Due to the story's advancement and the fact some articles would otherwise be all white, There are Unmarked spoilers below, you have been warned.

This is a list of antagonists not entirely aligned with either the Ascians, the Garlean Empire, the Primals, or associated with raids.

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Gentleman Inspector Hildibrand Antagonists

The Phantom Thief/The Thief of Many Faces

The main villain of the Hildibrand story, the Phantom Thief is a brilliant master of disguise who loves to play around as he secures his quarry. His real face is that of a dark-skinned midlander hyur wearing the rogue's gear set.

Badass Finger Snap: A few of the Thief's tricks are trigged with a finger snap.
Becoming the Mask: Ellie wound up legitimately befriending the Warrior of Light and falling in love with Briardien. Though she was willing to zombify both of you, when she's truly thwarted she chooses to slump to the ground and accept punishment after he confesses his feelings instead of killing herself or continue her plans.
Berserk Button: Cecy blows her cover as Nashu by ranting at Hildibrand when he implies that she has wrinkles.
Big Bad: Of the Hildibrand story.
Calling Card: A black and red card with a stylized "A" written on it, with the details of his next heist written on the back.
Death Dealer: His Calling Card is thrown off-screen and usually into some poor sod's head.
Freudian Excuse: They're the last surviving members of the pure Sil'dihn bloodline, and grew up in poverty being raised on stories that their ancestors were horrible black mages and monstrous alchemists who deserved to be wiped out, when in reality it was the other way around. They swore to themselves that they would not only reveal the truth of the war of the sands to the world, but completely destroy Ul'dah with the same tool they used to destroy Sil'dih; zombie powder. This plan even took precedence over their own lives, which they felt were worthless.
Just Like Robin Hood: Winds up garnering this reputation. His only targets were nobility, who thanks to the stirring rebellion are already unpopular, this combined with charming Lovable Rogue antics and theatrics made him a folk hero to the smallfolk to the point where the coliseum tournament was even more busy than normal because of the all the peasants showing up to watch him steal the reward. In reality the sympathy wasn't reciprocated, the sisters wanted everyone in Ul'dah to be zombified or killed, and didn't care for their social status.
Master of Disguise: The Thief of Many Faces isn't just a fancy title. In fact, in inclusion to near flawless facial imitation, he possesses the ability to change his body size and shape flawlessly. It seems to be a specially modified version of the glamor crystals that players use to alter gear appearance. In fact, even when he's openly gloating outside of costume, it still isn't him, the midlander male that you're lead to believe was the thief was just a disguise they never actually took off. Every single costume they wore was a double-layered disguise.
Walking Spoiler: Since it's a detective mystery, his or rather, their true identity and everything related to it is a huge one.

Gilgamesh

Voiced by: Riki Kitazawa (JP), Kurt Wilson (EN), Sylvain Lemarie (FR), Klaus Lochthove (DE)

Yep, that one. And that one, and that one too. Gilgamesh, ever the intrepid interdimensional traveler, managed to stumble his way into Eorzea from the Rift and immediately set about finding new and powerful weapons to obtain. Unfortunately, he was separated from his eternal partner Enkidu... so he tamed a rooster and painted it green to keep him company.

For the "actual" Enkidu, see her folder on Final Fantasy XIV - Primals. For Gilgamesh in his guise as Yojimbo, see his folder under "Other Villains" below.

Accidental Misnaming: Hildibrand winds up shortening his name to "Greg", and though he refutes this as first, it sticks to the point where he immediately answers to it when Godbert asks his name. This could be word play, because "Giruga" sounds a little close to "Guregu."
Bus Crash: Not Gilgamesh himself but because he did not account for food costs between A Realm Reborn and Stormblood, he had to eat his pet chicken Enkidu, which was why he was missing. Although, in the end, Enkidu made a reappearance with no explanation given how that's possible.
Commuting on a Bus: He's involved with the A Realm Reborn Hildibrand adventures but doesn't appear in Heavensward as he's off training. He returns in Stormblood and is currently taking an extended bus ride as there was no Hildibrand missions in Shadowbringers and its revealed he dumped everyone back in Eorzea to go after his rival during that time in Endwalker.
Devil in Plain Sight: When hunting the "Dueling Thief", no one in Hildibrand's party realizes that Gilgamesh fits the description of "a large man in garish red clothing".
Diagonal Cut: He possesses Sephiroth's Masamune and emulates its owner by doing this during the rematch following a Jump.
Face of a Thug: Compared to his appearance in other games being like a Kabuki actor, Gilgimesh looks more like an Oni with red eyes and yellow sclera and a mouth full of razor sharp teeth, and the white paint with red lines seems to be natural skin tone. He's still an incredibly nice guy though.
Forced Transformation: One of his spells in his first battle is to turn you into frogs to be pecked at by Enkidu.
Friendly Enemy: He's extremely jovial and you don't initially meet as enemies. Indeed, he respects both the PC and Hildibrand as friends as much as he does opponents, and when Hildibrand starts to turn into a zombie, he helps you save his life without any hesitation, despite having literally just challenged you to a rematch (although that may be because Hildy's mom just sent him through a wall). After you defeat him again in the Stormblood Hildibrand storyline, he reverts back to this, willingly aiding the Warrior of Light and Hildi in searching for the Wolf Burglar.
Gold Fish Poop Gang: Wouldn't be Gilgamesh if he wasn't. After circumstance turns him against you, he battles you on a bridge, leaves, then attempts revenge in part 4 before finally getting the chance to actually do so in the final part.
I Surrender, Suckers: Another classic trait: At the halfway point of your first battle, Gilgamesh falls into a pose of subjugation while apologizing and begging as he buffs himself up, then launches a jump attack against the tank and anyone near him. For bonus point, he verbatim quotes his lines from the first instance of this gambit in Final Fantasy V. And after the second fight, when he's been well and truly beaten, he does it again but waits for you to leave before declaring his intent to keep causing trouble, making it likely it's not the last we've seen of him.
Literal Genie: Towards the end of the Stormblood quest, when Gilgamesh is dosed with dewprism and made to obey all commands, a Sahjattra Concern representative orders him to "spirit me away from this place! Far, far away!" He had no idea just how far Gilgamesh can take someone away, and is horrified when Gilgamesh opens a portal to the "Interspectorial Rift", causing everyone nearby to vanish into the space between worlds.
"How dare you twist words carelessly spoken in the heat of the moment!"
Multi-Armed and Dangerous: The last time you fight him at the end of the A Realm Reborn version of Hildibrand's questline, Gilgamesh decides to stop holding back by revealing his six-armed form. Each of these arms hold a weapon, and his attacks become much stronger and faster. He also fights completely seriously, showing that he's not a joke when push comes to shove.
No-Respect Guy: Of course this is par for the course for Gilgamesh.
Obliviously Evil: He's completely convinced all of the weapons he has stolen are rightfully his since he beat their owners in single combat.
One-Winged Angel: In the rematch, once he decides to stop holding back he assumes his Multi-Armed and Dangerous form.
Post-Final Boss: The Thief of Many Faces has been thwarted, but Gilgamesh still wants his rematch with you and steals the Treaty Blade once again to give you incentive to come after him.
The Rival: He considers the Warrior of Light to be one to him after getting bested in combat, though it seems to be one sided since the player character doesn't exactly share the same sentiment.
Self-Duplication: In the Kugane Ohashi battle, he's able to use the Forbidden Mudra to create a trio of copies of himself to fight you, one of them the size of Susano's water-giant.
Single-Stroke Battle: Against a pack of zombies to protect Nashu.
Status Effects: In his first fight, he uses spells from Final Fantasy V such as rocket punch and confuse song, along with it comes Confuse, Mini, and Toad.
Thinking Up Portals: As Yojimbo, he disappears into a dark portal to change into his six-armed form and reveal himself. Later on, he uses an identical portal to drag Hildibrand, Nashu, and a villain along with him to another world, implying that this power is how he is able to access the "Interspectorial Rift".
Unusually Uninteresting Sight: No one seems to comment that Gilgamesh is a gigantic oni in garish kabuki style clothing.

Ultros and Typhon

The duo is back again. In this world, Ultros is the result of Thaumaturge experimentation within the void, and now works for the coliseum. Ever a skirt chaser, he intends to help a rising gladiator cheat in a tournament to split the prize. When backed into a corner, Ultros can count on the help of Mr. Typhon to challenge anyone.

Amusing Injuries: As more of Ultros's attempts to take out Hildibrand backfire, he shows up with more comical lumps on his head with bandages.
Blow You Away Typhon's gale force winds come out whenever he sneezes. During the battle with them, it can potentially cause a Ring Out.
Breaking the Fourth Wall: "Uncle Ulty" always chats with the audience when alone.
Combat Tentacles: Turns out they aren't just for show.
Dual Boss: When you fight them in their arena, it's both at the same time. It's also set to a remix of the boss battle theme from Final Fantasy VI.
Forced Transformation: Ultros can turn the DPS members of a party into Imps.
Heel–Face Turn:
- At some point, Godbert apparently hired Typhon to be an employee at the Gold Saucer and created a GATE event where he blows forceful but harmless gusts of wind to try to knock people off the stage.
- Ultros occasionally finds work with the Blue Mage Guild both for training exercises for recruits and for performing in the Masked Carnivale. Though its implied that part of the reason he does this is so he could oogle the female recruits.
Luck-Based Mission: Typhon's GATE in the Gold Saucer, "Any Way The Wind Blows." It's 5 rounds of what basically amounts to picking a spot on the platform and praying Typhon doesn't sneeze you out. Its just as possible to pull off a Wins by Doing Absolutely Nothing as it is to get blown away in the first stage.
Mistaken for Badass: As Hildibrand just happens to overcome each of Ultros's traps, the octopus is convinced he's truly a genius detective.
Pokémon Speak: Typhon only ever says "Fungah!" as the sound of his various snorts and sneezes.
Ring Out: A non-fatal variant. The rules of the match during their Dual Boss fight is that anyone who falls out of the center ring will be stunned for a few seconds before being able to jump back in. If the whole party falls off the stage, you lose the fight.
Sneeze of Doom: Most of Typhon's wind comes from sneezing. Ultros was using mushrooms to make Typhon sneeze, thus creating the wind sword effect for his partner in crime.
Unusually Uninteresting Sight: The average citizen doesn't seem too bothered by Ultros, a voidsent of a giant octopus, wandering around town in plain sight. Most see him as a nuisance at worst, since he never seems to have any intention of actually harming anyone. He even hangs out at the Gold Saucer, and can occasionally be seen during the "Air Force One" GATE.

The Grand Sers

Race: Midlander Hyur(Orland), Wildwood Elezen(Gonspart and Dorys)
Discipline: Dragoon(Orland), White Mage(Gonspart), Back Mage(Dorys)

Shortly after discovering Gigi, Hildibrand is alerted to a scam within Ishgard conducted by individuals claiming to be members of the Heaven's Ward. The Grand Sers are three former knights of the Holy See who have grown too old to perform their duty. They seek Gigi out in the hopes of using him in a scheme to restore their lost youth.

Blow You Away: Gonspart ended up using an Aero spell on his partner Orland rather than healing him like he was intending to. When the group gets their youth back and attack Hildibrand, he uses Aero III.
Call-Back: While trying to remember a restoration spell, Gonspart starts reciting the Ascian's spell to summon a voidsent before realizing his mistake.
Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Where the Thief of Many Faces was a charismatic and competent Phantom Thief, the Grand Sers are a comedic Terrible Trio well past their prime. Until they regain their youth, where their intended actions become just as bad as the phantom thief's, and their reasons are so utterly petty and abhorrent it makes them come across as worse. Though this still keeps them in contrast, as while the thief had a Freudian Excuse, the Grand Sers are just glory hounds wanting to relive their youth even if it reignites a war that has and will kill millions.
*Crack!* "Oh, My Back!": After failing his attack, Orland's back is left in great pain afterward.
Dishing Out Dirt: Gonspart, once he and the others regain their youth, casts Stone III on Hildibrand, amongst other white magic spells.
Failed a Spot Check: When Hildibrand adopts a Paper-Thin Disguise by putting on Orland's armor while making absolutely no attempt to disguise his face or mannerisms, it actually works. Dorys is fooled and even mistakes the real Orland for an impostor when he arrives without his armor. Hilariously, Orland himself also doesn't realize that the "other him" looks nothing like him.
Fire, Ice, Lightning: When attacking Hildibrand after regaining their youth and power, Dorys uses Thunder III, Fire IV, and Blizzard IV.
Forgetful Jones: Gonspart seems to be suffering senility. It takes him several moments to realize Cyr is addressing him, forgets to use healing magic when needed, and when he last ate.
Fountain of Youth: They aim to use Gigi's powers to reverse their aging and return to their physical prime. They succeed for a while, but the effect is undone after Gigi performs his Heroic Sacrifice.
Glory Hound: While the group wanted to get their youth back, that was only half of their plan. The other half was to use their newfound youth and power to slay Hraesvelgr so they can relive their glory days in hunting and killing dragons. Even when Cyr plainly points out that the Grand Sers' actions would reignite the war that Ishgard and the Warrior of Light fought to end, the group believes the war would just give them the kind of glory they seek.
History Repeats: Their ultimate goal once their youth was restored. The Grand Sers desired to kill Hraesvelgr and devour his eyes, gaining immense power and instigating a war against the dragons just as King Thordan and his Knights Twelve did over a thousand years ago.
Holy Hand Grenade: Hildibrand gets struck with Holy and Assize by Gonspart.
Immortality Seeker: The Grand Sers long to restore their misspent youth, and believe Gigi to be the means to that end. They're not wrong; Gigi's powers end up being used as a Fountain of Youth to restore their younger vigor.
In the Name of the Moon: All three of the Grand Sers give a rather bombastic introduction to themselves.
I Was Quite a Looker: Dorys was quite a vibrant young woman in her prime, and Orland and Gospart were quite dashing as well, as shown when they use Gigi's powers to reverse their aging.
Limit Break: Orland can use the Dragoon's Dragonsong Dive. Or at least he can try before his age catches up with him.
- After Gigi reverts them to their youth, not only does Orland successfully perform a Dragonsong Dive, but all 3 Grand Sers pull off a combined Limit Break which mirrors the original Knights of the Round summon from VII.
Mugged for Disguise: Well, "mugged" might be too harsh a word. The Warrior of Light gives Orland a massage until he falls asleep and makes off with Orland's armor for Hildibrand to use as a disguise.
Mythology Gag: When their youth is restored, the Grand Sers use a Combination Limit Break which recreates Final Fantasy VII's Knights of the Round summon, even ending with the screen shattering effect from Primal Thordan's version.
Orland: Far be it from us to deny you, then. This is the end for you...
All 3 Sers: The Ultimate End!
Negated Moment of Awesome: Orland seems ready to unleash the Dragonsong Dive against the investigation party, but suffers a near death experience during the leap, landing half buried in the ground.
Paper-Thin Disguise: While Dorys might have been a Master of Disguise back in the day, her skills have clearly dulled with age. Cyr instantly recognizes her as the woman from Ishgard and the "adventurer" in Idyllshire.
Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Just as the Grand Sers take up arms against Hildibrand.
Orland: Than consider this your end! Your ultimate end!
Running Gag: Orland's convinced that he's always at death's door, and his late wife is ready to take him to Halone's halls.
Sleepy Head: Gonspart tends to nod off at inconvenient times.
Terrible Trio: Dorys comes off as the brains of the group, leading Orland and Gonspart in their endeavors.

