Do you view the Warrior of Light as a blood knight like Zenos?

Mayhap not as cruel or sadistic, but yet a thrillseeker longing for the time between the seconds. With each version update, we are given new challenges to face. Many of which are the deiform manifestation of someone else's grievances with the world we gleefully beat up for the thrill of battle (plus trophies like weapons).

Zenos asked the beast to live, endure, become stronger; and the Warrior of Light obliged. Zenos then hijacked the embodiment of Ilberd's boundless rage and bottomless despair, all just so you two could have a glorious epic battle at Final Destination the Royal Menagerie. All while the crimson liberation of Ala Mhigo raged below.

Could I just add a question? If there's anyone who views his or her WoL this way, I'm interested to know how you maintain the role, given that the majority of the plot developments portray the hero as the perfect, all-around do-gooder. There isn't really a lot of room, I feel, to imagine any hint of "greyness" in the WoL.

This is one of those topics where the gap between "the" Warrior of Light and "my" Warrior of Light is going to be more apparent than is usual. Between the custom visage and cutscenes leaving a lot of feelings, interpretations, and motivations open for player projection <pause, stoic nod, pause> there will be a lot of nuances.

That said, my Warrior of Light is less a blood knight than an all-around restless soul. Similar? Sometimes. But not synonymous. I read closely, I do sidequests, I goof off. Thus he doesn't seem like someone eager to revel in the next climactic battle for its own sake. He uses force primarily when it's valuable to do so, not just when it's on the table. Often, he doesn't take the opportunity because puzzling it out another way has a preferable impact on the big picture. The same satisfaction can be found in overcoming a dangerous enemy or building an airship with a maverick Lalafell and some renegade Ixal just to see what comes of it. A puzzle is a puzzle, from a seemingly unbeatable threat to a geopolitical clusterfluff to a Vath who barely grasps the concept of individuality conspiring to start his own Adventurers' Guild.

My Warrior of Light is simply prone to wandering off and taking any odd job if the work, the person who needs it, or the outcome it leads to are even remotely interesting. He can only take tranquility on his own terms; silence and inactivity are akin to torture if not self-inflicted. You tell him to rest and relax, but as soon as exhaustion and hunger are vanquished, his mind wanders and he fidgets and before you know it he's out in the aetheryte plaza looking for someone who looks overwhelmed. Not necessarily a do-good-er, but a general do-er.

Even chosen of the Mothercrystal and volunteering to fight gods and getting wrapped up in political intrigue and the strategic influence of the history, put more than a turn of the sun between one objective and the next and he's out moving crates and synthesizing tonics, again.

I can't imagine why someone like me would read his Warrior of Light as someone like that.

[wanders past a table covered in tomes and loose pages to a wall with a giant map, connects two pins with a length of string, stares at it for twenty minutes]

I think I'll try to word this as best I can.

throughout the game, I have at time voiced objections at doing particular things, often times they are met with a layer of "But thou Must"

"I don't want to join the Path of the Twelve.
"That's a shame, enjoy getting persecuted and killed with your gift then..."

"I don't want to go to Aymeric's gala luncheon."
"But you're his friend! please?"

"This isn't my fight, Alphy."
"Well, I appreciate your candor(leaves, comes back) pleeeeease?"

To that end, I've seen my Warrior of Light as someone that is regularly forced in their circumstances, if not forcefully strung around by the strings of fate.

My warrior of Light is someone that doesn't believe in Eorzea so much as "works" for Eorzea , and doesn't really enjoy their place in the world or what they are doing. Like Zenos, they were elevated heroes that would rather be doing something else.

This overlap is kind of what I've taken to for the character, seeing as how a major theme I've felt in my game experience is that I have to conform, and that the game values freedom more as a catchphrase to rally around.

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Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Could I just add a question? If there's anyone who views his or her WoL this way, I'm interested to know how you maintain the role, given that the majority of the plot developments portray the hero as the perfect, all-around do-gooder. There isn't really a lot of room, I feel, to imagine any hint of "greyness" in the WoL.

