Setting Xenogears initially takes place on Ignas, the largest continent of the
Xenogears world and the site of a centuries-long war between the nations of Aveh and Kislev. A church-like organization known as the Ethos has excavated
gears, giant robot suits, for the preservation of the world's culture. Although Kislev originally had the upper hand in the war, a mysterious army known as Gebler appeared and began to assist Aveh. With Gebler's help, the Aveh military recovered its losses and began making its way into Kislev's territory. As the story unfolds, the setting broadens to encompass the entire world and the two floating countries, Shevat and Solaris. Solaris, ruled by Emperor Cain and an AI collective known as the Gazel Ministry, commands the Gebler army and the Ethos and secretly uses both to dominate the land-dwellers. Shevat has been the only country to evade the control of Solaris. Much of the
Xenogears plot and backstory is detailed in the
Japanese-only book
Xenogears Perfect Works. Produced by
DigiCube, it details the history of the
Xenogears universe from the discovery of the Zohar to the start of the game. According to the
Perfect Works schematic (as well as the game's end credits),
Xenogears is the fifth episode in a series of six, with events spanning multiple millennia.
Characters Xenogears nine playable characters come from different areas of the game's world. The game begins on Ignas, a continent with two countries, Aveh and Kislev. Fei and Citan at first appear to be from this land, although it is later learned that they originate from the capital cities Aphel Aura and Etrenank of the floating countries of Shevat and Solaris, respectively. Fei is the story's protagonist, and has initially lost his memories of his past. Elly, a beautiful Gebler officer of Solaris, is destined to be near Fei and falls in love with him by the end of the game. Citan is a man whose knowledge of the world and technology often aids in the party's quest. Bart, a desert pirate, is also from Ignas and is the rightful heir to the throne of Aveh. Rico, a
demi-human with incredible strength, lives in a Kislev prison, spending his days as a gear-battling champion. Solaris, a hidden city of advanced technology, is home to several characters in the game. Billy, a pious worker for the Ethos religious group, was originally from Solaris. Maria and Chu-Chu are both from Shevat, the floating city and the only place resisting Solaris' domination. Emeralda is a humanoid being constructed by an ancient civilization from a colony of
nanomachines, and was retrieved from the ruins of the ancient civilization Zeboim. Significant non-playable characters include Krelian and Miang, both leaders of Solaris who seek to revive Deus, a mechanical weapon that fell to earth thousands of years ago. They serve as the game's main
antagonists. Grahf, a mysterious man with immense power, serves as a major antagonist; he follows Fei and his group and often fights them, though his goals remain a mystery until very late in the game. As being
the Contact and
the Anti-type, Fei and Elly have been reincarnated several times, while
the Complement, Miang, has awoken in hundreds of women down throughout the game's history.
Story Xenogears centers around the protagonist Fei Fong Wong, an adopted young male in the village of Lahan, brought by a mysterious "masked man" three years ago. The events surrounding Fei's arrival at the village cause him to have
retrograde amnesia. During an attack on Lahan from the
Gebler army, Fei pilots an empty Gear and fights the enemy, accidentally destroying the village. As a result, Fei and Citan, the village's doctor, leave with the abandoned Gear to get it away from the village. Fei meets Elly, a Gebler officer, and then Grahf, who claims to know about Fei's past and admits to spearheading the attack on Lahan to unlock Fei's abilities. Eventually, Fei and Citan are picked up by Bart, a desert pirate and heir to the throne of
Aveh. Fei again loses control of himself inside his Gear while Bart and Citan are attacked by an unknown red Gear. Fei wakes up in a
Kislev prison and meets Wiseman, a mysterious masked man, who originally brought Fei to Lahan. Fei is able to escape with the help of his friends, including a new one, prisoner Rico, but he and Elly are separated from the rest of the party and accidentally shot down by Bart. They are rescued by the
Thames, a mobile floating city. After learning Elly's whereabouts, Gebler attacks Thames to kidnap Elly and Miang, a Gebler officer, unsuccessfully attempts to brainwash her. Gebler leader Ramsus, who holds a vendetta against Fei, attacks Thames, searching for him. Afterward, Billy, an Ethos worker onboard Thames, allows Fei to use the Ethos' advanced medical technology. Bishop Stone, Ethos' leader, reveals to the party Ethos's true purpose of controlling the land dwellers, or "Lambs", for Solaris. The group follows Stone to Zeboim, an excavation site. They discover a young girl composed of
nanomachines, which is what Solarian leader Krelian seeks. Stone takes the girl while the group fights
Id, the mysterious red Gear's pilot, who wants the girl, but is stopped by Wiseman. The group returns and finds Fei awake and standing at his Gear with a case of
anterograde amnesia. Fei and his friends decide to ally themselves with the floating city of
