#ffxv ardyn

[wondrous-eos]

Spirit Birds I This was supposed to be a serious artistic endeavor but that intention flew out of the window once Ardyn got involved. Anyway, I present to you ffxv characters with their spirit birds. Part II 🚫 Do not repost. ⬇️4K wallpapers here.

[bluschx]

Decided that I hate colouring because its too difficult 🥴 have sketches instead

[cathrt1c]

More chocobro (and guest) interactions because y’all ate that up

[sinceresneakyy]

RIGHTFUL KING

[pannukki]

Trying to practice colouring more 🥲

[ffocarchive]

[oops-no-other-blog-available]

local news: happy man has great day. lovely smile. more at 11.

[ipromptography]

#xvtober

day 3 | strong enemies

[voidwarlock-studios]

I recently played through Episode Ardyn and of course the dude decides a bench in the middle of the city is a great place to rest…you know…as if he didn’t just cause chaos a block away.

Love this guy, he deserves a nap.

[krisssssssy]

[bluschx]

🦖rawr

[austriannia]

Ladies and Gentlemen, High Chancellor Ardyn Izunia Lucis Caelum in Venice/Italy.

[serotoninbetweenpages]

TBT to when I finished playing Prompto's DLC and a 10 year old asked me: "what did you get about that ending?" The scene was Prompto, rolling away after bidding goodbye to Aranea and then Ardyn appears.

I was confused, and I hadn't thought much of it since Ardyn, as natural, was a pain in the ass during the whole game, making his apparitions and narrating his monologues. So I went: "Well, idk, that Ardyn was there following Prompto the whole time, and he know's where he's going?"

THE 10 YEAR OLD LIL' DUDE GOES: "I think Ardyn was Aranea the whole time". AND WTF, THAT'S GENIOUS? I DID NOT THINK ABOUT THAT, HOW A SINGLE DECADE OLD BABY CAUGHT THAT AND NOT ME THAT I'M ALMOST 2 DECADES OLD?

[pannukki]

✨️ His name was Ardyn Lucis Caelum ✨️

[thefinalboss387]

Ardyn Izunia Appreciation Post!

"For a moment, I felt death's chill wind, such is the might of the gods. But then, I remembered I'm immortal."

I. LOVE. ARDYN. SO. MUCH.

In this post, I will gush attempt to explain what makes Ardyn such an amazing character and villain. There will definitely be spoilers from all of Final Fantasy XV abound, so beware!!

The villains have become an important staple of the Final Fantasy franchise. Without Sephiroth, Kefka, Ultimecia, Kuja, their games wouldn't have been nearly as successful or memorable. Admittedly, as I started playing Final Fantasy XV, a game about a prince essentially going on a road trip with his three buddies, I wasn't sure what to expect as far as its villain.

The first time you meet Ardyn, before you even learn his name, the man is extravagantly dressed, his custom theme music is playing, he most definitely stands out from the crowd of NPCs around them, yet he presents himself as "a man of no consequence".

From there, Ardyn continues to keep his cards very close to his chest. Every time he comes across Noctis and his party, Ardyn playfully interacts with the crew, even helps them as much as he can, while slowly and casually revealing tidbits of information about himself - just enough to imply that he is far more important and consequential than he's letting on. In his early appearances, Ardyn is charismatic, playful, mysterious, and a little creepy. He is clearly having a blast and toying with his prey. He comes off as overly friendly, theatrical, flamboyant, and it's a lot of fun.

We get to the Leviathan boss fight - easily one of THE coolest moments in all of Final Fantasy history in my opinion - where, in the middle of the battle, Ardyn arrives and straight-up murders Lunafreya, Noctis's fiancée. Even then, he playfully mocks Noctis. He also has shapeshifting and illusion abilities, which he uses to further mess with his enemies and trick everyone. The dude is having a GREAT time and it's infectious to watch.

Ardyn is an extremely dark, threatening villain. He has 2,000+ years of torment and grudges swirling around his psyche, he's single-handedly using and taking control of the Niflheim Empire, he has basically become the embodiment of a horrifying disease that turns humans into shadowy daemons, he backstabs and daemonifies even his closest allies, but all the while he retains his playful, theatrical personality. One of his standout moments comes in the Episode Ignis DLC, where he takes off his fedora and plops it onto a random soldier's head as he saunters over to the heroes.

As you learn his backstory, and witness it firsthand in his DLC episode, it's hard not to sympathize with him. He was originally a healer, destined to become the first king of Lucis. When the Starscourge started spreading, Ardyn travelled the land to heal the people, taking their darkness into himself. His jealous brother, Noctis's ancestor, betrayed Ardyn, killed his lover, and took his throne away from him. Ardyn was rejected by the gods, deeming him too corrupted by all the darkness he took in to save everyone else. His lover, an agent of the gods, was even implied to be involved in their betrayal.

The gods essentially decide to make Ardyn a scapegoat, a boogeyman of history. They want him to take his revenge on the royal line, but to die in the process, restoring balance to the Force or whatever. Ardyn is further embittered by this fate, but ultimately submits, prioritizing his need for revenge.

Ultimately, Ardyn wins for a time. As Noctis is absorbed into the Crystal for 10 years, Ardyn cloaks the world in endless night, unleashing countless daemons on the world and taking over Lucis and Niflheim. He has Ifrit, a friggin deity, daemonified and under his control, and his newfound leadership of Lucis also gives him the ability to control the ghosts of past kings, including his brother, to defend his castle.

My one disappointment when it comes to Ardyn? I wish he had epic transformations in the final battle, like every Final Fantasy villain before him. Don't get me wrong, his final battle is still a very powerful and emotional moment in the game. But in a series known for its epic final bosses with multiple forms, and in a game where Ardyn himself daemonifies people and transforms them into grotesque shadow monsters, having become basically the human embodiment of the Starscourge and all of its darkness, he's unable to turn himself into some big shadow form? Would've been really cool, is all I'm saying.

The book "Dawn of the Future" lays out further DLC episodes that unfortunately never happened. I've yet to read this book (I need to!!), but my understanding is that Ardyn ends up allying himself with the heroes against the gods, and they all work to defy their fate. I can't comment too much on this storyline since I've yet to experience the novel, but I like the direction this takes his character, and how he redeems himself while still keeping his darkness and everything that made him a great villain.

He is essentially a Disney villain. You know the type -- theatrical, extravagant, campy, are clearly relishing and having fun with their evil ways, powerful and still a legitimate threat despite their campiness, probably some kind of magic-user... Ardyn completely steals the show and chews the scenery every time he shows up, he is extremely dangerous and unpredictable, and he easily stands out as one of the best Final Fantasy villains in the entire franchise.

[ffocarchive]