Dickson

The future doesn't belong to you! For those who have not completed games in the Xenoblade Chronicles series, this page contains spoilers regarding the plot. Discretion is advised.

Dickson
Dickson
Alias	None
Species	Homs (Giant)
Gender	Male
Age	44 (thousands)
Hair colour	Blonde
Eye colour	Blue
Voice actor (JP)	Tsuyoshi Koyama
Voice actor (EN)	Anthony May
Main appearances	Xenoblade Chronicles

"Let's do this. I'm going with you! You'll need someone to drag your corpse home."

— Dickson

Dickson (Japanese: ディクソン, Dikuson, Dikson; English dub: /ˈdɪksən/) is a veteran of the Battle of Sword Valley a year before the events of Xenoblade Chronicles and a comrade of Dunban and Mumkhar. He is a resident of Colony 9 and looks over Shulk, Reyn and the other residents. He claims to have found Shulk in the Valak Mountain with the Monado and his parents (together with the rest of the refugees) dead. Dickson raised Shulk as his own.

Appearance

Dickson, as he appears in Colony 9 is forty-four years of age. He wears a red bandanna, and has long blond hair that goes past his ears. He wears a black sleeveless jacket over a blue coat of sorts, and reveals his chest. He wears a strange necklace with a blue circle on it. He wears a brown belt over white jeans, and has white boots that reach to his knees. In combat, he wields a long sword that is longer than his arm, and can also double as a gun. This weapon is named a Sabre.

In his Giant form, Dickson is massive, with puce tattooed skin and a large amount of outward pointing things on his back. These winglike parts of his body are not normal Giant anatomy; they come from the power bestowed by Zanza. He retains his hair, moustache and necklace, and aside from that wears only a dark purple skirt. Instead of his dual purpose gun/sword, he now wields a purple sword which can switch form to become a cannon. His eyes have no pupils or irises.

Story

Prior to Xenoblade Chronicles

Before the events of the game, Dickson discovers the Monado in an unnamed icy region of Bionis, which is later revealed to be the Ose Tower on Valak Mountain. He finds the only person alive there is a very young Shulk, curled up sleeping below the Monado. Taking both the boy and the sword, he heads out.

Battle of Sword Valley

Dickson fights alongside Mumkhar and Dunban at the Battle at Sword Valley, uses his rifle/sword to fight. At first, he tries to get Dunban to retreat, considering orders to pull back to Colony 6. Dunban refuses, however and they continue to fight. Dunban later collapses under the Monado's influence, while Dickson jumps to his aid and takes a hit, taking down a Mechon as well. He and Dunban charge at a group of Mechon and survive, while Mumkhar tries fleeing to return for the Monado later on, but appears to be killed by a group of hidden Mechon instead.

Colony 9

Dickson is shown now to be a wanderer who has traveled all over Bionis, not being present in Colony 9 often. He is first seen in the Weapons development lab, reading up on Shulk's research notes on the Monado, asking what the "Hidden functions" Shulk mentions in his notes are. After their conversation, he tells Shulk to get out of the lab more and walks off. He is later seen at Dunban's house, telling Fiora where Shulk would probably have gone, but is not present when the Mechon attack.

Colony 6

After the party is ambushed by Metal Face and his minions outside Colony 6, Dickson and Dunban arrive to aid them. This is the only occasion when Dickson can be one of the party members. However, Metal Face proves too strong even for them, and is only driven off when a Telethia attacks. Dunban joins the party as a playable character after this, with Dickson as a guest leading the way to Satorl Marsh.

When he leaves the party at the end of the marsh, Dickson mutters, unheard, about not feeling good about deceiving "those kids". However, he returns to Colony 9 and aids them in defending against the Mechon.

Sword Valley

Dickson is present at the discussion of an allied battle force being created, the joining of the three sentient races of Bionis against the Mechon. He convinces Kallian of the necessity of war, and goes off to meet the party before they launch their attack on Galahad Fortress. He supplies them with Anti-Mechon weapons that he built, then leaves immediately with Alvis to return to Alcamoth. Later on, Kallian is informed of the party's disappearance after wrecking the fortress. Dickson calms Kallian by telling him he knows where the party is, before going to meet the party at the Hidden Machina Village on the Fallen Arm before they leave for Mechonis Field.

