As players continue to enjoy exploring Tural in Final Fantasy XIV’s Dawntrail, director Naoki (“Yoshi-P”) Yoshida has not only stuck to sharing updates on what’s yet to come in the expansion, but also how the FFXIV community has responded to it. . until now. For example, there are always some new story-related characters that players tend to gravitate towards, but one that caught Yoshi-P completely by surprise was the boisterous Bakool Ja Ja.
Note: The following article contains extreme spoilers about major characters in Final Fantasy XIV’s Dawntrail, so read at your own discretion.
Yoshi-P continued his international media tour for Final Fantasy XIV’s Dawntrail expansion, which is now live and resonating strongly with players new and old. At a recent session Q&A interview in France, he touched on several different topics about upcoming content, and once mentioned a hilarious community-related tidbit about, of all characters, Bakool Ja Ja.
Thanks to a thorough translation of the interview posted full of Reddit users ‘BlackmoreKnight’ and ‘Iluna Minori’, we were able to find out that Yoshi-P noted how he and his entire development team were completely taken aback by how players, quite literally, sympathized with Bakool Ja Ja. They might have expected another character like Koana or even Sphene, but the prominent thirst trap in Dawntrail is apparently Bakool Ja Ja who gave Wuk Lamat a considerable amount of grief during the Rite of Succession chapter of the story.
FFXIV is certainly no stranger to having its villains revered by the community in past expansions, with the likes of Zenos Galvus, Emet Selch, and even Stormblood’s Yotsuyu earning their pedestals. However, a giant two-headed Mamool Ja is probably the most left-field entry we’ve had so far.
Not only Yoshi-P laughed heartily at it, but even Bakool Ja Ja’s English VA, Javier Pruskyintervened via X (formerly Twitter) shortly after the launch of Dawntrail, noticing like “this is going in a different direction than I ever imagined tbh”. Since then, he has shared his heartfelt gratitude for the overwhelmingly positive reception to his performance.
After their initial shock, the FFXIV team actually embraced this eccentric fandom by doing a after own, asking players how they’re enjoying Dawntrail so far with Bakool Ja Ja front and center, no other context clearly needed.
While the fandom surrounding Dawntrail’s Bakool Ja Ja seems completely bizarre on the surface, on the one hand it makes perfect sense. For those who finished the MSQ of the expansion, Wuk Lamat’s brother, Zoraal Ja, clearly served as Dawntrail’s overall dramatic villain, bringing the story to its unexpectedly emotional and endearing peak. His downward spiral not only captivated many of us and even tugged at our heartstrings, but his character was also the perfect foil for Bakool Ja Ja.
As described perfectly in a reply by ‘smashbrawlguy’ to another Reddit after from “MidoriTea” on the Q&A talking point, “there’s something so endearing about petty, loud-mouthed, low-stakes villains realizing that they’re actually much happier helping people instead of bullying them”.
Bakool Ja Ja’s borderline comic book villain arc basically starts from the moment we first meet him in the story, as one of Wuk Lamat’s rivals for the throne of Tuliyollal. He is brash, unbridled, outspoken, and stands out as the only competitor not related to the current Dawnservant, Gulool Ja Ja. He spends a good portion of the contest for the throne using underhand means to get ahead, whether it’s cheating or even briefly kidnapping Wuk Lamat to hinder her progress.
However, his reckless actions and overall attitude towards the competition gradually begin to backfire and culminate in a surprise twist at Mamook’s village in Yak T’el, his homeland. There we learn about the lengths his clan went to to facilitate the birth of a “blessed” two-headed Mamool Ja like him, the pressure he was unfairly burdened with, and soon enough his boisterous facade crumbles.
His later redemption arc is when he really starts to become a likable character, as he puts himself on the frontlines to protect Tuliyollal during Zoraal Ja’s attack and puts his full support behind Wuk Lamat’s rise to power. He regrets how he acted before, but holds no resentment at all forward and puts Tural’s well-being first.
That’s when we know who he really is beneath the bravado, and why the gaming community resonates so strongly with a character like him. As for the “thirsty” fanart, well, we wouldn’t take it that far but to each their own.
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