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I'm struggling to remember why Zenos is so strong. I know he was possessed by an ascian at some point (Elidibus) but at some point this is where I'm drawing a blank.... Did he use the soul transfer device to go back to his original body? Did he ever leave his body? Why is he so stupid strong?
Stormblood is as hazy as the WoL's memory of a primal. :P
He was always strong to begin with but ramped himself up further by imbuing himself with an artificial Echo.
And no, he was able to return to his body of his own volition by possessing a fallen Resistance member then later a Garlean general as his artificial Echo is apparently potent enough to allow him to persist without a body akin to an Ascian. Everyone (Himself included) assumed his suicide after his defeat in Ala Mhigo would've been the end of him, but he decided to just roll with the situation when he realized he could cheat death.
Given that the Resonant treatment entails reinforcing the subject's soul by infusing them with aether from other living beings, I'd assume took the process so far that his soul's density rivaled that of an unsundered being...though there's still some other shenanigans at play that we don't understand, what with him having visions of the Final Days and all.
Yeah, Zenos' dreams of the Final Days in 5.2 and Fandaniel's immediate reply/comment of "could Emet-Selch have found a way..." (and Elidibus' comment at the end of 4.0 that Zenos was "an irreplaceable test subject" to a lesser extent), still haven't really been fully addressed/explained even after the conclusion of 6.0.
Hopefully it is just one of those remaining mysteries/topics that will eventually be explored in the future MSQ and/or side-quests, but I can also acknowledge the possibility that it may be a dropped plot point that won't have further elaboration (like Zodiark and the Heart of Sabik).
For some reason that not even Emet-Selch is aware of, his children and grandchildren as Solus were freakishly large and strong.
As far as the body swapping goes, we were shown in the 2.X patches that even a Sahagin chief with the Echo is able to body swap at death so it's not just a Resonant or Ascian thing and it was to hint how close to the Ascians Echo bearers are.
Souls' (Emet-Selch's) lineage is implied to have inherited some measure of his power with the size to match.
Beyond that... it's unclear. It's not so subtly implied by Elidibus and Fandaniel that Emet-Selch experimented on him in some manner, and he claims to have had dreams of the Final Days as long as he can remember. The latter implies he may have been a reincarnated Ancient, but then there's the fact he needed Resonance experiments performed on him to gain access to the Echo...
Very strong crown prince given royal fighting lessons all his life, which he even beat his own mentors in. Lived a life obsessed with battle.
Attains new heights of power via funding Aulus mal Asina's research into the Echo, and gains the Echo via the Resonance procedure.
I actually hadn't thought of him inheriting power from Emet-selch, but I do assume it's true. He also gained the knowledge and powers of Shinryu after mantling it.
Something not to be discounted either is that by body hopping, it's possible he gained the knowledge and memories of the people he inhabited in addition to seeing where his own technique lacked since he didn't have the strength he was accustomed to while wearing their hides.
Beyond that, in Endwalker, he made a Reaper pact with a unique Voidsent for more power off screen. Inhabiting our body possibly gave him our knowledge and memories, too (if he hadn't already willed himself to see them with a voluntary Echo vision, since it would seem he has full mastery and complete control just like an Ancient).
But really... we could sum it all up a lot simpler than that. It's sort of a doy-list answer, but the writers wanted/needed him to be that strong, so it's part of his character. It's part of his identity. They've shown they aren't adverse to just slamming us with guys who are super strong with no explanation outside of him too ala Ran'jit.
Thanks everyone for the responses! I'm glad to see it wasn't just some mystery I completely forgot but something the writers just didn't add into the game. A strong villain is a strong villain, there's no explanation needed. But I kinda feel bummed about it because we know why we're strong, but don't really know why the main villain was so strong. Maybe we'll find out but likely not. Now it's bugging me even more, it probably shouldn't. D:
Adding to what others have said:
It's mentioned at least once that Zenos was experimented on before he was even born, and not just by Emet-Selch.
Additionally, Zenos mentions during your involuntary dinner date with him that he perfected his fighting techniques as a result of possessing those weaker than himself while en route to reclaiming his original body. Utilizing his skills to their fullest would also help account for his increased power given the amount of potential he was already known to have.
My original understanding was that Zenos had the Resonant from the outset of Stormblood, which is why he was able to see Yugiri's assassination coming. But that doesn't make sense if the process needed to be refined on Fordola.
So my secondary assumption is that Zenos is no stranger to having Aulus run crazy enhancement tests on himself, which Elidibus does allude to in either 4.0 or 4.1 when he says that Zenos' body was a valuable test subject or something of the sort. Presumably, he had always been augmenting himself in the pursuit of being able to transcend the Primals. Add that onto some benefit that likely came from being a direct descendant of Emet-Selch, and there you go.
A combination of the Resonant and whatever experiment was performed on him when he was a child
There is a lot of thought into how he could be so powerful than there is cold hard evidence of it. Probability over possibility for sure, but nothing concrete. What we do know with 100% certainty is that Zenos is augmented. We know that Garleans do not possess the ability to manipulate aether in the form of magic, and have had to rely on technological development in the form of Magitek. We know that these advancements were so profound that they could battle with the likes of Midgarsormr. Even though he was much weaker than when he resided on Dragonstar, this remains an exceptional feat for the Garleans. I think you can see where I am going with this in regards to Zenos' augmentation.
As for Zenos' visions of the Final Days. I think that just lets us know that this cataclysmic event left its mark permanently on Zenos' soul. He is after all, sundered just like everything else. Amon spoke of always being haunted by the memories Hermes attempted to cast into the void. This is only speculation, but perhaps Zenos possesses a sundered soul from one of the other members of the convocation. I would need to look at the purpose/duty each one had again, and see if any of them relate to Zenos and his behaviour.
I doubt he contains a soul from one of the 14 from the Final Days. Emet would have recognized him as well as possible Hythlodeaus when we were talking to him on the moon. He recognized Fandaniel but never once recognized Zenos and both he and Emet can see the color of souls.
Lahabrea could have told us Zodiark and Hydaelyn were primals back in ARR. They could always easily write in why Zenos' soul has not been recognized, so long as it serves the plot they are trying to progress. I'm not saying this is definitely the case. Just tossing out some passing thoughts.