I was wondering... Is it better to remember or forget someone when they're dead? I remember my father. And every time I think of him, it hurts. But it's different with my mother. I never knew her, so I don't feel as bad. I want to remember my father. But maybe I'd be better off forgetting him...
Gulool Ja
Gulool Ja [ɡʊˈluːl ˌdʒɑː] is a character in Final Fantasy XIV, introduced in the expansion Dawntrail. He is a juvenile one-headed Mamool Ja who was born to Zoraal Ja and Teeshal Ja, making him the grandson of Gulool Ja Ja and the nephew of Zoraal Ja's adoptive siblings Wuk Lamat and Koana.
History[]
Before Dawntrail[]
Gulool Ja was born to Teeshal Ja, a Hoobigo Mamool Ja from Tuliyollal, who worked as chirurgeon in the Landsguard. Her admiration for Zoraal Ja caused her to dream to have a family with him, yet she was never able to express her feelings towards him, as his gaze never turned on her. After Zoraal Ja and the Landsguard defeated and imprisoned a tural vidraal in Yuweyawata, Teeshal Ja found herself unwilling to return to Tuliyollal, and instead remained in Yyasulani. When Alexandria and the dome fused with the Source, Teeshal Ja was trapped inside and by sheer chance was reunited with Zoraal Ja. She began to work in Yuweyawata Field Station, which was constructed to observe and study the imprisoned tural vidraal. She told Zoraal Ja of her heart's desire, and Zoraal Ja agreed to fulfill it, if she performs her duty to his satisfaction by assisting station's director Kanilokka. In the end, Teeshal Ja got her heart's desire; a son, Gulool Ja. When she revealed him to Zoraal Ja, he was aghast and horrified and ordered Teeshal Ja to take it away from him.
Teeshal Ja died in unknown circumstances, but since Zoraal Ja wanted nothing to do with him, he abandoned Gulool Ja to fend for himself. Living as a street child, Gulool Ja was taken in and cared for by Otis Velona, former Captain of the Knights of Alexandria, whose soul inhabited a centuries-old robot body long after the original Otis had died; Gulool Ja and Otis lived together in the ruins of old Alexandria. Though Zoraal Ja never acknowledged Gulool Ja, the child figured out for himself that he was Zoraal Ja's son, and most Alexandrians made the same assumption.
Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail[]
Wuk Lamat and the Warrior of Light encountered Gulool Ja inside Solution Nine. As soon as they saw him, they determined he must be Zoraal Ja's son, due being a Hoobigo with azure scales of a Boonewa. They followed him to True Vue, where he was willing to lead them to the Backroom, even though he did not talk.
In the Backroom, Wuk Lamat asked about the child from Cahciua. She confirmed he is Zoraal Ja's abandoned son. She tried to take him under her care several times, but every time he disappeared, only to be found again. Many had helped him throughout this time. Cahciua had decided to give up and leave him be. Wuk Lamat learned his name and admitted she wanted to get to know him, but seeing she was here to kill Gulool Ja's father, she thought it would not be appropriate. Gulool Ja overheard this and ran off, prompting Wuk Lamat, the Warrior, and Alisaie Leveilleur to go look for him outside Everkeep.
They eventually found him in within the ruins of Archeo Alexandria, where he was taking care of couple of nutkins. Wuk Lamat approached him, but suddenly, a robot ran in between and warned them not to approach the boy. Wuk Lamat assured she did not mean any harm, she just wanted to get to know him. The robot asked is this true, but Gulool Ja says he overheard Wuk Lamat was going to kill his father. The robot declared them villains and was about to strike, but Gulool Ja did want to get to know her anyway. The robot stood down, and introduced himself as Otis Velona, proud knight of Alexandria, and that he had been looking after Gulool Ja. Otis asked the Warrior and Alisaie to provide them with ingredients and electrope to prepare a repast, and they agreed.
Everyone enjoyed a good time with food and fire, and Wuk Lamat and Gulool Ja began to bond. Otis told his story and about the Endless, which made everyone realize that Alexandrian Queen Sphene was an Endless herself, having died centuries ago, but appearing alive and young like she was at her prime.
They returned to the outskirts, when Nostalgia found them and told them that Zoraal Ja was marching to Vanguard to resume the assault on Tuliyollal. Wuk Lamat asked Otis to take care of Gulool Ja, but he wanted to go with her. Wuk Lamat denied it and Otis took him to help evacuate the people of the outskirts. Gulool Ja ran after Wuk Lamat, claiming he had to stop his father from doing his evil deeds. When Zoraal Ja saw and heard him, he angrily grabbed him by the throat, declared he was not his father and used him as a shield to allow him to escape, since his invasion was crushed. He teleported away with Gulool Ja in hand.
