'Bastard' Garleans

[SP00K_E]

A question came to mind while trying to find more lore on the Garleans. I'm sure that being a conquering empire there have been times where soldiers have taken 'trophies' from a subjugated populace.

 

Do only pure-blood Garleans gain a third eye? Is a Garlean actually Hyuran/Human or another race entirely?

 

And if Garleans can interbreed with other Hyur or the various races how would the children of such union be treated? Would they be on the lowest rung of society or somewhere in the middle?

[Unnamed Mercenary]

Only pureblood Garleans have a third eye.

 

SE has been calling them a separate race, but then again, the different races can interbreed albeit with very very low chances of producing a child.

 

There's actually a game-provided example of a Garlean-Hyur half-breed, Arenvald. You can find him with the Scions in the Waking Sands. He also shows up for 4.0 plot. His story's...pretty bleak. His own mother (raped by a Garlean) couldn't stand the sight of him because he looked noticeably Garlean.

 

Had he been born on the imperial side, he likely would have been treated the same as any other nonpureblood. Someone who could achive citizenship, but he'd never be as well regarded as a pureblood.

 

And some related threads:

What it Means to be a Half Breed

Garleans are not Hyur

Garlean Occupation and Ala Mhigan Refugees Across Eorzea

Question about mix races

[LiadansWhisper]

A question came to mind while trying to find more lore on the Garleans. I'm sure that being a conquering empire there have been times where soldiers have taken 'trophies' from a subjugated populace.

 

Do only pure-blood Garleans gain a third eye? Is a Garlean actually Hyuran/Human or another race entirely?

 

And if Garleans can interbreed with other Hyur or the various races how would the children of such union be treated? Would they be on the lowest rung of society or somewhere in the middle?

 

I believe only Pureblooded Garleans have a third eye. As far as Garlean being some kind of subset of Hyur, I don't think they are. I think they're something else, even if they arose from the same stock. Sounsyy would probably have more information.

 

I believe the Devs have stated in the past that all the races are capable of interbreeding - even Roegadyns with Lalafells (try not to let the physics horrify you). So it stands to reason that Garleans and Hyur could interbreed with each other. I have no idea what the social status of such offspring would be.

[SP00K_E]

I haven't actually gotten through the 3.0 storyline yet so I'll have to go find a screenshot for Arenwald.

[L'ohba Tia]

I haven't actually gotten through the 3.0 storyline yet so I'll have to go find a screenshot for Arenwald.

 

He's in the Waking Sands before Stormblood.

[Virella]

He's in the Waking Sands ever since ARR! The Miqo'te Tia friend of his has more to say about him in a ARR than Arenvald does himself.

 

There's some speculation, that just as Greystone for Ishardian, Lentinus may be the bastard name for Garlean offsprings - maybe even for half-Garleans in specific. Given Arenvald got cast out by his mother, and nothing implies his father cared for him, it might be the case. Seeming the lorebook does refer to him like that. No idea if he uses the name himself. Think he just refers to him as Arenvald.

 

But take that with a grain of salt at this point. It's hardly confirmed and people are just speculating.

 

Anyhow, as far as we know, these children appear to be shunned by both sides. I can't imagine the Empire, being as proud of their racial superiority, likes seeing their 'pure' bloodlines diluted. Next to that Arvenvald was made to live like a bandit back in Gyr Abania. So it seemed no one really wanted to associate with him. Because as far as we know, Ala Mhigan children get brainwashed for the Empire, but he seemed to have 'escaped' that. Probably due to his heritage.

[R'nella Eren]

From a family perspective, I think your character would be treated very poorly because it's obviously the result of a terrible act. Though maybe he would also be protected by his mother. It's all very dependent on the situation if I'm honest. We often think the worst of characters, that they would -always- shun a child which is a product of such an event. However, even in real-life there are examples of children who grow up to still be loved. Though it would be very very tough.

What is most likely though is that your character would leave home early just to get away from all of the prejudices. Being in a strange and foreign land, and being of half-breed stock means that it's quite easy to hide the fact you are part Garlean because you definitely do not have the third eye. And even Cid, who is Pureblood, decides to hide it behind his goggles for a very long time. 

 

Starting over in Eorzea is hard though, arguably harder than the real world due to the lack of any social security (...well, the real world is slowly becoming more like Eorzea sadly. Ahem.), so it would be very tough to make ends meet. Your character would most likely have to work from the rock bottom up to success which can take years.

[Virella]

Actually, Arenvald tells the Resistance people, and I'm vague quoting 'I'm a half Garlean, as you can see."

 

So I don't know if hiding Garlean heritage is an option. Next to that, I think due to Garlean purebloods being so rare, I don't think a lot of Eorzeans know how they look like? That might be the reason Cid gets away with it? I'm not sure.

 

Either way, Arenvald heavily implied that people can see what he is. At least the Resistance/Ala Mhigan people can. And they probably have seen a few more purebloods than most Eorzeans have? Hells if I know!

[Valence]

Cid also probably gets somewhat away with it because he's not gigantic (he's almost a midget garlean...).

 

Just look at the size of Nero or Varis, or even Nael. I'm sure they tower above even Roegadyns. 

