Margulis

_Xenosaga_

Background

4000 years into humankind's future, the race has fled Earth and has colonized the universe. An Interstellar Federation links the planets in a common government, much as in the Star Wars series, and planets engage in their own development like countries in a much larger world than anything we know today. An incident on one of the planets, Miltia, results in the introduction of a sentient energy known as U-DO to the universe, along with a mysterious alien race known as the Gnosis.

The “Miltian Conflict” was the work of a group called the U-TIC Organization. This army of elitist humans wishes to reclaim “Lost Jerusalem”, otherwise known as Earth, and rekindle the torch of human progress there. Working arm-in-arm with the Ormus group of religious fanatics, U-TIC, with its field commander Margulis at the helm, launches a mission to reopen the lost gate to Miltia and recover a powerful artifact that may lead them back to their home planet.

Margulis himself is a merciless swordsman who views much of humanity as weak and worthless. His goals are to find Lost Jerusalem and to eliminate the Gnosis from the cosmos, even at the cost of billions of his fellow humans as collateral damage. Though he successfully infiltrates Miltia, his plans are cut short by his rival, Jin Uzuki, and by the awakened U-DO.

Analysis

Margulis is pure, unfettered evil. “What's one and a half billion people to us?” he remarks dismissively as a planet is destroyed as a result of U-TIC's activities. When explaining his motives to the heroes he shrugs off the specter of collateral damage: “The annoying Gnosis as well as a few pathetic, weed-like humans, who are arguably even more worthless than the Gnosis, are going to disappear.” He has absolutely no qualms about committing any number of atrocities to achieve his aims.