In Final Fantasy XIV players fight against a variety of villains. Among them are some that are particularly cruel. Here are 5 of them.
What would an epic story be without villains one can truly hate? Characters who disregard morality, mercy, and pure humanity, destroying everything that stands in their way. When they threaten the world and its inhabitants once again, we confront them and take up arms to stop them.
In this list, we present to you 5 antagonists who have particularly distinguished themselves in FFXIV through their cruelty. Some of them have already been stopped, while others are still spreading death and destruction.
Zenos yae Galvus
This is Zenos: As the crown prince of the Garlean Empire, Zenos has always received only the best of everything. He received the best education, which included teachings not only about sciences but also about warfare and martial arts. However, his childhood was joyless, and over time, the small boy transformed into a monster.
After the disappearance of Gaius van Baelsar, Zenos was appointed regent over Ala Mhigo and ruled the land with an iron fist. The Mhigo refugees tell in fear that Zenos is a beast for whom mercy is a foreign word.
This is why he is cruel: The essence of Zenos’ cruelty is his complete indifference toward living beings. The lives of others are absolutely worthless to him, and he murders out of sheer whim anyone who displeases him in any way. To him, others are nothing more than soulless puppets.
Even his own subordinates are terrified of him because they know he could kill them at any moment. Simply because he can. In the end, Zenos even has no qualms about murdering his own father because the latter wants to destroy the Warrior of Light, the only person Zenos cares about.
Yotsuyu goe Brutus
This is Yotsuyu: Yotsuyu, the regent of Doma, is actually a tragic figure. As a child, she was abused by her parents and brother and married off to a violent nobleman who made her life hell. To take revenge, she betrayed her compatriots to the Garleans and served for a time as a spy.
Over time, she rose through the ranks and even came into contact with Crown Prince Zenos yae Galvus. When an uprising broke out in Doma, which was then brutally suppressed, Zenos appointed Yotsuyu as the regent of the land.
This is why she is cruel: Cruelty is literally in Yotsuyu’s job description. As the regent of Doma, her task is to literally break the people of the land. They should be tortured, oppressed, and humiliated for so long that any last thought of rebellion is driven from them.
And this task is fulfilled with much pleasure by the sadistic Yotsuyu. She hates her compatriots deeply because she was abused by them in her childhood and youth. Thus, she has the samurai Gosetsu tortured and beaten by her henchman because he is part of the resistance against the Garleans.
Vauthry
This is Vauthry: Players encounter Vauthry for the first time in the Shadowbringers expansion. The powerful regent of the city-state of Eulmore has the eerie ability to control the Sin Eaters. They are obedient to him, which is why he is regarded as a sort of divine savior. He is the only one who can protect people from the Sin Eaters,
Vauthry has established a realm of decadence in Eulmore. The super-rich citizens of the city live pleasant lives while awaiting the end of their world and everything being consumed by light. Every day, they bring new people from the slums outside the city to entertain them and fulfill their desires. A system they owe to Vauthry.
This is why he is cruel: Even though Vauthry initially presents himself as a benevolent regent, he is a thoroughly vile person. He sees himself as the savior of humanity because he enables coexistence with the Sin Eaters. However, this coexistence comes at a price. Anyone who does not obey Vauthry or angers him will be fed alive to the beasts.
Vauthry does not shy away from torturing or humiliating his victims beforehand. For instance, he ordered the fraud Kai Shirr to cut off his own arm and offer it to the Sin Eaters. And the residents of Eulmore simply watch, as he has secretly brainwashed them.
Valens van Varro
This is Valens: After the death of Legatus Nael van Darnus, the VIIth Legion of Garlemald was without a leader for a long time. Only after the liberation of Ala Mhigo and the uprisings in other imperial provinces did the VIIth Legion see action again. The new Legatus Valens van Varro followed in the footsteps of Gaius van Baelsar and began developing new weapons.
Van Varro is an ambitious man. His weapons are intended to be even more powerful than the Allagan Ultima Weapon, which the players destroyed in battle at the Praetorium. He takes every opportunity to prove his superiority over Gaius. After all, the former Legatus of the XIVth Legion is his nemesis and has surpassed him in every way.
This is why he is cruel: Although FFXIV is not lacking in cruel NPCs, Valens van Varro stands out due to his atrocities. For his weapon project, he conducts the most horrific experiments on humans. Their life essence is drained away in agony or overwritten with another consciousness, causing the victims unimaginable pain.
He does not shy away from abusing children either. For instance, he forces small children to torture an innocent man and hold hot iron to his bare skin. Or he forces the parents of a girl to abuse her in front of her eyes and then dispose of them like trash.
Fandaniel
This is Fandaniel: Fandaniel appears in the story of FFXIV quite late. It is not until Shadowbringers that one gets a brief impression of the Ascian as he reveals himself to Zenos for the first time. Like all Ascians, Fandaniel is inherently immortal. His spirit can switch between different bodies, currently inhabiting the body of Yotsuyu’s brother, Asahi.
However, Fandaniel is a renegade. While his Ascian colleagues are fiercely loyal to the Primals, particularly Zodiark, and work tirelessly to restore him to full strength, Fandaniel is not interested in this. He therefore joins Zenos in wanting to bring about the end of the world.
This is why he is cruel: Fandaniel’s cruelty is “more universal” than that of the other characters on our list, even among the ruthless Ascians, he stands out because of this. Unlike other Ascians, he is not interested in the reunification of the worlds. No, Fandaniel wants to see the world burn. He wants to spread suffering, death, and destruction.
As a nihilist, his ultimate goal is the destruction of all life, including his own. To achieve his goal, he abducts and enslaves people and wild tribes. They are horrifically tortured and forced to conduct new summoning rituals repeatedly to drain the essential aether from the land.
Which villains from FFXIV do you find truly hateworthy? Let us know in the comments.
By the way, Fandaniel will play a crucial role in the great final battle, which will take place in the Endwalker expansion. Here is all the information about it:
Final Fantasy XIV brings a new expansion Endwalker – Release date and all information
