Revered King, Virtuous Father
FFXIV Dawntrail's new monarch is one of the best new father figures not just in gaming, but in fantasy.
“Oh no, The Man’s talking about Final Fantasy again…”
Yes, yes, I’m aware the subject of this essay means it’s reach is going to be more limited. Folks who aren’t interested in Final Fantasy are less likely to click and read since they don’t have investment in the story to urge them. Folks who are interested are likely sharpening their axes and pitchforks, lighting their torches, and readying a gallows for me because I’m daring to talk about something related to the story of the newest expansion. Truly, the Final Fantasy XIV community is a strange beast, wanting so very desperately to discuss the game that we enjoy so much, but fully ready to hunt down anyone who commits the cardinal sin of sharing spoilers.
Well, if you’re one of those folks who wants to play Dawntrail and hasn’t had the chance to start yet, this is your warning. Turn away now, because there will be minor spoilers ahead. And I do stress they are minor. I’m not going to be talking about anything that’s going to blow the new expansion’s story wide open for all the world to see. The character we’re going to be discussing is an important one, but he’s not a focal character in the story. Not yet, at least. That might change as things progress, but as it stands right now I’m only about a third of the way through this new main story. Yes, that means what I’m about to say here may be subject to change, but based on the course the story has been charting and the events it’s currently building towards, I don’t believe this character’s positions, beliefs, and virtues will alter.
Enough beating around the bush. Final warning - if you intend to play Dawntrail and want absolutely zero spoilers whatsoever, turn back now and go play it through our second encounter with the new monarch I mentioned in the subtitle. Then you can come back and read this. For the rest of you, it’s time I introduce you to Gulool Ja Ja.
Not What You’d Think, but Exactly What You’d Expect
If you’re at all familiar with the tropes common to Japanese fiction, then it’s likely you’ve come across the youthful old warrior before. Perhaps a more broadly accepted term exists for this trope, but to describe what I mean, the youthful old warrior is an aged and experienced warrior, usually of at least some renown, who still yearns to indulge in testing his prowess against talented newcomers as he did when he was in his prime. Often times this character ends up being some sort of mentor or figure of authority who’s looking to recapture that spark that’s particular to the young.
This is the case for Gulool Ja Ja, pictured above. Based on appearances alone, Gulool isn’t the sort of character you’d think he is. I mean, look at him. He’s a giant two-headed lizard man - their race is dubbed the Mamool Ja - dressed in a regalia reminiscent of some ancient Aztec or Mayan warrior king, and his one exposed head is lined with sharp teeth that jut out of his mouth. He’s an imposing, scary looking figure, and if you were to judge him by looks alone you’d be forgiven for assuming he’s probably the villain of this story. Yet, by the time we first meet him, we’re already aware this isn’t the case.
A bit of context for those of you unawares. FFXIV’s latest expansion, Dawntrail, sits in an interesting place compared to the last four. From oldest to newest, Heavensward, Stormblood, Shadowbringers, and Endwalker, along with the A Realm Reborn relaunch of the base game, all followed their own stories which were, in essence, chapters in a much larger overarching narrative. Across the last 10-12 years, the base game and these four expansions told the story of the Warrior of Light, (the player character) our battle with the expansionist and warlike Garlean Empire, and the shadowy villains who frequently were the ones truly pulling the strings, the Ascians. This ten-year narrative was largely closed in Endwalker and while there are sure to be some small ties back to it in Dawntrail, by and large, this new expansion is going to set up a completely new story for us to follow.
Appropriately, this new story comes with a new setting - a continent across the sea to the west, which our people call “the New World,” invoking the terminology used by the Europeans once the existence of the Americas became common knowledge. This continent is called Tural, and it’s home to the peaceful and still growing nation of Tuliyollal. This was one of the first surprises for me. A common trope in fantasy is that of the ancient kingdom. Lord knows that Square has used this exact trope many, many times over in the Final Fantasy franchise, and XIV is no exception. As such, my initial thinking was that Tuliyollal was going to be another of these ancient kingdoms, with Gulool Ja Ja as just the latest in a long line of rulers.
