Fun Factor Around Story and Lore - Favorite Characters, Favorite Lore

[Jandor]

My favourite small bit of lore is that Eorzea doesn't have printing presses, instead they use mammets to physically write copies.

My favourite big lore was probably finding out stuff about the dead civilizations in Ultima Thule. It reminds me of a game setting I sort of half fleshed out as a bit of a fun writing exercise.

Favourite character is probably Alphinaud. He really grew on me in Heavensward, and hasn't done anything to diminish his standing since. Pretty close with Thancred and Urianger though, those guys are great too.

[MikkoAkure]

My favourite big lore was probably finding out stuff about the dead civilizations in Ultima Thule. It reminds me of a game setting I sort of half fleshed out as a bit of a fun writing exercise.

I can't wait to see what they do with-

The End of the World Bar, and I want to learn more about random dead civilizations that have no impact on us as the Nekropolis becomes bustling again with the ghosts of dead civilizations.

[Theodric]

ARR:

Favourite Character - Ilberd
Favourite Lore - Vylbrand

HW:

Favourite Character - Regula van Hydrus
Favourite Lore: The Warring Triad

SB:

Favourite Character: Hien
Favourite Lore: Kugane

ShB:

Favourite Character: Emet-Selch
Favourite Lore: Amaurot

EW:

Favourite Character: Jullus
Favourite Lore: Elpis

[Lauront]

ARR:
Characters: Gaius, Lahabrea, Elidibus, Nabriales
Lore: Amdapor

HW:
Characters: Igeyorhm/Lahabrea, Nidhogg, Estinien
Lore: Ishgard, Churning mists and the lore surrounding the dragons, Void Ark stuff

SB:
Characters: Hien, Magnai, Varis, Yotsuyu
Lore: Ivalice raid series, Eureka

SHB:
Characters: Emet-Selch, Elidibus, Misija
Lore: Amaurot, Bozja quest series

EW:
Characters: Fandaniel (the Ascian), Emet-Selch, Elidibus, Quintus, Fourchenault... TBC if we hear more on Lahabrea
Lore: Elpis, Garlemald, Ultima Thule (just for the lore on the other stars)

The Scions I come closest to liking are Y'shtola, Thancred and Estinien (maybe sometimes Urianger), but they don't really score high enough for me to make the above lists.

[Rulakir]

Character: Emet-Selch
Lore: The Dotharl

I was tempted to say anything involving the Ancient world, I'm certainly the most passionate about that, but I loved the lore surrounding the Dotharl in the Azim Steppe and I wanted to add something different. Sadu is also one of my favorite characters. I like the idea that their warriors are believed to be reincarnated within the next births and the same names are given when they're 'recognized'. It was also interesting that if they wanted to break the cycle of rebirth they could choose to return to Nhaama. I just really enjoyed all their side quests, everything about their customs and beliefs was fascinating.

Emet-Selch is just heartbreaking. I think he's actually the best character in the game in terms of every metric from backstory, to motivation, to redemption. Nobody needs me to tell them about Emet though.

[Shuuli]

It is more of what interests me the most at the moment. That is the lore of the 12 and the world before the Ancients and the time before Astral and Umbral eras and to know what actually happened

[sidurgu-12]

this might sound weird for a jrpg but (one of) my favorite lore aspect is the different countries religions. each one is unique and tied really well into the overall world.

[Denishia]

Favorite Character: Ysayle, with Alphinaud a close second. And of the minor characters, Wilred.

Favorite Lore is harder. I adore (current) Eorzea and am delighted whenever the plot moves away from Allagans and especially away from the Ancients. Over time I've really grown to adore Ilberd as this nuanced and realistic antagonist, and the fleshing out of Ala Mhigo has turned into something I love- the position as a trade conduit and the cross-influence of Aldenard and Ilsabard cultures, the real-world parallels for the designs and topography, the fact that salt is its material wealth and a fantasy story acknowledges just how incredibly valuable salt was to the ancient world -that alone makes me weep with joy. That over time the barebones stereotype of conquered homeland of 'warrior/mercenary humans' was developed- that there was the Mad King who used a new religious cult in order to wrestle power away from the established religious powers - and that the democratic rebellion against the monarchy was used as an opening by the fascist empire to invade, giving both nuance and explanation for how said fascist empire conquered the city state. That the game doesn't shy away from the effect that a generation of occupation has on a population and that not everyone reacts the same way - and the diaspora communities. The richness is fantastic.

[WhiteArchmage]

They're both very hard questions, and using Ivalice for either feels like a bit of a cop-out, since I've made no secret of my love for Matsuno's works even when I genuinely like said content for itself (Bozja in particular, farming the field notes almost costing my sanity not-withstanding).

So at least on a Top Five I would put:

Urianger: I actually like Exposition Dumps, he's also had some great character development from being basically a plot device and GM puppet in 1.0 to... well I guess my actual favorite character. He outplayed the pixies, and Elidibus, and he keeps enough levity to soften his more academic personality.
Krile: Usually I feel she's underutilized, but in EW it seems they used her just right. Her manifestation of the Echo and her own Blessing of Light pointed her to be far more important that she usually is portrayed, and I'd love if she were to discard some of her Damsel in Distress elements (not that they're not justified by the narrative).
Feo Ul: One of my favorite moments is when they, in Fae, says "Rejoice and Revel, the Kingdom of Rainbows is Forever Young", it makes me really emotional. Plus their position of King of the Fae...the Fae themselves are both intriguing and terrifying, as fits their older tales.
Ryne: Bit of an odd choice but her story of struggling with her identity, her loneliness, the expectations placed on her shoulders that she never asked for... it really resonates with me.
Probably a mash of the minor Scions: Hoary and Coultenet's off-screen adventures, Isildaure's friendship with homei and Alianne's devotion to her grandfather. I'd certainly like to see them take center stage come 6.1 and beyond.

