This is a list of notable characters from the video game Xenogears, a role-playing video game released in 1998 by Square Enix for the PlayStation video game console. Kunihiko Tanaka was lead character designer, while Tetsuya Takahashi and Masato Kato were lead writers. Xenogears was a commercial and critical success. Readers of Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu voted Xenogears the 16th best video game of all time in a 2006 poll.
Xenogears follows main protagonist Fei and his friends as they learn about Deus, a powerful, self-aware interplanetary invasion system that crashed onto the planet ten thousand years prior to the game's story. Deus has been secretly controlling the planet's gradually increasing population to one day bring about its own resurrection. Fei and Elly, the main protagonists, have been reincarnated throughout history to ensure that Deus never achieves its goal. Miang, the embodiment of Deus and the main antagonist, opposes Fei and Elly and has reincarnated several times to manipulate humanity's progress.
Creation and development The characters of Xenogears were designed to allude to psychological concepts, most notably of Freudian and Jungian psychology. One of Fei's incarnations is named after French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan,Fei: In that dream, I was called 'Lacan'... I was an artist... but the most obvious allusion is that of Fei's Freudian id, ego and super-ego, which are discussed throughout the story. Fei subconsciously repressed his memories because of his torturous childhood, but his desire to remember his past eventually leads him to discover the truth about his identity and his relationship with Id. This repression also relates to the Jungian concept of the shadow. However, some character's actions are Adlerian in nature, such as Ramsus, whose actions are driven by an inferiority complex stemming from unconscious 'nodes' that often permeate exterior behaviors of an individual. Although not distinctly psychological, the game also contains allusions to the theories of Friedrich Nietzsche, such as the concept of the eternal return, which, in Xenogears, correlates to the recurrences of the Contact and the Antitype.
Main protagonists Fei Fong Wong
is the game's protagonist, whose name alludes to the legendary Wong Fei Hung and is the same when written in katakana. By the game's beginning, Fei has lived in the village of Lahan for three years and has no memory of events prior to his arrival. It is soon revealed that Fei tends to lose control of himself when he feels fear or anger. When Lahan is attacked, he steps into the cockpit of an abandoned giant fighting robot to protect the town, but becomes responsible for destroying it. Afterwards, Fei joins forces with Citan Uzuki and other allies to uncover the web of deception and manipulation surrounding Solaris, and ultimately, Deus. Fei is a strong fighter and fights with his bare fists in battle, as well as with special techniques known as "Chi".
Fei experiences frequent periods of memory loss and unknowingly has a split personality called Id, which is the product of the pain and anguish he experienced when he was young. This pain split his mind into three personas: the monster Id, the childlike "coward", and the artificial persona Fei, who was designed to shield Id from reality. These personas were designed to correspond to the Freudian ideas of the id, ego and super-ego. When Fei was a child, Miang's spirit possessed his mother, who experimented on Fei, as he was the "Contact" and one of many reincarnations of , the sole survivor of the crash of the spaceship Eldridge thousands of years ago.
Fei's first incarnation, Abel, grew up along with the original Elehaym ten thousand years prior to the game's story; they were both killed in a rebellion against the world's ruler, Cain. The second Contact, , appeared in the Zeboim era, four thousand years before the game's start. He was Emeralda's creator, although Miang destroyed his technology and he went into hiding afterwards. During the Solaris War, which took place five hundred years prior to the game's events, the Contact appeared as the painter . After joining the rebellion against Solaris, he met Krelian and Sophia, the corresponding incarnation of Elehaym. When Sophia was killed in battle, Lacan decided to destroy the world, turning into Grahf and freeing the Contact to be reincarnated again as Fei.
Fei has been called "a mystery for the player to follow and solve on their own" by IGN. Edge said of Fei that he "in some ways, conforms to the classic stereotypical lead character, but we quickly discover he's anything but a blank canvas. Within an hour of play Fei has leveled his home village in an act of brutal destruction, killing his best friends – who you were busily helping prepare for their wedding the next day."
The world of Xenogears was originally designed as more "pastoral" than the final result, and Lahan was planned to have a "martial arts" feel. As the game's script was written, this was changed, but the design of Fei, which was meant to fit in with the original conception, was not able to be revised in the time allotted and remained wearing a martial arts uniform. This led to director Tetsuya Takahashi feeling that his character design was out of place, especially in the latter half of the game. The version of Fei in Zeboim, Kim, was designed with a lab coat and modern Japanese clothing to demonstrate that Zeboim society was similar to modern society. Lacan was intended to have a different design than Fei, but due to time constraints, was instead left with the same artwork, which was justified with the idea that Lacan's memories were shared with Fei, who projected his own self-image into them.
