Shion

Shion Uzuki () is a playable character and one of the protagonists in the Xenosaga series. She is the chief of Vector Industries' KOS-MOS project.
==Appearance and personality==
Shion is a young woman with brunette hair and green eyes. She sometimes wears circular glasses. In Episode I, Shion wears the women's Vector Industries uniform with blue accents, black tights and yellow boots. In Episode II, Shion wears a black leather vest, red undershirt, beige pants and flats of the same color. In A Missing Year, Shion wears a pink dress and scarf with a white peacoat and boots. In Episode III, Shion wears a white and blue fur coat, a black corset, reddish brown shorts, black stockings and grey boots. Shion wears a green-blue crystal around her neck.
Shion is a curious and stubborn person, always asking questions in search of satisfactory answers. Despite this meticulousness, she's also somewhat scatterbrained and often oblivious to her surroundings. Shion is known for her kindness and is concerned for others and tries to help them in any way. Shion is a strong advocate for Realian rights and wants to learn more about them to counter her own implicit bias. She has zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind.
Shion is deeply traumatized by her past, often experiencing complete breakdowns when her trauma resurfaces. As the series goes on, her mental state becomes more and more unstable to the point of lashing out at her friends and rejecting their advice, falling into seemingly random fits of depression as she questions her place in the world. As a result of the losses she has experienced, she's grown an extreme fear of loneliness.
==Story arc==
===History===
Shion was born on the planet Miltia to Suou and Aoi Uzuki in the year 4745 T.C. She grew up in Dasgupta, Milita, in a house on block B-32. Her mother was hospitalized in the Acute Neurosis Treatment Facility at Labyrinthos due to her connection to U-DO. Shion regularly visited her mother's room, and often saw the Song of Nephilim through the window. She would also often wait for her father on the swing set outside Labyrinthos. During that time, she met Febronia and her sisters Cecily and Cathe, who she was good friends with. At one point, Shion met and befriended another one of Febronia's sisters named Almadel while she was under experimentation by Shion's father. Febronia taught her how to plant flowers and gave her some seeds. Shion spent time outside the Acute Neurosis Treatment Facility tending to the seeds she planted in the hopes that her mother would see the flowers that grew. 
====Miltian Conflict====
After the Second Descent Operation of the Miltian Conflict, Shion helped Febronia save the life of a Galaxy Federation soldier named Luis Virgil. While watering the plants for her mother, Shion met Kevin Winnicot, her future boyfriend, and had him reluctantly water the plants.
During the Third Descent Operation, Shion's world fell apart. At the church, she witnessed berserk combat Realians kill and devour Febronia and fled in terror. Virgil ordered her to run as far away from the church as she could, but told her not to go to the city, and gave her a key to Labyrinthos so that she could reunite with her family. However, when she arrived at her mother's room, she witnessed her parents being killed by the 27-Series Asuras while hiding under her mother's bed. Once the Realians had gone, she tried and failed to stop her mother's bleedingThe blood is removed from the English release of Xenosaga Episode III. and screamed in anguish, unknowingly resonating with the and calling forth the Gnosis. Her older brother Jin arrived shortly after, but was unable to save his parents due to being preoccupied in a duel with Margulis.
====Adolescence====
After the Miltian Conflict, Shion and Jin take refuge on Second Miltia and continue to live there, but grow increasingly distant over time. During her high school years, Shion worked a part-time job at Moby Dick's Café, a cafe she and Jin frequented, under her boss, Boss. Whenever Shion felt particularly stressed during this time, she would go to a park near her house and look at the stars at night.
====Working at Vector Industries====
Later, while applying to work for Vector Industries under the Third R&D Division, Shion met Kevin Winnicot for the first time since the Miltian Conflict when he saves her from a near-accident on the Dämmerung. She soon discovered that her application was not only accepted by the Third R&D Division, but also mysteriously accepted by the First R&D Division. Shion was then assigned to live on the planet Carioca as a member of the First R&D Division, where she would work with the Type 1 OS Design Department. Here, she gradually formed a romantic relationship with her superior, the familiar Kevin Winnicot, and later found out that it was him who pulled the strings to get her assigned to First Division at the young age of 18 after he had read one of her research papers on Realian emotional coordination. About a year after Shion joined the Type 1 OS Design Department, she met Allen Ridgeley who quickly formed an attachment to her, acting as a third wheel to her relationship with Kevin.