The Kugane Wolf Burglar

Race: Lupin
Discipline: Ninja

"Bloody fools, the lot of you. Blind to the true villain in your midst..."

A mysterious thief who robs merchants in Kugane while leaving behind a calling card.

Calling Card: When the Burglar makes off with his mark's prized possessions, he leaves behind a note reading, "You have just been robbed by the Kugane Wolf Burglar!"
Cardboard Prison: After being returned to prison, he immediately breaks out again, this time without any help. He claims he could have done this at any time.
Freudian Excuse: He steals from wealthy merchants because a merchant scammed his adoptive samurai father out of his money, and eventually his sword, the Soboro Sukehiro. The Wolf Burglar trained from the day his father died until he could teach the wealthy a lesson and steal back the prized katana.
I Gave My Word: Returns to prison just before Shigure commits ritual suicide to absolve his sins of freeing the Burglar in the first place, citing this. He escapes again immediately afterwards, but does so without Shigure's involvement, keeping the samurai out of trouble.
It's Personal: His reasons for stealing Soboro Sukehiro specifically, and why he helps Hildibrand track down Yojimbo after he steals the sword for himself.
Just Like Robin Hood: After he's jailed by the Sekiseigumi, the lower-class citizens of Kugane tell the player that the only people burglar had ever stolen from were wealthy merchants, and that he'd always give the money he made to them.
Mythology Gag: Inspired by Lone Wolf the Pickpocket from Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI, even recreating the cliff scene from VI, albeit with Hildibrand in the place of Mog.
No Escape but Down: Once he gets blasted by Nashu's bombs, he and Hildibrand are both dangling from a ledge. Rather than risk capture, he lets go and seemingly falls to his death, only for his falcon mount to fly in and help him escape.
No Name Given: The Wolf Burglar's real name is never mentioned, so he's only ever addressed by the epithet.
Oh, Crap!: When Nashu throws bombs at him and Hlidbrand catches them, the thief can only utter "those are bombs!?" before getting blown away.
Stealth Hi/Bye: Thanks to his Ninja training he's very good at this, usually with the help of a Smoke Out.
Wolf Man: He is a Lupin, a race of wolf-like people, leading to his title as the "Wolf Burglar".

Akebono Kusushi

Race: Othard Hyur
Discipline: Alchemist

"That which I desire, I take."

A rich business mogul in Kugane who has recently acquired the legendary sword known as the Soboro Sukehiro, becoming a target for the Kugane Wolf Burglar. As such, he has hired the equally-legendary mercenary Yojimbo to guard his new investment.

Ambiguously Bi: While he often enjoys the company of geiko, it is implied that he occasionally calls upon taikomochi - male geiko - for companionship.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: While the medicines he sells are not only legit but of unparalleled quality, Akebono charges outrageous prices for them and holds a monopoly on the reagents entering the city. He's also using the drug dewprism to secretly control a high-ranking Sekiseigumi officer, and plans on using it on a government official to gain some political power for himself.
Hoist by His Own Petard: He orders the brainwashed Godbert to destroy "everyone." Due to Exact Words, this also includes himself, leading him to react with an Oh, Crap! moment.
You Have Failed Me: Fires Yojimbo once the Wolf Burglar manages to steal Soboro Sukehiro.

Vanhudi

Race: Hyur
Discipline: Unknown

Another rich business mogul, this one staying in Radz-at-Han. He works with the cyborg Dr. Lugae to obtain great power.

Didn't Think This Through: His plan to deal with the Warrior of Light, the world's preeminent primal slayer, is to send a primal summoning of the war goddess Asura against them. He's shocked when she, the goddess he worships most dearly, falls before the Warrior's hand despite their track record.
Evil Plan: As revealed near the end of the Hildibrand quests, Vanhudi's ultimate plan is to abduct the Warrior of Light and clone them nigh-infinitely to create an unstoppable army to Take Over the World in tandem with his ill-gotten riches.
Loophole Abuse: Normally, anyone who summons a primal will be tempered and enthralled to serve the primal's will. Vanhudi dodges this by having clones of himself summon Asura using technology left behind by Fandaniel in the Tower of Babil, removing the need for him to summon the primal Asura personally and keeping himself well out of tempering range with his airship.
Man Behind the Man: He's behind Dr. Lugae's antics in the early part of the story.
Self-Duplication: At the end of 6.45, it's revealed that he has Pu-Pu's friend and is using his own cloning machine to create clones of himself. He uses these clones to summon Asura using technology he had Pu-Pu's friend replicate from the Tower of Babil..

Other Villains

Edda Pureheart

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/edda.jpg

Race: Midlander Hyur
Discipline: Conjurer

"Look, Avere! All these people have come to make you a gift of their souls! Isn't that kind of them?"

A would be adventurer and conjurer whose tragic expedition through Tam-Tara Deepcroft caused her sanity to unravel and led her into delving deep into dark magic and necromancy.

A Love to Dismember: In a line that some players can miss if they're not paying attention, while Liavinne and Paiyo Reiyo are chastising her for failing to heal Avere and botching the Tam-Tara mission, Liavinne reveals that Edda has been carrying around Avere's severed head. She then uses necromancy to "bring back" Avere for a wedding ceremony. He essentially becomes her minion for the final boss fight of Tam-Tara HM.
Bootstrapped Leitmotif: Her theme song is based off of 'My Soul to Keep', which was originally for Lady Amandine in Haukke Manor. It was reused for Tam-Tara (Hard) in which Edda makes an appearance and has been associated with her since.
Brainwashed and Crazy: Nybeth used his necromancy and her soul to force her to his bidding, which included tring to kill the Warrior of Light when they're investigating the Palace of the Dead. Her soul tried to resist Nybeth's influence, but she eventually failed.
Butt-Monkey: Edda was the whipping girl of the party, routinely mocked by all of her companions for her lack of talent at healing and taking the precaution of bringing potions along with her. When Avere is killed in Tam-Tara Deepcroft Liavinne and Paiyo Reiyo place the blame solely on her shoulders when she says that Avere's tendency to rush in alone was what killed him and then abandon her in her grief.
Disney Villain Death: Edda falls down the pit of the Eternal Calm after catching fire from the candles of her wedding ceremony. She isn't gone for good, as her ghost, appears occasionally in the three cities, before disappearing.
- In Heavensward, she returns once more as a boss of the Palace of the Dead before finally being put to rest.
Dying as Yourself: After defeating her in the Palace of the Dead, she regains her senses and wishes Avere was able to see her become a better adventurer. She then fades away.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Even after she's gone off the deep end, Edda clearly respects the Warrior of Light as an adventurer and sees them as inspiration. While this isn't enough to stop her from trying to kill them, her general demeanor is noticeably different around them. Nybeth disdainfully notes that it's her admiration for the Warrior that is making her resist his efforts to be resurrected a mindlessly loyal undead servant. He then tries to sicc her on them in hopes that she'll kill the Warrior and stop resisting his plans for her, only for the Warrior to grant her the Mercy Kill she desires.
Evil Costume Switch: Following her resurrection as an undead wraith in the Palace of the Dead, Edda is shown to have traded her white robes for a black dress, a rose-adorned hat, and an eyepatch over her right eye. This demonstrates that she's no longer in control of herself, having been brought under Nybeth's sway following her descent into madness.
Eyepatch of Power: In the Palace of the Dead, she wears an eyepatch on her right eye. When she's defeated, the eyepatch is gone when she transforms back to her normal self.
From Nobody to Nightmare: Edda was once just one of the many young adventurers fresh in her career who happened to get in over her head. After the party's disbandment following Avere's death, she vows to start anew as an adventurer only to be corrupted by Nybeth.
Grave Robbing: Before her "wedding", Edda digs up Liavinne and raises the corpse as a zombie to attend the event (and serve as the first boss of Tam-Tara HM).
Go Out with a Smile: When Edda falls into the abyss in the Tam Tara Deepcroft, she lets out a creepy smile before plunging to her death. After defeating her in the Palace of the Dead, she regains her senses and smiles before departing to the afterlife.
He Was Right There All Along: When accepting the quest "Corpse Groom" from Paiyo Reiyo, the Warrior of Light discusses the unsettling nature of Edda's recent wedding announcement next to a Chocobo stable. The chocobo inside fidgets around now and then, eventually walking offscreen to the left, with a close look revealing Edda partially obscured by the scenery nearby.◊ When the chocobo returns and moves aside again, she has already disappeared.
Hope Spot: Edda is encountered not long after her parties tragic escapade through Tam-Tara Deepcroft, and while she is still broken up about Avere's death she seems to be inspired by a pep talk with the player. Alas...
Laughing Mad: Edda is constantly smiling and giggling when faced in the Hard version of Tam-Tara Deepcroft even as she unleashes the undead upon the party. It makes her incredibly creepy as she still sees the Warrior as a dear friend and a role model while trying to kill them. She's still laughing when faced in the Palace of the Dead. The laughing only stops when you defeat her and she regains her sanity as her soul departs for the afterlife.
Love Makes You Crazy: Aside from being evil, Avere's death drove Edda to madness, believing she can create her perfect wedding by way of necromancy.
Love Makes You Evil: It's her love of the late Avere that led Edda into pursuing necromancy to bring him back.
The Mentally Disturbed: Edda was driven completely insane by Avere's death, believing she can "bring him back" and very violently responding to any attempts to stop her, essentially completely divorced from reality. She only comes back to herself during her true death in the Palace of the Dead.
Mood-Swinger: During the boss battle with Avere, Edda will break out into giggling fits or start sobbing out of the blue. Her boss theme when fighting her in the Palace of the Dead also applies, as it's filled with Edda's alternating giggles and sobbing.
Necromancer: Edda's dark powers gave her many powers of Black Magic (The evil kind), commanding horrific demons and undead monstrosities.
Necromantic: Edda is wants to use the body of the Warrior of Light to reattach Avere's severed head to, but until then his head has transformed into that of an Ahriman.
The Ophelia: Edda is more than a little loony and lovestruck when encountered again in Tam-Tara Deepcroft.
- She also does this after completing the dungeon, appearing briefly as a specter around the three hub cities before disappearing.
Rerouted from Heaven: She is the foremost of the souls rerouted to the Palace of the Dead instead of The Lifestream by Nybeth Obdilord, where the lich experimented on her in his search for eternal life. She can be fought again as an undead as the final boss of the original 50 floors, her soul being freed upon defeat.
Shout-Out: If the name Red Wedding sounds familiar it's because it's reference to another wedding gone horribly awry.
Sinister Scythe: As the boss of the Palace of the Dead Edda wields a scythe as a weapon fittingly for her new gothic outfit.
Start of Darkness: While they weren't exactly the prime example of teamwork and camaraderie before, the team's failure at Tam-Tara Deepcroft and the death of Avere definitely sends Edda down a dark path.
Theme Naming: When fought in the Palace of the Dead, Edda's attacks are all named after wedding and marriage related terminology like Black Honeymoon, Red Wedding, In Sickness and In Health. Also, her surname shifts from "Pureheart" to "Blackbosom." In antiquated English, 'bosom' is another word for heart.
Tragic Dream: Avere desired to become like the player who was rising to fame and took Edda along with him to obtain their fortune but their inexperience wound up getting him killed.
The Unfought: Edda herself isn't fought when confronted in Tam-Tara Deepcroft. She has a magical barrier surrounding her that induces bleeding towards anyone who gets too close to her. This of course changes on the 50th floor in the Palace of the Dead.
Tragic Villain: She had it really, really rough. From the first dungeon we see her being picked on and abused by her teammates and her boyfriend Avere. After Tam-Tara Deepcroft, she lost everyone that's close to her. While her teammates only adds salt to her wound by blaming and insulting her for Avere's death. Small wonder why she snaps and goes down the deep end. Even your entire party felt bad for her at the end of Tam-Tara Deepcroft.
Your Size May Vary: She's at least double the size of a normal person when you encounter her in the Palace of the Dead. She returns to her normal size when she's defeated, which implies that the dark/void magic may have altered her size.

Nybeth Obdilord

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ffxiv_nybeth.jpg

Race: Human Lich
Discipline: Necromancer

"Mine is a noble art, the path to salvation of the body and soul."

An undead necromancer who is responsible for the events of the Palace of the Dead. He seeks a way to cheat death and gain immortality.

