Considering how much I’ve written about the Xenoblade series at this point, it’s only natural that I would talk about the best black sheep of the group. It’s certainly not a traditional JRPG, foregoing the usual narrative trappings of a focused, linear story, developing characters in direct ways, and raising the stakes to eventually kill god. In fact, its story progression has more in common with western open-world RPGs, with a main story that can be done at the player’s pace, which is in direct opposition to JRPG tropes. Xenoblade X is not the only game to have done this: Octopath Traveler is one such game and it received just as mixed a review of its multiple stories as X did of its main story. However, I think to compare these games’ stories to traditional JRPG ones is unfair. They may all be of the same genre, but X and Octopath step well outside the usual faire that such comparisons are muddied by different design philosophies.
Perhaps I’m merely letting my bias show, but I think it’s important that you understand my stance before I get into the meat of what I want to discuss. Instead of waxing on for days about the ups and downs of X’s story, I want to focus on a common misconception- rather, what I think is a misconception- about the game’s main protagonist, and the fact that it’s Cross- the player created character- not Elma.
Let’s make it clear that this doesn’t mean I think Cross is a better character than Elma. That discussion is a rather complex one that I’ll get to down the line. So, first, let’s prove that Cross is the main protagonist of X.
First and foremost, the game begins with Cross, and I don’t mean character creation. Gameplay- and its preceding cutscene- starts with Cross being introduced into the world, and the first character that you’re given of control is Cross. In every video game that I can think of, the game will always start with the protagonist. Feel free to point out a game that doesn’t so that I may play it, but this is a decision that’s as old as video games themselves.
There’s still more, though. The main protagonist is typically the one that’s involved with every plot beat, whether its related to the main plot or not. By X’s very own systems, Cross is the only one that can’t leave the party. Even JRPGs only let the protagonist leave the party for very specific reasons- see Cloud in Final Fantasy 7. Cross is also the one driving the choice of which quests are done and in which order. Point is, every thing points to Cross being the main protagonist.
Including the lore and story of the game itself.
One of the biggest arguments that people will use in defense of Elma as the main protagonist is her connection to the events of the main quest. She knew of the Gangilion, flew the tandem skell, is a war hero, and finally revealed to be the emissary that both warned humanity and prepared them to flee Earth. Her backstory is tied closely to the main story and its events, right down to the post credits scene.
Lin Lee Koo is a teenage engineer who’s parents worked on Project Exodus- the one that tried to facilitate humanity’s escape from the coming alien armies. In fact, they were top-level engineers and behind much of the technology seen in game and even taught Lin about it to the point where she would go on to research it on her own. Her parents gave up their spots on the White Whale for her to survive, going on to make her the ONLY TEENAGER to be confirmed to make it off Earth alive.
Lao is a soldier that joined Project Exodus in hopes to protect his family and secure their escape on the White Whale. He was well renown and managed to get good connections with the higher ups like Elma and Nagi. Yet, when the time came to flee, his wife and daughter were left behind- promises broken by the bureaucrats that ran the project. Inflicted with depression and rage, he went on to betray humanity and sell them out to the Gangilion as revenge- only turning back when stopped by Cross, Elma, and Lin.
I could go on, but by the logic of “backstory tied to main story”, any of these three could be the main protagonist, making it a rather faulty metric to go by. That logic could put side characters or villains as the protagonist, which is not how that works by definition alone.
But back to my earlier point, what do I mean when I claim that the lore and story itself put Cross as the main character? The latter is a bit easier to explain as Cross has a few pivotal roles in the main story. Saving Tatsu (which I will be among the first to state my disgust for both the character and situation itself, but it did keep relations with the Nopon good), stopping Elma from killing Lao. Certainly, he doesn’t play the most prominent role in the main quest, but he does participate in a significant way. Skells wouldn’t fly- according to the story’s writing- without Cross participating in the final test flight, since Doug tapped out of those at the beginning of the game.
Conventional writing techniques will always have the main protagonist involved in major and minor plot lines, regardless of their weight in said plot lines. Which puts Cross as the only possible character, given you cannot remove them from the party.
If you want more connection to the main story’s progress, I’m going to have to get a bit more opinionated. See, X’s story quests are locked and only unlock when certain conditions have been filled. These vary by chapter and range from having a certain map percentage completed or doing certain quests. The former is freeform and can be done by certain field actions, killing certain enemies, or completing specific side quests. Therefore, any side quests you do that fill map percentage and thus help unlock the main quest could be considered to be a part of the main quest progression.
