List of starships in Xenosaga

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The following are ships from the PS2 series Xenosaga.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Contents

The Dämmerung
The Dämmerung

The Dämmerung is the headquarters of Vector Industries and a massive colony that harbors the Vector Corporation's primary buildings. Vector's First, Second, and Third R&D Divisions are headquartered on the Dämmerung. At the very top of the pyramid-like structure in the centre of the ship is Wilhelm's private office, where the Compass of Order is located. At an area of 10,000 km² (the size of the country of Lebanon), it is so large that it could be considered an artificial planet. It carries on it the Rhine Maiden, a devastating large-scale anti-Gnosis weapon and millions of photon torpedo tubes.

While only glimpsed in Episode I, the Dämmerung serves as one of Episode II's playable areas. Shion, with Allen in tow has to navigate a maze of passageways, factories, and warehouses within the bowels of the Dämmerung in order to find E.S. Dinah and fly to Old Miltia. The Dämmerung plays a somewhat minor role in Episode III, appearing sparsely throughout the game and for the most part near the end. After the planetary disappearance phenomenon and the destruction of the U.M.N. at the end of the game, the Dämmerung becomes one of last (possibly the only) remaining centres of civilization in the Xenosaga universe. All the surviving party members and major characters end up on the Dämmerung in the ending, though Shion, Allen, Jr., Mary, Shelly and the Elsa crew depart on a mission to find Lost Jerusalem.

In Xenosaga I&II the Dämmerung was shown hovering curiously close to the surface of Second Miltia. In the scene, Shion takes Allen to a hillside overlooking the city and she tells him that she used to go there and look up at the stars to forget her troubles. She appears to be passively referring to how the Dämmerung is blocking out much of the sky from orbit.

Dämmerung is German and means twilight in English. The name is most likely derived from Götzen-Dämmerung, a philosophy book by Friedrich Nietzsche. Götzen-Dämmerung means "Twilight of Idols" and itself is a pun derived from the opera Götterdämmerung ("Twilight of Gods") by composer Richard Wagner, a close friend of Nietzsche. In Norse Mythology, Gotterdammerung is another name for Ragnarok, the end of the Earth. At this time, the Gods engage in a final conflict with various opposing forces of evil, and the entire world will be destroyed by fire, sinking into the sea to rise again as an ideal world full of only goodness, where Gods and men live together in harmony. This can be seen as a rather ironic naming, as Wilhelm's objective is preventing the end of the world through repeating history over and over again.

Several early technical demo screenshots released for Episode I showed Shion exploring Wilhelm's pyramid-like office. In all three Xenosaga games, however, Shion never visits Wilhelm's office. Only two characters ever appear in that location, Kevin Winnicot as the Red Testament and Wilhelm himself. However in Xenosaga: The Animation Kevin is joined by Virgil and Voyager, the blue and black Testaments, respectively.

The Durandal
The Durandal

The Durandal is a ship captained by Jr. It is extremely advanced in both warfare and comfort/recreation. Its primary weapons consist of over a thousand photon torpedo tubes, a main frontal laser cannon, and several hundred railgun batteries. Like with all other combat ships it has a force-shielding system. It docks at the Kukai Foundation, enabling the colony to travel about. The Durandal houses the 12 Zohar Emulators, and a 13th empty case meant for the Original Zohar. Other locations include the park (complete with a viewport that takes up almost the entire far side of the room), the residential area (home to fierce battles during the Federation occupation of the ship in Episode I and Dmitri Yuriev's invasion in Episode III), and the always busy main bridge.

At over 4000 meters long, the Durandal looks like a massive red sword in space with two wing-like orbiters circling around it, possibly to maintain some kind of centrifugal gravity. When docked with the Kukai Foundation, these wings rotate at the structure's bottom, adding to the elaborate design of the combined objects. Moreover, the Durandal's sheer size allows it to carry a wide array of anti-Gnosis laser weapons; these were put into use during the escape from the Cathedral Ship in Episode I, as well as the Ormus Stronghold incident in Episode II. However the Durandal itself is dwarfed by the colossal Dämmerung and is minuscule compared to Abel's Ark.

While it is a constant presence in all three games the Durandal finally meets its end in Episode III when it is taken over by forces loyal to Dimitri Yuriev. Yuriev has the entire crew, save Mary and Shelly Godwin killed then proceeds to unlock the Zohar Emulators from the isolation area and plows the ship into Abel's Ark. The Durandal is completely absorbed by the Ark and split in two. It is visible as a twisted and degenerated wreck within the Ark.

The Durandal was named after the sword Durandal, the legendary blade wielded by Roland, one of King Charlemange's generals from medieval France, and "Gaignun" was the name of his horse.

The Elsa von Brabant is a Lohengrin class high velocity interstellar cruiser that transports Shion Uzuki along with some of the other main characters of the Xenosaga series throughout the first and second Xenosaga games. It was once a luxury vessel owned by a criminal organization but today it is merely a cargo/personnel transport ship in commission to the Kukai Foundation. Although the ship looks normal on the outside, inside, cargo boxes are piled around and some sections of the ship seem to have been modified with secret areas, black market parts, and unlicensed weapons. The propulsion system has been upgraded and equipped with the latest Logic Drive System making it the fastest ship in the galaxy (according to the ship's pilot Tony). The captain of the Elsa Crew is Matthews with his crew of Hammer the navigator, Tony the helmsman, chaos, who seems to be a jack of all trades, Professor the Professor of the onboard "Robot Academy", and Assistant Scott the assistant of the Professor. The Elsa also boasts several droids that serve various functions on board. The ship length is 166 meters (roughly 1/10 of a mile) and its weight is approximately 8400 tons. According to production notes, the Elsa is designed to resemble a swan in flight.

