Gaius and his XIVth Legion used Eorzea's state of disarray to set up several outposts across the land in preparation for the future conquest of the severely weakened realm. Five years after the Calamity, Solus remains the official ruler, but decides to make his exit via letting his corporeal form die of old age. News of the Emperor's failing health incite political strife within the Empire over who would succeed him, leading to the official abandonment of the unified effort to conquer Eorzea with only Gaius and his legion attempting to conquer the realm on their own.

As Gaius is no longer present to oppose any challengers, a civil war breaks out in Garlemald over the succession to the throne. The founding father was an Ascian! And he created the Empire solely for the purpose of sowing the seeds of chaos! Don't take it personally. I merely do my duty. Emet-Selch finds the cloned bodies of his previous vessel preferable to possessing a random body and molding it in his image.

With his return, Solus becomes the power behind the throne with Varis serving as a figurehead, much to his dismay. Solus reminds Varis that he is not to make judgments but to administer them without question, as any threats to the balance of the Light and Dark are to be expunged. He reveals that he, as an Ascian, built the Garlean Empire for the purpose of creating chaos and to ultimately invoke another Calamity.

Varis shoots him, proclaiming that man is the master of his own destiny. His attempt is scoffed off as Solus simply reappears in another clone body to end their discussion. Following Gaius and Alphinaud Leveilleur destroying the plant manufacturing the Black Rose gas, Solus notes its application could be useful for his agenda.

He uses what he considers his final meeting with Varis to thank him for the clone bodies. Following the siege of Ala Mhigo reaching a stalemate, the Elidibus wishes to speak with Solus, but neither he nor Varis know where he is, Varis remarking he could be doing what all Ascians do. Elidibus suspects that Solus has found a means to take advantage of the situation.

Well, well, we have a historian in our midst. That spares me a lengthy explanation. I am Solus zos Galvus, founding father of the Garlean Empire. And, under various guises, the architect of myriad other imperially inclined nations.

As for my true identity I am Emet-Selch. Emet-Selch, having arrived on the First, one of the shards of the Source, some time prior, follows the Warrior of Light when they make their own appearance. He possesses a vessel he molded into his preferred appearance while observing the Scions' actions from afar. He makes his presence known after Titania's defeat, introducing himself by his Ascian title: Emet-Selch. While admitting he is tempted to ally with Eulmore , he offers cooperation with the Scions despite Urianger Augurelt destroying a shade he was using to offer the deal.

Later, when the Warrior of Light, Urianger, Thancred Waters , and Minfilia arrive in the Rak'tika Greatwood , Emet-Selch reiterates his proposal to join the group as an observer, to which the Scions begrudgingly accept.

He disappears again after being trapped by the Night's Blessed, reappearing to win the group's trust by retrieving Y'shtola Rhul after she used Flow to escape a pit at the Ronkan ruins. After the Scions defeat Eros, they find ancient murals depicting the Sundering, the event that shattered the original world.

Emet-Selch reveals the Ascians' origins from that world, and that Hydaelyn and Zodiark are primals. Emet-Selch justifies the Ascians' actions by saying that as all the races of man are but fragments of their true selves, the Ascians do not consider them people.

Emet-Selch remains as an observer until the Warrior of Light fails to contain the amassed light of Norvrandt 's Lightwardens , revealing he has been testing the Warrior and the Scions to see if the former would regain enough of their "former self" to be considered a potential ally. He spirits the Crystal Exarch away after he is revealed to be G'raha Tia for his knowledge of magic to transport between reflections and back in time, and requests the Warrior to meet him in a recreation of the original world where they can be consumed by the light in peace.

He is disappointed that the Warrior arrives with the Scions. Emet-Selch reveals the Ascians' intent to sacrifice the lesser beings once Zodiark is freed, as in his opinion the people of the Source and its shards are unworthy inheritors of the reunited world. When Alphinaud posits they are not different in their resolve, Emet-Selch takes offense and forces them through another trial in the form of a recreation of the calamity that befell his world.

Even now, after everything, you refuse to see reason. You think it unfair that you are subject to suffering? That your lives will be sacrificed for the ancients? Look at me! I have lived a thousand, thousand of your lives! I have broken bread with you, fought with you, grown ill, grown old! Sired children and yes, welcomed death's sweet embrace. For eons have I measured your worth and found you wanting! Too weak and feeble-minded to serve as stewards of any star! Despite the Scions fighting their way to him, Emet-Selch remains unconvinced of their worthiness and defeats them, while gloating that the Warrior will be consumed by the light.

Emet-Selch is livid when G'raha Tia arrives to aid the Warrior with reinforcements, and decides to face the Warrior in a final test, revealing his true name: Hades. Though initially gaining the upper hand, the Warrior of Light unleashes the collected Light within them to overpower Hades's Darkness. Overwhelmed despite channeling his kin's collective power, Hades refuses to surrender and is only defeated when the Scions use white auracite to hold him at bay long enough for the Warrior of Light to kill him with an aetheric blade in the form of Ardbert's axe.

