Broken Base: How to abbreviate the series in English is a surprisingly contentious subject. Fans who use "XC" (Xenoblade Chronicles) regard it as the most obviously intuitive abbreviation from just looking at the title. But just as many tend to consider the Chronicles part of the title clunky and a gratuitous localizer intrusion and prefer to use "XB" (XenoBlade), or believe the "Blade" part of the title is the most important differentiator based on existing nomenclature for XG/Gears and XS/Saga. A third camp goes with XBC (XenoBlade Chronicles) to split the difference, but this is also contentious as the extra letter is still seen as clunky and less harmonious with Gears and Saga naming schemes.
Common Knowledge: Xenogears, Xenosaga and Xenoblade Chronicles are NOT the same franchise. They are three separate IPs, owned by three separate companies, with three separate narratives and continuities. While it's true that they share many elements out of the fact that they were created by the same group of people, the connections are supposed to be only spiritual (a bit like the System Shock and BioShock franchises, for instance). This is not helped by the fact that fans of Monolith's work like to lump them together anyway, even those who are 100% aware of this fact. Thus, they are called "the Xeno series" for the sake of brevity, which can be misleading for casual observers and newcomers (some fans have suggested to use "the Xeno games" or "the Xeno metaseries" instead, but with little avail). The ending of Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemedhas significant shout-outs to the other Xeno games, though only time will tell if they result in a true Canon Welding.
Ensemble Dark Horse: The Tirkin race. In the first game, Tirkins were a generic enemy type, but stood out among other common enemy types for their humorous designs, quirky field behaviors, and involvement in several prominent questlines that indicated they were more intelligent than their vulnerability to the Monado would suggest. The second and third games gave them a little more prominence and speaking lines with memorable Verbal Tics that made them even more endearing to fans despite their ultimately minor roles in the grand scheme of things, to the point that one of the most heavily requested ideas for future games is to have a Tirkin party member.
With the other Xeno games, Xenogears and especially Xenosaga. Those who consider Xenoblade the best of the three IPs typically point to its gameplay advantages, with the main argument being that Blade was the only franchise to, for the most partnote X was particularly difficult to develop, and 2 was infamously short-staffed and Christmas Rushed, though a lot of content for 2 that was missing at release was eventually added via post-release patches, avert the infamously Troubled Production that plagued Gearsnote notoriously, Disc 2 and Saganote To the point the series was cut in half and its original creators left midway through what remained, on top of significant chunks of the Kudzu Plot being locked away in incredibly hard-to-access media, having aged gracefully enough to receive a remake in Definitive Edition that left the story and core gameplay largely untouched. On the other hand, the plots of the Blade games, while very well-done for what they are, elect for a much higher gameplay-to-story ratio, resulting in shoving many of the heavy philosophical and psychological themes and imagery that defined Gears and Saga to the background in favor of more conventional and straightforward types of JRPG storylines. Blade fans argue that it makes the story more cohesive and easy to follow, especially since the story manages to be told onscreen in its entirety, while Gears and Saga fans believe that the themes of the Blade games are not nearly as ambitious enough and lack the depth of their predecessors. Xenoblade 1 tends to get a lot of unique flak due to having begun life as a technically unrelated standalone game before it was renamed and rewritten to be more in line with typical Xeno fare (to the point that some hardcore Xenogears and Xenosaga fans argue it doesn't qualify as a Xeno game at all).
Ever since videogamedunkey made a video on the second game, a large number of Xenoblade fans have not only given the video flak, but also haven't gotten along with Dunkey's fans either. Even some Xenoblade fans themselves are split on the video. Generally, those who have no negative opinion of it say that Dunkey was only joking while also talking about common criticisms about the game. Detractors of his video say that the presentation of his jokes single-handedly misrepresented the game to outsiders, with some outright blaming Dunkey himself for why the game's Fandom-Enraging Misconceptions are still hotly debated. Even if he isn't necessarily the problem, the rivalry itself comes from how his more aggressive fans use Dunkey's jokes as their opinion and harass Xenoblade fans with it. It only got worse when just a month after the third game's release, Dunkey casually tweeted a massive spoiler from it as a joke with no warning after he uploaded a video on the third game, which also contained lategame footage with no spoiler warnings. He has since deleted the tweet, but he made a tweet pretending people were mad at the video and not the spoiler.
