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Just like its predecessors in the Xenoblade Chronicles series, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has a hefty narrative that’s filled with details and mysteries that you might miss if you aren’t paying close enough attention. One of the biggest mysteries in the game is the identity of the six Founders of the City.
When you visit the City for the first time, you’re given a tour and taken to the Memorial Hall, where there are six statues that honour the Founders. Each statue has a plaque that describes the Founder’s history and connection to the City, but identifying them is difficult, especially when some of the statues are of the Founder’s mentor, rather than the Founder themselves. Still, many have endeavoured to discover the true identity of the Founders, even if most conclusions are speculation at best.
Updated on May 8, 2023 by Rebecca Phillips: While the identity of the Founders was a mystery in the main story of Xenoblade Chronicles 3, its fourth wave of DLC included a new story scenario called Future Redeemed, which takes place before the base game's events. This DLC reveals much more about the Founders, including who they are and how they fought to rebuild the City after its initial destruction. We've updated this article to reflect the new information from the DLC.
This article contains spoilers for Xenoblade Chronicles 3's DLC Future Redeemed.
Who Are The Founders?
The Founders are six people who founded the City as it stands in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and were the first ever Ouroboros. Years ago, the Founders fought against Moebius head-on and established the City in order to free people from the chains of the Flame Clocks.
Each of these people became the Founders of a House in the City — Ortiz, Reid, Doyle, Vandham, Cassini, and Rhodes. The people who now live in the City are descendants of these Founders, and greatly admire them and what they have done for the City.
Many of the people carry on traditions passed down from these Founders, such as choosing to wield the same weapon as their House Founder in battle. Ghondor, for example, is a descendant of Vandham, and chooses to use her fists as her primary source of power.
House Ortiz
The plaque on this Founder’s statue reveals that he had great skills in mechanical engineering. As such, he forged his own weapon, instead of using a Blade. He was also dedicated to protecting and rebuilding the City, and somehow managed to live for 80 years, despite being born as a Kevesi soldier.
The statue itself has a striking resemblance to Shulk. His hairstyle is extremely similar to Shulk’s, and he also wears a sleeveless jacket and shorts that have a heavy likeness to Shulk’s default outfit. The Founder wears goggles on his head, similar to the Colony 9 goggles you can equip to Shulk as an accessory.
The Founder’s affinity for mechanical engineering is another trait he shares with Shulk. Towards the end of the first Xenoblade Chronicles, you’re able to forge a replica of the Monado, known as the Monado REX, similar to how this Founder created his own weapon.
These similarities are because the Founder is Nikol, Shulk's son.
In an Affinity Scene, Shulk says that neither he nor Nikol would be here if it wasn't for Fiora, referencing how she used to bring him food when he was focused on his research. This confirms that Nikol is Shulk and Fiora's child.
Nikol was unable to use a Blade, so he created a weapon of his own, the Variable Backpack, which is visibly similar to the arms of Nopon.
Although he was born as a Kevesi soldier, he lived to be 80 years old. Shulk shared some of his life force with Nikol, allowing his son to live out a normal human lifetime, rather than the short ten terms that other soldiers are given.
House Reid
This Founder's statue is of the Founder’s mentor, not the Founder herself. The plaque also describes her mentor in greater detail, revealing very little about the actual Founder.
The Founder herself seems to have deeply admired her mentor, viewing him as a father figure, despite the two not being related by blood.
Her mentor is described as wielding a great red sword. He also lost the use of his right arm on the battlefield, but persevered, and continued to sharpen his skills in the martial arts.
The Founder statue represents Shulk as he appears in Future Redeemed. After the first confrontation with Alpha, Shulk lost his right arm, and he now wields the Monado with his left arm.
Shulk's appearance bears a great similarity to Dunban's, as he now has flowing hair and a long coat. He's also described as having a "calm and constant" disposition, reflecting his new position as one of the leaders of the Liberators. As Shulk strongly admired Dunban, perhaps he drew on his memories of Dunban to help him become a better leader.
Shulk gave his life force to Nikol at the end of Future Redeemed, so he never made it to the new City. The actual Founder is Panacea, who called Shulk "Teacher" and looked up to him as a mentor.
Panacea resembles Sharla, possessing the same black hair and a mole on her chin, though on the opposite side.
As it's implied that Sharla and Reyn have feelings for each other at the end of the first Xenoblade Chronicles, it's likely that Panacea is their daughter. As such, Shulk perhaps recognised her and took her under his wing.
House Doyle
The Founder of House Doyle was a descendant of the people who originally established the City, and was there when Moebius N destroyed it. Her whereabouts were unknown for some time, but when she met the other Founders, she became completely committed to their cause.
