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Albedo is perhaps the most insane villain in all
of gaming. The man commits many heinous acts throughout the series, including
tearing off his own head, terrifying a little girl, and playing various mind
games with his brother, all to satisfy his own sadistic mind. Despite the fact
the he shows up rather late in the first episode of Xenosaga, Albedo makes his
presence known, and one that the player will not soon forget.
Yet, despite all of this, the Xenosaga series still finds a way to make Albedo
a sympathetic character. It seems impossible, but Namco pulls it off quite
well. As it seems, Albedo does have a reason for his insanity. He and his two
brothers are the last remaining U.R.T.Vs, weapons created during the Miltian
conflict to combat a dark, mysterious energy force known as U-DO. During a
mission at the Song of Nephilim, one of his brothers (Rubedo, known as Jr.
throughout the series) failed to mind link with the rest of his brothers, which
caused most of the U.R.T.Vs to be killed and the remaining three (Albedo,
Rubedo, and Nigredo) to survive but seriously injured. Unfortunately, Rubedo
and Nigredo escaped the Song of Nephilim while leaving Albedo stranded there.
This drove Albedo into madness, and since that time, Albedo has vowed revenge
for what happened that day. He wants to make Rubedo "atone for his
sins".
But Albedo's motives stem much deeper than revenge. Albedo's most
distinguishing quality (well, other than his insanity) is his ability to
regenerate body parts after they have been dismembered. When Albedo discovers
this ability as a child, he is happy because he assumes that his brothers can do
this as well. Albedo demonstrates this ability to Rubedo and Nigredo by blowing
his head off. This appalls his brothers, who condemn his act. Albedo then
realizes that his brothers do not possess this ability, which makes him afraid
of being alone. He realizes that his brothers will die before his does, which
will make him all alone in the world since his brothers are the only thing he
has. Albedo's quest is also a search for death, because he doesn't want to bear
the loss of his brothers. He considers himself a monster because of his ability
(something he states repeatedly throughout the series).
Albedo also succeeds in his quest. At the end of the second episode, Rubedo
finally puts him to rest. Albedo considers his death to be very liberating. It
frees him from all the pain he would have had to endure, and judging from
Rubedo's reaction, Albedo also inadvertently succeeds in getting his revenge.
Rubedo is forced to feel the pain of loss because of Albedo's death.
Albedo succeeds as a villain in every aspect. He's made sympathetic without
losing what makes him so villainous in the first place. He's also one of the
few villains who succeeds at the end.
"I've reached a higher stage of existence compared to you incomplete
mortals. I am the alpha and the omega of perfect consciousness!" -Albedo
(Writeup courtesy of Draco1214)
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Win-Loss Record0-1 Spring 2005 ContestRuin Division - 3 Seed Ruin Round 1 --- Lost to (6) M. Bison, 21337 [31.56%] - 46264 [68.44%] Extrapolated Strength --- 22nd Place [17.32%] Albedo's fans had wanted him in a contest since the first Xenosaga, but he was unfortunately put into a bad spot in the Villain's Contest and was another of the many one and done character contained therein. Ryu vs KOS-MOS in Summer 2004 essentially showed up what would happen in Albedo's match with Bison before it even began, and the results played out as expected. The only people that were really surprised by the result were a few immature Albedo fans that expected too much of him, and it's unknown as to whether we'll ever see Albedo in another contest. The Xenosaga series has vastly lost its appeal (Xenosaga 2's horrendous sales and rumors abound that games 4/5/6 have been scrapped are the main reasons for this), and Monolith is attempting to correct this by porting Xenosaga titles onto the DS. As for whether this will have a good effect on Albedo and more notably KOS-MOS remains to be seen, but it's clear that the characters in the series need massive amounts of help if they ever wish to be strong in contests. |
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