Nikol

The future doesn't belong to you! For those who have not completed games in the Xenoblade Chronicles series, this page contains spoilers regarding the plot. Discretion is advised.

Nikol Ortiz (Japanese: ニコル・オーツ, Nikoru Ōtsu) is a playable character in Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed. He was designed by Masatsugu Saito, the lead character designer of the game.

Overview

Nikol is the founder of House Ortiz. He is a Kevesi soldier who excels in mechanical engineering. He has a calm and quiet personality, but when the subject of machinery is brought up, he shows a more energetic side.^[2] For unknown reasons, Nikol lacks the ability to summon a Blade. To make up for this, Nikol fights using a pair of mechanical arms he crafted himself, known as the Variable Backpack.^[3]

After being implied throughout Future Redeemed, it is confirmed at the end of The Ouroboros Power that he was originally Shulk's son before being reincarnated. Not wanting his son to die young, Shulk gives a portion of his life force to Nikol during the ending, removing his term tattoo and, per his statue's description, allowing Nikol to live to the age of 80 years old.

According to his statue's description in Memorial Hall, he is responsible for the technology in the City that is still used to this day. It is revealed during the ending of Future Redeemed that the Interlink system being limited to only six people at a time was his idea, and something he worked into the Ouroboros Stone with Riku's help.

Appearance

Nikol is biologically of Homs origin. He is white skinned with blonde hair that has two stands that stick up, alongside green eyes. His physique is thin. He wears a blue sweater that lacks sleeves, with his arms being covered with baggy black arm covers with blue cuffs on top. The inside of those sleeves is just like his sweater. His pants are black with several pockets that end above his ankles. His shoes are primarily blue with black "laces", white midsole, and blue soles. On his head are goggles with red outer frames, black inner frames, white outer dots, and red inner dots.

In general, his appearance brings to mind Shulk and Fiora, resembling the former in terms of his clothing and accessories; and sharing the physique, side banges and green eyes of the latter; and having the blonde hair of both. His weapon is a pair of large mechanical arms that are attached to his back that bear similarity to the prehensile ears of a Nopon. These arms are colored yellow with black finger types and exude blue energy. The arms are segmented (connected by that energy) and have circular shoulders. This weapon collapses into a backpack when outside of battle. Nikol controls the arms with paddles.

Story

Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed

Previous Life

Prior to the merging of the two worlds and the creation of Aionios, the original Nikol lived in the world of the Bionis, likely being the son of Shulk and Fiora. As part of the Origin system, Nikol was repeatedly reborn in Aionios as a soldier of Keves.

Soldier of Keves

Eventually, an incarnation of Nikol was assigned to Colony 5. For unknown reasons, Nikol was unable to summon a Blade, resulting in him being bullied by others. In order to be able to fight, Nikol built a pair of large mechanical arms attached to a backpack, called the Variable Backpack. When Colony 5 fought against Colony Gamma in Vermilion Woods, everyone other than Nikol from Colony 5 were killed. Eventually, Nikol and Glimmer were left as the sole survivors of their respective colonies. The two of them then began trying to kill each other. However, their fight was interrupted by Matthew, who used his gauntlets' Ouroboros power to stop the fight, resulting in Nikol and Glimmer becoming Ouroboros. The two soldiers tried to kill Matthew and A, but are easily defeated. When Consuls Q and R appear, A kills both Consuls and then destroys the two Ferronis Flame Clocks, freeing Nikol and Glimmer from the Flame Clock system. However, Glimmer, unable to accept the fact that she is no longer an Agnian soldier, runs away in search of a colony. Matthew, A, and Nikol discover her to be gone the next morning, and proceed to go after her onto the Aurora Shelf.

Freed from the Flame Clock

While chasing Glimmer, Nikol asks Matthew about the Ouroboros power, and later tells them about how he is unable to summon a Blade. The party eventually finds Glimmer and Shulk being attacked by Consul W and the Colony Eta Ferronis at the Diablada Cliffs, and they join forces to fight the Ferronis. Later in the fight, W summons a Kevesi Ferronis and fuses it with himself and the Agnian Ferronis, and proceeds to fire a beam at Glimmer and Nikol, who attempted to save her himself. Fortunately, Rex arrives and blocks the attack. After W is defeated, everyone rests up for the night at the nearby camp, with Glimmer and Nikol opening up a little to each other. The next day, the group heads to Colony 9, the base of operations for the Liberators.

