History Awesome / FinalFantasyXIV

[[Awesome/FinalFantasyXIVLegacyARealmReborn Legacy/A Realm Reborn]] - [[Awesome/FinalFantasXIVHeavensward Heavensward]] - [[Awesome/FinalFantasyXIVStormblood Stormblood]] - [[Awesome/FinalFantasyXIVShadowbringers Shadowbringers]] - [[Awesome/FinalFantasyXIVEndwalker Endwalker]]]]-]]]

[[Awesome/FinalFantasyXIVLegacyARealmReborn Legacy/A Realm Reborn]] - '''Heavensward''' - [[Awesome/FinalFantasyXIVStormblood Stormblood]] - [[Awesome/FinalFantasyXIVShadowbringers Shadowbringers]] - [[Awesome/FinalFantasyXIVEndwalker Endwalker]]]]-]]]

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[[Awesome/FinalFantasyXIVLegacyARealmReborn Legacy/A Realm Reborn]] - [[Awesome/FinalFantasyXIVHeavensward Heavensward]] - [[Awesome/FinalFantasyXIVStormblood Stormblood]] - [[Awesome/FinalFantasyXIVShadowbringers Shadowbringers]] - [[Awesome/FinalFantasyXIVEndwalker Endwalker]]-]]]

[[Awesome/FinalFantasyXIVLegacyARealmReborn Legacy/A Realm Reborn]] - [[Awesome/FinalFantasyXIVHeavensward Heavensward]] - [[Awesome/FinalFantasyXIVStormblood Stormblood]] - [[Awesome/FinalFantasyXIVShadowbringers Shadowbringers]]]]-]]]

* ''[[Awesome/FinalFantasyXIVEndwalker Endwalker]]''

* ''[[Awesome/FinalFantssyXIVEndwalker Endwalker]]''

** The full trailer only adds more awesome, from the music paying homage to each expansion that came before, EVERY Scion except Tataru and Krile represented in CGI, Estinien wiping out a flock of voidsent with Stardiver while standing beside [[UnexpectedCharacter Vrtra]] of the First Brood, the [[SceneryPorn gorgeous reveal]] of Old Sharlayan capped off by Y'shtola promising Fourchenault Leveilleur that the Scions will fight to the bitter end rather than merely 'live on' as Sharlayan intends to, and finally the expanded view of the Warrior of Light on the moon involving him facing The First Beast from Amaurot and holding it off with his shield before slaying it with a single strike of his sword.

** Natsuko Ishikawa is going to be the lead writer for ''Endwalker''. The same woman who wrote the DRK questline, and was the lead writer of ''Shadowbringers!''

** The final shot is enough to send chills down one's spine, with the [=WoL=] standing tall in Paladin armor with sword and shield at the ready, truly laying claim to the title "Warrior of Light".

** If you thought summoning Bahamut was insane, now you can ''summon Phoenix''.

* Shadowbringers is definitely throwing wide the gates of new abilities for their jobs. Some standout examples include Summoner summoning ''Phoenix'', and Dark Knight ''channeling their inner darkness to summon a copy of themselves to fight alongside with.'' And if you look at your copy's armor, it's not just a clone. You can now summon ''Fray'' to aid you in battle!

[[folder:Legacy/''A Realm Reborn'']]
* Getting to watch a dragon go postal on an airship bigger than he is and just ''ripping it apart.'' It's so awesome it gets replayed in ''ARR'', for new players, when Louisoux is recapping some recent history.
** Going to Mor Dhona and seeing the wreckage of that same airship with the dragon's body still wrapped around it qualifies as well. And yeah, it's still there in ''ARR''.
** Turns out that dragon is actually Midgardsormr. And yes, he's not actually dead, and you get to fight him too.
* Creator/NobuoUematsu is composing the soundtrack solo for the first time since ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''.
** Special mention needs to go to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWdeMqELN-U Answers]], the main theme, linked here in live symphonic glory. The song is sung by Susan Calloway, the English vocalist from the Distant Worlds concert series, and Uematsu intended it for her from the start. The choral part is a complex layering of phrases and sentiments, and the lyrics manage to be both uplifting and heartbreaking at the same time.
*** And then... and then they set it to the end of Legacy. See directly below.
*** And then, they set it to Turn 4 of the Final Coil of Bahamut, where you get to face Bahamut himself.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39j5v8jlndM The End of An Era trailer.]] '''Every. Second. Of it.'''
** Could also count as a TearJerker toward the end. Even if you haven't played the game.
** Keep in mind, this actually played at the shutdown of 1.0. Square Enix, for all their mistakes, wasn't going to just shut down the game (until the launch of ''A Realm Reborn'' in August 2013), they were going all out with a bang. This sort of flashiness is what you would expect from a new Expansion, not a shutdown. With poor review scores (which are pretty much death sentences for the average [[MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame MMORPG]]), they decided to just reboot the game entirely. And they did it in the best way possible with a giant dragon wreaking hell on earth. To quote the Fiery Joker:
-->''I love how Square Enix basically says, "Whelp, we blew it, but the show must go on! We're not going to just kill it, we're going to kill it and have it be the most amazing thing anyone ever sees.''"
** How about the Extended Trailer, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD0N5EOqbrE A New Beginning]]? A True Masterpiece, indeed.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xOOFCltZuc Flames of Truth]], reveals what happened to Louisoux after his spell: he goes totally and completely ''Anime/DragonBallZ''-like, catching and preventing Bahamut's Teraflare from hitting the ground, then ''shooting right through it AND Bahamut in a MutualKill''.
* The boss fight with Titan. Ifrit, for all his flashiness, was a pushover. Titan? Is fought atop a platform so high up, falling off means instant death, ''out of reach of raise spells''. He will occasionally target a random player with a knockback attack which may send them falling to their death. He will regularly use an attack which damages everyone in the party, which is a DifficultySpike for a healer new to the fight. And twice throughout the fight, he will break off the edge of the arena, making it ''even smaller''. All this, and he ''still'' has a OneHitKill move like Ifrit you have to interrupt to survive. How could this be any more awesome? With the [[{{Pun}} rocking]] BGM that plays throughout the fight, getting more and more intense along with the fight itself.
** And on the subject of primal battles, Garuda's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBuPzZ1kST8 battle theme]] is something else.
* EVERY SINGLE THING IN THE PRAETORIUM. From the Nero tol Scaeva fight, even with his whinging about being in Cid's shadow, reuniting with your sentient Magitek Armor, Maggie, fighting Gaius van Baelsar on a freight lift, and then fighting the ancient Allagan superweapon, Ultima Weapon on ''another'' badass elevator reminiscent of the Olga Flow battle from PSO, seeing it use Ultima, confronting Lahabrea, good LORD what a finisher. And that's not even counting the extra lengthy and super-touching ending cutscenes!
* "Escape From Castrum Centri". A rescue mission to recover the survivors of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Two fun fights, and a show of why the Scions deserve the respect they receive. Everyone shows their own form of Badassery, everyone gets hit with a major [[WhamEpisode shock when they learn who's behind Lahabrea's mask, and the final escape by airship is one awesome moment after another]].
* The level 50 Weaver quest, "A Miner Reborn," has Wawarukka [[BigDamnHeroes dive into the path]] of Kokomo's fiance, Mamajaru when he's about to [[WouldHitAGirl hit her]] for not reacting to his story.
* At the end of "Return of the Holyfist", [[OldMaster Hamon Holyfist]] goes to confront Weggfarr in a fight that could likely end in the pugilist guild leader's life. Thankfully, he has undergone training with you for this fight. When Weggfarr goes at Hamon with an axe, Hamon moves with such blinding speed that his counterattack was barely perceptible. And [[FreezeFrameBonus For just a split-second]], [[https://riikorinkoko.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/2014-06-01-monk-training-hamon-03.jpg he looks just like his younger self]]!
* The Labyrinth of the Ancients. It's the first dungeon to require an alliance of '''24''' players (3 parties of 8), and the bosses are designed with this in mind.
