Revelations from the Announcement Showcase

[JeanneOrnitier]

I agree. She also looks grotesque/monstrous enough to be a Terminus.

As for how, I'd say the same way primals are summoned in the modern day. A single individual may not be able to do so anymore, but many people + a source of aether + prayer can. Only it'd be from fear for Terminus beasts instead of primals' prayer.

For example let's assume for the sake of argument that Anima is summoned in Thavnair. We know Thavnair is hit hard by the Final Days as there's a dungeon where everything is broken and on fire. If there's enough crystals or other big aether source nearby (and the Thavnair concept art has a massive purple crystal formation), the Thavnairians' fear at what's happening could cause Anima to manifest.

[YianKutku]

Completely wild speculation that will probably never happen: Anima will be closely associated with Darkness of some sort, either as a particularly strong manifestation of a voidsent, or perhaps even a cause of a Flood of Darkness like what Eden was to the First's Flood of Light.

This means Anima will be weak towards Light. Because as we saw in the Eden raids, Ice is the closest element to Umbral Light, and in FFX, Anima was weak towards Ice...

(Yes, I know Anima's weakness to Ice was mainly to heavily encourage the player to use the Shiva summon that Yuna just got.)

[Enkidoh]

I agree. She also looks grotesque/monstrous enough to be a Terminus.

As for how, I'd say the same way primals are summoned in the modern day. A single individual may not be able to do so anymore, but many people + a source of aether + prayer can.

There's been plenty of examples of individual mortals summoning Primals in the present day with no assistance from others - Ysayle summoned/turned into Shiva one last time to freeze the Graiton with no assistance from the Heretics who were nowhere in sight (granted she did have a Crystal of Light to help her with that though), Gilgamesh summoned Enkidu on his own due to his loneliness (although that situation was part of the Hildibrand quests so the accuracy of exactly what happened then is very much in the air), Yotsuyu summoned Tsukiyomi entirelly from her hatred and pain towards Doma and everyone who had ever made her suffer. And then there is the WoL themself summoning bastardized versions of the Primals they had defeated themself during Eden, with not entirelly accurate results!

Even ACN's Carbuncles and the SMN's Egis and Demi-Summons are individual summonings, although those are not Primals and are not even really in the same league as them, but they are still 'summoning' in the strictest sense of the word. Really the only requirement for a summoning is a strong enough will and enough aether to do so - multiple summoners definetely help, but they are not a specific requirement, it just needs a strong enough will and idea to do so.

[Iscah]

Gilgamesh summoned Enkidu on his own due to his loneliness (although that situation was part of the Hildibrand quests so the accuracy of exactly what happened then is very much in the air)

I suspect the chicken did an incarnate summoning.

[TheRod]

Got to read the lastest Yoshida interview for Famitsu (just now translated by AkhMorning) and I immediatelly reminded of this passage in my previous post:

(...)

I expect even more on the typical idealism again. This imagery of the Paladin - bar all the Cecil parallels - displays exactly the imagery of the noble good knight clad in shiny armor to save the day - our typical heroic fairytale.

And Yoshi-P basically confirms that the main reason for the Paladin choice wasn't especifically meant as Cecil reference, but the typical imagery of the "heroic hopeful knight" the Paladin presents:

Famitsu: The main job for this expansion looks to be Paladin here, does this mean you’ve picked the job because of its connections to FFIV, or is there any other reason behind the job selection?

Naoki Yoshida: When I thought of how to illustrate what hope means to myself and other people in a straightforward manner, I thought Paladin would be the most suitable one to represent that theme among all the jobs in FFXIV. When I think about who would be the first one to move forward while carrying the burden of everything even when cornered, this job would be the best to represent that… so it was a straightforward reason and also the major one behind this decision.

And as essentially extracted from the PLD symbology/iconicism, story keeps en route with the idealistic stuff:

Naoki Yoshida: This applies to Final Fantasy XIV overall here but I think the story that is weaved throughout the Hydaelyn-Zodiark saga does have the aspect of “hope against despair” here. For example, the same is also true for the image of that slight despair that was felt when the legacy of FFXIV was running, and from there comes the release of “A Realm Reborn”.

