Ramuh: A History and Speculation

[HakuroDK]

Hey folks! So... a screencap of Ramuh turned up today, and one that was very interesting. Unlike most primals, who are often faced exclusively in combat or clearly tense situation, notice how, in the screencap of a cutscene featuring Ramuh that showed up today, no one looks like they're ready for a fight against Ramuh. They all look like they're talking to him.

I cannot think of a single moment in the entire Final Fantasy franchise where Ramuh is ever aggressive. At all. He is usually filling one of two slots:

-A defender. He always defends himself and the territory he inhabits when he plays defender. This is true in Final Fantasy V, where it takes the likes of Shiva and Ifrit to intervene and show Ramuh that Bartz and friends are not hostile invaders, as well as in Dimensions, where he challenges the party with full force, but then allies himself with them, seeing that they are, indeed, the Warriors of Light.

-A sage offering guidance. In almost every other appearance where Ramuh exists, he is always guiding the players, testing their wisdom and intellect rather than their strength in combat. In FFVI, he watches over Terra in Zozo while he guides her friends in ways to help her recover. In FFIX, he guides Garnet through a forest to piece together the story of Ipsen, to observe whether or not Garnet was worthy of an alliance with Ramuh, especially after her powers were used in the destruction of Cleyra against her will.

That being said, when I think of Ramuh in FFXIV, I don't see an aggressor like Ifrit or Garuda, or a combatant against invaders like Titan or Leviathan. I see Ramuh as being someone who only wishes to protect the Twelveswood and is willing to ally himself with anyone who shares his goals. In fact, when I see that Ramuh will be fought, I don't actually see that as "Ramuh must be defeated to preserve peace", because even if Ramuh fully manifested, I don't see Ramuh as someone who would immediately declare war on Gridania or the adventurers who have actually been trying to keep the Twelveswood safe.

I instead see Ramuh as fighting against the adventurers as a means of testing their skill and their resolve. If, however, there is an EX variant of Ramuh, I am willing to bet that the Ascians will attempt to forcibly control Ramuh, using their vast knowledge of the Primals to amplify his power and strip him of his free will.

tl;dr: Ramuh will not be an ordinary primal that you are ordered to dispatch, and will probably one of the most sensible opponents that the adventurers have ever faced, and will have perfectly good and justifiable reasons for fighting the party, be it due to testing the party or being controlled by the Ascians.

[gornotck]

One of the storyline quests, where you're ascertaining whether the Sylph are a threat to Gridania, basically states that even if the Sylphs summoned Ramuh, while the thunderstruck Sylphs would become like Ramuh, seeking guardianship and defense of their land, they wouldn't actually become aggressors because Ramuh isn't an aggressor, but a defender.

Or something.

[Phyllo]

Plus the fact that one of the friendly sylph tells you that when Ramuh was summoned, he refuse to get on offensive and told them not to because there is no direct threat for now (from my memory so I might be wrong but I'm sure that he refused for a reason like that)
I assume someone did something stupid if he is not fought for a test like you say.

[Toranja]

Ever since 2.0 we have been expecting a sort of FFIX moment with Ramuh. We expect him to shed light on the nature of the Primals and maybe on the Ascians.

However, he is a Primal. He sucks on the aether injuring the land (or slowing Twelvewoods' recovery) and he tempers the mind. This should not be tolerated.

Plus the fact that one of the friendly sylph tells you that when Ramuh was summoned, he refuse to get on offensive and told them not to because there is no direct threat for now (from my memory so I might be wrong but I'm sure that he refused for a reason like that)
I assume someone did something stupid if he is not fought for a test like you say.

You are confusing Ramuh with Kan-E-Senna or one of the Scions. They stated he was not an immediate threat, so there was no need to wage war on the Sylphs, while Gridania had to deal with the Ixali and Garlemald. The matter was merely postponed.