Armor-Piercing Question: Presents one to the Warrior of Light before dying, which gets to them a little bit because while his way of doing things was wrong, the motives weren't exactly evil and the Warrior of Light may have done the same thing if given the chance.
"Would you not try to free those you hold most dear?"
Call-Back: Mentions Trader's Spurn, which was part of the Hildibrand sidequest.
Dimensional Traveller: Heavily implied to have been plucked out of his original game.
Flunky Boss: He summons the undead to fight alongside him. When he summons them a 2nd time and every time after that, he can revive them. It takes a Podmander of Resolution to not only deal massive damage to his minions, but it is the only way to permanently remove their bodies from the battle so that they can't be revived.
Immortality Seeker: Attempts to find a way to become immortal and uses souls of people who previously died as experiments for his cause.
Mythology Gag: He is basically the same character from Tactics Ogre
Necromancer: He summons souls of the dead to do his bidding and this also includes aiding him in battle.
"Not So Different" Remark: When defeated, he tries to convince the Warrior of Light that they, too, seek a way to recover their lost friends and family from the dead like he has done and tries to convince them to see his way. Naturally, the Warrior of Light doesn't buy it, but they are visibly affected by his last words.
Outside-Context Problem: He is by all means an alien from another world who showed up with a mysterious structure that was recently unearthed with motives that are unknown to Hydealyn.
Tragic Villain: While he has gone off the deep end, he did had some good intentions for his actions. Losing his wife drove him insane with grief and thus he sought a way to bring her back to life and cheat death for the two of them so that they could be immortal together. He tries to convince the Warrior of Light to see his way and that perhaps they too wish to save someone they hold dear.
Villain of Another Story: In Tactics Ogre, his home game where consequences of his necromancy are more fleshed out and offering an explanation on how he ended up in Hydaelyn.
Younger Than He Looks: While we don't know if any time passed since he was transported from him game, he was in his 50s when he transformed into a lich despite looking like a centuries old corpse.

Captain Madison

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/madison_10_ffxiv.jpg

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/madison_20_ffxiv.jpg

Race: Midlander Hyur
Discipline: Gladiator

"Wh-Where are me men!? Wh-Where are me maidens!?"

The captain of the Serpent Reavers, a band of pirates that have been tempered by Leviathan the Lord of the Whorl.

Attack! Attack! Attack!: One of his deadlier attacks in his rematch in Satasha Hard is singling out a single party member and shooting them, and he will not stop until either his target dies or he gets dealt a certain amount of damage.
A Twinkle in the Sky: While Madison isn't subjected to this, instead just being tossed into the water by the Kraken, this trope is in full effect when the Kraken also bats away his pet colibri.
Butt-Monkey: At the end of both versions of Sastasha he's struck down by the final boss of the dungeon.
Dirty Coward: He will run away before his health is depleted with every encounter with him.
Fish Person: For failing Leviathan in the player's first romp through Sastasha he's punished by being exposed to water-aspected Aether long enough to mutate him into a Davey Jones-esque squid man.
Flunky Boss: In every encounter he has some of his crewman aiding him.
It's Personal: When you meet him again in the dungeon's Hard Mode, he remembers exactly who you are and blames you for his current state, swearing revenge against you.
Killed Off for Real: After two boss fights, getting killed by his boss, another boss fight, and getting killed again, he's finally dead for real as his spirit can show up in the Palace of the Dead. Where you can kill him again, of course.
Pirate: A notorious captain of pirates that have troubled Limsa Lominsa for a while now.
Pirate Parrot: He's followed by one in the first run through Sastasha. It's also possible to obtain his parrot as a minion/pet after clearing the hard mode version of the dungeon, though he doesn't talk anymore due to his former owner being dead.
Politically Incorrect Villain: He and his crew of miscreants kidnap the women of the places they raid and force them to be their personal bar wenches.
Rerouted from Heaven: He is among the souls rerouted to the Palace of the Dead instead of the The Lifestream by Nybeth Obdilord, where he can be fought again as an undead.
Sword and Gun: In his second encounter he ditches his shield for a pistol which works as the main threat in his encounter. Failure to damage him enough while he's shooting will have him riddle you with bullet holes.
Was Once a Man: He's an ordinary Hyur in the first run through Sastasha but in the second he's become a Fish Person as punishment for failing Leviathan.

Ungust

Race: Midlander Hyur

A merchant in Ul'dah who mostly operates in Camp Drybone in Eastern Thanalan. He has been abducting people at the behest of the Amalj'aa to be shackled to Ifrit’s worship.

Ain't Too Proud to Beg: He pathetically pleads for his life when the Amalj'aa are set to have Ifrit temper him. It falls on deaf ears.
Establishing Character Moment: He's introduced preying upon a refugee woman at the Hourglass, accusing her of stealing meat from him, but willing to forgive her if she “serves” him. Turns out he was lying and that she paid for it with her own money. And it wasn’t even at his stall!
Jerkass: Ruthless and conniving. He represents how horrible the merchants in Ul'dah can be.
Laser-Guided Karma: Betrays the Warrior of Light and the Immortal Flames to the Amalj'aa, only to also be set for tempering by Ifrit. Everyone present but the Warrior ends up Tempered, and as you learn afterwards he was summarily executed along with every other victim due to the sheer dangers of what Tempering does to people.
Rerouted from Heaven: He is among the souls rerouted to the Palace of the Dead instead of The Lifestream by Nybeth Obdilord, where he can be fought as an undead.
Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: After he and a traitorous Immortal Flames soldier had constantly kidnapped people to be shackled to Ifrit, the Amalj'aa proceed to prepare them for Tempering as well, and his Tempering by Ifrit requires his execution.

The Lambs of Dalamud

An Apocalypse Cult that formed in 1.0 as a result of the descent of the moon Dalamud. They believe that a blood sacrifice would bring it down to purify the land. After the Calamity, the Cult is in denial that the descent of the moon was stopped. They make dealings and pacts with the voidsent and hold rituals in the keep of the fallen White Mage city of Amdapor, the Tam-Tara Deepcroft and Northern Thanalan.

Black Magic: Many of their members consist of Thaumaturges, noted for using funerary magic for offensive purposes. The class of the same name also eventually becomes the Black Mage Job, which has ties to Void magic. Likewise, the cult's actions are appropriate for Biblical depictions of black magic.
The Bus Came Back: In 6.3, as part of the Myths of the Realm Alliance Raid storyline, a member of the cult is shown praying to Menphina, not having followed the rest into madness when Dalamud started falling but nevertheless grouped with the crazies after the Calamity, leaving the man hated by everyone and on the verge of crossing the Despair Event Horizon. Deryk convinces the man to not give up hope in life or his beloved goddess, while Menphina herself gives him her blessing as he leaves.
Cargo Cult: This cult worships the lesser moon, unaware of its true nature or the actual deity contained within.
From Nobody to Nightmare: Before the events of 1.0, they were a benign cult that peacefully worshipped Menphina via Dalamud. Once Dalamud started falling, they snapped and became an Apocalypse Cult.
Human Sacrifice: Their modus operandi is to lure unsuspecting adventurers to their doom by acting as kidnapped family members. One FATE chain in Northern Thanalan is an example. They also commit ritual suicide to bring forth voidsent.
Not Afraid to Die: Their belief is that they will descend into the Seventh Hell and become resurrected for their sacrifice after the Calamity.
What Happened to the Mouse?: After ARR's patch cycle, they are brought up maybe once or twice in retrospect to previous events, and effectively stop existing as an entity. It's heavily implied that it's because they all committed ritual suicide, leaving no one to actually champion the society.

Siren

A creature that lives on the Isle of Umbra in Western La Noscea. She can entice sailors with her voice and control the corpses of pirates she has taken. After making a quick appearance in the main storyline, she takes up residence in Pharos Sirius as its dungeon boss.

Compelling Voice: Her whole shtick. She can charm players and make them fight each other, just like in Greek mythology and her past Final Fantasy incarnations.
Endangered Species: Sirens are an extremely rare sight, due to the legendary pirate Mistbeard (one of them, at least)leading an aggressive culling on Sirens to stop their era of terror on the high seas.
Musical Assassin: She uses a harp to send Magic Music attacks at the player.
Necromancer: Due to being able to control the corpses of pirates and sailors she has killed.
Our Sirens Are Different: She's a creature resembling a human woman with birdlike wings, possess an enthralling voice, and can control corpses. Physically and by wielding a harp she greatly resembles the Guardian Force Siren from Final Fantasy VIII.
The Unfought: In the main storyline, where she sends her undead minions at you instead. Later, in the dungeon, you can fight her. In 1.0, what was believed to be a siren turned out to be a dance party by three songstresses.
Winged Humanoid: She has feathery angel wings on her back and her head.

Fenrir

The final boss of the Snowcloak dungeon, and a mighty hoarhound named after a being from legend. He guards the aetheryte crystal that leads to Iceheart's domain as Shiva.

An Ice Person: Like his master, this wolf is capable of using ice magic, which he hasn't been able to do in past games.
A Kind of One: This hoarhound is not the only one bearing the name "Fenrir". The Gold Saucer sells a horn that summons a hoarhound with that name for 1000000 MGP, and a "Fenrir Pup" minion can drop randomly in Feast matches. They are mentioned to be named after their legendary pack leader.
Lunacy: Like the Fenrir from past games, he uses attacks named for the moon.
Meaningful Name: Fenrir gets its name from a wolf in Norse Mythology, one that is fated to kill Odin during Ragnarok. Notably this beast is associated with Iceheart, who in turn is connected with a dragon who is also named after a figure in Ragnarok.
Right-Hand Attack Dog: To Iceheart/ Ysayle.

The Griffin

"For Ala Mhigo!"

An Ala Mhiggan revolutionary who attempts to instigate an all out war between the Eorzean Alliance and the Garleans stationed in occupied Ala Mhigo.

For more information on him and his non-Griffin identity see the Illberd folder under the Ala Mhigo section of Final Fantasy XIV - The Eorzean Alliance.

The Bad Guy Wins: Even in his death he successfully summoned the Primal Shinryu, and effectively achieved his goal to force the Alliance to take an active role in the liberation of Ala Mhigo.
Blinded by the Light: The Griffin will throw flash powder to blind the players, stunning them in his battle.
Body Double: The Griffin uses impersonators to deliver public speeches while he handles more important work behind the scenes.
False Flag Operation: Part of his goal to drag all of Eorzea into fighting for Ala Mhigo is to have his revolutionaries disguise themselves as members of the Grand Companies to frame Eorzea for attacking Baelsar's Wall, ensuring Garlean reprisal against Eorzea and forcing their hands.
Final Boss: He's the final unscripted boss of Heavensward.
Shoot the Medic First: The Griffin practices this himself, binding the party's healer in a chain that will kill them if not destroyed fast enough.
Sympathy for the Devil: In spite of all Illberd has done to him, Raubahn is the only one saddened by his death and what drove his former friend to the point of madness. Realizing the desperation Illberd felt is what resolves Raubahn to take up the cause of liberating Ala Mhigo for his sake.

Yojimbo and Daigoro

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ffxiv_yojimbo.jpg

"If you desire my strength, you must pay my price."

A powerful sword for-hire who will aid whoever can afford his high prices. Accompanied by his dog, Daigoro. They are fought in Kugane Castle when a band of shinobi hire him to aid in their revolt to oust foreigners from area.

Accidental Misnaming: Is called "Jim" by Hildbrand as a shorthand name. Yojimbo is peeved about it and is more infuriated when he sees that Hildibrand has no problem remembering his companion's name, Daigoro.
Ambiguously Bi: He thinks that Hildibrand, dressed up (terribly) as a lady looks really beautiful. When he finds out that the person was a man all along, Yojimbo feels conflicted rather than disgusted over the revelation.
Ambiguously Human: He certainly doesn't look like any of the spoken races and is much taller than any of them, but no comment is made on exactly what he is. The reveal that he is actually Gilgamesh does nothing to clear this up as Gilgamesh is just as Ambiguously Human.
Consummate Professional: He cares little about your motives or your actions, only whether or not you can pay his bill.
The Comically Serious: One of the most serious characters in the game, which makes it especially hilarious when he has to put up with Inspector Hildibrand's shenanigans.
Costumes Change Your Size: Yojimbo's frame is much more slender than Gilgamesh's. Hildy brings this up, but he brushes it off saying it was due to weight lost via starvation
Expy: Once he becomes part of the Hildibrand storyline, Yojimbo becomes a more serious version of Gilgamesh. A recurring Final Fantasy character whom joins the party while reciving a nickname from Hildy and calling Hildibrand by his nickname. He is also a sword thief (though more accomplished) who develops a grudge against the Warrior of Light for a past defeat and seeks to win in a rematch. Turns out he actually is Gilgamesh.
Foreshadowing: If you look closely at the beginning of his rematch you'll notice that the battle is taking place on a big bridge
Hired Guns: Yojimbo is famed throughout Hingashi as a legendary mercenary worth every bit of his ridiculous fee.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Yojimbo trained Daigoro to fetch koban coins for him as demonstrated in his boss battle. The Wolf Burglar gets rid of the hound on his heels by tossing a single koban off into the distance, which Daigoro immediately goes after.
It's Personal: He steals the Soboro Sukehiro specifically so he could become powerful enough to defeat the Warrior of Light. He was humiliated by his defeat at your hands. Turns out the defeat he was referring to was not just the one in the Kugane Castle dungeon, but also his two trials in A Realm Reborn.
Katanas Are Just Better: Yojimbo normally fights with a short blade, but will produce different katanas for his more powerful attacks.
Luck-Based Mission: The second intermission of his GATE at the Gold Saucer, "The Slice Is Right." It's the shell game, with Daigoro under one of three cups, and you have no way of tracking which cup is Daigoro due to the last stretch of the shuffle going too fast. Choosing Daigoro means you're out.
Musical Spoiler: Seems strange that Battle on the Big Bridge plays during Yojimbo's "The Slice is Right" GATE in the Gold Saucer, doesn't it?
Mythology Gag: He's pretty much the same character from Final Fantasy X whose power varied based on how much you paid him.
Named Weapon: Zanmato, a fearsome katana Yojimbo can summon to himself at will.
Only in It for the Money: He will do what he is paid for. Nothing more or less.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In his rematch with the Warrior of Light he becomes much more boisterous than normal. Turns out this is actually a hint towards his true identity.
Pest Controller: Along with Daigoro, he will summon magical butterflies which will generate explosions.
Revealing Skill: Turns out him summoning Gilgamesh's Dragon Head adds was this.
Right-Hand Attack Dog: Daigoro who mostly is there just to gather coins for his master, but if you get in the way he will deal damage to you.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Once his HP reaches 1%, he calmly leaves via trapdoor since the man who hired him ran out of money to pay.
Shaping Your Attacks: Like Gilgamesh he can summon Dragon Head enemies which will launch blasts of energy from their mouths. This is not a coincidence.
Single-Stroke Battle: If you fail to gather any of the gold, Yojimbo's Zanmato will end you in one blow.
Something Only They Would Say: When Hildibrand and the others track down Yojimbo, the ronin blurts out something that catches the Warrior of Light's attention. When confronted for stealing the Soboro Sukehiro, Yojimbo calls Hildibrand "Hildy" in shock. Yojimbo had never heard that nickname for the inspector, but it's something Gilgamesh took to calling him.
Summon to Hand: Whenever in need of a better weapon, Yojimbo can call one to himself in a cloud of smoke.
Suspiciously Specific Denial: When speaking to him in the Hildibrand quests, he claims to have never met you, even if you have fought him in Kugane Castle in the past. And that wasn't even the first time you've met him.
Throw the Sheath Away: After drawing his katana from his sheath he will throw it aside where it disappears in a puff of smoke.
Worthy Opponent: Views the Warrior of Light as such, claiming that holding back would be an insult to such a challenger (though he still won't provide any extra effort on behalf of his client without pay).
Would Not Hit a Girl: When Hildibrand cross-dresses as a female to sneak into Akebono's place, Akebono orders Yojimbo to throw "her" out. Yojimbo refuses and finds it extremely dishonorable to lay his hands on a lady. He doesn't seem to mind attacking the Warrior of Light in Kugane Castle if they're female, however.^note

