| “ | That's basic human instinct. Humans are driven by impulse to destroy. Destruction serves as a way to feel out others and confirm your own existence. Then, you try to find atonement to comfort yourself, after you're unable to deny your instincts. I tried to live exactly like that.
|
” |
Lieutenant Luis Virgil (ルイス・バージル, Ruisu Bājiru) is a Galaxy Federation A.G.W.S. second unit pilot and a commander tactician known for his improvisational skills. He is part of the 117th Marine Division, a Federation Marine Corps Division assigned to escort the cruiser Woglinde in search of the disappeared planet Ariadne after the Ariadne Incident.
Virgil was a veteran of the Miltian Conflict, a traumatic war that occurred fourteen years prior to Episode I’s beginning that affected many lives.
Personality[]
| “ | I'm a soldier, but I'm still human. I have a heart. I'm not like those Realian cannibals! | ” |
As a result of his experiences, Virgil is hostile towards Realians. He has an overwhelming amount of resentment in his heart due to having having known first-hand the violence Realians are capable of, and is disgusted by Shion Uzuki treating them as ordinary human beings. He sees Shion's humanism as hypocritical, feeling that her company, as well as Shion herself to a degree, see Realians much like he does: weapons and tools, or worse, merchandise to be bought and sold.
Virgil's contempt extends to people as well, feeling that humans are driven by their impulse to destroy in order to prove and confirm they exist. In the anime, he states that "humans only retain their humanity when things are calm and happy".
As a lieutenant, Virgil is quick to take control of the situation when attacked. Even when the situation is dire, he doesn't back away and looks to see how to turn the situation around with what he has. The flipside of this is that Virgil is aggressive and violent, when showing no remorse in using Realians to turn the tide against the Gnosis, or taking into account how his methods affect the survivors with him.[1]
The one time Virgil felt at peace was with Febronia. Having been saved by someone he saw as his enemy, Virgil was frustrated at his own worthlessness. Eventually, he began to open up to her, and found a peace he had never felt before.
When that peace and love was violently ripped away, Virgil mended the emptiness left behoind with denial and hatred. He denies the existence of the love he had, as well as the existence of the vulnerable part of himself that was helpless to protect her.[2] He also doubled down on his hatred of Realians, once claiming to Shion during battle that he had eaten them and that they were "quite delicious".[3]
Even still, Virgil wants a way to truly overcome his pain, and return to that tranquility he felt. However, as long as he denies his love, he will not be able to reunite with Febronia.[2]
Background[]
Febronia caring for Virgil in her church.
No much known about Virgil's youth, aside from the fact that he attended a Federation military academy with Caspase.
On Old Miltia, an 18-year-old Virgil was a participant of the Miltian Conflict's second descent operation, and was ordered to dispose of Realians there. He was attacked by a group of Combat Realians which were ordered to attack Federation personnel.
As an act of selflessness, a 16-year-old half-human half-Realian named Febronia gave up part of her organs to help keep Virgil alive, hoping that the cells in her body would have an affinity with Virgil's. After recovering herself, Febronia treated his injuries and also provided food and shelter for him in her church.
For a brief while after that, Febronia and Virgil rendezvoused frequently, nurturing the love between them. They talked a lot about Realians and their nature, as well as the relationship between Realians and humans. At first, Virgil felt worthless at his powerlessness, but eventually he began to open himself up to Febronia, feeling at peace for the first time in his life.
Xenosaga III HD Cutscene 193 - Tragedy at the Church (Old Church) - ENGLISH
Virgil unable to prevent Febronia's death.
During the Miltian Conflict, Febronia's church was attacked by a rogue group of Combat Realians that Shion had been trying to escape from. Febronia bravely confronted the attackers in an attempt to serve as a distraction while Virgil and Shion were fleeing for safety. Virgil and Shion witnessed her being stabbed through her heart by one of the rogue Realians, her last words being for the two to "run" right before the Realians began to consume her flesh.
Virgil killing Combat Realians in revenge.