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Have you done the DRK Job Quests, 30-50, per chance? You might want to.

Considering we never really get to make any remotely meaningful choice in our journey and all our paths lead to the same results, I personally see the WoL as little more than a puppet of Fate with no free will. There is no such thing as refusal - even if you try to stray or escape, even if you run from your duty to go fishing in the shroud, time stops until you obey. There is no choice, no personality. You don't get a say nor voice - literally even. You just follow the destined path, for it's the only path open to you.

The fact that the WoL is "our" character, yet his path is so narrow, makes him seem very tragic to me. Through us, the players, he has a will independent from the scribes of Fate and thus the unique ability to make his own decisions, only to never be given a choice, an opportunity to use it. Even his feelings are forced on him.

And due to that... if the scribes decide for him to be a blood knight, then he shall be a blood knight. Not through choice or desire, not because he wants to, but because he has to be.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vexander

Have you done the DRK Job Quests, 30-50, per chance?

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I have. It's an interesting take on the WoL's innermost state.

But one job quest line out of so many others, alongside the main story quest line, doesn't go very far, you know? ;)

I'm genuinely curious as to the role-playing ideas various players bring to this game. It is a Final Fantasy, after all, a franchise that has never dealt much with dark, introspective stories and character development.

The one attempt to take a numbered title down that direction ( FFXII ) provoked severe backlash among hardcore fans, who felt it wasn't "Final Fantasy" enough.

Moreover, most Final Fantasy titles since FFIV featured named main characters, whose story and development you'd personally experience through the game. I don't recall any title FFIV that actually gave the player to chance to create an "original" character, other than FFXI. That original MMORPG provided more lore-based freedom for your character to be whomever you wanted him or her to be, I felt. And, to a certain extent, so did FFXIV v1.0.

But with a main plot line taking a more dominant role since A Realm Reborn, there really isn't much leeway for such expansive role-playing. I never expected this game to be Skyrim, so it never occurred to me to take my character's development in less orthodox directions. I wonder why other players expected something different.

@TinyRedLeaf. Maybe its because they played 1.0 and identify more with making their own character's story than accepting The Warrior of Light, who may or may not even be a mortal person, much less one wreathed with nigh impossible feats and divine favor.

I'm not tasked by God to go do my work and kill people on a regular basis. That is not, in my opinion, what people should aspire to.

Short answer cause im at work:
My PoV is that Zenos wasn't plain evil, I don't feel like there's an "evil" in FFXIV, just like in Star Wars, there are just different perspectives, some say (in-game NPCS) that the WoL is a blood seeking warmonger; IMO, we're not too different from Zenos, he wants the best for his people, we want the best for Eorzea (and sometimes, just sometimes, the whole world) and we're not afraid to get our hands bloody or slay absolutely anything that gets in our way.
They leave it pretty clear that the WoL is more about Eorzea than the world itself, so yes, answer to your question, I do view the WoL the same way as I see Zenos.

If we're describing what "Our" Warrior of Light is...

My Warrior of Light is an Adventurer, pure and simple. He started out wandering Eorzea, looking for the next adventure, the next challenge, the next reward. He has dreams of a home, maybe even a family some day. He tries every new opportunity for skill and knowledge that appears, and works on them all when he has the time. Joining the Scions of the Seventh Dawn felt like a great way to achieve that goal. Finding himself able to stand up to the likes of Primals and Ascians? Some part of him couldn't really sort that out internally. Rather than staring at it in the face, he compartmentalizes it and stores it in the back of his mind, something he doesn't -want- to face. He doesn't accept that he really is -that- much more powerful than most everyone else. Most of the time he manages to convince himself he's not more or less powerful than most Adventurers out there, but that the Echo and Blessing of Light don't make him more powerful, but protect him from certain situations that would normally mean doom for everyone else. An easy enough thing to believe as for so long that was the direct function of those powers, until Stormblood where we begin seeing things like the HP regen buff for being the Warrior of Light.

