Chaos (Xenosaga)

nihongo|chaos|ケイオス|keiosu is a playable character in the Xenosaga series. Not much is known about chaos or his past. His personality is kind and gentle, with a philosophical wisdom and maturity which betray his true age. Rarely does he seem upset or stressed out, taking almost everything in stride. chaos's easygoing and contemplative nature is such that that Jr. even accuses him of being "so slow." Most people, even complete strangers, express how calming and soothing his presence is, often opening up to him completely with their problems, as was the case with Allen. However, for all his cheerfulness and seemingly carefree attitude, chaos is commonly described as having a near perpetual melancholy expression stemming from some unknown anxiety and unfulfilled state. Although he often says that he doesn't like to fight, he nevertheless does so to protect others and to help his friends.

chaos's name is always deliberately written in the lowercase, although the reasoning for this is unknown. This is a direct contrast to KOS-MOS's name which is always written in upper case (because it is an acronym). Another contrast between the two characters is the derived meaning of their names. "Chaos" literally means anarchy and confusion while "kosmos" means "order" in Greek. His name may be completely lowercase as it may stem from the actualness of chaos, making him literal chaos, not someone named it.

In official artwork, he is sometimes portrayed with six white angel wings.

Profile

*Real Name: Yeshua
*Sex: male
*Age: Unknown; appears 16 [cite web
title = chaos's character page
work = namco
accessdate = 2007-02-27
url = http://www.namco-xenosaga.com/enhanced/index.cfm]
*Height: 169 cm (5' 7")
*Weight: 53 kg (117 lbs)
*Voice Actor (Japanese): Soichiro Hoshi
*Voice Actor (English, "Episode I"): Derek Stephen Prince
*Voice Actor (English, "Episode II, III"): Joshua Seth
*Voice Actor (English, "Anime"): Clint Bickham

Background

He has the ability to destroy Gnosis with a touch. chaos can also survive for an indeterminate length of time within the vacuum of outer space. He is also capable of teleporting, an ability only possessed by the most powerful beings in the Xenosaga universe, such as the Testaments. This is demonstrated when he appears on the Elsa's bridge without the door opening (taking KOS-MOS off-guard) and when he disappears from a room while Cherenkov enters through the only door, reappearing further down in the Elsa's hangar. He also exhibits psychic powers and, according to various NPCs, superhuman strength. The full extent of his power and abilities is unknown. According to the ODM, chaos always wears gloves and his bodysuit as a method of restraining his power, as his power emits from his skin, and from his hands in particular. (In "Episode I" his power stats rose as his gloves became thinner, with his most powerful set of gloves being tattered and full of holes, hence their name, "Holey Gloves", most likely a pun on "Holy Gloves").

chaos joined the Elsa Crew two years prior to the events of "Episode I". He is described in the ODM as the one who ensures the safety of the crew during their travels. In that respect, it could be said that chaos is ship security, as he certainly serves that function. But he also serves in many other ship tasks, such as several in-flight functions and the moving of cargo. Essentially, he is a jack-of-all-trades.

chaos appears unaffected by physical aging, as is evidenced by the fact that he has the same physical appearance during the events that take place in the main story of "Xenosaga", as well as during the time of the Miltian Conflict as a Veteran serving under the Galaxy Federation fourteen years prior and even appears in "Pied Piper" one-hundred years earlier.

In "Episode II", "Episode III", "Pied Piper", and "Xenosaga I&II", he is referred to as Yeshua, which is said to have been the Aramaic name for Jesus of Nazareth (Jesus' mothertongue was most likely Aramaic). It is also a shortened form of Yehoshua. The implications of chaos having some "divine" significance are scattered all throughout Xenosaga. The Anima Vessels, which are half of chaos, are also referred to as the "body of God." The database also calls chaos' power the "power of God."

It is speculated that chaos is in some way connected to Wilhelm, president of Vector Industries. Wilhelm is the only person who seems to truly know chaos, as well as recognize his significance in the greater scheme of things. In turn, chaos seems to be the only one who truly knows Wilhelm, as Wilhelm states in "Episode III" that chaos is the only one who can define him. It is also interesting to note the diametric opposition between the two characters, both physically and in terms of personality. Wilhelm has red eyes and pale skin, while chaos has blue eyes and dark skin. Wilhelm is directly engaged in just about every aspect of the conflicts that take place within "Xenosaga". On the other hand, chaos maintains a passive role, and seems content with following the path of the games' other protagonists.

Much of chaos' history is clouded, but it is known that 6,000 years ago, he was one of the disciples of a man that Ormus would come to worship as their Lord and Messiah. During this time, chaos was still known as Yeshua, and performed miracles in that man's place. Exactly what happened during this time period and why it happened, is unknown. However, there may be clues in Nephilim's mention of chaos teaching humanity long ago, and the reaction of Anima to the scriptures about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (The suggestion of chaos as Jesus, as well as a traditional Jesus figure, seem to be yet another of Xenosaga's Gnostic touches. In Gnosticism, Jesus is actually two separate beings, a divine aeon Jesus, and a human Jesus. One cannot assert for certain however that Chaos would be an aspect of Jesus. The only direct depiction involving the two is of Chaos standing next to Mary Magdelene as the two listen to a sermon by Jesus. By this interpretation Chaos may have been a prophet or disciple of Jesus. It is also possible that Chaos may have been one of the many angels said to have accompanied Jesus.) Wilhelm and the database also state that chaos had died, at least physically, during this era, and had left behind the "Word of Yeshua", also known as Lemegeton.

