Architect

The Architect is a character in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. He is said to have created Alrest.

Appearance and personality
The Architect is a man with a skeletal constitution and long gold hair. The right half of his body is replaced by a dark void. He wears the ragged remains of his lab coat, with several wires and green tubes connected to his back. The Architect is full of regret, believing that his immortality via the Conduit is a punishment from on high from when he conducted the experiment with it eons ago. He also believed that it was fate that the new human race that he created were destined to destroy each other.

Story arc
Despite being mentioned multiple times throughout the story, the Architect never appears in-person until Chapter 7 in which he examines the empty terminal that once contained the Trinity Processor. In Chapter 10, he refers to himself as a fool, and says that "the time has come". Malos is the first to meet him; the Architect refers to him as "Logos". Confused, Malos asks him what the name means; he answers that it means nothing, but it represents of the egos of those who named him. Malos then asks him how many years have passed since they last met, and the Architect says that it has been too long to remember. Malos then tries to kill the Architect to no avail, with the latter revealing that he's dying anyway. Malos then asks if his own will is really his, with the Architect replying that it was 'a choice they made together'. Malos then thanks him for creating him and leaves to take control of Artifice Aion.

When Rex and his companions reach Elysium, they find it a barren wasteland much to Rex's shock. As the party explores the ruins, they come across a church. The Architect greets them as they enter the ruined building. Pyra recognizes his voice, which surprises Mòrag, prompting her to ask where he is; he replies that he "is always here", then requests them to come to him, opening a secret passage beneath the altar. When the party descends the stairs, he tests them by making them experience the fears they unconsciously harbored; in the process, Rex nearly breaks down. This prompts Pyra to ask the Architect to put an end to the illusions, which he agrees to do.

The party then finds themselves in the Architect's Room, much to their confusion. The Architect explains that he wanted to examine the shapes of their hearts. He then introduces himself as Klaus, saying that he has been watching them throughout their journey. Rex asks him if he created the illusions they saw, which he confirms. In turn, Zeke and Dromarch confront him about the purposes of the illusions; his answer is that he wished to find out how mankind has changed and where it is heading. Mòrag then asks the Architect if he was disappointed in the results, to which he replies that he is not, further explaining that it is good enough how they stand before him right now. Rex then tells him he came here because of Pyra, and asks if this really Elysium. The Architect responds by telling the party that he will show them his and the planet's memories. He explains that Alrest (at the time it was Earth) was once the center for a struggle for survival that dwarfed the current situation on Alrest. He explains that humans lived for themselves, and that "the natural state of man" was to harbor desires and struggle to realize them. He lost hope for mankind because of it, searching for an outside solution; he found this in the form of the Conduit, although he does not know why it appeared before humanity. The Architect reveals to the party that many universes exist side-by-side but unaware of one another, and the Conduit was the link to those worlds. The Architect opened this link by conducting the experiment that created Alrest, hoping it would change the world for the better. He then asks the party if they have seen the ruins of Morytha, the remains of Earth. When he activated the Conduit, the majority of the planet — including the right half of his body — disappeared into many dimensions. At this point the Architect's room lights up to reveal a dark void that was once his right half, shocking the entire party, and says that half of him is living in another dimension, but not for long as that half's death is approaching. He laments his foolishness with his experiment and at one point yearned for death which he was denied, which he believes is a punishment from 'on high'.

The Architect then explains that to atone for what he did, he swore to restore the world he obliterated. To start, he created the Cloud Sea, made of a substance which can disassemble matter it makes contact with and rebuild it in the images of things that once made up the old world. Then he began to recreate life by gathering miniature vessels - Core Crystals - which contained the memories of Earth's former lifeforms, and scattered them across the Cloud Sea. These bonded with the Cloud Sea's particulate reconstructors, creating the nuclei of new life; they developed into the Titans which then gave rise to many organisms based on the data in their Core Crystals, which in turn evolved into a new breed of human-kind. Mòrag muses that's how they humans came into being in Alrest.

