Pneuma

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.

"Apologies, Rex. Worry not. All is well. I am lost...no longer."

— Pneuma

Pneuma (Japanese: プネウマ, Puneuma, Greek: Πνευμα), is a special Legendary Blade in Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

Overview[]

Pneuma is Pyra and Mythra's ascended form. She is the combined true form of Pyra and Mythra, merging both of their personalities into one.

As the embodiment of the true power of the Aegis, Pneuma is capable of rewriting the physical rules of her surroundings, resulting in all type of feats, from light-speed movement to slowing down time itself.

Personality[]

Pneuma is calm and resolute, having lost her insecurities as Pyra and hostility as Mythra upon combining them. She does not appear to view herself as a separate entity to Pyra and Mythra (unlike Pyra and Mythra themselves, who treat each other distinctly), prefers to be called "Pyra" or "Mythra" instead of taking a unique name for herself, and does not remain present for longer than is necessary, favouring being Mythra or Pyra.

Appearance[]

Pneuma's physique is identical to Pyra's and Mythra's, although she has long, green hair tied in a ponytail and green eyes. She wears a silver tiara and a white, blue and green plate suit of armor with emerald green crystal-like ornamentation, matching Rex's Master Driver armor. When using ether attacks, an emerald lattice of energy surrounds her. She also has wing-like drones behind her back during combat.

"Πνευμα" is written on her chest - Pneuma in Greek - with the text of Proverbs 4:18 in Latin beneath it: "The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day".

Pneuma's sword is silver, with a ring near its handle, similar to a Monado. When activated, the entire sword glows with green ether energy.

Story[]

Xenoblade Chronicles 2[]

Main article: Trinity Processor

Pneuma was originally one of three units of the Trinity Processor, alongside the other cores Logos and Ontos. After Klaus activated the Conduit, Pneuma, along with Logos, was modified by the Architect to process data received from the Blade system.

Amalthus, with a strong hatred for the world, one day climbed the World Tree in hopes of meeting the Architect and seeking answers. When he arrived at Elysium, he found it empty. As proof of his deed, he took the cores of Pneuma and Logos back to Alrest. Upon arriving in Indol, he awoke Logos, who became known as Malos. Tainted by Amalthus's hatred of the world, Malos set out to destroy Alrest.

MalosMythraCores — The Core Crystals of Pneuma and Logos

Amalthus searched for a Driver capable of awakening Pneuma's Core Crystal and stop Malos. Addam, the Hero of Torna, eventually awakened Mythra. During Addam's final battle with Malos, Mythra awakened a portion of Pneuma's power. Addam could not control her true power, and the ensuing destruction led to fall of the Kingdom of Torna. Upon seeing the destruction, he and Pyra, who Mythra created due to her fears of causing more tragedy, sealed Pneuma's Aegis Sword away deep inside of Spirit Crucible Elpys. He then tasked Azurda with guarding Fonsett Village, home to the entrance of Elpys. Pyra was then placed in stasis aboard a Tornan ship, and was sunk deep within the Cloud Sea.

Five hundred years later, Rex inadvertently touches Pyra's sword, becoming her Driver, and is slain by Jin in response. Meeting in Pyra's dream of Elysium, Pyra offers to revive Rex by giving him half of her Core Crystal in exchange for him taking her to the real Elysium. Once Rex is revived, the two combat Malos and eventually escape.

After Jin defeats Rex and takes Pyra at the Genbu Crown, King Eulogimenos mentions the Tantalese book containing evidence of the third Aegis Sword. Azurda then leads the party back to Fonsett Village and inside of the Spirit Crucible Elpys. At the Vault of Heroes at the end of Elpys, endless Phantasms of Addam challenge the party. Addam's spirit recognizes Rex as the man he has been waiting for and talks to him in a vision of Elysium. He mentions that in order to become Pyra and Mythra's true Driver, Rex must take on all of her burdens. Pneuma's sword is then presented to Rex. After he touches it, he receives a brief vision of Klaus's experiment before the sword vanishes from his hand.

