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The World of Darkness

The void is a world of pure darkness that exists beyond the dimensional boundaries of the Source. It's a plane of eternal night and corrupted aether home to the voidsent, demonic creatures who hunger for souls and seek to invade the world of the living, either through making Faustian deals with mages or through natural fissures between the worlds.

The voidsent are recurring antagonists and enemies, either as minions of other antagonists such as the Ascians or through their recurring attempts to invade the world. They're categorized into a twelve steps hierarchy by Eorzean scholars that ranks them based on intelligence and raw power. The ones in the highset rungs are considered the voidsent nobility: extremely powerful and intelligent creatures that scheme behind the shadows and lead the lesser voidsent.

But it was not always like this. Before the void existed, it used to be The Thirteenth, a Reflection of the Source that collapsed on itself due to immense amounts of Dark aether corrupting the very fabric of the world.

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Voidsent in General

Assimilation Backfire: This is a risk for voidsent who choose to devour the souls of fellow voidsent. Since the self cannot die, they remain a part of those who ate them. If a voidsent eats a particularly strong voidsent or many voidsent, they risk losing their sense of idenity to the other voices inside them, enough that one of their victims can usurp control of their body.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: A key part of voidsent society is that the strong rule over the weak: if you're powerful enough to devour weaker voidsent you can also coerce them or scare them to work for you, and the very powerful voidsent can rule over entire domains of voidsent underlings. However, this authority is not static, true to Darkness' nature as volatile and shifting: power can change hands very quickly, weaker voidsent can find ways to devour strong ones and take their places, strong voidsent can be defeated and devoured by even stronger voidsent, and so on and so forth. This is in contrast with Sin Eaters, who also have a hierarchy based on power but, true to Light's nature of stagnancy, is static and permanent.
Dark Is Evil: The voidsent are literally made of corrupted Dark aether and are universally chaotic and very dangerous.
Dark Is Not Evil: There are some voidsent who don't wish to harm others, despite their hideous and dark appearance; some voidsent prefer to be left alone and not be dragged into whatever wars their kin wage. One voidsent even wants to live on the Source just to get away from all the fighting and seeing the sights of Radz-at-Han reminds them of how their world used to be before Darkness overwhelmed the Thirteenth. There's also a voidsent who at every All Saint's Wake wants to only bring in good spooky fun for everyone while also watching out for and disciplining other troublesome voidsent that want to harm people.
Deal with the Devil:
- A common element of summoning stronger voidsent is them striking a deal with the summoner and, true to form, these deals are never honest affairs. A proper voidsent summoning will inevitably involve both sides trying to screw each other over.
- This is such a key part of voidsent culture that they make faustian deals with each other. In general, voidsent will almost never try to help out even a kindred out of any empathy or morality, and will always ask for a form of payment (usually a portion of the 'customer's' aether) in exchange for any service.
Death Is Cheap: Due to the world being awash with darkness, the aether prevents souls from crossing the lifestream to be reincarnated. Instead, their souls continue to linger until a new body regenerates, or some other voidsent decides to prey on the vulnerable soul's aether.
Death World: Just existing in the Void is enough to corrupt your aether without proper protection, and even if you could survive, you're considered prey for the voidsent to feast upon. Y'shtola demonstrates how quickly corruption happens with her Nixie familiars, one with a Warding Scale, and one without as a control specimen. It takes only minutes for it to take hold, and even for the protected Nixie, the Scale took some damage. While a Warding Scale prevents aether corruption, the Void is an entirely different case that requires extra steps for safe traversal.
Domain Holder: Powerful enough voidsent (which in Eorzean term would be the 'nobility' of voidsent) can generate a 'domain', a physical space within the void made out of their memory and desires, and acts as their base of operation and home.
Eldritch Location: In both aesthetic and function: aesthetically, the section of the void explored during the World of Darkness raid is made up of dark, ruined temples set on floating, dark islands hovering above a yawning abyss of nothing, and in the background several mountain-sized dark crystals jut out and a black-and-scarlet "sun" looms above everything. The glimpse to the rest of the void in 6.2 doesn't paint a prettier picture, showing a landscape of lifeless floating islands where voidsent wander aimlessly. Functionally, the void is so saturated with darkness that just staying there for too long risks corrupting any living being into another voidsent.
Equivalent Exchange: The one principle that all voidsent follow is that when fulfilling a favor, they will expect something equal in return and vice versa. In most cases the payment is in the form of aether for them to eat, but smarter ones can ask for something else.
Fate Worse than Death: Every voidsent's existence is some shade of this. From losing their human (or other preferred form), to endless hunger, to identity loss, to experiencing and living through death over and over again. The best the most peaceful amongst them can hope for is to run and hide forever.
The Fog of Ages: After millennia of constant undeath and rebirth, most voidsent have either completely forgotten about their original lives, the original state of the Thirteenth, or have gone feral with hunger. The ones that do remember are considerably rare.
Foil: The Void as a whole is this to The First. Aside from the darkness and light contrast, their fates also mirror each other. The First was nearly completely annihlated, but the people managed to come together to save what was left of their world. The Thirteenth, meanwhile, had initially saved itself, but greed and ambition drove the resident's apart, paving the way for its doom. Both worlds were also accidentally condemed by would-be heroes who were tricked by the Ascians - the Warriors of Light/Darkness on The First and Durante on the Thirteenth - but while the First's condemnation was exactly to the Ascians' design, the Thirteenth has Gone Horribly Wrong in regards to their plans for the Rejoining.
Hell on Earth: Twice did the voidsent invade the world en-masse; but interestingly both times they were controlled by mortals: the first time was when Emperor Xande of the Allagan Empire made a deal with the Cloud of Darkness in a desperate attempt to invade Meracydia, unleashing demonic hordes upon the southern continent, while the second time was in the War of the Magi, where the void mages of Mhach contracted countless voidsent to fight against Amdapor.
I Gave My Word: More honorable voidsent at very keen on the idea of making sure they hold up their end of the Deal with the Devil. Part of the reason anyone deals with them is that they are extremely fair about their side of the bargain, and some don't really start on the Exact Words business to begin with. This is evident from as early as the post-ARR dungeons; The Tam-Tara Deepcroft (Hard) centers around a bunch of voidsent helping Edda carry out her "wedding" to Avere, and every voidsent with a text box is adamant that you will not prevent their matrimony.
I Fight for the Strongest Side!: Most weaker voidsent feel no loyalty to their stronger voidsent masters, and should those masters be defeated by a stronger voidsent, or even a sufficiently powerful mortal, they will switch side to the victor if given the opportunity.
Merger of Souls: Voidsent often kill and consume the aether of another voidsent's soul to sate their hunger. But because death no longer functions in the void, the remnant of the soul remains. A part of the devoured's conscious remains inside the voidsent that ate them. This can influence the eater's behavior and physical appearance. And if they're not careful, they can lose their sense of self entirely.
No Body Left Behind: Due to the nature of the void, any voidsent killed in its world of origin will explode into particles of Aether that will eventually recompose if not devoured or dealt with in another way. This doesn't happen to voidsent invading the Source, as most just use vessels that, if destroyed, simply yank their souls back to the void.
Oculothorax: The Ahriman-type voidsent, who look like beholders with wings, as well as small arms and legs.
Only Killable at Home: Inverted. Outside of the void, they can be struck down as they're most frequently inhabiting mortal vessels. But in the void, they will simply regenerate over time since the Thirteenth is so astrally-charged that life can't return to the Lifestream. As a result, the only ways to permanently kill a voidsent in the void are to either absorb their essence into oneself or to be a Memoriate capable of sealing them in inert crystals.
Our Demons Are Different: They're demons in all but name: they're wicked creatures from a dimension of darkness, they corrupt mortals, possess corpses or can make faustian deals with mages in order to enter our world, which usually end very badly for the person making the deal. Interestingly, 'demon' and 'archdemons' are a type of voidsent: the former are tall emanciated beings that wield scythes, while the latter have stone skin and look like two-legged rams or goats.
Our Vampires Are Different: With a trip to the void in 6.2 and a slew of new information on voidsent that came with it, we get to see a lot more about voidsent "culture" and biology and it's surprisingly very adjacent to vampire mythologies. Voidsent of lesser intelligence or those that are outright bestial flock to the strongest and smartest, who hold "domains" amongst the 13th's ruined leftover environments, which looks like gothic medieval castles. The only thing any of them, even the most intelligent ones, care about is Aether, which can be traded like one would trade coins, or taken by force by consuming a fallen victim's soul, all for the purpose of sating their Horror Hunger. After playing through 6.2, swap every instance of a voidsent muttering about Aether for "blood" and see how naturally the change over fits. It's also similar to Vampire myths in how voidsent can only be killed by very specific methods (consuming them or sealing them in a Memoria) reflecting vampire myths that it takes specific methods like wooden stakes or sunlight to put one down for good.
Resurrective Immortality: Death is but a mere suggestion to voidsent. Though depending on the type they are, some take longer to regenerate. Even then, they don't quite come back the same way they used to be, since a voidsent's soul is usually a hodgepodge of other voidsent aether that they consumed, which makes the consumer take on facets of their prey's personality.
Summoning Ritual: Strong voidsent require a special one to enter the Source; while less aetherically dense voidsent are capable of passing in their entirety through small rifts, more powerful ones like Gargoyles can only pass through such portals by reducing themselves to pure aether, and thus need a vessel (such as a specially prepared statue for them to possess) at the destination in order to interact with the world. This is also why weak voidsent like Imps and Ahrimans are so common in the Source — many passing through naturally occurring planar fissures — while vastly more powerful ones like the Cloud of Darkness are willing to make pacts with mortals, in the hopes that larger voidgates can be created to allow them to pass through unimpeded.
Was Once a Man: Heavensward reveals ALL voidsent were originally normal living beings, and were corrupted into their current forms when their world collapsed into the void due to an Ascian plot Gone Horribly Right.
Who Wants to Live Forever?: The minority voidsent who haven't lost themselves in their hunger and depravity don't particularly like their immortality, viewing it more as a curse. It's implied that while most Voidsent pass to the Source in an effort to sate their hunger for Aether, a few of them cross the border simply to die for good.

Sovereigns

The highest ranked voidsent are considered sovereigns of the void; while no singular lord of the void is known to exist, these sovereign entities each hold a share of the void's legions.

The Cloud of Darkness

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"I am the Cloud of Darkness. What I do not smother, I devour. What I cannot devour, I destroy."

Sovereign amongst the voidsent, the Cloud of Darkness, through a covenant with Xande, seeks to enter the material world and destroy it.

Adaptational Wimp: Played With, this Cloud of Darkness is one of the few villains that the Warrior of Light failed to finish off, and is a sovereign voidsent of considerable power...but that is all she seems to be: a voidsent, whereas the Cloud of Darkness in previous Final Fantasy games (such as Final Fantasy III and Final Fantasy XI) ARE the void itself. After the Crystal Tower raids, the Warrior of Light goes on to defeat beings magnitudes of power above her. This is especially considerable compared to the Cloud of Darkness of XI, where she takes center stage as the ultimate villain and Final Boss of the game overall.
Arc Villain: Alongside the clone of Emperor Xande, she serves as the main antagonist of the Crystal Tower raids.
Beam Spam: Her raid wiping attack Flood of Darkness is a Death In All Directions spam of her particle beams.
Casting a Shadow: She is the Cloud of Darkness after all.
Combat Tentacles: Her snake-mouthed tentacles are called Shadowlurkers and serve as adds in her bossfight attacking with Bad Breath or Black Lightning.
Eldritch Abomination: By default of being one of the highest ranked voidsent known in the story,
Energy Weapon: Like in Final Fantasy III she fights exclusively by using variants of her signature Particle Beam attack.
Fighting a Shadow: Though driven back by the Warrior of Light and her contract broken, she's one of the few antagonists that the Warrior failed to kill off: after her defeat, the following cutscene shows it starting to reform around the arena.
Final Boss: Of the Crystal Tower series, being the final boss of the World of Darkness Raid.
Homing Lasers: Her Feint Particle Beam will chase a player across the stage so they better be prepared to run.
Loophole Abuse: Due to the pact she made with Xande to bring prosperity to the royalty of Allag, the Cloud of Darkness cannot harm those of their bloodline like Doga and Unei. So instead she drags them into the World of Darkness, where all the other voidsent that aren't so bound can have at them.
Power of the Void: She wields it with the ultimate goal of destroying all existence.
Wave-Motion Gun: Her 0-Form Particle Beam is an extremely massive Kamehame Hadoken.
Too Powerful to Live: A strangely literal example in Endwalker. Zero notes that a voidsent as powerful as the Cloud of Darkness would take an extremely long time to resurrect itself, and even longer to regain its power. On top of this, the countless number of voidsent it consumed to reach its power would also split from the Cloud's essence as their aether attempts to reform. Zero ultimately concludes that the Cloud was almost certainly killed and consumed by another voidsent before the resurrection process could complete, meaning the Warrior of Light most likely won't have to worry about it reappearing during their return to the Void.
The Worf Effect: For the heroes. When discussing the dangers of the void during Newfound Adventures, Y'shtola mentions that the Warrior of Light was able to best the Cloud of Darkness and thus should be capable of protecting her during a journey into the void.
Worf Had the Flu: Much later after the Cloud of Darkness was defeated, the Throne of Wind states that her covenant with Xande limited the power she could command at the time the Warrior of Light battled her.

Scathach

"Welcome, mortals, to my citadel of shadows. Have you come to deepen the gloom with an offering of souls?"

The dreaded Shadow Queen. As her title implies, she's an insanely powerful being at the top of the voidsent hierarchy. She spends most of the story sealed in her coffin while her underlings attempt to retrieve and reawaken her.

