Plot summary of Xenoblade Chronicles

This page describes a plot summary of Xenoblade Chronicles. It is not a full description nor a complete novelization, but simply an overview of major events.

Prologue
Long ago, two great titans appeared in an endless sea: the Bionis and Mechonis. They fought and killed each other, their corpses becoming immobile landmasses for life to arise on.

Eons later, the people of Bionis, the Homs, are fighting for survival against the invading hordes of Mechon from Mechonis. While the Homs army is defeated and must retreat, a trio continues fighting: the violent Mumkhar, the old hand Dickson, and Dunban, wielder of the mysterious and legendary sword called the Monado. As the battle continues, Mumkhar abandons the others in hopes of claiming the Monado for himself when they fall, but he fails to escape. Dunban charges ahead despite the sword's power weakening him, and a blinding light covers the battlefield.

Chapter 1
A year after the Battle of Sword Valley, the engineer Shulk is rooting for useful scrap in a Mechon Wreckage Site. He finds trouble with wildlife, and gets out of it with the help of his best friend Reyn. The two return home to Colony 9, with Reyn off to his shift with the Defence Force, and Shulk to the Weapon Development Lab. Along the way he sees Colonel Vangarre chew out some of his men for crashing a mobile artillery unit. Shulk gets to the lab to find Dickson has returned from a journey with some new equipment for the force. They discuss the Monado, which Shulk has spent much time researching to try and discover its secrets, now that Dunban is no longer fit to wield it.

Dunban is alive, but laid up in bed with his right arm practically unusable. He thinks he is healthy enough by now to handle the Monado again, but his sister Fiora doesn't want him to. Fiora gives Dunban some food and leaves for the lab to bring Shulk some. She meets Dickson on the way, who says he sent Shulk out of the lab for fresh air, so she heads to Outlook Park. She finds Shulk as expected, where they enjoy the meal and peaceful atmosphere. Then Colony 9's debris siren sounds, warning of things falling from higher up the Bionis, so they head back to the safety of the lab.

On reaching the lab, the two find Reyn overcuriously holding the Monado. It activates on him and he loses control of it, damaging a bunch of equipment, only being knocked out of his hand when it hits Fiora. Shulk admonishes Reyn for being dumb, while Fiora yells at Shulk for caring more about the equipment than her, even as Shulk explains the Monado can't hurt people. While being cornered, Shulk activates the Monado by accident, which causes him to see ghostly flashes of several strangers. He shrugs it off, saying it isn't the first time. Reyn then explains he came here to get Shulk's help in collecting some ether cylinders from Tephra Cave, to which he agrees. Fiora doesn't trust Reyn to keep Shulk safe in the dangerous cave; she initially doesn't come along, but on finding the two forgot to bring any transport cases, she gathers some and joins them.

The trio get through the cave to reach the Cylinder Hangar above the colony. After collecting the cylinders, they are attacked by a mysterious pair of machines, presumably defending the cylinders. The group wonders for a moment why these machines have never appeared before, which is quickly answered by further unusual sounds from above: a fleet of Mechon has arrived.

Chapter 2
As Shulk, Reyn, and Fiora hustle back to Colony 9, the Defence Force attempts to fight the Mechon deployments. While successful at first, a large Mechon with a face disables enough Anti-Air Batteries that the invasion takes a firm hold. When the trio arrives to the, they find the Mechon eating people. While Shulk and Reyn hold off an approaching Mechon, Fiora hurries to check on Dunban, who is gone. Shulk knows Dunban is probably going to get the Monado, so they head to the lab.

Apporaching the Military District, the trio sees the faced Mechon take out a lot of men and Vangarre, before flying elsewhere. The carnage blocks the door to the lab, so they can't get to the Monado. Shulk reasons that if they can get to the mobile artillery they were collecting the ether cylinders for, they can blast the way open. Mechon attack as the group reaches the ; Fiora is sent off to the by herself, while Shulk and Reyn hold off the Mechon. Dunban arrives, holding the Monado in his left hand, but the bridge to the Residential District has been blocked - to get back to Fiora, they have to go the long way around.

