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For those who have not completed games in the Xenoblade Chronicles series, this page contains spoilers regarding the plot. Discretion is advised. |
The High Entia (English dub: /haɪ ˈɛntiə/), referred to as the Bird People by Nopon, are a race in Xenoblade Chronicles.
Physical appearance[]
High Entia are humanoid in appearance and are similar to Homs in many ways. Their main visual difference is the wings on the side of their heads, giving them an almost angelic appearance. Some are shown to be able to fly with these wings, such as Tyrea during Melancholy Tyrea; however, many half-Homs High Entia, such as Melia, have smaller wings.
High Entia have a longer lifespan than Homs, with the elderly reaching three to four centuries. They are also capable of using ether without any catalyst of any sort, by gathering it from the atmosphere around them.
In the distant past, the High Entia appeared differently than they do now, appearing more bestial as well as being much larger in size and stature, more resembling Phoenix-type Telethia than Homs. The War God Statue as well as the statues at Prison Gate on Prison Island and inside Three Sage Summit at Valak Mountain depict this more ancient appearance.
Story[]
Origin[]
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A replica of the War God Statue
The High Entia were once Telethia, cast off as cells from the body of Zanza. Wanting companionship, Zanza gave them sentience and allowed them to take humanoid forms; however, in all pure-blooded High Entia, a "Telethia Gene" remained.[1] This gene existed to one day activate and transform all pure-blooded High Entia into Telethia when they are exposed to massive amounts of ether, an instrumental step in forcibly mass-harvesting all the ether from the surface of Bionis and giving it to Zanza.[2]
The ancient High Entia were aware of the existence of this gene, and the emperors began taking Homs consorts to dilute their bloodline — half-High Entia would not carry the gene, and thus would be safe from transformation. They believed it to be the fate of the High Entia to one day revert to being Telethia, so they did this to ensure that their race would live on. It is likely that this plan was set in motion thousands of years prior to the events of Xenoblade Chronicles, even before the first battle between Bionis and Mechonis.[3]
At some point, the Bionite Order was formed by a group of zealots who refused the idea of mixing Homs and High Entia blood; although it was officially dissolved by Emperor Lumian centuries prior to the events of Xenoblade Chronicles due to its dangerous practices, it lived on in the shadows.[4][5]
Alcamoth[]
In Xenoblade Chronicles, the High Entia live in the city of Alcamoth on the head of Bionis. Dickson claims that many years ago, the High Entia lived in Satorl Marsh,[6] and during Ancient High Entia Mystery, Talia concludes that High Entia must have once lived in Valak Mountain as well; she theorizes that the area once had a more hospitable climate, but became uninhabitable for High Entia after Bionis shifted its position sometime in the distant past.
The High Entia are the most technologically advanced civilization on Bionis, and are very aloof, preferring not to engage in other races' wars and battles. As such, they were not present during the Battle of Sword Valley. Their secrecy led to most Homs regarding them as myths; however, the Nopon retained a positive relationship with the High Entia due to Frontier Village's proximity to the Eryth Sea.
When the party reaches Prison Island, Emperor Sorean is killed by Metal Face, leaving Melia as the Empress of the High Entia. While she travels with the party, however, Kallian takes on her duties as regent. He is able to form a new alliance of Homs, High Entia, and Nopon to combat the Mechon, and once Galahad Fortress is destroyed, he launches an attack through Sword Valley.
Bionis' Reawakening[]
The ether being released
During the events of Mechonis Core, Zanza declares that his gift of sentience to the High Entia was a mistake,[7] and that he will use the Telethia to wipe out all life on Bionis and create a new world in its place.[8] He floods Alcamoth with thick ether, triggering the Telethia Gene to activate and causing the vast majority of High Entia to transform into Telethia.
Due to their transformation, the Telethia lose their senses of self and become mindless beings of destruction serving Zanza's will. Without a way to restore them to their High Entia forms, the only High Entia remaining are those with sufficient Homs gene integration and those who were far enough away from Alcamoth to avoid the surge of ether.
After the Telethia Gene is activated, Alcamoth becomes overrun by Telethia, and the remaining High Entia become refugees scattered all over Bionis. Many are found at the Ether Plant, and some can be invited to Colony 6. Some of these refugees give quests, including one at the Sororal Statues in Satorl Marsh that gives Challenge.
One year later[]
In Future Connected, a group of High Entia have an encampment at Companions' Cape on Bionis' Shoulder, with others living in the settlement at Gran Dell. They wish to reclaim Alcamoth from the Telethia, but are unable to do so with the presence of the Fog King. Once the party is able to defeat the Fog King, Alcamoth is slowly rebuilt and Melia is eventually given her official coronation as Empress of the High Entia.
Culture[]
Most High Entia are pure-blooded, and part-Homs have never been numerous. Despite the longstanding official program of the Emperor marrying a Homs as his Second Consort, there is a High Entia social stigma in showing signs of Homs ancestry, which is why Melia initially always veiled her noticeably short wings — this also had the effect of having people initially confuse her for an ordinary Homs. Many High Entia, such as Yumea, Tyrea, Lorithia, and Lesunia, are openly racist against those who are not pure High Entia. Lesunia goes as far as refusing to hold a conversation with anyone who is not, although this changes during Believing Again.