So I guess my Warrior of Light is more or less living in denial of the full scope of his powers and his destiny, and lives for the moments between the battles rather than the seconds, where he can adventure, make friends, fight enemies, and have a good time living life to the fullest. He's not good, nor is he evil. He's a hedonist with a taste for new experiences and knowledge.

I'll be honest, whenever some kid asks him how he got so strong he always answers that it was adventuring, but internally he looks at that shadowy corner in the back of his mind where he blocks off thoughts about the Echo and Blessing of Light.


All the above having been said, I don't think Zenos was necessarily right about us. The Warrior of Light at least acts in the interests of his friends if nothing else. Zenos, however, was quite clearly out for entertainment and nothing more. He didn't fight for Garlemald or his people, he fought for amusement. While the Warrior of Light -can- be amused through combat, its not the purest motive behind our actions.

I just want sweet loot dude

My wol is an adventurer, the msq being an event and not the totality of who he is... he does things for the thrill of it sure but not always for combat... he does it for the epic stories he can tell one day... he's not nearly as self sacrificing or classically heroic as he's perceived but shrewd enough not to point out his moral flaws as to deny himself access to further adventures... adventures that have granted him a great amount of wealth, influence, power, and freedom a normal individual would never have access to.

If I could actually rp it? Yeah the glory of combat is the greatest thrill but alas ffxiv is just blank slate characters and where is my Ravana deity because if I have to choose a heathen god I'll choose him.

I'm not a blood knight because gods don't bleed.

Know that I'll kill your god if I have to. Maybe even if I don't.

I play with a group of IRL friends so really my WoL is more like a small business owner.

Those primal-slaying mobs of Walkers and elite four-man death squads don't just happen! There's months of background effort going on in there, months! Each and every one of them needs food! And housing! And clothes! And materia to go on those clothes!

I view my Warrior of Light as being really tired.

I came to Gridania to be a student of the Conjurer's Guild and to learn from the legendary Padjal. Maybe I wanted to learn enough about conjury to go back home and help my own community. Then I was sent into the forest to do some odd work, prove that I was a contributing member of the Great Forest City of Gridania. I picked up a crystal, met some new people and things escalated from there. When I was invited to join the Scions, I thought I had finally found a place for myself in this world and things would be easier. Everything since then has been fighting, running and praying to the Twelve for a respite.

My character looks himself in the mirror and he sees a man who would not exist in an ideal world where monsters didn't threaten the roads and demonic would-be gods weren't threatening to annihilate your sanity. I have killed so many, and I have to tell myself it was the right thing even if that Desert Bandit might have reformed himself or that Garlean Conscript might have gone home to his family. The people of the realm see me and yet they don't see me, they see what they want to see: a perfect hero of light - Hydaelyn's chosen champion. Yet I imagine my hero is just numb at this point.

Well, we don't always get to pick our battles but as Halone as my witness I won't shirk from them. One day the land will be tamed, the invaders will be cast out and the world will be returned to peace. Do I view my Warrior of Light as a Blood Knight? No, I view him as doing what must be done. And if I can accumulate money and power along the way then all the better.

Short answer: yes but not nearly to the extent of Zenos. The DRK 30-50 line insinuates that the Warrior of Light does fight for the thrill of it on some level, but I'm fairly certain they are not as bad as Zenos claims - that they did not allow Shinryu's summoning just so they could fight it, or wade into the battle on the streets of Ala Mhigo just for another bout with Zenos.

Personal answer: yes, but again, nowhere near the extent Zenos claims. I feel my character is the typical knight-errant: roaming the land, righting wrongs wherever she sees them and aiding those in need whenever she can. (I actually do this. If you're on Famfrit... and in the right zone and instance... and fighting monsters... and I'm nearby... I might just swoop down on my Magitek Predator, help you out, give a flourish of my sword, and fly off). She does enjoy a good scrap, but does not seek out fights for the thrill of it alone and knows when to put aside personal enjoyment for professionally achieving objectives.

