The Old Intros of Final Fantasy XIV ("1.0.") for those who just played ARR

[HakuroDK]

no, but he has a masculine voice and mannerisms in a culture that doesn't discriminate against someone based on their gender.
And in 2.0, a certain force really futzed with his body. Since he was dead.

I see. Maybe he was transgender, then? Wouldn't matter if there was or was not gender discrimination there if he was biologically female yet was otherwise a man.

This may be something to take into the Lore forums.

[AlexionSkylark]

The only complaint I had about 1.0 is that I felt very LOST, as in I didn't quite know what to do after I got in the town. I got to level 6 there, then gave up. Still have the char in a legacy server around there...

That Limsa Lominsa intro brought back lots of memories tho, and I didn't realize it was Y'shtola back then, hahahah.

[Yamimarik]

::WARNING SPOILERS!!::

Nael van Darnus is a male.

Nael deus Darnus is the entity that Bahamut uses in order to stop your advances in Turn 9, it is Nael van Darnus essentially made into one of Bahamut's thralls after his defeat in 1.0, the image we see after Nael deus Darnus' helm is knocked off was the carnation of Nael van Darnus' mother, if I remember correctly.

Here is a better understand of the entity known as Nael deus Darnus

Upon arriving to the Holocharts, she and the Adventurer find themselves in an the Riven Road where Deus Darnus awaits them. Telling them that their presence is an insult to his original self's resting place, Deus Darnus tells them that they will die before Alisaie knocks the Legatus's helmet off with a ruin spell, revealing a white haired woman bearing the Garlemald birthmark. Deus Darnus is revealed to be what remained of the original Darnus after a fraction his essence was recovered by Bahamut and used to create an artificial being in Darnus's likeness with elements from his memory. In maddened glee, Deus Darnus transforms into a dragon-like monster and summons Bradamante before being defeated by the Adventurer.

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Nael_Van_Darnus

[HakuroDK]

::WARNING SPOILERS!!::

Nael van Darnus is a male.

Nael deus Darnus is the entity that Bahamut uses in order to stop your advances in Turn 9, it is Nael van Darnus essentially made into one of Bahamut's thralls after his defeat in 1.0, the image we see after Nael deus Darnus' helm is knocked off was the carnation of Nael van Darnus' mother, if I remember correctly.

Here is a better understand of the entity known as Nael deus Darnus

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Nael_Van_Darnus

Ohhh, okay. Makes a little bit more sense, then.

[kyuven]

I see. Maybe he was transgender, then? Wouldn't matter if there was or was not gender discrimination there if he was biologically female yet was otherwise a man.

That's true but that would be a very weird eccentricity to add, though Nael's already eccentric.
Nael refers to his former body before his death in 1.0 as "he," so if any gender identity issues occurred, it would be AFTER that.
Maybe the force that remade him acted upon his secret desires?

[ReplicaX]

Wait, what? That's... bizarre. Did Nael ever show his face in 1.0?

No, he was never unmasked in 1.0

Before having his soul consumed by Dalamud (Bahamut) Nael was a man, born and raised. It is in the 1.0 Lore and even on that ARR website in his description.

See Yamimarik's spoilers for a clearer explanation.

I see. Maybe he was transgender, then? Wouldn't matter if there was or was not gender discrimination there if he was biologically female yet was otherwise a man.

This may be something to take into the Lore forums.

Not really, Eorzea & Hydaelyn lore believes all beings return to the Mother Crystal until they are reborn. Whether it be reborn as a Male, Female, Race, Beast, Tree, etc. We also have experienced thralls in the World of Eorzea as well. Which shows the journey back to the Mother Crystal isn't always successful and there is also a darkness to the light. Nael wasn't returned to the Mother Crystal. Bahamut's Lore & powers are in Coil Lore and already in the spoilers above.

[KarstenS]

no, but he has a masculine voice and mannerisms in a culture that doesn't discriminate against someone based on their gender.

You know Darth Vader mask?

Gaius had a mask too, that seems to modify the voice.

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Nael_Van_Darnus

That is still a fan site. No officially FF lore team site. There is also no link to an official lore source. So actually I would say, what we can read there is just speculation.

When reading the ending dialogue in T9 there are some hints between the lines, that Neal was a woman all the time. Alise remembered her back to her times as a "little girl", that not got heared as long she was wishing.

[ReplicaX]

That is still a fan site. No officially FF lore team site. There is also no link to an official lore source. So actually I would say, what we can read there is just speculation.

There is no speculation before his death of him being a born a male.

Before having his soul consumed by Dalamud (Bahamut) Nael was a man, born and raised. It is in the 1.0 Lore and even on that ARR website in his description.

From the Official Site aka from the Lore team. Talks about him before being consumed by Dalamud.

Legatus of the VIIth Legion presently dispatched to the western front, van Darnus boasts distinguished parentage in his sire, a founding figure of the Garlean Empire. A ruthless man who has risen to infamy even among his own people, he draws no distinction betwixt friend and foe when met with dissent. Tales are oft told in hushed whispers of van Darnus’s swift rise to power upon the abrupt death by illness of his sire, whose body had no sooner grown cold than his closest aides were put to death.

The White Raven seems a man well-suited to such dark rumors, for it is his pet project, "Meteor," that will herald Eorzea's inevitable plunge into the Seventh Umbral Era...

Source: http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/pr/wor...ent?threats_03

[Doki]

TIL Nael tucks it back.

[Felis]

Look at her eyes. Thats interesting. Thought it happened after the crash.

He got his red eyes here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...z1gjQPrE#t=981