Shion Uzuki

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A character/reference from the Xenosaga series.

Shion Uzuki (シオン・ウヅキ, Shion Udzuki^?) is the female protagonist in the PlayStation 2 trilogy known as the Xenosaga series. She is one of the first two playable characters in the series. In Episode I and Episode II, she is a Vector Industries employee. She has one brother: Jin Uzuki.

[edit] Basic information

Born: T.C. 4745

Age: 22 (in Episodes I and II)

Sex: Female

Height: 163cm (5'4")

Weight: 48kg (106 lbs)

Tech Attack: Lighting Blast, Spell Ray, Shock Blade, Thermal Blast, Gravity Well, Lunar Blade, Rain Blade, Ether Amp

Voice Actress (Japanese): Ai Maeda

Voice Actress (English, Episode I, III): Lia Sargent

Voice Actress (English, Episode II): Olivia Hack

[edit] Background

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Shion Uzuki was assigned to Vector Industries' First R&D Division at the young age of 18 in T.C. 4763. Her official title is "Chief Engineer of the KOS-MOS Project General Operation System Research Center, Vector Industries First R&D Division". Her youth, keen intellect and good looks make her a popular person in the company. She has a bright, cheerful personality and is ever the optimist, perhaps to hide the scars of losing both her parents as a child and her fiancé two years ago. In Episode I, it was revealed that she suffers from astraphobia, the result of two truamatic incidents which happened during lightning storms; losing her parents and later her fiancé, Kevin. She does not get along well with her brother, Jin Uzuki (Though she genuinely confesses that she needs him), who is thirteen years her senior. Shion ends up being swept, along with KOS-MOS and her co-worker Allen Ridgeley, into a conspiracy concerning the very fate of mankind itself.

In addition to her intellect (a key factor in her usage of nanotechnology) she learned the same martial arts that Jin and Margulis are masters of as taught by her grandfather. However, unlike Jin and Margulis, she primarily focuses on hand-to-hand combat with use of her M.W.S..

Xenosaga co-creator Soraya Saga (née Kaori Tanaka) has revealed that most of the primary female characters in Xenosaga are named after flowers. "Shion" is the Japanese name of the Tatarian Aster, a type of daisy, though it was once speculated that her name could have been a bastardization of "Zion", a term meaning "The Kingdom of God".

Throughout the series, Shion has exhibited abilities unbecoming of most humans. During the Gnosis' assault on the Woglinde, she was caught in close proximity to an FAE (fuel air explosion), which no ordinary human could possibly survive. Shion, however, was blown away slightly by the explosion and left otherwise unscathed. Shion has also demonstrated the peculiar ability to hear the Song of Nephilim, something which only Realians and U.R.T.V.s (and possibly other genetically altered humans) should be capable of. (It should be noted that chaos has also demonstrated this ability, but his status as a "normal human being" remains ambiguous at best.) Shion was captured and strangled by a Gnosis in its invincible state, which would cause an ordinary human being to freeze and shatter into sodium chloride; unlike others who have come into contact with Gnosis in such a manner (including Andrew Cherenkov), she was not affected by this encounter. Shion also suffers from the same illness as her mother, which Kevin reveals is caused by communication with U-DO. Kevin confirms in Episode III that KOS-MOS is gradually killing Shion since KOS-MOS uses the Zohar and U-DO as an energy source of some sort. Had U-DO not chosen to let humanity live on, Shion would've ultimately died due to the extreme stress caused by these communications.

She has also experienced several unusual perceptions, seeing visions of the young girl named "Nephilim" and of her deceased Realian nanny Febronia. It is also revealed in Xenosaga I & II and the database of III that she has the natural ability to see into the "Realm of Imaginary Numbers", where the Gnosis hail from. Her glasses inhibit this ability and allow her to experience relatively normal perceptions. However, as this sense of hers is not active all the time, and as she "has gotten used to it," she removes the glasses when they present an inconvenience to her daily life.

Her consciousness has existed since the time of Lost Jerusalem as the maiden and close acquaintance of Mary Magdalene; her brief vision of the distant past was not through KOS-MOS' memory, but through her own. It can be deduced from KOS-MOS' last words that Shion's former self died as a result of being caught up in some larger occurrence, and that KOS-MOS (Mary) had been unable to protect her.

After discovering Allen's feelings for her on Michtam, Shion took the first step towards her independence. Shion, so caught up in the memories shared with Kevin Winnicot, had not truly realized the extent of Allen's love for her. Because Allen differs from Kevin in every conceivable way, including attitude, disposition and personal history, Shion felt as though he would be the one able to offer comfort for her sorrowful heart.

Thus begins Shion's journey to Lost Jerusalem, wherein humanity's collective consciousness awaits guidance and salvation.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Other appearances

Shion also makes an appearance in Namco x Capcom, when she, MOMO, and KOS-MOS appear in the middle of Shibuya during a series of dimensional disturbances, in time to help the main characters against a Gnosis attack. In the game, Shion is paired with MOMO as a single unit.