** The Bone Dragon. It seems to go down pretty quick... then the skeleton enemies that you've been killing during the fight get back up and start running towards it. If they reach the dragon, the raid takes massive damage. Then the dragon ''gets back up''. The fight isn't even half over.
** Thanatos. He's incorporeal, so he can't normally be harmed. Good news, there are friendly [=NPCs=] who will turn you ghostly too so you can hurt him. Bad news, lots of enemies will spawn to kill them, so those who aren't ghostly need to protect them.
** The King Behemoth. As soon as the fight starts, the floor becomes electrified. There is no safe place to stand. Instead, players are assigned to the four towers around the arena to keep them active, reducing the electric damage to manageable levels. Sometimes, a comet will land on a player. This is actually a ''good'' thing, because the Behemoth's strongest attack, Ecliptic Meteor, will outright kill ''anyone'', unless they cower behind the comets left around the arena.
** Phlegethon. The final boss of the labyrinth is actually not that difficult, but the mechanics involved are unlike anything else in the game, making for a very fun end to the instance. He has nonstandard shaped AOE moves, and the Ancient Flare, which will kill ''everyone'' unless enough people react correctly.
* In the 2.2 story quests, the plan to defeat Leviathan in his own domain. Use a scaled-up version of the same tactic used to fly the Enterprise through Garuda's tempest. None of the Lominsan ships can carry enough crystals to make it work? Lash ''two'' ships together to carry them all! How is this thing going to get close to Leviathan in the first place? Tow it with another ship!
* Continuing the Crystal Tower quest and dungeons from Labyrinth of the Ancients, we now have Syrcus Tower. Besides being a massive shout-out to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'', it's another alliance raid, with the following four boss fights.
** Scylla's fight is pretty much Phlegethon version 2. While she doesn't have any instant death attacks, and her Ancient Flare is toned down (assuming you stand in the puddles of water first), she solves this by having constantly respawning adds call Elder Staves that have various AOE patterns. Additionally, to even use the barrier mechanic for her AOE Stun and Damage ''Daybreak'' attack, players have to run orbs of electricity to terminals to power them up, while at the same time, freeing players hit with ice orbs using fire orbs, leading to a frantic fight with everyone constantly on the move. Scylla will also spam a dark version of Holy called Unholy, which comes with a deeper sound effect compared to the normal Holy used by White Mages.
** Glasya Labolas requires the alliance to constantly stop various machines that are charging him up for a major AOE attack, as well as to redirect power to special pads that cause the players to jump away to safety. Players either have to have a member rush to Clockwork "Wrights" to have the power diverted to one player, while everyone else destroys the machine, or lure Clockwork "Knights" (based off of VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII Pulse Machina soldier type machines) in between two terminals to redirect power.
** Amon, is a mad scientist who dresses like [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka]] with a touch of [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX Kuja's]] music and theater themes to his attacks, such as Elemental Forte, and Curtain Call. Additionally, he calls various experiments of his to aid him in battle, while confounding the alliance by turning random members into Frogs, planting Pyrotechnic bombs on others that cause periodic explosions and knock away those near them, and tries to inflict Mini on others with special orbs. The alliance has to figure out how to turn these things back on their creator to help aid them to victory. Amon will also speak down to the alliance with polite mannerisms, viewing you and your party as "rude guests".
** The final battle, is against Emperor Xande, the first ruler of the Allagan empire, who attempts to take out the alliance using powerful attacks like Ancient Quake, or by summoning multiple comets and a meteor. Xande even boasts how [[BadassBoast the stars must bend to his will]].
* After watching him nearly eradicate all of Eorzea, [[ClimaxBoss you finally get your chance at]] [[http://i.imgur.com/N4FOqF3.jpg Bahamut]] in the Final Coil.
* The player character is dubbed the Warrior of Light due to the blessing they were given by Hydaelyn. The player character is granted the Echo, a power that lets them see memories of people near them and resist being tempered by primals. But then your blessing is taken away by Midgardsormr and an Ascian senses your light is no longer with you, dubbing you as weak and nonthreatening. When said Ascian kidnaps Minfilia, you proceed to kick his ass anyway without Hydaelyn's blessing by sheer determination and with your own powers and skills.
* The Zeta Zodiac weapons. What started off as a quest to recreate a relic weapon of legend evolved into something much greater. Anyone who stuck with a relic all the way endured a LOT: recreating the relic (base relic), defeating powerful enemies to gather materials so that the relic can be fully reborn (completed relic), obtain special items to enhance the relic's power (Zenith), [[LuckBasedMission find 12 incredibly rare items]] to begin the process of further enhancing your weapon (Atma), slaying tons and tons of monsters and foes to bathe the weapon in their blood and souls to gain even greater power (Animus), collecting a ton of materia and alexandrites so that the soul enhanced weapon will be further boosted (Novus), going around Eorzea on your daily adventures so that the weapon can be attuned to the souls within and power up further (Nexus), spending a fortune of several kinds to obtain special materials while also spelunking in dungeons to find even rarer items while crafting other items so that you can transform your relic into a weapon that was once used by the Zodiac Braves (Zodiac), and finally, going around and adventuring again to fully awaken several different types of sentience within your weapon so that the Zodiac arm achieves its ultimate form (Zeta). For anyone who stuck by their relic through the thick and thin, the moment of seeing your Zodiac Zeta awaken with triumphant fanfare and glory is its own reward.
** Not to mention the other reward - it's pretty much agreed that the Zeta weapons were the Best In Slot weapons of the 2.x era, period. While the Dreadwyrm weapons are of equivalent item level, the fact that the Zeta weapon can be configured to the player's wishes gave them the edge.
* At the end of Turn 12, you get a CGI cutscene showing Louisoux's battle against Bahamut. What the rest of the world saw was just a blinding light and then everything was silent. What really happened? Louisoux used the hopes and wishes of the people of Eorzea to turn himself into the primal Phoenix, and using his new power, he proceeded to ''blow a hole in Bahamut's chest''. Had it not been for Bahamut's malice and craftiness, Louisoux would have ended the entire tragedy of Dalamud in a single strike.
* The climax of 2.55 has a lot of awesome to go around as well as mixing in some moments of TearJerker. Raubahn is in sorrow when he hears that Nanamo was assassinated and Teledji Adeleji, one of the most antagonistic members of the Syndicate, [[KickTheDog taunts Raubahn by saying that Nanamo would be glad to have her strings cut]] since she's not in charge anymore. Raubahn, who knows of the schemes that Teledji had a part in and had held back from acting for Nanamo's sake, flies into pure rage and [[CleanCut cleaves the Lalafell in half,]] which makes it doubly awesome for everyone who wanted to see him finally reap what he sowed. Ilberd, who reveals himself as the true assassin, cuts Raubahn's left arm off, but it does little to stop the enraged man as he engages the assassin one-handed and manages to hold his own as the Warrior of Light and the Scions flee for their lives. Sadly, Raubahn lost the fight and was thrown in jail, but it's still a crowning moment of ass-kicking for a man who had won 1000 gladiator matches in a row.
* The final mission in the Kobold beast questline has a few but most noticeable is the confrontation with Zo Ga. You don't actually get to confront him. Right before the point where you figure you would, Gi Gu (who until this point was absolutely pathetic and helpless) manages to get back up after being beaten within an inch of his life, blows up Zo Ga's mining tunnels and single-handedly take down the larger and much more ruthless Zo Ga using a bomb to propel himself at him to deliver a flying rocket punch. It's as awesome as it is satisfying.
* The quest you unlock after finishing all the ARR beast tribe quest chains has a rather amazing cutscene involved. The leaders of all the friendly beast tribes band together to fight a powerful enemy while you handle a hostage situation]]. The fight ends with a sylph-magic buffed Amalj'aa shoulder tackling the enemy, followed by a pacifist Ixal throwing a sword to a legendary Sahagin warrior who then finishes the fight with a kobold-assisted ROCKET JUMP. Also counts as a SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}} for the five beastman leaders as they perform a SuperSentaiStance introduction complete with [[BadassBoast Badass Boasts and multi-colored fireworks]].

