The Reason Zenos.

[Omymy]

Zenos was using 2b tights all this time.

[Theodric]

Zenos isn't particularly interesting to me. I'd note that there's a big difference between an antagonist and a villain - and Zenos is very much described as the latter.

Worse yet, he doesn't really do anything of note beyond serve as a convenient plot device meant to stall Garlemald and the Ascians so that the Warrior of Light can run about largely unhindered.

For all his talk of the hunt, he doesn't do anything to truly get the Warrior of Light swearing to come and fight him. He doesn't kill the likes of Lyse or Y'shtola when given the opportunity, so it all falls flat when the only person of note he does kill is his father. Who, by all accounts, was a skilled combatant and master tactician - and he really should have seen it coming given the fact that he didn't view him as anything other than a monster due to his behaviour.

Zenos worked well as the antagonist of Stormblood. Then he overstayed his welcome and ended up forcing characters built up for far longer - such as Varis and Elidibus - to stand aside. I'd much prefer to see more Garleans along the lines of Regula - loyal to their homeland and people but possessed of an honourable streak without being defectors.

As for why he's in Dissidia? Meh. Lahabrea, Gaius and Nael are far more iconic to me. Regula too. I'll reserve my judgement to see what Zenos does in the future but so far his track record is unimpressive.

[Jennah]

If I were the guy at SE making the decision, I'd have really wanted it to be Emet-Selch ... and then realized it couldn't be, because he's still kind of considered a spoiler. At least he would be in marketing.

[testname]

I personally cannot stand Zenos in any game, but I can see why SE uses him, he is one of their cookie-cutter "neckbeard with a big sword" villains. I could totally picture him in the real world hacking at melons in his front lawn cause "katana is best sword and no one messes with me or my big katana cause I will cut you down to defend my waifu" ...you know the type. Sephirot is their biggest example of this archetype. And you can make as many arguments as you want about his motivations, but when it comes down to it, he is nothing but an incel with a big sword and mommy issues, it people eat it up for some reason.

But SE loves their cringy villains (and heroes), because they appeal to a small but very very loud and vocal group. I had hopes with Iceheart, and again with Yutsu, and then again with Emet, but nope, they are all killed off the moment their stories got really good only to be replaced with the weird Naruto kid in math class and I become the Witcher meme of "/sigh ...f---" It's like SE is scared of having a really well developed villain that had motivations beyond "look at my big sword! come at me bro! cackles in bad anime villain tropes" which is sad.

The story always gets super good, then we revert back to something like Zenos.

Well said. Zenos is such boring Vilan, everything about him is such plain straight without depth - same as Kunkfu Papa

Emet was the best Vilan in here for me

[KageTokage]

I think they might've picked Zenos largely because thematically he's the most appropriate of the lot as the entire premise of Dissidia revolves around the gods drawing heroes/villains into their world to do battle for whatever reason they see fit and he lives for the thrill of battle.

Regardless, I really hope they manage to improve him as a character by the time all is said and done because presently he really does just seem like a walking plot device with no proper explanation for how he ended up becoming as insanely powerful as he is.

In regards to the end of the most recent MSQ

I'm honestly hoping they're setting up for him to end up becoming an avatar of Zodiark or at least tempered so he's actively working against us with the Ascians as opposed to indirectly helping them with his fixation on us as I've always found them the more interesting villains and even moreso in light of the revelations in Shadowbringers.

If the Ascian overlords couldn't resist his influence, it seems like a stretch that the same wouldn't happen to Zenos even if he's not at full power. The last thing I want is for him to actually succeed with his little scheme and be his same old self, just even more unreasonably powerful then he already is.

If I were the guy at SE making the decision, I'd have really wanted it to be Emet-Selch ... and then realized it couldn't be, because he's still kind of considered a spoiler. At least he would be in marketing.

They don't really care about spoilers when it comes to Dissidia, especially not Opera Omnia.

They spoiled the ending of FFX, the whole truth of Ardyn's identity in XV, and a lot of other fairly major plot points,

including Papalymo's fate at the end of Heavensward

.

[Brightmore]

A good story is told with diversity of characters.
And as some pointed, Zenos do have room to improvement.
I just think that they can't take any longer to shape him, otherwise his persona is gonna burn.
With the close of this last chapter, I do have my cards of what he shall become, and maybe fate will mold him. He will become what he must.
But he gotta pull his skirt and walk faster, we are running out of foes to smack.

[Mahoukenshi]

I did read quite a few post about Zenos before I reached and completed SB, but tried to not let it influence my opinon too much. However, eh... He turned from a boring kill or "hunt"-obsessed doll to a mentally-derranged stalker with yandere tendencies who got even more power (as in abilities) shoved up his rectum with no effort. Not speaking of the other potential stalker Ascian in his body... I've seen better serial murders in the various crime documentations out on tv. To be fair, it didn't help much that SB was very in-your-face in painting 99% of the Garlean villains as typically evil. The rest like Frodola and Tsuyu, at least, had background revelations, which may have been as well kinda cliché with horrid past, but made them overall better in the great picture for me. Maybe I'm just having double-standards in prefering certain trope confirmations over others, though. Seein that I liked what they did with Frodola post-SB and the "twist" with Tsuyu.

I don't even think the problem is or was that these rival-type characters (villain or not) have already started out overpowered, but can't put the "why" in words.

[KageTokage]

That really is the main reason why people dislike Zenos: he lacks any real depth even knowing his backstory.

His entire way of thinking just stems from his spoiled upbringing where he got everything he wanted; save for the satisfaction of victory over his combat tutor who made it a note to demean and humiliate him (And was also part of a plot to assassinate him). The rush he got when he finally achieved that goal became his obsession as it gave him a sense of fulfillment far beyond any he had felt previously.

I'm honestly not sure how they can really evolve his character in a meaningful and believable way.

[TheMightyMollusk]

Zenos is a one-note blood knight trope who has little to no motivation beyond wanting somebody strong to fight. As a bad guy for an expansion, he was fine, if uninspiring, but as a running antagonist, he doesn't have the depth to be compelling or interesting. I've seen nothing so far to convince me that he shouldn't have just stayed dead.

[Kusanagi7]

if the story goes the way of zenos using the strength of zodiark n us using hydaelyn to battle each other then it will be boring to me atleast it would be more interesting if it was the opposite though him using hydaelyn n us having to use zodiark.