Fan Nickname: A number of fans refer to the collective trio of Xenoblade Chronicles 1, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 as the "Klaus Saga" or "Klaus Trilogy" due to the first two games prominently featuring the consequences of the actions of a character named Klaus. This is because he is the same Klaus in both games, as due to an experiment gone wrong, he was granted godly powers but was split between the universes of the two games. While the third game has no appearance of Klaus (prior to the Future Redeemed DLC), it takes place in the future of both worlds, which would not exist without Klaus's actions. Furthermore, Future Redeemed creates more connections between 3 and the first two games that make it clear that 3's world and characters are as integral to the overarching story as the worlds and characters from the past two games are.
Fountain of Memes: Any character with a thick accent and repetitive quotes is likely to be a major source of memes, such as Reyn, the Ardainian Soldiers, Zeke, Malos, Eunie, Lanz (who is a direct expy of Reyn), and Matthew.
Due to both franchises having a similar epic tone and focus on exploration, Xenoblade Chronicles is well-loved by fans of the likewise Nintendo-owned The Legend of Zelda series. Much of this is due to Monolith Soft lending development support to the Zelda team within Nintendo EPD since Skyward Sword because of said franchise's ever-increasing scale. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are especially loved by Xenoblade fans since Monolith's acclaimed world designers were far more heavily involved with these games compared to previous Zelda games supported by Monolith.
Xenoblade Chronicles is well-loved by fans of Fire Emblem since both Nintendo-owned franchises are fantasy-oriented Thematic Series that take a more mature, older shōnen/younger seinen manga flavor. Both series are seen to occupy a niche among Nintendo games involving complex number crunching and decision making rather than the straightforward design of most of their other published games.
There's overlap with Final Fantasy, especially the older games, since the Xeno series itself was created by developers who used to work on said franchise, with some even believing that the Xenoblade series captures the spirit of old Final Fantasy games better than many of the more recent ones.
While the two franchises are very different in terms of target audience and complexity level, Xenoblade Chronicles shares many fans with Pokémon since they are both Nintendo-owned Eastern RPG series with a focus on exploration and story. Xenoblade Chronicles fans particularly loved Pokémon Legends: Arceus, due to many of its gameplay elements being similar to the Xenoblade series, particularly its Alpha Pokémon essentially being capturable Unique Monsters. It got to the point that a lot of people mistakenly believed Monolith Soft worked on the game since it seemed close to their typical repertoire, and once they realized they didn't, many fans started clamoring that Monolith Soft should develop or support a Pokémon game.
One with the Trails Series due to their complex and labyrinthine plots and worldbuilding, Humongous Mecha, and some overlap in themes and motifs. It helps that Tetsuya Takahashi used to work at Falcom before joining Square Enix, and several of the Trails games make direct nods to Xeno games.
LGBT Fanbase: The game has a rather vibrant queer fanbase despite the lack of unambiguously and explicitly LGBTQ+ protagonists due to the games' highly applicable messages about accepting others' differences, challenging oppressive social norms, and overthrowing the tyrants responsible for them. Alvis, the Aegises Pyra and Mythra, and Malos who are revealed to be the same kind of being in particular all enjoy an especially significant queer fanbase:
Alvis stands out among the otherwise comparatively subdued cast of 1 due to being an androgynously beautiful young man with flamboyant, Camp Gay mannerisms, and whom post-release materials for 1 implied to be something other than strictly male-gendered, while nonetheless being one of the most powerful supporting characters in the game, before the ending reveals that he is in fact the Big Good and the world's equivalent of the Gnostic God. Future Redeemed would build upon that fanbase by confirming that Alvis is genderqueer as a result of the Ontos core being designed to be nonbinary, and gaining a feminine-looking androgynous body with the name A while not explicitly identifying with or being regarded by others as conforming to any defined gender terminology, neutral or otherwise. Shulk and Rex are both shown to be accepting and supportive of A's new form as well. Meanwhile, the previous male appearance is retained by A's other half in the form of the amoral, emotionless Alpha, who is still referred to as male by most characters but is hinted at to also have genderqueer aspects, such as being referred to by N as "it" at timesnote Although this could be a case of "It" Is Dehumanizing, some nonbinary individuals do identify positively with "it/its" pronouns and as the singular "they" in prerelease statements.
Mythra is very popular with lesbian/bi female fans because of her attractive design coupled to a brash and assertive personality, and because of her characterization as very Troubled, but Cute (a trait typically reserved for straight male characters) but who is able to overcome her trauma because of Rex being an All-Loving Hero who nurtures her with gentle support and understanding. Meanwhile Pyra's origin as an embodiment of Mythra's idealized self, reimagined as a different person with a new appearance and hyperfeminine yet strong-willed and elegant personality causes her to be very popular with transgender fans, particularly trans women.
