Well, well... The commander of the Eulmoran Army himself. To what do I owe the honor, General Ran'jit?
The Crystal Exarch greeting Ran'jit
Ran'jit is a tertiary antagonist in Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers. He is the general of the Eulmoran army on the First.
History[]
Before Shadowbringers[]
Ran'jit's father, Zal'bard, was the leader of a brotherhood of zealous assassins who trained their offspring in torturous ways and controlled "forbidden foreign magicks". While Zal'bard was visiting Eulmore's mayor, the the Flood of Light began, and Zal'bard and his group became permanent residents of Eulmore, acting as one of the first lines of defence against the sin eaters that spread from the Light blasted areas of the Empty. Zal'bard then served as a general in Eulmore and fathered Ran'jit in order to pass on his techniques and magicks, training the young boy how to summon his familiar, Gukumatz.
At a young age, Ran'jit trained alongside the first Minfilia of the First, under the tutelage of Zal'bard. Ran'jit was still a boy when his father formed an elite, anti-sin eater unit, known as the Sinbound. Working alongside his elders in the Sinbound, including Minfilia, Ran'jit fought against the aether suffused beasts until the day the unit hunted down the Kholusian Lightwarden in the Duergar Mountains. Believing that killing the beast would return night to the land, Zal'bard landed the killing blow on the creature, only to be overtaken by the Light within it and becoming the Lightwarden himself, leaving the Sinbound no recourse but to retreat.
Following this, Ran'jit became the leader of the Sinbound, working under the strategies of Minfilia, with their goal being for Minfilia to slay the new Lightwarden, using her immunity to the corrupting influence of the sin eaters to counteract this curse. However, this did not come to pass, and ten years after the founding of the Sinbound, Minfilia fell in battle. With her dying breath, she prophesied the coming of another Minfila, the Oracle of Light. After her passing, Ran'jit carried her remains to Eulmore to be interred.
In the years that followed, Ran'jit served not only as member of the Sinbound but as Eulmore's bellic commander, leading Eulmore's armies in the fight against the sin eaters as they spearheaded the First's efforts to stave the light-suffused creatures. During this time as General, he trained and fought alongside the following incarnations of the Oracle of Light, whom he mentored and protected until their untimely deaths. Over time he became overprotective of his wards and was unable to bear their continued deaths. With this new conviction, and with Vauthry's rise to power in Eulmore, control over the sin eaters and promises of a paradise alongside them until the end of the world, Ran'jit considered all resistance to the coming oblivion futile, and the Sinbound was disbanded.
Vauthry, suffering what seemed a prophetic dream of his life being ended by Minfilia, ordered the then current Minfilia put to death. Still more Oracles of Light were born, and Ran'jit willingly imprisoned the Minfilias to stop them from attempting to fight the sin eaters to keep them safe.
Ran'jit took the last incarnation of Minfilia at a young age and trained her as he did her predecessors, while keeping her locked up in Eulmore until Thancred Waters freed her.
In Pursuit of Villains[]
Ran'jit continued serving as emissary and enforcer for Eulmore's power when the Warrior of Darkness and the Scions of the Seventh Dawn pursued the Lightwardens. Following the vanquishing of the Lightwarden of Lakeland, Ran'jit was sent to the Crystarium to have an audience with the Crystal Exarch in the Ocular. He demanded the identities of those who killed the Lightwarden, and officially labeled them villains for jeopardizing the "relations between man and sin eater". Before leaving, Ran'jit noticed the Warrior of Darkness, Alisaie, and Alphinaud in the room, cloaked with Vanish, recognizing the Warrior and Alphinaud as the troublemakers who had fled Eulmore previously.
Ran'jit in Laxan Loft.
Instead of acting on this, Ran'jit focused on capturing and transporting back to Eulmore the Oracle of Light, whom they held at captive at Laxan Loft. The Warrior of Darkness, aiding the Crystarium army, freed Minfilia. During the battle Ran'jit, alongside his serpent familiar Gukumatz, fought the combined might of the Warrior of Darkness, Alisaie, Alphinaud, guard captain Lyna, and Minfilia herself, disabling them. Before he could do more than approach the weakened party, Ran'jit was attacked by Thancred, whom he recognized as the man that had stolen Minfilia away. Following a brief scuffle, Thancred distracted Ran'jit long enough for the group to teleport a short distance away. Before he could pursue properly, the Exarch delayed Ran'jit by casting Break, stopping him dead in his tracks.