After about 2 years of working on the KOS-MOS Archetype, the lab on Carioca was invaded by the U-TIC Organization on an especially stormy night. In the midst of the invasion, the Archetype suddenly woke up and began killing Vector researchers and U-TIC soldiers alike. While guarding Shion from the danger, Kevin was impaled by the Archetype's attack and died from blood loss. In order to stop the Archetype from taking any more lives, Shion fired a single grenade round at its cranium, decapitating it and disabling its AI in the process. Allen, who was just returning from a business trip, gets to the lab just in time to find Shion unconscious on the roof of the facility. Later, as a result of Kevin's death, Shion was appointed as the Chief of the newly formed KOS-MOS Project, with Allen taking her place as Deputy Chief.
===Episode I===
Shion begins the game stationed on the Galaxy Federation vessel, Woglinde, along with the rest of the KOS-MOS development team. She travels into the Encephalon simulation in order to test KOS-MOS's abilities. Things start behaving strangely in the Encephalon and Shion sees the mysterious girl, Nephilim appear before her. Allen is forced to dive in and pull her out. Shion then goes to report to Captain Moriyama on the status of KOS-MOS, but gets chewed out by Commander Cherenkov for not progressing enough on KOS-MOS, as field testing had not yet begun. Later, Shion stops by a part of the ship where a recently retrieved Zohar Emulator is being stored and nearly touches the Emulator when she sees Nephilim again before being stopped and chewed out by Vanderkam. Shion also stops by an area of the ship where various Realians are being worked on and argues with the soldier Virgil about Realian rights. Before going to bed she has a video call with her brother Jin who wants her to return home to see their parent's grave, but she refuses.
The Gnosis attack the Woglinde and Shion is forced to flee. She is nearly killed by Virgil when she rushes through the ship and pleas with him to not use Realians as bombs against the Gnosis, but to no avail. KOS-MOS miraculously awakens on her own and eventually meets up with Shion, and they try to escape along with Allen and Virgil. When Virgil gets in her line of fire, KOS-MOS shoots through him, upsetting Shion greatly. Shion, Allen, and KOS-MOS depart on an escape pod with Commander Cherenkov, who failed to get the Zohar Emulator to the U-TIC Organization. They are eventually found by the passenger ship, the Elsa. Although KOS-MOS wants to leave them to be picked up by a rescue vessel, Shion threatens to open the escape pod in space. KOS-MOS relents when chaos appears and asks for them to be brought on board. Shion befriends the Elsa crew members, Matthews, Tony, and chaos. She also tries to get to know the rather closed-off Cherenkov better. She is both curious about but also upset about the fact that KOS-MOS seems to be operating on her own. She demands her director to let her remain with KOS-MOS and is reluctantly granted permission.
Shion helps in defending the Elsa against the U-TIC Organization when they rescue Ziggy and MOMO, and after they stop by the Dock Colony, Shion sees another vision of Nephilim, informing her of Cherenkov's impending death. The Elsa is then swallowed up by the Cathedral Ship, a giant Gnosis made up of the remains of the planet Ariadne, where Shion and the others eventually find Cherenkov, who then transforms into a Gnosis. When the party is forced to kill Cherenkov, Shion is overwhelmed with grief, falling to the floor and crying. Shion meets Jr. when the party is picked up by the Durandal, and Gaignun when they arrive at the Kukai Foundation. There, Shion and the party relaxes at the private beach until Jr. inadvertently triggers Shion's astraphobia after artificially changing the weather.
When the U-TIC Organization frames the Kukai Foundation for the destruction of the Woglinde, Shion determines that they can prove their innocence by obtaining records of what really happened through KOS-MOS's data in the Encephalon. Traveling into the Encaphalon, the group is separated and Shion is brought to Old Miltia, at a playground where she played at while her mother was hospitalized at the Acute Neurosis Treatment Facility. chaos accompanies her in her journey there as they meet with Nephilim, then travel through the nearby woods. They eventually meet up with everyone at a church occupied by Febronia. Inside, Shion is faced with the memory of her parents' death. Afterwards she appears in a field along with Febronia, who asks her to release her sisters, Cecily and Cathe. Nephilim shows Shion and the rest of the group a vision of KOS-MOS facing up against U-DO, and informs them she wanted Jr. and Shion to overcome their past traumas before facing its inevitable reawakening. However, Nephilim believes they aren't yet ready. After finding KOS-MOS tied up to a stone crucifix, the party exits her subconscious domain.
