Xenogears: Perfect Works Hacked Up Information

Mainly about Citan, of course!

First off, I'm not even remotely suggesting any of this information is particularly reliable. I can't read Japanese except for the syllabaries, a few select postpositions, and a handful of kanji. Sentences? Phht. So I've had to rely on those meagre skills, recognition, JQuickTrans (a program available from Coolest.com), and a machine translator on the Web from World Lingo. So the reult...is somewhat less than satisfactory and amounts to guesswork half the time. Still, I'll offer it.

In Japanese, Citan (or rather, Shitan) is spelled with kanji meaning "anti-samurai" or "counter-loyal retainer"; it has only one kanji spelling as far as I can tell (at least as a name...apparently shitan is also rosewood or rose sandalwood, made out of "purple" and archaic "platform"...hee, maybe that's why his daughter is named Midori "green"!) Both certainly hold some meaning for him in his Citan role; either as a man who put away his sword, or as one who is not quite as honorable as he appears. (It's also possible that Citan has a double meaning, as a name and a word--rosewood could be considered a middle ground between ebony and white sandalwood [see below for more on them]...yes, watch as Princess Artemis pulls things out of thin air!) Hyuga (or rather, Hyuuga), has only one kanji spelling I could find, and it has "sun" and "facing" in it. Make of that what you will--as a word it is pronounced 'hinata' and means "sunny place" or "in the sun". The machine translator spat back Hyuga on this one, but for Shitan it gave a meaning, even though Shitan is a Japanese name (I have no idea if it's a common one or not...) Ricdeau doesn't mean anything, and doesn't look like a Japanese name, even as Rikudou (or at least, I couldn't find anything like it.). Uzuki (or Udzuki) is a Japanese name, possibly a surname, definately a female first name. It is also an old name for the lunar month that was approximately April, which is written in kanji as "Zodiac Hare" and "moon", i.e., the "month of the rabbit". The han zhi (Chinese) for the "Hare" part of the month name also has a Zodiac(?) meaning of "East". The old month name also has the meaning "month of utsugi (Japanese shrub) blossoms" and "month of planting young rice".

(On an slightly related note, Kisaragi, Yuffie's last name, is also a lunar month name for February, meaning month of rebirth!)

There seems to be a year difference error in his mini-timeline, saying he was six when he started to learn to fence, but the main text says seven...most ages are off by a year. Perhaps that's just a peculiarity of Japanese ages? I'm using the ages given in the longer portions of the text.

In the beginning of Xenogears, Citan (Hyuga) is 29 years old. His mother's name is Ruri and his father's name is Shouki; his grandfather's name was Kikka. He was the ninth and last son (out of a whole mess of sons!), and born 3rd Class Solarian...in essence, he was no higher up the Solarian ladder than the surface dwellers brought to be "worker bees". But he is native-born Solarian, just not "Gazel" or "Abel".

He learned sword-fighting from his grandfather when he was seven, and he was remarkably adept at it. As with everything else, Hyuga was a prodigy with fencing (the sword-fighting he learned according to Perfect Works--I don't know if fencing can apply to other sword styles in Japanese.) There's mention of two "inclinations", which I've got variously as untranslatable words made up of shiro (white), kuro (black) and an archaic kanji (dan), and "sandalwood" (byakudan--an insence) and "ebony wood" (kokutan...I found it is used for making certain wooden weapons). And eeegh oy, look up above for something fun I found while trying to locate these two blasted words... After looking around the net, I'm no closer to figuring out what the heck they are in this context, but sandalwood and ebony wood seem the best translations. Whatever they are, apparently Hyuga was good at/with both, one of which was apparently extremely aggressive...they may have been swords, since reference is made to Yui keeping them, although it could simply mean she kept his sword when he "sealed up" his fencing ability. From what I can gather, he was far and away the best fencer in Solaris. (Perhaps Ramsus used a different sword technique?)

