“ | A child like that should never have been born. | ” |
—Retrace X: Malediction |
Introduction
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Xai Vessalius (ザイ=ベザリウス, Zai Bezariusu) is an antagonist from Jun Mochizuki's Pandora Hearts. He is a part of the Vessalius Dukedom, father to Oz and Ada Vessalius, and the elder brother of Duke Oscar Vessalius. As Oscar has no affinity for Contracting, it is Xai who is Contracted to their Black Winged Chain Gryphon. His demeanor towards his children is very cold, distant, and uncaring, and in particular he seems to despise Oz for a reason unknown. As a result, he is the cause of Oz's complex to accept everything no matter what in order to keep smiling and no longer be hurt.
Approximately 25 years before Oz's escape from the Abyss, Xai has a fateful yet inexplicable encounter. On a snowy day, a child approached him and claimed to be Jack Vessalius who managed to survive for the past century. According to him, he had been blessed by the Abyss and caught a glimpse of the future, where the Baskerville Clan would return to incite the Tragedy of Sablier once again. The soul of the Chain whose powers nearly destroyed the world, the B-Rabbit, was asleep inside of Jack's body and would be hunted by the Baskervilles for their purpose. Xai's child whom his wife Rachel was pregnant with would die upon being born, and Jack's soul would soon disappear from his body. And so, purposefully appealing to Xai's familial pride by inducing the Vessalius name, Jack implored Xai to take Oz the B-Rabbit within Jack's body in place of his soon-to-be deceased child.
When Rachel gave birth months later, Xai's son was stillborn, and he had no choice but to follow Jack and perform the switch. Xai found out only later that Jack was behind the doctor who looked after his wife. Suspicion started to set in, though Xai was unaware how this exact suspicion was too directed by Jack—and he discovered that it was Jack who truly incited the Tragedy. All this resulted in Xai coming to loathe not only Jack but Oz raised as his child from within the man's body. Through Jack's further manipulation, Xai came to believe the only way to kill Oz permanently was to cast him into the Abyss. He thus contacted the Baskervilles through the Nightray Dukedom, and fabricate a prophecy to trick them into believing that Oz was Jack's reincarnation. All this leads to the inevitable terrible truth: the one who cast Oz into the Abyss during his Coming-of-Age Ceremony is his own father Xai.
Appearance
Xai and his younger brother bare a great resemblance to one another through their facial structure and composition. Like many Vessaliuses before him, Xai has emerald green eyes and golden blonde hair that is kept cut rather short and slicked back out of his face. Xai's individuality is maintained through his short goatee and large facial scar of obscure origins; which reaches from his forehead and across the bridge of his nose, to his cheek. Xai's wardrobe consists of a black overcoat, shoes and pants and a white dress shirt, ascot and gloves; also wearing a black top hat and cape on certain occasions. In addition, Xai has a black cane with a silver head on his person at all times, which appears to be more for presentation purposes rather than for support.
Personality
Though Xai is shown to be rather spiteful, he acts as such because of his dark past. When Xai initially met Jack prior to his son's birth, Xai's interests lied only with himself and putting the Vessalius Dukedom ahead of the other Dukedoms. However, the deaths of Xai's son, wife, sister-in-laws and nephew made Xai vindictive, egotistical and vengeful rather than simply selfish. Though Xai could confirm that Jack caused his son's death, he simply assumed that the rest of his family's deaths were also caused by Jack's hand rather than by happenstance; prompting Xai to target all his hate toward Jack and the Chain he'd taken in as his adoptive son. Consumed with rage, Xai sought out the Baskervilles in order to condemn Jack and Oz in order to destroy them both for what he believes is the greater good, not realizing that he'd been tricked by Jack into doing so to reunite Oz with his powers. Xai stuck true to his vendetta in the end, never straying from his stubborn beliefs even after 25 years, yet still coming up short for the satisfaction of the revenge he craved so desperately.
Even with all his faults, Xai is shown to have light inside him no matter how small it may have been. Truthfully the only reason Xai accepted Jack's offer in the first place was because he wanted to spare Rachel Cecile the pain of their son's death. Though he was reluctant and displeased with the results that followed, Xai was still happy to see that his wife wasn't stricken with the grief of their lost child. Similarly, Xai acted in every way possible to ensure Ada's safety when Jack set the world on its destructive path, kidnapping her not just as leverage to force Oscar to do his bidding, but to also keep her safe in the Baskervilles' custody while chaos spread throughout Pandora. Furthermore, Xai threw away his own safety when he saw Ada's life was in danger because of Noise, eventually going so far as to sacrifice himself in order to save Ada from death via a merciless Chain; a reaction of Noise's reckless decisions.
Apart from his rather harsh demeanor, Xai enjoys reading, tea and music - as he is known to have quite the talent for it himself - while also having a difficulty dealing with noisy places and his younger brother.
Powers and Abilities
- Skilled marksman with considerable swordsmanship ability.
- Xai's strengths include horseback riding, as well as musical ability - as he is considered to be talented both the piano and violin.