Shevat, the only remaining city capable of resisting Solaris, joined by Shevat locals Maria and Chu-Chu. During this time, Bart regains his throne and initiates peace between the two countries and Stone is destroyed. Upon entering Solaris, they encounter Emeralda, the nanomachine colony. She attacks at first, but recognizes Fei, referring to him as "Kim", much to Fei's confusion. In Solaris, Fei learns that Citan has been working for Emperor
Cain and that Solaris has been producing food and medicine out of mutated
humans in the
Soylent System facility. The party also learns that the Gazel Ministry seeks to revive their God and achieve eternal life, while Krelian seeks to possess Elly. They escape from Solaris before Id destroys it as Citan was really a double agent on their side because Cain was actually against the Ministry. Back at Shevat, Citan informs his friends that Id is actually Fei's
split personality, with Fei's Gear turning red when he switches to Id due to their connection. After Krelian manipulates Ramsus into assassinating the Emperor, the Gazel Ministry uses the
Gaetia Key, an artifact that manipulates the DNA of massive numbers of humans around the world, turning them into mutants called Wels to collect flesh to reconstruct their God, an all-powerful war machine called
Deus that crash-landed on the planet ten thousand years ago. During this time, Elly and Fei become romantically involved with each other and learn that they are the reincarnations of Sophia and Lacan. Lacan was a painter while Sophia was the Holy Mother of
Nisan around the time of the war between Shevat and Solaris five hundred years earlier. Lacan blamed himself for Sophia's death during the war and, with the help of Miang, became Grahf and sought to destroy the world. Although defeated, he and Miang have transmigrated their minds into other humans since. Krelian disposes the Gazel Ministry because they are no longer necessary and kidnaps Elly, the
Mother, with Miang who must be sacrificed in order to revive Deus. Miang is killed by an enraged Ramsus as he realizes he has been used, and Elly turns into Miang. Before becoming absorbed by Deus with Krelian, Miang revealed that Deus is actually the core of an interplanetary invasion system created by a federation of spacefaring humans, one that was deemed far too dangerous for use and was therefore dismantled. Fei, as Id, attempts to make contact with the
Zohar. Wiseman, who reveals himself to be Fei's father, stops him, giving peace to Fei's other personalities. At this time, Fei makes contact with the Wave Existence—an extra-dimensional being who is trapped inside Deus and is the source of power for all Gears—and learns that he must destroy Deus to free humanity. Fei's Gear transforms into the Xenogears and Grahf appears, revealing that he had been inside Fei's father's body. Grahf tries to merge with Fei but is defeated and sacrifices himself. Fei had discovered that he is a descendant of
Abel, a young boy who was a passenger on board the Eldridge, a spaceship that was being used to transport Deus, who had become
self-aware and took over the Eldridge. Amidst the confusion, Abel was separated from his mother and accidentally made contact with the Wave Existence through the Zohar, Deus' power source. It gave him the power to one day destroy Deus and the Zohar in order to free itself. The Wave Existence also sensed Abel's longing for his mother and used the biological computer
Kadomony to create a woman for a companion. When Deus gained full control over the Eldridge, the captain decided to initiate the self-destruct sequence in an attempt to destroy it. Both Deus and the Zohar survived the explosion and landed on a nearby planet along with Abel, under the protection of the Wave Existence. He was the sole survivor, but was soon united with the woman that the Wave Existence had created for him as a companion, Elly. Abel and Elly, at first, led a happy life, but Deus had also created Miang, Cain, and the Gazel Ministry to begin a human civilization on the planet, one which would be under their control to one day be turned into Wels and be absorbed into Deus to recover its strength. When the now-adult Abel and Elly discovered this, they openly challenged Cain and the Gazel Ministry, but lost and were both killed. However, through the power of the Wave Existence, they are able to be reincarnated in later eras to combat Deus. Elly, inside Deus, tries to move it away from the planet and Fei, in his Xenogears, follows to save her, but both disappear in the rift. Krelian confronts them, telling Fei he only sought to end the pain and suffering that comes with human existence by reverting everything back to when it all began, when all was one, to ascend to the realm of God. Fei rejects Krelian's ideology with his love for Elly, but Krelian challenges Fei, telling him to prove this love that could make him independent of God, and calls forth
Urobolus, a gigantic serpentine incarnation of Miang. Xenogears appears and Fei uses it to defeat Urobolus, destroying Miang for good. Krelian releases Elly and reveals to Fei that he had planned to become one with God along with Elly. During her time with Krelian, Elly had seen inside his heart and realized it was full of sadness and despair for all the atrocities he had committed. Despite everything, Elly says that Krelian truly loved people more than anyone else. Because no one will forgive his sins, he declines Fei's offer to return and ascends to a higher plane of existence along with the Wave Existence, telling Fei and Elly that he envies them. Fei and Elly then return to their planet along with Xenogears and reunite with the rest of the party. ==Development==