During the battle of the Allied Front, Dickson is seen piloting a Havres and attacking Faced Mechon. After Mechonis begins to move, Dickson curses Shulk and leaves the battlefield to find the party. He finds them and is in the party until they reach the Mechonis Core, where he stays behind with Alvis as the party goes to confront Egil.

Betrayal

Dickson is revealed as one of the primary antagonists during the events at the Mechonis Core, just after the battle against Yaldabaoth and before Mechonis is destroyed. He shoots Shulk in the back as he is making a truce with Egil, incapacitating^※ him and allowing Zanza to exit Shulk's body.

He then reveals himself as Zanza's disciple, Dickson of the Trinity, who Egil recognises from much further back - a flashback shows Dickson as a Giant, standing behind Zanza when he first attacked Mechonis.

When the party flees Mechonis on Junks, Dickson is outside waiting for them with an army of Telethia. He attacks the party with his own Telethia. The party is no match for a full group of Telethia, but Kallian appears with the Havres squadron and defends them. Dickson warns Kallian that he should be keeping an eye on his own people rather than the Telethia, and reveals Lorithia to also be a traitor. She begins releasing large quantities of ether, which causes the High Entia in their Havres to transform into Telethia. However, Kallian retains some control over his Telethia form, and attacks Dickson and Lorithia, who are unable to stop him. He flies into them causing an explosion, suggesting that he sacrificed himself in order to destroy the disciples. Nevertheless, Dickson survives and appears again at the gates of Colony 6 with many more Telethia. The party is once again surrounded and outmatched, but Shulk appears at the last moment, destroying most of the Telethia. Dickson expresses surprise and annoyance that Shulk is somehow still alive, then sends his own Telethia to fight him.

After Shulk defeats it, he commands Alvis to shoulder some of the "hard work", revealing Alvis to be the third member of the aforementioned Trinity. After Alvis' Telethia is defeated, the pair escape on some Solidum Telethia. Alvis says that they will be waiting for the party, and Dickson adds that they will be on their "best behavior", to which Shulk replies, "And we'll be the best guests you ever had." Dickson acknowledges the good comeback, and once out of sight of the party he starts to shake, showing that he is scared. He laughs at himself, saying "After all these years. I never thought the day would come when I would feel fear."

※ Although Zanza and Dickson imply that Shulk is dead after he is shot, their assessment is premature: when the party flees to Junks the Story Memo reads "Shulk has managed to hold on to his life but now the party has to find a way out of the Mechonis! They need to escape through the Central Factory to the Ventilation Conduit."

Defeat

When Prison Island is revisited, Dickson mocks the party, letting them chase him up through the whole tower. After the party reaches the top of the tower, he tells them that they must fight him and tries to anger Shulk by repeating that he only raised him so Zanza would have a host. However Shulk replies, "I know. And I must thank you for granting me such power. It's all down to you that I'm standing here ready for you now."

Dickson ends the conversation by reverting to his Giant form, and attacks them. Despite Dickson clearly being much stronger than the group they do not give up, and to his surprise Fiora manages to block one of his attacks. He takes this to mean she has inherited Meyneth's power, however she disagrees and claims it to be Meyneth's memories instead. Everyone begins supporting Shulk and Fiora verbally, and they manage to release Zanza and Meyneth's power, presumably left over from when the gods were inhabiting them. Dickson is momentarily stunned by this, pausing and murmuring, "It can't be. That power?!" before attacking again.

The two Homs work together to defeat him, Fiora releasing a huge wave of energy and Shulk leaping forward and slashing him deep across his chest. Dickson reverts to his Homs form, telling them that he is finished, and is going home. He also tells them that he "just wanted the power of a god," and that he would not be a martyr to stop them. The party turns away from him, Dunban lingering slightly, and leave to challenge Zanza. Dickson sits and takes a last cigar, saying, "Damn. How'd that kid get so strong? I ain't gonna let you see me die. I won't give you the satisfaction of victory." His voice begins to rasp, and he remembers the first time he saw Shulk in Ose Tower before finishing with, "Looks like the student finally surpassed the teacher." He smiles slightly before slumping forward, dead.

Just before they enter the teleporter to leave, Fiora turns to Shulk and says quietly, "Shulk, his wounds..." Shulk does not answer, but begins to cry.

