Magnai the Older's Prospects of Marriage

[Miyha]

While his looks might be the reason he's getting so much attention, I can say I was amused by the way that the big, arrogant jerk was given a soft spot like this. As terrible a person as he is, he's lonely and insecure (which probably contributes considerably to his arrogant jerkishness).

I, personally, support the Sadu pairing because she would NOT put up with his arrogance, not for a second. I'd like to see him see his moon in her and come to the realization that commanding her to be his bride in the name of the Dawn Father probably isn't going to cut it.

In short, Sadu is the bride he deserves, not the one he would want. XD

His looks actually isn't the reason I like him. I mean... it helps, lol. |D So does this whole (somewhat comedic) "soft spot, actually just desperate/needs to get laid" situation. But it's not the reason I really like him as a character.

He's a complete and total d-bag at the moment. I absolutely hated him (like... wanted to kick his freaking teeth in) until we got some of the back story of the Oronir and started to see how that related to him.

Someone on Tumblr actually made a really good post analyzing the Oronir's social structure and what a society like theirs COULD become, and how Magnai relates to it, as well as the implications of his station of power. Best part was, it was written from a neutral standpoint: it wasn't arguing that he was either a good or a bad person. Funnily enough, I couldn't put my finger on why I liked this horse's arse until reading that post: I knew I liked him, I just couldn't put it into words.

What you see on the surface is really what is required of a leader of one of the most powerful tribes of the Steppe: it's essentially a "kill or be killed" society, and a lot of the time only the toughest and most brutal survive. Magnai's outward personality embodies what you would expect of one of the most powerful leaders of such a society (I mean... I feel like it's fairly obvious at this point that the Xaela are the Mongols, and Magnai is, essentially, Genghis Khan; in fact I absolutely nerded out a little bit when that previous post drew the parallel between some of his (in)famous dialogue and a quote by Genghis Khan). So, yeah... he's kind of a d-bag. And more than a little frightening. What could anyone possibly find redeeming about him?

For one thing, despite the fact that he has such an immense amount of power and has admitted exercising it by calling all of the women of the Steppe to stand before him so that he might evaluate if one of them is the moon he seeks, he has never picked one and said "You, you are my moon. You must marry me. You have no say." He is outright rejected by Cirina and (most likely) Lyse, and he just leaves it. He doesn't pursue anything further, he just drops it. Someone with as much power and authority as he could EASILY just command whoever he wanted to be his wife, but he hasn't done that: he genuinely seems to prefer to wait until he has found "the one". Not just someone that he believes to be his moon, but someone who genuinely believes he is her sun. In addition to this, as was pointed out in the post I was referring to, the Oronir have a very romantic, almost fairy-tale like origin story that in actuality could end up working out very very VERY bad in practice (the whole "Sun father, we are the superior race" sort of thing), but based on outward appearances, the only thing that has really manifested of this is their arrogance. The only thing KEEPING Magnai (and consequently the entire tribe) from being the ultimate evil avatar of their beliefs is the fact that, oddly enough, he is a 10000% true believer in them. He may be arrogant, yes, but he appears to believe in what the Oronir stand for in its purest form, and that is that it is ultimately their job to protect the Xaela of the Steppe (even though to do this there may be some "tough love" required, see my earlier statement about Xaela society and culture as a whole) and that there is a kindred soul/true love for everyone. Kind of funny when you juxtapose this to how downright scary Magnai looks/acts.

Also, editing to add in the unique case that is Sadu in terms of the whole "leaves it alone after being rejected" thing. I've seen his hatred for her used to negate this point, and a lot of people claim that Magnai/the Oronir hates Sadu/the Dotharl just because she refused to answer his call and be evaluated as a potential wife. I'm honestly not sure where this notion comes from: if I remember right, it is never pointed to this as being the origin of the feud between the two tribes. As a matter of fact, I always thought it logical that the Oronir, the self-proclaimed "protectors of the Steppe Xaela", would hate the Dotharl, the murderous tribe that revels in combat and massacre and has been known to attack other tribes seemingly unprovoked simply because they believe their souls burn brighter in combat. They are a danger to any and all other tribes... and it is the Oronir's duty to protect the masses. Between this and several other massive conflicts of beliefs between the two tribes, I think those are more likely to be the reasons the tribes hate each other; Sadu not answering to Magnai's call was just another way for her to say "screw you". (People also conveniently forget that Magnai shut Baatu down when he started to trash talk Sadu for doing what she did: something that might be pointed to as somewhat out of character for things we'd seen up to that point, as you'd think he would want her to suffer for her slight too.)

...So yeah. Essentially my point is that I like Magnai because I see beyond the d-bag façade that he first presents you with and believe there's a lot more to his character than we are originally led to believe, and that he has the potential to be a freaking AWESOME character. I really didn't mean that to end up a whole dissertation, lol. Ultimately everyone will have their own opinions of all characters, and Magnai certainly seems to be a very polarizing one. :P I'm excited to see how he actually develops; maybe he will disappoint me and become the ultimate avatar of evil. D':

That said, Idk who I'd ship him with (outside of the shameless WoL ship, lel). >.> Someone to set his ass straight for sure, and Sadu (*cough*ormyWoL*cough*) could definitely do that (I like that "bride he deserves, not the one he wants", lol). Cirina is too good, too pure. D: That said, I could see her being some motivation for him to chill out. Maybe we're going to meet some more tribes in the future and we haven't met his moon yet...

[Rosenoire]

Someone on Tumblr actually made a really good post analyzing the Oronir's social structure and what a society like theirs COULD become, and how Magnai relates to it, as well as the implications of his station of power. Best part was, it was written from a neutral standpoint: it wasn't arguing that he was either a good or a bad person. Funnily enough, I couldn't put my finger on why I liked this horse's arse until reading that post: I knew I liked him, I just couldn't put it into words.

I read the post that you mention (I think) and had the same reaction. He's a jerk, but he's not a one-dimensional jerk like, say, Crown Prince Crazypants. I also like the idea of additional quests to get him and Sadu together because I think she's strong-willed enough to only get involved with him on equal terms, and because it could be a nice, non-world is at stake sidequest...

...oh no.

I just realized what's going to happen.

Hildibrand is going to land in the Steppes and try to play matchmaker.

[Miyha]

Hildibrand is going to land in the Steppes and try to play matchmaker.

I... I'm actually not sure how I feel about this. ;;;;

[Alleo]

Haha that would be one kind of quest. Hildibrand would annoy both of them soo much that they realize that they have some things in common thus might fall in love.

[Okamimaru]

Cienra(sp?) Wouldn't marry anyone without the gods telling her to... Hein would most likely marry to have an heir but I doubt it would be her... yugiri has a better chance with hien... just because of history together and they're both doman.... as for Mr "call me the sun" I doubt he will end up with anybody we've met yet....

[Aosha]

For those coming back to look at this thread:
http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodest...rom_the_storm/
The last one of these.
Tells of how Magnai came to the conclusion of what kind of a bride he would want, and of the... uh... clash between him and Sadu.