Why Everybody Loves G'raha [Major 5.3 Spoilers!] -- FFXIV Discussion

You forgot the most important thing. While the other questgivers treat us like a glorified hired hand, Graha actually cares about us, repeatedly asks us to rest, and HE MADE SANDWICHES!

"my inspiration". I melt every time.

‘BTW if you didn’t pick this option you’re a monster’ Accurate 😆

There is this running thread with G'raha Tia where he looks up to the Warrior of Light as a hero, and by the way he speaks of them, he seems to think of them as some legendary figure far above anything that he himself could be, and I think that this is a shame because G'raha Tia is definitely a hero in his own right. The Warrior of Light may risk their own life in battle after battle, but G'raha Tia established a safe haven in a dying world and kept the flames of hope alive for nearly a century, all the while doing everything in his considerable power to protect anyone and everyone he could. And when the hero of his dreams answered his calls, he did everything he could to aid them, without any heed for his own wellbeing. G'raha Tia keeps wanting to be a hero, and to him I would say, "You are already a hero, my friend, and you have been for quite a long while now. If you want to adventure beside me, then we do so together, as heroes doing our part for the greater good." You don't need to play make-believe, and you haven't needed to for so long. You ARE a true hero, G'raha Tia.

I like him so much because he wears his emotions on his sleeve. He is a lot like Haurchefant - he treats you like an equal instead of a tool to get things done. The part with him talking to Emet really got me. Where he said he didn’t want to point the hero as a weapon at his enemies. There are too many reasons I think to like him.

Honestly, boys who have an undying crush on the WoL immediately hold a special place in my heart lol

We love G'raha Tia because he tried to open a letter with a salmon fillet, and every other reason is just icing on that fishy cake.

Yes, and yes I think we love of our boy for all of this but I especially love that he’s not a faultless character. He lies to the warrior of light multiple times and does some other morally questionable things (just because it’s for the greater good doesn’t always mean it’s the right thing to do) and in having him do so the writers show that he’s still just a person capable of the same mistakes and faults of everybody. I genuinely think I would not like g’raha nearly as much if he didn’t do some of those more questionable things and I’d be a little surprised if others didn’t share this sentiment

It says a lot about a person if they don't like G'raha Tia.

What I love is the dynamic of how he perceives us, the self-insert characters. The way he describes how he felt while hanging back during the raids reminds me of all the FOMO from when I started the game. My whole second playthrough was started partially out of the feeling I that could never catch up with my friends who had been playing for years before I did. Part of me still wants to prove myself to them the way he feels like he has to prove himself to us, but honestly I'll just be happy to be there and have something to bring to the table. That's why some of his dialogue hit me so hard the second time. Like the Ascians, his agenda is to save a dead world through machinations and the control he wields over the power of a lost civilization. I don't see any discussion about it, but I'm starting to notice that he's kind of like the Wizard of Oz and there are other broad similarities to that story in Shadowbringers. He is an outsider with power, influence, and secret knowledge, but he definitely cares a lot more despite hiding behind a "curtain" of sorts. We get to see that the qualities that set him apart are the influence of the good examples of people he remembers from his past, us among them. He doesn't just tell us, he shows it. It's in his whole plan before Emet shoots him and nabs him. It's in his focused, literally bloody effort to get the Scions home. He's all that and his goofy old self like Krile describes. I hope he's there with us when we hijack Nyunkrepf's hope and fly it to the moon to chase Zenos or something awesome like that down the line.

I didn't know who he was when the hood first fell off. All i yelled was "HE'S A CATBOY" because of course i did. I started playing the story in 2019 and just powered through the story with a break before doing Lakshmi in May and only resuming in November, than i completed everything else a week before 5.2 and than did 5.2. Than i heard of the Crystal Tower raids before 5.3 and found out who Gra'ha really was. And, like the emotional bastard i am, fell in love with him. And then when 5.3 was happening i was crying a lot. And when 5.4 recently happened i literally took over 10 screenshots from the first cutscene cause of how cute he was being and the other characters i loved also being amazing. Alphinaud, Alisaie, Y'shtola, all of them are great. I've recently starting playing through the story on a new character and actually got past Ifrit because i mostly leave all my characters at after Ifrit or Toto-Rak if their lucky. But this new cat girl i made, i've gotten past King Moggle Mog or whatever his name was and saw the thing saying to speak with the Outlandish Man because the Crystal Tower raids will be mandatory. I just wish these mandatory things were already in the game when i was originally playing through.

I literally fell IN LOVE with him. 😍 But it tooked a long time... 🤔 He was always cool and good looking, I liked the crystal tower raids and story, but after the end of shadowbringers... It just broke my heart to see him turning slowly into crystal while searching for a way to bring our dear friends back home. 🙏🏻 Again, I was nearly sure he would get killed, then the whole thing turned out to be a new beginning for him! 🥳 And as he stood there in front of me, on the roof terrace of mor dhona, incarnated, in his younger body, it kicked me right in my heart and my guts... I was just like: That's it, I'm gonna marry this one! I will never-ever let G'raha Tia go again! 🔒 Guess, I have to write a message at square enix, if they ever let him die, THIS. MEANS. WAR.!!! 😂 I need those little cat ears in my life. Never felt this way before for a fictional character, I actually quite don't know how to handel this... Well, I guess, I should calm down a little! 😅❤💔❤💔

he is just so cute especially how the is a fan boy of the WoL

I love how SE writes their characters; they're never faultless, but they are willing to take accountability for their actions, and most of them accept the consequences and adapt or evolve organically. It never feels forced, and always offers fantastic character development and story progression.

We stan.

One of the best characters in the final fantasy. I said what I said.

Fun Fact: Besides having the exact height of a min-height male miqo'te, you can tell the Crystal Exarch is a miqo'te by the way he holds his hands. Miqo'te hands naturally rest in a more "claw-like" position.

Ok like 4:09 I knew the Exarch was G'raha because they have the same lips I didn't even think hard about it. I cried because I was super happy about it though!

I caught feelings when he helped the WOL give Chi Nuzz a pep talk, because Dreams Aloft started playing. Cid’s theme. His behavior changed, too, because he was aware that this was the last time he’d go on a journey with the WOL, and it broke my heart that he sounded so happy. At that point, I was sold on the CE being G’raha Tia. That pretty much guaranteed that I would be sobbing through the end of 5.0 and 5.3.

G'raha's self sacrifice is definitely one of his most endearing qualities and had me rooting for him in the end. I just wanted him to have his dream of adventuring with my Warrior upon the eternal winds. And now he's literally never leaving my Trust party. lol So glad they kept him an all rounder so I don't have to change roles to keep him. I also think his clear devotion to the WoL specifically, while also managing not to overdo it (for most ppl), is also a reason he's so liked. He cares about our character as a person and its reciprocated by the players. Dunno if I agree that "no one" would have been unhappy if he never made a reappearance. I remember being attached to him by the end of the raids and very sad about his fate. He wasn't dead, but he might as well have been; forced to leave everything and everyone he knew behind, including his new friend the WoL. And then Krile mentions him in passing in Stormblood (Eureka) and you find out she knew him well and that just reminds you of his existence. I always had a small hope we'd do something more with him one day. The role he has now is vastly beyond expectations, but like other side stories such as Tiamat, I would have been a tiny bit upset if we'd just never touched on his story again.