The Ouroboros Power

After the party's encounter with Na'el and Alpha at Raguel Lake, Rex and Shulk explain to Nikol, Glimmer, and Matthew about the history of their original worlds and how Aionios came into being. Afterwards, Nikol and Glimmer decide that they want to fight alongside everyone else in order to defeat Alpha. However, Rex and Shulk adamantly refuse, deeming the two of them unworthy of challenging Alpha, telling them they must stay in the Colony. The party then asks Riku about boosting their Ouroboros power. Riku informs them that they need some kind of "Trigger" to power up. In order to activate this trigger, Rex and Shulk volunteer to fight Nikol and Glimmer at the Gotrock Oracle Ruins. Nikol and Glimmer struggle a bit against the two, but are able to unlock more Ouroboros power to defeat Rex and Shulk, powering up the Ouroboros Stone in the process. Rex and Shulk then agree to let them tag along to Origin. With both matters dealt with, the party turns in for the night.

Confrontation with Alpha

The next morning, the party leaves for the Black Mountains, where Prison Island is located, in order to get to Origin. Soon after, they finally arrive at the Prison Terrace. They are greeted by N, who reveals that the one keeping Na'el in this world is Matthew, which is why N's been trying to kill him. The party confronts him, and N's clash with Matthew reveals to them a memory from Origin, of N's attack on the City and Alpha's involvement with it. All of a sudden, Alpha shows up and sends a ray of lighting at N, shocking him. Alpha's power emanates a fog which consumes the party.

The party arrives inside a memory from Origin. shortly before the time of Klaus' experiment. The party looks around at the scenery of a house with a garden, with a view of a large city with tall buildings, with one tower reaching into the sky. Rex and Shulk confirm that this is a memory of Klaus' world, when the two worlds were one. The party then follows the sound of a piano, and find Na'el, who explains that the world could be like this if they went through with Alpha's plan. A then shows Na'el the Land of Morytha, the aftermath of Klaus' experiment and what Alpha's proposed new world would ultimately become if his plan succeeded. Matthew persuades her that she would be no different from Moebius if she continued to view the Kevesi and Agnians as "things" unworthy of life, and that they could live like the people of the City if they were only allowed to choose it. Na'el agrees to join the party and stop Alpha, but not before Alpha regains control of her and disappears.

The party is then transported back to the Ark, where Alpha insists that the future has no need for the things of the past and that conscience is useless to the Trinity Processor. The party refuses to accept his goals, with Shulk and Rex recalling that Klaus trusted them with the future, and engage in combat with Alpha. After a while, Alpha tries to pull Matthew's soul in, but he resists and stays inside his body before N intervenes in the battle. Matthew expresses that for now, he is glad to have N at his side. Alpha unleashes his true form, that of a large humanoid figure with an empty, mask-like face. In a final effort to defeat Alpha, N grants Matthew the powers of his Sword of The End and instructs him to combine it with his Ouroboros Knuckles, which begin to emit green energy due to them containing what appears to be Pneuma's core. This grants the party the true power of Ouroboros, resulting in Alpha's demise.

The Gift of Life

Shulk and Rex begin to fade, and they reveal that without Alpha, Origin requires a new avatar to keep Aionios stable, which will be themselves and A. Nikol and Glimmer express disagreement to this, but Rex assures them that they will see them all again when the worlds are restored. As a final gift, Shulk and Rex grant Nikol and Glimmer their life force so they can live out the rest of their lives, after which Rex, Shulk, and A step forward into a large rift, telling them that the three of them will be waiting for them at the far edge of time.

Sometime after the reconstruction of the City, Nikol and Riku begin working on powering up the Ouroboros Stone, with the goal of enabling them to use the power of Ouroboros whenever they want to. While working, there is a problem that causes smoke, with Riku claiming that Nikol used too much Noise Bite, an accusation Nikol denies. Glimmer then arrives to fetch them for Matthew's send off. The three of them, along with Na'el, Panacea, and Linka, send Matthew off as he sets out on a journey by himself, leaving the City in the hands of his friends.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Legacy as the City's Liberator

Nikol greatly contributed to the City's reconstruction, being responsible for laying the foundations of all the mechanical systems supporting the City in the present day. Nikol eventually became the Founder of House Ortiz and had a family. Nikol would go on to live until the age of 80 years old.

