The end of the Japan Fanfest keynote yielded a long-anticipated reveal for Dawntrail: the addition of female Hrothgar as a playable race. So, how did female Hrothgar turn out, and were they worth the wait?
The story behind the wait for female Hrothgar
It was five years ago in March 2019 when Viera and Hrothgar were announced as new playable races in Shadowbringers. This announcement drew a lot of criticism for one reason: both races were genderlocked. Only female Viera and male Hrothgar would be available at the drop of Shadowbringers. Many were especially upset at no male Viera being available. This is not the first time FFXIV has faced this critique. Miqo’te and Roegadyn used to be all female and all male respectively, until their counterparts were eventually added. This time around, the developers reassured everyone the other halves would come in time when they were finished.
Male Viera then made their debut as a playable race in Endwalker. Now after asking when this would be completed for years, we finally have our answer. Female Hrothgar are coming with Dawntrail. There was even one depicted in the Dawntrail trailer, and we’ll be able to meet her when patch 6.55 drops.
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Compared to male Viera, the want for female Hrothgar has always been quite a bit lower. Hrothgar have never been a popular race among players since their debut. But there has always been one universal sentiment I’ve heard ever since the very beginning: everyone wanted them to be big, muscular, and tough. After all, female Miqo’te are small and cute twigs, and Hrothgar are on the other spectrum of cat person entirely.
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This brings us to the FFXIV Dawntrail Female Hrothgar reveal and if they were worth the wait. Now that the trailer for the race has dropped, the consensus seems to be everyone is pleased to see they are muscular. Some believe the head to be too small, and others wish they were even bigger. I cannot deny I enjoy the look of a cat woman more than the look of male Hrothgar myself. I know two people who have said they will fantasia to female Hrothgar in Dawntrail, and I am sure there are quite a few others, even if I don’t anticipate a massive shift in population.
As the keynote explained, female Hrothgar are relatively few among their race, a fitting mirror to Miqo’te being mostly female, but are known for their predisposition to leadership. Does that mean we get to see a lot of large and in-charge Hrothgar ladies? I certainly hope so.
So with the FFXIV Dawntrail female Hrothgar reveal, do people believe they are worth the wait? I would say moderately. There is a joy to be had from knowing we’ll soon be able to interact with these full-fledged cat women in the world of Etheirys and even more to be had from the suggestion of more races coming in the future.
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