Ether (XC)

Ether is the base element of all life in the Xenoblade Chronicles series.

Properties
Ether's most commonly seen form is in rivers of liquid ether, which glow bright green and flow in rivers and lakes beneath the surface of Titans in a manner similar to blood. In its liquid state, ether is extremely dangerous, rapidly burning or corroding anything that falls into it; Xord's normally nigh-invincible Mechon armor is destroyed by him being pushed into a lake of raw ether, rendering him vulnerable to even conventional weaponry.

In all three games, liquid ether is compressed into Ether Cylinders and used as a fuel source to power machines. Ether is used for various different purposes, from powering large machines, to forging Gems, to simply powering light sources.

Ether is also present in air particles, which can be manipulated by various weapons and tools.

Xenoblade Chronicles
Ether is the life-blood of both the Bionis and Mechonis. Zanza states that the Monado is a tool capable of controlling the ether of the world itself, which is why it allows its wielder to see visions of the future.

In order to feed himself, Zanza created various life forms to act as ether sources. From his cast-off cells, he created the High Entia to act as his feeding mechanism; when the Bionis needs ether, it emits a high concentration of ether particles, triggering a gene which transforms the High Entia into Telethia. The Telethia then rampage across the Bionis, eradicating all life from its surface and returning their ether to the Bionis. The ancient High Entia became aware of their intended destiny and began breeding with Homs in an attempt to eradicate this gene, leading to half-blooded High Entia such as Melia who would be immune to the transformation.

According to Sharla, both Homs and High Entia are vulnerable to a condition known as "ether deficiency", which is caused by sudden drops in the surrounding environment's ether levels. This is only observed to happen when a Telethia drains the ether from Melia and her guards; stated symptoms include nausea and fatigue. Sharla is able to cure the condition by using exceptionally-pure Water Ether Crystals to add more ether to the area around the victim.

The Homs bury their dead, believing that this returns their ether to the Bionis. This is summarized by the old saying, "what's born of the Bionis is returned to the Bionis", which Reyn refers to as "the way of the Homs".

Xenoblade Chronicles
s and s can be obtained throughout the game, and used to craft s.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2
s are used to upgrade Poppi.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3
s can be obtained from Ether Channels. They are used to reboot Ferronis Hulks and craft s.

Lore

 * In Xenoblade Chronicles, Sword Valley is stated to drain ether from the Bionis, which is used to form anti-Bionis weaponry used by the Mechon later in the game. This implies a difference between the types of ether that exist on the Bionis and Mechonis, but beyond this stated use and the different shapes of ether crystal deposits on the different titans, no other differences have been observed, and s obtained on both are functionally identical to each other.
 * Egil states that only the Bionis feeds on the ether of dead life forms, and that the Mechonis does not. How the Mechonis feeds, or if it even needs to, remains unknown.