Revelations from Patch 3.56

[Theodric]

My guess? Zenos is loosely based on Judge Bergan from FF12. We know there's going to be at least some references to FF12 due to the track record of Garlean Legions aligning loosely with the games that share their numbers. Nael was clearly loosely inspired by Sephiroth and Regula ended up being a General Leo rather than the Kefka quite a few people posting here expected him to be. Since we've been told that nobody will sympathise with Zenos it's unlikely that he's inspired by Gabranth or Vayne Solidor from FF12. Both of those characters had valid justifications and reasons for their actions, if not their methods used.

Of course, this is all just pure speculation but I have a feeling that Zenos is mostly in it for himself and his own amusement. I doubt he is terribly committed to Garlemald as a whole - which may or may not bring forth some conflict with his father. We can't rule out an outside influence either since we've already been told that we'll need to go to Othard to learn more about him. That he wields a katana is interesting and I'm going to call it now: somehow I think he will end up becoming Yojimbo in a similar way to how the Archbishop and his loyal followers became the Knights of the Round. In fact, wasn't Yojimbo basically in it for himself given that he was based around being paid gil? Hm...

Zenos' attitude may also be what leads us towards getting our 'Larsa' and adds further nuances to the ongoing conflict with Garlemald.