History YMMV / XenobladeChronicles3

*** Noah's mentor Crys was extremely commonly believed to be Shulk and Fiora's son since the trailer first dropped due to his design resembling a mix of the two, as well as his kind heart and mentorship being considered reminiscent of Shulk's endgame values, which he symbolically passes onto Noah. Seemingly [[spoiler:{{Jossed}} by ''Future Redeemed'', which reveals Shulk and Fiora did have a son together, but that his name was Nikol and that he was a GenerationXerox. Nevertheless many still hold onto this theory, believing Nikol was not an only child and that Crys and Nikol were brothers. Furthermore, those who also theorize that Noah was part of that family believe that the relationship between Crys and Noah was a result of unconscious BigBrotherMentor instinct coming through]]. Others theorize that Crys is the son of Shulk and Alvis, given that Alvis resembles Shulk but not Fiora while his personality and role in the story heavily mirror Alvis's.

** Melia's Ascension Quest has her talking about a dearly cherished friend who meant a lot to her and was a great inspiration in her youth, who in context is clearly meant to be Shulk. However her flashback montage of fond memories of the events of ''1'' and ''Future Connected'' closes off on a quizzical lingering shot of ''Fiora'' instead.

*** While the Soulhacker class is considered to be unique and excellent [[MagikarpPower with enough investment]], the Soulhacker Hero, [[spoiler:Triton]], is not. Unlike an Ouroboros member with the class, he is unable to use the "Soul Hack" skill to learn Arts from Unique Monsters, and is stuck with middling stats and basic Arts, going against the very reason for the class' existence. He also only has a base TP of 10, and his Heroic Chain ability is one of the worst in the game, as it randomly adds or subtracts 50 TP from the final total, making it a high-risk low-reward maneuver. His Hero Order is rather underwhelming, as it adds only a paltry amount of TP to the remaining party members, compared to the Heroic Chain abilities of Teach and Fiona, who add more TP and can do so more than once in a Chain Attack. The only reason to use him on your team (aside from quests that require him) would be to unlock the Soulhacker class for other party members if you somehow don't want to use Lanz, his class inheritor, as one.
*** Juniper, along with their class being considered one of the weakest in the game, is considered one of the worst Heroes to boot, due to both of their Chain Attack abilities being extremely weak and because their Arts animations are ''exceptionally'' long, making their already poor damage output even worse; Liberation Arrow art has them spin in an ''incredibly slow'' circle before actually firing the arrow, making it quite possibly the worst art in the entire game. It doesn't help that they are an Attacker class, meaning they have no alternate means of providing utility to the party, unlike Defenders who provide AOE buffs and can absorb enemy aggro and damage for a time, or Healers who can revive and support the party even without useful Arts.

** The photographic reveal of what seems to be [[spoiler:Rex married and having had children with Pyra, Mythra, and Nia has led to some perceiving the dynamic as a bisexual polyamorous relationship where Nia is also involved romantically with Pyra and Mythra. Supporting this interpretation is their evident closeness established in ''2'', including a scene of Nia pushing Rex out of the way to claim Pyra and Mythra's hands for herself, Nia's attire resembling theirs, and her wielding weapons reminiscent of their primary armaments the way a Driver would wield a Blade's, after that very dynamic was used to represent romance in the past game]].

** The game's message that WarIsHell is very unsubtle, with it being hammered in from pretty much the start of the game how bad the war is. The soldiers all being child soldiers makes it rather obvious to begin with, but all of the party members express varying degrees of dislike for fighting or war in a very WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife manner, numerous characters comment on how they don't even know why they are fighting anymore but just are, and almost all the colonies after having their Flame Clock destroyed are relieved that they no longer have to fight to keep the Flame Clock from running out. This is made even more blunt once it becomes obvious the war between Keves and Agnus is a ForeverWar, which doesn't make it very sutble.

** The photographic reveal of what seems to be [[spoiler:Rex married and having had children with Pyra, Mythra, and Nia has led to some perceiving the dynamic as a bisexual polyamorous relationship where Nia is also involved romantically with Pyra and Mythra. Supporting this interpretation is their evident closeness established in ''2'', including a scene of Nia pushing Rex out of the way to claim Pyra and Mythra's hands for herself, Nia's attire resembling theirs, and her wielding weapons reminiscent of their primary armaments the way a Driver would wield a Blade's, after that very dynamic was used to represent romance in the past game.]]

