Ziggurat 8

:"A character/reference from the Xenosaga series."

Ziggurat 8, commonly called nihongo|"Ziggy"|ジギー |Jigī by MOMO and friends, is a combat cyborg assigned the task of recovering and protecting MOMO, the prototype 100-Series Observational Realian. He cares for MOMO, who considers him to be a father figure.

Basic information

*Real Name: Jan Sauer
*Born: T.C. 4637
*Sex: Male
*Height: 191 cm (6' 3")
*Weight: Unknown
*Age: 128 years old (98 years since becoming a cyborg) (looks 30)
*Voice Actor (English): Richard Epcar
*Voice Actor (Japanese): Masashi Ebara
*Voice Actor (Anime Version): Jason Douglas

Background

Prior to becoming a cyborg, Ziggy was called Jan Sauer. Sauer was once a Federation counter-terrorism agent, but he committed suicide at the age of thirty (in T.C. 4667) after the death of his wife and stepson at the hands of a notorious U.M.N. terrorist, turned Testament, named Voyager.

Due to the Life Recycling Act, after Jan Sauer's death his body was made into a cyborg by Ziggurat Industries. He was given the product name of "Ziggurat 8," which denoted that he was the eighth (and final, as circumstances would have it) model in Ziggurat's line of cyborgs. Instead of embracing the fact that he was once human, Ziggy is constantly eliminating his organic parts in order to erase his own existence and his memory of his family, to reduce himself from a person to a mere object. As a cyborg, he does not have human rights as Realians do, and as such is subject to the whims of his superiors.

Ziggurat 8's skills include infiltration, investigation and in combat utilizes devastating hand-to-hand techniques and heavy artillery. With a high physical attack and hit point rating, Ziggurat 8 is a good offensive and defensive character in all episodes of "Xenosaga." His slow speed can be balanced with accessories, and his weakness to ether is made up for with his high HP.

Name

Ziggy is a nickname (more accurately an abbreviation) for Ziggurat 8, and a reference to David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust. Jr suggested in "Episode II" that Ziggy is beginning to like this nickname, which is a sign that Ziggy is gradually regaining his will to be human rather than a machine. Despite this change in heart, there are implications that he may not like his former name Jan Sauer, because it reminds him of his painful past.

The name "Ziggy" was created in "Episode I" after Ziggy had freed MOMO from her prison cell and they were hiding from the U-TIC organization. MOMO doesn't like the name "Ziggurat 8" and suggests "Ziggy" instead. Ziggy then has a flashback of his late son playing with an artificial dog that he had given him as a present. The dog was a Nexus 6 model and the son renamed it "Nex" short for "Nexus 6.

His full name, however, is apparently a reference to the somewhat famous Ziggurat algorithm. Random numbers are a key to free will and hence to the creation of artificial intelligence, and his name is thought to be a homage to these humble roots.

Jan is a form of Johannes, which is an Ancient Latin form of "Ioannes", and in English means John. "Ioannes" or John is derived from the Hebrew name יוֹחָנָן (‘Yochanan’) meaning "YAHWEH is gracious." This name owes its consistent popularity to two characters of the "New Testament", both highly revered as saints. The first was John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus Christ and a victim of beheading by Herod Antipas. The second was the Apostle John, supposedly the author of the fourth Gospel and "Revelation" also known as The Apocalypse of John.In "" Voyager’s victims quote passages from "Revelation".

Sauer is a German nickname. In England there were several names for the grave or austere man, including Sterne and Stark. Sauer is the German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) nickname for the cross or cantankerous person, and is derived from the German "sauer" = "sour", from Middle High German "sur", a cognate of English "sour". Mental and moral qualities were often ascribed to people during Medieval times, with the differences in spelling and pronunciation due to the varying dialects and languages. "Sauer" and Wunderlich both designated the morose or moody man in Germany.

toryline

Xenosaga: Pied Piper

The stage of ' takes place T.C. 4667, 100 years prior to the events of '. Before he became Ziggurat 8, Jan Sauer was a Captain in the 1875th Special Operations detachment of the Federation Police Bureau. He and his squad were deployed to the planet Abraxas (later renamed Michtam) to investigate murders in the U.M.N.. These terrorist acts were caused by a cloaked individual under the hacker alias "Voyager."

Sauer became further intertwined with the destiny of the Zohar when he met the widow Sharon Rozas and her son Joaquin. Jan Sauer and Sharon developed a relationship which led to marriage.

With the help of his squad and Sharon’s medical knowledge, Sauer's investigation draws closer to the funding source of Voyager’s murders. This turns out to be Dimitri Yuriev, who quickly utilizes his connections within the government to have Sauer and his team removed from the investigation. This does not stop Sauer, even after he and some of his subordinates are arrested.

Only after the death of one of his subordinates, Mikhail Ortmann, does Sauer discover that another member of his team, Erich Weber, is Voyager. Erich explains in part his connection with U-DO, before his Voyager alias takes over and lures Sauer to witness his wife and son's deaths. At this point, Voyager becomes the Black Testament, and Sauer could do nothing to prevent his family's death. The Black Testament presented an ultimatum to Sauer: either to be killed and have his soul consumed by Voyager or to join him (as another Testament) and live forever. Sauer refused both fates and he chose to commit suicide.

