Who is Valens in Final Fantasy XIV? answered

Final Fantasy XIV has many compelling characters that have come and gone throughout its life. Aside from the main narrative, the game also has plenty of side content, providing rich storylines full of well-written villains and heroes. With so many different characters in the game, it can sometimes be difficult to juggle them all. During the Shadowbringers Trial Side Quest Saga Sorrow of Werlyt, players are reintroduced with a familiar face, Gaius van Baelsar, who becomes an ally instead of an enemy. The Warrior of Light is forced to help him settle for a Garlean military leader named Valens. Here’s everything you need to know about this insidious villain.

Valens van Varro in Final Fantasy XIV

Valens van Varro was originally appointed by Gaius van Baelsar to be the leader of the XIV Imperial Legion in the Garlean army. Not a person to take things for granted, Valen managed to get a job as an assistant to engineer Nero tol Scaeva. After the defeat of Gaius, Valens managed to rise to power as the leader of the VIII Imperial Army. Here he was commissioned into the weapons project.

The Weapons Project was a top-secret military operation by the Garleans to create superior mechanical constructs capable of destroying anything in their path. Valens, being the utterly horrible person he was, allowed his soldiers to kidnap orphans to use as test subjects in his experiments on the weapons. Some of these orphans were actually brainwashed into believing in his cause, although his ultimate goal was to use his research to become Emperor of Garlemald.

Valens in the Sorrow of Werlyt side quest in Final Fantasy XIV

During the Sorrow of Werlyt storyline, the Warrior of Light finds out that Gaius’ adopted orphans have been brainwashed and used as suicidal pilots in his weapons. After defeating several of the weapons, it is revealed that Alfonse, one of Gaius’ orphans, attempted to sabotage the experiments and free Werlyt from within, though he met a cruel end in the process in order to fuel the diamond weapon.

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Another orphan, Allie, is convinced to pilot the Diamond Weapon, only to invade Alfonse’s mind during the fight. He saves her while the Diamond Gun is defeated, and Valens chooses to challenge Gaius in battle rather than surrender. While delivering a tough fight bolstered by an unfair tactical advantage, Alfonse manages to reactivate the diamond weapon and subdues Valens. The defeated villain is tormented by visions of the many orphans who died under his care and then crushed in the palm of his own experiment, bringing his story to a close.