** The photographic reveal of what seems to be [[spoiler:Rex married and having had children with Pyra, Mythra, and Nia has led to some perceiving the dynamic as a bisexual polyamorous relationship where Nia is also involved romantically with Pyra and Mythra. Supporting this interpretation is their evident closeness established in 2, including a scene of Nia pushing Rex out of the way to claim Pyra and Mythra's hands for herself, Nia's attire resembling theirs, and her wielding weapons reminiscent of their primary armaments the way a Driver would wield a Blade's, after that very dynamic was used to represent romance in the past game.]]

*** The photographic reveal of what seems to be [[spoiler:Rex married and having had children with Pyra, Mythra, and Nia has led to some perceiving the dynamic as a bisexual polyamorous relationship where Nia is also involved romantically with Pyra and Mythra. Supporting this interpretation is their evident closeness established in 2, including a scene of Nia pushing Rex out of the way to claim Pyra and Mythra's hands for herself, Nia's attire resembling theirs, and her wielding weapons reminiscent of their primary armaments the way a Driver would wield a Blade's, after that very dynamic was used to represent romance in the past game.]]

** [[spoiler:The fake Queens]] are either an interesting fake-out plot twist, or an underdeveloped concept that only served to diminish [[spoiler:the actual Queens']] role in the plot and, by proxy, made the game feel more disconnected from its predecessors. Most people will agree that their boss battles are well-done and enjoyable, though.

** The game was released shortly after whistleblowers exposed the techniques social media websites use to create artificial sociopolitical conflict, much like Moebius engineering the pointless war between Keves and Agnus.

** The infamous photograph in the game's ending that depicts the fate of ''2''s cast and ([[spoiler:what is heavily implied to be that Rex impregnated Pyra, Mythra, and Nia all at the same time]]). Cute and NarmCharm, or lurid and just {{Narm}}? The former half find it a wholesome followup to the implications of the NG+ screen from ''2'' and a progressive, rare depiction of healthy queer {{Polyamory}} in popular culture, while the latter interpret it as a [[spoiler:[[HaremGenre harem]] centered primarily around Rex]], and can be subdivided further into two categories: those who see the [[spoiler:harem ending]] as a good thing and a [[EarnYourHappyEnding fitting reward]] for [[spoiler:Rex being such an AllLovingHero]], and those who see it as a bad thing due to feeling it panders to the fans who treat [[spoiler:Rex]] as a vehicle for {{Ecchi}} self-insertion, or because it comes off as regressive due to [[HideYourLesbians downplaying the LGBTQ and polyamorous aspects]] while also adding undertones of [[MenActWomenAre old-fashioned and sexist gender roles]]. While the polarization is to be expected given [[spoiler:Rex's]] BaseBreakingCharacter status, paradoxically many of the most positive reactions to the picture come from former haters and fence-sitters [[spoiler:who now praise him for being RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap due to his seeming newfound sexual prowess and manly badass design]], while a lot of the most negative responses to the image come from longtime [[spoiler:Rex]] fans who support the outcome but loathe the presentation for the above reasons and view these newer fans as a MisaimedFandom.

** Part of the ending, for fans of ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2''. [[spoiler:The whole twist of Rex impregnating and having children with ''three'' female Blades; Pyra, Mythra, and Nia, who all seemingly gave birth ''at the same time'' can come off as ridiculous and downright hilarious depending on what culture you live in, and how out of nowhere it is, based on the fact that it's been left ambiguous if Blades can have children or not. On the other hand, it was already implied by the EvolvingTitleScreen once the game was completed that ''something'' of the sort must've happened, and heartwarming to know that Rex, Pyra, Mythra and Nia found happiness among themselves and started a family that they always wanted. It also makes Rex's "I love you... and all you guys" line to Nia much more HeartwarmingInHindsight.]]

** Part of the ending, for fans of ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2''. [[spoiler:The whole twist of Rex impregnating and having children with ''three'' female Blades, Pyra, Mythra, and Nia, who all seemingly gave birth to them ''at the same time'' can come off as ridiculous and downright hilarious depending on what culture you live in, and how out of nowhere it is, based on the fact that it's been left ambiguous if Blades can have children or not. On the other hand, it was already implied by the EvolvingTitleScreen once the game was completed that ''something'' of the sort must've happened, and heartwarming to know that Rex, Pyra, Mythra and Nia found happiness among themselves and started a family that they always wanted. It also makes Rex's "I love you... and all you guys" line to Nia much more HeartwarmingInHindsight.]]

