Garlean Inability to use magic.

[Necrotica]

Google fails me in my search for why Garleans cannot use magic.

I had assumed it was genetic since it is passed on to their children, but it cannot be the physical body that is the limitation. Otherwise Elidibus would not have been able to use magic in Zenos' body.

So that makes it a matter of their soul. Which also opens up the concept that traits of a soul, such as the inability to use magic, can be passed on to children.

Is there anything in lore that goes over this more in depth?

There is also the possibility that Elidibus changed the body somehow via magic to undo the limitation before going into it. That could open up some interesting plotlines if someone is able to find the switch inside the Garleans to turn magic access back on.

Does anyone here think this will be explored more in coming game content/expansions or just a case of "They can't except when we want them to. Don't ask questions"?

[KageTokage]

It's stated that the Resonant procedure was originally designed to simply enable the Garlean physiology to use magicks, so I'd assume there's a physical component to it on top of the soul-altering aspect that imbues the subject with an artificial Echo.

Assuming we get a proper Ilsabard/Garlean-focused expansion to tie up loose ends, I'd be really surprised if the subject didn't come up again as I'd think the prospect of creating more Resonant-enhanced soldiers would've been very appealing given how effective it was with Zenos. Its utilization in the Bozja storyline was...disappointing to say in the least, as it was basically just a throwaway plot device that didn't consider any of the deeper implications like the human resources involved.

[Kirika-]

All Garleans lack the "genetic" trait needed to manipulate aether, however pure blooded Garleans may "see" it with their third eye.
As they lacked aetherial manipulation, aka magic, they were at an extreme disadvantage to every other spoken, beast, or monster on the star, all of which can "use magic" to some degree.
That's why they went all techie after being displaced by all the spoken races and used that technology to subjugate ones who could use magic, and use them as cannon fodder in conquesting the rest of the star.

Fun Fact: Thancred Waters, even though he is a Hyru Midlander and a Scion, can't manipulate aether.

[SannaR]

Well Zenos is a special case considering who his great grandfather is. So, he's already cheating. There are some who are able to use magic. They're an interesting race as if I have my lore correct their ancestors were those who lived in the clockworks city of Galug. Back during Ramza's time. Which I want to say could use magic? Then they just happen to be chased from Corvos the area that G'raha is from. You know the people who still had Allagan royal blood being passed down.

Thancred was able to use magic and his own aether before being altered by the use of the spell Flow. He can sort of use his own aether still, but it's harder. It's why he nearly died during his fight with Ran'jit.

[MikkoAkure]

Well Zenos is a special case considering who his great grandfather is. So, he's already cheating. There are some who are able to use magic. They're an interesting race as if I have my lore correct their ancestors were those who lived in the clockworks city of Galug. Back during Ramza's time. Which I want to say could use magic? Then they just happen to be chased from Corvos the area that G'raha is from. You know the people who still had Allagan royal blood being passed down.

The people of Goug could not use magic. The modern Garleans descended from 7 tribes of the same race of people, one of which are those from Goug. They all happened to converge on Corvus after Goug was destroyed and many eras after G'raha's ancestors had settled the land. Whether one or a few tribes of proto-Garleans were also settled in Corvus going back to the time of the Allagans, we do not yet know, but the Allag royal blood was only being passed down within a family of Miqo'te so they won't have anything to do with it.

As for the original question, this is what Koji Fox had to say a while back:

This is an easy question. They are genetically unable to. It’s in their DNA, because they have all of this knowledge. They basically go and take over a bunch of countries, but they don’t destroy the nations when they go and take them over. They kill the leaders and then let the nations remain as they are, because they realize that’s a better way to have them remain loyal to the Garleans and not have an uprising. Because of that, the Garlean Empire has access to all of this information, but even with access to all of that knowledge on magic, they still can’t use it because it’s in their genetics. That’s why they’ve built up all of that machina to fight the magic that’s so powerful in Eorzea.

As far as Emet-Selch goes, he cheats and can cast magic on the Source due to the benefit of being an Ascian. He is basically a ghost of an Ancient possessing the body of a Garlean who was once his own person and had no capability to cast magic on his own. Whenever we interact with Emet-Selch on the First, he is not actually in the body of an Garlean, he possessed some random person and then molded his body to look like Solus because that's a form he's comfortable with.

[Cleretic]

Basically you have to consider any Garlean that was at any point possessed by an Ascian to be a special case. We can't just assume lineage was the key, because Varis didn't have noteworthy magical acumen. My guess is that the Ascians know how to modify a Garlean so they can use magic, but kept that secret to themselves. Which explains why Zenos had some ability when he got his body back; Elidibus had made it magic-capable, that didn't go away when Zenos took it back.

Although in retrospect, I don't actually remember Zenos doing any magic after taking his body back, so I'm not exactly sure where the 'Zenos can do magic' idea came from. Zenos mostly just spent his time after taking his body back loathing the fact he was watching Fandaniel ham it up.

[KageTokage]

He casually teleports away from the scene of Varis' death in the same manner as an Ascian initially, but never actually utilizes said ability again.

The shields he generates during the add phase in his Ala Mhigo fight as well as his duel with Gaius and Estinien are also presumably some manner of magic given how his Resonant eyes were glowing in the latter case.

[Rannie]

I dont know if it was Fandaniel or not but the candles light as he's walking past with nothing lighting them up as he walked towards our body in the quest In From the Cold or whatever *shrugs*

(All the candles in long and short candelabra sconces and stuff nothing done with ceruleum due to the way the flames danced and flickered in the cutscene)

On a side note you can actually see your character in the top right portion of the screen at one point when Danny boy is talking about Anima (it's after the cut to Anima it self)

[Jandor]

Garleans lack the ability to consciously manipulate aether, it seems to be a genetic limitation as we've never met a full-blooded Garlean that has been able to use magic naturally and unassisted (Lucia did used to cast Cure during Steps of Faith IIRC, but apparently she doesn't anymore.)

Garleans do have aether though, and they can force their bodies to utilize it through dangerous and/or questionable methods.

In the short story “The Hunt Begins” from the Chronicles of Light book, a young Zenos manages to pull off a sword technique that imbues a blade with aether by cutting open his palm and jamming a crystal fragment in it.

"He had buried it in his palm in a bid to force his body to release aether. And the risks had been great; in the worst case, his body’s aethereal balance could have been altered irreversibly, even fatally. Yet in full knowledge of the dangers, naught else would suffice but to sate his curiosity and put this new fighting style to the proof."

[Lyth]

We also know that Garleans can use a form of magic through pacts with Voidsent, based on Reaper lore. Although whether that is entirely aetherically based remains to be seen.