Zohar (XS)

The Zohar, also known as the Original Zohar, is a key component of the story in the Xenosaga series. Described as "a source of infinite energy", acquisition of this mysterious golden artifact is a source of dispute between multiple factions.

The Original Zohar is not to be confused with the 13 Zohar Emulators, 12 of which were created by Joachim Mizrahi and one by Sellers.

Appearance
The Original Zohar is a large golden rectangular slab with two short trapezoidal arms a third of the way from the top causing it to appear cross-like in shape. A glowing turquoise gem is centered between the arms and surrounded by an intricate design.

Function
The Zohar functions as a conduit between the higher-dimension power of U-DO and the lower dimension where humans perceive the Zohar. It naturally emanates wave energy that can be detected via primer walking and used to pinpoint its location. Gnosis appear to be attracted to the same wave energy.

To humans in the lower dimension, it is a vast source of energy and much of the plot of Xenosaga revolves around people attempting to harvest this energy for military or industrial use. Various failed implementations of Zohar control systems have resulted in runaway behavior causing catastrophic space-time anomalies, disappearance phenomena, or Gnosis attacks since the activation of the Zohar opens a gate into the higher dimension.

Certain humans, many of whom can be identified as People of the Zohar, are able to make contact with the waves emanating from the Zohar and have some amount of control over the energy.

While it is unknown exactly how the higher dimension perceives the Zohar, Abel's Ark absorbs it during the story as a "connection point" to enhance U-DO's observation of the lower dimension.

It is considered one of the relics of God by Ormus. Margulis indicates that it is intended to be united with the Vessels of Anima. It is ultimately used as a part of Zarathustra.

Lost Jerusalem Era
The Zohar was excavated in 20XX at Lake Turkana in Kenya by a group of scientists led by Dr. Masuda and funded by Vector Industries. It was shipped to Toronto, Canada for analysis by Vector where it was discovered that it released large quantities of energy when influenced by particular brainwaves. The Chief of Vector's Zohar Research Department, Grimoire Verum, created a Zohar control program called Lemegeton using fragments of an ancient language that had been unearthed with the Zohar.

During a control experiment, the Zohar went out of control, causing a disappearance phenomena that began with the disappearance of Nephilim, a participant in the experiment, and expanded to cause all of Earth to eventually disappear in a space-time anomaly.

Immigrant Fleet & Abraxas
Several groups of people were able to escape from Earth, one of which had possession of the Zohar. This group came to be known as the Immigrant Fleet, largely united by the Ormus religious order who considered themselves to be the protectors of the Zohar. They eventually settled on a planet called Abraxas.

In the T.C. 4000s, the Immigrant Fleet encountered another group of descendants of Earth, now know as the Galaxy Federation. The cultures of the two groups had diverged sufficiently in that time to make integration difficult and the Immigrant Fleet's possession of the much-coveted Zohar did not ease matters, resulting in conflicts between the two. Abraxas did eventually join the Federation, though conflicts over the sovereignty of Abraxas and control of the Zohar continued into the 4600s.

Ormus, as the core of the Immigrant Fleet government, had constructed the Isolated Research Facility to continue research on the Zohar and on the underground ruins present on Abraxas. Archon Cathedral was built above these laboratories to facilitate worship of the Zohar for the general populace. One such religious ceremony was the Pilgrimage Meeting which was held to open the door to Lost Jerusalem and to display the current Patriarch's connection with the Zohar.

In the mid-4600s, Patriarch Julius XVIII began advocating a new policy: peacefully sharing the Zohar with the Federation. An internal power struggle ensued and Future Patriarch Sergius XVI worked with U.M.N. terrorist Voyager to have Julius XVIII assassinated. Sergius hoped to use the power of the Zohar to take back control of Abraxas. However, in T.C. 4667, Voyager's terrorism act at the Pilgrimage Meeting activated the Zohar and caused the disappearance of those present. The Federation then increased surveillance of Abraxas, fearing another Zohar incident, and eventually Abraxas came under the full authority of the Federation. It was renamed Michtam.

As part of the Federation's Zohar Research Project on Michtam, Vector sponsored the creation of the Cerebral Sciences Research Center sub-division. This laboratory focused on "cerebral neurology and phenomena physics". In time, a failed Zohar experiment run under the purview of the Federation caused a Gnosis swarm to descend upon Michtam, destroying it.

