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Sigmund, full name possibly Sigmund Banderas, known in Japanese as Siegmund (総統ジークムント, soutou jīkumunto), is the Kaiser of Kislev. He is a bearded man, dressed in red and black robes, with a large nose and distinct pointy ears.
Biography[]
Sigmund was originally a native of Elru, who was outside the country when it was destroyed. Later, he became involved in Kislev's military, rising in power until he eventually became Kislev's Kaiser, ruling with an iron fist.
When Sigmund rose to the ranks of Kaiser at the age of 30, he took power from the Ethos Committee and used the military to drive them out, gaining control of the government in the process. However, he could not drive out the parts of the Committee in charge of handling and managing Battling, which was needed to bolster Kislev's economy and military[1], as well as provide entertainment to lull and manipulate civilians. Instead, Sigmund allowed a segment called Branch B to remain to oversee it.[2]
The meddling of the Committee did not stop with their ousting, as they continued their interference by sending in a secret faction that continuously interfered with Sigmund by being uncooperative.[3]
In 9969, the Committee secretly had the primary physician administer drugs to an expecting Empress Anne that changed her unborn son's genetic makeup.[4] When Ricardo Banderas was born, he had much more overt demi-human features than that of his father. The Ethos associates banished Rico and Anne from the capital and told Sigmund, who was out on the front lines of Aveh at the time, that his wife and child had died.[5]
As the Committee gained more influence in later years, they began stirring prejudice against demi-humans, hoping to stir unrest in a population where many had demi-human blood. However, their campaign did not give them the results they had wanted, and it remained at a standstill by the time of Xenogears.[1]
Sigmund associates with Grahf and his representative the Executioner, who bring the Kaiser items and technology from Solaris like Weltall and a Gate Keeper device. While he is wary of their true intentions, he feels indebted to them, as it's through studying their technology that Kislev has kept its edge against Aveh in recent decades.
Xenogears[]
In the royal capital, Kaiser Sigmund plays the organ as one of his soldiers enters to deliver some news. As Sigmund continues playing, the soldier reports that "the Gear" had been recovered at the area Sigmund had requested, along with its unconscious pilot. They suspected information was leaked to Aveh due to all the Gears except Weltall were destroyed at Lahan. However, when an analysis was done on Weltall's combat data, it was delayed by some black boxes, due to the Gear's stock body originating from Grahf's group.
The soldier then asks if they should begin an assault on Aveh immediately, and Sigmund objects, saying that while it would be easy to take down Aveh, Solaris would simply find another puppet ruler. Kislev would be low on resources and vulnerable to attack. In the end, he felt, they would gain nothing by doing anything now.
Later, the Executioner arrives in an Ezekiel Class Battleship and gives them a Gatekeeper, which would allow them to go wherever and whenever they pleased. Sigmund asks if Grahf was around, and the Executioner states he was busy, and that she was sent in his place. The Kaiser then asks why they help Kislev, and who they actually were. The Executioner answers that she simply wished to "observe what is in store for the world" and that there were many things they needed to know, but she could only guide them.
When asked if the Executioner wanted anything in return, she thinks about it and discreetly whispers a request into Sigmund's ear. After she returns with her group, Sigmund reveals to his assistant her odd request: to transfer the Gear and pilot they had just captured to the 'D Block', which is reserved for criminals. Sigmund is confused as to why, but, since Kislev owed them a favor, he orders it to be done.
Sigmund orders his execution after Rico again tries to kill him by crashing his Gear into the Kaiser's box seat at the C-Block Battle Arena.
Some of Hammer's dialogue in Disc 2 makes it sound like the Kaiser died sometime over the course of Disc 2, but this has never expressly been confirmed. Hammer says to Rico, "Promise me you'll go back to Nortune one day... You are... the next in line... to be the Kaiser..."
Etymology[]
The title "Kaiser" is the German word for "Emperor".
The name Sigmund has its roots Old High German language and can roughly be translated with "victorious defender of the weak".