The party eventually confronts Jin and Malos at the Gotrock Oracle Ruins on the Cliffs of Morytha, where Malos hands over an unconscious Pyra. Rex and the party attempt to fight the duo, though Pyra and Mythra beg Rex to give up and reach Elysium without them. Rex claims that he won't break his promise, and after a brief vision of the Aion Hangar, he summons the third Aegis Sword. Pyra then reawakens as Pneuma and gives Rex a similar outfit to hers.

Pneuma's power allows her and Rex to match speeds with Jin and easily take him down. Malos then summons Ophion, and Pneuma summons Siren in response. A battle between the Artifices destroys the cliff and sends the party and Jin beneath the Cloud Sea to the Land of Morytha. Pneuma uses her power to temporarily heal Jin and discovers that he is a Flesh Eater. Afterwards, she opens the path up to the World Tree, though she claims it was instinctual.

Third-Sword — Rex wielding the third sword of the Aegis, Pneuma's sword

Upon reaching the exterior of the World Tree, Amalthus uses Fan la Norne's Core Crystal to control Mythra and the Titans into attacking Torna and the World Tree. With the help of Poppi, Pneuma uses her power to destroy Indol's amplification towers. She later uses her power to help the party battle both Jin and Amalthus at Megrez Gateway.

As the party meets the Architect, he reveals Pyra and Mythra's original name to be Pneuma. He reveals that upon seeing that the humans on Alrest were no different from the past, he lost faith in the world. For this reason, he did not stop Amalthus from taking Pneuma and Logos back to Alrest. However, he reveals a change of heart after seeing the unique bond between Rex and Pneuma and gives Pneuma all of Elysium's authorizations. He explains that the Aegises draw their power from the Conduit and that with his other half's death, the Conduit will disappear, leaving Pneuma powerless. The party then goes to stop Malos.

PneumaRex — Pneuma and Rex prepare to fight

Rex and Pneuma are able to defeat Artifice Aion and Malos by using Infinity Blade. The attack damages Malos's Core Crystal, and he soon dies. With the Conduit's disappearance, the space elevator begins to break apart, meaning the World Tree would collapse onto Alrest. Pneuma tells the party that a control room that could activate rocket boosters to prevent this. This ends up being a ruse; Pneuma must use the last of Artifice Aion's power to destroy the World Tree. She convinces Poppi to not help Rex come with her and gives her Core Crystal to Rex so that he may live on. She also allows Azurda to return to his Titan form so that the party may survive the journey back to Alrest. As the party escapes, she reactivates Aion and is seemingly killed in the explosion, but not before thanking Rex for having a major presence in her life. However, Rex is able to reawaken Pneuma's Core Crystal, reuniting with Pyra and Mythra.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed[]

Ouroboros Gauntlet Pneuma Core — Pneuma's Core Crystal appearing on the Ouroboros Knuckles

When the worlds of Alrest and Bionis began the process of recombining, an event which would cancel out both worlds and destroy them, Nia and Melia came into contact and began constructing Origin in order to save their worlds from destruction. However, when the time came for Origin to activate, it failed to do so and instead, due to being seized by Z, caused both worlds to be frozen in time, creating a third one, Aionios. During the final fight against Alpha, it is revealed that both Mythra's and Pyra's souls and wills are within Matthew's Ouroboros Knuckles, when he is able to unleash Pneuma's power from within his Ouroboros Knuckles thanks to N lending him the power of his Sword of the End, with a transparent manifestation of Pneuma's core appearing on the Gauntlet itself, and its power allows Matthew and his friends to complete the full Ouroboros transformation and vanquish Alpha.

Stats[]

Role	Element	Auto-attack	Stability	Critical Rate	Block Rate	Physical Defense	Ether Defense
ATK		1,298	10	23%	25%	60%	60%

While her listed Auto-attack stat is 1,298, as she is locked to E-rank trust, her effective Auto-attack stat is 1168.