Battle

First Battle

Disciple Dickson
Type	Giant
Movement	Ground
Details
Location	Prison Island (Prison Terrace)
Level	80
Detection	Sight
Time	Story event
Respawns	No
Rewards
EXP	22,472
AP	648

HP	300,000
Attack	1,680
Ether	1,350
Phys Defence	0
Ether Defence	0
Defence Side	-
Agility	130
Double Attack	10
Critical Rate	25

※2 The battle will end when Dickson's health is less than 50% of his total HP and he uses Chaos Punish

Second Battle

Disciple Dickson
Type	Giant
Movement	Ground
Details
Location	Prison Island (Prison Terrace)
Level	80
Detection	Sight
Time	Story event
Respawns	No
Rewards
EXP	33,708
AP	972

HP	450,000
Attack	1,680
Ether	1,350
Phys Defence	0
Ether Defence	0
Defence Side	-
Agility	130
Double Attack	10
Critical Rate	25

Both Battles

Arts

Art	Attribute	Multiplier	Hits	Range	Effect	Knockback	Blowdown/Daze
Chaos Combo	Physical	0.9 - 1.1	3	Single	Damage triples when the target is Toppled	Yes	-
Chaos Dash	Physical	2.25 - 2.50	1	Frontal Line	Topple	-	-
Chaos Punish	Physical	3.25 - 3.50	1	Circle around caster	-	-	Yes/Yes
Silent Chaos	Ether	1.25 - 1.50	2	Single	Arts Seal, absorb target's talent gauge	-	Yes/No
Chaos Bullet VI	Talent (Ether)	2.50 - 2.75	1	Frontal Line	Pierce	-	-
Dark Power	Status	-	-	Self	Remove debuffs, debuff immunity, HP recovery (5,000)	-	-
Righteous Anger ※3	Status	-	-	Self	Craze	-	-
Treacherous Anger	Status	-	-	Self	Haste	-	-

※3 Second battle only; Dickson will continually activate his craze aura when his health is less than 50% of his total HP
※4 Dickson's topple duration is cut by half (1.5 seconds)

Spike

Spike Type	Counter
Range	8
Effect	Paralysis (25)

Immunities

Break	◆	Lock-On	○	Physical Def. ▼	△	Agility ▼	×
Topple	▲	Bind	△	Ether Def. ▼	△	Aura Seal	×
Daze	▲	Paralysis	×	Strength ▼	×	Arts Seal	×
Sleep	×	Slow	×	Ether ▼	△	Death	×

Template:Legend

Art List

Ether

• Thunder Flash - Deals ether damage.

Status

• Heal Bolt - Restores HP to one party member.

Equipment

None of Dickson's equipment can be unequipped or changed, for the short while he joins Shulk's party when fighting alongside him in Colony 6.

Dickson's weapon is the Sabre, which is a unique rifle with two gems - one of them is Unbeatable VI, and the other is Topple Resist VI; both gems have a value of 100%.

In the first cutscene Dickson is seen wearing the Middle armor set.

The rest of Dickson's equipment is the Lagoon set: Lagoon Gear, Lagoon Armour, Lagoon Gauntlets, Lagoon Leggings, and Lagoon Boots. Like all of Dickson's equipment, none can be moved or changed.

Quotes

Boss

• "Got some fight in you then?"
• "Like that, eh?"
• "Pathetic!"
• "Go on, have some fun!"
• "Time to heal, I think."
• "Playtime is OVER, kids!"
• "FINALLY! A bit of action."
• "Is that all you got?"
• "Maybe I underestimated you lot."
• "That's gonna cost you!"
• "I underestimated you."
• "TAKE THIS!"
• "I'm gonna crush you."
• "See how you like this!"
• "I aint holding back anymore!"
• "You need putting in your place!"
• "You ready for this, small fry?"
• "I won't give you the chance to use that power!"
• "More, MORE! There's plenty of fight left in me!"
• "Heh! Your time's nearly up!"
• "HAH! Best fight i've had in years."

