in 1987, as well as the style of Xenosaga Episode I -Official Design Materials-, for my analysis. This is important, because there are many different schools and interpretations of the Personality Enneagram out there, and here I am mainly interested in how the writers of Xenogears used it and why.

In fact, I advice people analyzing the characters from the perspective of Enneagram Type classification to only use this book as the source, since I have noticed that many people mistype characters (as did I) when looking at other sources. Dated as the book may be, there is not the same abundance of Enneagram literature available in Japan as in the West, and this is the one book we can be pretty much 100% certain the creators of Xenogears used as a source. This way it will also make it easier for Xenogears fans unfamiliar with the Enneagram Types to know exactly what to read, thus bringing this type of analysis into a more coherent and appropriate focus than if fans get their information from vastly different sources on the Enneagram Types. Anyone can download this book for free from here.

Unlike the characters in Xenosaga Episode I we do not have an official confirmation regarding what specific Enneagram Type each of the main characters are based on and classified as. But we can make a fairly certain assessment that Fei Wong is classified as a Type 9 in the system based on the fact that the Type 9 is called "The Peacemaker" and runs the risk of Dissociative Identity Disorder (multiple personalities) at the lowest level of psychological health. A four-word description of the types is used in the Personality Types book from 1987, and for Type 9 these words are "peaceful, reassuring, passive, and neglectful." The four-word description in the Xenosaga Episode I -Official Design Materials- is basically identical. I will cite a summary of the Type 9 personality from page 33 in the Personality Types book:

"Healthy Nines' assets are based on the ability to identify intimately with a person or belief. The receptiveness, optimism, and peacefulness of healthy Nines are reassuring to others, enabling others to flourish because Nines create a harmonious atmosphere for everyone. However, average Nines undermine their own development (and their ability to deal with reality) by idealizing the other--whether a person or an abstraction--too much. And unhealthy Nines become dangerously fatalistic and neglectful as they cling to what has become little more than illusions about reality from which they have dissociated themselves."
- Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery (1987)

Being a peaceful and passive character whose personality stems from a desire to feel at ease at the cost of neglect and psychological self-neglect, Fei becomes a kind of reluctant hero at first that begins to grow over the course of the story. Not only that, but his personality is actually a "subpersonality" that was created only 3 years before the start of the present day narrative. The reason why Fei do not have any memories of his past is because his current personality did not even exist prior to 3 years ago. What Takahashi and Soraya have done here is taking the Type 9 neurosis and stretching it to its limits. To do this they created a scenario, only revealed later in the story, in which past childhood trauma caused the original Fei to disassociate from reality to such an extent that it resulted in amnesia and the creation of subpersonalities to deal with the reality Fei does not want to face. In other words, the main character starts out fragmented and in a low level of psychological health so that we can follow him all the way up till the end of the story where he will have changed into a unified and psychologically healthy hero.

Occasionally throughout this story analysis I will return to comment on the behavior of Fei and other characters using the assessment of Enneagram Type classification and cite the Personality Types book. Besides the Enneagram of Personality there are other psychological and psychoanalytical ideas that are relevant to analyze Fei in particular, such as Sigmund Freud's theory about the id, ego, and super-ego as divisions of the psyche. Another is Karen Horney and her theory of neurosis which places significant emphasis on parental indifference towards the child, and also Jacques Lacan and his concepts of the "Other" (usually a mother figure and the discovery of an incompleteness) and "Desire" (the discovery of the truth of one's unconscious desire). But more on this later.

The set-up, just like many other segments in Xenogears' narrative structure, contains a lot of foreshadowing. There is a sense of impending change, and it is not just the Inciting Incident that is foreshadowed. Major events of the story to come are also foreshadowed and, like some of the best foreshadowing in literature or cinema, it is not always recognized as foreshadowing when it occurs. A simple thing like Fei's turbulent painting foreshadows his inner mental landscape. The scene where Citan shows the musicbox to Fei has so much foreshadowing in it that it almost tells the entire story right there. The decoration inside the box resembles the Zohar, and the angel in front of it is later in Shevat heavily implied to be a statue of Sophia. You see the same statue outside Aphel Aura and a woman in Shevat's dungeon says to Elhaym: "Excuse me... Miss... You resemble the girl who was like an angel, and was sacrificed in the great war... I can picture Zephyr and the followers' confusion." The imagery is fitting, since Elhaym was created in the Kadmoni inside Zohar and advented to the world from there.

Also, Fei says he has heard this music, called "A Distand Promise," somewhere before. If you return to Citan's house later in the game you can read the following on the box: "Celebrating my daughter's birth...may all the dreams, courage & love in the world be yours." A lot of people have speculated from this that the music box belonged to Kim, and that Kim had made it for Emeralda's birth. However, the ruins that were being excavated in that area contained Gears from the war 500 years ago, so it is more likely that it originated from that period, which is also in line with the statue being an icon of Sophia from that time. When you visit Shevat and play this music in the bar's jukebox, if you talk to the man in the bar a few times while it plays he will state that the music originated as a poem:
"Broken mirror, a million shades of light, The old echo fades away. But just you and I can find 'the answer' someday..." 'A distant promise'. A poem composed long ago... Can you find 'the answer' which supposedly exists somewhere...?
Related to this bit of music and its theme is the track "Lost... Broken Shards", and if you play this tune and talk to the man he will say:
We're all part of a larger world, as one of its countless fragments. All their shapes and colors are unique... It's nice yet sad... Long time ago, one of the three sages said something like that.
This line suggests that it was perhaps one of the sages that either wrote, or inspired this poem, which again ties it to the 9500s era. For this reason I believe it is more likely that Fei heard the music when he was a child (or maybe as Lacan 500 years ago), and that the inscription is by Citan celebrating his daughter Midori's birthday.

When the musicbox starts playing, notice how shards start flying by. The imagery of humans as "broken shards" is a main theme in the game, and much of the soundtrack is related to this.

Some more notes about the Set-Up:     Yui and Midori are both common Japanese female names. The spelling of Yui combines the characters for "grace" and "garment" while Midori simply means "green."     Alice's name in the Japanese version is Aruru, which is the surname of the Mesopotamian mother-goddess Ninhursag, a primordial spirit of fertility. Having a village idol be named after a fertility goddess is apt, though it could also have a deeper meaning since, in The Epic of Gilgamesh, Ninhursag-Aruru created a beast-man. Alice's death made it easier for a destructive personality within Fei to manifest after losing probably the person he loved the most at the time.     Citan refers to himself as "a son of man." "It might actually be better to live an ordinary life, in this condition... As a son of man..." "Son of man" is a Hebrew idiom meaning "human being" or "mortal," with Citan referring to the possibility of living a life that isn't special. It is another subtle foreshadowing that he is no ordinary man.

3. Inciting Incident - Upsetting the Status Quo

The Inciting Incident is the point where the story really begins, the moment when "Giants" (Gears, and especially Weltall) enters the story in a manner that upsets the previous status quo and forces Fei into the adventure. Fei's entanglement with Weltall comes unexpected, as does his encounter with the mysterious Solarian woman Elhaym and the "leader" of the Kislev Gears - Grahf. What the story will be about is largely defined here, such as Fei's connection to this mysterious machine, his relationship with the young foreign woman Elhaym, and his conflict with an intimidating enemy force that turns out to be connected to his past.

The Inciting Incident is not a particularly long segment in any story, but for this analysis it might be worth also sorting out how Elhaym and Weltall arrived at Lahan, since some have found the whole series of events that transpired before this incident to be confusing. First, Grahf had Weltall developed for Id in secret somewhere in Solaris, basing the stock body and Slave generator on that of his Omnigear "Original Weltall" ("O.R. Weltall" for short). He then gave it to Id while training him as an assassin, as later seen during Ramsus' flashback of the quelling of Elru. After Kahn sealed Id away deep in Fei's psyche, Grahf, with the help of Miang as "Executioner," gave the stock body of Weltall to Kislev so that they could produce a modern type of Gear to even the fight between Aveh and Kislev in order to keep the war going for the sake of obtaining combat data in preparation for the resurrection of Deus (part of both Grahf's and Miang's plans). However, the main goal was to provoke Fei into conflict and awaken his destructive personality again. When everything was ready, Miang sent a group of Gebler's Special Forces - Elly's unit - to retrieve Weltall from Kislev's secret "Goliath facility," while Grahf alerted Kislev's army and had Elly's unit pursued until they arrived over Lahan and there forced them to make an emergency landing.

"Once before the Executioner loaned Weltall temporarily in the past, and Kislev achieved a great leap forward in technology in the process of researching its construction. And so, Kislev produced a single use Gear. And after, the Executioner gives Kislev the Gatekeeper. And so, aided once again, Kislev constructs the Gatekeeper Loading Vessel, Goliath. At that time, the question of the difference in their's and Aveh's technology is resolved."
- Xenogears: Perfect Works~The Real Thing~ (translation by UltimateGraphics)

The Gatekeeper is something that allows ships and other vessels to pass through the barrier that conceals Solaris from the surface and reach parts of the planet that are otherwise cut off by this distortion barrier. You can find some attempt at an explanation for how this barrier works in the "Science" section of Xenogears: Perfect Works, though unfortunately the translation by UltimateGraphics/Ichiban Manten is not very good.

Even Xenogears: Perfect Works states that the original cause for the war between Aveh and Kislev is unknown, but that it started around 300 years before the present day and that the hidden country of Solaris was likely behind it. The reason for starting the war was probably to weed out weaker humans in terms of Ether powers in order to get the best parts for Deus while also testing and gaining data on said abilities. It would also have had the benefit of keeping the two nations distracted with each other instead of turning against Solaris like similar countries had done 500 years before the present day, should the country be discovered.

Some more notes about the Inciting Incident:     The name 'Weltall' is German for "universe" or "cosmos" by combining the words Welt (world) and All (everything). The meaning appears to imply something that encompasses a grand order of things.

4. Refusal of the Challenge - Meeting the Guardian

The first narrative segment following the start of the story focuses a lot on Fei's refusal to take on the adventure that has been placed before him, as the focus is on its negative implications now that Fei no longer has a home or friends. What is the beginning of a grand adventure at first appears to Fei more like an end, the loss of everything he has had and gotten to know for the past three years, with still no memories of who he was or what he was doing before that.

This is where, in a classic Hero's Journey fashion, the hero gets help from a guide. Citan comes to Fei's aid, bringing Weltall to Fei, and encouraging him to use it on his journey. In reality Citan is one of Solaris' "Guardian Angel" operatives sent down to the surface on a secret mission for Emperor Cain. His real name is actually Hyuuga Rikudou (U.S. ver: Hyuga Ricdeau). For the story he tends to serve as the voice of reason, which in turn helps with Fei's characterization and motivation. In fact, many fans regard Citan as the best portrayal of the archetypal wise man who guides the hero, placing him ahead of both Gandalf and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Citan's name in the Japanese version is 'Shitan' which means "rosewood" (the name of Japanese wood used for things like furniture and Bonsai display stands).

In another foreshadowing, this time through the use of intertextuality, Elhaym's name can be split into El and Haym. El means "god," and Haym is a variant spelling of the Hebrew word for "life." Elhaym also sounds like Elohim, which means "God" in Hebrew (and El as a name for God is a contraction of Elohim). However, the official romanization of Elly's name is Elehayym, and though Haym can also be rendered chayyim, people are generally confused over why her name begins with Ele ("ere") instead of the more appropriate El ("eru") in the Japanese original. Some suspect they started from "Elly" and then tacked a bit on the end to make up a more exotic-sounding full name, which was then influenced by the lists of Hebrew words they had came across. It is also possible "Ele" was chosen to make Elehayym read as "Myyah ele" backwards which supposedly means "Miang exists here" somehow according to Xenogears: Perfect Works.

The shorter nickname 'Elly' is diminutive for the common Greek name Eleanor, which has several meanings: "Ray of light" and "foreign." Elly is a foreign soldier, and, in a certain symbolic sense - for both Fei and those who came to be saved by Sophia's wisdom - she is a ray of light. As mentioned in the unused script excerpt from the Xenogears: Perfect Works book, when Krelian first encountered Elly in her past life he felt as if she shined with all the radiance of the universe.

In regards to the intertextuality (allusions and naming references), Takahashi has sometimes been charged with having "gratuitious" or unjustified excessive referencing. I do not entirely agree with this charge, since I think most references are alluding to concepts that are relevant to examining and understanding the unsaid layers and guiding motifs behind the writing. A lot of the references serve as symbolic foreshadowing and leitmotifs. The name references is a detail, but one of many that adds a great richness to Xenogears and, in my opinion, is essential to its aesthetic and greatly adds to its overall substance. It is also remarkably economical and allows Takahashi to add more depth to otherwise superficial scenes with such simplistic but sophisticated devices. In addition to this, having the player get curious about these names and looking them up is a good way to invite young people into reading more and acquire knowledge outside of purely fictive worlds.

The dream Fei has in the forest is a flashback to the time of Abel, and chronologically it follows not too long after the game's opening movie. The silhouettes of zombie-like children walking past Fei are actually the Gazel elders (though Cain is absent, since there is only 12 of them) and the Elly that appears was the first one divided from Original Elhaym. Original Elhaym was adult, but the Elly Abel meets is a young girl. Unfortunately, in the English dub the voice actress did not attempt to sound any different from present day Elly. However, if you listen to the Japanese actress she speaks with a child's voice in that scene.

When it comes to the 'monsters' in the game, especially the non-human and non-mechanical ones, they very often do not seem to fit into the world, such as the fantasy-esque Forest Elves and humanoid animals. But I do kind of like the Rankar, so that one (and other earth-like predatory animals) I think should stay even in a remake or adaptation.

"The evolution of upper continent lifeforms finally resulted in the reptiles and mammals. Those large reptiles such as the Rankar and dragons have their antecedents many hundreds of millions of years ago. They appear to have died out in the ice ages. Those specimens found today are a type from around tens of thousands of years ago. Based on the excavation of fossils, they seem to newly have been made giant once more. It's interesting to compare those fossils of giant reptiles from hundreds of millions of years ago, to those large guys we've got today."
- Mr. Isaac Balthasar's study of earth's nature (Xenogears: Perfect Works~The Real Thing~)

Xenogears: Perfect Works has several pages analyzing the monsters of the world, and says that "From understanding of the monsters' life styles and background, it is hoped that they will be regarded as life deserving of respect and even a little more human." It also categorizes monsters into natural kinds and gene manipulated kinds. Some of them are pretty interesting, such as "Forbidden" that you later encounter in the Shevat shafts. Apparently they are those who were frozen in carbonite long ago in Shevat and were reborn as monsters.

Some more notes about Meeting the Guardian:     Van Houten, Elly's last name, is dutch. Van (same as in German) means "from," and Hout means "wood." Fei met Elly in the woods.     Rankar, the name of the "large reptile" that attacks Elly, might be a reference to "Rancor," a creature from Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi that is heard attacking a screaming female slave offscreen and which the hero is later forced to defeat. Similarly, we hear Elly scream offscreen without witnessing the actual attack at first, then Fei has to defeat the Rankar. The spelling of the name "Rankar" in Japanese is not identical to "Rancor," but similar to how the name reference to Wookiees is intentionally misspelled "Wookii" (for Chu-Chu's tribe) in Xenogears: Perfect Works, it might still be a reference or inspiration for the name.

5. Rising Action - A Wanderer Among Allies and Enemies

This next segment of the narrative structure is one of the longest and contains three "sub-stories" involving the character Bart and the kingdom of Aveh, Rico and the empire of Kislev, and also Billy and the Ethos Institution (the Church). For most of this segment and its sub-stories Fei remains a wanderer among allies and enemies, not having much agency of his own, agreeing to help the brash but good-natured former prince Bartholomew mainly as a way to make it up to the survivors Fei left behind in Lahan village (and who were subsequently brought by Citan's wife Yui to the aerial country Shevat, unbeknownst to Fei, and is the reason why he sees the mysterious "saucer" flying above past him in the desert).

