As discussed before, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is an entirely remade Final Fantasy XIV, having been turned from one of the worst games in the series into one of the best. MMO’s are by definition, massive, meaning that there’s a lot of stuff that I could talk about. I could talk about the great combat system, how all 10 classes stand out from each other, and how all are fun to play in their own rights. I could talk about how fleshed out the world is, with so many npc’s and side quests that it makes the world feel incredibly lived in with soothing music to fit the atmosphere by Nobuo Uematsu. I could talk about how many of the side quests are genuinely well written, and in some cases are even on par with the main story. I could also talk about how this game is completely free with no limits on play time (#notsponsored).
But all of these praises and more have been sung many times over, and I only have so much time with which to write, and you only have so much time with which to read. So instead I will be focusing on one particular character that especially stands out, his motivations, his ideology, and all the things that make him so memorable: Gaius Van Baelsar. Gaius is the main villain of the main story for A Realm Reborn, and despite his status as a villain, despite the destruction his conquest causes, he’s the type of villain who genuinely believes he’s doing the right thing. Needless to say, I will be going into heavy spoilers for the main story of A Realm Reborn, so here’s your warning:
MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD
Gaius van Baelsar is a legatus (high ranking general) of the Garlean Empire, tasked with conquering the land of Eorzea. in 1.0, he took a backseat in the villain role to Nael Van Darnus, but still had some complexity to his character. Darnus had grown obsessed with the moon Dalamud, and Gaius was worried that his obsession would completely destroy Eorzea. To that end, he actually encourages the Warrior of Light (the player) to stop Dalamud, but reaffirms that he wishes to conquer Eorzea proper, and not its ruins. In the end, Dalamud causes a calamity, but Eorzea is able to survive by invoking a group of gods called The Twelve, and are eventually able to piece back together much of what was lost. Despite how little Gaius actually does in 1.0, he’s given the start of a complex, but still villainous character.
Transitioning into A Realm Reborn proper, Gaius plays a much more consequential role, and one that offers a deeper exploration of his character. As part of his conquest of Eorzea, Gaius hopes to destroy a group of entities called Primals: gods of various tribes that are summoned by offering up a special crystal known as Aether. The Primals are an everpresent antagonistic force in Eorzea, generally looking to “temper” new followers, taking over their soul and forcing them into servitude. Despite Eorzea’s best efforts, the Primals cannot be killed for good, and as long as there is someone to worship them, they will come back again and again. Over the course of the story, The Warrior of Light fights three Primals (Ifrit, Titan, and Garuda) in order to stop the more immediate threat, but right after defeating Garuda, Gaius makes a rather stunning entrance.
As it turns out, while The Warrior of Light was running around and temporarily defeating The Primals, Gaius found an ancient mech suit called The Ultima Weapon, which could absorb the Primals essence, sealing them away for good and possibly preventing them from being summoned again. After single-handedly and brutally killing Ifrit, Titan, and Garuda himself, Gaius sends the Eorzean’s an ultimatum: surrender, or be conquered by The Ultima Weapon. The three main city-states of Eorzea (Ul’dah, Gridania, and Limsa Lominsa) band together to fight back against the Garleans and send The Warrior of Light to confront Gaius and his subordinates. Inside the final dungeon of the game, Gaius talks with The Warrior of Light and their ally Cid, asking them to join him. Cid was previously an engineer for the Garlean Empire but abandoned them in 1.0, and yet Gaius still expresses some amount of care for Cid and his father. He also asks if The Warrior of Light would join him in ruling Eorzea, saying that they “could bring order to Eorzea, and usher in a lasting peace” Cid and The Warrior of Light reject Gaius’ offers, but Gaius retreats deeper into his fortress to where The Ultima Weapon is located.
At the start of the final confrontation, Gaius asks The Warrior of Light “For whom do you fight?” Unfortunately, the player suffers from Mute Protagonist Syndrome and doesn’t actually answer, but Gaius continues anyway: “Do you believe in Eorzea?” Gaius begins the classic villain monologue by telling The Warrior of Light that the rulers of Eorzea are weak and impotent, relying on lies to maintain power. He equates Eorzea’s own gods, The Twelve, to The Primals, saying that the gods help is entirely conditional and selfish. Going further, he claims that Eorzea’s worship of them is “bleeding the land dry” and will “ultimately [lead] to enervation and death.” Gaius concludes that only a strong ruler can rightly steer the course of history, and claims he has the right to rule Eorzea because no one has the power to stop him. After initially losing, Gaius says that The Warrior of Light has the strength of a ruler but “lack[s] the resolve to put it to proper use”, activates the Ultima Weapon, and prepares for the actual final boss fight (or second-to final, depending on how you look at it).
