Yotsuyu, the irredeemable monster

[Shuuchi]

Yotsuyu’s story is probably the most tear jerking story in ffxiv pre-shadowbringers.

As many would say, monster are not born, they are made.
I have seen many people say how Yotsuyu did nothing wrong and she was justified in the things she did.

However, I wish to challenge the narrative.



Yotsuyu’s past was sad indeed, and feeling sorry for her is a perfectly normal reaction.
But we are who we choose to be, and Yotsuyu chose to embrace her monstrosity when she threw her lot in with Zenos.

Wielding her twisted sense of “justice”, Yotsuyu victimized others using her own victimhood.
Tormenting her countrymen and mistreating her subordinate, Yotsuyu was like a child, tearing the wings off of a butterfly.

After she lost her memories, we saw Tsuyu.
Through childlike innocence, a picture was presented to us, making us believe that if she was allowed to grow up normally, Yotsuyu would not have become a monster.

But such an interpretation is highly unfair and serves to do naught but cloud our judgement.
Tsuyu was essentially a little kid.
We do not know how Yotsuyu would have turned out, as it never happened, nor will it ever happen.
We only know that she became a monster and fully embraced it.
Twice.

Despite all the love she received as Tsuyu, Yotsuyu, when faced with the unarmed old couple, chose to murder her “parents” when she could have simply walked away.
And at the end, instead of answering for her crimes and facing justice, Yotsuyu chose to wreak as much havoc as possible.
But she was stopped before she could cause any real damage, and essentially ended up committing suicide via WoL.



Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a similar story was taking place.
Fordola, a reference to the Indians who sided with the British in hopes to one day see their country set free, was also presented with a second chance.

Unlike Yotsuyu, who, after receiving a chance to redeem herself, chose to become a monster once more, Fordola sought for answers whilst acknowledging and bearing the burdens of her past actions.

Yotsuyu, with her deranged and depraved mind, only wished to watch the world burn.
In a way, she’s not too dissimilar to the Joker.
And I don’t think I have to explain why sharing the same beliefs as the Joker is a bad sign.



In conclusion, it is natural to feel sorry for Yotsuyu.
But do not (edit) sympathize with her, for she is an irredeemable monster.

[dreamfisher]

If you want to excise any and all nuance from her story, sure.
Fate may have created an irredeemable monster of Yotsuyu and certainly denied her the strength to be a better person, but I can still empathise with a rabid dog while putting it down.
Yotsuyu's is a tragic tale of someone who was beyond saving.

I also don't think it's fair to compare Fordola's vengeful anger and determination to Yotsuyu's all-consuming hatred.
The two stories start differently, unfold in different ways, and will inevitably end in differing ways.

[Steelbreaker25]

Feeling sorry for someone and showing empathy are literally the same thing. But you can empathize with someone without condoning their behavior, which is the core of the actual issue.

Despite all the love she received as Tsuyu, Yotsuyu, when faced with the unarmed old couple, chose to murder her “parents” when she could have simply walked away.
And at the end, instead of answering for her crimes and facing justice, Yotsuyu chose to wreak as much havoc as possible.
But she was stopped before she could cause any real damage, and essentially ended up committing suicide via WoL.

This is actually not true. Only Gosetsu was really fully on her side. Hien, Yugiri, and the Scions were largely suspicious of her, and they kept her sequestered because the Domans hated her. She also regained her memories before she murdered her parents, and was about to commit suicide, but she was confronted by her parents who immediately started verbally abusing her and threatening to sell her into prostitution. Also throw in Asahi's manipulations during this.

And I'd like to where you've seen many people saying she did nothing wrong. I mean, I don't doubt there's some, in the same vein that there are people who unironically think Thanos had an altruistic plan or that the Galactic Empire was a peaceful, lawful organization, but I haven't seen widespread whitewashing of her behavior.

[Shuuchi]

Fate may have created an irredeemable monster of Yotsuyu and certainly denied her the strength to be a better person, but I can still empathise with a rabid dog while putting it down.

Feeling sorry for someone and showing empathy are literally the same thing. But you can empathize with someone without condoning their behavior, which is the core of the actual issue.

Sympathy is “that’s too bad”, “things could have gone better if not for X”.
Empathy is “I feel the same pain as you”, “let us take vengeance together”.

[Fenral]

Oh, goodie. People are coming back to the game in droves to offer up their own hot takes on plot details from years ago.

