Who is Alphinaud and who is Gaius?

[Yvresse]

Sorry if the title seems weird.

I'll start with Alphinaud. So Alphinaud shows up with his sister, kinda randomly, in Uldah, Gridania and Limsa. And his sister goes MIA, till like Coerthas, and then disappears again.

Now Alphinaud is a general commander of the blue crystals? Why? He's a child? What makes him so amazing, like, what has he really done? He's everywhere but does he ever actually do anything?

I know he is the granchild of Louisoix, but does that even matter? Where is his mother, or father?

And Gaius, who exactly is he? Is he stereotypical bad guy? Are the Garleans evil by nature or is Gaius just a section of that. I'm in the part of the story where there is a new Garlean Emperor and I groaned a little at that, he at face value, just looks like another Gaius? Big bad military man.

So were there no repercussions for the Garleans? I mean they tried genocide, and we beat them. Shouldn't they be a defeated nation now? Weak, running, trying to negotiate a truce?

Why did Gaius even want to conquer the world? Was it really just 'this world needs a strong leader to eliminate the weak'? And somehow that mentality allowed him to amass thousands of elite soldiers and the most expensive magitek ever?

I don't get, but I don't know that much lore.

Please, any info is helpful.

Edit: Reading this it comes across as bashful, sorry I don't mean it that way, I just don't understand the lore.

[vormela]

You are gonna notice a lot of absent mothers in this game and I don't know what else to tell you! We are still wondering why Alphinaud is the way he is!

[Cilia]

Alphinaud is the grandson of Louisoix, a Sharlayan sage who came to Eorzea in order to try and forestall the Seventh Umbral Calamity that played out during Legacy. During 2.x he is largely leveraging his grandfather's influence to get his way. He's also an academic prodigy from one of the most prestigious schools in the known world, along with his sister Alisae.

He's rather vainglorious during that time period, but the Crystal Braves betray the Scions during 2.55, and the experience is humbling enough that he has largely left said vainglory at the door since.

You do get to meet their father Fourchenault much later in 5.55, and their mother is mentioned, but not seen.

Gaius hails from the Garlean Empire, a fascist... empire from another continent to the far north. Their race, the Garleans, are incapable of using magic and were pushed to the inhospitable territory they now call home, so they eventually developed magitek to even the scales and feel they have an axe to grind with everyone else because of it. Their emperor has outlawed religious observation of any kind due to the dangers posed by primals, further decreeing they must conquer the world to completely stamp out the threat posed by primals, and they follow a very "might makes right" philosophy due to their harsh homeland and the circumstances that led to their militarization.

Of course, very little of that is so simple - the first Garlean Emperor was actually an Ascian in disguise, who quickly revolutionized Garlemald into the warmongering and oppressive empire it is today by introducing them to magitek and spinning various lies.

In regards to Gaius, he is one of the better Garlean legates - he follows the meritocratic values preached by the Empire unlike many of his contemporaries. He survived his defeat in 2.0, reappears in 4.4 / 4.5, and is the main protagonist of 5.x's "Sorrow of Werlyt" trial storyline, having learned both the error of his ways and the lies spun by the first Emperor. He now seeks to make amends and save his adopted children from one of the most unhinged legates thus far.

Addendum: the XIVth Imperial Legion was defeated. Garlemald has 13 more waiting in the wings; besides which the XIVth went rogue during the events of A Realm Reborn. You will meet more legates, and the Emperor himself, in due time.

[JeanneOrnitier]

You are gonna notice a lot of absent mothers in this game and I don't know what else to tell you! We are still wondering why Alphinaud is the way he is!

I don't think Alphinaud being the way he is in ARR is mysterious at all.

He's the child of a very rich and influential family, with a grandfather who was famous and beloved and a father who's an important figure in the Sharlayan government, and graduated from a world-famous prestigious university at 16 years old. Of course he'd be a smug know-it-all when we first meet him.