As they reach the Main Entrance, Dunban can't handle the Monado anymore and drops it. Shulk decides to pick it up, and to everyone's surprise, he seems to have no problem with it. In addition, he sometimes sees a vision of the immediate future, which lets him avoid attacks. Dunban says this is not something that's happened to him, but to not worry about it now.

On reaching the Residential District, the faced Mechon appears, which people take to call Metal Face. The party quickly discovers that for some reason it's immune to the Monado. Shulk tries to figure out why, but they are quickly overwhelmed. Fiora arrives from behind, having successfully taken control of the mobile artillery, and grabs Metal Face's attention. Shulk gets a vision of Metal Face downing and stabbing the artillery, but he does not quite understand his visions yet, and Fiora ignores his yells to get away. Taking only minor damage, Metal Face destroys the artillery and kills Fiora. The Mechon then all leave at once.

In the aftermath of the attack, Dunban tells Shulk to not be sad over Fiora's death, but be glad she gave him a chance to live. Shulk considers his desire to move on with his desire for revenge, and decides on the latter - he will chase down the Mechon, and Metal Face, and destroy them all. Reyn is surprised that Shulk beat him to deciding this, but agrees, and the two leave Colony 9.

Chapter 3
Fourteen years ago, an expedition to a snowy tower discovers a stone chamber. Dickson arrives not long after to find them all dead - all except for a four-year-old Shulk, sleeping under the Monado.

Back in the present, Reyn suggests to Shulk that they head to Colony 6, which is between them and the Mechon's base, for more information on Metal Face. The two return to Tephra Cave and hike up the path towards the Bionis' knee. They discover a group of dead traders, which they bury in a nearby pool, and decide to camp for the night. Between watch shifts, Shulk and Reyn wonder about what the Mechon want with them, and why the Monado seems to have chosen Shulk to be able to use it better than even Dunban.

Shulk has a strange dream. In a foggy place he does not recognize, he sees a mysterious person who tells him of desiring to change the future and the "True Monado". The dream then changes to seeing Reyn get killed by a large Arachno. Shulk wakes up to find him and Reyn surrounded by normal Arachno, which they fight off. Reyn comments that it looked like Shulk was having a nightmare, so Shulk thinks about his dream. He wonders if seeing Reyn and the Arachno was a dream or a vision, and is too unsure to act.

As the two continue through the cave, Reyn is ambushed, and the pair is separated. Shulk catches up to Reyn in time to see the and realize the vision is about to come true. In panic, he manages to use a previously unknown power of the Monado, saving Reyn. After defeating the Arachnos, Shulk realizes that his visions only show what will happen if he does nothing - by doing something in response, he can change the future.

The pair leave the Arachno Queen's Nest to reach Kneecap Hill, gazing up at the Bionis above and the Mechonis looming in the distance. But they are being watched by a helipod scout Mechon, which reports their presence to a faced Mechon.

Chapter 4
Reaching the Bionis' Leg, Shulk and Reyn come upon an abandoned buggy. With a vision as a clue, they find and rescue its driver, a young teenage boy called Juju. Juju offers to take them to a Refugee Camp nearby, which they accept. At the camp, they meet Juju's older sister Sharla, a combat medic who (after yelling at Juju for leaving the camp) says that Colony 6 was taken by the Mechon a month ago. Sharla is worried about colonel Otharon and her fiancé Gadolt, but knows it's foolish to go back and fight the Mechon. Juju is convinced that the attack on Colony 9 means there are fewer Mechon defending Colony 6, and again steals the buggy to go there by himself. Shulk gets a vision that Juju will be in trouble, and Sharla joins him in going to save him.

