Who is your favourite FFXIV NPC?

[Dionysos]

After a long absence I have recently been playing FFXIV again and have resumed the main storyline (post-ARR and close to accessing Heavensward content). I’ve only just started to appreciate some of the FFXIV characters again.

Who is your favourite? Do you have a particular individual you are drawn to? Or multiple?

Discuss!


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Myself… I love the over-the-top nonsense of Hildibrand Manderville (self-proclaimed ‘agent of inquiry, inspector extraordinaire’), as he’s a character very much unlike any other Final Fantasy character.

I’ve recently met Ser Aymeric for the first time too… I’m really loving the character, though not at all in the way that @Linnaete does... but I find him to be an interesting, nuanced character. He made an impression on me as soon as he was introduced and I am intrigued. I can’t wait to actually play through Heavensward where I presume he plays a prominent role.

I was loving the character Moenbryda (pronounced Moon Breeder - lawl) too. Intelligent, brave, funny, etc... A fascinating relationship with Urianger (who can at times appear fairly uninteresting until you get to know him, but she really brought him out a lot).
Too bad I've just witnessed her death...

 

[Galadín]

I agree that Ser Aymeric is quite an interesting character for sure, I also enjoy Urianger's aloof personality and Thancred's brashness. However, I think that Alphinaud has been my favourite for quite some time. He sort of grew on me half-way through A Realm Reborn and onwards. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I'll settle on saying that his voice is definitely my favourite of all the voiced NPCs and he is very tenacious and self aware which I find refreshing and endearing.

 

[Linnaete]

It's genuinely difficult to decide on a single favourite NPC, because Eorzea is full of weird and wacky inhabitants who each bring something unique to the table.

Hildibrand is a solid choice; this bungling Eorzean analogy to Inspector Clousseau mixed with a generally well-handled display of slapstick humour, his consistently inadvertent ways of failing upwards and a solid localisation with charming, colourful dialogue has never failed to make me laugh. His assistant Nashu is amusing in her own right, as she's somehow even dimmer than her exuberant colleague and I applaud the localisation team for using Nashu to make a very obscure reference to a D&D gazebo joke. Very well played.

To no one's surprise, I must also give Ser Aymeric a shoutout, and not simply because I once drew smut fanart of him with my Miqo'te character for a joke. His entire arc from his pre-Heavensward introduction all the way up to the end of the Dragonsong War and his instrumental role in introducing sweeping social change to a nation that has so desperately needed a dramatic series of reforms after a millennium of stagnation is some of the most compelling I've seen in Final Fantasy and not simply this particular game. Above all, he is consistently one of the Warrior of Light's closest, most loyal allies and unlike other Eorzean leaders, has the decency of actually inviting me round for an intimate private dinner. By extension, Estinien's arc is similarly compelling, because I personally think he's Wakka done right: a man who has grown up to accept a particular religious orthodoxy, bears vengeance in his heart, and who changes his outlook over the course of Heavensward's main story while acquiring a deep respect for a woman whom he previously considered a bloodthirsty terrorist but without behaving anywhere near as insufferably or insensitively as Wakka.

Oh, and my favourite current Scion member is Alisaie. She's an absolute treat. She shows up after an astonishingly long absence from the main story to wax introspective poetic about why she originally stormed off, what she learnt during her absence away from the Scions, and what has brought her back. As much as I'd love to have seen Alisaie maturing during her absence as opposed to her telling us about it, I really like that conversation she intimately shares with the Warrior of Light under that starry La Noscean sky. As a member of the Scions, she delightfully teases her twin brother in subtle ways and displays a degree of social awareness and even genre-savvy insight that Alphinaud would never dream of having. One day I really need to actually clear the Coils of Bahamut, because I know I missed a significant chunk of canonical story where the twins take centre stage.

 

[Belazor et Britannia]

On the measurement of pure adorability, Zhloe Aliapoh:

The way she's like "oh yeah I ate three days ago and it was only somewhat rotten, I'm fine!" and I'm sitting there with a wheelbarrow full of Gil like JUST COME WITH ME I WILL TAKE YOU TO THE INN AND GET YOU SOME SOUP, WOMAN


And who could forget her sister, the most dangerous child this side of Tiny Tina, Khloe:

BRING ME BACK A BOOK DRENCHED IN THE FRESH BLOOD OF MY ENEMIES, ADVENTURER! Yes okay anything you say just please don't hurt my Family of Light, I love them very much thank you.