For Lore... I know what I said about Ivalice, but it really fleshed out some surprising areas of the world: the reveal that Solus had been a big patron of the arts (and how hilarious it is in hindsight, of course Emet would take interest in the arts), the War of the Magi intrigues me, and Thavnair proved to be everything I wanted.

A minor point but I also like how the Loporrits tend to use "they/them" pronouns, as do the Fae and the Ea; the latter two more obviously since they likely don't HAVE a concept of gender anymore, while the Loporrits are aetherial constructs likely built without one, either.

[Cleretic]

I like the notion of breaking this down into expansions, although I'll also add an 'untied' section for the stuff that just sort of... exists rather than being tied to any particular tale.

A Realm Reborn
Favorite character: Kind of a hard call, but I'm gonna go with Ilberd. He's essentially ARR's political environment made manifest in a single man, and I do love the politics of this game.
Favorite lore: The political machinations of Ul'Dah. Again, I do love me some politics, and if ARR has a strong point, it's in how well it paints how terrible a place Ul'Dah is.

Heavensward
Favorite character: Ysayle, no question. She's a fantastic agent through which we both learn the politics of Ishgard, and see some heart and personhood in a population that's been kind of treated as 'the other' in the game thus far; primal summoners. Also she's a full-sized female elezen, which is a grossly under-represented population in the story.
Favorite lore: Going with the overall expansion on primals that's all throughout Heavensward and its side content. Heavensward introduces us to a primal with a heart in the form of Ysayle, a primal used as a tool of the ruling class rather than the underclass in Thordan, primals used as essentially cultural relics in the Warring Triad, and Alexander, who basically blows every preconception we had about primals wide open.

Stormblood
Favorite character: It was a very tough call, but I'm going with Fordola. Basically any scene with Fordola in it is uplifted by her, and it's not through charisma, but rather just being a fascinating character who's used very well; she's an exploration of choices that have to be made under tyrannical rule, and both the toll that takes on a person and the question that develops of 'what do you do with them after the war is over'. Runner-up goes to Hien, though, who's a fantastic exploration of essentially 'a wartime leader is not necessarily a good peacetime leader'.
Favorite lore: It's hard to say where the good lore is in Stormblood since it's such a people-focused story, but it might go to Hingashi as a location. The main story does very little with this, but a neutral seaport with some very visible issues both with political tensions and economic ones is a great part of the setting, used pretty well by various side content.

Shadowbringers
Favorite character: Going against the grain on this one, but Vauthry. It's easy to forget that Shadowbringers is something of a post-apocalypse story with fantasy dressing, and when you recall that, Vauthry does a fantastic job as essentially an Immortal Joe-style figure, a man exploiting the conditions of the world in a way that highlights how bad it's gotten. Runner-up goes to Gaia, who does a wonderful job of humanizing the Ascians without being a genocidal war criminal about it.
Favorite lore: To me, it kinda has to be the Sin Eaters and what they do to preconceived notions. Sure, a lot of people leave that talking about the tale of Amaurot and Emet-Selch's views, but if you think about it, even that wouldn't hit so hard were it not for the Sin Eaters doing such a bang-up job of establishing the notion that light isn't an inherent good.

Endwalker
Favorite character: Another weird one, but Jullus. Endwalker is a very event-centric story, so it's hard to point to a single new character and say 'this one's the standout', but Jullus embodies what I think is one of the best parts of Endwalker, the exploration of Garlean national identity and the fact that a hero like the Warrior of Light isn't necessarily wanted or welcome. Runner-up goes to Amon, though (I specifically differentiate 'Fandaniel as Hermes' and 'Fandaniel as Amon' since they're ultimately very different people even if they're the same person), for just how many mind-blowing reveals he brings.
Favorite lore: The exploration of Garlemald as a nation is a big one, but ultimately it has to be learning the entirety of Venat's plan, and how much it weighed on her. As I mentioned in another thread, it's real damn hard to try to make 'I smashed the planet' readable as a benevolent and heroic act, and I think that not only did they generally pull it off, but that it was very smart of them to leave it as a point of debate as to if she was right to.

Untied to expansions
Favorite character: Hildibrand, though actually, not for the comedy! I actually find the slapstick of Hildibrand pretty grating, but I love what his job appears to have become, which is to highlight the parts of the world, and especially its politics, that more serious stories are disinclined to. He's the one that gives us the truth of the war between Ul'dah and Sil'dih, remember, as well as the most in-depth exploration of Kugane's social problems.
Favorite lore: Gelmorra. I'm always disappointed we never actually learn much about Gelmorra, because the notion of an underground city that tried to live free of the Elementals, and the potential political strife in what led to the founding of Gridania, is absolutely fascinating to me, and I wish we'd actually see it explored.