[Enkidoh]

Ever since 2.0 we have been expecting a sort of FFIX moment with Ramuh. We expect him to shed light on the nature of the Primals and maybe on the Ascians.

However, he is a Primal. He sucks on the aether injuring the land (or slowing Twelvewoods' recovery) and he tempers the mind. This should not be tolerated.


You are confusing Ramuh with Kan-E-Senna or one of the Scions. They stated he was not an immediate threat, so there was no need to wage war on the Sylphs, while Gridania had to deal with the Ixali and Garlemald. The matter was merely postponed.

Exactly, and regardless of his protective nature towards the forest, like all Primals, his influence is corrupting - sylphs are not malevolent creatures by nature, but the tempered sylphs are downright evil - they have little qualms about killing anyone that dares intrude into the forest, and they do so with evident relish. And that would be bad enough if they also were not hell-bent on trying to indoctrinate the sylphs who remain untempered, frequently abducting untempered sylphs for corrupting by Ramuh. Numerous FATEs in Little Solace deal with this.

Besides, lets not forget it's the whole reason for the schism in sylvan society - in 1.0 a Primal's evil influence on those who summon them so scared the sylphs when they saw what the summoning of Ifrit and Garuda had done to the amalj'aa and Ixal respectively, they swore that Primals only do more harm than good and refused to summon their own Primal. Naturally the Calamity changed that however, with the end result of sylvan society splitting between those still 'free of mind' and their now tempered (and evil) Ramuh-worshipping kin, driving Frixio and the untempered sylphs out of their ancestral home of Moonspore Grove to a refuge in Nine Ivies which became Little Solace. But I digress.

I doubt that the new storyline will deal with Ramuh being revealed to be anything other than what the other Primals have been - dangerous aetheric sponges corrupting anyone they touch to their will. Most likely he'll give some lofty speech about 'saving his sylvan kin' and that the player is foolish for raising his blade against him. I doubt it will then end well for him after facing down the adventurer the Garleans called with a mixture of fear and respect, 'the eikon slayer'. But I guess we'll see soon enough.

[Nestama]

I vaguely recall in an interview where it's stated that Ramuh doesn't "hate" the five playable races. I get the feeling that the fight against him will be more of a test of sorts. Proving to him that you (and your acquaintances) will be enough to defend the realm/end conflict between and within nations. Failing would only have him end all conflicts in his own way ("disciplining" all the "children" who are causing a "ruckus").

[WellFooled]

However, he is a Primal. He sucks on the aether injuring the land (or slowing Twelvewoods' recovery) and he tempers the mind. This should not be tolerated.

These are my thoughts as well. Ramuh may have a different personality than the other primals, but his personality doesn't mean squat when held up with his actions.

Taking away another intelligent creature's free will is evil. Ramuh does this. Therefore, Ramuh is evil. Which isn't to say he can't be wise, or well spoken, or a defender of what is his own (like previous incarnations of Ramuh have been), but I can most defiantly see us taking him out in a "Ramuh must be defeated to preserve peace" kind of way.

[Kuwagami]

there was an interview when Yoshida basically said that Ramuh would fight because "something" would represent a threat in his eyes.

[Morningstar1337]

Taking away another intelligent creature's free will is evil. Ramuh does this. Therefore, Ramuh is evil.

Freedom is the right of all sentient beings

[LaurelinKementari]

I would actually hope we get something beyond the "Summon -> 'Mine is an evil Primal! ROAR!' -> Primal Loot" from Ramuh. Even if he is a primal and has to be slain due to his nature as an aether-sucking entity, that doesn't mean he has to be a bland, roaring B-movie monster. Ramuh is always portrayed as wise and a sage, so I hope to see this represented. Elder Frixio, too, described Ramuh as "neither callous nor cruel". Basically, I hope for some personality from him. Perhaps he has some interesting light to shed on the Ascians, on Shiva or the Garlean threat. Just because he's a primal doesn't mean everything he has to say should be ignored or that his wisdom can't be helpful.