Y'shtola is a Mary Sue.

[Zabuza]

Seriously, stop using words you don't understand. At least make an attempt to learn the definitions first. There's a difference between over the top stache twirling "buhahaha fightfightBLOOD" and a character like Y'shtola, who you see react differently in various situations.

If you want to break down any character to their most dominant trait, be my guest. But please don't then do it using established vocabulary in a wrong way.

"One note" does not mean what you think it does.

You could stop being condescending first, but I guess that is too much to ask huh? One-note 'Unvarying, as in quality or character; monotonous: "a one-note, rude, sulky heroine" Y'shtola has basically remained the same throughout the game. Always handles crisis with the same calm grace. Always has the same sarcastic wit. Never shows emotional vulnerability. This literally has not changed, ever.

[Vyrerus]

Some history and definitions of Mary Sue

All in all, I'd say that Y'shtola fits a lot of the criteria for being a Canon Jerk Sue. Her failings are written into FFXIV to make us like her more/worry about her, rather than to actually have her fail/suffer. She doesn't react to them because, "They were the best option at the time."

She's also heavily reliant upon the, "Born Lucky" and "Consequence Houdini" tropes.

Basically, rather than being an almighty Mary Sue like Rey Palpatine, she's merely got unassailable intellect. Her vulnerability in combat stems solely from the necessity of making the player character the strongest thing in the plot. If not for us, she likely would be.

And be that as it may, I see many citing her failures starting with Flow... but no one citing her gains from said venture.

Mark Heavensward circa Level 58~59. The instanced battle against the Illuminati. Y'shtola charges and fires her way cooler Forbidden Holy type spell and deletes a legion of Illuminati Goblins and their super tank. Despite not feeling well enough to even stand just a few days prior. When questioned how she could do such a thing in quests following this display, "When I was in the Lifestream I wasn't merely floating along. Every second was a life or death struggle that threatened to claim my very being. Through such a trial I gained knowledge and power unknown to many."

I'm paraphrasing, going off memory, but that is fact. Her first "failure" gave her a major power boost, along with the ability to see aether unaided.

Losing to Zenos was for worry points, no lasting consequence other than freeing up screen time for Lyse. Sorta meta since she lost protecting Lyse, too.

Second dip in Lifestream... Could of been on purpose to try and see how the First's Lifestream was different/get forbidden secret magicks only known to the First...

Endwalker? She just gave the idea of it being a death the middle finger and sauntered into that black whirlwind all but stopping to take a massive dump on the narrative's sense of danger.

Catgirl Awooga, indeed.

I ran a poll once asking if people thought they would ever kill her if the plot dictated it. After like 150 answers on the poll or whatever, 2/3rds of people concluded they would if the story demanded it. I'm glad people saw it that way, from those who answered the poll, but I now wholeheartedly believe the story will never demand it.

[Puksi]

Endwalker? She just gave the idea of it being a death the middle finger and sauntered into that black whirlwind all but stopping to take a massive dump on the narrative's sense of danger.

It's the Dynamis. /s

[Shironeko_Narunyan]

You could stop being condescending first, but I guess that is too much to ask huh? One-note 'Unvarying, as in quality or character; monotonous: "a one-note, rude, sulky heroine" Y'shtola has basically remained the same throughout the game. Always handles crisis with the same calm grace. Always has the same sarcastic wit. Never shows emotional vulnerability. This literally has not changed, ever.

One-note as character trope is a different thing. Zenos is one such character, and that's fine in his case, but that's not what Y'shtola is.

As for your "stop being condescending"... I hate it when people try to use "adult words", then sound uneducated.
I don't thing YOU are an idiot, but your usage of words makes your whole argument fall apart.

You could have complained about her being flat or boring or lacking development, and we could have a talk about it and why the writers chose to go with "iconic" etc, but alas.

[Zabuza]

One-note as character trope is a different thing. Zenos is one such character, and that's fine in his case, but that's not what Y'shtola is.

As for your "stop being condescending"... I hate it when people try to use "adult words", then sound uneducated.
I don't thing YOU are an idiot, but your usage of words makes your whole argument fall apart.

You could have complained about her being flat or boring or lacking development, and we could have a talk about it and why the writers chose to go with "iconic" etc, but alas.

