No reaction gif compares to my groan on seeing the winner of NPC popularity contest

[Francisco]

As if 29+ quests/missions weren't enough, as if an entire mission add-on weren't enough, as if an NM fight against two of the b@!#% weren't enough, as if an undeserved appearance in Dissidia and Duodecim weren't enough, as if the infestation of Treasures of Aht Urhgan and Wings of the Goddess weren't enough, people want more @^!@##%! Shantotto.

I'm utterly disappointed. I couldn't be more disappointed. There is no NPC I wouldn't prefer over Shantotto at this point. I didn't loathe her completely until now that she ruined the possible return of characters like Lion and Lilisette. I would rather have a quest revolving around Proud Beard, Delivery Specialist, or Cruor Prospector.

My thoughts 110%.

Shantotto? SHANTO-NO!!!

She's awful, horrible. The worst Jerry, the worst.

She's an attention craving pain in the arse. She's annoying Facebook girl. When she enters the room, everything immediately needs to be about her.

I LOATHE YOU SHANTOTTO.

She should not have been on the ballot at all.

1) She's been in how many quests?

2) How many missions?

3) And how many expansions have been dedicated to a single character?

4) And she had how many cameo appearances in other games?

Enough is enough. At the same time, it's no wonder she won, what with the disproportionate exposure granted up her.

How about this. Run another poll. "Which popular NPC should we kill off?" I guarantee Shantotto wins in a landslide.

Prishe, Lion, Lillisette would all be better. In fact, that's always been kind of a disappointment for me. Your character basically befriends these NPCs, saves the world with them, and then you never see them again.

Spoilers Ahead:

One is forever behind a locked door. Another is forever needing to rest. The third is off somewhere watching over something.

They're the types of people you think our adventurers would like to go back to.

Shantotto? Yeah, sure... I'll go by her place. And leave a flame sack of dog excrement on her front steps.

Since Shantotto is an always present NPC, meaning she can't be killed, here is my suggestion for her new quest line.

Shantotto loses all of her powers, has her position usurped, files for bankruptcy and slinks into a deep depression. All the while, the player profits from it by completing quests that makes her situation worse and worse. In the end, all that's left is a shell of a NPC that speaks in bland, non-rhyming one-liners. Shantotto laments that she wants to end it all, but can't by virtue of being a permanent NPC.

All this aside, you know what I'd like to see in FFXI? Elemental Fiends. Scarmiglione. Cagnazzo. Barbariccia. RUBICANTE!

Oh, and use the "Dreadful Battle" theme from FFIV in any battle with them.

How about a quest with Norg's Gilgamesh, something about uncovering the source of his name... turns out he's named after an ancient warrior or something. Long story short there is another Gilgamesh. The awesome Gilgamesh. And we fight him, or course. You know what music to use for the battle.

Drops? Obviously Genji Armor, which should be something like iLevel 130+ Thaumas Coat-esque armor for MNK/SAM/NIN.

One of the first major disappointments I had with FFXI seeing Gilgamesh wasn't... you know... Gilgamesh. Before that, it was seeing Lich and Kraken as vanilla mobs. Another were the design of Cactuars. Why SE? Why?

But yeah, avoid further disappointments. End the Shantotto madness.

I hate you Shantotto.

[Bearstar]

I still want Gumbah...

I mean he's the Tales Keeper. The Tales Keeper!!! The center of Galkan Political and Religious life and he's got almost nothing within Bastok and absolutely nothing outside of it. Think of everything you can do with him!

[Kafrein]

It is a little tedious to see Shantotto first and Prishe second, again, but I'm pleased to see Lilisette in third place! This means she may be in the next Dissidia game, which I am so here for.

What shocked me the most was Jaochim. I mean... Why?

P.S. Shantotto keeps winning because she's amazing. It may be annoying that it keeps happening but you can't blame people really. She's flawless.

Besides if you don't vote for her she'll probably kill you, so....

[Tohihroyu]

Never say no to Shanttoto....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sTJ2irHVJg (not my vid)

I really hope that what comes out of this is that Shanttoto decides to cast Flare on Naja Oh~hohohohoho! (who dosn't want to attack Naja?)

[Anjou]

I don't like Naja...there's just...so much about her I don't like, is it the fact that she is such a greedy person who steals from her employees with such bogus excuses? Thinks she's always in charge when in fact she is about as powerless as a lvl 1 Tiny Mandragora compared to players now? idk...

[Chilloa]

I love her, she's quite possibly my favorite NPC from FFXI... but that's due to all the attention she's received which led to a lot of character development for her.

I didn't want her to win at all, as the OP said she has had way too much coverage as of late. Guest spot in Dissidia, her own add-on, and she manages to sneak into almost every expansion. We don't need anymore of her for a good while. There are plenty of underdeveloped NPCs out there that deserve to have their turn in the spotlight. Shantotto isn't one of them. And neither are Prishe and Lilisette for that matter. (We all know Lilisette is headed towards Dissidia 3 now...)