When the City was rebuilt, a statue of Nikol was placed in the Memorial Hall alongside the statues of Matthew, Glimmer, Shulk, Rex, and Na'el as the City's Liberatrix.

Gameplay

In battle, Nikol assumes the Defender class Machinist. Although he does not wield a Blade, he is still able to fight, using his Variable Backpack as a weapon.

In a Chain Attack, Nikol starts with 25 TP by default, but he can gain 5 more through a "TP Plus" skill in Affinity Growth. Nikol's Chain Art is Cyclone Form, which has a default completion bonus of "Reduces Attacker and Healer aggro by 60%".

General Stats

"Base" assumes minimum weapon level and no Affinity Growth. "Fully upgraded" assumes maximum weapon level and complete Affinity Growth.

Level	HP	Attack	Healing Power	Dexterity	Agility	Critical Rate	Block Rate	Physical Defense	Ether Defense
1, base	386	48	3	34	16	4%	31%	45%	35%
99, base	9,667	328	80	337	156	4%	31%	45%	35%
99, fully upgraded	11,033	800	80	337	156	8%	54%	55%	45%

Weapon Stats

Nikol's weapon can be upgraded in Riku's Workshop after the quest Riku's Workshop has been completed.

Weapon Level	Attack	Critical Rate	Block Rate	Ingredients Required	Item Rarity	Gold Cost
I	36	4%	31%	-	-	-
II	52	5%	32%	Bladestone Fragment		2,200
III	72	5%	32%	Bladestone Fragment x2		3,700
IV	100	5%	33%	Bladestone Fragment x3 Testudo Shoulder Gun		5,300
V	132	6%	34%	Bladestone Kevesi Soldier's Armor x3		6,500
VI	168	6%	35%	Bladestone x2 Luminescent Laia Fin		9,300
VII	208	6%	35%	Bladestone x3 Testudo Shoulder Gun		10,300
VIII	272	7%	37%	Exquisite Bladestone Mineral Darbus Bone		16,800
IX	375	7%	38%	Exquisite Bladestone x3 Egel Horn		31,000
X	508	8%	40%	Mysterious Fragment Silver Ravoon Bone		44,800

Arts

• Total Destruction (Talent Art), AOE/Reduce dmg mid-Art/Pierce
• Motor Lifter, Launch
• Whirlwind, AOE/High aggro
• Steady Assault, Reduce mid-Art damage
• Blitz Punch, High aggro
• Smart Bomb, AOE
• Machine Clap, Defense Up

Fusion Arts

The below table shows the results of each possible fusion Art and their additional effects. They replace the Ouroboros Powers' effect, while the regular Arts' effects are unchanged.

Regular Arts are listed in the top row, whereas Ouroboros Powers are listed in the first column. Their intersection in the table contains the resulting Fusion Art.

Fusion	Motor Lifter	Whirlwind	Steady Assault
Blitz Punch	Motor Punch High aggro/Blowdown	Blitz Wind AOE/High aggro	Blitz Assault High aggro/Pierce
Smart Bomb	Motor Bomb AOE/Knockback	Bomb Wind Wide AOE	Smart Assault AOE/Pierce
Machine Clap	Machine Lifter Def. up/Debuff barrier	Wind Clap AOE/Def. up	Steady Machine Def. up/Ether anchor

Skills

• Safe and Sound: Reduces damage taken by allies in a fixed radius by 20-30%.
• Block-Counter Assembly: When blocking, deals 100-200% of Attack damage to enemy, drawing aggro.
• Concealed Strength: Reduces damage taken by 20-30% when HP is at 30% or lower.
• Advanced Lamellar Armor: Increases Physical Defense and Ether Defense by 5-10 percentage points.

Affinity Growth

The below table contains a detailed breakdown of Nikol's Affinity Growth tree.

Note: Nodes are listed from top to bottom, from left to right.

