Elly Van Houton

Elly Van Houton

Elly Van Houton is the most important woman in the Xenogears videogame universe. She just doesn’t know it yet.

Elly is introduced as a soldier of the Solarian Empire. A rising star in the legendary Jugend military school, her elemental affinity is second to none. Raised in the belief that the Solarian people are, by divine right, the natural overlords of the surface dwelling Lambs, Elly is completely unprepared for her first meeting with protagonist Fei Fong Wong. Realizing that they have more in common than Solarian dogma would admit, Elly begins a long, reluctant conversion to the side of good.

But it turns out this is nothing she’s done before. Elly is the latest reincarnation of the Antitype, a being born from the god-like entity Wave Existence ten thousand years prior to the Xenogears story. Created to be the companion of Abel – Fei’s first incarnation – Elly has been at Fei’s side countless times throughout history. The reasons behind her creation: to help Fei make contact with the Wave Existence, thus giving him the power to destroy the Zohar Engine and free the Existence captured within it. Unfortunately, she has little success in this regard, often dying before she can complete her mission.

Elly’s willingness to help others is a constant theme throughout her incarnations. Five hundred years before the game’s story, Elly is Mother Sophia, the figure-head of the Nisan religion. Her presence is a calm beacon during the Shevat/Solarian war, drawing people together in the hopes of a better future. She even calmed the heart of Krelian, a man once governed by cynicism and bitterness. Sophia gave him a purpose outside battle and a love for science that would be present throughout his life. Unfortunately her death triggered Krelian’s obsession to create a God and the subsequent machinations throughout the game. Later on – most likely an echo of Sophia’s generosity – Elly becomes a similar symbol to the people suffering by Solarian cruelty.

There are thematic tragedies common to all her incarnations. She often dies before Fei; her last words are telling him to live. A popular argument is that Sophia’s death when Lacan – Fei’s incarnation of that time – made contact with the Existence was a crucial factor in his transformation into the uber-powerful Grahf and the global destruction that followed.

Elly Van Houton was just another Solarian soldier, committed to the Solarian dogma without question. Yet bit by bit she challenges the unnecessary cruelty of her Solarian superiors. Confronted with the mass genocide of the earthbound Kislev Empire, Elly finally takes action and nearly sacrifices herself so that more Kislev people can evacuate. Her love gives Fei the strength to resist his sadistic split personality Id, as well as giving him a place and person to return to after the necessary war effort. Few women can do so much good in one lifetime, never mind ten thousand years’ worth. It’s what makes her an incredible character.

Emeralda

Emeralda

If the videogame Xenogears was a play, then the stage would span across ten thousand years of history. Characters who are centuries apart would come together and add their own history to the rich tapestry that is Xenogears’ plot. It’s the characters that elevates the stage to a grand opera; without them, the game would just be another generic “let’s-save-the-world” copy.

Today’s character analysis features Emeralda Kasim.

Four thousand years before the game’s main plot, the Zeboim civilization was the planet’s major superpower. Zeboim’s technology matched the level of modern day societies: electricity and television were commonplace. However, the inhabitants suffered from genetic decay. The average Zeboim’s lifespan was thirty years. Additionally, the decay made a large amount of women infertile. If nothing was to be done soon, the Zeboim civilization would soon become extinct.

This is where Emeralda comes in. Nano-engineer Kim Kasim – an incarnation of main protagonist Fei Fong Wong – tried his hand in creating a new life. He created a nano-machine colony (a host of artificial cells that work together not unlike how the human body’s cells act to regulate the systems necessary for life). Kim imprinted both his genetic code and that of his wife Elly – an incarnation of deuterogamist Elly Van Houton – into the colony’s structure, effectively making Emeralda the child they were unable to conceive.

