Who is your least favorite major character and why?

[RitsukoSonoda]

Maybe it's just a matter of personal taste in the end, and I was never a huge fan of Varis myself, but with what little we saw of him he showed a lot more personality and actually had a presence.

I have 0 issues with Zenos not having a sympathetic backstory or deeper motives beyond fighting and killing, I'm totally on board with that, but right now I sadly don't find him particularly fun or engaging to watch. If the colour beige was a person their name would be Zenos.

Hopefully they'll give us something to work with come Endwalker so I can at least love to hate him like that little worm Asahi.

Maybe it has to do with him not seeming obsessive enough about this fight that he wants? Like he's not putting an effort out to make it happen like we'd expect. I mean the angle of villain just wants to defeat/kill the hero has been done in many other games/stories but in most of those the villain is more animated about it and often goes as far as to change themselves or make sacrifices for the power they want or need to achieve said goal.

[Yencat]

Maybe it has to do with him not seeming obsessive enough about this fight that he wants? Like he's not putting an effort out to make it happen like we'd expect. I mean the angle of villain just wants to defeat/kill the hero has been done in many other games/stories but in most of those the villain is more animated about it and often goes as far as to change themselves or make sacrifices for the power they want or need to achieve said goal.

Definitely, which is what I'm hoping to see in Endwalker. Seeing any sort of drive, fire or passion from him would be very welcome.

[Allegor]

Maybe it has to do with him not seeming obsessive enough about this fight that he wants? Like he's not putting an effort out to make it happen like we'd expect. I mean the angle of villain just wants to defeat/kill the hero has been done in many other games/stories but in most of those the villain is more animated about it and often goes as far as to change themselves or make sacrifices for the power they want or need to achieve said goal.

I think this is it, actually. He has only 2 character traits - being bored of life itself, and wanting to fight the WoL. One could argue he's simply waiting for us to get stronger so the inevitable encounter becomes more fun, like he did during the SB leveling MSQ, but that still doesn't justify him just....sitting there doing literally nothing every time he's onscreen. Even when Fandaniel started getting an active role, Zenos was just there taking a nap on his throne.

[Vyrerus]

He has only 2 character traits.

A common line of thought, but a misconception.

Zenos Character Traits
- Honorable (WMDs/Bio weapons are cowardly to him)
- Superiority Complex (Judges other fighters, is rarely wrong)
- Master Moralist (Has his own moral code)
- Prone to anger (Kills/hurts subordinates for failure)
- Doesn't like hypocrites/cowards (Killed subordinate Officer who didn't personally lead his troops, after said Officer agreed with him that the XIIth is no place for the weak)
- Adaptable (Though he killed himself, he thought death was the end. When he found it wasn't, he changed course)

It took a long while for Zenos to reclaim his body, and even after reclaiming it, he isn't aware of the WoL's return to the Source. Within this time period, he meets Fandaniel.

One might wonder why he did not at least make a move on our home, since he's not bound by anything or anyone anymore, before we even got back, as to wait closer to us. We don't and might not get an answer, but I think it has to do with the fact that he knows we also possess the Echo. Since he came back to life using the abilities he gained from the Resonance, the artificial Echo, he likely knows that we can use it to do the same. Then there's the new information he gained from Elidibus. It's messy but he knows about Zodiark and Hydaelyn. What could he actually do with that info, though, on his own? It's not like Garlemald has a library devoted to such things, and I doubt even his Garlean education equipped him to go globetrotting looking for the primals themselves.

But he also knows that the Ascians are a collective, and that they built Garlemald for their own ends. They know where Zodiark and Hydaelyn are, so he waits. Waiting is boring, but it's all he could do. Enter Fandaniel. He has the knowledge Zenos needs, and Zenos has the power that Fandaniel likely needs. Zenos doesn't like working with him, as shown by the weapon choosing scene. Likewise, Fandaniel wants Zenos to die too, as Zenos is part of everyone and everything. But he needs Zenos, even just as a contingency plan for his own demise. It's a dynamic, and I'm hoping to see more of it, better done in Endwalkers, when they go from being the Meanwhile scenes to being the stars of the stage.

