The ending to Stormblood...

[Reynhart]

Zenos on the other hand, is an equal.

...that we already killed, even when super-powered by Shinryu. He's alive only by body surfing, which makes him similar to Ascians in a way, and thus, he'll become another name on our list.

[RicaRuin]

No, we didn't kill him. The fight in the Throne room was simply exited by a bored Zenos, and Shinryu we could only beat because of the Echo as advantage against Primals. Zenos decided to take his own life, then. Basically, we never won against/defeated Zenos so far.

[Reynhart]

No, we didn't kill him. The fight in the Throne room was simply exited by a bored Zenos, and Shinryu we could only beat because of the Echo as advantage against Primals.

Lorewise, the only advantage we gain from the Echo is not being tempered when close to primals, it does nothing for the strength required to beat them.

Zenos decided to take his own life, then.

Yeah, because he finally find someone that's able to beat him.

Personally, I find him to be a pretty weak villain, doing what he does for the evil and for the game, and putting a last minute Foe Yay on us, like we've bonded a lot.

And the voice should frkn go away while im in a battle. Like wth. Idc if its for the story build up. He can frln call AFTER i killed fake zenos.

Well, that was the point of him stopping us. Killing Fake Zenos would apparently trigger something reeeaaaally bad.

[Gemina]

Personally, I find him to be a pretty weak villain, doing what he does for the evil and for the game, and putting a last minute Foe Yay on us, like we've bonded a lot.

In fiction, there are bonds that take place amongst adversaries. Sometimes it is even mentioned that enemies know each other more than their loved ones. They also become stronger the more times they face each other, eventually becoming a rivalry. This happens in real life as well in all forms of competition. I wouldn't call it a Foe Yay, but it is a relationship between the WoL and Zenos, and far from last minute. The relationship has taken place over the entirety of SB, and is competitive in nature. Zenos has not expressed any romantic feelings towards the WoL, but does consider him/her an enemy as well as a friend.

He's an antagonist, but is so far from being the main villain in this story which really falls on the Acians and the Empire. And now that the actual Zenos is basically a wanderer, he serves no one but himself, which seems to be the actual role he was meant for.

[Reynhart]

He's an antagonist, but is so far from being the main villain in this story which really falls on the Acians and the Empire.

For 4.0, Zenos was our grand imperial villain, like Gaius was in 2.0. But we had too little interactions with him to create a true relation. Most of 4.0 plot revoles around Yotsuyu, and I think it's saying something that she was our trial in 4.3, the point where the story generally "wraps up", and the next patches are used as a setup for ShB.

And now that the actual Zenos is basically a wanderer, he serves no one but himself, which seems to be the actual role he was meant for.

Now, you can build up Zenos to be a rival/friend, with a common enemy, I just feel they tried to put that relation too early. Basically, it's as if he's trying to be our Vegeta but skipped the whole Frieza arc
And Shadowhunters is our Piccolo...

[Gemina]

For 4.0, Zenos was our grand imperial villain, like Gaius was in 2.0. But we had too little interactions with him to create a true relation. Most of 4.0 plot revoles around Yotsuyu, and I think it's saying something that she was our trial in 4.3, the point where the story generally "wraps up", and the next patches are used as a setup for ShB.

I wouldn't be so sure. All four of our fights with Zenos take place in 4.0, and again I will point out how battles solidify the bonds in a rivalry. I have a massive amount of respect for Gaius, but the same cannot be said for him, or the respect is different. At least from my WoL's perspective. I will admit that Zenos is projected as the main antagonist, but as we learn about him we come to understand that he couldn't care less about this role. The disconnect actually happens in 4.1 onward. Yotsuyu being the primary antagonist and viceroy in the eastern lands. It isn't until after that our attention returns to Zenos and the Ascian possessing his body.

Now, you can build up Zenos to be a rival/friend, with a common enemy, I just feel they tried to put that relation too early. Basically, it's as if he's trying to be our Vegeta but skipped the whole Frieza arc
And Shadowhunters is our Piccolo...

I'm not familiar with Dragonball, but understand he serves as a deuteragonist to the series. Similar characters I might be more familiar with would probably be Sasuke Uchiha, and Bakugo. I somewhat agree with you here, but I believe how you feel with the relation between the WoL and Zenos is a result of the split storyline in SB. Many feel the liberation of both Doma and Ala Mhigo deflated SB, and in turn also threw a monkey wrench into this rivalry. But it has been established none the less.

[Gemina]

No, we didn't kill him. The fight in the Throne room was simply exited by a bored Zenos, and Shinryu we could only beat because of the Echo as advantage against Primals. Zenos decided to take his own life, then. Basically, we never won against/defeated Zenos so far.

Zenos was bored in the first encounter, easily humbling the WoL. The second fight he was stimulated (perhaps the first time ever) when the WoL damages his helmet during the fight, and commends himself for making the right decision for allowing him/her to live. It's at this point his boredom stops, and his obsession begins. The third confrontation in the throne room he doesn't exit out of boredom; he is thrilled that the WoL's strength now rivals his own, and he retreats. When you retreat during a fight, you lose.

The battle against Shinryu is a serious head scratcher. Zenos merging with the primal was one of my disappointments with him and with SB. When he humbled us in the first fight and said, "Pathetic"; I found myself saying the exact same thing back at him. Ultimately he did decide to take his own life, but iirc he was dying anyway from his injuries. He lost here as well. The way I see it, we're a dead even 2/2 from our confrontations against Zenos.

[Tanker4444]

...that we already killed, even when super-powered by Shinryu. He's alive only by body surfing, which makes him similar to Ascians in a way, and thus, he'll become another name on our list.

It was hardly a fair fight! We had our adventuring buddies with us!

[Reynhart]

It was hardly a fair fight! We had our adventuring buddies with us!

8 human beings, with only one of them possessing the Echo lorewise against a Garlean turned dragon God, a creature that was a match for Omega, because he was infused with both eyes of a member of the first brood…
Right, it was completely unfair against us, and still we kicked him

And, if he ends up becoming the "long term big bad", chances are we'd face him into another 8-man instance, so the setup would be the same. It's very different from our rematch with Nidhogg where he was clearly restrained the first time.

[Lersayil]

8 human beings, with only one of them possessing the Echo lorewise against a Garlean turned dragon God, a creature that was a match for Omega, because he was infused with both eyes of a member of the first brood…
Right, it was completely unfair against us, and still we kicked him

And, if he ends up becoming the "long term big bad", chances are we'd face him into another 8-man instance, so the setup would be the same. It's very different from our rematch with Nidhogg where he was clearly restrained the first time.

I think its canon that they have the echo, just not the Blessing of Light™. I mean we bring them to all these primal fights and they dont get tempered, so...