In this segment of the story there is a slow rise in action, beginning with Fei's encounter with Grahf in the desert and his subsequent capture by the Kislev army, to his complicated rescue by Bart, followed by a failed attempt to restore the kingdom of Aveh to its former dynasty that leads Fei to become a prisoner in the capital of the Kislev empire. After making new allies and enemies in Kislev he helps save the capital from a destructive "purge" attempted by Solaris before escaping and making his way to the area of Aquvy where the Church has its headquarters. It is the revelations in the middle of this third sub-story that catapults the narrative into its next major segment.

The main purpose of this pre-revelations segment is to begin opening up the world and the political conditions of the so-called "surface nations" while introducing the main enemy. The main enemy being the hidden empire of Solaris and most of the major antagonists associated with that country such as the masked man Grahf, commander Ramsus and his aid Miang, the mysterious Gazel Ministry of digitized elders, and inquisitor Stein. We are also introduced to mysterious characters like the Emperor whom Citan has some connection to, and the masked woman working somehow with Grahf (later revealed to be Miang). Most importantly though, we are introduced to most of the main characters and allies that will help Fei and his group on their journey, except for those in Shevat, whom will be introduced in the revelations segment right before the narrative mid-point.

This part of the narrative should be an opportunity for the player to immerse themself in this well-constructed world that feels quite real and lived in for a fictional world. Almost like these places could really exist, with a wealth of background information conveyed by the various townfolks and NPC characters. It might be useful to get a pencil and making notes during the course of this segment, since unlike a novel you cannot flip back a bunch of pages to remind yourself of what was said. This is why the story seems better and more well-constructed the second and third time you play through this game than the first time, which is definitely recommended if you did not take notes.

Going into further analysis of this segment, let me return to the psychology of the characters and assessments from their Enneagram Type classifications. So far I have only touched on the main character Fei, so let us also examine what types some of the other major characters could be and what that explains about their behavior and actions.

Citan Uzuki, Fei's guardian, is most likely a Type 6 (likable, dutiful, dependent, and masochistic) for the simple reason that his counterpart in Xenosaga (Jin Uzuki) is classified as a Type 6 in the Xenosaga Episode I -Official Design Materials- book, and it fits. The following is the summary of the Type 6 personality from page 32 in the Personality Types book:

"Healthy Sixes' strengths involve the ability to form strong emotional bonds with others. When healthy Sixes act, it is to everyone's mutual benefit. They are committed to others, loyal and faithful friends, and they look for the same qualities from others. Average Sixes, however, look outside themselves too much for "permission" to act from an authority figure or belief system which will tell them what to do. Unsure of themselves unless the authority is on their side, they nevertheless feel they must assert themselves against the authority to prove their independence. Unhealthy Sixes succumb to anxiety and feelings of inferiority and insecurity, self-destructively bringing about the very consequences they most fear."
- Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery (1987)

Based on this summary it can be deduced that Citan is a healthy Type 6, which would make sense given he has been entrusted for an important mission by the Emperor himself. By contrast, the antagonistic character Dominia fits more the "average" Type 6, since she both acts from an authority figure in the form of Ramsus and at the same time asserts herself against other authorities like Kelvena and Miang at different points in the narrative. Perhaps Dan is an example of unhealthy Type 6.

However, there are two more important concepts when it comes to assessing personality using the Enneagram according to the book. One of these concepts is each type's connection to a second type depending on their health or growth, and a third type depending on their deterioration and neurosis. In the case of Type 6, a healthy personality will display traits of a healthy Type 9 in addition to the traits of the healthy Type 6 personality. If we recall the description of the Type 9 personality when I analyzed Fei, it said that the healthy 9 had a "receptiveness, optimism, and peacefulness" that are "reassuring to others, enabling others to flourish" because they "create a harmonious atmosphere for everyone." This too fits with Citan's personality, and why he works well as a guiding influence and mentor figure.

Citan: "Fei, you are such a worrier. Things have a way of working out. You do not need to worry so much. Why not go kill some time at the bar until I get back."

Why was a Type 6 personality chosen for the character Citan? Possibly because a healthy Type 6, which integrates or "grows" towards Type 9, would make a good mentor for an unhealthy Type 9 main character such as Fei Wong in order to make him grow psychologically. Additionally, a Type 9 such as Fei will deteriorate to unhealthy Type 6, the reverse of Citan, and take on the unhealthy traits described in the citation above such as succumbing to anxiety and feelings of inferiority and insecurity with self-destructive tendencies, like the ones Fei displayed when he first met Elly in the forest. And during his first encounter with Grahf, due to the stress, Fei starts blaming like an average-to-unhealthy 6, just like he blamed the Gears for landing in Lahan Village during an early conversation with Elly and later Bart for their situation in the Stalactite Cave. Grahf even calls him out on it, saying "Ah, so now you resort to blame? I see... That sounds like something 'you' would say. That's good. Your basic nature remains unchanged." The amusing part here is that Grahf is a creation of Lacan's self-loathing at his own personality and powerlessness - which is the same as Fei's - so he surely must not have a very high opinion of Fei's character at this point. In addition, Grahf knows all about it.

If you have some knowledge about the Enneagram of Personality it will add one more element of enjoyment and comprehension of the characterization that will get lost on most people, and is a lot of fun to observe as it plays out, almost in a "cause and effect" manner. Let's look at another example - Elly.

Elly van Houten, the main heroine of the story, is most likely a Type 2 personality (caring, generous, possessive, and manipulative), which is fairly easy to assess. And should there be any doubt, her counterpart in Xenosaga (Nephilim Verum) is classified as a Type 2 in the Xenosaga Episode I -Official Design Materials- book. The following is the summary of the Type 2 personality from page 31 in the Personality Types book:

"Healthy Twos' strengths result from the ability to sustain positive feelings for others. Healthy Twos are compassionate, generous, loving, and thoughtful; they go out of their way to be of service to people. However, average Twos are possessive and controlling. They want to be loved but intrude on others too much. And unhealthy Twos deceive themselves about the presence of their negative feelings, particularly aggression. They want others to see them as loving and good all the time even when they manipulate people and act selfishly."
- Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery (1987)

For most of the story, Elly displays mostly the traits of a healthy Type 2, which connects and grows towards healthy Type 4. However, when taking the "personality altering" drug -Drive-, Elly's mental state seems to be pushed towards her disintegration point (rage and cruelty), which is unhealthy Type 8. This is why Enneagram personality assessment is not just a bit of trivia regarding the authors' influences when writing the characters, since it appears to be used as an actual psychological law in the universe of Xenogears that deals a lot with attempts to alter and manipulate personality in both Xenogears and Xenosaga. But the in-universe scientists appear to be in the dark about this dynamic or in-universe "law of personality," trying to fix and improve human psychology through artificial means that only serves to push humans further from healthy psychological development.

While Elly, when taking -Drive-, manifest traits of an unhealthy Type 8 personality, the character Bart displays the more healthy traits. Again, citing the Personality Types book:

"Healthy Eights' strengths are based on their seeing themselves as more powerful than anyone else. They can use their immense self-confidence, courage, and leadership abilities to inspire others to great accomplishments. Average Eights, however, tend to dominate everything in the environment too aggressively, since they look after only their own self-interest and do not respect the rights and needs of others. Unhealthy Eights relate to their environment as bullies and tyrants, ruthlessly destroying anyone and anything that stands in their way."
- Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery (1987)

In the story, Bart becomes Fei's best friend, and Bart goes on to inspire Fei to great accomplishments despite the occasional conflict they have. I always liked Bart's lines about why he fights and why Fei has a reason to fight. He puts it quite eloquently, and is also an example of how Xenogears deals well with ethical issues. I think there is little doubt that Bart is a Type 8 (self-confident, forceful, combative, and destructive). And similar to Citan, who is a good mentor for Fei due to his resemblance to a healthy Type 9, Bart is a good influence and friend for Fei due to the "second side" of Fei's personality, which is unhealthy Type 8. Earlier, I said that there are two important concepts when it comes to assessing personality using the Enneagram according to the book we are using as a source. The first concept was growth and deterioration points. The second concept is that of a type's "wing" or main adjacent type on the circumference of the Enneagram. The two adjacent types for Type 9 are Type 8 and Type 1, with Fei clearly displaying more traits of Type 8 than Type 1, especially in his second, destructive personality.

In other words, each personality type has a connection to three other types; the unhealthy side of one along the inner lines, the healthy side of another along the inner lines in the opposite direction, and one of the two types next to it. During the story, Fei displays the traits of Type 9 in its entire spectrum, along with unhealthy Type 6 and unhealthy Type 8 (the latter in one of his subpersonalities), as well as traits of healthy Type 3 once Fei finally grows and integrates at the end of the narrative. The following is the summary of Type 3 in the Personality Types book:

"Healthy Threes' strength involve the ability to adapt to others. Healthy Threes quickly learn what will make them attractive and desirable. They are able to motivate others to want to be like them because they are genuinely admirable in some socially valued way. Average Threes, however, are the most out of touch with their emotions and with their individuality. They are chameleons, projecting an image which others will applaud. Unhealthy Threes get hostile and extremely malicious if they do not get the admiring attention they desire."
- Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery (1987)

In the story, I have noticed that the Type 3 personality (self-assured, competitive, narcissistic, and hostile) is mainly assigned to antagonists and villains, such as Shakhan and Inquisitor Stein. The same pattern occurs in Xenosaga. It also seems that Miang has a connection to Type 3, which likely makes her a Type 2 with a Type 3-wing. The exception to this pattern would be Big Joe, who seems to be a healthy Type 3, and would likely make another good friend for Fei.

Antagonist Kahran Ramsus, however, appears to be a Type 1 personality type (principled, orderly, perfectionistic, and punitive), making him much less manipulative or deceptive compared to the other antagonists. The summary of Type 1 in the Personality Types book reads as follows:

"Healthy Ones' strengths involve the ability to relate objectively to the environment. Healthy Ones are reasonable, fair-minded, and conscientious, guided by principles which give them strong consciences and a clear understanding of right and wrong. However, average Ones are out of balance with their emotions, which they try to control too much. They strive for nothing less than absolute perfection, finding it difficult to accept anything as it is because it can always be better. Unhealthy Ones are intolerant and self-righteous, becoming obsessed about the evil they find in others while ignoring their own contradictory actions. They can be cruel and merciless toward others."
- Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery (1987)

During the course of the story, we get to observe Ramsus' mental deterioration from a reasonable, fair-minded and conscientious enemy commander all the way down to a cruel and merciless obsessive with contradictory actions, going against his previous principles. Another example of Type 1 in the story would be Billy Lee Black, the young priest who ends up helping Fei on his journey, and is more on the average-to-healthy spectrum of the type. It is interesting to see how they went about to portray Billy, given the lack of cinematic visual. You see him react to crude language with ellipses, and exclamation marks before the ellipses when he reacts with anger before controlling himself. I think it's a pretty neat way to get his reactions across since they could not show the reactions in his face on those tiny pixels.

As for Grahf, who makes an early appearance in this narrative segment and is the first proper antagonist to be introduced, his personality is perhaps not so interesting to analyze since it is based on the exact same personality structure as Fei, and in particular his destructive subpersonality. Rather, there are other things worth examining in regards to the character Grahf.

Grief and tragedy is one of the main themes in the game, and all the characters are driven by some form of grief in the story. Grahf is the first of, what I refer to as, the "broken-hearted" antagonists to appear - which relates to the "broken shards" theme of the story. It can be said that those with a grief-struck heart are driven by sorrow and despair, while looking to ameliorate the condition of suffering. It should be noted here also that it is not just the antagonists who are driven by grief. The protagonists are equally motivated by this as a major fundamental driving force.

Grahf's characterization here may seem somewhat one-dimensional and over-the-top at first given how complicated his background turns out to be, but I think it is ultimately fitting for the most nihilistic character in the story who has made hatred and resentment of the world his source of power. Symbolically, Grahf is meant to allude to a demon, which is reinforced by Xenogears: Perfect Works: "Grahf destroyed the world by using this mech. It has the same qualities as Deus, and thus is quite the Demon indeed" (Page 23). He is also a homage to Darth Vader and I think Mitsuda even borrowed a few notes from John William's "Imperial March" when he composed Grahf's theme.

There is also the allusion to the devil here, with Grahf wanting to destroy God. Later in the narrative it is also revealed that Grahf once destroyed all of the world with the army of "Diabolos." Diabolos (Diabolus or Diavolus) is a Greek word that means "accuser" and is the origin of the word "Devil." The Diabolos army of destructive machines seems to have been analogous to an army of Demons manipulated by Miang and Grahf, who both represent certain aspects of the Devil and God. In fact, Grahf can be said to be the "spearhead" of the power of God (Deus), as the Xenogears: Perfect Works book puts it. While some people may not feel that the narrative calls for the use of such symbolism or allusions, including these abstractions does add a layer of texture to the work in addition to being an economic means of communicating complicated ideas to a perceptive audience similar to the intertextuality.

The name "Grahf" ("Graf" in the original Japanese) may be a reference to Graf Dürckheim, a German diplomat, psychotherapist and Zen Master who worked with Nazis and who learned and taught Zen in Japan during World War II. In the story, Grahf works with Solaris, a country that has many allusions to Nazi-Germany.

There's one more thing I want to touch upon while on the subject of Grahf, mostly just to get it out of the way. Occasionally there is a recurring thematic analysis of Grahf as a jester, based on how Grahf is dressed. But I find no reason to believe Grahf was intended to resemble a jester in his appearance. There are only two aspects of Grahf's design that makes his outfit resemble a jester: the helmet and the baggy pants. However, the pants are clearly meant to be martial art wear same as Fei and Kahn if you check the sketches of Grahf in Xenogears: Perfect Works. They only look like jester pants because of Grahf's high boots and the super deformed style of the character's in-game sprites.

As for the helmet. I think what they were going for was a design reminiscent of the kabuto helmet that also inspired the helmet of Darth Vader. While Vader's helmet did not have horns, it is actually fairly common for the kabuto to have horns, and a lot of warrior antagonists in fantasy anime and manga have had large horns similar to those of Grahf. Final Fantasy XIV's Gaius van Baelsar seems to have been inspired by Grahf's look and it's clear that his helmet is meant to look like devil horns, yet they still have bells hanging from them.

I do not know the significance of the bells in asian adornments, but in general bells are related to meditation and a higher level of the soul in terms of awakening. For example, the villain organization Akatsuki in Naruto have their members wear small bells hanging from their conical hats. Looking at the sketches of Grahf in Xenogears: Perfect Works, the wings on his helmet look more like horns than a jester's hat, almost the same as the horns on the Master Gundam from Mobile Fighter G Gundam, which gives him that demonic look that alludes to a devil. Furthermore, there is no indication whatsoever in the director's comments that Grahf was to look like a jester. All they wanted was a design that looked like Darth Vader, and they struggled hard with it. The rough drafts do not have any wings or bells on Grahf's helmet, which they should have had if there was such symbolism intended for the character.

"The -Time- of the -Gospel-"
After recognizing that Grahf has started to take action, Citan wonders if they are approaching the -Time- of the -Gospel-, and has a flashback where the Emperor explains:

"Yes, the -Gospel-. We are the people expelled from paradise and forced to live on the cruel surface of the earth. We who fill this land will once again return to the presence of God in paradise and live there eternally. That is the -Time- of the -Gospel-. That -Time- is at hand. We, the Gazel, must find God's resting place by then and resurrect him. If this does not come true..."

I emphasize the last sentence since it was translated differently in the U.S. version where it said "That is our final prayer..." In the original Japanese text, Citan then asks "If it does not come true?", to which the Emperor cryptically responds: "Then in accordance with the -Fate- from our Genesis, we..." Reflecting on this statement, Citan fills in what the Emperor may have explained to him, saying to himself (Will we really face annihilation? Your Majesty...), which was translated in the U.S. version as (Majesty... Is this the end...?) Clarifying the original text here is important, because the original dialogue implies a time limit for God to be resurrected, and if God is not resurrected it will seemingly be the end for mankind. It also establishes that the resurrection of Deus and the Time of the Gospel are two separate things by the end of this exchange.

