Machina

Machina (, Machina, lit. "machine deity world person") is a species in Xenoblade Chronicles. They are the inhabitants of the Mechonis, created by its soul, Meyneth. Many Machina once lived in the Mechonis' capital Agniratha, but they fled to the Hidden Machina Village on the Fallen Arm after the ancient battle between the Bionis and Mechonis.

Appearance
Machina are a mechanical species, contrasting the organic life found on Bionis. It is difficult to distinguish what parts of a Machina are "body" and what parts are "clothing", but they appear to be similar to Homs with light grey skin wearing metallic dark grey clothes with an accent colour and many protrusions. A minority of Machina have a more alien faceplate rather than a Homs-like face, and some others are shown to have grey hair, though again it is unclear whether these differences are from simply wearing hats and helmets. Machina have a wide range of eye colours and tend to be a bit taller than Homs. Children have the appearance of a normal, white-haired Homs sealed in a floating mechanical capsule with a transparent front plate and no appendages.

Characteristics
Machina grow and age extremely slowly; the one (non-defective) child with a defined age in-game is over a thousand years old, and many Machina are old enough to have seen the battle between the titans. They do not eat (though they can if desired), requiring only water and ether for sustenance, and have no sense of taste. They fear water due to their weight and mechanical nature. Like the Mechon, they are difficult to harm with man-portable weaponry, aside from the Monado or specifically anti-Mechon weapons.

As a result of escaping the battle between the titans, most of the remaining Machina are pacifists. However, their lack of skill at fighting makes them vulnerable to the rogue Mechon surrounding their village. They hold no ill will towards the races of Bionis, but cannot find a way to introduce themselves as potential allies due to the continual attacks by the Mechon.

History
The Machina were created by Meyneth, the soul of the Mechonis. She acquired a physical body and was worshipped by her people. They gave rise to an advanced civilisation and built their capital city, Agniratha, on the Mechonis' head. They coexisted peacefully with the peoples of the Bionis, such as the High Entia and Giants. But one day, Telethia attacked the Mechonis and its capital city, forcing the Machina to abandon the city and flee to the Hidden Machina Village on the Mechonis' arm that was torn apart during this battle. War between the titans broke out, and only came to an end once the ancestors of the High Entia sealed away Zanza on Prison Island. The greatly weakened Meyneth warned her people about Zanza's inevitable resurrection and fell into a deep slumber. Most Machina moved on and wished for peace again, but their leader Egil was obsessed with revenge and hatred towards Zanza. He sent out the Mechon to attack the Homs colonies to deplete the Bionis' life force. The Homs were basically defenseless until fourteen years prior to the events of Xenoblade Chronicles, an expedition team found the Monado in Ose Tower. Dickson found all expedition members to be dead, with the exception of Shulk who would study the Monado many years later. No Homs other than Dunban was able to control the weapon, so he used it to protect the Bionis from the Mechon invaders, until he too lost control during the battle of Sword Valley and was heavily wounded. Many Homs were taken to the Mechonis Egil let these bodies be transplanted into the newly developed Face Mechon, such as Xord and Mumkhar. They were used so the Monado could not harm them, since it could not harm any life from the Bionis. A year later, the Mechon, now including Face Mechon, once again attacked Colony 9 and Colony 6, taking Fiora, Gadolt and many others with them. Shulk found out he was able to control the Monado, preventing Colony 9 to be completely destroyed like Colony 6. The Mechon retreated with their newly acquired Homs bodies. In Galahad Fortress and secret frrom Egil, her sister Vanea used Fiora's body to transfer Meyneth's soul into Face Nemesis, hoping she could bring peace back to the world. She chose Fiora because of her close relation to Shulk, the heir to the Monado. Around the same time, Shulk set off on a journey to Prison Island where he would free Zanza with Sorean's help. Zanza released the shackles of the Monado, allowing it to harm beings that share the blood of Zanza, making Face Mechon vulnerable to its attacks. Metal Face, Mumkhar's unit, appeared on Prison Island together with Face Nemesis and killed Zanza and Sorean, but was too late to prevent the Monado's upgrade. Face Nemesis tried to stop him from causing any more harm to Shulk and the others and revealed her Homs body to them. They then retreated back to Galahad Fortress. Mumkhar later revealed himself to the party on Valak Mountain and explained his hatred towards his former colleague and friend Dunban. They were interruped by Egil appearing in his Face Mechon Yaldabaoth to take Face Nemesis back to the Mechonis, and told Shulk to come find her. On their way, they encountered Mumkhar one more time in Sword Valley. His carelessness caused by his hatred toward Dunban led him to fall off the valley onto the Fallen Arm. As a result of his and also Xord's demises caused by their personal attachments to the Homs, he would start to create new Face Mechon with all their past memories wiped out, such as Jade Face.

Notable Machina

 * Egil
 * Vanea
 * Linada
 * Miqol
 * Radzam

Gallery
Makina