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"Ahhh, it's so good to be alive! I'm telling you, the crazy stuff the chief pulls always keeps me on edge."

Allen Ridgeley (アレン・リッジリー, Aren Rijjirī) is a character in the Xenosaga series. He is the loyal but passive-aggressive assistant to Shion Uzuki. His complaints and goofy nature obscure a down-to-earth man who is indecisive in matters of the heart, especially when it comes to how to reach out to Shion.

Personality[]

As the youngest son from a large family of some means, Allen disliked the 'rat race' that pitted his brothers against each other in order to win their workaholic father's favor and inheritance. Still, he admits his family was a relatively happy one, and that they were good people, even if felt like his family life was like a "prison".[1]

Because of his family, Allen resolved as a teenager that being a "man" meant meant being self-dependent, and navigating the trials of becoming an adult without his family's help. He has since left his family behind, preferring to not rely on them, and never mentions them unless asked.

As an adult, while he still believes in being independent to some degree, he also believes everyone's troubles aren't meant to be compared, as they are still real to the person experiencing them. This leads to him objecting when Shion dismisses her own feelings as “no big deal”, as he feels they are still valid.

Allen cares for Shion deeply, but has trouble expressing his feelings to her. His feelings for Shion venture into co-dependence, as he wants to take Shion's sorrow away and ease her emotional pain, but can't until she decides to do do herself. Part of his personal journey is finding his own balance between independence and cooperation, and understanding his own strengths in who he is as a person.[2]

In his time working with Shion, Allen understands a little of how and why Shion is reluctant to share her pain with anyone. With Shion having yet to fully deal with her former lover Kevin Winnicot's death added on top of Allen's own personal insecurities regarding Kevin, he does not often express his feelings, often messing up when he tries.

Allen's anxious personality, when combined with his tendency to bluntly share his observations and theories aloud, sometimes leading to him appearing as insensitive or inconsiderate.

One of Allen's secret passions is fishing. His plan was to retire after working eleven years as a Camelle and to buy a lodge in some isolated area and fish everyday for the rest of his life.

Background[]

Allen comes from a large wealthy family. In Xenosaga I & II, it is revealed his father was a workaholic businessman who rarely played with him as a child. Allen's older brothers competed against one another to be their father's successor.

Wanting to make his own way instead of follow in his brothers' footsteps, Allen went to Bormeo University on a scholarship and studied what he was interested in, with his trajectory aimed for Vector Industries.

Vector Industries[]

Scene15

Kevin, Shion and Allen look at the KOS-MOS Archetype.

After graduating from Bormeo University, Allen joined Vector Industries' First R&D Division in T.C. 4764 and was placed on the KOS-MOS development project under then Chief Engineer Kevin Winnicot and Junior Chief Engineer Shion Uzuki.

Allen was away for a business trip when the incident of the KOS-MOS archetype malfunction occurred. He returned just after the event and was asked to identify the bodies of his former co-workers. He located Shion, who was relatively uninjured.

A year later, after the incident where the KOS-MOS Archetype was prematurely activated by U-TIC, which resulted in Kevin's death, Shion was promoted to Chief Engineer and continued her mentor/boyfriend's work while Allen was then promoted to Shion's former position as Junior Chief Engineer.

Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht[]

Allen often oversaw Shion's Encephalon Dives to train KOS-MOS, and at least twice was forced to risk his life entering the dives to pull an oblivious and over-confident Shion out before they collapsed and killed her. He was aboard the Woglinde when it chanced upon a Zohar Emulator. In the resulting chaos caused by a massive Gnosis attack, Allen accompanied a self-awakened KOS-MOS to rescue Shion. On the way back to the escape pods, Allen fought alongside Luis Virgil, KOS-MOS, and Shion, using an automatic rifle.

Shortly after the attack, the Elsa rescued the escape pod Shion and Allen shared at the insistence of KOS-MOS. After their rescue, Allen made a terrible first impression on the crew by openly questioning chaos for his ability to dissolve Gnosis by touch. This habit of pointing out obvious inconsistencies or true possibilities even if they came across as insensitive cropped up a few times in the game.

Racist

Allen's comment about Realians annoys Shion.

Allen distrusted the Kukai Foundation for being connected to “mutants”, though he had no issue with any of them when he met them and enjoyed visiting the Kukai Foundation.

Allen continued his run of bad first impressions by insulting Jr. when the Durandal met up with the Elsa, though Jr. seems to have taken it in stride by taking a jab at Allen in a joking manner. Though chaos took part in this jabbing, Allen thinks chaos is “too nice” because when he later told chaos that he wished he could take Shion's tears away, chaos listened to him.

When the party was framed for the destruction of the Woglinde, Allen was sucked into KOS-MOS's subconscious domain along with the rest, and was present when Nephilim Verum informed them all that they would have to eventually confront their pasts.