Elhaym Van Houten
, nicknamed , is a young skilled officer of Gebler who meets Fei in the forest near Lahan Village. She was leading an operation to steal a top-secret experiment gear from Kislev, but was forced to crash-land in Lahan and was partially responsible for its destruction. Elly is optimistic and wants to help Fei, despite him being a land dweller and the fact she cannot leave the military. She is known as the -Antitype-, she has been reincarnated several times throughout history along with Fei, her previous incarnation being , the Holy Mother of Nisan. She wields rods and can attack with elemental ether attacks.
Citan Uzuki
is a medical doctor who lives up the mountain path from Lahan with his wife , the granddaughter of the Shevat Guru Gaspar, and his daughter . Despite living on the surface, Citan was born in Solaris, and his real name is . He is a Solaris Guardian Angel, and is working under orders from the Solaris Emperor to observe Fei to see if he will bring relief or destruction to the world.Citan:I am sorry. I did not want to say anything until I was sure. I was on a secret mission by orders of Emperor Cain to monitor Fei. He ordered me to determine whether Fei would be a threat to the world or not. 'The Contact'... That is what the Emperor calls Fei... Citan is intelligent and responsible for the development of many Gears. He has a history with multiple individuals, including Ramsus, Sigurd and Jessie. Citan initially fights with his bare fists, but later acquires a sword. During his combos, he moves so fast there are afterimages trailing his movement. When using his sword, Citan draws and strikes with it in a single motion. Citan's special techniques are known as "Arcane" magic.
Bart Fatima
, nicknamed , is the leader of a group of sand pirates who ride the submarine Yggdrasil. He befriends Fei and Citan after shooting down a prison ship they were on. Bart is the rightful heir to the kingdom of Aveh, with Ethos agent Shakhan having forced his family out of the country years ago.Citan:Bartholomew? Edbart IV's successor... I am sure they announced Bartholomew dies of an illness 12 years ago. Maison:Officially, yes. However, in reality, we rescued the young prince from Shakhan's evil grasp. Citan:Then why must the prince, the rightful heir, resort to piracy... Bart is accompanied by his mentor and half-brother, , and well-mannered . Bart and Sigurd are each missing an eye, their left and right ones respectively, and wear identical eyepatches. He wields a whip in battle.
Bart's ancestors and were fraternal twin brothers who founded Aveh, and were comrades of Lacan and Sophia during the rebellion against Solaris. Their names are a reference to Edgar Roni Figaro and Sabin Rene Figaro, characters from Final Fantasy VI created by Xenogears co-writer Kaori Tanaka.
Rico Banderas
, nicknamed , is a massive demi-human and champion Gear fighter in Nortune, the imperial capital of Kislev.Hammer:I am telling you it is hopeless! To do that you will have to defeat the current champion, Master Rico! He has a sturdy reputation, and his size can be frightening. Despite being a prisoner, his lifestyle is superior to that of many nobles and he appears to have a connection with the Kislev ruler. He has high strength, but the slowest speed and lower accuracy.
Billy Lee Black
is a young, pacifistic priest of the Ethos religion, who is later revealed to be a member of the Etone branch, which job is to "clean" and "purge" the world from the Reapers, or -Wels-. He has a problematic relationship with his father , real name , who abandoned his family for several years after they moved to the surface from Solaris.Billy:I don't know the details but you have been labeled as an undesirable element. What did you do this time? Fight? Gamble? Go after someone's wife again? Jessie:Hmph, that's just a rumor about me. A rumor. Don't you believe that. Ever since you went into the 'Ethos' you've become such a stiff. Having been mentored by the Ethos leader Bishop Stone, Billy dedicated his life to religion and cares for many children including his younger sister at an Ethos orphanage. He wields triple guns and can use support "Ether" spells.
Maria Balthasar is a young girl residing in Shevat who pilots Seibzehn, a special Gear her father, Nikolai, created to protect her home. Solaris kidnapped him to make new Gears, causing her to bear a grudge against Solaris.Maria:Yes... but I haven't seen him for the past few years... He said he was looking for something very important. And he left by himself... My father was captured by Solaris and his whereabouts are not known either... I'm glad Grandpa Bal's doing fine. Her grandfather is the gear engineer Balthasar. Although her gear is powerful, Maria's physical attacks are weak. However, she can use ether attacks to call Seibzehn to attack enemies, even in enclosed areas.
Chu-Chu
was with Marguerite during her imprisonment in Fatima Castle. Her race once lived in the woods, but they nearly became extinct due to Solaris's activities. Some managed to escape to Shevat and live with Wiseman. Chu-Chu can grow to the size of a gear once the physical part of the limiter is removed. She has the unique ability to heal other gears, and does not need fuel to fight, but has poor stats and no special attacks in "gear" form. She has romantic interest for Fei.Chu-Chu: I'm Chu-Chu! I fell in love with you when I first saw you in Bledavik!!
Emeralda