As Zoraal Ja had ordered the people of Alexandria to be killed and harvested of their souls, Gulool Ja witnessed the carnage ordered by his father. Zoraal Ja abandoned him again, and he agreed that Wuk Lamat had to stop him.
After the carnage has been stopped, Gulool Ja met Wuk Lamat, Cahciua, and the Warrior in the Backroom. Having come to terms that his father was an evil man and had to be stopped, he claimed to not care anymore, but lamented he was going to be alone. Wuk Lamat assured that he was never going to be alone again, making Gulool Ja cry.
After Zoraal Ja was defeated, Gulool Ja arrived with Erenville to see his father's now monstrous form lying on the ground, dying. Zoraal Ja mockingly asked why he was weeping. He answered: because it hurt. He wanted to know why Zoraal Ja did not want him, and he answered he simply could not be a father to him, since he felt his own father spurned him. Despite that, he left his position of power to Gulool Ja, giving him a choice to either embrace it or spurn it. As Zoraal Ja died, Wuk Lamat embraced Gulool Ja and called Zoraal Ja a fool, since Gulool Ja Ja had left him a family, yet he rejected it. Sphene arrived and escaped with the interdimensional key to Living Memory.
Wuk Lamat took Gulool Ja to Tuliyollal to have him meet his uncle, Koana. When Koana saw him, he assumed correctly he was Zoraal Ja's son and Wuk Lamat confirmed it. She pointed out to the people that Gulool Ja was his own person, having had no part in Zoraal Ja's crimes against Tuliyollal.
When the Scions of the Seventh Dawn members, Wuk Lamat, and Koana planned to stop Sphene from carrying out her plan, Gulool Ja joined them. They headed to the gate at Skydeep Cenote, where Krile tried to use her clover-shaped earring to open the gate, but the gate did not open. Shale from the Oblivion suspected that the gate may require a higher clearance to open, and suggested that Gulool Ja give it a try, since he was named the new king of Alexandria. Gulool Ja took the earring and held it at the terminal. The terminal activated and the gate opened. This made Gulool Ja happy, since he was able to do something important to help.
After Queen Sphene's depth, Wuk Lamat informed the people of Alexandria about this development, and that Gulool Ja had been named as the new king, although it had to be formalized. Wuk Lamat declared herself as Gulool Ja's guardian, although reaction to both announcements was mixed, though the Turali did accept that he was not his father and had no part in Zoraal Ja's crimes. Gulool Ja decided to remain in Solution Nine and to be looked after by Shale and the Oblivion.
Post-Dawntrail[]
Gulool Ja took part in the funeral for Queen Sphene in Solution Nine with Wuk Lamat. Afterward, Gulool Ja began to wonder if it is better to remember the dead. Memories of Zoraal Ja caused him hurt, but since he never knew his mother, he did not know what to feel. The Warrior asked if he wanted to know, and eventually Gulool Ja did want it. With the help from the Scions, he learned about Yuweyawata Field Station and journeyed there to learn the truth about his mother. After defeating the imprisoned tural vidraal, the Warrior had a vision from the Echo about Teeshal Ja. Gulool Ja uncovered data about her and delivered it for Shale to analyze.
Shale played back several audio files from Teeshal Ja, confirming that Teeshal Ja was indeed Gulool Ja's mother and it gave everyone a better insight as to why Zoraal Ja never acknowledged his son. Although Gulool Ja's origins were not that happy, the experience nevertheless made him realize that in the end it is better to know the truth.
Gulool Ja was in the Backroom when Y'shtola and Shale returned from Living Memory with the original, still alive yet unconscious Queen Sphene Alexandros XIV, surprising him and everyone else present. Alisaie treated her levin sickness with a porxie and Sphene woke up to be shocked to learn she has been sleeping for four centuries. Out of Gulool Ja's suggestion, he, the Warrior, and Wuk Lamat took Sphene to see modern Alexandria. He explained the basic things about Solution Nine to her. While taking refreshments at Mosaic café, Sphene noted how well liked both Gulool Ja and Wuk Lamat were among the Alexandrians.
Gulool Ja offered to help with Malachite's task of delivering keepsakes to the people of True Vue. After completing this task with the Warrior of Light and Sphene, the simulant Sphene led them into an ambush in an attempt to reclaim the interdimensional key from the Warrior. After hearing Calyx's goal, Gulool Ja remained in the backroom while the Warrior, Wuk Lamat, Sphene, Shale, Krile, and G'raha Tia ventured into the foundation sector to learn about Calyx.