There is a hidden, true meaning behind the "Time of the Gospel" in Xenogears that is often overlooked, which I want to touch on here. But first I will examine the basics. "Paradise" is the Emperor referring to the Eldridge incident in the opening movie, which was the "Genesis" of this world they inhabit. A philosophical question that Xenogears concerns itself with is the nature of how religion comes about, and the first look at the long-term result of the Eldridge crash can be viewed here: it became the basis for this world's major religion and is a metaphor or allusion to the concept of paradise in monotheistic religions.

However, for an impartial outsider trying to make people think, merely suggesting that a religion may be false by inventing a non-spiritual, fictional origin, tends to be ineffective. While such a premise suggests that our own Genesis may be possible to explain without religious myths, or through looking at religious myths in a non-literal and skeptical way, most people, especially religious people, are not going to be too challenged by what happens in a fictional world. An actual supernatural element is needed in order to create a more compelling and thought-provoking metaphor beyond mere conspiracy theory plots.

As with actual Christianity and other monotheistic religions, there is here the promise of returning to the presence of God in paradise and live there eternally. However, this is not absolutely certain. In order to not perish, human beings must find God (which parallels adhering to religious faith and doctrine in the real world) because otherwise their fate is destruction, as is the lack of salvation in monotheistic religions. But in order to make the metaphor complete, this is not just an empty promise. In the game's world this is very real, as Xenogears: Perfect Works elaborates on:

"As I'm sure the more perceptive of you have noticed, no clear and specific explanation of the true meaning behind the words the 'Time of the Gospel' or the three mysterious phenomena bound up with it -- 'why was it absolutely necessary for 'God', Deus, to restore itself within the long span of 10,000 years?', 'why was there a time limit to this process?', 'why would mankind be destroyed as a result of this?' -- was ever provided, to the very end. In addition, the interpretations themselves given by the characters who navigate these phenomena vary tremendously based on their individual perspectives.

[...] Humans who become part of Deus and join with it this way attain life, while those who never hoped for that kind of unification, those who intended to break out from under God's protection, are given a divine punishment bearing the name of ruin."
- Excerpt from 'After Word', Xenogears: Perfect Works~The Real Thing~ (translation by Gwendal)

Basically, what we have here is a metaphor for Armageddon where those who are on the side of "God," and merge with Deus, gain "life" while those who do not wish this union are destroyed by "God" and its parts who defend it as angels. Those who in real life history wished for eternal life with God, and salvation from destruction (such as hell), actually had a view on end times that was and is pretty much identical to this fictional scenario on a metaphysical level. What tends to get overlooked is that the literal, archaic form of biblical ideology is actually very similar to Deus' aim in the story.

However, and as an additional twist in the larger mythology of this fictional universe, as demonic and intimidating as Deus seems to us - just as the Judeo-Christian or Islamic god seems demonic and intimidating from an outsider's perspective - there is implied to exist an even bigger threat to humanity hidden behind the words "Time of the Gospel" as alluded to in the game's original script and the After Word of Xenogears: Perfect Works. This mysterious threat will primarily be examined in part 4, but with something like that we have a more interesting symbolic similarity between Deus in the story and the real-world concept of God.

When Ol' man Bal shows his collection of fossils we finally get a timeline to place the opening movie event in better context. "Yes, from a certain point in time, human fossils suddenly no longer appear. That point is roughly 10,000 years ago." Up until this scene, one might even think the Eldridge incident took place in the present day, but this scene is the first to bring some clarity to the meaning of the opening movie and establish context early on in the narrative. Which is important.

While the introduction of fossils and the theory of human evolution on the planet is a good idea at this point, Ol' man Bal then proceeds to bring up the absurd concept of "the theory of evolution as taught by the 'Ethos'", when there is no consistency in having a religious organization that alludes to the Catholic Church (and organized religion) be teaching a non-supernatural origin for humans. But I think it is merely intended to foreshadow that the Ethos Church was not established as a genuine religious institution, but something specifically intended to cover up much of the truth about this world's history and act as a front for a certain hidden country's activities. I guess it was simpler to have the fake Church teach evolution rather than a competing religious myth to make the narrative less confusing.

The additional elements to the otherwise biblical-sounding Genesis myth involving giants and humans trying to take paradise back by force, also sounds pretty funny and a bit clumsy to have true historical weight. But once you recognize how important the Gears are to the universe of Xenogears, it does not sound so bad on subsequent playthroughs and works for this in-universe world. And what Takahashi appears to be drawing inspiration from is the pre-flood civilization in the Bible, which existed side by side with "giants," and the machine-like phenomena described in the book of Enoch. If those ancient texts are read in a non-spiritual way, then some humans of that time, mistaken for "angels/gods," appeared to have used advanced flying machines. And some of those men fell from the grace of God and created the giants called "Nephilim" who were regarded as heroes at the time. The "daughters of men" could be equivalent to Vessels of Anima, since the Anima is a Jungian concept that refers to the unconscious feminine side of a man.

While Balthasar says he prefers the in-universe genesis myth to the theory of evolution as taught by the Ethos, it seems he is suspecting that humans came to the planet onboard a space vessel:

"In my short stay on Shevat, I conducted research into the ancient machine culture. One of those things was the remains of a large ship that also appeared to date from around 10,000 years ago. And this relic of an ancient civilization, ultimately could not be traced back the next 4~5 thousand years. The emergence of the human fossil record coincides with that of the large ship. Looking further in the past there is absolutely no trace of human kind... So this thinking leads to an even more impossible conclusion.
    Human beings appeared suddenly on this world 10,000 years ago. With this in mind, can the fable of evolution given out by the Church be true? There were definitely living creatures on this world from the beginning. And they achieved their various kinds of evolution from then until the present day. Even human beings are said by the Church to have evolved from apes. However, it probably did not occur on this planet. Our origin may be somewhere out in space..."
- Mr. Isaac Balthasar's study of earth's nature (Xenogears: Perfect Works~The Real Thing~, page 52)

As for why Balthasar would call Weltall "the host for the spirit of the slayer of God" has always been somewhat unclear to me. The only thing I can think of is that Balthasar recognizes that Weltall looks like O.R. Weltall (Grahf's Gear) that tried to wipe out humanity and "God" of the Solarians 500 years before the present. Though I don't know why Balthasar would recognize Deus as "God" or even know of its existence. Perhaps "slayer of God" became a general nickname for Grahf that in-universe was not meant literally. But either way this is never explained. The best we get is Fei's line at the end of Disc 1: "Grahf called me the one who would destroy god. In a way, I can understand what he means now. Though my Id power isn't good enough, if it has the same quality as Grahf's... I..." This line does support the idea that "Slayer of God" was a nickname for the Contact after he turned into Grahf. Xenogears: Perfect Works confirms that Miang knows that the Contact is "the slayer of God" as well, suggesting she has known that since the time of their Genesis.

A lot of people feel this is a heavy-handed foreshadowing, since not only do most gamers expect the protagonist of a JRPG to slay a god-like existence at the end, but Fei actually does end up slaying "God" in that machine. As far as foreshadowing goes, this one is anything but subtle. However, by the time the story reaches the end, most will have forgotten about this foreshadowing anyway. The story is about so much more than this, and with so many subtle details a few heavy ones are fine. Another way to look at it is that it is used to enhance the mystery of Weltall, which is how I tend to look at it, generating more interest in the story at a part where the plot is somewhat uneventful. Unfortunately there's been quite a few people that lost interest in playing more of the game at the Stalactite Cave dungeon, so it does come at the right time.

After this, the story focuses mostly on the mission to rescue Bart's cousin Margie, the current Holy Mother of Nisan. We still get a few bits of foreshadowing and remainders of earlier parts of the story when Fei encounters Wiseman and Dan during the Aveh tournament. Having Dan in the tournament as a representative of Lahan's helplessness and Fei's guilt over killing all those defenseless villagers is a nice detail that works really well as a video game. The whole sequence of Bart entering the castle while Fei distracts the soldiers who are fans of the martial arts tournament is well designed, and is usually liked by those who prefer game over story but hated by those who prefer story over game. It is also a great way to show off more of the world-building by having the option to sneak into the library and read about Bledavik's history, and they even throw in a revised history by Shakhan who tries to make the former Fatima dynasty appear like they were tyrants. I also like that they put a guy from Lahan in the Bledavik festival asking Fei if his wife and kid were fine when Fei is finally starting to unwind and forget about his problems, once more giving him a guilt trip for enjoying the fair after destroying his hometown and most likely killing this guy's wife and daughter in the process.

I have sometimes seen gamers refer to Xenogears as being "verbose" (containing an excess of words, so as to be pedantic or boring), such as the Nisan segment, which might seem to be wordy compared to other games and RPGs. But compared to a work like The Brothers Karamazov, which is what I would call "verbose," Nisan is actually not that bad. I also think the narrative and dialogue at Nisan is pretty straight-forward. The cathedral part did a good job of captivating me and others on the first playthrough - especially the flashback Fei has of an individual that resembles him painting the portrait of Sophia, who looks like Elly. This is the first time Xenogears is being really ambitious and you realize the 8 hours of gameplay that came before it has barely scratched the surface of everything that is going on in the story.

We also get some beautiful imagery here with the two single-winged angels in Nisan's cathedral, as a central visual representation of Xenogears' 'broken shards' theme:

Margie: "Did you notice that the two great angels only have one wing each...? According to a legend handed down in Nisan... God could have created humans perfectly... But then, humans would not have helped each other... So that is what these great single-winged angels symbolizes... In order to fly, they are dependent on one another."

Here, the 'broken shards' are represented as angels with only one wing each, and this is a metaphor for humans as being imperfect and fragments, but with an altruistic hope or grander purpose of becoming complete by helping one another. All human beings are interdependent, and sometimes, dependent - when they are, for instance, young, weak, sick, old or dying. It is difficult to live and survive entirely alone. However, I think it is important to view the word "imperfect" as merely a word from a specific vantage point. If the purpose of human beings is to be incomplete but vital components of something bigger, then this incompleteness or "imperfection" would in itself be a form of perfection, while the attempt to go beyond this and call something else "perfection" instead would actually be imperfect and create problems along with unreasonable and unnatural expectations of people. Most of the debates around the merits of this core message of Xenogears seems to boil down to that: whether the appeal to imperfection runs the risk of becoming an excuse not to better ourselves. So one needs to keep in mind in what context, and from what vantage point, the word "imperfection" is used in the game and not just take the word at face value or out of context.

But it does seem like Takahashi considers human nature to be fundamentally flawed. Takahashi puts it, probably quite accurately, in the Xenosaga Episode I -Official Design Materials-:

"Humans are all a childish existence. They are a decisive, self-righteous, stupid existence.
    In order to guide this kind of existence, while paradoxical, the existence of God is necessary. That which guides."
- Tetsuya Takahashi (Xenosaga Episode I -Official Design Materials-, page 91)

Because of this, I always thought the ultimate Takahashi spokesperson, or at least self-portrait, in Xenogears was Krelian. But after a recently translated interview from 1998 revealed that he identifies the most with Kahran Ramsus, I am no longer sure. Still, I think he has put something of himself in several of the characters. Either way, this quote from the Xenosaga Episode I -Official Design Materials- book is worth keeping in mind when we examine Krelian later on.

At this point, in-universe characters like Bart question this meaning of humanity: "... Hah! Forcing them to fly together...? It would be less bothersome if they could fly on their own, don't you think, Fei?" To which Margie replies: "Bart! You miss the deeper meaning and beauty of it! Someday I wish I could be of help to someone like that..." Like many people, Bart don't want to accept that, which makes a lot of sense when he's got such a liberal upbringing that almost appear Nietzscheian. Recall that earlier, in the stalactite cavern, Bart said that his group believed in a "liberal upbringing," and that the assumption was that Bart would be able to escape by himself. Given the Fatima Dynasty's close tie to the Nisan religion, this contradiction in ideology seems a little odd. We also don't get much more information about it.

Citan makes a further observation about the statues, pointing out that the two angels have opposing genders, and that such a depiction is unusual. One certainly gets the impression that the Gnostic and Jungian idea of Syzygies or "Pairs" is represented here, which is used to describe deep psychological relationships. Usually this refers to the Jungian concept of Anima and Animus tied with male and female, but it can also refer to other pairs of opposites. Takahashi himself has used the phrase "foreign things becoming one" when referring to this idea.

Mother Sophia is also known in-universe as the 'Mother of Knowledge.' In most Gnostic denominations Sophia is both the youngest, and the primary emanation of God. Depending on the denomination she is either the mother of Christ, or his companion. Sometimes both. From this it seems as though Fei would be Christ in the story, which fits in with the legend about the 'long awaited man of God who will lead the humans born on this planet to a new horizon' - Ahnenerbe. However, we never get to see this play out in Episode II~V (the game), so perhaps the final story arc would have made the allusion to Christ complete?

At this point we reach the first "pinch point" in the narrative structure, which is a reminder of the nature and intention of the antagonistic force - a return of the same thing that appeared at the Inciting Incident. While it is too early for the heroes to win a significant victory, a good narrative allows its protagonists to try, failing in the process, only to learn something from that failure. This is what the desperate counterattack (Recapture Aveh) is in Xenogears. It is also neat that the main characters are actually planning ahead and doing military diversions using strategy. Even with so many details in the narrative, the story and game does a good job of mixing up what the characters are doing, not making the pace feel slow.

I think that when Grahf says to Miang, "You used the influence of the Ministry to set you up with that man...", he is referring to Kahr as "that man." Since Id traumatized Kahr in Elru, I am thinking Grahf feels uneasy about Miang joining up with Kahr, fearing that she will use Kahr to get rid of Fei.

In Elhaym's flashback we learn that Solaris' scientists and military force is developing drugs intended to alter and enhance a person's psychology or personality in order to draw out their potential and hidden abilities. There is also something Nietzscheian about the Solarian attitude that "It's those weak people's fault for not being able to withstand your powers." Perhaps the -Lambs- can be seen as an allegory for the Christian slaves, those with a "slave morality," as Nietzsche put it. But the Yahweh metaphor of Deus makes it somewhat inconsistent to have its direct associates be a Nietzscheian allusion. Solaris is obviously a parable with Nazi-Germany type fascism, which mostly had ties to Nietzsche's philosophy and less so Christianity, even if distorted by Nazi ideology. But there are other types of religion, including Talmudic Judaism, which views itself as a priesthood of mankind. Many terms, as well as the symbol of the Solaris nation, are taken from Jewish mysticism, and many a empire have regarded themselves as the light of the world. For example, the following line express both the extremist view of the religious fanatic as well as the fascist: "Don't worry! You have power worthy of the chosen one's." It is all about those who are chosen and worthy, which is religious fundamentalism and fascistic bigotry at its worst. Regardless, it all comes back to the "will to power" in the end.

I think that Elly's drug-fueled face seen in the game was chosen to emphasize the hardened but unhealthy Type 8-trait connected at the neurotic end of her Type 2 personality, based on the relevant Enneagram Type classification we have touched on. But the confrontation would have felt more disturbing if Elly had had this conceptual sketch of her drug-fueled state in her portrait instead. Apparently the Nazis actually developed pills that were intended to be used as combat drugs towards the end of the war, so there is a precedent for the concept.

With Elly's unit, Takahashi continue his motif of naming characters after physicists and psychoanalysts. Breuer, Helmholtz, Rank, and Frantz are named after Josef Breuer, Hermann von Helmholtz, Otto Rank, and Frantz Omar Fanon respectively (they were localized as Broyer, Helmholz, Renk, and Vance in the U.S. version). The fifth member of the Gebler Special Forces, "Strakki", is still an unknown naming reference. There are many physicists that fit the naming convention of "Stranski" however, such as Georgi Stranski or Ivan Stranski, so maybe they were going for that.

