Unpopular opinion on G'raha Tia (spoilers)

[Petite]

Now he's just an anime trope...
...just like making Y'shtola's younger self a magical girl...
It all just feels so unnecessary.

It’s absolutely fine to weave moments of levity when done in the proper time and place. Although I didn’t laugh, Y’shtola’s scene was amusing and her breach of character from her young self's incantation made her a bit more relatable to me.

In G’raha’s case however, as you said, he overly acts like an UwU anime trope and it doesn’t feel organic, especially when contrasted with his past ARR and ShB selves.

Simple. 5-6 people vs close to a million or more. But you know that.
Done here.

So petulant!

This isn’t some official SE assembly to vote on ousting G’raha from the game. We’re simply discussing our different stances on the character.

We can play with our own ball, thank you very much.

[Payadopa]

My issue with Graha is just...oh hooray, another ff11 race. No au ra, viera or hrothgar Scion but god knows the game was dying for another 4'2" twink we see 12560 copies of at every single aetheryte.
If we were gonna get a wolsimp character he shouldve been a race they havent bled dry for 4 expansions like a highlander (arenvald got kneecaped and raubahn gets nothing to do), roegadyn (the only manroe is Biggs who hasnt had a spoken line since hw) au ra (yes we get plenty of auri...in azim steppe and if they arent treated like a joke ((magnai)) they get killed off ((ahewan))) and hrothgar (not a single hrothgar with a speaking role on the Source).
Like Im just tired as shit of the msq being nothing but middies elves and miqotes like why even have other races at this point ffs.

That is one conspiracy theory you got going there.

[Payadopa]

I wouldn't say that this is an unpopular opinion at all. I didn't begin to dislike the character until after 5.3 wrapped up and it was all downhill from there. Letting characters bow out and exit with grace was like they did back in Heavensward with Ysayle and Haurchefaunt was one of the better aspects of the kind of storytelling we enjoyed in that era.

Despite however vocal some of his current fans are, there are a significant amount of people who are dissatisfied with his current treatment. If it does not improve, then indeed we would've been better off leaving him behind atop the Crystal Tower.

Well, it absolutely is. Unless you are one the official echo chamber, I mean forums. lol

[LianaThorne]

Indeed. Despite having such a variety of races to draw from, the main cast is oversaturated with representation from the stereotypical anime races and elves. Enough is enough, even if I like Zero she is still just another midlander at the end of the day. Vrtra's Au Ra face model was...something. When I asked for a male Au Ra to join the party I didn't mean that. A male Hrothgar/Highlander/Roegadyn addition would also add some much needed muscle and masculinity to the party.

Actual question piggybacking off of the last line in this:

Is there some reason why masculine type characters (excluding Thancred and even he is kinda not necessarily what I mean) are hardly ever given a spotlight in the game? Like, do they think us as a playerbase will not be able to relate to a character built more masculine/bodybuilder type? I know we have Raubahn but like said already, he barely does anything. Also there seems to be a distinct lack of beards/facial hair amongst the main/secondary characters. Does Square just think we all want our men to look like teenagers forever or is facial hair really that hard to add to the game?

[Kazhar]

That is one conspiracy theory you got going there.

What conspiracy theory? That the MSQ is oversaturated with the same races is an objective fact. You may disagree that diversity is needed, but there's no denying it's not currently there.
Like many players, XiRon forgot that Gosetsu is a MRoe, but other than that he's spot on.

[Korbei]

I don't know.. the Scions are entirely made up of overly serious characters and hypercapitalist Tataru.. Some levity in the group is probably necessary. It's nice to have someone eager to jump in the fray with you. He just wants to me the Robin to your Batman. He definitely struggles with boundaries but we all deal with people like that in our lives. Alphinaud behaves very similarly with Estinien. I feel like Aymeric is exactly the same. He is a borderline creep. Magnai is another. The game is full of characters like this. It's not a G'raha Tia thing.

It is worth remembering that G'raha's Exarch body is *ancient* and worn. The circumstances are dire. He intends to die for his cause. This had been weighing on him for a hundred years. The circumstances would definitely wear on the affable nature of his character, which existed in his younger CT quest self. To a lesser degree, but it's still there. Then suddenly you come along and you save the First and him while you're at it. He owes you everything, including his life and no one can convince him otherwise. He loves you.

[jameseoakes]

Actual question piggybacking off of the last line in this:

Is there some reason why masculine type characters (excluding Thancred and even he is kinda not necessarily what I mean) are hardly ever given a spotlight in the game? Like, do they think us as a playerbase will not be able to relate to a character built more masculine/bodybuilder type? I know we have Raubahn but like said already, he barely does anything. Also there seems to be a distinct lack of beards/facial hair amongst the main/secondary characters. Does Square just think we all want our men to look like teenagers forever or is facial hair really that hard to add to the game?

The game seems to for some reason really dug into trying to appeal to very specific demographics with it's character designs, I'm guessing it's to cater to the most aggressively vocal parts?

I don't know.. the Scions are entirely made up of overly serious characters and hypercapitalist Tataru.. Some levity in the group is probably necessary. It's nice to have someone eager to jump in the fray with you. He just wants to me the Robin to your Batman. He definitely struggles with boundaries but we all deal with people like that in our lives. Alphinaud behaves very similarly with Estinien. I feel like Aymeric is exactly the same. He is a borderline creep. Magnai is another. The game is full of characters like this. It's not a G'raha Tia thing.

It is worth remembering that G'raha's Exarch body is *ancient* and worn. The circumstances are dire. He intends to die for his cause. This had been weighing on him for a hundred years. The circumstances would definitely wear on the affable nature of his character, which existed in his younger CT quest self. To a lesser degree, but it's still there. Then suddenly you come along and you save the First and him while you're at it. He owes you everything, including his life and no one can convince him otherwise. He loves you.

At this point I'd say nearly all the scions are jokes at this point I don't really feel I've seen many out side Thancred/Urianger or Estinien act with any real professionalism since we left the first. G'raha gets a little but then goes back to being creepy as soon after as possible

[Korbei]

At this point I'd say nearly all the scions are jokes at this point I don't really feel I've seen many out side Thancred/Urianger or Estinien act with any real professionalism since we left the first. G'raha gets a little but then goes back to being creepy as soon after as possible

These people aren't your coworkers.. they're your friends. Not a one of them is a professional anything.

[jameseoakes]

These people aren't your coworkers.. they're your friends. Not a one of them is a professional anything.

The Scions were a professional group, it's what made them interesting. I don't really think of most of them as friends to my player character I just don't feel affection for them and get on much better with the ones where the relationship is built on professional respect something absent from most of the cast now

[Korbei]

The Scions were a professional group, it's what made them interesting. I don't really think of most of them as friends to my player character I just don't feel affection for them and get on much better with the ones where the relationship is built on professional respect something absent from most of the cast now

No they weren't. They were essentially quasi-sanctioned vigilantes bankrolled by Alphinaud and Alisae's mom following the potentially deranged hallucinations of a young post-traumatic orphan girl.