Abilities[]

To activate Pneuma, Rex must first have both a full party gauge and max affinity with Pyra or Mythra during battle. From there, the player must press and hold the R button followed by the X button. On activation, Rex is unable to switch to another Blade until her gauge is depleted, signified by her Blade icon slowly becoming grayed out, and she can be used once per battle.

She grants a number of advantages to Rex and the rest of the party. Her most notable ability is being able to choose any combo route and perform Blade specials for any element. Pneuma does not have an accessible affinity chart - she is locked to E rank Trust and she cannot be equipped with Aux Cores. Her Physical/Ether resistances are the highest in the game, at 60/60.

Specials[]

Lv. 1 - Starburst - Blast a merciless siren beam through enemies.
Lv. 2 - Radiant Flare - Attack hostiles with a light-speed attack
Lv. 3 - Genesis Saber - Pierce enemies with countless light blades created by ether
(Only in NG+) Lv. 4 - Infinity Blade - Unleash energy and sever the enemy with a sword of light.
- This is the same attack used to defeat Artifice Aion at the end of the game.

Blade Arts[]

Critical Up - Increases critical hit rate.
Recharge Boost - Boosts Arts recharge from auto-attack.
Arts Plus - Increases power of next Driver Arts.

Battle Skills[]

A Dream of the Future - Can initiate elemental combo at random.
The Chosen One - Greatly enhances the Driver's abilities through the power of the Aegis.
The Aegis - Greatly enhances the party's abilities through the power of the Aegis

Driver Effects[]

Ignores damage resistance granted by elemental orbs
All damage is dealt as hitting enemy weakness
Counterspike damage will be dealt, of the enemies weakness
On block, damage is reflected
Driver will take permanent aggro
Will save Driver from death (once)
Targets all orbs during a Chain Attack

Party Effects[]

Critical rate raised to 100%
Enemy break resistance reduced by 50%
Evasion and Accuracy increased by 50%
Item drop chances doubled

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[]

Pneuma appears as a Legend-class Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate that can be obtained on the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 DLC Spirit Board. Due to not having an official full body illustration, Masahiro Sakurai requested Monolith Soft and the original character designer to illustrate one for her for this occasion. Additionally, Pyra and Mythra's 2P color option is based on Pneuma.

Name[]

Pneumawriting — Texture on Pneuma's chest

Despite being commonly used by fans to refer to her, Pneuma is not actually her "official" name but the name of her core crystal, just as Malos' name is not Logos. The Architect initially refers to both Pyra and Mythra as Pneuma before later correcting himself by calling them "Pyra and Mythra". She is referred to as "Pyra's ascended state" in the game and as "Pyra (awakened)" by the Japanese guide. In the game files she has as name "Homuri", a combination of Homura (Pyra) and Hikari (Mythra). Xenoblade 2: Official Artworks refers to Pyra and Mythra's ascended state as "Pneuma (Awakened Pyra/Mythra)", making it the first official material to use Pneuma's name for the ascended form. Additionally, in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, she is referred to as Pneuma for her appearance as a spirit.

During one of the cutscenes of Chapter 8, the player will be prompted to choose between Pyra and Mythra. The chosen name will be used as Pneuma's name for the rest of the game, both in gameplay and cutscenes, and cannot be changed until reaching Chapter 8 again in New Game Plus. The name will also slightly modify the ending of the game, focusing more on either Pyra or Mythra in the post-credits scene. While watching cutscenes in the Events Theater, it is possible to choose one of the names for each individual cutscene.

During that same cutscene, Rex proposes two other names for her: Pythra and Myra, though none of them are ever used.

Etymology[]

Her name comes from the ancient Greek word πνεῦμα (pneuma) meaning "breath" (or its modern Greek orthography variant πνεύμα meaning in a spiritual context "spirit"), and may refer to the eponymous philosophical or spiritual concepts of the "breath of life" or the "spirit", as indicated by the Greek letters written beneath her Core Crystal.