[[folder:''Heavensward'']]
* 3.0 has you confronting one of the new primals by pretending to surrender yourselves to the Gnath as a sacrifice to their lord, Ravana. Once he's summoned, Ysayle uses the crystals in the room to transform into Shiva and fights him and even uses most of her moves that she used when you fought her previously. Sadly, Shiva loses and you have to fight Ravana yourself, but it is no less awesome to see a primal that's on ''your'' side fighting against another primal.
* In 3.0, early in the story quests, you, Alphinaud, and Yugiri team up to save Raubahn by exploring Halatali together as a team. It's awesome in that, prior to this, most [=NPCs=] took a backseat in story content, and now they're actively helping you take on a dungeon together. It helps make both characters feel like part of your team in a way that's not been present until this point.
* In 3.0, the final dungeon includes a lot of reused mechanics from Crystal Tower and the Binding Coil of Bahamut. Soon after in The Singularity Reactor, the final boss's long desperation move does the same with Primals added. The feels of nostalgia are very real. To top it off, the Primal(s) in question is the Knights of the Round summon from Final Fantasy VII. Players get to face off against what is widely regarded as the most powerful summon in the entire series slowly building up to the moment they strike the party with Ultimate End, causing the screen to shatter much like the original.
* Midgardsormr, a dragon who mocked you for trying to find sanctuary within Ishgard, mocked you for thinking you could stop the Dragonsong War, and mocked you for relying on the light from the Mothercrystal, finally sees your true worth after you overcome so many trials and hardships by the time you reach Azys Lla and declares you worthy of the blessing of light. He rewards you for your efforts by becoming a full-sized dragon (though not his original massive form) and allowing you to ride him.
** Not only does he declare you worthy of the light (as the Warrior of Light restores the link to the Mothercrystal by themselves as they go through the story), he enhances it with his own blessing making it stronger than it ever has been.
* The whole ending for Heavensward is one big awesome moment that will be a part of Eorzea's history books. Ishgard is now united with the Eorzean Alliance once more, bringing its people together again. Ishgard is also free from the chains of the church and its people will now be able to make their own fate rather than being born into a societal class. When the Warrior of Light returns to Isghard with Midgardsormr, the knights draw their weapons at the sight of the dragon, but then hesitate when they see the Warrior of Light riding on Midgardsormr. After Midgardsormr introduces himself, Aymeric and the rest of the knights all kneel before him as a sign of respect and change, swearing to him that they'll do everything in their power to reunite man and dragon together. Midgardsormr, while stating that it will take generations to repair the damage done, is also willing to help mend the bond between dragon and mankind once more as long as man keeps their promise to uphold the peace.
* In 3.1, the display of magical might put forth by Diabolos as he awakens the Void Ark is incredible and awe-inspiring to behold. Climaxing in him using its main gun to tear open a dimensional gate in the Sea of Clouds.
* ''Heavensward'' was also the launch of the Mac client so that Mac users can play without using a Windows emulator/wrapper. However, the Mac client had extremely terrible performance, even if the user's computer exceeded the recommended specifications. After players gave their feedback, Yoshida personally apologized for having the Mac client release in such a sorry state and he took full responsibility for it since he was the one who gave the go-ahead to launch the Mac client as is. Not only did Yoshida apologize for a broken product, but he actually went out of his way to explain why the problem occurred (mainly due to a chaotic schedule leading up to the release of the expansion and the client releasing early before it was ready) and offered refunds to anyone who purchased the Mac version of the game. Yoshida also had the Mac version pulled down from the store and says it will not go back up until the client has been thoroughly tested and meets the requirements. In an age where major video game companies usually treat their customers like dirt, Yoshida's gesture was a very welcoming sight.
* The finale of the 3.1 quest chain, after having endured a riot and a shanking, Aymeric, alongside you, Thancred, Y'shtola, Alphinaud and Artoriel, raid the Vault to save hostages that a splinter group of clergy have taken. Things finally reach a head when you confront one of the priests responsible and he tries to drop a child to her death, only for her to be saved... by Vidofnir, the dragon guardian of Anyx Trine. Try as the nobility might to discredit it, Ishgard's status quo is one step closer to being shattered as commoner and nobility alike see a dragon rescue someone from their death out of nothing more than the goodness of her heart. To make things even more heartwarming, speaking to the child in the Brume after the events has her asking if she could ride the dragon again.
* The story of how Thancred spent the interim between 2.55 and 3.1 is this sprinkled with some SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}}. He emerges from the Lifestream completely naked, alone, no longer able to use magic, and suffering a painful leg injury in an unfamiliar wilderness, infested with dragons and other countless predators. But he wastes no time in trying to get his bearings, sharpening some obsidian into makeshift daggers, and the screen cuts to him WRESTLING A BEAR. WHILE STILL NAKED, INJURED, AND ARMED WITH NOTHING BUT SOME POINTY ROCKS. AND WINNING. And then he skins the bear and wears its pelt until he's able to trade with the Vath for some better clothes. Soon Thancred learns of Ravana and the 'mighty warrior' who defeated him, and realizes that if he were to track the Gnaths' movements, he'll be able to reunite with the Scions. And the BigDamnHeroes reunion in question is another Awesome Moment altogether.
* 3.2 has a very awesome moment for Thancred. After Emmanellain discovers that his manservant was roughed up by the people that were trying to cause a riot in the Falcon's Nest, he becomes hysterical and starts to blame the people that beat up the poor boy. The Warrior of Light becomes visibly angry at Emmanellain's self-pity and is about to punch him in the face, but Thancred stops them and tells Emmanellain to calm down. Emmanellain punches Thancred in the face in a jealous rage and whines about how Thancred always comes out a hero and how everyone fawns over him. Not only did Thancred barely react to the punch, he returns a punch that hits Emmanellain so hard that he knocks him off his ass and follows it up with essentially "I'm not a hero and I have failed people. Learn to live with the consequences. I have."
* 3.2 also has a spectacle called the Grand Melee that can be described as a massive free for all. With Ishgard needing to instill confidence in its people, Aymeric, Emmanellain, and Hilda all join you in the battle to reclaim Ishgard's honor against the Eorzean Alliance while you wear Ishgard's garb to represent them. After coming close to victory, Raubahn takes you one on one in a DuelBoss moment and uses a ton of ass-kicking moves that covers most of the field while the two of you are surrounded by flames. For a man who won 1000 battles in the coliseum in the past and lost an arm, Raubahn is able to go toe to toe with the Warrior of Light. The entire event showcases just how much support the Warrior of Light has from his Ishgardian comrades and how much of a badass Raubahn is.
** For bonus points if your character is a member of the Immortal Flames Raubahn will address him or her by rank before initiating the duel.
** It can be made even better through the player's own actions. Going into the Grand Melee, your gear is temporarily glamoured to look like House Fortemps Knight chainmail. If you happen to be a paladin, you can go into the melee bearing the shield (or glamour of the shield) of House Fortemps given to players in the previous patch.
** When a Cyclops appears out of nowhere and threatens the match, Thancred calmly walks up to it, decks it so hard it gets knocked on its ass and then tells them to continue on while he takes care of it.
* Ser Aymeric's speech managing to rally almost all of Ishgard, even those who planned and attempted to sabotage the peace talks, behind the idea of finally ending the endless war with Dravania. Though Nidhogg's arrival did sour the moment a little, the player can find Emmanellain in the Jeweled Crozier afterwards where he admits that Nidhogg's actions did manage to unite the people of Ishgard towards a common goal to end the strife (redirecting most of the hatred for dragons in general to just Nidhogg, who is actually responsible for most of the current tensions between them).
* 3.3 sees possibly the crowning moment for the entire game, culminating in a final, climactic battle against Nidhogg. And it begins with you arriving at the Steps of Faith, besieged by Nidhogg's Horde, upon the back of Hraesvelgr, having convinced him to aid in the fight against his twisted brood-brother. What follows is an undeniably epic confrontation between the two great wyrms, both unleashing all their might and magic against one another. And just when it seems Nidhogg has triumphed, his defeated brother reveals himself to be missing an eye... cue the player stepping forward, imbued with half of Hraesvelgr's power, and ready to take Nidhogg down personally.
** The scene, in particular, is, from a lore standpoint, the climax of the Dragoon job story that's hung over the heads of Dragoon mains since 2.0 or even further back to those that stuck around for 1.0. It is at last time to face their destiny as the Azure Dragoon; to face Nidhogg in battle. Like the Azure Dragoons of the past they are empowered by a dragon's eye. Only this time this is assuredly the last time such a clash will happen and it will be a battle with both Nidhogg's brood and all of Ishgard to bear witness. It makes the slow walk across the bridge towards Nidhogg all the more intense when combined with ''Dragonsong'' accompanying the scene.
** At the end of the battle, Nidhogg, in Estinien's body, appears ready to continue the fight, only for Estinien himself to regain enough control to throw away his lance and grab his own throat, in order to hold the dragon at bay.
--->'''Nidhogg:''' I am of the first brood! I am vengeance incarnate! ''I am Nidhogg!'' Thou wilt ''die'' at my hand!\\
'''Estinien:''' This is ''not'' your hand, wyrm!
** With the opening Estinien has created, and in spite of his demand to give him a MercyKill, Alphinaud and the Warrior of Light rush forward to tear the Eyes of Nidhogg out of Estinien's body. And in the last moment, when it seems like they might fail, Alphinaud and the Warrior of Light see a vision of Ysayle and Haurchefant, helping them to save their friend. With that, the eyes are finally wrenched from Estinien, ending Nidhogg's second life.
* Alexander: The Heart of the Creator has the Cruise Chaser as the boss and it's designed after the dark elemental summon Ark from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''. Halfway through the fight, gusts of air appear and you have to use them to avoid its OneHitKill attack. Using the air ducts has your party leaping onto the boss's back as it transforms into a warship and you get to fly around the arena watching it blast the battlefield to bits (plus the unlucky players that got left behind). You then have a QuickTimeEvent to jump off the ship and land inches away from the blast zone.
* Alexander: The Creator has a few, but one, in particular, stands out. One of the DPS checks is you and Alexander himself starting a StableTimeLoop, undoing the frozen time bubble Quickthinx had used on you in the cutscene prior to the fight -- revealing that ''you'' are the one that saves you and your companions' past selves from death by WaveMotionGun.
* The climax of 3.4, a conflict built up since the stinger of 3.0: the Warriors of Darkness vs. the Warrior of Light, accompanied by the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Special mention goes to Alisaie, who despite carrying an Arcanist's book like her brother, summons not Carbuncle but a ''Sword of Light''!
** While morose, how the Warrior of Darkness claims that they fight everything villainous there is to fight in The First and ''won'' makes the group something of utter badasses.
* 3.5 Part One brings us the climactic finish of the Shadow of Mhach storyline with a final showdown and rematch with Diabolos that is as much ''Dragonball Z'' as it is ''Final Fantasy''. The first phase of the fight ends with Diabolos charging a massive ball of void energy and hurling it at the party, only for the party to open a portal in the middle of the field that fires a massive beam of energy back to stop it. What ensues is full on [[BeamOWar beam war]] ending with Diabolos [[HoistByHisOwnPetard eating his own ultimate attack,]] only for him to absorb the Queen as he originally planned to supercharge himself for round two. Then after beating him AGAIN he tries to play dead long enough to ambush everyone, keeping the Nullstone out of Cait Sith's hand only for Leofard, despite his earlier injuries, to ram into Diabolos with his personal airship forcing him to drop the stone and allow Cait Sith to blast him with it, finally ending a story with origins back in 2.2.
* Part 2 of 3.5 has one heck of a battle at the Carteneau ruins. With waves and waves of back up coming in no many how you kill, things seem to be lost until Nero lends you his personal Magitek mount to even the score. Not only does it have the same kind of firepower as the Magitek mounts you used at the end of 2.0, it also has two extra methods of attack designed by Nero himself; a huge firebomb and a massive laser. The enemy commander shits his pants as you mow down his men and automated colossi. Eventually, the commander's men go ScrewThisImOuttaHere while said commander begs for his troops to come back before he decides to fight you and your allies anyway. You send him running after a good beating.
** The purpose of this battle? To secure the Omega Weapon known to be sealed beneath Carteneau and unleash it to take down the twisted Primal summoned by Ilberd; Shinryu. What follows is a cinematic showdown that rivals 3.3's epic duel between Hraesvelgr and Nidhogg, culminating in a BeamOWar that detonates a massive blast over Baelsar's Wall and [[DoubleKnockout seemingly dispatches both of them.]] A fitting send-off to Heavensward.