Animal Motifs: Butterflies. Scathach's throne resembles butterfly wings and her Signature Attack is charged from within a stained glass chrysalis.
Casting a Shadow: Can manipulate the shadows for her attacks and to create her extra "hands."
Girlish Pigtails: Scathach's hair is done with two large pigtails on either side of her head, framing her face like a heart.
Light Is Not Good: Scathach is a small and attractive young woman who uses many powers themed on light and bright color, stained glass in particular. She is also one of the most wicked creatures alive. As she herself says, bright light casts deep shadow.
Numerological Motif: Many of her attacks revolve around the number 30.
Pre-Final Boss: She's fought at the end of the final raid of the Shadow of Mhach raid series that was hyped up since the discovery of the Void Ark, and at first seems to be the final boss...Until Diabolos appears after her defeat and absorbs her vessel to transform into Diabolos Hollow.
Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: She's named after Scáthach the legendary warrior woman of Irish mythology and queen of Dun Scaith, the fortress of shadows on the Isle of Skye. Like her mythological counterpart, Scathach is a queen who has seized the Mhachi settlement of Dun Scaith for her own. Her protege, Connla, shares his name with one of the mythological Scathach's own pupils and the son of the even more famous Cú Chulainn.
Sacrificial Lamb: For all her power, it turns out that this was all she was meant to be. Diabolos revived her, but did so just as the Warrior of Light and his party arrive. In her weakest condition, she was no match for them and was slain. He then consumed her in order to steal her powers and ascend to his final form.
Sealed Evil in a Can: Scathach was imprisoned as the primary power source for the Void Ark in a coffin the size of a building.
Signature Attack: Blinding Shadow. After charging up within a chrysalis of stained glass, Scathach uses her void hands to plant several stained glass circles around her arena which erupt in Pillars of Light.
We Hardly Knew Ye: Our only interaction with Scathach is during her boss battle in 3.5, so we learn very little about her.
Wicked Heart Symbol: The palace Scathach created for herself is decorated with hearts both on the outside and the inside.
Worf Had the Flu: Although she's still incredibly dangerous, Scathach has been gravely weakened from being sealed inside the Void Ark for 1,500 years and trapped inside a mortal vessel, preventing her from commanding the full extent of her powers over the void.

Golbez (Unmarked Spoilers for Endwalker Post-MSQ)

"Golbez"/Durante

Voiced by: Takanori Hoshino (JP), Joseph Capp (EN), Slimane Yefsah (FR), Thomas Schmuckert (DE)

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Knight in Black

"Think back on our struggles beneath this sunless sky. Remember why we cede not our will to fight. 'Tis time we set the war in motion, and win redemption for our star!"

Introduced as the Knight in Black in 6.1, Golbez is a powerful voidsent knight and the commander of the four Archfiends. Through the centuries he has been gathering power and minions in the void, awaiting the day to intiate his 'crusade' on the Source.

His true identity is Durante, a knight of Baron and one of the few heroes left in the world in the wake of the Contramemoria. Together with his best friend Golbez, Durante would protect the innocent from evildoers and try unsuccessfully to gather other heroes to save their world. Their failure resulted in both the Flood of Darkness and Golbez's death, which Durante promised to avenge by saving their world in his name and image.

Adaptational Badass: Golbez is usually depicted as a Thaumaturge, fighting exclusively with magic. This Golbez, aside from being a powerful spellcaster, is also a capable swordsman. It turns out to be foreshadowing that he's really a swordsman impersonating his dead mage friend.
Adaptational Jerkass: Even before Golbez's death, it's clear Durante did not inherit Cecil's kindness, being a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who, despite being one of the few good people left who can fight, is extremely jaded and coarse with other people and merciless to his foes.
Adaptational Villainy: In Final Fantasy IV, it's ambiguous how much of the villainy done by Golbez was really his own agenda and how much was Zemus mind controlling him. Either way, once Golbez pulled a Heel–Face Turn, he believed it didn't matter and became The Atoner. He's also the Token Good Teammate of the villain team in the Dissidia games, acting as a Stealth Mentor to Cecil and trying to end the conflict in his own way. The XIV version of Golbez is an unrepentant manipulator, conqueror, and killer who is acting completely of his own free will. Though his motivation of breaking the endless cycle of death and rebirth in the Thirteenth is understandable, the lengths he'll go to to see this goal through are unforgivable. These lengths include intending to break down the barriers between the shards with all the collateral damage that entails, including sending the Four Fiends to wreak havoc on the Source. Golbez also sacrifices Azdaja to bring about Zeromus after letting her taste hope for rescue for the first time in centuries, just to yank it away at the last minute as the final piece to his plan. That said, the villainy is only because of his absolute certainty there is no other way, when Zero proves to him that isn't true with evidence to back her claim up, Golbez pulls a Heel–Face Turn and starts to repent for what he's done.
An Ice Person: Arctic Assault has Golbez fire two rows of ice shards in opposite directions while Binding Cold has him unleash an AOE blast of ice around him.
Anti-Villain: Since the voidsent of the Thirteenth can't die due to Resurrective Immortality or being consumed by other voidsent, he sends voidsent to the Source so that they can die and return to the Lifestream to be reborn. Y'shtola and Estinien note that the goal itself is noble, but doing so would cause untold chaos on the Source. They even say it's not the goal itself that's the problem; it's the lengths that Golbez is willing to go in order to get what he wants that's the problem. So Golbez still has to be stopped by the Scions and the Warrior of Light, even if they understand why he's doing the things he's doing. When he's given proof there's another way to save their world besides causing death on a massive scale, he has zero hesitation to abandon his plans, even helping the Scions stop Zeromus.
Arc Villain: Of the main story quests between Endwalker and Dawntrail.
Barrier Warrior: When Cagnazzo tried to ambush him, Golbez casts a barrier that completely blocks the attack.
Batman Gambit: He pulls one of these off to the Warrior of Light and their allies. He captured Azdaja and used her longing for home to mold her into his Shadow Dragon servant by binding her in chains and refusing to let her go. However, Golbez intentionally let the Warrior of Light find her so that Azdaja had the belief that she was just about to be saved, only to yank it away from her at the last minute to further her despair. This plan would not have worked if the Warrior of Light had just left Azdaja to her fate or let the Four Fiends run wild. But Golbez knew the Warrior of Light would never allow that to happen, and played on this fact to further his own agenda. By the time the Warrior defeats Golbez in The Voidcast Dais, Golbez taunts them over winning the battle but losing the war by using Azdaja to summon Zeromus.
Bait-and-Switch: XIV relied on fans prior knowledge of other versions of Golbez and his own limited screen-time to fool them into believing he was something of a Noble Demon, similar to his prior characterization. The reality is that while Durante has noble intentions, this is by far the most vile version of Golbez to date.
Became Their Own Antithesis: In ages past, Durante fought alongside the real Golbez to save innocent lives and end the Contramemoria. To this end, the pair sought out other likeminded memoriates and Warriors of Light in hopes of creating a better, more peaceful world. But after being turned down at every opportunity, being forced to kill Golbez, and unknowingly triggering the Flood of Darkness, Durante became a cold, calculating manipulator. In the present, he's willing to throw away any number of lives, innocent or not, for the sake of what he sees as the only form of salvation he can provide to a ruined world. In the heroes' final confrontation with "Golbez", Zero points out that although Durante aspires to make Golbez a legendary hero, he's betrayed the principles that Golbez held dear.
BFS: For his battle with the Warrior of Light, he wields a claymore as large as he is. Said claymore is also one of the Voidcast weapons of Patch 6.4 obtained by defeating the Extreme version of him.
Black Knight: He's literally labeled "Knight in Black" when he is first introduced, and it serves as his Boss Subtitles when you finally fight him, and his jet black armor marks him as such.
Blow You Away: His Gale Sphere attack has him summon four phantoms of himself who will position themselves outside the arena and fire spheres of wind magic from all directions. On Extreme mode, he may also cast Void Tornado after using this attack.
Casting a Shadow: Naturally, as a voidsent, he primarily uses darkness-based attacks. His Black Fang attack deals party-wide damage during the fight with him, and he uses his magic to turn Azdaja into a shadow dragon that does his bidding.
Character Tic: More than once, he dramatically turns around in a specific way that makes his cape swoosh back, he also really likes to clench his fist into a tight grip.
Composite Character: He has the role of Golbez, down to being given a second chance when he is defeated, but his true identity is the XIV incarnation of Cecil. His goal is similar to Zemus, in that he's an alien (in a manner of speaking) plotting an invasion of Earth, though for very different reasons.
Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Functions as one to Fandaniel. Both seek to die and to inflict death upon everyone else. However, while Fandaniel wants to kill everyone and then himself out of nihilistic hatred and wants nobody to ever be born again, Golbez wants he and his fellow voidsent to die to finally be reunited with the lifestream and be reborn properly instead of being stuck in undeath forever.
The Corrupter: Corrupts Azdaja into a Shadow Dragon voidsent and uses her in the final battle with the Warrior of Light.
Cynicism Catalyst: Durante teetered over the edge of despair after being forced to kill his Best Friend Golbez, who had been corrupted by a dying memoriate out of spite. Even still, he clung to hope that he could save the world in Golbez's name. But after being duped into killing the Thirteenth's Watcher by the Ascian Igeyorhm and triggering the Flood of Darkness, Durante lost his ability to trust in others and became a Manipulative Bastard.
Dead Person Impersonation: He's the knight Durante using the name and armor of his dead friend Golbez.
Death Seeker: His ultimate goal appears to be to have all Voidsent escape the Thirteenth and invade the Source, simply to die in a world where they actually can die and return to the Lifestream, after millennia of undeath.
Dishing Out Dirt: Terrastorm has Golbez summon a large, darkness-charged boulder (Two in Extreme mode) and dropping it on the party. Prior to the boss fight, he uses the surrounding rocks to create an arena for he and the Warrior of Light to fight on.
Doppelgänger Attack: When casting Gale Sphere, Golbez summons four phantoms of himself that will surround the arena to fire spheres of wind in all directions.
The Dreaded: The voidsent who are aware of him and his four Archfiends are rightfully afraid of him, and has been stated to have been on the marching path of conquering as many domains in the void as he can.
Even Evil Has Standards: He's actually kind to any Voidsent he comes across that isn't absolutely conniving and violent on approach, albeit often to recruit them to his own cause, and he knows what he's doing is bleak and dark, but is ultimately necessary to free his people from their Fate Worse than Death. He does a massive Kick the Dog on Azdaja, but holds no personal scorn for the Warrior of Light and their entourage, just a pure concentration on his plan. Once he's pushed through a Heel–Face Turn, he even fully acknowledges that being present at the post-victory reunion for Vrtra and Azdaja would be kind of a souring and distasteful thing to do. It helps that he's a Fallen Hero, meaning he knows exactly what everyone thinks of him for his efforts from having been on their side of the perspective once before, back during the Contramemoria.
Evil Is Bigger: He's at least twice the size of the Warrior of Light, possibly taller depending on the player's chosen race. Once defeated, he shrinks back down to the size of a normal man, albeit still slightly taller than average.
Evil Is Hammy: Specifically in battle. For every appearance he makes in cutscenes, he seems relatively calm and collected with a gravelly tone of voice, not much ham to it. That is until he appears in his own trial, where he yells almost every line. Not entirely connected to his evilness, as in The Lunar Subterrane, his appearance as Durante can't go for long in combat without shouting yet another line.
Evil Overlord: Even amongst the voidsent he's a cruel master, as he goes out of his way to conquer the territory and minions of other voidsent, and those who aren't fit to his standards are devoured by himself or his minions. There are a few former minions of his in Zero's domain that find him way too terrifying and want nothing to do with him or his Archfiends.
Expy:
- His armor is a blackened version of Golbez's from Final Fantasy IV, he's called "The Knight in Black" at first, much like Golbez was "The Man in Black" initially in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, and he's even seen talking to four "elemental thrones" that are a reference to the Elemental Archfiends that serve Golbez in IV; the "Throne of Earth" even hisses as Scarmiglione did. 6.2 reveals him to actually be the Final Fantasy XIV version of Golbez in name and form.
- His true identity, Durante, is one of IV's protagonist Cecil. Both are swordsmen serving Baron with slim builds, flowing silver hair, and a close personal connection with a mage named Golbez. Even his name reflects Cecil; in a world filled with people named after characters from the Divine Comedy, Durante's is taken from its protagonist.
Face–Heel Turn: Durante was one of the few heroes left in the Thirteenth when the Contramemoria broke out. Golbez's death and the Flood of Darkness broke him, causing him to take his friend's identity and use extreme means to save his world.
Fallen Hero: Durante was once a good, heroic man who tried to do right by people even as the Thirteenth was falling apart at the seams in the Contra Memoria. Come the present day as Golbez, he still wants to fix things - but in doing so would doom existence to darkness. Thankfully, Zero and the Warrior of Light pull him from the brink and he returns to being a true hero, working to atone for his wrongdoing.
Foil: To Ardbert. Both were heroes to their respective worlds who, manipulated by Ascian machinations, inadvertently brought about catatastrophic aetheric Floods—Durante a Flood of Darkness on the Thirteenth by killing his world's version of the Watcher, and Ardbert a Flood of Light on the First by killing the very Ascians manipulating him. Ardbert was able to take steps to stall the Flood, leading to to the First's salvation, but spent a century as a ghost unable to interact with the world as a result and ultimately passed on. The Thirteenth however was too far gone for Durante to stop the Flood, but he ultimately survived and would spend millennia as an immortal voidsent, marshalling his forces in an attempt only to allow them to finally die. Durante is eventually convinced by the example of the First that the Thirteenth could be brought back from the brink and now lives on to try and bring about that future.
Foreshadowing: A number of oddities make a lot more sense with the reveal of Durante:
- Despite the developers making no efforts to hide that he's Golbez, he is merely referred to as the Knight in Black by text boxes until his name is spoken aloud in 6.2.
- The very title of Knight in Black isn't too far removed from the title of Dark Knight, a job largely associated with Cecil.
- While still an expert mage, Golbez is also a master swordsman. While The After Years did play up his physical abilities a bit more, it was never as prominent as his magical abilities like it is here.
- The memoriate Echo the Warrior of Light experiences in 6.4 only makes sense if it's from Golbez's perspective, which makes even less sense since, being triggered by a memoriate, it would mean Golbez is dead.
- Both Golbez and Durante's voice have a noticeable rasp not shared with anyone but each other.
Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: At the end of the post-Endwalker main story, Zero convinces Golbez to help them rescue Azdaja's soul and stop Zeromus. But Vrtra notes that he will probably never forgive Golbez for what he did to her, even with the knowledge that Golbez's contrition is genuine. Golbez acknowledges this and deigns to not leave his chasm when the heroes are saying their goodbyes to Zero, lest he sour the moment with his presence.
Gameplay and Story Integration: The Dark Knight weapon that can be won from his Extreme trial is his very own sword, indicating Durante was a Dark Knight and furthering the parallels with Cecil.
Glowing Eyes of Doom: A glowing light can be seen pouring out of the visor of his helm, adding to his threatening appearance.
Heel–Face Turn: Zero convinces him to give trusting others a try after besting him in battle combined with the Warrior of Light defeating Zeromus.
Home Field Advantage: After being wounded in his clash with the Warrior of Light, Golbez made sure to lure them and their allies to his throne for the next confrontation specifically so he would have this in the form of shades of his fallen Archfiends.
I Gave My Word: He states that the only way he would try to work with the heroes is if they had the strength to beat Zeromus, as he could then trust their strength to fix Thirteenth. When the Warrior of Light and their allies do just that, Golbez cites his promise when allying with them and vows to try it their way.
Interim Villain: Other than being the subject of Ascian manipulation in the very distant past and using Zodiark's defeat as an opportunity to create Zeromus, Golbez really has nothing to do with past villains or main story plotlines, with him - and the entire Void arc between 6.2 to 6.5 - acting as a semi-self contained interim between Endwalker and Dawntrail.
Kick the Dog: The crux of his plan was focused on allowing Azdaja - held prisoner as a living banquet for the voidsent for centuries - to rekindle her hope of being able to return home, then allow her to be transformed into a voidsent to be fed to a stronger voidsent so it gained that same strong desire to go the Source. Moreso, his first command after transforming her before he feeds her to Zeromus? Order her to kill her own brother, Vrtra, who can't bring himself to hurt her and ends up seriously injured because he won't fight her even in self defense.
Kill the Ones You Love: As seen from the original Golbez's view through the Warrior of Light's eyes, he became corrupt from a Memoriate's last ditch attack. Rather than letting his friend succumb to the darkness and become a monster, Durante chose to fight and kill him so he could die as himself.
Lunacy: Golbez has a lunar theme to him. His domain is located on the moon of the Thirteenth and some of his attacks are Lunar named such as Crescent Blade, Phases of the Blade, and Phases of the Shadow.
Magic Knight: Not only is Golbez an accomplished swordsman, but he's also a capable spellcaster. This is best shown in the Extreme version of his boss fight where he can cast multiple spells in quick succession, sometimes two spells at the same time.
Golbez: With abyssal dark and hero's blade, I bring my people liberation!
Meaningful Name: His name comes from Dante Alighieri, author of the Divine Comedy which is the source of many voidsents' names - it becomes even more meaningful with the reveal that his past actions played a major part in triggering the Flood of Darkness, inadvertently creating said Voidsent.
Meteor-Summoning Attack: Void Meteor, Void Comet, and Void Stardust have him call down meteors from above.
Mythology Gag: All of Golbez's attacks in his boss fight are all attacks used in Dissidia such as Lingering Spark, Gale Sphere, Binding Cold, Arctic Assault, Terrastorm, Black Fang, and Nightglow (Named here as Eventide Fall).
- Golbez’s Black Fang attack is taken instead from the Shadow Dragon Golbez summoned in Final Fantasy IV. There it was an instant-death attack, but here it is simply a powerful group-hitting attack. It does pull double duty as Golbez’s enrage mechanic in his Extreme trial, where it *does* instantly kill.
- His Double Meteor attack is based on the spell Golbez and Fusoya famously use against Zemus in Final Fantasy IV. In the Japanese localization of the fight, Golbez commands the shadow dragon to “give your power to Meteor” as he casts the attack. This is what Fusoya said to Golbez during their fight with Zemus. That line and Golbez’s response of “very well!” are a popular meme related to that game in the Japanese community for it.
Named After Someone Famous: His true name, Durante, is named after Dante Alighieri, author of the Divine Comedy which many voidsent (including the Archfiends) take their names from, whose baptized name was Durante.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He was tricked by Igeyorhm into killing the Thirteenth's Watcher, allowing her to free the shard of Zodiark he guarded, unleashing the Flood of Darkness. Having played such a role in the destruction of his world fuels Golbez's need to be the savior who brings salvation to the void.
No-Nonsense Nemesis: During the final confrontation with the party, he singles out the Warrior of Light as the strongest fighter and challenges them to battle alone.
One-Winged Angel: The memory of Golbez in the Lunar Subterrenae dungeon reveals that Durante partially transformed in order to kill his corrupted friend, gaining a huge pair of dark, metallic wings in the process.
Restored My Faith in Humanity: Zero manages to talk Durante down by reminding him of the principles and hope that the real Golbez fought for. She then reveals the Light she absorbed from the First with Ryne's help, proving that it is indeed possible to bring Light back to the Thirteenth: but only with the cooperation of others and by daring to hope for better. Seeing this and the heroes' willingness to offer him a chance to atone convinces Durante to help Vrtra rescue Azdaja and stop Zeromus for the sake of the Source and the Thirteenth.
The Reveal: It is revealed that his name is not actually Golbez, but he is actually Durante, a friend of the real Golbez who took the up the name and armor of Golbez in memory of his fallen friend.
Shock and Awe: His Lingering Spark attack summons an orb of lighting above him that fires lightning bolts at random spots.
Signature Move: Black Fang. After casting Azdaja's Shadow and charging up, Golbez slams his sword on the ground and unleashes a devastating AOE blast of darkness.
Spell Blade: Azdaja's Shadow has Golbez command Azdaja to coil around his sword, increasing the strength of his attacks and giving him new darkness-based attacks to use.
Sword Beam: After having Azdaja coil around his sword, Golbez can fire waves of dark flames with his Flames of Eventide and can unleash beams of dark energy with Eventide Fall.
Taking Up the Mantle: He used to be a knight named Durante; the armor that Golbez currently wears belonged to an old friend of his that was also a memoriate. When this old friend died, Golbez took up his armor, and adopted a new name to ensure that his fallen friend would be known as the hero who "broke the wheel" of endless death in the Thirteenth.
Technicolor Lightning: Golbez's lightning spells are dark purple, reflecting his signature colors and the void-tinged nature of the Thirteenth's magic.
That Man Is Dead: Outright states this when Zero confronts him about his true identity as Durante, claiming that there is only 'Golbez' now. Indeed, he has been Golbez far longer than he was Durante, and he keeps getting referred to as such by both the game and the other characters.
Tin Tyrant: He wears a large, body-concealing armor set, and he's the voidsent equivalent of a warlord, subjugating the domains of other voidsent nobles.
Underestimating Badassery: After completing Zeromus, Golbez is confident that his artificial savior will crush the Warrior of Light. Y'shtola and Estinien smugly inform him that the Warrior has overcome similarly dire odds in the past and isn't likely to falter now. Sure enough, the Warrior has heavily weakened Zeromus by the time the others manage to catch up, enabling Zero to eventually seal it within a memoria crystal.
The Unfettered: No matter the cost, no matter what it takes, he will break the cycle of endless death. And if the world has to be destroyed to do so, then so be it.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He was manipulated by the Ascian Igeyorhm to travel to the moon, kill the version of the Watcher there, and release Zodiark's bonds under the false hope that this would save his world - this act, combined with the Darkness-spewing Contramemoria in the planet below, caused the Flood of Darkness and transformed all of the inhabitants of the Thirteenth into aether-starved monsters.
Vagueness Is Coming: Despite seeing two of his generals dead he barely has the time to concern himself with their deaths, indeed when he learns that a method of permanently destroying voidsent exists he can't bring himself to care. Instead he seems more concerned about a coming war that involves a crusade, as well a promise that he made and a gate that would allow him to fulfill it.
Villains Act, Heroes React: A justified case, as Golbez goes out of his way to limit the Scions' movements and options so that he can achieve his Rejoining. By destroying their only active Voidgate, this means they have to wait for him to move first. It also is a case where his own dialogue implies that he very well intends to die as his final objective, so he effectively needs his enemy primed and ready to react to accomplish this.
We Can Rule Together: He makes this offer to Zero, partly due to memories of meeting her in his previous life as Durante. But Zero flatly refuses, pointing out that he's only interested in her power and will likely bind her if she refuses.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: His goal is to allow his fellow voidsent to finally die and be unshackled from the cycle of rebirth and death, allowing them to rejoin the great flow in 'the promised land'. However, his method of doing involves him waging war on the other reflections and invading them en-masse in an unholy crusade, so he still has to be stopped.
Wham Shot:
- The end of 6.3 has Azdaja's roar clear away the darkness surrounding his sanctum...and then the camera pans out to reveal that it's inside a gigantic crater on the moon of the Thirteenth, in the spot where one of Zodiark's sundered pieces was jailed.
- 6.4 reveals he had fought in the Contramemoria alongside a Cecil-like man named Durante, and it's heavily implied Durante's death was his Start of Darkness. The final shot sees Golbez reminiscing on his past... with an image of Durante holding Golbez's helmet. Golbez has been dead this entire time and the man the heroes have been fighting is Durante.
Who Wants to Live Forever?: The greater goal of Golbez's plot, a full-fledged voidsent invasion of the Source, is to simply allow the immortal voidsent to finally die on the Source should they choose, as many of them detest their wretched existence.
Whole Costume Reference: Is wearing a blackened version of Golbez's iconic armor from Final Fantasy IV. Of course, that's because he's this universe's version of Golbez.
Worf Had the Flu: While Golbez pulls a The Battle Didn't Count on the Warrior of Light, it's revealed later that he was wounded seriously enough in the process for Zero, Varshahn, Y'shtola and Estinien to defeat him even with him summoning shades of the Archfiends with his Home Field Advantage.
You Can't Thwart Stage One: After the Warrior of Light defeats him, Golbez reveals that his plan is already underway and he sacrifices Azdaja to summon Zeromus, forcing the party to retreat.
You Are Better Than You Think You Are: A rare villanous example:
- When he first encountered Scarmiglione, he found him running away from a stronger voidsent true to his coward personality. Seeing the potential in him, he granted him aether, which surged Scarmiglione's confidence and allowed him to destroy his pursuer. He then revealed that he was already strong enough to defeat his enemy, and that he just needed to get rid of his cowardice. From this, Scarmiglione was recruited to his army.
- Similiarly, he first encountered Barbariccia in her domain, alone and desperate for freedom. He granted her aether and asked her what her desire was, allowing her to awaken her unique power to move her entire domain. Satisfied with this, Golbez recruited her to his army.
- When he met Cagnazzo, the latter had taken to trapping foes in an inescapable swamp in order to catch and devour them. Cagnazzo claimed that his only goal was to satisfy his hunger for aether. Golbez then gave him a chunk of Azdaja’s aether, enough to satisfy any hunger, only for Cagnazzo to realize he still felt empty. Golbez told him then that his real hunger wasn’t for aether, but for a challenge; if he remained in his domain ambushing weak prey, he would never satisfy his craving for battle. This meeting reawakened Cagnazzo’s pride and his desire to challenge strong foes.