Eureka's Avatar

Seekest thou...power? Power to smite thine enemies? To cast down the wicked and raise up the righteous?

A mysterious garbed man who has appeared in the Isle of Val during the Warrior of Light's expedition there. He claims to be able to give a great power to those wishing to seek it.

Anticlimax Boss: He is defeated by the Warrior of Light in a cutscene, not even having the honor of being a boss in Baldesion Arsenal despite being the main antagonist of the story up to that point.
Deal with the Devil: He can give anyone the power that they seek. He attempts this on Ejika, though it backfires on him.
The Dragon: Is possibly this to the primal sealed within the isle. He sought to find the one who could break the seal on his master.
I Am the Noun: "I am Eureka!"

The Shadowkeeper (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ffxiv_shb_cylva_identity.jpg

Race: Elf
Discipline: Gladiator

A villain from the First who was responsible for many of the world's woes before the Flood of Light. The First's Warriors of Light, led by Ardbert, pursued them in the hopes of liberating the world from their tyranny, but in so doing, ushered in the Flood of Light.

In truth, the Shadowkeeper was Cylva, an elven swordswoman who was a member of Ardbert's party. Acting under the guidance of the Ascians, she helped the Warriors of Light gather the crystals for the purpose of ushering in an Umbral Calamity. After her deception was laid bare, however, Ardbert refused to turn his blade on her and attacked the Ascians, unwittingly playing into their plans to bring about the Flood of Light. In the centuries that passed afterwards, she arranged for the Warrior of Darkness from the Source to hunt down the Cardinal Virtues, the sin eaters that took the bodies of her old friends, as a means to help redeem their name.

Anti-Villain: She's a Shadow Archetype of the First's Warriors of Light, having been manipulated by the Ascians willingly to go to the First as part of an effort to finally avert some element of the Flood of Darkness that destroyed her home of the Thirteenth. While she tries to be cruel and evil about it, in the end she has as much of a heart as they do, and being spared causes her to eventually turn her mindset around to try to fix things like they did rather than make them worse.
The Atoner: After the Flood of Light, she dedicated her life to atoning for her role as the Shadowkeeper by clearing the names of the Warriors of Light, after which she planned to lay down her own life at the hands of the Warriors of Darkness. The Warrior, however, opts to spare her, instead inspiring her to live so the true story of the Warriors of Light may live on with her.
Big Bad: Of the First's Warriors of Light's journey.
The Chessmaster: She is the one that set the path for everything the First's Warriors of Light would end up doing, even if the Ascians had been leading her to do it, and she's also this to the Warrior of Darkness and the local native's efforts to stop the Cardinal Virtues.
Hidden in Plain Sight: Twofold, surprisingly. Not only does she fool the First's Warriors of Light into thinking she was a comrade, only to be manipulating their entire journey to make them the Warriors in the first place so that she could cause a Rejoining by killing them, but a century later after the Flood of Light, she is a waitress at the Crystarium under the pseudonym of Cyella, intentionally gathering people at the local pub of The Wandering Stairs to slay the Virtues reborn of her former comrade's corpses.
Magic Knight: She was capable with a sword and shield while also knowing dark magic to transform herself or others into great beasts.
My God, What Have I Done?: Once she fulfilled her duties to the Ascians, she was ready to kill her own comrades — only to be defeated, and spared death as punishment by Ardbert managing to stay his axe despite the betrayal. She mulls on this for a long while after the Flood of Light occurred, ruining everything she had worked towards, only to feel nonstop regret which only surged harder once Vauthry had the corpses of the Warriors exhumed so that the Virtues could be born. Despite being partly responsible for it all and her crimes, she moves to gather "Virtue-hunters" to solve the problem.
Maker of Monsters: She bred the wargs that infest Lakeland and taught the elves how to transform themselves into beasts, according to one of the region’s FATEs.
Obviously Evil: That Cylva that keeps appearing as the six member of the Warriors of Light keeps making the damnedest evil smirks every time one of the new Warriors of Light were selected in the flashbacks...
Sixth Ranger Traitor: She was the sixth member of Ardbert's body, and unbeknownst to them, the Shadowkeeper.
Villain with Good Publicity: The people of the First remember the Shadowkeeper in a somewhat positive light, as, to their knowledge, it was her apparent death at the hands of the Warriors of Light which led to the Flood that nearly destroyed their world.

Variant/Criterion Dungeon Bosses:

Bosses of the Sil'dihn Subterrane

Silkie

An enormous, rat-like familiar with a pom-pom brush for a tail. It serves as the final boss of the left path in the Sil'dihn Subterrane Variant Dungeon and the first boss of the Another Sil'dihn Subterrane Criterion Dungeon.

Badass Adorable: It's an adorable rodent-like creature...and it's also deceptively powerful, enough to be a challenge for a seasoned Warrior of Light.
Familiar: Silkie was created by Nanamo's late mother, who enlisted the help of a Sharlayan tutor to help her clean the Ul'dahn palace when her maidservants refused to let the sultana cover her hands in grime.
Making a Splash: Owing to its primary role as a cleaning tool, Silkie has numerous water-based attacks. "Eastern Ewer" has Silkie summon a row of ewers that shoot water at the party, dealing high damage if it hits. "Total Wash" has Silkie engulf the entire arena in water, dealing high raidwide damage and inflicting a Damage Over Time debuff.
Neat Freak: Silkie was created with an unending hatred for dust, dirt, and grime, spending its days cleaning the royal palace with fervor. It would even pounce on the guardsmen to clean the spots from their armor.
Rodents of Unusual Size: Silkie is a rat-like familiar the size of a car. However, the actual body of the familiar is its brush-like tail. The "rat" part is designed to be cuddly and to help wipe floors.
Super-Powered Robot Meter Maids: Silkie is a familiar created by Nanamo's mother with the help of a Sharlayan mage to help the maids of the Ul'dah royal palace keep the place clean. The ice, lightning, wind, and water magic it uses to clean also possess frightening offensive power, enough to corner Ul'dah's royal guard and pose a challenge to the Warrior of Light. Lampshaded by Nanamo, who complains about the power her mother gave to a familiar designed for cleaning.
Nanamo: To create a servant for cleaning is one thing, but to imbue it with such unbridled power is quite another!
Weapons of Their Trade: Silkie itself is a tool designed to clean the royal palace. But its real body, its brush-like tail, can cast powerful magic and create duplicates of itself to attack the party.

Gladiator of Sil'dihn

A golem in the shape of an ancient Sil'dihn gladiator, guarding the ruins of the palace. It serves as the final boss of the center path of the Sil'dihn Subterrane Variant Dungeon and the second boss of the Another Sil'dihn Subterrane Criterion Dungeon.

Charged Attack: Its main gimmick is that some of its attacks have three different 'charge' levels, indicated by the amount of bright flashes it creates while casting the attack - however, instead of determining how powerful the attack is, it determines how big it is, thus changing the safespots to avoid it.
Dual Wielding: It holds one cleaver in each hand as its primary weapons.
Living Statue: It's a security golem in the shape of a duel-wielding gladiator.

Shadowcaster Zeless Gah

The undead remains of a proud Amalj'aa warrior and mage of great power. He succumbed to the zombie affliction he volunteered to help suppress, leaving his body restless and yearning for a warrior's end. He serves as the final boss of the right path of the Sil'dihn Subterrane and the final boss of the Another Sildihn Subterrane Criterion Dungeon.

And Then John Was a Zombie: When Trader's Spurn overtook all of Sil'dih, Zeless Gah was among the Amalj'aa who volunteered to aid Ul'dah in suppressing the epidemic. Zeless fought valiantly against the undead hordes, but was ultimately infected himself and laid to rest in the depths of the Sil'dihn Subterrane.
Casting a Shadow: He can turn his shadow into a damaging wave of dark energy which spreads across the floor.
Non-Human Undead: A zombified Amalj'aa.
Playing with Fire: Like most Amalj'aa enemies, he wields fire magic.

Thorne Knight

An automaton hidden in the deepest parts of the Sil'dihn Subterrane, serving as the guardian of the legacy of Thorne. It is the secret boss of the Sil'dihn Subterrane Variant Dungeon.

Flaming Sword: Its Amalj'aa arms carry blades made of fire to attack the party with.
Guide Dang It!: The Survey Record makes no mention of the Thorne Knight, and how to find it is hidden within the logs you get from combing through the Variant Dungeon. You have to make your way to the Shadowcaster Zeless Gah encounter and pick up the incense burner along the way. But instead of opening up his sarcophagus, you Bow, Pay Respects, strike a Victory Pose, then Kneel. Nanamo will notice you paying tribute to Zeless Gah and light the incense burner, which opens a hidden door to this boss fight.
Human Resources: Although it resembles a mammet, the Thorne Knight is closer to a golem than an automaton. A pair of arms belonging to the Amalj'aa warrior were incorporated into the Knight's construction to enhance its affinity for fire.
MacGuffin Guardian: The Thorne Knight's purpose is to guard the carefully concealed and protected evidence of the Amalj'aa's alliance with the Thorne dynasty in the war against Sil'dih and the camaraderie they once enjoyed. Nanamo's parents hid it in the Subterrane, awaiting the day that she would be able to bridge the rift between the two people who had until recently been at war.
Multi-Armed and Dangerous: The Thorne Knight has four arms: two mechanical and two belonging to a fallen Amalj'aa warrior.

Bosses of Mount Rokkon

Moko the Restless

One of the mononoke residing in Mount Rokkon, whose soul still burns with bloodlust. He serves as the final boss of the left path of the Mount Rokkon Variant Dungeon, and the final boss of the Another Mount Rokkon Criterion Dungeon.

Cool Sword: Moko had an entire collection of swords forged by the famed Hingan smith, Nanakusa, in the likeness of the Four Lords. In addition to their surpassing sharpness and beauty, Moko's swords seemed to possess elemental powers akin to the auspices that inspired them. Depending on which ending you achieved, Moko's attacks will be imbued with surging water or burning phoenix fire that will zigzag across the stage with expanding areas of effect. According to Hancock, the third sword of this set, the lost blade Hakutei (styled after Byakko), is said to be an equal to the Swell, an enchanted sword wielded by none other than Zenos.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Moko served his lord with distinction and loyalty during the Age of Strife, the bloodiest and longest civil war that Hingashi has ever known. But Moko's exploits won him popularity among the common people, making Moko's lord so paranoid that he had Moko killed in his sleep.
Off with His Head!: Moko lost his mortal life when his lord ordered him beheaded in his sleep.
Rain of Arrows: One version of his "Soldiers of Death" attack has him summon a line of archers that drop a rain of arrows all over the stage, leaving only a few safe spots. If the fight drags on too long, Moko will continue attacking as the arrows come down, further reducing the number of available safe spots.
Revenant Zombie: Moko was once an esteemed general famed for his unparalleled skill with a blade. But Moko's liege grew paranoid about Moko's popularity among the people, ordering Moko beheaded in his sleep. In the present, Moko's spirit resides in his armor, waiting to slake his thirst for revenge upon his treacherous lord.
Zerg Rush: One version of his "Soldiers of Death" attack has him summon undead samurai that rush across the stage, damaging anyone who comes into contact with them.

Gorai the Uncaged

A man-turned-mononoke, whose downfall was fueled by the treasures he hoarded in avarice. He serves as the final boss of the center path of the Mount Rokkon Variant Dungeon, and the second boss of the Another Mount Rokkon Criterion Dungeon.

