Ran'jit's strength makes no sense

[Cilia]

Honestly, Sephiroth had better characterization, I'd say. Pre-Jenova, he was much like Zenos, I suppose, but the very fact that learning about Jenova upset him the way that it did indicates to me that he DID have some very human weaknesses (and he reacted to those weaknesses in pretty much the worst way imaginable). I'd say Zenos is a lot more like Kefka, a bad egg from cradle to grave. Kefka, though, was more entertaining, given that he was such a loon.

Ehh... I have to disagree that pre-madness Sephiroth was like Zenos. VII doesn't give much of a look at him, but Crisis Core shows a lot more of his personality before Nibelheim; in there he's shown as distant, but amiable enough once you get to know him.

As for Kefka... yes and no. Kefka's madness stems mostly from the imperfect magitek infusion; Zenos definitely went crazier after becoming Resonant, but what we saw was just his already-present madness coming to the forefront. After his failed suicide and body surf back to his original vessel though, he seems to have gone even crazier...

... but, I don't really know who to compare Zenos to, if any other villain is applicable. He's more of a destructive force of nature than a character proper. I'd say like Yu Yevon, or whatever... right down to the possessing summons bit... but... whatever...

[Absimiliard]

... but, I don't really know who to compare Zenos to, if any other villain is applicable. He's more of a destructive force of nature than a character proper. I'd say like Yu Yevon, or whatever... right down to the possessing summons bit... but... whatever...

It could well be that he draws from several preexisting characters. He's got more than a touch of Kefka's madness, the looks and crazy physical (and later magical) abilities of Sephiroth, and a slew of similarities to Vayne Solidor that include but are not limited to:

- Being princes of their respective technologically advanced empires.
- Actively seeking out ways of overcoming their limitations and attaining greater power.
- Being given dominion over conquered territories.
- Gaining greatly increased abilities through outside means.
- Fusing with another entity to gain additional strength; Shinryu for Zenos, Venat for Vayne.
- Taking on draconic form as a result of the aforementioned fusion. Shinryu for Zenos, again, and parts of the technologically advanced Bahamut airship for Vayne.
- Merging with named dragons from the Final Fantasy franchise. Granted, the airship Bahamut was not a dragon, but the form Vayne took on after fusing with its parts was.

One key difference, however, is that Vayne is not truly evil. He is doing what he personally believes to be right - as is his otherworldly benefactor, Venat. Personality-wise I'm not sure Zenos really conforms to anything beyond being every bit as nuts as Kefka.

[Berteaux_Braumegain]

Character limit

As much as I love the MSQ, the one thing that irritates me is Ran'jit's ability to for some reason beat us. I can kind of accept that Zenos can considering he has his own version of the echo and is known to be overwhelmingly powerful, but I can't really accept Ran'jit being even more powerful than the guy who singlehandedly(?) defeated Thordan and Shinryu possessed by Zenos, especially being backed by the scions. Heck you even fought Omega, you know, the guy who fought a calamity level Shinryu

He may be the general of the largest army in the world (A laughable statement since when we storm Eulmore we fight mostly civilians and maybe half a dozen or a dozen soldiers), but that's like saying you're the biggest goldfish in the bowl, it's a small world and even though it has its hardships I highly doubt such a guy would be able to defeat the WOL backed by the scions, disregarding how he one shots everyone by some bs. I like the story but I really wish they would leave out the forced defeats, he shouldn't even hold a candle to the WOL and if they wanted to create a believable antagonist they could have done something involving the light wardens

He didn't really ever "defeat" the Warrior of Light/Darkness, as I recall. He just kind of cutscene stunned them during the fight in Lakeland and then we never really fought him seriously at any other point because time was of the essence and/or keeping Ryne away from him was vital to the success of our mission. I don't see what he did the first time around as being much different from, say, Seiryu catching you in fetters for several seconds to hit you with his big water attack.

Also, keep in mind that the Warrior of Light/Darkness probably goes about fighting Primals/Auspices/Lightwardens in a different way from regular people. We've never hit a regular person with a Blade of Light, for example... unless you're a Paladin, I guess!

[YianKutku]

Also, keep in mind that the Warrior of Light/Darkness probably goes about fighting Primals/Auspices/Lightwardens in a different way from regular people. We've never hit a regular person with a Blade of Light, for example... unless you're a Paladin, I guess!

Come to think of it, that's true. The closest we (or rather, Alisaie) had were against the Warriors of Darkness in 3.4, and even then by that time Ardbert's crew were "like Ascians" (in terms of being souls possessing other bodies at will, like Minfilia said). Other than that, Blades of Light have always been used against Ascians, Sin Eaters, and their ilk. (Not sure if they'd even work on any other type of foe.)

Given what happened to Magnai, Y'shtola is significantly more brutal than us, in many ways. (And then there was Lyse popping out a MNK LB against Fordola.)

[Alleo]

He didn't really ever "defeat" the Warrior of Light/Darkness, as I recall. He just kind of cutscene stunned them during the fight in Lakeland and then we never really fought him seriously at any other point because time was of the essence and/or keeping Ryne away from him was vital to the success of our mission. I don't see what he did the first time around as being much different from, say, Seiryu catching you in fetters for several seconds to hit you with his big water attack.

I would have loved that fight much more if it ended with us "defeated" as in giving up the fight to protect the scions that were down. With that we could not do much and have to take attacks from him so that they wont hit them and then at a certain point Thancred will cutscene jump in and the rest happens as it did before. This way its not that surprsing that we can stomp him later on. We simply dont have someone to protect on our side and can go all out.

[Gemina]

I like scripted defeats when they are done correctly. The thing is though they already did this with Zenos in 4.0... twice. So having one come by way of Ran'jit was/would be rather stale. I don't even consider this part of the MSQ a scripted defeat. Plot armor goes both ways, and Ran'jit has a ton of it.

I did like that they went away from the possibility of another rival for the WoL, and more or less made Ran'jit Thancred's opponent. It has been established that Zenos is our rival, and I won't be having some stupid old man take his place!

[Raqrie_Tohka]

Yeah but can he win against Hildibrand Manderville's father, who is also ridiculously strong?