The Archfiends

A quartet of powerful voidsent that serve the Knight in Black, each representing one of four elements: earth, water, wind and fire. They act as generals to the Knight's ever growing army of voidsent.

Scarmiglione

Voiced by: Riki Kitazawa (JP), Jay Saighal (EN), Gerard Surugue (FR), Marcus Staiger (DE)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gfqgupdwdgsanfymhypypr7k6m_6.jpg

Blighted Despot

"Fools! Death doesn't exist in this world!"

A former bitoso-type voidsent and the Archfiend of Earth, Scarmiglione is the first of the four Fiends encountered by the Warrior of Light and the Scions within the Fell Court of Troia in 6.2.

Bishōnen Line: Before encountering Golbez, he was a regular, monstrous Voidsent. After he was allowed to feast on part of Azdaja's aether, he transformed into the more humanoid, even if still monstrous, form he's in the present.
Boss Subtitles: "Blighted Despot".
Buried Alive: Back in his mortal days, a memoriate who was disgusted with his cowardice knocked him unconcious and buried him alongside the dead soldiers of his garrison. During the funeral rites he clawed out of the grave and shambled away. It's left ambiguous if he died while buried and came back as some form of revenant, or had such strong will to live he just survived and crawled out; either way left him disfigured enough for those that were present to consider him a demon.
Cool Sword: He wields an utterly massive and decorated but otherwise mundane greatsword that he can imbue with fiery void energy.
Didn't See That Coming: In between his initial defeat in the Fell Court of Troia as what seemed like a mere random dungeon boss, and the duty re-fight after his revival, the Warrior of Light just so happened to restore Zero, the one thing that can permanently end him in a world where there is otherwise no true death. There was, as far as the Thirteenth is concerned, no way whatsoever to predict this turn of events.
Dirty Coward: A Sidequest reveals that he was this before becoming a voidsent, being a battlefield commander who hid in his fort while his men died around him. This continued when he became a voidsent, being careful only to hunt down prey weaker than he was before Golbez arrived and gave him a powerup.
Dying Declaration of Hate: His last words before being turned into memoria are to curse Golbez's name for recruiting him to his cause and leaving him in a position where he could truly die.
Evil Is Petty: According to the description of the Wind-Up Scarmiglione minion, the Archfiend forced one of his voidsent minions to build his likeness so he could keep his underlings fearful and under his control at all times. When he saw how small and cute the finished product was, he devoured the creator.
Evil Makes You Ugly: His Triple Triad card specifies that his grotesque appearance is a result of him devouring any and all kinds of voidsent with gluttonous abandon.
Make Them Rot: His powers involve decay, likely inherited from his time as a plague-bringing bitoso. One of his signature moves is an attack which causes the walls of his arena to decompose if he hits them with it, and which will cause "Brain Rot" debuffs on the party. Three stacks of this debuff will cause them to temporarily lose control. Also, he can summon several minions, all of which are decayed and zombified.
Mythology Gag: A rather obvious one to the Scarmiglione in Final Fantasy IV, but with some key differences in design. While the Scarmiglione in IV is never shown in game holding any weapon in-game, one of Amano's sketches does have him carrying a sword similiar to the one he has in this game; also, while the Scarmiglione in 4 has protrusions that look like giant tusks or horns, this one has tentacle-like suckers instead.
Necromancer: Of a sort. He has the unique ability to hasten the resurrection of voidsent, allowing them to reform immediately.
Personality Powers: His attachment to living was extreme even before becoming a voidsent, and was set to the extreme once he became an Archfiend; it's implied this is why his Resurrective Immortality is unique even amongst voidsent, and why he's able to partially bestow it to others.
Resurrective Immortality: While technically all voidsent have this, Scarmiglione has a particular talent to resurrect. While other powerful voidsent may require an extended amount of time to regenerate once losing their corporeal vessel, and may end up 'splintering' into different voidsent they consumed or just get consumed themselves, Scarmiglione can reform very quickly and repeatedly. This is why Golbez keeps him around in spite of his status as the weakest of the archfiends; were it not for Zero's power as a memoriate, Scarmiglione would be unkillable.
Signature Move: Corruptor's Pitch. After channeling his power, Scarmiglione flies around the stage, covering the ground in black pitch and causing red thorns to burst out from the pool.
Sssssnaketalk: Following the example of Final Fantasy IV DS, Scarmiglione hisses his "s" sounds, with repeated "s"es appearing in his text dialogue.
Sword Beam: His Blighted Sweep attack is a horizontal slash which produces an enormous 180-degree shockwave.
Sword Plant: For his Blighted Bladework attack, Scarmiglione leaps into the air and drives his sword into the floor, creating a shockwave which covers most of the arena.
Was Once a Man: He was once a Miqo'te (or the Thirteenth equivalent, anyway) who held the position of Garrison Commander during the Contramemoria.