Otto Rank's "here-and-now" approach influenced analysts to take more seriously the actual present interaction between therapist and patient. His approach was action-oriented, which fits the characterization of Renk well. Renk is the leader of the other Gebler guys when Elly is not in command, and he makes the healthy and right choice to follow Elly rather than continue what Solaris is doing. He fights for the honor of his unit and this "here-and-now" spirit is likely what kept him healthy and making better adaptive choices over the course of the story than other Solarians. Maybe if the developers had not been running out of time on Disc 2 we would have gotten more information and story about these guys.

"My fist is the divine breath!"
When Grahf returns, he uses figures of speech to toy with words like many good writers. I guess these lines are what made people start to view Grahf as Shakespearean. It certainly gives him a different flavor from his first appearance. "Blossom, o fallen seed, and draw upon thy hidden powers!! Grant unto thee the power of the glorious 'Mother of Destruction'!" The meaning behind his words are explained in Xenogears: Perfect Works:

* Grahf's 'Power'
Grahf frequently appears in front of Fei and talks about how "My fist is the divine breath! Blossom, o fallen seed, and draw upon thy hidden powers! Grant unto thee the glorious power of the 'Mother of Destruction'!" The "fallen seed" he speaks of is without a doubt a reference to the power cord, so to speak, that transports energy from the Zohar: the Slave Generator. This line is a reference to the fact that Grahf has the ability to increase energy output. And thus Deus is the "Mother of Destruction"; that Grahf sees Deus as the weapon of weapons.
- Xenogears: Perfect Works~The Real Thing~

The output rating of a Slave Generator can be set in a manner similar to that of dip switches which Zohar then generates and sends based on this rating; this is called the Slave Generator's "Marking." Normal human beings cannot modify these settings, however, Grahf, by some unknown faculty, changed the Marking of various Gears, improving their combat effectiveness. Since Omnigears operate on energy supplied by the Zohar via the Vessel of Anima interface, their supply of energy is inherently limitless.
- Xenogears: Perfect Works~the Real Thing~

There is a lot more information regarding the science of Weltall and its transformation into Id-mode in the book. In the narrative, I wonder if, when "the red Gear" responds to Bart's question of "What are you suddenly attacking me for!?" with the line "Heh heh, fine. Then play dumb!", Id is referring back to Bart's challenge to Fei in the stalactite cavern when Bart wanted the two of them to fight it out. At least that has been my impression whenever I replay Xenogears, and I like that interpretation. Also, Sigurd mentions the 'Bernoulli effect' when he proposes to jump the Yggdrasil on top of Weltall-Id. The Bernoulli effect, or the Bernoulli principle or Bernoulli's law, which was discovered by the renowned mathematician Daniel Bernoulli in the 18th century, is a statement of relationship between flow speed and pressure in a fluid system (such as air) which can be observed in, for example, airplanes - which use the Bernoulli effect to help generate lift. However, this term was added by the English translator Richard Honeywood and does not appear in the original Japanese script which simply says "wing effect."

For a brief moment at the start of the Kislev substory, we get to meet the 'real' Fei for the first time, "the coward," who has secluded himself at the depths of Fei's consciousness to repeat the moments when he was happy. The coward watching his memory and closing his eyes and ears to reality and anything that could upset or disturb makes for a good portrait of an unhealthy Type 9 personality and I just love the use of framing and composition shots.

Also, with the musicbox theme "Distant Promise" playing again, I think the person "living inside" Fei, who "liked this music," as Citan put it, was indeed foreshadowing of the coward rather than any other Fei alter-ego, and that he heard this music when Karen was still herself. This relates to the grief theme, as it is Fei's response to his grief.

In the Nortune prison block we are also introduced to Hammer, who at first glance seems to be a minor character existing merely to sell you items and provide some comic relief. Hammer is most likely a Type 7 in Enneagram classification (accomplished, impulsive, excessive, and manic) for the simple reason that his counterpart in Xenosaga (also named Hammer) is classified as a Type 7 in the Xenosaga Episode I -Official Design Materials- book, and the classification fits. The following is the summary of the Type 7 personality from page 32 in the Personality Types book:

"Healthy Sevens' assets involve the ability to do many things exceptionally well. Healthy Sevens are exuberantly enthusiastic about the environment, becoming extremely accomplished in a wide variety of activities. However, average Sevens overdo everything in an unending search for new sensations, although, ironically, the more they do, the less they are satisfied. They greedily want more of everything so they will not feel deprived. Unhealthy Sevens become self-centered, demanding that others cater to their whims. They become dissipated escapists and fly compulsively out of control."
- Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery (1987)

Based on this summary it can be deduced that Hammer is an average Type 7, as he appears to be somewhat manic and impulsive but not demanding or out of control. He works well as an enthusiastic, lighthearted character at first, only to later reveal a very troubled personality behind the energetic facade. Some excerpts from the Personality Types book that are relevant to Hammer's character and worth keeping in mind are the following ones:

"Sevens are one of the three personality types in the Doing Triad. The nature of their potential problem with doing is that they tend to overdo everything, spinning out of control in a search for happiness. [...] They are neither introspective nor especially person-oriented. Instead, they are experience-oriented - extroverted, practical, and materialistic. They feel that the world exists for their pleasure, and that it is up to them to get what they want for themselves. [...] the focus of average Sevens shifts away from productivity to the possession and consumption of more goods and experiences. They stay busy to keep their level of stimulation high. However, hyperactivity makes happiness ultimately elude them because they do not appreciate anything they do or have. This is why, if they become unhealthy, Sevens are little more than dissipated escapists, acting impulsively and increasingly out of control.

"Ultimately, if they invest little of themselves in their experiences, Sevens cannot be satisfied by what they do. To their mounting panic, they discover that nothing makes them happy. They then become enraged and terrified because it seems that life has cruelly deprived them of happiness."
- Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery (1987)

At this point we are also introduced to the Gazel Ministry for the first time, and from now on I will examine every bit of conversation they have since many detractors have claimed that what they say never makes any sense, even on second or third playthrough. It appears that the SOL-9000 is housed on Krelian's ship 'Ezekiel', which was the "fishbowl" looking ship that Executioner (Miang) arrived in at Kislev. It is also possible that the Emperor is onboard this ship, although his throne chamber does not look like it exists in normal space but more like some abstract virtual reality space.

Gazel conversation #1
They begin by stating how fast the Contact (Fei) - "the untouchable one" - is awakening (into Id, "Grahf's Second Advent"), having not heard any news since 3 years ago (when Fei was brought to Lahan). They are using the in-game memory cubes (used for saving game data) to keep track of Fei, and, realizing that they don't need anything from the Kislev area, they decide they will blow up an ancient nuclear reactor in the vicinity in order to get rid of him. And to not draw Emperor Cain's attention, who they know is reluctant to kill Fei, they decide to give no motive for this operation other than to "purge the -Lambs-." Other than that, they make references to the Contact causing the 'Days of Destruction' (the Diabolos invasion by Grahf at the end of the war 500 years ago) in which the remaining Gazel elders' (the eight that had not died in the war) lost their physical bodies, leaving the legacy of the Animus "genetics" inside the Lambs. In other words, the surface-dwellers became the Animus after the Ministry elders had all died.

"During the war, surface dwellers began to appear among the enemy powers with pseudo Zohar ability (those able to use ether due to interference by Zohar). Due to the abilities of these humans (Animus) (with some variance in ability) who were the result of eons of repeated evolution, the original forms of Animus, the Gazel Ministry, had no ability."
- Xenogears: Perfect Works~The Real Thing~

The Gazel Ministry also discuss the Gatekeeper that was given to Kislev by Miang. They don't know how the Lambs got it but they see it as another excuse to purge that land. They also foreshadow the Goetia Key (mistranslated as Gaetia Key in the U.S. version). In fact, in the original Japanese it seems the Gazel refer to the Key as "Lesser Goetia Key," which further solidifies the reference to the Lesser Key of Solomon, also known as Lemegeton.

We also have a sewer murders substory during this part of the narrative with a horror film flavor. A lot of players miss this, even on second or third playthrough, but the "Monster's" point-of-view is tinted red when the murders occur and green when you track down Redrum. This is because, as Rico realizes later when Fei's secret is out, it is Id (red vision) who kills the Battlers and not Redrum. This detail is very subtle and clever.

Then we have another conversation between Citan and the Emperor, but this time it is not a flashback. It appears to happen in real time, and it almost seems like Citan is talking to Emperor Cain telepathically. He apparently does this while him and Fei are burying Redrum, unless it is a flashback to a conversation happening a day earlier. This is another reason I get a virtual reality construction vibe from these scenes. I can find no clarification about these scenes in Xenogears: Perfect Works either. The conversation itself is pretty straight-forward though: Citan informs how many times Id has awakened recently (3 times), while also suspecting that Miang or Grahf had a hand in transfering Fei to D-Block.

"Were You Aware that Shitan and Emperor Cain have a nearly psychic rapport? They don't have to actually SAY what they mean for the other to understand (though this phenomena is in some cases related to Shitan's natural politeness becoming full blown deference in the face of authority). Besides the pseudo-telepathy, the Emperor's tendency to make uncertain references, use obscure terms and employ rather archaic grammatical forms makes these short dialogues rival those of the Gazel in difficulty."
- Translator from the 'An Eye for the Infinite' website

It is also interesting to note that Wiseman makes use of some type of teleportation ability which is never explained scientifically in the game. I wonder if Takahashi had some idea behind it. Even the Zohar's phenomenon alteration abilities are stretching the plausibility of such teleportation. Hammer's reaction is great here though, since it is in character while also pointing out how freaky such an unnatural ability would seem to most people. It further makes me think that Takahashi should have come up with an explanation for it. We also learn the name of Fei's mother in this scene, Karen, which is thought to be a reference to the German-American psychoanalyst Karen Horney. It is interesting to note that Karen Horney's ideas have influenced the development of Enneagram Type classifications.

I personally really like Citan's line, "Never underestimate the situation. You might lose pretty badly if you think you can just win by getting a grasp of the concept." While being neatly in character and guardian-like, it is also an eloquently put advice in general.

Once Fei wins the tournament and becomes Battling Champ, I still don't follow how Hammer was also freed. I guess the Champ's mechanic is set free as well, but that is never stated. The picture fades out so you can't see it in the game, but the full line Hammer says is: "This means I am acquitted! I am cleared! Oh, how the freedom feels!"

It should be noted here that it was the Church who drove Rico's mother Anna (and Rico) away from Nortune when Kaiser Sigmund was out on the front lines in the war because Sigmund wanted to remove most of the Church's influence in Kislev. They then told Sigmund his wife and child had died. It was also the Church that experimented on Anna to turn her child Rico into a demi-human so they could use him as a pawn to get back at Sigmund in the future since Sigmund held anti-demihuman sentiments. But it was also the Church that started up the anti-demihuman sentiments in Kislev to make Rico hate Kislev and the Kaiser.

Though I've never discovered the NPC dialogue that refers to this, someone somewhere says early on in D-Block that kids are putting coins on the train tracks so the train will flatten them into bigger coins that are worth more. That's why Fei says "It's all because of those mischievous punks! When the old man's gone they always do this. Oh well." after jumping on the train. Though Citan's reply here is pretty odd to me: "Kind of odd hearing that from a mischievous 'you know who'."

The Kislev part climax is dramatized very well, even better than the Aveh part climax, and is in my opinion an underrated part of Xenogears. Many people find Kislev to be the dull part, but I agree with those who feel it is a neat prison break sub-story inserted into an epic plot that has a fine climax to it. Despite the lackluster pacing and color palette, the sewer segment's boss is well-presented, and in addition to that there is a very subtle, very well-done bit of character exposition throughout. Up to this point Fei's conflict has been that he does not want to fight but realizes that he has to because he has a reason to. Rico's conflict is the opposite in that he has nothing he values to fight for but fights anway, and Elly's conflict is that she does not know who to fight for. These three related conflicts converge and are resolved in the Kislev purge in a very cool and skillful way by Takahashi.

"One major part of [this skillfully executed resolution] was highlighting the difference between Rico and Fei as they operate under slavery conditions, forced to fight for entertainment even while they refuse to fight for freedom. Rico's "no need for a reason" to fight attitude and Fei's "the fight was meaningless" attitude are both shown to be wrong in this part's climax, where Solaris' Gebler (including Elly) are ordered to purge Kislev from the planet -- Rico and Fei then see that the stakes are too great either to fight for no reason or to avoid fighting at all costs, and here also Elly finally decides to go against her group to fight for the side that she knows is the right one. There are other things that add to the structure here: the idea of a prisoner pecking order based on strength, the whole sewer area, and the nicely-timed introduction of Hammer ("Power is everything here! The powerless... the weak are just oppressed!").

This adds up to a great and believable change in Fei, Rico, and Elly: when what is immediately endangered is very valuable to someone things suddenly become much clearer. And not only the city of Kislev was endangered, but the lives of those three as well, so it's more than a matter of fighting for unknown numbers of strangers: Fei went into battle only after he knew Elly was in it, Elly switched sides only after she saw Fei on the other side, and in Rico's case it was the city that he grew up in and loved. After this point, these characters (and incidentally, none of the other major protagonistic characters) never again question whether they should fight or who they should fight for or whether there is any reason to fight."
- Paul Eres, Xenogears 4-Part First edition review, 2003

The scene where Fei and Elly confront each other before Elly decides to switch sides is particularly well-written, and you can really tell how difficult the whole situation must be for Elly, knowing full well what she is doing. Especially this particular exchange:

Elly: "Change. How I wanted to change... I've thought of changing, but I couldn't... I don't have the freedom like you do!"

Fei: "Freedom? Me?"

Elly: "Yes! Am I wrong? To be able to choose where you belong... To be able to fight alongside those who believe in their own cause... Even if you have much more anguish to deal with... At least you have the freedom to choose your own path! Unlike me...!"

This is an interesting and layered perspective given the fact that Fei has just gotten out of prison. From what Elly says, Fei does have more freedom than her, even while he was a prisoner. Someone who has everything can feel more imprisoned than someone who has nothing. Elly is one of the most privileged citizens of the most advanced country on this world, having the most to lose by giving it up, so her hesitation here makes sense. She has just discovered that the Lambs she thought were merely animals are legitimate human beings and, in order to stop being a mass murderer, she has to give up everyone she ever knew and everything she ever had. This reluctance is presented well, and her decision comes off as brave. Fei's struggle is also the same as Elly's, to find a place to belong.

We have another great scene when Elly decides to help reduce the damage of the crashing Hecht by pushing it in a different direction, almost getting herself killed in the process. This is also the emerging or awakening of the self-sacrificing Elly from the past. Grahf even recognizes the act for what it is, a return of "Sophia," and steps in to save her - having finally obtained power to prevent her from dying again.

But Grahf probably had more reasons to save Elly and not just because he saw Sophia in her. In order to destroy all living things, including "mother God," he needs to resurrect Deus as a weapon, and Elly is Deus' main body. This appears to be a major reason why he collaborates with Miang and Krelian towards the resurrection of Deus (as we will see later on). This scene is one of the best in the game with "We, the Wounded, Shall Advance into the Light" playing in the background as Vierge slowly falls to the ground, and a light appears that turns out to be O.R. Weltall. This is the first time we see O.R. Weltall with its wings out, which caused me to be confused about whose Gear it was the first time I saw it. I waited for that Gear to appear again and finally realized on disc 2 that it must have been Grahf's Gear all along. This scene was very memorable for me the first time I saw it, one of the most memorable. Excellent direction. If Xenogears was a movie this could have been an iconic moment.

Hammer says "There's something I have to tell Elly" but you never really learn what. This scene has been a bit of a mystery, but it seems some fans have figured it out, and I am going with this theory as well: Hammer asked her how she broke in to the facility, and the brief "... Use the key like..." line mumbling you can overhear fits with that idea. The rationale is that Hammer wants to wow Fei with his secret voodoo knowledge, so he leads Fei and Citan to believe he's going to 'tell' Elly something, when in fact he's going to 'ask' something. When you finally arrive at the Goliath Factory, you find that Hammer has opened all the doors. When you ask him how he did it, he tells you not to worry about the details.

