The Warrior of Light: Plot Device, Mary Sue or A legitamate charatcer

[Tenkuu]

It's not just Illberd that says it; Midgardsomr says to the WOL's face that they're a special snowflake simply because they were picked to be and they're nothing more than that while Ysayle in 2.4 calls the WOL a blind fool for following orders from everyone without seeing the big picture. And, while optional, the Dark Knight quests further shows just how foolish the WOL is for continuing to be everyone's perpetual doormat.

I'm not sure, but from what I understood of the japanese audio, Ysayle calling you a fool is not present in the japanese version. She seems to merely be trying to reason with you in that version.

You can have characters oppose the WOL without resorting to hating them.

Exactly, it's all about shades of grey. These characters may not like your way of doing things and might prefer a more aggressive approach.

In most JRPGs, the protagonists are always ones who do the right thing, even if it makes them look stupid, so I would not expect the scene at the banquet to be any different. I also would not get your hopes up about the Warrior of Darkness being different because I have a gut feeling that he will just be the attack dog for the Ascians instead of having his own will. He seems to be nothing more than a counterpart to the Warrior of Light simply to stop them.

I think I recall reading somewhere that the Warrior of Darkness was going to be a character with his own history who simply has different motivations from yours. There's no doubt that he will be used by the Ascians as a counterpart to the Warrior of Light, but he'll likely have his own reasons for siding with them over Hydaelyn. It's even possible he will be more informed than you and that this will end up revealing more about the Ascians. To be honest, I expect him to be a character as well fleshed out as Ysayle, probably even better, because otherwise why bother to make such a big deal about him by dropping such a huge cliffhanger at the end of 3.0.

[Fenral]

I don't think you're talking about Alphinaud, and the only other somewhat perky character I can think of, as of 3.0, is Honoroit, the kid who's always with Emmanellain, but the latter part of your paragraph doesn't sound relevant to him so I'm curious: which character are you talking about?

Same person I always bring up as an example: G'raha Tia. Yeah, he was that different in Japanese, almost a beta test for Heavensward's take on Alphinaud.

Unfortunately, I disagree with your notion that giving himself over entirely to the dead Allagans in his head is a way of bettering himself, as the act is more in line with killing himself, at least metaphorically. In a lot of ways it's closer to Thancred giving himself over to Lahabrea, though it's not portrayed as such because suddenly nobody was up for questioning the "greater good." He's not becoming a better person, he's giving up entirely on who he was and becoming a glorified slave to a purpose that cares not a single iota about the person fulfilling it, and that's not something that should ever be portrayed as a positive.

Don't get me wrong, I liked the guy, and spent the better part of the 13 months between Labyrinth of the Ancients and the World of Darkness hanging out with him between guildleve hand-ins in Mor Dhona, but I think what happened with him, and what they were trying to say with what happened to him, is an inexcusable low for a game that calls itself Final Fantasy.

[Tenkuu]

Same person I always bring up as an example: G'raha Tia. Yeah, he was that different in Japanese, almost a beta test for Heavensward's take on Alphinaud.

Haven't been on the forums long enough to notice, and I think I only saw one other post where you mentioned him. I don't know, I never thought of G'raha as perky. Either way, I did play with japanese audio, but english subtitles.

Unfortunately, I disagree with your notion that giving himself over entirely to the dead Allagans in his head is a way of bettering himself, as the act is more in line with killing himself, at least metaphorically. In a lot of ways it's closer to Thancred giving himself over to Lahabrea, though it's not portrayed as such because suddenly nobody was up for questioning the "greater good." He's not becoming a better person, he's giving up entirely on who he was and becoming a glorified slave to a purpose that cares not a single iota about the person fulfilling it, and that's not something that should ever be portrayed as a positive.

You misunderstand. I didn't say that the notion *was* him bettering himself, I said it was his idea of doing so. As far as Thancred goes, it seems unclear to me exactly how he came in possession of a crystal of darkness. Given what he says to you afterwards (and I'm going by a combination of the english and french versions on this), it's likely he was overconfident that he could handle it and took on more than he actually could, especially since by all accounts (of the other Scions), that has been his tendency so far. I personally wish they'd clarify that because it seems very ambiguous. But to get back to G'raha, I actually agree with you completely that it was a dumbass move on his part.

Don't get me wrong, I liked the guy, and spent the better part of the 13 months between Labyrinth of the Ancients and the World of Darkness hanging out with him between guildleve hand-ins in Mor Dhona, but I think what happened with him, and what they were trying to say with what happened to him, is an inexcusable low for a game that calls itself Final Fantasy.

I like him too, and I get the feeling that with future expansions, he may well be making a comeback.