Admittedly, this is a pretty big stretch, but I’m using it. If Riki and Tora and their respective stories contribute to the main story of their games- despite them having no impact on them- then you can bet that I’m going to use this side quest nonsense as justification.
That leaves the lore aspect of things that still need to be explained. The unfortunate thing is that X has dozens of loose ends within its stories. In fact, some of the more important side quests leave things hanging- a good one that comes to mind is Yelv’s side story and the J-bodies that get introduced. Literally no solid resolution to that story. Nothing about Yelv’s friend gets answered and the only thing about the J-bodies that is confirmed is that Yelv is one of them.
However, this is also a beautiful thing in writing: the audience’s speculation and imagination. When a story presents open-ended threads and the like, they absolutely want their audience to form their own opinions and theories on those threads. Look no further than Fromsoft and their Souls-borne games for a prime example. While we could debate the extent that X was designed with that in mind, I think they did mean for several points to be left up to the player’s interpretation. At least until they come in with the sequel to give solid answers.
And yes, I’m still on that copium.
Now, let’s get down to the specifics. First and foremost, Cross’ existence is an odd one. He’s one of- if not the only person- to have been recovered from the escape pods. Correct me on this, but I’m certain that Elma says that Cross is the first person she’s recovered intact during her search for survivors, all others being damaged beyond repair. This and the post credits scene lead me to believe that, at the very least, Mira might have orchestrated Cross’ survival because of their role in keeping humanity alive.
Another is the J-bodies situation. Given that Yelv is the only person to recognize Cross in any capacity, it stands to reason that Cross has the same origin as Yelv- being a J-body.
Another curious fact is how Elma and Nagi both are insistent on Cross’ joining the Blades. Not many- including myself- first knew of this, but you can reject the offer to join the Blades, which leads to a cyclical dialogue tree of “you can’t refuse” until you select the option to join. If we are to take that as canon, then Elma and Nagi both have a hidden and vested interest in making sure that Cross is in the Blades. Perhaps because he’s a J-body?
Or maybe because his body is that of the other tandem skell pilot? This is heavy speculation since little is given about the identity of Elma’s co-pilot. However, we know that Elma tends to keep people at a distance. Her friends- which are a few of the other main party member- are the only people she has any long term relationship with. In fact, they’re the only people she keeps a casual relationship with. So, why is she insistent on sticking around with Cross? The main quests- which have consistently been argued to be her story- don’t need Cross, but she wants him along anyways. There’s no basis for a relationship there aside from the fact that she brought Cross out of the escape pod. Perhaps that’s enough, but I think there’s more to it than that.
If we want to get really out there with Cross theories, then Cross is an avatar of Mira itself. A direct actor in accomplishing the planet’s goal of keeping humanity alive. A potential J-body, the only survivor of an escape pod crash, no memories, and the ability to master all weapon types? Not to mention the fact that Cross always manages to end up involved in events related to humanity’s survival? What better character to play as than that?
But screw all that. I don’t need any of that mumbo jumbo to prove that Cross is the main character. Why? Because I’m Cross. You’re Cross. The player playing the game is Cross. In a game with a story and gameplay loop that’s more akin to Skyrim than games in its own series, of course the player insert is going to be the main character because the game was made that way.
It’s as simple as that.
Now, all that said, do I think that Cross is a good character? Yes. It’s not any different from a Skyrim, D&D, or any other RPG where you play a created character, and it’s rare that anyone will dislike a character they create. There aren’t many moments where you can roleplay with Cross, but I cherish those moments because those are the moments I get to write in what Cross is thinking or doing. Maybe it’s a bit narcissitic to like my own writing, then again, if I don’t like my writing, there’s no guarantee anyone else will. At the end of the day, he’s not the best character in the series, much less his own game, but he does play an important role and allows a different form of engagement with the world and story itself (much better than Skyrim, anyways).
Maybe I didn’t change your mind on all this nonsense, but I think it’s good to put out other theories and ideas about X, especially since XC 3 has gotten me deep into the lore and fandom again and encouraged me double my copium intake. Monolith, please. We can’t leave X as is. We need that sequel. I need my theories tested. I need to know if we’re about to throw hands with the Samaar Empire. I need to know what Lao and the Black Knight are up to. I need to know why Mira’s the weirdest place in existence. Please, I can only wait so long.
A Wordsmith's Corner 