Nael Van Darnus vs Shadow Lord

[Kagato]

Well, the first Storyline Final Boss of FFXIV has been out for about a week now. I thought I'd see how everyone felt compared to Shadow Lord.

Nael Van Darnus: A man obsessed with the power of Dalamud and a desire to wipe clean the face of Eorzea in order to start anew and willing to sacrifice everything to achieve it. Killing the Primals allows him access to more of Dalamud's power, so he wants all of the world's Primals eradicated and the rest of the world "purged." Rumor has it that he rose quickly to power after his father's illness took it's toll. Then his father's closest aid's were killed not long after. Coincidence? Darnus is more of an insanity tale of greed, power, self-righteousness and eradication.

Shadow Lord: A broken-hearted Galka who was killed by his own companion and lost his loved one, Cornelia, who tried to protect him. He is reborn as the vengeful Shadow Lord, leader of the beastmen army to take vengeance on the people of Vanadiel for their cruel actions on those who were different. Shadow Lord is more of a tragic tale of love, betrayal, sympathy and revenge.

Which of these two villains had more of a lasting impact as the first major antagonist of the Final Fantasy MMO series?

My Vote: Shadow Lord.

[Yucie]

Shadow Lord is soloable at level cap.

Darnus is not.

Darnus.

[Gentaro]

Shadow Lord is soloable at level cap.

Darnus is not.

Darnus.

What was the lvlcap when the shadow lord was released?

Hint: Not 75

[Jinrya-Geki]

Darnus, Shadow Lord is dumb.

[Dhalmel]

Shadow Lord is soloable at level cap.

Darnus is not.

Darnus.

>implying Shadowlord wasn't made & released before Lv 75 cap
>implying he could be solo'd at the Lv 50 cap.


I like darnus more, he was chaotic evil.

[nekroturkey]

Shadow Lord.

Better back-story, better character development, and a better/more original character design.

[Andrien]

Shadow/Dynamis Lord

He reminds me of Kronos Megalos, from "Wrath of the Titans"


But Darnus is one crazy mofo, and he reminds me of the Judges in FFXII

Its a draw for me

[Nikita]

I like Darnus more, he was much more in your face and with the missions leading up to him I felt more compelled on a personal level to defeat him. Also, his personality seemed much more fleshed out.

[DarthTaru]

XI had a lot more time to flesh out the Shadow Lord so naturally he seems to be the greater tale now.
I don't know, I really like Darnus. I think there's something strangely sympathetic about him, too. I don't recall what he said now but I believe there was a hint of self justification in his words during the final fight that actually made what looks to be a completely irrational act a lot more rational.

Leaning Darnus atm.

[Kagato]

Shadow Lord is soloable at level cap.

FFXI's level cap was level 50 when people first fought Shadow Lord. I'm sure FFXIV will have it's level cap raised eventually and I'm sure Darnus will become a joke character by then too.

Also, Shadow Lord has Dynamis Lord (And Hyper Dynamis Lord, one of the game's hardest bosses). Not to mention Shadow Lord from the past, who is far more powerful. So really, the Shadow Lord fought as the final boss for mission 6-2 was really just the weakest form of him.