Fun Factor Around Story and Lore - Favorite Characters, Favorite Lore

So heavy a thread as the other I made needs a counterbalance. I also feel like we could use more threads where the point is to engage specifically in discussion centered around the fun we are having with the game, its story, its music, and all other facets.

We spend a lot of time hung up on details that we are powerless to change, so here I'd like to ask for your favorite lore, characters, and any ways that they interact. Be they villain, be they hero. Be it side quest or main quest.

What's your favorite lore? Who is your favorite character?

My favorite character is Alisaie. She is headstrong, takes fall damage optionally, and slotted into one of my favorite jobs come Stormblood. I enjoy her sibling interactions with Alphinaud as they feel genuine, and I like her Roleplay battle kit. I find her idolization of the WoL endearing, and I smile whenever she's on screen. My favorite scene with her this expansion was having coffee by the docks and solving the next leg of that first Sharlayan branch.

In Shadowbringers it was her being the first to launch herself against Emet-selch.

In Stormblood, it was the first fight against Zenos. She and Pipin also engaged him with the WoL and were pushed back by his Concentravitity.

HW it was the WoD fight, ARR it was Coils obviously.

My favorite Lore in the game is harder to pick, but so far I think it's the fact that the Allagans had elite training programs based off the Warring Triad, and they cloned anyone who could defeat the programs. It echoes of X-men's danger room scenarios, and of course, requires the sidequests that involve Y'shtola, Urianger, Krile, and Unukulhai along with Regula van Hydrus for the initial defeat of the actual Warring Triad. Of course, it ties into my favorite FF in the series, VI, which is the main reason for my tastes.

Who/what/why are your favorites?

My favorite lore is the Ascians and my favorite character is probably Emet-Selch but I'm going to say it's Fandaniel.

I don't want to drop spoilers all over the forum but as we deep-dove into his whole...deal...in Endwalker it had the intended affect on me.

Clownish bad rogue Ascian is a good character. 10/10, gave me depression.

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Originally Posted by Ayuhra

My favorite lore is the Ascians and my favorite character is probably Emet-Selch but I'm going to say it's Fandaniel.

I don't want to drop spoilers all over the forum but as we deep-dove into his whole...deal...in Endwalker it had the intended affect on me.

Clownish bad rogue Ascian is a good character. 10/10, gave me depression.

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You can use the tags [HB ][ /HB] without the spaces to put what you'd like to share under spoiler tags. :)

Favorite Lore would be on the past of the IVth Legion. Lore that shows a group that not only fought heavily to conquer their opponents, but willing to seek the help of others from their own territories and other Legions. Not to mention their goals, while lofty, are ones you can't help but sympathize with and lead to a unique part of the Imperial Legions, one none of the others (so far) have managed to match or beat.

Favorite Character would be Emet-Selch. Between his backstory, his personality, and his interactions with various characters in the story, one can't help but grow to love this man...and how much we torment him.

Is it bad that I can't just point to one single piece of lore that I like the best? I keep trying to think of one specific one but can't.

Favorite characters is hard to figure out too. If I have to chose it wouldn't be just one because I really like Krile for being a troll especially when she first showed up, then I really love the dynamics at play between Emet and Hytholodaeus so those two are characters that I really like as well.

>.< I can't decide!!!!

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Originally Posted by Rannie

Is it bad that I can't just point to one single piece of lore that I like the best? I keep trying to think of one specific one but can't.

Favorite characters is hard to figure out too. If I have to chose it wouldn't be just one because I really like Krile for being a troll especially when she first showed up, then I really love the dynamics at play between Emet and Hytholodaeus so those two are characters that I really like as well.

>.< I can't decide!!!!

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Perhaps work backwards from the ones you know aren't? :P Hehe!

Possible spoilers ahead

Favourite lore now is definetely anything to do with the pre-Sundered Ancient world, ever since visiting Emet's fake Amaurot at the end of ShB. And EW has only made me even more intriguied by the Ancient world's culture, society and lore (lets just say I've been spending a lot of time in Elpis lately - even my choice of glamour now reflects this. ;)).

Favourite character - hmmm, that is a tough one. But, I think I am just going to have to say it's Mr Grumpy, aka Hades, aka Emet-Selch of the Third Seat. Sure, the guy was a utter grade-A jerk of the highest order for 12000 years, and inflicted so much bloodshed and pain on the world with his constant empire building (and ultimately, caused immense torment for the WoL). But scratch beneath that bitter jaded facade reveals a sad, lonely man totally consumed by grief, and, fundamentally, despite himself, does still have compasion, it was just misguided and waylaid in grief for so long - which is why he showed up to save the WoL from Elidibus in the Seat of Sacrifice, and his whole involvement in events in EW.