Icon	Name	Description	Cost	Prerequisites
Affinity Growth Tier 1
	Enhance Art Motor Lifter	Power Multiplier: 200% -> 260% Recharge Gauge: 30.0s -> 26.6s	20 AP	None
	Enhance Art Whirlwind	Power Multiplier: 120% -> 140% Boosts aggro generated when using Art by 50% 70%.	20 AP	None
	Enhance Art Steady Assault	Power Multiplier: 300% -> 360% Recharge Gauge: 26.6s -> 23.3s Reduces damage taken by 20% 35% when performing Art.	20 AP	None
	Learn Art Smart Bomb	Type: Ether Attack Area of Effect: AOE around User Power Multiplier: 270% Recharge Gauge: 8 (Auto-Attack Recharge)	15 AP	Defeat the Ritteli Rhinon (story objective)
	Learn Art Machine Clap	Type: Buff Area of Effect: Self Power Multiplier: 0% Recharge Gauge: 9 (Auto-Attack Recharge) Buff/Debuff: Defense Up	15 AP	Defeat the Ritteli Rhinon (story objective)
	Learn Skill Safe and Sound	Reduces damage taken by allies in a fixed radius by 20%.	20 AP	None
	Learn Skill Block-Counter Assembly	When blocking, deals 100% of Attack damage to enemy, drawing aggro.	20 AP	None
	Learn Skill Initiative Effect: Defense	Starting the battle with an attack from the side grants the whole party Armor Veil.	5 AP	None
	Learn Skill Max HP Plus	Increases maximum HP by 400.	5 AP	None
	Learn Skill Block Rate Plus	Increases Block Rate by 10 percentage points.	5 AP	None
Affinity Growth Tier 2 (1 Affinity Growth Unlock Kit required)
	Enhance Art Motor Lifter	Power Multiplier: 260% -> 340% Recharge Gauge: 26.6s -> 22.6s	30 AP	Motor Lifter powered up once
	Enhance Art Whirlwind	Power Multiplier: 140% -> 180% Boosts aggro generated when using Art by 70% 100%.	30 AP	Whirlwind powered up once
	Enhance Art Steady Assault	Power Multiplier: 360% -> 440% Recharge Gauge: 23.3s -> 19.3s Reduces damage taken by 35% 50% when performing Art.	30 AP	Steady Assault powered up once
	Enhance Art Blitz Punch	Power Multiplier: 180% -> 235% Boosts aggro generated when using Art by 50% 70%.	25 AP	Blitz Punch learned (automatic upon defeating Ritteli Rhinon in story)
	Enhance Art Smart Bomb	Power Multiplier: 270% -> 325% Recharge Gauge: 8 -> 7	25 AP	Smart Bomb learned
	Enhance Art Machine Clap	Recharge Gauge: 9 -> 8	25 AP	Machine Clap learned
	Enhance Talent Art Total Destruction	Power Multiplier: 500% -> 580% Deals defense-bypassing damage. Also reduces damage taken while performing Art by 40% 50%.	40 AP	None
	Learn Skill Concealed Strength	Reduces damage taken by 20% when HP is at 30% or lower.	20 AP	None
	Learn Skill Advanced Lamellar Armor	Increases Physical Defense and Ether Defense by 5 percentage points.	20 AP	None
	Enhance Skill Safe and Sound	Reduces damage taken by allies in a fixed radius by 20% 25%.	30 AP	Safe and Sound learned
	Enhance Skill Block-Counter Assembly	When blocking, deals 100% 150% of Attack damage to enemy, drawing aggro.	30 AP	Block-Counter Assembly learned
	Enhance Skill Concealed Strength	Reduces damage taken by 20% 25% when HP is at 30% or lower.	30 AP	Concealed Strength learned
	Enhance Skill Advanced Lamellar Armor	Increases Physical Defense and Ether Defense by 5 7 percentage points.	30 AP	Advanced Lamellar Armor learned
	Learn Skill Unlock Arts Canceling	Allows you to cancel one Art into another Art, and raises Art damage by 25%.	40 AP	None
	Learn Skill TP Plus	At start of Chain Attack, increases TP by 5.	20 AP	None
Affinity Growth Tier 3 (2 Affinity Growth Unlock Kits required)
	Enhance Art Blitz Punch	Power Multiplier: 235% -> 310% Boosts aggro generated when using Art by 70% 100%.	35 AP	Blitz Punch powered up once
	Enhance Art Smart Bomb	Power Multiplier: 325% -> 400% Recharge Gauge: 7 -> 5	35 AP	Smart Bomb powered up once
	Enhance Art Machine Clap	Recharge Gauge: 8 -> 7	35 AP	Machine Clap powered up once
	Enhance Talent Art Total Destruction	Power Multiplier: 580% -> 700% Deals defense-bypassing damage. Also reduces damage taken while performing Art by 50% 60%.	60 AP	Total Destruction powered up once
	Enhance Skill Safe and Sound	Reduces damage taken by allies in a fixed radius by 25% 30%.	40 AP	Safe and Sound powered up once
	Enhance Skill Block-Counter Assembly	When blocking, deals 150% 200% of Attack damage to enemy, drawing aggro.	40 AP	Block-Counter Assembly powered up once
	Enhance Skill Concealed Strength	Reduces damage taken by 25% 30% when HP is at 30% or lower.	40 AP	Concealed Strength powered up once
	Enhance Skill Advanced Lamellar Armor	Increases Physical Defense and Ether Defense by 7 10 percentage points.	40 AP	Advanced Lamellar Armor powered up once
	Learn Skill Auto Aggro Up	Accrues Aggro every second.	15 AP	None
	Learn Skill Ether Absorb	When blocking, adds 15% chance to absorb an ether attack.	15 AP	None
	Learn Skill Max HP Up	Boosts maximum HP by 10%.	15 AP	None
	Learn Skill Block Rate Up	Boosts Block Rate by 10%.	15 AP	None
	Learn Skill Guard Efficiency Up	Increases damage reduction rate when blocking by 15 percentage points.	20 AP	None
	Learn Skill Physical Absorb	When blocking, adds 15% chance to absorb a physical attack.	20 AP	None
	Learn Skill Ouroboros Power Awakened	Boosts damage dealt by Unity Combos by 50%.	5 AP	The Ouroboros Power completed