Not much is said at the beginning of the fight, but in the transition to the second phase, another character appears by the name of Lahabrea. Lahabrea is an Ascian, a group of mysterious beings working to resurrect their god Zodiark. To this end, Lahabrea had actually manipulated Gaius into obtaining the Ultima Weapon, and appears in the middle of the final fight to activate its true power, the Ultima spell. Upon activation, Gaius’ entire fortress and the surrounding are reduced to almost nothing but a fiery wasteland. But this actually comes as a shock to Gaius, who shouts “This was not my intention!” harboring back to his stance towards Dalamud and wanting to rule Eorzea, not destroy it. But, The Warrior of Light also survived the blast, and the fight must continue before Gaius can confront Lahabrea. In the end, The Warrior of Light is victorious, and in his final moments, Gaius pleads with them to see the need for a strong ruler in Eorzea, his final words saying “You of all people must see the truth in this. You who have the strength to rule…”
On a very surface level, it’s possible to see Gaius as a simple “might makes right” villain, one who wants to rule rather than destroy. But I think its worth analyzing what he has to say, as given the larger context of the story (and some later events in A Realm Reborn’s post-game), there is a level of truth to Gaius’ criticisms of Eorzea. Within the games three city-states, there are noticeable flaws within each. Gridania is quite xenophobic and heavily reluctant to welcome any outsiders, Limsa Lominsa is a city of pirates, and Ul’dah is corrupted by an oligarchical syndicate that only cares about expanding their own wealth at the expense of their citizens. They are certainly trying to fix their problems, but that progress is slow and constantly hampered by the need to fight off The Primals, and each of them suffer from their own forms of ruling through deceit. Ul’dah’s syndicate is comprised of the outwardly ghoulish and members who claim to want to help the Ala Mhigan refugee’s, but only use that as a pretense for their own power grabs. Limsa Lominsa still has a lot of piracy problems and all the thievery and backstabbing that would come with such territory. And Gridania, although arguably the most honest of the three, still has the somewhat vague threat of The Elementals. The Elementals were originally seen in 1.0 but are never seen in A Realm Reborn, nor is it made clear what threat they actually pose. Efforts are still made to appease them by Gridanians, but because it’s never made clear what would happen otherwise, Gridania still lives in a form of passive deception, where they aren’t actively lying, but they don’t have a vested interest in finding out the truth either.
Gaius’s argument begins to hold some weight when you see the validity of his criticism’s, and given his consistent stance on the issue, it seems he truly believes that he could solve Eorzea’s problems. But Gaius isn’t all correct either. Although we don’t see Ala Mhigo, a city that’s recently come under Garlean rule, we’re told about the oppression its people face, and it’s heavily implied that Gaius would oppress Eorzean’s in the same manner. But at the same time, we also meet Rhitahtyn Arvina, another Garlean general under Gaius, who is actually from one of Garlean’s conquered lands. Rhitahtyn holds a genuine respect for the Garlean Empire, saying that it brought his home stability, whereas before it suffered from constant strife (similar to the constant threat of The Primals in Eorzea). It’s made clear through Rhitahtyn that Gaius actually cares about strength and not origin, and that lends more evidence to the idea that Gaius believes he’s doing the right thing.
But there’s also a significant irony to Gaius’ story when taking Lahabrea into account. Despite Gaius’ disdain for the gods, he ended up used by Lahabrea as a tool to further the resurrection of one. In this light, Gaius becomes a bit more tragic: A character who strived to bring peace and order from the gods, whom he saw as nothing but destructive and deceitful, only to be used by the servant of a god to cause more of the very same destruction he despised. In his death, his final words could be seen not just as an attempt to pass on his ideals to The Warrior of Light, but also asking them to be strong enough to stop Lahabrea and break the cycle of destruction he has helped cause.
END OF SPOILERS
When taking everything into account, Gaius becomes a very complex character, who almost feels more like an antagonist whose the hero of his own story rather than an evil villain. His view of “might makes right” is made much more complex, and could even be seen as an inversion: Rather than strength automatically leading to a competent ruler, a competent ruler needs to be strong. Overall, Gaius is a wonderfully compelling antagonist with a lot of depth and nuance who offers a lot to think about, both in terms of his character, and his ideals.
Among the many types of villains in fiction, the ones who believe themselves the hero are some of the best, and I feel that Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn delivers on this type of villain in spades, despite only really appearing somewhat late into the story. If you have the time, I would definitely suggest trying Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn for yourself. The story can take a while to get through, but Gaius, among many other characters who I didn’t have the time to write about, makes it all worth seeing through to the end.
