What I love about Shulk's characterisation across Xenoblade Chronicles 1 is the way he doesn't fit any of the norms JRPG protagonists tend to have. He's on a journey due to a need for vengeance instilled in him from years of grooming and with nothing else to live for beyond that.
Shulk is awkward and clearly neurodivergent coded in how he perceives the world and his fixations but also how he struggles with a lot of the social situations he ends up in if not for the support of Dunban, Reyn and others he'd be lost and would go further into his isolation.
Once Shulk learns the truth about the Monado and the Mechon he starts to question himself and whether he's right in his beliefs. He wants to learn more about the world, who he is as a person and also avoid creating endless conflict in the way the world was designed.
Zanza grooms Shulk to become his vessel and fed his belief and need for vengeance. Shulk realises this once he finally met Machina and spoke to them, he learned they were normal people just like Homs. Shulk struggles with how the world truly is and wants to change that.
Shulks act of defiance during the end of Xenoblade 1 is a way of reclaiming his own identity as well as the freedom for all Homs and Mechon alike. Shulk's journey is a path of acceptance and discovery that continues on even throughout Xenoblade 3 and Future Redeemed.
The mature, but mentally scarred Shulk we see in Xenoblade 3 shows the development Shulk made for himself over time. He took in the lessons of those he idealised like Dunban and wished to become someone his son and others could look upto.
I love Shulk's character so much and he's a big attachment from my childhood which affects me even now. Xenoblade series has so much depth and it's a series many people can grow to love through it's diverse cast of characters.