Allen is seen crying out of joy in the ending when KOS-MOS survives.

Xenosaga Freaks[]

XenosagaFreaksCast

Allen with the gang.

At some point during Episode I, the events of Xenosaga Freaks occur. KOS-MOS goes on a rampage destroying parts of the Elsa and Durandal.

It turns out that Allen is partially responsible for this by virtue of allowing Professor and Assistant Scott to railroad him into being Assistant #2 and convincing him to let them install the Schrödinger AI into KOS-MOS (a.k.a Assistant #3) which involved remote controlling her through cat-ear antennae. This somehow releases a nanovirus that adversely affects the 100-Series Realians and MOMO Mizrahi.

Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse[]

Allen2

Allen from Episode II

When MOMO attempts to defend the Y-Data stored in her by erasing herself, Shion calls Allen in to oversee the Encephalon Dive into MOMO's subconscious domain. Though he did not participate in the dive, as the overseer, he helped set up KOS-MOS's mental transfer into it so that she could help the party, and he was aware of everything that occurred during the dive; this is likely when he learned about Dmitri Yuriev and the history of the U.R.T.V.s. He never spoke of it to anyone.

Later on, when Shion is attempting to escape the Dämmerung by stealing E.S. Dinah, Allen accompanies her and has no trouble starting the E.S. or using the weapon system. While stealing the E.S. Dinah, they encountered Voyager in E.S. Dan and were unable to fight it off until KOS-MOS arrived on her space bike, which allowed her to transform Dinah into a proper E.S. and escape.

For the rest of Episode II, Allen is in the background, though he does help Hammer navigate the Elsa to the correct place to pick up the party after their battle with Sergius XVII inside Proto Omega.

In the ending, Miyuki Itsumi tells Allen he has mountains of reports to fill out.

Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra[]

Telos's_Demonstration

Telos's Demonstration

Allen introduces T-elos to Shion.

After Shion resigned from Vector, something which upset Allen, Allen was promoted to Chief of the KOS-MOS Project. Things were generally going well, and he told Shion that KOS-MOS was her “usual anti-social self”.

However, in Episode III, Allen has bad news for Shion: the KOS-MOS project is being scrapped and some of the engineers, himself included, are being transferred to the military to work on another project. He invites her to a demonstration of the new project at the CAT Testing Grounds on Fifth Jerusalem, which turns out to be T-elos.

HotelEleView

Allen with the group in Möbius Hotel.

When news arrives that the Elsa is trapped inside a bubble that only KOS-MOS's Third Armament can hope to pierce, Allen and Miyuki help arrange for the party to steal KOS-MOS. After this, he travels with the party for most of the rest of the game, riding in E.S. Dinah's third seat and possibly helping co-pilot.

Allen consistently worried over Shion's fainting spells and helped her when he could, though he became increasingly irritated at her continued insistence that it was nothing to worry about.

Xenosaga_Episode_III_-_Chapter_4_-_Dabrye_Mine_-_KOS-MOS's_Eternal_Sleep

Xenosaga Episode III - Chapter 4 - Dabrye Mine - KOS-MOS's Eternal Sleep

KOS-MOS is heavily damaged.

On "Old Miltia", when Shion insisted on exploring on her own, Allen went with her to protect her and both disguised themselves as U-TIC researchers. While inside Labyrinthos, he stalled a young Kevin long enough for Shion to steal the original designs for KOS-MOS. Professor and Assistant Scott used these materials to build a new frame for the then-destroyed KOS-MOS, while Allen used them as a guide to reverse engineer and repair her black box, something which no one previously had been able to figure out. Allen was unable to reactivate KOS-MOS after repairing her; it took Voyager threatening Shion's life to wake her up.

Later on, when Shion is captured inside Labyrinthos, Allen accompanies the team to rescue her. At this point he is a playable character. His Big Shot is one of the most powerful Break attacks in the game, rivaling chaos's Break attacks. If used carefully, he is a good support character, able to break in one or two rounds virtually every enemy in the area, including Pellegri, while also using status-affecting buffs and debuffs, making it easier for the more powerful physical fighters to clean up. However, he is something of a glass cannon with his very low Break threshold, though his other stats are average for a support character.

When the party does reach Shion in Labyrinthos, the Red Testament reveals himself as Kevin and explains why he helped arranged the whole Old Miltia re-enactment. He orders KOS-MOS to take Shion and come with him, but KOS-MOS refuses, stating that she only follows the orders of her creators, Shion Uzuki and Mr. Allen Ridgeley.

Much later, while on Michtam, Voyager informs everyone present that they could have been Testaments, as they all have what Wilhelm calls Shining Wills. A Shining Will is required to operate an E.S., as the Vessels of Anima only respond to those with Shining Wills. Some believe Allen was not included in this, but the fact that he can operate an E.S. and suffers no ill effects from it suggests Voyager meant what he said and was not excluding Allen.