Virgil was distraught, attacking and killing the Realians in order to carry Febronia's body to safety. Ordering Shion to get away from the church and to not to go to the city, Virgil gave her a key to Labyrinthos so that she could reunite with her family. How Virgil was able to survive the rest of the Miltian Conflict is unknown, but he was able to get off the planet before it was locked into the Abyss.
Due to Febronia donating her organs to save his life, Virgil went on to suffer from the effects of DME Addiction, which is contracted when a person consumes the internal tissues of Realians. This resulted in the hard, cracked skin on his face.
Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht[]
Realian Maintenance
Virgil insults Realians while talking to Shion and Caspase.
As a soldier of the Federation, Virgil is on the Woglinde. Virgil debuts in the Realian maintenance room where he insults them and complains they reek, showing his obvious contempt of Realians. Neither Virgil or Shion show signs of recognizing the other after fourteen years.
Virgil gets into an argument with Shion, asking her why she's treating "equipment like people". Shion argues back, stating Realians have the same intellect and emotions and that they have rights under the Miltian Charter. Virgil calls her rebuttal a "load of crap" and tells her to "get off [her] soapbox". He points out that Shion's company doesn't feel the same, and that there was an override code to control them.
Once he leaves, Lieutenant Caspase apologizes to Shion, claiming Virgil "wasn't always like that. But then... something happened".
Virgil the Conductor
Virgil sacrificing Realians to Gnosis.
Later, when the Woglinde is being attacked by Gnosis, Virgil swipes Shion's connection gear and hacks into the neural structures of his own squad of Realian soldiers, causing them to self-destruct in order to defend the Gnosis attack, despite Shion's objections.
Virgil becomes a playable battle character for an extremely brief period of time. Virgil, like all temporary playable characters, cannot change equipment and does not have any sort of Tech/Ether attacks. For a weapon, he uses a Vector Industries sub-machine gun. For close combat, he simply bashes the enemy with it.
Lieutenant Virgil's Death
KOS-MOS kills Virgil to save Shion.
Virgil is accidentally killed during the Gnosis assault by KOS-MOS when he strayed into her line of fire while attacking another Gnosis. KOS-MOS was presented with the choice of holding her fire and allowing the possibility of the Gnosis killing Shion, or firing and destroying the Gnosis but also killing Virgil in the process. KOS-MOS ultimately took the course of action that ensured the safety of all Vector employees. Shion is horrified by Virgil's death and holds it against KOS-MOS. KOS-MOS tells Shion that she must survive or else it will render Virgil's sacrifice meaningless.
Later, Virgil is resurrected by Vector CEO Wilhelm as the Blue Testament, and now takes orders from Wilhelm and his aide, the Red Testament.
Virgil first reappears disguised as the Blue Testament on the Song of Nephilim, where he bails out Albedo Piazzolla who was just defeated by Shion, Jr. and their companions. When Albedo departs, Virgil transforms into the Gnosis Ein Rugel. When the party defeats him, he then morphs into the Gnosis Doppelwogel. After being defeated, when Shion asks what Blue Testament is trying to accomplish, he tells her to "come to that time" and "to that place".
The Blue Testament reveals himself as Virgil.
The Blue Testament appears again after Albedo summons Proto Merkabah to Second Miltia, where he is reprimanded by the Red Testament to just let Albedo go. When the Red Testament shows him just what his and Wilhelm's plan is and how it relates to Albedo, he reluctantly backs off. He pilots the E.S. Naphtali, a blue, arachnid-limbed machine with a humanoid torso and a large accompanying rifle that can be teleported at will.
Xenosaga: The Animation[]
Virgil confronting Shion about Realians.
Virgil's role in Xenosaga: The Animation is changed from Xenosaga I. He survives the Gnosis assault on the Woglinde in the place of Commander Andrew Cherenkov, who was crushed to death by a falling Gnosis.