[[folder:''Stormblood'']]
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAobb8_SzHY The very first teaser trailer for the second FFXIV Expansion.]] How do you get people hyped for the next big addition to the game? Breathtaking views of a mountain oasis, centering on an epic sparring session between two [[BareFistedMonk Monks]] perched high up in the palm of a giant statue of [[DestroyerDeity Rhalgr the Destroyer]] carved into the mountain is a fantastic way to start.
** 3.5 Part 2 made it clear that the monk in the red dress is Yda's sister Lyse.
* The unveiling of TheRedMage at the 2016 Japanese Fan Festival, a fan-favorite job from the series exuding style in [[NiceHat clothes]], [[SliceAndDiceSwordsmanship attacks]], and [[AssKickingPose gestures]].
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt1h1MinlLI The second trailer released]] shown at the EU fanfest has both a Meta and In-game moment of absolute awe.
** Meta-wise: At first they start showing off the old trailer of the monks dueling on top of the statue of Rhalgr, but then the camera zooms out of the map to show Ala Mhigo... and starts slowly panning over ocean. To the shock of just about everybody, it's revealed that we're not just helping in Ala Mhigo, but are beginning a two-front push against the Garleans by helping to reclaim Doma and Othard as well, and the continent will make up the other half of the expansion.
** In-game: We're treated to a shot of the new city of Kugane as some local soldiers that lived there like the Shinsegumi (later turns out to be Garlean troops in Far Eastern-inspied armors) run through the streets to a dead end alleyway, at which point we get treated to a shot of the Warrior of Light in Samurai garb standing over two defeated soldiers. At first the leader tells his men to go at them with their swords, the Warrior does a FlashStep to dodge one and then takes them both out without even drawing his sword, just with a precise SheathStrike. Now unnerved, they all draw their guns as the Warrior of Light slowly reaches for his sword, Iai-style. When they fire, the Warrior proceeds to do a SingleStrokeBattle so quickly that he vanishes, cleaving the bullets in half in mid-air, and creating a shockwave that rips the shingles and wall panels off a nearby house and ruins a stone embankment, disabling or killing the Shinsegumi in the process. He then slowly sheathes his sword, and the second it clicks into its sheath a nearby rain guard collapses, a tree in the background (That wasn't in the path of his strike, mind) falls apart in a DiagonalCut, and a paper lantern falls to the ground and starts burning. And then he looks up as the camera pans out, giving us a [[SceneryPorn absolutely stunning]] view of Kugane as triumphant music plays, ending with Yugiri and new character Gosetsu standing on the top of its gigantic palace looking out.
* The benchmark trailer shows a ''huge'' battle between the Warrior of Light, their allies, and the massive forces of Garlean troops and magitek mechs. The Warrior of Light, showing off the new Monk skills and gear, easily punches their enemy to defeat but has an OhCrap moment when they see an Iron Giant ready to take a swing at them. Cue interruption by a Red Mage on the nearby cliff as he joins the fray to lend a hand.
* The {{Hopeless Boss Fight}}s with Zenos are pretty awesome, both from a general gameplay perspective and from a meta perspective. Just in general, the sheer sense of ''dread'' Zenos inspires with his slow walk toward you, {{No Sell}}ing everything you throw at him, is really great once you're no longer in the middle of being [[NightmareFuel/FinalFantasyXIV freaked out]] over it, but there's also the fact that up until this point, this sort of thing wasn't something an MMO like ''XIV'' had really tried or was considered possible. While the placement of the earlier example caused some server issues during ''Stormblood'' early access, it's obvious why the developers wanted to do it and it's impressive that they pulled off the trope in question in a format that usually doesn't allow for it.
** Even in the aftermath of the first HopelessBossFight, which is easily the Warrior of Light's DarkestHour in the expansion, Zenos doesn't leave the battle without a cost. After striking one last blow to take the Warrior of Light out of the fight, there is an extended silence as your allies look on in horror...and then Zenos's katana-, which he has used to devastate your allies for the better part of an hour with ease- ''snaps in half at the blade.'' This moment becomes even more awesome later when it's learned that Zenos collects and prizes strong blades of Eastern origin, and so would likely have cared a great deal for the broken blade. It's very clear in that moment that even if someone can defeat the Warrior of Light in combat, there will be a price to pay for it.
* Almost the entirety of the main story itself is a huge moment of awesome. The Warrior of Light and the Scions manage to convince people of many backgrounds and even beastmen to rise up against the empire. Doma and Ala Mhigo are both liberated by the end of the 4.0 story and it is glorious.
* A very understated one near the beginning of Stormblood. When the Scions arrive in Kugane, something they wanted to do with a fair degree of subtlety, Lolorito has Hancock waiting for them ''before they arrive'' and Hancock intercepts them at the first place they go to. Not only that but Hancock knows ''exactly'' why they're there, something the Scions have been trying to hide from everyone outside the highest echelons of Alliance command. Alphinaud is completely taken aback at this as he has no idea how Lolorito learned all of this information, which is a testament to the sheer breadth of the Monetarists' intelligence network.
* The attack on Doma Castle is awesome in itself. What makes it better is how Lord Hien comes up with an alternate plan for the attack. Originally, the plan called for blowing halls through the walls to create an opening. The actual plan cooked up at the last minute? Destroy the foundation in the river to flood the castle from the ground up so that the enemy forces are forced to retreat to the higher floors with no chance of escape.
* The final dungeon of ''Stormblood'' is ''Ala Mhigo'' itself. After suffering that first crushing defeat against Zenos, and then the long campaign to liberate Othard and the rest of Gyr Abania, the Warrior of Light and the Eorzean Alliance at long last can move to liberate the city. It's a hell of a payoff after struggling for so long throughout ''Stormblood'''s story, culminating in a fight against Zenos where the Warrior of Light truly emerges victorious. To top it off, all of the city state leaders can be seen in the background actually fighting against the Garlean soldiers, showing they can kick as much ass as the people they train to defend Eorzea. Ishgard also joins in and one of their sentries will tell you "Ishgard remembers, Warrior of Light!" to show that they have not forgotten your selfless deeds from ''Heavensward''.
* The final boss battle, The Warrior of Light's showdown against Zenos inhabiting the primal Shinryu just above the menagerie, only for Zenos to decide that the heavens themselves are not grand enough of a final stage and creates a new star JUST to make sure the final battle will be that awesome. Zenos suggests they transcend from their "mortal coil", and takes you there, crossing through the dimensions. Cue the epic music and the true final battle REALLY begins. It is a rare feeling that hearkens back to FFIV and FFV.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw7Umqm1cis The song that everyone sings after]] Ala Mihgo is liberated. Hearing the voices of everyone in their native homeland singing in harmony after finally regaining their freedom is an awesome and heartwarming sight to behold.
* One player in the Susano battle gets their moment to shine per fight when they have to ''singlehandledly stop a gigantic blade from destroying the party,'' holding it off in a PressXToNotDie segment! Success results in an absolute NoSell and repelling the blade right back up, throwing a massive water clone of Susano off-balance despite him easily ''towering'' over the party.
* The final confrontation of the level 70 Dark Knight quest, Our Compromise. You are pitted against an army of enemies that are old foes reanimated from your memories, the whole while enduring a very painful speech from the antagonist, about your failures and the horrible things you've done. But just as things are looking their grimmest...the enemies fall with ''three separate abyssal drains going off at once.'' Who caused it? None other than Fray, who the last time you saw him, you subdued in your mind after his attempts to take the reigns. After a quick reconciliation with you in regards to the level 50 quest, he proceeds to [[ShutUpHannibal completely shut down the antagonist's ramblings]], before joining you for one more battle, where you work your way through several reanimated antagonists from the past.
** The fight itself is concentrated awesome, while afterwards if you speak with Rielle in the Forgotten Knight, she sums up the ethos of the Dark Knight in three sentences:
--> '''[[BadassAdorable Rielle:]]''' It's nice to dream of a world without pain and suffering. But the world is what it is, and dreams will only carry you so far. That's why we've got swords.
** Near the end of the fight, one of the final foes you face is none other than the shade of Ser Zephirin. Considering you never actually got the chance to rip his goddamn heart out for what he did to Haurchefant at the end of ''Heavensward,'' getting to [[CatharsisFactor personally kill the bastard is pretty damn satisfying.]]
* The battle against Exdeath in the Omega Savage raid. After roughly half of his health is depleted, Exdeath is overcome by the void much like his original battle in ''Final Fantasy V''. Then the void disappears and the arena gets darker. Suddenly, the background begins to crack as Neo Exdeath literally rips reality open in order to pull himself back into the battlefield to begin the final phase of the fight. It's a spectacular transition scene the likes of which haven't been seen in the game before.
** The fight with Neo Exdeath itself is an amazing callback and love letter to ''V'' as well. Its [=3D=] rendition is equal parts amazing and horrifying ([[EldritchAbomination as it should be]]), and a large number of its attacks are lifted directly from the source material and given far more attention to detail than you'd expect ''XIV's'' environment could handle. About the only complaint players have with the otherwise awesome battle is that [[ThatOneAttack Grand Cross]] is easier to handle than in ''V'', which is ultimately NecessarilyEvil on the developer's part since its original effect[[labelnote:*]]entirely random StandardStatusEffects including [[TakenForGranite Petrify]] and ''[[OneHitKill Death]]''[[/labelnote]] instead of the revamp[[labelnote:*]]several guaranteed status effects given to players depending on their role, which is still chaotic but predictable[[/labelnote]] would make the fight a LuckBasedMission in ''XIV's'' engine.
* The Nadaam event is a massive one for the main story. Spoilers abound! You, Hien, Gosetsu, Lyse, and the Au Ra Mol tribe are competing against other tribes on the Azim Steppe to claim the title of Khagan. Once everyone reaches the claim zone, the battles blows up into a three way split between your allies and two major tribes. Once you actually make progress, Magnai uses Holmgang on you to yank you away from the zone and forces you to fight him off. Not long after that, Sadu joins the fray and is preparing to end you with a Meteor based spell unless you take out her support fast. Once all is said and done, the Warrior of Light claims the spot and becomes the new Khagan for the Mol tribe. Celebrations are cut short when Grynewaht and his men show up to kill the Warrior of Light. As the new Khagan, they order their new allies to attack the invading empire forces and it becomes a ''massive'' brawl between the empire and your allies. In an inversion, Sadu prepares to use the same Meteor spell on the empire and thus you have to protect her this time. Grynewaht [[OhCrap screams "Bugger, bugger, bugger!"]] before Sadu finishes casting and [[OneHitKill wipes out the entire enemy alliance in a single attack while laughing.]] Grynewaht is forced to run away yet again while your allies bask in the glory of victory.
* An understated moment of Awesome not for a person, but for Eorzea as a whole. The [[TheEmpire Garlean Empire]] tried to invade the Realm not one, not twice but [[RuleOfThree three times]]. It failed. All three times.