Take Resonant Fordola, for example. My character would have loved to take a crack at her without using Urianger's magic stick just to prove that even with a gimmick Fordola lacked the skill and experience to defeat her. At the same time, there were much more important things than that to consider, so she used the stick to end the fight quickly and cleanly. Xaela are a warrior race and this does color her psyche, but at the same time she prefers to think of herself as a soldier - a defender and protector of the innocent, not an attacker and conqueror who preys on the weak.

As for the whole story's impact on her? She's a little tired. The time for adventures between patches does allow for some unwinding, but constantly having the weight of the world on her shoulders is exhausting. Never asked for this - either the emotional anguish, the physical pain, or the mental drain. Killing folks isn't fun, but if it's absolutely necessary (i.e. in self-defense, to preserve sovereignty, to restore liberty, or to protect innocents) she has no hesitation doing so. She doesn't even fight for the Goddess - she does so because she believes it's right, not because of some divine ordinance.

Highly values freedom and hates anything that takes that away. Hydaelyn, the Empire, Magnai... anything.

Even so... if the fire goes out she will fight in the ashes, until the bitter end.

No, I don’t view my WoL as a “blood knight”. He’s neither cruel nor sadistic, nor does he seek thrills for the sake of it.

My WoL is obliging — despite the often trivial demands on his time and talent — because he is vividly aware that had it not been for the sacrifices of his late mentor, he would not have escaped the ostracism of his home village, let alone have the chance to see the world beyond the Cieldalaes.

He feels duty-bound to pay it forward, and he has a natural affinity with people like Slyphie in Gridania, who struggle to come to terms with a gift they didn’t ask for.

That’s not to say he doesn’t feel weary and, in recent times, there’s also some frustration from being taken for granted. He’s only hyuran after all.

He’s also uncomfortable with the adulation he gets. Not that he thinks he doesn’t deserve credit, but more that he believes it’s getting excessive.

He realises, though, that he takes himself too seriously. Thankfully, his miqo’te retainer always reminds him who’s boss when he’s not looking. :p

the Warrior of Light is not.

the playerbase is.

Our Warrior of Lights seem to have personalities that we all tend to shape differently, and to be honest though seeing some who do kinda paint their's as a Blood Knight is kinda interesting to see.

For mine personally though, no, I don't see her as one. She really does want to see the world as a better place and aims to cleanse it as much as she can with the power she's been granted. Yet at the same time, she does like having her own agenda and greatly dislikes that every time she wants to wind down or have an enjoyable moment, something just has to interrupt. Deep down in her mind, she throws little tantrums but keeps a strong front (Only cause they don't give me options to have her whining. : D)
Whenever it comes to Primals being summoned, she finds herself pretty annoyed especially for the reasons they are and aims to take them down ASAP so she can proceed as normal.

No, I disagreed with Zenos (and wanted to smack him for his smug, dehumanizing tone), as his sociopathy was so obvious, it was also extremely effective. My character does not live to "be in the moment of the fight", despite being a trained gladiator (she took up arms on the Bloodsands after all to learn swordplay and shieldwork not to fight for spectacle). She is a free knight, a protector of the people and especially Hydaelyn and everyone who dwells on Her, and Zenos's existence threatens all of Hydaelyn.

Unfortunately, Zenos's baiting of her, calling her a "beast" and to "get stronger" simply so that he can continue to fight her is a catch-22. Enki knows she can't ignore him and walk away, she's on this Path and needs to follow it to it's conclusion with Zenos's death. She knows that and hates it, but has no choice but to accept it, and it eats away at her.

But what keeps her going is her reasons for becoming an adventurer, becoming a free knight.... to protect her loved ones (her wife especially), and to not only liberate her homeland but to see to it that no more children are left orphaned by the Empire's jingoism, no more innocents suffer under the Garlean jackboot or Ascian machination, no more lives and souls destroyed by Primals.

Is she idealistic? Yes (perhaps stubbornly so). Foolish? Hardly. But she knows and accepts that she can't simply protect and save everyone, she will do everything in her power to save and protect those she can. Sour lemon armour never really fitted her. ;)

One line that always stuck with me is at the end of Heavensward when you beat the archbishop, he looks upon you with his fearful eyes and says "What are you??" And as a player I paused for a moment on that line and thought "What the hell am I??"

