Z

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.

Z
Z
Species	Moebius
Gender	Male
Age	Unknown
Hair colour	White
Eye colour	Red
Affiliation	Consuls
Occupation	Leader
Voice actor (JP)	Akio Otsuka
Voice actor (EN)	Harry Lloyd
Main appearances	Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Future Redeemed

"Human desires can be... much likened to a river flowing. All humanity yearns for it... the endless now. That is why I'm here, you'll find."

— Z

Z (Japanese: ゼット Zetto, English dub: /ˈzɛd/) is the antagonist of Xenoblade Chronicles 3. He was designed by Masatsugu Saito, the lead character designer of the game.

Overview

Z is the master of the Consuls and the source of all Moebius, along with X and Y.

Personality

Z is absolutely convinced that he is acting for the good of all humanity. In his mind, with time slowed to a stop and the future abolished Aionios has become a paradise in which everyone can become a "winner" with enough rebirths. He is indifferent to the fact that he himself has limited their ability to define themselves as they see fit to the point that none of them can be said to be "winners", and is unable to acknowledge that Moebius drains the life from the world simply by existing.

As a fundamentally empty being, the only things that motivate Z are boredom and the need to preserve his "endless now" at all costs. Despite claiming to have been born from humanity's wishes, he is incapable of understanding humans or empathizing with them in any meaningful way.

Despite his cold and unfeeling demeanor, his true nature begins to shine through as Ouroboros challenges his supremacy. He is fundamentally unable to feel any hope for the future and the very concept of change is anathema to him, culminating in his final spiteful attempt to destroy Aionios rather than allow it to have a future that he cannot control in the name of sparing it from "despair".

Z has a sadistic and self-indulgent side. He created Consuls simply for his own amusement and takes pleasure in observing Aionios's denizens struggle to survive, so long as their actions do not threaten the "endless now." His general indifference towards humanity also means he does not hold grudges, as he even recruited N, who had repeatedly opposed the "endless now."

Appearance

Z is a tall and lean man with pale skin that bears purple cracks. His hair is white and reaches to his knees, with two bangs facing forward. His head is adorned with purple energy horns. His eyes are red. Zed's attire is entirely red, and consists of an outer coat with a long skirt, a dress shirt, pants, and shoes. Silvery details adorn both the coat and the shirt, specifically the cuffs, the coat tail edges, the coat's back, the shoulders (making distinct spikes), the dress shirt edges, and the front of the dress shirt. The outercoat has a trim of the same color, and there are spikes at the front coat tails. Purple energy lines are present on his neck, shoulders, forearms, torso, ankles, feet, and the bottom of his coat.

For his appearance after transforming, see Z∞.

Story

When Melia and Nia created the Origin system, it was inadvertently corrupted by the desires for safety and security of the digitalized souls it safeguarded, warping its purpose from preserving the cultures and people of Bionis and Alrest to the creation of a world that would be forever stable. When it became self-aware and began to enforce its self-given purpose, it rechristened itself Z. Z hijacked the process of the worlds' separation to create his new world, Aionios, and its "endless now", using the souls of the people of Alrest and Bionis to create lineages of clone soldiers that would fight an endless war among themselves. He managed to capture Melia and placed into slumber in order to secure control over Origin (albeit not before she was able to craft the Sword of the End, a weapon capable of harming Z), but Nia managed to escape from him and went into hiding. In Nia and Melia's absence, Z created mechanical duplicates to act as the queens of the nations of Keves and Agnus, with the clone soldiers whose brief lives would be too focused on fighting the endless war between the nations to question the true nature of their world. The war itself would produce both stasis and the stimulation required to prevent anyone with the power to change anything from desiring to do so out of boredom. Z (alongside X and Y) then approached a handful of dead and dying individuals who it had found sufficiently amusing, offering them immortality (at the expense of making them dependent on life energy stolen from other beings, namely that of the clone soldiers) and permission to entertain themselves as they wished so long as they aided in upholding the status quo it created. These became its Consuls and act as its agents on Aionios in order to ensure the continuation of its "endless now" at all costs.

Z, Shulk, and Rex confronting Alpha

When Alpha emerged and threatened to destroy Aionios, Z joined forces with the leaders of the Liberators, Shulk and Rex. The three of them confronted Alpha but were unsuccessful in defeating him. Despite their failure, Z and the Liberators agreed to a ceasefire until Alpha was dealt with.