And the often prickly dynamics he had with his erstwhile friends and colleagues such as Hythlodaeus (who was clearly the foil to his 'straight man' role), Venat (who I'm certain was his lover at one point), and of course, Azem/the WoL, only underlined that grief.

Grief he clearly masked under a facade of theatrics and sassy one liners. :D

Favorite character is Gosetsu. Good character design. Good voice actor. Love him for the comedy antics and being the big fuzzy papa bear. And is also a steadfast and loyal servant.

Favorite lore? I thought the backstory of Bozja was interesting. Priestesses are chosen as Queens... but secretly the country is actually run by the Praetorian Guard and the queen is just a puppet.

I have a few favorite characters for different reasons.

G'raha Tia I like because of the character growth he goes through, from annoying and edgy researcher, to world-weary immortal leader of a civilization holding onto the rule of law in the middle of an apocalypse. The fact that I gravitated to him because I read too many trashy romance novels with male leads who are comfortable and go out of their way to be nice to the main character is probably related. But for that same reason I can see where a lot of guys and people not familiar with that sort of character would think he's a bit much or even creepy.

Emet-Selch I like, also due to his character growth. We first see him as another mustache-twirling Ascian: laughing while getting shot, calling his co-worker for the past 12,000 years an idiot, and chewing the scenery nearly as hard than Patrick Stewart and David Tennant's Hamlet. Then we get through understanding why he did why he did and while I think everything he did is bad, it still makes for an interesting character in the same vein as Delita Heiral, probably my favorite character in the whole FF series who also did a lot of bad things but is still interesting and flawed.

My favorite character from 1.0 was Sthalmann/Rostnsthal. I started in Limsa Lominsa so he and Y'shtola were the first characters I was introduced to on the boat ride. Y'shtola seemed to be more like a typical "mysterious girl" trope, complete with white hair. But Rostnsthal was more down to earth and it was interesting to see how different he was on the ship in the original scene and the echo flashbacks when he was a soldier, and then in the marauder quests when he's a washed up drunken pirate who you bond with and form a "crew of two" and go out and fight other pirates. In 1.0, his downfall seemed connected to the mysterious Seal Rock. But then ARR came along, made his downfall more mundane, and made Seal Rock another dumb "Allagan device" instead of a mysterious teleporting island that has a protective sea serpent, which is infinitely more interesting.

My favorite lore is probably anything related to the Bozja quests and Return to Ivalice partly because I love Matsuno's work and his writing is very in depth.

Its really hard to choose favorites. I prefer most of the old lore the game was based on and seemingly forgotten. Sil'dah and all the nasty things Ul'dah did to win the war and the propaganda afterwords is among my favorites (that i fear will go unexplored). I really don't feel these cosmic monstrosities and world ending grand schemes. I love the world building political intrigues naturally occurring wonders like Eureka (SE please just let me explore without needed an MSQ reason to go to a place)

Favorite character is a toughy. Theres been a few great ones that stuck with me. I want to make my own personal Scion band with Lyna. She was my favorite in ShB. One if the only characters I felt had soul.

Don't really have a favorite villain really. This long running ascian plot has really soured many of them and it wasn't until ShB that they become characters instead of chaotic evil punching bags.
Nidhogg is probably the best this far. He had his motivations and they seemed perfectly justified by the end. There was no trickery or mcguffins, he was wronged mamy times over and was hellbent on justice even though it was against people who truly no longer had any fault against him.

As a summoner I need to raise you all another question, whos your favorite summon/primal/recurring eikon?
Thus far my favorite has been Susano, I wish all the primals had his level of personality. He wasn't designed to drain aether or do anything terrible, he just wanted to have a good time, resilient soul i salute you as well. Bismark in the first Is such a good example of what could have been, just chill super powerful entities living life between worlds.

My favourite small bit of lore is that Eorzea doesn't have printing presses, instead they use mammets to physically write copies.

My favourite big lore was probably finding out stuff about the dead civilizations in Ultima Thule. It reminds me of a game setting I sort of half fleshed out as a bit of a fun writing exercise.

Favourite character is probably Alphinaud. He really grew on me in Heavensward, and hasn't done anything to diminish his standing since. Pretty close with Thancred and Urianger though, those guys are great too.