Greed Makes You Dumb: Gorai was rescued out of poverty by the monks of Mt. Rokkon. Desperate to avoid the suffering of being impoverished again, he began hoarding priceless artifacts in avarice until eventually obtaining a storied kiseru said to be a Doom Magnet for those who own it. He keeps the pipe despite its reputation and his knowledge that said kiseru would likely become host to a potentially malevolent tsukumogami. He could have avoided his fate of being transformed into a rat demon to be put down had he simply refused to add such a dangerous artifact to his collection.
Magic Music: One of Gorai's artifacts is a magic biwa that he can strum to modify the effects of his attacks, either dramatically increasing the size of his attacks or causing them to split into multiple attacks covering entirely different sections of the arena.
Rags to Riches: Gorai was born into poverty, barely scraping the streets as a beggar until he was welcomed into Shojo Temple and eventually amassed a gigantic collection of treasures that line the walls of his boss arena.
Shadow Archetype: To Hancock, which he acknowledges as a once-impoverished man himself. Gorai is what would happen if Hancock was just as greedy as he was, chasing money for no purpose other than the feeling of wealth. As Hancock puts it succinctly...
Hancock: "Too many grow consumed by the pursuit of wealth for the sake of it, forgetting that is merely a means to an end. Wealth without purpose makes poor men of us all."

Shishio

A mononoke that was turned to stone by a monk, standing motionless long after Shojo Temple had since been vacated. It serves as the final boss of the right path of the Mount Rokkon Variant Dungeon, and the first boss of the Another Mount Rokkon Criterion Dungeon.

Beam Spam: Thunder Onefold/Twofold/Threefold will aim dozens upon dozens of line AOEs that come at you in sequence, forcing you to carefully weave between said attacks to avoid getting hit.
Cats Are Mean: Shishio is a nue, a lion-shaped mononoke, who wreaked havoc and destruction while eating the commonfolk until he was turned to stone by a priest. However, Hancock's description of Shishio is somewhat empathetic toward it, as it was a creature starving and struggling to survive rather than outright malicious.
Shock and Awe: Shishio will create storm clouds that will shoot lightning beams across the arena. It will sometimes inhale one or two sets of the clouds to make the ramaining clouds shoot much wider attacks.
Taken for Granite: Shishio was only defeated after many days of rampaging and having weapons lodged in its body. It was then turned to stone by a priest to seal it away forevermore to end its threat while upholding his vow against killing. However, the chaos that befell Mount Rokkon loosened the seal, freeing it as the Warrior and Hancock explore the premises in search of the source of the mononoke. Unfortunately for Shishio, the Warrior is not averse to killing and puts it down for good.

Enenra

A tsukumogami that takes the form of a kiseru. It is the secret boss of the Mount Rokkon Variant Dungeon.

Demon Lords and Archdevils: Enenra is a powerful tsukumogami akin to a god, with Hancock calling it a "lord among demons" for its incredible supernatural powers that plunged all of Mt. Rokkon into chaos.
Doom Magnet: Enenra's pipe is said to bring fortune or ruin about its owners, with the results depending on the tsukumogami's whims and the owner's perspective. In the case of Gorai and Mt. Rokkon, it corrupted him and plunged Mt. Rokkon into chaos, leading to much death and misery.
Doppleganger Attack: Enenra will split itself into two copies that each have half its health bar, doubling the number of attacks and causing them to overlap for heavy potential damage.
Guide Dang It!: While Hancock does mention tsukumogami within Mount Rokkon, finding this one is rather cryptic. You need to get the three Okuri Chochin from the upper level in the center path's storage room, and take them down the flight of stairs. With the attack each monster performs on death, light the three lanterns with banners hanging over them. This causes the fourth lantern to light up, and interacting with it takes you to Enenra's arena.
Greater-Scope Villain: Following its defeat, Hancock realizes that Enenra is responsible for shrouding Mt. Rokkon in fog and enabling the many supernatural occurances that have plagued Shojo Temple.
Mysterious Mist: The arena the encounter takes place in is hazed by Enenra's smoke, making the colors look washed out on your screen. When Enenra is defeated, the scenery returns to its original hues.
Super Smoke: Being a kiseru tsukumogami, it specializes in using smoke to quickly move around the arena. It can also detonate that smoke like a dust explosion to deal heavy damage.
Yōkai: Enenra is a tsukumogami, a man-made object given sentience over decades. In its case, it's an age-old treasured pipe said to bring great fortune or ruin upon its owner.

Bosses of Aloalo Island

Ketuduke

An aquatic creature of south sea legend. It is the final boss of the left path on the Aloalo Island Variant Dungeon.

The Lala

A wooden construct serving as one of the guardians of Aloalo Island. It is the final boss on the middle path of the Aloalo Island Variant Dungeon.

Statice

A masterless faerie that has retained her form in spite of her master's passing. She is the final boss of the right path on the Aloalo Island Variant Dungeon.

Defeat Equals Friendship: Completing all routes of Aloalo Island result in her taking an interest in the Warrior of Light and deciding to tagalong on their adventures by becoming a mount for them.
The Fair Folk: Unlike your typical faerie that works in tandem with their Scholar master, Statice acts more like the maliciously playful pixies of the First, utilizing toys to mess with you, and wields a gun.
Non-Lethal K.O.: Finishing her off simply knocks her dazed, dropping to the ground unconscious with Circling Birdies.
The Prankster: Along the way before facing her, she sets up several pranks and traps to trip you up. They can be as harmless and silly as whoopie cushions to a horde of mimics. Though you can also be a killjoy and sidestep around them, and she'll react accordingly.
Schmuck Bait: When you charge in, she places a mine dead center in the arena. This is intentional, to exploit the players' instinct to charge straight ahead to get a cheap shot.

Loquloqui

A wooden statue once built by the forgotten people of the south sea isles, keeper of the Speaker, an ancient red jewel. It is the secret boss of the Aloalo Island Variant Dungeon.

Green Thumb: It employs attacks involving plants and wildlife, including flower blooms that explode.
Guide Dang It!: Loquloqui's presence foreshadowed by Kalika, but the clues to the puzzle is spread across three pages of the Aloalo Conservation Record. Even still, there's one extra step that needs to be done to clear the path. The statues of the guardians are on the right path, and you must not follow Statice. Once you find the three statues, you need to follow a long series of steps detailed in logs 3, 7, and 10 to open up a hidden path. Then after you jump into the passage, defeat Whasbyrm to make him drop a sack of totems for you to pick up. Place the totems in the correct order—Sparrow, Whale, then Turtle—on the pedestals to clear the fog obscuring the path where Loquloqui lies.
Healing Spring: Loquloqui's shrine guards a hidden spring with fish that are effectively living panacea. When Aloalo was plagued by illness, the islanders made a soup for the stricken infants from these fish, instantly clearing their fevers and made them immune to all sickness. Since then, it became customary to feed infants this soup to ensure they grow up healthy. Matsya uses this knowledge to aid one person in particular: Vaazti, the sickly orphaned infant, using the golden coelacanth he caught to prepare a special meal for her.

Blasphemies/Terminus Beasts

UNMARKED SPOILERS FOR SHADOWBRINGERS AND ENDWALKER

In General

Monstrous, unholy creatures that appear only in the Final Days and negative emotions given flesh; their existence is focused solely to devour and destroy.

A Fate Worse Than Death: Transforming into a blasphemy seems to capture your very soul from The Lifestream, and given how much pain, suffering, and terror the infectees go through, it's not pleasant. It's considered a fate terrible enough that dying before transforming is a consolation. The ending of the Healer Role Quest does show that something is left in the aftermath of a blasphemy's death, but Meteion captures most, if not all of their soul in a dead sun, preventing them from being reincarnated until her defeat.
Degraded Boss: Weaker versions of the First Beast and Terminus Bellweather appear as regular enemies in the Vanaspati dungeon. The First Beast's degraded forms are renamed Terminus Trampler, since they're no longer the first beast.
Draconic Abomination: Terminus Lacerators resemble demonic, emaciated dragons. Profane Fafnir, the target of the Magic DPS role quests, is a glowing dragon. Both creatures are just as unnatural, mindlessly destructive, and dangerous as any other blasphemy.
Eldritch Transformation: Succumbing to overt negative emotions during the Final Days can cause anyone, anywhere, to transform into a blasphemy.
Emotion Bomb: How they're born and propagate more of their kind, and anyone who falls into despair when the Final Days are happening could turn. Once various leaders realize that keeping the population calm stems the number of victims, precious time is bought before Meteion's Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum can come to pass.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Even as a near-mindless Blasphemy, Izanami still clearly deeply cares for her stepmother Kisei. When Yugiri is forced to kill Kisei to protect Hien, Izanami immediately flies into a furious rage.
Face–Monster Turn: The second a human turns, they immediately become hostile to others, even those they were once close to, with very, very few exceptions.
Idiosyncrazy: Two of the blasphemies from the role quests are unique in that they've only attacked specific targets rather than rampage indiscriminately. This is linked to their Ghost Memory.
- Gleipnir only attacks Hyur within the black shroud, those who are more suseptible to dying to the Creeping Death its poison emulates. Ea-Sura-Supin's wife was a Hyur who died to the plague, despite Gridania having developed a cure for the illness. There is also the resentment he feels for being turned back into a Hyur by the elementals for being decieved as a child.
- Izanami has only killed those Domans who were returned from Garlemald in the prisoner exchange and actively flees from conflict otherwise. Minato resented the returnees because while they were allowed to come home, her own husband was not and likely died on foreign soil in service to the empire.
- Profane Fafnir spreads despair to those who dedicated their lives to the church of Ishgard, only to become alienated after King Thordan's betrayal was revealed to the public.
- Charlet turns Ala Mhigans that were family to the Crania Lupi/Skulls who fought in service of the Garlean Empire, only to remain unforgiven and despised in death by their countrymen.
Irony: "Vaindreau" swore to protect Thordan and Ishgard but transforms into a dragonlike creature, the very enemy the Knights Twelve sworn to protect Ishgard from.
Loss of Identity: They're much like Sin Eaters in this regard - when they turn, they immediately lose themselves. Y'shtola points out that when a new blasphemy is born, their souls and the aether comprising them "rot and crumble away like dried mud" and completely disintegrate, leaving nothing but a volatile emotion bomb.
- This is, however, zigzagged in regards to the stronger Blasphemies encountered in the Role Quests, who retain some semblance of their former lives. For example, Charlet, a man who hated fighting and was The Heart of his friend group, actively avoided attacking any settlements, while Izanami, who genuinely loved her mother-in-law Kisei, flies into a murderous rage after Kisei's death. After the Vanaspati dungeon, this is clarified to be less a lingering sense of actual identity and more basic instinct formed from dynamis.
Named by Democracy: They're referred to first as "blasphemies" because that's what Thavnair called them, and the Eorzean Alliance needed a name to keep messaging and reports about them consistent. The Alliance representatives in Radz-at-Han pass the information along to everyone else across Eorzea as a result.
No Ontological Inertia: Averted. While defeating Meteion and silencing her song prevents the manifestation of despair dynamis that creates them, the Blasphemies she made don't just die because she ceased making them, they remain enemies and bosses afterward.
Poisonous Person: Gleipnir's claws are tipped with a poison that inflicts symptoms similar to the Creeping Death, a disease that is nearly always fatal to Hyurs, but unable to be treated by known medical techniques. Kan-E Senna turns to the elementals for aid, pacifying them and convincing them to provide protection from the poison long enough for the Warrior of Light and the Keeper of the Entwined Serpents to defeat Gleipnir.
The Soulless: They seem to completely lack souls, or any aether at all. This should be impossible, as an aetherless being shouldn't be able to exist, let alone move around and eat people; this foreshadows that they are fueled by another type of energy entirely: Dynamis.
Too Many Mouths: A common feature of Blasphemies that aren't just recolored voidsent. Terminus Tramplers and Svarbhanu have mouths down the entirety of their serpentine flanks, the Terminus Wrecker has two mouths on its front: One where a head would go, and one in its torso, plus an elephant trunk and tusks jutting from its rear. The Terminus Snatcher has a mouth for a head, plus a mouth on both of its elbows. And on top of that, it can generate a purple slime that causes five more mouths to appear from nowhere.
Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Charlet was a straightforward Nice Guy pacifist who was born into the absolute worst possible circumstances a guy like him could be, and even as a blasphemy he retains enough of himself to minimize injuries.
Underground Monkey: The greater blasphemies found in the role quests are recolored versions of other enemies: Gleipnir is a white Behemoth, the Indigo Beast is a white Archaeotania, Profane Fafnir is a blue Mist Dragon, Charlet is a purple Hiruko from Heaven-on-High. Izanami gets the worst of it — she's just a slightly larger Terminus Idolizer.
The Virus: In an alarming sense: when Meteion's Sound disrupts the Dynamis flow in the world, anyone who falls to despair is at risk of turning into a Blasphemy. This would be bad enough, but the former people then go on a rampage and attack every living thing near them - this causes the victims to fear for their lives, and often times this turns them. It makes destroying any new Blasphemies a red alert threat because of how quickly the plague spreads.
Was Once a Man: While the Terminus Beasts of the Ancient world spawned through magic, the modern incarnations of them are themselves people who succumbed to despair or fear. Endwalker's Role Quests have you learn about the Blasphemy you're killing, and who they used to be.
- Tank: Gleipnir's original identity was Ea-Sura-Supin, a childhood friend of Kan-E-Senna who was stripped of his Padjal horns by the great elemental and shunned for a mistake he made as a child. He managed to find a new life under a new identity as "Elenjya", and even had a wife, but she fell ill to a plague called the Creeping Death. They gave her the medicine that cures the Creeping Death, but it had no effect and she died before they could get help from a conjurer. Cursing the elementals for removing his Padjal horns and the chance that he would've been able to save his wife if he still had them, he transformed into Gleipnir — a horned Blasphemy wielding a poison that resembles the Creeping Death, but can't be cured by medicine or conjury and has a 100% death rate.
- Healer: Charlet was the brother of Ansfrid, one of Fordola's best friends, known for his intelligence and pacifistic nature. After Fordola gave the order that killed her fellow Skulls, Charlet cursed himself for not being able to do anything to save his brother and friends, and his despair eventually overtook him and transformed him.
- Melee: The Indigo Beast was once the broodmother of the Sahagin. As the Sahagin serving the primal Leviathan were freed from their Tempering and began to open peace talks with the Lominsans, the priest Doww, leader of an extremist faction called the Crushing Tide, continued to whisper doubt in the broodmother's ear. Manipulated into believing that her children had been enthralled to new masters and that there was no future for their species, she fell to despair and transformed into a giant aether-draining Blasphemy who preyed on other Sahagin. Doww continued to willfully manipulate his fellow Sahagin into transforming into Blasphemies as he did the broodmother, believing it to be a blessing from Leviathan to give them the power to conquer La Noscea.
- Ranged: Izanami was once a young woman of Isari named Minato. Minato was the daughter-in-law of Kisei, an exiled priestess from Sui-no-Sato, whose son — a fisherman conscripted in the Garlean army — would marry Minato into the family. Minato hoped for her husband to return in Asahi's prisoner exchange, but he had already been killed in another land. Seeing other families reunited and even Yotsuyu spared from the peoples' justice poured salt in the wound; driven to the brink of suicide, Minato instead transformed into a Blasphemy and began hunting down returned conscripts. Kisei bore witness to the transformation and, subsequently driven mad by Minato's state, created a death cult worshipping her as the kami Izanami.
- Caster: Profane Fafnir was once a soulless Elezen clone, created by scorned Ishgardian priests within Azys Lla as part of an attempt to resummon Thordan and his Knights to restore the old order of Ishgard. The summoning failed without Nidhogg's eye to fuel it, causing the lingering aether of the entire Heaven's Ward to instead accumulate in the vessel, changing his appearance and giving him the muddled memories of all of Thordan's Knights. The clone was so driven to protect the Archbishop that he commandeered an airship and flew to Ishgard; when prompted by chirurgeons, he chose the name Vaindreau from out of the mess of memories. When "Vaindreau" learned that Archbishop Thordan was long deceased, he fell into despair and transformed into Profane Fafnir.
- After completing all of the Role Quests, there's one more lying in Garlemald: Nerva yae Galvus, the leader of the IIIrd Legion and the cousin of Varis. He had ambitious dreams of glory and patriotism for his home, wanting to rule it under his name after Varis' assassination. However, despite the opportunity given to him, the capital was already in ruins before he could ascend the throne. With no home to speak of, he turned, and began voicing his lamentations through the radios to his people.