Ran'jit and his men followed behind the Scions, pursuing them into Il Mheg, but too late to stop the death of Titania, Lightwarden of Il Mheg. Ran'jit and the Eulmorian soldiers only made it to Lydha Lran when they were accosted by the fae folk, cloaked in their glamours. Ran'jit was able to discern the position of the pixies and captured one to demand the group reveal themselves. Acquiescing to his demands Alphinaud, Minfilia and Urianger showed themselves. Ran'jit berated Minfilia but was attacked by a cloaked Alisaie and Thancred, forcing him to release the captured pixie. As this happened Titania was felled by the Warrior of Darkness restoring the night sky. Ran'jit bid his men attack, but was forced to fall back when his men were dispatched by the various fae folk of Il Mheg, who had taken to revelry with the return of their new king.
Later in The Rak'tika Greatwood, Ran'jit ambushed the Warrior of Light and Y'shtola Rhul while they were searching for the next Lightwarden, alongside an Eulmoran adjutant. During the fight, the adjutant panicked and offered a proposal: a number of the Blessed had been poisoned, and the adjutant was willing to provide them with an antidote, granted he and his commander are allowed safe passage out of the temple. Disgusted by the adjutant's cowardice, Ran'jit chose to rid himself of the adjutant and any hope of saving the Blessed by kicking him into the chasm along with the antidote. Y'shtola retrieved the antidote while Thancred arrived and sent Ran'jit falling into the chasm, where he was presumed dead.
Ran'jit survived, however, and once again ambushed the Warrior, Minfilia, and Thancred while they traveled south to Nabaath Areng. Furious after Minfilia refused to return with him and of her resolve to live her life on her own terms, Ran'jit rid himself of any desire to bring Minfilia back to Vauthry alive and attempted to kill her on the spot. Thancred stood in his way and dueled Ran'jit while the Warrior fled with Minfilia. During their fight, Ran'jit and Thancred bickered over who would be the better father to Minfilia, and Ran'jit fused with Gukumatz to gain more strength. Though Ran'jit was able to critically wound Thancred, the latter used trickery to injure the Eulmoran general several times. Eventually forced to his knees, Ran'jit was unable to continue and Gukumatz teleported him to safety.
Final stand and legacy[]
Ran'jit's last stand.
Ran'jit, now fused with Gukumatz once again, later faced the Warrior of Darkness when they assaulted Eulmore as Vauthry's last line of defense, revealing himself as the despot's willing servant while challenging the hero to a final battle to the death. Though Ran'jit fought with everything he had, he was unable to best the Warrior and died in battle. In his final moments, Ran'jit hallucinated of being reunited with the Minfilia incarnations he had raised throughout his life. His corpse was later found lying in front of the graves of the previous Minfilias.
After his death, Ryne, the former Minfilia, participated in a campaign to restore the Empty alongside the Warrior of Darkness. There, the Ascian Mitron forced a primal summoning based on her hopes and fears, resulting in the Fatebreaker, an amalgamation of Thancred and Ran'jit turned into a sin eater.
Characteristics[]
Appearance[]
Ran'jit is a tall elderly Hume of the First with long silver hair, goatee and mustache, gray eyes, and pale skin. The center of his face is scarred, evidence of his experience in past battles. Ran'jit wears gray, black, and purple garments with gold accessories.
During his fight with Thancred and his final battle in Eulmore, he merges with his serpent familiar, Gukumatz, giving him crimson armor and garments with a red scythe for a weapon.
Personality[]
Ran'jit is a bitter, humorless, and hardened man who has resigned himself to the inevitable oblivion the First is facing. He believes that only through Vauthry can man be granted a measure of peace and salvation. This makes him one of the very few to serve Vauthry willingly.
Ran'jit is a skilled fighter and tactician, respected for his experience and prowess in battle. He is disciplined and perceptive, his instincts being rarely wrong. He is especially fearless and deadly in single combat, willing to fight to the last if it means it would defeat the Warrior of Darkness. He sets high standards for his men and will impose harsh punishment if they disappoint him, such as executing his lieutenant after he tried negotiating with the enemy. He is also wise enough to recognize when he is at a tactical disadvantage and will retreat in such instances.
Beneath his hardened exterior lies grief and pain over the Oracle of Light. Seeing so many young girls under his charge pass as incarnations of Minfilia drove Ran'jit into despair. He became overprotective of the girls, unable to bear losing them, and was willing to imprison them to keep them safe. He begrudges Thancred Waters, believing him unworthy of the Oracle, but most of all for freeing the current Oracle of Light and giving her hope and resolve of a better tomorrow.
Gameplay[]
Ran'jit is fought in four Special Instances throughout the main scenario of Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers.