ARR:

Favourite Character - Ilberd
Favourite Lore - Vylbrand

HW:

Favourite Character - Regula van Hydrus
Favourite Lore: The Warring Triad

SB:

Favourite Character: Hien
Favourite Lore: Kugane

ShB:

Favourite Character: Emet-Selch
Favourite Lore: Amaurot

EW:

Favourite Character: Jullus
Favourite Lore: Elpis

ARR:
Characters: Gaius, Lahabrea, Elidibus, Nabriales
Lore: Amdapor

HW:
Characters: Igeyorhm/Lahabrea, Nidhogg, Estinien
Lore: Ishgard, Churning mists and the lore surrounding the dragons, Void Ark stuff

SB:
Characters: Hien, Magnai, Varis, Yotsuyu
Lore: Ivalice raid series, Eureka

SHB:
Characters: Emet-Selch, Elidibus, Misija
Lore: Amaurot, Bozja quest series

EW:
Characters: Fandaniel (the Ascian), Emet-Selch, Elidibus, Quintus, Fourchenault... TBC if we hear more on Lahabrea
Lore: Elpis, Garlemald, Ultima Thule (just for the lore on the other stars)

The Scions I come closest to liking are Y'shtola, Thancred and Estinien (maybe sometimes Urianger), but they don't really score high enough for me to make the above lists.

Character: Emet-Selch
Lore: The Dotharl

I was tempted to say anything involving the Ancient world, I'm certainly the most passionate about that, but I loved the lore surrounding the Dotharl in the Azim Steppe and I wanted to add something different. Sadu is also one of my favorite characters. I like the idea that their warriors are believed to be reincarnated within the next births and the same names are given when they're 'recognized'. It was also interesting that if they wanted to break the cycle of rebirth they could choose to return to Nhaama. I just really enjoyed all their side quests, everything about their customs and beliefs was fascinating.

Emet-Selch is just heartbreaking. I think he's actually the best character in the game in terms of every metric from backstory, to motivation, to redemption. Nobody needs me to tell them about Emet though.

It is more of what interests me the most at the moment. That is the lore of the 12 and the world before the Ancients and the time before Astral and Umbral eras and to know what actually happened :D

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Originally Posted by Jandor

My favourite big lore was probably finding out stuff about the dead civilizations in Ultima Thule. It reminds me of a game setting I sort of half fleshed out as a bit of a fun writing exercise.

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I can't wait to see what they do with-

The End of the World Bar, and I want to learn more about random dead civilizations that have no impact on us as the Nekropolis becomes bustling again with the ghosts of dead civilizations.

this might sound weird for a jrpg but (one of) my favorite lore aspect is the different countries religions. each one is unique and tied really well into the overall world.

Favorite Character: Ysayle, with Alphinaud a close second. And of the minor characters, Wilred.

Favorite Lore is harder. I adore (current) Eorzea and am delighted whenever the plot moves away from Allagans and especially away from the Ancients. Over time I've really grown to adore Ilberd as this nuanced and realistic antagonist, and the fleshing out of Ala Mhigo has turned into something I love- the position as a trade conduit and the cross-influence of Aldenard and Ilsabard cultures, the real-world parallels for the designs and topography, the fact that salt is its material wealth and a fantasy story acknowledges just how incredibly valuable salt was to the ancient world -that alone makes me weep with joy. That over time the barebones stereotype of conquered homeland of 'warrior/mercenary humans' was developed- that there was the Mad King who used a new religious cult in order to wrestle power away from the established religious powers - and that the democratic rebellion against the monarchy was used as an opening by the fascist empire to invade, giving both nuance and explanation for how said fascist empire conquered the city state. That the game doesn't shy away from the effect that a generation of occupation has on a population and that not everyone reacts the same way - and the diaspora communities. The richness is fantastic.

They're both very hard questions, and using Ivalice for either feels like a bit of a cop-out, since I've made no secret of my love for Matsuno's works even when I genuinely like said content for itself (Bozja in particular, farming the field notes almost costing my sanity not-withstanding).

So at least on a Top Five I would put:

Urianger: I actually like Exposition Dumps, he's also had some great character development from being basically a plot device and GM puppet in 1.0 to... well I guess my actual favorite character. He outplayed the pixies, and Elidibus, and he keeps enough levity to soften his more academic personality.
Krile: Usually I feel she's underutilized, but in EW it seems they used her just right. Her manifestation of the Echo and her own Blessing of Light pointed her to be far more important that she usually is portrayed, and I'd love if she were to discard some of her Damsel in Distress elements (not that they're not justified by the narrative).
Feo Ul: One of my favorite moments is when they, in Fae, says "Rejoice and Revel, the Kingdom of Rainbows is Forever Young", it makes me really emotional. Plus their position of King of the Fae...the Fae themselves are both intriguing and terrifying, as fits their older tales.
Ryne: Bit of an odd choice but her story of struggling with her identity, her loneliness, the expectations placed on her shoulders that she never asked for... it really resonates with me.
Probably a mash of the minor Scions: Hoary and Coultenet's off-screen adventures, Isildaure's friendship with homei and Alianne's devotion to her grandfather. I'd certainly like to see them take center stage come 6.1 and beyond.

