How Every FFXIV Character Is Different In Eorzea Private Academy

Final Fantasy XIV players received a treat this holiday season: the release of the official FFXIVEorzea Private Academy manga, featuring the cast of the game reimagined as high school students and teachers. Although it’s currently just in Japanese through the Manga UP! app on Android and iOS, fans across the globe have already made their own unofficial translations. Chapter 2 of Academia Eorzea is scheduled to be released in Japan on February 25.

Rather than the player character’s Warrior of Light, Alisaie and Alphinaud are the main characters of the story, living in a shared dorm-like space with some other members of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Two schools, the Light and Dark, are in the process of merging into a single academy, which features students of various playable Final FantasyXIV character races. It looks like FFXIV‘s villainous characters are part of the Dark group while Alisaie, Alphinaud, and other friendly NPCs the player encounters in the game are part of Light.

In November 2021, the Final Fantasy XIV Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LXVII revealed that an Academia Eorzea manga was in progress. At that time, the availability for regions outside of Japan was undetermined, and since then there haven’t been updates concerning localization possibilities. The FFXIV team supervises the manga project, which has Amaichi Esora as the artist. However, fan translations have begun to appear on Reddit.

FFXIV Academia Eorzea: Alisaie & Alphinaud Are The Main Characters

This was the first time fans saw the concept art of the Leveilleur twins as cute anime high schoolers. In Chapter 1 of Academia Eorzea they look mostly unchanged from the sneak peek. Final Fantasy XIV‘s Alisaie and Alphinaud Leveilleur are 16 years old at the start of A Realm Reborn, making them the most appropriately-aged high school students in the manga. Their personalities and dynamics are exactly as expected, with the more level-headed Alphinaud trying to take care of the firey Alisaie.

Like in FFXIV, the twins are living independently from their parents for the first time. Their high school selves are beginning their first year at Academia Eorzea. They aren’t entirely without adult supervision though, as they have some acquaintances living in the Rising Stones shared home with them. This time the Rising Stones is just a dorm, rather than FFXIV‘s secret hideout for the Scions of the Seventh Dawn.

FFXIV Academia Eorzea: Y’shtola & Tataru Are Different In The Manga

In FFXIV lore, Y’shtola claims to be 23 years old, and her mastery of magic makes her an excellent choice as a Final Fantasy XIV Trust party member. In Academia Eorzea, she is one of the adults living in the Rising Stones and is the 1st year homeroom teacher. She retains her intelligent and direct demeanor and wears a modern outfit similar to the color and style of her video game model. Being the twins’ homeroom teacher, she offers them support and guidance.

Tataru is Academia Eorzea’s principal, and from the start is already scheming grand plans, as typical of her usual FFXIV self. She’s 21 in FFXIV, so she’s rather young for a principal. Regardless, the tiny woman exudes plenty of presence and strength and is capable of calling the shots. Her excellent organizational abilities make her a good fit for the role.

FFXIV Academia Eorzea: How Urianger & Thancred Are Different

Urianger is a science teacher at Academia Eorzea but keeps his Final Fantasy XIV astrologian job close, as he’s still telling fortunes with cards. FFXIV lore puts him at 29 years old, with Thancred at 32. The two are still close friends in this world and are the other two teachers staying in the Rising Stones home. Thancred is the 2nd year homeroom teacher and PE teacher – and seems a little more casual than Endwalker‘s fatherly iteration.

FFXIV Academia Eorzea: G’raha Tia & Estinien Are High School Students

The rest of Academia Eorzea’s characters deviate from the FFXIV game a little more obviously, as Estinien is a 3rd-year student, even though he’s officially a 32-year-old man. G’raha is a 2nd-year student in high school, and he’s really much older. His red eyes make it seem like he’s his Shadowbringers iteration, and at that point, he was well over one hundred years old. Even his earlier self seen in the FFXIV Crystal Tower raid series was still 24.