[FaeQueenCory]

Never say no to Shanttoto....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sTJ2irHVJg (not my vid)

I really hope that what comes out of this is that Shanttoto decides to cast Flare on Naja Oh~hohohohoho! (who dosn't want to attack Naja?)

LOL Yes....!!

And to all the people bemoaning Lion's... loss...
I really just can't understand this. You bash Shantotto as a "noncharacter"... but what character did Lion ever have? None. She showed up in a few CSs, showing off her Dagger from FFIX cosplay... and then near the end of RotZ (which is one of the most thread-bare storylines in the game) she goes: oh btw, you is hot lets make babehs. and then dies.
I didn't find here death sad or tragic or anything... because there was no connection to this woman except that she'll show up after a handfull of CSs and act like she was there all along.

Lilisette is what Lion wishes she could be. THERE is a good, tragic, christ figure.
Lion is just some woman who died and happened to save the day when she did so.
Lilisette was was a noble soul who realized that through the act of her death... millions can not only live... but live a better life than they were intended to.
Her death... now THERE was an emotional thing... why? Because unlike RotZ, she was actually involved with WotG missions.

But what's really a shame.... and this is something I see from all humans about when a character they like dies as a christ figure...
You CAN'T bring them back.
Doing so.... hell, even WANTING to bring them back to life... is just insulting and rude to the noble sacrifice they made.
It's basically giving them a giant middle-finger and telling them that they died for nothing.

RotZ was a very haphazard mission line... there's something close 20 "missions" where you can take 5 of them and they amount to a single CS in any of the other expansions.
But that was the first expansion.... they were trying for a "classic FF party" feel with the inclusion of Zeid, Aldo, and Lion in the final few big CSs... But the thing is... Zeid felt like a party member.... Even ALDO felt more like a party member than Lion did....
And her "luv confession" was just a cheap ploy and attempt to pull at the player's heartstrings... which kinda only works if you're a heterosexual male. (though I wonder if she confesses her crush for you if your character is a girl... I don't know.)
The moment she did that for me... I knew she was about to die. why? because I could tell by that point what they were going for. They wanted You, Zeid, Aldo, and Lion to feel like a "classic FF party"... And ever since 4... killing off one of your party members for the sake of dramatic endings has kinda been a thing. (or was it FF5 where EVERY new party member was doomed to die in some manner... I can never remember...)

And I think that this is why CoP is regarded the most fondly... and shows how the devs realized their mistake with Lion... Because in CoP... Tenzen, Prishe, Ulmia, Jabbos.... hell, even those damn taru-babies... they all feel like a part of the "classic FF party" with you. And I think that's clearly because they were included in more than just post-fight CSs...

I don't want either Lion or Lilisette to ever come back to life. That would undo their sacrifice.
So all you complaining neither of them won........ you should be glad they didn't win. Because had they won.... their whole character-defining emotional moment... would have been entirely undone.
Making the weight of their sacrifice meaningless.

EDIT: BLUH! How could I have forgotten Jabbos!

[Makenshi]

Shantotto is my favourite but i agree we have seen enough of her. Maybe do something with Gessho so we can learn more about the yagudo. or lehko haboka so we can learn about the mithra home land?

[Duelle]

I don't know why people like her... she is the most boring, rude, unfashionable NPC around. She looks like she is wearing a cushion cover from the 1950's. And all she does is lean back and laugh at everything.

Some people are drawn to those types of characters. She wasn't so bad in the Windurst storyline because she kinda stood in the background and guided Apururu and the adventurer but that was pretty much it. It's AFTER Zilart that Shantotto was overinflated, and sadly some fans fell for it.

She went from being the troublesome crone that would help you if you did her dirty work for her to queen-bitch of black magic, overextending her own reach more and more as the game aged for the sake of wanking the fans (the fact she even got involved in TAU does speak volumes of how Windurst in general lacks memorable characters, which may also explain why some cling to her the way they do).

I'm disappointed as well, to say the least.

[Seyrr]

I actually ended up voting for Ghebben, the Hydra Corps member who originally wielded Yoichinoyumi (the relic bow). But I'd have been satisfied with any of the Hydra Corps. I was disappointed when they didn't make much of a showing in the WotG story beyond a token appearance in a few scenes. Having some of them as generals/freelances was nice, but there were several we never saw. SE even teased us a bit with Annihilator (the woman wielding it in the past is not the one who appears in the relic cutscene, and they noted this and hinted there was something more to it.)

Shantotto's not bad, but I just felt like the results were utterly predictable. How much more do we really need to see about some of these characters? I was pleased to see Joachim and Mayakov in the list, at least.