Chain
- See more: Gryphon
- Flight
- Just as the other Black Winged Chains can, Gryphon is able to undergo a Ceremony of Judgement against someone accused of a sin against the harmony of the Abyss. To do this, Gryphon uses blood from the accused that was drawn by a witness in order to summon forth his seal and pass judgement. If the accused is found guilty of their sin, then Gryphon can summon the Chains of Condemnation through his seal in order to ensnare the accused and drag them into the depths of the Abyss to be destroyed.
- Though rarely used, Gryphon has a fail safe ability for instances when the Chains of the World are severed. Gryphon can mend the Chains and prevent them from breaking further, only he's unable to recreate the Chains which have already been destroyed.
- Gryphon is capable of traversing the Dimensional Plane, though the process is taxing and exhausts his Contractor as a result.
Quotes
- "Your sin is... your very being!"
- "Don't touch me, you vile creature."
- (About Oz) "Whatever becomes of it... is none of my concern."
- (About Leo) "You have a good valet. He... rightfully knows his place."
- "I see I was right. I had a feeling you would come after me."
- "Yes... you did. When was that again? You suddenly pointed a gun at me and impudently dared to say this. You went on spouting tales about how the Chain that dropped it into the Abyss was our Vessalius House's Gryphon. How about it? Would you like to make sure once more?"
- "Is the Chain you claim to have seen... still... smiling with the same face as this one?"
- "Where are you hurrying off to? How long has it been since we spent some time together, as a family? Or rather, how many times have we ever had the chance to? This is the perfect opportunity... for a nice long family talk. "
- "About twenty-five years ago, a boy showed up before me... he said that... he had been forsaken by the Abyss. He said that... he had been alive... for over a hundred years."
- "Oscar, you knew it, didn't you? You knew that Oz was not my son?"
- "Just as that boy had foretold... my son was still born. I replaced my son's cold body... with Jack Vessalius'... who had regressed into an infant."
- "Of course, I was reluctant at first. But that boy- that man- gave me solid evidence that he was really Jack Vessalius... by telling me lots of things that only Jack could know. I thought that if what he said were true... his final wishes should be inherited by a member of the Vessalius Dukedom. And in doing that... I could also spare my wife from the grief of losing her child. However. I came to discover the truth... Although, that was probably a part of his plan as well. Up until now I've been a mere puppet in his hands."
- "My son! Jack Vessalius killed him!! Not only him, but my wife as well!! And the same goes for your son, Oscar!! They were all murdered in order to fulfill that man's plans!!"
- "Oscar, kill that thing (Oz) with your own hands. That will make him suffer most. That is... my revenge against that man."
- "Oscar, how long are you going to play 'happy family' for? Why are you hesitating when that thing has caused you nothing but suffering?"
- "They're probably heading towards the St. Luca's Gate."
- "It's a corridor leading to an emergency passageway reserved for the use of the Four Great Dukes. Normally, it's entrance is sealed and only the head of the family can come and go using their Key to their Door to the Abyss."
- "My only purpose is preventing Jack from reaching his goal. That thing that carries Jack's soul within him is just another target for my grudge." (In response to Oswald asking why Xai would betray his own family).
Gallery
Appearances
- Retrace I: Innocent Calm (First Appearance)
- Retrace II: Tempest of Conviction
- Retrace X: Malediction*
- Retrace XII: Where am I?*
- Retrace XXVI: The pool of Tears*
- Retrace XXXIX: Gate of Blackness
- Retrace XL: Blindness
- Retrace XLI: Where am I?
- Retrace XLV: Queen of Hurts (Mentioned only)
- Retrace XLVI: Persona*
- Retrace XLVII: Unbirthday (Mentioned only)
- Retrace XLVIII: Isla Yura (Mentioned only)
- Retrace LXXV: Alone
- Retrace LXXVII: Vacant
- Retrace LXXVIII: Decision*
- Retrace LXXIX: Falling
- Retrace LXXX: Oscar Vessalius*
- Retrace LXXXI: CHILDREN
- Retrace LXXXII: Wish
- Retrace LXXXV: Reverberate
- Retrace LXXXVII: Starting Point
- Retrace XC: Clock Tower*
- Retrace XCI: Juror (Mentioned only)
- Retrace XCII: A Story (†)
- Retrace CII: The Nursery*
- Retrace CIV: Will
- Episode 1: Innocent Calm
- Episode 2: Tempest of Conviction
- Episode 25: Beyond the winding road (Non-Canon)
- The Story of the Vessaliuses: Golden Drops (Mentioned only)
(*) - Denotes that the character did not appear physically, but as a part of another character's memories.
Trivia
- Xai, as exemplified by his Contract with the Chain Gryphon, is based off of the Gryphon[1] from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.[2]
- His likes are, in order, black tea and reading. He dislikes everything associated with Jack.
- His skills include horseback riding, violin, and piano. He is weak when it comes to loud places and his brother Oscar.
- Mochizuki's comment on him is, his position of "uncertainty" regarding Oz remains from the beginning until the very end. Though she has always intended for a big reveal moment, not being able to draw his entire face had been quite difficult for her.
- The reason as to why Oscar, the younger of the two brothers, is the Duke Vessalius rather than Xai remains unknown.