Alexander (Final Fantasy XIV)

Since the Sharlayan exodus, a structure has stood steady against the flow of the Thaliak River. Now, the Illuminati have summoned a primal around this rusting ruin─a terrible colossus of steam and metal. Steel screamed against steel when it rose from the waters, and it drank deep of the land's aether before grinding again to a halt. The voices of Idyllshire cry out, asking for aid ere their homes are crushed under the weight of iron. You must lead a band of valiant adventurers into the machina and discover how to destroy the core─lest the giant screeches again to life, and bleeds all the realm dry.

Description

Alexander is a primal and a location from Final Fantasy XIV who debuted in the Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward expansion. It is an enormous mechanical fortress, which the goblins have summoned in the image of an ancient mechanism. Unlike the other primals the adventurers must fight directly, Alexander needs to be defeated from within.

Alexander serves as a raid available after the Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward main storyline is completed with two difficulty levels: normal and savage. Patch 5.11 of Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers added the Epic of Alexander, an Ultimate raid based on the Heavensward raid series.

History[]

Ages ago, Alexander was designed by the author of the Enigma Codex as a haven for scientists and philosophers to research the mysteries of life. Two years after the start of the Seventh Umbral Era, a group of Au Ra from the Hotgo tribe, including Mide and Dayan, attempted to summon Alexander using the Enigma Codex. While Alexander appeared beneath the Thaliak River, something went wrong and most of the researchers were killed, while Alexander began to absorb massive amounts of aether from the surrounding land. When it attempted to draw Mide into itself, Dayan shoved her out of the way and was pulled in himself. As the last survivor, Mide executed their backup plan and conjured a barrier around Alexander. Though the Enigma Codex exploded, the barrier kept Alexander from awakening. The Illuminati leader Quickthinx Allthoughts later learned of Alexander's location in Thaliak River in the Dravanian Hinterlands and repurposed it by infusing the structure's core, the Gordian Knot, with aether to serve as a primal.

Shortly after Ishgard joined the Eorzean Alliance, the Illuminati awakened Alexander. Cid nan Garlond and Y'shtola, the former knowing the Illuminati were the cause, witnessed Alexander partially emerge from the Thaliak River and enter stand-by mode while siphoning the area's aether. While Y'shtola sought the aid of Matoya to contain Alexander from draining aether, the Garlond Ironworks secured the area around Alexander while investigating the apparent opening in its exposed hand with the assistance of Mide, who was after the Enigma Codex. After braving Alexander's defenses, the group shut down the Gordian Knot. However, the Illuminati were not deterred, suggesting they had something up their sleeve.

After Roundrox entrusted Mide with her "treasure", the final missing piece of the Enigma Codex, Alexander stirred again, with its second arm emerging from the lake. While Cid and Y'shtola left to consult with Matoya, the Warrior of Light made plans with Biggs and Wedge to breach this arm, known as "Midas". They were confronted by Quickthinx Allthoughts, who claimed that Mide had been working with the Illuminati from the beginning.

When the group confronted Mide, she admitted it was partially true and explained her part in Alexander's original summoning, and how when the ritual went awry Dayan was sucked into Alexander and the rest of her companions were killed. Mide told the Illuminati about Alexander, hoping that if they succeeded in summoning the primal, she could see Dayan again. She regretted her actions and wanted to stop the Illuminati's plans.

The Illuminati captured Roundrox, having learned that she could control the Enigma Codex and, by extension, Alexander. The Warrior of Light, Mide, Biggs, and Wedge set off to breach Midas's defenses to shut down its core, the Midian Knot, and rescue Roundrox. They got past the Illuminati's guardians, including a powerful robot known as Brute Justice, and disabled the Midian Knot. When confronted by the Illuminati, they failed to rescue Roundrox and lost their piece of the Enigma Codex when Quickthinx accurately predicted seemingly random events. Once they escaped Alexander, their Goblin allies claimed they were only gone for a few minutes.

The group realized Alexander had the power to manipulate time itself. Cid and Y'shtola rejoined them and revealed Alexander was reversing time to undo the damage the Warrior of Light's group had caused and restore the two disabled cores. Once this was finished, and with both the completed Enigma Codex and Roundrox in their possession, the Illuminati would have the power to rewrite history, creating a so-called perfect world that they controlled. The group was abruptly joined by what appeared to be Quickthinx's coeurl kitten, Shanoa, who indicated it wanted to help them. Curiously, they observed Shanoa with Quickthinx at the same time.

Knowing that their only hope to shut down Alexander was to rescue Roundrox, Biggs disabled the barrier around Alexander while Cid used the Enterprise to deposit the Warrior of Light at Alexander's head. With the barrier down, the giant awakened and fully arose from the river, but the barrier was restored before it could begin draining the land of aether. The band stormed Alexander's control room and dispatched the Illuminati guards. Mide expressed her hope to see Dayan again, and Roundrox used the Enigma Codex to travel three years back in time to when Mide and Dayan had attempted to summon Alexander. Their arrival interfered with the summoning attempt, as the Illuminati shot and killed the researchers assisting Mide and Dayan. Shanoa jumped at their Goblin companion, Backrix, who had been chronicling the events surrounding Alexander, and both she and his book tumbled to the ground as Alexander returned to the present without them. The group took Roundrox and escaped as Quickthinx Allthoughts arrived, but Mide stayed. Realizing that Dayan was always meant to die, and that her efforts to see him again had caused it, she wished to remain with her lover's soul.