** First invasion, done with their biggest dreadnough the Agrius, was stopped dead in its tracks by the Father of All Dragonkind, Midgardsormr himself, who tore the Agrius apart.
** Second invasion fared barely better. This time, the Garleans decided to [[ColonyDrop drop Dalamud on the Realm]]. Except they also released the very pissed off dragon god that was sealed in it and the dragon laid waste on everyone, Garlean and Eorzean alike. It was a tie and, for Eorzea, the EndOfAnAge. Did the city-states yield in front of the Calamity? '''''Nope.''''' They used the five-year respite to build themselves back from the ground and brace for Round Three.
** This time, the Garleans used an old Allagan superweapon. The Eorzean Alliance met Garlemald head on and ''fought them off'', by themselves, with only a small team of professionals to deal the Allagan superweapon. End result? A clear victory for the Alliance and Garlemald sent reeling.
*** Then Ilbert tricked the Alliance into attacking Baelsar's Wall. Did the Aliance retreat? Nope again. Instead, with Ishgard having joined, they decided to go along with it and free the last city-state of the continent, Ala Mhigo. Unexpected resistance from the crown prince of the Empire? Stir trouble in Doma to distract him while they get ready. It ends up working better than expected when Doma frees itself and the clans of Azim Steppe join the fight. By the end of Stormblood, all of Eorzea is freed, Doma is free and Garlemald is wondering just how they managed to do it.
* The end of the 4.1 main story quests culminates in a fight against Lakshmi in the Ala Mhigan throne room. At first it's just the player and Arenvald defending everyone present from getting enthralled by the primal with their Echo, and soon it becomes too much for the two alone to handle. As everyone else present is about to get enthralled, in comes '''Fordola''', released from her prison room by Lyse, to protect them with a barrier.
** A great part of this fight is that Lakshmi employs the exact same mechanics she used in her trial, alongside some new attacks exclusive to this fight. One such attack is a room-wide attack that can't be avoided... except for a section of the room that Fordola forms a barrier at. Once the fight nears the end, Lakshmi spams this attack, and Fordola keeps the barrier up, rapidly draining her aether in the process, to make sure Lyse has enough time to charge up the final blow to the primal.
** Also, just the mere fact that Raubahn and Lyse assist you in the fight at all. By this time the story has made it a clear point that only people with the Echo can face off against a primal without risk of permanent enthrallment, and these two characters in particular are well aware of that risk. They had the chance to escape, but they put it all on the line anyway to help safeguard the peace they'd worked so hard to achieve.
* Ivalice. Almost everything about it. Just stepping foot inside the playwright ship hits you with nostalgia as the Protaganist's Theme from FFT starts playing. The raid itself filled with bosses that were espers from XII, culminating in rescuing Ramza's father at end, only to have a last minute mugging from none other than recurring XII antagonist Ba'Gamnon! The biggest deal though is that at the end, Jenomis's real name is actually Arazlam Durai and his goal, as it was in Tactics is to reveal to everyone the truth about the Ramza of legend.
** The last boss takes special note for people who played Tactics. It's Argath. Yes, [[HateSink that Argath]]. The Argath that started off the entire game's events by causing Delita's StartOfDarkness, caused Ramza to become disillusioned with the nobility, and in general being a massive asshat to anyone he deems to be a lower class than him. The CatharsisFactor in beating him down is ''massive''.
* The Kojin beastmen quest where you have to save Tsukumo by raiding the vault belonging to the Kojin of the Red and you have Kabuto at your side. Each time you make it further in, your Kojin allies leave behind treasures to boost your power before they go back to the diversion. Kabuto shines in one part where he has you gather enemies in one spot so he can use the [[LimitBreak Blue Cut]] skill to mow them all down. In the final moments against the Red's general, Tsukumo sacrifices himself by merging with Kabuto's soul, giving the Kojin warrior enough power to strike the general down in one cut, making the enemy [[BloodFromTheMouth cough up a copious amount of blood]] before dropping dead. The whole quest not only gives much needed CharacterDevelopment for Kabuto, but it also showcases how badass a beast tribe can be when they work together among themselves and with you.
* The end of the Sigmascape story cranks up when Omega decides to see what can make the Warrior of Light become incredibly strong when they need to be. Omega concludes that the Warrior of Light's strength only emerges when their life is in danger, so it traps them inside a barrier and tells them they have exactly 180 seconds to break free or it will kill them. Alpha uses a card to become a frog and tries ramming into the barrier, but fails. Midgardsormr takes action by ''becoming his old city sized dragon form and bites down on the barrier until it shatters''. For a dragon that didn't hold any high regards to the Warrior of Light in ''Heavensward'', Midgardsormr shows he not only respects them but is also willing to take a risk with his own life to save them.
** A small moment of awesome for Nero as well: despite being poisoned by Omega's drone, he hangs on long enough to act as mission control during the Kefka fight. And while he's hauled off to the hospital, he takes a moment to encourage Cid to break his own constraints and dig into their destructive past research for a weapon that can help kill Omega.
* The middle of 4.3 has Yotsuyu regaining her memories, and she bites back '''''HARD'''''. First, she kills her AbusiveParents after [[TooDumbToLive they decide to treat her like garbage one more time, even considering selling her back into prostitution.]] Then, after she is defeated by the Warrior of Light after she transforms into Tsukuyomi, she saves the last of her strength to impale Asahi and kill him as slowly and painfully as possible, just as he deserves. While she does die in the end, she went out having finally satisfied her desire for vengeance by eliminating the ones responsible for all the shit she's gone through.
* The final MSQ for the "Under the Moonlight" scenario is a big twist from both a story and gameplay perspective. For the first time, you get to control another character in the game and it's not just anyone, it's Alphinaud. You basically get to see [[AnotherSideANotherStory what happened to Alphinaud during his trip to Garlemald]] and get to play out the battle in the event. Sure, the kid's actual skill set is extremely limited, lacking skills he's previously shown to have... and having one he shouldn't, but it's rare for an MMORPG to allow the player to control a character not of their own. Alphinaud gets assistance from another group of Garleans, one who wields a gunblade and uses moves that are quite familiar to those who played ''A Realm Reborn''. The game all but spells it out in TheReveal: ''Gaius van Baelsar is back.''
* Heaven-on-High, Stormblood's deep dungeon, has magicite. Magicite allows the player to summon a primal that ''kills all enemies on the current floor'' (or dealing major damage to a boss) and grants the party a few seconds of invincibility. Depending on your luck, you can get several magicite pieces in a row and make several floors or a boss a complete joke. Summoning primals is also a nod to an early concept the developers toyed with where they wanted people to be able to capture a primal to summon later.
* Atelloune in the ''Stormblood'' Leatherworker quests comes off as an InsufferableGenius, but she does genuinely care about the endangered species of many animals and has you craft various things from their pelts to preserve their memory so future generations can appreciate them. Later on, a hearer from the Conjurer's Guild scolds you for agitating the elementals with the mount display and he then takes it away. You craft another mount so Atelloune can display it in the amphitheatre for all to see. Once again, the hearer arrives and makes a fuss by claiming the displays are offensive, but not before Atelloune puts him and his bodyguard on the spot by explaining why she had you make the mounts and how you can't understand the animals by simply reading a book. She even calls out the wood wailer for his ignorance of the very animals whose pelts were used to make his armor.
-->'''Atelloune''': We must protect them as we do the balance of life here in the Twelveswood. To do otherwise would be a grievous squandering of resources.
-->'''Wood Wailer Escort''': You're one to talk. What is this display other than a waste of skin? You claim it it has an educational purpose, but one could simply read a book─
-->'''Atelloune''': And you have read such a book? I should hope you have, and that you are highly knowledgeable as a result, given that you wear clothing made from their hides.
-->'''Wood Wailer Escort''': Well... I...
-->'''Atelloune''': *Turning to the hearer* What about you? Do you know anything of dhalmels or gaganas? These people have a right to know what is happening to the world outside of Gridania. To know the cost of the goods they would otherwise take for granted.
* The battle with Omega in Alphascape 3 is one of the more awesome moments in the game. According to the developers the main theme of the fight boils down to one single question "who is stronger?" which is why Omega doesn't call any other monsters to assist it. Omega wants an equal contest between it and the raiding party which is why it only uses it's own abilities. In the savage version of Omega's fight it even starts panicking after being weakened which is why it goes berserk and unleashes [[BeamSpam Pantokrator]].
* In ''[[https://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/special/tales_from_the_storm/sidestory_07/#sidestory_07 Tales from the Storm]]'', Arenvald teams up with the summoner squad from the Immortal Flames and Fordola to take out Ifrit that was recently summoned. Arenvald succeeds and shows he is just as capable of taking down primals on his own like the Warrior of Light can.
* In the latest Live Letter, it is confirmed that Blue Mage will be released as a new job in 4.5. Although it is yet to be a full-fledged job, the trailer makes it clear that, true to the tradition, the Blue Mage will be able to learn some skills from their enemies.
* In an attempt to avert the all-our war on Ala Mhigo's border in 4.5, the Eorzean Alliance attempts a parley with Garlemald, which causes them to come face-to-face with Emperor Varis himself. The entire first half of the negotiations is a psychological moment of awesome for Varis, his demeanor thoroughly unchanging as he calmly yet brutally deconstructs ''every'' argument the Alliance makes against him, not a single rebuttal unwarranted. They have to call for a recess because Varis is ''just that good''.
** Raubahn, Lyse and Hien immediately question Varis on why he thinks this war is still worth waging after so many have died on both sides, saying that their people are willing to die for their freedom. Varis bluntly reminds them that Garlemald's occupation of Ala Mhigo and Doma did not start out as a war, but was a ''retaliation'' when the offended nations decided to lash out violently from having their personal space violated, and asks them to question if ''they'' think their freedom is worth more than surrendering and resuming peace even if it is under oppressive rule.
** Aymeric cites Ishgard's 1,000 year war with the dragons was mindless bloodshed that ended simply when the idea peace was ''brought up''. Varis counters that said peace only became an option ''because'' of the war, pointing out that the dragons were obviously more receptive ''after'' their leader was killed, a cruel truth that Aymeric's late father wouldn't sugarcoat.
** Merlwyb tries to appeal to Varis due to both their races being vagabonds driven from their homelands. Varis has none of this and reminds Merlwyb that her pirate nation of Limsa Lominsa has no right to complain due to having ''been'' the force that drove a people from their homeland, that being the Kobolds.
** Kan-E-Senna tries to use the Ehcatl Nine as an example of how the beastmen can change for the better, in an attempt to see if they and the Garleans can strive for the same. Varis' counter is that this doesn't make the Eorzeans ''better'' than the beastmen, and they have in fact resorted to summoning during desperate times just like the beastmen still do.
** Varis is in total control for most of the second half of the parley too. Despite the Alliance finally connecting the dots that Garlemald was conquering nations ''before'' reaching the Burn (and thus pulling the rug out from under the "stop the world from summoning eikons" propaganda), Varis simply praises them for figuring it out before ''casually dropping the AwfulTruth that his father and Garlemald's founder '''is an Ascian''''', then goes on to dictate his master plan to eradicate the Ascians involves ''causing'' Calamities and uniting the survivors into a master race that can defeat them.
** The sole (albeit powerful) awesome moment the Alliance gets in this entire exchange comes from ''Nanamo'', one of the absolute sweetest and non-confrontational people in the setting. Following everyone else's SuddenPrincipledStand, she tells Varis ''straight to his face'' that he is not fit to rule, claiming that it's the differences between people he seeks to erase that make it all the more meaningful when those different people find a common ground.
* The Ghimlyt Dark dungeon. Like in Ala Mhigo, you can see the Eorzean Alliance troops fighting Garlemald's soldiers and Magitek, except ''this'' time, you fight alongside them instead of seeing them in the background. The party starts the dungeon with Yugiri and Hien, who split off before the first boss. Then, the party meets up with Pipin and Lyse as you fight your way towards the second boss, where they also leave. And after ''that'', the party meets up with Aymeric and Kan-E-Senna, with the other four eventually rejoining to take down an absolute mob of elite Magitek, culminating in a miniboss fight against an elite Colossus. When the Colossus attempts to cleave everyone down with an unavoidable attack, Kan-E-Senna protects everyone with a magic bubble. When the fight goes south for the robot, it attempts to [[TakingYouWithMe take everyone with it]] by self-destructing, only for Lyse, Hien, or Yugiri to strike it down in a single hit with their own LimitBreak.