Hades accepts his death, asking the Warrior of Light to remember their people before fading away with a smile. The Warrior of Light later acquires a crystal that Emet-Selch secretly created with memories and the powers of the fourteenth member of the Convocation, Azem. A shade in the recreation of Amaurot implies that Emet-Selch would not want the final unsundered, Elidibus, to be left alone after his passing.

During the Warrior's battle with Elidibus who takes on the form of the original Warrior of Light, Emet-Selch appears in ancient guise and summons the party back from the void with a snap of his fingers. He saunters away with a final wave to Elidibus. As an old man Solus zos Galvus has a long white beard. He wears full body armor and the Garlean crown, and uses a walking cane.

His younger form has yellow eyes and burgundy hair with a white streak. He wears a stylish black military coat adorned with gold on the chest and white fur along the trimmings. He wears white gloves. Solus's true identity is that of Emet-Selch, an Ascian , whose true name is Hades. Like his brethren, Emet-Selch has an Ascian mark, though more sinister and infernal in design compared to his Paragon comrades.

He rarely wears the Ascians' black robes since taking the vessel of Solus zos Galvus. Emet-Selch is the only Ascian thus far encountered to be seen without the typical Ascian red mask. In his " Tales from the Shadows " side story, Emet-Selch's original form was the typical form of an Amaroutine as a tall humanoid with white hair.

Like all members of the Convocation, he wore a distinct red mask. Emperor Solus was said to be an enthusiastic theater-goer and patron of the arts. He commissioned the building of an airship for the Majestic Imperial Theater Company so they could travel the realm and bring their performances to the far reaches of the Empire.

Solus, or Emet-Selch by his Ascian name or Hades by his true name, is more eccentric and talkative than the average Ascian, being unpredictable and condescending towards his allies. His eccentricities often leave those around him exasperated or enraged. He remains convinced of the importance of the balance between Light and Dark and considers the original form of man the definition of perfection while viewing the "broken" races mere parodies of his kin, to the point he does not consider their deaths murder.

He extends this contempt to his mortal grandson, Varis, having no interest in the Empire outside its intended purpose of spreading chaos. His resentment towards Varis also stems from him resembling his firstborn son, whose death serves as a final reminder of mortal imperfection in Emet-Selch's eyes. However, he does show interest in certain mortals who underwent the Umbral Calamity numerous times on the Source, and are thus closer to completion. He believes that those of the Source are superior to the "halflings" of the other shards.

Emet-Selch is a loner, and though he operates with full intention to bring about the Rejoining, his actions are often considered unpredictable. Beneath his eccentricity and cheerfulness, Emet-Selch bears the burden of centuries of sorrow and pain over all that he and his people have lost, and a burning hatred for Hydaelyn and all who fight in Her name.

In contrast to the maniacal scheming of Lahabrea and the cold rationality of Elidibus, Emet-Selch is the only member of the unsundered to retain his sense of self over the ages and expresses deep melancholy over Amaurot's fall. Whenever he speaks his true feelings, his voice deepens and becomes more gravely.

Unlike the other Ascians, Emet-Selch appears to have a distaste for lies and overt deceptions. While he often omits information in his dealings, or stays mum when he could be more forthcoming, he never contradicts his word. He considers deceitfulness beneath him, since his wealth of knowledge across eons means that anyone he speaks with cannot discern a lie of his from the truth anyway.

Hades is fought as the final boss of Shadowbringers in The Dying Gasp. Every boss in Shadowbringers has its name and a title shown in the pre-fight cutscene, such as "Lightwarden". The only exception is Hades, who tells the Warrior to "cast titles aside" and fight right before the battle commences.

Emet-Selch's character was designed by Natsuko Ishikawa, and drew inspiration from Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean series with the goal of adding more human elements on top of his character. EmetSelch pic. Kriiva tells me this is actually his first functioning mod ever.

Modding Emet-Selch into the game required them to dump all the files in the original game, comb through them for various references to the Wizard NPC, and adjust them in a giant text file used by Content Patcher to patch all the changes over the base game. It all spanned to about three months of work.

But this is actually what drew Kriiva to the idea of modding him into the farming game. Speaking of dating sims, Kriiva would love to see a Final Fantasy XIV dating sim spin-off game built on the same model and cutscenes engine as the main game someday.

And you know what? For Kriiva, the most rewarding part of making this Emet-Selch romance mod has been finishing it and seeing the response. This is a good introduction to some of the basic concepts in most coding languages without looking like pure gibberish. But, if that never happens, I clearly have plenty of ways to keep myself happy. Display Name.

Natalie Flores Follow on Twitter August 8, 5 minutes read.