** Part of the ending, for fans of ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2''. [[spoiler:The whole twist of Rex impregnating and having children with ''three'' female Blades, Pyra, Mythra, and Nia, who all seemingly gave birth to them ''at the same time'' can come off as ridiculous and downright hilarious depending on what culture you live in, and how out of nowhere it is, based on the fact that it's been left ambiguous if Blades can have children or not. On the other hand, it was already implied by the EvolvingTitleScreen once the game was completed that ''something'' of the sort must've happened, and heartwarming to know that Rex, Pyra, Mythra and Nia found happiness among themselves and started a family that they always wanted It also makes Rex's "I love you... and all you guys" line to Nia much more HeartwarmingInHindsight.]]

** Part of the ending, for fans of ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2''. [[spoiler:The whole twist of Rex impregnating and having children with ''three'' female Blades, Pyra, Mythra, and Nia, who all gave birth to them ''at the same time'' is supposed to be heartwarming, but can come off as ridiculous and downright hilarious depending on what culture you live in, and how out of nowhere it is, based on the fact that it's been left ambiguous if Blades can have children or not. On the other hand, it was already implied by the EvolvingTitleScreen once the game was completed that ''something'' of the sort must've happened, and it also makes Rex's "I love you... and all you guys" line to Nia much more HeartwarmingInHindsight.]]

*** Noah's mentor Crys was extremely commonly believed to be Shulk and Fiora's son since the trailer first dropped due to his design resembling a mix of the two, as well as his kind heart and mentorship being considered reminiscent of Shulk's endgame values, which he symbolically passes onto Noah. [[spoiler:Seemingly {{Jossed}} by ''Future Redeemed'', which reveals Shulk and Fiora did have a son together, but that his name was Nikol and that he was a GenerationXerox. Nevertheless many still hold onto this theory, believing Nikol was not an only child and that Crys and Nikol were brothers. Furthermore, those who also theorize that Noah was part of that family believe that the relationship between Crys and Noah was a result of unconscious BigBrotherMentor instinct coming through]].

** Shania gets this a lot for [[spoiler:her choice to sell the party out to Moebius and her two attempts to have the entire City destroyed. While she does have a FreudianExcuse of an [[AbusiveParents abusive mother]], Ghondor having been a poor friend to her, and X [[TheCorrupter whispering in her ear]] to explain her turn, fans still felt that the havoc she wrought was massive DisproportionateRetribution given that characters with even more tragic backstories are in abundance, and that the AlasPoorVillain death she received wasn't really earned, with some even making unflattering comparisons between her and ''Hitler'', due to both being disgruntled artists-turned-soldiers with genocidal intentions. Her motivations could at least be seen as sympathetic to some viewers, but her goal is to put herself in the Flame Clock system to effectively "redo her life" at the expense of everyone else, which comes across as incredibly selfish and unsympathetic of a reason to do it, which is not aided by her smug and self-entitled personality after the reveal making it seem like she's crossed the line into being a HateSink, only to suddenly get an AlasPoorVillain death on two occasions]].

*** [[spoiler:Pyra and Mythra's children are much less obvious, with people debating if they even are preexisting characters encountered in ''Xenoblade Chronicles 3''. For Pyra's child, a common theory was that Cammuravi is her son, being a WorldsStrongestMan with fire-themed physical traits, implying that he is either a Blade or a child of one, before Glimmer (a direct {{expy}} of Pyra even more likely to be her daughter) was revealed for ''Future Redeemed''. Mythra's child is even more debated, as the blonde hair color isn't one that any of the Agnian Heroes in the game possess. The most common guess early on was Isurd due to the fact that Mythra's child has forehead markings resembling Isurd's TronLines and that he uses light-based disc launchers; as Glimmer has darker hair than Pyra, the same could hold true for Mythra and her son, as some children in real life develop darker hair colors later in life. Another popular candidate is Alexandria, since her Core Crystal is a distinctive emerald color (supposedly unique to the Aegises) with a shape that resembles Mythra's earrings, and she is a CriticalHitClass like Mythra as well as an Attacker to round out the role trio with Mio and Glimmer. Some have even speculated that ''D'', [[CompleteMonster of all people]], may be her son because he's the only prominent blonde Agnian character in the game, and has a similar face structure to adult Rex's (with all the trauma that would entail). His name can also be read in Japanese as "gifted ruler", or “the people's ruler”, similar to "king" (Rex). His Core Crystal and real blade are also unseen. The fact his eyes are a shade of dark-amber rather than golden are a counterpoint, but it could be a result of lingering genetics. After the Version 2.1.0 update, fans then started to jokingly point to Miibomii (a Nopon) as Mythra's child due to their prominent visual similarities, sometimes also theorizing that Tora is the father. The most out-there theory with some degree of sincere supporters is that Crys, despite being Kevesi, is Mythra's son who somehow managed to cross sides.]]

