Brighid

Brighid is one of the main characters in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and its prequel Torna - the Golden Country. She is known as one of the Crown Jewels of the Empire of Mor Ardain alongside her fellow Blade Aegaeon. Due to being a Blade, she is immortal, but if her Driver is killed, she will revert to her Core Crystal form with her memories of her Driver erased, but if her Core Crystal is destroyed, she will die. She originally served Emperor Hugo, but after his death, she became the Blade of the Mor Ardain Special Inquisitor Morag Ladair, elder sister of current Mor Ardain Emperor Niall.

She was voiced by Shizuka Itō in Japanese and Jules de Jongh in English.

Appearance[]

Due to her fire elemental powers, Brighid has long purple hair that fades to blue at the ends. Half is worn loose down to her thighs while the other half is styled in a pair of Chinese buns that are constantly ablaze with blue flame. Her eyes are purple, but she normally always keeps them shut so they are never seen. She also sports blue flame marks above her eyebrows on her forehead.

She is very tall with a very curvaceous figure accented by her dress, which is floor-length and deep purple, but sports a transparent chemise. Her arms and legs are covered in crystals accenting her flames in shape and color, a belt sporting a dagger and several orange glow sticks, and her Core Crystal is shaped like a blue tear of flames.

Personality[]

Brighid is known to be one of the few Blades to keep a diary of her past awakenings to keep track of her memories of previous Drivers she served before they were killed and her memories erased when she reverted to her Core Crystal form. The only person she ever divulges this information to was Pyra due to the two of them having fought together as allies during the Aegis War when Pyra was her original self Mythra.

Biography[]

As one of the Crown Jewels of the Empire of Mor Ardain, Brighid is one of the most highly respected and beloved members of the Empire, especially serving the current Emperor as their Blade. While Brighid is normally very passive and unemotional when she speaks, she can be very powerful when using her fire-based Blade abilities with her Driver. She also keeps a personal journal of her lives when awoken from her Core Crystal form to keep track of her memories that are erased whenever she is reverted back to her Core Crystal form when her Driver dies. She is not above physical violence as well, such as when she slapped Rex in anger over his blasphemous thoughts about thinking Pyra would be better off without him after she surrendered to Torna to protect him and the others.

History[]

Brighid served Mor Ardain Emperor Hugo alongside her fellow Crown Jewel of Mor Ardain and Blade, Aegaeon, during the events of Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country. After meeting up with Jin, his driver Lora and other Blade, Haze, and Addam with his Blades, Mythra and Minoth, Brighid aided Hugo and the others up to the final battle with Mythra's fellow Aegis, Malos. However, when Mythra unleashed her ultimate attack against Malos, sending his Siren along with him into the Cloud Sea, the excess energy overtaxed the Torna Titan's already critically-damaged Core Crystal to the breaking point, causing it to shatter explosively. Hugo, Brighid, and Aegaeon sacrifice themselves to protect Addam from the blast and debris, but Hugo is killed, causing Brighid and Aegaeon to revert back to their Core Crystal forms, which are then handed over to the Mor Ardain Special Inquisitor to take back to Mor Ardain with Hugo's body, so while Hugo is laid to rest, Brighid and Aegaeon will be placed in storage until their next Driver awakens them.

By the events of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, set 500 years after the Aegis War, Brighid has been awoken again, but now serves as the personal Blade to Morag Ladair, the current Special Inquisitor, while Aegaeon serves Morag's younger brother and current Emperor, Niall. Brighid is first seen when Nia and Dromarch are captured as part of a trap to lure in Pyra and Rex on the Titan Gormath, but do so in an attempt to prevent them from being captured first by Councilman Dughall. Though Rex outsmarts Brighid and Morag thanks to Tora and Poppi, Brighid lets them go, knowing their paths will meet again.

When Brighid and Morag encounter Rex again, it is after they mistake Poppi for another artificial Blade named Lila, and agree to a temporary truce with Rex until they find the real culprit. When they do find him and stop him, Morag and Brighid arrive to prevent the Torna members Mikhail and Patroka from attacking Rex until they are aided by Fan la Norne. From that point onward, Brighid and Morag travel with Rex and his party.

On the way to Indol, Brighid discloses her Blade journal to Pyra and suggests she not keep Rex in the dark about her true motives for wanting to go to Elysium in the first place. Following when Indol intervenes for a peace conference to avoid a potential declaration of war between Mor Ardain and the neighboring kingdom of Uraya, after Emperor Niall nearly dies protecting everyone from Bana's final suicidal attempt to kill everyone for his own warmongering efforts, Brighid is joined by Aegaeon once more as they continue their journey.

After Pyra surrenders to Torna to protect Rex and the others, as Rex prepares to return to Argentum, thinking Pyra is better off without him, Brighid angrily slaps Rex for his blasphemous words and reveals what Pyra told her earlier about thinking Rex would be better off if she was dead. With help from Nia and Poppi, Brighid convinces Rex to stay for the meeting with Tantal King Eulogimenos.

Later, after landing in the Land of Morytha, Brighid rejoins Rex and Mythra, now joined by Jin, as they climb the World Tree to stop Malos. As they do, Brighid asks Jin if he's still the same Blade she remembers from the Aegis War, but Jin tells her it wouldn't matter now since she's a completely different person from the Brighid he remembers 500 years ago. However, he reconsiders his words before leaving on the Monoceros, telling Brighid that she is still largely the same Blade he knew back then.

Brighid continues fighting with Rex and his party up to the final battle against Malos in the Artifice Aion as Malos prepared to use it to destroy Alrest, but when Aion is delivered a mortal wound by Rex and Pneuma, killing Malos, Brighid is told to retreat with Rex and the others while Pneuma stays behind to use Aion to prevent the World Tree from collapsing on Alrest after Klaus, the Architect, dies and the Conduit shuts down following the death of Zanza, Klaus' other half, by Shulk. Though their escape pod is destroyed during reentry, Azurda is able to return to his full adult Titan form to save Brighid and everyone else and fly them to the new continent being formed by the other Titans as a final gift from Klaus. As they head there, Pneuma's Core Crystal suddenly reawakens, and to Brighid and everyone else's shock, Pyra and Mythra are revived, in separate bodies no less, so they could be together with Rex once more, free of their duties as the Aegis.

Other media[]

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[]

Brighid and Morag appear in the background sometimes of the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 stage that takes place on Azurda's back to show their support during battles on that stage. They cycle their appearances with Zeke and Pandoria, Nia and Dromarch, and Tora and Poppi.