I tend to have a fondness for antagonists IF they are well-written. But Zenos is just too bland and one-dimensional. He's just constantly hooting about his hunt, how empty our existence is and how we need to fill it with violence and exciting battles to feel alive.
But I can absolutely get behind antagonists like Gaius, Emet-Selch or Regula whose actions and mindsets, if seen from a slightly different point of view, are understandable and perhaps even justified.
They don't have to be right when seen from a bigger perspective, but they can still be understandable when seeing from a perspective that is not the WoLs in case of FFXIV.

I can absolutely see why Gaius saw the need to conquer Eorzea. From his perspective, it was a chaotic realm, constantly in disarray with too many different cultures, races and mindsets to ever be able to work together, unable to deal with primals and internal conflicts. And he was right to a certain degree. It was only after having their very existence threatened that all city states worked so closely together that they could realize a large scale military operation to face that threat.
I can also get behind Regula's thoughts. Neither were mindless killers and destroyers. They weren't evil guys sitting in a dark room and cackling manically at the impending complete destruction of a realm. They were both explicitly against needless destruction.
While Emet-Selch's actions weren't right, they were also understandable when seen from an Ascian's point of view.
Those were antagonists I can easily get behind and I'm glad that at least one of those three still lives. Would have loved to see more of Regula...

The dislike for Zenos outside Japan doesn't stem from hating antagonists in general. Zenos is just a particulary bland antagonist that took up way too much screentime.