The Original Terminus

Just as Beastmen's prayers gave rise to Primals, the Ancients' fear from the star's noise created the Terminus beasts, the noise manifesting their emotions against their will, which pillaged and devastated both Amaurot and the original world.
The Three Dooms are The First Beast, Terminus Bellwether, and Therion, while lesser monsters are known as Pursuer, Stalker, Sprinter, Detonator, Crier, Roiler, Shadower, Howler, Flesher, Shriver, Beholder, Twitcher, Reaper, Lacerator, Drainer, Vanquisher, Slitherer, and Idolizer.

Action Bomb: Both the Terminus Bellwether and the Terminus Detonator.
Animalistic Abomination: The First Beast is a giant, shaggy caterpillar with a face like a horse, multiple mouths running down its flanks, and the power to trigger earthquakes and call down meteors. The Terminus Bellwether is a cockatrice-like creature that can spawn more Terminus beasts from the terror it spreads, and blow itself up. Therion is a sphinx-like monstrosity with four faces that can fly through space and fire destructive beams of energy. Even some of the lesser Terminus beasts resemble animals with impossible powers, like the Terminus Sprinter.
Advancing Boss of Doom: Therion periodically charges further down its battlefield, giving you less space to avoid its attacks.
Beast of the Apocalypse: Technically, they all count, which should be much cause for alarm. Archaeotania, the creature that broke out from the Akedemia, is hinted to be one of the earliest cases to be found and documented by the Amaurotines, making it quite possible that she is the source of the fear and despair that spread through Amaurot itself.
Beast with a Human Face: Therion has four identical human faces, with glowing eyes and glowing mouths, all locked in the same expression. The Terminus Bellwether also has a human face.
Boss Subtitles: The end boss of the dungeon, Therion, has the subtitle "Chthonic Riddle".
Colony Drop: The First Beast can summon meteors to its location, as shown when it uses it to kill two Ancients running in terror; these are potent enough to wreck buildings (which you have to deal with during the fight with it). The Terminus Bellwether can also call down meteors.
Cosmic Horror Story: While nothing is known about the sound itself, the fact that a highly advanced reality-altering civilization was brought to its knees by only a sound has shades of this. Some of the creatures spawned are downright alien and bizarre, and some of them have names appropriate to this. "Cthonic Riddle Therion" for example.
Damage-Increasing Debuff: Terminus Detonators inflict a stacking Fire Resistance Down debuff to their target before exploding.
Disaster Dominoes: The threat of the Terminus monsters would soon force the summoning of Zodiark, and everything else that would follow.
Flunky Boss: The Terminus Bellwether. By itself, it's not much of a threat, and it doesn't have much health for a dungeon boss. The real challenge comes from the several waves of adds that it summons to back it up.
The Heartless: They're physical manifestations of the ancient Ascians' worst emotions, using fear as the base for their creation, and at least one—the Terminus Bellwether—is shown to feed on the very fear it spreads.
The beast bellows, and gives birth to terror. A terror that, in turn, gives rise to new beasts…
As if feeding on the horror, the beast bloats… then shivers… then ruptures…
I Am Not Left-Handed: Some implications hint that the Terminus in the Amaurot dungeon are weakened replicas of the originals, either by necessity for Emet-Selch to control them or due to him simply not being able to replicate their original ferocity. Notably, whereas most dungeon bosses get 3* Triple Triad cards, not only does Therion get the 5* usually reserved to incredibly powerful Primal fights or story critical characters, but it also has slightly higher average stats than almost all over 5* cards, including being one point higher than Ardbert's. In the case of a creature as incredibly powerful as Archaeotania, who is described as being what is essentially a "Proto-Terminus", that is some seriously bad news.
Meaningful Name: The word "terminus" means, "a final point in space or time; an end or extremity." Very fitting for monsters that would bring about the shattering of the world. Likewise, Therion's name means "beast" in Greek, and its title of "Chthonic Riddle" effectively means "mystery from the underworld", which accurately describes the sound that heralded the Amaurotines' apocalypse.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Their names all mean something bad, and absolutely none of them would spare the Ancients in their slaughter.
Nothing Is Scarier: Absolutely nothing is known about the origin of the sound itself, only that it knew where to strike to deal the most damage to the Ancients; namely their very own creation magics.
- As of Endwalker, the sound has been identified as the despairing song of oblivion, sung by the Meteia, and carried across the universe on the invisible currents of dynamis. Imperceptible to the physical ear, instead resonating in the darkest parts of mortal souls.
Pre-Final Boss: Therion, being the final boss of the Amaurot dungeon, is the last fight right before the final encounter with Emet-Selch. The initial confrontation even happens on the floating platform it's previously fought on.
Psycho Prototype: In a way, the Terminus monsters served as lesser Primals, born from the Ancients' negative emotions.
Shoot the Medic First: Rollers will attack healers as soon as the party engages them or other nearby monsters. Each attack they land inflicts a debuff on the healer that makes their healing potency become much weaker.
Underground Monkey: Most of the non-boss Terminus abominations take the form of voidsent or ashkin. Stalkers are Baboulas, Detonators are Bombs, Criers are Gremlins, Roilers are Darkness Sprites, Shadowers are Zangbeto, Howlers are Vanara, Fleshers are Ogres, Shrivers are Personae, Beholders are Hecteyes, Twitchers are Mirrorknights, Reapers are Troubadors, Lacerators are Dahaks, Vanquishers are Catastrophe, Slitherers are Parthenope, and Idolizers are Calofisteri. There appears to be an implication that the relationship is in fact the other way around, with the voidsent and ashkin being some kind of "lesser" manifestation of true Terminus beasts (which also raises the spooky possibility that the sin eaters might have something to do with them too).
Wave-Motion Gun: Therion's Apokalypsis and Deathly Ray abilities take the form of massive, white-hot lasers.

The Source of the Sound (Major Unmarked Endwalker Spoilers)

Meteion, The Endsinger

Voiced by: Atsumi Tanezaki (JP), Rosie Day (EN), Zina Khakhoulia (FR), Anna Gamburg (DE)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/meteion_ffxiv.png

The Shooting Star

^{Post-Despair Event Horizon form}

^{Endsinger form}

"Greetings. Can you hear me? I wish only to hear your words. Share your feelings. Know your thoughts. May we please be friends?"

Hermes's so-called shooting star, Meteion and her identical sisters were creations of the Ancient who would later ascend to the seat of Fandaniel. Uniquely, Meteion is not composed entirely of aether - rather, she is an entelechy made with exceedingly thin aether to better harness dynamis, a form of energy that can only be subconsciously manipulated by emotion, giving her extremely strong empathy and some influence over the emotions of those around her. While Meteion stayed behind on Etheirys to serve as Hermes's companion and assistant, her sisters were sent out into the great expanse in search of life on distant stars with the seemingly innocuous question of what gave their life meaning.

What these sisters found was the ashes of a thousand thousand dead worlds, places where life had once flourished but since come to an end. Upon reconnecting with her sisters' consciousnesses, Meteion was so overwhelmed with despair that she set forth on a new goal: ending all life in the universe. After all, if all life were to end, all suffering would end. Hermes, similarly torn apart by the revelation, bade her depart for the edge of the universe, whereupon she began to sing a song - a song of oblivion that brought about the Final Days on Etheirys and countless other stars.