Barbariccia

Voiced by: Yuu Asakawa (JP), Sheena Bhattessa (EN), Marie Bouvier (FR), Sonja Firker (DE)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vxfd6ltdiumdtbethfxcf1ya24_6.jpg

Empress of the Winds

"My locks are as the wind... supple, strong, and free!"

A former succubus-type voidsent and the Archfiend of Wind. A vain voidsent proud of her hair, she's the second of the Archfiends encountered by the Warrior of Light and the Scions.

Abusive Parents: Back when she was a mortal, her father was exceedingly overbearing and refused to let her leave the house, to the point of murdering anyone that wanted to get close to her. It's no surprise that Barbariccia eventually snapped and killed him to escape.
Adaptational Modesty: While she's still Stripperific like her original version in IV, she does wear a bit more armor on her body, and in her second phase, she covers her entire body in her hair to serve as armor.
Badass Armfold: When she encounters the Warrior of Light and the group in Zero's domain, she slams down her greatsword and strikes this pose while talking to them. She does it again when she awaits the Warrior of Light to come to her in her domain.
Bait-and-Switch: In a Mythology Gag to IV, Barbariccia wraps herself in hair and wind during her phase transition. But instead of attacking from inside a tornado, the hair becomes a sort of Powered Armor that she uses to jump to an enormous height and come down on the party akin to a dragoon for massive AOE damage. In a bit of Irony, Kain's jumps are the only thing in IV that can knock her out of her tornado form to render her vulnerable to physical attacks.
BFS: She wields a wind-shaped two-handed greatsword that's about as tall as she is.
Blood Knight: As a mortal, she escaped a life of nobility and found her freedom on the battlefield, becoming infamous as a vicious menace.
Blow You Away: As the Empress of the Winds, and the Archfiend of Wind, Barbariccia has mastery over wind. When she goes One-Winged Angel, she demonstrates her mastery of wind by summoning a giant tornado around the battlefield, leaping high into the air to come back down in a mighty crash, and summoning mini-tornadoes around the arena.
Boss Subtitles: "Empress of the Winds".
Boulder Bludgeon: In her One-Winged Angel form, she grabs rocks from the ground to launch them into the air, which come back down later as tankbusters.
Boyish Short Hair: In the second phase she uses most of her long flowing locks to cover her body in what's essentially Power Armor made out of hair - leaving the actual hair on her scalp as short and tomboyish.
Bullying a Dragon: Even after learning that the heroes killed Scarmiglione and have a means of sealing away voidsent permanently, Barbariccia dares the Warrior of Light to enter her domain and face her in battle. She's taken completely off-guard when the Warrior and their summoned allies defeat her and barely has enough time to realize her error before Zero strikes her down.
Confusion Fu: Her "Hair Raid" attack changes based on her stance. She can either swipe a line across the stage with her in the center before causing an explosion of wind where her sword land, swipe the entire stage around her except for where she's standing, or leap across the arena to hit the area opposite her with a huge conal attack. The only way to know which one she's using in the Extreme version is to observe her stance and the position of her sword.
Deus Ax Machina: Not in the present, where she prefers a greatsword and her own fists, but back when she was a mortal she murdered her father with a nearby lumberjack axe.
The Dreaded: She's infamous for her wanton cruelty, slaying and devouring two denizens of Zero's domain for no reason other than she felt like it. The merest glimpse of Barbariccia's approach is enough for Farfarello to beg to be devoured by another voidsent just so he wouldn't have to face her.
Evil Is Bigger: When she was an ordinary voidsent, Barbariccia was no bigger than the average succubus, which is about as tall as the average Hyur. But as the Archfiend of Wind, the average Hyur only comes up to her knees.
I Just Want to Be Free: Her driving motivation is to be "as free as the wind" after being kept in a Gilded Cage as a living political tool. She was so determined to free herself that she happily murdered her own abusive father to obtain it, all while cheering about how good it is to finally speak her mind and do as she pleases. This desire of hers is so profound that she developed the unique ability to move her domain with her hair and powers over wind.
Interface Screw: Barbariccia's second phase, when she turns her hair into Powered Armor, lacks a Cast Bar for her more powerful attacks. Not only does this mean her attacks come out one after the other without pause, but the player has to watch her constantly to know what she's about to do.
Lady Swears-a-Lot: In her Japanese and especially French dubs, she becomes very vulgar and aggressive during the second phase of the fight, using expletives and outright insulting the party during some attacks.
Barbariccia, in English: I'll slaughter you all!
Barbariccia, in French: Je vais vous défoncer la gueule, bande de minables! (I'm going to beat the shit out of you losers!)
Lightning Bruiser: In her second phase, she ties her hair around herself like a suit of Powered Armor and switches from being a graceful swordsman to a brutal bruiser who intends to break the party with Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs and assailing them with tornadoes.
Ms. Fanservice: Much like her original incarnation from IV, Barbariccia is a gorgeous scantily-clad woman with long flowing locks.
One-Winged Angel:
- Once enough time has passed in her boss fight, she'll stun the party, and wrap herself from head to toe in her hair, while the hair on top of her head gets noticeably shorter. After armoring herself with her hair, Barbariccia jumps high into the sky, makes a giant fist, and rockets downward to punch the ground with meteoric force, giving off an Evil Laugh to the party before crashing down. After this, her attacks become much more wild and free; her more vicious strikes don't even get attack names or a Cast Bar.
- This is zigzagged in her Extreme fight. At the end of her second phase, she switches back to her original form and attacks the party with new variants of her moves from the first phase.
Personality Powers: As a mortal, she craved freedom enough to escape her house, wanting to be as 'free as the wind'. As a voidsent, became exactly that.
Power Fist: In her second form, she covers her body with her own hair, which enhance her punches as well as using them to 'enlarge' her hands to do various attacks, such as slam them down on the ground and send shockwaves to damage the whole party.
Prehensile Hair: She uses her long flowing locks (which also cover much of her domain) in various attacks, from pulling herself to the edges of the arena to entangling the party and making it harder for them to dodge her attacks. As the heroes enter her domain, you can also see that her hair is tied around the entire fortress, implying that she dragged it over by her hair and her power over wind.
Proud Beauty: She's excessively proud of her looks, her hair in particular, devoting all of her extra aether toward keeping them supple and glossy. When she starts to starve in flashbacks, she bemoans that her hair is starting to frazzle and lose its luster.
Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Her second phase as her eschew her sword in favor of beating you to death with her fists, throwing out a rapid barrage of punches accompanied by Speed Echoes as well as hammering the ground to damage the entire party. In the Japanese dub she even shouts, "Ora ora ora ora!"
Self-Made Orphan: A sidequest reveals that before she was a voidsent, she snapped and killed her father when he tried to stop her leaving the house. Considering how he treated her and the fact that he himself was a murderer, it's difficult to feel much sympathy for him.
Signature Move: Catabasis. Armoring herself with her hair, Barbariccia jumps high into the sky, makes a giant fist, and rockets downward to punch the ground with meteoric force.
Slasher Smile: Even before becoming a voidsent, Barbariccia wore a vicious smile as she repeatedly drove a hatchet into her father's skull.
Speed Echoes: She moves so quickly in her second phase that she leaves flickering echoes of herself behind that continue attacking while she targets other party members. These echoes can even leap to the edge of the arena to cover it in crisscrossing AOE attacks.
Start of Darkness: After chafing under her Abusive Parents who kept her in a Gilded Cage to be used solely as a political tool, Barbariccia snapped and brutally murdered her father with a hatchet. She swung again and again from night until morning, until the hatchet was completely buried in his skull. She finds herself smiling all the while, developing a taste for blood that would earn her a name as a savage warrior.
Tomboyness Upgrade: The Barbariccia from IV was fairly girly for a female villain with a sultry demeanor, and mainly attacked with her hair, lightning, and wind magic (though her physical attacks hit hard too) - while still as vain as her original, this Barbariccia has a significantly more tomboyish and vulgar attitude, fights with a gigantic greatsword as well as her magic, and in the second phase she straight up ditches the sword to fight the party with her fists, gaining Boyish Short Hair in the process.
Villainous Breakdown: As the Warrior of Light and their fellow heroes progress through the fight, she begins throwing more and more frantic attack combinations at the party while also tossing increasingly frustrated and vulgar insults, until the moment when she breaks completely before being sealed by Zero.
Barbariccia: No… I will not be denied… There's still time… With more of the dragon's aether, I can yet… (is sliced fatally by Zero) Damn it aaaaaall!
Was Once a Man: She was originally an Elezen (or the Thirteenth equivalent) noblewoman who developed a taste for freedom and bloodlust after killing her abusive father and was known as a savage, yet beautiful warrior before becoming a voidsent.

Cagnazzo

Voiced by: Takuya Nakashima (JP), Alec Newman (EN), Emmanuel Bonami (FR), Martin Schubach (DE)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yb7vxih2ea2jycvd_peqdaklyu.jpg

Drowned King

"I've been waiting so long. Don't dissapoint!"

A former muud suud-type Voidsent and the Archfiend of Water. A spirited competitor and fighter who loves a good battle. He is the third Archfiend encountered by the Warrior of Light and the Scions.

Absurdly Sharp Claws: With a sufficient source of aether to power him up, Cagnazzo's claws are sharp enough to tear open temporary fissures into the void. He uses this to both invade the Source through Lapis Manalis, where the barrier betwen the Source and the Thirteenth is especially thin, and during his battle to blast the party with void energy.
Allergic to Routine: Cagnazzo was an ordinary fisherman before the Flood of Darkness. But he hated the boring routine of sitting with a pole in his hand day in and day out, liking it to a slow death. He threw himself heedlessly into the Contramemoria for the sake of feeling alive.
The Bait: Opening a voidgate in Garlemald and attacking its people was all a diversion. While the Scions were drawn to deal with him, Rubicante was able to destroy the voidgate in Alzadaal's Legacy, cutting the Scions off from the void.
Bald of Evil: Not an ounce of head hair can be found on him, which is something he also had as an ordinary man in his past life.
Big "WHAT?!": During his boss fight, after the patry survives his ultimate attack, he'll say "What?! That's not right!" before he comes back onto the field.
Blood Knight: He fights for no reason other than to feel alive in the thrill of battle. He doesn't even care who he's fighting or what side they take as long as they can put up a good fight. This trait was first present back when he was a normal person and fought against both sides just to feel alive.
Casting a Shadow: Uses the most darkness-based attacks of the Archfiends, summoning void fissures to blast the party or spitting waves of darkness.
Death Seeker: He gladly gives his life to serve Golbez’s ends. In fact, the prospect of getting to die and rejoin the Lifestream appears to have been an explicit reward Golbez used fo motivate his minions.
Glorious Death: After being beaten by the Warrior of Light, he finds himself at peace with his death without regrets while being happy that he can finally return to the Lifestream.
Good Old Fisticuffs: Cagnazzo had no formal martial training in life. He would leap into any fight he could and fought with his brute strength and bare hands. He was severely beaten many times, but always lived to see another day.
Making a Splash: He attacks primarily with water spells.
Rolling Attack: Hydraulic Ram causes him to roll around the arena along a telegraphed path while flinging out watery bombs as he travels.
Signature Move: Tsunami. After channeling his power, he calls forth a wall of liquid ceruleum to fill the north end of the cavern to the ceiling, before it moves forward and crashes over the party.
This Cannot Be!: He expresses disbelief that the party could survive his Tsunami attack.
Cagnazzo: What!? That's not right!
Was Once a Man: He used to be a Roegadyn (or the Thirteenth's equivalent of one) fisherman who got tired of living a boring life. When the Contramemoria War happened, he decided to get involved in it just to fight someone and stave off the boredom of his old life.
Why Won't You Die?: If the party doesn't kill him before his attacks begin to repeat, Cagnazzo will say "Why are you stil alive?!" to the party members.
Wild Card: In the Contramemoria, Cagnazzo would appear randomly in any battle he found and attack everyone indiscriminately for nothing but the thrill of the fight. He was cursed as a "feral dog" by everyone who knew of him.

Rubicante

Voiced by: Masaki Terasoma (JP), Peter Bramhill (EN), Jeremy Bardeau (FR), Romanus Fuhrmann (DE)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/z4dwxyh1fp28yxrp8r224ztwe.jpg

Autarch of Flame

"The archfiend of fire has no equal!"

A former ogre^notehapalit, to be precise-type Voidsent and the Archfiend of Fire. Unlike his brethren, he is very comptemplative and has his own reasons for serving Golbez. He is the fourth and final member of the Archfiends encountered by the Scions and the Warrior of Light.

All the Other Reindeer: Unlike his fellow archfiends, Rubicante would spend his time keeping a torch lit because it reminded him of the warm sun before the world fell to darkness. Other Voidsent would make fun him for it.
Anti-Villain: In the end, he served Golbez of his own volition. He wanted to escape the Thirteenth and conquer the Source because he just wanted it to all end. He even gives a Hypocrisy Nod that he wanted to end a war by starting another. On top of that, he tells Zero and the Warrior of Light where to find Golbez as one last act of pride and humanity.
Bishōnen Line: Even moreso than the other three archfiends. As an ogre, he was little more than a Big Red Devil, heavy-set and toadlike, but a heavy serving of Azdaja's aether gave him the form of an incredibly well-built humanoid.
Death Seeker: He tires of the endless cycle of death and rebirth on the Thirteenth and agrees to Golbez's plans to invade the Source so that he can finally die free.
Doppleganger Attack: "Soulscald" has him send out shadowy copies of himself hurtling toward every party member, forcing the party to spread out to avoid overlap. These duplicates will then fly back toward the party from behind for even more damage if the party doesn't get out of the way in time.
Duality Motif: Half of Rubicante's body is pristine white while the other half is scorched black. While he has the heart and motivation of a hero, he is tainted by darkness and willing to be a villain to see Golbez's dream become reality.
Failure Knight: Back when he was a normal man, Rubicante wanted to use his power to protect people, but he failed to protect his brother from a Voidsent and he couldn't save a little girl's mother-turned-voidsent.
Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: He justifies Golbez and his plan to tear down the walls between worlds and let the voidsent invade the Source because otherwise all voidsent will continue to degenerate until they are nothing but mindless monsters consumed by their hunger for aether. Zero retorts that if he's willing to cause the kind of destruction that will result from that plan succeeding to escape that hunger, then he's already been consumed by it. Rubicante admits she's not entirely wrong.
Horned Humanoid: In all of his forms in life, from an au ra to an ogre to an archfiend, Rubicante has had horns growing out of his head. Funnily enough, they were largest when he was but a lowly ogre.
Noble Demon: He engages in some Baddie Flattery towards the Warrior of Light during his Trial boss fight, saying that he knew that they'd have the resolve to face him and praising their fighting prowess. In addition, after he loses, Rubicante tells the Warrior of Light and Zero where to find Golbez. However, Rubicante does this with the implication that it's already too late for them to stop Golbez anyway, so it doesn't matter if they know.
One-Winged Angel: A literal case; during the second phase of his fight, he burns away his cloak and grows single giant wing, adding flyby attacks to his arsenal and enhancing his fire magic with darkness.
Playing with Fire: He's powerful enough to destroy a portal to the Thirteenth with his flames. During his boss fight, Rubicante even sets the background on fire with a single swipe of his hand. Throughout his boss fight, he'll summon flame tornadoes, flame sigils, and minions made of flame to attack the party.
Powers Do the Fighting: An accomplished mage even before he became a voidsent, he utilizes the fewest physical attacks of any of the Archfiends, instead attacking exclusively with fire spells. Several of his special moves function autonomously once charged by him, allowing him to stand in the middle of the room and keep the party on the move around him.
Scenery Gorn: When preparing to do his Ordeal of Purgation attacks, he'll turn to the side and cast a spell that will turn half of the background from normal mountains into a lake of lava with gigantic black stone statues of tortured, tormented people that cry magma.
Signature Move: Blazing Rapture. After charging his power, Rubicante sets the entire platform on fire before manifesting several Flare spheres at once that converge on the party in a massive explosion.
Small Role, Big Impact: He only shows up in the flesh right before the Trial boss against him, and he disappears after being defeated in said Trial. But because of Rubicante, the portal to the Thirteenth in Alzadaal's Legacy is destroyed, leaving the Scions to try and find another way into the Void in order to stop Golbez and rescue Azdaja.
Technicolor Fire: When transformed, his flames take on a purple hue to show their darkness-affected enhancement.
Token Good Teammate: Among the Four Archfiends, Rubicante was the only one to have been a truly good person before the Flood of Darkness, a memoriate who fought to help people and had not been corrupted by his power like so many others.
Villain's Dying Grace: An almost explicit one, one reason he gives for sharing some important information with the heroes after his defeat is it lets him salvage some of his self-perception as a good person.
Was Once a Man: Used to be a long haired Au Ra (or the equivalent of one) who trained with his brother in magic.