Unity Pairings

When Nikol is paired with the following party members in Unity, they grant the skill shown and have the following Unity Combo finisher as shown in the below table. The Unity Order of which Nikol is a part of is also named differently, depending on who he is paired with.

Note that all Unity Orders have the same completion bonus of "Reduces enemy physical and ether defense by 30 percentage points during Chain Attack".

Icon	Character	Skill	Unity Combo	Unity Order Name
	Matthew	Mighty Amp: Extends area of effect of attack Arts which have one by 50%/100% and boosts their damage by 100%/200%.	Mega Blast: Deals damage to enemies in range and inflicts Burst.	Cyclone Onslaught
	A	Heat Haze: 10%/20% chance to evade enemy attack.	Ether Slash: Deals damage to target and inflicts Smash.	Light Cyclone
	Glimmer	Rapid Adaptation: Boosts damage dealt based on the amount of battle time elapsed.	Hellstream: Deals huge damage to target and inflicts Burst.	Red-Hot Cyclone
	Shulk	The Protectors: Reduces damage to allies by 10%/15%, and boosts HP recovery by 10%/15% (does not stack).	Arrow Cyclone: Deals immense damage to target and inflicts Blowdown.	Liberation Link
	Rex	Maximum Output: Boosts damage dealt for each active buff.	Element Bomb: Deals huge damage to enemies in range and inflicts Blowdown.	Deliverance Engine

Battle

Main article: Desperate Kevesi

Trivia

• Nikol's eyes are depicted as blue in one of his official illustrations, even though they are depicted as green both in-game and in another version of the same illustration. This was presumably an error which was corrected by Masatsugu Saito for one illustration, but not the other.
• The name of his weapon, Variable Backpack, shares a naming convention with the Blade used by the Yumsmith class, Variable Arms. Furthermore, both share a naming convention with Poppi QTπ's Variable Saber in Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
• Nikol is the only party member in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 who doesn't use a Blade as his weapon.
• Nikol's jumping animation is almost identical to Shulk's jumping animation in Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition.
• It is all but explicitly stated that Nikol's mother is Fiora, based on his appearance and known familial relation to Shulk, and context clues given during Affinity Scenes. During the Affinity Scene at Riku's Workshop, Dunban is stated to be Shulk's brother-in-law, confirming that he married Fiora after the events of Xenoblade Chronicles. And during the Affinity Scene at Outlook Park, Shulk says it's thanks to Fiora he's here, then quietly adds that it's also thanks to her that Nikol is here.

Gallery

Official Art

In-Game Renders

Screenshots

References

Characters in Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed
Playable Characters	Matthew · A · Nikol · Glimmer · Shulk · Rex
City	Na'el · Ghondor · Chyra
Liberators	Panacea · Linka · Riku · Dillon
Consuls	N · Q · R · W · Z
Antagonists	Alpha