Xine

"'This lofty beast is not only strong but powerful as well!... Only by hammering Xine from all sides do you stand a chance at defeating him.' ~ PRIMA's Official Strategy Guide"Xine is a demon in the form of a bird. He rules as the king of demons, and is the final boss in the side quest to exorcise the dragons Gyoro and Ururun from Ashton Anchors. Unlike most demons and corrupted beasts in the game, Xine is neither inherently evil nor a product of the Sorcery Globe, but an ancient spirit native to the planet. He is part of the enemy subtype Phoenix.

The player does not require Ashton in order to face Xine. The player may enter his nest on Lasguss Mountain any time after the Lacour Tournament of Arms and before the Hoffman Ruins, and Xine will rightly treat the party as simple intruders and initiate battle.

Story
Following the instructions of the exorcist documents from the private library of Mars, the party brings Ashton to the final destination: the "throne" of the demon-king, Xine, to battle him and acquire a tear. After defeating Xine in combat, the king retreats and sheds a single tear, a mandate of spiritual authority over any subservient demon. The group gives the Tears of the King to Ashton, who then decides whether to keep or remove the demons. Ashton continues with the group to the Sorcery Globe and is then considered a permanent member.

General
As king of demons, Xine is on the order of thousands of years old, though his true age is never revealed. A brief conversation with Gyoro and Ururun reveals that Xine and the dragons were already well acquainted, and all have lived for many ages. While Gyoro and Ururun are usually identified as dragons, in reality they are demons that choose the form of dragons. This is why the pair are able to voluntarily possess Ashton, and why they must obey Xine, as he is their king.

While a role as king of demons sounds foreboding and evil, Xine takes a somewhat positive stance towards humans and their affairs. If the player manages to defeat Xine, he openly admires the bond forged between the dragons and Ashton, and admits that he wishes the same for himself. However, he concludes that a personal relationship with humans would be impossible for him, before flying away and leaving the Tears of the King.

Xine takes the form of a phoenix, thus his throne at the peak of Lasguss Mountain is a bird's nest. His name is a reverse-spelling of Enix, the distributor of Star Ocean 2. This is part of a small tradition on the part of the designers to pay homage to businesses and people by tinkering with their names. Additionally, Xine is probably made a phoenix by the game designers because the name Enix was a named after the mythical Phoenix of Greek legend.

Strategy
In the original edition of Star Ocean 2 (Star Ocean: The Second Story), Xine enjoys a special advantage as an aerial enemy. Short-range fighters struggle to move correctly and are easily caught in small nooks that prevent hits from connecting. Xine's generous attributes gives him fast movement, low chances to be stunned, and near (but not total) immunity to many status afflictions. This means that Xine is very difficult to be cornered by fighters, while simultaneously can quickly stalk down spellcasters and interrupt their work.