[Enkidoh]

A common line of thought, but a misconception.

Zenos Character Traits
- Honorable (WMDs/Bio weapons are cowardly to him)

Not true. Black Rose's development was actually restarted in Ala Mhigo under his watch (after Gaius had previously ordered a stop to it), the only reason he killed Varis before it could be used was he learned it was responsible for the death of his 'prey' in the future prime 8th Calamity timeline which is something he could not abide by.

It wasn't for 'honour' or charity, it was simply to prevent him being denied the WoL for his last glorious battle (although I do concede his comment to Varis when Zenos assassinated him about preventing him using his "cowardly weapons" of mass destruction).

But remember, he ends up basically destroying the Empire wholesale and turned it into literally hell on Hydaelyn, so a preference for not using a aetherochemical agent of mass death like Black Rose for being "cowardly" rings a little shallow.

[Vyrerus]

Not true. Black Rose's development was actually restarted in Ala Mhigo under his watch (after Gaius had previously ordered a stop to it), the only reason he killed Varis before it could be used was he learned it was responsible for the death of his 'prey' in the future prime 8th Calamity timeline which is something he could not abide by.

It wasn't for 'honour' or charity, it was simply to prevent him being denied the WoL for his last glorious battle (although I do concede his comment to Varis when Zenos assassinated him about preventing him using his "cowardly weapons" of mass destruction).

But remember, he ends up basically destroying the Empire wholesale and turned it into literally hell on Hydaelyn, so a preference for not using a aetherochemical agent of mass death like Black Rose for being "cowardly" rings a little shallow.

Restarted by Zenos himself under Zenos's auspices? Source? Where's the production facility in Ala Mhigo?

As I remember it, the production of it was stopped by Gaius, but the researchers/staff responsible for its creation didn't actually dispose of all of it. Or at least not properly. It was Varis and Elidibus who rekindled production, after Zenos had killed himself. I remember we find some in East End in The Fringes, but I mean, I don't remember one single facility actually in Ala Mhigo or its surrounding areas.

While it's true the main reason he kills Varis and disposes of Black Rose is due to that new information, the fact that he does consider it cowardly and didn't restart Black Rose production in Ala Mhigo at all means that he does possess a modicum of honor.

[kaynide]

A common line of thought, but a misconception.

Zenos Character Traits
- Honorable (WMDs/Bio weapons are cowardly to him).

I wouldn’t trait this as honorable so much as he just wants to do it himself.

Less of a honorable hunter thinking what’s fair, more of a hungry predator who wants the thrill of killing.

As in, he would prefer to hunt the elephant himself than buy some ivory mantelpiece.

[Vyrerus]

I wouldn’t trait this as honorable so much as he just wants to do it himself.

Less of a honorable hunter thinking what’s fair, more of a hungry predator who wants the thrill of killing.

As in, he would prefer to hunt the elephant himself than buy some ivory mantelpiece.

It's not honor as most of us think of it. Honor took on a different meaning for warriors of old. We dress it up a lot more these days, so that soldiers may rationalize going to war in the modern world, where most people are strangers to any type of combat.

Old warrior honor codes placed the highest importance on facing and overwhelming your opponents with your ability. Warriors of old would be almost unrecognizable to warriors of today, and Zenos, I think, is an attempt at writing one.

The reason he's so bored with most people and things, and then so fixated on the WoL is that for him to overwhelm anyone with his ability is nearly effortless. In fact, him exercising his ability outright kills nearby people. Soldiers ready for war, even. So weapons that remove the need to exercise his ability remove the contest, and remove the value inherent in his ability to enact great violence.

Insulting his own philosophy. While he is entirely selfish, he seeks to preserve the contest between two warriors. There is honor in that.

[kaynide]

It's not honor as most of us think of it. ...There is honor in that.

That's a valid and fair point- a fair interpretation.

Perhaps more in line with the Samurai "Bushido" kinda concept that's very popular in J-culture.