When Tyrea is revealed to be part-Homs despite having a pure-blooded appearance, Melia explains that many part-Homs retain all their superficial High Entia traits, including full-length wings on their ears. As demonstrated by the surviving High Entia documented in the Affinity Chart, these High Entia also live lives just as long as pure-bloods.
As shown with Don Argentis and Tyrea, blood purity remains a highly relevant cultural construct among the surviving High Entia, even though there are no pure-bloods remaining who have not become Telethia. After being invited to Colony 6, Don Argentis readily admits his family is part-Homs. But Tyrea is deeply "accultured" as a pure-blood, and she can never admit that she is not one even after having learnt it herself from her birth mother Yumea, and then even surviving the transformation event intact when Yumea did not. She even continues to regard Melia as filthy, even while giving Melia grudging thanks for ending Yumea's suffering.
With blood purity no longer being possible and becoming moot as a fact of High Entia life, part of Tyrea's attitude may be that she is still relatively purer in ancestry than Melia. Melia is 50% Homs by way of her pure High Entia father and her ordinary Homs mother. But Tyrea is less than 100% and greater than 50% by way of her part-Homs High Entia father and her pure High Entia mother. This was still considered intolerable to the fanatical Bionite Order, who expelled Tyrea's father as soon as they learnt that he was not pure. Yumea kept Tyrea regardless, but Tyrea only learnt the truth during the events shortly before Mechonis Core.
Whether Lorithia is actually pure-blooded is more ambiguous, as she may have been specifically protected from the transformation event as one of Zanza's disciples. But she was still able to merge with Kallian as a Telethia in the Bionis' Interior, which raises even more questions. It should be noted that this is possibly the result of Lorithia's scientific knowledge as a result of experiments on Telethia. This may also be due to the power Lorithia was granted as a disciple of Zanza, which may have allowed her to control and merge with Telethia.
In Xenoblade Chronicles 3[]
In Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Melia reappears as the queen of Keves. Many Kevesi human like Eunie and Zeon, have High Entia traits, in particular their cephalic wings. However they are only referred to as being "human" or "Kevesi". On the whole, the wings of the High Entia-descended Kevesi humans are much smaller than in most High Entia in Xenoblade Chronicles. And now Melia, who as a half-Homs, or half-human as she refers to herself as, had once been noted for her embarrassingly small wings among High Entia, now has has the largest wings of any winged Kevesi shown. This is comparable to the prior gradual evolution in High Entia appearance that was said to have occurred before the events of Xenoblade Chronicles, as can be seen in the pair of ancient statues of earlier ancestral High Entia that still flank the Main Castle Gate of Keves Castle, now further removed in appearance from contemporary winged Kevesi than ever before.
Trivia[]
- The name "High Entia" is derived from the Latin word "ens" (one plural form is "entia"), from which the word "entity" is also derived.
- If the party speaks to an Alcamoth citizen next to a fountain outside the Imperial Palace at night, he will tell them that High Entia usually do not eat things with vegetables in them.
- The female High Entia characters that have extensive voice-acting (Melia, Yumea, Lorithia, and Tyrea) all have names that end with "a" in the English version. However, in the Japanese version, Melia and Yumea are the two female High Entia whose names end with "a" since Lorithia is called Laulan, while Tyrea is called Talco.
Gallery[]
Official Art[]
Concept Art[]
Xenoblade Chronicles 3[]
References[]
- ↑ "What are you talking about? A Telethia is a High Entia's true form. I did not transform them, I returned them. The Telethia are mere cells from my body. I conferred intelligence upon them on a mistaken whim, creating a primitive life form - the High Entia." — Zanza (Xenoblade Chronicles)
- ↑ "As I planned, the life of Bionis existed simply to serve as my vessels and my food. Bionis is nothing more than an accumulation of their corpses and life energy." — Zanza (Xenoblade Chronicles)
- ↑ "Our purpose, as decreed by the Bionis, is linked to our genetic sequence. We have spent millennia analysing sequences to free ourselves from the curse. Only a certain gene set will unlock the mechanism and set us free." — ??? (Xenoblade Chronicles)
- ↑ "The order was dissolved under the rule of the Emperor Lumian, 47th successor to the throne, due to its extreme practices." — Kallian (Xenoblade Chronicles)
- ↑ "They live amongst the shadows. Never revealing their true faces." — Alvis (Xenoblade Chronicles)
- ↑ "It's a remnant of the High Entia. They've hidden themselves away in the upper reaches now, but at one time they controlled this whole area." — Dickson (Xenoblade Chronicles)
- ↑ "How unfortunate. I had a desire for friendship. But granting intelligence to the lives I created was a mistake. A god should not long for friendship." — Zanza (Xenoblade Chronicles)
- ↑ "The Telethia will exterminate all life on Bionis. I will then create a new world! Just as I have done many times before!" — Zanza (Xenoblade Chronicles)