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Originally Posted by Vexander

Have you done the DRK Job Quests, 30-50, per chance? You might want to.

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The DRK quests are doing a good job at showing more sides of the WoL, thus making them a bit more grey, but they also show how far away we are from someone like Zenos. The job itself is all about protecting those that are not able to protect themselves by using our darkness and we get it done even if this means that we have blood on our hand.

Spoilers about the quests:

In the first part we are dealing with our anger but I believe that everyone has this kind of anger in them. Also Fray was the sole personification of it so it was way more harsh then its probably is. This was shown in the way that the WoL fought against it at the end because we understood that even though it annoys us and even though its a burden, we do it to protect the innocent. Thus we were able to confront and control the anger and this was a great way of giving the people that dislike doing all the stuff and that are feeling way more used, a way to show it with their character but at the same time they showed that we in the end accept it. (And who would not be annoyed if you have people being not thankful for you risking your life.)

The recent dark knight quests deal with our regrets and yet at the end we accept this part of us too and still continue on with our ways because we know that its still better that way.

In the end the dark knight quests are a great way to show the more human side of the WoL and a human is not always perfect and does not always react the best way and sometimes even feels hate/anger/remorse and more. Yet this also shows that we are in cannon still far away from being someone like Zenos. IMO I did find the possibility to answer with yes a bit much. Yes we get more and more aggressive options but I get the feeling like they are not truly showing the development of the WoL but are only there to give people a way to create their own character but its not that much shown in the game itself. (And it also depends on the language because in Germany its way less aggressive at some points than in the English version)

I mean we still go around and help innocent people, beast tribes and do other nice stuff yet somehow we are able to say yes to Zenos. Thats probably the negative side of being able to choose different kind of sentences even though it does not change anything ingame. I am not saying that its not great that they give us more options but I feel that they should still be in tact with what the game itself shows us. (Sorry bad at describing it)
For example: You get the chance to say that its not our fight which is a nice way to show that maybe the WoL does not want to go there which is understandable since this is a war between humans and not something that we need to be part of. But in the end, even if you say no you are still forced in it so it feels off. It might have been better to chose something more like: "I dont want to be in a war but I fear that I have no other chance than to go with you." I know that this might not sound that much different but at least it gives people the option to say that they dont feel like doing it but that they are going to do it for "insert reason". So we say yes but in a more negative way.

But thats just my opinion on this.

In the end I found it a bit sad that if you play a WoL that loves to have a good fight, is kinda thrown into the same pot as someone like Zenos. I see nothing bad in wanting to get better and fight against worthy opponents because that does not include that you have to kill them. I mean the older monk job quest showed us that you dont need a fight to the death to unlock your true power.

So short answer: No my WoL is far away from someone like Zenos. They do not kill for excitement and would love to talk more and kill less and even if they are annoyed at some NPCs they still want to help innocent people and make a better future for many. Its never easy to be the hero and have all the burdens on her shoulder and sometimes she wonders if she cant just run away and do other things but in the end she could never live with the thought of letting innocent people die for something. Also this is a good way to get better at her job and she is still able to see lots of new countries and people.

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Originally Posted by Lambdafish

One line that always stuck with me is at the end of Heavensward when you beat the archbishop, he looks upon you with his fearful eyes and says "What are you??" And as a player I paused for a moment on that line and thought "What the hell am I??"

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He empowered himself and his knights with the collective prayers of Ishgard and the aether of Nidhogg's eye, and as far as canon is concerned, we killed him and the Ward on our own. He blinded himself with his own sense of righteousness, couldn't comprehend that we survived Knights of the Round, and panicked.