Later, after the announcement of the conclusion of neo-regulator distribution, Nostalgia rushed into the Backroom to inform a a mechanical soldier in True Vue has killed a civilian. This shocked Gulool Ja, as an order like that can only be given by someone with the King of Resolve's authority, in this case him. Shale tried to check the status of the authority, but was blocked from the system, believing Calyx was behind this. Erenville informed the Warrior that the same thing happened in the outskirts. Gulool Ja steeled himself and joined the others in helping the people.
In the outskirts, Gulool Ja and Sphene searched for Erenville, but in the end, the Warrior saved him. Gulool Ja could not understand why Preservation would make the mechanical soldiers do this. More trouble emerged inside Solution Nine, as mechanical soldiers and other machines went haywire and caused injury and death among the people. When the situation calmed down, Gulool Ja got his authority back, and Y'shtola suggested he shut down all the mechanical soldiers, so that this could not happen again. However, they were used for more than just guards, so shutting them down completely was out of the question, so instead Gulool Ja ordered them to be disarmed. Yet, all this left him troubled.
Even though Gulool Ja got his authority back, it was tenuous at best, as Calyx might override it again. Gulool Ja lost control of the sentries in the residential apartments and asked the Warrior to go and help out. Calyx was using the sentries to kill off any citizens without regulators and harvest them not just of their souls, but also of their corporeal aether. Geode was one of the victims when he walked into a trap. Calyx's harvest was stopped and the Warrior brought Geode's soul and aether to the backroom, where Gulool Ja and other Oblivion members mourned over the loss of their comrade and friend.
Gulool Ja helped Shale analyze Krile's earring, which was used to open the gate to Living Memory. They discovered a laboratory used by Preservation in the tenth level. Gulool Ja went alongside the Warrior, Sphene, Wuk Lamat, Krile, and Shale to try to learn Calyx's location. At the end of the search, Calyx invited them to the Meso Terminal in Living Memory, where his memories were stored.
Gulool Ja remained in Solution Nine and witnessed the enthrallment of all those with neo-regulators; their purpose was never to turn people into Endless, but enthrall them into a primal summoning. He heard the original Sphene's speech to lift the people's spirits and not dwell on the fear of death. Eventually, the Warrior and others emerged victorious.
As the Warrior returned to Alexandria, Alisaie suggested they go check on Gulool Ja, whom they found at the ruins of old Alexandria. He lamented about how the Warrior, Wuk Lamat, Sphene, and the Scions fought so bravely for Alexandria, while he thought himself as weak and useless and began to cry. The Warrior encouraged him that in time he would find his strength and Erenville agreed. Gulool Ja took them to a spot where the swords of Zoraal Ja and Otis had been delivered. He intended to have the Landsguard train him in swordplay, and after being ready, he would take his father's swords and protect what was important to him. He was not yet sure if he wanted to be the King of Resolve, and decided to leave that matter for the future. He asked the Warrior to spar with him, when he would be older.
Weeks later, after the memory restoration initiative had been activated and the original Sphene agreed to become the Queen of Reason, Gulool Ja went to Tuliyollal to begin his training. He was looked after by Wuk Lamat, who claimed he is training very hard, spurred by his desire to spar with the Warrior.
Characteristics[]
Appearance[]
Gulool Ja is a juvenile Hoobigo Mamool Ja with azure scales of a Boonewa, like his father Zoraal Ja. He wears a simple cloak.
Personality[]
When Gulool Ja sees Wuk Lamat and the Warrior of Light for the first time, he is curious about them, yet shy to approach them.
Having never known his mother and been abandoned by his father has left Gulool Ja to feel lonely and unsure of himself. After getting to know Wuk Lamat and the Warrior, he begins to uncover the courage within himself. He personally encountered his father despite the danger. After becoming the king of Alexandria, he becomes more confident thanks to Wuk Lamat and members of Oblivion.
Unlike most Alexandrians, who prefer not to remember those who have passed away, Gulool Ja decides not to forget them, a decision he came up by himself after learning the truth of his parents.
Etymology[]
Gulool Ja was named after his paternal grandfather, Gulool Ja Ja. The difference in their names is due to Mamool Ja naming conventions, where single-headed individuals like Gulool Ja have names ending in a single "Ja", while two-headed individuals like Gulool Ja Ja have names ending in a reduplicated "Ja Ja".