diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index fdfe5d8..2a1c132 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
     "coverage": "vitest run --coverage",
     "dev": "npm run dev -w playground",
     "build": "npm run build -w playground",
+    "prepare:xbot": "node scripts/prepare-xbot.mjs",
     "eval": "tsx packages/posecode-eval/src/cli.ts",
     "typecheck": "for p in packages/*/tsconfig.json playground/tsconfig.json editors/*/tsconfig.json; do tsc --noEmit -p \"$p\" || exit 1; done",
     "gifs": "node scripts/capture-gifs.mjs"
diff --git a/packages/posecode-render/test/xbot-asset.test.ts b/packages/posecode-render/test/xbot-asset.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e7d0b45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/posecode-render/test/xbot-asset.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import fs from "node:fs";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import * as THREE from "three";
+import { GLTFLoader } from "three/examples/jsm/loaders/GLTFLoader.js";
+
+const ASSET = new URL("../../../playground/public/models/xbot.glb", import.meta.url);
+
+async function loadXbot(): Promise<THREE.Object3D> {
+  const bytes = fs.readFileSync(ASSET);
+  const buffer = bytes.buffer.slice(bytes.byteOffset, bytes.byteOffset + bytes.byteLength);
+  return await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    new GLTFLoader().parse(buffer, "", (gltf) => resolve(gltf.scene), reject);
+  });
+}
+
+describe("normalized Xbot runtime asset", () => {
+  it("ships two meshes on one meter-scale Mixamo skeleton", async () => {
+    const scene = await loadXbot();
+    const meshes: THREE.SkinnedMesh[] = [];
+    scene.traverse((node) => {
+      if ((node as THREE.SkinnedMesh).isSkinnedMesh) meshes.push(node as THREE.SkinnedMesh);
+    });
+
+    expect(meshes.map((mesh) => mesh.name).sort()).toEqual(["Beta_Joints", "Beta_Surface"]);
+    expect(meshes[0]!.skeleton.bones).toHaveLength(65);
+    expect(new Set(meshes[0]!.skeleton.bones.map((bone) => bone.name)).size).toBe(65);
+    // Both skins must reference the same bone objects, not Mixamo's duplicated
+    // nested skeleton that previously made retargeting ambiguous and unstable.
+    expect(meshes[1]!.skeleton.bones[0]).toBe(meshes[0]!.skeleton.bones[0]);
+
+    const bounds = new THREE.Box3().setFromObject(scene);
+    const height = bounds.getSize(new THREE.Vector3()).y;
+    expect(height).toBeGreaterThan(1.7);
+    expect(height).toBeLessThan(1.8);
+    const vertices = meshes.reduce(
+      (sum, mesh) => sum + mesh.geometry.getAttribute("position").count,
+      0,
+    );
+    expect(vertices).toBeLessThan(30_000);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/playground/public/models/xbot.glb b/playground/public/models/xbot.glb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7025913
Binary files /dev/null and b/playground/public/models/xbot.glb differ
diff --git a/playground/src/landing.ts b/playground/src/landing.ts
index daec286..3aa9aad 100644
--- a/playground/src/landing.ts
+++ b/playground/src/landing.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ function initHero(): void {
     const viewer = createViewer(heroCanvas, {
       autoRotate: !prefersReducedMotion,
       // Realistic skinned figure without flashing the procedural fallback.
-      characterUrl: "/models/character.glb",
+      characterUrl: "/models/xbot.glb",
       showProceduralWhileLoading: false,
       // Marketing surface: the hero movement declares `clip "jumping-jacks"`, so
       // it plays the retargeted Mixamo mocap for maximum polish on first paint.
diff --git a/playground/src/main.ts b/playground/src/main.ts
index d3ffeb2..8490cbe 100644
--- a/playground/src/main.ts
+++ b/playground/src/main.ts
@@ -553,7 +553,7 @@ void import("posecode-render").then(({ createViewer }) => {
     ...(classicFigure
       ? {}
       : {
-          characterUrl: "/models/character.glb",
+          characterUrl: "/models/xbot.glb",
           // Avoid flashing the procedural/classic figure while the default
           // mannequin asset loads. It still appears if the GLB genuinely fails.
           showProceduralWhileLoading: false,
diff --git a/scripts/prepare-xbot.mjs b/scripts/prepare-xbot.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ccae8d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/prepare-xbot.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+/**
+ * Normalize Mixamo's Xbot FBX into the single-skeleton GLB used at runtime.
+ *
+ * Mixamo exports Beta_Surface and Beta_Joints with separate copies of the same
+ * skeleton. Posecode needs one unambiguous bone tree, so the runtime character
+ * uses the complete Beta_Surface mesh/skeleton. The decorative joint shell is
+ * deliberately omitted; it can return later as a rigid overlay after the core
+ * retarget path is stable.
+ *
+ * Usage: node scripts/prepare-xbot.mjs <input.fbx> [output.glb]
+ */
+import fs from "node:fs";
+import path from "node:path";
+import * as THREE from "three";
+import { FBXLoader } from "three/examples/jsm/loaders/FBXLoader.js";
+import { GLTFExporter } from "three/examples/jsm/exporters/GLTFExporter.js";
+import { mergeVertices } from "three/examples/jsm/utils/BufferGeometryUtils.js";
+
+globalThis.ProgressEvent ??= class ProgressEvent {};
+globalThis.FileReader ??= class FileReader {
+  readAsArrayBuffer(blob) {
+    blob.arrayBuffer().then((result) => {
+      this.result = result;
+      this.onloadend?.();
+    }, (error) => this.onerror?.(error));
+  }
+
+  readAsDataURL(blob) {
+    blob.arrayBuffer().then((result) => {
+      this.result = `data:${blob.type};base64,${Buffer.from(result).toString("base64")}`;
+      this.onloadend?.();
+    }, (error) => this.onerror?.(error));
+  }
+};
+
+const input = process.argv[2];
+const output = process.argv[3] ?? "playground/public/models/xbot.glb";
+if (!input) throw new Error("usage: node scripts/prepare-xbot.mjs <input.fbx> [output.glb]");
+
+const bytes = fs.readFileSync(input);
+const scene = new FBXLoader().parse(
+  bytes.buffer.slice(bytes.byteOffset, bytes.byteOffset + bytes.byteLength),
+  `${path.dirname(input)}/`,
+);
+
+let surface = null;
+let joints = null;
+const remove = [];
+scene.traverse((node) => {
+  if (node.isSkinnedMesh && node.name === "Beta_Surface") surface = node;
+  if (node.isSkinnedMesh && node.name === "Beta_Joints") joints = node;
+  // The second skeleton is nested under the primary Hips in Mixamo's Xbot.
+  if (node.isBone && /Hips$/.test(node.name) && node.parent?.isBone) remove.push(node);
+});
+if (!surface) throw new Error("Xbot normalization: Beta_Surface was not found");
+if (!joints) throw new Error("Xbot normalization: Beta_Joints was not found");
+for (const node of remove) node.removeFromParent();
+
+const boneNames = new Set(surface.skeleton.bones.map((bone) => bone.name));
+if (boneNames.size !== surface.skeleton.bones.length) {
+  throw new Error("Xbot normalization: primary skeleton still has duplicate bone names");
+}
+
+// Re-index the decorative joint shell onto the primary skeleton. Both meshes
+// use the same Mixamo names but export separate bone objects (and Beta_Joints
+// omits one terminal bone), so indices must be translated by name first.
+const primaryIndex = new Map(surface.skeleton.bones.map((bone, index) => [bone.name, index]));
+const jointToPrimary = joints.skeleton.bones.map((bone) => {
+  const index = primaryIndex.get(bone.name);
+  if (index === undefined) throw new Error(`Xbot normalization: unmapped joint bone ${bone.name}`);
+  return index;
+});
+const jointSkinIndex = joints.geometry.getAttribute("skinIndex");
+for (let vertex = 0; vertex < jointSkinIndex.count; vertex++) {
+  for (let lane = 0; lane < jointSkinIndex.itemSize; lane++) {
+    const source = jointSkinIndex.getComponent(vertex, lane);
+    jointSkinIndex.setComponent(vertex, lane, jointToPrimary[source]);
+  }
+}
+jointSkinIndex.needsUpdate = true;
+
+// Bake Mixamo centimeters into Posecode meters. Scaling the wrapper around a
+// live skin makes Xbot's bone matrices participate in that scale as well; bake
+// it into vertices + joint translations and rebuild inverse binds instead.
+scene.updateMatrixWorld(true);
+const bounds = new THREE.Box3().setFromObject(surface);
+const unitScale = 1.75 / bounds.getSize(new THREE.Vector3()).y;
+surface.geometry.scale(unitScale, unitScale, unitScale);
+joints.geometry.scale(unitScale, unitScale, unitScale);
+surface.geometry = mergeVertices(surface.geometry, 1e-4);
+joints.geometry = mergeVertices(joints.geometry, 1e-4);
+for (const bone of surface.skeleton.bones) bone.position.multiplyScalar(unitScale);
+scene.updateMatrixWorld(true);
+surface.bind(surface.skeleton);
+surface.normalizeSkinWeights();
+joints.bind(surface.skeleton);
+joints.normalizeSkinWeights();
+
+// FBX legacy materials import almost black on Posecode's dark stage. Produce a
+// stable runtime PBR material rather than depending on converter heuristics.
+const oldMaterials = Array.isArray(surface.material) ? surface.material : [surface.material];
+for (const material of oldMaterials) material?.dispose();
+surface.material = new THREE.MeshStandardMaterial({
+  color: 0xb9c0cc,
+  metalness: 0.08,
+  roughness: 0.68,
+});
+const oldJointMaterials = Array.isArray(joints.material) ? joints.material : [joints.material];
+for (const material of oldJointMaterials) material?.dispose();
+joints.material = new THREE.MeshStandardMaterial({
+  color: 0x48515f,
+  metalness: 0.12,
+  roughness: 0.62,
+});
+
+const glb = await new GLTFExporter().parseAsync(scene, {
+  animations: [],
+  binary: true,
+  onlyVisible: true,
+});
+fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(output), { recursive: true });
+fs.writeFileSync(output, Buffer.from(glb));
+console.log(`Prepared ${output}: ${surface.skeleton.bones.length} bones, ${surface.geometry.attributes.position.count + joints.geometry.attributes.position.count} vertices, scale ${unitScale.toFixed(6)}`);