Final Fantasy XIV, despite being a popular MMORPG, is still a main game in the Final Fantasy franchise, which means that the online mmo game is still very much a story-driven game, despite being an MMORPG.

We, the players, will take on the role of the Warrior of Light, the main character and protagonist of Final Fantasy XIV's ongoing story arc. As Warrior of Light, it is critical for the players to learn new skills as they encounter more and more powerful foes along the storyline.

In FFXIV, players will undoubtedly encounter more and more villains as the story progresses. This article will go over some of the best villains in Final Fantasy XIV, as well as some of the reasons why the player base likes or enjoys defeating them in battle.

With that said, it is also important for the author of this article to warn any readers that this article will contain some spoilers from the most recent Endwalker expansion, as well as several villains who were only introduced in Endwalker.

As a result, players who have not yet completed the Endwalker expansion and wish to avoid potential spoilers should only return to this article once they have completed the game in its entirety.

15. Innocence

Vauthry into Innocence transformation.

The first villain introduced in this list is Innocence, a trial boss first encountered by players in the Shadowbringers expansion, which significantly increases the game's popularity.

Several reasons why Innocence is quite popular among the playerbase:

• His surprising appearance. Innocence is first introduced into the player base as the cruel and ugly leader of Eulmore, the city of pleasure in Kholusia. 
• It is the second trial boss of Shadowbringers, and therefore an exciting boss fight after climbing the mountains through a dungeon, Mt. Gulg.
• In the second phase of the fight, Innocence turned into a completely different form in the form of a handsome angelic man, making a lot of players suddenly go into a ‘oh no, he’s hot’ mode.
• The background for his fight is also beautiful and angelic as well as a symbolic form of the ‘purity’ of the enemies that the Shadowbringers expansion try to bring through the story. It puts a different perspective and point of view compared to the usual ‘enemy is always dark’ theme.
• The music that is used for his battle is also beautiful, a combined music of the Shadowbringers theme as well as an angelic piano sound, again trying to bring the ‘innocence’ theme of the fight.

14. The Griffin

The Griffin of Ala Mhigo.

The Griffin, the second villain introduced in this article, is a villain who appears in a variety of eras. Players love to both hate and love him for his actions.

Some reasons why The Griffin is another popular villain among the playerbase:

• He has a noble cause, which is to save his country and people from annihilation.
• He wants to be able to build Ala Mhigo and his people again, to the point that he is willing to sacrifice himself for it.
• He is a betrayer, but it wasn’t very obvious in the beginning, making his betrayal a surprise turn of the story in A Realm Reborn and where the story starts to pick up.
• It wasn’t clear at first who The Griffin, or the real person behind the mask, is, making a mystery that can’t easily be solved by the players for a while.
• He was one of the harder dungeon bosses later on in the game, making his fight an exciting one.

13. Ramuh

Ramuh, the Heritor of Levin in FFXIV.

Ramuh is a trial boss introduced in the early game of A Realm Reborn and one of the first trial bosses that players had to face. Ramuh was one of the wisest primals. Players will also have to deal with him again in the Shadowbringers raid series, specifically in Eden's Verse: Fulmination.

Some reasons why Ramuh is a popular villain among the playerbase:

• He is one of the harder A Realm Reborn’s trial bosses, which proves as a rare challenge for the new players to tackle.
• The extreme version of the trial fight is also one of the more challenging ones, which is a good introduction to harder, end-game raids.
• He also has one of the most epic music ever in the fight as well, which gets remixed into a more epic version in the fight in Eden’s Verse: Fulmination.
• The version of him in Shaowbringer’s raid is also cool, marking him as one of the cooler bosses in the raid series.
• He also has a new, harder mechanic in the raid, which makes the fight refreshing despite the opponent that is still named Ramuh.
• Ramuh in Eden also has a different appearance, and it was so popular that it also became a mount reward for clearing Eden’s Verse: Savage’s fourth fight.

12. Titan

Titan, the amazing landslider.

Titan, like Ramuh, is another boss introduced during the A Realm Reborn era, and he is the player's second boss fight in the game, making him memorable. In fact, he was so memorable that he appeared so frequently in the game, making him the most frequently fought boss in the game.

