Awfully weak story... or is it? [WARNING:SPOILERS]

[Jinrya-Geki]

He had you Dead-to-rights several times in 1.0 and let you live.

He took several cities by force and forced peace as said by his right-hand mad.

Instead of just wiping everyone out with Ultima effortlessly, he gives everyone to chance to surrender.

he seems to be a better anti-hero than a true villain. He seemed to be doing wrongs to make the right.

[Aenarion]

He had you Dead-to-rights several times in 1.0 and let you live.

He took several cities by force and forced peace as said by his right-hand mad.

Instead of just wiping everyone out with Ultima effortlessly, he gives everyone to chance to surrender.

he seems to be a better anti-hero than a true villain. He seemed to be doing wrongs to make the right.

If you consider enslavement/pillage/rape of entire nations as "the right" then, I suppose.

[Jinrya-Geki]

If you consider enslavement/pillage/rape of entire nations as "the right" then, I suppose.

Who did Gauis rape? He enslaved and pillaged Ala Mihgo, but you know what? With how every single Ala' Mighan npc acts, I could honestly say I hope they never get it back. He brought stability and prosperity to another city as told by his 2nd-in-command.

[Aenarion]

Who did Gauis rape? He enslaved and pillaged Ala Mihgo, but you know what? With how every single Ala' Mighan npc acts, I could honestly say I hope they never get it back. He brought stability and prosperity to another city as told by his 2nd-in-command.

I had to lol at that one, using one bad guy's word to justify said bad guy's faction's actions. Maybe someone need to pay more attention to in-game texts, here's one straight from a main story NPC:

Glaumunt: An' then the imperials came an' took it all away. When Ala Mhigo fell, they put my family in a camp. Bein' a lad, I was made to do hard labor, while my mother an' sister were forced to do far worse... They hid their sufferin' from me as best they could, but I knew, an' the thought of it drove me mad. We had to escape. An' so I hatched a plan to get us out o' the city.

but hey, it was all really for the best, just like how Imperial Japan brought "stability and prosperity" to the rest of Asia, and comfort women were really volunteers right?

[Jinrya-Geki]

I had to lol at that one, using one bad guy's word to justify said bad guy's faction's actions. Maybe someone need to pay more attention to in-game texts, here's one straight from a main story NPC:



but hey, it was all really for the best, just like how Imperial Japan brought "stability and prosperity" to the rest of Asia, and comfort women were really volunteers right?

The same can be said for a good man with a few bad eggs in his military. One man can not control every action his troops take when they are around.

One soldier was viciously cutting down an already dead man in the Waking Sands when they took Minfilia. The White armored commander shot that imperial for disobeying her and she's obviously fiercely loyal to Gauis. She could be copying what Gauis would have done.

Unless I see a cutscene specifically showing showing something truly immoral I can't believe he was a truly bad guy.

There is far more evidence to show he was a man trying to do his way for the greater good. Like Durian from the Wtachmen, killing millions to save billions.

[Aenarion]

The same can be said for a good man with a few bad eggs in his military. One man can not control every action his troops take when they are around.

One soldier was viciously cutting down an already dead man in the Waking Sands when they took Minfilia. The White armored commander shot that imperial for disobeying her and she's obviously fiercely loyal to Gauis. She could be copying what Gauis would have done.

Unless I see a cutscene specifically showing showing something truly immoral I can't believe he was a truly bad guy.

There is far more evidence to show he was a man trying to do his way for the greater good. Like Durian from the Wtachmen, killing millions to save billions.

You're really grasping at straws here.

Did Hitler personally run the camps? Did Tojo gas and experiment on prisoners himself? Of course not, dictators seldom do the dirty works themselves, but did they authorize it? hell yes. Gaius RULED Ala Mhigo, to suggest that labor camps and systemic exploitation of the local population could be the work of "a few bad eggs" in a super-authoritarian state is laughably ignorant at best.

Seriously, the examples you're using, it's like claiming a mass serial killer is actually a nice guy because he helped an old lady cross the street in the morning. FFS, that scene in the Waking Sands is to show thte players how ruthless and how little Livia cared for people's lives, even one of their own.


FFXIV isn't some deep philosophical character study, Gaius is about as typical as it gets for your sunday morning ruthless tyrant B that tried to rule with an iron fist, which has only been done about 238749023847283907 different times already.

[Jinrya-Geki]

...

Why are you using actual history in a game for one thing.

And yes characters are very boring in this game. God forbid I use my imagination and interpretations of what I see as a way to make someone more interesting. Other than Gauis, Darnus, Cid, and Hildibrand, no one else is worth remembering.

If he were really that bad would the first thing out of his mouth after seeing Ultima true power in Praetorium really be "I didn't want this"? I'd picture a maniacal laugh.

[Allyrion]

The same can be said for a good man with a few bad eggs in his military. One man can not control every action his troops take when they are around.

One soldier was viciously cutting down an already dead man in the Waking Sands when they took Minfilia. The White armored commander shot that imperial for disobeying her and she's obviously fiercely loyal to Gauis. She could be copying what Gauis would have done.

Unless I see a cutscene specifically showing showing something truly immoral I can't believe he was a truly bad guy.

There is far more evidence to show he was a man trying to do his way for the greater good. Like Durian from the Watchmen, killing millions to save billions.

He can't keep his army under control but he expects to bring order to the whole of Eorzea and the three city states?
That doesn't sound any better.


Also under militaristic societies, the burden of disorder falls on the authorities because they have a simplistic chain of responsibility. You can't hold Ul'dah responsible for a wayward merchant as you can hold Gaius responsible for his army. That's just the case.

Good intentions don't stop you from being evil. He is still coming into people's houses and telling them he now owns it. I don't care how disorganized and messy that house was before he came in, that's bad.
I've never heard dialogue or any implications that the Eorzeans want Garlean rule. All I've read is sentiments of disgust.
He would still be bad just by forcing rule over people, but if he can't actually have complete control over his army then his promises are empty as well.

He may not be the two dimensional evil villain, but he has set himself up as a villain. Good villains have reasonable intentions. They are still evil in the end.
Gauis is a good villain.