Battle

• "You had another vision? You just leave it to this old fossil."
• "Ok, let's turn the tables on em."
• "How'd you like that?"
• "Hah! That all you got?"
• "Dunban!"
• "Mumkhar!"
• "Shulk! Pick up your sword and fight!"
• "Nap on your own time, Reyn."
• "Is that all you got, Beast boy?"
• "You've gotta support us till the end!"
• "Shulk!"
• "Reyn!"
• "Dunban!"
• "Sharla!"
• "Riki!"
• "Melia!"
• "Tch... I'm past my prime, all right."
• "Time to show em what Homs can really do!"
• "Ah, what a pain."
• "All right, let's do it."
• "Ey, this might be tricky."
• "My bad luck..... ends here and all."
• "You've got a nerve!"
• "What a pain in the-"
• "Bah! Mechon hocus pocus!"
• "STAND STILL!"
• "Forget about it!"
• "There's always a next time!"
• "That ain't like you!"
• "Dare to dodge me?!"
• "Like that, eh?"
• "Pathetic!"
• "Not bad."
• "And another one!"
• "You ain't leaving me behind!"
• "Nice attack!"
• "You even trying?!"
• "Stupid piece of junk!"
• "Hahaha! Well played!"
• "You got the moves!"
• "You're on fire!"
• "Nice dodge!"
• "Teh... pesky rascal..."
• "OK! Let's scrap em!"
• "Save your whining, and fight!"
• "This is gonna be tough."
• "OK, let's finish this job."
• "Ah, cheers."
• "Yeah!"
• "Let's wrap this fight up."
• "Shulk! Good!"
• "Let's see what you got, Reyn!"
• "Getting back into the swing of it, Dunban?"
• "Just keep supporting us, eh?
• "This is a royal pain!"
• "Show this weakling a thing or two!"
• "Let's bury em!"
• "Tch... a whole swarm of em!"
• "Damn! Reinforcments!"
• "All right! Last one!"
• "Get a grip!"
• "You ok?"
• "Man... I'm not what I used to be."
• "You're up next, Shulk!"
• "Boy! You're next!"
• "Charge, beastie!"
• "Sharla! Aim well!"
• "I know!"
• "Ey, we're not done with you yet!"
• "Ok! Well played!"
• "You managing, Dunban?"
• "Mumkhar! Good job!"
• "Gah... there's no end to this."
• "Small fry!"
• "Right! Who else wants some?"
• "Annoying runts!"
• "Are you even trying?"
• "That all you got?"
• "Come on, chin up!"
• "You're in my sights!"
• "Eat this! Thunder bolt!"
• "Hold it! Heal bolt!"
• "There aint no end to this!"
• "You'll have to try harder!"

Trivia

• Dickson's design has many strong similarities to Khan Wong, a character from the 1998 game Xenogears, one of the earliest games associated with the Monolith Soft team before they founded their company. Besides having a similar facial design with bandana and mustache, Khan is also the father of that game's protagonist, Fei Fong Wong. Like Dickson with his adopted child Shulk, Khan actually knows far more about his son Fei's supernatural nature than Fei himself initially does. Also like Dickson with Alvis and Lorithia, Khan is revealed to be Grahf, an antagonist working with two other primary antagonists, Miang and Krelian. Unlike Dickson though, Khan is not evil and does not participate voluntarily, as his body has been seized by the soul of a man named Lacan, who in the centuries past had become Grahf, a corrupted being forced to seize the bodies of others to continue surviving. Like in the plot of Xenoblade where Dickson, Alvis and Lorithia are working for Zanza, the three Xenogears antagonists are working together to revive the power of a god, Deus, who was instrumental in the creation of human life on the planet for the purpose of consuming them all in the future for his own reconstruction. Unlike Dickson who remains an antagonist to the end, Grahf (as Lacan in Khan's body) eventually defects from his cooperation with Krelian and Miang; and Lacan, Khan and Fei all finally make peace before Khan dies.
• Xenoblade is usually considered to be a "spiritual successor" of Xenogears. Dickson's similarity to Khan Wong is one of many elements of similarity between these two works.
• Dickson has hidden voice clips in the game's files where he speaks to Mumkhar, Riki and Melia, as well as unused animations for jumping, possibly hinting he was going to be playable sometime in development.
  • It should be noted, however, that the voice clips of him speaking to Riki and Melia are not present in the Japanese version of the game, and it is unknown as to why these new lines were recorded for the international releases.
• He may also have been intended to drop Dickson's Amulet, but this was cut from the game.

Gallery

Concept art of Dickson

Dickson with a Telethia in the background

Dickson in the second Battle of Sword Valley

Dickson with Mumkhar and Dunban at the Battle of Sword Valley

Dickson's Telethia

Dickson during the final fight

Dickson during his final fight (altered form)

Dickson on Prison Island

Dickson as a Giant while serving Zanza as Arglas

External links

• Battle against Dickson Video