Abstract Apotheosis: After the Hive Mind's spectacular failure to discover the answer to happiness, the feedback loop of sadness that results essentially turns the Meteia into despair and hopelessness given form and voice.
A.I. Is a Crapshoot: At her core, Meteion is an autonomous space exploration satellite and the collective network of her bodies - but given bad, overly general instructions by her creator to "find the meaning of life and the answer to true happiness" and childlike emotions with no ability to process trauma. Thus, when faced with the sheer misery of the universe, she was overwhelmed, and could only come to one solution: "the purpose of life is to suffer and true happiness is nonexistence".
Animorphism: When you meet her she takes the form of a largely humanoid girl with some avian features, but she can also turn into a full-on blue bird at will.
Anti-Villain: In the mind of the collective will that makes up Meteion, she thinks she's helping people escape the pain and suffering life brings on account of the shared experience they had traveling the stars. Thanks to their ability to feel and absorb the emotions of those dying worlds along with an inability to seperate others emotions from her own, Meteion believes she is providing a Mercy Kill to the universe. Tellingly, after her defeat and being given the chance to feel positive emotions again, she realizes how wrong she was.
The Assimilator: Due to her nature as The Empath, she perceives others' strong emotions as her own, which extends to such extremes as favorite foods despite Meteion literally being unable to eat. This seems to allow her to absorb souls or at least their desires and feelings. By the end of the game, the Meteia hivemind is less the single familiar or her sisters than an amalgamation of countless dead worlds, with the Endsinger referring to itself as "We" instead of any kind of indivdual identification.
Big Bad: Transitions from the entire game's Greater-Scope Villain into this during the latter half of Endwalker, being the primary villainous actor of the plot at that point following Fandaniel's death.
Bluebird of Happiness: A literal one. She starts out as a Cheerful Child, and her Start of Darkness is marked by her blue feathers turning black from despair. After being defeated and feeling the Warrior of Light's hope, she regains her original blue coloration.
Breaking Speech: She tries to pull this on the Scions throughout their journey across Ultima Thule, appearing out of nowhere at multiple points to explain the futility of their actions. Before the Warrior of Light faces her properly, she takes them on a tour through several doomed worlds while expositing their fates, further highlighting that all life is doomed to end. Fortunately, it doesn't work.
Break the Cutie: Hoo-boy. She goes from an emotionally immature girl who shakes if people speak too loudly to having a thousand thousand apocalypses downloaded into her brain in a single moment. She absolutely does not take it well when learning that every civilization her sisters found in space have either been completely destroyed or have long since past with only a few trace remnants revealing their existence.
Casting a Shadow: Many of her attacks as the Endsinger are dark and shadowy, such as streams of black tears or pools of black liquid that form creepy, grasping arms that attack upwards. Unlike Zodiark, she's not using the element of Darkness, but the more metaphorical darkness as physical manifestation of despair.
Cessation of Existence: Her endgame plan after destroying Etheirys is to use her manipulation of Dynamis to speed up the Heat Death of the Universe, to stop the cycle of reincarnation and prevent anyone from being born again, leaving perfect "serenity".
Cheerful Child: She, and the rest of the Meteion, were in essence happy kids who just wanted to help.
Civilization Destroyer: She brought the Ancient society to ruin in the first Final Days, causing their collapse even if she failed in her initial goal of wiping them out. Before that, it's also implied she became an accidental catalyst for the destruction of other civilizations.
Clipped-Wing Angel: After you survive the Endsinger's ultimate attack twice, she's so mind-boggled by your persistence that she panics and is reduced to screaming and flailing her wings across the arena in increasingly wilder swings for the rest of the fight.
Colony Drop: The Endsinger's primary method of attack is to create miniature planets and either hurl them at foes... or each other, forcing players to dodge out of the shockwaves.
Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: She serves as a contrast to Zenos, whom she supplants as the story's primary threat. She is a being formed almost entirely of emotion, and is an empath to an extreme degree whereas Zenos is unable to experience emotion aside from the boredom and thrill of battle. This is brought up during Zenos's Villainous Rescue moment where Zenos saves you from the Endsinger and is genuinely confused that the Warrior of Light is struggling against something so "banal as despair". When she repeats an earlier statement to induce despair, he ignores it entirely with a statement implying she is being hunted.
Creepy Child: Though she is unambiguously nice to everyone she meets, her natural empathy powers have stunted her social skills. Then she crosses the Despair Event Horizon and decides to end all life in the universe, which the game goes out of its way to highlight via many uncomfortable closeups.
Creepy Monotone: She begins speaking like this after hitting the Despair Event Horizon. Her complete lack of emotion as she talks about the end of countless stars and the entire universe makes the whole thing even more unsettling.
Cute Monster Girl: She has the appearance of a cute young lady with some avian features - small wings instead of ears, feathers forming a tail, and clawed, birdlike legs.
Death by Irony: Ultimately, a major contributing factor in the Endsinger's final defeat was the intervention of Zenos, a man already so deep into his own nihilism and so far removed from conventional emotions that even the concentrated despair of thousands upon thousands of dead worlds simply had no effect on him.
Deconstructed Character Archetype: She serves as one to the classical Omnicidal Maniac Final Fantasy villain. Typically, such villains are either beings of pure evil or hatred (such as Exdeath and the Cloud of Darkness) or completely insane megalomaniacs (such as Kefka and Sephiroth), with shallow motivations that are downplayed in favor of focusing on their level of threat. Meteion, on the other hand, has a comparatively fleshed out background and understandable reason for attempting to destory all life. She is a highly empathetic creature who has been mentally broken by all the dying or dead worlds that she has visited in her search to find the meaning of life for Hermes, her creator. Seeing nothing but death and despair no matter where she went, she came to the conclusion that life itself is suffering and that the ending of all life is the solution to all the despair she felt. She isn't attempting to destroy all life out of hatred or evil; she does it out of misguided love. When the player reaches the end of the long walk and stands before alone after the Scions have all sacrificed themselves to help you get this far, Meteion reiterates that their nest is beyond your reach, but then almost seems sorry for you and tries to sound comforting about it all.
Meteion: Come. Let me relieve you of your burden. You have suffered enough.
Despair Event Horizon: Crosses this upon discovering the desolate fates of many civilizations across the stars. Her answering Hermes' question about the meaning of life afterwards ultimately causes her Start of Darkness. She breaks out of this upon reading the memories, emotions, and experiences of the Warrior of Light following their fight at the end of Endwalker, with a renewed hope for life itself.
Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: It may be more correct to say she is desperately searching for meaning - it was the reason she was created, but was disastrously unable to find it and she could not handle what she found. Subtly reinforced in the second phase of the Endbringer fight, where her only attacks are Telos (meaning 'end', but with a connotation of searching the meaning to life or reason to exist) followed by Telomania (mania being an obsession with a given subject), and even then she is flailing in desperation.
A Dog Named "Dog": It's not immediately revealed that Meteion even has a species (as opposed to being A Kind of One as one might've expected from Hermes's "pet project"), but when you do learn this, you learn that the kind of being she is is also named "Meteion", plural "Meteia".
Early-Bird Cameo: Her bird form was shown in a promotional artwork advertising the Fender and Final Fantasy XIV collaboration months before the expansion was released.
Eldritch Abomination: Went from a swarm of (admittedly already exotic) familiars powered by an esoteric energy source to the physical incarnation of countless dead worlds' suicidal despair manifested as a human-bird thing.
Emotional Powers: As The Empath, Meteion wields dynamis, an abundant energy source that responds to strong emotions. Any place insufficiently shielded by dense aether is vulnerable to her influence, causing terrifying natural disasters and the creation of malformed horrors embodying negative emotions. In the time of the Ancients these were accidentally spawned by rampant creation magic; in the present, the less-aether-dense Spoken risk becoming the monsters themselves.
The Empath: To a cosmically catastrophic degree. Meteion lacks either the experience, maturity or the ability to control her empathic powers, unable to make a distinction between her emotions and other peoples, thus taking on others' emotions and preferences as though they were her own. This leads to her Face–Heel Turn. On top of this, the emotions they felt were then passed on to civilisations they tried to help, which only sped up their self-destruction.
Evil Can Not Comprehend Good: The Endsinger is unable to understand why anyone would resist her "gift". Given that they're almost all literal children who've been through nothing but the worst of sentient life for eons, it's only natural.
Evil Makeover: Once she hits the Despair Event Horizon, the bright and cheerful Meteion is corrupted by the "negative" dynamis energy, going completely monochrome and gaining Empty Eyes.
Expy:
- Borrows heavily from Final Fantasy IV's Zemus and Final Fantasy IX's own Zemus expy, Necron. Like Zemus and Necron, she supplants the previously established Big Bad and company near the very end of the story, after they fail in a Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum, to become the true Final Boss. Similarly, like Necron and Zeromus, she is an Anthropomorphic Personification of hate and despair that concludes all life seeks death and tries to destroy life itself. The battle against the Endsinger also echoes the events of the battle with Zeromus, with you having to travel through space to reach her and the prayer's of the hero's friends giving them a second wind when all hope seems lost. Her planet attacks meanwhile are highly reminiscent of Necron's signature move Grand Cross.
- Formerly helpful lab experiment going nihilistically nuts due to Cosmic Horror causing an existential crisis of massive proportions echoes Sephiroth.
Existential Horror: With a dash of Cosmic Horror: They were supposed to make contact with other civilizations on other planets. All they found were dead worlds, or worlds in the process of dying because of war, greed, xenophobia, despair, all the sins that plague real life. All their attempts to help only resulted in hastening the worlds they did find alive in destroying themselves faster.
Face–Heel Turn: She starts out as genuinely helpful, kind, and empathetic. However, once she gets the report from her sisters and crosses the Despair Event Horizon, Meteion becomes a Straw Nihilist determined to end all life in the universe, forcing the Warrior of Light to oppose her. Just before Meteion gets the report, she seems to recognize what this is about to do to her and begs the Warrior to protect everyone before Meteion goes all-in on bringing about the end of all existence.
Fighting from the Inside: "Our" Meteion, the most socialized of her sisters, is horrified by the reports from the rest of her kin, and tries desperately to prevent delivering their report to Etheirys to no avail. Once offered kindness and proof her despair is not overpowering, this Meteion attempts to stop the rest of her sisters' Fusion Dance into the Endsinger.
Final Boss: Of Endwalker and of XIV's original story as a whole. While there's one final duel against Zenos afterwards, defeating her Endsinger form is the final obstacle to saving the world and marks the end of everything that was built up to since A Realm Reborn, with everything after being treated as an epilogue and the beginning of a new story.
Final Boss, New Dimension: Her arena, The Final Day, is described as "a cosmic realm at the furthest reaches of the stars". It's also done while riding on the back of Zenos as Shinryu, who has gorged on what was left of the Mothercrystal to maintain that form.
Flawed Prototype: Averted. Meteion is exactly what Hermes hoped she would be: empathic, The Needless, able to travel great distances and communicate across it. Unfortunately, these qualities matched with his deep seated personal issues and growing psychosis over seemingly being the only one to perceive a flaw in his society's ideals, were key to her involuntary Face–Heel Turn, with universally apocalyptic consequences.
- She’s also a prototype of what will be the result of Hydaelyn’s sundering. Instead of being strong in Aether Meteion and her sisters were designed to be strong in Dynamis instead, which was similar to the end result of Venat’s sundering and design. She created a new form of man that mimics what Hermes did, with Man of the modern world being strong in Dynamis and stunted in Aether by the Ancient’s standards.
Foreshadowing:
- Not of existence, but the consequences of Hermes' experiment - sending creatures capable of emotion and sentiment into the void - are foreshadowed by the Omega questline, which concluded that to cross the rift alone would crush the spirit of anyone. Midgardsormr at least had his children to think about even as he too saw the same sights Meteion did, and Omega was rendered catatonic upon arrival to The Source, with the return journey to the Omicrons liable to kill its consciousness outright from the sheer oppressive loneliness. The Meteion Sisters had to endure several more such journeys over probably thousands upon thousands of years only to discover dead stars and mournful dead souls... which compounded on top of one another when the shared consciousness was reactivated.
  - Furthermore, Hermes never prepared her for the crushing loneliness and despair she and the other Meteia would encounter in space. When she feels his anxiety and frustration during Emet-Selch's interview, Hermes tells her to go for a walk rather than trying to reassure her or teaching her to deal with these negative emotions.
  - She is also shown to assimilate the emotions of others as her own due to her empathic abilities, gaining an appreciation for candied apples due to Hermes' like of them and never understanding that these emotions aren't her own. This caused the Meteia Hive Mind to internalize the oppressive despair of the dying worlds and left them incapable of rebelling against it, considering it objectively or perceiving anything beyond it.
- Her Arc Words were also foreshadowed as early as the Crystal Tower raid back in A Realm Reborn, when Nero tossed his detection device into the chasm outside the tower... only for the device to blurt out morse code for "it's all wrong" over and over.
- Of all things, Heavensward's Bard storyline also hints at Meteion and her song of Oblivion (exhibit A◊ and B◊).
- In addition to this, the Dancer storyline eventually reveals an ancient and secret sacred duty of the Thavnairian (where it ends up Zodiark's shield is weakest) Dancers to travel across lands to dispel a "darkness" infesting any people that feeds on their negativity and despair when facing terrible strife, with it being able to physically manifest as groteque monstrosities. Sound familiar?
- Thematically, a person who meant well and did their best to help others, only to be turned towards evil by a cruel world and believing mass murder is geniunely a better fate than living, was already played with back in ARR with Edda Pureheart/Blackheart's (knowing and unknowing) party ignoring her at best and abusing her at worst only resulting in her turning to Voidsent insanity to murder as many people as she could.
- Also thematically, it's not a coincidence that Fanadiel is a violently insane nihilist who wanted to destroy everything back in his previous appearances.
Fusion Dance: The Endsinger is a mass fusion of all the Meteia, and a physical representation of the nihilistic hivemind.
From Nobody to Nightmare: When first introduced, she is just a sweet tempered highly empathic (literally) child who was designed to explore the cosmos and only gather data. The magic she wields, while pervasive, is deemed generally too weak and too niche to be worthy of being made common knowledge, let alone feared. By the end, however, she and her sisters represent an existential threat very capable of not merely wiping life out from the known universe, but ensuring no new life springs forth from the corpse of creation ever again.
"Get Back Here!" Boss: While it has no bearing gameplay-wise, the entire fight against the Endsinger has her on the backfoot, fleeing from the unexpected tandem of the Warrior of Light and Shinryu.
Go Mad from the Revelation: Seeing the doomed fates of various civilizations makes the questions of "what is the meaning of life" and "what brings true happiness" the worst ones for her to consider; unfortunately, they're also the questions she was designed and ordered to find the answers to, and her failure leads her to essentially deem existence itself pointless and needing destruction.
Gone Horribly Right: The Meteia were designed to blast off to other worlds, learn what brings other civilzations happiness, and relay their findings to the Meteion on Etheriys via their Hive Mind. They did that — only to find nothing in the great expanse but dying, dead, or wishing-to-be-dead worlds (numbering in the thousands) whose pursuit of happiness and perfection ended up causing their ruin. The despair of these findings influenced other Meteia to try and avert this fate on other worlds, only for their methods to cause the apocalypse instead. By the time our Meteion reconnects with the Hive Mind, it's become a violent, self-sustaining loop of pure despair that concluded that true happiness is impossible, and has so decided to just end everything.
Greater-Scope Villain: Her fall into despair led into a domino effect that would cause, indirectly, almost everything in the setting:
- Most directly, her Final Days caused the end of the Ancient civilization, the creation of Hydaelyn and Zodiark as response, the Sundering of the planet, and the Ascians that would follow.
- She's indirectly the cause for every Ascian machination: the Void, the Allagans, the Garlean Empire, Lahabrea's plans with Ultima Weapon and Thordann, and Emet-Selch's plans on the First. Even the Primals, who were created through corrupted Ascian rituals taught to mortals, can be traced back to her. If she didn't start the Final Days, none of these things would have happened, making her by far the single most influential villain in the story.
- Even Omega as a threat to the planet can be traced back to her, as the Sundering and the creation of Hydaelyn caused Midgardsormr to specifically land on Etheirys, causing Omega to follow.
Hive Mind: The Meteion we meet in Elpis is just one of many. They can fuse their minds and share their knowledge, no matter the distance between them. When she is initially reconnected to her sisters, Hermes' Meteion struggles deeply to resist the despair felt by them, but the sheer shock from the torrent of negative emotions is too much for her to handle. Her individuality is eventually suppressed, leaving only the broken, nihilistic overmind.
Hope Is Scary: This is the heart of the Meteia's desire to end all life. They are so traumatized by experiencing the deaths of worlds and species over and over again that they'd rather reduce existence to nothingness than risk the possiblity of having to experience another one. Striving forward for a better tomorrow, as the Scions do, both enrages and frightens the Meteia. They are so terrified of the prospect, when the Warrior starts winning the battle against the Endsinger they become desperate and flailing and their dialogue moves into worried shouts that they can't go through this again.
Humans Are Bastards: "Sentient Life are Bastards", really. A huge part of their nihilism is witnessing unending cruelty from sentient life, some of it humanoid. The worlds that weren't already dead were in the process of enacting world-ending civil wars, polluting themselves to death, abusing the poor, genocide, xenophobia, etc., etc. Any attempt to help only sped up the process.
In Your Nature to Destroy Yourselves: Thanks to literally every single civilisation they came across were dead or in the process of dying, their ultimate conclusion was that sentient life was nothing but suffering.
Ironic Echo: As spelled out by Hythlodeus, the Ascians' culture holds that "it is beautiful" for those who have lived their lives to their fullest to return to the star with only Hermes objecting that this is only so for mankind and that the deaths of the creatures they euthanize are anything but. During her Motive Rant prior to leaving Elpis, Meteion reveals how her exposure to these perspectives has shaped her perception of the omnicidal extinction she intends on visiting upon the rest of creation by describing the "peace" and "serenity" she will bring with the words that "it will be beautiful."
Living Relic: After the passing of Zodiark, Hydaelyn, and the Paragons, Meteion and her sisters are the sole living remnant of the unsundered world.
Machine Monotone: When the Hive Mind takes control, Meteion speaks like this, and it only gets worse once the central intelligence has been mentally and emotionally broken.
Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter: Downplayed, as she's not beautiful, just "cute", but Hermes does treat her very well and loves her dearly. Unfortunately, his response to her having an emotional breakdown is to release her to do what she saw fit, essentially demanding she try to kill everyone just so he could find out if people were worth saving... and then wiping the witnesses' memories, including his own, so that she could begin enacting the "experiment" unimpeded.
Mercy Kill: She sees her observations of civilizations across space meeting horrifying ends as proof that life just isn't worth living, and starts the Final Days to free everyone from their suffering. One of her voice lines in her boss fight even restates this in case anyone missed it.
Endsinger: This is a kindness.
Monster Progenitor: Her song, and the despair-corrupted dynamis it generates and gathers, is the ultimate source of the Blasphemies and the Terminus Beasts before them
Mythology Gag: She bears traits in common with Maenad from Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. The Maenads are living, identical creations with a of a being called the Creator that look like young women with a Hive Mind that act as The Heavy for the story, similar to Meteion. Maenads and Meteia are all also identified by the name of their "race," but where the Maenads were a whole race of Emotionless Girls, Meteia are all empaths, basically the complete opposite.
The Needless: She doesn't need to sleep or eat, a conscious decision by Hermes to make her suited for space travel.
Never Be Hurt Again: Her true motivations for turning into an Omnicidal Maniac boil down to her fear of having to suffer emotionally from the plight of others after experiencing this pain on countless worlds. Thus she tries to numb her emotions by staying in a constant state of emptiness and silence the rest of the universe as well.
Endsinger: No! The hatred, the pain, the loss... We cannot suffer it again!
Nice Girl: She is one of the friendliest and sweetest girls you could meet, welcoming you with an immediate desire to become a friend despite everyone thinking you are just a familiar. Even after becoming the Endsinger, there is a sliver of her that remains deep inside.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Near the end of Endwalker Urianger comes to the conclusion that while most of the civilizations she found weren't in good shape before her sisters found them and she probably didn't cause EVERY extinction, Meteion's ability to share both her pain and other's created a feedback loop that caused entire races to hit the Despair Event Horizon in the first place, making her a harbinger of doom for those races. In essence, she herself inadvertently caused a large amount of the suffering and extinctions that drove her to conclude that life should not exist. Notes found in the Dead Ends dungeon back up his claim.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Meteion originally created copies of several of the extinct peoples she'd discovered at their nadir, so that their despair could amplify her own dynamis manipulation. These same peoples would go on to show signs of awareness beyond simply echoing their past failures, leading to her inadvertently saving several species from extinction.
No-Nonsense Nemesis: The moment the Scions get inside her sphere of influence, she appears within the ship to wipe them out before they even have a chance to reach her nest by suffocating them all. It's only due to Thancred's (temporary) Heroic Sacrifice that this fate is averted and the Scions protected from her powers for a time. When the Scions face her personally, she counters their every move: flinging planetoids when Thancred and Estinien try to reach her, bombarding Y'shtola and Alisaie while they're in the middle of casting spells, and forcing G'raha to defend the Warrior after she knocked them down. She also refuses to let the heroes get within striking distance and the Warrior of Light can only reach her while riding atop Shinryu's back to ensure that she can't simply flee from them. This also expands into her boss fight where after she uses her Signature Attack, she casts it again just to make sure the Warrior of Light doesn't survive. The fact that the Warrior of Light survives anyway, thanks to the Scions using The Power of Friendship, causes the Endsinger to enter a Villainous Breakdown as she simply cannot believe that the Scions are still standing.
Omnicidal Maniac: Much like Fandaniel before her but worse, as she wants not only to kill everyone in the universe, but erase their souls as well. She believes this to be a kindness, as Meteion argues that if all life were to end, all suffering would also end.
Endsinger: No life, no star, nor the universe itself... None should hope for better!
One-Winged Angel: The Endsinger, the form she takes as the Final Boss, is the result of all Meteia fusing together as one. The result is a giant being that looks like an aged up Meteion with huge white wings for arms and no lower half.
Orcus on His Throne: As the Endsinger, she doesn't directly interact with the heroes or show herself until the Warrior of Light and the Scions bring the fight to her nest. Completely justified as she has no need to appear directly to advance her plan and bring about the Final Days, and her hideout at the edges of the universe is the safest place she could possibly be to enact it. Were it not for a tracking spell cast by Venat at the last minute, she would have never been found.
Paint It Black: When Meteion is overwhelmed by the despair of her Hive Mind, the negative Dynamis energy dyes her blue features black and turns her skin chalk white to reflect her despair.
Physical God: Within her domain of Ultima Thule/Ultimatum, she can shape reality as she wishes, unmake any Aether-based living being with a thought, and the only thing that prevents her from causing a Total Party Kill is multiple Heroic Sacrifices, not to mention her immensely powerful Endsinger form. Even outside of Ultima Thule, her power to manipulate dynamis allows her to affect things on a universal scale, such as corrupting distant planets and even speeding up the heat death of the universe. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that while in her domain, she is amongst the most powerful beings to ever exist in the franchise.
Production Foreshadowing: Her bird form was first shown 6 months before the original scheduled release date for Endwalker, in a piece of official art made to promote a collaboration between Final Fantasy XIV and Fender guitars.
Put Them All Out of My Misery: Part of the reason why she wants to end all life in the universe is because "the hatred, the pain, [and] the loss" that Meteion felt was so overwhelming that she would do anything to prevent herself from having to go through it again. She says as much during her Villainous Breakdown.
Shout-Out: Her Starbird form is a subtle Visual Pun reference to Classical Mythology (or arguably to Hellsing); she is literally the bird of Hermes.
Straw Nihilist: She feels that life is meaningless since all things are fated to die and all civilizations are fated to end. As such, she wants to end all existence to spare people the pain of that inevitability. She gets out of it at the end of Endwalker.
Super Mode: Her Endsinger form is enormous, and capable of wiping out all life in the universe. She only takes this form during the Final Boss fight of Endwalker.
Theme Music Powerup:
- Her first phase's theme is a mashup of all four previous Final Boss themes.
- She gets this turned against her during her Villainous Breakdown, as a reprise of "Endwalker - Footfalls" starts playing.
This Cannot Be!: Her Finishing Move is an attack meant to "seal the fate of the universe". The Warrior of Light uses the power of Dynamis (read: a Tank's Level 3 Limit Break) to barely survive the first hit. So she rewinds time and uses the same attack. This time, the prayers of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn cause the attack to do nothing at all. The Endsinger then enters a full Villainous Breakdown with "What is this defiance?!" while desperately flailing at the party, trying in vain to convince the Warrior to stand down, simply because Meteion cannot believe what she's seeing.
This Was Her True Form: Despite her Cute Monster Girl appearance, her actual shape is that of... a simple blue bird, with two ribbon-like tails being the only hint to anything more. She was merely manipulating her appearance so it would be something easier for people to interact with - and in one case, reverted back to "bird" to escape Venat's grip.
Time Abyss: At around 12,000 years old, she's one of the oldest characters in the setting that is encountered in the present, only slightly surpassed by Venat/Hydaelyn, Lahabrea, Elidibus, Emet-Selch, Midgardsormr and Omega.
Time Master: She is able to recreate the destruction of several stars as part of her attacks. Her Fatalism attack rewinds that last such attack, resulting it in going off again. She even uses it when the party survives her Finishing Move.
Timed Mission: The Endsinger's final desperation flailings grant her an endlessly stacking Damage Up buff. A group with poor damage will eventually get overwhelmed by the constant damage she puts out.
Trademark Favorite Food: Candied apples, but with a wrinkle. She can't actually eat, but she's so highly empathic that she keenly felt secondhand joy whenever Hermes ate candied apples around her and came to naively believe that they were her favorite food as well.
Uncertain Doom:
- Her final words to the Warrior of Light are spoken like she doesn't have long left to live, but at the same time there is no visual or implicit cue that she is dying — and during The Stinger, a two-tailed Bluebird of Happiness that looks exactly like her bird form is seen flying around Mor Dhona...
- Her Meteia sisters are on the other side of the doom part: while it's never outright stated, what seem to be hundreds of Meteia fuse into the Endsinger, and when the latter is defeated only a single Meteion, highly implied to be the one the player meets in Elpis, remains, indicating that all her other sisters died for good.
- That Meteion is still alive and conscious at least a little ways after her final scene, as Y’shtola mentions that she is the one who informed them of the Warrior’s Post-Final Boss battle with Zenos. The collectible Starbird minion also might be her, as it has the tracker Venat stuck on Meteion on its leg, but plenty of ambiguity still abounds.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: A few of her first visits were implied to unintentionally push the civilizations towards their extinctions. Notes in The Plenty segment of The Dead Ends suggests that the people there were one such instance, while the Global Community, already well on its way to self-destruction, was seemingly hastened by her arrival.
Villainous Breakdown: After the Warrior of Light survives an attack meant to destroy the entire universe — first thanks to the power of Dynamis and then by the power of the Scions' prayers — she rages at the Warrior of Light for continuing to oppose her. The Endsinger loudly keeps claiming that even if they win, the people of Hydaelyn are doomed to live empty lives of hopelessness and unfulfilled desires. Her only attacks during this phase consist of desperately flailing at the Warrior. She is still a threat, as her damage keeps increasing the longer she does this. But her attacks are very predictable, easy to dodge, and accompanied by her desperate pleading for the Warrior to just stop fighting. After she loses, Meteion finally calms down long enough to just listen to the simple wisdom that it's the little things that make life worth living.
The Endsinger: (after the Warrior of Light survives her second Finishing Move) What is this defiance?! No! The hatred, the pain, the loss... We cannot suffer it again! No life, no star, nor the universe itself... None should hope for the better!
The Endsinger: (upon losing to the Warrior of Light) If this was not the answer, then what is it? Where lies happiness...?
Walking Spoiler: Despite being introduced late in Endwalker's story, she plays a major role in this and, retroactively, the previous expansions.
What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: About as literal as it gets. The energy Meteion commands, dynamis, is influenced by emotion. There's twice as much dynamis in the universe as aether, but it's much weaker and is neutralized by the latter, so it has almost no practical use for the aether-rich Ancients aside from space travel (for which the Meteia were designed). Given its weak nature and Meteion being a Nice Girl, it seems harmless enough... until the Meteia's Hive Mind gets plunged into the Despair Event Horizon at Mach 2. Turns out thousands of coordinated minds focusing on dynamis at once is as awesome as it is apocalyptically dangerous.
Who Are You?: When confronting her at Ultimate Horizon at the core of Ultima Thule, the Warrior of Light cannot yet use the crystal of Azem's power to resummon the Scions, because their souls are busy holding back the despair of the lost civilizations behind them. So instead the Warrior of Light summons, of all people, Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus. Meteion, bewildered, asks of the newcomers, "What are you?" (Emet-Selch, in characteristically sardonic fashion, replies, "Half-faded souls of the dead. Isn't it painfully obvious?"
We All Die Someday: Discussed. Since Meteion concludes that all life is destined to end and that living is pain, it would be better for no one to be born at all. Thus, she attempts to become an Omnicidal Maniac so that she can fulfill this twisted "logic" to its conclusion.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: She learned of the fate of many civilizations meeting their demise through countless means by witnessing their ends, even at their own hands through war or despair to name a few. Knowing how much her creator treasured life it already put her in a bad state as she wanted to hide it. When faced with the question of the meaning of life, she snapped and deemed all life worthless, only fitting of meeting their end and hoards the power of despair throughout the universe, seeking to end all life so it need pointlessly suffer no longer.
You No Take Candle: Meteion has a bit of difficulty speaking to people "properly"; however, her ability to communicate through emotion make anything she "says" that way grammatically correct.
You Will Be Spared: Offers this to Hermes prior to her final departure from Elpis should he accompany her; however, once he declines, she reveals that he would have been spared the agonizing end of the Final Days. Had he gone with her to Ultima Thule, she would have killed him anyway, only painlessly.

