Sophia

Mother Sophia also known as Elly or Elhaym, is a character in Xenogears. She is the first Mother of Nisan and a preincarnation of Elly.

Appearance and Personality
As an earlier incarnation of Elly, Sophia greatly resembles the modern day Elly although her hair is not as bright in color. Sophia was greatly respected as the Holy Mother of Nisan and became so beloved that she was the symbol for the surface dweller's army in its war against Solaris. For a time she longed for her own death, but got over this feeling through her relationships with Krelian and Lacan. Similar to other incarnations of Elly however she was a self-sacrificial individual which resulted in her eventual death.

Story arc
Sophia is a previous incarnation of Elly that existed 500 years before the events of the game. Similar to other incarnations of the Antitype, she was born under the name Elly. She was the third daughter of the Bishop of the Ashura Monastery. At 7 years old, she manifested ether ability and was sent to Cardinal Penuel to be adopted as a future candidate for Holy Mother. She first met Lacan as a child while recovering from an illness. At 13 years old she was selected as a candidate for that position and changed her name to Sophia. At the time there was a battle between factions for the selection of mother. The Penuel Monastery was attacked and more than half of the faction supporting her were killed including the Cardinal. During this time she started longing for her own death. She met Krelian who had come to kill her and thanked him with a smile. Instead of killing her, Krelian developed feelings for her and took her away to protect her. It is unknown what occurred during the next 7 years while she was with him. When she returned, Nisan's teaching was losing favor but she reorganized its teachings and renamed it the Nisan Orthodox.

At the time the surface was at war against Solaris. Refugees gathered at Nisan and Sophia became revered as the Holy Mother. She became known as the symbol for the surface dweller's army. During the war she and Lacan fell in love and he painted her portrait, which remains in the Nisan to this day. Shevat made a deal with Solaris and agreed to hand Sophia and the rebel army over in exchange for Miang. Sophia instead sacrificed herself, piloting the battleship Excalibur directly into the Solaris aerial fortress Merkava. Her last words to Lacan were "Live!". Both Lacan and Krelian were devastated by Sophia's death and it would have a big impact on their motivations over the next 500 years.

Merchandise
Sophia's unfinished painting was released as a painting in 2019 exclusively in Japan on Square Enix's online store for 40,537¥.