The entire point of her story is that you should empathize with her. She could have had a normal life, and the people of Doma were responsible for how she turned out. Even though what they did can't be undone, future generations (i.e. Isse) can still strive to do better, but only by directly confronting the wrongs of their forbears.

The idea that some people are just born monsters is old-fashioned, has been discredited for centuries, borders on thought-terminating cliche, and is historically peddled by people who are afraid themselves of being seen as anything other than a natural-born paragons of objective virtue, because they're afraid to acknowledge that the potential for evil lives inside all of us. Which, if I must remind the audience, has been a recurring theme in the Final Fantasy series from the very first game.

So it's not wrong to look inside yourself, think about the things in your own life that helped you form your own ideas of right and wrong, ask yourself if you might have done the same thing in her place, and maybe even say yes, you would.

[DPZ2]

and the people of Doma were responsible for how she turned out.

This can be so only if you are a pollster, using a minor subset of a group to predict behavior of the group as a whole.

The fact is, there are exactly three people in Doma who bear responsibility. And the proper response, if revenge is desired, would be exact vengeance on those three people.

[thegreatonemal]

This can be so only if you are a pollster, using a minor subset of a group to predict behavior of the group as a whole.

The fact is, there are exactly three people in Doma who bear responsibility. And the proper response, if revenge is desired, would be exact vengeance on those three people.

Her entire village knew what was going on. Punishing the people directly responsible is one thing but you can't say if the whole town knew and did nothing that they aren't to blame too. Nobody stood up for this women and everyone knew what was happening to her. No one is throwing the whole country in jail but their inaction led to her becoming the way she was. Only one person did try and it wasn't Gosetsu.

[DPZ2]

Her entire village knew what was going on. Punishing the people directly responsible is one thing but you can't say if the whole town knew and did nothing that they aren't to blame too. Nobody stood up for this women and everyone knew what was happening to her. No one is throwing the whole country in jail but their inaction led to her becoming the way she was. Only one person did try and it wasn't Gosetsu.

So, instead of punishing the people in the whole town, then, her vengeance could only be [not-quite-ever] satiated by doing similar things throughout the entirety of Doman and non-Doman domains?

Boy, those fisherfolk on the Ruby Sea (sooooooo close to Yanxia) must have really done a number on her, eh?

Yeah, feel sorry for her circumstances, but do not excuse "mass murder on a whim" by saying "well, the folks in this one town didn't come to her aid".

Unless, of course, you're in a novel written by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, possibly. Then the motive of one of the main bad guys can be as simple as "but they called me the son of a [courtesan, but used in a not-so-good way]", resulting in untold doom and disaster for the Cultivation world, cleverly plotted and competently performed, but not quite as sadistic as Totsuya.

[Shuuchi]

Her entire village knew what was going on. Punishing the people directly responsible is one thing but you can't say if the whole town knew and did nothing that they aren't to blame too. Nobody stood up for this women and everyone knew what was happening to her. No one is throwing the whole country in jail but their inaction led to her becoming the way she was. Only one person did try and it wasn't Gosetsu.

You seem conflicted.
Inaction is a crime but not worthy of punishment?
Am I interpreting that correctly?

If you see a robbery in progress but did not stop it, does that make you guilty by association?

[thegreatonemal]

You seem conflicted.
Inaction is a crime but not worthy of punishment?
Am I interpreting that correctly?

If you see a robbery in progress but did not stop it, does that make you guilty by association?

No, you just don't understand the cultural lesson the story is conveying here. But to use your flawed example If I see a crime and I have the power and ability to stop it and don't I'm not gonna go to jail but if somebody dies during that crime some people are gonna be mad at me for not jumping in and helping. Might have been able to save somebody.

No one needed super powers to tell her step parents to go to hell or report them for abusing that child. Hell the entire village shaming them or if that one Garlen solider had come back and made good on his threat would have been enough. The guy who became her pimp could of said "I'm not letting you use her to repay your debts she clearly not cut out for this life." Or he could of taken her in and not pimped her out just getting her away from her clearly abusive parents. But he said "Look how hot she is I can't NOT let my clients run a train on her."

Her abuse of the Doman people is simply payback in the same manner she was treated. They all have to look at each other as they go through all the crap she puts them through. Them begging for help from their neighbors as their on the ground suffer and have to watch as those same friends and family ignore them in their hour of need. Yea of course if they actually tried to help they'd get punished or killed but that's not the point for her.