Lemegeton is represented in the material world as words, but it is actually a wavelength energy. Lemegeton can only be understood and spoken by chaos (Anima), and when recited, they can access and control the Zohar. Through the Zohar, energy from the Higher Domain of U-DO can be accessed. Humans are unable to speak the "words", however the ancient people and future researchers such as Grimoire Verum were able to create programs from Lemegeton to control the Zohar. This was used in all Relics of God that made use of the Zohar's energy, such as Zarathustra and Omega. The Song of Nephilim is an incomplete translation of Lemegeton. People of the Zohar, whose wills resonate strongly with Anima due to their special bloodline, are also capable of controlling the Zohar, with the strongest among them capable of communicating with U-DO. In this way, the power of Anima is also seen as a proxy between humans and the power of the Higher Domain. (Only those who resonate purely with Anima are capable of controlling it, while those who resonate passively with Anima lead to dispersal.) In "Episode III" it is revealed that chaos is the human incarnation of Anima, a power derived from the collective unconscious of humanity and present since the beginning of the universe in this dimension. Anima is a force that appears to be behind the theme of Will to Power and individuality. This is the antithesis to the convergence and unity theme behind the power of the Animus.

Long ago at the beginning of the universe, certain wills of humanity resonated purely with Anima. According to the database, these were past incarnations of consciousnesses that are capable of being Testament, which includes the player characters of the Xenosaga Series. These wills began a chain reaction throughout the collective consciousness, resulting in the dispersal of consciousnesses, a phenomenon that led the universe towards destruction. The dispersing wills that reject the collective consciousness are commonly called Gnosis when seen in the real world. Eventually, the increasing dispersal of the collective consciousness would lead the universe to collapse.

To counter this, Anima also possessed a failsafe function. When consciousnesses of rejection-- those that desire dispersal-- exceed critical mass, the imaginary number domain collapses, which causes the collapse of the real number domain and, as a result, leads to the collapse of the entire universe, swallowing up the upper domain. This is the universe's desperate, dangerous situation. When a breakdown or error is produced in one part of a system, the "failsafe" is the function that keeps the effect from spreading to the entire system. It is for the sake of ensuring safety. In other words, it is thought that the Failsafe is the system that keeps a problem produced in one section of the universe from spreading its ill-effects to all the world. If that's the case, then it is thought that the function of the universe's Failsafe is something for the sake of avoiding the collapse of the entire universe, including both upper and lower domains. To save chaos' life, and to prevent the destruction, Mary used her power of Animus to seal away the power of Anima into the twelve Anima Vessels. Mary did this by separating chaos' soul in two, into the Anima power and the Will of Anima, which is the failsafe. Then the Anima power was divided into the twelve Anima Vessels. While separated from his Anima power, chaos' failsafe ability could not ignite.

However, as long as Anima existed, the consciousnesses of the universe would continue to disperse until the universe was slowly destroyed by collapse. Wilhelm chose Eternal Recurrence to avoid this. By using Zaruthustra he planned to perpetually rewind time to the past, living in an eternal cycle. This prevented both the collapse through dispersal and the destruction of wills by the failsafe. But this meant living the same lives over and over again.

At the end of "Episode III", chaos rejected the Eternal Recurrence, deciding to trust in the wills of humanity to change the future. He realized his power might be used to save the universe with the help of human wills who wish for it. His final cryptic instructions to Shion and friends was to lead humankind back to Lost Jerusalem. He states that the key to saving the universe could be found on Lost Jerusalem, yet does not elaborate on what this means. Although chaos believes they will likely all meet again on Lost Jerusalem, given how long it would take to travel there, this may be hinting at future incarnations.

After the awakened KOS-MOS restored his power to him, To slow the destruction of the universe and allow humanity more time to find Lost Jerusalem, chaos gathered the gnosis (the rejecting wills of humans) into Nephilim and performed a dimensional shift to Lost Jerusalem. Although chaos believed he would disappear with the release of his power, his consciousness lived on, as the consciousnesses of the universe still desired his existence. He still remains as the failsafe of the universe, although his future form is unknown.

After saving the Elsa by holding open one last U.M.N. gate to allow them to escape the shockwave of the dimensional shift, he is last heard speaking to KOS-MOS as she drifts through space. His last words: "I guess both you and I still exist in this world, after all. As long as people... as long as the universe desires it, we will continue to exist. We haven't finished what we have to do yet. So, until then, sleep well, KOS-MOS."

ee also

*
*Aeon

References