However, tragedy strikes in the form of Miang. Miang is the eternal agent of the antagonist weapon/deity Deus. Her main responsibility is to mold humanity into suitable vessels for Deus to absorb and repair itself from the crash-landing upon the Xenogears planet ten thousand years ago. Seeing the Zeboim civilization as a failure due to genetic breakdown, Miang engineers a nuclear war to annihilate Zeboim, hoping to “start over” with the survivors.

Emeralda survives the destruction thanks to Kim’s foresight, but she’s dissembled into a catatonic state. Four thousand years later, she gains her original, child-like form when key antagonist Krelian kidnaps her. Once he obtains all the data Emeralda’s genetics provide, Krelian intentionally places her in Fei’s way in the hope that Fei will eliminate her for him. Instead, Emeralda joins Fei’s cause.

What’s interesting about Emeralda is that her origins are backed by real-life science. Nanotechnology involves the manipulation of matter on the atomic and molecular scale. It’s taking something as small as a human cell and transforming it into something else entirely. A common example in science fiction is the instant regeneration of human cells to fill the void when the body is fatally struck, giving humanity a kind of immortality. Whatever or not real-life nano-technology can fulfill this function is a question of time and research, but the possibilities are endless.

Emeralda is the literal connection between Xenogears’ past and present, bringing the plot full circle in the tragic circumstances of her creation. She enriches the overall tapestry of Xenogears’ rich history, as well as being the symbol of hope for the future. That is what makes her story so interesting.

Kahran Ramsus

Kahran Ramsus

At first glance, Kahran Ramsus has it all. He’s the commander of the Gebler army, the military branch of the Solaris Empire. He has power, respect, and authority. There’s just one problem.

He doesn’t take rejection very well.

The 1998 videogame Xenogears is infamous for the psychological conditions of its characters. Main protagonist Fei Fong Wong suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder (multiple personalities). Ramsus harbors an inferiority complex: one that brings great tragedy to his story.

Ramsus’ inferiority issues stem from the failure of his own invulnerably-assumed strength. Ramsus was present at the destruction of Elru (a colony made famous for its red-haired destroyer). Witnessing firsthand how the later-titled Demon of Elru destroys Gears (the game’s giant robots) singlehandedly, Ramsus watches helplessly as the Demon routs his forces. Then he suffers a serious blow once the Demon summons his Gear and annihilates Elru. This is the first crack in Ramsus’ sanity. He sees his survival as a record of his failure, something that haunts him despite the confident persona he’s created for himself.

However, Ramsus’ fears of Elru are quickly overshadowed by his rivalry with Fei. While Fei’s fighting style (similar to the Demon’s) is the first nail in Ramsus’ psychological coffin, Fei’s name triggers a deeper resonance within Ramsus. From that point onward, Ramsus is obsessed with Fei. Just the mere mention of Fei’s name makes him rabid. He continually disobeys orders to go after Fei. Nothing else counts. It doesn’t matter if he was the pride of the prestigious Jugend academy. It doesn’t matter if he was an Element, the cream of the Jugend crop. All that matters to Ramsus is that Fei exists. As long as Fei’s around, Ramsus cannot be whole.

It’s towards the game’s end that Ramsus’ obsession comes to light. He is an artificial being. Officially he was created to be the clone of Emperor Cain, Solaris’ ancient ruler. Unofficially, he was meant to be an artificial Contact (a being who can make contact with God and receive his power). On the eve of his conception, Fei is discovered to be the true Contact. Thus, Ramsus no longer has use, and is discarded. It’s a slight that Ramsus never forgets.

The Xenogears characters have mental conditions that revolve around real-life concepts. Ramsus’ psychological condition is an echo of self-actualization, a theory of need fulfillment put forth by psychologist Abraham Maslow. Maslow’s theory constitutes a set of conditions that must be met for a person to become the best version of him/herself. Unfortunately for Ramsus, the person standing in the way of self-actualization is Fei. In order to complete himself, he must eliminate Fei.