Virgil's history and backstory were not hinted at, but he served a few roles in the anime's plot, the most notable ones being his part in stopping Pellegri while Shion and company were in the Encephalon. It was because of his A.G.W.S. assault on the E.S. Issachar that chaos and Jin Uzuki managed to drive off Pellegri. The other one was saving MOMO Mizrahi from the Gnosis minutes prior to his death.
Virgil finally died in episode 9 when his A.G.W.S. was obliterated by KOS-MOS's X-Buster attack while defending the Kukai Foundation from a Gnosis attack. Similar to the game, Virgil also sees a vision of Febronia embrace him as he dies. After he dies, Shion weeps for him.
Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse[]
Virgil in the Ω System.
Virgil only shows up twice in Episode II.
He appears once aboard the Ω System with Kevin and Voyager where they kill the pope, Patriarch Sergius XVII. They destroy Proto Ω and reconstruct Albedo.
Virgil appears again at the very end as the Blue Testament, again alongside Kevin and Voyager as Wilhelm comments to them on Albedo, much like he does to Kevin at the end of Episode I.
Xenosaga I & II[]
In Xenosaga I & II, Virgil and E.S. Naphtali show up on Old Miltia in the Episode II portion of the game and he confronts Shion and her companions before they reach Labyrinthos. He then attacks the group and they do battle. He later speaks with Shion before she faces Patriarch Sergius on the Ω System.
Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra[]
Xenosaga Episode III - Chapter 3 - Rennes-le-Château - Blue Testament
Virgil on Rennes-le-Château.
In Episode III, Virgil confronts Shion and the others on the landmass Rennes-le-Château, showing up on E.S. Naphtali and finally unmasking himself, revealing his identity to the party for the first time.
Virgil chides Shion for her self-righteous and hypocritical actions, then attacks the party, seeking to prevent them from entering the temple on ahead. When he is defeated, Albedo and the newly restored E.S. Simeon appear and he extracts Naphtali's Vessel of Anima. Together Virgil and Albedo disappear, but not before Albedo makes his presence known to the group once again.
Revisiting the Past[]
In the version of Miltia drawn from Shion's subconscious, Shion and the party come across and rescue a young Virgil from Combat Realians. He tries to command them to drop their weapons, but soon collapses from his wounds. Carrying him to Febronia's church, the party becomes involved in helping Febronia transplant her organs to save Virgil's life.
Xenosaga Episode III - Chapter 5 - Febronia - Visiting Virgil
Febronia visits Virgil.
After the surgery, Virgil is confused by Jin and the others, realizing they were neither U-TIC or the Federation. He is gruff with a young Shion as she tries to give him flowers, but reluctantly accepts them to avoid making her sad, thanking her. The older Shion chuckles at Virgil's expense, saying that he looked so different from when they had first met.
When Febronia enters the room, Virgil recognizes that she is a U-TIC Realian and tells her to stay back. Shion reminds him that Febronia saved his life, but Virgil is unmoved, saying he feels sick to have a part of a Realian in his body, and that, if he could move, he'd kill himself. Shion and Virgil argue further, and Febronia intervenes, imploring Virgil not to speak lightly about throwing away the life they all worked so hard to save. Virgil is irritated by Febronia's answers to his jabs, ending the argument by claiming he felt sick and laying down with his back turned to Febronia.
Virgil and Febronia's budding relationship plays out as before, with Virgil slowly warming up to Febronia.
During the Third Descent Operation, the events that led to Febronia's death play out as before, ending with the real Shion entering the church and seeing the younger, injured Virgil assaulted by the combat Realians, as well as Febronia's dead body lying on the floor. Enraged, Shion charges in and kills the Realians.
Virgil mourns Febronia and Shion tries to snap Virgil out of his malaise. Virgil then asks Shion if Realians can share information. When Shion confirms his suspicions, Virgil explains that he may have unknowingly sent the child Shion into danger, and that he needs to go help her.
As Shion lifts Virgil onto her shoulder, she asks him why he decided to help the child Shion. Virgil asks her why that's so strange, since, even though he's a soldier, he's still human, unlike "those Realian cannibals" that had killed Febronia. After a moment of reflection, Shion hands him the self-destruct code for the Realians as a last resort.
