Dickson

Dickson (, Dikson) is a character in Xenoblade Chronicles. He found Shulk in Ose Tower fourteen years ago and is something like a father to him. Dickson fought the Mechon in the battle of Sword Valley alongside Dunban and Mumkhar one year prior. He is a guest party member on two occasions.

Appearance and personality
Dickson is an average-looking, middle-aged Homs with shoulder-length blond hair and brown eyes. He wears a red bandana, a black vest over an undone blue shirt, brown fingerless gloves, a brown belt, white pants, white boots, and several silver medallions.

Dickson is a crafty strategist with an eye for action. He is respected by all Homs as the leader of Colony 9's Defence Force, but he leaves daily operations to Colonel Vangarre so he can indulge in his other pursuits of travelling the Bionis to gain technology and information. He does this partly for his own interests but also for Shulk, who views him as a sort of father figure, and inevitably puts his spoils to good use in the lab. Dickson is also a skilled craftsman of weaponry, though he is not above charging what he considers a fair price.

Story arc
During the Battle of Sword Valley, Dickson fights alongside Dunban as he uses the Monado to defeat the Mechon. He seems no worse for wear after the battle, and continues to support Shulk learn to make weapons and his research of the Monado. Dickson is not seen fighting in the Battle of Colony 9, but he does watch as Shulk and Reyn leave for their journey of revenge in the aftermath. The game then shows how, fourteen years ago, Dickson ventured into a snowy ruin to find a young Shulk and the Monado amongst a crowd of dead expeditioners.

Dickson is not seen for a time, remaining in Colony 9. Once Dunban is ready to join Shulk and Reyn on their quest, he joins him, and come upon the two plus some new arrivals near Colony 6. After a dramatic entrance, they are unable to deal with the return of Metal Face, who only leaves because a strange creature drives him off. As Shulk explains what his visions of the future have told him, Dickson elaborates what he'll need to know in the near future: the creature was a Telethia, the High Entia are not a myth and inhabit the top of the Bionis, and the dark tower of Shulk's vision is called Prison Island. He then says he will guide them through Satorl Marsh. After successfully reaching the end of the marsh, Shulk, Reyn, Dunban, and Sharla proceed into the Bionis, while Dickson takes Otharon and Juju back to Colony 6.

After the party's destination changes to Galahad Fortress, they enter Sword Valley to find Dickson waiting for them. Dickson is the Homs representative in the allied force that Kallian is forming, and he heard the party was heading for the fortress, so he decided to stop by and sell them some anti-Mechon weapons. The party updates Dickson on current events, and he is unsurprised about everything. He then leaves.

The party succeeds at destroying the fortress, news of which makes Kallian worry for Shulk and Melia. Dickson says that he knows they're fine and where they are, and helps convince Kallian that now is the time to attack. However, not long after Dickson decides to leave, putting the Colony 9 forces in charge of Otharon so he can meet Shulk. Dickson indeed finds Shulk and the party, in the Hidden Village on the Fallen Arm; he assumed they had fallen from the fortress and that there was only one place for them to go after that. The leader of the Machina, Miqol, then reveals that Dickson has been a go-between for the Machina for some time, trading their technology and information for his new about the outside world. Shulk tells Dickson that the Mechon have a new weapon, which Dickson agrees to convey back to the armed force. Dickson then find Shulk alone and prods his brain for a moment. Shulk says that his intial goal was to avenge Fiora, but since she has been found alive and is now with him again, he's kind of aimless. Dickson says he personally hates how the Mechon leader Egil is trying to exterminate everything on the Bionis, and that's his motivation. He also tells Shulk that Kallian wants the party to use the allied force's impending attack to do whatever they need to do. Shulk says he will go to Egil, but doesn't commit to killing him. Dickson berates him for being soft and warns about hedging his bets, and watches the party leave on their next step.

