[Spoilers] Why Zenos is the most important character moving forward

[Bright-Flower]

So basically we have a bored warrior who really loves fights, but can't actually die. I've already seen this character in FGO. This is not the type of character that can carry an interesting plot on their own.

They can mitigate at least part of my issue with Zenos if they actually have him do things of consequence, make him a force to be reckoned with driving the plot and not just waiting for us to get strong. It still irks me that he stomps us i RR and the game 'tries' to play this off as a devestating defeat but how bad can it REALLY be if the resistance is able to hold onto that base of operations after the attack? Then in Doma when we lose to him, there are no consequences. In fact it plays into our favor because it ends in Grynwaht arriving at just the right time to help rally the Xaela against the Empire.

I'm not saying Zenos has to kill a major character every 5 minutes but if they're goign to play into the threat he poses he needs to actually do important and devastating things, again with Kefka as an example.

[GenBroadaxe]

I'm actually curious where they're going to take Zenos going forward. Having the Empire thrown into possible another war of succession where the immediate person in line isn't liked and has stated he has no interest in ruling. Heck, it doesn't even sound like he's interested all the much in using the Empire's resources for his own personal cause either. I'll be the first to admit that I didn't care for Emet-Selch when he first showed up in the patches since he seemed like a stereotypical "Oh I'm smarter then everyone, ho ho" anime villain, but given an expansion to really showcase his character he easily became someone who I looked forward to showing up.

Zenos could make a extremely compelling antagonist when his motives can be a clear narrative focus as opposed to Stormblood where he was kind of this wolf in the bushes sort of thing. He could be the linchpin of the Alliance and Empire cooperating if he actually does go for some Primal eating binge down the line so given how they surprised me with writing for Emet-Selch I'm actually quire curious how they'll move forward with Zenos.

[Gaethan_Tessula]

Let him jump in over his head and be drowned.

Let him try to feast on Zodiark and be feasted upon instead.

This. Zenos biting off more than he can chew and being made into the Word of the Father is about the only interesting direction they could take the childish bloodknight without it feeling like an unwelcome rehash of Stormblood. I do not want a Kefka expy without any of the novelty or humor.

It lets Zodiark speak and act for Himself without being fully freed. Zenos may not have any interest in actually ruling the Garlean Empire except as toy soldiers, but Zodiark almost certainly would.

[Alleo]

I fear you are in a way right OP and that Zenos might be important. I found him to be okay enough for one expansion but I really dont want him to be our constant enemy or even the one that might either kill Zodiark or Hydealyn..I really hope that SE surprises us and he wont be another Kefka like character and will die at the end of this expansion. He was effective for his purpose in Stormblood but I feel like he should have stayed death.

[Cilia]

Zenos was interesting as a symbol of everything wrong with the Empire... but he said what needed to be said back in Stormblood, and has since overstayed his welcome on the stage.

He is still important as a wild card, but the fact he hasn't learned anything or grown as a character since his introduction leaves him wanting.

[JeanneOrnitier]

I am terrified of the idea of Zenos taking over Zodiark the way he did Shinryu. Other people have already said why he's such a horribly uninteresting character, so the idea of him usurping the big bad I'm actually interested in fighting and becoming the final boss instead sounds absolutely awful.

You can have completely unsympathetic villains who are still interesting and enjoyably written. Kefka was that, Seymour was that. Zenos is not that, and he has long since overstayed his welcome.

[Edax]

They can mitigate at least part of my issue with Zenos if they actually have him do things of consequence, make him a force to be reckoned with driving the plot and not just waiting for us to get strong. It still irks me that he stomps us i RR and the game 'tries' to play this off as a devestating defeat but how bad can it REALLY be if the resistance is able to hold onto that base of operations after the attack? Then in Doma when we lose to him, there are no consequences. In fact it plays into our favor because it ends in Grynwaht arriving at just the right time to help rally the Xaela against the Empire.