Testament Virgil
Virgil's death.
Jr., who had went ahead, runs back into the room, alerting the two that there Realians in front. Combat Realians emerge from the two doors on either side of the altar, forcing the party to flee through the front double doors ahead of Shion and Virgil. As they get close to the entrance, Shion urges Virgil on, telling him that they know it's like him not to quit.
Retorting that this definitely wasn't like him, Virgil throws Shion through the front doors and seals them closed behind her, trapping himself inside with the Realians. As Shion pounds on the door, Virgil asks her to promise him that she protect young Shion. Shion refuses, yelling that Virgil is coming with them.
As Virgil stares down the approaching Combat Realians, he ponders aloud that despite everything they went through, he never got Shion's name. As Shion cries out his name, Virgil uses the self-destruct code, sacrificing himself.
Virgil Reproves Shion
Virgil calls Shion out on her hypocrisy.
The true Virgil, the Blue Testament, confronts Shion in Febronia's ruined church. Virgil claims that the two of them are exactly the same: people who would do anything in order to survive and for Shion to be making excuses and trying to find justification for her actions is hypocrisy.
Virgil taunts Shion, stating that he and Shion are driven only by revenge. He once had hope and ideals, but then he realized that nothing would change. Human will was limited by a world where "everything is closed", he believed, and that was the reality all of them came to understand.
Virgil continues, claiming that Shion was actually happy that he and Kevin still exist, and that her heart still yearns to see Kevin. He tempts Shion with the thought of being reunited with Kevin again, prompting Jin to intervene with a blast from his katana.
Virgil attacks Shion's allies and during the fight, he shouts, "Show me the proof of your existence!" at them, stemming from his belief that humans destroy to prove and confirm that they exist.
Febronia and Virgil
Febronia embraces Luis.
After Virgil's defeat, the spirit of Febronia appears, now visible to Virgil. Through tempting Shion to go to Kevin earlier, Virgil had opened his own heart. Though he denies his love for Febronia, she exposes the truth Virgil had hidden from himself: he had become a Testament not because he accepted a world where everything is set and nothing could be changed, but because it gave him a way to return to the moment that "proved who [he] once [was]".[2]
Febronia works through Virgil's denials, stating, "I want to free you from this cursed place forever!" She embraces him, saying that even if she is dead, she is still with him, and that it was him who taught her that sharing their feelings would be enough to change the world. Virgil then realized his true wish: to accept the world together with Febronia, as well as the truth of his past.
A light bursts in the church, and Virgil, now carrying Febronia's dead body, walks into it with Febronia beside him.
Etymology[]
Luis is derived from the Germanic given name Hludowig and Chlodovech (modern German Ludwig). The Germanic name is composed of the words for "fame" (hlūd) and "warrior" (wīg) which may be translated to famous warrior or "famous in battle".
The name Virgil can be traced to multiple sources, including the Divine Comedy, where the character of Virgil served as a guide through Hell. That character was in turn based on a historical Roman poet who wrote the epic poem the Aeneid.
Quotes[]
Episode I
- "Their stench... It reeks. I can't get their rotten odor out of my system. Can't you smell it? It makes me sick to my stomach."
- "These people?! You're treating equipment like people?"
- "What a load of crap... Get off your soapbox! You act noble and preach about humanity, but in the end, they're just equipment as far as your company's concerned. Or maybe... more like merchandise..."
- "Free will, huh… Well, good for you. You'd better just enjoy it while you can. The time'll come soon enough when you'll realize what's going on. Just you wait..."
