However, D, J, S and N are just a tiny part of the alphabet – there are a whole bunch of other Moebius who don’t end up making much a lasting impact at all. Underdeveloped and often literally faceless (and plenty of Moebius helmets aren’t even that distinct), the average Moebius feels like a throwaway villain. That said – is this really that much a problem? Massive as Xenoblade 3 is, it only has like 13-14 hours’ worth of cutscenes, so there’s a limit to how many villains can get a lot of attention. And I’d argue that characters like Consul K, and Consuls OP make the most of their limited screentime.
Also, there’s actually a real benefit to having so many different, less important Moebius: they make for PERFECT Hero Quest bosses. As Moebius, their power and role in Aionios still lends them some real gravitas, and while they may not get much of a chance to truly shine, they do get various good villain moments here and there, and their personalities tend to be pretty distinct. Notably, they’re FAR more compelling bosses than the kind of randos and losers you’d encounter in Xenoblade 2’s Blade Quests, none of which I can even name. Hell, one Hero Quest Moebius (Consul I) actually manages to transcend her small role and becomes a genuinely compelling tragic villain, in large part due to her relationship with the opposing Hero. Other sidequest Moebius, like Consul H, even have speaking roles in story cutscenes, giving them an added sense of importance. Essentially, having so many different Moebius villains gives you both a great sense of a massive, shadowy network of evildoers, making the conspiracy pack more of a punch, as well as giving you lots of good, ready-made Hero Quest villains.
So these throwaway Moebius actually serves their roles well. The REAL problem with Xenoblade 3’s villains has to do with the Top 3 Moebius, who *should* steal the show, yet who all fall short in various ways. Consul X and Consul Y both follow similar trajectories: their introductions establish them as promising villains, important and powerful, with very distinct personalities, only for them to actually do and accomplish very little, and then in Chapter 7 they both suffer extremely rushed and anticlimactic defeats. What a fucking letdown.
As for the Final Boss himself, Z – truthfully, I still don’t really know what to make of this guy. N’s backstory certainly provides him with some genuinely amazing villain moments: watching his mere presence cause N’s allies to collapse and die is both chilling and awe-inspiring, as is him striking down M and N over and over again. And the way he corrupts N and causes him to turn evil makes Z look like almost a Satanic figure, tempting and eventually bringing about the downfall of a potential savior of Aionios.
The problems start once it turns out that Z isn’t really a person at all, but a Concept – a manifestation of the people’s desire for stability, and their fear of change, brought into existence by the fear and uncertainty caused by the worlds merging on that fateful day. These kinds of abstract villains can certainly work (some interpretations of Darkseid, one of the top DC Comics villains, portray him as Evil or Tyranny personified), but the Xenoblade franchise really hasn’t set up anything like this before, making Z’s very origin and existence feel forced and arbitrary – he all too transparently comes across like what he fundamentally is, simply a character the writers came up with to screw up Aionios and create the conflict necessary for the story. It also turns out that N and M, who used to just be regular people, eventually became Regret personified after joining Moebius due to…. suffering from a lot of regret? Suffice to say, the rules for just how these Anthropomorphic Personifications are created don’t make all that much sense, nor are they clearly laid out in the first place.
The whole origin of Aionios is really a mess, which I’ll cover soon enough (as in, at the beginning of the Chapter 7 writeup), but for now I’ll say that in terms of being a villain with a massive impact on a long-running story, yet with an unsatisfactory, arguably nonsensical backstory, Z is actually comparable to Supreme Leader Snoke from the Disney Star Wars trilogy. As harsh as that might sound, I think the comparison is warranted, at least in terms of their hazy origins. And Z’s motives are similarly muddled – though you could argue that this is a function of him representing something that is found in everybody, or something like that. Again, I really just don’t know with this guy.
But that’s really the big problem with the Xenoblade 3 villains – the failure of the final trio, which probably greatly influenced how a lot people remembered the Rogues Gallery as a whole. Because I want to reiterate, the game boasts a number of genuinely good villains, and even many lesser Moebius work very well as Hero Quest bosses. Furthermore, compare the top 4 Xenoblade 1 villains (again I’ll be using some code names: Metal Face, Egil, Giant and Santa Claus) to the top 4 villains of XB3, and I think they’re evenly matched – with 3 boasting the far deeper pool of additional villains. Of course, Xenoblade 2 still has the best villains in the series overall, boasting *3* different bad guys who I’d ague are ALL around N’s level, plus a number of decent lesser villains, and even a good comic relief baddie.