Characters / Final Fantasy XIV - Antagonists

Gentleman Inspector Hildibrand Antagonists

Gilgamesh

Voiced by: Riki Kitazawa (JP), Kurt Wilson (EN), Sylvain Lemarie (FR), Klaus Lochthove (DE)

Other Villains

Variant/Criterion Dungeon Bosses:

Silkie

Gladiator of Sil'dihn

Shadowcaster Zeless Gah

Thorne Knight

Moko the Restless

Gorai the Uncaged

Shishio

Enenra

Ketuduke

The Lala

Statice

Loquloqui

Blasphemies/Terminus Beasts

Meteion, The Endsinger

Voiced by: Atsumi Tanezaki (JP), Rosie Day (EN), Zina Khakhoulia (FR), Anna Gamburg (DE)

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Characters / Final Fantasy XIV - Antagonists

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Gentleman Inspector Hildibrand Antagonists

Gilgamesh

Voiced by: Riki Kitazawa (JP), Kurt Wilson (EN), Sylvain Lemarie (FR), Klaus Lochthove (DE)

Other Villains

Variant/Criterion Dungeon Bosses:

Silkie

Gladiator of Sil'dihn

Shadowcaster Zeless Gah

Thorne Knight

Moko the Restless

Gorai the Uncaged

Shishio

Enenra

Ketuduke

The Lala

Statice

Loquloqui

Blasphemies/Terminus Beasts

Meteion, The Endsinger

Voiced by: Atsumi Tanezaki (JP), Rosie Day (EN), Zina Khakhoulia (FR), Anna Gamburg (DE)

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Index

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