Nero tol Scaeva

Nero tol Scaeva, is a villain from Final Fantasy XIV, and a Tribunus Laticalvius in the XIVth Imperial Legion of the Garlean Empire.

Appearance and Personality
Nero is a blond-haired man in maroon armor with a dragon-like helmet. He uses a gunhammer called Mjolnir as his primary weapon, but also wields a Gunblade. It is shown that while he can put on a polite, cultured air for superiors and soldiers alike, he is a coldblooded leader who shows little mercy to his subordinates for even the smallest infractions. Unlike the other Tribunes, Nero prefers to not wear his helmet unless when he's attending formal events or is in the thick of combat. A schemer and a social climber, Nero resents Cid for outdoing him in magitek engineering and for being Gaius's former favored subordinate, whose shadow Nero feels he can never escape.

Story
Nero joins Gaius Van Baelsar's new campaign to continue the subjugation of Eorzea in the aftermath of the Seventh Umbral Era. He leads the legions main intelligence the Frumentarium and minutes after his arrival at Ala Mhigo he is able to route out a spy among the ranks and slays him in cold blood.

He is later seen spying on the Adventurer who he witnesses slaying Ifrit when he is confronted by Livia Sas Junius for straying from his assigned objective and she warns him she will kill him herself if he fails. He again is seen spying on the adventurer after their triumph over Titan, discussing the XIVths dealings with Lahabrea. Rhitahtyn Sas Arvina joins him after Lahabrea leaves and he to denounces Nero for being so willing to trust the Ascian and warns him his loyalty should be to Garlemald first.

Gaius meets with his subordinates after fully absorbed the active Primals, Gaius tasks Nero with finishing the final touches on Ultima Weapon.

Later, he is encountered during the game's final dungeon, the Praetorium. Seething in rage, he declares that he will earn the respect he feels he deserves by defeating the party and proclaims he will finally prove himself as Cid's better. Although the Adventurer and their party defeats him, he flees, leaving him the only Garlean general to actually survive a confrontation with the player.

Patch 2.1: A Realm Awoken
After the Adventurer breaches the Crystal Tower gates and completes the Labyrinth of the Ancients (the first part of the tower), he is seen in a cutscene, noting the presence of a power source atop the tower even stronger than the heart of the Ultima Weapon. He opts to stay back for the time being, content to let "Garlond" and the player do the heavy lifting for him.

He is also, presumably, now in command of what is left of the XIV Legion in Eorzea, as all other ranking officers are either dead or missing.

Battle
Nero is fought as part of the final sequence of bosses in the Praetorium. Wielding his gunhammer Mjolnir Nero can attack with powerful crushing blows and gunshots as well as summon torrents of lightning. As the battle progresses he can summon Magitek Deathclaws and Magitek Colossi to aid him in battle.

Musical Themes
The theme "Steel Reason" playing in all the battles against Nero and the other Tribunes. It was composed by Nobuo Uematsu.

Etymology
Nero means "black" in Italian, and is of course the short name the infamous Roman emperor is best known by. His last name is likely drawn from, a centurion in Julius Caesar's army at the Battle of Dyrrhachium, and later one of Caesar's partisans. Marcus was also known for dressing in red armor.