*** [[spoiler:Pyra and Mythra's children are much less obvious, with people debating if they even are preexisting characters encountered in ''Xenoblade Chronicles 3''. For Pyra's child, a common theory was that Cammuravi is her son, being a WorldsStrongestMan with fire-themed physical traits, implying that he is either a Blade or a child of one, before Glimmer (a direct {{expy}} of Pyra even more likely to be her daughter) was revealed for ''Future Redeemed''. Even so, the theories persist, only this time claiming that Cammuravi is related to Glimmer herself (as a possible brother or descendant), especially given how both of them have matching weapons and color schemes. Mythra's child is even more debated, as the blonde hair color isn't one that any of the Agnian Heroes in the game possess. The most common guess early on was Isurd due to the fact that Mythra's child has forehead markings resembling Isurd's TronLines and that he uses light-based disc launchers; as Glimmer has darker hair than Pyra, the same could hold true for Mythra and her son, as some children in real life develop darker hair colors later in life. Another popular candidate is Alexandria, since her Core Crystal is a distinctive emerald color (supposedly unique to the Aegises) with a shape that resembles Mythra's earrings, and she is a CriticalHitClass like Mythra as well as an Attacker to round out the role trio with Mio and Glimmer. Some have even speculated that ''D'', [[CompleteMonster of all people]], may be her son because he's the only prominent blonde Agnian character in the game, and has a similar face structure to adult Rex's (with all the trauma that would entail). His name can also be read in Japanese as "gifted ruler", or “the people's ruler”, similar to "king" (Rex). His Core Crystal and real blade are also unseen. The fact his eyes are a shade of dark-amber rather than golden are a counterpoint, but it could be a result of lingering genetics. After the Version 2.1.0 update, fans then started to jokingly point to Miibomii (a Nopon) as Mythra's child due to their prominent visual similarities, sometimes also theorizing that Tora is the father. The most out-there theory with some degree of sincere supporters is that Crys, despite being Kevesi, is Mythra's son who somehow managed to cross sides.]]

*** The most common theory for Noah's parentage outside of the Malos reincarnation theory is that he is the son of Shulk and Fiora and that his black hair is the result of recessive hair color genes that showed up in Dunban but not Fiora. Others speculate he is Dunban's own son with an unnamed Homs woman and that his sword abilities and WarriorPoet personality were inherited from him. A third popular theory is that he is the son or grandson of Vangarre (Vandham in Japanese) [[spoiler:and that is where his descendants got their surname from]]. The fourth popular theory is that he is Melia's son (with Dunban or Shulk as the most popular fathers) due to their narrative ties together and to parallel Mio and Nia.