Ramsus is the typical rags-to-riches character. He fought from the gutters of his birth and attained the highest honors of his society. Yet his rejection sowed seeds of helplessness, seeds that bloomed in the form of Fei’s existence. His spiraling tale of destruction is sad, but richly intricate for a videogame character.

Krelian

Krelian

500 years before the plot of the Xenogears videogame, the antagonistic nation Solaris is having trouble with their indoctrinated servants. The Lambs – as the Solarians call the earthbound population – are gathering under the Nisan religion, thanks to the efforts of Mother Sophia, the faction’s figurehead. Under Sophia’s tutelage, the Lambs are beginning to shrug off the influence of their Solarian masters. The course is clear. Sophia must be eliminated. Hence the beginning of the Shevat-Solarian War.

For some, Sophia’s death rallies the creation of the modern nations populating the Xenogears world. For Lacan, Sophia’s lover, her sacrifice leads him down a dark path of corruption and global destruction. But he is not the only one broken by Sophia’s death. There is another.

His name is Krelian.

Krelian is introduced as an agent of the Nimrod nation, sent to kill Sophia, whose growing popularity made her a legitimate threat to their sovereignty. Instead Krelian falls in love with Sophia. Her inspiration leads him down the road of science, a calling that Krelian would follow the rest of his life.

Then tragedy strikes. Sophia’s forces are betrayed by Shevat (exchanging Sophia for Solaris’ surrender and their ally/enemy Miang). With her comrades on the point of annihilation, Sophia sacrifices herself for her people’s safety. Krelian is crushed. He cannot believe a God that would allow Sophia to die so needlessly. Henceforth, Krelian vows to create a God in Sophia’s memory.

Over the next five hundred years, Krelian uses his scientific knowledge towards that goal. He secures dominion over Cain and the Gazel Ministry – Solaris’ ancient rulers – by giving them the nanotechnology-based immortality he mastered during his time with Shevat. Because he is the only one able to maintain that immortality, Krelian enslaves Cain and the Ministry, makes himself Solaris’ de facto leader, and establishes all the resources he needs in one fell swoop.

Krelian shows little regard to the people he manipulates or those standing in his way. He created the Wels, a prehistoric branch of humanity re-engineered through nanotechnology. The Wels’ purpose: their primal state makes them the most compatible with Deus’ (the sentient weapon/God revered by Solaris) organic structure.

Krelian is a master manipulator. He abandoned the artificially-created antagonist Kahran Ramsus upon learning the Contact – he who inherited God’s strength – was reborn as main protagonist Fei Fong Wong. Ramsus’ survival is unexpected, but even then Krelian incorporates him into a plan: He hints that Cain’s – from which Ramsus was cloned – death would give Ramsus the power he needs. Krelian wins again, securing an ally and gets rid of Cain, whose guilt made him an obstacle.

Krelian is straight out of a Greek tragedy. He wanted to spare humanity suffering by returning the universe to its natural state (to become one with God’s eternal love). But he slaughtered billions, manipulated thousands in doing so. It’s no excuse, but he is human. That’s what makes him such an incredible character.

Grahf

Every story needs a villain. Sometimes multiple villains. 1998 videogame Xenogears has no shortage of that. Out of all of them, none is more evil – and simultaneously complex – than the character Grahf.

Grahf has immense power. He has a 60-foot tall Gear (giant robot). Most times he doesn’t need that. He’s able to take Gears apart with his bare hands. Grahf prefers imbuing minor antagonists with a portion of his own dark power: classic sign of villainy.

Grahf started life as Lacan, a painter commissioned to paint the portrait of Mother Sophia, the iconic leader of Nisan and figurehead of the Nisan religion. Lacan is in love with Sophia: he deliberately makes excuses (needing to mix more paint, etc.) to prolong the time they spend together. Lacan is certain that Sophia doesn’t return his feelings. But it turns out that Sophia loves Lacan because she doesn’t have to be Sophia the figurehead around him. She can simply be Elly the woman, unburdened by expectations and duty.