The sequence with the Goliath airship is one of the weaker parts of Xenogears' narrative for several reasons; such as the lack of security guarding it, how Citan and the others can operate it, and how easily it gets shot down by Bart. Not to mention Bart's convenient return with a completely new Yggdrasil. At least there was some realism attempted in the fact that they could not keep the Goliath in the air for long by themselves once they get hit.

The battle against Grahf, on the other hand, is very cool. The fact that he takes on your Gears barehanded is what makes this fight memorable. And that he avoids fighting Elly. But I wonder exactly why Grahf cared so much about Kislev retaining the Goliath and wanted Fei to remain in Kislev a little longer: "The Goliath wasn't built for you to use. You must remain on this land a little longer. I can't allow you to leave..." He probably did not anticipate he would be thrown off the ship and then get blasted away with Goliath's cannon.

After this he goes straight to the bridge of Ramsus' ship and incites Ramsus to pursue Fei while telling Miang that her 'tricks' won't work. Ramsus pursues Fei from this point on and treats him as the Demon of Elru - his arch rival. Why Grahf did this I don't know, but it seems to be linked to the earlier comment he made to Miang not to get in the way. His line: "I believe I already said your tricks will do you no good" suggests as much, but I don't know what "tricks" of Miang's he is alluding to. He just arrived after being tossed off the Goliath, so is this line related to Fei stealing the Goliath? In fact, this entire dialogue is difficult to make sense of. Miang seems very opposed to Ramsus pursuing Fei, but I don't understand why. Grahf's "your tricks will do you no good" could be in direct reference to her trying to get Ramsus to stay put. He could also be referring to her actions in Kislev where she arranged for Fei to be sent to prison, and Grahf may have seen that as an attempt to neutralize Fei by locking him up there while waiting for the Gazel Ministry to take action.

When Miang responds, "I'm just trying to help. Didn't I help get those 'shackles' off?", she is likely referring to getting the Battling Committee (Ethos) to have Fei start fighting his way out with Weltall, given the context of the conversation. The line "They don't know this. But... he's necessary for Kahr. He's the very meaning of Kahr's existence." is in reference to the Gazel Ministry trying to kill Fei in Kislev, not knowing that Fei is needed to manipulate Ramsus into killing the Emperor. The preceding line "Now, you know the 'vessel' will only respond to the chosen one" seems to allude to the fact that not anyone can pilot Weltall-Id, and therefore not provoke Ramsus. Miang does not make any reference to Grahf's own goal because they both know they ultimately don't care about each others goals past resurrecting Deus. The final line "Yes, I must thank you. After all, you did help me didn't you? Was it for me? Or for him? ... Or... for yourself?" is certainly referring to Grahf protecting Elly in the big explosion during the Kislev purge. Since Elly is Miang's "main body," she asks "was it for me?" and when she asks if it was is for him, she means Fei; and for "yourself" would be Miang teasing Grahf for the fact that Elly is the reincarnation of Sophia.

Gazel conversation #2
It seems that the Gazel Ministry can watch the outside from their SOL-9000 chamber on the Ezekiel through some video feed. It looks like they are watching a still frame of the crash of the Goliath. They begin by referring to Ramsus' disobedience in leaving Aveh for Aquvy. Ramsus' orders are to excavate the 'Anima Relics' in Ignas, and watch over the Lambs, so they are confused by this turn of events. I guess this is what Miang referred to in the earlier conversation with Grahf that "they" don't know Fei is the meaning of Kahr's existence. However, it seems they figured out Ramsus is after Fei after learning that Fei was on the "transferred ship" (Goliath) and they correctly speculate that the negative trauma of "neglect" (mistranslated as "Knigret") is what's motivating Ramsus. (For better translations of these lines, see Xenogears: Guide to translation errors.)

Then they bring up an observation that people with the 'Animus' factor are with Fei, referring to Fei's party having potential to become new bodies for the Gazel Ministry. -Sufradi- apparently has the meaning of "Construction Race" and is the key to the M (Malakh) Plan, referring to the people who are genetically established to become the structural material of the main body of the Merkabah, as well as become its terminal combat weapons. Those with a strong Sufradi factor will end up changing to the "true form" of humans (Wels) together with Deus' awakening. However, none of the party travelling with Fei ends up mutating, so perhaps in this case -Sufradi- is primarily referring to Rico who, in Solaris' lab, is labelled as Test Mixture #000-215914. "M Project" is the same thing as "M Plan." The Gazel then speculate whether Fei is planning everything, collecting these people, and intentionally setting up the same condition as 500 years ago, which of course is false.

They note that Goliath's transfer point is in Aquvy near Thames, which is where the character Krelian is currently heading, having found "the 4000 years lost legacy of Zeboim that he kept searching for." This line was badly translated as "For over 4000 years he searched for Zeboim's legacy." Of course Krelian could not have searched for over 4000 years since he is not that old. The Gazel don't understand why Krelian pursues Zeboim's nanotechnology and refers to him as a Lamb and that "Giving him the ability to do as he wishes is questionable." But they have no choice but to comply with Krelian since he is the one who resurrected them in the SOL-9000 and holds the true power in Solaris in the present day narrative.

Cain's "Weren't you all going to... 'eliminate' it?'" is another poor translation and should be "Did you intend to eliminate him" (i.e. the Contact). The Gazel are pretending that they were not aware of Fei being in Kislev and that it was pure accident, which does not come across in the official translation. They agree to not pull anything like that again since the Lambs with Animus are now surrounding Fei. Finally, they ask Cain why he is so concerned about Fei, saying: "'Ahnenerbe'... You cannot still believe in it, can you?" (mistranslated as "'Anonelbe'... You don't still believe that, do you?"). Some people might be annoyed at the use of 'he' instead of just saying Fei's name, but they may not actually know Fei's name or care what it is. They're more interested in the concept of 'him' than the current individual incarnation.

Ahnenerbe / Anonelbe
This is a legend in this world, the nickname of a mythical person, meaning "someone of God who should soon walk forward to a new land together with the people who were born in this world." It is described in Xenogears: Perfect Works as "a god-like person who should be coming." It is unknown whether it is a word that indicates a specific person, or if it is something that predicts a state of humanity, or both. The Emperor recognizes that it possesses both sides of salvation and destruction. It is an "alternative" to the resurrection of Deus. It seems that at some point both the Emperor and the Gazel considered the Contact to be this person, but the Gazel now thinks it's just an illusion, "...not even an ideal." The fact that they say "the result" is them being in the SOL-9000, gives the impression that the Contact is attached to the term Ahnenerbe for the Gazel as well. The name for the Solarians being "Shepherds, -Abel-" also seems to confirm some past acknowledgement of the Contact's possibilities, even though I don't know why Miang and the Gazel would accept this name for the Solarians. But Xenogears: Perfect Works also gives the name "Ahnenerbe" to the artificial humans in general (such as calling Zeboim's people the "third stage Ahnenerbe") and the After Word also states that those "new kind" of humans that ultimately does not mutate are called Ahnenerbe.

Apparently Bart's father, Edbart IV, had two Yggdrasil vessels in his possession, but had sealed away one under Aveh's desert. Citan concludes that: "At that time, much of the potential technology was not understood and hence, was hidden. Maybe your father might have been scared of its power and so sealed it away." We can determine that adding an Yggdrasil II probably was not just a Deus ex Machina as much as it was a way to add drama by destroying the Yggdrasil, yet keep it as the players "home base" as part of traditional game mechanics. If Xenogears had not been a video game, then I doubt they would've added an identical ship. They'd have the time and freedom from the typical game mechanics to come up with something more compelling. They could have set up the second Yggdrasil with some foreshadowing though.

When Citan says "Actually, they [Shevat] may be closer to you than you suspect..." he is probably alluding to himself. He is as much a part of Shevat (by proxy of his wife) as he is a part of Solaris.

Following this we have another great scene, full of characterization and depth, and one I should not have to examine too closely since the characters express the thoughts of their situation and feelings in a clear way. It also touches a bit on the main theme. Elly says: "A part... is better than zero." which relates to the broken shards theme, and, fittingly, the musicbox theme is playing here too as Fei and Elly complement each other in their search for somewhere to belong and to become whole, like small two of all pieces.

We also get a huge hint here that "the red Gear" was Weltall when Dominia says "I believe the data shows the Yggdrasil was the carrier for that Gear" and Kelvena confirms it. Dominia asks Elly "Are you going to use the power you used in that incident on me now?" which is referring back to Elly's Drive drug incident in Jugend. The confrontation between Elly and Dominia is well done, with Dominia using racist insinuations like "mongrel" to refer to Elly due to the rumor of Elly being a half-Lamb. The portrayal of Dominia's racism is well done in general.

I wonder if Miang's hypnotism is a unique ability of Miang's that she has always possessed through the ages (she did seemingly use it on Lacan from her cell in the Shevat prison) or if it is a technique that other Solarians can use. Citan did not seem surprised at Elly being hypnotized and referred to it as something seemingly common in Solaris. It is a bit jarring that the Yggdrasil's engine mechanic is already familiar with who Elly is when they could not possibly have met already. "Easy, Martle! It's just the Solarian girl. You don't need to bark!" Hammer's line is funny though, if you go talk to him: "Typical of a Solarian... We'll never know what Elly'll do next..." Rico's reaction to this line is pretty interesting, since he witnessed her help save the capital of Kislev. "Hammer, you rat! I'll crush your head if you ever say that again!!" It's also ironic that Hammer is the one who ends up betraying them and not a Solarian.

I don't know what Dominia is babbling about to herself when she mutters "If you hadn't... been around...", obviously referring to Elly. I guess the indignity she felt after being lectured by Miang made her vindictive. While Ramsus recognizes Fei as the Demon of Elru, it seems he does not recognize Weltall: "... I see you have a different machine... So, what happened to your 'other Gear'!?"

Regarding the former Elements, it is a neat device that three of the main playable characters have guardians who were all friends when they were young, and reuniting when their protegees meet up. Some flashbacks of the old Elements would have been neat, and could have added to the characterization of characters like Stone as well. Since a lot was cut I'm thinking there was originally meant to be a flashback to their past at some point later on in the narrative. It is also a nice detail that Primera goes back into the house when Stone arrives, to subtly let us know that she doesn't like him. According to Xenogears: Perfect Works her intuition draws her towards good people.

Like others I also wonder if "Henry Mingas" (or "Henry Mingus") is some kind of reference, though nothing has been found: "About 50 years ago, an old man, Henry Mingas, said he was taken by the saucer and his body was altered. Well, no one believed him, but afterward it's said he had amazing knowledge and skills he never had before. Then 10 years ago, strange circle shaped marks were found in many places. You must've heard about it. No? Well anyway, they were called mystery circles. So this guy spread rumors that they were saucer landing sites, and when others began to disappear, there was even more talk. But there were other things than the saucer landing site explanation, such as the Naughty Stories, Dragon Scrolls, or Plasma Legend. So there was no real proof. But real disappearances did happen. Oh, I forgot to mention, the saucer was called 'Shevat'. There are even people who worship it."

The original Japanese script says pretty much the same thing, except for the sentence "But there were other things than the saucer landing site explanation, such as the Naughty Stories, Dragon Scrolls, or Plasma Legend" which should more accurately be translated as "But other than the UFO landing theory, there are various theories such as man-made pranks, tornadoes, and plasma theory."

The amount of references to flying saucers, alien abductions, and crop circles, makes me inclined to believe that Takahashi and Soraya have read "Chariots of the Gods?" or some such books. It seems they are not unfamiliar with UFO theories and other mysteries, so I am curious if they watched "The X-Files" while writing Xenogears, which was pretty popular in Japan. Takahashi is certainly a fan of The X-Files since he mentions the show by name in this Xenosaga interview. There is a scene in the cruiser full of zombies (Reaper's Ship) where they first think that water with rust in it is blood. There's an episode in season 2 of The X-Files ("Død Kalm") where they thought a rusting ship was "bleeding," but then turned out to be rust. Having been a huge fan of The X-Files back in the day I vaguely remember having a feeling of deja vu when I saw the "water with rust in it" scene in Xenogears. I wonder if they got the idea from that episode. It is also interesting that it is that particular episode that also makes a reference to the USS Eldridge and the Philadelphia Experiment.

I don't have much to say about the Reapers ship other than it is a pretty terrible translation when Bloody says "Um... I'm counting on you." and Billy thinks "(It's my buddy!! I'll call him over here!)". Bloody is specifically calling for his "big brother" and Billy says his line in response to this: "'Big brother', is it?! Better call for it [the Gear] now." This is the end of the Rising Action segment of the narrative, which then begins to shift toward what I refer to as the Revelations segment.

Some more notes about this Rising Action segment:     Aveh and Kislev are named after archaic months in the Hebrew calendar, as are most major cities and countries in Xenogears, but some were not translated accurately. The continents in the world of Xenogears are named after the classical elements. Ignas is named after 'Ignis', the Latin for fire. This is relevant here as Ignas is enveloped in the fires of war.     The ectropometer (mentioned by one of the Yggdrasil's bridge crew), is an instrument used on shipboard for determining the bearing or compass-direction of objects.     Elly's Aerods were called Aird in the Japanese version, and they were not an acronym.     Some have pointed out that the name of one of Bart's commanding officers, Maitreya, seems like a random religious reference to Buddhism. However, in Japan his name was not Maitreya but Miroku, translated as Miloch by UltimateGraphics in his translation of Xenogears: Perfect Works.     Possibly Kaiser Sigmund is a naming reference to Sigmund Freud. With many of Sigmund Freud's and Carl Jung's ideas serving as inspiration for the story, it is probably not a coincidence that both the name Sigmund and Carl show up in it ('Carl' is what the name 'Kahr' is in the original Japanese).     Dominia's last name comes from the Jewish mourning service, Yizkor (Remembrance). It's recited by people who have lost one or both parents four times a year on certain holidays. It seems fitting, given that Dominia is the only survivor of Solaris' quelling of Elru.

6. Revelations - Getting Closer to a Defined Goal

This next segment of the narrative structure continues the substory in Aquvy but starts to involve major twists and revelations regarding what is actually going on, so that Fei and his group of friends and allies can finally start to organize a proper plan of action and go on the offensive once we enter the next narrative segment. Most of this segment involves visits to strange and mysterious places, such as the ancient sunken city of Zeboim, the giant Babel Tower, and the isolationist aerial country Shevat.

In this segment of the story there is a slow unvealing of information concerning the past, touching on an advanced civilization existing 4000 years ago, actually traversing a leftover piece of the titanic colony ship seen in the opening from roughly 10,000 years ago, and beginning to clarify what really happened in the war 500 years prior to the present and how that connects to Nisan, Shevat, Solaris, Sophia, Grahf, Krelian, and Bart's ancestor Roni Fatima, among other things. Another major revelation appearing around the mid-point of the story, which changes the context for what is at stake, is the reveal that Solaris has inserted Limiters into all the surface-dwellers so that they have a harder time creating a rebellion against Solaris. One of these Limiters is then removed from the protagonists by one of the sages from Shevat, Gaspar.

During this segment we also meet the remaining friends and allies that will join Fei on the journey: Emeralda, Maria, and Queen Zephyr (although Emeralda does not become a main party member, or is properly introduced as a character, until the next narrative segment). We are also introduced to the last major antagonist in the story, Krelian, early on in this segment. This part of the narrative is where the story truly starts to take off, with a deeper exploration into the history and mysteries of this world the characters inhabit, now that a majority of the characters have been introduced. I will now touch on some of the details in this segment before moving on to the next one.

