Thoughts on the mega-bosses

[Shadotter]

Something that I wonder about off and on (and have mentioned a couple times here) is the role of some of the mega bosses in this game, mainly due to the fact that unlike normal HNMS, these have dialogue that hint at them having a greater purpose than just being a strong mob, so I thought I'd list them and talk about my own thoughts on each.

Kirin: I guess first off would be the shijin, and their leader Kirin. These ones are relatively standard, each of the lower ones express disdain that you would challenge them, and confusement when you beat them, they refer to themselves as gods and you as a mortal, leading me to think that at the very least they are immortal, if not actually gods of some kind, though seperate from the slumbering gods or the terrestial avatars.

Kirin in particular though mentions after beating him that he thanks you for freeing him from his prison. While I am unsure if he is talking about his physical form or if he means that the Zilart imprisoned him and the shijin there for some reason, I lean towards the latter as it explains why there are special islands for them, maybe it's why it floats?

Absolute Virtue: Honestly, I have no idea what this thing was beforehand, but from the dialogue, it seems to me that the virtues you find are probably memories of the sins committed by him in the past. His dialogue seems to give the idea of a penitent sinner, especially his defeat message that states that he is freed by the chains placed upon him. Virtues usually reflected in restraint of oneself, it would seem he has found freedom in a life free of sin. I have no idea why he is where he is though, or his origin however.

Pandemonium Warden: This one has the least clues, so I'm more at a loss, however, the text on the key states that it opens the gates to pandemonium, as it has a warden, maybe an underworld prison?

Anyways though, his ending text is kinda curious, he states that his defeat means nothing and that defeating him proves you have evil too and one day it will come to fruition too. I guess maybe he's a powerful evil, but that's kind of a given. Though I think it speaks of something that his defeat was supposed to prove something, like he's important or something.

Any thoughts on this?

[Hashmalum]

I was always curious about these things too, but given that the personnel who came up with these NMs are probably being forced to work on FFXIV now (or have left the company entirely, Wada did fire a bunch of people some months before FFXIV came out and couldn't get all of them back when it turned out this was a mistake) I've sadly given up hope of ever getting an answer.

[Yinnyth]

As far as storyline and character development goes, there is a "golden area" in gameplay. If you're too newb or too leet, storyline suffers at your level. Dynamis storyline is... meh, it's ok-ish. Salvage, likewise. Sea's storyline is largely up to interpretation, as is Sky and ZNM. It is mostly up to you to decide what they are talking about, but I'll feel free to offer my interpretations, as I am bored and drunk:

Kirin:
Spawn: "I am Kirin, master of the Shijin. The one who stands above all. You, who have risen above your mortal status to contend with the gods... It is time to reap your reward."

"WE MUST FIGHT!!!!" typical "I am powerful, you are powerful, let's dual to see who's more powerful" type statement.

Defeat: "You have transcended your limitations, mortal. I must thank you...You have freed me from this loathsome prison."

The gods are supposedly normal inhabitants of Paradise. It is then reasonable to assume they have gods of their own. I have no idea why, but it would seem that Kirin is unhappy in a world where he is considered a godlike being and is glad to return to his own plane of existance. Or perhaps he is happy to embrace oblivion, a fate which he could not possibly reach in Paradise.

Absolute Virtue:
Spawn: "At lassst the time has come...
The ssscattered fragments of my thoughtsss once again mine. Long forgotten memoriesss filling me once more...
However... these memories generate sssuffering... These thoughtsss... bring remorssse...
Tell me... for what sssearcheth thou, to travel this far? Show me... by what principlesss art thou driven?"

You free him from his prison (within JoL). In addition to freeing his physical form from JoL, the 7 virtues (3 used as pops for 3 used as pops for 1) refill his being and remind him of his burdens (the burden of virtue). And then a typical "Show me what you're made of" to follow it all up, "WE MUST FIGHT!!!!" ...or possibly, he views the sin in us that is innate of all living beings as something which must be purged and his final questions are merely rhetorical.

Defeat: "By thy principlesss... I have been freed by the chainsss placed upon me from time immemorial.
Thy path... extends to the far reaches of time and ssspace... But sssomeday... thou shalt reach... thy destin..."

The second "by" in that sentence is what really confuses me... I get the feeling it was intended to be "of" instead of "by". I think this is in reference to an 8th virtue, which has allowed us to defeat him (call it what you will; strength, friendship, etc). So we freed his 7 virtues, returned him to consciousness, and then defeated him with our own virtues in spite of our sins. He sees we will rise to become great beings, but all mortal things come to a day of judgement (thy destin...)

Pandemonium Warden:
I honestly think the biggest clues to what PW is all about is merely in his name (also, I can't find the direct quotes...). Pandemonium, roughly meaning "everything", and warden roughly meaning "keeper of". So you can think of him as a being of almost pure chaos... especially back when he had a billion forms he could take, instead of just 10.