Reviving an Old Debate: The True Message of Xenogears

by Dorrin

There have been several editorials on RPGamer in the past on the religious implications of Square's masterpiece (at least a masterpiece in this gamer's opinion), Xenogears. After reading them, and playing through the entire game three times, I've arrived at my own conclusion about exactly what the developers were trying to say, so I thought I'd submit my two cents' worth. Note that I am no religious scholar or anything, just your average high school student. My editorial, thus, does not focus much on the references to specific religions and teachings, but the general themes I was able to pick up on.

The moral of XG can be realized when you look at the various main themes of the game, and they way in which they are presented. It seems to be very critical of organized religion, but certainly does not frown on spirituality or religion at its core essence. It is critical of the way organized religion is often used in society: as a power tool, or as an excuse for willful ignorance. Another obvious theme, probably the most obvious, is codependence. This is symbolized by the two one-winged angels in Nisan, the song "Small Two of Pieces," and above all Fei and Elly's relationship. The game tries to say that people inherently need to be imperfect; the way they find the strength to survive and achieve things is through helping each other. Lastly, note what is probably the most important quote in the game, and the closest one to explicitly stating the moral: one of Mother Sophia's favorite teachings as mentioned in the game is that people should pray "not to God, but to their own innermost feelings that everyone believes in."

The central message of Xenogears, as I see it, is that organized religion is and has always been simply a way for humans to seek comfort from the harsh realities of life, in the face of insecurity. Believing in an all-powerful god watching over one's destiny gives one a false sense of happiness and security. People can live out their lives that way, but cannot find true meaning in them, or ever achieve true happiness. The only religion one needs for that purpose involves no form of deity worship or anything like that; for guidance, one should look simply to humankind and human nature; trust in their own heart. Human nature, unlike gods, is something we all share. More specifically, through the themes of codependence and unity Xenogears seeks to show that love is the most powerful force in existence, and the source of spiritual strength. Sure, the "love conquers all" theme is a very common one, but XG dealt with it in an uncommon way, at least for a video game.

As for analysis of individual main characters, I'll cover a few of them. My analysis involves the common saying that a person needs to love oneself before they can try to love others. Achieving that is the main obstacle that both Fei and Krelian, in their respective searches for meaning in life, need to overcome. Fei takes the right path and succeeds. Krelian takes the wrong path and fails in the end. Fei finds Elly, another person that he cares for deeply, but he is unable to truly love her, and find the sense of completion that comes with that. He is too plagued by insecurity and doubt, which manifests itself in the form of Id. Id is all the negative emotions that threaten to lead humankind down the wrong path: the path to inevitable self-destruction. However, Elly guides Fei and time and time again prevents Id from taking control of him. He eventually conquers the negative emotions within him. At peace with himself for once, he can now focus on showing love toward others. Fei, or rather humankind, which he represents, is on the way to discovering true meaning in life. He is on the way to a future where, as he says in the final conversation with Krelian (aside from the ending), "mankind will finally come to understand one another." So what about Elly? Elly, quite simply, represents love. Her role is to be a guiding light for human society, helping them gently down a path of hope in a time of despair, just as love should play the same role in all of our lives. Finally, as for Krelian, he also represents humankind, but he is the wrong path that we have often taken instead of the right path we should take. Krelian falls into the same trap as the race of humans who created Zohar and Deus in the first place: he surrounds himself with an artificial happiness and security in the form of organized religion and deity worship. Then when that illusion is shattered by the death of Sophia, he is left with nothing, and decides his only course of action is to recreate such a feeling for himself. Instead of searching for the meaning of life, he tries to create his own meaning. In the process, he puts his own desires above everyone else's. Unable to love himself, he cannot show true love and devotion toward others. He is eventually so consumed by his effort to create an artificial sense of security and purpose for living instead of discovering a real one, that he loses touch with reality and decides if he can't know the meaning of his existence, then no one can. If he cannot find God, he must create God, and he must force this false god upon all human beings and give them the same artificial happiness he seeks for himself. Krelian completely forgets the search for genuine happiness in life, and loses the ability to love. With it he loses his humanity. This is the path the human race as a whole has been on throughout history, and something needs to change.

In short, the moral of Xenogears is that love is the meaning of life and reason for our existence, and the only true god. True love is something that can be found within the soul of every human being if they only look hard enough to uncover it.

-Comments, criticisms, flames, additions, or whatever are welcome: email to dorrin84@aol.com.