The importance of a rival

[Gwenkatsu]

@OP: I agree with you in that there should be a strong and interesting other person as a counterpart to our goody two shoes WoL. Neither Bakool Ja Ja, nor Zoraal Ja, nor Sphene come even close to filling that role.

I disagree with everything else you said, because pretty much this:

He was a roadblock, then he was an annoyance, then he was Fandaniel's pawn, then he was a loose end to tie up. I never felt like he had the narrative justification to call himself a real rival.

I still remember that moment at Endwalker's end where my Red Mage decided it was a good idea to throw away her enchanted rapier and duke it out with that primitive brute in a fist fight... I stared at the screen in disbelieve, then started laughing. Surely not what the developers intended, but that scene was so stupidly absurd, it just fits the whole Zenos character ("HulkZenos strong! HulkZenos strongest warrior! HulkZenos SMASH!")