Voidsent Nobility

Notable voidsent of high intellect and power, the nobility of the voidsent are schemers who often fight eachother in an irresistable and endless hunger for more power; though they're known to work together to accomplish common goals.

Diabolos

"Not even in eternal sleep shall you be free from the terror of my weaving!"

An incredibly powerful voidsent once summoned by Mhach to destroy its hated rival, Amdapor. He was sealed away by the combined efforts and sacrifices of Amdapor's white mages prior to the Sixth Umbral Calamity. The Warrior of Light faces Diabolos in the Lost City of Amdapor and seemingly defeats it. Heavensward reveals that he survived, and restored his strength within the Void Ark. Once his power returned, Diabolos took control of the Void Ark and freed the Shadow Queen.

Bat Out of Hell: Bats are associated with Diabolos. He appears from an orb made by bats and dissolves into them at his defeat. Diabolos took the form of a bat to escape and regain his strength.
Battle Theme Music: Wrath of the Eikons
Beam-O-War: In the final battle against him, the party must force his Dark Messenger attack back at him by striking the lifegate which the ball is flying towards to create resistance.
Diabolos: You seek to wrest from me control of the portal? So be it! A contest in strength, then! A contest you have no hope of winning.
Cast from Hit Points: After surviving Hollow Omen, Diaobolos Hollow activates Double Edge. His attack power is even greater, but he continuously takes small damage over time.
Diabolos: Must I entreat the very specter of death to be rid of you!? I care not! I wager all for your destruction!
Casting a Shadow: Wields several dark magicks against the heroes.
Demon Lords and Archdevils: Though his exact rank is unknown, Diabolos is deferred to by other voidsent as "Lord Diabolos", meaning he commands a level of authority within the demonic hierarchy. He outranks Ferdiad who is explicitly stated to be on the 3rd rung of the voidsent hierarchy, implying that Diabolos is at least on the second. After stealing Scathach's power, he's stated to surpass some top ranking voidsent.
Devour the Dragon: He consumes Scathach, the penultimate boss of Dun Scaith, to power himself up in the second half of his boss battle.
Faking the Dead: He seemingly perishes in Amdapor, only to resurface within the Void Ark. He tries to pull this again in Dun Scaith, but the ruse is thwarted by Cait Sith's senses.
Final Boss: Of the Lost City of Amdapor and later Dun Scaith and the Shadow of Mhach storyline as a whole. And again in the Save the Queen storyline, depending on to what extent the Diablo Armament was really him or not.
Flowery Elizabethan English: Like other creatures, Diabolos speaks in an older fashion to denote his age and power.
Forced Sleep: Diabolos can put the party to sleep, trapping them in painful nightmares.
The Man in Front of the Man: Though he's introduced as Scathach's highest ranked underling, he reveals himself as the true mastermind behind the events of the Shadows of Mhach storyline after the Shadow Queen's defeat. He soon reveals that he planned to consume Scathach and her aether to become a sovereign of the void. Your party just made that easier for him.
Diabolos: And thus the Shadow Queen doth fall. I commend you on your victory. Yes, such skills and strength are deserving of a more fitting stage. Come mortals - the true master of shadows awaiteth you...
Mythology Gag:
- Diabolos takes his design and moveset from his appearance as a summon in Final Fantasy VIII, with Ruinous Omen being a near-perfect recreation of Dark Messenger.
- Though he isn't a primal like most of the recurring summons are treated in XIV, his battle theme, Wrath of the Eikons, was originally used in 1.0 to play whenever a primal was summoned, loosely tying him to the other recurring summons in the franchise.
One-Winged Angel: By using the Nullstone, Diabolos absorbs the lingering power of the dead shadow queen to transform into Diabolos Hollow, a much bulkier four winged monster able to rival the highest of the void hierarchy.
Our Demons Are Different: An old and powerful voidsent.
Person of Mass Destruction: Diabolos' command over gravity magic and nightmares makes him a force to be reckoned with. High Voidmage Cessair hoped to use the threat of his powers to force Amdapor to surrender to end the bloodshed between it and Mhach. The Coven, Mhach's ruling body, thought differently and deployed him essentially as a Fantastic Nuke to destroy the Amdapor once and for all. Only the combined efforts of all of Amdapor's white mages managed to seal him away. But 1,500 years later, the seal comes undone, releasing Diabolos to fight as the last boss of the Lost City of Amdapor and a recurring antagonist in the Shadows of Mhach raid series.
Recurring Boss: He can be fought on three separate occasions as of Shadowbringers. He fakes his death after being beaten in The Lost City of Amdapor, and apparently dies for real when beaten at Dun Scaith. Then he comes back after a fashion as the Diablo Armament, the final boss of the Dalriada dungeon in Zadnor.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: Diabolos' body and magick are all red and black in color, befitting such a voidsent.
Signature Attack: Ruinous Omen. Diabolos charges a large black sphere in his hand before dragging it down and slamming it into the floor to detonate. After becoming Diabolos Hollow, the attack is upgraded into Hollow Omen, an even larger black sphere charged by two hands and covered in the patterns of Scathach's ethereal hands.
Sphere of Destruction: Both Dark Messenger and Ruinous Omen are shaped this way. Diabolos also appears from a black sphere.
The Starscream: The true purpose behind his seeking to revive Scathach was so that he could steal her power.
Wolverine Claws: After surviving Hollow Omen, Diabolos will sprout four long claws from his right knuckles.
Worf Had the Flu: Diabolos claims that he's been weakened by his long years of slumber. The power he displays in the Void Ark suggests he was right.

Ferdiad

"Come closer! Come closer! I promise I will give you a show to die for!"

A powerful voidsent lord working under Diabolos. He was first encountered in Amdapor Keep (Hard Mode), and, like Diabolos, he escaped that encounter to gain possession of the Nullstone and help the Shadow Queen.

Evil Laugh: Gives off a voiced, maniacal one.
Faking the Dead: He seems to die in the hard mode of Amdapor Keep, but his echoing laughter is heard after the party leaves. He then makes his survival known in the Weeping City of Mhach.
Hostage For Macguffin: Takes Radlia hostage in an attempt to make you give up the Nullstone. His plan is foiled when Leofard appears to not care at all what happens to her, which distracts Ferdiad long enough for Cait Sith to use the Nullstone to drive him off.
It's Personal: Upon seeing the Warrior of Light once again, he specifically points out how he'd like to dismember you over last time and thinks to deliver your head to Diabolos.
Power Floats: Never touches the ground unless defeated, otherwise he always levitates.
Sinister Scythe: Ferdiad's signature weapon is a glaive with a crescent shaped blade. In the rematch against Ferdiad Hollow, his new scythe is several times larger and looks as if it were forged out of parts of a voidsent.
Spontaneous Weapon Creation: Like other voidsent, Ferdiad can create sickles and spears of light blue magic to attack independently of him.
Theme Naming: Named for the brother of Cuchulainn in the latter's legends, fitting the same theme as Cuchulainn himself and Scathac.
Villainous Harlequin: Gives off this vibe in his design and mannerisms. Caith Sith refers to him as such.
You Will Not Evade Me: He can trap warriors in large blobs so he can freely swing at them. These blobs need to be destroyed to avoid the scythe.

Cuchulainn

"I gorge upon fear, and spew it forth as bile! All shall be tainted with pestilence!"

A powerful voidsent discovered within the Void Ark. Cuchulainn is a beast of truly grotesque shape, consisting of a vague and bloated approximation of a human body atop a mass of rubbery octopus tentacles. However, as revealed in the Encyclopedia Eorzea, he was in fact, once a man, who became one of the first voidsent due to the overuse of Auracite crystals. He and the other warriors like him went to war over the light in their world, the 13th shard, and doomed it to a flood of darkness, transforming it into the void.

Belly Mouth: He has a big, toothy maw in his belly, complete with a tongue. It's where his "Corrosive Bile" attack comes from.
Combat Tentacles: The octopus-like tentacles on his lower half can be flailed like whips, doing crushing blows to anyone caught under them.
Expy: He is based on the Scion of the Scorpio sign in the Ivalice Alliance games. His origin is a reference how the Lucavi would transform their hosts into their own demonic forms through Auracite known as the Zodiac Stones in Final Fantasy Tactics.
Fallen Hero: Cuchulainn was once one of a group of warriors who fought for his world, much like the Warrior of Light. But his transformation has made him as cruel and ether-hungry as any other voidsent.
Loves the Sound of Screaming: More like loves the taste of screaming. He feeds on fear as readily as others feed on meat.
Poison Is Corrosive: His "Corrosive Bile" attack is also a poison attack.
Poisonous Person: Just being near Cuchulainn afflicts the entire party with a bleeding effect that grows stronger as the fight goes on, and a great many of his attacks inflict poison effects or are visibly made of poison.
Theme Naming: Named after the mythological Irish hero, in conjunction with Ferdiad and Scathac, who are both part of his stories.
This Cannot Be!: When defeated
"No! This cannot be... I am endless, as the stars..."
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Likely did not realize, until it was too late, the threat the Auracite crystals posed to his world.
Was Once a Man: The overexposure to primal energies caused by the imperfections in Auracite crystals transformed an ordinary man into this monstrosity, one of the first voidsent.

Echidna

"Your fate shall be throttled in serpents' coils!"

A voidsent discovered within the Void Ark. Echidna is a lamia joined by the serpents Sinister and Dexter that guard over the Queen's bedchambers.

Death from Above: A few of Echidna's attacks involve jumping up in the air and coming back down bladed limbs first, sometimes spinning as she does to flay flesh.
Fusion Dance: Echidna joins with Sinister and Dexter to give herself massive needled legs and long scythes in place of her arms.
Mythology Gag: Echidna was conspicuous in her absence in the World of Darkness raid, being the only one of the bosses from the Final Fantasy III World of Darkness to not appear in some form. The devs made up for this by making her the final boss of the next alliance raid.
Natural Weapon: When fused, Echidna's arms are elongated nails akin to scythes.
Snakes Are Sinister: Echidna is flanked by the two serpent voidsent Sinister and Dexter.
Snake People: When not fused with her serpents, Echidna appears to be a lamia.
Taken for Granite: Echidna knows Pertification, which will turn anyone looking at her to stone unless they look away.

Notable Minor Voidsent

Deathgaze Hollow

"I see the blossoms of your fragile lives... I need but reach forth and pluck them from their stems!"

A large flying voidsent that intercepts the Warrior of Light's alliance as they try to reach Dun Scaith.

Blow You Away: Deathgaze has three different versions of Void Aero. These spells do damage, but are largely meant to push players for a Ring Out.
An Ice Person: The Void Blizzard spells, one in a large wave and another that drops chunks of ice with the force of meteorites.
One-Hit KO: Void Death and Void Death IV. Void Death draws the alliance into a black circle twice before Deathgaze detonates the magic. Void Death IV creates squares of death on the airship, which will kill anyone standing in them when he uses the spell. Eventually the entire map will be covered for an unavoidable Total Party Kill, forcing the party to kill him before this happens.
Remember the New Guy?: He's encountered in a "Hollow" form like Feridad and Diabolos even though the party never encountered Deathgaze in his regular form.
Ring Out: Deathgaze Hollow starts the fight by smashing the airship's railing, meaning you can fall to your death during the fight. He will actively try to shove people off the airship with his Void Aero spells. Void Aero III is a radial knockback from the center of the arena that requires players to stand perpendicular to it to avoid getting thrown off. Meanwhile, Void Aero IV is a directional knockback that can't be dodged or mitigated. The only way to survive it is to stand in front of his Void Blizzard IV spells so you'll get shoved into the ice crystal instead.
Shout-Out: Deathgaze Hollow is specifically based on Deathgaze's original design in Final Fantasy VI, in appearance, abilities, and even location, being fought aboard an airship.
Time-Limit Boss: As the fight goes on, more and more of the arena will be covered in squares that instantly kill anyone in them when Void Death IV is cast. When the entire arena is covered, the next Void Death IV cast will wipe the party.

Unknown Rank

Zero (Unmarked Spoilers for Endwalker)

Zero

Voiced by: Cassie Layton (EN), Mutsumi Tamura (JP)

"At last I have returned, to this world bereft of saviours."

Race: Hyur/Voidsent Hybrid
Discipline: Memoriate (Reaper), Paladin

A mysterious voidsent Avatar summoned by Zenos in Endwalker, aiding him in battle against the Warrior of Light in their final duel. After the death of its master, it returned to the void. During the investigation in the void and the Fell Court of Troia, the Avatar is coincidentally encountered by the Warrior of Light, which reacts to the Crystal of Light they were holding, and revealed its true form: a voidsent in the form of a young Hyuran woman.

Zero is a transactional being, willing to help the Warrior of Light and the Scions after Zero shifts into this form. However, she's only willing to do so for a price. Even then, she remains cold, aloof, and distant.

