Gender locked race?

[SoulEchelon]

I'm perfectly fine with Viera being only female if that were the case. Their lore (Beyond what's relayed in the recent raid) states male Viera are notoriously rare and hidden. This has been a thing since Viera were first introduced into the grander Final Fantasy lore. I mean, has there been any male Viera in any of the Final Fantasies that had Viera in them? Now, I say "If that were the case" because they neither confirmed or denied there weren't male Viera. We won't know for sure until Shadowbringers hits.

The Miqo'te males are also described as being extremely rare or few in numbers, but i also have the feeling they're going to repeat 1.0 and have it be female only.

The difference here is that while Miqo'te males are rarer than females, they're still abundant enough to be seen in many areas across Eorzea. They also live with female Miqo'te, and tend to have leadership roles in their community. Basically, their societies are similar in that to real world lions albeit a bit less violent. Male Viera however do not live with female Viera and are reclusive. While the female ones are known to be combative and adventurous, the male ones aren't at all. This lore has been set in stone years prior to FFXIV even being thought of.

Can Squeenix change the established lore? Sure, but that's like demanding an author change their story. As a writer myself, I can tell you it's not something we'd do willingly. But who knows, maybe with enough pushback they might find some way of adding male Viera into the roster while keeping their lore intact.

[Vrankyl]

The difference here is that while Miqo'te males are rarer than females, they're still abundant enough to be seen in many areas across Eorzea. They also live with female Miqo'te, and tend to have leadership roles in their community. Basically, their societies are similar in that to real world lions albeit a bit less violent. Male Viera however do not live with female Viera and are reclusive. While the female ones are known to be combative and adventurous, the male ones aren't at all. This lore has been set in stone years prior to FFXIV even being thought of.

This is only true of Seekers. For Keepers of the Moon the males are aloof and wandering, only appearing at clans of female miqo'te when it is time to mate much like the Viera. In addition just like the Viera Keepers of the Moon are a Matriarchal race.

[Rokke]

The difference here is that while Miqo'te males are rarer than females, they're still abundant enough to be seen in many areas across Eorzea. They also live with female Miqo'te, and tend to have leadership roles in their community. Basically, their societies are similar in that to real world lions albeit a bit less violent. Male Viera however do not live with female Viera and are reclusive. While the female ones are known to be combative and adventurous, the male ones aren't at all. This lore has been set in stone years prior to FFXIV even being thought of.

Can Squeenix change the established lore? Sure, but that's like demanding an author change their story. As a writer myself, I can tell you it's not something we'd do willingly. But who knows, maybe with enough pushback they might find some way of adding male Viera into the roster while keeping their lore intact.

They really aren't abundant though. Racking my brain I can think of the 2 Nuhns & their sons (plus the red head orphan one), the reoccuring villain in the allied beast tribes, the villain in a postmoogle quest, the one we lock in crystal tower, the Tia that hangs out with Arnevald, RDM & ARC teahcers, and what appears to be a Ul'Dahn merchant in Kugane. Compare that to how many female Miqote we see out and about. Males are rare and shown as such. In addition they're not usually leaders- Both Nuhn express that it's not normal for them to be leaders on top of being breeding males, and the only male keeper holding a leader role is a criminal that more or less pressures his females to stay with him with the alternative of leaving him = going to jail.

[SoulEchelon]

They really aren't abundant though. Racking my brain I can think of the 2 Nuhns & their sons (plus the red head orphan one), the reoccuring villain in the allied beast tribes, the villain in a postmoogle quest, the one we lock in crystal tower, the Tia that hangs out with Arnevald, RDM & ARC teahcers, and what appears to be a Ul'Dahn merchant in Kugane. Compare that to how many female Miqote we see out and about. Males are rare and shown as such. In addition they're not usually leaders- Both Nuhn express that it's not normal for them to be leaders on top of being breeding males, and the only male keeper holding a leader role is a criminal that more or less pressures his females to stay with him with the alternative of leaving him = going to jail.

Which all just strengthens my point. They're around. They're adventurous. They're known to live with female miqo'te. You even help one through a chain of beast tribe quests. Male Viera however, lore-wise, would not do any of this. They are not adventurous. They are not known to live with female Viera. And they for damn sure wouldn't try to hold any sort of leader role, forcefully or otherwise.

[Iscah]

There was a sahagin priest that used the echo and ended up being devoured by leviathan. Go back and re-watch the leviathan arc cutscenes in the armoire.

