History Characters / FinalFantasyXIVEmetSelch

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/emetselchancient.png]][[/labelnote]]

** If his Solus Zos Galvus persona calls to mind [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV Ardyn Izunia]], then his Emet-Selch persona references Garland from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''. Like Garland, Emet-Selch's primary goal is the revival of his advanced yet long extinct race, at the cost of the currently living species that inhabit the the Source and it's reflections. Both their plans rely on the merging of worlds, rely on pawns they create to get their plans moving, both turn out to be the man behind the man of the supposed antagonist that they have a familial connection to, (Varis for Emet-Selch, Kuja for Garland), and have a connection to the main hero that goes before the events of the game. The Warrior of Light is the reincarnation of Emet-Selch's close friend, while Zidane is Garland's perfected angel of death. Both their endgames rely on the hero's soul to some extent, (Emet-Selch hoped that the Lightwarden's corruption would break the Warrior of Light's soul to bring about a rejoining, while Garland rips out Zidane's soul in an attempt at forcing obedience.) Lastly their plans are ultimately ruined by another villain they assumed they had under control. (Emet-Selch's posthumous plans for black rose and thus the rejoining is ruined by Zenos overthrowing Varis, while Terra along with its inhabitant's souls are destroyed by Kuja in addition to Kuja killing Garland himself.]

* MovingTheGoalposts: Due to his pride and refusal to acknowledge the living races as worthy of living, he gradually begins doing this later in the expansion. The Warrior of Light shows they don't have enough power to control the Lightwarden's Aether? Useless to him and he won't change his mind. Warrior of Light and friends show up and try to convince him otherwise? Test them again and then promptly say they failed anyway. The Warrior actually ''figures out'' how to contain the light by fusing with Ardbert thus proving to Emet-Selch that they were indeed Azem all along? [[IRejectYourReality That's just a trick of the light, nothing more.]] The story makes it clear this is partially because he doesn't want to acknowledge that the heroes have valid points, so he'd rather set goals and then deem them failures. It may also be that his tempering by Zodiark makes it impossible to see any worth in the sundered world, as that might lead hin to give up on Zodiark's goals.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:Subverted. While summoned with his memories fully restored in the climax of ''Endwalker'' he's furious at himself for being fooled by Hermes and being forced to play along in Venat's millenia-long gambit. However, unlike his past self, he ''[[IRegretNothing not]]'' [[IRegretNothing regret]] the atrocities he commited in his quest to save his people, [[TheUnapologetic declaring his ideals inviolate and invincible]]. [[DontYouDarePityMe He then tells Alisaie to spare him her pity]] and to save the star if she still feels bad for him.]]

* BattleThemeMusic: His fight begins with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSYGILOL-tg "Who Brings Shadow"]], a reprise of "Shadowbringers" that acts as a RageAgainstTheHeavens against Hydaelyn and the Warrior for opposing his efforts to restore his people. It's replaced with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W5yAbMLNCc "Invincible"]], a booming orchestral arrangement of "Shadowbringers", as Hades brings all he has to bear against you to secure the Ancients' future.

* BelievingTheirOwnLies: While acknowledging "moral relativism and all that", Emet-Selch says that he doesn't consider the races of the star to be truly alive, at least not in the way that the Ancients were. But it's implied that this is just what Emet tells himself to stay on his path, and that deep down he knows the ones he deems broken and inferior are very much alive. Hence, his desire for a path of lesser tragedy. Once it becomes clear that the Warrior of Light isn't backing down and is willing to force him to confront the truth, Emet's mask cracks and he starts having a VillainousBreakdown. This is implied more strongly by Y'shtola during ''Endwalker'', where she realizes that in contrast to [[spoiler:the Ancients who mistook the Warrior for a mere {{Familiar}}]], the shades from Amaurot mistook them for a child instead. From Emet-Selch's real point-of-view, he seemed to acknowledge the races of Eorzea as people, just immature ones.

* BossBanter: As his fight as Hades in ''Shadowbringers,'' his banter is filled with either BadassBoast, [[SuperSupremacist his smug beliefs on the Star belongs only to them and the Warrior's insignificance]], or him calling out to the souls of the Ancients to help him in battle.

** A side-dialogue of Y'shtola basically confirms that he wasn't very good at this. [[spoiler:Unlike the Ancients from Elpis who mistake the Warrior as a familiar, the shades from Emet-Selch's recreated Amaurot mistake them for children instead. As said by Y'shtola, it's extremely likely that he actually saw modern humanity as proper living beings, but very immature ones. In retrospective, it's made painfully clear that this failure at totally dehumanizing them only made his own actions break him further.]]