Even after I looked it up, twice, it's still the same thing I thought it was before even looking it up. 'Characters end up devolving into their primary characteristics rather than being fully layered.' I guess where we disagree is the fact I think that Y'shtola is mainly always portrayed to be so intelligent, witty, and calm. I've never seen her react in varied ways to anything, it's always the same. It is always the same characteristic that defines her behavior. Whether she is interacting with Runar, Matoya, or a complete stranger, she acts the same. Whether it's a boring afternoon or the universe is falling around her, she acts the same. Always cool, calm, and collected. I've never seen differently. I've never seen these other layers of her supposed multi-faceted character. Her primary interest is in seeking knowledge to increase her intelligence even more. Apparently you do think she has other layers to her, and that's fine I guess. I won't tell you to stop using certain words as if I know better than you.

Zenos: BLOOD, BLOOD, BLOOD
Y'shtola: KNOWLEDGE, KNOWLEDGE, KNOWLEDGE

[Shironeko_Narunyan]

Even after I looked it up, twice, it's still the same thing I thought it was before even looking it up. 'Characters end up devolving into their primary characteristics rather than being fully layered.' I guess where we disagree is the fact I think that Y'shtola is mainly always portrayed to be so intelligent, witty, and calm. I've never seen her react in varied ways to anything, it's always the same. It is always the same characteristic that defines her behavior. Whether she is interacting with Runar, Matoya, or a complete stranger, she acts the same. Whether it's a boring afternoon or the universe is falling around her, she acts the same. Always cool, calm, and collected. I've never seen differently. I've never seen these other layers of her supposed multi-faceted character. Her primary interest is in seeking knowledge to increase her intelligence even more. Apparently you do think she has other layers to her, and that's fine I guess. I won't tell you to stop using certain words as if I know better than you.

Zenos: BLOOD, BLOOD, BLOOD
Y'shtola: KNOWLEDGE, KNOWLEDGE, KNOWLEDGE

You've sufficiently proven to be reason-resistant.

I'm done here. Have a nice day.

[Zabuza]

You've sufficiently proven to be reason-resistant.

I'm done here. Have a nice day.

Translation: You don't agree with me so I'm done.

Fine by me.

[Ranaku]

Wonder if some of the people here go also frequently into an art gallery and tell the artists that they would like their artworks but in a different color and please use a different frame and a finer brush would do the trick!

Fact is art lies in the eye of the beholder. You might dislike art (and yes writing also counts as a form of art) and you might like art but telling the artist to do something different is extremely rude and uncalled for and many people here should try to finally and really get that into their brains.

Just cause you don't like it doesn't mean there aren't people who like it and it has to be changed. The artist (in this case writer/s) have a vision in their head and it's not your place to say that this is wrong, you may say you don't like it that way. But stuff like "flawed writing" etc. is really uncalled for.

And no it's not that i am a XIV fanboy who would defend everything to the last bit just cause i venerate the game over everything, i also don't like some pieces of the story. I feel like for example the transition from Yda to Lyse was rushed and really weird. But that is something i don't like, others might like Lyse as she is now and that is alright. I don't flame the writers for it and neither am i telling them that they don't have the guts or something to just kill Yda or stuff like that. It's just rude, this story isn't yours and if you don't enjoy it that is not the fault of the writers, it's just your personal taste.

tl:dr: Just cause you don't like apples doesn't mean you have to tell the farmer to eradicate all appletrees and plant instead peaches. If you don't like apples, go somewhere they sell peaches. That easy.

[Batbrat]

Have we ever seen her show anything besides stoicism or sarcastic wit?

yah. we've seen her be happy, we've seen her be flustered, perplexed, worried-but I get what you're saying here. and I agree. Oh, I agree wholeheartedly.
What we're missing is moeYOSHIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA CAN YOU MAKE YSHTOLA GO NYAAAAAN??????? The story will continue to make absolutely no sense until she does. She's way too arrogant, way too sure of herself...not realistic. She needs to be moe. Confidence OUT, falling and dropping her books IN. Thanks.

[Vyrerus]

Artists are beyond critique

Unfortunately, it's not like comparing apples to peaches. As far as writing and art go, there are certain characteristics inherent in them that make them better.

In traditional art, say painting, things like color choice/blending/perspective etc. all have methods for improvement. Not all artists create what they intend to create. They try their best to paint what's in their mind's eye, and often times they fail. Have you never met a dissatisfied artist who was seeking to improve their methods?

When people make these critiques they are citing a flaw they perceive. Nothing more, nothing less.

There are people who play this game who are better writers than those writing for it. There are also many more people playing this game who have experienced stories with far better writing and characters.

We pay them money to continue writing it, and to continue letting us play it, so it is as much ours as it is theirs. It's basically a group commission. Without us, they will stop making it. Stop writing it. We are always free to voice our opinions of it, in an effort to have art closer to what got us in on it in the first place.

Surely you've noticed that if they hear enough people asking them to plant peaches, then they will plant peaches.