I'm not saying Zenos has to kill a major character every 5 minutes but if they're goign to play into the threat he poses he needs to actually do important and devastating things, again with Kefka as an example.

The problem with Zenos is that we never see him earn his power. It is effectively a form of Diabolus ex Machina, the counterpart to the Warrior of Light's Deus ex Machina (blessing of light) which are tropes of bad writing. If Zenos has all this power because the writer says so, and the Warrior of Light has all this power because the writer says so, then we're effectively entered a story equivalent to a 5 year old banging hero/villain figures together.

3. He is truly our perfect antithesis.
We are both two sides of the same coin. If the WoL ever gave into their bloodlust, the thrill of battle and used a might makes right philosophy, we would end up as Zenos, while the opposite can also be true as well.

No, he is not our antithesis. If the WoL gave into bloodlust and might-makes-right, at the very least the WoL worked for it from the ground up and earned that might through countless trials and tribulations.
To quote the wiki "Since Zenos never found challenge in battle" - https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Zenos_yae_Galvus
Because of this, the WoL could never become Zenos. WoL progressed in power and understand while Zenos has not.
Zenos also has no arc. He became the strongest villain without sacrifice or confronting any personal demons, his character has remained static the entire time.

If I were the writers of FFXIV, I would move the story away from the Echo and Blessing of Light as fast as possible. Zenos has nothing to do with the Light vs Darkness conflict so they shouldn't be using those tropes with him. At the moment Zenos is almost a placeholder antagonist, someone so one dimensional he does not exist for any other reason then to confront the protagonist. If the story is going to be well written, they need to give Zenos some development. As it stands, Omega ends up having more of a character arc then Zenos and Omega only function in SB was to literally "test" the WoL. We've already done the the antagonist tests the WoL in a contest of power story-line already.

Omega went through a journey of self-transformation in an attempt to better them self. Zenos Fantasiaed into a new body because he was bored? Then Fantasiaed back because he was bored? If Zenos was meant to be a biting critique of WoL who fanta and buy level skips then it falls flat because I've never used either of those things.

[Iscah]

To quote the wiki "Since Zenos never found challenge in battle" - https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Zenos_yae_Galvus

Don't quote the Wiki. Quote from canon descriptions.

[EdwinLi]

As of now he seems to go full Kefka route and he may end up devouring both Zodiark and Hydaelyn to become the Finale Finale Boss which may result in both Zodiark and Hydaelyn's death thus creating a world with them to set up Season 2 storyline and the new adventurer we will take now that the whole war between Zodiark vs Hydaelyn is over.

PS this war between Zodiark vs Hydaelyn really need to end soon because you can only take "Oh you won but there is more Zodiark Plot Muhahahahaha" you can repeat every single ending in each expansion.

[Kallera]

OP, about your point of Zenos wanting to do his best. The issue(or at least, mine) is that while Zenos is trying his best with a legitamate chance of failure, and is at his happiest doing so, we do not have the same luxury, as the player, we assume the warrior of light succeeds. The way the story is going is that he is going to take in at least one of either hydaelyn or zodiark, and us the other, so that he can have his fight again.

But no matter how many powers you throw into the mix, how many gods zenos feasts on, the same literary issue remains: Zenos’ victory is unbelieveable, therefore, his efforts to achieve this grandiose fight are dismissed and he is seen as yet just another fool looking to die at our hands. This is not an insurmountable problem in writing. If in the outcome of his climactic fight, he truly gains a measure of victory, and not in some “reversible Nanamo cop out” sort of way, I think it will completely catapult views of his character.

I think he would be an interesting character if he manages to be the parting shot that permanently brings us back to normal, thus “destroying the warrior of light” by making them no longer invincibly blessed, no longer superhuman in strength. Just an adventurer with their own new tale to tell.

Because if the story continues after the hydaelyn zodiark conflict, it would be really difficult to come up with a convincing conflict if we are still this divinely empowered entity that has slain the will of the planet, with no equal left to match them and the masses clamoring over us as a savior and lynchpin of existence like a primal made flesh.