* FinalExamBoss: His Extreme version has him summon up the shades of previous Ascians that have been killed over the story as well as using their attacks. Nabriales' meteor drop, Lahabrea and Igeyorhm's fire and ice as well as fusing to Ascian Prime.

** Also to Venat/Hydaelyn, though Emet would probably hate to hear you say it. [[spoiler:Both were close associates with Azem/the Warrior of Light, Venat being their mentor and Emet being a [[TrueCompanions True Companion]]. Both were prodigiously powerful and well-respected Ancients, with Venat being TheAce and Emet being TheArchmage. Both love their people dearly and [[MilesToGoBeforeISleep undergo 12,000 years of extreme personal suffering for their sakes]]. Both were willing to make harsh sacrifices for the sake of those they loved, and both had even [[FutureMeScaresMe expressed aversion to hearing about those future actions]]. The major difference between them, and what sets them at odds, is what they view as the best course for those they love: Emet wants to sacrifice the current inhabitants of the star to bring back the dead Ancients, while Venat feels that they must mourn those they lost while moving forward into the future.]]

* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: After being defeated and returning to aetherial sea, he loses his traumatic VillainousBreakdown qualities, going so far as to carry out a BigDamnHeroes moment during the Warrior of Light's final confrontation with Elidibus. ''Endwalker'' reveals that he had already [[StableTimeLoop joined forces with the Warrior of Light in the past]], and has firmly been an ally upon regaining those memories after being defeated in ''Shadowbringers''. With help from Azem's summoning powers, he arrives with Hythlodaeus in Ultima Thule to [[BackupFromOtherworld rescue the Scions]] from their own individual HeroicSacrifice so they can face down [[BigBad Meteion]] in the FinalBattle to put a permanent end to the Final Days that destroyed the Ancients and triggered the entire Ascian conflict from the beginning.]]

** [[spoiler: Try as he might, there was more to suggest he cared more about the sundered races than he cared to admit. Before the final dungeon of ''Endwalker'' if you talk to Y'shtola, she muses that on Elpis, all of the Ancients regarded the Warrior as a mere familiar. By comparison, the shades in the phantom Amaurot regarded the Scions as children, leading Y'shtola to muse that, even if not just subconsciously, Emet-Selch knew his "not a person" schtick was bunk and acknowledged the sundered Spoken as real - if not naïve and juvenile - people. Also note that before the final battle of ''Shadowbringers'', he could have wiped out the Scions with the ease of swatting a gnat to deny the Warrior of Light their support and hurt them personally, but he only nonlethally (or at least, not so severely Urianger and Alphinaud couldn't patch them up offscreen) takes the Scions out of the fight. Either because the Warrior cares about them or because his statement about not considering them real people was a total lie and he hesitated to go all out.]]

** Part of his justification for the Ancients being superior to the modern races of the world is because they're not just biologically superior, but ''morally'' superior. He taunts the Scions asking if the inhabitants of the modern world would willingly sacrifice themselves to save half their people, as the Ascians did when summoning Zodiark. The Scions[[note]]notably the camera fixates on Alphinaud, arguably one of the most idealistic Scions, but one who has also experienced much betrayal and suffering at the hands of selfish people with no care for the greater good[[/note]] are silent, implying he may be right.

** His real name is Hades, the Greek god of the Underworld. As the "Through His Eyes" short story reveals, the Ancients actually called the Lifestream the Underworld, and Emet-Selch has always had a very close connection to it. This connection even allows him to locate souls and pull them out, as he does with Y'shtola. Emet-Selch also uses his powers to recreate a city of the dead, filled with shades of Amaurotians who perished in the Final Days, and the apocalypse that destroyed their world. During the fight against him, several times he calls out to the souls of the Ancients, even recreating shades of fallen Ascians.

* MilesToGoBeforeISleep: Once the proverbial mask falls and the "real" Emet-Selch is revealed, he comes across as impossibly, unspeakably tired. It's all but stated that he's only half-heartedly going along with the plan of performing Rejoinings to summon Zodiark because he knows that Elidibus will never give up on it and he still cares enough about Elidibus to stick with him so that the latter will never be alone. Once he's struck down by the Warrior of Light, he seems almost happy to be put out of his immortal misery, especially after the Warrior of Light promises to remember the Ancients.

* MoreThanMindControl: He overtly states he is tempered by Zodiark and is well aware of the implications surrounding that, but to him it doesn't matter because summoning Zodiark and using his power to resurrect the Ancients is the only way he can see bringing them all back.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:When Meteion explains her plans to end all life, Emet-Selch indignantly refutes asking who she thinks she is to determine what is best for mankind. It's this moment the hypocrisy of the Ancients becomes solidified in Hermes' mind, as he sees this as no different to the them deciding which of their creations gets to live or die by what they seem fair and just. This leads to his decision to let Meteion's plans continue, and have it be a determination on mankind's worth.]]