With the Kukai Foundation cleared thanks to the evidence, a new threat appears as the Gnosis begin to attack. Shion and the others then must fight off the Gnosis in the Kukai Foundation and help evacuate the civilains. When MOMO is kidnapped by Albedo, the party makes their way to the Song of Nephilim to confront him. With MOMO retrieved, Proto Merkabah appears, and Shion travels there along with the others to stop Albedo from using it on Second Miltia. When Albedo turns the core reactor of Proto Merkabah into a Gnosis, the party kills it and the entire structure begins falling towards the surface of Second Miltia. KOS-MOS volunteers to ensure Proto Merkabah separates and doesn't endanger Second Miltia, but Shion objects to no avail, assuming she won't make it back to the Elsa in time. Nephilim tells Shion to see KOS-MOS with her heart, and Shion tells Matthews to redirect the Elsa's course to the exact spot that KOS-MOS would break through the wall. With KOS-MOS reunited with the party, the Elsa begins pummeling towards Second Miltia. When KOS-MOS leaves the Elsa to slow down its descent using her energy field, Shion repeately screams at her to stop, worried for her safety, but KOS-MOS succeeds, saving Shion and the others.
===Episode II===
Shion arrives on Second Miltia at the start of the game and breaks up from the rest of the group, heading with Allen and KOS-MOS to Vector's Second R&D Division. There, the supervisor shows them a diagram of the KOS-MOS Tertiary Weapon System being developed for her, and tells the two about U-DO and the Zohar Project. Shion agrees to transfer KOS-MOS over to them. As they leave, Shion tells Allen to keep his eye on KOS-MOS. Shion heads into the city and visits Moby Dick's Cafe, a place she used to work at and frequent. Jr. and chaos come in soon afterwards and join her. When Jin comes in, Shion tries to avoid him but is soon found. He asks her why she didn't call him so that they could meet and Shion tries to pretend that she was too busy to meet with him. When Allen calls her and reveals that working on KOS-MOS at Vector Second Division will take several days, Shion reluctantly agrees to come home with him. At the Uzuki Residence, Shion grows frustrated with Jin's repeated changes in profession, first a Doctor and now owner of a used Bookstore. Jin pushes back against Shion helping Jr. and the others, believing it to be too dangerous for her, not realizing the help she has already provided them. He tells her that they should pay respects to their dead parents the next day but she refuses to go to their graves, knowing their bodies aren't actually buried there. She almost blames him for their deaths before realizing what she is saying, then leaves. The next morning Shion changes into a new outfit and departs, not wanting to say goodbye to her brother. She's concerned about leaving Allen by himself and what is going on with KOS-MOS. When it is revealed that Albedo left a trap within MOMO's subconscious and she cuts her neural link and falls unconscious, Shion agrees to help with the dive to recover the Y-Data.
After the Encephalon dive, Shion and Allen return to the Dämmerung, but Shion soon has a desire to leave when she is visited by Nephilim and Febronia, who ask her to free Febronia's sisters on Old Miltia. Shion steals the E.S. Dinah, with Allen reluctantly coming along with her. They are soon surrounded by the E.S. Dan in space, but KOS-MOS can hear Shion calling for her and makes her way into space on Dinah's mobile interface bike, combining her craft with the Dinah's outer frame and fighting off the enemy. Afterwards Shion boards the Elsa. The Elsa makes its way to Old Miltia and Shion and the others head into Labyrinthos. Eventually they make their way to the Isolation Area where Febronia's sisters are revealed to be connected to the Zohar system and horribly disfigured. Shion is greatly distressed by this, falling to the floor and screaming. When Sergius activates the system and KOS-MOS takes aim to destroy it, Shion initially steps in her way, not wanting her to kill Febronia's sisters, but relents when Febronia appears to her once more asking for them to be set free.
Jin later checks in on Shion while they are on the Elsa. Shion is greatly bothered by what has happened, recalling fourteen years ago when Febronia was killed in front of her and she felt all alone and that she couldn't do anything. Jin helps her realize the sisterly love that Febronia had for her. Shion then accompanies the others into the Ω System where they encounter Sergius and then escape after he is killed. Shion speaks with Junior on the Durandal before he heads into the Space-Time Anomaly to take on Albedo. At the end of the game, Shion says farewell to Jin on the Dämmerung as he heads off to investigate Ormus. She meets up with Allen and Miyuki and tells KOS-MOS its time to go home.