(More on Japanese incense and the three woods--apparently it has religious connotations; Buddhist ceremonies use incense, to bring Buddha's presence and his peaceful world. It may have been used in Zen practice as well; I haven't looked into it that deeply. Sandalwood is apparently a highly prized incense. Anyway, byakudan, kokutan, and shitan were all used in carving Buddha statues. I'm still uncertain of what all it means, but I suppose if one wanted, one could say that ebony wood, which has black in its spelling, is the opposite of sandalwood, and therefore perhaps ebony wood was used by Hyuga to prepare himself for the darker aspects of his fencing skills. But that's me pulling stuff out of the air; I have a feeling it isn't something I can figure out without some serious delving into Japanese traditions.)

When Hyuga was thirteen, a plague caused by a Soylent System bacterial experiment spread through the 3rd Class levels of Solaris, and he was the only survivor out of his entire family. He had always displayed a remarkable, genius level intelligence, and apparently people got suspicious of him and persecuted him because of it, thinking he had caused the plague. Something is said about his oldest brother, but I'm not sure what it means. Anyway, people bugged him about it all up until he entered Jugend. There's a hint here that the Soylent experiment was for biological warfare...

It seems that with quite a few less 3rd Class citizens, news of Hyuga's genius came to the attention of Kahran Ramsus...although it took a while getting there, I suppose. At fifteen, Hyuga, even though he was a 3rd Class citizen, entered Jugend, apparently at the insistance of Ramsus. (It seems Ramsus had to pull some strings to get Hyuga into Jugend.) He shared a room with another Jugend student, one Sigurd Harcourt. They both became good friends with Jessiah Blanche. I can't quite make out who started the Elements, but apparently Hyuga and Sigurd were signed up to be Elements shortly after entering Jugend, again, most likely at Ramsus' insistance.

While at Jugend, Sigurd spent part of his time "freeloading" off Jessiah, who was already married to Raquel and had a son named Billy. Hyuga visited Jessie's house often, to see Sigurd I suppose. Anyway, lasting memories of deep embarassment were made there...of getting drunk enough to do that moronic belly dance Jessie mentions in the game! I can't quite make out the whole deal with that, but it looks like it was Jessie's fault because he enjoyed partying too much. How Jessie managed to get Sigurd and Hyuga to drink just the right amount of alcohol to get them drunk enough to act like idiots but not drunk off their butts, I don't know, since Sigurd can't hold liquor in a bottle, but Hyuga apparently has a higher tolerance...

Possibly as a test of Hyuga's loyalty, Solaris took advantage of his genius in mechanics and fencing and had him design so many weapons that there's apparently no point in listing them all. The high points are the invention of the Aerods which Vierge (both Elly and Miang's) uses, building Ramsus' Wyvern, designing Jessie's Buntline (the mini-Gear that transforms into a gun that another Gear can use--but Hyuga hadn't worked out the design flaw that used the pilot-as-bullet!), making a Gear for each of the Elements (Bladegash, Skygehene, Grandgrowl, and Marinebasher...not sure if he made them combine, but it's likely), as well as tweaking Achtzhen so that it could change shape to become a more powerful weapon. Hyuga is also responsible for Alkanshiel. In any event, he made a huge number of Gears and weapons for Solaris.

At the age of 21, after he graduated from Jugend, Hyuga was promoted to the station of "Guardian Angel of Solaris". Two years later, he was entrusted with sole leadership of the third invasion of Shevat. From what I can gather, he met up with Gaspar while the rest of Solaris and Shevat fought, but in single combat the two couldn't get an edge on one another. Hyuga also met Yui at this time...but I don't know if it was in battle or not (although it seems clear she was as capable in a fight as her grandfather Gaspar.) I'd almost expect they had to have fought...the machine translator called Yui "destructor woman", and I can't figure out another way for them to meet in the heat of battle. It's also possible that Hyuga thought he was fighting Gaspar, only to find out later in the battle that it was Yui Gaspar and not Wiseman Gaspar. That was probably the way it worked out, but I can't be certain. One way or another, Hyuga fell fast and hard for Yui. Upon quick reflection, Hyuga realized Shevat and Solaris were not only evenly matched (partly due to the three Wisemen of Shevat), but they had fought until there were few troops left, so he ordered an immediate retreat. It seems he might have had a wee ultirior motive in all this named Yui. In any event, Shevat escaped the invasion.