After regrouping, they returned to Alexander's massive aethercyte core to shut it down, but it had grown so large that it was absorbing aether faster than they could destroy it; the only means of halting Alexander would be to use the Enigma Codex in the now heavily-guarded control room. Quickthinx returned and gloated that the future could not be changed and the Illuminati would be victorious, but Shanoa leapt at him and he dropped his "futurebook"; the band realized he had simply been reading from Backrix's journal that was lost in the past, and that the future was not set in stone.

Quickthinx engaged Alexander and halted time around the core before summoning Alexander Prime to destroy the Warrior of Light's group while they were frozen. Time unexpectedly restarted just before it fired, allowing them to avoid its attack, and Alexander Prime disappeared into a time distortion; the Warrior of Light followed after it. During their battle, Alexander Prime sent several smaller units through time portals; the Warrior of Light followed and destroyed them, which shut down Quickthinx's temporal field and saved their own lives in the past.

Once Alexander Prime was destroyed, they returned to the control room. When Roundrox attempted to use the Enigma Codex to shut down Alexander, Quickthinx Allthoughts revealed that he, too, could access the Codex. Mide arrived and shot him in the head. Roundrox disabled the core, but Quickthinx revived and reactivated it, having replaced much of his body with machinery. Quickthinx commanded Alexander to unleash its divine judgment on the ignorant and unworthy, but the Enigma Codex instead destroyed Quickthinx before self-destructing. As Alexander grinded to a halt, the monitors in the control room flickered to life, and Mide realized that Dayan's soul really did survive within. Without the Codex to regulate the core, it began absorbing aether at an accelerated rate; Mide threw herself into the core so that her soul could be with Dayan, and together they froze Alexander forever within a single moment in time as their companions escaped.

Deep within the heart of Alexander, Mide was reunited with Dayan. He explained that Alexander had foreseen all the infinite possible futures, and concluded that its own existence would inevitably bleed the land dry of aether, causing the end of the world. It had intervened with history only once: to send a servant in the form of a clockwork coeurl to gently nudge history onto a path that would ensure its own ending. Though they were now trapped within a single moment of time, Mide was happy to be with Dayan forever.

Locations[]

Gordias[]

The right arm of Alexander, which upon emerging from the Tipped Ewer grasped a nearby riverbank on the edge of the Maker's Quarter. The immense hand emerged through the force field surrounding Alexander, allowing entry through a portal in the "fist" of the machine arm.

This sector contains four raid instances:

• Alexander - The Fist of the Father
• Alexander - The Cuff of the Father
• Alexander - The Arm of the Father
• Alexander - The Burden of the Father

Midas[]

The left arm of Alexander, which grasped onto a delta in the Thaliak River. Though structurally mirroring the Gordias sector, its internal contents noticeably differ.

This sector contains four raid instances:

• Alexander - The Fist of the Son
• Alexander - The Cuff of the Son
• Alexander - The Arm of the Son
• Alexander - The Burden of the Son

The Creator[]

The central body of Alexander.

This sector contains four raid instances:

• Alexander - The Eyes of the Creator
• Alexander - The Breath of the Creator
• Alexander - The Heart of the Creator
• Alexander - The Soul of the Creator

Enemies[]

Gordias[]

Midas[]

Creator[]

Treasures[]

Gordias[]

Midas[]

Musical themes[]

"Sins of the Father, Sins of the Son" is the ambient theme inside Alexander.

"Locus" is the theme that plays during boss battles.

"Metal" is the theme that plays during the battle against the Manipulator in The Burden of the Father. "Locus" and "Metal" are remixed into a 70s Tokusatsu-style jazz theme that plays during the battle against Brute Justice, known as "Metal - Brute Justice Mode" in The Burden of the Son. "Exponential Entropy" is the theme for the battle against Cruise Chaser, with "Moebius" and "Rise" serving as the themes against Alexander Prime.

Behind the scenes[]

In the Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward Official Benchmark, Alexander is shown emerging from a lake in Dravania as a convoy of flying mounts pass by.

The Living Liquid boss is a reference to Liquid Flame from Final Fantasy V, alternative between a humanoid form, a giant hand, and a tornado.

The Bosses of the Midas questline are a reference to the Transformers characters known as the Combaticons. Their names are Blaster(Blast-Off), Brawler(Brawl), Onslaughter(Onslaught), Vortexer(Vortex), Swindler(Swindle), and they combine into Brute Justice(Bruticus).

Gallery[]

Concept art.

In-game screenshot of Alexander.

Benchmark video.

The Warrior of Light and Y'shtola observe Alexander from Idyllshire shortly after summoning.

A goblin city within the Midas sector

Gordian equipment

Midan equipment

Proto-Alexandrian equipment

Perfect Alexander in The Epic of Alexander.

Etymology[]

[view · edit · purge]"Alexander" is a common western name of Greek origin, the original name being Ἀλέξανδρος (Alexandros), "Protector of Mankind". Alexander III, better known as Alexander the Great, was a famous Macedonian king and military conqueror.

Citations[]