[vormela]

Right, and they just met Varis in patch 2.4 Tendrils of Intrigue. So what are we supposed to say without giving things away? Part of the story they will go through involves moments with Alphinaud et al. that further elucidate on their characters.

[Cilia]

Right, and they just met Varis in patch 2.4 Tendrils of Intrigue. So what are we supposed to say without giving things away? Part of the story they will go through involves moments with Alphinaud et al. that further elucidate on their characters.

You are introduced to Varis through a cutscene in 2.4, but you don't actually meet him until early in the second act of Heavensward (3.0).

[Yvresse]

Alphinaud is the grandson of Louisoix, a Sharlayan sage who came to Eorzea in order to try and forestall the Seventh Umbral Calamity that played out during Legacy. During 2.x he is largely leveraging his grandfather's influence to get his way. He's also an academic prodigy from one of the most prestigious schools in the known world, along with his sister Alisae.

He's rather vainglorious during that time period, but the Crystal Braves betray the Scions during 2.55, and the experience is humbling enough that he has largely left said vainglory at the door since.

You do get to meet their father Fourchenault much later in 5.55, and their mother is mentioned, but not seen.

Gaius hails from the Garlean Empire, a fascist... empire from another continent to the far north. Their race, the Garleans, are incapable of using magic and were pushed to the inhospitable territory they now call home, so they eventually developed magitek to even the scales and feel they have an axe to grind with everyone else because of it. Their emperor has outlawed religious observation of any kind due to the dangers posed by primals, further decreeing they must conquer the world to completely stamp out the threat posed by primals, and they follow a very "might makes right" philosophy due to their harsh homeland and the circumstances that led to their militarization.

Of course, very little of that is so simple - the first Garlean Emperor was actually an Ascian in disguise, who quickly revolutionized Garlemald into the warmongering and oppressive empire it is today by introducing them to magitek and spinning various lies.

In regards to Gaius, he is one of the better Garlean legates - he follows the meritocratic values preached by the Empire unlike many of his contemporaries. He survived his defeat in 2.0, reappears in 4.4 / 4.5, and is the main protagonist of 5.x's "Sorrow of Werlyt" trial storyline, having learned both the error of his ways and the lies spun by the first Emperor. He now seeks to make amends and save his adopted children from one of the most unhinged legates thus far.

Addendum: the XIVth Imperial Legion was defeated. Garlemald has 13 more waiting in the wings; besides which the XIVth went rogue during the events of A Realm Reborn. You will meet more legates, and the Emperor himself, in due time.

Oh my.

That is fascinating. I wonder if they planned that from the start or just felt the lore needed more added to it and it made for good writing etc down the line?

Thanks for that.

[Katie_Kitty]

I'm in the part of the story where there is a new Garlean Emperor and I groaned a little at that, he at face value, just looks like another Gaius? Big bad military man.

I recommend catching up on the rest of the story before asking these questions tbh. In any case, the reason why Alphinaud was important early on despite being a dumb arrogant kid is because of his association with the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, who have a close working relationship with the leaders of the Eorzean nations.

[lezard21]

Now Alphinaud is a general commander of the blue crystals? Why? He's a child?

Historically in real life there's been multiple child princes/kings/emperors/nobles, so him being the commander of a squadron, specially one backed up by "the bank" doesn't seem too farfetche'd.

[kaynide]

Op: a lot of this stuff plays out in the main story. The characters evolve and their motivations/capabilities become more apparent.

Yes, it was weird to see Alphi in charge of the Crystal braves (I agree there), but despite what we see on camera, Alphi is quite gifted with diplomacy…though he makes some colossal screw ups growing pains, I say.

As of 2.x, others have pretty well laid it out, but short version: Alphi is basically trying to find his place/further the Scion agenda, whereas Gaius is just doing what he feels is correct to bring peace to the world (aka stop the primal threats).

As for why primals are such a big deal, and why the empire has been spurred to fight them..that’s a later detail!