Who is your least favorite major character and why?

[Vyrerus]

Hmm.

Y'shtola.

Why?

Well, she's in her 30s and in denial. She sasses city-state and world leaders, despite having little to no leadership experience herself. It's easy to take the moral high ground when you stand to lose nothing, and never have to make the same decisions as a leader, or anyone else, for that matter. She's not a good tactician, her first thought to collapse a tunnel, when she could have easily used Stone 1 to weigh down her assailants, giving her, Thancred, Minfilia, and the WoL all time to escape together.

She's less a character and more a fighting F-Toy, who has powerful forbidden spells on demand that only take a toll when the scriptwriter says so, and then the same scriptwriter is inconsistent with said demands. She's evidenced to be physically blind after her "ordeal" but regularly showcases that she is not physically blind. Literally goes from, "Urianger, describes the stars to me~" to, "The cave paintings on these walls tell quite the story!" She literally couldn't tell the WoL was the WoL, due to seeing via aether and only seeing things aetherically, despite being less than 10 yalms away, but she can see cave paintings? All I'm asking for is consistency with her malady.

Obviously there's the fact that she's escaped lethal damage/situations three times now, and who knows, maybe it's 4. I wasn't around to see if she flirted with death so casually in 1.0 or not. I assume not, but a Legacy member will have to weigh in.

She's a mixed bag of feelings for me. I used to like her, in spite of her being a cat girl, as she was my starting Scion. I liked her sass at first, and occasionally still do, "Yes, mother." - "Don't make me take you across my knee!" But repeated playthroughs actually have me feeling quite antagonized by her narrow view and moral grandstanding.

Everyone cheers for her when she spurns Magnai, and it was a hilarious scene. However, in that same Azim Steppe sequence, she was visibly vexed by Hien taking in the Steppe and wanting to chat a little. They could have dug a lot more out of that, and shown us that she was frustrated because she could not actually see the Steppe itself. Instead it just came across as her being rather snide, impatient, wanting to be done with everything there as if she despised being there. I would have much loved to see real interplay between a woman who is supposedly very intelligent and clever and Hien, a man whose dry wit really does go unappreciated by the majority of the playerbase. A lot of people call Hien a himbo, but he's rather Machiavellian. He's actually the closest personification I can find to how I perceive my WoL. Fully aware of his circumstances, and would much rather do something else, only he feels responsible and is bound by honor and duty. Anywho, talking about why I dislike Y'shtola.


But they don't want to give us real substance with Y'shtola. They want to feed fan service with a snarky, hot cat girl that can blow up your enemies and heal your wounds. The last time she had real character development was in Heavensward, as she was largely absent from 4.0 due to wounds, and then they repeated her 2.55 stunt in 5.0, as we all know. They clearly don't know what they want to do with her, and while I do appreciate that she's apparently going to publicly smack talk Fourchenault, I don't think she honestly deserves to be nor should be the character doing that. But she's a one trick cat girl.

[Neoyoshi]

Who: Hydaelyn

Why: Very needy and is a bit of a control-freak.

[TeraRamis]

The points being made about the WoL from earlier in the thread are well-taken. Honestly, the problem with "our character" in this game is that he/she attempts to walk a very strange line between being a PC and an NPC, and winds up failing in both regards.

• We have no control over what our character does or the impact of his/her choices (when we are offered a choice of dialogue, it is invariably a red herring - there is no path except the pre-chosen one).
• Our character is the only major player in this story without a voice. She/he is Crono-like in that they talk, but we never get to listen. It's as if FFXIV wants us to believe that our voices fill that void... but they don't, because we are never granted the chance to communicate in his/her stead.
• There is no chance whatsoever for our character to select the wrong/dark/incorrect path. We never make mistakes - any errors in judgment made by the WoL; any 'hard edges,' are just softened over by the rolling pin of plot armor. We never err in the long term.
• Our character has no social life - she has no family, no lover, no children, and no ties to Eorzea other than the Scions (who feel far more like coworkers than friends). She has - officially - nothing to risk her life over; she has nothing to defend, other than the nation-states that use her and her powers for their direct benefit (and in lieu of fielding armies). Which brings us to...
• We invariably play the role of the hammer in every turn of the narrative. Someone needs something smashed? That's our job - our ONLY job. We don't think; we don't ponder; we don't outsmart foes - those kinds of duties are left to our companions. It leaves the WoL feeling like a mental lightweight in a room full of scholars.

The result of all that is the WoL feels either like the weakest, most irrelevant NPC character in the history of Final Fantasy... or a hopelessly hamstrung and crippled PC, whose every action is dictated by an inflexible story that routinely leaves us looking like ineffective morons as players. It's the worst of both worlds. Honestly, I would far, FAR prefer if the WoL was simply written and voiced as another character that we happened to control - at least that wouldn't leave me constantly face-palming over the silly situations she gets herself into, or the countless cases of instances where a slight increase in reaction time would have staved off disaster. The game leaves me playing what amounts to an idiot for the sake of rolling the story along, and that really shouldn't be fun for anyone.

