Lao (Xenoblade)

"You did the right thing... All is as it should be... We've achieved our goal. Humanity...has a future... Soon, any threat from the Ganglion will be gone... Once we have our bodies... Once we are...whole...again..."

- Lao's departure.

Lao is the secondary antagonist of Xenoblade Chronicles X. He is the leader of the BLADE's military division known as Pathfinder and is secretly a spy for the Ganglion.

Personality
Despite his intimidating appearance, Lao is a passionate and respectful man that cares for others. He has shown to be able to connect with other's feelings, most notably Lin, who shared a similar tragic history with him.

Lao secretly despises the entire BLADE military, mainly due to the fact that his family did not make it aboard on the White Whale. As a result, he swore that he would avenge them by making humanity pay. Lao, however, eventually sees the errors of his ways and returns back to the humans.

Prior Events
Prior to the destruction of Earth, Lao had a wife and a daughter. When Earth was at its doom, Lao joined Project Exodus in order to escape. However, he was devastated to find out that his family did not make it through, as they were forced to die on Earth. Since then, Lao has grown a hatred for those that managed to escape from Earth's destruction.

Present Time
Elma and her team meet up with Lao in Green Thresold, where they request for his help to retrieve the Lifehold located in Noctilum, in which he agrees.

Lao later accompanies the team in finding a mysterious Skell found in Noctilum. They were able to get in contact with BLADE to retrieve the Skell, but then they are immediately attacked by the Tainted Caros. Eventually, they are saved by a giant, mysterious monster.

Later on, the Ganglion begin to launch an attack on Los Angeles to retrieve the Skell. Lao was put in charge to guard it, but suggested that it was better to be abandoned and let them take it instead. Nonetheless, the Ganglion were able to retrieve the Skell.

Lao is soon shown to be hijacking the latest BLADE Skell, Prog Ares, revealing himself to be a Ganglion spy. He eventually takes his departure with both the Skell and the data terminal for the Lifehold Core. Elma and her team confront him at the Ganglion's hideout in Cauldros, in which he reveals his hatred for BLADE. He is eventually defeated, and with enough rationalization, he was able to see the error of his ways.

Final Battle
Lao later returns to the Lifehold Core, stabbing Luxaar from behind, after Elma and her team defeated him in the Vita Skell. The Vita then begins to break the floor underneath them, causing them to sink in the protoplasmic fluid. As a result, Lao and Luxaar begin to fuse together into a monstrous, terrifying being. With no control of himself, Lao convinces everyone that he must be destroyed for the sake of humanity. Lao is eventually defeated once more, in which his body begins to slowly fade away.

Lao is later revealed to be alive where he is shown to be at an unknown location. He is soon discovered by an unknown figure.