Aloof Ally: She doesn't do friends or comrades. At least, not at first. Zero only initially tells the heroes to call her "voidsent" and nothing else, but Varshahn says she needs a name to avoid confusion. Y'shtola suggests "Zero," and it's accepted simply because Zero doesn't care what they call her. Even after joining up with the heroes, she'll only help them for aether or to settle a debt. As time goes on, and she learns more about the Source and its people, Zero starts growing more attached to the idea of being an Ideal Hero, though she doesn't recognize it as such when she first starts feeling this way.
Ambiguous Situation: Zero pointedly ducks the question of whether the half-Hyur/half-voidsent form she takes after being purified by Hydaelyn's crystal is the form she had before Zenos twisted her into his reaper avatar. The closest thing to confirmation that's presented either way is that other voidsent seem to recognize Zero when she's encountered in the Thirteenth, and a flashback in patch 6.3 also shows she had a similar appearance to her current one during the time of the Memoriates.
Anti-Hero: She's willing to help the Scions, but only for a price. If they pay her in the aether that she wants, Zero is a willing ally. But if they don't pay or can't at the moment, Zero is just as content to sit it out. The only side Zero is permanently on is her own, and she makes no bones about the transactional nature of her relationship with the Scions. She can also be quite curt, aloof, and confrontational if she's not getting what she feels like she's owed.
Ascended Demon: By the end of 6.5, thanks to Ryne's help, she's able to channel Light within her body - something that should normally be impossible for a Voidsent- which essentially turns her into a Voidsent Paladin. Fittingly, the shield she obtains is mostly white, but has a pair of black horns sprouting from the top.
Battle Aura: Subverted. Zero volunteers as an "instructor" for the Loporrits' supporters to gain combat data against voidsent, emitting a surge of black and red aether that the Loporrits all flinch away from. But the scene cuts away soon afterward with both the Warrior and Urianger confused at what just transpired, implying that the whole scene was an Imagine Spot in the Loporrits' heads. Even still, the sight of Zero's menacing glare sends half the robots into flight and manages to snap Sleepingway out of his daze long enough to command the remaining robots to attack.
Bifauxnen: Although Zero is presented as female, she has a very androgynous appearance and facial structure that could make people easily mistake her for a pretty boy. Datamining reveals she actually uses a custom face based on male Vieras, and while she has a female midlander body she uses male midlander animations and stances, so the effect was definitely intended.
Birds of a Feather: Alisaie quickly gets along with Zero because of their similarly blunt and straight-to-the-point personalities. While Alisaie has some initial apprehension regarding being around Zenos' former Avatar, she quickly puts it aside when she learns of Zero's mutual distaste for Zenos.
Zero: You're right to be cautious. I'm a voidsent after all. But do not conflate me with Zenos. To recall my time in his service—it... angers me...
Alisaie: I think we'll get along just fine, you and I.
Bishōnen Line: By far the most human of the voidsent, thanks to her hybrid nature, and also a very powerful one - to the point she can mantain her own domain within the void, a trait usually only reserved for the voidsent nobility.
Boyish Short Hair: She has a very short haircut, that almost fits entirely underneath her hat.
Casting a Shadow: As a voidsent, Zero's scythe swings are shrouded in the blue-green and black energy associated with Darkness and the powers used by Reapers.
Character Tic: She adjusts her hat one-handed whenever she contemplates something.
The Comically Serious: Zero's constant seriousness and deadpan delivery is repeatedly used for comedy, such as when she asks if she should disrobe when she encounters a sweating, shirtless Estinien training in his room at Meghaduta.
Commonality Connection: While she doesn't realize it at the time, Zero quickly strikes up a friendship with Jullus. As Jullus himself points out, both of them were unwilling to trust the Scions at first due to being hurt by past experiences. But seeing their kindness inspired Jullus to return the kindness himself, just as Zero slowly defrosts as she spends more time on the Source.
Consummate Professional: As she points out, it wasn't exactly her choice to be Zenos' Avatar; while the Warrior of Light gave her a good thrashing, she's fully aware it was mostly because she was assisting Zenos at the time and she actually despised being bound to him. Despite the fears of the party, when she shows up again she's in a talkative, peaceful mood and regards the Warrior at worst as a Worthy Opponent.
Dark Is Not Evil: She is part-voidsent, wears all purple, is a Reaper, and essentially acts as a mercenary, but she's still fundamentally a decent person beneath it and does find ways to simultaneously be helpful without getting paid or breaking her transactional nature.
Deuteragonist: Of the 6.2 to 6.5 arc alongside the Warrior of Light - while it's the Warrior that pushes the plot forward as normal, a lot of narrative focus and character development is given to Zero, alongside the fact that her Memoriate powers make her indispensible to deal with the Voidsent.
Debt Detester: Zero is a transactional being. If you want her help, you have to pay her for it in aether. But the flipside of that is if you do her a favor, Zero will feel like she owes you. Zero is reluctant to aid the heroes against Scarmiglione, because they haven't paid her in aether, so she owes them nothing. Y'shtola points out Zero does owe them, because Y'shtola gave her a name. Despite not having asked for the name, Zero admits that she did accept it, so she joins them in the battle.
Defrosting Ice Queen: She's very distant and aloof at first and she won't help anyone unless they sacrifice some of their aether to her as a form of payment. She does slightly warm up to the Scions and when asked if she will continue to help them in the Thirteenth, she considers the apples she was given as a deposit for her payment. In patch 6.3, learning that Alisaie wants to help people for no gain and having her life saved by the Scions further defrosts Zero, willing to help them at Lapis Manalis without payment. She's warmed up completely come 6.5, where she extends her hand to Golbez, convincing him that the world can be saved if they worked together and rebuild.
Disappeared Dad: Patch 6.2 establishes that Zero's mother was one of the heroes who fought Eidolons, even though it caused the darkness to infect her and Zero while the heroic woman was pregnant with her daughter. However, there is no mention at all of who Zero's father is (if she even has one).
Early-Bird Cameo: She appeared in 6.0 as Zenos's voidsent avatar, but her identity as such isn't revealed until 6.2.
Eating the Eye Candy: Subverted. When in Estinien's room, he's doing one-handed pushups, sweating heavily from intense exercise. Zero's eyes follow across Estinien's body, making it appear as if she's checking him out. However, she's actually doing it because she's unfamiliar with customs on the Source, and asks if everyone else should disrobe as well. The Warrior of Light is taken aback by this, and Varshahn has to quickly explain to Zero that they just caught Estinien unprepared.
Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Zero's porcelain skin and greyish-black hair give her an otherworldly air to match her nature as a voidsent. While she's far more personable and reasonable than the other voidsent, she still gives people a wide berth and has a mindset largely alien to mortals, such as her insistent on payment in aether for everything.
Fish out of Water: When she's brought to the Source, she takes a bit of time to get adjusted to staying in a world with actual life in it: she gets scared by Nidhana and thinks she's some sort of monster, and takes a bit to understand the concept of "food" and "friends". She even murmurs to herself that she's a "stranger in a strange land".
Foil: She's the Thirteenth's equivalent of Vauthry. Both of them are beings born in a reflection overwhelmed by a specific aspect and corrupted by said aspect in the womb, being born Half-Human Hybrids as a result, both have their own domains within their worlds, and both have two forms, one attractive and one hideous. The similarities end there; Zero is part voidsent while Vauthry is part-sin eater, Zero rules over outcasts while Vauthry rules over the rich and powerful, and Zero's human form is her more appealing form while Vauthry's human form is his hideous form. Furthermore, Vauthry is firmly villainous while Zero is allied with the heroes, and while Vauthry commands sin eaters, Zero can kill voidsent permanently.
Forced Transformation: The avatar form Zero had while fighting for Zenos was forced on her by Fandaniel overloading her with darkness. The primordial light of Hydaelyn dispelled the excess and turned Zero back into her original form.
Foreshadowing: In Zero's Domain, there's a broken statue she doesn't know anything about where it came from or who it represents. A closer look at the statue reveals it to clearly wielding a Paladin's sword and shield. Not only do later flashbacks show Zero wielding a sword and shield during the Contramemoria, but she becomes a full Paladin imbued with the First's light during the battle with Zeromus.
Good Costume Switch: Played With, she was never evil to begin with, but very antiheroic and selfish - after shedding those traits as part of her character development and embracing the powers of the Light, her black reaper outfit transforms into a white suit of knightly armor.
Graceful Loser: She's not at all upset the Warrior of Light beat her and Zenos. If anything, Zero was relieved she finally wasn't bound to a master she didn't regard as a fair partner.
Hey, You!: Defied. She originally just tells the Scions to call her "voidsent", and nothing else. But Varshahn notes that doing so would cause them unnecessary confusion, necessitating another name. Y'shtola suggests "Zero" as a nickname, and it sticks.
Holy Hand Grenade: Using a mix of her newly obtained Paladin abilities and her power as a Memoriate, she uses a huge slash of light to strike a weakened Zeromus and seal it in a Memoria.
Human-Demon Hybrid: Her mother was one of the Heroes of the Thirteenth that fought against the darkness, and she was infected by it while Zero was still in the womb, causing Zero to become half-voidsent when she was born. Getting thrown into the rift between worlds during the Flood of Darkness allowed Zero to avoid becoming a full voidsent. Her unique existence allows her to maintain a human form, human intelligence, sense of self, and the ability to sustain herself with food when outside of the void.
Hypocritical Humor: When she awakes on the Source following her Power-Strain Blackout, she's confronted by the sight of Nidhana uncomfortably close to her face. Zero freaks out and tries to back away from the "fiend" when she herself is a voidsent.
I Choose to Stay: After claiming that she has no attachment to the void, meeting the people on the Source and the First who have weathered horrible calamities and still managed to show compassion and trust to one another restores her belief that her world can be saved. After Zeromus' defeat, she chooses to stay on the Thirteenth and look for other like-minded individuals who can help her restore Light to her world.
Immortal Breaker: Thanks to the power of Memoria, she's a living anathema to the voidsent: if she kills them, she can willingly turn them into crystals, permanently removing their Resurrective Immortality.
Immortality Begins at Twenty: She mentions that she stopped aging once she reached adulthood because she's half-Hyur and half-voidsent.
I Owe You My Life: Patch 6.3 sees Zero get rescued from a large group of voidsent by Alphinaud, Alisaie, and the Warrior of Light. This rescue sees Zero willing to become less of an aloof ally and helping the Scions reach Lapis Manalis because she wants to help them.
I Work Alone: During the Contramemoria, Zero learned to not trust other memoriates because of how frequently they backstabbed others over petty wants and greed. Because of this, she refused Durante's and Golbez's offer to work together, striking out on her own. She reflects in hindsight that this was a mistake, as she was overwhelmed by the memoriates who did band together as bandits and murderers prior to the Flood of Darkness.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's incredibly aloof and stoic, and fully subscribes to the culture of 'deals' that the voidsent have, and refuses to help the party against Scarmiglione, at first, even though she holds the key to defeat him, because they have yet to 'pay' her - however, underneath that surface, it's evident Zero does retain some empathy, as she allows the weaker, outcast voidsent in her domain, and doesn't care about power or having minions.
Knightly Sword and Shield: A flashback shows her fighting with a sword and shield while selflessly trying to protect a village from raiders. When she channels the power of the Light against Zeromus, her broken scythe is replaced by a sword and shield, and her dark outfit replaced by a knightly armor.
Last of Her Kind: She's the last of the memoriates, warriors of the Thirteenth who had the power to permanently transform a being's aether into crystals. At least one other former memoriate exists, but has lost her power.
Leitmotif: Her domain theme, "Zero's Domain", is a soft piano remix of the "Sorrow and Loss" theme from Final Fantasy IV. It reflects her aloof nature and the terrible circumstances found in the Thirteenth.
Life Drain: As natives of the Thirteenth survive by draining aether from living beings, she is necessarily practiced in the ability to draw the aether directly from organic matter. She demonstrates this on an apple, causing it to instantly wilt and rot while giving her its energy without having to eat it. While she can eat, she initially has a hard time understanding why anyone would bother, as this method is more efficient.
Loophole Abuse: Interestingly pulls this on herself. When the group of the Warrior, Varshahn, Y'shtola, and Estinien are in need of her help and Y'shtola says that they are owed because she was given a name by them, she claims that while she didn't ask for it, she did nonetheless accept it, and thus owes them.
Made a Slave: While Zero was the voidsent Zenos drew power from as a Reaper, they never formed a pact. Fandaniel's magic enslaved Zero to Zenos, giving her nothing in return.
Meaningful Name: In-Universe, Y'shtola names her 'Zero' after she refuses to reveal her true name. Zero at first assumes that it means 'nothing', but Y'shtola corrects her by saying "Zero" can also be a beginning.
Moral Pragmatist: Her refusal to go as deeply into draining aether from others as other voidsent would owes itself to this. In general, draining too much aether would cause changes in Zero's personality from integrating part of another being's soul into her own, so she only takes relatively small portions that she can manage safely. In a more specific sense, she claims she is not a threat to the heroes because they are strong enough that they could probably beat her in a fight. And even if they couldn't defeat her, the fight would use up so much of Zero's aether that it wouldn't be worth the effort.
Multi-Armed and Dangerous: When acting as Zenos' Avatar, she had an extra pair of marble-like hands covering her eyes.
Mundane Luxury: After being brought to the Source, Zero marvels at the way the sky changes color with the passing of time. While it may seem natural to people outside of the void, to someone who's spent thousands of years in darkness, it's nothing less than breathtaking. She can be frequently found taking in the view off the Radz-at-Han airship landing as a result.
My Greatest Failure: Looking back on it, Zero regrets telling a few fellow memoriates from a kingdom called Baron that she doesn't work with anybody else. She refused Durante's and Golbez's offer to work together, and was overwhelmed by the memoriates who did band together when they showed up to her village, looking to take what they wanted from the town. Zero was helpless to stop them on her own as a result. It explains why she's a little more willing to work with the Scions, the Warrior of Light, and their allies in the post-Endwalker storyline — Zero doesn't want that moment of weakness to happen again.
My Greatest Second Chance: Zero reaches out her hand to Golbez after Zeromus's defeat in this spirit, offering him the same partnership she once rejected from Durante and Golbez in the name of one day restoring their home.
My Hero, Zero: It's a nickname given to her by Y'shtola, so it isn't her real name. Y'shtola describes it as a "beginning" rather than the meaning for "nothing" like Zero initially thinks. What Zero's real name is goes unanswered, because Zero refuses to discuss the subject.
Mythology Gag: Like Cecil, Zero changes from a dark-themed job (Dark Knight in Cecil's case, Reaper in Zero's) into a Paladin.
"No More Holding Back" Speech: Upon being rescued by the Leveilleur twins and the Warrior of Light while repelling Voidsent attacking the Garlean refugees, she rejoins the fray with her Heroic Resolve rekindled:
Zero: ... All right. I will let it burn, this fire in my breast. Let it burn and rage and guide.
Older Than She Looks: She's at least a few thousand years old, but has the appearance of a woman in her mid-20s. She explains it as a side effect of being an half-voidsent; she stopped aging after reaching adulthood.
Only in It for the Money: A constant refrain from her is that voidsent do nothing when they don't stand to gain and if you want her help you'll have to pay for it in the only currency she values, aether. This starts to wane as she interacts more with the worlds outside the Void and starts understanding cooperation.
Only Known by Their Nickname: "Zero" is a name given to this voidsent by Y'shtola because just referring to her as "voidsent" would cause unnecessary confusion. It doesn't mean "nothing", as she suspects it does; by what Y'shtola says, it means a blank slate and a new beginning. Either way, the voidsent doesn't really care what people call her, so "Zero" it is. Zero's real name (if she even has one) is a question that goes unanswered in the patches that introduce her character and her backstory, because Zero refuses to say what her name is.
Power Parasite: She was on the receiving end of this, as the way she describes herself being bound to Zenos implies that her pact with him was not consensual. Y'shtola speculates that Fandaniel used his skills to forcibly contract her and corrupt her form to bind her to Zenos, who could use her powers without giving her any aether in return.
Power-Strain Blackout: She collapses from overexertion from fending off waves of Barbariccia's minions before finishing the Archfiend of Wind herself. This convinces the heroes to bring her back to the Source to recover.
Promoted to Playable: She becomes playable in patch 6.3 when she has to fight off a group of voidsent by herself. It ends up being a Hopeless Boss Fight at the end, necessitating the Leveilleur twins and the Warrior of Light to save Zero's life.
Punch-Clock Hero: Justified. As a voidsent, she needs aether to do anything, and running out is liable to be a Fate Worse than Death. Thus, she actually needs aether in order to help you, plus a profit so she can go about her life safely. That she doesn't try to cheat you or violate the terms of her contract in any way despite every incentive being there is proof of how strong the Hero part is.
Shout-Out: Zero's gothic character design and traveler's hat is designed as a homage to Vampire Hunter D.
Sinister Scythe: Like she did as Zenos's Avatar, she wields a scythe, and is a Reaper. She channels her power as a memoriate through her scythe as well, able to turn voidsent into crystal through her weapon.
Taken for Granite: Invoked. Zero is a memoriate, which can turn other voidsent into memoria crystals by killing them with her scythe. The voidsent in the Thirteenth seem to regard this as a Fate Worse than Death, because while Death Is Cheap when you can resurrect, being sealed in a crystal with no escape is much worse.
Tastes Like Friendship: Zero starts working with the heroes because they offer her the aether she feeds on in order to function. When she's brought to the Source to recover after overexerting herself, she's gradually introduced to real food like apples and curry. Zero becomes increasingly close to the people around her who break bread with her like Jullus, whom she willingly runs to help because he offered her buuz earlier. Seeing people help each other and share supplies without desire for reward restores her ability to trust and have faith in others.
Zero: [while sharing a meal with the Warrior of Light] Come, let us replenish our aether.
Time Abyss: She's from before the Thirteenth became the void, which happened thousands of years ago. When waking up in the Source without knowing she'd been brought there, she seems to get confused and mistake herself for still living in the Contramemoria.
Took a Level in Idealism: Zero begins the story as a Punch-Clock Hero out for aether and a way out of Beatrice's domain. Interacting with the people of the Source allows Zero to gradually relearn what it's like to trust and have faith in others. This belief in the power of cooperation leads her to extend a hand to the likes of Durante after reminding him of what the real Golbez fought for. In the end, she chooses to stay in the void after claiming to not have any attachment to it, as she now believes that it can be saved if she and Golbez manage to convince others to join them.
Trademark Favorite Food:
- Aether is a given as a voidsent, but she also seems to take quite a liking to the apples offered to her by Vrtra.
- Spicy food, since trying some spicy buuz in Garlemald. Zero doesn't know how to properly parse or describe tastes, either from her biology or millennia of not eating food, but she enjoys the sensation spices have on her mouth when she eats. By the events of Patch 6.4, she has become a regular at Mehryde's Meyhane and usually orders curry. Her particular blend, however, qualifies as Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce and leaves half the patrons unconscious when she offers it to everyone. Even Wuk Lamat, a warrior from Tural who is accustomed to eating heavily spiced meals, has trouble keeping the spicy food down when she eats some of it.
The Unreveal: Although Zero makes a big show of withholding her name from the heroes, she never actually divulges her birth name to them. She continues to answer to the name "Zero" all the way to the end of the patch quests. Neither she nor anyone else brings up her real name at any point in-between, leaving it a complete mystery.
Voice of the Legion: Her voice has an eerie echo effect while in her corrupted Avatar form. She returns to normal after the crystal the Warrior of Light carries purifies her from excess darkness, and loses this vocal trait when this happens.
Walking Spoiler: Zero's very existence — who she is, what she wants, and the circumstances of her origins — are all wrapped within spoilers for Endwalker. It's damn near impossible to talk about Zero without revealing what happens to Zenos, or the circumstances of the Thirteenth.
What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: Zero doesn't really understand the concept of a 'friend' at first, because she's spent her life in a world where every relationship was built on either strength or gain, and her only contact beyond that was with Zenos, whose use of the term "friend" was highly unusual. The Warrior of Light can even say that Zenos was pointedly not their friend upon seeing Zero's true form, which just confuses Zero even further due to Zenos using the term regularly to describe his relationship with the Warrior of Light. Talking to some children on the Source in Radz-at-Hahn doesn't clear things up much for her, either. As time goes on and Zero learns more about the Scions, the Garleans, and people of the Source in general, Zero tries helping them for its own sake, and admits that it's stirring unknown fires within her heart that she wants to keep growing.
Withholding Their Name: She tells the Scions and their allies to only call her "voidsent" at first because she doesn't want to tell them what her real name is (if she even has one). She's instead given the nickname "Zero" by Y'shtola to avoid confusing her with other voidsent.
The Worf Effect: Zero is established through the post-MSQ story to be a lethal voidsent hunter who can tangle with the highest echelons of the voidsent hierarchy. But when faced with Zeromus, a uniquely powerful voidsent born from Azdaja and the aether of Zodiark, her attacks have absolutely no effect on Zeromus' shroud of Darkness and she's thrown to the floor. Seeing this, the heroes quickly retreat.
Worthy Opponent: She developed a healthy respect for the Warrior of Light during their fight with her and Zenos, to the point where Zero freely admits that she doubts she could take the Warrior of Light down in a one-on-one fight.
Wrecked Weapon: At the finale of the Endwalker patch quests, Zero's scythe is shattered when it fails to pierce the hide of Zeromus. After overcoming Zeromus' overwhelming Darkness, Zero harnesses the Light she took within her from the First to replace transform the scythe's remains into a sword and shield that she battles Zeromus with.
Yin-Yang Bomb: At the climax of the post-Endwalker MSQ, Zero takes in a small portion of the Flood of Light with Ryne's help and brings it to the Thirteenth. When her scythe is broken by Zeromus, Zero harnesses this Light and dons the armor of a knight once more, combining her darkness-aligned memoriate powers with resplendent Light to strike down Zeromus and seal it within a memoria crystal. Potentially lampshaded by the Warrior prior to the final battle in the void.
Warrior: With the power of Light and Dark, you'll be unstoppable!
You Shall Not Pass!: Subverted. Patch 6.3 shows that she tried to hold some memoriates back from reaching a village, but she was heavily wounded and unable to stand, with the memoriates continuing without being slowed down much by Zero's presence.