One thing seems clear: Yui and/or Gaspar did not defeat Hyuga in single combat--it was a stand-off, and the invasion ended because Hyuga ordered a retreat, not because he had been beaten in a fight. Unless one counts falling head over heels for the enemy being beaten...

After the invasion ended, Hyuga frequently sneaked into Shevat to see Yui. During these secret visits, he also talked to Gaspar. Apparently, in order to win Gaspar's approval, Hyuga "sealed" his fencing. From what I gather, that meant he gave up using 'byakudan' and 'kokutan' as offensive skills/weapons (i.e., for killing) and gave his skills/weapons to Yui for safekeeping. Thus approved, apparently Yui and Hyuga were immediately married and shortly thereafter Midori was born. Hyuga didn't give up fighting, however, and Gaspar took him on as a student and taught him martial arts. I'm not entirely sure what is being discussed on the point of Hyuga's "sealed" fencing--it's possible that 'kukotan' was part of the "dark side" he feared might take over when he returned to Solaris. In any event, there was apparently some controversy about his "sealed" fencing when he went to Solaris, something about provisions not being made for it...it's all a jumble of words I can't make heads or tails of. Maybe all it means is that when he "sealed" his fencing, he didn't know he might one day need it again.

Hyuga continued secretly visiting Shevat until Emperor Cain gave him the secret mission of watching the Contact, Fei Fong Wong. When he was given that order, he told Yui about it and stopped visiting Shevat for a while. I'm not certain how long he stopped visiting, but it seems he never lived there. Two years later, Hyuga took on the name Citan Uzuki and traveled with Yui and Midori to the surface, to live on a mountainside near the villiage of Lahan. It seems the reason that Midori rarely spoke to her father was because she knew via telepathy why they were on the surface and what Citan's mission entailed as well as other Solarian information to which the Guardian Angel was privy, and she apparently didn't approve. It seems as though Midori knew more about Hyuga's mission and all it entailed than Yui did. From the game it is apparent that Midori inherited her telepathy from Citan, since Citan was often in telepathic contact with Emperor Cain...unless it was just a special ability all her own. Nothing is said about Yui having that talent, although the book is clear that she inherited Gaspar's fighting ability. In any event, Midori was a powerful telepath, and could detect the inner motivations of both people and animals, no matter their condition.

Citan's mission in Lahan was essentially to watch Fei and report to Cain whether or not Fei was a threat, and to help him decide what course of action to take in regards to Fei. He was also there to help form the nascent Fei identity that Wiseman had created over Id. His arrival as a doctor in Lahan was "convenient" in that Fei had also arrived, critically wounded. Citan cured him using his knowledge of Solarian technology and medicine, and throughout the three years the Uzukis lived in Lahan, Citan helped stabilize Fei's new personality that had been created over Id. Because of his skills as a medic, as well as his technological skills, and because of Yui and Midori, Lahan accepted Citan with a great deal of trust, so much so that Citan became a main advisor in cases of emergency. Citan helped Lahan with their medical and mechanical needs. Fei was constantly visiting Citan's house, gobbling up Yui's cooking, and playing with Midori. Fei, it seems, adored Citan.

When Id finally manifested and Fei left the ruins of Lahan, Citan continued his protective role (as well as his surveilling role), going off to travel with Fei. He left Yui and Midori, who both returned to Shevat.

The book describes Citan as a gentle personality, a genius in many areas, and, it seems, fairly passionate when he does get his emotions involved. He is aligned with the Anima Relic Asher. Yui is described as quiet and kind, as well as a powerful fighter. Midori is described as also quiet, not very close to her father (of her own volition, apparently), and an animal lover.

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