But then she dies. Elly’s Nisan faction is battling Solaris, a ruthless society determined to subrogate humanity to resurrect God. Broken over Elly’s sacrifice, Lacan searches for the legendary power of Zohar.

Here’s where it gets complicated: Lacan makes contact with the Wave Existence (the God of the Xenogears universe). Lacan is the reincarnation of Abel, the first human to make Contact with the Existence. Granted the Existence’s power, and upon learning the repetitive cycle he and Elly (the incarnation of Xenogears’ First Woman) are forced to repeat throughout the past ten thousand years, Lacan decides the only way to free humanity from their enslavement is complete destruction. He becomes Grahf, engineers a catastrophic disaster that nearly eradicates humanity.

Back to modern day. Grahf is a ghost, inhabiting people’s minds throughout the centuries. He wants the physical reincarnation of his body: Fei’s (the protagonist) body. Grahf pits Fei against aforementioned imbued antagonists in order to awaken his Existence-enhanced power and make him a more powerful vessel to eventually possess.

Grahf’s story is fleshed out during Fei’s awakening. Grahf found Fei as a child. The only obstacle? Khan, Fei’s father. Grahf bested Khan and was about to take Fei when the latter unleashed his innate power. His current body ruined, Grahf possessed Khan: someone to tide him over until Fei awakened.

It doesn’t end there. Lacan’s Contact with the Existence splits him in two. Grahf is the physical embodiment of Lacan’s desires, while the original Lacan continued reincarnating. While powerful, Grahf is incompatible with Fei’s Existence-awakened self. His final act: merging with Zohar to give Fei time to save Elly and defeat Deus (the weapon using human parts to resurrect God).

Sometimes villains are simple. Sometimes they are complex. Grahf is one of the most developed, tragic and human characters I’ve encountered. His story has grief, power, madness, a fall from grace, and much more. That alone should warrant the game a try.

Miang – Mother of Humanity

Miang

The Xenogears videogame is a grand opera, drawing influence from religion to Star Wars. No one is who they seem. Minor characters have hidden, diabolic agendas ill-fit their neutral standing. Those in power are actually pawns manipulated and thrown away when their usefulness comes to an abrupt – and deadly – end. It is a story worthy of the word Machiavellian (a fictional character whose subterfuge was legendary for its complexities). Of all the Xenogears characters, none are more devious than Miang.

Long ago, the interplanetary colony spaceship Eldrige was on route to an unknown star system. Their cargo: the ultimate planetary weapon Deus. Somewhere along the way Deus attempted to take over the ship. As a last ditch effort, the captain self-destructed the ship, plummeting Deus onto a nearby planet. Knowing the fall would be catastrophic, Deus began the first steps of a ten-thousand year plan for its revival. From the ship’s wreckage a single, purple-haired woman emerged: the mother of humanity. Her name was Miang.

From here on out, things get immensely complex.

Miang’s not so much a person than she’s a parasite. She inhabits the genetic code of all Xenogears women. Once the host body dies, Miang reawakens in a new vessel. This grants her the longevity required to mold humanity’s evolution into the perfect organic parts for Deus to ultimately absorb and revive itself.

Miang’s present in every stage of human civilization. The original Miang birthed Emperor Cain and the Gazel Ministry, the future leaders of Solaris (the stereotypical tyrannical nation). Miang heavily influenced the “divine right” philosophy behind Solaris’ subjugation of the earth-bound Lambs.

She next appears in the Zeboim civilization, whose decades of nuclear war made humanity infertile. At first hopeful by nano-scientist Kim Kasim, the Zeboim reincarnation of the Contact (the only one capable of destroying Deus, as well as an incarnation of protagonist Fei), Miang later engineers Zeboim’s destruction in order to start anew.

Five centuries later, Miang would take advantage of grief-stricken Lacan (another Contact incarnation) and manipulate him to become Grahf, who then retaliates by beginning a global cataclysm, granting Miang another chance to start over.