Pazuzu

A high voidsent of unknown rank and the most powerful enemy of Eureka Anemos. He's fought within the howling caverns on the west side of the region, threatening to add any adventurers foolish enough to face him to his chorus of wailing souls.

Blow You Away: He's fought in the howling caverns on the west side of Eureka Anemos, the portion of the Isle of Val attuned to wind. He repeatedly attacks with hard-hitting gusts of wind that hit all around him, making it difficult for melee jobs to stick to him without getting hammered by Dread Wind.
Mythology Gag: His appearance and abilities are similar to the Pazuzu who appeared in Final Fantasy Mystic Quest.
Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: He's named after the Mesopotamian king of wind demons who inspired worship in hopes that he'd protect them from other wind demons.
Your Soul Is Mine!: While voidsent are wont to devour the aether and souls of their victims, Pazuzu seems to collect them as part of a morbid collection. The description accompanying his boss fight warns the party to be careful, lest they be added to his chorus of wailing souls.

Louhi

A voidsent of unknown rank and the most powerful enemy of Eureka Pagos. He's inhabiting the corpse of a frozen man in the icy caverns on the eastern side of the region, baring icy steel against any mortals foolish enough to cross his path.

Blade Below the Shoulder: Louhi's primary means of attack is a pair of ice blades attached to the arm stumps of the corpse he's inhabited. A single cleave will easily strike down any non-tank adventurer, requiring them to pay attention to his cast bar saying "dextral" (Louhi's right) and "sinistral" (Louhi's left) to know which side of him he's going to cleave.
Chill of Undeath: Louhi is possessing the corpse of a frozen soldier as his vessel and possesses ice-based powers. Similarly frozen undead are strewn throughout the cave he's fought in and will harrass players as they battle the voidsent.
An Ice Person: Louhi fights with blades of ice in a region attuned to ice. He will also hit the entire raid with snowstorms and drop icy stalactites from the ceiling to hit anyone too unwary to get out of the way.
Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: Louhi is a powerful and dreadful ice witch from Finnish mythology.

Penthesilea

"Are there no heroes here to bare their blades against me?"

A voidsent warrior of unknown rank and the most powerful enemy in Eureka Pyros. She awaits heroes in a fiery pit deep within the volcanic portion of the region and is accompanied by a swarm of deadly bloodgliders.

Animal Motifs: Moths. She's summoned by killing her bloodglider minions repeatedly and the Notorious Monster description for her describes her foes as coming to her like moths to a flame, emphasizing her desire for a glorious battle within the fiery pits of Eureka Pyros.
Blood Knight: Upon making her appearance, she asks if there are any heroes brave enough to face her and is overjoyed when players engage her. She promises them a glorious death and that she'll remember them for making her soul burn so bright.
Flunky Boss: Toward the end of the fight, Penthesilea will summon Cobalt Embers and Crimson Embers. These butterflies must be taken out quickly, lest they mutate into powerful bloodglider adds who spam hard-hitting raid-wide attacks.
In Love with Your Carnage: Should the party last long enough against her, Penthesilea will call them worthy warriors one and all who've caused many a glorious death.
Playing with Fire: She's battled inside the depths of a volcano on a platform surrounded by molten lava, dropping Flare spells constantly and engulfing the battlefield in fire.
Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: She's named after Penthesilea, a legendary amazon queen from The Iliad who fought on the side of Troy.

The Old Friend (Unmarked Endwalker Spoilers)

Golbez

"I choose to believe that, had these men known peace and plenty, they would not have been consumed by mistrust and avarice."

"If we could but overcome the fear that has shaped us and divided us, we could change everything."

A mage of Baron who served in the Contramemoria alongside the knight Durante. Extraordinarily kind, he would not be corrupted by the grim war destroying his world, seeking always to save the innocent and praying for the souls of the villains he had to cut down to bring peace and salvation to the Thirteenth.

At some point, Golbez was killed and turned into a memoria. Combined with the Flood of Darkness, Golbez's death drove Durante over the edge, and he would don his friend's armor to deliver salvation in his own way.

And Then John Was a Zombie: After fighting tirelessly to try and save the Thirteenth from the Contramemoria, he's spitefully corrupted by a Last Breath Bullet from a Memoriate of Darkness. This forces Golbez's closest friend, Durante, to Mercy Kill Golbez so he wouldn't hurt anyone else.
Bash Brothers: Golbez and Durante were the closest of friends and brothers-in-arms who dreamed of ending the Contramemoria and bringing peace to the Thirteenth. Together they're a formidable force, having fought through the ruined streets of Baron against legions of what would become known as voidsent practically single-handedly.
Durante: I am only the knight I am because of you... because you believed in me.
Composite Character: He's this game's equivalent of Golbez, but his personality is based on Cecil.
Dark Is Not Evil: Wears foreboding black armor and is the most heroic character in the Thirteenth.
Dead All Along: The present-day Golbez is actually Durante. The real Golbez never made it past the Contramemoria.
Deus Exit Machina: In the living memory contained with the Memoria, Golbez and Durante rush back to Baron to find it besieged by the fallen Memoriates. Durante curses them for waiting until he and Golbez were occupied with another issue to attack while they were away.
The Faceless: Golbez's face is never shown even when his helmet is knocked off by Durante in a cutscene.
Good Is Not Soft: Kind and gentle as he was, Golbez does not object to Durante's execution of a pillaging, backstabbing memoriate who is clearly too far gone to be reasoned with. The ease with which Durante does this suggests that this was a common occurance due to the Contramemoria.
Heroic Mime: None of Golbez's lines are voiced, with all of his dialogue being rendered in text. This is especially noticeable when speaking with his close friend Durante, who is fully voiced in multiple cutscenes.
Mercy Kill: Corrupted and maddened by a spiteful Memoriate of Darkness, he was killed by Durante so he would not remain a monster.
The Paragon: Durante refers to Golbez as this word-for-word, calling him the "best of us" and proclaiming that Golbez is the reason why Durante is the knight is. Golbez's example leaves Durante with Survivor Guilt, wishing it was Golbez who survived the Contramemoria instead.
Durante: You were the best of us. A paragon of virtue. I could never hope to be your equal.
Posthumous Character: He died long before the start of the game, while trying to save the kingdom of Baron from dark memoriates. Durante had to put him down into a memoria crystal all so Golbez wouldn't die as a monster.
The Power of Friendship: Firmly believes in this and believes all remaining heroes capable of trusting one another in the world should unite to save it. Zero bitterly regrets not joining him and Durante in hindsight, and both Unulkalhai and Cylva remark that none of the Thirteenth's heroes joining each other was what doomed them.
Durante: Even in the midst of that terrible war, he never stopped believing in others. Not even at the end...
Tin Tyrant: Inverted. Golbez was a towering man who doned a fully-concealing suit of intimidating armor. But he is kind and gentle at heart, even more so than his smaller companion, Durante.
Too Good for This Sinful Earth: In a world filled with black and grey, Golbez was an unambiguously heroic figure who cared even for his enemies and wanted to trust as many people as possible. He does not survive the Contramemoria.
The Unreveal: When Durante kills him in the flashback in the Lunar Subterrane, his helmet is knocked off, but the camera is always angled so you never see what he looked like in life.
Walking Spoiler: It's impossible to talk about him without revealing he's been Dead All Along, and that the Golbez opposing the Scions is actually Durante.

