Shulk

"The Monado... I hope I can figure out the secret of its power one day."

- Shulk

Shulk is the main protagonist of the video game Xenoblade Chronicles. Early details show that he is able to wield the Monado due to the fact that he was one of the only known survivors on a previous expedition to retrieve the sacred weapon. He first acquires the sword when his home, Colony 9, is attacked. His first act upon acquiring the destined weapon is to fight for an end to the war with the Mechon and avenge his childhood friend Fiora, who died in the attack.

He is voiced by Shintaro Asanuma in the Japanese version and Adam Howden in the English version.

Personality
As the main hero of Xenoblade Chronicles, Shulk is a young man with strong qualities. He is determined, organized, strong-hearted, smart, kind, and quick to the bone. Despite losing his parents at a young age, Shulk was still surrounded by people who cared about him, and he cared for those people in return. His kindness has been noted by several characters, most notably Fiora, who states that this is the main reason she fell in love with him. However, there are limits to his kindness, and he shows a very vengeful side when he witnesses Fiora's apparent death at the hands of Metal Face, after which he vows to kill him and all other Mechon.

Initially, Shulk saw his ability to see the future as a burden, particularly after witnessing Fiora's demise and being completely helpless as he saw it come true. After the fight with the Arachno Queen in Tephra Cave, however, he realises that the future he sees is not set, and that he can use his power to change it. Nevertheless, there are still several occasions where he sees the future but is unable to do anything about it, which frustrates him deeply. As a result, he can be quite the pessimist, as noted by Désirée, though she adds that it shows how much he cares for others. Sharla, however, claims that he doesn't give himself enough credit, since his ability to see the future has saved them countless times.

Shulk easily gets along with almost anyone he fights alongside with; his team-mates in particular. For example, he and Reyn have treated each other as brothers ever since they were children. The two have a shared oath of covering each others' backs on everything and, despite their vastly differing personalities, they almost never argue, Reyn claims that he can count the number of times they have argued on one hand.

In a Heart-to-Heart between Dunban and Sharla at Eryth Sea Dunban stated that Shulk's diet is not healthy as he dislikes vegetables. He eats the vegetables Fiora cooks him without complaining though, because he is too embarrassed to admit that he does not like them to her.

He looks up to Dunban as a mentor as well as a second-in-command of the team; he gets along with Fiora very well, especially since the two share mutual feelings for each other. As shown in the field, Shulk is also very protective of everyone. He seems to take it personally if anyone gets hurt during battle. He also asks everyone how they are holding up, even when the case is the other way around.

Abilities
Aside from the Monado arts, Shulk has very few normal arts (only eight) compared to every other permanently playable character (about fifteen moves each). Most of his arts revolve around positioning, requiring other party members to draw aggro away from him in order for his arts to gain additional power or effects, and this makes him weaker when fighting enemies head-on, as his arts require him to wait for openings. However, he can call upon the power of the Monado, which can stock another eight skills unique to the Monado itself, and all of his moves are useful in a variety of ways, including giving useful buffs and protecting his entire party from harm with a single Monado Art. He also has the third lowest HP of the playable cast, above Melia and slightly more than Sharla, but his Strength and Agility greatly balance out this flaw. An important note is that after gaining the Monado, Shulk cannot switch weapons. This works both for and against him. Whenever a point in the story occurs where Shulk gains a new Art for the Monado, its damage will increase. This means at times he will jump ahead of the other characters in terms of damage, but they will eventually catch up to him.

Trivia

 * In a Heart-to-Heart between Dunban and Sharla at Eryth Sea Dunban stated that Shulk's diet is not healthy as he dislikes vegetables. He eats the vegetables Fiora cooks him without complaining though, because he is too embarrassed to admit that he does not like them to her.
 * Shulk is scared of caterpillars as mentioned in a Heart-to-Heart between himself and Reyn in Tephra Cave.
 * After falling from Galahad Fortress, Shulk has a dream where he picks up a piece of scrap metal and falls through the ground as a child. The piece of scrap metal bears a high resemblance to the Monado.