| “ | Behold the light that spreads before your eyes. This light once symbolized civilization – the very will of the human race. But what can be gleaned from the light we see today? The people of this world have cast away their will to create, drowning themselves instead in an endless cycle of consumption. What you see now is the deceitful light cast by their stagnant eyes. The people you've encountered in your lifetime are not people at all. They're less than human – mere sacks of flesh and bone. Only upon the realization of self-will, can a person truly be called a man.
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Margulis is one of the main recurring antagonists in Xenosaga. He is a strong believer in Jesus Christ on a mission to resurrect humanity's consciousness, and believes he is doing "God's" will.
Very little is initially known about him aside from the fact that he pursues the Y-Data hidden in MOMO Mizrahi's subconscious, he wields a sword with spiritual abilities, and that he is commander of the U-TIC Organization. His associates are his second in command, Pellegri, Andrew Cherenkov, a misfit Super Soldier variant, U-TIC scientist Sellers, and the rogue U.R.T.V. Albedo Piazzolla. He is secretly the Chief Inquisitor of the secret society Ormus.
With the development of Episode II, Margulis' role is increased. Both forceful and arrogant, he cares little for the lives of those sacrificed by his actions, whether civilians or his own operatives. In Episode III, it is revealed that he has a black-plated E.S. Levi with a large broadsword and two wing-like drones.
Margulis' motives stem from the fact that he believes Sergius XVII to be a petty and foolish old man who has lost sight of Ormus' original goal, returning to Lost Jerusalem. He believes Heinlein (Wilhelm) shares this ideal and follows his orders unquestioningly because of it.
Personality
Jin vs. Margulis
Margulis swordfights Jin.
Margulis is a stern fervent warrior who is adept at swordfighting. He has a strong will and sense of holiness and justice who wants to awaken and resurrect human consciousness to its full potential.
Wilhelm also says that Margulis has lived a life without regret. Margulis is someone who seeks salvation is his faith, however, Margulis' overly strong faith has clouded his eyes.
Margulis believes that "only upon the realization of self-will, can a person truly be called a man." To him, a man who doesn't change the world, leave behind an impact and a legacy, is not a real man, but just a dispensable number in an overpopulated world, fated to disappear from history. To Margulis, those who lack will aren't people. They "look" human, have human faces, and speak the same language, but in his eyes, they're "mere sacks of flesh and bone", with little to no will of their own.
By the time of Xenosaga, Margulis feels that the vast majority of humanity has a "consumer" mindset of endless consumption, rather than creativity and creation. Most people lack the will to change the world, and instead, merely accept it for the way it is with complacency and condonation.
Due to these beliefs, Margulis is unphased by the deaths of 1.5 billion people during the Ariadne Incident, as he didn't consider them real people of any value or worth.
According to the Enneagram personality analysis, Margulis is classified as a type 8 (brave / confident in himself / coercive / confrontational). This is the same type as the three U.R.T.V. brothers and Luis Virgil. It is natural that he who is the commander of the U-TIC Organization, that is to say the person who acts as the leader of the organization, is a type 8. In addition, he is not unhealthy like Albedo, but rather, when it comes down to it, he is closer to the healthy Gaignun. However, Margulis' elitism creates a circumstance in which it is difficult to say that he is healthy.
Margulis has a lot of self control, is brave, rude, confident, authoritarian, coercive, proactive, developmental, stubborn, aggressive, confrontational, forceful, and dominating. With these special qualities, his leadership is unshakeable. Just as Andrew adored him, he has the charm to attract people with ideology. Also, as the commander of an armed organization, he has both military efficiency in his position of supervising people with many aggressive directives and the ability to mobilize.
Margulis' speech and conduct fascinates U-TIC Organization members. However, incidentally, he does not treat others as humans and tries to completely control them. Because of that, he himself becomes inhuman.
The experiment that made the planet Ariadne disappear is the most extreme example of that. When he received the report that Andrew had died, Margulis was slightly moved. His memories of Andrew moved him. However, when the planet Ariadne disappeared and 1,500,000,000 people died, because he did not regard them as human, there was not even a single ripple in his heart. He does not see individual humans, but rather bunches them together as a whole. The "innocent people" that Pellegri spoke of do not exist. However, people are not a mass with the number 1,500,000,000 either. However, Margulis only sees them as an amount with a numerical value.
A healthy but twisted type 8 like him will continue asserting himself until his objectives are achieved. When he has an objective that is twisted but can appeal to the hearts of many people rather than a selfish objective, he will have enough power to create cities and countries.
Background
Michtam
Michtam's destruction in T.C. 4747.
Born a member of planet Michtam's people of Zohar, he resented the Galaxy Federation for its destruction of his homeland in T.C. 4747 when he was around 24 years old.
At at unknown point in time, Margulis pledged loyalty to Cardinal Heinlein (Wilhelm) and Ormus in hopes of fulfilling the people of Zohar's greatest wish: a return to the holy motherland of Lost Jerusalem. He also apparently never saw what Cardinal Heinlein looked like, yet sympathized with Heinlein's wish to return to Lost Jerusalem. In actuality, Heinlein/Wilhelm only planned on using Margulis as a tool to further his agenda.