We begin with a huge narrative twist with the discovery that the Church headquarters has been attacked, killing off most of the organization, and discovering the data bank underneath the cathedral. There's a funny encounter with Big Joe here: "Oh, my best buddy! You came all the way to save me, eh? Well done, well done. Someday, you'll brag about saving me! Adios amigos!", and we also rescue a Shevat agent from the prison cells. I wonder if they held Big Joe prisoner because he is a cryogenic survivor of the Zeboim era, since that is what they are excavating. It was the excavation that originally awoke Big Joe. From the exposition in the Church data bank room we learn that Shakhan is still a Bishop of the Church, that Kislev's Battling data is sent to this data bank, that people and resources are being sent on to the Solaris homeland, and that the Church is a front for Solaris. The revelations here almost have the feel of a mid-point context shift, but the main character Fei is still unconscious by this point and is not involved in the action.

We also learn that the Church is attempting to break away from Solaris and likely attempt world domination on its own using weapons and technology salvaged from the ancient Zeboim civilization, which lies sunken beneath the earth in the area. This is why Solaris has sent down its assassins, lead by Inquisitor Stein (Bishop Stone), to wipe them out, and to acquire Emeralda for Krelian.

However, here is when things get a little confusing and seemingly contradictory: If the Church was "fake," then what about the faith itself? Does anyone in either the Church or Solaris actually believe in God and salvation? Judging by what the characters say, the answer seems to be both yes and no. For example, Verlaine is with Stein and Solaris but seems to be religious: "That's right... We are servants of the Bishop. Our mission is to hand out judgment on fallen priests and sinners in order to make them repent." (Right before this, Verlaine had pretended to be with the Church, which is why he says "You're defiled, Billy. You left the 'Ethos' and kept company with dregs who have no faith at all", right before Jesiah comes along and exposes him.) So, from this we can determine that the Solarians are religious, but the Church may or may not be. Though I find it more likely that the Church is religious as well if Solaris is, so even though it is "fake" (and teaches the theory of evolution for some reason) it is still a religious organization that has genuine faith in God.

However, this is where we get a contradiction in Verlaine's speech. First he says, in a very religious manner:

"Saving orphans and refugees... that may seem like works of mercy. But the little boys and girls kept here were actually used as a means to satisfy the desires of the pontiff and bishops. Indulging in selfish desires... This is not 'conduct befitting priests'! Such defiled leaven have no right to speak for God. That is why we set out on this purification work. They must atone for their sins. These are the Bishop's orders!"

Of course, since he ends it with "These are the Bishop's orders!" he may not be a man of faith himself, and merely cites Stone. Because then he goes on to answer Billy's "Judgment belongs to God" remark with:

"God? Where does such a being exist? You should know by now how the 'Ethos' came about... It was an organization created by Solaris aeons ago solely for the purpose of managing ignorant humans. Its doctrines are just deceptions designed to control the masses. The 'Ethos' used the two sweet fruits of 'faith' and 'technology' well to skillfully manipulate global affairs and people's zeal. Thus, they manipulated the ignorant masses to repeatedly continue their pointless wars. Eventually, battle data on 'man' and 'weapons' gleaned from these wars, were sent to Solaris itself... And analyzed to aid in ruling the entire Earth. These intentionally perpetuated wars caused much psychological discord. But faith in 'god'... salvation... was used as a cushion to soften the blow. It was a well thought-out system. But the choice of managers was extremely poor. Or did you think that acting the part of a faithful servant of god would someday yield an answer from a great god somewhere? Can't you see that such a divine being just 'never existed from the beginning'? And you don't seem to realize this, but you yourself were 'passing judgment on sinners' as much as we were!"

What is one to make of this? Then Stone shoots Verlaine for trying to tell Billy what he himself always wanted to tell Billy. Stone explains that over time the Church started to set up convenient doctrines for itself, and created a god for the ignorant masses to believe in. It seems this is a different god from the god Solaris worships. I guess it could be a jab at how different religious institutions and branches are accused of worshipping different gods, even though an outsider would call it the same god. Here it first appears as if Stone is not necessary religious, but the following line seems to establish that he is:
"Billy. There are certain things in this world that you're happier not knowing. Even lies and deceptions can become the truth for some people of the earth. ... Particularly those not knowing the true nature of things, or how these systems of things works. In fact, the -god- and -faith- systems set up by the 'Ethos' were the truth itself, were they not?"

The fact that he suggests that "god and faith" were the truth while the rest was fake suggests he still believes in God. From this we should probably determine that the Solarians don't always believe in God, but Stone does. That way everything is more consistent, and Verlaine's talk could merely have been to try and mock the Church through the "faith" angle, even though he didn't subscribe to any of it personally, then proceeding to ask Billy if God even exists. We later learn that Stone is religious, based in Jessie's dialogue and "curse" during the final confrontation with Stone. The man is pretty crazy though, discarding his human form to gain power, so we should probably not assume his train of thought is rooted in logic.

Gazel conversation #3
In this conversation, the elders begin by talking about the Church and their betrayal. We've got more bad translations here, such as the line: "A selfish creed... I question his... faith." which should be translated more as "Unapproved doctrines, beliefs...... It is an issue." The line is referring to the new doctrines and beliefs of the Church, which differed from the doctrines and beliefs of Solaris. The line "We will seek what they will... it's their nature" is similarly problematic. "To seek self-preservation is the human condition" would be a more accurate translation. This minister acknowledges the fundamental nature of the Church's desire to stay in existence (by plotting to rebel against Solaris). It is a basic desire that the Ministry knows quite well. The line "Bear in mind the need for a 'fitting solution'" should be: "And providing instruction on 'deserved punishment'" which is referring to Stein's job of disposing the Church people in Aquvy. Then they change subject to Krelian's pursuit of Emeralda, which they refer to as "only a molecular machine," not having much interest in it themselves. The line "'Humans', and 'machines', it's all the same to us" implies the Ministry only views people as tools and exterior vessels to achieve their ultimate aim of being resurrected along with Deus.

Introduction of Krelian
When Krelian is introduced, he says "Lambs 03, 05 and 11 are damaged, just retrieve the non-damaged ones. Eliminate the rest of the trash. Use the test subjects, Wels, for retrieval and elimination." Lambs 03, 05 and 11 appears to be referring to ships in the Thames' fleet. It seems they want to retrieve people for labor work and experimentation and eliminate the rest because the Thames worked with the Church. So it appears the Ezekiel is the ship that abducts surface-dwellers such as Samson, and takes them to Solaris. Krelian seems no different from other Solarians when we are first introduced to him, even though he has been referred to as a "Lamb" (surface-dweller) by the Ministry, which foreshadows a less privileged backstory, similar to Dominia and other underdogs in the Solars hierarchy. The main difference being that Krelian somehow made it to the top level of the hierarchy.

In Enneagram Type classification, Krelian appears to be a Type 5 personality (perceptive, analytic, eccentric, and paranoid), making him somewhat more intellectual and remote compared to the rest of the major characters.

"Healthy Fives' assets make them the most profoundly perceptive of the personality types. Healthy Fives are extremely knowledgeable about some aspect of their environment and are capable of brilliant, original, inventive solutions to problems. However, average Fives want complete certitude before they act, so they tortuously think through everything before they do anything, getting stuck in thinking rather than doing. As a result of thinking too much, unhealthy Fives create more problems for themselves than they solve because they have become so completely isolated from reality. They are unable to know what is real or unreal, true or untrue."
- Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery (1987)

Krelian is one of the more important characters along with Fei and Elly, yet his first appearance comes rather late in the narrative. I personally think he is one of the most interesting characters in the story, and I have always been interested in what served as the inspiration for this particular and unusual antagonist. Amber Michelle, webmistress of the old fansite Xenogears: Guardian Angels, has said that:

"Karellen" was Takahashi's choice - he wanted to name a character after his favorite character in Childhood's End, which is (surprise) Karellen. The two characters are very similar, but Krelian manages to do what Karellen didn't, so I wonder sometimes if the character was Takahashi's way of giving him what he wanted most. It's not unheard of - that has inspired both fan fiction and references like this elsewhere, I think. This information (minus speculation) was given to us by Clio Saga on her board.

So according to Soraya Saga (who went by the name Clio Saga at the time), the name of the character comes from Takahashi's favorite character in the science fiction novel Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke, though the character in that novel is almost the mirror opposite of Krelian apart from being a character that attempts to guide mankind towards the next step in cosmic evolution. Other sources of inspiration are the Enneagram Types and possibly Takahashi's own psychology, although Takahashi himself says he is most similar to Ramsus. So I have examined the Type 5 profile in the Personality Types book he appears to have used as his source. Some notable paragraphs that are interesting when thinking of Krelian include:

"Just as they both love and hate their parents, they love and hate the environment, feeling pulled between their desire to identify with it and be detached from it.
[...] Because they do not impose their thoughts on reality, healthy Fives are able to discover the internal logic, the structure, and interrelated patterns of whatever they observe. As a result, they have clear thoughts into obscure matters, and are able to predict events, often far in advance of the ability of others to verify them. Fives operating at the peak of their gifts may seem to be prophets and visionaries, although the explanation is simpler. They possess foresight because they see the world with extraordinary clarity, like a weaver who knows the pattern of a tapestry before it is completed. [...] They are incredibly hard workers who will attack a problem for years until they solve it, or until it becomes clear that the problem is insoluble.

"The essential difference between average Fives and healthy Fives is that average Fives begin to fear that they do not know enough to act or to make their ideas or discoveries public. They feel that they have to study more, to do more research and experimentation, to involve themselves even more deeply with their subject. [...] healthy Fives possess knowledge, whereas average Fives are in pursuit of it.
    Average Fives analyze everything in great detail, taking things apart, literally or intellectually, to find out how things work. They take an empirical approach, quantifying things, attempting to be objective so they can arrive at certain knowledge. But in so doing, they unwittingly begin to take things out of context, no longer looking at the whole. [...] The problem with the empirical approach, [...] is that it eliminates anything which the tools of a particular analysis cannot measure. What cannot be measured objectively is not verifiable, and therefore not scientific, and therefore not certain. (However, many of the most valuable things in life cannot be measured empirically. Love, for example, cannot be calibrated or weighed on a scale. Instead, if average Fives study love scientifically, they measure things like eye contact, pulse rate, and brain chemistry, which may be quantified.)

"Anything thinkable seems possible. Anything thinkable seems real. They are intellectually and emotionally capable of entertaining any new thought, even horrifying or outlandish ones, since speculating on new possibilities is virtually all they do.

"Because they see ominous implications in almost everything, average Fives are typically fascinated with power. They feel that knowledge is power and that by possessing knowledge, they will be secure because they perceive more than others do - and hence, can protect themselves. They are attracted by areas of study which deal with some form of power, whether in nature, or in politics, or in human behavior. However, Fives are also ambivalent about power and suspicious of those who have power over them. They feel that whoever has power may use it against them, putting them in the control of others, one of their deepest fears.
    The more detached average Fives are, the more ambivalent they are to just about everyone - attracted to people, yet suspicious about them. They want to figure out what makes other people tick, just as they analyze other objects of intellectual interest.

"Emotional involvements arouse strong feelings which average Fives find difficult to control: the passions flood too easily into their minds. But because Fives also have strong sexual impulses, they cannot avoid involvements altogether, as much as they would like to. Thus, Fives find people and relationships endlessly fascinating, yet remain wary.

"[...] the problem of evil is an enormous stumbling block: the horror and uncertainty of the world is so apparent to Fives [...]

"A certain extremism is as typical of their social style as it is of their intellectual viewpoint. In political or artistic matters, reductionistic Fives are usually radicals, populating the avant-garde. [...] Even so, as radically extreme and reductionistic as many of their ideas are, average Fives are not necessarily completely off the mark.

"[...] their need to reject what others believe is so strong that they take pleasure in debunking whatever is positive in life, trying to prove the virtual impossibility of human relationships and the complete rottenness at the core of human nature. Unhealthy Fives take delight in deflating what they see as the bourgeois illusions by which others get through life so comfortably and to which they have not fallen prey because of their greater intellectual honesty.
    As usual, there is a half truth operating here. While others may well be living too comfortably for their own good, while some people may be self-deceptive, while some families and some relationships may be tainted by hypocrisy, jealousy, and struggles for power, it does not necessarily follow that cynicism is the best response.

"In healthy people of this [Four-wing] subtype, we find the union of intuition and knowledge, sensitivity and insight, aesthetic appreciation and intellectual endowments. This subtype is particularly aware of - and on the outlook for - the beautiful in a mathematical formula, for example. [...] Fives with a Four-wing are also more humanistic, artistic, personal, and emotional than the other subtype.

"Unhealthy persons of this subtype may fall prey to debilitating depressions yet be disturbed by aggressive impulses. Envy of others mixes with contempt for them; the desire to isolate the self from the world mixes with regret that it must be so."
- Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery (1987)

Takahashi also writes of Type 5 in the Xenosaga Episode I -Official Design Materials-, in a paragraph taken almost verbatim from page 160 in the 1987 version of the Personality Types book:

"Type 5s drift between both extremes for every phenomenon. Thought and action. Longing toward the world that surrounds themselves, and fear of it. Unity with others, and rejection of them. Love and hate. Joy and anger. Lifelong hope and pure futility. Attachment to life and abandonment of it."
- Xenosaga Episode I -Official Design Materials-

And so we can understand that there is a polarity between extremes in Type 5, such as one of hypersensitivity and insensitivity, or love and hate, and so also with Krelian, making him over-sensitive and cold at the same time. Throughout the story, it seems Krelian is mostly in the average to the beginning of unhealthy levels of psychological health. Being lower in health than that would have made him unable to function, while being healthy would have made him less ruthless or cynical about people. Some glimpses of higher health levels can seemingly be seen in some of the later flashbacks to before the war 500 years ago when he was a student of Melchior and hopeful about saving people's lives through science.

Before entering the Ethos Dig Site there's a scene with Grahf hanging around under water in his Gear when Miang contacts him: "Did you notice? His Gear is reawakening. Soon, he himself will awaken also." referring to Weltall and Id. Although Grahf temporarily reverts back into his host on the way to Zeboim, this might explain why Grahf gives Stein power when Fei is not around, since Grahf and Miang somehow senses Fei and his machine awakening into Id, and they conclude he must be in the same area as his friends. The line "His friends are headed for Zeboim. It's been sealed up for 4000 years. You know what's there better than I do." implies that Grahf clearly has the memories of Kim, which is why it is strange that Grahf does not just provide Kim's research if he remembers developing it as Kim, unless it was too long ago for him to remember. This might seem like a plot hole, especially since Miang says "But it's something we both need. You know what I mean?" However, scientists usually have to keep referring to their notes when constructing and figuring things out, and cannot simply recall all such information and processes from their memory - especially if it was thousands of years ago in another life.

"The emergency button inside the reactor was activated 34999999 hours ago."
A fan had decided to run the numbers here to see if the time-clock had maxed out or if the message down in the ruins had meaning, using our Earth's standard of 24 hours per day, 365 and 365.26 days per year to cover outside bounds, and came to the conclusion that it has been between 3995.4337 and 3992.5897 years since the "emergency button" was activated, depending on whether or not they use leap years. Xenogears: Perfect Works puts Zeboim's destruction in 6083 and "Episode V" takes place in 9999, so Zeboim was destroyed 3916 years before the game begins. Thus we can conclude that the clock has not maxed out, and that the planet Xenogears takes place on has nearly the same time measurement (which makes sense given that it is probably meant to feel a lot like our planet).

I keep forgetting that Elly died of radiation back in Zeboim, it sounds a lot more painful than getting shot. So did the radiation cause her to bleed? Xenogears: Perfect Works says: "In order to help Kim escape into the central isolated room, Elly brings the military invasion to a stop herself. She dies when the research center's hazard safety system is triggered, releasing high amounts of radiation." It is probably this "hazard safety system" that the emergency button "activated 34999999 hours ago" is referring to.

