I'm not keen on this modern idea that "villains can't be evil for the sake of being evil. They have to have REASONS and a sympathetic backstory!".

Sometimes people are simply evil, nothing more. That's why I liked Zenos. In a story oversaturated with tragic sob stories and characters mulling over their master plans, here you have a serial killer who just wants his big fight and throws a wrench into things.

Fighting along Zenos would have been cool but I wouldn't have wanted to have seen him redeemed. I also don't want him to come back from the dead. To me, one of FFXIV's big selling points over its competitors is that the villains actually die and stay dead.

My only disappointment with Zenos is that he spent an entire patch cycle and an expansion just sitting around doing nothing, rather than going out being a terrifying force.