In Academia Eorza G’raha lacks the knowledge of accumulated lifetimes but is the type of student who wants to learn everything. He’s seen with his arms full of library books and still displays his dorky side as he collides with Alisaie in the hallway and drops them everywhere. His high school self seems closest to his Student of Baldesion self, pre-Crystal Tower.

In FFXIV: Endwalker, G’raha meets Estinien and has a moment where he is unabashedly thrilled to meet a hero and previous Azure Dragoon. In the manga, a scene like this was faithfully recreated, as his high school self gushes over how cool the popular student Estinien is. Estinien remains standoffish and oblivious as usual, though.

FFXIV Academia Eorzea: Yotsuyu & Asahi Brutus Are Team Dark High School Students

Yotsuyu, who drops a mount in FFXIV‘s Extreme Tsukuyomi encounter, looks like a normal high school girl in Academia Eorzea. Both Yotsuyu and Asahi Brutus appear as Dark students, although game lore states they are 32 and 27 years old, respectively. Yotsuyu is a 3rd-year and Asahi is a 1st-year, both associates of high school student Zenos. Yotsuyu is portrayed as a cold and quiet beauty, so it’s uncertain if her in-game rage is seething below the surface.

The largest divergence from the FFXIV game might be Asahi’s personality shift. He loves Zenos and craves his attention in FFXIV, and his high school self cherishes him too. However, student Asahi might care for his sister Yotsuyu even more. In FFXIV, he aggressively hated her until they both died, but here he was very much devastated after being accidentally rude to her. Although, this may change in later chatpers of the manga.

Academia Eorzea: Emet-Selch & Zenos Are Different In The FFXIV Manga

Zenos uses the Reaper job class in FFXIV: Endwalker and is 26 years old according to lore. In Academia Eorzea he is a 3rd-year student who prefers the sword, like his Stormblood self. His high school student self still loves to fight, and he immediately challenges any strong person he meets, much like his in-game persona.

By the time the player meets Emet-Selch in FFXIV: Shadowbringers, he’s thousands of years old. Here in high school, he’s the 3rd year supervisor and school counselor. Paired with his fancy suit, he wears comfortable shoes appropriate for an ancient and tired person: Crocs. He’s immediately exhausted by Zenos’ antics. Emet-Selch doesn’t seem like a villainous FinalFantasy character in Academia Eorzea, but just a guy who wants to do his job in peace.

Emet-Selch is Zenos’ great-grandfather in FFXIV, but they didn’t really have any family interactions in-game. In high school, he doesn’t look nearly old enough to be a great-grandfather. It’s uncertain if the two are linked by blood in the manga spinoff.

FFXIV Academia Eorzea: Aymeric, Haurchefant, & Estinien Are BFFs

The last FFXIV characters introduced in the first chapter of the manga are Aymeric and Haurchefant. In-game, Aymeric is 32 and Haurchefant is 28, but like many others have become high school students. Aymeric is a 3rd year and student council president, suitable for the charming and responsible leader. Haurchefant is also a 3rd-year student, and immediately displays his sparkling positivity during his brief appearance. The two citizens of Final Fantasy XIV’s Ishgard are both good friends of high school Estinien, regardless of his antisocial nature. This suits how in-game Estinien continues to refer to Aymeric with disdainful affection.

Academia Eorzea gives fans tons of fun interactions between FFXIV characters that feel extremely appropriate. More beloved NPCs could appear in chapter 2 in February, considering how extensive the game’s cast is. A lot of students in Academia Eorzea are not standard high school student ages, according to official game lore, but the spinoff’s differences are its strength. The high school setting of Final Fantasy XIV‘s Academia Eorzea shows fan-favorites in a new light, and allows interesting interactions that would be impossible in the MMORPG.

About The Author

Michelle Cachey
(34 Articles Published)

Michelle Cachey is a ’90s kid and Gaming Features author at Screen Rant. Video games inspired her to write and create during her childhood, and that inspiration persists to this day. She has a fondness for RPGs, collecting monsters, and Spyro the Dragon.

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