Zenos Appreciation Thread [Massive Spoilers]

[Ferrasper]

Zenos was an incredibly bland anime villain. Evil for the sake of evil, more powerful because the plot demands it, zero character depth. Literally the weakest story element of the entire expansion.

I repeat. Not every villain needs a reason to be evil or a dick. I am so sick and tired of media trying to give villains some reason to be evil when that is not necessary. In fact, I find it boring most of the time media tries that. There is nothing wrong with a character being evil and a dick just because that is his personality. Not everything needs a backstory.

[ZhaneX]

I found him extremely enjoyable. Really sad we won't be seeing any more of him.

[Clawbriar]

I liked the part where he died

[syunikiss]

I found him extremely enjoyable. Really sad we won't be seeing any more of him.

I was expecting to see him in future patches.
His death feels so abrupt.

[Lewtskie]

Zenos was an incredibly bland anime villain. Evil for the sake of evil, more powerful because the plot demands it, zero character depth. Literally the weakest story element of the entire expansion.

This sort of complaint, which is prevalent in this thread, really bothers me if only for the simple fact that this game at its core is VERY anime. Yes, you have a very anime villain, in a very anime game, facing off against a very VERY anime rag tag team of heroes whom of which include the Mariest of Sues. So why is it that the villain in particular is the thing to shatter your suspense of disbelief?

[storm]

I repeat. Not every villain needs a reason to be evil or a dick. I am so sick and tired of media trying to give villains some reason to be evil when that is not necessary. In fact, I find it boring most of the time media tries that. There is nothing wrong with a character being evil and a dick just because that is his personality. Not everything needs a backstory.

I think you misunderstand what a reason to be evil or a dick means. I don't mean he needs a tortured past that explains his monstrous nature. I mean he needs reasons. He had none. The only stated motivation for any of his actions implied or otherwise was he was looking for a challenging fight.

This sort of complaint, which is prevalent in this thread, really bothers me if only for the simple fact that this game at its core is VERY anime. Yes, you have a very anime villain, in a very anime game, facing off against a very VERY anime rag tag team of heroes whom of which include the Mariest of Sues. So why is it that the villain in particular is the thing to shatter your suspense of disbelief?

And this is what makes his character so damn anime, and worse than the other characters good or evil in this game. Being super evil for the sake of trying to ferret out someone strong enough to oppose you is incredibly flimsy, and a motivation almost wholly found in shonen animes, which is why I added that pesky adjective, "bland". There are plenty of animes that tell interesting and compelling stories, even in shonens once you get out of the early chapters, but Zenos was Bland. So this game can have anime-like components littering it's narrative, and that's fine. The occupation of ala mhigo and doma however, were central storylines setup years in advance in FFXIV, so yes I expect the leader of those occupations to be more interesting than "NEEDS MOE POWA!"

[Remus]

It feels like SE are just out to kill Garlean generals.

Gaius: You start to see his side of things and start agreeing... kills him off
Regula: You start agreeing with that he says and his side of things... kill him off
Zenos: You start to see you are quite a like and agree with some things he says on what you have done... kill him off

Just feels like SE doesn't want us liking them so they decide to kill them off. Then they leave us with just bland boring characters and the story generally suffers because of it.

[SecretCrowds]

What do their teach they younger people at school these days

he tried praise someone that possible on the level Hilter

That's something that I cannot understand in this thread.

There is a difference between liking a villain character design because it makes a story interesting and liking a villain. Some of the posts here where people are straight up praising the villain instead of the character design is quite concerning.

I won't deny. Zenos makes for an interesting villain. He reminds me of the Joker in The Dark Knight. However, straight up glorifying such a character like what some people are doing in this thread is something I won't go as far as to do.

[Ilenya]

Zenos: You start to see you are quite a like and agree with some things he says on what you have done... kill him off

In character I would very much disagree about agreeing with him. When he started calling me a Warrior out for battle, in my head all I could think was "If y'all would just stop trying to destroy the bloody world for one second I could get some work done! Just for a moment!"

[TankHunter678]

I think you misunderstand what a reason to be evil or a dick means. I don't mean he needs a tortured past that explains his monstrous nature. I mean he needs reasons. He had none. The only stated motivation for any of his actions implied or otherwise was he was looking for a challenging fight.

And how is that not sufficient?

He did not care about Garlemald. All he wanted was personal satisfaction. For him that satisfaction had to come from a worthy enemy, someone that makes him actually try to win against. He was selfish in his desire for a challenge. A prince raised with a silver spoon with the finest of teachers, the best enhancements, anything he wanted he got. Everything was handed to him on a silver platter, except an opponent on his own level.

So he decided to get his hands dirty and make one. Just so he can be satisfied.

It's a simple, not very grandiose reason behind everything he does. Because he is not a complex character, and only pursues what he wants.