Some reasons why Titan is very popular among the playerbase:

• He appears repeatedly throughout the game. In fact, he appeared in four different trial difficulties (Normal, Hard, Extreme, and Unreal), as well as in Eden Raid, specifically Eden’s Gate: Sepulture and its savage version, and lastly in the first ultimate raid of the game, The Weapon’s Refrain (Ultimate).
• Him having to be fought by the players so often makes him literally and completely unforgettable.
• Especially so since he had one of the most annoying mechanics in the game, particularly the landslide mechanic, where players might fall off the battle platform from being hit and unable to be revived back to life by any healer until the party wipes. 
• This mechanic was very popular to the point that the developers also recognize the landslide meme and bring it to the game when players are unlocking Eden’s Gate: Sepulture.

11. Shiva

Shiva, the queen of ice.

Shiva is one of the most beautiful primals to have ever existed, as well as another boss that players have come to know since the A Realm Reborn era, and who was later revisited in the Shadowbringers era.

Some reasons why Shiva is very popular among the playerbase:

• Just like Titan, Shiva is another boss that the player will meet repeatedly, although not as often. However, this alone makes her memorable in the player’s minds.
• Shiva is one of the most beautiful primals that has ever existed, making her eye-catchingly attractive and easy to remember.
• Shiva’s vessel, Ysayle, is a major character that accompanies the player as they journey through Ishgard in the Heavensward expansion. First meeting her as Shiva in A Realm Reborn, both Shiva and Ysayle become memorable in players’ minds after their deeds and actions in Heavensward.
• Not to mention, the original Shiva is also a strong character that shapes Heavensward’s story as a whole, as it was through her bond with Hraesvelgr in the past that dragon and mankind were first friends before the conflict and the Dragonsongwar happened.
• Shiva also appears later on in the Shadowbringers’ Eden Verse’ raid with one of the most popular songs that came from the game, Return from Oblivion. This song alone also makes Shiva more popular among the playerbase.

10. Ultimate Weapons

The Ultimate Weapon in the Ultimate Raid.

The Ultimate Weapon is the antagonist that the player must face in the final battle of A Realm Reborn's base story game, which is two of the three final bosses that the player must defeat in Praetorium.

Why the Ultimate Weapon is popular among the playerbase:

• The Ultimate Weapon is one of the first harder bosses that players had to face in A Realm Reborn after all the primals.
• Ultimate Weapon is also the last boss that leads up from all the major conflicts that happened in the base game of A Realm Reborn, making it very exciting when the players can finally face them for the first time in the longest dungeon of the game, Praetorium.
• Later on, players will also meet different versions of the Ultimate Weapons created by the Empire in Shadowbringers in the form of Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald, and Diamond weapons. These three fights plus their extreme versions vary between one another and make the ultimate weapons even a more memorable battle.
• The OST used in the Ultimate Weapon fight is also used in several others to be remixed, making the fight leave even a deeper impact on the playerbase.
• The Ultimate Weapon is also the final and hardest boss in the first ultimate raid of the game, where the name ‘Ultimate Raid’ even comes from. Hardcore players going into ultimate raids for the first time will always remember The Weapon’s Refrain hardest last boss fight.

9. Thordan

Thordan and his Knights of the Round.

Thordan, the main antagonist of Heavensward's expansion that the player must defeat alongside Nidhogg, is the next villain to be introduced in this article.

Why Thordan is one of the most popular villain among the playerbase:

• He first seemed like a good guy, the archbishop of Ishgard and the leader of her people, and seemed like a decent person who supports the Warrior of Light’s ideals.
• In fact, Thordan’s aim is not evil at all. What he wanted above everything else was the safety of the people of Ishgard against the dragons, and for that he needed power, and did not mind to do the most evil of things in order to gain his hands on power.
• Not to mention, at the last step before the Warrior of Light had to fight him, Thordan even vanquished Lahabrea, another villain that will be mentioned later on in this article.
• Thordan is one of FFXIV’s first villains that does not actually have a fully sinister purpose, or at least display it openly.
• He has one of the most beautiful backgrounds as his trial battle, as well as a banger OST, which makes his fight a memorable one.

8. Nidhogg

Nidhogg and Estinien, the Azure Dragoon.