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: As Hades, he serves this as a Primal for the Ancients, in a vein similar to Louisoix becoming Phoenix, due to him being "raised up by the souls of [his] fallen brethren," even fusing with all of them in the extreme version of his trial. [[spoiler:Ironically enough, the Ascians ''do'' have a Primal in the form of Elidibus, who instead takes the form of the original Warrior of Light.]]

** Emet gets [[HopeSpot one last glimmer of hope]] by the fact that the Warrior is a reincarnation of one of his closest friends who, if capable of containing the Flood of Light, can prove that there is hope for mankind. [[YankTheDogsChain They fail]], so Emet kidnaps the Exarch to force the Warrior to become a Lightwarden, which fails as well when Ardbert sacrifices himself to allow the Warrior to contain the Light. This gives Emet a glimpse of his old friend, [[IRejectYourReality but he rejects it]], and they battle, during which he [[VillainousBreakdown snaps hard]] and is ultimately run through with a Blade of Light. In the end, the only ray of hope is that Emet [[LastRequest asks them to remember the Ancients]], which they agree to, [[GoOutWithASmile and he accepts his death with peace.]] In short: the only happy parts of his eons-long life were before the Final Days, and the very end.

* UnreliableNarrator: While his love for his people and anguish over their fates are very much real, ''Endwalker'' retroactively reveals [[spoiler:he was wearing ''quite'' a pair of rose-colored glasses about them: the Ancients, while not evil, had a different view on the value of an individual's life (stemming from their very long lifetimes), were pretty intolerant of big flaws in their creations, sometimes more than they needed to be, and [[NotSoAboveItAll did not always use their creation magicks responsibly]]. They certainly ''would'' and ''did'' sacrifice themselves for the greater good, but they were not perfect. It's implied Emet was subconsciously aware of this but [[IveComeTooFar had been laboring too long and was too enslaved to duty]] to give up his course. Taken a step further with the events of the Pandaemonium Raid series; not only were the Ancients not perfect, but [[MadScientist Athena]] proves there were those among them which could match evil lunatics like Amon and then some.]]

* WorfHadTheFlu: He's one of the most powerful sorcerers to ever exist, with Hyyhlodaeus calling his power exemplary even among the ancients; [[spoiler:however in ''Endwalker'', when the Ktisis Hyperboreia power dampening field comes in effect, it puts him down several notches which prevents him from unleashing his true power and curbstomping every obstacle on his way up to Hermes.]]

''Class and Job Questlines'': [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVDisciplesOfWar Disciples of War]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVDisciplesOfMagic Disciples of Magic]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVDisciplesOfTheHand Disciples of the Hand]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVDisciplesOfTheLand Disciples of the Land]]\\

[[caption-width-right:350:The Angel of Truth]]

''Antagonists'': [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVAscians Ascians]] ('''Emet-Selch''') | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVGarleanEmpire Garlean Empire]] ([[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVZenosYaeGalvus Zenos yae Galvus]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVBozjanGarleans Bozjan Garleans]]) \\

** spoiler:He was the one who created the Allagan Empire, who in turn created the Crystal Tower, [[spoiler:which was used by the survivors of the Black Rose and G'raha Tia to send both himself and the Tower to the past of the First,]] that in turn was used by the Crystal Exarch to bring the Warrior of Light to the First which ended in his defeat.

'''Epithet''': The Architect\\

* TheUntwist: He bluntly admits that he's working with his own agenda, and will probably betray the Warrior of Darkness and the Scions if need be. Throughout the narrative of ''Shadowbringers'', Emet-Selch appears to be growing closer to the Scions, including offering them his aid several times, suggesting he might pull a HeelFaceTurn. But sure enough, a betrayal is exactly what he does by shooting the Crystal Exarch in the back at the worst possible moment. Emet-Selch even seems legitimately offended when Alphinaud asks what Emet-Selch's true purpose was, since Emet had already laid his cards on the table long ago and [[VillainsNeverLie never lied about them]].

* AntiVillain: To the extent ''the game itself'' calls him a hero in the text for Hades EX. Emet-Selch's goals are ultimately very relatable and sympathetic--the salvation of his loved ones and his people--[[TraumaCongaLine and he's so broken]] it's impossible not to feel for him. It's the [[WellIntentionedExtremist lengths he's willing to go to accomplish his goals]] that make him an antagonist, alongside his staunch refusal to acknowledge the living races as worth keeping around.