*spoilers ahead*





No. To be honest, my first thought when Stormblood started, was "This isn't my fight." And it felt that way throughout. I have no ties to Doma or Ala Migho, my WoL is not from those areas. The whole thing felt forced, as I feel the WoL should be dealing with threats to the world, not what is a regional conflict between regional powers. "Oh, yeah, Ascians trying to end the world, but I'll just help Lyse out because... Um...Lyse is cute? And I'm totally cool with her lying to me for the past X time. And all the other scions lying to me." I guess the idea is we are doing it for our friends, but they have failed to develop personal relationships to the remaining Scions (though some are getting close to becoming friends) . The ones I felt I did have a relationship with are all dead, or in Minfillia's case, left the plane we are on.

That said, I don't feel we seek fights for their own sake, which is one of the issues I have with the DRK storyline. It heavily implies drives and motivations, and yes personal relations the developers seem to think I would have, even if they actually failed to deliver. Which is one of the reasons I am glad Myste was also a bit of Iceheart, as I never connected with Haurchefaunt, despite the game constantly shoving the fact he was my BFF down my throat. *I can tell you exactly why I never connected with him, but that's not the topic*

I could type a lot more, but that would get into more roleplay stuff then answering the question, so short answer, No. I don't see the WoL, or my WoL, as a blood knight going about seeking fights for the sake of combat. Moengohta would be perfectly happy to travel the world and see fascinating sights and cultures, if that was an option. But she has a gift, and she isn't selfish enough to ignore that gift, even if part of her (*cough* Fray *cough*) makes excellent sense.

I'm not big on fantasy roles outside of a small pool of classics, so I can't call my WoL a blood knight.

But to add my personal WoL, I saw mine as kind of like a bored god thing. Came to Eorzea out of nowhere, wandered around, realized how over powered I was- and just followed the MSQ because it kept my interest the longest.

The thought of just being able to kill gods with my bare hands and see legendary tales play out is amusing. I don't do it because I care about these people.

Zenos seeing us as kin- I feel, is a yes and no answer. Would I have done the same things he's done? Nope. (as I type this, it's more of a probably since I will watch a FATE play out just to see who holds out and dies fastest) But would I embrace violence for its own sake? Yes.

Frankly the whole thing is left so incredibly vague that we can basically implant as little or as much as Zeno suggests as we want.

To be honest I think Zenos words describe more of us as players then it does about our characters. Though motivations can diverse when it comes to our individual WOL to the players we are kind of the one who constantly demand the next challenge and even if we were given more diplomatic choices or dialogue I wonder how many people would take that route compared to those that would take the more violent approach. I have a feeling as gamers we're likely to gravitate towards the later more often then not. Nothing wrong with that as it is just a game at the end of the day but the interesting thing about these kind of stories is what it might say about how we see and view violence as a whole.

My Warrior of Light has hes own Journey. But I feel myself as a puppet for the Scions, I felt more bonded to Hien and Gosestu having a drink laughing showing eachothers fears. Zenos had sure had an affect on my WoL, the urge for more power, finding the lust for fight and blood, things our char could be but is always pure. I wished my char could chose hes own road, but had to make up my own story for him.

I hope we see a bad side of the WoL, wich is human we cannot always be constantly Pure. As i still remember ARR epilogue, the Dark Hydalin Crystal. The are warrior of Darkness out there somewhere.

Fighting is a means to an end for me but why not enjoy the means.

Well, neither of my two characters are 'Warriors of Light' even in personal headcanon. One of my characters is a scatterbrained, naive young man living in Kugane and the other is a Garlean with his own agenda who seeks to cut out the rot in both Eorzea and Garlemald so that there can be peace and stability for both. So, no - even if somehow they became powerful enough to put an end to Hydaelyn's major threats they would not seek to enjoy such a solemn duty and they most certainly would not appreciate the lack of nuance that the protagonists frequently display.

So, to answer the question from the perspective of the canon Warrior of Light? There are similarities between him and Zenos. The Warrior of Light is a broken man and also a very dangerous man for acting like the judge, jury and executioner on a whim - and at times they display immense enjoyment at the idea of jumping into a fight or engaging in revenge...despite frequently calling out others for doing just that.

Plus this is a man who will happily end lives for the sake of a little extra gil or literally rip our their souls to empower a weapon. Hardly an untarnished pillar of shining morality no matter how good they may do elsewhere.