The phrase Kim uses to describe his daughter, "vessel for a new soul," almost sounds like an attempt to create a container for a human consciousness rather than a purely artificial sentient machine. I find it strange that the director's comment on Emeralda's sketches states that she was conceived as an artificial life that "has no heart," when both the game and her profile in Xenogears: Perfect Works suggests she does have a heart (or soul). Perhaps the director's comment was a translation error, or they changed the idea to give her a human personality.

Elly's line "Who... am I...? What am I doing? What am I saying...?" here is also interesting. According to Krelian later in the game, the "sign" of the mother/Antitype only manifests at a certain age. From this we can conclude that the Contact and the Antitype do not retain their memories of previous lives until a certain age (unless their memories are extracted by force, like Karen attempted on Fei as a child so that Id would come to have those memories) and that explains why Elly does not remember her past lives fully until after she has merged with Miang. However, that begs the question: Did Kim, Lacan or Sophia ever know of their previous lives since they were older than Fei and Elly in the flashbacks? It really did not seem so. In fact, Lacan did not learn of his past until he made contact with the Zohar. Perhaps the Contact and the Antitype have memories that can be accessed, but something extreme needs to happen in order to trigger them. Maybe something like Elly seeing familiar places in Zeboim's ruins, or Karen doing experiments on Fei.

... Our cursed existence bound to the earth...
This line is interesting. I used to think it was Id who said it, but it is most likely Kim that says this line, since the next line puts the context of that line at Emeralda's creation or birth, ... Oh vessel for a new soul...... created to remove that 'yoke'..., which suggests the line is in reference to the defective humanity of that civilization. It seems to be a somewhat spiritual or religious view - humans being bound to the earth in flesh - with "vessel for a new soul" further suggesting that Kim had a spiritual view on things.

The sequence in Zeboim is one of the best in the game if you ask me, and the battle with Id is quite epic. I especially like the ancient cityscape background with the solemn horizon and, let's not forget, the music. What makes Id scary is that he has the power to wreck pretty much whatever he wants, that he does not care about the consequences at all, and that there is basically nothing anyone can do about him should he decide to take an interest. He is almost closer to a malevolent spirit than a villain. All of the other antagonists are big wheels within wheels schemers, or hired muscle for those, but Id is just this wild destructive force that can wreck all of their days. In addition to that, he is an intrinsic part of the hero. He serves as a nice contrast to those antagonists who are more complex, although Id is hardly one-dimensional when we get to his backstory. I wonder what Id really intended to do with Emeralda? "[It's too good a toy for the likes of you]. So give it back. It belongs to me..." This line has always intrigued me, since why would Id care about Emeralda? One idea I have is that he was planning to turn her into a powerful sidekick, which would have been interesting to see. If I had to pair Id with someone (ignoring for a moment that he is Fei), it would be Emeralda. She's even dressed in red and black later.

I think that the scene where Wiseman grabs Id shows how big the Gears in Xenogears truly are. Wiseman's Gear is apparently O.R. Weltall without transformation. Regarding transformations from Lacan's/Wiseman's Gear to Grahf's Gear, Xenogears: Perfect Works says:

"A Gear Bara [Omnigear] born as a result of the Gear Lacan was piloting uniting with the Vessel of Anima Naphtali, approximately 500 years ago.
[...]
    Through making Contact with Zohar, however, the abilities of this O.R.W were drawn out to their maximum, causing a metamorphosis equal to the Xenogears'. The bat-like wings that spread out from its back are vestiges from that time, and in the present, they function as control when soaring and as shielding when defending.
    When piloted by the masked man Grahf, several precedents of these actions have been confirmed."
- Xenogears: Perfect Works~The Real Thing~ (translation by trexalfa)

So it seems that while Original Weltall (localized as both Alpha Weltall and True Weltall in the U.S. version) is an Omnigear with an Anima Relic, it is also stronger than other Omnigears because it has transformed due to contact with Zohar like Weltall-2 becoming Xenogears. Perhaps if someone other than Fei would try to pilot Xenogears then, it would revert back to some lesser form as well? Note that Elly comments "That Gear..." upon seeing Wiseman's Gear, surely recognizing the Gear as the one that saved her in Kislev despite the de-transformed appearance of it. Also, when Id says "I see, it was that woman...", Id is realizing that Kahn too must have figured out that Elly makes Fei resistant to giving into Id. Question is, when did Kahn note this? Perhaps he has been making observations from within his body even while Grahf was in control, or learned it from merging with Grahf's essence.

The climax of this substory, with Billy and Jessie vs. Alkanshel, is another underrated scene if you ask me, and one too easy to forget. It's a shame, because I really think it is good. We have a very unlikely duo in Billy and Jessie, despite being father and son, what with their personalities clashing and never getting along. But here they have a moment that is really sweet. I really like Jessie's lines: "No, there's nothing there for you to regret, Billy!" and "The reason I taught you how to use a gun as a child was to save people."

Also, before that, I must say that I cracked up at Fei's line "I... must go...!!" upon hearing Alkanshel being located, given that he'd know nothing about what's going on, what/who Alkanshel is, and has just gotten back control from Id. Naturally Citan tells him that "You are in no condition to participate... Let us take care of this!" Here Fei has started to become a workaholic, having trouble slowing down after getting more and more used to fighting. Enneagram Type 9 is described as having just as much trouble slowing down once started as they have getting moving once slowed down.

At this point Stone drops his persona mask and reveals his psychopathic, malicious and vengeful true face that he has been hiding. It is neatly expressed through the change in character portrait, where Stone's skin seems to have been removed (possibly due to merging with his Gear). When he says "Observing... What a roundabout way... Just take care of it and it'll be over..." he is talking to himself about what he's been doing. He clearly did take Jessie's words that he had "a roundabout way of doing things" to heart. Since Stone probably felt exposed from that line, his change in manner must have accelerated. The following is an excerpt from the Personality Types book that describes the unhealthy Type 3 personality:

"Unhealthy Threes want to exploit others without having their opportunism exposed. Otherwise, they would no longer appear to be superior since they would have to acknowledge their debts and dependencies. They would be humiliated if others knew their limitations. Furthermore, they would likely be punished for exploiting others opportunistically. As a result, unhealthy Threes cover their tracks, becoming cunning and devious, conceiling their true motives and actions as much as possible.
[...]
    It goes without saying that neurotic Threes are pathological liars. They enjoy lying even if nothing significant depends on it because it gives them a narcissistic boost. They may lie merely to amuse themselves by contemptuously toying with people. Successful lies prove their superiority and the stupidity of others. Many times, however, their lies are far from insignificant, causing others enor-mous harm, financial loss, or emotional torment. No matter - unhealthy Threes like to cause trouble. Seeing people squirm makes them feel good.
    While moments of hostility have erupted from time to time in the past, their hostility has grown into an irrational malice, the result of the extreme jealousy they feel toward anyone who has anything they want."
- Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery (1987)

This is Type 3 at the lowest level of health - the level of pathological destructiveness - where Stone wants to destroy Jesiah and his family for reminding him of what he lacks and could not get: "Ha... son of Jesiah, are you suffering? When I took you in 4 years ago, that was proof of my old friendship with your father... In that hate stained friendship with Jesiah, we competed for command of Gebler! Jesiah, like a beast, you stole the Racquel I loved, and threw away the command of Gebler that I wanted so much, then disappeared from Solaris!"

I always thought that Soraya crafted a really good villain with Stone, and now because of the Enneagram classification I can finally understand why he becomes so crazy all of a sudden, even giving up his humanity in order to gain the power to be able to eliminate Jessie's family and those who "become enemies of the sacred Gazel." Here Stone really comes across as a true agent for Solaris and their belief in Deus.

There has been some debate as to what Stone's "I received this body from Krelian!" line really means in a technical sense. Merging with Alkanshel seems to make the most sense, but he did not need to do that to pilot it before. Of course, merging with it would supposedly make it more efficient, but he really did not have time to go through such an extremely convoluted process in that short amount of time. Another theory is that Krelian removed his Limiter to turn him into a Wels, but removing the Limiter does not produce a Wels. Only DNA experiments, a certain virus, or the Goetia Key can produce a Wels. A third theory is that this is Stein's true appearance. Stone said to Jessie before that "Hearing that name vividly brings back a pleasant twinge of pain to the 'scars on this body'. You know what I mean, Jesiah?" which implies that at some point in the past Jessie tried to kill Stein but didn't quite succeed. Then Krelian gave him a new body of some sort. But this would require his earlier face to literally have been a mask of some sort he's carried for years.

Jessie's speech here, which I thought was nice overall, has been criticized for being discursive and a bit cliché in wording, and I do agree with that too. The most questionable bit is probably Jessie's line "You say that guns are just tools for killing people. But you are wrong. 'Guns' don't kill people. 'People' kill people." The problem with this line is that, first, Jessie is referring to something Billy never said. We didn't know that Billy deemed guns to be just tools for killing people. In fact, Billy seems quite fond of guns and admired Bart's collection. Then Jessie says the tired cliché that guns don't kill people, people kill people. While philosophically and morally correct, in reality there would be less killing if there did not exist such efficient tools for killing. Sure, people will always try to kill one another, but without access to efficient killing tools the victims and would-be-victims have a better chance of making it out alive. There's a reason we want to disarm nuclear weapons and are not saying: "Nuclear warheads don't erase life on a grand scale. People erase life on a grand scale."

However, taken within the context of the world of Xenogears, this trite line actually works because of the existence of Wels, if we are to take Jessie's words for it, which also ties into the theme of grief: "Have you ever looked at the expressions on the faces of those reapers you have destroyed? It is an excruciating process to be turned into a reaper. To ease their torturous pain, they seek human blood, and attack people in order to get it. But, that does not vanquish the true pain within their hearts. There is only one way to be saved from the pain. That is by termination. Didn't all those reapers put out of their misery by you have peaceful looks on their faces? Your gun saved those people who were turned into reapers. It's not something anyone can do. The faith that enabled you to accomplish that was no deception... God exists within you!"

The idea of a gun that uses its pilot as the warhead is a little bizarre, but I'm guessing it was created to draw out all the Ether of a 'fifth stage Ahnenerbe' (my term for present day humans). In other words, the Buntline would be a kind of kamikaze weapon that compresses all the Ether inherent in a human's body to make sure the enemy will be taken out if all else fails. The whole concept feels kind of "Japanese," and we must not forget that Soraya Saga who wrote this scene is also a huge fan of Transformers. Perhaps that's also why Jessie's dialogue is aimed more at the heart than the brain, since Takahashi seems to be the cerebral one. A funny detail mentioned in Perfect Works is that Citan was the original designer who created the Buntline. However one may feel about this scene, I don't think anyone can call this game "pretentious" with a scene like this in it.

But as a response to those who criticize the "ridiculousness" of scenes like this, I give a similar response as those who defend Shakespeare against Tolstoy's criticism of the classic playwright for putting undifferentiated characters into ridiculous plots and speaking language no one would ever actually say: that Soraya and Takahashi puts humans into unrealistic situations by using weird situations to present a wider specter of human reactions and analysis of the reasons behind those reactions. Xenogears, like Shakespeare, is open to wildness and whimsy, displaying something apart from reality, and thus is able to embrace a wider scope of the human condition.

But unlike Shakespeare, Takahashi and Soraya's characters are not undifferentiated. Unlike Shakespeare, Xenogears' characters do not speak in one and the same Shakespearean pretentious and unnatural language, in which not only humans can not speak, but in which no living man ever has spoken or does speak. And finally, unlike Shakespeare, Takahashi can write a drama that has got something to say to humanity - something of the greatest importance for us: about our relation to the Universe, to the All, the Eternal, the Infinite - whereas Shakespeare could not, and who seemed to have no convictions at all, whose opinions were not original or interesting, and whose preoccupation in writing was only with the lowest human emotions and drives (murder, envy, revenge, lust, manipulation, etc).

In fact, since Takahashi have cited Shakespeare in Xenosaga, obviously being familiar with some of his plays, it would not surprise me if some crazy scenes were inspired by Shakespeare, just like Shakespeare's plays have influenced most of contemporary storytelling, including the often ridiculed Twilight movies, and who may very well still be considered great only because of a sort of "mass hypnosis," as Tolstoy believed. Because it seems to me that Xenogears, even at this point, has already surpassed Shakespeare when it comes to both substance and characterization, but obviously not Shakespeare's talent for wordplay.

Krelian and Gazel Ministry (Gazel conversation #4)
In this conversation, the Ministry mentions the "M Project," which, as I mentioned earlier, is the plan to genetically establish people to become parts for the Deus system and its interface weapons. "M" is short for "Malakh" which means Angel - the servants of God. It also means giving the Gazel Ministers new physical bodies, hence the line "We need superior bodies and servants." The line "They exist because of their 'mother'." should be "We exist for our 'mother'." That's why Krelian replies: "You've betrayed your 'mother', your 'creator'," referring to the Gazel Ministry's betrayal of Miang and handing her over to Shevat 500 years prior:

* Miang and the Gazel's discord
"During the war, surface dwellers began to appear among the enemy powers with pseudo Zohar ability (those able to use ether due to interference by Zohar). Due to the abilities of these humans (Animus) (with some variance in ability) who were the result of eons of repeated evolution, the original forms of Animus, the Gazel Ministry, had no ability.
    Miang believed those strong humans with pseudo Zohar ability would serve as better parts for Deus than the Gazel in making it an extraordinary weapon. As a result, for Miang, the Gazel Ministry were no longer important. However, the Gazel wished to invade the universe as a part of Deus. For this reason Miang's ignoring them causes her to be considered a nuisance. The feeling being mutual, it finally turns into strife."
- Xenogears: Perfect Works~The Real Thing~

The rest of the conversation is pretty straight forward.

Babel Tower is the fore block of the Eldridge ship, seen in the opening movie. It became Babel Tower when the ship broke apart and crashed on the planet. The Eldridge's hull was composed of several detachable, autonomous navigation blocks. The fore block contained a large scale plant for HLV use. When Shevat was built, this plant became its central block section. In the opening scenes, the streets of these colonies in the hull are visible from an opening in the ship's gunwhale. I used to think that the warning signs in the intro also came from those security units that you either fight or use as an elevator in Babel Tower, but now I see the warning display is different looking. On the other hand, the kanji there read "keikoku" and it does mean "warning/alert," which is similar to "danger."

Babel Tower continues the excellent cinematography, with "Omen" also being a fantastic dungeon theme, nailing the "exploring dark, ancient mysteries" feeling in a way not easily surpassed. It is also neat that you are attacked by Ramsus' aerial battle ship half way up, which sells the impression that you are really being high up in the sky. Since Elly says "But I removed the recognition code and tracking" when Fei asks how Gebler could have found them, I wonder how did Ramsus find them? Grahf again? Memory cubes? Anyway, Babel Tower is, according to Xenogears: Perfect Works, peaking at 5121 meters high (3.18 miles), about the height of a taller-than-average mountain.

Gazel conversation #5
There's another short conversation among the Gazel Ministry here, though it's pretty straight forward. The first line, referring to Ramsus, mistranslates 'he' for 'they': "Useless. They allowed contact with Shevat...", which should be: "He is useless. To allow them contact with Shevat..." Other than that the translation is okay. They disregarded the word "yorishiro" in the line "It's meaningless if it is not compatible with our type" which was "If our yorishiro type is incompatible with it, it is meaningless" (or "If our forms of possession don't match, it's meaningless"). Yorishiro means a physical medium into which God and spirits can descend, which is a reference to the bodies of Animus as their "types" (which does not include the Antitype Elly) and possibly it suggests that the Ministry is more than data and actually spirits or preserved consciousnesses, unless they simply used it as a figure of speech. But transplanting artificial intelligence into living organisms (such as Animus) never occurs in the Xenogears universe from what I have found, so I think it's the former. A fully living organism should not be able to run on artificial intelligence, and even if it could why would mere computer data require a specific type of living organism to "possess"? The Anima Vessel in Shevat is Dinah and was already aligned to Sophia. But as Bart soon demonstrates with El Andvari, aligned Anima Vessels can re-align. When the Ministry decides to destroy Shevat and kill the "Animus" - the protagonists - the line "There are others." heavily implies that the protagonists are not direct descendants or clones of the Ministry elders as some have speculated. There are many humans with Animus genes.