** Additionally, to show just how serious Garlemald is about winning this war, nearly every single Garlean Magitek unit seen in the game thus far (save Reapers and Slashers) can be fought in the dungeon. Sky Armors and a Gunship are fought with Hien and Yugiri; Predators, Avengers, an Armored Weapon and a [[DegradedBoss Scorpion]] are fought with Pipin and Lyse; and Rearguards, a Hexadrone, and a couple of Colossi with Aymeric and Kan-E-Senna.
** And to show just how serious the Alliance is about winning this war, it looks like Garlemald's initial advance has been ''stopped cold'' at Ala Mhigo's eastern border, with the backdrop of the dungeon being crashed Garlean airships and ruined armor (and fire) everywhere. And this was with the defenses ''unfinished''.
* 4.56 ends the story of Stormblood by FINALLY revoking Elidibus's TheUnfought status, even if he's doing so through possession of Zenos's corpse, in a two-part solo duty fight. The first fight is a HopelessBossFight with you in control of Hien, with Lyse and Yugiri backing you up as you have to stay alive long enough to buy time for ''your own player character'' to arrive, as shown by the onscreen messages proclaiming your proximity to the front lines. The second part will, if you're geared enough, likely end in you performing nearly a CurbStompBattle on '''''ELIDIBUS''''', though once you kick his ass he revives (shoulda brought some White Auracite!) Ascian-style and nearly kills you when the mysterious voice finally nabs you. Turns out it's a mysterious Miqo'te-looking hooded figure in the Aetherial Sea who declares that the war is pointless no matter how it ends and the only way to save the world is with him, and bids the Warrior of Light go find a beacon he's left at the Crystal Tower. When you wake up, Aymeric meets you at your sickbed and reveals that none other than [[BigDamnHeroes Estinien]] bailed you out of certain death! Tataru's in tears when you return to the Rising Stones, but one thing's clear: '''we're going to take the battle to Garlemald's doorstep.'''
** While Hien, Lyse, and Yugiri couldn't weaken Elidibus enough, they fought the Ascian valiantly whereas most normal people wouldn't be able to put a scratch on them. Lyse even manages to get in a punch that damages Elidibus's face mask and reveals one of his eyes, which is almost a CallBack to the end of 2.5 where Lyse's face mask was slashed and revealed her eye.
* After the credits, we're shown a scene of Emperor Varis and Elidibus talking in Varis's throne room. Elidibus questions Varis on his decision to retreat back to Garlemald when his forces were so close to winning. Varis retorts that he had to dispel rumors circling the noble courts that crown prince Zenos had been possessed by a demon, then turns the question back on Elidibus: Why was ''he'' back in Garlemald when he was supposed to be ''killing the Warrior of Light''? Elidibus can only offer the pathetic excuse that there was "a minor setback", but vows that the Warrior won't get away the next time they meet. The Eorzean Alliance aren't the only people Varis is capable deflecting the accusations of it seems, and Elidibus's body language during the conversation suggests that he wasn't prepared to have his argument thrown back in his face either.
--> '''Elidibus:''' ...I pray you have good reason for abandoning the front.\\
'''Varis:''' How could I remain there while the rumor that my son is possessed by a demon spreads like a sickness here at home? ... But what of you? Did you not tell me you would destroy Eorzea's champion with the ease that one might swat a fly?\\
'''Elidibus:''' A minor setback. He/she will not escape me again.
* Kugane Ohashi, the trial from the tail end of the Stormblood Hildibrand questline, at first appears to be a battle against Yojimbo, a boss that many players will have already contended with if they previously completed the Kugane Castle dungeon. '''''[[ThemeSongPowerUp And then "Battle on the Big Bridge" kicks in!]]'''''
--> "For Yojimbo... [[HesBack It is Gilgameshing time!]]"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Shadowbringers'']]
* In the very first look at Shadowbringers we see a weary-looking Warrior of Light traversing across a ruined landscape and being tormented by a Gremlin; as he is confronted by a giant Kuribu enemy. Despite the Warrior's best efforts and utilizing multiple classes he cannot so much as put a dent on it as it proceeds to stomp on the Warrior. When it looks like the final blow is struck against the Warrior, a surge of darkness rises from the ground and the Kuribu's arm has been cleaved off. The Warrior of Light class changed to a Dark Knight and then unleashes a wave of darkness which utterly obliterates the Kuribu and the Warrior of Light now stands as a Warrior of Darkness.
** The extended trailer shows off Thancred with the brand new tank job, Gunbreaker. We see that he's taken to the new job like a pro, bouncing around and making short work of the beast before him, all while making a DeclarationOfProtection to what seems to be the reborn Minfilia!
** Also from the extended trailer, Urianger and Y'shtola pulling a ScrewDestiny as they face a raging firestorm.
-->'''Urianger''': What sayest thou, Master Matoya? We may accept this fate, or defy it...but we cannot deny it.\\
'''Y'shtola''': ..."deny"? [[TheDeterminator I am not wont to run from my troubles]]. Until our friend returns, '''''I''''' will [[HoldTheLine hold the line]]!
* Even the benchmark showcase has some epic moments. One such is the Warrior of Darkness and an entire army of adventurers taking on about a dozen Winged Lions, a miniboss mind you, along with a much larger monster. After the Winged Lions are defeated the large monster uses a Tidal Wave to wipe most of the adventurers, only for the Warrior of Darkness and the Scions to pull a BigDamnHeroes and fight alongside the adventurers.
* The first time that you kill a Lightwarden. The fact that you managed to save many lives by purging the monsters destroying a village and avenged the lives of those that fell would be good enough...But then your character absorbs the light from the Lightwarden. After just a moment of thought, your character raises their weapon aloft, channels their power skyward, and ''obliterates the eternal light from the sky.'' This is the moment that really hammers the point home: There's still hope for this world.
* Emet-Selch's overall plan on a meta example of how Ascians are always playing XanatosSpeedChess. Previous information notes that if too much darkness or light were to overpower a world, that shard will implode and be worthless to their plan to resurrect Zodiark, as what happened when the Thirteenth Shard imploded and became the World of Darkness. Because of this Emet-Selch reworked their methods by still allowing the First to be engulfed by a Flood of Light, but at the same time cause a similar catastrophic event on the Source. By doing this the conditions would be met that would allow a Rejoining to occur without the risk of the First imploding like the Thirteenth did.
* Thancred versus Ran'jit. By this point, Ran'jit has proven himself more than capable of going toe-to-toe with the Warrior of Light, but this doesn't stop Thancred from taking him on alone to buy them and Minfilia time to find the original Minfilia. The fight is a brutal battle between two men who deride each other's efforts to be a father figure to the young Minfilia. Thancred's ace up his sleeve is an alchemic concoction that slows the aether that sustains life in a person to disappear, escape Ran'jit's most brutal attacks, and to get particularly damaging blows in himself. Unfortunately, with Thancred down to his gunblade's final cartridge from Minfilia and on his last legs, Ran'jit sees through the deception the third time. This pushes Thancred even further with an even more potent alchemic concoction to ''completely sever'' the aether that sustains life. Once again incapable of locating Thancred, Ran'jit darts around the arena throwing out wide sweeping attacks in an attempt to simply kill him before the Gunbreaker can get close. However, Thancred succeeds and blasts Ran'jit with the immensely overcharged cartridge which both severely wounds Ran'jit and forces him to retreat. The aftermath sees Thancred alone and dying as he finally makes peace with the fact that his Minfilia is gone and content that he has died giving her latest incarnation a chance to lead her own life. Thankfully Y'shtola and Urianger find him and bring him back from the very brink. This made all the more awesome by the fact that ''you play as Thancred for this sequence.''
* Alphinaud already went through major CharacterDevelopment after ''A Realm Reborn'', but he gets another notch in his belt during ''Shadowbringers'' showing just far he has come from his early days of being a stuck up brat. After Vauthry flees from Elumore, the citizens regain their senses and are confused about what happened. Alphinaud stands in front of all the nobles and explains that everything Vauthry told them about peace and paradise was a complete lie. While it was true that they were under his mind control when they attacked the Scions, Alphinaud points out that everything they did before the mind control was on their own conscious and thus they are responsible for how things turned out and how their not so well off neighbors suffered. All the nobles look down in shame and guilt, knowing that Alphinaud speaks true, but they are also willing to start anew and make things right again. Cue Alisaie saying "Well done, brother!" without a shred of contempt or sarcasm.
** It's also worth bringing up that much of the progress through the second part of Kholusia is made possible by people that Alphinaud has saved or befriended.
* When the final plan to get to Mt. Gulg comes to fruition, the heroes bring ''everybody'' in Norvrandt to help, up to and including the formerly-worthless citizens of Eulmore, for a plan which is simply boggling in its [[RefugeInAudacity audacity]]: to create a giant golem to ''grip the flying mountain'', creating a land bridge which could be crossed on foot. Even the Fae get in on this, with Titania just a little bit upset at their lovely sapling's refusal to seek their help -- and more than willing to work out their aggression on some of those Sin Eaters.
--> '''Y'shtola:''' If we can't get to the mountain, perhaps we can get the mountain to come to us.
* In the scene right before the final battle, the Warrior of Light is almost completely consumed by the excess light within their soul. Ardbert appears and offers a hand by merging his soul with the player character, making the light be controllable once more. Once the light fades, we see the Warrior of Light actually speak (with Ardbert's voice) saying "This is our future. Our story." as they stand against Emet-Selch.
-->'''Warrior of Light''': This world is not yours to end. This is our world. Our story.
** On top of this, the Crystal Exarch summons Warriors of Light from seven other shards to aid you and they're all other players who joined the duty.
--> '''Emet-Selch:''' "[[EvilGloating How can you hope to defeat me alone?]]"\\
'''The Crystal Exarch:''' "[[BigDamnHeroes We stand together!]] [...] [[CallBack Let expanse contract, eon become instant!]] Champions from beyond the rift, [[TheCavalry heed my call!]]"
* The killing blow to Emet-Selch/Hades. When the Ascian catches his second wind and charges the Warrior of Light suddenly Thancred manages to break through the shroud of darkness enveloping the area. Evading Hades' attempt to grab him he throws the white auracite up, strikes it multiple times, and sends the shards piercing into Hades' body. The shards begin to grow and the Warrior of Light turns to see the other Scions and Ryne pumping as much aether as they can into them as Hades rages against his restraints. Finally the central shard grows to impale Hades completely and Urianger shouts for the Warrior of Light to hit him with everything they can. The Blade of Light begins to charge as Hades grabs the auracite with both hands as he fights to overtake the Scions' aether with his own dark aether and finally shatters it as the Warrior of Light draws back. The light fades, Hades rushes his enemy, and the Scions are left only able to watch and hope. At last the Blade of Light, forged of all the Lightwardens' aether, takes form in the shape ''of Ardbert's Bravura'' and the Warrior of Light throws it with all their might into Hades. A struggle ensuses until the light clearly punches through and when the dust settles [[TorsoWithAView the damage is blatantly fatal.]] The Ultima Weapon, Thordan, Zenos as Shinryu, all of them were lain low by the Warrior of Light and never got a second wind. Emet-Selch had to be taken down in a large group effort and the description of the final blow could never do it or how awesome it is justice.
