One of the greatest parts ofFinal Fantasy 14: Endwalkeris its characters. Fans got to spend time with many fan favorites, such as Estinien and G’raha Tia, while also getting emotionally attached to new facessuch as Venatand Hermes. Among familiar faces included certain villains such as Zenos. Some fans really love the character, while others have found his personality to be one-dimensional and tiresome. When he was revived and teased in trailers to be one of the main villains of Endwalker, fans expected to see a lot more of him. However, the expansion had different plans.
Zenos actually played a very small role inFinal Fantasy 14:Endwalker, only appearing in five scenes. This has gotten different reactions from fans, mostly in the positive realm as they see it as either matching the nihilistic theme of Endwalker or just as a funny situation for a character that’s already hard to take seriously. With the expansion being the last of the Hydaelyn and Zodiark arc and ending on Zenos' death, Square Enix did make some strange and bold choices with the character, making many wonder why Zenos was brought back to life in the first place.
RELATED:Final Fantasy 14: Vauthry Had The Makings For A Sympathetic Villain
What Zenos Does In Endwalker
While most villains had big worldly plans, Zenos kept his motivations very simple: To have a great battle withthe Warrior of Light. To have a great battle meant breaking them and seeing them take off their “hero” mask, and he figured the best way to do that was to destroy whatever they held dear so that they would seek revenge. He planned to use Zodiark for this, but his plans were ruined by Fandaniel, and he became nothing but background noise until he finally gets his final battle with the Warrior of Light at the end.
The two biggest Zenos scenes in the expansion werein Garlemaldand the very end. Fans were on the edges of their seats in Garlemald when Zenos actually takes over the Warrior of Light’s body to go kill their friends. However, the excitement is short-lived and solved after one thrilling instance. The final fight was a part that many fans felt was tacked on, as Zenos traveled through space to have his final fight and is finally finished off.
All of this coincided with the main plot about life, death, and purpose with the fate of the universe. This is why some fans are asking “Was Zenos really needed for this story?” and “Why did the developers bring him back?” Especially when Fandaniel could have also taken over the Warrior of Light’s body in Garlemald instead.
Why Was Zenos Ever Involved
It has been confirmed that Zenos' story is over by Endwalker writer, Natsuko Ishikawa. While developers have not totally elaborated on their reasons for bringing Zenos back from the grave only to use him in five scenes in Endwalker, some fans have interpreted their own reasons. On Reddit, one user mentioned that they think Zenos fits in well with the themes of nihilism and existentialism in the expansion. Zenos serves as an example of someone finding their purpose, no matter what the world throws at them. In this way, he is actually kind of a hopeful character in the face ofMeteion and her sisters.
Also, despite being in only a few scenescompared to other characters inFinal Fantasy 14, Zenos did have some good lines that made players think. One of these was when he is asked for a reason for the atrocities he did, and he questions why he is asked for a reason, as though that would make his actions any better or worse. However, not everyone has kept a positive view of how his character was handled.
There are some fans that found Zenos to be wasted potential. Some wanted to see more of what lengths he would actually go for a good fight and taking more of anactive role in theFF14main plot. Some even wish he actually did kill or hurt a party member to spice things up between him and the Warrior of Light. In fact, that was the expectation of many fans before the expansion came out.
Others are bitter that Zenos did not actually help in the fight with Meteion and instead just used his body as a platform. Some have described most of Zenos' existence in Endwalkeras “wandering and moping” when they really wanted to see him as a force of nature villain. Of course, there are also fans in the middle who never liked Zenos to begin with and were unhappy with his revival, and so they are happy he did not get manyscenes in Endwalker.
Final Fantasy 14is available now for PC, PS4, and PS5.
MORE:Final Fantasy 14: Fans Are Waiting For Ryne And Gaia To Be A Confirmed Couple