Old Miltia
The Zohar research facilities were moved to a majority Immigrant Fleet-populated planet, Miltia, where similar facilities had been previously constructed. Dr. Joachim Mizrahi, a senior researcher on the Zohar project and founder of the Cerebral Sciences Research Center, relocated to Miltia as well.

Aided by the former Ormus government in secret, Mizrahi stood up new Zohar experiments and Gnosis research under the newly-created U-TIC Organization in the complex known as Labyrinthos. Meanwhile, Mizrahi continued to research Zohar control programs and architected two Zohar control systems—the Song of Nephilim and the U-DO System—using fragments of the Lemegeton program preserved by Vector. During this time Proto Omega was subjected to multiple linkage tests with the Zohar. Additional Zohar control tests involved patients at the Acute Neurosis Treatment Facility and the creation of transgenic-type Realians. Proto Merkabah was constructed as a mass-production facility for specialized Realians, using Gnosis gathered with the Song of Nephilim to harness power from the Zohar. As U-TIC developed, the Hyams corporation replaced Vector in funding the Zohar Project research.

Sealing of Old Miltia
The U-TIC organization had been secretly planning to use the power of the Zohar to reclaim Ormus' independence from the Federation. With Mizrahi's successes, the Federation government had become concerned about the increased monopolization of the Zohar by descendants of the Immigrant Fleet. The Federation asked U-TIC to turn over Mizrahi to them; when they refused, the Federation began descent operations on Miltia to try to apprehend Mizrahi and the secrets of the Zohar.

The third descent operation ended in disaster for Miltia when poorly-calibrated combat Realians killed the parents of a young girl. When she screamed in anguish, due to her role in the universe, she resonated with U-DO, activated the Zohar, and opened a door between real and imaginary space, allowing the Gnosis to flood in.

When Mizrahi realized that the Gnosis phenomenon would spread to the rest of space, he cut off Miltia from the U.M.N. and forced the untuned Song of Nephilim into overload, creating the Abyss and effectively sealing away the Zohar in Labyrinthos.

Post-Miltian Conflict
The Federation government created the Contact Subcommittee in T.C. 4754 to continue the Zohar Project and recover the Zohar sealed on Old Miltia. The U-TIC organization and Ormus also began seeking a way to recover the Zohar to enable the return to Lost Jerusalem.

Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht
In T.C. 4767, Shion Uzuki is traveling onboard the Woglinde with experimental battle android KOS-MOS, a development of the Zohar Project. The Woglinde retrieves a Zohar emulator found floating in open space.

Later, in the bay where the Zohar emulator is being held, Shion has a vision of Nephilim in a graveyard with the Original Zohar looming over them. Nephilim says something inaudible to Shion and walks into the Original Zohar, disappearing. Shion reaches out to touch the Zohar and waves ripple along it, radiating from her touch. The vision ends.

Meanwhile, on Fifth Jerusalem, the Contact Subcommittee hires Ziggy to retrieve the 100-Series Realian MOMO who has been captured by U-TIC. The Subcommittee and U-TIC are aware that Joachim Mizrahi implanted the U.M.N. transport code for Old Miltia, as part of the Y-Data, into MOMO's subconscious domain. Once Ziggy rescues MOMO, he is asked to take her to Second Miltia to undergo analysis. On the way to Second Miltia, Ziggy and MOMO's path intersects with that of Shion's.

Eventually, the party winds up on the Durandal where Jr. shows them the Isolation Area. Twelve Zohar emulators are sealed here with a thirteenth spot intended for the Original Zohar. While the party is on the Durandal, U-TIC attempts a plan to seize MOMO again by falsely accusing the Kukai Foundation and the Second Miltian government of treason. To prove their innocence, the party dives into KOS-MOS's subconscious domain. It is here that Febronia appears and asks Shion to free her sisters, Cecily and Cathe, from the Zohar.

MOMO is captured another time and taken to Albedo who is working with U-TIC to retrieve the Y-Data. He is unable to complete his extraction of the data and sets a trap in her subconscious.

Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse
Margulis and Sellers discuss Patriarch Sergius XVII's plan to descend to Old Miltia to retrieve the Zohar once the seal on Old Miltia is broken by Albedo. Sergius XVII appears before the Federation Parliament to accuse the Miltian government of attempting to take the Zohar for themselves and emphasizes the Immigrant Fleet's ancestral right to be the caretakers of the Zohar.

Meanwhile, the analysis of the Y-Data inside of MOMO takes place on Second Miltia at the U.M.N. Control Center. Here, Albedo appears as part of his trap inside MOMO's unconscious domain and begins fighting with Jr. When MOMO attempts to intervene, Albedo is able to access the Y-Data and breaks the seal on Old Miltia.

The Federation and the Immigrant Fleet rush to Old Miltia to be the first to retrieve the Zohar. Additionally, Representative Helmer of Second Miltia sends Jr. and the Kukai Foundation on a covert operation supported by Vector and the Contact Subcommittee to retrieve the Zohar themselves.

While resting, Shion has a dream in which Febronia appears in front of the Zohar and asks Shion again to release Cecily and Cathe from their prison. The party eventually descends to Old Miltia, learning more of the truth behind Mizrahi, U-TIC, and the Zohar. They encounter Sergius XVII deep inside the remains of Labyrinthos in the room with the Zohar from Shion's dream. Cecily and Cathe are here as well, still alive and hooked up to the Zohar as part of Mizrahi's Zohar control system.

Sergius XVII activates the Zohar using this system. In an attempt to shut the Zohar down, Shion reluctantly allows KOS-MOS to destroy Cecily and Cathe, but it is too late. Sergius XVII activates Proto Omega which takes the Zohar inside of it as its power source. The Omega System manifests, destroying the entire planet of Old Miltia.

The party journeys inside the Omega System to stop Sergius XVII's plan. They are allied briefly with Albedo before he is dissipated by an attack from Proto Omega. Before Sergius XVII can annihilate the party, however, he and Proto Omega are obliterated by three Testaments, leaving the Zohar behind. The Testaments use their powers to regenerate Albedo who uses the remaining Omega System and the Zohar to trigger a space-time anomaly.

Jr. goes to the heart of Albedo's space-time anomaly to fight and ultimately destroy Albedo. The space-time anomaly disappears, leaving the Zohar floating in open space. When the Durandal makes a move to recover it, Abel's Ark, a giant Gnosis-like mass appears, swallows the Zohar, and disappears.

Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra
Approximately a year later, Dmitri Yuriev, having taken control of the Zohar Project, has recovered and enhanced Proto Omega calling it Omega Res Novae. This new unit utilizes a Zohar emulator and a young boy named Abel as its pilot and control device.

The party experiences the events directly preceding the sealing of Old Miltia after unknowingly diving into Shion's unconscious. Shion, reliving the trauma of watching her parents die, resonates with the Zohar along with her subconscious child-self, bringing Abel's Ark into normal space again. The Red Testament reveals to Shion that she is suffering from the same illness that Zohar test subjects did. He also reveals that KOS-MOS's power comes from using the Zohar as a gateway to U-DO; repeated exposure to this will cause Shion's death.

Yuriev plans to retrieve the Original Zohar from Abel's Ark to use inside of Omega Res Novae. Once the Original Zohar replaces Seller's emulator and Yuriev fuses with it, Omega Res Novae turns into Omega Metempsychosis. The party battles these two forms with seemingly no hope of overcoming their power until the White Testament shows up to put an end to the fighting. The White Testament removes Abel and the Original Zohar from Omega, rendering Yuriev powerless. It is later revealed that Abel and the Original Zohar were sent to Michtam by someone else's will.

When the party arrives at Zarathustra on Michtam, the Zohar has been inlaid in its base. After Wilhelm is disabled by the Red Testament, Zarathustra goes out of control. chaos, Nephilim, and KOS-MOS use their powers to gather the wills of the Gnosis from Zarathustra and cause the region to undergo a dimensional shift back to Old Jerusalem. It is unknown what happens to the Zohar.

Lore

 * The Zohar in Xenosaga bears a strong resemblance in both form and function to the object in Xenogears as well as to the Conduit in the Xenoblade Chronicles series.

Etymology
The Zohar is a reference to the Zohar, an important group of books in Jewish mysticism that discusses scriptural interpretations of mysticism in the Torah as well as the nature of God, the universe, and souls.