Miang spends several centuries searching for the Contact, but to no avail. Frustrated, she joins Solarian scientist Krelian to create an artificial Contact. However, Miang’s next incarnation is Karen Wong, Fei’s mother. Discarding the artificial Contact (revealed to be arch-rival Kahran Ramsus), Miang subjects Fei to numerous experiments to control the godly strength Fei inherited from Abel (the first Contact). These experiments ultimately create Id, Fei’s destructive persona.

Ultimately, Miang returns to her original form upon possessing Elly. With everything assembled for Deus’ revival, Miang boards Deus for space-travel, only to be defeated by Fei, freeing all women from her parasitic curse.

Miang is the perfect example of Machiavellianism. Hiding in the shadows, Miang pulls the strings of those who think themselves puppet-masters. Every person in power throughout Xenogears are ultimately her pawns. It’s scary, really. It’s what makes her such a rich character.

Id – Xenogears’ Greatest Mystery

Id – Xenogears’ Greatest Mystery

In literature, characters are like mysteries. Readers are given periodic bits and pieces of characters’ histories, but never the whole picture. This makes the moment when everything comes together all the more satisfying and emotional. The Xenogears videogame has many such characters. Perhaps the most engaging mystery is the one called Id.

Id. The Demon Of Elru. Able to destroy fifty foot tall Gears (the game’s version of giant robots) with his bare hands. And when he gets into his own Gear, you’d better say your prayers. You are going to die.

Id’s origins are at once simple and complex. He was created as a result of torturous experiments done to main protagonist Fei Fong Wong. Fei, too young to adequately process the resulting trauma, manufactured a second persona to act as a shield for anything Fei didn’t like or couldn’t bear. Thus, Fei (named the Coward by Id) was able to escape the trauma by switching places with Id.

Id naturally hates everything. Destruction is his only way of connecting to the world. In this sense he is a very lonely person, as his desire to destroy everything is a common theme to his personality. Born from rage, he cannot comprehend feelings such as love or friendship. This is why, when the Coward showed him the memory of his mother’s sacrifice, Id believes it to be a trick: being the representation of rage, the concept of a mother’s love threatens the grim world he’s established for himself. It’s only when he integrates with both the Coward and Fei (the third persona created by their father Khan Wong) that he becomes something greater than destroying. By becoming whole, he finally finds peace.

The interesting thing about Id is that he’s grounded by real-life psychology. According to Sigmund Freud, Id is the instinctive side of the subconscious. It demands self-gratification: instantaneous pleasure. When someone does what he wants, when he wants – regardless of consequence or moral standing – that’s the Id talking. The Id is the junkie of Frued’s theories: it’s addicted to the aggressive/sexual actions for the sake of doing those actions.

Another psychological twist is the inverse role his mother played in Id’s creation. According to Freud, the mother acts as a nurturing figure in a child’s formative years. Because Fei’s mother Karen was the instigator of the traumatic experiments, Fei was emotionally abandoned. Id’s creation was to make up for the lack of emotional support the mother was supposed to provide.

In drama, characters’ stories unfold piece by piece. They are clues that the reader must follow, the lure to keep the reader reading. This makes the moment when the mystery is finally solved all the more powerful. There’s no greater mystery to Xenogears than Id. Don’t believe me? Play the game. You’ll understand.

Fei Fong Wong – Xenogears’ Hero

Fei Fong Wong

Trends have a long shelf-life, particularly in videogames. Companies measure success in the feedback of their target demographic. They sift through the popularized elements and use them as a template for future products. So the elements of one piece of merchandise – for example a videogame – can be found in products months, even years apart. That is why, when 1997’s Final Fantasy VII videogame featured protagonist Cloud Strife’s psychological issues, 1998’s Xenogears videogame created a similar plot with protagonist Fei Fong Wong.