* In TheStinger, despite having just witnessed the newly revived Zenos cut down Varis, steal the throne of Garlemald, and boast about how he plans to usurp Hydaelyn and Zodiark, Gaius shows absolutely no fear, only pure ''fury'' as he charges the man who murdered his Emperor.
** Varis himself [[DefiantToTheEnd does not go gentle]], forcing Zenos's blade out of his gut before ''snapping it in two'', all while repeating what he said in TheStinger of ''Stormblood'' about Zenos being unworthy of Garlemald's throne.
** Credit to Zenos, this was a crowning moment for him too, despite being in a vastly inferior body, and armed only with a katana and some standard issue armor, he was able to fight his way back to the Imperial palace, terrify Elidibus into fleeing despite having the advantage of Ascian magic and Garlean might, overthrows his father, derailing both the plans of the Ascians and Varis in one fell swoop, and plots to overthrow the most powerful entities in the setting with the ability to back it up. And all of this just to have another glorious fight with us, my friend, my enemy indeed.
* Garlond Ironworks in the bad future. To project the Crystal Tower across time and space, they had to unravel not only the mysteries of the Tower itself but also engineer and incorporate technology from Alexander and Omega to get it all working! Emet-Selch, an immortal Ascian who even reveals to have guided much of Allagan technology since he formed the empire, couldn't even decipher all the modifications himself and had to kidnap the Crystal Exarch to learn what they'd done.
** As explained in the dungeon, the Twinning (which starts in the same place of Sycrus Tower, but instead of ascending the tower you go down), the datalogs detail that the Ironworks took the information from the Warrior of Light's battles against Omega and the primal Alexander, culminating in the creation of the Tycoon, a artificial Alexander built with the ability to control time and Omega technology to traverse the rift between worlds. The Garlond Ironworks, despite being in a timeline where the whole world was falling apart was able to backward engineer a primal and advance alien technology. ''Two hundred years'' of tireless work and research paid off.
* The very first fight of the Eden raids is against '''Eden Prime itself'''. Normally, the main threat of a raid is saved for last (Bahamut Prime, Alexander Prime, Omega-M/Omega-F), but it bears repeating that Eden Prime is the ''first fight of it's own raids'', because the team intends to control Eden to bring aetheric balance back to the Empty. The fight itself, meanwhile, qualifies as one of these for a couple of reasons:
** Eden is the first Sin Eater, the heart of the flood of Light consuming the First, and thus the first true planet-killer you fight. You've faced planet-depopulators before, yes, like Alexander and Omega, but while they could only gradually scour a planet's surface clear of life, Eden was taking bites out of ''continents'' before Minfillia and Hydaelyn shut it down. And you beat it into submission as soon as you meet it.
** Long-time ''Final Fantasy'' fans will recognize Eden as the [[InfinityPlusOneSword ultimate summon]] of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', and the proud owner of one of the longest, most lavish, and most delightfully OTT attack animations in the franchise, Eternal Breath. Eternal Breath consists of Eden enacting a ritual to turn the entire planet into a WaveMotionGun, firing its target into a nearby galaxy so hard that its core implodes and becomes a colossal black hole. FFXIV faithfully recreates it in glorious HD... and then lets you take it right on the chin, dust yourself off, and go back to laying into Eden if you complete the mechanics properly. We're approaching the classic Final Fantasy endgame territory now, where it takes a half-dozen planets exploding in their face to even slow someone down.
* During the Eden storyline, Urianger suggests utilizing the aether lingering in the environment to try and restore balance in The Empty...by ''summoning a primal'' and slaying it to contain, balance, and return its aether. And the first element to tackle? Water. Putting two and two together, you're basically summoning ''your own version of Leviathan'' and kicking its ass, only this time it has a bunch of new tricks up its two-headed maws due to drawing from the Warrior of Light's experiences.
** How do you top a two-headed Leviathan? With ''Titan''. And this time, he has what looks like four wheels strapped to his back, [[AdaptiveArmor which transform to suit his attacks]], up to and including ''turning into an ATV''. [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer No, really]].
* During the Role Quests for Physical DPS, Lue-Reeq, an unsuccessful bounty hunter of Sin Eaters who uses money from his family to hire helpers, soon learns that his escapades in hunting one of the Four Cardinals has brought shame to his family. When he learns that if he continues hunting, he'll be cut off and disowned, his response?
-->'''Lue-Reeq:''' [[CallingTheOldManOut You may tell my mother and father the following:]] [[MyNameIsInigoMontoya that I am Lue-Reeq, proud bounty hunter, slayer of Sin Eaters.]] [[TookALevelInBadass That I have no intention of renouncing this cause, and that they are free to do as they deem fit.]] Tell them... that if they have no son, [[IHaveNoSon I have no parents]]-that I have no family save for [[ParentalSubstitute Miss Olvara, who has shown me far more love then they ever have!]]
* Eden Savage's final fight introduces a different variant of Titan called Titan Maximum, who is easily one of the biggest bosses in the game so far. As par for the final fight of a savage raid tier, his introduction changes the entirety of the fight from that point on with new mechanics stacked alongside previous ones, and from that point on it looks like he's trying to squash the raid party like bugs. It gets even better after that. When the fight transitions to the final phase of the fight, he uses Orogensis to spawn a clone of his previous smaller form. When this happens the music changes from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YurCzvTmxFQ Landslide]], which is already awesome to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WR1-pds8qM The Primals' version of Under the Weight]].
* The level 80 Dragoon story quest has a moment where the hero reflects on Nidhogg, complete with a story-like wrap up to ''Heavensward'' and the roles of Nidhogg, the player character and Estinienn set to the tune of both ''Dragonsong'' and ''Ominous Prognostix''. It serves as an excellent {{foil}} to the Dark Knight questlines by not focusing on the losses and [[ContemplateOurNavels introspection]], but on the epic adventure and one of the heroes greatest triumphs.
* Hades's Elegy, the Extreme version of the final boss, is all the way awesome. After overcoming his first form, Hades summons shades of other Ascians before fusing them to become Ascian Prime. After beating that, he becomes his OneWingedAngel form and after casting the party into darkness, you use the Lightwarden's light to break free... only this time, you fight in the sky [[ApocalypseWow above the dying Star,]] and Hades responses by going further by merging with ''all'' of the Ascian souls, becoming ''ginormous'' in the process. The achievement for clearing it is called "Don't Look Back."
* 5.1 has Estinien return to recount what happened in Garlemald to the Warrior of Light. In the process, it triggers an Echo vision where you play through Estinien and Gaius's escape from the Imperial Palace, culminating in Estinien discovering that a new type of Ultima Weapon is in production, fighting one of these mechanical monstrosities in a one-on-one duel, and ''winning''.
* 5.2 has The Ruby Weapon as a Trial. Whatever Garlemald was constructing in the capital, they've developed something that may possibly ''rival'' Ultima Weapon in terms of power. And they're determined to break that stalemate at any cost.
** Things then go through a combination of NightmareFuel and an epic [[TheBusCameBack return]] of ''Nael van Darnus'', summoning a copy of Dalumud to crush you all. ''Repeatedly''.
* 5.2 introduces new Eden bosses from the remaining primals you must summon.
** For lightning, it's a centaur version of Ramuh, making him a composite character of himself and Ixion, and is absolutely ''merciless'' with lightning he summons. If you're not on top of keeping up Surge Protection, he's more than likely going to destroy you.
** For fire and wind, it's Ifrit and Garuda. ''Both of them at the same time.'' Fighting two primals at once is badass as it is, but when you get them weak enough, they do a FusionDance to become Raktapaksa!
** The final fight of Eden's Verse, against Eden Shiva. From the start of the fight, Ryne already lost control over this variation of Shiva, and becomes a threat to their mission. How much so? She nearly causes a [[TotalPartyKill Flood of Light]] to happen again. ''Twice!''
** One tries to happen during a phase when the party is split up to fight elemental sprites, to keep them from reaching giant crystals in the center. If enough sprites reach the crystals, a Flood happens, resulting in a wipe.
** The other happens at the very end of the fight, when Eden Shiva encases herself and the entire party in ice, with no one left to stop it... [[BigDamnHeroes until Gaia forces her way into the arena]], spawns a hammer from Darkness, and smashes everyone out. Gaia then uses the Darkness to slow the Flood of Light, and it is up to the party to take Eden Shiva down before the Flood happens.
* For the Save the Queen: Blades of Gunnhildr quest, you dive into Cid's memory to relive the moments he had at the Bozja incident. Cid has mental locks in his memories to shield himself from an AwfulTruth he suffered from many years ago and said mental locks take form of monsters. Your first boss fight is ''Bahamut'' and Answers plays during the fight while he pelts you with Gigaflres and similar attacks. Once you get past him, the final boss is '''Varis'''. Varis completely cripples Cid as he mocks him for failing to stop his father. The Warrior of Light uses their Echo to fight Cid's false memory and summons their memories of the Scions to fight at their side. The Warrior of Light, the Scions, and Mikoto all fight together against Varis and it is as awesome as it sounds. It also marks the first time in the game where a trial battle is conducted with a full party of [=NPCs=]. Even better is that how you interact with Varis' ultimate attack changes based on what role you're on. If you're a DPS you'll joing the Scions in breaking the attack before it overwhelms Urianger's barrier and Thancred's gunblade. If you're a tank Thancred has you join him in an Active Time Maneuver to [[HoldTheLine defend the group from the attack.]]
* 5.3's 4-man dungeon, the Heroes' Gauntlet, has the Warrior of Darkness and the Scions having to RunTheGauntlet trying to get their way back to the Crystarium as a starshower falls across the first, making ghostly heroes attack. Everyone the Warrior has ever helped fights them in their own way, including Aenc Thon, Lord of the Fuath and Feo Ul, aka Titania, each of them using the same skills and mobs they've used against you in the past but now against other enemies! Once you get to Lakeland, your allies from the role quests, Granson, Lue-Reeq, Cerigg and Giott also lend a helping hand in fighting against the horde of ghost heroes.
** Giott goes and demonstrates a "proper Dwarf decking" when one of the spectral heroes uses the Paladin's Passage of Arms, rendering itself and the two others with it nigh-invulnerable. Giott winds up and not only breaks the hero out of it, they ''nearly kill the summoned Paladin in one hit''.
* The Seat of Sacrifice, 5.3's MSQ trial and the FinalBoss of the ''Shadowbringers'' storyline: Elidibus brings the fight to you by transforming into a Warrior of Light, himself -- and not just ''any'' Warrior, but the selfsame Warrior featured in official artwork from [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI the very first]] ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI Final Fantasy]]'' [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI game]] (as made popular in ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia]]''). Halfway through the fight, Elidibus throws the party into the Void, but they manage to escape with help from an ancient -- and not just ''any'' ancient! If the BadassFingerSnap doesn't clue you in, the nonchalant wave as he departs will: ''you just got saved by Emet-Selch!''
* The second chapter of [[=YoRHa=]]: Dark Apocalypse has 2P reveal that she was EvilAllAlong when a group of black clad androids like 9S end up turning white like her and she turns her sword on Anogg and Konogg. Suddenly pulling a BigDamnHeroes moment is the original herself, 2B!