[KizuyaKatogami]

.


But they don't want to give us real substance with Y'shtola. They want to feed fan service with a snarky, hot cat girl that can blow up your enemies and heal your wounds. The last time she had real character development was in Heavensward, as she was largely absent from 4.0 due to wounds, and then they repeated her 2.55 stunt in 5.0, as we all know. They clearly don't know what they want to do with her, and while I do appreciate that she's apparently going to publicly smack talk Fourchenault, I don't think she honestly deserves to be nor should be the character doing that. But she's a one trick cat girl.

What’s funny to me about this is, it’s 100% true. Not only that however; but it’s interesting to me how, when they clearly don’t know what to do with an antagonistic character, they just kill them off. But with Yshtola, despite her serving little to no purpose, they just keep her around and constantly try to give her some relevance by “dying” over and over again. It’s bland. I agree with your steppes comment though, it’s honestly what made me despise her. We’re stepping into their land, the least she could do is have some common decency and respect their beliefs and customs but nope. I still don’t really get the magnai comment either to this day or why it’s widely rejoiced but /shrug. Guess it’s the sassy lady trope that people find interesting.

[ReynTime]

I like Cid when he's not in MSQ.
His no nonsense personality is a breath of fresh air compared to pretty much every other character, and his interactions with Nero are entertaining.
I do miss his relative bad-assery from 1.23 though... It's like they just don't want to give him unique animations so he's just walking and standing around when not piloting airships.

As for who I dislike, it's a tie between G'raha Tia and Zenos. Zenos is worse than Uchiha Madara from Naruto, who was another cardboard one-dimensional bad guy who was exalted by the simple virtue of being "powerful and stoic". Just like Zenos. And I'll be damned if they don't end Zenos in a similar fashion to him because those two characters are so equally dull and predictable.

Honorable mention: Y'shtola. I used to love her as a Scion, but in ShB it started feeling like her development stopped and she doesn't act like a human being with weaknesses anymore. If I wasn't already planning to leave, I'd hope she was gone from MSQ after 6.0. I know it won't happen though. XIV fanbase loves their billion cute nekos.

G'raha Tia. I loved the Crystal Exarch in 5.0 for being a competent leader, but then he took the hood off and became a raving fanboy who competes with Alphinaud (a much better character) for screentime.


G'raha Tia has three major problems.


First: G'raha trying to cut into the WoL's life.

By the time of Shadowbringers, the WoL is famous and lots of people want to know him, and he's being called by everyone in the realm to help them out. The WoL just doesn't have enough time to help out and hang out with everybody. The WoL already has a circle of friends that he's spent a lot of time, are his preferred crew to tackle problems with, and the people he prefers to spend his time with.

The WoL worked with him during the Crystal Tower questline for all of 1 or 2 hours. This was before the WoL had really formed a circle of friends with the Scions. So in Shadowbringers, you have G'raha - a stranger to the WoL - trying to cut into the WoL's life. "Take me on an adventure with you". I mean, yeah, by the time he says that in 5.3, I've known him long enough that it'd feel nature, but it feels really weird that he was harboring this desire during 5.0, and says it to you in Kholusia. It's like a fanboy seeing a celebrity idol at the mall and saying "please let me be your best friend!".


Second: G'raha Tia is NOT an old man.

I think the other problem with G'raha Tia is that... he's supposed to have come from a time period in which he woke up and everyone he knew was dead, and there was immense bloodshed and the new people he made friends with were dying left and right, and then he goes to the First and lives there for a hundred years... and he's known generations of people from their birth, watched them grow up, get married, grow old, and die. He should be a really old man, but he never ACTS like it. He acts like a fresh faced teenager. He TALKS about being an old man, but I never feel it. ​This is in the same expansion that had Emet-Selch, who felt like a really old man who had lost his civilization and his friends and his family. This is the same expansion that had Ardbert, who really felt like he had lost his civilization and his family and his friends.

It's also extremely bizzare that G'raha Tia just so casually leaves the Crystarium behind. He lived 20 years in Eorzea. He lived 100 years at the Crystarium. The people of the Crystarium should be family to him. This should be his home, more so than Eorzea ever was. I cannot believe a grandpa or an elder or an old man like that would just up and leave his community just like that to go adventuring with some celebrity he had met for 2 hours over 100 years ago in some far off land that was just a vague memory. Now, obviously once his body was crystalizing, stashing his consciousness into his body on the Source was the obvious thing to do, but he was clearly planning to go back to Eorzea long before then, otherwise he wouldn't have made the extra crystal.