First battle[]
Ran'jit is first fought at the end of the solo instance duty in the 
The Oracle of Light quest. The player character is accompanied by multiple guest characters: Alisaie, Alphinaud, Lyna, and Minfilia. Ran'jit will fight alongside Gukumatz, although the familiar will be untargetable. At the beginning of the fight Ran'jit will ignore aggro tables while the guest characters are in the field, initially targeting Lyna. After a small amount of time, Ran'jit will cast Silent Lightning on Minfilia, inflicting the 
Down for the Count status on her, followed by Gukumatz casting Wrath, pushing her out of the fight. A short time later he will do the same to Alphinaud, Alisaie, and Lyna, before facing the player character one on one.
He will cast Hot Pursuit, which will do multiple staggered AoEs on the player character, requiring the player to keep moving to avoid. Following this he will cast Nexus of Thunder, creating line AoEs that cross through the middle of the arena and inflict 
Electrocution when hit. He casts Shattered Sky, dealing unavoidable damage. To end the phase, Ran'jit will cast Living Flame, spawning two circles of Raging Flame adds, which explode with Burn, an AoE attack that inflict the 
Burns status in the order spawned, forcing the player to move in and out of AoE markers.
Ran'jit will repeat this pattern, casting Hot Pursuit, Nexus of Thunder, while Gukumatz casts Unbridled Wrath, which pushes the player character much farther in a direction indicated by arrow markers on the floor. He will do the same with Raging Flame, necessitating the player to note where to be pushed to to avoid the Burn AoE. This will repeat once more before Ran'jit casts Silent Lightning, inflicting Down for the Count on the player character and Gukumatz casts Wrath, ending the battle.
Second battle[]
Ran'jit is next encountered at the end of the solo instance duty in the Legend of the Not-so-hidden Temple quest, alongside the Eulmoran Adjutant. Compared to all the other fights, however, this one will be brief. Focus your attacks on Ran'jit, while the Adjutant should be distracted enough by the multiple guest characters: Y'shtola , Almet, Uimet, and Cymet. The only noteable ability Ran'jit possesses is Embroiling Flame, which is a stack marker. The battle will end when Ran'jit is restrained by Cymet, enabling you to continue the duty from there.
Third Battle[]
Ran'jit battle in Amh Araeng.
Ran'jit will next be faced during the entirety of the solo instance duty in the Full Steam Ahead quest. However, unlike the other Ran'jit battles, the player receives the status of 
Role-playing, playing as Thancred Waters for the duration of the fight. Like the first battle, Ran'jit will be backed up by the untargetable Gukumatz. Ran'jit casts Shattered Sky, which inflicts unavoidable damage, Hot pursuit, which casts several circle AoEs where the player is standing on, and Nexus of Thunder, two line AoEs that cross in the center of the arena. At some points, Gukumatz will cast Wrath, inflicting the Down for the Count status, as well as aid it's master by casting Coiled Levin, creating triple persistent AoEs around the arena, which grant the Electrocution debuff when entered.
When Ran'jit reaches 85% HP, Gukumatz will stun Thancred with Unbridled Wrath (inflicting the Down for the Count status) and then merge with Ran'jit, granting him access to a brand new set of abilities. This includes Unceremonious Beheading, a circular point-blank AoE that grants 
Vulnerability Up status, which can be stacked if failed multiple times, Merciless Left and Merciless Right, which casts triangular AoEs to either side of Ran'jit (starting with the direction stated), which also grant Vulnerability Up, and Katun cycle, an AoE that covers the entire arena except for the area immediately surrounding Ran'jit. Ran'jit will still cast Hot Pursuit, combined with other mechanics, forcing the player to move out of their regular pattern.
At around 75%, Ran'jit will target Thancred with four untargetable Serpent Heads, each begin casting tracking line AoEs Snaking Flame which will defeat the player if completed. Ran'hit himself will become untargetable at this point. To evade this attack, the player must cast the duty action 
Perfect Deception, which will grant the 
Perfect Deception buff, rendering Thancred invisible, as well as 
Fading Fast enfeeblement, which slowly ticks down. Upon reaching zero, Thancred will be K.O'd. Additionally, upon first casting Perfect Deception, Thancred will receive 
Faded Out status, stunning him momentarily. While Thancred is invisible, Ran'jit will be randomly leap across the arena and cast Evisceration, large conal AoEs in front of him.
To remove the Fading Fast status, the player must guide Thancred near Ran'jit and cast the slow duty action 
Shining Blade, which takes away around 8% of his health and inflicts a short Down for the Count effect on Ran'jit. In response, Ran'jit will cast Spiritcall and stun Thancred with Down for the Count. Following this, the fight will resume with some new additions. Ran'jit himself will now be able to cast Coiled Levin.