Imagine my surprise, then, to learn that it was Gulool who founded Tuliyollal. The nation has only existed for 80 years, and Gulool is the only ruler it’s ever known. This tells us quite a few things right off the bat. First and foremost, it tells us just how long lived Gulool’s people, the Mamool Ja, can be. The story does take great care to show that yes, he is aging, and that he recognizes that he’ll have to pass rulership to an heir before he reaches a point where he’s no longer fit as a leader. Part of how they show this is the fact that his left-side head is constantly covered in that veil. Rare two-headed Mamool Ja like Gulool are essentially a pair of like personalities sharing one body. It’s not quite the same as conjoined twins, they’re not considered to be different people joined together, though we see through another character that the heads will refer to each other as brothers. Rather, it’s shown that the toothy-mouthed brown head of a two-headed Mamool Ja tends to be the more ambitious, courageous, and martially minded; while the chameleon-like purple head is more prone to reason, study, forethought, and planning. This aspect, along with their rarity and the great strength and magical acumen this mutation gives them, has caused the two-heads to be seen as blessed amongst Mamool Ja, and traditionally their kind have been the rulers of their society, with each head ideally making up for the shortcomings of the other.
Gulool’s head of reason being covered is a sign that his brother, as he puts it, is sleeping more and more as he grows older. Like an elderly man, the head of reason is quite simply much more tired these days, leaving the head of resolve as the one chiefly in control. This side of Gulool is no slouch. Yes, he’s on the brazen side, but he’s not stupid. He recognizes what the frequent sleep of his other self means, and so sets out a plan to elect a worthy ruler to replace him.
That’s where we come into the story. Starting at the very end of Endwalker, with the final patch that introduces this new story in Tural, we’re introduced to the youngest of Gulool’s three children, his daughter Wuk Lamat. Unlike Gulool, Wuk Lamat is not a Mamool Ja, but rather one of the Hrothgar, a physically imposing race of people that bear the physical traits of big cats. In Wuk Lamat’s case, she looks like a lion, the king of the jungle. Appropriate, considering she’s the daughter of a king.
Wuk Lamat, like her older brother Koana, is one of Gulool’s adopted children. His third, and presumably the oldest though I’ve not gotten confirmation of this in the story yet, is his only true born son, Zoraal Ja. Much like how Gulool is a rarity for being a two-headed Mamool Ja, his son Zoraal is also a rarity because typically speaking, two-headed Mamool Ja are sterile. Thus, father and son alike are both seen as blessed among their people’s culture.
I’m sure you can figure out what the setup for the story is. All three of Gulool’s children, alongside a fourth outside contender, are viable claimants to the throne of Tuliyollal. However, Gulool isn’t content with just picking any one of the four on a whim; he wants them to prove themselves worthy. In order to do this, he concocts a rite of succession that sees the four contenders follow along on the journey he took in his youth, wherein he met with and, ultimately, united the disparate tribes and peoples of Tural in peaceful rule through a mixture of heroism and leading by example. Whoever is the first to successfully complete each of the seven feats he and his chosen electors have set for the claimants must then find the fabled City of Gold - yes, a direct reference to the legendary El Dorado - and use the seven keystones they were awarded to gain entry. Whichever of the claimants does this first shall be crowned the new Dawnservant, which is just Tuliyollal’s fancy name for their king or queen, and as you might’ve guessed, our job is to help Wuk Lamat try to achieve this feat.
After reading all of this, you might be starting to see why I titled this section “not what you’d think, but exactly what you’d expect.” When we’re first told of Gulool by Wuk Lamat, we’re told of a goodly king who rules over an era of peace and prosperity in his nation. We later learn of the favor with which he shows his children when we discover that this nation on the opposite side of the world uses some technology we’re already familiar with, which was brought over by his son Koana, who studied with the Sharlayans, the very same enclave of scholars we spent much of our time with in Endwalker. Our first impressions from Wuk Lamat’s story are already being challenged a little; what we thought would be an ancient kingdom far removed from what we know has some aspects of it which are familiar and comfortable for us. Then we finally get to meet the Dawnservant, and we do so by accidentally interrupting a duel between himself and one of our closest allies, which we learn from Wuk Lamat’s reaction is an indulgence that he loves to partake in which she doesn’t entirely approve of.
Thus we see that the impression of Gulool that’s built up for us doesn’t quite line up with the reality of the man. He’s not exactly what we thought he was, nor is his young nation. However, that introduction paints a very clear picture of the youthful old warrior and the kindly ruler both, and throughout the rest of our meeting with him, Gulool proceeds to present himself in near perfect accordance with this new expectation. However, this is merely the surface. As the story progresses through its admittedly slow first quarter, we soon get to learn quite a bit more about this highly revered monarch.