One man's hero is another man's terror, after all.

I'd say lore and logic wise WoL should be someone like Kiritsugu.

A little detour: Personally I don't like the approach of giving player a bland character so you can 'project' yourself on them. You see, as far as I'm concerned - no personality is also a personality. There is actions you forced to do, there is choices you forced to make. And it's not only words which make a person, but also action they take. So I'd say we should try to judge WoL personality according with his action to see if he is close to Zenos or not or what personality is plausible according to them.

Now it's hard to properly judge a person when SE tries to show story of war, murder etc. through shounen prism. Logically WoL is someone with a lot of blood on his hands, and such person have to either lose empathy in order to take it or you'll end up with someone with mental issues. And it's really doesn't look like that WoL lost his empathy. So Kiritsugu from Fate/Zero fits nice here - he want to be a hero and save the world but his path is painted in blood. He is the killer who gets the job done for the good of many, but does so with a heavy heart. And this is probably closest to what a WoL should be, considering SE want us to be a good hero or whatever. But then I look at how he acts in some cut-scenes - it's pure innocence who'd never hurt a butterfly. This is not how such person should be. It's like WoL so dumb and naive that he can't possible imagine consequences, and never ever killed someone. Like letting Grynewaht run then by all account you should capture or kill him? His an enemy officer for the love of God, who tried to kill you nonetheless. The amount of times when PC can't take decisive actions against enemies is too damn high. Andd all is because heroes can't hurt bad guys if they are established characters until they hands like reaaaaly forced or they turned into a monsters and it's not a cutscene (so little kids won't cry XD).

So no, he probably not like Zenos unless we throw half of stuff we were shown from the window. Because Zenos and don't really rythme well, and WoL was shown to drown in it lol.

U pretty much nailed it, I just wished we could of had more interaction with our own char giving him a personality birthplace and backstory. But let me guess there is not enough memory space in the game to do that, or the time.

I view my WoL in a weird roundabout way that I've had trouble quantifying because I've used fantasias. And because of that, I was trying to come up with a plausible reason why the WoL would use them (outside of the time when using one would be very, very appropriate when on the run to a new city) and settled on the justification that each time I fantasia, the previous WoL dies, passing on their burden and skills to someone else.

As it stands though, I don't think the WoL is like Zenos, at least not on purpose. I'm sure on some level, the WoL does enjoy what they're doing in so far that they're saving the world and doing something grander than themselves. That's something they can take pride in. But they certainly wouldn't bring forth a primal just to say 'oh yeah, I can kill that thing no problem'.

As for my WoL, she'd balk at being compared to Zenos. Then again, she's also only killed two primals seeing as I fantasia'd at the start of SB. She's an angry person, but not one to find wholesale enjoyment in the hunt.

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Originally Posted by AmandaLashaquoa

Short answer cause im at work:
IMO, we're not too different from Zenos, he wants the best for his people...

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No, no he doesn't. He literally says "to hell" with his people. He loses two provinces because not defending them allowed him to feel something. He's tragic in a mental health issues kind of way, but the best interest of others is not in there.

This is actually a rather compelling question, and something that has to be told from your WoL and what your motivations are behind what you do with not only the motivations behind the various stories behind the jobs and classes, but also the MSQ and side-quests.

For example, my WoL, Azura Magnolia, was like this way back in the MSQ and the CNJ quests, which is why she wasn't able to complete CNJ and became a ROG/NIN. Then 2.55 happened.

The Azura that came out of that was a much more jaded and 2nd guessing almost everyone except Alphi, Tataru, and Hauchfant when they introduced her to Estinian she was originally taken aback at the idea of working with a member of the theocracy.

As the expansion, well, expanded the situation she became more and more confidant in her abilities. Allowing her to move on from the 2.55 disaster. . . . then 3.5 happened, and she pretty much kinda broke for a bit, trying to figure out how after winning on the wall, The Griffins plan succeed. 3.56 and she was just done with bloodshed for her ideals.