Nidhogg and Thordan are the main antagonists of the game's first major expansion, Heavensward, released after FFXIV's rebirth as A Realm Reborn.

Some reasons why Nidhogg is one of the most popular villains in the game:

• Same like Thordan, Nidhogg is another villain that actually does not have a totally vile reason or an unreasonable excuse for his behaviour. Unlike Thordan, it wasn’t actually clear that he had no other intention than to slaughter and kill everyone.
• However, with more secrets unveiled to the players, they come to know that Nidhogg only loathed human beings after humans had betrayed the dragons and had killed his sister.
• Nidhogg was only an enraged dragon that wanted to seek revenge for his beloved, especially since he was the first dragons to refuse their peace with humanity when Hraesvelgr and Shiva became one.
• Nidhogg has one of the most beautiful songs as his trial fight, which is also the last fight of the entirety of the Heavensward expansion. The song that accompanied his battle, Dragonsong, is one of the best and also one of the most popular songs of the game.
• Because of this, Nidhogg also became another villain that became very popular among the playerbase.

7. Gaius van Baelsar

Gaius under his mask of steel.

Returning to a villain first introduced in A Realm Reborn, Gaius is the main antagonist in the base game whom the player must defeat in order to save Eorzea from complete and utter destruction. While he initially appeared to be a stereotypical evil villain, Gaius returned to the game at the end of the Stormblood expansion and revealed more and more surprising aspects of himself.

Some reasons why Gaius is one of the most popular villains among the playerbase:

• Gaius is the main villain of A Realm Reborn, making him one of the first villains that the players will have to come across, making him somewhat memorable.
• But with his re-introduction as a Father in Stormblood and later on Shadowbringers expansion, the players come to know Gaius a different way.
• Gaius is actually also a father who adopted many lost Garlean kids and put them under his wings, which show his compassionate side.
• He also had to leave his kids behind when he pursued the Ascians for betraying the Empire and putting his whole life in jeopardy because of it. 
• Later on, he also had to lose his kids due to his own creation of Ultimate Weapons, which is tragic and also let players know of the Empire’s true cruelty and how mild Gaius is compared to the other generals of the Empire.
• Because of these events and tragedy, a lot of players had come to sympathise Gaius and remember him for his tearful moments instead of his generic performance in A Realm Reborn.

6. Lahabrea

Lahabrea, the mysterious Ascian Man.

Lahabrea is another villain introduced in the A Realm Reborn era, as well as the first Ascian the player encounters in the game.

Why Lahabrea is very popular among the playerbase:

• The Ascians are actually the main protagonist of Final Fantasy XIV in general, and were first known as the hooded black men who are mysterious.
• Lahabrea is also the first Ascian to be introduced to the players, making him to be somewhat memorable in this sense.
• Lahabrea also appears multitudes of times to the point of his demise in Heavensward expansion. He had done a lot of things during his stay as well, from kidnapping Thancred’s body and calling all his other Ascian friends to Eorzea.
• Lahabrea is also featured very heavily on the upcoming full raid of the Pandaemonium in the Endwalker expansion, once more reminding players of his existence in the game.

5. Tsukuyomi

Tsukuyomi, the goddess of the moon.

Tsukuyomi is another boss trial introduced in the game's Stormblood expansion. It is yet another primal boss summoned by Yotsuyu.

Why Tsukuyomi/Yotsuyu is one of the most popular bosses in FFXIV:

• She is one of the rare decent female villains that has a good and well-made background in the game.
• She is also attractive and many players are fans of her look and like to look at her.
• She was abused in her childhood, which caused her to be a vicious woman when she was a grown up, and this made people pity her.
• When she lost her memory in the story, she became a very innocent young girl, which proves that if she weren’t abused so viciously in the past, she also would not turn into the woman she is now.
• She also very much has an amazing story despite not being the main villain in Stormblood, which makes her a very eye-catching character.
• Her trial battle is one of the best battles that players can have in Stormblood, making the players love how challenging the battle is.

4. Elidibus

Elidibus as the Warrior of Light himself.

Elidibus is the second Ascian introduced in the game's main story questline early in A Realm Reborn. Unlike his peers, he is first seen dressed in white robes rather than black, identifying him as the Ascians' emissary.