Malos is beloved by gay/bi male fans due to his attractively masculine Heroic Build design and incredible camp and theatricality that would put many a queer-coded Disney villain to shame. Likewise, his intense loyalty and devotion to the male Jin can be easily read as romantic; his English voice actor David Menkin, who is openly gay, states that he performed Malos' lines with the intent of depicting Malos as queer and in love with Jin.
Xenoblade Chronicles 1: Egil is a Machina, the leader of the Mechon army, creator of the Faced Mechon, and the mastermind behind their invasion of Bionis. Egil was once friends with Arglas from Bionis with whom he discussed the idea of leaving the world of Bionis and Mechonis in search of new worlds, and of peace and coexistence. However, when Arglas was possessed by Zanza and laid waste to Mechonis, Egil swore revenge and, when both titans were put to sleep, began attacking Bionis hoping to wipe out as much life as possible on the titan so that, when Zanza returned, he would be more vulnerable to kill. Once Shulk learns of his past and confronts him in Mechonis Core, Shulk offers a chance to let go of revenge and change the world together. But thanks to Zanza's timely resurrection, Egil instead gives his life so the heroes can escape, placing his hopes they can kill the evil god without resorting to the extremes he went to.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: The enigmatic Jin is a Flesh Eater Blade who used to be revered as a hero known as the "Paragon of Torna". Jin succumbed to despair and misanthropy after his kingdom's people were slaughtered and he lost his Driver Lora, and proceeded to found the Organization of Torna with a cabal of fellow misanthropes. A taciturn No-Nonsense Nemesis, Jin curbstomps the heroes almost every time they meet and lectures protagonist Rex on his own personal failings. Jin's most impressive gambit comes when he nearly orchestrates a war between two separate nations as a diversion to his attempt to kill the Architect himself and destroy the world. Not without an immense level of honor, Jin is ultimately so impressed with Rex's personal growth that he gives his life to save Rex and defeat Amalthus in the endgame, recanting his misanthropic ideals and coming to peace with himself. Tragic but utterly driven, the heroes themselves pledge to remember Jin as a "splendid soul" in spite of his atrocious actions.
Teach is the current Commander of Colony Gamma, where Mio, Taion, and Sena are currently appointed in. When first met by the recently transformed Ouroboros group, he sends them to a far away place from the Colony to seemingly kill them, but later clarifies that it was to test them and see if their good will hadn't gone away because of the recent power they got. Later in his Ascension Quest, we learn that he was previously known as the "All-Slayer Oleg", who was infamous for having battles won with many casualties of his own men, with one particularly bad Pyrrhic Victory making it so that he wanted to change his ways, faking his own death and, with the help of Consul G, ensured that he would be known as Teach from later on. Although he's known for putting his troops in rigorous training that would make even the most resilient give out, he still wants what's best for them, and is willing to do anything to protect them, even avoiding violence if it's not needed.
Crys is an Off-Seer from Keves who later became part of the evil Moebius. One thousand years ago, he grew tired of Homecomings being little more than unceremonious executions after a soldier's tenth Term, and with the help of Consul M, successfully convinced Consul V to retool Homecomings into ceremonies where a soldier is sent off, removing them from the cycle of death and rebirth. He continued his Off-Seeing through multiple reincarnations, and in his final reincarnation, became Noah's mentor as an Off-Seer. Reborn as Consul C, he's tasked with eliminating Ouroboros and joins forces with the Queen of Keves to guard the last piece of Origin metal. However, he uses this as a ploy to murder the Queen and give Ouroboros the Origin metal, but not before fighting them to the death to see if Noah and his friends are indeed Worthy Opponents against Moebius. In his last moments, Crys takes the time to point out how there's no telling what will happen once Moebius is defeated, and he's proud of Noah for coming so far. Noble, crafty, and desiring the best for everyone, Crys was a figure Noah was honored to have learned from.
Memetic Mutation: Due to many characters never shutting up during and after battle, many repeated quotes become popular both in and out of the fandom. Highlights include "Now it's Reyn time!", "Man, what a bunch of jokers!", "Let's not lose our heads, though!", "I'm really feeling it!", "You'll pay for your insolence!", "Think you can take me?"/"Don't forget me!"note These two quotes were patched out of 2, but would continue to be acknowledged by many Xenoblade-dedicated media, "Hear that, Noah? Lanz wants something a bit meatier.", "I'm the girl with the gall!", and "I'm feelin' full-o-beans!".