Not Just a King, but a Father
Three weeks ago, on the eve of Father’s Day in the West, my oft referenced compatriots
penned the following essay: Fatherhood in Fantasy - Why We Need More of it in Fiction. It’s a very well thought out essay that hones in on a specific element of familial connection that’s been absent in a lot of more recent fantasy fiction - the connection of a father with his children. In the case of the good Brothers, their essay is more focused on the idea of the story’s hero being a father, and how that might be used not only to build compelling conflict within a story, but also how it might be used to inspire, as fantasy is so uniquely good at doing.Gulool Ja Ja isn’t the hero of Dawntrail’s story. It’s very clearly his daughter, Wuk Lamat, who’s being positioned to take up that particular role. However, Gulool plays an incredibly important role in this, and the revelations he brings us on his second meeting come at a very important time in Dawntrail’s first act. I mentioned earlier that the first quarter of this story has been pretty slow, and part of that is due to the fact that the stakes of the first two feats in the rite of succession don’t feel particularly high. There’s numerous reasons for this from a story and gameplay perspective. Part of it is, admittedly, that the role we as players are taking on is as support for Wuk Lamat. This is particularly felt in the completion of the feat that deals with the Pelupelu, a race of merchants and peddlers so youthful as to appear childlike.
While the interactions with the Pelupelu give us an interesting and entertaining glimpse into their culture, the story is set in such a way that when it comes to the accomplishing of the feat itself, we take no part in it alongside Wuk Lamat. We don’t even get to see her engage in it, her accomplishment happens offscreen, away from our eyes. This ends up pairing poorly with the fact that all throughout the first two feats we see Wuk Lamat trying to present herself as tougher than she is, more regal, more capable. She and the story make it extremely clear that she feels horribly inferior compared to her brothers, that she sees Zoraal Ja’s strength and Koana’s learning, as well as the accomplishments and accolades their skills have earned them, as making them larger than life, while she has no such accolades to her own name. She simply has her own vision of preserving the peace her father worked so hard to build; a noble cause, to be sure, but hardly as exciting as Zoraal’s martial accomplishments or the new technologies Koana brought to their nation.
All of that on its own is wonderful character motivation. The problem comes in the form of the story’s balance here. Put simply, the writers lean too heavily on Wuk Lamat’s insecurities in this early portion of the story, as well as a certain couple of gags that start to become tiresome once we’ve seen them for the third or fourth time. In fact, this issue was big enough that for many players, they completely stopped rooting for her by this point. There were and are quite a few people who were almost fully turned off by Wuk Lamat at this stage. I wasn’t among them, but I won’t pretend that I wasn’t starting to get annoyed by these crutch the writers were leaning on. It reached a point where I was beginning to ask myself some questions about the course the story was taking. Chief among them was the following:
If the story is going to position Wuk Lamat as the new Dawnservant, how are they going to show her as the capable and correct choice before that happens?
Now I don’t want you to take this as me saying that the story shows Wuk Lamat as unfit while presenting Zoraal Ja and Koana as good candidates. All three characters show that they’re not actually ready to sit on the throne, and none of them see this in themselves yet, though Wuk Lamat is easily the closest to having this realization.
Enter a moment of impeccable timing. While working to complete the third feat in the rite of succession, our little party is forced to return to Tuliyollal to find someone to help us complete our task. As Wuk Lamat heads off to speak with an acquaintance who might know where to find the person she’s looking for, she suggests we head to the beachfront cabins to rest for a while. While there, we’re met by a member of the Landsguard, the young nation’s local soldiery. He’s come to us with an urgent request from Gulool Ja Ja - we’re to meet with the Dawnservant in his royal chambers, and he’s explicitly requested that we not tell Wuk Lamat about it.
Based on our first meeting with him, the expectation is clear and immediate. Our character is the Warrior of Light, after all; the vaunted and widely known hero of our home continent, Eorzea. It’s only natural for us to assume that Gulool Ja Ja the Resolve wishes to duel with us as he did with our long time ally Estinien. That ends up being exactly what happens, and on a personal note, I found the duel to be quite fun. It’s a solo fight that’s not very mechanically intense, but had just enough going on to keep me on my toes and was filled with this spirit of excitement at two legends from two different worlds meeting in battle. However, the real meat of this encounter is what comes after the duel is ended and our weapons are once again stowed.
Taking a seat upon his golden throne, Gulool admits that the fight wasn’t the real reason he called us here. He did want to test his mettle against us and did enjoy doing so, none of that was a lie, but those weren’t the actual reasons why he carried on this duel with us. No, in his words, he wanted to see if we were someone worthy to travel alongside his beloved Lamat’yi, a term of endearment for Wuk Lamat used by Gulool and her brothers. Upon showing that we’re one of only three people who’s been able to successfully face off with Gulool in combat and remain standing, he’s now fully convinced that we have the strength and experience needed to protect her during the rite. Additionally, through our previous interaction with us and through information he’s gathered about us along the way, he’s also come to understand the Warrior of Light as someone who might provide a little bit of insight into his daughter’s current standing, which is what he asks us about next.