Trivia[]

The USB Deluxe Edition of the Xenoblade 2 Original Soundtrack is a gold-colored USB stick shaped like an Aegis's Core Crystal, inscribed with Πνευμα, based on the ancient Greek word.
While her chip is not normally changeable, she can be glitched out of the initial battle where she is obtained, where her Core Chip can be changed. It cannot be changed back to the Tertiary Sword once changed.
Due to Pneuma not having an official full body illustration, Masahiro Sakurai requested Monolith Soft and the original character designer to illustrate one for her appearance as a Legend-class Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Pneuma's Core Crystal is the only Trinity Processor core never shown getting damaged.
Pneuma's ability to rewrite the physical rules of her surroundings to Rex's will comes from the Conduit, which is where her power originates from. This is a reference to a phenomenon in Xenogears called Phenomenon Phase Shift, an event that happens when the Zohar manipulates reality so that the desired outcome of a person with a strong connection to the Zohar becomes reality.

Quotes[]

Post-Battle Dialogue[]

Pneuma	"We shall shape the future we hope for together, Rex."
Rex	"Yes, we can do it! So let's do it!"

Condition: After watching the event "Rex Pyra Mythra and..." (End of Chapter 7). Does not occur between events "Beneath the Church Friends Gone" (Chapter 10) and "Memories of This Planet" (Chapter 10).
Rex	"I love the outfit. Thanks a lot!"
Pneuma	"Don't mention it. Look, we match!"

Azurda	"Has Rex been proving an adequate Driver for you?"
Pneuma	"Yes, of course. My spirit is all the warmer thanks to him."

Nia	"Not bad, Aegis. But I won't have you stealing my thunder!"
Pneuma	"I'm not stealing anything, believe me."

Dromarch	"Such tremendous power must burden your body greatly."
Pneuma	"Thank you for your concern, Dromarch, but I am fine."

Tora	"Pyra look so high tech! Maybe Tora will modify Poppi."
Pneuma	"It's so sweet how everything you do is for Poppi's sake, Tora."

Poppi α	"Poppi wants wings too. Aerial assault Poppi!"
Pneuma	"Then we'd match!"

Mòrag	"The elders of Mor Ardain were fools to try to exploit you. You are no one's possession."
Pneuma	"Thank you, Lady Mòrag. I am lucky it was you they sent."

Brighid	"An Aegis in her prime. I'm glad to count you an ally."
Pneuma	"And I you, Brighid. Just as we fought together five hundred years ago."

Zeke	"So that's the legendary power of the Aegis!"
Pneuma	"Yes, Zeke. But I swear that I will not allow the mistakes of the past to be repeated."

Pandoria	"What's up with the sky lasers? You think you can steal my thunder?!"
Pneuma	"N-no, lasers are a totally different, uh... genre to lightning."

Pneuma	"KOS-MOS, you probably understand better than anyone the burden of immeasurable power."
KOS-MOS	"You are mistaken. Our powers are needed to create the future we believe in."

Characters in Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Playable Characters	Rex · Nia · Tora · Vandham · Mòrag · Zeke
Legendary Blades	Pyra · Mythra · Pneuma · Dromarch · Poppi α, QT, QTπ · Roc · Brighid · Pandoria · Aegaeon
Supporting Characters	Addam · Amalthus · Architect · Azurda · Bana · Cole · Corinne · Eulogimenos · Fan la Norne · Lila · Niall · Niranira · Tatazo · Turters
Torna	Jin · Malos · Sever · Akhos · Obrona · Mikhail · Cressidus · Patroka · Perdido
	Dagas · Newt · Crossette
	Gorg · Praxis · Sheba
	Godfrey · Theory · Ursula · Perun · Dahlia
	Adenine · Boreas · Finch · Zenobia · Fiora
	Wulfric · Agate · Floren · Nim
	Electra · Kora · Herald · Vess
	KOS-MOS · Poppibuster · Corvin · Shulk
	Azami · Vale · Perceval · Kasandra · T-elos · Elma