At 50% HP, Ran'jit will summon the Serpent Heads again and cause a repeat of the above phase transition. During the time where Thancred is under the Perfect Deception status, instead of simply casting Evisceration, Ran'jit will cast multiple of his AoE attacks in an attempt of drawing Thancred out. The regular previous phase will repeat at this point, with Ran'jit mixing his AoE attacks.
At 35%, Ran'jit will once again summon four Serpent Heads, necessitating a third cast of Perfect Deception. However Ran'jit will realise where Thancred is and cast Evisceration in his direction cancelling both the Fading Fast and Perfect Deception statuses. Once more Ran'jit will summon the Serpent Heads and once more the player has to cast Perfect Deception. This time Ran'jit will cast Evisceration while Thancred is still under the effect of Faded Out, breaking him out of Perfect Desception but not Fading Fast, leaving Thancred vulnerable to another attack. Thancred will then receive the Faded Out status regularly, stunning him and allowing Ran'jit to land several of his attacks, building up Vulnerability Up stacks.
Eventually, Ran'jit will summon a final group of Serpent Heads, which have to be avoided with new duty action 
Souldeep Invisibility, which grants the status effects 
Souldeep Invisibility which functins like Perfect Deception except it cannot be cancelled by attacks, Fading Fast, Faded Out which repeatedly gets applied for the duration of the phase, and 
Vital Sign which slows down Thancred's movements. Ranjit will cast Last Spiritcall, dealing unavoidable arena wide damage. Following this, the player must navigate the slowed Thancred to Ran'jit then perform 
Leap of Faith, unleashing a final devastating attack on Ran'jit, enfeebling him with Down for the Count and ending the fight.
Fourth Battle[]
Ran'jit is faced one final time at the end of the solo instance duty in the A Feast of Lies quest. This time, the player is controlling the Warrior of Darkness again and facing off against Ran'jit (still fused with Gukumatz) with no backup for either side. He retains his abilities from the battle with Thancred, including Unceremonius Beheading, Katun Cycle, Merciless Right and Left, Evisceration, and Nexus of Thunder. He also retains his Living Flame ability from the first fight, which summon Raging Flames that explode after a few seconds, along with a knockback named Spiritcall. Make sure you are not knocked back into a Raging Flame that is about to explode.
Ran'jit also casts Rising Thunder, which summons targetable Thunder Spheres all over the arena that will explode. Kill one of the Thunder spheres to avoid taking damage and stay in the safe spot while the rest go off. When Ran'jit reaches 15% HP, the final phase begins. He casts Ageless Serpent, which summons the four Serpent Heads from before. Unlike then, the heads are targetable and tethered to Ran'jit, protecting him from all damage. Ran'jit will then begin casting Torrid Glory, a hard enrage, while the Serpent Heads begin to cast Snaking Flame. Focus on killing the Serpent Heads to make Ran'jit vulnerable, then turn attention to him. Inflict as much damage as possible before Torried Glory goes off, and you will have defeat Ran'jit once and for all upon completely depleting his health.
Behind the scenes[]
Concept art.
During development Ran'jit was called "assassin grandpa". When Ran'jit forms with Gukumatz, the serpent becomes his outfit; this form was inspired by Kzinssie, one of the primary antagonists of Romancing SaGa 2. He was developed by the monster team instead of the character team.[2]
Ran'jit's story is also reminiscent of Caius Ballad from the Final Fantasy XIII series. Both look after young girls entrusted in their care who are fated to endlessly die and be reincarnated. The majority of their motivations relate to their wards. His occupation as the top general of Eulmore, feared reputation as a warrior, loyalty to a cruel obese leader, and use of electric attacks to end his recurring boss battles are reminiscent of General Beatrix from Final Fantasy IX, though Ran'jit is vastly more cynical and antagonistic.
Though initially appearing to be a monk or pugilist, Ran'jit's gear and fighting style change upon becoming one with Gukumatz, greatly resembling the Reaper job introduced in the following expansion, Endwalker. In addition to wielding a scythe and gaining scaled armor—the Reaper shares its armor with Dragoons—he uses the combat animations for the Reaper's Enshrouded mode.
Etymology[]
Ran'jit is an alternate spelling of Ranjeet, a composite of ran (war) and jeet (victorious) that translates from Sanskrit to "victorious in battle".
Citations[]
- ↑ Tales under the New Moon: "Bringer of Shadow, Bringer of Light"
- ↑ The Artwork of Final Fantasy XIV: A look Behind the Screen