"Betrayal" of Ouga Uzuki
Both Margulis and Jin Uzuki were actually taught by Jin's grandfather, Ouga Uzuki, in the ways of martial arts, swordplay, and Ether manipulation. Jin claims that Margulis "betrayed" his grandfather, but what he meant by that is not explicitly known. He could have meant betrayed him on principle by siding with U-TIC and becoming a criminal, or perhaps Margulis played a role in Ouga's death. Either way, Margulis' betrayal is one of the major driving forces behind Jin's pursuit of Margulis and, ultimately, Ormus and the mystery behind the Miltian Conflict and the Zohar.
Miltian Conflict
Margulis in the Miltian Conflict.
During the Miltian Conflict on Miltia, 14 years before the events of Xenosaga Episode I, Margulis was a double agent serving as a Colonel in the Federation Military and working for U-TIC and the Ormus Society at the same time. Margulis tried to start up the sealed Zohar, but the reason for this has not been recorded.
Xenosaga Episode II PCSX2
Margulis fighting chaos and Jin in battle.
Margulis scarred by Jin Uzuki's blade.
One of the soldiers under his command, Jin Uzuki, Shion Uzuki's older brother, had discovered his treachery and was going to use the Y-Data to reveal his and his superiors' dealings to the proper authority. Before he could do that, Margulis confronted Jin and the two engaged in a heated sword fight which resulted in Jin giving Margulis the sword scar that appears on his face in the game's present-day timeframe.
Albedo was saved by Kirschwassers who took him on the Song of Nephilim, shortly after he turned on Rubedo and Nigredo at Labyrinthos. He was found there by Sellers and his U-TIC Organization personnel, who were preparing to abandon Miltia using the Song as a giant lifeboat. After that, Albedo was taken in by Ormus and placed under Margulis' jurisdiction most likely.
Intermission of 14 years and Andrew Cherenkov
"Look at this light of humanity's deceit. You rejected this false light and refused to succumb to their lies."
The Beach of Nothingness
Margulis compliments Cherenkov for being 1 refusing to follow 1,500,000.
U-TIC was not entirely erased. It was reformed by Margulis and went into a long period of dormancy.
Margulis found out about Cherenkov and took him under his wing into the U-TIC Organization. Margulis became Cherenkov's mentor, and Cherenkov found a sense of value, happiness, meaning and purpose in Margulis.
Margulis taught Andrew about the importance of viewing "humans" by their level of consciousness - focus less on their physical appearance, face, body, and their voice, and instead, focus solely their message and look for the consciousness and being deep within — don't be confused or succumb to empty mindless shells who don't seem or feel real inside; in other words, automatons with no self-will of their own.
One of Cherenkov's first missions was to steal the KOS-MOS Archetype, an android being developed by Vector Industries. Cherenkov was given a remote control device by Kevin Winnicot. Kevin also worked for Heinlein/Wilhelm, but had a different motivation (Eternal Recurrence, not Lost Jerusalem). Being only partially complete, KOS-MOS malfunctioned when Cherenkov activated her and murdered nearly all of the people in the room at time, including Kevin.
Another mission Margulis gave to Cherenkov was the Zohar Link Experiment.
Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht
Margulis speaking to Ziggy.
Margulis first appears on a monitor in in a conversation with Cherenkov, both of them trying to secure and retrieve the Zohar Emulator in the Woglinde.[1]
Margulis boss fight
Margulis fights Ziggy and MOMO.
Ziggy reaches the U-TIC headquarters, Pleroma, and rescues MOMO Mizrahi, fighting Margulis on his way out.
When Andrew Cherenkov dies in the Cathedral Ship, Margulis receives a report of his death and is slightly moved because of his memories of Cherenkov, unlike Ariadne since Margulis did not regard them as real humans, but a mass without individual consciousnesses.
As part of Plan 31 and Plan 401, Margulis deploys the 474th Special Operations Fleet, the fleet that attacked Jr. and his associates. Margulis predicted that the Kukai Foundation would take action to investigate the Woglinde incident.
Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse
Margulis talks with the Patriarch Sergius XVII of Ormus, explaining that Albedo Piazzolla will unlock the safeguard on the Y-Data and lead them to Old Miltia. The two also discuss Ormus operative Heinlein's motives.
After the U.R.T.V. Albedo Piazzolla stole the Y-Data from MOMO's subconscious, the U-TIC Organization and their allies, the Immigrant Fleet, made a raid on the planet Old Miltia to gain possession of the Original Zohar, now unlocked with the Y-Data.
Once there, another personal duel between Jin and Margulis ensued in Labyrinthos. Upon being defeated, he exclaimed that it would be too late to stop the plans of using the Zohar, since the Zohar was already in the possession of the Patriarch.
Xenosaga Episode II HD Cutscene 70 - Margulis' True Master - ENGLISH
Margulis reveals his betrayal to Sergius XVII.
