Is it weird that I like Zenos as a villain?

[Ramesses]

I like his English voice...[snip]

Indeed, and that is one of the several elements that captures the true essence of his character. To be honest, his voice acting in all the languages were very well done.

The English accent used by his voice actor (Luke Allen-Gale) is called the "Received Pronunciation"...also called the "RP" accent. Some people also call it "Queen's English" -- in reference to the Queen of England but there is a very subtle, almost unnnoticable difference. All in all, the RP accent is a very posh, deliberate, precise and clipped manner of English speaking... in the old days, it was --and still is in certain circles-- the traditionally aristocratic style of English speech.

Since we are on the subject of a character in a game, I shall give similar examples of other characters in games who speak with (or close to) the RP accent... off the topp of my head, Vayne Solidor of FFXII, Prince Maximillian of Valkyrie Chronicles... and if you haven't played those games, just think of Jeremy Iron's voice as Scar in Lion King.

I've mentioned this a few times on the forums and I'll say it again... Zenos is fourth generation imperial royalty and as such, his eloquence is not just required; its very likely demanded of him.

[shao32]

I think zenos was ok, I really love the empire and all his characters with Gaius and Regula on top, but who really surprised me is Varis, the first time I see him I hate it a lot when he spit on Solus coffin, That lack of respect for the empire founder, like well yeah he is supposed to be the bad guy but c'mon , and thend this last pacth come out and see all the truth make that scene and all varis scenes take another meaning I really love that surpass zenos for me and put it close to Gaius, I can't wait to see what comes next.

[Ramesses]

I think zenos was ok, I really love the empire and all his characters with Gaius and Regula on top, but who really surprised me is Varis, the first time I see him I hate it a lot when he spit on Solus coffin, That lack of respect for the empire founder, like well yeah he is supposed to be the bad guy but c'mon , and thend this last pacth come out and see all the truth make that scene and all varis scenes take another meaning I really love that surpass zenos for me and put it close to Gaius, I can't wait to see what comes next.

Ahhhh... I believe that was his Uncle Titus' coffin he was spitting on. That was another aspect of the MSQ that generated a lot of debates and discussions back then... that's a heck of a story that needs to be told in 5.0. I'm very eager to delve into all the royal intrigues of House Galvus when the expansion arrives.

Varis is a military man, having already earned great respect and standing amoung the Garlean legions even before he attained High Legatus. He'd have to be cold and calculating to hold an empire together... plus I'm certain he didn't take too kindly with his uncle wasting his time, troops and resources during the War of Succession.

Not to mention, the chap did put a hit out on Varis' heir... even if he disliked his son, it's the principle of the gesture that mattered.

[shao32]

Ahhhh... I believe that was his Uncle Titus' coffin he was spitting on. That was another aspect of the MSQ that generated a lot of debates and discussions back then... that's a heck of a story that needs to be told in 5.0. I'm very eager to delve into all the royal intrigues of House Galvus when the expansion arrives.

Varis is a military man, having already earned great respect and standing amoung the Garlean legions even before he attained High Legatus. He'd have to be cold and calculating to hold an empire together... plus I'm certain he didn't take too kindly with his uncle wasting his time, troops and resources during the War of Succession.

Not to mention, the chap did put a hit out on Varis' heir... even if he disliked his son, it's the principle of the gesture that mattered.

Oh really? It would be nice if they give some details of who is that coffin, but rewatching the scene can be right is his uncle except it's mean to be Solus when he take the throne, still I love how varis is evolving as we know more about him.

[Derio]

I like zeros. He is the only villain that we lose against in single armed combat.

[Edax]

I like zeros. He is the only villain that we lose against in single armed combat.

Is that all it takes to be impressive?

[Vahlnir]

Is that all it takes to be impressive?

In a game where characters make poor decisions almost all the time and some lack any sort of personality...yes, yes it is.

[Ramesses]

I like zeros. He is the only villain that we lose against in single armed combat.

Yes, exactly... this is one of the reasons I admire his character as a villain.

And as I said on this thread a few pages back, I thoroughly liked it that he trashed us twice to embarrassing levels... because we had reached the point in the Hero or Heroine's Journey (a type of stage in narrative) whereby we needed to evolve yet again. Since 1.0, we have been sent on adventure missions, fetch quests, dungeon crawls and even had to face super weird oysters in Sastasha or Shopshae... and we always win.

As with many things in life, if there are no real challenges then there won't be any evolution to surpass one's limits... and it was time for the WoL to either evolve or digress into dull complacency. Zenos provided that necessary challenge that gave the WoL the necessary wake up call to evolve.

[Camiie]

Zenos is a thug bored with life because he is strong and everyone else is not. Yawn. He may have served a purpose in the WoL's growth, but that hardly makes him interesting.

[Edax]

Zenos is a thug bored with life because he is strong and everyone else is not. Yawn. He may have served a purpose in the WoL's growth, but that hardly makes him interesting.

Yeah, reminds me of a certain villian from Bleach that stopping being interesting the moment he uttered this line:

Strength and power contests are the most shallow aspects of conflict in writing. And in Japanese stories, there's always somebody with more power in the next story arc, often to the point of absurdity as these villains almost never worked for it. They just have extreme power because "I'm the next villain". Of course, just handing out supreme power to your villians is the laziest way to manufacture a conflict.

Is Zenos a part of the core themes of Stormblood? What even is the message of Stormblood? Does Zenos even tie into the story of the Warrior of Light, or is he just yet another thug that needs a thrashing? Zenos is acting like a caricature of a MMORPG player, but what is the story trying to say about that? Is SE suggesting we're all psychopaths?