===A Missing Year===
Following the events of Episode II, Shion is transferred to work as head of the new Third R&D Division annex offices on Fifth Jerusalem. During this time, Shion grew indifferent to the increasingly problematic Gnosis phenomenon. 6 months later, the Contact Subcommittee sends reports to Vector detailing the Realian Almadel's potential involvement with the Gnosis terrorism, tying Third Division and, by extension, Shion into the investigation. As such, Shion becomes acutely aware of this Realian's potential to throw a wrench into her newfound stability. When Gnosis attack the Subcommittee's lab Doctus, an agent working with Scientia, kidnaps Almadel, damaging KOS-MOS in the process. After viewing a report filed by Jin, Shion decides to get involved with the rescue of Almadel, seeing as she was calling herself Nephilim. 
When Shion and Jin track Doctus back to her ship, they are found out by Doctus and the ship's captain. The two explain to Shion and Jin that Grimoire Verum, the root cause of the Gnosis terrorism, is hiding himself in the U.M.N., linking the Gnosis Terrorism to Vector Industries. Shion has doubts about these claims, but chooses to hear them out. When Scientia begins the forceful analysis of Almadel, Shion steps in to try and stop it from going too far, but gets knocked unconscious in the process. Inside Ars Nova, an area of the heavily regulated S-Line Division of the U.M.N. sealed by Vector, Shion attempts to comfort Almadel and comes to understand her situation better, only to come face-to-face with Grimoire. With Doctus' help Jin dives into Ars Nova to rescue Shion's consciousness. When Almadel transforms into a Gnosis, Shion nearly loses control of her emotions, but not before KOS-MOS shows up to save her and Jin. When Jin and KOS-MOS cut Almadel out of her Gnosified body, Nephilim shows Shion Almadel's memories, revealing that she was a Realian that Shion's own father had done experiments on. Shion tries to calm Almadel down, now knowing that they share memories, but this alone wouldn't be enough to stop Lemegeton and the Song of Nephilim from hurting Shion. Almadel fully gnosifies into salt to ensure her safety, and Shion breaks down in tears. When Shion refuses to escape with Jin and KOS-MOS, Jin slaps her, telling her that it's what Almadel would have wanted. 
After their escape, Shion was demoted and removed from her position as Chief of the KOS-MOS Project as punishment for breaking into the S-Line Division. As a result of the events that had occurred prior, Shion's loss of trust in the U.M.N. and Vector Industries pushes her to completely resign. Moving forward, she aims to research the truth behind her father's involvement in the Miltian Conflict, the U.M.N., and Vector.
===Episode III===
Prior to the events of the game, Shion quits her job at Vector to join Scientia to research the truth of her father's involvement with the Miltian Conflict, the U.M.N. and Vector, but is allowed to keep Dinah. Since then, she made her home on the secluded island of Pedea. Shion, Miyuki, and Canaan later infiltrate Vector S-Line Division through the U.M.N. with the assistance from Doctus. After the infiltration, Shion receives a notification from Allen, prompting her to travel to Fifth Jerusalem. En route, she narrates a recap of the events of the previous games.
==Lore==
* Shion's Blood Type is A.
* Shion is a fan of the mascot, Bunnie.
* Shion has astraphobia, as a result of two traumatic incidents; her parents' deaths, and Kevin's death, both occurred during thunderstorms.
* Shion has a unique, congenital condition that causes her to visually perceive the Imaginary Number Domain.
** The glasses Shion wears in Episode I were a gift from Kevin. They were a custom-made type of holo-glasses that act as a sort of portable U.M.N. terminal, effectively making Shion capable of perceiving the Real Number Domain like any other person would by sending information from the U.M.N. to her visual cortex.
* Despite said to be clumsy, Shion is actually athletic, her kicks are powerful enough to render a grown man unconscious.
* The pendant that Shion wears is a gift from Kevin which belonged to his late mother.