For Lore... I know what I said about Ivalice, but it really fleshed out some surprising areas of the world: the reveal that Solus had been a big patron of the arts (and how hilarious it is in hindsight, of course Emet would take interest in the arts), the War of the Magi intrigues me, and Thavnair proved to be everything I wanted.

A minor point but I also like how the Loporrits tend to use "they/them" pronouns, as do the Fae and the Ea; the latter two more obviously since they likely don't HAVE a concept of gender anymore, while the Loporrits are aetherial constructs likely built without one, either.

I like the notion of breaking this down into expansions, although I'll also add an 'untied' section for the stuff that just sort of... exists rather than being tied to any particular tale.

A Realm Reborn
Favorite character: Kind of a hard call, but I'm gonna go with Ilberd. He's essentially ARR's political environment made manifest in a single man, and I do love the politics of this game.
Favorite lore: The political machinations of Ul'Dah. Again, I do love me some politics, and if ARR has a strong point, it's in how well it paints how terrible a place Ul'Dah is.

Heavensward
Favorite character: Ysayle, no question. She's a fantastic agent through which we both learn the politics of Ishgard, and see some heart and personhood in a population that's been kind of treated as 'the other' in the game thus far; primal summoners. Also she's a full-sized female elezen, which is a grossly under-represented population in the story.
Favorite lore: Going with the overall expansion on primals that's all throughout Heavensward and its side content. Heavensward introduces us to a primal with a heart in the form of Ysayle, a primal used as a tool of the ruling class rather than the underclass in Thordan, primals used as essentially cultural relics in the Warring Triad, and Alexander, who basically blows every preconception we had about primals wide open.

Stormblood
Favorite character: It was a very tough call, but I'm going with Fordola. Basically any scene with Fordola in it is uplifted by her, and it's not through charisma, but rather just being a fascinating character who's used very well; she's an exploration of choices that have to be made under tyrannical rule, and both the toll that takes on a person and the question that develops of 'what do you do with them after the war is over'. Runner-up goes to Hien, though, who's a fantastic exploration of essentially 'a wartime leader is not necessarily a good peacetime leader'.
Favorite lore: It's hard to say where the good lore is in Stormblood since it's such a people-focused story, but it might go to Hingashi as a location. The main story does very little with this, but a neutral seaport with some very visible issues both with political tensions and economic ones is a great part of the setting, used pretty well by various side content.

Shadowbringers
Favorite character: Going against the grain on this one, but Vauthry. It's easy to forget that Shadowbringers is something of a post-apocalypse story with fantasy dressing, and when you recall that, Vauthry does a fantastic job as essentially an Immortal Joe-style figure, a man exploiting the conditions of the world in a way that highlights how bad it's gotten. Runner-up goes to Gaia, who does a wonderful job of humanizing the Ascians without being a genocidal war criminal about it.
Favorite lore: To me, it kinda has to be the Sin Eaters and what they do to preconceived notions. Sure, a lot of people leave that talking about the tale of Amaurot and Emet-Selch's views, but if you think about it, even that wouldn't hit so hard were it not for the Sin Eaters doing such a bang-up job of establishing the notion that light isn't an inherent good.

Endwalker
Favorite character: Another weird one, but Jullus. Endwalker is a very event-centric story, so it's hard to point to a single new character and say 'this one's the standout', but Jullus embodies what I think is one of the best parts of Endwalker, the exploration of Garlean national identity and the fact that a hero like the Warrior of Light isn't necessarily wanted or welcome. Runner-up goes to Amon, though (I specifically differentiate 'Fandaniel as Hermes' and 'Fandaniel as Amon' since they're ultimately very different people even if they're the same person), for just how many mind-blowing reveals he brings.
Favorite lore: The exploration of Garlemald as a nation is a big one, but ultimately it has to be learning the entirety of Venat's plan, and how much it weighed on her. As I mentioned in another thread, it's real damn hard to try to make 'I smashed the planet' readable as a benevolent and heroic act, and I think that not only did they generally pull it off, but that it was very smart of them to leave it as a point of debate as to if she was right to.

