History NightmareFuel / XenobladeChronicles3

[[caption-width-right:350:Honestly, you were less scary with the mask on.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/06f45561_c453_49ee_9d88_f25a2826a471.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Honestly you were less scary with the mask on]]

It's a ''Xenoblade'' game; what were you expecting?

** Z himself is [[TheHeartless the embodiment of all those who wished to live]] in a world of stagnation, or the "Endless Now" as he puts it, caused Origin's programming being corrupted by humanity's desire for stability and fear of change. He wishes to preserve the world of Aionios and the "flow of fate" by any means necessary, both out of a desire to control the world and out of fear for what the future may hold should the worlds de-fuse.

** Z himself is [[TheHeartless the embodiment of all those who wished to live]] in a world of stagnation, or the "Endless Now" as he puts it, caused by an error in Origin's programming. He wishes to preserve the world of Aionios and the "flow of fate" by any means necessary, both out of a desire to control the world and out of fear for what the future may hold should the worlds de-fuse.

* The Intersection, the incident that created Aionios in the first place. Due to their common origin and their people's yearning for each other, the world Shulk created and Alrest attracted each other to the point of collision. If Melia and Nia hadn't created Origin, both universes and all life in them would've been utterly destroyed.

* It's revealed in Ashera's second Hero quest that in the distant past around the beginning of the ForeverWar, when soldiers managed to make it to Homecoming, it wasn't a solemn but happy affair with the Queens and off-seers in attendance, but a brutal execution at the hands of the Consuls. Ashera being able to somewhat remember this time is why she's such a BloodKnight in the present, as she tells Eunie that every time she's gotten older, her neck scar from her past executions comes back, she regains her past memories, and the pain is such that she's gone mad more than once. It says something that despite how bad things are on Aionios in the present, there was a time when things were even ''worse''.

* The very nature of [[ManBehindTheMan Moebius]] themselves. They are immortal beings who upon becoming Moebius are DrivenMadFromTheRevelation of the memories of all their old lives and are driven to endless, amoral [[TheHedonist hedonism]] as a coping mechanism and draining the lives of others just to stay alive and stave off their eventual deaths.

* The fake Queen of Keves malfunctioning and breaking down, revealing her robotic nature. Between the implications, her scary SkeleBot9000 face under the mask, and the fact that she was meant to replace the real Melia, it's hard to see either of the masked Queens in the same light again.

* Doubles as InUniverse. When the team finds the ruins of a Keves Gold Rank colony, they search for anything that can be salvaged. Eunie finds a lone husk that had been there for a long time, with its face intact and displaying absolute terror in its last moments. Eunie examines the dog tag and not only finds her name, but begins having flashbacks and nightmares to having been in that battle in her previous cycle. As it turns out, Colony 18 was not destroyed by the Agnians but by its own consul (none other than [[AxCrazy D]]) once it reached Gold Rank. The past Eunie was the last to be killed by him.

** Eunie's flashback shows just how strong D really is when he isn't holding back. He cuts through Colony 18's forces (who, due to their Gold Rank, were implied to be a highly experienced BadassArmy) like they were animals, shredding a bloody path with his immense speed and strength. Especially with how quickly he dispatches the colony's Ferronis, tearing its head off in a matter of seconds. Past!Eunie can only stare in horror at him as he prepares to finish her off. Present!Eunie is left shaken afterwards.

* Doubles as InUniverse. When the team finds the ruins of a Keves Gold Rank colony, they search for anything that can be salvaged. Eunie finds a lone husk that had been there for a long time, with its face intact and displaying absolute terror in its last moments. Eunie examines the dog tag and not only finds her name, but begins having flashbacks and nightmares to having been in that battle in her previous cycle.

* The opening cutscene shows an Annihilation Event. Said event ''completely disintegrates'' a large chunk of Uraya. These events are happening all over Aionios, by the way.

** The very first cutscene of the game shows the Intersection from the original Noah's perspective, as he's left utterly speechless when Alrest floods his home city's skies.

* The Intersection, the incident that created Aionios in the first place. Due to their common origin and their peoples' yearning for each other, the world Shulk created and Alrest attracted each other to the point of collision. If Melia and Nia hadn't created Origin, both universes and all life in them would've been utterly destroyed.