The witnesses of events that led to his death were Melisse Ortus and Lactis. Two years after his suicide he was activated as the cyborg Ziggurat 8, and about 100 years later the events of "Xenosaga: Episode I" unfold.

Dialogue by Wilhelm suggests that Jan Sauer had a "shining will," and implicates that at some point Jan was considered to become a Testament. Given that "Xenosaga: Pied Piper" has not been released to the US, most of Jan Sauer's background and his relation to the Zohar remains a mystery in "Episode I" and "Episode II". Perhaps the developers did not disclose his background so that it may be further revealed in "Episode III", which has a US release date of Fall 2006.

A Japanese to English translation of the dialogue in "Xenosaga: Pied Piper" can be found at http://zarathustra.kaisho.org

Xenosaga: Episode I

In "Episode I" Ziggurat 8 is commissioned by the S.O.C.E. to infiltrate a U-TIC organization base and rescue MOMO. During their escape their spacecraft would have been destroyed by the U.M.N. column walls if not rescued by the Elsa, and so he meets with Shion and the rest of the "Xenosaga" cast.

When first called Ziggy by MOMO, Ziggurat 8 seemed uncomfortable. He suddenly had a flashback of his lost son, Joaquin. He remembered that during his life as Jan Sauer he purchased a synthetic dog for his son, as on a police officer's salary could not afford a real dog. The company which manifactured the dog was Nexus (and the dog's model name was "Nexus 6"), which prompted his son to give the nickname Nex, a truncation of the company's name. His manufactured name was similarly truncated by MOMO. This may have been the action that sparked Ziggurat 8's response to take on a fatherly role toward MOMO.

Ziggy seems self-conscious of his present body, and shows discomfort when young women see him undergoing maintenance. However he shows trust in MOMO, as he states because of the "purity of her heart." In Cathedral Ship, when Cherenkov diffuses into the Zohar emulator and begins his transformation into a Gnosis, Ziggy remarks how it is "the same, just like that day." This is a reference to the events which happened in his past (or "Xenosaga: Pied Piper") where Voyager transforms into the Black Testament, through the same method.

Ziggurat 8 seems to understand some of the events regarding the Zohar, however his general disposition is reserved, and the game does not reveal too much of what he could know of his previous life. In the KOS-MOS Encephalon, Ziggurat 8's past was not shown despite the fact it is stated KOS-MOS sensed everyone's memories, and Nephilim urged everyone to accept the entirety of their memory. chaos explains why his and Allen's memories are not in the encephalon--yet there is no mention of Ziggurat 8's memories not being there. It is unknown why his memories/fears were not explored in the Encephalon. It could be due to the game's development of Ziggy not being as major a character as Shion and Jr. (In "Xenosaga I & II" for the Nintendo DS, Ziggy reveals more of his past to the rest of the characters.)

His only assignment is to protect and support MOMO, yet he accompanies the rest of the party as a support character. During the destruction of Proto Merkabah Ziggy helps rescue KOS-MOS after Shion's grip of her has slipped.

Xenosaga: Episode II

In "Episode II" Ziggy continues to protect MOMO beyond the scope of his assigned mission. He strongly encourages Juli Mizrahi to be maternal to MOMO. He may also have feelings towards MOMO similar to that of his lost son. This is suggested by the way he is affected both during and after MOMO's analysis. When she collapses, a vivid memory is triggered of Voyager standing over a large pool of blood.

Ziggy relates to Albedo's immortality in "Episode II" when he says, "Death is rest for the soul. Who was it that said that? If the body did not die, and the fears borne in the mind just continued to pile up, the world would be nothing more than an eternal prison." When Juli Mizrahi performs maintenance on Ziggy, he reveals the reason why he committed suicide was because of the death of his son. They form a connection because of the loss of their children and the resulting painful memories. Despite Juli Mizrahi's sympathy for Ziggy, the cold reality of his state of life is shown when Ziggy is made the lead (on screen) character and he talks with other employees of the U.M.N. Control Center. A majority treat him as old property.

Within Labyrinthos, Ziggy was briefly focused in on when the information within Canaan was accessed. He became suddenly reserved and placed his hands behind his back. This could implicate he knows this Canaan might be in some way tied to the mysterious program "Canaan" mentioned by his Realian subordinate Lactis in the past ("Xenosaga: Pied Piper"). Given this, Ziggy should recognize Dimitri Yuriev and his intent as well. As to why Ziggurat 8 does not disclose to the party the familiar connections of these events is not yet known. He does however, inquire Jr. to explain what U-DO is before they dive into MOMO's subconscious. (In "Xenosaga I & II" for the Nintendo DS, Ziggy reveals his past to the rest of the characters.)

He sacrifices his cybernetic arm by breaking through a wall for the party's escape from the Ω System. When he is being repaired, Juli Mizrahi asks him to consider lifespan extension. Eventually he accepts, primarily for MOMO's sake but it is also likely that the reappearance of his family's murderer has prompted him to carry on his life. At the end of "Episode II" he is to be stationed at the Kukai Foundation and remain on call as a bodyguard for MOMO.