It seems like he was directly gifted the Echo by Elidibus. I also think it's possible he was actually made into an Ascian (with the purple aura and that weird 'growling' noise that seems to accompany Ascians using their abilities).

(Also, nitpicky but you want the Unending Journey for cutscene reviewing. The Armoire is for storing gear.)

Ants? An Ant race? I'm not sure if Worker Ants can be female or not, but there's a clear difference between a Worker and a Queen ant. Similar to this Viera and Mi'qote setup, the queen is kept in safety for breeding, pretty much.

Worker ants (and bees) are all female. The males only exist to breed with the queen. (That's the simple generic version anyway - but definitely workers are female.)

idk but there was word of another version of viera that would be shorter, and those weren't shown either. I don't think we've had two different sub-groups of a race since hyur - midlander and highlanders. If there really are going to be two sub-groups of viera, along with male viera, then I could understand why they are saving that reveal for a different fanfest.

As far as I'm aware, that theorising is built off concept art and Viera in other games. However, the Wandering Dramaturge's lore-dump for Viera only mentioned light-skinned and dark-skinned clans - and not even separate cultures for the two. I actually find that more worrying than the lack of visible males right now.

They really aren't abundant though. Racking my brain I can think of....

I was making a list of Sunseeker characters (both for name reference and for trying to identify all the members of the different tribes) a while back, so I have a reference for those! Still might have missed one or two, as I just had to trawl through Garland Tools' lists of NPCs by area - and also will have missed anyone identified by a label rather than a name. Can't find the Ul'dahn merchant in Kugane that you mentioned.

A'aba Tia - one of Arenvald's friends in early ARR; killed in the raid on the Waking Sands.
B'benha Tia - squadron lancer
C'zibho Tia - Moonfire Faire 20__
D'fhul Tia - squadron conjurer
G'raha Tia - Crystal Tower raids
H'raha Tia - MNK 50-60
J'zula Tia - Resistance member at Porta Praetoria
K'rhid Tia - ACN guildmaster
M'rahz Nunh and M'zhet Tia - M tribe at the Peering Stones
O'bhen Tia - a hunter at Tailfeather
R'fhul Tia - Moonfire Faire 2018
R'mhasi Tia - CUL 50-60
U'odh Nunh, U'khuba Tia and U'tykha Tia - U tribe at Forgotten Springs
V'mah Tia - Scion since post-ARR
X'rhun Tia - RDM tutor

(that's 18 characters vs about 120 on the list of females)

For Moonkeepers, I don't have a list, but as well as those you mentioned (the Beast Tribe villain and the Couerlclaw King) I can think of one from the BLM 50-70 quests.

[Vexander]

Sure looks that way, and it fits the lore they've set up.



Really unfortunate choice on SE's part. We're supposed to be past this.

This lore is honestly, very disappointing. It's Moonkeepers all over again. You'd think for once SE would say the females are territorial and warlike and the males are enlightened and more peaceful, but apparently that's just not how SE likes to do things. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the second Clan/Tribe/Ethnicity for Viera will reverse this, but at this point I won't be surprised if it ends up as a rehash of the Sunseekers.

I'll just try to keep hoping that rather than another Au Ra (Hulking Males, Petite Females on both groups), SE will swap the models/builds between the genders for the different clans/tribes this time.

[Gideon_Welles]

Sure looks that way, and it fits the lore they've set up.



Really unfortunate choice on SE's part. We're supposed to be past this.

With the First around the corner they can kind of tweak the lore though. I mean, lala's are a beast tribe and you're trying to restore darkness instead of light. They should switch it up in the first so that females are rare instead of males.

[Lauront]

With the First around the corner they can kind of tweak the lore though. I mean, lala's are a beast tribe and you're trying to restore darkness instead of light. They should switch it up in the first so that females are rare instead of males.

The lore isn't a particularly strong reason not to have them, as it applies to male moon cats as well, and various jobs limited in number, like WHM. It's a rather weak excuse.

[whiskeybravo]

Really unfortunate choice on SE's part. We're supposed to be past this.

Who is "we", and what are we supposed to be past?

"The Value of coexistence will not be found 'neath a loincloth"

Indeed, there is much more to the nature of male and female genders then simple biological anatomy. More than some arbitrary line between the sexes. No, in fact, all concepts in existence express both masculine and feminine aspects. Active and passive, positive and negative, the concepts of justice and of mercy, and many more. Such is the term Dualism that has been known for thousands of years.

Are you past this fundamental truth? The Viera seem to be. As does Square Enix.