This moment, at least so far, has been the single most important moment in the story for me, and not just because of the further context it gives to the rite of succession and Gulool’s thinking. It’s because it shows us exactly the kind of man Gulool truly is deep down, and that’s shown in the way he asks his question of us. He wants us to take Wuk Lamat’s measure, to tell him honestly what our exact thoughts about her are. However, he’s not interested in us answering him as a ruler judging a potential heir, but as a father who’s concerned for the growth and wellbeing of his child.
We’re given a choice between two answers at this point. The softer answer is to essentially say that Wuk Lamat is a good and caring person with a lot of potential. In other words, she’s got good qualities, but lots to learn. The other choice is far more direct: “She’s not ready to rule.”
Each option comes with a different initial response from Gulool, but his revelation to you is the same either way: despite what he said in your first meeting, the rite of succession isn’t meant to choose a new ruler for Tuliyollal. Rather, it’s meant to cultivate one. Recall how earlier I mentioned that though the head of reason sleeps, the head of resolve isn’t a slouch, isn’t stupid. This is the moment we’re truly shown that. Gulool recognized that none of the four claimants, his children included, were fit to rule yet. They didn’t have the experience needed, didn’t understand nearly enough about Tural, its peoples, and the needs of Tuliyollal as a nation. Wuk Lamat thought she did, but her understanding was based only on her experiences within the city, and her brothers are each too singularly focused on what they personally believe is the best path forward.
Gulool Ja Ja had already established himself as a character that I quite liked at this point. The contrasts between his fearsome appearance and his jovial attitude, between his aged wisdom and youthful exuberance, and the numerous little quirks to his character that we’re shown in our two meetings with him at this point, build him into a character that’s more complex than our first impressions might’ve led us to believe. It wasn’t the deepest character writing in this game, but it was engaging all the same.
This encounter took that engagement and boosted it exponentially for me. Gulool Ja Ja isn’t just the fun and interesting founding king of a young kingdom. He’s not just the old warrior looking for opportunities to snatch at that feeling of youthfulness by engaging in duels with strong contenders. He’s not just the unifier that built an era of peace in what was once a land of divided tribes torn by bloody warfare in an age that still exists within living memory for Tural’s people. He’s a loving father, one who happily adopted two orphan children who weren’t even of his own species and raised them as if they were his own. One who is both intelligent and wise enough to recognize that his time as a ruler is coming to an end, and that while he loves his children dearly, none of them have grown enough as individuals to be capable of taking his place yet. So, as any good father should, he seeks to teach them through setting a good example. It just so happens that in this case, the good example he’s trying to teach them from is the journey he made when he was young, the very one that taught him the traits necessary to make him the respected ruler he is.
Gulool Ja Ja represents something rare not just in fantasy these days, but in mainstream fiction period. He’s a positive male role model, strong and steadfast with unshaking resolve in his beliefs, but also wise and intelligent. He’s kindly, good natured, and good humored. But more important than all of this, he depicts a good father figure, a man who raised not only his natural born son to the best of his ability, but orphans whom he adopted and loved as if they were his own blood. He sees in them their strengths and shortcomings, and seeks to help each of them grow into better and more complete people not just for their own sake, but he sake of the subjects over which he rules, for one of them will one day sit upon the throne in his stead. And if it should turn out that none of the claimants are ready to take the throne? Well, then he won’t give it up, thus showing the kind of sternness that both a father and ruler need to maintain stability in both his house and his kingdom.
In just the two brief meetings we have with Gulool, we’re able to establish what the most important things to him are: the wellbeing of his nation, and the wellbeing of his children. It’s been a long time since we’ve had such a thoroughly positive father figure in a modern mainstream fantasy story, and for that reason, I think it’s worth celebrating when we see it. I’ll admit to feeling a bit unsure about Dawntrail’s story from that first quarter portion, but now that we’ve been given these deeper insights, alongside interactions we’ve since seen between Wuk Lamat and Koana, I find myself looking forward to how these characters grow and this family develops.
I have also been playing Dawntrail and taking it slow, I'm not quite up to the second audience yet but like what you describe from it. Good to see a positive king and father for once. Hope it continues and looking forward to playing more.
Oh no, the man is not talking about Final fantasy... enough :D