How the players will manage to find hope within the “despair over the apocalypse” situation will also be included as the theme for this expansion. The heroes who will face the hardships with the despair looming around them… this will be the nuance I wish the players would understand here.

Overall, he said story will be very epic/much bigger, but not necessarily it'll be unexpected:

Naoki Yoshida: (..) To me, instead of portraying something that subverts everyone’s expectations, I’d say the desire to surpass the scope of imagination is actually much stronger here.

[Veloran]

Got to read the lastest Yoshida interview for Famitsu (just now translated by AkhMorning) and I immediatelly reminded of this passage in my previous post:



And Yoshi-P basically confirms that the main reason for the Paladin choice wasn't especifically meant as Cecil reference, but the typical imagery of the "heroic hopeful knight" the Paladin presents:



And as essentially extracted from the PLD symbology/iconicism, story keeps en route with the idealistic stuff:



Overall, he said story will be very epic/much bigger, but not necessarily it'll be unexpected:

I think, however, that the Paladin as the poster job is a misdirection in the same way that Dark Knight as the poster job for Shadowbringers was. When the 5.0 trailer dropped there were people that thought WoL was completely turning to darkness in some way, which was not quite the case.
Now, all this talk of the typical heroic fairy-tail PLD has me considering that again. Especially since Yoshida says the main reason they picked Paladin was because it represented hope. You know who else was a knight in shining armor that represented hope?

[Kuroka]

Or anima is just the saurce of the power they use to power these towers... would explain the tempering...

[RyuDragnier]

I'm kind of expecting Anima to be a Terminus beast rather a conventional primal.

That is, something born from the fear and dread that's bound to be stirred up among the populace as the world unravels.

Though I'm particularly curious as to how those creatures are coming into being with no potent creation magicks to unintentionally spawn them.

This brings to mind a question...what makes a primal and a terminus so different? At their core, they are the exact same thing, beings created by the thoughts of their summoners. The only difference seems to be what they feed on (hopes and prayers vs despair and nightmares). To the people who didn't summon the primal, they could be considered a terminus due to how the things torments those who did not summon it.

[Iscah]

To the people who didn't summon the primal, they could be considered a terminus due to how the things torments those who did not summon it.

I don't think that logic follows. If the difference between a primal and a terminus is how they are created and/or sustained, why should they therefore be considered a terminus based on a fear that isn't sustaining them?

Do we even know the actual terminus beasts feed on fear rather than just being spawned by it?

[Ramesses]

Personally, I suspect lots will end up disappointed with the history, much to the same reasons of the long threads we had complaining about Shadowbringers, be them here, Reddit, Gamefaqs or elsewhere (quick google and will find posts about people complaining we used even more light, there was no "blessing of darkness", plus, due that, the "Warrior of Darkness" title was a clever metaphorical one only, our character wasn't put into a position truly at odds with light and having to abandon it, but rather just worked as "regulator" of sorts or even helped again by it via the Oracle of Light).

If not mistaken, some even threatened to sue Square for "false advertising", lol - and this is real, can look for it in this very same forums.

In the end, the writing is pretty idealistic. Our character will always be the goody two shoes, who will be smiling and saving cats in trees: we will always be the Superman, Steve Rogers, Aragorn (whose may not be the coolest, but need to be there for the final strike, for the "good", "heroic" message) and never the Batman, Big Boss or a Geralt (operating more on the gray area if convenient) - I really doubt, after all these years, and in the final chapter of this season, that it'll change.

Especially, since it ends in the expansion itself. There'll be less time for more questions or more complex/demanding developments.

I expect even more on the typical idealism again. This imagery of the Paladin - bar all the Cecil parallels - displays exactly the imagery of the noble good knight clad in shiny armor to save the day - our typical heroic fairytale.

This-- exactly this.