Untied to expansions
Favorite character: Hildibrand, though actually, not for the comedy! I actually find the slapstick of Hildibrand pretty grating, but I love what his job appears to have become, which is to highlight the parts of the world, and especially its politics, that more serious stories are disinclined to. He's the one that gives us the truth of the war between Ul'dah and Sil'dih, remember, as well as the most in-depth exploration of Kugane's social problems.
Favorite lore: Gelmorra. I'm always disappointed we never actually learn much about Gelmorra, because the notion of an underground city that tried to live free of the Elementals, and the potential political strife in what led to the founding of Gridania, is absolutely fascinating to me, and I wish we'd actually see it explored.

Favourite lore would probably be the Dotharl. It's outwardly kind of silly but once you do the quests for them and see their belief manifest it just works. Hearing about things like the reincarnation "working" but the admittance that the death rate thanks to their combative lifestyle and birth/growth rate of their tribe being, well, logical means their small tribe is basically doomed makes them very special. And they have Sadu.

Favourite character pre-EW would probably have been Ali. I really liked how she felt like a friend to the WoL but who also had their own aspirations and goals, and isn't afraid to go after them. She's a fan of the WoL and their attitude and accomplishments but without ever having the overly creeptastic, stalker type approach that some others characters do. If the WoL suddenly ceased to exist you know she would keep on keeping on, just in an even more motivated state.

In EW, however, it's got to be Krile. Not that Ali dropped in my estimation but more in how Krile herself was developed. Previously she was a fun character with a nice bit of sass, but was largely background furniture unless the story happened to need her for something. In EW she still wasn't really a main character but the role she was given allowed her to really shine. She stayed the sassy fun character she was before but really came across as being deeply emotionally connected to everything, partially due to her Echo but also because of her own faith and her belief. It really broke me when she was describing how she was chasing that tenuous connection to Hydaelyn and how she described the sense of loss she felt when their communication ended. I'm not really a person of faith at all but to think of that connection, that moment, and then.. nothing. I really hope we get to spend more time with her in the future.

As far as my favorite lore stuff, I would have to say any peeking into the technology of the allagans. Everytime I go to Azys La I wish I could bring a research team along to read EVERYTHING in their archives.

Favorite character would probably be Y'Shtola. Especially during SHB where you were given plenty of opportunities to talk back to her. Sarcastically calling her mom was one of my favorite moments.

Pop me down for another Emet fan. Reprehensible actions, but eminently huggable all the same. My most favourite NPC to date.

Love Alphi and Alisaie too. Have long since claimed them as my pixel children. G'raha is also adorkable and I'm here for that. Tataru is worthy of adoration and hugs.

Lots of other characters are alright, too, but the above are my faves.

I also like all the Ancient shenanigans lorewise, whilst also holding a belief they weren't fabulous at mental health and could be horrible with their "live" creations, even if not intentionally. I can't get enough of the architecture, mind. Also, Limsa, 'cause pirates. Ahoy!

This is tagged for spoilers through Endwalker.

I just remembered this thread and thought I'd revive it because there are plenty of threads lately about what weaknesses there are in MMORPG storytelling (characters not being easily killed off, multiple players experiencing the same story within the same universe, retrofitting lore, aging graphics/systems, linearity of story, ever-growing threats and power, temporal problems) and I just can't find many posts about why it is cool for FFXIV to be an MMO (unlike their other most popular games with great stories, which I have not played).

Since Azem's introduction, they have been using the "sharding" of identities and the medium (an MMO) to in some way (intentional or not, no idea) make use of the idea of the "hero of a thousand faces" (very influential book by Joseph Campbell), and I am very excited to see what will happen as Azem is fleshed out. So far we have been able to learn about other cultures partly by how they perceive Azem and what kinds of things Azem does, but we have no idea who they really were (the volcano Azem) or what made them them, or how much of them is our character (the Ardbert, Venat, and Hermes/Fandaniel/Amon conundrum).

Azem's summoning stone made duty finder canon and lore-supported, which is hilarious and also cool.

I also like the sort of cultural things that pop up like in the Hildibrand quests where when someone changes jobs they suddenly turn naked holding a tool. Or how lalafels may lash out if they get headpats so you have to stay cautious.

Or the mythology that develops (particularly around the 1.0 calamity which is still a huge part of the story)...I am thinking of even details like the coffee biscuit leves being referenced in Endwalker. The creation magic being likened to creative pursuits and the use of elemental stone currency. Healers and their portrayal in the Bredda (the black mage) side story as blaming themselves and developing complexes. How one of the last quests in Endwalker has us actually use the walk mechanic (something you never have to use in the game unless you are sneaking around dragons in Eureka, as I recently learned...never had it keybound before that) as kind of a reminder to "slow down" and process the game