However, the Architect did not trust the world as it was, fearing that someone similar to him would appear to similarly ruin things. With this in mind he created the s, to be managed by the Trinity Processor (originally the interface with the Conduit used to manage the experiment). The Trinity Processor originally consisted of the three cores Ontos, Logos, and Pneuma; however, Ontos disappeared in a spacetime transition event, leaving only Logos and Pneuma (known to the inhabitants of Alrest as Malos and Pyra/Mythra respectively) to manage the Blades. At this, Pyra ponders on her true identity as Pneuma, to which the Architect nods in agreement. Upon being asked by Dromarch what he meant by 'managing', the Architect responds that the Core Crystal at the heart of each Blade is tasked with relaying information to Logos and Pneuma about the outside world as well as the biological status of the human they bonded with, along with the experiences and emotions they shared. The data is collected and processed by Logos and Pneuma, who send new code back to inactive Core Crystals for their reawakening; over the course of many awakenings and reawakenings, this evolves the Blades. Eventually, the Blades become Titans, which both provide new Core Crystals and host a new generation of lifeforms. Azurda remarks that this is a grand scheme that boggles the average person's mind. Rex realizes that the new humans were born of that new cycle of life to replace the victims of the old world; the Architect confirms this, as well as confirming that the Guldo down in the Land of Morytha were in fact humans who survived the devastation of Earth. The Architect admits that the technology of the Core Crystals was originally used as a replacement for human brain cells among people who sought immortality. Mòrag laments the fate of the former human survivors, but the Architect adds that this technology was adapted to that which gave rise to the Blades and Titans. Azurda remarks that their sacrifice was not in vain, but not everyone would see it as such.

Dromarch asks the Architect if they had developed as he hoped they would. The Architect turns the question back on him, asking what he thinks; after not receiving an answer, he continues that the phantasms that they experienced earlier were the feelings that lurk in all of humanity, including Amalthus. The Architect muses that if a person loses something, they cannot help but seek a reason why, whether it be within themselves or others, and that they search for the answers of who they really are on the inside. The data on human emotions had passed through the Architect, leading him to conclude that the new humans he created were no different from the ones of his era. This, he explains, was the reason that he didn't intervene when Amalthus took Malos and Mythra's Core Crystals to Alrest and when Malos scourged the world he created. Rex asked him why, seeing as he went to all the trouble to restore the planet; the Architect responds that he believed it was fated to happen, that his atonement was in vain, and that he once again yearned to die, shocking Pyra. However, the Architect believes that circumstances had since changed; he was convinced by Rex and Pyra's and Mythra's bond, alongside those of their friends and allies, being of a nature the Architect thought was not possible. Moreover, Rex, Pyra and Mythra's power comes from the Conduit, which according to the Architect has activated again after ages of inactivity; he warns them that none of them can know about its power, but they may be able to use it to change the world for the better.

At the same time, Malos begins his assault on Alrest with several Sirens, shaking the World Tree in the process and startling the party. The Architect confirms that this is Malos trying to destroy Alrest and everything in it, though he emphasises that Malos's true nature is as an information processing unit, neither good nor evil - instead, he is motivated by the despair Amalthus felt. Rex takes this as confirmation that his first impressions of the Praetor in Indol (when he thought he was talking to Malos briefly) were correct. The Architect then asks Rex what is his desire. His answer is to stop Malos, and recites the sixth rule of the Salvager's code: "First have a punch-out, then drink to forget. Once it's forgotten, the friendship's all set" (although he adds that he's still too young to drink), at which the Architect smiles. He then speaks to Pyra (first referring to her as 'Pneuma' but then correcting himself by referring to them as "Pyra and Mythra") in order to apologize for having to burden them with the task of stopping Malos. She reassures him that she's actually grateful, as she was able the party on their journey to Elyisum as a result. The Architect then transfers all of Elysium's data and authorization to Pyra (who takes on her ascended form in the process), then warns Rex that he will die soon, and when he does, the Conduit and its power will vanish from the world, and with it the power that he and Pneuma exercise. The party then leaves to confront Malos, but Rex briefly turns back and asks the Architect if he had changed his mind about the world. He responds that he is glad to have been able to meet the party. Rex agrees and thanks him for creating the world's life. As the party departs to face Malos, the Architect muses that he may be able to face Galea again.

During the fight with Aion, Shulk can be heard preparing to kill Zanza, prompting the Architect to tell Rex that his death is imminent. Immediately after Rex, Pneuma, and Siren defeat Aion, the Architect begins to fade away and the Conduit leaves the plane of existence. Before fading away completely, the Architect gives his beings one final gift: he disperses the Cloud Sea and directs the remaining Titans to gather at a stretch of land revealed beneath.