Third: G'raha Tia is just the same character as Alphinaud.
​
G'raha Tia fulfills the same role as Alphinaud in the narrative: the bright eyed dorky little brother to the WoL/deuteragonist of the story who is a magus and the man with the plan. Literally the same character, just a different design and voice actor. It's especially telling that G'raha Tia and Alphinaud hardly ever talk in the same scene, let alone talk to each other... because that'd draw attention to the fact that they are literally the same. When one character is in focus in the narrative, the other has virtually no lines at all. I would've been content with Alphinaud being sidelined and G'raha Tia hogging the spotlight for 5.0 through 5.3... but then he survives 5.3, and continues hogging Alphinaud's place in 5.4. It isn't until 5.5 that Alphinaud gets back his role again... and it's rather telling that G'raha Tia has pretty much no lines in 5.5 and it's jarring. You have two characters both competing to fulfill the same role in the narrative and it's very jarring.

Stormblood had a similar problem with Lyse and Alisae. They were the same character both competing for attention: the spunky bash bro sister who flips out at the drop of a hat. Fortunately Lyse was written out of the story by having her leave the Scions, so Alisae is able to fulfill her role uncontested. I don't know why the writers forgot to do that with Alphinaud and G'raha Tia. More than one character per role is redundant. Get rid of one. I prefer Alphinaud to G'raha, but G'raha Tia is clearly preferred by the current writer and no way he's going to die after surviving 5.3, and if killing off Alphinaud means we don't have this content anymore and scenes can be written naturally, then so be it. I just don't want this conflict anymore.

This perfectly explains everything wrong with G'raha Tia.

[TeraRamis]

What’s funny to me about this is, it’s 100% true. Not only that however; but it’s interesting to me how, when they clearly don’t know what to do with an antagonistic character, they just kill them off. But with Yshtola, despite her serving little to no purpose, they just keep her around and constantly try to give her some relevance by “dying” over and over again. It’s bland. I agree with your steppes comment though, it’s honestly what made me despise her. We’re stepping into their land, the least she could do is have some common decency and respect their beliefs and customs but nope. I still don’t really get the magnai comment either to this day or why it’s widely rejoiced but /shrug. Guess it’s the sassy lady trope that people find interesting.

Yeah, I can't stand Y'shtola.

For me, what it boils down is that - like with Zenos - they're trying too hard; they're forcing things. They want us to love her - it is so, SO obvious that she is their favorite doll, and they cannot put her down. And, what's more, they believe that she should be everyone else's favorite doll, too - that we all giggle and squeal with delight every time she opens her mouth.

And the same holds true for Zenos - it's very clear that, from the perspective of a few people making decisions at SE, that he is on some level beloved. He's a character that they (or perhaps even just one person) just can't get enough of... and that must translate into us loving him, too. Oh, he's boring? Look, now he has a trope-laden toady who won't shut up! Oh, were decently-written characters like Emet-Selch and Elidibus stealing the limelight from the precious poor-man's Sephiroth? NO WORRIES! They've been eliminated! Now there's nothing to distract you from basking in his radiance!

The fact is, every time Y'shtola opens her mouth, I want my character to backhand those chubby cheeks. Ah, so you want to be a sarcastic jackass who acts at all times like you're the smartest person in the room? Well sit down and shut up, honey, because I'm the only person around here who gets anything done - I'M where the rubber meets the road. You're a hanger-on, and you have absolutely no right to get smart every 15 seconds when I'm the person spilling blood at each turn in the road.

[Vencio]

Might get heckled by this,

Urianger = Speak plainly

Thancred = Squall-like attributes & dislike Squall Lionheart ; jerk, anti-social or stubborn but “cool guy”

[KizuyaKatogami]

And the same holds true for Zenos - it's very clear that, from the perspective of a few people making decisions at SE, that he is on some level beloved. He's a character that they (or perhaps even just one person) just can't get enough of... and that must translate into us loving him, too. Oh, he's boring? Look, now he has a trope-laden toady who won't shut up! Oh, were decently-written characters like Emet-Selch and Elidibus stealing the limelight from the precious poor-man's Sephiroth? NO WORRIES! They've been eliminated! Now there's nothing to distract you from basking in his radiance!

This will always be my biggest gripe with the writing in this game. The writers playing obvious favorites. I’ll never understand how they thought it would be a good idea to have Zenos outlive a major character that’s the main component of this entire story arc since 2.0(Elidibus). And not only that but also only give him 2 patches as opposed to Zenos’ 3 expansions now. Now we have to sit through Graha, another writers favorite.

[Yencat]

Not a single character, but I'm looking forward to Endwalker completely ending the Ascian arc (and by proxy the Garleans as nothing more than an evil empire as well). It took long enough for them to become compelling beyond mustache twirling baddies that were behind everything and now I'm kind of tired of them.

I do kind of enjoy how unhinged Fandaniel seems to be but that's also going to overstay its welcome if it drags on too long so hopefully there's not more of them waiting in the wings.

If I had to pick a single character it'd be Zenos because he's just the worst of all of the above combined.

[Wavaryen]

Raubahn Aldynn is so boring. His story is bleh as well. I hope Zenos wrecks him.