** In 5.3, the Warrior calls him ''out of the Lifestream'' for aid, and he saves them from the void Elidibus banished them to. If it wasn't clear it was him (as he's wearing generic Amaurotine garb), Emet-Selch does his [[CharacterTic flippant hand wave]] as he walks away.

** In ''Shadowbringers''. He spends most of the expansion ingratiating himself with the Scions, as it occurs to him that cooperation might reap better rewards than opposition. He tags along on a few excursions into Lightwarden territory, can be spoken to at length to get his unique perspective, and [[VillainRevealsTheSecret reveals some of the biggest twists in the story]]. He even steps in to save Y'shtola's life when she's lost in the lifestream. For all that, the party never lets their guard down around him, and he's bluntly honest about his goals as the conditions to realize them change. However, his ultimate endgame, aside from reviving Zodiark and restoring Amaurot, was for the First to be brought to the tipping point of elemental imbalance toward Light. This would then cause the First's excessive Light to "seep" into the Source, empowering the Black Rose to the point where he could use it to effortlessly kill the Warrior of Light and the Scions and lay waste to Eorzea, which would in turn cause enough death and destruction to trigger a new Rejoining. So really, what he wants more than anything else is to just go home.

'''Crystal Exarch:''' I could not well leave matters half-finished. [[CallBack Let expanse contract, eon become instant!]] [[TheCavalry Champions from beyond the rift, heed my call!]]\\
'''Emet-Selch:''' Damn you! ''Damn you all!''

** ExhaustedEyeBags: Closeups on Emet-Selch's face reveal dark circles around his eyes. They serve as a hint to the exhaustion from eons of trying to restore his people that he usually keeps hidden behind his mocking demeanor. This is especially noticeable when [[spoiler:compared to his original body in Elpis. Emet-Selch may still be a grouch, but he has no eyebags, showing that this is him at his happiest and most idealistic.]]

''Nations of Hydaelyn'': [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVTheEorzeanAlliance The Eorzean Alliance]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVIshgard Ishgard]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVDragonHordes Dragon Hordes]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVOthardAndHingashi Othard and Hingashi]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVSharlayanAndThavnair Sharlayan and Thavnair]]\\
''Other Realms'': [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVTheVoid The Void]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVTheFirst The First]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVTheWorldUnsundered The World Unsundered]] ([[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVPandaemonium Pandæmonium]]) | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVUltimaThule Ultima Thule]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVTural Tural]]\\

''Other Realms'': [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVTheVoid The Void]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVTheFirst The First]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVTheWorldUnsundered The World Unsundered]] ([[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVPandaemonium Pandæmonium]]) | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVUltimaThule Ultima Thule]]\\

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Involving Lahabrea and Igeyorhm on opposite sides of the scale. Towards Lahabrea, the sheer heavy-handedness and insanity that the Overlord underwent was something that disgusted Emet, never mind whatever acts he had done that Emet proclaims was the "crowning moment of stupidity" that forced him into activity after Lahabrea's demise; he is always openly loathing of Lahabrea's actions because of how much VillainDecay the man suffered through. Igeyorhm on the other hand, was supposedly responsible for the Flood of Darkness that created the Void out of the Thirteenth Shard -- to which Emet-Selch admits it was ''everyone's collective fault'' within the Ascians for allowing things to get as bad as they did, rather than inherently blame her for it; given both Unukalhai and [[spoiler:Zero]] report that it was mankind's doing with the Ascian's proffered gifts of creation and dark magics, Emet's sympathy for the plight is entirely warranted as [[DidntSeeThatComing an unexpected setback.]]

[[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVTheWarriorOfLight The Warrior of Light]] ([[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVTankClasses Tank Classes]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVRangedClasses Ranged DPS Classes]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVMeleeClasses Melee DPS Classes]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVCasterClasses Caster Classes]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVHealerClasses Healer Classes]])\\

''Antagonists'': [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVAscians Ascians]] ('''Emet-Selch''') | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVGarleanEmpire Garlean Empire]] ([[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVZenosYaeGalvus Zenos yae Galvus]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVBozjanGarleans Bozjan Garleans]] \\

''Antagonists'': [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVAscians Ascians]] ('''Emet-Selch''') | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVGarleanEmpire Garlean Empire]] ([[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVZenosYaeGalvus Zenos yae Galvus]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVBozjanGarleans Bozjan Garleans]]) | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVPrimals Primals]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVRaidAntagonists Raid Antagonists]] ([[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVOmega Omega]]) | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVAntagonists Other Antagonists]]\\

[[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVGarlondIronworks Garlond Ironworks]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVHildibrandAllies Hildibrand Allies]] | [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVAllies Other Allies]] ([[Characters/FinalFantasyXIVGrahaTia G'raha Tia]])\\