With Margulis' plan set in motion, he supposedly abandons the Patriarch to be killed by Shion and friends in the Omega System, so that the Patriarch would be replaced by Heinlein, and then Margulis would obtain more power. Margulis was in on this because Heinlein, Sellers, and Margulis are all connected to a project involving Hyams Group, which the Patriarch has no knowledge in.
Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra
Xenosaga III HD Cutscene 018 - Inquisitors (Michtam) - ENGLISH
Margulis and Pellegri discuss their disdain towards the Galaxy Federation.
At the beginning of the game, Margulis reveals that he is one of the "people of the Zohar", born on planet Michtam, also known as Abraxas, what he believes to be the birthplace of Ormus. He believes that the Immigrant Fleet's return to Michtam is a sign of the beginning of their return to Lost Jerusalem.
However, doubts begin to form in Margulis' mind when Heinlein begins issuing orders that seem to contradict Ormus' goals. For example, Heinlein orders Margulis to hold off his fleet from going to Rennes-le-Château, to abandon Omega Res Novae, and later, obtaining the original Zohar on Abel's Ark. Margulis follows these orders with a measure of reluctance right up until the end of the game when Heinlein orders the fleet to abandon Michtam.
Xenosaga III HD Cutscene 284 - Truth Behind Ormus - ENGLISH
Wilhelm reveals Margulis' faith is a lie.
When Margulis shows his stubborn dedication to the ideals of Ormus, "Heinlein" realizes there is no helping him. He steps forth finally and reveals his true form to his devout disciple; Wilhelm of Vector. When Wilhelm explains Ormus' true purpose to Margulis, to protect the "words of God" (Lemegeton) and the "relics of God" (The Zohar, Zarathustra, the Anima, etc) Margulis questions whether or not everything he had worked for was all in vain. He then questions his own faith before coming to terms with the fact that a return to Lost Jerusalem is indeed impossible. Wilhelm says Margulis' faith was too strong and "overly strong faith clouds the eyes." This leads to a crisis of faith and disillusionment in Margulis.
On Michtam, Margulis approaches Jin, Shion and their allies. Margulis reveals his feelings of being betrayed, feeling that "People of Zohar" are just "fools made to dance to a tune of lies". Margulis fights Jin and everyone else in the E.S. Levi one last time.
After being defeated and with his E.S. close to the point of self-destructing, Margulis stabs himself through the abdomen with his own sword, not wanting to give Jin the "satisfaction" of killing him.
Quotes
- "UZUKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
- "You're going to help us out. Machines like you exist to be used. What happens to you after that, god only knows... Assuming you people even have a god, that is." (to MOMO)
- "We'd like to have a word with the man you have hidden inside of you." (to MOMO)
- "You chose to reject the false light, refused to succumb to their lies. That's why you never faltered, even after all the personality reconditioning. Long ago, man was forced to leave behind his homeland. This was brought about by the masses who extinguished the very light that drove their will. So how about it, Cherenkov? Let us rekindle the torch so that human consciousness may once again be resurrected. For our sake... and that of our god."
- "What's one-and-a-half billion people to us?" (after the destruction of Ariadne)
- "Respect? For what? Save your philanthropy for someone that cares." (to Pellegri)
- "I'll make sure you die a painful death someday, Uzuki!"
- Margulis: "Your attitude reminds me of a man I know and I don't like it. Curiosity can prove to be fatal. You would do well to remember that."
Shion: "Ha!" - "Look at the remains of a dream. The final product of human intelligence, human technology that can surpass even God. The end result of desire for forbidden power. The very definition of a nightmare."
- "I, too, was unable to rise above my human existence. It may have been I who sealed this planet into a nightmare. You could say I was pure. If I'd stopped to think for a moment, it all would have been obvious. But the word "martyrdom," seduced and clouded my eyes."
- "Uzuki, those who died with their beliefs were the happy ones. But what about me? There's nothing more pathetic than a pet who's been abandoned by his master. Lacking the strength of the wild, he merely exposes his pitiful form to the world and waits to die. But it is the same for you. Ormus, Vector, the Federation, Miltia... All of them were nothing but actors for the one objective. What does the term "People of Zohar" mean for us now? We're just fools made to dance to a tune of lies."
- "Even a fool has his pride. But after being betrayed and rejected by all I've believed in, there is still one thing left for me. You, Uzuki. My showdown with you is the only thing that will not betray me."
- "You were able to kill Pellegri. And I'm sure that you'll be able to satisfy me, as well, Jin Uzuki! As a warrior, and as a man, I will leave my mark upon the world!"
- "I'll send you all to hell!"
- "Jin, you are exceptional. But your strength means that you will always be alone in this world. You've cast aside the few people... who understood you, by your own hands. Now, there is no one left who understands you."
- "It's all right. This is my wish. I have lived to settle the score with you. At this moment, I am not going to... lose to you!"
Trivia
- Margulis has his own theme.
Gallery
Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht
Xenosaga: The Animation
Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse
Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra
