Final Fantasy 14is known for its dramatic storytelling, often presenting the players with heart-wrenching moments and plot lines, and a large part of this charm is created through characters that capture players’ attention and love. While there are some irredeemable villains inFFXIV, most characters, antagonist and protagonist alike can evoke deep feelings of sympathy from the player and make them come to understand the character’s choices.
From heroic Scions of the Seventh Dawn to the mysterious and enigmatic Ascians, everyone in the game has a strong point of view and reasons to do certain actions.Shadowbringers especially has been the expansion noted for its multi-layered antagonists that many came to sympathize with and, in some cases, admire them.
10G’raha Tia
He was ready to sacrifice himself for the world
G’raha started off as a secondary character exclusive to the Crystal Tower questline. He is an upbeat explorer who idealizes warrior of light and wants to become a hero, following in their footsteps. Eventually, he locks himself in the tower, expecting to be awakened generations later. However, this wasn’t the end of his story.
InShadowbringers, he is revealed to be the enigmatic Crystal Exarch. When G’raha awoke in the future, he saw a broken, destroyed world and was willing to go back in time and wait for 100 years to avert the coming calamity, most of which he would spent in solitude and anticipation. Eventually, he achieved this goal through great sacrifice.
9Estinien
Estinien is another character who entered the MSQ after starring in a side quest. An antagonist in the Dragoon questline, Estinien is a stunted Elezen who only seeks vengeance against Nidhogg. This is due to the dragon killing his family and annihilating his village, a moment that traumatized Estinien forever.
He returns as an ally in Heavensward, but in an ironic twist of fate, he ends up becoming a new vessel for Nidhogg. During his time at the heart of the dragon, Estinien shares the trauma and pain that Nidhogg felt, which allows him to realize that he isn’t so different from the wyrm. Estinien ended up surviving and deciding to put his life on a different track.
8Nidhogg
Consumed By Grief And Vengeance
One of the main antagonists inHeavensward, Nidhogg, is a mirror to Estinien, but his trauma stings even more due to the way dragons perceive time and emotions. He had to deal with the murder of his sister by the treacherous King Thordan and his Heaven’s Ward. This put Nidhogg on a path of war as he wanted to wreak havoc upon Ishgard.
This led to a thousand-year war between dragons and Ishgard, with Nidhogg’s vengeance claiming countless lives for both sides. He was never able to let go of this hatred and still felt the pain of losing his kin after generations had passed. In the end, Nidhogg drowns in the sea of rage and perishes, a shadow of a dragon he once was.
7Minfilia
A Soul Traded For The World
Minfilia is the leader of the Scions back in A Realm Reborn, but most of her story unfolds in 1.0. Orphaned at a young age, Minfilia had to go through many trials and tribulations to earn her place, and her respite from conflict was short, as she soon became the chosen pawn of Hydaelyn herself.
After the Bloody Banquet, Minfilia was lost for a while, and by the time the Scions found her, she had grown dedicated to her new cause of Hydaelyn’s choice, which meant separating from her friends forever. Her tragic life ended with Minfilia sacrificing herself to save the First Shard and pave the way for another hero.
6Ryne
Born To Perish
Ryne’s life has been decided the moment she was born. She was her generation’s inheritor of Minfilia’s soul, which led to her being taken in by Eulmore. However, instead of fighting the Flood of Light, she is locked up by Ran’jit, who does not want to lose her like he did in the previous incarnations of Minfilia.
She was freed by Thancred eventually, but he remained fairly cold and dismissive towards her, as he saw the girl as an obstacle to having Minfilia he knew return. Eventually, however, Ryne was free from the inherited’s soul, and Thancred came to accept and acknowledge her as her own person, giving her a chance at a new life.
5Lahabrea
Broke From Death Of His Brethren
Lahabrea is the first of the Unsundered the players encounter, and it happens long before they learn the history of the Ascians. At first, he seems like a fanatical villain, but the context players get in Shadowbringers, andPandaemonium questlineshows why Lahabrea went mad.
Back in the days of Amaurot, he was one of the most talented and dedicated researchers and had to make a number of difficult decisions, such as killing his wife, Athena. However, the Sundering took his son and most of his friends from him, with Lahabrea’s only solace being Zodiark and the rejoining plan.
4Yotsuyu
Known A Lifetime Of Abuse
Yotsuyu is a prominent antagonist inStormblood, and she is another example of someone who seems irredeemably cruel at first. However, the players learn the reason for her hatred of Doman culture, which lies in years of abuse and rape by her husband and by the customers at the brothel, which eventually broke her.
Yotsuyu’s grief was made worse by the fact that people around her ignored the abuse she went through because this would be disgraceful to the family and went against Doman culture as a whole. This led to her resenting her own people and feeling joy when she harmed them with the power that the Garlean Empire gave her.
3Emet-Selch
Carried The Burden Of Memory For Generations
Emet-Selch is another of the Unsundered and the maint antagonist ofShadowbringers. During his first appearance, he is revealed to be the true identity of Solus zos Galvus, Garlean Emperor and the founding father. He is a theatrical and manipulative villain who is responsible for many calamities in the setting.
InShadowbringers, however, the players learn the agony he went through after losing his brethren during the Sundering, as well as his despair at humanity’s fragmented existence. Emet-Selch is shown to not be without redeeming qualities, as he is the Unsundered, who is most torn about rejoinings and the pain they bring, causing him to try and contact the scions. Eventually, however, he still chooses to fight for his own people and dies to the Warrior of Light.
2Ardbert
A Fallen Hero
Ardbert is a mysterious character at first. Players who watched the cinematic trailers would recognize him to be very similar to how those depicted the Warrior of Light, yet he carries the title of the Warrior of Darkness.He is a puppet of the Ascians who commit atrocities in the name of saving his world from a certain doom.
Matters are made worse by the fact that the Ascians were the ones who orchestrated the Flood of Light, using Ardbert and his team as pawns. This led to them being vilified by their people, and this mission the only way of redemption for them. In the end, Ardbert fails, but he manages to give a fragment of his soul to the Warrior of Light in a battle against Emet-Selch.
1Elidibus
Fading Beacon Of Hope
The last of the Unsundered, Elidibus plays a vital role in the story of the world inFFXIV. He is the heart of Zodiark and the one that shielded the world during Final Days. Ever since Elidibus became a primal that fed on the hopes of others while forgetting his past with nothing but duty to guide him.
Unlike Lahabrea and Emet-Selch, Elidibus doesn’t remember thedays of Amaurotapart from a few flashes, which slowly erase his identity. He puts himself towards the restoration of Amaurot as his mind deteriorates in the process. All of his trials do not pay off, and in the end, he dies along with other Ascians, ending their plan once and for all.
Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail
WHERE TO PLAY
Dawntrail is the fifth full expansion for Square Enix’s MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV, and marks the start of an all-new story arc. It takes the Warrior of Light across the ocean to the continent of Tural, adds the new Viper and Pictomancer jobs, and a host more dungeons, raids, and more.