** It is later revealed that the pendant is the key into activating Zarathustra and begin the Eternal Recurrence.
==In other media==
===Xenosaga I & II===
In the DS version of Episode I, Shion meets a Kirschwasser disguised as a 100-Series on the Woglinde. Shion gives this Kirschwasser a name (chosen by the player) and forms an attachment to her. If the player chooses not to name the Kirschwasser, the name defaults to Cumin. When the Woglinde is attacked by the gnosis, Cumin seemingly sacrifices herself to save Shion and disappears. It is later revealed that Cumin was secretly stationed on the Woglinde as a 100-Series to escape from Albedo's abuse. When Shion and the rest of the party confront Albedo on Proto Merkabah later in the story, Cumin fuses with Albedo's E.S. Simeon against Shion's desperate pleas. Shion also has two additional side stories. One that shows her perspective of the KOS-MOS Archetype going out of control, and another that details her time starting out at Vector Industries. The latter highlights her first meeting with Kevin Winnicot since the Miltian Conflict, and her growing relationship with him on Carioca. 
In the DS version of Episode II, Shion is given a much larger focus as the protagonist. After Shion's fight with Jin during their dinner with Jr. and chaos, she goes out to clear her head and meets up with Allen. Allen tells Shion that it's okay to take her time, and she concludes that she lashed out at Jin because she was stressed about KOS-MOS. When Shion is preparing to leave Second Miltia after MOMO's Encephalon dive, the city is suddenly attacked by gnosis. KOS-MOS wakes up to help stop the gnosis with her new upgrades, and when the rest of the party has to fly into orbit with their E.S., KOS-MOS summons E.S. Dinah at Shion's request. When Shion and Allen return to the Dämmerung, Shion is informed that she's received a promotion and that she's expected to transfer to Fifth Jerusalem as their new head of the Third R&D Division, but she feels conflicted about it. After being visited by Nephilim and Febronia, she receives a mysterious work order from Vector's CEO, Wilhelm, informing her that KOS-MOS and E.S. Dinah are to be loaned out to the Kukai Foundation for the search for the Original Zohar, and that she and Allen are to provide their services for maintenance. 
When Shion and the others arrive on Old Miltia, Shion runs off towards the Acute Neurosis Treatment Facility. Jin notes that he and Shion's parents' bodies would still be there, and that's why she refused to visit their graves. When Shion reaches the Facility, the building is suddenly crushed by the Blue Testament's E.S. Naphtali. As a result, Shion's trauma resurfaces and she has a sudden breakdown. When MOMO tries to help her, Shion lashes out, blaming realians like her for her past trauma. The Blue Testament then goads this behavior, claiming that it's Shion's true nature. The party then begins to fight E.S. Naphtali. When Shion collects herself, she joins the fight and apologizes to MOMO, saying that she hates this side of herself and that she's trying to change. MOMO then defends Shion against the Blue Testament's chastisement, and later forgives her. Inside Labyrinthos, when Shion sees Cecilty and Cathe connected to the Zohar system, she has a sudden flashback to when she played with them as kids. Later, when Jr. is about to depart to stop Albedo in the space-time anomaly, Shion and the others join him.
==As a playable character==
===Episode I===
===Episode II===
===Episode III===
===Xenosaga I & II===
Shion is a boss near the end of Xenosaga Episode III. She is fought together with Kevin.
==Database==
==In other languages==
==Trivia==
*The NPC Astelle from KOS-MOS' quest Artificial Intelligence in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a reference to Shion.
**Astelle's name is a reference to the aster tataricus flower, which is the scientific name of the shion flower.
**They are both brunette scientists that wear glasses and heavily admire KOS-MOS.
==Gallery==
Shion XS1 render.jpg|Episode I render artwork.
Shion XS1 render 2.jpg|Episode I render artwork.
Shion and VX-10000 XS1.jpg|Episode I special artwork.
Shion XS2.jpg|Episode II artwork.
Shion XS2 2.jpg|Episode II artwork.
Shion XS3.jpg|Episode III artwork.
Shion XS3 2D art.jpg|Episode III 2D artwork.
Shion XS1&2 Scan.jpg|Episode I & II artwork.
Shion XS1&2 Faces Scan.jpg|Episode I & II artwork.
XS1&2 wallpaper 7.jpg|Official wallpaper showing Shion in Xenosaga I & II.
Shion NxC.jpg|Namco X Capcom artwork.
==Notes==
Category:Characters (XS1)Category:Characters (XS2)Category:Characters (XS3) Category:Characters (AMY)Category:Characters (XSF)Category:Characters (XSOF) Category:Characters (XSTA)Category:Characters (XS1&2)
Category:Humans (XS)