Juju is a terrible driver and crashes into a wall, so he proceeds on foot. The party fights through groups of Mechon and manage to catch up with him at Spiral Valley, caught by a Mechon M71. Shulk manages to save Sharla from ambush with another new Monado ability, and the trio destroys the Mechon to save Juju. They are quickly attacked again, however, by a faced Mechon - a bronze one, different than Metal Face, and able to talk. "Bronze Face" turns out to be just as immune to the Monado as Metal Face, but he abruptly loses power and leaves, taking Juju with him to Colony 6.

Chapter 5
Back at the Refugee Camp, Sharla dreams about the last she saw of Otharon and Gadolt, as she helped prepare Colony 6 non-combatants for evacuation. The faced Mechon interrupts the dream, and she wakes to find that Shulk and Reyn were about to go to Colony 6 without her. She sticks with them and suggests they enter through the Ether Mine, which should be too complex for the Mechon to have figured out within a month. Everyone agrees.

The team enters the mine to find that the Mechon have indeed taken it, and a fight is ongoing. They find and help Otharon, who says that Gadolt is gone and most of the others are dead. He also says that the Mechon don't eat Homs right away, so Juju can still be saved, and directs them to follow him. Shulk gets a vision of Otharon dying and tries to slow him down without telling the truth, but Otharon becomes upset at Shulk's attitude and goes off himself. Reyn chews out Shulk for keeping his visions to himself, and tries to convince him to tell the others so they can all help.

The party descends through the mine and eventually reach the bottom. The faced Mechon is there, calling himself Xord and taunting the group with showing off the captured Juju. The ensuing fight is a standstill until Otharon arrives in a mining mech to contest Xord. As Sharla saves Juju, Shulk and Reyn work together to save Otharon as Xord gets dunked in the ether river below. Otharon gives Gadolt's Rifle to Sharla and apologizes to Shulk for doubting him. The group uses a freight elevator to get out of the mine, but have to fight off Xord again, who survived the ether river but corroded badly enough for the Monado to damage him. Defeated, Xord commends Shulk for beating him without the Monado's true power, and flies off to explode at the bottom of the shaft.

Not long after exiting the mine, Metal Face appears, backed up by many Mechon and several Xord lookalikes. He gloats and taunts the party, mostly over how the Monado doesn't work on him and how he enjoyed killing Fiora. Dunban and Dickson arrive to help, but they are still grossly outnumbered and still cannot touch the Faces. The battle is interrupted by a giant flying creature that rains green lightning on the battlefield, distracting Metal Face enough for Shulk to force a cut into his arm through sheer force of will. But he is interrupted by a vision where he is fighting Metal Face on a dark tower, defeating him easily, and seeing a third shape of Face Mechon. Distracted, Metal Face shakes him off and the Mechon leave.

The lightning-shooting creature meets with a silver-haired man, who asks about Shulk.

Chapter 7
After Otharon, Dickson and Juju left the party in Satorl Marsh and going up through the Bionis' Interior, the party reaches Makna Forest. They find a girl named Melia unconscious after a battle with a Telethia. Sharla sends Shulk to a shore near the Great Makna Falls to find Ether Crystals. There, he meets Alvis who teaches him that Telethia has the ability to read people's minds. He takes the Monado and shows Shulk how to defeat a Telethia that attacks them. Shulk asks him who he is and why he is able to control the Monado, but when Reyn returns, Alvis disappears. When they return, Sharla manages to heal Melia and she leads them towards Eryth Sea. When they reach Frontier Village, a place inhabited by the Nopon, Melia asks Chief Dunga to take Shulk and the others to Eryth Sea. She explains that she has unfinished business with the Telethia that injured her and killer her companions. Shulk decides to help her and defeats it deep in the forest.

Chapter 8
The party reaches Eryth Sea. They find Alcamoth, the capital of the High Entia that Melia belongs to, floating in the sky above the sea, together with Prison Island. In Alcamoth, Melia goes ahead and the rest gets arrested by soldiers because of the Monado.