* The Intersection, the incident that created Aionios in the first place. Due to their common origin and their peoples' yearning for each other, the world Shulk created and Alrest attracted each other to the point of collision. If Melia and Nia hadn't created Origin, both universes and all life in them would've been utterly destroyed.

* The very beginning of the game has one, when a young Noah watches as time stops and a massive planet appears on the skies.

* Doubles as InUniverse. When the team finds the ruins of a Keves Gold Rank colony, they search for anything that can be salvaged. Eunie finds a lone husk that had been there for a long time, with its face intact and displaying absolute terror in its last moments. Eunie examines the dog tag and not only finds her name, but begins having flashbacks and nightmares to having been in that battle in her previous cycle.

* There are two goals that Keves and Agnus soldiers wish to achieve: getting their colony to Gold rank and surviving to their Homecoming after ten terms of life. However, revelations in the game prove that both of these are bad things - colonies that reach Gold rank quickly get destroyed by Moebius to fill up on their lifeforce, while the Homecoming is basically like an assisted suicide... which caused the one being sent off to be KilledOffForReal, not returning to the cycle like everyone else.

* There are two goals that Keves and Agnus soldiers wish to achieve: getting their colony to Gold rank and surviving to their Homecoming after ten terms of life. However, revelations in the game prove that both of these are bad things - colonies that reach Gold rank quickly get destroyed by Moeabeus to fill up on their lifeforce, while the Homecoming is basically like an assisted suicide... which caused the one being sent off to be KilledOffForReal, not returning to the cycle like everyone else.

* It's revealed in Ashera's second Hero quest that in the distant past around the beginning of the ForeverWar, when soldiers managed to make it to Homecoming, it wasn't a solemn but happy affair with the Queens and off-seers in attendance, but a brutal execution at the hands of the Consuls. Ashera being able to somewhat remember this time is why she's such a BloodKnight in the present, as she tells Eunie that every time she's gotten older, her neck scar from her past executions comes back, she regains her past memories, and the pain is such that she's gone mad more than once. It says something that despite how bad things are on Aionios in the present, there was a time when things were even ''worse''.

* It's revealed in Ashera's second Hero quest that in the distant past around the beginning of the ForeverWar, when soldiers managed to make it to Homecoming, it wasn't a solemn but happy affair with the Queens and off-seers in attendance, but a brutal execution at the hands of the Consuls. Ashera being able to somewhat remember this time is why she's such a BloodKnight in the present, as she tells Eunie that every time she's gotten older, her neck scar from her past executions comes back, she regains her past memories, and the pain is such that she's gone mad more than once.

* Moebius. The fact that these monsters (except Triton) are completely content to have ChildSoldiers fight just so they can feed is bad enough. The fact that said child soldiers are trapped in a never-ending cycle of death and rebirth makes it worse. D in particular is particularly heinous and terrifying, even among the Consul members in general.

* There are two goals that Keves and Agnus soldiers wish to achieve: getting their colony to Gold rank and surviving to their Homecoming after ten terms of life. However, revelations in the game prove that both of these are bad things - colonies that reach Gold rank quickly get destroyed by Moeabeus to fill up on their lifeforce, while the Homecoming is basically like an assisted suicide... which caused the one being sent off to be KilledOffForReal, not returning to the cycle like everyone else.

* The fake Queen of Keves malfunctioning and breaking down, revealing her robotic nature. Between the implications, her scary SkeleBot9000 face under the mask, and the fact that she was meant to replace the real Melia, it's hard to see either of the masked Queens in the same light again.

* The opening cutscene shows an Annihilation Event. Said event ''completely disintegrates'' a large chunk of Uraya. (Note that there aren't any Urayan characters with Agnus) These events are happening all over Aionios, by the way.

* [[spoiler:The fake Queen of Keves malfunctioning and breaking down, revealing her robotic nature. Between the implications, her scary SkeleBot9000 face under the mask, and the fact that she was meant to replace the real Melia, it's hard to see either of the masked Queens in the same light again.]]