Shion_Leaves_Kevin

Shion Leaves Kevin

Allen confronting Kevin about Shion.

Beneath Michtam, when a confused Shion chooses to leave the party to be with Kevin, Allen stands between both groups to stop the fighting. He confronts Kevin and tries to convince Shion to come back to the group, risking his life to do so. Kevin shoots red lightning at Allen, throwing him around and into walls. Shion begs Kevin to stop hurting Allen, claiming that he can't do anything now.

Despite being badly injured, Allen tells Kevin how he feels about Shion, saying he has always wanted to bear her pain for her and that he would do anything for her. He also tells Kevin of his low opinion of Testaments and Yuriev, using their tremendous power to run away from life. He declares that he will bring Shion back, no matter what, to which Kevin responds by firing another red blast at him, intending to kill. KOS-MOS blocks it, sympathizing with Allen. She carries him towards Shion, and he continues to try to convince Shion to come back. When Kevin attempts to kill both Allen and KOS-MOS, Shion stops him and returns to the party.

Mission

Shion, Jr. and Allen embark on a journey to find Lost Jerusalem, the homeland of humanity.

After the party defeats Zarathustra, Jin Uzuki entrusts Shion to Allen's care, calling him “my friend”. On their way toward the Elsa, Shion turns away for a moment and a Gnosis is about to attack her. Allen picks up a rifle, makes a huge leap onto its back that knocks it down and startles everyone else, then beats it a bit before shooting it. When he's done, he offers his hand to help Shion up.

At the end, Allen goes with Shion, Jr., Mary and Shelley, and the Elsa crew to find the lost homeland of humanity, Lost Jerusalem.

Quotes[]

  • "This is so typical of her. Will she ever stop to think about the hell I go through for her?"
  • "What do you mean? Of course I'm traumatized! Chief, that was really uncalled for... Do you think that I'm an emotionless android? For you to even think that is the most traumatizing thing of all... You think I'm an android, don't you?"
  • "Thank heavens you were around to rescue us. We almost became space dust out there because of my stubborn boss here..."
  • "What's the matter, Chief? You didn't come down to the beach just to stare at a screen all day, did you?"
  • "She was crying, wasn't she? I think that's only the second time I've ever seen her cry. No matter what happens, she never shares her pain with anyone. It's times like these when I'm reminded that I'm nothing but a subordinate to her. I... I wish I could take her tears away. Maybe someday." (Allen venting to chaos)
  • "I'd accompany you to the very depths of hell!" (to Shion)
  • "Oh man. Why did I have to fall for somebody like her?"
  • "Well, it's all part of being a man! And the power of love!"
  • "You think you're allowed to do anything you want if you think it'll protect someone's life? That it's all right to ignore the Chief's feelings? I refuse to accept that way of doing things!"
  • "Stop! Please, stop this! No, I won't move! Chief, guys, everyone get a hold of yourselves. What are you all trying to prove by fighting like this?! I've had enough! I didn't come here to do something meaningless like this! We're all fighting to protect the universe so we could all survive, right?!"
  • "That's right, I'm a weak human being. And to you, I'm only an insignificant, powerless creature. But I'll never leave the Chief and run! I will stand firm on this spot and save her, no matter what!"
  • "...Sympathy? You don't understand Chief's suffering like I do. I understand her feelings, her pain and her sadness. And despite that, she struggled alone to do everything that she possibly could! You don't have any idea how much she's been hurt... or how she's suffered. How could anyone like you understand? You have no idea how much she's cried! You see, I wanted to cry in her place. And I wanted to be the one to feel her pain. Because... I wanted to spend my life together with her. I know that I may not be able to do much in this world, but I would do absolutely anything for her!" (to Kevin)
  • "I'll show you! I'm gonna... protect Shion!"

Trivia[]

AllenGhost

Poor Allen.

  • During one trip to the Kukai Foundation, Shion can obtain a photograph of herself from the Pink Bug. In this photograph, a translucent image of Allen is visible, and Pink Bug explains that the image is unexpected, but seems to be a nice ghost, looking out for Shion. This particular mystery is hinted at in Episode II, where a resident of Second Militia mentions a ghost that worked at Vector who couldn't win the love of his beautiful boss and walks the streets at night.
  • In Episode III, Allen prepares "curry gruel" for Shion when she falls ill. This rice gruel uses Shion's homemade curry as its soup base and has been prepared with plenty of Allen's tender affection, but its flavor cannot be guaranteed.

Gallery[]

Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht[]

Xenosaga: The Animation[]

Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse[]

Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra[]

Xenosaga Freaks: XenoComi[]

  1. Xenosaga I & II DS, https://xeno-underground.net/wiki/doku.php?id=wiki:allen_talks_about_his_family
  2. Xenosaga: Official Design Materials, pg 46.
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