 

[Six]

Thancred? Thancred. Admittedly I don't pay as much attention to the story as I should, but I mean... Just look at him.

 

[shivas]

oh god where do I start I'm just gonna put them as pairs because I love NPC interactions (and I ship them but whatever okay).

I: Guydelot & Sanson (from the Bard questline)

This guy....... FLIRTY IDIOT that keeps calling sanson "the Stiff" and talking about getting drunk and avoiding work BUT CARES SO MUCH SONGS AND PEOPLE IN NEED OF HELP........ I LOVE HIM

poor sanson

bonus:

II: Aymeric & Estinien

Estinien please

..... RELAX

Spoiler: GIF

and uhhhhhh there's also this??????? thank you SE

III: Haurchefant

): I love him and his story and his family and the entire backstory JUST EVERYTHING

 

[Miasma Dragon]

One who knows me would find it no surprise that my lists of favorite characters will often include antagonists and villains. They're generally far easier to identify with than most of their opposites.

The following honorable mentions in alphabetical order:

Nael van Darnus
Gaius van Baelsar
Nero
Raubahn
Varis zos Galvus

Now, to get to the meat.

Hraesvelgr

Starting at number 5 is the loyal, yet fierce Wyrm of the Dravanian Skies, Hraesvelgr. As the brood-brother of Nidhogg, had his claws struck Ishgard they would have stricken at the heart of the Dragonsong War, but because he had bonded with the patron saint known as Shiva, he has removed himself from the war while aiding his brother reluctantly. In time, he's petitioned by the Warrior of Light to bring peace through the help of an Elezen who's able to use the forbidden primal summoning magick upon herself, and understandably reluctant, he's requested to betray the familial bonds with Nidhogg so that the Dragonsong War would one day end.

Nidhogg

What would you do if someone murdered your only sister, one you loved dearly? In 4th place is Nidhogg, the rage-filled Wyrm of the Dravanian Skies and brother to Hraesvelgr. Nidhogg swore a war of attrition against man, when, despite both sides having been peace, Thordan the first king of Ishgard deceived and murdered Ratatoskr, even defiling her corpse by taking her eyes for his own power, and his son taking one of Nidhogg's eyes for himself. Indeed, while to man the millennia seemed such a long ago, to a dragon it was but a moment in passing and Nidhogg had a lesson to teach to mere mortals, though by the end of the war it was Nidhogg who needed to learn a lesson, and in death he certainly did.

Midgardsormr

The biggest Wyrm of them all, the brood-father of all dragons in Hydaelyn, and Guardian of Mor Dhona. Midgardsormr, coming in 3rd, is in fact what we'd call an alien or extra-terrestrial due to the fact he's actually not native to Planet Hydaelyn at all. First appearing in the 1.0 introduction cutscene, Midgardsormr is shown taking on the entire Agrius fleet of Garlean origin (which happened 15-20 years prior to 1.0 itself) in Mor Dhona, only to sacrifice himself at the end. However, despite this sacrifice he eventually wakes up, managing to take on lesser forms, and after a fierce battle with the Warrior of Light, he decides to test to see for himself whether the warrior really was Hydaelyn's chosen or just another pretender by taking away his blessing of light. When the warrior does manage to pass his test, Midgardsormr isn't merely surprised, but pleasantly so as he offers to become a companion for the warrior through the rest of his journey.

Tiamat

In 2nd place is the brood-sister of Bahamut, the great Tiamat. A long time ago, back when the Allags still reigned, they murdered her brood-brother and the first of Midgardsormr's children, Bahamut. Well before Bahamut's corpse grew cold, the Ascians came before Tiamat. They offered her a way to resurrect the fierce Bahamut, and in her innocent ignorance she accepted. But this was no mere resurrection, but the first of its kind - a primal summoning - not bringing the great Bahamut back, but a primal, and when Tiamat learned about it she allowed herself to be trapped in Allag technology on an island in the skies of Azyss Lla, where she has only continued to regret her actions ever since - having inadvertently unleashed one of the most destructive forces on Hydaelyn - despite even Midgardsormr, their very own brood-father, telling her how she needs to let it go because she only did what she thought was best.

