a little clarification on tempering

[Morningstar1337]

i want to know if an official term for what we usualy refer to as "tempering" has been revealed yet

[Enkidoh]

As far as I am aware, there is no one official term used to describe the brainwashing procedure that Primals use to create mindless followers. It's been referred to as tempering by default as that was the term used to describe Ifrit's brainwashing of the amal'jaa (and spoken prisoners they bring to Ifrit) that has been used since 1.0... and even the development team themselves used this term for other Primals and beast tribes as well (specifically, the 'purple' sylphs who were corrupted by Ramuh).

However, this seems to have occurred simply because Ifrit was the very first Primal shown so it makes sense that the term used for Ifrit's brainwashing would be used as a placeholder term for all Primals' brainwashing, lately it seems that each Primal and beast tribe indeed uses it's own term to describe the brainwashing process, which, as tempering would suggest with Ifrit, carries a certain elemental affinity with that Primal (for instance, those corrupted by Leviathan are 'drowned').

Either way, no one term seems to exist for this - the FF Wiki uses the term 'enthrall' which is an accurate way of looking at it. In any event, if there is a specific term used for it, it hasn't been mentioned yet in game, so really calling it 'tempering' or 'enthralling' is a good a term as any at this time.

[Dualblade]

I remember a dev answering this question, that the Japanese version its always called "Tempering", while in atleast the NA version each primal has a different name for it. Ifrit is still Tempering, while Leviathan is the Drowned for example. Its implied that Thordan's version is "Blessed".

That said I think even in-game for the NA version "Tempering" is used universally, or atleast it is for players.

[Anonymoose]

I think Enkidoh has captured all of the bullet-points that I would have. To re-state them a bit:

In 1.0, there were lots of references to beast tribes "brainwashing" people to support their cause. This was later proven to be true when the Amalj'aa brought the adventurer and their path companion before Ifrit, who attempted to "temper" them in his flames, only for the attempt to fail and Ifrit release the "Godless Blessed", as the Paragon requested (for some reason). Since then, all references to primal enthrallment have been referred to as tempering.

Indeed, in the Japanese version, tempado is still only major term in use. Enthrallment really is the best term we know, and the game uses it quite often to refer to the tempered. However, be aware that it's an umbrella term used for all sorts of things - tempering, the power dragons have over scalekin, the binding of voidsent (and thus ashkin, considering that - while the game has never stated it outright - I have every belief that ashkin are mortal remains possessed by low-ranking voidsent), etc.

In actuality, while tempering and the effect that the dragons have over scalekin are, I'm sure, different mechanically, the effect is quite similar. A strong, aetherial force completely overwhelms a weaker entity and binds it to the will of the source. In the case of primals, however, this "blessing" can have other effects that warp the receiver with power derivative from their attributes. It changes entities, objects, even the voidsent Nightmare, and this change can rage from increased power (Amalj'aa; Ramuh) to, apparently, warping them into an aurelia-faced monstrosity (Leviathan).

[PArcher]

To go into the specific names, from what I remember:

Ifrit - Tempered (also blanket name for the condition)
Ramuh - Touched (So far, only Sylphs have been tempered by him)
Leviathan - Drowned (I think only the Spoken races have been tempered; the Sahagan quests imply they are not tempered at all)

Garuda - Unknown (even though the Ixal are tempered, and she tries to temper the WoL, I can't remember it ever being named)
Shiva - Unknown (don't know if she even Tempered anyone)
Good King Moggle Mog XII - Unknown
Thordan - Unknown (possibly Blessed, like Dualblade said)
Bahamut - Unknown (think they just use "tempered" or "enthralled" in Coil)
Alexander - Unknown (even though it hasn't been outright stated, its highly likely the Iluminati are tempered)


As for Titan, Ravana and Bismark...their followers don't seem to be tempered, and we don't have any instances of them tempering anyone (in 2.0 for Titan; yes, it was mentioned somewhere that the Company of Heroes had to fight their companions after being tempered, but I don't think anything specific was mentioned about it)

Phoenix and Enkidu weren't really able to Temper anyone (headcannon: Gilgamesh has the Echo when in Eorzea), so...

And Odin is Odin.

EDIT: Forgot the Triad. All Unknown lol

[Lordlundar]

snip

I think we can remove Shiva, Moogle Mog and Thordan definitively from that list, Enkindu possibly as well as they're not primals. Shiva is an echo of Ysale's imagery of her given form and Thordan is a natural ability augmented with a massive power boost. Moogle Mog and Enkindu are spirits called forth akin to a primal but are not primals themselves. As far as I know being summoned does not automatically give a being the capability to enthrall.

[Alberel]

I think we can remove Shiva, Moogle Mog and Thordan definitively from that list, Enkindu possibly as well as they're not primals. Shiva is an echo of Ysale's imagery of her given form and Thordan is a natural ability augmented with a massive power boost. Moogle Mog and Enkindu are spirits called forth akin to a primal but are not primals themselves. As far as I know being summoned does not automatically give a being the capability to enthrall.

Sorry but this is largely incorrect. Shiva is as much a primal as any of the other six elemental primals. Unukalhai even directly refers to her as one. Thordan is a primal summoned from the legends of King Thordan using the same technique as Ysayle used for Shiva; it is not a natural ability in any way. It's also heavily implied his knights are all tempered in some form.

It's very explicitly stated that the moogles that summoned Moggle Mog were tempered. Kuplo Kopp explains how they all became bloodthirsty immediately following the summoning and the Scions come to the conclusion that they are tempered. By your reasoning Bahamut also would not be a primal since he is a shade of his former mortal self, and yet he very obviously tempered Louisoix and Nael.

Everything we've seen summoned is definitely a primal, and as far we know they all have the ability to temper, some just choose not to. It's the definition of 'primal' that is largely in question, not which summoned creatures are primals or not.

[PArcher]

I think we can remove Shiva, Moogle Mog and Thordan definitively from that list, Enkindu possibly as well as they're not primals.

Sorry but this is largely incorrect.

It is, also, this: http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/pr/blog/001318.html

Question: As of Patch 3.15, how many primals can you fight in total?
A: 13
B: 14
C: 15
D: 27


And the answer is...
C: 15! Did you answer it correctly?

Let's count them up:
1. Ifrit
2. Titan
3. Garuda
4. Good King Moggle Mog XII
5. Leviathan
6. Ramuh
7. Shiva
8. Phoenix
9. Bahamut
10. Odin
11. Ravana
12. Bismarck
13. Enkidu
14. Thordan
15. Alexander

Though there are 13 enemies to face off against in The Singularity Reactor, only Thordan is a primal while his 12 knights are simply "blessed" by him.

We can also add the Warring Triad to the list now, for 18 currently.

[Khalithar]

And Odin is Odin.

Actually there is a name to it. I forget what it is though, but the mortal ensnared by Zantetsuken is given a name in the quest text, I can't check since I'm not home, but if I remember the cutscene correctly Odin's tempered human is called "Severed" or something like that. Bah! I wish I could remember it.

[Morningstar1337]

Actually there is a name to it. I forget what it is though, but the mortal ensnared by Zantetsuken is given a name in the quest text, I can't check since I'm not home, but if I remember the cutscene correctly Odin's tempered human is called "Severed" or something like that. Bah! I wish I could remember it.

I thought it was "Sundered"