Character Design Discussion: Gaius Van Baelsar

[SilvertearRen]

Greetings all! I have taken the time and effort to put together a character reference sheet from the 3D resources available in the game - this is Gaius Van Baelsar, complete with face close-ups.

This gives you an opportunity to closely scrutinize his character design and spot some interesting quirks about the Garlean Empire! Some of his features are shared with the Imperial Centurion, too. (Of whom I will be assembling a character sheet for sooner or later!)

Gaius Van Baelsar - Character Reference Sheet

Discuss! :3

[Anonymoose]

Oh, wow. The visible part of his face isn't part of his face at all, it looks like part of the mask. He could look like anything under there, then.

Which program did you use to capture these, if you don't mind my asking?

[SilvertearRen]

I have plenty of theories about Gaius' appearance, but I think I'll keep them to myself for now. Draw your own conclusions. :3

[leomike35]

I know he is a bonafide badass thats for sure.

[SilvertearRen]

Oh, wow. The visible part of his face isn't part of his face at all, it looks like part of the mask. He could look like anything under there, then.

Which program did you use to capture these, if you don't mind my asking?

You'll have to do some digging on your own to find the "program" - Square Enix is notoriously strict about discussing third party programs on the official forums. Let's leave it at that, alright?

[DoctorMog]

Spoiler alert?

[SilvertearRen]

Spoiler alert?

Not a spoiler anymore since he's featured in the Grand Companies page.

[redmage]

Going by his proportions... could he possibly be an elezen? Sorry, I'm not high level enough to witness him in-game quite yet and I'm trying to avoid cutscenes.

[Anonymoose]

Going by his proportions... could he possibly be an elezen? Sorry, I'm not high level enough to witness him in-game quite yet and I'm trying to avoid cutscenes.

It's a possibility. Tradition holds in Final Fantasy that great antagonist forces are exclusively hume/hyur, but this game has broken with tradition more than a few times. Even in FFXII, Gabranth said "The Emperor is willing to overlook race for his more talented subjects."

Still, though, I'm willing to bet that he's hyur.

[Anonymoose]

Seriously why do all the bad guys get the cool stuff?

It makes them formidable and memorable. What use is our victory if we're not the underdogs to start? I don't know about you, but when I go out into the field to face the invading forces and it's mostly just plain old hyurs with weapons and clothes we have access to, I almost feel bad mowing them down... but then I remember Ala Mhigo and keep on letting the AoEs fly.