Over a decade later, when Alpha's core is found by Na'el, Z realizes that Alpha plans to show himself again, thinking about how his will is unable to extend beyond Origin's threshold while it's in Alpha's clutches. Z tasked N with destroying the City to deprive Alpha of the lives he needed to create a new world; in return, Z would resurrect Mio as M, allowing the two to live for eternity as Moebius. After Alpha is defeated and Shulk, Rex, and A become Origin's new avatars, Z is able to seize Origin once more to gain power.

Battle

Z
Z
Type	Consul
Movement	Air
Details
Location	Origin Interior (Amphitheater)
Category	Boss
Level	72
Detection	Sight
Time	Story
Respawns	No
Rewards
EXP	9,256
CP	221
SP	0
Gold	0
Stats
HP	2,862,000
Attack	1,681
Healing Power	452
Dexterity	300
Agility	206
Phys. Defense	0%
Ether Defense	30%
Critical Rate	0%
Guard Rate	0%

Z is a Boss who is a Consul and is fought at level 72 in the Amphitheater in the Origin Interior.

When the battle begins, Z disables the party's ability to Interlink and perform Chain Attacks. As the battle progresses, Z will change the state of the floor, first slowing the party's movement and then inflicting them with Blaze. Eventually Z sets up a barrier on himself, which immediately heals him from any damage the party deals to him.

After enough damage, Z will show past events relating to a pair of characters' traumas, which are Shania taunting Sena, D murdering a past life of Eunie, and the sacrifices of Joran, Nimue, M (whom Noah thought was Mio at the time) and Miyabi. This results in that pair regaining the ability to Interlink and initiating a one round Chain Attack where the current pair will be able to perform their Ouroboros Chain Art. After the Chain Attack ends, Z repeats the process with the next two party members. This starts with Lanz & Sena, then Eunie & Taion, and finally Noah & Mio.

Each of these Chain Attacks temporarily breaks Z's barrier after its completion, though after the first two times he will regenerate the barrier in the subsequent cutscene. Once the barrier is broken for the third time, the party then regains the ability to Interlink and Chain Attack. After defeating Z, he fights the party in his true form, Z∞.

Skills

Z has the following skills:

• Deal 0% less damage but take 90% less damage
• Increases Break resistance by 1000 percentage points
• Grants 200% resistance to all debuffs

However, he loses access to these skills once the party regains the ability to Interlink and Chain Attack.

Resistances

Break	50%	Topple	0%
Daze	0%	Burst	0%
Launch	0%	Smash	0%
Knockback	Immune	Blowdown	Immune
Phys. Debuffs	50%	Ether Debuffs	Immune

Enrage

Trigger	Enemy is reduced to 50% HP.
Effects	Boosts damage dealt by 25 percentage points.

Arts

Name	Attribute	Targets	Hits	Power	Reactions/Statuses	Notes	Use Conditions	Cooldown
Dusk	Ether	Single Target	1	260%		Boosts accuracy by 50% Deals damage as though enemy's ether defense was 50% lower.	Anytime	3s
Dark Ere the Dawn	Ether	Frontward AOE	4	600%	1 random debuff each hit	Boosts accuracy by 25%	Anytime	7s
Sovereign Purge	Ether	AOE around user	1	120%	Knockback Level 3	Boosts accuracy by 50%	Below 94% HP	18s
				105%	Knockback Level 5		Between 97% and 94% HP	8s
Reproach Barbarity	Ether	AOE around target	1	270%	Resistance Down		When not between 97% and 94% HP	12s
Grim Inquisition	Ether	Frontward AOE	1	235%		Boosts accuracy by 25% Unblockable	Below 90% HP	25s

Notes

• The three scripted Chain Attacks have increased damage ratios to start: the damage ratio starts at 1000% (550% on Hard).
• Art Follow-Up's bonus damage bypasses Z's damage reduction skill while it is active, making it an effective method of speeding up the first phase.
• The player cannot use the Retry or Give Up options during this battle (or in the subsequent phases). Losing the battle returns the player to the title screen.

Trivia

• Z's Japanese voice actor, Akio Ōtsuka, also voices the Nopon Archsage in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and Chairman Bana in Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
• Z's personality and motives parallel Wilhelm from the Xenosaga series. Both want to trap the world in an endless time loop to avoid a perceived greater catastrophe in the future. They treat their respective worlds as entertainment, with the events occurring throughout the story as the acts, and their inhabitants the actors. Neither of them is a "real" being: Z is the twisted manifestation of humanity's desire for safety and security, while Wilhelm is an immortal, supernatural being created by the Collective Unconscious to act as the Guardian of the Lower Domain it inhabits.
• Z is the only Consul in Future Redeemed that is never fought by the party.

Gallery

Artwork

Official art of Z

Z's Concept Art

Z∞ Concept Art

Screenshots

Consul Z in the Amphitheater