Fei is not a carbon copy of Cloud Strife. In fact, Xenogears takes Cloud’s mental instability and reinforces it with the real-life philosophies of psychologists Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan.

Fei possesses Identity Dissociative Disorder: more commonly known as multiple personalities. The different personas forms by intense psychological trauma during the formative childhood years, when they haven’t developed the necessary mechanisms to process an imperfect world. In Fei’s case, it was the agony of experiments done by his mother (a figure of comfort and support in a child’s mind) that split his personas.

According to Freud’s theories, the child-Fei represents the Super-Ego, the part of the mind governing the distinction between right and wrong. The Super-Ego develops when the child realizes its child/mother relationship is superseded by the mother/father relationship. Due to the inverse nature of Fei’s mother (acting in an aggressive role instead of the normal nurturing one) the child-Fei finds solace with the eternal re-playing of happy memories when the mother-child bond was in full effect.

Lacking the understanding to process the trauma, the child-Fei developed a separate personality called Id. Id’s role is to take the psychological and emotional brunt of anything the child-Fei doesn’t like, effectively acting as a shield. Appropriately, Id becomes resentful to both the “Coward,” (His name for the child-Fei) and the world. His only connection to the world is to destroy it. That connection is a direct reference to the Id’s absolute need for self-gratification.

The third persona – the Fei that the player controls throughout the game – acts as the Ego: the filter of its counterparts. The Ego takes the idealistic needs of both the Super-Ego and Id and creates a world-view that satisfies both. This is how a person functions in the normal world

Fei’s growth and maturity is the game’s key theme. Living in the Lahan village, an amnesiac Fei is unprepared for the world beyond his tranquil experiences. He responds to situations threatening his “comfort zone” with extreme rage and hostility. He even rejects the safety of others to wallow in his self-doubts.

But that’s only half the story. Fei has another secret, one that draws heavily from religious influence. Rather than complicating things, the religious themes serves to expand the already great love story between Fei and Elly (his love interest). A rare thing, but Xenogears is a rare game.

To understand Fei and Elly’s significance in the Xenogears universe, one must go ten thousand years back in time. The spaceship Eldrige is carrying the interplanetary weapon Deus. This weapon is powered by the engine Zohar. Zohar’s primary use is to achieve the ultimate energy in the universe. However, finding the universe’s energy inadequate, the Zohar connects itself to a “higher” plane of existence. In doing so, the Zohar captures the entity native to the aforementioned dimension and binds it to our physical dimension. This entity, known as the Wave Existence, is implied to be God. The Existence’s attempt to free Himself and return to the higher dimension is the underlining foundation of the entire game.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

After the Existence is imprisoned, a child named Abel stumbles across the Zohar engine. Since the Existence is defined by perception, Abel molds the entity’s nature with his desire to return to his mother. Thus the Existence accesses the Eldrige’s advanced technology and creates a companion for Abel: the Antitype. The Existence also puts the two into a reincarnation cycle, to be born time and time again until they reach a point in time when the Existence’s freedom could be achieved.

How does this relate to Fei and Elly? Simple. Abel and the Antitype are the first incarnations of Fei and Elly. Over the next ten thousand years, Fei and Elly would be brought together due to the destiny of their original selves. Their lives would be their own, but somehow they would always be tangled up in the plots of Deus’ agents, who want to control humanity’s evolution to revive Deus (who has crash-landed on the Xenogears planet after becoming sentient).

Fei plays a large role in the Existence’s plans. The Contact gave Abel the power to destroy Zohar. Once Zohar is destroyed, the Existence could return to its home in the higher dimension.

Gradually Fei broadens his worldview to put the needs of others above his own. This emotional journey makes Fei the Everyman. His path might be more twisted and darker than the average person, but the application of real-life philosophies to the characters shows that the Square-Enix company trusts the gamers’ ability to recognize an intellectual plot. My advice to you? Find the game. Play it. I guarantee you’ll be enamored as I am. Have fun.