* 5.3's continuation of the Sorrow of Werlyt story features a solo boss battle against the Sapphire Weapon. To take on this warmachina, Cid decides to fight fire with fire and sends you into battle piloting ''your very own HumongousMecha''! Not only is it [[InstantAwesomeJustAddMecha absolutely badass]], but it's basically a lore-friendly Franchise/{{Gundam}}, right down to its name: "G-Warrior"!
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Ultimate Trials]]
All the Ultimate Trials are this by definition, as they are retellings of the final bosses of the raid dungeons and main stories replayed as a HarderThanHard BossRush. The fights are certainly exaggerated from the truth, but it doesn't make the fights any less awesome and satisfying to conquer.
!! The Unending Coil of Bahamut
* The fight starts on the hand of Bahamut, the ''Ragnarok'' Central Core, as Tempered Nael and Bahamut look bellow as you to face off against Twintania and her horde of neuro-links before chasing her off.
* Then, "White Raven" starts playing as a pillar from Dalmund fall to the floor, changing the landscape into the simulation of the Sixth Umbral Era, as you face Tempered Nael and her monsters.
* After her, cue a mini-Dalmund falling on top of you as "Answers" plays and Bahamut rises out of the smoke to do battle with you within his heart.
* '''Teraflare.''' Unlike original encounter, Ultimate's version actually wipes out your party and you can't do anything about it, despite killing Twintania and Nael. Suddenly...
-->''Phoenix's shrill cry cuts through the pall of desperation!''
** It then it turns into a FissionMailed, where Phoenix swoops in and strikes Bahamut, then revives your party so you can continue on.
* Cue Bahamut responding by achieving his [[GoldenSuperMode Golden]] [[OneWingedAngel form]] from [[ThePowerOfHate sheer anger and insanity]], before "Beyond Redemption" plays; the same song that played when Louisoix fought Bahamut in the Flames of Truth cinematic.
** The in-game buff that accompanies Lohs Daih explicitly states that Bahamut's insanity have peaked, and sure enough, Bahamut will enrage casting after half a dozen Morn Afah's.
** To top it off, the whole team gets the Phoenix Blessing buff. While it a powerful buff on its own, what makes it even more awesome (and challenging) is that the team have to avoid dying throughout the final phase to ensure they could defeat Bahamut in time before they're wiped out by enraged Morn Afahs.
* And after all's said and done? Cue everyone cheering their victory over the Dreadwrym Primal as Phoenix soars through the air.
!! The Weapon's Refrain
* Each of the primal fights play out similarly as they did in the original, but there is a ''slight'' catch to them that turns the encounter on its head. You would have to perform a key mechanic that is counter-productive to how it originally plays out to "awaken" them, which, not only gives them a power boost, also changes how their attacks work. You thought Titan was going to perform a Landslide once? Think again! Now he's turned it into a one-two ground punch that will punish players loitering around thinking their spot is safe.
* The transition into the actual fight against Ultima Weapon, which involves the party having to execute ''four'' [[LimitBreak Limit Breaks]] just to ''survive'' (which is possible assuming that you've beaten the three Primals while they were awakened). After beating Titan, the entire area gets bombarded, taking the party to the ruins of The Praetorium. The bombardment leaves 6 Magitek Bits, which must be destroyed with a Magic DPS LimitBreak before they all explode. Lahabrea then appears and casts Blight on the party, which must be healed by a Healing LimitBreak. Undetered, Lahabrea starts casting Dark IV, which must be stopped by killing Lahabrea with a Melee DPS LimitBreak. Seeing that the Warrior of Light survived through all that, Lahabrea summons the Ultima Weapon and commands it to use Ultima, which must be mitigated by a Tank LimitBreak. The Ultima Weapon then proceeds the consume the three awakened Primals, transforming with each one consumed, and then unleashes a burst of aether that transforms the battlefield before proceeding to attack the party.
* The Ultima Weapon is not only a powerful adversary to fight on its own, it also can bring the three Primals it had consumed to the battle as well. On top of this, the Ultima Weapon, will cast Ultima halfway in the battle, and like the one that was cast before the battle, it is so powerful that it has to be mitigated with a Tank LimitBreak.
* As the fight reaches enrage, a circle begins to form, slowly taking your party members one by one until it takes it turns into a TotalPartyKill. If you don't win by then, you're treated with the last remaining member of the party get absolutely ''annihilated'' in a grandiose explosion. If you successfully destroy The Ultima Weapon, your reward is a scenic view of the weapon's explosive destruction.
!! The Epic of Alexander
* The intro alone speaks volumes, starting with Brute Justice riding Cruise Chaser before Alexander pulls out the wings and [[BaitAndSwitch teleport the three of them away]], before dropping [[ThatOneBoss Living Liquid]] on you.
* The enrage for Alexander Prime. While Cruise Chaser starts casting Eternal Darkness and Brute Justice spins into a pillar of flame, Prime begins casting [[{{LimitBreak}} Judgement]], summoning another Alexander to smite you. Its a race to the finish, and even then, it's ''still'' not over.
* Perfect Alexander's creation. After surviving Alexander's and his guardians attacks and [[{{LimitBreak}} Judgement]], Alexander goes to the center, and opens up his chest to [[CombiningMecha combine]] with Brute Justice and Cruise Chaser:
-->'''Alexander Prime:''' I am the Creator... I will rebuild, remake, reform myself into the the ultimate state of perfection...!
-->'''Brute Justice:''' Designation: Brute Justice. Standing by for assembly! (Justice deforms itself before the five mechs become lights, fusing with Prime to give him its limbs and wings)
-->'''Cruise Chaser:''' Designation: Blassty. Standing by for assembly! (Chaser flies up into the sky before becoming a helmet.)
* After the fusing is complete, the body turns white as the area is transformed into a new area encompassed by gears, while also unfolding its wings. Alexander's BadassBoast on it only highlights the epicness.
-->'''Perfect Alexander:''' I am Alexander...the Assembled. [[PrepareToDie Look upon the perfection that will be your destruction]].
* Perfect Alexander's [[LimitBreak Temporal Prison]]. You thought Woken Ultima's Citadel Buster was epic? Alexander turns starts trapping the players one by one, until all of them are placed in fancy cages. Once everyone is captured, all time except for him will stop.
** You can actually ''[[HoistByHisOwnPetard turn this against him]]'' - since time isn't stopped for Alexander himself, damage-over-time effects will still tick... and, if his health is low enough, ''kill him after the enrage is done''. [[AccidentalPun Damage over time, indeed.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Meta/Events]]
* In the 2016 Moonfire Faire event, one of the quests asked the player to weaken and capture three bomb monsters to be used later on. Due to oversight from the developers, the target monsters were open to being attacked by anyone. This had led to a lot of people constantly killing the bombs due to everyone attacking them at the same time and trolls killed the bombs on purpose just to piss people off. However, some Japanese servers had its players counter the problem by having every one form a line to wait their turn at capturing the bombs so that everyone can complete the quest fairly. The idea then spread to other servers outside Japan and everyone formed their own lines to make things fair.
* In the 2017 Frankfurt fanfest, The Primals (a band known for playing songs from the game) performed Rise, which plays in the 2nd half of the Alexander Prime fight. Halfway through the song, the whole band performs a timestop and freeze in place as if Alexander had stopped the flow of time as it does in the game.
* For 2017's April Fools Day, Square Enix uploaded a trailer for a De-make of the Alexander raids, set up as a ''VideoGame/TacticsOgre'' styled game called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZJxYLoun7g Tactics Alexander.]] The spritework and soundtrack are ''immensely'' well-done for a simple joke that could've been mere screenshots on an announcement page.
* During one of the last live letter leading into Stormblood started showing off some of the job abilities that would be introduced. While it was all very nice, there was a collective mix of "[[BigOmg OH MY GOD!!!]]", hysterical cries of "[[BigWhat WHAT!?]]", and in one particular case [[https://youtu.be/0PxBOnkw3QQ?t=6m11s overjoyed and downright hysterical laughter]] when it was revealed that Summoners were ''actually getting the ability to summon Bahamut''.
* A collaboration event with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' was revealed at the Paris Fan Festival, with the Warrior of Light apparently going on a road trip with Noctis. Highlights of the trailer include them fighting Niflheim troops and fighting ''XV'''s version of Garuda together, with the [=WoL=] utilizing Noctis' warp strike at several points. And the very last shot of the trailer? A group of four people riding in the Regalia together before it switches to flight mode and soars off. That's right. We're getting XIV's first four-person mount in the form of Noct's CoolCar. [[MemeticMutation Get in, losers. We're farming primals.]]
* During the Tokyo [=FanFest=], Yoshi-P stated the Hrothgar and Viera wouldn't have headgear displayed due to limitations in their model design. The character team, however, thought otherwise and made at least 540 or so headgear pieces fitted for them anyway, ''in their spare time, behind Yoshi-P's back.'' Now that's dedication to their work.
* Shadowbringers is definitely throwing wide the gates of new abilities for their jobs. Some standout examples include Summoner summoning ''Phoenix'', and Dark Knight ''channeling their inner darkness to summon a copy of themselves to fight alongside with.'' And if you look at your copy's armor, it's not just a clone. You can now summon ''Fray'' to aid you in battle!
** You know that big annoying Jump Niddhog used on you during his trial? The one with the heavy aoe damage and the impressive looking three rings? ''That's'' your level 80 dragoon skill now.
* In February 2020, Japanese magazine NHK [[https://www.siliconera.com/japans-favorite-final-fantasy-game-according-to-nhks-grand-poll-is-final-fantasy-x/ launched a massive popularity poll]] to see who were the favorite characters in the entire franchise, as chosen by several million fan votes. The biggest shock and a moment of awesome for ''XIV'' as a whole, #6 was Emet-Selch, beating out a massive majority of characters ''including [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka]] and '''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII SEPHIROTH]]''''', cementing his place firmly as the most popular villain character in the ''entire'' FF franchise. Other contenders of note was Huarchefant at #12, just below Sephiroth, and in #20 The Crystal Exarch, just below Celes Lockhart from ''VI'', placing three characters from XIV in the top 20 overall.
** Something else to consider is that G'raha Tia placed at #58 on this same list. Those who have played XIV know that he and the Exarch are ''the same person'', meaning there is a good chance the vote on him was split and his actual place in the poll could be a lot higher.
* One for the animation team is the tail end scenes in "Reflections in Crystal", where all the Scions are getting back in shape. Never has the animations look so lively and expressive, showing the team has really stepped up their game in that department, from Alisae's dejected grumbling and slumping, to G'raha's ears and tail.
[[/folder]]

** Something else to consider is that G'raha Tia placed at #58 on this same list. Those who have played XIV know that he and the Exarch are ''the same person'', meaning there is a good chance the vote on him was split and his actual place in the poll could be a lot higher. Also, he is the only character in the franchise who is on the list ''twice''.

** You know that big annoying Jump Niddhog used on you during his trial? The one with the heavy aoe damage and the impressive looking three rings? ''That's'' your level 80 dragoon skill,

* The Seat of Sacrifice, 5.3's MSQ trial and the FinalBoss of the ''Shadowbringers'' storyline: Elidibus brings the fight to you by transforming into a Warrior of Light, himself -- and not just ''any'' Warrior, but the selfsame Warrior featured in official artwork from the very first ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' game (as made popular in ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia]]''). Halfway through the fight, Elidibus throws the party into the Void, but they manage to escape with help from an ancient -- and not just ''any'' ancient! If the BadassFingerSnap doesn't clue you in, the nonchalant wave as he departs will: ''you just got saved by Emet-Selch!''