Also, the lines "Achtzehn? Is it operational?" and "Re-education is complete. It is ready" suggests they successfully managed to brainwash Nikolai or somehow change his personality through a complete mental overhaul. His behavior in the Shevat invasion would support that.

I did not remember Bart's line "Okay, let's bring 20-30 of those Gears that kid was riding on, home!" and yet I have used Bart the last couple of times I climb Babel Tower due to the extra dialogue he is given in Shevat. Anyway, that line is pretty funny. Great lines, great characters in this game. The best part of Shevat, like Lahan, is probably the NPC dialogue. I guess that is Kato's style. The librarians in particular divulge a lot of important background information that needs to be known to better understand some of the later references.

There's a discrepancy regarding the timeline here when Maria says "Five years ago, that day, when I fell behind in our escape... My father protected me and ended up being left behind..." and later "It's already been 5 years since my grandfather brought me to Shevat" with what Perfect Works states. According to Perfect Works it was nine years ago that she escaped Solaris. At that time she was 4 years old, but according to another line in the game, she claims to have been 5 years old while living in Solaris: "I just turned five years old at that time, and had no clue what was happening. Using me as a hostage, they forced my father to continue the research..." Then, according to Perfect Works, she is apparently taken in by her great grandfather Balthasar for at least 5 years before being taken to Shevat 3 years ago when she is 10 years old (currently she's 13). This is one more, out of several, contradictions between the game and Perfect Works, though it is possible that some translation errors may be involved. It is also possible that since Kato wrote these lines, Takahashi forgot them when he supervised the book (and it does seem that Takahashi took responsibility for the majority of the content in Perfect Works based on his comment: "It is now 6 months since Xenogears was released. Looking back on it, there are things that appear rushed that I must admit sheepishly, make me a little embarrassed. For that reason, this book is to try and correct some of that. Of course, 'What's that, isn't it different from the game?' will probably be heard in anger at some point, but hey cut me some slack. (hah, ha)..").

NPC dialogue
In Shevat there is a lot of dialogue that relates to the story's grief theme, reflected in the recurrent talk about sorrow, such as the lines: "You might be able to find something that can solve your troubles and sadness. But fate can be cruel sometimes... Don't forget that." and "Why do humans hate and hurt each other? Everyone lives under the same blue sky... Will there ever be any relief from the pain of losing what was precious to us? When will it be the day we can understand what all this loneliness and sorrow was for?"

Then you've got the broken shards theme reflected in lines such as: "We're all part of a larger world, as one of its countless fragments. All their shapes and colors are unique... It's nice yet sad... Long time ago, one of the three sages said something like that." There is also a Chu-Chu in the palace that will say "You humans are truly unusual living beings, aren't chu? You're all like shattered fragments of a mirror."

Speaking of Chu-Chus, Shevat is basically the place where Chu-Chu's main story is. Her entire tribe is in Shevat, but she really does not get that much story. The Chu-Chus say a lot of things, though I'm not sure everything is meant to be taken seriously. There's this story of Chu-Chu's guardian god who got blown away by a huge fireball from the sky, which may be referring to Deus and the Eldridge: "Loooong long ago, the Chu-chu Tribe had a great big guardian god, who could step over huge mountains in one step. The Wondrous Mambo god, yes he was! The Chu-chu Tribe and the Wondrous Mambo god lived happily together in perfect peace, yes we did. A dreamy sweet existence. But one day, a huuuge red fireball rained down from the sky, and blew away our guardian god as he was asleep. Blam, kablam, boom! But don't worry! The great big guardian god became a star in the sky! He protects the Chu-chu Tribe, yes he does!!"

While the Chu-Chus were entirely made in good fun, and they give a nice outside perspective on humanity such as in the quote that "humans are truly unusual living beings," which is not necessarily bad writing at all, I personally would probably have preferred it if they were not in the game. I just don't like the design of them. Perhaps if they had created a more appealing cute animal, because Chu-Chu stepping up to defend everyone and almost succeeding is genuinely funny and unexpected. Since the 1970s, cuteness, "lovability," and "adorableness," has become a prominent aspect of Japanese popular culture, entertainment, clothing, food, toys, personal appearance, behavior, and mannerisms. Hello Kitty is a famous imported example of this in the West. Naturally, you would expect something of the sort in a commercial product like Xenogears and Xenosaga (the latter has U-kun and Bugs for example). I don't think it is inherently bad to have these cute things even in works as serious as Xenosaga, if done right. And for the most part U-kun and Bugs are done right.

But Chu-Chu did not appeal to neither myself nor the majority of Western gamers. I don't know how she was received in Japan, but I would be curious to know exactly what Takahashi's feelings on Chu-Chu really was. His comment in Perfect Works that "More than a "yellow bird" I really want a Chu chu stuffed animal. (Hah, ha.)" can either be taken as a positive attitude or as sarcasm, depending on what the "yellow bird" thing really is referring to. Chu-Chu was not written by Takahashi, but it is unknown if the individual writers were also responsible for creation. For example, Soraya came up with plenty of characters that Takahashi ultimately wrote the story and dialogue for. Lines such as Fei's "A Chu-chu idol... Is this a representation of Chu-Chu's guardian god? You think this is what Chu-Chu rides when it grows so she can fight...? ... ... ... Let's not imagine things! It's not good for your heart!!" seems to imply that the writers found Chu-Chu to be just as much of a monstrosity as gamers did.

I used to wonder if the following line had any significant meaning to the story: "The angel stood watch as the night ended. Twilight nodded off in the arms of a lost child from 500 years ago... And the Sea Serpent swallowed the dark. A wise gramps taught me that a looooong long time ago. Don't know what it is, though, maybe a spell, yes maybe it is." Turns out the line is just referring to the three rocks you can find in Shevat, and is a hint to where to find them.

It also seems that Shevat's barrier is created with Eldridge's technology: "...this Shevat is protected by a special gate made possible by an ancient technology. Even Solaris cannot break this barrier."

I wonder who wrote the following journal:
"I don't care how it all began nor do I care what happens in the end. I just live with Chu-Chu, and die with Chu-Chu! To hell with humans! They're liars, greedy, selfish...! I'm going away. I've had enough of it...!"
My impression was always that it was the words of one of the Sages, but a lot seems to be pointing towards Wiseman because of his message on how to find the room and because he was the one who took Chu-Chu with him down to the surface. The journal is interesting in its misanthropy, and seems a little out of character for Kahn, who later says to Id "Is this world so bad a place... that there is only hatred inside of you?" To me it seems the journal would be more fitting of one of the Sages who are known to have lost faith in humanity because of the events 500 years ago. I'm still going with the possibility that it could be one of the Sages' journal.

Diabolos
One of the more interesting stories about the past that is revealed during the NPC dialogue is the one about the Army of Diabolos, "Those angels of death, utterly unrivaled, with no fear or mercy..." that put a stop to the war 500 years ago. Xenogears: Perfect Works explains that the Diabolos were Deus's prototype mobile units, likely created as defense weapons, that Lacan revived after being manipulated by Miang. But it is unknown how they differed from the Omnigears, which were also created to be mobile defense weapons. No pictures, not even concept art, exist to show what they looked like.

* Diabolos Corps ~ the Day of Collapse
The Diabolos Corps were stored onboard the Eldridge and were prototype mobile terminal interfaces. Due to the interference of Lacan become Grahf, they proceeded according to his rage without discriminating to not only destroy both Solaris and the surface, but were on the way to destroying the entire world. The Surface Army and the Solarian Army both resisted and combined their strength fighting extremely hard warfare, the young ones, Roni and the others took over the Omnigears that belonged to the Gazel Ministers who fell in battle, and toppled the origin, Grahf, also destroying the Diabolos Corps. However, by this time 98% of the human population was already annihilated
    Due to the great destruction the continuance of fighting lost all meaning for the people and after that, Solaris, Shevat and the surface world separated and began the process of restoration.

* Miang's calculations
As a part of the resurrection of Deus, Miang determines that the people of this era are also defective. She plans to reset human beings and civilization. The result of the Contact Lacan coming into contact with Zohar without the Elehaym existence, causes the power to go berserk, transforming Lacan into Grahf, and leading to the path of destruction for the world. Also, this is meant to analyze the difference in ability between the -Diabolos- and human beings. Diabolos were constructed according to plan starting from a distant 10,000 years before, for it was calculated that after the resurrection of Deus, strong enemies would threaten (as in the continuance of the Stellar War) and they were placed with this possibility. Miang took note of those humans beings marked for Deus, those with (Ether) ability, and attempted to play both sides in the struggle, seeking only to side with the victor. Human beings could come out the winners even with very few survivors. And in particular those humans excelling with the mark of ability.
- Xenogears: Perfect Works~The Real Thing~ (UltimateGraphics' translation)

Queen Zephyr
Zephyr says: "I and a select few of the vassals have undergone some special life-extending treatments. We were required to continue living... Until that final day approaches. Because of one man... To continue living... This is our atonement... for that tragedy 500 years ago..."
"Because of one man," here, refers to Krelian. This line gives the impression that Zephyr too was responsible for the tragedy in Nisan and was judged by Krelian as one who needed to atone, but Perfect Work clarifies:

"When Krelian proceeded to give life extension treatments to the Shevat Elders, Zephyr also wished for and was given the treatments. At the time of the Great War, she had stayed on the surface for a short time, and had no knowledge of the secret plan between the Elders and Solaris. However, as a member of the royal family of Shevat, she felt responsible for having been unable to stop the Elders' plot, and in order to atone for this sin, she humbly took her "punishment" from Krelian."
- Xenogears: Perfect Works~The Real Thing~

Seibzehn
Dominia says: "And in the nerve circuit of Seibzehn lies..." before being interrupted by Jessie. And since we're on a roll with clarifications from Perfect Works, let's shed light on this too:

Claudia - Maria's mother
When Claudia understood the nature of her husband's research, and that herself and Maria were the cause of it, she despaired. When she knew that he was near the final stage of his research, she wondered if she might not take both the prototype and Maria and escape and proposed this to Nikolai. However, to activate the prototype for Maria, Maria's brain must be synchronized with the nervous system and brain wave patterns to be able to operate it. Claudia wished that her own brain be used, and amidst great anguish, Doctor Nikolai resolved to do this. Claudia was secretly fused with the prototype Seibzehn, and an accident was caused on purpose, creating the circumstances of her death.
    After this, when Seibzehn was completed, using his great skill Doctor Nikolai hid the M Plan inside Seibzehn's base program, entrusting it to take Maria and escape. He secretly contacted his Grandfather Balthasar, entrusting him to be Maria's guardian after the escape. Because Claudia, as her mother, had wanted to protect Maria, she desired fusion with Seibzehn."
- Xenogears: Perfect Works~The Real Thing~

We are introduced to a slightly different theme when Achtzehn appears and Nikolai begin to speak of surpassing the imperfect human condition and become "superhuman," though I guess in some ways it is a continuation of the eugenics theme taken to its logical conclusion: "Humans are an imperfect, foolish life form... I will show the greatness of a perfect life form! Achtzehn, the combination of human wisdom and the strength of steel." It is unlikely that eugenics could ever create a human condition that is perfect enough, so transcending the level of the human organism altogether seems to have been Nikolai's conclusion after being "re-educated" by Solaris. "This huge, powerful, forever shining body! There'll be no aging and death. I was reborn as a new breed." For this reason and more, I have always liked Maria's response; "... I loved my father in those days when he was human... His warm smile...", I find it very touching. One of the finest scenes in the game I think, especially with the epic track "Soaring the Skies" playing throughout. Soraya Saga was also impressed with Maria's "sortie scene," and the scene composition and framing is excellent as usual.

I don't know, but the line "...during the battle, I transferred all my data from there to Seibzehn. I may have lost my body, but my spirit is with Seibzehn, no, with you," seems to imply that what is preserved inside these machines are possibly consciousness, and not just imitated A.I.'s. That would be an important distinction, but we can't be sure which is the case. If it is consciousness, it would allow for the merging of the spirits of Nikolai and Claudia in Seibzehn, which is a pretty happy ending despite Maria's grief. I always found her scream here to be powerful, despite the lack of voice work.

Finally, this is when the protagonists have their Limiters removed by Gaspar, and there is an off-camera event that Gaspar, Zephyr and Wiseman discuss: "Your Majesty, the Omnigear underground is moving!! The girl named Elly was nearby and it reacted to her!! This is easy to miss the first time, and there are numerous references to this subtle event in later dialogue that might make one go "wait, when did that happen?" It would have been nice if this was actually shown.

A particularly interesting exchange here is between Zephyr and Wiseman, after Zephyr says "She... was the same as Sophia?", which reveals that these people are aware that Elly and Lacan keeps being reincarnated. This revelation could have come from Grahf, either through Grahf's own desire to let people know (he did seem to keep in touch with Melchior as we will see), or from Wiseman/Kahn after his merging with Grahf. Zephyr's next line, "... Sorry.", heavily suggests the latter, since why else would she be concerned that "Lacan" be upset? Wiseman's silence is what caused Zephyr to stop and think before apologizing, because she does not know if Grahf or Kahn is currently in control. Then Wiseman replies "No, I don't mind. I'm not 'him'.", which implies that he is letting her know that Kahn is currently in control and not Grahf (Lacan). I don't know what else it could mean, but it makes sense that Kahn would inform the Queen that he and Grahf have become one, so she is prepared in case Grahf starts awakening. But since Grahf is not hostile towards Melchior, and since Lacan was an ally with Zephyr during the Solaris War, I think Grahf could take control of Kahn's body and still briefly hang out with Gaspar and the Queen - even when letting them know he's Grahf.

This is where we come to the Mid-Point context shift, after which Fei and our group of protagonists starts going on the offensive as one of their Limiters are removed. To end this narrative segment and mark the half-way point, I thought I would analyze one of Xenogears' theme songs here:

Stars of Tears
(lyrics by Masato Kato)

Your fingertips moving gently to my heart--
The force of life goes on and on.
The song remains
Like a haunting melody
Of angel music held in chains.

And I ask you:
Can we ease the pain of those who lost? (The force of life goes on)
Can we know the cause of all this sorrow? (Tears of loneliness)
Can we catch the tears of a broken world
Falling down upon the earth...?
Falling down...

The waves of time take me deeper into you,
A haze as blue as summer skies;
And turn to find
The key will not unlock the door.
This broken bird: away it flies.

(repeat chorus)

These lyrics by Masato Kato seem to be about the story of the game, though perhaps not about a specific character. The fansite Xenogears: God and Mind had an article examining the meaning of these lyrics, suggesting that they are describing Elly's point of view. Not sure I agree with that, even though their analysis was pretty good overall. To me the song is more or less about the world of Fei and the others, and about humanity and the grief theme, which are like "angel music held in chains." Nice poetry there. While I don't have a very high opinion of Kato's story contributions, such as Chu-Chu, I do think he's got a nice poetic side to him at times that I enjoy. I already noted the way he uses figures of speech in the Lahan segment. Anyway, the only part that feels like it's about a character is the part about the "broken bird," which sounds like Fei. Kato had already used bird symbolism with Fei in Lahan when an NPC kid on a roof in Lahan tells Fei that if he was a bird he could fly home to his real home whenever he felt like it. Stars of Tears is not my favorite of the Xeno songs, and it never plays in the actual game (though you can find it hidden on disc 2), but it's still a great song.

Some more notes about this Revelations segment:     Stone's Gear, Alkanshel, seems to be a misspelling of 'Arc-en-ciel', the french word for rainbow. I find it to be a strange name for his Gear but might allude to the rainbow mentioned in Genesis after the flood, to keep it in line with religious references.

The second half of the narrative is examined in Part 3.

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Xenogears Story Analysis: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

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