The Dread Voidsent (Unmarked Endwalker Spoilers)

Zeromus

Voiced by: Anna Rust (all languages)

Insatiable Vessel

"Yes, I must return. I return. And none shall stand in my way!"

A voidsent summoned by Golbez using the anguish of a corrupted Azdaja combined with the essence of Zodiark's darkness, and with whom Golbez seeks to shatter the barrier between worlds.

When Zodiark was killed by the Warrior of Light, his fragments in all the remaining Shards perished as well. However, because the Void's Lifestream has been ruined by the Flood of Darkness, that aether had nowhere to go. So it remained in the Cradle of Darkness under the moon's surface, until it eventually coalesced into a Voidsent of incredible power. By feeding Azdaja to that darkness, Golbez has created a being with the power to tear open the veil between worlds, and the undying longing for home that will lead it to use that power.

Adaptational Nice Guy: Downplayed. In IV, Zeromus was an Eldritch Abomination born from a strong emotion of hatred, and a desire to extinguish all life as a Multiversal Conqueror. In XIV, Zeromus is an Eldritch Abomination born from a combination of dark aether and Azdaja's desire to return back to her home, making it more sympathetic, but only slightly.
Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: In IV, The Man Behind the Man was Zemus, who would become Zeromus, and was the source of Golbez being so evil in the first place by corrupting his mind. In XIV, the dynamic is reversed, with Golbez controlling Zeromus.
Adaptational Wimp: Downplayed. In IV, he was an Eldritch Abomination born from a strong emotion, and the Final Boss of the game, including taking out Golbez before fighting him. Here, while still a being of pure evil, it's subservient to Golbez, which inverts the dynamic between the two. It's also noted by Golbez that Zeromus will become a Multiversal Conqueror with enough time; the only reason the Scions and their allies are fit to defeat Zeromus as it stands is because it's still gathering strength.
Almighty Idiot: Zeromus doesn't seem to have much in the way of sentience, instead seeing fit to heel to Golbez. Even in the boss fight against it, Zeromus spends much of the time lashing out at random, wanting only to go home but having no idea how.
As Long as There Is Evil: Subverted. Though its based on the Trope Namer and makes a similiar claim, Zeromus is not that different from any other voidsent, and its immortality is purely dependent on the void's inherent lack of death - once Zeromus becomes sealed in a Memoria, that's the end of the dread voidsent.
Book Ends: The first trial boss in Endwalker is the God of Darkness Zodiark, is fought within the moon before he can break free. The final trial of Endwalker is a powerful voidsent born from Zodiark's residual aether fought within the Thirteenth's moon before it can break down the barriers between worlds.
Casting a Shadow: It's made of a massive amount of dark aether. So much so that when Zero tries to attack Zeromus, her attacks just bounce off like it's nothing. Y'shtola even commands the rest of the Scions to run, simply because the amount of aether it's putting out could overwhelm their Warding Scales and corrupt them. Later, Y'shtola suggests the only way to defeat this voidsent is to use a massive amount of light aether, like that from the First.
Combat Tentacles: Its ribcage-like bones on its lower body can extend and stretch out, attacking like sharp tentacles that rake the ground.
Conlang: Due to being formed with Azdaja as its core, Zeromus speaks the language of dragons since it's born of Azdaja. If translated, what Zeromus is saying fits with the draconic tongue seen since Heavensward.
The Corrupter: The amount of dark aether pouring from it starts to cause the Warding Scales to wane, forcing a retreat for the Warrior, Vrtra, Zero, Estinien, and Y'shtola, particularly because the latter two could turn if their protection fades away.
Clipped-Wing Angel: Though its final Turns Red phase is certainly threatening-looking, it's actually easier - in this phase, Zeromus completely loses its most dangerous attacks (Void Meteor, Black Hole, Fractured Eventide) and the ones that replace them are much simpler to avoid. Notably, this phase isn't changed too much in Extreme mode - in a difficulty that usually needs pretty precise strategies to pass certain mechanics, the final phase can mostly be boiled down to "avoid the attacks and kill it before enrage".
Eldritch Abomination: As a voidsent born from a fragment of what was effectively a god of darkness, Zeromus is a being of pure dark energy to the point of passively corrupting its surroundings by just existing, and outside of its head and arms the rest of its gigantic body is surrounded by a mantle of shadows. When its mantle of darkness is dispelled and its full body is revealed, it turns out to be more horrifying, with a vaguely insectoid body and an exposed ribcage that acts as Combat Tentacles.
Final Boss: It's the final Trial of Endwalker, concluding the 6.x storyline and bridging the gap from Endwalker to Dawntrail.
Generic Doomsday Villain: Invoked - Zeromus itself does not have much in terms of personality, it simply exists as an extention of Golbez's will and a weapon for him to wage his multiversal crusade.
Greater-Scope Villain: Golbez summoning it was all part of the plan, as Zeromus has the power to break the barrier separating the Source and its shards.
HP to One: Its "Abyssal Nox" move reduces the HP of all party members to 1, and also inflicts Doom on them. The players will all die unless restored to full HP before Doom goes off. In normal mode, this Doom affliction goes off in twenty seconds. In the Extreme version of the fight, it goes off in only ten seconds.
Kamehame Hadouken: "Abyssal Nox", "Big Bang", and "Big Crunch" all have Zeromus charging energy between its hands before bombarding the entire stage with an enormous wave of energy.
Logical Weakness: As a being made of vast amounts of dark aether, Y'shtola argues that they can counter it with a similar amount of light - like what they can easily acquire from The First. Zeromus also is contained by the same seals that held Zodiark, as he holds some of Zodiark's residual aether.
Maximum HP Reduction: The "Big Bang" attack damages all players and inflicts them with several negative status effects, one of which is reducing their maximum HP. This effect lasts until Zeromus casts "Big Crunch", which removes the effect.
Meaningful Name: Golbez named Zeromus after a mythological hero in the lost history of the Thirteenth, as he believes the voidsent will be the key to saving the souls of the void by succeeding in invading the Source.
Meteor-Summoning Attack: "Meteor Impact" will send meteors at the entire party, which must drag each meteor AOE as far away as possible to avoid taking a One-Hit Kill. Some of these meteors will remain on the stage after hitting their targets. If additional meteors strike the meteors on the field, the meteors will explode into shrapnel, wiping the party.
Multiversal Conqueror: Golbez mentions that this voidsent is so powerful that it can tear down the rift between dimensions. As such, it's a threat not just to the Source, but to all of the shards of the sundered world.
Mythology Gag:
- Like its inspiration from Final Fantasy IV, Zeromus is born from the death of an enormously powerful being sealed beneath the surface of the moon, and an overwhelmingly powerful emotion. The Lunarian Zemus and his hatred are exchanged for Zodiark’s death and Azdaja’s longing for home, in the adaptation. When Zeromus is first summoned, its initial form harkens to the original Amano concept art. Once the veil is lifted, its form is a 1:1 recreation of its form in the game itself.
- After defeating Zeromus, it says "I shall not perish... So long as they await my return, I shall endure..." to the Warrior of Light. This is a rephrasing of the trope-naming As Long as There Is Evil speech from Zeromus in IV upon being defeated.
No Ontological Inertia: Zeromus exists because all the sundered fragments of Zodiark immediately died when the main body of the primal was killed. However, on the Void, the Lifestream no longer carries souls to the afterlife, and so Zodiark's essence remained exactly where it was, eventually re-combining to create the most powerful voidsent in history.
No-Sell: All of Zero's attacks - normally lethal to the voidsent, including two of Golbez's Elemental Archfiends - bounce off of Zeromus without doing anything. This is a signal that the stakes have been raised. It takes Zero absorbing sufficient light from the First and transferring a massive amount of light from the First to the Thirteenth before Zeromus can be damaged.
One-Hit Kill:
- Any character that gets sucked up by the "Black Hole" attack will take fatal damage, with no way to escape from it. The only way to survive it is to not get hit in the first place.
- During the "Meteor Impact" phase, Zeromus will rain meteors across the battlefield, some of which will remain. If these meteors make contact with any subsequent meteors targeting players, the meteors on the field will explode into shrapnel, instantly wiping the raid with 9,999,999 damage. The Extreme version makes this even more difficult by throwing more than a dozen of these meteors on the battlefield. This forces players to carefully maneuver between them to drop their meteors while leaving enough space so the next set of meteors can fit without killing everyone.
Poisonous Person: Zeromus' "Void Bio" will create numerous green bubbles full of poison that will slowly drift across the stage. Touching any of these bubbles will cause it to rupture, inflicting an incredibly painful Damage Over Time effect that will likely kill the victim unless they recieve constant healing until the effect runs out.
Red Herring: 'Abyssal Nox' has a uniquely confusing telegraph that tends to trip up new players: first, Zeromus charges up what looks like a Kamehame Hadouken during casting, which makes it seem like it's going to be one of the attacks that covers one half of the arena, except when it finishes casting a sphere hits the center of the arena that makes it seem like you need to be on the corners of the arena to avoid it. In reality, it's neither: it's an unavoidable raidwide attack.
Resurrective Immortality: Even after being killed, it comes back to life in the void, much like every other voidsent. The Scions have to weaken Zeromus first, followed by Varshahn calling out to Azdaja's spirit to free itself from the voidsent's grasp, all before Zero uses her power as a memoriate to seal it away in a crystal to finally stop Zeromus.
Signature Move:
- "Big Bang" and "Big Crunch", which first summons several lightning bolts to strike random spots, before culminating in a huge explosions that changes the arena. Big Bang also causes Maximum HP Reduction on all players until Big Crunch is cast.
- Its final phase obtains a new one: Nostalgia, a raidwide attack that causes it to repeatedly slam its fists on the arena three times for massive physical damage, then roars three additional times for massive magical damage.
Spam Attack: "Sable Threads" has Zeromus send out multiple line AOE attacks in rapid succession that must be soaked by the entire party to survive them. "Void Meteor" will also bombard half of the stage with more than a dozen meteors while "Nostalgia" will repeatedly drop energy attacks as Zeromus strikes the arena with its fists.
Stealth Pun: At the end of Zeromus' fight, it Turns Red, switching the music from "The Final Battle" to "The Red Wings". Azdaja, whose personality and longing for home serves as the core of Zeromus, has red wings.
Turns Red: When Zeromus reaches low health, its eyes begin glowing red, the entire arena is bathed in crimson light, and its attack patterns change to become more chaotic and difficult to dodge. In addition, the music changes from a remix of "The Final Battle" from Final Fantasy IV to a remix of "The Red Wings" from the same game.
Unrealistic Black Hole: "Black Hole" summons a small...well, Black Hole whose (visible) Event Horizon will slowly expand to cover almost all of the arena except for a tiny corner. Anyone who touches the black hole will be sucked in and instantly killed. The Extreme version ups the difficult by having the black hole being placed on top of a random target, forcing that target to find a safe spot to place it while the rest of the team dodges "Fractured Eventide". The one who places the black hole will have mere moments to get out of the way before they're sucked in by the "Instant Death" Radius.
Unskilled, but Strong:
- As a voidsent born from the remains of Zodiark's aether on the moon of the 13th, and one of the First Brood of Midgardsormr, Zeromus is a powerful being able to break the barrier between shards, and has enough raw power that the warding scales used to protect against tempering could not handle simply being near it. Due to being a near mindless being though, it doesn't have any intelligence beyond its instinctive desire to "return home" due to Azdaja. Notably, when Zeromus Turns Red, it outright begins breaking the barrier between shards, without really seeming to realize it did so.
- Mechanically, it has a lot of painful AOE attacks that often require intense healing to survive. But its attacks are on the simpler side to dodge, especially when compared to Golbez, who often requires the entire party to be alive to survive several mechanics with precise positioning in his Extreme fight.
Walking Spoiler: The very existence of Zeromus is a spoiler for the post-Endwalker storyline. Prior to its appearance where Golbez summons him at the end of the patch 6.4 MSQ, Zeromus had not been so much as hinted at, either by name or by reputation.
Wave-Motion Gun: "Fractured Eventide" is a laser charged from Zeromus' "mouth" that it then sweeps across the arena, dealing colossal damage to anyone who so much as grazes it. Taking more than one or two hits from it is almost assuredly fatal and dodging it is complicated by how "Black Hole" is going off at the same time.
The Worf Effect: Neither Zero nor the warding scales, the strongest offense and defense against the dangers of the Thirteenth respectively, have any effect against Zeromus. It forces the Scions to flee, lest the Warding Scales fail and they become tainted by dark aether.

Characters / Final Fantasy XIV - The Void

Sovereigns

"Golbez"/Durante

Voiced by: Takanori Hoshino (JP), Joseph Capp (EN), Slimane Yefsah (FR), Thomas Schmuckert (DE)

The Archfiends

Voiced by: Riki Kitazawa (JP), Jay Saighal (EN), Gerard Surugue (FR), Marcus Staiger (DE)

Voiced by: Yuu Asakawa (JP), Sheena Bhattessa (EN), Marie Bouvier (FR), Sonja Firker (DE)

Voiced by: Takuya Nakashima (JP), Alec Newman (EN), Emmanuel Bonami (FR), Martin Schubach (DE)

Voiced by: Masaki Terasoma (JP), Peter Bramhill (EN), Jeremy Bardeau (FR), Romanus Fuhrmann (DE)

Voidsent Nobility

Notable Minor Voidsent

Unknown Rank

Zero

Voiced by: Cassie Layton (EN), Mutsumi Tamura (JP)

Golbez

Zeromus

Voiced by: Anna Rust (all languages)

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Characters / Final Fantasy XIV - The Void

Edit Locked

Sovereigns

"Golbez"/Durante

Voiced by: Takanori Hoshino (JP), Joseph Capp (EN), Slimane Yefsah (FR), Thomas Schmuckert (DE)

The Archfiends

Voiced by: Riki Kitazawa (JP), Jay Saighal (EN), Gerard Surugue (FR), Marcus Staiger (DE)

Voiced by: Yuu Asakawa (JP), Sheena Bhattessa (EN), Marie Bouvier (FR), Sonja Firker (DE)

Voiced by: Takuya Nakashima (JP), Alec Newman (EN), Emmanuel Bonami (FR), Martin Schubach (DE)

Voiced by: Masaki Terasoma (JP), Peter Bramhill (EN), Jeremy Bardeau (FR), Romanus Fuhrmann (DE)

Voidsent Nobility

Notable Minor Voidsent

Unknown Rank

Zero

Voiced by: Cassie Layton (EN), Mutsumi Tamura (JP)

Golbez

Zeromus

Voiced by: Anna Rust (all languages)

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