- "Have fun pretending you're just like a human! Just remember this: humans only retain their humanity when things are calm and happy - if they're lucky. But you Realians... hmph. Just wait until we're in an extreme situation. That's when you're going to learn the hard way what your position on the food chain really is." (in the anime)
- "So whaddya gonna do about it? Tell me, why haven't you disabled that function? Sure it's factory-loaded, but you of all people shouldn't have any trouble removing it. Since you care about them so much, all it would take is a little tweak, and they'd be free as birds. And yet you don't. Why not? Exactly! It's protocol! In other words, you're just like me, bound by that protocol. We're the ones that give them a reason to live. Am I wrong?! That's the difference between us and them! Am I wrong?! So, why not give it to them? A meaning to their pitiful existence!" (Virgil sacrificing Realians to stop Gnosis)
- "Who? What does it matter? Or... do you need a name to describe me? A definition by words is merely a means to deceive oneself. It's meaningless before the truth. What matters is how you perceive things. The slightest shift, then life and death no longer have any meaning." (as Blue Testament)
Episode III
- "Oh, so you remember me? Well, isn't that nice. I find that rather interesting. You see, I remember you, too. I remember that you let me die!" (to Shion)
- "That doesn't make sense. I came to this planet to dispose of you Realians. You could be executed for saving me." (to Febronia)
- "I've been ordered to kill Realians. To a soldier, orders are absolute." (to Febronia)
- "You bastards! This isn't what you were supposed to do. Stop it, all of you, you're no better than us!" (to the Realians devouring Febronia)
- "Show me the proof of your existence!"
- "And you lived for that same purpose! You disassembled Realians, and dreamed of giving consciousness to inorganic matter. Comforting yourself with the hatred towards your father, and anger over your mother's death. You're doing things you don't want to do, just to escape your feelings of guilt. 'Hypocrite'...the word doesn't even begin to describe you. Be more true to yourself!" (to Shion)
- "Oh, I understand you, because you and I are the same kind of person. What is it that drives you? That's right. Revenge. Only revenge drives both you and me, and that's the truth. Ideals crumble easily. Hope is like a mist before the morning sunrise of reality. That's exactly how I was. But then I learned, nothing will change. There is a limit to will, the limit of this world in which everything is closed. Yes. That is what all of us came to understand." (to Shion)
- "You're no different, either. You're just like me...now that you've lost your body." (to Febronia)
- "Enough talking! Do you really think that I'm still hanging on to you?! I feel nothing for any of you Realians!" (to Febronia)
Virgil and Febronia by Kunihiko Tanaka.
- "This is my reason? This is my proof? Don't make me laugh. I regret absolutely nothing. I am here precisely because I have finally accepted myself, and this world! Those of you who reject this world, you could never understand!" (to Febronia)
- "That is just wishful thinking. You're only clinging to what little hope you have left!" (to Febronia about change)
- "You died and left me! I have nothing to say to you!" (to Febronia)
- "Just leave me alone! You're already dead, Febronia!" (to Febronia)
- "But I-- I couldn't even save you!" (to Febronia)
- "Do you hate me? None of this would've ever happened... if you hadn't gotten involved. Why did you have to, why? It's too much to bear. All I want... All I really want... is for you..." (last words to Febronia)
Trivia[]
Ⓦ Xenosaga Ep. 1 Walkthrough - Cyclops boss fight
Virgil as a party member.
- According to Xenosaga: Official Design Materials, Virgil is classified as an Enneagram type 8, along with Albedo, Gaignun, Jr., and Margulis.
- Virgil is the first temporary guest party member in the entire series.
- In Episode I, the camera focuses on Virgil's bracelet when he is first introduced.(at 4:00)
- In Episode III, during his boss battle in the church, it begins raining and the church fills with fog.
Gallery[]
Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht[]
Xenosaga I & II[]
Xenosaga: The Animation[]
Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra[]
References[]
- ↑ Xenosaga ODM, pg. 48.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Xenosaga Perfect Guide, 34. What was Virgil Aiming for?
- ↑ Virgil: It's been almost 14 years now. Since I returned from Miltia, that is. Out on the fields, I took apart so many of them to get what I was looking for. It was a lot of work, you know? What with that dual-stage protection they got and all… Shion: Dual-stage… Lieutenant, you consumed their…neuro... Virgil: But of course. They were quite delicious. Shion: How could you… Virgil: That's when I found out about the control code. It's quite a convenient function you put in there!