Lady Iceheart

Coming in 1st place is none other than Ysayle Dangoulain, or Lady Iceheart as she prefers to be called. Leader of the heretics, those whom do not accept the official teaching of the Church, she seeks peace between Dragonkin and man, and an end to the Dragonsong War. To understand her story, you must first, understand the Dragonsong War, and secondly, understand the bond Hraesvelgr has with Saint Shiva.

One day long ago, Hraesvelgr fell in love with a mortal human by the name of Shiva. Because the life of a human was just barely a moment in passing to a dragon such as Hraesvelgr, she proposed that at the end of her life he would consume her entirely, entwining their souls for eternally. In time, he accepted. This union inspired a time of peace between man and dragon, where they would be united and they'd cooperate with one-another in all manner and likeness, until one fateful day.

That fateful day was when King Thordan and his men betrayed the peaceful alliance of dragon and man, by both murdering Ratatoskr the brood-sister of Hraesvelgr and defiling her body, and attempted to slew Nidhogg. In retaliation, Nidhogg slayed King Thordan, and the son of King Thordan, Haldrath himself nearly slayed Nidhogg in turn, cutting out one of Nidhogg's eyes for himself. (Eyes are the great source of a wyrm's power.)

From that day forward, in an attempt to hide their crime against both man and dragon, King Thordan's men built up the noble houses of Ishgard and propagated to their families and those beyond in the form of the Ishgardian Orthodox Church. To put it simple, the church was established to teach the people that Ishgard and the people were wholly innocent, and that the dragons had always been at war with man (that and for one other reason, but that's for another topic).

However, as people traveled west of Ishgard in the times since, to Dravania and beyond, they would see proof that dragon and man weren't always at war, and many started to learn the truths of Ishgard's crimes. Such people, coming to see the church doctrine as a lie and/or sought peace with dragons, came to be branded heretics, deprived of Ishgardian citizenship and treated like monsters. No less was Ysayle, Lady Iceheart herself, the inevitable leader of the heretics, having learned about her own manifestation of the Echo at such a young age (eventually leading her to being able to transform into her own version of Saint Shiva).

In time, Lady Ysayle is petitioned by the Warrior of Light and Midgardsormr to journey west of Ishgard to meet with Hraesvelgr, traveling even alongside the Azure Dragoon himself, Estinien Wyrmblood, while also proving herself willing to use her transformation to help them get past any would-be obstacle. Once they arrive before Hraesvelgr, trying to use her weight of being able to transform into Shiva, she petitions Hraesvelgr to end the great war as the brood-brother of Nidhogg.

But no, Hraesvelgr instead mocks her transformation, revealing that her transformation was one of her own creation and the great wyrm reveals his own betrayal of Shiva, in how he, out of respect for their family, gave one of his eyes to Nidhogg. This news devastates Lady Iceheart to the core and shakes the very foundation of her beliefs, to the point she condemns the very Wyrm of her love.

Yet when the warrior appears in Azyss Lla, chasing the most recent King Thordan, the unlikely duo of Lady Iceheart and Hraesvelgr appear in the skies after having sensed Nidhogg's power. Revealing they've talked and made up, the two lead an assault against a Garlean ship, and she sacrifices herself in hopes of ending the Dragonsong War.

(FTR: Ysayle Dangoulain is also one of my favorite characters in any fictional story, and her sacrifice is every bit important to it. I would never forgive SE if they canonically revived her in FFXIV, save for something like the upcoming trust system.)

Edit note: I formerly mentioned that Hraesvelgr had tested the WoL during Lady Ysayle's arc. That was incorrect. It was not until Sohr Khai that it happened.

 

[JasonTandro]

Oh wow you've opened the can of worms haven't you there... so many to choose from...

Lemme break them into categories:

Favorite City-State Leader: Ser Aymeric (lord save my fragile heterosexuality. Also, honorable mention: Merlywyb)
Favorite Scion: Y'shtola (especially after the Burn: Savage. Honorable Mention: Krile)
Favorite Major NPC: Lord Hien (to be fair, I may just be blinded by his theme and nation being from FF6)
Favorite Antagonist: Gaius van Baelsar (though yes I know what we all know)
Favorite Minor NPC: HILDEBRAND (Like is there any other choice?)
Favorite Guild Trainer: Beatin (he's just so chill. Also Serendipity is just adorable)
Favorite Job Trainer: Sidurgu (don't judge, I love my edgelord. Also MAJOR HONORABLE MENTION to Musosai. Weeping still)

I think that'll do for now.