Hero

Heroes are non-playable party members in Xenoblade Chronicles 3. By either progressing the main story or completing s, these characters can be recruited by the party and used as a seventh party member. Outside of the Archsage's Gauntlet, only one Hero may participate in battle at a time. Each Hero has a unique, which can be unlocked for use by the main party.

While recruiting Heroes is mostly optional, some Hero Quests are part of the main story, thus making those heroes mandatory.

Trivia

 * Heroes have different voicelines when being chosen on the Hero selection menu once reaching the final point of the main story.
 * While certain Heroes like Monica and Ghondor become temporarily unselectable during certain parts of the main story, Ethel is the only Hero who remains unselectable until meeting her ascension condition and it is entirely optional.
 * Ethel and Cammuravi are the only two non-DLC Heroes that don't have ascension quests, as well as the only two that share the same ascension condition.
 * Both are also the only Heroes to be killed by Moebius in the main story.
 * Ethel is the only Hero where her ascension condition requires another Hero in the party to complete.
 * Ghondor is the only Hero that neither needs a Hero Quest completed nor going to a certain location to acquire. Miyabi has a similar condition in that she is gained from somebody else's Side Story.
 * DLC Heroes will not be summoned by Melia and Nia during the second phase of the final boss X∞ and Y∞.
 * Riku & Manana, Nia, and Melia are the only non-DLC Heroes that can never be fought by the party, which includes DLC challenge battle.
 * Similarly, Monica and Fiona can only be fought in the DLC, Heroes Frontline.
 * All non-DLC Heroes with the exception of Triton appear as part of the ending cutscene, regardless of whether they have been recruited (or in Ethel's case re-recruited). This is due to the scene being pre-rendered.
 * Shulk and Rex are the only Heroes to not have a class inheritor, as both classes are unusable by the main party.