The Elsa picks up KOS-MOS after they begin to scour the remains of the Galaxy Federation Fleet along with Vector Industries prototype Anti-Gnosis battlecruiser Woglinde after the Gnosis had completely wiped out the entire fleet. Captain Matthews only allows KOS-MOS to board after she threatens to destroy the forward window of the Elsa and forces the ship to set its coordinates for Second Miltia in the Miltian Star System. Shion Uzuki, Allen Ridgeley, and Commander Andrew Cherenkov board the Elsa after KOS-MOS with some complications. They only board after Shion threatens to end hers and Allen's lives by opening the escapepod hatch, a clear violation of KOS-MOS's objectives and after chaos asks Captain Matthews to let them on board. Later, Matthews gets into more trouble when they are involved in the hyperspace battle between the U-TIC Organization and the escaping Ziggurat 8 (Ziggy) and the 100-Series Observational Unit Realian Prototype (MOMO). After the battle in hyperspace and on board the Elsa, Captain Matthews decides to allow them to stay on board and the voyage to Second Miltia grows more lively.

The Elsa was taken out of commission for the better part of Episode II and was significantly repaired and upgraded. Identified on screen as the "Elsa Evolution" this new Elsa was more maneuverable, sleeker and boasted a new high-powered weapons system. While the Elsa von Brabant was white and blue the Elsa Evolution was more light grey and green in color.

In Xenosaga Episode III, it is revealed that the Elsa has an "overboost mode", in which ethereal wings sprout from the sides of the ship and allow it to move much faster than normal.

The Tactical Warship Merkabah is the ultimate anti-Gnosis starship. Based off of the prototype of Proto Merkabah, the Merkabah functions as a weapons platform and support vehicle designed to assist Omega Res Novae. The Merkabah is equipped with thousands of defenses, including a large scale version of the Rhine Maiden anti-Gnosis weapons system. While technically built as a war fortress, it boasts of several additional functions like the ability to search for under-developed planets that could be suitable for terraforming.

Under the command of Dmitri Yuriev, the Merkabah was deployed at Michtam for an upcoming Federation invasion. However, shortly after its arrival, it was absorbed by Abel's Ark.

The Woglinde in battle.
The Woglinde in battle.

The Woglinde is a battleship specifically built to combat the Gnosis, a mysterious alien race that forms one of the series' primary antagonists. It was ambushed by the Gnosis and destroyed during the first chapter of Episode I, resulting in the deaths of many Federation workers and soldiers, as well as the official activation of KOS-MOS and the beginning of the series' plot. One of the Zohar emulators was recovered and stored on board the Woglinde (hence the Gnosis attack; the Gnosis are attracted to the Zohar and its emulators) until it was captured by the Gnosis. Its destruction was also the root of a plot hatched by U-TIC and Ormus to frame the Kukai Foundation and Second Miltia.

Spanning 1000 meters (roughly 5/8 of a mile) in length, the Woglinde was constructed by Vector Industries and loaned to the Galaxy Federation Marine Corps. It was rushed into service with a bare-bones propulsion system and a hastily assembled bridge, and was approximately eighty percent incomplete. Because of its prototype nature, the Vector logo was never replaced with the Galaxy Federation's. In addition to the flaws listed before, it also lacked, as quoted by the Bridge crew, sufficient time to position the standard anti-Gnosis 100-Series Realian units, a factor that kept the fleet from drawing the Gnosis into the material world using the Hilbert Effect and led to its swift defeat. The ship was capable of splitting into two sections. The upper section housed the bridge, and the lower section, built from recycled materials, housed the Logic Drive. However, during the Gnosis attack, this feature was not used.

The Woglinde's successor, the Woglinde II, was a completed version of the Woglinde plan. It was eight times the original length, spanning 8000 meters (5 miles), and housed the large-scale anti-Gnosis weapon known as the Rhine Maiden.

A battleship produced by Hyams Heavy-Industry for the U-TIC organization. In Episode I, a full fleet of these ships arrived at the site of the Woglinde disaster roughly six hours into the game. The U-TIC organization was hoping to recover both the Zohar Emulator and their missing personal who had infiltrated the Federation fleet and stationed aboard the Woglinde. When the U-TIC fleet arrived on the scene, they found that the Kukai Foundation flagship Durandal was already there investigating the disaster. In order to cover up the evidence of U-TIC's involvement with the Woglinde's sinking and to frame the Kukai Foundation for the disaster, U-TIC opened fire on the Durandal and recorded the ensuing battle. The footage of the U-TIC ships were doctored out and a composite of the Woglinde was inserted in their place, thus making it look like the Kukai Foundation had attacked and destroyed a Federation cruiser. While the mothership leading the attack was disabled and later boarded by the crew of the Durandal, her support vessels were able to flee the scene before they were destroyed.

In the anime Xenosaga: The Animation, it was commanded by Pellegri during an attack on the Elsa in hyperspace. It has extensive shielding (As commented by Rubedo when the Durandal attacked it in said hyperspace.) The length of the vessel is unknown, although it is smaller than the Durandal and quite a bit larger than the Elsa. chaos has commented on fighting such a ship type multiple times in the past (According to Xenosaga: The Animation).

While exploring this ship in Episode I, Jr. happens across an array of blueprints in the ship's computer system. One of these plans is for a device known as T-elos, an android similar to Vector Industries' KOS-MOS who plays a significant role in Episode III.

The Prodigium is an Ormus Society battleship and the flagship of the Inquisitor fleet under Commander Margulis. It is over 8000 meters in length and is armed with a wide variety of weaponry.

It is first seen in orbit over the strange spatial land mass "Rennes-le-Château", after transporting Margulis and E.S. Levi there from the ruins of Michtam.


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