 

Arenvald is somewhere in between, but I suppose what is striking the most for eorzeans is the facial traits and whatnot (aka blond/bleach hair, regal traits, etc).

 

To be honest I'm not that convinced you "can't" hide your halbreed garlean bloodline. Arenvald may tell this, but he also didn't exactly choose to actually hide it. He just tells what you can obviously see for yourself.

[Virella]

I don't think he was given a choice? I think the fact he wasn't brainwashed as an Ala Mhigan child, and forced to live like a bandit should probably be a tell tale sign that everyone spat him out due to his heritage?

 

That said, he only started to talk about it in SB, when approaching other Ala Mhigans (again). Before that, you heard of his heritage trough his friend, not him directly. If you have a low level alt who didn't do the MSQ really far yet, you can check the Waking Sands for it. It's the Miqo'te friend who tell something about it, not him. I think?

 

So I don't think he goes around telling people either? Think he only mentioned it to the Resistance due to not wanting to offend them. The whole conversation struck me as 'please accept me despite my heritage' and not a 'BY THE WAY I'm a half Garlean' out of nowhere.

 

Not to mention he avoided himself calling himself half-Garlean and opted for Half-breed instead. I suppose Half-Garlean is more taboo than using the word Half-breed to describe oneself in Eorzea.

[SP00K_E]

Actually, Arenvald tells the Resistance people, and I'm vague quoting 'I'm a half Garlean, as you can see."

 

So I don't know if hiding Garlean heritage is an option. Next to that, I think due to Garlean purebloods being so rare, I don't think a lot of Eorzeans know how they look like? That might be the reason Cid gets away with it? I'm not sure.

 

Either way, Arenvald heavily implied that people can see what he is. At least the Resistance/Ala Mhigan people can. And they probably have seen a few more purebloods than most Eorzeans have? Hells if I know!

 

Seen that quote in a screenshot and it makes me think that half-Garleans could inherit a third eye or something like a vestigial form of the Garlean eye; as he doesn't have any real distinguishing features that look Garlean on his in-game model. MMO developers are known for reusing already-present racial assets for exotic characters to save on their budget. Square did this with Highlander females in 1.0 if I recall just placing in Midlander females to stand in for them.

[Virella]

No, they don't get the third eye. This is confirmed by lore. Only the 'pure' Garleans get the third eye. That third eye is a sign of their racial purity. Non-purebloods just don't get it. Arenvald doesn't have one hidden underneath his hairdo, unlike they did with Lucia for a bit. But she's a pureblood, he's not!

 

Honesty? I think Arenvald should probably have his own special model to represent his heritage. But to make it for one NPC who is probably not going to be that important? I doubt SE will do this. Not to mention, I'd imagine designing it is a bit harder than they had to do with Hilda (slap some pointy Padjal ears onto her model).

 

It's interesting to note Arenvald is on minimum height slider for male highlander though. He's just as tall as my female, tall, highlander is. So I'm not even sure if Garleans need to be tall by default to begin with. Cid is a tiny one as well. Yes, most are super duper tall, but I think they may have a 'height slider' as well, and not everyone has the genes to be super tall.

[SP00K_E]

No, they don't get the third eye. This is confirmed by lore. Only the 'pure' Garleans get the third eye. That third eye is a sign of their racial purity. Non-purebloods just don't get it. Arenvald doesn't have one hidden underneath his hairdo, unlike they did with Lucia for a bit. But she's a pureblood, he's not!

 

Honesty? I think Arenvald should probably have his own special model to represent his heritage. But to make it for one NPC who is probably not going to be that important? I doubt SE will do this. Not to mention, I'd imagine designing it is a bit harder than they had to do with Hilda (slap some pointy Padjal ears onto her model).

 

It's interesting to note Arenvald is on minimum height slider for male highlander though. He's just as tall as my female, tall, highlander is. So I'm not even sure if Garleans need to be tall by default to begin with. Cid is a tiny one as well. Yes, most are super duper tall, but I think they may have a 'height slider' as well, and not everyone has the genes to be super tall.

 

I think the super tallness is mostly so they can be used as trial/raid bosses. MMOs do that thing with making bosses and elites super big so they're easier to target when 10+ people are beating on them.

[Momo]

First of all, the title is redundant~

 

Second of all, don't trust anything Unnamed Merc says, he is the title's namesake~

 

Third of all, Arenvald is hot, so leave him alone.

 

Proof:

 

 

Lastly, Garleans so far, have followed no obvious physical pattern besides being mostly tall. Now, Cid is a shorty, truly. Lucia, all the royals, Nero, they all use an Elezen-like form as their body model, unfortunately this is harder to see since most of the main Garlean enemies wear armor so heavy and have heads that are so unique in shape and size, that you can't assume what model they really use.

 

I don't think they will ever make garleans a playable race, but they could maybe give us a third eye equipment if we need to infiltrate or just for fun since any halfbreed wouldn't be able to use it convincingly anyway. The lore behind Garleans is interesting, and I hope that we get more of it because every loves an underdog though the Garleans are so easy to hate this late in their story!