The information plaque describing this Founder says that records suggest she and the Founder of Vandham were brother and sister, with her being the younger sibling, and they together completed the Ouroboros.
As it's revealed in Future Redeemed, this Founder is Na'el, and the younger sister of Matthew, the Founder of House Vandham.
Na'el desired a peaceful world where people could live without needing to fight to survive, and because of this, Alpha chose her as its avatar.
Once the party saves Na'el from Alpha and destroys it, she returns with them to reform the City, and helped to create their governance and legal system.
When you first gaze upon the Founder’s statue in the main story, Sena comments that the Founder looks a lot like Mio.
Alongside Matthew, Na'el is the great-grandchild of the Noah and Mio who became N and M.
House Vandham
The Founder of House Doyle’s brother, the Founder of House Vandham fought against N directly when he attacked the City. Having beaten N, the Founder took the remainder of the City’s people and remade their settlement out of the ruin.
The Founder left the new City in the hands of his sister and was never seen again — the statue’s plaque states that there are no records of his existence after this.
However, descendants of his lineage came back to the City hundreds of years later. According to oral traditions and stories in the City, the Founder used his fists to fight, and this is still a custom within House Vandham in the present day.
When you look upon this Founder’s statue, you might find that it has some resemblance to Noah, as he also has a ponytail and similar clothing. This is because the Founder is Matthew, the great-grandchild of the Noah and Mio who became Moebius.
After witnessing N kill his grandfather during the destruction of the City, his disdain for Moebius grew.
Traveling alongside A, Matthew looked for City survivors as well as his missing sister, Na'el, and hoped to rebuild what was lost, which is where he meets Shulk, Rex, Nikol, and Glimmer.
With the surprise help of N, Matthew unlocked the true power of Ouroboros during the battle with Alpha, allowing the party to emerge victorious and begin restoring the City.
Once the fight was over and work could begin on the City, Matthew left on a journey, leaving Na'el to take on his leadership role in his absence.
Matthew has a strong resemblance to Fei Fong Wong from Xenogears, who also sports a ponytail, as well as a strand of hair that covers his face.
Fei’s primary form of attack is also his fists, as he is a dedicated martial artist. This is likely just a callback and has no bearing on the story, though.
House Rhodes
Similar to how the Agnian and Kevesi sides of the party fought each other at the beginning of the game, the Founder of House Rhodes fought the Founder of Ortiz, until they were interrupted by the appearance of another Founder.
The plaque describes this Founder as being extremely “gentle and kind at heart,” as well as being a master of healing arts. This Founder is also said to have lived past 80 years of age despite being an Agnian soldier, just like the Founder of Ortiz.
This Founder is Glimmer, who fought Nikol on the battlefield when they were the only two soldiers remaining, only to be interrupted by Matthew, who freed them both from their Flame Clocks.
At first, Glimmer was reluctant to join the rest of the Founders, and attempted to find her way back to the Agnian forces, only to be stopped by Moebius.
After witnessing the power of Moebius and being told the truth about the world, Glimmer decided to leave her past behind and commit herself to the party's goals.
Rex almost immediately recognises that Glimmer is one of his daughters, remarking to Shulk, "At least yours is well-behaved," referring to Glimmer's attempts to bargain with Moebius to return to Agnus.
Out of Nia, Mythra, and Pyra, Glimmer most closely resembles Pyra, having the same red hair and eyes, and using similar fire powers in battle.
Just like Shulk, Rex bestows his life force onto Glimmer, allowing her to live a prolonged life in comparison to the other soldiers.
House Cassini
Both the statue and information plaque related to this Founder depict her mentor, instead of the Founder herself. The plaque describes the Founder’s mentor as having a “robust physique,” using two swords at once in combat, and losing one eye in a battle.
In Future Redeemed, the Founder's mentor is revealed to be Rex from Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
He is known for wielding the two Blades Pyra and Mythra, and similarly wields two Blades in the DLC. He lost his eye in the fight against Alpha, at the same time Shulk lost his arm.
The plaque describes him as being “unsophisticated” but still full of passion, which is similar to how Rex is portrayed — in his youth, he was naive with lots of growing up to do, but he’s dedicated to his goal nevertheless. In Future Redeemed, he's rather brazen, but still a worthy leader of the Liberators.
Similar to Shulk, Rex gave his life force to his daughter, Glimmer, meaning he did not reach the City. The actual Founder was Linka.
Linka looked up to Rex and respectfully called him "Boss" as she was a soldier under his command. Linka is implied to be the child of Zeke and Pandoria from Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
During a side quest called Linka's Birthday, Linka speaks about what her parents were like, and says that she used to eat Fried Octomayos with her parents — a food item that is one of Pandoria's favourites in Xenoblade Chronicles 2.