4.0 was her returning to her basics, just following orders and trying to figure out a way with minimal bloodshed. Every time she confronted Zenos was a chance to end the conflict quick and painlessly, never as something to look forward to. Never trying to kill people, like Frodola and Yotsu (even though I wanted to run her through with my weapon). Now? She's basking in the moment of a successful campaign and eikon slaying.

My Warrior of Light is tired and fed up and the relentless merry-go-round she's stuck on is starting to get her down. She's very well aware that she has to keep going but, frankly, she wonders if she'll ever see an end to it. I think she started to realise that it wasn't all glory and excitement and hero-worship when Nanamo was 'assassinated'; her encounters with Midgardsormr started to make her feel resentful of Hydaelyn, that she's been manipulated into carrying a burden she was never actually asked to shoulder. Even when she's given an opportunity to walk away from something, everyone thinks she's joking when she tries it.
Haurchefant's death made her realise that she was never going to be given the chance to explore a friendship and discover if it might lead to something deeper. Losing him and then Ysayle made her fight with Thordan personal; the fight against Nidhogg was personal too because of Estinien. But she is struggling to feel deeply about the fight for freedom in Ala Mhigo & Othard - she sees it as a never-ending war that she can't turn her back on. This frame of mind is definitely low-level depressed, she's just going through the motions now.
As for Zenos, his suicide was profoundly disturbing to her. I'd say that he is her exact opposite in almost every way possible and yet somehow they're walking a similar path. Her mental health is in a bad place currently ...

To some degree, yes. He's Xaela, and as Temulun says, "We were made for battle-to kill and be killed." He's also enough of an adrenaline junkie to enjoy measuring himself against an opponent. While he doesn't enjoy killing, if you come at him with the intent to kill, he'll take you down without hesitation; he knows he's basically a glorified mercenary, and killing is part of the job.

The one exception was after the Vault. He chose the "I will have Zephirin's heart" option, and he meant it literally. He was furious and frustrated when Zephirin dissolved into aether; he wanted to kill him slowly. He was depressed through most of 3.1-2 because he felt that he'd failed to avenge Haurchefant. It wasn't until he killed Nidhogg and did the Litany of Peace quest that he was able to accept that Haurchefant would have wanted to see his lover go on a roaring rampage of revenge because of him.

All that said, if you asked him what his greatest accomplishment is, he'd say "Working with a dragon, a moogle, and an Ishgardian noble to rebuild the plaza at Bahrr Lehs."

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Originally Posted by Hala

A little detour: Personally I don't like the approach of giving player a bland character so you can 'project' yourself on them. You see, as far as I'm concerned - no personality is also a personality. There is actions you forced to do, there is choices you forced to make.

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SE keeps the WoL blank for us to project ourselves onto it. To go one step farther, this is "projection" can be seen deeper. 1) Characters in the game project onto the WoL what he or she should be doing, what actions should be taken. 2) the faith in the WoL is projected onto the character by the people citizens of the world. 3) Crystals (Hyadelyn) can project a light source (faith from people, characters, ourselves) unto the world - magnifying and enlarging the image/strength of the WoL.

The WoL grows stronger and stronger throughout the story. The WoL meets more people and more people put their hope and faith in it. I feel that the WoL is a grand summoning by all those who believe in him or her. This can be supported further during the assassination attempt on the sultana where the WoL loses its power as people lost faith in the WoL. A common theme in stormblood with Zenos is to harvest rage from people. Zenos is the opposite of faith, he is despair. He is the other side of the coin to the WoL - he is or is related to the grand summoning of despair. The more anger and despair towards the empire, the stronger he grows.

The WoL isn't a primal. That is all but certain.

As for the WoL's 'character development' I strongly encourage people to level DRK, even if only through Deep Dungeon and FATEs. It has one of the best story chains in the game and addresses much about the personal mindset of the WoL without really stealing your characters identity away from you.

There is a part of the WoL that is like Zenos, that find thrill in the fight. That is the part Zenos identified with. However the major difference is that is all Zenos is. The WoL is much more and fights for many more reasons than just the thrill of it.