Why Elidibus is one of the greatest villains in the game:

• He is one of the youngest and most innocent Ascians in reality, but it was hidden beneath layers of cunning abilities and skills.
• In Shadowbringers, the players start to see how lonely he is, as he is the only unsundered Ascian left after Emet-Selch is gone. This makes a lot of players pity him more.
• As the Ascian that was sacrificed to be the heart of Zodiark, Elidibus has started to become more and more stoic and lost his original personality and even memory with time, gaining even more sympathy.
• There is also a huge speculation that he has a huge role in the newest Pandaemonium raid in Endwalker.
• Not to mention, he also has a huge part in sending the players to Elpis during the Endwalker storyline, even sacrificing the last of his lifeline to do so, claiming that he has no more reason left to live after Zodiark is gone and all his brothers had left.
• His last words before he disappeared in Shadowbringers stays as one of the most famous quotes even until now.
• ‘The rain has ceased, and we have been graced with another beautiful day. But you are not here to see it.’

3. Fandaniel

Hermes, the real unsundered person before he became Fandaniel.

Hermes is the real name of Fandaniel, a new Ascian antagonist introduced in the Shadowbringers expansion after Elidibus has died, specifically at the end of the 5.3 Main Scenario Questline.

Why Hermes/Fandaniel is one of the most famous villains in FFXIV:

• He was first introduced as a madman that cares about nothing else but the destruction of the world, making him one of the weirdest Ascian since the rest of his brothers all care about bringing back the unsundered world along with their friends and people.
• However, when the players finally get to Elpis and meet the real person before the whole Fandaniel debacle, Hermes is an honest, charming guy that cares about a lot of things others don’t.
• He cares about the creation beings brought into life by the Ascians that the rest of the race couldn’t care less about, making him one of the more sensitive Ascian alive that pay attention to things his friends and people didn’t.
• He also finds out about the truth of this world and how every other race out there never survived and always came into extinction, which made him fall into deep despair since he wanted to be able to see and communicate with people from other worlds.
• He actually cares about the Warrior of Light and said that the Warrior of Light made them feel like they’re normal for the first time, since the Warrior of Light is the only person outside of Hermes that has ever experienced pain and suffering in Elpis.
• He is a unique villain with a unique background and aim, which makes players understand him in a different way compared to the other tragic villains.

2. Zenos

Zenos in his reaper suit.

Zenos is often referred to as the ultimate stalker of the Warrior of Light, and this title is not entirely incorrect, given that he resurrected just to defeat the player once more.

Why Zenos is still one of the greatest villains despite everything:

• In a way, Zenos is the Warrior of Light if he didn’t have a purpose in life or was born into a family with no one to truly care about him.
• Both Zenos and the Warrior of Light craved adventure and challenge, but Zenos found everything lacking because of his overwhelming power, making everyone who stood in his way easily defeated.
• However, the Warrior of Light is the only challenge he had to try to be able to defeat for the first time in his life, making him excited.
• In a way, his excitement is not unlike the excitement that the players might have after finding a challenging fight, like the Savage or Ultimate fight, and the desire to fight them over and over again until the players can defeat them.
• Their final battle in the Stars is also one, if not the most epic solo battle that the players got to experience in FFXIV, where there are different battle stages that the player actually has to try to win since Zenos put up a very decent fight.
• In addition, the battle is also accompanied with one of the best songs in the game and in Endwalker, making Zenos an even memorable villain in the players’ minds.

1. Emet-Selch

Emet-Selch in Elpis.

Emet-Selch, or Hades, is the main antagonist and villain of Shadowbringers, but he is first introduced in Stormblood as a minor, mysterious Solus zos Galvus, the Emperor's leader.

Why Emet-Selch is the best villain in FFXIV:

• He is the first Ascian that managed to change the players’ mindset about the Ascians, that they are not just the mysterious, black-robed men who seek to destroy the entirety of the world for no reason at all aside from being evil.
• He is also the only villain in the game that will briefly join your party later on and you can clear a specific dungeon with him in the party.
• He is a villain that has a good motive–where players can see where he’s coming from and might actually do the exact same thing were they in his spot.
• His aim is to be able to return his homeland like it were before it was sundered and return all his friends and brothers back to life.
• He just wanted to be able to return to the world where everyone is complete and not broken into several shards.

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