Top 30 Final Fantasy Villains - #29

#29 - The Shadow Lord

(Final Fantasy XI)

Being the only representative from the very long-running and lore-heavy online game Final Fantasy XI, this guy’s backstory is long and complicated, but I will do my best to summarize.

Raogrimm was a Galka swordsman (the Galka being one of the races of XI, for those unfamiliar) who was recruited for an expedition into the Northlands, along with his rival Ulrich and secret lover Cornelia. Before that, Raogrimm was the Talekeeper of the Galka, meaning he carries with him the memories of the past generations of Galka, which, considering that the Galka are the most heavily persecuted race in XI’s world, means he has quite a lot of emotional baggage, which also gave him sympathy for the also downtrodden Beastmen (y’know, goblins and such).

This sympathy disgusted Ulrich, who was already jealous of his relationship with Cornelia, to the point that he attempted to kill Raogrimm. Cornelia attempted to intervene in the fight, but was sadly killed along with the Talekeeper. This was the final straw for Raogrimm, whose anger and hatred, coupled with the anguish of generations of persecuted Galka, manifested as the Shadow Lord, who then took control of the Beastmen and organized them into an army to exact his revenge on the world.

The main thing that stands out about the Shadow Lord right off the bat is how intimidating he is. He is huge, imposing, and his design is both shadowy and lordly. This series is no stranger to giant armor-clad warlords, and the Shadow Lord is one of the most effective. Everything about him just screams that he is not to be taken lightly.

Funnily enough, most of his power is more in his military might rather than his own power. He doesn’t have the insane level of city-destroying magical ability that, say, Golbez from Final Fantasy IV does (who is not on this list for reasons I will elaborate on when I get to the Honorable Mentions), rather letting his army do most of the talking. That said, that isn’t a letter opener he’s carrying around, and he does fight right alongside his troops.

You may have noticed I’ve talked more about his design and power than I have his actual character. That’s because once he succumbs to the Shadow Lord persona, there isn’t much there. He is simply vengeance incarnate, hunting down the other members of his expedition who let him die before making his bid to conquer Vana’diel. He doesn’t really have a story arc outside of his backstory. Once his backstory has happened and the actual game begins, he doesn’t really get any further development. And once you get to the expansions, he is reduced to a pawn for other bigger badder villains. That and, you know, with a name like SHADOW LORD, subtlety isn’t really his forte.

Nonetheless, the Shadow Lord is a cool concept executed reasonably well that pays off in the style department, but while Raogrimm certainly had character, there is not nearly as much to be found in the towering tin titan he eventually became. But in this case, style does win over substance.