*** [[spoiler:Pyra and Mythra's children are much less obvious, with people debating if they even are preexisting characters encountered in ''Xenoblade Chronicles 3''. For Pyra's child, a common theory was that Cammuravi is her son, being a WorldsStrongestMan with fire-themed physical traits, implying that he is either a Blade or a child of one, before Glimmer (a direct {{expy}} of Pyra even more likely to be her daughter) was revealed for ''Future Redeemed''; even so, the theories persist, only this time claiming that Cammuravi is her descendant,[[note]]She was given a normal human's lifespan by Rex, and even so, the versions of Noah and Mio that became N and M show that humans on Aionios are capable of reproducing normally,[[/note]] especially given how both of them have matching weapons and color schemes. Mythra's child is even more debated, as the blonde hair color isn't one that any of the Agnian Heroes in the game possess. The most common guess early on was Isurd due to the fact that Mythra's child has forehead markings resembling Isurd's TronLines and that he uses light-based disc launchers; as Glimmer has darker hair than Pyra, the same could hold true for Mythra and her son, as some children in real life develop darker hair colors later in life. Another popular candidate is Alexandria, since her Core Crystal is a distinctive emerald color (supposedly unique to the Aegises) with a shape that resembles Mythra's earrings, and she is a CriticalHitClass like Mythra as well as an Attacker to round out the role trio with Mio and Glimmer. Some have even speculated that ''D'', [[CompleteMonster of all people]], may be her son because he's the only prominent blonde Agnian character in the game, and has a similar face structure to adult Rex's (with all the trauma that would entail). His name can also be read in Japanese as "gifted ruler", or “the people's ruler”, similar to "king" (Rex). His Core Crystal and real blade are also unseen. The fact his eyes are a shade of dark-amber rather than golden are a counterpoint, but it could be a result of lingering genetics. After the Version 2.1.0 update, fans then started to jokingly point to Miibomii (a Nopon) as Mythra's child due to their prominent visual similarities, sometimes also theorizing that Tora is the father. The most out-there theory with some degree of sincere supporters is that Crys, despite being Kevesi, is Mythra's son who somehow managed to cross sides.]]

*** [[spoiler:Pyra and Mythra's children are much less obvious, with people debating if they even are preexisting characters encountered in ''Xenoblade Chronicles 3''. For Pyra's child, a common theory was that Cammuravi is her son, being a WorldsStrongestMan with fire-themed physical traits, implying that he is either a Blade or a child of one, before Glimmer (a direct {{expy}} of Pyra even more likely to be her daughter) was revealed for ''Future Redeemed''; even so, the theories persist, only this time claiming that Cammuravi is Glimmer's brother. Mythra's child is even more debated, as the blonde hair color isn't one that any of the Agnian Heroes in the game possess. The most common guess early on was Isurd due to the fact that Mythra's child has forehead markings resembling Isurd's TronLines and that he uses light-based disc launchers; as Glimmer has darker hair than Pyra, the same could hold true for Mythra and her son, as some children in real life develop darker hair colors later in life. Another popular candidate is Alexandria, since her Core Crystal is a distinctive emerald color (supposedly unique to the Aegises) with a shape that resembles Mythra's earrings, and she is a CriticalHitClass like Mythra as well as an Attacker to round out the role trio with Mio and Glimmer. Some have even speculated that ''D'', [[CompleteMonster of all people]], may be her son because he's the only prominent blonde Agnian character in the game, and has a similar face structure to adult Rex's (with all the trauma that would entail). His name can also be read in Japanese as "gifted ruler", or “the people's ruler”, similar to "king" (Rex). His Core Crystal and real blade are also unseen. The fact his eyes are a shade of dark-amber rather than golden are a counterpoint, but it could be a result of lingering genetics. After the Version 2.1.0 update, fans then started to jokingly point to Miibomii (a Nopon) as Mythra's child due to their prominent visual similarities, sometimes also theorizing that Tora is the father. The most out-there theory with some degree of sincere supporters is that Crys, despite being Kevesi, is Mythra's son who somehow managed to cross sides.]]

** Noah's outlook on offseeing, and a big part of what causes Mio to start to fall for him, was startlingly similar to the one held by Miyabi, who was so dedicated to Mio that she [[spoiler:sacrificed her life to save her and Sena despite having more life left]]. Mio is also only able to [[spoiler:[[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight restore a reincarnated Miyabi's memories]] by using her music to communicate the intense feelings behind their past bond together, and Miyabi's Heroic Chain ability is all about raising Mio's TP (which, due to the GameplayAndStoryIntegration behind how TP functions, implies that Miyabi [[ActOfTrueLove is completely devoted to Mio and Mio alone]])]].

** Sena's bond with Mio is generally characterized as a Senpai/Kohai kind of relationship, but it also overlaps with PseudoRomanticFriendship, and is notably given as much or more focus than her bond with her Interlink partner Lanz, which tends to be treated more like close-but-PlatonicLifePartners in contrast. Many interpret the scene of her confessing to Noah that Mio tells him things she won't tell her and encouraging him in her place, [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove without fully understanding how to express it]], as her being this game's iteration of the [[RecurringElement staple]] RomanticRunnerUp.