Dickson is next seen during the allied force's attack, fighting alone on a Havres. However, the Mechonis begins to awaken, which makes him believe that Shulk has failed to get Egil. He breaks off from the army and goes towards Mechonis. Below its chin, he comes upon Junks, and the party are safe on its deck. Junks returns to the Hidden Village and the party discuss how to return to Egil. Dickson notices a faint red light from the brooch on Fiora's chest, and thinks to himself that he's found someone.

Dickson joins the party as they return to Mechonis. In private, he notes to Alvis that Shulk is back on track. He then fades into the background until Shulk defeats Egil and makes peace with him. Then he shoots Shulk. In the confusion that follows, he explains everything: Dickson is a disciple of Zanza, who appeared as a Giant that Shulk freed from Prison Island, but is now revealed as a malevolent god released from Shulk's body. From the start when he found Shulk in the ruins with the Monado, Dickson raised Shulk specifically so Zanza had a body to live in and to be reborn at this moment. Everything Dickson had done, from guiding Shulk towards the Monado and helping him research it, to pushing the allied force to attack, was for Zanza. He then mocks the party for being pawns in the scheme, and says that Zanza's next step is to eliminate them all, before disappearing.

The party manage to escape the Mechonis before the Bionis destroys it. As Junks flies, they encounter a horde of Telethia, including one with Dickson as its rider. He mocks them some more as they have trouble fighting, with Shulk still unconscious and presumed dead, before Kallian and his squad of Havres arrive. Dickson is unconcerned and continues to mock, as another hidden disciple, Lorithia, causes the Havres and their riders to transform into Telethia themselves. Kallian manages to try and attack the two while being fused to his ship, and appears to have exploded upon them, but they both escape.

Dickson reappears as Telethia attack Colony 6 surviving Kallian's sacrifice, where Junks and the party have landed. During the battle, Shulk recovers and joins the fight, which both impresses and frustrates Dickson. He calls Alvis over to the side of the disciples, which outrages most of the party except Shulk, but does not stop them from defeating the Telethia sent against them. Upset, Dickson decides to leave, realizing that Shulk's power is beginning to worry him.

After Lorithia is destroyed in the Bionis' heart, Dickson shows up to taunt some more, while also giving the party a way to re-enter Prison Island. Eventually, they reach him at the top. Dickson readies for battle by dropping his Homs disguise and assuming his true form: that of a Giant, a monstrous purple brute covered in arcane markings and wielding a transforming weapon. Not once does he stop mocking the party as he bullies them around, but he is eventually defeated, a huge glowing would cut into his chest. He decides to quit, turning back into a Homs and walking away so they don't get the satisfaction of seeing him die. Dunban and Shulk mourn their traitorous war buddy and adoptive father.

Dickson is a Giant with beige skin, grey-blond hair, and blank white eyes. His body is covered in lightning-like purple tattoos, and he wears a purple skirt with similar magenta patterns. He has several pairs of large wing-shaped growths on his back with large throbbing blood vessels, the lowest ones being Telethia-like in colour and pattern. He wields a chaotic-looking one-handed purple weapon that can shape into a sword, a hammer, a lance, and a cannon.

Dickson's only goal is serving "Lord" Zanza. He doesn't care what he has to do, who he has to kill, or how long he has to wait to carry out his orders, and that's all fine with him.

As a guest party member
Dickson is present in the party twice: during the Battle of Sword Valley, and alongside Dunban when they reach Shulk outside Colony 6 and fight an army of Mechon. He only has two arts, but they are for ether damage and healing, both of which are useful in the battles he appears. He then travels with the party to the end of Satorl Marsh, though only as a non-combatant guest.

Trivia

 * Dickson has no canon surname, in the original Japanese or otherwise. However, there is an understanding amongst some parts of the online community that his surname is "Soss" (a slang term in some British dialects meaning "dirty" or "soiled"). This appears to have originated from the Xenoblade Wiki on Wikia (now Fandom), where the first version of Dickson's page was created with blatantly false and offensive information, and the incorrect surname was glossed over by future editors for several years until finally noticed and removed.