zenos yae galvus is a guy from ff14. i've been fixated on him since the beginning (or middle) of 2024, the moment i got into final fantasy xiv and to stormblood or so. he was the legatus of the garlean imperial army's xiith (12th) legion, which is pretty much like. a boss to them or a commander 👀👀. his entire deal is being obsessed with battle, to the point where he had killed his father because he was in the way of his sick "playtime" with the main character, and by playtime i mean fighting to the death. by doing so, he left the empire in shambles and was therefore named zenos viator galvus, since the yae & viator are garlean titles. he didn't get to properly fight the main character until the end of endwalker - where the battle was in the main character's odds. unfortunately. (im only saying that because i love zenos and he shouldnt have died okay? okay.) upon being bested once again by the main character, zenos started talking about his past, saying that he didn't understand others, "never understood their obsessions". i think it has to do with the fact that he was never actually loved properly OR taught empathy. he was made into a cold-blooded killer, a weapon. his mother died when he was young, and ever since, varis zos galvus (his father whom he killed) sent people to zenos in order to train him. to kill enemies. he was an absent father which is why i fucking hate him Not only is he butt ugly he is also a stupid fuck. sorry Jokes aside. zenos pretty much said that he never really understood anyone as much as he understood the mc. ("What of you, my mirror?", meaning they were alike). i have a long list of screenshots of myself where i say how much i love zenos through the expansions i played. i can't wait for the next expansion because he may come back (since he didn't get a minion yet and the creator of ff14 stated that only the characters which have played and finished their part in the story get a minion). before the fight, however, i vividly remember zenos saying he has nothing to live for aside from battle. "against you, i need bring my all to bear. i need burn through the candle of my life. this is the sole pleasure i know, and it is the sole pleasure i have to share." sorry i had to look that quote up because i only remembered the candle part. Either way this symbolizes the fact that zenos.... well......... didnt have a sense of purpose. this especially shows in the conversation before the last endwalker fight. he mentions filling the void that he felt by fighting ever mightier foes.

i believe he did want to be friends with the mc. in his own way. and in post-endwalker, after we talk to zero (zenos's avatar, it's difficult to explain for me considering im more focused on zenos rn), the mc thinks to themselves that had their circumstances of meeting been different, they would've been acquaintances. maybe even friends.

overall, i believe zenos was well-written, even if some people didn't think so. i personally think people should appreciate him more But i lowkey get jealous when i see too much appreciation of him. That's my wife okay.

im so zenospilled his quotes lowkey make me cry all over again I Miss My Husband. :-(